Okay, so now that we're back...

[cleolinda]

ONOZ WHERE DID LJ GO? Via: status.livejournal.org: "LiveJournal is down. There has been a power outage at our data center. We are working as quickly as possible to restore service." Meanwhile, an email from SixApart says that "The Web 2.0 datacenter 365 Main, in the heart of SOMA, just lost power. Sites that are affected include Craigstlist, Technorati, Yelp and all Six Apart properties, TypePad, LiveJournal and Vox." Also: Power Outages In San Francisco Bring Down Major Websites.

Meanwhile, I don't even want to get into what happened last night, except that it involved an hour and a half of my mother, my stepfather, and myself beating the bushes out front and cursing at each other. Goddamn cat.

Stop your sobbing! More Potter to come: "J.K. Rowling tells TODAY she will write an 'encyclopedia' on characters" (MAJOR SPOILERS; includes the name of the character who was going to die but got a reprieve).

>> Hogwarts, for example, has a new headmaster (“McGonagall was really getting on a bit”), and Rowling said she can see Harry going back to give the "odd talk" on Defense Against the Dark Arts. That class, by the way, is now led by a permanent professor since Voldemort’s death broke the jinx which didn’t allow a teacher to remain in the position for more than a year.

>> “Mr. Weasley, he was the person who got a reprieve,” Rowling said. “When I sketched out the books, Mr. Weasley was due to die in Book Five.”

>> But nothing in the entire process of the series was more difficult than writing the scene when Harry, accompanied by his deceased lost loved ones – including his parents James and Lily and his godfather Sirius — walks into the forest with the intent of sacrificing his life in the name of defeating Voldemort, Rowling said, adding it is her favorite passage in all seven books.

And for those of you boggling over Hermione's middle name, an earlier article on the JKR interview mentions that one of her daughters is named MacKenzie Jean Rowling Murray.

Potterspam:

Tales of Spoiler Assholes; 'Potter' fans keeping the secrets.

Some Potter fans find pages missing.

'Harry Potter' setting all-time records.

Review: Potter end gives 'fitting closure'; 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' is a literal page-turner.

A generation says goodbye to Harry Potter, in which JKR talks about spoiler assholes from the last go-round: "I suppose it's fair game... You can't be too precious about this stuff. Obviously, as a writer I would prefer people to be able to sit down and read it and discover the ending through reading the whole story. But with 'Half-Blood Prince,' people dangled a sheet over a flyover (overpass) the next day — 'Snape kills Dumbledore.' Part of me does find that very funny; I can't help myself." Man, I love her so much.

Harry Potter and the Scourge of the Cannibals: Probably the only time we will ever see this headline, so enjoy it.

Radcakes, now 18, spotted out and about on Potter Day. I wonder what he thought of the book? He wanted Harry to die, and... well, got his wish, in a way. I don't know, I kept reading the book and thinking, this or that actor is going to love this part (see: The Battle of Hogwarts).

By the way: what Matthew Lewis looks like now. Taken at the OOTP premiere (the LA one? Can't remember). Yes, that is Neville.

Naomi Watts confirms Narcissa; Stuart Townsend, Joseph Fiennes and Naomi Watts in Harry Potter 6. I don't think we know who Townsend and Fiennes are supposed to play, except that it occurred to me: what if they're getting Ralph Fiennes' brother to play Voldemort's father? Brilliant.

Potterpuffs is back!! With DH spoiler icons!

Linkspam proper:

Hundreds die in China floods; Thousands Evacuate in British Flooding.

Ad Age: "MySpace has identified more than 29,000 registered sex offenders on its social network." Possibly related: "Beware of TMI in everyday chats."

Lawsuit seeks to shut down Facebook. NOOOOOOOOO!

Study: Diet soda linked to heart risks.

$21 million awarded for 'wrongful birth.'

Symbol in NYC building a history mystery.

'Hat bandit' may have been nabbed in N.J.

