(no subject)
Hmmm... apparently no Stephen King fans on my lj-friends list...lol. Regardless, here's the story.
My parents and I decided to go to the Hollywood 20 in Sarasota instead of our normal movie place in Port Charlotte because Sarasota had the Phantom of the Opera. So we drove the hour to Sarasota, stopped for a quick dinner at Chick-fil-a, and then headed to the movies. We parked, and Dad and I stood around impatiently waiting for my mom to get her stuff together.
Now, this area happens to have a parking garage near it, to accomodate the local restaurants and the theater. This also means they have valet parking. So this really snazzy car pulled up, so I'm sort of looking but not really paying attention. Then my mom says: "That's Stephen King." I look over, skeptical, and holy crap, it is Stephen King. No doubt, 100%. So we're looking, but trying not to stare... we hear the valet chatting him up, so the valet obviously knew who it was. Now I've only read three of his books, Christine, the Green Mile, and then this collection of short stories, but my mom owns and has read pretty much every book he's ever come out with. Big moment for her, lol.
So we got in line to buy our tickets, and there we were, standing right next to him in line. Unfortunately our line moved faster than his, so I didn't get to hear what movie he was going to see. I really wanted to know... probably the Darkness. lol. But yeah, he was just wearing scruffy normal clothes and a baseball cap and just going out by himself to a movie. Later, my dad came back from the mens' room and said he heard two other guys saying it was the second time this week they'd seen him around town. Apparently there's some film festival or some movie he's working on with the Ringling students. Interesting.
Phantom of the Opera was great, even though a bit different for movie purposes. I could have done without the "flashforwards" to the '20s at random times, because I don't think the plot really needs that. I would have been fine if they just did the flash at the beginning and then at the end... because the end was a nice addition. I was a little iffy on the voices at times, but they grew on me. My only major beefs were 1) I didn't like Minnie Driver as Carlotta and 2) I wished they'd kept the Masquerade costumes in all the pretty colors that are in the play. The black/white/cream thing was kinda boring. Cool choreography though.
But, being that I've seen the play four times now and it's my all-time favorite, I had some pretty high expectations and it met the majority of them, so I'd recommend it.
Once home, Devin and Sarah came over to chill for a bit. We all just chilled in my room and I let them try to catch up a bit, since Devin has been so weird about keeping in touch with her. She left kinda early because she's an old woman now(hehe), so Devin and I migrated to our game-room thingy and talked for a couple more hours. Basically I just let him talk and let him get out everything he needs to, and then I go back and share my own experiences/advice. But mostly, I just let him talk. There aren't too many people here he can talk to, so he always has lots on his mind. If he gets in to UF, I think it will be quite fun for us to live together. His mom will probably be calling me all the time to make sure he's alive/eating/doing his school stuff, but otherwise, fun. Now we just have to wait for that blasted acceptance letter. *crosses fingers*
Sarah and Devin, my lovely photographer friends, took some pictures with my camera last night, so I'll upload those probably tomorrow because Sarah and I are about to leave for Tampa to spend New Years' at a Barenaked Ladies concert! woot!
My parents and I decided to go to the Hollywood 20 in Sarasota instead of our normal movie place in Port Charlotte because Sarasota had the Phantom of the Opera. So we drove the hour to Sarasota, stopped for a quick dinner at Chick-fil-a, and then headed to the movies. We parked, and Dad and I stood around impatiently waiting for my mom to get her stuff together.
Now, this area happens to have a parking garage near it, to accomodate the local restaurants and the theater. This also means they have valet parking. So this really snazzy car pulled up, so I'm sort of looking but not really paying attention. Then my mom says: "That's Stephen King." I look over, skeptical, and holy crap, it is Stephen King. No doubt, 100%. So we're looking, but trying not to stare... we hear the valet chatting him up, so the valet obviously knew who it was. Now I've only read three of his books, Christine, the Green Mile, and then this collection of short stories, but my mom owns and has read pretty much every book he's ever come out with. Big moment for her, lol.
So we got in line to buy our tickets, and there we were, standing right next to him in line. Unfortunately our line moved faster than his, so I didn't get to hear what movie he was going to see. I really wanted to know... probably the Darkness. lol. But yeah, he was just wearing scruffy normal clothes and a baseball cap and just going out by himself to a movie. Later, my dad came back from the mens' room and said he heard two other guys saying it was the second time this week they'd seen him around town. Apparently there's some film festival or some movie he's working on with the Ringling students. Interesting.
Phantom of the Opera was great, even though a bit different for movie purposes. I could have done without the "flashforwards" to the '20s at random times, because I don't think the plot really needs that. I would have been fine if they just did the flash at the beginning and then at the end... because the end was a nice addition. I was a little iffy on the voices at times, but they grew on me. My only major beefs were 1) I didn't like Minnie Driver as Carlotta and 2) I wished they'd kept the Masquerade costumes in all the pretty colors that are in the play. The black/white/cream thing was kinda boring. Cool choreography though.
But, being that I've seen the play four times now and it's my all-time favorite, I had some pretty high expectations and it met the majority of them, so I'd recommend it.
Once home, Devin and Sarah came over to chill for a bit. We all just chilled in my room and I let them try to catch up a bit, since Devin has been so weird about keeping in touch with her. She left kinda early because she's an old woman now(hehe), so Devin and I migrated to our game-room thingy and talked for a couple more hours. Basically I just let him talk and let him get out everything he needs to, and then I go back and share my own experiences/advice. But mostly, I just let him talk. There aren't too many people here he can talk to, so he always has lots on his mind. If he gets in to UF, I think it will be quite fun for us to live together. His mom will probably be calling me all the time to make sure he's alive/eating/doing his school stuff, but otherwise, fun. Now we just have to wait for that blasted acceptance letter. *crosses fingers*
Sarah and Devin, my lovely photographer friends, took some pictures with my camera last night, so I'll upload those probably tomorrow because Sarah and I are about to leave for Tampa to spend New Years' at a Barenaked Ladies concert! woot!