Lucius Malfoy, Weird Al, and Fluffy Little Bunnies

November 2nd is a great time to blog about summer, I say!

The beginning of my summer wasn't the greatest. My grandma passed away. We had a memorial. I did a lot of things to help with the service, including writing the obit and the info. for the program, writing a bio speech for my brother to present at the service, and preparing a display for the reception. And I miss her.

But summer went on, and I had a pretty good one. Aside from going to Alaska and California, I had some fun adventures close to home as well.

In July, I dog-sat in Eugene, OR, and spent an afternoon at the Lane County Fair...

One of my favorite things was the exhibit on objects found with metal detectors...

As someone who has thus far only unearthed crowbars, rusty nails, and a singular dime with my metal detector, I was impressed.

Of course, I spent lots of time with the animals...

And I observed, but did not go on any rides...

* * *

In August, I attended a Weird Al Yankovic concert at McMenamics Edgefield.

I'd actually bought the ticket back in 2018, and the concert eventually sold out.

I chose to purchase one of the "chair" seats (rather than sit on a picnic blanket on the massive lawn). On one hand, this afforded me a pretty good view of the stage. But as the chairs were packed so tightly together, this arrangement was a little bit uncomfortable.

The show began with three orchestral numbers from movie soundtracks. Then Al got up and did about a dozen numbers. It was a fun show and I'm glad I went. Next time, though, I'll just chance it with a picnic blanket...

* * *

In September, I attended the Rose City ComicCon...

The LEGO club I'm a part of has put on a display for several years, and I joined in...

Since three actors from The Princess Bride were going to be in attendance this year, I thought it only right to make a couple of PB-themed MOCs...

I also made a few new BrickHeadz, representing the Harry Potter universe actors who were scheduled to be there: Bonnie Wright (Ginny), Matthew Lewis (Neville), Dan Fogler (Jacob Kowalski), and Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy).

 Bonnie Wright ended up canceling, but I let her BrickHeadz come anyway.

The crowds at the con were enormous this year...

I went to three panels. One was a split panel, with actors from The Princess Bride. First off was Wallace Shawn....

Then Cary Elwes and Chris Sarandon...

Later, there was a panel for three aforementioned Harry Potter universe actors in attendance...

I also attended a panel with just Jason Isaacs on Sunday. I was pleased that in both sessions, he briefly talked about Peter Pan (2003), a movie that's close to my heart. Apparently he's quite fond of it, too.

 Some of things he mentioned:

*The film was mostly shot in Australia. He got to stay in a large house by the beach that was supposed to be for an A-list actor doing another movie, but that actor backed out, and Jason got to move in with his wife and baby daughter. They invited the Lost Boys over to hang out.

*During the course of filming, several people on the beach were attacked by sharks, but the Australian crew members kept assuring Jason that it was perfectly safe to swim in the ocean. After the third attack, Jason decided to stay out of the water.

*The production went over-budget and the shoot went longer than anticipated. Jason didn't seem to mind this, as he got to continue living in this mansion by the shore.

*The reason Hook and Peter have their final battle while flying was to help disguise the fact that Jeremy Sumpter had grown so much during the course of filming, and was now nearly as tall as Hook. (I already knew they'd had to adjust the size of the Darlings' nursery window to accommodate his growth.)

*The harnesses used for flying were uncomfortable, sure, but in one scene, they were really uncomfortable. There's a particular look of pain/horror on Jason's face for a brief moment that remains in the film... in which he wasn't acting.

*That first scene with Hook was actually a body double. (Nooooo!)

Good movie, by the way.

Life As An Adult Harry Potter Fan (a comic)

The Wizarding World Of Spoiler Alerts

I read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child today.

And basically,

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What's not to love, really?

Linkfest '14! (Or, 12 web pages I forgot I even bookmarked in the first place)

Looking to kill a few hours? Here are some fun reads from around the worldwide interwebs that I just happened to bookmark over the past few years.

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The 33 Most Beautiful Abandoned Places In The World - My dreamscapes kind of look like these places. I wonder what that says about me?

Brickville Design Works - Robin Sather Photo Gallery - Tons of photos of epic Lego creations made by this one guy, who apparently has eight trillion bricks.

