Latin? (harry Potter, educational?)

Yes folks, that's right, the Harry Potter book series can actually be educational. When JK Rowling made up the spells and names for the series, she didn't just think, "Hmmm, I like chocolate...I think i will make a spell called 'Chocolateiso Brownieo' and i will turn people into kiwis!" No, she didn't. She did her resurch well and many spells are actually derived from the latin root of what they do, such as:

Wingardium Leviosa (Levitation Charm)
"wing" + "arduus" L. high, steep + "levo" L. to raise up, levitate

Also, Rowling named many of her charactors after many famouse, Greek heroes and emerors: Hermione: the only daughter of Menelaus and Helen from the Trojan war
Severus: A greek emperor (and not a very popular one at that)
Minerva: another name for the greek godess "Athena", the godess of wisdome (and as fate would have it, she is also the godess of strictness)

So, when your mom gets on your case for not doing any homework, say, "Harry Potter is made me smarter-er two!" (Now you know why I am the way I is)
(Also, check out the Encyclopedia of spells: http://www.hp-lexicon.org/magic/spells/spells_w.html)

Soooo Close!!

Ok, the set for the Deathly Hallows is nearing completion!! They almost finished "Shell Cottage" as it is looking great! Says a telegraph from new from Pembrokeshire:

It is a bizarre sight for beachcombers - the front is old stone while the roof is made up entirely of large scallop shells.
The building on the Freshwater West beach in Pembrokeshire will feature in the final instalment of the seven hit wizarding films.
Stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson - who play the Harry, Ron and Hermioine - will spend several days filming at the cottage later this month.

Wow, even Hermione's wand is making money!

But....at least it's all going to a good cause! Every time someone buys a remake of Hermione's wand from Alivans, they donate 100% (yes, 100%) of the prophet to the Ronald McDonald House Charities for victems of natural disasters. They've allready raised over $8,990 dollars.

Finger Wag For HP Filmmakers

David Holmes, stuntman, was injured in an accident on January 28. 

The investigation on the say by the Health and Safety Department (HSE) is still going on says the Telegraph. 

Here's a bit of the article:

"A spokesman said: "The investigation is still ongoing. As a remedial act we have issued an improvement notice to the company asking them to improve the way they do stunt rehearsals using wires.
"They have got two months to look at that."
DDD Co Ltd has 21 days to appeal against the notice, the spokesman added.
It is understood Mr Holmes, who is originally from Romford but lives in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, was rehearsing an aerial sequence when he was injured.
He was taken to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, in Stanmore, north west London, which counts treatment for acute spinal injuries among its specialities.
Hundreds of get well messages have been posted on a Facebook page set up by Mr Holmes's brother Adam.
The group David's Get Well Wishes has more than 1,300 members."

So.... there's a picture of the Palin finger wag for you!

WW (Wizarding World) Update

Here's your WW update for 5/5/09:

We've got a ton of pictures for you via brianorndorf.com.

Everything's really coming along. Construction everywhere, a few haywire spells, couple of cases of butterbeer (just for the stress) and I'm sure it'll be done soon.

Anyway, this is what it'll look like eventually (see to left).

High Res Dude

We've got here a high resolution of Dumbledore and Harry, but mainly it's Dumbledore stealing the show in this picture... but that's okay.

It's to your left and will become bigger if you click on it.

I Know You Because of JK Rowling...

Lego sure does like JK Rowling... or at least Windsor Legoland does. But you know everyone should love JK Rowling. I know a lot of the people I do because of her... you're reading this because of her... people actually read because of her... and I'm not talking about trashy romance novels.

So anyway, Legoland is building this ginormous portrait of her made entirely out of legos, lots and lots of legos, 48,000 to be exact.

You can learn more about it at this article in the UK Telegraph.

Dah duhn duhn duhn duhn....

(Click on title to understand what I'm going for)

Anyways.... The Half-Blood Prince soundtrack has a set release date! Yay! It's available for pre-order right here at Amazon. 

It's available for $15.98 (tax not included) and will be released on July 7, 2009, Exactly 8 days before the movie comes out.