Just got thinking about why, in the Potterverse, technology from electromechanics on up goes cattywumpus around magic, and I got thinking about Clarke's Third Law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Remember, Thomas Edison was called the "Wizard of Menlo Park," and Nikola Tesla was not very far behind in jaw dropping wondrous devices.
IT might just be the sheer amount of basic magical forces at work in even the simplest mass-produced trinket. Because of the magical laws of Similarity and Contagion, any common electronic device is the same as any other from the same factory... rather, every gadget from the same batch is one big gestalt item. Thus, as magic tries to interact with transistor radio A, it also interacts with the seventy thousand other similar ones elsewhere in the world, overloading the one in closest proximity to magic. Then, of course, you add in the fact that each microchip is really several hundred identical switches...
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

I am gross and perverted
I'm obsessed and deranged
I have existed for years
But very little has changed
I'm the tool of the Government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you
I may be vile and pernicious
But you can't look away
I make you think I'm delicious
With the stuff that I say
I'm the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I'm the slime oozing out
From your TV set
You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't go for help . . . no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold
That's right, folks . . .
Don't touch that dial
Well, I am the slime from your video
Oozing along on your living room floor
I am the slime from your video
Can't stop the slime, people, look at me go
I am the slime from your video
Oozing along on your living room floor
I am the slime from your video
Can't stop the slime, people, look at me go
-- Frank Zappa, I Am The Slime

Well, I finally tossed out the beginning of a fanfic that I am working on... Comments appreciated.
www.livejournal.com/users/balentius/
(I'm still new to this "livejournal" thing, so I don't have a link to the specific entry, but there is only 2 entries at this point so it should be easy to find.)

This is what happens when a frustrated graphic designer armed with a copy of Adobe InDesign gets bored:
fnord.sandwich.net/dw2/dw2.pdf (1.5 MB)
This is a printable version of DW2's first ten chapters, all nicely laid out and formatted for 5.5"x8.5" pages - about the same size as a trade paperback or hardcover. 352pp. I figure the final pagecount will be around 550pp once I get the last five parts formatted and placed.
So far, I think it looks pretty good. The copyright/credit pages are going to kick my ass by the time I'm done, though. Especially the song credits. Oy. %P---
Mr. Fnord, interdimensional man of mystery.
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

... if you mixed Eyrie Productions, flash animation, and a lot of heavy drugs?
This.

-- Bob
---------
It's a "magical" land. I think "magical" is ancient Greek for "pain in the butt". -- Bun-Bun, Sluggy Freelance, 11/9/03

"Martius/Nauticus II" from Be by Pain of Salvation.
Length: 6:41
[Martius]
I'm at the line - I see it all
I am Nauticus now
And so much more
I am all you know
I'm at the line - just at the line
An eternity at the blink of an eye
In this place called time
I'm everything
Everywhere
I am all
Omni
"BE"
[Nauticus II]
I feel every mountain
I hear every tree
I know every ocean
I taste every sea (...)
I see every spring arrive
I see every summer thrive
I see every autumn keep
I see every winter sleep (...)
For I am every forest
I am every tree
I am everything
I am you and me
I am every ocean
I am every sea
I am all the breathing "BE"
Effect:
For the duration of the song, Doug knows the thoughts and feelings of EVERYTHING. Due to the insane sensory input, he would most likely be incapacitated during the song.
However, if Doug has heard the rest of the album, I think a different effect would set in. Namely, he would be God. Be is a concept album about God, and the final line, when taken in the context of the whole album, implies that the singer is God. I don't think he would want to play this song with that interpretation, especially in DW5.*********
Touched By His Noodly Appendage
www.venganza.org

Excellent.
Always nice to see progress being made on a story I enjoy!Zack Seaholm - Anime fan, weathernut, worshiper of the goddess Belldandy.
"Trust is the wellspring of joy in our lives."
--Belldandy
Zack Seaholm - Anime fan, weathernut, worshiper of the goddess Belldandy.

