Sand Volleyball- The Next Best Thing When You Don't Live Near a Beach

Some new friends recently convinced me to play sand volleyball at R Place Pub on Friday nights. They have a six player "C" league which means that you don't have to be very good to play. That is lucky for me since I have not played volleyball for almost thirteen years. We played in the pouring rain, but had a great time. Our team is going to have several practices a week and even if you don't play better we all should be in better shape by the time the season is over.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix- Initial Movie Review

I, and about half of Louisville, showed up last night at the Cinema de Lux 20: Stonybrook movie theater to see the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Although I am sure my work is suffering today because of the lack of sleep, the movie was worth seeing. I thought the screenwriters did a great job of condensing a very long book with tons of details into a cohesive story that followed the main plot points. The film is 2 hours and 18 minutes long, but moves along well through the whole film.

The movie’s background and filming techniques helped to emphasis the darker story of the fifth book. Harry finds himself alone and ridiculed by many members of the magical community for claming that his arch-nemesis, Lord Voldermort is back. JK Rowlings did a great job in her fifth book of the series in creating a feel of anger and desperation that many teenagers experience at that age without having an evil wizard after you. The movie follows this theme and Harry must battle his inner demons as well as Voldermort and the Ministry of Magic. The actress Imelda Staunton, who played Umbridge, was positively infuriating and once again the casting director did a great job finding an actor who fits the book’s character so well.

The film had a couple of great special effects scenes such as when the Weasley twins set off a bunch of fireworks during the OWLs exam and when Voldermort and Dumbledore are battling at the Ministry. Overall this movie is well worth going to see at the theaters for any fan of the Harry Potter books and movies. Some of the scenes and darker overtone of the movie may scare smaller children and it is rated PG-13.