<p>Well, we had a new Star Wars movie thread…so obviously we “need” a new Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince thread…</p>
<p>Got my copy at 1:30 a.m last night/this morning…I’m clearly as big a “nut” as any 11-year-old! Am just now getting ready to settle in and do nothing but read til I’m done…cannot wait!</p>
<p>S had an 18th b-day party here last night…half the party left at 11:30 to go to their preselected bookstores to get their HP books…S is getting one today (one of those preorder guaranteed delivery deals) in the mail–since he won’t wake up after last night’s festivities til after the mail has arrived, his copy should be waiting for him–the worst scenario at our house would be to have just one copy; neither of us would be willing to wait for the other one to finish the book!..we’ve already told the dog (grin) he will have to make do w/the back yard til we’re done reading…neither of us willing to agree to ANY other activity for “the duration”…are we nuts? Probably…but at least it’s not drugs or alcohol!</p>
<p>My youngest D is also a HP fanatic. Originally, she talked of going at midnight Friday night to a bookstore to get it (mind you that is like 50 miles away here in VT). But then unexpectedly, she was asked to come to NYC for a possible role and had an appointment/audition and we let her fly there yesterday and go by herself (eek) and her dad therefore was going to get a copy of HP today in VT to give to her as she is flying back this morning and going straight to a rehearsal here. So, where was she at 12:30 AM last night? At some Borders store in Manhattan getting the book. She had to be up at 6 to go to JFK where she is now sitting at the gate reading the book…not sure how far she will get but she arrived 90 min. before flight time, has an hour flight and then an hour ride in the car to where we live and then must give it up to enter her rehearsal. So, the ending will have to wait!</p>
<p>It is funny, with all the hysteria about each book, the late night parties, the pre-orders, etc. Each time a new HP book has come out I have gone to my local Costco to pick up two copies (twins you know) and they seem to have a never-ending supply.</p>
<p>Of course I do understand that party atmosphere that kids may enjoy. But shopping at 1:30 am? I will leave that to the professionals! LOL</p>
<p>I feel the same exact way. However, I still took my 10year old nephew to the midnight madness at the B&N about 5 minute ride from the house. Activities staarted at 10 p.m. and D tagged along (well she also preordered a book and if I could pay for it than it was gravy). </p>
<p>I can telll she is now a college student because she commented that no one gets to the party when it first starts, we’ll leave here about 10:30. We get there and the place is a madhouse. You sign in and get color coded wrist bands, yellow for reserved copies, orange, for unreserved (nephew wanted book store told us they could not guarantee him a copy, ha!!). </p>
<p>Then you get a color sheet of paper (tickets) which gives you instructions and the approximate time you can purchase your copy our was 12:50 a.m. and nephew would not be able to participate in any of the midnight madness activities because they were all booked up.</p>
<p>At that point I was ready to go back home. Nephew wanted to stay, D wanted to go to the Cold Stone on the same block. I am quite sure they were very happy for the midnight madness party and stayed open until midnight. Needless to say, that was another madhouse. I went down stairs at the B&N to look for a book for my self and I met a lady who had a bunch of sheets of green paper. I asked her where did she get the green sheets (tickets). She told me she had gotten 15 for friends who were suppose to come for the event and did not show up. She gave me 2. This moved our pick up time from 12:50 to 12:20. It was then I realized that they had a color coded process for people purchasing books and doing activities. The activities at our store was as follows:</p>
<p>Magic show
Pictures
Wand Making
Tatoos</p>
<p>Nephew got called up to assist with the magic show. He was asked to pick a card. He smiling so big that when the magician asked him what hard he picked he had forgotten and the audience had to tell him (yes, I bowed my head in shame and laughed).</p>
<p>From there, on to picture taking. Kids stick their head in a cut out polaroid is snapped. Kids are then given a frame and stickers to decorate the frame.</p>
<p>Now on to wand making. My child has become a cynic. Comes back saying “mom they give you a straw, a pipe cleaner and a feather in a baggie and show you how to make your wand.” Years ago she would have been so excited about this. She did get a lighting bolt tatoo.</p>
<p>Now they begin to call customers by color to line up to purchase their books. While we are in the store, guy runs in, shop lifts a book runs out of the store and gets hit by a car (talk about karma). We did end up purchasing our books (yes, they had a spare unreserved copy) at 12:25 and went home.</p>
