From cindysphynx at comcast.net  Tue Sep  2 02:10:37 2003
From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.)
Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 02:10:37 -0000
Subject: Mary Suzanne Strikes Again!
Message-ID: <bj0u6t+r2pl@eGroups.com>

It looks like HPfGU's most notable interior designer has struck 
again!  This time, she has chosen a pallate of muted violet, grey 
and mustard -- very tasteful indeed.  

There is, sadly, evidence that she is losing her touch.  This time, 
it took her *7* attempts to get the colors just right.  :-D

Cindy -- who would have made the whole FAQ list jet black




From lucky_kari at yahoo.ca  Tue Sep  2 03:42:24 2003
From: lucky_kari at yahoo.ca (lucky_kari)
Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 03:42:24 -0000
Subject: GRYFFINDOR: Weasley Roll-Call
Message-ID: <bj13j0+fou8@eGroups.com>

Want to tackle those wonderful Weasleys? Now is your chance. I know
some of you have expressed interest in the past, and if you're still
feeling up for it, let's get going. I have plans. Ideas of
organization etc. 

So, who's on board?

Eileen 




From dicentra at xmission.com  Tue Sep  2 08:42:17 2003
From: dicentra at xmission.com (Dicentra spectabilis)
Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 08:42:17 -0000
Subject: Mary Suzanne Strikes Again!
In-Reply-To: <bj0u6t+r2pl@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <bj1l59+uah8@eGroups.com>

--- In HP4GU-FAQ at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." <cindysphynx at c...> wrote:

> It looks like HPfGU's most notable interior designer has struck 
> again!  This time, she has chosen a pallate of muted violet, grey 
> and mustard -- very tasteful indeed.  

I think her sole criteria is that it match the photo on the home page.
 If the photo is ugly, so too will be the list colors.
 
> There is, sadly, evidence that she is losing her touch.  This time, 
> it took her *7* attempts to get the colors just right.  :-D

I surmise that Mary Suzanne searched the Internet for a guide to the
hexadecimal color codes so that she could use colors other than those
provided by the unimaginative folks at Yahoo.  

I also surmise that it took her seven tries because she doesn't have
the right software to determine the RGB values of the colors in the
photo, so she had to match the colors manually.
 
> Cindy -- who would have made the whole FAQ list jet black

Yahoomort doesn't let you change the background color from white. 
It's very bigoted that way, but what do you expect from an Evil Overlord?




From jmmears at comcast.net  Tue Sep  2 18:11:31 2003
From: jmmears at comcast.net (serenadust)
Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 18:11:31 -0000
Subject: GRYFFINDOR: Weasley Roll-Call
In-Reply-To: <bj13j0+fou8@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <bj2mgj+i6p0@eGroups.com>

--- In HP4GU-FAQ at yahoogroups.com, "lucky_kari" <lucky_kari at y...> 
wrote:
> Want to tackle those wonderful Weasleys? Now is your chance. I know
> some of you have expressed interest in the past, and if you're 
still
> feeling up for it, let's get going. I have plans. Ideas of
> organization etc. 
> 
> So, who's on board?
> 
> Eileen

I can't wait to tackle the Weasleys!
Count me in.

Jo S., reporting for duty




From thomasmwall at yahoo.com  Tue Sep  2 20:34:58 2003
From: thomasmwall at yahoo.com (Tom Wall)
Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 20:34:58 -0000
Subject: Speaking of which... some oldies but goodies (WAS: Good News, Everyone!)
In-Reply-To: <bilqek+v2dg@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <bj2uti+eqro@eGroups.com>

Hey all,

On the note of some of our recent H.A. discussion, I went through 
some of my printouts at home ('cause I'm a dork and work way better 
from paper than the screen) and added a few old posts to the 
database - Elkins' original Evil!McGonagall and Pippin's original 
Evil!Lupin, just in case we want to use them for anything...

-Tom




From krisangelo at hotmail.com  Wed Sep  3 18:20:38 2003
From: krisangelo at hotmail.com (charisjulia)
Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 18:20:38 -0000
Subject: GRYFFINDOR: Weasley Roll-Call
Message-ID: <bj5bdm+b5ri@eGroups.com>



Well, I'd actually put my name up for the DEs/Auror/Justice FP, but 
thinking about it, the Weasleys are probably much more my thing... So 
can I drop out of the SLYTHS and hop on board the GRYFFS? Looking at 
the Database it actually seems to be the one house really lacking 
wizards anyway. Why is that?

Anyway, if Eileen and Jo will have me, I'll just go swich my name 
about!


Charis Julia





From cindysphynx at comcast.net  Thu Sep  4 13:18:38 2003
From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.)
Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 13:18:38 -0000
Subject: Request For Contributions
In-Reply-To: <bihr92+2ls0@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <bj7e3f+gb8k@eGroups.com>

Abigail lamented:

> By the way, I think it's time we declared the request for 
>contributions program an unqualified failure.  I haven't seen one 
>entry on the database or one post on the archive group.  I think we 
>should continue to post the request on a regular basis.  Tom 
>suggested weekly, at least to begin with - that may be a bit much.  
>Any thoughts?  


Cindy sits erect in her office chair, fingers poised over the 
keyboard.  Any minute now -- aaaaaany minute -- someone will send a 
Fantastic Post recommendation.  And Cindy will instantly drop what 
she is doing to acknowledge it with the dropping of balloons and 
tossing of far too much confetti, slobbering all over the first 
brave soul who sends us *anything* at all.

She waits . . . and *nothing* happens.  Not one post is 
recommended.  Something must be wrong.  People are posting, and the 
odds that every single post *sucks* are quite low.  

"What could the problem be?" she thinks, drowning her sorrows in yet 
another glass of Kool Aid.  How can we get through to the list so 
they will cheerfully do our work for us?  It *can't* be that people 
don't like the "Fantastic Posts" site -- Paul has the stats to show 
that people *love* it.  Members have stated publicly that they want 
us to get cracking, bemoaning that the FPs are out of date.  Yet 
they won't nominate Fantastic Posts.  What to do, what to do?

*****************

I've been *brainstorming!*  ;-D

My guess is that our problem is that we may be asking main list 
members to do too much.  We've asked them to read a lengthy ADMIN.  
We've asked them to e-mail us a message number with a description of 
the post at an e-mail address that they cannot remember without 
searching for the ADMIN we posted.  Alternatively, we've asked them 
to go to a database and enter information in four fields.

Maybe we ought to think about making things so easy that a chimp 
could comply with our instructions.  Like:

1.  Perhaps we shouldn't have two options for people to nominate 
posts.  Personally, I think we should dispense with the main list 
database.  If I were a member, I might be deterred by the prospect 
of clicking back and forth between the web-view screen and the 
database to get the columns filled in.  I assume that e-mail and 
digest readers may be unable or unwilling to log onto the main list 
to access the database as well.

