Not my daughter, you BITCH !!!
It’s all over. All the movies, all the books…
I’d stick with the book (s), myself.
I guess you can’t get it all right. Putting things in where there were no things to begin with, Leaving things out where there should have been things. Putting words into people’s mouths. Certain things said by certain people were changed and words came out of mouths when there shouldn’t have been.
Ollivander never knew about the Deathly Hallows …
The book was very succinct. Things happened for a reason in certain order with certain people at certain times.
Leaving out crucial aspects of the book to make it to the film really did in some of what we saw on screen. But oh well, you win some, you loose some.
It was all very magical. In the end, the book tells the real story.
But yes you should see it.
The last few pages of the book were classic.
19 years later …
I am sure that there are still a few books to be written.
Daniel Radcliffe Teams Up with the Trevor Project to Help LGBT Youth
Filed by: Waymon Hudson @ Bilerico
What a magical match up!
Daniel Radcliffe, the star of Harry Potter, has made a major donation to our friends at The Trevor Project, the non-profit organization that operates the only nationwide suicide-prevention helpline for LGBTQ youth.
The 20-year-old actor joined The Trevor Project’s Circle of Hope, a community of major donors which plays an essential role in providing the financial leadership and support that makes the organization’s critical lifesaving work possible.
Radcliffe had this to say:
I am very pleased to begin my support of The Trevor Project, which saves lives every day through its critical work. It’s extremely distressing to consider that in 2009 suicide is a top three killer of young people, and it’s truly devastating to learn that LGBTQ youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.
I deeply hope my support can raise the organization’s visibility so even more despondent youth become aware of The Trevor Helpline’s highly trained counselors and Trevor’s many other resources. It’s vitally important that young people understand they are not alone and, perhaps even more important, that their young lives have real value.
Radcliffe has long been outspoken about his support for the LGBT community, and often speaks out about his love for the community, whom he calls his best friends and family. Having such a high profile supporter, who has such a huge following and a cash-cow movie franchise, can only help a group like The Trevor Project and the issues around LGBT youth.
Charles Robbins, the executive director of The Trevor Project, seemed extremely excited about Radcliffe’s support:
We’re incredibly grateful to Daniel for his truly inspiring and historic generosity and support. He is setting a meaningful example for millions of young people around the world by embracing diversity and demonstrating that he cares deeply about the well-being of LGBTQ youth.
So kudos Radcliffe for putting his money and support where his mouth is. We love our allies who step up to help!
Daniel's Drag Dream
“I think part of me would love to play a drag queen, just because it would be an excuse to wear loads of eye makeup.” That’s Daniel Radcliffe, musing in the October issue of Details about his desire to trade in his boyish wizarding robes from “Harry Potter” for something slightly flashier. And while the actor, 19, will soon make a different kind of sartorial statement as he gets into his birthday suit for his Broadway debut in “Equus,” he says he’s only a risk-taker when it comes to his career.
“I don’t pretend to do anything particularly wild,” he shrugs. “People talk about rebellion and they say, ‘Where is the teenage angst?’ But I say I try to do it simply by the choices I make in the work I do. I just like wrong-footing people. I write poetry and I love it. I like being different from most other people in my generation.”
One thing that differentiates Radcliffe from his peer group is the fortune he’s made from “Potter,” which he’s invested in real estate, artwork (“that’s the only thing I’m interested in that costs a lot of money”) and a surprisingly unpretentious Volkswagen GTI. As for his personal life, he says he’s currently flying solo (“I just don’t have the time”) and, in an admission that will likely spark many a birds-and-bees discussion among the tween set, reveals he received his first lesson in carnal knowledge at the age of 16 — with an older girlfriend. According to Daniel, the age difference “wasn’t ridiculous, but it would freak some people out.”
Radcliffe nervous about baring all on Broadway
By Michelle Nichols
NEW YORK (Reuters) – British actor Daniel Radcliffe hopes to debut on Broadway next year in a reprise of his London role in “Equus,” a performance where he shed not only his clothes but the mantle of Harry Potter.
Radcliffe won rave reviews for his performance as a tortured teenager during an 8-week run of Peter Shaffer’s grueling psychological thriller in London earlier this year, but said the prospect of acting in New York was “terrifying.”
“It will be amazing, but I will be terrified because I was talking to Richard Griffiths about playing New York and he said the most stupid thing you can do is underestimate New York audiences,” said Radcliffe, 18, in an interview with Reuters.
Griffiths, who appeared with Radcliffe in “Equus” in London and played the role of Uncle Vernon in the Harry Potter movies, won a Tony Award in New York in 2006 for his role in “The History Boys.”
