Harry Potter and the Magic Quill

For years, fans of the Harry Potter novels have hungered for more, longing for Jo Rowling to give them just an ounce more information about the Wizarding World, about Harry, and about what we never learned in the seven books.

Well now, finally, that chance has come in the form of Pottermore. Billed as an “interactive experience built around the books” fans have been promised no less than 18000 new words from Jo Rowling herself, at launch alone, with plenty more to follow as the website explores the rest of the books (only Philosophers Stone will be on show on release).

Mixing the books themselves with amazing new artwork, mini games and information galore, Pottermore sounds like everything I and many others have longed for.

While the site won't go live to the world until October, a select few (1million to be exact) will be granted exclusive beta access to the experience, allowing them to see what Pottermore has to offer.

I am one of those lucky million.

The selection process seemed easy enough: solve a clue related to the Harry Potter books, turn that answer into a hyperlink, and then find “The Magic Quill”.

To hardcore fans the quill isn't a massively new idea. Jo herself referenced years ago in an interview as noting down the names of magical babies being born so that Professor McGonagall would know who to send Hogwarts letters to on their 11th birthday.

So, on July 31 I awoke early, logged on to Skype with a few of my fandom friends and waited. None of us knew exactly what form the clue would take, but we had been given the rather cryptic idea that “Diagon Alley would be a good place to start.”

Now of course, we all over thought it. To us, entering Diagon Alley meant pressing just the right bricks on the wall. We were clicking bricks on the Pottermore homepage, horrified when we found we could zoom the page out revealing more bricks we had not yet seen – throwing the combination off.

But, just before 9am BST, it appeared all the clicking was for nought. Someone in our skype chat exploded “ITS UP! REFRESH!” and, sure enough, the scroll in the middle of the page changed from a simple message explaining the Magic Quill challenge, to the clue itself.

“How many breeds of owls were offered on the Eeylops Owl Emporium sign, then multiply this number by 49.”

There I hit a problem. I'd known the clue would be numerical, but had hoped it would be easier, as my Potter books are unfortunately still in storage as I'm in the process of moving.

I quickly headed to the HP Lexicon online, searched Diagon Alley and found relatively quickly there were 5 types of owl. 5 times 49 equalled 245, and in seconds I was entering http://quill.pottermore.com/245 in my browser.

There, to my great glee, was a group of quills floating on the Sony website (one of Pottermore's partner sites). One of them was glowing, and I clicked it, redirected to the Pottermore registration page to “begin my journey.”

A short reg process later, and a book (the magic quill's book), appeared with my name along side those of Harry and his friends.

I was magical.

I verified my email, logged in, and was greeted with a message congratulate me on being one of the lucky few to shape the experience before its official launch.

That was 4 days ago, and the process has now taken place 5 times out of the allotted 7. Each day at a different time a new clue has appeared, and taken those quick enough to solve it to a different partner site (from The Guardian's announcement article about Pottermore, to the HP page on Scholastic's website), where they could find a magic quill of their own.

With only 2 more opportunities to enter the beta before registration is shut down, its clear that the next 2 days will see huge levels of traffic heading towards Pottermore, as those who have missed out throughout the week endeavour to get on board.

If you want my advice as regards getting in, go to www.insider.pottermore.com as soon as you wake up each day. Over the past few days they have posted a timeframe of about 3-4 hours when the quill will appear. It won't be there the entirety of that time, but it sure helps narrowing down the window for refreshing Pottermore.com, so if they give a timeframe, it sure helps.

During that time, where possible (obviously people are busy so it won't always be the case), I'd suggest refreshing the page every 15minutes or so. The amount of spaces available each day have never yet filled up any quicker than 30minutes, so if you're checking regularly there should be no problem

Have Half Blood Prince to hand tomorrow, and Deathly Hallows to hand on Saturday, as well as a search engine just for good luck.

Pottermore have openly stated that the clues are designed to get easier to solve each day (indeed the last two really shouldn't require even a fairweather fan to even look up the answer), but its always helpful to have these supplies to hand.

