MuggleCast 170 Transcript
Show Intro
[Intro music begins]
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[“Hedwig’s Theme” plays]
Jim Dale: [as Professor McGonagall] This is Professor McGonagall welcoming you all to MuggleCast hoping you enjoyed – Dobby! Dobby, come here! Here! Dobby! [as Dobby] Yes, I’d just like to say how very pleased I am to introduce MuggleCast to all of you! Thank you! Thank you!
[Show music begins]
Micah: Because you may not have known Patrick Doyle completely improvised the Yule Ball score, this is MuggleCast Episode 170 for February 16th, 2009.
[Show music continues]
Andrew: Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to the show. It’s our Valentines Day special!
Laura: Woo!
Matt: Heart.
Eric: Aww.
Andrew: We don’t have much planned, I’ll be honest with you. There’s not much. We have a Favorites segment that’s all about love, but I’m sure we can work in love throughout the show in a variety of ways. Special this week, we have a very nice interview with the Goblet of Fire composer, Patrick Doyle. Matt and Micah worked this one up. Good job, guys.
Matt: Oh, thank you.
Andrew: I give you guys my love because it’s Valentines Day. The day after.
Laura: Aww, that’s so sweet.
Andrew: Yes.
Micah: I was just going to say, and I’m sure we can mention it later though, we owe a big thanks to Syracuse University for getting us that interview.
Andrew: Love to them too because it’s Valentines Day!
Matt: Yes, we’re spreading the love.
Andrew: Love! Love! So yeah, we got that and we got a lot of news to catch up on because it’s been a few weeks but it’s so good to talk to everyone again, I must say. So let’s get right into the show. I’m Andrew Sims.
Eric: I’m Eric Scull.
Laura: I’m Laura Thompson.
Micah: I’m Micah Tannenbaum.
Matt: I’m Matt Britton.
Nick: And I’m Nick Myers.
[Show music continues]
News: New Movie Posters
Andrew: Micah Tannenbaum, it’s been a few weeks so there’s a lot of news to catch up on. What’s going on?
Micah: I don’t know if I’m going to remember how to even do this.
Andrew: Oh, my.
Micah: But the biggest news, of course, was on Monday. We got some high res versions of the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince posters.
Andrew: Finally!
Laura: Yay.
Micah: They were originally…
Matt: Yes, finally! What the f…
Micah: What?
Matt: Finally!
Laura: Not this show, Matt. Wrong show.
[Andrew and Micah laugh]
Matt: Oh my…
Eric: Yeah actually, they’re nice…
Matt: …Dumbledore.
Eric: …but I thought they were too blue.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: So I actually took it down a notch. I took the high def images – or high res images – and I took them down a notch as far as blue, and so I have them on my desktop now and they’re not – you guys see what I’m saying, looking at that?
Matt: That’s funny, Eric, because I actually changed it to lavender. I think it has a better ambiance to it.
Eric: So you changed the hue?
Matt: I honestly think, yeah.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: Is that for Valentines Day?
Andrew: Yes, nobody cares what colors you changed.
Matt: Okay, fine.
Andrew: I like the blue. I thought it was a nice tone. It’s dark tone.
Matt: Isn’t the – oh I guess not, that’s green…
Laura: Aren’t they always blue?
Matt: …for Half-Blood Prince.
Andrew: Yeah, they…
Laura: Don’t they usually have a blue cast to them?
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Didn’t the posters kind of remind you – they had kind of like a Goblet of Fire resemblance? Like the Goblet of Fire posters?
Andrew: Sort of. Well, it’s rainy.
Laura: Well, yeah, in the fact that they had more of an epic look to them. Yeah, I would agree.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah.
Eric: Is that rain or is that snow?
Matt: Epic!
Andrew: Maybe it’s snow.
Laura: Snrain.
Matt: Well, they’re probably still on that little island in the middle of the ocean.
Eric: Oh, right, with mist.
Andrew: Maybe.
Matt: In front of the cave. Mist, yeah, that’s it. It’s mist.
Micah: I thought it was going to be the Astronomy Tower, but I don’t know if it was raining then.
Matt: And the mist was just air bubbles and then falling down.
Andrew: It shouldn’t have been raining.
Micah: I don’t know, you know how they like to change things, Warner Brothers.
Eric: It’s true.
Matt: Yeah, Harry could die in it too.
Eric: He could.
[Laura laughs]
Matt: Falling down there with Dumbledore.
Andrew: There’s – a lot of people are wondering what’s up with Dumbledore’s hand, why he doesn’t – why his hand isn’t all battered up like it’s supposed to be.
Matt: Yeah, that’s kind of weird.
Micah: Because it’s only PG.
[Everybody laughs]
Micah: They can’t make his hand look any scarier.
Andrew: No, well, that is going to be in the movie, it’s not like – I was thinking maybe it’s just because they don’t want to confuse people who are just looking at the posters being like, “Oh, why is his hand all messed up?” It doesn’t really make sense in the context of the poster.
Laura: I would think that would be a point of interest if they did that, like…
Eric: I’m not…
Matt: Yeah. Yeah.
Laura: Like, “Oh my God, why is his hand all screwed up?” I don’t know, I think that would attract people.
Eric: I’m not entirely sure they didn’t do that. If you look at – I guess it’s his left hand – the finger closest towards him is pure black and the other finger…
Andrew: Yeah…
Eric: …kind of looks cut off. It’s darker than his other – you know what I’m saying? I think – I don’t remember…
Andrew: Well, you’re right.
Eric: …what it looked like.
Andrew: You’re right.
Eric: Or if I even saw what it looked like completed. But maybe they only have like half his hand and then it spreads to his whole hand down to his palm. I don’t know. It looks blacker than it should, his hand, in parts.
Andrew: Mhm.
Matt: What do you guys think about this, them having them each have HP and…
Eric: I didn’t like that.
Matt: …the number of the book…
Laura: I thought that was really cheesy.
Matt: …on the poster?
Nick: Yeah.
Matt: I thought it was really cheesy too, them trying to adjust the whole lightning bolt thing into a 6.
Andrew: Yeah. [laughs]
Matt: I thought that was kind of lame. That’s what made me think, “Is this actually real? Is this a real poster?”
Andrew: Yeah, it does look fake. And they seems like they’re really emphasizing that whole, “Once again I ask too much of you, Harry.”
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Because that’s been the trailers and now it’s on the poster.
Laura: Yeah, but don’t they always have that one line? Every – like last time it was, “You’ll lose everything.”
Nick: Yeah.
Matt: “Everything is going to change,” or…
Laura: Yeah.
Matt: “Everything changes.”
Andrew: I do love how Dumbledore is in Harry’s glasses.
Laura: Yeah, that is awesome.
Nick: Amazing.
Matt: That’s pretty awesome. It kind of would have been a little better if they didn’t have the same poster in it.
Micah: See, that’s what made me think about the Astronomy Tower, was the fact that he’s seeing Dumbledore in his glasses and it kind of looks like he’s dying or in the process of getting hit with something.
Andrew: But these posters are never shots from the movie, you know? They’re just promotional poses.
Nick: Yeah. That could explain how they missed the black hand off, if it’s an aftershot. They haven’t made his hand up and everything.
Andrew: Yeah, these are just promos more than anything.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Harry’s got really blue lips in this, though! [laughs]
Laura: It’s hypothermia.
Andrew: I didn’t notice that.
Nick: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah, so they’re cool posters. And it’s about time, because that was one of those things – before the delay happened, people were really wondering where the hell the posters were.
Matt: Well, here they are.
Andrew: Yeah!
Micah: I have one question though about Harry’s poster. With…
Andrew: What he’s wearing?
Micah: No, his arm. Isn’t his arm reflected in his own jacket? Or is that something else, if you look at it.
Matt: Oh, I see what you’re talking about. I think it’s just the ruffling of the cloth.
Micah: Because it almost looks like it’s a reflection of something else, kind of similar to how Dumbledore was reflected in his glasses.
Andrew: Yeah. Yeah, it does look weird. I think it’s just the combination of the lighting and like the angle.
Eric: Oh! Weird!
Andrew: More so the lighting because you see some light hitting the back of Harry’s right hand and then I think that light is going over his hand and onto his shirt.
Eric: No, it’s actually the special effects guy, Lenny.
[Everybody laughs]
Eric: Honestly. An oversight like that.
Matt: Lenny is a very skilled CGI Photoshop man. He would not go – he would not miss something like that.
Nick: I can’t see his scar, either.
Eric: No surprise there, though!
Andrew: Yeah, no scar. And his eyes aren’t green. Wah!
Matt: You can see the scar a little bit, can’t you?
Andrew: No.
Matt: Or maybe that’s just his hair. Okay, well, he – Dumbledore doesn’t have glasses!
Laura: Yeah, but that’s not central to the plot.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: He does actually – actually, you know what? Actually that’s interesting you say that, because in the movie he does have the glasses.
Matt: That’s right. Harry has blue eyes, I forgot.
Eric: That’s the thing. This is the first movie, that I noticed, that Michael Gamdon wore the Dumbledore glasses. And…
Andrew: Yeah, no, it is. I think he kind of looks weaker without the glasses on, and this is sort of an epic but – maybe not weaker but older.
Eric: Well, especially if he has them on most of the movie and takes them off.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah, plus wouldn’t it look kind of silly if Harry’s glasses showed Dumbledore and Dumbledore’s wearing glasses, maybe?
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: I don’t know. Someone in the comments was saying Dumbledore looks like Santa in this picture. I kind of agree.
[Matt laughs]
Andrew: What else is going on, Micah?
News: Sneak Peaks Coming Up
Micah: Well, earlier this week the New York Times reported that there is going to be a little bit of a preview of Half-Blood Prince at the Oscars on February 22nd, and from the article it seems like it’s going to come at the end of the show. Is that right?
Andrew: Yeah, I think so. It’s going to be – they’re going to be hyping it up throughout the Oscars. Because they’re really hyping up a different – a new Oscars this year. It’s going to be different from the other ones. So I – a lot of people are wondering if this is going to be a new clip or not, but I think it will be. I don’t see why they would play something that we’ve already seen.
Matt: That would be lame if they didn’t.
Andrew: Yeah, for something as epic as the Oscars, I don’t…
Eric: It’s true.
