I get nostalgic for Canon Snape sometimes, considering the ways people spin his character on the forums or feel the need to spread the Snape-Hate around. Luckily many artists understand book-Snape perfectly because they aren't in denial about what actually happens in Deathly Hallows.
Edited to Add: I intended this post to be some quick escapist fan art, and didn't realize I was expressing myself so badly.
After reading many of your comments, I realize that my view of Canon Snape may be somewhat different from the norm. I was actually referring to people who hate Snape's character in general and are stuck in the past around PoA when his character still seemed like a cardboard villain. I talk to people like that every day on the forums. They want to dwell on the dark side of his character rather than the redeemed man he became by the end of the series (with apologies to Mary J ~ we'll have to agree to disagree on that fact).
I don't know why fans of "Dark Snape" have a monopoly on the term "Canon Snape." I disagree with their view of Snape in the canon because I don't think of "Canon Snape" as just mean and cunning, and I shouldn't have used such a charged phrase. To me that is what Snape haters say when they accuse Snape fans of glossing over his faults - that we are missing Canon Snape and only seeing a romantic hero.
BUT ~ ( Read more... )
These are some pictures from DeviantArt that have touched me lately. Follow the links to see more from each artist. And of course, all these are much better seen at full size, so check that out also. The first one especially may be one of the best fan art pics ever done. Cheers to Vizen for her brilliant use of color, the blurry plaid on McGonagall's clothing, thhe sense of humor, Dumbledore's cocktail glass with a tiny umbrella, and Snape's spectacular nose.
Pictured Intensive for those on dial-up. No Slash.
The Banes of Her Existence by *Vizen on deviantART
( See More Pics Under the Cut )
The Snape-Haters say they see him that way, but in reality they want to believe Harry's view of his least-favorite teacher. There's a guy I know who continually says that Snape "whipped" Harry with a lash and pushed him to the ground at the end of HBP just for the enjoyment of it. I don't see that at all - but it's the allegedly the same canon.
So to me, Canon Snape is the guy in the books with his many faults and his good points. In my opinion, he is a sympathetic character by the end of the series, and not just a baddie or a mean old schoolteacher. He's a well-rounded character, and a very complex character, which is why we are still talking about him years later.
- Location:Spinner's End
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optimistic - Music:Ministry of Magic "Bravest Man I Ever Knew"
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We just had a good discussion the other day about JKR at Paris Fashion Week watching the extremely thin model go down the runway. Then I saw a picture from Ralph Lauren with a model so incredibly emaciated it was posted on a website called Photoshop Disasters which inspired the perceptive observation from a blogger on BoingBoing who wrote,
"Dude, her head's bigger than her pelvis."
Actually, poor Olive would need to lose weight for the runway these days.
Great Video Coverage of this by Rachel Maddow
"She sort of looks like she was shrinky-dinked, doesn't she?
Look at the ratio of her torso to her head.
That is not a ratio that exists in nature, at least outside the insect world....
It looks like whoever was in charge...was inspired by a combination of Barbie and those
giant-headed Bratz dolls. Actually those dolls
look more normal and more human than the model."

The picture was circulating around the blogosphere when the House of Lauren decided to do a Rowling and send out a bunch of threatening letters, as documented by BoingBoing:
It's obvious by now that Ralph Lauren *hates* being mocked. They hate being mocked so much that they ordered their attack lawyers to send letters trying to fool ISPs into pulling an "infringing" advertisement featuring a ridiculously skinny model (in fact, our posting of the image was fair use, not infringement; Ralph Lauren's takedown notices are bogus and they should know better).Note: For all these blog links, read the comments ~ priceless!
It's also obvious that the photo of Filippa Hamilton used in the Ralph Lauren advertisement was digitally manipulated. But we still have three questions: 1) who, exactly, gave Ms. Hamilton the Olive Oyl physique? 2) If the photo was manipulated after it appeared in the advertisement, why didn't Ralph Lauren's law firm make mention of that in their silly DMCA takedown notice? and 3) Where's the original advertisement?
