From drednort at alphalink.com.au Sun Apr 1 00:16:14 2007 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Sun, 01 Apr 2007 10:16:14 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] re: DST / Shaun's shields of arms / talking dirty with Geoff In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <460F866E.4535.44CD23E@drednort.alphalink.com.au> On 31 Mar 2007 at 20:14, Catlady (Rita Prince Winston) wrote: > Shaun wrote in > : > > << The teaser page for my Harry Potter game to be run at Conquest > 2007 > in Melbourne, Australia, can now be seen at: > eDarklord.html> > Just in case anybody finds such things interesting. >> > > Cornelius Fudge a Ravenclaw! Hugin and Munin will peck your eyes > out! > If he's not a Slytherin, he's a Hufflepuff -- go along to get > along. > Myrtle is the Slytherin. Ah... but you see, the reason, Fudge isn't a Slytherin is because he is too ambitious for that - he wants to be Minister of Magic, and careful research indicated to him that people just don't like voting for Slytherins. It would also have put him in the shadow of that very charismatic Tom Riddle, and Fudge doesn't want to be in anybody's shadow... Basically my vision of Fudge's sorting involves: "NO, not Slytherin. Not Slytherin. The punters won't trust a Slytherin. And not Gryffindor - no politician wants to have to take the courageous choices*. Hufflepuff, if you must, honest toil, he's a grafter. But Ravenclaw would be best - they like people who seem to think on the issues.") (*Fudge has the same understanding of 'courage' in political terms as Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey Appleby). As for Myrtle - I just can't see any reason to stick her in Slytherin, and it seems to be almost disrespectful to do so. Fudge - yes, he could well be a Slytherin, but narratively speaking, for my game, it's better that he isn't. http://www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/HPCHARDESC2007.zip contains a PDF of the more detailed character descriptions that will be given out to the players in my game. In the unlikely event that anybody who will be playing Harry Potter and the Descent of the Dark Lord next weekend is on this group, PLEASE don't download and read these sheets. They will just risk spoiling your enjoyment of the game if you read the sheets of the other characters. But other people might find them interesting. They may not display properly if you don't have the same fonts installed as I do, but they should still be readable. If anybody does read them and notices any errors, please let me know - at one stage Cornelius Fudge turned into Barty Crouch halfway through the page and though I noticed that one and fixed it, it can be hard to proof read your own work. I'll be getting the sheet laminated in a couple of days, and after that making changes becomes expensive. > It looks like the plot line is interesting. > > I personally prefer the other shields of arms, but I wish I could > opt > to remove the scrolls with the names, to see just the shields. The > version you prefer do have helms, crests, and mantling, giving me > to > wonder whether wizards would have helms or pointy hats for their > crests to balance on. A lot of my preference for these Coats of Arms comes down to the purpose I am using them for. I actually do like the other shields in general terms. But part of what makes or breaks a roleplaying game is the ability to create the right atmosphere to make the game seem real. At Conquest I have the advantage by sheer luck that the Convention is held in a reasonably old, rather impressive High School that looks as much like a Castle as anything we have in Melbourne. That makes it much easier to set atmosphere for a Harry Potter game. The coat of arms I use for the games are very similar to those used by most of the traditional schools that are still in Melbourne on their uniforms, etc (mainly because they are Coats of Arms that follow the rules of Heradry), so they are also familiar to quite a few people and it helps to enhance the image I'm trying to create. (Incidentally, and perhaps somewhat ironically, the major Melbourne school with the shield design closest to the non-Coat of Arms shields with names on them is the school that I, in fact, attended. I was always somewhat annoyed that, alone of the Six Great Schools, mine didn't have a proper heraldic achievement on its uniform, and perhaps that annoyance translates to the choices I make for my games!). The fact of the Wizarding World following the Muggle rules of Heraldry also gives me a link between the two worlds - for my games, the links tend to be important. The Wizarding World being part of the Muggle World, a hidden part. 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 HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Sun Apr 1 15:48:28 2007 From: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com (HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com) Date: 1 Apr 2007 15:48:28 -0000 Subject: Weekly Chat, 4/1/2007, 11:00 am Message-ID: <1175442508.22.67414.m47@yahoogroups.com> Reminder from: HPFGU-OTChatter Yahoo! Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/cal Weekly Chat Sunday April 1, 2007 11:00 am - 12:00 pm (This event repeats every week.) Location: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Notes: Just a reminder, Sunday chat starts in about one hour. To get to the HPfGU room follow this link: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Create a user name for yourself, whatever you want to be called. Enter the password: hpfguchat Click "Join Chat" on the lower right. Chat start times: 11 am Pacific US 12 noon Mountain US 1 pm Central US 2 pm Eastern US 7 pm UK All Rights Reserved Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Inc. http://www.yahoo.com Privacy Policy: http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us Terms of Service: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Sun Apr 1 17:40:20 2007 From: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com (HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com) Date: 1 Apr 2007 17:40:20 -0000 Subject: Weekly Chat, 4/1/2007, 1:00 pm Message-ID: <1175449220.17.31318.m48@yahoogroups.com> Reminder from: HPFGU-OTChatter Yahoo! Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/cal Weekly Chat Sunday April 1, 2007 1:00 pm - 1:00 pm (This event repeats every week.) Location: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Notes: Just a reminder, Sunday chat starts in about one hour. To get to the HPfGU room follow this link: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Create a user name for yourself, whatever you want to be called. Enter the password: hpfguchat Click "Join Chat" on the lower right. Chat start times: 11 am Pacific US 12 noon Mountain US 1 pm Central US 2 pm Eastern US 7 pm UK All Rights Reserved Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Inc. http://www.yahoo.com Privacy Policy: http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us Terms of Service: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From eggplant107 at hotmail.com Sun Apr 1 17:34:04 2007 From: eggplant107 at hotmail.com (eggplant107) Date: Sun, 01 Apr 2007 17:34:04 -0000 Subject: Stephen Fry vs Jim Dale - Audio Books. In-Reply-To: <002801c77152$57ba42b0$66a4a8c0@rosie> Message-ID: I have book 1 in both the Jim Dale and Stephen Fry version. Fry was OK but Dale was better, so for the next 5 books I just got Dale. The great thing about Jim Dale is that even if you come into the middle of it you instantly know what character is speaking just but the tone of his voice, they all sound different. How he does it I don't know. Eggplant From gbannister10 at tiscali.co.uk Sun Apr 1 19:34:18 2007 From: gbannister10 at tiscali.co.uk (Geoff Bannister) Date: Sun, 01 Apr 2007 19:34:18 -0000 Subject: DST / Shaun's shields of arms / talking dirty with Geoff In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" wrote: > Geoff wrote in > : > > << In terms of questionable language, what I do strongly object to is > the use of the f-word and the c-word because their use often extends > beyond their Anglo-Saxon meaning with reference to sexual activity and > they are often used as pejorative terms in order to insult or express > anger >> Catlady: > I object to that usage as being anti-sex. I especially disapprove of > using 'the c-word' to refer to any male person one dislikes, as being > anti-female. One time I had a fight with my ex about it. He always > called all the other drivers on the road 'you cunt', and finally I > said: "You could call the bad drivers idiots or assholes, but it > doesn't make sense to call them after something you like so much and > are always chasing after." Geoff: I see your point but there is another factor which , at least for me personally and for quite a number of people I know, makes these words and certain others which are used pejoratively different. My feeling is that when the f-word and the others in this sort of category are being used, the user is not seeing them in a sexual format but as a word they learned to use when in a rage or really wanting to hurt someone verbally. When I was a teenager, one gained a measure of street cred by swearing and have to admit that when I was in my mid-teens, I did allow these words to escape my lips . I used them to try to be big and to achieve the result mentioned above. I was not using them to make a sexual point. Looking at the etymology involved may help to explain why these words annoy me intensely whereas I can shrug off a word like "cock" or "shag" as just a slang way of expressing things. When the Normans conquered England in 1066, the official language of the court and the crown became French and English was pushed out until perhaps the 14th century. As a result, to roughly quote a former English teaching colleague of mine, "English was left in the hands of the peasants for 300 years and what they did to it was nobody's business!" Not only was grammar simplified but many words which had been everyday words in Anglo-Saxon became slang words, or swear words or derogatory terms. And many of the words involved were those referring to bodily functions. Hence what I would call lavatory words or words to do with sexual activity took on a second level of meaning as insults, provocative words, words to express anger etc. which really had nothing to do with their original meaning. Which is why these words can be so inflammatory. Many other words, although not designed for conversation with the Prime Minister, do not carry this cachet. Some are sometimes quite funny. I creased up when the author of an early report about "Equus" made a comment about people wanting to see "Harry Potter's willie". That word, for me, is just so silly and childish. Again, as a hormone-driven teenager, I can remember falling about in gales of laughter when we were studying Shakespeare's "Henry IV Part 1" and someone says "and Pistol's cock is up". That was just too much for a 15 year-old... Geoff: > << and they therefore carry much more in the way of undertones than > the word we mentioned above. >> > > "Cock" is a word for an anatomical organ and "prick" is an insult and > "putz" is a different insult. (One time my bus passed a construction > site and one of the big machines had a brand label on it "PUTZMASTER"). > > << Please note that this post was written after the 9.00 pm > British watershed. :-) >> > > What is '9:00 pm British watershed'? Geoff: This is an arrangement which relates in particular to television programmes. The TV channels do not transmit programmes which contain material which is considered to be unsuitable or harmful to children - often of an overtly sexual or violent nature - before nine o'clock in the evening. I hope that, in this post, I have not damaged my image of being a quiet living, well-spoken young man possessing typical English reserve. :-)) From catlady at wicca.net Sun Apr 1 22:12:45 2007 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Sun, 01 Apr 2007 22:12:45 -0000 Subject: Anglo-Saxon monosyllables In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff Bannister" wrote: > Looking at the etymology involved may help to explain why these > > Not only was grammar simplified but many words which had been > everyday words in Anglo-Saxon became slang words, or swear > words or derogatory terms. And many of the words involved were > those referring to bodily functions. I am SO GLAD that English went through a phase when it was taken away from schoolteachers, snobs, and purists, and left to ordinary people, thus sparing us many complicated and useless conjugations. I wish French had gone through a similar phase -- how wonderful if there were no temps literaire! I can't even do the *ordinary* subjunctive! (I admit that the above principle means that not only should Tim learn to tolerate people saying 'irregardless' and Lee should learn to tolerate people saying 'laying around' and my ex should learn to tolerate people using 'they' as singular and 'everyone' as plural, but *I* should learn to tolerate people saying 'flaunt' when they mean 'flout'. Ugh.) I currently don't agree with you about *when* the 'vulgar words' (fair enough, I guess, as 'vulgar' means the common people, as the Bible translated from educated Hebrew and Greek to the common Latin of working class people in Rome is called the 'Vulgate') moved from being informal to carrying a whole load of negativity. I can't speak ancient dialects of English well enough to time travel back to listen to people quarrelling to hear what words they used, and I don't really know what written sources we have. From justcarol67 at yahoo.com Sun Apr 1 22:26:08 2007 From: justcarol67 at yahoo.com (justcarol67) Date: Sun, 01 Apr 2007 22:26:08 -0000 Subject: Rare videos, laser discs, etc. Message-ID: A friend of mine who makes his living selling everything from DVDs to car appraisals on EBay is experiencing some serious financial problems. He's not sure he can even make his mortgage payment this month. I would consider it a personal favor if some of you would check out his website and maybe buy an item or two. He has VHS tapes but no DVDs for two of the HP films and a lot of other unusual merchandise, including laser discs for people who still like that format. I hope it's okay to make this appeal here. I don't know how else to help him except to buy a few items myself. Here's the link to his website: http://stores.ebay.com/Video-Universe Thanks, everyone. Carol, who is really worried about her friend, who lost his job several years ago and makes his living exclusively through EBay From drednort at alphalink.com.au Sun Apr 1 22:39:56 2007 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2007 08:39:56 +1000 Subject: Tsunami alert - Australia In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <4610C15C.7631.22C429@drednort.alphalink.com.au> A tsunami alert has been issued for eastern Australian, particularly Queensland. Landfall expected approximately 0930 AEST if a tsunami has in fact been generated. 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 Sun Apr 1 22:51:15 2007 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2007 08:51:15 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Tsunami alert - Australia In-Reply-To: <4610C15C.7631.22C429@drednort.alphalink.com.au> References: Message-ID: <4610C403.11042.2D2054@drednort.alphalink.com.au> TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 003 PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS ISSUED AT 2239Z 01 APR 2007 THIS BULLETIN IS FOR ALL AREAS OF THE PACIFIC BASIN EXCEPT ALASKA - BRITISH COLUMBIA - WASHINGTON - OREGON - CALIFORNIA. NOTE: AREAS TO THE NORTH OF THE SOLOMON ISLANDS SHOULD NOT BE SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECTED --- A TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH REMAIN IN EFFECT --- A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR SOLOMON IS. / PAPUA NEW GUINEA / VANUATU / NEW CALEDONIA / NORTHEASTERN AUSTRALIA / TUVALU / KIRIBATI / FIJI / A TSUNAMI WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR KERMADEC IS / NEW ZEALAND / FOR ALL OTHER PACIFIC AREAS, THIS MESSAGE IS AN ADVISORY ONLY. AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS ORIGIN TIME - 2040Z 01 APR 2007 COORDINATES - 8.6 SOUTH 157.2 EAST LOCATION - SOLOMON ISLANDS MAGNITUDE - 8.1 MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY HONIARA 15CM ZERO-TO-PEAK OBSERVED AT 21:37 GMT EVALUATION SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. IT MAY HAVE BEEN DESTRUCTIVE ALONG COASTS NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER AND COULD ALSO BE A THREAT TO MORE DISTANT COASTS. AUTHORITIES SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THIS POSSIBILITY. THIS CENTER WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR SEA LEVEL DATA TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT AND SEVERITY OF THE THREAT. FOR ALL AREAS - WHEN NO MAJOR WAVES ARE OBSERVED FOR TWO HOURS AFTER THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL OR DAMAGING WAVES HAVE NOT OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS THEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN ASSUME THE THREAT IS PASSED. DANGER TO BOATS AND COASTAL STRUCTURES CAN CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS DUE TO RAPID CURRENTS. AS LOCAL CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION THE ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES. ESTIMATED INITIAL TSUNAMI WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES. ACTUAL ARRIVAL TIMES MAY DIFFER AND THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST. THE TIME BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE TSUNAMI WAVES CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR. LOCATION COORDINATES ARRIVAL TIME SOLOMON IS. MUNDA 8.4S 157.2E 2039Z 01 APR FALAMAE 7.4S 155.6E 2103Z 01 APR PANGGOE 6.9S 157.2E 2120Z 01 APR HONIARA 9.3S 160.0E 2121Z 01 APR GHATERE 7.8S 159.2E 2122Z 01 APR AUKI 8.8S 160.6E 2134Z 01 APR KIRAKIRA 10.4S 161.9E 2140Z 01 APR PAPUA NEW GUINE AMUN 6.0S 154.7E 2124Z 01 APR KIETA 6.1S 155.6E 2133Z 01 APR RABAUL 4.2S 152.3E 2145Z 01 APR LAE 6.8S 147.0E 2218Z 01 APR KAVIENG 2.5S 150.7E 2223Z 01 APR MADANG 5.2S 146.0E 2241Z 01 APR PORT MORESBY 9.5S 147.0E 2254Z 01 APR MANUS IS. 2.0S 147.5E 2259Z 01 APR WEWAK 3.5S 143.6E 2325Z 01 APR VANIMO 2.6S 141.3E 2350Z 01 APR VANUATU ESPERITU SANTO 15.1S 167.3E 2236Z 01 APR ANATOM IS. 20.2S 169.9E 2322Z 01 APR NAURU NAURU 0.5S 166.9E 2311Z 01 APR CHUUK CHUUK IS. 7.4N 151.8E 2329Z 01 APR NEW CALEDONIA NOUMEA 22.3S 166.5E 2338Z 01 APR POHNPEI POHNPEI IS. 7.0N 158.2E 2345Z 01 APR KOSRAE KOSRAE IS. 5.5N 163.0E 2345Z 01 APR AUSTRALIA CAIRNS 16.7S 145.8E 2349Z 01 APR BRISBANE 27.2S 153.3E 0033Z 02 APR SYDNEY 33.9S 151.4E 0114Z 02 APR GLADSTONE 23.8S 151.4E 0139Z 02 APR MACKAY 21.1S 149.3E 0144Z 02 APR HOBART 43.3S 147.6E 0245Z 02 APR INDONESIA JAYAPURA 2.4S 140.8E 2354Z 01 APR WARSA 0.6S 135.8E 0037Z 02 APR MANOKWARI 0.8S 134.2E 0056Z 02 APR SORONG 0.8S 131.1E 0125Z 02 APR BEREBERE 2.5N 128.7E 0144Z 02 APR PATANI 0.4N 128.8E 0158Z 02 APR GEME 4.8N 126.8E 0202Z 02 APR MANADO 1.5N 124.8E 0242Z 02 APR TARAKAN 3.3N 117.6E 0400Z 02 APR SINGKAWANG 1.0N 108.8E 1240Z 02 APR PANGKALPINANG 2.0S 106.2E 1547Z 02 APR TUVALU FUNAFUTI IS. 7.9S 178.5E 2359Z 01 APR KIRIBATI TARAWA IS. 1.5N 173.0E 0007Z 02 APR KANTON IS. 2.8S 171.7W 0121Z 02 APR CHRISTMAS IS. 2.0N 157.5W 0325Z 02 APR MALDEN IS. 3.9S 154.9W 0336Z 02 APR FLINT IS. 11.4S 151.8W 0408Z 02 APR MARSHALL IS. KWAJALEIN 8.7N 167.7E 0022Z 02 APR MAJURO 7.1N 171.4E 0028Z 02 APR ENIWETOK 11.4N 162.3E 0037Z 02 APR GUAM GUAM 13.4N 144.7E 0035Z 02 APR FIJI SUVA 18.1S 178.4E 0038Z 02 APR N. MARIANAS SAIPAN 15.3N 145.8E 0041Z 02 APR YAP YAP IS. 9.5N 138.1E 0048Z 02 APR HOWLAND-BAKER HOWLAND IS. 0.6N 176.6W 0057Z 02 APR WALLIS-FUTUNA WALLIS IS. 13.2S 176.2W 0100Z 02 APR BELAU MALAKAL 7.3N 134.5E 0103Z 02 APR TOKELAU NUKUNONU IS. 9.2S 171.8W 0119Z 02 APR KERMADEC IS RAOUL IS. 29.2S 177.9W 0131Z 02 APR SAMOA APIA 13.8S 171.8W 0135Z 02 APR NEW ZEALAND NORTH CAPE 34.4S 173.3E 0138Z 02 APR EAST CAPE 37.5S 178.5E 0214Z 02 APR AUCKLAND(W) 37.1S 174.2E 0238Z 02 APR GISBORNE 38.7S 178.0E 0247Z 02 APR MILFORD SOUND 44.5S 167.8E 0249Z 02 APR NEW PLYMOUTH 39.1S 174.1E 0310Z 02 APR NAPIER 39.5S 176.9E 0316Z 02 APR WESTPORT 41.8S 171.2E 0332Z 02 APR AUCKLAND(E) 36.7S 175.0E 0332Z 02 APR WELLINGTON 41.5S 174.8E 0333Z 02 APR BLUFF 46.6S 168.3E 0351Z 02 APR NELSON 41.3S 173.3E 0426Z 02 APR LYTTELTON 43.6S 172.7E 0439Z 02 APR DUNEDIN 45.9S 170.5E 0506Z 02 APR MARCUS IS. MARCUS IS. 24.3N 154.0E 0138Z 02 APR WAKE IS. WAKE IS. 19.3N 166.6E 0141Z 02 APR AMERICAN SAMOA PAGO PAGO 14.3S 170.7W 0144Z 02 APR TONGA NUKUALOFA 21.0S 175.2W 0152Z 02 APR NIUE NIUE IS. 19.0S 170.0W 0209Z 02 APR COOK ISLANDS PUKAPUKA IS. 10.8S 165.9W 0212Z 02 APR PENRYN IS. 8.9S 157.8W 0316Z 02 APR RAROTONGA 21.2S 159.8W 0324Z 02 APR PHILIPPINES DAVAO 6.8N 125.7E 0215Z 02 APR LEGASPI 13.2N 124.0E 0248Z 02 APR ZAMBOANGA 7.0N 122.2E 0256Z 02 APR PALANAN 17.1N 122.6E 0307Z 02 APR LAOAG 18.2N 120.6E 0352Z 02 APR PUERTO PRINCESA 9.8N 119.0E 0404Z 02 APR SAN FERNANDO 16.6N 120.3E 0421Z 02 APR ILOILO 10.8N 122.8E 0438Z 02 APR MANILA 14.5N 120.8E 0517Z 02 APR JARVIS IS. JARVIS IS. 0.4S 160.1W 0256Z 02 APR PALMYRA IS. PALMYRA IS. 6.3N 162.4W 0300Z 02 APR JOHNSTON IS. JOHNSTON IS. 16.7N 169.5W 0308Z 02 APR JAPAN KATSUURA 35.1N 140.3E 0312Z 02 APR OKINAWA 26.2N 128.0E 0318Z 02 APR SHIMIZU 32.8N 132.8E 0359Z 02 APR KUSHIRO 42.8N 144.2E 0410Z 02 APR HACHINOHE 40.5N 141.8E 0415Z 02 APR TAIWAN HUALIEN 24.0N 121.8E 0338Z 02 APR MIDWAY IS. MIDWAY IS. 28.2N 177.4W 0348Z 02 APR MALAYSIA SANDAKAN 6.0N 118.2E 0424Z 02 APR BINTULU 3.2N 113.0E 0805Z 02 APR K TERENGGANU 5.3N 103.2E 1333Z 02 APR BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER IF CONDITIONS WARRANT. THE TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. THE JAPAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY MAY ALSO ISSUE TSUNAMI MESSAGES FOR THIS EVENT TO COUNTRIES IN THE NORTHWEST PACIFIC AND SOUTH CHINA SEA REGION. IN CASE OF CONFLICTING INFORMATION... THE MORE CONSERVATIVE INFORMATION SHOULD BE USED FOR SAFETY. THE WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER WILL ISSUE BULLETINS FOR ALASKA - BRITISH COLUMBIA - WASHINGTON - OREGON - CALIFORNIA. 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 catlady at wicca.net Sun Apr 1 23:48:48 2007 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Sun, 01 Apr 2007 23:48:48 -0000 Subject: Tsunami alert - Australia In-Reply-To: <4610C403.11042.2D2054@drednort.alphalink.com.au> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Shaun Hately" wrote: > > TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 003 > PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS > ISSUED AT 2239Z 01 APR 2007 > Shaun, is this for real? If so, I wish best luck to everyone and that no tsunami comes to them -- didn't Vanuatu have a local tsunami last week? Or is it an April Fool hoax, in which I assume you laboriously filled in what the real arrival times would be for all those different places if it were real. From drednort at alphalink.com.au Sun Apr 1 23:49:11 2007 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2007 09:49:11 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Tsunami alert - Australia In-Reply-To: References: <4610C403.11042.2D2054@drednort.alphalink.com.au> Message-ID: <4610D197.19596.622D4E@drednort.alphalink.com.au> On 1 Apr 2007 at 23:48, Catlady (Rita Prince Winston) wrote: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Shaun Hately" > > wrote: > > > > TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 003 > > PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS > > ISSUED AT 2239Z 01 APR 2007 > > > > Shaun, is this for real? If so, I wish best luck to everyone and > that > no tsunami comes to them -- didn't Vanuatu have a local tsunami last > week? > > Or is it an April Fool hoax, in which I assume you laboriously > filled > in what the real arrival times would be for all those different > places > if it were real. It's real - it's April 2nd here Threat seems to have eased for Australia - any tsunami seems to be small, but we are still on alert, and coastal islands are still at risk. And other parts of the Pacific may not have been as lucky. 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 Mhochberg at aol.com Mon Apr 2 04:28:54 2007 From: Mhochberg at aol.com (Mhochberg at aol.com) Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2007 00:28:54 EDT Subject: Stephen Fry vs Jim Dale - Audio Books Message-ID: In a message dated 3/29/2007 12:00:05 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, Lee writes: They're both good, but I am a confirmed Jim Junky. I have been a Jim Dale fan since I first saw him in "Pete's Dragon." He played Dr. Terminus and was only reason to rewatch the film. ---Mary ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From Mhochberg at aol.com Mon Apr 2 04:35:41 2007 From: Mhochberg at aol.com (Mhochberg at aol.com) Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2007 00:35:41 EDT Subject: Main list Daily Digest Message-ID: In a message dated 3/31/2007 9:38:33 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, Peggy writes: I have seen the same digest numbering problem in other Yahoo groups I get digests for. It's a bug: they're incrementing the digest number for every message included in the digest, plus the digest itself! I've heard that they're aware of it and I hope it's fixed soon, because with the bad numbering it's hard to tell if you're missing a digest without getting out a calculator..d Ah, that's it! Thank you, Peggy. This has been very annoying to me too. I've been seeing it on several lists, some of them not nearly as busy as the HPFGU family. ---Mary ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From maritajan at yahoo.com Mon Apr 2 12:38:33 2007 From: maritajan at yahoo.com (MJ) Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2007 05:38:33 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Main list Daily Digest In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <423496.13703.qm@web36807.mail.mud.yahoo.com> The 'numbering per included message' makes perfect sense (or, at least it explains the discrepency in the digest numbers). Thanks so much! MJ Mhochberg at aol.com wrote: In a message dated 3/31/2007 9:38:33 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, Peggy writes: I have seen the same digest numbering problem in other Yahoo groups I get digests for. It's a bug: they're incrementing the digest number for every message included in the digest, plus the digest itself! I've heard that they're aware of it and I hope it's fixed soon, because with the bad numbering it's hard to tell if you're missing a digest without getting out a calculator..d Ah, that's it! Thank you, Peggy. This has been very annoying to me too. I've been seeing it on several lists, some of them not nearly as busy as the HPFGU family. ---Mary ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------- http://www.myspace.com/maritajan --------------------------------- Expecting? Get great news right away with email Auto-Check. Try the Yahoo! Mail Beta. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From bunniqula at gmail.com Tue Apr 3 05:31:12 2007 From: bunniqula at gmail.com (Dina Lerret) Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2007 01:31:12 -0400 Subject: Fandom cracks me up! RE: why I'm coughing on my own saliva Message-ID: <1a2738400704022231n612a360r89d38ef9bf0cf558@mail.gmail.com> I was reading the comment posted here: http://community.livejournal.com/supernatural_tv/911138.html And then I started laughing and ended up choking on my own saliva... could be worse, I could be choking on someone else's saliva. :-\ Nothing against the original message poster--she's been considerate of fan input--but I think I must be in the minority to get a kick out of the irony in her comments. {chuckle} >From the above link: "If you wanna go there and make some noise for Supernatural, please refrain from expressing harsh feelings about Kristin in a way that would make our fandom look petty and tantruming." Good advice and one I agree with completely! Then, immediately following that comment: "Yes, she's a ditz. Yes, she's a fear monger. Yes, she has a terrible track record." LOL! Then: "If she gets a rise out of us because of these things, she succeeds in making us look as silly as she does. So let's show her up and be the "bigger man."" Man, I love fandom. {chuckle} Makes me feel a little better about doing such stuff like pouring coffee on biscuits (gravy and coffee are not the same thing) and other assorted *classic* moments, which there are too many, because I then 'blend in'. God knows I've also said a multitude of 'boy, that makes sense, if you don't think about it' comments. {chuckle} Dina From justcarol67 at yahoo.com Tue Apr 3 18:15:36 2007 From: justcarol67 at yahoo.com (justcarol67) Date: Tue, 03 Apr 2007 18:15:36 -0000 Subject: DH wallpaper Message-ID: Here's a copy of the full-spread cover of the Scholastic edition of DH that works better as wallpaper than some of the others, at least for my screen resolution (1024 x 768): http://www.bordersmedia.com/harrypotter/images/Borders_HPSpread.jpg I have it set on "Tile," which gives me a double image of the scene, with a few spare curtains, etc. Other downloads of the cover art give me multiple small images or just a distorted image on that setting, and all of them are, of course, distorted on "Stretch." This one also works well with a single image ("Center"), but I can't find a background color that works well with it. (I have Windows XP.) Carol, for whom the cover art suggests a happy ending From OctobersChild48 at aol.com Tue Apr 3 22:46:50 2007 From: OctobersChild48 at aol.com (OctobersChild48 at aol.com) Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2007 18:46:50 EDT Subject: I'm so excited Message-ID: Hey Everyone, I mentioned in a post last week that I got a new computer. This was quite an upgrade for me because I went from Windows 95 to the new Windows Vista. My friend from work finally got it up and running last night. The first place I went to was Jo's website. On the 95 I could only do the text version. It was great. I finally got to see the desktop and all of the stuff on it. I love it; the dogs barking and the owls hooting, the spider scurrying across the desk. It took me a while to find the door. That is so cool too! Love the windchimes. This computer is awesome. I am not going to be sleeping much for a while. And now I *really* get to join the Harry Potter online community, including finally getting to see the HBO and 6 minute long OOP trailers. I just had to share my excitement. Sandy ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From zeldazamboni at yahoo.com Tue Apr 3 22:36:04 2007 From: zeldazamboni at yahoo.com (Zelda Zunk) Date: Tue, 03 Apr 2007 22:36:04 -0000 Subject: Charmed Knits - tuesday is knitalong day Message-ID: For the knitters out there from The Blue Blog: The Charmed Knits knit-a- long is up and running! (Because I've got baby L to take care of, the publisher has kindly offered to run the knitalong. They've set up a blog and will be in charge of sign-ups, but I'll be over there posting and hosting too, so come join me!) The publisher has come up with a wonderful idea to kick off the knitalong too. They've generously provided one of the patterns from the book as a free pdf and have teamed up with Warm Woolies to donate hats knit from the pattern to orphaned children in America and elsewhere. http://charmedknits.blogspot.com/ http://alison.knitsmiths.us/ ****** At last! An excuse to knit this very hot summer. Zelda Zunk Corsets & Capes From zeldazamboni at yahoo.com Tue Apr 3 22:57:23 2007 From: zeldazamboni at yahoo.com (Zelda Zunk) Date: Tue, 03 Apr 2007 22:57:23 -0000 Subject: I'm so excited In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Sandy OctobersChild48 at ... wrote: > I mentioned in a post last week that I got a new computer. > This was quite an upgrade for me because I went from Windows > 95 to the new Windows Vista. The first place I went > to was Jo's website. It was great. I finally got to > see the desktop and all of the stuff on it. It's a New World! Congradulations. Upgrading a computer is so tedious but so worth the work. I think that Jo's site is one of the most innovative out there. I expect that there will be plenty of subtle changes as it gets closer to movie & book time. Zelda Zunk Corsets & Capes From gav_fiji at yahoo.com Wed Apr 4 06:21:59 2007 From: gav_fiji at yahoo.com (Goddlefrood) Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2007 06:21:59 -0000 Subject: Two Matters of Note (To me at least) Message-ID: It seems that a leading light of English detective fiction has now passed through the veil. As well as Aurelio Zen, Michael Dibdin created perhaps the best Sherlock Holmes story not written by the great Sir Arthur himself. It is called "The Last Sherlock Holmes Story". Mr. Dibdin's obituary can be found here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml? xml=/news/2007/04/04/db0401.xml&DCMP=EMC-new_04042007 On a lighter note it appears the French are getting something of a comeuppance in respect of their wines, new world wines are often more pallatable, in my opinion, the French do still brew a fair tipple at times though, here's a story that may amuse: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml? xml=/news/2007/04/04/wine04.xml&DCMP=EMC-new_04042007 More power to the Australian elbow, perhps ;) Toodle Pip Goddlefrood From justcarol67 at yahoo.com Wed Apr 4 15:38:25 2007 From: justcarol67 at yahoo.com (justcarol67) Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2007 15:38:25 -0000 Subject: Fun with arithmancy and divination Message-ID: I was trying to remember the fancy word for tea-leaf reading last night and a Google search led me to this site: http://phrontistery.info/divine.html which gives the names of all sorts of divination, from fortune-telling using playing cards (which I remembered was cartomancy) to coscinomancy (divination using a sieve and a pair of shears). Tea-leaf reading, I discovered, was phyllomancy. There's also gastromancy (divination by sounds from the belly) and ololygmancy (fortune-telling by the howling of dogs). (The person compiling the site is interested in words and etymology, BTW, not in divination, but if you like that sort of thing, it's a good place to waste some time. You're likely to be amused and you might learn some useless trivia to impress your friends.) Anyway, while I was there, I noticed arithmancy (divination using numbers, naturally) and wondered (again) why Hermione would regard Divination as a "woolly" subject but find Arithmancy, a form of divination, useful and intriguing. I went Googling again and found The Sorceror's Companion Arithmancy Calculator http://www.sorcererscompanion.net/arithmancy.html which answered that very question: "Arithmancy, an elective at Hogwarts, is an ancient system of fortune-telling based on names and numbers. For over 2000 years, people have used arithmancy to analyze their strengths and weaknesses, overcome obstacles, and predict the future. Hermoine [sic] probably likes this system of divination because it isn't based on interpreting fuzzy images or giving meaning to random shapes and squiggles, but on mathematical calculations you can do with a pencil and paper--or in this case, right here on your