*05.03.2005 - 9:16 a.m.*

Wow...this diary has passed the five year milestone...*reflects*

Yesterday I wanted to get some cleaning and organizing done for when I pack up my life into some carboard boxes and move down the road a bit.

I didn't.

I took the day off instead. I had worked Saturday and Sunday, I wanted my day of rest, and yesterday I took it. I spent most of the day lying on the couch and reading. I really miss doing that. I did finish a whole book that I've been meaning to finish. (It's a Star Trek novel, so I'm not going to review it here.) Anyway, at around 5:25pm or so, Julianne called and asked if we were still on for Prex. She had a bunch of stuff to trade, and I had some DVDs I didn't see myself ever watching again. So I told her I'd pick her up at 6:30. Needless to say, I was late, but Dave and Cam decided to come along too, so it was a trade off :-)

Anyway, we got to Prex, handed in our stuff, and looked around. This is why I love Prex; if any of you have read or seen Star Trek, specifically episodes or books with Vulcans in them, you'll know about the IDIC. Prex is a great example of that. No matter when you go, you'll always find something new and different. For instance, yesterday I found (and got):

• Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young - So Far for $9.99
• Lemon Jelly - Lost Horizons for $9.99
• Lemon Jelly - lemonjelly.ky for $9.99
• Cowboy Bebop - Remixes for $7.99
• Cowboy Bebop - Future Blues for $7.99

After Prex, we went to Small World Coffee where I got a chocolate oreo thing, a blondie, and my usual Mocha Au Lait Breve. We all knoshed on the treats, and I drank my coffee and just sat and talked and had fun. I love that place. The atmosphere is very cozy, the coffee is to die for, and the food is really very good.

After coffee, Dave and I drove Julianne home and dropped Cam off at the house, and we went to go to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Ok, I'm one of those people whose been reading the five book trilogy since I was 14 or so. I know the stories pretty gosh darn well. I also know so confusing some of those stories can be. After hearing all the reviews, I went in not expecting the books, but hoping that they at least got some of the meat and potatoes of the series, and did it in the same spirit that Douglas Adams would have.

I can't say I was disappointed. I wasn't really. It was a gorgeous movie. It was funny. There were definite bits in there that were verbaitim from the book, and little hidden jokes for the fans of the series to enjoy. If what they had been going for was a straight out telling of the book, they would have failed miserably. There were entire plot points in there that were complete fabrications made purely for the movie.

Fortunately, they weren't going for a straight re-telling of the book. I got that immediately when the theme song "So Long and Thanks For All the Fish" came on. If they had been trying to go for the book, they would have started the movie with the Earth, and a girl on her own in a cafe in Islington having a briliant idea. But they didn't. They started with dolphins. They wanted the audience to realize that this movie was going to be far from "normal" sci-fi, but there was going to be a point to it.

That's the problem with turning books into movies. For movies there has to be a story to move the movie along at a rapid pace. Hitchhiker's Guide is like A Series Of Unfortunate Events That Happens to Arthur Dent. There's no real "point" to the books except for the readers to laugh, and be amazed, and realize that this universe is big, and there's no way to know what's going to happen next. That would never work in a movie. There has to be tension, there has to be drama, there has to be The Point.

For fitting the book into the movie formula, I have to say that they did a decent job. They got the meat and potatoes of the book, they got the fact that Arthur has to adapt or else things are just going to keep happening, they got the fact that there is always something bigger, stranger, and weirder to find... and they left it open for Restaurant At the End Of the Universe if the franchaise proves strong enough. My take on it is, as long as people have fun at the movie, and then want to read the series, I'm happy.

So, after the movie, Dave and I went to Fridays for dinner. We sat, and ate, and talked, and the food was way too spiced but it was ok. We both came to the same conclusion about HHGTTG...we probably wouldn't get the DVD unless it came with a super ton of extras, deleted scenes, and a Marvin plushie :-) Me being the huge geek I am...I am more likely to get it them him, but only to show to people whom I want to get interested in the series. The mini series, and close an adaptation as it was, should be reserved for someone who's already read and enjoyed at least the first book.

So, that was my day. Today is the day to Do Stuff (tm), and it's 9am now so I should stop typing and start doing.