What's in a name: Harry Potter

I was searching the net last night about what my name means and its history, it came into my thoughts about what does the name "Harry" and "James" mean and where did they originated. So, I scan my favorite links (which I saved a couple of months ago) and I've looked to www.thinkbabynames.com

Now, viewing the pages, I've arrived on the Top 100 Baby Names for Boys in England and Wales (2005) and I found out these information:

Harry ranked 9th on the list (that's in Top 100 famous baby names for boys in England and Wales, year 2005) with +2 points higher than 2004 (meaning it gained two points more popular than year 2004).

On the other hand, James, Harry Potter's second name, which he got from his father, James Potter ranked 4th on the list (ranked the same on 2004).

I was concluding, do these names become more famous on the recent years because of the novels JK Rowling wrote? Or are those name just famous in Europe, particularly in England and Wales?

Let us compare the popularity of the names "Harry" and "James" on 7 major places in the world (shown here) by the year 2005.

The actor who played Harry Potter, Daniel Jacob Radcliffe has also common and popular names in England and Wales.

Daniel, ranked 6th with -1 popularity point compared to 2004, and Jacob, ranked 21st with +2 popularity points.

Why wouldn't you try your names? It's fun. You might have the most popular names in the world! :)

Ms. Rowling interviewed about Harry Potter

J.K. Rowling was featured on 60 Minutes at Yahoo! News, talking about the secret behind the boy wizard. To view the clips, click here.

Winners declared at the Vacaville Annual Harry Potter Trivia Competition

On our previous news blog last Sunday, October 22, 2006, the Vacaville Annual Harry Potter Trivia Competition was concluded with the annunciation of winners, Thursday.

The event was held at the Vacaville Performing Arts Theatre with more than 100 audience witnessing its seventh annual literacy show in Vacaville, CA.

Below are the names of the winners and their schools:

Elementary school

• Selena Brown, Alamo
• Tatijana Bowman, Notre Dame
• David Mederos, Cambridge
• Sonja Thrasher, Cambridge
• Kylie Timmerman, Markham
• Wyatt Dunham, Alamo
• Jared Rich, Alamo
• Julia Moffitt, Notre Dame
• Tanner Stuart, Browns Valley
• Christine Solomon, Markham

Middle to High school

• Patrick Garrison, Vaca Pena
• Davis Evans, Willis Jepson
• Lizzy Orfin, Vanden High
• Christine Salazar, Notre Dame
• Nate Farrey, Vaca Pena
• Ashley Sousa, Harvest Middle (Napa)
• Cassandra Jeffers, Vaca High
• Yessel Vergara, Vaca Pena
• Katelyn Morris, Willis Jepson
• Carly Courtney, C.A. Jacobs

Imaginative costume contest

• Jillian Loustaunau, Vaca High
• Davis Evans, Willis Jepson, and Colin Evans, Browns Valley
• Patrick Garrison, Vaca Pena
• Ian Kitamura, Cooper
• Selena Brown, Alamo
• Cameron Bailey, Alamo
• Kayla Birch, Cambridge
• Sonja Thrasher, Cambridge
• Nick Palacios, Cambridge
• Cassidy Horn (not yet in school).


On photo: Josh Ingersoll, 10, of Vacaville, dressed in his best Quidditch uniform, participates in Thursday's Harry Potter Competition at the Vacaville Performing Arts Theatre. Credits from: Brad Zweerinkof The Reporter.

Harry Potter Yummy Treats for Halloween

To celebrate "Chocolate Day (October 28)" and the upcoming Halloween, we present to you (3) three treats that you can prepare for the party: there's appetiser, desserts, and drinks...

Have Fun!


