Hey, I know it's been a long time and you have no idea how sorry I am to keep you all on pins and needles like that.  The thing is, I'm starting my own website and I just don't have time for this right now.  In fact, that is what this update is about.  I need dedicated people who are willing to commit to a project.  Here, read this.  It's something I posted on HPFF.com and it explains everything.

 Hello Everyone,

I posted a thread the other day in which I was seeking a graphic artist who would be willing to create a layout for me.  Well,  I think I've found one and a fantastic one at that!   I was so floored that anyone would be interested in reading that post, let alone replying to it!  So, thankyou!  You know who you are.

Today, I come to you on hands and knees, begging for still more help.  I need editors, writers, moderators...I need man power!  Going into this, I was so sure I could do it all myself (can you say "self-absorbed") because, well, I've always done things that way.  I had no idea that this would be so much work and I know now that if I can't find the right people, I'll never be able to go through with it. 

There are several oppurtunities here and if anyone is interested, I'd love to send you a detailed description of each job opening.  There will be part-time and full-time openings.  I  should tell you though, that all positions are volunteer only.  I won't be able to pay you (I'm not making any money myself).  I wish I could because the work that needs done would definately be worthy of a hefty paycheck, but I just can't.  I'm not creating this site to make a profit.  I'm doing it purely out of a love for the brilliant work of J.K. Rowling and the will to spread the word.  I can't imagine my life without having experienced the world of Harry Potter and I don't think that any child (or adult for that matter) should go through life without at least seeing the movies.  This is something I've wanted to do for years now and I can only hope that someone out there feels the same way.

This work will require a dedicated and motivated staff.  People with magnificent imaginations and big, Harrid-sized hearts.  People who are passionate about anything and everything Harry Potter.  People who work well with others, but also take pride in accomplishing things on their own.  If any of these attributes fit you, then please contact me!  I want you!   

I look forward to hearing from you all and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.  You can reach me at CauldronCake24@aol.com.

Cheers,
Sarah 

If any of you out there in Xangaland are interested in taking this on, please contact me and I will send you a list of all the job openings.  If you have any questions I would be more than happy to answer them. 

NEW PRESS CONFERENCE PICS

MuggleThai.com has posted three new pics of Dan and Emma at the London Prisoner of Azkaban Press Conference.  Click on the thumbnails below to view the full size images.

A FEW SCANS

DanRadcliffe.com has posted up some scans from a couple newspapers I thought you guys might like to see. 

The first is a newspaper clipping from E-Town.

E-Town Newspaper

This second set is from Australia.  The Daily telegraph had a bit with Dan in it a while back.  It was posted up a smaller version of the cover, but now they have a larger version, as well as the inside page to the article that hasn't been posted before.

Daily Telegraph Cover

Daily Telegraph Inside Page

AUSTRALIAN CHARACTER PINS

Mugglenet has posted up a few pictures of the neat little Prisoner of Azkaban character pins that have been on sale in Australia.

View them here.

ROWLING TO THE RESCUE

J.K. Rowling has her big heart set on another goal: to free the disabled children who are locked in cages at care homes in eastern Europe.  She was, the story says, shocked into action after reading a Sunday Times report last month which focused on a 5 year old Czech boy who is in a most depressing situation.

Read more here.

REMINDER: SS/PS ON ABC FAMILY TONIGHT

The exteded edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was originally shown May 9 on ABC, will be re-airing tonight on ABC family at 8 PM EST.

NEW STUDIO PICS OF DAN

DanRadcliffe.com has posted some new pictures of Dan taken during the photoshoot for Parade magazine.  They are brand new, never before seen pics and there are also a few of Dan as Harry.  There are 16 in all. 

View them here.

NEW JAPANESE SCANS

DanRadcliffe.com has also posted sever great new scans fromt eh August issues of Junior Screen and Movie Star magazines which are both on sale in Japan right now.  There's also a few scans from the July issue of Movie Star.  As there's way too many to list here, I'm just going to link you to the album.

View it here.

POA LONDON PREMIERE MUSIC VIDEO

There is a great little music video to highlight the London Premiere event and the cast who attended on DanRadcliffe.com.  I hope you enjoy it!