As soon as you have your answer, and have multiplied by the appropriate number as given by the clue, put that total on the end of http://quill.pottermore.com/ and you will be directed to find your quill. More often than not it's in an ad around the page, but it should be relatively obvious where (it will be the same pinky purple background as the Pottermore logo, and will have a quill on it.)

Click the quill, register with your email address (its important you can log in to the accout in question as you'll need to validate it). As soon as you get the confirmation (usually sent out within minutes, but it has been known to take several hours in extreme cases) just validate it, and you're in.

You should then be given a congratulatory message upon logging in.

I wish everyone good luck, and hope everyone who wishes to be gets the chance to be “magical.”

See you on Pottermore

Casey Anthony - Beyond Reasonable Doubt

Yesterday saw the end of one of the most highly publicised US trials in years. The trial of Casey Anthony, who was accused – and then shockingly acquitted – of drugging and murdering her two year old daughter Caylee.

The reason: reasonable doubt. To find someone guilty of murder in the first degree (or any other charge for that matter), it must be proved “beyond any reasonable level of doubt” that the person is guilty.

The prosecution put forward a version of events which (while it convinced the majority of Americans of Casey's complete guilt) was full of holes and circumstantial evidence which the jury of 12 men and women simply could not overcome.

For those of you who do not know the story, Caylee Anthony went missing in June 2008. For more than a month, her mother Casey spun a web of lies when family members and others asked to see her.

She claimed that Caylee was with her Nanny, a woman called Zenaida Fernandez, who lived in her building. It later transpired that Zenaida had never had any interaction with either Casey or Caylee.

During this time Casey Anthony was seen partying, drinking and getting tattoos with her boyfriend.

Eventually, more than 31 days after she had last seen Caylee, the young girl's grandmother reported her missing to the police.

Around the same time, George Anthony (Casey's father) received a letter stating his daughters car had been towed, and when he went to pick it up, both he and the impound attendant said there was a strong smell coming from the car's boot. Both later testified in court that the smell was that of a decomposing human body, although when they checked the boot it was empty.

During the six months between Caylee being reported missing, and the eventual discovery of her skeleton on December 11th 2008 – just over a mile from the family home in Orlando Florida - Casey Anthony lied over and over to police, about a job she was supposedly keeping (which she had actually been fired from years earlier), to the fake nanny who she said must have “kidnapped” Caylee.

Searches of Anthony's computers discovered that she had googled “how to make chloroform”, as well as “death”, and traces of chloroform, as well as strands of Caylee's hair, were found in the boot of the car.

With the web of lies falling down around her, Casey Anthony was charged with Caylee's murder.

The story, of a mother killing her two year old was snapped up by the US media, and for the past several years, various talkshows and news outlets have given the story extensive coverage, turning the murder trial into a huge national event, and giving the public what they like the most: a villain

Despite most of the evidence seeming to point in her direction, by the time the trial rolled around, after 4weeks, and more than 400 pieces of evidence, Casey Anthony was found not guilty of murder in the first degree, manslaughter and child abuse.

It came down to a battle of two opposing arguments. The prosecution wanted us to believe in Casey as a woman who would rather see her daughter dead than interrupt her party lifestyle with such trivialities as motherhood.

The defence though painted a different story. They said that Caylee had fallen in the pool at George Anthony's house, and drowned accidentally. The missing 31 days they say, can be explained by the entire Anthony family trying to cover up the death by acting as though it was business as usual.

They claimed the chloroform searches had actually been made by Cindy Anthony (Casey's mother), purely for research purposes, and even found an expert who would testify that it was impossible to tell whether the odour from the car was that of human decomposition, as several other things could have let off a similar smell.

Neither argument was concrete, and although the prevailing attitude was that Casey had almost certainly killed her daughter – she was too calm, too uncaring about the fact her daughter was missing – it simply could not be proven.

Casey Anthony may have killed Caylee, we will never know, but one thing is for sure: there will be plenty of people around America in the next few weeks who will believe wholeheartedly that a murderer has walked free.

It is because 12 men and women decided that they could not without any doubt convict her that she will walk out of the Orange County courthouse tomorrow. Making what was well and truly a life and death decision (Anthony faced the death penalty if the three main charges had come back guilty), this was a huge test of the concept of “beyond reasonable doubt” means, and what effect this will have on future trials.

