In 2005, I had the great pleasure of presenting at the Witching Hour in Salem, MA. It was my first national Harry Potter Conference. I loved the sessions I attended, though I was quite baffled by one item on the program: Quidditch. How, I thought, can they play Quidditch without flying? I was really interested in seeing this spectacle, and sorely disappointed when torrential rain cancelled the outdoor events. Since then, I have been delighted to see Quidditch played at other events, including Infinitus and Leaky-Con 2011. This wonderful, wacky, wizarding sport has grown beyond being a convention conversation piece, and the International Quidditch Association is seeking greater recognition, regulation, and revenue. Check out this great article on the growing legitimacy of Quidditch, and then share your Quidditch thoughts! Do you play or watch? Or, like me, do you just explain any injury you may be sporting as the result of a rough Quidditch match?
H/t to James and my college colleague John (who was asking today if I could hide my broom and wand in my graduation regalia).
Welcome back! HogwartsProfessor and our sister-site TheHogsHead went down yesterday for technical reasons I do not understand and cannot explain — but a very big “Thank you!” to the folks behind the curtain that brought us back up so promptly. Today’s news: Harry Potter in Japan!
I confess to having been surprised when Universal Studios announced that they were going to be opening a Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Hollywood; dinosaur that I am, I imagined that landmarks were associated with one place, something like Mt. Rushmore and the Dakotas and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. You traveled to that place to see the landmark.
Not, apparently, when the landmark can be reproduced fairly easily (albeit with hundreds of millions of dollars) and make a lot of money (as in many more millions of dollars annually). Now we learn that not only will North America be bracketed by Wizarding World parks with rides in Florida and California but the Pacific Ocean will be as well with Universal Studios Harry Potter destinations on the ‘west’ (far east?) coast in Japan and in Hollywood on the east coast. Read all about the new Japanese park in the L.A. Times. (Hat tip, James!)
And soon the Wizarding Worlds will staddle the whole Muggle globe as well, with Universal Studios theme parks in “South Korea, Dubai, and Russia.” The push-for-parks seems to be tied to a drop in conventional toy and accessory sales for Warner Brothers’ marketing division: [click to continue…]