Please remember to right click and save target as...

See it here.

Note:  It's not 'High' quality because the file would have been way too large.

FACT OR FAKE PART 2

The second part of the "Fact or Fake" interstitials featuring Dan, Rupert and Emma that have been airing on Discovery Kids in the US over the last few weeks, where the trio has to respond to "fact or fake" statements about themselves has been posted.

Watch it here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Today is the birthday of Fiona Shaw, 46, and Jeff Rawle, 52.  Jeff Rawle was recently casted as Amos Diggory for movie 4 and Fiona has played Petunia Dursley in all three films.  Happy birthday to both of them!

ROWLING TO ATTEND BOOK FESTIVAL

J.K. Rowling updated her site and announced that she would be attending the Edinburgh Book Festival on August 15.  She will be reading and answering questions from fans.  Tickets for this event are available by ballot.  To apply, buy the Herald newspaper on June 10 or the Sunday edition on the 11th.  Forms are also available at Bloomsbury starting June 12.

"I am looking forward to this event very much, because there will be a relatively small audience, which means I can see faces and take questions directly from fans."

NEW HOT TOPIC SHIRT

Hot Topic is now selling Ron Weasley t-shirts with an image of Rupert Grint on them.

BRITAIN TO ADOPT HOGWART'S STYLE EDUCATION

As part of a five year plan to raise standards in British schools, the British government has decided to implement a house system similar to the one found in the Harry Potter books.  They believe that this system will create a sense of bonding and responsibility between students.

Read more here.

ROWLING RECEIVES HONOR

J.K. Rowling received an honorary degree from Edinburgh University earlier today.

"The award on Thursday was in recognition of the Potter books and her outstanding contribution to children's literature."

Read more about it here.

View some images fromt he event here.

INTERVIEW WITH MARY GRANDPRE

Cincinatti.com has a nice interview with Mary GrandPre, the illustrator for the Harry Potter books.

"My life since Harry Potter has become more complex.  A lot of other doors opened for me.  It's given me some notoriety, although that can also be hard to deal with when I'm pigenholed as the Harry Potter artist.  Acutally, my personal artwork is not much like Harry Potter at all."

Read the full interview here.

HARRY TAKES RISE ON LYCOS 50

Lycos Top 50 has been updated, and search results for "Harry Potter" have risen 3 places bumping it up to #12.  On the other hand, Searches for Emma Watson have dropped from #8 to #17.

JK RESPONDS TO BIRTHDAY FANFILE

J.K. Rowling has sent a letter in response to the birthday fanfile put together by Wizard City a few months ago:

Thankyou very much for your letters.  I am currently working hard on the sixth Harry Potter book and enjoying the writing more than ever; Hopefully this means that it will be enjoyable to read!  I am however increasingly conscious that I am nearing the end of the series.  The last two books seem almost like two halves of the same novel, because so much that happens in six is related to what happens at the very end of the story.  Thank you again for writing.  It means the world to me that Harry's fans take the time and trouble to let me know how much they like him.

With love from,

J.K. Rowling

NEW HIGH RES PICS OF EMMA

EmmaWatson-Fans.com has a great collection of huge hi res pics containing, you guessed it, Emma Watson.  A few are brand new, never before seen pics, while others are renditions of past pics.  They are all fantastic!

Check them out here.

NEW POA PICS

MuggleThai.com has posted three new pics from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  Click on them below to get the full size view.

I know this is a long shot, but would anyone be willing to create me a custom skin.  I've tried so hard to do it myself, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out HTML coding!  I'm desperate to give this site a good look.  Please, please, please e-mail me at Pumpkinpastie24@aol.com if you can help!  Thanks!

Argh, sorry guys.  Another late update...sigh.  Here it is:

SCREEN CAPS OF JAPANESE PRESS CONFERENCE

Mugglethai has posted a link to 1500 screen caps from the press conference featuring Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, Alfonso Cuaron and David Heyman.

Also, they have posted a few more pictures of their own from that event.  See them here.

TIME FOR KIDS INTERVIEW

Time For Kids has posted an interview with Dan in their "Who's News" section to mark the release of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  Lots of similar quotes and some new ones.

