Much thanks to reader Kate who sent us this article from USA’s weekend section about Sean Biggerstaff (with a picture of him sporting a positively shaggy new do [and I mean that in the HAIR sense of the word, thankyouverymuch]).

Thanks to the Sylvan Lane Shoppe for the news that the LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle has won the award for Best Activity Toy of the Year from the Toy Industry Association. A dress worn by screen icon Marilyn Monroe, a Dalek from the Dr Who series and Harry Potter’s movie outfit are to be …read more!

The magic of J.K. Rowlings’ book “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” was the inspiration for a performance on Friday for pupils at Jefferson Elementary School. Steven Wronker, a master magician from West Hartford, recreated his show based on Harry Potter and entitled it Muggles Magic, based on a character in Rowlings’ book. Paul Hemstreet, …read more!

Dark Horizons points us to this notice from the R2 Project which lists a release date of 11 May 2002 for the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone DVD in the UK. Our world today deals with vandalism and murders every day while trying to keep everything else under control. One of the things churches …read more!

Slashdot has a great post and link to an article about “What if Harry Potter Was an EBook”. I’m all for it – email JKR’s agent Christopher Little, Bloomsbury Publishing and Scholastic to let them know your thoughts. Not to mention the fact that Harry Potter lovers across the world could buy and download the …read more!

It’s every Harry Potter fan’s dream – a university certificate in Sorcery, Witchcraft, Shamanism and Healing. The popularity and commercial success of the boy-wizard has prompted one of South Australia’s most prestigious universities to offer just that. Up in the sky, just moments earlier, Simon Ammann had been huge, a giant, riding the wind for …read more!

I rarely speak my mind about fantasy casting because I think a lot of fantasy casting is ridiculous. Too many people are willing to cast stars in place of actor’s who appear to be closer to the characters. Thanks to Clator Butler, I’m speaking my mind tonight.: Jason Carter as Sirius Black. He’s most well …read more!

Thanks to reader JFA, who sent us this link to yet another DVD clip. Oscar finalists have almost six weeks to savor making the next-to-last cut, while those left out altogether lick their wounds. Interestingly, the ranks of the overlooked contain more surprises than the actual nominations for the 74th Academy Awards, to be presented …read more!

Wow! Dark Horizons has posted a link to the behind-the-scenes sample from the upcoming DVD. With some tweaking, I also found the Medium and High bandwidth streams. (Note: RPM files appear to use RealMedia.)

From The Gulf Daily News (The Voice of Bahrain) comes “Potty about philosophy” by B Comber: The other evening, I returned home after a hard day’s work and found Junior engrossed in his homework. “What tasks have they set you today?” I asked. “Do you need any assistance?” “No, thanks, Papa,” Junior replied. “I can …read more!