Matt: It’s – well, they were saying they were going to show trailers from – like debut trailers and footage that no one – from movies that people haven’t even heard about yet, too. So, I mean, it would just be stupid if Warner Brothers just chucked out this trailer that they’ve been showing like a million times already.
Micah: And they’re not the only ones that are doing this sneak peek into Half-Blood Prince. The day before, MTV is actually going to be doing one, and, Andrew, you guys are going to be involved in that, aren’t you?
Andrew: Well, sort of. Yeah. On February 21st there is going to be a showing of MTV Spoilers; it’s this new show they’re doing. And they just announced today – we’re recording Friday – that they are going to have – be playing clips from upcoming WB films, including Half-Blood Prince. And turns out, Matt and I actually got some tickets to this screening because it’s a Watchmen screening.
Matt: It’s a Watchmen screening!
Andrew: But we don’t know if they’re actually going to play these other clips at the screening that we’re going to. They may just add them later, but we have no idea which way they’re going to be doing it.
Matt: Well, are they going to be – they could just be showing it when they release it on TV.
Andrew: Right, that’s what I’m saying.
Matt: Oh.
Andrew: Yeah. So we don’t know whether we’re going to be seeing – we are going to be seeing them or not, because this taping happens on this upcoming Wednesday, the 18th. I think it’s the 18th. Yeah, it is.
Eric: Neat.
Andrew: And then the show will be out that following – that upcoming – this upcoming Saturday. It’ll be cool, you know? WB is obviously trying to get a lot of promotional stuff out with Half-Blood Prince now.
News: Rupert and Emma Nervous About Kiss
Micah: All right, well moving on, timely with Valentine’s Day, there is a little bit of news with the upcoming Deathly Hallows film. Both Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have confessed that they are a little bit nervous about a kissing scene that’s coming up in the seventh film.
Andrew: Aww. I think this is so funny that they’re both like “Oh I’m so afraid to kiss the other.”
Matt: You know secretly they really want it.
Andrew: Yeah, they’re so excited.
Matt: As soon as their cue goes up, they’re going to be…
Eric: She’s going to pin him to the wall.
Matt: Yeah. She’s going to throw him.
Andrew: I hope it gets crazy.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: It’s going to get crazy in theaters when people are watching this.
Laura: Oh my – yeah, can you imagine?
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: I can just imagine them really hyping it up too in the movie. Just all this romantic music being played as soon as they start kissing.
Andrew: They should, they deserve it.
Micah: I’m going to bring cotton balls to put in my ears because of all the screeching that’s going to be going on.
[Andrew laughs]
Laura: Yep.
Matt: Cotton balls ain’t going to work.
Andrew: Well, you’re going to have to stick some cotton balls in my mouth because I will be screaming too.
Matt: Or drooling.
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Laura: Are you a Rupert Grint fan, Andrew?
Andrew: Well, it’s so funny because – what?
Laura: Are you a Rupert Grint fan?
Andrew: No, and – yes. I guess the joke would have been funnier if I had said yes.
Laura: Yeah. [laughs]
Andrew: Yeah, I am. I really do like him. But it’s so funny, just the way they’re both like – because Emma is like [in a high voice] “Well, I’ve never had to do it before so I can’t say I have any techniques. I’ve never had to kiss anyone on screen so it’s all new to me.” And then Rupert’s like [in a stoner voice] “I’ve known Emma for so long…”
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: …”I reckon it will be ten times worse. I really love the seventh book but there’s no way it’ll be tame with the Hermione stuff.”
[Andrew and Laura laugh]
Laura: Because he sounds like a stoner, apparently?
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: Oh come on, it’s not like he hasn’t thought about it before. I guarantee you he’s thought about it a number of times.
Matt: Just watch. After this film they’re going to be coming down the red carpet as a couple.
Laura: Eh.
Andrew: But you guys know this is going to be like the big press thing.
Laura: Oh yeah.
Andrew: Like whenever they get interviewed: “What was it like kissing Rupert for the first time?” “Oh it was okay. I mean after the first…” And then there’s going to be the tabloids that say they did it fifty times.
Eric: Actually…
Andrew: And then they ended up liking it. Or there will be tabloid stories about how the kiss went on longer than it was supposed to. Maybe they actually are in love.
Eric: Actually, didn’t…
Micah: All of a sudden it got darker. It got darker with each passing kiss.
[Everyone laughs]
Laura: So much darker.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: Didn’t Emma say something about Dan had told her that the kissing – that they do ten, fifteen takes and it gets boring after a while?
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Did you guys read that quote? It was hilarious.
Andrew: Yeah. I mean, that’s how I usually feel too. Not acting kissing, like real kissing.
[Laura laughs]
Eric: What, after ten, fifteen times it’s just not worth doing anymore?
Andrew: Yeah. Yeah, no.
Laura: That’s really sad.
Andrew: I kiss other things…
Eric: I feel bad for your significant other.
[Laura laughs]
Matt: He kissed a girl and he liked it.
Andrew: [laughs]
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: For the first five times, then I got bored.
[Matt laughs]
Andrew: What else, Micah?
Micah: Well…
Andrew: Kissing, love!
Micah: Well…
Andrew: It’s Valentine’s Day. Happy Valentine’s Day Show! What else?
News: Injured Stuntman
Micah: Yeah, we’re going to move to something a little bit more serious, but we didn’t have a chance to talk about this since our last episode. I think it happened shortly after.
Andrew: Right.
Micah: One of the stuntmen was injured on the Deathly Hallows set a couple of weeks ago. He was performing an aerial stunt when he fell down to the ground, and both Dan Radcliffe and Tom Felton went to visit him in the hospital the other day. We don’t really know much about his condition, right? I hadn’t seen a whole lot released…
Andrew: Right.
Micah: …just that he is in stable condition. But we don’t know the extent of his injuries right now.
Andrew: Yeah. I think the only good news is that he’s not in really bad critical condition. But, yeah, he’s still in the hospital, and it was nice seeing that Dan and Tom both went to check up on him.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: And obviously he’s had a lot of support from the fans. But it just sucks. I mean, that’s the first week of test filming, and then all of a sudden this happens. And it’s the last film; this guy’s been there forever.
Micah: Yeah, he’s relatively young, obviously, he’s – what was he, twenty-five?
Andrew: It’s a shame…
Micah: It’s very sad.
Andrew: …and it must really get them down, because they must be really excited to start. But…
Micah: Right. One question I had out of this was what scene do you think – it said it was an aerial stunt.
Andrew: Yeah, and there was fire, was it, or a blast, some sort of explosion…
Micah: So maybe the Seven Potters…
Nick: Seven Potters, yeah…
Micah: When they were escaping?
Eric: Could be anything.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Yeah, it really could be anything. I mean, there’s just so many scenes in this book.
Micah: But hopefully he recovers and gets well soon.
Andrew: What else?
News: Casting for Reg Cattermole
Micah: I’ll stay with Deathly Hallows. Recent news. Actually today, the day we’re recording, a little bit of casting. Steffan Rhodri – I hope that’s how you say his name – was cast as Reg Cattermole. And he said that…
Andrew: Yay!
Matt: Yes!
Micah: …he’ll begin filming in the fall. So we’re getting some news slowly, but I think we’ll start to hear more leak out in the next couple of weeks.
Andrew: Yeah. Keyword there is “leak,” because, I mean, this was an interview. I think WB sort of just expects these actors are going to say something in an interview. Because this guy, Steffan, only did this for some play he was going to be in.
Matt: Right.
Andrew: He looks like a good guy to fit the part. He’s – Reg Cattermole is that guy in the Ministry of Magic who takes the Puking Pastilles.
Laura: Mmm.
Andrew: So that should be funny if that’s in there.
Eric: Yeah. Well isn’t he also – isn’t he the guy who gets impersonated by one of the trio? In the…
Nick: Yeah, Ron.
Eric: Yeah, yeah.
Andrew: Right. Yeah, because they have the Puking – he takes the Puking Pastilles first, right? So he’s not there.
Matt: Yeah, and isn’t his wife the one that…
Eric: Yeah.
Matt: …Harry goes to save?
Eric: But – so that looks like the whole Ministry scene is in.
Andrew: Yeah. So that’s cool. So actually that is kind of big news, so we know that’s in there.
Eric: It’s exciting.
Nick: Gives us an idea of where they’re cutting the film in half, as well. We’re getting at least Chapter 14 in the first film.
Eric: Right, yeah. [laughs]
Andrew: Oh my God, is that Chapter 14?
Eric: Oh.
Micah: Well, that also makes me wonder if – oh, I’m going to forget her name now, too – Professor Umbridge is going to be back.
Laura: Oh, Imelda Staunton?
Nick: Oh, yeah.
Andrew: I hope so.
Matt: I hope so!
Andrew: And anything else, Micah?
News: J.K. Rowling Inducted into the Legion of Honor
Micah: Yep, one last piece of news. J.K. Rowling, back on February 3rd, was inducted into France’s Legion of Honor, and she was bestowed the title of Knight by President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Andrew: Ooh la la.
Micah: So she just keeps racking them up. I mean, one after the other.
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Micah: She’s got a lot of things she can be proud of, that’s for sure.
Matt: Jo’s busy.
Micah: Aside from the series, all these awards she’s received.
Andrew: Yeah, and her entire acceptance speech was in French too. That was kind of cool.
Laura: Yeah, that was really impressive.
Nick: She did it so well.
Eric: Yeah. Well she taught French, hadn’t she, in Portugal?
Andrew: Right.
Micah: That just shows you it’s somebody who has respect for where she’s going and who she’s talking to, that she actually gave the speech in their language.
Eric: It’s just a cool thing to do.
Andrew: Yeah, that couldn’t have been easy, too. I mean, that must take some preparation to make sure you get everything right. Pronounce everything right. So, good for her. And there’s a great picture – a few great pictures of her accepting the Legion of Honor.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: So.
Nick: Yeah.
Andrew: That was really cool stuff. Anything else, Micah?
Micah: I don’t have anything else. Eric, did you have something you wanted to mention?
News: Jo’s Handprint in the City Chambers
Eric: Yeah, you heard what happened in Edinburgh too, speaking of J.K.R. getting honored.
Andrew: Oh yeah.
Eric: She was able to – her handprints were put in the City Chambers in Edinburgh, Scotland, next to – in Renkin’s.
Andrew: That’s sweet.
