A few days ago the first in a series of fireworks shows was held in Vancouver. I had rowing practice until just prior to the show, so I just walked down from the rowing club in Stanley Park to English Bay beach to check it out. The streets were full of people and the beach was pretty well standing room only. It was a good show, and of course the fact that they set some of the show to a Disney song was a nice plus. (Oh, dorky dorky me.)

All those thousands of people leaving downtown at the same time make for very busy buses. To avoid the rushes, I walked down Beach Ave, and across the Burrard Street Bridge. There was a long line of boats cruising from English Bay, where they had all been to see the fireworks. Green lights on one side, red on the other. Port wine is red. Red means port side. See, I did learn something from rowing after all. “Port” has four letters. “Even” has four letters. Even numbered seats are on port side. Green meads starboard. Odd numbered seats are on starbourd. But I guess that doesn’t apply to regular boats so much as rowing shells.

I thought I could go right down to Broadway and catch a bus to UBC, but when I reached the other side of the bridge I figured I might as well walk along the Kits beach area instead. Before long I was at Broadway and MacDonald, and I figured what the hell—I’ve got to be like halfway by now, I might as well finish the walk.

Here’s the difference between Vancouver and Montreal: In Vancouver, walking along a deserted stretch of road in the middle of the night, I was less afraid of being mugged and more afraid that I would run across a skunk. I’ve seen more “snuks” in the last three months in this city than I have in my entire life before.

The walk from English Bay to UBC turned out to be about 2 hours. Along the way my mp3 player kept me motivated. There was a good long stretch where I motored along to the beat of Turkey Lurkey. Embarrassing, I know, but there’s nothing like an up-tempo big band dance number to put some spring in your step.

And for a while I used it as an oracle. Put the player on shuffle, ask it a question, and the next song is your answer. I asked it if my crew is going to win the regatta on Sunday. The answer: “Yoshimi vs. the Pink Robots” by The Flaming Lips. Well, one of our rival crews is a bunch of strong guys, and at least one of them is gay, but I don’t think that makes them “pink robots”.

Those evil natured robots
They’re programmed to destroy us
She’s got to be strong to fight them
So she’s taking lots of vitamins
Cause she knows that it’d be tragic
If those evil robots win
I know she can beat them
Oh Yoshimi, they don’t believe me
But you won’t let those robots defeat me
Yoshimi, they don’t believe me
But you won’t let those robots eat me

The really stressful part is that, as bow seat, I have to watch our course (while facing backwards) and make calls to adjust it as necessary. “Hard on starboard!” and that sort of thing. Forget disciplining my body and taking all my vitamins—I’ll be happy if I get through Sunday afternoon without crashing us into a dinner cruise.

No, I’m not going to say how it ended, as much as I want to go refer back to my list of predictions for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and say I told you so.

I didn’t get them all right anyway. I thought I might go back and give myself a grade as if it were a homework assignment— 50/60, 27/50, that sort of thing—but I realised even that might give too much away. (Though to repeat, not all were right, not all were wrong, and some were somewhere in between.)

Instead I’ll just say this: I was struck by an eerie similarity to The Matrix. One of the last chapters, King’s Cross in particular, reminded me of one of the final scenes in either the second or third Matrix movie (I don’t remember which it was). I won’t go into details lest I give something more away, but there were definite parallels.

Oh, and can I just say, corniest epilogue ever. Especially that name. Oh boy. I was hoping for something with a little more grit.

But other than that it was fantastic.

11:30 PM (Half hour before book launch)
I got to the Chapters in downtown Vancouver with plenty of time to spare before the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series was released. Already lines snaked their way across the three floors of the store. People who had pre-ordered their copy go upstairs, show your ID, get your wristband, and join the line-up which was, by this point, winding its way through the Science Fiction section. Just minutes away, now, the man on the PA system promised. Minutes away…

12:00 (Seconds before launch)
The line now covers almost every open space in the store, winding down every aisle. From the front of the store are a few screams. Somebody waves a book in the air and camera flashes start going off. There’s a count down from ten and already people are running away with their copies clutched tight. The line is moving now.

