Yes, I love Harry Potter. Yes, I'm a grown up.

Nerd alert for you all: I am a Harry Potter fan. Yeah, I said it – a Harry Potter fan. But not like a Harry Potter book fan, because those people are the real nerds, right? (kidding!) Regardless, I’ll stick with the movies; they haven’t failed me yet.

Anyways, you can only imagine my excitement when I heard the “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows” trailer was finally out. My wife and I saw “The Half Blood Prince” the day it came out (half because we’re fans, half because we just wanted to see a movie and it happened to be playing that evening), and ever since then I’ve been looking forward to the final installments (the last book is two movies, if you didn't know).

Let me get deep on the HP story for a minute here.

The themes of this series have been interpreted and reinterpreted dozens of times – at its core the tale is one of life and death, good versus evil. But then we see the way Hermione is treated by the “elite” students and it becomes a commentary on prejudice and a faulty class system. We see the way Lord Voldemort thirsts for power and immortality and it becomes an observation on tyranny and totalitarianism. The possibilities go on and on and on. At some point you have to think when all is said and done, this series will have made many people – young and old – more well-rounded individuals.

Deep part over… did I mention that my wife and I dressed up as Harry Potter characters last Halloween? Before you judge me, keep in mind that we were on a tight costume budget and visited the costume store on, like, Oct. 29.

One thing I love is the fact that the movies have gotten increasingly darker as the series progresses. Harry, once an innocent, at times annoying little kid, has become a troubled, at times brooding young man who is learning his place in the world as well as the power he has to shape it. At times he’s the confident prodigy that he’s grown into, while other times he exhibits the naivety and trepidation of a fawn (baby deer, duh).

And in that respect, Daniel Radcliffe is seriously underrated… I’m not saying he should win an Oscar necessarily, but would a Golden Globe nomination at some point be out of the question? According to IMDB.com, the guy has had 20 nominations for various awards, five of which were for Saturn Awards by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA – woohoo. I think Danny deserves better for the complex character most of us have come to love and fear on some level. And no, I’m not talking about an MTV Moon Man for Best Kiss.

If any fellow semi-nerds (what the heck, even full on nerds) are still reading this, do me a favor and humor me. I can’t be the only 28-year-old Potter fan. Here's the trailer for your viewing pleasure (2:32 I think). Let's dicuss afterward if you like - no spoilers though!



Oh, and just for those of you want a little chuckle, check out the video below. It's a song called "HP is HC" (hardcore) by a band called International Superheroes of Hardcore, which is made up of members of the band New Found Glory. I don't think there's any real foul language, but it is a screamy hardcore song. Enjoy!



Don’t forget to come get your Ride Home links at 4 p.m. Until then – Expecto Patronum! Look it up on Wikipedia. ☺

Bad Media, Bad. No Treat For You.

The picture to the right is an average West Virginia family... looks a lot like an average Pennsylvanian, Kansas, Nevada or Washington family to me.

The recent tragedies with the West Virginia coal mines have stirred emotions throughout the country, prompting prayer vigils, benefit dinners and more than a few heavy hearts. And while I have certainly thought about and prayed for those directly affected by this disaster, I would be remiss to say the attention hasn't stirred other thoughts in my moderately disillusioned mind. One thought that I can't shake is the portrayal of West Virginians in the media.

Now please don't mistake this rant as a disrespectful, poorly timed low blow to the people of the state... instead, this is a characterization of the national media and its apparent urge to propagate stereotypes. I mean, based on the snippets I've seen of West Virginia residents on programs like the Today Show and Good Morning America (just kidding, who watches Good Morning America?), the only person in the entire state who appears moderately well adjusted is the governor... and I imagine he probably has a media coach pulling the strings during his interviews.

It's almost like Matt Lauer, Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric and Brian Williams went out of their way to only include clips of overweight, redneck white people with poor grammar and bad haircuts (specifically regarding the "man on the street" interviews, NOT the families affected)... when in reality, the populous of the state is every bit as "normal" - whatever that means - as the rest of the country. But you certainly wouldn't know it based on the coverage the state has seen lately.



So now I'm forced to go back to Media Ethics, Mass Communication 401 and the age-old question of those in media-related fields: Does the media REFLECT society, or does the media PERPETUATE society? It would seem to me that the coverage of this tragedy has theoretically set the state of West Virginia back several years in its mission to shake the stereotypes of... well... overweight, redneck white people with poor grammar and bad haircuts. It's truly unfortunate.

So to all the producers of the quality news programming we tune into on a regular basis (I'm sure TONS of them read this blog): We understand it is your job to report the news in a straightforward manner. But we also understand that the way you frame the story tells a whole other story in the process. Please, please, please do us a favor and stop peppering these people with backhanded, ignorant insults - regardless of whether or not you're cognizant of what you're doing.

- TS

PS - Don't forget to get on The Ride at 4 p.m. today.
PPS - Tiger tees off at 1:42 p.m. Will he make the cut, finish top 20 or win it all? Hmmm...