The holidays are among us, and now is a great time to
consider what to get for Christmas for that special someone in your life, or
just a nerd you happen to know.This
week we’re discussing gift giving for the nerds in your life.
Opinion: New system means Playstation Exclusives will come
out only for it, but right now, there isn’t any brand new ‘Killer App’ that
makes the system a must get now.The PS5
is useful to get as an upgraded PS4 if you already have a lot of games for the
PS4, but not necessarily worth getting at this time.Like Buying a new car, but not necessarily
any difference in where you’re driving to and from.
Series X is bigger and more powerful and Series S.
Similar to iPhone S series.
Some games will be ‘Optimized for Series X’.
Backwards compatible with 99% of Xbox One games.
$299 for Series S
$499 for Series X
Opinion: A concern over games for the Series S over Series
X, as there will be some games that will take advantage of only Series X
hardware, and not be playable on Series S.Much like the PS5, it’s intended to offer a great experience in the
future, but doesn’t offer any immediate ‘Killer App’ titles.If you have an Xbox One, it’s an upgrade, but
that’s about it.Like Buying a new car,
but not necessarily any difference in where you’re driving to and from.
Opinion: Nintendo has a cool niche of offering great family
friendly games that you can’t get anywhere else.Nintendo has a huge catalog of games at this
point, and their games always tend to be different when compared to the
Playstation or Xbox.It can be
considered childish and colorful, but no less fun and entertaining.Only downside is that it’s been out for
awhile, and so if someone was interested in getting it, they may already
have.An upgraded of the Switch is also
rumored for sometime in 2021, so it might not be worth getting if a new one
comes out a few months later.
Show Off Potential
Nerds love to show off their passions as often as
possible.But they also Love to just
look at their collections too, seeing the endless possibilities
As mentioned last year, Etsy is a great place to look for
one of a kind things from makers that make this kind of stuff.If you’re looking for a cosplay piece,
someone out there makes it on Esty, or even better, sells the plans on how to
make it.
If you want to request something from Esty, it’s safe to
make the assumption it’s going to be delayed due to the holiday season, so it
Might not come on time.
You can ask for custom orders too.If you like the look of someone’s work, but
you don’t see what you’re looking for, you can always ask if they do custom
orders.This can help the Maker add to
their merchandise they can sell, and also be a great relationship in the future
for stuff.Try to stay in someone’s
wheel house though; don’t go asking for something that’s outside of their
norm.IE, don’t ask someone who
primarily makes jackets or works with leather to suddenly start making dresses
all the sudden.Also, try to stay within
a brand: most Makers try to stand out by having their own brands or focuses,
IE, some people focus on Mario or Nintendo merchandise, so asking for something
from World of Warcraft might be out of their wheel house.Ask, be generous, and kind, because you’re
asking for something from them.
Loot Boxes
Lootcrate has a number of geeky loot boxes tailored for
different focuses, ie:
This can be a bit pricey at the end of the day, as it’s
considered a monthly subscription, but they often offer discounts for those who
purchase multiple months at a time.You
can set the length for as long as you want, so if you want to do only a few months
to a year.Most of the items in a box
can will usually cost more if you bought them separately, so while you may pay
a $25 charge, you’ll likely receive $40 - $50 worth of value in the box.And some of the items can also be sold online
as they’re collectables that only come in the loot boxes.
Order Early
Holidays this year will likely be more focused on shipping
and receiving stuff in the mail.
Finally a chance to see if Print matches Film!I’ve wanted, and probably some point will, to
do this with Anime as there are numerous examples of printed comics (Manga)
being turned in to animated shows (Anime), and sometimes the differences are
stark, and sometimes, it’s a One to One copy.This isn’t the case, as Harry Potter itself has numerous changes to it
that take an 8 hour read in to a 2 hour film, and with a shortened run time,
some liberties are necessary.So here’s
our thoughts on it.
Quick Run Down
Harry potter is dropped off to the Dursleys after
Voldemort’s defeat
It is shown how poorly Harry is Treated and the weird stuff
that happens around him
Letter being sent to Harry about being accepted to Hogwarts
are stopped by Dursley,
Hagrid introduced and explains how Harry is a Wizard
Harry is introduced to the wizarding world, gets his
supplied, Hagrid picks up the Philospher’s Stone
Harry Travels to Hogwarts via Train, befriends Ron
Harry is sorted in to his house, Gryphndor
Harry is introduced to His Teachers, along with Snape, who
dislikes Harry
Harry is tricked in to a duel with a rival student, but
learns of Fluffy, a 3-headed dog
A troll is in the school, and Harry and Ron defeat it,
Hermione befriends them
Harry is explained and played Quidditch as a seeker
Christmas, Harry discovers the Mirror of Erised and its
secrets
The Trio learn who Nicolas Flamel and that he created the Philosopher’s
stone, leading to them leaning that it’s hidden in the school
The trio learn of Norbert the dragon, and in getting out of
the school, Harry, Hermione, Nevil, and Draco are sentenced to detention when
caught
Everyone is sent to the Forbidden Forest for detention, to
find a injured Unicorn, Harry encounters Voldemort, but is saved by Centars
The Trio journey through the defense leading to the
Philosopher’s stone. The Puzzles along
the way are:
Fluffy – Calmed by Music
Plants – Stopped by fire Magic
Flying Keys – Harry catches the
right key floating in air
Chess – Ron leads the Trio through
a chess game, but he is taken out at the end due to his sacrifice.
Another Troll – but already beaten
Potion Riddle – Hermione solves the
riddle, but passes out due to the potion making someone fall asleep
Harry meets Professor Quirrell, who is trying to use the
Mirror of Erised to get the stone. Harry
gets the stone, and then confronts Voldemort, who is living on Quirrell’s
head. Quirrell is stopped by Harry’s
inherent Protection magic and burned badly, and dies of his wounds. Harry passes out before Dumbledore arrives to
save Harry.
Harry wakes up in the hospital, has
a chat with Dumbledore.
Gryphndor wins the House cup due to
Dumbledore giving pity points
Everyone goes home for the summer
Sorcerer’s Stone Vs
Philosopher’s Stone
Reason noted was due to Scholastic thinking that Philosopher
sounded too archaic for readers, and suggested Sorcerer instead.Rowling disliked this change and felt that
she should have fought harder for it not to be changed, but didn’t have the
clout or prestige at the time to do so.
During filming, any reference to the Stone was done twice,
one for the British audience, one for the America audience, where they actually
used the differing terms.
Book:
Pro
Enjoyed the comical nature of the Dursleys.
Easy to understand writing style for children’s literature.
Con
Felt like it took a while to get in to the magical aspects
of the books
Film
Pro
Children Actors weren’t that bad.
Depth of Cast, pretty much nailed all the looks
Love the Castle & music
CGI is dated, but doesn’t take you out of the movie
Con
Seamus Finnigan – Unnecessary character in the film.
Ghosts could have been used better used to add exposition
Poor use of exposition throughout film (Ex: Centaur +
Unicorn Scene)
Lack of useful world building, IE not adding much context to
prior events or reactions
Eventually we’re going to get to something a bit more
literary, and it was a topic that was teased a number of times.So we dive into Harry Potter and its rather
lengthy book series.Our conversation
takesa bit to get there due to the most
recent events regarding the author, but I still felt it was a good discussion.
History
Written by J.K. Rowling, she was convinced of the idea while
her train from Manchester to London was delayed in 1990.Between when she finally published the first
book in the series, her mother had died, she had her first child, and her
husband divorced her, not to mention she was in relative poverty prior to the
first book coming out.She continued to
write the books of Harry Potter until 2007 when the final book came out.She has continued to write books, primarily
aimed at young adult, but also some crime stories aimed at adult, under the pen
name: Robert Galbraith.
The seven books in total were published from 1997 to 2007,
each book encompassing a fictional school year in the life of Harry Potter at
the fictional Hogwarts School boarding school for Wizards and Witches.The seven books include:
Philosopher's Stone (1997)
Chamber of Secrets (1998)
Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
Goblet of Fire (2000)
Order of the Phoenix (2003)
Half-Blood Prince (2005)
Deathly Hallows (2007)
The first three books each one awards Smarties Prize, a well
respected Children Literature award.Rowling removed her subsequent books, in order to allow other
winners.Each book sold better than the
last and was a huge financial success for the author.
