Harry Potter - "Cool" Information

I was reading an article in THE WEEK, a magazine, dated July 27, 2007 (yes, I’m behind on my magazine reading). It was about Harry Potter since this was right around the time that book #7 was coming out. It had some pretty interesting general/fun information on the phenomenon known as Harry Potter. The following facts are excerpts from this article. (And don’t worry, there are no spoilers here!)

- The first 6 books sold 325 million copies world wide. Only the Holy Bible and The Quotations of Chairman Mao have more copies in print.

- The series has been translated into 66 languages.

- Joanne Kathleen Rowling was turned down by several London publishers for her first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, being told there was no market for a 300-page book about wizards. Bloomsbury Press, a second tier publisher of reference books and serious fiction took on the book and paid JKR a $4,000 advance.

- The publisher advised JKR to write as JK Rowling, rather than Joanne Kathleen Rowling on the theory that boys wouldn’t read a book by a woman.

- The first printing was in 1997 for 500 copies. These first editions now sell for upwards of $40,000.

- Scholastic paid $105,000 for the U.S. rights, retitled the book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and scheduled a first printing of 50,000 copies.

- Two-thirds of all children in the USA read these HP books.

- There are 700,000 weblogs devoted to Harry Potter.

- Rowling has recently stated, “I might do an eighth book for charity – a kind of encyclopedia of the Potter world so that I could use all the extra material that’s not in the books.”

- The first four Harry Potter movies have earned more than $3.5 billion.

- Universal Studios is building a Harry Potter theme park in Florida.

More Bermuda Photos

One of the many lovely beaches in Bermuda.

Here is our cruise ship. It was the Norwegian Majesty and was "Free Style Cruising" which means that you ate when and where you wanted on the ship. Usually, with other cruises, you have to select whether you want to dine at the early or late seating and then you have to stick with that time for all your meals throughout the cruise. You are also assigned one dining room and the same table for each meal - and you eat with other people. With FSC, you eat whenever you want and which ever dining room you'd like. Sometimes, we at dinner at 6 PM and other times we ate at 10:30 PM. Sometimes, we'd have an early breakfast, other times, it was a late breakfast (actually, who am I kidding, they were mostly late breakfasts!). And we could eat a table for two. And one more thing, this type of cruising was more casual than others - you didn't have to dress up for dinner. If I take another cruise, I would definitely search for one like this. I enjoyed the flexibility and the casual dress.

Here is a bird of paradise flower at the botanical garden.

Here is the front of our cruise ship.

And we saw several dolphins at The Royal Naval Dockyard.

Bermuda Photos

Here are some random photos I took in Bermuda.

This was the view from our cruise ship.

Colorful houses.

More houses.

Marina.

Cathedral of the Most Holy located in Hamilton, Bermuda (the capital).

St Peter’s Church is believed to be the oldest continually used Anglican church in the Western hemisphere. The original structure was built in the 1600's, but most of the existing structure is from 1713. The church is located in St. George, Bermuda.

Unfinished church. Excerpt from The Bermuda National Trust website: "Construction of the church started in the 1870s. The magnificent Gothic structure was meant to be a replacement for St. Peter’s Church. Following a series of problems, including parish infighting, financial difficulties and a damaging storm, it was abandoned on the eve of its completion. Today, the picturesque ruins are a protected historic monument and part of the St. George's World Heritage Site."

Bermuda and Afternoon Tea

Dick and I took a cruise to Bermuda last month. It was a week-long cruise and left right out of Boston. We were in Bermuda for just over 3 days. While in Hamilton (capital), we "took high tea" at The Hamilton Princess Hotel. We heard it was the best place on the island for high tea and also made one of those lists for "Best Places to Have Afternoon Tea in the World" (but who knows how these lists are compiled - does someone go to every single high tea place in the world!?). As you can see, it is very pink.

The image above is the back of the hotel - which is right on the water. The round sculpture is very popular in Bermuda - you see it everywhere. It is called a "moongate" and is said to give good fortune and happiness to newlyweds who walk through it. Dick and I walked through it...even though we're not married yet...but it's good to practice!

This is the front of the hotel - quite large.

And here is our "afternoon tea". Everything was quite delectable. And you could choose from 2 different types of food. One was traditional finger sandwiches and sweets, while the others were rum-flavored. We chose the rum :-) Rum is big in Bermuda.

We probably spent an hour and a half having our "tea" - we each had a pot of Earl Grey. And the scones were out of this world (these were not rum-flavored). The hotel had its own lime jelly - which I didn't think I'd like and wasn't even going to try, but the waiter said it was a specialty from the chef. We tried it, and sure enough, we both loved it. It was the perfect combination of sweet and tart. And I'm not a lime-lover, either.