computer." Essentially, according to this website, each letter in a word or name has a numerical value between 1 and 9. The person's character number is the total of those numbers, which must be reduced to lowest terms if it's more than nine. For example, Nicholas Flamel comes out to 58, which is reduced to 5 + 8 = 13, which reduces to 1 + 3 = 4. (There's also a heart number, what the person is like inside, derived from the vowels in the name, and a social number, how the person appears to other people, derived from the consonants.) Two people whose names add up to the same number are supposed to be compatible--alas for Harry and Ginny, a 2 (like Severus Snape) and a 6! Hermione herself is a 4, which fits rather well: "Like a table that rests solidly on four legs, four indicates stability and firmness. Fours enjoy hard work. They are practical, reliable and down to earth; they prefer logic and reason to flights of fancy. They are good at organization and getting things done. Like the cycle of the four seasons, they are also predictable. They can be stubborn, suspicious, overly practical and prone to angry outbursts. The conflicts possible in "two" are doubled in four." But Ron Weasley is a 2 (or a 1 if we call him Ronald). Of course, we'd get different results altogether if we put in middle names. Tom Riddle is a 1, but Tom Marvolo Riddle is a 7. He'd like that. Carol, noting that "divination" is a 9 and "arithmancy" a 4, making Divination incompatible with anybody and Arithmancy compatible with Hermione (who has to do it all with quill and parchment because she doesn't have a computer) From snapes_witch at yahoo.com Wed Apr 4 19:40:08 2007 From: snapes_witch at yahoo.com (Elizabeth Snape) Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2007 19:40:08 -0000 Subject: Two Matters of Note (To me at least) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Goddlefrood" wrote: > > It seems that a leading light of English detective fiction has > now passed through the veil. As well as Aurelio Zen, Michael Dibdin > created perhaps the best Sherlock Holmes story not written by the > great Sir Arthur himself. It is called "The Last Sherlock Holmes > Story". Mr. Dibdin's obituary can be found here: > > http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml? > xml=/news/2007/04/04/db0401.xml&DCMP=EMC-new_04042007 > Well, in Sherlockian circles there might be some discussion about whether 'The Last Sherlock Holmes Story' is the best non-Conan Doyle story, though no doubt about it's being the most controversial! I'll just say it's one of the best written. I wonder if it's at the bottom of my pile of Holmes books . . . Sad news about Dibdin, 60 is much too young to die. Snape's Witch who's quite fond of the other hawk-nosed Englishman who also dabbles in 'potions' From lilandriss at yahoo.com Wed Apr 4 20:49:02 2007 From: lilandriss at yahoo.com (lilandriss) Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2007 20:49:02 -0000 Subject: Dan and American Idol Message-ID: Hey, did anyone catch that comment from Ryan Seacrest about Dan appearing on the finale of Americal Idol? What did he mean by that? Just that he'll be in the audience or is he actually doing something? lanna :) From renee at thephoenixrises.org Thu Apr 5 04:43:30 2007 From: renee at thephoenixrises.org (merihastyent) Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2007 04:43:30 -0000 Subject: Keynote Events for Phoenix Rising Sold Out Message-ID: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2007 Contact: Amy Tenbrink, Lead Event Organizer press at thephoenixrises.org KEYNOTE EVENTS FOR PHOENIX RISING SOLD OUT NEW ORLEANS, La., April 4, 2007 ? Two of the keynote presentations for Phoenix Rising, a Harry Potter conference to be held in New Orleans May 17-21, 2007, have sold out. There are no remaining tickets for Transformation: From Influence to Inspiration with Dr. Anne Heibert Alton, or for Transformation: From Fan to Fandom, which is a unique walking dinner at the Aquarium of the Americas that will be followed by a panel on the fan community and include Dr. Henry Jenkins of MIT, Melissa Anelli (The Leaky Cauldron), Simon Branford (formerly of FictionAlley), Jennie "Zsenya" Levine (The Sugar Quill), and moderator Catherine Tosenberger. If there are any unclaimed tickets, they will be available at the door. Phoenix Rising also announced a reminder today that online registration for the conference closes on April 11, 2007, at 12:01 a.m. While passes and limited tickets will be available at the door, those who wish to reserve a place in the Borders Riverside Quidditch Tournament are encouraged to register in advance, as no tickets for the tournament will be sold after the close of online registration. The tournament will include the Alivan's Winged Lions, the Knight 62442 Werewolves; the Whimsic Alley Sea Serpents; the Borders Potion Masters; the Shrieking Shack Marauders; the Owl Appreciation Society Fighting Owls; the World Confederation of Pirates and Ninjas Pontchartrain Pirates; and the Betas Anonymous Punctuation Pixies. All teams will play at least three matches of outdoor Quidditch, complete with spectators, and at the end of the tournament, the winners will take home the famed Delta Cup. Registered attendees may visit and use the "change my registration" option to add the tournament to any registration. Additionally, non-attendees may take part in the tournament by visiting and using the "purchase tickets only" option. Until 12:01 a.m. on April 11, anyone may purchase Quidditch tournament registration, tickets for the Storyville wizard rock event on Bourbon Street, and for the other keynote events, presented by Susan Aikens of Borders, Inc., Danny Bilson of Electronic Arts, and Jon Burlingame of the University of Southern California. Registrations include admission to all five days of the conference, including lectures, panels, workshops, roundtable discussions, hands-on programs, and special programming such as Squashy Purple Sleeping Bag Movie Night, a live PotterCast, a live Spellcast as part of Artists and Authors Night, and the Snape: Friend or Foe? panel; the Overture Dinner and Coda Breakfast; a ticket to Phoenix Rising's New Orleans-style Masquerade Ball; and a conference t-shirt. Links: About Phoenix Rising Phoenix Rising (), a Harry Potter conference for adult scholars, students, professionals and fans, is presented by Narrate Conferences, Inc. (), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that produces dynamic, innovative events. Phoenix Rising is an unofficial event, and is not endorsed, sanctioned or any other way supported, directly or indirectly, by Warner Bros. Entertainment, the Harry Potter book publishers, or J. K. Rowling and her representatives. From doddiemoemoe at yahoo.com Thu Apr 5 05:05:00 2007 From: doddiemoemoe at yahoo.com (doddiemoemoe) Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2007 05:05:00 -0000 Subject: Dan and American Idol In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "lilandriss" wrote: > > Hey, did anyone catch that comment from Ryan Seacrest about Dan > appearing on the finale of Americal Idol? What did he mean by that? > Just that he'll be in the audience or is he actually doing something? > lanna :) > I don't know about "appearing", however, I do believe that all celebrities named would participate in said charity... and puuullleeease...I would hope dan wouldn't share a stage with sanjaya anytime soon...(not that I hate Sanjaya...I just think he really has a certain something in his singing voice which he has not shown his audience(or I believe made an attempt to develop thus far in the competition--alas youth....only so much time before they start chalking up side by side photos of Sanjai and Mr. Spector on the morning news shows following "Idol Nights"....(now that would be a ratings explosion--for the morning shows, not A.I.! LOL) Anyhoo, back to topic...it will probably be a "UK group" in a short video clip saying someing akin to "WooHoo", together.. for Idol producers a photo of someone means they will "appear"...someone that will take the stage is a "guest".. Hope this makes sense.. Doddie, (who decided on Tues. morn to hunger strike until Simon said something nice...it lasted less than six hours LOL!) From zeldazamboni at yahoo.com Thu Apr 5 16:26:15 2007 From: zeldazamboni at yahoo.com (Zelda Zunk) Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2007 16:26:15 -0000 Subject: Dan and American Idol In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > lanna: > Hey, did anyone catch that comment from Ryan Seacrest > about Dan appearing on the finale of Americal Idol? > What did he mean by that? Just that he'll be in the > audience or is he actually doing something? Dan Radcliffe's charity video to air on American Idol http://www.mugglenet.com/ The Harry Potter actor previously recorded a video in order to raise awareness and funds for children in extreme poverty in America and Africa. This video, along with those of Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange) and a number of other celebrities, will be broadcast on "American Idol Gives Back" April 25th. http://www.americanidol.com/news/view/?pid=612 More artists have been confirmed including Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant, Helena Bonham Carter, Forest Whitaker, Pink, Gwen Stefani, Mr. Bean - Rowan Atkinson, and Daniel Radcliffe from "Harry Potter!" Zelda Zunk Corsets & Capes From willsonkmom at msn.com Fri Apr 6 13:12:22 2007 From: willsonkmom at msn.com (potioncat) Date: Fri, 06 Apr 2007 13:12:22 -0000 Subject: Fun with arithmancy and divination In-Reply-To: Message-ID: "justcarol67" > > Carol, noting that "divination" is a 9 and "arithmancy" a 4, making > Divination incompatible with anybody and Arithmancy compatible with > Hermione (who has to do it all with quill and parchment because she > doesn't have a computer) This is the number of the individual, the solitary unit. Ones are independent, focused, and determined. They set a goal and stick to it. They are leaders and inventors. Ones find it difficult to work with others and don't like to take orders. They can be self-centered, egotistical, and domineering. They are often loners. Potioncat: Well, I couldn't resist. So I used Arithmancy to scope out Snape. He's a two and the site says this: "Twos are imaginative, creative, and sweet natured." Sweet natured? I must have added wrong. Maybe we can divine his middle name by seeing how many letters it should have to bring him to a number that more closely fits him. Here's the whole description about twos. 2 Two represents interaction, two-way communication, cooperation, and balance. Twos are imaginative, creative, and sweet natured. Peace, harmony, commitment, loyalty, and fairness are characteristic. But two also introduces the idea of conflict, opposing forces, and the contrasting sides of things: night and day, good and evil. Twos can be withdrawn, moody, self-conscious and indecisive. "Conflict, opposing forces, night-and-day, good-and-evil"....That's him! From swartell at yahoo.com Fri Apr 6 15:15:29 2007 From: swartell at yahoo.com (Sue Wartell) Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2007 08:15:29 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Fun with arithmancy and divination In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <385761.85700.qm@web53212.mail.re2.yahoo.com> I'm afraid my reaction to this is rather like Hermione's to some of Prof. Trelawney's pronouncements (e.g., the one "about" Lavendar's rabbit.) When the range of characteristics is so wide, can you find anyone at all to whom it does NOT apply? > 2 Two represents interaction, two-way > communication, cooperation, > and balance. Twos are imaginative, creative, and > sweet natured. > Peace, harmony, commitment, loyalty, and fairness > are characteristic. > But two also introduces the idea of conflict, > opposing forces, and > the contrasting sides of things: night and day, good > and evil. Twos > can be withdrawn, moody, self-conscious and > indecisive. "interaction, two-way communication" but also "withdrawn" ? "Peace, harmnony" but also "conflict , opposing forces" "sweet natured" but also "moody". I know that people have many sides and all of us can show conflicting behaviours and attitudes, depending on many factors, but that very variability means that you'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't show all of these differing attitudes at different times. Which predominates is the real question, and this description leaves me scratching my head over which set of features predominates for 2s. Perhaps the suggestion to add Snape's middle name would help. If the last part of the description came first, I'd say it fit Snape to a T. Sometimes my logical side simply won't shut up... Sue ____________________________________________________________________________________ The fish are biting. Get more visitors on your site using Yahoo! Search Marketing. http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/arp/sponsoredsearch_v2.php From Mhochberg at aol.com Fri Apr 6 18:43:38 2007 From: Mhochberg at aol.com (Mhochberg at aol.com) Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2007 14:43:38 EDT Subject: Need translation of today's "Get Fuzzy" comic strip Message-ID: Today's strip has Mac becoming the new spokescat for Migrapain Extra Strength because they love his British charm. Unfortunately, I can only understand about half of it. Here is what he says: Oi! Feelin' a bit moby? Need a bit of a lie in? Just take 2 of these Jack Mills and go have another tiddley! They do it all---from Clements to Wonky Newingtons---and they won't cost you a monkey! _http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/_ (http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/) Thanks! ---Mary ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From gbannister10 at tiscali.co.uk Fri Apr 6 19:53:25 2007 From: gbannister10 at tiscali.co.uk (Geoff Bannister) Date: Fri, 06 Apr 2007 19:53:25 -0000 Subject: Need translation of today's "Get Fuzzy" comic strip In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Mhochberg at ... wrote: > > Today's strip has Mac becoming the new spokescat for Migrapain Extra > Strength because they love his British charm. Unfortunately, I can only understand > about half of it. Here is what he says: > > Oi! Feelin' a bit moby? > Need a bit of a lie in? > Just take 2 of these Jack Mills and go have another tiddley! > They do it all---from Clements to Wonky Newingtons---and they won't cost you > a monkey! Geoff: This is Cockney rhyming slang, some modern, some old. In translation: Moby = Moby Dick = Sick Jack Mills = Pills Tiddley = Tiddley Wink = Drink Clements = Clement Freuds = Haemorrhoids Newingtons = Newington Butts = Guts Monkey - Betting slang for ?500.00 Hope this helps. From bunniqula at gmail.com Fri Apr 6 21:51:00 2007 From: bunniqula at gmail.com (Dina Lerret) Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2007 17:51:00 -0400 Subject: Win some, lose some :-\ Message-ID: <1a2738400704061451j475654c6w8e82f12b7ccce8a3@mail.gmail.com> Eh, Sam's Club in Clearwater said they had the turkey... went there, no turkey. :-( The kicker: a nearby Sam's Club had twenty-three turkeys this morning but they sold out quickly and were gone by the time I checked in with that location because an 11.25 lb smoked turkey at $3.81 (nationwide sale) was too much a bargain. Then, I had ordered ten of the 3 lbs cockatiel seed at $0.31 and Petsmart cancelled seven of the orders. A shipping notice on two orders was sent with a third order still uncertain on its status. Win some, lose some. {shrug} Dina From Debby970095 at aol.com Sat Apr 7 04:41:34 2007 From: Debby970095 at aol.com (Debby970095 at aol.com) Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2007 00:41:34 EDT Subject: Odd to me Message-ID: Hi all, I rarely post but I have been looking at the new cover. (Glad that it is out!!!) As I have studied it though it seems odd to me that as Harry possibly facing the Dark Lord for the Last time does not have a wand any where in sight and neither does Lord Voldemort! Is it just me or am I the only one that finds that a bit odd? Just a thought while taking and break from cleaning and getting ready for Easter. Debby ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From kayla_pittillo at hotmail.com Sat Apr 7 06:06:05 2007 From: kayla_pittillo at hotmail.com (Kayla Pittillo) Date: Sat, 07 Apr 2007 06:06:05 -0000 Subject: Need translation of today's "Get Fuzzy" comic strip In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > Mary > Today's strip has Mac becoming the new spokescat for Migrapain Extra Strength because they love his British charm. Unfortunately, I can only understand about half of it. Kayla says: Part of why Mac is included in Get Fuzzy is the fact those of us in the U.S. aren't supposed to understand what he's saying, just as we're not supposed to understand why Chubby Huggs likes to hug everyone. From wuff at internode.on.net Sat Apr 7 14:45:35 2007 From: wuff at internode.on.net (Wolfie!) Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 00:45:35 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Need translation of today's "Get Fuzzy" comic strip In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4617AE8F.5080301@internode.on.net> > Oi! Feelin' a bit moby? > Need a bit of a lie in? > Just take 2 of these Jack Mills and go have another tiddley! > They do it all---from Clements to Wonky Newingtons---and they won't cost you > a monkey! I have never heard of moby being used for sick, but in this case... need to go back to bed and lay down take two pills and go to sleep they do the lot from head to toe and they're free? -- Wolfie Rankin on Secondlife. Kookaburra Pub Owner / ABC Friends Admin ICQ - 3449014 Skype - Wolfie_storr * Eats a kid a day * Made in Eragon From drwh0_10 at yahoo.com Sat Apr 7 15:30:27 2007 From: drwh0_10 at yahoo.com (George) Date: Sat, 07 Apr 2007 15:30:27 -0000 Subject: brooms Message-ID: I have been looking all over for a broom and can only find the 3 foot plastic handle, or generic wizard brooms. Anyone know of any larger brooms still available? George From Mhochberg at aol.com Sat Apr 7 16:58:45 2007 From: Mhochberg at aol.com (Mhochberg at aol.com) Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2007 12:58:45 EDT Subject: Need translation of today's "Get Fuzzy" comic strip Message-ID: Geoff: This is Cockney rhyming slang, some modern, some old. In translation: Moby = Moby Dick = Sick Jack Mills = Pills Tiddley = Tiddley Wink = Drink Clements = Clement Freuds = Haemorrhoids Newingtons = Newington Butts = Guts Monkey - Betting slang for ?500.00 ~~~~ Thanks, Geoff, this is just what I needed. While I could figure the first few, there is no way I could figure out Clements, Newingtons, or Monkey. I like puzzles but I also like answers! ---Mary ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From gbannister10 at tiscali.co.uk Sat Apr 7 18:07:40 2007 From: gbannister10 at tiscali.co.uk (Geoff Bannister) Date: Sat, 07 Apr 2007 18:07:40 -0000 Subject: Need translation of today's "Get Fuzzy" comic strip In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Mhochberg at ... wrote: > > Geoff: > This is Cockney rhyming slang, some modern, some old. > > In translation: > Moby = Moby Dick = Sick > Jack Mills = Pills > Tiddley = Tiddley Wink = Drink > Clements = Clement Freuds = Haemorrhoids > Newingtons = Newington Butts = Guts > Monkey - Betting slang for ?500.00 Mary > Thanks, Geoff, this is just what I needed. While I could figure the first > few, there is no way I could figure out Clements, Newingtons, or Monkey. I like > puzzles but I also like answers! Geoff: This of course is the problem with rhyming slang, that the second word of the rhyme gets left out and you need to know the derivation. For example, Newington Butts is the name of a street close to the Elephant and Castle in South London. I picked up a lot while living in London for 45 years but I had to consult a book on rhyming slang to confirm one or two of the above. From justcarol67 at yahoo.com Sun Apr 8 01:27:50 2007 From: justcarol67 at yahoo.com (justcarol67) Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 01:27:50 -0000 Subject: Fun with arithmancy and divination In-Reply-To: <385761.85700.qm@web53212.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Sue Wartell wrote: > > I'm afraid my reaction to this is rather like Hermione's to some of Prof. Trelawney's pronouncements (e.g., the one "about" Lavendar's rabbit.) > > When the range of characteristics is so wide, can you find anyone at all to whom it does NOT apply? > > Perhaps the suggestion to add Snape's middle name would help. If the last part of the description came first, I'd say it fit Snape to a T. > > Sometimes my logical side simply won't shut up... > > Sue Carol responds: Well, yes, of course. You'll notice that I didn't include Snape in my original post, but his was the first name I tried. And my reaction was rather like Potioncat's: imaginative, creative, and loyal, yes--but "sweet-natured"? And, of course, I noted that the first set of traits is the polar opposite of the second set, like the two sides of a coin, or heat and cold. (IIRC, cartomancy also has two sets of readings for each card, but I have no idea how it works.) Anyway, no one is suggesting that Arithmancy is really a means of character analysis. I just posted the link to the site as a bit of fun while we wait, and Potioncat was playing along. (If I were presenting a serious theory or hypothesis, I'd have posted to the main site, complete with canon.) I do still wonder, though, why the logically minded Hermione would find Arithmancy fascinating when she dismisses all other forms of divination. I would have expected her reaction to be very much like yours, but, instead, Arithmancy is her favorite subject. There must be more to Arithmancy than we find on this site, which, again, I merely linked to to amuse us. (See the thread title.) Carol, whose usually relentless logical side was deliberately suppressed for the initial post to this thread From catlady at wicca.net Sun Apr 8 01:51:20 2007 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 01:51:20 -0000 Subject: Fun with arithmancy and divination In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" wrote: > > I was trying to remember the fancy word for tea-leaf reading last > night and a Google search led me to this site: > > http://phrontistery.info/divine.html > > which gives the names of all sorts of divination, from fortune- > telling using playing cards (which I remembered was cartomancy) to > coscinomancy (divination using a sieve and a pair of shears). > Tea-leaf reading, I discovered, was phyllomancy. I thought tea-leaf reading was tassomancy ... (click click click) says "Sorry, no dictionaries indexed in the selected category contain the word tassomancy. Perhaps you meant: tasseomancy found in 1 dictionary)" That '1 dictionary' is which says: "Tasseography >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Tasseomancy) Tasseography (also known as tasseomancy or tassology) is a divination or fortune-telling method that in western traditions interprets patterns in tea leaves. The term also refers to the reading of coffee grounds, especially in the Middle Eastern tradition, or the reading of wine sediments." > > Anyway, while I was there, I noticed arithmancy (divination using > numbers, naturally) and wondered (again) why Hermione would regard > Divination as a "woolly" subject but find Arithmancy, a form of > divination, useful and intriguing. > I remain certain that the Arithmancy of which Hermione is so fond has nothing to do with the Muggle numerology called arithmancy. Sort of like there is , that is, 'psychometry' means BOTH 'The ability or art of divining information about people or events associated with an object solely by touching or being near to it.' AND 'any branch of psychology concerned with psychological measurements'. From catlady at wicca.net Sun Apr 8 02:16:22 2007 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 02:16:22 -0000 Subject: Need translation of today's "Get Fuzzy" comic strip In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff Bannister" wrote: > > For example, Newington Butts is the name of a street close to the > Elephant and Castle in South London. Who is Clement Freuds? I've heard of Lucian Freud... I heard that the original Elephant and Castle pub was originally named The Infanta of Castile, after the new wife of some monarch, but oral tradition took over. So now I looked it up. I visited the four hits gave me: is "Brewer, E. Cobham. Dictionary of Phrase & Fable. Elephant and Castle" and says << A public-house sign at Newington, said to derive its name from the skeleton of an elephant dug up near Battle Bridge in 1714. A flint-headed spear lay by the remains, whence it is conjectured that the creature was killed by the British in a fight with the Romans. (The Times.) There is another public-house with the same sign in St. Pancras, probably intended to represent an elephant with a howdah.>> says "The Elephant and Castle, commonly shortened to the Elephant, is a major road intersection in inner south London, and is also used as a name for the surrounding district. The Elephant consists of two fairly large roundabouts connected by a short road called Elephant and Castle, part of the A3. Adjacent to the northern roundabout is the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre, with an office block called Hannibal House on top, and a residential block called Metro Central Heights, formerly Alexander Fleming House ? now both widely derided as "ugly".[citation needed] "Elephant and Castle" has largely replaced the original name of the area ? Newington." and "The name of the area derives from a pub of the same name in the area. The earliest surviving record of the pub's name is in the Court Leet Book of the Manor of Walworth. The court had met at "Elephant and Castle, Newington" on 21 March 1765. An external sign displayed in 2006 asserts that the pub was rebuilt in 1816 and 1898, although the present building, that offers budget accommodation on upper floors, appears to be of mid-20th Century construction. The name itself predates this account. Apocryphally, it is a corruption of the Spanish Infanta de Castilla, meaning the eldest daughter of a monarch, who had supposedly landed by Royal Barge in Newington (renamed Elephant and Castle in honour of Catherine) sometime during 1501, as the betrothed to Arthur, Henry VIII's elder brother who died leaving Catherine a widow. Another explanation is that the land belonged to the Cutlers' Company, who had an elephant and a castle on their coat of arms. The elephant referred to the ivory used to make handles for expensive cutlery. The elephant and castle symbol was also used in a trade that made a far more important contribution to the London economy. It was the symbol of the Royal African Company, a group of slave-traders headed by the Stuart royal family when it retook the throne in 1660. Between the 1660s and the 1720s the company's symbol was used on British guinea coins to indicate that the source of the gold was the company's activity in Africa." says: " it's often asserted that the name is a corruption of Infanta de Castile, usually said to be a reference to Eleanor of Castile, the wife of Edward I (in Spain and Portugal, the infanta was the eldest daughter of the monarch without a claim to the throne). That would put Elephant and Castle in the same class of pub name as Goat and Compasses but, like the story of the way that name came into being, it's almost certainly false. Not the least of the problems is that Eleanor of Castile wasn't an infanta (or at least wasn't known as that ? the term only appeared in English about 1600); the one infanta that the British have heard about from school history lessons is Maria, a daughter of Philip III of Spain, who was once controversially engaged to Charles I. But she had no connection with Castile. The form Infanta de Castile seems to be a conflation of vague memories of two Iberian royal women separated by 300 years." says "According to the restaurant's account, "Elephant and Castle" is a linguistic mutation of the Spanish phrase "Infanta de Castille" -- the "Princess of Castille" (Castille, of course, being a region of Spain). It seems that Charles the First of England was all set to marry a certain Spanish princess in 1623 when Church authorities forbade the match. Tempers flared and war between England and Spain resulted. According to the story, the affair inspired one pub owner to call his establishment "Infanta de Castille," but over time his patrons changed the name to words which, though they made very little sense, were more familiar -- Elephant and Castle. The name was eventually applied to the entire district of London the pub occupied." I note that the three accounts each specifies a differenty royal wife: 1) Catherine, as the betrothed to Arthur, Henry VIII's elder brother who died leaving Catherine a widow. 2)Eleanor of Castile, the wife of Edward I 3)Maria, a daughter of Philip III of Spain, who was once controversially engaged to Charles I From justcarol67 at yahoo.com Sun Apr 8 02:28:46 2007 From: justcarol67 at yahoo.com (justcarol67) Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 02:28:46 -0000 Subject: Fun with arithmancy and divination In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Carol earlier: > > > > I was trying to remember the fancy word for tea-leaf reading last night and a Google search led me to this site: > > > > http://phrontistery.info/divine.html > > > > which gives the names of all sorts of divination, from fortune- telling using playing cards (which I remembered was cartomancy) to coscinomancy (divination using a sieve and a pair of shears). Tea-leaf reading, I discovered, was phyllomancy. Catlady responded: > I thought tea-leaf reading was tassomancy ... (click click click) says "Sorry, no dictionaries indexed in the selected category contain the word tassomancy. Perhaps you meant: tasseomancy found in 1 dictionary)" > > That '1 dictionary' is which says: "Tasseography From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia > (Redirected from Tasseomancy) > Tasseography (also known as tasseomancy or tassology) is a divination or fortune-telling method that in western traditions interprets patterns in tea leaves. The term also refers to the reading of coffee grounds, especially in the Middle Eastern tradition, or the reading of wine sediments." > Carol again: Thanks. I think that's the word I was looking for. But I decided to find out if "phyllomancy" was also an acceptable term for teal-leaf reading and found this: http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/wftwarch.pl?121406 "Topic: Nostradamus "Pat yourself on the back if you knew we were going to be discussing predictions today. Today we honor the work of French physician Michel de Nostredame?Latinized Nostradamus?who was born on this date in 1503 and who is remembered, centuries later, for his Prophecies, collections of quatrains still cited as foretellings of specific events. "Nostradamus was an astrologer who turned to the heavens for guidance. Give yourself a star if you anticipated his history would set us checking out other methods of divination. "We'll begin with phyllomancy, "divination by means of leaves." "Divination by tea leaves," however, is known as tasseomancy. Less familiar than these modes of divination are belomancy, "divination by drawing arrows at random from a container;" and alectryomancy, "foretelling the future that begins by placing a rooster in the center of a circle of grains of corn covering letters of the alphabet;" a would-be diviner predicts the future by reading the letters according to the bird's pecking order. "We'll close by pointing out the importance of keeping straight coscinomancy, ceromancy, and cleromancy. Followers of coscinomancy rely on a sieve and shears to tell the future; believers in ceromancy turn to melted wax in water; while those who trust in cleromancy cast lots to tell the future." So "phyllomancy" (the Phrontistery site to the contrary) is divination using leaves (in general), whereas "tasseomancy" is divination using tea leaves (specifically.) But I included the whole Nostradamus "definition," along with the other forms of divination listed, just because it was fun. No doubt totally useless, but maybe it will come up in a trivia game some time. Carol, momentarily escaping the darkish tone of the posts on the main site From catlady at wicca.net Sun Apr 8 04:22:10 2007 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 04:22:10 -0000 Subject: Fun with arithmancy and divination In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" wrote: > > coscinomancy (divination using a sieve and a pair of shears). How do they divine with a sieve and a pair of shears? I don't suppose they throw them into water and if the sieve floats, that means 'No' and if the shears float, that means 'Yes'. From gav_fiji at yahoo.com Sun Apr 8 12:54:48 2007 From: gav_fiji at yahoo.com (Goddlefrood) Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 12:54:48 -0000 Subject: Anyone Want an Invisibility Cloak? Message-ID: Godlefrood: This little thing came up out of the Pensieve just recently: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070406/sc_afp/ussciencephysicsinvisibility Very soon we could all get our own Invisibility Cloaks. What will be thought of next? Perhaps we would get further insight into the books if such an item becomes available. Current price is possibly in the billions. Goddlefrood From gbannister10 at tiscali.co.uk Sun Apr 8 14:45:23 2007 From: gbannister10 at tiscali.co.uk (Geoff Bannister) Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 14:45:23 -0000 Subject: Need translation of today's "Get Fuzzy" comic strip In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" wrote: > > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff Bannister" > wrote: > > > > For example, Newington Butts is the name of a street close to the > > Elephant and Castle in South London. > > Who is Clement Freuds? I've heard of Lucian Freud... Geoff: Sir Clement Freud - no 's' - is a well-known broadcaster, renowned for his witty and humorous comments and was been a Liberal Democrat MP for several years in the House of Commons. Catlady: > I heard that the original Elephant and Castle pub was originally named > The Infanta of Castile, after the new wife of some monarch, but oral > tradition took over. So now I looked it up. I visited the four hits > gave me: Geoff: The more popular view is that it was a corruption of Infanta de Castile, A number of pubs have gained their name by this route, It is probably the best known pub in London, beloved of generations of Cockneys. It also has the distinction of having an Underground station named after it and when the last London trams were withdrawn in 1952, London Transport produced a nostalgic fiilm called "The Elephant will never forget". The description of the road system which you found is that obtaining after the mid-1950s. Before that all the roads meeting here met at one point creating one of the most awkward road intersections to control in the capital. From HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Sun Apr 8 15:46:05 2007 From: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com (HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com) Date: 8 Apr 2007 15:46:05 -0000 Subject: Weekly Chat, 4/8/2007, 11:00 am Message-ID: <1176047165.19.5021.m45@yahoogroups.com> Reminder from: HPFGU-OTChatter Yahoo! Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/cal Weekly Chat Sunday April 8, 2007 11:00 am - 12:00 pm (This event repeats every week.) Location: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Notes: Just a reminder, Sunday chat starts in about one hour. To get to the HPfGU room follow this link: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Create a user name for yourself, whatever you want to be called. Enter the password: hpfguchat Click "Join Chat" on the lower right. Chat start times: 11 am Pacific US 12 noon Mountain US 1 pm Central US 2 pm Eastern US 7 pm UK All Rights Reserved Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Inc. http://www.yahoo.com Privacy Policy: http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us Terms of Service: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From wuff at internode.on.net Sun Apr 8 15:56:41 2007 From: wuff at internode.on.net (Wolfie!) Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2007 01:56:41 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Anyone Want an Invisibility Cloak? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <461910B9.5020803@internode.on.net> Goddlefrood wrote: > Godlefrood: > > This little thing came up out of the Pensieve just recently: > > http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070406/sc_afp/ussciencephysicsinvisibility > > Very soon we could all get our own Invisibility Cloaks. What will > be thought of next? Perhaps we would get further insight into the > books if such an item becomes available. Current price is possibly > in the billions. > > Goddlefrood Well, look how technology changes... Here's a photo of a Hard Drive from 1985, it's huge and it holds 40meg [that's meg, not gig] and it's $40,000US! http://www.core77.com/blog/images/old_hard_drive3.jpg Here's one for home use... 15 megs for $2500US http://ebaumsworld.com/2006/07/oldharddrive.jpg A ten meg disc from 1975, price unknown, but I have heard of things like this being worth over a million. http://www.drunkenblog.com/drunkenblog-archives/i/TheCow_compmuseum/IMG_0075.jpg Wolfie! -- Wolfie Rankin on Secondlife. Kookaburra Pub Owner / ABC Friends Admin ICQ - 3449014 Skype - Wolfie_storr * Eats a kid a day * Made in Eragon From HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Sun Apr 8 17:42:17 2007 From: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com (HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com) Date: 8 Apr 2007 17:42:17 -0000 Subject: Weekly Chat, 4/8/2007, 1:00 pm Message-ID: <1176054137.23.34428.m47@yahoogroups.com> Reminder from: HPFGU-OTChatter Yahoo! Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/cal Weekly Chat Sunday April 8, 2007 1:00 pm - 1:00 pm (This event repeats every week.) Location: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Notes: Just a reminder, Sunday chat starts in about one hour. To get to the HPfGU room follow this link: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Create a user name for yourself, whatever you want to be called. Enter the password: hpfguchat Click "Join Chat" on the lower right. Chat start times: 11 am Pacific US 12 noon Mountain US 1 pm Central US 2 pm Eastern US 7 pm UK All Rights Reserved Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Inc. http://www.yahoo.com Privacy Policy: http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us Terms of Service: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From gav_fiji at yahoo.com Mon Apr 9 05:34:09 2007 From: gav_fiji at yahoo.com (Goddlefrood) Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2007 05:34:09 -0000 Subject: Anyone Want an Invisibility Cloak? In-Reply-To: <461910B9.5020803@internode.on.net> Message-ID: > Wolfie > Well, look how technology changes... Here's a photo of a Hard Drive from 1985, it's huge and it holds 40meg [that's meg, not gig] and it's $40,000US! (SNIP) - balance Goddlefrood: It truly is amazing how fast terchnology progresses. One of my close friends at scholl, several (ahem) years ago now, had an] Amstrad ZX 89. All of 2 megabytes memory and one of the first compact computers. The rest of us could only dream of such things, Needless to say said friend would have put Croesus to shame :) Goddlefrood From drednort at alphalink.com.au Tue Apr 10 03:35:57 2007 From: drednort at alphalink.com.au (Shaun Hately) Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:35:57 +1000 Subject: Finally - and you thought you'd been waiting a long time for a book to be published! In-Reply-To: References: <461910B9.5020803@internode.on.net> Message-ID: <461B92BD.24816.1734CB@drednort.alphalink.com.au> I believe I have mentioned on this forum in the past, how I wrote part of a book on gifted children to be published in the United States. There have been repeated delays (I mentioned the book in my application for my Education degree - and I finished the Degree last year, for various reasons... but now the release date is fixed and the book is on the publishers website. http://www.freespirit.com/catalog/item_detail.cfm?ITEM_ID=578&CAT_ID=29 http://tinyurl.com/ysq64j 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 wuff at internode.on.net Thu Apr 12 14:56:47 2007 From: wuff at internode.on.net (Wolfie!) Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 00:56:47 +1000 Subject: early hard drive In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <461E48AF.3050907@internode.on.net> The early hard drive pic I wanted to find earlier: http://www.techasaur.us/2007/04/12/web-20-5mb-one-ton-hard-drive-from-1956/ -- Wolfie Rankin on Secondlife. Kookaburra Pub Owner / ABC Friends Admin ICQ - 3449014 Skype - Wolfie_storr * Eats a kid a day * Made in Eragon From HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Sun Apr 15 15:45:30 2007 From: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com (HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com) Date: 15 Apr 2007 15:45:30 -0000 Subject: Weekly Chat, 4/15/2007, 11:00 am Message-ID: <1176651930.28.59862.m46@yahoogroups.com> Reminder from: HPFGU-OTChatter Yahoo! Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/cal Weekly Chat Sunday April 15, 2007 11:00 am - 12:00 pm (This event repeats every week.) Location: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Notes: Just a reminder, Sunday chat starts in about one hour. To get to the HPfGU room follow this link: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Create a user name for yourself, whatever you want to be called. Enter the password: hpfguchat Click "Join Chat" on the lower right. Chat start times: 11 am Pacific US 12 noon Mountain US 1 pm Central US 2 pm Eastern US 7 pm UK All Rights Reserved Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Inc. http://www.yahoo.com Privacy Policy: http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us Terms of Service: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Sun Apr 15 17:40:59 2007 From: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com (HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com) Date: 15 Apr 2007 17:40:59 -0000 Subject: Weekly Chat, 4/15/2007, 1:00 pm Message-ID: <1176658859.20.45284.m43@yahoogroups.com> Reminder from: HPFGU-OTChatter Yahoo! Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/cal Weekly Chat Sunday April 15, 2007 1:00 pm - 1:00 pm (This event repeats every week.) Location: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Notes: Just a reminder, Sunday chat starts in about one hour. To get to the HPfGU room follow this link: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Create a user name for yourself, whatever you want to be called. Enter the password: hpfguchat Click "Join Chat" on the lower right. Chat start times: 11 am Pacific US 12 noon Mountain US 1 pm Central US 2 pm Eastern US 7 pm UK All Rights Reserved Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Inc. http://www.yahoo.com Privacy Policy: http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us Terms of Service: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bboyminn at yahoo.com Tue Apr 17 06:05:58 2007 From: bboyminn at yahoo.com (Steve) Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 06:05:58 -0000 Subject: A Soldier and Harry - In Iraq Message-ID: I was watching a PBS television special based on a book by various soldiers from Iraq. After their tours, they wrote about their experiences. Most of it was very profound and moving. Intercut with their personal stories were interviews with the soldier/authors. During one of these interviews, a Lieutenant Colonel said when he was first assigned to Iraq, he used to read history and social/political/cultural commentaries on the region so he could better understand the conflict. But the war drew on, and his burden became heavier, until they became almost too much to bear, he turned to ...dramatic pause... Harry Potter. Partly because his children were reading Harry Potter and it gave them a point of connection and conversation. As the interview closed, he said that 'the only time I'm not in Iraq, is when I'm with Harry'. I found that very profound. I was deeply move that Harry could help remove this person from the horrors of war and the terrible stress that he is under, and give him a few moments of peace. For what it's worth. Steve/bboyminn From taguem at jmsearch.com Tue Apr 17 13:29:03 2007 From: taguem at jmsearch.com (Michelle A. Tague) Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 09:29:03 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] A Soldier and Harry - In Iraq In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <014701c780f4$622e5e50$4246dfdf@MichelleT> That's awesome... thanks for sharing that Steve! Michelle , in PA _____ From: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com [mailto:HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Steve Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 2:07 AM To: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] A Soldier and Harry - In Iraq I was watching a PBS television special based on a book by various soldiers from Iraq. After their tours, they wrote about their experiences. Most of it was very profound and moving. Intercut with their personal stories were interviews with the soldier/authors. During one of these interviews, a Lieutenant Colonel said when he was first assigned to Iraq, he used to read history and social/political/cultural commentaries on the region so he could better understand the conflict. But the war drew on, and his burden became heavier, until they became almost too much to bear, he turned to ...dramatic pause... Harry Potter. Partly because his children were reading Harry Potter and it gave them a point of connection and conversation. As the interview closed, he said that 'the only time I'm not in Iraq, is when I'm with Harry'. I found that very profound. I was deeply move that Harry could help remove this person from the horrors of war and the terrible stress that he is under, and give him a few moments of peace. For what it's worth. Steve/bboyminn [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From irisraem at gmail.com Tue Apr 17 15:34:09 2007 From: irisraem at gmail.com (Iris Raemaekers) Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:34:09 +0200 Subject: A Soldier and Harry - In Iraq Message-ID: <89f59f1b0704170834m2ce636cayb4d5b159b7b5a8d2@mail.gmail.com> That is so moving. I think the Potter books help many people through the sometimes horrible things that happen to them. I know it helps me escape from the "real world". Iris [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From bboyminn at yahoo.com Tue Apr 17 21:03:42 2007 From: bboyminn at yahoo.com (Steve) Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 21:03:42 -0000 Subject: Jamie Bell takes over for Dan in Equus Message-ID: Recent News reports indicate that when Dan leaves the stage production of Equus, the production will not shut down. It will continue with Jamie Bell in the lead roll. Personally, I think that is an excellent choice. And I thin Dan should be proud to be seen in the same light as a fine actor like Jamie Bell. Jamie has certainly proven himself in many independant and mainstream acting roles. Of course, there is the unforgettable "Billy Eliot', but I highly recommend the following movies by Jamie - Chumscrubber (2005) - http://imdb.com/title/tt0406650/ This movie is low budget, but does include Jason Isaacs, Glen Close, and Ralph Finnes. The movie does have some weakenesses, but overal it is a very moving movie. I particularly like the scene in which Glen Close and Jamie Bell are interacting at the memorial service for Glen Close's son; very deep and moving. Undertow (2004)- http://imdb.com/title/tt0360130/ A very powerful movie. "The Munns, father John (Mulroney) and sons Chris (Bell) and Tim (Alan), recede to the woods of rural Georgia. Their life together is forever changed with the arrival of Uncle Deel (Lucas), though the tragedy that follows forces troubled Chris to become a man." This is a very dramatic role, and Jamie plays it to perfection. Just passing it along. Steve/bboyminn From cdayr at yahoo.com Tue Apr 17 21:30:00 2007 From: cdayr at yahoo.com (cdayr) Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 21:30:00 -0000 Subject: A Soldier and Harry - In Iraq In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" wrote: > > I was watching a PBS television special based on a book > by various soldiers from Iraq. After their tours, they > wrote about their experiences. Most of it was very > profound and moving. Intercut with their personal > stories were interviews with the soldier/authors. > > During one of these interviews, a Lieutenant Colonel > said when he was first assigned to Iraq, he used to > read history and social/political/cultural commentaries > on the region so he could better understand the conflict. > > But the war drew on, and his burden became heavier, > until they became almost too much to bear, he turned > to ...dramatic pause... Harry Potter. Partly because > his children were reading Harry Potter and it gave > them a point of connection and conversation. > > As the interview closed, he said that 'the only time I'm > not in Iraq, is when I'm with Harry'. > > I found that very profound. I was deeply move that Harry > could help remove this person from the horrors of war > and the terrible stress that he is under, and give him > a few moments of peace. > > For what it's worth. > > Steve/bboyminn > I saw that same program and was equally touched. There is something so moving about a huge, fatigues-wearing soldier in the midst of war speaking so candidly about needing to escape into the Wizarding World. He reminded me why I love the books so much- as a way to exist in another world for a little while. Also, in general, I thought the program was a fascinating mix of art and war, and the vivid fiction and poetry writing brought me to Iraq in a way that news reports never do. Tim O'Brien, who spoke on the show as one of the authors from the Vietnam Era, is one of my favorite authors of all time. His novel "In the Lake of the Woods" I read at least once a year. His book "The Things They Carried" is, for me, the piece of literature that evoked the realities of war more than any other work I've read (or seen). Another book suggestion from me... Celia, glad I was not the only Potter fan to see that program From gbannister10 at tiscali.co.uk Tue Apr 17 22:24:30 2007 From: gbannister10 at tiscali.co.uk (Geoff Bannister) Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 22:24:30 -0000 Subject: Jamie Bell takes over for Dan in Equus In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" wrote: > > Recent News reports indicate that when Dan leaves the > stage production of Equus, the production will not > shut down. It will continue with Jamie Bell in the > lead roll. Personally, I think that is an excellent > choice. And I thin Dan should be proud to be seen in > the same light as a fine actor like Jamie Bell. > > Jamie has certainly proven himself in many independant > and mainstream acting roles. Of course, there is the > unforgettable "Billy Eliot', but I highly recommend > the following movies by Jamie - > Just passing it along. > > Steve/bboyminn Geoff: For me, the best is his superb portrayal of Smike in the 2002 version of "Nicholas Nickleby". From bboyminn at yahoo.com Tue Apr 17 23:33:43 2007 From: bboyminn at yahoo.com (Steve) Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:33:43 -0000 Subject: Jamie Bell takes over for Dan in Equus In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff Bannister" wrote: > > --- "Steve" wrote: > > > > Recent News reports indicate that when Dan leaves the > > stage production of Equus, .... It will continue with > > Jamie Bell in the lead roll. ... > > > > > Just passing it along. > > > > Steve/bboyminn > > Geoff: > For me, the best is his superb portrayal of Smike in the > 2002 version of "Nicholas Nickleby". > bboyminn: No argument about the performances in 'Nicholas Nickleby', they were all superb, but I wasn't too thrilled about the movie itself. I felt, like so many many movies based on books, it was just cut too thin. Too much of the assumed depth of book was left out. Note: I confess to never having read the book, but I'm sure it had far more depth of character and story than the movie did. But overall you are right, Jamie Bell always gives a great performance. Hopefully his game plan is to establish himself as a serious and capable actor, that will eventually lead to him getting the lead role, or direct supporting role in more mainstream movies. 'Mainstream movies' meaning movies paying huge salaries to the major players. Just a thought. Steve/bboyminn From wuff at internode.on.net Wed Apr 18 03:16:27 2007 From: wuff at internode.on.net (Wolfie!) Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 13:16:27 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Jamie Bell takes over for Dan in Equus In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <46258D8B.2040508@internode.on.net> Steve wrote: > Recent News reports indicate that when Dan leaves the > stage production of Equus, the production will not > shut down. It will continue with Jamie Bell in the > lead roll. Personally, I think that is an excellent > choice. And I thin Dan should be proud to be seen in > the same light as a fine actor like Jamie Bell. Plus Dan has to go and fight Voldemort *again* ;) -- Wolfie Rankin on Secondlife. Kookaburra Pub Owner / ABC Friends Admin ICQ - 3449014 Skype - Wolfie_storr * Eats a kid a day * Made in Eragon From aslitumerkan at gmail.com Wed Apr 18 21:51:07 2007 From: aslitumerkan at gmail.com (aslitumerkan) Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 21:51:07 -0000 Subject: The Publication Date Message-ID: Don't you think it's cruel that the book is being published after it has been written for 5 months (February)? Is it just a marketing technique to make the movie sell more? I don't want to wait anymore. aslitumerkan From aslitumerkan at gmail.com Wed Apr 18 22:29:34 2007 From: aslitumerkan at gmail.com (aslitumerkan) Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 22:29:34 -0000 Subject: Odd to me In-Reply-To: Message-ID: The non-existence of a wand also startled me. If wizards can do magic without a wand- which I've never seen before, correct me if anyone has seen an example of this- why is expelliarmus such a useful spell? Why couldn't Dumbledore do anything without his wand? Asli From bboyminn at yahoo.com Thu Apr 19 06:33:13 2007 From: bboyminn at yahoo.com (Steve) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 06:33:13 -0000 Subject: The Publication Date In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- "aslitumerkan" wrote: > > Don't you think it's cruel that the book is being > published after it has been written for 5 months > (February)? Is it just a marketing technique to make > the movie sell more? I don't want to wait anymore. > > aslitumerkan > bboyminn: No, this is typical. It takes time to edit, revise, print, and distribute 12 million books (USA only). Plus additional language versions as well as the Braille version are all coming out at the same time. Actually, I think 5 months is a bit rushed from a practical perspective, though as a fan, I want it yesterday. Steve/bboyminn From justcarol67 at yahoo.com Thu Apr 19 06:46:41 2007 From: justcarol67 at yahoo.com (justcarol67) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 06:46:41 -0000 Subject: The Publication Date In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" wrote: > > --- "aslitumerkan" wrote: > > > > Don't you think it's cruel that the book is being > > published after it has been written for 5 months > > (February)? Is it just a marketing technique to make > > the movie sell more? I don't want to wait anymore. > > > > aslitumerkan > > > > bboyminn: > > No, this is typical. It takes time to edit, revise, print, > and distribute 12 million books (USA only). Plus additional > language versions as well as the Braille version are all > coming out at the same time. Actually, I think 5 months > is a bit rushed from a practical perspective, though as > a fan, I want it yesterday. > > Steve/bboyminn > There are other steps as well--typecoding, proofreading, book design, illustrations (especially for the American edition) among them. Book production is a very complex process, and most people have only the foggiest notion of what's involved. It isn't a matter of submitting the completed manuscript and two weeks later, you have a printed book. I would expect a book like "deathly Hallows" to take at least six months to produce, so I agree with Steve that five months is more than a bit rushed. Carol, who found the typos in HBP grating and expects more of the same in DH From sbejster at yahoo.com Thu Apr 19 12:25:37 2007 From: sbejster at yahoo.com (Sandra Bejster) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 05:25:37 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Odd to me In-Reply-To: <1176983942.209.83770.m20@yahoogroups.com> Message-ID: <462671.80278.qm@web37208.mail.mud.yahoo.com> That didn't startle me at all. There have been many examples of it. I swear she's mentioned in past books about wandless magic as well (just don't quote me on that one). I believe that all wizards/witches can do it, it's just a matter of degree. I think that the wand is more of a way to concentrate their magic into one area and that once they have it and get used to it, they just get "lazy". Kind of like those of us who are muggles when it comes to cars and walking. We "CAN" walk up to the grocery store for that gallon of milk ... but why should we when we can take the car and get there and back quicker ... and not have to carry that heavy gallon all the way home. All the wizard children do wandless magic from the start. Harry always made things happen when he was mad (which was probably most of the time). I think the first example in the book was making the glass in the reptile cage disappear, but there were references to him doing things prior to that, which is one reason his Aunt and Uncle hated to take him out somewhere. I can't remember if it was in the book, but in movie #3 (sorry to reference a movie instead), when Lupin was teaching Harry how to fight the dementors, he lit candles with just his fingers. His wand was probably on his person, but he didn't use it. And after book four, we now know that Harry's and Voldemort's wands are going to be useless against each other anyway. Sandra Dearborn, MI Asli wrote: The non-existence of a wand also startled me. If wizards can do magic without a wand- which I've never seen before, correct me if anyone has seen an example of this- why is expelliarmus such a useful spell? Why couldn't Dumbledore do anything without his wand? --------------------------------- Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell? Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From aslitumerkan at gmail.com Thu Apr 19 12:55:44 2007 From: aslitumerkan at gmail.com (aslitumerkan) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 12:55:44 -0000 Subject: Odd to me In-Reply-To: <462671.80278.qm@web37208.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Their wands are only useless when they are saying spells at the same time aren't they? Sorry, but I don't trust the movies. Lupin doing that was just a nice show probably. However, you are right about the first times they do magic are without wands. But still, I don't understand why then is expelliarmus such an important spell, and also, why didn't Dumbledore do anything when he was hit by this spell? From aslitumerkan at gmail.com Thu Apr 19 13:02:03 2007 From: aslitumerkan at gmail.com (aslitumerkan) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:02:03 -0000 Subject: A book close to Harry Potter? Message-ID: I am about to finish rereading the last book of Harry Potter I haven't reread. Even while rereading it has been like I was leaving this world, and I couldn't put the book down. I'm so sad that my rereading is ending, and it is 3 months to the new book. Is there anyone who can recommend me a book that is as gripping? Asli From aslitumerkan at gmail.com Thu Apr 19 12:58:22 2007 From: aslitumerkan at gmail.com (aslitumerkan) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 12:58:22 -0000 Subject: The Publication Date In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I think both of you are right. I'm too skeptical when it comes to selling stuff I guess. Thanks From orphan_ann at hotmail.co.uk Thu Apr 19 12:25:20 2007 From: orphan_ann at hotmail.co.uk (or.phan_ann) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 12:25:20 -0000 Subject: The Publication Date In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" wrote: > > --- "aslitumerkan" wrote: > > > > Don't you think it's cruel that the book is being > > published after it has been written for 5 months > > (February)? Is it just a marketing technique to make > > the movie sell more? I don't want to wait anymore. > > > > aslitumerkan > > > > bboyminn: > > No, this is typical. It takes time to edit, revise, print, > and distribute 12 million books (USA only). Plus additional > language versions as well as the Braille version are all > coming out at the same time. Actually, I think 5 months > is a bit rushed from a practical perspective, though as > a fan, I want it yesterday. > > Steve/bboyminn > Ann: The "usual" gap between a book being finished and being available is closer to a year, so six months is pretty quick. Especially when you consider its length and massive print run. Actually, I suspect that the books *have* to be released during the summer, because if it was any closer to Christmas it would put too much strain on the industry as a whole. Scholastic didn't print enough copies of HBP, I think, and bought up almost every spare bit of publishing capacity in North America to make up the shortfall. If anything, the film is piggybacking on the book. Ann From aslitumerkan at gmail.com Thu Apr 19 14:32:25 2007 From: aslitumerkan at gmail.com (aslitumerkan) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 14:32:25 -0000 Subject: Odd to me In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Another thing odd about the cover was that Voldemort and Harry are not facing each other, they seem to be facing the same way. Does anyone have any ideas? From cute_janers at yahoo.com Thu Apr 19 15:45:29 2007 From: cute_janers at yahoo.com (Liz Stephens) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 08:45:29 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] A book close to Harry Potter? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <940777.32483.qm@web37206.mail.mud.yahoo.com> My brother got me hooked on the Artemis Fowl books. I think they are awesome, and I haven't been able to put them down. I don't think they compare to HP, but they're a close second to me. Here's some info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_Fowl_%28series%29 I like them a lot...but if you don't, that's okay :-D It's just been distracting me from realizing how far away HP was, that I didn't realize it's only 3 months away now!!! ~*Liz Stephens*~ ?If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you.? -- Winnie the Pooh --------------------------------- Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell? Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From doddiemoemoe at yahoo.com Thu Apr 19 17:26:38 2007 From: doddiemoemoe at yahoo.com (doddiemoemoe) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:26:38 -0000 Subject: Odd to me In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "aslitumerkan" wrote: > > Another thing odd about the cover was that Voldemort and Harry are not > facing each other, they seem to be facing the same way. Does anyone > have any ideas? > Doddie here: I thought they may have been looking at where the music was coming from--hence they see Fawkes! That's the only thing I can think of other than if both were summoning something and are looking to see who will receive said object. From n2fgc at arrl.net Thu Apr 19 19:18:30 2007 From: n2fgc at arrl.net (Mrs. Lee Storm (God Is The Healing Force)) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 15:18:30 -0400 Subject: Wandless Magic (was RE: Odd to me In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <000001c782b7$84d84320$66a4a8c0@rosie> [Asli]: | The non-existence of a wand also startled me. If wizards can do magic | without a wand- which I've never seen before, correct me if | anyone has | seen an example of this- why is expelliarmus such a useful spell? Why | couldn't Dumbledore do anything without his wand? [Lee]: In SS: "Quirrell snapped his fingers. Ropes sprang out of thin air and wrapped themselves tightly around Harry." There's an instance on wandless magic. I think there were others, but I don't have time to browse just now. Of course, we know how many wandless things Harry did. :-) I believe Dumbledore could have done anything he wanted to do, but when Draco did the Expelliarmus, Dumbledore probably figured Harry would try to jump Draco and prevented it by freezing Harry...probably wandlessly. I hold to that because it wasn't until Dumbledore fell from the tower that the freeze broke. I think magic is mostly intent, the wand is a means of focus and control. But those with a lot of experience, power and discipline can, no doubt, do controled wandless magic. Cheers, Lee :-) Do not walk behind me, | Lee Storm I may not care to lead; | N2FGC Do not walk before me, | n2fgc at arrl.net (or) I may not care to follow; | n2fgc at optonline.net Walk beside me, and be my friend. From aslitumerkan at gmail.com Thu Apr 19 19:17:20 2007 From: aslitumerkan at gmail.com (aslitumerkan) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 19:17:20 -0000 Subject: A book close to Harry Potter? In-Reply-To: <940777.32483.qm@web37206.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: 3 months is a lot for me :) From PenapartElf at aol.com Thu Apr 19 21:18:49 2007 From: PenapartElf at aol.com (penapart_elf) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 21:18:49 -0000 Subject: The books on CD Message-ID: Hi All, As the thread below is Off Topic Chatter, am moving it to here from the Main list. Here, everyone who is interested can participate freely. Enjoy! :) Penapart Elf --------------------------------- #167746 From: Kathryn Lambert Date: Thu Apr 19, 2007 10:32 am Subject: Slightly OT - The books on CD Hi all, I haven't posted in quite a while, but I was just at the library today with my 3-year-old and we got Sorcerer's Stone on CD, because he loves listening to "stories" in the car and we've tried reading the books together, and he's still a bit young. Anyway, the book is read by a Broadway actor who I think reads like he's a third grader being forced to read aloud in class! He sounds completely flat, lifeless, and dull. I can't believe that's the best they could do for our HP!! We just finished listening to the entire Narnia Chronicles on CD, and they were read WONDERFULLY by classic British actors like Patrick Stewart, Jeremy Northam, and Helen Mirren. Why couldn't we have done as well for Harry? Has anyone else found this on the CD's? Anyone share my opinion? Just curious, List Elves, please don't skewer me for being slightly OT. Katie --------------------------------- #167747 From: "colebiancardi" Date: Thu Apr 19, 2007 10:57 am Subject: Re: Slightly OT - The books on CD Katie wrote: > Has anyone else found this on the CD's? Anyone share my opinion? Just curious, List Elves, please don't skewer me for being slightly OT. Katie > colebiancardi: you might want to check out amazon.uk - the brit version is read by Stephen Fry, who is a wonderful actor(he played Oscar Wilde) and they are much more livelier than the US versions. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Harry-Potter-Philosophers-Stone- Unabridged/dp/1855496704\ /ref=sr_1_3/026-0541642-2366805?