Quote:

TFK: Do you find that you're critical of yourself?

Daniel: When you see the movie for the fourth time, you start to notice everything, and you start to go, 'Darn, why did I do that then?"

MORE POA JAPAN PRESS CONFERENCE PHOTOS

Several new photos have been added to a gallery on DanRadcliffe.com of the Japanese Press Conference.  Check them out here.

DAN, EMMA AND RUPERT ON TV

If you are in Australia, Channel V has a show called "50 Minutes" that has a feature on Dan, Emma and Rupert where they take a look at the three stars of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban growing up in front of the camera.  (Please do check local listings for times in your area as times may vary.)

Showtimes:

Wednesday July 7th at 7:30pm

Thursday July 8th at 12pm

Saturday July 10th at 11am

GRYFFINDOR AND SLYTHERIN BATTLE IT OUT AT HARRY POTTER CAMP

Art instructor Laura Kessler knows first hand the challenges of getting young boys to appreciate art, much less join a summer class.  What better to pique their interest than a Harry Potter them?

Read more here.

CHINESE KIDS OUTRAGED AS COMMUNISTS BAN HARRY POTTER

Harry Potter may have fought off Voldemort, but can he hold out against the Chinese Communist Party?  At least for this summer, the answer is "No".  Prisoner of Azkaban has been effectively banned for the school holidays on the Chinese mainland.

Read more here.

TIMOTHY SPALL PLAYS REALLY BAD GUY IN NEW DVD FROM THE BBC

In Vacuuming While Completely Nude in Paradise, which hardly contains any nudity, Timothy Spall plays Tommy Rag, one of the all-time worst villains.  Originally a BBC TV movie, it is now available on DVD.

Read more here.

MARK EVANS?

J.K. Rowling has answered our questions about the Mark Evans that had a cameo in book 5.  To see what she said, visit the Flash version of Jo's site.  Click on the paper clips on the desktop for FAQ, underneath the letter you will see four tabs - select the tab that reads "FAQ Poll".

If you don't have Flash or can't wait to find out (you impatient little pumpkin, you), highlight the text below for a summary of JKR's elaborate response.

( Mark Evans is nobody - he's not important to the plot.  His last name is coincidentally the same as Lily Potter's maiden name. )

RUMORS ABOUT DAN SMASHED

Contact Music (about as reliable as The Sun) is reporting that Daniel Radcliffe has been tipped to star in the adaptation of an acclaimed book about the second world war called Birdsong.  According to CM, the author, Sebastian Faulks, said:

"By the time it gets made, the star of Harry Potter could end up being old enough to do it - is he a good actor?"

This rumor is, of course, codswallop.  Dan will be wrapped up with the Harry Potter movies and Birdsong has apparantly been delayed for 10 years.

UNDERLYING POLITICAL THEMES...HMMM.

The opinion pages of the French periodical Le Monde have, over the last three weeks, been examining the underlying political themes of the works of J.K. Rowling.

Read more here.

And that it for today folks.  See you tomorrow!

Okay everyone...I created another site where I can post the chapters of my story.  I didn't want to post it on this site because I want it to be exclusively for Harry Potter news.  Putting it here would have just muddled things up. 

Here's another snippet to get you started:

Voldemort is dead, the Death Eaters have been scattered to the wind and peace has been restored. It had taken three long years, but it was finally over. Utterly, completely, undeniably over. The story of Harry Potter's defeat of the Dark Lord spread like wildfire throughout the wizarding community and within the hour the boy who lived had become the cause of mass celebration. Magical beings of all races, ages and creeds flooded the streets in honor of their new found freedom. Banners were raised, headlines were written and letters were sent in the unlikely case that someone hadn't heard the news. It was a glorious time indeed for wizards and muggles alike. It was the beginning of a world free of worry and the fear of the spread of Dark Magic. A world with promise so abundant that it was blinding. Evil had been dissolved and as far as they were concerned, was gone forever. And even if there was anything else lurking behind the golden haze, how bad could it be? The worst was over...right?

To read on click here.

Today's updates are on the way.  I should have them up in the next couple of hours.  Until then...