A couple of weeks ago, there was a large Twitter event at the Fresno Zoo, called Wild Fresno. The entire zoo was closed to the public, and only open for local Tweeters. At this event, the Fresno Beehive organized a Twitter based scavenger hunt, with prizes for those who completed it. I won a t-shirt and Lindsey won baseball tickets. With these prizes, we got to go to the Jo Koy show Saturday night for free.

To elaborate, we did not use the baseball tickets or the t-shirt to get in to the show. One of our Twitter friends hoped to win the first prize, which included baseball tickets. Unfortunately, she fell slightly short and won Jo Koy tickets instead. As neither of us like baseball all that much, a trade was made, and there was much rejoicing.

We got to the theater slightly before the scheduled start of the show (I specify that we arrived before the “scheduled” start of the show, because the show did not start exactly on schedule) and LET ME WRITE MY ARTICLE, WOMAN! Sorry, had some unsolicited creative input from the Missus. As we sat waiting for the show to begin, a local radio DJ played a random selection of songs to pass the time. Finally, the first opener came on.

Adam Hammer came on and gave a great performance. He had a great bit about drunk driving statistics, another great bit about free range cows, and another good bit about marijuana as a gateway drug. His delivery and timing were excellent, and he had us cracking up consistently.

After Adam Hammer finished his opener, Thai Rivera came out and got right into his set. Thai started his set by warning the audience that he may offend us with non-politically correct jokes and comments. He then proceeded to give us some of the best racial stereotype jokes I’d heard in a while. He had a very conversational style that made it easy to relate to the stories he was telling.

After Thai, Jo Koy made his entrance, to a deafening reaction from the audience. I had never heard his stand-up routines, and had only seen him on Chelsea Lately, which I am not really a fan of. To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy the show as much as I did. It was phenomenal. He did all new material, which was great. He talked about Thai at length, as well as his son and family. After he finished his regular set, he was having such a good time with the audience that he decided to take requests for jokes. We heard Orange Chicken and Game Over, among others. Once he finished the jokes, he still wanted to hang out so he had the DJ start playing songs for him and the audience to sing along to. He has a great singing voice, to be honest.

After the show, they were available for photos, so we grabbed a few pictures for posterity!

Us with Jo Koy after the show

Us with Adam Hammer after the show

Thai Rivera with Lindsey after the show

Thai Rivera with me after the show. Lindsey says having my hand on his shoulder makes me gay because it's a sign of male dominance. I was just being polite. And gay, apparently. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

I’ve noticed that most pictures of me don’t come out well.  I have a creepy stare and weird smile.  It is my burden to bear, I suppose.

Overall, it was a fantastic show. Both of the openers were strong enough to carry their own show, and Jo Koy was hilarious. It was free, but it was a show I would gladly have paid for.

-[insert UNBRRRVVVBRRR here]

Tonight, Lindsey and I were treated to an advance screening of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  Details of our good fortune can be found here.  We sat to watch the film with many of our Twitter friends, such as @leftybrown and @mrsleftybrown, @ChrisHangsleben and @KarmaKaze7, @DanielDanger, and more!  Before the film began, however, came a series of trivia questions from @mikeoz of the Fresno Beehive.  I managed to answer the question directed at my group, “Who played Dumbledore?”  I quickly raised my hand and answered, “Michael Gambon.”  I was rewarded with a Dark Mark LED pointer, and a pair of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince posters.  Very cool swag!

Before I continue with my review, allow me to present this warning to our readers:  If you have not read the book, and do not wish to have certain key elements of the story spoiled, then I suggest you read no further.  Instead, why not read Moral Kombat, Twilight vs. Harry Potter, or about Tweetdeck on the iPhone!

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Still here?  Good!  Onwards and upwards, then!

We were finally nearing the end of our wait.  First, however, the previews!  The previews seemed very promising at first, starting with the Robert Downey, Jr. / Jude Law version of Sherlock Holmes.  The film seemed like fun, although I took issue with Sherlock Holmes being more of an action hero than I remember from my reading.  From here, the previews went to pot, for the most part.  Following Sherlock Holmes was the upcoming G.I. Joe movie which, from what I have seen, has very little to do with the G.I. Joe series I remember as a child.  After that came a rather terrible trailer for an upcoming Disney animation, The Princess and the Frog.  To be perfectly honest, the only thing I remember about the preview following the Disney garbage is the title, Shorts, and only because we had written it down.  At the very end, however, we were redeemed with a wonderful preview for Where the Wild Things Are, the film adaptation of one of the most memorable children’s books in generations.  Lindsey and I are looking forward to this movie with great anticipation.

But I’m sure you’re not here to read about the previews, now are you?  On to business, then.  Another warning for our readers: Here, there be spoilers.

Keep in mind that this review is written from the perspective of one who has read the book multiple times.  Also, apologies for the images.  We were unable to take photos during the advance screening, so all we have to offer is the best Google search could produce.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, while setting up the main story elements necessary for the events of the seventh book, The Deathly Hallows, to unfold, does so in a way that is nearly unrecognizable.  The main events, such as Dumbledore’s death by the hand of Severus Snape, the finding of the Horcrux and the discovery that it is false, the recruitment of Horace Slughorn, and the acquisition of his most imporant memory, and the developing romances are all present, but not all in the way that they should be.  Dumbledore’s return to the castle with Harry after finding the Horcrux is radically different from the book, as are the subsequent events.  There is no Dark Mark, there is no battle between the invading Death Eaters and the staff and students, and there is no funeral service.

Dumbledore is slain by Severus Snape, but the setting and situation were very different.  Horace Slughorn’s recruitment was fairly accurate, but only the final, successful attempt at the recovery of the memory is remotely accurate.  The romances seem to take center stage in this film when they should be secondary.  Excessive focus is placed on the development of the romances of the three main characters, while other developments are introduced fully formed, with no explanation.  The timeline in which some of the romances occur is very different as well.

A great deal is left out of this movie that should have been included.   I will grant that, at two and a half hours, they were already at their time limit.  However, I can not accept this as a valid excuse for the exclusion of many important plot and character development points.  Why, do you ask?  There were many scenes of excessive length created for the movie that had no basis whatsoever in the book: the opening sequence with the Death Eater attack on the bridge, the attack and destruction of the Burrow, and other, smaller scenes.  I believe that, rather than creating new content for the film, the existing story should have been portrayed as fully as possible.  I think this would have made for a better film, and by far a better plot.  There was so much plot development left out of this film that it felt, in the words of @leftybrown, “paper thin.”

The film, however, was well directed.  The camera angles were well done.  The cinematography was very good.  The sound was excellent, and the special effects were, most of the time, stunning.  Dumbledore’s ring of protective fire in the Horcrux cave was spectacular.  His death was well filmed, evoking just the right set of emotions.  In all, the technical work of the film was fantastic.

Unfortunately, technical excellence is not enough to make up for glaring faults with the plot and the translation.  I still recommend seeing it, if you are at all immersed in the Harry Potter universe.  I warn you, however, not to hold your expectations too high.  Enjoy the movie as a simple movie, rather than an adaptation, and you might come out happier than I did.

-Because I said so

I noticed an entry on the Fresno Beehive about this site and, having nothing else better to do while at work, I gave it a try.  My results:

You are Times New Roman

Dude. You have three names. You’re blue blood, old money, landed gentry, confident, assured; perhaps a tad old fashioned but you don’t let that bother you. Let the kids go crazy with their new fads — you prefer style that’s going to last. You secretly fear you need to get out more, and you’re probably right.

Take the quiz on BuzzFeed.com

At least I wasn’t Comic Sans (like @mikeoz).

-Because I said so