Moomba Pumpkin Tuna Chowder (recipe from www(dot)globalpinoy(dot)com)


Ingredients:

1/4 cup Magnolia Gold butter
1/2 cup sliced white onions
2 cans 184g Century Tuna solid or chunks
1 can 290 g Campbells cream of mushroom soup
2 1/2 cups milk
1 cup cooked and mashed pumpkin (squash)
1/2 tsp. each of salt and pepper
1/2 cup cooked bacon
5 bread bowls from French Baker - sliced one inch from the top, scoop out center leaving a 1-inch "wall" at the sides and base of bread

(Cooking Procedure):

1. In a deep soup pan, add butter and onions and cook until soft. Add tuna and cook for 2 minutes.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients (except bacon and bread). Stir until boiling.
3. Pour unto bread bowls. Top with bacon. Garnish with parsley or chopped spring onions.

for more recipes, visit globalpinoy.com


Madam Beatricia's Choco Graham Cookies (recipe from our dear friend, Ms. Bea Agrito from General Santos City, the Philippines)


Ingredients:

2 packs Graham Crackers
1 pack unsweetened cocoa powder
½ butter (preferable Magnolia Gold)
1 can condensed milk
1 cup chocolate chips, colored candy sprinkles or marshmallow tidbits (for toppings)

Packaging / Presentation materials:
Small paper cups (colored orange and black for Halloween touch)
-or-
Black (any color may do) Parchment paper for wrapping or food wrap and ribbons for trick-or-treat giveaways


Cooking Procedures:

1) Crash your graham crackers (not so fine) and set aside.

2) Melt your butter on a pan by pressing it, then add up the condensed milk and the unsweetened cocoa powder.

3) After the ingredients on #2 are mixed together, turn on your stove and continue to stir for about 8 minutes.

4) After 8 minutes (or until the ingredients start to give sweet aroma), turn of your stove.

5)Pour your crashed graham crackers on the liquid ingredient and mix them together.

6) Before the mixture starts to harden, add your chocolate chips or colored candy sprinkles and continue stirring.

7) Use a spoon or an ice cream scoop to place the mixture on a paper cup.

8) After scooping the ingredients, place on a tray and top each cookie with marshmallow tidbits (or you can put a pinch of powered sugar for a touch up).

9) Refrigerate for about an hour or two or until the party begins and serve.

10) It’s up to you how to decorate the sides for a Halloween-y atmosphere.

11) Enjoy!


Reminders for kids:

- Ask for help from your parents when cooking, and also with using sharp pointed objects like kitchen knives, can and bottle opener and forks. Safety First, Trick-or-Treaters!!! :)



Señor Felipe's version of Butterbeer (recipe from Philip Andrew Mayol, BTBE BlogMaster)



Ingredients:


1 can of your favorite soda or cola (preferably rootbeer for a stingy taste)
1 pint of vanilla ice cream
mint candy sprinkles

Packaging / Presentation Material:
Bendable and Retractable straw (color black for Halloween-y touch)
Your favorite party mug


Preparation Procedures:

1) Pour 3/4 of your soda on a mug (or any measurement as long as liquid won't overflow when you scoop in the ice cream -which is next-)

2) Scoop a vanilla ice cream on top of the soda

3) Sprinkle with mint candy flakes/sprinkles

4) Put straw, and whallah!!!

-or-

Instead of vanilla ice cream, you can subsitute a powdered milk to it.

1) Pour 3/4 of your soda on a mug (or any measurement as long as liquid won't overflow)

2) Put a spoon of your favorite powdered milk (this sure will make an overflow!)

*milk will bubble up when mixed with carbonated liquid. :)

3) Add mint candy sprinkles

4) Put straw and enjoy a second version of Butterbeer!

Round up the ghosts!!! Call the Bloody Baron or the Fat Friar... Invite Peeves over or Moaning Myrtle... And celebrate a Potterish Halloween this year! Enjoy! (,'')

Download Printable version of the recipes.

The Hogwarts Houses Talisman Wallpapers at BTBE! Downloads Corner

The Talisman are the four animals that symbolize the houses of Hogwarts. These four new wallpapers embody the four symbols. To view the wallpaper that you could grab for free, click here or visit our Downloads Corner.

We hope you enjoy them!