12:38 (Chapter One)
Standing at the bus stop there were about four people with the book out already reading and eight more with Chapters bags in hand. I was already jealous of those who were well into the first chapter, already having the story play out before them. It was everything I could do to wait until getting on the bus to start reading, lest some of the few stray raindrops around fall onto my page.

1:32 (Middle of Chapter Two)
I’m already in deep. I can feel it. I just got home, make some tea and a snack, and am setting up camp on the couch in my living room. The Harry Potter soundtrack is playing to set the mood. Let’s get this show running.

1:56 (Chapter Four)
Damn, Harry spotted the big gaping hole in the problem before I did, and it really was a big gaping hole. It’s good things can still be a bit humorous at this stage.

2:34 (Chapter Six)
Damn, I’m getting tired already. I should have bought some junk food to keep me up. A lot has happened already—more than I was expecting—and I’m loathe to stop now.

2:58 (Chapter Seven)
I don’t understand why Dumbledore had apparently told Harry not to tell anybody about the Horcruxes. Voldemort would want them secret, so they wouldn’t be destroyed, but Dumbledore had exactly the opposite motivations. Well, too late to do anything about it now. The title of the seventh chapter, “The Will of Albus Dumbledore” is very enticing, but I can barely keep my head up. Time to move this party to my bed, where I’ll try to get another chapter or two in before nodding off. Reading will continue in the morning.

3:41 (Chapter Eight)
A change of scene and a couple granola bars later, I’m quite rejuvinated. There’s a lot of things going on now. Lots of ideas, no answers, and the only solution is to keep reading.

10.24 (Halfway through Chapter Eight)
Normally it would take several hours or snoozing through alarms to wrench me out of bed in the morning, but not today. Trying to find where I left off before falling asleep, I accidentally read the last line in Chapter Eight—things are not going well! Breakfast can wait, I’ve got reading to do. (I love how Luna’s dad’s name is Xenophilius, by the way. And what kind of name is Thicknesse, anyway?)

11:12 (Chapter Eleven)
There’s one question delt with. Not a big surprise, I think. The big question that Rowling said was the most important has been asked, one about the events surrounding Harry’s death, but still no answer is coming to me. Why did Dumbledore need James’s cloak..

11:41 (A few pages into Chapter Twelve)
Yes, good idea Hermione, but poorly executed. I already see a bit of a problem…

12:20 (Chapter Fourteen)
Here I was telling myself that after Chapter Thirteen I’d take a break, go have a shower and get some breakfast, but then the chapter had to end in mass confusion, flashes of light, and someone screaming. What the hell is going on!?

12:38 (Chapter Fifteen)
Good, a chapter ending with Harry going to sleep, and nothing diasterous or highly suspensful happening (just a curious clue to sort out… one of those things for which all the information is probably in older books). I can take a break for hygiene and nutrition.

13:19 (Chapter Fifteen, still)
Word on the street (i.e., Facebook), is that the friend that was with me to get the book last night at midnight finished reading two hours ago, and here I am only halfway through. Now rested, clean, and nourished, I’m ready for another good run. It’s going to be a hard sell to get me out the door tonight (I have committments to keep) if I haven’t finished by then…

13:42 (Chapter Sixteen)
Some answers, more questions. I’m having one of those moments where I want to scream out the answer (or my best guess at the answer) and hope Harry, Ron, and Hermione will hear me. It’s rather clever, too, if I do say so myself. But I don’t have the whole answer… even knowing where something is hidden doesn’t matter if you don’t have the key. And of course I could be completely wrong anyway.

14:05 (Near the end of Chapter Sixteen)
Wait a minute—Harry’s parents died in 1981? When he was one year old? Is this story taking place in 1997 then? That’s just slightly odd…

14:12 (In Chapter Seventeen
Haha, “Dumbledore-ish power”.

15:03 (Chapter Twenty)
The book definitely living up to the hype so far. I seriously doubt it even qualifies as a children’s book at this point. The story has grown up quite a lot from where it started. There’s a lot of history coming into it, and lots of things are coming together. And the next chapter is called “Xenophilius Lovegood”, and you’ve got to love that.

15:22 (Chapter Twenty One)
Ah, the first mention of the Deathly Hallows. And at the very end of the chapter, of course.

