File Under: Way Better Than "Kings"

These days you've got to look hard among the silly, fake petition groups (Revolt against donuts!) and silly, useless applications (Grow your own nosehair!) to find anything worthwhile on Facebook. Once in awhile, though, you can run across a diamond in the rough, and this month's jewel is: Horcruxes (the drinking game). Developed by some devoted--and clearly ingenius-- Harry Potter fans at SUNY Plattsburgh, the game (which has a facebook group devoted to it of the same name) has simple rules obviously derived from Kings. But way better. According to the group's site:

"The new drinking game for Harry Potter fans everywhere:

THE RULES:
This game is played with two die. Sit in a circle and have the youngest person roll first.
2- The Twins: you either have to tell a joke or do a dare agreed upon by the rest of the circle in honor of Fred & George Weasley.
3- The Trio: you're Harry. Pick a Ron and a Hermione to drink with.
4- The Dungeons: last person with their hands to the floor drinks
5- Quidditch: last person with their hands to the ceiling drinks
6- The Slytherin: pick one other person in the circle. they must drink
7- The End of Year Feast: everyone drinks
8- The Marauders Map: everyone lists a Harry Potter character until one is repeated or someone can't think of one. this person drinks (go clockwise.)
9- The Hogwarts Express: the person that rolls starts drinking, then the next person starts drinking, and so on. you can not stop drinking until the person before you stops drinking. (go clockwise)
10- The Filch: you have to roll the dice and multiply whatever you roll by 3. if you roll doubles you've gotten out of detention and don't have to drink.
11- The Dark Lord: you have gained a Horcrux.
12- Dumbledore's Army: you have lost a Horcrux.

You begin the game with 1 Horcrux.
If you get to 7 you get to drink the Elixer of Life which will be in the middle of the circle.
Every time you make someone drink, you gain a Horcrux. When you roll an 12, you dump a drink into the middle (the Elixer).
If you're down to zero Horcruxes you're out of the game."

The next time you're wishing you were in Charms instead of Chemistry, quit taking notes and plan out a Horcruxes party instead. Happy Geek-ing!

Goes well with the Harry Potter Vagina Power theme

Comments from Amazon before the toy was pulled:

# This toy was #1 on my daughter's Christmas list. So what the heck, although it has no educational value I figured it would be good for imaginative play. It wasn't until after she opened her gift and started playing with it that I realized that the toy may offer a more than sensational experience. The broomstick has cute sound effects and ***VIBRATES*** when they put it between their legs to fly. Come on---what were the creators of this toy thinking? She'll keep playing with the Nimbus 2000, but with the batteries removed.

# I recently bought this for my son, Vantro. He's a HUGE Harry Potter fan. Seen the movie 32 times (in the theaters) and made the paper. This toy gives him the ability to fly around the house zapping things. My only problem I see with the toy is the batteries drain too fast and his sister fights him over it, so now I need to buy her one.

# When my 12 year old daughter asked for this for her birthday, I kind of wondered if she was too old for it, but she seems to LOVE it. Her friends love it too! They play for hours in her bedroom with this great toy. They really seem to like the special effects it offers (the sound effects and vibrating). My oldest daughter (17) really likes it too! I reccomend this for all children.

# My 12 year old daughter is a big Harry Potter fan, and loved the part with the Nimbus 2000, so I decided to buy her this toy. I was afraid she would think it was too babyish, but she LOVES this toy. Even my daughter's friends enjoy playing with this fun toy. I was surprised at how long they can just sit in her room and play with this magic broomstick! A great buy for any Harry Potter fan! :)

Harry Potter Withdrawal?

Are you sad? I'm sad. It's all over. I know how it ends. I know what happens. And granted, while I should be (and am) reading other, arguably more important things, I still don't feel comfortable with the empty fantasy void that Harry Potter used to fill. Thus, I've already turned onto a new series which, conveniently, is being released as a major film later this year (I really like reading a book before the movie comes out because otherwise I can't get the actors out of my head while reading it...like my Ron looked a helluva lot different than the Rupert Grint, for example).

His Dark Materials is a series that has been recommended to me near since birth because of the incessant insistence of my hometown best friend, who, if I were to rank her obsessions, it would be as follows: 1. Lord of the Rings, 2. Harry Potter, 3. Dragons, 4. Baking cookies, 5. Cigarettes and 6. His Dark Materials. Seeing as I don't smoke, my choice seems obvious.

His Dark Materials Trilogy - This three-part series includes: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman, will be released in December. From the Amazon review: "In the epic trilogy His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman unlocks the door to worlds parallel to our own. Dæmons and winged creatures live side by side with humans, and a mysterious entity called Dust just might have the power to unite the universes--if it isn't destroyed first."

