The power of three is not something that the writers of "Charmed" made up. This is actually a real belief within Wicca. I think that JKR, in her infinite knowledge, knew this and decided to expand upon this idea.
The trio of Harry, Hermione and Ron will be the triumvirate of triumph in Book 7.
Okay, that was a little melodramatic but you have to admit it was kinda clever...
Friday, October 28, 2005
Speculations and Assertions- The Prophecy
Yes, I did promise some Harry Potter on this blog. I have a lot to say on the subject, and since this is my personal forum, I am pleased to NOT listen to other's ideas, NOT refrain from saying 'your ideas are stupid', and NOT have to try to get along with others.
These are MY assertions posted to MY blog. So there.
Harry: Live or Die?
Well, this is the big question, isn't it? Will our heroic hero make it past adolescence? Will the spectacled son of Lily and James bless their memories with grandchildren? Will the pure-hearted Harry triumph over the pure evil that is Lord Voldemort?
The Prophecy
There has been much speculation since Harry (and we) heard the prophecy in OoTP. For reference, here it is in its entirety: The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...
Oooohhh, it's so tantalizing, yet tells us nothing. The only reason the Chosen One is Harry is because Voldemort chose Harry. Coulda, shoulda, woulda been Neville.
Here is where I need to digress into the story of our friend Oedipus. No incest jokes please. If you're in any way familiar with the story, you know that Oedipus didn't crush on his mom in the way that the Freudian concept implies. In fact, Oedipus didn't even know Jocasta, who became his wife, was his mom. Neither did she. These events are actually incidental to the story- it's not about sleeping with your mom, it's about not being able to escape your fate. (among other things. Apologies to you classical scholars out there for my pedestrian interpretation.)
Oedipus' father was told a prophecy made about his son killing him and sleeping with Jocasta. In reaction, he sent his infant son with a shepherd who was supposed to leave him to die on a mountain. Of course, the shepherd takes pity on the baby and gives him to a shepherd buddy, who takes him far away and presents him to his own king, who raises him as his own.
Oedipus is later given the same prophecy his father was- Oedipus will kill his father and sleep with his mother. Thinking the people who raised him are his parents, he leaves home to keep the prophecy from happening.
On his travels, he comes across a traveling party, gets in an altercation with the leader and kills him. Of course, this man is his father, just nobody knows it yet. Part one of the prophecy comes true.
I'm not going to go into the sphinx thingy here- if you want to know about it, read the story yourself. The next series of events end with Oedipus being given the throne vacated by the man he just killed, plus the hand of Jocasta, his widow. And Oedipus' mother, BTW. Part two of the prophecy- done. You can't escape your fate.
There is more to the story involving Oedipus unknowingly setting a nasty curse upon himself and his kingdom, but again, if you want to know about all that, read it yourself.
George Lucas also borrowed from Oedipus when he created the Star Wars universe. To summarize: It was prophesied that a force-strong individual would emerge, gain power and bring balance to the Force (more apologies to you SW-heads out there). We all believe it's supposed to be Anakin Skywalker (played in the movies by the delicious Hayden Christenson), and at the end of episode three, an anguished Obi-Wan (played by the equally appetizing Ewan McGregor, one of my personal all-time favorites, but anyway) screams at a bleeding and dying Anakin, "You were the Chosen One! You were supposed to destroy the Sith! Not join them!"
A couple decades go by, Anakin is now the feared Sith Lord Darth Vader, the Emperor's evil puppet; young Luke learns the truth about his family, tries to reach his father through the power of love; Vader eventually succumbs to the Light and kills the Emperor. Thus the prophecy is fulfilled, just not as we expected. Again, you can't escape your fate. Anakin was meant to destroy the Sith, and he did. (Now I know that in the SW books the Emperor pulls a Voldemort-like resurrection and goes on in Emperor-like fashion with a new body. But that's not what we're talking about here, so let it go.)
Now we know that the inimitable Joanne Rowling studied the classics in school, so she is of course in the position to borrow from and expand on the Oedipus theme. Prophecies are a tricky business, something that Dumbledore has a hard time pounding into Harry's head during their private lessons. In Oedipus' case the fact that he put so much store in the prophecy led to it coming true. This is also the mistake that Voldy makes- if he hadn't believed it so much, he wouldn't have tried to kill Harry, an act which actually made Harry more powerful and more likely and able to completely destroy Voldy.
