Finally some AMAZING new images from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince --
and they are SPECTACLE-r ...



( More hiding below )

I love Luna in this SO MUCH! Plus the wonderful stuff under the cut ... I can't stop gushing (hence why I say the drought is over. *wink* ) I reckon I may just post more photo flood flotsam in a bit.

. . . til now --

		I will marry Emma Thompson.
		After a wild honeymoon, We will settle down in Venice, Italy in our fabulous Shack.
		We will have 13 kid(s) together.
		Our family will zoom around in a heliotrope Smartie.
		I will spend my days as a Starbucks Barrista, and live happily ever after.

Y'all can make of this what you will!

Back in March E! did a set visit/interview with Dan Rad, Tom Felton and Rupert Grint on the set of HBP. A very interestingly suspicious shot of Harry in his GoF dress robes made me pretty darn sure that part of what they were filming at Gloucester cathedral was Dumbledore's funeral (SPOILER ALERT!) I made this blurry screencap of it, HP geek that I am.



Now over at the Brazilian HP fansite Oclumencia, they posted this image of . . . Harry in his dress robes . . . looking decidedly lost and forlorn.



My point (and I really do have one) is that in spite of one of the HBP actors (Natalia Tena who plays Tonks) saying they had not filmed DD's funeral, there is photographic evidence to the contrary. Perhaps we won't see the whole thing--I seriously doubt we will see the Merpeople or the Centaurs, or many of the characters that are noted as being present in the book. But I think we will see something of it. As Ms. Tena stated on a recent Pottercast, the actors don't get a full script and often have no idea what all will be in the film until it is premiered.

Actors are like mushrooms (and me at work)--kept in the dark and fed bullshit. :P

*hurredly posts so that there will be ONE for May*

I am SO ready for April to be a mere memory . . . or more appropriately, a fading nightmare. This month has been completely and utterly AWFUL! I shoulda known as the vernal equinox came, bringing bad news from the family (dad in hospital--better now, TTG!)


My birthday was but a breather before the first weekend in April found me waking to a brain-dead computer. Ok--so, again, TTG I had gotten myself a laptop for my b-day, but foolishly I had NOT backed everything up and was too dumb-founded to do anything but start over from scratch! (Although, I must say it WAS fascinating to watch a Dell tekkie from India running my comps from thousands of miles away, but still . . . )

So, uh, yeah--a week's worth of trying to reinstall everything and evaluate what was truly irretrievably lost (about 20 rolls worth of negative scans from my 2000 trip to Germany) and what odd browser tools I had added but never bothered taking note of. (I STILL can't get Adobe to open downloaded PDFs and have no idea why.) Then--work hell on the Friday following the crash. Next day--another crash: my car. Got t-boned in Hermosa Beach by a kid in a pickup more concerned with chatting-up his girlfriend via cel than in paying attention to where he was going. AND TO CAP IT OFF I buggered my knee and have spent the last 2 weeks hobbling around with a cane and feeling like shit.

LOVE IT! /sarcasm

Can I have my nice boring life back now, please?

Yeah--we all know I am awful about updating this thing. Can I just say I am so busy at work my head TRULY is spinning like a top and I am perpetually dizzy . . . what do you mean who could tell the difference??!!!!

So, erm, yeah, I got tagged a while back by atschpe to reveal my dark, innermost secret--the horror that is my comp screen. So, ok, made a screen-shot, was going to post and then I got my new birthday laptop which completely sucked my brain dry and took all my spare (and not so spare) moments of "free" time.

So, here it is (and I'll link to my desktop one too, though only the most geek-ified will be able to tell the difference.)



And at home: http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g318/Hagiographer13/Misc/desktop03_20_08.png

BTW, I am using a totally awesome new screen saver that I downloaded (with GREAT DIFFICULTY) from the OotP film website. It is totally worth trying to get if you liked that film as much as I did.

http://www2.warnerbros.com/orderofthephoenix/

(I was going to post a cool meme I gacked from my f-list--but it will have to wait as I am about to kill Firefox and chuck my computer out the window.)

I HATE "random" as a throw-away statement/comment/fillintheblank. I always figured with "random" (as with other hoary catch-phrases before it -- 23-skidoo, anyone?) it was just something for one generation to toss in the previous one's face as a "neener--you ain't cool no mo'" kind of thing.

But then, I started dealing more with these "random" younger folks, and I realised there wasn't even THAT much conscious thought behind it. Most didn't seem to know (or probably CARE) that the word was being used completely wrong, not to mention out-of-context. It really was nothing more than a random statement, all sound, no fury.