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177005345&sr=1-3 colebiancardi --------------------------------- #167750 From: "Panhandle" Date: Thu Apr 19, 2007 12:06 pm Subject: Re: Slightly OT - The books on CD Kathryn Lambert said: > Anyway, the book is read by a Broadway actor who I think reads like he's > a third grader being forced to read aloud in class! He sounds completely > flat, lifeless, and dull. I can't believe that's the best they could do > for our HP!! We just finished listening to the entire Narnia Chronicles on > CD, and they were read WONDERFULLY by classic British actors like Patrick > Stewart, Jeremy Northam, and Helen Mirren. Why couldn't we have done as > well for Harry? > I have both versions of Books 1-6, the Jim Dale version and the Stephen Fry version. I prefer Stephen Fry's readings, but find much value in Jim Dale's readings too. By the way, while Jim Dale does have experience on Broadway, he is indeed British. panhandle -- Panhandle penhaligon at gmail.com --------------------------------- #167752 From: "Steve" Date: Thu Apr 19, 2007 12:32 pm Subject: Re: Slightly OT - The books on CD --- Kathryn Lambert wrote: > >... I was just at the library today with my 3-year-old > and we got Sorcerer's Stone on CD, ... > > Anyway, the book is read by a Broadway actor who I > think reads like he's a third grader being forced to > read aloud in class! He sounds completely flat, > lifeless, and dull. I can't believe that's the best > they could do for our HP!! ... > > Has anyone else found this on the CD's? ... > bboyminn: I don't have and sadly can't afford the HP CD's, but recently sample readings of the books by Jim Dale (USA) were made available. While Jim Dale does have a nice clear voice, I found his inflection for the speech of various characters to be off. That is, it either didn't match what I though was a natural inflection or it wasn't consistent with the stated mood of the character. Still, I think he did a good job on the narrative part of the story. Lots of people really love Jim Dales version of the books. Later someone in the group lead me to some samples of Stephen Fry reading the book. They weren't the same passages but I found his speech (character literally speaking) much more natural and his range of character voices to be better. Though again, many other people prefer Dale over Fry. Since you can get the UK versions of the books in Canada, I had hoped they would also sell the UK audio version, but 'no joy'. For some reason, Amazon and Chapters.Indigo in Canada sell the UK printed book, but the USA audio book. Still for those wishing the Stephen Fry experience, it is possible to order the books from Amazon.co.uk. Just passing it along. Steve/bboyminn --------------------------------- #167753 From: Kathryn Lambert Date: Thu Apr 19, 2007 1:25 pm Subject: Re: Slightly OT - The books on CD Panhandle wrote: Kathryn Lambert said: > Anyway, the book is read by a Broadway actor who I think reads like he's > a third grader being forced to read aloud in class! He sounds completely > flat, lifeless, and dull. I can't believe that's the best they could do > for our HP!! We just finished listening to the entire Narnia Chronicles on > CD, and they were read WONDERFULLY by classic British actors like Patrick > Stewart, Jeremy Northam, and Helen Mirren. Why couldn't we have done as > well for Harry? > I have both versions of Books 1-6, the Jim Dale version and the Stephen Fry version. I prefer Stephen Fry's readings, but find much value in Jim Dale's readings too. By the way, while Jim Dale does have experience on Broadway, he is indeed British. panhandle -- Katie replies: I didn't realize there was another version. I will try and find that. I did know Jim Dale was British - but his voice lacks the resonance and expression of the actors who read the Narnia books, which are the only books I have ever listened to on CD. I was just disappointed in the quality of the reading - it lacked a lot of expressiveness. But I appreciate knowing there is another version. I will look for that. Katie From specialcritters at hotmail.com Thu Apr 19 22:16:42 2007 From: specialcritters at hotmail.com (Lee Truslow) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:16:42 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] The books on CD In-Reply-To: Message-ID: I wish I'd thought of Amazon UK. I have all the Jim DaleCDs, but I specifically ordered a Fry one from a Marketplace vendor who sent a Jim one instead. :( I've thoroughly enjoyed them, though. _________________________________________________________________ Mortgage refinance is Hot. *Terms. Get a 5.375%* fix rate. Check savings https://www2.nextag.com/goto.jsp?product=100000035&url=%2fst.jsp&tm=y&search=mortgage_text_links_88_h2bbb&disc=y&vers=925&s=4056&p=5117 From bboyminn at yahoo.com Thu Apr 19 22:42:38 2007 From: bboyminn at yahoo.com (Steve) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 22:42:38 -0000 Subject: A book close to Harry Potter? In-Reply-To: <940777.32483.qm@web37206.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: --- Liz Stephens wrote: > > My brother got me hooked on the Artemis Fowl books. > I think they are awesome, and I haven't been able to > put them down. ... bboyminn: I'll second the Artemis Fowl Series. While the basic premise, especially of the Fairy world, is a bit silly, there is, none the less, a very suspenseful and captivating mystery underlying each story. The books are a short easy read with intriguing characters and as I've already said a real fun thrilling suspenseful mystery contained therein as well as delightful humor. I was curious about the series for quite a while but I thought it might be too childish. I found a paperback of the first book for a very low price and from then on I was hooked. I now buy each new adventure as soon as it comes out in hardcover. Though sadly, I believe their is only going to be one more after the current 'The Lost Colony'. Another series that I greatly love, though other readers have mixed feelings, is 'The Inheritance Trilogy' (Eragon, Eldest, final book not yet published - Christopher Paolini). Some claim it is predictable and derivative, but I found interesting compelling characters and a captivating story filled with magic and adventure; a thrill a minute. I can't wait for the final book to be published later this year. For an interesting read for those who like the magic genre, I found 'The Bartimaeus Trilogy' to be enjoyable. It wasn't as thrilling as Harry Potter, as suspenseful as Artemis Fowl, or as action packed as Eragon, but it was an intersting read with a captivating story, and with a nice plot twist at the end. One of the interesting aspects of this series is that it uses a completely different model of magic than the Harry Potter series. (Bartimaeus Trilogy - The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem's Eye, Ptolemy's Gate - Jonathan Stroud) Just a few thoughts. Steve/bboyminn From ms_petra_pan at yahoo.com Thu Apr 19 22:32:31 2007 From: ms_petra_pan at yahoo.com (Petra) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 15:32:31 -0700 (PDT) Subject: The books on CD Message-ID: <875510.95879.qm@web51905.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Hi OTC! Katie said: > [My 3-year-old] loves listening to "stories" in the car Petra: Aww! How cute is that image? colebiancardi: > the brit version is read by > Stephen Fry, who is a wonderful actor(he played Oscar Wilde) and they > are much more livelier than the US versions. Panhandle: > I prefer Stephen Fry's readings, but find much > value in Jim Dale's readings too. Steve/bboyminn: > While Jim Dale does have a nice clear voice, I found his inflection > for the speech of various characters to be off. That is, it either > didn't match what I though was a natural inflection or it wasn't > consistent with the stated mood of the character. Petra: Agreed and adds Stephen Fry ( http://imdb.com/name/nm0000410 ) was hilarious in the "Blackadder" TV series. I do like the US version by Dale but I *really* like Fry's version. A bit more to savor but Fry's delicious snarkiness is definitely pricier. Katie: > We just finished listening to the entire Narnia Chronicles on CD, and > they were read WONDERFULLY by classic British actors like Patrick > Stewart, Jeremy Northam, and Helen Mirren. Why couldn't we have done > as well for Harry? > [Jim Dale's] voice lacks the resonance and expression of the actors > who read the Narnia books, which are the only books I have ever > listened to on CD. Petra: You may have started with the creme of the crop! I love books on tape and I too find that having a bad narrator pretty much kills the experience. The worst one I ever heard is probably "Holes" written by Louis Sachar and narrated by Kerry Beyer. To me, Beyer sounded like he was bored. Oy, what a waste of my library's money. I rather suspect Jim Dale had to do his recording more quickly than the Narnia Chronicles's cast had to. He's also a bit hampered by the fact that he was reading a work in progress. He's able to do only so much foreshadowing when he doesn't know how the entire arc will go. So, are the recordings you enjoyed read by one narrator per book? Or did the various actors take on different roles, sort of like a radio play? I don't know about the rest of you but I'd buy the HP books dramatized as radio plays. Petra a n :) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From sherriola at earthlink.net Fri Apr 20 00:32:14 2007 From: sherriola at earthlink.net (Sherry Gomes) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:32:14 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] The books on CD In-Reply-To: Message-ID: From: Kathryn Lambert Hi all, I haven't posted in quite a while, but I was just at the library today with my 3-year-old and we got Sorcerer's Stone on CD, because he loves listening to "stories" in the car and we've tried reading the books together, and he's still a bit young. Anyway, the book is read by a Broadway actor who I think reads like he's a third grader being forced to read aloud in class! He sounds completely flat, lifeless, and dull. I can't believe that's the best they could do for our HP!! We just finished listening to the entire Narnia Chronicles on CD, and they were read WONDERFULLY by classic British actors like Patrick Stewart, Jeremy Northam, and Helen Mirren. Why couldn't we have done as well for Harry? Has anyone else found this on the CD's? Anyone share my opinion? Just curious, List Elves, please don't skewer me for being slightly OT. Katie --------------------------------- Sherry now: I am actually shocked you found his reading flat. I've heard people say they thought he was too ... can't think of the word, but was too much in character, too many voices, too much inflection, and that the books read by Fry were better because he read them in a more straight forward way. Personally, I am a huge fan of Jim Dale's reading of the series. He creates a voice for ever single character and brings them to life for me. I remember laughing with delight, when I first heard the voices of the actors in the first movie, particularly Hagrid and Dumbledore, because they sounded just right to me, based on Dale's reading. I heard an interview with him once, a number of years ago, in which he said that JKR has given some input to his reading in things like, telling him where a particular character is from, so he can get the accent right. I only know of one other book he's ever read, A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. I read a great many audio books, since there isn't much available in Braille, and Jim Dale is one of the best readers I've heard. of course that's just my opinion, and I know many people who like a much simpler sort of reading of audio books. But he really gives life to the characters for me. Sherry From Debby970095 at aol.com Fri Apr 20 03:32:32 2007 From: Debby970095 at aol.com (Debby970095 at aol.com) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 23:32:32 EDT Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] A book close to Harry Potter? Message-ID: I enjoyed the Leven Thumps books. Thre is supposed to be a trilogy I believe. The first one was called Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo. The second one is called Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret. The are interesting enough to read just to find out what happens to the toothpick. My local Books a Million manager turned me on to those. Also I like Cornelia Funke. She has several books hat she has written including Ink heart and Ink Spell. Hope you like any or all of these selections. By the way the Leven Thumps books are written by Obert Skye. Debby ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From Debby970095 at aol.com Fri Apr 20 03:36:36 2007 From: Debby970095 at aol.com (Debby970095 at aol.com) Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 23:36:36 EDT Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Wandless Magic (was RE: Odd to me Message-ID: Also you apparate and disapparate without a wand. You simply think about the three D's!! Destination, Determination and Deliberation. If I remember them correctly. Debby ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From n2fgc at arrl.net Fri Apr 20 05:06:15 2007 From: n2fgc at arrl.net (Mrs. Lee Storm (God Is The Healing Force)) Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 01:06:15 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] The books on CD In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <000501c78309$9f8004e0$66a4a8c0@rosie> Sherry, It's a kids book but very fun...Dave Barry's "Peter And The Starcatcher." Jim does a lovely job. I don't know if he reads the sequel "Peter And The Shadow Thieves." Also, if you like classic lit, "Around The World In Eighty Days" is read by our friend. I can also say from personal experience that Jim is a nice person! Cheers, Lee :-) Do not walk behind me, | Lee Storm I may not care to lead; | N2FGC Do not walk before me, | n2fgc at arrl.net (or) I may not care to follow; | n2fgc at optonline.net Walk beside me, and be my friend. From bboyminn at yahoo.com Fri Apr 20 06:15:00 2007 From: bboyminn at yahoo.com (Steve) Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 06:15:00 -0000 Subject: Curious about Septimus Heap and Peter the Star Catcher Message-ID: Recently I saw copies of the Septimus Heap books by Angie Sage. (book 1 - Magyk, book 2 - Flyte, book 3 - Physiks). I'm wondering if others have read them, and curious what they thought? Are they childish books for young readers, or do the spill over into the adult, young adult area. They seem interesting, but at the price of books, I can't afford to by them a be wrong. The Peter and the Star Catcher series does indeed seem childish, but with Dave Barry as the author, it has some intrigue for me. Yet, as I said, I can't afford to buy books that I don't like. I keep hoping I'll see 'Half Moon Investigation' by Eoin Colfer in a story. I lover 'Artemis Fowl' and very much like the 'Supernaturals'. But I can only buy it if I find it in paperback. I'm also a very big fan of the 'Enders Game' and 'Enders Shadow' series of books. Eight books in all with more coming down the road. I also have a book of short stories by Orson Scott Card - "Maps in the Mirror". Card has written many series, as well as short stories, all are loved by some. Though I am particularly fond of the stories that take place in the Enderverse. Just curious. Steve/bboyminn From sherriola at earthlink.net Fri Apr 20 12:46:27 2007 From: sherriola at earthlink.net (Sherry Gomes) Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 05:46:27 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] The books on CD In-Reply-To: <000501c78309$9f8004e0$66a4a8c0@rosie> Message-ID: lee said: Sherry, It's a kids book but very fun...Dave Barry's "Peter And The Starcatcher." Jim does a lovely job. I don't know if he reads the sequel "Peter And The Shadow Thieves." Also, if you like classic lit, "Around The World In Eighty Days" is read by our friend. I can also say from personal experience that Jim is a nice person! Sherry now: Thanks. I will see if audible.com has those. I might even consider reading Around the World in 80 days if Jim reads it. How nice that you've been able to meet him. I never cared much about trying to meet entertainers--well, except Paul McCartney whom I would still love to meet!--but I have many authors I'd like to meet and several audio book readers. Jim Dale would be at the top of my list of readers I'd like to sit down and talk to. Sherry From n2fgc at arrl.net Fri Apr 20 16:00:37 2007 From: n2fgc at arrl.net (Mrs. Lee Storm (God Is The Healing Force)) Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 12:00:37 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] The books on CD In-Reply-To: References: <000501c78309$9f8004e0$66a4a8c0@rosie> Message-ID: <000901c78365$0afa4d60$66a4a8c0@rosie> [You said]: | How nice that | you've been able | to meet him. I never cared much about trying to meet | entertainers--well, | except Paul McCartney whom I would still love to meet!--but I | have many | authors I'd like to meet and several audio book readers. Jim | Dale would be | at the top of my list of readers I'd like to sit down and talk to. [Lee]: Well, I haven't had that extreme pleasure, but we have shared email. It's a long story that started out probably back in 2002. I had gotten on Jim's website after a Google search to see if there was any way of contacting him. There was no contact link. There was, however, a heartfelt request for people to write to a Potter Fan who had lost a leg through cancer and was going through lots of changes in his life. Jim asked people to send lots of positive thoughts and encouragement. Not knowing the age of this person, I dropped a simple note to the email address provided. Turns out the boy was 8 years old; his father, Craig, was quick to respond and, before I knew it, I became totally connected with this family. Kasey, the little boy, was the cutest, smartest, kindliest little guy who had asked one of the Make-A-Wish people as one of his requests to speak with either J.K. or Jim Dale. It was Jim who responded, very promptly, giving the family his home number and telling them to keep in touch with him no matter what. According to Craig, Jim had lost someone in his family to cancer...someone young, and just wanted to help because he could understand the situation. I'm not sure if he had endured cancer himself, but I know it had been with someone close to him. It was through Craig that I got in touch with Jim Dale; something Craig sent out, a report of their trip to Disney, I think, had Jim's email address on it, so I wrote. I think it was the Christmas of 2002. I told Jim how I had gotten his email address, how I had connected with Craig and Kasey, and what a blessing and pleasure his reading was. I told Jim that one of the greatest things was having the Potter books with us in the car, etc., and enjoying his reading to us while we drove. I wished him a blessed Christmas and new year. Within two days, I got a wonderful response and that, as they say, was the beginning of a wonderful email connection. I'm sorry to report that Kasey didn't make it. I can tell you that every one of us in my church cried; we had all been lifting him and his family up in prayer. Craig and his wife, Celia, were totally devastated, of course; Craig's parents were fantastic; they kept in touch with me and kept me posted when Craig couldn't. I, unfortunately, ended up having to send the sad news of Kasey's passing because Craig was so distraught he couldn't find Jim's email address, phone number or anything, so I said I'd write. I did, telling Jim I had been on the phone for two hours with Craig and Celia and that they wanted him to know how much they had appreciated all his calls to Kasey as the voice of Hagrid or Dumbledore, etc. One funny...Kasey had been in the hospital for a surgery and Craig had let Jim know; Jim called Kasey at the hospital as the voice of Dumbledore, and Kasey's biggest thrill was telling whoever he saw that Dumbledore had called him. Anyway, I got to meet Craig and Celia and Craig's parents; they're all really sweet. Unfortunately, I think they're still, after all this time, in such a grief hold that it's tragic. But Jim and I have still kept in touch. I remember his letting me know he was getting the MBE. When that horrible bombing happened in London, one of the first things I did was write to Jim and ask if he had any folks who might be affected and was everyone okay. He wrote back and told me that, thank God, no one of his people had been hurt, but his son had been up in one of the news helicopters and had sent Jim pics...the devastation had been incredible. He's sent me a few jokes, a wonderful animated ecard a couple of Christmases ago, and, though our contacts are sporadic, each one is fun. He's been ending his notes with "Lotsa," which I believe is a short form for Lotsa Love, which I found very touching. Another nice reader is Dick Hill in Illinois. He's very good and very fun...and he and his wife often collaborate on projects. They have a cat, too. He's not a professional actor, but has done some, and looks at books as plays to perform, so to speak. Anyway, that's my story of Jim. The closest I got to him was attending the last run of "A Christmas Carol." Take care, Lotsa, Lee :-) Do not walk behind me, | Lee Storm I may not care to lead; | N2FGC Do not walk before me, | n2fgc at arrl.net (or) I may not care to follow; | n2fgc at optonline.net Walk beside me, and be my friend. From cute_janers at yahoo.com Fri Apr 20 17:32:27 2007 From: cute_janers at yahoo.com (Liz S.) Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 17:32:27 -0000 Subject: Jeopardy Question Message-ID: I was watching Jeopardy a few weeks back, and a question popped up. It said something like, "His first name is Lucius, and he is currently incarcerated in Azkaban Prison." Nobody rang in, and Alex said, "He's in Harry Potter world. His surname is 'Mulfay' (something like that). Oh, Malfoy. What an unusual name." And I was like "Trebek is so common?" Anyway...I was very surprised nobody got the right... :-( From dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com Fri Apr 20 17:36:15 2007 From: dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com (dumbledore11214) Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 17:36:15 -0000 Subject: fanfiction search :) Message-ID: Okay, I know this one is a little wierd and probably non existant, but do want to try. One of my favorite books ever is Alfred Bester's "Demolished man". Anybody knows any fanfiction written in that universe? At all? I know that "babylon 5" series were influenced by this book, sort of, but I am only interested in fanfic, if such exist about the book itself. Thanks, Alla From dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com Fri Apr 20 18:25:09 2007 From: dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com (dumbledore11214) Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 18:25:09 -0000 Subject: The books on CD In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > Sherry now: > > Thanks. I will see if audible.com has those. I might even consider reading > Around the World in 80 days if Jim reads it. How nice that you've been able > to meet him. I never cared much about trying to meet entertainers-- well, > except Paul McCartney whom I would still love to meet!--but I have many > authors I'd like to meet and several audio book readers. Jim Dale would be > at the top of my list of readers I'd like to sit down and talk to. > > Sherry > Alla: I never met Jim Dale, but I had seen him performing in the Christmas Carol few years ago. He was very good :) From n2fgc at arrl.net Fri Apr 20 21:15:54 2007 From: n2fgc at arrl.net (Mrs. Lee Storm (God Is The Healing Force)) Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 17:15:54 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] The books on CD In-Reply-To: <000901c78365$0afa4d60$66a4a8c0@rosie> References: <000501c78309$9f8004e0$66a4a8c0@rosie> <000901c78365$0afa4d60$66a4a8c0@rosie> Message-ID: <000001c78391$14cb8fd0$66a4a8c0@rosie> OOPS!!I meant that great missive as private mail...Sorry!!!! Cheers, Lee :-) From OctobersChild48 at aol.com Sat Apr 21 05:06:07 2007 From: OctobersChild48 at aol.com (OctobersChild48 at aol.com) Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2007 01:06:07 EDT Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] The books on CD Message-ID: In a message dated 4/20/2007 2:16:18 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, n2fgc at arrl.net writes: OOPS!!I meant that great missive as private mail...Sorry!OOP Cheers, Lee :-) It is a great story and I am glad you shared it with the group, even if it was accidentally. On the topic. I am not going to attribute anyone, I am just going to add my two sickles worth. I have all six of the Stephen Fry books on CD, but only because they were given to me as a gift. I like them and I enjoy listening to them, but... I only have a couple of the Jim Dale audio books and I much prefer the ones I do have to the Stephen Fry versions. I hope to eventually acquire all of the Jim Dale versions. I don't yet have Jim's version of SS so I can't comment upon it. But I do prefer Jim to Stephen. Sandy ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From gbannister10 at tiscali.co.uk Sat Apr 21 06:41:14 2007 From: gbannister10 at tiscali.co.uk (Geoff Bannister) Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2007 06:41:14 -0000 Subject: The books on CD In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Geoff: I would recommend one series of books I have mentioned more than once in the past on Main, namely "The Weirdstone of Brisingamen" and "The Moon of Gomrath" by Alan Garner. They were written a good while ago but are still available and share with Harry Potter the parallelism of the real world and a magic world. Some of the characters chime with LOTR but the stories are based around the legend of Alderley Edge, a real location just south of Manchester in the North-west of England. From kempermentor at yahoo.com Sun Apr 22 09:02:53 2007 From: kempermentor at yahoo.com (kempermentor) Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2007 09:02:53 -0000 Subject: Curious about Septimus Heap and Peter the Star Catcher In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > Steve wrote: > Recently I saw copies of the Septimus Heap books by > Angie Sage. (book 1 - Magyk, book 2 - Flyte, book 3 - > Physiks). I'm wondering if others have read them, and > curious what they thought? Are they childish books for > young readers, or do the spill over into the adult, > young adult area. They seem interesting, but at the > price of books, I can't afford to by them a be wrong. Kemper now: Hi Steve. I read most of 'Magyk'. It did not keep me spellbound. I wanted to be charmed, to enjoy it, but it was too predictable. I think you might like Nancy Farmer's 'The House of the Scorpion'. I would label it as subtle scifi. No space operas here. I also like to suggest a fellow Oregonian, Timothy Zahn. Specifically, his Dragonback Adventure series. Start with 'Dragon and Thief'. It's a fun read. fwiw, Kemper From catlady at wicca.net Sun Apr 22 12:53:02 2007 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2007 12:53:02 -0000 Subject: The Publication Date In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" wrote: > There are other steps as well--typecoding, proofreading, book design, What is typecoding? From HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Sun Apr 22 15:45:30 2007 From: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com (HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com) Date: 22 Apr 2007 15:45:30 -0000 Subject: Weekly Chat, 4/22/2007, 11:00 am Message-ID: <1177256730.8.16110.m48@yahoogroups.com> Reminder from: HPFGU-OTChatter Yahoo! Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/cal Weekly Chat Sunday April 22, 2007 11:00 am - 12:00 pm (This event repeats every week.) Location: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Notes: Just a reminder, Sunday chat starts in about one hour. To get to the HPfGU room follow this link: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Create a user name for yourself, whatever you want to be called. Enter the password: hpfguchat Click "Join Chat" on the lower right. Chat start times: 11 am Pacific US 12 noon Mountain US 1 pm Central US 2 pm Eastern US 7 pm UK All Rights Reserved Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Inc. http://www.yahoo.com Privacy Policy: http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us Terms of Service: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Sun Apr 22 17:41:49 2007 From: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com (HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com) Date: 22 Apr 2007 17:41:49 -0000 Subject: Weekly Chat, 4/22/2007, 1:00 pm Message-ID: <1177263709.12.62942.m40@yahoogroups.com> Reminder from: HPFGU-OTChatter Yahoo! Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/cal Weekly Chat Sunday April 22, 2007 1:00 pm - 1:00 pm (This event repeats every week.) Location: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Notes: Just a reminder, Sunday chat starts in about one hour. To get to the HPfGU room follow this link: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Create a user name for yourself, whatever you want to be called. Enter the password: hpfguchat Click "Join Chat" on the lower right. Chat start times: 11 am Pacific US 12 noon Mountain US 1 pm Central US 2 pm Eastern US 7 pm UK All Rights Reserved Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Inc. http://www.yahoo.com Privacy Policy: http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us Terms of Service: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pengolodh_sc at yahoo.no Sun Apr 22 22:11:44 2007 From: pengolodh_sc at yahoo.no (pengolodh_sc) Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2007 22:11:44 -0000 Subject: Jeopardy Question In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter, "Liz S." wrote: > Nobody rang in, and Alex said, "He's in Harry Potter > world. His surname is 'Mulfay' (something like that). > Oh, Malfoy. What an unusual name." And I was like > "Trebek is so common?" [snip] And Malfoy is a name existing in the real world. One Malfoy participated in the New York Marathon some eyars back, I think, and there is a Bernard Malfoy working as a cancer researcher at the Institut Curie in France; he's apparently head of a research team there. Best regards Christian Stub? Slowly catching up with mailinglists and other things after nearly a week without Internet From justcarol67 at yahoo.com Mon Apr 23 03:19:18 2007 From: justcarol67 at yahoo.com (justcarol67) Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 03:19:18 -0000 Subject: The Publication Date In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" wrote: > > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" > wrote: > > > There are other steps as well--typecoding, proofreading, book design, > > What is typecoding? > Carol: Oh, my. How can I explain? Typecoding, also called manuscript markup, involves providing certain codes for the typesetter to indicate a specific font or typesize or other element of the book design. For example, a particular code might be used to indicate a drop capital at the beginning of a chapter or an extracted quotation. A letter might be set in a different typeface from the rest of the text (for example Hagrid's letters in the HP books--the American designer may even have incorporated the tear splotches as well as the font into the design, and the typecoder would need to invent a specific code, say to indicate a letter from Hagrid to be set in that particular style. Other codes, say CT for chapter title or UNL for unnumbered list, are farily standard if not universal among American publishers. (I've never typecoded a manuscript for a British publisher, but it can't be very different.) Ideally, the author's manuscript is submitted in some standard 12-point font, say Times New Roman, and double-spaced throughout, with no formatting other than, say, centered chapter titles and possibly double-indentation for long quotations. The typecoder (usually not the same person as the copyeditor) marks up the manuscript so that the typesetter can format it to match the book design. Sometimes the typecoding is done electronically using MS Word or some other program; sometimes it's done by hand on a printed version of the manuscript. Each publisher uses slightly different codes and each manuscript is different, but usually it's a fairly simple process. Make sense? Carol, who never appreciated the amount of work involved in producing a book before she became an assistant production editor and still prefers copyediting to any other step in the process From ms_petra_pan at yahoo.com Mon Apr 23 09:18:07 2007 From: ms_petra_pan at yahoo.com (Petra) Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 02:18:07 -0700 (PDT) Subject: HP readalikes - for the young and young at heart (long) Message-ID: <746833.23592.qm@web51904.mail.re2.yahoo.com> I've been turned on to three of the best resources out there on the web for getting suggestions for books to read (well, apart from asking here at OTC ). They are subscription databases so you might need to get access through your library. I know we've tons of librarians here. Perhaps they've some thoughts on this? My library (San Francisco Public Library) calls these Reader's Advisory Databases: NoveList, Fiction Connection and Gale's What Do I Read Next. I'm new to these DBs but I'm certainly planning on using NoveList a lot from now on. >From the NoveList article entitled "The Wide Appeal of Harry Potter," Katherine Bradley Johnson identified three broad categories of stories that may appeal to HP fans: 1) family readalikes that adults will enjoy reading to their kids or with them; 2) titles for adults and young adults; and 3) adult fantasy stories which may offer similar kinds of pleasure The main flaw with searching these DBs is that data is all about the tangibles whereas I'm looking for the intangibles: Am I going to care about the characters? Is it snarky? Nevertheless, at least the searches yield some suggestions. If you've read any of the following books, I'm curious to hear what you thought of them. I skipped the ones we always mention (LotR, Narnia) and notes that quite a few have already been mentioned here before. I barely made a dent in the mountain of suggestions and have yet to put together the list for older readers so the below is mostly books that even the youngest HP fans can read. Apologies to those of you not interested - this is long. Petra a n :) * Family readalikes * Kingsley, Charles. The Water-babies MacDonald, George. The Princess and the Goblin The Princess and Curdie Norton, Mary. Bed-knob and Broomstick The Borrowers Peter Dickinson. The Devil's Children Heartsease The Weathermonger >From Deanna Hanson's article "Hurray for Harry Potter!" at NoveList SERIES: Tamora Pierce. Circle of Magic 1. Sandry's Book 2. Tris's Book 3. Daja's Book 4. Briar's Book Susan Cooper. The Dark is Rising 1. Over Sea, Under Stone 2. The Dark is Rising 3. Greenwitch 4. The Grey King 5. Silver on the Tree Patricia Wrede. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles 1. Dealing with Dragons 2. Searching for Dragons 3. Calling on Dragons 4. Talking to Dragons Philip Pullman. His Dark Materials 1. The Golden Compass 2. The Subtle Knife 3. The Amber Spyglass T. A. Barron. The Lost Years of Merlin 1. The Lost Years of Merlin 2. The Seven Songs of Merlin 3. The Fires of Merlin Bruce Coville. Magic Shop Books 1. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher 2. Jennifer Murdley's Toad 3. The Skull of Truth Lloyd Alexander. The Prydain Chronicles 1. The Book of Three 2. The Black Cauldron 3. The Castle of Llyr 4. Taran Wanderer 5. The High King Brian Jacques. Redwall 1. Redwall 2. Mossflower 3. Mattimeo 4. Mariel of Redwall 5. Salamandastron 6. Martin the Warrior 7. The Bellmaker 8. Outcast of Redwall 9. Pearls of Lutra 10. The Long Patrol 11. Marlfox 12. The Legend of Luke Madeleine L'Engle. The Time Fantasy series 1. A Wrinkle in Time 2. A Wind in the Door 3. A Swiftly Tilting Planet 4. Many Waters Diane Duane. The Young Wizards Series 1. So You Want to be a Wizard 2. Deep Wizardry 3. High Wizardry 4. A Wizard Abroad Sherwood Smith. 1. Wren to the Rescue 2. Wren's Quest 3. Wren's War Jane Yolen. Young Merlin Trilogy 1. Passager 2. Hobby 3. Merlin INDIVIDUAL TITLES: Roald Dahl. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Matilda Gail Carson Levine. Ella Enchanted Andrew Clements. Frindle The Landry News Janet S. Anderson. Going through the Gate Dian Curtis Regan. Princess Nevermore Perry Nodelman. The Same Place but Different A Completely Different Place Eva Ibbotson. The Secret of Platform 13 [Petra: see below] Gregory J. Holch. Things With Wings H. M. Hoover. The Winds of Mars Jane Yolen. Wizard's Hall >From "Beyond Harry Potter: More Wizards, Witches and Magic Spells" by Bonnie Kunzel at NoveList Avi. Crispin: The Cross of Lead Bright Shadow Poppy and Poppy and Rye L. Frank Baum. The Wizard of Oz series * The Marvelous Land of Oz * Ozma of Oz * Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz * The Road to Oz * The Emerald City of Oz * The Patchwork Girl of Oz * Tik-Tok of Oz * The Scarecrow of Oz * The Lost Princess of Oz * The Tin Woodman of Oz * The Magic of Oz John Bellairs. The Dark Secret of Weatherend The Mansion in the Mist The House with a Clock in Its Walls Sequels (by Brad Strickland): The Specter from the Magician's Museum The Beast under the Wizard's Bridge L. M. Boston. The Children of Green Knowe Grace Chetwin. Tales of Gom in the Legends of Ulm * Gom on Windy Mountain * The Riddle and the Rune * The Crystal Stair * The Starstone Climo, Shirley. Magic & Mischief: Tales from Cornwall Colfer, Eoin. Artemis Fowl Series * Artemis Fowl * Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident * Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code Cooper, Susan. The Boggart The Boggart and the Monster Coville, Bruce. Unicorn Chronicles * Into the Land of the Unicorns * Song of the Wanderer Dahl, Roald. James and the Giant Peach Fletcher, Susan. Dragon Series * Dragon's Milk * Flight of the Dragon Kyn * Sign of the Dove Shadow Spinner Furlong, Monica. Wise Child Juniper Garner, Alan. The Weirdstone of Brisingamen Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Just Ella Ibbotson, Eva. * The Secret of Platform 13 * Dial-a-Ghost * Island of the Aunts * Which Witch? [Petra: she's also written "The Great Ghost Rescue," "The Haunting of Granite Falls," "Journey to the River Sea," "Not Just a Witch," "The Star of Kazan" and though "A Countess Below Stairs" does not feature children it can be read to them. It's sweet.] Jarvis, Robin. The Deptford Mice Trilogy * The Dark Portal * The Crystal Prison * The Final Reckoning Jones, Diana Wynne. * The Chronicles of Chrestomanci * Charmed Life * The Lives of Christopher Chant * Witch Week * The Magicians of Caprona The Dalemark Quartet * Cart and Cwidder * Drowned Ammet * The Spellcoats * Crown of Dalemark Fire and Hemlock Howl's Moving Castle Castle in the Air. Levine, Gail Carson. The Princess Tales * The Fairy's Mistake * The Princess Test * Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep Levy, Robert. Clan of the Shape-Changers Lubar, David. Wizards of the Game MacHale, D. J. The Merchant of Death The Lost City of Faar McKillip, Patricia A. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld Morris, Gerald. The Squire's Tale series * The Squire's Tale * The Squire, his Knight, and his Lady * The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf * Parsifal's Page * The Ballad of Sir Dinadan Nicholson, William. The Wind on Fire Trilogy * The Wind Singer: An Adventure * Slaves of the Mastery * Firesong Nimmo, Jenny. Midnight for Charlie Bone Charlie Bone and the Time Twister Nix, Garth. Abhorsen Trilogy * Sabriel * Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr * Abhorsen Paolini, Christopher. Eragon Pierce, Meredith Ann. The Firebringer Trilogy * Birth of the Firebringer * Dark Moon * The Son of Summer Stars Pierce, Tamora. * The Circle Opens * Magic Steps * Street Magic * Cold Fire * Shatterglass * The Immortals * Wild Magic * Wolf-Speaker * Emperor Mage * The Realms of the Gods * Song of the Lioness * Alanna: The First Adventure * In the Hand of the Goddess * The Woman Who Rides like a Man * Lioness Rampant * the Protector of the Small series * First Test * Page * Squire * Lady Knight Pope, Elizabeth. The Perilous Gard Sherman, Josepha. Child of Faerie, Child of Earth Windleaf Snicket, Lemony. A Series of Unfortunate Events * The Bad Beginning * The Reptile Room * The Wide Window * The Miserable Mill * The Austere Academy * The Vile Village * The Hostile Hospital * The Ersatz Elevator * The Carnivorous Carnival Springer, Nancy. Red Wizard Strickland, Brad. Dragon's Plunder Travers, P. L. Mary Poppins Series * Mary Poppins * Mary Poppins Comes Back * Mary Poppins Opens the Door * Mary Poppins in the Park * Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane * Mary Poppins and the House Next Door Ure, Jean. The Wizard in the Woods Vande Velde, Vivian. Heir Apparent Winthrop, Elizabeth. The Castle in the Attic The Battle for the Castle Yep, Laurence. Dragon Series * Dragon of the Lost Sea * Dragon Steel * Dragon Cauldron * Dragon War Yolen, Jane. The Dragon's Boy: A Tale of Young King Arthur __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From bunniqula at gmail.com Mon Apr 23 19:24:49 2007 From: bunniqula at gmail.com (Dina Lerret) Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 15:24:49 -0400 Subject: Building another computer rig to annoy me (~ $1,400-1,500) Message-ID: <1a2738400704231224g2471d621y2d5f4c247ae9e916@mail.gmail.com> I've been wanting a dual boot PC with WinXP SP2 (32 or 64bit) and Mac OSX for awhile, and with the Intel price cuts, I think I'll figuratively bite the bullet. My current rig that I built at the beginning of 2006: Case $145 Thermaltake full tower (420w PSU) Motherboard $196 Intel (Socket 775) Processor $239 Intel P4 HT 3.4 Heatsink $28 Thermaltake RAM $310 Corsair (2gigs) Hard drive $276 Raptor SATA 150gigs Hard drive $100 SATA 250gigs Hard drive $89 SATA 400gigs Hard drive $89 SATA 400gigs Video card $90 Nvidia DVD burner $42 Total: $1,604 I have my eye on: Case $200-250? PSU ? Motherboard $200-210? Intel Processor $227 Intel E6600 C2D Heatsink ? RAM $129 Corsair (2gigs) Hard drive $175 Raptor SATA 150gigs Hard drive $120 SATA 500gigs Hard drive Video card $125-175? Nvidia DVD burner ? Base Total: $1,268? I'm estimating a budget of $1,400-1,475... Okay, I remember what a pain in the arse the first rig was to build but... a year has passed and maybe the memory of how *much* a pain it was has kinda faded. {g} I'll see how things go because the parts are being slowly bought and a dual boot with both Windows and Mac operating systems will be even more difficult because you have to hack Mac. Hm, I could probably build a decent vidding rig for $700-750, but these are the parts I want. I've already budgeted $1,000 that I was thinking of investing in a bank CD... {sigh} So much for saving money and not spending it. Yeah, I still have $$$$ but it's tied up in investments and anticipating paying off a mortgage this year because keeping a roof over my head is kinda a priority. ;-) Dina From jamiesonwolf at gmail.com Mon Apr 23 19:57:28 2007 From: jamiesonwolf at gmail.com (Jamieson Villeneuve) Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 15:57:28 -0400 Subject: Wombat #3? Message-ID: <5cb2ac630704231257y63b20b7ch87a3e1501e0c5a60@mail.gmail.com> Hey all, Has anyone heard when the third and final WOMBAT will be? Just curious! Cheers, Jamieson -- Jamieson Wolf THE GHOST MIRROR - Order it today from eTreasures Publishing! www.theghostmirror.blogspot.com/ HUNTED - Coming in June from Write Words Inc! http://www.huntedanovel.blogspot.com/ Also Visit: www.jamiesonwolf.co.nr [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From gav_fiji at yahoo.com Mon Apr 23 22:44:47 2007 From: gav_fiji at yahoo.com (Goddlefrood) Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:44:47 -0000 Subject: Wombat #3? In-Reply-To: <5cb2ac630704231257y63b20b7ch87a3e1501e0c5a60@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: > Jamieson: > Has anyone heard when the third and final WOMBAT will be? Just curious! Goddlefrood: No news so far. I hope it's very soon as I anticipate completing my Outstanding record ;). Keep an eye on HPANA for further news, they're usually the first to note such things :) From gav_fiji at yahoo.com Mon Apr 23 23:00:08 2007 From: gav_fiji at yahoo.com (Goddlefrood) Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 23:00:08 -0000 Subject: HP readalikes - for the young and young at heart (long) In-Reply-To: <746833.23592.qm@web51904.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: > Petra with a long reading list, should cover the next month or two ;), that included: > Philip Pullman. > His Dark Materials > 1. The Golden Compass > 2. The Subtle Knife > 3. The Amber Spyglass Goddlefrood: A superb series for readers of almost all ages, although the starting age may be a few years higher than the HP books. Teenage and above would be my suggestion. An excellent read with a villain that came in second only to LV in one poll of readers, and which JKR felt highly complimented about :) > Roald Dahl. > Charlie and the Chocolate Factory > Matilda > James and the Giant Peach Goddlefrood: Roald Dahl wrote many books across all age groups. These above are for younger readers, and I would add "The Fantastic Mr. Fox", which was a personal favourite when I was about 7-12 and "Danny the Champion of the World" For older readers there are the "Tales of the Unexpected", "Switch Bitch" and many others. He was and remains a joy to read for all :) > L. Frank Baum. > The Wizard of Oz series > * The Marvelous Land of Oz > * Ozma of Oz > * Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz > * The Road to Oz > * The Emerald City of Oz > * The Patchwork Girl of Oz > * Tik-Tok of Oz > * The Scarecrow of Oz > * The Lost Princess of Oz > * The Tin Woodman of Oz > * The Magic of Oz Goddlefrood: This series is particularly enjoyable to all. My brother's girlfriend is a huge addict and she's an, hem hem, older lady :) > Colfer, Eoin. > Artemis Fowl Series > * Artemis Fowl > * Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident > * Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code Goddlefrood: The Artemis Fowl series is excellent also. High paced action and highly amusing. Suitable for any age, IMO. Even my four year old loves these. :) > Snicket, Lemony. > A Series of Unfortunate Events > * The Bad Beginning > * The Reptile Room > * The Wide Window > * The Miserable Mill > * The Austere Academy > * The Vile Village > * The Hostile Hospital > * The Ersatz Elevator > * The Carnivorous Carnival Goddlefrood: I also enjoyed this entire series, which is now complete up to book 13. (Each has 13 chaptes also, except one :). Suitable to all ages and has merit for older readers too. Off topic even more the film of the first three books is far superior to the HP films so far presented, IMO, and this from someone whop finds Jim Carrey grating ;). Brad Silverburg for Movie 6 or 7, anyone ? > Travers, P. L. > Mary Poppins Series > * Mary Poppins > * Mary Poppins Comes Back > * Mary Poppins Opens the Door > * Mary Poppins in the Park > * Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane > * Mary Poppins and the House Next Door Goddlefrood: Very much for younger readers and listeners :). They have a certain charm for older readers, but are very much written for the younger person. I won't add any more, but I would refer anyone who loves books to www.fantasticfiction.co.uk, quite simply the best book resource on the net, IMNSVHO :). It has author lists, categories and small reviews. Take your time and get to know it ;). It's tremendously user friendly. Enjoy! Goddlefrood From bgrugin at yahoo.com Tue Apr 24 02:22:50 2007 From: bgrugin at yahoo.com (bgrugin) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 02:22:50 -0000 Subject: HP readalikes - for the young and young at heart (long) In-Reply-To: <746833.23592.qm@web51904.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: > Susan Cooper. > The Dark is Rising > 1. Over Sea, Under Stone > 2. The Dark is Rising > 3. Greenwitch > 4. The Grey King > 5. Silver on the Tree MusicalBetsy: I loved these books as a kid. I recently reread them, and they didn't seem quite as entertaining, but they are still interesting, and your kids will probably love them! > Madeleine L'Engle. > The Time Fantasy series > 1. A Wrinkle in Time > 2. A Wind in the Door > 3. A Swiftly Tilting Planet > 4. Many Waters MusicalBetsy: Another series that I loved. I even wrote to Madeleine L'Engle when I was about 10, and she wrote back. Actually, it was a form letter in which she then included a personal note to me at the bottom of it. I still have it because it meant that much to me. I would bet anything that these books are just as entertaining to adults as to children. > Cooper, Susan. > The Boggart > The Boggart and the Monster> MusicalBetsy: I haven't read these Susan Cooper books, but I was curious about them, with "Boggart" in the title. Has anyone else read them? > Nimmo, Jenny. > Midnight for Charlie Bone > Charlie Bone and the Time Twister MusicalBetsy: My daughter read the 2nd book recently and she really liked it - I had thought about reading it this summer to see what I think of it. > Paolini, Christopher. > Eragon MusicalBetsy: I've heard good things about this book - has anyone else? Just curious. Well, there's my two cents - hope it helps! MusicalBetsy From jnferr at gmail.com Tue Apr 24 02:46:39 2007 From: jnferr at gmail.com (Janette) Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 21:46:39 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: The Publication Date In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8ee758b40704231946w4c92b3c2t5205c0938b44019b@mail.gmail.com> > > Catlady: > What is typecoding? > Carol: Oh, my. How can I explain? Typecoding, also called manuscript markup, involves providing certain codes for the typesetter to indicate a specific font or typesize or other element of the book design. For example, a particular code might be used to indicate a drop capital at the beginning of a chapter or an extracted quotation. A letter might be set in a different typeface from the rest of the text (for example Hagrid's letters in the HP books--the American designer may even have incorporated the tear splotches as well as the font into the design, and the typecoder would need to invent a specific code, say to indicate a letter from Hagrid to be set in that particular style. Other codes, say CT for chapter title or UNL for unnumbered list, are farily standard if not universal among American publishers. (I've never typecoded a manuscript for a British publisher, but it can't be very different.) montims: that is interesting, but what is the difference between that and proofreading? It sounds like what I imagine a proofreader doing, although maybe things have changed since I learnt proof codes... [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From press at terminus2008.org Tue Apr 24 03:15:53 2007 From: press at terminus2008.org (Terminus) Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 20:15:53 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Terminus: Harry Potter in Chicago August 7-11, 2008 Message-ID: <693150.64986.qm@web50507.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Dear Harry Potter for Grownups members, The bustling hub of downtown Chicago will be the setting for Terminus, an academic conference on Harry Potter, to be held August 7-11, 2008. The second presentation of Narrate Conferences, Inc., Terminus will bring adult scholars, students, and fans from around the globe to the historic Hilton Chicago Hotel to analyze and explore the complete Harry Potter series. The programming schedule will include a variety of offerings -- including formal lectures, participatory workshops, roundtable discussions, and explorations of craft -- that will give attendees the chance to expand their knowledge and understanding of the Harry Potter series. Especially important is the interdisciplinary study of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, with an emphasis on discourse and sharing scholarship between academics, students, professionals, writers, artists, and fans. Additionally, Terminus, one of the first major Harry Potter gatherings following the publication of the final book in the series, presents the perfect opportunity for analysis of the novels in their entirety. Terminus begins on Thursday, August 7, 2008, with the Arrival Dinner and opening of the Pan-Magical Games, which includes the Trade Winds Quidditch Tournament and Thoths Tournament of Knowledge. Other events include a wizarding talk show; Artists and Authors night, which will highlight creative fan pursuits; a bon voyage ball in honor of Harry himself; and the Departure Breakfast. Guests of Honor and keynote presentations will be announced at a later date. "Were very excited to hold Terminus in Chicago," noted lead event organizer Hallie Tibbetts. "Chicago is an ideal location for a conference to bring together enthusiasts from around the world, as it's a travel hub, and were very lucky to have the historic Hilton Chicago Hotel for a venue -- it's magical all in itself." Registration for the conference is now open, with an introductory price of $120 for the entire conference. Registrations include five days of educational and interactive programming; the events, including the Pan-Magical Games, a wizarding talk show, Artists and Authors Night, and the Bon Voyage Ball; the Arrival Dinner and Departure Breakfast; and a conference t-shirt. Registrants may also purchase tickets for the Quidditch and trivia tournaments and keynote presentations. The first 100 registrants will receive a special limited edition "Terminus: Arriving 2008" t-shirt as thanks for being an early supporter. Terminus is a presentation of Narrate Conferences, Inc., a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to creating dynamic, inventive events for adult scholars, students, educators, librarians, professionals and fans from around the world. For more information on Terminus, visit or contact . For more information on Narrate Conferences, including its past and future events, as well as its purpose and staff, please visit or contact . From wuff at internode.on.net Tue Apr 24 13:18:10 2007 From: wuff at internode.on.net (Wolfie!) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 23:18:10 +1000 Subject: headline In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <462E0392.5070308@internode.on.net> You know how Sinatra was "The chairman of the board", Bruce Springsteen is "The boss", Elvis "the king". I had a nice thought about what J K Rowling could be called. "The Woman of our dreams". Because she really is, the woman of OUR dreams, isn't she? Wolfie! -- Wolfie Rankin on Secondlife. Kookaburra Pub Owner / ABC Friends Admin ICQ - 3449014 Skype - Wolfie_storr * Eats a kid a day * Made in Eragon Wolfie! (c) PWTS 1986 - 2007 From kempermentor at yahoo.com Tue Apr 24 16:15:16 2007 From: kempermentor at yahoo.com (kempermentor) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:15:16 -0000 Subject: HP readalikes - for the young and young at heart (long) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > Petra suggested a reading list that included: > > > Philip Pullman. > > His Dark Materials > > 1. The Golden Compass > > 2. The Subtle Knife > > 3. The Amber Spyglass > > Goddlefrood: > > A superb series for readers of almost all ages, although the > starting age may be a few years higher than the HP books. Teenage > and above would be my suggestion. An excellent read with a villain > that came in second only to LV in one poll of readers, and which > JKR felt highly complimented about :) Kemper now: I, too, think the series is best for older readers... mostly because it challenges the institution of religion, yet it is still a very spiritual. This isn't to say that some young wouldn't enjoy it, but I think they would appreciate it more when they are well into abstract thinking. The main character, Lyra, is strong girl in the first book, but then she meets a boy in the second book. She seems to bow to his will. (The boy's name is Will.) Maybe 'bow' is too strong a word, but whatever the word is, it is still evident that Will is the dominant one in their friendship. That said... I'm really looking forward to the movie coming out this winter. It has Nicole Kidman playing the villian, Ms Colter. Personally, I think she's got Voldie beat for top spot. Where he is passionately evil, she is cold and calculating. Reading her frightened me more that reading Voldie. And her monkey is way scarier than Nigani. Kemper From k.coble at comcast.net Tue Apr 24 16:21:00 2007 From: k.coble at comcast.net (Katherine Coble) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 11:21:00 -0500 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: HP readalikes - for the young and young at heart (long) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <84AF4E93-819E-4363-809B-BAB5032D432F@comcast.net> There have been several suggestions that people try the Pullman books. I'd just like to drop my two cents in the bucket and let you know that I don't think there are many similarities between the Pullman books and the Potter books. Pullman's stories lack the heart and humour of Rowling's. They seem to be very dark and bitter in comparison. I think they have a lot of spillover readers because they are essentially fantasy, but I don't think they're the same type of book in any other aspect. From n2fgc at arrl.net Tue Apr 24 17:27:23 2007 From: n2fgc at arrl.net (Mrs. Lee Storm (God Is The Healing Force)) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 13:27:23 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: HP readalikes - for the young and young at heart (long) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <000001c78695$d1fe46e0$66a4a8c0@rosie> I have to admit I did not like "His Dark Materials". I felt it was very anti-God and, IMHO, would warn that it might be extremely uncomfortable and offensive to Christian readers. I read all three books, hoping for what I would call a good resolution, but was disappointed in the outcome. Cheers, Lee :-) From bboyminn at yahoo.com Tue Apr 24 18:05:17 2007 From: bboyminn at yahoo.com (Steve) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:05:17 -0000 Subject: Building another computer rig to annoy me (~ $1,400-1,500) In-Reply-To: <1a2738400704231224g2471d621y2d5f4c247ae9e916@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: --- "Dina Lerret" wrote: > > I've been wanting a dual boot PC with WinXP SP2 (32 or > 64bit) and Mac OSX for awhile, and with the Intel price > cuts, I think I'll figuratively bite the bullet. > > My current rig that I built at the beginning of 2006: > Case $145 Thermaltake full tower (420w PSU) > Motherboard $196 Intel (Socket 775) > Processor $239 Intel P4 HT 3.4 > Heatsink $28 Thermaltake > RAM $310 Corsair (2gigs) > Hard drive $276 Raptor SATA 150gigs > Hard drive $100 SATA 250gigs > Hard drive $89 SATA 400gigs > Hard drive $89 SATA 400gigs > Video card $90 Nvidia > DVD burner $42 > Total: $1,604 > > I have my eye on: > Case $200-250? > PSU ? > Motherboard $200-210? Intel > Processor $227 Intel E6600 C2D > Heatsink ? > RAM $129 Corsair (2gigs) > Hard drive $175 Raptor SATA 150gigs > Hard drive $120 SATA 500gigs > Hard drive > Video card $125-175? Nvidia > DVD burner ? > Base Total: $1,268? > > I'm estimating a budget of $1,400-1,475... ... > > Dina > bboyminn: I'm curious what you are doing that requires this much computing power. If I interpret correctly you have 2G of Ram, 1,200Gig of hard drive space, and a 3.4Ghz P4 processor. Many of the best systems available still don't meet these specifications and you still want more? Of course you mention the dual boot Win/Mac, and that presents it's own issues. But in terms of raw computing power, your current system doesn't seem to be lacking. How about a new motherboard and processor, maybe a new video card, then new OS's. Place that in your current system and you should be ready to go, and for a lot less money. Just curious. Steve/bboyminn - who for the records is still using a 900Mhz AMD Athlon with 512Mb and a 60Gb HD. From bboyminn at yahoo.com Tue Apr 24 18:52:02 2007 From: bboyminn at yahoo.com (Steve) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 18:52:02 -0000 Subject: HP readalikes - Eragon In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- "bgrugin" wrote: > > > > Paolini, Christopher. > > Eragon > > MusicalBetsy: > I've heard good things about this book - has anyone else? > Just curious. > > Well, there's my two cents - hope it helps! > > MusicalBetsy > bboyminn: I thought I would jump in an comment on 'Eragon' and now 'Eldest', the first two in the 'Inheritance Trilogy', before the nay-sayers jump in. Many people claim these books are 'predictable' and 'derivative', but I found a fascinating captivating story filled with very likable characters. Perhaps I haven't read as much fantasy as these nay-sayers and am therefore less jaded. I suspect, though certainly not universally true, that many of those who don't like 'Eragon' are people who are 'Lord of the Rings' fans, who simply can't stand any book that ventures into Tolkien territory. I personally found Tolkien to be a slow, arduous, tedious, grueling read; too many strange people and place names, I simply couldn't keep track in a story that seem to wander at a snails pace. Eragon, while similar to Tolkien in that it takes place in the Mythical land of 'Alagaesia', is much easier to keep track of. It is also a wonderful action adventure story that keeps you draw into the world on every page, and keeps you moving forward in the story. The recent Eragon movie, like so many movies based on books, didn't tell even a faction of the story, nor did it get into the depth of character found in the books. For me, this was a real page turner, that I have since read several times. Wonderfully sympathetic characters, interesting plots and adventures, well controlled and well contained, carefully plotted. There is a small degree of a sense of immaturity as an author on Paolini's part, but to be fair, he was only 15 or 16 when he started writing the story. The book was originally published by his parents small publishing company, and Paolini went from school to school giving readings and promoting the books. So this book, much like Harry Potter, reach the best seller list by word of mouth, not marketing budget and strategy. I highly recommend the books to anyone and everyone, and would rank it as one of my favorite series. Deeper and more complex than Harry Potter, and probably not for young readers who are not sophisticated. There are several made-up languages in the books; Elf - the heart of the ancient and magical language, dwarf, and a couple others. Also, since this book does not live in the normal world there are strange place names, though I found this very contained and managable, though unsophisticated younger readers might have difficulty. Again, wonderful action adventure fantasy with deep sympathetic characters and a complex, yet easy to read, story. Steve/bboyminn - feeling the need to defend 'Eragon' where ever he goes. From bboyminn at yahoo.com Tue Apr 24 19:03:02 2007 From: bboyminn at yahoo.com (Steve) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 19:03:02 -0000 Subject: headline In-Reply-To: <462E0392.5070308@internode.on.net> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Wolfie!" wrote: > > ...Sinatra "The chairman of the board", > Bruce Springsteen is "The boss", > Elvis "the king". > > I had a nice thought about what J K Rowling could be > called. > > "The Woman of our dreams". > > ... > > Wolfie! > bboyminn: How about - J.K. Rowling - The Deamweaver or the Dream Maker People can complain that J.K.Rowling is all hype and her books are nothing but a popular fad, but I don't think hype and popular fads spawn the level of creativity among it's readers the way JKR does. Last I checked on FanFiction.net, Rowling had 250,000 stories on just this one site. The next nearest genre was only 40,000. Combine all Potter FanFic and it probably dwarf the total of all other genre's combined. Then we move into Fan Art, that is another body of genre specific creativity that likely dwarfs all others by comparison. Harry Potter lights your mind on fire, the creative energy just spills, overflowing, out of anyone who give the book a fair read. That is probably the greatest measure of J.K. Rowling's greatness as an author. > > Skype - Wolfie_storr So... how is Skype working out for you? Do you have a paid account or just the free one? How's the sound quality? Have you tried international calls to regular phone numbers...is it cheaper? Enquiring minds want to know. > > Made in Eragon So, are you an Eragon fan?? I certainly am. I just left a review here, and would like to hear your take on the books. For what it's worth. Steve/bboyminn From bunniqula at gmail.com Tue Apr 24 19:06:54 2007 From: bunniqula at gmail.com (Dina Lerret) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 15:06:54 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Building another computer rig to annoy me (~ $1,400-1,500) In-Reply-To: References: <1a2738400704231224g2471d621y2d5f4c247ae9e916@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <1a2738400704241206rb3abbafx71cebde045283c9c@mail.gmail.com> On 4/24/07, Steve wrote: > I'm curious what you are doing that requires this > much computing power. If I interpret correctly > you have 2G of Ram, 1,200Gig of hard drive space, > and a 3.4Ghz P4 processor. Many of the best systems > available still don't meet these specifications and > you still want more? Video editing. :-\ I suck, big time, at memorizing hours of scenes, so I end up dumping entire episodes/seasons onto the computer. In Lagarith codec, one 45min ep can take up to 18-20gigs from a converted hi-res download. So, two seasons of ~20+ eps can take up to ~400 gigs + the original hi-res downloads run 700-800megs each (add another 14+ gigs I have to stick somewhere), plus, I have data drives for regular storage, including multiple vid projects... In other words, I currently have ~450gigs open out of ~1,200gigs. Editing with AviSynth is good and bad in that, if you delegate 25megs per AVS file and then slice up that one file into ten parts on an editing timeline, AviSynth will then require 250megs... Many vids are comprised of 100+ cuts = bye-bye gigs of RAM. Some vidders have resorted to splitting up a vid into multiple projects to bypass the memory issue, in addition to lowering the memory delegation to single digits during rendering or else the program crashes. However, AVS files are very flexible in corrections and adjustments to video/audio. If you know *exactly* what you want to vid, then aspects can be made more efficient. If you're like me and going 'eh, I'll slap scenes on there and juggle them around in the hope something cohesive forms', then there's a *lot* of excess clutter. > How about a new motherboard and processor, maybe a new > video card, then new OS's. Place that in your current > system and you should be ready to go, and for a lot > less money. True, except I want to separate out a vidding rig from a computer that'll be running 24/7 for remote access (the 2006 rig is now running 24/7). All those HDs suck up power and un/plugging them wears out the plastic SATA bits. My Gateway from 2000 has been doing 24/7 for nearly four years, in addition to vidding, and its performance is deteriorating (two optical drives shot, audio card partially working, problems powering up and down, seek times during the boot sequence can hang for several minutes). Ideally, I'd like to get down to three computer towers. > Steve/bboyminn - who for the records is still using a > 900Mhz AMD Athlon with 512Mb and a 60Gb HD. :-) I think I did almost all my HP vids on the 2000 Gateway with 20gig HD, 384RAM, and PIII650 processor. I can do movie vids but I'm a lost cause when it comes to episode vids. Dina From justcarol67 at yahoo.com Tue Apr 24 20:11:16 2007 From: justcarol67 at yahoo.com (justcarol67) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 20:11:16 -0000 Subject: The Publication Date In-Reply-To: <8ee758b40704231946w4c92b3c2t5205c0938b44019b@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: > > Catlady: > > > > What is typecoding? > > > Carol: > Oh, my. How can I explain? Typecoding, also called manuscript markup, > involves providing certain codes for the typesetter to indicate a > specific font or typesize or other element of the book design. For > example, a particular code might be used to indicate a drop capital at > the beginning of a chapter or an extracted quotation. A letter might > be set in a different typeface from the rest of the text (for example > Hagrid's letters in the HP books--the American designer may even have > incorporated the tear splotches as well as the font into the design, > and the typecoder would need to invent a specific code, say > to indicate a letter from Hagrid to be set in that particular style. > Other codes, say CT for chapter title or UNL for unnumbered list, are > farily standard if not universal among American publishers. (I've > never typecoded a manuscript for a British publisher, but it can't be > very different.) > > montims: > that is interesting, but what is the difference between that and proofreading? It sounds like what I imagine a proofreader doing, although maybe things have changed since I learnt proof codes... Carol responds: Typecoding occurs at the manuscript stage, before the typesetter sets the book in type. Proofreading compares the proofs to the edited and typecoded manuscript to make sure that the typesetter has followed directions and made all the needed corrections without introducing any new errors. Once in awhile, a proofreader can make a new editorial correction for an error that the copyeditor didn't catch but he or she isn't going to add any new typecoding. Typecoding is all about fonts and type sizes and indentation to help the typesetter match the book design; copyediting is about catching errors the author made in grammar, punctuation, spelling, or sentence structure; proofreading is about catching errors the typesetter made in setting the edited manuscript in type. A manuscript page is either typed or printed out from a computer program like Word; a proof page looks like a page from a printed book only loose and on larger paper (8 1/2" by 11" in the U.S.) and with wider margins. Here are some standard copyediting symbols: http://www.highschooljournalism.org/Data/Articles/lessonplanknoxcarolynnestory2.jpg Here's a copyedited manuscript page: http://www.kristenbyers.net/portfolio/zakopane_marked.pdf Here are some standard typecoding symbols (which would be used at the manuscript stage, either before or after copyediting but before the manuscript is typeset): http://www.press.umich.edu/press/authinfo/editing.gif (I can't find an example of a typecoded page.) Here are some standard proofreading symbols (note how they differ from the typecoding and copyediting symbols): http://www.brookwood.edu/dodgeWritingCenter/images/proofing.gif And here is a page proof marked by a proofreader: http://www.cambridge.org/aus/images/proofs/example.gif This illustration contrasts copyediting with proofreading (unfortunately, I didn't find anything similar for typecoding): http://creativeservices.iu.edu/resources/guide/img/example.gif Carol, hoping that all this is interesting to anyone besides herself! From kempermentor at yahoo.com Tue Apr 24 20:29:46 2007 From: kempermentor at yahoo.com (kempermentor) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 20:29:46 -0000 Subject: HP readalikes - for the young and young at heart (long) In-Reply-To: <84AF4E93-819E-4363-809B-BAB5032D432F@comcast.net> Message-ID: > Katherine wrote: > There have been several suggestions that people try the Pullman > books. I'd just like to drop my two cents in the bucket and let you > know that I don't think there are many similarities between the > Pullman books and the Potter books. > > Pullman's stories lack the heart and humour of Rowling's. They seem > to be very dark and bitter in comparison. I think they have a lot of > spillover readers because they are essentially fantasy, but I don't > think they're the same type of book in any other aspect. Kemper now: Katherine is of course right. But there is not comparison to Rowling's work regardless of author. Pullman's His Dark Materials series may lack humor, but it's not trying to be funny. The subject matter seems more serious. It is definitely more an action/adventure series then it is a mystery series (as I see the HP books to be). I agree that the series is dark but not bitter. Maybe bittersweet or melancholy would be better