Eric: That’s pretty special.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: And I love that picture of her handprints getting traced. She looks a little nervous. [laughs] Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t know. It was a cute picture. I really want to go visit that now. That’s got to be sweet. That’s got to be a really nice area too, the city chambers.
Eric: We’ll go there and then we’ll swing by the Balmora Hotel and check out the bust there…
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, road trip!
Andrew: There you go!
[Laura laughs]
MuggleCast 170 Transcript (continued)
Announcements: Podcast Alley and Azkatraz
Andrew: Moving on to some announcements. As always, don’t forget to vote for us on Podcast Alley. This is the first episode of February so we appreciate your vote over there. You guys are always very supportive. Right now we’re number ten, but I’m sure after this episode we can bump up a few places to remind people we’re still kicking!
Matt: Uh-huh.
Andrew: Also, don’t forget, we’re going to be at Azkatraz 2009. That’s HP2009.org. We’re going to be doing a podcast at 3AM with our friends at Leaky right after Half-Blood Prince makes its midnight premiere. We’re all going to go see it and they told us – the other day, I heard that we’re going to have seats in the theater right next to the door so as soon as the movie ends we can run out of there and get ready for the podcast before everyone else starts trying to get out.
Matt: Mmhm.
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: Do we get a police escort?
Andrew: Yes.
Matt: Yes, please.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: We’re actually getting a helicopter.
Micah: Nice.
Matt: Oh!
Andrew: We’re going to be flown.
Matt: Really?
Laura: Awesome.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: I would have just settled for a limo or something. That would’ve been fine.
Andrew: Mmm. Diva.
Matt: Mmm.
Announcement: Next Biggest Podcast Idol Survivor
Andrew: Well, anyway – and also, we have a pretty cool announcement that we made earlier this week, right, Micah?
Micah: Yeah! We made it on MuggleNet about a little bit of a reality competition that’s going to be going on leading up to Azkatraz this year.
[Long pause]
Andrew: And what’s that called?
[Andrew, Matt, and Micah laugh]
Matt: It’s like, “What is it!?”
Micah: I was throwing it to Andrew, but he was all, I don’t know.
Andrew: Oh okay. All right. You’re – I’ll do it. Let me find it.
[Matt laughs]
Andrew: Oh, there it is! It’s the…
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Andrew: …Next Biggest Podcast Idol Survivor. It’s quite a mouthful, but it’s really cool! It’s a contest to make the next great Harry Potter podcast. That’s what we’re trying to do here. The competition will start on July 20th – or no – the competition will end on July 20th when the winners will get a chance to podcast live from Azkatraz during the Podcast Palooza! That’s the thing we did at Portus last year. All the details are online. Go to MuggleCast.com and the details are there on the front page in the news. Basically, you’re going to be auditioning. You’re going to convince us why you’re a great podcaster, and then we’ll pick the best five people to make the new podcast. And then the winner, as I said, will be a part of the Podcast Palooza altogether. I think I’m going to help moderate the panel. And then also, you guys are going to win a free year of podcast hosting to help get your podcast off the ground. Because that’s really the only thing you got to pay for. And MuggleCast is going to cover that for you with LibSyn podcast hosting. So that’ll be – it’s a cool contest, and people who have always wanted to do a podcast will have some help from us now, and you’ll get to do your own live show! Not many podcasts have the chance to do their own live show.
A quick thing that HPEF did want me to address here. You have to be registered for Azkatraz, or at least Monday, which is the Podcast Palooza, to be eligible. So that way you can actually be at the live podcast if we choose you to be a part of the next podcast – a part of the podcast. So, for more information, go to MuggleCast.com and you will see a post there.
Announcement: MuggleCast Web Site Getting a New Design
Andrew: And speaking of that, coming very soon, and we don’t have it up yet because we’re just making a couple little tweaks still, but after that we’ll be done, there’s a brand new website design coming for MuggleCast.com! And it’s been a long time coming. I don’t think we’ve had an update in – a site refresh – in close to a year and a half to two years now?
Laura: It’d have to be two years.
Matt: It’s been about two years.
Laura: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah. This new one’s really nice, and we can’t wait to share it with you guysut we’re just making a couple of last minute tweaks and check for it in the next few days. It’ll be out on the site sometime this week, Sunday night at the earliest, if not then, then Monday or Tuesday, definitely. Hoping all goes well. So check that out, MuggleCast.com.
Transcript Update
Andrew: And speaking of the site too, Micah, you’ve got a transcript update?
Micah: Oh, yeah. These are always fun, but there are a lot of people that are working hard for us and we just hired – this is going to sound crazy, but – over thirty people to work…
Eric: Oh my god!
Micah: …on the transcripts and they’re pumping it out though. They’re doing a good job and they’re really eager…
Matt: Give the transcripts…
Laura: They’re “pumping it out?”
Matt: …the transcribers some love.
Micah: They are. They are pumping it out and we’re up to about episode 150 now, hopefully by the time this show gets out.
[Laura laughs]
Micah: Hey, don’t laugh. These people work hard Laura.
Laura: No.
Micah: You should not be mocking them.
Laura: I’m not laughing at them. I’m laughing at your word choice. [laughs]
Micah: Oh. What? “Pumping it out?”
Laura: Anyway. Yes.
Eric: I guess that’s what you do.
Andrew: “Pumping it out!”
Eric: I just can’t believe thirty people are writing down what six or seven of us are saying. That’s…
Laura: They must hate us.
Matt: They do.
Eric: They must hate us and… [laughs]
Matt: I did it for almost two years. Yeah, I hated you guys.
Laura: Aw, but you love us now.
Matt: No offense. I love you now. I don’t have to transcribe what I’m saying right now so it’s fine.
Eric: So you can be as verbose as you want.
Muggle Mail: Origin of the PG-13 Rating
Andrew: Thank you everyone for your help with that. We really do appreciate it. Let’s move on to Muggle Mail now this week. Laura, do you want to take the first one?
Laura: Oh, sure. Why not?
Andrew: It’s all about the movies this week. Everyone is talking about the movies.
Laura: All right, the first one comes from Rachel, 16, of Massachusetts. She writes:
“First, I love the show and I always enjoy listening to your thoughts and ideas. I’m writing because, on the past two shows, you’ve mentioned that movies from the 70’s and 80’s received questionable PG ratings like Jaws. Recently, I was watching the Indiana Jones documentary that came with the DVD trilogy set, which shed some light on the PG-13 rating. At the time there were only G, PG, and R ratings. When George Lucas and Steven Spielberg made Temple of Doom it almost received an R rating because of the scary scenes including cult practices. Steven Spielberg petitioned his friends at the MPAA to give it a PG rating and simultaneously suggested a PG-13 rating for future films, hence the beginning of the PG-13 rating.”
Andrew: Yeah, so that’s why Jaws wasn’t rated PG-13 because there was no PG-13 rating when it came out.
Laura: That’s interesting.
MPAA Documentary
Andrew: Yeah. And speaking of that, a lot of – not a lot – a few MuggleCast listeners suggested that we watch This Film is Not Yet Rated. It’s a documentary on the MPAA. Matt and I watched it a little over a week ago and it’s amazing.
Matt: It’s really good.
Andrew: Well, yeah. The documentary is okay, but it reveals a lot of information about the MPAA that is amazing. These guys – basically it’s this group of parents that aren’t revealed – the MPAA does not reveal their identities, they keep them really secret. This documentary tries to track them down. They’re like spying out in from the MPAA, which is located in California. It’s really good and they end up finding out that these people who are raters shouldn’t even be raters because they don’t fit the MPAA’s guidelines anymore. They’re too old. Their kids are too old. So it’s kind of ridiculous.
Matt: It’s pretty…
Andrew: The fact that they leave ratings up to six or seven raters – parents – is ridiculous.
Matt: Parents who are – of adults who are in their twenties and thirties even.
Andrew: Yeah, who have kids who are in their twenties and thirties.
Eric: Oh. I was going to say, if that’s not parenting material I don’t know what is.
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah. There was something else I was going to say. Oh, they did a lot of comparing films that should have gotten ratings, like say one film got a PG-13 but the other film that was just like it got an R because of certain stereotypes. You know, homosexuality and such. So it’s very biased rating going on and it would be interesting to see why Harry Potter was rated PG. Hey, who knows. Maybe it really does deserve PG, but…
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: …MPAA is corrupted.
Eric: And they come up with what the rating is going to be and they tell the people who make the movie before. They have the chance to edit it.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: For instance, what this voicemailer said was, or what this Muggle Mailer said regarding Steven Spielberg – he didn’t want it to get an R rating and at that point obviously PG-13 wasn’t an option, but he was able to say “Wait a minute. We’ll either cut these certain scenes you find offensive or…” – he didn’t say that, but they can do that now.
Andrew: Right
Eric: They can change it for a rating because – the theory being that PG-13 now is the most widely accepted adult, sort of teenage area, I guess. There’s G and there’s PG, but PG-13 is what a lot of people are aiming for.
Andrew: Hmhm.
Eric: I guess.
Matt: I’m waiting for R.
[Laura laughs]
Muggle Mail: Controversies Over Ratings
Andrew: Nick, you want to take the next email?
Nick: We have a message from Katie, 18, from London. She writes:
“Hey MuggleCast. I’m Katie and I’m a film student from London, England. I was just commenting on the rating for the new Harry Potter flick. The American’s (stiff cut?) is PG whilst the UK is 12A. I recently attended a BBFC lecture and workshop in which they told us how they decide ratings. Sometimes after controversy about the ratings they have to rate a new blockbuster higher than they should be to get the press off their backs. In the UK, we recently had some controversy about the rating of the Dark Knight. Some parents felt it should have been a 15 and not a 12A. After they took their young children to go see the film the kids had nightmares. So perhaps they are rating Harry Potter higher than they normally would to show they are very strict about ratings and not lax. I love the show. Katie.”
Andrew: Now Nick it hasn’t received that rating right? That was just the trailers?
Nick: Yeah, it was only the trailers that was 12A. They usually don’t get rated until a couple of months before release in the UK.
Andrew: But it is definitely suggestive.
Nick: Yeah definitely, definitely.
Matt: Huh, that’s interesting.
Nick: It’s interesting what she says because the BBFC currently put a survey on their website so users can judge certain films that have recently been released and comment on whether the ratings were correct. So it seems that they’re overhauling their system and criteria at the moment. So it should be interesting to see what it gets rated.
