… the wizarding world would be reading about obnoxiously abbrev-nicknamed folks like:
HarPot
HerGrange
AlDumb
MinMcG
DThom
ShayFin (in obnoxious abbrev’d celeb nicknames, it’s spelled how it sounds!)
NevLong
LuLuv
ChoChang. (Oh wait…)
CDig
DrayMal
PanPark
VicKrum
FleuDel
SirBlack
RemLoop
D-Umb
CoFudge
BTrix
GwynJo (you know, captain of the HoHarps.)
ParPat + PadPat
RoVane
MoMyrt
MadMoo or AlaMoo (I can’t decide)
KingShack
BlaZam
C2Mac
DungFletch
my favorite-favorites:
RoWeaz
GinWeaz
FreWeaz + GeoWheaz
Mama MoWeaz
ArtWeaz
Sometimes BWheaz and CharWeaz
and I guess also PerdoucheWeaz (although no one cares)
Couples in the headlines:
Luponks
Harny
Romione
Chodric (sad!)
Hermictor
Molthur
Lucissa
the wedding of Bleur
the tragic almost Dumblewald (oh yeah, I went there.)
and of course, persistent rumors of SirRemus
I am having WAY too much fun coming up with these. Funny. I’ve always hated this obnoxiously abbreviated nickname fad, until I was the one making them up.
… there would be obnoxious abbreviated celebrity nicknames like:
JoRow
ToKush
NGaim + AFP (together would be called Neimanda)
SteMerr
J’NetWin
IGlass
RogEbe
WilWhe
MiChab
QuenTar
AntBour
ChrisNol
HuJack
RMad
JonStew
KevSmith (and ScotMo)
SalPot
RiJoh
Chrendricks
EdIzz
TWaits
TorAm
WesAnd
JSchwa
AdBro
JWhed
ChuckPal
SufStev
PSH
JGL
NekCase
NiCave
PatFug
JenHolz
ZoDesh + MWard (who is already abbrev’d!)
TilSwin (for Darcy)
ViMort (also for Darcy)
ZCond (for Deena)
NavAnd (for Cara)
JGroff-bage-patch-kid (for Kate)
DerWag (for locals)
No Abbreviating Necessary or Recommended:
Danger Mouse
Bjork
Feist
Yoko Ono
David Bowie
And lastly, I maintain that EmWat and RuGrint should be used alongside DRad at all times.
It was released to fan sites specifically, a first for WB. Very cool.
Mugglenet and Leaky both have pages up with the trailer available it in a bazillion different formats. Click them to go right to the stories. I could embed the youtube version, but I am not going to bother. Because you really should view this one HD if you are able to in some format. It’s worth it.
So, in the past couple of days, after I posted the Palin = Umbridge comparison, I have googled and found a lot of mentions of this all over the interwebs. There have been tons of comments on bulletin boards, blogs, and new sites where people even started making this comparison, commenting live, during her speech! (I wasn’t that quick with it, to be completely honest. Darcy and I discussed it, the day after and decided to do the photo mash-up then).
The best thing about this? It’s provocative. It is starting conversations and getting people to think in a college-essay, compare and constrast way. A lot of us, I suspect, were not trying to be clever or make a deeply profound statement. A lot of us, were angsty or annoyed by Palin’s speech and/or her very selection as VP and what do you do with that? Well… for those of us who are geeks – we have fun with it! We are people who like research, critical thinking, puzzles and games! We relate our realities to the worlds and characters that entertain us! We look to art, books, popular culture and find the links to explore and compare.
This simple “tag” - Palin is Umbridge – is spreading all over the internet. Please note, I’m not taking any credit, it wasn’t my post, mind you… it was a lot of people who were simultaneously making this connection and then it branched out into all these networks!
And I love it. I love that people are saying this and making political, critical thinking connections to the Harry Potter books (of which there are TONS of connections and political ideas, I might add). Some of them were being silly – like me. Some took it more seriously and wrote very thoughtful blog posts about the topic.
And it’s really pissing off some people in the conservative blogosphere (also fun!)
I am standing in solidarity with all the other “Palin is Umbridge” people out there… let’s keep the discussion going, from the silly into the realm of important discourse on policy, values, ideals and this election!
Here is a short list of noteable references that I’ve found or heard of:
- Fantastic commentator and known Potter fanboy, Keith Olbermann compared Palin to Umbridge on MSNBC. (Although I can’t seem to find actual footage of this and I didn’t hear it myself, if you have a clip, please send it to me or post a link!)
- Caitlin Podiak at Acerbic Bubblegum has a more serious, in-depth post about why she made this connection. This is my favorite part:
Why did Sarah Palin’s speech last night bring Dolores Umbridge to mind? Because, like the fictional Fudge and Umbridge, McCain and Palin do not and cannot offer effective solutions to our problems. Because they attack those who do offer potential solutions. Because they sarcastically mock their opponents with pointed yet meaningless jabs. Because their rhetoric is full of hate and negativity. Because they are mean, and they seem to enjoy being mean. Because they lash out at anyone who disagrees. Because they would rather control people and restrict their choices than offer them greater freedom or improve their lives. Because they are deeply and desperately afraid of change.