( Read more - Threats, Takedown Notices, Excuses,Counterthreats, Mockery, Truth, Etc... )
- Location:Home
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busy - Music:"Hungry Eyes"
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Some interesting "concept art" done for the HBP movie has been released (see links below). The picture of Dumbledore's funeral makes me wonder why they didn't just go ahead and film the scene. It clearly shows a parallel to the death of Aragog in the movie with Hagrid standing over the dead body and the mountains behind them. Maybe that image was just too creepy of a parallel for the director, but in the book it's certainly meaningful that Aragog's children won't accept Hagrid anymore, while the Order members won't accept Snape anymore after the death of Dumbledore.
I'm biased. I loved Dumbledore's funeral and except for Dobby and Moody's eyeball, it's all we have of a ritualistic view of death. Eh, and the graveyards in GoF and DH.
From MasterofMystery in the Snitchseeker Gallery
More Art by Adam Broadbank on his Website

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melancholy
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A restaurant in Malaysia called "McCurry" has won a nine-year legal battle against McDonald's. They've insisted that the "MC" stands for "malaysian chicken curry." Since I love curry much more than a Big Mac, I'm very happy for them. :)
This article from Canada.com is a hoot: a list of stupid questions from visitors to Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies. Just a sampling ~ number 19 is my personal favorite:
From an unofficial survey of Banff tour operators, here are the top 20 outrageous questions, some with answers in case you've wondered the same thing. As for the rest, well, they stand on their own.And speaking of wildlife, an amazingly Pettigrew-esque Giant Rat that has been discovered in a volcanic crator of Papua, New Guinea. Which makes me wonder - after Peter got the silver hand, could he still transform? Or did he just become a rat with a silver paw?
1. Are the animals with collars tame? (These animals have been fitted with tagged collars because they have had incidents with people. It is important to stay a safe distance away from wildlife.)
2. We are going into British Columbia. Do we need to change our money into Euros?
3. Can we drive our car onto a glacier anywhere? (Not to our knowledge, but you might enjoy a trip on the Ice Explorer across the Columbia Icefields.)
4. Do we need snow tires or chains to drive to Lake Louise in July?
5. Where are the igloos and the Eskimos?
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See Newly Constructed Sets for the Harry Potter Theme Park, Orlando.
Deathly Hallows actor Jamie Bower Campbell talked about Gellert Grindelwald on Hollywood Crush.
I play Gellert Grindelwald, who is an old friend of Dumbledore's," explained the 21-year-old actor. "It's a flashback character, which is good fun. I did a little bit before I went off and did 'New Moon.'"
"No, I'm just doing number one," he answered when we asked if Grindelwald was scheduled to be in both halves of the split-for-the-cinema-sequels made from J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" novel. "Thus far, I mean. I haven't seen the script for the second one; I don't think anyone has seen the script for the second one."
( Cut for a sort of strange spoiler concerning Grindelwald's appearance... )
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geeky - Music:Cheap Trick "The Flame"
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This is what we are talking about here - a franchise attacking their own fans.
Hey NBC Attorneys ~ Copyright is not a Weapon!
Techdirt Blog: NBC Universal Shuts Down Battlestar Galactica Fan Charity Event In Toronto
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UPDATE: Thanks to
Torontoist: By Their Command
The Fox Theater where this movie was going to be shown is stepping up and allowing ticket holders for the cancelled movie to make donations food to the Daily Bread Food Bank instead of getting a refund on their tickets.( Read more... )
P2PNet: Universal NBC Battlestar Galactica Disgrace
"One would expect nothing less than from a company which believes suing its customers and treating them like dirt makes good business sense."
