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Jun. 17th, 2003
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Harry Potter notes
Jun. 17th, 2003 10:42 pmWe were talking about the theft at Third Place, but couldn't remember the approximate dollar value. From the WSJ:
Some Potter fanatics have taken matters into their own hands. Tuesday, police in northern England said they were searching for whoever stole a trailer truck packed with 7,630 copies of the fifth Harry on Sunday night. The trailer, stolen from an industrial area near Liverpool, was discovered abandoned -- and empty. Police estimate the value of the pilfered books at around $218,023.
Families around the world are already devising their Harry Potter strategy -- where to buy, how many copies, who gets to read it when. As far away as Singapore, Anna Poah, an executive assistant at an insurance company, is in a bit of a bind: Her two kids, age 12 and nine, marched her down to a bookshop three weeks ago and demanded she preorder two copies, one for each. Mrs. Poah balked.
"I said 'No, you wait till one has finished.' My son pointed to my daughter and said, 'By the time she's done, the story will be old and the next book will be coming out.'" Mrs. Poah has decided to "timeshare" the book: Each child will get it for a few hours a day.
Singapore's Orchard Hotel, managed by Millennium & Copthorne International PLC, is offering a Harry Potter special: a room for one night, plus a copy of the new Potter tome, for 160 Singapore dollars (US$92.60). [...]
In the U.K., bookstores said they expect to be able to fill all advance orders with some to spare. (Bloomsbury declined to discuss the size of its print run or whether it would meet initial demand.) A spokeswoman for W.H. Smith, Britain's largest book retailer, says it has about 300,000 advance orders from people giving stores a deposit of €1 ($1.68). About 150 of W.H. Smith's 500 stores in Britain will open at midnight Friday night.
Many stores are selling shrink-wrapped "multipacks" with adult and child versions (they have different jackets). "If you've got lots of children, you can buy a pack with three children's editions, or two children's edition and one adult edition, or two and two," says George Grey, children's book buyer at U.K. retailer Waterstones. The multipacks include extras such as bookmarks, stickers and a sign for the door that says: "Keep out. I'm busy reading Harry Potter."
Rochelle Goldwater, a 39-year-old London optician with four kids age 11 to 16, says this weekend the family will buy one copy "to start off with." "We'll probably all read the first few chapters" in turn, "and probably end up buying a second copy," she says. "It will be first-come, first-served, and I imagine there will be a lot of arguments, which is why I will buy a second copy."
Some Potter fanatics have taken matters into their own hands. Tuesday, police in northern England said they were searching for whoever stole a trailer truck packed with 7,630 copies of the fifth Harry on Sunday night. The trailer, stolen from an industrial area near Liverpool, was discovered abandoned -- and empty. Police estimate the value of the pilfered books at around $218,023.
Families around the world are already devising their Harry Potter strategy -- where to buy, how many copies, who gets to read it when. As far away as Singapore, Anna Poah, an executive assistant at an insurance company, is in a bit of a bind: Her two kids, age 12 and nine, marched her down to a bookshop three weeks ago and demanded she preorder two copies, one for each. Mrs. Poah balked.
"I said 'No, you wait till one has finished.' My son pointed to my daughter and said, 'By the time she's done, the story will be old and the next book will be coming out.'" Mrs. Poah has decided to "timeshare" the book: Each child will get it for a few hours a day.
Singapore's Orchard Hotel, managed by Millennium & Copthorne International PLC, is offering a Harry Potter special: a room for one night, plus a copy of the new Potter tome, for 160 Singapore dollars (US$92.60). [...]
In the U.K., bookstores said they expect to be able to fill all advance orders with some to spare. (Bloomsbury declined to discuss the size of its print run or whether it would meet initial demand.) A spokeswoman for W.H. Smith, Britain's largest book retailer, says it has about 300,000 advance orders from people giving stores a deposit of €1 ($1.68). About 150 of W.H. Smith's 500 stores in Britain will open at midnight Friday night.
Many stores are selling shrink-wrapped "multipacks" with adult and child versions (they have different jackets). "If you've got lots of children, you can buy a pack with three children's editions, or two children's edition and one adult edition, or two and two," says George Grey, children's book buyer at U.K. retailer Waterstones. The multipacks include extras such as bookmarks, stickers and a sign for the door that says: "Keep out. I'm busy reading Harry Potter."
Rochelle Goldwater, a 39-year-old London optician with four kids age 11 to 16, says this weekend the family will buy one copy "to start off with." "We'll probably all read the first few chapters" in turn, "and probably end up buying a second copy," she says. "It will be first-come, first-served, and I imagine there will be a lot of arguments, which is why I will buy a second copy."
(no subject)
Jun. 17th, 2003 11:26 pm95% of Opinions Withheld During Visit With Family. At least the headline is something like that, and it's very apt ;)
I heard a speaker on Sunday, Anne Kitch, talk about 'householding', which she described as building a family that works, on purpose. She talked about how favorite memories are often based on rituals - birthdays, Christmases. Rituals can be used to build connections and/or reinforce a sense of belonging and identity ("our family hikes", "Santa brings our tree").
Rituals can also cause a lot of pain and strife. Whether a ritual is successful or not has to do with what you *do*, not what the ritual *means*. ( Examples & so on. ) She also mentioned the books she used as source material. The Cathedral Shop happened to have one copy of the book called Intentional Family. I sat on the floor & read a bit, then bought it.
The focus of the book is on making conscious choices to reinforce the family - however your family is configured. ( A bit on how families have changed )The 'newest' sort of family is the "Pluralistic Family", which doesn't have an "ideal form" and rates individual needs above the family's needs. He talks about how the Pluralistic Family is *good* because people can create a family that works for them, but sucks because it's real easy for family members to get busy, neglect spending time together, let their connections atrophy, and eventually the family doesn't have much to hold it together. After all, most things *do* tend to entropy. Thus his idea of an "intentional family": a family that intends to stay together by consciously working to maintain connections and affection. The bulk of the book is on how to translate an intent to build and maintain a family into action. Oh, and he's big on rituals ;)
The book is written from a pretty religion-neutral viewpoint. Most of the book is on various types of family rituals, with a practical attitude. Much of it could apply to any kind of rit.
Rituals can also cause a lot of pain and strife. Whether a ritual is successful or not has to do with what you *do*, not what the ritual *means*. ( Examples & so on. ) She also mentioned the books she used as source material. The Cathedral Shop happened to have one copy of the book called Intentional Family. I sat on the floor & read a bit, then bought it.
The focus of the book is on making conscious choices to reinforce the family - however your family is configured. ( A bit on how families have changed )The 'newest' sort of family is the "Pluralistic Family", which doesn't have an "ideal form" and rates individual needs above the family's needs. He talks about how the Pluralistic Family is *good* because people can create a family that works for them, but sucks because it's real easy for family members to get busy, neglect spending time together, let their connections atrophy, and eventually the family doesn't have much to hold it together. After all, most things *do* tend to entropy. Thus his idea of an "intentional family": a family that intends to stay together by consciously working to maintain connections and affection. The bulk of the book is on how to translate an intent to build and maintain a family into action. Oh, and he's big on rituals ;)
The book is written from a pretty religion-neutral viewpoint. Most of the book is on various types of family rituals, with a practical attitude. Much of it could apply to any kind of rit.