J/K!

When I misread the headline for this article I took such a deep gasp of (I thought) joy that Nina asked if I lost my paper or if something else disastrous happened (actually, ironically, I did lose a paragraph about a half hour later when my laptop decided to restart randomly). But no, it was initially a gasp of joy. I thought the headline read ' JK Rowling reveals Beedle stories: JK Rowling has premiered a collection of fairy tales which she first mentioned in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows at a reading in London.' Well, I guess that is what the headline read, I guess I just wildly misinterpreted it to mean that there will be MORE books from Rowling. I still firmly believe that there will be (why send a cash cow out to pasture?) but I guess not right now.

She did write seven copies of 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard', one of which will be auctioned for charity, and the other six distributed to some lucky folks close to Rowling (sounds a bit like Charlie and the golden ticket, doesn't it? - somehow a copy will get copied onto the internet or fake copies sold on the black market for fantasy books, etc.).

Well, I'm still waiting.

Harry and the Potters

They rock. They're from Boston. Here's their myspace page. One of their albums is called Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock. Song titles include:

1. "Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock!"
2. "The Weasle"
3. "The Missing Arm of Viktor Krum"
4. "Fred and George"
5. "Keeping Secrets From Me"
6. "Cornelius Fudge is an Ass"
7. "Dumbledore's Army"
8. "These Dreams Are Dark"
9. "Stick it to Dolores"
10. "S.P.E.W."
11. "The Human Hosepipe"
12. "Luna Lovegood is OK"
13. "The Godfather: Part II"
14. "The Weapon"

and...
"This book is so awesome"
"Save Ginny Weasley" (about when Ginny almost gets eaten by Tom Riddle's diary - what book was that?)
"The Human Hosepipe" (about Harry's date with Cho Chang)

Jerram Barrs and Fan Art

Jerram Barrs came and spoke at my church tonight! It was really cool. He spoke on 'Harry Potter and the Power of Sacrificial Love' or something and it was wonderful. I forgot how very exact L'Abri speakers are, no matter what their topic is. Jerram treated Harry Potter like he was Sartre or something by the way he analyzed the text and brought up key points, etc. It was amazing and extremely impressive.

He also addressed the Dumbledore coming out as gay thing, which is something that I was wondering about. Barrs' perspective on it is that Dumbledore had the gay crush on his friend during a time in his teenage years which Dumbledore looked back upon with shame. Interesting that JK Rowling came out with it at all. I wonder what her thoughts were on the whole thing.

Well, anyway, I was sitting next to my friend Shaun, who's a big fan of Harry Potter and is slowly introducing me to the world of Anime and all the glories that come along with it. Well, one thing that I had no idea existed is Fan Art. Apparently people fill in the gaps left by their favorite authors/video game creators/movie directors, etc. and create their own art about the characters. She sent me a video that her friend made about the would-be relationship between Severus Snape and Lily Potter. This will only be sweet to you if you have read book 7 and like Dashboard Confessional. Just a warning.

Harry Potter and MTW

So a couple weeks ago I was at the Mission to the World (missions organization for the Presbyterian Church in America) Asia-Pacific conference in Malaysia. I had never been around that many missionaries before in my life. It didn't really hit me until later on in the week to actually look at these people. I started thinking about their lives and the places they live and the things they go through every day. I'm not into glorifying missionaries, shoot - I think every Christian is technically a missionary wherever they live.

But anyways, I started thinking about these people and the spiritual battles they've been through and the things they've seen God do in their own and others' lives and the spiritual gifts they have.

Awhile ago, when I was reading the last Harry Potter, I was thinking about how cool it would be if everyone had some kind of power, like something that could define them. Each of the characters has something that establishes their character. They are who they are.

And then I started thinking about the famous line in C.S. Lewis' The Weight of Glory about other Christians: "If we were to see them in their glorified forms we would be tempted to bow down and worship them."

It seems as if, underneath all the superficial dorkiness of the missionaries, they are warriors. They have scars from past battles, and terrifying spiritual gifts.

I love that glimpse of people in this form that you get after hearing their life story. Suddenly they're not someone you say hi to at college group, they're someone to stare at in wonder.

I knew it...

I watched an interview with JK Rowling on Dateline and towards the end of the interview she admitted that the religious undertones were kind of on purpose. If I remember correctly, she said something along the lines of in writing Harry Potter she was struggling to believe the story of Christianity. In the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry is kind of given over to sacrifice himself for everyone but is resurrected. And throughout the book Harry struggles with whether to believe what Dumbledore said and if Dumbledore really cared about Harry or if he was just a tool. Interesting. I love it.
Here's the interview in video and written out:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20001720/

J.K. Rowling reads 'Harry Potter' book

Author J.K Rowling reads from the second chapter of her new book, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.' SPOILER WARNING

ORLANDO, Fla (May 31, 2007) - Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Universal Orlando Resort are partnering to create the world’s first fully immersive Harry Potter themed environment based on the bestselling books by J.K. Rowling and blockbuster feature films from Warner Bros. Envisioned as a “theme park within a theme park” and titled “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter,” the new environment will become part of the experience within Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park at the Universal Orlando Resort. read more.