cleolinda | Entries tagged with jk rowling

Reminder: You can still donate to win prizes at Helping Haiti Heal (benefiting Partners in Health) until 11:59 tonight. Let's look at the new things they've added:

Guitar owned and signed by Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy)!
Donated by: Tom Felton

A hardback Deathly Hallows signed by the entire cast of the film!
"A truly special item: Evanna Lynch (who plays Luna Lovegood) is going to take a Deathly Hallows onto the set of the film and have everyone she can find sign it. We will update this listing when we have definite names, but you should expect all the main actors! A wonderful and personal gift from the original believer in Nargles!"

Genuine Radish Earrings and Phoenix Pin!
Donated by: Evanna Lynch
Another very special gift from Evanna Lynch, who plays Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter films! Evanna will make you or someone you love a very special, unique set of radish earrings or a phoenix pin. Evanna's designs, made well before she was cast as the sage Ravenclaw, have become part of the films and are now currently mass-produced and sold, but this special gift will come from the original designer's hands. Earrings from the REAL Luna. AWESOME!

Ring from UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION!
Donated by: Noble Collection
An authentic ring used in the movie UNDERWORLD - don't miss the chance to win a verified prop that would otherwise sell for thousands!
[My note: Noble Collection is the company that makes the really expensive replica stuff. This is not a replica.]

SIRIUS BLACK sketch by JOHN K SNYDER III
Donated by: John K Snyder, III

(Sketch compared to original poster)

35 SIGNED YA NOVELS!
Donated by: The 2009 Debutantes
[My note: This is, in fact, a single prize package.]

And my signed copy of Movies in Fifteen Minutes (again: paperback, because I don't have any more hardcovers) is here. Other authors on that lot include Lev Grossman, Maureen Johnson, Rosemary Clement-Moore, and Lilith Saintcrow. And there are actual metric shitloads more of things to win on the list. You do have to donate separately on each section to be entered for the prizes therein, if that makes any sense. (They ended up with that setup so that people wouldn't end up with really rare/valuable/personalized prizes they didn't actually want. There's still an element of chance on other lots, but that way, if you're not a Terry Pratchett fan, for example, you're not going to end up with a copy of Unseen Academicals signed to you. This means that you may have to make some tough choices as to where you do want to donate, but that was the reasoning.)

Speaking of which, let's review some other prizes:

ONE FULL SET OF U.K. HARRY POTTER BOOKS SIGNED BY J.K. ROWLING plus HANDWRITTEN CARD
donated by J.K. Rowling

Signed copy of HARLEQUIN VALENTINE by Neil Gaiman
donated by Neil Gaiman

Five lots of one signed and DEDICATED copy of UNSEEN ACADEMICALS by Sir Terry Pratchett (VERY RARE!)
donated by Sir Terry Pratchett

( Read more... )

Meanwhile, Helping Haiti Heal Continues on Livestream Today at 2pm EST.

It starts in about half an hour--hell, it'll probably be in progress by the time I finish writing this entry--so I thought I'd update you on some of the prizes that have been donated, because some of them aren't listed yet. (ETA: Official prize list.) FOR REAL, I AM SO INCREDIBLY NOT KIDDING:

ONE FULL SET OF U.K. HARRY POTTER BOOKS SIGNED BY J.K. ROWLING plus HANDWRITTEN CARD
donated by J.K. Rowling

Signed copy of HARLEQUIN VALENTINE by Neil Gaiman
donated by Neil Gaiman

Five lots of one signed and DEDICATED copy of UNSEEN ACADEMICALS by Sir Terry Pratchett (VERY RARE!)
donated by Sir Terry Pratchett

Sir Terry Pratchett's WINTERSMITH, signed by the author on the title page (1st ed)
donated by Colin Smythe

( MORE )

In my head, I hear Headset Vince from the ShamWow commercials bellowing all of these out, by the way.

http://www.thehpalliance.org/haiti/

Oh, and now that Livejournal's back up from its incredibly well-timed scheduled maintenance, you can see the Hope for Haiti telethon liveblog I did last night; the first entry's here, and you can just hit "Next entry" until you get... well, back to this entry.

By the way, I have now been informed that help_haiti here on LJ will have raised $115,000 by the time all the pledges shake out.

ETA: The podathon has brought in $9100 as of this writing, about an hour in.

