'Best of TBH Politoons'
Baron Dave Romm
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
By Baron Dave Romm
Shockwave Radio Theater
podcasts
Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows release party podcast (interviews
from the event)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The Event
The
Rotunda at the Mall of America
seconds after midnight July 20/21
2007CE, celebrating the release of
Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final chapter in the series, was released at midnight on Friday night, July 20, 2007. You might have heard something about it.
Yeah, this means that I skipped from the book and movie of Order of the Phoenix, the fifth in the series, to the seventh, quickly reading the sixth in-between. You'll have to wait until the movie comes out for my comments on Half-Blood Prince. I've now read DH or HP7, as it's referred to online. This column will not have any spoilers.
What I want to talk about it the hoopla, specifically the Release Party thrown by the Barnes & Nobles at the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. All this fuss for a book. It makes us literary types happy.
The Book Release Party
MoA can be a fun place. For kids. Watering Holes have largely disappeared: The fourth level -- formerly full of bars, comedy clubs, night life and video parlors -- is dark. The movie theaters around the corner are still going, but the only fourth floor establishment to have survived is Hooters. This amuses me greatly.
The Rotunda is a large area near the entrance closest to public transportation, with a glass elevator and four levels of viewing. Aside from the amusement park in the middle of the Mall (formerly Camp Snoopy and currently The Park, though they're talking about another sponsorship), the Rotunda is the every-changing showcase. I always park on that side of the Mall, just to see what, if anything, is going on in the Rotunda as I enter. Could be N'Sync, could be a Home Show. Could be a bunch of people dressed as wizards and letting kids make Troll Snot and petting sharks.
Kid as
a young Harry Potter petting a shark
Barnes & Noble has a prime spot on the first level, the store closest to the Rotunda. Booksellers don't throw may parties, but when they do it's a doozy. Worldwide, for all the books after the first, the Harry Potter releases have been cause for celebration. People come from thousands of miles away and plan their vacations around the party they want to come to. Really.
I talked to one guy from Virginia who came to Minnesota for the event at the Mall of America. The kicker: He and his wife came to the Minnesota event because flying to Scotland was too expensive. HP7 is big deal.
A few photos by Baron Dave
A snake and handler
you couldn't pet the
snakes, alas
note that the snake continues around her
middle
A view of
the stage and Rotunda area
(glass elevator behind the curved
supports to the right)
Costume contests, magicians and more were
on hand for two and a half hours
The Sorting Hat
You
could find out which House you belonged in
then do games based on
your house
and have a Tarot reading or your palm read
Science was magic
for Potter fans
Mad Scientist Joe Swenson recreates an electrical
experiment
from local
science fiction conventions
Troll Snot
or polymers... magic is
magic
Non-spoiler thoughts following the book release
The last book in the Harry Potter series is good, and if you liked the previous books you must read this one to find out what happens and how. Perhaps not right away: the book will be around for a long, long time. If you wait, you'll probably find out about what happens; that's the only downside. JK Rowling is a good writer, and you'll enjoy reading the book even if the plot's been spoiled.
Rowling has said she's done writing Harry Potter books, but might write an encyclopedia and/or fill in some of the storylines that had to be cut from the books. Anything she writes from now on will be judged by the Harry Potter books, but I suspect she'll be up to the challenge. My prediction: Rowling's next fiction book will be pretty good, but get bad reviews. She might have to wait another story arc, or until a new generation of kids grows up with her new novels, before her place in literary history is finalized.
In the meantime, we have seven Harry Potter books (and eventually seven movies) with all the magic and marketing of childhood.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes in a Live Journal demi-blog, plays with a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E. Podcasts of Shockwave Radio Theater. Permanent archive. More radio programs, interviews and science fiction humor plays can be accessed on the Shockwave Radio audio page.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
--////
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Dennis Shepard: A father's appeal: choose to act (advocate.com)
As Congress moves to make the Matthew Shepard Act a reality, Dennis Shepard urges you to take action.
Don Shewey: Madonna: The X-Rated Interview (advocate.com)
She's ballsy, irreverent, and still thoughtful-everything you love about Madonna. Venture back to 1991 with this epic conversation between The Advocate's Don Shewey and the woman who taught America how to vogue.
Erica Friedman's Guide to Yuri (afterellen.com)
Since she created AniLesboCon in 2000, a website covering lesbian-themed anime, Erica Friedman has become one of the world's top publishers of and experts on yuri, or Japanese comics featuring same-sex relationships between women. In this article, Friedman, now the president and founder of Yuricon and ALC Publishing, a North American publisher specializing in yuri, tells us about the best yuri out there.
