JK Rowling bid for three tickets to see Stella McCartney’s Paris show at a Gala Auction in London, in June, to raise funds for the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation, and bought along two friends. “I’m working on something, but it’s not Harry Potter,” she said. “I need a Harry break.” A Stella McCartney fan, she said she loved the designer’s clothes because “they’re so wearable.”

Note: See JKR's Own Words about Stick-Skinny Models in This Rant on her Website

Picture Via Snitchseeker

From Bluewater Productions:

Her name is forever associated with a certain boy wizard whom she created while waiting for a delayed train. Now, nearly half a billion books sold later, J.K. Rowling will be the subject on an upcoming issue of Bluewater Productions’ Female Force biography comic series.

Female Force: J.K. Rowling, scheduled for release in December, follows Rowling’s rags to riches story of a woman receiving government financial assistance through her ascendancy in becoming one of the world’s most recognizable writers.


( Read more... )

HP the Musical was written and produced in early 2009 by a bunch of college kids/recent grads through a non-profit student-run theatre company. It was a free show that ran for three nights (five performances) and will never be done again... but luckily we taped it so everyone can get a chance to enjoy its magical silliness. The songs were written by Darren Criss (who plays Harry Potter) and AJ Holmes (who plays piano in the band). The script was written by Matt Lang (who also directed the show), Nick Lang (who assistant directed and made the dragon puppet) and Brian Holden (who was busy working at a real job while the rest of us were making a goofy play).
HP the Musical was a completely non-for-profit unofficial parody show made by Potter-fans for Potter-fans. All of us involved love the books immensely (and strongly encourage everyone to read them if you haven't) and it is with the utmost admiration that we celebrate and poke fun at them with this musical inspired by our very favorite stories.

saiphgrl

JKR: Yeah, I sent them a list of plausible titles, including the real one. Hallows of Hogwarts for years was going to be the title of the seventh, and it was wrong, just wrong.

MA: They aren't all of Hogwarts.

JKR: Exactly. It changed completely, so Deathly Hallows was definitely the right way to go. I like the title of Deathly Hallows.

exhpfan

( Read more... )

ZOMG ~ Book Tour?

I got a news link in my e-mail and lexicon_bel has informed me that it is a spoof site. *LOL* Good for them, and thanks for the laugh. (However, I must say this sounds plausible, and I secretly hope it comes true next week...)

From Muggles Behaving Badly Online

Something amazing is happening January 20th (a week from today)…. Yes President Elect Barack Obama will be taking over as President of the United States, but there’s even better news! World renowned author Jk Rowling will also be hitting the states for a special book signing and Q&A from her latest release, Tales of Beedle the Bard, as a part of the Inauguration celebration! Another special guest will include The Leaky Cauldron’s own Melissa Anelli will also be there reporting from the red carpet, and holding her own Q&A with fans about her hugely successful book, Harry, A History

aredwitch

I have a very strong view and my view --
4 my view is that it is analogous to me making a cake and that in
5 the creation of this Lexicon, all the plums in my cake, as it
6 were. . .

I believe that
13 the contents of those books have been plundered

From Cendali's Summation:

It's incentivizing people who write about Harry
24 Potter to take less, to not just copy, as Ms. Rowling, once
25 again, eloquently put it, not taking the plums in her cake or

1 cherry-picking out the adorable wonderful clever things about
2 it and selling in her own. Not taking her plums; so taking
3 less, but doing more

She compared this taking of her work to plundering all of the “plums in [her]
cake.” (Tr. (Rowling) at 647:3-6).

aredwitch

"DE(DavidEnglish) did the judge really write that SVA 'plundered' JKR and stolen her 'plums'? That sounds so out of place in a legal document, I have to go back and read it again. It sounds so suggestive. Who knew that a legal judgement could be so sexy?