Question: "Is there such thing as Harry Potter Trivia Tournament?"

Answer: There is.

Students from elementary, middle and high school will compete on Thursday, 27th October 2006, for the Vacaville Public Library and Ulatis Center for Vacaville's Seventh Annual Harry Potter Trivia Tournament.

Eight contestants will fight against each other for the Trivia Tournament under the elementary category and 31 students from the middle and high school category.

Second-grade and sixth-grade students will set themselves into test considering questions from the first three Harry Potter books of JK Rowling, and seventh-graders to high school will asked on fourth to sixth books.

The Annual Harry Potter Trivia Tournament is free but the Public Library is requiring contestants and audience tickets for admission which is still available.

Good luck to the contestants.

For more details about this event, contact the Vacaville Public Library at 449-6290. (This information does not apply to non-Vacaville residents, unless you are there right now).

Literary aficionados unwrap Landmark in honor to Harry Potter's birthplace

"JK Rowling wrote some of the early chapters of Harry Potter in the rooms on the first floor of this building."

The words that were engraved on a granite plaque (with 41-year-old JK Rowling's picture) installed outside the place that was believed to be Harry Potter's birthplace.

Outside the old Nicholson's cafe, where Ms. Rowling started to scribble her then unknown Harry Potter stories on a tissue paper, now become one of the leaders of the literary legends in the world.

The said dedicatory artifact was assembled outside the Black Medicine Coffee Company shop. But originally, it was in the space above the present day shop, which is now a Chinese buffet restaurant, where Rowling initiated it all.

Robert Wall, a literary enthusiast and Alison Bowden, Unesco City of Literature Trust unveiled the said plaque.

For more details about the news, click here.

Potter book reading is character building

Little Ruaridh Blackett, age 5 of the Newton Primary School, dressed up as Harry Potter, in celebration of the National Children's Book Week.

The book character costume activity aimed to promote fun and enjoyment of books, as well as to inspire children (age three to eleven, who majorly where there during the event) to spend their time reading books. Teachers and faculty members of the Primary school joined in, too. They dressed up in fairies, pirates, ghosts and many others.

Library service Head Angela Fitzpatrick dropped by each classroom to do story-reading and that made a hit for kids to enjoy more on dressing up their favorite book characters. The Carlisle Library also planned to have a Library visit to acquiant pupils on how many kinds of books are there, available to read and encourage them to be a Library member.

Maggie Robinson, the Newton Primary School Governor will judge the kids on their costumes and winners will be awarded brand new books.

Photo credits: Louise Porter of the CarlislePictures.

Order of the Phoenix movie trailer shows up Nov. 17!

From the Warner Bros newsletter, it says, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie trailer will be released November 17, 2006 on cinemas, taking a pre-featured slot for Happy Feet, a Warner Bros. animated movie (of penguins dancing... and with a great song!).

The 5th Harry Potter movie Logo (on right) was posted recently on the internet, is sure to surprise HP fans and moviegoers on the movie trailer with its silvery, scary and edgy look.

: INFO CLIP :
Moreover, what really is the best of movie trailers? Well, read info about movie trailer (what it really is and how to create one) according to wikipedia.org.

: AWARDS for Harry Potter movie trailers :
Harry Potter movie trailers received awards and nominations from Golden Trailer Awards (I don't know if you guys know this or you've been neglecting the deeper significance of movie trailers lately *grins*, not until you read the wikipedia). Here are the list of awards and nominations of Harry Potter movies:

3rd Annual Golden Trailer Awards

Category: Best Animation/Family
Winner: Monsters Inc. (Buena Vista) CMP/West
Nominees:
E.T. ?The Extra-terrestrial (MCA/Universal) The Ant Farm
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Warner Brothers) The Ant Farm/Imaginary Forces
The Princess Diaries (Buena Vista/Walt Disney) Craig Murray Productions
Waking Life (20th Century Fox/Fox Searchlight Pictures) New Wave Entertainment