terms. And again, no book is the same type of book as the Potter series. The other books that lend themselves to the style/type/genre are empty and forgetful. Pullman's series is neither empty nor forgetful. Kemper From dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com Tue Apr 24 20:42:28 2007 From: dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com (dumbledore11214) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 20:42:28 -0000 Subject: HP readalikes - for the young and young at heart (long) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > Kemper now: > Katherine is of course right. But there is not comparison to > Rowling's work regardless of author. > > Pullman's His Dark Materials series may lack humor, but it's not > trying to be funny. The subject matter seems more serious. It is > definitely more an action/adventure series then it is a mystery series > (as I see the HP books to be). > > I agree that the series is dark but not bitter. Maybe bittersweet or > melancholy would be better terms. > > And again, no book is the same type of book as the Potter series. The > other books that lend themselves to the style/type/genre are empty and > forgetful. Pullman's series is neither empty nor forgetful. > > Kemper > Alla: I found Pullman's books to be amazingly well written, but just as Katherine I found them to be dark and bitter, yes. It is not that I care much that Pullman does not seem to care for conventional religion at all, believe me I grew up as atheist and my beliefs are really very basic - I believe in higher spirituality which leads us, but that is about as much as I care to define my beliefs. But what Lee characterised as against religion, I would probably characterise as absolutely hopeless ending. For those who care for this type of thing, I certainly recommend the books. They are IMO very well done literature, but absolutely not my cup of tea. I put them in the **books which I respect a lot, but which I will not ever reread again** From dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com Tue Apr 24 21:03:23 2007 From: dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com (dumbledore11214) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 21:03:23 -0000 Subject: HP readalikes - Eragon In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > bboyminn: > > I thought I would jump in an comment on 'Eragon' and now > 'Eldest', the first two in the 'Inheritance Trilogy', > before the nay-sayers jump in. > > Many people claim these books are 'predictable' and > 'derivative', but I found a fascinating captivating > story filled with very likable characters. Perhaps > I haven't read as much fantasy as these nay-sayers and > am therefore less jaded. > > I suspect, though certainly not universally true, that > many of those who don't like 'Eragon' are people who are > 'Lord of the Rings' fans, who simply can't stand any book > that ventures into Tolkien territory. I personally found > Tolkien to be a slow, arduous, tedious, grueling read; > too many strange people and place names, I simply couldn't > keep track in a story that seem to wander at a snails > pace. > > Eragon, while similar to Tolkien in that it takes place > in the Mythical land of 'Alagaesia', is much easier to > keep track of. It is also a wonderful action adventure > story that keeps you draw into the world on every page, > and keeps you moving forward in the story. The recent > Eragon movie, like so many movies based on books, didn't > tell even a faction of the story, nor did it get into the > depth of character found in the books. > > For me, this was a real page turner, that I have since > read several times. Wonderfully sympathetic characters, > interesting plots and adventures, well controlled and > well contained, carefully plotted. > > There is a small degree of a sense of immaturity as an > author on Paolini's part, but to be fair, he was only > 15 or 16 when he started writing the story. The book > was originally published by his parents small publishing > company, and Paolini went from school to school giving > readings and promoting the books. So this book, much > like Harry Potter, reach the best seller list by word > of mouth, not marketing budget and strategy. > > I highly recommend the books to anyone and everyone, > and would rank it as one of my favorite series. Deeper > and more complex than Harry Potter, and probably not > for young readers who are not sophisticated. There are > several made-up languages in the books; Elf - the heart > of the ancient and magical language, dwarf, and a couple > others. Also, since this book does not live in the normal > world there are strange place names, though I found this > very contained and managable, though unsophisticated > younger readers might have difficulty. > > Again, wonderful action adventure fantasy with deep > sympathetic characters and a complex, yet easy to > read, story. > > Steve/bboyminn - feeling the need to defend 'Eragon' > where ever he goes. > Alla: Heeeee, I enjoyed Eragon well enough, heheeh. But no do not believe that it comes anywhere in the 1000 miles near Lord of the Rings ;) To each their own. I enjoyed it as a first book of certainly talented sixteen year old child. Every great master starts with copying his elders, that is how great painters learned IMO and maybe some great writers as well ;) If he has it in him, he will do better with with every book. I think his writing matured even in Eldest, but I think he has miles to go to become truly original writer. Oh, and I will be the first one to say that I will not compare JKR's writing with great masters of the past. She is certainly no Tolstoy or Dostoevsky ( citing those with whom I grew up :)), but Eragon is more complex? I disagree - I did not find much complexity at all. JMO, Alla From kempermentor at yahoo.com Tue Apr 24 21:52:59 2007 From: kempermentor at yahoo.com (kempermentor) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 21:52:59 -0000 Subject: HP readalikes - Eragon In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > -- -bgrugin wrote: > > > > > > > Paolini, Christopher. > > > Eragon > > > > MusicalBetsy: > > I've heard good things about this book - has anyone else? > > Just curious. > > > > > > bboyminn replied: > > I thought I would jump in an comment on 'Eragon' and now > 'Eldest', the first two in the 'Inheritance Trilogy', > before the nay-sayers jump in. Kemper now: The nay-sayer jumps in. > bboyminn continues: > Many people claim these books are 'predictable' and > 'derivative', but I found a fascinating captivating > story filled with very likable characters. Perhaps > I haven't read as much fantasy as these nay-sayers and > am therefore less jaded. Kemper now: The nay-sayer agrees with 'predictable' and 'derivative' as appropriate adjectives to Eragon. This nay-sayer has not read Eldest. I have not read a lot of fantasy. At least I don't think I have. As I type this I'm having to reconsider... I suppose fantasy/sci- fi/horror are my genre's of preferrence. Hmmm... > bboyminn continues > I suspect, though certainly not universally true, that > many of those who don't like 'Eragon' are people who are > 'Lord of the Rings' fans, who simply can't stand any book > that ventures into Tolkien territory. I personally found > Tolkien to be a slow, arduous, tedious, grueling read; > too many strange people and place names, I simply couldn't > keep track in a story that seem to wander at a snails > pace. Kemper now: I am an Eragon nay-sayer who finds Tolkien exceedingly tedious. To say LotR wanders at a snails pace speaks highly of a book that is like watching coal turn into a diamond (more inaccurately but symbolically true, cubic zirconium). I didn't even realize the ring was destroyed. I had to read back a few pages. Eragon's pace is quicker, wandering like a hobbled dessert tortoise. > bboyminn continues: > Eragon, while similar to Tolkien in that it takes place > in the Mythical land of 'Alagaesia'... Kemper now: and that it has Orc like things, and elves and dawrves... I know it differs with the cool dragon mindlink. And the Shade thing. I admire Paolini's made-up norse-ish language. I do think that's cool. Though I wonder at the linguitics of it, but that's not important. > bboyminn continues: > ... > Deeper > and more complex than Harry Potter, and probably not > for young readers who are not sophisticated. > ... > Again, wonderful action adventure fantasy with deep > sympathetic characters and a complex, yet easy to > read, story. Kemper now: I am honestly surprised with this discription. I would agree that it is deeper than LotR (all the characters seem flat to me, though I liked the relationship between the elf and the dwarf) but their complexity seems about the same. I would say HP is as deep as Eragon, but HP is definitely more complex than Eragon. > bboymins conludes: > Steve/bboyminn - feeling the need to defend 'Eragon' > where ever he goes. Kemper finishing off: I know you feel that way. It's part of what I love about HPfGU. On the Main, I agree with most of what you have to say. Your thoughts/ideas help push discussion. On the Main, I disagree with Alla quite a bit. But in real life, I think that we might have some similar philosophies regardless of views of Snape or of LotR. I really want to like Eragon. I think the story had plenty of new spins to be fun, but it didn't play out for me. Maybe reading Eldest will help but it seems so long. And DH is coming out soon. I wasted a summer on LotR many years ago... I don't know if I have the time for Eldest. Kemper, who also hates Godfather I and II, and of course III but really, who doesn't hate that one? From specialcritters at hotmail.com Tue Apr 24 21:44:21 2007 From: specialcritters at hotmail.com (Lee Truslow) Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 17:44:21 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] HP readalikes (long) In-Reply-To: <746833.23592.qm@web51904.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: In a nutshell, for those not wishing to read through the list, my personal faves are Charlie Bone, the Redwall series, and Tamora Pierce. I like Bruce Coville and Avi; I HATE "Series of Unfortunate Events" and the Pullman series. >From: Petra >Patricia Wrede. >The Enchanted Forest Chronicles They were OK. > >Philip Pullman. >His Dark Materials I started them, but I couldn't even stand them enough to finish them. I know another adult, however, who just dearly loves them. >T. A. Barron. >The Lost Years of Merlin I tried them, but they didn't work for me either. >Bruce Coville. >Magic Shop Books I liked them a fair amount and read a bunch of them; they're pretty light, IMO. >Brian Jacques. >Redwall Yes!! They aren't like HP as far as topic, but they're very rich epics that usually span at least a couple of books. I prefer reading them in chronological order as opposed to publishing order. http://www.redwall.org/dave/library.html I have all of them. :)) > >Madeleine L'Engle. >The Time Fantasy series I haven't reread them in decades, but I need to... >Diane Duane. >The Young Wizards Series They were OK. *shrug* I read one or 2. >Andrew Clements. >Frindle Frindle is OK, but I don't see a relationship with HP. > >Avi. I especially like "Poppy," etc; I guess they remind me a little of the Redwall series. >Colfer, Eoin. >Artemis Fowl Series > * Artemis Fowl Sorry, they weren't my favorite. :) >Nimmo, Jenny. >Midnight for Charlie Bone I like them, and I even bought them!!! They're a light read, and they're nowhere near as detailed as HP, but I find them acceptable in an off-Harry time. >Paolini, Christopher. >Eragon I have it, but, believe it or not, I haven't read it yet! Pierce, Tamora. I've read most of these, and I've bought several. I like them a good bit. mmer Stars >Snicket, Lemony. >A Series of Unfortunate Events I read 7 of them and just couldn't do more--dull, drab, and depressing!!! > >Winthrop, Elizabeth. >The Castle in the Attic >The Battle for the Castle Different!! _________________________________________________________________ Dont quit your job Take Classes Online and Earn your Degree in 1 year. Start Today! http://www.classesusa.com/clickcount.cfm?id=866146&goto=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.classesusa.com%2Ffeaturedschools%2Fonlinedegreesmp%2Fform-dyn1.html%3Fsplovr%3D866144 From miles at martinbraeutigam.de Tue Apr 24 23:04:19 2007 From: miles at martinbraeutigam.de (Miles) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 01:04:19 +0200 Subject: HP readalikes - Eragon References: Message-ID: <00b501c786c4$e4871b00$15b2a8c0@miles> > bboyminn: > I thought I would jump in an comment on 'Eragon' and now > 'Eldest', the first two in the 'Inheritance Trilogy', > before the nay-sayers jump in. > > Many people claim these books are 'predictable' and > 'derivative', but I found a fascinating captivating > story filled with very likable characters. Perhaps > I haven't read as much fantasy as these nay-sayers and > am therefore less jaded. Miles: Well, my objections to Eragon are not primarily connected with the plot, nor do they have to do with a comparison to other fantasy novels. > I suspect, though certainly not universally true, that > many of those who don't like 'Eragon' are people who are > 'Lord of the Rings' fans, who simply can't stand any book > that ventures into Tolkien territory. I personally found > Tolkien to be a slow, arduous, tedious, grueling read; > too many strange people and place names, I simply couldn't > keep track in a story that seem to wander at a snails > pace. Well, no. I wouldn't compare Eragon to LoTR - it's too different. Eragon is a fantasy adventure, Tolkien would have never written anything like that. > Eragon, while similar to Tolkien in that it takes place > in the Mythical land of 'Alagaesia', Sorry, I don't see any connection at all. It's fantasy, like hundreds and thousands of novels, but the genre does not make a book similar to any other book of this genre, not even the Book of Books of the genre. Tolkien wanted to write an epic, like the Edda or the Nibelungenlied - not a novel. > For me, this was a real page turner, that I have since > read several times. Wonderfully sympathetic characters, > interesting plots and adventures, well controlled and > well contained, carefully plotted. In my impression, the characters are not very sophisticated, the plot *is* predictable (very much so). > There is a small degree of a sense of immaturity as an > author on Paolini's part, but to be fair, he was only > 15 or 16 when he started writing the story. Is that a real excuse? I don't think so. And I doubt Paolini would like to be seen like that. It's a published book, I paid real money for it (no play money), so I think one should see the book as it is, without any excuses because of the author's age. > I highly recommend the books to anyone and everyone, > and would rank it as one of my favorite series. Deeper > and more complex than Harry Potter, and probably not > for young readers who are not sophisticated. There are > several made-up languages in the books; Elf - the heart > of the ancient and magical language, dwarf, and a couple > others. Also, since this book does not live in the normal > world there are strange place names, though I found this > very contained and managable, though unsophisticated > younger readers might have difficulty. He uses some German names, which surprised me (German is my first language). What I really disliked with Eragon is - the language. I know very well that I should not judge English texts, since I only learnt English at school (and later in life by reading books). But I didn't like the English Paolini writes. It's simple and easy, but not in a skillful way (Bertolt Brecht tells us: "Easy is beautiful - but difficult"). Maybe it's a very personal way to experience literature - but sometimes I simply lose my heart to sentences. Returning to Harry - the first chapter of PS is so simple, so short, but so elaborate. JKR tells so much in very few words (a skill she seems to forget more and more in her following books...). There was not a single sentence in Eragon I wanted to read for a second time. In combination with the predictable plot, and the very simple and superficial characters, I really cannot recommend reading Eragon. Miles From miles at martinbraeutigam.de Tue Apr 24 23:14:08 2007 From: miles at martinbraeutigam.de (Miles) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 01:14:08 +0200 Subject: HP readalikes References: Message-ID: <00c101c786c6$43510be0$15b2a8c0@miles> Just to add two author/series I like: Diane Duane - The Young Wizard's series, and the Feline Wizard's series Duane creates a kind of magic very different to HP. The Young Wizard's series is for older kids, the Feline Wizard's series for adults. Duane wrote some very good Star Trek novels as well ;). Tad Williams: Memory, Sorrow and Thorn I'm about to finish the second of three volumes. Williams describes a medieval world, but not on Earth (or not on our Earth). Not for small kids. From dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com Wed Apr 25 01:09:02 2007 From: dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com (dumbledore11214) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 01:09:02 -0000 Subject: HP readalikes - Eragon/ just talking in general :) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > > bboymins conludes: > > Steve/bboyminn - feeling the need to defend 'Eragon' > > where ever he goes. > > Kemper finishing off: > I know you feel that way. It's part of what I love about HPfGU. On > the Main, I agree with most of what you have to say. Your > thoughts/ideas help push discussion. On the Main, I disagree with > Alla quite a bit. But in real life, I think that we might have some > similar philosophies regardless of views of Snape or of LotR. > Alla: Tee hee, totally Kemper. I had seen quite a few hints that we may have similar philosophies as well (at least in politics I am pretty sure). You know it is funny how online friendships develop in the group like this ( not that I actively participate in any other group but this, lol). Of course one knows that different views on literary character does not necessarily mean that you and your opponent in the debate say about Snape ;) cannot become good friends in RL. I mean, really what one thinks about Snape is a tiny tiny percentage of what the person is, hehe. But while in RL you cannot help but get to know the people as whole, more or less and know whether friendship can be formed or not, it is rather hard sometimes to get past the heated disagreements about characters to get to know the person on the other side of the debate. That is why my first friendships in this group became with the people with whom I at least had **something** in common, HP wise, LOL. I mean, I knew that I agreed with them, I at least had a starting point for conversation offlist, I could genuinely admire their writings, hehe. But then there are people who are deeply deeply Snape fans ( sorry, keep talking about Snape, because that is what I am most often arguing about, lol), but who are so funny, do not take themselves too seriously, can always take a look at the opposing POV, sort of try it on and I love them, oh man, I love them. That is how I fell in love with Potioncat's writings, that is how I started talking to Ceridwen ( oh my goodness, they should do stand up comedy - so funny they are) and I actually think you are also hilarious Kemper. There is also Ginger and Susan ( well, I should not count Susan, since I used to agree with her on almost everything, lol) and so many others :) No, I would never agree with you about Snape, but yeah, I have a strong suspicion that I would find plenty to admire in you as person in RL. That is why this group is also very useful, I think, people who disagree on Main, can find something in common and maybe get to know each other better. I mean, honestly, I love to argue, I used to argue much stronger than I do now, but for all my love of arguing I am honestly "can't we all just get along" type of poster, hehe. No, not become best buddies, hehe, I do realise that it is not posible, but I am a firm believer that it is absolutely possible to maintain friendly posting relationship with everybody or at least with almost everybody. Hee, have no clue why I felt the need to type this up - some time ago I had similar conversation with one of my bestest buddies here, but I just did :) From wuff at internode.on.net Wed Apr 25 02:34:46 2007 From: wuff at internode.on.net (Wolfie!) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 12:34:46 +1000 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: HP readalikes - Eragon In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <462EBE46.6040102@internode.on.net> Steve wrote: > --- "bgrugin" wrote: >> >>> Paolini, Christopher. >>> Eragon >> MusicalBetsy: >> I've heard good things about this book - has anyone else? >> Just curious. I haven't, but a friend of mine bought our sim on secondlife and named it Eragon. :) -- Wolfie Rankin on Secondlife. Kookaburra Pub Owner / ABC Friends Admin ICQ - 3449014 Skype - Wolfie_storr * Eats a kid a day * Made in Eragon Wolfie! (c) PWTS 1986 - 2007 From kempermentor at yahoo.com Wed Apr 25 06:15:04 2007 From: kempermentor at yahoo.com (kempermentor) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 06:15:04 -0000 Subject: HP readalikes - for the young and young at heart (long) In-Reply-To: <746833.23592.qm@web51904.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Petra wrote: > > I've been turned on to three of the best resources out there on the web > for getting suggestions for books to read (well, apart from asking here > at OTC ). They are subscription databases so you might need to get > access through your library. I know we've tons of librarians here. > Perhaps they've some thoughts on this? > > My library (San Francisco Public Library) calls these Reader's Advisory > Databases: NoveList, Fiction Connection and Gale's What Do I Read Next. > I'm new to these DBs but I'm certainly planning on using NoveList a lot > from now on. > > From the NoveList article entitled "The Wide Appeal of Harry Potter," > Katherine Bradley Johnson identified three broad categories of stories > that may appeal to HP fans: > > 1) family readalikes that adults will enjoy reading to their kids or with > them; > > 2) titles for adults and young adults; and > > 3) adult fantasy stories which may offer similar kinds of pleasure > > The main flaw with searching these DBs is that data is all about the > tangibles whereas I'm looking for the intangibles: Am I going to care > about the characters? Is it snarky? Nevertheless, at least the > searches yield some suggestions. > > If you've read any of the following books, I'm curious to hear what you > thought of them. I skipped the ones we always mention (LotR, Narnia) > and notes that quite a few have already been mentioned here before. I > barely made a dent in the mountain of suggestions and have yet to put > together the list for older readers so the below is mostly books that > even the youngest HP fans can read. > > > > ... BIG SNIP ... > > > Strickland, Brad. > Dragon's Plunder > > Travers, P. L. > Mary Poppins Series Kemper now: Between Strickland and Travers there needs to be Stroud. Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus Trilogy. I disliked one of the main characters, Nathanial, during the first book. But I absolutely loved him by the end of the series. I cried when I put finished the last book. I've only read about a fourth of the authors Petra listed. Stroud and Rowling are the only ones to have moved me to tears. Maybe the other three-fourths would move me as well, but I kind of doubt it. However, they still might be fun reads. Kemper, also thinking Timothy Zahn's 'Dragonback' series should be on the list especially since Machale's 'Pendragon' series is. From bboyminn at yahoo.com Wed Apr 25 07:30:22 2007 From: bboyminn at yahoo.com (Steve) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 07:30:22 -0000 Subject: HP readalikes - Eragon In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- "kempermentor" wrote: > > bboyminn continues: > > Many people claim these books are 'predictable' and > > 'derivative', but I found a fascinating captivating > > story filled with very likable characters. ... > > Kemper now: > The nay-sayer agrees with 'predictable' and > 'derivative' as appropriate adjectives to Eragon. > This nay-sayer has not read Eldest. > bboyminn: But isn't it fair to say that any story that falls into a genre is 'Predictable' and 'Derivative'. I means Tolkien didn't invent elves and dwarfs, and the things he did invent were based in legends that already existed. One could say that because JKR uses tried and true mechanisms, that she too is 'predictable' and 'derivative'. But I see that as literary criticism, but not necessarily story criticism. I mean every TV Sitcom is essentially that same story told in a new framework with new characters. In fact, some people say that Shakespeare wrote every story ever told, from Shakespeare on, people are just retelling his tales in new frameworks. So, my point is not related to literary criticism or the book's 'derivative' nature, but to whether or not the author told a rousing good story with characters I care about and can relate to. In the sense of a storyteller's tale, both JKR and Paolini are excellent storytellers, though I would certainly rate JKR higher. Orson Scott Card and Eoin Colfer are a few other rousing good storytellers. Their books may have 'literary' flaws, but the story is so good, I simply don't care. I want substance over style, and I find it in these books, though I suspect other will say they are all style and no substance. To me the true test of a story is, do I care, and I do care about Eragon and the many other characters in his tale. I'm eager to see what happens to them and how they react, and that aspect is irrelevant to the fact that the author may have borrowed time travel, space travel, country life, boarding school stories, elves, dwarfs, epic battles, sea journeys, or dragons from the storytelling pool of literary 'types'. I mean, does this label of 'derivative' mean that once someone has used dragons in their story, all other authors should not use dragons for fear of being derivative? I don't think so, it's not the fact that an author used a dragon, but what they did with the dragon. Each author brings new ideas and new concepts into the idea of a dragon in a story. Instead of a derivative 'character' can we then expand this prohibition to true genres? If one author writes a Mystery, should all other authors then cease to write mysteries for fear of being derivative? Again, it's not about the fact that an author wrote a mystery, but what they actually did with the mystery they wrote. I think Paolini did a fantastic job with the characters and with the genre he wrote. > > > > bboyminn continues: > > ... > > Deeper and more complex than Harry Potter, and > > probably not for young readers who are not > > sophisticated. > > ... > > > > > Kemper now: > I am honestly surprised with this discription. I would > agree that it is deeper than LotR ... but their > complexity seems about the same. I would say HP is as > deep as Eragon, but HP is definitely more complex than > Eragon. > bboyminn: I guess it hinges on how we define 'deeper' and 'complex'. I wasn't in any way trying to discredit Harry Potter which I dearly love. I'm simply saying that the average young under 12 reader might find 'Eragon' a difficult slog, whereas the same reader would probably find Harry Potter a delight. Now for a sophisticated reader of say 12 and over, I'm sure if the are fantasy fans, they will find 'Eragon' a delight in the same vein as Harry Potter. Though I personally think Harry is a better story, but none the less, Eragon is a very good story. > > bboymins conludes: > > Steve/bboyminn - feeling the need to defend 'Eragon' > > where ever he goes. > > Kemper finishing off: > ... > > I really want to like Eragon. I think the story had > plenty of new spins to be fun, but it didn't play out > for me. Maybe reading Eldest will help but it seems so > long. And DH is coming out soon. I wasted a summer on > LotR many years ago... I don't know if I have the time > for Eldest. > > Kemper, bboyminn: 'Eldest' in someways reminds me of OotP and HBP, they were good stories, but the author was coming to the end of the series and certain things had to happen to set up the final book. That hampers the plot. Just as Harry had to go certain places and do certain things, Eragon is the same, since this is a trilogy. So, there are aspects of Eragon that slow the plot slightly that are set ups for the final book. And yes there are aspects that are predictable, for example, I could see clearly what was happening to Murtagh and what it meant for the second book. But I didn't care. I still found Murtagh an interesting character, not just interesting, but I cared about him and I am eager to see how he escape what fate has dealt him in the second book. Still I could see it coming a mile away as he moved into the second books, but I am completely baffled by how he will turn out in the final book. In some sense, he is the Snape of Eragon; is he good or is he evil, is he acting of his own free will or is he forced, will he live or will he die, if he lives or dies will it be in heroic fashion or in infamy? Enquiring minds want to know. My original point is that there are some slightly slow points is 'Eldest', but the book is saved because it is really two books in one. It is the continuing story of Eragon - Shade Slayer, and as you will discover, Roran - Strong Hammer. It continually shifts between the two stories eventually merging them at the end. Further Eragon travels to some exciting new places and sees some amazing things, and I found each half of the story as captivating as the other. But...alas...not every book is for everyone. Sometimes you like a book and sometimes you don't, and there is no explaining it; it just is. Many many of my friends recommended 'Lord of the Rings' to me, but it was a miserable read. Perhaps now that I've seen the movie and have a general idea of the story, I might be able to follow it, but I'm not eager to try. I'm very picky about books because, what will and will not captivate me is very unpredictable, and I don't feel I have the financial reserves to buy books and not like them, especially at today's book prices. Also note, we have a very limited small town local library. So, I look long and hard before I make a purchase. I have no regrets at buying Eragon and Eldest, and I am eagerly waiting for the final book to come out. Just passing it along. Steve/bboyminn - who never starts out to write a long post but it invariably ends up that way. From lhuntley at fandm.edu Wed Apr 25 15:28:57 2007 From: lhuntley at fandm.edu (Laura Ingalls Huntley) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 11:28:57 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: HP readalikes - Eragon In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Steve: > But isn't it fair to say that any story that falls into > a genre is 'Predictable' and 'Derivative'. I means > Tolkien didn't invent elves and dwarfs, and the things > he did invent were based in legends that already > existed. Laura: For me, Eragon and Eldest were "predictable" in the sense that I could *literally* see every single plot "twist" coming the very second the book had introduced all the main characters involved in it (and sometimes well before that point). Paolini needs to learn subtlety, big time. I felt like I was being hit over the head with a sledgehammer every time we met a new character. Understandably, this sensation had a detrimental effect on my enjoyment of the books. As for the "derivative" claim -- yes, you can say this about nearly any creative work, but I felt that a disproportionate amount of Paolini's ideas came directly from well-known fantasy novels. Just the *sounds* of the made-up language and various place names were highly suggestive of Tolkien's work, for example. I got the strong feeling while reading the books that Paolini really admired and was very familiar with these "giants" of fantasy literature, and his writing is somewhat an attempt to emulate them. Not that this is the worst sin a writer could commit or anything, but it does show that Paolini needs to grow into himself a bit, I think. Steve: > Orson Scott Card and Eoin > Colfer are a few other rousing good storytellers. Laura: I totally agree with you on this one, although I find putting Colfer and OSC in the same category a little weird -- only because Colfer is so light and fun, while OSC deals with some Serious Issues in his books. ^_^ And, really, I enjoyed Eragon and Eldest fairly well. I own them both and will probably buy the next book as well. I may even re-read them eventually (although I will re-read almost anything if it stays on my bookshelf long enough). I'm just saying that Paolini is an immature and inexperienced writer, and it shows a bit around the edges. Laura From justcarol67 at yahoo.com Wed Apr 25 16:17:01 2007 From: justcarol67 at yahoo.com (justcarol67) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 16:17:01 -0000 Subject: "The Great Snape Debate" and a few words on LOTR Message-ID: Speaking of Orson Scott Card, has anyone read "The Great Snape Debate"? From what I understand, it's a flip book--read one direction, it's about reasons to trust Snape. Turned over and read the other way, it's about reasons to suspect that he's evil. All I know is that the book is available only from Borders. http://www.bordersstores.com/search/title_detail.jsp?id=56815939&srchTerms=the+great+snape+debate&mediaType=1&srchType=Keyword I'm considering reading the "good Snape" side in the store rather than spending the money for it, actually. And, BTW, Steve and Kemper, you might try giving LOTR another chance. I know that it starts off slowly (Tolkien grew up in a time before TV and computers when life was less hurried than it it today and authors could take their time getting to the exciting parts) but parts of it are terrifying (Weathertop, for one) and other parts are beautiful or moving. I'd list them but I don't want to spoil anything. Sam is as loyal as any Hufflepuff, but my heart belongs to little Pippin and tragic Boromir. As Miles stated so beautifully, "Maybe it's a very personal way to experience literature - but sometimes I simply lose my heart to sentences." LOTR contains sentences like that, sentences that stay in the mind and the memory to be treasured forever like certain unforgettable poems or lines from Shakespeare or the King James Bible. Oh, and Shakespeare borrowed most if not all of his plots, as did Chaucer before him. It's the retelling that was brilliant. Carol, who read the first few pages of "Eragon" but was not sufficiently intrigued by the book to pick it up again From Mhochberg at aol.com Wed Apr 25 17:25:22 2007 From: Mhochberg at aol.com (Mhochberg at aol.com) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 13:25:22 EDT Subject: The Publication Date Message-ID: Carol responds: Carol, hoping that all this is interesting to anyone besides herself! ~~~~ Great help, Carol, thank you!! Yes, it is interesting. Way back when, I put out a monthly newsletter. Before I sent it to the printers, I would fax copies to 3 other people for proof reading. It fascinated me