MuggleCast 64 Transcript
Show Intro
Andrew: If you want to make an impact online, GoDaddy.com has what you need. Dot com names as low as $1.99, plus world class hosting, fast and easy website builders, and much more. Plus, as a MuggleCast listener enter code “Muggle” when you check out, and receive and additional ten percent on any order. Some restrictions apply, see site for details. Get your piece of the internet today at GoDaddy.com.
[Intro music]
Andrew: Because this is MuggleCast, Episode 64 for November 20, 2006: The Good Side of Voldemort.
[Music continues to play]
Andrew: I… Guys… I hate weeks like this.
Laura: Me, too.
Andrew: I… Yeah, I do not like them.
Kevin: Yeah.
Andrew: Nothing to talk about…
Kevin: So boring.
Andrew: …this week.
Laura: Depressing.
Andrew: See any stories that stuck out, Jamie? Ben? Laura? Kevin? Any stories stuck out?
Jamie: No.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: I mean, I guess there’s the birthday of MuggleNet Fan Fiction.
Laura: Yeah that’s nice.
Kevin: Oh, yeah that’s pretty cool.
Andrew: I guess that’s a big one.
Jamie: Oh, yeah…
Laura: Two years.
Jamie: …people all over the world were celebrating that one.
Andrew: Congrats to them.
Jamie: They had release parties…
Andrew: Yeah, that’s good.
Jamie: …everywhere.
Andrew: Oh, bookstores. They’re getting Harry Potter Seven ads now. That’s a good sign.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: That’s right.
Laura: There’s no title, no art.
Jamie: No book.
Laura: No [laughs] – no nothing. But, you know…
Kevin: It’s a poster they could have printed themselves.
Andrew: I’m going to guess that this is going to be a short show this week.
Laura: Oh, there was another poster wasn’t there?
Andrew: What?
Laura: That came out this week.
Andrew: No – what? I…
Laura: Something with Voldemort.
Andrew: I think I missed that. What are you talking about?
Ben: [whispering] “You will lose everything!”
Laura: New Order of the Phoenix promotional [laughs].
Andrew: Oh, oh…
Laura: Yeah, the…
Andrew: The teaser poster.
Laura: I think Ben phrased it the best.
Andrew: What’d he say?
Ben: “You will lose everything.”
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Oh, yeah. Well, we’ll talk about that in a minute. But… I don’t know. I guess it will be a short show this week. Not much to talk about.
Jamie: Under ten minutes, maybe.
Andrew: Ummm, yeah – so, I’m Andrew Sims.
Ben: I’m Ben Schoen.
Jamie: I’m Jamie Lawrence.
Kevin: I’m Kevin Steck.
Laura: And I’m Laura Thompson.
Ben: We’ll see you all next week.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, goodbye. [laughs]
Kevin: Goodbye.
Andrew: Micah Tannenbaum has got a short news piece on the flip side of this hot beat.
[Music continues to play]
News
Micah: The Order of the Phoenix teaser trailer is now officially out. So, everyone, stop going to YouTube. MTV’s Total Request Live today aired a video which featured clips from Order of the Phoenix. They are the same as those in the trailer, and interviews with some of the cast members, including Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint.
An Order of the Phoenix preview will come as part of ABC family’s Harry Potter weekend, which will air the weekend of December 1st through 3rd.
As we reported earlier this month, HBO will begin to show a sneak peek of the fifth Harry Potter movie, starting today, November 20th, and ending on December 17th.
The official website for Order of the Phoenix is now open. Be sure to head over there and check it out.
Last week, Warner Brothers revealed the first official promotional poster for the Order of the Phoenix movie. It depicts Voldemort brandishing his wand with the caption: “You will lose everything.”
And USA Today published four brand-new photos from the Order of the Phoenix movie, in an article which also contained a new interview with Daniel Radcliffe. The photos depict Voldemort, Sirius, Umbridge, and, of course, Harry and Cho kissing. Shortly after this, Warner Brothers released ten brand new pictures from the fifth film, including a few that didn’t make USA today.
Moving away from the fifth film, Barnes and Noble is beginning to receive posters with information on pre-ordering the seventh Harry Potter book. You can see a photo over on MuggleNet.com. However, JK Rowling’s spokesperson has informed us that Book 7 writing is going well, but stores taking pre-orders means absolutely nothing at this time.
Finally, last week Emma Watson gave an enlightening speech at Oxford University, detailing what she’s learned from playing Hermione, how she really enjoys the Potter sets, how Evanna Lynch humbles her and a number of other interesting matters. Emma also spoke a little about her future, explaining how she wishes to continue her schooling and acting career.
That’s all the news for this November 20th, 2006 edition of MuggleCast. Happy Thanksgiving to all our US listeners. Back to the show.
News Discussion: Order of the Phoenix Trailer
Andrew: All right thank you, Micah. I was just kidding, guys.
Jamie: You were really kidding, Andrew?
Andrew: Yeah.
Ben: Order of the Phoenix. What’s that?
Jamie: What’s that?
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Oh, it’s a new Harry Potter movie coming out next year.
Kevin: Oh, really?
Ben: Oooh.
Laura: Really?
Andrew: O-M-G, guys. Where do we start? This week was a big week for Order of the Phoenix.
Kevin: But not for MuggleNet.
Andrew: And everyone looking forward to it. Yes, not for MuggleNet.
Laura: No.
Andrew: We had record low visitors. No, in all seriousness, there’s a lot to talk about this week. Probably the biggest thing: the Order of the Phoenix trailer was released.
Jamie: Woohoo.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: Teaser trailer. A mere 54 seconds, but I thought it was very good.
Jamie: I thought it was very good.
Ben: How long was that…?
Laura: Yeah, it was very good.
Ben: How long was that online? You know what I mean?
Jamie: No.
Andrew: Up on YouTube?
Ben: Yeah.
Jamie: No, you…
Andrew: Can I make a confession?
Jamie: You shouldn’t say that, really.
Andrew: …as everyone else will, too? Yeah.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: We all watched it on YouTube.
Jamie: No, we didn’t. We went to Happy Feet. Didn’t we, Andrew?
Ben: Who actually went to see Happy Feet?
Jamie: Every single one of us went to see Happy Feet.
Kevin: It was a very high quality version.
Laura: Well, you know what? Whenever I was pulling down voicemails, there were several unhappy people because the trailer didn’t run with Happy Feet everywhere.
Ben: Really?
Andrew: Well, that had me a bit confused.
Jamie: Well it did for us, didn’t it? Thankfully. That’s lucky.
Andrew: Yeah, luckily.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: People were not happy to see Happy Feet, they were “Sad Feet.” [laughs]
Ben: Oh my God, Andrew.
Jamie: Good one, Andrew. Good one.
Andrew: Yeah, thank you.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: [laughs] So, the Order of the Phoenix trailer came out. I would have to say my favorite scene from that trailer was the one with Snape.
Jamie: Yeah, it was awesome.
Andrew: What does…
Laura: That was awesome.
Kevin: It was awesome.
Ben: [imitates Snape] “Prove it!”
Andrew: What does Harry say? Yeah, [also imitates Snape] “So, prove it!” I loved it, Alan Rickman…
Jamie: The problem is – the problem with that is…
Laura: That was very good.
Andrew: Perfect Snape.
Jamie: … that’s such a tough…
Ben: Yeah, a bit fat, though, according to everybody.
Jamie: What?
Ben: People keep saying he got fat.
Jamie: Who?
Andrew: He did?
Ben: Alan Rickman.
Laura: No, he didn’t.
Andrew: [laughs] It was just the picture.
Laura: It could have been the lighting.
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: The thing is it’s such a tough emotional scene to do. They’re either going to do that so-so well, or so-so badly.
Laura: Or it’s going to be really bad. [laughs]
Jamie: Yeah.
Andrew: Snape… I really… That was definitely the best part of that trailer.
Jamie: I agree. That was very good.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: I’m looking forward to that scene, I think, the most; just watching Snape trying to get into Harry’s mind.
Laura: What you mean…
Ben: I’m definitely looking forward to…
Laura: You mean your favorite scene…
Ben: …the Voldemort-Dumbledore…
Laura: …wasn’t Harry and Cho?
Jamie: Oh, you’re joking?
Ben: Oh. Oh, that was definitely hotness.
Kevin: Oooh!
Ben: Pure hotness!
Jamie: It was the most forced thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
Kevin: [laughs] Yeah. No kidding.
Laura: What?
Andrew: Ah, yeah. There’s a little debate over the pictures, too.
Jamie: It’s so, so, so, so forced. They’re like…
Ben: So, Jamie, do you think Dan would be a good kisser though, based off that picture?
Jamie: Ummm…
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: [sarcastically] Yeah, well, it’s a pretty big stack of evidence Ben, that one photo. It’s a…
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah…
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Well, I don’t know. I don’t know…
Jamie: I think I can pass a very, very inclusive judgment from that. I’d have to say I don’t know. To be honest, I’ve no idea. I’m sure he would, I’m sure he would. Ask Katie. Ask Katie.
Andrew: Well, didn’t she say “Yes”? [laughs]
Laura: Didn’t she say he was? Yeah.
Ben: Yeah.
Laura: Well, what’s she going to say? [laughs]
Jamie: Well she’s not going to say, “No, it was awful.”
Andrew: Another picture – basically all the pictures that came out were what we saw in the trailer. I don’t they’ve ever done that before, have they? Well, hold on. Let me do a mini “Give Me a Butterbeer” here.
Ben: I think they have, actually.
Andrew: What gets me – yeah, what gets me is that Warner Brothers releases the trailer just in front of Happy Feet, and then they see that all the fans are upset that it’s not going to be online. So they make a compromise; they put ten seconds of it online, Friday night. Now is it just me, or is that really lame of Warner Brothers?
Kevin: Yeah, it’s lame.
Laura: Yeah. [laughs]
Andrew: I mean – and it’s going to come online in its entirety on Monday on the Happy Feet website. They can’t just throw it on QuickTime or Apple…
Kevin: Well, they’re trying to promote Happy Feet…
Laura: Well – Happy Feet.