So, ladies and gentlemen, your attention pur-leeze! "Random" is now relevant! That is to say, there IS a secret hidden meaning behind it--but the practitioners are just too self-absorbed to realise it. In my not-too-humble opinion, natch. So, be fore-warned: there will, henceforth, be nothing in this journal, skype/yim-chats, or direct from my lips that is anything but relevant.

Relevant is the new "random"!

( my valentine postbox )

Ooh--this is just like grammar school! I want candy hearts! NOW!!!!

Gacked from the ever-fantabulous leelastarsky --

You are the moment when the last bell rings and school lets out for the day. You are resistant to schedules and obligations, so you love feeling like you're in control of your life again. You are the very moment when the second hand hits the 12, and the halls fill with noise and motion. Even if your after-school time is packed with activities, lessons, or a job, somehow, you just feel freer in the late afternoon than you do earlier in the day. Maybe it's all that blue sky and afternoon sunshine? Nah -- even on rainy days, 3:15 is always a beautiful time.

Why am I not in the least bit surprised? If I could truly STAY IN BED 'TIL 3PM I would!

*yawn* Maybe I should go to bed now. It IS 2:15 am ferheavensakes!

Oh--btw, in the extremely long and detailed (buteverychracterinHPisincluded!) Which HP charater are you Meme I was Harry. He is probably 3:15pm, too.

So, it has been almost a month since I updated my LJ. Yeah, I know--I stink at this! Anywho, I got to interview the fantabulous leelastarsky which y'all can check out on gallerycast. It's in two parts and she was most gracious and candid. Cannot say it enough, Leela rocks!

Erm, speaking of Leela and FanArt (I was wasn't I?) to all! May 2008 turn out to be the best so far for you, and heck, for me too! Not promising to blog more (NEVER make promises like that, ever!) I will, however, promise to let everyone know if I win the lottery or end up Hillary Clinton's running-mate!

Hugs and quiches (especially to big sis madeyemads who has finally learned to love frois gras layered with vegemite.) Yum!

Okay--this is what happens when two crazy GC editors are together in Bavaria with too much liquor and time on their hands:



http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1406533248

Funniest thing I've seen in a week!

*goes off to see about having theyellowpepper and atschpe presented with CLOTHES*

HP Theme Park Now Open--enter DD/Gay and Lex/lawsuit rides at your own risk!


Teaser for AWESOME comic by lamech77 at DeviantART. See it all:
http://lamech77.deviantart.com/art/The-Outing-HP-67918057

( More thrills beneath the cut-- )

So--Dumbledore is Gay. Let the FanArt and FanFics flourish!

In less than 48 hours I will be invading the Pacific Northwest to meet up with my very own birthday_twins Twin, Katies!!!!!
I am so excited, since we are both interested in world domination and perfecting the skiving snackbox (as an all-use escape route.)

Citizens of Washington state -- Be very afraid!

(Endlich!!!!!!!! An LJ update from me!!!!!!!!)
Avatar art by reallycorking

Art by Mudblood428

I know I pretty much blow chunks at keeping up with this—still no (much-anticipated ) review of either the awesome OotP film or incredible DH book from yours truly. *sigh* My only excuse is that I have been enjoying both so much I barely find time to breathe, let alone write in my journal.

So, I STILL am not doing either of those things … this post is all about some of the most amazingly talented people whose works I have gotten to know. I am talking about the HP FanArtists, so many of whom honour LJ with their presence! These warm, talented, wickedly funny folks have added so much to my enjoyment of Harry’s saga, and I am proud to be a small peripheral part of this wonderful community through the TLC FanArt Gallery -- http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/fanart/

The first FanArtist I became aware of was Laura Freeman, nasubionna, whose work I found on the HP Lexicon. Her use of line and shadow is unparalleled. Just WOW!

Next was Marta, aka seviet, and her new DH art is touching and wonderfully amusing. Once I became aware of this incredible group, I actually started looking, and was astounded at the depth and intensity of the art that is here at LJ, and around the web. By the time TLC opened its own FA Gallery in February I was hooked!

So, I have far too many favourites to list them all and I recommend you take a look at
DeviantArt (http://www.deviantart.com/ ) as well as the several HP communities here at LJ.

Bow at the feet of Makani (buttfacemakani) , Mudblood428 (mudblood428), reallycorking (corkart), Leela Starsky (leelastarsky) , glockgal (glockart), Caladan (caladan_dd), Anguinea (anguinea), Sanna L. (screamingyoyo), sherant (sherant_art), Tom Scribble (tomscribble), and VikingCarrot (vikingcarrot)!