But some other books that I recommend for Post-Harry Rehab:

• The Neverending Story by Michael Ende (film)
  
• The Princess Bride by William Goldman (film)
• The Chronicles of Narniaby C.S. Lewis (film, among many, and Disney is filming two more)
  
• Stardust by Neil Gaiman (Movie starring starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and an incredibly creepy looking Claire Danes comes out next month!)

• 

Some others that I've not gotten around to reading that I've been yelled at about by said friend:

• Eragon by Christopher Paolini (film)
  
• Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Woo. Soak up the last of summer, guys, because soon it'll be back to critical theory and chemistry for the lot of ya.

Got a favorite? Let us know!

Harry Potter 7 Leaked

If, like me, you enjoy your surprises, I would stop reading the confession board and all online forums now. Including the comments at Wesleying. The entire book has been leaked.

Until Saturday, Internetz, you are dead to me.

Butterbeer for Us Harry Freaks

Ok, I admit it, I was a little disappointed with the film. But the BOOK comes out on Saturday. In anticipation, I found this quirky little recipe for Butterbeer I'm going to try:

Hot Butterbeer
From Elanor Isolda at The Leaky Lounge

1 litre cream soda
2-3 tbsp butter
2-3 tbsp brown sugar
200ml single cream
4 or 5 Werther's Originals

1. Put the cream soda in a pan to boil.
2. Melt the butter and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved.
3. Pour the butter and sugar mixture into the pan of boiling cream soda (make sure the soda is boiling, or the butter and sugar will solidify).
4. Add the cream.
5. Add the Werther's Originals and stir continuously until they melt.
6. Serve hot.
7. You can also add a couple of shots of Butterscotch Schnapps for that extra kick!

Or you could try it cold:

Cold Butterbeer
From Britta Blvd

1 cup butterscotch schnapps
7 cups cream soda (almost one 2 liter bottle)

Carefully mix just before serving, adding the schnapps to the soda then stirring gently to mix well, or the fizz will dissipate too soon.

Serve in beer mugs and enjoy!

Harry Potter Toy Aisle

Well, if you're really, really, really into Harry Potter and plan on being one of those people who will wait in line for hours waiting for the next film or will willingly get themselves locked in at your local Borders for the night anxiously awaiting the last book in full Hufflepuff garb (God help you, Joe John), then you'll need to dress the part. And evidently, Amazon has created a special store designed almost specifically to outfit the closet L.I.T. (Larper-in-Training).*

What every fashionable young wizard is wearing this week:Harry's Glasses

The Sorting HatHarry's Deluxe Gryffindor Tie

Harry's Broom

Harry's Deluxe Wand

And don't forget:

• Hermione's Plush Crookshanks
• Hogwarts Banner
• Harry Potter Action Figure

Among other things.

*(By the way, can you imagine what Tolkien's reaction to an entire store of Hobbit-related consumer items would have been? Hilarious, that's what it would have been. Hilarious. And I still wonder what Lewis would have thought about Disney's Narnia merchandise.)

Wizard Dorm

If you're *really* into Harry Potter, you can order these wizardy wall decals for your dorm room next year from the UK. Officially nerdy and slightly creepy. You laugh but I knew someone in high school who probably painted his room to look like this...he had a full wizard costume that he often worked into school presentations and referred to himself as the Word Wizard.

Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock

MTV featured this article this week about the phenomenon of "wizard rock," bands whose lyrics and style is inspired by the Harry Potter series. It features, of course, Harry and the Potters who played at Alpha Delt two years ago and were some genuinely cool dudes. Then there are some cool videos to check out about wizard rock.

Two brothers — both named "Harry" — ask the crowd at New York's Knitting Factory, "Who's the man?" Fans shout back names, and the younger of the two says, "Voldemort? Rupert Murdoch? You've got the right idea. Let's stick it to the man."

They start playing air guitar and laugh, "Bring harmony to the universe!" before kicking into their showstopper, "The Weapon."

You might be thinking: Sure, Rupert Murdoch, but Voldemort? What kind of show is this?

Fans of the Harry Potter books and movies have done something magical — and practically unheard of — with their devotion: They've turned it into song. Yes, there have been songs inspired by other cult books and movie series (think Led Zeppelin and "Lord of the Rings"), but wizard rock isn't a song here or there or even a concept album. It's become a genre.

"There is nothing like this anywhere," said Brian Ross of the band Draco and the Malfoys (the Ween of the scene). "I try to equate it to 'Star Wars,' because that was the equivalent when I was a kid. If only there were bands playing songs about being Luke Skywalker and fighting Darth Vader, I would still be going to those shows today."

