Rowling Celebrated for Heroism on ‘National Transgender Day of Visibility’

March 31, 2026 by Leave a Comment

The last day of March, the day before April Fools, is now set aside as ‘National Transgender Day of Visibility.’ This year the Supreme Court of the United States marked 31 March with a near unanimous decision in Chiles vs Salazar (!) that a Colorado law which forbade so-called “conversion therapy” was unconstitutional; Kaley Chiles, a Christian counselor in the Rocky Mountain state is again free to “help gender-confused children become comfortable with their own bodies instead of pursuing irreversible transgender medical procedures.”

On the same day, Megan Brock posted ‘She Spoke Out On Gender Ideology And Became A Global Target: Transgender Day of Visibility is a perfect day to celebrate a real woman: J.K. Rowling‘ at The Daily Wire. Brock reviewed the history of Rowling’s courageous stand against TRAs and Gender Ideology Extremists. She placed special emphasis on the 2020 essay that created both an avalanche of nonsense about the Harry Potter author being “transphobic” and the cancellation of anyone and everyone in Rowling Studies who took the same position. Brock concludes her ‘Trans Day of Visibility’ post this way: [Read more…]

Filed Under: HBO+ TV Adaptation, Hog Pro Notes

Scene by Scene Breakdown of HBO+ Harry Potter TV Trailer: What it All Means

March 27, 2026 by Leave a Comment

On 25 March, HBO+ released their trailer for the teevee adaptation of the Harry Potter novels in conjunction with J. K. Rowling’s Bronte Studios and with the author as an Executive Producer. Within hours, the Super Carlin Brothers had a ‘scene by scene breakdown’ of the very brief trailer up on YouTube for their 2.3 million subscribers to enjoy.

Is there anything a Rowling Reader and Potter-phile has to know in this pains-taking guide? Maybe not — but it sure was fun ‘seeing’ all the detail in each scene, details that only stop-action examination under a microscope reveals. The camp Carlin Brothers schtick gets old fast, but his enthusiasm and love of the books radiates off the man. Delightful.

Which is not to mention his great vintage silk jacket that the Gryffindor baseball team’s relief pitcher would have worn in the 50s as he walked to the mound from the outfield bullpen.

What has me excited about this video is what it reflects about the Harry Potter fandom’s excitement about this new adaptation.

If the Super Carlin Brothers first video is any indication, we’re right back in the era of Potter Mania, midnight book releases, and CinePlex madness. No comments about the radioactive author’s supposed ‘transphobic’ beliefs (on a day when she is both doing a victory lap on twixter after the IOC decision to preserve women’s sports as well as cursing those who cursed her and bent the knee in 2024). No calls for a boycott because Rowling is “literally killing people.” Nothing but the joy of re-entering a beloved story in a new medium and a fresh, closer-to-the-books perspective.

Expect nine months of this kind of fandom enthusiasm with the released-at-Christmas due date causing the largest of all Advent Calendar rolling on for nine months (with the inevitable priming of the hype-pump by HBO+ in every month).

Will the Kill Joy TRAs and Gender Theory Extremists wave their torches and pitchforks? Count on it.

Will anyone outside of the Old Guard Fandom Gate Keepers care? I doubt it. We certainly won’t.

I’ll be writing a Harry Potter for Grown-Ups: Philosopher’s Stone over at the Substack site which will be sent to Paid Subscribers every month; the real codex and eBook editions will be ready for Die-Hard Generation Hex fans that grew up with the novels and now have children themselves to buy for Christmas, a text with all the things we’ve learned about Rowling since the publication of Deathly Hallows in 2007.

Accio, 25 December!

