Pottermore

You may have heard the rumors, or you may have simply thought it was another lie of the internet, or perhaps you haven't heard of it at all. If not, then prepare yourself for another Harry Potter count down, but this time it's online.

The new website has been the center of much speculation by fans and media journalists alike - what was the mysterious Pottermore site about? JK Rowling had left hints over the internet, starting with seemingly random coordinates left on forums on sites like the Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet, hinting at her fans that there was something on the way. The coordinates, when entered into a site called Secret Street View (not unlike Google Maps), would lead the hunters to certain locations where a photoshopped letter would appear, and when all ten letters were found and unscrambled they read 'Pottermore'.


Other hints included owls, all over the place. The owl on the Pottermore site would lead the clicker to a Youtube account, which had no videos but simply said 'the owls are gathering... find out why soon' and featured a countdown to today, June 23rd.


And today, the site was unveiled and a video uploaded on the Youtube account, officially announcing the site would be underway later on this year (October, to be exact).



There were speculations about what the site would be about - Linda Holmes from NPR.org said it would be an encyclopedia for the Harry Potter universe. Or it could be a social network for Potter fans - "the idea of a PotterBook or HarrySpace does make some sense," said Leslie Gornstein at E! Online. Many others believed it was simply an online Harry Potter ebook shop, and that Rowling was adapting her novels to the digital age to reach to a wider audience.

Well... actually, it's all three.

The site is a place to buy e-books, share stories, and from the look of the screenshots, something not unlike an RPG - but judging by the millions of people who have already visited the Pottermore site, it will be a massive operation.


The article on Mashable.com stated: Pottermore, which Rowling created in partnership with Sony, will include an interactive reading experience of the Harry Potter books. Fans will also be able to buy audio books and, for the first time, Harry Potter novels as ebooks.

The site goes live in October, but some users will be able to enter early. Additional details about that will be revealed on the site on July 31, but Rowling dropped a clue for those aching to enter the site early: “Follow the Owl.”

News site CTV Ottowa also said: Rowling also has written 18,000 words of new Potter material for the site, which promises to immerse users in her world of wizards, combining elements of computer games, social networking and an online store. She says the site includes "information I have been hoarding for years" about the books' characters and settings.

The project unveiled in London lets Potter fans delve into the world of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Sections let users shop for wands in Diagon Alley, travel to Hogwarts from the imaginary Platform 9 3/4 at London's King's Cross train station and be sorted into Hogwarts school houses by the perceptive Sorting Hat.

Along the way are wand fights, games and new information about characters beloved around the world, including Harry's reviled relatives, the Dursleys.

The site goes live July 31, when 1 million registered users will be chosen through an online competition to help flesh out the Pottermore world. It will be open to all users from October, in languages including English, French, German and Spanish.

And some juicy extracts from the official press release:
In the new website, the storyline will be brought to life with sumptuous newly-commissioned illustrations and interactive ‘Moments’ through which you can navigate, starting with the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s (Sorcerer’s) Stone. On entering, you choose a magic username and begin your experience. As you move through the chapters, you can read and share exclusive writing from J.K. Rowling, and, just as Harry joins Hogwarts, so can you. You visit Diagon Alley, get sorted into a house, cast spells and mix potions to help your house compete for the House Cup.

At a press conference at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Rowling revealed some key features of the website. In an announcement which will thrill fans, she described how she has brought thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifo life both the Sorting Hat and Ollivanders experiences from her books for the first time on Pottermore, by revealing the questions asked by the Sorting Hat - which places newcomers into their Hogwarts houses according to their characteristics - and the magic behind the Wand Chooser – which finds the right wand for each user from over 33,000 possible combinations. She also revealed glimpses of the new information she has provided on some of the best-loved characters.


So I did my own investigating, and I signed up to the mailing list on the new home page of the Pottermore website. By signing up, they will send an email to you in October when the site opens. But a special sneak preview is available for one million visitors to the site on July 31st, who have registered and win a chance to flesh out the site. A million might seem like a lot, but there have been over a million people who have already visited the Pottermore site, many waking up at ridiculous hours of the morning to watch the 90-second video release from JK Rowling, and there are still more arriving every minute. So many have signed up for the mailing list that the server has crashed more than a few times.

This is one of the biggest and most exciting events in the Harry Potter world - JK Rowling had left us all guessing at what she was going to do next, once the movies had finished and there were no more books to write.

Turns out, there is always more to write.