Craig Young: What Does the Loss of Insightout Mean For Gay Publishing? (afterelton.com)
At first blush, the closing of Insightout, a book club that provided a monthly catalogue spotlighting gay literature sent to the club's 50,000 members, may seem like a blip on our collective radar. A catalogue, after all, seems a relic of the pre-Internet past because we now have sites like Amazon's Listmania and bookstores like Borders that provide options for recommending gay literature. So, why should we care? Because the closing may have a broader impact on gay literature that isn't readily apparent to readers.
Don Shewey: Madonna: The X-Rated Interview, Part 2 (advocate.com)
Q: So when did you have your first sexual experience with a woman?
A: Probably when I was about 7 or 8. All of my sexual experiences when I was young were with girls. I mean, we didn't have these sleepover parties for nothing. I think that's really normal: same-sex experimentation. You get really curious, and there's your girlfriend, and she's spending the night with you, and it happens.
Roger Ebert: Killer of Sheep (1977; A Great Movie)
Ordinary daily life is one of the hardest things for a movie to portray, because so many other movies have trained us to expect patterns and plots. In my own 1977 review of Charles Burnett's "Killer of Sheep," I made that mistake of expectation, in a sentence so wrong-headed it cries out to be corrected: "But instead of making a larger statement about his characters, he chooses to show them engaged in a series of daily routines, in the striving and succeeding and failing that make up a life in which, because of poverty, there is little freedom of choice."
Tom Tomorrow: This Modern World
Standard Conservative Responses to Health Care Reform
David Bruce: Personalized Anecdote Books
If you would like to give away one of my books as a gift, I will be happy to add a page to it saying "Happy Birthday" or "Happy Anniversary" or so on with whatever name or names you want me to write. This is the way it will work ...
Matthew Shepard Foundation
Hubert's Poetry Corner
FIGMO or OMGIF?
You decide?
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Summer hot & humid.
Still trying to get caught up - here's the page of 2007 Emmy Nominations.
Berlin Names Street
Frank Zappa
Berlin has named a street after the late US rock legend and counterculture guru Frank Zappa in a ceremony complete with a tribute concert, organisers said Sunday.
Marzahn, a district on the eastern fringe of the capital made up of communist-era prefabricated high-rise housing blocks, became home to Germany's first Frank Zappa Strasse late Saturday.
Orwo Haus, a former factory which calls itself the biggest practice centre for young bands in Europe, launched an initiative two years ago to rename 300-meter-long (980-foot-long) Street 13 after the provocative star.
Frank Zappa
22nd Annual
Imagen Awards
The Imagen Awards honor contributions by and about Hispanics in the entertainment industry.
A complete list of 2007 Imagen Awards winners:
MOVIES:
• Best Picture: "Pan's Labyrinth."
• Best Actor: Kuno Becker, "Goal."
• Best Actress: Ivana Baquero, "Pan's Labyrinth."
• Best Supporting Actor: Gerardo Teracena, "Apocalypto."
• Best Supporting Actress: Dalia Hernandez, "Apocalypto."
• Best Director: Guillermo del Toro, "Pan's Labyrinth."
• Best Theatrical Short or Student Film: "La Primavera Communion."
• Best Theatrical Production: "Macho Men & The Women Who Love Them."
• Best Documentary: "Lalo Guerrero, The Original Chicano."
TELEVISION:
• Best Prime-time Series: "Ugly Betty."
• Best Actor: Miguel Ferrer, "Crossing Jordan."
• Best Actress: America Ferrera, "Ugly Betty."
• Best Supporting Actor: Jose Yenque, "Between."
• Best Supporting Actress: Ana Ortiz, "Ugly Betty."
• Best Variety or Reality Show: "Dancing With The Stars."
• Best Children's Programming: "Dora The Explorer."
• Best Local Informational Programming: "Life And Times."
• Best National Informational Programming: "Voces."
• Best On-Air Advertising: "Splenda: Mama Yo Quiero New."
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT:
• Creative Achievement Award: America Ferrera.
• Norman Lear Writer's Award: Cynthia Cidre, writer of the upcoming CBS series "Cane."
• President's Award: Disney-ABC Television Group.
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Walter Ulloa, chairman and CEO of Entravision Communications Corp.
Imagen Awards
Best-Of DVD
'Colbert Report'
Stephen Colbert's legacy has been preserved in self-portraits, a Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor and an Ontario Hockey League mascot named Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle. Now, the satirist is getting a DVD.
Highlights from the first two years of "The Colbert Report" will be compiled for a single-disc DVD to be released Nov. 6, Comedy Central told The Associated Press. An official announcement of the DVD will be made Monday.
"The Best of 'The Colbert Report'" will include sketches from segments such as "The Word," "Better Know a District," "Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger" and "Threat Down." Celebrity interviews will also be featured.
