BLESS THE CHILDREN, GIVE THEM TRIUMPH NOW: This thread is open for all Deathly Hallows spoiler talk. I haven't started it yet, but some of y'all have finished already. So all is fair in this thread, but keep it here.

AND SO THE END BEGINS: I have just returned from my neighborhood Barnes & Noble, where I photographed Cosmo Girl standing in front of an orange mountain of Deathly Hallowses before sitting down in the cafe with both kids and an iced coffee to finish re-reading the last hundred pages of Half-Blood Prince. (In case anyone's wondering how I pulled this off, Cosmo Girl munched on a cookie while reading a couple of Pigeon books and Cosmo Boy politely amused himself with a straw and an array of chompable toys.) And now we are home: the boy is off for a nap, the girl has some new books of her own, and I am preparing to ensconce myself on the couch with a nice big book. See you soon.

WORLD SERIES OF NONSENSE: So, the WSoPC was decided on a tiebreaker -- "name the six characters on the bus in Little Miss Sunshine." It can't just me who believes that question to be incredibly biased against the player going last, because the first five are easy, but that last one is un-guessable. Argh.

Still, want to see an awesome tiebreaker? There was an absolutely incredible performance by both teams on this one in the finals -- name the 14 shows to win the Emmy for Best Drama since 1982. That's how you ask a finals-worthy question.

SUGGESTED SUBTITLE--"ELECTRIC BOOGALOO:" Yes, Hairspray is a lot of fun, though I miss Harvey Fierstein's Edna, regret that as great as Amanda Bynes is, her voice isn't particularly strong, and really wish they'd given Allison Janney more to do (that role was originated by Jackie Hoffman, who also played a variety of other supporting roles in the show). Perhaps even better was that the theatre I saw it at had the title listed on tickets, the ticket board, and outside the theatre as Hairspray 2. Use this thread to discuss the film or to provide suggestions for the plot of Hairspray 2. I suggest Penny and Seaweed joining as plaintiffs in Loving v. Virginia and the crew getting back together to deal with the crisis through song and dance. There is, of course, a big climactic scene in which they teach Earl Warren and Hugo Black how to dance.

BECAUSE MOMMIES ARE SAPPY: For anyone who needs something about which to get a little sniffly other than the looming demise of the joy of anticipation of a new Harry Potter book, here you go.

I'M PAYING FOR IT WITH MY GRINGOTTS GOLD CARD: I realized one last pre-release Deathly Hallows thread is probably in order--with various midnight launch events and other celebrations worldwide (even where retailers are forbidden from doing so), I'm sure at least some of y'all have exciting plans. My office remains closed today, so I'm thinking I may take in the late afternoon 3D showing of Order Of the Phoenix to refresh information before picking up the book. Not sure if I'm going to do the midnight launch thing, though a Barnes and Noble near me is going the full distance, with costumes, audiobook reader Jim Dale, and yes, live owls.

DOES THIS MEAN I'LL GET A THURSDAY OPENING NUMBER TO CANDYMAN ONE OF THESE WEEKS? Grumble grumble. Not the decision I would have liked on tonight's SYTYCD, and a decision that I think was particularly unwise on the last week before the tour company was frozen. This week's dances were definitely not the strongest we've seen this season, from Dan Karaty's choice to choreomorph Lacey into his old dancing buddy Britney to the weird jazz hands routine Pasha and Sara got stuck with to Mia Michaels' foray into goggledom. I did like the Sabra/Dominic jive outing as well as the Danny/Anya foxtrot, but on the whole this week was a bit of a downer.