2.  Also, most people are very active on the list as newcomers, and 
then their interest drops off.  Newcomers, however, are very likely 
not to be familiar with the Yahoo database features -- it was a 
while before I understood them myself -- and they may not be willing 
to take the time to sort it out.  Forwarding a message via e-mail or 
webview, on the other hand, is something everyone *gets.*

3.  I think we should ask for the minimum amount of information we 
need to find the post in question.  We don't even need a message 
number, really.  If someone forwards a post without a message 
number, we can find it easily using Paul's Magical Spreadsheet or 
the Yahoo search function.  So perhaps we should just ask that 
entire posts (or the message number) be forwarded.  When a 
recommended post comes in, perhaps one or two designated individuals 
could enter it into our own database on this list.

4.  Maybe we should drop our explanation of what makes a 
post "fantastic."  At this point, we probably ought to be willing to 
take a post that meets *anyone's* definition of "fantastic."  It is 
possible that members find this requirement intimidating:  "Oh, 
dear!  I'll look like a moron if I recommend something that doesn't 
measure up."  Further, I'd be willing to let people nominate their 
own posts.  Similarly, we might be able to dispense with the part 
where we explain that we might not use the post.  After all, most 
people won't remember what they nominated by the time we churn out 
some FPs, and they wouldn't be able to check the database to refresh 
their memories.

5.  I think we might want to find a way to keep the "Fantastic 
Posts" e-mail address at our members' fingertips.  This will be 
difficult.  But I think there is an automated way to add something 
to the footers of posts promoting this or that.  Perhaps the link 
could added to the footer (and home page) so that members see it 
(which would require the approval of MEG)?  I suppose that all 37 of 
us could put the link in our sigs when we post, but maybe that would 
look like we're plumping for a nomination ourselves?  I dunno.

6.  It would be great if we could think up a snappy, HP-related name 
for the project.  I'm drawing a blank right now, though.  

7.  This might be controversial, but I'll risk saying it anyway.  I 
think we have a secret weapon here that we haven't used to full 
advantage.  If we're concerned that people might not have read the 
ADMIN, maybe we should have someone post it who is *very* popular on 
the lists.  Someone whose posts pretty much everyone reads.  You 
know, the sort of person whose absence from the community is the 
source of hand-wringing on OTC and whose reappearance prompts hoots 
of celebration.  

<glances nervously in the general direction of the Pacific 
Northwest>  

Maybe if Elkins could be persuaded to post the ADMIN, maybe it would 
draw a few more eyes to our request?  

Anyway, that's all I can think of.  JMHO, of course. 

Cindy -- who can't recall the "Fantastic Posts" Yahoo group address 
off the top of her head even though she created the thing





From elfundeb at comcast.net  Fri Sep  5 13:58:07 2003
From: elfundeb at comcast.net (elfundeb)
Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 09:58:07 -0400
Subject: Slytherins (WAS: Whoa, keeping up to date!)
References: <bi8cn7+59jp@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <002801c373b5$bc4ddc80$9ddc5644@arlngt01.va.comcast.net>

Tom wrote:

<<I'm already signed up for the Death Eaters and Aurors FAQ, which 
after OoP, I'm convinced should be distilled out from each other. I 
know that listees tend to talk about these things together, but we 
now have ample information on the Aurors and the MoM that should go 
into a `Government' FAQ, IMHO, and plenty of other stuff on 
Voldemort's forces o' doom.>>

I considered even before OOP came out whether the cops and robbers each deserve their own FP.  Now that OOP has given us enough Aurors to make it meaty enough I definitely think we should split them.    

Long, long ago (in February) I came up with a rough outline based on the topics we'd been discussing over the previous year, which I am copying below for use as a starter.  Since the outline treats DEs as one broad subject and Justice/Aurors as a separate subject, they would be easy to separate.  I also think we might want to (tentatively) fold Justice and Aurors into a general update of the Government FP, which OOP has rendered obsolete.

Do we have enough people on the Slyth team to do both?  Perhaps if Derannimer and I worked on the Government/Justice/Aurors side and Tom and Cindy worked on the DE side?  Any other slytherin volunteers?   

Debbie

***********

DEs, Aurors and Wizarding Justice Outline

DEs - in general
  Who are they?  (just inner circle of followers or more?)
  Structure and organization (cells, etc)
  Recruitment (why did they join?  are they a cult?)
  Activities
  Loyalty and competence (e.g., how come they couldn't stun Harry?)
  
DE Magic Theories
  Dark Mark theories
  Power Boost theories

DE Roll Call
    Names & quick description of all known DEs; add more discussion (or cross-reference) for those that have been discussed frequently
    Who is Loyal Servant, etc.
    Rumored DEs (Bagman etc.)

Justice 
    MLE Department
      Crouch Sr.
      Aurors (Frank L and Real!Moody)
      Use of unforgivables on suspects

   Crime & Punishment
      Azkaban and Dementors' kiss
      No capital punishment
      
  Criminal Procedure
     Pensieve - public or private, trial or other hearings?
     Crouch as judge and prosecutor
     Amnesty International/Kangaroo court parallels
     Jailing without trial
     Failure to use Veritaserum, Priori Incantato to find truth
       
I'm sure there's plenty of material I've left out, but it's a start.

I left Voldemort out because he has his own FP.  I think the Crouch family deserves its own, too, but since none are planned, it made sense to include them here.  Fudge is in the Government one.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]




From susannahlm at yahoo.com  Fri Sep  5 16:05:18 2003
From: susannahlm at yahoo.com (Susannah Myers)
Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 09:05:18 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [HP4GU-FAQ] Re: Slytherins (WAS: Whoa, keeping up to date!)
In-Reply-To: <002801c373b5$bc4ddc80$9ddc5644@arlngt01.va.comcast.net>
Message-ID: <20030905160518.32155.qmail@web14307.mail.yahoo.com>


--- elfundeb <elfundeb at comcast.net> wrote:

> Long, long ago (in February) I came up with a rough
> outline based on the topics we'd been discussing
> over the previous year, which I am copying below for
> use as a starter.  Since the outline treats DEs as
> one broad subject and Justice/Aurors as a separate
> subject, they would be easy to separate.  I also
> think we might want to (tentatively) fold Justice
> and Aurors into a general update of the Government
> FP, which OOP has rendered obsolete.
> 
> Do we have enough people on the Slyth team to do
> both?  Perhaps if Derannimer and I worked on the
> Government/Justice/Aurors side and Tom and Cindy
> worked on the DE side?  Any other slytherin
> volunteers?   

Fine by me, Debbie.

> snip outline <

Yeah, this looks good. In re the Crouches -- while
there has, goodness knows, been a *ton* of brilliant
stuff written about them <looks pointedly at Elkins>
since they don't have all that much time in *canon,*
and since they are -- so far -- only in GOF. . . I
dunno. I think we can just keep Crouch in Government,
or Justice, or whatever. He'll just get a lot of great
links. : )

Oh, and btw, about the links. . . By *far* my favorite
way of incorporating links is the one used on the
Snape FAQ -- with the links just right in the text. I
don't know if this method is harder to use from the
standpoint of writing the FAQ -- but from the
standpoint of reading the FAQ, it's vastly simpler and
more user-friendly, at least in my experience.




