J. K. Rowling ist auf Twitter — oder, kurz gesagt: Strg+c und Strg+v (German translation)

Joanne K. Rowling
(Ich mag dieses Bild!)

Note: English version of this blog entry here.

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Wenn Ihr, so wie ich, Fans von Joanne K. Rowlings Werk seid, (sprich: Der Harry-Potter-Saga), dann freut Ihr Euch vermutlich stets darüber, wenn Ihr ein paar kurze Info-Schnipsel von ihr in den Nachrichten oder anderswo findet.

Nicht Dinge, die  über  sie gesagt und geschrieben werden, wohlgemerkt, sondern Dinge, die sie selbst gesagt  oder geschrieben hat  —  echtes Rowling halt :-)!

In der modernen Zeit, in der wir leben, suchen wir vermutlich alle im Internet nach Informationen und Updates zu Personen und Themen, die wir mögen. Und vermutlich werden wir deshalb auch besonders Social Networking Portale wie MySpace, Facebook und Twitter abklappern.

Die größte Voliere der Welt ...

Aus diesem Grund war ich durchaus erfreut, als ich vor längerer Zeit entdeckte, dass Frau Rowling in der Tat auch auf Twitter ist. Der Account hat den Haken für „Verifizierter Account“, ist also tatsächlich das echte Stöffchen.

„Hervorragend!“  —  das ist es, was ich gedacht habe, und dann, ohne weiteres Feder- oder Tweet-Lesen vorab, habe ich den „Folgen“-Button geklickt. Ich war (und bin) beileibe nicht der Einzige, der das getan hat, denn eine sechsstellige Anzahl anderer Leute folgt ihr ebenfalls.

Aber ich frage mich nun ernsthaft: Wofür eigentlich?

Wenn man zusammenfassen will, worum es bei „Harry Potter“ geht, wird man eine ganz schöne Weile brauchen, außer man sagt einfach  „Junge mit magischen Kräften besiegt bösen Zauberer; die Sache zieht sich ganze sieben Bücher hin.“  Natürlich wird man dem allem damit nicht gerecht, und man wird schon etwas mehr Zeit und Raum brauchen, um jemandem zu beschreiben, was „Harry Potter“ ausmacht.

Wenn man dagegen einen Überblick darüber bekommen will, was Frau Rowling bislang so auf Twitter gemacht hat … na, sagen wir mal: Mit der Aufgabe ist man auf jeden Fall recht schnell durch.

Soviel ich weiß, hat sie den Account hauptsächlich deshalb eröffnet, um auf Twitter persönlich präsent zu sein, denn offensichtlich hatten mehr als genug Möchtegerns falsche Accounts mit ihrem Namen laufen. Und vermutlich kann sie so auch relativ einfach Twitter nach Erwähnungen ihres Namens absuchen, sodass sie sieht, was in dieser Welt so tickt. So weit, so gut  —  ein schlauer und vernünftiger Schachzug.

Ihren ersten Tweet hat Frau Rowling am 17. September 2009 gemacht, Ihr aktuellster Tweet datiert vom heutigen 24. Februar 2011. Was im Verlauf dieses Zeitraums abgegangen ist, lässt sich in der Tat in ganz kurzen Worten zusammenfassen  —  oder noch einfacher in einem Screenshot dokumentieren.

Wenn Sie mal schauen mögen …

(zum Vergrößern auf das Bild klicken)

Nicht gerade berauschend, oder? Und: Ja, das ist tatsächlich  alles,  was dort bislang zu finden ist.

Aber: Wer weiß … Vielleicht passiert eines Tages tatsächlich einmal mehr als ein simples Strg+c und Strg+v (Copy und Paste) in dem Account. Heute hat sich ja immerhin schon mit dem „STILL“ glatt ein komplettes neues Wort eingeschlichen!

Deshalb:

Wenn Ihr nichts verpassen wollt

von eventuellen zukünftigen Sensationen

dann folgt Ihr wohl besser

J. K. Rowling auf Twitter,

haha :-)!

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UPDATE



Mittlerweile hat "Pottermore" das Licht der Online-Welt erblickt.
Ich habe mehrere Blogs zu diesem Thema geschrieben.


Bei Interesse einfach in dem Suchfeld
"Search this blog"
hier rechts neben dem Text das Suchwort
"Pottermore"
eingeben, dann werden sie aufgelistet.


Viel Spaß beim Lesen!

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Die kompletten Werke von Joanne K. Rowling
(in vielen Sprachen, auch auf Deutsch)
und vieles mehr aus der Welt von Harry Potter
gibt es
hier!

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J. K. Rowling is on Twitter - or, in a nut shell: Copy and Paste

Joanne K. Rowling
(I like this picture!)

Anm.: Deutsche Version dieses Blogs hier.
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If you are, as I am, a fan of Joanne K. Rowling's works, aka the Harry Potter saga, you are always happy to find some new bits and pieces from her on the news or in other places.

Not things said and written  about  her, mind you, in articles or TV shows whatsoever, but stuff she said or wrote herself  —  genuine Rowling :-)!

