From catlady at wicca.net Mon Sep 1 03:18:55 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 03:18:55 -0000 Subject: OT: Long Delay Before Post Appears - Anyone else? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" wrote: > Just curious, has anyone else been experiencing extra long delays > in their posts appearing in the Main group? It's not just you in Minnesota, it's me in California, and appears to be everyone everywhere. If you look on the website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/messages it says the time that it, Yahoo, posted the message way to the right after the Yahoo!handle of the poster. If you click on the message itself, it says the time that it was sent in the message header. Some were posted mere minutes after being sent, some only an hour and a bit, some eight hours ... The people in today's chat decided that Yahoo is worth about what we pay for it. From drednort at alphalink.com.au Mon Sep 1 08:44:58 2003 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 18:44:58 +1000 Subject: Is e-mail getting through to people? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <3F5393AA.11382.C7313@localhost> Just a question - are people getting e-mails? I wrote quite a detailed post the other night and I haven't seen it arrive back at me yet (nor any replies which would let me know it did get through) - I can't get to the web interface at the moment, and am trying to see if my messages are getting through... of course, if they're not, this may never be seen either! Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html (ISTJ) | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Mon Sep 1 09:29:49 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 09:29:49 -0000 Subject: anyone going to AU? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Jenna wrote: > Adelaide? LOL. Cool. But a bit far for me to go! Thanks for the info > though. And please, if anyone does get a ticket, please let me know > as I would love to meet up with some HP fans in the UK that are event > goers and if anyone has any news of any other HP events in the UK, > please email me or post it here to let me know. ..from which I deduce that AU is something in the UK, not a shorthand for Australia. What is it? Is it an HP thing, or more general? David From sara1412au at yahoo.com Mon Sep 1 11:59:02 2003 From: sara1412au at yahoo.com (Sara_ELL) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 11:59:02 -0000 Subject: OT: Long Delay Before Post Appears - Anyone else? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hi - just delurking to say that yup, I also had problems with messages getting through yesterday (and I'm not on continental America, so if our extremely provocative messages are being monitered, it's a world-wide thing). I wasn't as patient as you and assumed that I had accidentally cancelled my long-winded message instead of sent it, and recomposed an equally long post... only to find myself embarrassed by having both messages appear on the board today (hangs head in shame). Sara-ELL From Malady579 at hotmail.com Mon Sep 1 13:00:21 2003 From: Malady579 at hotmail.com (Melody) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 13:00:21 -0000 Subject: Very OT - Single HP Fans In-Reply-To: <013b01c37010$6bf0d9c0$e35fc487@personal> Message-ID: grindieloe proposed: >I was thinking today that I really wished that there was a >matchmaking system for us single HP fans to meet other single HP >fans. It's so hard to meet quality people in general! Am I right??? >Wishful thinking, I know to think that I would meet a wonderful >person AND they would be a fan of HP! Michelle wrote: I agree about a dearth of single HP fans ! But I am not so sure you can look for a partner purely based on one or two interests. I think it has to do with an outlook on life, mixed with a bit of sexual chemistry and a desire to make a relationship work. ::giggles:: Well, I did not join this site to find single HP fans but..... I found my boyfriend here on this very site (well the main one, but he is here on this one too) and we have been officially dating for almost six months now with no intention of stopping any time soon. Yes it is kind of hard since we do not live even on the same continent, but we make it work with the knowledge and hope that we can be together when our lives work it out. Well that and web cams. I highly recommend them for people forced to have a relationship over the internet for a while. How did I find him? Well I first adored his posts and just wanted to get to know him better. At first I was timid since this *is* the internet. He might have been 50 (too old for me sorry) or a sicko (not interesting, but if that is your type...) or married (again, not what *I* am looking for) But lucky for me, he was young, smart, handsome, and very single. ::kiss kiss love you hon:: So, I emailed with him, and the more I learned, the more I liked him, the closer I wanted to be with him. Lucky for me, he felt the same way. I happen to be going to England so we met and hung out, then a few months later he came here...and here we are. ::big grin:: So do not despair. The site is already match making. Well either that or I got extremely lucky. But it is possible for two crazed HP fans, who both have read these books so much the pages are falling out, to met and fall in love. ::blush:: Oddly, we do not talk HP that much though. Right now we are on the politics of war. ::grin:: Melody still in the silly girl stage From molly at volcanomail.com Mon Sep 1 13:52:10 2003 From: molly at volcanomail.com (mollyjjjjj) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 13:52:10 -0000 Subject: Musician Warren Zevon: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Message-ID: In addition to being Harry Potter fans, of course... Is anyone here a Warren Zevon fan? If so, there is a petition afoot to gain that dear soul entry to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which I think he deserves. If you have not seen the webpage, here is the address: http://www.petitiononline.com/bucsrule/petition.html It is a truly heartfelt effort, signed by ordinary fans and celebrities alike. If you enjoy Warren's music, please sign. Thank you! From savannah_campbell2000 at yahoo.com Mon Sep 1 14:05:06 2003 From: savannah_campbell2000 at yahoo.com (Savannah Campbell) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 07:05:06 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Musician Warren Zevon: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030901140506.78018.qmail@web41302.mail.yahoo.com> I'm signing! :D I love this guy. mollyjjjjj wrote:In addition to being Harry Potter fans, of course... Is anyone here a Warren Zevon fan? If so, there is a petition afoot to gain that dear soul entry to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which I think he deserves. If you have not seen the webpage, here is the address: http://www.petitiononline.com/bucsrule/petition.html It is a truly heartfelt effort, signed by ordinary fans and celebrities alike. If you enjoy Warren's music, please sign. Thank you! Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin Files! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from posts to which you're replying! Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk Mon Sep 1 14:39:20 2003 From: kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk (Kathryn Cawte) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 15:39:20 +0100 (GMT Daylight Time) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Musician Warren Zevon: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame References: <20030901140506.78018.qmail@web41302.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <3F535A18.000001.29535@monica> Well personally I've never heard of the guy - but what is his music like (compare it to someone I have heard of)? I'm always interested in broadening my musical taste (not that it needs much broadening since it ranges from Elizabethan music through Led Zeppelin to Garth Brooks to opera to Ella Fitzgerald etc etc) K *curious* mollyjjjjj wrote:In addition to being Harry Potter fans, of course... Is anyone here a Warren Zevon fan? If so, there is a petition afoot to gain that dear soul entry to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which I think he deserves. If you have not seen the webpage, here is the address: http://www.petitiononline.com/bucsrule/petition.html It is a truly heartfelt effort, signed by ordinary fans and celebrities alike. If you enjoy Warren's music, please sign. Thank you! From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Mon Sep 1 15:08:06 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 15:08:06 -0000 Subject: Very OT - Single HP Fans In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Andrea wrote: > I was thinking today that I really wished that there was a > matchmaking system for us single HP fans to meet other single HP > fans. Uh, haven't you noticed? You don't think OT-Chatter is *really* about Britishisms and food, do you? Just stick around. > It's so hard to meet quality people in general! Hang on! This is a *quantity* list. Of course, we could change the criteria for coming off moderated status... Am I right??? > Wishful thinking, I know to think that I would meet a wonderful > person AND they would be a fan of HP! > Anyway, and I know that this is way OT, but for those people whose > husbands/wives are HP fans as well... How did you meet each other? > Or were you already married when HP was born? Can I suggest the following questions, while very traditional, may work better: What's a nice girl/guy like you doing on a list like this? What are you doing Friday night? Which continent do you live on? Your blog or mine? David From cindysphynx at comcast.net Mon Sep 1 17:10:35 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 17:10:35 -0000 Subject: Very OT - Single HP Fans In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Romantic!David suggested: > Can I suggest the following questions, while very traditional, may > work better: > > What's a nice girl/guy like you doing on a list like this? > What are you doing Friday night? > Which continent do you live on? > Your blog or mine? Nice ones, David. May I have a go? ************** Really!? I have a Niffler too! What a coincidence! Moaning Myrtle was my ex-wife's nickname too! Hey, they don't call it the Shrieking Shack for nothing! *************** Cindy -- who has never been on a blind date From molly at volcanomail.com Mon Sep 1 17:10:48 2003 From: molly at volcanomail.com (mollyjjjjj) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 17:10:48 -0000 Subject: Musician Warren Zevon: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame In-Reply-To: <3F535A18.000001.29535@monica> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Kathryn Cawte" wrote: > Well personally I've never heard of the guy - but what is his music like > (compare it to someone I have heard of)? I'm always interested in broadening > my musical taste (not that it needs much broadening since it ranges from > Elizabethan music through Led Zeppelin to Garth Brooks to opera to Ella > Fitzgerald etc etc) > > K > *curious* Dear Kathryn, Here are some websites concerning warren: http://members.aol.com/zevonfan1/private/zevon.htm http://www.warrenzevon.com/ http://www.vh1.com/music/radio/stations/warren_zevon_and_friends/stati on.jhtml (VH1 just did a program on him) http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/default.asp?oid=1495 http://tinpan.fortunecity.com/ashcroft/12/scrapbookpage.htm If you read some of the petition postings you'll see how he has affected his listeners; people love and admire him for his humor, courage and humanity. If it means anything, Bob Dylan has been singing Warren Zevon songs at his own concerts. Hope you get to listen to his music! He's a great human being. Best wishes, -- molly From kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk Mon Sep 1 17:21:19 2003 From: kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk (Kathryn Cawte) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 18:21:19 +0100 (GMT Daylight Time) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Musician Warren Zevon: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame References: Message-ID: <3F53800F.000001.89751@monica> If you read some of the petition postings you'll see how he has affected his listeners; people love and admire him for his humor, courage and humanity. If it means anything, Bob Dylan has been singing Warren Zevon songs at his own concerts. Hope you get to listen to his music! He's a great human being. Best wishes, -- molly TYK, Molly. I'll check out the links you sent. K From kirst_inn at yahoo.co.uk Mon Sep 1 18:49:10 2003 From: kirst_inn at yahoo.co.uk (Kirstini) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 18:49:10 -0000 Subject: Very OT - Single HP Fans In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Cindy: >>> Really!? I have a Niffler too! What a coincidence! Moaning Myrtle was my ex-wife's nickname too! Hey, they don't call it the Shrieking Shack for nothing!>> Oh, bloody hell Cindy. You've gone and got "Loveshack" by the B52s stuck in my head. Anyway. A new game! Howsabout: Let me help you out of those wet robes... Are you a natural REDHEAD? ALWAYS? Are you wearing GREY UNDERPANTS? Do you ship or slash? Kirstini, mind firmly in the gutter. From hebrideanblack at earthlink.net Mon Sep 1 19:31:33 2003 From: hebrideanblack at earthlink.net (Wendy) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 19:31:33 -0000 Subject: OT: Long Delay Before Post Appears - Anyone else? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" wrote: > Just curious, has anyone else been experiencing extra long delays in > their posts appearing in the Main group? > Hi, Steve, I know a couple of others have commented on this to let you know it's not just you, but I thought I'd also add that it's not just the HPFGU group . . . it's also happening in several of my other groups. In at least one case, a message posted two days ago still hasn't shown up. And someone in one of my birding groups also mentioned trouble. So, for me that's at least 4 groups (5 if there are problems here on OT as well). Hopefully Yahoo will fix it! :-) Wendy From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Mon Sep 1 21:06:36 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 21:06:36 -0000 Subject: Very OT - Single HP Fans In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Kirstini suggested: > Let me help you out of those wet robes... > Are you a natural REDHEAD? ALWAYS? > Are you wearing GREY UNDERPANTS? > Do you ship or slash? Would you like to see my Blast-ended Skrewt? D From pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk Mon Sep 1 21:56:53 2003 From: pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk (bluesqueak) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 21:56:53 -0000 Subject: Very OT - Single HP Fans In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "David" wrote: > Kirstini suggested: > > > Let me help you out of those wet robes... > > Are you a natural REDHEAD? ALWAYS? > > Are you wearing GREY UNDERPANTS? > > Do you ship or slash? > David suggested: > Would you like to see my Blast-ended Skrewt? > I'd like to examine you personally. I can do things with a wand you've never seen before. Pip [They're in the book! They're in the book! ;-) ] From deemarie1a at yahoo.com Mon Sep 1 22:21:31 2003 From: deemarie1a at yahoo.com (Donna) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 22:21:31 -0000 Subject: Very OT - Single HP Fans In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "bluesqueak" wrote: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "David" > wrote: > > Kirstini suggested: > > > > > Let me help you out of those wet robes... > > > Are you a natural REDHEAD? ALWAYS? > > > Are you wearing GREY UNDERPANTS? > > > Do you ship or slash? > > > David suggested: > > Would you like to see my Blast-ended Skrewt? > > > > > > I'd like to examine you personally. > > I can do things with a wand you've never seen before. > > Pip > [They're in the book! They're in the book! ;-) ] Wait! Wait! How about... Are you a seeker? I have the Golden Snitch! D = blushing furiously, and can't believe she wrote that! From neonsister at ameritech.net Mon Sep 1 22:31:53 2003 From: neonsister at ameritech.net (Tracy) Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2003 22:31:53 -0000 Subject: Wizard Pick-up Lines (Was: Very OT - Single HP Fans) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: How about... Is that a philosopher's stone in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? Wanna see a REAL magical creature? You put the motion in my potion! Tracy *enjoying this thread a little too much!* > > Kirstini suggested: > > > > > Let me help you out of those wet robes... > > > Are you a natural REDHEAD? ALWAYS? > > > Are you wearing GREY UNDERPANTS? > > > Do you ship or slash? > > > David suggested: > > Would you like to see my Blast-ended Skrewt? > > > > > > I'd like to examine you personally. > > I can do things with a wand you've never seen before. > > Pip > [They're in the book! They're in the book! ;-) ] From kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk Mon Sep 1 22:51:29 2003 From: kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk (Kathryn Cawte) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 23:51:29 +0100 (GMT Daylight Time) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Wizard Pick-up Lines (Was: Very OT - Single HP Fans) References: Message-ID: <3F53CD71.000001.38603@monica> lol - I love you guys - but if this thread tells us anything it shows us *why* there are so many single HP fans :) K From anneu53714 at yahoo.com Tue Sep 2 00:25:58 2003 From: anneu53714 at yahoo.com (Anne) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 00:25:58 -0000 Subject: Musician Warren Zevon: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "mollyjjjjj" wrote: > In addition to being Harry Potter fans, of course... > > Is anyone here a Warren Zevon fan? > If so, there is a petition afoot to gain that dear soul entry to the > Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which I think he deserves. > If you have not seen the webpage, here is the address: > http://www.petitiononline.com/bucsrule/petition.html > It is a truly heartfelt effort, signed by ordinary fans and > celebrities alike. If you enjoy Warren's music, please sign. > > Thank you! *RAISES HAND!* I'm a Warren Zevon fan too, and would love to see him inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He's never had the huge popularity of some musicians but he's been very influential in his 30+-year career. And now he's dying of lung cancer :-( I hope to buy his new (and final) CD very soon. I heard part of his cover of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" on National Public Radio recently and got all teary- eyed. Anne U (who will miss the Excitable Boy) From anneu53714 at yahoo.com Tue Sep 2 00:28:53 2003 From: anneu53714 at yahoo.com (Anne) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 00:28:53 -0000 Subject: Very OT - Single HP Fans In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Kirstini" wrote: > Cindy: > >>> Really!? I have a Niffler too! > What a coincidence! Moaning Myrtle was my ex-wife's nickname too! > Hey, they don't call it the Shrieking Shack for nothing!>> > > Oh, bloody hell Cindy. You've gone and got "Loveshack" by the B52s > stuck in my head. Anyway. A new game! Howsabout: > > Let me help you out of those wet robes... > Are you a natural REDHEAD? ALWAYS? > Are you wearing GREY UNDERPANTS? > Do you ship or slash? > > How about, for those with webcams, Is that a MAGIC DISHWASHER I see in your kitchen? Anne U (who met her husband via personal ad in newspaper long before there was an "Internet") From meboriqua at aol.com Tue Sep 2 00:57:50 2003 From: meboriqua at aol.com (jenny_ravenclaw) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 00:57:50 -0000 Subject: Very OT - Single HP Fans In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Okay, this one might be downright offensive to some, but we are all adults around here, right? Right? Hey - I'd ride your broomstick any day. Cindy and David - boy, did I laugh at loud at yours! --jenny from ravenclaw, who can assure all of you that HPFGU is already a hotbed of sexual activity. Trust me. ***************************************************************** From ssk7882 at yahoo.com Tue Sep 2 01:44:06 2003 From: ssk7882 at yahoo.com (ssk7882) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 01:44:06 -0000 Subject: Meeting on the Internet (WAS: the HP pick-up line thread) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Anne wrote: > Anne U > (who met her husband via personal ad in newspaper long before there > was an "Internet") My (now) husband and I met in college (in a role-playing game, actually, if you want to know just how geeky *I* am), but before we actually met in person, we were on the same Bitnet forum. Even though I generally agreed with him on the issues themselves, I absolutely could not stand him. Nobody who agreed with him could, because he made them look so bad. He was unspeakably rude. He showed no interest in understanding contrary viewpoints or positions. At *all.* No, far to the contrary, he screamed abuse at everyone who disagreed with him. He didn't want a civil debate. He wanted a ROW. He name-called. He ad-hominemed. HE USED ALL CAPS, and sprinkled them liberally with words like "Nazi" and "fascist" and "running dog" and the like. As far as I could tell, he started flamewars just for the sheer hell of it. It was only *months* after I met him in person that I realized that he was the same person at all. And even now, I have some trouble believing it. You see, he is, of course, an *exceptionally* shy and retiring person. Elkins, who knows that it's always the quiet ones... From lucky_kari at yahoo.ca Tue Sep 2 02:04:29 2003 From: lucky_kari at yahoo.ca (lucky_kari) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 02:04:29 -0000 Subject: "You're Just Selfish!" (WAS moved from Main List: on not having children) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: And now speaketh the oldest of eight children, who just got back from an utterly bizarre visit with an immature uncle and his girlfriend, respectively 42 and 38. She has pictures of all her friends' babies all over her fridge! And she wants kids, and so she latches on to my pathetic uncle, who can't even hold a proper conversation with you because he's thinking about himself. And what's worse she admits that he's immature and is putting up with it in the hope he'll ask her to marry him and they'll have sproglets. Honestly, how can anyone crave children that *much*? We were very glad to escape from there after several hours in their company. Myself, I love kids. Mostly boys, though. I don't really get girls. I only started to feel female identified to tell the truth when I got to university. And I know what the cravings for children are. I've got them. Real bad. I mean, I got wobbly feelings when it was announced that J.K. Rowling's baby was born! I was shopping for my fall clothes today, and I spent most of my time in the baby section cooing over those sweet little outfits. Girls may be mystifying, but they are adorable... On the other hand, I could very easily see myself not having children. I could easily see myself not marrying too. Anyway, on to the question. Is it selfish not to have children? I mean, selfish in a bad way. Can I make myself very unpopular here by answering, "Yes. Very often, it is." You see, I cling to the rather old-fashioned view that we should contribute to the world, not take from it. How we do that can be very different, but many of the DINKs, I know, pleasant though they may be, are drains, plain and simple. Not drains on society, just drains on humanity. They are living for nothing, contributing nothing, giving their lives for nothing. The sort of people who centre life on theirselves, never reaching out to others. They don't have children because it would be a challenge. And they don't like challenges in their cozey little world. In fact, unlike Elkins, they rather would like children, since they're cute. They're just too lazy to make the sacrifices it demands. I'm sure there'll be a flood of posts saying this is an unfair characterization of the DINK crowd. And I'm not going to get away by saying that I don't think *all* childless couples are like this? Nevertheless, I will say that. :-) I mean, obviously I adore Elkins! Who, I can assure you, is not a drain on humanity. For one small thing, which is horribly important to me, I really can credit Elkins with helping me through a very difficult period in my life. People are made to help and love other people, and I object do people who plain and simple don't. Of course, people with kids are similarly purposeless, pushing them off on nannies, making them into ego-enhancing project children, etc. etc. Having kids can definitely be selfish. (Dear Barty Crouch Sr. could have had some lessons in this department.) I want to scream every Mother's Day in particular when military mothers of very young children are interviewed. I am firmly of the belief that you cannot have a five month old baby and be fighting a war in Iraq. That is child abuse, in my humble opinion. I can see why women would want both things, but I think they have a duty to choose. And to try to have both is selfishness at its height. Absolute cruelty to another human being. I really am putting my foot into it, aren't I? Eileen From neonsister at ameritech.net Tue Sep 2 02:06:46 2003 From: neonsister at ameritech.net (Tracy) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 02:06:46 -0000 Subject: Very OT - Single HP Fans In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Anne, I met my husband that way, too. I had never answered a personal ad before (and never expected to) but here we are almost ten years later... Tracy > "Anne U > (who met her husband via personal ad in newspaper long before there > was an "Internet")" From catlady at wicca.net Tue Sep 2 02:07:59 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 02:07:59 -0000 Subject: anyone going to AU? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "David" wrote: > ..from which I deduce that AU is something in the UK, not a > shorthand for Australia. What is it? Is it an HP thing, or more > general? I was as confused as you were, but yesterday I asked in Chat and was directed to these explanations: http://www.L3conventions.co.uk/alternateuni.htm http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/english/potter_conf/images/potter_poster.j pg From catlady at wicca.net Tue Sep 2 02:19:19 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 02:19:19 -0000 Subject: "You're Just Selfish!" (WAS moved from Main List: on not having children) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "lucky_kari" wrote: > I want to scream every Mother's Day in particular when military > mothers of very young children are interviewed. I am firmly of the > belief that you cannot have a five month old baby and be fighting > a war in Iraq. That is child abuse, in my humble opinion. I can see > why women would want both things, but I think they have a duty to > choose. And to try to have both is selfishness at its height. > Absolute cruelty to another human being. It is my impression that most of the young mothers of young children in the military first had the child, then enlisted because she needed a job to support her child, and the military paid best with the best benefits. Many of the other jobs available to young people with no college don't pay enough for even one person to live on, never mind support the baby. From lucky_kari at yahoo.ca Tue Sep 2 02:29:53 2003 From: lucky_kari at yahoo.ca (lucky_kari) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 02:29:53 -0000 Subject: Marriages Made In Heaven, Hell, or the Internet In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "ssk7882" wrote: > It was only *months* after I met him in person that I realized that he was the same person at all. And even now, I have some trouble believing it. > My parents met at a political meeting. My father was defending capital punishment. My mother was arguing against it. She demolished him, and they lived happily every after. One of my friends recently married a guy she met through the net personals. She was about thirty, and not all desperate when it came to attracting men. She had a very nice career. So,there was a lot of snickering from a lot of people when it came out where she met him, the internet supposedly being the realm of the life challenged. He's a professor of botany, a wonderful guy, and they got married in May, and are going to live happily ever after, I hope! But wait. There's more to the story. My friend, delighted at her own success, decided to register her mother with the dating service she had used. Mother was horrified! Demanded she take her off, which the daughter eventually did, apologizing. However, in the meantime, this perfectly charming fellow writes the Mother. They discover they're just meant for each other, and this July I had the immense pleasure of attending their wedding. Meanwhile, the prize for the worst pick-up line ever goes to my grandmother. She and a few other nursing students were throwing a graduation party, and her brother had invited my grandfather to the party. Now, my grandmother has a reputation for a)being an enthusiastic envangelist for Catholicism and b)asking questions that she thinks are discreet and aren't. So, my great-uncle says to her, "His last name's French, but don't get any ideas, Marie. He's not Catholic." My grandmother takes this as a liscence to cross the room, and say, "Hello, are you a French Huguenot?" He started laughing, and they've been married fifty-three years now. Eileen From molly at volcanomail.com Tue Sep 2 03:33:49 2003 From: molly at volcanomail.com (mollyjjjjj) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 03:33:49 -0000 Subject: Musician Warren Zevon: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Anne" wrote: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "mollyjjjjj" > wrote: > > Is anyone here a Warren Zevon fan? > > If so, there is a petition afoot to gain that dear soul entry to the > > Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which I think he deserves. > > If you have not seen the webpage, here is the address: > > http://www.petitiononline.com/bucsrule/petition.html > *RAISES HAND!* > I'm a Warren Zevon fan too, and would love to see him inducted into > the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He's never had the huge popularity of > some musicians but he's been very influential in his 30+-year career. > And now he's dying of lung cancer :-( I hope to buy his new (and > final) CD very soon. I heard part of his cover of "Knockin' on > Heaven's Door" on National Public Radio recently and got all teary- > eyed. > > Anne U > (who will miss the Excitable Boy) Hi, Anne! "The Wind" is a beautiful recording. I think Dutch's petition is great; he'll be sending all the entries to Warren's family in two more weeks or so. The petition will remain open online and accepting fan signatures indefinitely (until Dutch sends the whole thing to the RRHoF). It will undoubtedly assist in Warren's induction, be a comfort to his family and an outlet for his fans. According to the recent interviews I've read, Warren seems to be at peace. Thanks! -- molly From trinity61us at yahoo.com Tue Sep 2 04:33:11 2003 From: trinity61us at yahoo.com (alex fox) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 21:33:11 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Musician Warren Zevon: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030902043311.41398.qmail@web14902.mail.yahoo.com> I'm very sorry to hear about his illness! He has been a staple of music in my life, as a child of the 70's and 80's. I wish him and his family the best, and will be voting for him. Alex Fox mollyjjjjj wrote: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Anne" wrote: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "mollyjjjjj" > wrote: > > Is anyone here a Warren Zevon fan? > > If so, there is a petition afoot to gain that dear soul entry to the > > Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which I think he deserves. > > If you have not seen the webpage, here is the address: > > http://www.petitiononline.com/bucsrule/petition.html > *RAISES HAND!* > I'm a Warren Zevon fan too, and would love to see him inducted into > the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He's never had the huge popularity of > some musicians but he's been very influential in his 30+-year career. > And now he's dying of lung cancer :-( I hope to buy his new (and > final) CD very soon. I heard part of his cover of "Knockin' on > Heaven's Door" on National Public Radio recently and got all teary- > eyed. > > Anne U > (who will miss the Excitable Boy) Hi, Anne! "The Wind" is a beautiful recording. I think Dutch's petition is great; he'll be sending all the entries to Warren's family in two more weeks or so. The petition will remain open online and accepting fan signatures indefinitely (until Dutch sends the whole thing to the RRHoF). It will undoubtedly assist in Warren's induction, be a comfort to his family and an outlet for his fans. According to the recent interviews I've read, Warren seems to be at peace. Thanks! -- molly Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin Files! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from posts to which you're replying! Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From trinity61us at yahoo.com Tue Sep 2 05:12:37 2003 From: trinity61us at yahoo.com (alex fox) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 22:12:37 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Marriages Made In Heaven, Hell, or the Internet In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030902051237.17911.qmail@web14911.mail.yahoo.com> I have a Hell story. I was with a rather emotionally un-available, but handsome,sweet, kind, hard-working man for 4 years, I went nuts, and left him for a passionate, yet eventually unbelievably BORING man, that had been after me for 9 years. I am now the emotionally un-available one. I kick myself in the ass every day for that decision. I have been stuck in this relationship for almost 5 years. I'm trying desperatly to get out. LESSON: The grass is NEVER greener. Anywhere. I would do anything to get back with the good one. I have to see him a lot in this small biker community. CRAP!!! Now it's just me, alone, trying to leave the idiot that I chose to be with, and live alone. Me and my cat. Alex Fox (laughing hysterically at my own foolishness) lucky_kari wrote: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "ssk7882" wrote: > It was only *months* after I met him in person that I realized that he was the same person at all. And even now, I have some trouble believing it. > ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin Files! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from posts to which you're replying! Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From trinity61us at yahoo.com Tue Sep 2 05:23:50 2003 From: trinity61us at yahoo.com (alex fox) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 22:23:50 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: "You're Just Selfish!" (WAS moved from Main List: on not having children) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030902052350.70617.qmail@web14906.mail.yahoo.com> In this day and age, the father and mother are/or HAVE to be, equal care-givers, and both parents have to work to support the family. Does that make the father enlisting in the service "child abuse"? Possibly the father has a job that is better suited to time with the kids. The mom possibly has the availability to do the job that has all the government benefits, which will help the entire family. IMHO. Alex Fox "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" wrote: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "lucky_kari" wrote: > I want to scream every Mother's Day in particular when military > mothers of very young children are interviewed. I am firmly of the > belief that you cannot have a five month old baby and be fighting > a war in Iraq. That is child abuse, in my humble opinion. I can see > why women would want both things, but I think they have a duty to > choose. And to try to have both is selfishness at its height. > Absolute cruelty to another human being. It is my impression that most of the young mothers of young children in the military first had the child, then enlisted because she needed a job to support her child, and the military paid best with the best benefits. Many of the other jobs available to young people with no college don't pay enough for even one person to live on, never mind support the baby. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin Files! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from posts to which you're replying! Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From trinity61us at yahoo.com Tue Sep 2 05:53:14 2003 From: trinity61us at yahoo.com (alex fox) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2003 22:53:14 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: "You're Just Selfish!" (WAS moved from Main List: on not having children) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030902055314.6709.qmail@web14913.mail.yahoo.com> I know that it a long clip, but Eileen, some of us just aren't meant to have kids. I have a beautiful daughter, Dallas Lynn, whom I got rather unexpectedly, in a bad time of my life. I wasn't supposed to be able to have kids, and there she was! A lovely redheaded preemie. Her father commited suicide(a drug addict) a few months after she was born, and I couldn't care for her at the time. Fortunatly, she had her wonderful great-aunt and uncle to adopt her. They are the best! I get pics and updates, and she is first in her class, rides horses, plays piano, and reads constantly! She is sweet and kind, and I did the best thing I could do for her. She wouldn't HAVE any of that with me.I can barely get by. I hate it when people say "HOW could you give up your child?" I know that is not what you are saying. But I just had to say this. I did what was best for a child I never planned to have. I love her, and am so glad I had the spine to give her up. Alex Fox lucky_kari wrote: . And I know what the cravings for children are. I've got them. Real bad. I mean, I got wobbly feelings when it was announced that J.K. Rowling's baby was born! I was shopping for my fall clothes today, and I spent most of my time in the baby section cooing over those sweet little outfits. Girls may be mystifying, but they are adorable... On the other hand, I could very easily see myself not having children. I could easily see myself not marrying too. Anyway, on to the question. Is it selfish not to have children? I mean, selfish in a bad way. Can I make myself very unpopular here by answering, "Yes. Very often, it is." You see, I cling to the rather old-fashioned view that we should contribute to the world, not take from it. How we do that can be very different, but many of the DINKs, I know, pleasant though they may be, are drains, plain and simple. Not drains on society, just drains on humanity. They are living for nothing, contributing nothing, giving their lives for nothing. The sort of people who centre life on theirselves, never reaching out to others. They don't have children because it would be a challenge. And they don't like challenges in their cozey little world. In fact, unlike Elkins, they rather would like children, since they're cute. They're just too lazy to make the sacrifices it demands. Eileen Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin Files! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from posts to which you're replying! Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From pengolodh_sc at yahoo.no Tue Sep 2 10:50:07 2003 From: pengolodh_sc at yahoo.no (pengolodh_sc) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 10:50:07 -0000 Subject: "You're Just Selfish!" (WAS moved from Main List: on not having children) In-Reply-To: <20030902052350.70617.qmail@web14906.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, alex fox wrote: > In this day and age, the father and mother are/or HAVE to be, > equal care-givers, and both parents have to work to support the > family. Does that make the father enlisting in the service > "child abuse"? Possibly the father has a job that is better > suited to time with the kids. The mom possibly has the > availability to do the job that has all the government benefits, > which will help the entire family. IMHO. > > Alex Fox I think Kari was referring to single mothers who themselves are enlisted in the armed forces. And I think Rita is right - these wll be cases of single mothers being left with the armed forces as the one job-possibility where they get a decent outcome (and even a decent insurance-plan so that there is something left for the child, should something happen), and also get help to get into college afterwards. Then it is a calculated risk - "will USA get into a war while I am enlisted, and will my unit be called up to take part in such a conflict". I am wondering if also some of those military mothers have been part of the reserve-forces, which have been called up for the recent conflict. Best regards Christian Stub? From drednort at alphalink.com.au Tue Sep 2 11:03:53 2003 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 21:03:53 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Prefects, Headboys and Headgirls in Real Life In-Reply-To: <3F4FDB25.10617.15934E4@localhost> References: Message-ID: <3F5505B9.3369.12C55BD@localhost> OK - now I know this got through (thanks to those who let me know), I'll add a little bit to it. Sometimes I wonder if I smell (-8 Posts I think might inspire some comment go unnoticed (I guess I'm a bad judge). On 29 Aug 2003 at 23:00, Shaun Hately wrote: > I was a prefect at school, so I'm happy to answer these questions. > How are they rewarded? Rewarded?!?!? (-8 Seriously, it was an honour, > and not something you sought reward for. We did have some privileges - a > small (and I mean *very* small) personal office - it was about the size > of a phone booth (and I am not joking about that). We could go to the > head of lines in the library, or the school canteen (this was because we > were assumed to have other duties to perform and so our time was at a > premium - it was very bad form to jump a queue unless you were actually > having to hurry off on duty). Longer term, it did look good when > applying for university. Just talking to a friend who was also a pre, he reminded me we did have a couple more privileges - most notably, within certain limits, we could leave the school grounds without permission (this was a product of the fact that we could give permission to other students to do so, and it seemed silly if we could let other people out but still needed to get permission ourselves). In the boarding house, prefects could get out of bed early (all final year students could stay up as late as they wanted - theoretically (-8 In practice it was monitored and if you seemed to be staying up late a lot without good reason, and if you seemed tired, Matron would have a 'quiet word' with you (an expression that was two lies in two words). Getting up early may not sound like much of a prefect - but when hot water to the showers was limited, in winter, it truly was (note - if the prefects ever used all the hot water, it was made quite clear that school traditions allowed for them to be thrown into the swimming pool - fully clothed - a lot of the privileges were tempered by things like that). We could also leave our own school areas at major sporting events with other schools (so we could chase people who didn't have that right, probably - but we generally used it as a way of talking to female school prefects, if any were available (depended on the event)). The fact is, the privileges don't stick in my head - it was all duty. And sometimes pretty hideous duties - sitting with a fourteen year old - just sitting - for thirteen hours while he waited to find out if his mother would live, when you're only 17 yourself and it's been only 16 months since you lost your father. Stepping between an enraged bully a year younger and a foot taller than you, and the person he's planning on beating up, and hoping that he's still calm enough somewhere behind that face that is scaring you silly, to realise if he hits you, he's out of the school - and that he actually cares about that. Spending an entire school dance (which you finally after weeks of agonising managed to ask a girl you really liked to), trying to work out who has the bottles. Feeling constantly inadequate - knowing you've been given a position of authority and wanting to discharge it as well as you can. And catching your best friend cold with a cigarette in his hand, in front of a witness - so you *have* to report him, knowing he'll get caned - and wondering if he's ever going to forgive you. The reason I actually started to write this was because I found my Prefects Handbook - and I thought the Pledge we had to take might give some insight into what we did. The last sentence, and the prayer reflect the particular ideology and focus of the school I attended, but I suspect the rest is fairly representative of at least one common view: "In accepting this position as prefect, I hereby acknowledge my duty to act at all times without fear or favour, without malice or ill will, with justice and affection, with honesty and compassion, to act as encourage, supporter, guide, and servant of my fellow students in the best traditions of the School. I pledge to always do my best to obey and uphold the rules and regulations of the School, and to acknowledge any failure to do so when necessary. Above all, I pledge to always discharge my duties with regards to my fellow students with the full intent of aiding their development and my own as men for others. Oh Lord, teach me to serve you as you deserve To give and not to count the cost To fight and not to heed the wounds To toil and not to seek to rest To labour and not to ask reward Save knowing that I do your will." Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html (ISTJ) | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia From drednort at alphalink.com.au Tue Sep 2 11:31:47 2003 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 21:31:47 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: "You're Just Selfish!" (WAS moved from Main List: on not having children) In-Reply-To: References: <20030902052350.70617.qmail@web14906.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <3F550C43.16745.145E0EC@localhost> On 2 Sep 2003 at 10:50, pengolodh_sc wrote: > I think Kari was referring to single mothers who themselves are > enlisted in the armed forces. And I think Rita is right - these wll > be cases of single mothers being left with the armed forces as the one > job-possibility where they get a decent outcome (and even a decent > insurance-plan so that there is something left for the child, should > something happen), and also get help to get into college afterwards. > Then it is a calculated risk - "will USA get into a war while I am > enlisted, and will my unit be called up to take part in such a > conflict". I am wondering if also some of those military mothers have > been part of the reserve-forces, which have been called up for the > recent conflict. I'm the son of Australian sailors - my father was a Chief Petty Officer who served 20 years (career man). My mother was a Petty Officer who served around 6 or 7 - and was planning a career. When they married, my mother outranked my father, and the jobs she was doing were much more valuable than is (in the sense that far fewer people could do what she did - I don't actually know what it was, because it's classified (heh - I have the clearance that I can probably find out now. Dad was a gunner - and a good one, he finished up as one of the Navy's senior gunnery instructors - but more replacable when she was). It's hard to estimate a Naval career so we can't be sure what Mum would have accomplished - but my Godmother who served parallel to Mum did close to 30 years and wound up at the highest NCO rank (her service was significant enough that she was actually invited to participate in the Olympic Torch relay for her services to the community). Mum could have done that - maybe, it's not possible to be certain. What is certain is she had a long career ahead of her. At the time (early-mid 1970s) women served under considerably different rules from men - one of those rules among many, was that they couldn't serve in combat (at least not intentionally - they could not be posted to any combat-likely assignment). Indeed when Mum fell pregnant with me (after a doctor told her she was infertile, and had no need for birth control - gee, I'm glad he was wrong), she had to leave the service. Her career was over. Growing up in the Navy (Dad was still in - as was my Godmother), the issue of women's service was therefore significant. And the fact was that being denied access to the same jobs as men, meant women had less opportunity to achieve promotion, and success in their careers. And, really, that's not surprising - if you're not allowed to do the same job, you can't get the same experiences you need to achieve high rank. My Godmother did - because as she served, more and more opportunities opened up, and that gave her the increased opportunities she needed for promotion. But she was a mother (she waited quite a while to become one, because she had to wait for it to be possible and for her to keep her career) and her husband (who was also a sailor) gave up his career to raise the children (mainly because at the time this happened, he felt he'd reached his peak, while she still had a way to go - so they sacrificed the less important career). I lost my father when I was 15, as a result of his war service (he didn't die in a war - but his health was ruined by one, and he lost thirty years of expected life). Honestly, I don't think I'd have been any more hurt if it had been my mother who died. Losing a parent is losing a parent in my experience. I don't see that there's that much difference. I appreciate it's not that way for everyone - but I'd find it bloody hard to choose. All this, long winded rambling (I have a fever, so I hope it makes sense!) - basically, women in the military here (and I believe elsewhere) have fought a long battle towards equality - and when it comes to equality, for it to mean anything, it has to mean equality in all areas, not just some. And there's a lot of them who think the price - and the commensurate risks - were worth it. And remember - war isn't the only risk. Danger is part of any military life. This is equality. I have the quote because I knew Meagan, referred to in the following - not well, but I knew her a little. "On Tuesday, 5 May, a dreadful fire broke out in the engine room of the HMAS Westralia as she was testing compasses 20 or so kilometres off the coast of Western Australia. In that dreadful disaster four gallant sailors were killed. They were Midshipman Meagan Kelly, 22, from Queensland; Petty Officer Shaun Smith, 29, from Western Australia; Leading Seaman Bradley Meek, 25, from New South Wales; and Able Seaman Phillip Carroll, 23, from Victoria. The commanding officer of the HMAS Westralia, Commander Dietrich, had no option but to close the water- and gas-tight doors of the engine room soon after the inferno broke out. On his order the carbon dioxide drench was activated, immediately starving the space of oxygen. The drench failed to extinguish the blaze, as the ship drifted off the Western Australian coast." Now, I realise that people aren't just talking about female servicepeople - but about single mothers, and mothers, in general. And I think single parents may be a special case - but I don't believe mothers should be. They have to make the choice. But my dad was at sea on and off, for half of my life until I was 7. He came under fire (his war service was before I was born, but he did fishery patrols, and went after pirates at times). He went overboard at least once, and could have been killed very easily. I could have lost a father then, rather than 8 years later. But honestly, it's not a father I would have lost - it's a parent. And, god, I couldn't choose between the two. I know some people feel a mother's more important to a child than a father - and I respect that for them. But it wasn't for me - and that means this isn't any type of easy choice. Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html (ISTJ) | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia From kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk Tue Sep 2 11:53:58 2003 From: kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk (Kathryn Cawte) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 12:53:58 +0100 (GMT Daylight Time) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: "You're Just Selfish!" (WAS moved from Main List: on not having children) References: <3F550C43.16745.145E0EC@localhost> Message-ID: <3F5484D6.000003.40853@monica> On 2 Sep 2003 at 10:50, pengolodh_sc wrote: > I think Kari was referring to single mothers who themselves are > enlisted in the armed forces. And I think Rita is right - these wll > be cases of single mothers being left with the armed forces as the one > job-possibility where they get a decent outcome (and even a decent > insurance-plan so that there is something left for the child, should > something happen), and also get help to get into college afterwards. K - I've snipped Shaun's remarks although I agree with them entirely because they're not necessary to my arguement, but I wanted to mention here that I agreed with his sentiments about a parent being a parent regardless of gender. I wanted to comment on the above remarks - I think in the case of a single parent, be it a father or a mother, that their duty is to the child and to take unnecessary risks is unfair on that child (particularly I'm thinking of a journalist who was in the news a few years ago and ventured into a dangerous area for a story and got killed leaving her young child an orphan) However I believe that in many cases it is society which is to blame for not providing single parents with the opportunity to remain with their child Children are (as trite as it may sound) our future and we should provide parents (single or otherwise) with every opportunity. Single parents should not be forced into dangerous or demanding jobs just because governments often believe that an adult can only contribute to society by earning a wage and paying taxation. Personally I believe that children benefit most from a home with two loving parents - but this is not an ideal world and 'punishing single parents for the fact that they are alone seems the wrong way to go about things. Generally single parents are not single parents by choice, I'm sure most single parents would love to have a loving partner to help them raise their child. If the only way a parent can provide a decent living for their child (complete with benefits/insurance) is to risk their lives and to regularly deprive that child of their presence then there is something very wrong with our society. K (btw I'm childless and, currently, believe I would like to remain that way but that doesn't mean I don't understand/sympathise with the job that parents single or otherwise, working or otherwise do) From cindysphynx at comcast.net Tue Sep 2 12:46:02 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 12:46:02 -0000 Subject: Wizard Pick-up Lines In-Reply-To: <3F53CD71.000001.38603@monica> Message-ID: Hey, You know, if wizards have pick-up lines, they probably have wizarding "turn-off" phrases. Like: "Stop! Stop! I think I'm lying on your magical eye!" Cindy From cindysphynx at comcast.net Tue Sep 2 13:03:35 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 13:03:35 -0000 Subject: "You're Just Selfish!" In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Eileen reported: >And what's worse she admits that > he's immature and is putting up with it in the hope he'll ask her >to marry him and they'll have sproglets. Oh, dear. Another confirmed case of "IGottaGetMeAMan,AnyManWillDo" syndrome. A dangerous affliction that is exacerbated by exposure to bridal magazines. :-D Treatment includes full immersion therapy, i.e. looking at the back of his head while he plays Nintendo. > You see, I cling to the rather old-fashioned view that we should > contribute to the world, not take from it. How we do that can be >very different, but many of the DINKs, I know, pleasant though they >may be, are drains, plain and simple. Interesting observation. I myself was a DINK ("Dual Income, No Kids") for a while, and I think I might well have been one of the DINKs to which Eileen is referring. Frankly, having kids helped get us out of a boring rut where everything we did centered around work. (I know, you're not supposed to admit that, but it is true.) I guess my own view is that everyone should be *about* something. You can be *about* raising kids. Or volunteer work. Or any number of things. Otherwise, what on earth will they say about you at your funeral? "The dearly departed was a wonderful person who, er . . . well, she thought about, um . . . she was a bit of a loner, to be honest." :-D > Of course, people with kids are similarly purposeless, pushing them > off on nannies, making them into ego-enhancing project children, >etc. Heh. Well, the ego-enhancing project children thing doesn't work very well, IMHO. I figured that my kids would be just like me -- only *better!* I'd mold them this way and that, and they'd be . . . I dunno . . . *important!* The problem, however, is that the kid is whoever they are, and you can't do a darn thing about it. How can *I* have a kid who is shy and doesn't like to read? What's up with *that!?* Resistance is futile. I think almost all parents figure this out, either quickly (because Junior won't take piano lessons although previous generations always have) or Junior gets to be 180 pounds and can't be made to do anything anymore. >I am firmly of the belief that you cannot > have a five month old baby and be fighting a war in Iraq. That is > child abuse, in my humble opinion. I can see why women would want >both things, but I think they have a duty to choose. And to try to >have both is selfishness at its height. Mmmm, I'm not so sure about this. I agree that it's not good for any child to have an absentee parent (assuming you're talking about situations where both of the child's parents are in Iraq.) But let's face it -- parents have willing separated from their children since -- well, forever, really. My neighbor's live-in help is a woman from Zimbabwe who is sending money home to support her kids. At least she had a choice in the matter, whereas soldiers who happen to be parents are called up and That's That. It won't kill a kid to be raised by a family member for a year, IMHO. Cindy -- IGottaGetMeAMan,AnyManWillDo Survivor From cindysphynx at comcast.net Tue Sep 2 13:13:08 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 13:13:08 -0000 Subject: Meeting on the Internet In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Elkins revealed: >Even though I generally agreed with him on the issues themselves, I >absolutely could not stand him. HE USED ALL CAPS, and >sprinkled them liberally with words like "Nazi" and "fascist" >and "running dog" and the like. Hang on a minute. . . . No, no, something is *very* wrong here. Elkins dh is *sweet.* Nice. Polite. Gracious. Thoughtful. Elkins, you must be thinking of a different dh. You must have been married before and simply forgot. Aren't you glad you kicked that fellow to the curb? :-D Heh, heh. Well, I didn't meet my husband on the Internet. But we did start off by arguing. Repeatedly. In public. With lots of people watching. See, we were in law school, and we were moot court partners in the school's moot court competition. (Moot court is mock appellate argument of a mock case before a panel of mock judges.) We were partners, and although it was a competition, we worked together because it is So Much Easier that way and you're much less likely to be humiliated by overlooking something if you already know what your opponent is planning to say. Anyway, I was enthusiastic about the pairing because dh is really smart and I needed all the help I could get. As for me, I taught him all about Going For The Jugular. It was a good match. :-D Cindy -- who thinks these stories are much more interesting than the ones in "Dear Abby" From jenP_97 at yahoo.com Tue Sep 2 15:19:41 2003 From: jenP_97 at yahoo.com (Jennifer Piersol) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 15:19:41 -0000 Subject: Single mothers in the military and meeting on the internet... In-Reply-To: Message-ID: As someone who has many old high school friends who ended up in the military (wow, that's a loaded statement... I'm a Navy Brat, and I say something like "ended up in the military"??), I think the going rule these days is that in order to enlist, you must not be married nor can you have any children. I know my father really flouted the rules when he eloped with his girlfriend 2 years before he graduated college and became an officer... they kept it secret and she lived with her parents while he was gone. Therefore, single mothers in the military (I know one, by the way, and it was horrible for her...) start out single, join the military, and then either get married or get pregnant. My friend Jennifer just got out of the Navy, and she regularly had to leave her two children with her parents for 6-month stretches at a time while she went out to sea. Her ex-husband used to abuse her, so she would refuse to leave the children with him, but it pretty much meant her parents were raising her kids. Whew, sorry for that rambling paragraph. I just reread it, and boy, it stinks, but I'm too lazy to go change it. :) Some of you may remember me mentioning it before, but I met my husband on the internet. That was 9 years ago in a text-based telnet chat room, and he lived 2000 miles away. Of course, I met a psycho who went to school with me first, and that ended in a restraining order after a death threat... and then I met a 4-year-old in a 20-year-old's body... but 3rd time's a charm, right? We've been married for 6.5 years now, and we have our 2 kids, and we're still the best of friends, despite my penchant for yelling and his inability to listen to anything I say (hence the yelling). I can identify with Elkins, though... Chris is horrible online. He's rude, he's thoughtless, he starts arguments, and he has no ability to grasp the finer points of online sarcasm. I hate being with him online these days. However, in person, he's sweet, charming, funny, intelligent, and shy (although not as shy as I am)... and I don't know anyone who doesn't like him. Funny how people can be totally different online and in person, isn't it? -Jen, who hopes her girls are smarter about meeting people than her roommate in college... From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Tue Sep 2 17:31:04 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 17:31:04 -0000 Subject: Wizard Pick-up Lines In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Cindy wrote: > Hey, > > You know, if wizards have pick-up lines, they probably have > wizarding "turn-off" phrases. Like: "Oh, I can't, it's teething right now" D From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Tue Sep 2 17:28:59 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 17:28:59 -0000 Subject: Getting replies (was Prefects) In-Reply-To: <3F5505B9.3369.12C55BD@localhost> Message-ID: Shaun wrote: > OK - now I know this got through (thanks to those who let me know), I'll > add a little bit to it. Sometimes I wonder if I smell (-8 Posts I think > might inspire some comment go unnoticed (I guess I'm a bad judge). Shaun, you said it so well there was nothing to add. (I went to a school with prefects, and, having intended to respond to Morgan's request, decided I had nothing to say, so I said it.) You are by no means the only list member who, IMO, has this 'problem'. In my job, when I write something, I put a lot of effort into anticipating possible responses, and heading off the bad ones. We subject work to peer review, which strips out more. It's part of being professional. The habit carries over to my posting style, and then I wonder why I don't get responses. I suspect your work has the same effect. Try a wizard chat-up line instead. David From bboy_mn at yahoo.com Tue Sep 2 18:55:27 2003 From: bboy_mn at yahoo.com (Steve) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 18:55:27 -0000 Subject: Getting replies (was Prefects) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "David" wrote: > Shaun wrote: > > > Sometimes I wonder if I smell. Posts I think might inspire some > > comment go unnoticed (I guess I'm a bad judge). > David: > > Shaun, you said it so well there was nothing to add. ... > > You are by no means the only list member who, IMO, has this 'problem'. > > ...edited... > > Try a wizard chat-up line instead. > > David Shaun, David is right, we all have this problem, and it causes a trace of insecurity in all of us. But the truth is, usually post that get no response are so simple and obvious that everyone moves on. Or more likely, in the case of reasonably intelligent people, the posts are simply too good. You said something so well that no one really has anything to add, and the group rules prevent people from writing post that only say 'I agree' or 'me too'. So even for people who agree and would like to respond, unless they can really expand the discussion, there really aren't allowed to. Although, that's not such a big problem in this group. However, in the main group where they get 2,000 to 3,000 post a month, endless 'me too' posts severly and needlessly clutter things up. Sometimes if you have posted an exceptionally good insight, and people have nothing to add, they will at least acknowledge your post by contacting you directly. Another thing that helps is to stick around a while and keep trying. Sometimes after people in the group get a feel for you, and understand you a little more, they will feel more comfortable going for your jugular. By the way, I thought you prefect post we excellent, very informative and insightful. I've learned a lot in this group about all aspects of British culture. As a side note, you will frequently find that the most heated and long lasting discussions hinge around a misunderstanding, some unintended aspect of your post, or some unrelated off-hand comment. There is a thread (actually, several threads) in the main group that have been going on since August 17 about whether Harry or anyone else in the books is gay. This all started because someone added an off-hand, intended to be taken lightly, comment to a very long post about relationships. The comment that spark two weeks of very heated discussion was- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/77686 "You can replace *woman* by *man* if you believe that it better fits Harry's taste." This was in a post that was 775 words long, so you know this one sentence doesn't reflect the author's overal intent. Short version- hang in there, your posts are not going unnoticed. Just a thought. bboy_mn From jenna_ash3 at hotmail.com Tue Sep 2 22:51:30 2003 From: jenna_ash3 at hotmail.com (jenna_ash3) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 22:51:30 -0000 Subject: anyone going to AU? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I was as confused as you were, but yesterday I asked in Chat and was > directed to these explanations: > http://www.L3conventions.co.uk/alternateuni.htm > http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/english/potter_conf/images/potter_poster.j > pg Sorry, my bad. I am new at this. Yeah I found the main HP fan club in the Level3 links page on their yahoo group which has finally lead me here. Its not HP but as near as I can tell, its the only one with anyoen from the movie in the UK! To be honest, I mainly got a ticket for JR Bourne and peter Stebbings from StargateSG-1, but was delighted when they answered the fans request for someone from the movie to answer questions about HP3 and how they made it. They only went and invited the action director and stunt coordinator for all three HP movies!!! I was amazed! Its my first con but I am also going up to Collectormania as I want to meet Elijah Wood and Sean Astin from LOTR. Very cute! If anyone is in the uk and has already or will be buying tickets to AU, please let me know. Would love to meet up at the event. Jen From megrose_13 at yahoo.com Tue Sep 2 23:33:01 2003 From: megrose_13 at yahoo.com (Meg) Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 23:33:01 -0000 Subject: Happy Birthday to Me! Message-ID: Hey, guys - just wanted to let you all know that today's my 18th birthday! Woo hoo!!!! From trinity61us at yahoo.com Tue Sep 2 23:37:34 2003 From: trinity61us at yahoo.com (alex fox) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 16:37:34 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Happy Birthday to Me! In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030902233734.69523.qmail@web14913.mail.yahoo.com> Happy B-Day, Meg! (leaps around room, flinging litle stars and rainbows!) Alex Fox Meg wrote: Hey, guys - just wanted to let you all know that today's my 18th birthday! Woo hoo!!!! Yahoo! Groups SponsorADVERTISEMENT ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin Files! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from posts to which you're replying! Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From trinity61us at yahoo.com Tue Sep 2 23:43:13 2003 From: trinity61us at yahoo.com (alex fox) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 16:43:13 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Isaacs as Hook? In-Reply-To: <20030902233734.69523.qmail@web14913.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <20030902234313.31123.qmail@web14904.mail.yahoo.com> Am I trippin', or did I just see Jason Isaacs playing Captain Hook on ET just now? What is this? Alex Fox Yahoo! Groups SponsorADVERTISEMENT ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin Files! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from posts to which you're replying! Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups SponsorADVERTISEMENT ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin Files! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from posts to which you're replying! Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From IAmLordCassandra at aol.com Wed Sep 3 01:04:56 2003 From: IAmLordCassandra at aol.com (IAmLordCassandra at aol.com) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 21:04:56 EDT Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Isaacs as Hook? Message-ID: <114.2840c795.2c869838@aol.com> In a message dated 9/2/2003 7:50:27 PM Eastern Daylight Time, trinity61us at yahoo.com writes: > Am I trippin', or did I just see Jason Isaacs playing Captain Hook on ET > just now? What is this? > > Alex Fox I know I read something about him playing Hook a while ago. Now...I didn't watch ET, so I can't say for sure if he was there or you imagined it...but I'll guess the former ^^ ~Cassie~ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From linlou43 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 3 01:50:33 2003 From: linlou43 at yahoo.com (linlou43) Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 01:50:33 -0000 Subject: Isaacs as Hook? In-Reply-To: <114.2840c795.2c869838@aol.com> Message-ID: Alex asked: > > Am I trippin', or did I just see Jason Isaacs playing Captain Hook on ET > > just now? What is this? linlou: Yourm not trippin'. Jason Isaacs is not only playing Captain Hook in the new Peter Pan film but he is also playing the double roll of Mr. Darling. CHeck out: http://www.peterpanmovie.net hope that helps, linlou From s_ings at yahoo.com Wed Sep 3 02:00:25 2003 From: s_ings at yahoo.com (Sheryll Townsend) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 22:00:25 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Happy Birthday, Meg! In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030903020025.67218.qmail@web41115.mail.yahoo.com> *finishes filling the room with balloons printed with the number 18 on them and fills the air with tiny lights (careful to keep them away from the balloons* As Meg has already told you, she's having a birthday today. Birthday owls can be sent care of this list or directly to: megrose_13 at yahoo.com I hope your 18th has been a wonderful day, filled with much joy and the company of good friends. Happy Birthday, Meg! Sheryll the Birthday Elf (just getting home from work) ===== http://www.livejournal.com/community/conventionalley/ ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca From dradamsapple at yahoo.com Wed Sep 3 02:16:25 2003 From: dradamsapple at yahoo.com (dradamsapple) Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 02:16:25 -0000 Subject: Having kids: was "You're selfish!"// Dory's thoughts Message-ID: Hey all! Just had to share this snippet from this weeks TV GUIDE (Aug 30-sept 5); Writer Lisa Bernhard interviews Ellen DeGeneres and asks her about having kids: (she has a new girlfriend, btw) Ellen: "It's a huge decision that I'm fortunate enough to have time to actually think about. I have a lot of friends that have kids, and they're like, 'I'm so glad I did it, because there's no good time and if you really thought about it and planned it out...but it's the best thing I ever did.' I feel that way about my plasma TV. It's the best thing I ever did, and I just jumped in an did it and I'm really happy now." LOL!! Gutta love her!! Anna . . . From aaoconnor2002 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 3 03:20:32 2003 From: aaoconnor2002 at yahoo.com (aaoconnor2002) Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 03:20:32 -0000 Subject: Marriages Made In Heaven, Hell, or the Internet In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I was managing a movie theater and we had a security guard every weekend because of the large amount of cash on hand. I had been having a lot of problems with this particular security company and I told them they had one last weekend to get their act together. I said I wanted someone intimidating enough that people would be afraid to try anything. Well, Friday night rolls around and my head cashier walks in the office shaking his head and saying that the new guard had arrived. Right then a below average height, slightly pudgy, balding man walks into the office. I stared at him for a second and then uttered these words, "I asked for King Kong and they sent me the Pillsbury Doughboy". We've been married for 17 years now and he still doesn't let me live it down. Audrey From aaoconnor2002 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 3 03:36:07 2003 From: aaoconnor2002 at yahoo.com (aaoconnor2002) Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 03:36:07 -0000 Subject: What a steal! Message-ID: There is a chain of restaurants in California, Oregon, and Nevada called Black Bear Diners. Their menus are recreations of old newspapers from the towns where the restaurants are located. The outside has articles and ads and the inside has the menu. I had a chance to eat at the location in Rohnert Park, CA this last weekend and thought you might be interested in one of the ads. Apparently this ran in the paper back in 1961. English Ford Anglia $1295 Smart, new, fun to drive...saucy new ANGLIA! Superb British craftsmanship - built to last. Advanced power plant for brilliant performance. 4-speed sports-type gearshift for nimble control. Stretch space for four. Bigger trunk. Side windows that open. Full dashboard instruments. Extra-wide doors. Choice of 12 colors. Best of all, thrifty! Up to 40 miles per gallon. See the world's most exciting fun car today I have to admit the first time I read this I thought it said "nimbus control". No mention of invisibility boosters though. Audrey From morgan_d_yyh at yahoo.com Wed Sep 3 12:11:26 2003 From: morgan_d_yyh at yahoo.com (Morgan D.) Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2003 05:11:26 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Prefects, Headboys and Headgirls in Real Life In-Reply-To: <1062574019.1338.21980.m12@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: <20030903121126.37569.qmail@web11005.mail.yahoo.com> > From: "Shaun Hately" > > OK - now I know this got through (thanks to those who let me know), > I'll > add a little bit to it. Sometimes I wonder if I smell (-8 Posts I > think > might inspire some comment go unnoticed (I guess I'm a bad judge). Ouch, I was really rude, wasn't I? Should *at least* have sent a thank you note. In fact, your previous reply was so impressive and useful that... You see, I asked that because I'm writing a fic concerning the choice of Prefects and parents' expectations regarding that choice, and I was in deep trouble because I had no idea what being a Prefect really means -- I suppose JKR considers it mandatory background culture, so she doesn't really explain it to us, lesser mortals who never studied in schools with a similar hierarchical system. (No problem with that, research is good for the soul.) And your description of the job gave me both the insight of why some students would want so badly to be a Prefect and consider it a huge honour, and also while others, like the twins, would dismiss the whole thing with scorn. So as soon as I finished reading your post I had so many dialogue ideas in my mind that I started writing them down immediately so I wouldn't I forget them, and I have been working on them almost non-stop since then and... *moans* ...and instead I ended up forgetting to be civil and thanking you for your priceless help. I'm really sorry. And now I must run, because your new post about the downside of being a Prefect -- gosh, it's a lot of maturity to ask from a teenager! -- gave me more and more ideas... (BTW, it's so rare for me to get replies from the HPfGU lists that when I get one is a REAL suprise. More reason for me to be nicer to those that do send me replies, but... oh well. My bad, entirely my bad.) Morgan D. Hogwarts Letters - http://www.hogwartsletters.hpg.com.br __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From drednort at alphalink.com.au Wed Sep 3 12:18:06 2003 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 22:18:06 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Prefects, Headboys and Headgirls in Real Life In-Reply-To: <20030903121126.37569.qmail@web11005.mail.yahoo.com> References: <1062574019.1338.21980.m12@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: <3F56689E.28300.6854D3@localhost> On 3 Sep 2003 at 5:11, Morgan D. wrote: > Ouch, I was really rude, wasn't I? Should *at least* have sent a thank > you note. Heh, don't worry about it - I was running a serious fever last night and having to stand awake for a chat I needed to attend to discuss some volunteer work I do, and was feeling really morose and sorry for myself. (-8 Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html (ISTJ) | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia From cindysphynx at comcast.net Wed Sep 3 14:30:22 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 14:30:22 -0000 Subject: NetNanny and Firewall Message-ID: Hi, all, I'm in the market for some smut-blocking software and a firewall for my cable connection. Does anyone have any recommendations, preferably something I can download from the Internet? I have McAfee virus and I use a PC. Cindy -- wondering if Terry liked her Dell Axim From przepla at ipartner.com.pl Wed Sep 3 14:57:51 2003 From: przepla at ipartner.com.pl (=?ISO-8859-2?Q?=22Przemys=B3aw_=5C=22Pshemekan=5C=22_P=B3askowi?= =?ISO-8859-2?Q?cki=22?=) Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 16:57:51 +0200 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] NetNanny and Firewall In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3F56016F.3080509@ipartner.com.pl> Cindy C. wrote : >Hi, all, > >I'm in the market for some smut-blocking software and a firewall for >my cable connection. Does anyone have any recommendations, >preferably something I can download from the Internet? I have >McAfee virus and I use a PC. > > Well, here is my standard sysadmin's lecture ;-) 1. Smut-blocking software just isn't working. It is blocking not all porn, and wrongly blocks many legit sites -- usually related to breast cancer, Sussex (SusSex)... Forget it. If you want to protect children from bad material only REAL solution is to observe what they do -- by putting PC into day-room. 2. Windows -- http://www.windowsupdate.com is your best friend: set it to automatically install critical patches. Run it manually at least weekly and install non-critical patches. 3. Don't use Internet Explorer. Use Mozilla: http://www.mozilla.org or Opera http://www.opera.com (both are free). Both supports tabbed browsing, and popup blocking -- and don't have IE flaws. Opera is easier to install and use while Mozilla is more advanced-user oriented. 4. Firewalls -- they actually don't do anything useful if you keep your system updated. But if you really want good firewall use Kerio: http://www.kerio.com/us/kpf_home.html (free for personal use, and much better than ZoneAlarm or others -- it informs you about something bad, when it is really bad -- almost none false alarms). 5. Update virus definition as often as you can. 6. Use AdAware to check for spyware: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ (Free) 7. Never, never, never install something from Internet if you are not sure what it does -- typical bad programs are: magic cursors, download accelerators, download managers, peer2peer: kazaa, bearshare and the like. If don't know, ask. If nobody knows, don't install. Preferably use Open Source programs -- these tend to not have malware. 8. Open Source is your friend. Almost all useful programs are free: pics and movie viewers, editors etc. These are often better than it's commercial counterparts. Regards, Pshemekan From cindysphynx at comcast.net Wed Sep 3 15:43:44 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 15:43:44 -0000 Subject: Computer Security For Dummies (WAS NetNanny and Firewall) In-Reply-To: <3F56016F.3080509@ipartner.com.pl> Message-ID: Przemys?aw saved my bacon and wrote a fabulous post! Unfortunately, I'm kinda tech illiterate and didn't follow everything. A few follow-up questions . . . > 1. Smut-blocking software just isn't working. It is blocking not >all porn, and wrongly blocks many legit sites -- usually related to >breast cancer, Sussex (SusSex)... Forget it. If you want to protect >children from bad material only REAL solution is to observe what >they do -- by putting PC into day-room. Oh, I do! The computers are in public rooms and the kids aren't allowed to close the door. The problem seems to be that they will search for something (or wind up with smutty pics installed on their desktops) and get a porn reply. So I just want to reduce the chances that they'll stumble across something I'd rather they didn't. If it blocks breast cancer sites, I can live with that restriction. Are any of the smut blockers better than others? > 3. Don't use Internet Explorer. Use Mozilla: >http://www.mozilla.org or Opera http://www.opera.com (both are >free). Both supports tabbed browsing, and popup blocking -- and >don't have IE flaws. Opera is easier to install and use while >Mozilla is more advanced-user oriented. Um . . . You mean I don't have to use IE? Cool! What's the reason to use one of the alternatives? And, erm, what is "tabbed browsing?" And what are IE's flaws? > 7. Never, never, never install something from Internet if you are >not sure what it does -- typical bad programs are: magic cursors, >download accelerators, download managers, peer2peer: kazaa, >bearshare and the like. If don't know, ask. If nobody knows, don't >install. *Now* you tell me! :-D Seriously, if you installed something (oh, I dunno, maybe a free 30- trial version of McAfee's spam blocker) and the 30 days elapsed and you opted not to purchase it because it seemed worthless, how do you, erm, get the "limited time offer" from popping up on your screen every time you boot up? > 8. Open Source is your friend. Almost all useful programs are >free: pics and movie viewers, editors etc. These are often better >than it's commercial counterparts. But . . . but . . . if I'm not supposed to download anything from the Internet, how am I to take advantage of Open Source stuff (which I assume is "shareware")? And how do I know if something is "Open Source?" Thank you *so* much! Cindy -- who is on the verge of abandoning her business e-mail account because of a problem with spoofing that is only getting worse From przepla at ipartner.com.pl Wed Sep 3 19:31:15 2003 From: przepla at ipartner.com.pl (Przemyslaw Plaskowicki) Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 21:31:15 +0200 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Computer Security For Dummies (WAS NetNanny and Firewall) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3F564183.3040706@ipartner.com.pl> On 2003-09-03 17:43, Cindy C. wrote: >Przemysaw saved my bacon and wrote a fabulous post! Unfortunately, >I'm kinda tech illiterate and didn't follow everything. A few >follow-up questions . . . > > > > >>1. Smut-blocking software just isn't working. It is blocking not >>all porn, and wrongly blocks many legit sites -- usually related to >>breast cancer, Sussex (SusSex)... Forget it. If you want to protect >>children from bad material only REAL solution is to observe what >>they do -- by putting PC into day-room. >> >> > > >Oh, I do! The computers are in public rooms and the kids aren't >allowed to close the door. The problem seems to be that they will >search for something (or wind up with smutty pics installed on their >desktops) and get a porn reply. So I just want to reduce the >chances that they'll stumble across something I'd rather they >didn't. If it blocks breast cancer sites, I can live with that >restriction. > >Are any of the smut blockers better than others? > > Well I'm not much into specific applications but I made some research: 1. Most known is NetNanny (39.90$) and aparently it has much less flaws than others, 2. Some users recomend We-blocker http://www.we-blocker.com/ (ad-free if you pay 19.95$) -- which seems to use quite interesting technology based on web scoring. So these two seems to be best bet (in that order). Comparison chart: http://safety.ngfl.gov.uk/schools/matrix_small.php BTW: http://www.peacefire.org/ -- how to circumvent blockers. Also Google offers blocking "web pages containing explicit sexual content from appearing in search results" ( http://www.google.com/preferences?hl=en ) >>3. Don't use Internet Explorer. Use Mozilla: >>http://www.mozilla.org or Opera http://www.opera.com (both are >>free). Both supports tabbed browsing, and popup blocking -- and >>don't have IE flaws. Opera is easier to install and use while >>Mozilla is more advanced-user oriented. >> >> > >Um . . . You mean I don't have to use IE? Cool! > >What's the reason to use one of the alternatives? And, erm, what >is "tabbed browsing?" And what are IE's flaws? > > Tabbed browsing it's just something which permits opening more than webpage in one application window: like on this picture: http://42.pl/url/9b, or this picture: http://42.pl/url/9c Well, IE has a very long history of known flaws: basically because IE uses the same libraries as main system security flaw in IE usually cause security flaw in whole system. If you have got system with all up-to-date updates just see Help-->About in IE. All those Q818529's means one bug in IE has been patched. Also, most malware, installs itself in IE. Not to mention crashing IE by entering: into web source ;-). There are of course some problems. Some pages written by stupid webmasters are not rendered correctly in Opera/Mozilla -- these however are in a minority (about 5% of all pages -- and those are usually not worth looking at in the first place). BTW. Mozilla 1.4 is the browser sometimes known as Netscape 7.1. I mentioned Opera/Mozilla popup blocking and cookie control. >>7. Never, never, never install something from Internet if you are >>not sure what it does -- typical bad programs are: magic cursors, >>download accelerators, download managers, peer2peer: kazaa, >>bearshare and the like. If don't know, ask. If nobody knows, don't >>install. >> >> > > >*Now* you tell me! :-D > >Seriously, if you installed something (oh, I dunno, maybe a free 30- >trial version of McAfee's spam blocker) and the 30 days elapsed and >you opted not to purchase it because it seemed worthless, how do >you, erm, get the "limited time offer" from popping up on your >screen every time you boot up? > > The solution is to uninstall offending application. Control Panel --> Add/Remove Programs. If it doesn't appear there there is an excellent Windows hidden aplication called msconfig Menu Start --> Run --> msconfig, which lists all applications Windows run during starting up and permits to disable unwanted ones. >>8. Open Source is your friend. Almost all useful programs are >>free: pics and movie viewers, editors etc. These are often better >>than it's commercial counterparts. >> >> > >But . . . but . . . > >if I'm not supposed to download anything from the Internet, how am I >to take advantage of Open Source stuff (which I assume >is "shareware")? And how do I know if something is "Open Source?" > > > Open Source are programs based on the same principia as GNU/Linux. Such software is free, ad-less, and sources to them are avalaible. Because of that, they tend to be more secure, easier to uninstall and generally better. There is also freeware, which is also free, but sometimes not free for commercial users. Examples: http://www.slowview.at/ Slow View -- freeware pics viewer (similar to ACDSEE) http://www.httrack.com/ Httrack -- best web copying software (Open Source) It is usually said, on program Home Page what type of licence is it. Also good idea is to browse program's Home Page before installing. View screenshots, read everything etc. Also: www.tucows.com provides one of the biggest collection of various software (both free and commercial) with clearly stated licence: GPL, freeware, adware, demo etc. (where GPL and freeware are best type of licence). Regards, Pshemekan From kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk Wed Sep 3 19:39:24 2003 From: kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk (Kathryn Cawte) Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2003 20:39:24 +0100 (GMT Daylight Time) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] NetNanny and Firewall References: <3F56016F.3080509@ipartner.com.pl> Message-ID: <3F56436C.000001.36493@monica> 6. Use AdAware to check for spyware: Thank you so much for that recommendation. I knew I had some nasty spyware things on my computer from software I downloaded but the guy who fixed my computer was at a loss for how to permanently remove them without reinstalling everything. I downloaded this little program and checked my computer - it found and removed 142 things! I'm stunned. K . From molly at volcanomail.com Wed Sep 3 23:33:23 2003 From: molly at volcanomail.com (mollyjjjjj) Date: Wed, 03 Sep 2003 23:33:23 -0000 Subject: Musician Warren Zevon: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame In-Reply-To: <20030902043311.41398.qmail@web14902.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, alex fox wrote: > I'm very sorry to hear about his illness! He has been a staple of music in my life, as a child of the 70's and 80's. I wish him and his family the best, and will be voting for him. > > Alex Fox > > mollyjjjjj wrote: > > > Is anyone here a Warren Zevon fan? > > > If so, there is a petition afoot to gain that dear soul entry > > > to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which I think he deserves. > > > If you have not seen the webpage, here is the address: > > > http://www.petitiononline.com/bucsrule/petition.html Dear Alex, Thank you for adding your name! Warren's family (and all the other fans) will cherish the remembrances and comments written about him, and they'll appreciate everyone's participation in the petition effort. Thank you and best wishes! -- molly From drednort at alphalink.com.au Thu Sep 4 00:09:08 2003 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 10:09:08 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Computer Security For Dummies (WAS NetNanny and Firewall) In-Reply-To: References: <3F56016F.3080509@ipartner.com.pl> Message-ID: <3F570F44.27376.2F366F9@localhost> On 3 Sep 2003 at 15:43, Cindy C. wrote: > Oh, I do! The computers are in public rooms and the kids aren't > allowed to close the door. The problem seems to be that they will > search for something (or wind up with smutty pics installed on their > desktops) and get a porn reply. So I just want to reduce the > chances that they'll stumble across something I'd rather they > didn't. If it blocks breast cancer sites, I can live with that > restriction. > > Are any of the smut blockers better than others? It's been a couple of years since I looked into this, but some of what I found disturbed me. Just something else to consider - many block a lot of stuff *deliberately* besides 'smut'. I can understand why some are unsophisticated enough to not understand that 'breast cancer' or 'SusSEX' isn't a problem - there are aways around that, but I can understand the mistakes. But many block sites for political and/or religious reasons - for example, some of this software has been known to block sites that contain the word 'evolution' or the word 'Allah'. It would not surprise me at all to find some now block the term 'Harry Potter' as well. I would hope none of the major products do this type of thing - but it's something people should be aware of - how much power do you want the software producers to have over what your children read? If that issue concerns you, before getting blocking software, check out: http://www.peacefire.org/ Down the left hand side they have a list of popular blocking programs and an assessment on what type of things they block - some of it is probably (hopefully) out of date by now. Incidentally - most blocking software now blocks Peacefire as well - with some justification as it tells people how to defeat the blocks. Just for the record - some sites blocked by various blocking software have included: The Illinois Federation for Human Rights The Institute of Australian Psychiatrists Mother Jones Magazine Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention The Traditional Values Coalition The War Resisters League What Is Memorial Day? Hillary For President Prior to the 2000 US elections, the websites of at least 5 Democratic candidates for office were blocked as well, along with 4 Republicans (one of whom had a statement on his site calling for all public and school libraries to install blockers - he removed the statement after he found out he was blocked!), and 1 Libertarian. Use blocking software with caution - sometimes sites are blocked in error - sometimes they are blocked for deliberate political reasons - and it can be hard to work out which is which. Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html (ISTJ) | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia From kirst_inn at yahoo.co.uk Thu Sep 4 13:59:44 2003 From: kirst_inn at yahoo.co.uk (Kirstini) Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 13:59:44 -0000 Subject: Computer Security For Dummies / Shaun's school In-Reply-To: <3F570F44.27376.2F366F9@localhost> Message-ID: Shaun: >> Just something else to consider - many block a lot of stuff *deliberately* besides 'smut'. [M]any block sites for political and/or religious reasons - for example, some of this software has been known to block sites that contain the word 'evolution' or the word 'Allah'. It would not surprise me at all to find some now block the term 'Harry Potter' as well. Just for the record - some sites blocked by various blocking software have included: The Illinois Federation for Human Rights The Institute of Australian Psychiatrists Mother Jones Magazine Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention The Traditional Values Coalition The War Resisters League What Is Memorial Day? Hillary For President>> Are the software developers of the world in George Bush's pocket too? There's not wanting your kids to be exposed to dirty photos, and then there's censoring every thought ever expressed not in agreement with your own. I really don't want to offend anyone on list, because you are all lovely and I don't care which way any of you vote, but the power of the American right really scares me a bit. I may have to go out and cause some civil disobediance to get over this one. Incidentally, does anyone get unsolicited MSN pop-ups? I am continually amazed how many 22-year-old girls there are out there who have just installed web cams so that they can chat and show off their bodies at the same time... ;) Completely OT - Shaun, have you mentioned on list which school you went to? Which school was it? Because I was watching Priscilla, Queen of the Desert a couple of nights ago, and Guy Pearce's character mentioned which school he'd gone to and it sounded very familiar. I emailed my Aussie cousin, who replied, somewhat scathingly, "No, of course I didn't go to that school. I live in Perth. Do you have *any* idea of Australian geography, woman?" (no, I don't. But I don't have any idea of English geography either, and I was shocked when I started university and someone pointed out to me that Florida and California aren't on the same coast. I can, however, point out where the five Scottish cities are on a map. So can my five year old step- niece.) So, squashed, I brooded for a few days, and then thought that perhaps it might have been your school. However, Yahoo is playing tricks today, and won't let me access any messages I've already checked, so I can't get into your prefect" post. I know it's a ridiculously tiny point, but these things assume an enormous significance when you've got something else you really should be getting on with. Kirstini, who might march to London and throw eggs at Tony Blair tomorrow. From kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk Thu Sep 4 14:37:16 2003 From: kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk (Kathryn Cawte) Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2003 15:37:16 +0100 (GMT Daylight Time) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Computer Security For Dummies / Shaun's school References: Message-ID: <3F574E1C.000003.88591@monica> Kirstini, who might march to London and throw eggs at Tony Blair tomorrow. K - Well bearing in mind you just admitted you have no idea of English geography that assumes you can find London (sorry, my Scottish geography is fairly bad so I can't complain, and my Aussie geography is abyssmal too) Just as long as you don't throw eggs at John Prescott - cos historically that's proven to be quite dangerous :) K From drednort at alphalink.com.au Thu Sep 4 14:44:36 2003 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 00:44:36 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Computer Security For Dummies / Shaun's school In-Reply-To: References: <3F570F44.27376.2F366F9@localhost> Message-ID: <3F57DC74.3703.615083D@localhost> On 4 Sep 2003 at 13:59, Kirstini wrote: > Shaun: > >> Just something else to consider - many block a lot of stuff > *deliberately* besides 'smut'. > [M]any block sites for political and/or religious reasons - > for example, some of this software has been known to block sites that > contain the word 'evolution' or the word 'Allah'. It would not > surprise me at all to find some now block the term 'Harry Potter' as > well. > Just for the record - some sites blocked by various blocking > software have included: > The Illinois Federation for Human Rights > The Institute of Australian Psychiatrists > Mother Jones Magazine > Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention > The Traditional Values Coalition > The War Resisters League > What Is Memorial Day? > Hillary For President>> > > Are the software developers of the world in George Bush's pocket too? No, I don't think so - I think it's a bit more complicated than that. What needs to be considered is that the type of person who will set up a company that will develop software to block pornography, and the type of person who will choose to work for such a company, are probably more likely than the population in general to have deeply held religious beliefs. They also need to consider that their customers are most likely to be people who hold specific religious beliefs - and any company will tend to cater to its customers. And most companies keep their lists of blocked sites secret - which means a particular developer with an axe to grind could take a decision to add a particular site without anybody else knowing. Republican political candidates have found their sites blocked nearly as often as Democratic ones - The Traditional Values Coalition has found itself blocked alongside Gay Pride sites - the blocking doesn't appear to be *gnerally* based on pushing any particular ideology - if it did, I'd be very concerned, especially when there are moves to force such software to be on public library and similar systems. Individual sites do seem to get blocked based on particular political beliefs - but it seems to be nearly as likely to be a left wing developer blocking a right wing site, as vice versa. That certainly stinks - that people would seek to censor political beliefs they disagree with, whatever side of politics they come from - but it does seem to be a fairly even playing field. > There's not wanting your kids to be exposed to dirty photos, and then > there's censoring every thought ever expressed not in agreement with > your own. I really don't want to offend anyone on list, because you > are all lovely and I don't care which way any of you vote, but the > power of the American right really scares me a bit. I may have to go > out and cause some civil disobediance to get over this one. > Incidentally, does anyone get unsolicited MSN pop-ups? I am > continually amazed how many 22-year-old girls there are out there who > have just installed web cams so that they can chat and show off their > bodies at the same time... ;) Yep - although I get them mostly over ICQ as I rarely use MSN Messenger. > Completely OT - Shaun, have you mentioned on list which school you > went to? Which school was it? Because I was watching Priscilla, Queen > of the Desert a couple of nights ago, and Guy Pearce's character > mentioned which school he'd gone to and it sounded very familiar. I > emailed my Aussie cousin, who replied, somewhat scathingly, "No, of > course I didn't go to that school. I live in Perth. Do you have *any* > idea of Australian geography, woman?" (no, I don't. But I don't have > any idea of English geography either, and I was shocked when I > started university and someone pointed out to me that Florida and > California aren't on the same coast. I can, however, point out where > the five Scottish cities are on a map. So can my five year old step- > niece.) > So, squashed, I brooded for a few days, and then thought that > perhaps it might have been your school. However, Yahoo is playing > tricks today, and won't let me access any messages I've already > checked, so I can't get into your prefect" post. I know it's a > ridiculously tiny point, but these things assume an enormous > significance when you've got something else you really should be > getting on with. I don't think I've mentioned the name of my school - because I generally don't without a reason. This is because I had incredibly bad experiences with bullying at one particular school, and if I mentioned it's name online, coupled with some of the things I've said about it in the past, I'd be worried about lawsuits (-8. So I rarely mention any of the schools I attended by name. But for the record, the school I've talked about most on this list (not the one where I was horribly, horribly, bullied) was Xavier College, Kew, Victoria - one of the 'Six Great Schools' of Victoria. Now, you've got me thinking I need to rent Priscilla, Queen of the Desert just to see what school Guy Pearce's character mentions - I doubt it was Xavier, because I would have expected to hear about that! > Kirstini, who might march to London and throw eggs at Tony Blair > tomorrow. > > > > ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ > > Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin Files! > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ > > Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from posts to which you're replying! > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html (ISTJ) | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia From cindysphynx at comcast.net Thu Sep 4 15:17:49 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 15:17:49 -0000 Subject: Computer Security For Dummies / Shaun's school In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Kirstini wrote: >I really don't want to offend anyone on list, because you > are all lovely and I don't care which way any of you vote, but the > power of the American right really scares me a bit. I may have to >go out and cause some civil disobediance to get over this one. Hey, if you really want to get yourself riled up, you might want to read Al Franken's newest book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right." It's not as amusing as his last book ("Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations), but it certainly is a spirited froth. I've never even seen some of the people he discusses (Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, etc.), but it sure is an interesting little rant. Me, I'm just looking forward to paying for the war in Iraq and the rebuilding of Iraq -- as soon as we find those weapons of mass destruction. ;-) > Kirstini, who might march to London and throw eggs at Tony Blair > tomorrow. Cindy -- who thinks Tony Blair is as cute as a button and feels badly that he will be destroyed for being fool enough to side with Bush From Ali at zymurgy.org Thu Sep 4 15:33:08 2003 From: Ali at zymurgy.org (Ali) Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 15:33:08 -0000 Subject: Prefects, Headboys and Headgirls in Real Life In-Reply-To: <20030903121126.37569.qmail@web11005.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Morgan D. wrote of Shaun's prefect experience:- >>> And your description of the job gave me both the insight of why some students would want so badly to be a Prefect and consider it a huge honour, and also while others, like the twins, would dismiss the whole thing with scorn<<< This is dangerously near on-topic, but in my experience the twins were unusual for dismissing the whole prefect set-up. I think that their rebellion against it had alot to do with their mother's idolation of the "award" and Percy's attitude. The prefect system is something that many Brits (and obviously some Aussies) are brought up with, it's part of our culture. I rebelled against a lot of things at school. Authorities don't really like it if you rebel, so really I could not have expected to be made a prefect, *but* I was still disappointed when I wasn't. Truthfully, prefects are unpaid dogsbodies. They do the pastorial duties that the teachers don't want to do. In my school this including things like stopping kids pushing in the queue at dinner time, stopping them from running in the "Quad", making them put out chairs for assemblies and picking up litter. I remember getting prefect detentions when I was forced to pick up orange peel just so the prefect could ask out my friend. Hmm... In return for being a dogsbody, a prefect at my school got the honour of wearing a badge that they had to give back at the end of the year (we had had prefects from only the last year of school). Oh yes, and they got the privilege of a room that only they were allowed to use - I was once kicked out of it by the Head Girl as I wasn't a prefect. But, that wasn't much of a privilege as my friends who were prefects then spent the majority of their time with me and the rest of our friends and so used the room only to dump their stuff in. The only real benefit I think that prefects got was they could proudly put on their CVs and University application forms that they had been a prefect. Like that really makes a lot of difference! Some did really love their sense of power though, and *would* bully younger kids. I blame Elkins, but I can nolonger read or hear about any of our bizarre little school systems without an intense desire to snigger. Like Hogwarts, my school had 4 houses, but we were split according to geographic location which made better sense for us than trying to work out our personalities. Practically everything that could be was turned into an "Inter-House" competition, although we didn't have House points or an overall house cup (My primary school did though!). Our school teachers wandered round in their academic gowns covered in chalk dust - and I think that several of them looked like malevolent bats as they floated by. I found the whole authority/respect thing rather difficult to come to terms with. I could respect people who were good, but not because of what they were. My attempts to organise homework strikes and even refuse a prize did not go down very well - I upset my parents over the prize thing though and had to ask for it back which was embarassing. I also spent much of my school career being moved in my lessons just because I was deemed to be a "chatterbox". I firmly blame my teachers for the fact that I'm quite quiet now - they managed to squash out my talkativeness! All in all, I think these hierarchical structures are probably a bad thing but (IMO) highly amusing! Ali From kirst_inn at yahoo.co.uk Thu Sep 4 17:13:29 2003 From: kirst_inn at yahoo.co.uk (Kirstini) Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 17:13:29 -0000 Subject: Computer Security For Dummies / Shaun's school In-Reply-To: <3F574E1C.000003.88591@monica> Message-ID: Shaun: >>Xavier College, Kew, Victoria - one of the 'Six Great Schools' of Victoria.>> Nope, wasn't that one. Of course, I've forgotten the name of the school in the film now. It definately had "Victoria" in it somewhere, but it ended in "Boy's School" It wasn't Erinsbourough High, Summer Bay High or Heartbreak High either.. ;P Cindy, those books sound lots of fun. I may have to go and waste some time on Amazon. As opposed to Yahoo. I love hearing about all the sniggersome prefect traditions. My school did have them at one point, but by the time I got to 6th year, a new hippy headmaster had been installed. He changed the school's Latin motto "Fidelis et Fortis" to "We value and respect the diversity which exists among people", abolished the uniform, and relaced the prefects with the Senior Executive Commitee, whose duties included "befriending" first year pupils, organising dances, repainting the Sixth Year common room and dressing up in cutesy girlie Santa-frocks at the Christmas Carol Concert (actually, that one was just me, although I was accompanied by Frosty the Snowman). It was all terribly pc (except the last bit. That costume was *short*.), but I did have a bit of a hankering for some good old fashioned disciplinary action occasionally. K: > Well bearing in mind you just admitted you have no idea of English geography that assumes you can find London. Bugger. I hadn't really thought of that. D'you think if I just got off a train and asked a policeman...? Kirstini, time-waster extraordinare today. From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Thu Sep 4 19:06:47 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 19:06:47 -0000 Subject: Now *there's* a chat-up line! In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Kirstini wrote: > That costume was > *short*.), but I did have a bit of a hankering for some good old > fashioned disciplinary action occasionally. :-) David From cindysphynx at comcast.net Thu Sep 4 19:47:40 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 19:47:40 -0000 Subject: Discipline in Schools Message-ID: Hi, My fourth grader came home from school with an interesting tale today. She started complaining about her teacher, calling her "mean." I asked what Mrs. K had done that was mean. She said that a girl got in trouble for failing to listen. Apparently, the kids were getting ready to leave for the day, and they were supposed to put their chairs on their desks. It seems that this girl moved to quickly and didn't wait for the "chairs on desk" command. The punishment is that the girl was made to stand holding the chair at chest level for about a minute. I've never heard of this in schools. Is it a typical and recommended punishment? I did raise an eyebrow because I believe that prisoners of war are tortured by requiring them to hold a heavy object to muscle failure. Don't worry, I'm not gonna make trouble. I like and support this teacher, and a little discipline never hurt anyone. But I was wondering what is and is not permitted by way of discipline in schools these days. Whatever the current policy is, it can't be worse than the military base schools I attended for a while. They paddled kids in front of the class and taped their mouths shut during recess for talking too much. But I *outsmarted* them, see? I pulled the edge of the tape up so I could talk out of the corner of my mouth. ;-) Cindy -- who was forced to drink her milk with lunch as a kid although she was *allergic* to it, and who remembers that we weren't allowed to *talk* during lunch in the cafeteria From neonsister at ameritech.net Thu Sep 4 20:24:47 2003 From: neonsister at ameritech.net (Tracy) Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 20:24:47 -0000 Subject: Impulsive candy purchase Message-ID: It's a bit too early for me to be buying Halloween candy; but being devoted to Lupin as I am, I could not resist what I found at the store today...chocolate-covered caramel werewolves! Mmmmmmmmmmmm! Tracy From annemehr at yahoo.com Thu Sep 4 20:48:08 2003 From: annemehr at yahoo.com (annemehr) Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2003 20:48:08 -0000 Subject: Computer Security For Dummies / Shaun's school In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Kirstini wrote: > Are the software developers of the world in George Bush's pocket too? > There's not wanting your kids to be exposed to dirty photos, and then > there's censoring every thought ever expressed not in agreement with > your own. I really don't want to offend anyone on list, because you > are all lovely and I don't care which way any of you vote, but the > power of the American right really scares me a bit. Oooh -- I like being lovely. And not offended! :) And don't worry about the power of the American right, because it's really pretty much counterbalanced by the power of the American left. Censorship isn't a "right wing" thing, either -- anyone can do it. Political correctness is just censorship from the left. Every time there's been a case of a whole run of some college newspaper being stolen and burned, it's been because there was something "too conservative" printed in it. And when a "controversial" speaker is shouted down in some auditorium, it's probably because some left-wing people don't think the speaker should be heard. So it happens on both sides. Aside to Cindy C.: Apparently the weapons of mass destruction found so far have been bullets and acid baths -- which killed millions of Iraqis. That's not any better than killing lots of Israelis or Americans or Australians -- what difference does it make what country they're from? 'Course, I realise stopping a tyrant is one thing. Achieving a country where people can live in peace is another thing altogether. Annemehr wondering if this list isn't the closest thing to true "fair and balanced" there is... From heidit at netbox.com Thu Sep 4 21:37:47 2003 From: heidit at netbox.com (Heidi Tandy) Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2003 17:37:47 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Computer Security For Dummies (WAS NetNanny and Firewall) In-Reply-To: <3F564183.3040706@ipartner.com.pl> References: <3F564183.3040706@ipartner.com.pl> Message-ID: <1062711481.32EFA884@w5.dngr.org> >> Oh, I do! The computers are in public rooms and the kids aren't >> allowed to close the door. The problem seems to be that they will >> search for something (or wind up with smutty pics installed on their >> desktops) and get a porn reply. So I just want to reduce the >> chances that they'll stumble across something I'd rather they >> didn't. If it blocks breast cancer sites, I can live with that >> restriction. >> >> Are any of the smut blockers better than others? I recommend turning off images for the browser when your child uses it. If you do that, while they may see some obscene words if they accidentally go to a porn site, they won't have obscene pictures right in their face. Of course, there are limitations to this - and if someone knows of a program that won't load images unless you click reload or some specific button of sorts, then I'd love to know about it. It's a potential market, I think, for such a program - for people who want pages to load more quickly as well as those who want to avoid pornographic images without actually overblocking. Heidi From tminton at deckerjones.com Thu Sep 4 22:10:32 2003 From: tminton at deckerjones.com (Tonya Minton) Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2003 17:10:32 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Discipline in Schools Message-ID: <8D5AD53268720840968E25CB71EC7CAE248896@djmail.deckerjones.com> Cindy said Snip The punishment is that the girl was made to stand holding the chair at chest level for about a minute. Snip Now me Tonya OH MY G__. I would be calling the Child services and have an investigation started. That is HORRIBLE. They might as well start using corporal punishment. OKOK I am calming down... maybe there was something else extenuating but I don't think that is an appropriate punishment at all. Just my 2 knuts. Maybe I am over protective but I would have a cow if that child that had to hold the chair up was my child. Tonya (going back to my corner) [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From drednort at alphalink.com.au Thu Sep 4 23:42:49 2003 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 09:42:49 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Discipline in Schools In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <3F585A99.31135.801D9A4@localhost> On 4 Sep 2003 at 19:47, Cindy C. wrote: > Hi, > > My fourth grader came home from school with an interesting tale > today. > > She started complaining about her teacher, calling her "mean." I > asked what Mrs. K had done that was mean. She said that a girl got > in trouble for failing to listen. Apparently, the kids were getting > ready to leave for the day, and they were supposed to put their > chairs on their desks. It seems that this girl moved to quickly and > didn't wait for the "chairs on desk" command. > > The punishment is that the girl was made to stand holding the chair > at chest level for about a minute. I've never heard of this in > schools. Is it a typical and recommended punishment? I did raise > an eyebrow because I believe that prisoners of war are tortured by > requiring them to hold a heavy object to muscle failure. > > Don't worry, I'm not gonna make trouble. I like and support this > teacher, and a little discipline never hurt anyone. But I was > wondering what is and is not permitted by way of discipline in > schools these days. It really depends on where you are - I'm guessing somewhere in the US. That makes things *really* complicated, because in some states, the state has set guidelines on school discipline, whereas in others, it's been left up to the individual school districts, and in still others there are state guidelines that are left up to individual school districts to implement, or even to individual schools. As 23 states of the United States still permit the use of corporal punishment in their schools (again - just because a state permits it, doesn't mean every - or even most - schools in the state use it), it wouldn't particularly surprise me if what you're describing was fully legal and permissable. And speaking as someone who is currently training as a primary school teacher, it honestly doesn't sound that bad to me, depending on the precise circumstances - how heavy the chair was, and in what way the child was expected to hold it would make a huge difference. If the chair is fairly heavy (in terms that are appropriate to the child of course) and/or the child was expected to hold it in a way that could cause serious discomfort, that'd be a very different situation from a light chair (the ones I've seen in primary schools here can be wielded one handed as a weapon by a fourth grade child), held near the body with the top of the chair equal to the chest (which a 9 or 10 year old (that's right for US fourth grade isn't it?) should be able to handle quite easily without significant discomfort.) To find out what is permitted, you'd really need to know the local level guidelines - if you are in the US, and you can let me know your school district, I may be able to find out - it's an issue I take something of an interest in (basically because of the connection of school discipline to bullying in many cases), and because of the studies I'm doing I have easy access to a lot of information and data and that does include local policies for a lot of US school districts. Practices vary widely - there are public schools in the US where corporal punishment is still commonplace, there are others where teachers (at least theoretically) could lose their jobs for raising their voice at a child who'd just set a classmate on fire. > Whatever the current policy is, it can't be worse than the military > base schools I attended for a while. They paddled kids in front of > the class and taped their mouths shut during recess for talking too > much. The fact is, I support corporal punishment and often get down on my knees and thank God I started at one of the few schools in my state which had it when I was 13 (-8 Personally, I think it's sometimes appropriate - that doesn't mean I think it hasn't been overused a *lot* at various times in the past, but I think, if it's applied fairly and in a reasonably limited fashion, it has a place. As for tape on the mouth - well, that was normal practice in the primary schools I attended in the 1980s (-8 And frankly, nobody really seemed to care. > But I *outsmarted* them, see? I pulled the edge of the tape up so I > could talk out of the corner of my mouth. ;-) > > Cindy -- who was forced to drink her milk with lunch as a kid > although she was *allergic* to it, and who remembers that we weren't > allowed to *talk* during lunch in the cafeteria Heh - I was allergic to the trousers I had to wear to school from the time I was 13. I spent all winter, every winter, in a state of absolute itching agony until I was nearly 16, often covered in a bright pink rash. The thing was, we were only allowed to wear one specific brand of trousers - the school took school uniform incredibly seriously, and I was an incredibly respectful child who took the school rules very seriously. It never even occurred to me that an exception might be made for medical reasons - so I just suffered in silence. When I was nearly 16, while I was changing for sport, somebody else - actually it was a prefect (doing his job - this is yet another example of what they do), noticed me scratching my legs and commented on how red my legs looked. I said they'd always been that way every winter (the shorts we wore in summer were a different material). The penny dropped for him, and he told me that I should see the Matron. I basically said, No - it wasn't that important. I'd grown used to feeling like I bathed in essence of poison ivy every night. He got annoyed at how stubborn I was, and demanded I see the Matron. I told him I didn't want to make any fuss and he should mind his own business. As soon as he got back to the boarding house, he went straight to the Matron and told her what he had seen. And she took a fundamentally direct approach - she walked in on me in the shower the following morning when I was starkers - and exploded about how stupid I was (-8 Being lectured on how moronic you are to have put up with severe discomfort for two years at the age of 15 while dripping wet and stark naked by an enraged 40 year old woman is an interesting experience. It gets even more interesting when you are stupid enough to try and tell her that she should mind her own business as well. Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html (ISTJ) | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia From editor at texas.net Fri Sep 5 02:12:15 2003 From: editor at texas.net (Amanda Geist) Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2003 21:12:15 -0500 Subject: Fw: Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First?" meets the 21st century ... Message-ID: <00b001c37353$21673e80$3605a6d8@texas.net> Totally OT. Sorry, but I loved this. Using my usual standard of "I haven't seen this one before" I send it along. ~Amanda > ABBOTT: Ultimate SuperDuper Computer Store. Can I help you? > > COSTELLO: Thanks. I'm setting up a home office in the den, and I'm thinking of buying a computer. > > ABBOTT: Mac? > > COSTELLO: No, the name is Lou. > > ABBOTT: Your computer? > > COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one. > > ABBOTT: Mac? > > COSTELLO: I told you, my name is Lou. > > ABBOTT: What about Windows? > > COSTELLO: Why? Does it get stuffy? > > ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows? > > COSTELLO: I don't know. What do I see when I look out the windows? > > ABBOTT: Wallpaper. > > COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software. > > ABBOTT: Software that runs on Windows? > > COSTELLO: No, on the computer! I need something I can use to write > proposals, track expenses. You know, run a business. What have you got? > > ABBOTT: Office. > > COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything? > > ABBOTT: I just did. > > COSTELLO: You just did what? > > ABBOTT: Recommended something. > > COSTELLO: You recommended something? > > ABBOTT: Yes. > > COSTELLO: For my office? > > ABBOTT: Yes. > > COSTELLO: Okay, what did you recommend for my office? > > ABBOTT: Office. > > COSTELLO: Yes, for my office. > > ABBOTT: Office for Windows. > > COSTELLO: I already have an office and it already has windows! Let's say I'm > sitting at my computer, and I want to type a proposal. What do I need? > > ABBOTT: Word. > > COSTELLO: If I'm writing a proposal, I'm going to need lots of words. But what program do I load? > > ABBOTT: Word. > > COSTELLO: What word? > > ABBOTT: The Word in Office. > > COSTELLO: The only word in office is office. > > ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows. > > COSTELLO: Which word in "office for windows?" > > ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue W. > > COSTELLO: I'm going to click your big W if you don't give me a straight > answer. Let's forget about words for a minute. What do I need if I want to watch a movie over the Internet? > > ABBOTT: RealOne. > > COSTELLO: Maybe a real movie, maybe a cartoon. What I watch is none of your business. But what do I need to watch it? > > ABBOTT: RealOne. > > COSTELLO: If it's a long movie I'll also want to watch reels two, three and four. Can I watch reel four? > > ABBOTT: Of course. > > COSTELLO: Great! With what? > > ABBOTT: RealOne. > > COSTELLO: Okay, so I'm sitting at my computer and I want to watch a movie. What do I do? > > ABBOTT: You click the blue 1. > > COSTELLO: I click the blue one what? > > ABBOTT: The blue 1. > > COSTELLO: Is that different from the blue W? > > ABBOTT: Of course it is. The blue 1 is RealOne. The blue W is Word. > > COSTELLO: What word? > > ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows. > > COSTELLO: But there's three words in "office for windows!" > > ABBOTT: No, just one. But it's the most popular Word in the world. > > COSTELLO: It is? > > ABBOTT: Yes, although to be fair, there aren't many other Words left. It > pretty much wiped out all the other Words. > > COSTELLO: And that word is the real one? > > ABBOTT: No. RealOne has nothing to do with Word. RealOne isn't even part of Office. > > COSTELLO: Never mind; I don't want to get started with that again. But I > also need something for bank accounts, loans, and so on. What do you have to > help me track my money? > > ABBOTT: Money. > > COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have? > > ABBOTT: Money. > > COSTELLO: I need money to track my money? > > ABBOTT: No, not really. It comes bundled with your computer. > > COSTELLO: What comes bundled with my computer? > > ABBOTT: Money. > > COSTELLO: Money comes bundled with my computer? > > ABBOTT: Exactly! No extra charge. > > COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer at no extra charge? How much money do I get? > > ABBOTT: Just one copy. > > COSTELLO: I get a copy of money. Isn't that illegal? > > ABBOTT: No. We have a license from Microsoft to make copies of Money. > > COSTELLO: Microsoft can license you to make money? > > ABBOTT: Why not? They own it. > > COSTELLO: Well, it's great that I'm going to get free money, but I'll still need to track it. Do you have anything for managing your money? > > ABBOTT: Managing Your Money? That program disappeared years ago. > > COSTELLO: Well, what do you sell in its place? > > ABBOTT: Money. > > COSTELLO: You sell money? > > ABBOTT: Of course. But if you buy a computer from us, you get it for free. > > COSTELLO: That's all very wonderful, but I'll be running a business. Do you have any software for, you know, accounting? > > ABBOTT: Simply Accounting. > > COSTELLO: Probably, but it might get a little complicated. > > ABBOTT: If you don't want Simply Accounting, you might try M.Y.O.B. > > COSTELLO: M.Y.O.B.? What does that stand for? > > ABBOTT: Mind Your Own Business. > > COSTELLO: I beg your pardon? > > ABBOTT: No, that would be I.B.Y.P. I said "M.Y.O.B." > > COSTELLO: Look, I just need to do some accounting for my home business. You know -- accounting? You do it with money. > > ABBOTT: Of course you can do accounting with Money. But you may need more. > > COSTELLO: More money? > > ABBOTT: More than Money. Money can't do everything. > > COSTELLO: I don't need a sermon! Okay, let's forget about money for the > moment. I'm worried that my computer might ... what's the word? Crash. And if my computer crashes, what can I use to restore my data? > > ABBOTT: GoBack. > > COSTELLO: Okay. I'm worried about my computer smashing and I need something to restore my data. What do you recommend? > > ABBOTT: GoBack. > > COSTELLO: How many times do I have to repeat myself? > > ABBOTT: I've never asked you to repeat yourself. All I said was GoBack. > > COSTELLO: How can I go back if I haven't even been anywhere? Okay, I'll go back. What do I need to write a proposal? > > ABBOTT: Word. > > COSTELLO: But I'll need lots of words to write a proposal. > > ABBOTT: No, you only need one Word -- the Word in Office for Windows. > > COSTELLO: But there's three words in ... Oh, never mind. > > ABBOTT: Hello? Hello? Customers! Why do they always hang up on me? Oh, well. > Ultimate Super Duper Computer Store. Can I help you? > > _________________________________________________________________ > Use custom emotions -- try MSN Messenger 6.0! > http://www.msnmessenger-download.com/tracking/reach_emoticon > > > > **************************************************************************** * > "CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This transmission (including any > accompanying attachments) is confidential, is intended only for the > individual or entity named above, and is likely to contain privileged, > proprietary and confidential information that is exempt from disclosure > requests under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, > you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, use > of or reliance upon any of the information contained in this transmission > is strictly prohibited. Any inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure shall not compromise or waive the confidentiality of this transmission or any applicable attorney-client privilege. > > If you have received this transmission in error, please immediately > notify us at postmaster at kci1.com." > > > Kinetic Concepts, Inc. > > **************************************************************************** ** > From drednort at alphalink.com.au Fri Sep 5 03:28:52 2003 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 03:28:52 -0000 Subject: Prefects, Headboys and Headgirls in Real Life In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Ali" wrote: > Morgan D. wrote of Shaun's prefect experience:- > > >>> And your description of the job gave me both the insight of why > some students would want so badly to be a Prefect and consider it a > huge honour, and also while others, like the twins, would dismiss > the whole thing with scorn<<< > > This is dangerously near on-topic, but in my experience the twins > were unusual for dismissing the whole prefect set-up. I think that > their rebellion against it had alot to do with their mother's > idolation of the "award" and Percy's attitude. Yes, I'd have to agree with this - the twins are a little unusual on this issue. Most people tend to go along with it, even if they think it's a little odd at times. Of course at my school, the twins would have found themselves with a good chance of *being* prefects in the hope that it would teach them some responsibility (-8. But my school did operate a little differently from Hogwarts in that regard - the fact that Hogwarts seems to choose only two prefects per house per year means that it can't really afford to appoint prefects who don't seem nearly certain to work out effectively. My school appointed enough that they could take a few risks a year (hey, I was probably one of those risks). > The prefect system is something that many Brits (and obviously some > Aussies) are brought up with, it's part of our culture. I rebelled > against a lot of things at school. Authorities don't really like it > if you rebel, so really I could not have expected to be made a > prefect, *but* I was still disappointed when I wasn't. Australian education in general has adopted a fair few British traditions, but my school was still fairly unusual as in many ways, it was virtually a transplanted British school with British traditions - it was one of a number of schools (six in my state - probably around 20-30 across the country) set up in the nineteenth century as close to carbon copies of what people thought the 'best' British schools were like - largely in an effort to stop rich and powerful people in the Australian colonies (as they then were) feeling the necessity to send their sons all the way to England for schooling - which because of the lengths of the sea voyages involved could mean sending a child away for years at a stretch. Set up to copy the British schools, they did it quite effectively, and even today, while they have evolved and are part of Australian culture, they still maintain a lot of the older traditions - the uniforms (check me out at http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/8017/uniform.jpg to see me at age 15 in school togs), the buildings... really, I'm quite serious when I say Hogwarts similarity to where I went to school is one of the reasons the HP books appealed to me. > Truthfully, prefects are unpaid dogsbodies. They do the pastorial > duties that the teachers don't want to do. In my school this > including things like stopping kids pushing in the queue at dinner > time, stopping them from running in the "Quad", making them put out > chairs for assemblies and picking up litter. I remember getting > prefect detentions when I was forced to pick up orange peel just so > the prefect could ask out my friend. Hmm... Ooh, abuse of powers! Depends on the schools - abuse like that would seriously *not* have been tolerated at my school - before anything else happened, the other prefects would have taken matters into their own hands. > In return for being a dogsbody, a prefect at my school got the > honour of wearing a badge that they had to give back at the end of > the year (we had had prefects from only the last year of school). Oh > yes, and they got the privilege of a room that only they were > allowed to use - I was once kicked out of it by the Head Girl as I > wasn't a prefect. But, that wasn't much of a privilege as my friends > who were prefects then spent the majority of their time with me and > the rest of our friends and so used the room only to dump their > stuff in. I think my school handled it better. Our privileges were different - prefects wore a special tie and had special colours woven into their blazer pockets (although they were also only prefects for their final year). And many did use their little rooms - if at no other time, than when they had free periods so they could avoid having to find a desk in the study hall (which could be very cold in winter). > The only real benefit I think that prefects got was they could > proudly put on their CVs and University application forms that they > had been a prefect. Like that really makes a lot of difference! Some > did really love their sense of power though, and *would* bully > younger kids. A problem I have heard about - but not one I had to deal with fortunately. It just wasn't done. > I blame Elkins, but I can nolonger read or hear about any of our > bizarre little school systems without an intense desire to snigger. > Like Hogwarts, my school had 4 houses, but we were split according > to geographic location which made better sense for us than trying to > work out our personalities. Practically everything that could be was > turned into an "Inter-House" competition, although we didn't have > House points or an overall house cup (My primary school did > though!). Our school teachers wandered round in their academic gowns > covered in chalk dust - and I think that several of them looked like > malevolent bats as they floated by. We did have a house system (eight of them at my school) and, yeah, virtually everything was a house activity. My house was generally pretty hopeless at most of them (-8 > I found the whole authority/respect thing rather difficult to come > to terms with. I could respect people who were good, but not because > of what they were. My attempts to organise homework strikes and > even refuse a prize did not go down very well - I upset my parents > over the prize thing though and had to ask for it back which was > embarassing. I also spent much of my school career being moved in my > lessons just because I was deemed to be a "chatterbox". I firmly > blame my teachers for the fact that I'm quite quiet now - they > managed to squash out my talkativeness! At my school, most people really seemed to want to be there - even the rebels seemed to fundamentally respect the basic principles of the school. Not sure if that was always a good thing - but it did mean that the whole system generally worked well because it did work with the tacit support of all involved. And me - well, I did take the traditions seriously - more seriously than most probably. For me that was because I did *not* come from the traditional background of most of the boys at the school - my father was a nightwatchman at the time I started there, and I had had a year of hellish experience in another far more common type of school. So I *really* and *truly* valued my school, and its ways and its traditions, and truly did feel privileged to be a part of them. I grew up reading school stories about the British schools of the early to mid 20th century, while attending normal Australian suburban schools, which I largely hated. Suddenly finding myself against all expectations at one of the country's 'top' schools, of the type I had escaped to as a reader, was pretty close to heaven and a miracle. Even after I found out that just like in the books, corporal punishment was part of the deal! > All in all, I think these hierarchical structures are probably a bad > thing but (IMO) highly amusing! I, personally, think they can be a good thing - if done properly. At my school, it really was a two way street - yes, prefects had privileges, but they really had real responsibilities as well. They could discipline their younger schoolmates - but they also had to look out for them. And while we did, virtually automatically, respect the position, if anyone ever abused it they would have lost that pretty quickly. Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html (ISTJ) | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia From drednort at alphalink.com.au Fri Sep 5 11:05:18 2003 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 21:05:18 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Computer Security For Dummies / Shaun's school In-Reply-To: References: <3F574E1C.000003.88591@monica> Message-ID: <3F58FA8E.19848.B9A74D@localhost> On 4 Sep 2003 at 17:13, Kirstini wrote: > Nope, wasn't that one. Of course, I've forgotten the name of the > school in the film now. It definately had "Victoria" in it somewhere, > but it ended in "Boy's School" It wasn't Erinsbourough High, Summer > Bay High or Heartbreak High either.. ;P Ah, yes, Australia's contributions to world culture. (-8 You now have me wanting to rent Priscilla, just to see what school was mentioned. I can't think of any school that matches at the moment. > Cindy, those books sound lots of fun. I may have to go and waste some > time on Amazon. As opposed to Yahoo. > > I love hearing about all the sniggersome prefect traditions. My > school did have them at one point, but by the time I got to 6th year, > a new hippy headmaster had been installed. He changed the school's > Latin motto "Fidelis et Fortis" to "We value and respect the > diversity which exists among people", abolished the uniform, and > relaced the prefects with the Senior Executive Commitee, whose duties > included "befriending" first year pupils, organising dances, > repainting the Sixth Year common room and dressing up in cutesy > girlie Santa-frocks at the Christmas Carol Concert (actually, that > one was just me, although I was accompanied by Frosty the Snowman). > It was all terribly pc (except the last bit. That costume was > *short*.), but I did have a bit of a hankering for some good old > fashioned disciplinary action occasionally. If we'd ever wound up with a headmaster like that, he'd probably have wound up in the crypt. (-8 I shudder to think of my school's traditions having vanished in that way - not that there weren't a few that could have stood a little bit of reform but most of them were very precious to us. Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html (ISTJ) | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia From erisedstraeh2002 at yahoo.com Fri Sep 5 15:00:12 2003 From: erisedstraeh2002 at yahoo.com (Phyllis) Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 15:00:12 -0000 Subject: In Honor of New Kindergarteners Message-ID: My daughter is starting kindergarten on Monday, as are her cousins who live in California and Pennsylvania. I wrote this poem in their honor, but thought I'd post it here for all HPfGU-ers who have children starting kindergarten this fall. Congratulations! The Garden of Children For Drew, Jack and Grace Into the garden of children Three cousins shall venture To find loving teachers Who guide without censure On the school bus they'll travel While their parents unravel To learn how to play Without pushing others away Letters and numbers they'll learn And letting each take a turn Building castles out of blocks Catching some of life's hard knocks The library they'll enter Becoming book renters To the gym they will dash Playing tag in a flash On the playground they'll climb When the weather is fine >From their backpacks, a treat A mother's small feat >From the garden of children Three cousins return home To find loving families Who water the seeds sown ~Phyllis From kirst_inn at yahoo.co.uk Fri Sep 5 16:59:22 2003 From: kirst_inn at yahoo.co.uk (Kirstini) Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 16:59:22 -0000 Subject: Microsoft Office Message-ID: Oops. I've accidentally applied for a job which requires me to have extensive knowledge of Microsoft Office. And I may have accidentally mentioned on my enclosed letter that I was quite proficient in said software manipulation. Now I come to think about it, it may have popped up somewhere on my cv too. I might have also put something about being "highly computer literate..." Ummm - I don't really know how to work Microsoft Office (although I've done a bit of Power Point stuff)...does anyone on list? Would it take me a long time to learn -i.e, more than three weeks? Should I perhaps just kill myself now? I may die of embarrassment anyway. Kirstini (begging no-one to reply saying something like "Power Point isn't in Microsoft Office", as I've already suffered heartache today when my housemate pointed out that 58wpm really isn't that fast...) From lynntownsend100 at yahoo.com Fri Sep 5 17:25:20 2003 From: lynntownsend100 at yahoo.com (Lynn) Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 10:25:20 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Fwd: [bardsden_fic] Slash Demographics Survey Message-ID: <20030905172520.72292.qmail@web41405.mail.yahoo.com> I don't know to how many of you this would apply to, but I'm posting this just in case... Oh, BTW, to anyone who has read all 5 books,(But not nessisarily any fan fics) is there ANYONE out there who can tell me why in almost EVERY ff that I've read, Seamus is almost always portrayed as (for lack of a better phrase) *ahem* a "gay slut". Usually anything *that* universal would be based on something from the books.(I.E. Sirius/Remus and the hug from PoS[Prisoner of Azkaban]) I'm just wondering if there's something that I've missed. If anyone has any ideas, PLEASE send me a reply.either at the group, or my personal e-mail. Thanks! -lynntownsend a.k.a. Lynns_forwards list mum Message: 1 Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 14:18:48 -0700 From: Rushlight Subject: Slash Demographics Survey For those who may not know me, I'm a slash writer who goes by the pseudonym Rushlight. I've been writing slash for the past six years, and have been involved in several different fandoms. There seem to be a great deal of assumptions flying around about the demographics of the slash community, none of which have any particular objective basis. In response to the recent debates I've been witnessing on this issue, I decided to post this survey. All results will be completely anonymous, and are intended only to get an accurate view of the demographics of the slash community. For the purposes of this survey, SLASH is defined as: "fictional stories portraying characters from a published media (e.g., television series, movie, comic, anime, book, etc.) having romantic and/or sexual feelings toward another character of the same gender." These stories may or may not include scenes of explicit sex between the characters. Please email all responses to Rushlight at n_sanity75 at hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Slash demographics survey: Please answer the following questions as honestly as possible. All results will remain anonymous. 1. Your gender 2. Your age 3. Highest level of education 4. What fandoms are you active in (or have been active in in the past)? 5. Do you read slash fiction, write slash fiction, or do both? 6. Do you read/write m/m pairings, f/f pairings, or both? 7. On the following scale of 0-6, how do you rate your sexual orientation? 0 (exclusively heterosexual) 1 2 3 (equally homosexual/heterosexual) 4 5 6 (exclusively homosexual) 8. If you are a writer, do you write original fiction in addition to slash fiction? 9. Any other demographics or comments you care to share ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * Email your answers to Rushlight at n_sanity75 at hotmail.com Feel free to distribute this survey (with all the header information intact) to any slash writers or readers you feel might find it of interest. The more responses I get, the more accurate the results will be. Thank you for participating! Harry Potter Fandom...it's not just a philosophy...it's a way of life... -"Nancy Button" http://www.nancybuttons.com "No,no one f*cks about with you if you're carrying a big heavy stick." -Jason Issacs on being Lucius Malfoy Slash Fic Writer: We don't own them,we just borrow them and turn them gay... --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From melclaros at yahoo.com Fri Sep 5 17:48:36 2003 From: melclaros at yahoo.com (melclaros) Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 17:48:36 -0000 Subject: Prefects, Headboys and Headgirls in Real Life In-Reply-To: <3F5505B9.3369.12C55BD@localhost> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Shaun Hately" wrote: > OK - now I know this got through (thanks to those who let me know), I'll > add a little bit to it. Thank you for this! (And the previous post) I found them both fascinating. You have a book in you. I have to ask, did the mother live and did the bully hit you? And just to keep in on topic--reading that part, about sitting with a younger student at such a harrowing time and intervening in the *middle* of a violent bullying incident--I'd be interested in your opinion of Remus' actions/nonactions in OoP during the infamous "pensieve scene". Melpomene From pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk Fri Sep 5 19:31:47 2003 From: pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk (bluesqueak) Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 19:31:47 -0000 Subject: Discipline in Schools In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Cindy wrote: > The punishment is that the girl was made to stand holding the > chair at chest level for about a minute. I've never heard of this > in schools. Is it a typical and recommended punishment? I did > raise an eyebrow because I believe that prisoners of war are > tortured by requiring them to hold a heavy object to muscle > failure. > Don't worry, I'm not gonna make trouble. I like and support this > teacher, and a little discipline never hurt anyone. But I was > wondering what is and is not permitted by way of discipline in > schools these days. > It's legal in the UK. There was a re-enactment program on 1950's schools recently (i.e. a bunch of 16 year olds agreed to spend a month at a fictional boarding school run to 1950's rules, 1950's food and 1950's teaching style). Because the cane (which was very definitely used in 1950's UK schools) is now illegal, holding weights at chest level was one of the punishments used as an equivalent. [They made a point of having one of the teachers say that he'd tried it out himself before making the child do it - and the teacher had lasted two minutes longer than the child did ]. It was a fascinating programme for the HP fan - because there was the Snape teaching style, in all its glory. Teachers in gowns, silence in class, detentions or other punishments for 'minor' offenses, absolute insistence on 'sir' and 'miss' or the teachers title. Shouting, sarcasm, publicly humiliating students by pointing out their mistakes to the entire class. The interesting thing is how quickly the kids adapted to this very harsh style. Out of thirty, only one had so many problems with the discipline that they had to be told to leave the 'school'. Three kids got gigged for breaking the 'six inch rule' (boys and girls may not be closer together than six inches). The punishment was to get up an hour early and go for an invigorating swim in an icy cold pool. The director asked one of the kids how he felt about it. The reply was 'It achieved its purpose. I won't be breaking that rule again.' Pip!Squeak From hypercolor99 at hotmail.com Fri Sep 5 19:32:38 2003 From: hypercolor99 at hotmail.com (alice_loves_cats) Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 19:32:38 -0000 Subject: Silly question - Dumbledore in London Message-ID: Hello everybody... Just come back from my annual relation-visiting trip to England, and I'm full of stupid, mostly rethorical, questions. Like: Does Dumbledore's scar include the Jubilee Line Extension and the Docklands Light Railway? This came to me when I went to the Museum in the Docklands ? I hadn't been to the Docklands since it was all rebuilt, so I was pretty much amazed. I came out of the Tube at Canary Wharf and found myself in 2083. Futuristic is just not a good enough word. Question Number Two: What the Hell is Dumbledore doing on the posters of the Underground's whopping great new marketing campaign, in full view of several million Muggles, wearing his usual violet outfit, pictured attacking a Quick Ticket Machine with the words "You love an easier journey" written on the top of the poster? I pondered this several times whilst sitting on the Tube. It's a lengthy occupation in London at the best of times. I also wondered whether Dumbledore had undergone laser eye treatment so as to get rid of his half-moon glasses, which are spectacularly missing from the picture. Maybe he is trying to stop people recognising him. No chance, old boy! My second cousin Eleanor and I are starting a campaign. Our goal is to convince J. K. Rowling to reveal Harry's exam results at once. We have decided that making people wait for their exam results for months is torture anyway (in Hungary, it's a wait of maximum 4 days, by law), but making millions of people wait possibly several years is beyond cruelty. As the news triumphantly interviewed the kids with the best/worst GCSE results, and everybody was seen flapping their papers and either laughing, crying, or trying to look unmoved, millions of Harry Potter fans around the world sat, subdued, at the prospect of their looong wait ahead. Oh. Well. Maybe it was just the two of us sitting subdued. Anyway, if you would like to become an activist in the campaign, I suggest contacting J. K. Rowling straight away. Unfortunately you will get no help from Eleanor and me. We consider to have "done our bit" by launching the campaign in the first place. :-) But enough about wizards. Let's concentrate on some other important characters. Take Dudley, for instance. Unbeknownst to me, several books have been written about Dudley and Dudley only. This might console fans of Redeemed!Dudley. Dudley, in the series of books I mention, is a pig. My favourite book is called "Eat up, Dudley!" Inside is the story of Dudley consuming an enormous amount of foodstuff. Fair enough. Other titles include "Dress up, Dudley!" and "Come along, Dudley!", if I remember correctly. So much for now. :-) Love, Alice From bettedavisgreen at aol.com Fri Sep 5 19:35:26 2003 From: bettedavisgreen at aol.com (bettedavisgreen at aol.com) Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 15:35:26 EDT Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Microsoft Office Message-ID: <11a.27dafbf5.2c8a3f7e@aol.com> Dans un e-mail dat? du 05/09/2003 19:01:03 Paris, Madrid, kirst_inn at yahoo.co.uk a ?crit : > Oops. I've accidentally applied for a job which requires me to have > extensive knowledge of Microsoft Office. And I may have accidentally > mentioned on my enclosed letter that I was quite proficient in said > software manipulation. Now I come to think about it, it may have > popped up somewhere on my cv too. I might have also put something > about being "highly computer literate..." > Ummm - I don't really know how to work Microsoft Office (although > I've done a bit of Power Point stuff)...does anyone on list? Would it > take me a long time to learn -i.e, more than three weeks? Should I > perhaps just kill myself now? I may die of embarrassment anyway. > Kirstini > (begging no-one to reply saying something like "Power Point isn't in > Microsoft Office", as I've already suffered heartache today when my > housemate pointed out that 58wpm really isn't that fast...) Well... I've just had to do a cv in French, where I've managed to erase all the gaps in my professional past (all in Portugal, how are they going to check I actually didn't spend all that time in each place? Anyways, it was just for the national employment agency, I'm not actually looking for a job...). But skills... that's tough... I think you can learn Office in three weeks. If you work really hard. Anyway, if you've done PowerPoint (depending exactly what you've done: shows? typing? creating boxes? defining image properties?), it's less hard. Now, I've never really had lessons, I just picked it up, started with (what version was it, the one for Windows 3.1?) and then tried them all, 95 to XP (aka 2002). I'm quite proficient these days, even if I'm learning stuff everyday. But I had time, I started (actually pretty late...) in 97. And it's the only thing I know, found Works too limited, and though I've heard great things about Star Office (the one used mostly with Linux, I believe?) I've never even installed it just to take a look. The best thing you can do in these 3 weeks is: take hold of a nice, knowleadgeable friend and get working. Use Office's Help a LOT. There are great books out there, the for dummies series (tried it, found it great, especially if you're starting). Check out Microsoft's site, and their templates, explore loads of them (they're great to learn formatting) http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/templategallery/ But most of all, it takes practice. And the best is if you have someone you can be with that can show you, answer doubts, teach tricks... You can do it. You just have to do it a full-time job for the limited time you have. And it's a great skill to have. BTW, PowerPoint IS part of Office. Main ones are Word and Excel, then you have PowerPoint, then Access, then Publisher. Not quite sure whether Frontpage and Project are considered part of Office though. I think you can say you're highly literate if you master Word pretty well (eg, actually create a brochure from scratch, with different formatting, sections, images, and actually be able to print it in coulour on the right sides of the page - that is quite a challenge... and get round their fax templates...), get around Excel (not really creating financial 5-year reports, but at least get your formulas right, create graphics, do a nice page setup - I tend to think I'm pretty advanced just because I can merge cells and do text orientation... but I've seen people who say they're great and can't even rename a worksheet...), and create a nice show in PowerPoint. And not mess up an Access database (I'm going into creating them!!! Hurrah for me!!!) And I think with work, motivation and congenital curio sity it can be done in not a long time... Cristina [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From hypercolor99 at hotmail.com Fri Sep 5 19:39:25 2003 From: hypercolor99 at hotmail.com (alice_loves_cats) Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 19:39:25 -0000 Subject: Discipline in Schools In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Pip wrote: > It's legal in the UK. There was a re-enactment program on 1950's > schools recently (i.e. a bunch of 16 year olds agreed to spend a > month at a fictional boarding school run to 1950's rules, 1950's > food and 1950's teaching style). > > Because the cane (which was very definitely used in 1950's UK > schools) is now illegal, holding weights at chest level was one of > the punishments used as an equivalent. > > [They made a point of having one of the teachers say that he'd tried > it out himself before making the child do it - and the teacher had > lasted two minutes longer than the child did ]. > > It was a fascinating programme for the HP fan - because there was > the Snape teaching style, in all its glory. Teachers in gowns, > silence in class, detentions or other punishments for 'minor' > offenses, absolute insistence on 'sir' and 'miss' or the teachers > title. Shouting, sarcasm, publicly humiliating students by pointing > out their mistakes to the entire class. > > The interesting thing is how quickly the kids adapted to this very > harsh style. Out of thirty, only one had so many problems with the > discipline that they had to be told to leave the 'school'. > > Three kids got gigged for breaking the 'six inch rule' (boys and > girls may not be closer together than six inches). The punishment > was to get up an hour early and go for an invigorating swim in an > icy cold pool. > > The director asked one of the kids how he felt about it. The reply > was 'It achieved its purpose. I won't be breaking that rule again.' > > Pip!Squeak Alice comments: I know this wasn't the point of your mail, but I jumped at the mention of the programme: Did you find that sort of Snape-ish discipline at all convincing? I always had the feeling that the teachers were in fact really nice, easy-going Arthur Weasley type people pretending to be strict. Sure, there were punishments, but it was all a game, and, mainly, a TV show - not convincing, but fun to watch. But then I only watched a couple of programmes, as I wasn't in England long enough to watch them all. Alice From pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk Fri Sep 5 20:02:11 2003 From: pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk (bluesqueak) Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 20:02:11 -0000 Subject: Microsoft Office In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Kirstini" wrote: > Oops. I've accidentally applied for a job which requires me to > have extensive knowledge of Microsoft Office. And I may have > accidentally mentioned on my enclosed letter that I was quite > proficient in said software manipulation. Now I come to think > about it, it may have popped up somewhere on my cv too. I might > have also put something about being "highly computer literate..." > Ummm - I don't really know how to work Microsoft Office (although > I've done a bit of Power Point stuff)...does anyone on list? Would > it take me a long time to learn -i.e, more than three weeks? > Should I perhaps just kill myself now? I may die of embarrassment > anyway. > Kirstini > (begging no-one to reply saying something like "Power Point isn't > in Microsoft Office", as I've already suffered heartache today > when my housemate pointed out that 58wpm really isn't that fast...) Anything over 50 wpm is usually perfectly acceptable these days (unless they expect you to spend the entire day copy-typing). I learnt my Office skills by using a CD rom teaching program. The one I used, Step by Step, is out of print atm, but if you've got a specialist computer bookshop in your town ;-), they'll probably have a selection. They can be expensive, but you have to figure 'how much are these job skills worth to me?'. Also try Amazon, and look what the approval ratings are on various courses. The CD rom will usually run you through all the expected skills - if you treat it as a full time course, you should be OK in 3 weeks. Mine also had the unexpected bonus that I can now manage a very nice Californian accent ;-) Pip!Squeak [The classic acting 'oops, I lied' is the actress who was asked if she could swim. She said yes, and then was told the scene involved being out at sea, drowning. Desperate for the job she shrugged mentally, smiled, and said 'Drowning? Oh, that's one of my specialities.' ] From pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk Fri Sep 5 20:46:31 2003 From: pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk (bluesqueak) Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2003 20:46:31 -0000 Subject: Discipline in Schools In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > Alice comments: > Did you find that sort of Snape-ish discipline at all convincing? I > always had the feeling that the teachers were in fact really nice, > easy-going Arthur Weasley type people pretending to be strict. > Sure,there were punishments, but it was all a game, and, mainly, a > TV show - not convincing, but fun to watch. > If you want *convincing* you hire professional actors [big, evil grin]. Yes, I think the producers had taken particular care to select teachers who were not genuinely sadistic or power crazed. ;-) But I experienced that teaching style, and I can remember some teachers who used it with an undercurrent of 'it's all a game'. It was probably as realistic as you could expect from modern, professional teachers who knew they were working with 16 year old kids who'd given up 4 weeks of their holidays. I'm quite sure it wasn't as nasty as the 1950's schools that most of the teachers remembered. ;-) And I did like the way the teachers were obviously enjoying being able to *make* the kids do things that the teachers knew they were capable of, but which the kids themselves hadn't realised they had in them. I think what I really enjoyed was, after seeing endless posts along the lines of 'if Snape were a RW teacher he'd be fired in an instant' was something that showed JKR is using a recognised teaching style from the not-too-distant past. I'm about JKR's age, and I remember that style. And I remember teachers who abused it, and *were* genuinely nasty. And they were *not* fired. Yup, a fun show to watch. Pip!Squeak From drednort at alphalink.com.au Fri Sep 5 22:45:06 2003 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 08:45:06 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Microsoft Office In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <3F599E92.6666.33A6DC0@localhost> On 5 Sep 2003 at 16:59, Kirstini wrote: > Oops. I've accidentally applied for a job which requires me to have > extensive knowledge of Microsoft Office. And I may have accidentally > mentioned on my enclosed letter that I was quite proficient in said > software manipulation. Now I come to think about it, it may have > popped up somewhere on my cv too. I might have also put something > about being "highly computer literate..." > Ummm - I don't really know how to work Microsoft Office (although > I've done a bit of Power Point stuff)...does anyone on list? Would it > take me a long time to learn -i.e, more than three weeks? Should I > perhaps just kill myself now? I may die of embarrassment anyway. > Kirstini > (begging no-one to reply saying something like "Power Point isn't in > Microsoft Office", as I've already suffered heartache today when my > housemate pointed out that 58wpm really isn't that fast...) Kirstini, if you have Office available to you (so you can practice), get a good book about its ins and outs, if you can and start practicing. If you can do PowerPoint, you obviously have at least intermediate-level Office skills already, and three weeks should be more than enough to develop fairly advanced skills. As for typing speed, 58WPM isn't actually too bad - it depens on the job - for a professional typist, it'd be borderline today - for someone who is expected to type as part of their job, it's fairly reasonable (where I work 70WPM is considered fast, 45 WPM is the point of acceptability) and with practice from regular use, you'll find that increasing pretty quickly. Basically, don't panic - you should have time to live up to your CV - but if you can, start today. Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html (ISTJ) | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Sat Sep 6 00:56:52 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 00:56:52 -0000 Subject: Microsoft Office In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says I actually *am* quite proficient in Microsoft Office, and I got that way by fooling around with it; my advice therefore is to temp somewhere where it's on the machine. As for your typing speed, get really into keyboard shortcuts and don't admit to typing any faster than 55. You're not a typist, you're a word processing specialist. More and more nowadays, employers are savvy enough to give actual production tests which favor keyboarders over old fashioned speed- typists. Good luck. --JDR From s_ings at yahoo.com Sat Sep 6 03:48:58 2003 From: s_ings at yahoo.com (Sheryll Townsend) Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 23:48:58 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Happy Birthday, Marina! Message-ID: <20030906034858.66902.qmail@web41109.mail.yahoo.com> *drags out the trusty box of decorations and hurriedly gets the room ready (one eye on the clock while she does it)* Today's birthday honouree is Marina Javor. Birthday owls can be sent care of this list or directly to: lipglossusa at yahoo.com I hope your day has been magical and filled with fun. Happy Birthday, Marina! Sheryll the Birthday Elf ===== http://www.livejournal.com/community/conventionalley/ ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca From s_ings at yahoo.com Sat Sep 6 03:52:38 2003 From: s_ings at yahoo.com (Sheryll Townsend) Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 23:52:38 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Belated Birthday Wishes! Message-ID: <20030906035238.4380.qmail@web41102.mail.yahoo.com> *peers around the corner and sneaks in with trays of food and a very large cake* Yes, I forgot a birthday. Sincere apologies to Athene. Wednesday's birthday honouree was Athene. Belated birthday owls can be sent care of this list or directly to: athene_51 at yahoo.ca I hope your day brought you everything wonderful. Happy Birthday, Athene! Sheryll the Birthday Elf ===== http://www.livejournal.com/community/conventionalley/ ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca From drednort at alphalink.com.au Sat Sep 6 04:17:33 2003 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 14:17:33 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Prefects, Headboys and Headgirls in Real Life In-Reply-To: References: <3F5505B9.3369.12C55BD@localhost> Message-ID: <3F59EC7D.14462.5CFF64@localhost> On 5 Sep 2003 at 17:48, melclaros wrote: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Shaun Hately" > wrote: > > OK - now I know this got through (thanks to those who let me know), > I'll > > add a little bit to it. > > > Thank you for this! (And the previous post) I found them both > fascinating. You have a book in you. I have to ask, did the mother > live and did the bully hit you? Yes, the mother lived - she'd been involved in a serious car accident while in Europe, and her condition was serious enough that it was decided her son shouldn't be sent to her at the time - basically the situation seemed to be that if she died, she was going to die before he could get to her, so there didn't seem much point hurrying. I should just point out that I was not the only one sitting with him during that time - I was there basically my accident - I'd been seeing the Headmaster when the news came in and I'd been sent to get him from his classroom. The head was there throughout the time, the wife of his form master came in - I just didn't feel able to leave myself, I could just feel what he was going through - it was quietly suggested to me a couple of times - by the headmaster, and by our school Captain (our equivalent of 'Head Boy' in the Potterverse) that if I didn't feel I could handle it, nobody would think it wrong for me to leave - but, basically, I didn't feel I could. And, no, the bully didn't hit me - he still had a trace of sanity operating, obviously. > And just to keep in on topic--reading that part, about sitting with a > younger student at such a harrowing time and intervening in the > *middle* of a violent bullying incident--I'd be interested in your > opinion of Remus' actions/nonactions in OoP during the > infamous "pensieve scene". Oh, that's a tough one... OK - basically, I'm thinking back to Lupin's statement early in OotP: "I think Dumbledore may have hoped I would be able to exercise some control over my best friends," said Lupin. "I need scarcely say that I failed miserably." My response is that I kind of hope that Lupin is wrong - I don't think it would have been particularly reasonable for Dumbledore to have appointed him a prefect if that was the reason behind it. Hogwarts does do things a little differently than my old school - prefects there were 17, not 15 at appointment, and that does seem to me to make a general difference - I think it's likely to be a lot easier for a 17 year old to control other 17 year olds than for a 15 year old to do. Even more problematic is the situation that Ron and Hermione find themselves in with the two twins. I've seen the discussions on list about whether Ron is a good prefect or not, because he doesn't seem to want to deal with his brothers - frankly, I would think very badly of the sixth and seventh year prefects of Gryffindor if they, as much as possible, didn't seek to stop Ron (and to a lesser extent, Hermione) having to do so. But I digress. Basically, Remus is in a pretty unenviable situation in the Pensieve scene - not one I'd have liked to have experienced. Assuming he and the others are 15/16 (given the age the OWLs) are taking, it'd be a pretty big ask to expect him to have the maturity to control his friends - and for them to have the maturity to accept his control, IMHO. Especially when you have a situation where I suspect he's had a hard time making friends because of his big secret. So I would hope he hadn't had that type of pressure put on him by anyone else at age 15 - though I can certainly understand him taking it on himself as a special responsibility. But having said all that - frankly, Remus behaviour in the Pensieve scene was pretty reprehensible as a Prefect. You can't stand by while something like that is happening - it's not just the issue that it's wrong, though that is important. There was also other people watching, and frankly, the system is built on respect. If people stand by and see you doing nothing while your friends attack someone, they are not going to accept direction from you either. At least he wasn't directly involved in it. But, then again, you also have to realise that the responsibility isn't always easy to take, and frankly, you probably get it wrong a fair bit - I wouldn't condemn Remus for his failures based on one incident - provided he came to realise them at some point, and didn't keep repeating them - and from what we know, James matured, so I assume Remus did too - and got better at dealing with these things as time went on. Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html (ISTJ) | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia From lupinesque at yahoo.com Sat Sep 6 07:06:10 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 07:06:10 -0000 Subject: Marriages Made In Heaven, Hell, or the Internet In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Eileen wrote: > One of my friends recently married a guy she met through the net > personals. She was about thirty, and not all desperate when it came to > attracting men. She had a very nice career. So,there was a lot of > snickering from a lot of people when it came out where she met him, > the internet supposedly being the realm of the life challenged. He's a > professor of botany, a wonderful guy, and they got married in May, and > are going to live happily ever after, I hope! One of my best friends just got engaged to the wonderful woman he's been dating for a year, after they met through net personals. They both seem to have lives, though they could be pretending. Amy Z From lupinesque at yahoo.com Sat Sep 6 07:14:47 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 07:14:47 -0000 Subject: Calculated risk (was "You're Just Selfish!") In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Christian wrote: > I am wondering if also some of those military mothers have > been part of the reserve-forces, which have been called up for the > recent conflict. Just have to poke my head back into this discussion to quote a bumper sticker allegedly sighted on a US Armed Forces vehicle in Iraq*: "One weekend a month, my ass." Amy Z *I doubt it, personally. Putting a bumper sticker on your Humvee sounds like a court-martial offense, though Hawkeye probably would've gotten away with it. From lupinesque at yahoo.com Sat Sep 6 07:30:50 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 07:30:50 -0000 Subject: Econ 101 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: David wrote: > Ooh, *economics*! I just love economics. A fantasy world full of > wacky ideas, perverse logic, and strange acronyms. In which people > who act altruistically are made out to be Ever So Evil, while those > who are selfish are publicly praised. Not to mention that they make more money. Woody Guthrie said it best: "The gambling man is rich, and the working man is poor." Amy glancing at Wall Street and reflecting that the gambling man isn't doing so well nowadays From drednort at alphalink.com.au Sat Sep 6 07:27:12 2003 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 17:27:12 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Calculated risk (was "You're Just Selfish!") In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3F5A18F0.6112.10AA5D9@localhost> On 6 Sep 2003 at 7:14, Amy Z wrote: > Just have to poke my head back into this discussion to quote a > bumper sticker allegedly sighted on a US Armed Forces vehicle > in Iraq*: "One weekend a month, my ass." > > Amy Z > > *I doubt it, personally. Putting a bumper sticker on your Humvee > sounds like a court-martial offense, though Hawkeye probably > would've gotten away with it. Don't know of any bumper stickers, but there is a newsphotograph of a military vehicle in Iraq with this displayed on its windshield. Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html (ISTJ) | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia From ms_petra_pan at yahoo.com Sat Sep 6 09:26:28 2003 From: ms_petra_pan at yahoo.com (Petra Pan) Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2003 02:26:28 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Calculated risk In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030906092628.51980.qmail@web21104.mail.yahoo.com> Amy Z: > Putting a bumper sticker on your Humvee > sounds like a court-martial offense, > though Hawkeye probably would've gotten > away with it. Yeah, by sticking it on *Frank's* Humvee... Petra, now off to find her iron a n ;P __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From miss_teriously at yahoo.com Sat Sep 6 09:30:24 2003 From: miss_teriously at yahoo.com (Miss Tery) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 09:30:24 -0000 Subject: Harry Potter bracelet Message-ID: Hi all, Don't you just love Ebay? You can find so many Harry Potter gadgets. If your interested there is now a Harry Potter bracelet for sell. It's made of beads in the Gryffindor colours red and yellow and got in white letters Harry Potter written on it. See for yourself: http://cgi.ebay.nl/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItem&item=2656082478&category=3839&rd=1 From catlady at wicca.net Sat Sep 6 18:51:29 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 18:51:29 -0000 Subject: NetNanny and Firewall In-Reply-To: <3F56016F.3080509@ipartner.com.pl> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Przemys?aw \"Pshemekan\" P?askowicki" wrote: > 2. Windows -- http://www.windowsupdate.com is your best friend: set > it to automatically install critical patches. Run it manually at > least weekly and install non-critical patches. Which non-critical patches do I have to install? It says there are 43 of them for me, but most of them seem to be foreign languages. I'll spare you my three-day-long saga (with vast e-mail help from a technie acquaintance) with the Critical Update that continually Failed to Install and broke a lot of other things: it *seems* to be solved now. > 6. Use AdAware to check for spyware: > http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ (Free) Thank you. It found 145 Evil Cookies (is that just my IE cookies, can it check Netscape 4.7 cookies? -- yes, I know I need to upgrade to Mozilla some day when I'm feeling brave) and seven Gator objects (they'e gone now), so I went searching and got educated on the evilness of Gator (and why it was still there despite having been uninstalled) at www.unwantedlinks.com - click on Consumer Info in menu bar for dropdown menu that has "what is Gator?" as last option. I welcome advice on how to keep Gator from sneaking in again. From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Sat Sep 6 19:36:03 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 19:36:03 -0000 Subject: Calculated risk (was "You're Just Selfish!") In-Reply-To: <3F5A18F0.6112.10AA5D9@localhost> Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says It might be a court-martial offense if the senior occupant of the vehicle were a commissioned officer, but even so, court-martial or sniper fire, hmmmm? As we used to say, what are they going to do, bend my dog tags and send me to (wherever is nastiest)? --JDR From cindysphynx at comcast.net Sat Sep 6 19:43:18 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 19:43:18 -0000 Subject: NetNanny and Firewall In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Catlady wrote: >It found 145 Evil Cookies I had 187 evil cookies removed. I feel *violated!* ;-) Cindy From przepla at ipartner.com.pl Sat Sep 6 20:27:31 2003 From: przepla at ipartner.com.pl (Przemyslaw Plaskowicki) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 22:27:31 +0200 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: NetNanny and Firewall In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3F5A4333.30102@ipartner.com.pl> On 2003-09-06 20:51, Catlady (Rita Prince Winston) wrote: >--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Przemysaw \"Pshemekan\" >Paskowicki" wrote: > > > >>2. Windows -- http://www.windowsupdate.com is your best friend: set >>it to automatically install critical patches. Run it manually at >>least weekly and install non-critical patches. >> >> > >Which non-critical patches do I have to install? It says there >are 43 of them for me, but most of them seem to be foreign languages. > Perhaps I'm a bit reckless but I usually install everything other than those: foreign language, .NET, and MSN messenger. You should definitely install everything with word "crash" or "security" and newest version of IE (ver. 6 SP 1 is current I believe) and DirectX -- since games will install it anyway. First thing you should install from this section of Windows Upgrade should be newest version of IE, as it often contains other patches in this (and critical) page. >I'll spare you my three-day-long saga (with vast e-mail help from a >technie acquaintance) with the Critical Update that continually >Failed to Install and broke a lot of other things: it *seems* to be >solved now. > That's Microsoft. >>6. Use AdAware to check for spyware: >>http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ (Free) >> >> > >Thank you. It found 145 Evil Cookies (is that just my IE cookies, can >it check Netscape 4.7 cookies? -- yes, I know I need to upgrade to >Mozilla some day when I'm feeling brave) and seven Gator objects >(they'e gone now), so I went searching and got educated on the >evilness of Gator (and why it was still there despite having been >uninstalled) at www.unwantedlinks.com - click on Consumer Info in >menu bar for dropdown menu that has "what is Gator?" as last option. > >I welcome advice on how to keep Gator from sneaking in again. > > > As far as I know AdAware detects Netscape cookies. (In fact it just detected few evil ones as I run it simultaneously while writing this letter). You don't need to be brave to test Mozilla: http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla/releases/mozilla1.4/mozilla-win32-1.4-talkback.zip -- is the link to unzip-and-run distribution (NB. Mozilla will *copy* yours Netscape profile to new directory and later convert it to it's own format, so it's perfectly safe). Gator might be installed two ways: by being bundled to some 3rd party software and by pop up window in IE. Solution is to read what installers are saying -- unfortunately it often means reading legal text in those installers ;-(. Regards, Pshemekan -- It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err. (Mahatma Gandhi) From bboy_mn at yahoo.com Sat Sep 6 20:44:20 2003 From: bboy_mn at yahoo.com (Steve) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 20:44:20 -0000 Subject: GINGER: How Red is Red? Message-ID: Well, this is almost rediculously off-topic, but when I'm too embarassed to ask questions like this in real life, it's nice to have an on-line community that I can turn too. How and why is 'ginger' associated with the color Red? I have been in Asian resaurants and seen bowls of red tinted ginger (peeled and thinly sliced) which people eat with their meals as an aid to digestion, that and the fact that it taste good; but I've never been able to find red ginger anywhere else. I've looked in health food stores, general grocery stores, and Asian food stores and the ginger I find always has a light brownish-tan exterior and a somewhat off-white flesh. All the powdered ginger-spice I've seen has always been a light tan color. I have no idea how Asian resaurants get their red ginger or how they get it to turn red; maybe it's some special process. But I've never found any ginger anywhere, other than that one resaurant case, that was even remotely red. So, why is ginger associated with the color red? I'm open to any thoughts and suggestion. Thank a bunch. bboy_mn From neonsister at ameritech.net Sat Sep 6 21:38:43 2003 From: neonsister at ameritech.net (Tracy) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 21:38:43 -0000 Subject: GINGER: How Red is Red? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Well, now you've got my curiousity piqued as well. I associate the word "ginger" with a brownish color (like the powdered kind, or gingerbread); or white if we're talking about the fresh kind. I found this example of red ginger: http://www.crackseed.com/category/ginger/sweet_hot_red_ginger.html I noticed that "artificial color" is listed in the ingredients, though. Maybe there is a variety of the plant which has red blossoms. I'm not even sure what the above-ground part of a ginger plant looks like! Where is Professor Sprout when we need her?! Tracy From lupinesque at yahoo.com Sat Sep 6 22:22:44 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 22:22:44 -0000 Subject: Calculated risk (was "You're Just Selfish!") In-Reply-To: Message-ID: The Sergeant Majorette wrote: > As we used to say, what are they going to do, > bend my dog tags and send me to (wherever is nastiest)? Iraq? Amy Z ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ From cindysphynx at comcast.net Sat Sep 6 22:40:53 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 22:40:53 -0000 Subject: NetNanny and Firewall In-Reply-To: <3F5A4333.30102@ipartner.com.pl> Message-ID: Pshemekan wrote: >2. Windows -- http://www.windowsupdate.com is your best friend: Boy, you ain't just whistlin' Dixie! I took the time to upload all of the patches and whatnot, I purged the spyware, I deleted things that were hiding on my computer, and I did everything else Pshemekan recommended. Now my computer purrs like a kitten! Things work faster, too! It made such a difference. Thanks, Pshemekan! One more question, though. I have heard that folks with a cable connection ought to have a good firewall to prevent someone from extracting information from the computer. Can you explain why this is not really necessary? Grateful!Cindy From denimruth4519 at sbcglobal.net Sun Sep 7 05:28:21 2003 From: denimruth4519 at sbcglobal.net (denimtoday) Date: Sun, 07 Sep 2003 05:28:21 -0000 Subject: OoTP Spoiler - Umbridge Message-ID: S P O I L E R S P O I L E R S P O I L E R S P O I L E R JK Rowling is supposed to be a very well-read person. The following must have given her the inspiration for Harry's torturous 'writing lines' detention by Professor Umbridge. We'll, probably, never know for sure, though, will we? The Secrets of Writing with Quills The Writing Pressure LIGHT, LIGHT, LIGHT!!! As Jim Downey told me, hold the quill as if writing and make small circles with it on the back of your other hand (Try this without ink). When you can make slight indentations on your hand without leaving a slight scratch mark, you are using the proper pressure to write. The pressure most of us use to write with today is way, way, too hard to use with a quill. Source: http://www.sullivanpress.com/quills.htm Denim __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From morgan_d_yyh at yahoo.com Sun Sep 7 08:29:23 2003 From: morgan_d_yyh at yahoo.com (Morgan D.) Date: Sun, 7 Sep 2003 01:29:23 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Prefects, Headboys and Headgirls in Real Life In-Reply-To: <1062875536.1279.87054.m12@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: <20030907082923.70214.qmail@web11003.mail.yahoo.com> > Date: Sat, 06 Sep 2003 14:17:33 +1000 > From: "Shaun Hately" > > OK - basically, I'm thinking back to Lupin's statement early in OotP: > > "I think Dumbledore may have hoped I would be able to exercise some > control over my best friends," said Lupin. "I need scarcely say that > I > failed miserably." > > My response is that I kind of hope that Lupin is wrong - I don't > think > it would have been particularly reasonable for Dumbledore to have > appointed him a prefect if that was the reason behind it. This thread is getting dangerously in-topic -- I say "dangerously" because I'm not reading the Main List, so if the thread moves over there I'll miss it entirely. But I agree it's not reasonable for Dumbledore to expect much of kids in the situation Lupin and Ron were put into. But for me that's not a problem, I don't have to hope for Lupin to be wrong, because in my fics I'm writing Dumbledore the way I (in my humble opinion) perceived him in the books: as not so wise, not so interested in his allies' well-being and not as brilliant a strategist as the author seems to have meant him. Instead of being a setback, the problems I found in OotP became a source of inspiration. After all, there are many purposes behind fanfiction. There are those who write for sheer entertainment and do not worry themselves with neither quality or faithfulness to canon (and in my opinion, this is as legitimate a purpose as any other). There are those who write to speculate about canon (the reason I used to write). And there are those who write to debate with canon, offering counterarguments to plot and characterisation (my new approach). So I'm writing this fic about Prefects to discuss JKR's choices in writing what she did about Prefects. It's a funny experience, like writing a long HPfGU post in narrative form. I'm enjoying myself a lot. I have less readers than if I were writing for sheer entertainment -- there are many reasons why people want to *read* fanfiction, and most readers, unfortunately for me, prefer stories that don't force them to think much. But that's a sad reality I have to live with. Gosh, isn't it hard to remain out of topic? Morgan D. Hogwarts Letters - http://www.hogwartsletters.hpg.com.br __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Sun Sep 7 15:04:35 2003 From: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com (HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com) Date: 7 Sep 2003 15:04:35 -0000 Subject: Reminder - Weekly Chat Message-ID: <1062947075.42.88184.m14@yahoogroups.com> We would like to remind you of this upcoming event. Weekly Chat Date: Sunday, September 7, 2003 Time: 11:00AM - 7:00PM CDT (GMT-05:00) Hi everyone! Don't forget, chat happens today, 11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern, 7 pm UK time. *Chat times are not changing for Daylight Saving/Summer Time.* Chat generally goes on for about 5 hours, but can last as long as people want it to last. Go into any Yahoo chat room and type /join HP:1 For further info, see the Humongous BigFile, section 3.3. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/hbfile.html#33 Hope to see you there! From przepla at ipartner.com.pl Sun Sep 7 15:15:26 2003 From: przepla at ipartner.com.pl (Przemyslaw Plaskowicki) Date: Sun, 07 Sep 2003 17:15:26 +0200 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: NetNanny and Firewall In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3F5B4B8E.5010600@ipartner.com.pl> On 2003-09-07 00:40, Cindy C. wrote: >Pshemekan wrote: > > > >>2. Windows -- http://www.windowsupdate.com is your best friend: >> >> > >Boy, you ain't just whistlin' Dixie! I took the time to upload all of >the patches and whatnot, I purged the spyware, I deleted things that >were hiding on my computer, and I did everything else Pshemekan >recommended. > >Now my computer purrs like a kitten! Things work faster, too! It >made such a difference. Thanks, Pshemekan! > I am glad to help :-). >One more question, though. I have heard that folks with a cable >connection ought to have a good firewall to prevent someone from >extracting information from the computer. Can you explain why this is >not really necessary? > > Because personal firewalls are by definition wrong: firewall is defined as (from Merriam-Webster site): *"2* /usually/ *firewall* /'fIr-"wol/ *:* a computer or computer software that prevents unauthorized access to private data (as on a company's local area network or intranet) by outside computer users (as of the Internet)." So firewalls are in the same class of products as Anti Virus software for Linux (which has no viruses). And both such products are providing the same thing to their customers -- sense of false security. Personal firewalls are blocking access to doors which should be closed anyway (and more often are already closed), like blocking access to windows file sharing which should be achieved by removing all but TCP/IP protocol from network connection setting. In properly configured Windows box there are no reasons to keep personal firewalls. Moreover this software is often used to make users buy "professional" version, and to achieve it, it alarms user of alleged "break-in attempt", "illegal scanning", "connection attempts", while almost all of this is legitimate traffic. Consequently, it gives major headache to admins like me, by being flooded with "abuse reports" from clueless personal firewalls users. I don't deny personal firewalls are useful, but you need to know very deeply how TCP/IP protocols works, to use it without problems. Naturally, such firewall would save user, who didn't patch their system, from for being hacked by blaster or similar worm, but if system is well patched and configured there is no real reason for it. Unless you are using Windows 98/95 -- those are no longer supported by Microsoft, and no more security or other patches are being avalaible for them -- in such situation personal firewalls will add additional security. If you need to use them, I advice Kerio Personal Firewall: http://www.kerio.com/us/kpf_home.html Regards, Pshemekan -- It is not worth an intelligent man's time to be in the majority. By definition, there are already enough people to do that. (G. H. Hardy) From manda at qx.net Sun Sep 7 19:19:17 2003 From: manda at qx.net (Amanda Pressnell) Date: Sun, 7 Sep 2003 12:19:17 -0700 Subject: NetNanny and Firewall In-Reply-To: <1062875536.1279.87054.m12@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: <3F5B2245.16729.463811@localhost> "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" wrote: > > I welcome advice on how to keep Gator from sneaking in again. In IE, go to Tools / Internet Options / Security tab / click on Restricted sites / Sites... button. Add *.gator.com. I also have *.cometsystems.com (Comet Cursor), *.cydoor.com, and *.xupiter.com in there. All are spyware nasties. That should prevent them from installing anything on your computer. I hope that helps! Manda first post to OT - yay! -- http://www.mandamia.com From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Sun Sep 7 16:26:43 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Sun, 07 Sep 2003 16:26:43 -0000 Subject: GINGER: How Red is Red? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says If what is sold at flower stands here in NYC as ginger actually is the above-ground part of the spice root, then it *is* red, but more scarlet than any kind of hair-color red. It's a huge, scary-looking bird-of-paradise looking tropical exotic. After mentally compiling a survey of all the redheads in my reading and how they've been described, it seems to me that calling a redhead "ginger" does indeed refer to a tannish red and is mildly disparaging, ginger implying frizz and freckles as opposed to the peaches-and-cream strawberry blonde, or the stunning ivory-complected queen-of-the-copper-mountain redhead. Guys called "Ginger" in stories tend to look like leprechauns, and girls nicknamed "Ginger" because of their natural hair color tend to be the perky best friend of the pretty girl. --JDR From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Sun Sep 7 16:38:32 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Sun, 07 Sep 2003 16:38:32 -0000 Subject: Calculated risk (was "You're Just Selfish!") In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says When I was in, it was essentially peacetime, so it was wherever you were. We said "What are they going to do, bend my dogtags and send me to Germany?" Then it was "...send me to Panama?". It's a variation on the theme of "Please, Brer Fox, don't throw me in the briar patch". But seriously, folks, I think the expression originated during the VietNam era. If you've already died and gone to hell, you become kind of immune to discipline... --JDR From kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk Mon Sep 8 13:57:00 2003 From: kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk (Kathryn Cawte) Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 14:57:00 +0100 (GMT Daylight Time) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: NetNanny and Firewall References: Message-ID: <3F5C8AAC.000001.74249@monica> Catlady wrote: >It found 145 Evil Cookies Cindy I had 187 evil cookies removed. I feel *violated!* ;-) K - Gee I think I'm winning with over 400 then. Do I get a prize? *grump* K From kirst_inn at yahoo.co.uk Mon Sep 8 15:02:45 2003 From: kirst_inn at yahoo.co.uk (Kirstini) Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 15:02:45 -0000 Subject: Microsoft Office In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Just wanted to say thanks to the many who gave me advice (the ones who didn't scold me for my immorality off list!) on this topic. I'm a pro at Word, just hadn't realised it came under the Office banner, so things are not as black as they looked on Friday. Besides, the job is researcher with a bit of reception work thrown in, and I've been researching for two years now, so it's not *all* a huge manipulation of the truth. Ta very much, loves. Kirstini, hastily saving her arse. From terryljames at hotmail.com Mon Sep 8 18:34:03 2003 From: terryljames at hotmail.com (Terry James) Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 13:34:03 -0500 Subject: Paint Shop Pro 7 question Message-ID: Hi, all, To get completely OT, can someone tell me step-by-step in minute detail how to crop a photo in Paint Shop Pro 7 to make it oval, or circle-shaped, or however? I can get the area selected that I want, but no matter what I do I can't get the un-selected area to go away and leave me with just the part I want. I don't know if I need to use a mask, or what. Copy and paste just leaves me with a blank image of black-and-white squares, with an oval selected, but nothing in it. I mean extreme detail. Assume you're dealing with a five-year-old. :) Actually I have a six-year-old who's seen Fellowship of the Ring twice (once almost two years ago) and can listen to the soundtrack and identify which scenes the music comes from. She also saw the Lizzie McGuire movie a few months ago in the theater--once--and when we rented it last week, could sing along to all the songs. But she can't remember her spelling words. My dh suggested putting them to music. But back on track, just assume you're dealing with a very dim five-year-old. Or a techno-illiterate pseudo-grown-up. Feel free to send replies off-list. Thanks, Terry LJ _________________________________________________________________ Get 10MB of e-mail storage! Sign up for Hotmail Extra Storage. http://join.msn.com/?PAGE=features/es From legrinstl at aol.com Mon Sep 8 19:19:47 2003 From: legrinstl at aol.com (Lucinda Gille-Rowley) Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 19:19:47 -0000 Subject: Would you like to be on a Harry Potter fanfic panel at Archon? Message-ID: I'm tring to get a panel or panels together at Archon Science Fiction convention on Harry Potter Fanfiction. The con is being held in Collinsville, Illinois (11 miles from St. Louis) from 10/2-10/5/03. These are the potential panels: Who's your favorite fanfic writer and why? Wha's your favorite ship or most interesting? A discussion of the Fanfic websites; HPFGU, Fiction Alley, GryffindorTower, Sugar Quill, Portkey, Fanfiction.net - what's your favorite and why, pros and cons of each. What is fanfiction to you? A fill in to the next book? an expansion of the HP universe? The themes are more adult oriented? Who's your favorite Harry Potter universe character? I have approval from the Programming chair to have HP programming panels but need people to be on them. I know of only one other person who reads fanfics in St. Louis and I know there are a lot of you out there. Please let me know (by email) if you are interested in being on one of these panels. If you are under the age of 18, please make sure your parents are attending and they know you will be on this panel. I need at least 2 other people for each panel who will be attending Archon. Also let me know which day is best. I will tell you that Saturday from 4:00 pm to Sunday morning is out for me. (Masquerade) Thanking you all in advance. We hope this becomes an annual programming event at Archon. Lucinda Gille-Rowley (aka Eleanna) Archon Press Liaison legrinstl at aol.com From zanelupin at yahoo.com Mon Sep 8 20:25:24 2003 From: zanelupin at yahoo.com (KathyK) Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 20:25:24 -0000 Subject: KathyK's Little Dilemma--Sorry to bug you all Message-ID: Hello Everyone, In my mad quest to get out of Connecticut as soon as possible, I've done a couple things I swore I'd never do. I'm quite conflicted about the whole situation and I just needed to vent for a couple minutes, if you'll indulge me. Last summer I finished my bachelor's degree in history. Since then I've come very close to doing absolutely nothing with my life. I'm still working in the same silly job I held in college. It was great for working around my school schedule, but now the job is boring, annoying, and not where I want to be. I've also come to regard Connecticut as such in the past few months as well. I grew up here and I love this place, but I need to get out at least for a while. I know where I'd like to go and am making plans to go there, but I don't want to share my destination just yet because I'd hate to feel stupid if it doesn't work out. My sad little job does not pay nearly enough for me to attain my goal of leaving in February. I began looking for a better and/or second job this summer. Eventually I fell into my current situation. Many years ago I promised myself that I would never, ever, *ever* work in the same place that my mother does. I even ridiculed my brother last year when he went to work for her company. Not that I don't love my mother, but there's such a thing as too much. And there I was just a few short weeks ago, applying to the company at which my mother has worked for the past 15 years or so because with her referral, I was confident I had more than a fair shot at getting hired quickly. Additionally, I also vowed many years ago that if it could be helped, I would never work for some gigantic corporation. Maybe it's the small town girl in me talking but I have always disliked large companies. I'll take the limited selection of an independent grocery store over the massive, ugly supermarket that now sits in the center of my town any day of the week. There are times I can't avoid big box stores or the shopping mall, but I scold myself while I'm there, all the way home, and every time I open my closet. But wouldn't you know? I start my new job tomorrow at a large company where my mother works. I'm kicking myself. At the same time, however, I'm excited to have another job. Between my two jobs I'll be working between 60 and 70 hours a week for the next few months, which will give me the money I need. Plus, I won't be sitting around whining about my lack of a life because I'll no longer have time to worry that I don't have a life. So, should I be worried that I've violated two of my I-will-be- happier-and-saner-if-I-never-do-this rules in order to achieve one of my goals more quickly? Or should I just go with the attitude of "It's just this one time, and leaving Connecticut is more likely to keep me happier and saner?" Thanks for letting me ramble about my ridiculous life for a moment. Now I'm off to look for graduate schools because getting back to school is what will, in the end, make me *really* happy. KathyK (feeling like she's gone over to the dark side) From duckumu222 at hotmail.com Mon Sep 8 20:48:41 2003 From: duckumu222 at hotmail.com (Duckumu) Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 20:48:41 -0000 Subject: Ground Quidditch Message-ID: I was wondering if any of you could give me ideas on how to play Quidditch without magic broomsticks. I want to play Quidditch on land with my friends, and possibly set up an Intramural Quidditch team at my school if the game makes sense. I understand there was some form of ground Quidditch played at Nimbus 2003, but I was not there and cannot find any information on how the game was adjusted to suit those of us outside the wizarding world. Is there an official rules set somewhere? Or should I design the game myself? In the latter case, could anyone give me some ideas? I want to keep the basic idea of the game, and quaffles and bludgers wouldn't be so hard to implement, but I can't think of a way to have a snitch. I guess it wouldn't have to actually fly, it would just have to be something that's mobile and difficult to catch. -nick From jkusalavagemd at yahoo.com Mon Sep 8 22:49:43 2003 From: jkusalavagemd at yahoo.com (Haggridd) Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 22:49:43 -0000 Subject: Ground Quidditch In-Reply-To: Message-ID: IIRC, there were four auxiliary persons who constantle threw the golden snitch to one another, playing "keep away" from both Seekers. Two thers woyked substantially the same trick with the Bludgers. The Beaters beat, the Chasers were either soccer players or basketball players, i think, and the Keepers were goalies for the three hoops on either side. Haggridd --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Duckumu" wrote: > I was wondering if any of you could give me ideas on how to play > Quidditch without magic broomsticks. I want to play Quidditch on > land with my friends, and possibly set up an Intramural Quidditch > team at my school if the game makes sense. > > I understand there was some form of ground Quidditch played at Nimbus > 2003, but I was not there and cannot find any information on how the > game was adjusted to suit those of us outside the wizarding world. > > Is there an official rules set somewhere? Or should I design the > game myself? In the latter case, could anyone give me some ideas? I > want to keep the basic idea of the game, and quaffles and bludgers > wouldn't be so hard to implement, but I can't think of a way to have > a snitch. I guess it wouldn't have to actually fly, it would just > have to be something that's mobile and difficult to catch. > > > -nick From cindysphynx at comcast.net Mon Sep 8 23:00:54 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 23:00:54 -0000 Subject: KathyK's Little Dilemma--Sorry to bug you all In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hi, Kathy wrote: >I just needed to vent for a couple minutes, if you'll indulge me. Sure, that's what we're here for! :-D > Many years ago I promised myself that I would never, ever, *ever* > work in the same place that my mother does. Boy, I wish I could count the number of times I said "Never!" and went on to do whatever it was anyway . . . I'll *never* stay home and raise kids. I'll *never* drive a station wagon full of aforementioned kids. I'll *never* get trapped in some dull legal specialty. I'll *never* put on too much weight. ;-) Hey, it sounds like you've got a great opportunity to use this new job to launch yourself far away from Connecticut. So long as you're not doing the work of El Diablo himself, I wouldn't sweat it. If you do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay cranking out widgets, I don't think you've violated your personal code of ethics all that much. And it's only temporary. > Additionally, I also vowed many years ago that if it could be > helped, I would never work for some gigantic corporation. I wouldn't worry about that either. Really, lots of good job are with large companies, so sometimes you have little choice in the matter. Some large companies are pure evil, and others are OK. If you keep right on patronizing locally owned establishments and responsible businesses as much as you can, you'll be doing far more social good than most folks manage, IMHO. > KathyK (feeling like she's gone over to the dark side) Just tell me it's not a *tobacco* company! ;-) Cindy -- wishing KathyK luck, wondering what the secret destination is, and guessing San Francisco From oodaday at yahoo.co.uk Mon Sep 8 23:11:45 2003 From: oodaday at yahoo.co.uk (oodaday) Date: Mon, 08 Sep 2003 23:11:45 -0000 Subject: Harry Potter level books Message-ID: Does anybody know of any level Harry Potter books that are geared more toward ages 4-5. Or Harry Potter picture books, not coloring books. I work with kids who are physically and mentally handicapped, and they LOVE Harry Potter. One of the kids loves Harry *so* much, when we go to the library he checks out anything with Harry Potter on it, even though he doesn't know how to read, he just wants to have it with him. This same boy has Alopecia, (no hair anywhere on his body), and walks around saying "I'm Harry" and it's funny, because he's not. At all. I've been reading the stories to the kids, some understand it, but others are more visual learners. I think that what I want doesn't exist, but it would be so great if it did. If anyone has any suggestions, or knows where I can find these things, please let me know. Thanks. Dooda, whose school is so cool, it has a shrine to Harry Potter, complete with authentic Dobby doll and Sorting Hat. From rvotaw at i-55.com Tue Sep 9 00:06:50 2003 From: rvotaw at i-55.com (Richelle Votaw) Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 19:06:50 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Harry Potter level books References: Message-ID: <000001c37668$7f1bcab0$f99ccdd1@RVotaw> Dooda wrote: > Does anybody know of any level Harry Potter books that are geared > more toward ages 4-5. Or Harry Potter picture books, not coloring > books. I don't think any exist. I had hoped that after the movies started coming out they would make picture books using the movie pictures. But nothing so far. I suppose between WB and JKR that's all clamped down on and we shouldn't hold our breath. I teach (very) low level first graders, and I'd love for the ones who love the movies to be able to have some type of book they can read, or at least enjoy. > Dooda, whose school is so cool, it has a shrine to Harry Potter, > complete with authentic Dobby doll and Sorting Hat. Okay, confession time. Tell me what part of the world I need to move to so I can start applying there! :) Richelle From eowynn_24 at yahoo.com Tue Sep 9 03:09:43 2003 From: eowynn_24 at yahoo.com (eowynn_24) Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2003 20:09:43 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Harry Potter level books In-Reply-To: <000001c37668$7f1bcab0$f99ccdd1@RVotaw> Message-ID: <20030909030943.36227.qmail@web60208.mail.yahoo.com> Richelle Votaw wrote: Dooda wrote: > Does anybody know of any level Harry Potter books that are geared > more toward ages 4-5. Or Harry Potter picture books, not coloring > books. >>I don't think any exist. I had hoped that after the movies started coming >>out they would make picture books using the movie pictures. > Dooda, whose school is so cool, it has a shrine to Harry Potter, > complete with authentic Dobby doll and Sorting Hat. >>Okay, confession time. Tell me what part of the world I need to move to so I >>can start applying there! :) Richelle Eowynn: OK so dooda is a good friend and I know how much she loves those kids she works with, and we kinda figured that there wouldn't be any of the books she was looking for. So here is a really wild thought,(thanx FD), is there anyone in this vast world of HP4GU that can draw? What if we (or maybe just a few people)put some effort together and made her class a series of pictures that could go along with the books. At least then her kids could have something to look at while she reads, or (heaven forbid)if she can't be there to read they have some pics that they can look at, creating their own HP stories? Just a thought. Eowynn [ a southern UT gal, fun in the sun, and an amazing school district too boot!] --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From kirst_inn at yahoo.co.uk Tue Sep 9 03:32:57 2003 From: kirst_inn at yahoo.co.uk (Kirstini) Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 03:32:57 -0000 Subject: Harry Potter level books - Calling all Brits. In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Dooda wrote: >>Does anybody know of any level Harry Potter books that are geared more toward ages 4-5. Or Harry Potter picture books, not coloring books.>> I think I do. I'm fairly sure that when browsing the children's section/goggling at the latest HP merchandise in my local Ottakers (pre OoP), I noticed a few suitable picture books (plus pop up books, dunno if they'd be any good?)based around the film and the illustrations (as farmed out by WB). I don't know if they'd be there any more. Dooda, I really can't help you at the moment. I've got 8 days to finish my thesis, and then I'm moving city(and learning Microsoft Office from scratchish once computer finally plugged in). So I'm just wondering if any Brits on list fancy a quick trot into Ottakers to check out the HP Section just now? If not, try a general HP search on Amazon.co.uk as opposed to Amazon.com. We might not get Galadrial Waters, but we do get a host of other fun, non-Grand Pre illustrated stuff. If still nothing forthcoming, go and have a look at Artistic Alley, and try getting in touch with the artist Laura Freeman, who runs www.nasubionna.net (you have to hunt for the link to her HP fan art, but it's worth it), as she's done a lot of wonderful stuff which she might let you use. There's another artist too, one who's specialised in slightly more realistic drawings, and who's done an entire OoP section. Her recent updates include a sketch of Ginny. I can't remember/find her name or site right now - can anyone else? Hope I've been some help Kirstini. Ooh - I recently posted a main list query on whether US readers were influenced by the line drawings or not, and have had (and keep getting) a multitude of responses. Would anyone be at all interested in some form of post surveying/displaying results? From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Tue Sep 9 04:32:48 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 04:32:48 -0000 Subject: Harry Potter level books - Calling all Brits. In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says I have a three-year old grandniece upon whom I have inflicted Harry Potter madness, so I'll be following the replies to this thread with interest. Right now, she's into CoS (or, Harry Potter and movie with the Flying Car) so when she comes to visit me, she 'reads' her Harry Potter book by turning to her favorite chapter illustrations and describing the relevant scene in the movie. I keep thinking that I ought to just photoshop up something, but what exactly should should you put in the text? I don't see how you could adapt the books (preserving the plot and the themes). What about a fanfic type approach, where you tell a pre-K story using HP characters? Has anyone tried anything along these lines? --JDR From mkeller01 at alltel.net Tue Sep 9 10:28:13 2003 From: mkeller01 at alltel.net (jksunflower2002) Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 10:28:13 -0000 Subject: Harry Potter level books In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "oodaday" wrote: > Does anybody know of any level Harry Potter books that are geared > more toward ages 4-5. Or Harry Potter picture books, not coloring > books. > Hi, We have three HP pop-up books purchased at our local Waldenbook store. One is devoted to the SS, one to Cos and the other is an amazing 3D pop-up of Hogwarts. My twin six year olds love them. You could try contacting Scholastic to see if they offer the books online. When we purchased the SS and Cos they were being sold at about a quarter of their original price. This may mean that they're out of print. I'm not sure. Good luck with your search! Jodi From annemehr at yahoo.com Tue Sep 9 17:30:44 2003 From: annemehr at yahoo.com (annemehr) Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 17:30:44 -0000 Subject: Sanity on the Main List Message-ID: Not so long ago, when many of us were tearing our hair out about the state of the main list (and, dang it, this wig is itchy!), Steve bboy_mn stepped in as the voice of reason and pointed out that the posting rate was already falling and post quality increasing. He was right. I've just had a look at the number of posts so far in September, because it seemed to me that there were quite a bit fewer, and found this: As of the end of yesterday (Sept. 8) there were 854 posts for the month. If the posting rate were to hold steady, that would give us a total of 3,108 posts for all of September. This is very nearly tied with January '01, the highest-posting month before the release of OoP. Of course, if posting rates are still falling, we could expect to fall short of that number. Okay, all you members hiding out on OT -- it may be time we saw you on the main list again! Sure, it's still a bit busy over there, but strategies such as skipping certain subjects you've had enough of are working much better now -- and post quality *is* much improved! Some of the hot topics lately have included: Percy, Harry's Crucio, Occlumency/Legilimency, Vernon's final fate, Guilty!Dumbledore, Brit Slang, and the infamous Time Turner again! I'd like to read what *you* think! Finally, to the ADMIN team: thank you so much for all your hard work! The results are quite visible on the main list! Annemehr From ambiree at students.bradley.edu Tue Sep 9 19:10:57 2003 From: ambiree at students.bradley.edu (ambiree at students.bradley.edu) Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2003 14:10:57 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] KathyK's Little Dilemma--Sorry to bug you all In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1063134657.3f5e25c17b657@webmail.bradley.edu> First and foremost, Forgive an unknown newbie's interruption, but you will see my interjection here soon.... Quoting KathyK : > Hello Everyone, > > In my mad quest to get out of Connecticut as soon as possible, > I've done a couple things I swore I'd never do. I'm quite > conflicted about the whole situation and I just needed to vent for a > couple minutes, if you'll indulge me. > > > Thanks for letting me ramble about my ridiculous life for a moment. > Now I'm off to look for graduate schools because getting back to > school is what will, in the end, make me *really* happy. > > KathyK (feeling like she's gone over to the dark side) > > KathyK, I truly feel your pain. In December i will finish my 6 1/2 year sentence of college life completing two degrees in Marketing and History (kindred spirit here) with a minor in women's studies. I, too, said that I would never do what my mom did with her life (working in a library). To pay the bills, I worked in the university library where my mom worked -- then to pay more bills, I got a second job working with my dad at a grocery store. I promised myself that when I got out of school, I would move on to bigger and better things. However, now I am working 60-70 hours a week working three jobs as I finish and find that the library (my mom's life's work) is what works for me. When I complete my schooling I will be working for a library different than where my mom works, but in her field all the same....so some days it isn't all that bad. besides, the pay is better than the grocery store. :) > > > ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ > > Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin Files! > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ > > Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from posts > to which you're replying! > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > -- Amber ***It's all fun and games 'til I get tickled~~Amber C. Lowery*** From przepla at ipartner.com.pl Tue Sep 9 20:31:50 2003 From: przepla at ipartner.com.pl (Przemyslaw Plaskowicki) Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 22:31:50 +0200 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Harry Potter level books - Calling all Brits. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3F5E38B6.60704@ipartner.com.pl> On 2003-09-09 05:32, Kirstini wrote: > If still nothing forthcoming, go and have a look at Artistic >Alley, and try getting in touch with the artist Laura Freeman, who >runs www.nasubionna.net (you have to hunt for the link to her HP fan >art, but it's worth it), as she's done a lot of wonderful stuff which >she might let you use. There's another artist too, one who's >specialised in slightly more realistic drawings, and who's done an >entire OoP section. Her recent updates include a sketch of Ginny. I >can't remember/find her name or site right now - can anyone else? > > Marta: http://www.artdungeon.net -- and as far as I know Marta is a professional book illustrator. See also Marta's blog: http://www.livejournal.com/users/seviet/ when all site upgrades are anounced and: Marta's sugarquill section: http://www.sugarquill.net/index.php?action=profile&id=480 for some additional pictures. I'm great fan of her art. Regards, Pshemekan From chspnll at pacific.net.in Tue Sep 9 21:50:29 2003 From: chspnll at pacific.net.in (saieditor) Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 21:50:29 -0000 Subject: Paint Shop Pro 7 question In-Reply-To: Message-ID: 1. Open the Photo 2. Select an oval mask 3. Pull the mask over the photo 4. Feather the mask 5. Copy 6. Paste to new image. From s_ings at yahoo.com Tue Sep 9 23:40:59 2003 From: s_ings at yahoo.com (Sheryll Townsend) Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2003 19:40:59 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Happy Birthday, Vinnia! Message-ID: <20030909234059.41753.qmail@web41113.mail.yahoo.com> ===== http://www.livejournal.com/community/conventionalley/ ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca From s_ings at yahoo.com Tue Sep 9 23:42:42 2003 From: s_ings at yahoo.com (Sheryll Townsend) Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2003 19:42:42 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Happy Birthday, Vinnia! Message-ID: <20030909234242.45027.qmail@web41112.mail.yahoo.com> *skips into the room carrying a large cake and the standard box of decorations (glittering confetti included)* Today's birthday honouree is Vinnia. Birthday owls can be sent care of this list or directly to vinnia_chrysshallie at yahoo.co.nz I hope your day is filled with fun, friends and everything magical. Happy Birthday, Vinnia! Sheryll the Birthday Elf ===== http://www.livejournal.com/community/conventionalley/ ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca From oodaday at yahoo.co.uk Wed Sep 10 02:32:54 2003 From: oodaday at yahoo.co.uk (oodaday) Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 02:32:54 -0000 Subject: Re Harry Potter level books. (thanks) Message-ID: To those of you who responded to my post about level Harry Potter books, thank you. Some of the links were really helpful. I found a bookstore that sells the pop-up books. I also told the librarian at my school about them and she is going to order some. If anyone has any more ideas keep `em coming they're really helpful. Thanks again. Dooda, in St. George, Utah for those of you asked. (Single and cute too for those of you who were afraid to ask) From koukla_es at yahoo.es Wed Sep 10 11:30:02 2003 From: koukla_es at yahoo.es (sekhmet) Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 11:30:02 -0000 Subject: A prize for JK Rowling! Message-ID: Dear all, I want to communicate to you all that Ms. Rowling has been awarded with the Prince of Asturias Prize of Concord (Premio Pr?nicipe de Asturias de la Concordia). It is an international award given by an Spanish foundation chaired by the Prince of Asturias (heir to Spanish kingdom) "to be bestowed upon the individual, work group or institution whose work has contributed in an exemplary and significant way to the brotherhood of mankind, to the struggle against injustice, poverty, disease or ignorance, to the defence of freedom, to opening new horizons of knowledge, or who has been outstanding in protecting and preserving Mankind's heritage". FoundationLast year winners were Edouard Said and Daniel Baremboim. There are eight categories: Communications and Humanities, Arts, Letters, Social Sciences, Technical and Scientific Research, International Cooperation, Sports and Concord. The aim of all of them is to reward the scientific, technical, cultural, social and humanistic work performed by individuals, work groups or institutions worldwide. As a Spanish and Asturian, I'm glad by the news, and I'll try to be there, as there will be public acts with the winners. Please find enclosed the link for more information about the Foundation and the Prizes. http://www.fpa.es/ing/index.html Hugs, Carolina From terryljames at hotmail.com Wed Sep 10 13:43:05 2003 From: terryljames at hotmail.com (terryljames76) Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 13:43:05 -0000 Subject: Paint Shop Pro 7 question In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "saieditor" wrote: (Terry says) Thanks very much for your response, but...still too complicated for me! Sorry! > 1. Open the Photo OK, I got this one... > 2. Select an oval mask Er...how? When I go to "mask" and click "load from disk", then click "circle", which is the closest option it gives me to "oval", I get an automatic mask that looks like it's been torn out of the photo- -huge jaggedy edges all over, and seemingly no way to edit, change the location or size. I can't figure out another way to select an oval mask...can you please outline exact steps? > 3. Pull the mask over the photo As you can see, didn't get this far. > 4. Feather the mask I did see a feather option under "selections", but it was grayed out whenever I looked at it. > 5. Copy > > 6. Paste to new image. I think I could just about handle these two steps if I could get that far. :) Please more info, and thanks very much for your patience! Terry LJ From mehndimama at hotmail.com Wed Sep 10 19:50:50 2003 From: mehndimama at hotmail.com (mehndimama) Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 19:50:50 -0000 Subject: What would you include in a 1st year curriculum? Message-ID: I think I'm in a rather unique situation - my 11 year old son, who is a non-directed learner (we homeschool according to John Holt's "unschooling" principles), as expressed disappointment that he didn't get his Hogwarts letter last month. :D I sort of jokingly said "Hogwarts isn't the only wizarding school, you know...." and asked him if he would really like to do his first year of wizarding school, even though some of the stuff would be difficult, and he said YES. Soooooo.....what would you include in a curriculum like that? Here's some of my ideas: Combined herbology/potions, leaning how to make his own herbal medicines (which he uses frequently anyway) Wandcraft, learning the different properties of woods, their symbolism and mythology, and making a wand from a carefully selected combination of woods. Astronomy/astrology - my mom has already given us a terriffic astronomy guide with a rotating star chart, and we have a good telescope, and I have a current ephemeris and some astrology books, which he shows an inerest in. History of Magic - we got the Magical Worlds of Harry Potter & The Sorcerers Companion from the library - I'll read through them & see if they'd be worth buying. Charms/Defense Against the Dark Arts - learning about historical charms, amulets, hexes, and other defensive spells and their context, along with some survival skills I'd like to hear of any other ideas, or good age-appropriate (or semi-appropriate, anyway) resources for what I've already got listed. Books, websites, free software....whatever. (I just ordered Rosemary Gladstar's Family Herbal - so I've got a good start there.) Becky (Professor Stellaria) Mama to 4 devoted HP fans and proud supporter of Neville Longbottom From pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk Wed Sep 10 21:51:09 2003 From: pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk (bluesqueak) Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 21:51:09 -0000 Subject: What would you include in a 1st year curriculum? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "mehndimama" wrote: > I think I'm in a rather unique situation - my 11 year old son, who > is a non-directed learner (we homeschool according to John > Holt's "unschooling" principles), as expressed disappointment that > he didn't get his Hogwarts letter last month. :D I sort of jokingly > said "Hogwarts isn't the only wizarding school, you know...." and > asked him if he would really like to do his first year of wizarding > school, even though some of the stuff would be difficult, and he > said YES. > > Soooooo.....what would you include in a curriculum like that? > Here's some of my ideas: You could also include some Latin for the spells - it might be a little young for him, but the Minimus series is aimed at age 7 and up. Minimus Pupil's Book: Starting Out in Latin. There's a teachers book if you know no Latin, with the answers but I think it's quite expensive. There's also Latin for Beginners, but that seems to assume you're learning Latin in class and want a supplementary text. Pip From psychic_serpent at yahoo.com Wed Sep 10 23:25:39 2003 From: psychic_serpent at yahoo.com (psychic_serpent) Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 23:25:39 -0000 Subject: What would you include in a 1st year curriculum? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "bluesqueak" wrote: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "mehndimama" > wrote: > > I think I'm in a rather unique situation - my 11 year old son, who > > is a non-directed learner (we homeschool according to John > > Holt's "unschooling" principles), as expressed disappointment that > > he didn't get his Hogwarts letter last month. :D I sort of > jokingly > > said "Hogwarts isn't the only wizarding school, you know...." and > > asked him if he would really like to do his first year of > wizarding > > school, even though some of the stuff would be difficult, and he > > said YES. > > > > Soooooo.....what would you include in a curriculum like that? > > Here's some of my ideas: > > You could also include some Latin for the spells - it might be a > little young for him, but the Minimus series is aimed at age 7 and > up. Minimus Pupil's Book: Starting Out in Latin. There's a teachers > book if you know no Latin, with the answers but I think it's quite > expensive. > > There's also Latin for Beginners, but that seems to assume you're > learning Latin in class and want a supplementary text. For Transfiguration you could do a science curriculum that focuses on creatures that change from one thing into another. This could include moths/butterflies, tadpoles/frogs, and in general, the life- cycles of many creatures. It would also be a good way to introduce the idea of the evolution of various species for survival. We homeschooled my son last year (who should get his Hogwarts letter on Oct 27 this year ) and my father-in-law handled science, which largely consisted of biology and evolution. Potions could, of course, be another sort of science--introductory chemistry. Or cooking, take your pick. ;) (Eleven is a good age to start kids learning how to make their own simple meals, like spaghetti, sandwiches, etc.) Teach him how to make a good red sauce for pasta and you might not have to make dinner a couple of nights a week! (Do you have a large cooking pot that could pass for a cauldron?) And back to the topic of Transfiguration, this is also a good age to teach him to use the washer and dryer (Transfiguring dirty clothes into clean ones ). --Barb http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Psychic_Serpent http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Barb From mehndimama at hotmail.com Thu Sep 11 00:30:42 2003 From: mehndimama at hotmail.com (mehndimama) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 00:30:42 -0000 Subject: Ground Quidditch In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Duckumu" wrote: > I was wondering if any of you could give me ideas on how to play > Quidditch without magic broomsticks. > Is there an official rules set somewhere? Or should I design the > game myself? I'd LOVE to see an official rules book of some sort! Has anyone worked on this? Professor Stellaria mama to 4 devoted HP fans, proud supporter of Neville Longbottom, and Headmistress of the Andromeda Academy for Self-Directed Sorcerers From june.diamanti at blueyonder.co.uk Thu Sep 11 13:01:53 2003 From: june.diamanti at blueyonder.co.uk (junediamanti) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 13:01:53 -0000 Subject: September 11 2001 Message-ID: Just a brief message from a UK member to say we are remembering what happened two years ago and best wishes to you all in the US. June From annemehr at yahoo.com Thu Sep 11 15:19:29 2003 From: annemehr at yahoo.com (annemehr) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 15:19:29 -0000 Subject: September 11 2001 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "junediamanti" wrote: > Just a brief message from a UK member to say we are remembering what > happened two years ago and best wishes to you all in the US. > > June Thank you. I remember too, even though I was not directly affected by the death of a loved one. I read in the paper yesterday about a NY family who has just recently, for the *fifth time,* had a body part of their son/brother identified and released to them for burial. I join June in sending my best wishes to those who are living with what happened. Annemehr From mehndimama at hotmail.com Thu Sep 11 15:49:43 2003 From: mehndimama at hotmail.com (mehndimama) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 15:49:43 -0000 Subject: 1st year overview - wizarding homeschool (update) Message-ID: Okay, I wrote down my ideas for a 1st year overview for The Andromeda Academy for Self-Directed Sorcerers, Headmistress Professor Stellaria (yours truly) presiding. "Classes" and areas to be explored for the year are as follows: Wizarding Basics: *Making a Quill -choosing the quill -cutting the quill -quill calligrapy *Robes -Robes & Cloaks for Romantics and Scholars (or Why Hogwarts Students Wore Them) -Choosing your fabric & pattern -Pattern layout & sewing *Wandcraft -Meanings of woods / choosing your wood -Trip to Northern Michigan Hardwoods OR Tree identification hike -Design & make your wand *Brooms -History of brooms -How are traditional broom made? -Can you really fly on a broom? -Design & make your own broom *Knitting additions to your uniform -striped scarf -pointed hat - knit & felt Astronomy / Astrology: *The Solar system -Panetary symbols *Finding tonight's sky on the star chart *Planetary movements in the Ephemeris *Telescope Basics *Finding the constellations *Your Star Sign *Your Natal Chart Herbology / Potions: *Modern Potion-making Equipment -pans, jars, and bottles *Common healing herbs -Wildcrafting -windowsill herbs -Plan & plant an herb garden *Teas *Tinctures and Glycerates *Syrups *ointments and Salves *Aromatherapy Defense Against the Dark Arts: *The Dark Arts in our world *Where do you belong? -parents, address, phone numbers, emergency procedures *Stranger Awareness *Losing your way *Superstitions *Old protective magic *The name of Jesus *Personal protective magic History of Magic: *Egypt *Greek Mythology *Tribal Magic *Alchemy *Arthur & Merlin *The Doctor & the Wise Woman *Inquisition & American Witch-hunts Transfiguration: *The Transformation of a room *Dishsoap magic *Transfiguration of dirty laundry *Basic culinary transfiguration *The needle arts - a complete transformation *Modern advances in transfiguration -appliances -cosmetics -substances Charms: *Prayer *Songs *Gestures *Amulets *Manners, or How to Be Charming I think that'll give us PLENTY to do for the first year! I went by what Hogwarts offered for First Year, as I didn't want to get too deep into anything - No divination, or care of creatures, or anything like that. I figured this plan will touch on a lot of interesting stuff AND everyday stuff - I'm hoping to show through example that the everyday CAN be magical if you look at it in the right way. So, if anyone has book or website suggestions specific to the topics above, I'd love to hear them! Professor Stellaria mam to 4 devoted HP fans, proud supporter of Neville Longbottom, and Headmistress of the Andromeda Academy for Self-Directed Sorcerers From mehndimama at hotmail.com Thu Sep 11 15:56:26 2003 From: mehndimama at hotmail.com (mehndimama) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 15:56:26 -0000 Subject: Harry Potter level books In-Reply-To: <20030909030943.36227.qmail@web60208.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Have you seen the illustrations on Ayne's Harry Potter Gallery? She does her drawings & paintings in Japanese Anime style (Think Sailor Moon, Speed Racer). Prepare to be bowled over - her stuff is BEAUTIFUL, and she accepts commissions. http://www.minstrelbook.net/hpbook/ Professor Stellaria mama to 4 devoted HP fans, proud supporter of Neville Longbottom, and Headmistress of the Andromeda Academy for Self-Directed Sorcerers --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, eowynn_24 wrote: So here is a really wild thought,(thanx FD), is there anyone in this vast world of HP4GU that can draw? What if we (or maybe just a few people)put some effort together and made her class a series of pictures that could go along with the books. ] From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Thu Sep 11 16:32:21 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 16:32:21 -0000 Subject: 1st year overview - wizarding homeschool (update) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says This is so cool! Does your state have any accreditation-type requirements for a home-school curriculum, and if so, how do you plan to satisfy them? I was searching the name 'Flamel' (the alchemist) and found that there is an online school of magic (thaumaturgy, I think they call it) named after him. It's sort of college level, but it might give some ideas. --JDR From ambiree at students.bradley.edu Thu Sep 11 17:40:21 2003 From: ambiree at students.bradley.edu (ambiree at students.bradley.edu) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 12:40:21 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] 1st year overview - wizarding homeschool (update) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1063302021.3f60b3851b2a6@webmail.bradley.edu> There is a book called "The Science of Harry Potter" that is available at most libraries and your local book store that talked scientifically about how things can be and are done in the wizarding world. Amber Quoting mehndimama : > Okay, I wrote down my ideas for a 1st year overview for The > Andromeda Academy for Self-Directed Sorcerers, Headmistress > Professor Stellaria (yours truly) presiding. > "Classes" and areas to be explored for the year are as follows: > > Wizarding Basics: > *Making a Quill > -choosing the quill > -cutting the quill > -quill calligrapy > *Robes > -Robes & Cloaks for Romantics and Scholars (or Why Hogwarts > Students Wore Them) > -Choosing your fabric & pattern > -Pattern layout & sewing > *Wandcraft > -Meanings of woods / choosing your wood > -Trip to Northern Michigan Hardwoods OR Tree identification hike > -Design & make your wand > *Brooms > -History of brooms > -How are traditional broom made? > -Can you really fly on a broom? > -Design & make your own broom > *Knitting additions to your uniform > -striped scarf > -pointed hat - knit & felt > > Astronomy / Astrology: > *The Solar system > -Panetary symbols > *Finding tonight's sky on the star chart > *Planetary movements in the Ephemeris > *Telescope Basics > *Finding the constellations > *Your Star Sign > *Your Natal Chart > > Herbology / Potions: > *Modern Potion-making Equipment > -pans, jars, and bottles > *Common healing herbs > -Wildcrafting > -windowsill herbs > -Plan & plant an herb garden > *Teas > *Tinctures and Glycerates > *Syrups > *ointments and Salves > *Aromatherapy > > Defense Against the Dark Arts: > *The Dark Arts in our world > *Where do you belong? > -parents, address, phone numbers, emergency procedures > *Stranger Awareness > *Losing your way > *Superstitions > *Old protective magic > *The name of Jesus > *Personal protective magic > > History of Magic: > *Egypt > *Greek Mythology > *Tribal Magic > *Alchemy > *Arthur & Merlin > *The Doctor & the Wise Woman > *Inquisition & American Witch-hunts > > Transfiguration: > *The Transformation of a room > *Dishsoap magic > *Transfiguration of dirty laundry > *Basic culinary transfiguration > *The needle arts - a complete transformation > *Modern advances in transfiguration > -appliances > -cosmetics > -substances > > Charms: > *Prayer > *Songs > *Gestures > *Amulets > *Manners, or How to Be Charming > > I think that'll give us PLENTY to do for the first year! I went by > what Hogwarts offered for First Year, as I didn't want to get too > deep into anything - No divination, or care of creatures, or > anything like that. I figured this plan will touch on a lot of > interesting stuff AND everyday stuff - I'm hoping to show through > example that the everyday CAN be magical if you look at it in the > right way. > > So, if anyone has book or website suggestions specific to the topics > above, I'd love to hear them! > > Professor Stellaria > mam to 4 devoted HP fans, proud supporter of Neville Longbottom, and > Headmistress of the Andromeda Academy for Self-Directed Sorcerers > > > > ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ > > Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin Files! > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ > > Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from posts > to which you're replying! > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > -- Amber ***It's all fun and games 'til I get tickled~~Amber C. Lowery*** From bboy_mn at yahoo.com Thu Sep 11 18:19:24 2003 From: bboy_mn at yahoo.com (Steve) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 18:19:24 -0000 Subject: HUMOR: The High Stress Diet (thought you might enjoy) Message-ID: Knowing what high stress lives we all lead, I thought you might get some benefit out of this 'High Stress Diet'. I seems to work for me. Subject: Stress Diet This is a specially formulated diet designed to help cope with the stress that builds during the day. BREAKFAST 1 grapefruit 1 slice whole-wheat toast 1 cup skim milk LUNCH small portion lean, steamed chicken with a cup of spinach cup herbal tea 1 Hershey's Kiss AFTERNOON TEA The rest of the Hershey Kisses in the bag 1 tub of Hagen-Daaz ice cream with chocolate-chip topping DINNER 4 glasses of wine (red or white) 2 loaves garlic bread 1 family size Supreme pizza 3 Snickers bars LATE NIGHT SNACK 1 whole Sarah Lee cheesecake (eaten directly from the freezer) REMEMBER: "Stressed" spelled backward is "desserts" (I did not know that, really, I did not know.) Send this to four people and you will lose two pounds. Send this to all the people you know (or ever knew), and you will lose 10 pounds. WARNING: If you delete this page you will gain 10 pounds immediately. (you want to take the chance?) SEND IT ON OR GET FAT! Just a thought. bboy_mn From mehndimama at hotmail.com Thu Sep 11 19:15:28 2003 From: mehndimama at hotmail.com (mehndimama) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 19:15:28 -0000 Subject: 1st year overview - wizarding homeschool (update) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" wrote: > Does your state have any accreditation-type > requirements for a home-school curriculum, and if so, how do you plan > to satisfy them? Nope - MI is very homeschooling/unschooling friendly. You just have to be able to prove that your kids are being taught a certain number of days a year, in case you get investigated. At our house, that would not be hard! Professor Stellaria From cindysphynx at comcast.net Thu Sep 11 19:30:07 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 19:30:07 -0000 Subject: HUMOR: The High Stress Diet (thought you might enjoy) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Steve suggested a *Can't Miss* diet, but I thought I'd customize it to reflect my own diet preferences . . . > BREAKFAST > > 1 grapefruit > > 1 slice whole-wheat toast > > 1 cup skim milk Starbucks single tall latte, very little foam with Equal sweetner (50 calories) > LUNCH > > small portion lean, steamed > > chicken with a cup of spinach > > cup herbal tea One double capuccino, Equal sweetner (100 calories) One large box "Hot Tamales" candy (900 calories) One King Size Reese's Stix (580 calories) > AFTERNOON TEA > > The rest of the Hershey Kisses in the bag > > 1 tub of Hagen-Daaz ice cream with chocolate-chip topping 1 pint Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey eaten directly from container with large spoon, left at room temperature to soften slightly for faster binging (1800 calories) > DINNER > > 4 glasses of wine (red or white) > > 2 loaves garlic bread > > 1 family size Supreme pizza > > 3 Snickers bars One frozen margarita, double tequila. Discard worm. (400 calories) One batch oatmeal chocolate chip walnut cookies -- consume half as raw dough and half in baked form (3600 calories) > LATE NIGHT SNACK > > 1 whole Sarah Lee cheesecake (eaten directly from the freezer) One bowl buttered popcorn with 1/2 stick of melted butter and way too much salt (650 calories) One Sierra Pale Ale beer (250 calories) ***************** No substitutions allowed. :-D Cindy -- who absolutely loves to eat all of these things From timregan at microsoft.com Thu Sep 11 21:43:22 2003 From: timregan at microsoft.com (Tim Regan) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 21:43:22 -0000 Subject: KathyK's Little Dilemma--Sorry to bug you all In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hi All, --- In HPFGU-OTChatter KathyK wrote: > Additionally, I also vowed many years ago that if it could be > helped, I would never work for some gigantic corporation. Since graduating in 1987 I have worked for three companies (and done a doctorate): 1) A small office of a mid-sized accountancy firm. The people I worked with were great, but the work didn't excite me. 2) British Telecom, a huge firm employing 105,000 staff. The people I worked with were great, but nine years was probably too long to stay in one place. 3) Microsoft, another huge company employing 55,000 staff. The people I worked with were great, but it turned out to be too far from home. Do you notice the common thread? Honestly, the people you work with make a huge difference to how much you enjoy a job; and in my experience the people working at large corporations are as fun as other folk. You'll enjoy it Kathy. Cheers, Dumbledad. PS This is my first post since moving continents. I no longer live just outside Seattle USA. I now live just outside Cambridge UK. Wow, tres hectic. From fakeplastikcynic at hotmail.com Thu Sep 11 22:40:35 2003 From: fakeplastikcynic at hotmail.com (martha) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 22:40:35 -0000 Subject: HUMOR: The High Stress Diet (thought you might enjoy) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: bboy_mn was kind enough to tell us all about the "stress diet" - which, as a professional dietician (NB - for "professional dietician", read "not a professional dietician"), I feel has a lot to offer - but I feel I must point out a fatal flaw with the diet - it involves no exercise. I therefore add the following exercise plan to the diet. "STRESSERCISE" PLAN! Clench buttocks for twelve hours. Release for a count of one. Clench again. I am confident that anyone who carefully adheres to both plans should lose roughly 10lbs a day in weight. Possibly. Hope that's helpful, which it isn't :-) Ms Martha la Punka (still jealous of Tonks) From ShelaghC at aol.com Fri Sep 12 02:10:16 2003 From: ShelaghC at aol.com (shelaghcol) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 02:10:16 -0000 Subject: Help someone to find his 9/11 friend Message-ID: I found this through an LJ friend - two people met on 9/11 and helped each other out that day. One is now trying to find the other again. http://www.tomatonation.com/finddon.shtml Give the man a hand if you can. Shelagh popping in and out of lurkdom From ShelaghC at aol.com Fri Sep 12 02:21:42 2003 From: ShelaghC at aol.com (shelaghcol) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 02:21:42 -0000 Subject: Help someone to find his 9/11 friend In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Just found out the person doing the looking is actually a woman. My bad...... --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "shelaghcol" wrote: > I found this through an LJ friend - two people met on 9/11 and > helped each other out that day. One is now trying to find the other > again. > > http://www.tomatonation.com/finddon.shtml > > Give the man a hand if you can. > > Shelagh > popping in and out of lurkdom From annemehr at yahoo.com Fri Sep 12 02:35:09 2003 From: annemehr at yahoo.com (annemehr) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 02:35:09 -0000 Subject: HUMOR: The High Stress Diet (thought you might enjoy) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote: > Starbucks single tall latte, very little foam with Equal sweetner (50 > calories) > One double capuccino, Equal sweetner (100 calories) WHY do people insist on putting all that STUFF in perfectly good coffee? Annemehr goes through six cups, black, by 10:00 a.m. From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Fri Sep 12 02:48:39 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 02:48:39 -0000 Subject: 1st year overview - wizarding homeschool (update) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says Sorry, but I'm getting into this...What about standardized tests? College entrance exams? Diplomas? GEDs? I guess what I'm asking is, how does the pupil get credentials that are valid outside the state? --JDR From saitaina at wizzards.net Fri Sep 12 03:45:52 2003 From: saitaina at wizzards.net (Saitaina) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 20:45:52 -0700 Subject: Computer tech help needed *PLEASE!* References: Message-ID: <002201c378e0$5da1d440$a3321c40@aoldsl.net> Alright, I have a lovely Gateway Astro that has decided to completly screw with me. I re-booted my computer and suddenly it asked me for a password, trying to set up a user profile (?) for me. I ignored it just hitting okay and suddenly I'm without colour (I'm now at the lowest level), no mouse (can't figure that one out), and it now claims I'm user Saitaina (which I am but it's never said that before, it's not supposed to have user profiles on it) and I can't get it to stop. Can anyone help? *cries over her broken puter* Saitaina **** "Sorry Vig...just seems like I'm about to come out of a closet I didn't even know I was in." http://www.livejournal.com/users/saitaina "No, one day I'm going to look back on all this and plow face-first into a tree because I was looking the wrong bloody way. And I'll still be having a better day than I am today." From anneu53714 at yahoo.com Fri Sep 12 04:39:33 2003 From: anneu53714 at yahoo.com (Anne) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 04:39:33 -0000 Subject: Harry Potter level books In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Ayne's art is very good. I'm not a huge anime fan, I guess I enjoy other styles more. One of my favorite HP artists is Gwendy, http://quillsnspills.portkey.org/art.htm, who has a very cute style IMO. Another artist I like, whose work is much more realistic, is LMRourke. She's got her own Yahoogroups. Anne U (who might poke her head back into the Main List someday soon, since Annemehr says it's less dangerous now ...) --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "mehndimama" wrote: > Have you seen the illustrations on Ayne's Harry Potter Gallery? She > does her drawings & paintings in Japanese Anime style (Think Sailor > Moon, Speed Racer). Prepare to be bowled over - her stuff is > BEAUTIFUL, and she accepts commissions. > > http://www.minstrelbook.net/hpbook/ > > Professor Stellaria > mama to 4 devoted HP fans, proud supporter of Neville Longbottom, > and Headmistress of the > > Andromeda Academy for Self-Directed Sorcerers > From mehndimama at hotmail.com Fri Sep 12 06:24:17 2003 From: mehndimama at hotmail.com (mehndimama) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 06:24:17 -0000 Subject: 1st year overview - wizarding homeschool (update) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" wrote: > Sorry, but I'm getting into this...What about standardized tests? > College entrance exams? Diplomas? GEDs? I guess what I'm asking is, > how does the pupil get credentials that are valid outside the state? > > --JDR LOL! You sound like everyone else who gets confronted with relaxed homeschooling for the first time! You really have to familiarize yourself with the Self-Directed Learning concept before I'd make any sense explaining my views of all those things to you! Try this link on for size: http://www.unschooling.com/ Happy reading! LOL! Professor Stellaria From june.diamanti at blueyonder.co.uk Fri Sep 12 10:03:08 2003 From: june.diamanti at blueyonder.co.uk (junediamanti) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 10:03:08 -0000 Subject: HUMOR: The High Stress Diet (thought you might enjoy) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" wrote: > Knowing what high stress lives we all lead, I thought you might get > some benefit out of this 'High Stress Diet'. I seems to work for me. > > Subject: Stress Diet > > > > This is a specially formulated diet designed to help cope with the > stress that builds during the day. > > > > BREAKFAST > > 1 grapefruit > > 1 slice whole-wheat toast > > 1 cup skim milk > > > > > > > > LUNCH > > small portion lean, steamed > > chicken with a cup of spinach > > cup herbal tea > > 1 Hershey's Kiss > > > > > > > > AFTERNOON TEA > > The rest of the Hershey Kisses in the bag > > 1 tub of Hagen-Daaz ice cream with chocolate-chip topping > > > > > > > > DINNER > > 4 glasses of wine (red or white) > > 2 loaves garlic bread > > 1 family size Supreme pizza > > 3 Snickers bars > > > > > > > > > > LATE NIGHT SNACK > > 1 whole Sarah Lee cheesecake (eaten directly from the freezer) > > > > > > > > REMEMBER: > > "Stressed" spelled backward is "desserts" > > (I did not know that, really, I did not know.) > > > > > Send this to four people and you will lose two pounds. > > > > > Send this to all the people you know (or ever knew), and you will lose > 10 pounds. > > > > WARNING: > > If you delete this page you will gain 10 pounds immediately. > > (you want to take the chance?) > > > > SEND IT ON OR GET FAT! > > Just a thought. > > bboy_mn Oh, so that's the diet I'm on. I was wondering what it was called. June From Ali at zymurgy.org Fri Sep 12 10:27:58 2003 From: Ali at zymurgy.org (Ali) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 10:27:58 -0000 Subject: Belated Birthday Wishes Message-ID: Oops, you can't get the staff anywhere! This is what happens when you get temporary staff, they take time to adjust to their new role. Belated birthday wishes go to Illyana Dorean. Birthday Owls can be sent to: illyana at mindspring.com. Ihope you had a great yesterday Illyana! Ali, the temporary Birthday Elf off to shut her ears in the oven door... From Ali at zymurgy.org Fri Sep 12 10:32:54 2003 From: Ali at zymurgy.org (Ali) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 10:32:54 -0000 Subject: Happy Birthday John Message-ID: Slowly acclimatising to her role, Ali the Birthday Elf, decorates the room with big banners proclaiming the birthday of John Walton. Hope your birthday is magical and full of fun! Birthday owls can be sent care of this list or directly to john at queerasjohn.com. Ali (the temporary) Birthday Elf, who is celebrating her 11th Wedding Anniversary today. From tim_regan82 at hotmail.com Fri Sep 12 14:36:51 2003 From: tim_regan82 at hotmail.com (Tim Regan) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 14:36:51 -0000 Subject: Puzzles like "Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch" Message-ID: Hi All, Does anyone know a good collection (online or book) of puzzles like the cover of this album: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000009T4/ I.e. incomprehensible line drawings that the puzzle doer has to come up with (funny) answers to the question "What's this?" What are such puzzles called? Cheers, Dumbledad. From tahewitt at yahoo.com Fri Sep 12 15:46:59 2003 From: tahewitt at yahoo.com (Tyler Hewitt) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 08:46:59 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Puzzles like "Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch" In-Reply-To: <1063379941.831.62711.m12@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: <20030912154659.70461.qmail@web14204.mail.yahoo.com> They're called Droodles. There were a few books of these out when I was a kid, I owned a couple of them. There's at least 1 still in print, check on Amazon.com. Tyler RE: Hi All, Does anyone know a good collection (online or book) of puzzles like the cover of this album: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000009T4/ I.e. incomprehensible line drawings that the puzzle doer has to come up with (funny) answers to the question "What's this?" What are such puzzles called? Cheers, Dumbledad. