~*~ Princess Siti Grint Welcomes You To Her World of Obsession ~*~

What's your name?
Princess Siti Grint (PSG): My name is Princess Siti Grint... okay, for real? It's Siti Hajar Bte Ahmad... You can call me Siti... I call myself Princess Siti Grint is because I'm a little cuckoo in the head... nah, cos it sounds nice, isn't it? Okay, so maybe just me...

Age?
PSG: I'm 22 years, 1 month, 20 days and blah blah blah hours and blah blah blah seconds... I'm too lazy to do the Math... I'm bad at it anyway... (laughs)

So that means?
PSG: Yeah, I'm born on 24th June 1984 at 6.00pm.

How did you know that?
PSG: Cos I look at my birth certificate, of course... like Duh!

What do you like to do?
PSG: I like to sleep... I mean, sleep has suddenly become a luxury to me... you know, working woman, busy and all… I also like to watch TV, watch movies, listen to music, read books... yes, I'm very “intellectual”... (sniggers)

What sort of books do you read?
PSG: Well, I love Harry Potter books… yeah, thanks to my friend, Arly… she introduced me to Potter… so now, I fall in love with Ron Weasley… he's my Weaselby… (looks dreamy)

Riiiiigggghhhhhtttt… so what else do you read other than Harry Potter series?
PSG: Well, anything really… I like mystery, thriller, killing-people sort of books… you know, like CSI… yeah, but I do read a bit of romance now and then… and sometimes I read those movie adaptation from books sort of books… yeah, like Brokeback Mountain, Jarhead…

Since you love to watch TV, what's your favourite TV series?
PSG: I like those sitcoms on Star World channel like “Yes, Dear”, “My Wife and Kids”, “Still Standing”… oh, and of course CSI... oh and Queer As Folk... BRIANNNNNNNN!!!!

Riiiiiggghhhhtttt... how about reality TV shows?
PSG: Nah, only Amazing Race and So You Think You Can Dance and Singapore Idol currently cos of Paul Twohill… I've boycotted American Idol after Chris Daughtry was voted out… They so need to fix those voting system of theirs… sheesh…

Ooookkkkaaaaayyyy, so what are your favourite movies then?
PSG: Harry Potter of course!

Other than Harry Potter?
PSG: (gets excited) Oooohhh, I love X-Men, Lord of the Rings, Johnny Depp's movies, Jake Gyllenhaal's movies…

Music?
PSG: I love rock… any rock will do as long as it's rock… Rock rocks my socks!!! Okay, that's lame…

Yeah… so, what are your favourite rock bands?
PSG: (staring daggers at interviewer) Don't have preference really… but I like 3 Doors Down, Nickelback, Panic! At The Disco, Franz Ferdinand, Greenday, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Coldplay, My Chemical Romance and all those classic rock bands like Guns N Roses, Scorpions, Queen…

Okay, so before we end of our interview, what do you have to say to your readers of your blog?
PSG: Thank you for voting for me…

???
PSG: What? Oh, sorry, it's not Singapore Idol… haha… okay, err, thank you for withstanding all my gushing and slamming at those haters and drooling over my obsessions… but really, what the hell do you expect from my obsession blog, eh?

Rupert Grint
Rupert Grint, or like to be known as Rupey or Rupe or Weaselby by Princess Siti Grint, was born on Wednesday 24th August 1988. That makes him 17 years, 10 months and blah blah blah days and blah blah blah hours and blah blah blah seconds. He was plunged into the world of movies and fame and stardom when he was only 11 years old acting as the very famous Ron Weasley (yes, not only Harry Potter is famous, so is his best friend Ron). After his brilliant role as Ron in the first Harry Potter movie, Philosopher's Stone, he was casted as the permed-haired young scientist wannabe in Thunderpants. As he grew up, more girls have been queuing up to propose to him (okay, so maybe just me). After rave reviews of his brilliant acting in Goblet of Fire (some said that he almost stole the limelight from Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson), he acted as Ben in Driving Lessons and the movie has been chosen to play in Tribeca Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival. Right now, he's shooting the fifth Harry Potter installment. Though Ron is very dorky and sometimes not so brave and can be quite an idiot and has an emotional range of a teaspoon, the only similarities between Rupert and Ron are fear of spiders and big family. Rupert is unique. He rode the unicycle and played the Australian aborigines instrument thingy called didgeridoo. If he's not an actor, I bet he'll be good in Cirque de Soleil. Haha! But he's like any normal teenager; he loves to build model aeroplanes and play golf (heard he's really good at it).
Famous quote from Rupert: “Being famous is wicked. But it's better to be normal.” (PSG's Note: Good on ya, Rupe!)
~ Info courtesy of Rupert Grint Fixation

