NEWS FOR THE DAY 17.04.06

USA Weekend Article on NBA Star and Goblet DVD

The April 16 edition ofUSA Weekend, a magazine found in many Sunday newspapers here in the States, will feature the fourth Harry Potter film in theirDVD Insidercolumn. This column has celebrity opinions about the latest DVDs, and NBA star Gilbert Arenasof the Washington Wizardsweighs in with his thought on the Goblet of Fire DVD. Stating that he is a fan of the films and novels, he writes "I think of myself as more like Harry Potter than Viktor Krum. I'm the underdog. Whoever our team is playing against is Krum -- the big superhero. I'm just Harry Potter, 'Zero to Hero.' "

The article has different sections of the movie hightlighted where the reviewer gives his commentary on these scenes. In one example Gilbert says how he can identify with some of the things Harry has to deal with in the film, such as his interviews with Rita Skeeter in relation to his life in the spotlight and with his experience with some of the press.

Scene 10: Rita Skeeter -- Tabloid journalist Rita Skeeter (Miranda Richardson) puts words in Harry's mouth when she interviews him and the three other contestants who compete in the Triwizard Tournament.

"That was just like a reporter in the NBA when you first start. They're like, 'Oh, you mean this,' and you're like, 'Uh, I guess so.' I think athletes can relate; you're just trying to be modest, and they make you evil before you even do anything. That happened a lot when I first started."

New Essay from J.K. Rowling on Growing up Female

A new book by Willa Shalit called Becoming Myself:Reflections on Growing Up Femalecontains a essay written by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. This book is a collection of thoughts and reflections on being female from sixty-seven notable women including Jo, as well as others such as poet Maya Angelou , author Joyce Carol Oates, and Academy Award winning actress Meryl Streep. There is a short excerpt of this new essay by JKR in the April 24th edition of People Magazine. Jo writes:

There are many things I liked, then and now, about being a girl. The friendships you make...I like women's perceptiveness and ability to empathize. I like their ability to juggle 19 jobs before breakfast, and I prefer women's shoes.

The author of the book, Willa Shalit, produced the play The Vagina Monologues, and is the co-founder ofV-Day, the movement to end violence against women. This book is due to be released on April 18.

Followup: Excerpts from J.K. Rowling Interview with GirlGuiding Scotland

A few days ago we first toldyou that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling had been interviewed by Girlguiding Scotlandas part of a series of interviews with inspirational women. The Sunday Times now has moreon these interviews, saying that they are part of an initiative to "combat the increasing popularity of celebrity culture among teenage girls. " Jo recently posted awonderful commentaryabout this subject on her website that garnered world wide media reaction. The Times newspaper mentions this commentary in this article that contains excerpts from this new interview that Jo has given to the GirlGuides. In pieces that are contain humor "..she says her autobiography would be called Tell Them I'm Dead, I'm Trying to Write" and seriousness, Jo discusses the influence of her mother on who she is today :

She was the one who read to us when we were little, filled the house with books, loved discussing her favourite novels and never sat down without something to read, so I would have to say (she gave me) a love of literature," says Rowling, who has two daughters, Jessica, 12, and one-year-old Mackenzie. "However, she also taught me how to make a decent Yorkshire pudding."

As for a teaching career, she says some of her fondest memories are of her time at the chalk face. "I remember the laughs I had with my favourite classes. One of my best memories is being presented with flowers by 4F of St David's in Dalkeith after our last lesson together. Neither before nor since have flowers meant so much to me, and if you'd met 4F, you'd know why."

The full interview with Jo will be published on the GirlGuiding Scotland website May 1.

Dan Radcliffe, Emma Watson to Star in Play for Queens Birthday Celebration ?

