Fans finally get Harry Potter book
Topic: Someone Else Said It
By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer 15 minutes ago

LONDON - At midnight, like magic, Harry Potter appeared.


Bookstores across Britain, and as far away as Singapore and Sydney, threw open their doors to sell "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the seventh and final volume of the young wizard's adventures.

Eager readers, many of whom had lined up for hours, rushed from the tills, opening the thick hardback book to take in the opening words: "The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow moonlit lane."

Inside were answers readers have waited long to learn — and that J.K. Rowling and her publishers have labored, with mixed results, to keep secret. Will Harry kill evil Lord Voldemort, or die in the attempt? Who will be slain in the battle between the good guys and the wicked Death Eaters? And what are deathly hallows, anyway?

"It's all that matters to him, to get this book — he couldn't eat or sleep," mother Laura Helmy said of her 15-year-old son, Bobby, who purchased the novel at midnight in central London.

The family, from Northfield, Ill., had been vacationing in Paris but hopped on the Eurostar to London for the day.

Shops throughout the world were putting the book on sale at the same time — a minute past midnight British time (7:01 p.m. Friday). Readers in the United States have to wait until midnight strikes in each time zone, from 12:01 a.m. EDT Saturday.

Rowling, who created her magical character in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" a decade ago, was giving a midnight reading to 500 competition-winning children in the grand Victorian surroundings of London's Natural History Museum.

Rowling sat in a large wing-backed chair and read the opening pages — description of a mysterious assignation, a clandestine meeting and important news for Voldemort.

For many of the keenest Potter-maniacs, the place to be was Waterstone's bookstore on Piccadilly in central London. More than 5,000 people lined up for hours before the midnight opening, in a festive, colorful line stretching around the block. Among the fans from as far away as Finland and Mexico were dozens of witches and wizards, a couple of house elves, a pair of owls and a woman dressed as Hogwarts castle.

Ken Zwier, 42, from Phoenix, Ariz., grew and bleached his hair to achieve the golden tresses of villain Lucius Malfoy.

"Tomorrow I'm buzzing it all off. It's been a couple of years," said Zwier, who was lining up with his wife and two daughters — all in costume. The family planned to read the book aloud to one another on their flight back to the United States Saturday. They said anyone who complained would be offered ear plugs.

Rowling's books about the bespectacled orphan with the lightning-bolt scar have sold 325 million copies in 64 languages, and the launch of each new volume has become a Hollywood-scale extravaganza.

"Deathly Hallows" has a print run of 12 million in the United States alone, and Internet retailer Amazon says it has taken 2.2 million orders for the book. Britain's Royal Mail says it will deliver 600,000 copies on Saturday; the U.S. Postal Service says it will ship 1.8 million.

From London to Los Angeles, Potter-mania spans the globe. Tel Aviv's Steimatzky bookstore was due to open at 2:01 a.m. local time Saturday, defying criticism from Orthodox Jewish lawmakers for opening on the Sabbath, when the law requires most businesses in Israel to close.

In India, stores were opening at dawn for special Harry Potter parties. In Bangkok, British ambassador David Fall was to hand over Thailand's first official copy of "Deathly Hallows" to the first customer in line at the Emporium Shopping Complex. The mall was decked out with a recreation of King's Cross Station's platform 9 3/4, where Harry and friends catch the Hogwarts Express to school.

Phnom Penh's Monument Books — Cambodia's only outlet for the book — expected its allotment of 224 copies to sell out within hours.

Enthusiasts, some rereading previous Potter volumes, lined up in sunshine outside book stores in Los Angeles. In New York, a clock outside a Barnes & Noble store counted down to the midnight launch, publishing's version of a trip to the moon.

Portland, Maine, was going all-out with a 12-hour Mugglefest to celebrate the book's launch. Fans wearing cloaks and carrying wands were riding the Hogwarts Express into a re-creation of King's Cross station, and an old red-brick warehouse foundry along the city's waterfront was converted into the magical shopping street Diagon Alley.

Across Latin America, bookstores were staying open late for the Potter faithful.

Mexico City's Gandhi bookstore planned to keep the party going on all weekend, with showings of the movies and readings in Spanish of excerpts from the book, quickly translated by "Mexico's Club de Fans de Harry Potter."

Security for the launch was fist-tight, with books shipped in sealed pallets and legal contracts binding stores not to sell the book before the midnight release time.

