NEWS FOR THE DAY 11.03.06

Fifth year, $1.7 Million Raised through Potter Schoolbooks in Canada

March 12 is the fifth anniversary of the publishing of the Canadian versions of Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them; to celebrate, The Globe and Mail will publish an ad today noting that to date, $1.7 million have been raised for Comic Relief through these books, to benefit disadvantaged children. Congrats to Raincoast, the Canadian Harry Potter publishers!

Jason Isaacs Donates Signed Shirt for Charity Auction

Actor Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy) has donated an autographed shirt for auction, with proceeds going toward charity. This auction is part of Clothes Off Our Back, which features many famous celebrity donations from events such as the Oscars and the Golden Globe awards. Jason donated this shirtthat he autographed recently while attending the Sundance Film Festival in January. There is also a special signedAffinity Washer and Dryer setup for auction that Jason signed as well, along with others such as Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, and Ashley Judd. Proceeds from both auctions will benefit Cure Autism Now, Half the Skyand UNICEF's work in Darfur.

[quote=tejas]

Man U can never judge a man by the roles he does....

just amazing.

regards,

tejas

[/quote]

New Installment of "Goblet of Fire" Podcast Available

Subscribers to the WB Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire podcast let us know that there is a new installment available. While this is not yet showing on the podcast section of HarryPotter.com, this new edition features two cast interviews, including one with contest winners, and another where the Trio discuss the Yule Ball. There is also a video clip of the Grindylows and Sharkhead Krum. You can access this podcast via this linkto iTunes. All of these clips from the podcasts are also found on the "Two Disc Special Edition" of the Goblet of FireDVD. Thanks to everyone who emailed!

Mirror of Erised Inspires Prize-Winning Classical Music Composition

The world premiere of Mirror, Mirror, a classical wind ensemble composition will be held at the University of Connecticut on Saturday, March 19. The piece, written by composer Stacy Garrop, winner of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Music Composition Prize, was inspired by three stories about mirrors and mirror images:

"Mirror, Mirror involves two identical wind ensembles, each consisting of a flute, an oboe, a clarinet, a bassoon, a horn, a trumpet, a trombone, and one percussionist, to be set up in exact mirror images of each other. One represents reality or the mirror's subject, while the other represents the mirror's reflection, Garrop says. . . The first movement depicts the Greek legend of Narcissus, the middle movement explores J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the mirror of Erised, and the final movement illustrates the Grimm Brothers' rendition of Snow White."

For more information about the piece, the Sackler Prize, and the concert, click here.

House-Elves Hit the Quidditch World Cup in GoF DVD

It would seem that the new Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire DVD reveals not just the deleted scenes and bonuses, but allows for some closer inspection of things that we might have missed when seeing the film in movie theaters; things such as two House-Elves riding on camels at the Quidditch World Cup. Yes, you are reading this right, and no, this editor hasn't lost her mind... yet :) Dressed in both Ireland and Bulgarian team colors errm pillowcases, you can clearly see these two Elves in a scene very early after Harry and Co. arrive at the Quidditch World Cup camp and they show Hermione with Ginny laughing and pointing. While many of us lamented the lack of Winky, Dobby and the entire S.P.E. W storyline in this film, we are not sure why this was included, but you can definitely see the Elves at the QWC hereand here. Thanks to Alex and Jose for the heads up!

Leaky Presents: First Fan DVD Commentary

We're happy to bring you the first-ever Harry Potter fan DVD audio commentary track. Now that you (in the US anyway, we know) have your DVDs, we hope this track will provide you with some entertianment and even information (in the form of tidbits from TLC's set visits) on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It is available on the PotterCast feed and also as a .

Now, how does this all work? This is basically an audio file that you play while the Goblet of Fire plays on your TV/computer/etc. Lower the volume on your DVD, and follow these instructions to play the audio at the same time.

HOW TO SYNC YOUR DVD AND THIS COMMENTARY:
Follow these instructions to set up this podcast to play alongside your "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" DVD (which you will need to own):
1. Set up your DVD in your TV/computer/console/other player, and start to play the full-length feature film.
2. When the screen goes from BLUE to BLACK, hit PAUSE.
3. Start this audio track.
4. John will count down ("Three...two...one...click"): UNPAUSE your DVD when he says "click."
5. Enjoy!

PAUSING:
As these are separate video/audio tracks playing simultaneously, pausing will pose a problem. If you pause the video first, and the audio second, unpausing the audio first and video second will probably link you up pretty closely to the earlier synchronization.

Again, you can get this via the PotterCast feed or here, and discussion of the PotterCast is right here.

We hope you enjoy this new feature! We will be doing these for all the films, and repeat ones with guests, in the future.