Saturday, July 9, 2011

Magical Day

I could not wait for today. Being a avid Harry Potter fan, the opportunity to see close up the costumes and props used in the movies was truly amazing. When we arrived, I was not surprised to be met by a long line for tickets, which minutes after we arrived stretched out of the building.

When we finally we allowed into the exhibit I was enthralled by how amazing the props looked like up close. I could recall the same outfits that he actors and actresses wore in the films. While every aspect of the exhibit was amazing, I must say that the part I liked the most was the Quidditch section because I loved the detail J.K. Rowling used when she wrote about the epic Quidditch matches. I was particularly happy when I got to see the equipment and even use one of the balls, the Quaffle, to throw into a hoop. As we moved through the exhibit I was amazed by each case of props and by seeing each prop, I remembered the part of the movies when it was used. With the series ending in the coming week, this was truly a morning to remember.

Once we arrived on campus, I set off to my dorm room to work on my final paper about whether the government should be able to regulate racial speech, literature, and other objects of groups such as the Klu Klux Klan. My stance is that the government should have the power to regulate the racial speech because in the eyes of the law, speech is speech, racial or not. If it can be proven that the object or speech at question poses a "clear and present danger" to society then the government has the right to prevent such speech. If the government didn't have this power then all havoc could break loose because it would be legal to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theatre. In my paper, I added quotes from previous cases such as Schenck v. United States and Abrams v. United States where the Supreme Court applied the "clear and present danger" test to support my claim. I argue that because the Supreme Court has already ruled that if speech poses "clear and present danger" the government can regulate it, then the judges should refer to the past decisions and allow the government to regulate speech from racial groups if and only if it presents a clear and present danger. After working for the afternoon, I was hungry and looking forward to dinner.

For dinner, Beilul and I went to a Russian restaurant dubbed Uncle Vanya's. I found the food to be overpriced and not as good as I thought it would be. In order to help us, the students, my RA, Pavel, had the waiter provide the theatre menu which gave customers one soup, salad, and entree for $20. When I heard about this I was excited to have found such a bargain, but as I looked at the bleak menu I realized it as too good to be true. The portions were small and I learned that Russian food isn't my thing. Regardless, I'm glad I got to taste a different type of food.

No comments:

Post a Comment