Granola...

I saw HP last night with Kathy A and a friend of hers (whom I have met before and is a wonderful human). I think we all really enjoyed the movie, I know I did. I think it's probably my fav of the HPs thus far.

I agree with a lot of what people said above. Couldn't have loved Gary Oldman more. When I read the book, I didn't care that Sirius died. I just didn't have an emotional investment in him beyond him being important to Harry. GO's performance actually made me have a little twinge when he kicked it.

Even though it's a departure from the book, I like that they had Cho be the snitch. She was under the veritas stuff (as Snape tells us later), but it upped the dramatic tension for it to be Cho.

I also agree with sumi about the quills hurting everyone. More a running with the idea and that scene with the Twins comforting the wee one was wonderful. The Twins were great and their exit from Hogwarts was brilliant!

I wanted more of Lupin, TONKS!, and Luna .

I also have to say that the producers lucked out big time with Daniel Radcliffe -- of the three kids, he's the only one I can really see having an acting career after this is over.

Emma Watson signed a $4 million deal to be the new face of Chanel. She probably won't have to act much.

I was going to say -- I can see Emma Watson having a career after this is over, but not because she can act.

I haven't turned my TV over after Medium, and there's a movie on called "Lost", which stars Dean Cain. He appears to be doing an impression of Tom-Cruise-doing-promotion the entire time.

Emma Watson signed a $4 million deal to be the new face of Chanel. She probably won't have to act much.

This could explain a lot. I've been reading snippets here and there about her being quite the baby diva. Given her range of emotion so far, modeling might just be a better gig for her.

Hey, David! That's great news about your book!

Hey, David! That's great news about your book!

It's cool and it's also weird. I'm realizing how different the internet critical culture has changed even since we put out Lost in the Grooves. It's not like you wait for the paper reviews to come in anymore. The blogosphere (are we still calling it that?) generates its own momentum and expectations.

Anyway, I posted in the forum and people were nice. Though my appearance may have also stifled some negative reactions.

In some ways it's good, though. I didn't write this book to please everybody and I knew that it would be, if not polarizing at least, an acquired taste.

I'm trying to finish it now and had to step away because I was breaking my rule about being Adjectival. It's exhausting trying to find twenty five different ways to write about music without standard tropes and cliches. It really is like dancing about architecture. Which I have to defend. If Balanchine wants to do a ballet about the Chrysler Building then you know it'd be interesting.

The other night while heading downtown to meet some friends, I passed a dance troupe performing on the side of the building, suspended by rock-climbing gear on the window washers' cables. It was lovely and strange, but not once did I think of it as a metaphor for what we're doing.

It was lovely and strange, but not once did I think of it as a metaphor for what we're doing.

It's a good metaphor for something!

Or, maybe it should not mean but be.

The funny thing about Dan Radcliffe being the better actor is, that in the first couple of movies he was completely outshone by Rupert and Emma. And, yes, I think even Emma is taller now.

One thing that I needed was the identity ofthe other members of the Order of the Phoenix. Sirius, Lupin, Snape, Moody & Mr. Weasley I knew but there were 3 or 4 others that I didn't recognize. Mostley the ones who rescued Harry.

Also, about Cho Harry reacted when Snape mentioned that they had used the last of the serum to interrogate her. I kept expecting some kind of reconciliation scene.

I liked Luna but the bit about her stuff being taken by, what? left me a litte WTF?

Was the trailer for "Stardust" one of the ones before HP? I picked that book up off the lending library randomly as airplane reading, and had no idea it was already in production as a movie. Am now desirous of seeing it.