Another tricky thing about this particular prophecy is the fact that Voldy only heard, apparently, the part that said the one with the power to vanquish Voldy will be born at the end of July to parents that have defied him three times. He doesn't know that he himself will mark the baby as his equal, nor that either must die at the other's hands because they can't coexist. Voldy only thinks that Harry has the power to kill Voldy. That's why Voldy tried to kill Harry before he got the chance.
Anyway, to answer the question, "Will Harry survive to the end?" I think he will, for a couple reasons. First, and probably the most pragmatic, the entire series is seen through the Harry-filter. Though written in the omniscient POV, it is really a story about Harry. The two opening scenes of HBP seem to challenge this, since they happen without Harry and Harry doesn't even learn about the events that transpire in them, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
The second reason I believe Harry will survive is because I just don't believe that JKR would do that to us, or to herself. She knows we love Harry, we know she loves Harry, we love her and she loves us, so I just don't think she will kill him off.
But thirdly, I just can't believe that she will totally abandon her recurring themes of good triumphing over evil and love being more powerful than hate. The entire thing won't make sense, literally and literarily (is that a word?). Though I do believe Harry will be greviously injured and those he loves will be injured and/or killed. Particularly the poor Weasleys will be affected- Harry loves them too much.
But again back to the Oedipal tie-in. Truth is, Harry can't avoid his fate. *Harry* knows that he and Voldy can't both live vis a vie the prophecy, but Harry's personal motivation is getting rid of evil in the personification of Voldy- not fulfilling the prophecy. Harry is driven to destroy the force that killed his parents, killed the Prewitts (who, incidentally, were Molly Weasley's brothers, if you didn't know), killed Cedric, killed Madam Bones, killed Sirius and destroyed Neville's family- not do what the prophecy tells him. Same difference- prophecy fulfilled; period, end of sentence.
Of course, the lovely and talented JKR loves to surprise us. Very few fandom speculations have been correct.
These are MY assertions posted to MY blog. So there.
Harry: Live or Die?
Well, this is the big question, isn't it? Will our heroic hero make it past adolescence? Will the spectacled son of Lily and James bless their memories with grandchildren? Will the pure-hearted Harry triumph over the pure evil that is Lord Voldemort?
The Prophecy
There has been much speculation since Harry (and we) heard the prophecy in OoTP. For reference, here it is in its entirety: The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...
Oooohhh, it's so tantalizing, yet tells us nothing. The only reason the Chosen One is Harry is because Voldemort chose Harry. Coulda, shoulda, woulda been Neville.
Here is where I need to digress into the story of our friend Oedipus. No incest jokes please. If you're in any way familiar with the story, you know that Oedipus didn't crush on his mom in the way that the Freudian concept implies. In fact, Oedipus didn't even know Jocasta, who became his wife, was his mom. Neither did she. These events are actually incidental to the story- it's not about sleeping with your mom, it's about not being able to escape your fate. (among other things. Apologies to you classical scholars out there for my pedestrian interpretation.)
Oedipus' father was told a prophecy made about his son killing him and sleeping with Jocasta. In reaction, he sent his infant son with a shepherd who was supposed to leave him to die on a mountain. Of course, the shepherd takes pity on the baby and gives him to a shepherd buddy, who takes him far away and presents him to his own king, who raises him as his own.
Oedipus is later given the same prophecy his father was- Oedipus will kill his father and sleep with his mother. Thinking the people who raised him are his parents, he leaves home to keep the prophecy from happening.
On his travels, he comes across a traveling party, gets in an altercation with the leader and kills him. Of course, this man is his father, just nobody knows it yet. Part one of the prophecy comes true.
I'm not going to go into the sphinx thingy here- if you want to know about it, read the story yourself. The next series of events end with Oedipus being given the throne vacated by the man he just killed, plus the hand of Jocasta, his widow. And Oedipus' mother, BTW. Part two of the prophecy- done. You can't escape your fate.
There is more to the story involving Oedipus unknowingly setting a nasty curse upon himself and his kingdom, but again, if you want to know about all that, read it yourself.
