Weekend Report

Friday- My cousin Myles came to visit and we went out to dinner with some friends and then saw The Golden Compass. I read the books last year and had been looking forward to seeing the movie, especially after I learned that Daniel Craig would be playing a lead role. In the first episode of the trilogy, the protagonist, a young girl named Lyra (living in a parallel universe with a strong resemblance to an English university) embarks on a mission to save her kidnapped playmate, encountering gypsies, witches, and polar bears along the way. Normally, I am not a big fan of the fantasy/sci-fi genre, and the movie on its own would not have won me over- low on character development, high on cheesiness. However, having read the books, it was fun to see how certain aspects were adapted for the big screen, especially the daemons (in Lyra's world, people's souls live outside their bodies in the form of an animal companion.) The acting was solid, especially Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra, and the clothes were fantastic, Nicole Kidman's in particular. All in all, I'd recommend The Golden Compass to fans of Pullman's books (even though they might be disappointed by certain plot alterations) and fantasy/sci-fi fans, but not to the general public.
After the movie, we stopped by a party, at which Myles was about 12 years younger than most of the attendees. One of the funniest moments was when Myles was subjected to some standard adult small talk: "So, what do you do?" His answer: "Um, I go to high school."

Saturday- Slept in, went out to lunch, tried unsuccessfully to purchase a shovel in not one, nor two, but three Boston locations (sold out everywhere! although you'd think I'd already own one.). Had dinner with the grandparents and finally completed the shovel quest at the Natick Home Depot. Then, soccer, pizza, and beer.

Sunday- Lounged around indoors for most of the day, then my roommate Ern and I went to watch football at The Junction. On our way home, we took a detour to the Black Thorn and stumbled upon Customer Appreciation Night. Next thing you know, our pictures ended up on the singer's website- apparently he took a shining towards Ern because she is up at the top of the page, whereas I am down below the guy pretending to use his pint glasses as eyeglasses. Guess what I didn't do? Shovel my car out, which lead to it being encased in a prison of frozen slush come Monday morning. I used my new shovel to hack away at it (good thing I bought the sturdy metal one) for about a hour, at which point a giant man who wanted my parking space got out of his truck and finished the job.