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From illyana at mindspring.com Fri Sep 12 18:18:44 2003 From: illyana at mindspring.com (illyana delorean) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 11:18:44 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Belated Birthday Wishes In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <8B753931-E54D-11D7-B60B-003065B8B954@mindspring.com> Oh, thanks! I wasn't expecting a message from you guys, since i think i've posted here less than 10 times since joining last year. So this was a surprise! illyana On Friday, Sep 12, 2003, at 03:27 America/Phoenix, Ali wrote: > Oops, you can't get the staff anywhere! > > This is what happens when you get temporary staff, they take time to > adjust to their new role. > > Belated birthday wishes go to Illyana Dorean. Birthday Owls can be > sent to: illyana at mindspring.com. > > Ihope you had a great yesterday Illyana! > > Ali, the temporary Birthday Elf off to shut her ears in the oven > door... > a22 e+ x+* Rm Ri HP4 S+++ Mo++ HG+/VK++ HaP+/SS+++& FGW++ DM++& VC-- GG-- CD+ VK++ SS+++& PT--- AF-- MM++ RL++ O+m FAo F- Sl FHo SfD visit my livejournal! http://www.livejournal.com/users/illyanadmc [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From kelleythompson at gbronline.com Fri Sep 12 22:24:46 2003 From: kelleythompson at gbronline.com (Kelley) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 22:24:46 -0000 Subject: Belated Birthday Wishes In-Reply-To: <8B753931-E54D-11D7-B60B-003065B8B954@mindspring.com> Message-ID: illyana delorean wrote: > Oh, thanks! I wasn't expecting a message from you guys, since i think i've posted here less than 10 times since joining last year. So this was a surprise! >>> Lol! Doesn't matter -- you're part of our happy little gang. Hope you had a great day yesterday! --Kelley From kelleythompson at gbronline.com Fri Sep 12 22:29:12 2003 From: kelleythompson at gbronline.com (Kelley) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 22:29:12 -0000 Subject: Happy Anniversary, Ali! In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Ali wrote: > Ali (the temporary) Birthday Elf, who is celebrating her 11th > Wedding Anniversary today. >>> Ali, congratulations! Hope you and hubby have a lovely day today, with many years of happiness ahead! --Kelley From neonsister at ameritech.net Fri Sep 12 23:13:38 2003 From: neonsister at ameritech.net (Tracy) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 23:13:38 -0000 Subject: HUMOR: The High Stress Diet (thought you might enjoy) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Cindy has uttered the magic words: "Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey". I use a large spoon, too! Tracy *apparating into the frozen foods aisle* From punkieshazam at yahoo.com Sat Sep 13 05:36:10 2003 From: punkieshazam at yahoo.com (punkieshazam) Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2003 05:36:10 -0000 Subject: HUMOR: The High Stress Diet (thought you might enjoy) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Tracy" wrote: > Cindy has uttered the magic words: "Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey". > I use a large spoon, too! I use a very small spoon. The ice cream lasts longer and I get exercise moving the spoon from the carton to my mouth. This is a diet after all. Punkie From dradamsapple at yahoo.com Sun Sep 14 01:32:35 2003 From: dradamsapple at yahoo.com (dradamsapple) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 01:32:35 -0000 Subject: student ambassador programs; extremely OT Message-ID: Please excuse the OT ness of this post, but I'm wondering if any of you have heard of this program. My 13 year old son got a letter today from an organization called PEOPLE TO PEOPLE-STUDENT AMBASSADOR PROGRAMS. It praises itself for "Celebrating Five Decades of International Exchange". He is invited to spend 22 days traveling and studying in England,France, Italy and Greece. Apparently, this program was founded by President Eisenhower. I tend to have a little of the old Yankee thought that if it seems to good to be true, it probably is. I mean, yes my son has been an honor student in his first year of middle school, but not High honors. Could this possibly be some sort of scam?? There will be an informational meeting for the parents in late October, so I figured I would try to get a feel for things before that. If anyone can give me some advice, hints, information, I would appreciate it. Please email me off list. Thanks in advance! Anna . . .(whose son instantly asked if he would be able to meet JKR!!) From dradamsapple at yahoo.com Sun Sep 14 01:46:00 2003 From: dradamsapple at yahoo.com (dradamsapple) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 01:46:00 -0000 Subject: student ambassador programs; extremely OT In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "dradamsapple" wrote: > Please excuse the OT ness of this post, but I'm wondering > if any of you have heard of this program. > > PS. I forgot to mention the web page, which I WILL be reading as soon as I get out of here . . . (so, I guess it sounds legit!) http://www.studentambassadors.org thanks, again. Anna . . . From jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com Sun Sep 14 02:21:27 2003 From: jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com (jeffl1965) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 02:21:27 -0000 Subject: Slut!Seamus and other ships Message-ID: I decided to post this here, rather than the main list since it might deal with fanon, rather than canon, and maybe it wouldn't offend as many as slash does on the main list. So, I've seen that I'm not the only one curious about this, so I wanted to ask if anybody wants to guess why Seamus is made a slut, regardless as to the nature of the story or his realtionship. Even if he's het, he's a slut, and usually even if the story is het, Seamus is gay and with Dean or in some cases with Percy! Why is that? I don't mind Seamus being with Dean, but I was just wondering why a slut? But if he's really with Dean, then he's not a slut, but I have seen a few scenes where he's trying to get others to join them. He even is hanging around in the dorm naked in one scene, and tries to get Harry and Ron to join in! Ron just tells him to get some clothes on. ;) Another thing, I'm curious as to why many seem to think that its quite cool for Dean and Seamus to be together, yet not for Harry and Ron? The same arguments I always hear can apply to them as well. "They're best mates, and it would ruin things", "They're obviously straight", hello? Sometimes things happen. There aren't even obvious clues many times. So why is it really ok for D/S, but not H/R? Even H/D or D/R makes less sense to me than the other pairs, and they even squick me a bit. ;) I won't even touch the subject of *anybody* with Snape. :) Now, is Seamus Catholic or Protestant? There's no mention. He doesn't seem to have any prejudices about anybody prior to OOtP, so I'm guessing that even being half n half, he wasn't taught to hate based upon that, which is great. That could explain why he's so close to Dean, since he's not really prejudiced against anybody that we know of. Is his village rather isolated, and that's why he's not been taught any of those views? I'd like to think so. You can't tell from the novel where he's from with his accent, so would he be from a small town or village in the south, far away from the fighting? Guesses? I know there's more I want to explore, but I can't recall everything right now. :) Maybe this will be enough for a few posts, anyway. Jeff From zanelupin at yahoo.com Sun Sep 14 03:40:10 2003 From: zanelupin at yahoo.com (KathyK) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 03:40:10 -0000 Subject: KathyK's Little Dilemma--Sorry to bug you all In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Sorry for the delayed response. Apparently I'm busy now. Thank you for the perspective. I started to panic when I thought about what I was doing. Now I'm going back and forth between panic and resolve. And embarassment as my mother drags me off to meet absolutely *everyone.* Yes, especially embarassment...one of the trainers used, "What's Kathy's mother's name?" as one of the review questions a few days ago. That was the highlight of my week, let me tell you. Actually, the thing that's really driving me batty now about this new job is all the sitting. My other job, the one I've been doing through college, requires me to stand all the time and usually to run around like mad. This is the first time I've ever appreciated that some people go off and exercise after work. I never before understood as my legs sometimes feel as if they're going to fall off when I get out of work. Cindy C.wrote: >>>Boy, I wish I could count the number of times I said "Never!" and went on to do whatever it was anyway . . . I'll *never* stay home and raise kids. I'll *never* drive a station wagon full of aforementioned kids. I'll *never* get trapped in some dull legal specialty. I'll *never* put on too much weight. ;-)<<< KathyK: Well, well...some of your former "nevers" make an appearance on my "never" list as well. But that list is getting shorter more quickly than I'd like. Oh well, never say never, or so it's said. Cindy: >>>Hey, it sounds like you've got a great opportunity to use this new job to launch yourself far away from Connecticut. So long as you're not doing the work of El Diablo himself, I wouldn't sweat it. If you do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay cranking out widgets, I don't think you've violated your personal code of ethics all that much. And it's only temporary.<<< KathyK: That's what I've got to keep reminding myself...temporary...moving away is very, very good. My friend (I think) suggested I keep a picture or postcard of my "secret destination" with me so I can look at it and remember why I'm killing myself in one job that I've been at for much too long and in another job that I didn't want to begin with. That made me smile. Cindy: >>>I wouldn't worry about that either. Really, lots of good job are with large companies, so sometimes you have little choice in the matter. Some large companies are pure evil, and others are OK. If you keep right on patronizing locally owned establishments and responsible businesses as much as you can, you'll be doing far more social good than most folks manage, IMHO.<<< Dumbledad: >>Do you notice the common thread? Honestly, the people you work with make a huge difference to how much you enjoy a job; and in my experience the people working at large corporations are as fun as other folk. You'll enjoy it Kathy.<< KathyK: I know not all large companies are evil. I do know it. But I can't help seething inside as not one day goes by where I don't see a [particular, large grocery store chain] truck plowing through my town because I know that's the reason my favorite little grocery store went under after some thirty-odd years of operation. And even they're not evil. They give all kinds of money to local causes, but that doesn't mean I'll shop there. The company that I'm now training at is rather harmless, as far as what it's function in the world is. And it seems quite employee- friendly. And the folks who work there are pretty nice so far. I'm just not used to all the rules, yet. My other job is pretty lax and what rules there are I had a hand in shaping and the authority to enforce them. Cindy: >>> Just tell me it's not a *tobacco* company! ;-)<<< KathyK: Nope, no tobacco companies for me! I won't even buy cigarettes for anyone, even if they ask me nicely and offer to pay me to do so (that would be my younger brother, who is 22 and still without a drivers license). >>>Cindy -- wishing KathyK luck, wondering what the secret destination is, and guessing San Francisco<<< Thanks, Cindy. It's not San Francisco, but I will keep you apprised of future plans. Mainly because I don't think I'll be able to keep my mouth shut. If all works out well I will be much too excited to be quiet. Amber, the interjecting unknown newbie : >I, too, said that I would never do what my mom did with her life (working in a library). To pay the bills, I worked in the university library where my mom worked -- then to pay more bills, I got a second job working with my dad at a grocery store. I promised myself that when I got out of school, I would move on to bigger and better things. However, now I am working 60-70 hours a week working three jobs as I finish and find that the library (my mom's life's work) is what works for me. When I complete my schooling I will be working for a library different than where my mom works, but in her field all the same....so some days it isn't all that bad. besides, the pay is better than the grocery store. :)< KathyK: Hi Amber! Sorry about the above introduction, but the beginning of your post made me laugh. Not at you, of course, but because I'm a relative newbie and I still feel like I'm intruding on people's conversations when I post. If you want to see me in panic mode about being a newbie (I panic way too much) go read my post on this list entitled "Disheartened Newbie." *blushes* Hey, congrats on finishing up school soon. And I hope your crazy, busy life slows a little when you get out ;-) It's really great that you've found what works for you, even if it is what your mother does. If my mother did anything I was even *remotely* interested in for a career, I think I'd be (sorry for this phrase) "all about" going to her company and learning all I can. And who knows, as you showed above, maybe I will find this place fits me. I actually highly doubt that because of it's location (Connecticut) and the nature of the business (it has nothing to do with school, education, learning, etc..., which is what I'm "all about" these days). Okay, my friend is going to hurt me if I don't get over to his house soon. Thanks again, KathyK (who wishes she could get paid to go to school for the rest of her life...oh right, they're called *teachers*) From jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com Sun Sep 14 04:01:47 2003 From: jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com (jeffl1965) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 04:01:47 -0000 Subject: Computer tech help needed *PLEASE!* In-Reply-To: <002201c378e0$5da1d440$a3321c40@aoldsl.net> Message-ID: when you reboot, as soon as the pc starts to reboot, push the F5 button until it beeps, then you'll go into Windows Safe mode. Then use the System Restore option, and choose a previous day before you had the problem. You'll lose any programs you've added since that day, but it should reset everything for you. Jeff --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Saitaina" wrote: > Alright, I have a lovely Gateway Astro > that has decided to completly screw with > me. I re-booted my computer and suddenly > it asked me for a password, trying to set > up a user profile (?) for me. I ignored > it just hitting okay and suddenly I'm > without colour (I'm now at the lowest > level), no mouse (can't figure that one > out), and it now claims I'm user Saitaina > (which I am but it's never said that > before, it's not supposed to have user > profiles on it) and I can't get it to > stop. Can anyone help? > > *cries over her broken puter* > > Saitaina > **** > "Sorry Vig...just seems like I'm about to > come out of a closet I didn't even know I > was in." > > http://www.livejournal.com/users/saitaina > > "No, one day I'm going to look back on > all this and plow face-first into a tree > because I was looking the wrong bloody > way. And I'll still be having a better > day than I am today." From kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk Sun Sep 14 13:08:25 2003 From: kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk (Kathryn Cawte) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 14:08:25 +0100 (GMT Daylight Time) Subject: Techie help Message-ID: <3F646849.000008.92091@monica> Hi, I don't even know if this is possible but I'm sure if it is someone here will know. I'm drawing up a recs page for my website using my ridiculously large favourites folder (when your sub-folders have sub-folders and they have so many links that the computer gives up on alphebetising them and starts at A again, twice, it's time to clear up the links I think). But I'm going home this week. It's a great project to use up the free time I will have while at my dad's place, but obviously my favourites folder is on my computer. Is there some way to back the favourites up to disk? (I use IE btw) K From przepla at ipartner.com.pl Sun Sep 14 14:49:27 2003 From: przepla at ipartner.com.pl (Przemyslaw Plaskowicki) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 16:49:27 +0200 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Techie help In-Reply-To: <3F646849.000008.92091@monica> References: <3F646849.000008.92091@monica> Message-ID: <3F647FF7.6010307@ipartner.com.pl> On 2003-09-14 15:08, Kathryn Cawte wrote: > Hi, > > > >I don't even know if this is possible but I'm sure if it is someone here >will know. I'm drawing up a recs page for my website using my ridiculously >large favourites folder (when your sub-folders have sub-folders and they >have so many links that the computer gives up on alphebetising them and >starts at A again, twice, it's time to clear up the links I think). But I'm >going home this week. It's a great project to use up the free time I will >have while at my dad's place, but obviously my favourites folder is on my >computer. Is there some way to back the favourites up to disk? (I use IE >btw) > > > IE favourities folder in the matter is a simple folder containing link files (with .url extension), so you may just copy it to floppy, or zip and send it via e-mail. It's actual position depends on system you are using and if you are using Windows logins or not (Could be C:\windows\favourites or C:\Documents and Settings\[your login]\Favourities or C:\Windows\Profiles\[your login]\Favourities. Best solution is to use Start --> Find and let windows find Favourities, then you may just copy this folder. To put it into IE's favourities you should just place it in appropriate place on yours father's system. Pshemekan -- OTChatter resident techie ;-) From HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Sun Sep 14 15:02:09 2003 From: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com (HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com) Date: 14 Sep 2003 15:02:09 -0000 Subject: Reminder - Weekly Chat Message-ID: <1063551729.24.6997.m1@yahoogroups.com> We would like to remind you of this upcoming event. Weekly Chat Date: Sunday, September 14, 2003 Time: 11:00AM - 7:00PM CDT (GMT-05:00) Hi everyone! Don't forget, chat happens today, 11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern, 7 pm UK time. *Chat times are not changing for Daylight Saving/Summer Time.* Chat generally goes on for about 5 hours, but can last as long as people want it to last. Go into any Yahoo chat room and type /join HP:1 For further info, see the Humongous BigFile, section 3.3. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/hbfile.html#33 Hope to see you there! From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Sun Sep 14 16:42:40 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 16:42:40 -0000 Subject: Seamus' religion (was Slut!) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Jeff wrote: > Now, is Seamus Catholic or Protestant? There's no mention. He > doesn't seem to have any prejudices about anybody prior to OOtP, so > I'm guessing that even being half n half, he wasn't taught to hate > based upon that, which is great. That could explain why he's so close > to Dean, since he's not really prejudiced against anybody that we > know of. Is his village rather isolated, and that's why he's not been > taught any of those views? I'd like to think so. You can't tell from > the novel where he's from with his accent, so would he be from a > small town or village in the south, far away from the fighting? > Guesses? As you say, it's hard to be certain, but I would associate the name Seamus with a Catholic background. Support for Ireland at the QWC would also support that conclusion, though, since the only alternative is Bulgaria, one imagines plenty of UK citizens would also choose Ireland. However, his family's allegiance does seem to be dyed-in-the-wool. It is my experience of many people from Ireland, particularly the north, that they are very aware of the existence and nature of prejudice, and are determined to resist it in their own lives, precisely because they see what it does. Ireland is part of the modern world: I doubt that isolation would be a factor. 'Fighting' isn't a very accurate description of the situation in Northern Ireland. It hadn't occurred to me that his being 'half and half' might be a sly reference to religion. Interesting, that. David From cindysphynx at comcast.net Sun Sep 14 16:55:51 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 16:55:51 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . Message-ID: Hey, all, Lately, I've become interested in learning more about world history. My American history isn't too bad, but the rest of the world is a rather unfortunate blur in my mind. Has anyone read any good non-fiction history books they could recommend? I'm looking for something that is an entertaining read (as contrasted to the dry-as-dust history books I was forced to read in school), and I'm more interested in quality than subject matter, really. European history, Russian history, Chinese history, African history . . . it all works for me. Any ideas? Cindy -- too lazy to just go to the library and see what's out there From ChaseWildstar at charter.net Sun Sep 14 17:01:45 2003 From: ChaseWildstar at charter.net (ChaseWildstar) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 13:01:45 -0400 Subject: Hp Chats question Message-ID: <003a01c37ae1$e0c65370$6401a8c0@mac> I wonder how many of us do not go to the HP:1 chat, due to the fact that its not voice? Im looking for a good Adult Voice chat room, anyone know of any? The HP rooms on yahoo are filled with 12-14 year olds, and its very rare to get a good HP conversation going, and even rarer to do so with other adults. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From michelleapostolides at yahoo.co.uk Sun Sep 14 17:04:37 2003 From: michelleapostolides at yahoo.co.uk (Pinguthegreek) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 18:04:37 +0100 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Hp Chats question References: <003a01c37ae1$e0c65370$6401a8c0@mac> Message-ID: <04d801c37ae2$62e861e0$c95fc487@personal> ----- Original Message ----- From: ChaseWildstar To: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2003 6:01 PM Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Hp Chats question I wonder how many of us do not go to the HP:1 chat, due to the fact that its not voice? Not everyone can use a voice facility. In fact, I would not go into a room with voice only chat, as I am hard of hearing. Michelle [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From przepla at ipartner.com.pl Sun Sep 14 17:42:56 2003 From: przepla at ipartner.com.pl (Przemyslaw Plaskowicki) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 19:42:56 +0200 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3F64A8A0.3090602@ipartner.com.pl> On 2003-09-14 18:55, Cindy C. wrote: >Hey, all, > >Lately, I've become interested in learning more about world history. >My American history isn't too bad, but the rest of the world is a >rather unfortunate blur in my mind. > You shouldn't say something like that! It make you like those stereotypical Americans who don't know anything about outer (non-US) world ;-) >Has anyone read any good non-fiction history books they could recommend? > >I'm looking for something that is an entertaining read (as contrasted >to the dry-as-dust history books I was forced to read in school), and >I'm more interested in quality than subject matter, really. European >history, Russian history, Chinese history, African history . . . it >all works for me. > > Well for that I would recommend those series: The Hornblower series by C. S. Forester about Royal Navy during Napoleonic Wars The Sharpe series by **Bernard Cornwell** about British Army during Napoleonic Wars The Cadfael series by Ellis Peters about monk solving crimes in 13th century England All of them provide good story in excellent historic settings. Regards, Pshemekan From kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk Sun Sep 14 17:58:51 2003 From: kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk (Kathryn Cawte) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 18:58:51 +0100 (GMT Daylight Time) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Don't Know Much About History . . . References: Message-ID: <3F64AC5B.000001.69935@monica> This is about to be the worst book recommendation ever - since I can't think of the author's name. However I'm hoping I'm giving you enough info that someone else can tell you what you need to know to find it. The guy who wrote Band of Brothers (I don't mean whoever scripted the tv show I mean the author of the book) is apparently great. I can't really claim to be great at talking about history books because being an eternal student and historian I m coming from a whole other level than you are - but my father never really got into history as such and he has the book on Pegasus Bridge by this guy and he reckons it's brilliant - very easy to read and with lots of interesting detail. The books do tend to be focussed in on details rather than covering the whole sweep of events - but to my mind that's where the interest lies anyway. If you're interested in the bigger picture Eric Hobsbawm is a good writer of (mainly) European history. He's a left-wing historian (you should always know a bit about the author when reading history books aimed at anywhere above primary school level imo), but not too overtly biased. He has a series of "Age of ..." books (4 or 5 of them) covering from medieval period onwards They were required reading for first year undergrads at my uni - but that doesn't mean they require prior knowledge to understand them. Uni students on history courses in the UK tend to have specialized in many different periods so the first year courses were designed to get us all knowing something about everything, these were the books to use for that. Failing that go into a decent bookstore (ie one with reasonably intelligent staff who care about their merchandise) and see what they recommend. Ask what sells best. And if you hit something deadly dull don't let it put you off because I've never found a period of history that wasn't interesting but I surely have found some dire books - including one that my tutor used to recommend specific pages from since it had useful information but even he couldn't plough his way through it without falling asleep :) K From ChaseWildstar at charter.net Sun Sep 14 18:22:21 2003 From: ChaseWildstar at charter.net (ChaseWildstar) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 14:22:21 -0400 Subject: save GOF from a 2.4 hour chopped to peices movie, Sign the online petition. Message-ID: <002301c37aed$23acf080$6401a8c0@mac> http://www.savegof.com/ Save the GOF.. According to reports, warnerbrothers wants GOF to be 2.5 hours or less. NO WAY! It cannot be done.. In HP:POA is appears that the kids aren't wearing wizard stuff, but are going as muggles.. Oooooohhhh.. this is not good. When I asked about this, I got some lame excuse about lack of funding.. WB has made millions off HP, so they can afford it, and they can afford to make GOF into a good 4 hour movie. Join HP collectables, to discuss collecting various HP items. Subscribe: HPcollectables-subscribe at yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: HPcollectables-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com List owner: HPcollectables-owner at yahoogroups.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk Sun Sep 14 18:41:06 2003 From: alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk (alshainofthenorth) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 18:41:06 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: <3F64A8A0.3090602@ipartner.com.pl> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Przemyslaw Plaskowicki" wrote: > Well for that I would recommend those series: > The Hornblower series by C. S. Forester about Royal Navy during > Napoleonic Wars > The Sharpe series by **Bernard Cornwell** about British Army during > Napoleonic Wars > The Cadfael series by Ellis Peters about monk solving crimes in 13th > century England > > All of them provide good story in excellent historic settings. > > Regards, > Pshemekan In the tradition of Medieval mystery novels, let me just add the Owen Archer series by Candace Robb (set in York during the Hundred years war, about a Welshman, former captain of archers in the service of the Duke of Lancaster). Then, if you haven't already seen it, Rowan Atkinson's Blackadder series should be available on VHS. I've heard of history teachers actually using that one in class. There are some authors who write digestible Scandinavian history, too, (my little corner of the world) but they're not available in English, AFAIK. Good luck with the project, Alshain From catlady at wicca.net Sun Sep 14 18:45:45 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 18:45:45 -0000 Subject: Slut!Seamus and other ships, and Seamus's religion In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jeffl1965" wrote: > > So, I've seen that I'm not the only one curious about this, so I > wanted to ask if anybody wants to guess why Seamus is made a slut, > regardless as to the nature of the story or his realtionship. I don't read enough fanfic to know what is common and what isn't, but my guess is that slut!Seamus appeared in some early fic and was copied by other fics until became embedded in writers' minds. Sometimes one can find something in canon that could explain why a particular fanon characterization became popular (e.g. gay!Justin from his admiration of Lockhart) but sometimes it's just random genetic drift. > > Another thing, I'm curious as to why many seem to think that its > quite cool for Dean and Seamus to be together, yet not for Harry > and Ron? The same arguments I always hear can apply to them as > well. "They're best mates, and it would ruin things", "They're > obviously straight", hello? Sometimes things happen. There aren't > even obvious clues many times. So why is it really ok for D/S, but > not H/R? People who get attached to a certain ship often dislike any other ship for the same people. So Harry/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, and Harry/Draco shippers all have that reason to object to Harry/Ron. I kind of like Harry/Ron, but to me, Ron has displayed the most heterosexuality of any kid of his year at Hogwarts, with his exagerated reactions to Fleur, and his attempts to look down Madam Rosmerta's neckline. For me, the ship that I REALLY believe in, that is just SO OBVIOUS from canon that I don't understand how anyone can doubt it, is McGonagall/Hooch, so *I* get tetchy when people start shipping Dumbledore/McGonagall or McGonagall/Sprout ... > I won't even touch the subject of *anybody* with Snape. :) A pity, as that's what I write. > Now, is Seamus Catholic or Protestant? There's no mention. He > doesn't seem to have any prejudices about anybody prior to OOtP, so > I'm guessing that even being half n half, he wasn't taught to hate > based upon that, which is great. That could explain why he's so > close to Dean, since he's not really prejudiced against anybody > that we know of. Is his village rather isolated, and that's why > he's not been taught any of those views? I'd like to think so. It seems to me that all your questions come from the idea that Seamus was brought up in the Muggle world. I think he was brought up more in the wizarding world (remember, he had all those tales of flying a broomstick before he ever came to Hogwarts). Going to visit his paternal grandparents in the Muggle world could be like going to gvisit them in a foreign country. Nowdays I have co-workers who get all excited about taking their children to Taiwan or Pakistan to meet the grandparents, but back in my youth, my family lived in Los Angeles and they took me to New York City to meet my grandparents in 1968(? It was the NY World's Fair.) The isolation you mention is not a Muggle isolated village, but the entire wizarding world's isolation from Muggles. I think there is no need to assume that there is any conflict between Catholics and Protestants, any concept of Stuarts or Orangemen, in the wizarding world. That is just Muggle politics, which Muggle king will rule the Muggle people of (Northern) Ireland. Even if his Muggle grandparents were very into that conflict, his witch mother would have brought him up to think that that was just a stupid thing Muggles do, like playing football (soccer) instead of Quidditch. I suppose his mother has also taught him that being prejudiced based on skin color (instead of on important things like purity of blood) is still another stupid thing Muggles do. However, in OoP she does seem like the type to be prejudiced against werewolves: did Seamus make any comment when it was revealed to the whole school that Lupin was a werewolf? (Another thought I have is, that Seamus might live in England. His parents might have moved to England for career purposes, just as some point, the Patil twins' ancestor moved from South Asia to Britain. If Seamus lived in England, then Hogwarts might be the wizarding school for Britain and Ireland could have its own school.) My theory on the religion of British and Irish wizarding folk is that, while Muggle-borns would have brought many Muggle religions in with them, the old pureblood families are very conservative and may well have retained their old pre-Christian religions. I wonder if their Druid religion and their Hellenistic Roman religion have merged by now? So I imagine that British wizarding institutions have TWO Official religions, their old religion and their Anglican religion. Thus, it would be difficult for them to make being one particular religion a mark of a political position. From linlou43 at yahoo.com Sun Sep 14 19:11:24 2003 From: linlou43 at yahoo.com (linlou43) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 19:11:24 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Cindy wrote: > Has anyone read any good non-fiction history books they could recommend? linlou: If you have an interest in modern European history, I strongly recommend "Is Paris Burning?" by Larry Collins and Dominique LaPierre. It is currently out of print, but it is a wonderful fictionalization of the WWII liberation of Paris from the POV of the German commander. I'm sure your local library would have it. You probably could also find it at a good used book store. Happy Reading-linlou From pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk Sun Sep 14 19:16:43 2003 From: pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk (bluesqueak) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 19:16:43 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Cindy wrote: > Has anyone read any good non-fiction history books they could recommend? > > I'm looking for something that is an entertaining read (as > contrasted to the dry-as-dust history books I was forced to read > in school), and I'm more interested in quality than subject > matter, really. European history, Russian history, Chinese > history, African history . . . it all works for me. > > Any ideas? Galloping through cultures and countries: A people's tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891 - 1924 Orlando Figes is a good overview of the Russian Revolution. The Scramble for Africa Thomas Pakenham is *the* classic on European colonialism in Africa, and is also a very good read. The Second World War (Abridged Version) Winston S. Churchill Did you know that Sir Winston Churchill not only won the Nobel Prize for Literature, but also deserved it? As well as being a politician, he was a professional writer. So unlike most ghost written political histories, this one is genuinely written by a major player - and it shows. A History in Fragments: Europe in the 20th Century by Richard Vinen. This one I haven't read myself, but it's been recommended to me. Some specifically English history: God's Englishman: Oliver Cromwell and the English Revolution Christopher Hill Christopher Hill is a left wing historian, but a good one. This is a history of Cromwell - the man who changed the history of Britain forever by legally executing a King. Churchill: A life by Martin Gilbert. The best single volume history of Winston S. Churchill - Prime Minister during most of World War II Pip!Squeak From neonsister at ameritech.net Sun Sep 14 19:18:38 2003 From: neonsister at ameritech.net (Tracy) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 19:18:38 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Alshain said: "Then, if you haven't already seen it, Rowan Atkinson's Blackadder series should be available on VHS. I've heard of history teachers actually using that one in class." Me (Tracy): The Blackadder DVD set also has some extra historical background information on the Special Features section. I have learned quite a bit from watching Blackadder (and not just new insults for my repertoire, though those are fun, too!) Tracy From tomatogrower88 at yahoo.com Sun Sep 14 19:35:19 2003 From: tomatogrower88 at yahoo.com (tomatogrower88) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 19:35:19 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote: > Hey, all, > > Lately, I've become interested in learning more about world history. > My American history isn't too bad, but the rest of the world is a > rather unfortunate blur in my mind. > > Has anyone read any good non-fiction history books they could recommend? > > I'm looking for something that is an entertaining read (as contrasted > to the dry-as-dust history books I was forced to read in school), and > I'm more interested in quality than subject matter, really. European > history, Russian history, Chinese history, African history . . . it > all works for me. > > Any ideas? > > Cindy -- too lazy to just go to the library and see what's out there Cindy, When I read I Claudius by Robert Graves I thought I would laugh myself silly. I also read a book called Sarum that I enjoyed but can't remember the author on that one. I think that young adult fiction is some ways is better than adult books. I read Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman it was excellent; this is a book for 12 year olds. So I would check in the chilrens section of the library. Myrth From kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk Sun Sep 14 19:49:35 2003 From: kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk (Kathryn Cawte) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 20:49:35 +0100 (GMT Daylight Time) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Don't Know Much About History . . . References: Message-ID: <3F64C64F.000001.24111@monica> Cindy, When I read I Claudius by Robert Graves I thought I would laugh myself silly. I also read a book called Sarum that I enjoyed but can't remember the author on that one. I think that young adult fiction is some ways is better than adult books. I read Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman it was excellent; this is a book for 12 year olds. So I would check in the chilrens section of the library. Myrth Demonstrating yet again my complete inability to remember names I don't know the author of Sarum either but if it's who I think it is he also wrote a book about London (called London I believe) which is the story of the in habitants of the area from the neolithic era up to the present. Of course it is daunting in the fact that it makes OoP look like a little light reading :) K From catlady at wicca.net Sun Sep 14 20:52:11 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 20:52:11 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote: > Hey, all, > > Lately, I've become interested in learning more about world history. > My American history isn't too bad, but the rest of the world is a > rather unfortunate blur in my mind. > > Has anyone read any good non-fiction history books they could recommend? There is an excellent British series, intended for middle school kids, with titles like THE ROTTEN ROMANS, THE VICIOUS VIKINGS, and so. From Ali at zymurgy.org Sun Sep 14 20:55:17 2003 From: Ali at zymurgy.org (Ali) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 20:55:17 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: <3F64C64F.000001.24111@monica> Message-ID: Myrth wrote: I also read a book called Sarum that I enjoyed but can't remember the author on that one.. Kathryn Cawte wrote:- <<>> I own and enjoyed Sarum. The author is called Edward Rutherfurd. But, I just read a review of London on Amazon.co.UK which suggested that you should only read one or the other as they are actually very similar. "In London, he has a short stubby person build a catherdral and guess what? In Sarum, he has a short stubby person build Stonehenge. Augh" A reader. I love historical novels, and my favourite series is about a Roman informer called Marcus Didius Falco by Lindsey Davis. Still, if it's non-fiction you're after, I'd second Christopher Hill. Ali From kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk Sun Sep 14 21:04:31 2003 From: kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk (Kathryn Cawte) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 22:04:31 +0100 (GMT Daylight Time) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Don't Know Much About History . . . References: Message-ID: <3F64D7DF.000001.61563@monica> In the tradition of Medieval mystery novels, let me just add the Owen Archer series by Candace Robb (set in York during the Hundred years war, about a Welshman, former captain of archers in the service of the Duke of Lancaster). Good luck with the project, Alshain I'd second that recommendation - the Owen Archer books are cool. My favourites are the Matthew Bartholomew Chronicles (he's a doctor of medicine at Cambridge in about the same period as the Owen Archer novels). They're written by Susan Gregory. K From risako at nexusanime.com Sun Sep 14 21:53:30 2003 From: risako at nexusanime.com (Melissa McCarthy) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 18:53:30 -0300 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Don't Know Much About History . . . References: Message-ID: <015e01c37b0a$b1dc4c80$6401a8c0@vaio> Ali said: > Still, if it's > non-fiction you're after, I'd second Christopher Hill. I agree, Christopher Hill is an interesting writer; I recommend his The English Bible and the Seventeenth-Century Revolution. James Sharpe's Instruments of Darkness is a good look at English witch hunts, and not too sensationalist. I'm not entirely sure what to make of The Keys of Avalon by Steve Blake and Scott Lloyd; it's a reinterpretation of the historical basis of the Arthurian legends that aims to rewrite much of early English history, and although it looks convincing, something seems a bit off, and I can't put my finger on what. Still, it makes a good read. David Starkey's Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII is dauntingly long (and heavy!) but fascinating. It reads almost more like a historical novel than like a history, and the author emphasizes what a good story it makes. Illustrated History of Europe: A Unique Portrait of Europe's Common History, edited by Frederic Delouche, is a gorgeous book, beautifully illustrated, and a good overview of general European history. >From Dawn to Decadence by Jacques Barzun looks at the history of western culture. I don't agree with all of his conclusions, but it's well written and engrossing. Patricia Anderson's When Passion Reigned is a look at the history of Victorian sexuality. It makes a good light read, and a lot of it is amusing. The tone of the book might not be to everyone's taste, though. And for a reasonably good quick'n'dirty look at the whole of history (well, the whole of those parts of history that have affected North America), try Doris Flexner's The Optimist's Guide to History. It's not so much a history as a list of things that have happened that we should be happy about, but there is a lot of history in it. I find it terribly oversimplified, but I have an MA in history, so if you're not as obsessive about history as I am, you might really like the book. I know you're looking for non-fiction, but Anne Perry's mystery novels (the William Monk series and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series) are set in Victorian Britain and offer some pretty good insights into what life was like then for people of all different classes. I'm not sure if all of those books are in print, but used-book stores around universities are likely to carry any that are out of print and not in the library. Melissa, somewhat obsessed with English history From cindysphynx at comcast.net Sun Sep 14 22:03:03 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 22:03:03 -0000 Subject: 11,000? Message-ID: Hey, A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, some of us were speculating about when the main list would reach 11,000 members. I wrote: "Second, we could go on record to guess the date on which the list will surge to 11,000. Mmmmm, I say October 3." Anne U. predicted: "I'll guess 11,000 by no later than September 1." Today, we're at 10,961, so I think Anne and I both lose. Hmmm, anyone have a guess about 12,000? Cindy -- who loves making predictions From annemehr at yahoo.com Sun Sep 14 22:06:17 2003 From: annemehr at yahoo.com (annemehr) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 22:06:17 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote: > Has anyone read any good non-fiction history books they could recommend? > > I'm looking for something that is an entertaining read (as contrasted > to the dry-as-dust history books I was forced to read in school), and > I'm more interested in quality than subject matter, really. European > history, Russian history, Chinese history, African history . . . it > all works for me. Annemehr: I can't help Cindy exactly, but I know exactly the type of book she means, because I've read two of them from US history. In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick is about the wreck of the Essex, a whaleship out of Nantucket. The events are what supposedly inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick. It is very well researched and besides learning about one particular voyage, you also get a lot about whaling in general and the time it happened in. Seabiscuit, whose author I forget (Susan Hillebrand or something? I've leant my copy out), but many of you will know -- it was a bestseller last summer -- is another. In telling the story of one great racehorse, it also presents the life of racing at that time and a feel for the Great Depression. Both these books are completely nonfiction, but they delve into particular subjects right down to a very human scale. They read like stories in a way, but are so full of facts that you're sure you are getting the whole picture and not just a romanticised version. Yet, when I look in the bookstore, I can't find books like these; they're all overviews of the Civil War and other boring stuff (not the Civil War, that is, but the overview). Maybe "History" isn't the right section? Thanks to all who have made recommendations. I'll be looking for something new, too, as soon as I finish OoP for the third time. Annemehr From cindysphynx at comcast.net Sun Sep 14 22:27:47 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 22:27:47 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Annemehr wrote: > Seabiscuit, whose author I forget (Susan Hillebrand or something? >I've leant my copy out), but many of you will know -- it was a >bestseller last summer -- is another. Seabiscuit, by Laura Hillenbrand (I think -- I lent my copy out as well). Man, what a great book that was! I had to force myself to get it because the idea of reading about race horses didn't exactly thrill me. But she is such a good writer that she could make anything fascinating! She recently wrote a feature in the New Yorker about her struggle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Wow! > Yet, when I look in the bookstore, I can't find books like these; > they're all overviews of the Civil War and other boring stuff (not >the Civil War, that is, but the overview). Maybe "History" isn't the > right section? I dunno. I do encounter the same problem, though, so it's not just you. Thanks to everyone who made a recommendation! I'll head to the library tomorrow. Cindy -- who just finished Al Franken's "Lying Liars and the Lies They Tell" and found it mildly interesting but not nearly as funny or good as his previous book, "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations" From tahewitt at yahoo.com Sun Sep 14 22:51:12 2003 From: tahewitt at yahoo.com (Tyler Hewitt) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 15:51:12 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: <1063572197.1834.90947.m12@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: <20030914225112.10305.qmail@web14205.mail.yahoo.com> Cindy wrote: > Has anyone read any good non-fiction history books they could recommend? I know a few: Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen In this book, Loewen exemines the 12 most popular American history textbooks and finds them full of ommisions, misstellings, fibs and outright lies. The events as they actually occured are recounted here, as well as a discussion of why textbooks are wrong. Lies Across America by James Loewen Same author as the previous book. In this one, he traveles to all 50 states, researches historical markers, and points out errors and omissions in them. A little breezier than the first, but also very enjoyable and illuminating. Art, Culture, and Cuisine by Phyllis Pray Bober This is a history of humanity focusing on how food and diet influences culture. It talks about prehistoric diets, and examines Ancient Egyptian, Roman, Greek, Gothic eating habits, etc. it also has recipies should you want to try to cook the food youread about. Sex in History by Reay Tannahill A history of sex and sexual mores through time and across cultures. Pretty interesting, a good read. River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West by Rebecca Solnit Eadweard Muybridge was a photographer who produced the world's first motion studies. This book examines his work in the context of increasing industrualization of 19th century life. A really interesting read, I liked this one a lot. Tyler __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Sun Sep 14 23:22:45 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 23:22:45 -0000 Subject: Slut!Seamus and other ships In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says For me, Ron has to be straight because his whole purpose in the story seems to be to provide Harry with an anchor of normalcy in a world where he is accepted. And Harry has to be gay because he's too damaged psychologically to sustain a conventional relationship. Draco has analagous damage, so it's easy to stick them together. Of course, the kicker is that I've never read a realistic gay!Ron fic. Slut!Seamus, I don't understand either, but I'd say he's culturally Catholic because otherwise his religion becomes a plot point. Christmas (winter solstice) and Easter (spring) are holidays that are celebrated more or less universally; many practitioners of Santeria and other syncretic American religions consider themselves Catholic; people still think the Jesuits are a cult. --JDR From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Sun Sep 14 23:55:25 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 23:55:25 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Cindy wrote: > Has anyone read any good non-fiction history books they could recommend? > > I'm looking for something that is an entertaining read (as contrasted > to the dry-as-dust history books I was forced to read in school), and > I'm more interested in quality than subject matter, really. European > history, Russian history, Chinese history, African history . . . it > all works for me. Are you a visual person? If so, try to get a decent historical atlas. The use of maps makes an unconscious Euro-centric (or American-centric) approach harder to maintain, and allows you to get some impression of contemporary events in different places. Here in the UK we have the Times Atlas of World History and the two volume Penguin Atlas. Doubtless these are available from Amazon.co.uk, but possibly National Geographic or someone has done one in the US. Otherwise, 'Millennium' by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto - more a scattering of snapshots than a complete sweep. 'Nathaniel's Nutmeg' by Giles Milton, about shenanigans in the Spice Islands (Moluccas) culminating in a hard bargain driven by the Dutch in which they grabbed the fabulously exotic and wealthy island of Run from the British, and fobbed them off with a crummy island nobody wanted in the Hudson River in America in exchange. A History of the Jews, by Paul Johnson - a good readable overview. I have a good history of China by IIRC someone called Cotrell, but I can't check right now. Chinese history is interesting because the early period leading up to empire is like a completely separate world from ours, so IMO is a good test-bed for theories of international relations, e.g. I think it gives problems for the neorealist view that the number of states in a system stays more or less constant over time. For my work I once had to look at some 20th century international crises, and the most memorable book from that was Keith Kyle's 'Suez', about the 1956 crisis. If you are prepared to soil your hands with fiction then Umberto Eco's 'The Name of the Rose' is riveting stuff. Fourteenth century Italy. Gets you into the culture (or does a good job of making you think you have). Finally, though it's hard to get, and not really history as such, 'High Albania' by Edith Durham. Durham was a British traveller at the turn of the last century who ventured into the wilds of northern Albania and wrote a book about it. Passionate, fascinating, informative, tragic - one of my all time favourite books, that I foolishly lent to someone who was planning on going there. I never got the book back and they never went. David, in the market for a good one on N America 1492-1773 From kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk Sun Sep 14 23:41:19 2003 From: kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk (Kathryn Cawte) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 00:41:19 +0100 (GMT Daylight Time) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Slut!Seamus and other ships References: Message-ID: <3F64FC9F.000004.65625@monica> The Sergeant Majorette says Slut!Seamus, I don't understand either, but I'd say he's culturally Catholic because otherwise his religion becomes a plot point. Christmas (winter solstice) and Easter (spring) are holidays that are celebrated more or less universally; many practitioners of Santeria and other syncretic American religions consider themselves Catholic; people still think the Jesuits are a cult. Me (K) I've explained my thoughts on Slut!Seamus over on HPfGUs when the discussion was over there so I won't do so again. As for his religion then it depends whether he is Irish or Northern Irish. I've always assumed that he is Irish (although I'm not sure why I did that). If he is from the Republic he is more than likely to be Catholic and if he is from Ulster then he's more likely to be Protestant, but that's a generalization since there are Protestants in the republic and Catholics in Ulster. I don't think we'll ever be told for sure because I can't see it being relevent to the plot and there's no reason for JKR to want to touch on the Northern Irish conflict. I m not sure I understand why you think his religion would be a plot point if it was other than Catholic - unless you're assuming he's from the Republic as I am, in which case it would be far more likely that he is. K From jkusalavagemd at yahoo.com Sun Sep 14 23:59:56 2003 From: jkusalavagemd at yahoo.com (Haggridd) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 23:59:56 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hi, Cindy, I could recommend a slew of history books, but if you find texts boring, I recommend historical fiction by authors with a reputation for accuracy. These can give you a sense of a period far better than a textbook. I recommend any historical novel by Cecilia Holland,the Flashman series by George MacDonald Fraser, the Sharpe seres by Bernard Cornwal, for classical Greecs, any novel by Mary Renault, for republican Rome, a number of boks by Collen McCullough (she wrote the Thorn Birds), and many others. Haggridd --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote: > Hey, all, > > Lately, I've become interested in learning more about world history. > My American history isn't too bad, but the rest of the world is a > rather unfortunate blur in my mind. > > Has anyone read any good non-fiction history books they could recommend? > > I'm looking for something that is an entertaining read (as contrasted > to the dry-as-dust history books I was forced to read in school), and > I'm more interested in quality than subject matter, really. European > history, Russian history, Chinese history, African history . . . it > all works for me. > > Any ideas? > > Cindy -- too lazy to just go to the library and see what's out there From RSFJenny19 at aol.com Mon Sep 15 00:48:02 2003 From: RSFJenny19 at aol.com (RSFJenny19 at aol.com) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 20:48:02 EDT Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Don't Know Much About History . . . Message-ID: Cindy wrote: I recently read Queen Noor's book, Leap of Faith, and found it to be very good. It's kind of her memoirs (she was raised American, and married King Hussein of Jordan), but I figured the book would just be about their lives, and it's not. She puts in a *lot* of middle east history and I found that her book really gave me a new perspective on everything that's going on over there. It really gave me a lot to think about, which is what I like in a book. ~RSFJenny~ "Listening to the news! Again?" "Well, it changes every day, you see." - Vernon Dursley and Harry Potter [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From susannahlm at yahoo.com Mon Sep 15 02:07:25 2003 From: susannahlm at yahoo.com (derannimer) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 02:07:25 -0000 Subject: Calling Scots Message-ID: Hey, sorry to bug you guys with this, but what time does it get dark at night in Northern Scotland in late October? Say, Halloween? I tried to find someplace that would tell me online, but they all seem to require longitude and such, and I haven't a clue. Derannimer From severus_sucker at comcast.net Mon Sep 15 03:43:18 2003 From: severus_sucker at comcast.net (Severus Sucker) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2003 23:43:18 -0400 Subject: Introduction from a new member Message-ID: Greetings and Salutations! I'm Severus Sucker - a newcomer to the group. I thought I would take a moment to introduce myself. (A friend of mine, teasing me about my, um, "obsession" with Professor Snape, called me a Severus sucker. I was sufficiently amused to adopt that as my netname for all things HP-related.) Let's see.... details... I tend to be a quiet, private type that lurks on lists more I post to them, so you may not hear from me too terribly often. I'm an aging goth in the Atlanta, GA area - a Gerigoth, if you will. For the past few years I was employed as a technical support rep for an ISP but quit to go back to school. I'm now happily majoring in Asian Studies at GSU - focusing primarily on Japanese language and culture. I love to cook (especially ethnic foods and anything spicy.) I sew from time to time and enjoy anime. I am something of a Ren Faire rat, an avid reader, a history buff and have always been fascinated by the paranormal. ...and as I said, I'm rather intrigued by the dark, mysterious potions master. :-) Anyroad... I'm glad to be in the group and have a chance to hear from and interact with other adults who appreciate the world that J.K. Rowling has created. Severus Sucker From joym999 at aol.com Mon Sep 15 03:45:00 2003 From: joym999 at aol.com (joywitch_m_curmudgeon) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 03:45:00 -0000 Subject: Slut!Seamus and other ships, and Seamus's religion In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" wrote: > (Another thought I have is, that Seamus might live in England. His > parents might have moved to England for career purposes, just as some > point, the Patil twins' ancestor moved from South Asia to Britain. If > Seamus lived in England, then Hogwarts might be the wizarding school > for Britain and Ireland could have its own school.) > > Interesting and thoughtful response, as always, Catlady, and I agree with you about McGonagall and Hootch. About the above theory, though, I have a vague memory that JKR said in a interview that Hogwarts is the wizarding school for both England AND Ireland. I could be mis-remembering, though. --Joywitch From annemehr at yahoo.com Mon Sep 15 04:40:43 2003 From: annemehr at yahoo.com (annemehr) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 04:40:43 -0000 Subject: Introduction from a new member In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hello, there! Severus Sucker (sorry, but that makes me think of Severus-on-a-stick!) wrote: > I tend to be a quiet, private type that lurks on lists more I post to > them, so you may not hear from me too terribly often. Well, post again now! :) >I'm now happily majoring in Asian > Studies at GSU - focusing primarily on Japanese language and culture. > > I [...] enjoy anime. Can you tell me how much of the Japanese culture comes through in anime? I've seen some on TV when my kids watch it -- Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, Tenchi (my favorite) -- is this real anime? Is Yu-Gi-Oh? I have to admit I like the "feel" of these shows. Sure beats "Scooby Doo" anyway! Digimon is another one -- you get little glimpses of Japanese ways in them, no? I also finally learned a bit about Shinto when I was helping my daughter do some research, and found it quite attractive. When I went to school, they never really taught about it at all, just said "it's kind of complicated." hmph. > ...and as I said, I'm rather intrigued by the dark, mysterious potions > master. :-) Well, you can have the potions master! ;) I'd been waiting for three whole books for McGonagall and Neville to show their true colors and now I'm in my glory, with the surprise bonus of Luna thrown in! > > Anyroad... I'm glad to be in the group and have a chance to hear from > and interact with other adults who appreciate the world that J.K. > Rowling has created. > > Severus Sucker Nice to meet you. Don't be a stranger! Annemehr married, Mom of 3, wants to see Pirates of the Carribean again, never has any paranormal experiences, amateur artist... From cindysphynx at comcast.net Mon Sep 15 05:28:05 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 05:28:05 -0000 Subject: Introduction from a new member In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Severus Sucker (which causes me to imagine a lollipop with greasy hair) wrote: > I'm Severus Sucker - a newcomer to the group. I thought I would >take a moment to introduce myself. And Anne replied: >married, Mom of 3, wants to see Pirates of the Carribean again, >never has any paranormal experiences, amateur artist... Welcome aboard, S.S. (may I call you "S.S.?") ;-) Seriously, Severus and Anne have provoked me into proposing something I've thought of proposing on this list many times. Alas, I've always chickened out, fearing that no one would be interested and then I'd feel silly. But what the heck? I'm feeling reckless, so maybe I'll just throw it right on out there. Way back when I was involved in list administration, everyone shared their "bios." This optional exercise involved filling out a form with some basic information (vital stats, hobbies, interests and such). It was always fun, and people would discover that they had quite a lot in common. Would there be any interest in doing that sort of thing here? If so, I could go grab the "bio" form and tailor it a bit for this group and post it. If we'd rather not, well . . . Anne, I have three kids too! ;-) Cindy -- wondering if Anne's kids fight all the time From risako at nexusanime.com Mon Sep 15 05:37:24 2003 From: risako at nexusanime.com (Melissa McCarthy) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 02:37:24 -0300 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Introduction from a new member References: Message-ID: <006001c37b4b$719bb7a0$6401a8c0@vaio> Cindy wrote: > Way back when I was involved in list administration, everyone shared > their "bios." This optional exercise involved filling out a form > with some basic information (vital stats, hobbies, interests and > such). It was always fun, and people would discover that they had > quite a lot in common. > > Would there be any interest in doing that sort of thing here? If > so, I could go grab the "bio" form and tailor it a bit for this > group and post it. I think that's a great idea! It's done on several lists that I'm on, including one I co-moderate, and it tends to be a lot of fun and kick-start a bunch of conversations (not that this list needs any kick-starting, but that's its charm! the more posts, the merrier!). Melissa From jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com Mon Sep 15 05:47:49 2003 From: jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com (jeffl1965) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 05:47:49 -0000 Subject: Seamus' religion (was Slut!) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "David" wrote: > > > As you say, it's hard to be certain, but I would associate the name > Seamus with a Catholic background. Support for Ireland at the QWC > would also support that conclusion, though, since the only > alternative is Bulgaria, one imagines plenty of UK citizens would > also choose Ireland. However, his family's allegiance does seem to > be dyed-in-the-wool. > Jeff: Yes, I thought it was intresting that the team from the UK would be an Irish team, considering that when it comes to footie, it seems that some of the better teams and players are liverpudlian, at least the few I've noticed. I don't pay attention, so correct me if I'm wrong. I'd bet that the Irish team would also be all from Northern Ireland as well, knowing how Jo likes to sneak things in, but then again, maybe just to snub some folk, they could all be poor buggers from Catholic Belfast. ;) > It is my experience of many people from Ireland, particularly the > north, that they are very aware of the existence and nature of > prejudice, and are determined to resist it in their own lives, > precisely because they see what it does. > Jeff: I agree. I'm sure that its something they'd rather not think about any more than necessary and in Seamus's case, not to try to expose him to it is a good idea and a great bit of writing for Jo. > Ireland is part of the modern world: I doubt that isolation would be > a factor. 'Fighting' isn't a very accurate description of the > situation in Northern Ireland. > Jeff: I know that Ireland isn't backward, but they do still have some small villages that aren't as bustling as Belfast or Dublin City. That's one of the reasons I love it so much, and not just because I have Irish Ancestory, Erin Go Braugh! :) I don't belittle what is going on there by calling it fighting. I just don't discuss politics with strangers in an open forum. :) But to quote Sir Paul McCartney circa 1972, "Give Ireland back to the Irish, make Ireland Irish today." :) > It hadn't occurred to me that his being 'half and half' might be a > sly reference to religion. Interesting, that. > > Jeff: Agreed. Jo makes lots of little comments, as I've mentioned her comments that Draco makes about Ron's family and her potrayal of the Weasley's in general. She drops social commentary in the books quite a bit, but always is small doses. Can't offend the kiddies, now can she? :) Jeff From jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com Mon Sep 15 06:44:18 2003 From: jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com (jeffl1965) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 06:44:18 -0000 Subject: Slut!Seamus and other ships, and Seamus's religion In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" wrote: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jeffl1965" > wrote: > > > > > So, I've seen that I'm not the only one curious about this, so I > > wanted to ask if anybody wants to guess why Seamus is made a slut, > > regardless as to the nature of the story or his realtionship. > > I don't read enough fanfic to know what is common and what isn't, > but my guess is that slut!Seamus appeared in some early fic and was > copied by other fics until became embedded in writers' minds. > Sometimes one can find something in canon that could explain why a > particular fanon characterization became popular (e.g. gay!Justin > from his admiration of Lockhart) but sometimes it's just random > genetic drift. > > Jeff: I really don't read all that much either, and there are way too many sites with stories!! I just can't spend 24/7 on here reading stories. :) But then again, I'm at least in front of the screen reading posts anyway, so I guess I can make more time to read too. :) I understand your point, and it makes sense. Gay!Justin I can see, but I was just wondering what part of canon started some people with the Slut!Seamus character. In reality, if he's that easily excitable, I'd imagine him spending more time alone in the loo, or with Dean. :) > > Another thing, I'm curious as to why many seem to think that its > > quite cool for Dean and Seamus to be together, yet not for Harry > > and Ron? The same arguments I always hear can apply to them as > > well. "They're best mates, and it would ruin things", "They're > > obviously straight", hello? Sometimes things happen. There aren't > > even obvious clues many times. So why is it really ok for D/S, but > > not H/R? > > People who get attached to a certain ship often dislike any other > ship for the same people. So Harry/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, and > Harry/Draco shippers all have that reason to object to Harry/Ron. I > kind of like Harry/Ron, but to me, Ron has displayed the most > heterosexuality of any kid of his year at Hogwarts, with his > exagerated reactions to Fleur, and his attempts to look down Madam > Rosmerta's neckline. > Yeah, that's true. I can't see some ships, but I just avoid'em or do try to read any ficcies that sound intresting, so I'm not *totally* closed-minded, just a bit. ;) I like Harry/Ron too,and while I agree that Ron and his obsession with seeing Uranus leads me to believe that he's quite straight. But I do like the idea that he still experiments with Harry and maybe the others now and again. ;) Hey, its easier in a room of 5 boys to find somebody to play with than in a castle with all kinds of spells set up to keep the boys away from the girls. :) > For me, the ship that I REALLY believe in, that is just SO OBVIOUS > from canon that I don't understand how anyone can doubt it, is > McGonagall/Hooch, so *I* get tetchy when people start shipping > Dumbledore/McGonagall or McGonagall/Sprout ... > Jeff: LOL!! No comment. But I can see her with Hooch, I'll admit to that. :) > > I won't even touch the subject of *anybody* with Snape. :) > > A pity, as that's what I write. > Well, sorry!! No offense. I like Alan Rickman, but the idea of Snape having a sex life is difficult to fathom. ;) > > Now, is Seamus Catholic or Protestant? There's no mention. He > > doesn't seem to have any prejudices about anybody prior to OOtP, so > > I'm guessing that even being half n half, he wasn't taught to hate > > based upon that, which is great. That could explain why he's so > > close to Dean, since he's not really prejudiced against anybody > > that we know of. Is his village rather isolated, and that's why > > he's not been taught any of those views? I'd like to think so. > > It seems to me that all your questions come from the idea that Seamus > was brought up in the Muggle world. I think he was brought up more in > the wizarding world (remember, he had all those tales of flying a > broomstick before he ever came to Hogwarts). Going to visit his > paternal grandparents in the Muggle world could be like going to > gvisit them in a foreign country. Nowdays I have co-workers who get > all excited about taking their children to Taiwan or Pakistan to > meet the grandparents, but back in my youth, my family lived in Los > Angeles and they took me to New York City to meet my grandparents in > 1968(? It was the NY World's Fair.) > Jeff: That's true. It's just the idea that Seamus mentions that his Dad didn't seem aware that she was a witch until sometime after their marriage, ala Bewitched. I just had guessed that Seamus might leave in a small area where he could fly his broom in relative safety, like the Weasleys. Their farm is quite far from a town, and I have no idea where their nearest neighbor is, even without the spell to hide them from prying eyes. Also since Seamus is such a sports nut, I had assumed ( my error), that he must've been exposed to the muggle world more. If not, then at least his Dad takes the time to see that he sees enough of the good parts of it so that he doesn't feel the way that Draco does about them, and being a mudblood himself, I don't think he'd have the fear/hatred of muggles that some wizards do. > The isolation you mention is not a Muggle isolated village, but the > entire wizarding world's isolation from Muggles. > > I think there is no need to assume that there is any conflict between > Catholics and Protestants, any concept of Stuarts or Orangemen, in > the wizarding world. That is just Muggle politics, which Muggle king > will rule the Muggle people of (Northern) Ireland. Even if his Muggle > grandparents were very into that conflict, his witch mother would > have brought him up to think that that was just a stupid thing > Muggles do, like playing football (soccer) instead of Quidditch. I > suppose his mother has also taught him that being prejudiced based on > skin color (instead of on important things like purity of blood) is > still another stupid thing Muggles do. However, in OoP she does seem > like the type to be prejudiced against werewolves: did Seamus make > any comment when it was revealed to the whole school that Lupin was a > werewolf? > Indeed. Again, I didn't mean to imply that Seamus is a country bumpkin or anything, just that he might've been in some small village that he could live with muggles, and still learn how to be a wizard as well. I agree and hope that his Mum *did* teach him not to be so narrowminded as the muggles are. To be able to have a best friend like Dean, regardless of his color or religion, is a good way to live, and I can applaud JKR for going that route. I don't recall what, if any, reaction Seamus had to Lupin. I'll have to scan the book again and see what I can find. Seamus is so briefly mentioned in the books, it'll be hard to find his name in there. > (Another thought I have is, that Seamus might live in England. His > parents might have moved to England for career purposes, just as some > point, the Patil twins' ancestor moved from South Asia to Britain. If > Seamus lived in England, then Hogwarts might be the wizarding school > for Britain and Ireland could have its own school.) > Jeff: That makes sense. We don't really know what all they both do, like is his Mum a stay at home type, or does she work in their town in the WW or at a muggle job? I had wondered about the possibility of their being schools in each country. It does make sense, since Harry's year is so small. We didn't see any other folk from other nations there, and other than the Irish and Scots, no other kids from any former Commonwealth Nations either. > My theory on the religion of British and Irish wizarding folk is > that, while Muggle-borns would have brought many Muggle religions in > with them, the old pureblood families are very conservative and may > well have retained their old pre-Christian religions. I wonder if > their Druid religion and their Hellenistic Roman religion have merged > by now? So I imagine that British wizarding institutions have TWO > Official religions, their old religion and their Anglican religion. > Thus, it would be difficult for them to make being one particular > religion a mark of a political position. That makes sense. They do celebrate Halloween and Christmas, so there is a muggle influence there. And since the school was rather empty at Christmas, I'd say that most of the WW celebrates it apparently. We don't hear about their being church/mass on sundays, so I wonder if they have chapel there? Is religion left to the student to practice as they see fit? Too many questions left unanswered. ;) Jeff From naama_gat at hotmail.com Mon Sep 15 06:58:10 2003 From: naama_gat at hotmail.com (naamagatus) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 06:58:10 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote: > > Has anyone read any good non-fiction history books they could recommend? > Hi, I have to add my two cents, too. Barbara Tuchman? "March of Folly" is a classic. You've probably read it alreayd, but if not - do so! I also read just a few weeks ago "The Zimmerman Telegram", which is about the beginning of WW I. She somehow manages both to go into very specific detail and tell a riveting tale. Try any book by Bernard Lewis for history of the Middle East and Islam. A good overview of Muslim history, in current perspective, is "What went Wrong?". He discusses the (abysmal) state of the Arab world today as contrasted with the glorious Muslim past. Also, years ago I read a small book by Kitto, "The Greeks", about ancient Greece, specifically the golden age of Athens. I loved it. It's dated, maybe, but it's refreshing, I think, to read history books where the author is unashamely biased in favor of his subject. Naama From drednort at alphalink.com.au Mon Sep 15 07:04:04 2003 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 17:04:04 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Calling Scots In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <3F65F104.28659.BF1DE@localhost> On 15 Sep 2003 at 2:07, derannimer wrote: > Hey, sorry to bug you guys with this, but what time does it get dark at night in > Northern Scotland in late October? Say, Halloween? > > I tried to find someplace that would tell me online, but they all seem to require > longitude and such, and I haven't a clue. OK - sunset in Northern Scotland on October 31 is about 4:00 - 4:30pm. It does differ a bit but back when I was examining the astronomy contained in Order of the Phoenix, consensus arrived at three likely regions Hogwarts is located in - and the time for those regions varies from 3:56pm - 4:32pm. However that far north, there's a fairly long twilight - so it probably doesn't actually get dark dark for around an hour after sunset. Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html (ISTJ) | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia From jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com Mon Sep 15 07:11:30 2003 From: jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com (jeffl1965) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 07:11:30 -0000 Subject: Slut!Seamus and other ships In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" wrote: > << thing, I'm curious as to why many seem to think that its quite cool > for Dean and Seamus to be together, yet not for Harry and Ron? The > same arguments I always hear can apply to them as well. "They're best > mates, and it would ruin things", "They're obviously straight", > hello? Sometimes things happen. There aren't even obvious clues many > times...Now, is Seamus Catholic or Protestant?...>>> > > The Sergeant Majorette says > > For me, Ron has to be straight because his whole purpose in the story > seems to be to provide Harry with an anchor of normalcy in a world > where he is accepted. And Harry has to be gay because he's too > damaged psychologically to sustain a conventional relationship. Draco > has analagous damage, so it's easy to stick them together. Of course, > the kicker is that I've never read a realistic gay!Ron fic. > Jeff: I agree with that. Ron isn't just his sidekick, he's there to be his anchor, even with all of Ron's faults that others seem to hate, he's still Harry's best friend and his guiding light, sorta. :) I'm just waiting for Molly to suggest adopting Harry. Its obvious that Ron talks so much about him in his owls and when he's home that Molly feels *very* motherly towards him and I can easily see Harry moving in with them to get the love he's been denied his whole life. I think Harry has to be gay too for those reasons, and I think that they way they hit it off so well and strongly on the first ride to Hogwarts that there's love bewtix them. Not necssarily homosexual love, but a very strong bond anyway. Harry has no real male idol, until he learns the truth about his parent's deaths, and Sirius. But with Ron, while they are the same age, Ron is taller and a big brother helping Harry learn about the Wizarding World, so I can see his feelings leaning that way. Ron also grew up with older brothers, so same-sex play would be normal to him, and I'm sure it would be brought up at some point, and since it is very intimate, and especially during puberty (which is why most males always still have a place in their heart for the first person they had sex with, since its such a bonding act with them) that Harry would equate it with love, and would feel love for Ron for that closeness that he never had before. I don't think there are lots of H/R stories out there, but some are pretty good, and not all are PWP stories either. Many are just too short. Snoogle still has a few, iirc, but FF.Net took them all down, and others that are still there have been hidden. You have to make a change to the url to find them now, but I've forgotten what it is. > Slut!Seamus, I don't understand either, but I'd say he's culturally > Catholic because otherwise his religion becomes a plot point. > Christmas (winter solstice) and Easter (spring) are holidays that are > celebrated more or less universally; many practitioners of Santeria > and other syncretic American religions consider themselves Catholic; > people still think the Jesuits are a cult. > > --JDR Yes, the Slut!Seamus origin is a mystery. One that might have to be left for Robert Stack to solve. :) I agree that he could be catholic, with his Gaelic name,and if he were named Patrick, then I'd be for certain. :) Yeah, I've seen a bit about the Santeria religion. Intresting blend, I'd say. Jeff From drednort at alphalink.com.au Mon Sep 15 07:36:31 2003 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 17:36:31 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Calling Scots In-Reply-To: <3F65F104.28659.BF1DE@localhost> References: Message-ID: <3F65F89F.23403.29A986@localhost> On 15 Sep 2003 at 17:04, Shaun Hately wrote: > On 15 Sep 2003 at 2:07, derannimer wrote: > > > Hey, sorry to bug you guys with this, but what time does it get dark at night in > > Northern Scotland in late October? Say, Halloween? > > > > I tried to find someplace that would tell me online, but they all seem to require > > longitude and such, and I haven't a clue. > > OK - sunset in Northern Scotland on October 31 is about 4:00 - 4:30pm. > It does differ a bit but back when I was examining the astronomy > contained in Order of the Phoenix, consensus arrived at three likely > regions Hogwarts is located in - and the time for those regions varies > from 3:56pm - 4:32pm. > > However that far north, there's a fairly long twilight - so it probably > doesn't actually get dark dark for around an hour after sunset. I've actually dragged my books out to check what calculations I need to do to work out twilight limits (-8 Twilight is divided into three separate sections. Civil twilight begins at the moment of sunset, and is the period of time when it's still light enough to do many things - you probably can't read a book by the light but you can still see fairly well. It's followed by nautical twilight which can probably most simply be defined as being dark - but still light enough to avoid walking into trees (-8. This is followed by astronomical twilight - which for all intents and purposes is properly dark, but doesn't technically end until it's dark enough that every one of the normally visible stars can be seen. At the likely Hogwarts locations (northern Scotland), around Halloween, civil twilight lasts about 42 minutes after sunset. Nautical twilight lasts about a further 45 minutes (so 87 minutes after sunset), and astronomical twilight about 46 minutes after that (133 minutes after sunset total). Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html (ISTJ) | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia From morgan_d_yyh at yahoo.com Mon Sep 15 12:56:00 2003 From: morgan_d_yyh at yahoo.com (Morgan D.) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 05:56:00 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Slut!Seamus and other ships In-Reply-To: <1063572197.1834.90947.m12@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: <20030915125600.534.qmail@web11007.mail.yahoo.com> > From: "jeffl1965" > > So, I've seen that I'm not the only one curious about this, so I > wanted to ask if anybody wants to guess why Seamus is made a slut, > regardless as to the nature of the story or his realtionship. Even if > he's het, he's a slut, and usually even if the story is het, Seamus > is gay and with Dean or in some cases with Percy! Why is that? First thing, it's always complicated to claim there is *one* reason why many ficwriters write similar plots or similar characterisations. Unfortunately, many people are very fond of such generalisations and end up inadvertently offending lots of writers. So what I'm saying here is not what happened, but what *might* have happened. Slut!Character is a plot function, a stereotype common to many kinds of fiction, particularly TV shows. There's a group? Then there's likely to be one character, either a male or a female, that dates pretty much everyone that comes around. The Slut!Character is useful to plots that deal with jealousy, with the conflict between sex drive and true love, or with smut, pure and simple... So it's not really surprising to me that some ficwriters would introduce that function in their HP fics. Now, why Slut!Seamus? Well, in my humble opinion, the reasons to write Slut!Seamus are different from the ones to write Slut!Harry. The latter is likely to be a result of speculation about canon: could Harry's dysfunctional background lead him to promiscuity? It's a valid question, whether you might say "yes" or "no". But what do we know about Seamus? We have but a simple profile of his. Muggle dad, witch mother, Irish... doesn't go much farther, does it? So if you need a Slut!Character in a secondary role to a plot that takes place mostly in Harry's dorm, he's a good candidate. Why Seamus and not the others? Well, assuming the protagonist is Harry... Ron might have been written out because he was supposed to take another role (Harry's true love, for example), or because the author felt canon discourages the idea of a Slut!Ron (his unsuccessful date at the Yule Ball). Slut!Neville? The author might have thought he was too clumsy for the role. So we end up with only Slut!Dean and Slut!Seamus as possibilities. Why not Dean? Well, maybe it was a silly word association: Slut/Sex starts with an S, Seamus starts (and ends!) with an S. Or maybe the author loathed football and didn't want to write about Dean because of that. Or maybe the author had conscious or unconscious bias against writing Harry having sex with a black boy. Or maybe the author had conscious or unconscious bias against both Irishmen and sluts, so if someone has to be the slut, let it be the Irish kid. And then you have to remember that ficwriters are mutually influenced. After reading three or four fics with Slut!Seamus, if you need that particular plot function you'll automatically think of Seamus because, hey!, the guy has a reputation already! ^__^ So if you're looking about canonical suggestions that he's a slut... no, I don't think there are any, and I don't think that's how the phenomenon started. (I could be wrong, of course.) > Another thing, I'm curious as to why many seem to think that its > quite cool for Dean and Seamus to be together, yet not for Harry and > Ron? The same arguments I always hear can apply to them as > well. "They're best mates, and it would ruin things", "They're > obviously straight", hello? Sometimes things happen. There aren't > even obvious clues many times. So why is it really ok for D/S, but > not H/R? Even H/D or D/R makes less sense to me than the other pairs, > and they even squick me a bit. ;) I won't even touch the subject of > *anybody* with Snape. :) If you find someone (as in one single person) that says both "Seamus/Dean is cool" AND "Ron/Harry can't be lovers because they are best mates", you please ask that person to explain this. But if you're talking about different people... you know, one ficwriter can't be responsible for the opinion of another ficwriter. Why some fans like this pairing and detest the other... Why some fans think this pairing "makes more sense" than that other one.... that's all VERY subjective. I could tell you about *my* preferences. They might make you understand, in a rational way, why I think the way I do, but it doesn't mean you'll start thinking my chosen pairings will become appealing to you. Hope this helped somehow, Morgan D. Hogwarts Letters - http://www.hogwartsletters.hpg.com.br __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From sara1412au at yahoo.com Mon Sep 15 14:30:07 2003 From: sara1412au at yahoo.com (Sara_ELL) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 14:30:07 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote: [SNIP] > Has anyone read any good non-fiction history books they could recommend? [SNIP} De-luking briefly as I enjoy history almost as much as I enjoy reading ... well, Harry Potter books My pet areas - 1. The French Revolution - just because the events that occurred during that time, and the politicians and characters (and NOT just one Marie Antoinette) are at times so remarkable as to seem fictional. Case in point - read about the amazing life of a M. C Desoulins and his incredibly unfortunate choice of wedding guests, not to mention Charlotte Corday and well, take it from there... Fiction - try the brilliant Hillary Mantel's " A Place of Greater Safety". I found it very readable (in fact it encouraged me to look further into the facts behind her fairly accurate fiction - what historical novels should encourage) and it is a fairly nice introduction to the era. It is as far away from those horrendous "Scarlet Pimpernel" books as you can get. Non-Fiction - start with Christopher Hibbert's "The French Revolution" which is very readable, accurate and not the size of a doorstop (ie an introduction). My favorite non-fiction historical book (ever) is RR Palmer's "Twelve who Ruled" which describes the men, background and actions of the French politicians who formed the infamous "Commitee of Public Safety" who ruled France during the period of the Terror during the revolution. It was written during the 1930's and the main testament to it's quality (ie historical/factual) is that it has been regularly republished and is referred to by most other English- language books about the revolution. 2. The classics/Roman history Fiction - As mentioned before, Robert Graves' "I Claudius" and "Claudius the God" are brilliant (IMO, of course). If you're able to catch the BBC TV show that was adapted from it in the 1970s (with fabulous acting overshadowing the distinctly dodgy production values - though seeing John Hurt dancing in a blonde wig and bikini needs some recovering from), even better - it should be out on DVD. Non-Fiction - go to the the source material by the Roman biographers Tacitus and Suetonius to find out how little of "I Claudius" was made up. Very, very readable - much like a tabloid account of the lives of the powerful and unhinged, really and just as addictive. Happy reading! Sara-ELL (depressed that she can't think of a single decent book about African history, excluding South Africa) From ameliagoldfeesh at yahoo.com Mon Sep 15 15:32:19 2003 From: ameliagoldfeesh at yahoo.com (ameliagoldfeesh) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 15:32:19 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." > wrote: > > [SNIP] > > > Has anyone read any good non-fiction history books they could > recommend? > > [SNIP} A Goldfeesh says, I know you said you weren't looking for American history but I'd recommend *anything* by David McCullough. (I would love to be as talented as he when I grow up *g*.) Anyway, recently I read a very interesting book, _King Leopold's Ghost_, by Adam Hochschild. It is about colonial Africa, namely the Belgian Congo. I was a history major, but African history has always been my weakest spot, and this book was a real eye-opener for me. King Leopold, under a humanitarian guise, enslaved and plundered the Belgian Congo, eventually causing around 10 million deaths. It is a very compelling book, getting into how Leopold was found out by some concerned missionaries, reporters and a young clerk. One of my favorite history books which I'd recommend to anyone is about the very early history of the Spanish in America. It is called _Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America_ by Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca. It is the first book written about the New World and it tells of the adventures which befell a group of conquistadors who were stranded in Florida and eight years later (though diminished to 4 men) made it to Mexico City in 1536. This is a non-fiction book, written by one of the four men as a report to Charles V. A Goldfeesh (who wishes she had appreciated Johnny Cash earlier, as she just recently bought a double CD and now knows what she had missed) From neonsister at ameritech.net Mon Sep 15 15:54:54 2003 From: neonsister at ameritech.net (Tracy) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 15:54:54 -0000 Subject: Introduction from a new member In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote: "Would there be any interest in doing that sort of thing here? If > so, I could go grab the "bio" form and tailor it a bit for this > group and post it." I think this is a great idea, too. I'm always curious to find out about the people I meet on these forums. Count me in! Tracy *thinks we should develop our own line of Chocolate Frog cards with our bios on them ;-)* From tahewitt at yahoo.com Mon Sep 15 16:21:17 2003 From: tahewitt at yahoo.com (Tyler Hewitt) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 09:21:17 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Gay is damaged, straight is normal (was: Re: Slut!Seamus and other ships) In-Reply-To: <1063611589.76393.3421.m14@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: <20030915162117.72228.qmail@web14201.mail.yahoo.com> The Sergeant Majorette wrote: For me, Ron has to be straight because his whole purpose in the story seems to be to provide Harry with an anchor of normalcy in a world where he is accepted. And Harry has to be gay because he's too damaged psychologically to sustain a conventional relationship. ME: Ron is straight because it provides Harry with an 'anchor of normalcy'? What does this mean, that homosexuality isnt normal? Why can't Ron be both gay and normal? Why is that so difficult to consider? Harry is gay because he's too damaged to be straight? this is even worse than the statement about Ron. Not every gay person has had an abusive childhood. Not every straight person is perfectly adjusted psychologically. The equation of homosexuality with psychological disfunction is ignorant and offensive. I usually don't get upset when reading things like this, but this one was so over the top I couldent let it pass. I sincerely hope you were being facetious. And I hope I haven't missed something or taken things out of context. Tyler __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From michelleapostolides at yahoo.co.uk Mon Sep 15 16:47:46 2003 From: michelleapostolides at yahoo.co.uk (Pinguthegreek) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 17:47:46 +0100 Subject: Gayness in HP References: <20030915162117.72228.qmail@web14201.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <000501c37ba9$32cc11b0$c95fc487@personal> What does it matter whether a character is gay or straight ? All that matters in life is that someone is a good person. Oh and if anyone has a problem with any particular posts to this list, then come to us list admins - that's just why we're here ! Michelle [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From annemehr at yahoo.com Mon Sep 15 17:01:08 2003 From: annemehr at yahoo.com (annemehr) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 17:01:08 -0000 Subject: Introduction from a new member In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Cindy C., with mental image of unsavory lollipop, wrote: > > Seriously, Severus and Anne have provoked me into proposing > something I've thought of proposing on this list many times. Alas, > I've always chickened out, fearing that no one would be interested > and then I'd feel silly. No, you, unlike me, are not really used to having posts sink without a ripple, are you? > Way back when I was involved in list administration, everyone shared > their "bios."[...] > Would there be any interest in doing that sort of thing here? If > so, I could go grab the "bio" form and tailor it a bit for this > group and post it. Count me in! Mine might be pretty boring, though...it was hard enough coming up with what little bit I posted. > > If we'd rather not, well . . . Anne, I have three kids too! ;-) > > Cindy -- wondering if Anne's kids fight all the time Of course not. Sometimes they're at school. Annemehr From cindysphynx at comcast.net Mon Sep 15 17:08:18 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 17:08:18 -0000 Subject: Gayness in HP In-Reply-To: <000501c37ba9$32cc11b0$c95fc487@personal> Message-ID: Michelle asked: > What does it matter whether a character is gay or straight ? All >that matters in life is that someone is a good person. Well . . . I think people discuss the characters' sexual orientation for the same reason they speculate about so many other things -- it is a part of a person's make-up. It's a part of who they are. If people didn't speculate about sexual orientation and instead assumed all characters were straight or gay, well, I'd wonder about *that,* myself. As for whether "all that matters in life is that someone is a good person," some folks do believe this, which is fine. But we're not talking about "life" in these canon-related and fanfic-related discussions, IMHO. I don't mind the speculation, myself. I just have a hard time forming any opinions about most of the characters' sexual orientation absent hard canon evidence because the analysis often (but not always) winds up premised upon gay/straight stereotypes. Although . . . I do see some canon for Gay!Wormtail. May have to trot that one out sometime. At my peril! ;-) Michelle: > Oh and if anyone has a problem with any particular posts to this >list, then come to us list admins - that's just why we're here ! Will do! And might I add that you guys are doing a bang-up job! ;-) Cindy From june.diamanti at blueyonder.co.uk Mon Sep 15 17:16:27 2003 From: june.diamanti at blueyonder.co.uk (junediamanti) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 17:16:27 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote: >> I'm looking for something that is an entertaining read (as contrasted > to the dry-as-dust history books I was forced to read in school), and > I'm more interested in quality than subject matter, really. European > history, Russian history, Chinese history, African history . . . it > all works for me. > > Any ideas? > > Cindy -- too lazy to just go to the library and see what's out there Russian History (BA Hons in Russian Studies) The Great Terror by Robert Conquest the best if emotive on the Stalin period. Anything by Geoffrey Hosking (my Prof at University he specialises in the 19th Century) Any thing by Robert Service (Revolution and after period) - he taught me as well. Simon Sebag-Monterfiore's recent Stalin biography. For an entertaining read on Ancient Rome, Colleen McCullough's (yes the Thorn Bird's author) Masters of Rome series - Roman History at the fall of the republic and fantastically researched - they are called: The First Man in Rome The Grass Crown Fortune's Favourites Caesar's Women Caesar The October Horse. Alternatively, Alan Massie has written some gems on Rome and I particularly recommend his "autobiography"of Tiberius Caesar for a very different spin on his presentation in "I Claudius". European mediaeval: Barbara Tuchman - A Distant Mirror, the Catastrophic Fourteenth Century. This has the best depiction of the Black Death I have ever read. Tuchman compares the 14th century as being similar to the 20th in terms of disaster and moral decay. Paul Murray Kendall - Richard III - history and a whodunit in one. June From joym999 at aol.com Mon Sep 15 17:31:28 2003 From: joym999 at aol.com (joywitch_m_curmudgeon) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 17:31:28 -0000 Subject: Gay is damaged, straight is normal (was: Re: Slut!Seamus and other ships) In-Reply-To: <20030915162117.72228.qmail@web14201.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Tyler Hewitt wrote: > > The Sergeant Majorette wrote: > > For me, Ron has to be straight because his whole > purpose in the story seems to be to provide Harry with > an anchor of normalcy in a world where he is accepted. > And Harry has to be gay because he's too damaged > psychologically to sustain a conventional > relationship. > > > > ME: (Tyler) > Ron is straight because it provides Harry with an > 'anchor of normalcy'? What does this mean, that > homosexuality isnt normal? Why can't Ron be both gay > and normal? Why is that so difficult to consider? > > Harry is gay because he's too damaged to be straight? > this is even worse than the statement about Ron. Not > every gay person has had an abusive childhood. Not > every straight person is perfectly adjusted > psychologically. The equation of homosexuality with > psychological disfunction is ignorant and offensive. > > > I usually don't get upset when reading things like > this, but this one was so over the top I couldent let > it pass. > I sincerely hope you were being facetious. > And I hope I haven't missed something or taken things > out of context. > > Tyler I just want to thank you for those comments, Tyler. I too, was upset after reading the Sergeant Majorette's post and had much the same reaction. Ron has to be straight because he's "normal?" Harry has to be gay because he's "too damaged psychologically to sustain a conventional relationship?" Aside from being incredibly offensive, that is absolutely ridiculous. It implies that straight people are all perfectly mentally healthy and that gay people are all crazy and have screwed up relationships. Do you actually know any gay people, Sergeant Majorette? And don't tell me you've never met any straight people in "conventional relationships" who are "damaged psychologically." Your attitude towards gay people and relationships is contrary to the rules against bigotry that have always been part of HP for Grownups. I think you owe us an apology. People of all sexual orientations should feel welcome here, and not have to feel offended and alienated by the discussion. Sergeant Majorette, if you really don't understand the issue, it is fine to ask, and to express your opinions, as many people here do. But don't slander an entire group of people because of your misunderstandings. --Joywitch From pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk Mon Sep 15 17:44:39 2003 From: pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk (bluesqueak) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 17:44:39 -0000 Subject: Gayness in HP In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote: > Michelle asked: > > > What does it matter whether a character is gay or straight ? All > >that matters in life is that someone is a good person. > Cindy replied: > Well . . . I think people discuss the characters' sexual > orientation for the same reason they speculate about so many other > things -- it is a part of a person's make-up. It's a part of who > they are. If people > didn't speculate about sexual orientation and instead assumed all > characters were straight or gay, well, I'd wonder about *that,* myself. Well, I dunno. I worry sometimes that the late 20th and now early 21st Century is *so* obsessed with peoples' particular brand of sexuality. It is not the most important part of a person's make up. Or it shouldn't be. Yet it often seems to be the first question asked. Not 'is this person good at what they do?', but 'are they gay or straight?' My own Church has been having a discussion on this recently. One of the questions we've been asking is why we are *so* obsessed with sexual orientation. More so than with, say, adultery - also sinful by my Church's doctrines and often far more harmful in its effects. Why do we care so about a character's sexuality? Are we planning to sleep with them? Will our fantasies be ruined if we find out Sirius was gay? ;-) It's understandable in much canon speculation, because so many HPfGUers are also fanficcers, and do have to make a decision on their characters' sexuality. It may be an important part of their plot. It's when posters criticise JKR for choosing to write a world where people *don't* automatically ask about sexuality. Criticising the author because she has given us almost no information on who is gay, who is straight, and who probably prefers a nice cup of cocoa. ;-) Does it matter so much to us that we cannot even *imagine* a world where sexuality is not considered when you're deciding who to make friends with, or work with, or study with? Pip!Squeak From cindysphynx at comcast.net Mon Sep 15 18:42:09 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 18:42:09 -0000 Subject: Introduction from a new member In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I wrote: > I've always chickened out, fearing that no one would be interested > and then I'd feel silly. Anne replied: > No, you, unlike me, are not really used to having posts sink without >a ripple, are you? Now that you mention it, that is a rather interesting and amusing thing about this community. As best I can tell, no one likes it when their post sinks without a ripple. Oh, we try to be brave about it and we try not to let on, but we all notice it, huh? For some, it approaches that of an obsession, provoking public forlorn whimpers when their post is met with silence. And for a long time, I thought it was just me! :-D I wonder why that is? I'll bet the psychologist types around here could explain it -- especially a particular Sinister Social Scientist. Anne wrote: > Count me in! Well, this is gonna get interesting, Anne, Melissa and Tracy. I'll post the bio form, and *one of us is gonna have to go first!* Tell ya what. If everyone leaves us hangin' out there, twisting in the wind, our grey underpants and pallid legs showing, we'll . . . . . . we'll slink away quietly, our heads bowed, our spirits broken. Just like Snape! ;-) Cindy -- who has a clunker of a post dying on the main list right now, not that she's noticed or anything :-D From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Mon Sep 15 19:23:29 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 19:23:29 -0000 Subject: Introduction from a new member In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Cindy wrote: > Well, this is gonna get interesting, Anne, Melissa and Tracy. I'll > post the bio form, and *one of us is gonna have to go first!* Go for it - but be prepared to see list volume skyrocket here David From cindysphynx at comcast.net Mon Sep 15 19:30:55 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 19:30:55 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* Message-ID: David wrote: >Go for it - but be prepared to see list volume skyrocket here Sounds like an official endorsement to me! :-D Here's the form. I'll upload a copy to the files section if I can figure out how to do it. If I can't, I'll cry for help. All questions are optional, of course. Say as much or as little as you like. Cindy -- suddenly finding herself *way* too busy to go first ********************* Name: Also known as: Age/Sex: Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Family Life: Personality: Words friends have used to describe you: Words you have used to describe you: Things you do when not staring at the computer: Comfort foods: Education/Work: Language skills: Technical know-how: Favourite HP book: Favourite HP character(s): Favourite HP line Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Into HP fanfiction? Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Favorite TV shows: Favorite Movies: Favorite Musical Artists: One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: Philosophy for an easy life: How you found HPfGU: Active at other HP sites: Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: From ChaseWildstar at charter.net Mon Sep 15 19:58:58 2003 From: ChaseWildstar at charter.net (ChaseWildstar) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 15:58:58 -0400 Subject: Has anyone ever gotten past this pass worded page at bloomsbury? Message-ID: <003201c37bc3$cd08efe0$6501a8c0@mac> http://www.bloomsburymagazine.com/harrypotter/wizard/password/password.html# This is a page on bloomsbury magazine, and Ive been trying for 3 weeks now to figure out the password.. anyone have any luck with it? [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk Mon Sep 15 19:57:52 2003 From: kcawte at blueyonder.co.uk (Kathryn Cawte) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 20:57:52 +0100 (GMT Daylight Time) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* References: Message-ID: <3F6619C0.000001.17775@monica> Since Cindy C seems to have suddenly become terribly busy *glares at Cindy* I'll go first. ********************* Name:Kathryn Also known as:K, PotionMaster (that's my pen name) Age/Sex:27, Female Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same:Windsor currently, nice, posh big castle, expensive, full of tourists, no decent shops but lots of tourist goods' ie teddy bears in busbys, expensive tea, lavender soaps. But I'm moving back to Luton, uh, what can one say about Luton, it has an airport ..... Family Life: Single, childless, and content to remain so. Personality:Uh swing between tigger-like bouncyness and eeyore-like depression Words friends have used to describe you:insane, talkative, munchkinlike (I'm shorter than everyone I know, well all the adults anyway) Words you have used to describe you:insane (are we sensing a pattern here?), obsessive, imaginative Things you do when not staring at the computer:uh, when *not* staring at a computr, no, sorry don't understand that concept ..... Had a life, got a modem Comfort foods: HaagenDaz Baileys ice cream, salted popcorn, cherries, Education/Work: Eternal student, medieval historian, looking for a job (in Southern England, anyone out there recruiting?) Language skills:I speak English, French, Spanish, German, Latin and am about to start learning Arabic. Some of my friends would argue that of all of them English is the one I most often mangle Technical know-how:Computers are the tools of stan and as such one only imagines one has technical skill, in actual fact you are simply prey to the whims of the infernal machine - or that may just be *my* computer.... Favourite HP book: Hmmm, difficult. It was PoA without a doubt, but it might be OoP now. I need to read them again to decide. Favourite HP character(s):Used to be Sirius, Remus and any Slytherin, since OoP I've gone off Draco, aka 'the Brat' in a serious manner but am in love with Minerva and the Twins Favourite HP line "It unscrews the other way" Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: watching, avidly since they were what introduced me to the fandom, besides when it comes to Slytherins the eye-candy is delicious Into HP fanfiction? In a big way. I read voraciously - as long as the author has grasped the basic concepts of spelling and grammer, and I write (mainly slash) Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: The Matthew Bartholomew Chronicles by Susanna Gregory, the Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Coiffer, Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (especially if you travel by Tube regularly), the Biggles and Gimlet books by Capt W E Johns Favorite TV shows:Buffy (until the Spuffy fiasco), Professionals, Enterprise any detective series ever, West Wing Favorite Movies:RHPS, Sound of Music, Tomb Raider, Princess Bride, Last Voyage of the Crimson Pirate, any Pierce Brosnan Bond film, Dirty Dancing, Favorite Musical Artists:Way too many to list One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"):Moving away from everyone I know, and am changing that now. One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: My friends Philosophy for an easy life:Live and let live How you found HPfGU:through the Lexicon I think Active at other HP sites:On some slash lists Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction:Dumbledore is going to die in book 6 ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Which fictional character would you most like to meet and why? Remus Lupin, because he needs a hug :) From illyana at mindspring.com Mon Sep 15 20:07:23 2003 From: illyana at mindspring.com (illyana delorean) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 13:07:23 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Has anyone ever gotten past this pass worded page at bloomsbury? In-Reply-To: <003201c37bc3$cd08efe0$6501a8c0@mac> Message-ID: <3864F4BC-E7B8-11D7-B21F-003065B8B954@mindspring.com> I am pretty sure I got in - all I did was make sure that the last image I moused-over was the spider, and I wrote "spider" as the password. It took me here: http://www.bloomsburymagazine.com/harrypotter/wizard/default.asp I had never been to Bloomsbury's page before, though, so I don't know if that is the page you go to when you incorrectly guess. Anyway, hope this helps! illyana On Monday, Sep 15, 2003, at 12:58 America/Phoenix, ChaseWildstar wrote: > http://www.bloomsburymagazine.com/harrypotter/wizard/password/ > password.html# > > This is a page on bloomsbury magazine, and Ive been trying for 3 weeks > now to figure out the password.. > anyone have any luck with it? > > HPGCv1 a22 e+ x+* Rm Ri HP4 S+++ Mo++ HG+/VK++ HaP+/SS+++& FGW++ DM++& VC-- GG-- CD+ VK++ SS+++& PT--- AF-- MM++ RL++ O+m FAo F- Sl FHo SfD visit my livejournal! http://www.livejournal.com/users/illyanadmc [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From saitaina at wizzards.net Mon Sep 15 20:28:13 2003 From: saitaina at wizzards.net (Saitaina) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 13:28:13 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* References: Message-ID: <013701c37bc7$e50abb60$a0311c40@aoldsl.net> Name: Saitaina A. Moricia Also known as: Saitaina, Sait, Hey You, Saity Elf Age/Sex: 22 (almost 23)/Female Birthplace/Living place and feelings about same: Hemet, CA/Roseburg, OR...what can I say about Roseburg, we have horses and megastores, it's a normal western town. Family Life: Single, close to my mother (most of the time) mother of five cats (Salem Saberhagen, Sophia Elizabeth, Strawberry Shortcake, Orange Sherbet, Peaches "Piglet" and Cream *yes that last one is ONE name* and a dog Solitaire Tiger's Eye "Sasha". Soon to be the mother of two beta fish, Legolas and Hadir Personality:Opositional Defiant/bi-polar Words friends have used to describe you: bitchy, cold, heartless, loyal, self-destructive, lazy, witty, smart, manipulative Words you have used to describe you: Heartless, cold, sweet. Things you do when not staring at the computer: Stairing at the t.v., writing, acting, Comfort foods: chocolate Education/Work: GED, attempting to get accepted by a college, fighting with the local hospital on my educational training. Language skills: English, barley Technical know-how: Spit and duct tape repair skills Favourite HP book: CoS Favourite HP character(s): Voldemort, Peter, Draco, Lucius, Percy, Neville, Justin, Seamus, Harry, Hermione Favourite HP line "Kill Him"-Tom Riddle, CoS, "The longer you talk," he added softly. "the longer you stay alive."-Tom Riddle, CoS, "It unscrews the other way," McGonagal, OoP Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching, avidly Into HP fanfiction? With 30 fics under my belt including my flagship...yeah. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: "Good-bye, Best friend." Favorite TV shows: Anything about forensic science or from the Discovery channel (or it's off shoots), the former Buffy the Vampire slayer, Angel, Charmed, Favorite Movies: Anything good or with Orlando Bloom Favorite Musical Artists: Generally anyone, but I would die without Meatloaf One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): More education One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: My cats Philosophy for an easy life: Live hard, die young and leave a good looking corpse, when in doubt, pet a tiger How you found HPfGU: looked up "Harry Potter" in a search engine Active at other HP sites: FictionAlley Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Voldemort or Dumbledore will die. Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: grrr Stealing Kathryn's question for a moment: Which fictional character would you most like to meet and why?: Have to be Voldemort or Peter. To find out their stories, not just the hearsay. ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: What would you see, looking into the Mirror of Erised: Me, surrounded by people that love me. My greatest desire is to be loved after all. Part of the whole abused child thing. From foxmoth at qnet.com Mon Sep 15 20:55:30 2003 From: foxmoth at qnet.com (pippin_999) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 20:55:30 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote: > Hey, all, > > Lately, I've become interested in learning more about world history. > My American history isn't too bad, but the rest of the world is a > rather unfortunate blur in my mind. > > Has anyone read any good non-fiction history books they could recommend? Here are some I've enjoyed: A Distant Mirror - 14th century France during the black plague. by Barbara Tuchman A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East by David Fromkin History of the English-speaking People (out of print, highly opinionated, not PC and very lively indeed) by Winston Churchill The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong -- traces the development of fundamentalist strains in Judaism, Islam and Christianity since the 15th century Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies -- by Jared Diamond -- as much biology and anthropology as history -why did some societies develop dominance over others? Pippin From tminton at deckerjones.com Mon Sep 15 21:06:40 2003 From: tminton at deckerjones.com (Tonya Minton) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 16:06:40 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* Message-ID: <8D5AD53268720840968E25CB71EC7CAE248936@djmail.deckerjones.com> Doesn't "mixing" defeat the purpose of lurking?? OK OK stop throwing tomatoes at me.... Here I go!! ********************* Name: Tonya Also known as: Tonnie, family nickname!! Age/Sex: 36, female Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: I was born in Reno Nevada USA, now I live in Fort Worth Texas Family Life: I am married to my bestest friend in the whole world, who also happens to be the best looking guy I have ever meet!! We have 1 rambunctious 3 year old girl!! Personality: Very optimistic, probably to a fault!! I see the best in situations!! Words friends have used to describe you: Happy, creative, resourceful Words you have used to describe you: I think of myself as the can do person!! Things you do when not staring at the computer: Artist, mixed media designer. Comfort foods: CHOCOLATE!! Ben and Jerry's ice cream!! Education/Work: I have 3 undergraduate degrees and a master degree. Right now I am working as a systems administrator where I take care of the computers, phones, training, cost recovery system. Language skills: English. I need to start learning some other languages. Technical know-how: Bring it on I am sure I can figure it out!! Favourite HP book: I loved POA but I have to say that I love them all!! Favourite HP character(s): Harry, for all the reasons why everyone else loves him!! Favourite HP line : It's the choices you make in life that define who you are. Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: watching!! I cannot help it!! Into HP fanfiction? no not yet!! Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Do you mean other then Harry Potter?? hmmm good question!! I am currently being amazed by the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Favorite TV shows: Trading Spaces, Alias, Trading Spaces (oh did I already mention that??), Gilmore Girls Favorite Movies: ANYTHING WITH Nicholas Cage in it!! Tomb Raider!! Favorite Musical Artists: There are too many!! But for sure Meatloaf!! One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): I wish I had learned to have confidence in myself earlier in life!! One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: My husband and family!! Philosophy for an easy life: Pay bills on time and have fun with the rest of the money!! How you found HPfGU: I cannot remember!! Active at other HP sites: no not really, I do enjoy checking them all out!! Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Harry will defeat Voldemort Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: I haven't met any of you yet but I am looking forward to it!! ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: What animal would you be if you were an animagus?? I would be a bird I think!! [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk Mon Sep 15 22:06:32 2003 From: pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk (bluesqueak) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 22:06:32 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > Pippin suggested: > History of the English-speaking People (out of print, highly > opinionated, not PC and very lively indeed) by Winston Churchill It's not in print, but Christopher Lee's 'This sceptred Isle' leans on it very heavily and quotes huge chunks. I forgot 'This Sceptred Isle'. It was originally a BBC radio series, but there is a two volume book based on the series. The tapes are also available from Amazon.co.uk Volume 1 covers Britain up to 1900 (and quotes the Churchill history a lot). Volume 2 covers the 20th Century (and quotes Churchill less, because his English Speaking People finishes at 1900). If you can find a library or second hand copy of English Speaking People, I agree with Pippin. It is not PC, is highly opinionated, but is a great read. Pip From michelleapostolides at yahoo.co.uk Mon Sep 15 22:31:06 2003 From: michelleapostolides at yahoo.co.uk (Pinguthegreek) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 23:31:06 +0100 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* References: Message-ID: <006701c37bd9$2c59fb00$c95fc487@personal> ********************* Name: Michelle Also known as: Pinguthegreek Age/Sex:31/Femals Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same:Brentwood, Essex. Well I guess it's OK. If a little smalltown Family Life: I live by myself ( no hint of a parner ) but have mother, father and three bthers, one due to get married. Personality: Cheerful, likeable, can be direct if pushed Words friends have used to describe you: Cheerful, Likeable, shy, sweet Words you have used to describe you: Cynical, stubborn, loving Things you do when not staring at the computer: Read, watch TV, drive my car, play with kids Comfort foods: Chinese food, mashed potato, pasta. Education/Work: GCSEs, A levels, Degree in Modren Languaes, trying currently to become a Learning Spport Assistant in school. Language skills:Fluent French and German, basic Italian, very basic Dutch Technical know-how: Well, I can start up the computer and I can do basic stuff. Favourite HP book: Goblet of Fire Favourite HP character(s): Hagrid Favourite HP line : Hermione, are you a witch or what ? ( Ron's line to Hermione when they're entraped in PS ) Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watched, got scared by the spiders last time ! Into HP fanfiction? Not so much now Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Ballet Shoes by Noel Streitfeld. At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill Favorite TV shows: West Wing, ER, Eurovision Song Contest Favorite Movies: Antonia's Line, Forrest Gump Favorite Musical Artists: Enya, Nickel Creek One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): I would have started my dissertation earlier One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: My friends Philosophy for an easy life: If you hesitate, you don't really want to do it. How you found HPfGU: I just searched for it Active at other HP sites: Not really Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Someone will die Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: OOh ! Gosh - where do I start ? Neil, Sheryll, David, Eloise, Al, Ali, Catherine, John, Ebony, Simon, Liz, Fran, Judy, Janine, Tabouli..... and loads more ! I cannot list everyone or I will be here all night !!! ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: What do you prefer - Hot drinks or water ? Water. I only drink tea once in a blue moon. Michelle Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin Files! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from posts to which you're replying! Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From fakeplastikcynic at hotmail.com Mon Sep 15 22:37:12 2003 From: fakeplastikcynic at hotmail.com (martha) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 22:37:12 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I'm rather excited about this one - I've often been put off posting because I worry that everyone seems to know each other and be dead clever to boot. Here, then, is my official introduction and I look forward to actually taking part in discussions and not being a total wuss in future. :-D Name: Martha Also known as: fakeplastikcheese (I set up my Yahoo account a couple of years ago when I was really, really into Radiohead. I apologise for naffness of name); whatever I feel like calling myself (usually something like "Martharetta la Punk house-elf") Age/Sex: 21, female. (I will _not_ fall into the "sex? Yes please" trap. It's not big, nor is it clever) Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born Plymouth, Devon, UK. Nice place to visit, but on no account grow up there because you will be very, very bored. Currently residing in Brighton, UK. Nicer, more freaks, pebbly beach, piers that keep burning, although on a Saturday night the town is populated by a disproportionate number women dressed as schoolgirls/men throwing up over each other. Family Life: Living with boyfriend in flat with garden and apple tree. Mum, Dad, two brothers, two sisters, me the messed-up middle child and milking it for all it's worth. All pets dead. Personality: Hmm. Offbeat. Words friends have used to describe you: Funny, strange, clever, fangirl... Words you have used to describe you: Freak, bored, cynical, fangirl. Things you do when not staring at the computer: Study social psychology, read a lot of novels, dye hair, dance about the place, make stuff out of beads and bits of string, fall over, play Atari. Comfort foods: Please. Education/Work: 12 GCSEs, 4 A-Levels, currently studying for BA social psych, intending to do MA in a year or two. Working in cheapo clothes shop to fund hair-dye habit. Language skills: Mother tongue is English. Can scrape by in German, French and Italian if I really, really have to (I have reserved a room, non-fizzy water please, my car is broken, etc). Technical know-how: I can pierce ears and that's about as technical as it gets. Favourite HP book: Even after Order of the Phoenix, I'd still go for Prisoner of Azkaban. It features physical contact between Lupin and Sirius. ;-) Favourite HP character(s): Sirius, Lupin, all the obvious ones for a fangirl. And Tonks, for the punk angle. Favourite HP line: "Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain"; "Give her hell from us, Peeves". Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching and tutting all the way through, but watching nonetheless. Into HP fanfiction? If it has boy/boy rudeys in it. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Ooh, where to start? OK, here goes. "His Dark Materials" trilogy by Philip Pullman. "Behind the Scenes at the Museum" by Kate Atkinson. "The Wasp Factory" by Iain Banks. The "Barrytown" trilogy and "The Woman who Walked into Doors" by Roddy Doyle. "The Blind Assassin" by Margaret Atwood. "The Illustrated Mum" by Jacqueline Wilson. "Nought and Crosses" by Malorie Blackman. "Good Omens" by Neil Gaiman/Terry Pratchett. "The Bonesetter's Daughter" by Amy Tan. "Captain Correli's Mandolin" by Louis de Bernieres. "A Proper Marriage" by Doris Lessing. "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman. "The Beauty Myth" by Naomi Wolf. "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. I could go on, but I do have to go to bed at some point tonight. Favorite TV shows: I am a _geek_. My favourite TV show is "University Challenge". Favorite Movies: Amelie, Guys and Dolls, Velvet Goldmine, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Edward Scissorhands, Labyrinth, Princess Bride, The Piano, Wizard of Oz... Favorite Musical Artists: NOFX, The Clash, Elvis Costello, Millencollin, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Joe Jackson, Reel Big Fish, Madness, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, T-Rex, Manic Street Preachers, The Smiths, The Tiger Lillies, Blondie, Lagwagon, Moldy Peaches, Hi-Standard... One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): More motivation. One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: Having got over depression, for the most part. Philosophy for an easy life: Lock yourself in a cupboard and don't communicate with anyone. How you found HPfGU: Can't remember. Active at other HP sites: See introduction. I do a lot of lurking though. (Oh, and if anyone knows of a way I can become a beta-reader for fanfic writers, could they let me know? I'd love to help out but I'm not sure how to go about it.) Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: It turns out all along that Harry is Luke Skywalker, Ron is Han Solo, Hermione is Princess Leia, Dumbledore is Yoda, Sirius was Obi-Wan Kenobi and all the house-elves are really ewoks in disguise. Honestly, I am not taking any chances (although I'm certain on Ron/Hermione and I quite like LOLLIPOPS). Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: I don't know anyone! *gets the violins out* Can I be friends with someone? ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: OK - Who are you most jealous of from the Potterverse? Me - Tonks. I spend so much money - and time - on styling my hair. :-) From neonsister at ameritech.net Mon Sep 15 22:46:55 2003 From: neonsister at ameritech.net (Tracy) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 22:46:55 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > > > Name: Tracy > > > Also known as: NeonSister, or just Neon (on the computer) > > > Age/Sex: 37/female > > > Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born in Cleveland, Ohio and living in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio is not as boring as some people think it is - there's lots of interesting stuff if you know where to look! > > > Family Life: Married, no kids > > > Personality: Good listener and observer; warped sense of humor; thirsty for knowledge > > > > Words friends have used to describe you: "I thought she was quiet and shy until I got to know her better!" People tell me I seem calm, but that's just on the surface. > > > > Words you have used to describe you: enigmatic, non- confrontational, open-minded > > > > Things you do when not staring at the computer: I have two wonderful greyhounds (Arlan and Casper) whom I adopted when they were retired from racing. I am involved in several greyhound adoption organizations. I am also a runner myself - last winter I ran the Mardi Gras Marathon to raise money for diabetes. I was training for the Columbus Marathon, but recently developed a stress fracture in my foot and can't run for a while. :-( > > > Comfort foods: ice cream, pizza, and chocolate > > > > > Education/Work: Graduate of Ohio State University in Occupational Therapy, graduate of Central Ohio School of Massage. I worked in the OT field for 11 years and am now working as a massage therapist full- time. > > > > Language skills: English. I took Spanish in high school but wouldn't say I'm fluent. > > > > Technical know-how: Just the basics of computer use. I can make an assortment of splints for orthopedic injuries, though! > > > > > Favourite HP book: POA > > > > Favourite HP character(s): Lupin, Peeves, Luna, Sirius > > > > Favourite HP line: "Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" > > > > Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching and enjoying them > > > > Into HP fanfiction? I have read some > > > > Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: "A Prayer For Owen Meany" by John Irving. Authors in general: Bill Bryson, Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine, Stephen King. > > > > Favorite TV shows: Six Feet Under, ER, CSI (only the Vegas one), assorted Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. Gone but most certainly not forgotten: The X-Files and Millennium. > > > > Favorite Movies: Apocalypse Now, Signs, Withnail and I, Waiting For Guffman...I know I'll think of more later. > > > > Favorite Musical Artists: U2, Crowded House, the Beatles, the Who, 80's alternative. I like classical music as well. > > > > One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you > may not say "lose weight"): I wish I had been more confident when I was younger > > > One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance > copy of Book 7: My family > > > > Philosophy for an easy life: Stay young at heart > > > How you found HPfGU: I read about it in an article about Nimbus 2003. > > > Active at other HP sites: I read others, but only post here > > > Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Sirius (and possibly even Regulus!) will be back in some form. > > > Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: none yet, but hoping to meet many of you sometime. > > > ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: If you had a job in the wizarding world, what would it be? I would be official massage therapist for one of the professional Quidditch teams. Those Bludgers hurt, you know! From lhuntley at fandm.edu Tue Sep 16 00:51:06 2003 From: lhuntley at fandm.edu (Laura Ingalls Huntley) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 20:51:06 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Ah, what the heck...a little narcissism never hurt anyone ^_~ *takes a deep breath and prepares to blather on about herself for a good half hour* Name: Laura Ingalls Huntley. For all you Little House fans who are thinking "??!!!" right now - yes, I was *partially* named after Laura Ingalls Wilder. We share the same ancestors, actually, so my maternal grandmother's maiden name is Ingalls - plus, we have this little island that my Ingalls ancestors used to live on, and that's Ingalls Island. Also, I had a great aunt who was named Laura. So, basically, my mother felt she could name me after her favorite childhood author and get away with blaming it on naming me after people in my family. Also known as: No nicknames. At least, not any that I would willingly repeat here. ^_~. Age/Sex: 18/Female *has a flashback to the chatrooms she visited in her preteens* Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Machias, Maine/Bucks Harbor, Maine. Feelings? Uh, well...I live right on a rather gorgeous beach, and it's lovely in the summer. However, given my druthers, I'd spend winters in a place a little more inhabited and a little less cold. I love my home, but civilization is nice too ^_^. Family Life: A teenage brother and a 7 year old sister - who was born on my birthday, incidentally (12/12/84). Personality: Personality? *looks shocked* Oh, dear....well, I suppose I'm a little bit weird. Also a brain. A big, big know-it-all brain . Words friends have used to describe you: *cringes* Do I have to say? I think most people find me intensely annoying...but I'd like to think that they thought I was intelligent, too. *shrugs* I *do* have friends, so I guess they can't all hate me. Erm...argumentative, opinionated, insane...those types of things. Words you have used to describe you: Mostly the same as above. ^_~ I guess I'd also like to think that I'm pretty creative. Things you do when not staring at the computer: Ride horses... Read. I read *a lot*. Uhm....talk to the love of my life on the phone. *silly grin* I like to hike (hey, I rhyme!). And...I write really bad, melodramatic poetry, sometimes. I used to draw quite a bit, but the finished products were just too painful to look at. Comfort foods: Risotto...nearly raw steak...gravy....snow peas...hazel nuts...mashed potatoes...gravy...cookie dough ice cream...gravy...dark, semisweet, *real* chocolate...Are you getting an idea of how profoundly *bad* my diet is? Luckily, I am blessed with a manic metabolism. Education/Work: I just started my freshman year at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Before that I attended a magnet school called The Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone, ME. I plan to major in...well...physics, definitely. Probably psychology, too, but perhaps neuroscience. Eventually I plan to either get a Ph. D. in physics or psychology or get a M. D. in psychiatry. Oh, and I also want to minor in Italian...or maybe anthropology...or maybe philosophy....*pause* Actually, I'm sort of torn about it all. *shrugs* Language skills: English. *looks down at feet* I'm passable at Spanish...I guess. *looks sheepish* It's not my fault! My Spanish teacher for the past two years has either been a) non-existent b) Devil Spawn from Hell...no wait, I mean the Mall (dumb as a doorbell, that one) c) perpetually snowed in and unable to come to class. Technical know-how: Absolutely none at all. *pauses* Well, I can operate (very illegally, mind you) all manner of heavy machinery (backhoes, excavators, etc.). And uh...I muck a mean stall ^_~. Favourite HP book: Oh, God. I could never choose. Favourite HP character(s): Harry...followed very closely by Hermione. (Three guesses how I SHIP, and the first two don't count. ^_~) Harry, because he's just so *good*, even after all he's been through, and it breaks my heart (which is saying something, as my heart is pretty chewy). Hermione, because she's everything I'd like to be. Favourite HP line: "It unscrews the other way." Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Oh, I watch them. I like to think of them as a supplement to my imagination (not that it needs the help -- darn thing's gone feral on me). Into HP fanfiction? Oh, uh..yes *blushes* I'm particularly fond on Cassie Claire's Draco Trilogy and Lori's Paradigm of Uncertainty. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Hmm...anyone? And I suppose you mean aside from Harry? ^_^ Well, Lord of the Rings (although I think it's generally not for the very young or the attention impaired)...Ack..this question is too hard. I love most books. Ask me what books I think should be purged from the universe, that's easier. (The Swept Away Trilogy (canabalism, amputation, teen love...what?!), 400 Creative Ways to Say I Love You *pukes*, the entire Sweet Valley High Series and all of its spawn, etc.) Favorite TV shows: Buffy and...uhm...Buffy....I don't really watch too much TV. Favorite Movies: The Cube, Clay Pigeons, The Black Stallion, anything with John Malkovich...uhm, recently...I enjoyed Seabiscuit and Pirates of the Caribbean...Donnie Darko...anything with Angelina Jolie...even Tombraider (sort of), because she's just...gorgeous..and sexy...and...did I mention sexy? *wishes that she could, just once, kiss Angelina Jolie* Plus, it reminds my of the first time I was ever cuddly with my boyfriend...it was very sweet. ^_^ Favorite Musical Artists: Sigh...another hard one. Well, Ani diFranco...Leonard Cohen...Great Big Sea...most popular bands from the 50's, 60's, and 70's...Oh, God..the list could go on and on, and, frankly, I'm starting to lose interest in this whole thing ^_~. One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): I wish I was more outgoing..or that I could interact with people comfortably. Or...uhm...I wish I was beautiful....and that I had talents other than getting good grades. One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: The love of my life. *nods* Can't get over how lucky I am to have him. He's perfect. *looks suspicious* You can't have him. Philosophy for an easy life: Easy life? There's no such thing. How you found HPfGU: Went online looking for a mature online HP community (and I was terribly succesful, if I do say so myself ^_^). Active at other HP sites: Mmm...I visit Leaky Cauldron and Fiction Alley a lot...I don't know if that counts as "active". HPFGU and its sister groups are the only places I ever post anything. Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Hermione will be Head Girl. *grins* Okay, I know that's cheating. Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: Sadly, I have never met anyone from the fandom in real life *pouts*. ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Do you really find physics sexy? Hell yeah. Laura (who fell for the aforementioned love of her life over AP Physics C homework.) From witchwanda2002 at yahoo.com Tue Sep 16 01:42:06 2003 From: witchwanda2002 at yahoo.com (Wanda the *B*Witch) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 18:42:06 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Very OT- Hurricane Isabelle Message-ID: <20030916014206.33799.qmail@web13708.mail.yahoo.com> Praying for everybody's safety down south! Keep everyone informed of your safety. Will be worrying about online friends in harm's way.This is a monster about to strike, be careful. Wanda the *B*Witch and Her Muggles 100%- All praying and worrying for those in harm's way --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From RSFJenny19 at aol.com Tue Sep 16 01:57:13 2003 From: RSFJenny19 at aol.com (RSFJenny19 at aol.com) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 21:57:13 EDT Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* Message-ID: <93.32f7f5f0.2c97c7f9@aol.com> Great idea! I hate feeling like I don't know anyone here! Name: Jennifer Also known as: Jenny, RSFJenny (FYI -the RSF stand for Red Sox Fan) Age/Sex: 27/F Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: MA, currently living on Cape Cod, and a resident of Red Sox Nation. Family Life: wonderful husband, two kids (Max is 2 1/2 and Jamie is 1 next week!), and a beagle named Carlton Fisk (did I mention I'm a rabid Red Sox fan?) Personality: Type A, all the way Words friends have used to describe you: perfectionist, quiet, funny, kind, opinionated Words you have used to describe you: perfectionist, obsessive, logical, overly judgemental (I'm working on this one!) Things you do when not staring at the computer: Did I mention I have two little kids? If I'm lucky enough that they're both sleeping, I'm probably asleep myself Comfort foods: Ice cream Education/Work: Bachelors in English, but now a SAHM Language skills: English, and enough French to ask someone if they speak English Technical know-how: On computers? I know html but almost failed my computer programming classes in college Favourite HP book: PoA Favourite HP character(s): Sirius, Lupin, Moody (the real one), Ginny, Fred and George, McGonagall, and Hermione. Oh, and Harry too. Favourite HP line: "Imagine wasting your time and energy persecuting merpeople when there are little toerags like Kreacher on the loose -" -Sirius Black Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching Into HP fanfiction? Reading, yes. Writing, no. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, The Hungry Ocean by Linda Greenlaw, The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (well, the first few at least, the last few SUCK) Favorite TV shows: That 70's Show, Friends, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Monster Garage Favorite Movies: The Shawshank Redemption, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, All the Star Wars movies, the Matrix movies, The American President, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Bull Durham Favorite Musical Artists: Dixie Chicks, No Doubt, Tim McGraw One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): I wish I was better at remembering people's names when I meet them! One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: My family Philosophy for an easy life: This too, shall pass. How you found HPfGU:Through the Lexicon (THANK GOD!!) Active at other HP sites: just visiting the Lexicon and TLC Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: SILK GOWNS!!!!!! Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: ::sigh::: I'd like to someday! ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: What character do you think you resemble most? Hermione. She always has her head in a book, she's very logical, obsessive in what she believes in, and a very rigid rule follower who does eventually loosen up (story of my life, LOL). [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From pbarhug at earthlink.net Tue Sep 16 01:51:35 2003 From: pbarhug at earthlink.net (Pam Hugonnet) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 21:51:35 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Has anyone ever gotten past this pass worded page at bloomsbury? References: <003201c37bc3$cd08efe0$6501a8c0@mac> Message-ID: <000501c37bf5$0fad85a0$3b9f8c45@DJZCB631> ChaseWildstar wrote: This is a page on bloomsbury magazine, and Ive been trying for 3 weeks now to figure out the password.. anyone have any luck with it? Yes. Just don't try to get too fancy with it; you're probably thinking youself right out of the answer. Try typing in the name of our favorite boy-wizard, without any spaces. Good Luck. drpam BTW, what ever happened to the chapter discussions on the main list? I've been having some thoughts and was kind of wanting to discuss them. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk Tue Sep 16 02:19:54 2003 From: alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk (alshainofthenorth) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 02:19:54 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Allright, here goes. ********************* Name: Elisabeth Also known as: Alshain, Beta Aquilae, IRL nothing but my name. Hate nicknames with a passion, which doesn't prevent people from giving me them. Age/Sex: 30 years, female. Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Was born and grew up in Jakobstad/Pietarsaari in Finland, on the West coast where the 6 % Swedish-speaking minority is still going strong. About 20 000 inhabitants, moderately conservative, the kind of place where everyone knows you and there isn't space for more than one point of view at a time. At 19 moved to ?bo/Turku (160 000 inhabitants, most of whom students) after school to study political science at university. Still here, I like about everything about the town except for some really ugly 1960's city planning and the fact that half of the shops sell nothing but Nokia mobile phones. Family Life: Single, parents and two younger sisters. One lives a five-minute walk from my place, the youngest one is still at school. Personality: A conglomerate of the worst parts of Severus Snape, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Some of the good parts too. Words friends have used to describe you: Intelligent, quiet, creative, witty, educated, loyal, stubborn, arrogant, snobbish, sarcastic. See above. :-) Words you have used to describe you: Impatient, proud, lazy, procrastinating. Things you do when not staring at the computer: Read voraciously, go for walks, look at stars, work out (not enough, alas), write columns for the party district newspaper, write slash, discuss politics and culture and feminism while drinking red wine and playing board games with extended family of single female friends. Comfort foods: Fresh scones with jam, cream and a pot of tea. Irish whiskey and occasional cigarrettes when I'm self-destructive. Education/Work: Licentiate degree in political science, working on seemingly never-ending dissertation on constitutional regulation of political parties. Language skills: Swedish (mother tongue), Finnish, English, French, some remnants of German and Russian. Technical know-how: I can operate a computer and an espresso machine, but that's about it apart from watching over my Da's shoulder when he's tinkering with cars. Would like to get a motorbike when midlife crisis strikes. Favourite HP book: PoA. OoP is in a class all of it's own, I don't think it's fair to compare it to the others before at least # 6 is out. Favourite HP character(s): Favourite Gryffindor: Tie between Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley Favourite Hufflepuff: Ernie Macmillan Favourite Ravenclaw: Cho Chang Favourite Slytherin: Used to be Draco, but after Oop he's too banal to be interesting. Still have half a hope that Blaise Zabini, Tracey Davis or Daphne Greengrass will turn out to be decent. Favourite teacher: Minerva McG. Bloke I'm most likely to go out with: Remus Lupin. Most interesting Character: Severus Snape. Favourite HP line: The world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching, then bitching about the director. Into HP fanfiction? Far too deep for my own good. Gen, Het or Slash. Pet peeves are Hermione sleeping around and nicknames like 'mione, Drake, Sev, Remmie and Siri. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Michael Ende's Momo and The Never-ending Story. The Little Prince. His Dark Materials. Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Anything by Isabel Allende. Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman. And Astrid Lindgren, she was a genius. Works of other Scandinavian authors you won't recognise. Fantasy authors I enjoy are JRR Tolkien, Ursula K. LeGuin, Katharine Kerr and Patricia McKillip. Favorite TV shows: Can you believe I don't own a TV set? Anything by French and Saunders, some detective series, documentaries, plus I still have an inexplicable soft spot for Mission Impossible. Favorite Movies: Krysztof Kieslowski's Blue, White and Red, Polanski's The Pianist, Four Weddings and a Funeral. Favorite Musical Artists: Musical omnivore. To start from the beginning: Monteverdi, Palestrina, J.S Bach, Handel, Mozart (when depressed), Mahler and Prokofiev. Miles Davis, Ben Webster and Stan Getz. Aretha Franklin, Leonard Cohen, Simon & Garfunkel, Queen, Deep Purple, Celia Cruz, Patricia Kaas, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, Counting Crows, REM, Sting, Clannad and the Chieftains. And then some. One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): Become a more active, organised and outspoken person. Get rid of my mood swings and tendency towards depression. One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: My capability of seeing both sides of things. My extended family of single female friends. (and they'll have to take the Blackadder series on DVD out of my cold, dead hands.) Philosophy for an easy life: What goes around comes around. Always look at things twice before making a decision. Don't eat things you aren't prepared to kill. Check your bag before you leave the house. How you found HPfGU: Don't remember, really. Started lurking sometime last winter. Active at other HP sites: Usenet group alt.fan.harry-potter and some fanfic sites. Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Ron and Hermione will start going. We're going to lose Dumbledore and Harry. Snape is going to be a mystery until the last chapter. Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: None yet. ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: If I was a magical beast, what beast would it be? A Hippogriff. From saitaina at wizzards.net Tue Sep 16 02:17:45 2003 From: saitaina at wizzards.net (Saitaina) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 19:17:45 -0700 Subject: More tech help needed. (Misisng WHAT?!) References: Message-ID: <010801c37bf8$b865efe0$d6371c40@aoldsl.net> Alright, after not being able for four days to figure out why I still had no sound, it turns out I'm missing a "mmsystem.dll" in the [boot] section of system.ini. HUH?! Could someone explain that too me and tell me what the hell I'm supposed to do about it? *puppy dog face* Saitaina **** "Sorry Vig...just seems like I'm about to come out of a closet I didn't even know I was in." http://www.livejournal.com/users/saitaina "No, one day I'm going to look back on all this and plow face-first into a tree because I was looking the wrong bloody way. And I'll still be having a better day than I am today." From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Tue Sep 16 02:33:26 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 02:33:26 -0000 Subject: Gay is damaged, straight is normal (was: Re: Slut!Seamus and other ships) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says I don't know any gay people at the moment because I'm agoraphobic and not currently acquainted with anyone outside my family, but there was a time when I was acquainted with nearly every male homosexual in the city of New York (to answer that question). Second, I'm talking about mathematical normalcy, which is the only true normal there is. Note that nowhere do I imply that *normal* is the only positive, healthy way to be. Harry has no frame of reference for how he should have been treated. If his best friend in his new life is gay, then the Dursleys remain justified in their treatment of him because he's still a freak. But if his best friend is the unimpeachably conventional Ron Weasley, then even the Dursleys can see that their family structure is the odd one out. Third, if the prevailing opinion around here is that Harry has not sustained the kind of psychological damage that would make him a problematic father and husband, then I *am* sorry. But my feeling is that since we know the story ends when Harry and the gang are seventeen, we're going to be left with a Harry who, if he lives (and maybe it will be simpler if he doesn't) will be happier working through his angst with a therapy buddy with similar issues. I say that's Draco (if *he* lives). I do know that language comes from usage, and that most people understand *normal* to mean *right* and *conventional* to mean *healthy*. I understand that what I see as a lack of respect for the English language may not be as offensive to most as it is to me, and I apologize for my tendency to wax dogmatic in the face of such assaults. I am not normal, nor have I ever been, and I resent the implication that calling someone *abnormal* is slander, just as I objected strenuously when, during my army days, I heard the term *ladies* used as an insult. --JDR (off to take her own advice about the herb tea, muttering about 'young people nowadays...') From cindysphynx at comcast.net Tue Sep 16 02:56:11 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 02:56:11 -0000 Subject: Gay is damaged, straight is normal In-Reply-To: Message-ID: JDR wrote: > Second, I'm talking about mathematical normalcy, which is the only > true normal there is. I know you mean well, but I think there may be good reason to rethink this. If you label things as "normal" and "abnormal" based on mathematical occurrence, I think you will wind up with some seriously weird statements. For instance: African Americans in the U.S. make up 10-12% of the population and are therefore "abnormal." Whites are "normal" because they are the majority race. A male nurse is "abnormal" because most nurses in the U.S. have been women. Similarly, female doctors are also "abnormal." Since the vast majority of straight people marry at some point in their lives, those who do not marry are "abnormal." Oh, yuck. I suspect the problem here is that "normal" doesn't mean what you think it does. Normal means: " 1. Conforming with, adhering to, or constituting a norm, standard, pattern, level, or type; typical: normal room temperature; one's normal weight; normal diplomatic relations. 2. Biology. Functioning or occurring in a natural way; lacking observable abnormalities or deficiencies. 4. Mathematics. 1. Being at right angles; perpendicular. 2. Perpendicular to the direction of a tangent line to a curve or a tangent plane to a surface. 5. 1. Relating to or characterized by average intelligence or development. 2. Free from mental illness; sane." http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=normal So it seems to me that using "normal" for straight people and "abnormal" for gay people is a misuse of those terms, in addition to being rather offensive to many people. Can't we say that something is more or less "common?" >If his best friend in his new > life is gay, then the Dursleys remain justified in their treatment >of him because he's still a freak. But if his best friend is the > unimpeachably conventional Ron Weasley, then even the Dursleys can > see that their family structure is the odd one out. Uh . . . a person is a "freak" if their best friend is gay? I must not understand your point. BTW, since when is it justified to mistreat someone just because you consider them a "freak?" > Third, if the prevailing opinion around here is that Harry has not > sustained the kind of psychological damage that would make him a > problematic father and husband, then I *am* sorry. I don't follow you. I can see how one could argue that Harry has sustained the kind of psychological damage that could make him a poor *mate* to anyone (although that is not my own view of Harry). But you seem to be suggesting (and correct me if I'm out of line) that Damaged!Harry would be perfectly fine for a gay relationship. That can't be what you meant. Is it? > I do know that language comes from usage, and that most people > understand *normal* to mean *right* and *conventional* to mean > *healthy*. I understand that what I see as a lack of respect for the > English language may not be as offensive to most as it is to me, and > I apologize for my tendency to wax dogmatic in the face of such > assaults. OK, fair enough. But it is important for you to understand *why* some people took offense. Cindy From editor at texas.net Tue Sep 16 03:00:02 2003 From: editor at texas.net (Amanda Geist) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 22:00:02 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Gay is damaged, straight is normal (was: Re: Slut!Seamus and other ships) References: Message-ID: <00cc01c37bfe$a038ea20$5c6463d1@texas.net> The Sergeant Majorette (quite a mental image, that) said: > Second, I'm talking about mathematical normalcy, which is the only > true normal there is. Note that nowhere do I imply that *normal* is > the only positive, healthy way to be. Okay, I speak Math pretty well for an English major, I can buy that. > Harry has no frame of reference > for how he should have been treated. ?? Certainly he does. It was paraded in front of him every day he can remember. While Dudley was outrageously spoiled, Harry did see an alternate, more "normal" parenting pattern, if taken to an extreme. > If his best friend in his new > life is gay, then the Dursleys remain justified in their treatment of > him because he's still a freak. Okay, I won't give you "freak" like I gave you normal. You're probably speaking from the Dursleys' point of view here, but you should be a whole lot clearer on that. > But if his best friend is the > unimpeachably conventional Ron Weasley, then even the Dursleys can > see that their family structure is the odd one out. Yeah, that'll just make the scales drop from their eyes, won't it? Like the Dursleys have ever internalized any criticism of themselves or their lifestyle. It wouldn't matter if Harry took up with the Prince of Wales, the Dursleys would learn no moral lessons from it. > Third, if the prevailing opinion around here is that Harry has not > sustained the kind of psychological damage that would make him a > problematic father and husband, then I *am* sorry. But my feeling is > that since we know the story ends when Harry and the gang are > seventeen, we're going to be left with a Harry who, if he lives (and > maybe it will be simpler if he doesn't) will be happier working > through his angst with a therapy buddy with similar issues. I say > that's Draco (if *he* lives). I really believe that you can be a problematic father and husband, and have all kinds of angst issues, without automatically being gay. I don't think the one causes the other; in actuality, if causation's involved, it's probably the other way around. > I do know that language comes from usage, and that most people > understand *normal* to mean *right* and *conventional* to mean > *healthy*. I understand that what I see as a lack of respect for the > English language may not be as offensive to most as it is to me, and > I apologize for my tendency to wax dogmatic in the face of such > assaults. In lieu of an apology, could you restate that in less flowery language? I've worked through it a couple times now and I'm not entirely sure I've really caught what you were trying to say. Respect for the English language is my profession, but I am conflicted: prescriptivist by profession, descriptivist by nature. And from neither angle can I figure out what the hell you're talking about. ~Amanda From silverdragon at ezweb.com.au Tue Sep 16 00:58:35 2003 From: silverdragon at ezweb.com.au (silverdragon at ezweb.com.au) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 10:58:35 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* References: Message-ID: <00ae01c37bff$d8654be0$71984cca@Monteith> Name: Nox NotteTorretne Also known as: Kerry (real name, obviously), SilverDragon, Noxious71, Naryis. Age/Sex: 32/Female Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born in Brisbane (Queensland, Australia). Living in Toowoomba (2 hours west of Brisbane). I'd be out of here faster than you could take your next breath if the opportunity arose. Family Life: Married for 10 years next month to my best friend. 2 kids (almost 4 year old boy, and an almost 9 year old girl), 2 cats (Isabeau, black short haired and Teddy, grey fluffy). Personality: vaguely bohemian Words friends have used to describe you: odd, 'alien', easy-going, laid back usually, sometimes bad-tempered, cynical. Words you have used to describe you: sarcastic, cynical, not nice, creative. Things you do when not staring at the computer: Paint, draw, read, cook, garden, make home-made cosmetics and medicines, avoid housework.... Comfort foods: chocolate, pizza, ice-cream. All no-no's - I'm a diabetic. Education/Work: Certificate in Child Care and Education. Currently in the position of not needing to work. Language skills: English (people would argue that this in an 'only just' answer) Technical know-how: Err, I can turn the computer on. If it doesn't work I am convinced it is motivated by malice rather than malfunction and resort to physical and/or verbal abuse of the machine. Favourite HP book: GoF and PoA Favourite HP character(s): Professor Snape and Lucius Malfoy. And Lupin for the "nice-guy" balance... Favourite HP line: "It unscrews the other way..." Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watch, of course! With Alan Rickman and now Jason Isaacs, how could I not watch? Into HP fanfiction? no. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: "The Secret Garden" A huge number of Fantasy series, including the Belgariad etc, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Deverry Series, keep going ad infinitum... "Hereditary Wichtcraft" Raven Grimassi Almost anythng by Clive Barker. "Lord of the Rings" Favorite TV shows: Dr Who (Yay! Its being replayed from the beginning starting last night. Wait till I find my sonic screwdriver!) The Bill Spooks AFL football (only if the Brisabne Lions are playing) Favorite Movies: I am a *huge* sucker for fantasy movies. Legend, Willow, LadyHawke, Conan etc, Labyrinth (David Bowie as the goblin king is drool-worthy), Dragonheart, The Dark Crystal. Then I like off-beat stuff like Pulp Fiction; Natural Born Killers; Being John Malkovich; Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels... Favorite Musical Artists: Red Hot Chilli Peppers Machine Gun Fellatio Powderfinger Jebediah You Am I Regurgitator Grinspoon I'd better stop or I'll be going on forever.... One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): Would have gone on with further education earlier. One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: My marriage and kids. Philosophy for an easy life: Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind...Dr Seuss How you found HPfGU: Surfing. Or was it via the Lexicon? Can't remember.. Active at other HP sites: Not really, although I check in weekly. Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Someone is gonna buy the farm... Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: Nox looks sadly around and sniffs. No one.... ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Favourite quote from any movie? "You have the right to scream your head off. Should you give up the right to scream your head off, someone who'll scream THEIR head off will be provided for you" - Grouch Cop "Elmo in Grouchland" From cindysphynx at comcast.net Tue Sep 16 03:12:08 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 03:12:08 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: OK, here goes . . . ************************** >Real name: Cindy C. >Also known as: Cindysphynx Sin D.C. (that's my home girl rapper I.D., a gift from Joywitch) >Age/Sex: Oh, what does it matter? Age is just a *number.* OK, fine. I'm 42. >Birthplace/Livingplace: NY. Currently in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Been here for 11 years. >Family Life: Married 12 years. Three kids -- 11 year old girl, 9 year old girl, 6 year old boy. One 15-pound red miniature poodle who barks way too much. >Personality: Uh . . . . girls just wanna have fun? >Words friends have used to describe you: Cooperative, impossible, deranged, creative, megalomaniac, humble, control freak, team player >Words you have used to describe you: Misunderstood. >Things you do when not staring at the computer: I'm learning to play piano, having started lessons almost 4 years ago. I always wanted to learn, so I figured I'd give it a try. I'm seriously lacking in talent, but I have lots of motivation. I have a reputation for freezing up at recitals and I'm getting tired of teachers telling me to "just relax." How am I supposed to relax with all of those people *staring* at me? >Comfort foods: Popcorn, bubble gum, Reese's sticks. And I still have all my teeth. >Education/Work: Undergrad degree in Finance, Portfolio Management. Grad degree in law. Working part-time from home when my client needs me. They haven't needed me since *October.* Ahem. >Language skills English. >Technical know-how: Zilch. >Favourite HP book: PoA, for sure. Followed by GoF, OoP, PS/SS, CoS. >Favourite HP character(s): I would have said Lupin and Sirius when I first joined HPfGU. I now have a weird preoccupation with Pettigrew, Avery, Mrs. Lestrange and poor widdle Igor. >Favourite HP line Did I mention above that I was forgetful? >Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching, but have been underwhelmed so far. Not even a member of the Movie list. >Into HP fanfiction? Kinda. Read quite a bit to pass the time before OoP. Like quite a lot of it, too. >Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: I like non-fiction quite a bit, so I'd recommend "Seabiscuit" and "Into Thin Air." I also liked "1984" and and especially liked it when I was halfway through and it started to get really grim. I also liked "A Gesture Life." >Favorite TV shows? "Amazing Race," of course. I also like "Star Search." Totally missed out on the whole "Buffy" thing. Lots of gymnastics and figure skating, but no ice dancing, thanks. >Favorite movies: "Life Is Beautiful." >Favorite Musical Artists: Earth Wind and Fire Brothers Johnson Cameo Will Smith Aretha Franklin Chaka Kahn Pre-Cocaine Whitney Houston >One thing about your life you'd change if you could ? you may not >say "lose weight." I wish I knew how to make a living at something other than practicing law. >One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance >copy of Book 7: My husband. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I complain about him and he's a royal pain way too often, but on the whole, I'd marry him again if I had it to do over, and I guess that's the acid test. >Philosophy for an easy life: Trust people until they disappoint you. >How you found HPfGU: I just wanted to know the OoP release date. Really, that's all I wanted. >Active at other HP sites: Nope. This one is the very best, IMHO. >Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: The Put-Outer is the key to Harry's protection on Privet Drive. Yeah, I'm still high on the Put-Outer. >Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: Neil Ward John Walton Joywitch Curmudgeon Amy Z Tabouli Joy Debbie Dicentra Elkins Amanda Jo Serenadust Phone call with Penny -- does that count? >Add a question of your choosing and answer it: I'd major in something different -- something that gave me a better foundation in liberal arts, and I wouldn't have cut quite so many corners along the way. Cindy From catlady at wicca.net Tue Sep 16 03:40:32 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 03:40:32 -0000 Subject: Gay is damaged, straight is normal (was: Re: Slut!Seamus and other ships) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" wrote: > > Third, if the prevailing opinion around here is that Harry has not > sustained the kind of psychological damage that would make him a > problematic father and husband, then I *am* sorry. But my feeling > is that since we know the story ends when Harry and the gang are > seventeen, we're going to be left with a Harry who, if he lives > (and maybe it will be simpler if he doesn't) will be happier > working through his angst with a therapy buddy with similar issues. > I say that's Draco (if *he* lives). Harry can be gay and marry a man and adopt a passel of children and be one hell of dysfunctional father and husband. One of our finest young (and male and gay) fanfic authors writes Harry and Draco getting married and adopting two children and living happily ever after (so that's his vote that they aren't *too* damaged). He can be straight without being a father or husband: celibate hermit or commitment-phobic playboy. I suppose he could have a good friend who was a therapy partner even if they two weren't sleeping together. I think Neville's issues are more like Harry's issues than Draco's issues are. I'm wondering if you use the word 'gay' to refer to a person who is sexually attracted to myriad persons of the opposite sex but falls into love, life-long true love a la romance novels, accompanied by sexual passion, with one-count'em-one person of the same sex? That seems to be what happened to Harry in the fic I mentioned, and it did happen to a woman friend of mine in real life. From ambiree at students.bradley.edu Tue Sep 16 03:46:00 2003 From: ambiree at students.bradley.edu (ambiree at students.bradley.edu) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 22:46:00 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1063683960.3f6687787fd3c@webmail.bradley.edu> > Name: Amber > > > Also known as: Ambiree, Bubby, Bam, A.C., that HP freak, that Lotr freak > > > Age/Sex: 24/f > > > Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Peoria, il, USA, all my life..close to fam and more or less happy here > > > Family Life: live w/ mom, talk to dad, irritated by sister, currently single after 8 years of dating a jerk who became my stalker.... > > > Personality: obsessive about my hobbies (HP, Lotr, Cabbage Patch Kids), generally happy, and can be a total pain if torked off, somewhat of a smartaleck. > > > > Words friends have used to describe you: weird, insane, talkative, compassionate, caring thoughtful, whiny pain in the tuckus. > > > > Words you have used to describe you: all of the above and blondy > > > > Things you do when not staring at the computer: crochet, read, write, do homework, watch movies, sleep, work 3 jobs... > > > Comfort foods: mashed potatoes, ma's cube steak and hominy, dad's roast > > > > > Education/Work: almost finished w/ my college undergrad (Marketing --B.S.-- and History --B.A.-- w/ a minor in Women's Studies.) Currently work in 2 libraries (one academic, one public) and a bookstore. > > > > Language skills: speak a little spanish > > > > Technical know-how: Um...my boss would say i'm Bloody Brilliant, i would say fair to middling....but enough to get by....but don't ask my help, i can't explain how to boil water... > > > > > Favourite HP book: Prisoner > > > > Favourite HP character(s): Ron Weasley, Ginny and the twins... > > > > Favourite HP line: too many to count > > > > Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: watching...but making notes of the changes in my paperback copies... > > > > Into HP fanfiction? Not really > > > > Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: HP (DUH!), Lotr, J.D. Robb books, and a few others depending on the preferred genre... > > > > Favorite TV shows: The Simpsons > > > > Favorite Movies: Lotr, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Rio Bravo....hmmmm.. > > > > Favorite Musical Artists: i'm rather eclectic, so i don't have a real favorite, although, i tend to like boy bands (pathetic, i know), oldies, and whatever my dad writes... > > > > One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you > may not say "lose weight"): The last 3 years i dated the jerk (see family life comment above) > > > One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance > copy of Book 7: my mama > > > > Philosophy for an easy life: i won't bother to say anything trite because, i believe it is only in retrospect that we see how easy life was through hindsight and age and experience > > > How you found HPfGU: surfing for clues about book 5... > > > Active at other HP sites: Not really...well maybe TLC and Marta's Art Page > > > Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Ginny and Neville will date > > > Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: my mama... > > > ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: > > How did you get into HP? My mama kept recommending it and i put off reading it because i wasn't interested. Then she started borrowing the audio version from the library. i couldn't escape it so i made fun of it. However, for her b-day in 2001, i surprised her w/ an HP b-day party...but to do it right, i had to read the books...now i'm a bigger fan that her > > > > > > > > > ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ > > Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin Files! > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ > > Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from posts > to which you're replying! > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > -- Amber ***It's all fun and games 'til I get tickled~~Amber C. Lowery*** From stevejjen at earthlink.net Tue Sep 16 03:50:34 2003 From: stevejjen at earthlink.net (Jen Reese) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 03:50:34 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I've only posted to the main group, but this looks like fun! I'm always visualizing people based on their name, ideas, etc. so now I'll have more to go on--thanks, Cindy, this is a great idea. (Oh and by the way, Cindy and annemehr, I just posted three sinkers in a row on the main list and swear I didn't even notice..... :) Name: Jennifer Reese Also known as: Jen, Fifer (long story) and Ariadne, my mysterious and adventurous alter-ego.... Age/Sex:36/F Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Birthplace was Midland Texas--I got out as fast as I could. Now I live in Austin, Texas and love it! Family Life: Married for 9 years to Steve; one son Samuel age 5; Butter and Max, our dog and cat respectively Personality: Easy-going, shy at times, good sense of humor. Obssessive when I'm in a bad mood.... Words friends have used to describe you: To my face? Um, loyal, easy to get along with, opinionated at times, sweet. Words you have used to describe you: Persistent, problem-solver, spiritual, feeling-oriented. Things you do when not staring at the computer: Play with my son-- he's big into pretend and I can't wait for him to start being interested in HP! I also read alot, try to make myself do Pilates, go to movies, eat out whenever possible.... Comfort foods: Diet Coke!!! Oatmeal, anything doughy. Education/Work: Masters in Social Work--I work part-time for a hospital network, mostly in the Emergency Room. Oh how I'd love for Snape to drop by sometime so I could do a comprehensive psychosocial assessment on him ! (See, this is the type of fantasy a social worker has). Language skills: English, some Spanish Technical know-how: Do e-mail and chat groups count? Favourite HP book: POA, hands down! Favourite HP character(s): Sirius *sniff*, Lupin, Lily, Harry Favourite HP line: "I'm *not* going to be murdered," Harry said out loud. "That's the spirit, dear," said his mirror sleepily. LOL, I still laugh at that one every time I read it. Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching, multiple times. I recently rented SS just to watch the scene with the Mirror of Erised *sniff* Into HP fanfiction? No Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Anything by Barbara Kingsolver, especially The Poisonwood Bible, and all four (five?) of the books by Sarah Bird. Favorite TV shows: Everybody Loves Raymond; VH1 70's and 80's flashbacks Favorite Movies: ? Favorite Musical Artists: Train for a current group. I'm a child of the 80's though, so U2, Police, Journey too. Practically any hard rock ballad that ever came out gives me the urge to take out my lighter and hold it high...... One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): Less fear One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: My son Philosophy for an easy life: From Pooh, "everyone is Ok, really." How you found HPfGU: I felt very distraught after reading OOTP and needed someone to talk to. None of the other books made me feel so upset (I started the series right before GOF was released). So I started searching on the web and actually spent a month lurking on the BBC teen-site before thankfully finding HPFGU! The BBC site is great fun, but unless you want to join a club and take quizzes.... Active at other HP sites: No Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Lupin will not be evil!! In fact, he and Arthur will take over the running of the Order when Dumbledore is seriously injured or compromised in some way in Book 6. Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: No one yet--looking forward to it! ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: If you had a magic wand, what one thing would you change in the HP series so far? Harry would listen to Hermione at the end of OOTP and realize his vision of Sirius was a hoax. From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Tue Sep 16 03:50:46 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 03:50:46 -0000 Subject: Gay is damaged, straight is normal In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote, and the Sergeant Majorette responds: <<<...If you label things as "normal" and "abnormal" based on mathematical occurrence, I think you will wind up with some seriously weird statements...Since the vast majority of straight people marry at some point in their lives, those who do not marry are "abnormal.">>> Well, precisely. That's why I stick with the mathematical definition of normal, as it's 'morally' neutral. That one does, or is, something that most people in their universe don't, or aren't, does not mean there's something wrong with that person that they need to take steps to correct. Normal people have 98 IQs. Normal people have 2.3 children with an opposite-gender spouse. <<<...Can't we say that something is more or less "common?">>> If we do, we'll have to find euphemisms for 'uncommon' in a couple of years. <<<...Uh...a person is a "freak" if their best friend is gay?...BTW, since when is it justified to mistreat someone just because you consider them a "freak?">>> Since you're Vernon Dursley. <<>> Well, it sort of *is* what I meant, but I'll back off on that one. I don't think people with unresolved dramas in their lives should reproduce, but that't just me. As for the rest of the possibly gay student characters in HP (e.g. Justin F-F, Seamus), they *are* too healthy. Gay or straight, our Draco's the only one with complementary neuroses for our Harry. <<>> I totally understand why some people took offense. It's *my* neurosis that I'm not chastened in the least. I'm schizoid (not schizophrenic, ok? It means I don't relate well to my fellow human beings) and proud of it. Cindy, you're a nice person. I hope you don't take any flak for defending a b***h like me... --JDR From risako at nexusanime.com Tue Sep 16 04:01:11 2003 From: risako at nexusanime.com (Melissa McCarthy) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 01:01:11 -0300 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* References: Message-ID: <009b01c37c07$2ae26040$6401a8c0@vaio> Might as well add my answers! I love surveys :D > Name: Melissa McCarthy. > Also known as: various permutations of Risako (I'm an anime fan). > Age/Sex: Female/23. > Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Halifax, Nova Scotia; I live where I was born. I love it here. I'd live here all my life if I could. > Family Life: I live with my parents, I have a sister who lives in Ontario, and I am owned by two cats. > Personality: I'm a Virgo, cuspal with Libra. Whether it's a coincidence or not, that pretty much does sum it up. > Words friends have used to describe you: Sweet, smart, indescribably terrifying (though I have no idea where that last one came from). > Words you have used to describe you: Worrywart, helpful, mercurial, perfectionist. > Things you do when not staring at the computer: Read, mostly... and whatever else is necessary to sustain life. > Comfort foods: Meat loaf, farina, liquid orange jello, chai tea, chicken soup, pudding. > Education/Work: Masters in history, currently "enjoying" downtime due to illness. > Language skills: English, French. > Technical know-how: I can make technological things work if I have the manual, but I don't generally know *how* they work. > Favourite HP book: Hmm... PoA, I guess. > Favourite HP character(s): Hermione. She reminds me of myself at that age. > Favourite HP line "We could have been killed! Or worse, expelled." Hermione is just the best :D > Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching them, not too enthusiastically. I haven't been to see either in the theatre and I only own the first one on DVD, but I will be getting the second. > Into HP fanfiction? Not really. I read the occasional fic. I haven't written any besides one very sappy unpublished ficlet (I like it, but I don't think it's good enough to publish). > Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Harry Potter, of course! The Lord of the Rings. Books by Anne Perry, Anne McCaffrey, Katherine Kurtz, Guy Gavriel Kay, Andre Norton, David Eddings, Jane Yolen. It's easier to recommend authors than books. > Favorite TV shows: Stargate SG-1, Firefly, Dark Angel, The Amazing Race, Trauma: Life in the ER, Junkyard Wars, anything about technology on TLC or the Discovery Channel. Do the Olympics count as a TV show? > Favorite Movies: The Lord of the Rings, The Princess Bride, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spaceballs, Star Wars, The Matrix, Back to the Future, Galaxy Quest. > Favorite Musical Artists: Jacob Obrecht, Simon & Garfunkel, The Eagles, The Beatles, Erin McKeown, Ayumi Hamasaki, Weird Al Yankovic, Maaya Sakamoto, J.A. Seazer, Queen, Sarah McLachlan, Jann Arden, The Barenaked Ladies, April Wine, The Police, and almost everyone who sang pop songs in the '80s. > One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you > may not say "lose weight"): I'd marry my boyfriend. Fortunately, this is the plan, but it's not likely to happen for a little while. > One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance > copy of Book 7: The aforementioned boyfriend. > Philosophy for an easy life: Have low expectations, and do unto others as you would have others do unto you. > How you found HPfGU: I found its homepage in a Google search. > Active at other HP sites: Not really. I read The Leaky Cauldron but I don't participate in other sites. > Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Ron. Hermione. Date. (Please, JKR? please? pretty please with a cherry on top?) > Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: I haven't met anyone in the fandom yet, but I'd like to! > ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: If you could have any creature from FBAWTFT for a pet, which would it be? I'd want a Puffskein and a pink Fwooper. I was planning to answer everyone else's added questions, but there are just so many! Melissa "Sir, I think you have a problem with your brain being missing." --Zoe, Firefly 1.02 "The Train Job" From zanelupin at yahoo.com Tue Sep 16 04:26:52 2003 From: zanelupin at yahoo.com (KathyK) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 04:26:52 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Name: Katherine Also known as: KathyK Even in real life. At family functions someone says "Kathy" and three heads whip around in confusion. Age/Sex: 24 on Friday/Female Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born and raised in Cheshire, Connecticut...moved a half hour away to New Britain for College but now I'm back. I'm escaping Connecticut altogether in February. Cheshire is a wonderful place to grow up but it's very boring and now filled with Fairfield County wannabes. Family Life: Currently living with my mother and younger brother...and my older brother and my aunts and uncles all live within fifteen minutes driving time. Personality: One of the quiet ones Words friends have used to describe you: Funny, insane, nice, friendly, intelligent Words you have used to describe you: antisocial, sarcastic, walking doormat, procrastinator, INDECISIVE, control freak Things you do when not staring at the computer: Work, read, write, spend time with my friends and my adorable nephew Comfort foods: pizza, M&Ms Education/Work: BA in history (Primarily US, a bit of East Asia) with a minor in Sociology. Desperate to go back if I could just figure out exactly what I want to do because I'm not into spending money I don't have on things I'm not sure of. So I'm working as a Video store manager and a CSC associate, which is a fancy way of saying I take phone orders. Language skills: English. I can read Spanish and get the gist of spoken conversations. Technical know-how: I can read my email and play on the internet. Other than computers, I can generally take things apart and put them back together again. Sometimes I can actually fix what's broken. Favourite HP book: PoA but OoP is gaining the more times I read it. Favourite HP character(s): Lupin and Sirius Favourite HP line: "Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain." Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching, at least once a week because of that pesky video store gig. Into HP fanfiction? On and off reading. Once tried my hand at writing and gave up in self disgust. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen, Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Favorite TV shows: Buffy, Angel, X-Files minus the final episode, Boy Meets World, Law & Order, The Simpsons...Really, it depends on my mood. Favorite Movies: Emperor's New Groove, American History X, Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade, Star Wars (the first trilogy), Manchurian Candidate Favorite Musical Artists: Evanescence, Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Grass Roots, Billy Joel One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): My complete inability to make decisions, even about the simplest things like what to have for dinner. Oh, or maybe my complete lack of self confidence. One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: the frivolous, vain answer is my hair color. The real answer is My family and friends, who are like family. Philosophy for an easy life: avoid everything? How you found HPfGU: Leaky Cauldron Active at other HP sites: Nope, usually just passing through. Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Snape's hair will be greasy Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: *sigh* No one... ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Where do you keep your Harry Potter Books? On my desk right next to me. From tahewitt at yahoo.com Tue Sep 16 04:39:57 2003 From: tahewitt at yahoo.com (Tyler Hewitt) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 21:39:57 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: <1063678901.106130.42608.m11@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: <20030916043957.17084.qmail@web14205.mail.yahoo.com> Name: Tyler Also known as: Buzz (to family and close family friends only) Age/Sex: 40/male Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born: Owosso, Michigan Live: Chicago, which is a grubby, homely city beyond the lakefront but lots of culture and very non-pretentious which I like Family Life: Share a house with Kevin, my partner of nearly 10 years Personality: Introverted, creative Words friends have used to describe you: laid back, hard to get to know, weird Words you have used to describe you: clever, funny Things you do when not staring at the computer: read, make art, think, walk Comfort foods: well-prepared Chinese food, brownies, onion rings Education/Work: MFA in Photography from Cranbrook Academy of Art, Work teaching art/design at a suburban Chicago community college Language skills: I barely know English! Technical know-how: Decent with art/design software on the Macintosh, good camera skills. Favourite HP book: Sorcerer's Stone/Goblet of Fire Favourite HP character(s): Ron, with Hagrid a distant second Favourite HP line Too many to choose from! Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching. Rupert Grint is too good as Ron to avoid them. Into HP fanfiction? Not really. Read a few, wasn't really into it. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow Alice in Wonderland Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter Favorite TV shows: The Simpsons, The Daily Show Favorite Movies: Blue Velvet, Brazil, Time Bandits, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Favorite Musical Artists: XTC; Joni Mitchell; Bela Bartok; Lambert, Hendricks and Ross; Harry Partch One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): I'd probably be more extroverted and more sure of myself socially One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: I'll wait for book 7 and keep my creativity, thanks. Philosophy for an easy life: Wish I could help you with that one! How you found HPfGU: Don't remember, really. Is there a link from the HP Lexicon? Active at other HP sites: No. I check the Leaky Cauldron and occasionally MuggleNet for news, that's about it. Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Neville will play a much larger role. I think that's been hinted at, and not just by the prophecy-many of the important events in SS/PS have Neville in them. Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: Don't think I've met any others from this list ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: favorite artists: Ralph Eugene Meatyard John Baldessari Robert Rauchenberg __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From catlady at wicca.net Tue Sep 16 04:55:27 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 04:55:27 -0000 Subject: *sigh* Here I am at the Mixer Message-ID: I *hate* doing these self-bio things, so I'm copying one from last June (but editting it a bit). > > ***Name: > Rita Prince Winston > > ***Nicknames/IDs: > catlady_de_los_angeles (Yahoo) > Catlady (Fiction Alley) > catlady at w... (e-mail) > > ***Age, Birthday, Place of Birth: > 45 > November 7, 1957 > Los Angeles California > > ***Home > Venice, California -- I live in a two-bedroom apartment half-a-mile > from the beach. It's in a beautiful low-rise complex with a big > lawn with a couple of old trees. Back in June and July there were > some wild ducks and ducklings from the canals eating the grass from > the lawn. My landlady is an angel-darling. > > ***Family: > I don't have any children, intentionally. > Both my parents are dead, which is something along the lines of > "good riddance" > I have one brother, two years younger, who works at Stanford > University in Palo Alto, but in the last ten years, the only > contact we bother to have is to e-mail Happy Birthday to each > other. > My domestic partner is named Tim Merrigan (I call him Timcat). I > pretend to support us and he pretends to keep house. > There are currently four cats in the household: Cinnamon, Elway, > Taliesin, and Pixy. I reminisce of the late Nan, Obi, Sasha, and > Fancy from my adult life, Cindy and Pippin from my youth, and > Foggy, Wally, Winthrop, Linda, Smokey, and T'Challa from my > childhood. > My best friends are Lee and Barry Gold, who live nearby (two miles > inland, in a *single-family detached house*). > > ***Education/Job > I dropped out of Bryn Mawr College -- if I had stayed, I would have > flunked out. > Then I got an Associate (two year) degree in Data Processing from > Santa Monica College. > Then I got a job as a COBOL programmer. > Which I still am, currently at LACMTA > (Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority). A few months ago, I *finally* figured out what I want to be when I grow up: RETIRED! > > ***Other things we might want to know about you: > I lived in New York City May 1980 to October 1984. > I met Tim at LASFS (Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society) and used > to go to cons and write in apas. > Would it come as a great surprise that I dote on cats? > And am a Wiccan? altho' not very observant. > And heterosexual? > You-uns have probably already noticed that I'm an unreconstructed > liberal. (The rules against discussing politics on HPfGU are wise.) > But maybe not that I'm INXJ, and really *very* shy in person. > And *very* fat. That's a cue for Favorite Comfort Foods: Chocolate. Chocolate. Chocolate. Hot tea. Pasta with alfredo sauce. Oh, and Technical Ability: Tim told me once that I have the mechanical aptitute of a gerbil, but later decided that that was unfair to gerbils. > > ***Current/recent reading: > Current events (which is VERY depressing). > Magazines about archaeology and science. > HPfGU main list and OT > no time for anything else > altho' I used to read fanfic by Lori, Cassie Claire, Ebony, Heidi, > Barb, Carole, and Alex -- all wonderful. That's a cue for What Book Would I Recommend to Almost Everyone: COD, THE BIOGRAPHY OF A FISH. > > ***First contact with Harry Potter: > 1999. Lee lent me the first three books (of which I had previously > heard on NPR, but not paid attention). I instantly was addicted, > staying up all night to read them all. I talked about the > Potterverse until all my friends were bored out of their minds > (they think the Potter books are very nice, but not as excellent as > many others). I had just been invited to an e-group for a totally > other interest, so I got the very original idea of checking whether > there was an e-group to discuss HP ... and here I am! > > ***Extent of Potter obsession: > Less than Extreme: I don't collect multiple copies of the books or > buy a lot of the merchandise and I didn't make (nor even buy) a > movie Hogwarts uniform ... but I *do* write a Snape/Draco/Pansy > fanfic ... I posted chapter 6 a year ago, but I have not given up! I am still struggling with chapter 7. > > ***Favourite Potter things: > I'm a Ravenclaw. > > PoA is my favorite book. > > Remus/Sirius is my favorite ship, which doesn't keep me from > enjoying Remus/OC and Sirius/Lily fics. I am unable to get > emotional about shipping the Trio, but do insist that > McGonagall/Hooch is obviously canon truth. > > Remus is my favorite beloved, Sirius second, fanon-Draco third, > Severus fourth... > > I have the big blue mug with the Hogwarts shield on it, probably my > favorite merchandise (why did they stop making it?). I also have > the (US) set of four House Mugs ... I like the House shields with > whole animals on patterned backgrounds MUCH better than the House > shields with torn-off pieces of animals on the original calendar > ... but I like the "boats to Hogwarts" picture on the original > calendar (all those lights on the dark lake, and the fancy castle > on the cliff, look so magical that I can ignore how ugly they made > Ron) so much that I got that mug, too. > > I have the Christmas stocking that says "Harry Potter" on it with > an idealized picture of the Sorting Hat and some stars and glitter. > It was a present, but I love it. I hung it on the wall of my > cubicle along with my Christmas stocking with a cat on it. That > Christmas, other friends gave me a Dept 57 box, a figurine, a > look-into-tube, and a box of HP-themed butter cookies. Except for > the butter cookies and the pretty box they came in, I put those > things in the linen closet. > > Oh, I also have a denim tote bag with the Hogwarts shield on it, > currently hanging on a doorknob holding yarn to crochet an afghan. I used to crochet all the time, but I don't like the current project (an afghan made of far too many little pieces) so I ignore it a lot. > > I bought the DVD of the first movie right away and haven't watched > it yet, so I didn't bother to buy the DVD of the second movie. But I was very pleased to see the (second movie) DVD "extra" scenes at Nimbus 2003: they revealed that Kloves had actually read the book before he began butchering it. From annemehr at yahoo.com Tue Sep 16 05:09:48 2003 From: annemehr at yahoo.com (annemehr) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 05:09:48 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: ::deep breath:: All right, here goes...and thanks, Cindy! Name: Anne Also known as: Annemehr Age/Sex: 43/female Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Pittsburgh/Pittsburgh. I love it, but the old joke that says if the world ends, it won't happen in Pgh. for ten years is true -- the city govt. is all proud because we recently got a Hard Rock Cafe! Family Life: A husband I married when we were 22, and three kids. Personality: Quiet, naturally cautious and overanalysing, but loosening up considerably in my old age. Words friends have used to describe you: I don't know; I guess they only talk about me behind my back! Words you have used to describe you: Moody, lazy, curious. Things you do when not staring at the computer: Reading, walking, painting or drawing. Comfort foods: Coffee, Tostitos Taste of Lime Tortilla Chips. Education/Work: BS in physics, SAHM. Language skills: English, very rusty French. Technical know-how: Pretty basic. Learned FORTRAN in school. XP Favourite HP book: So far, books 1 through 5. Favourite HP character(s): Harry! (dear), the Weasleys, Hermione, Neville, Luna, McGonagall, Snape, Lupin. Oh, and Alice Longbottom! Favourite HP line: There are two: "Who do you know who's lost a buttock?" and "People don't like being locked up!" Harry said furiously, rounding on him. "you did it to me all last summer --" (About time, Harry!) Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching! ... so far... Into HP fanfiction? No. I'm saving myself until after book 7. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, and the Moon of Gomrath by Alan Garner, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick, Holes by Louis Sacher, The Eight by Katherine Neville... (By the way, anyone know how to pronounce "Brisingamen"?) Favorite TV shows: Channel surfing for weird stuff late at night. Favorite Movies: Runaway Train, Chocolat, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jurassic Park. Favorite Musical Artists: David Benoit, Anita Baker, the Proclaimers, Pink Floyd, Kansas. New ones too, but they never say their names on the radio, so I don't know who! One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): I should have studied art to begin with. One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: My family, and all of you. Oh, wait, that's way more than one thing... Philosophy for an easy life: Make enough money to live modestly and then don't spend any more than that (hey, you never said it had to be a *good* life!). How you found HPfGU: A year ago, desperately following links to anything HP, found myself in a forum on Sean Biggerstaff page; someone mentioned HPfGU. Eureka!!! Anybody here recognise themselves? ::sends big hug:: Active at other HP sites: This one takes up all available time! Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: When Harry defeats Lord Thingy, it's *not* according to Dumbledore's plan. Is that too easy? Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: I haven't met any yet ;_; ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Which magical shop would you visit second, after Weasley's Wizard Wheezes? Florean Fortescue's. From lupinesque at yahoo.com Tue Sep 16 05:45:35 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 05:45:35 -0000 Subject: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Haggridd wrote: > if you find texts > boring, I recommend historical fiction by authors with a reputation > for accuracy. These can give you a sense of a period far better than > a textbook. Can anyone comment on the accuracy of Ellis Peters's Brother Cadfael mysteries--the setting, that is? (Surely in this crowd there must be someone who's an expert on 12th-century English monasticism.) I love them and find the history fascinating, but always wonder whether I'm actually learning any history. Amy Z busily copying down all of these recommendations, because she don't know much about history either From severus_sucker at comcast.net Tue Sep 16 06:06:44 2003 From: severus_sucker at comcast.net (Severus Sucker) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 02:06:44 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* Message-ID: Name: Severus Sucker (For those who haven't read my intro - a friend of mine called me a "Severus Sucker" to tease me about my, um, "obsession" with Professor Snape. I was sufficiently amused to take it as my netname.) Also known as: A Leo on the Cancer cusp with a Pisces rising and a Scorpio moon born in the year of the Firehorse. (Your choice of which to call me. ;-)) Age/Sex: Age: Older than I once was and younger than I'll be (that's not unusual ;-))... I (vaguely) remember the first lunar landing and recall Watergate if that's any help. Sex: Whenever my *ahem* friend is willing... Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born and raised in Tennessee. Currently living in the Atlanta area. I love the cultural diversity of the city and the fact that I can go out for Chinese at 2 AM but I do often miss the mountains I grew up near in Tennessee (especially my midwinter hikes.) Family Life: Is something that I prefer to discuss with individuals rather than in public.... Personality: A combination of Luna Lovegood, Hermione, Snape and McGonagall, if you can imagine that... I'm skipping these two: Words friends have used to describe you: Words you have used to describe you: Things you do when not staring at the computer: Attending classes Studying Reading Cooking Watching Anime Watching Forensic/Crime shows on A&E Sewing Tending to domestic joys such as cleaning the bathroom and taking out the trash Writing plot lines for a fantasy larp based in Atlanta Attending Renaissance Festivals and Native American Powwows Comfort foods: Guinness, Merlot, Shiraz, Pinot Noir, Sake, Drambuie (when I can afford it), Sapporo, Sharp Cheeses, Miso soup, Hot and Sour soup, Unagidon, Maguro sushi, Orange/Tangerine Beef, Bleu/Blue Steaks (ones that are seared on the outside but still raw inside), Tennessee Heathen Redneck Chili Dip (a specialty of my ex's), Apples, Wild Blackberries, anything that bites me back. ;-P Education/Work:Currently majoring in Asian Studies at GSU (focusing on Japanese language and culture) after a stint as a tech support rep for an ISP. (Three guesses as to which is more fulfilling - first two don't count.) Language skills: Native English speaker. Basic German, Japanese, Latin and Spanish. Have a smattering of French, Italian, Cherokee, Irish Gaelic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian and Swahili. Technical know-how: Know Macintosh and Windows systems. Prefer Mac. Favourite HP book: The Order of the Phoenix - If there's one thing I despise, it's someone coming in and taking away freedoms from people who themselves have done nothing to justify having said freedoms taken away from them. (Okay, so there are quite a few things I despise, but this is one of the major ones.) My blood boiled and I loved every minute of it. Not to mention that we get more of a peek at what's going on underneath Snape's surface. ;-) Favourite HP character(s): Snape *leer,pant*, Hermione, Luna Lovegood, McGonagall, Lupin Favourite HP line Not sure - will have to think on this one.... Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watch as often as I can. I am hoping the next installment is as good. I have seen Y Tu Mama Tambien. It was okay. I'm just not entirely sure how his style is going to translate over to the HP world but am hoping for the best. I've been spoiled by the lushness that Chris Columbus has imbued the films with so far and the Leo in me wants that to continue. ;-P Into HP fanfiction? Yes. It gives me something more in the HP universe (although apocryphal) to read while waiting for the next bit of canon from J.K. Rowling. (To be fair, there is only one of her to millions of fans, soooo.....) Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Other than the HP books, you mean? The Tao Te Ching (my favourite translation is by Stephen Mitchell) The Bone Doll's Twin and The Hidden Warrior by Lynne Flewelling The Series of Unfortunate Events books by Lemony Snicket Anything by Neil Gaiman Anything by Sherman Alexie and many more... ;-P Favorite TV shows: I seldom watch TV anymore, although I am quite fond of Cold Case Files on A&E and (when I'm somewhere that receives the channel) anything on TV Food Network. Favorite Movies: Other than the HP ones... Dark Comedies: Grosse Pointe Blank, Heathers, Dr. Strangelove, The Ruling Class, etc. The Peter Jackson LOTR films Labyrinth (Bowie is always yummy!!!) The Princess Bride Sunset Boulevard Wuthering Heights Sword of Doom (old Japanese movie) Better Off Dead The Jokers ....and many more!!!! ;-P Favorite Musical Artists:Geez! It would take less time to list what I don't like....(*cough* rap *cough*) Let's see... Bauhaus/Peter Murphy The Lost Boys David Bowie The Cure Mozart Just about any '80's New Wave band Malice Mizer/Gackt Faith and the Muse The Changelings Black Tape for a Blue Girl Clannad Emerald Rose Inkubus Sukkubus Fields of the Nephilim Siouxsie and the Banshees The Alarm HIM The Who Thunderhorse Tha Tribe Bill Miller U2 Simon and Garfunkel Billie Holliday Patsy Cline Tsuneo Imahori Buddy Holly Johnny Cash ...and many more!!! (once again) One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): I would have sufficient funds to be able to spend the rest of my life studying the things that interest me (which would actually take me several lifetimes, I'm sure.) One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: Who I am. Philosophy for an easy life: All things work out for the best, even if it's not what you want/expect. Treat others as you wish to be treated, but watch your back since there (sadly!) are many who don't follow that philosophy. Tolerate others' views even if they don't fit your personal paradigm - it doesn't hurt to agree to disagree and still be agreeable, to show the respect that you would wish to be shown. Never refuse a drink when it's offered to you. How you found HPfGU: A link off of some website I went to - can't recall which one at the moment. Active at other HP sites: I'm usually a lurker... Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: That they will be published and I will buy and read them. :-P Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: How about a nice, Japanese-style bow? ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: I haven't read all the other posts yet, so I may be asking something that someone else already has... If this is a *Mixer*, where are the drinks?: My answer: I guess it's BYOB. ;-) Ja ne! (See ya later!) Severus Sucker [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From lupinesque at yahoo.com Tue Sep 16 06:21:48 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 06:21:48 -0000 Subject: Nobel Prize for JKR? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Naama wrote: > Winston Churchill won Nobel prize for literature - mainly, I think, > for his monumental seven volume history of WWII. So, I've never quite > understood what types of literary works are eligible for the prize. I remember learning long ago that the Nobel in literature is given for a body of work, not necessarily or even usually for a particular volume. This seems to be contradicted by the quote from Nobel's will given at the official website (http://www.nobel.se/literature/index.html), which says something ambiguous about "work," but it is borne out by the fact that the prizes do not seem to be granted in a year when the person has just released a masterpiece. E.g., what did Faulkner publish in 1948, the year before he won the Nobel? Intruder in the Dust. Not exactly his best-known work, and while that doesn't mean it wasn't his most brilliant, I suspect the committee was thinking of As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury, and other novels published many years earlier. It seems to me that sometimes the Nobel committee members grant a prize in an unlikely category because they want to recognize the person but don't have an appropriate category with which to bestow the honor. Bertrand Russell won it for literature--huh? What's that about? (They could've given it to him for Peace, actually. But they were probably trying to acknowledge his brilliance in mathematics and philosophy, and couldn't find another hole to squeeze those pegs into, so Literature won out.) So maybe that's what's going on with Churchill; he didn't really win for being a writer, but he *was* a writer, so they seized on that because they don't have a Nobel Prize for statesmanship. He, too, could've won the Peace Prize; it's been awarded to many a warrior, including some whose names should be on the roster in hell instead of on a pedestal alongside Churchill's, and probably will be when they finally go to their just reward. Not that I have anyone specific in mind. Either Joywitch or bboy wrote--sorry, you two look so much alike--: > > One interesting note, though -- the decisions of the Nobel > committee > > are sometimes questionable. Isn't it strange that we even need to comment on this? One would think it goes without saying of any decisions made by any group of humans. And yet there is something untouchable about the Nobel, as if it were handed down by the angels and not by a group of Swedes, who I'm sure are very nice and smart but not the be-all and end-all. The same goes for the Trustees of Columbia University or whoever it is who tells them whom to give the Pulitzers to each year. No matter how silly or even corrupt the process for deciding on prizewinners, it is all forgotten the moment the prize is awarded, and the awardee is covered in glory thenceforth. It's a very odd phenomenon. I guess the human mind loves prizes, and pigeonholes. I personally would lose all respect for the Nobel in Literature if it were awarded to JKR, and you know what? I wouldn't be surprised if JKR said the same thing. Amy Z From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Tue Sep 16 06:55:24 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 06:55:24 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Well, I wasn't going to get into this as I seem to have made a few enemies, but what the hey, you guys deserve a clear target: Name: Last name is classified, but the "jd" stands for "Jayne Delores" (like the villainous Ms Umbridge, Dolores Jane) Also known as: Auntie, Sergeant Majorette Age/Sex: 54/female Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: New Yorker by birth and by nature. Family Life: Unregenerate spinster lady, watching (with a sigh of relief) as life passes her by. Personality: schizoid, cranky, unpleasant Words friends have used to describe you: intelligent, witty, free- spirited(??), bitchy Words you have used to describe you: repressed, impatient, socially phobic Things you do when not staring at the computer: make my grandniece giggle, watch TV Comfort foods: tea Education/Work: 12 years in the US Army as a gas mask lady; Couple of years as a computer science major, worked as a desktop publisher in investment banking until that whole collapsing towers thing pulled the rug out from under the industry Language skills: English, a bit of Spanish, phrasebook level German and French, can wordprocess in Portuguese and sing in Bulgarian and Croatian. Technical know-how: I'm the systems person for the old ladies in my family. My mother's VCR does *not* flash 12:00 and my three-year old grandniece can correctly boot up and shut down the computer I built her. Favourite HP book: Gotta say SS. It sucked me into the world. Favourite HP character(s): McGonagall. She's me! Hermione, too: I used to be her. Favourite HP line: "Still in the shower. We think he's trying to drown himself." Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching... Into HP fanfiction?: Oh, yeah! I got into it waiting for OotP. Some of it is so good I've decided it's ok if JKR doesn't want to write the characters past Hogwarts; some of it is so bad that I've been encouraged to write my own on the grounds that it can't be any worse. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: I was raised to believe that everybody should own a Strunk & White stylebook. Favorite TV shows: Queer Eye, of course; anything on forensic science; home makeover shows; practically every cutting-edge comedy that was ever cancelled after a season or less; Hey Arnold, Blue's Clues (with Steve) and (sigh. oh, ok:) Spongebob Squarepants. Favorite Movies: Windwalker, Tom Jones Favorite Musical Artists: Valya Balkanska, Pece Atanasovski, Rolling Stones One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): I wouldn't change a thing, but that's because it gave me a headache thinking about all the things I *should* change. One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: my grandniece. Philosophy for an easy life: philosophy for a what? How you found HPfGU: the Lexicon Active at other HP sites: Fictionalley Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Dumbledore dies. Out on a limb? Book 6. Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: hi there, none of the above. ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Q: What's wrong with you? A: Ma, leave me alone or you'll never be able to read your e-mail again. From przepla at ipartner.com.pl Tue Sep 16 08:04:41 2003 From: przepla at ipartner.com.pl (Przemyslaw "Pshemekan" Plaskowicki) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 10:04:41 +0200 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] More tech help needed. (Misisng WHAT?!) In-Reply-To: <010801c37bf8$b865efe0$d6371c40@aoldsl.net> References: <010801c37bf8$b865efe0$d6371c40@aoldsl.net> Message-ID: <3F66C419.6060404@ipartner.com.pl> Saitaina wrote : >Alright, after not being able for four >days to figure out why I still had no >sound, it turns out I'm missing a >"mmsystem.dll" in the [boot] section of >system.ini. > >HUH?! Could someone explain that too me >and tell me what the hell I'm supposed to >do about it? *puppy dog face* > > > http://tinyurl.com/d5po ? In short: Menu Start --> Run In run window type: notepad C:\Windows\system.ini [I assumed that Windows is installed in C:\Windows directory] Notepad will open, find line with [boot] with it, and below it add: drivers=mmsystem.dll Save edited file, close notepad, restart Windows. Regards, Pshemekan -- Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life. (Immanuel Kant) From drednort at alphalink.com.au Tue Sep 16 08:35:47 2003 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 18:35:47 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3F675803.1662.63BE44@localhost> On 16 Sep 2003 at 4:26, KathyK wrote: Name: Shaun Hately Also known as: Dreadnought - a nickname I earned at school and which I held onto for dear life. My school had traditions - one of which was that older pupils assigned younger ones nicknames, some complimentary, some not - I spent a considerable amount of time known as 'Lovely' Hately, which does not work well in an all boys' school (-8 Finally, I earned Dreadnought and I never let it go (-8. Age/Sex: 28/Male Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born in Sydney, Australia - nice place, I still consider myself to be from there. But I've lived most of my life in Frankston, a satellite city, southeast of Melbourne, Australia. Frankston is most well known for three things, in my opinion: (1): Thinly disguised as the village of Kananook (Kananook Creek runs through Frankston), it was the setting for one of Australia's most famous children's books, 'All The Green Year' by Donald Charlwood. (2): It was the setting for a significant part of Neville Shute's novel, On The Beach, which was made into a major film in 1959, starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner - a lot of the film was filmed in Frankston - parts are still reconisable. The book and film tells the story of the last days of the human race after a nuclear war - Ava Gardner famously remarked that if you had to make a film about the end of the world, Frankston was a great place to do it. (3): It was the scene of one of Australia's most famous series of serial killing - the Frankston Murders, back in 1993. I was a suspect which is kind of cool in some ways - I should point out immediately that the person who did it was captured and confessed (and was proven guilty by DNA evidence as well). Family Life: Single, and likely to remain so for the near future. But I have a lovely kitty named Muffin the Mighty Mousinator. Personality: Quiet, calm, logical - ISTJ on the Myers-Briggs. Words friends have used to describe you: Intelligent, weird, obsessive, scary-smart. Words you have used to describe you: Why would I describe myself? (-8. But my friends are pretty much right. Things you do when not staring at the computer: Study, read, play roleplaying games, write, astronomy. Also into historical mysteries and controversies - who was Jack the Ripper, where is Lord Lucan (which obviously is current!), and who killed JFK (personal view - it *was* Lee Harvey Oswald). Comfort foods: Pizza, barbecued chicken, chocolate Education/Work: Complex - I attended a lot of different schools, initially because my dad was Navy and we moved a lot - after that because I had special educational needs (I was what was classified as a 'profoundly gifted child') that most schools really weren't equipped to deal with. Wound up at the prep school for one of Australia's most prestigious private schools at 13, then passed on to that school. That experience framed a lot of my views and values - and the joy I felt when I got there is one reason why Harry Potter appealed so much the first time I read it - because I could really relate to Harry's feelings about Hogwarts. Post-school - started out studying astrophysics, but changed to computer science because I actually wanted to earn a living at some point (-8. Was recruited out of university to work on Y2K remediation for a major computer company working for a major public utility. Loved that work - where we had deadlines we HAD to meet, and where paperwork was minimised out of necessity down to the point where we genuinely only did what we had to. Didn't particularly like the job after Y2K when normal corporate practices began to come back. Moved over to an organisation that handles public safety issues for the Australian government as a data modeller and analyst - post September 2001 have found myself working in security areas as well, more and more, and also working more as a general analyst and data coordinator. Find the work interesting - but pressurised. Don't really want to do it forever (and hope like crazy that it's a job that won't be needed in a few years). Also concerned about how much IT work is going offshore. Have spent about a decade working as a volunteer mentor to profoundly gifted children - came to conclusion that they can't send all the kids off shore to be educated easily, so have decided to become a teacher (also not that impressed with the way schools run - and want to be part of improving them). Currently working nearly full time on public safety, and studying full time towards by Bachelor of Education. Actually in the middle of a two week block of teaching practice at the moment - cute story. Grade Six students - aged about 11/12 - oldest kids in the school, think they are *so* grown up. Encountered a group of them sitting crosslegged on floor surrounding teacher who is readin a story. Flabbergasted - because when I was in Grade six, we would have tolerated such juvenile treatment. Then I saw the book and all became clear. Order of the Phoenix (-8 Language skills: English, and some native Australian (Koorie) dialects Technical know-how: Software engineer basically Favourite HP book: OoP followed by GoF, followed by PoA, followed by PS, followed by CoS - generally like a book that takes me more than six hours to read - only OoP has reached that, though GoF came first. If it's shorter than that, even if it's a brilliant book, it's unlikely to become a favourite. Favourite HP character(s): Hermione, Percy, and Mrs Weasley. Hermione and Percy because they're most like me - Mrs Weasley because she's what Harry needs. Favourite HP line: 'Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right, and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemory. Remember Cedric Diggory.' Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching, and enjoying - hey, I grew up reading Biggles books - which wound up with the WORST movie adaptation in history in all respects. After that, the HP movies seem pretty pure. I prefer the books - but I view the movies as reasonable adaptations. Into HP fanfiction? Occasionally read - haven't written any yet, because my fanfic writing is in another direction. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Anything by Terry Pratchett. Favorite TV shows: The Tomorrow People, Buffy, The Bill, Doctor Who. Favorite Movies: Don't really have favourite movies Favorite Musical Artists: Very rarely listen to music - can't really interpret it for neurological reasons. At the moment, utterly despising the Beatles after having to listen to 6 and 7 year olds learn 'When I'm 64' for a school concert. (-8 One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): That's a very tough one - I've had horrible experiences in my life - but they made me who I am, and I like who I am. One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: My current career plans. Philosophy for an easy life: Plan ahead, and don't sweat the small stuff How you found HPfGU: Can't remember. Active at other HP sites: I'm doing some maps for the Lexicon - besides that, nothing really. Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Harry will come to respect Snape - and hopefully vice versa. They won't like each other but mutual respect seems likely to me. Tenuous but related prediction - Harry will start to respect Snape more when Snape acknowledges Sirius sacrificing his life in battle. Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: Only people I knew in advance! ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: What position would I play on a Quidditch team - probably a bludger, given how I got the nickname of Dreadnought. But I'd prefer to be a Chaser. Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html (ISTJ) | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Tue Sep 16 08:54:35 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 08:54:35 -0000 Subject: "Official" (was *Mixer?*) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > David wrote: > > >Go for it - but be prepared to see list volume skyrocket here Cindy: > Sounds like an official endorsement to me! :-D I'd better just say... It wasn't official in any sense. I understood Cindy to be asking list members generally for endorsement on something where there was no question of a need for "official" permission, and I replied in that spirit. Again, expressing a personal view, I hope we don't come to the pass where members don't take any kind of initiative for fear of official permission being required. David From jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com Tue Sep 16 09:04:01 2003 From: jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com (jeffl1965) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 09:04:01 -0000 Subject: Gay is damaged, straight is normal (was: Re: Slut!Seamus and other ships) In-Reply-To: <20030915162117.72228.qmail@web14201.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Tyler Hewitt wrote: > > The Sergeant Majorette wrote: > > For me, Ron has to be straight because his whole > purpose in the story seems to be to provide Harry with > an anchor of normalcy in a world where he is accepted. > And Harry has to be gay because he's too damaged > psychologically to sustain a conventional > relationship. > > > > ME: > Ron is straight because it provides Harry with an > 'anchor of normalcy'? What does this mean, that > homosexuality isnt normal? Why can't Ron be both gay > and normal? Why is that so difficult to consider? > > Harry is gay because he's too damaged to be straight? > this is even worse than the statement about Ron. Not > every gay person has had an abusive childhood. Not > every straight person is perfectly adjusted > psychologically. The equation of homosexuality with > psychological disfunction is ignorant and offensive. > > > I usually don't get upset when reading things like > this, but this one was so over the top I couldent let > it pass. > I sincerely hope you were being facetious. > And I hope I haven't missed something or taken things > out of context. > > Tyler > Jeff: Hmmm.....you do bring up intresting points. As I stated when I agreed, I don't think the statement was meant as a jab at gays, or else I'd been offended as well. I will state that Ron could be quite gay and normal, for a wizard, and I would think of him and Harry being an item rather than say, Harry and Sirius. I dont think that Harry's retarded development would make him gay, but I was thinking that she meant that with Harry being love-starved, and not know how to relate to others, that he'd do as he did, and attach himself to Ron like a conjoined twin, and that as the months pass, it would turn into love, and maybe more. If I misunderstood, then I think we need to discuss this more. ;) Jeff From jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com Tue Sep 16 09:06:08 2003 From: jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com (jeffl1965) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 09:06:08 -0000 Subject: Gayness in HP In-Reply-To: <000501c37ba9$32cc11b0$c95fc487@personal> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Pinguthegreek" wrote: > > > What does it matter whether a character is gay or straight ? All that matters in life is that someone is a good person. > > Oh and if anyone has a problem with any particular posts to this list, then come to us list admins - that's just why we're here ! > > Michelle > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Jeff: I agree. It *doesn't* matter and it shouldn't. All I wanted to do was get some ideas as to where the Slut!Seamus idea came from. I won't even try to ask who'd be on top in the H/R relationship. :) Jeff From jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com Tue Sep 16 09:34:23 2003 From: jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com (jeffl1965) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 09:34:23 -0000 Subject: Draco a stalker? :) Message-ID: Sweet Jesus, Mary and Joseph!! (As Seamus would say) :) My Slut! Seamus question seemed to stir up a hornet's nest, which wasn't my intention, so let's try a safer topic. ;) Draco seems obsessed with Harry, nearly as bad as Colin Creevy!! :) So is this due to his desire for revenge for Harry refusing his hand in friendship, or does he keep his eye on the boy who lived because he thinks he has a nice bum? :) Jeff From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Tue Sep 16 10:06:52 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 10:06:52 -0000 Subject: Draco a stalker? :) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<<"jeffl1965" wrote:...My Slut!Seamus question seemed to stir up a hornet's nest, which wasn't my intention, so let's try a safer topic. Draco seems obsessed with Harry...So is this due to his desire for revenge for Harry refusing his hand in friendship, or...because he thinks he has a nice bum?>>> The Sergeant Majorette says I'd like to say I think it's the bum thing, but it seems to me that it's rather a revenge thing. I'm seeing Draco hearing about the Boy- your-age-who-is-totally-famous-and-you're-not from earliest childhood; he figured he could impress his adored and fabulous father by taking Harry under his wing. He probably overhears all kinds of stuff about Harry, but when he starts whining about Harry, his father says ("quellingly"),"you have told me this at least a dozen times already." He gets punked by Harry, the Weasel and the Mudblood on a regular basis. The only person he can depend on getting a rise out of is Ron. And now, eyeing a hornest's nest with gleeful malice, I have to ask why nobody gets bent out of shape at the thought of a neurotic gay Draco? Or Snape, for that matter? Don't evil queens deserve love too? --JDR (unanimously voted Command Major B***h of the Army in basic training) From naama_gat at hotmail.com Tue Sep 16 10:38:07 2003 From: naama_gat at hotmail.com (naamagatus) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 10:38:07 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hi, > > > Name: Naama Gat > > Also known as: naamagatus (a handle yahoo suggested) > > Age/Sex: Female/37 > Things you do when not staring at the computer: Walking my dog, watching TV, reading, gardening (a bit). > > > Comfort foods: Two fried eggs + salad + two slices of bread! > Language skills: Hebrew and English. > > Technical know-how: Nada > Favourite HP book: GoF > > Favourite HP character(s): Hagrid, Dumbledore, Lupin (kind); Moaning Myrtle, Nearly Headless Nick (funny). > > > Favourite HP line I haven't the books here and I'm bad at remembering correctly, but there's a bit about Harry remembering that Myrtle was always very sensitive about being dead. > > Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watched with a sneer playing around my lips (is that a quote?) > Into HP fanfiction? No > > Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Fantasies: LOTR, Wizard of Earthsea Other: Alice in Wonderland/through the Looking Glass, Three Men in a Boat > > Favorite TV shows: Past: Seinfeld, Northern Exposure, Whose Line is it Anyway (with Clive Anderson) Present: Gilmore Girls, various BBC gardening and home-improvement type shows (they're addictive!). > > Favorite Movies: past: Mary Poppins, Bladerunner, Wild Strawberries recent: American Beauty ... can't think of anything else that I really thought was great. > > Favorite Musical Artists: Classical: Bach, Mozart Other: Steely Dan, Paul Simon, Nirvana, REM + various Israeli artists > > One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance > copy of Book 7: My dog. > > > > Philosophy for an easy life: Wish I had one. > > > How you found HPfGU: Searched for "Harry Potter". > > Active at other HP sites: No > > > Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Harry will not be a victim or a murderer. > > > ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: The classic - what would be the first thing you'd buy for yourself if you won the lottery? House in beautiful, remote place, with either lake, sea, river and/or swimming pool. (Hey, I come from a semi-desert land!) From morgan_d_yyh at yahoo.com Tue Sep 16 10:52:44 2003 From: morgan_d_yyh at yahoo.com (Morgan D.) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 03:52:44 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: <1063678901.106130.42608.m11@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: <20030916105244.73329.qmail@web11001.mail.yahoo.com> > Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* > > Real name: Not telling, sorry. Constant vigilance, you know. > Also known as: Morgan D. > Age/Sex: 30/F > Birthplace/Livingplace: Brazil South/Brazil Southeast. > Family Life: Single, sharing a house with my sister after my parents moved out ^__^ Yeah, we kinda inverted the usual pattern. >Personality: Unique. ^_~ >Words friends have used to describe you: Opinionated, articulate, affectionate, bad loser, holds grudges for years. >Words you have used to describe you: Too honest for my own good, nonsensical, too clinging and dependent, awful loser, and what do you mean by "forgive and forget"? >Things you do when not staring at the computer: Sing with a madrigal, sing by myself, watch anime, read manga, write (fanfiction, essays, a novel that will take a decade to be finished...). >Comfort foods: Croissants, peach juice, hot chocolate, ice cream, brigadeiros (Brazilian sweet) >Education/Work: Graduated in Cinema. Working as webdesigner. >Language skills Portuguese (first language) English French Spanish (because it's very similar to Portuguese, I have no problem understanding it, but I can't speak or write in it) Japanese (studying seriously since 2001) >Technical know-how: I can weld a wire and change a tyre if I need to. And I can cook and sew and make tapestries... ^__^ >Favourite HP book: GoF. I have to say I find PoA much more carefully constructed and undoubtedly the best in literary terms. But I'm very fond of GoF because it was the only one of the series I completely failed to guess the plot, the only one that actually had me gaping at the end and mumbling, "Oh my, I didn't even come close!" >Favourite HP character(s): SIRIUS BLACK!!!!!! Followed by Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, and Pigwidgeon. >Favourite HP line "Oh, he's not unbalanced. He's just suffered a severe disappointment." >Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching, not liking them, but then I've always despised Chris Columbus' works. I'm looking forward checking Cuarn's input. >Into HP fanfiction? Definitely. As a reader, I keep desperately looking for good fics portraying Sirius and Harry's parent/child relationship -- it's *really* hard to find any. (And OotP made the search even more complicated now.) As a writer, I'm one of the minds behind the Hogwarts Letters project (fanfiction composed of letters exchanged between several characters), and I'm also writing a Alternative Universe called the "Haphazard Patchwork". >Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series. >Favorite TV shows? "Quantum Leap". And anime, lots and lots of anime. >Favorite movies: The "Star Wars" original trilogy, Milos Forman's "Amadeus", Yasujiro Ozu's "Ohayou", Sidney Lumet's "Twelve Angry Men" and "Deathtrap", Nick Park's "The Wrong Trousers". > Favorite Musical Artists: Monteverdi, John Denver, Cyndi Lauper, Kurt Ohlman, Engenheiros do Hawaii. (Good luck figuring what the hell they have in common... o.o) >One thing about your life you'd change if you could you may not >say "lose weight." I'd spend all my days writing and singing, not caring about ridiculous stuff like working and making money... >One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance >copy of Book 7: Just one? Hmmm... My goose-feathered quilt. Actually, I *don't* want an advance copy of Book 7 at all. It's upsetting enough to know I'll have to read it when it comes, so why hurry the bad things? >Philosophy for an easy life: When you give someone a hug, make it warm and tight; when you give someone a kiss, make it sweet and scorching; when you give someone a kick in the arse, use your hardest boot, with poisoned steel thorns on the toe. >How you found HPfGU: Through my sister, who stumbled on the Fantastic Posts page while looking for info about Snape. >Active at other HP sites: Hogwarts Letters. > Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: JKR won't be able to fill not even half of the plot holes she's left behind, and will create others to replace the ones she does fix. > Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally > met: The few ones I've met personally aren't in this list. -_- > ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Yep. I was utterly *shocked* when my mother said she'd like to get the HP books for Christmas in 2001. My own mother, giving in to this pathetic fad... Horror of horrors... And since some of the other members' questions were very interesting: > Which fictional character would you most like to meet and why? Albus Dumbledore, so we could have a loooooong talk about ethics. > What would you see, looking into the Mirror of Erised: My parents looking healthy and happy even as 150 years old. > What animal would you be if you were an animagus?? A nightingale. > Who are you most jealous of from the Potterverse? Blaise Zabini. Doesn't do a thing but is famous nonetheless. > If you had a job in the wizarding world, what would it be? I'd write to the Quibbler. > What character do you think you resemble most? Hedwig. > If I was a magical beast, what beast would it be? A runespoor. Morgan D. Hogwarts Letters - http://www.hogwartsletters.hpg.com.br __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From june.diamanti at blueyonder.co.uk Tue Sep 16 11:52:34 2003 From: june.diamanti at blueyonder.co.uk (junediamanti) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 11:52:34 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > > Name: June Diamanti> > > Also known as: Sometimes use the nom de web Azazello > > > Age/Sex: 48 Female> > > Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Newcastle upon Tyne. If there is a bright hub to the universe, this probably isn't it. > > > Family Life: Single one daughter 14 > > > Personality: Manic, merry, enthusiastic, irritating, smart arsed > > > > Words friends have used to describe you: Mad, smart-arsed, loyal, generous > > > > Words you have used to describe you: Mad, smart-arsed, generous, soppy, romantic > > > > Things you do when not staring at the computer: Work because I have to. Read lots, watch movies, hit the theatre, listen to music - rock, classical, opera, 1940's > > > Comfort foods: Cheese > > > > > Education/Work: BA Hons, University of London Russian Studies Finance Manager at Small public funded organisation promoting arts and culture. > > > > Language skills: English, Russian (rusty), currently learning italian > > > > Technical know-how: Network manager at work (by default). Can put up shelves, hang wallpaper, and assemble flat-pack furniture (the joys of single parenthood) > > > > > Favourite HP book: GOF > > > > Favourite HP character(s): Oh, god, isn't that obvious, Snape. Followed (at some distance) by Lupin.> > > > Favourite HP line "Do not kill Longbottom as it will mean a lot of tedious paperwork and I shall be obliged to mention it if you apply for a job and need a reference" or words to that effect my text is at home. > > > > Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watch occasionally. CoS irritates me because the trolls behind me when I saw it dropped coke down the back of my neck. > > > > Into HP fanfiction? Starting to get there - provided it's reasonably well written. My fic (blushes and looks fixedly at the ground) is complete and being beta-ed. > > > > Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri. LOTR Silmarillion The Sandman (entire series)- Neil Gaiman Neverwhere - ditto Smoke and Mirrors - ditto The Dark Tower Series, Stephen King The Stand - ditto > > > > Favorite TV shows: TV just isn't doing it for me these days. OK - I Claudius in 1970's > > > > Favorite Movies: LOTR. 17/12/03 is already in my diary for ROK Shrek Matrix Terminator 1 and 2 but not 3 ET, Schindler's List, Jaws Star Wars - even the last two. > > > > Favorite Musical Artists: Adiemus Love: Alone Again, or The Smiths and many others. > > > > One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you > may not say "lose weight"): Nothing now - what I have been is what made me what I am > > > One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance > copy of Book 7: My daughter. > > > > Philosophy for an easy life: Nil illegitami carborundum > > > How you found HPfGU: Surfing > > > Active at other HP sites: No. > > > Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Snape is toast in Book 7 > > > Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: > > > ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Why are the things that are bad for you just so nice? So that you can actively try/fail to resist temptation every day. From jpbooks at idirect.com Tue Sep 16 13:27:53 2003 From: jpbooks at idirect.com (ne4lock) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 13:27:53 -0000 Subject: Snape in Azkaban Message-ID: Hi, I'm a true blue lurker with a problem. Does anyone know of stories where Snape is in Azkaban and rescued by Harry. I'd like the story to be centered around the prison & rescue experience. Simular stories are 'Betrayed', 'Collared', 'The Longest Year', 'Fugue State' and 'Hermitage'. All are Snape in AZ with different rescuers. Any suggestions? ne From keegan at mcn.org Tue Sep 16 14:42:57 2003 From: keegan at mcn.org (Catherine Keegan) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 07:42:57 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Don't Know Much About History . . . In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4.2.0.58.20030916073649.0270f008@localhost> At 10:45 PM 9/15/2003 , you wrote: >Can anyone comment on the accuracy of Ellis Peters's Brother >Cadfael mysteries--the setting, that is? (Surely in this crowd >there must be someone who's an expert on 12th-century English >monasticism.) I love them and find the history fascinating, but >always wonder whether I'm actually learning any history. > >Amy Z >busily copying down all of these recommendations, because >she don't know much about history either The backdrop is good (Mathilda vs. Stephen) as are some of the details. However, they are novels. Cadfael gets out an awful lot for a cloistered monk. I enjoyed them and have yet to read the last one that I bought just before I heard of Ellis Peter's death. She basically writes one plot, but Cadfael and his brothers are good enough characters that you want to read more. Sharan Newman's 12th century mystery series is much better historically. She either has or was a candidate for a Ph.D. in medieval history. Plus how can you go wrong with plots that have Abelard and Heloise, Paris, Eleanor of Aquitaine (Queen of France at this time) and a fascinating insight into both period Christianity and Judaism? I'd also like to suggest Barbara Hambley's Benjamen January series (mysteries) for early 19th century New Orleans. Catherine from California From huoletonhulivili at yahoo.no Tue Sep 16 14:51:10 2003 From: huoletonhulivili at yahoo.no (Klara) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 16:51:10 +0200 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* (+brisingamen) In-Reply-To: <1063704868.4241.61944.m1@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: <5.2.0.8.2.20030916152823.00a3c8b0@pop.mail.yahoo.com> Firstly; Annemehr; Brisingamen is pronounced bree-sing-ah-mehn (long British-like a as in *are*, eh should sound like ee in beer) (sorry English phonetics aren't a strong side) The stress is on the first i and the last e; br*I*singa-m*E*n. Did that make sense? Secondly; I think perhaps this is my second - perhaps third post here in my two years of lurkery. (scary), Name: Klara > > > Also known as: Mummimamma, Khia, huoletonhulivili, aralklara and some > other weird names > > > Age/Sex: 28 & female > > Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: >Bergen, Norway, and quite content. But then Bergen is quite known for it >patriots. > Family Life: I share appartment with three (male) other students, and > they seem to scare away all possible love interests, oddly enough. > > Personality: Loudmouthed (everywhere but the 'net obviously), but > friendly, a bit histrionic, rather geeky, lazy but manic, optimistic > > Words friends have used to describe you: Friendly, know-it-all (yes!), > boisterous > Words you have used to describe you: Inquisitive > > Things you do when not staring at the computer: Talk, read, draw, play > in a band, cook, hang around with my friends, saving the world (ie > meddling in politics) > Comfort foods: Pears and whisky > Education/Work: Nine years of university studies, degrees in dead > languages and funny alphabets. Finished this summer, looking for work. > > Language skills: Norwegian (Danish, Swedish), English, Romance > languages, Greek languages, Finnish, meddling in half a dozen more > > Technical know-how: If I need it, I'll learn how to do it. > > Favourite HP book: PoA followed by OotP > > Favourite HP character(s): I don't know! All of them! Remus Lupin > perhaps, I have a weak spot for Hermione of course, and Percy reminded me > strangely of my best friend, (and no he is not evil!) complete with red > hair, horn-rimmed glasses and fussiness. > Favourite HP line: "Before we begin our banquet, I would like to >say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" >"Thank you!" > > Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching, and then complaining > thery're nothing like the books on these points .... ... > > Into HP fanfiction? In the fringes, mostly I read, don't write > > Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: I keep pushing Evelyn > Waugh's Brideshead Revisited on almost all of my friends, besides that, > usually I recommend the last book I enjoyed; this week Marc Kurlansky's Salt. > > Favorite TV shows: I tend to forget what I'm watching, currently I'm > trying to remember Buffy (we're only on season 5 now) , Angel (S1), Six > Feet Under (S1) and Black Books. > > Favorite Movies: Underground, Eternity and a Day and other strange films > by other odd men. > > Favorite Musical Artists: Bach? I listen to lots of stuff, most of it > older than me. > > One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you > may not say "lose weight"): I'd like some ambition please, also I'd like > a degree in politics, not just languages. And a job. > > One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance > copy of Book 7: My friends and family of course, or perhaps my entire > library. > > Philosophy for an easy life: Easy? I'm not sure I want it easy, but > keeping an open (and inquisitive) mind have helped so far. > > > How you found HPfGU: That is lost in the mist of time, but I was > probably looking for some sane Potter-discussion whilst awaiting the > fifth book. > > > Active at other HP sites: Lurking around a couple of other places, > mainly TLC & FA > > > Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Dumbledore will die, > and he's not worried about it, why should we? > > Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally > met: Met? I once told my friends about fandom and they gave me weird > looks for weeks! Also Norway? I know of four other Norwegians or so here. > ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: What would your favourite > subject be in Hogwarts? History of Magic, strangely enough. Dumbledore > should really get rid of prof Binns though, history is an interesting > subject! (and you can learn a lot from it, right, Harry!) -Puh, still scary. Klara. From terryljames at hotmail.com Tue Sep 16 15:13:37 2003 From: terryljames at hotmail.com (Terry James) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 10:13:37 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* Message-ID: Sigh...why do I enjoy talking about myself so much? Am very interestedly reading mixer posts surreptitiously at work, since home computer still apparently inhabited by Saurondemort. And DH is a computer tech. Oh well, the old saying that shoemaker's children go barefoot and doctor's wives die early is still true, I guess. Name: Online, Terry L. James, since I had a slight stalker problem a couple of years ago. Minor, but really freaked me out. Also known as: "That DENIAList nut", Terry LJ (to distinguish from other Terrys), Captain Terry Age/Sex: 30/F Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: DeQuincy, LA--nice place to raise a child in, but grown-ups go nuts there; Baton Rouge, LA--love my church, hate my job, the horrible architecture, the government, the city planning or lack thereof, the crime rate, the school system, the politicians, and the weather. No winter, two weeks of spring, one week of fall, endless burning hot humid sticky summer. Family Life: married, one husband, two daughters, almost 7 and almost 1 Personality: arrogant, obnoxious, very private in some ways. Never intend to offend others, but always, always, always, inadvertently do. Possibly because of arrogance and obnoxiousness? :) Words friends have used to describe you: walking dictionary, bookworm, advice columnist, straightforward, blunt, good listener Words you have used to describe you: lazy, cynical, quiet, too critical Things you do when not staring at the computer: read, play with kids, read, crochet, read, take pictures of kids, read, avoid housework, read Comfort foods: Am on Atkins, wah, to fit into awful bridesmaid's dress. No comfort foods allowed by Bob "DemonSpawn" Atkins. When not carb-restricted, potato chips and Oreos and large glasses of milk. Education/Work: Some college; work in insurance. Horribly boring, no windows in office, Muggle co-worker. Where's Ron the twins and the Flying Ford Anglia when you need them? Language skills: Passable in English; can understand very tiny amounts of Spanish; interested in the way words come down or cross over from other languages (waves at Shaun "without wax") Technical know-how: Can navigate e-mail, but still waiting on more detailed answer to Paint Shop Pro 7 post here. Can crochet a mean baby blanket, though! Favourite HP book: PoA Favourite HP character(s): Sirius, of course. Very complex, and of course Dead Sexy. Favourite HP line: "ARE YOU A WITCH OR AREN'T YOU?" Ron to Hermione, PS/SS Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching once or twice while cringing and criticizing and explaining to DH, a non-HPer, "That's not how it really is!" Into HP fanfiction? Yes, some. Am kinda too critical about that, also. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Any of the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett; the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane; Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy (5 books--yes, it's a trilogy) by Douglas Adams; The Riddlemaster of Hed series by Patricia McKillip, although if you couldn't navigate Lord of the Rings maybe you wouldn't want to try this; anything by P.G. Wodehouse; the Ender series by Orson Scott Card...this could go on for days. Favorite TV shows: I have a six-year-old, so we're very limited in what we watch. Lizzie McGuire is our "family show". What we watch when she's not around--Whose Line Is It Anyway, Babylon 5 (on DVD), JAG Favorite Movies: Fellowship of the Ring, Pride & Prejudice, Emma, While You Were Sleeping Favorite Musical Artists: Eclectic, and nobody currently popular. Almost all classical; Mannheim Steamroller; Ray Lynch; David Arkenstone; Beatles, Monkees (yes, Monkees), Avalon, Michael English One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): Would have more self-confidence; and would live someplace where there are no mosquitos, no West Nile virus, no serial killers, no racially tensioned school systems, and no state pastime of jailing government officials as soon as they finish reciting their inaugural oaths. One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: My husband and kids. Philosophy for an easy life: Do whatever other people say is right. Never use or develop your own judgement. Note, this is for an "easy" life, not a "good" or "mature" or "well-balanced" or "healthy" life... How you found HPfGU: A recommendation on a LOTR list. Or maybe I found that one from this one... Active at other HP sites: No. Wrote and got posted one very small fic on FictionAlley; semi-working on another, OC-centric, long one. Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Hermione will remind someone that you can't Apparate or Disapparate inside Hogwarts; and that will eventually prove to be a major plot point. Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: None, sadly. But I have conversed with a few members offlist and gotten some good advice, lots of help, and made some good friends. Hope to meet--virtually or in RL--more of you! ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Do you operate under the erroneous assumption that you are smarter than most people around you, and therefore escape to HPfGU for something "more on your level", where the general level of posts reduces you to squeaking insignificance? Yes. Terry LJ _________________________________________________________________ Need more e-mail storage? Get 10MB with Hotmail Extra Storage. http://join.msn.com/?PAGE=features/es From zulyblue at yahoo.com Tue Sep 16 15:28:10 2003 From: zulyblue at yahoo.com (zulyblue) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 08:28:10 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030916152810.467.qmail@web20416.mail.yahoo.com> Name: Sarah E Richer Also known as: zulyblue online, but no nicknames in real life Age/Sex: 29/female Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born in Springfield, MA. Spent 7 years in the Amherst/Northampton area and would move back there in a second if the opportunity ever arose. My favorite place in the world! Currently residing in Cleveland, OH. Been here almost 4 years, it took a while, but the area has grown on me and I really do like it. I'll always be a New Englander at heart though. Family Life: All my family is back in New England, but I keep in touch and see them a few times a year. My only family here is my friends and my wonderful boyfriend. No pets really, but I do have a frog I keep in the lab named Stinky. Personality: quiet and reserved (till you get to know me!), practical, goofy, down-to-earth, optimistic, loving, loyal, comfortable, happy Words friends have used to describe you: sweet and a bit odd, nurturing, loyal Things you do when not staring at the computer: Well, at work I do basic science research. When I'm not at work I love to take road trips, cook and bake for people, listen to music and go to concerts, read, shop, relax, work on my knitting/crochet, walk, hang out with friends, laugh a lot..... Comfort foods: Chocolate! Ice cream, doritos, pizza Education/Work: BA in Biology from Mount Holyoke College, MS in Entomology from UMASS Amherst. I know work as a research assistant in a lab the studies mechanisms in lung disease. I do some research and quite a bit of just making sure the lab is running smoothly, we have what we need, and everyone is happy. I like my job because I like my boss and the people I work with, but I'm not cut out to be a scientist for ever. Language skills: English. Took 4 years of Spanish in HS, but it didn't do me much good. Took a year a Russian in College and can't remember much anymore. I have a few Polish swears that I picked up from Grandma too. That's about it. Technical know-how: Well, I don't know jack about computers and am convinced they hate me, but I can run a laser scanning confocal microscope or a laser microdissector no problem. Go figure. Oh, I can also dissect out fly brains, but I don't get much call for that anymore. Favourite HP book: PoA hands down. Favourite HP character(s): Snape (but only after I saw Alan Rickman swoop in in the movie!), Lupin, Ron Favourite HP line: I don't like to pick favorites, I can't make decisions! Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: I watch, but I'm not obsessive Into HP fanfiction? Yes, I'll read any style HP fanfiction as long as it is good and well written. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Hmmm...I read a lot, but haven't read anything earth shattering lately. I have to say though...the Philip Pullman books were amazing. Favorite TV shows: Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Amazing Race, Trading Spaces, Animal Precinct/Cops, anything on the Food Network....... Favorite Movies: The Muppet Movie Favorite Musical Artists: Too many to list! Here's a sampling. Brave Combo, Dar Williams, Daisy Mayhem, John Hiatt, Lucinda Williams, Mark Erelli, Bela Fleck, Fred Eaglesmith, David Grisman, Eddie from Ohio, Gillian Welch, The Neilds, Great Big Sea, Leon Redbone, Taj Mahal, Bob Dylan, Louie, Ella, Frank, Ray etc. Folk, roots, blues, bluegrass, rock, alt-country, americana. Stuff you have to seek out....no top forty! One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): That's ok, I already lost the weight. If I had to change one thing about myself/my life is that I would be more outspoken. One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: I wouldn't change a thing! My life may not be perfect, but I like to remind myself how lucky I am and how good I have it. Philosophy for an easy life: Relax and be happy. How you found HPfGU: I don't remember. Probably searching on google after I first became obsessed! Active at other HP sites: I'm not really "active" on any sites. I just read posts or fanfiction and don't post much if every. I frequent fiction alley, HP Paradise, Paradigm of Uncertainty, Slyth Rising, SnapeSlash to name a few Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: That it won't turn out the way we think it will and that we will all want more once its over!! Ok, I guess that's a give no matter what. Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: Never met any. ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Shouldn't you really be doing work right now instead of answering this survey? YES! __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From starling823 at yahoo.com Tue Sep 16 15:57:47 2003 From: starling823 at yahoo.com (Sternel) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 15:57:47 -0000 Subject: Mixer Message-ID: Whee! This looks amusing... Name: Abigail Also known as: Abbie, Abs, Sternel, that chick who played Beater for the Seagulls at Nimbus Age/Sex: 23/F Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: both: Long Island, New York. Take note, please: NOT Lon Guyland. That is a *Brooklyn* accent. ahem. anyhow...mixed feelings. Love it geographically (am water baby), hate the overpopulation/pollution. Currently watching the hurricane forecast with a fearful eye, as the last thing Montauk needs is another good storm. Family Life: Parents, siblings, and a very ill-tempered dog. Personality: Obsessive. Hence my presence here. =) Quick to anger, but also quick to forgive. Fiercely loyal. Fond of lounging. Words friends have used to describe you: Crazy, mostly. Dedicated, kind, and sometimes frightening. Words you have used to describe you: Again, obsessed. Also, anglophile, loyal, and crazy. yes, there's a pattern. =) Things you do when not staring at the computer: Class, reading (only staring at books, not computer), needlepoint, music (I play violin), sit on the train and make up stories for all the people that try to pretend I'm not staring at them, and harassing my fellow t00bs, whom I love dearly. Comfort foods: Chocolate, mac'n'cheese, mashed potatoes, pickles. Education/Work: Degree in German. Have returned to school, following a year working as a library clerk in a law school, to get a second degree in History. Once I'm done with being a history geek, I hopefully will be getting an MLS. Language skills: English (though sometimes I wonder), German, some French and Latin, three words of Croatian, and the phrase "That bus ticket is too expensive" in Scots Gaelic. Technical know-how: If I can't make the computer do what I want it to, I know who to call to make it happen. 0=) Proficient enough that I don't usually need to. Favourite HP book: tie between POA and OoP Favourite HP character(s): Snape, Harry, Hermione, Lupin, McGonagall Favourite HP line: The oft-cited "It unscrews the other way." And Remus' bit about identifying a werewolf. I still have OoP on the brain -- there's some good gigglers in every book. Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watched several times each. I suffer from this slight condition known as Rickmanitis. Into HP fanfiction? Is the sky blue? Is the grass green? Is FA not the most amazing site on earth? In other words, yes. Am currently hating Barb for where she cut off her latest chapter of the Triangle Prophecy, and wondering if Lori will ever tell us the tale of Harry and Hermione's honeymoon. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Recently read "DaVinci Code," and loved it. Great read, was highly amused by the mentions of Nicholas Flamel. Other than that, easier to rec authors: Jane Austen, Anne McCaffrey, Raymond E. Feist...there's tons more but I'll behave. Favorite TV shows: ER, Will and Grace, MI-5 Favorite Movies: Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility (those should come as no surprise), LOTR, Sound of Music Favorite Musical Artists: Billy Joel, Sarah McLachlan, Corrs, Phil Collins, U2, Tori Amos, Simon and Garfunkle...another one of those lists that I'm better cutting short One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): I'll be vain here. I wish my hair were longer, thicker, and redder. One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: My friends, who are my second family and mean the world to me. Philosophy for an easy life: Chocolate will not fix problems. But it will make them a hell of a lot easier to face. =) How you found HPfGU: Remember that Salon article on Paradigm of Uncertainty from waaaaaay back in Spring of 2001? I followed that to PoU and from there found HPfGU. It's all downhill from there. =) Active at other HP sites: Does LJ count? =) I lurk on FA and a bunch of fic sites. Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Like with OoP, it will end with me in my friend Adrienne's kitchen, clutching a bottle of Ogdens and muttering under my breath about evil authors who enjoy torturing their readership. Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: oh gosh. OK, here goes: Ursamajr Vlamidala Sabs Kim Sparks (whom I haven't emailed in ages...::hides::) Neil Ward Joywitch Amy Z and everyone else at the March NY meet everyone present at Ali's Wibblefest, OoP Release Weekend John Walton Ebony Carole Gwen Sabrina Lupin and all the other people I fangirled at Nimbus wow, I have met a bunch of you. Honestly, if not for Nimbus, I wouldn't have met half these people. It was an amazing time. ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Everyone's Polyjuice seems to be a different colour, so what would yours be? ...I'm guessing a sort of reddish-mahogany shade. ::waves to everyone:: I usually lurk, but it's been fun reading everyone's responses! -Sternel From fakeplastikcynic at hotmail.com Tue Sep 16 17:42:37 2003 From: fakeplastikcynic at hotmail.com (martha) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 17:42:37 -0000 Subject: Draco a stalker? :) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Jeff said: > Draco seems obsessed with Harry, nearly as bad as Colin > Creevy!! :) So is this due to his desire for revenge for Harry > refusing his hand in friendship, or does he keep his eye on the boy > who lived because he thinks he has a nice bum? :) You know, I've always thought there's something a bit "methinks the lady doth protest too much" about Draco. Example: in CoS, when Harry and Ron blag their way into the Slytherin common room, Draco bends the conversation around to Harry almost unnaturally quickly, IMO. One minute he's talking about the attacks, then he's on about Colin Creevey, then it's " 'Saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend,' said Malfoy slowly. 'He's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with that jumped-up Granger Mudblood...' " (CoS, p166 UK edition) Bitter, Draco? And why the need to have a right old go at Colin, anyway? Couldn't be because he actually does get to have pictures of Harry, could it? Since Harry's rejection of his handshake on the Hogwarts Express at the beginning of PS, Draco's had it in for Harry, and I can't think of a decent explanation other than obsession. After all, when he starts on Ron or Neville or even Hermione, he often gets a response, which, in my experience, is why bullying takes place. He is richer and more influential than Ron and cleverer than Neville and more "pure-blooded" than Hermione and has power to make them feel angry or upset. He even has power over Hagrid. But why does he still insist on picking on Harry? Harry doesn't care any more! What's the point in continuing? His behaviour puts me in mind of the 10-year-old boys who pull girls' pigtails and trip them over rather than admit they fancy them, because it's not cool to fancy girls when you're 10. (And of course, I could go on to argue that in the circles in which Draco moves, it really wouldn't be cool to fancy that saintly little Boy-Who-Lived - but that's another story, and I am in danger of going off on any number of tangents here.) Just my 2 knuts and all that. Cheers, Martha. From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Tue Sep 16 17:52:12 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 17:52:12 -0000 Subject: Gay is damaged, straight is normal In-Reply-To: Message-ID: This is my first time on OT Chatter. Somebody on the main list sent me over here to check out the "gay is damaged" thread. JDR: > I don't think people with unresolved dramas in their lives should > reproduce, but that't just me. As for the rest of the possibly gay > student characters in HP (e.g. Justin F-F, Seamus), they *are* too > healthy. Gay or straight, our Draco's the only one with > complementary neuroses for our Harry. I (who have been in a het relationship for almost twenty years) did not reproduce partly due to "unresolved dramas," am comfortable with the decision I made, and am *still* offended by this. Your opinion is yours inalienably, okay, but I'd still rather have you kill, skin, clean, and cook it before you flop it onto the dinner table. > I totally understand why some people took offense. It's *my* > neurosis that I'm not chastened in the least. I'm schizoid (not > schizophrenic, ok? It means I don't relate well to my fellow human > beings) and proud of it. The "and proud of it" is another red flag. If the above paragraph is true in what you say and in the simultaneous awareness you claim of it, then isn't the only possible conclusion for anyone else to have that you don't *care* how you affect or upset people? I understand a failure to "relate well to my fellow human beings"--my best friend has major organic brain damage and drives people, including me, crazy, including interpersonally; she does not, however, use her CAT scan as an excuse to mess with people's heads. If what you are saying is all true, if you are proudly bearing a self- issued license to cause whatever mayhem occurs to you, then why should anyone who knows that ever bother to engage you at all? Let's make this for a moment about enlightened self-interest and see if it penetrates. Sandy aka "msbeadsley" who *thinks* she remembers "The Sergeant Majorette" as someone connected to wisdom now and then on the main board From mehndimama at hotmail.com Tue Sep 16 18:39:50 2003 From: mehndimama at hotmail.com (mehndimama) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 18:39:50 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Name: Becky Also known as: I'm changing my name to Stellaria (Stella or Stell for short) - it's Latin for little star, and is the latin name for chickweed - perfect for an herbalist chick like me! Age/Sex: lmost 29, Female Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born, raised, & live in a small town in Northern Michigan. It's a tourist town on Lake Michigan, and I love it - very beautiful here. Too cold for my tastes in the winter, though. Family Life: I'm married, have 4 surviving children ages 11, 7, 4, ad 1.5(and plan on many more), we homeschool, homebirth, I'm a part of my local La Leche League, DH & I own our own businesses.....we're pretty "crunchy" out-of-the-box kind of people. (See my previous post on our first year of "wizarding school"!) Personality: I'm a show-off and a know-it-all :/ Think Hermione LOL! Words friends have used to describe you: Forceful, individual, well informed, always have to be right, creative, messy Words you have used to describe you: I agree with all of the above LOL! Things you do when not staring at the computer: I sew cloth diapers and create sewing patterns (www.fernandfaerie.com), attempt to dig out of the piles and piles and mountains of clutter & junk in our teeny little house, read while nursing the baby, mess around with my "potions" (I make our family's herbal medicines and soap), draw with the kids, dance & make up songs.... Comfort foods: Ice cream, steak Education/Work: Associate of Science in Chemistry, now a stay-at- home mom/WAHM making cloth diapers from old t-shirts & blue jeans - I have a booming business when I can keep stuff in stock! Language skills: English only, but recognize words in many languages Technical know-how: I can operate a sewing machine and power tools, but all my computer work has to be presented to me on a silver platter! (Microsoft Front Page had me tearing my hair out!) Favourite HP book: The Prisoner of Azkaban Favourite HP character(s):Neville Longbottom, Arthur Weasley, Remus Lupin Favourite HP line Gosh, I don't know that have a favorite! If I did, it would probably be something that Ron said - he cracks me up! Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: We own the first two, and the kids watch them religiously. My deal ith Ian is - if he reads the book first, then I'll take him to see the movie. Into HP fanfiction? Nope. Although if Ian gts into writing some, I may cange my tune....but that's just motherlove Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Anything by Anne Rice & Jean M. Auel Favorite TV shows: Don't watch TV unless my best friend gets me sucked in to the current season of Survivor Favorite Movies: Just about anything with Johnny Depp in it :D I'm a particular fan of A&E Jane Austen productions, as well....oh, and Chicago kicked my butt, too - STELLAR! Favorite Musical Artists: Nine Inch Nails, Rob Zombie, Jane's Addiction....and Peter, Paul, and Mary! One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): I'd like a live-in housekeeper One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: Being able to stay at home with my kids Philosophy for an easy life: Don't worry about what society tells you you SHOULD be, or know, or do - do what is important to you, and good things will follow. How you found HPfGU: A mom on www.amitymama.com forums mentioned it in a HP thread Active at other HP sites: Nope. In likes to go to mugglenet, though Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Crookshanks is going to do something important Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: I'm sadly alone, here in my corner.... -Professor Stellaria, headmistress Andromeda Academy for Self- Directed Sorcerers From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Tue Sep 16 19:20:01 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 19:20:01 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Against my better judgement and sense of paranoia, but here goes: Name: Sandy Diersing Also known as: msbeadsley Age/Sex: 46, female Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born in Louisville, Kentucky; a place I escaped at 25 only to find out later was not nearly as awful as I'd thought. Live now in Denver, Colorado, after two years in NYC. Like Denver better than either previous locale, mostly due to having found SF fandom here. Family Life: domestic partner of umpteen years, Bruce, two Amazon parrots who make excellent surrogate children: it's like having perennial two-year olds (mine says "I love you" at the end of our bedtime ritual; not a thing I prompted). Extended family of choice is Denver (SF, not HP) fandom. Personality: Mercurial, obsessive, creative, impulsive Words friends have used to describe you: Sweet (ack! they keep doing that!), nasty (that's better), perceptive, scary, unpredictable, inspiring Words you have used to describe you: Smart, lazy, spoiled, arrogant, scared Things you do when not staring at the computer: Read, make jewelry (hence the ms*bead*sley), walk, putter, work/huckster at local SF cons Comfort foods: quartered apples and colby jack cheese, chocolate Education/Work: High school, autodidactic, early retired from State government service but broke and eyeing the job market economy/higher education (psychology) Language skills: I was the firstborn; my parents had me in every kiddie book club on the planet and I don't recall learning to read any more than I recall learning to walk or talk. I hung out with adults and got *very* adept verbally, very early. As well, my father is a "character" who indulged in verbal "chop-chop" as I was growing up; the family learned to do it in self-defense. And don't I know now what a double-edged sword *that* is! Technical know-how: I can get most Microsoft Office applications to do what I want; have replaced cards on the motherboard of my computer and, until I quit work, was the person in an office of 25 most often tapped (short of calling help desk five floors up) to figure out why a piece of hardware or software wasn't behaving as advertised. Favourite HP book: It's apples and oranges to me but I always say the first one because it's what hooked me in. Favourite HP character(s): Harry, closely followed by Dumbledore. Favourite HP line: "I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks." (CHOP! You go, Harry!) Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching, sometimes on an almost endless loop (television like flickering fire/hearth; not paying any attention). Into HP fanfiction? Write a bit but don't read it because it confuses my sense of canon. Will devour all after canon is all fired off. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan books Orson Scott Card, especially the Ender's Game saga; Louisa May Alcott's Little Men and Jo's Boys (after Little Women) Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman (nonfiction) should be required reading all over the planet Favorite TV shows: Buffy (snivel!), Angel, Gilmore Girls. It's all about the *writing*. Babylon 5 was also awesome. Favorite Movies: Little Voice, The "Prophecy" Trilogy, Paulie Favorite Musical Artists: David Bowie, lotsa old stuff (70's), more recent pop like Seal, Sheryl Crow One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): Would have joined the human race/"outed" myself sooner: reached *out* more and *in* less, earlier One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: Moving to Denver and in with my love, an IT nerd Philosophy for an easy life: Get over yourself, have a sense of humor. And don't I just work on this one every day! How you found HPfGU: surfing for OoP reactions. Active at other HP sites: (There are other HP sites?) A bit. Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: The DA is the most important thing Harry did in Book 5 and we'll see many ripples from it later. (Kinda chicken sh*t, innit?) And Sirius will not be back for any more than a cameo (like Harry's folks via Priori Incantatem). Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: none from this board, I think. Have met hundreds of members of SF "fandom" around the country and regularly get together with local ones. ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Is it just me or is HPfGU the best HP board out there? From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Tue Sep 16 19:28:21 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 19:28:21 -0000 Subject: More tech help needed. (Misisng WHAT?!) In-Reply-To: <010801c37bf8$b865efe0$d6371c40@aoldsl.net> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Saitaina" wrote: > Alright, after not being able for four > days to figure out why I still had no > sound, it turns out I'm missing a > "mmsystem.dll" in the [boot] section of > system.ini. > > HUH?! Could someone explain that too me > and tell me what the hell I'm supposed to > do about it? *puppy dog face* Some thoughts (not necessarily helpful ones, but I tried): You may need to reinstall the software for your sound card if you can't find the correct dll file on your computer. Did a floppy/CD matching the sound card come with your system? The other thing you might do, if you knew the brand name sound card you have, is look on the Internet for a site belonging to that manufacturer and download the software. Anybody else? Sandy From saitaina at wizzards.net Tue Sep 16 20:04:28 2003 From: saitaina at wizzards.net (Saitaina) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 13:04:28 -0700 Subject: Computer Issues Update References: Message-ID: <001901c37c8d$bcd1b9c0$2b301c40@aoldsl.net> I rule. May I just state that? When Gateway and Microsoft wanted to charge me close to 100$+ to fix my computer *glares lovingly at her Astro* I figured I was screwed but I have (with a bit of help from OTC) taken my computer from a piece of shit with no colour, no mouse and no sound to a fully functioning sweet heart. So thanks to those who helped out...now to just get the right sounds where they belong (yes there's still some left over issues but I don't care) Saitaina **** "Sorry Vig...just seems like I'm about to come out of a closet I didn't even know I was in." http://www.livejournal.com/users/saitaina "No, one day I'm going to look back on all this and plow face-first into a tree because I was looking the wrong bloody way. And I'll still be having a better day than I am today." From przepla at ipartner.com.pl Tue Sep 16 21:47:06 2003 From: przepla at ipartner.com.pl (Przemyslaw Plaskowicki) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 23:47:06 +0200 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3F6784DA.20807@ipartner.com.pl> On 2003-09-15 21:30, Cindy C. wrote: >********************* > > >Name: > > > Przemysaw Paskowicki >Also known as: > > > Pshemekan, Plex, Przepla >Age/Sex: > > > 25/Male >Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: > > > Born and living in Szczecin, Poland, which is quite pretty city with lot of green areas and Paris-like system of squares and roads, not to mention one of the biggest cementaries in Europe. >Family Life: > > > Complicated. Still single. Perhaps a cases of mild http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love-shyness and http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger%27s_syndrome >Personality: > > > Even more complicated. Introvert, ISTJ according to Keirsey: http://keirsey.com/personality/sjit.html >Words friends have used to describe you: > > No idea. I'm still amazed that I actually have friends. >Words you have used to describe you: > > Eccentric. >Things you do when not staring at the computer: > > Sleeping. I the matter of fact previously I was reading newspapers, watching movies, listen to music, but since technology permits now all those thing being done on computer, I spent almost all my time at computer. Sometimes (read: once a month) I make some one day trip to nearby forests with my friends. >Comfort foods: > > Almost anything edible, not necessary sweet. >Education/Work: > > MSc (engineering) in Technical Physics, BSc in Physics (teacher's specialty), MA in Law (almost -- my thesis is in Release Candidate 1 stage) Works as a System Administrator/QA tester >Language skills: > > Polish, English >Technical know-how: > > Computers: Excellent -- I solve others computer problem for a living Non-computer related: Not so bad -- after all I am an engineer. >Favourite HP book: > > Order of the Phoenix -- mainly because of no major plot, like in previous books. >Favourite HP character(s): > > Hermione -- an embodiment of woman of my life. >Favourite HP line > > "When in doubt, go to the library" -- now should be "When in doubt, use Google" but still... >Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: > > I am neutral about them. >Into HP fanfiction? > > Read - yes, write - no. >Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: > > Good Encyclopaedia, really ;-) >Favorite TV shows: > > Friends, That 70s Show. >Favorite Movies: > > Singin' in the Rain, Sound of Music, Space Oddysey 2001. >Favorite Musical Artists: > > None. I listen to classical music, but no favourities there. >One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you >may not say "lose weight"): > > Gain weight? There is something but it is very private. Let's just say, I'm suffering for a serious case of being very sorry, that I didn't do something when I really should done it. >One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance >copy of Book 7: > > It depends of what kind of change it would be. >Philosophy for an easy life: > > Small pleasures. >How you found HPfGU: > > http://www.google.com >Active at other HP sites: > > Nope. >Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: > > A Ron/Hermione & Ginny/Harry kisses. Lots of them. >Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: > > Erm. I'm the only person I personally met who is in HP fandom. >ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: > Q: Why people are behaving so illogically? A: Because, they are unfortunately humans, Mr Spock. Regards, Pshemekan -- Crime does not pay ... as well as politics. (Alfred E. Newman) From erinellii at yahoo.com Tue Sep 16 22:07:10 2003 From: erinellii at yahoo.com (erinellii) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 22:07:10 -0000 Subject: Snape in Azkaban In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "ne4lock" wrote: > Hi, > > I'm a true blue lurker with a problem. > > Does anyone know of stories where Snape is in Azkaban and rescued by > Harry. I'd like the story to be centered around the prison & rescue > experience. > > Simular stories are 'Betrayed', 'Collared', 'The Longest > Year', 'Fugue State' and 'Hermitage'. All are Snape in AZ with > different rescuers. > > Any suggestions? > > ne Sorry, no, but I did read one recently where Snape was on an auction block (took place in a post-book 7 background where wizards had been exposed and hunted down by muggles) and Harry bought him. The name of the site was I think "Harry Potter Letters" or something like that. The story was something like "wings of ravens" I'll look for the site for you. But I'd love to know where these other Snape stories you mention are. Erin From erinellii at yahoo.com Tue Sep 16 22:18:07 2003 From: erinellii at yahoo.com (erinellii) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 22:18:07 -0000 Subject: Snape in Azkaban In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "erinellii" wrote: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "ne4lock" > wrote: > > Hi, > > > > I'm a true blue lurker with a problem. > > > > Does anyone know of stories where Snape is in Azkaban and rescued > by > > Harry. I'd like the story to be centered around the prison & rescue > > experience. > > > > Simular stories are 'Betrayed', 'Collared', 'The Longest > > Year', 'Fugue State' and 'Hermitage'. All are Snape in AZ with > > different rescuers. > > > > Any suggestions? > > > > ne http://www.hogwartsletters.hpg.ig.com.br/fics.html Ok, that is the adress of the one I mentioned in the previous post. It's called "Clipped Wings" Erin From fluxed at earthlink.net Tue Sep 16 23:22:15 2003 From: fluxed at earthlink.net (vulgarweed) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 23:22:15 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > Name: Would rather not say, except that I share my first name with a notorious former Presidential intern. (I'm older than her! I had it first!) > > > Also known as: Vulgarweed, A. Vulgarweed, AV, Absentia > > > Age/Sex: 34/Female > > > Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Birthplace - SW Colorado, USA. (No feelings at all - was only 1 when we moved) Growing up place -- Mountains, SW Virginia (Gorgeous and historic. LOVE to go home to visit. Would not *live* in a rural area or the Bible Belt again even if I were paid by the hour to do so.) Current living place: Chicago, IL. Like it very much, although sometimes it is still a bit sleepy and small-town. The music scene is excellent, though, so no major complaints. > > > Family Life: Only child-- close to parents emotionally even if geographically distant. First-gen American on Mom's side; huge extended family, but all on another continent. Dad's extended family scattered and emotionally remote, but I'm close to my (only American) first cousin, who's close to my age and also an only child, so we are "honorary sisters." She lives in NYC. Me, I'm set up with my partner of three years and our two cats. Not to mention my (Wiccan, mostly) coven/extended-tribe/spiritual group of 14 years' standing--if anybody ever wants to do a neo-Pagan sitcom, we're your lovable dysfunctionals! > > Personality: ENFP. Dogged, relentless, nocturnal, silly, playful, driven. Ambitious but flaky. > > > > Words friends have used to describe you: Intimidating, aloof, sarcastic, productive, intense, loyal, patient, slobbish, passionate, adventurous, funny, cynical, romantic. > > > > Words you have used to describe you: Twitchy, restless, dilettantish, lazy, slutty, self-indulgent, undisciplined, aimless, dissatisfied, moody, talented, curious, dedicated. > > > > Things you do when not staring at the computer: Read, listen to music (on the stereo or at rock clubs), play with cats, play with boyfriends, play with friends, drink, eat, draw, play music. (My work also involves staring at the computer, so there's not that much time when I'm not) > > > Comfort foods: Little Debbie snack cakes, raisin bran, anything with tons of hot sauce or mustard, cheese, good dark beer, hot chocolate. Oh and coffee, but that's a constant. > > > > > Education/Work: BA in Creative Writing. Music journalist/critic/essayist for alternative newspaper. > > > > Language skills: English. Smidges of Portuguese (from the family) and Latin (from high school) > > > > Technical know-how: Can wire own stereo from scratch or figure out most anyone else's. Not bad with guitars/amps/effects pedals/my annoying fiddle pickup. Can drive but haven't really needed to in 10 years. > > > > > Favourite HP book: OoTP, fer sure. > > > > Favourite HP character(s): Snape, McGonagall, Luna, Lupin, Moody, Hermione, Fred & George > > > > Favourite HP line: Too many to count. Something about brewing glory and stoppering death sure runs through my mind a lot. :) > > > > Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Have seen them and own the DVDs, but find myself rarely watching them. They just don't grab me like the books do. > > > > Into HP fanfiction? Yup. Read tons of it and write it too. I like stories that have erotica, plot, drama, *and* humor best. > > > > Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: _Little, Big_ by John Crowley; _Winter's Tale_ by Mark Helprin; the first two _Gormenghast_ books by Mervyn Peake; the _His Dark Materials_ trilogy by Philip Pullman; the _Mabinogion Tetralogy_ by Evangeline Walton; _Midnight's Children_ by Salman Rushdie; the _Ramayana_; the _Kalevala_; _My Life in the Bush of Ghosts_ and _The Palm-Wine Drinkard_ by Amos Tutuola; anything by Brazilian novelist Jorge Amado; any short stories by Jorge Luis Borges; _The Lord of the Rings_ by Tolkien; _A People's History of the United States_ by Howard Zinn; _Civil Disobedience_ by Thoreau; _Visions of Cody_ by Jack Kerouac; _Leaves of Grass_ by Walt Whitman; _Silence_ by John Cage; _Technicians of the Sacred_ (a global shamanic-poetry compilation by Jerome Rothenberg). > > > > Favorite TV shows: None really. _Nightline_, I guess. > > > > Favorite Movies: _Princess Mononoke_ and _Spirited Away_ by Miyazaki; anything by Jim Jarmusch, esp. _Dead Man_; _The Nightmare Before Christmas_; _City of Lost Children_; Peter Jackson's LOTR movies plus _Heavenly Creatures_; _2001_ and _Dr Strangelove_; _Time Bandits_; Monty Python; _Star Wars_; _This Is Spinal Tap_; _The Ruling Class_; and I'm a sucker for anything very old, black-and-white, and silent. > > > > Favorite Musical Artists: Too many to list -- I've written about it for a living for years! I'll say that to relax when I'm not "on duty" I listen to a lot of classic old art-punk (like Velvet Underground and Wire and X and Bauhaus), some jazz, a bit of heavy metal, and a lot of music from Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Oh yeah, and Fairport Convention, always. > > > > One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you > may not say "lose weight"): I think I would keep absolutely everything about my life, except I would have it all in NYC instead of Chicago because I think NYC is more beautiful. Besides that, I suppose quit smoking, or make more money. (Both of which I would need to do to live well in NYC!) > > > One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance > copy of Book 7: My friends (including my partner, who's my best friend). (Wouldn't change my job either but I think that's priority #2) > > > > Philosophy for an easy life: Why would you want an easy life? Bleah. > > > How you found HPfGU: By recommendation, can't remember from where (it's been two years or so. > > > Active at other HP sites: Yes. > > > Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Dumbledore will have a moving moment of glory or at least exposition. More characters will die, including students. Hagrid and/or Ron will do something reckless. Voldemort will be defeated. > > > Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: Don't know if I've met anyone here, but I'll wave from a distance at the Femmes Dangereuses of Witchfics.org, my fanfic posse! > > > ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: What would you like to be remembered for? At least one great book! Also a few funny, hot, bawdy stories considering my inability to take monogamy very seriously as either reality or ideal -- but I'll settle for a couple of pithy quotes and the love of my friends. From linlou43 at yahoo.com Tue Sep 16 23:42:59 2003 From: linlou43 at yahoo.com (linlou43) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 23:42:59 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote: > > > Name: > > Linda Treantafel(Anybody want to try pronouncing it? Almost nobody gets it right the first time.) > Also known as: > linlou, linlou43, kidatheart, lin and several that can't be used in polite company. > > Age/Sex: > 33/F > > Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: > Leicester Massachusetts USA/ Leicester, Massachusetts USA, moved away 13 years ago and then came back and bought a house with hubby 3 years ago. > Family Life: Married 13.5 years. Three kids, 13 year old boy who thinks I know absolutly nothing about anything, a 10 year old girl who thinks I'm the meanest mother on earth (or any other planet), and oh yes, the 37 year old child who happens to have the same ring on his left hand as I do. > > Personality: > Moody, You can't trust the seemingly innocent ones, they'll fool you everytime. Also..."They're coming to take me away; HE HO, HA HA , to the funny farm, where life is wonderful all the time..." > Words friends have used to describe you: > VERY talkitive, Queen of Useless Information. Nutcase. > > Words you have used to describe you: Nutcase. Melodramatic, Inquisitive, Can remember some of the most innane trivia but can't recall all the names of the girls" Moms in my daughter's girl scout troup. > > Things you do when not staring at the computer: Read, read, read. Listen to music. I have a latchhook I've been working on for about eight months but I havn't touched it for three months. > Comfort foods: Chocolate, Orange spice tea. Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patties. > Education/Work: One year of college-Music Education major- but developed carpal tunnel and can't play for hours at a time anymore. I was going to change majors but met my husband that summer and the rest is history. > > Language skills: Excellent English vocab but can't play scrabble very well because I'm awful at jumbles. Remember some Spanish from High School and have gotten some more of it back from helping the kids with their Spanish homework, but I can't follow a conversation. > Technical know-how: I can handle minor troubleshooting on the computer and get asked a lot of questions by co-workers who aren't even sure how to minimize a page. :P Would like to go back to school for software applications. Hubby handles the power tools but I have LOTS of experience holding up drywall while he screws it in. :) (We're renovating the house and doing all the work ourselves.) > Favourite HP book: It used to be POA, but OOP has taken over. > Favourite HP character(s): Gred and Forge for pure the belly laughs and Harry for self examination. > Favourite HP line Oh, so hard to choose just one. "Give her hell from us Peeves!" or maybe "It unscrews the other way." > Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching. Constantly when I bought each one and once in a while since. The problem is, I'm constantly critiquing and comparing against the books. Out loud. It drives my husband nuts. Oh well, that's his problem. > Into HP fanfiction? No, but I love TBAY. >Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: I've read all of the other members' selections and I'm afraid I read mostly what I like, not what is critically acclaimed I love all the original Tom Clancy books, not the Netforce and whatever the other one is though. My favorite of all time is "The Red Badge of Courage" by Stephen Crane. It has incredible imagery. > Favorite TV shows: JAG, CSI (the original), Star Trek re-runs. Any of " The best of" or "10 best" shows on the travel channel. Behind the scenes shows. "Inside the Actors Studio". > Favorite Movies: "Iron Monkey" (with English subtitles) , Airplane (love the cab still waiting at the end), "Blues Brother 2000", "Sister Act I and II" > Favorite Musical Artists: I'm pretty ecclectic. I like Garth Brooks, Pink Floyd, Bon Jovi, BTO, Bad Company, swing, and classical (fav piece is Tchaikovski's "Romeo and Juliet Overture"). The list could go on and on. > One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you > may not say "lose weight"): I wish a had a LOT more self confidance. > One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance > copy of Book 7: Marrying my husband. > Philosophy for an easy life: No idea, but I'm in the market for one. > How you found HPfGU: The Lexicon. > Active at other HP sites: I don't post anywhere else but I'm a frequent visitor to TLC, and mugglenet. > Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Fawkes will be key to Harry's victory. > Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: Haven't met anyone in person, but would like to start some e- mail friendships. Anyone interested? > ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Q: Name a saying you've seen on a bumper sticker or key ring that descibes your life. A: "Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most." Linda(linlou) From gabolamx at yahoo.com.mx Wed Sep 17 00:03:14 2003 From: gabolamx at yahoo.com.mx (Gabriela) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 00:03:14 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: O.K. Here I go. Name: Gabriela Z. Also known as: Gabola (not in RL) Age/Sex: 32, female Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born in Mexico City, been living in Chihuahua City for 28 years (and I love it) with the exception of the Bay Area for 6 months (trying to improve my English) and a very small town called Moris in the state of Chihuahua, for 14 months (it was fun too, but not for permanent residence). Family Life: Single mom of a 7 year-old girl; a French Poodle named Tuki, a Chinese hamster with no name (I sometimes call her "la ratona") and a Beta fish named Peregrin (who died this morning :( ) Personality: Quiet, passionate, loyal, sincere Words friends have used to describe you: walking dictionary, generous, helpful, intelligent Words you have used to describe you: loyal, hard-working, friendly (with people I already know, because I'm shy with strangers) Things you do when not staring at the computer: read, teach, do homework with my daughter, talk to my sisters, baby-sit my nieces....etc. Comfort foods: chocolate and ice cream Education/Work: degree in Graphic Design but currently working as a teacher at a private school (the pay is better and the vacation- periods longer) Language skills: Spanish and English (not a 100% though) but would love to learn German, French and Scots Gaelic for some strange reason Technical know-how: Corel-Draw (basics only) other than that they have to include an manual or guide :) Favourite HP book: Prisoner of Azkaban all the way Favourite HP character(s): It is Sirius (the fact that he is dead won't change anything), I also love the twins and Peeves. Favourite HP line: "But Dumbledore says he doesn't care what they do as long as they don't take him off the Chocolate Frog cards" Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching, and hoping my fellow mexican does a great job with PoA. Into HP fanfiction? not yet Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: I love The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, LoTR, and The Withching Hour and The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice Favorite TV shows: I like The Osbournes but I don't watch it too often, I also like Friends and That 70's Show Favorite Movies: Braveheart, Far and Away, Robin Hood The Prince of Thieves, The Green Mile, Edward Scissorhands, the Indiana Jones trilogy, Akira's Dreams, The Others, etc. (too many) Favorite Musical Artists: Toad the Wet Sprocket, U2, Sting, Phil Collins; almost all music from the 80's and 90's and latin music I like La Ley (from Chile) and Benny Ibarra (from Mexico) One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): I guess falling in love with the wrong person. One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: my beautiful daughter Philosophy for an easy life: Lo que siembras, cosechas (It would be something like: What you give is what you get in return) How you found HPfGU: I found (by surfing the net craving for HP stuff) the Nimbus 2003 site and here I am. Active at other HP sites: Nope, lurk here a lot; visit TLC and iHP daily, the Lexicon and Martha's Art dungeon ocassionaly. Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: We'll see Sirius again (ghost, dream, memory; something like that, but not alive) Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: Sadly I haven't met anybody personally, but I like a lot of people I met in chat. ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Which character of the books would you like to Crucio? Dolores Umbridge, Cornelius Fudge and sometimes Snape *ducks and runs away* From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Wed Sep 17 01:32:38 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 01:32:38 -0000 Subject: Gay is damaged, straight is normal In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says Why should anyone who knows me ever bother, etc.? I have often wondered about that myself, and have come to the conclusion that as wise and witty as they think I am when they agree with me, it's obvious that I'm a psycho bitch from hell when I say something that makes them uncomfortable. Okay, I give up. Gay!Harry is an affront to right-thinking folk of all sexual orientations everywhere. Harry/Ginny, then: she can handle him and knows what she'd be getting into, but she could do better. --JDR From cindysphynx at comcast.net Wed Sep 17 02:10:41 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 02:10:41 -0000 Subject: Gay is damaged, straight is normal In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hey, Just a quickie, and I'm switching things around a bit . . . JDR wrote: > Cindy, you're a nice person. I hope you don't take any flak for > defending a b***h like me... Oh, hey. There's no reason to refer to yourself like that. We're just having an interesting discussion, is all. As for taking flak, well I'll quote my President . . . *bring it on!* ;-) > Well, precisely. That's why I stick with the mathematical definition > of normal, as it's 'morally' neutral. That one does, or is, >something that most people in their universe don't, or aren't, does >not mean there's something wrong with that person that they need to >take steps to correct. Normal people have 98 IQs. Normal people have >2.3 children with an opposite-gender spouse. Well, OK. But as the definition of "normal" explicitly states, "normal" and "abnormal" *do* have certain value-laden connotations to them. This is so even if *you* don't mean to make a value judgment. Um . . . say it is 2003, and you refer to an African American as a "Negro." You mean no offense, and you are using the term in the biological sense. Still . . . anyone who hears this will know that, for whatever reason, you have chosen to use an outmoded term that bothers some people. The reason could be ESL. Or bigotry. Or stubbornness. Or ignorance. Either way, though, some people may think less of you for it. I mean, you can express yourself however you like, but why use a term that is going to cause misunderstanding and ill will when so many alternatives are available? > I totally understand why some people took offense. It's *my* >neurosis that I'm not chastened in the least. I'm schizoid (not >schizophrenic, ok? It means I don't relate well to my fellow human beings) and proud of it. Aw . . . I think you can do just fine in relating to all of us! Cindy -- off to catch up on the fabulous bios! From annemehr at yahoo.com Wed Sep 17 03:08:45 2003 From: annemehr at yahoo.com (annemehr) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 03:08:45 -0000 Subject: Snape in Azkaban In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "erinellii" wrote: > http://www.hogwartsletters.hpg.ig.com.br/fics.html > > Ok, that is the adress of the one I mentioned in the previous post. > It's called "Clipped Wings" > > Erin Aaaaagh! I don't know what made me do it! I'd just posted in my bio that I don't read fanfic, I'm saving myself for *after* book seven, and today I clicked on this link and was DRAWN IN! I read pretty far then had to stop to go pick up my daughter, and I've been thinking about it ever since! ::hangs head in shame, off to find some scarlet fabric for "FF" to sew on front of clothes:: Annemehr ex fanfic virgin From oodaday at yahoo.co.uk Wed Sep 17 03:15:06 2003 From: oodaday at yahoo.co.uk (oodaday) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 03:15:06 -0000 Subject: Anyone up for a good Old - Fashioned *Mixer*? Message-ID: Name: Amanda Also known as: Dooda. Age/Sex: 24 / Female Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Provo Utah, now St.George Utah. It's a really pretty place to live, nice for hikers golfers. Family Life: Single, living my mom's house but paying for it day after day after day. Personality: Friendly, easy going. Words friends have used to describe you: Pretty, funny, friendly, nice. Words you have used to describe you: Creative, Senior Citizen, Clever, and a bit of a hermit. Things you do when not staring at the computer: Reading, knitting, working, and sleeping. If I could do all those at once, I'd be a happy camper. Comfort foods: Ice cream, fudge, soup and crackers. Education/Work: I went to college for a little while, but thought it wasn't my cup of tea, so now I work with special needs kids at an Intermediate School. Language skills: Sign, a little bit Spanish, and a little bit of Braille and very fluent in Pig Latin. (Oodaday, it's dooda in Pig Latin). Technical know-how: I can figure out some html stuff, but mostly when I'm doing my online diary. http://dooda.diaryland.com Favourite HP book: GoF Favourite HP character(s): Neville, George, and Bill. Favourite HP line: Just then Neville caused a slight diversion by turning into a large canary Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching, looking forward to PoA Into HP fanfiction? I've only read one all the way through, called The Potion Master's Apprentice by R.J. Anderson. I liked it a lot. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: The Harry Potter books of course. And Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontes. I just finished it and loved it. Favorite TV shows: Pretty much anything on the Disney Channel, good clean fun. Also Friends, Will and Grace and the News because, you know, I like the weather. Favorite Movies: Pirates of the Caribbean, Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Remember the Titans. Favorite Musical Artists: Evenescence, Indigo Girls, Cat Stevens, The Cure. One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): I wish I would have paid more attention in school. One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: My knitting needles, my books, I need my projects, with out them I'd go mad and my family, well, the ones that I like anyway. Philosophy for an easy life: Don't go looking for trouble, and no trouble will come to you. How you found HPfGU: My sister, the foxydoxy. Active at other HP sites: Nope. Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: There will be a new Minister of Magic. I want it to be Arthur Weasley. Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: Foxydoxy, Eowynn, and Dicentra. ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: If you could have one thing from the Potterverse what would it be? George Weasley From erinellii at yahoo.com Wed Sep 17 03:40:04 2003 From: erinellii at yahoo.com (erinellii) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 03:40:04 -0000 Subject: Snape in Azkaban In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "annemehr" wrote: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "erinellii" > wrote: > > > http://www.hogwartsletters.hpg.ig.com.br/fics.html > > > > Ok, that is the adress of the one I mentioned in the previous post. > > It's called "Clipped Wings" > > > > Erin > > Aaaaagh! > > I don't know what made me do it! > > I'd just posted in my bio that I don't read fanfic, I'm saving myself > for *after* book seven, and today I clicked on this link and was DRAWN > IN! I read pretty far then had to stop to go pick up my daughter, and > I've been thinking about it ever since! > > ::hangs head in shame, off to find some scarlet fabric for "FF" to sew > on front of clothes:: > > Annemehr > ex fanfic virgin Oh dear! I didn't mean to corrupt you. Just in case you haven't gotten that far, let me warn you that it gets slashy. I actually skipped past the whole slashy part, finding even the thought of Snape/Harry very very disturbing. No offense to the author of this one, but i've read stuff I like a lot better, this was not really one of my favorites. Erin From catlady at wicca.net Wed Sep 17 04:13:42 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 04:13:42 -0000 Subject: Pshemekan's *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: <3F6784DA.20807@ipartner.com.pl> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Przemyslaw Plaskowicki" wrote: > >Also known as: > Pshemekan, Plex, Przepla Plex? See, you *do* have a name that English-speakers can spell! Hi, Plex. From lhuntley at fandm.edu Wed Sep 17 04:47:54 2003 From: lhuntley at fandm.edu (Laura Ingalls Huntley) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 00:47:54 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Three Years and Counting! (moved from main list) In-Reply-To: <008d01c37ccb$ab42e880$d304a6d8@texas.net> Message-ID: <19C62F20-E8CA-11D7-B479-000A95E29F3E@fandm.edu> Congratulations, Amanda! Three years. You make me feel like a newbie. ^_~ So, your re-post got me wondering what *my* first post was like...I mean, I vaguely recalled posting about a *day* after I joined (no, I didn't read much of the archives, but I *did* read all of the FAQs/HBF). Understandably, I was pretty afraid it'd be about something awful like "Hey, you guys...what about that gleam in Dumbledore's eye?", and misattributed, and probably a "me too" post in which I flamed a fellow list member or otherwise made a complete ass of myself. *sigh* So, I tripped over to the Members section and found my name (and discovered that I have a Yahoo!Profile which contains a picture of me that looks like I'm not wearing a shirt *has no recollection of making this profile*) and my date of arrival (February 2, 2002). Then, I scuttled over to the Posts section (already sick of hitting NEXT over and over) and found my message. Turns out, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I expected. Which isn't to say that I'm proud of it. It started out well enough, a reply to a lady named Rita - not Catlady :( - disputing her theory that Voldemort still trusted Snape. I went on to argue that perhaps Voldemort is "letting" Snape spy on him, in order to feed him misinformation. But then, I somehow got off on a tangent that ends, spectacularly, in Harry trying to kill Voldemort with mayonnaise and getting, uh, creamed. ^_~ *sheepish grin* Even worse, in my second post, I - for reasons unknown - decided to rather prissily inform Cindy (*the* cindysphinx, Cindy) that it was a good thing that JKR wrote about "three-dimensional characters," rather than "perfect people." *turns red and hides face with hands* Oh, dear. Laura (who can't quite believe she used the phrase "tasty white sandwich spread* in her first post. ^_~) From eowynn_24 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 17 05:35:33 2003 From: eowynn_24 at yahoo.com (eowynn_24) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 22:35:33 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030917053533.14162.qmail@web60205.mail.yahoo.com> "Cindy C." wrote: ********************* Name: Julia Also known as: Eowynn, Julie, Juju, Jules. Plus a few names I would rather not mention. Age/Sex: 24/Female Birthplace/Living place and feelings about same: Orem,Ut born and lived till I was 7. St. George, Ut was where I was pretty much raised, and now live for a short stint. I was in SLC, Ut for about 5 years before I moved back to St. George. Now I am preparing to move to Tarzana, CA to finish my school. I love St. George, I love visiting my cousin in Ca (who I will be living with), however, I am not a huge fan of living in SLC, I love to visit, I just didn't enjoy living there. Family Life: Currently single and loving it! i have one cat, a Russian blue, his name is Smokey, and e is the man (well feline) of my life. I know pathetic. Personality: Definitely the cup is half full. I love life and plan on living it to the fullest. Words friends have used to describe you: fun, outgoing, positive, pretty, witty (look I made a rhyme) creative...once again there are a few choice phrase I have chosen to leave off, please forgive me. Words you have used to describe you: uhhh....shy (unless i know you, then beware:), complicated, spontaneous. Things you do when not staring at the computer: I love o read, hike, play racquetball, learning to crotchet, play the piano, write poetry, and take photographs. Comfort foods: CHOCOLATE (MMMMM!!!), ice cream, popcorn, Cheeto's, and Dr. Pepper. Education/Work: I attended a local college for a year, now I am leaving to finish my education in cinematography. Right now i work for the local school district and I am a free lance photographer, I actually have my first show coming up in a few weeks. Language skills: EEnglish, a little German, a little Spanish, and I am teaching myself Sign Language. I would love to speak Gaelic, Russian, Latvian, and Czech. Technical know-how: I know how to turn the computer on and off :) Not much comparatively speaking, but I can find my way around. I am really good at anything technical when it comes to a camera or the kitchen. Favorite HP book: This is a tuff one, it is either PoA or OOP. I also really enjoyed GoF. Oh I don't know, this is an unfair question. Favorite HP character(s): It would probably be easier for me to mention my least favorite characters : Umbridge, Fudge, Filch, Mrs. Noriss, and... well...Molly Weasley. (bangs head furiously on the window!) Favorite HP line: " Give her hell from us, Peeves." Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching, and excited for PoA to come, if I could I would time turn myself to next summer. Into HP fan fiction? I have just started reading some, I haven't formed an opinion yet. I do like T-bay though. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: I read way to many books to be able to say, I would advise people to just pick up a book, any book, and give it a go. If you don't like it at least you have learned something, that you didn't like that book. Favorite TV shows: CSI, CSI Miami, Law & order SVU, Law & Order SU, Friends, Will and Grace, and the animated Spiderman (MTV), and X-Men (cartoon net.) Favorite Movies: I don't think I have one. My favorite would just depend on the mood I am in. I watched a lot of 80's stuff this past week; Goonies, St. Elmos Fire, Breakfast Club. There are a lot of new movies out that I really enjoy also; Harry Potter, LoTR, Pirates of the Caribbean, Holes, X-Men, Matrix... Favorite Musical Artists: Once again too many to name, I don't get into Marilyn Manson, or P. Diddy, and I have a hard time with pop, however I do like some pop songs. I pretty much like everything else. One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): Nothing, I am quite happy with who i am now. One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: I don't think there is any aspect of my life I would short change to trade it for a book changing, so I wouldn't change my life. Philosophy for an easy life: Que Serra Serra... This is on my family crest (Scottish) I live by this. How you found HPfGU: Dooda, and I should thank her more often for this. Active at other HP sites: I am a lurker at a lot of other sites, but i typically only post here. Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Molly will die. Not really a prediction just a hope. Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: Hello Foxydoxy, and Dooda. I might as well say hi to Dicentra, even though i have not met you i feel like I have from everything I have been told about you. TO copy from Dooda and Gabriela: Which character of the book would you like to Crucio? If reading the above sections you couldn't tell, Molly. If you could have one thing from the Potterverse what would it be? Dooda, since you got George could I have Fred? ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: If you were JKR and needed to add a new plot twist to the ever so churning potterverse, what would you do? I would make ESE Lupin confess his guilt and die saving Harry at the hand of LV. Too contrived? (This would happen in book 6 Harry would still need to kill LV himself.) --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Wed Sep 17 07:08:16 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 07:08:16 -0000 Subject: Gay is damaged, straight is normal In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says We're going to run out of alternatives if we don't get a grip. Terms like "retarded", "disabled", "handicapped", etc., began as euphemisms. Now we have to say things like "intellectually challenged" and "differently abled". Pooh. Doubleplus pooh. Besides, whenever I try to be --what, nice? normal? sweet? -- I get neurodermatitis and vapors and I vomit bile. I *am* a bitch. Call me if you ever want to get rid of a clingy friend. --JDR From morgan_d_yyh at yahoo.com Wed Sep 17 10:26:31 2003 From: morgan_d_yyh at yahoo.com (Morgan D.) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 03:26:31 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Snape in Azkaban In-Reply-To: <1063776937.2664.15922.m4@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: <20030917102631.21885.qmail@web11008.mail.yahoo.com> Erin recommended: > > http://www.hogwartsletters.hpg.ig.com.br/fics.html > > > > Ok, that is the adress of the one I mentioned in the previous post. > > > It's called "Clipped Wings" And Annemehr replied: > Aaaaagh! > > I don't know what made me do it! > > I'd just posted in my bio that I don't read fanfic, I'm saving myself > for *after* book seven, and today I clicked on this link and was > DRAWN > IN! I read pretty far then had to stop to go pick up my daughter, > and I've been thinking about it ever since! > > ::hangs head in shame, off to find some scarlet fabric for "FF" to > sew on front of clothes:: > > Annemehr > ex fanfic virgin *giggles* Sorry, I just can't help feeling smug to hear you've lost your virginity in my site ^__^ Don't feel so bad. Theresa's fic is indeed something. I'm very lucky to have her as my writing partner. Morgan D. Hogwarts Letters - http://www.hogwartsletters.hpg.com.br __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com Wed Sep 17 10:48:38 2003 From: jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com (jeffl1965) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 10:48:38 -0000 Subject: Draco a stalker? :) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" wrote: >> > The Sergeant Majorette says > > I'd like to say I think it's the bum thing, but it seems to me that > it's rather a revenge thing. I'm seeing Draco hearing about the Boy- > your-age-who-is-totally-famous-and-you're-not from earliest > childhood; he figured he could impress his adored and fabulous father > by taking Harry under his wing. He probably overhears all kinds of > stuff about Harry, but when he starts whining about Harry, his father > says ("quellingly"),"you have told me this at least a dozen times > already." He gets punked by Harry, the Weasel and the Mudblood on a > regular basis. The only person he can depend on getting a rise out of > is Ron. > Jeff: Well, I think it could be the bum thing too. Draco is so pretty from what I can tell from the books, so maybe he does have one helluva crush on Harry. ;) I think your statements make sense. I'm sure that Draco does piss and moan about Harry all the time, or at least until Daddy smacks him a good one. I'm sure that Draco goes into a closet someplace and throws little fits everytime the trio gets one over on him. I also agree that he must sit around in the common room thinking of new ways to set Ron up to fall for something just so he can toss a few insults at him. Its something I wouldnt put past Draco at all. > And now, eyeing a hornest's nest with gleeful malice, I have to ask > why nobody gets bent out of shape at the thought of a neurotic gay > Draco? Or Snape, for that matter? Don't evil queens deserve love too? > > --JDR (unanimously voted Command Major B***h of the Army in basic > training) I dunno. I'm guessing that they expect them to be like that? Who knows? Jeff From jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com Wed Sep 17 11:05:40 2003 From: jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com (jeffl1965) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 11:05:40 -0000 Subject: Draco a stalker? :) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "martha" wrote: > > > You know, I've always thought there's something a bit "methinks the > lady doth protest too much" about Draco. > > Bitter, Draco? And why the need to have a right old go at Colin, > anyway? Couldn't be because he actually does get to have pictures of > Harry, could it? Since Harry's rejection of his handshake on the > Hogwarts Express at the beginning of PS, Draco's had it in for Harry, > and I can't think of a decent explanation other than obsession. I agree. I really think that there is much more to it than hatred. At least in Draco's case. I pointed out to somebody on another list that Harry actually attacked Draco first, without provacation in SS/PS. The first flying lesson is what I mean. Draco had Neville's rememberall, and he was going to hide it on the roof,iirc, and yet Harry threatened to knock him off the broom when they were 40 or more feet off the ground. Not exactly the proper response to something that didnt actually involve you. However, you're correct that Harry does tend to ignore Draco over the years. Draco hates that, and as you stated bullies love the attention and the reactions they get. Draco, imho, does really obsess over Harry way too much, and to be in a boarding school with him for 9 months out of the year, 24/7 isn't going to help. Does the obsession turn sexual in nature as they age? I think so. I don't like nor do I often read the D/H slash stories as I don't like them, but the few I have read that weren't AU or just so OOC that they should be, tend to have something about the obsession in them. I've even seen a few with Ron where he and Draco have an argument that goes too far and after Ron beats Draco almost senseless, he then makes rough love to him. That seems to make sense, but in this case, I think it would be more like Draco would stalk Harry and get him alone somewhere and eitehr with or without his goons help, rape Harry. I can see it coming and it's not a very pleasant thought for me. Is he jealous of Colin? Yes, I think so for the very reasons you state. He has all kinds of pix of Harry, and yes I'd bet he has numerous pix of a naked Harry too. Colin has no sense of limits and personal space as near as I can see. Would Draco try to use Colin to get some pix? Yes, I think he would. Draco has the love bug, and I think it has him by the short hairs. ;) Jeff From cindysphynx at comcast.net Wed Sep 17 14:13:23 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 14:13:23 -0000 Subject: Three Years and Counting! (moved from main list) In-Reply-To: <19C62F20-E8CA-11D7-B479-000A95E29F3E@fandm.edu> Message-ID: Laura wrote (about her de-lurk): > Even worse, in my second post, I - for reasons unknown - decided to > rather prissily inform Cindy (*the* cindysphinx, Cindy) that it was >a good thing that JKR wrote about "three-dimensional characters," >rather than "perfect people." > > *turns red and hides face with hands* > > Oh, dear. Hee! No need to be embarrassed. You had *spunk.* I like spunk, myself! ;-) Besides, you were *right* and I was *wrong!* Cindy -- who recently celebrated her two-year anniversary and whose own de-lurk was a "Why Was Sirius Laughing" question, presented as though it was the most original and brilliant canon observation ever made From cindysphynx at comcast.net Wed Sep 17 14:46:54 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 14:46:54 -0000 Subject: Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . (LONG) Message-ID: Hey, Well, I read all of the mixer posts, I think. You guys are one cool and fascinating group of people! How cool and fascinating? Let's see. It looks like I'll need to huddle with Catlady, Tyler, Annehmr, JDR, Sandy, and Severus Sucker in the "40 and over" corner. That's where we can talk about our mid-life crises away from youthful prying eyes (I'm battling a weird urge to go sky-diving, myself). Elizabeth is planning ahead, as she has already decided she's getting a motor bike for her mid-life crisis. I don't know if we can be heard over the noise coming from Katheryn, Severus Sucker, Morgan D. and Klara over in the "Tower of Babel" corner, since they speak at least 5 languages each. Excellente! Tonya can open an on-line university, since she has *three* undergraduate degrees her own self! Martha and I are "messed up" middle children. No wonder, though. Mom always liked my siblings best! ;-0 There are lots of dogs, too. Although I think Tracy has the fastest dogs (greyhounds), which I hear are great pets. I'll bet Jennifer's beagle has escaped on at least 5 occasions! And I'm going out on a limb and predicting Gabriela's French Poodle is white but does not have a traditional poodle cut. No one mentioned sushi as a comfort food! But Laura's nearly raw meat is close; it sounds ever so . . . slippery. And Melissa? I like liquid jello too! It has that weird sticky quality in the mouth, and it's warm, too! Katherine'###&Ms are good too, although I can't go for those new crunchy ones or the peanut butter ones. I'm a purist! Naama, when you splurge on 2 eggs and salad and two slices of bread, is this a sandwich? Vulgarweed, I like Little Debbie snack cakes too, but only the oatmeal ones. Julia likes Dr. Pepper, but how do you feel about these weird new sodas that are coming out? Lemon Coke. Vanilla Pepsi. I find them undrinkable. Abigail goes for mac and cheese; but are we talking boxed or home made? Nox definitely resides in the city with the coolest name -- Toowoomba. I just love the way that sounds! Toowoomba, Toowoomba, Toowoomba! Annehmr has the longest marriage, I think, at 21 years! Amber seems to have the angriest jilted lover, though. Sounds awful, Amber. Shaun likes astronomy, so I will puff out my chest and brag that I can find most of the constellations readily visible in the northern hemisphere! I volunteer in my kids' schools to teach at the school's planetarium, so I had to sort out the night sky. I have no clue about the formation of stars and all of the *hard* stuff, though. Jen works in an emergency room, I think. Is there, erm, *blood* and *bodily fluids* involved? Are the workers allowed to faint dead away? ;-) June, I used to sell cokes at Arizona State University's football stadium, People *hate you* when you spill drinks on them. Don't ask how I know! ;-) Terry, what color is the bridesmaids dress? I've poured myself into one dress that was the color of orange sherbet (that one came with a *straw derby* I had to wear!) and another was lavender. I put my own bridesmaids in deep blue, but now I wish I had told them to wear whatever they wanted. Sarah, once you dissect a fly's brains, what do you *do* with it? Becky, you make *diapers?* Like, square pieces of cloth? Or do you mean diaper covers? Do you want to take on a partner? I have a sewing machine! ;-) Amanda, do you wear what you knit? I ask because I used to knit and produced nothing that anyone would actually put on their bodies. I had a bit of a talent deficit. ;-) Let's see. I'm thinking Linda's last name (Treantafel) is pronounced "Tree-AN-tah-fel". And I think "Przemyslaw" is "PREM-ee-slah." Well, that's enough out of me! ;-) Cindy -- thanking you all for playing From stevejjen at earthlink.net Wed Sep 17 16:03:50 2003 From: stevejjen at earthlink.net (Jen Reese) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 16:03:50 -0000 Subject: Snape in Azkaban In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "annemehr" wrote: > Aaaaagh! > > I don't know what made me do it! > > I'd just posted in my bio that I don't read fanfic, I'm saving myself > for *after* book seven, and today I clicked on this link and was DRAWN > IN! I read pretty far then had to stop to go pick up my daughter, and > I've been thinking about it ever since! > > ::hangs head in shame, off to find some scarlet fabric for "FF" to sew > on front of clothes:: > > Annemehr > ex fanfic virgin I posted in my bio an emphatic "NO" to fanfic and then, very furtively, went right over and joined the HPSlash group. How's that for going all the way?! Jen, who's now going to check out http://www.hogwartsletters.hpg.ig.com.br/fics.html wihtout the slightest guilt for changing her mind..... From stevejjen at earthlink.net Wed Sep 17 16:12:33 2003 From: stevejjen at earthlink.net (Jen Reese) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 16:12:33 -0000 Subject: Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . (LONG) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote: > > Jen works in an emergency room, I think. Is there, erm, *blood* and > *bodily fluids* involved? Are the workers allowed to faint dead away? > ;-) >> > Well, that's enough out of me! ;-) > > Cindy -- thanking you all for playing Thanks again for being brave enough to post the bio idea, Cindy! I've been reading them all, too, and hope they keep coming in. As for the copious amounts of blood and uh, body fluids of all types in the ER, thank god they don't let the social workers get anywhere near them :). I guess they figure we will either faint dead away, lose our lunch or mess something up...I've never asked in case I'm volunteered to empty bed pans...Jen From lynntownsend100 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 17 16:25:38 2003 From: lynntownsend100 at yahoo.com (Lynn) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 09:25:38 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Fwd: Re: PROTEST ON FF.NET! Message-ID: <20030917162538.7950.qmail@web41406.mail.yahoo.com> sandy smith wrote: Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 13:28:18 -0700 (PDT) From: sandy smith Subject: Re: PROTEST ON FF.NET! To: Melissa CC: lynntownsend100 at yahoo.com Melissa wrote: FLAVOR00-NONE-0000-0000-000000000000; TO FANFICTION.NET WRITERS > > > > Date: > > > > Sun, 31 Aug 2003 20:41:13 -0600 > > > > > > > > > > > > HTML Attachment [ Scan with Norton AntiVirus | Save > > to my Yahoo! Briefcase | Download Without Scan ] > > > > Sorry to the people who don't know who I am. I'm > > Kiera Kao (real name Sammy), and I'm also on FF.net. > > Apparently, FF.net has made many attempts to get rid > > of many people's lemon stories, and this is a > > protest/petition against it. Even if you don't write > > them, or even read them, please sign this, so that > > the people who do can continue to do so. Because > > isn't FF.net's motto, "Unleash your imagination and > > free your soul"? It wouldn't make sense if people > > writing "lemon" stories couldn't write them, but > > others are allowed to write anything else. WE NEED > > AS MANY SIGNATURES AS POSSIBLE!!!! > > > > > > > > ~Kiera Kao~ > > > > If you haven't heard as of yet, www.fanfiction.net > > is taking down > > > > >all "lemon" fanfictions from their archives. Why > > they are doing this > > > > >is unknown, but what is known is that my fiction > > "Kisses and > > > > >Caresses" has been removed three times because of > > their new rule. > > > > >They have also sent me an e-mail warning me to > > remove all my lemon > > > > >sceens or they'll do it for me. > > > > > > > > > >I, of course, disagreed, and so as a result I am > > having my access to > > > > >my archives taken away from me and all of my > > fictions that have been > > > > >rated R will be removed in two days time. > > > > > > > > > >Being angry, I instently went to PINK KITTY FROM > > HELL, another > > > > >author on ff.net, and asked for advice for this > > situation, after I > > > > >seethed for a bit. What she suggested is this, a > > petition for all > > > > >lemon writers to sign so that our right of freedom > > of speach is not > > > > >taken away from us. Seeing the merit in this idea, > > I instently > > > > >agreed, leading me to ask you to please agree to > > sign. If you don't > > > > >not only mine, but your R rated fictions, will be > > taken down and > > > > >removed once one of their little snitchs find and > > report you. > > > > > > > > > >To begin this, I will add my own name at the top of > > this list, and I > > > > >will stand strong against them for as long as I > > can. I will keep > > > > >trying to repost my fictions, and if they are no > > longer accepted > > > > >here, then I will go else where and begin again. > > But I will not, > > > > >NOT, allow these people to tell me what I can and > > cannot write... > > > > >Don't make the mistake of bending to their demands, > > just because > > > > >they'll remove your fictions doesn't mean that > > someone else won't be > > > > >willing to host them instead. > > > > > > > > > >This petition has a lot of signatures. Send it to > > Lasako of course > > > > >at Lasako at xuppa.com or Lasako at aol.com ) > > > > > > > > > >1.) Lasako > > > > > > > > > >2.) Esme-SesshyLuVer (Send this back once this gets > > more > > > > >signatures!) > > > > > > > > > >3.) bebe_jinx > > > > > > > > > >4.)Dragon's Lover1 > > > > > > > > > >5.) Fairies hope- i dont' wirte lemons i like to > > read them (but i > > > > >was thinking of writing one soon) > > > > > > > > > >6.) Spring Angel > > > > > > > > > >7.) Angelcake > > > > > > > > > >8.) Jazz-chan (different sides of the track might > > become r soon and > > > > >i dont want it taken down) > > > > > > > > > >9.) BRL (Black Rose Lady) > > > > > > > > > >10.) Shikibu > > > > > > > > > >11.) Aznstarangel ( I dun write lemons either... > > but i support those > > > > >who do!) > > > > > > > > > >12.) Silver Foxglove (Lemons are great! I support > > the writer's > > > > >views!) > > > > > > > > > >13.) Rei-hime (I have yet to write a lemon, but I > > was planning on > > > > >some "lemon-shness" for my later fics. At any rate, > > I'm in full > > > > >support of this. I and many people I know are lemon > > writers and/or > > > > >lovers.) > > > > > > > > > >14.) Youko Demon (Like some of you others, I have > > yet to write a > > > > >lemon but I love to read them. I also have many > > friends that have > > > > >written excellent lemons and I'd hate to see them > > taken down) > > > > > > > > > >15.) Alastair (I've had three of my own lemons > > taken down this year, > > > > >and lost over a hundred reviews from good people > > that loved them. > > > > >Now, they can't read them unless they drop by some > > other fanfiction > > > > >archive. And I don't want to have to keep directing > > these good > > > > >people all the time. Pissed off? Yes. Very much.) > > > > > > > > > >16.) Tla Adagaue (I , honestly, have never written > > a NC-17 fic, but > > > > >I don't really like the fact many great fics with > > lemon scenes get > > > > >taken down. I understand why some people report > > them, but I hope the > > > > >rule can be changed. Writers shouldn't be limited > > to what they > > > > >write. Peace!) > > > > > > > > > >17.) Luraia Soul (I can't just stand by and watch > > as work gets > > > > >destroyed. Would you if your hard work was being > > threatened to be > > > > >deleted?) > > > > > > > > > >18.) Psycho-Kitty-Purra (*is amused* I was going to > > suggest > > > > >adultfanfiction.net Unfortunately, you don't get as > > many reviews. > > > > >^.~ I've written a lemon, and it's been a constant > > worry of mine > > > > >that someone might take it down because of the > > content. I'll rest > > > > >easier knowing that my rights are being protected. > > There are far too > > > > >many good writers out there that have been told > > they can't post > > > > >simply because of their material.) > > > > > > > > > >19.) grandsummon (i have'nt written a lemon but > > will. This new rule > > > > >set up by fanfiction.net is a load of crap!! > > authors come to > > > > >fanfiction.net to write freely. isn't their motto ' > > unleash your > > > > >imagination and free your soul'? well how are > > authors supposed to do > > > > >this now!?) > > > > > > > > > >20.) Raye Hino (okay this is justs plain stupid. > > taking down peoples > > > > >creations is just as bad deleting stories that were > > reported by > > > > >tatle tales. Whats the point of having a motto > > 'Unleash your > > > > >imagination and free your soul' if there are so > > many restrictions.) > > > > > > > > > >21. LiL MisS DOOM (those peeps on ff.net that wants > > to delete the > > > > >[lemony] stories people made have gone mad! I > > haven't written any > > > > >lemons, but it's kinda funny to read them > > dough...so...who ever made > > > > >up the new rule has made a mistake...a very BIG > > mistake! They've > > > > >took my stories! And mine aren't even R rated!! > > Assholes...) > > > > > > > > > >22. Ice Spirit (I haven't written a lemon fic and > > i'm not planning > > > > >to but, it's not right that they would remove the > > (lemon) stories > > > > >that some other people had written. They are even > > removing fics that > > > > >are not lemons. They are even disregarding their > > motto "unleash your > > > > >imagination and free your soul". They are taking > > other peoples > > > > >freedom to write. Why did they even included the > > NC-17 and R in the > > > > >ratings selection if they are going to remove those > > fics?) > > > > > > > > > >23. Ruriko Minamino = I don't write lemon, and > > don't plan to - not > > > > >really - but didn't the sign on Ff.n state 'Unleash > > your imagination > > > > >and free your soul' ? This is false advertising, > > people! Come on, > > > > >sign on this list! If this ever gets back to me, I > > wanna see at > > > > >least two hundred names! > > > > > > > > > >24. IceBlade740 - C'mon people, SIGN SIGN SIGN!!! I > > wrote a lemon > > > > >which I happen to like, I dun want it taken down, > > not to mention all > > > > >the wonderful works of all them other people who > > wrote beautiful > > > > >lemons!!! Great works are great works, no matter > > their content. Just > > > > >because of this new stupid rule, doesn't mean all > > those fantastic > > > > >fictions out there deserve to be deleted!!! I tell > > you, I won't > > > > >stand by and watch as beautiful works written by > > wondeful authors > > > > >get taken down because of as trifle a thign as > > content! Who are > > > > >these ff.net people anyway, thinking that they can > > do such things? I > > > > >mean, we go by the motto "unleash your imagination > > and free yoru > > > > >soul", and how can we do that if we can't post what > > we like? This > > > > >means WAR!!! > > > > > > > > > >25. Shortsnout: I write lemons and i would be very > > bloody annoyed if > > > > >they took my story down! We shouldnt be limited by > > what we > > > > >write!!!!!!! > > > > > > > > > >26. Golden Leaf: They already stopped us from > > writing NC-17 so what > > > > >is their problem? We should be able to write what > > we like. Some > > > > >people work really hard on their fics just for them > > to be taken > > > > >down. It is not right!!! > > > > > > > > > >27. Mrs. Aish Luthor & Secret08 (You can't separate > > us. we're > > > > >inseparable! LOL! aNyway, I looovveee lemon!) > > > > > > > > > >28. Whispers of an angel- *that's pretty stupid > > what ff.net is > > > > >doing! That's just a violation of our rights! Even > > though I don't > > > > >write lemons doesn't mean other people don't!!!* > > > > > > > > > >29. LiNkIn PaRk RoX- WHAT?! Theyre taking down > > lemons?! Dude, thats > > > > >so stupid! I don't write lemons but I don't think > > that they should > > > > >be doing that! ou could also go to > > http://fiction.seiryuuheaven.net/ > > > > >(Fanfiction Sanctuary) if nothing works out. > > > > > > > > > >30. Mimi T. Tachikawa- They can't take down > > lemons!!! You guys all > > > > >worked hard for making those stories!!!! > > > > > > > > > >31. Bloody Love- That isn't right. They so > > shouldn't take down ur > > > > >lemons. I enjoy reading them and I was intending to > > let my story get > > > > >a little more steamer and I couldn't do it if they > > r going to take > > > > >it off. I hope this works out. Especially for the > > people that r > > > > >definatly writing lemons and already have some out. > > > > > > > > > > > >32. (Kendra Luehr)- WTF???? o.o I can NOT b-lieve > > that this iz even > > > > >an ISSUE!!! >.< GRRRR!!! Damn them!!! W/e happened > > 2 that "free ur > > > > >soul" slogan??? Hello in there, stupid ff.net ppl, > > how the fuck are > > > > >we supposed 2 b able 2 TRULY xpress ourselves??? It > > makes me sick! > > > > >Have u ever READ lemons??? They're not ALL > > pornographic, ya know! > > > > >Sum are really heartfelt & sweet, so WHY do u wanna > > get rid of sum > > > > >nicely-written stories??? ARG!!! >_< I h8 u!!!! > > Jeez!!! > > > > > > > > > >33. Mayonaka Hoshi - Hey All you FF.net bastards!!! > > SNITCH THIS!!! > > > > >*Raises Middle Finger* Yeah that's right! You Lemon > > Sucking Dicks!! > > > > >Better not take off any of my stuff!!! Damn Snitchy > > Bitchy Persons!! > > > > > > > > > >34. Chibi Ayame- Omg, WTF???? o.o ~blink blink~ I > > can NOT believe > > > > >this!!!! Y are u ppl so fuckin' stupid???? How ELSE > > do u expect us 2 > > > > >express ourselves in the most beautifully poetic > > form possible???? > > > > >Grrr, u ppl are making me SOOO angry!!!! Ya see, u > > should just have > > > > >a children block thing, so poots on u!!!! >.< > > NIYAH!!! > > > > > > > > > >35. Shannon- Yeah! I soooo agree w/ these ppl! > > What's ur problem???? > > > > >Freedom of speech!!!! > > > > > > > > > >36. Nova- I don?t want them to take away the > > lemons I read. I was > > > > >just about to star my own too but I was afraid I > > would have no where > > > > >to post them. This is unfair and I wont stand for > > it! > > > > > > > > > >37. emily623- This is so stupid!! why are they > > taking down lemon > > > > >stories? grrrrrr this is in a way discrimination, > > just because they > > > > >have sex they get taken down! What ever happened to > > free speach?? > > > > > > > > > >38. dragon tamer 623- this is total bull!!! > > > > > > > > > >39. Yams and Hicky > > > > > > > > > >40. Silent Sniper: *sigh* This is dumb. I love > > reading lemons. I > > > > >have three of my own. People work hard for this. > > VERY hard. I've > > > > >been upset ever since...Its not fair > > > > > > > > > >41. Yami Bakura's Wife (I don't write lemons, I > > rarely read them, > > > > >but I will support all of you, I mean, it IS > > freedom of speech and > > > > >all, and actually, some lemons are actually quite > > funny to read!!) > > > > > > > > > >42. Kaira-chan: ((I read lemons, and im working on > > one... LEMONS > > > > >FOREVER!!!)) > > > > > > > > > >43. Violet Wolf: (Stupid FF.NET, i don''t write > > lemon but i like to > > > > >read them so SIGN TO KEEP LEMON FICS!!!) > > > > > > > > > >44. GreenLink (I don't read lemons...nor do I write > > them...but I > > > > >believe in freedom of ideas...if anyone has a > > problem with that, > > > > >then they should get half a brain and read the > > ratings rather than > > > > >going in and complaining about it.) > > > > > > > > > > 45. Musuko (I don't have an account on FF.net, but > > I read the stories, and I HATE it when peoples' > > ideas are restricted just because someone doesn't > > like to read or hear about it... It's the same as > > art; if you don't like the art, don't like at it!! > > DUH!! I support the freedom of ideas and speech.) > > > > 46. Masao E.M. Takashi > > > > 47. Kiera Kao- I don't understand why FF.net would > > do that if their whole motto means to be creative, > > imaginative, and to express yourself. It's like > > they're breaking one of their major rules! If they > > don't like it, then they can just ignore it. If > > other people are complaining that THEY don't like > > it, then, heh, too bad. Shtick THAT in your pipe, > > and shmoke it! > > > > 49.B-chan2007- I don't understand how they can do > > this to us! they said that we could write what we > > want and then cause a few people don't like it they > > start taking our stories off! they people who don't > > like the lemon shouldn't read those stories then and > > stop complaining! they don't have to read the > > stories with lemon in them or they can just skip > > over those parts! Even if you don't write lemon or > > read sign this anyway cause someone out there does! > > >50. draegon_fire - I think it's absolutely stupid that >they are wanting to eliminate lemons. They already >took away NC-17, understandable to a point, but this >is out of hand. Lemons are a creative way of >expressing feelings between characters, especially in >romances. Besides, readers are given plenty of >warning if a chapter contains a lemon, so they can >skip over it if they don't want to read. > > >51. Sharkdiver - This site is for expressing your self. We are responsible enough to set limits for ourselves and rate our fics appropriately...Don't treat us like children, we can handle smut...Leave our fics the HELL alone!!! > >>52. Jareth's PixiePrincess--I can't believe ff.net is trying to do this!! >>*mutters about mean ff.net people* > >>53. Draco's WinterLily~*~I can not believe that they are doing this. Some of the best story's are lemon. Ok now I'm in a bad mood *mutters about how she's going to teach them something new* 54. Eminem-Chick2 - Ugh!!! This is so unfair!!! Lemons are great and you're supposed to be able to put any fanfic you've written on this site!! >>54. Viviana Estevez 55. Eminem-Chick2 - Ugh!!! This is so unfair!!! Lemons are great and you're supposed to be able to put any fanfic you've written on this site!! God!!! 56. Melissa Adams - Post on AdultFanFiction.Net They are SO cool. I really am upset that they are ridding of your story...VERY upsetting. 57. Caffeine- Iike so many others who have signed this FREEDOM OF SPEECH!!!!!!! honestly! 58 lynntownsend- I have one thing to say...EWWW! Wasn't censoring the "NC17" fics ENOUGH for you people?!? Besides, just because it's rated "r" doesn't mean it's because of sex, ya know...Some of my favorite authors ONLY post on here and have rated "r" fics, and as I mentioned, it's not because of sex!!! (Not that *I* have a problem with sex in my fics...but obviously YOU DO! I can't help but think that If Stephen King,Clive Barker, Norman Mailer,or Gore Vidal(to name a few...)decided to post here they would be yanked off in a NY second!! --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software Harry Potter Fandom...it's not just a philosophy...it's a way of life... -"Nancy Button" http://www.nancybuttons.com "No,no one f*cks about with you if you're carrying a big heavy stick." -Jason Issacs on being Lucius Malfoy Slash Fic Writer: We don't own them,we just borrow them and turn them gay... --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From eowynn_24 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 17 17:07:41 2003 From: eowynn_24 at yahoo.com (eowynn_24) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 10:07:41 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . (LONG) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030917170741.31057.qmail@web60210.mail.yahoo.com> "Cindy C." wrote: >Hey, >Well, I read all of the mixer posts, I think. You guys are one cool >and fascinating group of people! How cool and fascinating? >Julia likes Dr. Pepper, but how do you feel about these weird new sodas that are coming out? >Lemon Coke. Vanilla Pepsi. I find them undrinkable. Eowynn (Julia): I tried a Pepsi Twist once and it wasn't an experience I would like to repeat. Due to that I have never tried any of the vanilla, cherry, or any other disgusting combination drink. I like my DP cold and normal, Thank you. >Let's see. I'm thinking Linda's last name (Treantafel) is pronounced >"Tree-AN-tah-fel". And I think "Przemyslaw" is "PREM-ee-slah." Eowynn: That is a lot better than anything I was attempting to say. Now i am just wondering how do you pronounce those names? >Well, that's enough out of me! ;-) >Cindy -- thanking you all for playing Eowynn: Thank you for this. It was really fun. I got to "know" so many people, I hope that they will all be at Nimbus so that I can meet them. I was so impressed with the diversity we have in this group, we have so much knowledge and talent between us. I also loved to see the humor in so many of the posts, I love to laugh, and you all made me laugh. Thanks Eowynn --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From linlou43 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 17 17:36:05 2003 From: linlou43 at yahoo.com (linlou43) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 17:36:05 -0000 Subject: Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . (LONG) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Cindy wrote: > Let's see. I'm thinking Linda's last name (Treantafel) is pronounced > "Tree-AN-tah-fel". And I think "Przemyslaw" is "PREM-ee-slah." That's VERY close. Just move one consonant and put a mini-accent on the first syllable. "Tree-ANT-ah-fel" -linlou, who, after 14 years with her husband, still frets that she went from her simple, five letter maiden name to one that she spells more often than she says From malaprop2000 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 17 17:40:39 2003 From: malaprop2000 at yahoo.com (malaprop2000) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 17:40:39 -0000 Subject: So when is a WIP no longer a WIP? (Fan Fiction) Message-ID: Newbie here with a question I've been thinking about for a while ... I've only been reading fan fiction for a little over two years and mostly in the HP genre so I can't say I've had a wide range of experience in the subject. It seems like there are unfinished fics all over the place - although I still have hopes for "Another Snape Meets the Dursleys Story" by Rabbit. I pretty much don't read fan fic anymore unless the words COMPLETE appear in the summary. So is a WIP no longer a WIP when: The author posts regularly for several chapters. Then the time between posts gets longer and longer until the author hasn't posted anything new for over six months? The author posts numerous excuses mostly concerning real life getting in the way of the fic. The author posts rewrites of previous chapters instead of new words. The author has a Yahoo group on which she/he: *Posts snippets of chapters that never appear in full *Complains that she/he is too busy answering fan email to write *Defends his/her work in long e-mails *Is protected by the group mods who lecture anyone who asks if the fic will ever be finished. (If this reminds you of the Mirror of Maybe or Pawn to Queen, right in one. Please no debate on the merits or demerits of either.) I've got enough unfinished fic on my own hard drive to know how a good idea can suddenly come to a screeching halt around chapter 11 or 12 (even with the plot outlined. In fact, I've got a decent mystery of about 20 chapters - except that I realized that I'd killed off someone in Chapter 9 who still needed to be alive in chapter 20 in order to make the blackmail scheme work. I'm working on reviving him but it goes slowly, slowly and the writing isn't as fresh.) And I understand the excitement of being able to publish immediately and get feedback. In the past, I read WIPs with glee. I followed Sushi's Civil Wars for almost a year and felt great satisfaction the night the last chapter was posted. Ditto Jewel of the Nile - although I haven't checked lately if she's added anything. But the thrill of waiting is gone. So ... have I defined when a WIP is dead or dying? Anything to add? Or am I just a curmudgeon who doesn't understand the artistic temperment? Well, I've gone on a bit. I'll end now and go do lines - "I will not read WIPs" - Do you think 1000 might be enough. Thanks for reading. Malaprop2000 From ambiree at students.bradley.edu Wed Sep 17 17:48:44 2003 From: ambiree at students.bradley.edu (ambiree at students.bradley.edu) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 12:48:44 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . (LONG) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1063820924.3f689e7cde479@webmail.bradley.edu> > Well, that's enough out of me! ;-) > > Cindy -- thanking you all for playing Wow, Cindy!!! That was great! I didn't keep that straight! Looking back on my sad little mixer post, I feel I should have waited to see what others wrote before jumping off...esp since a lot of people thought to include their pets which I include in my family when I meet someone in person but never online.... :( For the record I have 2 cats Max, my girl-baby grey tiger- stripe, and Min, my boy-brat long hair ALL black panther kitty...and a dog, Rugbe who is Samoyed and Lab Mix but looks like a long hair Border Collie...sigh...they don't understand Harry Potter... ;) -- Amber ***It's all fun and games 'til I get tickled~~Amber C. Lowery*** From linlou43 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 17 18:21:53 2003 From: linlou43 at yahoo.com (linlou43) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 18:21:53 -0000 Subject: Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . (LONG) In-Reply-To: <1063820924.3f689e7cde479@webmail.bradley.edu> Message-ID: Amber wrote: > esp since a lot of people thought to include their pets > which I include in my family when I meet someone in person but never > online.... :( ******************************************************************** Me too! Seriously, I too always include my dog when describing my family in person but somehow I didn't include her here. Her name is Princess Nikita (Niki for short) and she is a 10 month old siberian husky. She looks so much like a wolf she has been mistaken as one by a few people. Incidently, she does like Harry Potter- at least she tried to eat one of my copies of GOF. -linlou From tminton at deckerjones.com Wed Sep 17 18:40:43 2003 From: tminton at deckerjones.com (Tonya Minton) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:40:43 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . (LONG) Message-ID: <8D5AD53268720840968E25CB71EC7CAE24895F@djmail.deckerjones.com> Tonya can open an on-line university, since she has *three* undergraduate degrees her own self! You know I forgot to mention that I have an over excited poodle named Captain Morgan YES after the liquor!! I have really enjoyed getting to know you all!! I feel more open to give my opinions now that I feel like I know you all!! You all are amazing people!! Thanks for sharing part of your lives with me!! You know what else I discovery recently, that MIT has a bunch of their course online and free. Of course you won't get a diploma for learning this way but a cool place to pick up something new!! I hope that catchs on!! I am a sad case for really liking to learn new stuff!! Tonya -----Original Message----- From: Cindy C. [mailto:cindysphynx at comcast.net] Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2003 9:47 AM To: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . (LONG) Hey, Well, I read all of the mixer posts, I think. You guys are one cool and fascinating group of people! How cool and fascinating? Let's see. It looks like I'll need to huddle with Catlady, Tyler, Annehmr, JDR, Sandy, and Severus Sucker in the "40 and over" corner. That's where we can talk about our mid-life crises away from youthful prying eyes (I'm battling a weird urge to go sky-diving, myself). Elizabeth is planning ahead, as she has already decided she's getting a motor bike for her mid-life crisis. I don't know if we can be heard over the noise coming from Katheryn, Severus Sucker, Morgan D. and Klara over in the "Tower of Babel" corner, since they speak at least 5 languages each. Excellente! Tonya can open an on-line university, since she has *three* undergraduate degrees her own self! Martha and I are "messed up" middle children. No wonder, though. Mom always liked my siblings best! ;-0 There are lots of dogs, too. Although I think Tracy has the fastest dogs (greyhounds), which I hear are great pets. I'll bet Jennifer's beagle has escaped on at least 5 occasions! And I'm going out on a limb and predicting Gabriela's French Poodle is white but does not have a traditional poodle cut. No one mentioned sushi as a comfort food! But Laura's nearly raw meat is close; it sounds ever so . . . slippery. And Melissa? I like liquid jello too! It has that weird sticky quality in the mouth, and it's warm, too! Katherine'###&Ms are good too, although I can't go for those new crunchy ones or the peanut butter ones. I'm a purist! Naama, when you splurge on 2 eggs and salad and two slices of bread, is this a sandwich? Vulgarweed, I like Little Debbie snack cakes too, but only the oatmeal ones. Julia likes Dr. Pepper, but how do you feel about these weird new sodas that are coming out? Lemon Coke. Vanilla Pepsi. I find them undrinkable. Abigail goes for mac and cheese; but are we talking boxed or home made? Nox definitely resides in the city with the coolest name -- Toowoomba. I just love the way that sounds! Toowoomba, Toowoomba, Toowoomba! Annehmr has the longest marriage, I think, at 21 years! Amber seems to have the angriest jilted lover, though. Sounds awful, Amber. Shaun likes astronomy, so I will puff out my chest and brag that I can find most of the constellations readily visible in the northern hemisphere! I volunteer in my kids' schools to teach at the school's planetarium, so I had to sort out the night sky. I have no clue about the formation of stars and all of the *hard* stuff, though. Jen works in an emergency room, I think. Is there, erm, *blood* and *bodily fluids* involved? Are the workers allowed to faint dead away? ;-) June, I used to sell cokes at Arizona State University's football stadium, People *hate you* when you spill drinks on them. Don't ask how I know! ;-) Terry, what color is the bridesmaids dress? I've poured myself into one dress that was the color of orange sherbet (that one came with a *straw derby* I had to wear!) and another was lavender. I put my own bridesmaids in deep blue, but now I wish I had told them to wear whatever they wanted. Sarah, once you dissect a fly's brains, what do you *do* with it? Becky, you make *diapers?* Like, square pieces of cloth? Or do you mean diaper covers? Do you want to take on a partner? I have a sewing machine! ;-) Amanda, do you wear what you knit? I ask because I used to knit and produced nothing that anyone would actually put on their bodies. I had a bit of a talent deficit. ;-) Let's see. I'm thinking Linda's last name (Treantafel) is pronounced "Tree-AN-tah-fel". And I think "Przemyslaw" is "PREM-ee-slah." Well, that's enough out of me! ;-) Cindy -- thanking you all for playing Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT click here ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin Files! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from posts to which you're replying! Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service . [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Wed Sep 17 19:18:56 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 19:18:56 -0000 Subject: Fwd: Re: PROTEST ON FF.NET! In-Reply-To: <20030917162538.7950.qmail@web41406.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Okay, I give up. I am not only a (reader) fanfic virgin, I have lived my whole life in a convent, evidently: what's a lemon? (I have thoughts that have to do with parts of the body which pucker, one being the mouth and the other being its, ah, opposite.) I went looking for some info but don't actually want to lose my virginity like (?) Anne. Yet. (One of *my* first attempts at a novel (the first one I finished, which I later burned) was sort of half _Story of O_ and half science fiction, so I'm not going to be offended, whatever it is.) Please respond off line if you feel it is necessary. Sandy P.S. I am likely to sign this in spite of not reading fanfic and also in spite of the fact that I do not consider site owners deciding what to allow and what not to an infringement of freedom of speech (if you started your *own* site and were not allowed to choose the content, *then* I would consider it etc.). Signing it would be an exercise of my *own* freedom of speech, and an expression of my *preference* that writers everywhere be allowed as much creative freedom as possible. --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Lynn wrote: > sandy smith wrote: Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 13:28:18 -0700 (PDT) > From: sandy smith > Subject: Re: PROTEST ON FF.NET! > To: Melissa > CC: lynntownsend100 at y... > Melissa wrote: FLAVOR00-NONE-0000-0000- 000000000000; > TO FANFICTION.NET WRITERS > > > Sun, 31 Aug 2003 20:41:13 -0600 > > > Sorry to the people who don't know who I am. I'm > > > Kiera Kao (real name Sammy), and I'm also on FF.net. > > > Apparently, FF.net has made many attempts to get rid > > > of many people's lemon stories, and this is a > > > protest/petition against it. Even if you don't write From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Wed Sep 17 19:40:52 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 19:40:52 -0000 Subject: Birthday coincidence - almost (was *Mixer?*) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Laura Ingalls Huntley wrote: > Family Life: A teenage brother and a 7 year old sister - who was born > on my birthday, incidentally (12/12/84). So her birthday is 12/12/95? That's funny - my grandad was born on 12/12/96... David, just caught up to here From przepla at ipartner.com.pl Wed Sep 17 20:40:39 2003 From: przepla at ipartner.com.pl (Przemyslaw Plaskowicki) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 22:40:39 +0200 Subject: Difficult pronouncing (Was Re: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . (LONG)) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3F68C6C7.3070507@ipartner.com.pl> On 2003-09-17 16:46, Cindy C. wrote: >Let's see. I'm thinking Linda's last name (Treantafel) is pronounced >"Tree-AN-tah-fel". And I think "Przemyslaw" is "PREM-ee-slah." > > Close enough ;-). I am unable to to make such cool transliteration but it should be more something like: Pshem-Y-suave ('P' as in pot + 'sh' as in shut + 'em' as in emphasis + 'y' as in myth + 'suave' like the word suave). Regards, Pshemekan Ps. My other nick-name, which I was hiding: 'Plex' was designed specifically to be easy to say by foreigners with whom I cooperate in my job. I prefer, however, not to use it since I have enough nicknames already to have problems to remember when I used which. But if you need to use it, feel free. Ps2. I didn't mention that I own pet-tortoise called 'zolw', which translates as "tortoise' ;-) P. From ldenell at apl.org Wed Sep 17 20:44:56 2003 From: ldenell at apl.org (ldenell at apl.org) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 15:44:56 -0500 Subject: arriving late to the mixer Message-ID: Another long-time lurker surfacing for a few moments. I started feeling guilty about reading your bios without contributing! Name: Linda DeNell Also known as: shylibrarian, mum Age/Sex: 41 next week/female Birthplace/Living place and feelings about same: Fond du Lac, Wisconsin/ Green Lake, Wisconsin. Didn't much care for Fond du Lac, but tiny Green Lake is lovely. We have a converted farm house on two acres and I wish we had a bunch more land so I could actually have some domesticated farm-type critters. Family Life: Married for 18 years, son Noah (12), exchange student son Lennart (16, from Germany), and former exchange student daughter Mami (18, from Japan). I also have two kitties and one very spoiled sheltie, all "inside critters." Personality: great with kids, shy with grownups until I know them well, like to be silly Words friends have used to describe you: good listener, loyal, goofy Words you have used to describe you: same as above, plus shy Things you do when not staring at the computer: read children's books, concerts, plays, travel whenever I can (not nearly often enough), get the kid's) where they need to be Comfort foods: dark (plain) chocolate in all its permutations Education/Work: Undergrad degree in social work, masters in library science. I've worked as a children's librarian for the past four years and love it. Did lots of other stuff before, and mostly liked those jobs, too. Language skills: English. Had some French in high school and can read it a bit. Am picking up some Spanish through work, but am too timid to try speaking any aside from "Hola" Technical know-how: I'm the family member who hooks up new electronic equipment -- my husband has no particular interest other than pushing the button to make it go :) Favourite HP book: Still POA. Like OotP a lot better than GOF, though Favourite HP character(s): Dumbledore, followed closely by Harry, Lupin, and Hagrid (the critter connection). Favourite HP line: Harry's speaking with his Uncle Vernon at the end of POA about Sirius. "He was my mum and dad's best friend. He's a convicted murderer, but he's broken out of wizard prison and he's on the run. He likes to keep in touch with me, though...keep up with my news...check if I'm happy..." Gotta love that spunk. Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching, and hoping they don't mess up this coming film. Have been irritated with portrayals of several of the characters but thought Branaugh's Lockhart was spot on. Into HP fanfiction? Have read and enjoyed a few that have been mentioned already, but don't have much online time. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: "Good Omens" as previously mentioned. "The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara about the battle of Gettysburg during the US Civil War. But as most of my reading is of children's books (in a vain attempt to keep up with my young patrons) I'm much better at recommending titles for two to twelve year olds :) Favorite TV shows: Nothing current. Have and enjoy all the old Monty Python work on DVD, just bought the first season of "Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends" on DVD, too. Guess I'm stuck in the sixties as far as TV goes. Favorite Movies: All of Cary Grant's comedies, A Fish Called Wanda, The Princess Bride, Emma, Strictly Ballroom, Waking Ned Devine. I think Pixar's films for kids have been fantastic. Favorite Musical Artists: I will always love Bruce Springsteen as we share a birthday :) My musical tastes run from Medieval Europe through classical, Celtic (I'm one of those who enjoy bagpipes), folk, Cole Porter, big band jazz, blues, "classic rock" and high school band. One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): I'd be less shy around people I don't know well. One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: my two- and four-legged family Philosophy for an easy life: to quote Paul Simon, "slow down, you move too fast..." How you found HPfGU: way back when it was on E-groups, but I can't remember how. Active at other HP sites: check the news at TLC often, and love seeing what scoops the CBBC newsround site land. Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Harry will break the rules again. Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: I met Neil, Catherine, Michelle, and Alex in Greenwich on a family trip in 2001. Couldn't ask for a nicer group of people to putter around with at the Greenwich Naval Observatory (or likely anywhere else!) ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Will we see Fred and George in the next two books? I certainly hope so! From drednort at alphalink.com.au Wed Sep 17 20:53:00 2003 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 06:53:00 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Fwd: Re: PROTEST ON FF.NET! In-Reply-To: References: <20030917162538.7950.qmail@web41406.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <3F69564C.20666.312DE38@localhost> On 17 Sep 2003 at 19:18, msbeadsley wrote: > Okay, I give up. I am not only a (reader) fanfic virgin, I have lived > my whole life in a convent, evidently: what's a lemon? (I have > thoughts that have to do with parts of the body which pucker, one > being the mouth and the other being its, ah, opposite.) I went > looking for some info but don't actually want to lose my virginity > like (?) Anne. Yet. (One of *my* first attempts at a novel (the first > one I finished, which I later burned) was sort of half _Story of O_ > and half science fiction, so I'm not going to be offended, whatever > it is.) Please respond off line if you feel it is necessary. 'Lemon' is a term used for a certain type of anime (Japanese animation) based fanfiction. Basically a sex based fanfiction about an anime show. The name was derived from an anime called 'Cream Lemon', which was basically an anime based on sex. Cream Lemon was not episodic - every episode stood totally alone, often with new characters, always with new stories, often crossing genres (actually there were occasional mini- series). The only point in common in all episodes was that they contained a sexual act - which was basically the point. The term has sometimes spread to other forms of fanfic besides anime- based. Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html (ISTJ) | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 "You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia From heidit at netbox.com Wed Sep 17 20:58:01 2003 From: heidit at netbox.com (Heidi Tandy) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 16:58:01 -0400 Subject: Fwd: Re: MIT shows up in the strangest places... References: <5.1.0.14.2.20030917164949.0310b188@PO11.MIT.EDU> Message-ID: <1063832282.260B6869@s5.dngr.org> There was just a mention of MIT and their online courses here - I shared it with BK deLong, my senior editor at The Leaky Cauldron, who suggested I share this url with y'all: http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/MTarchives/week_2003_08_24.html#003533 Heidi Team TLC From tminton at deckerjones.com Wed Sep 17 21:15:46 2003 From: tminton at deckerjones.com (Tonya Minton) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 16:15:46 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Fwd: Re: MIT shows up in the strangest places... Message-ID: <8D5AD53268720840968E25CB71EC7CAE248969@djmail.deckerjones.com> That is toooo cool!! THanks for forwarding this on!! I will have to run through that course maybe it will give us some insight into Harry's world!! Tonya -----Original Message----- From: Heidi Tandy [mailto:heidit at netbox.com] Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2003 3:58 PM To: Ot Chatter Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Fwd: Re: MIT shows up in the strangest places... There was just a mention of MIT and their online courses here - I shared it with BK deLong, my senior editor at The Leaky Cauldron, who suggested I share this url with y'all: http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/MTarchives/week_2003_08_24.html#003533 Heidi Team TLC Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT click here ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin Files! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from posts to which you're replying! Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service . [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From cindysphynx at comcast.net Wed Sep 17 21:33:15 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 21:33:15 -0000 Subject: Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Jen wrote: >I've been reading them all, too, and hope they keep coming in. Me too! In fact, Jen is onto something here. I think it would be helpful if the List Administrators linked the bio form on the OT-Chatter home page so new members will feel comfortable joining and posting a bio. Maybe the List Administrators can also link to the start of the Mixer thread so newbies can read up on everyone else first? Just a suggestion. Funny, though. A number of you mentioned that you don't post much and it's hard to get a handle on the dynamics here (paraphrase). FWIW, I felt the same way when I first joined -- it seemed like lots of chitchat and birthday greetings, and it was hard to know what to do to join in when there were so many well-established friendships. So you're certainly not the first person to feel that way. *I* was! ;-) Cindy From cindysphynx at comcast.net Wed Sep 17 21:37:45 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 21:37:45 -0000 Subject: Difficult pronouncing In-Reply-To: <3F68C6C7.3070507@ipartner.com.pl> Message-ID: Sorry for posting again. I forgot to combine. Przemyslaw wrote: > Ps2. I didn't mention that I own pet-tortoise called 'zolw', which > translates as "tortoise' ;-) And how does one pronounce "zolw?" Maybe "Zol" with the "o" as in "hope?" Cindy -- afraid to ask Przemyslaw for the name of his teddy bear, and wondering what English words Przemyslaw finds most difficult to pronounce From eberte at vaeye.com Wed Sep 17 21:56:23 2003 From: eberte at vaeye.com (ellejir) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 21:56:23 -0000 Subject: My dog ate my book (was Re: Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . (LONG)) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: linlou wrote: > Me too! Seriously, I too always include my dog when describing > my family in person but somehow I didn't include her here. Her name > is Princess Nikita (Niki for short) and she is a 10 month old > siberian husky. She looks so much like a wolf she has been mistaken > as one by a few people. Incidently, she does like Harry Potter- at > least she tried to eat one of my copies of GOF. > I can relate to that! Imagine this scene.... On June 21, 2003, I arrive home from an outing-that-could-not-be-avoided, eagerly anticipating the arrival of my copy of OoP from amazon.com, only to discover that Fed Ex has come while I was out and delivered the book to my eight-month old labrador puppy! Arrrrgggh!!! The anguish!!! The box was ripped to shreads and the book was strewn across the yard. Fortunately, he had only chewed off the covers and title pages and gnawed on the binding for awhile, (very considerately) leaving the text of the book intact, so that I could begin reading immediately (which, of course, I did.) Elle (my dog's name is Chap and he may be interested in starting an HP discussion group for dogs with Niki--HPfD anyone?? Woof!) From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Wed Sep 17 22:08:48 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 22:08:48 -0000 Subject: Fwd: Re: PROTEST ON FF.NET! In-Reply-To: <3F69564C.20666.312DE38@localhost> Message-ID: > 'Lemon' is a term used for a certain type of anime (Japanese > animation) based fanfiction. Basically a sex based fanfiction about > an anime show. The name was derived from an anime called 'Cream > Lemon', which was basically an anime based on sex. Cream Lemon was > not episodic - every episode stood totally alone, often with new > characters, always with new stories, often crossing genres > (actually there were occasional mini-series). The only point in > common in all episodes was that they contained a sexual act - which > was basically the point. Thanks, Shaun! This is absolutely facinating; my sweetie is going to volunteer at a local anime con art show this weekend (and I may do some, too); we were just talking (less than a week ago) about an uninformed and independent but oddly shared perception we have that anime is very sensual/sexual: all those great big puppy dog eyes and flippy little skirts. Although we are both pretty ignorant of anime, we are very involved in the local SF con scene (and there is a lot of crossover). Does anyone (besides me, I mean) suspect that there's a connection between the banning of "lemon" fanfic and a perception that there is something (and I have *finally* come up with what I think is a subtle way to phrase this) "Lolita" about it? Or am I *too* OT? Sandy From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Wed Sep 17 22:15:51 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 22:15:51 -0000 Subject: Draco a stalker? :) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says I'm starting to wonder whether Draco is actually meant to be pretty or pasty: he was so psychologically unattractive in OoP that I'm beginning to think Pansy can have him. The line I quoted ("you have told me this...already") comes from CoS; the metacanonical (like that word? I made it up myself) choices made by the actors playing Draco and Lucius were supposedly endorsed by JKR, like the scene in the bookstore where Lucius nudges Draco away from Harry with that infamous pimp cane saying "Now, Draco, play nice..." and the little background bits where Draco steals things. --JDR From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Wed Sep 17 22:52:32 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 22:52:32 -0000 Subject: Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . (LONG) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote: 1...but how do you feel about these weird new sodas that are coming out? Lemon Coke. Vanilla Pepsi. 2...Abigail goes for mac and cheese; but are we talking boxed or home made? 3...Sarah, once you dissect a fly's brains, what do you *do* with it? 4...Amanda, do you wear what you knit? I ask because I used to knit and produced nothing that anyone would actually put on their bodies. The Sergeant Majorette says 1. I love flavored colas, but they've gotta be fountain-made. The bottled ones are pretty dire. 2. Any old mac and cheese! There's a mac-and-cheese cookbook out which I plan to get. 3. I used to be a crazed knitter; when I was stationed in Germany I discovered lace knitting. Somewhere out there is a picture of me in full killer drag with rifle slung over my shoulder, sitting on top of an armored personnel carrier knitting a doily. --JDR From zanelupin at yahoo.com Wed Sep 17 23:26:11 2003 From: zanelupin at yahoo.com (KathyK) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 23:26:11 -0000 Subject: Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hi all, I just wanted to keep playing "Cindy C." wrote: > Hey, > > Well, I read all of the mixer posts, I think. You guys are one cool and fascinating group of people! How cool and fascinating? > Martha and I are "messed up" middle children. No wonder, though. Mom always liked my siblings best! ;-0 Ooh, Ooh! I'm one of those, too. >Katherine'###&Ms are good too, although I can't go > for those new crunchy ones or the peanut butter ones. I'm a purist! > The plain ones are the best. I don't even like the peanut ones too much. I never understood peanut butter ones because you can just have a peanut butter cup. And Nestle Crunch bars beat the crispy Ms. Mmmm...Now I may have to go out and get some. Darn it! Julia likes Dr. Pepper, but how do you > feel about these weird new sodas that are coming out? Lemon Coke. > Vanilla Pepsi. I find them undrinkable. Ugh...my mother drinks *diet* vanilla Coke all day long. The thought of it makes me feel ill. And the lemon Coke smells like lemon Pledge. As much as I just love to taste my cleaning supplies, I have to say the lemon Coke is revolting. However, I do like to put actual lemons in diet Coke. > Shaun likes astronomy, so I will puff out my chest and brag that I can > find most of the constellations readily visible in the northern > hemisphere! I volunteer in my kids' schools to teach at the school's > planetarium, so I had to sort out the night sky. I have no clue about > the formation of stars and all of the *hard* stuff, though. I always thought finding the constellations was the hardest part, much more difficult than the other components of astronomy. I envy you. I faked it in school when my teachers told me to look for constellations. I just pretended I'd actually done it. Oh yeah, sure, I found the big dipper...I looked all around the sky, so I figure I must have seen it even if I didn't recognize it. > Well, that's enough out of me! ;-) > > Cindy -- thanking you all for playing Thank you Cindy! I'm having so much fun learning about everyone. Plus, we're getting good book and movie recommmendations to boot. KathyK From stevejjen at earthlink.net Wed Sep 17 23:47:58 2003 From: stevejjen at earthlink.net (Jen Reese) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 23:47:58 -0000 Subject: Nimbus 2003/2004? Message-ID: Did I forget to mention I'm lazy in my bio?.....hmmmm....a little sping going on there....... Well, I am (lazy that is) and was wondering if someone would give me the Cliff Notes version of Nimbus 2003? I looked at the web-site, but wanted a "personal testimonial" since we're all in mixer mode :). Also, is there a date/place for 2004? Thanks, Jen From przepla at ipartner.com.pl Thu Sep 18 00:24:17 2003 From: przepla at ipartner.com.pl (Przemyslaw Plaskowicki) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 02:24:17 +0200 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Difficult pronouncing In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3F68FB31.7060103@ipartner.com.pl> On 2003-09-17 23:37, Cindy C. wrote: >And how does one pronounce "zolw?" Maybe "Zol" with the "o" as in "hope?" > >Cindy -- afraid to ask Przemyslaw for the name of his teddy bear, and >wondering what English words Przemyslaw finds most difficult to pronounce > > I don't think that there is such sound in English language like 'z' (in the matter of fact it is 'z' with dot above) as in the word 'zolw' (w). Most difficult to pronounce for Poles is the sound 'th' as in 'the' -- there is no such sound in Polish. And I am quite proud of my tortoise. He's with my family for over 11 years! You can listen to BBC in Polish at this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/polish/2100_28.ram Regards, Pshemekan -- Man is by nature a political animal. (Aristotle, Politics) From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Thu Sep 18 01:12:10 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 01:12:10 -0000 Subject: Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . (LONG) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > 3. I used to be a crazed knitter; when I was stationed in Germany I > discovered lace knitting. Somewhere out there is a picture of me in > full killer drag with rifle slung over my shoulder, sitting on top > of an armored personnel carrier knitting a doily. I love it! I called my M-16 "Ralph" in Basic Training and got in trouble for marching with wildflowers sticking out of his barrel. (USAR 76-78) Sandy From rvotaw at i-55.com Thu Sep 18 01:25:14 2003 From: rvotaw at i-55.com (Richelle Votaw) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 20:25:14 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* References: Message-ID: <013a01c37d83$e69e55f0$0d9ecdd1@RVotaw> Well, I'm a bit late coming to this party, it's been a long week. Okay, I know, it's only half over, don't remind me! Anyway, here we go: Name: Richelle Votaw Also known as:Ms. Votaw (only at school!) Age/Sex: 27/female Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, live in Hammond, Louisiana. Hot, humid, Rather dull and boring. Family Life: Uh, not much. My parents divorced several years ago, so my mom and I share a townhouse, it's a lot cheaper and less lonely than living by myself! Personality: I'm becoming more outgoing the older I get. I think I'm getting shoved into it. Words friends have used to describe you: Reliable, funny, bossy, focused. :) Words you have used to describe you: multitasker, obsessive Things you do when not staring at the computer: um, well, watch movies I suppose, grade papers, that sort of brilliantly exciting thing. Comfort foods: chocolate Education/Work: Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education, Master's degree in Educational Technology. During the regular school hours I teach 1st grade, after school I teach technology to 4th through 6th graders. Language skills: English, barely. :) And a small amount of Spanish and Russian. Technical know-how: All your basic Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, Access, Powerpoint), Front Page, some html, Printshop, etc etc. Plus all the basic accessories, digital camera, scanner, and so on. Favourite HP book: Order of the Phoenix (wasn't at first, but it is now) Favourite HP character(s): Harry and Lupin. Favourite HP line: Too many to name, so I'll pick one randomly. "I know how to use a fellytone now." :) Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching (and rewatching, and rerewatching and . . .) Into HP fanfiction? No, at least not yet. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Artemis Fowl, The Giver Favorite TV shows: Star Trek Next Generation and Voyager, The X-Files, Frasier, and Everybody Loves Raymond. Favorite Movies: Both Harry Potter movies, The Two Towers, Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, and I could go on and on! Favorite Musical Artists: Michael W. Smith, 4Him, Phillips, Craig & Dean, Newsboys, Third Day, The Katinas, Enya One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): I'd move someplace, not sure where exactly, but my life's goal (one of!) is to teach in an all boys school. Don't know if they'd even hire me, though! One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: My church Philosophy for an easy life: Nothing is worth stressing out over. Not even Book 7. How you found HPfGU: Searching, literally, for adult Harry Potter groups, knowing I couldn't be the only adult this obsessed! Active at other HP sites: The Leaky Cauldron is my homepage, also visit Mugglenet frequently, but no other mailing list type of group. Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Sombody will die. :) Okay, more specifically, Dumbledore by the middle of Book 7, if not sooner. Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: None. ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Um, let's see. How about least favorite HP character? Mine is Fleur. Richelle From oodaday at yahoo.co.uk Thu Sep 18 02:08:13 2003 From: oodaday at yahoo.co.uk (dooda) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 19:08:13 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . (LONG) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030918020813.59987.qmail@web20714.mail.yahoo.com> --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote: Amanda, do you wear what you knit? I ask because I used to knit and produced nothing that anyone would actually put on their bodies. Dooda: Yes, people can wear the things I knit. I've made many blankets, tons of snow hats/beanies, loads of Hogwarts scarves (the thick ones like they wear in the Potter movies). I'm knitting one now for a friend. I want to learn how to make sweaters, but I can't make out the knitting lingo, so if anyone knows the translations, I'd be much obliged to get some help. And if anyone wants a scarf they can get in touch with me off list. Dooda, who can go on and on and on about kitting. Oh boy, do I need to get out more often. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From eberte at vaeye.com Thu Sep 18 02:25:05 2003 From: eberte at vaeye.com (ellejir) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 02:25:05 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Elle--late, as usual, to the mixer Name: Eleanore Margaret E (named after both grandmothers! Thanks alot Mom!) Also known as: Elle, Dr. E., Mrs. J (by children's teachers, friends of husband, etc.), mom Age/Sex: 44, female Birthplace/Livingplace: I was born in upstate New York. I have lived in Richmond, Virginia for the past 11 years. We live in an old farmhouse about 40 minutes outside of the city. Family Life: I live with my husband (of 16 years!) and three children--ages 7, 5, and 3. Also 2 dogs, 2 cats, 3 horses and the occasional goldfish (none currently alive.) Personality: Perfectionist, procrastinator, a bit moody Words friends have used to describe you: Photographic memory, funny, moody Words you have used to describe you: Obsessive, always late Things you do when not staring at the computer: work, read, read books to the kids, ferry kids to their appointments, watch videos, also ski and windsurf (when time permits). Comfort foods: Gummy bears, Breyer's vanilla ice cream Education/Work: M.D. (UVA), M.P.H. (Harvard), I am an ophthalmologist. Language skills: English, and a pathetic amount of French. Technical know-how: Not my forte, although I can read an instruction manual. Favourite HP book: GoF -- I love the graveyard scene at the end. Favourite HP character(s): Hermione (bien sur!) and Harry Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching, enjoying but not obsessed by them. I own the DVD's but have watched them only a handful of times and not all the way through. Into HP fanfiction? Have read a bit a few years ago and enjoyed it but none recently. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Pride and Prejudice, LOTR, To Kill a Mockingbird Favorite TV shows: "24", used to like the "X Files". I watch very little TV though. Favorite Movies: Matrix, Gone with the Wind, Young Frankenstein, Raising Arizona, Heathers One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): OK, how about be more efficient and on time One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: Of course, my family (but maybe if you offered me advance copies of books 6 *and* 7 I might change my mind...) How you found HPfGU: I loved GoF and had no one to talk to about the book (blank looks from everyone when I wanted to discuss the significance of that gleam in DD eye....) Did a web search and found HPfGU back in the old e-group days. Felt unworthy to post as I had not read the first ?3000? posts...silly me. Active at other HP sites: Nope. Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Snape is a dead man. Probably DD too. Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: I've not met anyone personally, but I know alot of your names and opinions about things. I enjoy HPfGUs alot (a bit *too* much, according to my husband, who wants me off the computer *now*!) ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: What is your least favorite topic on the main list? Probably "the number of students at Hogwarts"--this has been beaten to death, IMHO. Elle From editor at texas.net Thu Sep 18 02:34:12 2003 From: editor at texas.net (Amanda Geist) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 21:34:12 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Difficult pronouncing References: Message-ID: <005e01c37d8d$591dece0$7404a6d8@texas.net> Cindy: > And how does one pronounce "zolw?" Maybe "Zol" with the "o" as in "hope?" /tzolf/.... (I think) > Cindy -- afraid to ask Przemyslaw for the name of his teddy bear, and > wondering what English words Przemyslaw finds most difficult to pronounce Did you know his name is /SHEH-mih-swaf/? ~Amanda, not a Lewanski for nothing, and who knew she'd had too much exposure to Polish pronunciation when she read Szulc as "schultz" without even thinking about it, and who tires of explaining to people that her son's name is pronounced /to-MAHsh/ From editor at texas.net Thu Sep 18 02:48:20 2003 From: editor at texas.net (Amanda Geist) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 21:48:20 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Difficult pronouncing References: <3F68FB31.7060103@ipartner.com.pl> Message-ID: <008201c37d8f$52a8dee0$7404a6d8@texas.net> Prz: > I don't think that there is such sound in English language like 'z' (in > the matter of fact it is 'z' with dot above) as in the word 'zolw' (w). Amanda now: There's not, you're right. And damn, I didn't see that it was an elwa in that one. This is going to be one of those words like "trzy," isn't it, that I can't say to save my life. Let me try again: z sound = the first sound in Zsa Zsa or the end of garage o = oo, like in wood l = not a letter L. Polish took its alphabet from the Germans, and the Germans, not having a /w/ sound, had used the "w" for /v/. The Poles, therefore, also use the "w" for /v/. However, Polish *does* have a /w/ sound, and they were fresh out of letters, so they invented one, a crossed "L", which looks like an "L" with a slash overtyped. Unfortunately, when Polish is typed over into English, they just type the elwas as letter L, which was the mistake I made in my other attempt to pronounce this, because I didn't know it was an elwa. So: l = /w/ and because you read all that, w = /v/ Put all together: /Zsoowv/--I'm hearing "Zhoowf," or the sound I'd make if I tripped over this tortoise in the wee hours of the morning and landed on my posterior. (don't forget it's /oo/ like in wood, not boo) Prz: > Most difficult to pronounce for Poles is the sound 'th' as in 'the' -- > there is no such sound in Polish. Nor Irish. Nor most languages; it's apparently one of the more difficult/unusual sounds. That's part of the accent in those and other languages, that the /th/ is not pronounced. Although it can be, with practice--I can produce the sounds called for by the consonant cluster "szcz," which took *quite* a bit of work (and laughter from my husband). I can also pronounce the "LL" of Welsh, a fact of which I am quite proud. Prz: > Man is by nature a political animal. (Aristotle, Politics) My husband says that there's a saying somewhere that if you put two Poles on a desert island, you'll end up with three political parties.... ~Amanda From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Thu Sep 18 03:26:03 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 03:26:03 -0000 Subject: Difficult pronouncing In-Reply-To: <008201c37d8f$52a8dee0$7404a6d8@texas.net> Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says Many years ago, some people I knew were in Bulgaria (all caucasoid- Americans). Overheard speaking English, they were mistaken for Albanian as that language apparently has the rare 'th' sound... And how *do* you pronounce that Welsh 'LL'? (I like to know how to pronounce things: it was my parlour trick when I was little.) --JDR From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Thu Sep 18 03:34:52 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 03:34:52 -0000 Subject: Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . (LONG) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says Aaaah! Another trained killeress! Are you nostalgic for rifle- cleaning bees? In my basic training, we girls called our rifles our "little boys", as in: "Don't forget to grease his bottom, or your li'l boy gonna mess up on you!" Obviously your drill sergeant never did field duty in Germany. Wildflowers are a legitimate part of camouflage in the meadows. --JDR ("Beware. I have PMS and I'm ARMED") From jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com Thu Sep 18 09:04:26 2003 From: jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com (jeffl1965) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 09:04:26 -0000 Subject: Draco a stalker? :) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" wrote: > << so pretty from what I can tell from the books...>>> > > The Sergeant Majorette says > > I'm starting to wonder whether Draco is actually meant to be pretty > or pasty: he was so psychologically unattractive in OoP that I'm > beginning to think Pansy can have him. > Jeff: Yeah, I guess pasty is more accurate, but he seems so prim and proper that I'm guessing he fancies himself a dandy. I can easily envision himself staring in the mirror and taking as much time in the bathroom as many females do. :) > The line I quoted ("you have told me this...already") comes from CoS; > the metacanonical (like that word? I made it up myself) choices made > by the actors playing Draco and Lucius were supposedly endorsed by > JKR, like the scene in the bookstore where Lucius nudges Draco away > from Harry with that infamous pimp cane saying "Now, Draco, play > nice..." and the little background bits where Draco steals things. > > --JDR Jeff: Yes, I thought many of the changes and the deleted scenes in COS were intresting and should've been kept in. The insight was great. But iirc, Lucius isn't as mean in the book? But regardless, I found it intresting, almost like the director wanted to have us pity Draco. Jeff From michelleapostolides at yahoo.co.uk Thu Sep 18 10:16:31 2003 From: michelleapostolides at yahoo.co.uk (Pinguthegreek) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 11:16:31 +0100 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] arriving late to the mixer References: Message-ID: <016701c37dcd$f1b4c6f0$c95fc487@personal> Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: I met Neil, Catherine, Michelle, and Alex in Greenwich on a family trip in 2001. Couldn't ask for a nicer group of people to putter around with at the Greenwich Naval Observatory (or likely anywhere else!) Oh I am so glad to see you posting - #waves back# !!! Michelle [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From editor at texas.net Thu Sep 18 14:29:24 2003 From: editor at texas.net (Amanda) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 14:29:24 -0000 Subject: Difficult pronouncing In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > The Sergeant Majorette says > > And how *do* you pronounce that Welsh 'LL'? (I like to know how to > pronounce things: it was my parlour trick when I was little.) The closest I can give you, lacking a visual: hold your tongue as if you were about to pronounce "L"--like you were starting to say "La," and exhale as if you were starting "Hah!" All soundless, no voicing. If done correctly, the sound you produce will make you *totally* understand why "Ll" is often changed to "Fl" in English spellings (Llewellyn/Flewellen). ~Amanda From erinellii at yahoo.com Thu Sep 18 14:48:45 2003 From: erinellii at yahoo.com (erinellii) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 14:48:45 -0000 Subject: Difficult pronouncing In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Amanda" wrote: > > The Sergeant Majorette says > > > > And how *do* you pronounce that Welsh 'LL'? (I like to know how to > > pronounce things: it was my parlour trick when I was little.) > > The closest I can give you, lacking a visual: hold your tongue as if > you were about to pronounce "L"--like you were starting to say "La," > and exhale as if you were starting "Hah!" All soundless, no voicing. > > If done correctly, the sound you produce will make you *totally* > understand why "Ll" is often changed to "Fl" in English spellings > (Llewellyn/Flewellen). > > ~Amanda From erinellii at yahoo.com Thu Sep 18 14:51:52 2003 From: erinellii at yahoo.com (erinellii) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 14:51:52 -0000 Subject: Difficult pronouncing In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Amanda" wrote: > > The Sergeant Majorette says > > > > And how *do* you pronounce that Welsh 'LL'? (I like to know how to pronounce things: it was my parlour trick when I was little.) > > The closest I can give you, lacking a visual: hold your tongue as if you were about to pronounce "L"--like you were starting to say "La," and exhale as if you were starting "Hah!" All soundless, no voicing. > > If done correctly, the sound you produce will make you *totally* > understand why "Ll" is often changed to "Fl" in English spellings > (Llewellyn/Flewellen). > > ~Amanda The street next to mine is actually named Llewellyn Drive, and we all pronounce it Lew-ellen, which I'm sure is dreadfully wrong. Erin From heidit at netbox.com Thu Sep 18 15:11:16 2003 From: heidit at netbox.com (heiditandy) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 15:11:16 -0000 Subject: Nimbus 2003/2004? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Jen Reese" wrote: > Did I forget to mention I'm lazy in my bio?.....hmmmm....a little > sping going on there....... > > Well, I am (lazy that is) and was wondering if someone would give me > the Cliff Notes version of Nimbus 2003? I looked at the web-site, but > wanted a "personal testimonial" since we're all in mixer mode :). You can find a slew of "personal testimonials" linked to from the LiveJournal that we set up over here: http://www.livejournal.com/community/hporlando/6895.html - basically, we asked everyone who posted a summary to give a link to that summary on that page. It's really multifaceted! My personal testimonial would be a bit unusual compared to most of the attendees. As one of the organizers - and as I'd had a baby only six weeks before the event (and yes, he came to everything with me!) I didn't get to attend many panels, or any of the luncheons, although I did manage to make it to the FictionAlley.org second birthday party (which is good, as I was the hostess!), Fandom Squares, the Slash, SHIP, MWPP and Draco panels and the Sunday brunch, where banners of the marauders went for a total of over one thousand dollars (w00t!). So I recommend taking a look at that url for a pretty comprehensive overview. There is going to be a Nimbus - 2005, and as I understand it, the guidelines for bids will be released shortly, so there's no location determined yet. heidi (who's about to post on a completely unrelated topic - so fair warning that I'm not combining...) From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Thu Sep 18 15:11:26 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 15:11:26 -0000 Subject: Milling Around The Mixer--This is an Army "Post" In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > The Sergeant Majorette says > Aaaah! Another trained killeress! Are you nostalgic for rifle- > cleaning bees? I was in the W.A.C. (Women's Army Corps) and we were rather genteelly called "support personnel." We got no pistol, grenade or heavy weapons training and only about 1/3 as much hand-to-hand training as the men. I always thought the rifle training (1/2 as much as the men) we got was so we could protect our "honor" and our typewriters (I was a 71B20 Clerk/Typist after having been lied to and told WVMC (Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic Corps) school was full up). Yes, sometimes I'm nostalgic for all the pieces/parts and oddly peaceful feeling field stripping and cleaning your rifle brings (and I remember D & C (Drill & Ceremony: rather like marching band, for you civilians) fondly, and gas mask (!) drills). It wasn't until I was altogether civilian again (but are we ever, really?) that I allowed myself to think viscerally back on Ralph and his function as a tool for excising other humans from the planet; I did a very good job of compartmentalization that way and now it amazes me: what did I *think* he was for? Answer: I didn't. The W.A.C. made that very easy, even on the rifle range using torso-shaped targets for practice. > Obviously your drill sergeant never did field duty in Germany. > Wildflowers are a legitimate part of camouflage in the meadows. My first drill sargeant in basic training (the one with the dislike of my wildflowers--but in fairness, I did it as a political statement, and she knew it, and yes I did pushups) was, I've just realized, very much like McGonagall. About half us "ladies" were in love with her. She just radiated sense and was very sternly fair rather than coming across with the menace and mania for power most of the other NCO's (noncommissioned officers) did (the ones *we'd* met, anyway). She was transferred to another part of the Post about 3/4 of the way through our cycle and we thought it was because we'd had the temerity to like her. I can go on, and most likely will, given any encouragement (or even lack of discouragement, probably). Sandy aka "msbeadsley" marching down Memory Lane From heidit at netbox.com Thu Sep 18 15:26:44 2003 From: heidit at netbox.com (heiditandy) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 15:26:44 -0000 Subject: WIPs and Lemons (two fanficcy resplies) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "malaprop2000" wrote: > So is a WIP no longer a WIP when: > > The author posts regularly for several chapters. Then the time between > posts gets longer and longer until the author hasn't posted anything > new for over six months? > The author posts numerous excuses mostly concerning real life getting > in the way of the fic. > The author posts rewrites of previous chapters instead of new words. > The author has a Yahoo group on which she/he: > *Posts snippets of chapters that never appear in full > *Complains that she/he is too busy answering fan email to write > *Defends his/her work in long e-mails > *Is protected by the group mods who lecture anyone who asks if the > fic will ever be finished. > > (If this reminds you of the Mirror of Maybe or Pawn to Queen, right in > one. Please no debate on the merits or demerits of either.) It's a little like me, too. I have an unfinished fic which I do plan to finish in November, when I can take a bit of a leave from FictionAlley operations, and once my son's school's Scholastic Book Fair, which I'm running, is over - and, well, I haven't uploaded a real chapter since August. August 2001. On June 21, I did, however, post everything I'd written before OotP came out to my LiveJournal, and provided a link to it from my schnoogle.com reviewboard, so where I wanted the story to go *is* out there - I'm just trying to mesh my thoughts on the fic with my thoughts on OotP and move on from there. > > But the thrill of waiting is gone. So ... have I defined when a WIP is > dead or dying? Anything to add? Or am I just a curmudgeon who doesn't > understand the artistic temperment? I think that right now, a lot of people who had WIPs that take place after 5th year's end are still a little shellshocked over the whole Sirius thing, and have spent some time trying to figure out where to take the story - i.e. go completely AU or try and synergyze as much as possible. But let me also recommend that you take a look at FA's "List of Completed Novel-Length Fics: http://www.fictionalley.org/fictionalleypark/forums/forumdisplay.php? &forumid=85 - it doesn't include every completed fic on FA, as people have to post when their fic is completed, but it's a good start, and lists about 200 completed fics hosted on FA and elsewhere. --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "msbeadsley" wrote: > Thanks, Shaun! This is absolutely facinating; my sweetie is going to > volunteer at a local anime con art show this weekend (and I may do > some, too); we were just talking (less than a week ago) about an > uninformed and independent but oddly shared perception we have that > anime is very sensual/sexual: all those great big puppy dog eyes and > flippy little skirts. Although we are both pretty ignorant of anime, > we are very involved in the local SF con scene (and there is a lot of > crossover). > > Does anyone (besides me, I mean) suspect that there's a connection > between the banning of "lemon" fanfic and a perception that there is > something (and I have *finally* come up with what I think is a subtle > way to phrase this) "Lolita" about it? Or am I *too* OT? > It's possible that within the Anime fandom, that's the case, but it shouldn't be the case in HP - not as an absolute, that is. A lot of people write lemons involving characters who we've met in canon as grownups - there's tonnes of Sirius/Remus lemons, for example - and even the ones involving those who are currently 16 in the books have consistently been "aged up" so they're grownups in the stories. Yes, there are a lot of Hermione/Snape or Hermione/Remus or Harry/Tonks shippers out there - and I know at least a few who are 16 and 17 - but there're comprable numbers of, if not excessively more, people who write Harry/Ginny post-marriage lemons, or Sirius/Remus fics, etc. Personally, I despise FFN - and I have ever since they said that they were going to apply their ToU differently to different people, with no basis for doing so, and my disgust for them only grew in Septmeber 2002, when they closed the site for 36 hours or so, starting on September 11, claiming it was in memory of those who were killed, but when they went back up, they'd changed the structure of the site so that NC17 fics were no longer uploadable or searchable. And while I don't read NC17 fics much myself, the fact that they were taking what was, for many, a day of mourning and lying about what they were doing was so indicative of what they think of their users that I just pushed them to the side of my mind like the idiocy that they are. They have no obligation, imo, to host anything they don't want to - and to be honest, they have no obligation not to lie or cheat or steal (and yes, I consider radically changing one's ToU when you're taking money from people to cover services a form of cheating & stealing), but in the same vein, nobody has an obligation to give them the time of day either. Heidi From cindysphynx at comcast.net Thu Sep 18 15:48:32 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 15:48:32 -0000 Subject: Lots of questions, but at least I'm combining! (WAS Anyone Up For A Good ) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Elle wrote: > Age/Sex: 44, female And Linda wrote: >Age/Sex: 41 next week/female Oooh, two new members of the "Over 40" club! And a doctor -- we future octogenarians will need one of those around! ;-) Elle wrote: > I am an ophthalmologist. Hey, here's a question for you, Elle. There was a woman who worked at the courthouse who became disabled due to some weird condition I had never heard of. She slowly lost the ability to keep her eyes open! Which made her blind. Have you ever heard of that? Can they do anything for that? Hey, maybe I could have stomached being an opthalmologist. Eyeballs don't bleed when you cut them, right? Elle: >Felt unworthy to post as I had not read the first ?3000? >posts...silly me. You've been around since way back then? Elle: >I enjoy HPfGUs alot (a bit *too* much, according to my husband, who >wants me off the computer *now*!) Same here! Maybe we should form a support group for "HPfGU Widowers." ;-) Linlou wrote: >Incidently, she does like Harry Potter- at least she tried to eat one >of my copies of GOF. And Elle reports that her dog dined on OoP! Well, I'll see your book-eating dogs and raise you one *porch* eating dog. We used to have an Australian Shepherd, and they are high energy, medium-sized (gorgeous!) dogs. We put Corey in the back yard for the day because we were going to an amusement park. I carefully gathered everything in the yard that he might chew and put it on the screened porch for safekeeping. He outsmarted me by simply chewing through the screened porch and then chewing everything *on* the screened porch. This was about 5 years ago, and the holes in the screen are still there. Richelle: >I'd move someplace, not sure where exactly, but my life's goal (one >of!) is to teach in an all boys school. Interesting! Why a boy's school? Aren't boys kinda, you know, *icky?* :-D Finally, Sergeant Major and Sandy wrote about their experiences in the military. I gotta tell ya, I had no idea that women of my generation were being admitted to the military. Were there reasonable opportunities for advancement when you guys were in? Cindy -- who is sure she'd never be allowed near a gun, and who is a military brat her own self From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Thu Sep 18 16:47:07 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 16:47:07 -0000 Subject: WIPs and Lemons (two fanficcy resplies) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > They have no obligation, imo, to host anything they don't want to - > and to be honest, they have no obligation not to lie or cheat or > steal (and yes, I consider radically changing one's ToU when you're > taking money from people to cover services a form of cheating & > stealing), but in the same vein, nobody has an obligation to give > them the time of day either. People are *paying*? That's not a freedom of speech issue or censorship--it's breach of (even implied) contract! I'd be at least trying to organize a walk out! (If nobody uses their site...) Sandy, sadder but wiser From annemehr at yahoo.com Thu Sep 18 17:22:32 2003 From: annemehr at yahoo.com (annemehr) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 17:22:32 -0000 Subject: Salute to Cindy (Re: Still Milling Around The Mixer . . .) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Cindy, I've got to hand it to you -- you're "Mixer" bio form has *got* to be one of the best posts ever on this site. Anyone who wants to can join in. *Lots* of people have joined in. Lots of *lurkers* have joined in. And it's all such a blast. You and Jen are right -- it would be great if this could keep going. A link on the home page strikes me as a very good idea. And anyone who hasn't posted yet and wants to, but feels like the moment has passed -- hey, this party can go on as long as you want it to! So when's the next meeting of the "over-40" club? I'll bring the Ensure! Annemehr P.S. Cindy? Remember that TBAY post you thought was sinking? Well, now that I've *finally* had a chance to tear myself away from OTC and that fic I read, I'm talking to you right now at the Royal George (or is it the Pink Flamingo?). From saitaina at wizzards.net Thu Sep 18 17:25:04 2003 From: saitaina at wizzards.net (Saitaina) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 10:25:04 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] WIPs and Lemons (two fanficcy resplies) References: Message-ID: <00a501c37e09$cd258720$04381c40@aoldsl.net> Heidi wrote: Yes but FF.N made the announcement of the removal of NC-17 fics long before this event occurred. I know because I had to remove mine (well, remove one and change the rating of another as it passes under hard R). I think that the timing of the September 11th shut down and the removal was ill advised, but they did do what I what have done, used a scheduled down time to do some work they needed to do. I know, I'm one of the very few HP writers who defend FF.N in any form (and usually don't) but this time it is sort of understandable why they did it. Why take the site down AGAIN after a scheduled downtime just to perform maintenance when already so many people are annoyed at the amount of time the site's down...Better just to get it all done at once. As for WiP's, I shouldn't be one to speak. I upload a chapter anywhere from once a month to once a year depending on how many issues I'm having with the story (fans who read the second to last chapter understand why it took so long). I will never abandon my story (and if such a time comes that I cannot write on it, I will remove it) but it does take me a while to squeeze the story out of my characters. While it's often hard as a reader to wait, I recomend the fun approach of forgetting about it for a while, then checking in, in six months, even longer. You often get a pleasant surprise by doing this as there might be many chapters you have yet to read. And if not, well, keep waiting or move on. Also, if you're a fan of a small time story (such as my own The End of the Beginning) rather then a huge, well known story, sometimes emailing the author can get you a response to tell you where they're going with it. I've fielded inquires about my other now dead fic, "I Now Pronounce You Man, Wife, and Bitter Ex-Lover" where they wanted to know when the next bit was coming out. I knew that personally telling them there probably won't be anymore was disappointing, but at least they weren't sitting around waiting when they could be reading other wonderful fics by wonderful writers. So it's just a balance of time, patience and some nudging from readers who want more. Saitaina **** "Sorry Vig...just seems like I'm about to come out of a closet I didn't even know I was in." http://www.livejournal.com/users/saitaina "No, one day I'm going to look back on all this and plow face-first into a tree because I was looking the wrong bloody way. And I'll still be having a better day than I am today." From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Thu Sep 18 18:43:52 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 18:43:52 -0000 Subject: Draco a stalker? :) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says I had the impression, at least in the fistfight-that-wasn't scene in the movie, that JKR was taking the opportunity to second-guess herself a little and clarify a few things. I also thought we were supposed to feel sorry for Draco, until he turned so waspish in OoP, like everybody else started to adolesce, and he stayed twelve. --JDR From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Thu Sep 18 18:57:48 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 18:57:48 -0000 Subject: Milling Around The Mixer--This is an Army "Post" In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<< In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "msbeadsley" wrote:...(and I remember D & C (Drill & Ceremony: rather like marching band, for you civilians) fondly, and gas mask (!) drills)...I can go on, and most likely will, given any encouragement (or even lack of discouragement, probably)...marching down Memory Lane...>>> The Sergeant Majorette says Ahh, D&C...I heard that phrase for the first time about four days into basic; a bunch of us were milling around and a drill sergeant came up to me and said "You! Squad leader! Give those troops some D&C!" I choked -- outdoors? The only D&C I knew of was minor surgery for uterine fibroids... --JDR (54E/B, the Gas Mask Lady) From siskiou at earthlink.net Thu Sep 18 19:03:33 2003 From: siskiou at earthlink.net (Susanne) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 12:03:33 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Draco a stalker? :) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <15037010143.20030918120333@earthlink.net> Hi, Thursday, September 18, 2003, 11:43:52 AM, jdr0918 at hotmail.com wrote: > I had the impression, at least in the fistfight-that-wasn't scene in > the movie, that JKR was taking the opportunity to second-guess > herself a little and clarify a few things. I still have the impression that JKR is hardly involved at all in the making of the movies, apart from giving a tiny bit of input when asked, and doesn't really know what the movie will be like, until she gets to watch it. She didn't visit the set at all for CoS (according to an interview with her. Sorry, I don't know which one, and don't have time to search for it. It was sometime around the opening of CoS in the theaters.) and even if she reads the script, the end result is usually very different from it. I just hope she won't get subtly influenced by some of the character changes made in the movies! -- Best regards, Susanne mailto:siskiou at earthlink.net Visit our pet rabbits: http://home.earthlink.net/~siskiou/ From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Thu Sep 18 19:11:23 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 19:11:23 -0000 Subject: Lots of questions, but at least I'm combining! (WAS Anyone Up For A Good ) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says Sandy was a WAC and I was in the gender-integrated Army, so we're talking different eras, but I'd have to say: reasonable opportunites? Hell, no, and don't get me started. I found myself, in the eighties, relating to stories my father told me about the segregated Army in the forties. That's just wrong. However, once I realized and accepted that I was not going to be taken seriously as a soldier or a human being, I was able to find the experience "rather good value", as they say in English. --JDR ("Ah, Therese, I am older than a boat, and there can be no folly in owning it..." -Gertrude Stein.) From erisedstraeh2002 at yahoo.com Thu Sep 18 21:14:26 2003 From: erisedstraeh2002 at yahoo.com (Phyllis) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 21:14:26 -0000 Subject: Ottawa 2004 Convention (WAS: Nimbus 2003/2004?) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Jen Reese asked: > Also, is there a date/place for 2004? It's not a Nimbus conference (as it's not being sponsored by HPEF), but I am part of a group organizing a Harry Potter convention in Ottawa, Ontario (Canada) July 30 - August 1, 2004 (so that we can celebrate Harry's birthday on July 31!) at the University of Ottawa. We're in the process of getting a web site set up, but in the interim, interested folks can check out our live journal at: http://www.livejournal.com/community/conventionalley/. We're currently finalizing the Call for Papers. We would really like to have the majority of presenters be from the fan community and would welcome any and all proposals. If anyone is interested in helping us out, we're also in the process of pulling together a team of volunteers! Let me know off-list if you're interested in volunteering. Thanks! ~Phyllis on behalf of the Convention Alley team From foxydoxy1 at yahoo.com Fri Sep 19 03:32:38 2003 From: foxydoxy1 at yahoo.com (FoxyDoxy) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 20:32:38 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030919033238.49951.qmail@web60202.mail.yahoo.com> Foxydoxy shows up late to the party. All that is left is cold butterbeer and half eaten cauldron cakes. She mutters something that sounds like 'Real life ruins *everything*.' Feeling very conspicuous, she drops her bio with the rest of them and goes to stand next to KathyK and Dooda. Name: Jen Boyack Also known as: Foxydoxy, Jenni, Madi's Mom (as in "Go ask Madi's mom" and "Madi's Mom, can Madi come over and play?") Age/Sex: 29 / Female Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born in Santa Barbara, Ca. Currently living in St. George, Ut. It's really pretty here, with the red dirt, white canyons, and blue Wasatch mountains, very patriotic indeed. There are a lot of golf courses, hiking and running trails. You'd think more people here would be in shape :). But don't visit in the summertime, unless you can stand the 120 degree temps. Family Life: Married to my High School sweethart. One 6 year old little girl. Personality: Easy-going. Words friends have used to describe you: Sarcastic, witty, kind, a little strange, pretty, organized which makes me laugh, "Haha! I've fooled you all." Because I'm so not organized. Caustic at times. Words you have used to describe you: workaholic, tired. Things you do when not staring at the computer: Read, clean, hang out with my family, go to school, plan and go on road trips. Comfort foods: Ben&Jerry's Phish Food ice cream, hot cocoa with whipped cream, pizza, soup. Education/Work: High School, Trade School, College off and on when I have time. I'm taking Fall courses now. I do medical billing for 7 nursing home/rehab facilities in Utah, manage the financials for 5 of those facilities, plus a 500 acre farm. I also manage the health insurance for all the companies. Language skills: English, I can understand Spanish and some German. Technical know-how: Your basic Windows programs, Word, XL, some html, scanners and digital cameras. I can read and follow directions. Favourite HP book: PoA Favourite HP character(s): Sirius, Avery, the Bartemii Crouch. Favourite HP line: "Indeed? And you've been carrying them around ever since? How very touching..." Snape in PoA Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watching ocasionally and annoying DH with the corrections. Into HP fanfiction? I've only read one fanfic all the way through. The Potion Master's Apprentice by RJ Anderson. I loved it. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: HP of course, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Favorite TV shows: With a 6 year old, our TV is pretty much stuck on Nickelodeon or the Disney Channel. But when it's not I like to watch Gilmore Girls, Law & Order, the Discovery Channel, and A&E. Favorite Movies: Ever After, Pirates of the Caribbean, Taxi Driver, The Breakfast Club and pretty much all the John Huges films. Favorite Musical Artists: Depends on my mood. Lately my obsession has been Evenescence. Dooda and I saw them at the House of Blues in Las Vegas, they rock out loud. After them, in no particular order... Portishead, Apoptygma Berzerk, VNV Nation, Indigo Girls, Lamb, Peter Murphy, Pink Floyd, The Cure. This list goes on for days. One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): I wish I had tried harder in school, and spent more time reading and less time partying it up as a teenager. One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: My family, of course. Philosophy for an easy life: Do what makes you happy. How you found HPfGU: Surfing, I think. Active at other HP sites: No. I barely have enough time for this one. Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: The screaming book Harry picked up in SS/PS will have the answer on how to vanquish Voldemort. Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: Dooda, Eowynn, and Dicentra (who is absolutely lovely, by the way). ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: To copy someone elses question, sorry can't rememebr who. If you were to visit any shop in the Potterverse, where would you go first? Flourish and Blotts because it's a bookstore. Jen, who thinks Cindy sure knows how to throw a shindig. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Fri Sep 19 04:05:54 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 04:05:54 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: <20030919033238.49951.qmail@web60202.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: << wrote:...The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.>>> The Sergeant Majorette says Ooh! Ooh! My favorite book of all time! The second book I ever took out of the library, the first being A Little Princess. FHB was my JKR when I was six, except I never read Little Lord Fauntleroy. The only reason I didn't list it as my recommendation is that I really want people to love it and not think "Huh. *She* likes it, so it must be weird and sick..." --JDR (who hated, despised and detested the abomination that was Cuaron's Little Princess!) From zanelupin at yahoo.com Fri Sep 19 04:46:45 2003 From: zanelupin at yahoo.com (KathyK) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 04:46:45 -0000 Subject: Anyone Up For A Good Old-Fashioned *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: <20030919033238.49951.qmail@web60202.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, FoxyDoxy wrote: > > > Foxydoxy shows up late to the party. All that is left is cold butterbeer and half eaten cauldron cakes. She mutters something that sounds like 'Real life ruins *everything*.' Feeling very conspicuous, she drops her bio with the rest of them and goes to stand next to KathyK and Dooda.< I was wondering when you'd make an appearance at this party :-) Here, I saved you a Chocolate Frog. > Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born in Santa Barbara, Ca. Currently living in St. George, Ut. It's really pretty here, with the red dirt, white canyons, and blue Wasatch mountains, very patriotic indeed. There are a lot of golf courses, hiking and running trails. You'd think more people here would be in shape :). But don't visit in the summertime, unless you can stand the 120 degree temps.< A friend of mine just spent a month road tripping across the country. The photographs she brought back from Utah were so incredibly beautiful they made my knees go weak! I kept oohing and aahing at the pictures of other places and she kept telling me, "You just wait until you get to the Utah ones." And she wasn't wrong. > Favorite Musical Artists: Depends on my mood. Lately my obsession has been Evenescence. Dooda and I saw them at the House of Blues in Las Vegas, they rock out loud.< Evanescence is wonderful. I'm envious. I haven't been able to see them yet. They were in CT back in July for Radio 104 Fest, but it was July 4 and I had to *work* ::KathyK shoots a nasty look in the general direction of her bosses:: Next time... And let me just take a moment to gripe that as of Monday evening, with no forewarning of any kind, Radio 104 became Power 104 and instead of playing decent, new rock it now plays ::shudder:: hiphop and rap. I guess it's back to the oldies' station as the only tolerable one to listen to here. KathyK From lunalovegood at shaw.ca Fri Sep 19 05:02:04 2003 From: lunalovegood at shaw.ca (lunalovegoodrules) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 05:02:04 -0000 Subject: Late to the Mixer! Message-ID: Name: Dan Also known as: tbernhard, darkthirty, lunalovegoodrules, the BIC LIGHTER guy, the boy in the closet guy Age/Sex: 43/Male Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born in Waterloo, Ontario, moved to Vancouver BC in 1990. Where I live is, uh, interesting. Family Life: Single, have 7 year old son, who loves the Potter books. Sometimes I have him here daily, other times, only a day a week. Personality: friendly, generally speaking, but I loathe dishonesty, talk to avoid silence, silence to avoid talk, pseudo-intellectualism, pseudo-naivete Words friends have used to describe you: impatient, brilliant Words you have used to describe you: "How can I go out of my way for anything? Where I am IS my way." Things you do when not staring at the computer: read, mostly very intense stuff (see book list), computer music (gigasampler rocks), write, floor hockey, soccer Comfort foods: macaroni and cheese, half a box of multi-grain cheerios, curried chicken at the Indian restaurant across the road Education/Work: Some post-secondary, never seriously a student, though. I work in admin, clerically, at a community centre in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. You might have heard of this area. I am a city employee, right now on contract to a group putting together a community play. This is fun, compared to my usual clerical duties. Language skills: read some Chinese, Latin, ASL, speak only English Technical know-how: I can put a computer together from parts in 20 minutes, set-up a small network, learn a proggie in an hour ? I'm one of the people other people call. (Last stop before the shop.) Favourite HP book: OOP, of course Favourite HP character(s): Luna, Severus, Parvati Favourite HP line "Yeah, Quirrell was a great teacher, except for that little drawback of him having Lord Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head." Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Indifferent to Columbus, to put it mildly. For the rest, we'll see. Into HP fanfiction? Very selectively. I even so-called write it. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Yes, and Correction by Thomas Bernhard. The Fall, by Camus. Discipline and Punish, by Michel Foucault, Death in the Barren Ground, Edgar Christian (rare), anything by Sir Thomas Browne, Jose Saramago, Robert Musil, The Worst Journey in the World, Feminist Philosophy and the Theories of Man, OOP Favorite TV shows: English Premier League, Serie A (or any soccer, especially men's or women's internationals, Champions League etc.), Brett's Sherlock Holmes, Columbo, A Touch of Frost Favorite Movies: Sacrifice, Andrei Rublev, Nostalghia, Stalker (all Tarkovsky), Landscape in the Mist, Ulysses' Gaze (both Theo Angelopoulis), Dreams, Derzu Uzala, Dodes'kaden, Rashomon (all Akira Kurosawa), Werckmeister Harmonies (Bela Tarr), Do the Right Thing (The Great American Movie, Spike Lee), Jupiter's Wife (Michael Negroponte), The Gleaners and I (Agnes Varda), Ballad of Narayama (Shohei Imamura), Strozek, Fitzcarraldo (both Werner Herzog), any Fassbinder, and Whale Rider!!! Favorite Musical Artists: Louis Andreissen, Arvo Part, Sandy Denny, Michael Smith (the American folk singer who wrote The Dutchman), William Mundy, Thomas Tallis, John Sheppard, Heinrich Isaac, Veljo Tormis, Wim Mertens, John Cage, Gavin Bryars, Glen Branca, Tan Dun, Guillaume Dufay, Eleni Karaindrou, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Nocturnal Emissions, SPK, Penitent, Stephen Montague (The White Edge of Phrygia is fantastic), 4AD stuff, Magazine, Buzzcocks One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you may not say "lose weight"): live in New Zealand on the coast One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: Mindfulness. Philosophy for an easy life: No philosophy. How you found HPfGU: Looked for a place to expostulate. Found it. Active at other HP sites: yeah Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: book 6, Harry runs away, planning to confront Voldemort on his own. Book 7, Harry falls in love with Luna and she dies. (Well, not rock solid, eh ) Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: No one, but thanks for the kind words from those who emailed me about BIC LIGHTER and the boy in the closet stuff. ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: What does it all mean? Answer: see the movies I mentioned, or just Andrei Rublev, Landscape in the Mist, or Whale Rider, read the books I mentioned, or just Correction, or listen to the music I listed, or just Sandy Denny. dan From Erthena at aol.com Fri Sep 19 05:12:03 2003 From: Erthena at aol.com (werebearloony) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 05:12:03 -0000 Subject: Sliding into the mixer immesly late In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I'm really sorry for being so late but, it's been a long and confusing week, oh well here goes > Name:Erin > Also known as:loony (Don't you dare capatalize it),Eren Antilles (No Relation), Donnamira Whitfoot, Fram, that one werebear, Er... > Age/Sex:16.5 (testerday) / female > Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: I was born in prospect heights IL but I now loive in Medina, Minnesota I don't remember living in IL but I love Medina, far enopugh out that you can see the stars but close enough to the cities that you can go to movies at Midnight the day they come out (books too) > Family Life:I live with my parents and two siblings 1 sister and 1 monster (my other sister 13, nuff said) > Personality: Really nice (in the good way not the archaic negitive connotation)and patient with people (to a point, sometimes people drive me too far, like one sibling of mine) > Words friends have used to describe you:loony, Loony, Looney, nice, kind, sweet, crazy, smart, oddment > Words you have used to describe you: Crazy, not as crazy as I seem, loony, nice (see also personality), oddment > Things you do when not staring at the computer: Read, babysit, read, watch movies, read, write filks and fanfics and talk on the phone > Comfort foods:Spaghetti > Education/Work: Right now still in my tiny super strict private high school and loving it (well not the strict part) > Language skills: English, Latin, A bit of all romance languages, and elvish (I think I'm the first to say that!) > Technical know-how:I can fix anything except computers, and I can wok the software on my comp. > Favourite HP book:I can't choose a favorite I love them all the pile goes thus Poa, OoP, Gof, SS, CoS (this is not necessisarily an order of favoritism but it can be percieved as such) > Favourite HP character(s): Sirius (My friends love using the word 'serious' on purpose, I have started to yell 'you mock my pain!' at them when they do this), Harry, Wood, Gred and Forge in that order > Favourite HP line "They were supposed to be practicing the opposite of the summoning charm today, the banishing charm... Neville's aim wasso poor that he kept sending much hevier things flying across the room -Professor Flitwick for instance." I howl evry time I read that "Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, Tweak" the words that got me into HP, really this brought it from a book into an obsession. > Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?:both > Into HP fanfiction? No, no fanfic for bad loony, not until she finishes her own fanfic, then she will read, not until... > Books you'd recommend to just about anyone:Lord of the Rings, HP, Any Star Wars books written by Timothy Zahn, have you read Lord of the rings yet?, Any Star Wars books by Michael Stackpole, the entire New Jedi Order Series (it's all fun trust me!),The Illiad, The Oddsey, and mythology and ffary tales in general. Oh! and Gail Carson Levine, brilliant and The Princess Bride and... > Favorite TV shows:Survivor, friends, Will and Grace, and most Cartoons > Favorite Movies:Lord of the Rings (90 days I can't believe it's 90 days) The Star Wars Movies (except the one about ewoks), Finding Nemo, The Princess Bride, Pirates of the Carribean, and Beauty and the Beast > Favorite Musical Artists:I mostly just listen to whats on the radio, but when i'm studying (which i do a lot) I mostly listen to soundtracks LOTR, and HP, and Star Wars,and Pirates, and anything by John Williams, and the Phantom of the Opera, and lots of musicals > One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you > may not say "lose weight"):I could really do without the ADD > One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance > copy of Book 7:My thrill of reading book 7 knowing I'm part of a huge fandom who's all reading it together (in other word don't ruin it for me!!) > Philosophy for an easy life:Bah! (interpret this how you will) > How you found HPfGU: Fantastic Posts I think, it might have been the lexicon > Active at other HP sites:Not enough time for this one. > Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction:A kiss A kiss I need someone to kiss, I *especially* need someone to kiss Harry. > Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met:Hi no one I'm loony > ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: What phrase(s) do you find yourself saying all the time? That's Interesting (PoC), You mock my pain, never do ti again, I died that day, Oddment, Legolas, bah! From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Fri Sep 19 06:05:09 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 06:05:09 -0000 Subject: Sliding into the mixer immesly late In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says Oh boy, is this mixer fun! I can't believe there's a teenager in this day and age who loves the Iliad! When I was your age, my dear, (back in the day when mythology was current events and dinosaurs walked the earth) I collected paperback translations of the Iliad, and I was a huge Robert Graves (The White Goddess) freak. The Odyssey, I dunno...I kind of subscribe to the theory that it was written by a different person. Did you scream when Nicole got voted off *unanimously*? And how unfair would it have been if Morgan had won after Drake cleared all the rocks and poles? --JDR From zanelupin at yahoo.com Fri Sep 19 11:04:57 2003 From: zanelupin at yahoo.com (KathyK) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 11:04:57 -0000 Subject: Have a Wonderful Day!!! Message-ID: Hello Everyone! I don't usually go around announcing my birthday--oh wait, yes I do. But I promise I'm not doing so to to receive happy thoughts from others, although that's always nice. I'm one of those folks who enjoys giving birthday gifts rather than getting them. I love reactions to gifts, so I always try to throw something unexpected or odd into them. Expanding on this idea a few years ago, I began buying inexpensive little things like stickers and toy cars. I give them out on my birthday to virtually everyone I meet. The reactions are so much fun. They vary from, "Uh, Kathy, we're supposed to give *you* presents on your birthday" to "What do I need an umbrella hat for?" to "Do I know you?" It's great. Since I can't give you all squishy pumpkins, noisemaker skeletons, or candy corn--Halloween Theme this year--I thought I'd wish you all a great day, so HAVE A FANTABULOUS DAY!!!!!!! KathyK (listening to the rain coming down and dreading work) From heidit at netbox.com Fri Sep 19 11:35:22 2003 From: heidit at netbox.com (heiditandy) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 11:35:22 -0000 Subject: WIPs and Lemons (two fanficcy resplies) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "msbeadsley" wrote: > > They have no obligation, imo, to host anything they don't want to - > > and to be honest, they have no obligation not to lie or cheat or > > steal (and yes, I consider radically changing one's ToU when you're > > taking money from people to cover services a form of cheating & > > stealing), but in the same vein, nobody has an obligation to give > > them the time of day either. > > People are *paying*? That's not a freedom of speech issue or > censorship--it's breach of (even implied) contract! I'd be at least > trying to organize a walk out! (If nobody uses their site...) Been there. Done that. Actually accomplished something, from what I understand. Now, here's the long version of that. When Saity mentioned yesterday that she thought that FFN had announced the NC17 thing before closing down for 9.11.02, I went back to IvyBlosson's LJ for that day (http://www.livejournal.com/~ivyblossom/2002/09/13/) because I remembered that she'd plugged a "get your money back from ffn" thing, where people complained to PayPal, who at that point were the processing place for payments to FFN. PayPal agreed that it was a breach of contract for ffn to collect money and then change their terms of use so radically. However, I'm not sure that removing lemons would constitute a change in the ToU at this point, because it's been over a year since they accepted NC17 fics, and they should allow lemons to stay on if they're R-rated (and yes, such a thing is technically possible). If you want to read what one of ffn's columnists wrote last year about the NC17 issue, you can find it here: http://216.239.39.104/search? q=cache:P4ILccexoWUJ:www.fanfiction.net/column.php%3Fcolumnid%3D38+% 22fanfiction.net%22+%22support+services%22&hl=en&ie=UTF- 8&client=lgtech-kb - yay for GOOGLE! Now, people don't pay to be hosted on ffn, nor does one have to pay to read or review stories. This is what you pay $25/year for: 1. Enhanced Statistic Keeps track of hit count for stories under you account. Moreover, it will keep a separate statistic for each chapter if you have many chaptered stories. 2. Author Alert aka New Story/Chapter Alert Automated new story/chapter notification from the authors you have chose to monitor. Also allows non-support service members to be able to receive alert notifications on your newly posted stories and/or chapters. 3. Ad Free Pages(*) Regardless of an user's ad blocker settings, your profile page, your story pages, and the review pages of your published entries will be void of any type of ad placement at all times. 4. @FanFiction.Net Email Account Your own customized @fanfiction.net email account with spam and virus protection. 5. Enhanced Search In addition to search the site for authors by penname, stories by title you have options to search for stories by story summary and filter searches by category, genre, rating, language, and length. 6. Profile Picture Allow you the flexibility of posting a gif or jpeg picture within your regular author profile. They still use PayPal, so I guess anyone who thinks that their contract was breached can try that approach again. From heidit at netbox.com Fri Sep 19 12:07:10 2003 From: heidit at netbox.com (Heidi Tandy) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 08:07:10 -0400 Subject: Talk like a pirate day Message-ID: <1063973232.E8348ED@w5.dngr.org> Just a reminder that it's today! Arrrrrr! Maties, find out more at talklikeapirate.com. And have a swig of rum (if you're of age in the country you're currently in). Heidi From terryljames at hotmail.com Fri Sep 19 14:14:04 2003 From: terryljames at hotmail.com (Terry James) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 09:14:04 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . Message-ID: >From: "Cindy C." >Reply-To: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com >To: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com >Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Still Milling Around The Mixer . . . (LONG) >Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 14:46:54 -0000 > >Hey, > >Well, I read all of the mixer posts, I think. You guys are one cool >and fascinating group of people! Yep, I agree. I feel like I've wandered into a cocktail party full of people in little black dresses and diamonds, chatting about world events, and I'm just in a from a baseball game with my kids, all dirty and blue-jeany and wanting to talk about colic. > >Let's see. It looks like I'll need to huddle with Catlady, Tyler, >Annehmr, JDR, Sandy, and Severus Sucker in the "40 and over" corner. I want to huddle in the "just-turned-thirty-but-denying-it" corner, where I can converse with other people who are wondering just how in the world they managed to end up with jobs, houses, minivans, spouses, and *kids*, when they are clearly irresponsible and way too young for these kinds of things. > >Terry, what color is the bridesmaids dress? I've poured myself into >one dress that was the color of orange sherbet (that one came with a >*straw derby* I had to wear!) and another was lavender. This one's lavender too...I've never had my colors done, and have no clue what looks good on me, but I know for a fact that lavender makes me look like I've been pulled out of a river three days too late. But, we do these things for our friends, not for us. I think it was Dave Barry that theorized that the function of a bridesmaid's dress is to make the bridemaids so truly hideous that the bride looks great by comparison. I had to wear an awful "plantation" style one once. It was mauve, with beige lace everywhere, and it had a huge bow in the back and two large SHOULDER BOWS! Ah, the '80's! Of course we had the requisite huge hair to go with it. I put my own >bridesmaids in deep blue, but now I wish I had told them to wear >whatever they wanted. I put mine in teal green, but I'm with you. I wish I had just said, show up and look nice. However, the pictures do look really good with everyone matching. :) Terry LJ _________________________________________________________________ Compare Cable, DSL or Satellite plans: As low as $29.95. https://broadband.msn.com From stevejjen at earthlink.net Fri Sep 19 14:31:02 2003 From: stevejjen at earthlink.net (Jen Reese) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 14:31:02 -0000 Subject: Nimbus 2003/2004? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "heiditandy" wrote: > > You can find a slew of "personal testimonials" linked to from the > LiveJournal that we set up over here: > http://www.livejournal.com/community/hporlando/6895.html - > basically, we asked everyone who posted a summary to give a link to > that summary on that page. It's really multifaceted! > Thanks for this info, heidi! Also thanks to Phyllis who brought up the Ottawa HP conference they are putting together in summer 2004-- (more details in Phylli's post "Ottawa Convention (was Nimbus 2003/2004)"--good luck Phyllis, that sounds like fun! Jen From ambiree at students.bradley.edu Fri Sep 19 15:33:41 2003 From: ambiree at students.bradley.edu (ambiree at students.bradley.edu) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 10:33:41 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Have a Wonderful Day!!! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1063985621.3f6b21d5d5ae0@webmail.bradley.edu> Happy Birthday KathyK!!! Quoting KathyK : > Hello Everyone! > > I don't usually go around announcing my birthday--oh wait, yes I > do. But I promise I'm not doing so to to receive happy thoughts > from others, although that's always nice. > > I'm one of those folks who enjoys giving birthday gifts rather than > getting them. I love reactions to gifts, so I always try to throw > something unexpected or odd into them. Expanding on this idea a few > years ago, I began buying inexpensive little things like stickers > and toy cars. I give them out on my birthday to virtually everyone > I meet. > > The reactions are so much fun. They vary from, "Uh, Kathy, we're > supposed to give *you* presents on your birthday" to "What do I need > an umbrella hat for?" to "Do I know you?" It's great. > > Since I can't give you all squishy pumpkins, noisemaker skeletons, > or candy corn--Halloween Theme this year--I thought I'd wish you all > a great day, so > > HAVE A FANTABULOUS DAY!!!!!!! > > KathyK (listening to the rain coming down and dreading work) > > > > ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ > > Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin Files! > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ > > Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from posts > to which you're replying! > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > -- Amber ***It's all fun and games 'til I get tickled~~Amber C. Lowery*** From terryljames at hotmail.com Fri Sep 19 15:41:54 2003 From: terryljames at hotmail.com (terryljames76) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 15:41:54 -0000 Subject: Find your pirate name Message-ID: Couldn't get to talklikeapirate.com, but this is an attempt to post a link where you can find your own real pirate name. http://www.fidius.org/quiz/pirate.php I'm not good at this, so if that doesn't work, try copying and pasting. Terry LJ (aka "Black Jenny Flint"--I think I like that one better!) From neonsister at ameritech.net Fri Sep 19 16:30:07 2003 From: neonsister at ameritech.net (Tracy) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 16:30:07 -0000 Subject: Find your pirate name In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "terryljames76" wrote: (aka "Black Jenny Flint"--I think I like that one better!) Hey, I'm "Red Grace Flint"! Do you suppose we're any relation to Slytherin quidditch player Marcus Flint? heheh... Tracy From lupinesque at yahoo.com Fri Sep 19 16:38:53 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 16:38:53 -0000 Subject: Talk like a pirate day In-Reply-To: <1063973232.E8348ED@w5.dngr.org> Message-ID: Can someone please explain the sudden national obsession with pirates? I was at a family camp last weekend and the jokes making the rounds were all pirate jokes. This is all Disney's fault, isn't it? I feel like we're being hypnotized. "You will give a damn about pirates. You will think they're amusing. You will actually pay $8 to watch a 90-minute advertisement for Disneyworld. You are getting very sleepy." Amy From terryljames at hotmail.com Fri Sep 19 16:40:38 2003 From: terryljames at hotmail.com (terryljames76) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 16:40:38 -0000 Subject: Find your pirate name In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Tracy" wrote: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "terryljames76" > wrote: > (aka "Black Jenny Flint"--I think I like that one better!) > > Hey, I'm "Red Grace Flint"! Do you suppose we're any relation to > Slytherin quidditch player Marcus Flint? heheh... > > Tracy Ahoy, Red Grace! Shiver me timbers, if yer not me long-lost cousin we thought was shanghaied and press-ganged into the Navy! Hand round the grog and we'll have a hoe-down--er, dance a hornpipe! As for Marcus, would he be "Dark Mark Flint", just out of school but already famed for his incompetency on the high seas? More known for flying the yeller flag than the black flag? Black Jenny Flint (also obviously related to the Black family, who fortunately seem to have a thing for marrying their cousins) From lupinesque at yahoo.com Fri Sep 19 17:16:24 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 17:16:24 -0000 Subject: Gay is damaged, straight is normal In-Reply-To: Message-ID: jdr wrote: > I *am* a bitch. Call me if you ever want to get rid of a clingy > friend. I will do that. OTOH, I don't think I'll call you if I'm ever looking for someone I'd like to have a friendly HPfGU list with. Amy Z From ambiree at students.bradley.edu Fri Sep 19 18:23:20 2003 From: ambiree at students.bradley.edu (ambiree at students.bradley.edu) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 13:23:20 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Find your pirate name In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1063995800.3f6b4998b3d79@webmail.bradley.edu> I be Mad Anne Rackham....formerly known as Amber.... hmm.... -- Amber ***It's all fun and games 'til I get tickled~~Amber C. Lowery*** From illyana at mindspring.com Fri Sep 19 18:30:39 2003 From: illyana at mindspring.com (illyana delorean) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 11:30:39 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Late to the Mixer! In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <5EA54ECB-EACF-11D7-B48B-003065B8B954@mindspring.com> Wow, I am really late to the mixer. I know I don't post here very often, but I really like filling stuff out... Name: Illyana Age/Sex: 23/female Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born in Dallas, TX; moved to Tucson, AZ in 1986, which is where I live now... I want to move away from here soon (preferably to New England) Family Life: Living with my boyfriend of five years, no kids Personality: I am very blunt and not afraid to confront people; however, I am quite shy when faced with a crowd of strangers, and I am not a big fan of crowded public areas. I am quite impatient and cannot stand people who have no common sense Words friends have used to describe you: impatient, sarcastic, witty, bitchy Words you have used to describe you: impatient, sarcastic, witty, bitchy Things you do when not staring at the computer: stare at the TV (although I am generally staring at the computer and the TV simultaneously), read, do crossword puzzles, look for a job, sell stuff on ebay Comfort foods: chips (corn *and* potato), cheese, potatoes in any form, pizza, fried chicken, salty candy bars Education/Work: recently graduated from a community college with an Associates Degree in Administrative Support - I was looking for a job as a Legal Secretary (because that is my specialty), but have kind of given up on that and am now looking for any kind of Secretary position Language Skills: English (obviously), can read and speak basic Spanish, used to be able to read and speak basic German, but I have forgotten all of it :( Technical Know-How: I can install a Hard Drive, RAM, and an airport card in *my* computer (only because I have watched my boyfriend do it so many times - we both have the same laptop); I could probably figure out how to set up a wireless network, since I've lived with one for about three years; I can easily set up a home theatre Favorite HP book: Prisoner of Azkaban Favorite HP character: Snape, Draco, Fred and George Favorite HP line: "Mum! How really corking to see you!" - Fred Weasley Watching/Avoiding the HP movies: I saw PS/SS before I read the books (so I had no opinion at the time), and COS came out a few months after I had read the first four books (so I was really excited about it and pretty let-down). I have pretty high hopes for the direction of POA because of Cuaron's past work, but I am not going to get my hopes up regarding the story. As for Columbus, well, I just have to say that I am glad he's not directing.... Into HP fanfiction? I don't really read any kind of fanfiction - but I don't dislike it. It's just not my kind of thing, at the moment. Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Anything by Louis Sachar, "Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut, "Catch me if you Can" by Frank Abagnale (his other book is also really good)... other than that, I only really read reference/non-fiction books Favorite TV shows: The Daily Show, The Simpsons, Family Guy, The X-Files, Columbo, Jeopardy!, Kids in the Hall Favorite Movies: Back to the Future, Donnie Darko, Quiz Show (<-- those are my *very* favorites - I have many movies that are favorites, but I don't want to bore you guys too much!) Favorite Musical Artists: Bad Religion, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, New Order, Assemblage 23, VNV Nation, 80's Madonna, Oingo Boingo, Covenant, Face to Face, The Replacements, The Buzzcocks One thing about your life you'd change if you could: My boyfriend would be able to afford to go to art school without having to take out student loans... oh, and I would have a job One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: Oh, a ton of things! Who would want an advance copy of Book 7 - you wouldn't be able to discuss it with anyone for years and years! Philosophy for an easy life: Ignore philosophy How you found HPFGU: I have been a member of many yahoogroups for years, and I figured there would be a great HP group here - so I just searched and found it (along with a few other, more juvenile, HP groups that I am no longer a member of)! Active at other HP sites: I don't participate much, but I sure do lurk a lot! Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Dumbledore dies - I dunno when, but it's bound to happen! Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: No one on HPFGU ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AN ANSWER IT: Ummm... who wants cake? They all want cake.... illyana HPGCv1 a22 e+ x+* Rm Ri HP4 S+++ Mo++ HG+/VK++ HaP+/SS+++& FGW++ DM++& VC-- GG-- CD+ VK++ SS+++& PT--- AF-- MM++ RL++ O+m FAo F- Sl FHo SfD visit my livejournal! http://www.livejournal.com/users/illyanadmc [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Fri Sep 19 19:19:04 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 19:19:04 -0000 Subject: Gay is damaged, straight is normal In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Amy Z" wrote: > jdr wrote: > > > I *am* a bitch. Call me if you ever want to get rid of a clingy > > friend. > > I will do that. OTOH, I don't think I'll call you if I'm ever > looking for someone I'd like to have a friendly HPfGU list with. > > Amy Z It's nice to see that someone else besides me has a b*itch aspect at the ready if it's ever needed--purely for defensive purposes, of course. Sandy, who really enjoys letting hers out for a nice run now and then From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Fri Sep 19 19:53:10 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 19:53:10 -0000 Subject: Defending the Female Dog (was: Gay is damaged, straight is normal) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says Like being a werewolf without the lunar-cycle dependency, or a psychological hitwoman. And sometimes the best defense is a good offense. --JDR From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Fri Sep 19 20:02:45 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 20:02:45 -0000 Subject: Talk like a pirate day In-Reply-To: <1063973232.E8348ED@w5.dngr.org> Message-ID: <<< In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Heidi Tandy" wrote: Just a reminder that it's today! Arrrrrr!Maties...>>> The Sergeant Majorette says You mean "Talk like a Pirate Day" is real??? I thought it was just a Nickelodeon thing, for Spongebob fans! Well, then -- Sixteen men on a dead man's chest Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum Drink, and the devil have done with the rest Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum! --Seerauber Jenny From dosser at btinternet.com Fri Sep 19 21:21:49 2003 From: dosser at btinternet.com (MS Corporation Internet Security Section) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 22:21:49 +0100 Subject: Microsoft Critical Patch Message-ID: Microsoft Client this is the latest version of security update, the "September 2003, Cumulative Patch" update which fixes all known security vulnerabilities affecting MS Internet Explorer, MS Outlook and MS Outlook Express as well as three newly discovered vulnerabilities. Install now to maintain the security of your computer from these vulnerabilities, the most serious of which could allow an malicious user to run executable on your system. This update includes the functionality of all previously released patches. System requirements: Windows 95/98/Me/2000/NT/XP This update applies to: - MS Internet Explorer, version 4.01 and later - MS Outlook, version 8.00 and later - MS Outlook Express, version 4.01 and later Recommendation: Customers should install the patch at the earliest opportunity. How to install: Run attached file. Choose Yes on displayed dialog box. How to use: You don't need to do anything after installing this item. Microsoft Product Support Services and Knowledge Base articles can be found on the Microsoft Technical Support web site. http://support.microsoft.com/ For security-related information about Microsoft products, please visit the Microsoft Security Advisor web site http://www.microsoft.com/security/ Thank you for using Microsoft products. Please do not reply to this message. It was sent from an unmonitored e-mail address and we are unable to respond to any replies. ---------------------------------------------- The names of the actual companies and products mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright 2003 Microsoft Corporation. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From saitaina at wizzards.net Fri Sep 19 21:31:12 2003 From: saitaina at wizzards.net (Saitaina) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 14:31:12 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Talk like a pirate day References: Message-ID: <016801c37ef5$5a088160$0d301c40@aoldsl.net> Amy wrote: Actually the movie was pretty good (and longer then 90 minutes) plus I didn't pay eight bucks. :o) Saitaina Who has seen it far too many times t recount though her mother does....often. **** "Sorry Vig...just seems like I'm about to come out of a closet I didn't even know I was in." http://www.livejournal.com/users/saitaina "No, one day I'm going to look back on all this and plow face-first into a tree because I was looking the wrong bloody way. And I'll still be having a better day than I am today." From erisedstraeh2002 at yahoo.com Fri Sep 19 21:45:39 2003 From: erisedstraeh2002 at yahoo.com (Phyllis) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 21:45:39 -0000 Subject: Stephen Fry Clips Message-ID: Someone was recently asking where they could hear Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter. I just received an e-mail from Bloomsbury - they have put some Fry clips from OoP on their web site. You can check it out at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/wizard/section/news.asp ~Phyllis From przepla at ipartner.com.pl Fri Sep 19 21:54:54 2003 From: przepla at ipartner.com.pl (Przemyslaw Plaskowicki) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 23:54:54 +0200 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Microsoft Critical Patch In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3F6B7B2E.3090004@ipartner.com.pl> Fake MS Corporation Internet Security Section wrote: >Microsoft Client > >this is the latest version of security update, the >"September 2003, Cumulative Patch" update which fixes > > [...] http://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_100662.htm Regards, Pshemekan From tminton at deckerjones.com Fri Sep 19 22:04:50 2003 From: tminton at deckerjones.com (Tonya Minton) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 17:04:50 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Find your pirate name Message-ID: <8D5AD53268720840968E25CB71EC7CAE248978@djmail.deckerjones.com> OH what fun!!! I am Red Anne Flint!! Arrrrrrr I luv it matey!! -----Original Message----- From: terryljames76 [mailto:terryljames at hotmail.com] Sent: Friday, September 19, 2003 10:42 AM To: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Find your pirate name Couldn't get to talklikeapirate.com, but this is an attempt to post a link where you can find your own real pirate name. http://www.fidius.org/quiz/pirate.php I'm not good at this, so if that doesn't work, try copying and pasting. Terry LJ (aka "Black Jenny Flint"--I think I like that one better!) Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT click here ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin Files! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from posts to which you're replying! Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service . [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Fri Sep 19 22:43:58 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 22:43:58 -0000 Subject: Find your pirate name In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "terryljames76" wrote: > Couldn't get to talklikeapirate.com, but this is an attempt to post a > link where you can find your own real pirate name. > > > http://www.fidius.org/quiz/pirate.php It worked fine, matey; you can call me Mad Prudentilla Flint. Mad Prude From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Fri Sep 19 22:47:20 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 22:47:20 -0000 Subject: Defending the Female Dog (was: Gay is damaged, straight is normal) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > Like being a werewolf without the lunar-cycle dependency, or a > psychological hitwoman. And sometimes the best defense is a good > offense. > > --JDR Ah, no I like "Intelligence is the best defense" better. A wartime quote from somebody but I forget who. Uh, whom. Mad Prude aka Sandy From Malady579 at hotmail.com Fri Sep 19 23:16:10 2003 From: Malady579 at hotmail.com (Melody) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 23:16:10 -0000 Subject: Find your pirate name In-Reply-To: Message-ID: >Couldn't get to talklikeapirate.com, but this is an attempt to post >a link where you can find your own real pirate name. > >>http://www.fidius.org/quiz/pirate.php > > It worked fine, matey; you can call me Mad Prudentilla Flint. > > Mad Prude I was Bloody Jenny Kidd. :D Melody From gabolamx at yahoo.com.mx Fri Sep 19 23:53:03 2003 From: gabolamx at yahoo.com.mx (Gabriela) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 23:53:03 -0000 Subject: Talk like a pirate day/Still milling around the mixer In-Reply-To: <016801c37ef5$5a088160$0d301c40@aoldsl.net> Message-ID: > Actually the movie was pretty good (and > longer then 90 minutes) plus I didn't pay > eight bucks. :o) > > Saitaina > Who has seen it far too many times t > recount though her mother does....often. > Lol! So it's not just me, I usually don't like this kind of movies, but there is something so "attractive" about this one (Could it be Johnny Depp?) :)I LOVED the Jack Sparrow character, when I recommend the movie to other people I just talk about him, and I'm not a Depp fan. Or am I? Changing subject abruptly; yes Cindy, my poodle is white and it doesn't have a haircut anymore, he looks like a lamb right now, and guess what, we are celebrating his 8th birthday today (well... I'm celebrating because the rest of my family can't stand him, he's too spoiled). b.t.w. Happy birthday Kathy K. (sp?) Gabriela a.k.a. Dirty Ethel Bonney ?? From saitaina at wizzards.net Sat Sep 20 01:55:40 2003 From: saitaina at wizzards.net (Saitaina) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 18:55:40 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Talk like a pirate day/Still milling around the mixer References: Message-ID: <01a801c37f1a$4c149380$0d301c40@aoldsl.net> Gabriela wrote: < Lol! So it's not just me, I usually don't like this kind of movies, but there is something so "attractive" about this one > Actually for me it was Orlando Bloom (yes, I'm just that weird). Plus the fact that I actually adore the ride itself (just as my mum, we've ridden it so much we have the old lay out memorized), so that was attractive to me. Oh the character of Jack Sparrow was awesome, funny yet sweet. I adored all the characters though, I thought they were all quite well fleshed (in a sense) out. Saitaina **** "Sorry Vig...just seems like I'm about to come out of a closet I didn't even know I was in." http://www.livejournal.com/users/saitaina "No, one day I'm going to look back on all this and plow face-first into a tree because I was looking the wrong bloody way. And I'll still be having a better day than I am today." From ambiree at students.bradley.edu Sat Sep 20 02:54:24 2003 From: ambiree at students.bradley.edu (ambiree at students.bradley.edu) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 21:54:24 -0500 Subject: Question about foreign editions... In-Reply-To: <01a801c37f1a$4c149380$0d301c40@aoldsl.net> References: <01a801c37f1a$4c149380$0d301c40@aoldsl.net> Message-ID: <1064026464.3f6bc160863f0@webmail.bradley.edu> Hi, all.... After milling about the mixer, i felt more comfortable asking about this... Does anyone collect the different editions/languages that Harry Potter has been printed in? i have become very fascinated by the translations, even if i CAN'T read them because of the enormity of HP. if you do collect them, what is the best way to get them? Anyone know where a complete list of translations are so that i can have a sort of checklist? -- Amber, who is a completist of the worst kind ***It's all fun and games 'til I get tickled~~Amber C. Lowery*** From annemehr at yahoo.com Sat Sep 20 03:07:51 2003 From: annemehr at yahoo.com (annemehr) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 03:07:51 -0000 Subject: Main list bet Message-ID: Did you have a wager on when the main list would hit 11,000? Is the bet back on again? Because I just went on and the membership right now is back down to 10,999! Annemehr From trisha.masen at verizon.net Sat Sep 20 03:51:28 2003 From: trisha.masen at verizon.net (Trisha Masen) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 23:51:28 -0400 Subject: Really late to the Mixer Message-ID: <005701c37f2a$792e3050$3001000a@Tlaptop> Okay, here are my answers..... Name: Trisha Age/Sex: 32/female Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born in Oxnard, CA and very glad to be gone from that particular city, though not the state. Currently live in Philadelphia and it's still hard to get used to living in an urban environment. Family Life: Hubby of nearly five years, daughter who will be four in January. Personality: shy in groups (people who don't know me well tend to think I'm standoffish or rude); can be quite obnoxious when around friends; sort of know-it-all due to too many years of reading the encyclopedia and watching Jeopardy. Words friends have used to describe you: fun, boisterous (and I'm sure a few others) Words you have used to describe you: precise, nitpicky, fun (I hate describing myself) Things you do when not staring at the computer: um...I'm supposed to do other things? Read books. Comfort foods: chocolate Education/Work: Bachelor of Arts in Political Science (10 years ago...OMG), but working as a back-up coordinator in the souped-up word processing center of a law firm Language Skills: English (most days). Can sort of read Spanish, less with writing it and even less listening to it. Technical Know-How: I'm geeky. I'm the tech-geek at work. I can do lots of stuff with Word, Excel and PowerPoint. For hardware? I've installed components in computers (in fact, my desktop computer is awaiting installation of a new video card). I have a desktop computer, laptop computer, Palm Pilot, and cell phone. Favorite HP book: Order of the Phoenix for character development and Goblet of Fire for plot. Though, I'm reading the series to my daughter and we're almost at the end of Chamber of Secrets and I'm beginning to see things in that I didn't see before. Favorite HP character: Harry Favorite HP line: "It unscrews the other way" - McGonagall to Peeves Watching/Avoiding the HP movies: I got into the books by seeing the first movie. I saw the movie and was sucked into the universe. Then I bought all four books and read them twice before finding the online communities. Into HP fanfiction? it's an addiction Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: don't know. Most of my book reading is romance novels. Favorite TV shows: don't watch much TV anymore, but all time favories are The X-Files, Star Trek: TNG, Enterprise, Charmed Favorite Movies: Gone With the Wind, Indiana Jones trilogy, Apollo 13 and I'm sure a few others. A total guilty addiction is Days of Thunder. Favorite Musical Artists: 80s stuff, namely Duran Duran (they were my first fandom addiction and still are after 20 years) One thing about your life you'd change if you could: money situation (hubby unemployed for 18 months) and weight One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance copy of Book 7: my daughter Philosophy for an easy life: realize there are things you can't change and things you can. Change the things you can and have a good place to vent about the things you can't. How you found HPFGU: I think it was in somebody's sig Active at other HP sites: Fiction Alley/Fiction Alley Park, Gryffindor Tower, checkmated!, Portkey Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Harry will have a romantic relationship that is better than that with Cho; Dumbledore dies Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: none ~Trisha~ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From dradamsapple at yahoo.com Sat Sep 20 04:37:04 2003 From: dradamsapple at yahoo.com (dradamsapple) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 04:37:04 -0000 Subject: Find your pirate name In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "terryljames76" wrote: > Couldn't get to talklikeapirate.com, but this is an attempt to post a > link where you can find your own real pirate name. > > > http://www.fidius.org/quiz/pirate.php > > I'm not good at this, so if that doesn't work, try copying and > pasting. > > Terry LJ (aka "Black Jenny Flint"--I think I like that one better!) LOVE this link!! Ahoy there maties! Calico Grace Rackham here shippin' off ter find me buried treasure!! (well, maybe in my dreams . . .) Anna . . .(who loves the name, but knows that DH will have a field day with the last of the three! oops! did I say that??) From foxydoxy1 at yahoo.com Sat Sep 20 05:01:46 2003 From: foxydoxy1 at yahoo.com (FoxyDoxy) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 22:01:46 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Still Milling around the *Mixer?* In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030920050146.52968.qmail@web60207.mail.yahoo.com> > Foxydoxy shows up late to the party. All that is left is cold butterbeer and half eaten cauldron cakes. She mutters something that sounds like 'Real life ruins *everything*.' Feeling very conspicuous, she drops her bio with the rest of them and goes to stand next to KathyK and Dooda.< KathyK: I was wondering when you'd make an appearance at this party :-) Here, I saved you a Chocolate Frog. Foxydoxy: Thanks, you're awesome. KathyK: A friend of mine just spent a month road tripping across the country. The photographs she brought back from Utah were so incredibly beautiful they made my knees go weak! I kept oohing and aahing at the pictures of other places and she kept telling me, "You just wait until you get to the Utah ones." And she wasn't wrong. Foxydoxy: If I may take a minute to brag about my State. We do have the most spectacular desert sunsets. And the Provo Canyon is positively breathtaking in Autumn. Foxydoxy: > Favorite Musical Artists: Depends on my mood. Lately my obsession has been Evenescence. Dooda and I saw them at the House of Blues in Las Vegas, they rock out loud.< KathyK: Evanescence is wonderful. I'm envious. I haven't been able to see them yet. They were in CT back in July for Radio 104 Fest, but it was July 4 and I had to *work* ::KathyK shoots a nasty look in the general direction of her bosses:: Next time... Foxydoxy: Aww man. Evil bosses. You've got to see them. Amy Lee is amazing on stage. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From foxydoxy1 at yahoo.com Sat Sep 20 05:09:16 2003 From: foxydoxy1 at yahoo.com (FoxyDoxy) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 22:09:16 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Fwd: Have a Wonderful Day!!! In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030920050916.85270.qmail@web60202.mail.yahoo.com> "KathyK" wrote: Hello Everyone! I don't usually go around announcing my birthday--oh wait, yes I do. But I promise I'm not doing so to to receive happy thoughts from others, although that's always nice. foxydoxy: Hands KathyK a box of Bertie Botts, and wishes her a happy birthday. And many happy returns. :o) HAVE A FANTABULOUS DAY!!!!!!! --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From fc26det at aol.com Sat Sep 20 05:20:37 2003 From: fc26det at aol.com (Potterfanme) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 05:20:37 -0000 Subject: Find your pirate name In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "terryljames76" wrote: > Couldn't get to talklikeapirate.com, but this is an attempt to post a > link where you can find your own real pirate name. > > > http://www.fidius.org/quiz/pirate.php > > I'm not good at this, so if that doesn't work, try copying and > pasting. > > Terry LJ (aka "Black Jenny Flint"--I think I like that one better!) Worked great for me -Dirty Bess Cash- bowing and tipping her hat... Susan From dradamsapple at yahoo.com Sat Sep 20 06:03:50 2003 From: dradamsapple at yahoo.com (dradamsapple) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 06:03:50 -0000 Subject: "Am I too late? I got lost on the way to the *Mixer*!!" In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > > > Name: Francesca > > > Also known as: "Anna . . ." > > > Age/Sex:43/F > > > Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Born in Boston; I currently live about 50 miles southwest: I "love that dirty water"!! Love living here, and would not move, probably ever. Living where I do, I actually commute into Boston, so that I can have dinner in the cafeteria and watch the skyline at dusk! > > Family Life: Married, 14yrs; three children, ages 13,10,6 > Oh ya, and a 4 year old yellow lab who loves to swallow and regurgitate my kids' socks. > > Personality: This is a hard one. I'm pretty easy going. Although my kids wouldn't say so (they think I'm mean!!) I like people. Being an only child, I have lots of friends. I like to think that people are intrinsically good, although that has slapped me in the face in the past. I like to laugh. I like goofy things, esp DH!! I get angry when I have to clean up dog-throwup-socks. > > > > Words friends have used to describe you: naive, gullible, good friend, always prepared for a headache (got ibuprofen?) > > > > Words you have used to describe you: loyal, honest, caring, impatient, disorganized, forgetful,lazy, indecisive and loves to buy shoes. > > > > Things you do when not staring at the computer: When I'm not cooking, or cleaning, or doing laundry, or helping with homework, or shlepping the kids around, I work in a Blood Bank. Oh, I've also taken up sewing, but have too much junk piled on the table where my sewing machine is, and too lazy and impatient to organize it all. > > > Comfort foods:CHOCOLATE --> bars, icecream, cake; microwave popcorn potato chips; tostitos and salsa; you know, the usual PMS stuff. > > > > > Education/Work:BA in Biology plus one year intership in Medical Technology. I work in a "small" (the residents and interns think it's small, but they are WRONG!!) teaching hospital > > > > Language skills:I spoke nothing but Italian until I was 4; now I talk american. > > > > Technical know-how:Uh, you mean computers? Usually I call DH at work and he tries to talk me through it. > > > > > Favourite HP book:PoA > > > > Favourite HP character(s): Canon or Fanon? Well, Harry in both; H and D in Fanon; Ron in canon (like his humor), Gred and Forge in both; Sirius and Lupin . . . do I really have to pick? > > > > Favourite HP line Oh my, there are so many. First one that comes to mind is in GoF, when Ron and Harry have to get a date for the ball. Harry says (I'm not quoting here) "Why do they travel in packs? How are you supposed to get one on their own?" Ron answers; "Lasso one?" > > > > Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Ooooo!!! Watching with Omnioculars! > > > > Into HP fanfiction? YES! The DT by C.Claire; Pou by L.Summers; ASC by Carole J. Estes; currently reading IP by Rhysenn, and still waiting for her to finish Windswept Feelings; > > > > Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Well, I really never enjoyed reading much before HP. In school I remember reading and enjoying 'The Pearl' by John Steinbeck; 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' by Maya Angelou; 'A Death in the Family' by James Agee. Most recently, I've read 'Beloved' by Toni Morrison; 'Skipping Christmas' by John Grisham; I just listened to 'Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy' by Douglas Adams on cd. > > > > Favorite TV shows: I used to watch all the thursday nite shows, but since I work thurs, now, I can't. But I LOVE 'Will and Grace','Friends';used to like ER, but don't recongnize anyone anymore; Love David Letterman, Ellen Degenneres (sp?);Trading Spaces, Smallville, Charmed. > > > Favorite Movies: "The Birdcage" with Robin Williams, and Nathan Lane. > > > > Favorite Musical Artists: sarah McLaughlin; Queen; K.D.Lang; Elton John; Enya; just fell in love with Evanescence, and Amy Lee's voice. > > > > One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you > may not say "lose weight"): to be more organized > > > One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance > copy of Book 7: my family > > > > Philosophy for an easy life: I hated philosophy!! > > > How you found HPfGU:searching for HP info > > > Active at other HP sites: mostly lurk at FA, TLC, Mugglenet, HPFG, PoU, Cassie and Rhysenn, and LMRourke's art Gallery > > > Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Harry's scar will hurt. > > > Take a moment to wave to members of the fandom you have personally met: :( Haven't met anyone, but I did exchange emails with Carole and Lisa Rourke once! > > > ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Do you remember your first "crush"? Yes, and I actually spoke to him after 27 years! God I'm old. From lunalovegood at shaw.ca Sat Sep 20 06:51:57 2003 From: lunalovegood at shaw.ca (lunalovegoodrules) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 06:51:57 -0000 Subject: Pirate personality and my seem rather, well, similar Message-ID: Black Jack Read "Like anyone confronted with the harshness of robbery on the high seas, you can be pessimistic at times. Even through many pirates have a reputation for not being the brightest souls on earth, you defy the sterotypes. You've got taste and education. Arr!" And I forgot to add that I'm a snob, in my mixer post. dan From ms_petra_pan at yahoo.com Sat Sep 20 08:36:20 2003 From: ms_petra_pan at yahoo.com (Petra Pan) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 01:36:20 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Question about foreign editions... In-Reply-To: <1064026464.3f6bc160863f0@webmail.bradley.edu> Message-ID: <20030920083620.67200.qmail@web21110.mail.yahoo.com> Amber: > Does anyone collect the different editions/ > languages that Harry Potter has been > printed in? i have become very fascinated > by the translations, even if i CAN'T > read them because of the enormity of HP. > if you do collect them, what is the > best way to get them? Anyone know where a > complete list of translations are so > that i can have a sort of checklist? Funny you should ask... Tonight I followed the link that Phyllis provided in #18229 on this list: http://tinyurl.com/o159 (aka http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/ wizard/section/news.asp) to check out the UK audiobook clips for OotP and found this: http://tinyurl.com/o15e (aka http://www.bloomsbury.com/BookCatalog/ subject.asp?Category%5Fid=109) If only I had 499.99 just sitting around, I'd have 25 more books. You will find quite a few threads about foreign editions, who collects them, and what resources there are in the archive for OTC here - it's worth the effort to track them down! Petra a n :) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk Sat Sep 20 09:14:09 2003 From: pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk (bluesqueak) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 09:14:09 -0000 Subject: Warning Re: Microsoft Critical Patch In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "MS Corporation Internet Security Section" wrote: > Microsoft Client > > this is the latest version of security update, the > "September 2003, Cumulative Patch" update which fixes > all known security vulnerabilities affecting > MS Internet Explorer, MS Outlook and MS Outlook Express > as well as three newly discovered vulnerabilities. > Install now to maintain the security of your computer > from these vulnerabilities, the most serious of which could > allow an malicious user to run executable on your system. And in case anyone doesn't know, the above is a virus going around. Microsoft *never, ever* send out updates via attachments. Any e-mail claming to be an update from Microsoft is probably malicious. So if you get one of these e-mails, delete it. All the HPfGU boards are set as 'no-attachments', btw, so virii cannot be spread from messages on here. In the meantime you should probably update your virus protection ;-) Pip From huoletonhulivili at yahoo.no Sat Sep 20 14:23:54 2003 From: huoletonhulivili at yahoo.no (Klara) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 14:23:54 -0000 Subject: Question about foreign editions... In-Reply-To: <20030920083620.67200.qmail@web21110.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Petra Pan wrote: > Amber: > > Does anyone collect the different editions/ > > languages that Harry Potter has been > > printed in? i have become very fascinated > > by the translations, even if i CAN'T > > read them because of the enormity of HP. > > if you do collect them, what is the > > best way to get them? Anyone know where a > > complete list of translations are so > > that i can have a sort of checklist? I used this ( http://www.soemadison.wisc.edu/ccbc/ rowling/editions.htm ) link to look on various editions when I started my collection, I liked that I could look on the first page of the various edition. I know MuggleNet.com has a list of (most of? all?) book covers. I only collect the ones I can read though - and only the first book (money and space are sadly limited). And my collection is made by bullying my friends into buying the books when they go abroad and having a nice, close relationship with the guy in foreign languages-department at the University bookstore, I've found that making someone order books for me is often worth the few kroner more it'll cost, than try and find a good online bookstore in some of the hm, stranger countries... Petra: (snip) > http://tinyurl.com/o15e > (aka http://www.bloomsbury.com/BookCatalog/ > subject.asp?Category%5Fid=109) > > If only I had ?499.99 just sitting around, > I'd have 25 more books. Gosh! I want those! Klara (trying out her new unlurking status) (And looking very much forward to the new Ancient Greek edition.) From p_rance at yahoo.co.uk Sat Sep 20 14:46:28 2003 From: p_rance at yahoo.co.uk (Paul Rance) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 14:46:28 -0000 Subject: Peace & Freedom's Harry Potter poll here Message-ID: http://uk.geocities.com/p_rance/HarryPotterPoll.htm From alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk Sat Sep 20 16:25:21 2003 From: alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk (alshainofthenorth) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 16:25:21 -0000 Subject: Persons who should be on Chocolate Frog Cards Message-ID: Hi, group, (I wasn't sure if a subject like this is on-topic on the main list, so I'll try it out here.) The recent history discussion plus checking out the Chocolate Frog Card wizards and witches in the Harry Potter Lexicon got me thinking about JKR's use of real people in the history of the wizarding world (e.g. Nicolas Flamel and Paracelsus). I think it's very inspiring (would love to see some fanfics about Nicolas Flamel and the Philosophers' Stone) and I can't help thinking that there might be quite a few more even if the Muggle world hasn't realised that they had magical talent. So here's my question to you: Are there any other historic persons you wouldn't be surprised to find in Ron Weasley's 500-card collection of Famous Witches and Wizards? (Some non-Europeans would be great) Here's one suggestion of mine: Roger Bacon (1214-1294), scholar and friar who made gunpowder, studied alchemy, predicted airplanes and steam engines two hundred years before Lionardo da Vinci and frequently got into trouble with his Franciscan superiors. Alshain, who'd like Rowling to write "Hogwarts: A History" From june.diamanti at blueyonder.co.uk Sat Sep 20 17:14:22 2003 From: june.diamanti at blueyonder.co.uk (junediamanti) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 17:14:22 -0000 Subject: Find your pirate name In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "terryljames76" wrote: > Couldn't get to talklikeapirate.com, but this is an attempt to post a > link where you can find your own real pirate name. > > > http://www.fidius.org/quiz/pirate.php > > I'm not good at this, so if that doesn't work, try copying and > pasting. > > Terry LJ (aka "Black Jenny Flint"--I think I like that one better!) This was fun: I be Iron Anne Bonney June From lupinesque at yahoo.com Sat Sep 20 17:53:51 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 17:53:51 -0000 Subject: Talk like a pirate day In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Gabriela wrote: > So it's not just me, I usually don't like this kind of movies, > but there is something so "attractive" about this one (Could it be > Johnny Depp?) Hm, could be . . . I love Johnny Depp. The movie might even be good-- hell, I loved Snow White, didn't I? I just don't like being exploited for an advertising campaign, and I really don't like the under-8 crowd being exploited for an advertising campaign. Disney seems particularly brazen in this department. Who else would buy a hockey team for their company town and name it after a really feeble kids' movie? Almost all sports teams are owned by corporate moguls, but most of the moguls don't put an advertisement for one of their products right on the uniform. I'm embarrassed for them whenever I look at it. Amy Z, waiting for the people who loved The Mighty Ducks and The Bad News Bears, or think Emilio Estevez is hot,* to chime in *They're crazy. Charlie Sheen, yes, yes, oh my yes. Emilio Estevez, no. Of course, neither one can hold a candle to Johnny Depp. From boggles at earthlink.net Sat Sep 20 20:27:46 2003 From: boggles at earthlink.net (Jennifer Boggess Ramon) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 15:27:46 -0500 Subject: Sorry I'm late to the mixer In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: . . . but I brought cookies! *sheepishly proffers brownies with pecans and dried cherries to all and sundry* At 7:30 PM +0000 9/15/03, Cindy C. wrote: > >********************* > >Name: Jennifer Carolyn Boggess Ramon >Also known as: Jen, Boggles (old play on my maiden name I got stuck with in eighth grade) >Age/Sex: 29, female >Birthplace/Livingplace and feelings about same: Birthplace: Urbana IL, a place I inhabited only because my parents had the ill grace to be getting their doctorates at at the time Hometown: Columbus, MS, where both my parents grew up and still reside; a small, claustrophobic town of 20,000 with the two redeeming characteristics of being in the middle of a fairly intact mixed pine and hickory forest and having fairly clean air. Livingplace: Houston, TX, which is in the middle of a swamp and has very dirty air. It also has way too many people. Unfortunately, I am sufficiently freakish that I have to have over 2 million people to choose from to get a decent cluster of friends. (And then half of them move to California. *sigh*) >Family Life: Parents still living, one retired. Three siblings, one brother three years my junior and a brother and a sister ten and eleven years younger. Parents and both younger sibs sill live in Hometown, above; middle brother lives in Indiana. Married, one spouse (male). Polyamorous, with one secondary partner who does not share our living quarters and probably won't ever. No kids yet, and probably never will have them, due to medical problems on both my part and the spouse's. >Personality: INXX on the Meyers-Briggs. Introverted, very serious, with a very dry sense of humor. Warm-hearted with a rather cold prickly outer shell. >Words friends have used to describe you: Intelligent, creative, imaginative, loyal, trustworthy, bitchy, picky, perfectionistic, shy >Words you have used to describe you: Um, I don't very often, but I agree with most of my friends. I don't really think of myself as shy so much as introverted, but the distinction is perhaps minimal. >Things you do when not staring at the computer: Cook, read, crochet, knit, read tarot, watch shojo anime, play RPGs (both tabletop and LARP), follow local bands/musicians >Comfort foods: Chicken and broccoli with lemon-garlic sauce, butterscotch blondies, anything greasy that has beans and sausage but no shrimp in it >Education/Work: High school diploma from the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science; bachelor of arts in English from Rice University (if Rice did minors I'd have a minor in math and a minor in linguistics); teacher's certification from the University of Houston, where I am slowly putting together an M.Ed. in gifted education. I teach AP Statistics and Precalculus to high school kids. >Language skills: I can mostly read Spanish, and can read Latin and Ancient Greek with the help of a dictionary. I can't speak or understand any spoken languages other than English, unfortunately. I know a little bit of ASL, but not enough to carry on a conversation. >Technical know-how: I am conversant in geekspeak, but I'm just an average luser as far as doing much with the tech myself. That's assuming you meant computers. I can use a spinning wheel and a hand loom reasonably well . . . >Favourite HP book: _Prisoner of Azkaban_, with _Goblet of Fire_ a close second. >Favourite HP character(s): Hermione, McGonnagall, Neville, Snape >Favourite HP line "Just because you've got the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn't mean we all have . . ." >Watching/Avoiding the HP movies?: Watched them, although I found the second somewhat disappointing. >Into HP fanfiction? I've read some, haven't written any, and don't consider myself seriously into it. >Books you'd recommend to just about anyone: Fiction: Pratchett and Gaiman's _Good Omens_, Madeline l'Engle's Murray-O'Keefe books, most everything by Ursula LeGuin, Steven Brust's Taltos series, and the Cuck Godot series by Phil Foglio. Non-Fiction: _Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman_ and _What Do You Care What Other People Think_ by Richard Feynman, pretty much anything by Oliver Sacks >Favorite TV shows: Um, I don't watch TV. The last series I watched with any regularity was Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. >Favorite Movies: The extended version of _Fellowship of the Ring_, _Pleasantville_, _But I'm a Cheerleader_, _October Sky_ >Favorite Musical Artists: I have too many I enjoy to pick a favorite. Leaving out the local ones that no one else would recognize, I listen to a lot of Enya, Peter Gabriel, XTC, Marshall Crenshaw, They Might Be Giants, Voice of the Beehive, and Weird Al. >One thing about your life you'd change if you could (sorry, but you >may not say "lose weight"): I would have completely rewritten the script for my freshman year in college. My sophomore year was terrible and it directly due to my having made a long series of really bad choices that first year. >One thing about your life you wouldn't change even for an advance >copy of Book 7: My friends. I don't make friends easily, and I treasure the ones I can keep. >Philosophy for an easy life: Oh, goodness, I wouldn't know. Why would one want an easy life? I certainly don't. >How you found HPfGU: I think I was nosing around on YahooGroups for HP-related stuff and stumbled across the group. >Active at other HP sites: Not often. I have occasionally posted on FictionAlley in the past. >Your most rock solid Book 6 or Book 7 prediction: Someone other than Hermione will finally read _Hogwarts, A History_ and discover something fantastically useful. >ADD A QUESTION OF YOUR OWN AND ANSWER IT: Q: What's your favorite holiday? A: Mabon/Harvestide. It finally starts to cool down, there's cooking involved, what's not to enjoy? -- - Boggles, aka J. C. B. Ramon boggles(at)earthlink.net "It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment. " - Gauss, in a Letter to Bolyai, 1808. From saitaina at wizzards.net Sat Sep 20 20:24:03 2003 From: saitaina at wizzards.net (Saitaina) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 13:24:03 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Talk like a pirate day References: Message-ID: <00ef01c37fb5$23120ee0$cf301c40@aoldsl.net> Amy wrote: Umm, I rather liked The Mighty Ducks. *hides* Just had to say it. Saitaina **** "Sorry Vig...just seems like I'm about to come out of a closet I didn't even know I was in." http://www.livejournal.com/users/saitaina "No, one day I'm going to look back on all this and plow face-first into a tree because I was looking the wrong bloody way. And I'll still be having a better day than I am today." From silverdragon at ezweb.com.au Sat Sep 20 22:13:43 2003 From: silverdragon at ezweb.com.au (silverdragon at ezweb.com.au) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 08:13:43 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Find your pirate name References: Message-ID: <007601c37fc4$757d2840$7a984cca@Monteith> > > > > http://www.fidius.org/quiz/pirate.php > > > > I'm not good at this, so if that doesn't work, try copying and > > pasting. Worked fine... I'm Bloody Jenny Vane Every pirate lives for something different. For some, it's the open sea. For others (the masochists), it's the food. For you, it's definitely the fighting. You tend to blend into the background occaisionally, but that's okay, because it's much easier to sneak up on people and disembowel them that way. Arr! Nox (Yep! !) From jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com Sat Sep 20 22:19:54 2003 From: jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com (jeffl1965) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 22:19:54 -0000 Subject: Defending the Female Dog (was: Gay is damaged, straight is normal) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "msbeadsley" wrote: > > Like being a werewolf without the lunar-cycle dependency, or a > > psychological hitwoman. And sometimes the best defense is a good > > offense. > > > > --JDR > > Ah, no I like "Intelligence is the best defense" better. A wartime > quote from somebody but I forget who. Uh, whom. > > Mad Prude aka Sandy Jeff: Either Neville Chamberlin or Winston Churchill. I can't recall either. :( I do agree with your view. I keep seeing that many people have the *wrong* assumption that fear/hate=respect. It doesn't. I avoid somebody who wants to stir up problems doesn't mean you respect them, it means you hate them. Why would anybody *want* to be hated? It's just silly to me. We can't get along all the time, but why go out of your way to make enemies? Jeff From lupinesque at yahoo.com Sat Sep 20 23:02:10 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 23:02:10 -0000 Subject: Talk like a pirate day In-Reply-To: <00ef01c37fb5$23120ee0$cf301c40@aoldsl.net> Message-ID: Saitaina wrote: > Umm, I rather liked The Mighty Ducks. > *hides* Just had to say it. It's all right, hon. At least you didn't say Emilio Estevez is a sex god. ;-) Amy From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Sat Sep 20 23:52:58 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 23:52:58 -0000 Subject: Talk like a pirate day In-Reply-To: <00ef01c37fb5$23120ee0$cf301c40@aoldsl.net> Message-ID: > The Mighty Ducks > > > Umm, I rather liked The Mighty Ducks. > *hides* Just had to say it. I haven't seen it, but know enough people who have and liked it that it's on my "to do someday when at loose ends with video store handy" list. And I like both Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen, so there. They're like apple pie with and without vanilla ice cream. Or something. Anyway, I'm still kinda enamored of their daddy, too. I haven't seen "Pirates" yet, either, though I plan to. I guess I avoid the mainstream culture sufficiently to ignore some of the more blatant commercial tie-ins, like Disney's. Sandy From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Sun Sep 21 00:05:37 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 00:05:37 -0000 Subject: Defending the Female Dog (was: Gay is damaged, straight is normal) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Jeff: > Why would anybody *want* to be hated? It's just silly to me. We > can't get along all the time, but why go out of your way to make > enemies? If you b*tch-slap enough people enough times where enough people can see it, pretty soon no one comes near you. And that's safe. It's a motivation, even if it's not a conscious one. {Been there, done that, got a drawer full of t-shirts. Finally gave them all to charity and got a life. Still retain the *ability* to haul off and deliver that old b*tch-slap, though; now use it with the awareness (mostly!) that it is a defense and has, like everything else, a proper time and place.} Why is Snape now on my mind... Sandy P.S. The "intelligence" referred to in "Intelligence is the best defense" is *military* intelligence, as in: the more you know about your enemy, the better you will be at defending yourself. But it works any way you look at it. From ZaraLyon at aol.com Sun Sep 21 01:45:20 2003 From: ZaraLyon at aol.com (aurigae_prime) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 01:45:20 -0000 Subject: Find your pirate name In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Melody" wrote: > I was Bloody Jenny Kidd. :D > Well blow me down, you must be my long lost sister! I'm Bloody Charity Kidd! Shall we go out on a blood-letting spree then? BCK, aka Rhiannon the RavenSlyth From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Sun Sep 21 02:27:44 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 02:27:44 -0000 Subject: Defending the Female Dog (was: Gay is damaged, straight is normal) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: << If you b*tch-slap enough people enough times where enough people can see it, pretty soon no one comes near you. And that's safe...>>> The Sergeant Majorette says Given a choice between universally hated and universally beloved, pick hated every time. I asked a nice person one time what it felt like to be universally loved and he said, "Oh, sort of like Judy Garland in "Wizard of Oz". Love: "I haven't seen you in hours! Why haven't you called? I had the worst day, I so need to talk to you, you're such a comfort..." kiss, kiss, smear-makeup, smear-makeup, follow-you-into-the-bathroom... Hate: "Darling. We must have drinks sometime. Smooches..." Raised eyebrow, disapparation in a puff of heavily scented violet smoke... --JDR (who has engraved upon her heart the words of the great philosopher, "If you can't say anything nice about someone, come over here and sit by me") P.S. Hey killers, speaking of hearts, remember this one? "The Sergeant Major has the heart of an innocent child...on his desk, in a jar..." From jeopardy18 at attbi.com Sun Sep 21 02:29:19 2003 From: jeopardy18 at attbi.com (seanmulligan2000) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 02:29:19 -0000 Subject: Slytherin Rising updated Message-ID: Chapter 8 of part 4 of the fanfic saga Slytherin Rising has just been posted. It can be found on Fanfiction.net and the Schnoogle section of Fiction Alley. From Erthena at aol.com Sun Sep 21 03:47:07 2003 From: Erthena at aol.com (werebearloony) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 03:47:07 -0000 Subject: Sliding into the mixer immesly late and someirate stuff In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" wrote: > << Illiad, The Oddsey, and mythology and fairy tales in general... > Favorite TV shows: Survivor...>>> > > The Sergeant Majorette says > > Oh boy, is this mixer fun! I can't believe there's a teenager in this > day and age who loves the Iliad! When I was your age, my dear, (back > in the day when mythology was current events and dinosaurs walked the > earth) I collected paperback translations of the Iliad, and I was a > huge Robert Graves (The White Goddess) freak. The Odyssey, I > dunno...I kind of subscribe to the theory that it was written by a > different person. Me: It's okay if you're staring in disbelief, I am extremly odd. We're reading the Illiad for literature, and I'm going nuts because no one knows anything about mythology (I had to wait two weeks for my teacher to even get around to the reasons for the war- Paris's choice, ect.) > Did you scream when Nicole got voted off *unanimously*? And how > unfair would it have been if Morgan had won after Drake cleared all > the rocks and poles? > --JDR Me: I know the whole time I was like, no way, Drake is so better (prepared, at being pirates , playing the game, take your pick). On that topic, I love the pirate idea, I've had this pirate obsession for years and years (since Muppet Treasure Island, best pirate movie ever) and so I saw the promo at the end of last season and I was screaming, because of the pirates movie with Orlando Bloom ( I love him) and then one of my favorite shows goes pirate, all is happiness (even if JKR is after me there are too many similarities between me and the evil characters in the books, in names not in personality) Jumping to the other pirate topic, I love the ride too, I have the sing along songs where they go to Disneyland and I've watched the Yo Ho song many times because they show clips from the ride. And I liked the movie as well, we saw it on opening day and the special effects were, wow, there is this sword fight between two of the cursed pirates in a partially moonlit cave and they are twirling and spinning and going from flesh to skeleton and it is beautiful... Now going back to the original topic, I really want to see the movie 'Troy' with Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom, he's being Paris, which I found funny, since Legolas was the example for how Paris looked in my class (it's a small world after all it's a small world after all... can't wait for that movie and the tiki room movie ;-)). That's Interesting ~~loony From annemehr at yahoo.com Sun Sep 21 03:48:46 2003 From: annemehr at yahoo.com (annemehr) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 03:48:46 -0000 Subject: Talk like a pirate day In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > Gabriela wrote: > > > So it's not just me, I usually don't like this kind of movies, > > but there is something so "attractive" about this one (Could it be > > Johnny Depp?) Amy Z wrote: > Hm, could be . . . I love Johnny Depp. The movie might even be good-- > hell, I loved Snow White, didn't I? I just don't like being > exploited for an advertising campaign, and I really don't like the > under-8 crowd being exploited for an advertising campaign. Amy, dear, NO ONE who is watching Pirates of the Caribbean is thinking about Disney. P-: <-- "slurpie" for Johnny Depp. Trust me. Annemehr My ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY on HPfGU (didn't try OTC until later...) From Erthena at aol.com Sun Sep 21 03:55:41 2003 From: Erthena at aol.com (werebearloony) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 03:55:41 -0000 Subject: Sliding into the mixer immesly late and someirate stuff In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > That's Interesting > > ~~loony I ment Mad Bess Bonney oops! That's Interesting ++Mad Bess Bonney From erinellii at yahoo.com Sun Sep 21 05:02:20 2003 From: erinellii at yahoo.com (erinellii) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 05:02:20 -0000 Subject: Persons who should be on Chocolate Frog Cards In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "alshainofthenorth" wrote: > So here's my question to you: Are there any other historic persons you wouldn't be surprised to find in Ron Weasley's 500-card collection of Famous Witches and Wizards? (Some non-Europeans would be great) Oh, please don't get mad at me, anyone, and don't take this too seriously, but... Jesus. Water into wine sounds like transfiguration to me. (Been thinking that for a while now actually, and wanted to tell someone, but you just can't get on and start a post that says "Jesus was a wizard" without getting flamed a zillion times. The direct question made it irresistable, though.) Erin From catlady at wicca.net Sun Sep 21 05:02:32 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 05:02:32 -0000 Subject: Persons who should be on Chocolate Frog Cards In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "alshainofthenorth" wrote: > So here's my question to you: Are there any other historic persons you > wouldn't be surprised to find in Ron Weasley's 500-card collection of > Famous Witches and Wizards? (Some non-Europeans would be great) I agree about Roger Bacon (the doctor mirabilis) and nominate Virgil. IIRC many years ago, The Leaky Cauldon created a set of Chocolate Frog cards that were all people whose names are known to us Muggles. They posted two cards each week, available for printing out and hand coloring, and kept them up for only one week to have scarcity value. From annemehr at yahoo.com Sun Sep 21 05:13:20 2003 From: annemehr at yahoo.com (annemehr) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 05:13:20 -0000 Subject: Persons who should be on Chocolate Frog Cards In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "erinellii" wrote: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "alshainofthenorth" > wrote: > > So here's my question to you: Are there any other historic persons > you wouldn't be surprised to find in Ron Weasley's 500-card > collection of Famous Witches and Wizards? (Some non-Europeans would > be great) > > > Oh, please don't get mad at me, anyone, and don't take this too > seriously, but... Jesus. Water into wine sounds like transfiguration > to me. (Been thinking that for a while now actually, and wanted to > tell someone, but you just can't get on and start a post that > says "Jesus was a wizard" without getting flamed a zillion times. The > direct question made it irresistable, though.) > > Erin Oh, well, in a world where there *are* witches and wizards, Jesus could be one; why not? There's still that little matter of bringing people back from the dead, though, too! :) Annemehr with firehose, just in case From pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk Sun Sep 21 07:46:09 2003 From: pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk (bluesqueak) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 07:46:09 -0000 Subject: Defending the Female Dog (was: Gay is damaged, straight is normal) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" wrote: > << Because if you are hated, at least people *notice* you. They know who you are. They aren't ignoring you. And for the unloved and ignored child, this can be an attractive proposition. > The Sergeant Majorette: > Given a choice between universally hated and universally beloved, > pick hated every time. I asked a nice person one time what it felt > like to be universally loved and he said, "Oh, sort of like Judy > Garland in "Wizard of Oz". > Yes, indeedy.It's a truism in acting that the nice characters are boring to play. And boring to write. And both actor and writer have to work really *hard* to provide a nice character with enough conflict that the audience don't fall asleep as well. Being hated can give you a lot more time to do your own thing. And it's often much more interesting. There's a story that someone once asked Mother Theresa of Calcutta what was the biggest problem she faced in caring for the destitute and the dying. Her answer was 'it's so boring'. Pip!Squeak From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Sun Sep 21 08:02:37 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 08:02:37 -0000 Subject: Defending the Female Dog (was: Gay is damaged, straight is normal) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" wrote: > "If you can't say anything nice about someone, come over here and > sit by me" Sounds like Dorothy Parker, another very talented b*tch. Perhaps some of us here are channeling her. > P.S. Hey killers, speaking of hearts, remember this one? "The > Sergeant Major has the heart of an innocent child...on his desk, in > a jar..." Don't recall the saying; makes me think of a goth army, all in black, with whiteface instead of camo makeup. An army of the undead. With bags of blood instead of MRE's* More Dorothy Parker (and this is definitely her, one of my favorites): Razors pain you Rivers are damp Acids stain you And drugs cause cramps. Guns aren't lawful Nooses give Gas smells awful You might as well live. - Dorothy Parker Sandy, reflecting that angst was on the planet even before she arrived *For you civilians, meals-ready-to-eat (used to be "c" rations) From jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com Sun Sep 21 10:07:23 2003 From: jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com (jeffl1965) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 10:07:23 -0000 Subject: Defending the Female Dog (was: Gay is damaged, straight is normal) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "msbeadsley" wrote: > Jeff: > > Why would anybody *want* to be hated? It's just silly to me. We > > can't get along all the time, but why go out of your way to make > > enemies? > > If you b*tch-slap enough people enough times where enough people can > see it, pretty soon no one comes near you. And that's safe. It's a > motivation, even if it's not a conscious one. {Been there, done that, > got a drawer full of t-shirts. Finally gave them all to charity and > got a life. Still retain the *ability* to haul off and deliver that > old b*tch-slap, though; now use it with the awareness (mostly!) that > it is a defense and has, like everything else, a proper time and > place.} > > Why is Snape now on my mind... > Jeff: I guess if Snape followed your advice, he'd either be dead or kicked out of school after the third time he did it. :) It is necessary to defend one's self, I just see no reason to provoke others to want to treat a person so that they'd have to defend themselves all the time that way. That's a bit self-degrading, imho, to want to tempt others to confront you and force you to defend yourself. That sounds like Snape and Draco to me. Such sad lives they live as well. I bet Draco has to pay Crabbe and Goyle to wank him just so he can know what human touch is, since I doubt that anybody would really want to otherwise. > Sandy > > P.S. The "intelligence" referred to in "Intelligence is the best > defense" is *military* intelligence, as in: the more you know about > your enemy, the better you will be at defending yourself. But it > works any way you look at it. Jeff: Yes, it is. I can't recall the exact quote, but I do recall that it was one of the British PM's, just not sure which, Chamberlin or Churchill. Jeff From jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com Sun Sep 21 10:15:38 2003 From: jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com (jeffl1965) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 10:15:38 -0000 Subject: Defending the Female Dog (was: Gay is damaged, straight is normal) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" wrote: > << > If you b*tch-slap enough people enough times where enough people can > see it, pretty soon no one comes near you. And that's safe...