I woke up at 3:50 this morning, a Saturday, and felt quite wide awake! Boo! So I walked outside and observed Ursa Major just above the northern horizon, something I have not seen in the past eight years that I spent living in England. It really confirmed that those years were spent substantially further in the north latitudes than where I am now. The difference between 36 degrees north and 52 degrees north is only 16 degrees, but it makes such a difference in so many things in the sky, such as the distance the sun reaches from the horizon at noon, or how long the sun and the moon illuminate the sky, or the position of the stars above. It amazed me how bitterly the sun stabbed the eyes in the north of England at midday, even when compared only with the south of England, and so it also amazes me these days to see so much light, such short shadows cast, and the sun reach so far overhead! The difference only 16 degrees can make!
After coming back in from my sky observations, I looked around on CNN and found this article about Harry Potter, regarding the soon release of the last film in the franchise.
Typically I despise cultural phenomenon because to me it signifies a lack of imagination among the masses, however, that is difficult to do in an instance where the very phenomenon is as imaginative as the Harry Potter story is. The movies were well cast, and the characters, right down to little quirks, were well played. I have enjoyed the films, though I don’t feel excited about watching any of them again anytime soon, as it is getting high time to move on! Radcliff reportedly cried on the last day of filming, which I find interesting because it really speaks to how much a part of his life the character he played was. Brave little Harry Potter faces off evil in a tangible form. How will his player face off with change in real form? As life changes for all three of the main players, I wonder how they will fare at changing too? Will they be typecast, as inevitably happens, will they fall hard from fame the way so many child actors do, or will they do more than any of their wizard characters have ever done, and create something new, and more powerful of themselves than what Rowling handed to them to take over? They brought the characters of Harry, Ron, and Hermione to life, now how will they bring Daniel, Rupert, and Emma to life? Like the stars in the sky this morning, it will be interesting to see what a difference a few degrees latitude will make!
Now it is time to try to go back to sleep. Maybe I can squeeze a few more hours out of this morning!
Kelsey J Bacon