In these modern days of age that we live in, you will probably roam the Internet for information and updates on persons and topics you like, and  you will also check out especially Social Networking portals, like (among others) MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.

The World's largest Birdhouse ...

So, quite a long while ago, I was excited, really, when I found out that Ms Rowling indeed is on Twitter. The account has the check sign for "Verified Account", so it's the real deal.

"Awesome!"  —  that's what I thought, and, without further ado or reading ahead, clicked to follow her. I was (and am not) alone with this, because there is a six digit number of people who also follow her.

But I seriously ask myself: What for?

If you want to sum up what Harry Potter is about, you will need quite a while, unless you just say "Boy with magic powers defeats evil wizard; the whole thing takes friggin' seven books to happen."  Of course this does not do the thing justice, and you will need a bit more time and space to show someone what Harry Potter is about.

Now, if you want to get an overview of what Ms Rowling has been up to on Twitter ... well, let's say: This task will not take you very long, no matter what.

I take it that she made the account mainly to be present on Twitter, as many enough impostors had made fake accounts, obviously, and presumably also to easily scan the site for mentions of her, to see what ticks out there in the world. So far, so good  —  a clever and reasonable move.

She made her first tweet on September 17th 2009. Her most current tweet dates of today (February 24th 2011). What has been going on during this time, can indeed be said in a nutshell, or, even easier, shown in a screenshot. Here you go ...

(click on the image to enlarge)

Not exactly thrilling, is it? And: Yes, this is actually  all  there is to find on that account up to now.

But: Who knows ... maybe, some day, something more than a copy and paste every six months or so will actually happen there. Today, there has already a "STILL" been sneaking in!

So:

If you don't want to miss out on

any possible future excitements,

you better follow

J. K. Rowling on Twitter,

ha ha :-)!

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Blog articles related to Joanne K. Rowling's Pottermore:

Joanne K. Rowling announces "Pottermore"

One in a Million: RainKnight137 at Pottermore

RainKnight137 crossed the Gates of Pottermore

News from Pottermore: RainKnight137's Sorting and Wand

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The Complete Works of Joanne K. Rowling
and more from Harry Potter's world
can be found
here!

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Sherlock Holmes gets Warner-ized ... again!

Deutsche Version dieses Blogs hier.

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Tom Scheffler, DER SCHREI

INTRODUCTION

If a love for a certain novel, for the complete works of an author, or for a literal figure is with you for a long time (in my case for almost three decades now, and counting), you might well get revolted a bit, when you have to witness that what you love gets grabbed by Warner Bros,  is being thrown into a big and merciless shredder ... And to see that after that treatment, some product comes out on the other end of that shredder, that only has the most superficial similarity to the literal original left, will make the revulsion start. Well, at least, this is the case with me.

It's kinda like your sweet pussycat has died, and you bury him on the cursed Pet Sematary (from Stephen King's novel). Your cat will come back to you from there, but ... Hmm. Sure, he still answers to the name Fluffy, and his features seem quite familiar at first sight. But all of Fluffy's essence has become somewhat altered, twisted and changed, and not in a good way ... to put it nicely.

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FLASHBACK

During my school days, I got upset big time when watching some really crappy B-movies made by American filmmaker and producer Roger Corman during the 1960's, from stories by Edgar Allan Poe, and from Poe's renowned poem THE RAVEN.

And just a tad later, in the early 1980's, the disaster with the movie made from the (must-read!) novel DIE UNENDLICHE GESCHICHTE / THE NEVERENDING STORY by German author Michael Ende took place.

Oh, and don't even get me *started* talking about the sequels to this  movie, which was a failed attempt of processing a European made work of precious youth literature into a film, which was mainly financed by money from American studios and investors, and therefore had to appeal to the taste of the American market.

Okay, I admit: Compared to the sequels that came after the original THE NEVERENDING STORY movie, this one was even a piece of well made cinema. But as for the idea of bringing an iconic book, a classic, to the screen, so many things went wrong ... painful to watch for me, unless I took an amnesia pill to just forget all the wonderful ideas and details of the book that did not make it into the script.

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BACK TO THE PRESENT

Okay, and now, some 20 years later, I sit here and shake my head violently about a movie that has become an instant blockbuster sensation, loved by the critics and the viewers, hyped without end, and that, anyhow, for me personally is only a big pain in the a... aaa ...  -  annoying  it is, yes.

I am talking about the movie SHERLOCK HOLMES, made in 2009.

I could start now to come up with all that went wrong with this project, but I don't have to! Instead, you simply need to watch the trailer to the recently published BluRay edition of the movie, and listen to one of the last sentences from the narrator. Then you have the quintessence of what irks me and makes me keep a safety distance of at least 2 meters from anything related to this (indeed brillantly made) epic failure ... so take a look and listen:

"Whatever you thought you knew

about Sherlock Holmes

is about to go out the window."

Yep, my feelings exactly. And believe me, I know quite a bit about Sherlock Holmes  ... it would require a really  big  window for me to stand at!

One thing I must give them credit for: They are honest, and at least warn the audience. Hm, maybe this is why the company is called  "Warner Bros"  ... ha, ha.