Doctor Who - A Good Man Goes To War

If you're little blue diary isn't up to Doctor Who 6x07: A Good Man Goes to War, turn away now. Spoilers!

Well that’s that then. Until the autumn, and “Let’s Kill Hitler”, Doctor Who has left our screens with an episode of epic proportions.

Calling in the help of his “debtors” – those who he has left to live – The Doctor heads to Demon’s Run to fight Madame Kovarian and the Headless Monks.

This means the welcome return of the Silurians, the big blue black market trader who’s name escapes me, and the Sontarans. To see all of these return gives the episode the same kind of feeling of grandeur that The Pandorica Opens had last year.

Equally special was the return of Rory the Roman to our screens. Kicking some Cybermen’s butt, before failing to recruit River to the Doctor’s army, the last centurion shows off just how important he has become to the show, and to the arc of the series as a whole.

It is touching seeing him tear up as he holds Melody, and as he leads the final stand you can see how far he has come from the wimpy nerd he began as at the start of season 5. Arthur Darvill is a truly fantastic actor, who I’m sure will go far in the world of television or film – wherever he ends up when he is eventually done with Rory

When a good man goes to war, the biggest reveal of the season can’t be far behind. Finally the reveal of Professor River Song’s true identity as Melody Pond came forward as the stand out scene in what has been a great run of episodes recently in Doctor Who.

It was perhaps not the best kept secret in the world – there were certainly several key theories as to her true guise, and this was one of the more prominent – but it was remarkably well handled nonetheless.

Tying up the “the only water in the forest is the River” prophecy that Idris gave in The Doctor’s Wife, Moffat’s writing team once again prove just how good they are at stringing along tiny little fragments of a line and turning them into something huge and important and dramatic.

The one big question that grasps me having watched the episode: How will Amy and Rory react when they find out that River’s mind is trapped in the Library’s servers, and that to all extents and purposes the Doctor watched their daughter die?

Will the Doctor go straight there and find a way to release her, knowing that even if the body is dead it may regenerate? Or will the Doctor instead go in search of Kovarian and Baby Melody?

The fact we have to wait for the autumn for new episodes is crazy, because with the grand cliff hanger finally revealed the wait will surely be torturous. I think it may well be time to go to the TARDIS Graveyard, build a TARDIS of our own and skip forward a few months to see how this all continues. I really cannot wait!!!

Album Review: Lady Gaga - Born This Way

2011’s most highly anticipated album is finally here, as Lady Gaga returns with her latest offering: Born This Way. But can it possibly live up to the hype? I set about finding out.

From the very beginning of opener Marry the Night, Gaga’s signature is all over this album. Utilising the blinding pop hooks which made her first album so great, this takes it a step further. This album shows a definite evolution since The Fame Monster.

It’s clear this album had big shoes to fill, and songs like the dark and brutal Government Hooker drive the album to new and exciting places. The song relies highly on Gaga’s superb vocal ability, not only in the form of her singing voice, but her ability to make everything sound like theatre – and that’s what the Lady Gaga phenomenon is all about: pantomime and performance.

It’s clear that when this album was being written and produced, this was the key. Gaga was going to sing the hell out every track given to her, and each track would have a quirky way of making it unique. From the guitar riffs at the start of Bad Kids, to the echoing, screeching German chanting at the top of Scheibe, this “uniqueness” factor bears out throughout, and it really seems to work.

The real stand out is Americano. Part pop record, part fiddle driven latino explosion, this is probably the best song on the album, and it really shows a very different side to what we’ve been used to up to this point (perhaps unsurprising that Gaga would go out on a limb to do something completely unexpected.

Unfortunately, it’s the singles which ultimately bring the album down. It feels weird – usually of course it is the singles which are practically the only tracks worth hearing, but this time songs like Born this Way (and especially the frankly dull and uninspiring Hair) just don’t stand up to the rest of the album.

They feel generic, and like anyone in the world could be singing them – they don’t fit into the Gaga repertoire, and it’s a real shame because every time you’re almost getting into the album, one of these songs comes along, and brings the whole tone down.

