If you don’t know anything about Harry Potter, don’t bother reading the rest of this, because it won’t make any sense.
I was thinking back about the Potter series and I had a startling realization about the plot of the Goblet of Fire. Remember how Voldermort orchestrated an amazingly complex scheme to make sure that Harry won the contest so he’d touch the cup and be transported to the cemetery. Well here’s the plot problem I have: Why would Voldermort go to all that trouble and risk the fact that Harry might not win the contest? He already had a man on the inside, so why not just tell Moody to hand Harry a freaking portkey?
We know the answer in reality: because then the book would only be 100 pages and not nearly as interesting. But I’m surprised at such a plot hole, and equally surprised that I’ve never noticed it before.
I found a cool toy at the Lego Store while I was in California recently. It’s the Seattle Space Needle. I think it looks realistic, as this animation demonstrates:
I spent WAY too much time making this picture. More time in fact than it took to actually assemble the toy.
This week I went to L.A. for some customer visits, and I knew they had the potential to be cool, but it turned out to be amazing. Let me recap in the form of bullet points and pictures. CLICK on the picture to see it in full size.
- I got to go on the Warner Brother’s Studios lot and wander around in awe at what history and current pop culture exists behind those walls.
The cars used in the TV show Chuck, one of my current favorites
- I had a full tour of the Ellen Show, including the entire backstage area. Then I got to watch the rehearsal from the audience seats, followed by the actual taping of the show from inside the control room. How many people can say that?
When I was standing on the stage to the Ellen Show
The very modern control room for the Ellen Show
Ellen's sitting down there watching Ciara rehearse before the show
- Got a tour of the Late Late show set at CBS Studios, including watching the filing of some skits from the audio control booth.
- Went backstage at American Idol, where I got to see the Jordin Sparks rehearsal.
- Saw the set of the Young and the Restless, and got to meet Eric Braeden, who plays the very famous Victor Newman. It turns out he loves chocolate as much as I do.
- Went on a backstage tour of the Price Is Right, where I got to touch the sacred Showcase Wheel. Then had a nice surprise when I got to walk on stage right before the filming started. Upon walking on stage, the crowd started cheering and screaming, because they thought we were there to announce the show was starting. Instead I just waved.
 The wheel. Unlike the set, this thing was as big as I imagined |
 Just putting this up here as proof that I did go on stage. Had to hastily take a shot right before walking on |
This is really going to make next week at work look quite boring.
Here’s the new gravel look to the front of my house. For the past year it has only been dirt and plants, so it’s nice to make some progress toward getting it to the “completed” look. To finish the whole yard though it’s going to take an entire second load of rocks, a cubic yard. Phew!