Awesome updates on the Haiti podathon:

Some of the prize donations I was not at liberty to reveal yesterday:

@leaky: JK Rowling has donated a set of signed books for the Haiti drive...details to come!

@melissaanelli: Also... signed Neil Gaiman book!!!

The latter is a signed copy of A Harlequin Valentine, which I don't think has been mentioned anywhere else, so: EXCLUSIVE. This in addition to the five copies of a signed/personalized Unseen Academicals that Sir Terry Pratchett is donating, as mentioned yesterday, and some prizes from The Guild folks, although I have no idea yet what they are. Oh, and at least one signed copy of the Movies in Fifteen Minutes paperback, which is wayyyyyyyy down there on the squee! scale, but it's there nonetheless. And, as I will mention again: a lightsaber. You can totally win a lightsaber.

(This came together really fast, so a few things haven't quite shaken out, and not all the prize donors are listed yet; they're in the process of updating the scrolly widget. But, I mean, I personally ~~managed not to have a panic attack and die~~ contacted some of them, so I know for a fact that we have some really great people chipping in. You'll love it, I promise.)

ETA: This isn't up yet, but Peter David is also donating "Tigerheart, which is a Peter Pan pastiche, and a GN of the Sir Apropos of Nothing comic series." Yay and thanks!

And on USA Weekend: Harry Potter fans unite to help Haiti.

I do want to give people credit, though--it's not just Harry Potter fandom doing this, although it's hosted on a Harry Potter fansite; and this isn't THE fandom fundraiser. A fandom donation war between

ontd_startrek and

ontd_ai raised $17,002 and $20,863, respectively. Misha Collins from Supernatural rounded up his Twitter minions and raised $26,251. And then on top of that, there's the

help_haiti fanwork auction community. So fandom as a whole has been really, really great through this whole thing, and the LiveJournal fan comms have done themselves proud.

Meanwhile, tonight: Who You Might Get on the Phone if You Donate to "Hope for Haiti Now." Short answer: Everyone in Hollywood. Long answer: ( Read more... )

I also have some regular linkspam--really good linkspam--but I think it should wait for its own entry.

Okay. I was really traumatized by this link and didn't want to post it, but clearly I'm going to have to: somebody arts-and-crafted Bella's womb. ("It's a GEODE of NO.") (Original link, locked.)

People are weird and they scare me.

Today's Snack Deathmatch: Gummi bears vs. Swedish fish.

Re: Stephen King: For those of you non-fans who now feel the warm fuzzies towards him for the Stephenie Meyer thing (please note that he also complimented her a paragraph later) and want to pick up some of his books, I would personally recommend his short stories. ( Recs )

The other book I was going to mention was Melissa Anelli's Harry, A History, which I think I subconsciously put off talking about because of my involvement in discussing the Lexicon trial. ( Read more... )

ANYWAY. The reason I even brought this up in the first place is because Melissa's going to be doing a signing at Comic-Con. I often chuck material for future entries at the bottom of the current draft, and I forgot to remove it last night before I hit post, so if you saw something about a signing before I was able to get it off, that's what it was in reference to. I had pulled the info from her blog: "I'm doing a signing at New York Comic Con on February 7, at 11 a.m., at 'Table 2'." Which is on the Autographing Stage at the back of the Exhibition Hall, to be more specific. So, you know, if you're in the neighborhood, drop by, tell her Cleo sent you, etc.

And, in the interest of fair play, I hear Steve's on tour as well. You want me to post dates, I can do that too.

Current Mood: cold

Sorry--my sister came over (to wash clothes in preparation for her NYCC trip) and we were catching up and I'm desperately behind.

Today's scandal: Stephen King says ‘Twilight’ author ‘can't write.’ OH SNAP.

(And the wank is already delightful.)

Yesterday's scandal: A transcript of Christian Bale's meltdown; the surprisingly danceable remix; More Christian Bale Fun: McG Prophecies, Flip-Hop Remixes, and a Soundboard! Y'all, I hope that, someday, if I lose my shit at top volume for almost four minutes solid, and I happen to be miked, and a recording happens to leak, that the losing of my shit brings the internet as much joy as Christian Bale's has brought to us. God bless.

(In his defense: archnemesis Shane Hurlbut is "a pretty unrepentant light tweaker." This is my new favorite insult. Meanwhile: Gawker begs to differ. In conclusion: there's plenty of fail to go around!)

