15 April 2015

Radio Ravenclaw

You’re listening to WWRVN, Radio Ravenclaw.

Congratulations to Gryffindor for winning both the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup! Ravenclaw came in a very close second, followed by Hufflepuff and Slythern.

Thank you to all House and House Cup staff for another excellent term.

http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/hp-knitting-crochet-house-cup/3180580/1-25#15

That means it is time for Sorting Signups. Sir Hat?

Excitement runs through the Great Hall

Snakes, Badgers, Eagles and Lions

I’m here to sort them all

Each of the houses can help you shine

But how to know which house is the best?

I can tell you they are all mighty fine.

Before you place me on your head,

Take my advice, and explore the castle

Visit each common room, explore their threads.

The houses have a lot in common

but each also has their unique identity

Here are some ideas for you to start on

Gryffindors roared with For the Mantel this term,

They have Marauder’s Missions, the Knight Bus, Study Halls

And of course Chocolate Frog Cards to earn.

Hufflepuffs are fiercely loyal it is true

With Puffopoly, HuffleTainment, Eye Candy

and SWorD there is plenty to do.

Ravenclaws in sky chairs soared high

With Moonpaths, Convocation, Specialists Studies

and Mad Scientists, oh my!

Slytherins plotted in their underwater digs

With Slytherin Quest, Dueling Club, Hotties

and of course Hedwig.

As you explore, I’m sure you will find

The gems each house has to offer

And remember next term you can change your mind.

The House Cup has Four Houses Strong

We compete for the House Cup

But with Yarn, Friends, and more, we all get along!

Thank you.

Please follow the posted link to sign up for the new term.

http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/hp-knitting-crochet-house-cup/3182835/1-25

PorcupineSnuggles has announced that the winner of the Mrs. Lovegood Memorial Mad Scientist of Ravenclaw Tower Award is…. Hypercycloid!!!

Congratulations!!!

http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/the-tower/3104536/76-100#76

Head of House PickleMommy has announced staff for the Spring/Summer term:

Already announced were Head of House PickleMommy and Head Girl CathyCake. They are supported by Prefects DrusillaWormwood, KayPendragon, LostMoonOfPoosh, and senkatnovo. Mama Eagle OmeletsMom is supported by Auntie Eagle LASH.

The All Points Bulletin Team is AnnieCC, electronjam, lsgarner, and 3trees. Advanced Studies consists of Auora, greenheron, Hreow, and matematichica. The Quidditch Captain is SarahTheEntwife, with BrooklymMomDoc, FangAili, Gipcsoul, and MrsWingnut rounding out the team.

Convocation Conjurer Bacs will be assisted by elekanahmen. Spreadsheet Sorceress llim is assisted by NoNeinNyet and senkatnovo. Gwenschweitzer will handle Interhouse Activities, while AH77 is the NQFY Ambassador. Tower Reporters akasha111182, Bacs, irreverentyarns, and TindraTieren will keep you all up to date on the latest news.

Mad Science Maven PorcupineSnuggles will continue to search the Tower high and low for crazy awesomeness (and awesome craziness), while Candle Mistress Jayannell and Lighters caranam and irreverentyarns keep the lights burning. Mail Mistresses akasha111182, caranam, indigoroses and Tikabelle will keep the owls in order, while Birthday greeters gwenschweitzer and kaypendragon keep a steady supply of cake on hand.

Portrait Artist SarahTheEntwife will visually dazzle, Chaplain GazeboGal will calm and comfort. Soprano1 continues as archivist, with SadieLou manning the Madness Meter. IsisOnEarth will maintain the Tower Genealogy, and sugaroni and xamonster will act as floaters.

Thank you all for volunteering to help the Tower soar to a House Cup win!!!

Hey guys, you know what Martin Freeman’s favorite cupcake filling is? JAM.

Thank you for your attention. This has been your daily Break Month Levity with Martin Freeman, I’m Cyprienne.

