Cinnaminson, you'll be interested to know where that Bono pic of yours comes from. Every time I see that, or another still of him from that day with the flower in his hair, I could scream.....that pic was taken in May of 1983 after a concert on the campus of the State University at Albany, NY (SUNY), spring leg of the War tour. Specifically, I found out from staff there (that's where I got my undergrad degree in the early 90's), it was on the wide front lawn of the campus, near one of the bus stops. Sometimes there are still little stages set up for festivals there, it's the campus's biggest expanses of open undeveloped space, it's a big area. A girl in the front row offered him the rose when he got down on one knee during "SBS" I think.
Right now, I live a five minute's drive from the SUNY campus. That field is right down the street. And no, I didn't move there for that reason...I didn't know that the War tour had swung through here until a couple yrs ago...though I have to say that I try to pick up the good vibes daily from living so close to a spot where Bono's foot once touched
Some days I go past that spot and think that when I was 14 U2 actually played there and I WAS a fan at the time (since '81) but didn't know their tour schedule, if only they'd had the Net back then I would have known and got a ride there, parents be damned....
arrrghhhhh! I'm not exaggerating, they really did play there, and that's where I live....
Varitek, LOL! I've been doing the same thing, but b/c so many I have seen with the book here. I've seen 7 different people with it on the bus alone the first 10 days after it came out, one of them a college kid who was jealous of my Deluxe Edition and wanted me to tell everything I knew but without spoilng him...hm. Then there's work....there are 3 other people than me with the book, one of them a manager, and we've been having Snape arguments....you have SOME idea...mwahahaha. This is a big college town and I see a lot of college kids with the book in fact. But a lot of different people do. I showed my color picture of Snaoe from the title page to a little old lady the 2nd day it was out and she was tickled pink.
OK, I've finished the book and a few more things.
1) Varitek you are spot on about the humor.....my 2 favorite lines (besides Snape and shampoo) and Hermione saying "Oooh, you taste so much better than Crabbe and Goyle!" about the Polyjuice Potion and Ron's raised eyebrows..the whole Hermione doing a running commentary and how the Potion tastes from the various bits of hair in it....and Ron: "What in the name of Merlin's most baggy Y-Fronts was that all about?" I agree, esp in the Burrow sequence I was shaking with laughter. You'll be happy to know that on one of the Mugglenet podcasts recently Emerson had talked to someone who had interviewed Evanna Lynch and she confirmed that she would be doing the commentary for the Quidditch match in Film 6....I CAN'T WAIT!!!
I love how the whole "Potterwatch" radio broadcasts was a takeoff on the old underground radio broadcasts in England and France during WWII, esp in France right before and during D-Day, etc....where the whole population out in the countryside was tuned in to the possibilty of the Americans invading and in the days leading up to the invasion everyone would be tuning in, and the Resistance announcer would be doing his regular broadcast, there'd be jazz on the radio or a news bulletin or whatever, and then all of a sudden he'd say, "All right, attention citizens: "The word for today is, 'Tabletop'.....I repeat, 'Tabletop' " or some such word, and that would be the secret signal for a certain segment of the population to go do whatever to make ready...like setup barricades or primitve communication networks or even kill German guards or whatever. The peasant guy would drop his spade and sling on a gun and off they'd go, sometimes the women too. If you've seen the film "The Longest Day", you'd see how this worked-- stirring stuff. Of course the Germans were listening but there were pirate networks etc and they'd have no idea what the code meant, I forget how it actully worked. This is similar to how total mobilization for war used to work in Israel in 56, 67 and 74, etc, before the Net came along. Now they have mobilization messages keyed in to cellphones. Not very romantic....Anyway, the WWII allusions are great.
I have to say that it is a further strokeof genius on Jo's part that she did not reveal what Voldemort was all about until the very end. If we had had the skinny about him and his New World Order before Book 6 and 7 it would not have made as much of an impact at the end. In Books 1-5 we are kept in the isolation (to a certain extent) of the limiated scope of a child's world and their limiated mobility and experience narrows theirs (and our) viewpoint. LV is not back yet in the first books of course, but even in Book 5 when he is at large we are not taken into his world. He remains a distant figure even as the Ministry begins to fall under his thumb..and we know in retrospect he has started to make his presence felt. There's exposition by the adults about "last time" but we are never really given the lowdown on what LV's first Reign Of Terror was like. We, like Harry, have to discover it for ourselves. Thus, when LV takes over for almost a full yr in 7 and there are allusions to how students are affected in Hogwarts we remember back to the earlier books and the sunny world of Quidditch, earmuffs for Mandrakes, and Magical Creatures. We see at last how all that was an enchanting bubble while the storm gathered outside. We are on the "inside" in Books 1-4, and partially on the "outside" in 5-6. but 7 is the big screen and like another planet. We see the true scope of the thing at last. By revealing the true terrifying purpose of Voldemort's return, (it's not just about "purifying" the race) and actually subjcting the Wizarding World to a year of his regime, it is much darker than other stories....because the day isn't totally saved. The people really do get a true taste of the horror and suffer terribly, and for all the hoopla at the end you can tell that there will be no easy recovery or quick healing...there will be permnent scars.
