DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY!!!!!!!!

Ok, look, I know I haven't posted in a while and I know that it is super late to be talking about Harry Potter (Well, that is according to anyone who is a part time HP fan, aka someone who is only obsessed with this wonderful story when a knew book or movie comes out, when it is declared "hip")  but to me, someone who takes the classifications "Superfan" as an understatement, it is never too late to talk about The Boy Who Lived.  Because I feel that superfan is a tad offensive, as it doesn't do justice to my Potter obsession I decided to look up some possible names for the fan base of one of the best stories ever.  Here are some I found (they are in no real order):

• Wiznerds
• Potterphiles
• Harry Heads
• Pot-Heads (Stupid Twi-Hards use it because they think it insults us, but really I just find it amusing)
• And of course Muggles

Let me know your favorite.
But on we go.  I'm sure that you all have seen the latest and final installment of the most epic series ever. And of course I saw it as soon as possible aka at 12:01 on the day it came out.  And I dressed up.  It will be rare for me to show you all pictures of me but here is a rare pic of me, I'm the one on your right.  The one on the left is my friend who I always call Fabrizio, but her more common nickname is Dellye.

And as the most obsessed of you should know, the Pottermore challenge is coming up.  On July 31st, Harry's birthday and in fact my friend Fabrizio's as well, J.K. Rowling is offering the first 1 million people to complete the challenge  the opportunity to gain early access to the Pottermore website, while all the rest of the fans have to wait until October.  The website will include audio tapes and e-books, but most importantly it will include new info on the world of the wonderful wizards.  And unfortunately the only clue she gave us is "Follow the owl."
If I am lucky enough to get a chance to see the site I will be happy to tell you all about it.  And if you have any insight into the clue left for us let me know.

Summers With The X-Men

I was thinking today, what with summer here and all, about the X-Men from Marvel Comics that I would most like to spend my summer with.  Yeah, I know its sounds silly, but this is just the type of thing that goes through my head.  So here goes, a list of the top five powers or characteristics possessed by X-Men that would most benefit my summer:

5) At number five we have the ability to fly.  With flight I could generate a welcome breeze whenever I felt like it which is something I really need when I was in Spain, but more on that later.  The perfect example of this is the super flyer (Arch)Angel.

4) As every New Yorker knows, the subway in the summer is not fun.  It is a blob of people who just spent half an hour waiting on a hot airless platform.  That is why for number four I have chosen teleportation.  No need to try and cram yourself in between the fat guy that clearly doesn't know what deodorant is and the woman who is all elbows, yet still yells at you when you try to keep that pointy joint out of your rib.  Because of all of that I have chosen Nightcrawler.

3) I know that during my summer I really just like to collapse on my couch, and getting up do do anything is just a chore I'm not up to which is why I have chosen telekinesis for number three.  And the perfect example of telekinesis is the lovely Jean Grey/Marvel Girl/Phoenix/Dark Phoenix.  She doesn't need to roll out of bed to turn off the light or turn up the AC.  Plus having telekinesis would be quite useful in moving furniture to block my door in an effort to keep my family from entering my room, especially now that my sister is home from college.

2) Lets not forget about Iceman.  I mean no one can cool down a hot day like an omega level mutant whose ability is to freeze anything.  If I had his abilities I would save SO much on electric bills because I would have absolutely no need for fans or air conditioning.  Plus I HATE heat.  My room is always super cold, so if I could turn myself into organic ice I would never have to be warm.

1) And the power I would choose first is... weather manipulation, just like Storm.  With her your day at the beach would never be ruined.  If it is too cloudy she can just focus and clear up the sky, or if it is too hot she can just create a cool breeze.  And you can always have the perfect weather, no matter what.  I really really need her powers.  I mean in a way she combines the cooling power of Iceman (number 2) and the flying powers of Angel (number 5) as well as adding the ability to bring out the sun.  No wonder she is considered a goddess in the deserts of Africa.

Let me know what your choice list of powers to use in summer would be.

P.S. I know that the title implies that at least one of the energy blasting boys (Cyclops, Havoc or Vulcan) would be featured on my list, but their powers just don't scream useful in summer.

Sorry For Nothing In Two Weeks

I was in Spain for two weeks, and unfortunately, I was without my lovely computer Rose (me and my friends all name our computers, and mine is named after the super awesome amazing perfect companion to the Ninth and Tenth Doctors).   I traveled around Spain starting in Barcelona then Granada, Cordoba, Seville, Ronda and ending in Madrid.  I will later give much longer much more detailed writings on my trip but right now it is six in the morning and I am only posting because I was looking at my friend Fabrizio's (like I said before, that is nowhere even close to her name) blog You're A Tulle, and saw that she had posted A LOT when I hadn't posted anything.  So I posted this to ease my guilt.  More to come soon.