George Lucas also borrowed from Oedipus when he created the Star Wars universe. To summarize: It was prophesied that a force-strong individual would emerge, gain power and bring balance to the Force (more apologies to you SW-heads out there). We all believe it's supposed to be Anakin Skywalker (played in the movies by the delicious Hayden Christenson), and at the end of episode three, an anguished Obi-Wan (played by the equally appetizing Ewan McGregor, one of my personal all-time favorites, but anyway) screams at a bleeding and dying Anakin, "You were the Chosen One! You were supposed to destroy the Sith! Not join them!"
A couple decades go by, Anakin is now the feared Sith Lord Darth Vader, the Emperor's evil puppet; young Luke learns the truth about his family, tries to reach his father through the power of love; Vader eventually succumbs to the Light and kills the Emperor. Thus the prophecy is fulfilled, just not as we expected. Again, you can't escape your fate. Anakin was meant to destroy the Sith, and he did. (Now I know that in the SW books the Emperor pulls a Voldemort-like resurrection and goes on in Emperor-like fashion with a new body. But that's not what we're talking about here, so let it go.)
Now we know that the inimitable Joanne Rowling studied the classics in school, so she is of course in the position to borrow from and expand on the Oedipus theme. Prophecies are a tricky business, something that Dumbledore has a hard time pounding into Harry's head during their private lessons. In Oedipus' case the fact that he put so much store in the prophecy led to it coming true. This is also the mistake that Voldy makes- if he hadn't believed it so much, he wouldn't have tried to kill Harry, an act which actually made Harry more powerful and more likely and able to completely destroy Voldy.
Another tricky thing about this particular prophecy is the fact that Voldy only heard, apparently, the part that said the one with the power to vanquish Voldy will be born at the end of July to parents that have defied him three times. He doesn't know that he himself will mark the baby as his equal, nor that either must die at the other's hands because they can't coexist. Voldy only thinks that Harry has the power to kill Voldy. That's why Voldy tried to kill Harry before he got the chance.
Anyway, to answer the question, "Will Harry survive to the end?" I think he will, for a couple reasons. First, and probably the most pragmatic, the entire series is seen through the Harry-filter. Though written in the omniscient POV, it is really a story about Harry. The two opening scenes of HBP seem to challenge this, since they happen without Harry and Harry doesn't even learn about the events that transpire in them, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
The second reason I believe Harry will survive is because I just don't believe that JKR would do that to us, or to herself. She knows we love Harry, we know she loves Harry, we love her and she loves us, so I just don't think she will kill him off.
But thirdly, I just can't believe that she will totally abandon her recurring themes of good triumphing over evil and love being more powerful than hate. The entire thing won't make sense, literally and literarily (is that a word?). Though I do believe Harry will be greviously injured and those he loves will be injured and/or killed. Particularly the poor Weasleys will be affected- Harry loves them too much.
But again back to the Oedipal tie-in. Truth is, Harry can't avoid his fate. *Harry* knows that he and Voldy can't both live vis a vie the prophecy, but Harry's personal motivation is getting rid of evil in the personification of Voldy- not fulfilling the prophecy. Harry is driven to destroy the force that killed his parents, killed the Prewitts (who, incidentally, were Molly Weasley's brothers, if you didn't know), killed Cedric, killed Madam Bones, killed Sirius and destroyed Neville's family- not do what the prophecy tells him. Same difference- prophecy fulfilled; period, end of sentence.
Of course, the lovely and talented JKR loves to surprise us. Very few fandom speculations have been correct.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
It Matters to That One
One day a man went for a walk on the beach at low tide. While he was out, he noticed a small boy picking up the starfish that had washed ashore and throwing them back out to sea.
When he caught up with the boy he asked him, "What are you doing?"
"I'm helping the starfish. If they stay out of the water, they dry up and die. If I throw them back in the water, they live," the boy replied.
The man took a look up and down the beach. There were literally hundreds of starfish washed up on the sand.
"But look at how many starfish there are! You can't really expect to make a difference!"
The boy looked up at the man for the briefest of moments, then bent over and picked up another starfish and threw it out to sea.
"Made a difference to that one," the boy said.
If you are active in the academic IT world, you might be familiar with the work of a friend of mine, Stephen Haag, who is the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs at the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business. He is an accomplished author and lecturer and generally regarded as a major smarty pants.
