Harry's End

One month after the release of the very last Harry Potter book, “The Deathly Hallows”, here’s what I think of the final installment on the very famous series. If you have read my earlier entries regarding all things Harry Potter, you can deduce that I am not a fan of the Harry-Ginny pairing, and even though their relationship had been sealed after Gryffindor won the Quidditch cup on Harry’s sixth year over what could have been “several sunlit days,” I still don’t think they belong together. No, I am not sour-graping, nor am I one of those fans that think “Harry should marry me”, I just think that Harry deserves a far better witch than Ginny. Enough of the relationships babble, maybe on my next post, but this time let’s get on with the more important plot points.

This is the last book, a lot of loose ends left after six books had to be tied into one tight knot, but then again - come to think of it – should they really need to be closed? It is sometimes good story-telling when some things were left hanging, giving readers something to think about – opening a whole new world of possibilities that could only prosper in their very own imaginations.

At the end of book six, “The Half-Blood Prince,” readers were left mourning over Dumbledore’s death and a lot of loathing for Severus Snape, who killed the old wizard with Harry as the witness and some Death Eaters. It was such a terrible loss for the wizarding world at the very height of war against Lord Voldemort. What a despicable act to ‘’murder’’ the greatest wizard of modern times, Chief Warlock of Wizengamot, Chairman of the International Confederation of Wizards and Order of Merlin, First Class. But in most stories, the old and wise ‘’mentors‘’ tend to die even before the final battle commences: think of Gandalf falling at the depths of Moria in ‘’The Fellowship of the Ring’’ or of Brom dying so early in Eragon. When a lot of people are in the ‘’Snape is a very bad man’’ camp, I am more in the ‘’Snape is Dumbledore’s man’’ camp. He may have killed the old man (yes, he is definitely dead) with Avada Kedavra (the Killing Curse), but I believed then that there’s more to it than meets the eye. Just like Harry, I trusted Dumbledore; even if Harry don’t meet eye to eye with the old man regarding Snape, I still trust Dumbledore that the slimy git is ‘’now no more a Death Eater’’ than the Headmaster.

The final book opens with the complex and still mysterious Severus Snape, and the first chapter further enflames the hearts of those ‘’Snape is bad’’ fans. In this chapter, we also witness how cruel and twisted are the views of Lord Voldemort. We got our first death, though we know nothing much of this person but that she was a Hogwarts professor for Muggle Studies. “Nagini, dinner,” this is definitely no longer a children’s book.

I love Albus Dumbledore, as I have said before, and by the second chapter doubts of

Don’t you hate the Dursleys? Well, we got another and final chapter with them; this is the first chapter that made me cry. I had never imagined that Dudley’s lines could ever make me cry but when he said ‘’I don’t think you’re a waste of space,’’ I bawled. I am expecting something from Aunt Petunia here, as much as Harry, but there was nothing; although more words from her would make this a much sappy opener. This chapter is funny and melancholic at the same time and I loved it when Harry looked around the house at Number 4 Privet Drive one last time, and memories of his miserable youth were recalled.

When I saw the chapter title ‘’Seven Potters’’ from the spoilers four or five days before the official release, I thought that we’d learn about Harry’s ancestry; I was definitely mistaken. This is a chapter when merged with the next, would make the filmmakers dance with glee; it’s an action-packed sequence with a lot of special effects. Harry, multiplied by seven with the help of polyjuice potion, and members of the Order of the Phoenix were chased by Death Eaters. It’s a pursuit on broomsticks, thestrals, and a flying motorcycle, and of wizards firing curses and hexes as each other. Lovely! Harry won over Lord Voldemort. Yey! The only sad news on this one is that we lost Hedwig (Harry’s pet owl) and the consummate warrior, Mad-eye Moody. Aww! I cried again.

Albus Dumbledore died and he left quite a few things for his favourite students: Harry, Ron and Hermione; such odd gifts but you’ll know they have uses in the end. Bill and Fleur got married and we now witness what the wedding is like in the wizarding world: fantastic! Viktor Krum is back just to let Harry know what is the meaning of the symbol that Luna’s father was wearing; but I love his line ‘’ Vot is the point of being an international Quidditch player if all the good-looking girls are taken?’’ Chaos ensued at the wedding and the story was further propelled to set sailing, which let us back to Grimmauld Place and learned of what had become of the real locket that was supposed to be the reason Harry and Dumbledore went to the cave that fateful night on Harry’s sixth year. We also discover here who R.A.B was and hear of Kreacher’s sad tale. Sob! Sob! More Sob! Okay, I bawled my eyes out reading the house-elf’s story. Here’s another one-liner from Ron that lightened up the mood: ‘’Overkill, mate.’’

