And its premiere is in Spokane, Washington! Arabella, please send us a full report!
Okay, this isn’t exactly a HogPro-type subject, Wizard Rock bands not fitting neatly into the “Serious Reader” pigeonhole, but you all are in recovery from your Easter indulgences and travel, so we’ll get to the Grand Inquisitor/High Inquisitor links, to book reviews, and to Artemis Fowl beginning tomorrow. I met the twin towers who made this “wrockumentary” in Las Vegas at Lumos 2006. I was autographing books in a small booth with the Rev. Francis Bridger and they asked me if I would answer some questions about the meaning of the music in Harry Potter for their documentary. Sure; why not?
The whole thing took maybe twenty minutes and certainly didn’t make the final cut. But it was one of the more surreal moments of my Harry Potter/Walter Mitty existence. Oxbridge Don and Clergyman seated to my right, drop-dead tall and beautiful women dressed for the climate in Nevada in July kneeling on my left, and the one with a microphone discussing with me at length and depth what Albus Dumbledore meant in his remarks at Harry’s Sorting Feast. Y’know, about the magic of music, all in light of what we know about Ms. Rowling’s idea of magic and the use of music in her stories….
When they left, I asked Rev. Bridger if what I thought had just happened really happened. He thought that if I had told him the story and he hadn’t seen it himself, he would have assumed I was trying to amuse him with a story illustrating the variety of Fandom Experiences — a story entirely fictional, of course.
Here, though, is proof that the Wrockumentary interview wasn’t a Mitty-esque daydream on my part. Coming to a theatre near you!
I thought this might be a good place to leave this website about the serious study of the Harry Potter series in colleges. Our beloved John Granger is mentioned so take a look: http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/03/25/cnnu.potter/index.html
Wow, Spokane wrocks!
There was a Deathly Hallows WizRock release party at the Tinman Gallery here which I didn’t attend, but thought would be fun. I didn’t know this was such a serious thing going.
I may not be able to attend the midnight premiere, but can certainly attend the daytime one at the library. I’ll take pix and write it up for you. And no green feather pen.
What a great idea, that they interviewed you, John. You got some respect! I’d not thought of exploring the music theme in HP before and it’s an interesting idea. I’ll have to contact them and find out more.
I just put on an old Carly Simon CD and Fullatricks attacked the speaker (true story of a former cat)…
I was interviewed at Penn (Enlightening 2007) by this film crew. Another cutting room floor I met!
I was (quite pleasantly) surprised to see you on my Order of the Phoenix DVD.
What a pleasant surprise to read about the two young women behind the music documentary (their credentials are quite impressive). I didn’t have a clue Wizard Rock was so gi-normous and growing by leaps and bounds.
As a student of intercultural communication (Class of ’06), I find this aspect of Potterdom to be a fascinating take on how other HP fans have interpreted the texts and personalized their responses to bring about a new musically-based communication genre. I have not checked the course catalog lately, but I hope someone in the Psychology, Sociology, or Speech Communication departments at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale jumps on the Harry Potter bandwagon and develops similar HP-related courses.
I’m looking forward to your report, Arabella.
Pj, with musical tastes leaning toward Big Band, 50’s swing, contemporary Christian, and easy-listening (not to be confused with being an easy listener…I prefer to be on the more verbal side of conversations!)
Speaking of Wrocking and Wrowling, are you still thinking about that HogPro conference this summer, John? Is it in the planning stages or only the wishful one?
Thudders’ wish is my command, whether I like it or not…
I am going to say something that most people may find shocking if they even know of the band. Ozzy Osborne, when he was with the band Black Sabbath, actually had many lyrics which profoundly endorsed Christian themes and love. He wrote most of the songs for the band and for his own solo career. If you do not beleive me, go to lyrics.com and look them up. You will be surprised. P.S. Black Sabbath, the name, was based on the movie about the vampire Dracula from the 60’s. They were young and goofy when they chose the name and have regretted it since. The original name for the band was Earth and they were heavily into the blues, and really always were. He is British, middle class and he has been doing what British Lit folks have been doing for years, writing Christian themes into their art.
He is the JKR of Rock and Roll!