From Andy at the Fox: Simply the write the word "Donate" on the back of your ticket, sign it and return to the location it was purchased.. For each ticket signed in this way, we will donate $7 to the Daily Bread Food Bank. Canned goods can still be dropped off at the Fox and we'll make sure they get there as well.UPDATE 2 : Thanks to
Battlestar Galactica Frakkin' Finale Party
And here's a very unusual story about a Brooklyn filmmaker who is giving away her product - an "enchanting" animated film - for free, and only making money from the merchandising! Why? Because she hates the copyright runaround.
- Location:Quiet Friday Night
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galactic - Music:The Oneders "That Thing You Do"
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( More Goodies Under Here )
- Location:Fandom
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artistic - Music:Creed "Sacrifice"
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Attorneys with the Stanford Fair Use Project were in court today to file a lawsuit against the Associated Press in a preemptive strike because AP was threatening to sue artist Shepard Fairey tomorrow. Once again this is over the use of an AP photograph in the famous Obama pic.
First he pleaded "Not Guilty" to the vandalism charges in Boston:
Boston Herald: Shepard Fairey pleads not guilty to Hub vandalism
Then he appeared in New York District Court:
California Artist Sues AP
Lawyers for Fairey acknowledged that the artist used the photograph. But they said he transformed the literal depiction into a "stunning, abstracted and idealized visual image that creates powerful new meaning and conveys a radically different message."Huff Post: Jonathan Melber: The AP has no case against Shepard Fairey
AP spokesman Paul Colford said the company would have no immediate comment until its lawyers reviewed the lawsuit. The AP had said in a statement last week that it was in discussions with Fairey's attorney and hoped for an amicable solution.
The AP has not taken legal action against Fairley. But the lawsuit noted that the AP had threatened twice to sue Fairey, possibly as early as Tuesday, and that it considered all works that incorporate the imagery of the "Obama Hope" poster to be infringements of its copyrights.
Take, for example, an influential 2006 decision vindicating Jeff Koons. A fashion photographer named Andrea Blanch sued Koons for using a picture of hers in one of his paintings without paying her. Koons had scanned her photograph, which she had taken for a Gucci ad, and cut and pasted it into a digital composition he then painted. The federal appeals court said that Koons didn't need to pay Blanch to do what he did, because of how thoroughly Koons had transformed the photograph.
Markos himself on Daily Kos: AP still having a hard time with "fair use" concept
How the AP can argue that use of this picture hasn't been transformed by Fairey to offer "new information, new aesthetics, new insights and understandings" is beyond comprehension. Perhaps they are feeling the pinch of newspapers abandoning their product -- they've been dropped by Dow Jones, Tribune, NY Daily News, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Spokane Spokesman-Review, while newspapers in New York and Ohio have banded together to create competing networks to rid themselves of the AP blight.People commenting on Lawrence Lessig's blog call it Plagiarism! (How predictable is that?) I will add links as I find them - this is an interesting case about transformative works and Fair Use. I'm sure the legal bloggers are going to knock themselves out on this, plus the art bloggers.
Throw in the newspapers that are simply going out of business, and apparently the AP's new business model is to legally intimidate artists basing their artwork at least partly on AP images. Like going after small bloggers for blockquoting material from their news stories, It's morally bankrupt, legally questionable (at best), and a direct assault on the very notion of intellectual property fair use. The day the AP finally shutters its doors can't come soon enough.
- Location:Courthouse Steps
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working - Music:Paul Simon "Kodachrome"
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I'm not condoning Graffiti, which is a a type of vandalism. It's a problem everywhere, and costly. But the timing of this arrest is just a bit odd since it happens to be the very week that he is having his art show in Boston, which includes the controversial Obama Poster. I think the outcome of this will be that his reputation will only grow, and he'll become an outlaw martyr for the art world. Just an opinion.
( Read more... )Reminds me of this song ~
- Location:Home
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surprised - Music:Simon and Garfunkel
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Here are two Copyright stories to discuss:
The first comes to me via
AP Alleges Copyright Infringement of Obama Image
This one is about that famous poster of Obama that was made by artist Shepard Fairey, whose attorney in this case just happens to be Anthony Falzone of Lexicon Trial fame.