We Found Our Son In The Subway - A short, sweet, true story of a couple's eventual adoption of an abandoned infant one of them found in a subway station. D'aw, I love happy adoption stories.

Photos: Creepy, Abandoned Theme Parks - Exactly what it says.

How A World's Fair Pavilion Became A Family's Cabin - It's been 50 years since the New York World's Fair, and these folks are still living (in) it!

Nevada State Children's Home - Then And Now - The subject matter may not be the most pleasant, but the photographs are interesting/creepy... and the most fascinating part of all? The comments at the bottom... eight years worth of bittersweet memories.

Public Radio Reporter Interviews His Two Little Girls After One Gives The Other The 'Worst Haircut Ever' - This is sweet, and I like it a lot better than most of the too-cute-for-words kiddie Youtube videos out there. (This is just audio.)

Every Facebook Birthday Wall Ever - YEP. Very true, this.

Barbara Butler Custom Playgrounds - Gallery - Amazing work. Lucky kids.

Celebrity Twins - Some celebrities look eerily like other celebrities. I wonder if they all come from the same planet gene pool?

21 Jane Austen Movies And Miniseries Ranked - I may not agree with some of the rankings, and the list leaves out several films, but hey... if you're yearning to go All-Out Austen (and who isn't?), this list should give you a place to start (or continue).

16 Rare Harry Potter Illustrations From The Books' Artist - If you love Harry Potter, check this out. (Actually, if you love Harry Potter, you probably already have.)

Potter & Purported Plagiarism (...and Zombies?)

In 1999, the year J.K. Rowling sold the Harry Potter film rights to Warner Bros., Nancy Stouffer accused Rowling of copyright infringement. Stouffer's books from the 80's contained characters named Larry Potter (who had dark hair and glasses) and Lilly, and one of her books was about "Muggles," a word she claimed she invented. Therefore, J.K. Rowling had copied her, and should pay.

A decade later: "In June 2009, the estate of Adrian Jacobs, a children's author who died in 1997, sued Rowling's publishers, Bloomsbury, for £500 million, accusing her of having plagiarised "substantial parts" of his work in writing the novel Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In a statement, Jacobs's family claimed that a scene in Goblet of Fire was substantially similar to Jacobs's book The Adventures of Willy the Wizard: Livid Land: "'Both Willy and Harry are required to work out the exact nature of the main task of the contest which they both achieve in a bathroom assisted by clues from helpers, in order to discover how to rescue human hostages imprisoned by a community of half-human, half-animal fantasy creatures." They also launched a joint suit against Rowling and her publishers. Bloomsbury countered with a statement of its own, saying that "This claim is without merit and will be defended vigorously," and that Rowling "had never heard of Adrian Jacobs nor seen, read or heard of his book Willy the Wizard until this claim was first made in 2004, almost seven years after the publication of the first Harry Potter book." The Jacobs estate, driven by his son and grandson, have published a website with details and excerpts from the book, according to the Toronto Star. In July 2010, the estate filed suit against Rowling's American publisher, Scholastic, demanding that the company burn all copies of Goblet of Fire." (from Wikipedia)

And although no legal attempts were ever made for this one, some loyal fans of the 1985 movie The Young Sherlock Holmes are convinced Rowling pilfered from that one as well. TYSH features three main characters -- two boys and a girl. One of the boys has glasses. The girl is brainy. There's some supernatural stuff. There's flying. Oh, and the film features a snooty, rich blond boy, and his name starts with a D. (And it's "Dudley," so obviously Rowling stole that name for Harry's cousin.)

Meanwhile, all I can think is, SO WHAT?

Someone makes off with (or uses) the name of your character, or the look of your character, or a word you feel you invented (forget that if you change the "g" in "Muggle" to a "d" it becomes an actual word) -- SO WHAT??

www.geocaching.com

Writing is so much more involved than naming characters or describing characters. Plus, Rowling's works are teeming with plots far, far beyond any one strand or idea these other authors claim they came up with. And as for the Adrian Jacobs claim, I have to laugh -- so the character had an epiphany in the bathroom -- yeah, obviously this is bogus, because people spend so little time in bathrooms....