Did you love Dolores Umbridge in the fifth book? We met her one more time in this final tome - though a very brief one. She still is that despicable 6!+c#. From a heist at the Ministry of Magic we followed our hero as he hides in the forest with his friends. This part really dragged on and I started to get impatient the same way as Ron did. And at this point plot holes are starting to stack up. They finally got the real locket (one of the Horcruxes) and Harry, Ron and Hermione took turns wearing them; and it affects their personality (hmm… didn’t that remind you of the ‘’One Ring’’?).

And then I got the twist I was hoping for since book four: Ron left. He left the two in their hiding place to go home because he can’t stand being left out when Harry and Hermione start to make plans. He abandoned them in their quest to destroy Voldemort’s Horcruxes. Yey! Ron is going to turn a weasel, but I was wrong… again: two chapters later he’s back and played the hero by saving Harry’s life. So, Ron becomes the hero and saves Harry and destroyed the locket, but pulling Godric Gryffindor’s sword from the icy water is just too Arthurian for me. Harry and Hermione went to Godric’s Hollow to go back and see where it all began. Harry visits his parents’ graves and, yes, I cried in this chapter as Harry cries. Let me just quote here one of my favourite passages: ‘’The empty words could not disguise the fact that his parents’ mouldering remains lay beneath snow and stone, indifferent, unknowing. And tears came before he could stop them, boiling hot then instantly freezing on his face, and what was the point in wiping them off, or pretending? He let them fall, his lips pressed hard together, looking down at the thick snow hiding from his eyes the place where the last of Lily and James lay, bones now, surely, or dust, not knowing or caring that their living son stood so near, his heart still beating, alive because of their sacrifice and close to wishing, at this moment, that he was sleeping under the snow with them.’’

Harry meets a new character in Luna Lovegood’s father, who is as eccentric as his daughter, and fans are introduced to this whole new thing called the ‘’Deathly Hallows’’. The three hallows are all together different banana from the horcruxes and they pose another dilemma for our hero. These three things, if possessed by one person, will make him the master of death, which is what, as Harry thought, he greatly needs to defeat Voldemort. He later learns that he already had the two in his possession and Voldemort is tracking down the very last one, the Elder Wand.

What the heck is this Elder Wand? According to legend, this very old wand is considered to be unbeatable and anyone who wields it cannot be defeated in a duel; due to this characteristic, the wand has left a bloody trail in wizarding history. Some people thought that you have to kill the present owner of the wand not become the new master of the wand, but little was it known that killing was not needed and you only have to defeat or disarm the owner to get the wand’s allegiance. This is where it becomes murky and hard to decipher for fans. Anyway, we will learn here about Dumbledore’s triumph over Grindelwald and has transpired after the famous duel. So did Harry got the Elder Wand? Oh yeah, he did. He got its allegiance through accident: on some kind of rumble between two kids.

In book three, when Harry ‘’saved’’ Peter Pettigrew from being murdered by his friends, Dumbledore mentioned of the life-debt Wormtail owes to Harry and it might be of use in the end; didn’t that remind you of Gandalf talking to Frodo of the mercy given by Bilbo to Gollum? The question is did it happen? Did Pettigrew pay-off his life-debt? Fans all thought of it unfolding in a grand way, like Wormtail standing in front of Harry to block a Killing Curse, although in the book, that was not the case. Wormtail died in his own hands, literally; remember that in the fourth book he was given a silver hand by his master when he voluntarily cut-off the original one to serve as ‘’ingredient’’ in the potion that would give Voldemort a body. This silver hand acted on its own accord when Pettigrew made a slight hesitation when he was about to throttle Harry.

What becomes of Dobby the house-elf? Harry’s biggest fan and very willing helper, Dobby died saving Harry’s life one more time. This is the part where I cried a lot; from the moment Harry saw the silver dagger on Dobby’s chest, when the elf said his last words ‘’Harry… Potter…’’, when Harry dug the grave with the use of a spade and without magic, the eulogy given by Luna, to the marker Harry made saying ‘’Dobby, a free elf’’.

Hagrid said that it would be crazy to rob Gringotts bank and Harry, Ron and Hermione actually tried and succeeded. It was a suspenseful and funny sequence and finished off with them flying on top of a dragon. From this on everything went of a faster pace. We go back to Hogwarts and meet everybody there including Percy! His return was funny and touching and that sent me again on another crying binge.