Andrew: I know, but…
Kevin: …because no one wants to see it without the trailer.
Laura: Yeah, no one cares about dancing penguins…
Jamie: The thing is, they could put it…
Andrew: No…
Laura: Basically [laughs]
Andrew: No, see a lot of people – well, we got a lot of flack about that too. We upset some people who were looking forward to go see Happy Feet.
Ben: Oh. [laughs] Sorry.
Andrew: Let me clear something up…
Laura: Guys…
Andrew: …early on in the show.
Laura: Yeah, really.
Andrew: When we’re talking about stuff here on the show, most of the time we’re just trying to be funny. The Gilmore Girls thing; I was trying to be funny. Happy Feet; I was just trying to be funny. We were all just trying to be funny. So, don’t take it seriously.
Laura: Yeah, and just because we think some thing is bad, doesn’t…
Jamie: Well I think…
Laura: …mean it is.
Jamie: What are you trying to say that the…
Laura: I mean, it’s just our opinions.
Jamie: …views of the MuggleCasters don’t necessarily reflect the views of the site.
Laura: Yeah, they don’t necessarily reflect the views of the site or the listeners, or, frankly, the other hosts.
Andrew: With that said though, I hate The OC. What a terrible show.
[Jamie and Kevin laugh]
Ben: Okay, shut your mouth.
Andrew: No, I’m just kidding.
Jamie: You’d think, though – you’d think that they’d put the trailer in front of a more mainstream film. I’d have thought it…
Kevin: Yeah, you’d think so.
Jamie: …would have gone in front of Bond over Happy Feet, to be honest.
Andrew: It is in front of Bond in Australia, I think.
Jamie: Well, that ruins my theory.
Kevin: Yeah, but what…
[Ben laughs]
Kevin: Like I said, I mean, all they’re trying to do is draw more people to see that movie. Maybe they…
Jamie: Or they’re just expecting it to flop.
Ben: Was Bond even produced by Warner Brothers?
Jamie: Everything is produced by Warner Brothers, Ben, nowadays.
Andrew: Well if it was in front of Bond in Australia, then it might be.
Jamie: Lord of the Rings produced Warner Brothers.
Andrew: I don’t know. We’re going to get a lot of e–mails about this, so someone better check it.
Jamie: Sorry, Warner Brothers produced Lord of the Rings.
Andrew: Kevin, can you check that?
Kevin: Check what? Oh, yeah. Sure.
Ben: They did?
Jamie: Yeah. They have a – the company that produced Lord of the Rings, I can’t remember their name, but it’s a small company under Time Warner.
Laura: New Line Cinema, wasn’t it?
Jamie: Yeah, New Line. That’s it. Time Warner own them.
Andrew: Oh. Hmmm.
Jamie: They own everything, seriously.
Laura: I think Time Warner owns everything. [laughs]
Jamie: Laura…
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: Laura…
Kevin: Yeah.
Jamie: Laura, Laura…they own you.
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
News Discussion: Poster
Andrew: Well, then the beginning of this week the Order of the Phoenix teaser poster came out. Anyone impressed by that? If you ask me…
Laura: I thought it looked cool.
Ben: Well, check out the new MuggleNet layout.
Andrew: The caption…
Kevin: It looks okay.
Laura: Yeah, the caption was kind of…
Andrew: “You will lose everything”?
Laura: …kind of weak.
Jamie: What’s it referring to, precisely?
Ben: I don’t even know what that’s even about.
Laura: Well, see, that’s not even a line from the book, so…
Andrew: Yeah. I…
Ben: Well, neither was, “Something wicked this way comes,” but…
Laura: Yeah, but…
Laura and
Andrew:
…that was cool, though.
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: Let’s have a ten-pointer question.
Ben: What’s that?
Jamie: What was that from?
Ben: Macbeth. Macbeth.
Laura: Macbeth. [laughs]
Jamie: And what’s the one line before it?
Ben: “Double, double, toil and trouble…”
Laura: “Double, double…”
Andrew: “Double…”
Ben: “Fire burn and cauldron bubble.”
Jamie: It’s not going to go, “Double, double, toil and trouble, something wicked this way comes,” is it?
[Ben laughs]
Jamie: That sounds stupid.
[Ben sings “Double, Double”]
Andrew: Unless it was written that way.
Jamie: It’s, uh – no, it isn’t. It’s, “By the pricking of the thumbs.”
Ben: Yeah.
Laura: “Something wicked this way comes.”
Ben: At least I read Macbeth, so… [trails off, mumbling]
Laura: I used to have that whole thing memorized, because I liked Macbeth in ninth grade. But, yeah. Anyway…
Andrew: For one, I don’t think that was cool little caption to stick in front of Voldemort: “You will lose everything.”
Laura: No, but I think Voldemort looked good, though; the poster.
Andrew: He did look good, but…
Ben: He’s so hot.
[Andrew and Laura laughs]
Andrew: But, I don’t know. Is that a good way to start promoting the movie?
Laura: I don’t know. I think it’s cool.
Andrew: Making some scary guy on the posters, for…
Laura: No, I think it’s good, because it’s showing…
Andrew: That it’s getting darker.
Laura: Yeah, a real darkness to the series. I think they’re trying to draw in adult viewers, too. It’s a good way to do it.
Andrew: Yeah, yeah. Especially with the “PG–13” rating. Obviously it’s going to be another “PG-13” rating.
Laura: Mhm.
Jamie: Yeah, it can’t be – yeah. And, ummm…
Ben: Rated “R.”
Laura: I though it was going to be “G,” actually
Ben: Actually, “NC–17.”
Andrew: “R”? [laughs]
Jamie: Yeah. No. No, Ben, they keep getting worse and worse. Book Seven…
Ben: “X”.
Jamie: …is going to be “NC–17.” Yeah, it’s going to be “X” rated.
[Laura laughs]
Kevin: I just looked it up. OO7 is actually Sony Pictures.
Ben: See, what’d I tell you? That’s the reason they didn’t put it in front of Bond: because they want to promote their own kind.
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: Well, that explains it then, doesn’t it?
Kevin: Their own kind?
Ben: Their own Warner Brothers movies.
News Discussion: Pictures
Andrew: Yeah, that’s true. That’s true. Another – back to the pictures – we’re sort of going all over the place here. But, back to the pictures, you can tell some special effects weren’t in place yet. I personally did not like the picture of Umbridge in the Great Hall with the – what was that behind her? The Pendulum?
Ben: Decree thing?
Andrew: No, the pendulum. Swinging behind her. I think it was a pendulum, at least.
Laura: What was wrong with it? I didn’t pay attention…
Andrew: Well, if you look at the picture it looks really fake. They obviously…
Jamie: Well…
Lara: Well…
Andrew: …stuck her in front of it.
Jamie: It’s a movie set, Andrew, to be fair. It’s not a real castle
Laura: We were also watching it…
Andrew: No, but it was a digital effect – well, no, the Great Hall is real. What I’m saying is they stuck the pendulum behind it. It was a cheap job, that’s what I’m saying.
Laura: Andrew, we were also watching it off of a cheap pirate job. [laughs] So…
Andrew: No, no, no. The high-res pictures…
Kevin: No, the picture.
Laura: Oh, the pictures?
Andrew: Yes. The high–res pictures.
Laura: Oh, I don’t know. I didn’t pay that much attention.
Andrew: I could’ve done a better job PhotoShopping her in. But anything else stick out for anyone?
Ben: Oh, I don’t know. I like the kissing picture. Oh my God; Dan and Cho!
Laura: Did you see some people were kind of not happy that Warner Brothers showed that? Because they wanted to wait until the movie came out.
Andrew: Well, they’re going to have to, eventually.
Ben: Well, don’t check MuggleNet, if you don’t want to be spoiled.
Laura: Yeah, well they wanted to be surprised. I’m like, “You already know what happens.”
Ben: Voldemort look sweet when he’s walking through the fog, or whatever that is.
Laura: Yeah.
Kevin: Oh, yeah.
Jamie: Andrew, going back to the Umbridge one, I completely agree with you. The pendulum’s too big for the place, basically, and she just…
Andrew: Why would they put it in the Great Hall?
Laura: It’s too big for Hogwarts. [laughs]
Jamie: But, I just… She doesn’t… She isn’t Umbridge for me, really, I must admit.
Laura: Really? I think she looks good.
Ben: I thought that was Aunt Petunia…
Andrew: If her acting is good…
Ben: …at first.
Jamie: Yeah, she does. She looks a bit like Aunt Petunia. She needs the actual – the different…
Ben: She needs to be fatter, to be honest.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah, she does need to be fatter.
Laura: Okay, it’s Hollywood, though…
Andrew: I think she needs to be shorter.
Jamie: Huh?
Andrew: It doesn’t matter.
Ben: Look at…
Laura: No, but see, even – it’s Hollywood. I mean, even Dudley isn’t… [laughs] I mean – I think it said…
Ben: Okay, it doesn’t matter. Don’t even go there, because there are fat actors.
Laura: No, I’m just – I know, but see, there aren’t as many of them as there are thin actors.
Kevin: I think if her acting is good, I think it will compensate for the lack of meeting our…
Jamie: Laura, you can – you don’t actually have to have a fat person to play a fat person, now, anyway. They have…
Laura: No, I know. They have…
Jamie: …they have like, special fats suits and…
Laura: Yeah, they have fat suits.
Jamie: …digital effects, and stuff like that. Do you think you could just go into a… [laughs]
Laura: But they won’t – okay.
Jamie: …into like, a specialist shop and ask for a fat suit?
[Kevin and Laura laugh]
Ben: Hey, isn’t Dumbledore, isn’t he a bit like – he looks sentimental in this picture.
Andrew: Oh, I love Dumbledore in the teaser.
Ben: Is this the Wizen…
Jamie: Oh, yeah, that’s awesome.
Ben: In this picture… In this picture, is this the Wiz – not the Wizengamot. This is Dumbledore at the trial, isn’t it?
Andrew: Yeah.
Ben: Is that Mrs. Figg behind him?