Andrew: Well, I was – also in that documentary apparently the MPAA is the only rating group in the world that keeps their raters confidential, which is also kind of strange. It looks like the BBFC knows what they are doing and they are working with the people rather than being all weird and secretive.
Eric: I have to see that documentary that just really bothers me now.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: Yeah. It’s good, it’s funny, and it’s short. It’s good stuff. It’s funny watching them spy on these people driving out of the MPAA.It was pretty good.
[Everyone laughs]
Muggle Mail: Listener Questions WB’s Honesty
Andrew: Matt, you want to take the last e-mail?
Matt: Sure. Our next email comes from Jared, 23, of Alabama and Jared writes:
“I do not wish to sound overly cynical however I feel that Warner Bros. should stop making these trailers for one reason. Trailers are supposed to inspire fans and even those who are not to view the film but I feel that the release of this Japanese trailer that WB is not inspiring people but rather disheartening them. I agree that the editing of this most recent trailer was indeed shabby and shows a blatant, lackadaisical attempt to prompt visual excitement of the film. I, for one, feel disheartened by this attempt and am left to wonder about WB’s true feelings towards the movie series. WB continuously states that they basically believe in the series and wish to make them as close to the books as possible. Is this for our sakes or theirs? WB has witnessed the public outcry of a badly done film based on a popular series with ‘Eragon’ and I fear that this latest attempt shows that WB is just in it for the money and remain hypocrites for denying otherwise.”
Eric: Ah, okay stop, right at the end.
Micah: You left it out. Go ‘Cuse. And no, I didn’t put that in there. Thanks Andrew.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Go ‘Cuse. Whoopee. How much of this – I’ve got to ask you guys because I wasn’t there with the Japanese trailer, even though I have seen it. How much of this is what you guys said about the editing being shabby and stuff? I want to know how much is his original idea and how much is you guys – what you said.
Andrew: Well as we discussed during the show, it wasn’t really a trailer. It was a sneak peak. It was a bunch of clips. We kept calling it a trailer because its easier to say it’s a trailer instead of a group of sneak peaks.
Eric: Right, well they go by pretty fast.
Andrew: A group of clips from Half Blood Prince. Its just easier to say trailer. And it sort of felt like a trailer there were some titles. There was narration. It sort of was, but…
Matt: I would say it is more like a TV spot than a trailer.
Micah: Yeah, we really hit the editing hard in the last show Eric.
Andrew: It did stink though.
Matt: Yeah, it was bad.
Laura: It was bad.
Matt: It wasn’t an official WB release though. If it was, it would be released everywhere. It was only released in Japan. This was just something for extra – it’s a novelty for the Japanese fans.
Nick: I don’t think they expected it to go world wide, did they?
Matt: Not they didn’t. And if they did we would have been able to download it in high quality.
Eric: Jared is talking here about how WB is giving us this crap and disheartening – and he says “we feel disheartened.” I’m thinking, wait a minute this wasn’t even your, it wasn’t even for us.
Matt: It wasn’t even our country.
Eric: We as the US fans grabbed it once we found out it was playing in Japan. But it’s not for us and we shouldn’t take such a burden to be so upset about it. It’s not ours really.
Matt: With all due respect Jared, all of the trailers have been amazing for Harry Potter.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Not one single one…
Micah: Yeah. High standard right?
Matt: …did not inspire me to go see the movie that’s the one thing I get upset with the Harry Potter franchise is that the trailers are so effing amazing.
Laura: And then you see the movie.
Matt: And then you see the movie and you’re like ìWhat?î
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: I want to go see the trailer again.
[Laura laughs]
Andrew: If anything, the trailer’s are too good.
Micah: How about this though? I would think that we have a listener or two in Japan, why don’t we have somebody send us in a little note what they felt about it. If they saw it on TV or after the fact.
Andrew: Yeah. That’s a good idea.
Micah: So, all our Japanese fans, go crazy.
Andrew: And go ‘Cuse.
Matt: Of course.[laughs]
Andrew: Well that does it for our MuggleMail this week and now we have a great interview, as I said at the beginning of the show, with Goblet of Fire film composer Patrick Doyle. Let’s take it away.
Matt: Yeah!
Doyle at Syracuse
Micah: Okay, so Matt and I are joined by one of England’s most distinguished film composers, Patrick Doyle, who most of you know as the composer of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Mr. Doyle, thank you very much for joining us today.
Patrick Doyle: It’s my pleasure.
Micah: Right off the bat I wanted to ask you, you know, what brought you to Syracuse University in the middle of February? Wasn’t there – could there have been another place that you could go that was a little bit warmer?
Patrick: Well, I have a long association with Syracuse through some very good friends I met – my family met – in London. Jim O’Conner and Julia O’Conner, and they have kids and our kids have all grown up, obviously at different ends of the Atlantic together, but we visit each other, and we’ve seen Niagara Falls with them, and lots surrounding areas. Went to Harriet Tubman’s house. I’m very, very interested in history, especially American history. So I love the city, and it reminds me very much – it’s a port and industrial town. It reminds me very much of Glasgow. I sort of get the vibe of the place. It’s not glamorous, but I love…
[Matt and Micah laugh]
Patrick: …the realness here. I think it’s terrific. And Jim O’Conner has recently – not recently – but for a few years now has a major fundraiser – one of the major fundraisers for the university, so – and we talked to David Rizac here and we all got together and decided it would be nice if – a two-fold thing, if I could come and maybe talk about the work I do to students here at the university, and also there would be an opportunity again to interact with my friends and come to a place I’ve come to really, really love.
Micah: Yeah, I happen to agree with you. I went to Syracuse for five years and glamorous is probably not the word I would use to describe the weather around there, that’s for sure.
Patrick: No, but, you know, it’s really a place about the people, always. You could sit in the middle of – some people could sit in the middle of Malibu beach and be utterly miserable, whereas…
[Micah laughs]
Patrick: …a bunch of friends standing around, that’s on the edge of – I don’t know – a defused factory overlooking a lake, and then having a few beers with a friend…
[Micah laughs.]
Patrick: …that’s the most important thing. So it doesn’t matter where you are, you know, it’s the people, and what the people are doing, and what they’re committed to, and what the ethos is, you know, in the culture and the surrounding – in the surroundings. And the university itself is very impressive, especially the music building. It’s also – it’s one of these wonderful things we don’t have back at home. A sort of self-contained, you know, mini-town sort of university. And, you know, it’s a great honor to be asked to – it’s a great privilege and honor and responsibility to talk to students because, you know, I’m by no means the oracle. I can only…
[Micah laughs]
Patrick: …pass on my experiences at life and hopefully they can gain some experience and some preparation for their own path in life.
Micah: Yeah, absolutely, and you just mentioned Crouse College. It shows up a lot of times on television when different events are going on, but it’s probably one of the most magnificent buildings I’ve ever seen.
Patrick: [laughs] Well, it reminds me, I was just saying that the building that reminds me – the stonework reminds me of the stonework in Glasgow. It looks like a red sandstone, I haven’t asked any, you know, geologist in the area, but the – I mentioned Glasgow again because the building – the music building itself isn’t unlike the high gothic Victorian structures we have. It sort of reminds me of – in a way, it just reminds of the art gallery in Glasgow. It’s got the same huge, enormous, confident, you know, architectural aspirations that, you know, a lot of those Victorian buildings did, you know, before the world crashed, you know, eggs of us were warm, you know, pre-Titanic and everything else. So it’s got that wonderful, you know – incredibly, kind of, grand statute about it. You know, and the old vibe of the place is great to walk on in the quarters and hear a soprano and a string quartet, and a wind group, and an orchestra, and a horn player just did all that. It really brings it all back to days when I was at the – the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in – in my time.
Films Doyle Has Composed
Matt: Well, Patrick, we’re just going to delve into a bit about your profession. You’ve…
Patrick: Mhm?
Matt: …composed films such as Gosford Park, Bridget Jones’s Diary…
Patrick: Yep.
Matt: …Sense and Sensibility. I mean, you’ve composed a lot of great films, and…
Patrick: Well, I’ve – oh, carry on. Carry on, sorry.
Matt: Oh, sure! No, feel free.
Patrick: Well, I’ve been very, very lucky and I’ve – very lucky that I’d been asked to do some – some very high-profile and – and really, really artistically successful and commercially successful films.
Matt: Mhm.
Patrick: And I’m very, very fortunate that – and you’ll – many of them are a regular, you know, annual events so whatever, and on TV all the time and Carlito’s Way, for example is – each generation comes along, especially amongst the guys.
Matt: Uh-huh.
Patrick: It’s – it’s a classic. It’s become a cult classic. You know, and that’s – I mean, on all the works of Kenneth Branagh, and the works of Regis Wagnier – a very close friend of mine. Another close friend of mine, you know, I’ll be doing a piece for Regis later in the year. He starts working very soon on that – it’s a comedy. And…
Matt: Oh.
Patrick: …and, you know, so I’m very, very fortunate that these are really classy, top-rate filmmakers who all embark on a project, you know, with the best possible stories and I already have got a great commitment. They’re immensely committed, as I am, and I’m very fortunate that – not only having produced quality films, that I’ve been part of it, you know, Alfonso Cuaron is another one, The Little Princess, Great Expectations.
Matt: Mhm.
Patrick: Actually, to my delight, that Kanye West has just taken one of my tracks from Great Expectations, and it’s now part of his new album 808s & Heartbreak, so I’ve now got major cult features in my own house. [ laughs]
[Everyone laughs]
Patrick: I’m “Mr Cool.” My son couldn’t believe it. See, I cannot believe. Both my sons couldn’t believe it, because one of my sons is into techno – he’s a DJ. Did a lot of DJing – he’s really, really good. He’s a huge fan of Dead Mouse, so he’s really, really – he left out of bed, couldn’t believe it. “You’re joking! Kanye West? Oh my god, dad!”
[Matt and Micah laugh]
Patrick: So that’s the wonderful thing about music, you know? You get your chance to shine over and over again so, listen, guys, I have no complaints. I’m very fortunate.
Matt: Well, that’s great.
Patrick: If it all stops tomorrow, I’ve done plenty.
[Micah and Patrick laugh]
The Process of Writing a Score
Matt: When you’re approached to do, like, a score, how – what is your process? How long does it take you to do this – this whole scoring thing?
