Thursday, 28 August 2014

A day out, films and a waste of water!



28 August

Now then, what was The Making of Harry Potter like? Pretty good actually. It is of course, just a sort of museum really, with the artefacts being props from eight films. They claim is that most of the films were actually filmed there on that site. However, I’m not all that convinced. The common room for instance isn’t as large as in the films. OK I know about the magic of film, but even so this … 

Is nowhere near big enough to film the scene after Harry gets his Golden Egg in Goblet of Fire.

Another example is the Weasley shop. In the films it’s over three stories but the size of the building on the set is just not big enough to show it all as seen with the crows in the films; likewise the book shop and Olivander’s, the Lovegoods house, nor I didn’t see any sign of Sirius Black’s house either.

There’s no doubt the whole three hour tour is well worth the money paid. As you enter there’s a number of initial talks/film shows that add to the excitement for visitors, especially for kids. Would I recommend it? Yes, I would. Of course it’s much more intended for Potter fans and I’m sure that if you aren’t one that you would get much out of it. But be warned! It’s expensive; very much so.

In the back lot there’s a stall selling refreshments. I bought two hot dogs, a drinking chocolate for Jan, a fruit drink for Kile and a butter beer for me. Jan also had a muffin. That little lot cost just shy of £17. As for the main shop, well, they should have a sign over it saying ‘Harrods Prices’.

As I said above, it’s worth a visit, but I would get there earlier rather than later. I did notice that some of the exhibits are looking a bit sad and tired and dusty. As time goes on they will only get more so, unless they spend a lot of money on cleaners, and quite often too. Enough of Parry Hotter …

How do you feel about the silly iced water crap that’s doing the rounds. From the very first time I saw on the telly news I was doubtful about it. The other day Jan found a shared a link to a story of 34 people dying from hypothermia after taking part. But for me it’s the waste water that bugs the life out of me. Just look at our situation here in the UK. A couple of years ago we had water shortages across most of the country. I wonder how many folk living on the Somerset Levels have tried it.  

We may be OK for water right now, but can we really afford such a waste of water? And I wonder how many other places overseas feel about it; and not Third World countries either. There are places in Australia, the US, Spain and Portugal that need much more water than they get now. Water is our most precious commodity; yet it’s being wasted by the gallon in this silly craze!

Today’s photo then has to be … 

The model of Hogwarts Castle. The cables and wires were used for carrying the cameras for the dramatic overhead shot during the film. This shot doesn’t really give credit to workmanship that went into building it though. This model alone is worth visiting to see.

And so to Today’s funny …

A man and his wife were going for a stroll one night when they spotted what was obviously a blind man taking a walk on the other side of the street with his seeing eye dog. “Wow! Isn’t that something!” remarked the wife, “look at that man taking a stroll just like us.” They continued strolling for a few minutes longer when they heard the man let out a loud yelp. The dog had walked him right into a parked car and he had clearly banged his shin pretty hard. Rushing over to help, they were surprised to see the man reach into his pocket and pull out a treat for the dog. “Isn’t that weird?” whispered the wife, “giving him a treat even when he’s mad.” “Why are you giving him a treat?” questioned the husband. “I AINT GIVING HIM A TREAT!” said the enraged man, “I’M JUST TRYING TO FIND OUT WHERE HIS HEAD IS, SO I CAN GIVE HIM A SHARP KICK IN THE BEHIND!

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