My bowings and scrapings are here:

http://pics.livejournal.com/hagiographer13/gallery/0003ttr0


Man, I love you guys so much! Thanks for enriching so many lives through your art!

Hi-ho! Just cleaning up some things here and I have decided to upload my various HP photo-manipulations (the closest I'll probably ever get to Fan Art.)

So, if you have a burning desire to see, say, Sirius in drag, check out my LJ Gallery --

http://pics.livejournal.com/hagiographer13/gallery/0000pabr



For the non-initiates: FA is Fan Art and PS stands for Photoshop, lest anyone think there was a new Dr. Frankenstein in their on-line midst.

AKA Lucius Malfoy . . . I LOVE MARY GRANDPRE!



Of course Al Jafar--I mean, Snape still has that bloody goatee. Ah me!

What an amazing month July has been already: Pottercast/staff meetups, OotP US premiere in Hollywood, the fabbo film--and the final HP book will be out this time next week! Truly this is the Summer of Potter!

Maybe I will get around to posting my review of the Order of the Phoenix film, but right now I want to talk people. As Sartre so painfully tells us in No Exit "hell is other people"--indeed, it's true. But just as valid is the corollary: heaven is the people we love. If we find out in Deathly Hallows (and I am sure we will) that it is love that finally vanquishes the evil personified by Lord Voldemort, then I can only wish that this beautiful notion could be a universal truth. I know on a perfectly personal level that Harry Potter has brought me a love that conquers self-doubt and the fear of being vulnerable. I have made wonderful, caring, and supportive friends through the books and TLC that it would have been impossible to make otherwise. For this I thank Jo for being the catalyst that brought us all together.

With these friends, I got to recapture a goggling, fan-girly past that I had long-buried along with mini-skirts and go-go boots. My first-ever big-time film premiere took place at the fabled Grauman's Chinese Theatre on Sunday, July 8. Young actors whose work I admire were within arms-reach . . . and the fanatic obssessive love that only a teenager can truly possess seemed to wash over this long-past-teenaged fan.







On a related note, TLC's Pottercast is on-tour, and I decided it would be nice to meet some of the fellow staffers and Potter fans that these events bring out. Again, the nicest people are Potterfans, spreading the love and joy that these stories bring. Not to mention Wizard Rock--Harry and the Potters live at the LA Public Library! Whodathunk?



Oh--and there is now a bum running around downtown LA in a Leaky Cauldron teeshirt . . . Just spreading the love of the people!

Don't you hate spoilers? I sure do. Seriously, I would have personally AK'd the guy who yelled "Snape killed Dumbledore" at the fans waiting outside their local bookstore to pick up Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince--ruddy gits.

This teeshirt design, by a wonderful UK artist named Oliver Moss, is my only spoiler to be posted in this LJ until long after the twins are gone and buried in DH (did I really say that?)




People who spoil things for others are immature and do not deserve to live without severe pubic hair flea infestations. So--spoilers beware--I have a wand and I know how to use it!



(Thanks to the lovely LizzieAngel for finding this coolio design!)

WOMBAT, round three. yay

I should really be excited and theorizing my ass off. Round one came on my birthday last year, while I was busy skiving off work to go to Disneyland. Wake up April 1 bright & early to see what's what on TLC--zmog, the sign is off the door! This is the first chance I have to do this thing. Bugger, so hard, I need a little LL help . . . and what is going on there? Memerson mayhem . . . with naught but a small post obscurly hidden that, ok, yeah, the door is open. After getting booted off about a dozen times, I shrug, and head off to WOMBAT on my own.

It was cool, challenging, full of the twists and turns that make me love Jo so much. Not long after I was asked to join the Gallery staff, and suddenly I had MORE friends to theorize and obsess with over HP. Life is very good, indeed! September--WOMBAT round 2--I am in Lost Wages at a biz conference. Potter-mania is so ingrained now I actually go to a seamy (what isn't seamy in LV?) internet cafe to check in with the GGs . . . door is open again! Yikes! I frantically take the bloody test with a bleary-eyed, gin-soaked Elvis-impersonator hanging over my shoulder going "how long you gonna be? I need to check my email for gigs." Whatever. I save my test code to my handy LL notepad.

Another door-opening ("what the heck are deathly hallows") which leads to more theorizing and ramps up the excitement for the final chapter in Harry's saga. Time starts to accelerate, February--the release date is given. And things start to unravel around me.