that each of them would find 0-3 errors. The funny thing is that they almost never had the same set of errors! They rarely had even one found error in common. ---Mary ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From lhuntley at fandm.edu Wed Apr 25 17:54:22 2007 From: lhuntley at fandm.edu (Laura Ingalls Huntley) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 13:54:22 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] "The Great Snape Debate" and a few words on LOTR In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Carol: > Speaking of Orson Scott Card, has anyone read "The Great Snape > Debate"? From what I understand, it's a flip book--read one direction, > it's about reasons to trust Snape. Turned over and read the other way, > it's about reasons to suspect that he's evil. All I know is that the > book is available only from Borders. > > http://www.bordersstores.com/search/title_detail.jsp? > id=56815939&srchTerms=the+great+snape+debate&mediaType=1&srchType=Keywo > rd Hee. The synopsis for the flip-book sounds like it was written by a HPFGUer. Does anyone outside of fandom really think that the Snape is "*the* pivotal character" in HP? OTOH, I suppose non-obsessive types aren't v. likely to buy the booklet in the first place. Thanks for the smile, Carol. Laura From justcarol67 at yahoo.com Wed Apr 25 20:06:15 2007 From: justcarol67 at yahoo.com (justcarol67) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 20:06:15 -0000 Subject: "The Great Snape Debate" and a few words on LOTR In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Carol earlier: > > Speaking of Orson Scott Card, has anyone read "The Great Snape Debate"? From what I understand, it's a flip book--read one direction, it's about reasons to trust Snape. Turned over and read the other way, it's about reasons to suspect that he's evil. All I know is that the book is available only from Borders. > > > > http://www.bordersstores.com/search/title_detail.jsp?id=56815939&srchTerms=the+great+snape+debate&mediaType=1&srchType=Keyword > > Hee. The synopsis for the flip-book sounds like it was written by a HPFGUer. Does anyone outside of fandom really think that the Snape is "*the* pivotal character" in HP? > > OTOH, I suppose non-obsessive types aren't v. likely to buy the booklet in the first place. > > Thanks for the smile, Carol. > > Laura > Carol responds: You're welcome, but I was seriously asking whether anyone has read the book, which is apparently part of the Borders Books DH ad campaign. Guess you haven't been to a Borders store lately. The first thing you see as you walk in is a set of Snape bookmarks. One side has six reasons why Severus Snape is a friend to Harry. The flip side has six reasons why he's a foe. They also have "trust Snape" and "Snape is a very bad man" stickers available on request. Snape is also the featured character in all their ads for DH. Here's a link to their Severus Snape, Friend or Foe discussion site: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976875935 and a closeup of the Mary GrandPre Snape art used in their ad campaign: http://fs02.bos1.gather.com/fileServer/MzA5NjIyNDc0NDAwMTY1MSBmdWxsIGltYWdlL3BqcGVnIDExNzc1MzEwNTc4MDM= The main author of the book I mentioned is the author of the Ender series that Steve has been talking about (which, BTW, I haven't read). And, of course, Salman Rushdie asked a question about Snape's loyalties as pivotal to the series at the Harry, Carrie, and Garp question/answer session. Here's a site with links to articles and essays on the Snape debate (one of them is mine ): http://www.squidoo.com/severus-snape/#module1851564 So I don't think HPfGUers are the only ones who are obsessed with Snape. He's *the* mystery character of the series (unless you're an ESE!Lupin advocate like Pippin). Carol, still wondering whether the book presents any arguments we haven't already gone over 500 times From justcarol67 at yahoo.com Wed Apr 25 20:44:57 2007 From: justcarol67 at yahoo.com (justcarol67) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 20:44:57 -0000 Subject: "The Great Snape Debate" and a few words on LOTR In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Carol earlier: > > and a closeup of the Mary GrandPre Snape art used in their ad campaign: > > http://fs02.bos1.gather.com/fileServer/MzA5NjIyNDc0NDAwMTY1MSBmdWxsIGltYWdlL3BqcGVnIDExNzc1MzEwNTc4MDM= That link didn't work, so I'll try again with the page rather than the image: http://www.gather.com/viewImage.jsp?fileId=3096224744001651&articleId=281474976875935 And here's one more attempt at the original link: http://fs02.bos1.gather.com/fileServer/MzA5NjIyNDc0NDAwMTY1MSBmdWxsIGltYWdlL3BqcGVnIDExNzc1MzM4MDcxOTc= Carol, still trusting Snape and glad that so many others do, too From dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com Wed Apr 25 21:12:23 2007 From: dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com (dumbledore11214) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 21:12:23 -0000 Subject: HP readalikes - for the young and young at heart (long) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > Kemper now: > Between Strickland and Travers there needs to be Stroud. > > Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus Trilogy. I disliked one of the main > characters, Nathanial, during the first book. But I absolutely loved > him by the end of the series. I cried when I put finished the last > book. > > I've only read about a fourth of the authors Petra listed. Stroud > and Rowling are the only ones to have moved me to tears. > > Maybe the other three-fourths would move me as well, but I kind of > doubt it. However, they still might be fun reads. > > Kemper, also thinking Timothy Zahn's 'Dragonback' series should be on > the list especially since Machale's 'Pendragon' series is. > Alla: Hee, loved Stroud's trilogy as well, loved :) Amazing character development IMO. From nkafkafi at yahoo.com Wed Apr 25 22:45:56 2007 From: nkafkafi at yahoo.com (Neri) Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 22:45:56 -0000 Subject: HP readalikes - for the young and young at heart (long) In-Reply-To: <746833.23592.qm@web51904.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Neri: Below are my comments about some of the books: > MacDonald, George. > The Princess and the Goblin > The Princess and Curdie > Read the first, and read it to your children! But better avoid the second. > > Patricia Wrede. > The Enchanted Forest Chronicles > 1. Dealing with Dragons > 2. Searching for Dragons > 3. Calling on Dragons > 4. Talking to Dragons > Have read the first. Managed to finish it but it didn't gave me enough motivation to read the others. Generally light and entertaining but not much more than that. > Philip Pullman. > His Dark Materials > 1. The Golden Compass > 2. The Subtle Knife > 3. The Amber Spyglass I actually liked Pullman's "anti-religious" ideas, and the books are certainly gripping. However, I found the third book disappointing (not only the ending but the whole book) and I sincerely hope JKR will do better in her last book. > Madeleine L'Engle. > The Time Fantasy series > 1. A Wrinkle in Time > 2. A Wind in the Door > 3. A Swiftly Tilting Planet > 4. Many Waters I've read the first two. They'd be good for "young adults", I think, but for a real adult I thought them too superficial and not especially well written. > Colfer, Eoin. > Artemis Fowl Series > * Artemis Fowl > * Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident > * Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code > Just managed to finish the first, didn't even try the second. I found it rather disappointing. > Jones, Diana Wynne. > Howl's Moving Castle Quite entertaining, but the plot is waaay too complicated. And to my own recommendations: Midnight Folk by John Masefield. Americans will probably have to order it from Amazon.co.uk, but it will be worth it! A true classic, HP caliber and in some way better (but unfortunately also much shorter). There's also a sequel "The Box of Delight" which IMO isn't as good. Michael Ende: Jim Button and Luke The Engine Driver Jim Button and the Wild 13. "The Never Ending Story" is *not* Ende's best book. Jim Button is much better! Especially the first one. Unfortunately also difficult to find in the US (what do you Americans have against great books, anyway?) but most definitely worth the effort. Neri From nkafkafi at yahoo.com Thu Apr 26 01:07:27 2007 From: nkafkafi at yahoo.com (Neri) Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 01:07:27 -0000 Subject: HP readalikes - for the young and young at heart (long) In-Reply-To: <746833.23592.qm@web51904.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Petra wrote: > The main flaw with searching these DBs is that data is all about the > tangibles whereas I'm looking for the intangibles: Am I going to care > about the characters? Neri: Petra, I think I know exactly what you mean. What we're looking for isn't "books about young heroes with magic and dragons". What we're looking for are books that are imaginative, gripping, entertaining, and most of all - have characters we'd care about. They don't even have to be fantasy books, as long as they contain that intangible element of wonder. Then I thought - I know a book like that: "Someone to Run With" by David Grossman. This is a great novel by one of the best current Israeli writers. It's been a huge bestseller in Israel (and rightly so) but I'm not sure how much it is known over the world. Now, it turns out there's an English translation and it's even available in Amazon. Unbelievable. I'd grab it before they decide to take it off their virtual shelves. A few details: the book would probably be classified as a "young adults" novel because the protagonists are teenagers, and it does have its fair share of teen angst, but don't let that stop you - it's recommended for adults and children and anybody who'd appreciate a good story. It's a true romance, the way they (almost) don't make them anymore: painfully realistic but also very lyrical and with certain Dickens-like qualities. And the best - characters you'd really care about. You'll find many more warm recommendations and detailed reviews in Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Someone-Run-Novel-David-Grossman/dp/031242194X/ My advice: don't read them! They contain spoilers. Instead just click on the book and start reading it with a fresh mind. By the time you'd run out of sample pages you'd know if you like it. One promise: it gets better and better, and the end won't disappoint you. Neri From alexisnguyen at gmail.com Thu Apr 26 05:41:04 2007 From: alexisnguyen at gmail.com (P. Alexis Nguyen) Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 01:41:04 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] HP readalikes - for the young and young at heart (long) In-Reply-To: <746833.23592.qm@web51904.mail.re2.yahoo.com> References: <746833.23592.qm@web51904.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: For brevity's sake, I've skipped the books/authors that have already been mentioned. That said, I just couldn't pass the chance to weigh in on some of these. :) > Bruce Coville. > Magic Shop Books > 1. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher > 2. Jennifer Murdley's Toad > 3. The Skull of Truth I've never read these three mentioned (nor the others on Petra's list), but I did enjoy the "My Teacher is an Alien" series when younger. (Admittedly, I found a copy of the last book in said series while home a few weeks ago and must say that Coville's writing has held up surprisingly well over the ages.) > Madeleine L'Engle. > The Time Fantasy series > 1. A Wrinkle in Time > 2. A Wind in the Door > 3. A Swiftly Tilting Planet > 4. Many Waters Again, this is one of those things that I enjoyed while younger but haven't visited in ages, but while in the 4th grade (when reading Wrinkle in Time was mandatory), I enjoyed it immensely. (It was, in fact, the last book that I enjoyed reading when the reading was mandatory.) > Diane Duane. > The Young Wizards Series > 1. So You Want to be a Wizard > 2. Deep Wizardry > 3. High Wizardry > 4. A Wizard Abroad This series hasn't ended yet and actually is on the 8th or 9th book at the moment. This is a series I read when younger and rediscovered very recently. I now own all of the books in paperback and find myself re-reading them much more often than I do *gasp* the HP books. The thing with Diana Duane's series is that her brand of magic is, oddly enough, very rooted in science - this is, granted, her brand of science, but the basics are there and recognizable enough that I remember really looking around and wondering if magic was real and if I would turn out to be magical. > Gail Carson Levine. > Ella Enchanted > For anyone who may love revisionist fairy tales, I definitely recommend Ella Enchanted as well as the other [innumerable] Cinderella re-tellings. Of course, I'm the kind of person who thinks that you can't outgrow fairy tales, so take my advice as you will, considering that. > Ibbotson, Eva. > * The Secret of Platform 13 > * Dial-a-Ghost > * Island of the Aunts > * Which Witch? > > [Petra: she's also written "The Great Ghost Rescue," "The Haunting of > Granite Falls," "Journey to the River Sea," "Not Just a Witch," "The > Star of Kazan" and though "A Countess Below Stairs" does not feature > children it can be read to them. It's sweet.] Ibbotson's writing is quite nice, with her characters and stories being quite sweet. However, some of her stuff can be quite impossible to find - I remember having to actively track down Countess Belows Stairs a few years back just because paying $80-$100 was just too high a price for convenience; fortunately, I think that half.com usually has some stuff by her on the website. > Levy, Robert. > Clan of the Shape-Changers Levy also has two other books, "The Misfit Apprentice" and "Escape from Exile." They are, I do believe, generally classified has young-adults/juvenile fantasy-fiction, and while a teenager, I did love these books. Actually, I had them out so often that I probably confused the librarians quite a bit by why I didn't just go acquire my own copy. (The answer to that is that I've never seen Levy in bookstores, and this was before Amazon.) I would also like to add the Dr. Doolittle series to the list. Like Mary Poppins, this is a series that, despite the size of each book, is probably meant for a younger set but is a joyful read for a slightly older crowd - I read it as a "young adult" and loved it. And since I blame Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew & the Hardy Boys for my love of reading, I'll also recommend those series to the big list. I know Nancy & the Hardy boys are rather ubiquitous and some might view them as quite juvenile, but I know that they have brought many persons to the joys of reading, so I can't quite imagine any list like this one without my favourite young detectives. ~Ali From justcarol67 at yahoo.com Thu Apr 26 18:39:19 2007 From: justcarol67 at yahoo.com (justcarol67) Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 18:39:19 -0000 Subject: HP in translation (wordplay in Chinese characters, etc.) Message-ID: If, like me, you wonder how HP translators render things like the rearrangement of "Tom Marvolo Riddle" into "I am Lord Voldemort" into Asian languages that use characters for whole words rather than an alphabet, you may be interested in this website: http://www.cjvlang.com/Hpotter/wordplay/riddle.html The main page for the site http://www.cjvlang.com/Hpotter/index.html#TOP also includes links to mistranslations, some of which will bring tears of laughter to your eyes. Here's my favorite: "In the Taiwanese version, Filch's accusation runs: 'See what he wrote on the wall! He found -- in my office -- he knows I'm a -- .... He knows I'm a 'firecracker'!'" (Yes, I know that a squib is a dud firecracker, but it's still funny.) Anyway, I'm not sure whether these mistranslations are any worse than in, say, the Russian edition, but I think they're entertaining. Certainly, the Asian translators (those who actually used the Asian language rather than an English edition with footnotes) faced a serious challenge. I wouldn't want such a difficult job. Carol, who also enjoyed the section on Nagini, the milk-drinking snake From bboyminn at yahoo.com Thu Apr 26 19:28:58 2007 From: bboyminn at yahoo.com (Steve) Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 19:28:58 -0000 Subject: HP in translation (wordplay in Chinese characters, etc.) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- "justcarol67" wrote: > ... > > Anyway, I'm not sure whether these mistranslations are > any worse than in, say, the Russian edition, but I > think they're entertaining. Certainly, the Asian > translators (those who actually used the Asian language > rather than an English edition with footnotes) faced a > serious challenge. I wouldn't want such a difficult job. > > Carol, who also enjoyed the section on Nagini, the > milk-drinking snake > bboyminn: I'm under the impression that the Russian translator did just translate, they essentially took it upon themselves to rewrite the book adding many scenes, dialog, and narrative that simply don't exist in the original. Apparently they thought they could improve the books. Now, I have this information second hand, so I can't prove it as fact, but that seems a little overboard for any translator to me. Just a thought. Steve/bboyminn From dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com Thu Apr 26 19:37:41 2007 From: dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com (dumbledore11214) Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 19:37:41 -0000 Subject: HP in translation (wordplay in Chinese characters, etc.) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > bboyminn: > > I'm under the impression that the Russian translator did > just translate, they essentially took it upon themselves > to rewrite the book adding many scenes, dialog, and > narrative that simply don't exist in the original. > Apparently they thought they could improve the books. > > Now, I have this information second hand, so I can't > prove it as fact, but that seems a little overboard > for any translator to me. > > Just a thought. > > Steve/bboyminn > Alla: Eh, no, not really. A lot of bad translation, but do not remember any additional scenes, just bad translation of existing ones. First four books read long time ago though and never reread in Russian, so may be wrong. From snapefan at hotmail.com Thu Apr 26 20:17:54 2007 From: snapefan at hotmail.com (Frini Georgakopoulos) Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 20:17:54 -0000 Subject: Exclusive new interview with HP game producers Message-ID: Hello everyone! This is my very first post! My name is Frini Georgakopoulos and I'm a 27 year-old Brazilian journalist who just happens to be a huge Potter fan. I lead the very first Brazilian Potter Podcast, called Radio Patronus, and in our new episode we have an exclusive interview with EA Game producers Matt Birch and Justin Manning, in charge of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix game. The interview was done in English, so you can all understand it perfectly and it has loads of new information about the game. The link is www.radiopatrono.com.br and the episode can be downloaded from the link "not?cias" or listen on the top right corner, just by clicking on the "No Ar" sign. I hope you guys enjoy it. This post is not meant to promote my podcast, but to show you new information about POtter world :) Sorry if I'm out of line :) Let me know if I did something wrong, ok? Frini From hpfreakazoid at gmail.com Fri Apr 27 00:15:04 2007 From: hpfreakazoid at gmail.com (Jeremiah LaFleur) Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 17:15:04 -0700 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Wombat #3? In-Reply-To: References: <5cb2ac630704231257y63b20b7ch87a3e1501e0c5a60@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <948bbb470704261715n5498f42eib1429203befe8ad2@mail.gmail.com> > Jamieson: > Has anyone heard when the third and final WOMBAT will be? Just curious! Goddlefrood: No news so far. I hope it's very soon as I anticipate completing my Outstanding record ;). Keep an eye on HPANA for further news, they're usually the first to note such things :) _________________________________ Jeremiah I would love to do it again. I missed the first and got the second... Exceeds Expectations... (proud of that, really). Last she said on her site was it would be "in the next few months" but that was right after the 2nd WOMBAT. LOL. Oh, well. No WOMBAT but at least the book is finished and we can look forward to that. Hopefully soon. It would be great to have one before the last book is released. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From Mhochberg at aol.com Fri Apr 27 04:08:04 2007 From: Mhochberg at aol.com (Mhochberg at aol.com) Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 00:08:04 EDT Subject: need help installing HP desktop counter Message-ID: This is embarrassing but true. When I try to download the book & movie counter from Mugglenet.com, I end up with a .CDF file on my desktop. When I click on it, all I get is the xml code. _-_ (file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Mary/Desktop/dhootpcountdown.xml#) _-_ (file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Mary/Desktop/dhootpcountdown.xml#) etc. It doesn't matter whether I download it with Internet Explorer or Firefox. I suspect it is some security setting somewhere but I can't figure out where. Any ideas? Thanks! ---Mary, who is tired of juggling different operating systems, computers, and versions of MS Office ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From zanooda2 at yahoo.com Fri Apr 27 04:57:06 2007 From: zanooda2 at yahoo.com (zanooda2) Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 04:57:06 -0000 Subject: HP in translation (wordplay in Chinese characters, etc.) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "dumbledore11214" wrote: > > bboyminn: > > I'm under the impression that the Russian translator did > > just translate, they essentially took it upon themselves > > to rewrite the book adding many scenes, dialog, and > > narrative that simply don't exist in the original. > Alla: > Eh, no, not really. A lot of bad translation, but do not remember > any additional scenes, just bad translation of existing ones. zanooda: Hehe, I'll refresh your memory, Alla. SS/PS, example 1: "Harry and Ron were delighted when she [Hooch] told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years." That's one sentence, right? It's about the kids' first flying lesson. Here is the translation (in my back translation, sorry, it's not very good either, I suck at Russian-English translation): "Harry and Ron were happy when Madam Hooch informed Malfoy that he held his broom the wrong way. - But I've been flying for years! - Malfoy argued hotly. He sounded offended. Then Madam Hooch explained to him in a loud voice that it only meant he'd been flying wrong all these years. Malfoy listened in silence, as he understood that if the discussion would go on it might become clear that he was not as experienced as he wanted to seem." If it's not an addition, I'll eat my hat (I don't risk anything, because I live in the South and don't have any hats :-). I wanted to give more examples, but even this one exausted me! Some other time, maybe. I want to be fair - such extensive changes to the text were made only in SS/PS, the rest of the books - just regular bad translations, nothing more. The first book is full of translator's inventions though. I suspect he was paid per word :-)! zanooda, who apologizes for her awkward Russian-English translation, but who doesn't claim to be a professional translator, like the one she just cited ... From tonks_op at yahoo.com Fri Apr 27 18:34:01 2007 From: tonks_op at yahoo.com (Tonks) Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 18:34:01 -0000 Subject: OOP film and DD Message-ID: I see in the trailer for the new film that DD is STILL wearing the same robes. Good grief, can't they at least give the man a new robe? It must be getting kind of smelly by now. He can never wash his clothes. Honestly, what are they thinking. The old DD had a change of clothes at least. And he had taste too. Isn't it bad enought that this one can't act. Do we have to see the same robes for 3 films too!! http://cbs4.com/video/?id=33675 at wfor.dayport.com&cid=5 Tonks From tonks_op at yahoo.com Fri Apr 27 18:45:34 2007 From: tonks_op at yahoo.com (Tonks) Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 18:45:34 -0000 Subject: Wombat #3? In-Reply-To: <948bbb470704261715n5498f42eib1429203befe8ad2@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: > > Jamieson: > > > Has anyone heard when the third and final WOMBAT will be? Just > curious! > > Goddlefrood: > > No news so far. I hope it's very soon as I anticipate completing my > Outstanding record ;). > > Keep an eye on HPANA for further news, they're usually the first to > note such things :) Tonks: Oh, I saw that subject and thought I had missed it. Thank God... I hope someone sends me an e-mail when it happens, just in case I have my head in the sand. I was about to panic there for a bit... I ran to the site before even reading the body of this post.. Tonks_op From tonks_op at yahoo.com Fri Apr 27 20:15:48 2007 From: tonks_op at yahoo.com (Tonks) Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 20:15:48 -0000 Subject: Is LV modeled on Crowley? Message-ID: I friend of mine who knows a lot about magic and alchemy but has not read the books but has seen the movies says that LV is modeled on (You Know Who) Crowley. I asked why he thought that and he said that he had a picture of Crowley that looks a like like LV in the movie. So I searched the web.. I don't see a picture of Crowley looking like the snake like person of LV. However, I did find out some interesting information. Crowley and his followers did think that "there is no good or evil, only power and those too afraid to use it". So maybe my friend is right. Crowley was a person who practiced dark magic and was a bit crazy to boot. I am looking at all of this, of course, for any clues as to what to expect in book 7. Tonks From justcarol67 at yahoo.com Fri Apr 27 20:57:18 2007 From: justcarol67 at yahoo.com (justcarol67) Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 20:57:18 -0000 Subject: need help installing HP desktop counter In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Mary wrote: > This is embarrassing but true. When I try to download the book & movie counter from Mugglenet.com, I end up with a .CDF file on my desktop. When I click on it, all I get is the xml code. > > > It doesn't matter whether I download it with Internet Explorer or Firefox. I suspect it is some security setting somewhere but I can't figure out where. Any ideas? > > Thanks! > > ---Mary, who is tired of juggling different operating systems, computers, and versions of MS Office Carol responds: No need to be embarrassed! I had similar problems and finally succeeded in installing the thing after also installing Yahoo! widget engine, but that caused problems with my preferred browser, Netscape 7.2. (I've tried IE, Firefox, and Netscape 8.0-8.3 and still prefer Netscape 7.2. I also like licorice. And Snape. Tastes and preferences are unaccountable, right?) The countdown thingie was also so large that it obscured most of my wallpaper and icons, so I ended up deleting it, uninstalling the widget engine, and restoring Windows to its previous state. Thank goodness, my computer is back to normal (knock on wood). Not worth it, IMHO. However, I'm a Netscape and prejudiced against anything connected with Microsoft, so it's hard to be wholly objective here. Too bad I have no choice but to use Windows XP and Microsoft Word! (BTW, Microsoft Word 2002+ is *not* an improvement over Word 97 and 2000, and the developers should be forced to edit a 500-page document using the new version of change tracking to see just how bad it really is. I uninstalled 2002 and bought a new copy of Word 2000 from eBay because I couldn't stand the stupid bubbles in the margins for comments and deletions. If it works, don't fix it!) Carol, with apologies for the anti-Microsoft tirade, but there are days when I feel like Microsoft's thrall From justcarol67 at yahoo.com Fri Apr 27 21:10:02 2007 From: justcarol67 at yahoo.com (justcarol67) Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 21:10:02 -0000 Subject: HP in translation (wordplay in Chinese characters, etc.) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "zanooda2" wrote: > > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "dumbledore11214" > wrote: > > > > bboyminn: > > > > I'm under the impression that the Russian translator did > > > just translate, they essentially took it upon themselves > > > to rewrite the book adding many scenes, dialog, and > > > narrative that simply don't exist in the original. > > > Alla: > > > Eh, no, not really. A lot of bad translation, but do not remember > > any additional scenes, just bad translation of existing ones. > > > zanooda: > > Hehe, I'll refresh your memory, Alla. SS/PS, example 1: > > > "Harry and Ron were delighted when she [Hooch] told Malfoy he'd been > doing it wrong for years." > > > That's one sentence, right? It's about the kids' first flying lesson. > > > Here is the translation (in my back translation, sorry, it's not very > good either, I suck at Russian-English translation): > > > "Harry and Ron were happy when Madam Hooch informed Malfoy that he > held his broom the wrong way. - But I've been flying for years! - > Malfoy argued hotly. He sounded offended. Then Madam Hooch explained > to him in a loud voice that it only meant he'd been flying wrong all > these years. Malfoy listened in silence, as he understood that if the > discussion would go on it might become clear that he was not as > experienced as he wanted to seem." > > > If it's not an addition, I'll eat my hat (I don't risk anything, > because I live in the South and don't have any hats :-). > > I wanted to give more examples, but even this one exausted me! Some > other time, maybe. I want to be fair - such extensive changes to the > text were made only in SS/PS, the rest of the books - just regular > bad translations, nothing more. The first book is full of > translator's inventions though. I suspect he was paid per word :-)! > > > zanooda, who apologizes for her awkward Russian-English translation, > but who doesn't claim to be a professional translator, like the one > she just cited ... > Carol responds: Maybe you should put up a website like the Chines-English one I linked too. According to the site creator: "This list of mistakes has already been published in Chinese at Chinese-language bulletin boards, where it has not only caused a stir among Harry Potter fans in China, but has also reached the eyes of People's Literature Publishing House [the publisher of the Chinese HP books) itself." http://www.cjvlang.com/Hpotter/mehelpindex.html Of course, the webmaster of the site makes his own share of mistakes, the best one being "Harry Potter and the Deathly Gallows"(!) As he says himself, pretty grim for the title of a children's book Oh. I forgot to cite another amusing error from that site, this one from the translators. "Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut" comes out as: "Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small head perched on top like a cocoa bean." Carol, trying to picture a troll with a head the size of a cocoa bean From lhuntley at fandm.edu Sat Apr 28 01:43:46 2007 From: lhuntley at fandm.edu (Laura Ingalls Huntley) Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 21:43:46 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: "The Great Snape Debate" and a few words on LOTR In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1f746439da3ba97e071218429b8b259d@fandm.edu> Carol: > You're welcome, but I was seriously asking whether anyone has read the > book, which is apparently part of the Borders Books DH ad campaign. Laura: Oh, I know. ^_^ Actually, I might go look at it myself, if only because I love OSC essays on nearly any topic (unfortunately, I doubt there is anything in the booklet that hasn't been hashed, re-hashed, and mashed here at HPFGU). Carol: > Guess you haven't been to a Borders store lately. Laura: No, I haven't (I tend to go to the B&N in town rather than Borders). I had no idea their campaign was so Snape-centric. That's really interesting -- I wonder whose idea it was and whether they're involved in fandom. Carol: > They also have "trust Snape" and "Snape is a > very bad man" stickers available on request. Laura: Hee. I can't hear the words "very bad man" without thinking of Spike mocking Angel on BTVS. Cracks me up every time. Carol: > So I don't think HPfGUers are the only ones who are obsessed with > Snape. He's *the* mystery character of the series (unless you're an > ESE!Lupin advocate like Pippin). Laura: Hrm. That's an interesting assertion. I suppose it's true, insofar as HP is a mystery (and I do believe there's a good argument for that). I guess I tend to see Snape as less central to the main HP plot than many at HPFGU (and, apparently, at Borders), but he *is* certainly the most mysterious character we've got. Personally, I think that when all's said and done, DH will reveal him to be DDM, but I think it would actually be more BANG!-y if he turned out be OFH or ESE. I mean, Harry & Co. have mistakenly suspected Snape of misdoings *so* many times already -- I feel like going there one more time is just a little too obvious. > Carol, still wondering whether the book presents any arguments we > haven't already gone over 500 times Laura: If it does, I'll be very, very impressed. Laura From crm2247 at bn.com Sat Apr 28 01:11:19 2007 From: crm2247 at bn.com (Mike Koller) Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2007 01:11:19 -0000 Subject: B&N Eastridge Welcome Mugglenet.com Creators For Special HP Event! Message-ID: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Michael Koller Community Relations Manager Barnes & Noble 2200 Eastridge Loop Space #1420 San Jose, CA 95122 Direct Line: (408) 270-9477 On Friday, June 1st, Barnes & Noble @ Eastridge Mall Welcome's Mugglenet.com Creators Ben Schoen & Emerson Spartz for special Pre-Harry Potter 7 Festivities! San Jose, CA? June 1, 2007 ? With excitement building up to the July 21st release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter V1), Barnes & Noble @ Eastridge Mall is getting a jump on the festivities as Mugglenet.com creators and authors Ben Schoen and Emerson Spartz stop by the Barnes & Noble located at 2200 Eastridge Loop to lead an in depth discussion and sign copies of their bestselling book, Mugglenet.com's What Will Happen in Harry Potter Seven. As anticipation of the final Harry Potter book intensifies, a debate is raging among fans about what's in store for Harry and the rest of the gang at Hogwarts. In this book, the experts at MuggleNet.com present a wide range of hard facts and bold predictions about the most popular storylines, favorite characters, and final outcome of the Harry Potter saga. Drawing on their intimate knowledge of the previous six books, as well as tips and suggestions made by millions of MuggleNet.com fans (not to mention a personal interview with J.K. Rowling), the authors offer answers to the burning questions of Harry Potter readers everywhere: Will Hogwart's School be open for Harry's final year and will Harry even be in attendance? Will Harry's quest for the remaining Horcruxes be rewarded? Where do Severus Snape's true loyalties lie? And, most importantly, will Harry survive the final battle with Lord Voldemort? Customers who attend this event will also be able to reserve their copy of Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows! Everyone is welcome to join for a fun Harry Potter evening! All Events Are Free and Open To The Public. Please call Mike Koller, our Community Relations Manager if you plan on attending this event. Thank you. # # # From constancevigilance at yahoo.com Sat Apr 28 16:33:44 2007 From: constancevigilance at yahoo.com (constancevigilance) Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2007 16:33:44 -0000 Subject: HP in translation (wordplay in Chinese characters, etc.) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > > bboyminn: > > I'm under the impression that the Russian translator did > just translate, they essentially took it upon themselves > to rewrite the book adding many scenes, dialog, and > narrative that simply don't exist in the original. > Apparently they thought they could improve the books. > CV: a funny note about Russian translations in general. The last time I was in Russia (1995) They ran lots of movies and tv programs from the west that were filmed in English. They dubbed the Russian but did not remove the English, so you heard both soundtracks simultaneously throughout. It was a bit confusing at first, but you quickly learn to filter out the language you don't know and I, who speak only English, could enjoy the same programs as my friends who spoke only Russian. One of my friends could speak both languages, but English is his second language. He grew up with these double-track videos and never thought a thing about it. As his English improved and he began to understand the English track, he was surprised to learn that the Russian "translation" was often quite different from the original in that they routinely ADDED lots of profanity. Common Russian speach is peppered with profanity and vulgarities as a matter of course - it is just the way people speak and it is part of the native color. Hearing only cleaned up speach in the films would sound odd to them, so they usually spiced up the dialog. I wonder what Hagrid is saying in the Russian versions of the films? CV From coriolan at worldnet.att.net Sat Apr 28 17:48:20 2007 From: coriolan at worldnet.att.net (Caius Marcius) Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2007 17:48:20 -0000 Subject: Is LV modeled on Crowley? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Tonks" wrote: > > I friend of mine who knows a lot about magic and alchemy but has not > read the books but has seen the movies says that LV is modeled on (You > Know Who) Crowley. I asked why he thought that and he said that he had > a picture of Crowley that looks a like like LV in the movie. So I > searched the web.. I don't see a picture of Crowley looking like the > snake like person of LV. However, I did find out some interesting > information. Crowley and his followers did think that "there is no good > or evil, only power and those too afraid to use it". So maybe my friend > is right. Crowley was a person who practiced dark magic and was a bit > crazy to boot. Crowley was more of a Lockhart than a Voldemort, IMO. More than a bit of a flake, but certainly no evil monster. You may find this FAQ of interest http://altreligion.about.com/library/faqs/bl_crowleyfaq.htm which convincingly argues that he was not a Satanist, and denounced Dark Magic. "To practice black magic you have to violate every principle of science, decency and intelligence . You must be obsessed with an insane idea of the importance of the petty object or your wretched and selfish desires ... I despise the thing to such an extent that I can hardly believe in the existence of people so debased and idiotic as to practice it." Such magic that he did practice seems to have served as a pretext for having sex with as many people as possible. Where did you find the "no good or evil, only power and those too afraid to use it" quote? The closest thing I could find was his motto, "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law," which he modified by adding "Love is the law, love under will" - he may have taken this from Rabelais, a writer he was quite fond of - in "Gargantua and Pantagruel" the Abbey of Theleme, Rabelais' depiction of an ideal academy, has as its "Fais ce que voudras" or "Do what thou wilt". "All their life was spent not in laws, statutes, or rules, but according to their own free will and pleasure. They rose out of their beds when they thought good; they did eat, drink, labour, sleep, when they had a mind to it and were disposed for it. None did awake them, none did offer to constrain them to eat, drink, nor to do any other thing; for so had Gargantua established it. In all their rule and strictest tie of their order there was but this one clause to be observed, Do What Thou Wilt; because men that are free, well-born, well-bred, and conversant in honest companies, have naturally an instinct and spur that prompteth them unto virtuous actions, and withdraws them from vice, which is called honour. Those same men, when by base subjection and constraint they are brought under and kept down, turn aside from that noble disposition by which they formerly were inclined to virtue, to shake off and break that bond of servitude wherein they are so tyrannously enslaved; for it is agreeable with the nature of man to long after things forbidden and to desire what is denied us." - CMC From catlady at wicca.net Sat Apr 28 21:53:05 2007 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2007 21:53:05 -0000 Subject: headline In-Reply-To: <462E0392.5070308@internode.on.net> Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Wolfie!" wrote: > > You know how Sinatra was "The chairman of the board", > Bruce Springsteen is "The boss", Elvis "the king". And James Brown was both "the hardest-working man in show business" and "the godfather of soul". This nick-name thing seems to be more for singers than for writers. From catlady at wicca.net Sat Apr 28 21:56:48 2007 From: catlady at wicca.net (Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)) Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2007 21:56:48 -0000 Subject: HP in translation (wordplay in Chinese characters, etc.) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "constancevigilance" wrote: > > Common Russian speach is peppered with profanity and vulgarities as a > matter of course - it is just the way people speak and it is part of > the native color. Hearing only cleaned up speach in the films would > sound odd to them, so they usually spiced up the dialog. It seems to me that common American speech is 'peppered with profanity and vulgarities as a matter of course' but we require that movies and especially TV shows have dialog that is cleaned up compared to real life. IIRC George Orwell wrote somewhere that common British speech is full of profanity and vulgarity, and IIRC he mentioned Chaucer as an example. From n2fgc at arrl.net Sat Apr 28 22:23:03 2007 From: n2fgc at arrl.net (Mrs. Lee Storm (God Is The Healing Force)) Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2007 18:23:03 -0400 Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: HP in translation (wordplay in Chinese characters, etc.) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <000301c789e3$c9838650$66a4a8c0@rosie> [Rita wrote]: | It seems to me that common American speech is 'peppered with profanity | and vulgarities as a matter of course' but we require that movies and | especially TV shows have dialog that is cleaned up compared to real | life. [Lee]: Personally, I have no problem telling people to clean up their mouths. I find all the profanity and such most unnerving and uncomfortable and have actually told a couple of people I know that if they didn't clean up and use better and more productive language I would have to sever our communication. Much to my pleasure, they complied and do watch their mouths when I am with them. :-) Same can be said for movie and TV viewing; if I start hearing a barrage of unnecessary expletives, the channel gets changed immediately no matter how good the story might have been. Okay, so I'm a prude, old-fashioned and the like, but it seems to me that there are many better ways of describing a situation than use of profanity. Perhaps that means improving vocabulary, but I approve of that! There are so many wonderful words out there; people should learn to apply them. :-) Cheers, Lee :-) Do not walk behind me, | Lee Storm I may not care to lead; | N2FGC Do not walk before me, | n2fgc at arrl.net (or) I may not care to follow; | n2fgc at optonline.net Walk beside me, and be my friend. From zanooda2 at yahoo.com Sun Apr 29 01:10:28 2007 From: zanooda2 at yahoo.com (zanooda2) Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2007 01:10:28 -0000 Subject: HP in translation (wordplay in Chinese characters, etc.) In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" wrote: > I forgot to cite another amusing error from that site. > "Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, its great > lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top > like a coconut" comes out as: > "Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, its great > lumpy body like a boulder with its small head perched on top like a > cocoa bean." > > Carol, trying to picture a troll with a head the size of a cocoa > bean zanooda: Yeah, that's funny, but I personally liked the one where Tom Riddle got an award for catching thirty owls :-). And how about Lupin offering Harry a teabag from the dust bin? It's pretty funny too. What seems very intriguing to me is that both Chinese and Russian translators make sometimes almost the same mistakes. I don't know how to explain this (mind link?), because the mistranslated sentences doesn't seem difficult to me personally. For example, stalactites and stalagmites grow in a strange way in Chinese, but it's even worse in Russian, where they manage somehow to grow from walls (?!). In the passage where Snape is refereeing the Quidditch game, "something scarlet shoot past him" becomes "something golden shoot past him" in both cases. Both translators assumed the author meant the Snitch, I guess. Both translators had trouble translating "small fortune". It becomes something like "small amount of money" (in Chinese even "miserably small money"). "Dragon heartstring" also confused both of them. "Snake nerve" in Chinese is really mysterious, but Russian translator offers "dried dragon heart". OK, I myself have no idea what heartstring means, but I imagine it must be something like a tendon, thin and long. Otherwise how can it serve as a wand core? "Dried heart" won't even fit inside, and besides, it seems just yucky to me to put a piece of meat into a wand :-). None of the translators managed to get the Quidditch scene right. "Flint with the Quaffle - passes Spinnet - passes Bell" means that Flint manages to pass Alicia and Katie without loosing the ball. However, both translators write that Flint passes (looses) the Quaffle to Spinnet, then Spinnet passes it to Bell. I don't know how the scene ends in Chinese, but the Russian translator transforms Flint into Katie Bell, and Lee's commentary then goes on like this: "She is hit hard in the face by a bludger, hope it broke her nose - " (?!!!). And finally, what is this about Lucius Malfoy and telephones? I thought it's only in Russian translation he makes phone calls to school, but in Chinese they made him do the same thing when he "called for Arthur Weasley's resignation". Are the translators familiar with only one meaning of the word "call"? Anyway, thank you for the link, Carol. I always wanted to find out how good (or bad) translations to other languages were :-). From OctobersChild48 at aol.com Sun Apr 29 02:07:29 2007 From: OctobersChild48 at aol.com (OctobersChild48 at aol.com) Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2007 22:07:29 EDT Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] OOP film and DD Message-ID: In a message dated 4/27/2007 2:37:17 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, tonks_op at yahoo.com writes: I see in the trailer for the new film that DD is STILL wearing the same robes. Good grief, can't they at least give the man a new robe? It must be getting kind of smelly by now. He can never wash his clothes. Honestly, what are they thinking. The old DD had a change of clothes at least. And he had taste too. Isn't it bad enought that this one can't act. Do we have to see the same robes for 3 films too!! _http://cbs4.http://cbshttp://cbshttp://cbs4.htt&cid=5_ (http://cbs4.com/video/?id=33675 at wfor.dayport.com&cid=5) Tonks Sandy now: It wouldn't be nearly as bad if that robe weren't so damned UGLY. The robes they dressed Richard Harris in were resplendent and beautiful, just like they were described in the books; then along comes Michael Gambon and they put him in what looks like a 50 year old housecoat. I hate the damned hat they have him wearing too. But, IMO, all of the costumes, after the first two movies, went in the toilet. I want to see wizard clothing, and plenty of it, including the kids wearing their Hogwarts robes. I wear my robe more than the kids in the movies do. Sandy ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Sun Apr 29 15:47:38 2007 From: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com (HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com) Date: 29 Apr 2007 15:47:38 -0000 Subject: Weekly Chat, 4/29/2007, 11:00 am Message-ID: <1177861658.9.91958.m40@yahoogroups.com> Reminder from: HPFGU-OTChatter Yahoo! Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/cal Weekly Chat Sunday April 29, 2007 11:00 am - 12:00 pm (This event repeats every week.) Location: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Notes: Just a reminder, Sunday chat starts in about one hour. To get to the HPfGU room follow this link: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Create a user name for yourself, whatever you want to be called. Enter the password: hpfguchat Click "Join Chat" on the lower right. Chat start times: 11 am Pacific US 12 noon Mountain US 1 pm Central US 2 pm Eastern US 7 pm UK All Rights Reserved Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Inc. http://www.yahoo.com Privacy Policy: http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us Terms of Service: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com Sun Apr 29 17:41:04 2007 From: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com (HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com) Date: 29 Apr 2007 17:41:04 -0000 Subject: Weekly Chat, 4/29/2007, 1:00 pm Message-ID: <1177868464.25.95835.m45@yahoogroups.com> Reminder from: HPFGU-OTChatter Yahoo! Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/cal Weekly Chat Sunday April 29, 2007 1:00 pm - 1:00 pm (This event repeats every week.) Location: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Notes: Just a reminder, Sunday chat starts in about one hour. To get to the HPfGU room follow this link: http://www.chatzy.com/792755223574 Create a user name for yourself, whatever you want to be called. Enter the password: hpfguchat Click "Join Chat" on the lower right. Chat start times: 11 am Pacific US 12 noon Mountain US 1 pm Central US 2 pm Eastern US 7 pm UK All Rights Reserved Copyright 2007 Yahoo! Inc. http://www.yahoo.com Privacy Policy: http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us Terms of Service: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Mhochberg at aol.com Mon Apr 30 00:29:34 2007 From: Mhochberg at aol.com (Mhochberg at aol.com) Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2007 20:29:34 EDT Subject: need help installing HP desktop counter Message-ID: Carol responds: No need to be embarrassed! I had similar problems and finally succeeded in installing the thing after also installing Yahoo! widget engine, but that caused problems with my preferred browser, Netscape 7.2. (I've tried IE, Firefox, and Netscape 8.0-8.3 and still prefer Netscape 7.2. I also like licorice. And Snape. ~~~~~ Thanks, Carol! It's nice to know that I am not alone. The Yahoo widget engine died when I tried to install it last fall. I tried a couple of times more then gave up. I had gotten used to the widgets on the Mac laptop and missed having them on my Windows machines. Despite reformatting some computers last summer, I would NOT assume any of my Windows machines are "normal"! Red licorice or black? Snape is interesting and I could imagine enjoying his classroom at N.E.W.T. level, even if I want to bash him for his treatment of non-favorite students. Rather like a teacher I had, I find him fascinating and challenging. Lucius is the one that I have a problem with. Maybe it's the blond hair. I am so glad that Jason Isaacs talked them out of the severe haircut and muggle suit style of wizard! As for MS Word, any flavor, I'd rather have Word Perfect! ---Mary, dreaming of "the good old days" ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From Mhochberg at aol.com Mon Apr 30 00:42:17 2007 From: Mhochberg at aol.com (Mhochberg at aol.com) Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2007 20:42:17 EDT Subject: OOP film and DD Message-ID: Sandy said: It wouldn't be nearly as bad if that robe weren't so damned UGLY. The robes they dressed Richard Harris in were resplendent and beautiful, just like they were described in the books; then along comes Michael Gambon and they put him in what looks like a 50 year old housecoat. I hate the damned hat they have him wearing too. But, IMO, all of the costumes, after the first two movies, went in the toilet. I want to see wizard clothing, and plenty of it, including the kids wearing their Hogwarts robes. I wear my robe more than the kids in the movies do. ~~~~~ Mary now: You are not the only one who feels that way. Gambon's Dumbledore even sleeps in the same blankety-blank robes. I was so delighted with the costumes, especially Dumbledore's robe and nightcap, in the earlier movies. If the teacher's robes had to go all dark, sad, and boring, it should have been AFTER GOF when they had reasons to mourn. But I can find no excuse for Flitwick's haircut! ---Mary, stepping off soapbox ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com Mon Apr 30 00:49:56 2007 From: dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com (dumbledore11214) Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 00:49:56 -0000 Subject: Profanity in Russian speech WAS Re: HP in translation In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "constancevigilance" > wrote: > > > > Common Russian speach is peppered with profanity and vulgarities as a > > matter of course - it is just the way people speak and it is part of > > the native color. Hearing only cleaned up speach in the films would > > sound odd to them, so they usually spiced up the dialog. >--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" wrote: > > It seems to me that common American speech is 'peppered with profanity > and vulgarities as a matter of course' but we require that movies and > especially TV shows have dialog that is cleaned up compared to real > life. IIRC George Orwell wrote somewhere that common British speech is > full of profanity and vulgarity, and IIRC he mentioned Chaucer as an > example. > Alla: Um, what do you guys mean by **common speech**? Because if you mean the speech of russian criminals, then sure I would say you are right. But if you are talking about people who at least have some sort of education, then no, not really. And I am not talking about people who are descendants of Pushkin, Tolsoty and Dostoevsky, lol. I am just talking about normal people, who at least went to college. Russian language collection of profanity is very rich indeed. Personally I believe it is connected to the fact that during soviet regime millions went to prison and those who survived brought it from prisons, just my non scientific thought. I think that was the thing with those movies - action movies, etc. I think that was belief of the translators that this is how criminal talk would be more recognisable for everybody. Again, just a non supported thought. So, what I am trying to say? Just that I think that this is a bit of stereotype, same as russians drink vodka every day, lol. Sure, many people do - not ALL of them though, hehehe. I grew up there ( in Ukraine, but really it all was soviet union) - I tried one sip of vodka in my life, literally. I have to say though that my observations do end at the end of year 1997, hehe. I had not been back yet, so maybe now all people use profanity on the regular basis. Alla From Mhochberg at aol.com Mon Apr 30 00:50:39 2007 From: Mhochberg at aol.com (Mhochberg at aol.com) Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2007 20:50:39 EDT Subject: The 7 Stages of Falling in Love with an Author Message-ID: So what stage are you at with another author? I know where we are with JK! _http://www.overduemedia.com/archive.aspx?strip=20070429_ (http://www.overduemedia.com/archive.aspx?strip=20070429) Happy reading! ---Mary ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com Mon Apr 30 00:57:42 2007 From: dumbledore11214 at yahoo.com (dumbledore11214) Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 00:57:42 -0000 Subject: Profanity in Russian speech WAS Re: HP in translation In-Reply-To: Message-ID: > > --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "constancevigilance" > > wrote: > > > > > > Common Russian speach is peppered with profanity and vulgarities > as a > > > matter of course - it is just the way people speak and it is > part of > > > the native color. Hearing only cleaned up speach in the films > would > > > sound odd to them, so they usually spiced up the dialog. > > >--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince > Winston)" wrote: > > > > > It seems to me that common American speech is 'peppered with > profanity > > and vulgarities as a matter of course' but we require that movies > and > > especially TV shows have dialog that is cleaned up compared to real > > life. IIRC George Orwell wrote somewhere that common British > speech is > > full of profanity and vulgarity, and IIRC he mentioned Chaucer as > an > > example. > > > > > Alla: > > Um, what do you guys mean by **common speech**? Because if you mean > the speech of russian criminals, then sure I would say you are right. > > But if you are talking about people who at least have some sort of > education, then no, not really. > > And I am not talking about people who are descendants of Pushkin, > Tolsoty and Dostoevsky, lol. I am just talking about normal people, > who at least went to college. > > > Russian language collection of profanity is very rich indeed. > Personally I believe it is connected to the fact that during soviet > regime millions went to prison and those who survived brought it > from prisons, just my non scientific thought. > > > I think that was the thing with those movies - action movies, etc. I > think that was belief of the translators that this is how criminal > talk would be more recognisable for everybody. Again, just a non > supported thought. > > So, what I am trying to say? Just that I think that this is a bit of > stereotype, same as russians drink vodka every day, lol. > > Sure, many people do - not ALL of them though, hehehe. I grew up > there ( in Ukraine, but really it all was soviet union) - I tried > one sip of vodka in my life, literally. > > I have to say though that my observations do end at the end of year > 1997, hehe. I had not been back yet, so maybe now all people use > profanity on the regular basis. > > Alla: Replying to myself - missed a couple of sentences. Just wanted to make sure I am clear. Profanity is a part of national culture, that is for sure. Many great writers used it in their books as well, etc. I am just not sure that the speech of normal, average person is that spread with profanity on the day to day basis. I know a lot of those words in Russian, lol. Except two or three I almost never use them, in fact I was taught by my parents that well behaved person never uses profanity, hehe. As adult, I of course use it sometimes, but really quite rarely. Come to think of it, that if I am especially stressed in my everyday life I prefer using English words, not russian - they sorta feel less real as profanity, if that makes sense. From orphan_ann at hotmail.co.uk Mon Apr 30 10:14:37 2007 From: orphan_ann at hotmail.co.uk (or.phan_ann) Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 10:14:37 -0000 Subject: Is LV modeled on Crowley?; Another Crowley In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Tonks" wrote: > > I friend of mine who knows a lot about magic and alchemy but has not > read the books but has seen the movies says that LV is modeled on (You > Know Who) Crowley. I asked why he thought that and he said that he had > a picture of Crowley that looks a like like LV in the movie. So I > searched the web.. I don't see a picture of Crowley looking like the > snake like person of LV. However, I did find out some interesting > information. Crowley and his followers did think that "there is no good > or evil, only power and those too afraid to use it". So maybe my friend > is right. Crowley was a person who practiced dark magic and was a bit > crazy to boot. I am looking at all of this, of course, for any clues > as to what to expect in book 7. > Ann: Doubt it very much, I'm afraid. Aleister Crowley's and Potterverse magic have nothing really in common* - I think the most they have is that the Golden Dawn used wands, though not for pointing at people and yelling "Expelliarmus" or anything. Saying Crowley didn't believe in good or evil is wrong, but I don't know enough about him to say more; he didn't practise dark magic, anyway. (The sex magic was, afaik, entirely consensual, however icky it may seem.) Nor did Crowley hide his soul in his old diaries or try to take over the government. If Crowley is a guide to what'll happen in book seven, though, we can confidently expect Death Eater orgies, pentagrams, and heroin abuse, while Voldemort has relocated to the shores of Loch Ness and has a history of bad poetry, romans a clef, and mountain climbing.** So that's what he was doing after he left Borgin and Burke's, I hear you cry. On the subject of Crowleys, though, anyone read John Crowley? He wrote a great book called "Little, Big", a kind of adult fairy story, very long and perhaps a bit twee for some folk, but I love it. *Actually, *no* real magic has much to do with the Potterverse stuff, so far as I know. **And his personal ancestry will be a bit different, too. Ann From zanooda2 at yahoo.com Mon Apr 30 18:55:50 2007 From: zanooda2 at yahoo.com (zanooda2) Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 18:55:50 -0000 Subject: Profanity in Russian speech WAS Re: HP in translation In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "dumbledore11214" wrote: > Come to think of it, that if I am especially stressed in my > everyday life I prefer using English words, not russian - they > sorta feel less real as profanity, if that makes sense. zanooda: I don't know if it makes sense or not, but it's true. Somehow profanities in English sound so much milder than in Russian. I don't know if it's the same for all foreigners or just us, but I can use English cuss-words quite easily (well, maybe not in public :-). The corresponding Russian cusswords I can't use even when I'm completely alone, they seem so rude. As for the friquency of profanity use in Russia, it just depends on the social circle, I believe. I heard many people use a cuss-word after every normal word, but none of them were my acquaintances. From bboyminn at yahoo.com Mon Apr 30 20:16:18 2007 From: bboyminn at yahoo.com (Steve) Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 20:16:18 -0000 Subject: Profanity in Russian speech WAS Re: HP in translation In-Reply-To: Message-ID: --- "zanooda2" wrote: > > --- "dumbledore11214" > wrote: > > > Come to think of it, that if I am especially > > stressed in my everyday life I prefer using English > > words, not russian - they sorta feel less real as > > profanity, if that makes sense. > > > zanooda: > > I don't know if it makes sense or not, but it's true. > Somehow profanities in English sound so much milder > than in Russian. I don't know if it's the same for all > foreigners or just us, but I can use English cuss-words > quite easily .... The corresponding Russian cusswords I > can't use even when I'm completely alone, they seem so > rude. > > ... bboyminn: Here's the thing, or so I imagine, Russian is a powerful passionate language, much like it's people. To a neutral outside observer, if you here an Englishman of any social class say 'Train Station', and here a Russian of an equal social class also say 'Train Station', I'm thinking you are going to be a sense of blandness from the Englishman, and a strong sense of passion and powerful speech from the Russian. I think that is just the nature of the language. The same is true of the many middle eastern/Arabic languages, you could overhear two Arabs sitting in an outdoor cafe having coffee discussing which is the better pop singer Lisa or Barbara, and you would swear they are either plotting to overthrow the world or on the verge of jumping up and trying to kill each other. It's just a naturally passionate language. Keep in mind that I speak neither Russian nor Arabic, but I can still sense the passionate nature of the languages. For what it's worth. Steve/bboyminn From justcarol67 at yahoo.com Mon Apr 30 22:47:51 2007 From: justcarol67 at yahoo.com (justcarol67) Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 22:47:51 -0000 Subject: need help installing HP desktop counter In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Carol earlier: > No need to be embarrassed! I had similar problems and finally succeeded in installing the thing after also installing Yahoo! widget engine, but that caused problems with my preferred browser, Netscape 7.2. (I've tried IE, Firefox, and Netscape 8.0-8.3 and still prefer Netscape 7.2. I also like licorice. And Snape. > Mary: > Thanks, Carol! It's nice to know that I am not alone. The Yahoo widget engine died when I tried to install it last fall. I tried a couple of times more then gave up. I had gotten used to the widgets on the Mac laptop and missed having them on my Windows machines. Despite reformatting some computers last summer, I would NOT assume any of my Windows machines are "normal"! > > Red licorice or black? > > Snape is interesting and I could imagine enjoying his classroom at N.E.W.T. level, even if I want to bash him for his treatment of non-favorite students. Rather like a teacher I had, I find him fascinating and challenging. Lucius is the one that I have a problem with. Maybe it's the blond hair. I am so glad that Jason Isaacs talked them out of the severe haircut and muggle suit style of wizard! > > As for MS Word, any flavor, I'd rather have Word Perfect! > > ---Mary, dreaming of "the good old days" Carol again: Black licorice, especially the jelly beans! I haven't used Word Perfect since I wrote my dissertion using WordPerfect 5.1. Presumably, it's been improved since then. I have to use Word in my editing work, unfortunately, because it's what "everyone" uses to compose manuscripts. But I don't like Macs or laptops, either. It's all what you're used to, I guess. (But the change-tracking "improvement" in MS Word really is a change for the worse and not just my perspective. It causes needless frustration for clients trying to print their edited manuscripts with those annoying bubbles on the side.) I was thinking of Book!Snape, one of the most fascinating literary characters I've ever encountered, though I like Movie!Snape, too (even if he uncanonically bops people on the head with composition books). I agree that Movie!Lucius looks like he belongs to the WW, much more so than Muggleized characters like, say, Lupin (who is wearing a Muggle dress shirt and tie in OoP unless my eyes deceive me!) Oh, yes, the good old days when we weren't slaves to our keyboards and monitors and students actually learned spelling and cursive writing. Carol, who could go on and on about these topics but won't From justcarol67 at yahoo.com Mon Apr 30 23:21:19 2007 From: justcarol67 at yahoo.com (justcarol67) Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 23:21:19 -0000 Subject: Profanity in Russian speech WAS Re: HP in translation In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Alla wrote: > > > Come to think of it, that if I am especially stressed in my everyday life I prefer using English words, not russian - they sorta feel less real as profanity, if that makes sense. > > > zanooda: > > I don't know if it makes sense or not, but it's true. Somehow profanities in English sound so much milder than in Russian. I don't know if it's the same for all foreigners or just us, but I can use English cuss-words quite easily (well, maybe not in public :-). The corresponding Russian cusswords I can't use even when I'm completely alone, they seem so rude. > > As for the friquency of profanity use in Russia, it just depends on the social circle, I believe. I heard many people use a cuss-word after every normal word, but none of them were my acquaintances. > Carol responds: Funny thing; that's how I feel about profanity and obscenity in English. I was brought up to think of curse words as rude and vulgar, and I was actually fifteen before I allowed myself to say "Damn!" (I'd missed the school bus, and it felt so good to say it that I said it again. After that, well--) But certain words just feel and sound dirty to me, and I hate hearing conversation that's laced with them. It sounds illiterate, unimaginative, and disgusting to me. (Maybe we've lost something since Shakespeare's time; *he* knew how to insult imaginatively without resorting to profanity. Or maybe I'm just an old prune. Erm, prude.) I don't know; maybe Russian speakers or Spanish speakers or whatever should think about how their native-language equivalents sound to their own ears before using the English ones, just as English speakers should think twice before swearing in French or Russian or Japanese. Maybe a word that sounds passionate to American ears or mild to Russian ears has a wholly different effect on a listener from another culture. I know some Spanish curse words but I'd be embarrassed to use them. They don't sound any better to me than their English equivalents, maybe because I think of what the words mean rather than how they sound. Maybe we should all learn to swear in Latin, which sounds, er, dead, but is unlikely to offend or disturb anybody. Or maybe we should all just work on making our spoken and written language more imaginative. I'm the first to admit that English as used by the average person ("I utilize my vehicle to attend sales events on a daily basis") is dull, dull, dull! (Okay, it's not *that* bad, but it's getting there!) Just a thought; not presuming to advise anybody. Carol, who agrees with Steve that Russian sounds, to an outsider, like a passionate language, and thinks that a Russian accent in a man is either cute or sexy, depending on his age