Some comments I wrote in other peoples' LJs

[womzilla]

In response to a post from nancylebov about whether Dumbledore is doing a good job running Hogwarts:

In the cases of both Hagrid and Trelawney (the divination teacher), Dumbledore has kept people on staff to whom he feels an obligation. In Trelawney's case, though, I'm not sure that anyone else would do much better than she does; the evidence within the novels (mostly, admittedly, from Hermione's trash-talking about it) is that divination is the least reliable part of magic and that when true fortellings happen, they do so completely at random. I think it's amusing to see a bunch of wizards tying their brains around superstitions....

As to the question of Dumbledore's competence: In the fifth novel, we finally get to see him in action as a wizard, and it's clear that he is, indeed, the most powerful wizard of his age, or very close to it. He's also deeply wise. But that doesn't mean that he's always on top of things, because his opponents are numerous, skilled, and well-coordinated, and Dumbledore's potential allies often don't believe there's a threat. He mis-handled things badly in the fifth novel by foolishly trying to protect Harry from The Big Picture, and he doesn't follow through with Harry's private lessons with Snape; both of these have terrible results.

On the specific question of Buckbeak, Hagrid's job requires teaching students about dangerous creatures. He well understood how to handle a hippogriff and correctly told the students what to do to keep themselves safe. Malfoy had to disobey his teacher and disregard his lessons to get injured, in a situation in which he had been warned there was a serious danger. While this wouldn't be allowed in a modern American school, what the third-year students are learning at Hogwarts is by its nature more dangerous than what a typical 13-year-old in the real world would be learning. Malfoy should have understood by that point in his education that when a teacher says that something is dangerous, that teacher should be believed.

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In response to a post by redbird in which she notes that she had occasion recently to cross between subway cars while the train was moving, I decided to record one of the odd bits of my life habits:

I pass between cars frequently.

To get home from midtown, usually take a northbound 4 train, getting on at Grand Central or Union Square. If it's anywhere near rush hour, the train is crowded, but less crowded at the far ends than at the middle. For some reason, more people sit in the northernmost car than the southernmost, so I usually head for the southern end of the train. However, once I get to Woodlawn, I want to be at the northern end of the train, because that's where the only exit from the station is located. So I often walk the length of the train somewhere between Burnside and Woodlawn.

I don't do it as much as I used to, because the new model of train cars actually make it harder to open the doors from outside the car--it takes both hands, which is really stupid. (It only takes one hand to open them from inside.) So these days I mostly just sit in the back of the train and walk the length of the platform at the end of the line instead.

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jimhenley posted a very funny restaurant review of KFC's new Roasted Chicken Dinner. He really goes to town on the green beans.

According to chemical analysis performed by William Poundstone (described in one of the Big Secrets books), the "eleven herbs and spices" in the KFC breading are salt, black pepper, flour, and MSG. Period.

Do they force you to take beans and rice with the roasted chicken? The potato wedges would be my first choice for a starch side at KFC, and my memory is that both the slaw and the greens are pretty decent as a vegetable. Of course, I get a full day's regimen of vitamins in pill form here in the amazing future world of the 21st Century, so I don't actually *need* to eat such low-tech "food" except for the fiber. But still I like the taste of green veggies.

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On a post by redbird about the National Day of Mourning for, as she put it, "the man who invented the Taliban" (a somewhat inaccurate but still important characterization):

It was widely reported that this was the first presidential Day of Mourning since LBJ's death in 1973, but that turns out to be false. According to a couple of pieces online, including one at Google Answers, there was a National Day of Mourning for Nixon in 1994. The practice began with Kennedy, and there has been a National Day of Mourning for every president who has died since 1963. However, I don't know if the stock markets closed for any previous president.

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Incidentally, the B component of the minihaha collective posted an awe-inspiring review of Eigensinn Farm, a restaurant run out of a farmhouse two hours north of Toronto. B's reviews are generally extremely good--the Minicon 34 Restaurant Guide, which B wrote with K, the other component of the minihaha collective, was nominated for a Hugo for Best Related Book--but this one was particularly good. Unfortunately, it's currently friends-locked, so you can only read it if you're on minihaha's LJ Friends list. Let's hope they decide to unlock it; this is a review which needs to be read more widely, especially by someone like docbrite, who also does great writing about food.

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That's enough for now.

Comments

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the heads-up. I don't check my back comments and would have missed yours.

I'd been sort of wonder about that with Divination, but I have enough faith in Hogwarts/Dumbledore that I've wondered if the skill sort of rubs off on a few people even if it can't actually be learned.

Now that I've reread the passage about Buckbeak, I agree. Draco had an adequate warning and he ignored it. I don't understand Slytherin apologists at all.

A lot of what I was replying to (and "incompetent" was too strong a word) was people who believe that everything Dumbledore does is the right thing.

In contrast

[cheshyre]

Ok, I'm in HP fandom (or at least read a lot of the LJs discussing HP issues) and have some contrasting opinions -- not necessarily that I agree with either side, but presenting a different POV to those issues you mention.

ajhalluk has started a lengthy discussion of Buckbeak and culpability in the comments here (more in the rest of the post, but here's probably the most relevant bit).
And if you look at the last week or so of daily_snitch, you'll see lots of discussion on the suitability of Hogwarts professors and by extension, Dumbledore as headmaster. [Somebody commented that Lucius Malfoy seems one of the most caring parents in the books, because he actually takes an active interest in Draco's welfare in school. I mean, Hermione's parents didn't even get a letter from their daughter for several months while she was petrified. Don't you think they'd be concerned? Maybe try to pull her out of school or something!?]

At any rate, if you like discussing these issues, there are some pretty nifty essays being posted various places around LJ. daily_snitch (and to a lesser extent, quickquote) are good pointers.