Patrick: Well, Robert Orben approached me five weeks before he needed the score, and mulled over it. But in real terms, I wrote the picture for Gosford Park in two and half weeks.
Matt: Oh my God.
Patrick: And it was – in fact, it was less than that, it was three days on a piano piece – I spent – no, three days on the piano piece, then nine days. Nine working days on the score.
Matt: Wow.
Patrick: So it’s twelve working days, spread over.
Matt: Did it take you about nine working days for Goblet of Fire? Maybe? Give or take a day?
Patrick: That took us a year’s worth. That was a year’s work on and off. Although the actual bulk of the score probably took about two months. But I’ve spent a year on it, come up with themes and working with the director, so each project’s different. With Ken Brannaugh, I used to come in to the script stage of it early to disscuss ideas. So it varies from film to film.
Matt: Mhm.
Patrick: And I usually visit the set, if I can visit the set during filming. So, some things, I’ve got to take a look at is the script and I – in fact, this is something I’m going to talk to David about – I want to do an experiment – but I’m actually going to write a cue in front of the students, if I can.
Matt: Oh, cool!
Patrick: And come up with a couple of scenarios. ‘Cause you really don’t have to – one shouldn’t need a picture…
Matt: Mhm.
Patrick: …a physical picture to look at. As long as you get the story, you can use your own imagination, which is far more powerful than any movie can project to you. So that’s something that I’m hoping to try and do here, and so anyway, each film varies. Sometimes it’s before the script is sent to me, so it changes.
Matt: Mhm. Now…
Micah: Which…
Matt: Oh, sorry. Go ahead, Micah.
Micah: I was just going to ask with Goblet of Fire in particular, did you read the book to get some ideas or was it all going to visit the set during filming?
Patrick: Oh no, I read the book. I read the book and I also obviously read the script, and had long discussions with the director. I saw all the designs of all the costumes, all of the sets – had visited the sets, and all the models, so I was very, very involved with that film all the way through.
Matt: Mhm. Did – were there any scores that were particularly difficult to come up with, any themes or anything?
Patrick: Well, each score – well, it’s all difficult. Each score is very difficult, but I’ve learned to just lounge a bit and just soak up as much as possible rather than jump in too early. Just soak up the script, soak all the conversations that come with the director, and all the heads of departments if I’ve had the opportunity to talk to them. Not every time. But just let it soak in and just not to panic, just relax, because, you know, the earlier it is you panic you learn through experience that something comes up, something twigs, and, you know, I always sit down – I go into work every day right at the same time. By 8:30 I’m going to work, and I don’t stop until 6 at night, so I go in and make sure I’m inspired before I come home. [laughs]
[Matt and Micah laugh]
Patrick: That’s the job.
Matt: Are there any, like, scores you have to leave out when you’re scoring a film, that you feel bad…
Patrick: Any scores – sorry?
Matt: Any scores that are left out in the process that never make it into the film?
Patrick: That’s only ever happened to me once. But I think every composer, it happens once in their life. I don’t think anyone has ever escaped it. But out of 45 pictures it’s only happened to me once.
Matt: Oh okay.
Patrick: So it’s – I mean that’s – I think that’s pretty remarkable considering that’s, you know, that’s – you’re working and playing with people you’ve never worked with before, it’s a pressurized situation, there’s time factors, the film gets changed a lot, and you’re dealing with lots of people’s opinions. It’s a very much collaborative process so I’m proud I’ve managed to hang on in there.
Matt: Yeah.
[Everyone laughs]
Reactions to His Own Scores
Micah: What feelings go through you when you hear your score with the finished film and you actually go to the theater and sit down and watch?
Patrick: You know, by the time I get to the theater, I’ve had all my thrills. I’ve had my thrills when I’ve first heard my music being played, and getting it right to the picture, the director’s reaction to it, and the jamming process, so by the time the movie comes along, I’ve really moved on. It’s just – I enjoy it, but that wonderful thrill kick has happened earlier. Yes, it’s been enjoyable to sit with an audience and see their reaction to it, but by then I’m slightly removed from it because I’ve had all the thrill, the fun, and everything else writing it, and, you know, experiencing it with these people earlier, so I mean, I still enjoy, obviously, going to the – I’ll tell you what’s interesting. I get a thrill many years later if I happen to walk past a television and up comes a channel, and there’s my movie. I get an extra surge then because I’ve forgotten. I think, “Oh my God, yes, that’s not bad!”
[Matt and Micah laugh]
Matt: “Oh my God, that’s mine.”
Patrick: “That wasn’t bad!” So that can hit me but, I mean, I never – I probably listen to my music maybe to learn some things for a week or so after I’ve written it, but then I never listen to my music again, so I’m always shocked when I hear it years later.
Matt: Mhm. Yeah, that does seem to be a trend with a lot of artists. Once they compose or do a film or something, they move on afterwards.
Patrick: They move on. Yeah, they move on. You have to move on. You listen to it and afterwards you think, I’ll do that again, I would do that differently if I was doing it again or whatever. You learn from each one.
The Fantasy Genre
Matt: Mhm. Patrick, recently a lot of your films have been in the fantasy genre, like with Eragon. Is that, like, your preference genre? Or do you have a certain preference to score?
Patrick: I don’t mind what I score as long as it’s something I particularly enjoy. With regards to fantasy movies, it just so happens that I’ve done fantasy, I’ve done science fiction scores. I suppose Harry Potter, you know, people can see what you can do. I mean, you get a big sort of action-fantasy movie, but I mean, Into the West was a small Indie picture.
Matt: Mhm.
Patrick: It was full of magic and fantasy. A little princess was a fantastic – and her friend…
Matt: Oh yes.
Patrick: And the two saved the world – tale. So, but, no. It just – I think it’s coincidence. I mean, I certainly…
Matt: Is it?
Patrick: I love to read science fiction. I love fantasy stories…
Matt: Mhm.
Patrick: …’cause I love opera. Opera is real fantastic story writing. So, I mean, I adore that. So, it’s something I – it crosses over very easily into film.
Matt: Mhm. So you do read a lot of science fiction/fantasy. Have you read all of the Harry Potter novels or just the one, Goblet of Fire?
Patrick: No, I’ve read two or three of them. I haven’t read them all.
Matt: Oh, okay.
Patrick: But the kids have read them all. The kids have – but, you know, I read – I remember – I used to read Azimov when I was younger, and C.S. Lewis, and new Mervyn Peake trilogy…
Matt: Mhm.
Patrick: And funny enough, Lord of the Rings. I only ever – I read The Hobbit, and I read the first Lord of the Rings, and I thought The Lord of the Rings was a big Hobbit…
Matt: Yeah.
Patrick: …after I read The Hobbit, you know.
Matt: That’s what happened to me. I’ve actually read The Hobbit the first time, and then it just seemed like it was just one big novel.
Patrick: Yeah. I just thought The Hobbit summed it up for me. But listen, chaps, I have to go now because I want to make schedule. Is there anything you would really particularly like to ask me before I go?
Getting Involved with Goblet of Fire
Matt: Micah?
Micah: Yeah, just really quickly, how you got involved with Goblet of Fire. We know that you have a close relationship with Mike Newell.
Patrick: Uh-huh.
Micah: Is that how it all came about?
Patrick: I think so, and John Williams is – I believe wasn’t available. He was working on something else. So – and, you know, Mike was – when he asked me he said, “I’m not sure,” he said, “about working with another composer’s theme.” I said, “Well, let’s have a look at it,” because I saw there was a huge opportunity for a composer to make his or her mark because of the introduction of new characters or the emphasis on established characters. And in the end, I think I only used about twenty seconds worth of John’s music and for the very right reasons. It opened and closed the picture, and that’s because, you know, the kind of thing that, you know, I wanted to cut. It was a great honor to follow his footsteps. Apart from everything else, there’s a great tradition in music, especially one in the classical music, of actually using other people’s themes. It’s a very honorable and long tradition.
Matt: Mhm.
Patrick: So, I think to be precious about it is to be silly, and there was no way I could turn it down because my kids would kill me.
Matt: Right. Okay, Patrick, if we could just…
[Everyone laughs]
The Yule Ball Score
Matt: If we could just ask you one more quick question about The Goblet of Fire before we let you go.
Patrick: Sure.
Matt: About the Yule Ball, which is everybody on the show – their favorite theme is the Yule Ball in The Goblet of Fire film.
Patrick: Right.
Matt: Was that your favorite film to compose or…
Patrick: You mean the waltz?
Matt: How do you go about like that?
Patrick: The “Harry Potter Waltz” you mean?
Matt: Yeah, “The Potter Waltz,” “Neville’s Waltz,” the entire Yule Ball – the entire ball scene in the film.
Patrick: Well, the Harry Potter theme I wrote during a meeting with the director, believe it or not – “Harry Potter’s Waltz.”
Matt: Uh-huh.
Patrick: The other one I improvised with the ballet – with Wayne McGregor – I improvised the whole tune, believe it or not, and I said, “I’ll write you something else.” He goes, “No, that’s fine.”
[Everyone laughs]
Patrick: I improvised with the dancers. He goes – I said, “Do you like this?” He goes, “Yeah, we love it.””Okay, well, keep it.”
[Matt and Micah laugh]
Patrick: So that’s a true story. That’s a true story.
Matt: All right. Well, thank you so much, Patrick Doyle.
Patrick: No, it’s my pleasure.
Matt: It was real great talking to you.
Patrick: It’s my real pleasure, okay?
Matt: Okay, well…
Micah: Yeah. Thank you.
Matt: …you have fun hosting a film screening. There are going to be so many people there wanting to ask you so many questions.
Patrick: I’m looking forward to it very much.
Matt: Okay.
Micah: All right. Thank you.
Patrick: Okay. Cheers, guys. Bye!
Matt: Cheers!
Micah: Bye!
Patrick: Bye bye!
Andrew: All right, there you have it. Matt and Micah, great job! As – as – as you guys know it was a very last minute interview. It sort of came out of nowhere but you guys pulled it off.
Micah: Yup.
Andrew: Did great!
Laura: Yeah, great job guys!
Matt: It was very last minute.
Andrew: Yeah, I – I was nervous. Because…
Micah: Why were you nervous?
Andrew: Because Matt had to record and I was afraid he may screw something up.
