Lulz Before The Weekend (Weekend...)

.:Let's Make Voldemort x Draco Reeeealllly Awkward...:.

I like the part where he says "ahhhh!"

No words needed. Just watch the video. Seriously.

.:The Deeper Meaning Behind Rebecca Black's "Friday":.

Friday Lyrics Analyzed with Rebecca Black from Rebecca Black

It's from Funny or Die, so it must be true.

I like Rebecca Black. So sue me.

No, not in *that* way, Chris Hansen. You can go back now.

Say what you will about how bad her song "Friday" is, but the fact that she donated the proceeds of her song to Japan makes me think of her as a pretty stand-up girl, to be honest. The next time anyone of us can make a nigh-universally reviled song, make a huge chunk of change over it, then proceed to donate the proceeds to a worthy cause, we can talk. Otherwise, this girl is untouchable.

But now, in an in-depth interview, it becomes clear that there are more to the lyrics than meets the eye. Watch the video and find out what I mean.

Well, it's Friday, so you can't really expect me to do much else beyond this, right? I'm looking forward to the weekend!

Where are the bloody quotation marks?!?

Just Another Magic Monday: A Harry Potter Film Review Plus A Sendup To Severus Snape

.:Just Another Magic Monday: Film Review - Harry Potter 7.2!:.

Poster fail.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part II
A fitting conclusion.

If you are anything like me, then you were eagerly anticipating the conclusion of the Harry Potter films, and eagerly eyed every single trailer or teaser coming your way.

I have copies of all seven books, and watched every single movie in the cinemas. I may not be a crazed fan, but I'd count myself as pretty hardcore when it comes down to it, even if I have never bothered wearing a costume to the theaters or something.

Having said that, I had rather high expectations for the eighth installment of the film franchise, and let's just get this out of the way: far as I'm concerned, the movie delivered splendidly.

And now, SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Picking up from where the first half of the adaptation of the seventh book left off, Deathly Hallows Part 2 focuses on the destruction of the last remaining horcruxes, setting the stage for the final, decisive clash between Harry and Voldemort. While admittedly, the re-imagining of the film diminished the importance of Neville Longbottom's role as opposed to the book, this worked out just fine thanks to Daniel Radcliffe's strong performance in the lead role.

You want eye candy and special effects? You were going to get a lot of that here. You wanted some loose ends from previous installments tied up? You get that here, too. Overall, it was a very awesome romp for Potter fans who wanted to see a splendid way to cap off the entire saga.

What can I say about this film that hasn't been already said? Everyone's been raving about it. If you liked Harry Potter, there was little to no way for you to not like this film, as everyone just brought their A-game and made sure that this was truly the way to end the series.

So I guess that's why I'd rather focus on Snape for a moment here.

Among all the characters in the Potterverse, Severus Snape really rang true to me, mostly because I could relate to him very strongly. True, I have a soft spot for Luna Lovegood, as do I for Cho Chang, but I certainly don't feel any common ground with them, as I would with Professor Snape.

Snape was the epitome of the tragic, misunderstood hero. He was flawed, and yet his flaws only emphasized his true strength of character, as punctuated by his indefatigable ability to love: to love someone even when it would forever only remain an unrequited hope.

Not everybody liked Snape. In fact, it's hard to blame the people who disliked him immensely because of the way he acts. It's unquestionable that he has his preconceived biases to work with, but what sets him apart is his ability to move beyond these biases to do what he must, to do what he ought to, because he is driven by love.

And it's this ability to love in the face of everything else that draws me so strongly to Snape as a character. That Hans Gruber himself plays the role to perfection is just icing on the cake, and the very multi-dimensional personality of one Severus Snape is well-complemented by his single-minded devotion to Lily Potter, even if people called him all sorts of names while he just did what he knew to do best - to love.