While promoting his latest movie, “December Boys,” in New York, Radcliffe — best known for bringing to life author J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard Harry Potter — said “Equus” could open late next year in New York.
“I would be very nervous because I think that (the audiences are) even more discerning than in London,” he said. “But I know we have a good show, it was a good show when we did it in London and hopefully if we do it again it will still be that good. It has to be better.”
Media hype over Radcliffe’s nude scene in the play sparked more than $4 million in advance ticket sales in London.
“Equus” was first produced in London in 1973 to critical acclaim and won a Tony Award for best play in 1975 during a long run on Broadway. It was adapted by Shaffer for a 1977 film starring Richard Burton and Peter Firth, which received three Oscar nominations in 1978.
“December Boys,” Radcliffe’s first major role outside the Harry Potter films, opens in the United States, Britain and Australia this month. The movie tells the tale of four orphans growing up at a Catholic convent in outback Australia.
Radcliffe said he will begin working on “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” — the sixth movie in the seven part series — this month and that the project would likely take a minimum of eight or nine months.
Sunday writings…
I really don’t know what to write tonight, I really don’t feel like writing because I’ve not prepared anything really. The last holiday weekend before the grind begins with a bang this week. I’ve been banking on sleep as of late – trying to steal away hours here and there, I love to sleep.
I’ve been on these new medications now for 3 months.
I have to say that throwing up is right up there on my most hated activities during my day. I have morning sickness once or twice a week. This morning it woke me up out of a sound sleep, as if I had spent the night prior drinking until I could not drink any more.
I didn’t even have a drinking dream to go with the morning sickness. I mean it would have meant so much more if I could put throwing up into context! Alas, I was exhausted afterwards and it took me an hour to calm down and get my breathing under control because my body was in that “post vomit” stage of recuperation… UGH!
It was a beautiful day today. I sat out on the lanai enjoying the sunshine. The days are starting to get shorter and the sun will begin to set earlier and earlier. I can’t wait for the trees to start turning.
**********************
I spent the past couple of nights reading Elie Wiesel’s “Night.” I found the read to be as cathartic as Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz. Both men were boys when they were taken to the camps. I knew the story, even before I read the first page. Though the two stories are different, they share the common thread:
“You are in a concentration camp. In Auschwitz…”
“Remember,” “Remember it always, let it be graven in your memories. You are in Auschwitz. And Auschwitz is not a convalescent home. It is a concentration camp. Here, you must work. If you don’t you will go straight to the chimney. To the crematorium. Work – or crematorium – the choice is yours.”
Reading Elie’s account as he moves from camp to camp, trying to stay with his father, to keep his father alive, through the worst of conditions was amazing. Where Elie tells us his story on a great scale, describing seasons and changes, his visions of babies being killed and burned in ditches was exceptionally brutal.
“Poor devils, you are heading for the crematorium.” Not far from us, flames, huge flames, were rising from a ditch. Something was being burned there. A truck drew close and unloaded its hold: small children. Babies! Yes, I did see this, with my own eyes…children thrown into the flames. (Is it any wonder that ever since then, sleep tends to elude me.)
How was it possible that men, women and children were being burned and that the world kept silent? No. All this could not be real. A nightmare perhaps…
Night, ppgs. 32-33, 38-39…
Primo Levi tells another story of the same conditions but from a different point of view. Those reviews of that text are in my Holocaust files in Categories, you can read them there. Both writers are important to know, to read and to respect.
It is interesting that I was reading this text over the weekend, and during Saturday night’s Coast to Coast, with Ian Punnet, a caller called in – it was an off topic call – this man said that he had studied in Germany and knew people who were alive during WWII and he told the listeners that in Germany during that time, people were told and it was later understood that on certain days, one just did not go to the train stations at all…
To address the question about “the world not knowing what was going on, it is said that Germans learned not to explore outdoors or go to the train stations on certain days while the extermination of the Jews was being carried out.
Any read of the Horrific stories of the Holocaust are important so that these memories do not go unheeded, that the warnings are not passed on the future generations. “That we should remember, so that we should never forget.” I highly recommend these two texts for those who are interested in Holocaust studies, ‘Night’ by Elie Wiesel and ‘Survival in Auschwitz’ by Primo Levi. These stories must be passed on…
I’ve made some minor changes to the blog, and I’ve added and deleted some of my bookmarks on the side bar. People are returning from hiatus and from vacations over the summer, so go read them, each blogger on my blog list is worth the time.
I hope all of you are well and thanks again for your readership.