Micah: Oh, he did a great job.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: He took care of it.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: I – I am very proud of myself. And honestly…
[Micah laughs]
Matt: …I was scared for myself too. I really thought I was going to mess it up.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: Well, thanks again to Syracuse University and David Ressack who is the Head of their Music program up there who was kind enough to orchestrate, no pun intended…
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: …the interview process.
Matt: You went there!
Andrew: You should have done that with…
Laura: You are a funny guy.
Andrew: You should have done that with Patrick.
Micah: I did go there.
Andrew: I don’t know how, but anyway…
Matt: Yeah, well, we were laughing enough during the interview. It was good. It’s all good.
MuggleCast 170 Transcript (continued)
Harry Potter Lexicon on Shelves
Andrew: Moving along, we have some other interesting information to talk about today. Recently, the Harry Potter Lexicon was released on store shelves. What do you know? And as everyone remembers, we did a lengthy episode about the trial, and a lot of people enjoyed it because they thought we were very fair to both sides, and we broke it down how it should be broken down, and just in general, everyone really liked the episode. Now, Eric has a unique angle on this, because he recently picked up the book and also went to a book signing of Steve’s.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Right?
Eric: Yeah. Steve is on tour at the moment, actually, just visiting several local bookstores and – with the Lexicon. Actually, I went to – it was Steve and also fellow author – there are four people who wrote, in the end, this book version of the Lexicon. John Kearns was also there at the time…
Andrew: Mhm.
Eric: …and this was at the Magic Tree in Oak Park, Illinois, wher
e MuggleNet had their Book 7 and Book 5 release.
Andrew: Mhm.
Matt: Hmm.
Andrew: Now, you saw him and met him, right?
Eric: Yes, yes I did.
Andrew: Yeah. Now, when you saw him, did you start – did this start playing in your head?
[Clip from trial episode plays]
Andrew: [announcer voice echoing] And in this corner, looking not a day over twelve years old, breaking down at the podium, Steve Vander Ark!
[Clip ends]
Andrew: Did that play through your head? Did you have a flashback?
Eric: I’m pretty sure that that is always on a loop playing in my head somewhere ever since you did do that.
Andrew: [laughs] I see.
Matt: That’s because he never stops playing it.
Eric: But…
Andrew: No.
Eric: No, I actually – that did not particularly go through my head, Actually, Roger Rapaport was also there in the bookstore.
Andrew: He’s the owner of RDR Books.
Eric: Yes. He was there as well, which was very interesting. But they actually did a trivia night, a trivia sort of contest. There were…
Andrew: Mm.
Eric: …a few people who showed up. They did trivia. My team won! Yay! Go – what were we, Kristen? What was our team? The flobberworms! Go flobberworms!
Andrew: So Eric, I was in Barnes & Noble last night and I saw the Lexicon, it was there. There was – it was there. It was on sale. And I Twittered it, and I was like, “Hm, this looks interesting,” and – you know, to get some people responding, and – on Twitter – and, a lot of people were surprised that it’s actually out. And, I guess the fansites didn’t really post that it ended up coming out, but it did, and – like a month ago, right?
Eric: Yeah, January 16th I think, Amazon says. So, it would be a month…
Andrew: Obviously, yeah.
Eric: I think the day this airs, or something.
Andrew: Yeah. Now, what about the book itself? I’ve paged through it, but you’ve read the whole thing?
Eric: Yeah, let’s do a little timeline here in keeping with – because a lot of people are confused; a lot of people didn’t know it came out. What happened was, you guys remember the court case, and a few months later the judge came out with a verdict. Well, in that verdict, he actually took the manuscript of what at that time was The Harry Potter Lexicon and went through it, basically page by page, and noted and decided for himself and for the law what was and wasn’t compliant with the Fair Use Doctrine, and what could and couldn’t be – basically used. And so, what happened was he returned that manuscript to RDR and Steve Vander Ark took it and basically spent the next few months basically taking the Lexicon and cutting and adding everything that was requested of him from the judge. And so what this is, actually, the book that is on the shelves is an approved, legal version of The Harry Potter Lexicon, believe it or not. They took – he added a lot more commentary. Steve said he basically rewrote the entire thing. They added lots of commentary and took out – for instance, I know they took out things from the Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, because a lot of that – Steve explained it pretty well. With the – taking it out of the books you can paraphrase, but if you take something out from what is already in encyclopedia format and put it in encyclopedia format, it’s kind of – that’s a direct copy. It’s a lot – that’s where you get into the really illegal stuff, because you are not able to produce anything new as you would by sort of translating. So, all that’s gone, and they cut a lot of other stuff, and basically just reworked the book. And now, so – what happened was, J.K.R. issued a press release from – I believe it was through her publisher – and they said, you know…
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: …”We are aware that this new book is going on, we appreciate the effort that – and that everything was resolved with the court case.” So basically, the book is now out, and it’s selling, and Steve is going on these – meeting in several book stores. I know he has been in Michigan and Chicago so far; I don’t know where he’s going. But they are holding trivia, and all the trivia is from this book, and basically doing some signings and stuff, which is really interesting, really just gathering on a small scale – just the knowledge. And everywhere he goes, he’s telling people, “Yes, this is legal.” It’s the first thing he explains.
Andrew: Nice. Now, I looked through it. So it’s sort of laid out like – each page has two columns, and then – it’s basically still an encyclopedia…
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: And each thing’s got a couple of sentences, explanation of each term or name of person and such and such.
Eric: Yeah, yeah. It’s in alphabetical order.
Andrew: And it’s pretty lengthy, too. What is it, like 380 pages or something like that.
Eric: Yeah, yeah. It’s a doozy. It’s a doozy. It’s really – but, I mean, when you think about it, this is – I mean, Steve’s been working on it for what, ten years now? But it’s a complete compendium of all the terms and creative usages – of J.K. Rowling in the Harry – that appear in the Harry Potter series and all extremities of that.
Andrew: Right. Well, it certainly seems like a good thing – a good way for you to – if you need to – and I was reading reviews on Amazon too, people have been reviewing it favorably. If you do need a quick reference, you can sort of just pick it up and – index – go to “B” and find information about Bertie Botts or whatever you need.
Matt: Yeah.
Andrew: So that’s…
Micah: Whats’ the – Eric, whats the upside to doing that as opposed to doing it online?
Eric: That’s interesting. It’s a good question. Personally, the setbacks are: there’s no search feature. So, for instance, I was reading…
Micah: [laughs] Well, obviously.
Eric: …something the other day and I needed to figure out where I had read that in the book, so I went online to find it. But the – honestly, Micah, I’m going to be honest with you, I don’t use the website. The Harry Potter Lexicon website, I have used maybe five times, when I need to search for stuff. It’s true. I know a lot of people use it plenty more times than me, but now that I have this book, and this book – like I said, it just made me feel so in awe of J.K. Rowling’s works because of all of the different entries that Steve and the other three authors have just compounded and figured out all the stuff they can about them. Having the book is an experience all to itself, that I don’t think viewing online can give anyone. Plus, you know, websites go down, and…
[Andrew laughs]
Matt: Oh my god…
Andrew: “In case the Lexicon ever goes down, you have this book!”
Matt: You have their version…
Eric: I mean – I mean in…
Andrew: By the way, Eric is getting paid – Eric is getting paid…
Eric: Actually…
Andrew: …five hundred dollars for positively talking about this.
[Micah laughs]
Eric: I wish I were, but I’m…
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: …happy to say that I’m doing this by my own will. I mean, honestly, I love this book. It’s really good. I’m glad that it came out, that it’s legal most of all…
Matt: What kind of person would use a companion book? I mean, other than a person who has like a Harry Potter website…
Andrew: Well…
Matt: …that needs a quick reference.
Andrew: I think people would use companion books.
Matt: For, like, reports and things?
Eric: What are you talking about? Most of the fans in the world have companion books that they buy.
Matt: Well most the fans of Harry Potter have read the series a billion times!
Andrew: But you still need…
Eric: But they still haven’t read this.
Andrew: Yeah, Matt, you’re just arguing for arguing’s sake.
Eric: Yeah…
Andrew: You need to check a quick fact, for example: if I had the Lexicon book, I would definitely use it if we were recording MuggleCast, and I needed to check up on a fact of something we were talking about. Definitely.
Eric: But this book also – I mean, this book lays down what is not only canon, but properties of spells and how that stuff works. You don’t get that without having to find it in the story otherwise. And…
Micah: Right. What does it offer that’s different from the website? Anything?
Eric: A hands on sort of thing.
Micah: Well, I mean…
[Andrew laughs]
Micah: …is there any content in there that you can’t find on the website?
Eric: Yeah. Yeah, there is. The comment – the comments most importantly, because a lot of the stuff that can be done online can’t be done in book, and vice versa, so there is a lot of commentary going on…
Micah: Okay.
Eric: …a lot of explanations that don’t appear on the site that I’ve noticed.
Andrew: So what’s everyone think about this now, in hindsight of the court case. You know, it’s been a long time coming. It was almost about a – we’re almost coming up to the year anniversary of when that court trial was. It’s kind of…
Micah: Right.
Andrew: I guess everyone’s sort of over it, I think, at this point. [laughs]
Eric: Yeah. This was a big deal. This split across the fandom. I mean, for a solid block of time, you couldn’t walk down Fifth Avenue in New York City in Harry Potter robes without getting mugged. I mean, it was pretty freaking dangerous out.
Andrew: I must say, I had to go in about four bookstores before I actually found a copy, and not because their stores aren’t selling them – I mean, I was going into Borders and Barnes & Noble stores – but because they were actually sold out. Because I would go – we would ask people. And honestly, I hate asking for Harry Potter books. I guess I’m insecure…
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: …so I had Matt do it…
[Matt laughs]
Andrew: …and then they’re like, “Oh yeah, well we had one copy left, but it sold out” or whatever. But yeah, so I think it’s – it sort of looks like it’s been selling well. I mean, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be breaking any records, but, you know, whatever.
Micah: That was the question I had for Eric, though. Was – do you think that the negative press that it received from the trial is going to have an impact on its sales overall?
Andrew: I don’t think so.
Eric: This is – I don’t – I think it’s going to be interesting, but it’s made clear – I think even on the spine of the book or in the forward – exactly what has happened post court case, and the book was completely revamped after the court case, so this is sort of a – it distances itself from that publication that was contested in court.
