no longer holding my breath *squee*

Well, I made it through the day without totally embarrassing myself! I have to say, however, it was oh, so sweet to find out that MSN had a link to the teaser trailer at a quarter of 8, which meant that I could watch it before I left work, and not drive like a maniac to get home to see it.

Here are a load of places to see it, in various formats and accessibilty (apparently a couple of these are US-only, sorry!):

1. MSN (URL at the end shows the .co.uk address)
2. AOL's Moviefone (US-only, I think, but OMG, HD versions. *flails*)
3. The Leaky Cauldron's Video Gallery (downloadables for WMP and iPod!)
4. Sionwitch's YouTube page
5. Stills - Screencaps from the 1080 HD version on hbpmoviepics LJ
6. HD versions at TrailerSpotting (LJ) - added thanks to Sel

This is (apparently) the teaser trailer, and runs 1:29, so apparently there will be the "full" trailer that will be longer - and that we may not see until September. Alas.

I can't express how excited I am with this movie!

Just....wow. I don't want to blink watching the preview. Same way I was with the long version of OotP.

And just because I can, here's another short fic that I found tonight that I liked....it's called Same Old Tricks, rated a mild 'M' for language and some inuenndo, if you know what I mean. Ahem. it's off of the catchmysnitch comm on LiveJournal.

Heh. I wonder what the PotterCast live show was like with the trailer being released right in the middle of it!

Off to dream about movies....cheers!

still holding my breath

From Leaky:

In addition to the two photos from yesterday, USA Today has now released two additional photos of Harry Potter (Dan Radcliffe), Professor Dumbledore (Michael Gambon), and the memory vial relating to Young Tom Riddle. You can see the new photos via this link. The teaser trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be released later tonight via AOL at 9pm (EST). We will post the links as soon as they become available.

The link in the article is for the photogallery on the USAToday page - the main article is here.

I don't think I'm the only one holding my breath - that was posted at 9:35AM EST, and by 3PM, there were already 230 comments attached to it, and now the main page won't load. *watches Leaky implode*

*tries to refrain from jumping up and down at work*

I'll link to the trailer when it's up. Cheers!

taking a deep breath

Just a short post today...a little HP news and some yarn to talk about.

From Hobby Lobby (I was looking for the Sock-Ease in Red Hots but they didn't have it....grr):

• 2 50g balls Patons "Stretch Sock" (41% cotton, 39% wool, 13% nylon, 7% elastic) in colorway Olive (green, dark green, rust, burgundy, orange, yellow gold)
• 2 50g balls Patons "Kroy Sock" (75% washable wool, 25% nylon) in colorway Mulberry Stripes (pale pink, hot pink, chocolate brown, country blue, black/white dot). This is a self-striping yarn, and is brighter in person that it is in the picture. It sorta reminded me of a Ginny color. Something she would wear. Dunno.
• 1 5oz ball Yarn Bee "Boucle Traditions" (90% acrylic, 10% polyester) in colorway Naturals (black, grey, brown, tan, white) for a scarf. I can't seem to find a pic for this, so I'll be linking one in a later post.

I have frogged the entire middle section of the Challah cloth. I ran the braid out to the end of the ball I was knitting it off of, and have re-started the center part. I think this time I'm going to stitch the blessing on it with duplicate stitch.

How weird is it that I'm watching Good Eats - Alton is making a standing lamb roast using a bundt pan to cook the roast - and for some reason all I can think of is the fact that that pan won't be kosher now...?

I found a few HP fics that I thought should be recommended, even though they're nowhere near the 50K mark that I have in the "Books Read 2008" sidebar. The first one is called Solving the Clues, and is very clever. The second one is probably the first post-DH fic written (it was posted in the early evening of July 21, 2007) and is called Interlude. There's one particular paragraph that totally choked me up. Choked Harry up, too. See if you can find it.

I've decided that the next 'gotta start' project is going to be a Baby Surprise Jacket (thank you, Sue) made out of "Sweet Delight Baby" in the Ladybug colorway. Now I just need to unearth some US7s - I know there are some around here somewhere.

In HP news, please note that I am calm, cool, and collected.