AIDS virus is a "double hit" to the brain: study
God, I have a headache now !!
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The AIDS virus damages the brain in two ways, by not only killing brain cells but by preventing the birth of new cells, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
The study, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, helps shed light on a condition known as HIV-associated dementia, which can cause confusion, sleep disturbances and memory loss in people infected with the virus.
It is less common in people taking drug cocktails to suppress the virus, and why HIV damages brain function is not clearly understood.
The virus kills brain cells but it also appears to stop progenitor cells, known as stem cells, from dividing, the team at Burnham Institute for Medical Research and the University of California at San Diego found.
“It’s a double hit to the brain,” researcher Marcus Kaul said in a statement. “The HIV protein both causes brain injury and prevents its repair.”
The cocktail of drugs known as highly active antiretroviral therapy or HAART that treats HIV does not infiltrate the brain well, allowing for a “secret reservoir” of virus, said Stuart Lipton, who worked on the study.
HIV-associated dementia is becoming more common, as patients survive into their older years.
Working in mice, the researchers found that the virus directly interferes with the birth of new brain cells from stem cells.
“The breakthrough here is that the AIDS virus prevents stem cells in the brain from dividing; it hangs them up,” Lipton said. “It’s the first time that the virus has ever been shown to affect stem cells.”
The culprit is gp120 — a protein found on the outside of the AIDS virus, the researchers found.
“Knowing the mechanism, we can start to approach this therapeutically,” Lipton said.
“This indicates that we might eventually treat this form of dementia by either ramping up brain repair or protecting the repair mechanism,” Kaul added.
Friday the 13th …
Photo courtesy of: The Ministry of Pleasure
Last night I got to bed wayyy to late to function this morning. After watching some Hilary Duff last night. Anyways, I got to bed around 2:30 in the morning and sat down with some veggies and French baguette while reading Anne Rice’s “Pandora.”
This morning the alarm clock went off at 9:00 a.m. and my body wasn’t having any of that, so I went back to bed until 3 p.m. My medications are making me a little sick to my stomach, I’ve got potty issues, and I feel like I am pregnant because now I am getting “morning sickness!!”
It is a comfy 22c here in Montreal – with clear skies at the moment although the possibility of thunder storms are in the forecast tonight. Where everyone else around North America and Canada are sweltering in the heat – it was 38.8 in some areas of B.C. yesterday!! Yikes!! The breeze is blowing and the sun is on its way down down and evening is about to start.
We’re going OUT for dinner tonight and then a Movie, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix.
High hopes for new AIDS lab
| By Anna Bratulic, The Suburban |
|
Renowned AIDS specialist Dr. Mark Wainberg says the opening of a new Staff and equipment moved into the $5 million facility housed “We’re very proud to announce the opening of this new lab, which The lab is among a handful of similar labs in the country Wainberg says the old lab was running the risk of falling short “We really needed to have a new lab in order to meet all the Research will focus on understanding immune responses Wainberg doubts a cure or vaccine will be found in his lifetime In Canada, where there are an estimated 65,000 people While both are HIV viruses, they respond differently to treatment. “It turns out that the way the virus becomes resistant to the drugs He added that some of the researchers at the new lab will be Research will also study ways to detect infection earlier than Current screening methods can only detect antibodies that Wainberg added that the upgraded facilities will hopefully make |
Medication Journal Entry #1
Day 1 – Saturday June 30th 2007 – Medication Journal Entry #1
Night Dose:
Norvir (100 mg ) 1 pill twice a day
Prezista – Darunavir TMC 114 (300 mg) 2 pills twice a day
TMC 125 (100 mg) 1 pill twice a day
Integrase (100 mg) 2 pills twice a day
Time: 10:28 p.m.
Potter stars look to the future
|
By Caroline Briggs |
The three actors have starred in the films since 2001 |
Dark clouds are gathering over Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The fifth film to be adapted from JK Rowling’s books – released on 11 July – is the grittiest yet, as Harry battles with the angst and growing pains of teenage life.
And while the film echoes the growing age of the young cast, actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint will be wearing school uniforms for at least another two years.
Rowling brings the magical saga to an end in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, published on 21 July.
It will mark the finishing line for the trio, who have played Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley since 2001.
Radcliffe, 17, says he has no idea what to expect from the final book, but has pre-ordered a copy.
“We can sit here and talk about it but Jo is coming to come up with something far more interesting or exciting than anything we can predict and imagine,” he says.
 |
Emma Watson |
I hope Hermione doesn’t die – I really didn’t have that in my plan for what she would achieve 
Rowling has already hinted that two main characters will die in final instalment, but has not revealed who.