"Trust is the wellspring of joy in our lives."
--Belldandy

www.oohbitey.com
Brackenwood is a wonderful place full of misfits and weirdos and things that go 'ponk'.
Wish I'd come up with this. It's awesome Flash goodness - with Audio.
I also reccomend searching for Hitchhiker (parts 1 and 2), by the same author. I fell off the couch whilst viewing.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

Anyone remember a post OoTP story in which Harry teaches DADA 1-5 in his 6th year, and all 7 years in his 7th? I remember D-dore taught NEWT DADA in the first story.
I've been trying to remember which one it was.--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel

(Because I'm feeling goofy tonight. Warning: Maybe be offensive to some. Also, because this is a pastiche medley of a number of vintage disco-era tunes, the structure and scansion may seem a little... odd. -- Bob)
Bra size forty-five, Bra size forty-five,
Bra size forty-five, Bra size forty-five
Well I went out for a boogie, a week ago last Tuesday
I was doing the Wigan Hustle and the Palais Glide
I met a girl in pink suspenders and her boswams were stupendous
Like two bald-headed men sitting side by side
She wore a bra size forty-five, and she could jump and jive
And when she stopped dancing, bits of her kept wobbling about
She said "You drive me crazy, burn some rubber on me, Baby!"
She grabbed my little whistle and she began to shout...
Hit me with your rhythm stick, Hit me, Hit me
Je t'adore, Ich liebe dick, Hit me, Hit me, Hit me
Hit me with your rhythm stick,
I'm six feet tall and five feet thick
Hit me, Hit me, Hit me...
Bra size forty-five, Bra size forty-five
I couldn't do nothing but stand and stare, she gave a hug like a grizzly bear
I couldn't see much, I thought I was dead, I had boobs upside my head
Boobs upside my head, boobs upside my head
Oh what a front she had, enough for me, my brother and Dad
A chest of drawers no doubt, one with the top drawer half pulled out
Oh what a front she'd got, believe me son, she'd got the lot
Right before my eyes, and she was bra size forty-five
Erm, excuse me, what do I do now?
Man be cool - gotta get down and have a rap
I beg your pardon? I think I'll do a talking bit instead...
She was the big economy size, her boswams were gigantic
Like two fat little boys, wrestling under a blanket
The flickering strobes lit up the globes that thrust from her pullover
I think her name was June 'cos she was busting out all over
She said "Can you feel the force, do y'wanna take one step beyond?"
I said "Goodness gracious great balls of fire, there's a whole lotta shaking going on"
She said "Knock on wood, I'll blame it on the boogie, now what do ya think about that?"
I said "Ooh heck, it must be jelly, cos jam don't shake like that"
Not so much of the night fever, more like a belt with a tyre lever
She was not at all pendulous, in fact she was tremendulous
Bra size forty-five, Bra size forty-five,
Bra size forty-five, Bra size forty-five
She wore a bra size forty-five, and when they played "I Will Survive"
She went crackers, and her animal desires became much keener
She said "John I'm only dancing, but I'd rather be romancing"
She had me inside out and upside down in the back of my Cortina
Hit me with your rhythm stick...
And there in my car, the windows all steamed up, I thought I would drown,
She let it all hang out in bras (size forty-five)
And there in my car, I thought "this is it", an instant replay,
My foot out the window in bras (size forty-five)
Oo-rah, Oo-rah, Oo-rah, ay,
Over the hills and now I'm on my way
I got out my tent pole and chewed her [Tempole Tudor]
Oo-rah, Oo-rah, Oo-rah, ay,
Over the hills and now I'm on my way
Come on, let's do the Bristol Stomp
She wore a bra size forty-five, I thought I never would revive
When I tackled that young lady with the bounciest of blouses
But she left me for a geezer who had much more chance to please her
With his own master blaster and a pair of baggy trousers
Oh what fun they had...
Bra size forty-five, Bra size forty-five,
Bra size forty-five, Bra size forty-five
-- Ivor Biggun and the D.Kups, Bras On 45
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.