I had people as early as Prisoner of Azkaban, the third book. I remember a woman saying to me : "I think Snape loves Lily". I was "Oh my God what the hell did I give away ?". But so people, people got stuff very unnervingly right. Often. Yeah.
~ JKR interview on receiving the James Joyce Award

It’s very strange to think that you must have been pretty much the target audience, ten years ago, so you’ve really… you have been reading this book all through these ten years so you are… You are my people ! No, I don’t mean in any political way, I’m not trying to lead you to an uprise or something… Yes, it is odd to sit in this room and to think that Harry Potter would be examined in that particular way and in a room with people who are exactly the age that Harry was, really.
~ JKR interview on receiving the James Joyce Award

...it makes me enormously happy that people continue reading and enjoying the books. They grew older with Harry Potter. But I never thought adults were potential readers.
~ Interview in Spanish newspaper El Pais

...the other day I was on the street and a woman came up to me and asked if I was J. K. Rowling, I said yes. She then said: “You deserve everything you have.” I don’t think she was talking about the money...
~ Interview in Spanish newspaper El Pais

...it's not about love of a story or even wishing to spoil a story. It's become something that people want to be attached to because it's the quickest way they can see to get some publicity for themselves or notoriety for themselves and you have this fringe - I can't dignify them with the word fan because I think if it wasn't Harry Potter it would be Star Wars or it would be something high-profile enough that they could just get a little bit of face-time. ... it's really got nothing to do with Harry Potter...
~ JKR in Vault 27 on HAH 

... I'd become used to the fact that people were so invested in this world, and felt such ownership of this world that I was not on a pedestal at all in their eyes, I was right in the thick of the fight. And it's uncomfortable on and off the pedestal, so you get used to it."
~ JKR in Vault 27 on HAH

...if a fight comes to me, I will not duck it. So, if people want information on my characters, then they have to accept that I'm going to give them the information on the characters. And if they don't like it, that's the nature of fiction. You have to accept someone else's world because they made that world, so they probably know a little better than you do what goes on there.
~ JKR in Vault 27 on HAH

I was not at all new to the concept of fan entitlement because that had now been going on since, I think, around 1999. As the Snape Debate hotted up, I would occasionally receive mail from fans that was instructing me on my characters. And you know what, that's very endearing when it comes from a younger person, and it's less endearing when it comes from an older person.
~ JKR in Vault 27 on HAH

At no point have I indicated, or would indicate,  that any of these fan websites is a "favorite."
~ JKR Declaration for Trial, Feb. 2008

Welcome to Pottercast, your number one source for news, theories, discussion and interviews . . .  I know a small amount myself, having written the books. My name is J. K. Rowling. I am now happy to introduce your hosts: Melissa, John, and Sue...
~ JKR's weekly intro to Leaky Cauldron's Pottercast

Steve has put up a link on the Lexicon's "What's New" page for ordering the book ~ HERE

Kristin Devoe: Daily Prophet ~ HP Lexicon to be Published Jan. 12th!
MatthewHolm: Harry Potter Lexicon Dispute Concludes with Worst Book Title Ever
Stanford Fair Use: Anthony Falzone ~ Lexicon Resurrected

( Original News Links Here )

Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that can occur in groups of people. Rather than critically evaluating information, the group members begin to form quick opinions that match the group consensus. Groupthink seems to occur most often when a respected or persuasive leader is present, inspiring members to agree with his or her opinion. Groupthink is sometimes positive but is more often seen in a negative light, particularly in the United States and other countries that value individual opinion. Mass hysteria can be seen as an extreme example of groupthink.
http://phobias.about.com/od/glossary/g/groupthinkdef.htm

Steve has put up a link on the Lexicon's "What's New" page for ordering the book ~ HERE

Stanford Fair Use: Anthony Falzone ~ Lexicon Resurrected
Baby Blue on Shell Cottage: The Best of All Worlds ~ The HP Lexicon Will be Published ~ Finally
E-Online: Muggles Beware: Rogue Harry Potter Publisher Back on the Loose!
Publisher's Weekly: RDR Drops Rowling Appeal; Has New Book
Bluestocking has an Inklings News Alert Podcast on her blog now.
Muskegon Chronicle 12-5 ~ Publisher will issue Harry Potter Lexicon
Muskegon Chronicle 12-5 ~ Cutlerville Native Pens Second Harry Potter Reference

 Leaky Cauldron 12-4-08  Publisher RDR Books voluntarily withdrew its appeal in the RDR Books vs. WB/JKR case concerning the publication of an unauthorized Harry Potter encyclopedia. The publisher is working on releasing a version of the book in question that complies with the judge's ruling, which indicated that the original book copied heavily from the Harry Potter books. There was no settlement in the case.

