You say mentally unstable like it's a bad thing...

A cool thought

2007-06-30T17:55:07Z

I'd never thought about this before, but its interesting despite the tongue-in-cheekiness of it all.

http://www.journalfen.net/community/the_hms_stfu/362636.html?#cutid1

Since everyone else is doing it...

2007-06-26T07:14:41Z

... O for outstanding. Not bad for guess work I guess, though really I just did what I do at school and answered with what I thought the author would most want to see chosen. Ah well, it got me through high school and first year university. :p I had to laugh at the commentary that came with the marks that Jo wrote (see Mrs. B's journal for those). Congrats to all.
All the best,
Pots

Finished Fic

2007-04-01T16:05:45Z

Well, I finally finished the fic that I started writing just under a year ago. If you want, here's a link to the table of contents:

http://pots1369.livejournal.com/8838.html?mode=reply

All the best,
Pots

Book Cover Observations

2007-03-29T02:47:35Z

Well, I have to admit that the covers look amazing, although I think I really like the American one better than the UK one (darn). Here's a couple of things I noticed though:

=> American cover: Harry has something around his neck (kind of looks like the Slytherin locket).
=> American cover: Does Harry have a scar on his forehead? I can't tell.
=> UK kids cover: We have Hogwarts on the back so it looks as though that'll still be important.
=> UK kids cover: There appears to be Prongs on one cover flap, and a snake in a sphere on the other.
=> UK kids cover: The design of a circle within a triangle that's split down the middle with a line at the top of the spine of the book. Any ideas? I think it looks mythologically based, but its difficult to tell.
=> UK kids cover: Are the trio being pulled back / flying back on the front cover? (also I must admit I like how Harry looks much better on the front of the American cover).

Otherwise I must admit a rather "what?" moment at the arena (LV and Harry without wands), as well as the house elf on the front of the UK cover, and some serious wonder at the wording on the back cover of the UK one:

Harry is waiting in Privet Drive. The Order of the Phoenix is coming to escort him safely away without Voldemort and his supporters knowing - if they can. But what will Harry do then? How can he fulfill the momentous and seemingly impossible task that Professor Dumbledore has left him with?

Although Harry must get away from Privet Drive because the flaps mention that he's at the Burrow...

Theories anyone?

2007-02-14T21:11:48Z

Well since its V-Day (blech, bleargh, and all the other male comments that follow traditionally follow), I figured I'd ask a quick question in honour of the occasion, especially since this aspect of the books seems to have disappeared in the most recent set of theories that I've seen.

What role do you think the 'love room' (in the DoM) will have in the book seven?

It's snowing!!!!!

2006-11-26T18:57:02Z

Well, since everyone else posted it. Its snowing and theres got to be about an inch on the ground by now; its absolutely wonderful, I miss snow.

...that is all.

Happy Birthday Emma

2006-11-25T21:06:41Z

Hope you have a great one. :D

Happy Birthday

2006-10-24T02:56:35Z

Happy Birthday Potter Proffesor. Hope you have a great one.
All the best,
Pots

And you thought the MsScribe saga was big...

2006-08-05T00:45:25Z

Everyone get to their bomb shelters because the true wank is about to start!

http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/8985.html#cutid1

This could be fun.

Entertaining if nothing else

2006-07-06T02:14:12Z

For your enjoyment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhl-PZSgQhs&search=soccer%20goalie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcCw9RHI5mc

Pots

Just one question... why???

2006-06-20T19:25:57Z

So I followed a link from HMS STFU to this, and I'm pretty sure I've already seen major_dallas and mrs_bombastic in the comments, but I just thought some of you may like to see this.

http://www.journalfen.net/community/bad_penny/

On this, we have the incredibly convoluted and rather sad tale of Msscribe, and all I can say is:

Just... why? why? I mean, sure if you want to get yourself into the inner circle of a fandom, that's one way to do it. But to let it run itself so that it helped to take down an innocent site where hundreds of people went to enjoy themselves in the fandom?

This is why I sometimes feel ashamed to admit I'm part of the human race.
All the best,
Pots
ETA: After calming down some, I think that the people who figured it out deserve congratulations for doing so. Also, I would ask if possible (and I know bigger names in the fandom than mine [not hard to do really...] have thrown in this thought as well) that we don't turn on the people who were duped by her as well. I think we should just all be glad that it's over.