Previously, we told you that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling would be attendinga special celebration in honor of the Queen's 80th birthdayon June 25 at Buckinham Palace. Jo is also scheduledto make a reading at this celebration, where 2,000 lucky children will attend. There were earlier reports that actor Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) was to attend this event as well, but later his reps said he would not be attending this celebration. Today, The Observer reportsthat not only is Daniel due to attend, but also actress Emma Watson (Hermione), and they both will be appearing in a special play as part of this gala event. Quotage:

"The celebrations culminate on 25 June when the Queen holds a children's tea party at Buckingham Palace attended by children's characters including Postman Pat, Paddington Bear, Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine, the White Rabbit and Mary Poppins. Two thousand children between four and 14 will be invited, their names chosen from a ballot, with the winners meeting Harry Potter author JK Rowling. There are rumours the Queen will make her 'stage debut' in an entertainment also featuring supermodel Sophie Dahl and Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. The BBC will broadcast the event live. "

An earlier press releasefrom the BBC does indicate that there will be a play performed that day, but there is no mention of the Harry Potter film actors. We are trying to confirm this and will update with more on this when we can.

New Composer for Order of the Phoenix?

IMDB has updated their Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenixpage, and now lists Dario Marianellias the composer for the fifth film. This is the first that we have heard of a possible change in composers for Phoenix, which is still being filmed in England. Dario Marianellirecently was nominated for an Oscar award for his score to Pride & Prejudice. Other works include the scores to V for Vendetta, The Brothers Grimm, and Cheeky, which was directed by David Thewlis (Lupin). Please keep this in the rumor category until we can get some further details. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be released on July 13, 2007.

Happy Holidays

We wish you a happy holiday this weekend, whether you've celebrated Passover, Easter, or anything else! :)

Leaky Presents: Quizzes! And the HP IQ Test

Leaky is proud to present a new section: our Quizzes section, for all you HP quizmasters who love trying your hand at trivia and testing your personality in an HP-related way. This section will be expanded greatly upon in the near future: for now, we've got one, hard test for you to take. It scores out of 250, and most of the staff here got between a 110 and 160. It's our first Harry Potter IQ Test, entirely trivia-based, about as hard as (or maybe even harder than) the W.O.M.B.A.T.s. You think you know your Potter? You might not think so after taking this; one of our most knowledgable collaborators got an "A" for "Acceptable" (113, if we recall). It takes roughly 20 minutes to take, and at the end you'll get some nice artwork to put on your LJ/MySpace/Forum signature/blog/Xanga/whatever.

Most quizzes that will be in this section will either not be this hard, or will have nothing to do with difficulty at all (there is, of course, a Sorting Hat quiz on the way, as well as a "ship" - 'relationship' - quiz and a trivia quiz for each of the Harry Potter books) - but we wanted to challenge you all nice and heartily on the first time out. Have fun, and be sure to tell us what you get! (Click here to begin!)

PotterCast #35 Ready for Download

PotterCast #35, the second part of our call-in show from this weekend, is now available for download! First, a reminder: Our impersonations contest is still going on, and at stake is $30 at The Cauldron Shop. For more, click here.

In this show:

-A quick news discussion with the PC trio precedes the call-in show, in which we discuss:
--Emma's not a pink power ranger
--Jo Rowlng's recent site updates
--The pressure to be thin and Melissa's upcoming reality podcast
--One more Chipotle card and John dances
--See Chris Rankin in Wuthering Heights
--The early bird movie countdown
--The Webbys (thank you for your support, guys! We're verclemped)
--Dan's new portrait
--Canon Conundrums, a new PotterCast segment coming next week! (Have you sent in your voicemail on the chess match?)
--The Leaky Quiz section
-And on the call-in portion show:
--Chris Rankin returns to answer people's questions
--PotterCast nearly gets someone committed (literally)
--What Luna may do as a career
--"She lies" returns
--Luna as Tonks's secret daughter
--Nevillenevillenevillenevillenevillenevillenevilleneville
--Chris wonders about Aberforth's loyalty
--John tries to trick Chris into giving up details about Dumbledore vs. Voldemort
--Voldemort as Myrtle
--Wizards dying by non-magical means?
--The Dawlish rap
--What to keep in the fifth movie

Running time: 1:00:14

If you are new to all this podcasting stuff, it's really easy: download and install iTunes, then click here to listen. Everything else is at PotterCast.com - you can also direct download it here, and discussion of the PotterCast is right here. Enjoy!