15:33 (In Chapter Twenty One)
Does anybody else see a connection between The Deathly Hallows and rock-paper-scissors?

16:28 (Chapter Twenty Four)
No book where crucio exists is for children.

16:51 (Chapter Twenty Five)
I suspected that this was the case, a few chapters ago as the story of who had what when began to unfold. But knowing who had it last, particularly how he came to get it, proves that it is not everything it is made out to be. There is still hope.

17:44 (Chapter Twenty Eight)
Oh, all hell’s breaking loose now. I love it!

18:20 (Chapter Thirty)
My internet’s pooped out since quarter to five, so this live-blogging idea isn’t as live as it really should be. But that’s just as well… Things are moving along steadily and I definitely feel a climax coming on. Still got a fifth of the book left though. Lots of things still left to happen.

18:36 (Chapter Thirty One)
This chapter is giving me goosebumps already and all I’ve done is read the title.

19:24 (Chapter Thirty Three)
It wasn’t looking good, but now I can feel it! The answers are coming! Right to the end of the previous chapter I was thinking the worst, but, oh, the twists! This is killing me!

19.54 (Chapter Thirty Four)
Well damn. But I don’t believe it’s really true. Not yet.

20:09 (Chapter Thirty Five)
“But it did intrigue him slightly.” Always with the jokes, even at a time like this.

20:24 (Chapter Thirty Six)
Well I’m not sure about how I feel about that last bit. And the title now is rather ominous… Where can things possibly go from here?

20:55 (The End)
Oh, well, I think the epilogue was a bit overkill. But what a ride that was. It will stick with me for a while, I think, going through what happened in my head and wondering about missing pieces. Now I’m late for going out with a friend. Time to go back out into reality.

After two years the final book in the Harry Potter series is just two days away. It took me a few books to really start getting into it, but by the end of the sixth one I was in deep. Now as the day where all sorts of remaining questions will be answered gets closer I’m definitely obsessing a little bit.

Rumour has it some pages, including the epilogue, of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows have been circulating on the internet and spoilers have been popping up everywhere. I haven’t read any of these (unsubstantiating and, reportedly, contradictory) stories about what happens, but I do have some ideas of my own—predictions, if you will, and nothing but predictions. I’m putting them down in writing in case some of them are right so I can say “I knew it!”.

1. Harry will not die
There’s nothing in the prophecy that says that both Voldemort and Harry need to die, as some people have said—it merely says not both can live. So, the flip side of this is that Voldemort will be killed, by Harry one would assume. It will be a happy ending, technically, but I’m sure it will not be all sunshine and lollipops.

2. Harry is not a Horcrux
We know Voldemort made Horcruxes, and Dumbledore suggested he was going to made his last one with Harry’s murder. The theory I heard is that Voldemort somehow realised his killing curse on Harry was backfiring and quickly cast the spell to make a Horcrux (using the murder of Harry’s parents). It would explain the strong connection between the two, but I dont see why Voldemort would have deserpately wanted to make a Horcrux when he already had five under his belt. Besides, it would be pointless—Voldemort would destroy his own Horcrux by killing Harry (which he would still need to do, because of the prophecy).

Even if Harry does turn out to be a Horcrux, the first prediction still stands, we’ll go a ways through the book under the impression that he will have to die to kill Voldemort, but I’m sure they’ll be able to find a way to extract that piece of Voldemort’s soul and destroy it without killing him.

3. Dumbledore will remain dead
There has been plenty of suggestion that Dumbledore’s death was a fake, and I’m not going to make any bets that it wasn’t. Rowling has said, however, that he will not do a “Gandalf” in the seventh book and come back to life. Frankly I still have my doubts about what happened in the Half-Blood Prince, but I guess the Avada Kedavra curse was just what it seemed. I do think Dumbledore will play a significant role, though, through memories, instructions, or clues left behind. We still need an answer to why Dumbledore had James’s Invisibility Cloak, after all.

