Muggle Quidditch: Growing in Popularity

"Weasley cannot save a thing, he cannot block a single ring, that's why Slytherins all sing, Weasley is our king."

This is the boisterous chant of the Slytherin team, J.K Rowling's depiction of the bully-based squadron whose primary goal in the Harry Potter series is to rub Gryffindor's noses into the ground every conceivable moment at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Breaking it down for those who have not bothered with the collection, the chant is derived from what escalates during the fictitious Quidditch, the school's seasonal sporting event, where flying brooms are mandatory and one specific player, the Seeker, must grab a flittery-winged small golden ball to win the match.

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, Rowling should be thrilled: Quidditch has now become an actual sport. Brooms and snitches don't elevate from the ground, but that doesn't stop these imaginable Potter fanatics from attempting to live out their storybook glory.

As the fan base strengthened in numbers over the past decade, so did the potential of establishing the earthbound variation of Muggle Quidditch.

"A lot of people don't realize is there's this whole underground scene," said Jennie Steinberg, a resident of Los Angeles, on the phone. A student shooting for her masters in Marriage and Family Therapy at CSU Northridge, interested in Harry Potter, wanting to play a fake sport?

Just as other groups associate their flockings with the addition of '-head' onto a word that's spoken most and widely known - indeed, Mr. Potter has captured the young spirited hearts of every country, establishing themselves as Potterheads.

"If you're a Potterhead, you get the same response when bringing up Harry Potter in non-Harry Potter circles, 'Oh yeah, I read book one and it was okay, and I've seen some of the movies and they're alright,'" said 25-year-old Steinberg. "That used to be my response too."

While the series first debuted in 1997 and now up to date has sold over hundreds of millions of Rowling's seven books combined, Steinberg didn't start reading them till three-and-a-half years ago. "When I first started dating my boyfriend, he told me that I needed to read them," said Steinberg. "If I wasn't going to do it on my own, he was going to read them to me."

Steinberg was hooked: for the first six months or so of the relationship, her boyfriend read the books aloud to each other every night. When the final installment: HP and the Deathly Hallows came out, Steinberg joined in, and they both read the chapters.

Setting out to find others who enjoy the same, Steinberg began attending 'Wizard Rock' concerts, a new genre of music dedicated to Potter. " They did an amazing job of drawing from not only the characters and the humor, but also the emotions and the wonderful lessons," she said. "That is what I think brings me back to the books."

From The Remus Lupins to the Whomping Willows, Steinberg started attending more shows on the quest to seek out others such as herself. "I was frustrated with my lack of Potterhead friends," she declared.

After having spent a night dining with six other fans post concert, Steinberg kept in contact with them online. A couple weeks later, she read her new friends had requested a game of Muggle Quidditch. Jennie jumped on the prospect, messaging them and insisting that they invite her.

Told to 'Bring Your Own Broom' and chip in a few dollars for a BBQ, Steinberg showed up at a house with a broom in hand. "A girl ran out asking if I was there for Quidditch," Steinberg said. "I joked, 'Nope! I'm here to clean your house.'"

Walking into the backyard, she noticed the set-up of mid-air hoops, which were really just hula hoops duct-taped to PVC pipe held up by sand in buckets. A pair of three hoops sat on each end of the yard, and people were already there scrimmaging. Using a volleyball as a Quaffle, they were thrown into the opposing side's hoops for points.

Sometimes the adaptions are interesting. "The snitch can be a moving person, or a remote control car and helicopter," Steinberg said. With attempts at Quidditch as a water polo sport and rigging up a harness to fly, Potterheads always envision new creative ideas.

Steinberg was ready to play. Chosen as a beater, her job was to throw dodgeballs at the chasers, who are attempting to throw the volleyballs into the goals. "It was very high intensity," she recalled. "There is so much going on in the game, it was really chaotic and fun."

Many U.S. universities are now involved in a Intercollegiate Quidditch Association, and several attended the 2008 Quidditch World Cup, as also the sport is growing recognition in youth camps worldwide. It even prompted Greg Gumbel to go do a play-by-play of a Quidditch tournament for CBS News a year ago; that is when the Muggles of the real world finally learned of Quidditch.



