The other day, I posted a comment from the writer Karen Brown, author of Prejudice in Harry Potter. I had originally seen the comment on Kristin Devoe's Daily Prophet blog, and I posted it Here in a discussion of Tim Wu's New Yorker Article.

I did not know Ms. Brown, but I wrote an e-mail to her inviting her to comment further, which she did. I never meant to drag her into a huge controversy or cause problems for her in any way, and I am so sorry. I have quoted dozens of bloggers in the past few months to show different views, and several of them have decided to comment here with no drama.  

I was just trying to give a balanced view of the case, since I have been criticized for my own bias. I felt that Ms. Brown had a refreshing view, since she is a fan and supporter of J. K. Rowling, but was wishing that fandom would tone down their criticism of Steve Vander Ark and let the legal system decide the fate of his book.

But due to unfortunate things that have been said in the past few days, Ms. Brown has been drawn into some accusations and threats, both public and private. She feels her statement is being misconstrued and her views distorted. This has caused her a great deal of distress, and she decided to state her own view in a public setting.  Therefore Karen has put out a Press Release:

Caught on the Wrong Side of Harry Potter Fandom 

lunas_ceiling

( Calling a Spade a Spade )

Tonight an interesting encounter on Leaky in which Melissa accused the poster kbnthomas of being Karen Brown, and demanded a retraction of the comment posted above.  About the deletions - many people who support Steve Vander Ark have been deleted on Leaky.  I don't see how we can "prove" that now, since the posts are, by definiton, gone.  If Melissa wants to open up her logs for a day and let us see the names of the people deleted in the past three months, that might convince me, so I would urge her to "prove" that we haven't been deleted.

The last two days have been . . . well . . . let's just say I'm tired of typing.

So here's a post just for fun because unless there is major breaking news, 
I may take tomorrow off from the Blog-o-sphere.
.

First we have "Mr. Bill Goes to Court" from Saturday Night Live.

"Unsurprisingly, the fan reaction has been visceral, in all sorts of directions. I particularly like being compared to Rita Skeeter. Obviously there is much more I would have liked to have put in - there were hours of interviews, and great contributions from Sheryll Townsend that were cut in their entirely to my dismay. But overall the thrust of the article was to describe the feud over Steven Vanderark in fandom, and his punishment therein.

Ironically, the article itself seems to have led to even more feuding in fandom.
Melissa Anelli in particular feels she has been misrepresented; though I am not sure I see why. Briefly, I mention and quote language to the effect that her and other leaders in fandom have been strong supporters of Rowling, and tough on Steve Vander Ark. This no one can deny. It is also true that Anelli herself has a good relationship with Rowling, and is writing a book, on fandom, with her blessing. These are the facts - and I didn’t refer to her as having mushroom hair, so she ought be happy.

Perhaps I will end with a para that was cut from the piece that seems to capture things:

Sheryll Townsend, a forty-eight year old Slytherin and fellow member of Harry Potter for Grownups (she calls herself a “list elf”), said, “Fandom tends to eat their own.”

I just transcribed part of Pottercast 148 from Leaky Cauldron, since they can't seem to agree on who said what, and I wanted to hear it for myself. I think the problem that Tim Wu had, and that I had, is that Melissa and Sue sound rather similar when they only give one word answers such as "right."  That implies that they agree, whether they do or not.  There is no way to prove who is agreeing, whether Melissa or Sue. 

John Noe speaks the most, Melissa talks about her book, so we know that is her, and , from comments I've read on Leaky, it is Sue who makes the actual statement about Steve being "vilified" by fandom. So Tim Wu may have to make a correction to that article, but it's obviously all the same because no one argues a different side in this part of the Podcast.

This is the first time I've ever listened to a Pottercast before, although I've read the transcripts.  I admit I didn't listen to the whole thing.  I think I'd rather have a long slow root canal. 

"...when Rapoport received a series of threatening letters last fall from lawyers . . . he didn't flinch.

'The intimidation factor was zero,' Rapoport said with quiet pugnacity."
~~~~~~~

Rowling seemed willing to compromise on the witness stand, saying, "I never ever once wanted to stop Mr. Vander Ark from doing his own guide, never ever. Do your book, but, please, change it so it does not take as much of my work."

. . . "That opportunity was never presented to us," he (Rappoport) said, his eyes flashing with anger. "The only thing they said [in the lawyer letters and pretrial discussions] was: 'Will you stop the book?' "
~~~~~~~

. . . the publisher said he has never been worried about the ultimate outcome. His lawyers, he said, have told him that "no court has ever ruled that the writer of a fictional work is the only person who can write about that book."
~~~~~~~ 

These just came out yesterday and I think they're so beautiful! These are for the "adult" book covers, I guess copying the British idea. 

The motifs would make great icons as well. The snake is for Order of the Phoenix and the spilled Goblet is from Half-Blood Prince.

"I fully expect that the outcome of this lawsuit will be:

1. Publication of Lexicon will go on without any problem or prejudice, because it clearly falls within the copyright law's provision for scholarly work, commentary and review.

2. Rowling will be forced to pay Steven Vander Ark's legal fees, since her suit was utterly without merit from the start.

3. People who hear about this suit will have a sour taste in their mouth about Rowling from now on. Her Cinderella story once charmed us. Her greedy evil-witch behavior now disgusts us. And her next book will be perceived as the work of that evil witch. "

( Follow the Yellow Brick Road to more Entries )

A. I think that it is sloppy, I think there is very little
4 research, and I don't think that it -- I don't think it
5 constitutes an original work.
6 Q. You mentioned that the Lexicon occasionally -- earlier that
7 the Lexicon occasionally contained etymologies.
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. I believe you also mentioned that the some of those
10 etymologies were wrong?
11 A. Hmm-hmm.
12 Q. Could you give the Court an example.
13 A. I could give several. But Mr. Vander Ark gives an
14 etymology for alohomora, which is an incantation used within
15 the Harry Potter books to open a locked door by magic. And he
16 asserts that this word was derived from the Hawaiian aloha
17 meaning good-bye. Which is errant nonsense. Alohomora is a
18 Sidiki word from West Africa, and it is a term used in
19 geomancy. It is a figure -- the figure alohomora means in
20 Sidiki "favorable to thieves." Which is obviously a very
21 appropriate meaning for a spell that enables you to unlock a
22 locked door by magic.

UPDATE: Ding Ding and Ta Da!!!  We have a winner!  An anonymous, but very lucky researcher discovered the source for Alohomora! And her name is "Marielle."  Also thanks to sander123 and sciencegeek for following soon after.

Whoo-Hoo! So here's the Magic Link: http://www.serenapowers.com/sikidy.html

And another, which says "See Aloha" - *lol* : http://www.mysteryarts.com/magic/words/Ed.3/?p=115

As you see, you have to spell it "Sikidy" instead of "Sidiky."  That is probably a court transcription error.  Sikidy is not a dialect but a type of divination used on the Island of Madagascar. I had seen some links leading to that yesterday while researching Geomancy, but dismissed them because . . . that is East Africa, not West Africa. So even with the supposed location of the name origin, this was a challenge to unravel just from what the author said.  I don't know why "alohomora" doesn't show up on Search Engines from that website - it's odd, but I just searched for it again, and got nothing except references to the HP books. Anyway, this has been alot of fun and thanks to all who did the research!

( See the Map of East - Not West - Africa Here )

( Read all the Pithy Comments Here )

Trial Transcripts!!!