Sorry To Have To Do This, But...

Come on, is that the cutest thing ever or what?

I've pre-ordered the Harry Potter book. Two copies, in fact, so that we don't have to fight over it. I was going to write something about this, but then I opened up EW, and saw that Stephen King had stolen my whole premise, almost word for word:

Think how it must be for all the kids who were 8 when Harry debuted in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, with its cartoon jacket and modest (500 copies) first edition. Those kids are now 18, and when they close the final book, they will be in some measure closing the book on their own childhoods — magic summers spent in the porch swing, or reading under the covers at camp with flashlights in hand, or listening to Jim Dale's recordings on long drives to see Grandma in Cincinnati or Uncle Bob in Wichita.

After college, I worked in a hospital, and there were some teenagers working there. They were getting ready to graduate high school when the kids from Beverly Hills 90210 graduated, and they all said they cried. It must have been a surreal experience, but imagine how much more intense it must be for the Harry Potter generation.

The best links this week:

Trailers from Hell! A new website with filmmakers providing audio commentary to their favorite B-movie trailers. Edgar Wright on Danger: Diabolik!, Joe Dante on The Terror, John Landis on The TAMI Show (my favorite), and more!

On the WFMU blog, some cool old cartoons and superhero stuff (especially check out Legends of the Superheroes!) and a cornucopia of Thurl Ravenscroft mp3's--with a special bonus of the "Bottle of Beer" song (from the end of Drunken Hero!)

Going to see Os Mutantes and Busdriver tomorrow! Psyched!