Jamie: It is a very, very, very good job, there.
Andrew: Probably. I’ll take a look at it…
Ben: This looks similar to like, the pictures we saw of the Wizengamot – not the Wizengamot, but the trials in Goblet of Fire, doesn’t it?
Jamie: Yeah.
Andrew: Because it’s the same set.
Ben: Oh, is it really?
Jamie: No, Ben…
[Kevin laughs]
Jamie: …Ben, it’s the same dungeon. He says, when he walks in, in Order of the Phoenix, he gasps, because he remembers…
Ben: He’s been there before.
Kevin: He remembers it, yeah.
Jamie: …the place where, yeah, the Lestranges were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Ben: Oh.
Andrew: They’re using, for the Room of Requirement set, they are using – ah, I forget now. It was a classroom, but they’re using…
Jamie: Oh, really?
Andrew: …it for the Room of Requirement now. Yeah, they just took out like the…
Jamie: The chairs and stuff.
Andrew: They took out the – well, no. They cut the… [laughs] I’m such a bad reporter.
[Jamie laughs]
Andrew: They took out the – what are those things in the middle of the room?
Jamie: Tables?
Ben: Pillars?
Andrew: The pillars!
Laura: Desks?
Andrew: Yeah, they cut the pillars in half.
Laura: Oh.
Andrew: It looks kind of goofy, but that’s what they did. So…
Jamie: Cool.
Andrew: At any rate…
Ben: Then how’s the ceiling standing up?
Jamie: [laughs] Yeah.
Andrew: Well, because the…
Ben: Why hasn’t it fallen in on them?
Andrew: …sides. I don’t know. Why don’t you – I guess you’ll have to ask a…
Jamie: A structural architect, which…
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: …we’ve got plenty of those as listeners.
Announcements
Andrew: Moving along, we have a few announcements for everyone, as usual. Purchase your MuggleCast t-shirts because there is a pandemic that’s about to happen, and it’s called, “No More MuggleCast T-Shirts For Sale.”
Ben: No more.
Andrew: So, it’s very important that you order your t-shirts before January 1st. Again, we’re not doing this to – it’s not some…
Ben: Trick.
Andrew: … “get rich quick” scheme. Yeah. Once we stop, we have to stop. People have been asking us, “Why do we have to stop?” It’s in accordance with WB’s new merchandising policy. And our shirt printer, Sam, wanted us to tell everyone that you do not need a PayPal account to order t-shirts, all you need to do is click the button that says, “click here if you don’t have a PayPal account,” and then you can use your credit card and I think you can also pay by eCheck, I think it’s called. So you don’t just need PayPal when you order it, and when you see “PayPal,” don’t be afraid and, you know, close it out. T-shirts are selling out fast, though, and we’re trying to keep up with everyone’s orders. Guys, seriously, if you’re thinking about buying a t-shirt, you better do it now, because they’re either going to run out quick, or they are going to – January 1st is going to roll around. So, that is that.
Don’t forget to vote for us on Podcast Alley. I think it’s a fun new game here to start making fun of Keith and the Girl.
[Ben laughs]
Andrew: Just to get their listeners angry at us.
Jamie: Yep.
Andrew: Their show’s a joke, seriously.
Laura: What is Keith and the Girl?
Jamie: It’s a joke. It’s actually a joke.
Andrew: It’s a show where they talk about – yeah, I listened to one or two. I mean, they’re kind of funny, but [laughs] they – the show’s, you know, they just talk about nonsense. Regularly.
Ben: Sounds like ours. [laughs]
Jamie: What’s going on with us, though?
Andrew: Yeah, basically, how we’re going today. [laughs] And, Ben, you have a little announcement? Something new this week?
Ben: Everybody, everybody! Now shipping, MuggleNet.com’s What Will Happen in Harry Potter Seven: Who Lives, Who Dies, and How the Adventure Finally Ends. I forgot “Who Falls in Love”…
Jamie: You forgot – yeah. [laughs]
Ben: …but there’s that in there, too.
[Andrew laughs]
Ben: Yeah, sale’s been good so far. You can purchase it at your local retail stores. All the books have been shipped out, so go out and buy it now. It has information on who we think is going to live, who we think is going to die, all that stuff.
Jamie: And how the adventure’s going to finally end. [laughs]
Ben: [laughs] Yeah, how the adventure’s going to finally end, so go buy it.
Andrew: Wait, you guys know?
Ben: We don’t know…
Jamie: Yeah, she told us. Yeah, she told us, didn’t she, Ben?
Ben: …but we have a good idea, we think.
Andrew: I’ve been seeing some e-mails. You guys have been getting some good reviews.
Jamie: Really?
Andrew: Congrats on that.
Jamie: Awesome.
Andrew: Well, congrats to myself, too. Andy Gordon is my penname, after all.
Jamie: Yep.
Ben: [laughs] Oh, shut up. It is not, for the millionth time.
Andrew: But, I’ve got a question for you guys. If I am an environmentalist…
Ben: Mhm.
Andrew: …the first question that comes to my mind about this book is…
Ben: It’s printed on recycled paper.
Andrew: …what percentage – okay, good.
Ben: [laughs] I just made that up, I don’t know if it is.
Andrew: Just wanted to clear that up. Oh.
[Jamie laughs]
Andrew: Well then, let me finish what I was saying. What – what’s the percentage of recycled paper? Because usually it says on the back of a book, like, you know, “This was 37 percent recycled paper.”
Jamie: It was 110 percent, wasn’t it, Ben? Something like that.
Andrew: Oh, wow.
Ben: Actually, I have a copy of it right here.
Kevin: It’s zero percent.
Ben: Let me see.
Andrew: Does it say?
Kevin: They’re killing the rainforest.
Andrew: Oh.
Ben: Let me see. On the back…
Kevin: Yep. You’re killing the rainforest.
Andrew: It might not actually say it. Some books do. [laughs]
Ben: No, it says, “This book is an independent and unauthorized fan publication. No endorsement or sponsorship by or affiliation with JK Rowling, [starts speaking quickly] her publishers, or other copyrighted trademarks…. [mumbles and laughs] It’s very nice. It is very nice, though. I have a copy of it right here.
[Kevin laughs]
Ben: Jamie, Jamie, they misspelled your name.
Kevin: Get to the paper part.
Jamie: Sorry?
Ben: They misspelled your name on the cover.
Jamie: No, they didn’t, Ben. No, they didn’t. I know, I’ve seen it.
[Andrew and Ben laugh]
Jamie: They have not, because now I know.
[Andrew and Ben continue to laugh]
Listener Rebuttal: Forbidden Forest
Andrew: Before we get into our main discussion this week, we have a rebuttal from everyone. And I want to remind everyone that we’re doing weekly wrap-ups on MuggleCast.com with some more of your listener rebuttals, so we can get more of them out there. We get a good – what? 200 e-mails a day, now? Rebuttals and stuff.
Laura: Yeah, something like that.
Andrew: That’s a lot! And we love reading all of them, and we’re trying to get as many of them out onto the site, and onto the podcast. But, anyway, this one comes from Zoë – there’s two dots over her “e,” so what the hell does that mean?
Ben: Zo-eh?
Andrew: Long e?
Laura: That means it Zoë [zoh-ee].
Andrew: Zo-eh?
Laura: No, Zoë [zoh-ee].
Jamie: That just means it’s not Zoh.
Laura: Zoë [zoh-ee].
Andrew: Zoë [zoh-ee].
Ben: It’s Zoë [zoh-ee], instead of zoh.
Jamie: Okay, I’ll probably get a million e-mails in telling me that I don’t know my name etymology, but it…
Ben: German.
Jamie: If it didn’t have those two words – which are umlauts, I think that’s what they’re called – it would be zoh, and it turns it into Zoë [zoh-ee].
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: All right, well Zoë…
Laura: That’s what I was saying.
Andrew: …18, from New York, writes about the Forbidden Forest. She just wanted to point out that JKR said in an interview, that Fluffy resides in the Forbidden Forest because, “Anything that is dangerous is released to the forest.” That was back in 2001. So, there’s another creature that lives in the forest for us.
Jamie: It must be very dense then, and it must be hard to get out of it then, because otherwise Fluffy could just escape and wander out.
Kevin: [laughs] Wander on to the school grounds and maul someone.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: Yeah.
Kevin: Yeah.
Andrew: Unless it is just like instinct that they stay in there. Because they have got to find – they could find their way out. It’s not like there is a wall of trees that you can’t get through.
Ben: Well, it’s home.
Jamie: Yeah, but it could be magic though.
Andrew: It’s home, yeah.
Laura: Yeah.
Jamie: Well, it wouldn’t matter, Andrew, for Dumbledore. This is a weird one [laughs] – it wouldn’t matter for Dumbledore because he gets every MuggleCast episode on his iPod before it is even recorded. [laughs] I like that one.
[Andrew does a fake laugh]
Ben: No. I don’t.
Andrew: How is that possible? Because I edit them.
Jamie: No, Andrew, no. It’s Dumbledore.
Andrew: And then put them up right away.
Laura: It’s a joke! [laughs]
Andrew: I know, Laura, and I’m countering the joke with my joke.
[Laura laughs]
Kevin: Which no one liked.
Laura: Yeah, really.
Main Discussion: Voldemort and Evil
Andrew: Let’s get into the main discussion this week. [does a Dr. Evil impression] Evil. Dr. Evil.
Ben: [Dr. Evil impression] Be evil.
Andrew: Everyone like my Austin Powers quote there? [Dr. Evil impression] Evil.
Laura: Not really. [laughs]
Andrew: I have my pinky to my mouth. [Dr. Evil impression] Evil.
Ben: [Dr. Evil impression] Be evil, but I have feelings too, change my life with Oprah and Maya Angelou.
Andrew: [Dr. Evil impression] Fire the laser.
Jamie: That’s very good, Andrew, very good. I almost feel like I’m in the room with Dr. Evil.
Ben: [Dr. Evil impression] Laser.
Are Voldemort’s Goals Worthwhile?
