ANSI/List of Changes/HawaiiEastOfUSA/RedAndWhite/Hippogriff

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

I read Horace Walpole's essay with interest but didn't write down any
comments on it.

Carol wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/37259>:

<< Or it would be if I knew what ANSI >>

Like Steve bboyminn said, American National Standards Institute.
Pronounced like 'antsy'. Back in those happy days when I was a
mainframe/COBOL programmer, I got quite used to the adjective 'ANSI
standard'. For example, every COBOL compiler has to have a number of
specified commands that do specified things in order to be ANSI
standard COBOL, and give you a chance that your program will still
work when copied to a different computer with a different compiler.

I remember my shock when I encountered mention of an ANSI standard
that had nothing to do with Electronic Data Processing: I think it may
have been scissors whose labelled boasted that they were made of steel
that met an ANSI standard for corrosion resistance.

In this modern world, it's ISO standards of which people speak
(Usually to complain).

Both ANSI and ISO can be looked up in Wikipedia.

Carol wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/37263>:

<< hoping that Catlady found the right page
[<http://www.hp-lexicon.info/about/books/ps/changes_ps.html>] >>

Thank you, I did. The list of changes to PS/SS didn't mention anything
about Marcus Flint's year. I thought she had corrected that, but I'm
glad if she didn't: I LIKED him being held back a year.

Carol wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/37267>:

<< not to mention corrected any factual errors, like Hawaii being east
of the continental United States! >>

Thank you for giving me another chance to post my theory that that was
the spell checker's fault. The poor author typed a letter
transposition 'ewst' and the spell checker changed 'ewst' to 'east'. 

Potioncat wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/37274>:

<< we celebrate Mothers' Day and Fathers' Day at our church by wearing
either white or red roses. White in memory of and red in honor of. >>

Does anyone remember about red poppies and white poppies on Veterans'
Day? (Armistice Day)

melody_wood14 wrote in
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPFGU-OTChatter/message/37315>:

<< http://www.comcast.net/data/fan/html/popup.html?v=808117925 Is it a
hippogriph >>

Whatever it is, it is not a hippogriff. Hippogriffs have wings and
that thing clearly does not have wings. Hippogriffs also have hooves
on their back feet and talons on their front feet and an eagle head
with eagle beak.

Hey, I just realised this gives me an excuse to post something I
posted in a different group under the subject "What Hippogriffs Are For"! 

::::

I can never understand how Draco Malfoy (in PoA) was so very ignorant
of the correct way to approach a hippogriff, considering that his
grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy, was such a notable Gribbo player, and
owned such a notable string of hippogriffs.

Gribbo, also called Grippo, Grappo, Griffgraff and Hippogriff Grab, is
a wizard sport over one thousand years old. All players ride
hippogriffs, with no saddle nor bridle, only a rope wrapped a couple
of times around the beast's neck and torso, then tied, to which the
rider may cling. The pitch is a large are with a tall pole at each
end, usually adorned with colorful flags and streamers.

There is an object called the "prize" and an official called the
"honor". The honor holds the prize at the center of the pitch and the
players form a ring around him. They wait tensely as the honor flies
straight up, higher than the poles, and drops the prize. Only after
the prize has left the honor's hands may the hippogriffs fly. The
winner is the first player to fly a circle around both poles while
holding the prize - that is called a 'prize circle'.

The players try to grab the prize from each other with the wizard's
hands and feet and the hippogriff's beak and clawed front feet, and
try to protect it from the grabbers with evasive maneuvers, two hands,
six feet, one beak, and even some teeth, but not with magic. It is
strictly against the rules for a player even to carry a wand during a
match. No armour is allowed, not even dragonhide clothing, so players
wear very thickly quilted trousers and hooded tunics, which did not
prevent Abraxas from losing an eye and gaining several dramatic scars,
as is usual among Gribbo players. Collisions are another common cause
of injury.

In Abraxas's time, the prize was usually a live sheep or large dog -
live when dropped by the honor, anyway. Tradition states that the
sport originally used a captured Muggle as the prize. As the prize is
likely to be torn into fragments during the struggle, official matches
have rules about what part or weight of the prize qualifies a prize
circle. In unofficial matches, this will be decided by friendly
consensus or by duels.