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.

quester, the stuff about Luna and her stuff getting stolen was, I believe, to show that she was a weirdo and being picked on by her classmates. They stole her stuff slowly, over the course of the entire year, as a prank/to pick on the weird kid .

In the book, it is made clear that Luna's stuff is routinely nicked and that she has a very sanguine attitude about it. I always thought this made her seem a bit LESS weird. More wise and world weary, despite her belief in unbelievable things. It's my sense that this will play a larger role in the last book. Somehow, she and Neville are going to save at least one day with their self-awareness and willingness to deal with whatever comes.

I saw HP last night with Kathy A and a friend of hers (whom I have met before and is a wonderful human).

::waves at ChiKat, and agrees on my friend's wonderfulness!::

I think we all really enjoyed the movie, I know I did. I think it's probably my fav of the HPs thus far.

ITA here as well. For me, the direction was better for Prisoner of Azkaban, but the acting from both Radcliffe and Staunton put this one in first place. I was first aware of DR's improvement in his acting skills from his delivery of a throwaway line in PoA ("I think I was lucky not to be arrested, actually"), which struck me as a naturalistic delivery that he was incapable of in the first two films. He still had some stumbling blocks in #3 and #4 (he couldn't cry convincingly in #3, and he had some issues with conveying anger in #4, which got me nervous about OotP), but he's progressed very well indeed in this film.

As for Imelda Staunton, well, I've heard some reviews that said she could get a Best Supporting Actress nod from the Academy for this, and I'd have to agree. It's up there with sheer villainess perfection with La Streep's turn in The Devil Wears Prada, so if they're looking to give another summer flick a slot in the nominations, this would be a good one to go with.

And speaking of HP actors, Sean Biggerstaff, Oliver Wood in the first three films, is in a new Brit rom com called Cashback going into limited release on the 20th. The Flick Filosopher is going to see it this week, and says that SB "is clearly being positioned as the Ewan McGregor in waiting."

The Flick Filosopher is going to see it this week, and says that SB "is clearly being positioned as the Ewan McGregor in waiting."

*has NO problem with this*

signed, such a pervy old lady