Jamie: Okay, so today I thought we would discuss: is evil a matter of opinion? We all consider Voldemort to be evil and Harry good, but does it depend on where you are looking at them from? Because Voldemort’s Death Eaters, I’m sure that some follow him out of fear and because they are scared of what will happen, but there have got to be some who actually agree with what he is doing. Sirius said that his mom agreed with what Voldemort was doing and only got cold feet when she realized exactly what lengths he would go to, to achieve his goal, and it kind of follows the phrase “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”. So, ignoring all morals and ethics, is Voldemort’s goal worthwhile as Harry’s and does it depend on how you are looking at him to decide whether he is good or evil – basically.
Andrew: How do you think that Voldemort’s goals could be worthwhile?
Laura: I don’t think so.
Jamie: Not the killing and stuff, but his ultimate goal is to run the magical world.
Laura: Is to kill all the Muggleborns. [laughs]
Kevin: Yeah.
Jamie: No, no. Okay, I knew I’d get ripped for this…
[Kevin laughs]
Jamie: …for this main discussion. That is not what I’m saying.
[Kevin and Laura laugh]
Ben: It wasn’t even me, man.
Jamie: Yeah I know, Ben, it wasn’t you. I’m very impressed.
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: I’ll buy you something nice for that. No, what I’m saying is that his ultimate goal is to achieve power. Okay? It doesn’t have anything to do… Killing people is his method, it isn’t his – I know it’s terrible; but as I said, ignoring all morals, is he just somebody who has a goal. And we have been – we think he is evil because all the books are called Harry Potter and the Whatever. We’ve sympathized with him – we’ve only ever heard words saying Voldemort is bad and stuff like that. Isn’t there any – you know, is that possible?
Ben: Well, the only thing would is if you honestly believe anyone that is Muggle-born or those things are actually detrimental to society.
Jamie: No, it’s not that. It’s just…
Ben: You know what I mean?
Laura: Yeah. [laughs]
Jamie: No, but…
Ben: What are you trying to say then? Is Voldemort just a – is he really a nice guy who is just [laughs] trying to achieve power?
Looking at Voldemort in a Different Light
Jamie: Okay, here’s one. Can we present him in a different light? Say a lonely, frightened soul killing because it’s the only thing he can do…
Laura: No.
Kevin [laughs] No.
Jamie: …and punishing those he is jealous of, shunning possible friends out of fear, and living a depraved half life, a cursed life, one in which he is feared when he wishes to be loved.
Laura: But that is what he lives.
Ben: No. He made those choices.
Laura: I don’t think so because Dumbledore said to Harry in Half-Blood Prince. He said, “Do you feel sorry for Voldemort? You shouldn’t because he was born evil.” And he had the choice, and he had the time to change that and he didn’t.
Jamie: Okay, well, loads of people have chances to change things and make things right. But they don’t, out of fear, out of, you know – I’m completely playing devil’s advocate here. Okay?
Laura: What did he have to fear though? He was more powerful than anyone around him.
Jamie: I’m completely playing devil’s advocate here.
Laura: He was more powerful than anyone around him.
Jamie: Fear of rejection.
Laura: Well, then play devil’s advocate but you have to defend it.
Jamie: I am! What do you think I’m doing? Fear of rejection…
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: …fear of losing his power. All people who gain power are scared of losing it. There is a way of presenting him in a better light. I know… I’m not saying… I know I’m going to get e-mails saying “Oh, how could you ever think that killing Muggles is good?” I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that it is possible to present him in a different light. We’ve ever seen the bad side of him. I know all through the books from his childhood to where he is now he has been presented as bad, but don’t you kind of feel sorry for that small boy Tom Riddle? Completely alone in that orphanage, scaring people because it was the only thing he knew.
Laura: Yeah. Don’t you feel sorry for that small boy Harry Potter who was locked up in a closet for all those years of his life?
Ben: Because of Tom Riddle.
Laura: Yeah.
Jamie: Yes, of course. But…
Ben: But still, but still. The thing is…
Laura: No, Harry didn’t allow that to bring him down and Tom Riddle did.
Ben: But see, Tom Riddle is just a victim of the circumstances, I think. It was just one decision led to another, and next thing you know, he is this big evil lord.
Jamie: Killing people.
Ben: He took the initial step down the wrong path, and it became too late for him to redeem himself.
Jamie: And then it was a slippery slope, yeah.
Ben: Yeah, so.
Jamie: But, I don’t…
Laura: Yeah, well. It’s one thing to make a mistake, it’s quite another to torture children in a cave.
Jamie: But, yeah, I know. It is and it’s terrible, but…
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: …you can’t… I know it’s his fault there and then, but you can’t – loads of people, serial killers, people who are sociopaths, clinically diagnosed as sociopaths loads of them, most of them have terrible, terrible childhoods. You know, that can…
Laura: Yeah, but there comes a time when you have to stop blaming your childhood when you grow up.
Jamie: Yes, you do, of course you do, but you can’t say it isn’t a factor. Some people don’t know whether to not blame their childhood.
Laura: Well, sure it’s a factor.
Jamie: That is the thing. If it turns you into something that you don’t know is wrong, then you don’t think it needs to be fixed. And that is Voldemort.
Ben: For me, it’s like – in a way it’s like saying the child who grew up in poverty, it’s his fault. You know what I mean?
Jamie: Yeah.
Ben: If that makes any sense?
Andrew: How is it his fault?
Laura: It’s not. I know. It’s not saying that that is his fault.
Ben: It’s not. It’s not for Voldemort. Voldemort is just a victim of his circumstances.
Jamie: In some regards, yeah, he could be seen as that.
Laura: It is his fault that he didn’t get over it.
Jamie: No, it’s not. I cannot be his fault.
Ben: How is he supposed to?
Andrew: Not really. Because if you grow up with it, you’re kind of stuck.
Jamie: Laura, if there is no path to get over it, than you just can’t do it. You need to have a step up.
Laura: That’s not true, that is absolutely not true. My best friend, one of my best friends, you guys, is the daughter of an extremely racist woman, and she herself is not racist. She has gotten over that. So, you can get over stuff like that. You can’t just say that because you were brought up a certain way you can’t get beyond it.
Ben: But, no, no. If she was born racist, I mean, how can you blame her? You know what I mean?
Laura: Yeah.
Ben: If she was born that way, but she wasn’t.
Laura: No, she was…
Ben: It’s a difference. She chose not to take the influencing of her mother. It wasn’t like…
Laura: Yeah, but it takes a long time to get over stuff like that. I mean, the same way with Voldemort. You can be born with deranged… He’s just – I just think that he is really messed up.
Jamie: But some people are so firmly indoctrinated with it, that they don’t know that it’s a bad thing. If you’ve been told your entire life…
Laura: And that makes them wrong. [laughs]
Jamie: …that stealing is right. Yes, of course it does, it doesn’t make them bad because of it though. If they don’t know anything else.
Laura: You can’t say – yes it does!
Jamie: No it doesn’t!
Andrew: Jamie, are you saying that Voldemort knows no consequences, basically?
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: No, I’m not saying that. What I’m saying is, if you are taught, if you are brought up and you are told and told again that stealing is okay, then society – it is not your fault. Yes, you are wrong. You are entirely incorrect. However, it is not entirely your fault because of that. You can’t be expected to question everything that your parents tell you, especially at that early age. It is impossible to do that.
Kevin: It’s not your fault but upon society informing you that it is wrong, then, it’s your fault if you do it again. Because you have made the choice to ignore what is commonly accepted…
Laura: That it’s wrong.
Kevin: …as a standard in society and listen to your parents over that society and therefore you’re wrong.
Ben: Not necessarily, because if you were younger, this is continually basically pounded into your mind that stealing is okay…
Jamie: Precisely. It’s indoctrination.
Ben: …when you get older and then someone tells you…
Laura: But stealing is a…
Ben: Well, stealing isn’t commonly accepted. You’re going to say, “Well, that’s a bunch of crap. This is the way I was brought up. There’s no way my parents were…”
Jamie: Precisely, that’s exactly it. Exactly it.
Laura: Okay, but then, even if you didn’t believe that person, why the heck would you go into a store and think that stealing is okay?
Ben: Because you’re taught that way!
Laura: And they have these lovely things called cash registers where people are giving them money.
Ben: Okay, Laura, you’re missing the point.
[Laura and Andrew laugh]
Ben: You’re taught that stealing was okay. It isn’t like you go in there and you say, “Oh, cash registers.”
Laura: No.
Kevin: At a certain point, you get to think for yourself.
Laura: Yeah.
Kevin: And at that point, when you make the choice to continue stealing, then you’ve made that choice and you’re wrong.
Laura: And see, that’s the thing though. Voldemort wasn’t brought up believing anything. He always thought for himself, which makes him wrong.
Jamie: You’re saying “wrong” because you think that that’s wrong.
Laura: No, no. No one ever…
Jamie: You have you’re own opinions there.
Laura: No one ever brought him up saying it’s okay to go and hang bunny rabbits and torture children in a cave. So, he’s wrong.
Jamie: You’re saying he’s wrong from your own opinion. Why is what you think right?
Laura: No! It’s not an opinion!
Jamie: Of course it is.
[Laura laughs]
Ben: It’s like some ethical issues in society like stem cell research. Just because I think it’s okay…
Jamie: It doesn’t mean Ben’s right. No.
Ben: …doesn’t mean everyone does.
Jamie: And it doesn’t mean that’s right, either.
Laura: But the torture of a human being [laughs] is a little different.
Ben: What if they deserved it?
Jamie: Yeah.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: What if the bunny peed on the carpet?
Ben: Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah.
Ben: Then he deserves to get his little head chopped off.
Andrew: I think Jamie…
Laura: Well then, you know what? Then you guys should have killed me when I spilled that coffee all over the floor in LA.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: I was ready to. You spilled two things that…
Jamie: Well yeah, yeah exactly. We were planning to until John talked us out of it
Ben: Yeah, you started kicking everything over. You klutz.
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: I can’t help it that you guys had stuff all over that room.
Andrew: It was coffee. [laughs] Why do you have to call it “stuff?” I think Jamie and Ben are sticking up for it for discussion sake, Laura.