The Official Love Post

So I haven’t posted here in god knows how long, I’ve been super busy with school and stuff and nothing interesting happens in my life when you guys aren’t at school. (sad faces all round).

But this is quite significant and I figured it needed some clarification so here it is, you’ve been waiting for it and now it’s here, the commemorative, one-year post for myself and my darling Conor Richards.

Conor and Darcie

It was a delightful evening in the 22nd of May 2010, the angels and demons party was already in full swing by the time I got there. There were angels angeling, demons demoning, and general party times all around.

When I saw Conor at that party, I knew there was something different about him...


You know, apart from the fact he was dressed as a construction worker and not as an angel or a demon. BUT even though he was dressed differently, I began to see him in a different light. Not just because of the disco lights, either.

We were sitting on the esky, being groovy, talking and chatting. Annie came up to us and started to talk about me being a princess and Conor being a dirty worker and how it was a fairytale waiting to happen, and I'd run away with him and be in love forever.

Little did we know...


After that night there was much teasing from friends (what are friends for anyway) but we pulled through the teasing. Our first few weeks were shifty, both of us having just become free from previous relationships. I didn't realise that Conor hadn't been broken up for very long before I decided I wanted to be with him, but when I did find out, I realised I didn't actually care anyway.

I was annoying at first, not being sure whether I wanted to be in a full on relationship, whether we were going to be bandmates with benefits or boyfriend and girlfriend (plus Jordan's constant 'spank the monkey/walrus' references didn't exactly help. thanks Eddie) but after a few weeks it became clear to me that there was nobody else I wanted to be with.

Our relationship became more and more fantastic, we did everything together and spent so much time together and became closer than ever. We became kimono-partners and we began to realise how much we actually liked each other (and Ben really liked us too!)

Our garden of love was nourished by the band, who relentlessly teased and made fun of us but were secretly jealous of our inter-musical relationship. A drummer and a bassist, the ultimate love story.



One night Conor came over for dinner and movies, and as we were sitting on the couch watching Pride and Prejudice, I realised that I had found the perfect person. Somebody who would eat twisties with me whenever we liked, went to the zoo with me, took me shopping even though I'm annoying, put up with my stupid jokes and most of all, watch P&P with me!

But I chickened out and instead of saying it aloud I texted him after he had left, and I told him I loved him.

Love!


Without even knowing it, Conor was the one person in my life who made me feel totally happy whenever we were together, helped me smile when I felt down, was there for me when I was a wreck, stayed by my side even when I was moody. He's the one person I can trust with anything, rely on for anything, know what I need when I'm feeling down (lolly bananas) and love me when I need it most. I hope I can be half as amazing to him as he is to me. We all know he's a fantastic person and I'm unbelievably lucky to have him and I'm sorry to all those who had a crush on Conor when I stole him away (that is, Miguel, Eddy, Brandon, Ben, McGee, etc. mostly man-crushes.)

And now I'm in with the family! :D


Some pictures of the happy couple? Well sure...



And now, a year after the angel and construction worker had eloped, we are as happy as ever (more so, in fact) and we'd like to thank all of the third wheels who have been there with us through it all, and been happy for us and made fun of us and been generally fantastic.

Firstly, BRANDON and JORDAN
The first official 3rd wheels
Always lingering, always awkward, always fantastic. Thanks guys :)


Secondly, WONG
The second official 3rd wheel
The source for helpful relationship information (though I'm still not sure why)


Thirdly, SAMMIE
The 3rd wheel who is our adopted Asian child
Need we say more?


And everybody else who has always been there for us and been with us from the start, been our friends and letting us be one of the annoying cutesy couples in the group.

And yet the question still remains... who was the founder of this love? Was it Jordan, whose peer pressure at the party was too much to take? Or was it Chris, who called Conor names? Or Brittany+Ashlyn, for having a party in the first place?

In any case, thankyou so much to everybody, and congratulations to us :D We are a little bit too impressed, very happy and in way too much love to be physically possible.

oh and also WE ARE SO CUTE and cuter than you :D

Henceforth, let's keep being in love.

So I haven't blogged in a long time,

Nor have I got a haircut or managed to do anything productive whatsoever.

So what's happened between now and then? Well I'm officially stalking a teacher, I've dropped chemistry for history and I am a gun at it, Mr Crooks gets far too excited in literature class and I had a maths test today. I also failed my HPT test for my P's yesterday, but I went back this morning and passed so I am now a P-Plater. Hey, isn't it funny that you're all older than me but I've still got my license? Oh, weird, I found that hilarious.