>>> > > The Sergeant Majorette says > > Given a choice between universally hated and universally beloved, > pick hated every time. I asked a nice person one time what it felt > like to be universally loved and he said, "Oh, sort of like Judy > Garland in "Wizard of Oz". > > Love: "I haven't seen you in hours! Why haven't you called? I had the > worst day, I so need to talk to you, you're such a comfort..." kiss, > kiss, smear-makeup, smear-makeup, follow-you-into-the-bathroom... > > Hate: "Darling. We must have drinks sometime. Smooches..." Raised > eyebrow, disapparation in a puff of heavily scented violet smoke... > > --JDR (who has engraved upon her heart the words of the great > philosopher, "If you can't say anything nice about someone, come over > here and sit by me") > > P.S. Hey killers, speaking of hearts, remember this one? "The > Sergeant Major has the heart of an innocent child...on his desk, in a > jar..." Jeff: I'm going to state that while I have an opinion on this, I shant post it, as this could really go off into a long, boring psychoanalysis that would be deemed offensive by some, which isn't my plan, so this sleeping dog will be let alone. :) Jeff From jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com Sun Sep 21 10:24:01 2003 From: jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com (jeffl1965) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 10:24:01 -0000 Subject: Defending the Female Dog (was: Gay is damaged, straight is normal) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "bluesqueak" wrote: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" > wrote: > > << > me.> > > Because if you are hated, at least people *notice* you. They know > who you are. They aren't ignoring you. > > And for the unloved and ignored child, this can be an attractive > proposition. > Jeff: I am again going to resist pulling out my notebook and asking you to lay on the couch for a bit. > > The Sergeant Majorette: > > Given a choice between universally hated and universally beloved, > > pick hated every time. I asked a nice person one time what it felt > > like to be universally loved and he said, "Oh, sort of like Judy > > Garland in "Wizard of Oz". > > > > Yes, indeedy.It's a truism in acting that the nice characters are > boring to play. And boring to write. And both actor and writer have > to work really *hard* to provide a nice character with enough > conflict that the audience don't fall asleep as well. > > Being hated can give you a lot more time to do your own thing. And > it's often much more interesting. There's a story that someone once > asked Mother Theresa of Calcutta what was the biggest problem she > faced in caring for the destitute and the dying. Her answer > was 'it's so boring'. > > Pip!Squeak Jeff: In acting and writing, I can agree. The heavy does tend to get more work than the nice guys. Michael Ironside is one prime example. He plays villians all the time, and is well known for it. Even if you can't recall his name, you won't forget him next time you see him. :) Writing is much the same. I used to be involved in a fanzine, and one character that I borrowed was like that. I had much fun making him even more evil, but realistic as well. The same for his eldest son that I created. As for Draco, while I could try to write about him, I don't really find him that intresting at this point. I'd rather write about Ron, and I'm wanting to do some bits with Seamus and maybe Neville as well. While being bad could be fun, but somehow the end result doesnt really appeal to me. Death or prison for life just sounds rather boring to me. Just like serial killers, don't they get bored as well? I think the second time I killed, I'd be ready to do something else, like become President or something. Jeff From jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com Sun Sep 21 10:25:20 2003 From: jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com (jeffl1965) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 10:25:20 -0000 Subject: Defending the Female Dog (was: Gay is damaged, straight is normal) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "msbeadsley" wrote: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" >> >> > Sandy, reflecting that angst was on the planet even before she arrived > *For you civilians, meals-ready-to-eat (used to be "c" rations) What about the K rations? Jeff From pengolodh_sc at yahoo.no Sun Sep 21 11:37:00 2003 From: pengolodh_sc at yahoo.no (pengolodh_sc) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 11:37:00 -0000 Subject: Persons who should be on Chocolate Frog Cards In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter, "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" wrote: [snip] > I agree about Roger Bacon (the doctor mirabilis) and nominate > Virgil. IIRC many years ago, The Leaky Cauldon created a set of > Chocolate Frog cards that were all people whose names are known > to us Muggles. They posted two cards each week, available for > printing out and hand coloring, and kept them up for only one > week to have scarcity value. It was hpgalleries.com, an excellent website which sadly has been gone for more than a year. It had tons and tons of galleries, actor- biographies, images from the first movie, scans of the covers of international editions, word-lists for what various terms from the books were in other languages, etc. etc. etc. I believe the site had only one problem: it was too good and too popular to be sustainable on a voluntary basis - the more populara site gets, the more bandwidth is used, and bandwidth costs money. >From Norway a good many of the chieftains from pre-Christian times would fit the bill. I believe it was H?rek from Tj?tta who Olav Haraldson tried to execute by putting a tube down his mouth and forcing an adder through it, but H?rek sang galder (magical songs) against it, so it wouldn't enter. Eventually they forced the snake in with a burning candle anyway, and it went down his throat and bit a hole out there, killing H?rek. This was part of the ongoing Christanisation of Norway - it tended to be rather bloody at times. The Ynglinge-sage also shows many of the kings there having some form of magical prowess, and mentions Odin and the other Norse gods as being originally mighty chieftains and magicians descended from the people of Troy. Best regards Christian Stub? From sara1412au at yahoo.com Sun Sep 21 12:29:31 2003 From: sara1412au at yahoo.com (Sara_ELL) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 12:29:31 -0000 Subject: High volume message boards Message-ID: Hi. Though new to his board, I've none the less been following the dramas regarding the high volume of messages on the main board and the perceived lack of good qualilty posts, with interest. Though the volume of posts seems to be halving every month after peaking at ~8000 in July, I still find it difficult at times to follow threads and work out if things have been discussed before. I do not unfortunately have the time to trawl through every message and very quickly worked out that the only way to navigate the main board was by accessing the entire board through the yahoo groups site instead of through my email. I also, in the first few days after the release of the novel, turned to the main board desperate to discuss the story with other obsessed readers like myself. I composed long messages with the quotes and punctuation in the right place but was fairly disheartened by the lack of any response to most of what I'd written, again mainly caused by the utterly insane volume of posting. The only thing that kept me reading and posting in the very high volume days was TBAY, which at least enabled me to follow some sort of debate or narrative. Now, though I love the HP books, I've been a longtime fan of the "Trilogy that must not be named" (Star Wars) and am active on a couple of their sites too. I was posting on the message board of the main unofficial fansite (The Force.Net http://boards.theforce.net/ ) when a couple of their stats caught my eye. Star Wars has an huge fan base as well and on this particular site (operating since 1998), I noted that they have: - 251 message boards (accessible through one main menu) - Have accumulated 12,000,000 messages (give and take a couple of hundred thousand)all of which are accessible through the main site - Have around the order of 900 posts a DAY And seem to cope with it. Other features of the board that are absolutely invaluable are things called "sticky threads" that are message threads at the top of each sub-board containing links to other oft-discussed thread (the star wars equivalent to "the gleam in Dumbledore's eye", for instance), personal messaging, moderation (with a list of mods online who you can instantly PM if probs arise), an way of adding certain users to your "watched list" - you get an alert whenever they post something on the board, together with the standard search options. The qualilty of the messages on the star wars board is even more variable as you can imagine (it's an open board) but despite this, with the sub-boards and whatnot, it's very easy to skip the rubbish (the mods are permitted to lock threads and direct people to other ones if topics are being repeated ad nauseum) and actually find a niche where things are being discussed intelligently. Again, I'm new to the group and don't want to come across as totally presumptuous, telling board veterans how to run things however, if a HP board (with current occupants, mind you) equivalent of the SW board was around, I imagine that we'd all have much less to complain about. My two sickles. Sara_ELL From naama_gat at hotmail.com Sun Sep 21 12:55:37 2003 From: naama_gat at hotmail.com (naamagatus) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 12:55:37 -0000 Subject: Talk like a pirate day In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Amy Z" wrote: > > Amy Z, waiting for the people who loved The Mighty Ducks and The Bad > News Bears, or think Emilio Estevez is hot,* to chime in > > *They're crazy. Charlie Sheen, yes, yes, oh my yes. Emilio Estevez, > no. Of course, neither one can hold a candle to Johnny Depp. *Of course* Emilio Estevez is hotter than Charlie Sheen. Geez. Really, Amy! Naama From ameliagoldfeesh at yahoo.com Sun Sep 21 13:27:19 2003 From: ameliagoldfeesh at yahoo.com (ameliagoldfeesh) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 13:27:19 -0000 Subject: Defending the Female Dog (was: Gay is damaged, straight is normal) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" > wrote: > > "If you can't say anything nice about someone, come over here and > > sit by me" > > Sounds like Dorothy Parker, another very talented b*tch. Perhaps some > of us here are channeling her. A Goldfeesh says: Well actually, the "If you can't say anything nice..." is from Alice Roosevelt Longworth. She was the oldest daughter of Theodore and a very entertaining, yet somewhat sad, person to read about. In her later years in Washington she hosted some of the best social gatherings because she knew of everything going on and all the gossip. She was considered a grand old lady of Washington, I do believe. A Goldfeesh (history geek, who also found it interesting that Alice was one person who admitted to deliberately destroying a Stradivarius, her husband's, because she knew how much it would hurt him-so perhaps she is appropriate to this topic after all :) ) From neonsister at ameritech.net Sun Sep 21 14:46:04 2003 From: neonsister at ameritech.net (Tracy) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 14:46:04 -0000 Subject: Neighborhood rules Message-ID: The zoning and planning comission in my neighborhood recently came up with a list of nitpicky rules for new houses being built...size of garage, how many inches of foundation can show above the ground, types of trees, height of fences, etc. This prompted a local resident (Mike Johansen; not anyone I know) to write this to our local paper: "These regulations remind me of what would happen if Vernon and Petunia Dursley (Harry Potter's aunt and uncle) ran Dublin. These crotchety people would love nothing more than to be able to run the lives of others because their lives aren't interesting enough." I was lol when I read that! Tracy *feeling rebellious; going to plant daffodil bulbs without permission!* From HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Sun Sep 21 15:02:05 2003 From: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com (HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com) Date: 21 Sep 2003 15:02:05 -0000 Subject: Reminder - Weekly Chat Message-ID: <1064156525.22.17905.m20@yahoogroups.com> We would like to remind you of this upcoming event. Weekly Chat Date: Sunday, September 21, 2003 Time: 11:00AM - 7:00PM CDT (GMT-05:00) Hi everyone! Don't forget, chat happens today, 11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern, 7 pm UK time. *Chat times are not changing for Daylight Saving/Summer Time.* Chat generally goes on for about 5 hours, but can last as long as people want it to last. Go into any Yahoo chat room and type /join HP:1 For further info, see the Humongous BigFile, section 3.3. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/hbfile.html#33 Hope to see you there! From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Sun Sep 21 15:16:53 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 15:16:53 -0000 Subject: Talk like a pirate day In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Amy wrote: > The movie might even be good-- > hell, I loved Snow White, didn't I? I just don't like being > exploited for an advertising campaign, and I really don't like the > under-8 crowd being exploited for an advertising campaign. I'm not sure how PotC is more exploitative than any movie which has merchandise. I went on the Disneyland ride many years ago - it was OK if nothing special then. I paid to see the movie and felt I (and the kids) got my money's worth (I thought Johnny Depp was a dream). I made the connection during the movie (I'd forgotten about the ride until then) and mentioned it to Ben afterwards (OK he's over 8) but it made no impression on him. I don't think we were exploited, or threatened with it. Now I understand that there is a considerable price difference between (say) an Incredible Hulk figurine in Woolworths and a trip to Orlando or Paris, but I'm not sure there's anything especially bad or unusual going on here. The main difference is that Disney got their merchandise in 20 years early. David From saitaina at wizzards.net Sun Sep 21 19:00:22 2003 From: saitaina at wizzards.net (Saitaina) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 12:00:22 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Talk like a pirate day References: Message-ID: <007401c38072$9d2e7340$0f3d1c40@aoldsl.net> David wrote: There were a few connections to the ride (ala the dog and the gun fight) but it wasn't a big thing, that's what I liked about it, little hints for the fan of the ride such as myself, but basically it seemed like someone rode the ride, got inspired and wrote a fun movie off of it that Disney okayed, not really caring (I mean this is Disney we're talking about, a company that shamelessly promotes itself constantly...yet the only real promotion for Pirates happened AFTER it was a hit). Saitaina **** "Sorry Vig...just seems like I'm about to come out of a closet I didn't even know I was in." http://www.livejournal.com/users/saitaina "No, one day I'm going to look back on all this and plow face-first into a tree because I was looking the wrong bloody way. And I'll still be having a better day than I am today." From alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk Sun Sep 21 19:30:11 2003 From: alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk (alshainofthenorth) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 19:30:11 -0000 Subject: Persons who should be on Chocolate Frog Cards In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "pengolodh_sc" wrote: > From Norway a good many of the chieftains from pre-Christian times > would fit the bill. I believe it was H?rek from Tj?tta who Olav > Haraldson tried to execute by putting a tube down his mouth and > forcing an adder through it, but H?rek sang galder (magical songs) > against it, so it wouldn't enter. Eventually they forced the snake > in with a burning candle anyway, and it went down his throat and bit > a hole out there, killing H?rek. This was part of the ongoing > Christanisation of Norway - it tended to be rather bloody at times. > > The Ynglinge-sage also shows many of the kings there having some form > of magical prowess, and mentions Odin and the other Norse gods as > being originally mighty chieftains and magicians descended from the > people of Troy. > > Best regards > Christian Stub? Reminds me of Olof Rudbeck's work "Manhem" from the 17th century, where he quite seriously argues that Sweden is really Atlantis and the cradle of civilisation. And the Finnish nominee is the wise old V?in?m?inen from the Kalevala, of course. Alshain From catlady at wicca.net Sun Sep 21 20:11:51 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 20:11:51 -0000 Subject: me / message boards / atlantis of the north Message-ID: Pshemekan wasn't in chat last week and I'm not in chat this week, so I guess I have to use posts to thank him for ad-aware and mozilla, with which I am quite pleased. The reason I'm not in chat this week is I'm about to go to a Mushroom Tasting Party ... Lee said that for the last few years, she's been noticing how many different varieties of mushrooms are on offer at local supermarkets, not just the upscale ones like Gelson's and Marina Market, and trying to think of how to sample them all, so what she came up with was Bilbo and Frodo Baggins's Birthday Party, with everyone bringing a quarter pound each of two kinds of mushrooms. I suppose the party will be hanging out in the kitchen because some mushrooms will be sauteed and some baked, as well as some eaten raw. Sara-ELL wrote http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/18277 : << Again, I'm new to the group and don't want to come across as totally presumptuous, telling board veterans how to run things however, if a HP board (with current occupants, mind you) equivalent of the SW board was around, I imagine that we'd all have much less to complain about. >> Fiction Alley (which is an HP universe) hosts a world of message boards (Fiction Alley Park) with the features you praised. An entrance is at http://www.fictionalley.org/fictionalleypark/ Alshain wrote in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/18284 : << Reminds me of Olof Rudbeck's work "Manhem" from the 17th century, where he quite seriously argues that Sweden is really Atlantis and the cradle of civilisation. >> *jumps in excitement* There is a 20th century book in English about that! ATLANTIS OF THE NORTH by Jurgen Spanuth. I read it very carefully searching for any sign of neo-Naziism and didn't find any. From catlady at wicca.net Sun Sep 21 20:58:02 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 20:58:02 -0000 Subject: Tortoise, then Parrot , then Difficult pronouncing In-Reply-To: <3F68FB31.7060103@ipartner.com.pl> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Przemyslaw Plaskowicki" wrote: << And I am quite proud of my tortoise. He's with my family for over 11 years! >> It seems to me that 11 years is not long for a tortoise: don't they live to be 150 years old? My friend Lyndon has a cute little wood tortoise named Yard, and I mean "little", my estimate is not much over six inches long, and he told me that she is at least 75 years old by counting growth rings in her shell. Another friend of mine has a green macaw (?) named Martha who is 75 years old and will live to 150. She explained that Martha was the pet of an old lady who loved her and taught her a great many words, but the lady died and her heirs didn't care about parrots, kept Martha in a cage and fed her regularly and cleaned the cage occassionally and otherwise ignored her, so she forgot all her words. My friend found out about this and rescued/bought the parrot from them, and Martha said "hello" and "good girl" when I met her. When my friend (who is, like me, over 40) told me that the parrot is 75 and will live to 150, I did math in my head and replied: "Then she will outlive us." My friend said: Yes, that is why I have already found a little girl in my nieghborhood who loves parrots to learn to take care of Martha and inherit her when I die. Speaking of difficult pronouncing, if "Przemyslaw" is Pshem-Y-suave (or /SHEH-mih-swaf/, same difference) and Tomek is Tomash, then what is Pshemekan? 1) if rz and k are both prononced sh, then what is sh pronounced like? 2) Until Amanda's comment, I'd been assuming that k was pronounced k. (That Tomek rhymes with Selleck, which is close enough to rhyming with stomach for nasty children). From psychic_serpent at yahoo.com Sun Sep 21 21:55:11 2003 From: psychic_serpent at yahoo.com (psychic_serpent) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 21:55:11 -0000 Subject: Neighborhood rules In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Tracy" wrote: > The zoning and planning comission in my neighborhood recently came > up with a list of nitpicky rules for new houses being built...size > of garage, how many inches of foundation can show above the > ground, types of trees, height of fences, etc. I've long thought that housing developments here in the US that have a slew of nitpicky regulations about these sort of things are the next best thing to living in Stepford. (Yes, I'm showing my age; ask your parents if you've never heard of the film "The Stepford Wives.") There are places where you cannot display flags of any kind because some people were putting up banners that were considered too kitschy (pumpkins and scarecrows at Halloween, snowman for winter, etc.), not realizing that this made it against the rules to display the national flag as well. People actually got in trouble for it until an exception was written into the rules in some places. In some places fences are completely against the rules, too, and if people want to allow their dogs to run free in the yard, the owners are encouraged to get 'invisible' fences or tether the dog so that it can only run in a circle. Now, I know that kennel clubs in this country and elsewhere say that tethering a dog in a yard is a dreadful thing to do and recommend against it. There are also breeds of dog, such as Irish wolfhounds, that are 'sight-hounds.' This means that they need to SEE their boundaries. These dogs have been injured by going through invisible fences, which also don't protect a valuable show dog from being stolen by a human interloper in the yard. (And Irish wolfhounds are the largest breed of dog; many rather small fences would be easily leapt by such an animal.) This means that, in effect, the housing regulations are limiting what breeds dog owners can select, since certain breeds require certain environments. > This prompted a local resident (Mike Johansen; not anyone I know) > to write this to our local paper: > > "These regulations remind me of what would happen if Vernon and > Petunia Dursley (Harry Potter's aunt and uncle) ran Dublin. These > crotchety people would love nothing more than to be able to run > the lives of others because their lives aren't interesting enough." > I was lol when I read that! > > Tracy *feeling rebellious; going to plant daffodil bulbs without > permission!* You go, girl! Yes, I think Dursley-esque people are exactly the sort who come up with regulations to make their neighborhoods look 'perfect' so they won't risk housing values sliding downhill. Never mind that if you're building in a flood-plain there may be conflicting regulations determining how much foundation should be above the ground, and there have been cases of recommended plantings being non-native species that then 'contaminate' the local ecosystem when their seeds get planted in wild areas and take over the former territory of the native species of plants, upon which the native wildlife was dependent....The harm from these stupid regulations goes on and on. I also have a very strong dislike of developments with rules against sidewalks and street lights (or which simply don't have them), as I am an intrepid pedestrian and these places force everyone to drive everywhere. Let's just make that hole in the ozone a little BIGGER, while we're at it. There's also a trickle-down effect from the insurance industry. We found, when we were buying our house, that some insurers in the area wouldn't insure flat-roofed houses, which means just about any rowhouse. Now, we live in Philadelphia, a city of rowhouses, so that rules out much of the city. This is actually a subtle (okay, maybe not so subtle) form of red-lining, a way for insurers to avoid low-income areas (although it also covers the pricier city homes) with a criteria that might not appear, on the surface, to be bigoted. Some regulations regarding new houses might require pitched roofs because of insurers attempting to redline. This would, however, rule out many modern designs. The insanity goes on and on.... At least while I'm still in architecture school, my designs don't need to conform to these sort of inane regulations. I'm not sure any of us could complete our assignments if they did need to. This is probably why most housing developments are not actually designed by architects, and it really shows. A developer often puts together something that's aiming at a certain look (in the US it's usually mock-colonial) and he just gets an architect to point out any truly egregious flaws that will make it fall down or make it impossible to vent the plumbing, etc. If it'll stand up and otherwise meet local codes, the architect signs off on it. (A certified architect has to SIGN all blueprints approved for use by builders, but the architect doesn't have to DESIGN the building.) I hope this changes by the time I'm done school, but lets say I'm not actually holding my breath. ;) --Barb http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Psychic_Serpent http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Barb http://www.livejournal.com/~psychic_serpent/ From neonsister at ameritech.net Sun Sep 21 22:40:41 2003 From: neonsister at ameritech.net (Tracy) Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2003 22:40:41 -0000 Subject: Neighborhood rules In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "psychic_serpent" wrote: "There are also breeds of dog, such as Irish wolfhounds, that are 'sight-hounds.' This means that they need to SEE their boundaries." You are right - I have two greyhounds, another breed in the sight hound category. Luckily there was a good high wood fence here when I moved in. Not only does it help them see their boundaries, but it helps them NOT see the many squirrels, bunnies, etc beyond the fence that they would undoubtedly want to chase! Tracy From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Mon Sep 22 02:23:11 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 02:23:11 -0000 Subject: Did Somebody Say "Parrot?" Was Re: Tortoise, then Parrot , then Difficult In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Rita wrote: > Another friend of mine has a green macaw (?) named Martha who is 75 > years old and will live to 150. She explained that Martha was the > pet of an old lady who loved her and taught her a great many words, > but the lady died and her heirs didn't care about parrots, kept > Martha in a cage and fed her regularly and cleaned the cage > occassionally and otherwise ignored her, so she forgot all her > words. My friend found out about this and rescued/bought the parrot > from them, and Martha said "hello" and "good girl" when I met her. > When my friend (who is, like me, over 40) told me that the parrot > is 75 and will live to 150, I did math in my head and > replied: "Then she will outlive us." My friend said: Yes, that is > why I have already found a little girl in my nieghborhood who loves > parrots to learn to take care of Martha and inherit her when I die. If it's 18 - 24+ inches from beak to tail tip and green, it's almost definitely a macaw. It could be a Military (smaller), a Severe, a Buffons (rarer), or a couple of other things. Life expectancy (according to aviculturists) actually tops out at about 80 years, less in the wild. My housemate (who says hi, Rita, from out of the distant past and whose name is Bruce Miller) and I have two Amazon parrots (also green, about half the size of a macaw). One of those ("his" bird) is at least 26 years old (as far back as we can figure), pretty obviously originally a wild-caught (who is just darling now), and will probably make it to 50 with no trouble in spite of having had some harsh life experiences before we got him 11 years ago. "My" bird (a domestically bred, hand-raised baby who is utterly enthralled with me) is 12. She will probably make it to 65 or more, having had a nice, healthy start in captivity. Bruce and I (also in our 40's) are both eyeing nieces as heirs for the birds; not so urgent, as we expect one of us will live longer (sniff!) and take care of both birds for a while longer. Sandy P.S. Rita, BTW: we were at both LA Con and Con Jose, with birds. From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Mon Sep 22 02:33:47 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 02:33:47 -0000 Subject: Defending the Female Dog (was: Gay is damaged, straight is normal) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Jeff: > What about the K rations? Before my time? (70's) Later? Or puppy kibble? (Ken-L Rations) Sandy From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Mon Sep 22 02:42:39 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 02:42:39 -0000 Subject: Defending the Female Dog In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<<"jeffl1965" wrote...In acting and writing, I can agree. The heavy does tend to get more work than the nice guys...Writing is much the same...While being bad could be fun, but somehow the end result doesnt really appeal to me. Death or prison for life just sounds rather boring to me. Just like serial killers, don't they get bored as well? I think the second time I killed, I'd be ready to do something else, like become President or something...>>> The Sergeant Majorette says We bitches are not "bad" or "evil" in the criminal sense, at least partly because death or prison for life *is* boring; and serial killing, I'm sorry, is just too socially interactive. If I don't want to hear you whine, I surely don't want to hear you scream. And Jeff -- President? Now *that's* eeeeevil! I have to admit that I'm starting to feel just a bit wounded and put upon. I'm a class enemy for supposing that a character is gay and also that he is psychologically damaged in the same paragraph, but now all cranky women are serial killers? Why is it pathological not to be a "people person"? --JDR (Off to make badges for EQUALITY -- Evil Queens Undeniably Are Lovable Individuals Too, Y'all) From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Mon Sep 22 02:54:35 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 02:54:35 -0000 Subject: K vs. C rats (was: Re: Defending the Female Dog) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "msbeadsley" wrote:... Before my time? (70's) Later? Or puppy kibble? (Ken-L Rations) The Sergeant Majorette says My Dad used to bring home K-rats in the Fifties (he worked for the Army after discharge) because we kids liked the bitter chocolate inside. I get the impression that MREs (Meals Rejected by Ethiopia) [I kind of liked the dried meat patty crumbled into the applesauce] and C-Rations (canned scrambled eggs? I rest my case) are normal field rations and K-rations are more like LRPs (Long Range Patrol) rations in that they are way less palatable and more concentrated and easily portable. I could be wrong about that, however, and will cheerfully stand corrected if anybody has better information. --JDR From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Mon Sep 22 03:49:54 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 03:49:54 -0000 Subject: Defending the Female Dog In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" wrote: > The Sergeant Majorette says > I have to admit that I'm starting to feel just a bit wounded and > put upon. I'm a class enemy for supposing that a character is gay > and also that he is psychologically damaged in the same paragraph, > but now all cranky women are serial killers? Why is it pathological > not to be a "people person"? > > --JDR (Off to make badges for EQUALITY -- Evil Queens Undeniably Are > Lovable Individuals Too, Y'all) Ha-ha. Heh-heh. Hah-hah-hah. Not playing. Tempted, but still not. (Remember the scorpion proverb? It stung, the victim cried, and the scorpion was amazed, saying, but you *knew* what I was. No fool me this time.) You're so *funny*! (Me, I have to crib from Dorothy Parker. I found some really good stuff, much cheerier. Go ahead, dare me. I'll come up with a sympathy card to send your wounded and put upon self.) Sandy P.S. Two knuts for a badge? From catlady at wicca.net Mon Sep 22 05:35:31 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 05:35:31 -0000 Subject: K rations (was: Defending the Female Dog ) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jeffl1965" > What about the K rations? I never had any idea (except "kennel ration" as Sandy suggested) but for this thread I looked it up in OneLook Dictionary. http://4mermarine.com/USMC/dictionary.html#K titled An Unofficial Dictionary for Marines says: "K-rations. World War II individual field rations. Universally detested for their lack of taste and rubbery consistency they were replaced by C-rations." http://www.bartleby.com/61/78/K0107800.html American Heritage Dictionary says: "K ration, NOUN: An emergency field ration for U.S. armed forces in World War II, consisting of a single packaged meal. ETYMOLOGY: After Ancel Benjamin Keys (born 1904), American physiologist." It says they were replaced by C rations, so I looked that up. http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-ration says: "Meal, Combat Individual (C-ration) was the name of field rations issued from World War II to the 1980s. Each ration consisted of a canned entree, a "B2 unit" containing cheese, crackers and candy, a canned dessert, and an accessory pack. The accessory pack contained a P-38 can opener, mix for a hot beverage, salt and sugar packets, plastic spoon, chewing gum, a pack of four cigarettes and several sheets of toilet paper. Each complete meal provided approximately 1200 kcal (1200 "Calories"). Replaced by the MRE." I am pleased to find that I was right about the C standing for "canned". IIRC, Tim told me an anecdote from his childhood (in 1950s): his family used to buy C-rations from an Army Surplus for their camping trips. One time his father got a really good deal on a case whose labels had come off. When opened, they contained a pack of cigarettes, a chocolate bar, and a pair of stockings. Clearly the Fraternization supplies. Hey, Sandy, "hi" right back atcha! Say "Hi" to Bruce from me, I actually (vaguely) remember him. (Which is more than I do most people). Lee and Barry were at Con Jose (from which Lee reported that the pocket program was nominated for the Hugo for Best Short Fiction) but I don't do sf cons anymore. Just call me agoraphobic. From alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk Mon Sep 22 11:01:17 2003 From: alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk (alshainofthenorth) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 11:01:17 -0000 Subject: me / message boards / atlantis of the north In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" wrote: > << Reminds me of Olof Rudbeck's work "Manhem" from the 17th century, > where he quite seriously argues that Sweden is really Atlantis and > the cradle of civilisation. >> > > *jumps in excitement* There is a 20th century book in English about > that! ATLANTIS OF THE NORTH by Jurgen Spanuth. I read it very > carefully searching for any sign of neo-Naziism and didn't find any. Why would you want to find signs of neo-Nazism in it? Have I missed something? I googled for the author and couldn't find anything more to damn him than crackpot theories about Atlantis and ancient civilisations. Rudbeck was one of those natural philosophers who combined serious work (he was among other things an anatomist, a botanist and an astronomer and wrote a dissertation on the lymphatic system) with things that we laugh about today. One of his saving graces is that other scholars of the era could be just as bizarre -- Isaac Newton for example, dead serious about astrology and alchemy. That mix of pre-modern science and old superstition in the (aptly named) Baroque era never cease to amaze, it feels somewhat like the first book of Pullman's His Dark Materials or like a Discworld story. Alshain From Ali at zymurgy.org Mon Sep 22 20:30:48 2003 From: Ali at zymurgy.org (Ali) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 20:30:48 -0000 Subject: Stephen Fry reading OoP Message-ID: The UK audio edition of OoP went on sale officially today - although part 1 has been in some shops for a couple of weeks already. The cheapest place that I found to buy them was Amazon.co.uk. There was a strange anomaly though. The Adult edition CD set cost ?45.49, 1p cheaper than the tape set, and ?7 cheaper than the normal edition. I'm now going to have now first HP book on CD! I suspect that these editions are still more expensive than Jim Dale's version, but I'm addicted to Stephen Fry's version now. Ali who will be upset if she finds that Stepehn Fry's OoP rendition was available much cheaper elsewhere! From ms_petra_pan at yahoo.com Mon Sep 22 22:05:02 2003 From: ms_petra_pan at yahoo.com (Petra Pan) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 15:05:02 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Stephen Fry reading OoP In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20030922220502.52704.qmail@web21109.mail.yahoo.com> Ali: > The cheapest place that I found to > buy them was Amazon.co.uk. There > was a strange anomaly though. The > Adult edition CD set cost 45.49, > 1p cheaper than the tape set, > and 7 cheaper than the normal > edition. I'm now going to have now > first HP book on CD! > > I suspect that these editions are > still more expensive than Jim > Dale's version, but I'm addicted > to Stephen Fry's version now. As am I! The UK versions are definitely more expensive - I've found the OotP CD's at Costco for only US$43. I would dearly love to get the Fry version on CD. Hmm...anyone going to a Costco in the UK and willing to do a price check? ;P > Ali who will be upset if she finds > that Stepehn Fry's OoP rendition > was available much cheaper elsewhere! I would hate to upset Ali but I would really love to hear about any other way to buy them even cheaper! Thanks in advance... Petra a n :) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com From catlady at wicca.net Tue Sep 23 03:19:23 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 03:19:23 -0000 Subject: atlantis of the north In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "alshainofthenorth" wrote: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince > Winston)" wrote: > > *jumps in excitement* There is a 20th century book in English > > about that! ATLANTIS OF THE NORTH by Jurgen Spanuth. I read it > > very carefully searching for any sign of neo-Naziism and didn't > > find any. > > Why would you want to find signs of neo-Nazism in it? Have I missed > something? I googled for the author and couldn't find anything more > to damn him than crackpot theories about Atlantis and ancient > civilisations. That I found no signs of Neo-Nazism in it is a GOOD thing. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I get paranoid or racist or something whenever I encounter a writer who appears to be German claiming that Teutonic people invented civilisation, invented writing more than 30 thousand years ago, and conquered/ruled an empire (some ten thousand years ago) covering everywhere where an Indo-European language is native. I feel a need to check that said writer does not go on to claim that this proves that Teutonic-descended people are genetically superior and should rule all other people. From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Tue Sep 23 03:44:43 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 03:44:43 -0000 Subject: Defending the Female Dog In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says Sorry, no wizarding money accepted. See, Gringott's NYC was under Tower 2, and the goblins relocated to New Jersey (the sissies...) --JDR From june.diamanti at blueyonder.co.uk Tue Sep 23 07:23:17 2003 From: june.diamanti at blueyonder.co.uk (junediamanti) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 07:23:17 -0000 Subject: Canon/Fanon/Scmanon - Snape Sibs Message-ID: Oh wise and holy gurus - enlighten this humble seeker after knowledge. And I've already given the Lexicon a thorough search thanks. 1. Any Canon evidence for Snape having any siblings? Lexicon doesn't indicate it and I'm 99% sure there is no Canon reference anywhere - or have I missed something? 2. Fanon. Is this a convention that I'm unaware of because I came late to the party? 3. Schmanon. This is of earthshattering importance. Well actually, no. It's mindblowingly trivial in the great scheme of things. But my fanfiction in progress needs your help! Answers by email please would be eternally in your debt - well at least until Thursday night. Ta. June From Ali at zymurgy.org Tue Sep 23 15:35:25 2003 From: Ali at zymurgy.org (Ali) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 15:35:25 -0000 Subject: Stephen Fry's interpretation of Tonks Message-ID: My OoP were delivered this morning and I happily began to play them. IMO Fry's Lupin sounded a little more camp than previously, but not so much as to find distracting. But, I was truly shocked by the accent he gives Tonks, and I do find it really off putting. Fry has Tonks sounding like Wallace from Wallace and Gromit. I have always supposed that if Tonks had an accent, it would be a London accent because she uses the greeting "Wotcher". I have been puzzled about why JKR popped that word into Tonks' mouth without the "accent" to go with it - ie Tonks seems to pronounce all her words unlike say Hagrid and Stan. Perhaps I have been wrong to assume that "wotcher" is only an East London expression. But, I heard it a lot in my childhood - and used it. Indeed, I only stopped using it when I went to University and friends took the mickey out of me for using such London slang. Many of my friends were from Yorkshire and were unaware of the greeting, so I'm reluctant to believe that it was used in Yorkshire as well - Wallace has a Yorkshire accent. Now, I'm left to assume one of the following:- either Fry or JKR has got it wrong - I don't know why Fry would assume that Tonks has an accent unless he was privy to some information given by JKR. Alternatively, Tonks has simply adopted the greeting as an affectation and it's not part of her accent or, "wotcher" is a Yorkshire expression as well. If it is indeed a Yorkshire expression, then I got needlessly teased as a student! But, for the first time my internal pronunciation is at serious odds with Fry, and I don't like it! My Oxford English Dictionary is too concise to say where "wotcher" is most used, and I have so far tried about 5 on-line dictionaries none of which appear to be working today. Ali From cindysphynx at comcast.net Tue Sep 23 17:23:43 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 17:23:43 -0000 Subject: Salute to Cindy (Re: Still Milling Around The Mixer . . .) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Dang! That was some storm! Our street was the only one in the whole neighborhood that *didn't* lose power, thankfully. I did lose my Internet connection, though, which is almost as bad! And I am still running *4* extra refrigerators by having extension cords snaked from my yard and over the fences to neighbors who *still* do not have power. Sheez! How much energy does a full-size refrigerator use, anyway? Anyway . . . Anne wrote: > Cindy, I've got to hand it to you -- you're "Mixer" bio form has >*got* to be one of the best posts ever on this site. Hey, thanks! It was fun, huh? > You and Jen are right -- it would be great if this could keep going. > A link on the home page strikes me as a very good idea. Yep, that would be nice. I'm way behind on doings around here, so maybe the List Administrators have already taken care of it. Or maybe they have no plans to do so. I dunno. > So when's the next meeting of the "over-40" club? I'll bring the >Ensure! We have enough Ensure, thanks. We are in need of some hair color and Geritol, though. ;-) > P.S. Cindy? Remember that TBAY post you thought was sinking? Well, > now that I've *finally* had a chance to tear myself away from OTC >and that fic I read, I'm talking to you right now at the Royal George >(or is it the Pink Flamingo?). Uh, yes. Well. I did see that before the storm hit, and I had this *great* reply all ready to go, see, but then Isabel struck and, erm, I was knocked on the head by a large tree and I don't remember anything after that, see. But my reply I never got to write was *amazing!* I mean, *wow!* OK, I know when I'm beaten, Anne. Ya got me on that one. Maybe I'll have better luck with Gay!Wormtail. ;-) Cindy From eberte at vaeye.com Tue Sep 23 22:44:43 2003 From: eberte at vaeye.com (ellejir) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 22:44:43 -0000 Subject: Cindy's eye question (was: Lots of questions, but at least I'm combining! In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Cindy wrote: > Hey, here's a question for you, Elle. There was a woman who worked > at the courthouse who became disabled due to some weird condition I > had never heard of. She slowly lost the ability to keep her eyes > open! Which made her blind. Have you ever heard of that? Can they > do anything for that? Sorry that it has taken me *forever* to answer your question Cindy, but this is the first time that I have gotten to a working computer since Hurricane Isabel came through. We *still* do not have power or consistent water at my house (5 days and counting!) In reference to the woman who was unable to keep her eyes open, this condition is called bilateral ptosis and can be caused by a number of things, some of which can be treated. Lesions causing bilateral ptosis may involve: 1. the levator muscles of the eyelids (for example-- so- called "senile" ptosis or droopy eyelids due to advancing age. The treatment for this is surgery to raise the eyelids) 2. the neuromuscular junctions (for example-- myasthenia gravis, an immunologically mediated disorder. The treatment for this is medication and possibly surgery (thymectomy). Treatment is not always successful. Myogenic ptosis may also be caused by muscular dystrophy. Treatment--usually surgery--is not always successful.) 3. the midbrain region (for example -- a mass (i.e. tumor) in the brainstem affecting the third nerve nuclei. Usually no treatment possible.) 4. the third cranial nerves (for example -- a bilateral third nerve palsy.) Probably *way* *way* more information than you wanted on the subject! Cindy again: > Hey, maybe I could have stomached being an opthalmologist. Eyeballs > don't bleed when you cut them, right? Nope, not much blood. But you still have to do med school with the cadaver dissection and everything and also a general medical or surgical internship, so not a blood-free job. Cindy again: > Same here! Maybe we should form a support group for "HPfGU > Widowers." ;-) Absolutely! My husband would be a charter member! He actually has never even *read* one of the HP books. He has the temerity to venture opinions on the books based on the fact that he has "seen the movies!" Seen the movies only *once!* I know, what a philistine! (He does have other good points, I feel compelled to add! ) Elle (thanking Cindy again for the fun mixer and going home to her dark, hurricane-struck house and wild, TV-deprived kids!) From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Tue Sep 23 22:46:16 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 22:46:16 -0000 Subject: The Endarkenment (was me / message boards / atlantis of the north) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Alshain wrote: > Rudbeck was one of those natural philosophers who combined serious > work (he was among other things an anatomist, a botanist and an > astronomer and wrote a dissertation on the lymphatic system) with > things that we laugh about today. One of his saving graces is that > other scholars of the era could be just as bizarre -- Isaac Newton for > example, dead serious about astrology and alchemy. That mix of > pre-modern science and old superstition in the (aptly named) Baroque > era never cease to amaze, it feels somewhat like the first book of > Pullman's His Dark Materials or like a Discworld story. Is it they who were bizarre, or us who have no imagination? David From andie at knownet.net Tue Sep 23 23:31:03 2003 From: andie at knownet.net (grindieloe) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 23:31:03 -0000 Subject: Question for UK Residents Message-ID: For some odd reason, a phrase that Uncle Vernon says in SS popped into my head today. I know, I'm sure that happens to all of us... :) Anyway, the particular phrase, well, I'm not sure what it means... When Uncle Vernon flips over the postcard from Marge and tells Petunia that Marge is ill... "Ate a funny Whelk..." What does that mean? grindieloe :) From coriolan at worldnet.att.net Tue Sep 23 23:32:14 2003 From: coriolan at worldnet.att.net (Caius Marcius) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 23:32:14 -0000 Subject: Persons who should be on Chocolate Frog Cards In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "alshainofthenorth" wrote: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "pengolodh_sc" > wrote: > > Another Chocolate Frog Card should go to the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus (146 ? 211 AD ? reigned as Emperor from 193-211). You can find an account of his life in The Historia Augusta of the late 4th Century AD http://www.richmond.edu/~wstevens/history331texts/severus.html Despite his delightfully Potions Prof-ish name, Severus earns his card for being one of Trelawney's ancestors. He was a strong believer in astrology, divination and dream forecasting. According The Historia Augusta, as a young soldier of low rank, he met with an astrologer. When his horoscope had been cast, the astrologer saw that he was going to gain wealth and power of a magnitude that was far beyond what a mere soldier might think to achieve. The astrologer was moved to cry, "Give me your own horoscope not another man's." Severus swore that it was his, and the man foretold everything that afterwards came to pass. Severus after that concealed the date and place of his birth, lest any astrologically sophisticated rival realize the threat that he would pose. After the death of his first wife, when he was searching for another bride, he examined their horoscopes to determine who would make the most suitable match. During the reign of Commodus (you know, that guy who killed his father Albus Dumbledore, and then threw Russell Crowe in the arena in the Gladiator movie), Severus was put on trial for "consulting astrologers about the imperial position. The prefects of the guard who were assigned to hear his case acquitted him - Commodus was already becoming hated - and the false accuser was crucified." (Later, as Emperor, Severus returned the favor by condemning to death anyone who consulted an astrologer about his health ? I would imagine he "networked" with his fellow astrologers to find out about this ? or maybe he just used Extendible Ears) He become Emperor on 193, following one of the more scandalous episodes in imperial Roman history (and that's saying something). After a group of Roman Praetorium guards assassinated the Emperor Pertinax (Commodus' successor), they put the imperial throne up for auction to the highest bidder. A wealthy businessman Didius Julianus was the winner. This provoked such outrage that no fewer than three military leaders (including Severus, who was stationed in Germany) moved on Rome to win for themselves the power so corruptly gained byJulianus. Severus, who got their first, had Julianus executed (three months after his reign began) and then spent a year beating back his rival claimants Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus As emperor, Severus remained intently interested in magic. He had his horoscope painted on the ceiling of the Imperial Palace in Rome to remind him of his cosmic destiny, but blanked out certain details (so no one could predict his death). According to Jasper Burns: http://www.cstone.net/~jburns/gascara.html "Severus was also intensely interested in all forms of secret lore and magic. He confiscated secret books from temples during his travels through the Empire and outlawed divination and magic in Egypt before he would venture to go there. Given Severus's well-documented fascination with the occult, his actions seem to have been precautionary - if magic powers existed, he preferred to be the one who controlled them." He headed his final military campaign in the year 208, and spent the last three years of his life mostly around Hadrian's Wall inon the borders of Scotland. He died near present-day York in 211. His son (and successor) Caracalla accompanied him to Britian, so who knows, maybe our Severus is the long-lost Heir to Septimius? Check out this coin, designed to honor Severus' interest in astrology http://dougsmith.ancients.info/mintsyr5.html - CMC From fc26det at aol.com Wed Sep 24 00:00:39 2003 From: fc26det at aol.com (Potterfanme) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 00:00:39 -0000 Subject: Question for UK Residents In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "grindieloe" wrote: > For some odd reason, a phrase that Uncle Vernon says in SS popped > into my head today. I know, I'm sure that happens to all of > us... :) Anyway, the particular phrase, well, I'm not sure what it > means... When Uncle Vernon flips over the postcard from Marge and > tells Petunia that Marge is ill... "Ate a funny Whelk..." > What does that mean? > > grindieloe :) I am not from the UK but I believe a Whelk is a type of shellfish. Similar to Scallops. When he refers to it as being *funny* I took it to mean it was bad or spoiled. In other words she got food poisoning. Susan From stevejjen at earthlink.net Wed Sep 24 00:09:27 2003 From: stevejjen at earthlink.net (Jen Reese) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 00:09:27 -0000 Subject: Post-Isabel (was Cindy's Eye Question) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "ellejir" wrote: > Sorry that it has taken me *forever* to answer your question Cindy, > but this is the first time that I have gotten to a working computer > since Hurricane Isabel came through. We *still* do not have power or > consistent water at my house (5 days and counting!) > > Elle (thanking Cindy again for the fun mixer and going home to her > dark, hurricane-struck house and wild, TV-deprived kids!) Elle, hope things are getting better for you, Cindy and anyone else who was in the path of Isabel! I just got an e-mail from another listee who has electricity back today for the first time since Thursday(same as you, I guess)and she's expecting it to go again any time now. She said they have electricity volunteers from different parts of the US trying to restore power--that must have been some storm! Well, just wanted to send some good thoughts your way. Jen (trying to imagine 5 days with no power/water, my son with no TV, and no HPFGU to escape to....how are you managing?!?) From lupinesque at yahoo.com Wed Sep 24 01:19:29 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 01:19:29 -0000 Subject: Talk like a pirate day In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "David" wrote: > Amy wrote: > > > The movie might even be good-- > > hell, I loved Snow White, didn't I? I just don't like being > > exploited for an advertising campaign, and I really don't like the > > under-8 crowd being exploited for an advertising campaign. > > I'm not sure how PotC is more exploitative than any movie which has > merchandise. It isn't. I gripe about *all* of them. But I do go to some of them anyway--try keeping me from an HP movie. It' s not just that there's an actual merchandising effort going on--it's the whole idea that one could actually create a movie out of something as thin as a video game or a theme-park ride. If there are plots enough to fill a movie about pirates, as surely there are, why not just make a movie about pirates? If there is enough to say about a janitor (is that what Mario is? I've never been sure) to make a movie about him, why not just make a movie about the adventures of a janitor? It's not as if there's enough plot in an actual Mario game to make it into a movie--so why name the movie after Mario at all? I need some help from an articulate, curmudgeonly social critic, here. Elkins, where are you? Don't leave me hanging out to dry! In the meantime, in order to prove that I am not entirely averse to American pop culture, even those elements that don't have Johnny Depp in them, I will say that I *loved* PotC, the ride. Like 90% of the people who have gone to Disneyworld, at least back in the pre-Epcot days when I went, I thought it was the best thing in the park, hands down. Actually, my *very* best Disney experience was having the power go out when we were halfway down the Matterhorn and having to walk down. It was cool--we got to see the inside of it, which included a half-court basketball court for the workers. Definitely preferable to *riding* down; I still can't remember what possessed me to do that, because rollercoasters (however tame) are Not My Thing. I'd like to note, though, in order to keep up my Curmudgeon-in-Training license, that the power stayed out in most of the park for the rest of the night, so that very few rides were available--you should've seen the grownups shoving in line to get onto the teacups, it was hilarious--and the cheapos didn't even give us rain checks on our way out. Amy Z From s_ings at yahoo.com Wed Sep 24 01:20:50 2003 From: s_ings at yahoo.com (Sheryll Townsend) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 21:20:50 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Happy Birthday, Melissa! Message-ID: <20030924012050.85853.qmail@web41107.mail.yahoo.com> *bounds into the room, well rested after a nice long vacation, and begins blowing up balloons and hanging streamers* Today's birthday honouree is Melissa McCarthy. Birthday owls can be sent care of this list or directly to risako at nexusanime.com I hope your day has been filled with fun, magic and the company of good friends. Happy Birthday, Melissa! Sheryll the Birthday Elf ===== http://www.livejournal.com/community/conventionalley/ ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca From s_ings at yahoo.com Wed Sep 24 01:27:32 2003 From: s_ings at yahoo.com (Sheryll Townsend) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2003 21:27:32 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Missed Birthday Wishes Message-ID: <20030924012732.90547.qmail@web41108.mail.yahoo.com> Er, um, well.... it seems that a few birthdays were overlooked while the Birthday Elf was out having a good time on holidays. *shuffles her feet and looks properly ashamed* Missed birthday honourees were Trina and Niff, who both celebrated without us on the 18th. Belated birthday owls can be sent care of this list. Niff's owls can be sent directly to NiffMarie at cs.com I hope both of you had a wonderful days, filled with joy and happiness. Happy Birthday, Trina! Happy Birthday, Niff! Sheryll the Birthday Elf ===== http://www.livejournal.com/community/conventionalley/ ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca From neonsister at ameritech.net Wed Sep 24 01:33:31 2003 From: neonsister at ameritech.net (Tracy) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 01:33:31 -0000 Subject: HP merchandise Message-ID: In the grocery store today I happened to spot Harry Potter Bubble Bath and (even better) Harry Potter Hair De-tangler. I love that there is a hair care product based on a character who's known for having unruly hair! So now I'm curious. What are some other odd HP merchandise items you've seen? Tracy *thinking it would be fun to pour several bottles of Harry Potter Bubble Bath into that fountain at the Ministry Of Magic and watch what happens* From catlady at wicca.net Wed Sep 24 03:51:04 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 03:51:04 -0000 Subject: Septimus (was: Persons who should be on Chocolate Frog Cards In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Caius Marcius" wrote: > Another Chocolate Frog Card should go to the Roman Emperor Septimius > Severus (146 ? 211 AD ? reigned as Emperor from 193-211). (snip) > spent a year beating back his rival claimants Pescennius Niger and > Clodius Albinus Pescennius Black and Clodius White! From tim_regan82 at hotmail.com Wed Sep 24 08:18:15 2003 From: tim_regan82 at hotmail.com (Tim Regan) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 08:18:15 -0000 Subject: What happened with the OoP Chapter Discussions? Message-ID: Hi All, --- In HPforGrownups message 81121 Sharana wrote: > I just wish to know if the Chapter Discussions are going to > continue or if the project has been droped. What's the answer to this - anyone know? Cheers, Dumbledad. From ssk7882 at yahoo.com Wed Sep 24 08:59:52 2003 From: ssk7882 at yahoo.com (ssk7882) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 08:59:52 -0000 Subject: Floral Wallpaper (Was: Talk like a pirate day) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Amy Z. wrote: > I need some help from an articulate, curmudgeonly social critic, > here. Elkins, where are you? Don't leave me hanging out to dry! What? Huh? Did I just hear my name? Oh. Where am I, you ask? You want to know where I am? An excellent question. I'm not altogether sure where I am myself, to tell you the truth. Somewhere in the No Internet Archipelago, where I'm likely to be spending most of my time for the next few weeks, actually. This is a very brief foray to the mainland: I probably won't really have the opportunity to check computer stuff until sometime in October. While I'm here visiting, though, I'll happily tell you *what* I've been doing. I've been spending approximately 12 hours a day in a creepy, echoing, empty New House, attempting to remove the ghastliest imaginable floral wallpaper from every last room of a building large enough to house a 7-person commune. That's what I've been doing. If this sounds like fun, then I am not describing it properly. I have blisters rising on both hands. I can't move my neck. And I have sticky wallpaper paste coating every last inch of my body. It is plastered all over my clothing. It is matted in my *hair.* So, uh, if I've not been around much lately? Now you know why. But since I'm taking the time to post, I would like you all to imagine, if you will, a large house in which every last room was papered in a different floral wallpaper, each one more hideous than the last. And I do mean hideous. These aren't quaint florals. They aren't country florals. They aren't your grandmother's florals. They aren't nice-old- lady-with-a-budgie florals. They're just plain ugly florals. Think Umbridge, right, but with flowers instead of kitties. You with me here? Good. Okay. Now imagine that each one of these rooms also has floral carpeting. Again, no two of them alike. Again, all of them unspeakably hideous. And each one actually *clashing* with its companion wallpaper. Still with me? Okay, so now try to imagine that in addition to the wallpaper and the carpeting, each room also has very heavy floral curtains. Again, no two alike. And each set managing to clash with both the floral wallpaper *and* the floral carpeting. Oh, yes. And there are also these little...*ruffs* along the ceiling line of each room. Made out of wallpaper. Wallpaper which was lovingly (if not terribly precisely) cut with scissors to form scallop shapes. And then pasted onto the underlying wallpaper not only with the usual glue, but also with what appears to be smears of spackle or grouting or something of that sort. Should any of you ever need to remove vast quantities of over-glued wallpaper, by the way, a word of advice. Don't bother with renting a steamer. Steamers don't work. The only thing that *does* work is a magical solvent which goes by the trade-name of "Dif," very warm water, metal scrapers, scrubby sponges, and elbow grease. Lots of elbow grease. Sufficient quantities of elbow grease, in fact, that earlier this evening I found myself saying out loud, "You know, maybe that lilac one -- or are those supposed to be wisteria? -- well, whatever, anyway, that one in the dining room...I mean, maybe that one isn't really all *that* bad..." and then had to be held down by my housemates and *slapped* until I recovered my senses. So forgive me, Amy. I just have no curmudgeonly social criticism in me this week. All that I can really think to say right now about the recent plethora of films based on video games, amusement park rides, and so forth is: "That social trend, like, totally sux, dude. I mean, it sux even worse than scraping floral wallpaper." Which I somehow suspect isn't terribly articulate. But which is about all I can muster right now, I'm afraid. Must be off to bed now, so I can get up bright and early and return to the No Internet Archipelago. Wishing everyone who was hit by Isabel well, Elkins From saitaina at wizzards.net Wed Sep 24 09:06:20 2003 From: saitaina at wizzards.net (Saitaina) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 02:06:20 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Talk like a pirate day References: Message-ID: <006301c3827b$20ab6e80$86301c40@aoldsl.net> Amy wrote: Okay, this proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that we're just at completly opposite ends of the spectrum as I rather like movies made out of video games or rides. I'm a gamer at heart, which means I spend a great deal of the time I'm at the computer (which as some may know is every waking hour) or game system playing games of all sorts. So watching movies about said games...isn't that far off for me. Neither is watching a movie that was 'inspired' by a theme park ride (not about, inspired by) I love. Sure I go to movies that actually aren't based on something such as a book, or a game, or a ride, or what have you...but I like things I'm familiar with, things I already adore. That's the basic point of ripping off already done over characters...something fans of the game (or ride or what have you) know and love and are willing to shell out money to see. Granted most of the time you SHOULDN'T go see them (Scooby-Doo for instance) but we're still drawn to them by the familiar and loved brand name. Maybe I just cling too much to the familiar but for me, it makes me happy to see my heroes in a medium where I"m not controlling them (and thus killing them off every five seconds). On a side note, Mario (and his brother Luigi or Lugi if you prefer) are plumbers...thus the pipes. Saitaina Off to find her copy of Super Mario Brothers the Move again. **** "Sorry Vig...just seems like I'm about to come out of a closet I didn't even know I was in." http://www.livejournal.com/users/saitaina "No, one day I'm going to look back on all this and plow face-first into a tree because I was looking the wrong bloody way. And I'll still be having a better day than I am today." From Ali at zymurgy.org Wed Sep 24 10:31:25 2003 From: Ali at zymurgy.org (Ali) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 10:31:25 -0000 Subject: What happened with the OoP Chapter Discussions? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > --- In HPforGrownups message 81121 Sharana wrote: I just wish to know if the Chapter Discussions are going to continue or if the project has been droped. Tim asked:- <<< What's the answer to this - anyone know?>>> It's quite simple really. The last chapter discussion generated very little response - I posted it, so I know ! Posting volume was extremely high, and so we abandonned the structured discussion until volumes decreased a bit. We will be re-introducing it in the next few weeks. Chapter 5 is the next chapter to be discussed. Ali From Ali at zymurgy.org Wed Sep 24 12:43:26 2003 From: Ali at zymurgy.org (Ali) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 12:43:26 -0000 Subject: What happened with the OoP Chapter Discussions? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I said: <<< We will be re-introducing it in the next few weeks. Chapter 5 is the next chapter to be discussed.>>> Oops, I've got maths problems today. Chapter 4 is the next one up for discussion! Ali From fakeplastikcynic at hotmail.com Wed Sep 24 12:53:36 2003 From: fakeplastikcynic at hotmail.com (martha) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 12:53:36 -0000 Subject: HP merchandise In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Tracy asked: > So now I'm curious. What are some other odd HP merchandise items > you've seen? In the back of some TV listings magazine or other a couple of years ago I saw an advert for the "Harry Potter Wizard Spoon". Naturally I cut it out and kept it - the ad goes on about how the spoon (which costs ?7.50, btw) is "dishwasher safe", made of "high-quality stainless steel", and comes in a presentation box with the Harry Potter logo on it. It's a spoon! It's just a spoon! I mean, "wizard spoon"? From the name one might presume that the spoon is significantly different from other spoons - perhaps you can perform spells with it? - but no. It is just a spoon. Actually, I tell a lie - the handle is all sort of knarled-looking, presumably to look like a wand, although whether any self-respecting wizard or witch would carry a wand with a spoon on the end is debatable. "Hey, I like your new wand, Hermione!" "Thanks, Harry - and look, not only can I use it to perform all manner of charms, hexes, curses and so on, but it also has this useful spoon built into it. That way, if I'm ever engaged in a duel with Death Eaters, say, and feel the need to eat a pot of yoghurt, I can do so without having to go and get a spoon from elsewhere!" and so on. Hmm. Tracy again: > *thinking it would be fun to pour several bottles of Harry Potter > Bubble Bath into that fountain at the Ministry Of Magic and watch > what happens* In Plymouth, from whence I come, there is a big sundial thing with a fountain as part of it slap bang in the middle of the city centre. This sundial can not only tell you the time, it also shows you when Plymouth University students have moved back for the start of the new term in September. How? Because you can guarantee that the first week the students are there, at least one person a day will come up with the particularly hilarious notion of tipping a bottle of something soapy into the fountain and the next day there are bubbles everywhere. Nevertheless, I agree, the Fountain of Magical Brethren or whatever it's called could really do with some soaping up. ~ Martha (suddenly worried that everyone on this list is about to turn around and say "actually I own a Wizard Spoon and it's the coolest thing I've ever bought") From stevejjen at earthlink.net Wed Sep 24 13:29:25 2003 From: stevejjen at earthlink.net (Jen Reese) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 13:29:25 -0000 Subject: Floral Wallpaper (Was: Talk like a pirate day) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "ssk7882" wrote: > > Should any of you ever need to remove vast quantities > of over-glued wallpaper, by the way, a word of advice. > Don't bother with renting a steamer. Steamers don't > work. The only thing that *does* work is a magical > solvent which goes by the trade-name of "Dif," very > warm water, metal scrapers, scrubby sponges, and > elbow grease. Lots of elbow grease. Sufficient > quantities of elbow grease, in fact, that earlier > this evening I found myself saying out loud, "You > know, maybe that lilac one -- or are those supposed > to be wisteria? -- well, whatever, anyway, that one > in the dining room...I mean, maybe that one isn't > really all *that* bad..." and then had to be held > down by my housemates and *slapped* until I recovered > my senses. Oh yes, *Dif*--I got acquainted with Dif last year when we moved into a home with heinous (though not quite so floral) wallpaper that appeared to have a Permanent Sticking Charm on it. I tried scraping, steaming, even incantations of the cussing variety, before going to Home Depot in desperation. There I found my Dif kit, complete with the fancy little doo-hickey scraper that doesn't take drywall off, like my previous efforts did, but only scrapes off bits at a time unless you get the lucky combination of solvent/loose paper. So, if you decide to keep the lilac wallpaper...hey, I for one wouldn't blame you. Jen From cindysphynx at comcast.net Wed Sep 24 13:39:10 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 13:39:10 -0000 Subject: Floral Wallpaper In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Elkins wailed: > I have blisters rising on both hands. I can't move my > neck. And I have sticky wallpaper paste coating every > last inch of my body. It is plastered all over my > clothing. It is matted in my *hair.* Why do I have this weird feeling that you're doing this all by yourself? Maybe you could break it up? Like remove the wallpaper from Room Number One, then paint it. Then move on to the next room? Then you'd have blisters in new places, at least. > But since I'm taking the time to post, I would like > you all to imagine, if you will, a large house in > which every last room was papered in a different > floral wallpaper, each one more hideous than the > last. And I do mean hideous. You know, I don't get the "hideous" wallpaper thing. When we shopped for a house, we encountered all manner of weird wallpaper decisions. One house had wallpaper in every single room -- including the ceilings! The light switches and the electrical sockets -- making them darn hard to find. Like it was a wallpaper showroom or something. So what is *up* with wallpaper? Is the hideous stuff a lot cheaper than the less jarring stuff? And what's wrong with a nice coat of paint? Anyway, Elkins is making me feel guilty. I painted the dining room, so now it is time for to paint my bedroom. It's currently "dirty peach," and I can't take it anymore! Cindy -- wondering what colors Elkins and the gang have settled on and who changed a white bathroom from white walls to bold periwinkle walls and likes it better that way From heidit at netbox.com Wed Sep 24 14:10:58 2003 From: heidit at netbox.com (heiditandy) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 14:10:58 -0000 Subject: What happened with the OoP Chapter Discussions? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > > --- In HPforGrownups message 81121 Sharana wrote: > > I just wish to know if the Chapter Discussions are going to > continue or if the project has been droped. > And Ali wrote: > It's quite simple really. The last chapter discussion generated very > little response - I posted it, so I know ! Posting volume was > extremely high, and so we abandonned the structured discussion until > volumes decreased a bit. We will be re-introducing it in the next > few weeks. Well, if anyone wants to get a jump on chapter discussions, over on FictionAlley, we've been doing them for over two months - we tackle a new chapter and character each week over at http://www.fictionalley.org//fictionalleypark/forums/forumdisplay.php? &forumid=149 and this week, we're discussing Chapter Ten, and Hagrid's character. Since the message board is arranged by thread, it's possible to easily find and even participate in the discussions of the chapters and character that we've already covered. They're all listed on that page. Heidi From cindysphynx at comcast.net Wed Sep 24 14:15:13 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 14:15:13 -0000 Subject: What happened with the OoP Chapter Discussions? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > Well, if anyone wants to get a jump on chapter discussions, over on > FictionAlley, we've been doing them for over two months - we tackle a > new chapter and character each week over at > http://www.fictionalley.org//fictionalleypark/forums/forumdisplay.php? > &forumid=149 and this week, we're discussing Chapter Ten, and > Hagrid's character. You know, that sounds like a really good way to handle structured discussions. After all, when people write posts on the main list, they don't talk about a chapter. They talk about a character or a theory or a plot development or a feature of JKR's writing. Maybe it would make more sense to have structured discussions like that? Cindy -- looking forward to MAGIC DISHWASHER week From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Wed Sep 24 15:10:41 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 15:10:41 -0000 Subject: Talk like a pirate day In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Amy wrote: > It's not just that there's an actual merchandising effort going > on--it's the whole idea that one could actually create a movie out > of something as thin as a video game or a theme-park ride. If > there are plots enough to fill a movie about pirates, as surely > there are, why not just make a movie about pirates? I suspect we are virtually on the same page here. That's what I thought the film *was*, until about half way through, when I made the connection. As for films made from games - Mario, Tomb Raider, etc. Yes, they are trading on the name of the game when the artistic quality wouldn't get the trade. In the case of Pirates, I wouldn't have gone had it not been for a personal recommendation. Perhaps our real gripe is not the moguls but the public who are apparently so easily influenced. David From psychic_serpent at yahoo.com Wed Sep 24 15:12:49 2003 From: psychic_serpent at yahoo.com (psychic_serpent) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 15:12:49 -0000 Subject: Septimus (was: Persons who should be on Chocolate Frog Cards In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" wrote: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Caius Marcius" > wrote: > > > Another Chocolate Frog Card should go to the Roman Emperor Septimius > > Severus (146 ? 211 AD ? reigned as Emperor from 193-211). (snip) > > > spent a year beating back his rival claimants Pescennius Niger > > and Clodius Albinus Pescennius Black and Clodius White! I think another good one would be St. Kentigern AKA St. Mungo himself! St. Kentigern is the patron saint of the city of Glasgow and four things having to do with his legends appear on the the arms for the city, which are mentioned in a rhyme taught to children of Glasgow: It is the bird that never flew It is the tree that never grew It is the bell that never rang It is the fish that never swam. The bird is a pet robin that St. Mungo brought back to life (a Healer!); the tree is a frozen hazel tree that he mircaculously caused to catch fire to replenish a holy fire he accidentally let go out (which sounds like the first gift Hagrid and Madame Maxime took to the giants); the bell is just something he brought back from Rome after a pilgrimage; and the fish is the really interesting one, with the longest story. A local queen had given the ring her husband gave her to a courtier (just flirting with him). The husband saw the courtier with it and when the man fell asleep, the king took the ring and threw it in the River Clyde (Glasgow is divided by the Clyde). The king demanded the queen produce the ring to prove she was faithful to him, but she couldn't, so she turned to St. Mungo. He sent a monk to fish in the Clyde near where the courtier had been asleep and the monk caught a fish (supposed to be a salmon). Some versions of the story say St. Mungo took the ring from the fish's mouth, others say he cut it open and removed it, but in any case it was restored to the queen who was able to give it to the king and save her reputation. I doubt that a wizarding hospital would be named after St. Mungo if he hadn't been a wizard. ;) I also like that his nickname is Gaelic for 'dear one' and that the little rhyme about the things on Glasgow's city arms sounds rather like an incantation. --Barb http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Psychic_Serpent http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Barb From alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk Wed Sep 24 15:45:07 2003 From: alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk (alshainofthenorth) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 15:45:07 -0000 Subject: Septimus (was: Persons who should be on Chocolate Frog Cards In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "psychic_serpent" < > I doubt that a wizarding hospital would be named after St. Mungo if > he hadn't been a wizard. ;) I also like that his nickname is Gaelic > for 'dear one' and that the little rhyme about the things on > Glasgow's city arms sounds rather like an incantation. > > --Barb > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Psychic_Serpent > http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Barb Good point (aren't a lot of hospitals named after saints in Great Britain anyway? Haven't read any hospital romances for about a decade, so my knowledge is rather hazy) My, this thread is educational. I've been trying to find some interesting might-have-been-witches, too, but they're not that visible. Maybe I should go find some legends of the saints, even if they're not the first thing a Protestant-gone-Agnostic thinks about. Alshain From stevejjen at earthlink.net Wed Sep 24 16:40:11 2003 From: stevejjen at earthlink.net (Jen Reese) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 16:40:11 -0000 Subject: Floral Wallpaper In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote: > > You know, I don't get the "hideous" wallpaper thing. When we shopped > for a house, we encountered all manner of weird wallpaper decisions. > One house had wallpaper in every single room -- including the > ceilings! The light switches and the electrical sockets -- making > them darn hard to find. Like it was a wallpaper showroom or something. > > So what is *up* with wallpaper? Is the hideous stuff a lot cheaper > than the less jarring stuff? And what's wrong with a nice coat of paint? > This is too funny, Cindy! I can't say I've ever seen wallpaper on the light switches and sockets yet. I'm all for paint, too, in fact at the moment I'm in the middle of painting the bathroom "Duck's Egg Blue," which in the picture has a cottage-by-the-seashore look. At the moment though, it looks more like the master bedroom in the Brady Bunch--you know, 70's sky blue? Why do they never look like the picture?!? I don't care, though--all the tape is up and the corners painted so there's no turning back :). Jen From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Wed Sep 24 17:00:11 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 17:00:11 -0000 Subject: Stephen Fry's interpretation of Tonks In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Ali wrote: > I have always supposed that if Tonks had an accent, it would be a > London accent because she uses the greeting "Wotcher". I agree completely. There is also something quintessentially metropolitan about the whole impression she gives. Admittedly, her clumsiness means that she is virtually *destined* to find true happiness with an Aga and a dashingly handsome yet brooding TV chef in a thatched cottage with roses climbing up the half- timbering, but her origins are a million miles from pit, mill, or sheep farm. Without the "wotcher" she *could* just be Glaswegian, I suppose. David From cindysphynx at comcast.net Wed Sep 24 17:36:18 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 17:36:18 -0000 Subject: Floral Wallpaper In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Jen wrote: > This is too funny, Cindy! I can't say I've ever seen wallpaper on >the light switches and sockets yet. Hey, I did not make that up! It was awful. I've never seen anyone paper over air vents, though. For obvious reasons. :-D I think my wallpaper aversion comes from dear Mom, who once did my bedroom in a plastic-type *floral* with huge bright green and yellow flowers. Elkins' wallpaper scraper would stand no chance against that stuff. 'Cause it was *plastic!* I like paint effects, myself. But when I finally screw up the energy to try it, I put the base coat on, stand back, nod and say, "You know, my arms are very tired and that looks just fine without the paint effects." > I'm all for paint, too, in fact at the moment I'm in the middle of > painting the bathroom "Duck's Egg Blue," which in the picture has a > cottage-by-the-seashore look. At the moment though, it looks more > like the master bedroom in the Brady Bunch--you know, 70's sky blue? > Why do they never look like the picture?!? Now, Jen, tell us. Did you remove the bathroom fixtures or did you just paint around them? :-D > I don't care, though--all the tape is up and the corners painted so > there's no turning back :). Jen As for whether you can change the color, I've painted my dining room . . . *four* times, trying to get the color dark enough. And it's *still* not right. Cindy -- who is going to *freak out* if she starts having trouble keeping her eyes open, and whose sister-in-law bought a house, signed the papers, and only then noticed that the prior owners had painted *around* their furniture instead of moving it and painting the whole wall From lupinesque at yahoo.com Wed Sep 24 18:22:29 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 18:22:29 -0000 Subject: Fry's Lupin, Dale's Tonks In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Ali reported: > IMO Fry's Lupin sounded a little more camp than previously, but not > so much as to find distracting. Camp? As in gay? Is Fry in the S/R contingent? This seems to have escaped me entirely in my listen to Fry's PoA. > I have always supposed that if Tonks had an accent, it would be a > London accent because she uses the greeting "Wotcher". I *think* Dale gives her a London accent. Do we have any ex-pat Brits who've heard Dale and can confirm? > My Oxford English Dictionary is too concise to say where "wotcher" > is most used, and I have so far tried about 5 on-line dictionaries > none of which appear to be working today. You need a slang dictionary, or one of those vast surveys of regional differences--there's a zillion-volume one of US English, revealing fascinating tidbits such as that while a Northeasterner would get an oil & lube, a Southerner would get the car greased (pronounced greaZed to boot). There must be a UK equivalent. Amy Z v. amused by the thought of Wallace Tonks From lupinesque at yahoo.com Wed Sep 24 18:24:55 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 18:24:55 -0000 Subject: Talk like a pirate day In-Reply-To: Message-ID: David wrote: > As for films made from games - Mario, Tomb Raider, etc. Yes, they > are trading on the name of the game when the artistic quality > wouldn't get the trade. Right! That's what I was trying to say. Thank you for saying it, since I didn't manage to. > Perhaps our real gripe is not the moguls but the public who are > apparently so easily influenced. Yes, but it's easier to take on the moguls. There aren't so many of them. ;-) Amy Z looking warily behind her for the approaching mob From lupinesque at yahoo.com Wed Sep 24 18:31:31 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 18:31:31 -0000 Subject: Fry's Tonks again (was Re: Fry's Lupin, Dale's Tonks) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Ali wrote: > > My Oxford English Dictionary is too concise to say where > "wotcher" > > is most used, and I have so far tried about 5 on-line > dictionaries > > none of which appear to be working today. I wrote: > You need a slang dictionary, or one of those vast surveys of > regional differences I then went and looked. (Hey, it's my lunch break.) The online Dictionary of English Slang and Colloquialism doesn't give a lot of info about regional variations, but it does note that "wotcha" or "wotcher" is "Mainly London use." http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/ Amy Z From lupinesque at yahoo.com Wed Sep 24 18:41:53 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 18:41:53 -0000 Subject: Floral Wallpaper (Was: Talk like a pirate day) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Elkins wrote: > What? Huh? Did I just hear my name? and more than made up for her current lack of trenchant social criticism by entertaining us all with wallpaper descriptions. I won't ask whether you've ever read "The Yellow Wallpaper," Elkins, because you've read everything, or at least everything that qualifies as trenchant social criticism. But is anyone else out there worried that Elkins is going to start imagining a woman trapped under the wallpaper, trying in vain to clip through the wisteria or lilacs or whatever they are? A woman who has been cruelly kept away from her internet access by a blandly patronizing world? Amy the Charlotte Perkins Gilman fan, who now does have to return to work From Ali at zymurgy.org Wed Sep 24 20:09:16 2003 From: Ali at zymurgy.org (Ali) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 20:09:16 -0000 Subject: Fry's Lupin, Dale's Tonks In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I wrote:- IMO Fry's Lupin sounded a little more camp than previously, but not so much as to find distracting. Amy queried:- <> Well, camp as in effeminate, yeah. Perhaps he has been given more information from JKR, but he has altered Lupin's voice. Amy << This seems to have escaped me entirely in my listen to Fry's PoA. >> That's why I noticed it, because I hadn't noticed it with the PoA tapes - and I have played them a *few* times (my daughter is hooked you see!). Me bemoaning Tonks' accent:- I have always supposed that if Tonks had an accent, it would be a London accent because she uses the greeting "Wotcher". Amy responded:- >>> You need a slang dictionary, or one of those vast surveys of regional differences ... I then went and looked. (Hey, it's my lunch break.) The online Dictionary of English Slang and Colloquialism doesn't give a lot of info about regional variations, but it does note that "wotcha" or "wotcher" is "Mainly London use.">>> I'm more than ever convinced that either Fry or JKR has made a cock up. It really grates when I hear Tonks speak now! I am pleased though that the slang dictionary had the alternative spelling of "wotcher", as until OoP I had only ever seen "wotcha" written down. < Amy Z v. amused by the thought of Wallace Tonks > Nooooo! It's not amusing it's annoying. Grrrr. Ali From joym999 at aol.com Wed Sep 24 21:02:01 2003 From: joym999 at aol.com (joywitch_m_curmudgeon) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 21:02:01 -0000 Subject: HP merchandise In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "martha" wrote: > In the back of some TV listings magazine or other a couple of years > ago I saw an advert for the "Harry Potter Wizard Spoon". Naturally I > cut it out and kept it - the ad goes on about how the spoon (which > costs ?7.50, btw) is "dishwasher safe", made of "high-quality > stainless steel", and comes in a presentation box with the Harry > Potter logo on it. > > It's a spoon! > > It's just a spoon! > > I mean, "wizard spoon"? From the name one might presume that the > spoon is significantly different from other spoons - perhaps you can > perform spells with it? - but no. It is just a spoon. Actually, I > tell a lie - the handle is all sort of knarled-looking, presumably to > look like a wand, although whether any self-respecting wizard or > witch would carry a wand with a spoon on the end is debatable. "Hey, > I like your new wand, Hermione!" "Thanks, Harry - and look, not only > can I use it to perform all manner of charms, hexes, curses and so > on, but it also has this useful spoon built into it. That way, if I'm > ever engaged in a duel with Death Eaters, say, and feel the need to > eat a pot of yoghurt, I can do so without having to go and get a > spoon from elsewhere!" and so on. Hmm. I just *had* to repost this charming rant. As a long time member of HPfGU, and Curmudgeon-In-Charge-Of-Ranting-And-Raving, I just wanted to express my appreciation for Martha's complaints about the HP spoon. --Joywitch M. Curmudgeon, who loves a good rant From pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk Wed Sep 24 21:03:01 2003 From: pipdowns at etchells0.demon.co.uk (bluesqueak) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 21:03:01 -0000 Subject: Tonks accent: Re: Fry's Lupin, Dale's Tonks In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Ali wrote: > I then went and looked. (Hey, it's my lunch break.) The online > Dictionary of English Slang and Colloquialism doesn't give a lot > of info about regional variations, but it does note that "wotcha" > or "wotcher" is "Mainly London use.">>> > > I'm more than ever convinced that either Fry or JKR has made a > cock up. It really grates when I hear Tonks speak now! I am > pleased though that the slang dictionary had the alternative > spelling of "wotcher", as until OoP I had only ever seen "wotcha" > written down. > > Ali Well... [improvising madly] Suppose Ted Tonks the muggle born is from London, and habitually greets people with 'wotcher'. Tonks could have picked up the habit from her Dad. Meanwhile, Ted and Andromeda have had loads of problems from the Blacks. Who hated the marriage of a 'pure-blood' Black to a muggle born. So, when this old wizarding house comes up in the North of England, they take it. It gets them away from the awful relatives, and into the society of the Northern wizards and witches. So, Tonks, growing up in the North, amongst Northern wizarding children, has a Northern accent. However, she has picked up some of her Dad's London slang... Incidentally, Newcastle has the liveliest nightlife in Britain. And Manchester has two receiving theatres, three producing theatres, several fringe theatres, a major television company, an orchestra, at least four universities (I've lost count. Universities are multiplying like amoebas here) , several museums, a tram system and (last year) the Commonwealth games. It is possible to acquire that 'quintessentially metropolitan' attitude *outside* London, David. [grin] From przepla at ipartner.com.pl Wed Sep 24 21:14:01 2003 From: przepla at ipartner.com.pl (Przemyslaw Plaskowicki) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 23:14:01 +0200 Subject: Gift code (was Main List's: Why Ron Loves Hermione) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3F720919.1070202@ipartner.com.pl> Kath Lane wrote: I snipped all SHIP discussion... > The perfume as a present is >rather a strong indicator though that it is tending to a romance. > The same thing said Sandy: > I gotta add: Ron bought Hermione >*perfume*< for Christmas in OoP. I also see this as a indication of a Ron's romantic feelings. But why? It seems that there is some kind of a gift-giving cultural code that I was aware of only subconsiously. Moreover, this gift-giving code, seems to be very wide since none of listees objected this argument. It appears, that some gifts are meaning something more than the others -- in this case book means friendship, perfume means romantic feelings. Is there really is some gift-giving-code in our cultures? Pshemekan -- who is contemplating social behaviour of modern humans From heidit at netbox.com Wed Sep 24 21:37:05 2003 From: heidit at netbox.com (Heidi Tandy) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 14:37:05 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Gift code (was Main List's: Why Ron Loves Hermione) In-Reply-To: <3F720919.1070202@ipartner.com.pl> References: <3F720919.1070202@ipartner.com.pl> Message-ID: <1064439429.4DE3F2F@s5.dngr.org> On Wed, 24 Sep 2003 5:14PM -0500, Przemyslaw Plaskowicki wrote: > It seems that there is some kind of a gift-giving cultural code that I > was aware of only subconsiously. Moreover, this gift-giving code, seems > to be very wide since none of listees objected this argument. It > appears, that some gifts are meaning something more than the others -- > in this case book means friendship, perfume means romantic feelings. > Is there really is some gift-giving-code in our cultures? Not in my house. Books are the ultimate present between my husband and myself, and I expect will become so for our children as well. Yes, we do get each other electronics sometimes - he got me a sidekick phone/pda after our youngest was born last spring and I bought him a dvd player once, but if he gave me perfume instead of a book for an occasion, I'd be hurt. Heidi Http://www.fictionalley.org From cindysphynx at comcast.net Wed Sep 24 21:55:04 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 21:55:04 -0000 Subject: Gift code (was Main List's: Why Ron Loves Hermione) In-Reply-To: <3F720919.1070202@ipartner.com.pl> Message-ID: Hi, Przemyslaw wrote: >It appears, that some gifts are meaning something more than the >others -- in this case book means friendship, perfume means romantic >feelings. > Is there really is some gift-giving-code in our cultures? I think there is. In fact, you can err in a variety of ways in the U.S. There's giving an intimate gift in a non-intimate relationship. For instance, one doesn't give one's secretary intimate undergarments. Then there's giving a non-intimate gift in an intimate relationship. Like the husband who gives his wife a vacuum cleaner for her birthday. For some reason, it is OK for the wife to give the husband power tools. Double standard, that. Then there's the problem of giving a gift that is too expensive in a fledgling romantic relationship -- say, the guy who gives his new girlfriend a hideously expensive piece of jewelry. If she accepts it, he should *run.* ;-D Nah, the only time a guy should give a woman a ridiculously expensive piece of jewelry is when he either got caught cheating on her with a young woman in a hotel or perhaps raped a young woman in a hotel. Under those circumstances, no gift is too lavish. Cindy -- who can't recall any gifts her husband has given her except exercise clothing, but who knows there must be a whole lot more loot than that From Ali at zymurgy.org Wed Sep 24 22:08:21 2003 From: Ali at zymurgy.org (Ali) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 22:08:21 -0000 Subject: Gift code (was Main List's: Why Ron Loves Hermione) In-Reply-To: <3F720919.1070202@ipartner.com.pl> Message-ID: Pshemekan wrote:- > It seems that there is some kind of a gift-giving cultural code that I was aware of only subconsiously. Moreover, this gift-giving code, seems to be very wide since none of listees objected this argument. It appears, that some gifts are meaning something more than the others -- > in this case book means friendship, perfume means romantic feelings. > Is there really is some gift-giving-code in our cultures? Ugh! This reminds me. I was once given a foul (and I mean foul) bottle of perfume from a boy I had just split up from. He thought that we had split up to concentrate on finishing our A'Levels, and I errm, didn't. He was so proud of this ghastly perfume. I even had to put it on when he gave it to me. I swear a skunk couldn't have smelt any worse. And, no, I'm absolutely sure he didn't give it to me to get his own back on me - he was too nice and innocent for that. My hubby on the other hand specialises in non-romantic presents. The first present he ever bought me was a little glass dragon to make me honorary Welsh (well, ok I don't know why he gave me a dragon), The next present was a 6 foot blow up shark. I didn't ask for it, I certainly didn't know I wanted it, but I got it! Other presents from him have included royal jelly (don't ask) and more recently HP tapes and CDs. As we've been together for 17 years, I'll have to reluctantly admit that romantic pressies are not are forte! Ali Who imagines that the perfume Ron bought was as disgusting as the one she was given as a teenager! From przepla at ipartner.com.pl Wed Sep 24 22:12:24 2003 From: przepla at ipartner.com.pl (Przemyslaw Plaskowicki) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 00:12:24 +0200 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Gift code (was Main List's: Why Ron Loves Hermione) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3F7216C8.7090004@ipartner.com.pl> Cindy C. wrote: >Hi, > >Przemyslaw wrote: > > > >>It appears, that some gifts are meaning something more than the >>others -- in this case book means friendship, perfume means romantic >>feelings. >>Is there really is some gift-giving-code in our cultures? >> >> > >I think there is. In fact, you can err in a variety of ways in the U.S. >[...] >Then there's giving a non-intimate gift in an intimate relationship. >Like the husband who gives his wife a vacuum cleaner for her birthday. > For some reason, it is OK for the wife to give the husband power >tools. Double standard, that. > > I think, it is not double standard -- it is male stupidity :-). Vacuum cleaning is a boring household duty, while most men will have fun using their power tools. Pshemekan From lupinesque at yahoo.com Wed Sep 24 22:55:37 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 22:55:37 -0000 Subject: Tonks accent: Re: Fry's Lupin, Dale's Tonks In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Pip wrote: > Incidentally, Newcastle has the liveliest nightlife in Britain. And > Manchester has two receiving theatres, three producing theatres, > several fringe theatres, a major television company, an orchestra, > at least four universities (I've lost count. Universities are > multiplying like amoebas here) , several museums, a tram system and > (last year) the Commonwealth games. Oh, dear, Pip, you seem to have swallowed a tourism brochure. Need a whack on the back? ;-) I think your Tonks explanation is very plausible, especially if Andromeda also had London turns of phrase. Or it could be the other way around. Tonks has only lately come to London, for this supercool Auror job she's got, and has dived right into all things London. "Wotcher" is therefore a lovable affectation, such as Americans acquire when they live in the UK for a few years and start saying things like "I'll ring you" and "She got hit by a lorry." Amy Z From psychic_serpent at yahoo.com Thu Sep 25 00:13:40 2003 From: psychic_serpent at yahoo.com (psychic_serpent) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 00:13:40 -0000 Subject: Gift code (was Main List's: Why Ron Loves Hermione) In-Reply-To: <3F7216C8.7090004@ipartner.com.pl> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Przemyslaw Plaskowicki" wrote: > >Then there's giving a non-intimate gift in an intimate > > relationship. Like the husband who gives his wife a vacuum > > cleaner for her birthday. For some reason, it is OK for the wife > > to give the husband power tools. Double standard, that. > > > > > I think, it is not double standard -- it is male stupidity :-). > Vacuum cleaning is a boring household duty, while most men will > have fun using their power tools. Actually, one of the best Mother's Day presents I ever received from my husband was a power screwdriver (which I use a lot) and a gift certificate (actually like a little credit card) for Home Depot. I'm the one in the family with the power tools--for him I usually get books and DVDs (although he gets me those, too ). I also get him cooking stuff--he loves his wok and bamboo steamer. We're not exactly a conventional couple. ;) --Barb, who's got a power screwdriver and isn't afraid to use it http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Psychic_Serpent http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Barb From lupinesque at yahoo.com Thu Sep 25 00:14:46 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 00:14:46 -0000 Subject: Gift code (was Main List's: Why Ron Loves Hermione) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Cindy, in her Primer to Problematic Gift-Giving, wrote: > There's giving an intimate gift in a non-intimate relationship. For > instance, one doesn't give one's secretary intimate undergarments. Well, one does, but one doesn't want one's spouse to find out. > Then there's giving a non-intimate gift in an intimate relationship. > Like the husband who gives his wife a vacuum cleaner for her birthday. > For some reason, it is OK for the wife to give the husband power > tools. Double standard, that. I think the presumption there is that power tools are toys for most men. They are for hobbies, not for housework. Giving a vacuum cleaner to a woman is like giving a case of motor oil to a man: "Yo, honey, time to clean this dump/change the oil." Giving a table saw to a man, now *that's* saying: "You go on down to the basement and putter. I'll have dinner ready for you when you emerge." The exception might be if he needs a table saw for his job. Like Heidi, I'd much rather have a book than perfume, but perfume is definitely the more romantic gift. I just don't happen to wear it, so it's not a very successful gift. Now, I *do* like jewelry, flowers, lingerie, bath stuff, and fancy chocolates, all of which go under the "intimate gifts" category, so that even though I actually would prefer a good book to any of them 9 times out of 10, I'd be ticked off if my husband *never* made the romantic gesture of buying me any of the others. Incidentally, although all of those do go under the "intimate gifts" category, they are almost all acceptable gifts to give someone one doesn't know well. (Bath salts, for example, may seem to belong to an intimate milieu, but they are a perfectly acceptable thing for a child to give to his teacher for Christmas.) Lingerie is the only exception. I'd say the rule of thumb with clothing is that if it wouldn't be appropriate for you to see it on the person, then it's not appropriate for you to give it. With flowers, a mixed bouquet goes for almost any occasion and any relationship. However, you need to have a special occasion for roses, unless the person is a family member, dear friend, or romantic entanglee. A dozen roses to your secretary on her 20th anniversary of working for you, yes. A dozen roses to your secretary on her birthday, no. See above note on intimate undergarments. Confused yet, Przemyslaw? One thing's sure. Giving a girl perfume in this culture (US) is a Sign either that you view her romantically or that you're such an idiot you don't even realize that perfume is a romantic gift. Amy Z From stevejjen at earthlink.net Thu Sep 25 02:38:46 2003 From: stevejjen at earthlink.net (Jen Reese) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 02:38:46 -0000 Subject: Texas Quidditch Message-ID: Did anyone else look at that website on Texas Quidditch? It's from post 81490 by Amanda on the main list. http://www.texasquidditch.com/ I had to check this out since I'm a Texan, and it turns out this is about West Texas, where I'm from. I grew up in Midland and my grandparents lived in Abilene, so I spent many a day on Interstate 20 driving through the town of Sweetwater where JKR's Sweetwater All- Stars Quidditch Team is based (from Quidditch through the Ages). Little did I know W. Texas is known for its "high quotient of paranormal activity!" Anyway, the "slide-show" on this website is pretty entertaining-- shows W. Texas at its best or as I always say, "it has its own stark beauty." I wonder if JKR ever visited that area? It happens to be a perfect site for Quidditch, what with acres of potentially unplottable land and no inhabitants. ;) Jen From annemehr at yahoo.com Thu Sep 25 03:24:30 2003 From: annemehr at yahoo.com (annemehr) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 03:24:30 -0000 Subject: Texas Quidditch In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Jen Reese wrote: > Did anyone else look at that website on Texas Quidditch? It's from > post 81490 by Amanda on the main list. > > http://www.texasquidditch.com/ Oh, now that is a quality site! Obviously lovingly put together. Thanks for the heads-up since I skipped over it on the main list. Now I want the T-Shirt. Annemehr From lhuntley at fandm.edu Thu Sep 25 03:27:50 2003 From: lhuntley at fandm.edu (Laura Ingalls Huntley) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 23:27:50 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Gift code (was Main List's: Why Ron Loves Hermione) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <3D98D714-EF08-11D7-A21B-000A95E29F3E@fandm.edu> > --Barb, who's got a power screwdriver and isn't afraid to use it > God. What I wouldn't do to get my hands on a power screwdriver right now. I'd have the doors off my and my roommate's wardrobes before you could say "Quidditch." Say, where do you live, again? ^_~ Laura (who has rearranged her room *four* times in the past 3 weeks she's been at college. *has a picky roommate*) P.S. Back to the original topic of this thread -- *I*, for one, happen to think that books make incredibly sexy gifts. So there. From lhuntley at fandm.edu Thu Sep 25 03:39:17 2003 From: lhuntley at fandm.edu (Laura Ingalls Huntley) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 23:39:17 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Gift code (was Main List's: Why Ron Loves Hermione) In-Reply-To: <3F720919.1070202@ipartner.com.pl> Message-ID: Pshemekan: > It appears, that some gifts are meaning something more than the others > -- > in this case book means friendship, perfume means romantic feelings. > Is there really is some gift-giving-code in our cultures? > Well, I wouldn't go as far as to say that "books mean friendship." I think books are pretty much a present that can go either way (provided the recipient like books to begin with, of course). In Hermione's case, I think anyone giving her a book is probably just cottoning on that she *loves* them and, therefore, is getting her something she's basically *guaranteed* to like (most girls aren't so easy, you know?). I don't think it particularly shows whether the giver has or does not have feelings for the givee, however. In response to the unstated question: No, I don't think Harry meant the book to be a "romantic gift." ^_~ Though if he *had*, it would have been a much better present than perfume. (Ron?! What the heck were you thinking, kiddo?) Perfume, on the other hand, when given from a *guy* to a girl (girls give other girls body sprays and perfume samples all the time), is *definitely* indicative of romantic interest. IMO, anyway. Laura (who knows she ought to have attached this post to her last one. Sorry. *looks ashamed*) From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Thu Sep 25 07:35:10 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 07:35:10 -0000 Subject: Floral Wallpaper In-Reply-To: Message-ID: << wrote:...I've been spending approximately 12 hours a day in a creepy, echoing, empty New House, attempting to remove the ghastliest imaginable floral wallpaper from every last room...imagine, if you will, a large house in which every last room was papered in a different floral wallpaper, each one more hideous than the last. And I do mean hideous. These aren't quaint florals. They aren't country florals. They aren't your grandmother's florals. They aren't nice- old-lady-with-a-budgie florals. They're just plain ugly florals...each one of these rooms also has floral carpeting. Again, no two of them alike. Again, all of them unspeakably hideous. And each one actually *clashing* with its companion wallpaper...each > room also has very heavy floral curtains. Again, no two alike. And each set managing to clash with both the floral wallpaper *and* the floral carpeting. And there are also these little...*ruffs* along the ceiling line of each room. Made out of wallpaper...lovingly (if not terribly precisely) cut with scissors to form scallop shapes. And then pasted onto the underlying wallpaper not only with the usual glue, but also with what appears to be smears of spackle or grouting or something of that sort...>>> The Sergeant Majorette says What's wrong with you people? Don't you know Muggle-repelling Charms when you come across them? (I hope you took pictures -- sounds epic...) --JDR From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Thu Sep 25 08:02:45 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 08:02:45 -0000 Subject: Texas Quidditch In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says It's a total scream! Love the Texas M&A team nickname -- the Magis. (My brother did his masters work at Texas A&M, which makes him an Aggie.) --JDR From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Thu Sep 25 08:20:47 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 08:20:47 -0000 Subject: HP merchandise - FF In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Martha, whose cynicism is spurious yet strangely malleable, wrote: > I mean, "wizard spoon"? From the name one might presume that the > spoon is significantly different from other spoons - perhaps you can > perform spells with it? - but no. It is just a spoon. Actually, I > tell a lie - the handle is all sort of knarled-looking, presumably to > look like a wand, although whether any self-respecting wizard or > witch would carry a wand with a spoon on the end is debatable. "Hey, > I like your new wand, Hermione!" "Thanks, Harry - and look, not only > can I use it to perform all manner of charms, hexes, curses and so > on, but it also has this useful spoon built into it. That way, if I'm > ever engaged in a duel with Death Eaters, say, and feel the need to > eat a pot of yoghurt, I can do so without having to go and get a > spoon from elsewhere!" and so on. Hmm. No, no, no, it's for the use of wizards such as Arthur Weasley who need to move in Muggle circles without being detected. Vernon Dursley: You wouldn't be some kind of freak, would you? AW: Oh, no, this isn't a wand, it's just a spoon. I like to keep a spoon with me at all times; I find it very useful. I collect them, you know. VD (suspiciously): It looks like a damned odd spoon to me. Why is there a thread poking out of the end of it? AW: That isn't a thread, that's a dragon's heartstring. It helps with the, er, coordinated attitude control of the spoon if I'm, um, using it to eat while flying by broom, um, while I'm flying. VD: I don't believe you - give me that! AW: I'm warning you - I'm not afraid to use this spoon! VD: Grrr.. *Bang* AW: Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to do that. It never happened with the fork. etc David, who totally agrees with Joywitch From charisjulia at hotmail.com Thu Sep 25 09:50:17 2003 From: charisjulia at hotmail.com (charisjulia) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 09:50:17 -0000 Subject: Gift code (was Main List's: Why Ron Loves Hermione) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Laura ruled: >>>>>Perfume, on the other hand, when given from a *guy* to a girl (girls give other girls body sprays and perfume samples all the time), is *definitely* indicative of romantic interest. IMO, anyway.<<<<<< Really? I???d definitely see it the other way around. To start with, girls tend to wear much more smelly stuff than guys do for no especial reason. So it???s ok to assume they need and want more and therefore to take it upon yourself to provide them with it. But even the very basic * deodorant* is only just coming in as a must-have of male existence. Look at the relentless promoting! (There???s an advert currently running in this part of the world which after many, many images of men running about and playing football and dancing and otherwise engaging in kinetic activities of all sorts, ends with the caption: ???Male perspiration? Only men can stand it??? ) On the other hand however most men appear to attemt drowning themselves in cologne before going out. Quite often it???s positively asphyxiating to get within ten miles of them. So, if you give a guy a bottle smelly stuff, he very likely to look at it and think ???*Why * exactly are you giving this to me? *Why * do you care what I smell like? * What * does this mean? Errrrrrrr. . .??? And ???Because you stink??? won???t go very far to getting anybody feeling = comfortable again. Charis Julia From charisjulia at hotmail.com Thu Sep 25 09:52:07 2003 From: charisjulia at hotmail.com (charisjulia) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 09:52:07 -0000 Subject: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Message-ID: A friend of mine and I just bought tickets to a dance performance by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which is currently touring Europe and due to stop off over here on Friday. We???re actually really looking forward to this (love watching other people dance) So then I got wondering. . . Anybody out there been or know anything about them? Does the group put on a good show? Is it well known in the US? I did look it up through MSN and it looks great and according to the advert it got ???dithyrambic??? reviews in Europe and America, but I was wondering if somebody could perhaps give me a more personal account? Or does nobody have any idea what I???m going on about? :-) Charis Julia From alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk Thu Sep 25 13:19:21 2003 From: alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk (alshainofthenorth) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 13:19:21 -0000 Subject: Gift code (was Main List's: Why Ron Loves Hermione) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Amy Z" wrote: > Like Heidi, I'd much rather have a book than perfume, but > perfume is definitely the more romantic gift. I just don't happen > to wear it, so it's not a very successful gift. Now, I *do* like > jewelry, flowers, lingerie, bath stuff, and fancy chocolates, all of > which go under the "intimate gifts" category, so that even though I > actually would prefer a good book to any of them 9 times out of > 10, I'd be ticked off if my husband *never* made the romantic > gesture of buying me any of the others. > > > One thing's sure. Giving a girl perfume in this culture (US) is a > Sign either that you view her romantically or that you're such an > idiot you don't even realize that perfume is a romantic gift. > > Amy Z Amy, I think you're on to something there, what we think of as romantic gifts tends to be strongly related to culture. I think I read somewhere that women in Europe use more perfume than American women (in the good ol' Ancien R?gime tradition of covering up the dirt instead of washing it off) and that is isn't that big a deal for us. Dunno. Whether it's romantic or not rather depends on the setting -- if it's a boy giving it to a girl other than his relatives there might definitely be romantic connotations. I'd say it depends on the scent -- Calvin Klein's One isn't as obvious as Shalimar, for instance. Methought the "Ron, Hermione and the perfume" scene was rather cute. Can't blame a boy for trying, Harry botched his first date with Cho after all. (Ron should have stuck to lily-of-the-valley though.) Alshain, who'd love to get perfume as a present but would insist on choosing it herself From cindysphynx at comcast.net Thu Sep 25 13:41:29 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 13:41:29 -0000 Subject: Perfume (WAS Gift code ) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Alshain wrote: > Alshain, > who'd love to get perfume as a present but would insist on choosing it > herself I count myself among the non-perfume wearers. I can't imagine remembering to apply it; I forget to wear earrings half the time as it is. Also, there is an anti-perfume backlash around here -- some people claim to be allergic. So . . . are the perfume wearers in the majority or the minority these days? And what are the best fragrances? Cindy -- who never got a whiff of "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific!" shampoo, and now it's off the market From stevejjen at earthlink.net Thu Sep 25 13:48:42 2003 From: stevejjen at earthlink.net (Jen Reese) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 13:48:42 -0000 Subject: Texas Quidditch In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "annemehr" wrote: > > Oh, now that is a quality site! Obviously lovingly put together. > Thanks for the heads-up since I skipped over it on the main list. > > Now I want the T-Shirt. Oh, definitely the T-Shirt! I wonder if the Seeker has made money off this? I forgot to check if the Warner Bros. Disclaimer was on there. Oh well, thanks for the post Amanda--that's the most *interesting* HP site I've seen. Jen, who hopes the Seeker isn't REALLY planning a 2nd trip to Sweetwater From stevejjen at earthlink.net Thu Sep 25 14:11:12 2003 From: stevejjen at earthlink.net (Jen Reese) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 14:11:12 -0000 Subject: Perfume (WAS Gift code ) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Cindy C." wrote: >> I count myself among the non-perfume wearers. I can't imagine > remembering to apply it; I forget to wear earrings half the time as it > is. Also, there is an anti-perfume backlash around here -- some > people claim to be allergic. > > So . . . are the perfume wearers in the majority or the minority > these days? And what are the best fragrances? It seems like I smell cologne on men more often than perfume on women these days. Anyone else notice that? One of my pet peeves is being trapped on an elevator or in a car with someone wafting eau de cologne all over the place. Ever since my pregnancy 5 years ago, most perfumes *still* make me feel nauseous now. Like Pavlov's dog, all I have to do is think about perfume and.....gag, my morning sickness is recreated. Yuck. I'd better stop there! Jen From lupinesque at yahoo.com Thu Sep 25 15:26:55 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 15:26:55 -0000 Subject: HP merchandise In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Martha, who wins Handle of the Month (that isn't Spoon Handle of the Month) for "fakeplastikcynic," wrote: > (suddenly worried that everyone on this list is about to > turn around and say "actually I own a Wizard Spoon and it's the > coolest thing I've ever bought") Actually I own a Wizard Spoon and it is quite problematic. I can't eat my hot Grape Nuts without inadvertently performing a Hurling Hex in the kitchen. Quite disastrous, I can tell you. And as for what happens when one pops a Wizard Spoon into a Magic Dishwasher . . . You don't want to know. Amy another rant fan, who thanks Martha for a particularly good one From lupinesque at yahoo.com Thu Sep 25 15:41:48 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 15:41:48 -0000 Subject: Perfume (WAS Gift code ) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Cindy wrote: > Also, there is an anti-perfume backlash around here -- some > people claim to be allergic. Oh yeah, we have a scent-free section in church because some people have reactions. It's also a nice place to sit if you're not allergic, but just can't stand getting stuck next to someone who thinks "a dab behind each ear" means "a good long squirt everywhere you can think of." The problem is definitely exacerbated in large crowds. My mom used to sing in a large chorale, and there was a no-perfume rule because even if you aren't particularly sensitive to scent, being shoulder to shoulder with 90 people, 40 of whom are wearing 40 different scents, could make you keel over. Of course, it's not just perfume and cologne, but any heavily scented soap, deodorant, etc. Here's a question I have. The only perfumes I like are very plain, identifiable essences of flowers whose smell I particularly love. E.g., I could proposition a pure stranger on the subway if she smelled like lilacs, so beloved is that scent (*terrible pang of homesickness--there don't seem to be many lilacs in my new region*). But fancy perfumes never smell like anything but themselves to me. They aren't roses or lilacs or lilies of the valley, they're CK or Obsession or White Diamonds (what *do* diamonds smell like?). I realize that considerable research goes into finding scent combinations that people will find alluring, so I don't doubt that Obsession smells nice to many people, but to me they all just smell overpowering. > Cindy -- who never got a whiff of "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific!" > shampoo, and now it's off the market I got a whiff. It didn't smell particularly terrific. Give me Herbal Essence any day. But it did have a great name. Amy Z From shirley2allie at hotmail.com Thu Sep 25 15:48:28 2003 From: shirley2allie at hotmail.com (Shirley) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 15:48:28 -0000 Subject: Texas Quidditch In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "annemehr" > wrote: > > > > Oh, now that is a quality site! Obviously lovingly put together. > > Thanks for the heads-up since I skipped over it on the main list. > > > > Now I want the T-Shirt. > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Jen Reese" wrote: > > Oh, definitely the T-Shirt! I wonder if the Seeker has made money off > this? I forgot to check if the Warner Bros. Disclaimer was on there. > Oh well, thanks for the post Amanda--that's the most *interesting* HP > site I've seen. > > Jen, who hopes the Seeker isn't REALLY planning a 2nd trip to > Sweetwater Shirley: Like you, Jen, I grew up in Midland and used to drive to Wichita Falls via Sweetwater, so am also quite familiar with that town (we always stopped at an ice cream place when we made the turn-off from I- 20 to the 'shortcut'). I wonder if the Seeker is a Longhorn or an Aggie. So, Jen, which high school did you attend and when did you graduate? I went to MHS, graduated in '77, went to UT and now live in Colorado. Shirley, who wouldn't be surprised if the Seeker *is* planning a 2nd trip to Sweetwater, because there's just not that much to do in West Texas. P.S. Read the "Fine Print" on the site - yes, the proper disclaimer is there, and it's well-written. From jmmears at comcast.net Thu Sep 25 16:22:43 2003 From: jmmears at comcast.net (serenadust) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 16:22:43 -0000 Subject: Perfume (WAS Gift code ) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Amy Z" wrote: > Here's a question I have. The only perfumes I like are very plain, > identifiable essences of flowers whose smell I particularly love. > E.g., I could proposition a pure stranger on the subway if she > smelled like lilacs, so beloved is that scent (*terrible pang of > homesickness--there don't seem to be many lilacs in my new region*). > But fancy perfumes never smell like anything but themselves to me. > They aren't roses or lilacs or lilies of the valley, they're CK or > Obsession or White Diamonds (what *do* diamonds smell like?). I know what you mean Amy. If I could find a perfume that really smelled like lilacs, I'd wear it every day. In fact, when we first moved in to our house, I planted lilacs all along the side of the house next to the living room windows so we could open them in April and fill the house with the scent. I seem to remember that in the perfume department of Bloomingdales, they sold pure essences of various flowers (I was very partial to tea rose when I was a teenager), and I wonder if they still do. If so, that might be an option for you. Cindy asked what scents other people like and I have to confess that I've worn Estee Lauders White Linen for almost twenty years. Why? Well as much as I'd like a romantic story involving my husband to justify the choice, it's really because one of my first office mates (a young bachelor) was crazy about it. In fact, he liked it so much that he bought some for his girlfriend at the time and reported that he was disappointed because it didn't smell the same on her. It was extremely flattering, and I probably never got over it . > > Cindy -- who never got a whiff of "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific!" > > shampoo, and now it's off the market Amy replied: > I got a whiff. It didn't smell particularly terrific. Give me > Herbal Essence any day. But it did have a great name. When I was in college, we all got samples of Herbal Essence in our mail boxes one day, so everyone used it the next morning. The smell in the steamy shower room was so overpowering that several girls had violent sneezing fits and one of my friends broke out in a furious red rash all the way down her back. I hope they've toned it down since then, since that stuff was dangerous! Jo Serenadust, who promises she only uses one very light squirt of cologne before getting dressed...when she remembers to use it at all. From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Thu Sep 25 17:22:45 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 17:22:45 -0000 Subject: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says They are very well known in the US as one of the two preeminent black dance companies, the other being the Dance Theater of Harlem. Their work is mostly jazz and modern style, but most of the dancers are classically trained. The school is also well known (Madonna studied there before she became the Material Girl). They put on a super show. I don't know if they still end with the gospel number "Revelations" -- but they must, especially in Europe, it always gets people up and shouting. You'll have a good time! --JDR From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Thu Sep 25 17:27:55 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 17:27:55 -0000 Subject: HP merchandise In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says How about Harry Potter toothpaste? Or the Harry Potter Magic Wands that are obviously unsold Star Ward Light Sabres recycled? --JDR From stevejjen at earthlink.net Thu Sep 25 17:49:00 2003 From: stevejjen at earthlink.net (Jen Reese) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 17:49:00 -0000 Subject: Texas Quidditch In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Shirley" wrote: > > So, Jen, which high school did you attend and when did you graduate? > I went to MHS, graduated in '77, went to UT and now live in Colorado. Jen: A fellow Midlander--I'm surprised! Out of only 11,000 people from all over the world I wouldn't expect to run across someone else from the same (fairly) small town. I went to MHS, too, but graduated in 85'. Go Dawgs! (To tell the truth, I wasn't very spirited in high school so I never actually *said* those words before this moment....) > Shirley, who wouldn't be surprised if the Seeker *is* planning a 2nd > trip to Sweetwater, because there's just not that much to do in West > Texas. Jen: Isn't that the truth? I guess there's a reason we both left...I'm in Austin now and not planning to leave anytime soon. > > P.S. Read the "Fine Print" on the site - yes, the proper disclaimer > is there, and it's well-written. OK, good. That would be a terrible waste if WB were to ban the Texas Quidditch site. Jen, wondering if Shirley still gets asked about Jessica, the Midland baby who fell down the well back in the 80's... From annemehr at yahoo.com Thu Sep 25 18:53:33 2003 From: annemehr at yahoo.com (annemehr) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 18:53:33 -0000 Subject: HP merchandise In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Amy Z" wrote: > Actually I own a Wizard Spoon and it is quite problematic. I can't > eat my hot Grape Nuts without inadvertently performing a Hurling Hex > in the kitchen. Quite disastrous, I can tell you. You actually *bought* a wizard spoon, but you won't go to see Pirates? O_o Don't let Mad-Eye Moody see you putting that thing in your mouth! Annemehr not letting the Pirate thing drop, but would still hate to see you blast a hole through the back of your head... From toofacedgrl at aol.com Thu Sep 25 19:03:47 2003 From: toofacedgrl at aol.com (toofacedgrl at aol.com) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 15:03:47 EDT Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Message-ID: <78.47e2991f.2ca49613@aol.com> Alvin Ailey is one of the most prominent dance companies in the US--they are also primarily a dance company made up of African-Americans, which adds distinction. The group was formed by Alvin Ailey in 1958. Basically, their dance style focuses on their African roots whilst encorporating jazz, modern, and ballet. Do they put on a good performance? No. They put on a FANTASTIC performance. Alvin Ailey Performances are not to be missed. Most dancers here in the US would give their teeth to be at one. I guarantee you'll enjoy it! :) Here's a link>>Click here: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater - Alvin Ailey If there are any other dance questions, especially ballet, will be more than happy to answer them, as I'm a dance major. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From draco382 at yahoo.com Thu Sep 25 19:48:22 2003 From: draco382 at yahoo.com (draco382) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 19:48:22 -0000 Subject: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" wrote: > > They put on a super show. I don't know if they still end with the > gospel number "Revelations" -- but they must, especially in Europe, > it always gets people up and shouting. me, draco382: they certainly still do...and yes, it had that exact effect on the crowd. They do put on a superb show; its enough to make a perennial wallflower like myself get up and dance. Have fun at the show! ~draco382 From zanelupin at yahoo.com Thu Sep 25 20:09:00 2003 From: zanelupin at yahoo.com (KathyK) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 20:09:00 -0000 Subject: Perfume (WAS Gift code ) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Cindy: > I count myself among the non-perfume wearers. I can't imagine > remembering to apply it; I forget to wear earrings half the time as it > is. Also, there is an anti-perfume backlash around here -- some > people claim to be allergic. > Earrings? *fingers bare earlobes for a moment* That's what those holes are for? I've always wondered... I'm one of those who claim an allergy to perfume. I don't know if it's an actual allergy but anytime I get a good whiff of someone's perfume, cologne, shampoo, hand lotion, or laundry detergent I develop this awful, lingering headache complete with sinus pressure. It's a real shame, too, because some of them have such nice scents. I can usually handle fruit smells and some flowers so not all is lost. I do have to say that it's usually men and their colognes that leave the strongest, longest-lasting odors in the store I work at. And I know a lot of people who wear some sort of perfume, cologne, lotion, or body spray but most of them seem to be able to control themselves when applying such things. Those few who do wear way too much ruin the fun for the rest of the folks out there who wear fragrances. Because it's really offensive and makes us non-wearers really angry and we begin to complain about our ailments loudly and often. I think one of my fellow managers who used to wear enough cologne for six guys finally got the hint from my moaning and groaning because he hasn't given me a headache in quite some time. Do the folks who wear so much *know* how strong it is? Can they smell it on themselves? > Cindy -- who never got a whiff of "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific!" > shampoo, and now it's off the market KathyK (who's never heard of "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific!" and wonders when that was around) From pbarhug at earthlink.net Thu Sep 25 19:09:45 2003 From: pbarhug at earthlink.net (Pam Hugonnet) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 15:09:45 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Perfume (WAS Gift code ) References: Message-ID: <003101c38398$95314e50$3b9f8c45@DJZCB631> Cindy wrote: So . . . are the perfume wearers in the majority or the minority these days? And what are the best fragrances? Gee--I wear perfume daily, no matter how I'm dressed or what I'm doing. I do it as a little treat to myself; as a stay-at-home mom, there aren't many opportunities to get dolled up in my world, so I try to add a bit of glamour to the mundane. I wear full make-up, too. Helps hide the dark circles and detract from the wrinkles. As for particular fragrances, I'm partial to Chanel's Chance and Dior's J'Adore. They're both floral scented; Chance is a bit musky and J'Adore has a rosy bottom note. Bath and BodyWorks makes nice lightly scented body sprays, but you have to be very careful 'cause some of the smells are really gross. Amy Z asks: (what *do* diamonds smell like?). (Sniffs) Macaroni and cheese and that funny baby-wipe smell. But that just might be me... Off to frost SpongeBob! drenched in perfume and dripping with diamonds (yeah, right) drpam [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From carmenharms at yahoo.com Thu Sep 25 21:09:37 2003 From: carmenharms at yahoo.com (snazzzybird) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 21:09:37 -0000 Subject: Floral Wallpaper (Was: Talk like a pirate day) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "ssk7882" wrote: > > Should any of you ever need to remove vast quantities > of over-glued wallpaper, by the way, a word of advice. > Don't bother with renting a steamer. Steamers don't > work. The only thing that *does* work is a magical > solvent which goes by the trade-name of "Dif," very > warm water, metal scrapers, scrubby sponges, and > elbow grease. Lots of elbow grease. I've been to wallpaper hell and back myself, Elkins, and I feel your pain! Yes, "Dif" is a magical solvent, so much so that I almost suspect it might be the creation of one Severus Snape. I did notice that you make no mention of that handy little tool that you roll around over the wallpaper and it makes little holes in it. If you don't have one, I highly recommend getting it. I found that if I gave the wallpaper a good perforating with this thing, the holes allowed the potion to soak in better. I suspect this is a Muggle invention, but even Muggles get it right once in awhile. ;-) Best of luck to you. --snazzzybird, with little shreds of wallpaper in her hair From linlou43 at yahoo.com Thu Sep 25 21:13:16 2003 From: linlou43 at yahoo.com (linlou43) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 21:13:16 -0000 Subject: A New Author Message-ID: Hi all! I'm going way off topic here but as new writers have enough trouble getting published-never mind read- I wanted to offer this book up to the group. The author is a local man whose day job happens to be working alongside my brother-in-law for a copy machine company. The title is "The Warrior Within". It's written by Brian W. Bishop, and you can find it on barnesandnoble.com by doing a search on the author's name. It's not nobel prize material but I thought it a very good read. The characters were well drawn out and the story well plotted. Hope no one minds the plug but the book might hardly get noticed otherwise. (And if you act now, we'll throw in a handy, dandy book support absolutely free! Read while lying on the bed without your arms getting tired from holding the book up.----Ok, ok, so it's just the shipping box, I never promised it would be a quality book support. :P) -linlou, who has seen way too many infomercials From lupinesque at yahoo.com Thu Sep 25 22:26:20 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 22:26:20 -0000 Subject: threads converge: Alvin Ailey, gifts In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Ditch the chocolates, forget the flowers. Two tickets to Alvin Ailey would be the way to my heart. Amy Z who's never seen them, but knows their reputation and loves modern dance From lupinesque at yahoo.com Thu Sep 25 22:32:00 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 22:32:00 -0000 Subject: Perfume (WAS Gift code ) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > KathyK (who's never heard of "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific!" and > wonders when that was around) Late 70's, I think. Think Farrah Fawcett. A childhood memory just came barging in: my friends and I covering up part of the bottle (it was a sample) and doing a fake ad for "Gee, Your Hair Smells." I'm sure it was very, very funny when I was 10 years old. Amy Z From alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk Thu Sep 25 22:32:53 2003 From: alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk (alshainofthenorth) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 22:32:53 -0000 Subject: Perfume (WAS Gift code ) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "KathyK" wrote: > I'm one of those who claim an allergy to perfume. I don't know if > it's an actual allergy but anytime I get a good whiff of someone's > perfume, cologne, shampoo, hand lotion, or laundry detergent I > develop this awful, lingering headache complete with sinus > pressure. > Oh dear. You poor thing. I begin to understand the point of scent-free concerts and theatre performances. This sort of thing seem to be increasing here, too, a few of my friends suffer from it and they have a hard time finding unscented products. There's perfume everywhere. > Do the folks who wear so much *know* how strong it is? Can they > smell it on themselves? > The sense of smell grows numb really quickly so there's always a risk of adding more because you think it's not enough or it's worn off. I was taught that if you can smell your own perfume, you've used too much -- it should whisper, not shout. Tough advice for a scent junkie. Own favourites (until Lush Ltd. of UK decides to market their Alkmaar soap as a perfume) include The Body Shop's White Musk, Boss Woman and a few unisex scents. My main complaint about scents is that they're usually too sweet or flowery. Most yucky perfume I've ever owned must have been Nina Ricci's L'Air du Temps. Imagine a bath in sweet champagne. Is cologne in the US the thing guys use on their faces after shaving or is it more like perfume, btw? If it's A, I can't for my life understand the point of it. It's mostly alcohol and you're putting THAT on your freshly shaven face? OUCH! ISTR reading some of the style gurus advising men to ditch the after shave and use a decent moisturiser instead. Maybe there's hope. Alshain, too tired to write deep stuff on the gender imbalance in HP or Aristotle's ideas about catharsis and extremely thankful for OT-Chatter From lupinesque at yahoo.com Thu Sep 25 22:35:46 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 22:35:46 -0000 Subject: Perfume (WAS Gift code ) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > Alshain, too tired to write deep stuff on the gender imbalance in HP > or Aristotle's ideas about catharsis and extremely thankful for > OT-Chatter Aristotle's ideas about catharsis? Is Luke back? Amy Z too tired even to *read* what's going on on the main list From annemehr at yahoo.com Thu Sep 25 23:17:29 2003 From: annemehr at yahoo.com (annemehr) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 23:17:29 -0000 Subject: Salute to Cindy (Re: Still Milling Around The Mixer . . .) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > Anne wrote: > > P.S. Cindy? Remember that TBAY post you thought was sinking? Well, > > now that I've *finally* had a chance to tear myself away from OTC > >and that fic I read, I'm talking to you right now at the Royal George > >(or is it the Pink Flamingo?). > Cindy: > > > Ya got me on that one. ::blinks in surprise:: I di-- I mean, damn straight I did! Not that it matters anyway. You and I were the only two on that thread, and meanwhile the whole thing was being pounded into the ground by a bunch of people on a non-TBAY thread. :P Annemehr From anneu53714 at yahoo.com Fri Sep 26 01:08:18 2003 From: anneu53714 at yahoo.com (Anne) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 01:08:18 -0000 Subject: threads converge: Alvin Ailey, gifts In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Amy Z" wrote: > Ditch the chocolates, forget the flowers. Two tickets to Alvin Ailey > would be the way to my heart. > > Amy Z > who's never seen them, but knows their reputation and loves > modern dance I'd take two tickets to see the Alvin Ailey Dance Company ANY TIME over flowers or chocolate (well, maybe not a huge box of Godivas). I'd certainly take one ticket to see Alvin Ailey over ANY bottle of perfume (I'm one of those chemically sensitive folks who is overly sensitized to most perfumey smells - one of my male co-workers used to wear an after-shave that smelled like Lysol...). Anne U (who thinks Ron gave Hermione something he thought she ought to like, while Harry gave Hermione something he knew she would like) From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Fri Sep 26 01:45:11 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 01:45:11 -0000 Subject: threads converge: Alvin Ailey, gifts In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says Which is the difference between a boyfriend and a boy friend. Ron gives a romantic gift to indicate that he is interested enough in her to have asked his mother and sister (you *know* he did) what a proper gift would be to a girl he likes; whereas Harry gives a gift with absolutely no symbolic meaning, it's just a present. The actual scent matters not at all; in fact, what she likes to smell like is none of his business at this point. It's the packaging: nothing makes a girl feel real like a fancy bottle she can display on her desk/dressing table for everyone to see. She gets to say, "Oh, my boyfriend gave me that..." --JDR From lhuntley at fandm.edu Fri Sep 26 02:57:55 2003 From: lhuntley at fandm.edu (Laura Ingalls Huntley) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 22:57:55 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: threads converge: Alvin Ailey, gifts In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <3A53C41E-EFCD-11D7-A21B-000A95E29F3E@fandm.edu> > The Sergeant Majorette says > > Which is the difference between a boyfriend and a boy friend. Ron > gives a romantic gift to indicate that he is interested enough in her > to have asked his mother and sister (you *know* he did) what a proper > gift would be to a girl he likes; whereas Harry gives a gift with > absolutely no symbolic meaning, it's just a present. > > The actual scent matters not at all; in fact, what she likes to smell > like is none of his business at this point. It's the packaging: > nothing makes a girl feel real like a fancy bottle she can display on > her desk/dressing table for everyone to see. She gets to say, "Oh, my > boyfriend gave me that..." > *indulges in an eye roll or two* Oh, please. Is Hermione really that kind of girl? I think the only reason she wasn't *annoyed* with the gift was that she knew that Ron had good *intentions*, but no experience. And I still maintain that a book can be a very romantic gift, esp. when given to a girl like Hermione (just to state for the record, however, I *don't* think romance was Harry's intention in the case in question). Just to be fair, I might as well state that I *am* an H/H shipper, albeit a pessimistic one. As in, if I were a betting person, I'd bet in favor of JKR indulging in Ron/Hermione and *shudder* Harry/Ginny "Look at me! Look at me! Wallflower to Supergirl in Two Chapters Flat" Weasley. I *do* find it a little odd that...Well, let me first state the hypothesis of a number of R/Hers that I've had the pleasure to converse with - that Hermione is waiting for Ron to grow up and admit his feelings for her - first to himself, and then to her (hopefully). Well, the perfume-giving was pretty indicative of Ron coming at least marginally to terms with his crush, right? Especially if, as you theorized, he asked Molly and/or Ginny for advice? So, I'm a little confused as to why Hermione didn't take her cue and move on in. I guess there could be several reasons...i.e. Hermione felt that she needed to concentrate on OWLs (quite possible), or she didn't actually catch on that it was a romantic gift (v. unlikely, IMO) or she's holding out for an all-out declaration of undying love (I wouldn't put it past her). I suspect the *real* reason, however, is because JKR doesn't want to bring the final romantic pairings to a head until the climatic 7th book, in which Ron and Hermione have a disgustingly cute and awkward love affair which leaves Harry as the odd-man out, therefore causing him to spend more time with Ginny "Damsel in Distress. Wait, No, I Meant Paradigm of Girl Power" Weasley, who he has been noticing more and more ever since the beginning of 6th year. *valiantly resists the urge to be violently ill* Laura (who is absolutely *dreading* those inevitable "innocent" little throw-away thoughts in which Harry observes that Ginny is actually quite brave, good at Quidditch, smart, witty, etc. which will occur in book six.) From neonsister at ameritech.net Fri Sep 26 03:48:44 2003 From: neonsister at ameritech.net (Tracy) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 03:48:44 -0000 Subject: threads converge: Alvin Ailey, gifts In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Anne" wrote: "I'd take two tickets to see the Alvin Ailey Dance Company ANY TIME > over flowers or chocolate (well, maybe not a huge box of Godivas)." Yesterday our manager at work (who, incidentally, is a man who wears way too much cologne) told me our company made a deal with the Godiva store for a holiday sales promotion. Practically the first words out of my mouth were, "Does this mean we'll get free chocolates?!" Just keeping my priorities in order. :-) Tracy *a chocolate a day keeps the dementors away* From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Fri Sep 26 04:38:10 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 04:38:10 -0000 Subject: threads converge: Alvin Ailey, gifts In-Reply-To: <3A53C41E-EFCD-11D7-A21B-000A95E29F3E@fandm.edu> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Laura Ingalls Huntley wrote:...*indulges in an eye roll or two* Oh, please. Is Hermione really that kind of girl? I think the only reason she wasn't *annoyed* with the gift was that she knew that Ron had good *intentions*, but no experience. And I still maintain that a book can be a very romantic gift, esp. when given to a girl like Hermione...I suspect the *real* reason, however, is because JKR doesn't want to bring the final romantic pairings to a head until the climatic 7th book, in which Ron and Hermione have a disgustingly cute and awkward love affair which leaves Harry as the odd-man out, therefore causing him to spend more time with Ginny "Damsel in Distress. Wait, No, I Meant Paradigm of Girl Power" Weasley...>>> The Sergeant Majorette says *That* kind of girl? Harumph! Just because Hermione is a overintellectual bookworm does not mean that she is not a real girl, and what real girl could resist the looks on the faces of people like Lavender and Parvati? Just like when she showed up at the Yule Ball with a killer date. And books are a romantic gift from a sensitive guy -- you just know Ron would get it wrong. It really is the thought that counts, and that's what keeps Avon in business: ask any grade school teacher you know if he or she has ever actually opened the exotically shaped bottles of cologne they get on Christmas from eight- year-olds. As for Ginny -- yeah, I guess she can handle Harry, but jeez! I can't see Ginny having the patience to be the nurturing companion Harry needs. Well, if Harry can't go gaily off into the sunset with Draco, I guess Ginny can't be gay either and she can't be an unmarried loose end, so they might as well end up with each other as opposed to being killed off... --JDR From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Fri Sep 26 05:30:11 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 05:30:11 -0000 Subject: Ron, Hermione, perfume, and Harry's (romantic) fate In-Reply-To: <3A53C41E-EFCD-11D7-A21B-000A95E29F3E@fandm.edu> Message-ID: Laura Ingalls Huntley wrote: > Well, the perfume-giving was pretty indicative of Ron coming at > least marginally to terms with his crush, right? Especially if, as > you theorized, he asked Molly and/or Ginny for advice? So, I'm a > little confused as to why Hermione didn't take her cue and move on > in. I suspect the *real* reason, however, is because JKR > doesn't want to bring the final romantic pairings to a head until > the climatic 7th book Although Ron gave Hermione perfume for Christmas, which I do think is a statement of intent, I also think that both he and Hermione are hanging back, in no real hurry to get paired off. I also think that Hermione was acutely aware in OoP that Harry was feeling isolated enough without his two best friends going off to that poufy tea shop together for some snogging. So it could also be a case of Hermione being only too aware of Ron's feelings and just sort of putting him and *them* on hold until things aren't so crazy. That's kind of how I see it. I'm not terribly invested in any of the ships, but I think it will probably end up R/H, with H/G or H/L, assuming Harry has the time and survives to have a girlfriend besides his short-lived thing with Cho. That was the one prediction I had exactly right, BTW, about OoP. I thought Harry and Cho might get together, and that Cedric would be a factor in their relationship. I'll bet a lot of people saw that one coming, though. (I really, really want Harry to survive long enough that he doesn't have to die a virgin. It hurts just to think about. He has been denied so many kinds of love already...but I think that pretty much means he has to survive past the end of the series (considering the degree of carnality I do and don't expect from JKR's teens), and I'm not placing any bets.) Sandy From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Fri Sep 26 05:43:10 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 05:43:10 -0000 Subject: threads converge: Alvin Ailey, gifts In-Reply-To: Message-ID: The Sargeant Majorette wrote: > As for Ginny -- yeah, I guess she can handle Harry, but jeez! I > can't see Ginny having the patience to be the nurturing companion > Harry needs. Well, if Harry can't go gaily off into the sunset with > Draco, I guess Ginny can't be gay either and she can't be an > unmarried loose end, so they might as well end up with each other > as opposed to being killed off... Wow. I am amazed, and very impressed. I suspect saying this gave you pangs and you did it anyway. Bravo! Seriously. Hippie hippie hooray. ;-) Or something like that. And Ginny surprised us last time out; who knows what new depth her character will show in Book 6? Anyway, look at her Mum: nurturing to the point of asphyxiation! I doubt she'll manage to escape the tendency entirely. Sandy, reflecting how unfair it is that "curmudgeon" refers only to men and us females of the species get stuck with the term "b*tch." From tim_regan82 at hotmail.com Fri Sep 26 07:46:12 2003 From: tim_regan82 at hotmail.com (Tim Regan) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 07:46:12 -0000 Subject: Perfume (WAS Gift code ) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Hi All, --- In HPFGU-OTChatter "alshainofthenorth" wrote: > The sense of smell grows numb really quickly so there's always a risk > of adding more because you think it's not enough or it's worn off. I > was taught that if you can smell your own perfume, you've used too > much -- it should whisper, not shout. As Kyan Douglass intoned during one episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: "Spray, delay, and walk away", i.e. spray the fragrance into the air, wait, and then walk into the spray, rather than spraying it onto oneself directly. Now I'm reminded of that by my wife Kate and daughter Megan if ever I over do it. But I do not know how to apply this adage to deodorant, without doing some really weird contortions. I also think this is more a guy problem than a girl one, because we have a weaker sense of smell. So it takes us longer to realize we need deodorant and longer to realize we've over-done the scent. Still, if you are feeling nauseated by your partner's scent on some romantic walk, remember, it's better than being eaten by mosquitoes ;-) > Own favourites (until Lush Ltd. of UK decides to market their Alkmaar > soap as a perfume) include The Body Shop's White Musk Kate's too, but I really don't like the smell of musk, it's like, hmmm, I don't know what the word is. Too animally. My favourite (and I am a bit of a signature scent guy, I liked the idea of the kids growing up with a smell that reminded them of me) is the Sandalwood Cologne that Crabtree and Evelyn do. So, with all this talk of perfume we should mention the Patrick Suskind book "Perfume". It's really unsettling but also really beautiful. And once you've read it you spend the next few months periodically closing your eyes to try to tune into the multitude of scents around you. (Rather like Cage's 4'33" does for sounds.) > Is cologne in the US the thing guys use on their faces after shaving > or is it more like perfume, btw? If it's A, I can't for my life > understand the point of it. It's mostly alcohol and you're putting > THAT on your freshly shaven face? OUCH! Actually I think that's the point. The alcohol acts as an astringent that not only closes all the pores after shaving, but is also invigorating ? like the cold water plunge after a sauna. The point of a romantic gift is not just to buy someone something they'd like, but something that show's you think they are special. Kate doesn't wear much perfume, and reads lots, but the first time I thought of buying her perfume instead of a book on returning from a business trip abroad it meant much more to her. I guess lingerie is the same, it's like saying "this is valuable but you're worth it" or something like that. It doesn't have to be monetary value, it could be the time you've spent choosing or finding the present. Lingerie has always worried me as a present though, since it's clearly designed to give more pleasure to the giver than the receiver. Women don't buy lingerie for everyday comfort. Still, I think we are safe that Ron won't be buying Hermione knickers anytime soon. Cheers, Dumbledad From alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk Fri Sep 26 09:33:23 2003 From: alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk (alshainofthenorth) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 09:33:23 -0000 Subject: Perfume (WAS Gift code ) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Amy Z" wrote: > > Alshain, too tired to write deep stuff on the gender imbalance in > HP > > or Aristotle's ideas about catharsis and extremely thankful for > > OT-Chatter > > Aristotle's ideas about catharsis? Is Luke back? > > Amy Z > too tired even to *read* what's going on on the main list Nah, that was on Usenet. Had to expound on the subject since schools nowadays don't teach kids about philosophers of ancient Greece. From alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk Fri Sep 26 10:14:36 2003 From: alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk (alshainofthenorth) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 10:14:36 -0000 Subject: threads converge: Alvin Ailey, gifts In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "msbeadsley" wrote: > And Ginny surprised us last time out; who knows what new depth her > character will show in Book 6? Anyway, look at her Mum: nurturing to > the point of asphyxiation! I doubt she'll manage to escape the > tendency entirely. > I rather hope she would escape it, at least the more traditional forms. Harry's a big boy now, and he's got his best friend mothering him, his other best friend's mum mothering him, even his head of house mothering him (if not that much). I'd imagine a clever, sporty, funny, Fred-and-George-as-role-models Ginny as a kind of relief from the usual pattern. And she casts a mean Bat-Bogey Hex as well. Alshain, coming out as a H/G supporter even though she is convinced it'll end in tragedy because of Redeyes and his Merry Death Eaters. From s_ings at yahoo.com Fri Sep 26 13:25:36 2003 From: s_ings at yahoo.com (Sheryll Townsend) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 09:25:36 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Perfume (WAS Gift code ) In-Reply-To: <003101c38398$95314e50$3b9f8c45@DJZCB631> Message-ID: <20030926132536.4553.qmail@web41102.mail.yahoo.com> --- Pam Hugonnet wrote: > > Cindy wrote: > >So . . . are the perfume wearers in the majority or > >the minority > >these days? And what are the best fragrances? > > Gee--I wear perfume daily, no matter how I'm > dressed or what I'm doing. I do it as a little > treat to myself; as a stay-at-home mom, there aren't > many opportunities to get dolled up in my world, so > I try to add a bit of glamour to the mundane. I > wear full make-up, too. Helps hide the dark circles > and detract from the wrinkles. > > As for particular fragrances, I'm partial to > Chanel's Chance and Dior's J'Adore. They're both > floral scented; Chance is a bit musky and J'Adore > has a rosy bottom note. Bath and BodyWorks makes > nice lightly scented body sprays, but you have to be > very careful 'cause some of the smells are really > gross. > I, too, wear perfume everyday. Feel naked if I forget to put some on. Can't be bothered with the make-up, though. :) As for which fragrances, it depends on the mood I'm in. I was partial to Yves St Laurent's Champagne until it was made unavailable in Canada. These days it's a toss-up between Coty's Wild Musk, which I've been wearing since I was 16 (yes, that's a looooong time); Lise Watier's Neiges; and one called Forbidden which wasn't available in stores and has since been discontinued. Am hoarding my last bit and hoping they bring it back. Oh, and have a nice gardenia scented oil that I wear, too. Sheryll ===== http://www.livejournal.com/community/conventionalley/ ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca From tim_regan82 at hotmail.com Fri Sep 26 13:47:36 2003 From: tim_regan82 at hotmail.com (Tim Regan) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 13:47:36 -0000 Subject: Comme Des Garcons' Odeur 53(was Perfume) In-Reply-To: <20030926132536.4553.qmail@web41102.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Hi All, While we're on favourite fragrances, has anyone smelt "Odeur 53" by "Comme Des Garcons"? It's described as ... "the jumping off point for an experimental collection based on fragrance cloning technology. The process was to take 53 samples of things we don't normally associate with fragrance. Think sand, pure oxygen, burnt rubber, blood. The result: Comme des Garcons's lightest, most gentle fragrance." on but I have not yet found a store with it in to try out. Cheers, Dumbledad From lupinesque at yahoo.com Fri Sep 26 13:50:35 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 13:50:35 -0000 Subject: No longer SHIPping, you can come back now In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > Sandy, reflecting how unfair it is that "curmudgeon" refers only to > men and us females of the species get stuck with the term "b*tch." Take heart! Here at HPfGU, the quintessential curmudgeon is Joywitch, full name Joywitch M. Curmudgeon. And although the net admits a lot of gender-bending, I've met her and can attest to the fact that she's female. Amy Z From cindysphynx at comcast.net Fri Sep 26 14:24:16 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 14:24:16 -0000 Subject: No longer SHIPping, you can come back now In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Sandy wrote: > Sandy, reflecting how unfair it is that "curmudgeon" refers only to > men and us females of the species get stuck with the term "b*tch." Amy countered: > Take heart! Here at HPfGU, the quintessential curmudgeon is > Joywitch, full name Joywitch M. Curmudgeon. And although the net > admits a lot of gender-bending, I've met her and can attest to the > fact that she's female. Yep, she sure is female. She has long hair, and as we all know, only women have long hair. ;-) But Sandy makes a good point. We have an on-line community "curmudgeon," but we don't have an on-line community "bitch." Any volunteers? :-D Cindy -- humbly offering her services as community "malcontent" and nominating Martha as community "ranter" and wondering what other roles need to be filled around here From charisjulia at hotmail.com Fri Sep 26 15:31:58 2003 From: charisjulia at hotmail.com (charisjulia) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 15:31:58 -0000 Subject: The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Ooh, now I'm just hugging myself in anticipation! Thanks for the replies, guys! Charis Julia, who's going to grab her program from the usher and scrutinise it carefully for Revelations. . . --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" wrote: > << friend of mine and I just bought tickets to a dance performance by > the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater...Anybody out there been or > know anything about them? Does the group put on a good show? Is it > well known in the US?...>>> > > The Sergeant Majorette says > > They are very well known in the US as one of the two preeminent black > dance companies, the other being the Dance Theater of Harlem. Their > work is mostly jazz and modern style, but most of the dancers are > classically trained. The school is also well known (Madonna studied > there before she became the Material Girl). > > They put on a super show. I don't know if they still end with the > gospel number "Revelations" -- but they must, especially in Europe, > it always gets people up and shouting. > > You'll have a good time! > > --JDR From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Fri Sep 26 19:55:20 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 19:55:20 -0000 Subject: No longer SHIPping, you can come back now In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says I nominate myself. When I was in basic training, one guy started calling himself "Brigadier Dog", after which came "Command Sergeant Mad Dog" and others; so naturally the the ladies began with "Brigadier Bitch". I was "Command Major Bitch of the Army", highest noncommissioned bitch rank. I may have mellowed a bit with age, but anyone who knows me will testify that I am still pretty mean. --JDR, CMBA(ret) From meckelburg at foni.net Fri Sep 26 20:25:17 2003 From: meckelburg at foni.net (Mecki) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 20:25:17 -0000 Subject: Thanks for thoughts and mail! Message-ID: Hi all! Now that my "worst week of the year" is over once more, I can think properly again and go back to reading my mails etc. And I want to thank those who have remembered my posting same time last year, and gave me and my little daughter thoughts, prayers and mails filled with sympathy. Since my family has, yet again, completly ignored the (now 10th) death-day of my beloved Wiebke, I am more than happy to have found friends here, who care! Thank you so much! Sabine, aka Mecki From fakeplastikcynic at hotmail.com Fri Sep 26 21:37:26 2003 From: fakeplastikcynic at hotmail.com (Martha) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 21:37:26 -0000 Subject: No longer SHIPping, you can come back now In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Cindy said: > Cindy -- humbly offering her services as community "malcontent" and > nominating Martha as community "ranter" and wondering what other roles > need to be filled around here Accepted! *very big grin* Oh, and by the way, you are all going to have to stop being so accepting of me, complimentary, etc. I can't be cynical and ranty when everyone not only replies to my posts in the first place but also says things that make me go *bounce* and smile lots. Hmmph! I don't know how anyone expects me to get anything done around here. *grins even more, and waves to everyone* ~ Martha (who tries and tries to be cynical, but is inclined, sometimes, to melt) From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Fri Sep 26 22:02:06 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 22:02:06 -0000 Subject: Back to the female dog (No longer SHIPping, we hope) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > Cindy wrote: ...Sandy > makes a good point. We have an on-line community "curmudgeon," but > we don't have an on-line community "bitch." Any volunteers?...>>> > The Sergeant Majorette said: > > I nominate myself. When I was in basic training, one guy started > calling himself "Brigadier Dog", after which came "Command Sergeant > Mad Dog" and others; so naturally the the ladies began > with "Brigadier Bitch". I was "Command Major Bitch of the Army", > highest noncommissioned bitch rank. > > I may have mellowed a bit with age, but anyone who knows me will > testify that I am still pretty mean. I'm sorry, but I must protest both these nominations. While I don't doubt Joywitch's sex (I was too cowardly to suggest a thorough investigation when she came to England), I think she has rested too much on her laurels in the curmudgeon department. I'm pretty sure that's *dust* on her cauldron, in fact, and she really said some quite nice things about Martha's spoon. As for the Command Major, she lacks a key qualification in my judgement. Your true bitch is always nice to your face, and gets her bitching in when your back is turned - or so it is on this side of the Atlantic. I feel there is insufficient evidence of this characteristic here. Merely being the person who actually runs the Army isn't enough. You need to try harder. David, whose FA id is Little Whinger From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Sat Sep 27 00:51:43 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 00:51:43 -0000 Subject: Back to the female dog (No longer SHIPping, we hope) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says Wrong answer. Anybody can be nice to your face, and everybody talks about you behind your back. I yell at rowdy teenagers on the subway. I'm a four-eyed nerd who has never been beaten up, because I can make a bully twice my size cry with one insult. And I still think Harry's gay. And neurotic. So there. --JDR (Harry 'n Draco 4ever) From joym999 at aol.com Sat Sep 27 03:31:18 2003 From: joym999 at aol.com (joywitch_m_curmudgeon) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 03:31:18 -0000 Subject: Back to the female dog (No longer SHIPping, we hope) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "jdr0918" wrote: > << Command Major, she lacks a key qualification in my judgement. Your > true bitch is always nice to your face, and gets her bitching in when > your back is turned - or so it is on this side of the Atlantic. I > feel there is insufficient evidence of this characteristic here...>>> > > The Sergeant Majorette says > > Wrong answer. Anybody can be nice to your face, and everybody talks > about you behind your back. I yell at rowdy teenagers on the subway. > I'm a four-eyed nerd who has never been beaten up, because I can make > a bully twice my size cry with one insult. > > And I still think Harry's gay. And neurotic. > > So there. > > --JDR (Harry 'n Draco 4ever) Well, personally, I disagree with Cindy. I don't think we need a resident bitch. I don't particularly appreciate the implicit association between "bitch" and "curmudgeon," either, but maybe I'm being over-sensitive. But my longtime curmudgeonliness is just my trying to add amusing, well-deserved grumpiness to HPfGU, if that makes any sense. And if the above is an example of what a resident bitch would do, I *know* we don't need it. Do we really need to encourage someone who thinks it's amusing to argue that Harry is psychological damaged and neurotic, so he must be gay? Or who brags about her ability to insult people? And, especially, who doesn't understand why people are offended at her attitudes? I've been a member of this list for a very long time, and it's generally been a friendly place. Not so, lately. I know I'd appreciate it if returned to being a place where everyone was welcome and didn't have to encounter hostility. Joywitch M. Curmudgeon. From jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com Sat Sep 27 04:18:57 2003 From: jeffl1965 at sport.rr.com (jeffl1965) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 04:18:57 -0000 Subject: Back to the female dog (No longer SHIPping, we hope) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "joywitch_m_curmudgeon" wrote: > > Well, personally, I disagree with Cindy. I don't think we need a > resident bitch. I don't particularly appreciate the implicit > association between "bitch" and "curmudgeon," either, but maybe I'm > being over-sensitive. But my longtime curmudgeonliness is just my > trying to add amusing, well-deserved grumpiness to HPfGU, if that > makes any sense. > > And if the above is an example of what a resident bitch would do, I > *know* we don't need it. Do we really need to encourage someone who > thinks it's amusing to argue that Harry is psychological damaged and > neurotic, so he must be gay? Or who brags about her ability to > insult people? And, especially, who doesn't understand why people > are offended at her attitudes? > > I've been a member of this list for a very long time, and it's > generally been a friendly place. Not so, lately. I know I'd > appreciate it if returned to being a place where everyone was welcome > and didn't have to encounter hostility. > > Joywitch M. Curmudgeon. Jeff: Hmmm.... I see what you're saying and I agree. We don't need any more problems. I deleted my first response since after re-reading it, I felt it was too encouraging, and wouldn't be taken as cheek, as it was meant to be. As for Harry being gay because he's mental, or vice-versa, don't agree with that either. A lack of love might drive him to seek it anyway he can or anywhere, so a boarding school is certainly a place to find one's self sexually. But one can still be bi or het and still engage in circle jerks with pals. Also, let's face it, Harry would go for Ron. :) Seriously, Ron is is first and only real best friend, certainly his best male friend, and an idol as well if you think about it. I think it would be easy for him to make the mistake of associating love with sex, and would have sex with Ron to get the love and affection he'd been denied his whole life. And if that makes him content, then I'm all for it. About the friendliness. It's still here, just buried a bit. And the whole thing about discussing Harry's sex life should've made any problems like it did, since we're all *mature* adults here, right? If you don't want to read about it, then dont. But *please* don't start posting hate on the list. Lots of threads pass by on many lists I'm on I don't agree with, but I don't throw fits over it. Not worth it. This is a large community with lots of wonderful people who are all entitled to their views. When we can't agree, good time to stop. :) Jeff From editor at texas.net Sat Sep 27 04:44:14 2003 From: editor at texas.net (Amanda Geist) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 23:44:14 -0500 Subject: Enough already? was Back to the female dog References: Message-ID: <004501c384b2$01a5e400$b559aacf@texas.net> The curmudgeon: > Well, personally, I disagree with Cindy. I don't think we need a > resident bitch. I don't particularly appreciate the implicit > association between "bitch" and "curmudgeon," either, but maybe I'm > being over-sensitive. But my longtime curmudgeonliness is just my > trying to add amusing, well-deserved grumpiness to HPfGU, if that > makes any sense. (soothes) Of course it does. To she who would be Resident Bitch--you may play with names (although I suggest you desist, for you upset the one whose name I threaten my children with, and she *is* correct in her fear of affecting the tone of the list). You may posture and provoke. But do not presume. List culture grows of itself. Titles are bestowed, and grow through a sense of community. We love our grumps and gripers and strong, distinctive personalities, but to a man they are simply adding an overtone to the substance of their list presence. May we please interact more with your substance than with your overtone? I have a friend who is gay. And when she meets someone, or doesn't know you well yet, she peppers her conversation with overt, in-your-face homosexual references and comments. It's a test. Eventually, when someone has failed to take the bait often enough, simply accepted her, clearly thinks of her as a talented woman instead of a talented *gay* woman, she drops it and is just herself. So. Have we passed your test yet? For it is either that--an attempt to see if we can look past the bitchy contrariness--or an effort to impress us with how (pick your adjective) inflexible, deliberately misunderstood, isolated, proud, difficult, etc., you are. Okay. We've shown we can discuss with you and/or we're impressed. Can we stop now? Attitudes on this list are for playing with -- in-jokes, the shorthand of a community -- not a means of showing the size of the chip on your shoulder. ~Amandageist, who like Joywitch is not particularly a bitch, but who has a great recipe for children on the half-shell From aussie_lol at yahoo.com.au Sat Sep 27 08:20:07 2003 From: aussie_lol at yahoo.com.au (Hagrid) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 08:20:07 -0000 Subject: Harry Potter side-shows Message-ID: My kids' Girl Guides group is planning a Harry Potter day. Can anyone come up with other ideas? We want to set up tables or booths with different activities. PS - no Blast Ended Skrewts please ************************** Suggestions: "Beating the Bludger". We can do it shooting gallery style, but using a small club to hit a ball at targets. More points for hitting Chasers with quaffles, seekers, or keepers from the other team. "Hippogriff Rides" Similar to barrel on ropes ride, landing on high jump cushions when you fall. "Rememberball" Have ten items appear for 10 secs, then name them to stop the Rememberball from being red. "Hermione Escaping the Basalisk" HErmione tried running from the library using a mirror so she wouldn't be killed by the Basalisk. Competitors can either run through a maze where everything is reversed (like in a mirror). Try filling in a maze with a pencil while looking only in a mirror. Quidditch match ??? we have basketball and football playing fields nearby. Any ideas on how to do it though? ~aussie_lol~ From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Sat Sep 27 08:41:33 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 08:41:33 -0000 Subject: Grumps, grouches, cranks and killjoys In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > Sandy, reflecting how unfair it is that "curmudgeon" refers only to > men and us females of the species get stuck with the term "b*tch." Websters on curmudgeon: a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man. I was not suggesting recruitment for a resident b*tch. I was bemoaning the fact that in common usage the word refers exclusively to men. It's such a lovely word that I've always wished it could be mine, and I am most respectful of the creative way that Joywitch has made it hers. There are other terms: grump, grouch, crank, killjoy; but none of them have that lovely sweet, crumbly coffee-cake with bitter almond (cyanide) flavor that curmudgeon does. A curmudgeon is someone you might see in the funny papers. There is no equivalent female term. That's what I meant by getting stuck with "b*tch." Sandy, altogether sorry that she brought it up and thinking perhaps she will see if "Baba Yaga" is taken, perhaps with vodka From carmenharms at yahoo.com Sat Sep 27 15:54:05 2003 From: carmenharms at yahoo.com (snazzzybird) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 15:54:05 -0000 Subject: Grumps, grouches, cranks and killjoys In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- "msbeadsley" wrote: > There are other terms: grump, grouch, crank, killjoy; > but none of them have that lovely sweet, crumbly coffee-cake with > bitter almond (cyanide) flavor that curmudgeon does. A curmudgeon > is someone you might see in the funny papers. There is no > equivalent female term. That's what I meant by getting stuck > with "b*tch." This subject line gave me a vivid vision of Cher belting out "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves"! I had to take a second look to see if it was a filk. --snazzzybird, who if anything would probably be the resident "why can't we just get along" Pollyanna. From aussie_lol at yahoo.com.au Sat Sep 27 16:09:15 2003 From: aussie_lol at yahoo.com.au (Hagrid) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 16:09:15 -0000 Subject: Grumps, grouches, cranks and killjoys In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- "msbeadsley" wrote: > > Sandy, reflecting how unfair it is that "curmudgeon" refers only > > to men and us females of the species get stuck with the > > term "b*tch." > Websters on curmudgeon: a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man. > > I was not suggesting recruitment for a resident b*tch. I was > bemoaning the fact that in common usage the word refers exclusively > to men. It's such a lovely word that I've always wished it could be > mine, So now the bumper sticker will read: "51% Sweetheart; 49% curmudgeoness (so don't push your luck)" ~aussie~ From neonsister at ameritech.net Sat Sep 27 16:33:39 2003 From: neonsister at ameritech.net (Tracy) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 16:33:39 -0000 Subject: Harry Potter side-shows In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Hagrid" wrote: > My kids' Girl Guides group is planning a Harry Potter day. Can anyone > come up with other ideas? Instead of "pin the tail on the donkey", play "pin the scar on Harry's forehead". I saw kids doing this at a local bookstore for a HP birthday party and thought it was a cute idea. Tracy From catlady at wicca.net Sat Sep 27 18:38:35 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 18:38:35 -0000 Subject: Curmudgeon Message-ID: http://www.word-detective.com/072999.html#curmudgeon I'm sure there is some roughly equivalent word for female curmudgeons, a word from New England or Old England, but after uselessly searching on-line thesauri, all I can think of is "astringent old lady". Unisex words like crank, crab, grouch lack the connotation of affectionate humor held by "curmudgeon". Me, I'm a catmudgeon. From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Sat Sep 27 18:57:27 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 18:57:27 -0000 Subject: Grouches, grumps and filks In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "snazzzybird" wrote: > This subject line gave me a vivid vision of Cher belting > out "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves"! I had to take a second look to > see if it was a filk. It would have to be Grouches, la-la-la to make it scan...now I'm thinking I need to go find a lyric sheet for that Cher song and work out a filk...I wonder if there's a place for "curmudgeon"? See what you've, uh, we've done!?! ;-) I *never* filked before HPfGU and I've been in fandom since 1984! Sandy Oh, how 'bout the Eagles' "Witchy Woman" filked around Bellatrix ("sparks fly from her fingertips")? Dibs if it hasn't been done! From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Sat Sep 27 19:02:06 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 19:02:06 -0000 Subject: Grumps, grouches, cranks and killjoys In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Hagrid" wrote: > So now the bumper sticker will read: > > "51% Sweetheart; 49% curmudgeoness > (so don't push your luck)" UGH! "Curmudgeoness" really brings out the side of me that bumper sticker refers to. Bleh. Yuck. It's like "b*tch" with a side of doggy do. ;-P Sandy From britta at britta.com Sat Sep 27 19:05:55 2003 From: britta at britta.com (Britta Peterson) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 12:05:55 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Harry Potter side-shows In-Reply-To: <1064669918.1683.11188.m12@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: "Hagrid" wrote: > My kids' Girl Guides group is planning a Harry Potter day. Can anyone > come up with other ideas? > > We want to set up tables or booths with different activities. > > PS - no Blast Ended Skrewts please > Quidditch match ??? > we have basketball and football playing fields nearby. Any ideas on > how to do it though? Britta (me) writes: (yay! I finally have a good reason to chime in! First time posting to OT-Chatter! *waves to everyone I think I know now from reading your posts but you have no clue who I am*) Your ideas are already excellent, but I can add a few. I had a "Year Five at Hogwarts" party for the OotP release (website not up yet) which was mostly adults, but I did have a few kids, so I set up some kid activities (Hogsmeade Elementary School I called it)...this is what I did if it helps, or if it inspires you to adapt these to your event: Young Wizard Treasure Hunt I wrote silly rhyming clues where each clue sent you to find the next clue, ending with a treasure chest that included bubbles...leading to... Bubblardium Leviosa! I "taught" them the Bubbleardium Leviosa spell, which is just blowing bubbles, but was lots of fun for the 4-7 year olds. :) (Yes, I realize "bubblardium" wouldn't be correct, and I did look up some Latin to try for better, but in the end since this was for kids, I went with more obvious) Pretzel Wands Using the large pretzel rods, various sprinkles & frostings, they could decorate their own wands...but this might be expensive or difficult for a lot of kids? Decorate your own robe & hat I used the cheap anti-weed garden fabric that is essentially the same as the black gossamer sold at party supply placces like Shindigz.com, cut them into kid-sized capes & added a drawstring for around the neck. For the hats, it was just black construction paper pre-cut in a cone shape with double-sided tape pre-stuck to one side, then I had a bunch of stickers & gel pens for them to decorate with. These kids loved this! Beginning Potions I saved all sorts of interesting plastic or really safe glass bottles and jars, made labels with the potion ingredient on one side with the real ingredient on the other side, then let the kids go to it. Everything was edible & safe, so they could mix together whatever they wanted. The kids potions isn't online (yet!), but it used a lot of the same ingredients as my adult potions from my party for Harry's birthday in 2002 here: http://www.britta.com/hogwarts/party/potions.html (obviously no Aqua Fortis for the kiddies! ;) We also played Nerf Quidditch in my 20'x25' patch of grass in my backyard...but it was all the adults who got really into this! Here are the rules I made up to accommodate Quidditch without broomsticks, since as as you all know, the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy of 1692 strictly enforces the 1419 Wizard Council decree that "Quidditch should not be played anywhere near any place where there is the slightest chance that a Muggle might be watching or we'll see how well you can play whilst chained to a dungeon wall." (QTTA) :) I used a Nerf golfball painted gold as the Snitch, with gossamer wings I added, and I found two small balls I painted black to be the Bludgers with 20-cent "caveman" plastic bats, then a smallish soccer ball painted red became the Quaffle. For my goalposts, I got cheap white PVC pipe for the posts that I stuck into the grass, then cheap ribbed hosing painted white for the hoops. My Nerf Quidditch rules are below...wish I could just send a link but I havn't been able to put anything up for my Year Five party yet... :( Thanks! Britta --- Nerf Quidditch Players: (Due to space limitations, we eliminated one Chaser and one Beater from each team from standard Quidditch.) each team: One Seeker (same) One Keeper (same) Two Chasers (-1) One Beater (-1) One Bludger (same) The Keeper guards the goals as usual. If a goal is made, the Keeper throws the Quaffle back to the referee who puts the ball back into play. The Chasers try to throw the Quaffle through the goals. The Seeker tries to capture the Golden Snitch. The Beater tries to prevent the Bludger balls from injuring any of their own team. The Bludgers stand on the sidelines, throwing the Bludger balls at the opposing team. Scoring: Scoring is the same as standard Quidditch 10 points for each goal 150 points for capturing the Snitch Rules: Standard Quidditch rules that Quaffle scoring continues until the Golden Snitch is captured, with the following substitutions for the lack of magic: The Bludgers: Bludger balls are thrown at the players by "human Bludgers" on the sidelines of the pitch. Once hit by a Bludger ball, the player must remain stationary and out of play for a count of 5 seconds. The Beaters on the pitch are responsible for throwing the Bludger balls back out to the Bludger players on the sidelines, whether intercepted or recovered from the ground after hitting a player. The Golden Snitch: The Golden Snitch is attached to a string on a pole, preferably a fishing pole to be able to reel it in easily. One person on the sidelines is in charge of the Snitch, pulling it out of play and throwing it back in as the mood strikes. This person must be indepedent of any team so no favoritism occurs in leaving the Snitch stationary allowing it to be captured by a certain team. (Since I was hostess of the party and not participating in House Points, I was the magic behind the Golden Snitch.) From coriolan at worldnet.att.net Sat Sep 27 19:26:48 2003 From: coriolan at worldnet.att.net (Caius Marcius) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 19:26:48 -0000 Subject: Pronunciation of Wizengamot Message-ID: How do Dale and/or Fry pronounce Wizengamot? (does it rhyme with gavotte, or does it run the gamut?) - CMC (for a filk in progress, natch) From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Sat Sep 27 19:31:19 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 19:31:19 -0000 Subject: Curmudgeon In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Catlady wrote: > I'm sure there is some roughly equivalent word for female curmudgeons, I can't think of one, but to stimulate thinking, termagant, harridan, harpy and virago none of them have the affectionate connotations of curmudgeon. David From boggles at earthlink.net Sat Sep 27 19:49:11 2003 From: boggles at earthlink.net (Jennifer Boggess Ramon) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 14:49:11 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Gift code (was Main List's: Why Ron Loves Hermione) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: At 9:55 PM +0000 9/24/03, Cindy C. wrote: > >Then there's giving a non-intimate gift in an intimate relationship. >Like the husband who gives his wife a vacuum cleaner for her birthday. > For some reason, it is OK for the wife to give the husband power >tools. Double standard, that. I don't think that's a double standard per se. There are individual situations in which is would be appropriate for a man to give his lady love power tools as well. I think the distinction here is that power tools, for most men, are a hobby item; it is appropriate both in a friendship and in a romantic relationship to give items relating to the other person's strong interests or hobbies. (See also the broom polishing kit.) No one, however, vacuums as a hobby. -- - Boggles, aka J. C. B. Ramon boggles(at)earthlink.net "It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment. " - Gauss, in a Letter to Bolyai, 1808. From catlady at wicca.net Sat Sep 27 19:51:22 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 19:51:22 -0000 Subject: Curmudgeon In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "David" wrote: > I can't think of one, but to stimulate thinking, termagant, > harridan, harpy and virago none of them have the affectionate > connotations of curmudgeon. Beldame? Grandam? Biddy? To my ears, 'beldame' sounds evil and 'biddy' sounds weak and foolish. From lupinesque at yahoo.com Sat Sep 27 20:57:13 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 20:57:13 -0000 Subject: Grouches, grumps and filks In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Sandy, inspired, wrote: > It would have to be Grouches, la-la-la to make it scan...now I'm > thinking I need to go find a lyric sheet for that Cher song and work > out a filk...I wonder if there's a place for "curmudgeon"? Rhymes with "dudgeon" Amy Z who wants 10% of the royalties if you use that From lupinesque at yahoo.com Sat Sep 27 21:00:37 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 21:00:37 -0000 Subject: Pronunciation of Wizengamot In-Reply-To: Message-ID: CMC wrote: > How do Dale and/or Fry pronounce Wizengamot? (does it rhyme with > gavotte, or does it run the gamut?) Dale says it WIZengamOT, rhymes with gavotte. Amy Ziffenplatzen, rhymes with nothing From lupinesque at yahoo.com Sat Sep 27 21:05:55 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 21:05:55 -0000 Subject: Curmudgeon In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Rita brainstormed: > Beldame? Grandam? Biddy? To my ears, 'beldame' sounds evil and 'biddy' > sounds weak and foolish. And "grandam" and "biddy" sound old. Men can be curmudgeons starting at, what would you say, late-40's-ish? Younger if they're sufficiently gnarled. We need a word that's applicable to middle- aged women, so that they don't have to wait for gray hair before they ascend to curmudgeonhood. Amy, thinking that "curmudgeon" does pretty well, really, and women should just use it, with all the dignity and affection it carries From boggles at earthlink.net Sat Sep 27 21:24:17 2003 From: boggles at earthlink.net (Jennifer Boggess Ramon) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 16:24:17 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Perfume (WAS Gift code ) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: At 1:41 PM +0000 9/25/03, Cindy C. wrote: > >So . . . are the perfume wearers in the majority or the minority >these days? And what are the best fragrances? I wouldn't know; I make my own. After all, puttering around with essential oils and scent oils, with the droppers and glass stirring rods and everything, just is so much closer to Potions class than hunting through the perfume counters at a department store . . . ;) -- - Boggles, aka J. C. B. Ramon boggles(at)earthlink.net "It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment. " - Gauss, in a Letter to Bolyai, 1808. From boggles at earthlink.net Sat Sep 27 21:28:22 2003 From: boggles at earthlink.net (Jennifer Boggess Ramon) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 16:28:22 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Texas Quidditch In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: At 3:48 PM +0000 9/25/03, Shirley wrote: > >I wonder if the Seeker is a Longhorn or an >Aggie. I was just miffed that there was no mention at all of the most obvious wizarding school in Texas. You know, the one with the *owls* all over it, the alchemical symbols all over the chemistry building, the alchemical circle set into the pavement behind the biochemistry building, and the Elder Signs on the entrance arch. Not to mention all the ghosts, including the founder . . . Ah, well. -- - Boggles, aka J. C. B. Ramon boggles(at)earthlink.net "It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment. " - Gauss, in a Letter to Bolyai, 1808. From jdr0918 at hotmail.com Sat Sep 27 21:28:35 2003 From: jdr0918 at hotmail.com (jdr0918) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 21:28:35 -0000 Subject: Back to the female dog (No longer SHIPping, we hope) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <<>> The Sergeant Majorette says 1. Why is "bitch" negative and "curmudgeon" cute? 2. Are you arguing that there are no neurotic gay people? 3. Didn't I say that I *do* completely understand why people are offended? 4. Why is it "hostile" to speculate that someone might be gay? The above questions are rhetorical. My heart has been broken by the hostility I have encountered here, and I am forthwith returning to my home planet. Earthlings. Bah, humbug. --JDR From boggles at earthlink.net Sat Sep 27 21:31:15 2003 From: boggles at earthlink.net (Jennifer Boggess Ramon) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 16:31:15 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Perfume (WAS Gift code ) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: At 4:22 PM +0000 9/25/03, serenadust wrote: > >I seem to remember that in the >perfume department of Bloomingdales, they sold pure essences of >various flowers (I was very partial to tea rose when I was a >teenager), and I wonder if they still do. If so, that might be an >option for you. You can purchase essential oils of various flowers and wear them diluted in jojoba oil or vodka. Some essential oils, of course, are more expensive than others, but some - lavender and rose geranium are two that come to mind right away - are fairly cheap and readily available. -- - Boggles, aka J. C. B. Ramon boggles(at)earthlink.net "It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment. " - Gauss, in a Letter to Bolyai, 1808. From boggles at earthlink.net Sat Sep 27 21:47:13 2003 From: boggles at earthlink.net (Jennifer Boggess Ramon) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 16:47:13 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] re: Curmudgeon In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: At 6:38 PM +0000 9/27/03, Catlady (Rita Prince Winston) wrote: > >I'm sure there is some roughly equivalent word for female curmudgeons, >a word from New England or Old England, but after uselessly searching >on-line thesauri, all I can think of is "astringent old lady". "Harridan"? Not quite right, but in the correct direction perhaps . . . -- - Boggles, aka J. C. B. Ramon boggles(at)earthlink.net "It is not knowledge, but the act of learning, not possession but the act of getting there, which grants the greatest enjoyment. " - Gauss, in a Letter to Bolyai, 1808. From heidit at netbox.com Sat Sep 27 22:48:32 2003 From: heidit at netbox.com (Heidi Tandy) Date: Sat, 27 Sep 2003 15:48:32 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Curmudgeon In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1064702938.3AF32B7B@r5.dngr.org> On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 5:07PM -0500, Amy Z wrote: > > Amy, thinking that "curmudgeon" does pretty well, really, and women > should just use it, with all the dignity and affection it carries > I agree with amy. I mean, it's not like we see much use of poetess anymore and magazines like Premiere are using 'actor' to apply to both men and women. From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Sun Sep 28 01:48:48 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 01:48:48 -0000 Subject: Back to the female dog (No longer SHIPping, we hope) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: The Sergeant Majorette wrote: > The above questions are rhetorical. My heart has been broken by the > hostility I have encountered here, and I am forthwith returning to > my home planet. Earthlings. Bah, humbug. Shall we remaining here have three cheers? I think not. Actually, I don't believe you are/she is gone; I would be somewhat appalled if it were so (and would be surprised; I expect curiosity to keep you/her around at least in "lurk mode" long enough to read responses). And so I am going to respond to the questions. I am going to engage you/her in this particular instance and play according to the rules presented as currently in play. > 1. Why is "bitch" negative and "curmudgeon" cute? Because the language which we speak in common says so. The meanings exist; look them up. Unfortunately, it is not nearly so acceptable, endearing, "cute," to be a mature woman with a prickly attitude in our culture as it is for a man. The expectation is that a man is going to have violence in his nature and that a woman is going to lean toward a more nurturing personality, which is why "curmudgeon" is a noun which technically applies only to men. I am not saying that this is right, or even an attitude of which members of the culture are aware. It exists, however. I am referring only to semantics and not to the culture on the list, of course. As well, "curmudgeon" implies a soft spot, an irony, somewhere in that expectation of male toughness; "bitch" is without similar saving grace, as female toughness has not been accepted in our culture long enough to be deserving of a fond irony. > 2. Are you arguing that there are no neurotic gay people? The argument had nothing to do with a debate around the existence or not of gay neurotic people. The argument had to do with equating one with the other: gay = neurotic or neurotic = gay. While I see a sad tendency for gays to be bent out of shape by a culture that until recently listed homosexuality as a pathological condition, I am absolutely opposed to any viewpoint which tries to assert that there is *any* inherent connection between homosexuality and neurosis. > 3. Didn't I say that I *do* completely understand why people are offended? Allow me to quote: > I totally understand why some people took offense. It's *my* > neurosis that I'm not chastened in the least. I'm schizoid (not > schizophrenic, ok? It means I don't relate well to my fellow human > beings) and proud of it. What this said to me is that you are aware you offend people and have made the determination that the parts of the world with which you interact must tolerate you or remake itself in such a way which allows you to fit it/fit in. That is not very realistic. Any hint of supplication on your part would have gone a far ways to earning you some empathy here, I think. But you offered offense, self- justification and defiance of the consequences instead of expressing the slightest willingness to compromise or be instructed. I understand that it galls you to bend even a fraction (and a bit of the terror which I think is at the heart of why this is so, a sort of emotional agoraphobia); but at the heart of meaningful, civilized social discourse is the necessity to entertain another's point of view and some part of the state of mind and heart which go with it, and that requires some flexibility, whether natural or assumed. > 4. Why is it "hostile" to speculate that someone might be gay? I don't think it is. I perceive that you rewrote yourself retroactively once reactions started coming in. I read what you said as an assertion that whatever emotional damage Harry had suffered left him with no choice but to pursue homosexual relations, as if same sex love were something bought more cheaply, perhaps off the "irregulars" table at Kmart. Sandy, who would much prefer to see you/her capable of being a bit chastened than utterly absent From aussie_lol at yahoo.com.au Sun Sep 28 03:46:18 2003 From: aussie_lol at yahoo.com.au (Hagrid) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 03:46:18 -0000 Subject: Harry Potter side-shows In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- Britta Peterson wrote: > "Hagrid" wrote: > > My kids' Girl Guides group is planning a Harry Potter day. Can > > anyone come up with other ideas? > > We want to set up tables or booths with different activities. > > Quidditch match ??? we have basketball and football playing > > fields nearby. Any ideas on how to do it though? > > > > "Tracy" wrote: > "pin the scar on Harry's forehead". > > Britta (me) writes: > (yay! I finally have a good reason to chime in! First time posting! > *waves to everyone*) > > Young Wizard Treasure Hunt > Bubblardium Leviosa! > Pretzel Wands > Decorate your own robe & hat > Beginning Potions > Nerf Quidditch WOW! Great ideas! Add more by all means, ty. (*Waves back*) From tabouli at unite.com.au Sun Sep 28 12:42:58 2003 From: tabouli at unite.com.au (Tabouli) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 22:42:58 +1000 Subject: Female curmudgeon = Battleaxe? Message-ID: <004301c385be$0f985db0$a12932d2@useriq2qgc104q> How about "battleaxe"? I've seen this word used for the formidable old woman. To my mind "battleaxe" implies more dignity than "harridan" and "bitch" and the rest. It has connotations of someone who is tough, critical and domineering, perhaps even cruel, but who also commands a certain respect. It could even be said with fondness, as in: "Oh, she's a bit of an old battleaxe, but she has a good heart." (McGonagall, perhaps, though she's a bit too soft-centred to really wear the title). Tabouli. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From heidit at netbox.com Sun Sep 28 12:44:41 2003 From: heidit at netbox.com (heiditandy) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 12:44:41 -0000 Subject: Parodies of the HP For Adults ads Message-ID: There's a slew of parody ads at http://potionsmaster.slashcity.net/art/slashads.html which poke fun at various HP-generated ships (and, of course, Voldemort/Pikachu (yes, the pokemon Pikachu)). They're a little raunchy, but very, very funny. Remember - it's a PARODY! heidi From june.diamanti at blueyonder.co.uk Sun Sep 28 15:01:59 2003 From: june.diamanti at blueyonder.co.uk (junediamanti) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 15:01:59 -0000 Subject: Female curmudgeon = Battleaxe? In-Reply-To: <004301c385be$0f985db0$a12932d2@useriq2qgc104q> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Tabouli" wrote: > How about "battleaxe"? I've seen this word used for the formidable old woman. To my mind "battleaxe" implies more dignity than "harridan" and "bitch" and the rest. It has connotations of someone who is tough, critical and domineering, perhaps even cruel, but who also commands a certain respect. It could even be said with fondness, as in: "Oh, she's a bit of an old battleaxe, but she has a good heart." (McGonagall, perhaps, though she's a bit too soft- centred to really wear the title). > > Tabouli. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] I once saw a situations vacant ad for "Office Dragon" and don't know why I didn't apply really - I'd have been a cert. English: How about Bossy Old Trout? June From HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Sun Sep 28 15:02:24 2003 From: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com (HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com) Date: 28 Sep 2003 15:02:24 -0000 Subject: Reminder - Weekly Chat Message-ID: <1064761344.66.99171.m20@yahoogroups.com> We would like to remind you of this upcoming event. Weekly Chat Date: Sunday, September 28, 2003 Time: 11:00AM - 7:00PM CDT (GMT-05:00) Hi everyone! Don't forget, chat happens today, 11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern, 7 pm UK time. *Chat times are not changing for Daylight Saving/Summer Time.* Chat generally goes on for about 5 hours, but can last as long as people want it to last. Go into any Yahoo chat room and type /join HP:1 For further info, see the Humongous BigFile, section 3.3. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/hbfile.html#33 Hope to see you there! From june.diamanti at blueyonder.co.uk Sun Sep 28 15:02:43 2003 From: june.diamanti at blueyonder.co.uk (junediamanti) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 15:02:43 -0000 Subject: Parodies of the HP For Adults ads In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "heiditandy" wrote: > There's a slew of parody ads at > http://potionsmaster.slashcity.net/art/slashads.html which poke fun > at various HP-generated ships (and, of course, Voldemort/Pikachu > (yes, the pokemon Pikachu)). They're a little raunchy, but very, very > funny. Remember - it's a PARODY! > > heidi Certainly appealed to this warped mind. June From smiller at dslextreme.com Sun Sep 28 18:46:25 2003 From: smiller at dslextreme.com (Susan Miller) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 18:46:25 -0000 Subject: Pronunciation of Wizengamot In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Caius Marcius" wrote: > How do Dale and/or Fry pronounce Wizengamot? (does it rhyme with > gavotte, or does it run the gamut?) > > - CMC (for a filk in progress, natch) Stephen Fry dances the gavotte as well. I think that's a concensus. CV From alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk Sun Sep 28 19:42:31 2003 From: alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk (alshainofthenorth) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 19:42:31 -0000 Subject: Parodies of the HP For Adults ads In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "heiditandy" wrote: > There's a slew of parody ads at > http://potionsmaster.slashcity.net/art/slashads.html which poke fun > at various HP-generated ships (and, of course, Voldemort/Pikachu > (yes, the pokemon Pikachu)). They're a little raunchy, but very, very > funny. Remember - it's a PARODY! > > heidi Absolutely fabulous! The weirdest and funniest slashfic I ever read, BTW, starred Dobby the House Elf and The Hogwarts Sorting Hat. I suffered from fits of hysterical laughter for two hours afterwards. Alshain From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Sun Sep 28 19:44:09 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 19:44:09 -0000 Subject: Parodies of the HP For Adults ads In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "heiditandy" wrote: > There's a slew of parody ads at > http://potionsmaster.slashcity.net/art/slashads.html which poke fun > at various HP-generated ships (and, of course, Voldemort/Pikachu > (yes, the pokemon Pikachu)). They're a little raunchy, but very, very > funny. Remember - it's a PARODY! Very nice. But, for those of us on the wrong side of the Atlantic: - is the campaign really called HP-for-grownups? Shouldn't we sure Scholastic, or something? - Why are all these people looking at computers? Perhaps it raelly *is* a campaign for HPFGU? (I assume the photos are from the real campaign) - Why are they all women? David From elrond at paradise.net.nz Sun Sep 28 20:04:33 2003 From: elrond at paradise.net.nz (Michael Chance) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 08:04:33 +1200 Subject: OTish: New Layha Siderea HP music video Message-ID: <000901c385fb$c58ddcc0$82414fcb@locxvcym> I know some of you will have seen "The Way Things Are", by now. But I also know Layha has a growing following among non-slash fans. She came out with a new music video last week and it's currently archived on my page at - http://chance.slashcity.net/ There is a link to on the second page and there is also a video page in the non-slash section, which has all of videos listed - which are definitely worth checking if you haven't already :) Michael From heidit at netbox.com Sun Sep 28 19:53:43 2003 From: heidit at netbox.com (Heidi Tandy) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 12:53:43 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Parodies of the HP For Adults ads In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1064778823.E6DFD7B@r5.dngr.org> On 09/28/03 at 12:42 PM alshainofthenorth wrote: > > The weirdest and funniest slashfic I ever read, BTW, starred Dobby the > House Elf and The Hogwarts Sorting Hat. I suffered from fits of > hysterical laughter for two hours afterwards. > Well, technically, if the Hat has brains from all 4 founders, is it male, female or neither? David asked why the images were all of women, and I think that he should probably ask the artist, but my guess would be that it's because most slash writers are women. From fakeplastikcynic at hotmail.com Sun Sep 28 20:24:39 2003 From: fakeplastikcynic at hotmail.com (Martha) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 20:24:39 -0000 Subject: Parodies of the HP For Adults ads In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Alshain: > The weirdest and funniest slashfic I ever read, BTW, starred Dobby the > House Elf and The Hogwarts Sorting Hat. I suffered from fits of > hysterical laughter for two hours afterwards. How did that one work? What suitable orifices does the Hat have? Actually, don't answer that. Possibly the most disturbing slashfic I ever read involved Snape/Tentacles. The phrase "A dream of the touch of gelatinous claw or clammy tentacle" should, in my opinion, NEVER be placed near references to Snape's rudey bits. Ick! Ick! Ick! (I found it on restrictedsection.org, I've just looked it up and it's called "Of Cephalopods and Semen". Nuff said.) There were references to Cthulhu. The funniest was Ron/House-Elves, something about them being exactly the right height, if I remember correctly. ~ Martha (who has just realised she can spell "Cthulhu" without having to think about it) From neonsister at ameritech.net Sun Sep 28 21:01:21 2003 From: neonsister at ameritech.net (Tracy) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 21:01:21 -0000 Subject: Parodies of the HP For Adults ads In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "alshainofthenorth" wrote: "The weirdest and funniest slashfic I ever read, BTW, starred Dobby the > House Elf and The Hogwarts Sorting Hat. I suffered from fits of > hysterical laughter for two hours afterwards." That is funny! And didn't Sirius suspect Kreacher of snogging some Black family trousers in OotP? Tracy From cindysphynx at comcast.net Sun Sep 28 22:47:48 2003 From: cindysphynx at comcast.net (Cindy C.) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 22:47:48 -0000 Subject: Back to the female dog In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Joywitch wrote: > Well, personally, I disagree with Cindy. I don't think we need a > resident bitch. I don't particularly appreciate the implicit > association between "bitch" and "curmudgeon," either, but maybe I'm > being over-sensitive. Hey, whoa there! See, I was just *joking!* Yeah, just a *quip* and all of that. A one-liner, never meant to be taken seriously. It wasn't an actual *proposal* or anything. But let me translate for the humor-impaired . . . I don't think any of us should be inappropriate or nasty. We should all try to get along. Yes, that would be very nice. So there's no need to agree with me or disagree with me. I'm not in this particular tussle, and for that I am grateful. Kumbayah and all. Cindy From zanelupin at yahoo.com Sun Sep 28 23:35:38 2003 From: zanelupin at yahoo.com (KathyK) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 23:35:38 -0000 Subject: My nephew watches Harry Potter! Message-ID: Hi everyone, I just wanted to share my fun little story with you. Yesterday I went to see my brother's new house and play with my nephew, who is the coolest 2-year-old I know. I wandered around the house admiring all the work my brother did. I was standing in the kitchen when I distinctly heard my nephew say, "HarryPotter." Now, it was actually very garbled by his 2-year- old voice, but my ears are always trained for anything HP being said, so I heard him clearly. I jumped in excitement and raced into the living room where he and my mother were sitting. I looked at her and asked, "What did he just say?" My mother turned to him and said, "Jack, you like Harry Potter?" To my delight he answered, "Yeah." So my mother asked him, "Where does Harry Potter live?" And he said, "VCR." I ended up on the floor I was laughing so hard. I wanted to share my amusement, KathyK (who is so very excited that her nephew watches Harry Potter) From IAmLordCassandra at aol.com Sun Sep 28 23:51:02 2003 From: IAmLordCassandra at aol.com (IAmLordCassandra at aol.com) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 19:51:02 EDT Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] My nephew watches Harry Potter! Message-ID: ROTFL! Oh my...that is precious. I just scared my cat from bursting out laughing, lol. My nephew loves Harry Potter too. I don't have any good stories though...Harry Potter related ones, I mean XP ~Cassie~ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From catlady at wicca.net Mon Sep 29 00:01:13 2003 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 00:01:13 -0000 Subject: Parodies of the HP For Adults ads In-Reply-To: <1064778823.E6DFD7B@r5.dngr.org> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "David" > > - Why are all these people looking at computers? Perhaps it raelly > *is* a campaign for HPFGU? (I assume the photos are from the real > campaign) > - Why are they all women? I, too, wondered of whom are the photos. I thought they might be well-known slash writers or readers in the prankster's community, but I dunno how many on-line communities are so consistently attractive looking, so I thought maybe they were real-life friends who agreed to pose for the prankster. --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Heidi Tandy" wrote: > David asked why the images were all of women, and I think that he > should probably ask the artist, but my guess would be that it's > because most slash writers are women. I'm not sure they're all women: I can't distinguish the gender of the Granger/Skeeter shipper (dark glasses and short hair). It has a note: "for (for mark356)", leading me to speculate wildly that mark356 is the model (altho' not all the ones "for Amanuensis" show the same person ... speaking of dedicatees's names, "wyomingnot" is named after a character in THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS). From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Mon Sep 29 00:01:45 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 00:01:45 -0000 Subject: Parodies of the HP For Adults ads In-Reply-To: <1064778823.E6DFD7B@r5.dngr.org> Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > David asked why the images were all of women, and I think that he > should probably ask the artist, but my guess would be that it's because > most slash writers are women. Does that mean they are *not* photos from the Scholastic campaign, then? If so, someone has taken a deal of care and money over a parody. David From heidit at netbox.com Mon Sep 29 00:21:02 2003 From: heidit at netbox.com (Heidi Tandy) Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2003 17:21:02 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Parodies of the HP For Adults ads In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1064794867.16A0EC2D@r5.dngr.org> Oh, no, afaik, none of the images were from the campaign - I just looked at her livejournal. I think it's all clipart and photoshop. Heidi On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 8:02PM -0500, David wrote: > Real-To: "David" > > Heidi wrote: > >> David asked why the images were all of women, and I think that he >> should probably ask the artist, but my guess would be that it's > because >> most slash writers are women. > > Does that mean they are *not* photos from the Scholastic campaign, > then? If so, someone has taken a deal of care and money over a > parody. > > David > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor > > ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ > > Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin > Files! > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ > > Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from > posts to which you're replying! > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Mon Sep 29 00:55:39 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 00:55:39 -0000 Subject: Parodies of the HP For Adults ads In-Reply-To: <1064794867.16A0EC2D@r5.dngr.org> Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > Oh, no, afaik, none of the images were from the campaign - I just looked > at her livejournal. > > I think it's all clipart and photoshop. > > Heidi >From comments on femme_hp's LJ: <> So there we have it. I hadn't heard of Fotosearch, but I suppose, thinking about it, something like that had to exist. The computers make sense now too, of course. David, who has yet ever to visit Ebay From doliesl at yahoo.com Mon Sep 29 01:19:55 2003 From: doliesl at yahoo.com (doliesl) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 01:19:55 -0000 Subject: Parodies of the HP For Adults ads In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" wrote: > I, too, wondered of whom are the photos. I thought they might be > well-known slash writers or readers in the prankster's community, but > I dunno how many on-line communities are so consistently attractive > looking, so I thought maybe they were real-life friends who agreed to > pose for the prankster. Those are just stock photos. There are tons of stock photo websites out there where you can type in keywords to find the type of photos you want. Let's say you need a photo of a man eating a pizza, you can just go to one of those stock photo websites, type in "Pizza, man", and the sites will give you tons of photos that has a man eating pizza. You can choose the one you like, download it, and use it anyway you want. In this case for these ads, the artist must have typed in "Woman, computer". In the design field, this is something very common for designers to do when they do drafts for their works. It is also something very useful for Design students, as they don't have budget to hire photographers to take pictures that is needed for their project. And just in case people, please realized that those are just "Parodies" of the ad, they're not real! They're made by fan, for Slash fans. And they're incredibly funny and the copy lines totally speaks truth about all the cliches in the HP slash fandom! I laughed so hard at all of them! (and love how the Tonk/Ginny one got a pink and red hair girls on it!) From s_ings at yahoo.com Mon Sep 29 01:32:27 2003 From: s_ings at yahoo.com (Sheryll Townsend) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 01:32:27 -0000 Subject: Convention Alley call for volunteers Message-ID: Greetings! The Ottawa team is proud to announce Convention Alley, a celebration of Harry's birthday. The event, hosted by the Canadian Wizarding Academy, will include panels and presentations, guest speakers, a birthday feast and a chance to meet all the wonderful people you talk to online and have been dying to meet. The event will be held July 30 ? August 1, 2004 at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Ontario. We're currently looking for volunteers in all areas including, but not limited to: art, daytime and social programming, volunteer coordination, finance and legal committees, security, decorations, games room, logistics, attendee and vendor registration, public relations and more. If you're interested in helping out visit our LiveJournal at http://www.livejournal.com/community/conventionalley or email Sheryll (s_ings @ yahoo.com) or Mary Ann (macloudt @ yahoo.co.uk). If you feel you have what it takes to make this event the best it can be, we're happy to welcome you on board. Sheryll Townsend Chair Convention Alley Planning Committee From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Mon Sep 29 02:45:37 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 02:45:37 -0000 Subject: Shameless Plug for Good Science Fiction Was: Re: Parodies of the HP Fo In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" wrote: > ... speaking of dedicatees's names, "wyomingnot" is named after a > character in THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS). Ah, yes...she who must never be called, "Why Not," that wondrous woman who is inclined to both girl talk and political discourse. I haven't read _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ in several years; it's held up awfully well. Highly recommended between HP releases, y'all; by one of the grand masters: Robert A. Heinlein (he who wrote _Stranger in a Strange Land_). About a playful computer which runs a moon colony on the verge of a war for independence. Also about the people the computer loves. Full of intrigue and excitement. Has some youngsters in it worthy of Hogwarts, including (IIRC) some redheads. Has a Dumbledore-ish character, too. Professor Bernardo de la Paz. Can probably be found cheap second-hand online. Sandy From dradamsapple at yahoo.com Mon Sep 29 03:09:53 2003 From: dradamsapple at yahoo.com (dradamsapple) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 03:09:53 -0000 Subject: Ron and Hermione in PoA? Message-ID: Sorry everyone, I know this is most likely UNTRUE,as I have heard of the reputation of the British Media, but anyone else read this? Seems like they took Rupert's comments about his relationship with Crook shanks and s t r e t c h e d it out a bit. What do you all think? go to http://www.hpana.com/ then click on link to Ron and Hermione in PoA. Anna . . . From alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk Mon Sep 29 12:18:07 2003 From: alshainofthenorth at yahoo.co.uk (alshainofthenorth) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 12:18:07 -0000 Subject: Parodies of the HP For Adults ads In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Martha" wrote: > How did that one work? What suitable orifices does the Hat have? > > Actually, don't answer that. > Well, that part is... umm... left to the imagination. The fic is called "The Wrong Sort" and is written by November Snowflake. Located in the Snitchfiction archive. The giant squid? Yikes. The only things I want to see connected to Snape are death eater orgies, aphrodisiac wolfsbane or curses as foreplay... Alshain From tammy at mauswerks.net Mon Sep 29 14:15:35 2003 From: tammy at mauswerks.net (Tammy Rizzo) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 10:15:35 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Parodies of the HP For Adults ads In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <3F780647.12591.5B1C07@localhost> On 28 Sep 2003 at 19:42, alshainofthenorth wrote: > The weirdest and funniest slashfic I ever read, BTW, starred Dobby the > House Elf and The Hogwarts Sorting Hat. I suffered from fits of > hysterical laughter for two hours afterwards. > > Alshain *blink* Dobby . . . and . . . the . . . Sorting Hat?! *blinkblink* Okay, now you have GOT to tell us where you found THAT! I don't read much fic, and don't have any interest in slash, but THAT has certainly piqued my curiosity. WHERE? WHERE? *** Tammy tammy at mauswerks.net From linlou43 at yahoo.com Mon Sep 29 17:43:44 2003 From: linlou43 at yahoo.com (linlou43) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 17:43:44 -0000 Subject: My nephew watches Harry Potter! In-Reply-To: Message-ID: KathyK wrote: > So my mother asked him, "Where does Harry Potter live?" > > And he said, "VCR." I ended up on the floor I was laughing so hard. > > I wanted to share my amusement, > > KathyK (who is so very excited that her nephew watches Harry Potter) My two year old nephew also likes Harry Potter and talks about him often. He can also recognize the music from the first movie instantly. BTW, the fact that your nephew thinks HP lives in the VCR reminded me of a conversation I had with my nephew just yesterday. I was holding out a plush football that he plays with often and I asked him what it was. He took it from my hand, looked me right in the eye and said: "TV, Daddy". My sister (his mother) and I just stared at each other with these really stange expressions on our faces. Just wanted to share, linlou From foxmoth at qnet.com Mon Sep 29 18:09:24 2003 From: foxmoth at qnet.com (pippin_999) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 18:09:24 -0000 Subject: Parodies of the HP For Adults ads In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "heiditandy" wrote: > There's a slew of parody ads at > http://potionsmaster.slashcity.net/art/slashads.html which Well, they are funny. But they left out the one and only slash ship with canon support. Snape/Filch [ Hurt/comfort in the staff room. Nightshirt enounters on the stairs. Whips! Chains! Polyjuice! And it's all in the book! ] Pippin From stevejjen at earthlink.net Mon Sep 29 20:47:00 2003 From: stevejjen at earthlink.net (Jen Reese) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 20:47:00 -0000 Subject: What happened to Re: Open Letter to Jo Rowling? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "dicentra63" wrote: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/11928 > > Each of us notices different things, we share with the group, and > those observations spark further ideas. We realize that we are > making much ado about nothing with some subjects, but that's OK. > We're having so much fun wondering and being filled with wonder that > we can hardly stand it. Dishes pile up in our sinks. Clothes go > unwashed. Weeds fill our gardens. Dust collects on the TV remote. Jen: I unearthed this letter while looking through the archives and started wondering--what happened to it? Did it get sent to JKR from HPFGU? The description above caught my eye b/c here I sit, another day of productivity lost to searching the archives. I did manage to take a shower and get my son to school. ;) I've often wondered why I'm so drawn in here. Is it just a common love for the HP books? My husband jokingly tells me I'm in a graduate seminar on HP and that's not far from the truth. All this discussion, nitpicking, creative writing--it's now taking up enough of my time to be called more than a hobby! Whatever--mostly it's fun and I was glad to read other people are out there letting the dishes pile up, b/c I was starting to feel a *little* obsessed. Now I can feel obsessed with company.... From fc26det at aol.com Mon Sep 29 21:38:22 2003 From: fc26det at aol.com (Potterfanme) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 21:38:22 -0000 Subject: Gift code (was Main List's: Why Ron Loves Hermione) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Amy Z" wrote: > One thing's sure. Giving a girl perfume in this culture (US) is a > Sign either that you view her romantically or that you're such an > idiot you don't even realize that perfume is a romantic gift. > > Amy Z When I first read that Ron gave Hermoine perfume, I immediately thought he was sweet on her but then I thought about what a terrible non-romantic Ron is and thought....Nah, he's just trying to make up for not noticing she was a girl in GOF. Susan-- who has known a few boys like Ron...... From silverdragon at ezweb.com.au Mon Sep 29 22:33:04 2003 From: silverdragon at ezweb.com.au (silverdragon at ezweb.com.au) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 08:33:04 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] My nephew watches Harry Potter! References: Message-ID: <01c301c386db$271ba9b0$6f984cca@Monteith> > ROTFL! > > Oh my...that is precious. I just scared my cat from bursting out laughing, > lol. My nephew loves Harry Potter too. I don't have any good stories > though...Harry Potter related ones, I mean XP Speaking of cats, kids and Harry Potter, I just *had* to share this one... My family is owned by two cats, that my son (3) loves very much, but he absolutely *hates* them sleeping on his bed. One night at bedtime, naturally this is where they were. Now, we had just bought my son and daughter one of those rubbery HP wands a day or two previously, and he decided he would do a bit of magic. Little Mr informed me that he would be promptly turning the cats into penguins if they did not immediately vacate his bed and performed the 'penguinification' spell - "Arania ExPINGU", with the apropriate 'swish and flick'... Nox From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Mon Sep 29 22:46:20 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 22:46:20 -0000 Subject: What happened to Re: Open Letter to Jo Rowling? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > Jen: > I unearthed this letter while looking through the archives and > started wondering--what happened to it? Did it get sent to JKR from > HPFGU? Thanks for posting a link to this; as a relative newbie, I'd never have known. I did a lot of archive surfing of the main list, but never here; it must be time. What a fantastic letter! And now I'm curious as well: was it sent? Perhaps we (here I am trying to appropriate poor Dicentra's letter just like *that*) should update it and send it around the world to HPfGU listees to sign (or perhaps have each list member just send along a signed scrap of paper and attach the lot to the letter and send it off...perhaps if each of us mailed ourself a letter and then cut out the part of the front with the address and postmark and scrawled an "autograph," in between, perhaps with a bit added: XOXOX or "luv you, Jo!" and then made a sort of roll-up collage of them all. (Or not: I was just thinking something a little more personal and immediate than a mention of "thousands of members" might be called for. I had considered a "care" package, too. I know that some fairly well-known authors have been pleased as well sometimes to receive things like personally crafted, well executed one-of-a-kind 3-D representations, such as carvings or miniature sculptures of certain unusual beings from their fiction, when inspired by and offered for no other reason than homage. (I am thinking specifically of Larry Niven here; SF fans will know the person I mean.) It's very hard sometimes to quash that impulse to reach out to a person whose creative efforts have had such a profound impact, yet I suspect that the most truly appreciative thing to do (besides buying the books, etc., of course) is often to stay as far away and unobtrusive as possible and send prayers, or good vibrations, or just a personal, heartfelt entreaty to the the universe to treat the object of one's affections kindly. (Whatever your persuasion.) Oh, and recruitment, always recruitment: "Have you read the Harry Potter books? No??! Well, you need to, you're going to fall straightaway in love with them. Here's a copy of the first one and a nice comfy chair, now sit right down there. Got everything you need? Good!" Hey, we could be Jo's Army, like Dumbledore's Army... Sandy, who can waffle wildly forever on the proper role of "fandom" From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Tue Sep 30 00:08:19 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 00:08:19 -0000 Subject: My nephew watches Harry Potter! In-Reply-To: <01c301c386db$271ba9b0$6f984cca@Monteith> Message-ID: Nox wrote: > Little Mr informed me that he would be promptly turning the > cats into penguins if they did not immediately vacate his bed and performed > the 'penguinification' spell - "Arania ExPINGU", with the apropriate 'swish > and flick'... and...? Aren't you going to let us know if it worked? Ontenterhooks!David From mckosvc at bmts.com Tue Sep 30 01:16:08 2003 From: mckosvc at bmts.com (ovc88guelph) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 01:16:08 -0000 Subject: Novels for young children, any suggestions? Message-ID: That is, any suggestions besides the obvious! I am just beginning to read chapter books to my 5 and 6 year old children. My earlier attempts (Black Beauty, Lassie Come Home, and sadly, PS) didn't hold their interest for long. I abandoned long books for about 6 months, and then tried Charlotte's Web. They loved it! I think that it was relevant to them because we live on a farm. The language was sometimes difficult. They did ask what some of the words meant (just as Wilbur did!). And the humour appealed to them. So I am asking for help from other fathers, mothers, teachers, and anyone who used to be (or still is) a child; what short novels would you recommend for young and NOT precocious readers? Books with illustrations would be most appropriate. We are already planning on trying the Narnia series. Stewart Little is being read at school. All other suggestions would be welcome! MMcK. From heidit at netbox.com Tue Sep 30 01:24:05 2003 From: heidit at netbox.com (Heidi Tandy) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 18:24:05 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Novels for young children, any suggestions? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1064885049.9D667FD@w5.dngr.org> On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 9:16PM -0500, ovc88guelph wrote: > Real-To: "ovc88guelph" > > That is, any suggestions besides the obvious! I am just beginning to > read chapter books to my 5 and 6 year old children. My earlier > attempts (Black Beauty, Lassie Come Home, and sadly, PS) didn't hold > their interest for long. I abandoned long books for about 6 months, > and then tried Charlotte's Web. They loved it! I think that it was > relevant to them because we live on a farm. The language was > sometimes difficult. They did ask what some of the words meant (just > as Wilbur did!). And the humour appealed to them. So I am asking for > help from other fathers, mothers, teachers, and anyone who used to > be (or still is) a child; what short novels would you recommend for > young and NOT precocious readers? Books with illustrations would be > most appropriate. We are already planning on trying the Narnia > series. Stewart Little is being read at school. All other > suggestions would be welcome! > My son just read the word 'sabertooth' in the second book of the Magic Treehouse series this evening. It's a series of books with short chapters and some illustrations, featuring a brother-and-sister pair who discover a magic treehouse and have adventures in al sorts of eras and locations. And holly black's spiderwick books are fascinating - although they are a smidge scary - for that age group. Heidi Http://www.fictionalley.org From psychic_serpent at yahoo.com Tue Sep 30 01:49:51 2003 From: psychic_serpent at yahoo.com (psychic_serpent) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 01:49:51 -0000 Subject: Novels for young children, any suggestions? In-Reply-To: <1064885049.9D667FD@w5.dngr.org> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Heidi Tandy" wrote: > > On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 9:16PM -0500, ovc88guelph wrote: > > Real-To: "ovc88guelph" > > > > That is, any suggestions besides the obvious! I am just > > beginning to read chapter books to my 5 and 6 year old children. > > My earlier attempts (Black Beauty, Lassie Come Home, and sadly, > > PS) didn't hold their interest for long. I abandoned long books > > for about 6 months, and then tried Charlotte's Web. They loved > > it! I think that it was relevant to them because we live on a > > farm. I would recommend books by Dick King Smith (I think I've got that right), the author of "Babe" (which also has a pig-on-a-farm theme); his other books include a wonderful little piece about a kelpie who happens to live in Loch Ness. ;) My daughter also has been reading the Little House books since she was in kindergarten. The prose is pretty straightforward and it can open up good discussions when unfamiliar words are encountered (although a lot of things are explained in the text). > My son just read the word 'sabertooth' in the second book of the > Magic Treehouse series this evening. It's a series of books with > short chapters and some illustrations, featuring a brother-and- > sister pair who discover a magic treehouse and have adventures in > all sorts of eras and locations. My kids liked the Magic Treehouse books when they were younger. It's probably good to read these with them now; in a few years they'll find them a bit patronizing. (Parents who know about Morgan Le Fey from the Arthurian legends--grit your teeth when you read.) My daughter still loves the Junie B. Jones books for their humor, despite the reading level being far below where she is now. Those would be about perfect for ages 5-6. It's possible that the Phantom Tollbooth could confuse them at this point, or they might just sit back and enjoy it and keep having you read it to them as they grow older, appreciating it more and more as they notice things they didn't before. My kids enjoyed it long before they understood much of it. And then there are Jane Langton's books about the Hall family, starting with The Diamond in the Window and including the lovely and heartbreaking (and award-winning) book The Fledgling. My kids were also still interested in having picture books read to them at that age, such as large-format versions of some of the stories from Wind in the Willows, Beatrix Potter books, and especially The Velveteen Rabbit (I've never made it through that one without starting to tear up). There are also some really fun children's picture books by Berkeley Breathed, a cartoonist who used to produce the strips Bloom County and Outland. (My personal favorites are Goodnight Opus, a riff on Goodnight Moon, and A Wish for Wings that Work.) Oh, and had you tried them on Peter Pan or Winnie the Pooh? (Pooh is just perfect for 5-6 year olds--the real books, not the Disney- fied ones.) Happy reading! --Barb http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Psychic_Serpent http://www.schnoogle.com/authorLinks/Barb From editor at texas.net Tue Sep 30 01:57:54 2003 From: editor at texas.net (Amanda Geist) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 20:57:54 -0500 Subject: You have GOT to see these staple removers Message-ID: <002f01c386f7$9d18d400$a658aacf@texas.net> I hope this URL wraps; if it doesn't, it's well worth cutting and pasting. I stand to make no profit off this--on the contrary, I shall probably lose some, buying at least one, myself. But I just *couldn't* let this go without sharing. http://www.flaxart.com/f/shopping/prod_detail/main.asp?uid=01219379-F0D1-470 0-83D5-8126193E98C5&categoryselect=0&pricerange=0&advancedsearch=staple&styp e=ADVANCED&sl=1&productID=3690&Style=1&curItemNum=5 ~Amanda ------------------------- Those who cannot hear the music, think the dancers daft. From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Tue Sep 30 02:16:29 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 02:16:29 -0000 Subject: Novels for young children, any suggestions? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "ovc88guelph" wrote: > That is, any suggestions besides the obvious! I am just beginning > to read chapter books to my 5 and 6 year old children. My earlier > attempts (Black Beauty, Lassie Come Home, and sadly, PS) didn't > hold their interest for long. I abandoned long books for about 6 > months, and then tried Charlotte's Web. They loved it! The Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel; although they are not "farm" books, they are about animals, and great fun as well as having some things to say about friendship, sharing, etc., and they are very accessible. The web site I checked just to make sure I was remembering them correctly said they were great for introducing 4-6 year olds to reading. Sandy From msbeadsley at yahoo.com Tue Sep 30 02:24:50 2003 From: msbeadsley at yahoo.com (msbeadsley) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 02:24:50 -0000 Subject: You have GOT to see these staple removers In-Reply-To: <002f01c386f7$9d18d400$a658aacf@texas.net> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Amanda Geist" wrote: > I hope this URL wraps; if it doesn't, it's well worth cutting and > pasting. Firstly, I had to go to the web site and then search on staple remover because I couldn't even copy all of the URL; second, yes, they're impressive, as is the price! I 'bout had a heart attack! $XX.00 for a *staple remover*? (Nyah, nyah, if you want to know you have to go see for yourself.) Everybody, go see these. They are magnificent. (Maybe the U.S. government will buy them for federal office workers; remember the toilet seats?) Sandy From silverdragon at ezweb.com.au Tue Sep 30 02:41:04 2003 From: silverdragon at ezweb.com.au (silverdragon at ezweb.com.au) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 12:41:04 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: My nephew watches Harry Potter! References: Message-ID: <00ad01c386fc$4c0d81a0$71984cca@Monteith> I wrote > > Little Mr informed me that he would be promptly turning the > > cats into penguins if they did not immediately vacate his bed and > performed > > the 'penguinification' spell - "Arania ExPINGU", with the > apropriate 'swish > > and flick'... > David replied > and...? > > Aren't you going to let us know if it worked? Unfortunately no. It would have been amusing having a couple of penguins waddling about the house in the Australian summer... very surreal... Nox From cwood at tattersallpub.com Tue Sep 30 02:54:08 2003 From: cwood at tattersallpub.com (mstattersall) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 02:54:08 -0000 Subject: You have GOT to see these staple removers In-Reply-To: <002f01c386f7$9d18d400$a658aacf@texas.net> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Amanda Geist" wrote: > I hope this URL wraps; if it doesn't, it's well worth cutting and pasting. > > I stand to make no profit off this--on the contrary, I shall probably lose > some, buying at least one, myself. But I just *couldn't* let this go without > sharing. > This site has some other amazing stuff as well (thanks for the holiday shopping tip!). The staple removers are a little rich for my blood, but they are quite stunning. Crystal From heidit at netbox.com Tue Sep 30 04:13:19 2003 From: heidit at netbox.com (Heidi Tandy) Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2003 21:13:19 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] You have GOT to see these staple removers In-Reply-To: <002f01c386f7$9d18d400$a658aacf@texas.net> References: <002f01c386f7$9d18d400$a658aacf@texas.net> Message-ID: <1064895205.CA72943@s5.dngr.org> Iirc, we had someone selling these, at my plea, at Nimbus. If you have a friend in fandom that you're willing to spend this much on, or in collaboration with others, they're absolutely lovely! Now, if only they made badger-staplers (hey, it could be in their tails!) On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 10:08PM -0500, Amanda Geist wrote: > Real-To: "Amanda Geist" > > I hope this URL wraps; if it doesn't, it's well worth cutting and > pasting. > > I stand to make no profit off this--on the contrary, I shall probably > lose > some, buying at least one, myself. But I just *couldn't* let this go > without > sharing. > > http://www.flaxart.com/f/shopping/prod_detail/main.asp?uid=01219379-F0D1-470 > 0-83D5-8126193E98C5&categoryselect=0&pricerange=0&advancedsearch=staple&styp > e=ADVANCED&sl=1&productID=3690&Style=1&curItemNum=5 > > ~Amanda > ------------------------- > Those who cannot hear the music, think the dancers daft. > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor > > ________HPFGU______Hexquarters______Announcement_______________ > > Before posting to any HPFGU list, you MUST read the group's Admin > Files! > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Admin%20Files/ > > Please use accurate subject headings and snip unnecessary material from > posts to which you're replying! > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ From lupinesque at yahoo.com Tue Sep 30 05:57:08 2003 From: lupinesque at yahoo.com (Amy Z) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 05:57:08 -0000 Subject: You have GOT to see these staple removers In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Sandy wrote: > Firstly, I had to go to the web site and then search on staple > remover because I couldn't even copy all of the URL; second, yes, > they're impressive, as is the price! I 'bout had a heart attack! > $XX.00 for a *staple remover*? Nothing's too good for a Gryffindor. Amy Z who would try that penguin spell except that she would miss her cat From przepla at ipartner.com.pl Tue Sep 30 08:11:20 2003 From: przepla at ipartner.com.pl (Przemyslaw "Pshemekan" Plaskowicki) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 10:11:20 +0200 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] You have GOT to see these staple removers In-Reply-To: <002f01c386f7$9d18d400$a658aacf@texas.net> References: <002f01c386f7$9d18d400$a658aacf@texas.net> Message-ID: <3F793AA8.7020601@ipartner.com.pl> Amanda Geist wrote : >I hope this URL wraps; if it doesn't, it's well worth cutting and pasting. > > [...] >http://www.flaxart.com/f/shopping/prod_detail/main.asp?uid=01219379-F0D1-470 >0-83D5-8126193E98C5&categoryselect=0&pricerange=0&advancedsearch=staple&styp >e=ADVANCED&sl=1&productID=3690&Style=1&curItemNum=5 > > http://tinyurl.com/p5cu I suggest using http://tinyurl.com free service in cases of loooong URLs. Pshemekan From s_ings at yahoo.com Tue Sep 30 11:47:42 2003 From: s_ings at yahoo.com (Sheryll Townsend) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 07:47:42 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Belated Birthday Wishes! Message-ID: <20030930114742.64577.qmail@web41104.mail.yahoo.com> *ducks quietly into the room, doing the best she can to decorate and carry food with her bandaged hands* Yes, I had to slam my fingers in the oven door. Have been a bad, bad Birthday Elf and forgotten to announce the last two birthdays for September. Apologies to Hollydaze and Kirstini. Hollydaze celebrated on the 27th and Kirstini's birthday was yesterday. Belated birthday owls can be sent care of this list or directly to hollydaze at btinternet.com and kirst_inn at yahoo.co.uk I hope both your birthdays were filled with fun and magic. Happy Birthday, Hollydaze! Happy Birthday, Kirstini! Sheryll the Birthday Elf ===== http://www.livejournal.com/community/conventionalley/ ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca From tim_regan82 at hotmail.com Tue Sep 30 13:43:57 2003 From: tim_regan82 at hotmail.com (Tim Regan) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 13:43:57 -0000 Subject: Belated Birthday Wishes! In-Reply-To: <20030930114742.64577.qmail@web41104.mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Hi All, --- In HPFGU-OTChatter Sheryll wrote: > Happy Birthday, Hollydaze! > Happy Birthday, Kirstini! Mine was the 27th too. I had a great day - a real celebration of being back in England. We had an old friend visiting, who Kate first met exactly 20 years ago. Here's a blow-by-blow of the day, with pictures ... 1) Walk around a beautiful country estate 2) Cream tea and lunch (I had scones with butter, greengage jam, AND clotted cream so I think I qualify for Steve's diet) 3) Shopping in Cambridge 4) Evensong at Kings (wow, the singing by the boys choir was beautiful) 5) Meal out at veggie resteraunt 6) Back home for champagne I hope any other September babies on the list had great birthdays too. Cheers, Dumbledad. PS Where are we supposed to log our birth dates for the birthday elf? From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Tue Sep 30 14:05:24 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 14:05:24 -0000 Subject: Belated Birthday Wishes! In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Dumbledad, after assuring us that Stands the church clock at ten to three And there is honey still for tea, asked: > PS Where are we supposed to log our birth dates for the birthday elf? On the main list, in the database section, there is a birthdays database: http://tinyurl.com/p6bk David From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Tue Sep 30 14:06:11 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 14:06:11 -0000 Subject: PS In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > On the main list, in the database section, there is a birthdays > database: and Happy Birthday! D From stevejjen at earthlink.net Tue Sep 30 14:56:49 2003 From: stevejjen at earthlink.net (Jen Reese) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 14:56:49 -0000 Subject: Belated Birthday Wishes! In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Tim Regan" <> Here's a blow- by-blow of the day, with pictures ... > 1) Walk around a beautiful country estate > > 2) Cream tea and lunch (I had scones with butter, greengage jam, AND > clotted cream so I think I qualify for Steve's diet) > 3) Shopping in Cambridge > 4) Evensong at Kings (wow, the singing by the boys choir was > beautiful) > > 5) Meal out at veggie resteraunt > > 6) Back home for champagne Jen: Happy Birthday! Thanks for the birthday tour--you must have had a great day. I like to visit churches and cathedrals whenever I can, the older the better, and would love to see the inside of Kings one day. From joym999 at aol.com Tue Sep 30 15:11:21 2003 From: joym999 at aol.com (joywitch_m_curmudgeon) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 15:11:21 -0000 Subject: You have GOT to see these staple removers In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Amy Z" wrote: > Sandy wrote: > > > Firstly, I had to go to the web site and then search on staple > > remover because I couldn't even copy all of the URL; second, yes, > > they're impressive, as is the price! I 'bout had a heart attack! > > $XX.00 for a *staple remover*? > > Nothing's too good for a Gryffindor. Or a Slytherin, apparently. > Amy Z > who would try that penguin spell except that she would miss her cat And hit the toaster? BTW, Amanda, and anyone else who comes across an extremely long URL -- and the one for the staple remover is the longest I've ever seen -- there is this really cool website called tinyurl: www.tinyurl.com that someone on this list introduced me to. It gives you a small, neat, tidy little URL to replace long, tedious, difficult-to-cut-and- paste URLs. It's worth visiting on your way to the Yahoo post office. I've even put it on my toolbar, an honor that I don't often bestow. --Joywitch M. Curmudgeon From dfrankiswork at netscape.net Tue Sep 30 15:33:30 2003 From: dfrankiswork at netscape.net (David) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 15:33:30 -0000 Subject: Gurl power In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Joywitch wrote: > > Amy Z > > who would try that penguin spell except that she would miss her cat > > And hit the toaster? Well, it was a *rubber* wand. Speaking of which... > BTW, Amanda, and anyone else who comes across an extremely long URL -- > there is this really cool website ... It gives you a small, > neat, tidy little URL Just what every girl needs in a crisis, eh? > I've even put it on my toolbar, Oo-er, now I'm really scared ;-) D From Ali at zymurgy.org Tue Sep 30 15:35:35 2003 From: Ali at zymurgy.org (Ali) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 15:35:35 -0000 Subject: Stephen Fry on Tonks Message-ID: Fry has recently been interviewed in the Sunday Times following the release of his version of OoP. This is the excerpt in which he discusses Tonks' voice:- <<>> I still can't reconcile Tonks to the accent that Fry gives her, whatever he and his producer think. I also got confused as I thought he was trying to speak in a Yorkshire accent! Having lived in Lancashire (well, ok, Manchester) and Yorkshire, with friends from both counties, I thought I could tell the difference, but at the risk of starting another War of the Roses, I obviously can't! Ali From tabouli at unite.com.au Tue Sep 30 16:20:02 2003 From: tabouli at unite.com.au (Tabouli) Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 02:20:02 +1000 Subject: Where form meets function (staple removers etc.) Message-ID: <002201c3876e$bb773550$722832d2@useriq2qgc104q> I approve wholeheartedly of novelty staple removers, and indeed anywhere where form meets function. Why can't everyday objects be works of art? I'm all for supporting artists, but there's a limit to how many pictures and sculptures you can put in your home, so why not cross art with more essential items, like cutlery and stationery and bins and brooms and things? I myself bought the most *glorious* pasta scoop from none other than Ikea. Light green and curved, with a line of hot pink rubber spikes along its back and a handle ending in a dragon's head with a ring through its nose! It cost more than a plain one, but I think such creative innovation should be encouraged at every opportunity. I *want* to reward the person who designed that pasta scoop! I want his or her *catalogue*! There must be other people out there who think this way, but evidently not enough, otherwise the world would be full of interesing everyday objects. On the other hand... hmmm. Anyone out there for a business opportunity? :-D Tabouli. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From shirley2allie at hotmail.com Tue Sep 30 17:07:51 2003 From: shirley2allie at hotmail.com (Shirley) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 17:07:51 -0000 Subject: Texas Quidditch In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Shirley wrote: > > > >I wonder if the Seeker is a Longhorn or an > >Aggie. Jennifer Boggess Ramon wrote: > I was just miffed that there was no mention at all of the most > obvious wizarding school in Texas. You know, the one with the *owls* > all over it, the alchemical symbols all over the chemistry building, > the alchemical circle set into the pavement behind the biochemistry > building, and the Elder Signs on the entrance arch. Not to mention > all the ghosts, including the founder . . . > > Ah, well. Shirley again: You know, I've never actually been to the Rice campus, so I wouldn't have thought of that. Maybe the Seeker doesn't get to travel that far....? From linlou43 at yahoo.com Tue Sep 30 19:09:40 2003 From: linlou43 at yahoo.com (linlou43) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 19:09:40 -0000 Subject: Novels for young children, any suggestions? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: MMcK wrote: > So I am asking for > help from other fathers, mothers, teachers, and anyone who used to > be (or still is) a child; what short novels would you recommend for > young and NOT precocious readers? linlou: Oh my goodness, where do I start? "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is good, as well as its' sequel- "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator". Oh heck, almost anything by Roald Dahl would be good. You might want to try "James and the Giant Peach" or "Mitilda" for instance. If you wanted something lighter, how about the Amelia Bedelia series by Peggy Parish? happy reading, linlou From eberte at vaeye.com Tue Sep 30 23:08:13 2003 From: eberte at vaeye.com (ellejir) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 23:08:13 -0000 Subject: Novels for young children, any suggestions? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: "ovc88guelph" wrote: > That is, any suggestions besides the obvious! I am just beginning to > read chapter books to my 5 and 6 year old children. My earlier > attempts (Black Beauty, Lassie Come Home, and sadly, PS) didn't hold > their interest for long. I abandoned long books for about 6 months, > and then tried Charlotte's Web. They loved it! I think that it was > relevant to them because we live on a farm. The language was > sometimes difficult. They did ask what some of the words meant (just > as Wilbur did!). And the humour appealed to them. So I am asking for > help from other fathers, mothers, teachers, and anyone who used to > be (or still is) a child; what short novels would you recommend for > young and NOT precocious readers? Books with illustrations would be > most appropriate. We are already planning on trying the Narnia > series. Stewart Little is being read at school. All other > suggestions would be welcome! My five year old daughter loves the Misty of Chincoteague series. She also loves Amelia Bedelia and Junie B. Jones. My seven year old son really enjoyed the Narnia series (I was actually surprised how much he liked it!) He also enjoys the Unfortunate Series of Events books, Magic Treehouse series, Commander Toad books and a book by William Steig called "The Real Thief" (actually, *anything* by William Steig!) They had an auction at my son's school and one of the items for sale was a handpainted bookshelf (school motif, of course!) filled with books selected by all the lower school teachers and staff (each teacher picked his or her favorite childhood book and signed it with a little blurb stating what the book meant to them.) We got it for my son and it is *such a treasure*! Elle (of course, Harry Potter (SS) was one of the books, picked by a *discerning* second grade teacher IMO)