There won't be any spells flying around, either. "I may have tried to use the summoning spell to steal the bludger," Steinberg said. "Accio!"

This American Life Live: Interview with Seth Lind

Imagining public radio as exciting is probably uncommon to most of the 'New Silent Generation.' While most find themselves sliding their thumb along the circular pad of an Ipod, many would admit to not bothering with skimming through radio frequencies anymore; it's just a sign of the times.

In comes two radio gurus, Ira Glass and Seth Lind with the generational across-the-board favorite, This American Life, a radio show with a certain flavor all ages can attest to enjoying.

Glass, a host and producer of TAL, spoke at Yale University recently of the need for aesthetics and witticisms in the media to keep our audiences tuned in and plugged what Lind, a production manager for TAL, is currently working on day and night: creating a live stage adaptation of the show to take place on Thursday, April 23rd in New York City. Being transmitted over satellite to 450 movie theaters and performing art centers, this will mark the second time that Lind has attempted such a production.

“Producers have struggled with describing the content since the beginning of the show,” said Lind over the phone of the perplexing mission of explaining This American Life, which has been on the airwaves since 1995. “They're amazing stories about people who wouldn't otherwise be in the news.”

Making an example of how a general public radio newscast would simply focus on the political and institutional aspects of education, Lind spoke of what made TAL different. “We would do a story specifically on what notes were passed in class and what the kids in the hallway were talking about,” he said. “That's what we care about, the under story.” This American Life validates a certain part of storytelling that people are interested in; something most other programs lack.

Just how popular could a public radio show be in the era of newfangled technology? Ever since TAL became available in podcast format a couple years ago, there are 500,000 more listeners thumbing through their Ipod for an hour filled with curiosity and wonder instead of a Top 40 pop ditty. “The average age of the podcast audience is 15 years younger than the radio [audience],” said Lind. “It's insane.” Admittedly, the show as a whole draws in a younger crowd compared to other public radio.

And just like that, the listeners respond back in a frenzy, giving kudos to the TAL crew and requesting appearances; the fans are the driving force behind the creation of the live shows. “We did it last year for the first time, and didn't know how it would go,” Lind explained. “No other radio show had ever done it. We showcased stories from our upcoming season of television (on Showtime) because we wanted to take advantage of the fact that it would be in high definition and had all these pretty stories to show, and some radio content. It was incredibly expensive and a big risk.”

The event paid off: as 32,000 showed in attendance, TAL were flooded with even more messages post-event, asking when 'this wonderful event' would happen again. Lind and senior producer Julie Snyder rolled up their sleeves, and began to plan the next live endeavor.

“So the stage show, is like an actual radio show,” said Lind. “It's an extended, inflated two hour long one with a theme.” The theme for April 23rd's show is set to be 'Return to the Scene of a Crime.'

Other than that, Lind was cryptic and would not divulge any secrets, including one about a 'top secret special investigation.' “It's totally top secret, but I can tell you I was just working on it,” he laughed.

Drawing back a breath, Lind admits to the constant back and forth, everyday labor put into the show set to take place in NYU's Skirball Center. “It's a huge effort, and it's still happening, and it will be until the minute it hits screens,” he said. Almost 100 stations nationwide that broadcast TAL will be promoting movie tickets ($20) and pledge drives to have listeners become members of their stations.

Stating simply that the audience will get to see people rather than just hear their voices, Lind was not able to tell what the performers would be specifically talking about. Instead, he gave comical anecdotes about some of his first encounters with them as a college student.

Having missed a speech of Glass' at Lind's college in 1997, Lind ran into Glass again when applying for a radio internship in NYC in 2007. “Ira was there hanging out, and was like, 'Hi, I'm Ira Glass,' and I was like, 'I'm Seth Lind.' My first impression was that he looked really normal, kind of how I pictured him to be by just hearing him on the radio.” he said.