Derannimer, who has never signed off with: "Just my
two Knuts," and who doesn't intend to start now, but
who does recognize that this is that sort of a post

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com



From dfrankiswork at netscape.net  Fri Sep  5 16:35:14 2003
From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David)
Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 16:35:14 -0000
Subject: Request For Contributions
In-Reply-To: <bj7e3f+gb8k@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <bjae02+ksqb@eGroups.com>

Cindy wrote:

> 6.  It would be great if we could think up a snappy, HP-related 
name 
> for the project.  I'm drawing a blank right now, though.  

The Pince Project

David, admittedly only vaguely aware of this project (does that make 
me a typical listie?)




From cindysphynx at comcast.net  Fri Sep  5 17:41:00 2003
From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.)
Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 17:41:00 -0000
Subject: Slytherins (WAS: Whoa, keeping up to date!)
In-Reply-To: <002801c373b5$bc4ddc80$9ddc5644@arlngt01.va.comcast.net>
Message-ID: <bjahrc+rsd9@eGroups.com>

Debbie:

> Do we have enough people on the Slyth team to do both?  Perhaps if 
>Derannimer and I worked on the Government/Justice/Aurors side and 
>Tom and Cindy worked on the DE side?  

Well . . . I don't anticipate having huge amounts of time in the 
near future, so taking on half of a large subject might be a bit 
much for me, to be honest.

Cindy




From thomasmwall at yahoo.com  Fri Sep  5 19:07:39 2003
From: thomasmwall at yahoo.com (Tom Wall)
Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 19:07:39 -0000
Subject: Slytherins (WAS: Whoa, keeping up to date!)
In-Reply-To: <bjahrc+rsd9@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <bjamtr+l7rl@eGroups.com>

Debbie:
Do we have enough people on the Slyth team to do both?  Perhaps if 
Derannimer and I worked on the Government/Justice/Aurors side and 
Tom and Cindy worked on the DE side?

Cindy:
Well . . . I don't anticipate having huge amounts of time in the 
near future, so taking on half of a large subject might be a bit 
much for me, to be honest.

Tom: Agreed with Cindy. I think that two or three of us should be 
able to handle it, and by that I mean: two or three on 'government,' 
and two or three on the Death Eaters.

Maybe we should just pick one or the other and hop to it? Then we can 
move on to the *other* topic after that.

-Tom




From thomasmwall at yahoo.com  Fri Sep  5 19:19:20 2003
From: thomasmwall at yahoo.com (Tom Wall)
Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 19:19:20 -0000
Subject: Um... where are we located?
Message-ID: <bjanjo+qq0m@eGroups.com>


Maybe this is just me, but when I want to check out messages on the 
main book list, the movie list, or OT chatter, I usually go to the 
Portkey first (www.hpfgu.org.uk) and follow the link to the message 
board. This is because (for me) HPfGU.org.uk is easy to remember, and 
the long URL to the yahoo groups is not.

Since the FAQ list has a different board, I have that URL saved in my 
bookmarks. I also have Hypothetic Alley and the FAQ's saved 
separately in my bookmarks.

Turns out it's a good thing I did that, 'cause I went to the Portkey 
today from another computer, and looked around for the FP link, which 
I *think* is www.hpfgu.org.uk/faq, right? And Hypothetic Alley's 
*proper* URL is www.hpfgu.org.uk/faq/hypotheticalley.html, yes?

Problem is, that's not the link listed at the Portkey; *that* link is 
dead, and appears to have been connected to the Lexicon before it was 
moved to a new server. I remember Heidi mentioning that files had 
been moved relatively recently and that stuff had switched servers, 
so, I'm wondering if all of the appropriate links were updated.

I dunno who'd be responsible for the html stuff over at MEG, so 
would one of our overlap members mind having that looked at and 
corrected?

On that note, I'm wondering how everyone else finds the lists and 
boards and faq's when they want to look at something, too...

-Tom




From susannahlm at yahoo.com  Fri Sep  5 21:30:37 2003
From: susannahlm at yahoo.com (Susannah Myers)
Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 14:30:37 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [HP4GU-FAQ] Re: Slytherin: DE's or Justice?
In-Reply-To: <bjamtr+l7rl@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <20030905213037.28010.qmail@web14302.mail.yahoo.com>


--- Tom Wall <thomasmwall at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Tom: Agreed with Cindy. I think that two or three of
> us should be 
> able to handle it, and by that I mean: two or three
> on 'government,' 
> and two or three on the Death Eaters.
> 
> Maybe we should just pick one or the other and hop
> to it? Then we can 
> move on to the *other* topic after that.
> 

And that's fine by me too; I have absolutely no
preference in this matter, as both topics sound like a
blast. I think Tom has a point about the logistics of
this, though -- and can I make a suggestion? If we
tackle first one topic, then the other, should we
maybe do DE's first? Because there are all sorts of
organizational difficulties with the relationship
between Government and Justice. (The most basic of
which being: Are they the same FAQ?) And it might make
more sense to get on with DE's; keep an eye on the
discussion on list, to see how Governmental/Judicial
discussions are handled on the list; and then do
Justice after we've come to some conclusions about the
most logical way to handle it.

I don't know, though; someone else may have a better
idea. (And does anyone else want to come on to
Slytherin?)




Derannimer

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com



From cindysphynx at comcast.net  Fri Sep  5 23:31:25 2003
From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.)
Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 23:31:25 -0000
Subject: Um... where are we located?
In-Reply-To: <bjanjo+qq0m@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <bjb6cd+ot7g@eGroups.com>

Tom:

> Problem is, that's not the link listed at the Portkey; *that* link 
>is dead, and appears to have been connected to the Lexicon before 
>it was moved to a new server. 

Hmmmm.  Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I can't find a link to 
the FPs in the Portkey at all.  If I go to the main list home page 
and follow the Portkey link (http://hpfgu.org.uk/P.html), it doesn't 
mention the FPs at all.



>I'm wondering if all of the appropriate links were updated.

Not yet, apparently.  The link for the Admin Files on the main list 
home page links to the original HBF.  Don't know if that's 
intentional or not.  But then if you follow a link within the 
original HBF, it takes you to the new version of the HBF ("insert 
new title here").

But the FP link on the home page of the main list *does* work 
properly for me.

<shrug>

> On that note, I'm wondering how everyone else finds the lists and 
> boards and faq's when they want to look at something, too...

I have everything bookmarked separately and I go straight to the 
messages section of the various lists, bypassing the home page 
entirely.