UBC Numa Numa video

2006-06-18T21:00:31Z

WARNING: THIS IS INCREDIBLY IRRITATING, FUNNY, AND ADDICTIVE ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

Here's a link: http://youtube.com/w/UBC-numa-numa?v=3N5TuRR53B4&search=UBC

My friend who goes to UBC sent me this. The info on it is from wikipedia. Basically, the numa numa pop culture phenomenon was started by some guy who made a video of him dancing and lip-synching to the music of the song. Now people everywhere are making their own videos. Naturally, some university kids decided to take it from there.

On February 10, 2006, eight students from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada released a four-and-a-half minute video in which they lip-synch and dance to the song. The video has attained cult status on campus, and, since the video was linked on Collegehumor.com, rapidly increasing popularity on the internet, receiving over 200,000 hits in its first two days online.

The main creators of UBC Numa Numa are fourth-year marketing student Jorgen Kjono (who wears an orange construction helmet in the video) and recent graduate Tyson Miller. Kjono, who has uploaded several other amateur videos on YouTube and owns a film production company called HBS Productions, filmed most of the video and did the editing. The video was filmed on the UBC campus, on Wreck Beach, and in Richmond, British Columbia at the airport, YVR, and features a pilot (Miller, wearing an authentic, borrowed pilot's uniform) who meets some UBC engineers and has fun with them. Cast in the video can be seen wearing UBC Engineering jackets and dancing next to the large concrete "E" which marks the Engineering department.

The students showed the video at the UBC Engineer's FilmfEUSt, an annual amateur film festival on the final day of E-Week. While the video was disqualified, as no one from the video is an engineering student, it received a standing ovation. Since then, the video has become popular among other students from different faculties and remains linked on the Civil Engineering Club website [2].

According to Kjono, who is still a UBC student as of March 2006, "It’s incredible how many people recognise us, especially Tyson [Miller]. I was sitting in class and these six Chinese guys were staring at me and then I acknowledged them and they all busted out the sprinkler [a dance move performed in the video]" [3].

A second video, Numa Numa: The Later Years, featuring footage that did not make it into UBC Numa Numa, is also available. Kjono and Miller have plans to make other videos. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numa_Numa )

The naked man near the end is from wreck beach which is the local nude beach right by the university. Because of how close it is, most students just ignore the old naked people and go there anyways.
Well... I'm certainly looking forward to going there next year. :D

All the best,
Pots

ETA: Here's an article on the music video: http://www.ubyssey.bc.ca/20060328/article.shtml?%3C!--4--%3ECulture/11a.html

my apologies to americans... but not really ;-)

2005-12-29T05:34:16Z

Think you all may like this (it's from a canadian comedy tv show [originally form this hour has 22 minutes] a segement that turned into an hour special called talking to americans. These are just highlights from it, but it was a huge show, and had a huge watcher turn out. Remember, this is a very satirical show: the premise is a guy pretends to be from canadian media and gets the Americans to say stupid things. Here's some videos:

http://home.comcast.net/~wwwstephen/americans/

Enjoy, because all Canadians love this one :D
All the best,
Bryan

A plea to extremist Harmonians

2005-09-03T15:25:39Z

I am posting this all across the fandom in hopes that it may cool the hatred of the extremist Harmonians. If you agree please send it around to Herons and Harmonians alike.

A Harry Potter Fan’s Plea to the Extremist Harmonians

First off I must begin by saying that I am a Heron, however I am only saying this to get it into the open so that you and everyone else who is reading this knows. I always have, and I more than likely always will be a Heron. Since I first joined the HP fandom, I have shipped Ron/Hermione and Harry/Ginny. In fact, the first time I went to a HP forum, I was rather surprised (no doubt to my innocence at the time) to find that other people would disagree with what I had thought was common opinion; let alone how vehemently they would disagree. I too have fought in the shipping wars, although leading up to the release of HBP I fought with a feeling of reluctance (not having lost faith in my ship, I simply came to realise that nothing I could say would make a significant difference), and so I merely waited for JK’s say in hopes that it would finish the wars once and for all. I know that the shipping wars have been long and bitter (I have a friend who after saying he wouldn’t read spoilers until he had finished the book, was e-mailed the info of who died and who the HBP was from someone who he had fought against in the wars). However, up to this point I haven’t overly disliked Harmonians (any more than the occasional irk that always happens when you debate with someone who disagrees with you); the exception being when they resorted to personal attacks. Even then I accepted this as part of the shipping wars, and let it slide… until now. Some Harmonians (and from this point on I am merely referring to the very few amongst the masses who do so) have finally crossed the line for not only me, but my shipmates as well as many of their own shipmates, and so now I request to them that they start.

