HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows

Welcome to Captain's Log -- your (semi) daily round-up of sci-fi randomness from around the web. Here's what's happening:

The second official picture for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1 -- high-res at The Leaky Cauldron -- gives a slightly more intriguing picture. At least this one has wandage.

HijiNKS Ensue starts up their own Team Edward.

Umm... I get fandom, but would you really want to kneel before Zod at your wedding? [Topless Robot]

Joss Whedon tells the Chicago Tribune why Dollhouse failed.

SciFi Wire spots a killer Evolution of a Cylon poster.

Sometimes there's nothing cooler than retro looks into the future, like BoingBoing shows with Popular Mechanics minimalism.

Merlin gets a third season on BBC One.

SuperPunch shares a super-cool leather zeppelin steampunk toy.

And why the Na'vi speak English, over at io9.

I cannot wrap my brain around it already being November of 2009. In less than 45 days we will all be living in the year 2010, which means that between now and then expect the Internet to turn into a breeding ground for Best of the Decade lists. The first I've encountered (via SFW) is The Telegraph's list of "100 Books That Defined the Noughties", and luckily for us, their list is quite friendly to fans of science fiction and fantasy novels. It's populated with titles like Cormac McCarthy's The Road, Phillip Pulman's The Amber Spyglass, Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, and Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife, but a bulk of their praise goes to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which took the number one spot:

"We've seen Harry grow from a spindly, messy-haired 11-year-old into a heroic young adult. Children have grown up with him, finding in his battles metaphors for their own. This volume alone sold 15 million copies in the first 24 hours after it was published. Whether wickedly skewering suburbia, or bringing Harry, Ron and Hermione into mortal danger, Rowling is never less than absorbing. Some may sneer at her books, but they are triumphant sagas about the defeat of evil that tap into our basic hunger for stories. Most importantly, she makes reading a 700-page book seem easy. This one even has a quotation from Aeschylus as its epigraph. It stands as a cornerstone of the decade, a melding of high and low culture that appeals to all ages and nations. "

With his film due out in a couple of weeks, Harry Potter is beginning to make some waves. First up is an update on the Potter IMAX delay. Long story short, Half-Blood Prince won't be arriving on IMAX screens the same day the film hits conventional theaters because of a deal IMAX made with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen for an exclusive four-week run. However, three theaters will be getting Harry Potter in IMAX on opening day, July 15th, but if you don't live in New York, Los Angeles or Chicago, you're out of luck. Collider tells us those three theaters are as follows: Century City IMAX (Los Angeles), Henry Crown (Chicago), and AMC Loews Lincoln Square (NYC). The first 12 minutes of the movie have been converted to IMAX 3D, and so I'm sure it's worth the trip for those who live in the surrounding areas. Unfortunately, everyone else will have to wait another two weeks.

But with a little so-so news comes some very cool news. The Independent reports that British actor Bill Nighy has finally nabbed himself a role in a Potter movie after once suggesting that he was the only British actor who hasn't been in a Harry Potter film yet. Nighy notes, "I don't think I'm allowed to say it but I'm going to be in the next Harry Potter film. I won't say which character, but he's a goodie. I just got the gig." Though he's been itching to nab a Potter role, Nighy also admits to not having read the books: "Not yet, but I will!" he says. "It's rather like being in a Shakespeare that way, you know?" Look for Nighy to appear in one or both parts of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when they hit theaters on November 19th, 2010 and July 15th, 2011, respectively.

Discuss: Okay Potter fanatics, who do you think Nighy is playing?