Jake Gyllenhaal
You can say that Jake is one lucky chap. He's born on 19th December 1980 into a family of talented people; his father is Stephen Gyllenhaal (Director), his mother is Naomi Foner-Gyllenhaal (Screenwriter) and his sister is Maggie Gyllenhaal (Actress). His god-mother is Jamie-Lee Curtis and he was taught to drive by family friend, Paul Newman. He started as a child actor in City Slickers alongside Billy Crystal. Then he appeared in films such as Josh and S.A.M and Dangerous Woman. He then got his first starring role as Homer Hickman in the heart-warming story of an aspiring rocket scientist in October Sky (I cried my eyes out watching this movie). Later, he starred in other films opposite famous and well-respected actors like Dustin Hoffman and Susan Sarandon (Moonlight Mile); Chris Cooper (Jarhead and October Sky); Dennis Quaid (The Day After Tomorrow); Jennifer Aniston (The Good Girl); Anthony Hopkins and Gwyneth Paltrow (Proof); Jamie Foxx (Jarhead). Currently, he has done filming Zodiac as a cartoonist, Robert Graysmith who searched for an infamous serial killer in San Francisco (think Jack the Ripper). He has won accolades for his role in cult movie, Donnie Darko and Oscar-nominated movie, Brokeback Mountain where he starred as a gay cowboy named Jack Twist. He loves to cook (and good at it too!) and read. He loves Harry Potter (like me) and has named his two dogs Atticus and Boo after his favourite book, To Kill A Mockingbird.
Famous quote from Jake: “First, it's ‘Who is Jake Gyllenhaal?', then it's ‘Get me Jake Gyllenhaal!', then ‘Get me someone who looks like Jake Gyllenhaal!', and then it's ‘Who is Jake Gyllenhaal?'. Right now, I'm between ‘Who is Jake Gyllenhaal?' and ‘Get me Jake Gyllenhaal!'.” (PSG's Note: Right now, I think it's ‘Get me Jake Gyllenhaal!'. No more in betweens!)
~ Info courtesy of I Heart Jake

Paul Twohill
Paul is a 17-year-old Singapore Idol 2 contestant who has won many hearts of the young generation and also some girls with his emo-rock style and his wacky weird personality and some do like his weird wacky hairdo that is similar to Addams Family. Addams Family or not, he has the talent so much so that he's now through to the Top 12 of Singapore Idol 2. Before he stepped into the limelight, he was in Catholic High School where he was in a rock band named Ecnerret (Terrence spelled backwards) and has won Catholic High Music Awards 2004 in the rock band category. So far, in the competition, he has sang 3 Doors Down's Here Without You and made one female contestant cried and another male contestant to vote for him 3 to 4 times and not thought for one second to vote for himself. Even though he's wacky, loves to laugh at the peanut butter jar at his home and wants to rampage Toys R Us if the world ends tomorrow, his personal goal in life is quite a serious matter: “Make it big one day doing what I love.” And not just that, one of the things that will make him nervous is “when my voice is having a real bad day because I start to feel that I won't put up a show that is up to standard.” Another one thing to know about him: He has three Friendster accounts now cos two of his accounts has reached the maximum limit of 1000. That's how many friends and fans he has. And he has a fansite made for him by Arshanti at Paul Twohill Fansite.
Famous quote from Paul: “You smell pretty!” (PSG's Note: Aww, thank you Paul! I bet you smell pretty too, though you're somewhere in Singapore and I'm somewhere in Singapore too and we're both quite apart. Heheh!)
~ Info courtesy of Singapore Idol