First let’s take a look though at how this could have arisen. I have the feeling that many Harmonians became so after they identified with Hermione (and who wouldn’t, she’s a great character and very similar to the majority of HP fans). From this however, the character of Hermione began to be twisted; slowly, laboriously, and sub-consciously the fans that identified with Hermione began to gloss over her imperfections and make her what they considered as perfect. A prime example of this is the Harmonians insistence that Hermione is in fact good looking, when the truth is that in the books she is not. This stemmed partly (I am sure), from the fact that the movie Hermione (played by the wonderful Emma Watson) is good looking, when the truth is that her character is… well… not. Don’t get me wrong, I love the movies and the actors, however I feel this may have played a roll in the twisting of the character. From here, the fans began to build on Hermione, making her smarter and more powerful until they have made her into the perfect character (St. Hermione if you will). With the release of HBP, many of the fans who identified with Hermione were hurt when Harry chose Ginny over (as I see it) them. In the search for reasons why Harry didn’t choose them, accusations began to spread that Hermione was out of character (OOC). How could St. Hermione possibly make the mistake of going after Ron? How could Harry not choose perfect Hermione; when they never realised that the Hermione they perceived was in fact the one who was out of character. Hermione is a great character and a great help to Harry, however the unfortunate reality is that she is still only a sidekick to Harry, and can/will never be more than that.

Because of this frame of mind, the next step was to lash out against the girl who Harry had chosen over their Hermione. Within hours, Harmonians were widely and loudly cursing the name of Ginny Weasley as they attempted to villainies the character that Harry had chosen as his love interest. Accusations that Ginny was a slut, that Ginny was evil, and that Ginny must die spread like wildfire across the internet; even as Harmonians forgot that Hermione’s bet non-male friend was Ginny and that Hermione had in fact helped to bring Harry and Ginny together. In much the same way that Ron (incidentally Harry’s best friend) suffered at the hands of Harmonians [completely canon-less accusations he would become a wife beater simply to make the H/Hr ship look good], Ginny was now suffering the same fate and accusations. Probably Hermione’s best friend outside of Ron and Harry, Ginny’s character was being tainted merely because the ‘chosen one’ chose her for his love interest (I will not say won, because Hermione was never in or interested in a battle for Harry’s emotions as anything more than a friend).
From this point these Harmonians crossed the invisible line when they crossed into the real world and began to flame JK Rowling. Accusations that JK knew less about her characters than these shippers, that she was a bad writer, and that she was “stupid” (quoted from multiple Harmonian threads, being one of the nicer things I saw to be honest) began to pop up as the Harmonians continued to vent their anger. The author who had single-handedly created this entire universe and who (up until the release of HBP) the Harmonians had agreed upon with the Herons (a rare occasion to say the least) to be one of the greatest authors of our time and possibly all time, was suddenly being hated because her books did not contain what these readers perceived as the ‘correct’ relationships. Because two of her fictional characters ended up together in stead of two other fictional characters, JK became the target of hostilities and the Harmonians finally (in my opinion) crossed the line. To base you opinion on a book series that you used to love and now dislike merely because the relationships did not end up as you had hoped is unacceptable. To hate and spread lies about the author because of this as well as attempts to discredit the author (note: JK never called you delusional: that was Emerson) is not only morally wrong but socially wrong incorrect. JK has given us this magnificent gift in the form of this ingenious tale; and to make personal attacks against her simply because her characters did what she had always wanted and planned for instead of what you wanted is simply unacceptable, even in the (rather… ‘interesting’) world of the internet.

Now I know that this portion of the Harmonians population that I am talking about is a small section of the true Harmonians who still uphold the ideals that they Harmony ship stood for. I merely ask that you re-read the Harry Potter series without prejudice towards any ships (difficult as that may be), and if you still have problems with the series than I wonder why you are spending hours of your time pursuing the fandom of a book series you no longer like. I would hope that most Harmonians will continue to stand for the ideals their ship has (even if it is only in fandom which is not entirely a bad thing unto itself), to show us non-Harmonians what your ship could have been. If you like what I have written than the best thing you can do is to pass it too others in the HP fandom (both Heron and Harmonian alike) in the hopes that we can restore the respect that JK and her book series deserve. If you strongly disagree with what I say… well, hey what do I know I’m just a Heron (so I doubt you’d listen to me anyways ;-) ).

All the best,
A Heron but above all a Harry Potter fan