Jamie: No.
Andrew: I don’t think that…
Jamie: No, I’m not. I’m saying I agree wholeheartedly that somebody cannot say on ethical and moral issues that “you are wrong.” Because, that’s why you don’t use the word “correct” and “incorrect,” you use “right” and “wrong.” Murder is “wrong.” It’s not “incorrect.” It’s morally wrong.
Ben: He’s right.
Jamie: It’s not morally incorrect, it’s – that’s how it is. You cannot use – you can’t express your moral opinions as fact. It’s impossible.
Ben: So, things like the death penalty, abortion, etc. They are…
Jamie: Yeah, it’s wrong…
Ben: If there was a correct answer, it would be obvious. But, it’s all a matter of opinion what your perspective on it is.
Jamie: And taking it back to Harry Potter.
Ben: Harry Potter?
Jamie: Yeah, sorry I couldn’t remember the name of that book series we sometimes talk about.
[Everyone laughs]
Voldemort’s Upbringing Compared to Real-Life Situations
Jamie: I just… You just can’t say that because… I just think that if he had to have a different upbringing, things could be different. That’s what I’m saying. It’s… You can’t, you can’t deny that he had a bad life. And, I’m not saying that it’s not his fault that he didn’t try to change it, but it’s not his fault either that he didn’t know his mother, you know? All those kind of things. It’s just stuff like that.
Kevin: See, the argument against that is this. There are quite a few people living in poverty today, right? You’re raised in the gang area. Now, you join a gang and kill someone.
Andrew: Oooh.
Kevin: Many would argue you had to join the gang because it’s survival, but the…
Jamie: Yeah.
Kevin: …counter-argument is what about that kid down the street that went to Harvard? Just because you had a bad life, doesn’t mean you don’t have the moral basis to make a choice for yourself and try to change it.
Jamie: But, it doesn’t mean you do either. It doesn’t mean you do either. I know what you’re saying, but that would be taking into account…
Kevin: Taking into account what? They’re two people coming from the same place.
Jamie: Okay, if that went to trial – that murder case you were talking about – the fact that they lived where they did and joined the gang and that they joined the gang out of necessity. There’s a legal defense of necessity. Okay? Now that is the kind of thing that would come into play. They’d say, “I had to join this gang.” That’s why that case of murder is different from somebody who walks out onto the street and kills somebody just walking across the road. It is different.
Kevin: Either way, it’s tried as murder because you’ve killed someone.
Jamie: Of course it’s tried as murder, but that doesn’t mean that the outcome is…
Kevin: The only thing that will make it so that it’s not tried as murder is if you had an insanity defense which you could – you would have to prove that you didn’t know the difference between right and wrong.
Jamie: Well, there’s… Perhaps…
Kevin: Because you are a human being, you have the choice to pull the trigger or not. You have the moral basis for it.
Jamie: Yes, of course. Okay, Kevin, if somebody put a gun to… Okay, if somebody put a gun to, say, your mother’s head, okay? And said to you, said to…
Andrew: [laughs] That’s good to think about.
Jamie: No, no. Said to you, “Go out and kill the first person you see.” Okay?
Kevin: Right.
Jamie: Yeah? There are so many complications in that case that it would not go down as straight-out murder immediately. Okay? There are so many things to consider. If you went out and killed that person, yes, you have killed that person, but the question that would be asked is, were you so provoked that any rational, normal human being equally provoked would have committed the same crime that you committed?
Laura: But Voldemort wasn’t provoked. [laughs]
Ben: Hold on. Here’s the difference though. It’s a question of are people really victims of the circumstances?
Voldemort: Nature vs. Nurture
Jamie: Yes, nature versus nurture.
Ben: And to what extent are they? And is it… See, I think the difference was that Harry was born with the instinct, the fighter instinct that Voldemort wasn’t blessed with. You see what I’m saying?
Jamie: Yes, exactly.
Ben: So, it isn’t Voldemort’s fault. He fell victim to the circumstances when Harry was able to fight.
Jamie: The choice that he has made is to go out and kill people, not that he isn’t bad.
Kevin: But he made a choice.
Jamie: Yes, that is one choice. He could still be bad, but stop himself from killing people. He could have terrible thoughts about killing people you’d still think he was evil if he had those thoughts, even if he didn’t follow up and act on them. The fact that his choice is killing them, yes, he’s bad because of that, but the fact that he is able to do these things. There are people today that could not kill somebody. You know, who could just not do it even when so provoked they could never ever bring themselves to do that whereas Voldemort can and his choice is to do it. His choice is not to be able to do it, which is a product of his circumstance.
Laura: But what circumstance influenced that? He grew up in an orphanage.
Jamie: Yeah, he grew up orphaned.
Laura: It’s not like…
Ben: No parents.
Jamie: No parents, no friends.
Laura: Okay. Harry had no parents. Harry had no friends.
Jamie: Yes.
Laura: Not to mention I think he would have been more screwed up growing up with the Gaunt family than growing up in that orphanage.
Andrew: No, but you’ve got to think…
Laura: So, he’s probably lucky that his mom died. [laughs] Not to sound mean or anything.
Ben: Now, that’s just rude.
Jamie: That’s ridiculous.
Ben: No, because his mom was different than the rest of them, the rest of the Gaunts.
Laura: No, yeah but his mom submissed to everybody, and they were inbred and they were abusive. He could have grown up in a life of abuse…
Jamie: Laura. Laura.
Laura: …which is a lot worse than growing up in an orphanage.
Ben: No. You can’t make that determination.
Jamie: I know, you can’t always go – I know Dumbledore says it’s our choices that make us who we are. Yes, but you can’t start choosing from as soon as you’re born and that’s the thing.
Kevin: Yeah, but he was put in a circumstance that other people have been in and turned out completely normal.
Laura: Were in, yeah.
Jamie: He has. He did.
Kevin: But because of his choices, the choices that he made at that stage in his life, he’s evil.
Ben: Why did he make those choices though?
Kevin: He’s completely responsible.
Laura: Because he’s evil.
Kevin: Exactly. He’s completely responsible for himself.
Jamie: He made the choices because he didn’t know. No, that’s absolutely not true.
Ben: [laughs] That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. You’re trying to tell me if when I’m two years old, I take a butcher knife and I chop my mom’s head off that I made the conscience decision to do that?
[Andrew and Jamie laugh]
Andrew: Well, it depends on if you were living in a well-rounded family, everything was happy-go-lucky and then you just decided to go cut your mom’s head off, well, I’d think there’s something wrong with you.
[Andrew, Ben, and Laura laugh]
Laura: Yeah, but the thing is when you’re that young you don’t have any…
Andrew: Right. You don’t…
Laura: You don’t really know.
Ben: Yeah. That’s the point Jamie’s trying to make. You can’t make the choices when you’re that young and so it eventually leads up to the point when you can make the choice. Like it comes to the point when you can make the choice, but your background influences that choice.
Jamie: Exactly.
Laura: Okay, but if a five-year old kid doesn’t know that it’s wrong to chop off their mom’s head with a butcher knife, there’s something wrong. [laughs]
Jamie: They don’t see it like that though, Laura. It’s not seen like that when they do that.
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: You know, you’ve got to take into account their background as well. You can’t just say if two people…
Laura: I’m not saying there’s something wrong with them necessarily. I’m saying there’s something wrong.
Jamie: If two identical people, one with a terrible background, one with idyllic childhood, both kill someone, you’re saying that their cases are absolutely identical because there’s a choice.
Laura: No, I’m not.
Jamie: Well, there you go then. Then Voldemort…
Laura: I’m not saying they’re identical, but I’m saying that Voldemort grew up in an orphanage full of kids and none of them grew up to be murderers.
Jamie: How do you know?
Kevin: That’s exactly what my idea is.
Laura: They all received the same treatment.
Kevin: Exactly.
Jamie: Yes, you’re right and their correctness lies in the choices after a bad childhood. Voldemort is wrong to choose what he did. It doesn’t mean his childhood didn’t influence what he did. He just didn’t choose the same path as the other ones. You know, it could be a flaw that causes him to do that.
Andrew: Plus he could do magic.
Jamie: Yeah.
Andrew: So, he sort of went a different way once he realized he could start doing magic.
Jamie: It’s a flaw that caused that. It’s not – you could say it’s a flaw in his character.
Ben: It’s not his fault.
Jamie: Exactly. You can’t just say that…
Laura: Yeah, a flaw in his character that he’s evil.
Jamie: No.
Ben: Right, but did he choose to be evil? Did he choose to be evil?
Laura: No, I don’t think so. I think he was born evil.
Andrew: I don’t think you can choose to be evil.
Ben: Then how can you blame him?
Jamie: Yeah, if he was born evil it’s not his fault.
Laura: What I’m saying is that – no, it’s not someone’s fault if they’re born evil, but, you can’t sit there and say, “Oh well, you know, we should look at them in a good light or any of that. We should look at them in a different light.” We should look at them in a different light.
Jamie: I’m not saying we should look at them in a good way.
Ben: Good and bad is all relative. Voldemort’s followers think he’s doing the greatest thing ever, you know.
Jamie: Yeah.
Ben: It’s all relative.
Jamie: One man’s terrorist…
Ben: He said, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”
Jamie: One man’s Harry Potter…no, actually not.
Kevin: This sounds like a philosophy class.
Jamie: It is a philosophy class.
Laura: Yeah. [laughs]
Tangent: Spells, Curses, Jinxes and Hexes
Jamie: That’s exactly what it is. Okay, moving on from this then, digressing slightly; aren’t the names of the spells, curses, jinxes, hexes just a matter of opinion too? As Hermione… As Hermione insinuates in Order of the Phoenix when she says that what Slinkhard calls counter curses or something like that, aren’t really. They’re sort of anti-jinxes or something like that. Isn’t that true?
Andrew: What does Hermione say?
Jamie: Okay. Curses, jinxes, hexes have really negative connotations, yeah? Whereas a spell and a…
Ben: A charm.