Andrew: I’m reading an article, it said it had 30,000 pre-orders, too. So that’s not bad, before it came out.
Micah: Well, I mean, it could have the opposite effect to, bad press doesn’t always lead to lower sales.
Andrew: Oh, any press is good press.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: When I write a book, I’m going to cause controversy first, to make sure everyone knows about it.
Eric: Actually, and looking back to something that Steve looks at, he said before this court case – and I know what we did on MuggleCast, which was an excellent episode of MuggleCast, where we took the Fair Use Doctrine, and disassembled, and broke it down, just like they were doing in court, to try and figure out how we felt about it. What Steve said is basically this court case, although it was very emotional for himself and for everyone in the fandom, it can now be used as a reference point for Fair Use Doctrine and copyright law. This was something that had not happened before, and in that respect, now if someone else wants to do a compendium, they know exactly where the line is driven. Because we were seeing how it was kind of vague, the Fair Use Doctrine. And this court case, if anything, has now eliminated that vagueness. That was, I think, a positive that Steve was looking at when I asked him.
Andrew: All right. Well, thank you Eric for that report, and your check is in the mail.
Eric: [laughs] Honestly guys, it’s a good book. I mean, I can’t imagine how much time it must have take to compile all of this. It’s just unbelievable. And for JKR to write it, and – this takes genius to even assemble something like this, something as massive as J.K. Rowling’s world, for him to be able to keep it all in order and provide this is – and for the other authors, too – this is – I love it. I’m very happy that I bought the book, and…
Matt: I kind of want to…
Eric: I think on the website – to answer – sorry, Matt…
Matt: I was just saying, I kind of want to see what J.K. Rowling’s encyclopedia’s going to look like compared to this.
Eric: I don’t think it’ll be the same as the thing, and I never did!
Andrew: I think Steve will take her to court for infringing on his book. That’d be a cool twist.
[Matt laughs]
Favorites
Andrew: Let’s move on now to Favorites this week. It’s Valentine’s Day edition, because…
Matt: [sings] “Love is in the air.”
Andrew: …because this week is Valentine’s day – week. We’re going to play “person you’d like to date in the – favorite person you’d like to date in the Potter series, and why.” Now, you know, if you had to date somebody in the Harry Potter series, who would it be? Because, if you were at Hogwarts, who would you be going after? And I want to start with Micah, because…
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: I feel like he…
[Eric and Matt laugh]
Micah: Because why?
Andrew: Well, because you love the books, and you are very vocal about your love for characters on the show sometimes.
Micah: Yeah. Let’s see. I would – hmm. I like – well, later on in the series, there’s an interesting thing about Lavender Brown.
[Piano music plays]
Micah: She’s kind of interesting. The way – she’s a little promiscuous. Not that’s a good quality to look for.
Matt: The way she looks at you, and the way she says “hi” when she’s walking down the hall.
Micah: That’s pretty good.
Andrew: Sorry, who did you say? I got lost in your voice.
Micah: Who, Matt’s voice?
Andrew: No, yours.
Micah: Oh, my voice.
[Andrew laughs]
Matt: Baby, I’d be so good to you.
Andrew: Who’d you say? No, Matt. Stop.
Matt: Okay.
[Everyone laughs]
Andrew: Who’d you say, Micah?
Micah: I said Lavender Brown.
Andrew: Oh, of course.
Micah: Later on in the series.
Andrew: Do you find her attractive?
Micah: I find Jessie Cave attractive.
Andrew: Okay.
Eric: Micah’s into crazy people.
Andrew: Yeah.
Micah: Why? Why’s she crazy? You mean the actress, or the character?
Eric: She calls him “Won-Won.” No, the character in the book.
Micah: Oh, okay.
Eric: She calls him “Won-Won,” for crying out loud. What would she call you? “Wicah-Wicah”?
Matt: “Mi-Mi.”
[Everyone laughs]
Matt: “Tanny-Tanny.”
Andrew: Okay. Well, thank you, Micah. That’s…
Eric: Do you really want that, Micah? Do you really want that?
Micah: Well…
Matt: I think he wants it. He wants it bad.
Eric: Snogging in corridors?
Micah: Hey, whatever works.
Eric: That’s true.
Micah: I mean, who else is there? The easy one out is Fleur, but..
Eric: Oh, jeez.
Micah: …but she only comes around every couple of years.
Matt: Or not at all.
Andrew: Yeah. Nick, how about you?
Nick: This is really tricky, and it took me ages. Honestly, I’d probably end up with a Hermione type, just because she’s sensible and brave and determined.
Andrew: Ooh. Does this have anything to do with Emma Watson?
Nick: Maybe. It helps, but – no, I think even if Emma Watson wasn’t playing her, they’re the qualities I would go for. Not just the looks. You know who’d be really great, though? Luna, because if you ever forgot her birthday you could pretend you got her a present and it was stolen by Nargles.
Andrew: Yeah.
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: He’s thinking ahead. He’s thinking to wooing and stuff.
Matt: He goes for the whole picture.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Somebody on Twitter chose Luna too. We’ll get to that in a minute. Eric, how about you?
Eric: I would have to say Tonks, actually. I would choose Tonks to date.
Andrew: She is quite sexy.
Eric: She’s sexy, she’s got the pink hair, and she’s also really low maintenance. She would never ask you, “Do these pants make my butt look big?” because she could just change that.
Andrew: Ah, yes.
Micah: She could change a lot of things.
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: She could change a lot of things. So that’d be pretty cool.
Andrew: Well, she would probably good then for a abusive husband who may not – who may be very, what’s the word I’m looking for? Just very needy, or wants his wife or love interest to be perfect physically.
Eric: Are you calling me an abusive husband?
Andrew: No, I’m saying Tonks could appeal – Tonks could be…
Matt: Yes, that’s exactly what he’s saying.
Eric: And she could also be quite the dominatrix.
Andrew: Yes.
Matt: Whoa.
Micah: Wow. This is turning into quite the segment. While we’re at it, Rita Skeeter. I figured I should throw her out there. At least in the movies.
Andrew: Oh yeah.
Eric: Alone in the closet with her and her quill…
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Eric: I’d just get nightmares.
Micah: I don’t know about it going that far.
Eric: I think I’d get nightmares, Micah. I’m not seeing in it. I’m not seeing the Skeeter. Skeeterbug.
Matt: This is getting awkward, guys.
Andrew: Matt, how about you?
Matt: If I had to pick, it would probably be…
Micah: McGonagall?
Matt: You know what? Maybe she’s got few rings on her mouth, but…
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!
Matt: I would say…
Andrew: Meaning she’s old.
Matt: Yeah, meaning she’s old because you know, the tree, count the rings.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Um…
Eric: [coughs] I’m coughing up hairballs.
Matt: …I would choose Katie Bell.
Eric: Why?
Andrew: Oh, that’s so nice.
Matt: Yeah, that’s why I’d choose her, because she’s so nice and sweet. And she plays Quidditch, so you know she’s fit.
Andrew: Mhm.
Matt: And I mean, she had that little mishap in Half-Blood Prince, but she seems to be very nice in the films, and that’s what I really like the most, people who are sweet and nice and very loyal to their friends.
Andrew: Yeah, I mean, personally I like the Tonks choice, that was a good idea, Eric. I think either her or – I don’t know, there’s just something about Umbridge that…
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: …the commanding, always being…
Micah: Now that’s a dominatrix.
Andrew: …being in control…
Matt: Total dominatrix.
Andrew: You know, just always being in control. I really like that.
Micah: Oh, yeah. She would be in control.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: I just really like…
Eric: Actually, there’s something in the Lexicon…
Matt: Where’s Laura? We need a – we need some estrogen in here.
[Micah laughs]
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Yeah, we do.
[Micah laughs]
Eric: Now, guys, there’s something in the Lexicon about centaurs, and centaurs in Greek mythology, they mate with human women. And so the Harry Potter when – at the end of book five, when Dolores gets carried off in the forest.
[Andrew, Eric, and Matt laugh]
Eric: That’s a bit ambiguous.
Matt: Nice.
Eric: I never knew that before, so that was a nice tie-in. That was nice.
Eric: Where’s Laura?
Andrew: Oh, yeah, we lost Laura. Her Internet died. Um, so…
Micah: Oh.
Andrew: Yeah. All right, now let’s hear what some Twitter people said. Our Twitter question of the week: Who would you want to date in one of the Harry Potter books? And the first one from The Ry Guy, he says, “Hermione, because my last girlfriend cheated on me with a dude named Ron. This would be my revenge.” [laughs]
Eric: Wow.
Andrew: I like that, that’s good.
Matt: Oh, yeah, revenge on Valentine’s Day, that’s awesome.
Andrew: Chris V says, “Luna Lovegood. She never worries about anything, and that’s really special nowadays.” So true.
Matt: That’s so true.
Andrew: Tricia Chocsky says, “Neville. He’s smart, caring, funny, and turns out to be confident and a brave leader. His quiet dignity sets him apart, as well.” That’s nice. Princess Fox says, “I think young Tom Riddle would have been interesting to date. Could he ever have been able to connect with a person like that?”
Eric: Oh, I don’t want to find out.
Andrew: I don’t think so.
Eric: She likes dangerous guys.
Matt: It didn’t end really good with him.
Andrew: Yeah, could you imagine Tom Riddle with a girl? That’d be so weird.
Matt: Well, I mean, he did have women, I mean…
Andrew: Mattyza says, “Hm, I’d probably say Hermione. Brains and beauty is always a great combination.” I agree. That’s why I would pick Hermione.
Eric: [laughs] The next one…
Andrew: No, really. Oh, Camie1975 says, “Is it bad if I say Cedric Diggory because he’s Edward? Just saying.”
Eric: Yes.
Andrew and Matt: Oh.
Matt: Oh my Edward.
Andrew: A little Twilight reference there.
Eric: Yes.
Andrew: Alyssa Cullen says, “I would date Sirius Black. I love his attitude and the way he carries himself with confidence.” I know Elysa would sure – for sure would date either Sirius or Remus. She’s big fans of both.
[Matt laughs]
Eric: Yeah. Only together. Double or nothing…
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: …with Elysa.
Andrew: KristinTHS says, “Hagrid, of course. He’s lovable, compassionate, and oh-so-handsome. I love the coat and beard lol.”
Eric: Ew. She’d get…
Andrew: I would date Hagrid.