Writers get their ideas from many different places, and though we may wish that every thought we'd ever had was devised in our happy little brains, the truth is, we all grew up reading books, watching movies, listening to music, and watching TV, and that stuff sometimes sticks. Plots and ideas sometimes go up some weird little brain canal, hide out for a few decades, then re-emerge in writing. So yes, maybe Rowling watched the Sherlock movie and some of it influenced her writing a tiny bit. Just like how riding a train gave her the idea for the Hogwarts Express. (Read: the guy who invented trains should totally sue.)

And poor, poor Ms. Stouffer. Apparently her "Muggle" and "Larry Potter" copyright claims prompted a million and one Harry Potter fans to lash out against her, and let's just say her career -- such as it was -- hasn't been helped. According to Wikipedia: "In 2006 she stated on her website that she was planning to republish her books and was entertaining the possibility of another lawsuit against Warner Bros., J. K. Rowling and Scholastic Press." Well... she's nothing if not persistent....

Ideas come from everywhere, and writers and audiences should know that sometimes little things do get plucked from here and there, often without intent. But that has always happened... and will always happen. And it does not equal "plagiarism."

Furthermore, coincidences exist. Two people can come up with the same idea at roughly the same time, independent of one another. Even three people. Even eleven thousand people. Sure, some of those people will never run with their ideas, but trust: No matter what crazy ideas your brain comes up with, you probably will not have been the first to think of them. (And just because you google your idea and 0 results come back doesn't necessarily mean anything.)

Want proof that (mere) coincidences in storylines do exist? Check this out:

• There's a 1994 movie in which a girl (who happens to have long blond hair and a name with two "a"s in it), inspired by a school assignment, decides to try and find out more about her deceased mother. She travels to California. where she manages to locate several of her mother's old friends. Mom used to be an actress, and was part of an acting troupe. One of the friends leads our main character to a man named Jeffrey. It turns out Jeffrey was once married to the girl's mother. Our protagonist is shocked, and begins to wonder if Jeffrey might be her biological father. Jeffrey assures the girl that he is not; that the father who raised her -- Harry -- is the biological father.

• There's a 2012 movie in which a young woman (who happens to have long blond hair and a name with two "a"s in it) decides to make a documentary about her deceased mother. She interviews her family members, and tracks down several of her mother's old friends. The mother used to be an actress, and was in several plays. Our protagonist has heard rumors over the years about her biological father not actually being the man who's raised her, that he may actually be one of her mother's old acting buddies, most likely a guy named Geoffrey. She meets with Geoffrey, who denies being her father, and she is soon led to another man her mother knew from that same time period, Harry. It turns out Harry is the young woman's biological father.

The main characters have their looks and names in common. They both have deceased mothers. They both go searching for more information about their mothers, who were both actresses. They both think their bio-dad might be a guy named Jeff/Geoffrey, and in the end they learn their bio-dad is named Harry. 

You might think the 2012 movie ripped off the 1994 one, or that maybe both of them ripped off something older.

The 1994 film, My Girl 2, was a work of fiction.

The 2012 film, Stories We Tell, was a documentary, directed by Sarah Polley, the young woman whose life -- and whose mother's life -- it was about.

These were two independent films that have remarkable similarities, but neither can claim infringement by the other. If their releases had been reversed, it might be worth noting, but as it is, this is an example of coincidences -- even crazy ones -- existing.

In conclusion, stop freaking out about them and go enjoy those seven awesome books and eight movies.

In which I encounter Bing Lee giving a piggyback ride to Peeves... and then some: Harry Potter Con, Day 4

Today, Day 4 of the Harry Potter convention, was the shortest -- and, perhaps, the strangest.

I hadn't been in the convention center two minutes when I encountered three of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries cast members. They were taking pictures with people out in the hallway. I watched them for a minute, then gathered up the courage to go for a pic. So here is a picture of me with -- never thought I'd say this -- George Wickham, Lydia Bennet, and Bing Lee (Mr. Bingley). HOW CUTE ARE THEY?

