Definition: "tornerdo"

tornerdo (n; internet) - the foaming frenzy two or more posters on the same or related internet message boards get into when someone dares to disagree with "accepted wisdom", or makes a statement at least one of them takes irrational offense with, and which grows in magnitude far beyond any perceived offense taken, usually as a result of at least one participant totally misreading one or more related comments, usually including the originating comment

- a mass-reaction to a niche media event (movie, book, comic) that causes blogging sites on the internet to slow down severely, or even crash

(c) S.J. Tero 18 July 2007 - Yup, I invented that, unless all the major search engines somehow missed it.

Official post shortly.

The Potter Effect, Day -3

As promised...

In Today's Episode... The crew of the Huntress face a challenge unlike any other as "Huntress Rising" heads towards its conclusion - can Mane-of-Night set aside her differences with one of them long enough to ensure that those in danger are saved?

In Development... Nothing "today" (Tuesday). TDD-504 is scheduled for promotion to fast-track development "tomorrow" (Wednesday). I should be able to get through it pretty quickly, if I don't get distracted.

But, just on the horizon...

In The News... You can tell the in-stores date of Deathly Hallows is almost upon us, with someone trying to leak stuff at Gaia Online, and ASDA calling the publishers names, then having to pay up to get their shipments of the book. Can I possibly read the damn thing before I hit a spoiler? I didn't manage it with Captain America #25...

I'm on the verge of pre-booking tomorrow's matinee of Order Of The Phoenix. Could be a potential source of spoilers if any of those attending have been to Gaia Online before the questionable material was taken down.

It's bound to get crazier before The Day.

The Potter Effect, Day -2.5

"Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix" Reviewlet... Right, let's see...

Conspicuous by their absence... The real end to Harry and Cho (watch her fade away in the next movie)... the brains and the Time Turners at the Department of Mysteries (again, a key sequence that feels empty due to FX cutbacks, just like the maze in "Gob Of Ire")... more screen time and characterisation for Kreacher (more FX cuts?)... Ron's finest hour at the Quidditch (give the guy a break)... the shock-reveal of Neville's parents, and the whole of the St Mungo's Hospital material... the screaming portrait at 12 Grimmauld Place...

Need I go on?

Justified sacrifices... The over-extended intro (most of that was introspective Harry anyway; this intro was quite satisfactory)... Dobby, the Hogwarts house-elves and SPEW (barely any Kreacher, so that story-line gets pruned out as a result)... Rita Skeeter (amputated in the last movie, so no point trying to crowbar this in now)... Firenze as the new Divination teacher... Mundungus Fletcher (almost none of the new characters got much to say or do apart from Tonks)... Buckbeak (FX trimming again, but not truly essential)...

In general... I was less of a fan of this book than I was of "Goblet of Fire", so I had the opportunity to be less critical this time around. Again, there's quite a bit of "colour" been sucked out of the story, and a climax/climax build-up that feels... a bit bare. About the only thing lost from "Lord Of The Rings", in three whole movies, was Tom Bombadil, and that would probably go in the "Justified" column - BUT the longer books are going to have to give up something to make a movie with a sensible running time. Overall, the parts excised DON'T detract too seriously from the movie, but their absence is, at times, almost tangible.

Final Verdict... In general, satisfying. Some "trimming" makes good sense, and some of the rest just feels like cost-cutting - I get the feeling Fenrir Greyback won't even make it into "HP6" - 7.5/10

Elsewhat... (the short versions) - The HP7 "leak" appears to have been averted.
- Project development semi-postponed. Try me again tomorrow.
- Back to working through Season One of Torchwood; just finished watching "Greeks Bearing Gifts", aka "Tosh's Big Gay Boatride" ;-)