Severus Snape was the most mystifying and ambiguous character and only towards the do we get to learn of his true colors; I’m right! I can’t believe that the theory I have been following was correct: Snape was and still is in love with Lily. I knew that there was more to that chapter in the fifth book, ‘’Snape’s Worst Memory’’ than just being turned upside down and having your dirty knickers being shown to the rest of the school. And when Snape’s dying words to Harry were ‘’Look…at…me…’’ and the green eyes found the black, I wept liked a child. It say’s so much why JK Rowling kept on saying that Harry’s eyes were every important and why that added scene in the third film between Lupin and Harry at the bridge made the author almost gasped in surprise.

I knew the final battle will be at Hogwarts, this is the place where Harry and Voldemort both felt at home, and as what Harry thought in his final hours - and what could be one of the best lines in the book and makes me shed tears every time I read them - ‘’Hogwarts was the first and best home he had known. He and Voldemort and Snape, the abandoned boys, had all found here…’’ The Dark Forest was featured again in this final battle, and this leads us back to the first encounter between Harry and Voldemort on Harry’s first year in school. One centaur helped Harry escaped then and the other centaurs were furious with this because they thought that had meddled with what was written in the stars. Harry deduced then that he was supposed to have died that night in Voldemort’s hands only that it was prevented by Firenze. Ronan and Bane were right only that they got the wrong time; Harry indeed died at the Forest, sacrificing himself for the lives of others. ‘’The Forest Again’’ was the chapter that JK Rowling broke down after writing, and I knew why while was reading it. After all the years of hardships Harry has to go through, and here he was walking to his death with impressions of his parents, Sirius and Lupin by his side. ‘’You’ve been so brave,’’ his mom told him and his dad said, ’’We are… so proud of you.’’ I howled and almost died with Harry.

Religious critics could be eating their words now after this final book. Harry’s story is heartrending and tragic; it may have been littered with magic but there are an awful lot of religious themes addressed in the entire series. I’m not gonna say more here; I will deal with the other characters and their journey, more especially with Neville, in another post. Finally, Harry got what he wanted when he looked at the Mirror of Erised back on his first year: a family.

Charge, charge, charge!

Do you still remember the time when you made credit card payments buying some item from a department store, and the cashier would take out this huge contraption wherein they will put your card, some-kind of carbonated receipt and run through a little device that would capture the embossed card number and your name? We called this "plantsa". Back in those days, to check if yours is a "hot" card - reported stolen or missing by the cardholder - the cashier will bring out a list and check the numbers. The cashier would then call the card issuer (bank) to get authorization for the transaction and jot down the authorization number in the receipt. Gone are those days.

Counters now have this little device connected to a network through a leased line; the card's magnetic strip will be swiped in this device's reader and the stored info such as the card number, expiry date and cardholder's name. The info from this little black strip would then be sent over to the network and routed to the card issuer for authorization. The card issuer would then send a response whether to approve the transaction or reject it; all of these is done in a matter of seconds. After approval and printing of the receipt through the thermal printer, the cardholder would just need to sign it. If the cashier is so diligent, she would check the signature against what's on the back of the card, but then again they are no signature experts.

With the fast evolution of technology, credit cards payments are again changing. We now have this so called "Pay by Touch". With this new technology, your fingerprint acts as a means of biometric authentication when you make purchases, so you no longer need to swipe your card. All you need to do is place you finger on a sensor at the point of payment, and the electronic wallet that stores your personal information and credit card details will retrieved and evaluated. Of course, you need to enrol for biometric payment to enjoy this new convenience as your bank doesn't ask for fingerprints when you applied for a card. This facility is quite secured - even better than just comparing signatures - as your fingerprint is unique, which meant only you can access your credit card. Unless, of course, somebody cuts off your finger and uses it to make purchases. That is such a disturbing sight!

Aside from the "Pay by Touch," VISA introduced the payWave facility. No signature, no swipe, no fingers to put into a device, all you need to do is wave your card on the new reader and your good to go. This isn't the safest facility as the person standing next to you on the payment queue could just grabbed your arm carrying your wallet and wave it on the reader to pay for his purchases.

With so many fraudulent transactions done everyday with the use of credit cards, I guess the best thing to impede such scams is with the use of "Pay by Touch". Because aside from your fingerprint you also need to key-in a personal search number, which is also unique. So if somebody really did cut off your right finger, he still couldn't continue with the transaction if he doesn't know your personal search number. What happens if you no longer have your right index finger? There's still your left to use. But if you lost all your digits, I'm not sure if you could use your toes.