Cindy




From dfrankiswork at netscape.net  Sat Sep  6 11:57:17 2003
From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David)
Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 11:57:17 -0000
Subject: Um... where are we located?
In-Reply-To: <bjb6cd+ot7g@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <bjci2t+69mb@eGroups.com>

I have forwarded these two messages to MEG to try and sort it out

David




From thomasmwall at yahoo.com  Mon Sep  8 00:33:35 2003
From: thomasmwall at yahoo.com (Tom Wall)
Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 00:33:35 -0000
Subject: Um... where are we located?
In-Reply-To: <bjb6cd+ot7g@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <bjgiov+7r59@eGroups.com>

Cindy:
Hmmmm.  Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I can't find a link to 
the FPs in the Portkey at all.  If I go to the main list home page 
and follow the Portkey link (http://hpfgu.org.uk/P.html), it doesn't 
mention the FPs at all.

Tom:
I think that on the Portkey the link to the FP's is called 'Topical 
Essays' or something like that. Maybe I'm wrong. I am, after all, a 
newbie who is not entirely in the know... ;-)

Also, thanks, David, for forwarding that stuff along.

-Tom




From lucky_kari at yahoo.ca  Mon Sep  8 15:17:53 2003
From: lucky_kari at yahoo.ca (lucky_kari)
Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 15:17:53 -0000
Subject: Slytherins: Justice FP - Fair Warning re: Crouches
In-Reply-To: <20030905160518.32155.qmail@web14307.mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <bji6j1+npkp@eGroups.com>

--- In HP4GU-FAQ at yahoogroups.com, Susannah Myers <susannahlm at y...> wrote:
> Yeah, this looks good. In re the Crouches -- while
> there has, goodness knows, been a *ton* of brilliant
> stuff written about them <looks pointedly at Elkins>
> since they don't have all that much time in *canon,*
> and since they are -- so far -- only in GOF. . . I
> dunno. I think we can just keep Crouch in Government,
> or Justice, or whatever. He'll just get a lot of great
> links. : )

Elkins and I were going to surprise y'all ;-), but it's probably a
good idea to give you guys a heads-up here. We're working on a Crouch FP. 

Big surprise, right?

Anyway, keep that in mind. I think it'll probably make your job
easier. You can give that family a cursive treatment, and leave the
mysterious and bizarre to us. 

Eileen




From lucky_kari at yahoo.ca  Mon Sep  8 15:41:47 2003
From: lucky_kari at yahoo.ca (lucky_kari)
Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 15:41:47 -0000
Subject: GRYFFINDOR: Whither the Weasleys?
In-Reply-To: <bj13j0+fou8@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <bji7vr+i730@eGroups.com>

Ah, Jo, Charis! Welcome to the Burrow! 

I've been thinking about how to do this and it seems to me that our
general approach would be:

1. General Weasley Stuff
2. Members of the family

For example, the financial situation of the family and what it entails
is a 1. issue. Something concerning Percy primarily is a 2. issue.
Something concerning the financial situation AND primarily Percy?...
Well... the wonder of hyperlinks, ladies! They will be our friend, as
we merrily cross-reference away. 

The next step, I believe, is to come up with one of those nifty
outlines, like our Slytherin friends have, outlining what we predict
will be the major issues. 

While we'll be searching the catalogue, it occurs to me that it might
be worthwhile to start by identifying important posts/threads that we
already know exist. For example, Elkins's Twins thread, Debbie's
analysis of Percy as Mr. Crouch's faithful son etc. In this vein, I
have in mind a post from last summer about Bill's relationship to
Percy and Ron that was absolutely mind-blowing. Who was the author?
Penny?... I'll have to see about that.

What about Ron, btw? He has his own FP, but are there any updates
planned for it? Should we include Ron issues in our FP if not?

Eileen




From dicentra at xmission.com  Mon Sep  8 19:34:17 2003
From: dicentra at xmission.com (Dicentra spectabilis)
Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 19:34:17 -0000
Subject: Um... where are we located?
In-Reply-To: <bjgiov+7r59@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <bjiljp+8uu6@eGroups.com>

--- In HP4GU-FAQ at yahoogroups.com, "Tom Wall" <thomasmwall at y...> wrote:
> Cindy:
> Hmmmm.  Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I can't find a link to 
> the FPs in the Portkey at all.  If I go to the main list home page 
> and follow the Portkey link (http://hpfgu.org.uk/P.html), it doesn't 
> mention the FPs at all.
> 
> Tom:
> I think that on the Portkey the link to the FP's is called 'Topical 
> Essays' or something like that. Maybe I'm wrong. I am, after all, a 
> newbie who is not entirely in the know... ;-)
> 
> Also, thanks, David, for forwarding that stuff along.
> 

I just put the FP link on our main page in the group description and
also in the "Links" section.  Just to make things easier.

--Dicey




From susannahlm at yahoo.com  Mon Sep  8 21:54:59 2003
From: susannahlm at yahoo.com (Susannah Myers)
Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 14:54:59 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [HP4GU-FAQ] Re: Slytherins: Justice FP - Fair Warning re: Crouches
In-Reply-To: <bji6j1+npkp@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <20030908215459.97340.qmail@web14310.mail.yahoo.com>


--- lucky_kari <lucky_kari at yahoo.ca> wrote:
> Elkins and I were going to surprise y'all ;-), but
> it's probably a
> good idea to give you guys a heads-up here. We're
> working on a Crouch FP. 
> 
> Big surprise, right?
> 
> Anyway, keep that in mind. I think it'll probably
> make your job
> easier. You can give that family a cursive
> treatment, and leave the
> mysterious and bizarre to us. 

WOO-HOO!

This should majorly rock. ; ) It's sweet of you guys
to give us a surprise present, so to speak.

But yeah; we can just give Crouch a brief treatment,
and a link to the Crouch FP -- actually, if Crouch
gets his Very Own FAQ, then the only Crouch we need to
cover in Justice is Barty Sr. -- and maybe talk about
him a little bit more in the Fudge section, in his
capacity as a parallel to Fudge. But then that should
be it. 




Derannimer, pleased, in case you couldn't tell

__________________________________
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From abigailnus at yahoo.com  Tue Sep  9 08:12:29 2003
From: abigailnus at yahoo.com (abigailnus)
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 08:12:29 -0000
Subject: HUFFLEPUFF: Harry FP, anyone?
Message-ID: <bjk21d+f8u0@eGroups.com>

Hi all,

I know I've been kind of quiet recently.  In my defense, I have been 
doing stuff - Elkins' FP selections have been slowly swelling our database.  
Go check it out, she's found some real gems that I for one completely 
missed my first time around.

