Kids don't have monopoly on Harry Potter
By John Quinlan, Journal staff writer | Posted: Friday, July 20, 2007
"You can laugh, but people used to believe there were no such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack!"
-- Luna Lovegood
Only in the magical world of Pottermania, Harry-style, could a 31-year-old Sioux City woman pass herself off as Harry's ethereal gal pal Luna "Loony" Lovegood, a character who looks like the embodiment of dottiness.
But that works for Sandra Foxx, a fun-loving on-air KSUX radio personality who believes she sports the blond hair, willowy build and flighty demeanor required to become Luna for tonight's costume party at Barnes & Noble, a party celebrating the midnight release of J.K. Rowling's last Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
Shelly Detches, manager of the local Barnes & Noble, said the last Harry Potter book drew huge crowds to the store, both kids and adults. That event two years ago drew between 500 and 600 youngsters to the Potter Parry, and she is expecting even more tonight.
For Foxx, it's a chance to observe a Halloweenlike celebration and wear a costume even though it isn't Halloween.
She originally planned to go as Professor McGonnagal because, at 31, it seemed more appropriate to go as a grownup character. "So yeah, I'm going to wear a cloak, and some of my friends think I'm a little off my rocker," she admitted. "But it's fun. It's a healthy hobby."
Then she changed her mind about being the dour McGonnagal.
"I'm not really anal like McGonnagal. So everyone at work thought it would be funny because I'm kind of flighty, and because I've got the blond hair, I'm gonna be Luna," she said. "I actually told a co-worker, I said, 'Well, yeah, I'm kind of flighty. I'm kind of like Luna.' And he goes, 'Yeah, the pope's, like, kind of Catholic.' Yeah, that's true."
Passing herself off as a teenager is something else. "But I'm young at heart. I don't think I look 31. And since when is 31 old? Right! But then again, you ask a 5-year-old. Oh yeah, 25 is old."
Yeah, she's Luna.
She will wear the same costume, since all the Potter characters wear cloaks. And maybe she can find some orange radish earrings for that special Luna touch .
"I'm really into it and I'm 31. Really grown up of me," Foxx said, laughing heartily.
Ever since she read the first book, after repeatedly being asked to do so by her father, the inveterate reader who turned her into one, she has been hooked on Harry. "About six or seven years ago, my father kept recommending that I read Harry Potter, and I kept laughing at him. 'You know, Dad, are you off your rocker? Why are you recommending children's books to me?" she said.
Then there was the big hype that preceded the first movie, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." She surrendered and bought the first book, and in the course of about three days, she knocked off the first four volumes, more than 1,000 pages of schoolboy sorcerer magic. "And I've been addicted to them ever since," she said.
The books are unlike anything she had read before. They are extremely well-written, creative and different, she said, noting she can hardly wait for the last volume. She expects she'll try to read it all the way through immediately, or at least until her eyes cross. What's nice about the Harry Potter books is that kids and adults can enjoy them, and children can even pick up a new word here and there, such as "paradigm," a word that probably half the population is unfamiliar with, she said.
She has a couple of friends "who are very strict Christians, and they are so against Harry Potter," she said. "It is so evil to even read it," they will tell her, "And I just kind of joke and say, well, 'Know thy enemy.'"
Foxx is a Christian, too, but she says she believes in creativity and imagination and that the magic world of Harry Potter is, in the end, just a story, though one she hates to see end. "If you don't understand that it's not real, then you've got some problems and you need to sit down and talk to somebody," she said.
Other people she knows simply think her Potter obsession is a little weird, especially when they find out she's going in costume to the book party.
But she won't be alone.
Jeff Baumgardner, a retired Air Force vet now working at Lowe's and "pushing past 40," plans to attend the Barnes & Noble book party in an elaborate centaur costume he has been working on for years. He originally intended to wear it to an earlier Potter book party, but the costume wasn't ready in time. We caught up with him at The Dowry, where he was buying some last-minute accessories. He will be in attendance as Magorian with a couple of friends who will be dressed up as Ministry of Magic people, possibly from the Department of Miscellaneous Magical Affairs.
Baumgardner is anxious to learn how the saga ends, but he won't be buying the book. He said he prefers the audiocassette versions narrated by actor Jim Dale. "I really spend more time in my car than I have time to read," he said. "Besides which, I like the way he puts characterizations in all the characters he has. The book kind of feels alive that way.":
Sounds kind of like magic.
Party time
Book parties are planned tonight at the Singing Hills Wal-Mart and Barnes & Noble Booksellers at the Southern Hills Mall to celebrate the midnight rollout of J.K. Rowling's last Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
The Wal-Mart release party from 8 p.m. to midnight will include a costume party from 9 to 11:30 p.m., a trivia contest, giveaways that include posters, bookmarks, movies, cakes and cookies. Wrist bands representing the four "houses" of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be handed out to reserve a spot in line, and houses will be called one at a time starting at 12:01 a.m.
The Barnes & Noble party from 9 p.m. to midnight will feature a costume contest, magic potion demonstration, trivia scavenger hunt, drawings and door prizes. Participants will need a wristband to get in line and buy the book. Customers who have reserved a copy will line up first, followed by customers without a reservation. Quantities may be limited due to the large number of people expected at the store.
Wilbur Aalfs Public Library, downtown, meanwhile, has ordered 30 copies of the book, but they're already spoken for, said Jeanette Bobeen, youth services manager. The library already has 60 holds on the book. So don't expect to check one out Saturday unless you have it already reserved. Even the first six Potter books are off the shelves, with readers brushing up on the history of the boy wizard in anticipation of "The Deathly Hallows," she said.