4. Fred and George Weasley will get what’s coming to them
I have no basis for this other than sheer conjecture, but I don’t think these guys can get away with their hijinks forever. They make fun of everything (I loved “U-NO-POO”), are connected to the Order of the Pheonix, and some of their products support the Ministry (clothes with built in sheild charms). The Death Eaters aren’t going to let them slide forever. If the man with the ice cream booth in front of the bookstore can disappear misteriously, so can these guys.

5. Snape will redeem himself

[14:39:24] Greg says:
But I’m undecided on Snape.
[14:39:29] Meg says:
Me too
[14:39:33] Meg says:
I feel good about him though
[14:39:50] Meg says:
But I think that’s because he’s delicious
[14:40:13] Greg says:
Delicious like poison.
[14:41:27] Meg says:
Wonderful gloomy, sadistic, chocolate-covered poison

There are two possibilities: The first is that Snape is not really a Death Eater, and his killing Dumbledore was part of some great plan of Dumby’s. If these were the case, the death was probably fake anyway. Snape turns out to be a good guy afterall. Unfortunately I don’t think this is the most likely. The second is that he really is a Death Eater. If this is the case—or even if we are never clear on what his motivations were for the last few books—I think he will see him repent and come back to the good side. Of course to convince anyone, he’ll have to do something pretty fantastic, which brings us to my final prediction:

6. Snape will die
A tragic death of a misunderstood hero. Probably the one thing he’ll be able to do in the end is to sacrifice himself by fighting Voldemort, to destroy a cursed Horcrux, or to directly saving Harry’s life. Too many people love Snape to really let him end up as a bad guy, but I think this is the only way to convince us he’s not.

We’ll know if I’m right on any of these by the time the weekend is out.

I can’t find a good moving coming out movie to watch.

I used to be a big fan of gay cinema. When I was a teenager I’d pounce on any piece of gay culture that I could, feeding a starved appetite. Yet, gay movies today — even those same ones that I couldn’t get enough of five or ten years ago — don’t hold nearly the same appeal as they once did.

On some level I’m tempted to think that it’s only because I’m past that stage of coming out in my own life, because I don’t identify with any of those troubled characters in the same way that I used to, but it is not limited to just coming out films. I don’t have that strong desire to be part of some larger community at all anymore, so although it’s still nice to have films with gay characters in them, they’re no longer exempt from the regular criteria of good cinema that I would apply to any other film.

Let’s be honest. Most of these movies are not very good. They tend to convey a feeling that they were only made because somebody had some vague idea that a particular story needed to be told, rather than a feeling that the filmmaker had a compelling story to tell. The difference may be minute but it makes a big difference. Somebody wanted to address the problems of homophobia in the mormon church and made Latter Days, but unless you’re predisposed to identifying with the character that suffers through it — that is, unless you yourself are faced with, or significantly interested in, the same problem of religious homophobia — the movie doesn’t pack much of a punch, in the same way that coming out stories mean much more to closeted teenagers than well adjusted adults.

No longer can I profuse love for a particular movie out of a mere desire for commonality with somebody, nor out of a fallicious obligation to support one’s community. There’s a lot of gay themed movies out there, but very few of them are genuinely good. It seems to me that most are B list curiosities, there if you need them but forgettable if you don’t.

Well, I was going to write about the rowing regatta I raced in last week…

And I was going to write about how my stupid subletter is going to make my electricity bill go up…

And I was going to talk about abortion or maybe derogatory slang…

But then I went to get groceries and the freakin’ Safeway raised the price on Kippered Herring. Back in New Brunswick these things are 99 cents a can. I thought it was pretty scandalous when the IGA in Verdun (Montreal) was selling them for $1.09, but then I move here to Vancouver where you can bet dollars to doughnuts that any random grocery store item is going to cost $1 more than out east. Sure enough they cost $1.99. At least I had a grace week when I got my first load of groceries two months ago—they were on sale for $1.49 then.

I always make sure to have a couple of these on hand—serve on top of rice and they make my perfect “oh crap I have to go out in half an hour and I still need to get ready and I don’t have time to cook supper” supper. They’re even kosher. My stock ran out last week so I had to get more, and tonight I find they’re seeling for $2.08. Two dollars and eight cents. Sure they have to bring them in from the east coast, but that’s a 210% price increase. And they don’t even have my favourite flavour. What’s an east coaster to do?