Watson is tempted to take a sneaky peek to see if it is Hermione who meets a sticky end.
‘Beautiful babies’
“I hope Hermione doesn’t die – I really didn’t have that in my plan for what she would achieve,” she says.
“I want to see her putting her intellect and her very caring nature to some very worthy cause – going around the country protesting for the rights of house elves, or continuing with SPEW and generally making the world a better place. Being married to Ron and having beautiful babies.”
Grint, 18, is more succinct: “If Ron had to die it wouldn’t be so bad – it’s the last one anyway.”
The latest Harry Potter film is the fifth in the series, and sees the franchise’s fourth director at the helm, with David Yates following in the footsteps of Christopher Columbus, Alfonso Cuaron and Mike Newell.
Daniel said he enjoyed portraying Harry’s troubled teenage years |
Yates, best known for TV dramas such as The Girl in the Cafe and State of Play, has combined aspects of previous films with his own take on Harry’s character, explains Radcliffe.
“I think this is the film I’m most proud of and we had a great time working with David,” he says.
“He has taken the charm of the films that Chris made, the visual flair of what Alfonso did, and the thoroughly British bombastic nature of the fourth film, and added his own sense of grit, and realism to it that perhaps wasn’t there so much before.”
Watson, 16, says it is the most “genuine” of all the films.
“The word I connect the most with David Yates is ‘truth’,” she adds.
“He always wanted to find truth in all the characters. We really relished that and it stopped us getting complacent.”
Reflective
Radcliffe says one of his greatest challenges was tackling the more troubled and complex side of the teenage Harry.
“I talked to Jo (Rowling) about it, and she said if people say they don’t understand why he is angry then they have not understood what he has been through in the last five years,” he explains.
“He has a right to be angry. For me it was just as interesting to play the reflective side of the anger, where it comes from like the loneliness and feeling misunderstood, than the out-and-out shouting that people may have interpreted from the book.”
It was Gary Oldman, who plays Harry’s godfather Sirius Black, who inspired him.
“Me and Gary got to do some really emotional and heartfelt scenes together, which was great,” Radcliffe says.
Hermione and Ron sign up for Dumbledore’s Army |
“I have been a fan of his for a long time, and I think anybody would be hard-pushed to name another actor whose body of work covers so many different areas. I think he is incredible.”
On-screen kiss
The Order of the Phoenix also stars Oscar-nominated Imelda Staunton as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Dolores Umbridge, and Helena Bonham Carter as the demented Bellatrix Lastrange.
It also sees Radcliffe share his first on-screen kiss.
But kissing Katie Leung – who plays fellow Hogwarts pupil Cho Chang – was easy compared to stripping off on stage, as he did in the West End play Equus.
“Once you’ve been on stage naked in front of 1,000 people you really feel you can do almost anything without inhibition,” he laughs.
“Being naked was possibly not as complicated as kissing – although belt buckles can give everybody a bit of trouble at times – but kissing Katie was a very, very comfortable experience, especially when compared to being naked on stage and blinding horses.”
Leung, 19, who won the part of Harry’s girlfriend after an open audition, says he was a “good kisser”.
“I only watched the film yesterday and I thought I’d be cringing, but I’m very pleased with it. It’s a very endearing and sweet scene,” she says.
“I’m not sure how my mum and dad are going to react. Hopefully they will find it really sweet as well.”
Sidney Crosby named Penguins captain
Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby, who this season became the youngest player to win the NHL scoring title, is now the youngest team captain in league history.
The Penguins made the move official during a luncheon on Thursday.
“Sidney has done so much for this franchise in his first two seasons, made so much history, that you have to keep reminding yourself that he is only 19 years old,” Penguins general manager Ray Shero said on the team’s official website.
“It is obvious to all of us — coaches, players, management, staff — that he has grown into the acknowledged leader of the Pittsburgh Penguins. It is only appropriate that he wears the ‘C’ as team captain.”
Crosby, who won’t turn 20 until August, served as an alternate captain while topping the NHL with 120 points (36 goals, 84 assists) in his second season, earning him a nomination for the league’s most valuable player award.
“I was always told that age is just a number,” Crosby said. “I try not to let it get in the way of anything.”
Crosby’s precocious production also helped the Penguins to the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference and their first playoff berth since 2001, though they were brushed aside in five games in the first round by the Ottawa Senators, now in the Stanley Cup final against the Anaheim Ducks.
After Pittsburgh was eliminated, Crosby revealed he had played the final weeks of the regular season and the playoffs with a fractured bone in his left foot.