4th Annual Golden Trailer Awards

Category: Best Family/Animation
Winner: Spirited Away (Walt Disney Pictures) Global Doghouse Inc.
Nominees:
Lilo & Stitch (Walt Disney Pictures) Craig Murray Productions
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Warner Bros.) The Ant Farm
Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (Dimension Films) The Ant Farm
Stuart Little 2 (Columbia Pictures) Aspect Ratio

5th Annual Golden Trailer Awards on May 25th, 2004

Category: Best Animation/Family
Winner: Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban, Warner Bros., Mojo
Nominees:
Finding Nemo, Walt Disney Studios, Craig Murray Prods
Miracle 'Hopes', Walt Disney/Buena Vista, Craig Murray Prods
Scooby Doo 2, Warner Bros., BLT:A/V
Secondhand Lions, New Line Cinema, The Ant Farm
Shrek 2, DreamWorks SKG, The Ant Farm

Category: Summer 2004 Blockbuster
The Stepford Wives, Paramount Pictures, Imaginary Forces/Giaronomo
Nominees:
*Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban, Warner Bros., Mojo
*Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban, Warner Bros., Ant Farm
I, Robot, 20th Century Fox, Trailer Park
Spiderman 2, Sony Pictures, Giaronomo Productions
Troy: Greatest War, Warner Bros., BLT:A/V
*(maybe because they were 2 PoA movie trailers that were good and both got nominated on the same category? dunno...)

Category: Best of Show
The Stepford Wives, Paramount Pictures, Imaginary Forces/Giaronomo
Nominees:
Elephant, Fine Line Features/HBO Films, Alkemi Ent.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Focus Features, Mojo
Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban, Warner Bros., Mojo
Kill Bill Teaser 1, Miramax Films, The Ant Farm
Spiderman 2, Sony Pictures, Giaronomo Productions

6th Annual Golden Trailer Awards on May 26th, 2005

Category: Best Music
Winner: Garden State (Trailer), Fox Searchlight, Mark Woollen & Assoc.
Nominees:
Million Dollar Baby, Warner Bros., The Cimarron Group
Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban: "Dark", Warner Bros., Mojo
House of Flying Daggers, Pathé, Empire Design
Ocean's Twelve: The Guys, Warner Bros., CMP West

7th Annual Golden Trailer Awards on June 1st, 2006

Category: Best Animation/Family
Winner: Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire, Warner Bros., The Ant Farm
Nominees:
Cars, Walt Disney Pictures, Trailer Park
Chicken Little, Walt Disney Pictures, CMP
A Scanner Darkly, Warner Independent, Hammer Creative

Can Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix make it on the 8th Golden Trailer Award?
See the OotP trailer on November 17 and be the judge!

It's made of what?!

Imagine how huge it would be with 15 gallons of glue, half a million matchsticks and 3 years of back pains just to build a perfect replica of the famous wizard school in the world? It would need a hundred wizards (and Dumbledore) to finish it all up!

You mean, Hogwarts? They make themselves their own version of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with matchsticks?

This is mental!

Well, but it's true. A muggle newspaper tells it so. To see the whole story (a Muggle called Dave Masters wrote it), flick your wands here and see it for yourself. If you’re not contented with what the Sun (I guess that’s what non-magical people call their paper) tells about it, you can check the 6-piece image slideshow.

Jobs @ HP Portico

Are you a Harry Potter fan?

If you are, join now and be one of the staffs of Behind The Blue Eyes! Harry Potter Portico website at www.hp-portico.blogspot.com, redirected through www.hpportico.ph.tc

Successful applicants (13-25 y.o., male or female, loves to write, Filipino; pure-blood or less as long as you reside in the primary cities in the Philippines, a fan of the Harry Potter movies, actors, and the like) will get 5 collector's item Harry Potter stickers from Panini (Made in Italy). For a Limited time only!

We do not necessarily require applicants to have English as their first tongue, as long as he/she is grammar-check-spelling-check-wise, you're ON!!!

