I haven't posted lately about Harry Potter...

... but this is cool. This was the concept art for the death of Dumbledore by Adam Brockbank, but it never made it into the film. I always wondered how the film would visualize such a scene.

But... they never did. This is one beautiful image though...


You can see more images created by Adam here.

I want this to be my birthday cake...

I live in the Baltimore area, so I'm lucky to have Ace of Cakes (AKA: Charm City Cakes) in my backyard and all of the incredibly talented people who work there. We were watching one day when Charlie yelled at the television, "Hey, I know her! We went to college together!"

But this.... this is truly amazing:

HOGWARTS! (A Cake Interpretation)

Ace of Cakes made this for the opening of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. You can see the making of the cake here on the Leaky Cauldron site.

Yes, I'm still a Potterhead. But for very good reason. There are so many ways to interpret these books that the fans continually find new ways to approach these books from different perspectives. One of my favorite Harry Potter scholars (and yes, I do mean scholar) is John Granger, also a University of Chicago alumn. He's written a few books on the literary theory of the Harry Potter series. He's written:

The Deathly Hallows Lectures: The Hogwarts Professor Explains the Final Harry Potter Adventure

How Harry Cast His Spell: The Meaning Behind the Mania for J. K. Rowling's Bestselling Books

and most recently: Harry Potter's Bookshelf: The Great Books behind the Hogwarts Adventures
To get a taste of his style (And how Chaucer and Jane Austen relate to the Potterverse), you can check out the article he wrote for our alumni magazine here.

Then I was at our little work luncheon get together and learned that my older colleagues haven't read the whole series. *Shock* Then I shamefully explained to my boss how all the books come together in Deathly Hallows and why Dumbledore HAD to die in the 6th book. (I mean, how else was Harry going to face Voldemort as a man without anyone protecting him? It's the classic hero's tragedy and tale.) Then there's the representations of Hermione and Ginny as both modern and postmodern feminists. I think I freaked him out a bit.

If your cross a Harry Potter Fan and a Museum Nerd...

... you would get me. I have to wait until Saturday to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, due to babysitting issues. But if you want to get all nerdy before then, check out this online exhibit from the National Library of Medicine -- Harry Potter's World: Renaissance Science, Magic and Medicine. There's even some lesson plans if you are teacher. C'mon.... make learning fun... y'know you want to...

Personally, I think this exhibit is way more interesting than the Harry Potter: The Exhibition at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry (right down the street from my alma mater, University of Chicago). It got a lot of criticism for promoting the movies, not actually being an educational exhibition. Most of the objects are authentic from the movie productions, but when there are cool books like the Science of Harry Potter: How Magic Really Works and Harry Potter and International Relations, it seems a shame to pass up an opportunity to do a really cool show AND still learning something.

I always try to explain that going to the University of Chicago is the closest thing you can get to going to Hogwarts without leaving the country.

This is the cafeteria.

This is near The Pub where you have a pint and study.

And there are Gargoyles everywhere. Even our mascot is a phoenix.

Hermione Granger is my hero...

And here is the new trailer for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Yay!

If you live near Cedar Rapids, Iowa...

You are one lucky person! There is a new exhibition of artwork by Mary GrandPré, illustrator of the Harry Potter series at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. Mary is actually from St. Paul, Minnesota and has been an illustrator for over 20 years. It's worth going back to your Harry Potter books and having a second look. The exhibition Mary GrandPré: Harry Potter and Beyond will be shown from November 1, 2008- February 1, 2009. Which means it's perfect for a holiday outing. Check out the virtual exhibit of some of her illustrations. Way cool!


This one is: Mary GrandPré, “Olivia Opal in Rumplestiltskin,” 2001, from Once Upon a Fairy Tale by various authors (Viking Press). Pastel on paper. On loan from Irwin Terry and Bill Campbell.