May 16, 2007

• I knew America's addicted to conferences, but had no idea THIS was going on.

  Did you realize there are conferences dedicated to the Harry Potter series?

  Fact!  There is one starting tomorrow in New Orleans, in fact:  Phoenix Rises

  From the website:  "Phoenix Rising, a conference devoted to all things Harry Potter,
  will fuse the intensity of academic debate with the improvisation of
  exploratory dialogue, the rhythms of New Orleans with the colors and
  pageantry of art. The conference will examine the novels, the movies,
  and the extraordinary fan phenomenon during the day; then, attendees
  will revel with the beat of the Crescent City — herself rising from ash
  and flame — when evening advances."

  Mercy Maud.  Who knew?

  In August there's one in Toronto (hey, I said "America".....Canada's part of North America) called Prophecy.  Here's what puzzles me:  both conferences feature Quidditch games.  Um, there are no wizards or witches or flying broomsticks or golden snitches, so I was curious as to how the dickens are they proposing to play that game.  Not to worry, however.....official rules are posted, and the one thing for certain is that this is a complicated game indeed. 

  For those fortunate enough to be in England on the "Deathly Hallows" release date, there's a conference going on then, too:  Sectus

  That latter site has a discussion forum, and a quick perusal of it revealed the information that the upcoming "Order of the Phoenix" movie - opening on July 13 - will be released in IMAX format.  Alright, that sounds cool!  I've yet to see a feature movie in IMAX, but if it comes to the OmniMax, I'll have to go. 

  • 9:23 am
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