*waits a beat*

*cue jumping up and down*

The HBP trailer is going to be released TODAY! Squee! According to several places (including the Teaser Trailer site and Leaky), AOL will be streaming the trailer on Tuesday, July 29.

Now I just have to remember to breathe.

The author of Harry Potter and The Battle of Wills (Jocelyn) has graciously given permission for Scott, Dan and I to record her fanfic and post it for download. If you're interested, you can download the work-in-progress (the fic is done, the recording is not) at my site, and come chat with the rest of us in the Reading Group on PFW!

Lisa, you've been gone forever. Comic-Con is over, there was much squeeing and (more) jumping up and down (not by me so much) and people are now recovering. I'll be happy when you're back online with us in chat! I've missed ya.

Okay. I think I need to go to bed....soonish.

EDIT: I forgot, I wanted to add this to the post from today:

The 'alt text' is "I'd like to see more damage assessments for hurricanes hitting New York and flooding Manhattan -- something like the 1938 Long Island Express, but aimed a bit more to the west. It's just a matter of time." *diez* I loved the TRON reference, too....

Cheers!

omg, no yarn this time

No, I haven't taken leave of my senses. I just didn't buy any yarn this weekend. I didn't say I wasn't gonna talk about knitting, though.

I am working on Julia's Challot cloth - I discovered a major problem in looking at finished projects in Ravelry: The blessing is misspelled. On the third line! Aaaaaaaargh. I think I'll just rip and re-do the entire middle section. Sigh. I'd finished the pointed lace edging, and I'm currently doing the braid. I think it looks cool - the braid is an alternating cable, and really looks like it's three segments braided together. Re-doing the middle section's gonna set me back a bit, though - I was hoping to have this finished by the end of the month, but I don't think that's going to happen.

I have about 10-15 more rows of Seeker's Sleeve #2 before binding off for the armpit. I've been seriously looking at how to make this pattern into a seamless raglan, but it's going to be a challenge with all those different stitch patterns. I really need to sit down and chart it, so I can see what I'm doing, but I need to find the activation key for my software. It's in a box in the office closet, I think. I hope! I don't want to have to purchase the software again.

Comfort Sock #2 is on hold with me working on the Challot cloth. It's my carry-around project at the moment, and since I haven't had time to do anything while I'm out and about (busy busy at work), I haven't touched it. It'll get there.

Jim doing fine, as far as I know.

Happy Birthday to Dan Radcliffe - 19 years old today. I am still amazed that it's been an entire year since Deathly Hallows hit the bookshelves, and a year today that I went and saw Order of the Phoenix in the theatre. I talked to Alli a little about it last night - I called her about 10:30 my time and blubbered with her on the phone about Remus and Tonks and Fred and Dobby and Hedwig. A whole year. Wow.

Work is continuing on the recording of Battle of Wills, but I haven't heard from the author yet. :(

I think that's all for me for right now - got another meeting to go to, and you know me - I'm boring!

Oh, one last thing - if you get a chance, go watch this video. It looks like a lot of fun!!

Cheers!

the pics of the attack....

Okay, here are the pics I promised, and since I told Sue about her yarn, I have that here too. See the previous post for the fiber content:

• SD Baby Giggles Ombre
• SD Baby Ladybug Ombre
• SD Baby Camo
• Airy Royal Should be purple-er
• Wild Night
• Pile of Intrigue (from top left: Bunny, True Love, Rouge, Blushing, and Midnight)
• SF Painted Desert
• SCY Copperpot
• The Loopy Kit!
• 1 4oz hank of Dream in Color "Baby" (100% superwash merino laceweight) in colorway Black Parade (red, blue, green, yellow, black overdyed). Nice squishy yarn!

Alli just informed me that Terry Goodkind's terrible rip-off of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series is going to be on Sci-Fi. Pardon me while I go poke my eyes out.

That is all!

i was attacked, i swear...

Never go to a craft store and 'accidentally' walk past the clearance rack. I went to Hobby Lobby to see if they'd received any "Sock-Ease" (they had!) and walked out with 16 - SIXTEEN - balls of yarn. Most of it was a buck or so each, but still! Oh, and Hobby Lobby sellers? Two things. Firstly, if you're going to send a new sock yarn to a store, make sure you send enough of each color to MAKE A PAIR OF SOCKS. The new Red Heart "Heart and Sole" yarn is only 50g, and they sent one of about 6 different colors to the store. *rolls eyes* I mean, come on. Luckily, the LB yarn is 100g, which is enough for a pair of socks. Secondly, if you are going to carry sock yarn, you also need to carry the needles for it. The smallest circ or DPNs they carry? US4. Hellooooo....