He was a tragic figure, because he was like the greatest hero nobody must know about. At the risk of life and limb, he honored a promise made to Dumbledore for the sake of his love, and even when the object of his affection has passed on, the love still remained. The torch still burned. And with it, his devotion only proved to be all the more admirable. That he ended up caring about Harry in his own, misunderstood way only underscores how a man, despite all the odds, despite all the bad influence in the world, could still choose to do what is right because that power is within him. It's within everyone.

Magic is about many things to many different people. But to me, magic is about breaking beyond possibilities, and making of yourself far more than anyone could expect of you. Magic happens when you recognize that power within you. That power to do what appears impossible to everyone else.

With the end of his tale, all I know is that Snape's death was truly a hero's death. Perhaps only Dumbledore truly understood what it felt like to be in Severus's shoes, but so many others who have seen or read the Potter stories certainly can relate to the pathos of perhaps the best-fleshed character in the entirety of the Potterverse.

But EVERYONE envies the hair.

"Fun" Analysis: A+
"Critical" Analysis: A+

Project 365 (48/365): Ron And Hermione

.:48/365: Ron And Hermione:.

Yes. I went there!

If you ever liked the Harry Potter series, you would know that one of the biggest story arcs throughout the saga was the slow-burning love story between Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

I’ve always been a fan of the loveteam, and while they’re not really magicians in the strict sense of the term, they’re wizards, albeit fictional ones. Plus they look cute together.

When you’re looking for a magical loveteam, the mainstream will immediately mention Ron and Hermione, even if just in jest. I don’t mind. I can be as indulgent as needed be in this Project 365, since as far as I’m concerned, not a few people have been inspired to learn magic thanks to Harry Potter, so they do deserve some props every now and then.

Ron and Hermione’s love story really evolved throughout the seven books of the Harry Potter series. It was something most readers could telegraph, despite all the Harry/Hermione shippers (Or Harry/Ron shippers, if you swing that way.). The contrast of personality between the two created a very natural kind of tension that allowed the relationship to smolder over time as the friendship they had with Harry continued to play a factor in the whole equation. It was awfully endearing to see Ron and Hermione just keep teasing getting together until they finally did around Book 6.

As a big fan of the Harry Potter series, I feel that the angle of love has always been a big deal for the whole franchise. Ron and Hermione’s love story is definitely something that captures the fancy and imagination of a lot of readers, and if magicians could only have love stories as epic and as entertaining, I’m sure we’d have books to write about them, too.

Then again, perhaps magicians in real life might have far too colourful lovelives for us to really want to divulge...

Don't Call Him Harry Potter. Call Him...

.:H Piddy!:.

Harry Potter, despite being a storied hero in J.K. Rowling's series, was always of the rebellious type. Sure, he's close with an authority figure (Dumbledore), but even Dumbledore himself is a bit of a deviant... queer, if you will, in more ways than one. Harry's never really been the type who would just fit in. Snape's evaluation of Harry was somewhat spot-on: Harry would always find himself in the middle of something big all the time. Of course, Snape assumed Harry intended this, but given the kind of trouble Harry ends up with whenever he becomes an attraction, we can safely assume this isn't necessarily the case.

But you see, for all his "rebelliousness", Harry still doesn't fit the mold of a rebel (Except maybe the emo rebel that he was in the fifth book.). He's an oddity among apparent oddities, but it's not his oddities that really make him stand out. Quite simply, it's specific characteristics like courage and downright luck that make him different, not an inherently unique characteristic about him. Most people could have more courage than him, but it's his luck, good or bad, that throws him into the limelight.

So for this exercise of the mind, what if we imagined Harry to fit the ironic "mold" of a rebel? How would it be?

Well, I think we found the answer, and it may break your brain...

Book Review: Harry Potter VII

.:Book Review: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows:.

Yes, I know it’s delayed. But still… you have to realize the obvious... SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows:
Well worth the long wait.

I'm a big fan of the Harry Potter series. Perhaps nowhere nearly as huge a fan in contrast to most other people in Philippine Hogwarts, but quite a fan, nonetheless. I've had my favorite moments, Hermione and Cho Chang were two of my favorite characters, I didn't like Cho that much in the fifth movie, but all in all, the past six books of Harry Potter have been a very well-weaved tale, like a fantastical detective story that I can't quite explain.