Instead, wizard-rock bands play songs about Harry Potter fighting Lord Voldemort — and every other scenario from the books. For every Potter character, there is a corresponding wizard-rock band, singing from that character's perspective. Harry and the Potters (which features the two "Harry" brothers), for instance, have songs about saving Ginny Weasley from the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets as well as from romantic rival Dean Thomas (see "Harry Ramone? Iggy Voldemort? Band Splices Punk With Potter"). Draco and the Malfoys, who started as a joke response to Harry and the Potters, taunt Harry about his hero complex and ask Voldemort to wipe Harry out once and for all.

"I call it wizard angst," said Jace Crion of the Texas band Talons & Tea Leaves. "My parents weren't killed by an evil wizard, but people relate to all that teenage angst."

"At some point, you're going to identify with Harry," said Devin Overman of the Owl Post. "People really like the concept that this world is just not enough — we have to find something else."

And find they do. There are bands singing from the point of view of "Potter" plants (the Whomping Willows), animals (Nagini) and inanimate objects (such as the Leaky Cauldrons or Ministry of Magic). With the music all over the spectrum, from folk to electronica to metal to hip-hop, sometimes even within the same band, the only thing that unifies the genre is that "Potter" perspective.

"There's 200-something bands, and they all want their own character," explained Matt Maggiacomo from the Whomping Willows. "Draco and Harry and Moaning Myrtle were scooped up right away, so you start picking Tom Riddle's diary or whatnot. For instance, I developed my character by thinking about what the Whomping Willow does and what it means, and I realized it's protecting an outcast — so [the tree] itself became an outcast who is reaching out. I would say the Whomping Willow is a kind of misunderstood character and falls into a lot of passionate love affairs and does a lot of whomping. It really just has to find a girl who likes that sort of thing."

Not everything that wizard rockers sing about is directly from the books or movies. The Parselmouths, for instance, designed their characters to be stupid, superficial girls from Slytherin who do and say inappropriate and (sometimes) mean things — as if Sarah Silverman were a student at Hogwarts. "We're evil, but we're girly," said Parselmouths singer Kristina Horner. "Our parents were Death Eaters. We'll get our tattoos someday, but we don't even know what's going on. It's so over our heads."

Playing stupid is just an act. A lot of the bands started out as jokes, but they've started to take it seriously (especially Siriusly Black, a wizard rap act). On an indie level, bands are recording albums, shooting videos, touring, putting together compilations and, like Harry, trying to save the world. Via collectives such as the Harry Potter Alliance and charity compilations such as "Wizards and Muggles Rock for Social Justice," there's a strong push in the wizard-rock world to connect issues in the book to those in the real world.

"Literature is open to interpretation," Maggiacomo said, "but you can relate Voldemort and his movement to what's happening in Darfur. The theme of purebloods, it's pervasive."

"With the Ministry of Magic denying Voldemort's return, denying a great danger to the community, you can see the parallels," said Harry and the Potters' guitarist/singer Paul DeGeorge. "Our songs, like the books, are really about the real world, so that people can find meaning to it outside of the fact that it's about Harry Potter."

Maybe that's why there are so many love songs for Ginny Weasley — you don't have to read "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" to understand the theme of young lovers stymied by forces beyond their control. As Alex Carpenter of the Remus Lupins puts it, "Have you ever met Layla? I don't think so, but you can still enjoy Eric Clapton."

Final Harry Potter Cover

oooooh.

Final Harry Potter Title Released

Dude, admit it. You frikkin' love the Potter.

Rowling released the final title of the series:

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"

Speculate about it as you will.

The boy who got way too old way too fast....

The trailer is here.

(God, do I feel old.)

Wesleyanesque Reading of Harry Potter

Chris Suellentrop, a Tulane Grad, not a Wesleyan grad, came up with this reading of Harry Potter for Slate. I don't think I could ever read *this* closely. An excerpt:

He's a glory hog who unfairly receives credit for the accomplishments of others and who skates through school by taking advantage of his inherited wealth and his establishment connections. Harry Potter is no braver than his best friend, Ron Weasley, just richer and better-connected. Harry's other good friend, Hermione Granger, is smarter and a better student. The one thing Harry excels at is the sport of Quidditch, and his pampered-jock status allows him to slide in his studies, as long as he brings the school glory on the playing field. But as Charles Barkley long ago noted, being a good athlete doesn't make you a role model.

Harry Potter is a fraud, and the cult that has risen around him is based on a lie. Potter's claim to fame, his central accomplishment in life, is surviving a curse placed on him as an infant by the evil wizard Voldemort. As a result, the wizarding world celebrates the young Harry as "The Boy Who Lived." It's a curiously passive accomplishment, akin to "The Boy Who Showed Up," or "The Boy Who Never Took a Sick Day." And sure enough, just as none of us do anything special by slogging through yet another day, the infant Harry didn't do anything special by living. It was his mother who saved him, sacrificing her life for his.