Although J.K. Rowling did not intend to continue writing any
more books in the Harry Potter series after the release of Deathly Hallows, and admitted her next fiction would likely not be
fantasy, she mentioned in 2010 that she was working on a new book in the
saga.This new book was intended to be
an encyclopedia of various terms, placed, characters, and notes about the Harry
Potter universe, intended to continue fleshing out the universe, and include
ideas or notes that never made it in to the books.The encyclopedia ended up being
Pottermore.com, which offered an interactive collection of notes, games, and
elements of the Harry Potter world.By
2019, the site was rebranded as WizardingWorld.com, as much of the media
outside of the books is branded under the Wizarding
World name.
An 8th Story was introduced in 2016, as Harry
Potter and the Cursed Child, which was a stage Play, and eventual book.
The Harry Potter Wiki, is just the Harry Potter Wiki, no
clever name.
Separating the Author from their work
While J.K. Rowling is a professed Christian, but her books
often promote magic, a notion which has put her in hot water with some
communities.She is also considered
center left of politics, promoting gay marriage in Scotland when it was up for
referendum.
In late mid June
2020, Rowling made comments that read:
“If sex isn’t real,
the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people,
but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully
discuss their lives.”
Many individuals took the comments as being ‘Anti-Trans’ and
cruel to the community.The comment
seems to be in reference to the phrase ‘people who menstruate’, which is prescribed
to transgender men and non-binary individuals, and Rowling’s preference that
they be called women.Many groups found
this hurtful, including a many of the lead cast members of the Harry Potter
Films.She eventually returned her Robert F.
Kennedy Human Rights (RFKHR) Award after the award’s president
called her statement harmful.
Premise/world
The world of Harry Potter, also known as the Wizarding
World, depicts a version of our modern world that has a secondary magical
world layered underneath it.This world
depicts modern humans capable of magic, though keeping it secret from the rest
of the world.At one point, those
without magical abilities (Muggles) and Wizards lived together, but as fear and
persecution of wizards grew, the Wizarding community eventually went
underground.Much of their world is
hidden from public view, through enchantments, barriers, and manipulating
memories of those.While the story of
Harry Potter primarily takes place in Britain and the United Kingdoms, Wizards
and Witches come from all over the world, even in America.
The Wizarding World of Britain primarily centers on the
Ministry of Magic, led by the Minster of Magic, which enforces magical laws and structures, similar to the
Prime Minister or President for Wizards.Their job is to primarily manage magical laws and ensure that Muggles
don’t learn of the Wizarding World. While Muggles aren’t allowed to know, some
individuals in high political positions, Prime Ministers, etc, are aware of the
Wizarding World for security reasons.
Unlike the rest of the world however, the Wizarding World
does not keep up with modern technology.As an example, instead of pen and paper, the still use quill pens, ink,
and parchment.Most Wizards and Witches
have no greater understanding of modern technology, with some out right
despising it.Most magical areas
actually disrupt electricity, stopping them from working all together.While you can enchant electronic items to
work with magic, they often don’t take on the same characteristics.The Wizarding World itself is considered very
old fashioned, often still in the 1500s of technology.
Magic in the Harry Potter world is an inherent ability, and
while someone may have magical capability, most are not capable of Magic
without proper training and study.To
this end, Magical Schools exist throughout the world, including Hogwarts, which
acts as a traditional British Boarding school that takes in children throughout
the year.
Most magic requires a wand, which is specifically tailored
by a wand maker using various types of wood, but also magical cores, such as
Phoenix Feathers, Dragon Scales, and other mystical creature’s horns, hairs,
and even heartstrings.While magic is
possible without a wand, it is often less precise and powerful.Most magic requires the precise movement of
the wand, in conjunction with an incantation of Latin words that describe the
act.Wands themselves are described as
being quasi-sentient, often choosing their owner for themselves; a difficult
task for a wand maker is selling their wands to new students, who might have to
try out various wands.While a person
can use another person’s wand, the wand is often described as being
temperamental, and magic produced from it is often less powerful and less
precise.A wand can change its allegiance
though if the original owner is stunned, disarmed, or otherwise defeated or
even killed.Some spells are known to
damage or break wands, and as a result, damaged wands perform unexpectedly and
are prone to back firing.A broken wand
however cannot be fixed, and the owner will want to procure a new wand as a
result.
Some magic is available without magical skill, but are
commonly found in the magical world.This includes potions, alchemy, plants, and certainly creatures, which
include various dragons, unicorns, and other mystical creatures from around the
world.Entire studies and work goes in
to hiding magical creatures, as some people purely study various kinds of
animals.