Another performer for the show, Dan Savage, has a syndicated relationship and sex advice column called Savage Love, and as a young adult in college, Lind used to procrastinate and read it. After he had read Dan's response to a reader saying that there was no such thing as a platonic massage, Lind wanted to be a smart ass and wrote back saying there was. “He [Savage] wrote me back instantly and was like, 'Bullshit.' I was amazed at how fast he responded. Now that I work with him, I can't get him to. He'll respond to some random college student but won't sign his contract.” recalled Lind.

This American Life Live's seating at the Skirball Center sold out in one day at $50 bucks each, but Lind contests to the movie theater experience being much cooler. “There's six cameras with a live director cutting in between them, swooping and moving around,” he said. “Everyone should sit two-third's of the way back in the middle (of the theater.) That's where everyone should sit.”

“This is a big surprise and I shouldn't say it, but,” paused Lind. “We found a way to transmit beer over satellite; it's going to be coming out of a certain part of the screen,” he joked. “If you bring a cup, you'll be all set.”

Sub-prime Mortgage Crisis: Dan Haar

Speaking tongue and cheek about the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008, The Long Johns is a satirical British sketch comedy program which skewers news much like Jon Stewart on The Daily Show is known for, but as they sit and discuss investment bankers, the market, and the simpletons who were presumably duped by mortgage salesmen, they seem to be fairly accurate albeit entertaining.

By late October, countless news programs had gone through the notions of the subprime crisis explanation; even Internet websites like Youtube contained several homemade versions of, what they believed to be, the appropriate and most accurate depiction of the problem. As if it still hadn't been uncovered yet, National Public Radio's 'This American Life' thought many Americans were still left clueless as to what happened, so they created and dedicated two shows to the situation.

But was this enough? The media is known for taking a subject and churning out massive amounts of the same information in all sorts of directions, waiting for the public to take a bite.

In an interview conducted over the phone, Dan Haar, Business Editor and Columnist at The Hartford Courant, said he believed the media did okay with what they were given. “At it's heart, this has never been complicated and the so-called mainstream media had for the most part called it like it is, yet another investment bubble,” he said.

Defining the elements involved in this master scheme, Alex Blumberg, contributing editor of NPR's 'Planet Money', painted a mental picture for his audience in describing the world's collective subset of savings as a 'giant pool of money.' To increase the size of the pool, the bankers who oversee the 70 trillion dollars needed a low-risk, high return investment bubble: mortgage loans. In the first fifteen minutes of this special explanatory report, Blumberg and Adam Davidson had, domino by domino, knocked down the specifics; even translating Alan Greenspan's lingo into lamens terms.

Most programs explained the assembly package process of the mortgages and how they're multiplied and bundled. John Bird, portraying an investment banker, described the package of mortgages as they're moved along to Wall Street: “Suddenly this package of dodgey debts stops being called a package of dodgey debts, and starts being called a structured investment vehicle,” he said. Bird then gave a fake scenario of how an investment banker would buy and sell the 'SIV's' all over the globe. “I will ring up someone in Tokyo and say, 'I have this package, would you like to buy it?' and they, 'What's in it?' and I say, 'I haven't got the faintest idea,' and they say, 'How much do you want for it?' and I say, 'One hundred million dollars' and they say, 'Fine that's it.' The comical rendition of the situation was funny yet simplistic.

A major trend in all financial meltdowns seem to show an increase of explanations and reports after blow ups are reported as extreme; not so much beforehand as the problem intensifies. Explaining that the crisis has unfolded since 2006, Haar said, “The need to understand what happened and the levels and layers of ramifications had evolved, obviously to the point where the problem is far larger than all of the bad mortgages put together.”