I can see that I'm going to have to take pics of the Yarn Bee yarns - there are very few shots of it online (according to Google). I'll post the haul here, and when I get the pics taken I'll update the links.

• 1 100g ball Lion Brand yarn "Sock-Ease" (75% wool/25% nylon, finished with aloe vera) in colorway Toffee (brown, olive, orange, yellow)
• 1 4oz ball Baby Bee "Sweet Delight Baby" (60% acrylic/40% polymide) in colorway Giggles Ombre (yellow, pink, orange, green)
• 4 4oz balls Baby Bee "Sweet Delight Baby" (60% acrylic/40% polymide) in colorway Ladybug Ombre (light red, sky blue, very light pink, charcoal)
• 2 4oz balls Baby Bee "Sweet Delight Baby" (60% acrylic/40% polymide) in colorway Baby Camo (tan, light to forest green, brown)
• 1 3.5oz ball Yarn Bee "Featherwisp" (100% nylon) in colorway Tempting (blue, rust, olive green, yellow)
• 1 3.5oz ball Yarn Bee "Airy" (100% nylon) in colorway Royal (bright amethyst)
• 1 3.5oz ball Yarn Bee "Paradox" (49% acrylic, 40% nylon, 9% polyester, 2% spandex) in colorway Wild Night (black core with rainbow twist, hot pink eyelash)
• 5 3oz balls Yarn Bee "Intrigue" (57% polymide, 43% Lurex glitter) in 5 different colors: Bunny (blush pink), True Love (dark red), Rouge (lipstick red), Blushing (blush bronze), and Midnight (deep blue)
• 1 4oz hank Scarlet Fleece "Totally Tubular x2" (80% merino, 20% nylon) in colorway Painted Desert (rust to deep black-brown, dusty blue-grey to deep teal, dusty pinks) from Loopy.
• 1 100g hank of Spindle City Yarns "SCY" (75% superwash, 25% nylon) in colorway Copper Pot (verdigris green to olive, sky blue to deep blue, red rust to medium burgundy), also from Loopy. Yummy yarn.

My Loopy Ewe Order #3 present was a mini red sock kit! It's so cute. I may have to make that this weekend. I have another hank of yarn, but it's a surprise. *waves to Teh Sue*

Jim is doing fine as far as I know - he still doesn't want visitors, and Mom hasn't called me (I specifically told her to if she needed anything, like to be kidnapped or something), so I'm clueless on the recovery front.

I picked up and worked on Seeker a bit yesterday - I'm past the increases on sleeve #2, so I have about 4 inches of 'straight' knitting in pattern before the armpit and raglan decreases.

I'm catching up on my podcasts again - I got behind while listening to the Born In series - and sooo want to send Violet a hank of the fibraNATURA yarn that I found at Kirkwood Knittery in the Seattle Skies colorway. She's nutz about the PNW. Who else would buy ROCKS from there??

Latest rumor about the HBP trailer is that it might might might be attached to the newest Mummy movie. *sigh* At this point, I don't care. I just want to seeeee.

There's a new promo pic - this one is from EW, and looks like it's the Felix Felicis potion. :) The covers for the calendar and sticker books are out too (here, here and here). The same pose that was used for the Opal Yarn poster is on the cover of the calendar - and I STILL don't think it looks like Dan. It just doesn't. *shrug* I can't put my finger on it. The first link for the sticker books doesn't look like him, either. The second and the third ones are him, though. They all look.....I dunno. Photoshopped.

Scott (the Hufflepuff King), Dan (the Pwncast of Wrock guy/aspiring broadcaster dude) and me (*cough*) are collaborating on a new audiobook. The PFW Reading Group is discussing Jocelyn's Harry Potter and the Battle of Wills and Scott had the brilliant idea to record it. We're still waiting for actual posting permissions from the author (hope that Hotmail account still works!) and we'll be trading off the chapters. 51 in all, which will break down to 17 for each of us.