But, back to business.  Since the houses seem to be reforming, I thought 
I'd give a shout-out to anyone who's interested in starting work on the 
Harry FP.  We have a tentative outline, which I expanded in message #2013:

I've been thinking a lot about the Harry 
 FP (in case anyone's forgotten, that's Hufflepuff's job). I seem 
 to be of two minds on the matter. Back in June, when I first 
 joined, I offered the following outline:
 
 1. Harry's character, development and relationships
 1.1 Harry as an abused child, including the theory that the 
 entire series is his protective halucination, or that the 
 series will end up being a dream.
 1.2 The differing views on Harry's personality - is he a 
 take-charge hero or an arrogant kid? How justified is 
 Harry's incessant rule-breaking?
 1.3 Harry's inability/unwillingness to ask for help
 1.4 Harry's relationships with adults 
 1.5 Harry's relationships with his contemporaries. The Rift 
 in GoF, and maybe Harry's treatment of Neville.
 1.6 Harry's reactions to fame.
 1.7 Harry failing 
 
 2. Harry's purpose, abilities and destiny
 2.1 Why did Harry survive? Straight up love protection, 
 Love as a Spell Component and Ancient Magic.
 2.2 Is Harry special, and how? Stoned!Harry, Trelawney's 
 First Prediction and Heir of Gryffindor.
 2.3 Harry's abilities - is Harry simply a talented wizard, 
 or a preternaturally powerful one?
 2.4 Was the Philosopher's Stone ordeal rigged?
 2.5 Will Harry die? Will defeating Voldemort cost him his 
 magical powers? Will he be forced to leave the 
 wizarding world?
 
 Looking at this outline from a post-OOP standpoint, there 
 are some obvious necessary changes. Almost all of section 
 1 needs to address the changes in Harry's personality in OOP 
 and how those changes affect his future. In particular, section 
 1.2, Harry's personality, needs to include discussions on Harry's 
 development, and on what his behavior in OOP tells us about 
 him. Is he a normal boy going through adolescence? Are his 
 outbursts normal for the amount of pressure he's under? Is he 
 suffering from mental problems such as depression or PTSD (this 
 one might belong in section 1.1)?
 
 Section 1.3 remains mostly unchanged, although I think a 
 discussion of Harry's reactions to Umbridge might belong here 
 - why doesn't he speak out against her punishment and what 
 does that tell us about him? For that matter, an important 
 theme in OOP is self-control, and Harry's lack thereof - that 
 might also belong here or in 1.2.
 
 Section 1.4 will have to be expanded. I'm thinking that 
 sub-sections will be necessary at least for Snape, Dumbledore 
 and Sirius, and possibly Hagrid. I really think that the theory 
 that these men and others are Harry's father-figures belongs 
 here, and there has to be some discussion about how Harry is 
 consistently failed by adults in OOP. I also think that 
 generational parallels - with James, Sirius and Snape - should be 
 discussed in this section.
 
 In section 1.5, there should obviously be some discussion 
 of how Harry treats his friends and contemporaries in OOP. I 
 said in my original message that Shipping was already 
 well-covered by other FPs and shouldn't be discussed here, 
 but I think Harry's relationship with Cho tells us a lot about 
 him and about his growth, and should probably be addressed 
 here. I also think that in view of the prophecy it's important to 
 include a discussion of Harry and Neville as mirror images of 
 each other.
 
 I suggested section 1.7 because the main group had recently 
 discussed at length whether or not Harry would fail in his fight 
 against Voldemort. In OOP, he did just so - does this make this 
 section superfluous or should it remain?
 
 Section 2 should probably remain largely unchanged, with the 
 exception of section 2.2. Harry is obviously special, and 
 Trelawney's first prediction has panned out. However, I've seen 
 posts on the main group that continue to defend both 
 Stoned!Harry and Heir of Gryffindor, so they should probably 
 remain. However, this section will obviously have to include 
 discussions of the prophecy. Similarly, section 2.5 will also have 
 to be updated in light of the prophecy. In fact, I'm wondering if a 
 section devoted to the prophecy might not be in order.
 
Any thoughts?

Abigail




From thomasmwall at yahoo.com  Tue Sep  9 20:58:48 2003
From: thomasmwall at yahoo.com (Tom Wall)
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 20:58:48 -0000
Subject: SLYTHERIN: Possible organization
Message-ID: <bjleu8+56ji@eGroups.com>

Me:
Yo, Slytherins!

<Tom shoots a sidewards glance at the Gryffindors and hums softly 
under his breath: "Weasley is our King..." He looks around the table 
expectantly, and catches a few sets of twinkling eyes. Chortling to 
himself, he resumes his straight face.>

Yes, well... Are we all for starting with the Death Eaters for now? 
Okay. I went back and found some old categories from Debbie's 
original list and then my additions to it. Debbie's list was posted 
by Cindy in #1918, and my additions came in #1922. It's so nice that 
we can still search this list and find stuff that we wrote months 
ago. I've taken to marking down all of my posts on the main 
list 'cause I can never find them anymore. Oh well...

Anyways, it seems to me that we might be able to move some of the 
groups around by making them sub-groups of other major categories. I 
know I missed a lot, but I filled in what I could think of off the 
top of the noggin.


I. DE Roll Call
I think I got them all, but I'm not sure. I tried to categorize these 
guys according to how high up in the ranks they appear to be, 
although this is definitely up to interpretation and they could be 
organized better. Then, I finished it up with a list of other 
characters that have been accused. There's some really good stuff out 
there on that, and we could sneak in those posts like Evil!
McGonagall, and Evil!Lupin that I've been clamoring for without 
creating a whole separate FP, although come to think of it, a whole 
separate FP wouldn't entirely be out of line... <shakes his head>

The Top:
Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange, 
Snape (maybe a reference?), Barty Crouch Jr.(d) (cross-reference to 
the ever-so-exciting Crouch FP that's on the way... Who-HOO!)

Lieutanants(?):
Antonin Dolohov, Walden Macnair, Wormtail (where was he in OoP, 
anyways?), Augustus Rookwood, Jugson, Mulciber

What do/did these guys do, exactly?
Igor Karkaroff, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Avery, Evan Rosier(d), Wilkes
(d), Regulus Black(d), Travers(d)

The accused: Narcissa, Fudge, Bagman, Molly Weasley, Percy Weasley, 
Granny Longbottom, McGonagall, Lupin, Sirius, Ernie's "Harry as 
competing Dark Lord," (there are so many of these...)

I think that some possible cross-referencing and subcategories here 
could include (as Debbie suggested) could be along the lines of "The 
three missing Death Eaters (GoF)," The three loyal death Eaters 
(GoF)," "The loyal Death Eater at Hogwarts (GoF)," "Who's gonna pay, 
who's gonna die? (GoF)," and so forth. OoP questions elude me at the 
moment.


II. Who are the Death Eaters?
-JKR had a bit on their history and how they were once called 
the "Knights of Walpurgis," which would be good here. We could have 
subcategories here on recruitment (maybe mention that Voldemort makes 
threats, promises, curses and so forth to gain support,) the 
loyalists' motivations (power, elimination of muggleborns,) whether 
or not they're a cult, relation to Slytherin House...

III. Who are Voldemort's followers?
Yeah, the separation of followers from Death Eaters might be 
relevant. Possible categories might include: the members of 
Voldemort's Army (dementors, giants and who knows what else,) the 
post Quidditch World Cup scene with the swelling crowd, Sirius' 
parents and that bit about how Voldemort had tons of support before 
people realized what he was willing to do to get power...

IV. Death Eater Operations
Categories seem to include structure and organization, secrecy, 
spies, masks, anonymity (who knows who), in-crowd loyalty, and then a 
bit on their goals as well, like breaking open Azkaban, contacting 
the giants, collecting the prophecy, assembling in the graveyard, 
battle in the Department of Mysteries, the original attack on the 
Potters...

