R.I.P.H.P.

Well, it has come, the day that childrens' sections world over have been dreading: the Boy Who Lived will die. Now whether that's literal (which I'm banking on) or metaphorical (the world will weep either way) I can't say for sure yet and, since I've steered 100 miles south of any whiff of spoiler, hopefully that blissful ignorance will hold until I'm, well, holding my own copy (I'm not reading the last page first, promise). I'm really banking on some fool in line ahead of me shouting the ending out and spoiling it for everyone in Borders.

Some fool like the New York Times, perhaps? Now don't get me wrong, I love me some NYT and read it religiously, but come on; I know competition is stiff, but must you ruin the fun for everyone? I assume you readers know what story I'm talking about (well, unless you think the word "snitch" refers to that dude who ratted you out for copying homework back in fourth grade): the review that rocked the Potter world yesterday, the notorious pre-review, the Review-That-Must-Not-Be-Named. For those of you steeped in the lore of dorkdom (and yes, it is a dark, dorky pit we dwell in, shunned by adult society, relegated to the back of the line behind all the 10-year-olds with their sparkly gold lightning bolts zig-zagging across their foreheads), then you know that the New York Times went and let the Hallows out of the bag, so to speak (warning, there is a spoiler waiting to pounce just beyond that link). And why? Why must they? After all, their own movie reviewers scorn such foul play (as inked so eloquently only weeks ago -- ironically in a story blasting other publications for jumping the gun prior to "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" hitting theatres). Now I'm a news guy (or used to be); I understand competition with television and the internet, I understand break-neck news cycles and selling copies, but still, couldn't you wait an extra day? Couldn't you have left the bit about the Hallows out (isn't that a bit like showing off)? Couldn't you at least slap a spoiler warning below the headline? I put one up above, it was incredibly simple.

Sigh, I suppose not. Thanks for ruining a bit of the magic, guys.

(Oh, and good luck Harry Potter).