-- Luna Lovegood
Only in the magical world of Pottermania, Harry-style, could a 31-year-old Sioux City woman pass herself off as Harry's ethereal gal pal Luna "Loony" Lovegood, a character who looks like the embodiment of dottiness.
But that works for Sandra Foxx, a fun-loving on-air KSUX radio personality who believes she sports the blond hair, willowy build and flighty demeanor required to become Luna for tonight's costume party at Barnes & Noble, a party celebrating the midnight release of J.K. Rowling's last Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
Shelly Detches, manager of the local Barnes & Noble, said the last Harry Potter book drew huge crowds to the store, both kids and adults. That event two years ago drew between 500 and 600 youngsters to the Potter Parry, and she is expecting even more tonight.
For Foxx, it's a chance to observe a Halloweenlike celebration and wear a costume even though it isn't Halloween.
She originally planned to go as Professor McGonnagal because, at 31, it seemed more appropriate to go as a grownup character. "So yeah, I'm going to wear a cloak, and some of my friends think I'm a little off my rocker," she admitted. "But it's fun. It's a healthy hobby."
Then she changed her mind about being the dour McGonnagal.
"I'm not really anal like McGonnagal. So everyone at work thought it would be funny because I'm kind of flighty, and because I've got the blond hair, I'm gonna be Luna," she said. "I actually told a co-worker, I said, 'Well, yeah, I'm kind of flighty. I'm kind of like Luna.' And he goes, 'Yeah, the pope's, like, kind of Catholic.' Yeah, that's true."
Passing herself off as a teenager is something else. "But I'm young at heart. I don't think I look 31. And since when is 31 old? Right! But then again, you ask a 5-year-old. Oh yeah, 25 is old."
Yeah, she's Luna.
She will wear the same costume, since all the Potter characters wear cloaks. And maybe she can find some orange radish earrings for that special Luna touch .
"I'm really into it and I'm 31. Really grown up of me," Foxx said, laughing heartily.
Ever since she read the first book, after repeatedly being asked to do so by her father, the inveterate reader who turned her into one, she has been hooked on Harry. "About six or seven years ago, my father kept recommending that I read Harry Potter, and I kept laughing at him. 'You know, Dad, are you off your rocker? Why are you recommending children's books to me?" she said.
Then there was the big hype that preceded the first movie, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." She surrendered and bought the first book, and in the course of about three days, she knocked off the first four volumes, more than 1,000 pages of schoolboy sorcerer magic. "And I've been addicted to them ever since," she said.
The books are unlike anything she had read before. They are extremely well-written, creative and different, she said, noting she can hardly wait for the last volume. She expects she'll try to read it all the way through immediately, or at least until her eyes cross. What's nice about the Harry Potter books is that kids and adults can enjoy them, and children can even pick up a new word here and there, such as "paradigm," a word that probably half the population is unfamiliar with, she said.
She has a couple of friends "who are very strict Christians, and they are so against Harry Potter," she said. "It is so evil to even read it," they will tell her, "And I just kind of joke and say, well, 'Know thy enemy.'"
Foxx is a Christian, too, but she says she believes in creativity and imagination and that the magic world of Harry Potter is, in the end, just a story, though one she hates to see end. "If you don't understand that it's not real, then you've got some problems and you need to sit down and talk to somebody," she said.
Other people she knows simply think her Potter obsession is a little weird, especially when they find out she's going in costume to the book party.
But she won't be alone.
Jeff Baumgardner, a retired Air Force vet now working at Lowe's and "pushing past 40," plans to attend the Barnes & Noble book party in an elaborate centaur costume he has been working on for years. He originally intended to wear it to an earlier Potter book party, but the costume wasn't ready in time. We caught up with him at The Dowry, where he was buying some last-minute accessories. He will be in attendance as Magorian with a couple of friends who will be dressed up as Ministry of Magic people, possibly from the Department of Miscellaneous Magical Affairs.
Baumgardner is anxious to learn how the saga ends, but he won't be buying the book. He said he prefers the audiocassette versions narrated by actor Jim Dale. "I really spend more time in my car than I have time to read," he said. "Besides which, I like the way he puts characterizations in all the characters he has. The book kind of feels alive that way.":
Sounds kind of like magic.
Party time
Book parties are planned tonight at the Singing Hills Wal-Mart and Barnes & Noble Booksellers at the Southern Hills Mall to celebrate the midnight rollout of J.K. Rowling's last Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
The Wal-Mart release party from 8 p.m. to midnight will include a costume party from 9 to 11:30 p.m., a trivia contest, giveaways that include posters, bookmarks, movies, cakes and cookies. Wrist bands representing the four "houses" of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be handed out to reserve a spot in line, and houses will be called one at a time starting at 12:01 a.m.
The Barnes & Noble party from 9 p.m. to midnight will feature a costume contest, magic potion demonstration, trivia scavenger hunt, drawings and door prizes. Participants will need a wristband to get in line and buy the book. Customers who have reserved a copy will line up first, followed by customers without a reservation. Quantities may be limited due to the large number of people expected at the store.
Wilbur Aalfs Public Library, downtown, meanwhile, has ordered 30 copies of the book, but they're already spoken for, said Jeanette Bobeen, youth services manager. The library already has 60 holds on the book. So don't expect to check one out Saturday unless you have it already reserved. Even the first six Potter books are off the shelves, with readers brushing up on the history of the boy wizard in anticipation of "The Deathly Hallows," she said.
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J baumgardner wrote on Jul 22, 2007 5:36 AM:
Reformed believer... wrote on Jul 20, 2007 2:05 PM: