They should have done this with book 4 as well...

'Harry Potter' finale to be split into two movies:

The last installment in the Harry Potter movie franchise will be released in two parts--because one edit of The Deathly Hallows will leave out too much information about the boy wizard's final adventures.

The sixth film in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is due for release in November, and although the characters' futures are wrapped up in just seven novels by author J.K. Rowling, fans of the movies will be given an extra treat with a double dose of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

A source says, "There's so much to fit that the view is the last movie should be in two halves. There is a huge battle when Harry, played by Daniel Radcliffe, takes on (evil wizard, Lord) Voldemort (played by Ralph Fiennes) that needs to be done really well."

And Rowling has briefly commented on the reports herself, stating on her Web site: "It is simply impossible to incorporate every storyline into a film under four hours long."

Fans of the books have previously criticized the big-screen adaptations for their lack of detail.

I do think the final edit of movie 5 was alright.  Although in ALL the films, the biggest hassle is that much of the exposition, especially the epilogue discussions between Harry and Dumbledore, are always what gets cut yet that's where the best of Albus always comes out.  Kinda annoying that - because of those cuts, I haven't grown to like Gambon's portrayal as much as I think I should.

snow in fairfax

and slightly sideways at that.  in fact, given the way the wind is shifting it off the building, it's circling around like the Wizard of Oz tornado...

oh, and Happy Birthday rennfoole!

Hope the new house is working out!

here we go again - break out that K&R 'C' book now 'cause the jobs will be hot in 28 years...

Slashdot | Y2K38 Watch Starts Saturday:

Jon Masters writes "I just wanted to remind everyone that Saturday, January 19th 2008 will mark the beginning of the 30-year countdown to the Y2K38 bug , when Unix time will overflow 32 bits. Some 30-year loan calculation software might start having problems with this over the weekend."

ok, this asshole has GOT to GO NOW

The Raw Story | Huckabee: Amend Constitution to be in 'God's standards':

The United States Constitution never uses the word "God" or makes mention of any religion, drawing its sole authority from "We the People." However, Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee thinks it's time to put an end to that.

"I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution," Huckabee told a Michigan audience on Monday. "But I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that's what we need to do -- to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view."

Mind you, he's getting most of his support from many evangelical leaders who claim the Constitution already IS a "Christian Nation" document (nevermind that pesky business about no test and the first amendment and the fact that 8 out of 10 commandments violate the document if they were enacted as law), so once again we have this wonderful double-talk - one the one hand it already suits our needs if you interpret it our way, but on the other hand it needs to be changed.

This is, of course, exactly the same double-talk they use about the school science standards - on the one hand ID is pure science and there is a controversy that should be taught yada yada, yet on the other they talk about ID as the front-wedge for "getting God back into the public schools".

I almost wonder if Mike missed the memo going around (see David Barton's collection of misquotes and lies).  Kansas's history department has gotten a copy, as has Congress itself...