Crosby, a native of Cole Harbour, N.S., is the youngest-ever NHL captain by about two months. The Tampa Bay Lightning named Vincent Lecavalier captain in 2000, when he was 19 years 11 months old, but later rescinded the title.
The Penguins have not had a captain since Mario Lemieux announced his retirement in January 2006.
With files from the Canadian Press
New Potter book to hit U.S. with 12 million copies
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Publisher Scholastic Corp. said on Wednesday it would release a record-breaking 12 million copies for the first U.S. printing of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” which hits stores on July 21.
The release of the seventh and final book in the popular series by British author J.K Rowling will be backed by a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign and is expected to be one of the biggest publishing events in recent years.
Speculation has run high that “Deathly Hallows” could mark the death of the boy wizard hero.
“Harry Potter” books have sold 325 million copies and have been translated into 64 languages. The series has spawned four feature films. A fifth film based on the fifth installment, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” will reach theaters a week ahead of the new book’s arrival.
The first printing of “Deathly Hallows” breaks a record of 10.8 million copies of the sixth book, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” in 2005.
That book sold 6.9 million in the first 24 hours, Scholastic said.
In the UK, it sold more than 2 million copies on the first day of release, making it the fastest-selling book of all time, according to the publisher.
Reuters/Nielsen
Radcliffe makes compelling debut
|
By Neil Smith |
Equus deals with controversial themes of sexuality |
A star-studded audience saw Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe make his full West End debut in Equus.
Christian Slater, Bob Geldof and Richard E Grant were just a few of the luminaries who braved the paparazzi outside London’s Gielgud Theatre.
Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry and Helena Bonham Carter – performers with close ties to the Harry Potter phenomenon – were also in attendance.
For all the celebrity talent in the stalls, however, there was only one focus of attention once the lights went down.
The controversial nature of Peter Shaffer’s 1973 play, combined with reports of Radcliffe’s on-stage nudity, has already made this the hottest ticket in town.
To concentrate on the sensational aspects of Thea Sharrock’s production, however, would be a disservice to its star’s accomplished and thoroughly committed performance.
Boasting a well-toned physique and a compelling stage presence, Radcliffe quickly distances himself from his boy wizard alter-ego.
Minimal experience
Indeed, the overriding impression is of a gifted young actor casting off the shackles of a restrictive screen persona.
Radcliffe and Joanna Christie leave little to the imagination |
True, he is perhaps too composed to be wholly credible as Alan Strang, the disturbed stable boy sectioned for blinding six horses.
Nor do his polished vowels befit a character who, according to Shaffer’s text, is both ill-educated and semi-literate.
With a maturity and intensity that belie his 17 years, though, the teenage heart-throb compellingly conveys the angst and trauma of a youth in crisis.
And as Shaffer pieces together the sorry history that led him to commit such an inexplicable act of violence, Radcliffe ensures he retains both our sympathy and our compassion.
Looking visibly drained and shaken as he took his bows, Tuesday’s opening night clearly took its toll on an actor with minimal theatrical experience.
Then again, he had just been required to strip naked for a sex scene with co-star Joanna Christie that leaves little to the imagination.
With two rows of audience members seated directly behind the actors on stage, there is nowhere to hide.
It would be no slight on their exertions, though, to lavish equal praise on Richard Griffiths for his work as the conflicted therapist who guides Strang through his psychological minefield.
Tortured mind
In a role created on stage by Alec McCowen and played on film by Richard Burton, Griffiths is a portrait of avuncular concern tempered by nagging self-doubt.
Richard Griffiths’ performance has also been praised |
It is a dichotomy that mirrors the play’s ambivalent attitude towards psychiatry when it comes to explaining the workings of a tortured mind.
Animal lovers will be relieved to know Equus – the Latin word for horse – has actors wearing metal headgear standing in for actual livestock.
In lesser hands such a device might seem incongruous, but Sharrock makes it feel entirely natural.
This is no mean feat in a drama that presents a lurid cocktail of sexual repression, religious obsession and stylised animal cruelty.
But the real triumph is Radcliffe’s for winning his thespian spurs in one of the most demanding roles an actor his age could tackle.
Compared to the emotional exposure the part entails, his well-publicised disrobing seems almost incidental.
Harry Potter fans, though, have one more shock in store should they choose to see their hero in his current guise.
More shocking than wounding horses and having sex? Perhaps. Shortly after the interval, Daniel smokes a cigarette.
Equus continues at the Gielgud Theatre in central London.
Vote for the 2007 Weblog Awards
Vote HERE for your favorite weblog.
One of the contenders is our very own “Scott-O-Rama.”