The Christopher Little Agency released the following statement today:
"...We are also pleased to hear that rather than continue to litigate, RDR have themselves decided to publish a different book prepared with reference to Judge Patterson's decision."

It might be nice if the Potter Puppet Pals did a reenactment of the case with Snape as SVA, Hermione as Jo, Fudge as RDR, McGonagall as Dale Cendali, Lucius Malfoy as Falzone/Hammer, and Dumbledore as Judge Patterson. "What's that ticking sound? Oh, it's a Cease & Desist letter. Just ignore it and it'll go away." *BOOM*

Ironically, what Madden dubs podcasting's "democratic reach" also could be its downfall.

"Because of the ease of doing it, a lot of people will wind up doing it who don't have talent and don't have anything particular to say," agrees DJ Paul Bruno, 30, a self-proclaimed "rock snob" from Shore Acres who incorporated a podcast into his "Unblinking Ear" music blog six months ago.

In short, without enforced quality standards, the rambling results (sometimes three hours in length) are often more fun for the D.I.Y. crowd making them than the people listening on their iPod.

But then again, duds come and go in every artistic medium, points out onetime Annadale resident Melissa Anelli, 28, co-founder of Pottercast, a J.K. Rowling-endorsed show dedicated to the "Harry Potter" book and film franchise.

"It's the same thing as free market competition. If you're better, the cream will rise," says Anelli, a former Advance reporter whose program rates 30,000 to 40,000 downloads per episode. "That happens in television. That happens in theater."

While big audiences -- and profits -- are still a dream for indie operators like "Degocast," "Pottercast" has attracted sponsors since six months after it debuted in August 2005. Still, that revenue isn't paying anybody's rent, says Anelli, webmistress of The-Leaky-Cauldron.org, the parent site of "Pottercast." The offshoot only brings in as much as 5 percent of the site's revenue.

"It's a nice cushion. We're able to afford a new mic when somebody's mic breaks," says Anelli, whose current sponsor is Audible Inc., a division of Amazon.com, that sells digital audio editions of books, newspapers and magazines.

clair_de_lalune

Court Frees Indian Film from Harry Potter Spell

By Vipul Tripathi

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An Indian court has cleared a Bollywood film accused of plagiarising the "Harry Potter" brand, saying viewers would not confuse the international film and book series with "Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors."

Dismissing the plea against the Hindi-language film, Delhi High Court said Warner Bros., which owns the rights to Harry Potter movies, had made "belated attempt to trip up" the film.

"Viewed from any angle, the plaintiffs have failed to establish a prima facie case for the grant of an ad interim injunction," Justice Reva Khetrapal said in an order on Monday obtained by Reuters.

. . . "Justice Reva Khetrapal said the class of viewers was such that they would not get confused with the title of the film," Pratibha Singh, the defence counsel, told Reuters.

"A Hindi-speaking, rural child would not have heard of Harry Potter, while the English-speaking, urban viewer would be so well versed with Harry Potter that there would be no reason for them to be confused," Singh quoted the judge as saying.

( Read more... )

( Read An Excerpt Under the Cut... )

( Read An Excerpt Here . . .  )

JK Rowling
Wyedean comprehensive, Chepstow, 1976-1983. John Nettleship, science

Joanne has said that no characters in Harry Potter are based more than 10% on any one person. I suppose the fact that I used to have long, black hair, is just a coincidence. To be honest, I think Snape, especially in the later books, is very like me.

Joanne would have been about 12 when I taught her. Her days at Wyedean were pretty miserable. The school was like a prison, and then her mum came down with MS. Anne Rowling worked as my technician, and Joanne would come and wait at the science block for her mum so they could walk home together. It was obvious the child was very concerned about her mother - preoccupied. She was a very quiet child. I don't remember her ever answering a question - she would go to great lengths to avoid responding. I think she was tucking it all away in her head to use later in her stories.

Praetorianguard: HAI, JUDGE PATTERSON!

Derek Bambauer: Rowling 1, Lexicon 0

Foresthouse: Conclusions of Law
&
Foresthouse: Harry Potter ~ One More Thing

Dustbunny105: Go, JKR!

Liz B.: Top Eight Things To Know About the Lexicon Ruling

Quidawn: Aaah, The Sweet Taste of Justice Like Chocolate!

( Links to Articles and Quotes from Steve Under Here )