Eric: …tangled up in his beard and fur and…
[Andrew laughs]
Andrew: [In a girly voice] I love your beard, Hagrid. [Imitating Hagrid] Thank you.
Matt: Hagrid’s an emotional mess, though. If you ever had any skeletons in your closet or anything and you told him, he would tell everybody.
[Eric laughs]
Andrew: Or if you broke up with him. He’d be so upset.
Eric: Yeah, and then he’d like drink tubs and tubs of brandy…
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: …and then only get drunker and wander into the forest.
Matt: And die. Is that what you’re going for?
Eric: No, no, he wouldn’t die, that’s the thing.
Matt: You’re so negative, Eric!
Eric: He’d just wake up the next day feeling even sorrier for himself, and then…[sighs] I would not date Hagrid.
Andrew: [laughs] Twisted Logic X says, “Roger Davies, because he’s a stud muffin.” Who is Roger Davies? I don’t even know. I can’t remember.
Eric: He’s the Quidditch – oh let me look it up in my Lexicon! Hold on.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: Davies, Davies, Davies.
Matt: Why don’t we look it up on the Internet?
[Andrew and Matt laugh]
Eric: Davies, Davies, Davies. Let’s see who gets there faster. Davies, Roger. “A popular, athletic Ravenclaw student. A year or two older than Harry.” References, Goblet of Fire, number two, number three. There we go.
Andrew: MrsCullen2916, “I would date Ron because he’s super hilarious and I like that in a guy. I’m goofy so I like guys that are goofy, too.”
Matt: Where are you getting these?
Andrew: Well hey, MrsCullen, I’m goofy. I’m reading them off Twitter.
Matt: Okay.
Andrew: So maybe I’ll do a couple others.
Eric: Roger Davies is also a chaser and a captain.
Andrew: One other person said…
Matt: Let it go, Eric.
Andrew: One other person said – I lost it – one other person – Lyric of the Day said, “Arthur Weasley, because he has a car.”
[Eric laughs]
Nick: That can fly! That’s always a good reason.
Matt: That car is fly.
Andrew: And lastly, Berdacia says, “Remus Lupin, because the only thing sexier than werewolves is reading.” I think there might be a little throw to Alex Carpenter there, too, from The Remus Lupins, perhaps. So there you go, there’s some Valentine’s Day love.
Matt: Aw!
Andrew: Is anyone going on some hot Valentine’s Day dates tomorrow?
Matt: No.
Andrew: Nah. Nick?
Nick: I shared all my loving out this episode, with you guys.
Andrew: We can find you one on the show. Can we find you a girlfriend on the show?
Nick: That would be fantastic.
Eric: No, because this show airs Sunday.
Andrew: That would be huge ratings. No, well I just mean for whatever. [laughs]
Matt: You know, really, what I was always looking forward to on Valentine’s Day was the day after, when everyone had the sale on the candy.
Andrew: Oh yeah, that’s true. What a nerdy thing to say.
Matt: Oh whatever!
Andrew: I can’t wait for it to end, so I can get the sale on chocolate.
Matt: That’s not a nerd, that’s a person who likes to eat chocolate.
Eric: Actually, how can chocolate even last that long in Los Angeles with it being all like ninety degrees there and stuff?
Andrew: It’s kinda cold right now.
Matt: It’s cold, it’s rainy right now. It’s like, wet.
Eric: In February.
This Week in MuggleCast History
Andrew: Anyway, moving along, This Week in MuggleCast History – we haven’t done this segment in a while, and I found one that – what I think is one of our best intros, and it has nothing to do with Harry Potter. This was Episode 77, it was February 17, 2007, so it was two years ago now, and we’re talking about the weather. So take a listen to this.
Andrew: I thought we would start off the show this week by talking about the weather. Because we don’t talk about…
Ben: The weather?
Andrew: Yeah, the weather.
Ben: All right.
Andrew: Ben, what’s the weather like in Kansas?
Ben: It’s cold. I was talking to Mikey last night and it was nine degrees here.
Andrew: Wow.
Ben: Yep. Nine.
Andrew: Mikey, what’s the weather like – where do you live, first of all?
Mikey: I live in Fullerton, California. Currently, I’m looking at my widget right now; it says it’s 73 degrees. So, it’s uh…
Andrew: Wow.
Mikey: Kind of warm.
Andrew: Yeah, come to think of it, we’re all over the world here. Eric, what’s the temperature like in New Zealand?
Eric: Well, it just happens right now to be a very chilly 66 degrees Fahrenheit.
Andrew: Hm, darn.
Eric: Yeah.
Andrew: Kevin, how’s the weather up in Connecticut?
Kevin: It’s cold.
Andrew: Cold?
Kevin: Feels like negative one degree.
Andrew: Kevin, you sound like you have a cold.
Kevin: I…
Andrew: Do you have a cold?
Kevin: I do have a cold, quite a bad cold.
Andrew: Aw, Kevin under the weather. Kevin’s got a blue screen of death.
Kevin: Yeah.
[Everyone laughs]
Mikey: [laughing] For Vista.
Andrew: Well, I got…
Mikey: It does that arrow effect with the blue screen, you know.
[Eric and Kevin laugh]
Andrew: Yeah.
Mikey: It says, “You fail, you fail! You lose! Restart!”
Andrew: Hee hee, yay, Vista! Well, I got news for everyone. It is about to heat up in here.
[Mikey laughs]
Eric: Whoa ho, ho, ho.
Andrew: Look out, here it comes…
[Ben laughs]
Andrew: I’m Andrew Sims.
Ben: I’m Ben Schoen.
Andrew: So…
Micah: Had a little difference in voice there.
Andrew: Yeah.
Matt: Your voice was darker then.
Andrew: It may have been…
Matt: Darker. [laughs]
Andrew: Deeper. I think it was the compression, how the show was compressed.
Matt: Yeah.
Chicken Soup for the MuggleCast Soul
Andrew: And lastly today, to wrap up the show, another segment we haven’t done in a while: Chicken Soup. This is Tough Economy Edition. As everyone knows, America’s not doing well…
Micah: Did I write that?
Andrew: Huh? Is this yours?
Micah: Did I write that?
Andrew: No. [laughs] Micah, do you want to say what you did today, or no?
Micah: Yeah, I was actually over at the unemployment office. You’re forced to make at least one appearance for, like, an unemployment workshop when you file for unemployment, at least in New York State. So that’s what I was doing today. It was a lot of fun.
Andrew: I’m sure you were proud to be there.
Micah: Oh yeah, it was great. It was amazing. It was a complete waste of time.
Andrew: Anyway, well maybe…
Micah: Want to see your government dollars at work? Go to a place like that.
Andrew: Maybe this caller can help you out ’cause he’s telling us how MuggleCast has helped him deal with the tough economy.
Matt: Okay, let’s hear this.
Andrew: You may not understand why he’s in the tough economy situation at first, but I’ll explain afterwards.
Joel: Hey MuggleCasters. This is Joel, 22, from Michigan and I’m just calling in with a Chicken Soup. I sent you one in an email a while ago and you read it on the air, so I just wanted to share another one. Recently at work, it’s been very, very hectic. I work at a Subway, and I’m one of the closers, and we have to be done within half an hour after being closed, and lately it’s just been next to impossible. We have a new boss and she’s just asking for the impossible, but it’s been really great because after I’ve closed I put on MuggleCast and I listen to stuff and the time seems to fly by. I actually don’t think I’m able to finish in half an hour if it wasn’t for you guys, so thank you so much for everything that you guys have done. Keep up the great work.
Andrew: So there you go. He’s being rushed to close the store early so they don’t have to pay him more than they absolutely have to.
Matt: Right. I understand that.
Andrew: So there you go. Tough economy edition.
Matt: Mhm.
Micah: Yep.
Andrew: And, you know, always good to hear how the show’s helping out everyone else.
Smartmouths
Micah: Well, Andrew, speaking of the economy, we have a new show that we’ve been working on – we’ve done a pilot episode for it. And it’s not all to do with the economy, but the economy is an important topic these days, and we’re doing a show that relates to a lot of different topics. And we’re really not holding ourselves back at all, are we?
Andrew: Yeah, we’re really excited about this new podcast. Yes, we are doing a new podcast, Smartmouthspodcast.com. This is a podcast between me, Micah, Matt, Laura, Elysa, Kevin – Kevin Stoeck is back, Penny – she’s been on a couple episodes of MuggleCast, and her husband, Greg who hosts HP Prognostications with her.
Matt: Basically, it’s a show where we talk about whatever we want.
Andrew: Yeah, we sent out a podcast pilot a couple days ago, and people have really been enjoying it, if you saw the link on Facebook. If not, go to Smartmouthspodcast.com and you can see the iTunes link to go subscribe and check it out. We’re doing the show weekly and it’s a lot of fun.
Micah: Yeah.
Matt: It does have explicit content on the podcast as well.
Andrew: Yes, which makes it extra exciting. But if you’re little, don’t listen.
[Micah laughs]
Matt: It’s not for the little kiddies.
Show Close
Andrew: [laughs] Right. So that’s about it. That’s all we’ve got for the show this week. I do want to do a quick plug just for Mugglenet in general. Nick, Micah, and I in particular, and Eric’s played a role in this, too. We’ve been revamping the site inside and out. Many sections that haven’t been updated in a while are now being updated at a more regular rate. And we’re just making it our goal to get Mugglenet back moving again, because some of the content has not been updated like it should be. So, I highly recommend keeping an eye out on that updates box on Mugglenet.com – it’s on the right side. You’ll see what’s been going on around the site, and a lot has been going on. We’ve had two new recipes added to the Rosemerta’s Recipes section…
Micah: Oh! Now there’s somebody…
Andrew: What?
Micah: There’s somebody you could throw out for going on a date with – Madam Rosemerta.
[Andrew laughs]
Eric: I think Ron’s already been there, done that.
Nick: Ron fancies her.
Micah: Well, sloppy seconds. What are you going to do?
[Show music begins – the music is played at such a high volume as to drown out what Andrew is saying in the show outro]
Bloopers
Eric: Whoa, that was flawless.
Laura: Ooh! [laughs]
[Everyone laughs]
Eric: That was wonderful. Andrew’s getting a little excited there.
Andrew: That made me happy. Uh, okay.
Eric: Are you good?
Andrew: Yeah.
Eric: Okay.