V. DE Magic Theories ? My take on this is still that we don't know a 
lot about the Dark Arts, so for now, we might as well include it with 
the DE's, since I doubt whether or not it would have enough to form 
its own FP. Possible stuff we could discuss: dark arts as scapegoat 
(i.e. Gringotts in PS/SS, Sirius' escape from Azkaban in PoA,) 
Knockturn Alley ? how do they get away with it?; Flesh, Blood and 
Bone, Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent, Borgin & Burkes (Hand of Glory and 
other artifacts. Grindelwald anyone?

VI. Dark Mark theories: I remember some stuff about this in the past, 
but I'm sure there's a lot more that I haven't read. Some of what I 
recall included the origins of "morsmordre," symbolism of the snake 
and skull, Dark Mark as a tattoo (cross-reference this with secrecy 
and methods of opration?), and a parallel with the D.A.'s galleons.

VII. Power Boost theories ? This was on Debbie's original list, and I 
still don't know what it means. ;-)

I'm thinking that looks like something we can start with. Obviously 
we're missing a lot, and we can definitely reshuffle stuff depending 
on how important y'all think certain categories are.

Oh, and I agree with Derannimer's mention of the Snape FP - I also 
think that that's really well organized and easy to use, and it helps 
us let the members' posts do the talking for us... all we have to do 
is connect them so that it makes sense. I do, however, think that we 
might want to consider hybridizing that technique with the lists of 
post numbers that occur in the other FP's. So, some can be mentioned 
in paragraph form, and others we can shuffle off to an "Additional 
Reading" section or something. This way, we can get the best of both 
worlds.

-Tom




From krisangelo at hotmail.com  Tue Sep  9 21:06:58 2003
From: krisangelo at hotmail.com (charisjulia)
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 21:06:58 -0000
Subject: GRYFFINDOR: Whither the Weasleys?
In-Reply-To: <bji7vr+i730@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <bjlfdi+a7e0@eGroups.com>

>>>>>>I've been thinking about how to do this and it seems to me that 
our
general approach would be:

1. General Weasley Stuff
2. Members of the family<<<<<<

Sounds good to me!

>>>>>>>>>>While we'll be searching the catalogue, it occurs to me 
that it might
be worthwhile to start by identifying important posts/threads that we
already know exist. For example, Elkins's Twins thread, Debbie's
analysis of Percy as Mr. Crouch's faithful son etc. In this vein, I
have in mind a post from last summer about Bill's relationship to
Percy and Ron that was absolutely mind-blowing. Who was the author?
Penny?... I'll have to see about that.<<<<<<<<<

Ooh, I remember that post! It left me staring at it in wonderment. 
Truly magnificent. The author was Debbie and the message number 38730.

But, yes, I agree, a bit of brainstorming would be a good way to get 
going. Which reminds me, I wanted to ask what is in effect the 
opposite of Tom's question on HypotheticAlley: Do all TBAY posts 
automatically belong there? Could we, say, add Imperious!Arthur and 
Auror!Arthur to the Weasley FP ('cos if we can I think we should) or 
must we confine ourselves to those hyperlinking thrills? 

Other than that I haven't really come across any fantastic Weasley 
posts lately (fancy that). I'll scan my lists and catalogues and see 
what I can come up with from older posts.

>>>>>>>>>>>What about Ron, btw? He has his own FP, but are there any 
updates
planned for it? Should we include Ron issues in our FP if not?<<<<<<<<

Well, would it really be possible to construct a Weasley FP and leave 
Ron out?? And on the other hand, messing with Neil's FP wouldn't 
really be our call, would it? So, yeah, I think that would indeed 
probably be the best idea, Eileen: Add whatever new element the 
existing FP has not registered and refer people back to it for 
everything it's covered. 

BTW, has the group as a whole come to any conclusion on how we're 
going to tackle the incorporation of the new FPs to the existing body 
of work? Are going to go for the pre- and post-OoP divide in the end 
or simply start adding and updating? My general impression was that 
we were leaning towards the latter, no?

Charis Julia





From jmmears at comcast.net  Wed Sep 10 23:39:52 2003
From: jmmears at comcast.net (serenadust)
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 23:39:52 -0000
Subject: GRYFFINDOR: Whither the Weasleys?
In-Reply-To: <bji7vr+i730@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <bjoco8+f858@eGroups.com>

--- In HP4GU-FAQ at yahoogroups.com, "lucky_kari" <lucky_kari at y...> 
wrote:
> Ah, Jo, Charis! Welcome to the Burrow! 
> 
> I've been thinking about how to do this and it seems to me that our
> general approach would be:
> 
> 1. General Weasley Stuff
> 2. Members of the family
> 
> For example, the financial situation of the family and what it 
entails
> is a 1. issue. Something concerning Percy primarily is a 2. issue.
> Something concerning the financial situation AND primarily 
Percy?...
 
Given the events of OOP, it could very well be that Percy, at some 
point, may rate his own page after book 6.  In any event, there 
doesn't seem to be any reason that we can't link a single post to 
two separate sections (ie, General Weasley family *and* Percy or 
whoever)if it addresses issues that directly tie to both.  I suspect 
that's something that will be happening more and more from now on.


> 
> While we'll be searching the catalogue, it occurs to me that it 
might
> be worthwhile to start by identifying important posts/threads that 
we
> already know exist. For example, Elkins's Twins thread, Debbie's
> analysis of Percy as Mr. Crouch's faithful son etc. 

> 
> What about Ron, btw? He has his own FP, but are there any updates
> planned for it? Should we include Ron issues in our FP if not?

I don't know if any updates are planned for Ron yet, but if not, 
there  really should be. His character has shown substantial 
development in OOP, which has caused a great many readers to re-
evaluate his future role in the series.  I'd love to work on Ron's 
update and would certainly insist on starting with Dicentra'a 
brilliant posts/essay on "The Rift."

Thanks for starting the ball rolling, Eileen.

Jo S.







From cindysphynx at comcast.net  Tue Sep 16 00:49:37 2003
From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.)
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 00:49:37 -0000
Subject: New e-mail
Message-ID: <bk5mn1+tqf5@eGroups.com>

Hi,

I've decided to kill off cynthiacoe at comcast.net because of a wicked
problem with spoofing.  I'll still be using cindysphynx and my new
business e-mail "C_Coe."  So if you get something from either of those
addresses, then it's me.  

I hope you'll excuse my use of the owner's account to streamline the
process of letting folks know.  I'm feeling lazy.

Cindy





From cindysphynx at comcast.net  Wed Sep 17 14:49:19 2003
From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.)
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 14:49:19 -0000
Subject: Paul's Magical Spreadsheets
Message-ID: <bk9s9f+r20j@eGroups.com>

Hey,

Laura's post on OTC about de-lurks got me thinking that we might want
to make Paul's two spreadsheets available to members.  I figure
there's no sense in requiring people to use the Yahoo function when we
have something better right here.

