The only exposure to Harry Potter I have is the Robot Chicken parody, and that's quite enough for me.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
The Books are excellent, the movies are okay, the highpoint being the actress who plays Hermione Granger.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Emma Watson IS cute, to be sure...but I'm not of a Nat Tena man. Mmm..Tonks.
Posted by OverRon (Member # 2036) on :
I don't get how everyone went so crazy over Harry Potter. I mean the writing or story isn't that good, what I read of the first few books wasn't riveting for me. I despair at the future of this genre of books, seeing as all my favourite authors are dropping like flies; Jordan, Gemmell. With other authors declining in health; Eddings (last time I checked up on him he wasn't at the peak of health and with his wife and co-author having died last year), Pratchett (Saw on the news today that he has Alzheimer's). Seems like there's only one or two authors out there, who's work I enjoy, who aren't gonna keel over tomorrow; Feist is the only one who springs to mind at the moment.
Saying that though I read Trudi Canavan's - The Black Magician Trilogy, which seemed pretty good some may get some of her other stuff. So there is hope that the fantasy genre won't be dominated by Rowling in years to come.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
There's no such thing as a good fantasy writer.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
I don't despair at anything's future anymore. I believe complex systems try to maintain homeostasis overall even as they grow and develop, hence, we'll either die out or be just fine. I don't really think there's a realistic chance of something like 1984 or any kind of dystopia that severe. Or even that art will die or something equally crazy. I don't even think good books will die anytime soon, although they may eventually - but there are other art forms, and still more that haven't been invented yet. I had a very vivid dream last night about home-affordable 'truly holographic' volumetric displays.
The first few books aren't where you should probably start, OverRon. They were written for children, and the target audience aged with Harry so the style changed. It only really starts getting good in my opinion with the fourth book. And the movies deviate so strongly from the books it makes me angry...
Posted by OverRon (Member # 2036) on :
Heheh, I wasn't moaning that we were heading to some dystopian future, more just whinging at the fact that I'll have to get off my arse and find some new authors to read.
As for holographic displays the only thing I've seen come close to that recently is the Helios display (and another one based on similar technology but I can't remember the name). As I understand it there's an air blower, which blows ionised air up and then a projector which then shines and image into that air which reflects it so we can see it hovering in the air. The other similar technology doesn't use ionised air, but blows down water vapour in the air, and the image reflects off of that instead. Although it's still a 2D image, what I've seen of it looks pretty damn cool, and if viewed from the right direction can look like a volumetric image, although the image gets distorted by air currents though.
Now I reckon they could develop a more volumetric version of that technology. Rather than just have a long thin fan which blows the air up, they should have an array of fans or nozzles in a big square shape. Instead of having them all blow upwards all the time, each nozzle only blows up when it need to put an image up in a certain spot. So with some careful timing of the projector it'll be able to display images in x, y, and z axis. I doubt anything like this would be affordable for next 10 years or so though. But then I remember when the first 40+" plasma TVs came out they cost cost like �15,000-20,000, and now you can get the for �600 or so, so maybe those Helios displays will become a lot cheaper sooner than I expected.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
I think kids and now teens like the Potter Series because at the time they were written, there were, at least from my point of view, no books in the magic/fantasy series that could be accepted as a possibility of reality. There may well be a secret underculture of wizards and witches. THat is one of the reasons I got into them. I never really liked Lord of the Rings, because of the whole extreme fantasy thing. Midgets with magical power, and a ring that does stuff, I think. I was able to grasp Potter, because it took place in present day, ( or near present day. I think Rowling set the first book in like 1990 or 91) and understanding 21st century london is a lot less complicated than a mysticall far far away land. I read The Sorcerer's stone when I was 7, so that could contribute towards my Potter-biased attitude.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
quote:Originally posted by OverRon: But then I remember when the first 40+" plasma TVs came out they cost cost like �15,000-20,000, and now you can get the for �600 or so, so maybe those Helios displays will become a lot cheaper sooner than I expected.
But that's because plasma TVs are complete utter crap. And �600 probably doesn't get you a very good one anyways.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
There are holograms which use lasers to create a true 3D image but they're noisy, monochromatic, and have low resolution and framerates. There are also flat monitor-like displays that have nanostructures which permit actual 3D images to be viewed in them. Wiki "volumetric displays" and so some reading
Sean: Eh, no there couldn't Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
Says who? *stuffs wand back in pant's pocket.*
Posted by The Ginger Beacon (Member # 1585) on :
Sean, can you proof read or something, because that don't sound right.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
His magic wand, see...replace 'wand' with 'penis' in Harry Potter and hilarity ensues!
I just watched the fifth movie, and...mmmm...Tonks.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
SOmewhat disturbing, but not unexpected. 5th movie...mmmm...Hermione Granger.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Damn RIGHT, Tonks!
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
I read the first two Harry Potter and I felt like I was reading the same story twice. That pretty much ended my relationship with Potter. I also can't stand Harry Potter fans who think their so elite cause they read HP books and have the audacity to tell all the people in a room not to talk about Harry Potter cause they're still reading. They're just as bad as Mac Users who think they're so high and mighty cause they've moved past PCs.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
I dispise those people too. It gives potter fans a bad name. ALthough, if I am reading, I dont want the story ruined for me either...
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
But we HAVe moved past PCs. We have reached OS nirvana.
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
quote:Originally posted by Sean: I dispise those people too. It gives potter fans a bad name. ALthough, if I am reading, I dont want the story ruined for me either...
Which I can understand, just don't do it in a condescending way. Better yet, just leave the place. And Shik, I'm still waiting for Copland Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
Arron Copland?
Posted by Mars Needs Women (Member # 1505) on :
Keep waiting. It was a ruse.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
Oh. I thought that Apple named all their op systems after apples. I was waiting for the gold and delicious to come out. Posted by Ventriloquists Got Shot (Member # 239) on :
Golden.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
Better than Granny Smith, now featuring an alzheimers plus processor.
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