Road to Deathly Hallows

16/Jul - five days to go before the release of the last Harry Potter book and I still haven't finished re-reading the Half-Blood Prince. Herman is too busy looking for places we could visit over the weekend. He kept on asking me for ideas, but I wouldn't give any for I wasn't interested on going to some trip on a Harry Potter book weekend release. I just kept on telling him that I have to get my book first before we can go.

17/Jul - Herman still can't find any good place to go, so he finally gave in and decided that it is indeed going to be a Harry Potter weekend. I searched the net and found news that some prat scanned the actual book and posted it online. And so, I have seen the complete-chapter title list and the first chapter.

19/Jul - I went to Borders and bought a big red book. After paying up, I asked the cashier what time they're going to open up on Saturday (21st Jul); I knew about the 5am affair they have planned and sent out invitations with. She replied that they'll only open at 5, and I asked further whether they are going to close up Friday night. She gave me a surprised looked and said, "Of course, we have to prepare for the 5am Harry Potter release." I hated to prod some more for there's quite a lot on queue; but previously for the Half-Blood Prince release, they didn't closed up Friday night and they showed HP movies and people could browse through their stock of books.

21/Jul 4:30am - my alarm clock chimed and I'm didn't even pressed the snooze button. I washed up and put on my Slytherin shirt
4:45am - there's some early showers as I hailed the cab
5:00am - I arrived at Wheelock Place and found that there's a long queue already. I joined the end of the line, far from the main entrance, actually I'm quite near the back entrance.
5:05am - people wearing black robes, witch's hat on their head walked up and down the line
5:30am - the line is moving and Luna Lovegood passed by
6:10am - I'm near the main entrance and I could see what's going on inside but can't hear anything for Borders didn't sent up speakers outside the Wheelock Place.
6:20am - Is that Hagrid? He looks so small
6:22am - Oh, a Ringwraight! Wait! That's Lord of the Rings; it's a Dementor.
6:35am - contestants for the dress-up contest were presented. The guy who pretends to be Snape really looks like a slimy git.
6:40am - somebody received a big cheque for $10,000. Dang! I didn't win.
6:45am - Mad-Eye Moody is using a camera taking a picture of someone who looked like Harry; that looked hilarious.
6:50am - people just little outside the main entrance have already stood-up and prepared for the actual release time.
6:58am - Border's staff are already waiting for their cue at the cashier's counter those inside the stock room are ready to open the boxes
7:00am - the host said to the microphone that only 1 minute is left
10 seconds before 7:01am – the crowd began the countdown
7:01am - the crowd cheered as they finally showed the very first book coming out to the counter
7:30am - I'm inside the Wheelock Place but still far from the bookstore. Some pompous kids who got their books early, stopped in front of those still on queue and read the epilogue a little bit loud. I'm glad that I couldn't hear them; others had to resort to covering their ears
7:55am - what a long wait on the queue that is barely moving. I have finally stepped into the Border's main door
8:05am - it's my turn to the cashier to FINALLY get my copy!
8:15am - I hailed a cab carrying my Border's bag and breakfast from Burger King. I opened the book and read the first few pages.
8:40am - I've finally changed and went to one corner in the house to start my marathon read.

22/Jul 1:00am - I'm almost at the end but it took me quite a long time to finish for I was bawling at almost every end of a paragraph – at every sad or beautiful line.
2:00 - I have finally read the very last line of the book and cried some more.
10:30am - after a long sleep, I got up to give myself a bath. Yes, I didn't go to the shower the previous day. When I need to go to the toilet, I brought the book with me. And there, just as the water kissed my face, I broke down; things that happened to the characters flashed before my eyes and tears joined the showers cleansing me off my grime.

Going Potty over Potter

July 2007 is Harry Potter month. Why? Because I said so. Actually, it's because Warner Bros and JK Rowling decided it to be. Order of the Phoenix (the fifth Harry Potter film) was released last July 11, and the very last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will be released on July 21st. You could hardly imagine the mania this is causing the Potterworld; me included.

I have booked my movie tickets more than a week before the film release, and, yes, I watched it on its first day. As for the book, I pre-ordered three months in advance, winning over much zealousness and praying hard for the virtue of restraint. I don't want to appear too loony and pre-order even before the book title was released. Yes, pre-ordering at Amazon.com started one year ago. Even after Jo Rowling announced the book title over at her site last December, I still kept my patience, telling myself to wait for the announcement of the release date. February arrived together with a simple and subtle news at jkrowling.com that it's coming out on the morning of July 21. Now I wouldn't look like such an eager-beaver loony fan ordering a book without a title or a release date hankering at the Borders counter.