Gale Harold
You can say that Gale is my inspiration. Unlike most actors and actresses out there, he started acting late at the age of 28. He was born on July 10, 1969 in Georgia, US of A, which makes him a Cancerian like yours truly. Whoopie! Before he started acting, he was a carpenter and loves and restores Italian motorcycles. Wahey, I love motorcycles too! When he was younger, he acquired a diploma and under a soccer scholarship to begin a Liberal Arts Degree in Romance Literature at American University in Washington , D.C. However, because of some “creative differences” with his coach, he left the capital to study Fine Arts at San Francisco Arts Institute. However, that didn't last long too cos he squandered his academic scholarship and forced to make other plans. Oh Gale! Since he loves Italian motorcycles so much, that led him to several years of restoring and pants-set mechanics with Moto Guzzi motorbikes. So, you're probably wondering: “Man, when will this guy start acting?” Well, you don't have to wait for long cos in 1997, on the brink of financial exile from San Francisco , he was urged by his compatriot Suzy Landau, producer for Francis Ford Coppola (Dracula & Tucker) to take his act to the stage. After being introduced to actor and director Joan E. Scheckel, he re-located to Los Angeles , beginning an intensive 3-year period of dramatic study and exploration. This led him to his theatrical debut as Bunny in Me and My Friend. He also made his feature debut as Booker in 36K. Then he was accepted and completed the Actor's Conservatory Program with A Noise Within classical theatre company. There he appeared in productions like Misanthrope and Cymbeline. Then, he got his breakthrough role as the unapologetic and brutally honest gay Brian Kinney in Queer As Folk which made me love him. Currently, he's acting in Vanished alongside Ming Na as Agent Graham Kelton.
Famous Quote from Gale: “You have to like your character, because if you don't, no one else will either.” (PSG's Note: Wahey, that surely works cos no matter how bitchy Brian Kinney is, I still love that guy! Other than the fact that he has nice ass and very sexy! Hahaha!)
~ Info courtesy of Brian Kinney.Net

Double Double Toil And Trouble

This being my first article or commentary, any way you want to call it, please be a little kind to me. If I have some grammar mistakes or spelling mistakes or title mistakes or whatever mistakes I may have, you can say it all out in the tagboard or what I would like to call, your very own Pensieve! I will try to remember to correct it on my next commentaries. Okay, let’s get back to the proper.

As you can all see, the design of this blog of mine is very Harry Potter and the title itself is from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie (or POA as the fans like to call it). Thus, my first commentary will be on the wizard himself. Do not worry, I am not going to comment on anything about Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for those who have not read the book or about to read the book or just do not want to hear anything more about Half-Blood Prince as it is since it is practically all over the media about a month ago. I am going to go a little more in depth about Harry Potter and why such a kiddy book could attract both as young as 6 years old and as old as 60.

Let me briefly go back to what Harry Potter series are all about for those who have been living in Mars and just came back (WELCOME BACK!). The story is about a young wizard by the name of Harry Potter who was an orphan living with his Muggle (that is, non-wizard) Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Cousin Dudley. His parents were killed by Lord Voldermort when he was a year old. His mother died trying to save him. He was named “The Boy Who Lived” when Lord Voldermort unsuccessfully tried to conjure up a killing curse on him only to find himself transferring his powers to young Harry, leaving Harry with a lightning-like scar and Lord Voldermort powerless and almost dead. The only problem was he was not dead. As Harry got older, he found out that he was “The Chosen One” to kill Lord Voldermort or be killed himself.

Now, why is a story like Harry Potter could attract millions of people and make J.K. Rowling one of the richest women in the world? I could come up with a few reasons.

