The Sunday Mail actually reports today that JKR purchased a silver model of a Dodo bird from jeweller Patrick Mavros, in a news item that we would nominate for the We Can’t Believe They Wrote That Award, if it existed.

Goblet of Fire tops Entertainment Weekly‘s list of films the staff can’t wait to see this fall. Thanks Lee!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire composer Patrick Doyle gave an interview where he calls Potter “the biggest thing I have ever been involved in.” More at the link! Thanks Lee!

Ralph Fiennes, who plays Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, will be on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight to discuss his film, The Constant Gardener.

A church in Pennsylvania has started to use Harry Potter books in its vacation Bible school curriculum – and as a result, enrollment doubled.

Barnes & Noble joins Borders in reporting difficult sales thanks to deep discounts on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Bookstores engaged in something of a price war leading up to the book release as they competed for customers. B&N is the number one US bookseller, and at the end of a quarter in which …read more!

HPEF has published “We Solemnly Swear That These Papers Were Worth The Wait,” a collection of essay papers from the Nimbus 2003 Harry Potter convention; you can order it from Amazaon US, UK and Canada in paperback and hardcover right through the Cauldron Shop. You can see the table of contents here; the book contains …read more!

Bill Amend’s “FoxTrot” will give HP fans a chuckle this morning! Thanks to all who sent this in!

Borders announced today that the recent release of HBP did not help avert a slump at their UK stores, which in turn led to a decline in profits. Borders said in its statement that high discounts on HBP were a contributing factor in the drop in their net income.

The Guardian reports that Pinewood Studios, and its sister-studio, Shepperton, where Gary Oldman’s Batman Begins was filmed, are both about to start expansion projects. Pinewood’s program includes facilities upgrades that will incorporate state-of-the-art equipment, new sound stages, production workshops and post-production facilities.