Does this album live up to everything that will no doubt be said about it then? Probably not. Of the 17 tracks, there are plenty of great new tunes, but it really doesn’t seem to flow as an album in the way Fame Monster did, and it’s because of this it is unlikely to ever become a true classic in the same way. Interestingly, with the four singles taken out it seems to work better, but perhaps that’s just a personal observation.

What Gaga has managed though is to build a collection of decent – and in some cases fantastic – pop sounds, building on plenty of different styles and influences to find a sound which feels new and fresh. There is no sense of a difficult second album here, and this is an album which is sure to be played on repeat by Gaga’s legions of fanatics for some time to come. Which I suppose is the point

Doctor Who - The Doctor's Wife

SPOILERS FOR Doctor Who 6x04: THE DOCTOR'S WIFE

So: Neil Gaiman wrote an episode of Doctor Who. Even writing those words is fantastic. Yet the episode itself was something else entirely.

Fantastic is a word which does not begin to sum up my feelings for it. It was spellbinding, beautiful, completely and unreservedly fantastic, and just genuinely one of the finest episodes of New Who ever (dare I say it beats Blink for all-time best? It needs a second viewing to be sure, but its damn close)

The premise is frankly fantastic: what if The Doctor met the TARDIS? What if “she” was a real she?

Enter Suranne Jones as Idris, the “mad bitey lady”, who is infact inhabiting the soul of the TARDIS. A tardis called Sexy.

While there was a lot to love about the episode, the relationship between Idris and the Doctor was what will make it an instant classic. From the scenes in the cage, where we learn of their very first exchange – The Doctor stroking the console and calling it beautiful – to the scenes in the TARDIS graveyard, their interaction is simply sublime. It is clear that they are as close to husband and wife as any two beings ever were.

When we hear Idris speak of her plan to find a Timelord and explore the universe, we finally hear the other side of the story – up until now we’ve always assumed, as the Doctor has, that it was the other way around, and the idea of the sentience of the TARDIS stretching to this great a depth is one we’ve never really explored up until this point.

The fact that they have never been able to talk to eachother until now is tragic, but the final resolution – as Idris speaks of her happiness at having even a few hours with her Doctor, it was enough to send chills down my spine.

Away from this, it was also brilliant to finally see a part of the TARDIS which isn’t the central control room. As Amy and Rory are forced to run for their lives around the seemingly never ending tunnel systems, the colour scheme immediately recalls several of the TARDIS’ of classic Who, and the sight of the pair walking on to Nine and Ten’s flight deck was enough to make me literally squee outloud.

Michael Sheen’s villainous, bodiless House was a particularly scary villain, in that you really felt he could have killed our heroes at any time, and that he was really just playing with them - toying with the mice running around his little maze before finally finishing them off.

From the mind of Neil Gaiman has come one of the Doctor’s greatest adventures, and it’s so clear that he’s a huge fan – the way he’s built this story comes from a place where every fanboy in the world can surely relate. My only question: when can we get Gaiman back? Because we need more episodes like this!

Review: The Last Little Blue Envelope

WARNING: The following review includes spoilers for 13 Little Blue Envelopes and The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson

Title: The Last Little Blue Envelope

Author: Maureen Johnson

Published by: Harper Teen

When last we met Ginny Blackstone - at the end of 13 Little Blue Envelopes - she had just made more than a hundred thousand pounds selling her Aunt Peg’s artwork, and was heading back to America , never discovering the contents of the last envelope.

Well now, as Maureen Johnson finally returns to Ginny, it’s time to find out exactly what the last clue said.

Feeling lost, bored and alone at home in America, Ginny receives an email which will change her life (once again) forever. A young man called Oliver has found the last envelope. There are more instructions, and they must search out a second piece of art, bringing Keith – and his new girlfriend Ellis – along for the ride.

From the very start the reader is plunged right back into the adventure that the first novel held within it, and with the almost immediate twist that Keith is suddenly quite so entirely with Ginny as you’d expect, the entire dynamic of this book evolves from its predecessor.

