Okay folks, you can go to bed now. After days and days of hype about the new Harry Potter book, I only have one question? Was it worth it? It was for one person. J.K. Rowling is Britain's richest woman -- the first billionaire author, according to Forbes. The Potter movies have made stars of its young actors and given regular, colorful work to a generation of Britain's finest performers. And Potter is now a regular feature of academia, taught alongside Shakespeare, Dickens and Faulkner. Are you freakin' kidding me?
Though 12 million copies of the book were produced in the first printing, fans were desperate to get their hands on one so they could begin poring over its 784 pages. Previous Potter installments have sold some 325 million books worldwide and netted more than $3.5 billion, including the revenue from five movies. In Naperville, Illinois a street was transformed Friday into Hogsmeade, a magical Scottish village in the books. More than 60 local businesses participated in the event, which included a huge chessboard with human players and a live raptor exhibit.
In other cities, thousands packed the streets for the block party where grown men were dressed as wizards with glued-on beards. At midnight, the crowd began chanting, "Harry!" Now, Harry Potter is part of the culture. It's amazing to me to see how much hype there is for this book. But hey, if it get's kids to turn off the computer and read something, a skill that is definitely missing in today's society, maybe it's worth it. But remeber folks, there are other books out there. Check out Dr. Seuss. He's got it goin' on.
It's amazing how much hype there has been for stuff lately. Don't people work anymore? I mean come on. This Harry Potter book, the Apple iPhone, the Spiderman movie and the Simpson's Kwik-W-Marts...it's time we figure out that there's more to life. The hype about this crap is generated by people who don't give a crap about you or me. The only thing these people care about is the bottom line. It's about the money. Will the Harry Potter series keep going? As long as the bucks roll in, hell yeah!So on behalf of J.K. Rowling, thank you for the first $100 million last night. I'll be she slept well!