But despite pleas from Rowling and leading fan sites, spoilers sprouted on the Internet in the days before the release, including photographed images of what turned out to be all 700-plus pages of the book's U.S. edition.

In France, the daily Le Parisien revealed how the final installment ends, in a small article which it printed upside down. The book's French publishing house, Gallimard Jeunesse, condemned the newspaper's revelation, saying it showed "a total lack of respect for J.K. Rowling" and "disdain for readers."

As many as 1,200 copies were shipped early in the United States by an online retailer, and two U.S. newspapers published reviews Wednesday, more than two days ahead of the official release.

Rowling said she was "staggered" by the embargo-busting reviews and called on fans to preserve the secrecy of the plot.

But she had little reason to complain about what critics actually said. "Deathly Hallows" has received universal raves, with The New York Times and The Associated Press among those praising it as a worthy conclusion to a classic series of children's stories.

Fifteen-year-old Patrick Atkins of Twinsburg, Ohio, thought Harry would survive the final book, believing Rowling would come up with an unexpected ending. He avoided the Internet spoilers, as did Wayne Kelley, who walked through downtown Hudson, Ohio, dressed, quite convincingly as snide Severus Snape.

"I will wait until I have the actual book in my hands," he said.

___

Associated Press writers Lindsay Toler and Romina Spina in London, AP National Writer Hillel Italie in New York and correspondents around the world contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070720/ap_en_ot/harry_potter

Lanterne Rouge
Topic: Someone Else Said It

American cyclist Dave Zabriskie has the chance to win the honor of being the first-worst American in Tour history.

By Bill Strickland

I suppose it’s cool and all that Dave Zabriskie was the third American to ever pull on a yellow jersey, and has also won a stage in all three Grand Tours — this little race going around France right now, plus the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta Espana. But this year he has a chance to really do something historical and special: Win the Lanterne Rouge.

That French term, which means “red lantern” (and refers to the lights hung on railway cabooses) is applied to the last racer who actually finishes the Tour. It’s not the insult you might think it is. There’s some measure of fame, and respect, to being the absolute last guy to stick out a race like the Tour — to suffer day after day even though you’re three hours or so behind the leader.

I’m somewhat of a student of the Lanterne Rouge. I suck and, on a bike at least, I am stubborn, which means that — although I never actually get to finish last in anything important because I’m not that good — I am often the last slow guy to get peeled off the back of the fast guys. (You can read about it here, which is my blatant commercial plug for this blog.)
Jacky Durand. Photos by AFP/ Getty Images
The greatest Lanterne Rouge of all time was Jacky Durand, the amazing and entertaining French legend, who over the course of his career launched literally thousands of ill-advised, stupid, insane, overly long doomed breakaways — and ended up winning two national championships, three stages of the Tour, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Tours on those rare attacks when everything went right. In 1999, Durand pulled off what I think of as the most remarkable feat in cycling: He simultaneously won the Tour de France’s award for Most Aggressive Rider, which paid 100,000 Euro, and the Lanterne Rouge.

“I don’t mind being beaten,” Durand said in an interview. “What I hate is being beaten when I haven’t tried.”

(Durand’s Lanterne Rouge, incidentally, was the fifth in a seven-year run of last-place finishes by the French, from 1995-2001. French racers have also won 6 of the past 10 Lanternes Rouge. Who says they’re having a bad time at their own race?)

The most mysterious Lanterne Rouge, I think, was also the first: Arsene Millocheau, who finished nearly 65 hours behind the winner in the first Tour de France in 1903, then never raced it again. One appearance, one Lanterne Rouge. It’s the stuff of legend and magic.

We Americans, in contrast, are appallingly focused on the podium. We may have won either 10 or 11 of the past 21 Tours (depending on what happens with Floyd Landis) but, sadly, in the long history of the world’s greatest race we’ve never brought a shining red light back home. That’s where Zabriskie comes in. After Tuesday’s Stage 3, he was sitting 186th out of 187 — ideally positioned for the best loss in sports, and carrying a bit of poetry with him, as well. What could be more rapturous than the racer known as the Z-Man winning America’s first last place?
Wim Vansevenant Photo by AFP/ Getty Images
There’s one problem: Wim Vansevenant is just three seconds ahead of Zabriskie. All you Lanterne Rouge pundits out there know that Wim won last last year — barely taking a brave and heated battle from previous two-time winner Jimmy Casper. So he knows what it takes to be last. Worse, he understands the call of destiny, as well. When he won, he told reporter Sam Abt, “Lanterne Rouge is not a position you go for. It comes for you.”