Don't get me wrong. I absolutely LOVE these books, and always will. It's just that I felt like I was just starting to hit my stride in the fandom--and soon it will be changed forever. Discussing the cover art, and the translations of the last title, and now this final round of the WOMBATs--it's still fun, but, for me, it now has an edge to it. This is the last WOMBAT, the last few weeks (going so fast now my head is spinning) of wondering, the last days of Harry Potter as I know it.

WOMBAT, round three. yay

So--here it is. The new DH US Deluxe Cover. Yup--the trio are riding a dragon.



Now--let's go back to that original UK cover--



I am pretty sure this is a Gringotts' vault. But whose? Various theories have been bandied-about (such as it being Gryffindor's--my original theory--or Dumbledore's), but my bestest theorizing friend Katie (aka birthday twins) reminded me of Tom Riddle's discussion with Hepzibah Smith in HBP, in which we see Hufflepuff's cup and Slytherin's locket. He mentions to her that Borgin and Burke have enhanced their offer for her goblin-made armour. In the vault on the UK cover we see armour, and possibly a cup. Thus, I believe this can only be the vault of Tom Riddle/Lord Voldemort!

And what guards the high-security vaults at Gringotts? Dragons! In the series and Fantastic Beats we have seen 10 breeds of dragon. Some say, because of the eye, it is an Antipodian Opal-eye--but why would we have a dragon from the southern hemisphere, unless we are all going Down-under for DH--which I doubt seriously. Nope--I think we are seeing none-other than Hagrid's beloved Norwegian Ridgeback, Norbert, impressed into service by the Goblins for the bank. The Lexicon describes him thus: "black scales, bronze horns, black ridges on its back." On the UK cover it almost looks as if the trio is being sucked out of the vault--and I believe there will be an epiphany where Norbert hoovers them out and is about to do them in, when his imprinting comes into play and he remembers them from his babyhood. And he rescues them--and their horcrux booty--from what other security measures are in place at Gringotts. That is the scene on the deluxe cover--the trio flying to safety aboard Norbert.

As I stated earlier here (http://hagiographer13.livejournal.com/2899.html), magical creatures, or parts thereof, will be needed for Harry to "safely" destroy the remaining horcruxes. And now we are back to dragons, and the 12 uses for dragon's blood--which Dumbledore discovered, and apparently Hermione knows . . . but probably not this possible use.

I really don't believe in the red-herring theories much anymore. Everything in these books comes around full circle. I think a THOROUGH re-read of book one is in order just before DH comes out!

Yeah, yeah, okay! So, I am FINALLY updating my LJ, and (feeding two hungry vultures with the same moldy foccacia) doing this "six weird things" thing.

The "rules" (such as they are and not to be properly followed since MOST of my six potential tagees have already been):

Each player of this game starts with 6 weird things about you. People who got tagged need to write a blog entry of their own 6 weird things. They should as well as state the rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names.

Ahem--

1. I hate driving the "conventional" way anywhere. If there is an obscure backroad, or meander through some scary (but potentially fascinating) different part of town, and I can sort of get from point a to point be by taking it, I will. Lucky for me I live in the southern California megalopolis, so my chances of getting lost, and opportunities to aimlessly wander are virtually limitless.

2. Hello, I am a bird-watcher. I am really surprised my ADD self allows me to be still enough to do it, but there you have it. Problem is, I also am a mountain-biker, and they are often mutually exclusive pursuits. Nothing like barreling down an awesome single-track, and then having to "whoa-Nelly" because I caught a glimpse of a wrentit or Stellar's Jay. Suffice it to say, half of my bike injuries have been caused by this.

3. I love to play my viola--I hate to practice. Thus, I really suck at playing, but I enjoy it anyway. *sigh* The Bach suites are heaven-on-earth, unless you've heard me play them.

4. I hate commercial TV. This accounts for my woeful lack of pop-culture savvy. I own a tee shirt that says Reality entertainment is neither--'nough said.

5. I have owned two motorcycles in my life--unfortunately none right now. Is there a red Vespa in my future?

6. I always wished I was from England rather than California. This fits very nicely with my Potter-obsession, but was a real pain whilst growing-up and imposing my "posh accent" on everyone. It was always "what did she say?"

That's it--and way too much info. But, sometimes when insomnia hits I get on a roll and run with it!

I tag lizetm, kimmparker, weirdsister06 (because they're the only ones my other friends haven't already tagged . . . I think!)