This reminds me of the essay I wrote about Andy Warhol's art prints early last year. He also copied famous photographs from the news to use as artwork, and he didn't face lawsuits for it. There was also the controversy last year when the AP tried to force bloggers to pay them by the word when quoting a story. I wrote two posts about that Here The AP probably held off suing Fairey until after the election because of the way bloggers attacked them about that issue.
The second tale of copyright woe is between the band Coldplay and guitarist Joe Satriani, who says the band ripped him off with the tune to "Viva La Vida," the title track to their last hit album (and one of my favorites!).
( Read more... )
- Location:U.S.A.
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contemplative - Music:Viva La Vida (or Whatever)
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This will also be placed on our team's Spotlight Thread. I should note that I couldn't use the "B-itch" word in this video at all because that is a censored word on Chamber of Secrets even though it is canon.
The music is "Hangin' Dog" by Norman Blake, from the Fields of November album.
( See a Complete List of All Artwork and Artists With Links Under Here )
- Location:The Burrow
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creative - Music:Hangin' Dog by Norman Blake
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I was asked to make a video slideshow of Fan Art for the Severus Snape For Minister Campaign on Chamber of Secrets Forum. This will be posted on our Spotlight Thread in the coming week.
The music is "Night in That Land" by Night Noise. I found the song on this album:
Sanctuary: 20 Years of Windham Hill
( View A Complete List of Titles and Artists With Links Under Here - Thanks To All )
- Location:Spinner's End
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geeky - Music:Night Noise "Night in That Land"
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He was prophetic, indeed.
We've certainly seen evidence of that greed over the last two days, with WB postponing one of Rickman's movies - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - until next summer just based on the money. WB has thrown the entire movie industry into a flurry of changes just based on their own unapologetic greed. Oh, but don't forget they still "love" the fans and we should be grateful. *eyeroll*
Here's the video and a short transcript of the best quotes from AR's Pelham interview. He's so awesome and brave to just tell it like it is.
AR: ...I'm at one end of the story... as an actor, and you guys are at the other end as deciding the stories that you want to go and hear told, and somewhere in the middle are a manipulative greedy bunch of pigs. (Audience laughs - Alan does not)See more videos of this Question and Answer session on One Scheme of Happiness.
Moderator: It's a big middle.
AR: . . . who just want bigger houses and more airplanes and cars. And I guess it's a bit like, you know, what government do you want ~ You've just got to stand up and say you're going to fight for it, if you want to have a rich culture: It's yours and it's mine. And it's not theirs.
. . . This is exciting to me to be in a beautiful old theater absolutely filled with people who have just had a story told to them. You're not being manipulated at all, and I hope you each had your own relationship with that story. You know, we could go out with this microphone now and find out who thought what about all the characters in the story, 'cause God knows it's not just about wine - it's about people.
I think that's a big fight on, which is part of the life. (applause from audience)
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Also thanks to
I can't stop watching this video by Oasis called "The Masterplan." It's fascinating and so detailed! I should have stayed in school and studied animation. Nice song, too.
Oasis is, of course, from Manchester, England, and this video pays homage to the paintings of L.S. Lowry.
Manchester Evening News Article about Masterplan Video
Many people have talked about the similarity of Lowry's paintings and the description of Spinner's End in HBP and DH.
- Location:Spinner's End
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creative - Music:Oasis "The Masterplan"
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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.
. . . . .
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mellow - Music:Hollies "Bus Stop"
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I keep wondering what the late artist Andy Warhol would make of a famous author of a popular book suing a fan?
Icons by
- Location:The Art Gallery
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retro - Music:Beatles "Think For Yourself"
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( Picture and Poem under the cut )
- Location:a quiet house
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pleased
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