1) It is a fantasy and a mystery put together attracting both the children (fantasy) and the adults (mystery). However, I would also like to think that adults do love fantasy too. Think Lord of the Rings. Just that Harry Potter’s language is simpler to understand.

2) It is as real as a fantasy could get.

a) Harry Potter does not stay young forever like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty or Snow White. Harry Potter grows along with the young readers. They could understand and relate to the wizard’s feelings and problems – rebellions, boy-girl relationships and peer pressures – everything that teenagers could relate to. As for the adults, they were reminded of their younger days when they felt the same thing as Harry does and they could understand, too, how Harry felt. The main thing is Harry Potter is as human as he can be albeit having magical powers.

b) Good versus evil – Harry and the wizarding world versus Lord Voldermort and his Death Eaters. Sounds familiar? Let’s try this again. The world versus the terrorists and extremists – The European countries and the U.S versus Adolf Hitler and his Nazi army in World War 1; U.S, U.K, Singapore and the rest of the world versus Japan in World War 2; and U.S and the rest of the world versus Osama Bin Laden and his army of terrorists in War Against Terror. Let me quote a few sentences from “Evil in Harry Potter’s World and Ours” in Blogcritics.org.

“Throughout much of the series, the Ministry of Magic has seemed intent on denying the possibility of evil existing in the form of Voldemort, as opposed to stopping it from coming back… Ultimate evil is hard to digest or understand. It is hard to comprehend that if a man writes that he plans to kill all the Jews, or take over the world, that he actually means it. Mein Kempf detailed Hitler’s plan for the Europe and the rest of the world but few truly believed that Hitler meant what he wrote. There is a line that Hitler’s secretary muttered in the movie Downfall that supports this attitude. She tells Eva Braun how Hitler is so caring and kind in private but says just terrible things in public. It is as if Hitler’s words had no meaning.”

3) It brings family together. Believe it or not, it does. Even though my parents do not read Harry Potter books because they could not understand English, they do watch Harry Potter movies. When I was watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, my mother sat through the whole movie with me and could not help but be intrigued by it. We were halfway through the movie when my father joined us. The whole family sat together watching the movie with much interest. My father and I had a laugh watching my mother screaming everytime Harry Potter met a certain danger. After that, they decided to watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with me too. Mine is not the only one. Stuart James seems to get the same benefit from Harry Potter as well.

“I still remember the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone like it was yesterday. My daughter’s grandmother gave her the book as a gift. Upon receiving the book, my daughter looked at me, handed me the book saying "read it to me." I read the entire book to her, and since that time I have read every Harry Potter book to my daughter.

My daughter is now 12, and when Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was released I was surprised when my daughter said "read it to me." Last week I finished reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince to my daughter.

This time, the reading was a little different. We discussed each chapter, and we tried to figure out the mysteries of the book before we read about them. At the end of the book, we engaged in discussions on what would happen in the next book, and what mysteries lay ahead. We enjoyed our discussions, and although we finished reading the book we still discuss what happened in all of the Potter books, and what may happen in the future.”

4) It has some values that people in the real world should follow.

a) Harry is very loyal to his two best friends, Ron and Hermione and so does the two to Harry. In Half-Blood Prince, Ron said: “Wherever you’re going, mate, we’re going with you.” The value here is: Loyalty.

b) Harry knows the destiny of the wizarding world lies on his young shoulders. However hard it can be for him to take, he does not think of giving up hope. He moves on with his life and “what’s coming will come and we’ll meet it when it does”. The value here is: Courage.

Hopefully now you will understand why many fell in love with the magical world of Harry Potter and his friends.

And now I would like to end off here with a quote from one of my favourite characters in the series, Albus Dumbledore:

"...in the light of Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open."

If you would like to give your comment on this article or your own views about Harry Potter, you may do so on the tagboard.

Princess Siti Grint is feeling obsessed on Saturday, Aug. 20, 2005 at 11:59 p.m.

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