Diving deeply into archives of articles regarding the topic, there is mentioning of the subprime crisis spanning back to 2003 when the United States had begun giving out mortgages at minimal conditions; it wasn't till 2006 that the real estate prices increased exponentially and the 'bubble' was created. However, the outdated articles regarding the issue are concise, brief, and bland. “It was less crucial for Americans to understand in those early months,” said Haar. “Most people didn't bother to figure it out.”
Even though the media may have faltered in expanded coverage throughout the course of the crisis in its entirety, they had explained the scenario sufficiently and effectively in the end. The real problem therein lied within Americans. “It is up to each person in society to reach toward an understanding of what's happening in public life,” Haar said. “That didn't happen because the typical person doesn't care enough to do a little bit of work to learn an abstract concept.”
Although admitting that most business writing is bad and news companies tend to abandon their responsibilities of properly covering the news, Haar didn't believe the media failed in regards to explaining the roots of the crisis.
Haar posed a bigger question on whether there is such thing as “the media.” “What is mass media and what is consumer electronics-based communication, in an age of Twitter and iPhones?” he asked. “The breakdown of that distinction, not the failure of professional journalists, is the heart of the reason why the typical person doesn't have the slightest idea what is going on in this world.”

Conduit Labs New Game – Loudcrowd

Over the past five years, social networking has become the juggernaut of the information superhighway. With interfaces like the ever popularized Myspace and Facebook, users can stay connected to friends and family all over the globe with a simple click of a mouse.
But when does checking and updating lose its lackluster; is it really that fun to type wall posts and read what your friends are doing rather than being able to participate with them? Distance makes it hard for friendships to stay intact; are social networking sites doing all they can for users to maintain the bonds they treasure?
Coming in from stage left, Cambridge, Massachusetts based company Conduit Labs dances across the stage in a top hat and cane, ready for their big debut as the next possible social networking breakthrough.
Nabeel Hyatt, co-founder and CEO of Conduit Labs, noticed there was something missing from all the popular forums. “There isn't a place on-line for avid social networkers to react, to play rather than leave wall posts,” he said. “Ultimately our task is for people to get to know each other better.”
Hyatt hopes to invoke upon the Internet community the value of quantity over quality of the friendships made on-line. With users having the ability to add 'friends' without actually knowing them, Hyatt wanted to create a product that helps users focus on the friendships they already have. “There is this culture on the Internet of getting more and more friends on every social network,” Hyatt said. “ For us, to get the thousandth friend is less important than finding new and interesting ways to have fun with the friends you already have, that, and listen to some cool music.”
Conduit Lab's first creation, Loudcrowd is in private beta, currently selectively released to Facebook users, as it is still being reworked and developed for its mainstream release later this year. “It's the Internet without all the boring,” Hyatt said. “Loudcrowd is evolving into an interesting way to experience music. It's a flirty dancing game where the user gets to play with friends and meet new friends; it's like Rock Band meets Facebook.”
Auto-generated tag lines are Hyatt's favorite part of the game. When talking to another user, a person can choose an automated message coded in by the creators of the game, which are generally silly pick up lines. “I love logging into the system to see the new tag lines the guys put in there,” he laughed.
Loudcrowd will take shape over time, even giving the possibility of users having the capability to create their and construct their own play lists to dance to. Once released to the public, it will be free to play, but certain parts of the service will need a little dough. “Not until we put enough value into it will we charge for Loudcrowd,” said Hyatt.
The project has already received positive feedback from the trial version. “So far we have fifty percent of our users coming back,” he said. “It makes it easier to get up in the morning.”
Conduit Labs is a collaborative effort between artists, engineers, and business people to make a non-commercialized product that will appeal to younger audiences. Encouraging college students who are considering a career path in Internet based groups such as Conduit Labs, Hyatt simply said, “Make something.”
“Don't get a job in a big company where your creativity is going to get buried, this is the Internet. You can make anything you want. Whether it be a game, music, a blog: this is the age of making things, not studying only. So go make something,” Hyatt insisted.
Hyatt hopes that most will enjoy Loudcrowd's innovative concept and major focus on music. “We wanted to express our passion for music,” admitted Hyatt. “My favorite song is the Ting Ting's 'Shut Up and Let me Go'; it's completely drilled into my brain.”

Matthew Taibbi: Well-Traveled American Journalist

American journalists would be envious of the opportunities that Matthew Taibbi has already experienced in his young adulthood. At the age of 37, Taibbi is currently the contributing editor of Rolling Stone magazine, or as he calls it, a “fancy way of saying I’m someone who contributes without technically being staff.”