The glory of a drive thru... I can't find the words.

Anyway.

I started watching skins, and my life is very calm and sensible comparatively. I think I like it better that way.

I'm having abandonment issues from the band and my bass is crying itself to sleep at night.

I'm officially a netball umpire again, which is the most awesome job to have in year 12.

I had the ball, and unless you didn't see my photos from that then let me tell you, I looked effing hawt. Just sayin'.

That's pretty much it. Oh, and I got Romero House Captain. I have so much authority (not). All I do is get angry looks from people when I ask them to pick up their rubbish. I think they're mostly angry at the universe because they're not getting laid. Oh well.

In any case, life is sensible. Cept year 12 is stressing me out, apparently I clench my teeth according to the dentist and that's not good or something.

My cat keeps headbutting me.

I like cheese, especially on toast.

Henceforth, prepare for total domination or... something.

Your friendly neighbourhood Geoff...

He is perfectly harmless most of the time...

but then... lose concentration for but a moment...



Good grief.

SocialVibe

I'm gonna do a quick little blog about this website called SocialVibe, it's pretty popular and I think I'd like to merge our blogs with it somehow. I don't know if you guys haven't noticed, but on the bottom of the right hand panel of this page there's a little pink box and a number that tells me how much I've raised for Ovarian Cancer Research. By clicking the little box, answering a few questions and whatnot, you can raise money for certain charities. They use the money from advertisements and surveys to raise the money, and it's one of the most successful online charity networks.
I've managed to raise a mere 13 dollars with mine, and I know for a fact that I've raised that money by answering questions myself. So, I propose that we each go onto SocialVibe and get ourselves a badge and a charity to support and put it somewhere on the blog - then everybody can answer a few questions and we can collectively raise more money.
It's only a few minutes of your time and you get to give to charity without actually paying any money. For people like me with no money, it's a miracle.
Henceforth I hope you all join in and help out because it's a good thing to do, and I don't usually take people on moral guilt trips but as far as I know, we're all healthy and happy people and we've got a chance to help others who need it.

Where I have been

So I got told off for not blogging enough the other day, so here goes nothing.
Since I finished my exams, nothing much has happened. I've seen hardly anybody and I don't feel the need to get up early unless we go over our internet and I can only go online in offpeak time.
I've been working on getting a better winning average at Solitaire on my iPod, I'm currently sitting on a respectable 55%.
My aunty and uncle welcomed their second baby boy into the world, his name is Seth Joseph Boelen and I can't wait to meet him. He's not allowed visitors because he was eight weeks premature and has to stay in the hospital till February. Because my aunty was trekking back and forth from the hospital all the time, most of my spare time was taken up babysitting Seth's older brother.
After baby was born, it was Christmas, and I managed to spend all of my money at the Boxing Day sales. We had to buy a new sandwich toaster, after our old one blew up (and just because I was using it at the time doesn't mean I broke it - it actually spontaneously combusted on me and left a giant burn mark on the kitchen counter). And then we had to buy a new cake mixer because the old one broke (I didn't break that either, though somehow I managed to get the blame for that too). And then the oven broke and THAT WAS TOTALLY RIKKI'S FAULT.
After all the explosions and breaking appliances, I went for a drive with Mum up to Northampton (just north of Geraldton) to see my Nana, whom I love dearly. And you'll all be pleased to know that I have now finished my 25 hours, and can go for my P's very soon. Yay :D
But the very reason I have written this blog is to clear some things up.
1. When driving back from Northampton, there was a collision with a kangaroo somewhere between Jurien and Lancelin.
2. I still stand by what I said before - the kangaroo hit me. "Blog about when you hit the kangaroo" was completely off course, Wong, the kangaroo hit me.
3. I know it hit me because I'd stopped in time to not hit it when the kangaroo changed direction and ran into the car.
4. I very nearly shat bricks.
5. Mum's going to SGIO tomorrow for a damage assessment.
6. Lastly, as I have told my sister many times, 'How's skippy?' jokes stopped being funny a very, very long time ago.

So that's all that's happened, henceforth I'll try to blog about more stuffs that goes on in my life but I'm still at school and doing year twelve, so hopefully you guys will all be really supportive both morally and fiscally...
Lol, nevermind. That's a hopeless path to walk down.
Henceforth, I am going to be in year twelve. And I'll have my license which is more than most of you can say!