Vino? Valverde? Schleck? Levi? Without question there is glory in reigning as a star who stands high above us, spraying champagne out upon the masses and kissing beautiful women. But for the pure, gritty reality of what life is most often like, I’m cheering for Wim to pull out the July of his life and rocket up the standings, and for Z-Man to give us all something to believe in.

http://sittingin.bicycling.com/2007/07/go-wim.html

Smoking Metaphor
Topic: Someone Else Said It
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

C L E A R T H I N K I N G from Uncommon Knowledge

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Psychology for success, health and happiness
July 2007
Sent only to subscribers

Teaching Tale: Sailing to freedom

If metaphor is a stand-in for another pattern in life, then we can see people's addictive behaviours as metaphors. So the alcohol may be a metaphor for a friend who is there in time of need to the drinker, the fix may be a stand in for an exciting lover to the junkie and so on. The addictive substance or activity acts as a stand in for what the person really needs in their life - it's always a poor substitute in the end though.

Here's a tale I sometimes tell to smokers who wish to be free.

There was once a man who was lucky enough to be able to retire at a young age. He had a passion for sailing and boat building. Over a period of time he built himself a beautiful sailing boat. It was a work of art. The sails were purest white, the deck gleamed and the cabin and sleeping quarters were most comfortable.

He began to travel the seas. He sailed around wonderful tropical islands and got to know different people in different harbours and ports. One day this man dropped anchor at a particular port and decided to have some fun. He went into a bar and fell into conversation with some local men who seemed like great fun. They drank together and laughed and seemed to get on marvellously. Then one of the men, after hearing about his boat, suggested that they could all work together. They could come and live on the boat and be paid as crew members. They could do all the work and the owner could pay their wages and just relax. What
fun that would be! The man readily agreed and the next morning - somewhat hung over - they all set sail together.

And so life continued and all seemed great at first. But, bit by bit, the man began to notice that his boat didn't quite look the same any more. In fact, these men (whom he was paying to be there) were sloppy and grubby. The sails started to look a little shredded
and grey, and seemed not catch the air the way they used to. The deck always seemed to be dirty and smelled bad, and other parts of the boat seemed to be rusting at an alarming rate. What's more, he no longer found the men to be enjoyable company. And in fact
they had started to order him around, telling him when he should eat and sleep, and always wanting more money.

Eventually he decided enough was enough - he wanted his beautiful boat back the way it was and the way it should be. He called them together and politely told them that he no longer wanted them around, pointing to the disrepair of his boat. But they just sneered at him and refused to go! He suddenly began to fear he had a mutiny on his hands. Were they going to take over and destroy the whole boat? He felt he had lost control of his life at this point, and really did not know what to do.

But bit by bit and little by little a cunning plan started to grow in the back of his mind.

One day he called his by now more or less 'captors' together and said: "You know, there's a certain port I know not too far from here that has a really thriving night life. The pleasures of that place are
indescribable; let's all go there and have a wonderful time!" The parasitical men were excited by this prospect - after all, is self-indulgent pleasure not the sole purpose of living? So they set their course for this delightful place.

Eventually, with the boat even more tattered and threadbare, they sailed into the harbour of this lively community, full of distractions and delights. The men in their greed for a good time almost threw
themselves out of the boat in their haste to sample the delights of the sea port. In their haste they didn't notice that the owner had stayed on board. As soon as they were out of sight, he upped anchor and steered his boat to open waters, thrilled with his
successful offloading of those poisonous charmers who had so threatened his well-being.

And astoundingly, with very little work on his part, as he sailed out into the fresh clear air of the open seas, he noticed that the sails were white once more and caught the air powerfully as they used to, driving his boat forward, while his deck and cabin gleamed and
shone. As he sailed onwards with high heart, he thought with satisfaction how wonderfully his boat would now survive the years and travels ahead as those destructive men became an increasingly distant memory.

How this man found true companions to genuinely help him on his voyages is, of course, another story...


:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Published by Uncommon Knowledge Ltd,
12 Queen Square, Brighton, UK BN1 3FD
Tel: +44 (0)1273 776770
email: mailto:info@unk.com

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

If a friend has sent you this newsletter and you would like to subscribe, go to:

uncommon knowledge.
:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

UR dumped - NRN
Topic: Someone Else Said It
Here's the Toronto Star Jennifer O'Meara Article


UR dumped – NRN
The tongue-tied or fearful prefer instant messaging
March 13, 2007
Jennifer O'Meara
Special to the Star

When Sandy Scherbak decided her boyfriend was a jerk, she wanted to end their relationship as quickly and painlessly as possible – so she used a text message to dump him.

