Kristal Lee

The final film installment of the Harry Potter franchise is out. I'm skipping work so Professor X and I can catch today's matinee. Whoot! Whoot!

Here's a look back at the trials and triumphs of Harry, Hermione, and Ron.

Distraught over the HP finale? Don't worry, Pottermore will continue Harry's story.  And you can live the adventure at Universal Orlando's The Wizarding World of Harry Potter where you can shop for your magic wand at Ollivander 's.


Harry and his friends used patronuses to help them escape dire situations. Need some help fending off negative energy or overwhelming circumstances? Check out the Harry Potter Patronus App, then come back here and leave a comment telling us what your patronus is. Mine's a fox.

MOTHMAN

The Mothman is a 7-foot cryptid with moth-like wings and red glowing eyes. Reported to be a portent of disaster, the Mothman was seen by various credible witnesses in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, hovering over the Silver Bridge on several occasions before the bridge collapsed into the Ohio River on December 15, 1967. Thirty-one vehicles fell with the bridge killing forty-six people.

John Keel, UFOlogist, credited the phenomenon to parapsychological manifestations, including precognition by witnesses. Other theories suggest that people were observing Sandhill Cranes that were a problem in the area.

Though the sitings of the Mothman in Point Pleasant was the first recorded in modern times, others have followed. People reported seeing this creature before the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City, the 1986 meltdown in Cherynobl, and in New York City on September 11, 2001.

In the movie, The Mothman Prophecies, someone tells Richard Gere's character: "You noticed them. And they noticed you noticing."

Spooky. I'm gonna remember that when I'm in the backyard at night and I hear a rustling in the brush.

Photo credit: http://animal.discovery.com/tv/lost-tapes/mothman/

I admit that I'm more familiar with myths and legends of other cultures than my own. Though periodically, I come across a snippet of North American folklore that makes me go, hmmmmm, really?

Photo credit: http://jeffareid.net/misc/jackalope.jpg

So it was when I first heard the legend of Jackalope~ a horned rabbit known for its aggressive and prankish behavior. Some legends say that jackalopes are a crossbreed between male jackrabbits and a female antelope. Others claim it's the offspring of a pygmy deer and a killer rabbit.

No matter the origins, the critter is believed to  possess the uncanny ability to mimic human voices. They become more vocal during thunderstorms and only mate during lightning flashes.

The milk of a lactating jackalope is highly sought after for its medicinal aphrodisiac properties. Jackalopes are fast and tricky. Using ventriloquisms the creature throws hunters off its trail by vocalizing human phrases such as "He's over there" or "He went that way."

The best way of trapping a jackalope is with whiskey. Leave a bottle in an area where a jackalope is suspected to inhabit. The animal will drink the whiskey until it's drunk, making it easier to capture.


The first American jackalope was spotted in Douglas, Wyoming in 1829. Other sitings have been reported throughout the American Midwest and Southwest . It is believed that the jackalope may be a cousin to Germany's wolperdinger and Sweden's skvader.

Of course, modern scientists have weighed in on the subject of jackalopes. Their take is that the critter is a jackrabbit infected with the Shope papilloma virus which causes tumors that look like antlers to grow on or near the animal's head. Scientific treatises have documented such observations dating back to 1789.

The more I snoop, the more I wonder. What is the jackalope really?  Fact or fantasy? Check out these websites and decide for yourself.

Jackalope
Shope papilloma virus
Legend of Jackalope
The Jackalope Conspiracy

Aaaack!  April and the A-Z Challenge has arrived.
The idea is to blog on a topic beginning with a letter of the alphabet every day, except Sundays, and complete the alphabet by April 30th.

Originally, I thought I'd start the challenge with "A" is for Alliteration, one of my favorite rhetorical  devices. However, it's Friday and I can't imagine anyone wanting to kick off the weekend with a grammar lesson.

TGIF! and Friday's are reserved for Fantasy. So, in keeping with my muse's theme of the moment, I'm going with "A" is for Alicorn.  An alicorn is a unicorn's magical horn; although, in modern fantasy the term is linked to a hybrid of the unicorn and a pegasus.

Photo: http://thecreme.wordpress.com/2008/06/03/whimsy-you-sly-devil-you/

Medieval physicians crafted cures from the powder ground from an alicorn and sold the remedies at top dollar. Drinking from a cup made of alicorn or waving an alicorn wand was thought to cure food borne sickness and counteract poisons. Alicorn powder was also used an aphrodisiac. 

Mary, Queen of Scots, owned an alicorn. Francis I Frederick III of Denmark had a throne made almost entirely of alicorn. And, the most famous alicorn, The Horn Of Windsor, belonged to Queen Elizabeth I.

Photo: Glenn Williams

Of the known alicorns still in existence, all have been found to be narwhal tusks. Narwhals are Arctic whales that have a long tusk extending from their upper left jaw.


Ridley Scott's 1985 fantasy film "Legend" featured the magick of the unicorn horn and a quest to save the world from eternal darkness.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089469/synopsis

If you've seen the film, I'd love to hear your thoughts. If you haven't seen it, let me know if you might consider watching it and why.