I desperately need to edit and upload the next chapter or three of AtE, too.

The American League beat the National Leage on Tuesday in the longest All-Star Game on record: 4 hours and 50 minutes. 15 innings. the NL lost, and someone needs to nominate Uggla (from FL) as the Least Valuable Player. 3 errors. THREE! Meh.

I think I've wound down now - it's going to be very hot this weekend, so I'll either be staying inside where it's cool, or I'll be out for a drive. I'm thinking the former, as the A/C in the car is kaput.

Cheers!!

long week

Been a long and weird week.

The 4th of July was very very slow at work - I think we took 20 calls all day, and we had 4 staffed. Zzzz. Not a lot of calls the entire weekend, so it was nice.

Monday was hospital day. Jim went in for his laryngectomy surgery, and I had planned to sit with Mom in the afternoon. The actual operation started after 1PM (they were scheduled for 10AM) and I had to go to the dentist, so they started just before I got there. About 3, I went to get something for lunch, and while I was gone, the doctor came out and told my mom there had been a complication - Jim's BP had dropped and he'd arrested on the table. They shocked him out of the arrhythmia and closed up what they'd done, and stabilized him before coming out to tell Mom.

Yeah, that was a shock coming back from lunch.

We called everyone, and my brother and SIL and 3 of Jim's kids came up to the hospital. About 7ish they moved him from Recovery up to the CCU, and we got to see him about 8:30, but he was pretty much out of it.

Tuesday was test day. They ran an ECHO and a cardiac catheterization to see what may have caused the problem, and didn't find anything. The cardiologist was of the opinion that the drop in BP caused the arrhythmia, and so the laryngectomy was rescheduled for Wednesday. I went up and saw him on Tuesday night after work, and he was complaining that he wanted out of bed, so he was feeling fine.

Wednesday was laryngectomy take 2. No complications and no surprises this time. Thank you, everyone who was thinking about him this last week. I haven't been to see him yet - he's not really wanting visitors at the moment, so I'll see him in a couple of days.

Thankfully Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were uneventful. Note: The new Pizza Hut pastas are yummy! I liked the Chicken Alfredo (which used rotini noodles O_o) better than the red sauce version, but the red version was better on Saturday. I also finished Comfort Twinkle #1 and started #2. Pics at my Flickr page.

Sunday, me and the motorcycle people (Paula, Art, and Mikey) went for a ride - we had lunch over at King Louie's in Wood River (I had Ash in the car, too) and then up the Great River Road to Grafton. The Mississippi is at flood stage up there still, but is dropping. Ash was complaining because of the smell (hey, it's a river, fps) and there was a lot of brown earth - in places it looked like someone had drawn a line, above which everything was green and below, everything was brown. Ash rode with Mike from Grafton up to the lookout at Pere Marquette Park, and we took some pics:

Yes, she's sticking her tongue out. Brat. The view is of Calhoun County, IL, and the river below is the Illinois. You can't see the Mississippi, as it's behind the hills, but you can make out the bluffs in Missouri in the far distance.

Mike and Art left us at this point, and we took the homemade root beer - did I mention that King Louie's makes their own root beer? yummmmmmmm - and some sweet corn we'd bought at a roadside stand back to PK's house, and then I kidnapped Ash to go over to Knit and Caboodle in St. Charles. The haul:

• 2 50g balls of Cascade Yarns "Fixation" (98.3% cotton, 1.7% elastic) in colorway #9980 Los Alamos (bright blue, yellow, orange, hot pink to red). Yes, this is the same color I'd bought before, and they were still on sale, so I bought more.
• 2 50g balls of SandnesGarn "Sisu" (80% wool, 20% nylon) in colorway #4503 (pink). Guess who wanted this one?
• 1 100g hank Trekking "Hand Art" (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon) in colorway Tundra (light pine to forest green, burgundy to ruby red). This one is for me.
• 1 100g ball of Plymouth Yarn Co. "Sockotta" (cotton/SW wool/nylon) in colorway #5613 (red, yellow, blue, white/green). Bold bright stripes.

