The Leaky Cauldron - Bloggers - Nina

Harmony and Me, We're Pretty Good Company

Sun Jan 18 22:05:00 -0500 2009

Just a (what I hope will be) brief update from me about what’s going on in Nina’s world of singing, as I am simply bursting with excitement!

In some of my previous ramblings I have told you about the singing course I did, the lure of the limelight and my passion for singing harmonies, and I have been promising to tell you what I planned to do about getting all of those things together this...

Super Trouper

Tue Dec 23 03:04:00 -0500 2008

It’s been many, many years, I thought I’d probably grown out of it, but the spotlight seems to have finally found me again! Or I it, actually, as I was the one looking.

As a child, I was always on a stage somewhere, showing off in some way or other. It started with piano recitals, then I added dance and finally I joined various bands and sang in school musicals. Show me a stage and I’d be...

Out in the Cold

Tue Dec 02 22:37:00 -0500 2008

It will come as no surprise to you that I love singing. I love it. I sing all day, every day. When I am on my way home listening to my iPod, I am singing along in my head, and as soon as I stick my key in the front door lock the singing travels from my head to my mouth. Thank goodness I have nice neighbours (“No, it’s great, I can’t even sing in the shower, but I have you singing in my shower!”)....

Vote for the Filkies!

Fri Nov 07 22:14:00 -0500 2008

In only a few weeks time Filkcast Potter Style will be hosting the second annual Filky Awards! Last year’s show was great fun and my partners in filk, Aislinn and futureweasley, and I (collectively known as The Leaky Sisters) even managed to scrape in a few awards ourselves!

This year there were no less than 106 filks to choose from (can you believe it? One hundred and six filks!) and all of...

Evanesco!

Mon Nov 03 00:42:00 -0500 2008

About two weeks ago, my computer died. Suddenly, the blue screen of death popped up, and attempts to reboot literally resulted in nothing, just… blackness. It wasn’t even all that old, just very… well used. The friendly guy at the shop told me I had fried my hard drive (with some beans and a nice Chianti) and that my computer was indeed stone cold dead. And it wasn’t just the hardware that...

Stuck

Thu Oct 02 11:39:00 -0400 2008

About a year ago, not all that long after the release of Deathly Hallows, I was on a four-hour bus ride, in the dark, just listening to my iPod, when one of the songs on my playlist suddenly grabbed me. It was “Till it Happens to You” by the beautiful Corinne Bailey Rae. I knew instantly I wanted to filk it, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

Literally within minutes I had changed...

Fandoms, Filks and Frilly Knickers

Thu Sep 11 11:07:00 -0400 2008

As I have mentioned before, I am a person of rather intense and often rapid-changing obsessions. Once something catches my fancy, I latch on to it like a pit-bull with lockjaw. It is as if I can’t enjoy something properly until I have turned it upside down, inside out, broken it down to all its individual components, put it back together again in reverse order and then swallowed it whole. I can’t...

Angelina

Wed Aug 27 08:04:00 -0400 2008

Whenever I read a book or a series, I never spend much time wondering or speculating how it will end. This is part laziness (why waste time trying to figure out something you’re going to be told anyway?) but mostly because I simply love to be surprised. I really like to read things at face value, and then be completely astonished that I have been fooled. For example, I am one of the very few...

Backing Tracks

Mon Aug 18 22:14:00 -0400 2008

There is nothing worse than finishing a filk and then not being able to find a backing track for it. Imagine it, you had this really nifty idea, to a cool song, you had great inspiration and your lyrics came out perfect, and then... bum. We’ve all been there (eh, Aislinn?), it sucks. Of course, you could claim that the fun of a filk is in the writing of it, and I know that for some people it...

Fred’s Dead, Baby, Fred’s Dead

Mon Aug 11 04:51:00 -0400 2008

DITZY GIRL: Whose toilet seat is this?
COOL DUDE: It’s a lavatorial comedy device, baby.
DITZY GIRL: Whose lavatorial comedy device is this?
COOL DUDE: It’s Fred’s.
DITZY GIRL: Who’s Fred?
COOL DUDE: Fred’s dead, baby, Fred’s dead.

~ From “Twin Pulp”, the new movie by Quentin Tarantino

I love Jo Rowling. Ok, so there’s nothing new there, I’ve loved her for a while now, don’t...

Theory of Filking

Mon Aug 04 08:26:00 -0400 2008

*Hem, hem*

Welcome, children, to my classroom. My name is Professor Severine Snape – not to be confused with the late Professor Severus Snape. You will address me simply as “Professor”. When you have a question you will raise your hand and wait until I allow you to speak. “Hey!” “Oi, Sev,” or any other abominable mutilation of my name will not be tolerated.

This year you will be...

Ah Music, a Magic Beyond All We Do Here...

Tue Jul 29 01:56:00 -0400 2008

I am a person of obsessions. I don’t do things by halves. I’ll suddenly get bitten by a bug, and then I’ll go after it with everything I have – I’d get an idea for a short story and then work on it till 5 am because I’m afraid I’ll lose the “vibe” if I leave it till the morning; I discover some cool 3D drawing software and spend two weeks using every free minute to design and...

Alchemy and Harry Potter (Part I)

Thu Feb 07 06:15:00 -0500 2008

Alchemy and Harry Potter (Part I) By Arianrhod

This paper will trace the ancient history of alchemy, its goals and objectives, and explain the Seven Stages of Alchemical Transformation. Later, I will discuss the books one at a time, discussing the alchemical imagery and symbolism in each as it relates to both the Seven Stages and to the plot. Finally, I will attempt to make some predictions about...

Alchemy and Harry Potter (Part II)

Sat Jan 19 23:37:00 -0500 2008

Alchemy and Harry Potter (Part II) By Arianhrod

Note: Part I can be found in Issue One

Flamel was born in 1330 and died in 1418, along the way becoming one of the greatest alchemists in the world. The Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris contains works copied in his own hand and original works written by him. His wife, Perenelle, was a rare person indeed. She became his lifelong companion and confidante,...