Harry Potter Portico is the first current-running online Harry Potter Blogsite in the Philippines.

email the BlogMaster at idolkosiharrypotter@yahoo.com

Nox!

A suburban county woman wishes Harry Potter books removed from school libraries

A mother of four, Laura Mallory said to a hearing officer for Gwinnett County Board of Education, that the Harry Potter novels attempt to instruct young children to religion called, Wicca.

If schools were to get rid all books having the reference to witches, they would have to ban Macbeth and Cinderella, said Victoria Sweeny, Board of Education Attorney.

"There's a mountain of evidence for keeping Harry Potter," she said, adding that the [Harry Potter] books don't support any particular religion but present instead general themes of good relations and conquering hardships.

Notes from Wikipedia.org on Wicca in popular fiction:

While The Craft, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Charmed contain references to Wicca, these are dramatic fiction and should not be taken as factual. These films and shows are produced simply for entertainment value and, for the most part, do not reflect the beliefs or practices of most Pagans/Wiccans. Cate Tiernan has also written a series of books called 'Sweep' which tell the tale of a teenaged girl named Morgan who discovers she has a natural aptitude for witchcraft. Again, these books are written for entertainment, and have little or no bearing on actual Wiccan practices.

Cornelius Fudge is expert in longbow (?)

It was said on a news that a Harry Potter character took a weekend off, and it was the Prime Minister Cornelius Fudge. He was one of the guest key speakers for a big Medieval Conference in London(?)

...just to have it a teaser *grins*...

Robert Hardy, who played the role of Fudge in the Harry Potter movies, will be one of the speakers for the said activity. Mr Hardy is a Trustee of the Royal Armouries at the Tower of London, and the Mary Rose Trust and recently have a book published on the proper use of the longbow.

The said conference will take place on October 28 and 29, this year at T. Peacocke College.

Remembering Richard Harris (1930-2002)

From his humble beginnings at Limerick, in Ireland, Richard [St. John] Harris overpowered the stage plays, then the screen and became one of those celebrated actors of the time. Fans are carried away by his adventurous world and his off-screen journey. He was a big star until his death in 2002 caused by hodgkin’s disease.

We look back with enormous affection to the 60s and 70s, the time when movie stars could carry Oscar-nominated performances during work and wrap up the day with hard liquor and celebrity parties. These motion picture “giant” icons, like Richard Harris, were brilliant and alluring. Though topped by other actors during his time, Richard Harris could still show off a surprising side of his successful career. He remained a megastar in Hollywood at the age of 60.

He was honored two (2) Oscar nominations (36th Oscars, Performance by an Actor, This Sporting Life, 1963; 63rd Oscars, Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, The Field, 1990) one (1) BAFTA, one (1) Emmy nomination (TV Drama, The Snow Goose, 1971), and a Golden Globe win (Best Actor in a Leading Role-Musical or Comedy, Camelot, 1967)

He had starred in 75 movies and television productions including his first ever This Sporting Life (1958), where he won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival. To name the few of his other films, the Gladiator (2000), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), as he portrayed the role of a sympathetic wizard Albus Dumbledore, gave him a wondrous acclamation and an extended young legion of fans.

He was born 1st October 1930.

Sir Richard Harris, we truly miss.

OotP sets for wide-screen on 13 July 2007; 5th Potter book sold 7 million copies in UK and US during release date

The 5th book of the world-renowed series of JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, said to be showing on the 13th July 2007, according to Warner Bros., on 6th April 2006.

Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who played the title role Harry Potter for the last four films signed to take the Potter act once again on this great, spectacular movie for next year. Along with Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) and Ronald Weasley (Rupert Grint), and its new director David Yates (The Girl in the Café) started filming OotP on February [2006].




Book Cover designed by Mary GrandPré

With addition to the franchise, the book with the same title, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix already been sold to 7 million copies both from the United Kingdom and the United States on the date of release. It was said so, 13th of July 2003 (released on a Saturday so that students with Harry's age would not skip school just to have the copy; read news for details) in Canada, Australia, United States and the United Kingdom. It has 35 chapters with about 255,000 words long.