And if anyone who thinks there arent political parallels....all I can think of today is how the Democrats, who control the House by 25+ seats, cowardly went along with Bush's expansion of illegal wiretapping powers and evisceration of FISA and his domestic spying program, and yesterday got his Patriot Act 3 (that's what I'm calling it) bill passed.....when it would have been so easy for them to stop it. And it's not like it is a public opinion issue....the public is not for secret and illegal wiretapping, or scrapping of legal protections....Sure, they promise to have it amended in 6 months but that's a crock of s***. Any attempt to amend would be blocked and vetoed....the American people did not send the Democrats to Congress last yr so they could turn into a cheerleading section for Bush and help him eviscarate the Constitution, but that's exactly what they're doing, furthering his agenda,while cowardly saying they're doing the opposite....and then they turn around and ask us to light candles and protest and above all SEND US YOUR MONEY. Well, I'm pround of the fact that I have not given them a #($(% red cent and never will....we already have Snatchers seizing some kinds of people. And I can't imagine any politician today shrinking from holding a position of power b/c they fear they'd damage the world they lived in by a possible misapplication of it. *Sigh* if only some people were as humble as Dumbledore....
SORRY about political rant, I just HAD to get that off my chest.....
Speaking of the films, the past few days I have been wondering HOW they are going to adapt DH, ever since finsihing the book. Here are some issues I have:
1)Part of me hopes David Yates would do it as he did an excellent job with 5. So much of Film 7 involves Jo moving the plot along by playing up the Harry/Voldemort mental connection....so much of the action is facilitated by Harry being "tuned in" to LV's circumstances and often he "lives through" or "acts out" depending on LV's actions or state of mind. I hope Harry's line to Ron "I am NOT a TV antenna!" is kept in. Yates has the visual representation of the Harry/LV connection down and there's no one better to do that. Also, he being keen on political issues I feel he would not shrink from showing the more harrowing effects of the LV Regime. In patricular I hope that in Films 6 and 7 whoever directs 7 especially, we see how Diagon Alley has changed. In HBP we see people scared and cautious and some shops dark, etc, but in DH it's like a shock with all the shops boarded up and the non-pureblood outcasts of Voldemort's reign of terror reduced to begging in the streets and moaning aobut how they are really wizards, and the Death Eaters mocking them as they stroll past like arrogant kings, I hope they show the guy who grabbed Harry and screamed about what have they done with his children. Hermione as Belltrix was even more powerful the second time around I read it and I'd like to think that her experiences in the hour that she is transformed into Bellatrix was the catalyst for her deciding on Magic\al Law for a career (though she didn't of course know it at the time.) If this is shown in the film it would be a fantastic contrast from the charming and enchanted Diagon Alley of Chris Columbus, with the cheery JW music...the score would be darker and more haunting here too. It would be a non-violent way to portray the New Order for the suits at Warner Brothers.
2) Speaking of Polyjuice Potion and the Cloak, it seems half the time the Trio are under the Cloak in DH and the Cloak itself is a major plot piece. How are they going to write this?
3)Things that unfortunately will have to go, even if the film is 3 hrs long: anything to do with Dumbledore's family, esp Ariana.
b)Aberforth they may or may not be able to squeeze in, he is alluded to briefly in Film 5, though how they are going to explain the secret passageway without explaining Ariana I don't know, and even so, how will they exaplain Aberforth. They might try to cut Aberforth out completely but how the Trio get into the blocked school, let alone have the little kids evacuate out,I dont't know. c)Rita Skeeter's artices may be briefly shown. Bathlda Bagshot is out, I think. d)Shell Cottage may be briefly shown as a recuperating place, but Griphook and the goblins are out, at least the deal with the sword is. Personally I think the Gringotts chapter would be a cinamtic waste but they'll want to show it anyway. e)If I were Yates or whoever, the breakin to the Ministry would not be shown either, as we've already been there and since we don't go back to the MOM it would be redundant and a waste. On the plus side, however, Yates would want to revisit Umbridge and it would be great to see how she isn't just the Headmistress from Hell, but a true instrument of terror in the new regime...a Guantanamo Bay interrogator...her true colors at last. But if the director just has Kreacher have the locket and go from there to the wilderness...fine. f) Of course the campong out would be skimmed over but we HAVE to have a winter scene, all the HP films have one, even OOTP (Christmas at GP), so the brief gaveyard visit to Harry's parents is in, as well as the Silver Doe, the next chapter, will have to be shown as it is how they get the sword and a great character deelopment moment for Ron. However, this is likely it for winter, no attack in the village By Nagini.