"We'd only gone out for a month. I wasn't that attached to him. We'd only slept together once ... so I figured text was an okay way to end it," says Scherbak.

Ending a relationship with a cellphone text message might leave etiquette experts cold, but it meant Scherbak, 23, never had to hear from or see him again. The relationship was over, no muss, no fuss.

"Breaking up face-to-face sucks. I think it just would have been awkward," she says.

Scherbak is not alone in using technology to avoid uncomfortable conversations. She, like many of her peers, has joined the growing trend to replace face-to-face interactions with keyboard speak.

The generation that grew up chatting through instant messages, joining online social network sites like Facebook, emailing and texting each other, prefers type-driven communication when having unpleasant or difficult dialogue.

"It feels so much less vulnerable. You have something to hide behind," says Michelle Irving, of Oshawa, a 25-year-old supporter of the online communication trend.

Amanda Sheane, 24, recently learned through Facebook, that a friend she has known since Grade 5 is gay. With people posting their sexual orientation online now, she doesn't have to ask.

"It's definitely the way to come out. It becomes, `Oh, you are gay! We all thought you were, but we didn't know,'" the Toronto resident says.

And it's not just break-ups and coming-outs that have people turning to their computers for help communicating.

When Kristen Kelly, 23, wanted to say she adored her boyfriend, she didn't have the guts to do it in person. She wanted a way to test the waters, so that if it backfired she could always claim he had taken it out of context.

"The first time I said `love you' was on email. Because on email you can say, `I didn't mean it like that,'" says Kelly, who lives in Oshawa.

But there is a downside to this kind of ambiguity. According to Barry Wellman, a University of Toronto sociology professor who is an international expert on how the Internet affects social networks, misunderstanding is one of the biggest potential pitfalls of online communication.

"You don't see each other's face. You know you have to be careful with irony and jokes. There's a fairly strong possibility for misunderstanding," cautions Wellman.

Many online communicators, however, believe that having the chance to write down their feelings while they are alone, and to be absent when others read them, makes it easier to get the message across.

"I'm so much better at expressing myself when I write. When you say things, guys aren't always listening. They can tune you out. When it's in writing, they have to read it ... unless it's too long," says Irving.

As the trend to communicate through technology progresses, Wellman is predicting a more widespread use of web cameras that will cut down the potential for misunderstandings.

"If you can see people, you can understand more where they're coming from," he says.

But not everyone is looking forward to the day when they have to look someone in the eye while talking online.

"When you bring that webcam in, suddenly you're responsible for what you're saying," says Irving.

Kelly doesn't want to see instant messaging become a face-to-face way to communicate, either.

"Down with webcams! With webcam, then it goes back to being like in person. Then I guess we go to snail mail. We'll have slower fights," she says.

Sociologists have studied how people argue in chat rooms with strangers (called flaming), says Wellman, but there has been very little research on people using technology to resolve issues with their real-life friends and partners. Researchers have been surprised by how much more open people are online.

"People write things on blogs that they might not tell their best friends," Wellman says.

With people becoming more and more open online, and using Internet communication as a shield against difficult face-to-face conversations, we could well be heading toward a society where some of the most significant things we tell one another are typed out rather than spoken.

"That's really the question," says Irving, "Are words more important written or said? Maybe it depends on the person – the person sending it and the person getting it."

Jennifer O'Meara is an Oshawa-based freelance writer.

Critique of The Secret
Topic: Someone Else Said It
In his blog Dan Millman provides a link to another critique...

Thursday January 04th 2007, 1:58 pm
Filed under: Dan's Posts

Some weeks ago, a young man wrote to us, declaring, “In six months I’m going to have three million dollars, the woman of my dreams, and a beautiful house – because I’ve seen . . . The Secret!

The Secret, for those of you who haven’t yet heard, has become an internet phenomenon. It began as an Australian television production featuring a number of well-known authors and pundits, speaking about the “Law of Attraction.” This law says that we attract or manifest into our lives what we think about or focus on or earnestly desire.