Any objections?

Cindy




From heidit at netbox.com  Wed Sep 17 17:20:54 2003
From: heidit at netbox.com (Heidi Tandy)
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:20:54 -0400
Subject: [HP4GU-FAQ] Paul's Magical Spreadsheets
Message-ID: <1063819308.29FBE4AC@w5.dngr.org>


On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 10:49AM -0500, Cindy C. wrote:
> Laura's post on OTC about de-lurks got me thinking that we might want
> to make Paul's two spreadsheets available to members.  I figure
> there's no sense in requiring people to use the Yahoo function when we
> have something better right here.
>
> Any objections?
>

Only that people are able to always delete posts they've made from the 
yahoogroup, whereas we wouldn't be able to delete that info/content from 
what Paul's created.

Of course, those of us who work on fps may have access to otherwise 
deleted posts, but (a) we're not really the general public and (b) we 
wouldn't use them in an fp because we wouldn't be able to link to them.

But making paul's stuff public would strip away that bit of 
delete-privilege from the users, and I don't know, overall, if that's 
something we want to do.

Is it?

Heidi



From dicentra at xmission.com  Wed Sep 17 18:02:02 2003
From: dicentra at xmission.com (Dicentra spectabilis)
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 18:02:02 -0000
Subject: Paul's Magical Spreadsheets
In-Reply-To: <1063819308.29FBE4AC@w5.dngr.org>
Message-ID: <bka7iq+3eo8@eGroups.com>

--- In HP4GU-FAQ at yahoogroups.com, "Heidi Tandy" <heidit at n...> wrote:
> 
> On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 10:49AM -0500, Cindy C. wrote:
> > Laura's post on OTC about de-lurks got me thinking that we might want
> > to make Paul's two spreadsheets available to members.  


Heidi:
> Only that people are able to always delete posts they've made from the 
> yahoogroup, whereas we wouldn't be able to delete that info/content
from 
> what Paul's created.

I don't think Cindy is referring to the archived text files but to the
Excel spreadsheets in Files.  The spreadsheets give the userID,
e-mail, date, and subject line, but the posts themselves are not
contained therein.  The spreadsheets are good for finding all the
posts written by a particular person or counting how many posts on a
given day.

So if someone tries to find a delurk that has been deleted, they'll
input the message number on the main list and come up with bupkis.

I think that kind of information is safe in public hands.

--Dicey, who thinks the two spreadsheets should be combined




From thomasmwall at yahoo.com  Wed Sep 17 20:29:07 2003
From: thomasmwall at yahoo.com (Tom Wall)
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 20:29:07 -0000
Subject: SLYTHERIN: Possible organization
In-Reply-To: <bjleu8+56ji@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <bkag6j+j474@eGroups.com>

It occurs to me that I confused myself with the mention of the Crouch 
FP that Eileen and Elkins will be working on. *I* heard Crouch and 
thought 'Barty Jr.' But Crouch is also the Ministry official - so the 
Crouch FP will be undoubtedly invaluable from both perspectives, no 
matter what we get to first.

So, *do* we want to work on the Death Eaters first, or the 
Justice/Ministry FP instead? I'm game either way, as they're both 
terribly interesting to me.

-Tom




From cindysphynx at comcast.net  Wed Sep 17 21:58:48 2003
From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.)
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 21:58:48 -0000
Subject: Paul's Magical Spreadsheets
In-Reply-To: <bka7iq+3eo8@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <bkaleo+b218@eGroups.com>

Dicey wrote:

> I don't think Cindy is referring to the archived text files but to the
> Excel spreadsheets in Files.  

Correct.

> I think that kind of information is safe in public hands.

Cool.  Unless there are more objections, MEG should decide if they
will allow the spreadsheets a home somewhere on the main list, I
guess, and whether they want to ADMIN them or whatever.  I would hope
Paul would be given appropriate credit, BTW.

Cindy




From kippesp at yahoo.com  Fri Sep 19 17:33:47 2003
From: kippesp at yahoo.com (Paul Kippes)
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 10:33:47 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Post Spreadsheet contains entire email address
Message-ID: <20030919173347.29698.qmail@web13802.mail.yahoo.com>

The spreadsheet I made and Dicy combined does contain people's entire
email address for some of the later posts.

Also, there is no reason to not bring the SS up to date except that
it would grow the file by 1/3 or so.

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software
http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com



From HP4GU-FAQ at yahoogroups.com  Sun Sep 21 07:51:57 2003
From: HP4GU-FAQ at yahoogroups.com (HP4GU-FAQ at yahoogroups.com)
Date: 21 Sep 2003 07:51:57 -0000
Subject: Poll results for HP4GU-FAQ 
Message-ID: <1064130717.85.51956.m12@yahoogroups.com>


The following HP4GU-FAQ poll is now closed.  Here are the 
final results: 


POLL QUESTION: Do you think that the FAQ group should 
run itself independently of the MEG 
(Moderator) group that currently 
governs the HPfGU main-list and sister 
groups? 

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- Yes, 2 votes, 18.18%  
- No, 6 votes, 54.55%  
- Undecided, 3 votes, 27.27%  



For more information about this group, please visit 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HP4GU-FAQ 

For help with Yahoo! Groups, please visit
http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/ 

 





From susannahlm at yahoo.com  Mon Sep 22 20:46:29 2003
From: susannahlm at yahoo.com (derannimer)
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 20:46:29 -0000
Subject: SLYTH: Getting Started
Message-ID: <bknn35+52pc@eGroups.com>

Tom was wondering if we wanted to get started on the DE's or on Justice first. I'm 
voting -- for no particular reason -- for DE's.

Now, er. . . how do we *do* this? Do we start by writing the essay bits of it, or by 
combing through the archives trying to find interesting posts? And, um, I guess we do 
want to include posts from all through the archives; there is probably a lot of 
phenomenal stuff in there; but *how* in the *world* are we ever gonna be able to do 
*that?* There's over 80000 messages! 

How on earth do we ever pick which ones we want? Do we have to put them all to a 
vote or something? (That would be insane.) I mean, I trust y'all's judgement -- but if 
we do indeed write the FAQ so that at least some message numbers are incorporated 
into the text -- as I would like to do, and as Tom apparently would like to do also -- 
then it seems whoever (do we do that together, or singly?) is writing a given bit of 
essay. . . well, I mean, do they just plug in *all* the message numbers (appropriate to 
the subject) that *all* of us have nominated? How do we *winnow?*

And do we co-ordinate all of our efforts on a given topic at a time, or just grab onto 
whatever catches our fancy? And if the latter, what if the same basic thing winds up 
catching all of our fancies, and overlap ensues?

Anyone have any suggestions? `Cos I don't.



