Quick notes while awaiting Harry's fate

1. HARRY POTTER. As I write this before going to bed, on the eve of the release of J.K. Rowling's final installment of her Harry Potter series, I know the internet will already be abuzz with what really happens to the English teenage wizard, his friends and allies when I wake up tomorrow.

We will find out whether spoilers, like what Peachy Galias wrote about here, are on spot, or are one of the many misses that flooded cyberspace in the run-up to what unarguably is the most popular book release in my lifetime.

From our Pinoyblogosphere mailing list, I find there other kindred spirits who will also bide their time -- mainly for practical reasons -- before getting hold of their own copy of HP7 (shorthand for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). That's kind of reassuring.:)

While there are indications that Harry will survive the bloodbath in this finale, it is only after reading the book that I will find out the answer to a question I raised here.

2. BRAZIL AIR TRAGEDY. From another mailing list, I was relieved to find out that a colleague during our NPM seminar is OK in the aftermath of Brazil's worst air tragedy. He is from Porto Alegre, where the ill-fated flight originated. I am taking the liberty of sharing part of his email, with some editing:

Fortunately no direct friends or familiars were inside the plane, but some close families of friends were not that lucky. This flight is taken basically by entrepreneurs and executives and we already cry the loss of important personalities. Until tonight (July 19), 8 known executives and 6 entrepreneurs were confirmed dead.

This chaos is a perfect result of public inefficiency: one reason behind the tragedy is the early opening of the track before finishing the repairs made. The worse is that those responsible, the state owned company that controls the airports and the politicians responsible for the country, won’t be punished. The day before the accident, another plane slipped on the same track, crashing (without victims) premeditating this accident.

3. PHILIPPINE PLANNING REFORMS. In response to Urbano's comment, I have uploaded the PDF copy of Director Maceda's Powerpoint on the rationalization of local planning in the Philippines.

It answers some of his questions, and Inkblot's as well on how 4th and 5th class towns can be helped -- specifically, slides 7 and 8 are promising.

4. BICOL LITERATURE. Vic Nierva's latest entry reaffirms my belief that the best of Bicol literature is waiting in the wings, sad tidings and pessimistic prognostications notwithstanding. It did seem I missed a lot in missing the other night's big event at Lolo's Bar.

I particularly love this line:

Susublion ko si sabi ni (Frank) Peñones ki Kristian Cordero na sa panahon na ini “dai na maninigo an metapora kan mga taong lipod sa mga parasurat na Bikolano huli ta igwa nang pag-uswag, pagdakol kan mga parasurat asin pagdugang man kan saindang produksyon.”

Hear, hear!

5. BLOGGING MILESTONE. By the way, I belatedly found out after checking my dashboard that this entry two postings back is already my 365th. It took me two full years, and 16 months of continuous blogging, to get to this point.