Entertainment

Arts Entertainment Kids Technology

Pottermore Revealed… Sort Of

Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling has finally revealed some of what Pottermore.com will have on it.

But it will be a bit difficult to understand exactly what will be on the new website until it’s fully up and running and that won’t be until October for most people.

One million lucky Harry Potter fans will be able to test the Pottermore site in a sneak preview starting on July 31, Harry’s birthday.

In a YouTube announcement and during a media conference in London, England, Rowling revealed that Pottermore will:

•Include more information and “back story” on some of the Harry Potter characters including Professor McGonagall (her childhood, ministry career, early heartbreak and her long friendship with Dumbledore), and how Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon met (at work, apparently).

•Include more than 18,000 words about Harry Potter and the characters, written by Rowling.

•Include a Pottermore shop where you can buy Harry Potter ebooks (digital books).

Entertainment

Saying Good-bye To Oprah (For Now)

Last week, millions of people around the world said farewell to The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Oprah, one of the world’s best-known celebrities, aired the very last episode of her show on May 25.

The Oprah Winfrey Show was on TV every week day for 25 years. That is longer than most talk shows in the United States.

Oprah became famous as the host of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Her show aired in 145 countries, so she isn’t just famous in the U.S. and Canada.

Both celebrities and non-celebrities felt comfortable talking to Oprah, sometimes about emotional or difficult things.

Oprah spoke to ordinary people with interesting stories. She spoke to people who had overcome hard things in life, like accidents or unhappy families.

Entertainment Kids

You Can Read It With A Fox: The New Dr. Seuss Book, That Is

Seven new Dr. Seuss stories have been discovered, and publisher Random House is publishing them in a new book called The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss.

The stories were published in the 1950s in magazines, but they have never been put into book form before.

Charles D. Cohen discovered the stories. He is a dentist but his hobby is studying Dr. Seuss. He has the largest private collection of Seuss memorabilia (toys, clothing, books) in the world.

The new book will have seven stories in it, including Steak for Supper, about fantastic creatures who follow a boy home hoping for a steak dinner; The Bippolo Seed, in which a scheming feline leads an innocent duck to make a bad decision, and The Strange Shirt Spot, which was the inspiration for the bathrub-ring scene in The Cat in the Hat Comes Back.

Entertainment Kids

That’s So Weird – Uh, Funny!

Sometimes weird can be good.

Weird can be funny too, as demonstrated on the popular YTV show That’s So Weird. The Canadian television show is a sketch comedy program about a group of teenagers working at a fictional television station called So Weird TV.

That’s So Weird has been running for two seasons. The episodes are made up of silly commercials and even sillier television shows. Skits include spoofs of real-life TV programs like Degrassi: The Next Generation, This Is Daniel Cook and the UFC. They have even poked fun at the Twilight movies and Glee.

Entertainment Lighter

Bieber’s In “Shoe” Business

The Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto recently added a pair of Justin Bieber’s shoes to its collection. The shoes, which he wore in a concert, are on exhibit in a glass case. Dozens of Bieber fans visited the museum last week to look at the famous singer’s shoes.

Bieber’s shoes are in good company. Other shoes in the museum belong to John Lennon, Marilyn Monroe, Queen Victoria and Terry Fox.

Bieber had donated the shoes to a California children’s charity, which put them up for auction to raise money. The Bata Shoe Museum had the winning bid.

It isn’t the first time Bieber’s shoes have been in the news. He recently donated a signed shoe to his old high school, Northwestern Secondary in Stratford, Ont. They sold the bright purple Nike running shoe to raise money for a new broadcast studio.

Entertainment Lighter

Movie Review: Rango

Rango is a new animated film about a chameleon who gets lost in the Nevada desert. He discovers a town filled with desert animals. Johnny Depp plays the voice of Rango the chameleon.

In the movie, Rango finds out that the water supply for the desert animals in the town is dangerously low. If they run out of water, they won’t survive. Rango has to figure out who is behind the problem and fix it. At the same time, everyone in the town thinks that Rango is a hero. He has to make sure no one finds out that he is really just a family pet.

Entertainment Lighter

The Chicken Channel

You may know that every year around Christmas many cable TV providers, like Rogers, offer their subscribers a “Fireplace Channel.” When you turn to the channel your screen fills with a burning firelog. It makes your TV look like a fireplace.

Now they’ve gone even further. Rogers is offering the “Rotisserie Channel.” A rotisserie is a barbeque pole that turns, to cook meat over a flame.

Entertainment

Justin Bieber Has A New ‘Do – And He’s Dating!

Justin Bieber got a haircut.
Yes, there – we’ve said it. Justin Bieber has cut his hair.

The famous teen idol was shorn on celebrity gossip TV show TMZ, changing his famous hairdo from lanky locks to more of a tousled bed-hair look.
Whether you love him or you hate him, you’ve got to admit that the Stratford, Ont. native has a lot of power. After all, who else’s locks could sell for $7,000 (and counting) on eBay?

Animals Entertainment

A New Aquarium For Toronto?

Toronto has a huge sports stadium, a science centre and great museums. But there’s one attraction it doesn’t have, that some big cities have—a large aquarium.

Now, an aquarium may be built in Toronto. If it is approved by the City Council, it could be ready by July 2015.

The aquarium would be in a large building. It could include many thousands of fish and marine animals including sharks. One idea is to have a jellyfish room with special lighting and mirrors to make it look very exciting. Another idea is for a tunnel that people could walk through to see the fish swimming around and above them.