Story
The story primarily follows Harry Potter and his friends as
they venture through Magical School over seven years, starting in 1991 until
1997.Each book covers a year of their
lives in the school, starting from age 10 until 17.The story itself is told from the first hand
experience of Harry Potter, so unless Harry Potter sees it or experiences, the
actions of other characters and events are left vague or unknown.
The story is well known for having lots of recurring
characters, however, the most common characters include:
Harry Potter
The lead character, he is the audience point of view
throughout the series, as also the character with the least amount of knowledge
of the Wizarding World.He is introduced
to it at 10 years of age, having learned he is apparently the one who defeated
Voldemort 10 years prior to the beginning of the story.He is easily distinguishable by his unkempt
brown hair which hides a thunderbolt scar left behind by Voldemort.He is described as being a so-so student, but
a strong sense of right and wrong, but always put in challenging situations
that lead to occasional mistakes.He
eventually comes the Head of Magical Law Enforcement for the Ministry of Magic.
Ron Weasley
Harry’s best friend, he comes for a large family of Wizards
and witches, each with orange, ginger like hair.Ron is often a comedic character, being
insensitive and immature, but is never the less loyal, strong, and occasionally
brave.He grows over the course of the
series to overcome his immaturity, eventually becoming a leader in his own right.He is described as a poor student, similar to
Harry Potter.He eventually comes to
marry Hermione, works with Harry as an Auror for a time, before working with
his older brother at the Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, a magical joke shop.
Hermoine Granger
Harry and Ron’s friend, she is a Muggle-Born witch, a witch
whose parents weren’t magical at all.She noted as being the smart one, with an encyclopedic knowledge of
magic and wizarding world.This often
comes off as a know it all, which greatly annoys everyone else.Much like Harry, who also didn’t come from
the Wizarding World, she often see the out-dated norms of magic and it’s
beliefs, and it likely the first to try and break or change them too.She eventually marries Ron Weasley and
becomes the Minster of Magic.
Albus Dumbledore
The Headmaster of Hogwarts, and a well accomplished Wizard
in the Wizarding World.He is considered
one of the most powerful wizards, but is also prone to eccentricity, gentle
humor, and unfailing kindness.He is
seen the kind elder statesmen in the franchise and a true hero to all his
students.He his death leaves a profound
loss on all those in the Wizarding World.While never directly expressed in the books, Rowling would later say
that Dumbledore was infact Gay, and harbored feelings for his rival, Gellert
Grindelwald.
Severus Snape
A teacher at Hogwarts, he is initially the Potions Master,
Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and eventually Headmaster of
Hogwarts.He is also head of House
Slytherin.He is a mysterious character
that appears to be up to no good and holds a deep disgust and hatred of Harry
Potter.His actions, while they would
appear to be against Harry Potter and his friends, are often in the end, to their
benefit, as he continues to aid the school and Harry Potter, much to his own
charging.
Voldemort
Originally born Tom Riddle, he rechristened himself Lord
Voldemort as he became the most feared and dangerous Dark Wizard of his
time.He is known for his having
survived at the hands of Harry Potter when he was a baby, but is eventually
revived by his legion of Death Eaters.While a gifted student in Hogwarts, his thirst power led to his seeking
immortality.He is the primary
antagonist of the series, with Death Eater sleeper agents all over the
Wizarding World.
Movie Adaptations
All seven books were eventually translated to movies, with
the final book ‘Deathly Hallow’ turned in to two parts.
While the movies are faithful to the books, they omit a
large number of background stories and characters, often omitting them due
limited run times of the movies, but also their impact on the story.As the first movies didn’t come out until
2001, after the first four books were released, it is hard to say what minor
elements from one book become a pivotal or important moment later on.
One example includes Rita Skeeter,
who is an important back ground character during the 4th book and
but minor appearance in later books, her role in the 4th movie is
nearly entirely cut out and never resolved, though she is often seen in the
background.
The movies also saw the relative growth of several child
actors over the course of 10 years of production, including Daniel Radcliffe,
Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, and Matthew Lewis, all of which have
continued in either Film, Tv, or Stage productions, trying to distance
themselves from their former Harry Potter Roles as much as possible.The lone exception being Emma Watson, who has
become full blown movie star.