Jamie: …have good connotations. Yeah, charm. Aren’t they relative? Sorry, aren’t they subjective terms? Couldn’t one man’s hex be another man’s charm?
[Andrew, Kevin, and Laura laugh]
Kevin: Wow.
Andrew: I guess so.
Ben: I know, but you have a Charms class that’s the only thing.
Andrew: Well, one man’s hex can be another man’s charm. Well, wouldn’t that be like Voldemort’s – no. Yeah, if Voldemort’s using a hex it’s a charm to him. Is that what you’re saying?
Laura: Yeah.
Jamie: It’s a subjective term calling it that. It is, though. I’m not saying that Avada Kedavra is a nice, nice charm. But…
[Andrew and Ben laugh]
Laura: Well, it is to use on some people.
Jamie: Yes, well perhaps it is. Perhaps…
Ben: We’ll have a value debate.
[Laura laughs]
Back to Voldemort
Jamie: Okay, back to… Ben don’t worry. Okay. We don’t blame Harry for having thoughts like in Order of the Phoenix when he, you know, scoffs and laughs at Ron at becoming a Prefect. You just don’t see the thoughts of everyone else’s world. You just see the evilness of Voldemort. There is – we’re so engrained with thinking that Harry’s the hero, which he is, the hero, of course he’s the hero, and that that side is good that we just… There’s like, a barrier between us. I’m not – as I’m going to keep saying, as I know I’m going to get e-mails about this, I’m not saying that Voldemort is a nice, nice person. He’s a horrible, horrible person, but as Mr. Ollivander says in Book One, “He did great things. Terrible things, absolutely terrible things, but great things.” You’ve got to, you’ve got to…
Andrew: Commend him for that? [laughs]
Jamie: He’s a…
Andrew: Give him a plaque? [laughs]
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: You’ve got to commend him for that! Yes. I’m going to give him a badge next time I see him. And a slice of cake. Okay.
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: What I’m saying is, he did – he is a clever, clever, clever guy, as well. This is… Okay, this is…
Laura: Oh yeah.
Jamie: …this is moving slightly from the good versus evil…
Kevin: Well…
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: …but he’s clever in how he…
Andrew: That’s what he’s doing. [laughs]
Jamie: …in how he… Yeah, in how he does things. He cheats, jinxes.
Kevin: He kills. [laughs]
Jamie: I know, I’m not saying it’s good, but that’s – stuff like that. He’s… But you’ve got, we’ve got to look at it from his side, as well. His childhood, where he is now. You just can’t look at him and say, “He’s evil and it’s his fault.” Basically.
Andrew: Well, he’s got big you-know-whats come to think of it.
Laura: Well, it’s not his fault that he’s evil… Okay, it’s not his fault that he’s evil, but it’s his fault that he didn’t work to change that. [laughs] That’s what I’m saying.
Kevin: Yeah, I…
Jamie: But what you’re saying. You’re saying…
Ben: But there’s a psychological mindset. How can you go against it?
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
Andrew: This, this relates. In my health class, we were learning about fetal alcohol syndrome. Everyone know about this? And…
Laura: Yes.
Jamie: No.
Andrew: [laughs] What we learned, what the teacher was telling us was that the – when you have fetal alcohol syndrome, you see no consequences. Like, if you – and we watched this video where there were stories of these kids. If you, there was this one kid who, he turned on the bath and then left the water running and it overflowed, but that’s what his dad told him to do – to keep the water running when he’s getting in the shower. He just kept it running and there was no consequence and he completely ruined the house. But, what I’m saying is, there are psychological cases where it isn’t your fault, like that.
Jamie: No, yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s… See, I think you’ve…
Laura: Yeah, but…[sighs]
Jamie: …completely missed my point, though. I’m not saying that he’s good, but…
Kevin: You’re saying from his perspective, from his perspective things…
Andrew: We know that.
Jamie: You just can’t…
Andrew: Yeah, it’s not his choice.
Laura: Yeah, and it is all subjective, but…
Jamie: Yeah.
Laura: …that’s point of the discussion. [laughs] So, I don’t why… [laughs]
Andrew: On the other hand, there’s no real proof that it was his choice. We’re just doing this for discussion’s sake, aren’t we?
Laura: Well, didn’t Dumbledore say that he was pretty much born evil? I thought that’s what he said.
Ben: Or JK Rowling said that, too.
Laura: Yeah.
Jamie: If you’re born evil, then surely that solves the discussion that if you’re… I mean, you say that other people are faced with a similar childhood and that they make choices to get out of their depravity, but how many people do you know who have been born evil? I’m sure he’s like, one in a million who have been born evil.
Kevin: Well, I mean, I’m sure there’s people out there who are psychos, but they do not act on their tendencies because they know it’s not accepted by society.
Ben: No, that – but then they’re not psychos. If they can make the choice.
Jamie: Yeah. So, that concludes our main discussion for the week. A poll will be put up asking if you agree that Voldemort can be considered in a different light or if he is innately, completely, manifestly, majestically, uncontrollably evil. So, thank you.
Dueling Club: Lily vs. Bellatrix
Andrew: We’re going to have another dueling club right now. This one comes from Tom, 14, of – eh, what’s this called? This town here? [mispronounces] Hertfordshire? That’s kind of a weird name.
Jamie: Huh? Where’s that? Where’s that?
Andrew: [mispronounces] Hertfordshire? Is that how you say it?
Jamie: Hertfordshire. [laughs]
Andrew: [mispronounces] Hertfordshire?
Ben: [laughs] It’s in England, isn’t it?
Jamie: Hertfordshire.
Andrew: Whatever. Hertfordshire. That’s what I said.
Jamie: Why do Americans have such trouble pronouncing English cities?
Andrew: Because it’s like three words mashed into one. Tom writes:
“Hey, I was on your site looking in the encyclopedia and I came across the characters Bellatrix and Lily. I was wondering who would you think would win in a duel if both of them ever fought?”
Obviously, before Lily died. And I thought that’s a kind of an interesting duel.
[Jamie groans]
Ben: [laughs] No, after she died.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Well, what if… What if Bellatrix – they fought after she died?
Ben: [laughs] Bella’s, Bella’s a nasty witch, that’s for sure.
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah, I would, I would happen to agree.
Jamie: But she’s a very powerful nasty person, as well. Even though she’s horrible, she’s very, very powerful. But Lily, you know…
Andrew: And I mean, Lily was good at spells and not much else. So, well, I don’t know that, but…
Laura: That’s not true! She was good at potions! [laughs]
Andrew: What? That’s what I just said! She was good at potions.
Laura: You said spells.
Andrew: I meant potions.
Kevin: You said spells.
Andrew: I meant potions. Laura, what do you think? Who would win in a duel, Bellatrix or Lily?
Laura: I don’t know. I think, I’m trying to decide. It’s really hard because obviously we’ve seen a lot more of Bellatrix in a fighting arena. Well, we haven’t actually seen Lily fight at all, so it’s kind of hard to say. I think that Bellatrix is – I don’t know. I guess a cheater would be the best way to put it. Like, she’s kind of… She’ll go out of her way to trip someone up. She won’t properly duel. Whereas I might see Lily being a bit more…
Andrew: Proper?
Laura: You know what I’m saying? Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah. But if it was a – if it was a formal duel, I would still think Bellatrix would win because, like I just said, Lily is a potions girl, sort of like we were talking about.
Ben: Right, but she’s pretty clever.
Laura: Yeah, but didn’t Ollivander say that her wand was good for charms?
Ben: Well, or hexes. I mean, depends on your interpretation.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Kevin, what do you think?
Kevin: No, I don’t know. I would say I don’t know. We haven’t seen enough of Lily to actually make a judgment on it.
Jamie: Well, we haven’t seen anything of Lily. [laughs]
[Andrew laughs]
Kevin: [laughs} Yeah.
Jamie: She died, remember?
Kevin: Hey, she’s good at jumping in front of things.
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: Yeah.
Listener Rebuttal: Proof Snape is NOT Evil
Andrew: Olivia, 17, of Wellington, New Zealand has another rebuttal for us. She writes:
“I was just re-reading Prisoner of Azkaban and something stuck out to me that I had never thought was significant until just now. When Lupin leads his class into the staff room to vanquish the boggart, Snape is the only other person in the room. He says, “Leave the door open, Lupin. I’d rather not witness this.” He goes on to berate Neville, and then leaves the room. Is it possible that Snape doesn’t want to know what Harry’s worst fear is, lest Voldemort somehow extract this knowledge from him? If so, this puts considerable weight behind the ‘Snape is Good’ theory. What Death Eater wouldn’t want to know the chosen one’s worst fear? And I know that Voldy has not returned yet in this part of the story, but Snape knows that he’s still out there and likely to come back sometime. Just wanted to know what you thought.”
Laura: That’s very good.
Jamie: I think, I think it’s an awesome, it’s an awesome sort of bit at the beginning, but I think she’s gone… I mean, this kind of provoked me to think, and I think that instead of it being that Snape doesn’t what to know what Harry’s worst fear is, he doesn’t want to see himself dressed as…
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: …you know, in the clothes.
[Kevin laughs]
Jamie: So, perhaps he’s performing Occlumency on Neville. Sorry, he’s performing Legilimency.
Laura: Well, it’s a good theory…
Jamie: Yes.
Laura: …to support the ‘Snape is Good’ camp.
Jamie: Yes, it is. So…
Andrew: I don’t know because…
Jamie: I wouldn’t call it the most solid theory ever, but it’s very good. Yeah
Andrew: It just seems like Snape wouldn’t really care for this sort of thing.
Laura: Yeah, I mean it could be that too.
Andrew: “I’d rather not witness this, I’ve got better things to do.” That’s sort of his attitude all the time, anyway.
Jamie: Yeah, that’s true. That’s true actually, yeah.
Laura: It could go either way.
Kevin: Yeah, it sort of sounds like he’s trying to make it out to be pathetic.
Andrew: Yeah.
Kevin: You know? Like “Oh, this is pathetic.”
Andrew: Yeah.
Kevin: “I don’t want to see these kids’ fears.”
Andrew: Thank you Olivia, for sending that in.
