Harry Potter Politics

So that was a looong hiatus, and I'm going to try to start blogging more regularly again. For most of the past year, most of my writing has been in the form of hard news stories for The Tech or the occasional essay for a HASS class. While I did have a lot of fun with that, I also feel the need for some more free-form writing as well, if for no other reason than for my own sanity.

To start things off, here's my first (of hopefully more) non-news piece for The Tech: Potter Politics.

--Arkajit

First Day of School!

Following excerpt of Finding Nemo is from IMSDb.

NEMO
First day of school! First day of school! Wake up, wake up! C'mon,
first day of school!
MARLIN
I don't wanna go to school. Five more minutes.
NEMO
Not you, dad. Me!
MARLIN
Okay...huh?

NEMO
Get up, get up! It's time for school! It's time for school!
It's time for school! It's time for school! Oh boy! Oh boy!

MARLIN
All right, I'm up.

NEMO
Oh boy--whoa!

MARLIN
Nemo!

NEMO
First day of school!

MARLIN
[gasps] Nemo, don't move! Don't move! You'll never get out of there yourself.
I'll do it. All right, where's the break? You feel a break?

NEMO
No.

MARLIN
Sometimes you can't tell 'cause fluid is rushing to the area. Now, any rushing
fluids?

NEMO
No.

MARLIN
Are you woozy?

NEMO
No.

MARLIN
How many stripes do I have?

NEMO
I'm fine.

MARLIN
Answer the stripe question!

NEMO
Three.

MARLIN
No! See, something's wrong with you. I have one, two, three--that's all I have? Oh, you're okay. How's the lucky fin? 

NEMO
Lucky.

MARLIN
Let's see.

MARLIN
Are you sure you wanna go to school this year? 'Cause there's no problem if
you don't. You can wait 5 or 6 years.

NEMO
Come on, dad. It's time for school.

MARLIN
Ah-ah-ah! Forgot to brush.

NEMO
Ohh...

MARLIN
Do you want this anemone to sting you?

NEMO
Yes.

MARLIN
Brush.

NEMO
Okay, I'm done.

MARLIN
You missed a spot.

NEMO
Where?

MARLIN
There. Ha ha! Right there. And here and here and here!

MARLIN
All right, we're excited. First day of school, here we go. We're ready to learn, to get some knowledge. Now, what's the one thing we have to remember
about the ocean? 

NEMO
It's not safe.

MARLIN
That's my boy. So, first we check to see that the coast is clear. We go out and back in. And then we go out, and back in. And then one more time--out and
back in. And sometimes, if you wanna do it four times-- 

NEMO
Dad..

MARLIN
All right. Come on, boy.

-- Arkajit

The Dorm Key with a Thousand and One Uses

You know that golden-colored key they give you when you check into your dorm? The one that's supposed to open your door? Well that's not all that it's useful for. Here are just a few of the things I can think of using it as:

1. Scissors: great for cutting through tape to open packages.
2. Screw-driver: doesn't work too well, but can be an ok replacement when you don't have one.
3. Nail-filer: does a pretty good job
4. Pendulum Bob: performance improves if placed on end of a lanyard
5. Fake Wand: same comment as above
   
6. Playing Darts
7. Playing Horseshoes
8. Playing Spoons
9. A Musical Instrument
10. Bottle/Can Opener
11. More...

So that's not quite a 1001 uses, but I'm sure you can think of some more. =)

-- Arkajit