It's All Greek To Me

     Yesterday me and my super-awesome-spectacularific besties Lorm (not her real name) and Fabrizio (not even close to her real name, also she has an awesome blog called You're A Tulle) went thrift store hopping.  We went to Housing Works, Angel Street Thrift  Shop and Pippin (technically a vintage jewelry store).  While my friends got clothing like sweaters and jeans, I decided to buy a book on how to learn ancient Greek.  Well I should explain.  Ever since I was little I have been in love with Greek mythology.  My mom used to read me stories from our copy of d'Aulaires' Book Of Greek Myths all the time when I was little.

d'Aulaires' Book Of Greek Myths

Seeing a book on ancient Greek for three bucks brought back all those lovely bonding memories of learning to read with my mom and I thought "What the hell" or rather "What the realm of Hades" (yeah I know, that was a horrible joke, but I couldn't resist).  So far, the writing is pretty easy, but I have no idea how my pronunciation is.  My dad has been making fun of me because my choice of dead languages is not in fact Latin, which is helpful on the SATs and if you want to be a doctor or a lawyer, but instead Greek.  But part of the appeal is that fewer people know it.  Bragging rights really don't go with Latin, but I think it will be really fun to tell people that I speak Ancient Greek.  WHAT NOW!  I just hope that Athena doesn't decide to turn me into a spider for boasting (that makes sense to all of you avid mythology fans, but if you don't get it click this link for more on the myth of Arachne).  Well thats all I've got.  I think two bad puns make a successful day.  Lets see if any of you can come up with bad mythology jokes.  If you have any put them in the comments section.

Good-Night(crawler)

     Recently I've been thinking about Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler of the X-Men.  I know that he has been dead for a little over a year now, but I don't think that is any reason to forget about him.  And because I love him so much I refuse to except that he is dead and instead will talk about him in the present tense.

     So here goes.  He is one of my favorite X-Men, because he is one of the characters that feels the most real to me.  He has that little bit of self loathing that sneaks up, and it hits him in a way that, especially as a teenage girl, makes him a character that one can empathize with all too much.  He is seen on many occasions to be the type of character to not only need an image inducer to blend in, but to somtimes desire one as well.

Nightcrawler wearing the image inducer Tony Stark invented for him at a bar with Wolverine.

     The wonderful thing about Kurt is that on so many occasions he can be seen treating each mission as though it was an adventure.  He jokes around and doesn't take it too seriously like many other members of the team, and just embraces being an X-Man for what it is, an adventure.  I mean how many X-Men get cutlasses and galavant around acting a bit like pirates.  He is know to act in a bit of a dramatic fashion, which, coupled with his wonderful sense of humor, and love of a good joke, makes him a perfect character.

     But that is not to say he lacks depth.  And because he was an aspiring priest he has the full example of being torn between religion and the world he sees.  He is forced to face the fact that religion is all to often used as an excuse to kill when he sees Reverend William Stryker and his crusade against the mutant race.  In the "God Loves, Man Kills" series Kurt is forced in a way to once again face the same prejudice he faced as a child when mobs chased him for being a mutant.  Kurt is placed in a position where he once again has to face the fact that people don't see him as human, but instead as a demonic creature that is even below the rest of mutant kind in the eyes of the Purifiers.

     And whats more, he has to deal with the fact Reverend Stryker is willing to point a gun at Kitty Pryde, who is something close to a little sister for most of the X-Men (the exception being the Rasputins, because Illyana is younger, and it would be incredibly creepy if Piotr thought of Kitty as a little sister).  Kurt has to come to grips with the fact that religion can lead people so far astray, and that his friends aren't nearly as willing to accept God as he is, most significantly Logan, who find any use for the imaginary, which is what he considers God to be.
     But Kurt manages to power through that,  as well as anything else thrown his way.  For instance the guilt he faces for not being there to keep Kitty from having to sacrifice herself to save the world from the bullet shot at Earth.  He feels as though he could have saved her, and that he let down a girl he had considered a close friend and a little sister, especially after their time together with Excalibur.  To help him get passed pain he is feeling, he programs the Danger Room to create a hologram of Kitty, to whom he can apologize.

Kurt programs the Danger Room to allow him to apologize to Kitty, and to say goodbye.

     The series "Manifest Destiny" shows Kurt facing the problem, what do you do when your friends have someone who is better than you in what you pride yourself in.  Kurt struggles with where he fits in all over again because Pixie is a better teleporter than he is.  A trip home and a little perspective bring him back to his rightful place alongside the X-Men.
     But in a way half of me wishes that Kurt had stayed away so that he was still alive, and my other half is telling me that it is better to die a hero than live a coward.  The second half should be told to shut up because Kurt was far too good a man to die.
     At his funeral Logan said something that says a lot about Kurts character, because for a man of religion he was far from judgmental.

And to quote what Logan said to Hope as he was leaving Kurts funeral "You better be worth this, I swear to God."

and he was right, Hope sure as hell better live up to her nickname as "The Mutant Messiah".

The Arctic Monkeys Concert

       My favorite band has to be the Arctic Monkeys, and the other day I was lucky enough to be able to see them with my best friends.  The Arctic Monkeys played a sold out show at SummerStage in Central Park. 

And they were great, as were the Vaccines who opened for them, but you can hear more on that in a later post.  But as spectacular as the Vaccines were it was quite clear to everyone there that the vast majority of the people at the concert were there for the Arctic Monkeys.  And for good reason, I mean they were amazing.  They played all of their best songs spectacularly.  Alex Turner, the lead singer for those of you who don't know, has the most amazing voice.  

Just listening to him you can really hear the difference from the first concerts they did to now. Wow I am so excited to get my hands on the new album, which comes out June 6th.  From what I have heard so far Alex and the rest of the boys (Jamie, Matt and Nick) have something amazing prepared for us.

To take a look at the setlist for their concert, check out this link and scroll down

http://www.nme.com/news/the-vaccines/56881