But what I wanted to talk about was the fact that he and his wife are adopting two baby girls from Russia in the new year. In fact, we've had to arrange a project we are working on together so that he can be in Russia for the month of February to finalize the adoption.
We've all seen the documentaries that bring a tear to your eye about these poor abandoned babies in Russia, or Romania, or China or wherever else, and there are so many-- how could anyone possibly make a difference?
Well, Stephen- hats off. You're making a difference to those two.
When he caught up with the boy he asked him, "What are you doing?"
"I'm helping the starfish. If they stay out of the water, they dry up and die. If I throw them back in the water, they live," the boy replied.
The man took a look up and down the beach. There were literally hundreds of starfish washed up on the sand.
"But look at how many starfish there are! You can't really expect to make a difference!"
The boy looked up at the man for the briefest of moments, then bent over and picked up another starfish and threw it out to sea.
"Made a difference to that one," the boy said.
If you are active in the academic IT world, you might be familiar with the work of a friend of mine, Stephen Haag, who is the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs at the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business. He is an accomplished author and lecturer and generally regarded as a major smarty pants.
But what I wanted to talk about was the fact that he and his wife are adopting two baby girls from Russia in the new year. In fact, we've had to arrange a project we are working on together so that he can be in Russia for the month of February to finalize the adoption.
We've all seen the documentaries that bring a tear to your eye about these poor abandoned babies in Russia, or Romania, or China or wherever else, and there are so many-- how could anyone possibly make a difference?
Well, Stephen- hats off. You're making a difference to those two.
Stickin it to Da Man
Today I am stealing a post from the blog of my best friend's dad. This is a fellow that lives in a small, rural, economically-challenged and rather, um, old fashioned town in southeastern Colorado. He served on their police force for a number of years and so became more familiar than he probably ever wanted to be with the criminal element unique to a small town. However, he never wavered in his personal convictions or lost his sense of humor. I wanted to say something eloquent about the fabulous Rosa Parks, but his story is so much better than anything I could have come up with. Thanks, LuckyDawg. ld
Stickin' it to Da Man
Rosa Parks died this past Monday night.
Rosa Parks was the black lady who refused to give up her seat to a white man back in 1955.
That took guts.
If you don't think so, watch History Channel's bit about the Selma marches, "Crossing the Bridge", wherein you will see thugs in the uniform of the Alabama State Police gassing and beating peaceful protest marchers. And a fat, ignorant sheriff taking a nightstick to a black man on the steps of the courthouse in Selma, for having the audacity to raise questions.
In 1960, shortly after we moved from up north back to MCAS Cherry Point in eastern North Carolina, I had my own very small taste of dealing with The Man.
We were in New Bern, shopping, just up the road from the air station. I wandered across the street to the bus station, looking for a water fountain. I was fourteen then.
I found one.
I drank from it.
And then I was yanked off my feet by a pus-gutted Nazi in a Craven County Sheriff's uniform.
"Wutcher doin', boah? Is yew one a dem (expletives deleted) agi-tayters from Yankee-land?"
I was wondering if I was going to be bent over and sodomized right then and there. This porcine piece of work was in a rage. Spittle flew. I thought his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets. I remember quite clearly, even today, the veins standing out on his splotchy, booze-sodden nose.
And he shook me by the neck.
"We doan lak no nigra-lovers 'round heah," he screamed. "Yew gitcher ass t'hell on back weah it come frum, you heah me boah?"
Yeah, I heard him.
I had no idea what had set him off.
And then I noticed the rusted, over-painted, almost illegible "Colored" sign over the water fountain.
That was my sin.
I had sipped some water from the wrong fountain, in an obvious flaunting of the customs of the South. Therefore, I must be some kind of pinko Comm-yew-nist agi-tayter.
It was at that point that I became a social liberal, though it might not sound like it sometimes. I might be an economic moderate, but I have always been a social liberal, thanks to the Craven County, North Carolina, Sheriff's Office. John Kennedy had already struck a chord with me; Lyndon Johnson, in spite of the Vietnam war, did the same with his Great Society. Later on it was McGovern. These were some of the guys who inspired the dreams, even if reality crushed them.
Most of us have no idea of the courage it took for Rosa Parks to tell Da Man, no matter how politely she may have done it, to go stuff himself.