<p>kathiep, I ordered mine from bn.com months ago, and I got a notice Thurs. that it was shipped and should be here <em>today</em> – we’ll see! I’m leaving early this afternoon for a weekend trip to LA so it would be nice if it arrives this morning: fingers crossed!</p>
<p>In our very tiny hometown (think Mayberry of the north…except our barber is named Guy), a used bookstore recently opened. To generate business, they took pre-orders for the new book, so my daughter ordered from them. They had a Potter Party starting at 10, but my daughter didn’t walk down until 11:30. She was expecting to be surrounded by loads of 8-12 year olds but was pleasantly surprised to discover that there was quite a mix of young and old…er. In her words, “half the town was there”, and the police had blocked off part of Main Street so the crowd could mill around without worrying about (what passes for) traffic. The village ice cream parlor had also reopened to coincide with the Potter Party; probably the most excitement in our town in recent (and not-so recent) history.</p>
<p>We did the B&N party in Dallas after seeing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (recommended!! great movie). D has read all night after getting home with the book at 2:00 am. She’s still going and says she’ll finish it before she goes to sleep.</p>
<p>D and I also did the local B&N (I’m really reading S’s copy, as he is out of town visiting gf). Got our yellow band around 11:30, found out we were no. 609, but were outta there by about 1. Now I have to read fast before S gets home tomorrow night.</p>
<p>BTW, did anyone see the unbelievably superior letter in the NYTimes this morning, from the “my son is too smart for HP” mother? He’s figured out the plots are “all the same”–wait till he gets to Shakespeare and cottons to the fact that the protagonist dies in every single tragedy–then she can say he’s too smart for Will, too. ;)</p>
<p>Epilogue to my story in earlier post…by the way, she was supposed to have dad get it today at COSTCO…but as I said she was in NYC last night, saw Shakespeare in the Park and then headed to a Borders. She called at 12:50 that she got the book. She had to go to bed as she had to be up at 6 but by the time I picked her up at the plane in VT, she is almost done it (reads fast also) but then had to go straight to a rehearsal here. My OTHER D saw Charlie and Chocolate Factory though (for banditTX) but have not spoken to her since she saw it last night. My kids always loved Road Dahl’s books.<br>
Susan</p>
<p>Garland:
Joke about Shakespeare:
First-time goer to a Shakespeare play: “I don’t see what he’s so famous for. His play is full of quotations I’ve heard before.”</p>
<p>i went to the midngiht party at barnes and nobles. got an orange wrist band which means u diidnt preorder it. the yellw was for people who did. the line for the yellow went fomr the up escalator around the chidlrens sections and snaked thru all the rows of books. at 12 we expected to go in (they were keepping us outside, atleast the yellow people had magazines to do and stuff down there) and they still didint let us in. we sat on our asses outside till 12 30. they even had the nerve to clsoe the store on us becuase they were filled. earlier when me and my friend(who i dragged ther and doesnt even read the books) were walking we saw a little independent bookstore that would be selling htem at midnight. we told my dad at 12 30 to swinbg by and see if he could get 2. well he did. which shows always give your business to the small people or you will be outyside sitting on old gum till 12 30 or later waiting for the book.the store made no big deal about the book and was virtually empty. the line was like five people long and while barnes and nobles has a 1 book per person limit this store had none. so my dad bought 2. (one for my friend for a bday present)
*sorry for the typos it was on im and I just woke up and am nto really awake yet.</p>
<p>My H went shopping this morning and reported that HP was available, at a discount, in our local supermarket. No queues, except the usual ones at the cashier’s.</p>
<p>*With the latest Harry Potter release (“Harry Potter and the Half-Crazed Summer Camper,” Arts pages, July 14), is there room for a dissenting voice? </p>
<p>My 10-year-old son announced his intention never to read another Harry Potter book. “Because, Mom, haven’t you noticed? It’s the same old thing. Harry Potter falls in trouble, Harry Potter learns a spell. It gets so boring.” </p>
<p>Could I believe my ears? My son, a good reader, at last! And I recalled (silently) a favorite quote from Vladimir Nabokov: “Caress the details,” he directed. “Read for the tingle, the shiver up the spine.” *</p>
<p>I beleive that you shouldn’t laways look at books as the next great masterpiece or a movie as the next oscar winner but simply take things for what they are something that is for pleasure pure and simple, to pass the time away or somthing to just give your mind a rest.</p>