Swinging with the Finkels, movie still

Hello! This is Cascadienne, bringing you today’s Delightful Words segment. I have two entries for you today, both from the world of linguistics.

First up, we have the phrase hapax legomenon (pronounced HAY-packs le-GOMM-uh-nonn) – Latin for a word or phrase that appears only once in a text, the works of an author, or the written record of a language.

While researching today’s words, I found a dailywritingtips.com article on this topic, and it turns out that the epic poem Beowulf has many hapax legomena. One of them is the word orcneas – it seems to be a bit complicated to define exactly what that is, but the long story short is that it’s the plural word for a sort of demon. If you think it sounds vaguely familiar, it might be because J.R.R. Tolkien used it as the basis to create the word “orc” for one of his terrifying Middle Earth creatures. If you’re interested in reading the entire article, check out the podcast notes and transcripts for a link.

(The entirety of the article can be found here:http://www.dailywritingtips.com/is-that-a-hapax-legomenon/)

Next up, we have haplology (pronounced hap-LAWL-uh-gee) – the omission of one of two similar adjacent syllables or sounds in a word, as in the pronunciation “PROB-lee” for the word “probably.”

A well-known example to Americans (and to Britons, perhaps?) is the name of a certain anchovy-based condiment, frequently used – at least in my family - to flavor pork chops and Chex Mix: it’s a sauce with a name spelled Worchestershire, but in my Midwestern-American-variety-English, it becomes WURR-stuh-shurr sauce. I gave up trying to spell it on grocery lists a long time ago. That example was suggested by Grammar.about.com – if you’d like to see others, there’s a link to the full article in the podcast notes and transcripts.

(Haplology article link:http://grammar.about.com/od/fh/g/Haplology.htm)

This has been Delightful Words with Cascadienne. Thanks for listening, and as a reminder, Professor Flitwick asks that you kindly reshelve your dictionaries in the reference section before leaving the Tower library!

Next up: The Fresh Pot of Coffee!

The station apologizes for the lack of fresh coffee on Monday and Tuesday. You’ll be pleased to know that the esteemed Doctor of Thaumaturgy Dwayne (Francis) Dierwynt of Puddleby-on-the-marsh will be publishing his latest research, “An Estimation of Entomological Effects of Stale Coffee on Slabs of Marble” in the next issue of Advanced Wizardry. Go, Dr. Dierwynt.

The Ministry of Magic has declared it officially Spring, and all employees may wear short sleeves. Station Antarctica has yet to ping back acknowledgement.

The 2015 rules for Pet Quidditch have been posted for the season. Humans are banned from using their hands - even to stay on their brooms - and the pets will score 10 points for each 30 second block during which they maintain control of the quaffle. Graduating from the Amateur Pet League, famous Border Collie Mitsy has been selected as second-string Seeker by the Holyhead Harpies. Harpies’ Captain Ginny Weasley told this reporter, “We have every expectation that Mitsy will be a fabulous professional Seeker. She’s fast, maneuverable, and so many snitch-catches happen close to the ground anyway that we feel she has no natural disadvantages.” Mitsy will be paid on the same scale as the other Harpies with her salary going to her own comfortable maintenance and health program, her handler Midge Midwater, and the Holyhead Animal Rescue League shelter. Good luck in your new career, Mitsy! We’ll be cheering for you!

The Fresh Pot of Coffee is sponsored on Wednesdays by Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes - whether your wakenings are wailsome or wacky, our winsome wares will work out the wants of your workshop. We whizz the werewolf’s whiskers and wow the wildest widgeons! So wax their waffles, wobble their woolies, work up a list of wishes and wants, witches and wizards, and wander to Weaselys’ Wizarding Wheezes. Wednesday is WibblyWobbly Day - 10% discount to all patrons wearing a fez!

Let’s bring you into the work day with some mellow tunes from a magical Muggle -

He’s Jimmy Buffet,

I’m GazeboGal,

and you’re listening to Radio Ravenclaw on the Wizarding Wireless Network.