Interview: Potter Puppet Pals
Andrew: We have an interview now with the folks who produce Potter Puppet Pals, which is a
funny flash website that produces different Harry Potter skits. Most notably, “Sexy Snape,” which is a flash version of Snape…
Ben: Oh, yeah.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: …”I’m too sexy for my body.” It’s actually really funny. They just released a new video, and we have an interview with them now.
I am now joined by Neil’s Cicierega who is the creator of Potter Puppet Pals. Neil?
Neil: Hey.
Andrew: Thanks for coming on the show today with us. We just had a couple questions for you because you guys just released a new Potter Puppet Pals short. But before I ask you about that, could you tell us a little bit about Potter Puppet Pals and how you originally came up with the idea for it?
Neil: I guess the idea of Harry Potter characters as puppets, something about that stuck out. My sister and some of her friends, I guess, liked to draw comics featuring puppet versions of the Harry Potter characters and it was funny. So I’m like, “I’m going to record their voices and animate them.”
Andrew: Oh, okay.
Neil: I did not – mhm?
Andrew: Did you have experience with doing flash animations beforehand? Or did you learn it just for this?
Neil: I had had some, yeah. Not like really animating. My sister’s the artist – my sister Emmy. She does animations a lot better, but I decided to try my hand at more traditional animation. But I definitely did a lot of stuff in flash before then, but it was a lot more random and less cute.
Andrew: Right. So, are you guys both pretty big Harry Potter fans?
Neil: Yeah, since, I don’t know, 2000 or so. Yeah, for quite a while.
Andrew: Oh, okay. How long does it take you to produce one of these?
Neil: Well, the animations were a lot harder. I actually get them done pretty quick, considering how hard it is to animate.
Andrew: Yeah.
Neil: But by the time… But after I’d made the first two animations, for some reason it got a lot harder to see it all through, so that’s why I never created a third animation. But the puppets, the real puppets? Well, it took a long time to actually make the puppets.
Andrew: Was that your sister, Emmy or who came up with these?
Emmy: Our mom did.
Neil: Oh, yeah, our mom actually made the puppets.
Andrew: Oh, okay. [laughs]
Neil: She’s just the only person who can sew.
Emmy: There’s no way we could have made them.
[Andrew laughs]
Andrew: You guys are just the computer people?
Emmy: Yeah, we’re computer people, not crafty people.
Andrew: Yeah.
Neil: Mhm.
Andrew: Now, one of your bigger, one of your more successful videos – well, I would think – is “Sexy Snape,” as it’s called.
Neil: Yeah, that one’s kind of a runaway hit, I guess.
Andrew: Yeah. How’d you come up with the idea for that?
Emmy: I told him to do it.
Andrew: Oh, did you? [laughs] Did you?
Neil: Yeah, the idea was of Snape dancing to that song.
Emmy: On a runway.
Neil: On a runway.
Andrew: Right.
Neil: I never finished it because I didn’t expect it to be a serious animation, it was just was purely self-amusement. But we stuck it up on the website anyway and some people found it and it spread around on its own.
Andrew: Right. Was that one of your first Potter Puppet Pals?
Neil: Well, I guess it’s not really a puppet video.
Andrew: Well, right, but I mean just one of your first videos.
Neil: I think that came after the Puppet Pals.
Emmy: Yeah.
Neil: I know it looks a lot cruder.
Andrew: Yeah. [laughs] Yeah, because the animation of that one is pretty – sort of cheesy, and I think that’s what makes it so funny.
Emmy: Yeah.
Andrew: Is that his mouth is just opening up and down, it’s pretty funny.
Neil: Yeah, I wasn’t trying to go for anything too fancy with that one.
Andrew: Yeah. [laughs]
Emmy: It was just different.
Neil: Yeah.
Andrew: Which one are you most proud of, would you say?
Neil: Which one are we most proud of?
Andrew: Yeah.
Neil: Oh, I don’t know. I usually like the latest stuff. I love the live action puppets because they’re really fun to play around with and film and they’re so much easier than animating.
Andrew: Right.
Emmy: What are you talking about? It’s hard holding the puppets.
[Andrew laughs]
Neil: Well, in the last animation I didn’t actually have to hold the puppets up. I got Emmy and our friend Laura – because I wanted to be behind the camera.
Andrew: Uh huh. How long does it take for you guys, usually, to come up with a script for one of these?
Emmy: We just sit down and we write it, like, at three in the morning. It’ll take a couple hours and we’ll find it a couple days after that.
Neil: Yeah.
Emmy: But we’ll mostly just sit down and do whatever makes us laugh the most.
Andrew: Oh, okay. Now, how big – how many views do you get on these videos?
Neil: I’m not sure. I haven’t checked. [laughs] I know the original few animations have probably gotten a lot by now, because – I don’t know.
Emmy: Millions.
Neil: Yeah, I don’t know. I’m not sure of the numbers. I know on New Ground they got several thousand views.
Andrew: Wow.
Neil: A lot of them – yeah. A lot of views came from MuggleNet, actually. Originally.
Andrew: Oh, okay. Yeah. I remember when we posted about that, and still, frequently, we’re always getting e-mails from people telling us to check it out. We’ve been getting a lot of emails lately about your new video called “Wizard Angst.”
Neil: Mhm.
Andrew: Is that what it’s called? Could you tell us about that one? That’s a puppet style video, right?
Neil: I think it’s – technically it’s the third video we’ve made with the puppets. The first was just a little teaser animation with just puppet Snape, sort of staring into the camera while a Cure song played. That was just to get people’s interest.
Andrew: Yeah.
Neil: And let them know that we’re going to make some stuff with real puppets. And then I made a sort of test video, which we didn’t have a stage yet so we filmed it from behind the couch.
[Emmy laughs]
Andrew: Oh, okay.
Neil: That one is called “Potions Class,” and that still gets a lot of views anyways even though it’s…
Emmy: Crappy.
Neil: Yeah. Well, it’s not crappy, it’s still pretty funny. But it’s not full quality. And “Wizard Angst” is the first official episode, and we filmed it with pretty much the completed puppets and a nice stage with curtains and everything, and changing camera shots. It looks really nice.
Andrew: Yeah, I’m looking at it now. It’s… [laughs] It looks very good. Now, you said this is the first of a series of episodes you’re doing?
Neil: Yeah, hopefully. We’re going…
Andrew: Is it – go ahead.
Neil: We’re going to. Every once in a while, we’re just going to be like, “Hey, let’s make a new puppet video.” and we’ll be like okay, and we will write a script, and we’ll go down to the stage and film it.
Andrew: Oh, okay. Now are these – is it going to stretch out across an entire storyline, or are they all different themes to them.
Emmy: They’re just random.
Neil: They’re just random.
Andrew: [laughs] Okay. Now you guys are going to be performing, I guess I could say, at Yule Ball in Massachusetts come December.
Neil: Mhm. Yeah, December 10th at the Middle East in Cambridge. Harry and the Potters are putting on a Yule Ball show. They’re doing two shows on that day, an early one, and a late one, and we’re doing the earlier one, which is around noon. And we’re doing to be opening for them with a whole bunch of Wizard Rock bands.
Emmy: Draco and the Malfoys.
Neil: Yeah, and all those kids.
Andrew: Cool.
Neil: We’ll do an actual skit in front of the audience with the puppets, right there in front of everybody.
Andrew: Very cool. Did you guys come to them with this idea, or did they come to you?
Neil: We came to them, pretty much. After a show when they were all tired and sweaty.
Andrew: Okay [laughs]
Neil: We went up and were like, “Hey. We made Potter Puppet Pals. We’re going to be in your show, okay?”
Andrew: Uh huh.
Neil: They had heard of us. I don’t know if – I’m pretty sure they had seen the videos before, but they told us that they see a lot of people wearing Potter Puppet Pals shirts at their shows, and they said it was a really cool idea for us to open for them at some point, so they got us this gig.
Andrew: Ah, cool.
Neil: There will be more in the future, hopefully.
Andrew: Cool. Is this going to be a new skit, or are you guys going to do one that you’ve already created?
Emmy: It’s going to be new.
Neil: I think we might try – we’ll incorporate a little of old stuff into it, just because it will get big fan reactions, I think.
Andrew: Right.
Neil: But we’re going to try and make it a new skit, and we’re thinking of having little musical segments since it’s a rock show.
Emmy: Yeah.
Neil: And we’re going to have a mini musical, basically.
Andrew: Oh, very cool. Now tell me, who does the voice of Snape? Because it’s probably the…
Neil: That’s me.
Andrew: Is it you? Because it’s probably the funniest voice I’ve ever heard. [laughs]
Emmy: He does all the voices of all the puppets, even Hermione.
Andrew: Oh, you do?
Neil: It’s funny. Usually I pitch Hermione’s voice up just a little bit, but they’re all mine.
Andrew: [laughs] Okay. Can you do a little Snape for us right now?
Neil: [in Snape voice] I suppose I can.
Andrew: [laughs] Can you say, “This is MuggleCast.”
Neil: [in Snape voice] This is MuggleCast.
Andrew: [laughs] Very nice.
Neil: [in Snape voice] The greatest programming on the Internet.
Andrew: [laughs] It’s a very boring tone, I really like it. What’s next for Puppet Pals outside of this little live gig that you guys are doing?
Neil: Oh, I don’t know. I guess we’ll just keep making the videos, trying to spread them out to the world…
Emmy: Keep topping ourselves.
Neil: Keep topping ourselves.
Andrew: Uh huh. Well, you guys are doing a great job, and I know everyone is really enjoying them, and if anyone wants to know more about Potter Puppet Pals, or watch more videos, you can go to PotterPuppetPals.com. Neil and Emily, thanks for – er, Neil and Emmy, thanks for joining us today.
Neil: Thanks.
Dumbledore/Norris Update
Jamie: Okay, Dumbledore/Norris facts will return. I had a few e-mails telling me you want them back, and I had a few good ones being sent in as well. I’m a bit under-prepared, so I’m not going to do any this week, but I’m going to come back next week with an ultra-load of Dumbledore/Norris facts.