Corn dogs climate scientists. It took me way too long to identify the verb in this sentence. "Well, what did the corn dogs do to the climate scientists?"

Alas, Bat Boy, I knew him well: Weekly World News folding.

Gaming Wikipedia: "From reliably-levelheaded SF fan and professional Eurodiplomat Nicholas Whyte, more evidence that Wikipedia is being gamed with increasing success by people with bad agendas. In this case, a dingbat from New Zealand eager to persecute those he determines to be following 'the homosexual agenda.'"

Tom Cruise — ‘the Goebbels of Scientology’? Wow, I don't know that I've ever seen Godwin's Law broken in a headline before.

Lovitz Advises Dick To "Avoid Me Like the Plague." Did you hear about this one? "The two former friends fell out a decade ago when Lovitz accused Dick of re-addicting tragic comedian Phil Hartman's wife to cocaine - just months before she shot her husband. And then a year ago, Lovitz claims Dick threatened his life when they met at a restaurant. He recalls, 'He looks at me and says, "I put the Phil Hartman hex on you. You're the next one to die." He threatened my life. Everybody's thanking me for beating him up... I think he should avoid me like the plague.' " Oh no he DIDN'T.

Drew Carey to host ‘The Price is Right.’

Romance blooms for Orlando and his Pirates co-star--and it's not the one you'd think.

trailer_spot: Darjeeling Limited, Hottest State, My Kid Could Paint That, If I Didn't Care, Stardust, Simpsons Movie.

A poster for Cloverfield "Monstrous"?; Mystery solved? I don't even know how much people want to know, so I'll spoiler-font it: >>Behemoth, Leviathan, and Ziz from the Old Testament?<< Meanwhile, Behind-the-Scenes Footage From 1-18-08; Another 'Cloverfield' Photo Arrives Online.

Matthew Goode is Ozymandias in Watchmen: "This is in addition to Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach, Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan, Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl, and Malin Ackerman as Silk Spectre."

The Bratz Movie Is Going To Be Really Epic And Substantial, Say Newscasters Who Can't Possibly Be Watching The Same Clips We Are. Related: Paula Abdul Out of Bratz, Her Mind.

Ethan Hawke Drops Out of Delpy's 'The Countess.'

Quinto Confirmed for Spock in Star Trek ? Because when I think "good acting," God knows I think "Sylar on Heroes."

‘The Bell Jar’ Tolls For Julia Stiles.

Cate Blanchett Will Be Nude in 'The Golden Age.'

'Charlie Bartlett' Gets Pulled.

'Terminator' Series Scraps School Scenes.

007's Night at the Opera.

New Stills From Nicole Kidman/Daniel Craig Film "The Invasion."

'3:10 to Yuma' Gets a Badass Poster.

D.J. Caruso Helming 'Y: The Last Man' Adaptation.

David Lynch Talks 'Blue Velvet,' 'Inland Empire,' And His Uterus in a Bottle.

Tom Cruise to Play Edwin A. Salt.

Prince Caspian Prague Set Visit Part 1.

Tucci Boards Jackson's Lovely Bones.

And the New Punisher is... Ray Stevenson! Dammit, now I'm actually interested!

'Mummy 3' Adds Cast Members as Production Begins.

Marty, Doc and Zemeckis Reunite for 'A Christmas Carol'?

Maggie Gyllenhaal Trash Talks Katie Holmes.

Helen Mirren Reconnects With Totally Tubular Russian Heritage.

'Thriller': The Prison Musical.

From comments on John August's blog: An Air Duct Speaks Back: "I am an Air Conditioning Duct and I find this entire conversation incredibly ignorant and offensive. On the rare occasions that I do see my Community represented on screen, it is invariably unrealistic and below industry standard. All the Air Conditioning Ducts of my acquaintance are spotlessly clean, weight-of-a-grown-man supporting structures. However we cannot deflect bullets. Someday the true poetry of our lives and history will be told."