The Boy Who Lived - Spoiler Free

In case you were stranded on a deserted island for the last month and didn't know, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows was released this weekend. Records were broken (5000 copies per minute in the US). Fights broke out. Police may or may not have arrested people for spoiling the ending at Harvard Square. Pretty much par for the course. As a side note, it is interesting to me how lining up to be the first to purchase or see something is becoming more and more "cool." Recently people have lined up for Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, iPhone, Harry Potter, and every weekend it seems like people are lining up to see the latest Hollywood blockbuster at a midnight showing. I find this to be an interesting trend in pop culture. I wonder when it will flip and no longer be "the cool thing to do?"

But back to the Potter. I really enjoyed The Deathly Hallows. It wasn't my favorite of the series but I did find it quite satisfying. I loved how Harry, Ron, and Hermoine have all grown and developed over the course of the series. Harry has really grown into his hero roll. I did find the climax to be slightly annoying but in retrospect I am OK with it. I don't want to ruin the ending for anyone so I will leave it at that.

My favorite part of the book was the epilogue. Once again, I don't want to ruin it for everybody so I won't say too much more. I actually want to say a little more about this part. I have written three or four sentences and erased them all because I felt like I was giving too much away. So I will just say that I really enjoyed the book and thought that it was a solid end to a fantastic series. I am content. I am interested to hear what other people think now that the series has been completed. Are you happy? Disappointed? One request, please leave the comments spoiler free. I don't want to ruin the ending for anybody.

I Don't Like Angry Street Performers

Well I still can't get my Lamejack to sync with my computer so I ended up texting the files to my Gmail. How lame is that? I had to text files to myself because I couldn't connect my phone to my own computer. I guess it is cool in the sense that there are so many different ways to share information but it sucks because I had to use the most clumsy option available to make it work. I don't want to become involved in a boring "rant" and turn this blog into the "I Hate.... Blog" so I will just leave it at that and continue forward with the originally scheduled programming.




I was cruising around the 3rd Street Promenade last night after purchasing my ticket to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (which was great by the way) because I had about an hour to kill. So I was enjoying the refreshing summer evening, getting my much needed dose of people watching, and enjoying the various street performers when I happened to pass by the one street performer that I truly hate. Oh wait, I just said in the previous paragraph that I don't want this to be the "I Hate...Blog." Screw it. I really don't like this guy and will make an exception to the rule and post my lame little rant about him. If this bores you, feel free to check out some sweet mash ups at The Hood Internet.

For the record, I generally love street performers. They really add to the ambiance of The Promenade and make it a cool, fun place to pass an evening. I love The Supa Lowery Bros., The Psychic Cat, the Asian guy that balances dishware on his head, the break dancers, and I even like the two fat and greasy rockers who are ALWAYS covering American Pie in the style of Don McClean. However, I can't stand this guy:



I can't stand him because he is so angry and abrasive. He revels in making people feel uncomfortable and his modus operandi is to guilt people in to donations. He is not fun to be around and just puts me in a bad mood every time I see him. He totally ruins the sweet Promenade vibe.

This doesn't mean that he is a complete waste. I found out last night that he has been doing this act for 22 years now and just bought a Lincoln Navigator. So he must have some redeeming qualities, right? He is a great dancer. He can be funny sometimes. But this isn't enough to overcome the whole anger issue I have with him. If he wasn't such a jerk I would toss him a few bucks each time I watched him perform. Instead, I usually try to get away from his performance as soon as I see that it is him. The whole I'm gonna fight you sucka if you don't give me money act just drives me crazy. I am getting a little worked up just writing this. I don't want to pass the rest of the day angry so I will just leave it at that. The dude is angry and abrasive and not fun to watch. I wish he would take his act to Hollywood Blvd. exclusively. When I stumbled upon him there, it didn't bother me nearly as much because I was already in Hollywood which has a completely different feel to it.

Anyways, here is a short video clip of him from last night. I realize that this post is promoting a jerk I don't like but hopefully by posting this video to show that he is kind of good at what he does it will help balance out the overall negativity of this post.

HP7 Book Jacket

It is time to break out your wands, capes, and non-prescription glasses. The release of the seventh Harry Potter book is fast approaching. The official jacket for Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows was released today. If you don't already have your costume ready for the release party/waiting in line, don't worry. You still have time to put something together. Don't procrastinate though, I hear the Harry Potter glasses are becoming quite difficult to secure.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The highlight of my day so far was receiving a nice little email from Barnes & Noble informing me that I could now pre-order the final Harry Potter book - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It looks like the book will be released on July 21st.

I am both excited and disappointed at the same time. I am not excited for the possibility of seeing a naked Harry but because it is the next installment in the Harry Potter story. Yet, I am disappointed because it is the final chapter in what has become one of my favorite stories of all time. I like the story so much that I even bought a GIGANTIC poster from the first Harry Potter movie at a charity auction without thinking through the logistics of a) how will I get the poster home when it is too big to fit in my car and b) where will I hang the poster when I do get it home. That is what I get for being such an impulse buyer. Many of you reading this will be happy to know that yes, I do in fact still make many decisions based on emotion.

So it is with bitter-sweet joy that I await Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.