Listener Rebuttal: Centaurs
Andrew: We have a final rebuttal now for everyone. Susan, sixteen of Wisconsin. She writes:
“Hey MuggleCasters! I was listening to Episode 63 and I wanted to add something to your Forbidden Forest discussion. When you were talking about the centaurs, you mentioned how they might help Harry in the next book. I don’t think they would help even if they wanted the ‘good’ side to win or vice versa. They don’t believe fate should be tampered with and that’s why they were angry with Firenze for helping Harry in the first book, not because they wanted Harry to die. Of course, you’ll always get the odd one like him that isn’t against affecting the outside world, so there may be a group of them that we see in the seventh book (obviously Firenze can’t go back now), but I think the majority will just want to let time take its course. To them, it’s not right or wrong, it’s fate.
Good point, Susan.
Jamie: Can I point out that she put the word “good” in speech marks to show that even though Harry’s…
Andrew: It’s not…
Jamie: ..side is considered good, it is not…
Andrew: Yeah.
Jamie: And no, it’s not right or wrong, it’s fate. Thank you Susan, I like you.
Andrew’s McDonald’s Update
Andrew: I have an update on our new McDonald’s listener challenge. It’s going very well. McDonald’s across the world are getting promotional ads for MuggleCast placed in their fine restaurants, and I want to remind everyone that you have until the end of the month to go in there, take a picture of yourself with a MuggleCast promotional sign, whether it’s on the soda fountain or it can be anywhere in McDonald’s, and we got a lot of e-mail complaints about this, because we were limiting it to McDonald’s. You can put it anywhere. I don’t really care.
Jamie: Anywhere.
Andrew: Just promote us. That’s what I’m trying to say.
Ben: Wendy’s?
Andrew: Sure. Yeah. Wendy’s, yeah.
Kevin: Be creative.
Andrew: [laughs] Not your own house. It had to be somewhere out in public where people can see it, because we like getting word out about the show. No harm in that. So you have until the end of the month.
Laura: Yeah, people were complaining because they thought that we were [laughs] being endorsed by McDonald’s or something. It was kind of ridiculous. [laughs]
Andrew: No, of course not. We are.
[Laura laughs]
Ben: Seriously, McDonalds has much higher promotional campaigns like TV, than to use our podcast.
Kevin: They’ve been… Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah. By the way, everyone, I’d like to announce that we are now sponsored by McDonald’s, that’s McDonalds.com.
[Ben, Kevin and Laura laugh]
Andrew: So anyway, you do have until the end of the month to send in your pictures, and we’ll post them for everyone to see. We’re going to give away something. We don’t know what yet. I guess a t-shirt and a free coupon to McDonald’s.
Laura: And a Big Mac.
Andrew: A free cookie fun pack.
Jamie’s British Jokes of the Day
Andrew: Jamie, you want to wrap things up today with a British joke?
Jamie: I do. I’ve got two today.
[Laura and Andrew laugh]
Jamie: First one: There is a family sat in a restaurant when several people burst in riding huge, massive eggs. They ride around the room, but then the eggs smash and the people fall and die. The father says to his kids, “See kids, that’s why you should never mount your chickens before they hatch.”
[Andrew and Laura laughs]
Jamie: That was from…
Andrew: I’m dying here.
Jamie: Richard from London. Well, that was from Richard from London, who, for age, has put 742, so I’m assuming he’s made a typo there, but he could be our oldest listener yet. I would really like that.
Jamie: This is quite hard to get, but see if you like it. A frog walks – you have to listen carefully. A frog walks into a bank and walks up to the clerk. He looks at her name-tag and says, “Hello, Patty Whack. My name is Mr. Jagger, and I’d like a loan.” Patty Whack says, “All right, Mr. Jagger. And what will your collateral be?” The frog puts his hand into his pocket and pulls out a small pink elephant. Patty Whack looks at it for a second, then says, “I’m not sure if we can take that. Will you excuse me for a minute? I’m going to ask the boss.” She tells the boss about the frog and shows him the pink elephant. Her boss looks at her and says, “It’s a knick-knack, Patty Whack, give the frog a loan. His old man’s a Rolling Stone.”
[Everyone laughs]
Ben: That actually – I actually like that one.
Andrew: That’s funny!
Laura: Yeah, that was actually cool. [laughs]
Jamie: Good, I’m glad you do, Ben.
Andrew: Ah, for once.
PO Box Update
Andrew: Ben, you’re going to wrap things up today with a PO Box update I hear?
Ben: [makes a shivering noise] Sorry, I ran outside barefoot and it’s like two degrees, and… Yeah.
Jamie: It’s not, Ben, it’s always warm in America.
Ben: See what I do, what I do for MuggleCast.
[Andrew laughs]
Ben: Okay.
Andrew: That must have been really hard. [laughs]
Kevin: He’s like shivering!
Ben: From Lisa and
Laura: they said they want to thank me for my good work and everyone on the show for their excellent work, and this letter was addressed to me. It says, “You’re my friend Laura’s favorite.” Hey! Coincidentally enough, I’m this Laura’s favorite too! MuggleCast Laura, I’m her favorite too.
[Andrew and Kevin laugh]
Laura: Oh, yeah! Absolutely.
Ben: It says… And then she says, Lisa says, “I think Andrew’s the best. Sorry, but I love you all.”
Andrew: Thank you, Lisa.
Ben: But something interesting is Laura and Lisa, Lisa and Laura, Lisa and Laura, Laura and Lisa sent me an autographed Yellowcard poster! Now how cool is that?
Andrew: Awww!
Jamie: Awww, that’s very nice.
Ben: It’s personalized! It says – I don’t know if they wrote the “To Ben” on that, but regardless, it’s awesome. It is signed by all the band members, and it says Lights and Sounds. I love you guys. I love you all!
Andrew: Was it really signed by them?
Ben: This is awesome. Yeah! I’m serious! It is!
Kevin: It’s probably forged.
Jamie: Ben…
[Laura laughs]
Jamie: What’s your e-Bay user name?
Andrew: Way to rain on the parade.
Ben: What’s that, Jamie?
Jamie: What’s your e-Bay username? I’ll be checking it closely in the next few days. [laughs]
Ben: [laughs] No, it’s probably personalized. It has my name on it, so…
Jamie: Yeah, but think about it.
Ben: So, thank you.
Andrew: If anyone wants to…
Ben: Just hope another Ben wants a Yellowcard poster or something?
Jamie: Yeah, exactly! Yeah.
[Andrew laughs]
[Show Close music begins]
Ben: Thank you all, though. Seriously. Thank you for everything. Continue sending anything, letters and stuff – I’ll read some letters on the show next week. Those were in my trunk underneath a bunch of boxes. So I – and it was too cold out there for me to get them. So, next week, I’ll read letters.
Andrew: Cool!
Jamie: Awesome.
Andrew: And if anyone wants to send me a poster of U2 with all of their signed autographs…
Jamie: Of U2? [laughs]
Andrew: It doesn’t have to be personally addressed. You don’t have to put my name on it.
Ben: Send it to:
PO Box 223
Moundridge, Kansas 67107
Andrew: You can call us: 1-218-20-MAGIC (62442). I just renewed our phone number, so you guys better use it.
Kevin: Oh, that’s good.
Andrew: It cost us like – what, forty-three dollars? That’s breaking the bank. Everyone use it! [laughs] And if you’re in the United Kingdom, you can call 020-8144-0677. If you’re in Australia, you can dial 02-8003-5668. You can also Skype the username MuggleCast and leave a voicemail question. Speaking of voicemails, Episode 66 we will be doing an entire voicemail show. We’re not going to have a main discussion or anything. We might have little segments still, but it’s just going to be focused on voicemails. We’re going to have a good 10-15 voicemail questions answered to attempt to break ice on the amount of voicemail questions that we do get. So, keep them coming, and make them good questions! [laughs] Please. Also, you can listen at MuggleCast.com and use our feedback form to get in touch with anyone of us. You can also complain about the show, you can make a suggestion, you can give us a submission; tell us if you have trouble downloading MuggleCast. It’s all there on the site. And don’t forget to visit our MySpace! We want 5,000 friends. That’s our goal. We’re going to do something.
Ben: By tomorrow.
Kevin: Well, I…
Andrew: That’s doable.
[Ben laughs]
Andrew: There’s how many people on MySpace? 54 million? [laughs] So once again, I’m Andrew Sims.
Ben: I am Ben Schoen.
Jamie: I’m Jamie Lawrence.
Kevin: I’m Kevin Steck.
Laura: And I’m Laura Thompson.
Andrew: We’ll see everyone next week for MuggleCast Episode 65, with a special interview with the creators of the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix video game. So it’ll be a show you don’t want to miss. Buh-bye!
[Show music ends]
Bloopers
Kevin: No, all I’m saying is that if you are addicted to something, like alcohol in Laura’s case, and you…
[Everyone laughs]
Kevin: No, no, I’m sorry, not – in Laura’s example, I should say. In her example!
Andrew: Oh, okay.
Jamie: [laughs] That was funny. Put that in.
Micah: USA Today published four brand new photos from the Order of the Phoenix movie in an article which also contains a new interview with Dan Radcliffe. The photos show Voldemort, Sirius, Umbridge, and Harry and Cho kissing.
Now I’m going to share a story with you about USA Today, and you have no choice but to listen. I was at work on Friday. I went to MuggleNet.com. Not that I ever condone going to non-related sites when you’re at work, but nonetheless, I did. And I saw that these pictures were in the paper that day, and so I decided, “On the way home, I’m going to pick up USA Today and I’m going to take a look at these pictures.” And I leave early from work, get to the train, and completely forget to pick up the paper! Now, as luck would have it, what do you think happened? The whole reason behind telling this story – not to waste your time – I get into the train, I go to sit down, and what is sitting on my seat, but USA Today. If that’s not fate, I don’t know what is!
———————–
Written by: Micah, Allison, Briana, Jessica, Judy, Mandie, Martina, Matt, Megan, Roni, Samantha, Sarah, Shannon and Shelly