We met Kesh and Panda at DQ, and they took Ash back as I went to the store for dip materials. I rescued a wandering boxer (dog, not person) on the way to PK's house, and then we cooked. Did you know that 12 people can make a lot of noise? Especially while eating!

When I got home, I found out that a friend's husband had had a massive heart attack in the middle of the night Saturday night. She's my age, and has 2 small children. I just don't know what more to say. Think about Alison this week, will you? She needs your good thoughts.

Today, I had an errand to run in South County, so I took the pooch with me to drive down. It was so nice out, I decided to go for a cruise - and ended up taking the Great River Road down to Chester, IL and then came back up US61 on the west side of the river. The Mississippi is very high down there still, and lots of places were obviously under water until very recently.

I stopped at a roadside park and took a few pictures at Bloomsdale:

Plu is enjoying the view. :) Yes, that's a picnic table he's sitting on.

Looks pastoral, doesn't it? What you don't know is that I-55 is right below - apparently the park is on the bluff cut above the highway, and you can very clearly hear the traffic passing maybe 200 yards away. Was a rather weird dichotomy of a view and the highway noise!

All everyone is talking about here is the A-B/InBev 'merger' - and Leno just joked that the Clydesdales will be sold to Sizzler. Oi.

New rumor is that the HBP trailer will be on Star Wars: The Clone Wars in August. Le sigh.

Albert Pujols and Ryan Ludwick are in the All-Star Game tomorrow for the Cards. Albert is the starting DH! Yay!

I think that's all for me. Hope your week isn't as nutty as mine was.

Cheers!

twinkle twinkle little sock

Another drive-by post. No, you're not delirious.

Loopy has the Spirit Trail Fiberworks yarn up on her site! I am eyeing this one, and this one, and maybe this one. Or this one. *sigh* Decisions, decisions. The yarn looks pricey, but take a look at the yardage. It's for 437yards, 5.3oz. 5.3!! Wow.

I think I missed the Wollmeise, though. Alas. I think I'm going to have to be a Groupie and get the Sneak-Ups to snag one of those.

I am making yet another pair of Twinkles, with the Comfort yarn this time. I've already ripped and restarted since yesterday, and they look pretty good! Here's a close up (more at my Flickr)

I think I like the yarn! It sorta looks like a cotton, (it's a little splitty like cotton can be) but feels like...I'm not sure. Almost silky smooth.

We finally finally FINALLY got more photos for HBP! About frickin' time! The articles are on Leaky (most with pics), and are:

• Empire Magazine cover and article
• Julie Walters returning as Molly in DH
• USAToday's "First Look" with pics and a great article (*squee!*)
• First look of Jim Broadbent as Slughorn
• More from Empire
• Luna's 'Spectacles'
• HBP Video Game trailer (!!)
• Official high-res pics (thanks, WB)

According to the USAToday article, there was a 'near miss' snog - that's new! I think two of the guys I sit close to at work are hinting at wanting to go to the midnight showing in November (yes, I know, it's 140 days away. Deal!), and Scott want me to smuggle him to NYC in my suitcase - or at least take a video camera with me. I don't think so!!!!! I have noooo wish to get tossed out of the theatre.

I've been commissioned to read a WIP in the Dangerverse. Ought to be interesting! I may have a few more on the 'to-do' pile as well.

Okay, that's enough of a drive-by from me. Have a safe and fun 4th of July holiday if you live in the US!

Cheers!

drive-by posting

In no particular order:

1. My first pair of Coriolis socks are finished! Here's Sock #1, and a closeup of the toe. w00t! More pictures to come.
2. Trying to figure out what to make next. Maybe Twinkles with the Comfort Sock acrylic? *ponders this*
3. Little Debbie S'mores are the messiest thing I've ever eaten made by them. Chocolate-covered graham crackerish cookies top and bottom, with a cross-shaped marshmallow middle with chocolate CREME FILLING at the quarters. You bite it, and SMOOSH. Chocolate creme everywhere.
4. HBP trailer rumored to be shown with Dark Knight. I'll believe it when I see it.
5. Won a free adult movie ticket for Get Smart! Hope the movie is still in the theatres when I get it...
6. Don S. Davis (General Hammond of Stargate: SG-1) passed away on Sunday. RIP, Don. You will be missed.

That is all. I think.