Then I went to the vendor exhibit hall for a while, bought a couple more buttons (Snape & the Hufflepuff badger.. add those to my Luna and Ginny ones and I can now represent each Hogwarts House!), and then headed upstairs to listen in on a panel about video games.

Unfortunately, the panel before it ran late, and then the poor guy leading this one had technical difficulties with his presentation. There was some problem with the Wifi at the convention center, and at one point his -- I think it was a Playstation -- wanted to do an update, and it was sooo slow. The update stayed on 0% for quite a while. When it hit 1%, people cheered and clapped. Same when it hit 2%. At 3% I left and went back to the vendor hall. :(

And wow am I glad I did. When I walked in the hall, I saw even more Lizzie cast members gathering for pictures! All my nerve was now gone, though, so I didn't get IN any of the pix, just took some...

Darcy, Lizzie, random fan, Mr. Collins, and Georgiana. Side note: Darcy is totally handsomer in person than in the videos.

Jane was off to the side, by herself, posing for photos....

(I do realize these actors have actually names, which you can find here.)

THEN... In walked Seamus Finnegan!

 (Guy in white/black polo shirt)

And while I was trying to get a photo of him (it was hard, since he had a crowd around him) I spotted Bing Lee giving Peeves the Poltergeist (or at least a kid who'd spent the weekend dressed as him) a piggyback ride around the venue, and they were pranking people and stuff. So while trying to get a shot of them...

... I managed to, unknowingly, get a picture of Young Lily Potter.

(Purple shirt, with the doe patronus and the word "Always." Side note: AWWW.)

I feel bad now because I didn't even see her at the time. But hey, my powers of observation can only do so much!

The hall closed at 2, and we were all supposed to go to the the big auditorium for the closing ceremonies. 

Which were... not what I expected.

I guess I was expecting to see a video recap of the weekend or at least a slideshow, but nay... instead we were treated/subjected to a live webcast where people sat on stage and discussed Harry Potter and themselves and occasionally took questions from the audience for two hours.

One bit of amusement occurred when they announced which couple the con-goers had voted on to "get married" at Leakycon. The fans had chosen Lupin and Sirius. Sirius was wearing his Azkaban clothes, but was bald. They were married by Dumbledore, who introduced the process by going: "Mawidge... is what bwings us togetha today...."

A lot of the audience burst into cheers, though not the man and woman two rows ahead of me who looked at each other and shrugged, then got up and left during the wedding itself. 

Wuv. Twu wuv. (I thought Lupin was married to Tonks? Oh well!)

And then we got that webcast, which I thought would never end. I probably didn't enjoy it that much because I wasn't familiar with the cast. But I did end up walking out early, so maybe I missed the part where it got awesome. AGAIN, OH WELL.

SO.

Overall, was the con worth it?

Yeah.

I didn't have the best time I've ever had in my life or anything. Maybe because I get super reserved when I don't know anyone and none of my friends apparently wanted to go, or could afford to go, and I was a little bit lonely. 

But I did really enjoy the panels, especially:

*Snape's Q&A sessions

*The Pride & Prejudice/HP discussion

*Getting to see & hear Devon Murray, Ellie Darcey-Alden, Scarlett Byrne, Amber Benson, and the LBD cast in person

*Checking out all the cool HP merchandise

*Getting inspired re: some of my own creative pursuits

*Getting to be geeky for four days straight

So yeah. Overall? Good. :)

"I joined this club... it had the word 'eaters' in it... I thought that there would be cake....": Harry Potter Con, Day 3

Day 3 Of The Harry Potter Convention...

First off is a panel on the similarities between certain characters in Harry Potter... and other certain characters on Buffy. Now, if they'd done this panel 11 or 12 years ago I'd have been even more enthused, as I was a huge Buffy fan back in the day, but the fact is, it's been that long since I've watched anything past season 3. Oh well; it's still interesting... even if I have no idea who "Kennedy" is and my memories of "Andrew" are wispy at best.

Here are a few of the "pairings" (similar characters) that the mods and the audience members came up with: Faith & Neville, Angel & Dumbledore, Dawn & Ginny, Drusilla & Bellatrix, Wesley & Neville, Tara & Luna, Andrew & Ron, Cordelia & Draco, Tara & Cedric, Tara & Sirius, Darla & Voldemort, Jonathan & Percy, The Mayor & Umbridge, Principal Snyder & Cornelius Fudge, Spike & Dobby, Giles & Lupin, Cordelia & Hermione, Cordelia & Fleur, Darla & Narcissa Malfoy, Harmony & Lavender, and Ethan Rayne and Grindelwald.

If you know who all those characters are, I salute you, totally.

I then head over to LitLand for back-to-back panels; one on publishing, and another in which four writers read aloud their "embarrassing" scribblings from their teen years.



Only... some of the selections -- save for a few funny word choices and unintended double entendres -- really aren't that bad. Really. They had talent, even then. But the stories get some laughs -- mostly because the authors read their work in mocking voices -- oh, and those double entendres I mentioned. (Cover your ears, underaged wizards!)

Next up, a round-table (round-floor?) discussion on which Hogwarts House the characters of Pride & Prejudice would be sorted into. (Ulltimate geekery, amirite?)



Here's the consensus:

Elizabeth Bennet: Either Ravenclaw (because of her wit and smarts) or Gryffindor (because of her bravery). [I had penned her as a Ravenclaw.]

Darcy: Slytherin or Gryffindor. [Slytherin? No way. Darcy is not a Slytherin.]

Mr. Bingley and Jane Bennet: Pretty much everyone agreed on Hufflepuff. [Yep.]

Lydia: Lots of discussion about her. Survey says? Slytherin or Gryffindor. Others say she's too airheaded for any of those, so she'd probably end up in Hufflepuff because that house will take anybody. Another person offers that Lydia might actually just be a squib. [I would actually give Lydia the benefit of Gryffindor because she reminds me a lot of Lavender Brown.]

Charlotte Lucas: Ravenclaw or Slytherin. [I would lean toward Ravenclaw, because while her snatching up Mr. Collins was pretty cunning, I don't think that act alone should define her.]

Mr. Collins: Slytherin or Hufflepuff. [I'm certain he's a Slytherin, the way he always name-drops Lady Catherine and tries to make himself sound awesome by association constantly. (Then again, he's very much like Peter Pettigrew, who was technically a Gryffindor, though perhaps a misplaced one.)

Mr. Wickham: Slytherin. [No kidding.]

Mr. Bennet & Mary: Ravenclaw. [Fair enough.]

The hour ends just as we were trying to figure out Mrs. Bennet. [Probably for the best; is that woman even... figure-out-able? She'd probably cause the sorting hat to need therapy.]

As we get up to leave, I ask a girl to let me take a picture of her awesome shoulder bag:



I want it.

I decide to take in one more panel before I break for lunch. At first I sit down in a room that's going to show a documentary, but then I decide I'd rather take in Ladies Creating Content For Youtube (because... hey, I used to do that!), so I make my way across the venue and sit in for that panel, which proves to be interesting, though I'm sorry to say I'm not familiar with any of of the ladies' youtube channels. (But I do love me some youtube!)



Lunch at Burgerville (yay!), then I walk to a nearby Walgreens for some stuff. I walk six blocks and I pass, I kid you not, three Starbucks. Here is proof:

Is this necessary? It must be to somebody....

 I head back to the convention center for one last panel of the day... and it's more Snape! Yeah, I know I went to one of his panels yesterday, but he's hilarious, so I need more!

Today the audience is smaller, so more people get to ask questions.

I ask if Snape had a pet when he was young. He says no, but that he knows of a fanfic in which he has a cat.

Later I ask about the Hogwarts' professors' sleeping quarters, as we never got to see them, only their offices. He replies that his room at Hogwarts was "small... dark... walls of books and potions... the bed is long...." He then mentions that he does not care for hotels with their short beds and tiny showers. 

He gets everyone to break into a rendition of this by simply making the ticking sound. Oh yeah. We're all crazy.

Later, he dances, per someone's request.

After Snape's Q&A session comes to a close, I wait in line to get a photo with him, then head home. That's it for me, at least for Day 3. The con wraps up tomorrow. I may go. I'll probably go. There isn't much on the schedule but I kind of don't want to miss my last chance at Potter immersion. It is, after all, quite fantastic.