And now, as it was to be expected after the massive success in cinemas worldwide, installment #2 is in the final makes and will come to theaters on December 22nd 2011. 

Yet, completely ignorant as I was on any news about the first  movie, I got wind of the sequel  only today, by a tweet from Stephen Fry (yes yes, I know: "Thou shalt not bitch about Twitter, Michael, as thou usest it vividly now!")!  I was alarmed, did some research, and found a little documentary  -  take a look:

Oh dang ... the documentary is no longer online!
Well, I'll search for a replacement

They put in all the ingredients that made the first movie a smash hit, but of course they still whipped an extra helping of everything on top. And alongside Robert Downey jr. and Jude Law (who I both like as actors, but  not  in the roles of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson!), they threw in Brad Pitt as Sherlock Holmes' arch nemesis Professor Moriarty [note: That changed since I wrote my blog; Moriaty was portrayed by Jared Harris instead!], and the wonderful Stephen Fry (who had tweeted that it was his "final day on Sherlock Holmes 2 tomorrow") as Holmes' brother Mycroft.

Basically two good choices, no doubt ... but all of their talent will be wasted on a script that has as much to do with the original works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as McDonald's has to do with genuine Scottish cooking.

And just as well as we (until now) search in vain for a   Chicken McHaggis  on the menu of the world's largest fast food chain, we also search in vain for anything that has really a relation to the famous detective stories. Not much to be found, in these soon to be  two installments of something that can not be described as a transcription of a literal original to the big screen, but must be labelled as a  steroid and action packed mutation  of sorts, made with the utmost (and, I admit it, most impressive) expense concerning visuals, effects etc., but still almost without any traces of the literal classic.

Well, as I said in the title: Sherlock got  Warner-ized.  And, seen in a critical light, this is not a good thing. Not when it happens the first time, and also not, when this kind of assault happens again.

And you know what kinda irks me the most?

Any viewers who enjoyed the movie(s), and therefore get interested of actually  reading  the original stories that Doyle published some 100 years ago, will find next to  nothing  in them of what they saw at the theater. They are doomed to be disappointed to the max  -  as these two Sherlock Holmes movies do what Roger Corman did in the 1960's with Poe, and what German director Wolfgang Petersen had to do with Michael Ende's wonderful novel:

Tossing everything into the shredder, chuck away all that is vital and important, slosh together what is left over then, and come up with some mass market product that works just like a meal from the above mentioned fast food restaurant: Yummy while you eat it, but probably you will be hungry again one hour later.

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Anyone interested in a worthy, and for the most part congenial dramatization of the great detective's adventures should get their hands on the Sherlock Holmes TV series made by Granada Television for the BBC during the 1980's, starring the late Jeremy Brett as the ultimate embodiment of the iconic figure that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has created.

Here is a two piece snippet where you can get a more intimate (and accurate!) picture of the person and methods of Sherlock Holmes, and also on the character of Dr Watson, Holmes' friend, colleague and chronicler. The Greek (I guess) subtitles are a random gift of the videos's poster, and belong  not  to the original Sherlock Holmes universe, ha ha!

This renowned TV production comprises of 41 episodes plus 5 feature length films.

Seasons 1 and 2 are downright brilliant; season 3 is also almost on the same level. And although the fourth and final season has several flaws (due to changes in the production policies of the BBC, budget cuttings, and due to the declining health of actor Jeremy Brett), even most of those final episodes still bear far more closeness to the original than both blockbuster installments of the Warner franchise combined. And this, believe me, for me personally is a really saddening statement on behalf of those two films.

Oh, and I made a little hommage to the great detective myself a while ago, where he teaches his friend Dr Watson about his methods of deduction - featuring me as Sherlock Holmes, and yours truly as Dr Watson :-)! Here you go - hope you enjoy:

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Find the complete written Sherlock Holmes works
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
please check
here!


The Granada Television Sherlock Holmes series
as complete editions:







 The Granada Television series
As single seasons and more
here.


And for those who want to check what I'm complaining about:










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Hibernation nearing the end

Sooo ...

These past weeks have been not very productive here on my end, concerning everything going on online. And there's a reason for that: I have been (real-world) moving towards the end of the old year, and therefore first had to get a new online connection at my new place first  -  and as "the holiday season was upon us", this meant that everything slowed down, and things took way longer than usual.

As of January 17th 2011, I finally have a new umbilical cord reattached to my virtual belly button (what a picture, haha!), and can now start to make my way back to

- checking out tweets on Twitter, re-tweeting or replying to other Tweeters (and very seldom make a tweet of my own)

- reading the news feed on Facebook and occasionally post something on my wall (and basically never responding to any of the application or game requests I receive)

- catching up with my subscriptions on YouTube, writing comments, and replying to feedback I get ... plus I will finally make new videos on the Truedantalion and Kelvinwontcry2 channels (preparations are running).

What I find nice about this is that my forced hibernation ends when outside my window, winter just starts to enter into it's second turn here. 

Always anti-cyclic ... well, that's just me, I guess :-) ...

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