Harry Potter and the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

[barondave]

Yes, Harry gets the double title. It was quite the event.

The book is out. TV stations were covering it. Driving home, the BBC had a long segment on it. Naturally, it was covered by Shockwave Radio Theater. I did a bunch of interviews at the Mall of America and the Barnes & Noble store, a special event that was still in full bloom when I left about 12:30am. It was very crowded, and I hope the sound is useable. The quietest place was in the store, and considering B&N normally closes at 9:30 they were doing great business.

People were in costume, the Sorting Hat was telling people which House they were in, Tarot and palms were read, Troll Snot was made, electricity was generated, snakes were handled, sharks were petted, entertainers entertained, costumes contested and books eventually sold. Wrist bands (in several colors, numbered) went out at 3pm, and people were there earlier to reserve copies.


Midnight! The book is released!
I can't recall a book release being counted down
(like New Years in Times Square, but for a longer count)
by several hundred people.
Rotunda, Mall of America, 12:00 midnight July 20/21, 2007.

Comments

[idea-fairy.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'm just being a Dirty Old Man, but that picture with the balloons kind of looks like male genitals. Just change the Barnes & Noble sign to something about Viagra ...

[barondave.livejournal.com]

I wonder if Viagra counts as Potions or Defense Against the Dark? Maybe the Deathly Hallows covers this ground...

[tomreedtoon.livejournal.com]

More likely the Deadly Baby Gravy is covering this ground...

I recall the hype about the last big Harry Potter release. My TV station stood outside a local Blockbusters looking at the people wearing BAD capes and hats. Like Wal-Mart Halloween leftover capes, expecting crowds to hurl money at them for the DVD they were selling.

This also reminds me of the time I stood in line for Revenge of the Sith. It was at 3 AM on a weekday, which I happened to have off. The IT drone in front of me was muttering that he had to have more caffein, because he had to work the next day.

"Why are you here if you have to work? You could see it some other time," I asked.

"Because I want to see this last Star Wars Thing and get it the hell over with, so I can get back to my life."

I wonder if that was part of this whole business too.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

I talked to a bunch of people (podcast coming). Some of the kids had grown up with Harry and couldn't wait to see how it ended. Many wanted to know before they encountered spoilers (only a small part of the reason to see Sith). And, I suspect, there was a certain amount of bragging rights going around.

I'm happy that people are excited about a book. To me, that's the best part of the Harry Potter Phenomena.