Friday, March 14, 2008

Hufflepuff

Having escaped the many tags that are currently doing the rounds at the moment I have been hit firmly between the eyes with this one by Matthew Rudd over at Does That Make Sense:

Basically you take the book you are currently reading, turn to page 123, skip the first three lines and then – for reasons darkly mystic and unknowable – reproduce the next five on your blog.

As I am currently reading Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban my response to this meme is thus:

Hermione shuddered.
All around them, people were asking each other the same question: "How did he get in?"
"Maybe he knows how to Apparate," said a Ravenclaw a few feet away. "Just appear out of thin air, you know."
"Disguised himself, probably," said a Hufflepuff fifth-year.


Yes, rather typically, I get hit with this meme not when I’m wading through some mighty academic tome or some work of startlingly confrontational politics but when I’m taking a reading sabbatical and am immersing myself in something fun and easy.

Thank God I didn’t get hit last week when I was struggling with Spot The Dog. I don’t think it even has a page 123...

Tris, Gina, I'm tagging you to continue the meme!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Steve,

And thank you. I've been tagged three times in the past two days -for different memes!!! This is a very strange one, isn't it? I am currently reading the same book as you (but auf Deutsch). I guess this will have to wait until I start something new in English. Or maybe it would be interesting to compare the English with the German???

Have a lovely weekend.

Gina

Steve said...

Hi Gina, three times in the past two days - wow! There's nothing like being popular! Sorry to add to your burden of tags!

At least I know I'm reading HP in good company... And German no less! Most impressive. Wunderbar in fact! :-)

The Sagittarian said...

Steve, would you believe that I'm reading HP to my 13 year old as a bed time story (yes, she still insists on a story at bedtime! How lcuky and I mean that sincerely - its a great way to wipe away any angst that may have hit us during the evening!!)...am reading Dr Who to the 10 year old. Sometimes I get the plots mixed up.

Steve said...

Hey, the company keeps getting better and better! I'm a great fan of the films but have resisted reading the books until now. I'm quite enjoying all the supplementary information they provide.

Dr Who in Harry Potter? Now that'd be a story!

The Poet Laura-eate said...

I'm currently reading 'Harry Potter and the iPod of Doom'. A pre-review copy of course.

Steve said...

Ah, is that the one where Lord Voldermort curses Harry's shuffle facility and he has to listen to Wizard all day long...? ;-)

Annie G said...

Hey this is fun! I'm currently reading Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix (no. 5)It'd be interesting to read your fellow bloggers' page 123 etc...

These are my lines 4-8:

...kindly investigate immediately." This is getting ridiculous...''A regurgitating toilet?' 'Anti-muggle pranksters,' said Mr Weasley frowning. 'We had two last week, one in Wimbledon, one in Elephant and Castle. Muggles are pulling the flush and instead of everything disap-

Intriguing stuff eh?

Steve said...

Hi Annie, very tentalizing - I'm just about to start The Goblet Of Fire. After resisting them for so long I'm now rattling through them at a fair old pace...

It's weird to think that there's at least 3 of us here all reading HP!

per.pri said...

Oh how fun! It would be so hilarious to collect everyone's contribution and make one large compilation; could be extremely interesting...

Hope all is well Steve, sorry for lack of comments from me lately! I'm not as good as you, I really really appreciate your faithful and unwavering contributions.

:)

Steve said...

Hi per.pri... from the responses so far I think J.K. Rowling would be featuring rather a lot!

Good to hear from you - things fine here; just need some more sleep! ;-)

per.pri said...

Well at least Rowling is more accessible to a broader demographic than what I am reading at the moment! I think most would find it difficult to fathom why I am reading what I am reading, but alas it is for my degree so what can a girl do?!
Here it is:

'Antibodies raised against intact proteins usually bind to the surface of the protein and make contact with residues that are discontinuous in the primary structure of the molecule; they may, however, occasionally bind peptide fragments of the protein, and antibodies raised against peptides derived from a protein can sometimes be used to detect the native potein molecule.'

-Janeway's Immunobiology, 7th Edition, Murphy et al.

Notice how the five lines are actually one long sentence! But it is actually riveting stuff (well, at least I think it is!).


You'll get used to the lack of sleep; just remember the "good old days" as a student. It'll all come flooding back to you and you'll get the knack all over again! ;)

Steve said...

Oh my God. You know, per.pri, I think I'll stick with Harry Potter and be glad of it. I had to read that sentence 3 times before it made any sense! Mind you, I have been awake since 4am...

As for the good old days of being a student... alas, I was never one for late nights. Always in bed before 11pm, me...

MOTHER OF MANY said...

I am STILL reading Mansfield Park! However,in between I have read a number of other books, currently I am reading Michael Palin's New Europe. Like Alice in Alice in Wonderland, I much prefer books with pictures!