A coin would represent Rolling Stone magazine most accurately: one side being politics, the other entertainment. Taibbi focuses on the former, having a natural affinity for dark humor. Being a political correspondent, Taibbi covers electoral politics in campaign years, and when there isn’t a gallop to the White House, he writes about major political events.

Rolling Stone gives Taibbi privileges that most journalists do not receive.

“Most (journalists) do not get seven to eight thousand words to spend on a topic as arcane, convoluted and unsexy as congressional procedures,” he explained.

Taibbi is never censored with his affiliation, either.

“I get to use language that is more colorful and I have a lot more leeway to describe politicians in a way I see fit,” Taibbi said. “There is no pressure to adopt other political tones.”

Hailing from a family of journalists, Taibbi had a broad sense of the field he was out to pursue.

“My father, godfather, stepmother, and almost everyone I grew up with was into journalism; it was like the family business,” he said.

Taibbi initially wanted to be a writer in high school when he immersed himself in books written by Russian comic novelists such as Mikhail Bulgakov and Nikolai Gogol.

“I wanted to be a comic novelist but it didn’t work out so I ended up in the business I knew,” recalled Taibbi.

His appreciation of Russian works set him up for an elaborate decision his senior year of college to transfer to a school in present day St. Petersburg, Russia. It was merely the beginning of a long, unusual path to becoming an established journalist. After graduating, Taibbi stayed in Russia and began freelancing very early in his career.

“I was what was called a stringer,” Taibbi said. “A stringer is a type of freelancer who lives in a remote area and contributes to various news organizations.”

After writing for the Associated Press and newspapers like The Moscow Times, Taibbi veered off onto the surprisingly unexpected path of pro-basketball. While playing for a team in Mongolia, Taibbi contracted a serious case of pneumonia and had to return to Boston. After recovering, he flew straight to Russia and didn’t look back.

With the help of another American journalist living abroad came the controversial English- language, Moscow-based newspaper, The eXile. Produced by Mark Ames and co-edited by Taibbi, the newspaper gave the two writers absolute freedom from American libel law. After writing for The eXile for six years, Taibbi’s reputation had increased exponentially.

“It allowed me to attempt journalism that was not run-of-the-mill. I was overseas; I lived somewhere that wasn’t expensive,” he said. “Even though I wasn’t making much, I was able to survive, and it eliminated the pressures that a lot of Americans have in this country where they can’t just sit around and write in their blogs, because they need to make a lot of money to live. I didn’t have that problem in Russia.”

Just as any journalist isn’t perfect, Matthew Taibbi has encountered ethical problems before.

“If someone never encounters an ethical problem, they’re probably not doing their job very well. A journalist will have to do things that are difficult and sources/bosses can and will sometimes put you in uneasy situations.” he said.

Taibbi recalled a time when he had a source that believed Taibbi had made a promise to him, but for Taibbi, the promise was of a different character.

“I consulted various experts on journalistic ethics, lots of non-profit organizations help in those situations, and I did that before I spoke with my own bosses.”

Taibbi’s advice for young journalists is to always try to work it out themselves before talking to who they work for.

“A boss might do what is in their interest and is not always the right way,” he said.

Every writer always has a favorite, and for Taibbi, one of the pieces he was proud of journeyed into the lives of four high school children who lived in a Russian ghetto. What Taibbi referred to as being like Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the story involved the relationships between the teens, and Taibbi followed and checked on them for the next two to three years.

“It was a really fun story,” he said. “It was more like writing a novel.”

Taibbi looks towards the future with an intent on changing the decrease of readership in America.

“One of the things that is sad about modern America is that not many people read, and I think I’m eventually going to try to get into television or film to reach a wider audience,” he said.

Taibbi didn’t seem completely thrilled about the venture into the domain where entertainment reigns dominant.

“From an impact and financial standpoint, all reporters will have to make that move eventually,” he explained. Taibbi plans on resurfacing some old high school dreams as well.

“In the future I will try [my] hand at writing fiction again,” he said, “but I don’t think I can afford to do that yet.”