April 16: Thanks to Richard who sent us this report: Thought I would drop you a little note about the filming at ChristChurch College Oxford last week. After I saw via TLC last week that HP2 was filming there, my girlfriend and I went up Saturday morning to have a look around. Alas, they finished …read more!

Chris sent us a short report from the filming in Oxford: “I went to Christ Church, Oxford today (11/4/02) where they were filming for the 2nd Harry Potter Movie. They have been filming for the last 2 weeks. They were doing a scene in the quad where Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting down and …read more!

J. K Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter best-sellers, has attacked the Government in the run-up to the Budget for its treatment of single parents. J K Rowling, the multi-millionairess and former single mother, whose support has been courted by Labour strategists, said ministers had left the poorest lone parents deeper in debt. She …read more!

JK holds number nine in the “Power of Scotland:” 9 JK ROWLING Author Credited by anxious parents across the world with single-handedly taking the eyes of their children away from screens and back to the printed page, Rowling’s cultural impact is immense. She has shown her power by forcing the giant Coca-Cola corporation into sponsoring …read more!

Harry in School (All three of the following paragraphs are from the same article): Elementary school principal Mike Davis made his singing debut Friday in front of an audience of more than 4,000 chanting students and educators at the Lloyd Noble Center… Davis challenged his students to read 1,300 books by the end of February. …read more!

ODEON is drawing up plans to issue cinema bonds as part of a £300m refinancing of the country’s biggest cinema business on the back of a boom in box office spend. Cinema operators are confident that a strong release schedule over the next year will continue to drive increased audiences. Kobayashi points to the domination …read more!

An odd snippet from The Times: “The popularity of Harry Potter books has led to a wave of owl thefts, presumably because of the boy wizard’s pet owl, Hedwig. Paula Bilsby, general manager of Exotic Direct, a specialist pet insurer, says: “Lots of owls have gone missing since Harry Potter stories appeared.” Er… how do …read more!

It was Potter mania all over Pune on Friday, as kids thronged Alka talkies to make it for the first day first show that got all sold out in the first hour itself! Trafalgar Tours is offering two specialized eight-day tours this year, including a Best of Holland visit to the Floriade horticultural exhibition. The …read more!

John Hurt (Mr. Ollivander) will take the stage at this year’s Spoleto Festival U.S.A. (Charleston, S.C.), appearing in the American premiere of “Afterplay” by Irish playwright Brian Friel. As the DVD release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone draws ever closer it seems inevitable that discs relating to the Harry Potter phenomenon would appear. …read more!

An original prop from the first Harry Potter film is to be put up for auction by a kind-hearted teenager who has been doing charity work since she was at nursery school. (Thanks to TWW for the head’s-up.)