JK Rowling planned for seven Harry Potter books. The sixth of the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was already released on July 15, 2005.

Wizarding Card of the Moment: Harry Potter

The only child of James and Lily Potter, with whom he shares many distinct characteristics, most notably James' untidy black hair and Lily's green eyes.

It is also revealed later that he gets his cheekiness from his mother.

He was born on 31 July 1980. He achieved fame at the age of one when Lord Voldemort, the most feared wizard in the world, attacked his home, murdering his parents but failing to kill him, though leaving him with his instantly recognisable lightning-shaped scar. In the attempt, Voldemort was ripped from his body by his own backfiring Killing Curse. Harry's survival was shown later to be a result of his mother's love from him, and the fact that she died to save him.

At Hogwarts, Harry has shown himself to be a gifted wizard, excelling both at Defence Against the Dark Arts and Quidditch, along with being recognised as a capable leader within his house, Gryffindor, and the school in general. Despite his best attempts, he has been unable to downplay his fame and his inability to do so has at times been a source of great frustration to him, making him the target of unwanted media attention, rumours, gawking (chiefly at his scar) and the ire of professors and classmates alike. However, despite all external pressures, he remains overall courageous, noble, and high-minded, though at times these qualities have been shown to negatively manifest themselves in what Hermione Granger termed his "saving-people thing".

He is best friends with Ron Weasley and Hermione, and his enemies are Lord Voldemort, Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy. - www.wikipedia.org

Harry Potter is in at the Guinness World Records

The 4th instalment of the JK Rowling novels, the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire made it to the Guinness World Records.

It received the "Most Advanced Orders and the Largest First-Run Print", HPGoF (DVD cover presented on the right) had recorded advanced orders of 5.3 million copies from around the world. The Goblet of Fire book also holds the record for the largest first-run print with 4.8 million copies, of which 3.8 million were printed in the United States of America (40 times as many as an average best-seller book item) and 1 million in the United Kingdom.

The DVD movie franchise of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire which was featured in cinemas November 18, 2005, sold over 5 million copies on release in the US, March of 2006, and unbelievably, more than six copies per second sold when it went on sale in the UK later that month. This makes it the FASTING-SELLING DVD EVER beating "Shrek 2" and "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace".

Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who played the lead role, was presented with the certificate that accompanies the award at Leavesden Studios in April this year. A photo, and a few comments from Dan will appear in the 2007 Guinness Book of World Records. The book will be on the bookshelves of your favorite stores, later this year.

Harry Potter Portico: Now Open!!!

Welcome to the new sublink of Behind The Blue Eyes!

The Entrance Hall has been opened...

Come in into the Harry Potter Portico!

This is where all it started, when Daniel Radcliffe triumphantly got the role of the most famous character in the history of children's literature: Harry Potter.

Since, we, Daniel Radcliffe fans around the world, are very thankful (and still we are now for more than 5 years of seeing him grow in the HP movies) for making Harry Potter into life, "Behind The Blue Eyes!" opens its other link, called, Harry Potter Portico.

The feeling is like inside Hogwarts School, where Harry Potter attends his magical studies. Here, you can encounter crafts from wizards and muggles (non-magical folks) or to any sort...

Imagine the first day of school and Mr. Filch opens the huge wooden door of the castle and Professor McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress (well, not until after the 6th book) leads you to the warmly and enchanting Entrance Hall to start the year.

Old students are all excited seeing friends again from summer, and meeting new faces sorted by the Sorting Hat to the four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

Now, I hope you all enjoy your stay here at the Harry Potter Portico, where you can see things to download, news and updates about the Harry Potter movies, actors and the book.

Wait, the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore is about to cling the glass... You can sit here next to me and the sorting will begin...

"Tuck in!" - Prof. Albus Dumbledore

P.S.
Thanks a lot to J.K. Rowling!