The seventh book was pretty much the culmination of the Harry Potter epic, and I must say that they pulled out all the stops...

First of all, the seventh book has an exceptionally high body count. I don't want to do a shopping list of who kicked the bucket, but I can't even begin to explain how disorienting it felt to realize that guys you took for granted like Fred Weasley just suddenly dropped dead, or how Hedwig or Dobby ended up as casualties all the same. I figured the Marauders would end up being wiped out, so Lupin was no surprise, much less Wormtail, and redemption for one of the characters seemed more satisfying with his death, so all things considered, the deaths didn't feel out of place at all.

I liked the storyline a lot. I honestly felt that it was a satisfying way to wrap up the entire saga because they finally tied up a lot of loose ends, although it felt weird that a character as significant as Aberforth Dumbledore would be introduced in the series only now. You'd think Aberforth would figure into the series more than just the last book itself.

In any case, it was a showdown of epic proportions. A lot of subterfuge was at work and the infiltration of the Ministry of Magic by the Death Eaters was a nice touch to keep the tension simmering until it comes to a final boil at the end.

I really liked the characterization of the main players in this one. While there was a bit of angst in the air, it was definitely not an overload the way it was in the seventh book. The epilogue seemed rather contrived, but it at least answers a lot of questions, albeit I'm a Harry-Luna shipper at heart.

My details about the book are murky, but if you've read the first six books already, there's simply no reason to miss out on this one. It's got epic battles, intrigue, and stunning characterization. Is this book perfect? No. But it's incredibly satisfying for a conclusion to one of the most popular book series of our generation.

Marcelle's Evaluation: A-

I'll Be On TV Tonight!

.:The Sweet Life HP7 Launch Episode Is TONIGHT!:.

Check out "The Sweet Life" on QTV-11 tonight, 6:30 PM,as I will be having my fifteen seconds of fame as the magician at the Harry Potter 7 Book Launch they covered last Saturday in Fully Booked @ the Fort.

Lemme know how you like it!

.:Fully Booked Recap:.

So yes, I was booked at Fully Booked (I love saying that.) as the magician-on-call for the Harry Potter 7 book launch (Book Review coming next week, but I finished the ruddy book on the same day I got it.). I got there around 6:20, a good forty or so minutes before the store was going to open, and I immediately saw people in line, albeit not as many as we anticipated at the start.

I immediately got to work, and performed for the first six people in line. They were genuinely pleased with my routine, as one of them was genuinely floored even by my Ring Thing opener, and the Ultimate Transhypno effect was worthy of being a finisher for this group. Nonetheless, I capped my short routine off for them with Liquid Metal, and left it at that.

From there, I moved onto various people, and even ended up being interviewed by some people from QTV-11, and someone from Correspondents Asia, although I think they got disappointed to find out I wasn't a member of Hogwarts Philippines, which was mainly because I have a sinking feeling if I started joining NWA-affiliated organizations, I'd spread myself out too thin. I also love The Matrix, LOTR, Star Wars, and so forth, so if I joined PHP, it'd be a crime not to join the other groups. But I digress.

So in any case, I performed for the next couple of hours, including once for Hope and her cousin. I had some other performances here and there, but I kept my routine mostly the same as most of my walkaround bits everywhere else, since I knew that stuff has always served me well.

However, I knew I was merely gearing up for a short stage presentation, and I told Paolo of NWA about that. I was slowly building a reputation for Osterlind's Rubik's Blindfolded Solve (Henceforth, this effect shall be refered to as ORBS.), and I knew it had to be done.

With much fanfare and a few preliminary effects, I managed to pull the effect off smoothly, and with that, I capped my bit off, and went ahead to collect my bounty: among other things, I received a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for my efforts, and hopefully, a good deal of awareness that there's yet another magician/mentalist running around the metro... =P