'Colbert Report'
Wedding News
Stringfield - Martin
Steve Martin married girlfriend Anne Stringfield during a ceremony at his Los Angeles home, his publicist said.
Former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, a friend of Martin's, presided over Saturday's ceremony, Alan Nierob said. Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels was Martin's best man, he said.
Most of the roughly 75 guests - who included Tom Hanks, Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy, Carl Reiner and Ricky Jay - were not told that he and Stringfield would wed when they were invited to his home for a "party," Nierob said. The ensuing nuptials were a surprise to them, he said.
Martin delivered his vows sporting an Inspector Clouseau mustache he let grow in for his appearance in the upcoming sequel to 2006's "Pink Panther" remake.
Stringfield - Martin
Southaven High School
John Grisham
John Grisham's essay about his life in high school is expected to bring in record sales for his alma mater's literary magazine this year.
"I wrote him asking if he would write a letter to the students that we could use as an introduction," said April Holifield, the sponsor for Melange, the magazine of poetry, short stories, essays and art work produced by students at Southaven High School.
"A couple of weeks later, he wrote back asking what our deadline was. About two months later, he sent us an essay about his experiences as a student at Southaven High School," she said.
The best-selling novelist was born in Arkansas and lived across the South before graduating in 1973 from Southaven, about 15 miles south of Memphis, Tenn.
John Grisham
No 'Day' in St. Louis
Ike Turner
Music legend Ike Turner said he holds nothing against St. Louis' mayor for a decision not to issue a City Hall proclamation in his honor.
Mayor Francis Slay has turned down a request from organizers of the Big Muddy Blues Festival to make Sept. 2 "Ike Turner Day." Turner, 75, is scheduled to perform that day at the blues festival in St. Louis.
Turner says he never asked for the honor. He notes he already has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame, and said he doesn't worry about whether he's given those honors.
The mayor suggested, through a spokesman, that Ike Turner could visit a St. Louis center that provides services to domestic violence victims to call attention to the issue.
Ike Turner
Bhaktapur's Living Goddess
Sajani Shakya
As goddesses go, this 10-year-old Nepali girl has modest ambitions.
"I want to become a photographer," said the shy Sajani Shakya as she jumped from the couch and grabbed an envelope with photographs of her recent visit to the United States.
Sajani hit world headlines this month as some religious authorities threatened to strip her of her "living goddess" title after she visited the United States to promote a British-made film about her life.
Nepali priests had enthroned Sajani as the Kumari or "living goddess" of Bhaktapur eight years ago -- a position worshipped by thousands of Hindus and Buddhists alike in a deeply religious nation.
But some religious leaders were unhappy over the girl's U.S. trip, saying she had defied time-honoured traditions. Authorities say they are yet to take a final decision on whether to strip the girl of her divinity.
Sajani Shakya
Cowboy Museum Statue
John Wayne
John Wayne has been honored on the 100th anniversary of the year of his birth with a larger-than-life bronze statue at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
Two of Wayne's grandchildren, Anita LaCava Swift and Nick Kuhle, attended the unveiling Saturday of the 8-foot, 8-inch statue depicting the actor in cowboy boots, spurs, chaps and a hat, holding a rifle in his left hand and wearing a gun belt and holster.
Wayne was a leader of the museum and served as a trustee from the museum's opening in 1965 until his death in 1979.
Sculptor Edward J. Fraughton said he modeled the statue after the middle years of Wayne's career and tried "to portray him in a real epic form rather than as an individual in a particular film."
John Wayne
Weekend Box Office
'The Simpsons Movie'
Woo Hoo! "The Simpsons Movie" turned doughnuts into dollars over the weekend, raking in $71.9 million to debut as the top movie this week.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "The Simpsons Movie," $71.9 million.
2. "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry," $19.1 million.
3. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," $17.1 million.
4. "Hairspray," $15.6 million.
5. "No Reservations," $11.8 million.
6. "Transformers," $11.5 million.
7. "Ratatouille," $7.2 million.
8. "Live Free or Die Hard," $5.4 million.
9. "I Know Who Killed Me," $3.4 million.
10. "Who's Your Caddy," $2.9 million.
'The Simpsons Movie'
In Memory
Michel Serrault
French actor Michel Serrault, best known internationally for the 1978 comedy La Cage aux Folles, has died after a long illness, his family announced late Sunday.
Serrault, 79, one of the great names of French cinema, made 135 films in a career covering more than 50 years, and shone in straight roles as well as the comedy for which he was perhaps better known.
La Cage aux Folles, in which he played a flamboyant drag performer, was adapted from a stage hit about a gay couple. It proved an unexpected hit internationally.
Serrault died at his home in Normandy, northern France.
Michel Serrault
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