Fantastic Beasts

My new CDs from Nashville Tribute Band

As I mentioned in my last post, I got a lot of things done on my day off this Wednesday. Some were things I just hadn't found time for and some were tasks I'd been battling to get done for quite awhile. The very first thing I did, of course, was head to Book Barn to buy Nashville Tribute Band's two most recent CDs. Spending most of Thanksgiving Day alone (and also getting a bunch of stuff taken care of, which is so satisfying), I had plenty of time to listen to both albums more than once. Both are awesome, but I particularly love Merry, the Christmas album. It will get a lot of play during this coming month! I'm listening to it right now, in fact.

And so, Wednesday was a good day. And that night, when our family got together to go see a movie, it was even better!

The interior of the new Firehouse Pizza in town.

Being a family of Harry Potter fans, we've all been anticipating the screening of a new film--from a screenplay by J.K. Rowling and set in the wizarding world--called Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Based on a tiny, humorous little Hogwarts "textbook" of the same name that Rowling wrote long ago as an addendum to the Harry Potter novels, this story takes place in New York in the 1940s, long before Harry, Ron, and Hermione were even a gleam in their daddies' eyes.

The movie came out last week but, as usual, our assortment of odd and overlapping work schedules prevented us from seeing the movie together until Wednesday evening. As it happened, Mark, Dylan, Jake, and myself were all off work that day, and Chris decided not to go with us. Sarah did work, until 4:00, but that just meant we had to go to the 6:45 showing. We all managed to get to the theater that night to enjoy the film together.

Inside Firehouse Pizza.

On our way to the theater, Mark and I decided to stop for dinner at one of the newest eateries in town, Firehouse Subs, and give it a try. The decor inside the restaurant was very cool and the food was pretty good. Mark was disappointed in his sub, the "Hook and Ladder," claiming it had more tomatoes in it than meat. I ordered the "Firehouse Hero," which was packed thickly with roast beef, ham, turkey, and provolone, and I found it to be very tasty. I thought that the prices were relatively high for the size of the sandwiches, in contrast to Subway. However, I'd say the quality and taste of both sub shops are comparable. The Firehouse sandwiches are definitely more juicy and drippy, but I liked that.

Movie poster outside the theater.

From the sub shop, we headed on down the highway to the theater. We were there early enough to have our choice of seats in the empty room. We didn't have to wait more than a few minutes before our kids arrived to join us. Then it was a little mini-reunion while we chatted for half an hour, until the movie began. After all the trailers played through, of course.

Dylan, Jake, and Mark before the movie started. Like father, like son.

How was the movie? In a word, FANTASTIC! We all agreed it was amazing. For the first twenty minutes or so, I was thinking, "What the heck!" as we met the new characters and absorbed the differences between the eras and the nations of this film and the original stories. Apparently the rules and terminology for magic are different for American and British wizards and witches. For instance, rather than being called "muggles," in the United States, non-magical folk are called "non-maj." Apparently, Rowling doesn't think we Americans are too creative.

After that introductory phase, however, the movie took off and we were swept into an amazing world of fantastic beasts and magical mayhem.  I've heard that as many as four sequels are set to follow, and we can't wait!

Mary and Sarah before the film commenced. It's getting chilly!