Some points of note

[snorkackcatcher]

First of all, a happy birthday to superdork37!

Onto a couple of items from the daily papers. Via The Register we have an odd story in the Daily Telegraph entitled Fancy dress parties drive women to drink:... Previous research into alcohol consumption in social gatherings has almost universally found men drink more than women

Comments

[lady_bracknell]

That sounds like Richard Marx to me, and a spot of Hazard.

Am I the only one that's totally unsurprised that sexual-themed fancy dress makes most women feel like a stiff drink? And chances are, it's not even the thought of their own costumes and possible toe-pinching fishnets that are doing it - it's the thought of what the men might be wearing.... More research needed in this vital area, I feel, to clear up any doubt ;).

[lazy_neutrino]

What she said. (The song bit, that is. I have no research results on fancy dress, sex and alcohol. Thank you for adding one to my list of NY resolutions... Back next year with THE FACTS!)

[snorkackcatcher]

The Register comments thread had a number of theories -- mostly facetious, of course, but including one pointing out that 'partygoers in general' and 'attendees of sexually-themed fancy dress parties' are probably populations with a rather different distribution. Makes sense to me ...

[tree_and_leaf]

Even non-sexual themed fancy dress makes me feel like a stiff drink!

[muggle_prof]

lyrics reminiscent of Springsteen's The River period, but apparently not.

Hermione Granger tall, thin and posh??? Not in the books I read.

[snorkackcatcher]

I could make a vaguely plausible case for Hermione being tallish -- 5'6" to 5'8" -- but that would depend on maths, always shaky ground for HP theories! But posh -- no, not really, and definitely not in the 'rich, young yah crowd' sense of that article.

[under_crisis]

Sounds like a Hermione Granger fixation to us...

hello, like hermione granger is even actually posh? did they think hermione is "yule ball" chic all the time? plus, when is bushy hair posh? huh?

i'm just protesting over the obvious fangirling of the dan-emma ship. not that i'm totally against it, but duh.

[snorkackcatcher]

Emma Watson sounds quite posh when she talks -- I just checked her IMDB bio, and she went to a private prep school even before she got the part in the HP movies -- and apparently she's 5'6" and naturally blonde, so appears that way in photos (hint to press -- NOT SAME as character). But I suppose she did look the part for the first two movies - Cuaron has a lot to answer for. :)

[tree_and_leaf]

Hermione couldn't be more middle (Labour-voting, Guardian-reading) class if she tried, but since this point apparently escaped the filmmakers, I suppose it shouldn't surprise us that the Daily Mail doesn't get it either....

[snorkackcatcher]

Hermione couldn't be more middle (Labour-voting, Guardian-reading) class if she tried

*snort* That's a very good way of putting it, actually. To be fair, I thought Emma Watson was a reasonable match for the first couple of movies, but from PoA on the divergence is noticeable.