Hey guys!

I know this isn’t my personal blog or anything, but this was just too cool to contain and I thought some of you might be interested.

This past fall, I took a copy of Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone and added commentary and notes in the margins of the WHOLE BOOK! This book is now being auctioned off and all proceeds from the auction will be donated to First Book!

The auction was put together by the nice folks at Shooting Stars Mag and you can view and bid on it here!!!

This book doesn’t only feature my commentary though! It also contains the following:

Whomever purchases this book will note that Andrew Slack comments for the first 2 or 3 pages of the Halloween chapter. We were on a trip together and I think he fell asleep and never got to finish. Haha!

Check out some of these awesome scans!!!!

Seriously guys, I blew $24 just buying a new copy of this book (after spending a month looking for the hard-back in a thrift store!!!), so it better sell for at least that much! Did I mention that best-selling author and HP-expert Melissa Anelli writes commentary on the freakin’ Mirror of Erised chapter!?!?!? OMG!

I know it’s really self-congratulatory, but this book is REALLY, REALLY COOL! And the money goes to a good cause so don’t be shy about bidding!

Once again, the auction is HERE and it runs until Saturday, February 7th at 11:59 P.M. EST!!!

BID NOW!!!!!

Thanks!
Paul T. DeGeorge
Harry and the Potters/the Harry Potter Alliance

Hey guys!

I posted my No New Stuff video late last night after an action-packed day of bowling and dancing. Check it out to watch me execute my punishment for buying all that sweet Obama gear at inauguration! I should add that the most painful part of this punishment was not actually the performance, but rather having to sit down and watch myself dancing over and over again while editing this video. Thanks Matt!!!

All I bought this week was food.

xoxo,
paul

There are many ways that each and every one of us can be more environmentally friendly. Many of our everyday actions lead to the destruction of forests, increase of endangered species, and the pollution of the land around us. From now on, I will be putting on my Groundskeeper hat every Saturday to provide a weekly tip to encourage and inspire green living.

This first, very simple tip will help decrease the over-use and resultant pollution of plastic bags. Instead of accepting the bags provided while shopping, bring your own canvas bags when you go. Don’t forget that they are useful at more than just the grocery store, bring them on any shopping trip!

And you don’t have to just get boring old canvas bags, either! You have many stylish options that are still eco-friendly (for example, at Nubius Organics). Another option is to go to your local craft store, pick up some plain canvas bags and some fabric paint and make a project of it! In fact, my brother’s girlfriend printed designs onto special paper and ironed them onto canvas bags for Christmas gifts this year. They were personal, adorable, useful, and eco-friendly! It doesn’t get much better than that!

If you are concerned about the bulk of carrying around a stash of canvas bags, look into other options for more compact re-usable bags. In my area, we use ChicoBags, a very compact bag that has a rather large capacity!  Feel free to do some shopping around!

Last month HP Alliance members all over the world raised over 5600 dollars for STAND Fast — in effect funding the protection of thousands of civilians in Darfur and Burma. In total, HP Alliance members have raised over $14,000 since 2007.

That means funding the protection of thousands of people in Darfur and Burma. And by January 31, you can give right here.

Often we put up a barrier between ourselves and those in other parts of the world. But here is an opportunity for that barrier to be nothing more than the barrier at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters when Wizards tread before it.

Our partners at STAND and the Genocide Intervention Network are giving us until January 31 for 100% of our donations to go directly to civilians in Darfur and Burma. So please give just a little bit by this Sunday!

Every little bit goes a long way: three dollars funds the protection of a woman in Darfur for one week and five dollars funds the protection of a whole family in Burma.

So please give before Sunday!

A private school in California expelled two sixteen year old girls for having a lesbian relationship. With Umbridge-like strokes of reckless oppression, school officials conducted this expulsion without solid evidence that the girls actually had a romantic relationship. But even if they did have such evidence, is the school allowed to expel them?

While the girls sued, an appeals court in California ruled in favor of the school’s “right” to expel them. The court said that the since the school is religious and not a business they had every right to expel the students for “homosexual behavior.” Would the court say the same thing if the students were expelled because they were black? Perhaps eighty years ago they would. Would the court say the same thing if the students were expelled for being white? Or how about if the students were expelled for being heterosexual? The court probably wouldn’t have ruled this way. Because essentially this case does not strike me to be exclusively about a schools’ rights. This case is about the rights of students. Or lack thereof. Apparently if I ran a religious school that thought white heterosexuals were sinful, I could expel them.

Within the last six months, California has stripped it’s own citizens of their right to marry and now ruled in favor of a school’s right to be violent and hateful to minorities. Salazar Slytherin would be proud. What do you think?

Check out the latest No New Stuff video. Matt has a really good punishment for Paul!

Hi guys!

I am just back from Washington, DC where I witnessed Barack Obama take the oath of office as the 44th President of the United States. Lots of better writers have already expounded upon the significance of this, but I would like to share one thing with you. This was, without a doubt, one of the most positive experiences of my life. The people who attended inauguration we so very, very different, yet there was a bond we all felt. We were all Americans, and the hope for a better future for all is what brought us together this week.

There is only one other place in the world where I have felt a similar sense of community, common purpose, and friendship: right here in the Harry Potter community. And that is why the Harry Potter Alliance is so important to me. I didn’t need to go to Washington, DC to learn that if you get a bunch of people together and fill their hearts with love that they can change the world. I’ve already witnessed that because it is exactly what we do in the Harry Potter Alliance. We already know and understand that if feels good to work towards something that is greater than yourself.

So wherever you were on Tuesday, and whomever you voted for as President, I hope that this event has given you a renewed sense of purpose. I know it has for me.

I just uploaded my No New Stuff video for this week. You can view it here!

It was extremely hard to resist the allure of souvenirs this week in DC, so I caved and bought some new stuff. Here’s the list:

Obama tie - $5 - street vendor, Washington, DC
Obama hat - $20 - mall vendor, Washington, DC
Obama shirt - $10 - street vendor, Washington, DC
Mt. Eerie - Black Wooden Ceiling Opening 10″ - $17 - Love Garden Records, Lawrence, KS - ART EXEMPTION
He-man/Mr. Burns sculpture - $45 - Bluegrass Cafe, Charleston, WV - ART EXEMPTION

The Obama stuff is pretty dope. NO REGRETS!

I’m going over some notes that I jotted down in the days after completing Half-Blood Prince in 2005. Here’s something from “Why Snape may not have killed Dumbledore”–I ended up elaborating on this theory as many of you did. But here it is, and yes, this is me showing off :
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To our Webmaster, designer-extraordinaire, and amazing staff member Acacia: Happy (Belated) Birthday! Yesterday was Acacia’s birthday. Please join me in wishing her the very best for 2009, as Acacia rocks in so many ways and deserves a very Harry Birthday. Many happy returns!