I've seen the fifth movie and I'm still one-third through the sixth book (Half-Blood Prince). I only got three days left! I'm in a state of panic and excitement. I want to search the internet for more news that usually crop-up preceding the release but I have to finish my re-reads. Oh don't ask me how many times I've read Philosopher's Stone (the first book); it's lots.

Vacation at the Highlands

To get away from the heat and some occasional rains in Singapore, we went to the Malaysian highlands last week for a short vacation. We spent two nights in Cameron Highlands and one night in Genting.

These two highland resorts are both at different ends of a spectrum. Though they are both sitted on top of mountains that would mean having a cold weather, Cameron brings you back to nature while Genting is all glitter and blitz with casinos and theme parks.




For pictures of this trip to here and some images here.

CheapCards

The group of Filipinos working in IT at our office usually pitched in to come up with a special gift and a card for the one celebrating his/her birthday. We have noticed lately that there's hardly any new funny cards that we could find in Singapore - wish there's a huge National Bookstore here. Twice we have actually used the same card for two different persons at two different years. So we have set up a new trend: we'll make personalized cards, which we call CheapCards. And since April is birthday month for Herman and I, here's what we got.

Eragon the movie

I just bought the DVD of Eragon and seen a few of the featurettes, and all I can say is that I'm totally disappointed. No wonder the film did not made it big in the blockbuster. The filmmakers butchered a material that could go somewhere near the stellar heights of The Lord of the Rings. The Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini could be miles away from the grandeur of JRR Tolkien's Middle-Earth, but its simplicity could be of a big help in transforming the book into the film medium, something of which Peter Jackson and his team had to struggle with.

Eragon is a simple coming of age story with a fantasyland at its backdrop. The story's characters are not that many, but then they were even reduced in the film. I'm not sure if the writer of the screenplay, the producers and the director have even read the book front and back; they could have just read clip notes or the story's outline. They may have thought that this trilogy is just all about Eragon; but in truth, it is the rise of a new generation of Dragon Riders, not just of Eragon but also of the other two who have yet to come.

The length of the film is only one hour and thirty-seven minutes; short… too short for the first part of what could have been an epic trilogy. When I heard the director's commentary on why he had to delete some scenes, I almost threw the remote control to our TV set, but then it's not worth destroying our new 32'' LCD tv. I even called the screenplay writer an ''idiot'' when he mentioned that while writing the script he had a talk with Paolini himself about what's going to happen in the next two books, yet he somehow failed to put the essential dynamics in the first that are crucial in the next two films.

This is the director's first directorial film, and you can clearly see he had paid more attention to the effects than to the story and character development. He said he had to leave out scenes that would give some pause and prolong the delay to the ultimate battle at the end – a battle that lasted for less than ten minutes. He was so excited to show the battle that would showcase a flying dragon emitting fire and battling another flying being – a scene that was shot in the dark hiding the much anticipated special effects.

Elves have pointed ears and dwarves are smaller than men. That's how they are presented in the book and in almost all books published in the same genre, but the filmmakers had this stupid idea of trying to stir away from the norm and change them. The elves here only have long, flowing hair and dressed differently from humans, and a dwarf can stand shoulder to shoulder with a man. Ridiculous!

I could go on and on and point out every mistake they have done in making this film and of crucial sub-plots they have altered, but it would just be exhausting much more exhilarating than watching the film. I'm just glad I didn't spent more by buying code 1 and opted for the code 3 instead; the fun thing is there's a Tagalog subtitle.

Yen posted this from her O2 Xda Atom

Not of dungeons but of dragons

Ever since I have heard of this new book hitting the bestsellers list written by a new and very young author in 2003 I wanted to read it, but then other books got in the way and I have never dared to pick it up from the book shop. Come 2005 and after the July hoopla of the 6th Harry Potter book, the sequel of this book came out, still I just looked at the cover and never had the courage to bring the first and second book to the counter. Last quarter of the 2006 came and the movie adaptation of the first book was released, I'm not sure why I still wasn't enticed, I still didn't buy the book and didn't watched the movie.