In the void we find Oliver. A smart, but seemingly malevolent man, who you want to dislike, and yet (as Ginny herself finds as the book goes on) you simply struggle to do so. He never actually lies to her, and while his motives remain unclear for the most part, it is clear Ginny is never actually in any danger around him.

Most interesting is the continued interaction between Ginny and the envelopes themselves, and through them with her Aunt Peg. In a crucial scene towards the end of the novel, you truly feel like Peg is stood beside Ginny, and that they have shared this wild adventure together.

Maureen Johnson proves once again - as is so often the case with the best YA writers – that just because this novel will be found in the YA section of your local book store, it can deal with some properly adult themes. The way the novel deals with death, and with Peg’s cancer stricken and deluded sense of being towards the end of her life, is to be commended.

At the same time it should be said that while this book is marketed primarily at a female market , this book (unlike its predecessor which played up the romance), feels much more like an adventure novel than a piece of “chick-lit” (a phrase I rather abhor anyway as a male who enjoys this kind of book).

LLBE should genuinely appeal to anyone who enjoys fun, well written characters and witty and at times even zany situations (when you read about the Cat Palace you’ll understand what I mean by zany).

While this is – seemingly – the end of Ginny’s story, I for one cannot wait to see what Johnson has in store for her readers next. If she can make me care even half this much about her next collection of characters, she’ll be doing astoundingly well.

Doctor Who - Day of the Moon

As River Song would say: SPOILERS!!!

Oh what a difference a week makes. After what felt like a messy, even rather….mistimed… first episode, this time it was just infinitely better right out of the gate.

From the thrilling chase between Canton Everett Delaware the Evil (or you know….not….) and the Doctor’s most faithful companions, we are sent on an all-out thrill ride through the good ‘ole US of A.

There is so much to talk about in this episode, and despite a whole host of answers, we are met once again with 100 new questions – Is Amy really about to give birth to a timelord? When will Silence fall? Who is the newest regenerating addition to the show?

But before I can talk about any of that, there is one thing that really needs saying: The Silence are literally the scariest thing I’ve ever seen. Bar none. Truly terrifying conceptually, and the idea that it could actually be happening is just literally beyond scary. After last weeks introduction to them, this week it was genuinely taken to the next level, and the scenes inside the children’s home were completely and utterly horrifying.

Ok. That’s out of my system. Moving swiftly on.

Umm: Amy is pregnant….but not pregnant….but pregnant…. Umm….what? My guess: the timelord baby inside her only has one heart working right now, which is why the TARDIS is confused. It can sense two and one isn’t beating so the pregnancy scanner is completely confuzzled. That still doesn’t answer how Amy is going to become impregnated with a Time Lord baby, but sorry: I honestly have no answers on that one…. We’ll just have to wait and see what Mr Moffat has in store.

One of the best things about this episode – as indeed with last weeks although I failed to mention them in my frustration with everything else – were the performances of Mark Sheppard and Stuart Milligan as Canton and Nixon respectively. Every time either of them spoke, or even appeared on screen, it was a delight, and Nixon genuinely got many of the biggest laughs in this episode (“He broke into Apollo 11 Mr President.” “Oh…well….I’m sure he had a good reason…..”)

A lot of people across the Interwebs have become very bored with River Song as a character, but must say I’ve stood by her up until this point, and: but for last weeks minor discretion, it was a true return to form this week, kicking butt and taking names. I can’t wait to finally find out who she is, and exactly who she killed – my money is still on her being in the Space Suit on the beach rather than the little girl, but we’ll see.

And now, just incase you thought I’d forgotten it, it’s time for the elephant in the room: The little girl regenerated. She fucking regenerated. Excuse my French, but that is actually the extremity of the confusion and befuddlement which befell me at the moment that girl’s hands began to glow.

Again, I have no answers, and honestly at this stage no theories even as to who she is, and how there can possibly be another Time Lord, but I’m certain that she will continue to appear throughout Season 6 until we finally get answers. . At least now we know why the Silence needed to keep her alive. River told us that whole species would rip planets apart for one cell of a dead Time Lords’ body. What would they do for a live one?

Having completely assuaged any doubts that episode one left that this season might not live up to expectations, one can only hope the rest of the season will meet these standards.