Here’s another trailer breakdown if you doubt the true fandom is thrilled about the teevee adaptation:

Filed Under: HBO+ TV Adaptation

HBO+ Harry Potter Trailer Released

March 26, 2026 by 1 Comment

Read the BBC article here. Three notes on the morning of release:

(1) It’s Beautiful. I’m thrilled. It’s been almost a quarter century since the film adaptations were made and it shows in the quality of the production. The Dursley scenes that were cartoonish in the Warner Brothers version of Stone here are haunting, hurtful, borderline horror. I think credit for this greater sensitivity to the text’s weight is due as least as much to the participation of the author and her film company, Bronte Studios, in this adaptation. If the shows are of the same brilliance as this teaser trailer, we are in for a delightful renaissance in Harry Potter fascination and study. Three Cheers!

(2) Note the Day of Release. As a maven on the Moderator Backchannels noted this morning, the trailer has been released on the western Feast Day of the Annunciation and the show will begin its run on Christmas Day. I struggle to think how the producers, marketers, and copyright holder could have signaled any more clearly the Christian content and the intentional transformational artistry of these stories.

(3) The Acting. I confess to being excited about having the faces of Daniel, Emma, and Rupert unfortunately imprinted on my imagination supplanted by the new child actors — and the new Dursleys being properly blonde! It’s only a two minute trailer but the little shown suggests that these child actors and the production’s decision makers might make the film adaptations of yesteryear an embarrassing memory soon.

Please share your first impressions in the comment boxes below!

A Shot by Shot Comparison of the Two Video Adaptations of the First Book

 

Filed Under: HBO+ TV Adaptation

If Elizabeth Goudge had Written Harry Potter, the Films Would Have Been Great

March 12, 2026 by 3 Comments

Watch the AI generated trailers below to see the brilliant Golden Age stars who could have played the key roles:

Filed Under: Movie Thoughts

Sleep Tight, Evangeline – Title Release for Strike 9

February 13, 2026 by 10 Comments

As a wonderful surprise for Friday the 13th, not only has J. K. Rowling met the team from StrikeFans.com, she has shared with both them and now us, the title of Strike 9 – Sleep Tight, Evangeline. A quick google search reveals that this is the title of song and album from Whiskey Shambles, who are described as “pitch dark ultra-blues” and “RL Burnside and Black Sabbath jamming with Nina Simone in a burned-out rum shack…”

The Whiskey Shambles refuse to accept the constraints of the narrow opinions of how a blues band should sound. Their prime objective is to steal your heart, melt your face, and make you feel alive. With backgrounds steeped in the traditions of the Delta to the hallowed opera stage, they are just as likely to call up the darkness with a murder ballad as they are to take you to church.

 The lyrics for the tune and a Whiskey Shambles performance:


I live the closest dreams, when I’m lying broken, and done for.

I live the closest dreams, when I’m dying, choking, and dead for . . .

Sleep tight, Evangeline. I’ll see you in my dreams

When I’m lying broken, and done for.

Sleep tight, Evangeline. I’ll be there in your dream

when I’m dying, choking, and dead for you.

The trademark for “Sleep Tight, Evangeline” was registered in 2023 (almost certainly by a J. K. Rowling cut-out) and the album was released in November 2025, which makes this album an unlikely source for the book title, but…

The band are followed by J. K. Rowling on Twitter, and they have been playing the song Sleep Tight, Evangeline, at least since 2014. It seems possible, and I would argue likely, that permission was sought and gained from Whiskey Shambles to use the title in 2023. The band, realising the huge publicity potential, releases an album with that title in 2025 prior to the book release, their first album in more than ten years.

Other Likely Inspirations for the Title

The Longfellow Poem:

John Granger found that: The name Evangeline was first popularised in the 19th century by the poem “Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie” written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poem tells the story of a young woman named Evangeline who is separated from her true love during the forced deportation of the Acadians from Nova Scotia. The poem was incredibly popular in its time and helped to establish the name Evangeline as a classic and romantic choice for baby girls.

Musical Inspiration:

Evangeline is most famous in popular music as a song by The Band.

Emmy Lou Harris recorded the song and titled the album Evangeline.

 

Filed Under: Cormoran Strike