Derannimer




From FilkMavenGB at hotmail.com  Tue Sep 23 01:22:49 2003
From: FilkMavenGB at hotmail.com (Gail Ann Bohacek)
Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 01:22:49 -0000
Subject: Ravenclaws for Lupin?  Anybody?
Message-ID: <bko799+4oac@eGroups.com>

You know, I've been hesitant to ask this because I didn't want to 
give the impression that I actually know what I'm doing, but here I 
go...

I signed up for the the "Ravenclaw" team to work on the Lupin FAQ and 
since the ball has started rolling again I haven't heard from anybody 
about starting on this project.  I was wondering if anybody else was 
still interested in this FAQ?  Because if I'm the only one I think 
I'd much rather change projects and join a different team than do it 
solo.  

Also, a long while back, when Amy Z. send her "See ya later FAQ 
folks" post, she mentioned that she working on the Lupin FAQ and had 
some stuff that she was willing to send to who ever (whom ever?) was 
now assigned to the project.  Did anybody happen to snag that info at 
that time?  I've tried to contact recently to ask her but it's been 
weeks and I haven't heard from her yet.

Let me know what you want me to do...I'm ready to start paying my 
dues.

-Gail B.




From abigailnus at yahoo.com  Fri Sep 26 12:37:25 2003
From: abigailnus at yahoo.com (abigailnus)
Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 12:37:25 -0000
Subject: How About Progress Reports? & Harry FP, Again
Message-ID: <bl1bu5+av7h@eGroups.com>

Boy, it's been a little dead here, hasn't it?

Back in June, when we were discussing the idea of separating into 
groups or houses, the suggestion was made that the different houses 
would make periodic reports of their progress to the group.  I think, 
given the relative silence over the last two weeks, that this might not 
be a bad idea.  I was thinking of a monthly rotation, where we'd pick 
a day of the week and have a different house report on each week - 
Gryffindor would report on the first Tuesday of the month, and 
Slytherin on the second, for example.

I don't want this to sound like deadlines - I think it would be 
perfectly acceptable for a report to say something like "due to RL 
intrusions, Hufflepuff house didn't get a great deal done this month" 
or to be rather short.  I just think it would be helpful to have signs 
of life from time to time from the other groups - it could also act as 
a catalyst for groups that have been found themselves stuck.  People 
from other groups could read the progress reports and offer insights 
- it would be a good way of getting fresh voices without forcing 
every member to read other groups' messages.  

Any thoughts?  Either way, I think the groups that have been forming 
(Ravenclaw and Slytherin, from what I've seen) might want to let the 
rest of us know how things have been going for them at least as a 
one-time thing.  

On another matter, should I come to any conclusions with regards to 
the silence on the Harry FP front?  Before OOP, there were four people 
other then myself who had signed up to this group - Penny, Ali, Dicey 
and Phyllis.  Are they no longer interested in this FP?  I'd like to know 
one way or another, so that I can decide if I want to join another group 
or start work on my own.

Abigail




From cindysphynx at comcast.net  Sun Sep 28 21:10:04 2003
From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.)
Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 21:10:04 -0000
Subject: Mod Privileges
Message-ID: <bl7inc+3rqh@eGroups.com>

Hey, all,

Ah . . . !  I went away for the weekend, didn't cook or clean, watched
cable, read newspapers until my fingers were black and even played
goofy golf with the kiddies!  Ah, feels good.

Anyway, I've learned from a MEG that Yahoo has placed some sort of
limit on how many moderators a Yahoo group can have.  I don't know
what that limit is, but we seem to be over it.  

Just figured I'd mention it, as it may come into play should this
group add more members someday or if someone with Mod privileges
decides to leave the group.  This may be common knowledge by now (I'm
always the last to know!), but it seemed like the sort of thing our
non-MEG members should know.

Cindy -- who went to the "Massanuttan" resort in Virginia; yeah,
that's really the name 




From cindysphynx at comcast.net  Mon Sep 29 13:46:48 2003
From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.)
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 13:46:48 -0000
Subject: How About Progress Reports? & Harry FP, Again
In-Reply-To: <bl1bu5+av7h@eGroups.com>
Message-ID: <bl9d48+u23a@eGroups.com>

Abigail wrote:

> Boy, it's been a little dead here, hasn't it?

I'll say!  Abigail posted this thoughtful and appropriate post on
Friday morning, and no one has favored her with a response.  <cringe>
 Feedback on her solid ideas for a Harry FP has also been in very
short supply.

Well, I'll have a go then.

 
> Back in June, when we were discussing the idea of separating into 
> groups or houses, the suggestion was made that the different houses 
> would make periodic reports of their progress to the group.  I
>think, given the relative silence over the last two weeks, that this
>might not be a bad idea.  

<snip proposal>

> Any thoughts?  

With all due respect, I don't think periodic reports from the FAQ
subgroups will work.  This opinion is based on what has or has not
worked in the past in terms of moving the group forward and getting
things done.

During the time I led the FAQ group as a moderator (October 2002-March
2003), I prepared monthly progress reports.  I considered having
others do this, but I decided that approach would not likely move the
group forward.  One reason I believed this was that calling for status
reports had been tried in the past, with a rather lackluster response.

Are things different now on the FAQ list such that an expectation of
monthly progress reports might keep us organized and move us forward?

Personally, I don't think so.  There have been a smattering of FAQ
posts over the last month or so -- usually containing good ideas or
raising important issues -- and several of them received no response
at all.  Some who appeared keenly interested in the direction of and
operation of this group only a month ago have gone completely silent.
 Administrative tasks have been outstanding for an uncomfortably long
time.  Initiative, it seems, isn't our collective strength, <g>, which
doesn't bode well for the idea of monthly progress reports.   

Further complicating things is that some of our members may have
stepped up their involvement in HPfGU list administration, which may
deplete their time available for the FAQ list.  We have 38 members,
but only 13 have signed up with a house at all, and of those, very few
have posted anything substantive to this list recently concerning the
writing of a FAQ.

Now.  Lest I be accused of offering a critique without a solution, I
will propose something that might help.  In August, I suggested that
groups are generally not successful absent quality leadership. 
Nevertheless, there was a feeling among some of us that we did not
want or need a leader.  

OK.  Let's not have a "leader," then.  Instead, we could have a
"Taskmaster."  The Taskmaster role is something the 8-person Moderator
Team used to keep us organized and moving forward.  One person (until
I took over the FAQ list in October 2001, it was me) would post a
weekly list of tasks in progress, including issue-spotting new matters
and proposing solutions or declaring consensus on things.  This is
obviously a leadership-type role, but, well, it doesn't start with an
"L."  :-D  So long as the person performing the "Taskmaster" role
understands it is not to be a "clerical" position -- that the goal is
to help the group stay organized and moving forward -- I think it
could be quite helpful here.

Anyway, that's what I think.  Any thoughts?

Cindy -- who is suggesting, not volunteering




From editor at texas.net  Tue Sep 30 02:39:12 2003
From: editor at texas.net (Amanda Geist)
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 21:39:12 -0500
Subject: Testing
Message-ID: <005a01c386fc$0958c900$a658aacf@texas.net>

Testing


Those who cannot hear the music, think the dancers daft.