And here is the lobby of the hotel. Pretty fancy-schmancy - but not over-the-top.

Here is another angle of the moongate.

Here is the pond at the hotel.

As you can see, LOTS and LOTS of koi.

Best Whoopie Pies!!!!

I just had one (or a couple) of the best whoopie pies EVER!

I faithfully record 2 local food shows – TV Diner and The Phantom Gourmet. They’re out of Boston and review New England restaurants and food items (and their recommendations come in handy when I’m out and about). Over the weekend, the PG had a segment on Wicked Whoopies in Gardiner, ME and raved about how awesome the pies were. So, on Sunday, I ordered a dozen of their classic “Wicked Whoopies” on-line, they shipped it on Monday and I received it on Tuesday! They are SOOOOOOOOOOOOO deliciously moist and quite sweet – melt-in-your-mouth. I even sent a couple of them to my sister who got them this morning and also LOVED them! (Dick thought they were too sweet, but he likes desserts that are “rich” rather than “sweet”.)

I will DEFINITELY be ordering these again – maybe I’ll try some of their other flavors…

Movie Reviews

Within the last couple of weeks, I've seen 4 new movies and thought I'd "review" them.

The Bourne Ultimatum - This movie was awesome! I really enjoyed the first 2 Bourne movies and this one is just as good, if not better (hard to accomplish when you're talking 3rd sequel). It is definitely action-packed and worth seeing on a large screen - preferably digital. The movie started out strong and ended strong. The 2 hours flew by. I give it an A.

Ratatouille - Dick and I saw this because of the incredible reviews it got and I have to agree - the accolades were well-deserved. Pixar did a fantastic job with the movie - great artistry - great imagery. Some of the scenes looked so realistic - I would have sworn they were images of actual places and not a "cartoon". And you gotta love that the "location" is Paris and the movie is about food! I give it an A.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - I saw this in IMAX at the brand new theatre in Hooksett, NH (one IMAX and 14 stadium-seating state-of-the-art theatres). The last 20 minutes of the movie was in 3-D (the action scenes). The effect was great and this 3-D is SO much better than the days of paper glasses. I have seen all the previous HP movies and enjoyed the first one, but didn't love the second, third or fourth. Well, this 5th Harry Potter movie was excellent! Definitely better and more entertaining than the last ones. I think it was "more adult", more action-packed and darker. I liked it so much, that I picked up the 6th book to read...and can't wait to finish it so I can get to the 7th book. (I had read the 1st book in the series, enjoyed it, but not enough to continue with the rest of the series - however, the 5th movie has changed all that!) I give it an A-.

The Simpsons Movie - I don't watch the Simpsons (I am a Family Guy fan, myself), but I used to watch it many years ago and thought the movie might be funny based since the trailer was pretty entertaining. I was disappointed. I didn't find it funny (other than a couple of spots) and I found myself looking at my watch a couple of times...and it wasn't even a long movie. I expected more wit, more edge, but got neither. Maybe if you're a big Simpsons fan, you might enjoy it, but I didn't care much for it. I give it a C-.

L'Espalier in Boston

When Dick and I were in Boston last month, we dined at L'Espalier on Gloucester St. (near Newbury St). Well, I can tell you , it didn't disappoint! The service was impeccable - the type of place that, when you get up to go to the bathroom, they give you a new linen napkin. And the ambiance and building were very charming and romantic. It is in an old brick mansion. And the meal was awesome. For our first course, we both had seafood - Dick had Sauteed Shrimp with Caponata and Smoked Cockle Vinaigrette while I had the Soft Shell Crab Tempura with Pineapple and White Anchovy Salsa - both very good, although I liked Dick's better - the vinaigrette was quite tasty. Then for our main course, Dick had the Confit Rabbit while I had the Pan-Roasted Halibut - again, both excellent. And then for dessert...well, you can see what we had below :-)

The first one is a Chocolate Decadence with Orange Blossom Ice Cream; Raspberries and Wild Strawberry Anglaise. And the second dessert is an Espresso Creme Brulee. They were both heavenly - very decadent.


We really enjoyed ourselves. Oh, and they have FANTASTIC cappuccinos - strong and smooth!! I would definitely recommend this restaurant...especially for a special occasion, but it's not cheap (it is a AAA 5-Diamond restaurant and priced as such). The least expensive glass of wine was $15 (so, only one glass for each of us - which is all I usually have anyway...and many times I don't even finish the glass).

My dream job - Food Critic. Getting paid to go out to eat...what more can one ask for!? Maybe I can be the Phantom "Elsa" Gourmet!