New Moon Hot Topic/Nordstrom Tour Recap

OK, so we finally have the details on the Times Square date! It involves a Hot Topic Boutique that just opened in the Toys R Us in Times Square. Yes, that Toys R Us, the one with the big Ferris wheel in the store.

According to EW:

Hot Topic locations and dates:
11/06 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood & Highland Center
11/08 – Denver, CO – Park Meadows
11/09 – Washington, DC – Fair Oaks Mall
11/09 – San Francisco, CA – Stonestown Center (date change)
11/10 – Chicago, IL – TBD (date change)
11/10 – Philadelphia area – Cherry Hill Mall (date change)
11/10 – Houston, TX – Houston Galleria
11/11 – Miami, FL – Dadeland Mall (date change)
11/11 – Minneapolis, MN – Mall of America
11/12 – Atlanta, GA – Mall of Georgia
11/12 – Boston, MA – Natick Collection (date change)
11/12 – Seattle, WA – Westfield Southcenter
11/13 – Phoenix, AZ – Scottsdale Fashion Square
11/14 – Salt Lake City, UT – Fashion Place
11/19 – New York City – Toys R Us (featuring a Hot Topic New Moon Boutique)

Nordstrom locations and dates:
11/5 – Topanga (Canoga Park, CA)*
11/8 – Park Meadows (Lone Tree, CO)**
11/9 – Natick Collection (Natick, MA) **
11/10 – The Galleria (Houston, TX)**
11/11 – Mall of America (Bloomington, MN)**
11/11 – Cherry Hill Mall (Philadelphia, PA)**
11/11 – Stonestown Galleria (San Francisco, CA)**
11/12 – Perimeter Mall (Atlanta, GA)
11/12 – Southcenter (Tukwila, WA)**
11/13 – Aventura Mall (Aventura, FL)
11/13 – Scottsdale Fashion Square (Phoenix, AZ)*
11/14 – Fashion Place (Murray, UT)*

* 125 VIP passes available
** Q&A forums with select cast members

If you choose Hot Topic, here’s what you do according to the HT site:

“Go to any of the Hot Topic locations listed above at 8:00AM on October 31st, 2009, and purchase a commemorative The Twilight Saga: New Moon Tour T-shirt. You’ll get a wristband* that’ll give you access to the event at the location you purchase your T-shirt from. Cast members will be announced soon, but in the meantime, check out the dates and locations below to see if the tour is coming to a city near you!” (They haven’t disclosed what this event entails yet, or which cast members will be present)

If you choose Nordstrom, here’s what you do according to the Nordstrom website:

“At at 8:00AM on October 31st, 2009 the Nordstrom stores listed above will open. Be one of the first 75 customers to receive a shopping pass and spend $75 or more on BP. merchandise (which includes the New Moon fashion line) will receive a VIP ticket to return to that particular store on the dates listed above. It’s one per customer, first come first served. ”

The lucky 75 people at each location get to come back the day the cast members are there and  get a chance to have their photos taken with the actors and to receive an autographed photo and frame.

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So, to sum up the FAQ’s we’ve been getting in our inbox:

1. You need to choose whether you want to go to Hot Topic or Nordstrom for a chance at these tickets

2. Specific cast members are unknown for locations

3. Times are not announced yet for the November appearances

4.We don’t know if the same cast members will appear at both HT and Nordstrom on the same day.

5. The Times Square location is the Toy R Us that has a Hot Topic inside.

6. It is unknown if malls will let you line up days early with tents, sleeping bags, etc. That’s up to mall management and the local authorities. We suggest you contact the specific Nordstrom or HT to see what their crowd control game plan is.

Forks Goes International

According to the Puget Sound Business Journal the tourists who are showing up in Forks are by no means limited to Americans and Canadians. The local information center has had to hire more staffers because of the upswing in traffic. Usually, things die down after the fall—not this year.

Over the past month large numbers of college students on spring break have been making a Pacific Northwest road trip with stops in Portland, La Push, and Forks. Now it seems that there is an influx of tourists from the UK, Germany, and Japan, and the Seattle tourism satellite branches are doing everything in their power to keep attracting them.

“The Seattle-based Japanese language website Junglecity.com created an online guide to Forks and “Twilight” sites in early April. By mid-month, the feature had received 42,353 hits. Junglecity owner Takumi Ono said Japanese movie fans have become particularly interested in teen love flicks in the past few years, and “Twilight” plays right into that.”

On the Forks Forum, the website of the local Forks paper, they describe a recent event that the town held to encourage this tourism:

“Twilight was the main topic for representatives of tour companies with ties to Japan who visited Forks and LaPush on Wednesday, Feb. 11. Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau Executive Director Diane Schostak of Forks served as a guide for the group. Companies represented at the familiarization visit to the Forks Chamber of Commerce’s Visitor Center in Forks included the Seattle offices of Azumano International and H.I.S. Tours USA. Tomo Hoku Hellman of Azumano International said the “Twilight” movie is scheduled to open in Japan on April 1, and the companies expect growing interest in visits to the West End by Japanese Twilight fans.”

Check out the whole story here.

Book Reviews and Concert Talk

Over the last few days several books reviews for Breaking Dawn have come out.  Here is a list and be warned some contain spoilers and the opinions of the book greatly vary.  There are also some articles about the concert tour.

School Library Journal

Detroit Free Press

 LAist

Rolling Stone

LA Times Sound Board

Nerdworld Blog (Time Magazine)

Time Magazine (review)

Entertainment Weekly