Rowling In The Right Direction

To the marketer, there is a similarity between imagination and contention. Both are resources that can be mined, and they are boundless. Often they attempt to get us to buy as a reaction to hating something else – that’s called negative advertising. Or they attempt to get us to buy with an offer that’s too good to be true. That’s frequently called bait and switch.

And sometimes they’re combined. That’s called political advertising. Here in the United States for example we’re in the middle of a never ending Presidential campaign and a score of contenders are trying to entice with enchanted dreams of perfection while simultaneously characterizing their opponents dreams as nightmares. My guess it that most people are either turned into rabid zealots, ignore the racket completely or find the whole thing entertaining on the level of a contact blood sport. In fact the shrillest political junkies often seem indistinguishable from dog fight aficionados.

Meantime we have Harry Potter. What a wonderful parallel world of laws that defy science, yet can be tamed for good and evil purposes. Where children are trained in citizenship by stories which conclude that hard work, common action, inherent nobility, mysticism, and aristocratic privilege can combine with skill training to enlighten … or at least potentially enlighten… darkness.

Don’t you long for a secret path to an ancient Hogwarts learning how to control powers that will open dreams of perfection? Where enemies are Volemortian black while good exists and can be identified. Sweet. Meantime in our land of perpetual Presidential pursuit pollution… how appropriate that our youth prefers Harry Potter’s world, where Albus will eventually reveal the meaning of life’s lessons, eh?

Oh the image tonight? I have NO GEEK STUFF at all on it. I took it with a point and shoot late on a very bright Spring afternoon on the campus of Franklin & Marshall College. It was before either I or the camera understood white balance. And the noise level was deafening. So it was with this evening’s news still resounding in my mind, that I pulled the awful lemon of an image up… to turn it into a magical destination a thestral coach ride from the express to Hogsmeade. Walk along the grounds and up this little path… see it there, beyond the darkness? I sense that they’ll serve us lemonade?