I got a very small bit of insight into it, that hot July day in New Bern, North Carolina.
God bless you, Rosa. Rest in peace. Ya done good.
http://lajuntablogs.tripod.com/lajuntapolitics/index.blog?entry_id=1262818
Stickin' it to Da Man
Rosa Parks died this past Monday night.
Rosa Parks was the black lady who refused to give up her seat to a white man back in 1955.
That took guts.
If you don't think so, watch History Channel's bit about the Selma marches, "Crossing the Bridge", wherein you will see thugs in the uniform of the Alabama State Police gassing and beating peaceful protest marchers. And a fat, ignorant sheriff taking a nightstick to a black man on the steps of the courthouse in Selma, for having the audacity to raise questions.
In 1960, shortly after we moved from up north back to MCAS Cherry Point in eastern North Carolina, I had my own very small taste of dealing with The Man.
We were in New Bern, shopping, just up the road from the air station. I wandered across the street to the bus station, looking for a water fountain. I was fourteen then.
I found one.
I drank from it.
And then I was yanked off my feet by a pus-gutted Nazi in a Craven County Sheriff's uniform.
"Wutcher doin', boah? Is yew one a dem (expletives deleted) agi-tayters from Yankee-land?"
I was wondering if I was going to be bent over and sodomized right then and there. This porcine piece of work was in a rage. Spittle flew. I thought his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets. I remember quite clearly, even today, the veins standing out on his splotchy, booze-sodden nose.
And he shook me by the neck.
"We doan lak no nigra-lovers 'round heah," he screamed. "Yew gitcher ass t'hell on back weah it come frum, you heah me boah?"
Yeah, I heard him.
I had no idea what had set him off.
And then I noticed the rusted, over-painted, almost illegible "Colored" sign over the water fountain.
That was my sin.
I had sipped some water from the wrong fountain, in an obvious flaunting of the customs of the South. Therefore, I must be some kind of pinko Comm-yew-nist agi-tayter.
It was at that point that I became a social liberal, though it might not sound like it sometimes. I might be an economic moderate, but I have always been a social liberal, thanks to the Craven County, North Carolina, Sheriff's Office. John Kennedy had already struck a chord with me; Lyndon Johnson, in spite of the Vietnam war, did the same with his Great Society. Later on it was McGovern. These were some of the guys who inspired the dreams, even if reality crushed them.
Most of us have no idea of the courage it took for Rosa Parks to tell Da Man, no matter how politely she may have done it, to go stuff himself.
I got a very small bit of insight into it, that hot July day in New Bern, North Carolina.
God bless you, Rosa. Rest in peace. Ya done good.
http://lajuntablogs.tripod.com/lajuntapolitics/index.blog?entry_id=1262818
Monday, October 24, 2005
Rat outsmarts scientists
Scientists in New Zealand released a rat on a desert island, hoping to study why rats are so hard to get rid of.
Ten weeks later, the rat was captured on another island. It had evaded traps, baits and sniffer dogs before swimming 400 meters across open sea to the neighboring island, according to news reports.
"Our findings confirm that eliminating a single invading rat is disproportionately difficult," James Russell and his colleagues said in a report in the science journal Nature.
Well, DUH..
Anyone that's ever lived in a large city already knew this. Hope the New Zealand government didn't foot the bill for this one.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Astrologer fails to predict his own death
There was an interesting piece in Reuters' Oddly Enough space about an astrologer in an Indian village that predicted he would die at some point between 3 and 5 in the afternoon today. Well, he was incorrect and he survived the day. Isn't this just the consummate "damned if you do, damned if you don't" scenario? But of course, the guy put himself in the position.
The article goes on to say that in the past when an astrologer was incorrect about this particular prediction, the villagers ended up beating the man to death.
The article goes on to say that in the past when an astrologer was incorrect about this particular prediction, the villagers ended up beating the man to death.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
First Post
So. Here is the inaugural post in Blogme. There is not a mission or purpose for this blog other than just to write about the things I know about and interest me.
You can expect to read musings and information in this space on being an independent consultant, parenting, being a non-traditional student and of course, Harry Potter.
You can expect to read musings and information in this space on being an independent consultant, parenting, being a non-traditional student and of course, Harry Potter.
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