Kitten, Harry Potter & Relay for Life (07.16.11)

I'm ordinarily not one of those, "Hey everyone! It's the weekend! Let's jump up and do lots and lots of things!" type of guys. I'm more like a, "Hey... it's the weekend. Now I don't have to do anything at all" person. Still, the reality on most Saturdays is that I do have things to do, like it or not. While yesterday was indeed a busy weekend day, I'm happy to report that it was chock full of fun.

I Can Has Itty Bitty Kitty?

Blog readers, meet Sneak, the cat who is apparently mine.

My son and his mother (my ex, who I manage to tolerate only for the kid's sake) conspired together, and with no consultation with me, decided to bring a new animal into my home. I finished a show in SL on Thursday night, walked downstairs, and there was this eight-week-old feline in my living room. The only thing that made me less annoyed than I should have been under the circumstances is that a) I do miss having a cat in the house since my buddy Captain went to the Great Litterbox in the Sky in March, and b) this particular little cat seems pretty spunky. The first thing she did was hiss at me, which I took for a good sign.

Side note: I use the pronoun "she" with a high degree of uncertainty. I really have no idea what the gender of this kitten is, but fortunately I won't need a degree in catology to find out. She (or he) has a vet appointment on Monday for shots and all that, so I'll let the experts fill me in. My son, meanwhile, has named the cat "Sneak", so that will work regardless of gender. Saturday morning, we spent a good portion of the early hours finding the cat (who'd gone exploring around the home overnight, naturally), and then dislodging her from behind the bookcase where she'd wandered and gotten stuck.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2: We Approve

Harry and the gang go into badass wizard mode in this final film. Image copyright Warner Bros.

I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan. It would be a little creepy, IMHO, for a 42-year-old man to devote much emotional focus on a story aimed at kids and teenagers. Still, I've admired and respected the universe that J.K. Rowling built with this franchise, and the films have been well made and a fun means of escapism. My ladyfriend Kat, on the other hand, has been a devoted reader of the books, and has been awaiting this final film with high anticipation. Combined with the fact that my son is now old enough to not be frightened by the darker imagery of the series as it's progressed, I looked forward to seeing it as well, and it didn't disappoint. Really enjoyable film, with some very respectable acting performances by much of the great cast.

We saw HP7.2 at the South Bay Galleria AMC theater not far from here, and also took along Kat's sister. It made for a fun day, starting with a food court lunch and culminating with the film, which we all enjoyed. In addition to our cumulative eight thumbs up, it has a 100% positive critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and is already the biggest box office opener in history, so we're apparently not alone in enjoying the film. But there wasn't much time afterwards to hang out and discuss what we'd seen, because I needed to get back home and warm up for...

Relay for Life 2011 in SL

We had a fun crowd and did a great show for a very important cause during SL's Relay for Life 2011. Photos by Kat.

I requested to my manager Maali Beck that she make sure I got a slot to perform at this year's main Relay for Life event in SL. I have done dozens of RFL shows in SL over the last four years, but the final event of the year -- the actual relay -- is always an important one for fundraising (and awareness raising). As I've mentioned previously, RFL in SL is every bit as legitimate as the Relay in real life, and raises significant funds for the American Cancer Society... over $350,000 USD so far in 2011 alone.

Our crowd was lively and we had a very fun time despite the seriousness of the cause. A good number of Zaksters, including my lovely Kat, Triana Caldera, Diana Renoir, TheaDee, Horizon Darkstone, and many more turned up for the occasion, and despite my having hurried home and jumping into my show, it went very well.

RFL 2011 Set List
Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)
Into The Mystic (Van Morrison)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
The Man Who Sold the World (David Bowie)
California (Joni Mitchell)
Shine (Zak Claxton)
Comes a Time (Neil Young)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Blue Skies (Irving Berlin)
The Right Thing to Do (Carly Simon)
Wonderwall (Oasis)
Who Do You Love (Bo Diddly)

Thanks to all who came out, enjoyed the show, and helped contribute toward fighting cancer! You rule!