(Bonus: The Christian Bale Accent Generator.)

Today's Snack Deathmatch: Cadbury vs. Cadbury.

( MOAR! )

I have a gigantic headache and have been away from my desk most of the day--which means, in turn, that I'm hellishly behind on things--so we'll only have a quick essential linkspam today. Because I have a feeling that if I don't post the Christian Bale thing, I'm going to be getting a lot of emails about it.

AUDIO: Christian Bale's Apocalyptic 'Terminator Salvation' Meltdown. I haven't listened to it yet, but the description gives you a pretty good idea.

'Last Airbender': Dev Patel's in, Jesse McCartney's out. Maybe all the screams of "WHITEWASH!!!!" are doing some good. I'm just saying.

Punxsutawney Phil sees shadow, winter to continue. Yes, I actually listed these first three items in order of pop-cultural importance.

( MOAR )

OMG I FORGOT! FOURTH ANNUAL SNACK DEATHMATCH, YOU GUYS!

Current Mood: like hell
Current Music: Kylie Minogue - In Your Eyes

The tree is up! And Sister Girl and her boyfriend are coming over to help decorate it tonight! Thus, linkspam will be early.

Oh, and I had a request to syndicate my ever-so-scintillating Twitter feed, so... here it is:

cleotwitter. (Deeply fascinating sample Twit: "Aaaaand the new Britney song has eaten my brain. Well, it's not like Twilight left me with all that much of one anyway.")

From

punzerel: "

urbanfictions is pledging to donate 100% of her etsy proceeds in the next week to UNICEF, specifically for emergency relief of the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe. She has some very cool items (check out the doorknob hangers, especially) which would make awesome stocking stuffers or gifts. Would you be willing to post a link in your next linkspam post? Her post here has all the information plus a link to her shop. Thank you!"

Sci-fi’s grand old man Forrest J. Ackerman dies.

( More linkspam )

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Britney Spears, "Circus"

Okay, first of all, OUR LONG INTERNATIONAL NIGHTMARE IS OVER: JKR/WB vs RDR Books Trial: RDR Books Withdraws Appeal.

Second of all: Holy shit, Edward Dollen really does look like David Boreanaz.

Third: For people wondering about what the hell's up with the Bella doll, this is the outfit she's wearing. You only see the peasant blouse in the hotel scene because she's got the jacket zipped up after that. And the doll's actually wearing the brown jacket from another scene (this one. Look at the cuffs). Look, I don't actually care what she's wearing--

padawansguide and I just geek out over costumes like whoa on her site sometimes, so I'm used to scrutinizing tiny details ~~like a nutbar~~. People were just asking, is all.

Fourth: An email conversation I just had with my mother, who is apparently way more invested in the situation than I had dreamed: ( Read more... )

And for folks a little lost with the whole Secret Life of Dolls thing, there's some background and a chronological list of entries over here (after a little housekeeping to get the list up to date).

( Linkspam! )

Current Mood: mellow

So, first order of business: True Blood recap #2 went up earlier today, if you missed that.

Second: today's Journal Birthday flashback might as well be about the time Sister Girl made beignets.

Third: If you think Days of Our Lives was crazy, feast your eyes on Passions. Also: how the DOOL Salem Stalker/Bizarro Salem storyline ended.

Linkspam! ( I gave you linkspam and a recap, y'all. That's love )

Current Mood: sleepy

Okay, I'm going to break out a mini-spam here--I might do another linkspam later, but I'm trying to really get some work done today, and--this stuff can't wait.

JK Rowling talks in-depth about the Veil.

Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart on THE BEST MAGAZINE COVER EVER. I try to stay apolitical on this journal, so... just take it as a link about mockery of the media.

Rachel McAdams Discovered by Sherlock Holmes. LEAVE IRENE ADLER OUT OF THIS. I DON'T TRUST Y'ALL NOT TO SCREW THIS UP.

Johnny Depp as the Lone Ranger what?

“During Disney’s preview today in Hollywood, the studio questioned who could possibly play the titular character in its upcoming feature The Lone Ranger.”

“At that, Disney rolled out the USC marching band to come down and play the Ranger’s theme song. This was followed by an appearance by Depp himself who took to the stage in full Captain Jack Sparrow attire…wearing The Lone Ranger’s mask.”

1. Wait, this actually happened?

2. Well, they were also announcing ideas for POTC4. Hell, he probably puts that costume on to go to the corner store sometimes.