After months and months of not reading any fictional book at all, I finally felt this hunger to read. The hunger to read about stories that will take me away to such a foreign place where things happen that would seem impossible in the real world; I'm in dire need of escape. So finally, I picked up the book Eragon; immersed myself into it and loved it. After finishing the first one, I got the second Eldest and even fell in love with the story more. The Inheritance Trilogy, a three-part story where these two books are part of, is written by Christopher Paolini. The third book has not come out yet, neither its supposed to be title was ever announced or the publishing date, and so I wait.

This is a story of the second rise of dragon riders in a fantasy land very reminiscent of Middle-Earth of The Lord of the Rings, where elves and dwarves live together with humans, of vile creatures such as Urgals (more like orcs but more intelligent), of Ra'zac mounted on a winged creature terrorizing the land (similar to Ringwraiths but not quite), and with a feared mad-man Galbatorix (may not be as comparable to Sauron, but close to). The Inheritance Trilogy is not as complicated as The Lord of the Rings and some of the parts are very much like Star Wars, but still it is an engaging story to read, considering that this was first conceptualized by a young boy still in his teens.

Now that the DVD is coming out, maybe I should get myself a copy, but I wouldn't keep my hopes up as book fans didn't like the movie adaptation.

Bangkok Express

Herman and I went to Bangkok last weekend with some friends from Maybank. I left the office early Friday night to catch our flight out of Singapore. By 12:45pm (Singapore time) we have already checked in our hotel and dumped our things and went out to get a look at the night market. But to our disappointment most of the stores are already closing, even the food stalls. So we went back to our hotel rooms tired and hungry. Herman, however, checked if he could get some room service; surprised that the hotel meals aren't that expensive, he ordered his tom yam soup and stir fried shrimp.

Breakfast buffet wasn't that bad either, and so our "amazing race" tour began. Going to Bangkok is like going home to Manila; walking down one street in Bangkok could make you feel like you're in Sta. Mesa; traffic may be terrible and is comparable what we have in Metro Manila. Tourists were warned of possible pickpockets in crowded areas, but if you've lived in Manila, it was no herculean task. We went to their temples and saw the buddas; while I was busy taking pictures, Herman was making himself busy by checking all the food sold in the stalls.

Everything is quite cheap; we took the cab to go around the city and fares normally rage between 60 to 80 baht, which is around 3 to 4 singapore $. I love the food! Thais and Filipinos almost have the same taste in food, although they like their food with a lot more chili. Shopping, shopping, shopping. Bangkok is the best place for a good bargain; but better train yourself in haggling.

Our expedition was so much fun; from buying an over-priced ice cream from a street vendor, taking a cab to a place the driver doesn't know, to haggling too low that the vendor told us to go home. After two hectic days, we're back in Singapore by Sunday 11:30pm. We want to do it again... We'll definitely do it again.

umiPIG's day out

Hello, Banker! Is it a deal or no deal?



As the year of the porker comes, let me great you a smokin' good natal day! Don't forget that you have every right to make a complete pig of yourself. May you have more blessings for this new year.

Do you know who this young man is?

What a great physique! I remember him as a boy, who had donned those famous black-rimmed round glasses; the lucky boy chosen among thousands to be "the boy who lived". This is our Harry Potter beneath the Hogwarts' black robes and those loose shirts and jumpers.

The first time I saw this picture (click the pic to see it in its full glory) I could not believe my eyes, and then I saw a few more from the same photo shoot and I was sold: he really had grown into such a fine flesh of meat young man. Those photos are not for the latest Harry Potter film but for the promos of a stage play Equus.

Daniel Radcliffe is one lucky kid; when child stars begin to fade when they enter the awkward age of teen hood, Dan's career flourished instead. With this play about a troubled young man getting his kicks with horses, Dan is establishing himself as a real actor and not just some lucky pretty young thing.

Are you ready for the Deathly Hallows?

Do you know where you're going to be at the early morn' of 21st July and what you're going to be doing that exact time? I do. It's not like I have a crystal ball and had a glimpse of the beyond nor do I have a time travelling machine that brought me to the future. This is all due to the news that came out February 1st that rocked the fandom which I am proud to say I am a part of.

The last Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is coming out on that early Saturday morning, as announced inconspicuously at the official JK Rowling website. I remember last December when a week before Christmas I checked that site everyday in anticipation of a surprise gift from Jo. And when that "door" opened, I was so overwhelmed seeing the title of the very last book after so many tries.

So on 21st July before 7 am, I'll be on queue just a little outside Borders at Orchard Road. If you're a Harry Potter movie fan, you'll be in for a treat a week before that when the fifth film releases on 13th July.

Now, time to visit Borders and pre-order the book.