This is at the heart of why people are making this comparison. She just about nailed it.
- On CafePress, opinion8ed, gives us this:
The text reads: “I’m voting Obiden. I don’t fancy a VP created by JKR. (Hem, Hem.)” The “Hem, Hem” is a nice touch. Of course, I would fancy a VP created by JKR, just not this one. Maybe one with the last name Weasley, Lupin, Longbottom, McGonagall or Grainger. Hell, I think JKR herself would be a better leader than Sarah Palin, she certainly has more compassion, better values, and some would argue working for Amnesty International gave her more Foreign Policy awareness, if not direct experience.
- Boiling Mad posted about Umbridge and the Teleprompter. In addition to making this comparison, it also helps to dispel the myth that she performed that speech without a teleprompter (which is kind of like that myth that she wrote her own speech… the right-wing would LOVE this to be true, but it just isn’t).
- And lastly, Facebook has a whole SLEW of “Palin is Umbridge” groups that have cropped up in the last few days. Darcy and I started one called Sarah Palin Reminds me of Dolores Umbridge (come join!) A quick search will bring you to a variety of others.
- EDIT: (9/10/08) – I had to add this one in here. Liza at See Saw just won the award (the award that I’ve just made up) for All-Around Best “Palin = Umbridge” title or catch phrase, with The Umbridge to Nowhere. I’m quite honored to be linked to a post with that title. Major major props for that one.
One last note: I don’t like the comparisons that focus on her appearance (not relevant, often sexist) and use the word “retarded” in any capacity. I have seen a few of them and have purposefully avoided listing them here.
I know we are all poking fun here, but there is plenty of material to use based on facts without going to those petty and mean-spirited places, and drudging out the slurs and mean names that invoke more hate.
By all means, keep spreading this comparison, keep discussing this ideas, BUT base it on the beliefs, the policies, the values involved in the campaign.
Because at the bottom of the need to be joking around -in all seriousness – the comparison has a very REAL base if you look at the display of Sarah Palin’s (and John McCain’s) characters in their own documented actions, choices and behavior.
Be better than the cheap shots Palin took at Obama (and all community organizers for that matter). Cheap shots not only take the fun out of it, they take the cleverness out too. To me, it is the difference between silly/smart critique or parody and just being snarky without putting any thought into it.
Earlier I posted some of my feelings and reactions to Sarah Palin’s speech yesterday. I expressed that it made me feel ill, and angry and that I didn’t know exactly what to say. I do now.
A polished, efficient woman who quickly rose to power from relative obscurity and very little experience to become the ultimate sidekick of an aging, out-of-touch, power-hungry, establishment-towing politician, who is in complete denial about the state of his world and what must be done to prepare and protect his own citizens and their civil liberties?
Doesn’t that sound like somebody else we know?
Darcy and I made a fun photo-mash-up to illustrate the point. (The idea was born out of a conversation between the two of us, but she gets sole credit for the mad photoshop skills)
Here’s a handy comparison list for you*:
- Sarah Palin supports abstinence-only sex education.
Umbridge: “This is school, Potter. Not the real world”
Harry: “So, we’re not supposed to be prepared for what’s waiting out there?
Umbridge: “There is nothing waiting out there, Mr. Potter.”
- Sarah Palin has been accused of firing and bullying those who have disagreed with her, as a Mayor and as a Governor. She has reportedly attempted to ban library books from her town’s local library and get the librarian fired who stood up to her.
Dude, I don’t even need a quote to support this one. In case you haven’t read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (and I sincerely hope you’ve at least seen the movie, because if you haven’t then you aren’t appreciating this blog post at all!) – the major plot involves her not-so-subtle takeover of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and ousting of headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, under the guise of “reform” and trading it for an oppressive and deeply corrupt regime. Also featured: her incompetence as a teacher, unwillingness to educate her students, censorship of media and inhibiting access to free information, installing a squad of student bullies to punish those who disagree with her methods and the firing and attack of teachers who stand up to her.
- Sarah Palin is more socially conservative than John McCain. Her views and policies are similar and complementary to the current Republican administration’s, and yet she consistently tries to brand herself as a “maverick”, a “reformer” and someone who should appeal to women voters and former supporters of Hillary Clinton.
Don’t buy it folks! Listen to Professor McGonagall here:
“…Use your common sense…
You know where she comes from, you must know to whom she is reporting.”
*DISCLAIMER: All quotes are taken from “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” by J.K. Rowling and yes, they are removed from their context. This is all in good fun. I only take this -mildly- seriously… most of the time.