As fate would have it, the producers, in a stroke of foresight, ended up delivering this 90-minute program via internet. One can go to the web site, watch a dramatic teaser, sign up, pay a mere $4.95, and download the program to watch to one’s heart’s content — to learn “The Secret.”

I’m not surprised by the popularity of this program. Magical thinking has huge appeal for many – especially when it intersects with ideas from quantum physics and metaphysical science.

In this respectful critique, I’m going to first express what I genuinely like about the program:

I find much of the program up-beat, good hearted, encouraging. It also has excellent production values, cinematography, effects, and sound. And the editing is excellent. I’m especially impressed by the cutting-edge method of delivery — internet streaming — ushering in a new era of movies on demand with the click of a mouse.

I also like the message that what we bring into our lives begins with a vision, a longed-for aspiration — a good reminder for those of us who haven’t yet stretched the wings of possibility and allowed ourselves to embrace higher possibilities. If The Secret opens the way to expanded dreams, it serves a useful purpose.

What concerns me, however, are the program’s primary suppositions. The message, repeated in different words by the various guests, is that if we simply intend and visualize and dream big enough, we can “manifest” all our dreams — effortlessly, magically, mystically.

However, this “Law of Attraction” does not, in my view, qualify as a law at all. In my book, The Laws of Spirit, I present twelve spiritual laws (including, to name a few, the laws of balance, choices, process, faith . . . action, surrender, and unity) — laws which apply consistently and universally to everyday life. This quality of consistency is essential to any law, and differentiates it from proverbs, principles, or aphorisms, which may or may not apply. In other words, a law works every time here on Earth, much like the law of gravity.

In any case, this “Law of Attraction,” as taught many decades ago by metaphysicians like Catherine Ponder and others, is certainly a positive and expansive idea. But dreams, desires and visions are only the beginning — they must be followed by focused effort over time – something barely mentioned in the “Secret” production.

Thomas Edison wrote, “We often miss opportunity because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” It has the ring of truth, doesn’t it? But suggesting that we need to work hard over time to achieve our goals doesn’t sell well. It isn’t sexy or fascinating, or sound much like a “Secret.” Common sense rarely does.

In “The Secret,” we personally witness a little boy who wishes and hopes for a bicycle—he thinks about it, visualizes a bike, cuts out pictures from a magazine. And lo and behold, one day he opens a door and there is his new bike! Personally, I would have been more drawn to see him walking a paper route, or doing chores to earn some money, or at least asking his parents directly for a special Christmas gift. Which reminds me of a story I relate in Living on Purpose:

Louie goes to church every Sunday and prays to God, “Dear Lord, I’ve been a good and devout man for many years, living according to your Laws, doing acts of charity, serving the poor, supporting my family. So please, please, let me win the lottery just once!” He repeats this plea every week for years, but his entreaties go unanswered. So Louie starts to pray to win the lottery every night and every day. Until one day, he hears a voice thunder down from the heavens: “Louie, will you at least go half-way with me and buy a ticket?”

That’s all I’m suggesting — a simple point ignored by “The Secret” — go to the effort to buy a ticket. Or as an Arabic sage once said, “Trust in God . . . but tie your camel.”

So if you wish to be successful, dream big, but start small — then connect the dots. In other words, start with a vision, then take baby steps. Neither dreaming nor wishing nor magical secrets get the laundry done.

The biggest issue I have with programs like The Secret (or other idealistic notions such as learning “positive thinking”) is that when their magical methods don’t work, we end up believing that it’s our fault, our lack, our fault. We believe that if we had truly deserved it, or really applied ourselves, or focused more intently, or visualized more clearly with a sincere heart, surely it would have worked.

The Secret, then, with its lovely and uplifting promise, is a foolproof supposition: If we don’t heal, manifest, get what we want, it’s due to our own lack of faith.

Or maybe it’s because we forgot the “taking action” part . . .

There are some successful people who claim to have mastered “The Secret” and who have manifested their dreams and desires. Few of them tell us about their years of struggle and labor and preparation.

By all means strive in the direction of your dreams! Visualize a grand life! Then get to work. While we cannot control the outcomes, we can control our efforts. And by making the effort, we increase the odds of creating a larger life.

I close with my warmest wishes, and with a reminder from Henry David Thoreau: “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost. Now put foundations under them.”

As a post-script, both for those who mistakenly believe that I support the message of “The Secret,” and also for those who believe I’m being unjustly critical, I offer another articulate blogger’s Comments about "The Secret"