3)Hallows vs Horcruxes? There are an awful lot of magical objects here, all necessary to LV's destruction, so some mention of the Bard and fairy tale will have to be shown. However, how much to play up the Horcruxes (a major part of Book 6) in light of the wand and Halows...you can bet WB will want this scaled down for a non-fan audience....and I still only get MOST of the wand business!
So here's a synopsis for Film 7:
--We may or may not see opening of Malfoy Manor (I hope we do, if only for LV's great line, "What say you, Draco? Will you babysit the cubs?" LV with a sense of humor.....blechhh. )
--Leaving the Dursleys and the flight to the Burrow will be shown, but stopping at Tonks's family left out.
--the wedding may be briefly shown, as will Harry's 17th birthday, though the birthday more than the wedding. I hope Kingsley's Patronius shown in the dancers, that was great.
--the Trio escape, I hope the Muggle pub is shown (Ron hates cappucinos..LOL) ..our gang goes all Jet Li with the Death Eaters for a moment..yeah!
--Grimmauld Place, Harry briefly walks the house, if Yates directs we'll see Harry stopping at the Family Tree *sniff*, hopefully we'll see Sirius's bedroom, and Harry reading Lily's letter. Then Kreacher tells his sotry of the locket, flashbacks to the Cave from previous film.
--They may or may not go to the Ministry but probably not; they're accosted by DE's on the dorstep of GP and escape to the wilderness.
--Lupin finds them and hopefully we see the Harry-Lupin fight.
--Next two long scenes are winter scenes, one at Godric's Hollow and the next one, campong out and the Doe and locket Horcrux. I don't think Ron shouldbe shown leaving here, the whole jealousy thing from a film standpoint is redundant.
--Luna and her dad, this chapter is brilliant, Luna becomes and important character as she has the secret of the Hallows. Brief scene in her house as she talks apbut them,she could show them her kid's story book. Evanna Lynch's voice is the perfect thing to narrate the ghostly tale of the Hallows. This couldbe the longest "expository" sene in the film.
--Instead of them escaping, Luna and all the others could be captured and taken to the Manor. You couldn't expect to cram a subplot about Luna being taken off the Hogwarts Express at Christmas to make it into the film; better to have her captured with Harry and the gang. In the cellar they meet Ollivander, who tells them briefly about the wandlore. We see Bella interrogating Hermione and while we don't see her being tortured directly, we see Bella saying crucio and (hopefully) maybe a few closeups of Ron's reaction as we hear Emma screaming a few times.....then it could cut to Bella holding a limp and unconscious Hermione with the knife at her throat, a thin line of blood down her throat etc, and a DH killing Wormtail, then Dobby appears and saves the day...Bella throws the kinife as they Apparente....
--Wherever this is, Dobby's funeral has GOt to be in the film, I'll be very upset if it isn't!
--Gringotts may or may not be shown, personally I think it is a waste of time.
--from here they could go to Hogsmeade and the final part of the film could begin, which is the most cinematic part of the book of course. My personal fear is that they make the battle of Hogwarts action sequences a half hour long and it takes away from Harry's travails. There are all kinds of "cutsie" things here (the Mandrakes over the wall, etc)that could take away from the drama.
--Snape's death will of course be shown but HOW do you fit in the Pensieve and the Prince's Tale!>!?!? WillHarry even be there? PLEASE do not MESS THIS UP!!!!!( I pray to the Four Winds they will not!!!)
--Any other ideas? The Forest Again and King's Cross will be showstoppers.
--I hope Lupin and Tonks get their grief but powerful subplot. This would be easy to do, in just 3 or 4 scenes with a few lines of dialgoue, like Lupin Film 5. Film 5 does seem to set up a Book 7 presence so here's hoping...
at the things she's come up with.
http://www.iconator.com/search.php?query=Harry+Potter&stype=avatars&icat=0&vcat=0&wcat=0&acat=0
I haven't seen anyone with the book, actually 