2. I just went back to the link to write this up, and MTV is saying now that he's going to play Tonto. What the actual fuck, y'all.

ETA: Can someone go look into this for me? And possibly file a complaint if it's warranted? I'm trying to finish this project by next week and it's crunch time and this bizarro plagiarism shit makes my head hurt.

Current Mood: what
Current Music: seriously, what

I changed up the sidebar a little bit. Let's see if you can tell what I added. *cough*

(Memes aside, I have just felt so sluggish today. Fnarr.)

HEY WAIT I ALMOST FORGOT. YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS, IT IS EPIC. Seriously, it is so awesome this entry can barely contain the awesomosity of it. SOMEONE ACTUALLY PUT THAT ON THE BACK OF THEIR TRUCK, YOU GUYS.

Linkspam! ( Billy Idol: Great Terminator, or greatest Terminator? )

Lexicongate ETAs march on: a bunch of blogs weigh in without actually reading the ruling; I can't even believe what Stanford Law said; NORA ROBERTS HAS SPOKEN.

I will say this: if you actually read the ruling, or summaries of it, you'll see that Judge Robert Patterson (no, Patterson. He does not sparkle in direct sunlight. That I know of) is very careful to note that this is not a ruling against the general concept of fan comment and critique, for profit or not.¹ The issue is not that the Lexicon is a derivative fan work; the issue is that it isn't. It is, in large part, copy/pasting of the original books' phrasing with little to no criticism or commentary--it's Rowling's work alphabetized. It is, in fact, an enterprise that makes the rest of creative fandom look bad. That's the issue. That's why she isn't suing the other guide books and commentaries² (or me, for that matter, and I also published): because those works actually contributed original thought.³ ( More )

And also, if you're going to play the JKR IS SO GREEDY OMG card, keep in mind that she said she'd donate anything they won to charity, and that His Honor did, in fact, award her and WB the princely sum of $6,750. No, I did not leave any zeroes off.

Anyway. Linkspam. (I was promised a ~~Suantum of Quolace~~ Quantum of Solace trailer! Where is my ~~Something of Boris~~ Quantum of Solace trailer?) ETA: IT'S HERE!

( When Oasis Fans Attack, This Fall on FOX! )

Current Mood: exanimate

For those of you just joining us this afternoon: JKR WON THE LEXICON CASE.

As much linkspam as I could pull together given that I have ~~130~~ ~~146~~ 158 unread Lexicon-related emails (and counting): ( VMAs, film festivals, deep chagrin )

Current Mood: swamped
Current Music: Rihanna, "Disturbia"

God, I hope I'm not coming down with something. Except that I'm always coming down with something, and this time it's being blamed on allergies (my mother seems to be coming down with the same something) since I've been spending a lot of time outside. Basically, I slept all Sunday and woke up sneezing and coughing. Outstanding. Today I still went swimming anyway, since I've only got about two weeks left of viable outdoor pool weather--once the pine needles start falling, summer love is over.

Also, Sister Girl came home a day early (I'm not sure why, but "heat exhaustion" wouldn't surprise me), and she brought us candy from River Street Sweets: banana taffy for my mother, two milk chocolate bear claws for me (and I honestly think they were freshly made that morning, too), and some peanut butter fudge for herself. To celebrate, my mother made pralines, and if I can find a working camera in this house, I'll take pictures. (P.S. Sister Girl said she and her friend loved Moon River Brewery--thanks,

eyetosky!)

( Linkspam! )

A quick note about The Invasion and zombies ( spoiler for the basic premise )

(Something interesting I found out about The Invasion: "Originally wrapped in early 2006, the film underwent massive reshooting in 2007. The reason for this was the studio which didn't liked the cut director Oliver Hirschbiegel delivered. To change that, Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski were brought in for rewrites and James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) to direct the new scenes.")

Also, the trailers: we got the weird one-two vigilante punch of The Brave One, a movie in which Jodie Foster searches her conflicted, vengeful soul, and Death Sentence, a movie in which Kevin Bacon shaves his head and buys a shitload of guns. Yeah.

And then I came home to this in my inbox:

From: Binghui Demers
Subject: Do you yield, sir, or shall I sweat for you.

I confess, I knew this was junk mail, but I opened it anyway just out of sheer appreciation for the subject line.

( A rather jumbly collection of awetastic linkspam )