Attention everyone –

I am going to be doing extensive forum work today (some upgrades, features to the new boards, etc, etc.) Because of this the boards MAY have some unstable patches during the day, as well this may be a day where posts find themselves missing. I am backing up right after I post this, but I am making no promises on anything posted after I back up. So, have a backup of anything you write today.

ALSO — AND THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT –

DO NOT GO INTO CHAT TODAY. If you crash the server while I’m upgrading I will be EXTREMELY pissed off and never upgrade the boards again (No, not really, but you know…)

I have made an alternative chat room you can use, do it. It is here –

http://chat.parachat.com/chat/login.html?room=BeyondStoneWalls&width=740&height=500&lang=en

Mike

Apparently it is the 27th of December. Who knew?

And we all know what that means, it means I try and update you on all of the new goings on on Beyond Stone Walls, starting with stats, because if you go back and look at stats for last December you will probably see that we are growing insanely fast. At the time of writing we were up to 18937 Posts in 2094 Topics by 455 Members. Yes, a paltry 455 members, oh, horror. This is quite the accomplishment and as usual I have to thank everyone who joined in the last month, it is splendid to have some new people to post with. Beyond Stone Walls should/will be continuing to chase down potential new members with nets.

Most of the energy I have has been going towards the development of version two (or now maybe version one and a half) of the boards. There are going to be a lot of new features in the offering. We’re going to have shops and medals finally (something that has been promised since the opening of the board) as well as some other new features I think most everyone will be fond of. The move is tentatively set for January, but knowing me it may get pushed back further. I need to know about any features people want to see happen on the boards. Additionally, people who like code and PHP who want to help with some updates can get in touch with me, as well as people who like pixels can chase down Miki. We can always use some help!

As for more new things! New adults, and canons — we want you! I’d even like to see some adult canons… has anyone considered playing Bill, Percy or Charlie Weasley — what about Mundungus Fletcher oh please? What about professors? There has been some talk of “Class Assignments” for bonus house points so (and I’m just going to list them now) how about Filius Flitwick, Aurora Sinistra, Pomona Sprout, Cuthbert Binns, Bathsheba Babbling, Charity Burbage… hell, I’d take a Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank! For the lesser known professors your imagination is the limit for what you can do with them so I really encourage you to write up a profile (Like Vector’s maaaaagical sex change)! As far as canon students, let’s see us a Neville Longbottom, a CrabbeNGoyle, a Lee Jordan, a Parvati Patil, a Seamus Finnegan, a Colin Creevey, a Hannah Abbot, an Ernie Macmillan and a Justin Finch-Fletchley yeah really, perhaps a Marietta Edgecomb… which brings me to my next point pretty nicely.

The DA is about to finally exist! Mr. Potter and I have been working pretty hard at a DA system that will actually force members to post, so be on the look out for that. Currently the DA is pretty full, but I have discovered that Potter has a lot of trouble saying ‘no’ and so therefore you can probably still squeeze a member or two into the DA if you ask really nice.

And I mean, that’s all fine for us good guys, but what if you’re a super villian like Miki, our adorablely nefarious admin? Well, you are in luck, because Draco Malfoy is starting to build up his evil empire known as the Inquisitorial Squad (and yes, sometimes Umbridge even rolls around to steal candy from infants and the like). Would you like to rule the school? Well let Mr. Malfoy know and once that gets up and running beware the IS! I think the DA’s numbers more than double the IS so we’re REALLY looking for people to join. Come on now, this is book five — you guys are WINNING. Once Cj tells me where you’ll even get a cool club house like the DA has.

Also, Order of the Phoenix, you have missions, start doing them or I’m revoking your membership — don’t test me.

On to Quidditch, my love my hate. Quidditch is going well, we’re still trying to form a system we can stick with in that careful balance between challenging and impossible. We do, of course, love to hear from users about what they think of Quidditch so any questions or comments can be thrown at Li or I. Also PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING YOUR HOUSE TEAM! Really, we adore new players and are willing to sell our souls to get them. If you’ve never played Quidditch and have a few questions any captain or assistant captain is probably already dying to explain it to you. Quidditch is probably going to be seeing a lot of change over the next few months.

I think finally, and someone will correct me if this isn’t a real finally — please participate in prefect run events. Particularly in nominating people for character and post of the month. The team has had a hell of a time finding people and really, we know there is enough talent here to sink a ship so nominate, participate and have a good New Year.

Hello everyone and welcome to the November Update here at Beyond Stone Walls.

This is actually our second ever November update (I started doing monthlies last October– has it really been a whole year?) Whereupon our stats looked something like this:

[quote]First of all, can I say ‘Wow!’ we have now jumped past the 100 member mark, all the way to just over 120 members at the time of writing this — which is bleeding incredible! Got to admit, I’m feeling very optimistic about this forum. Not only that but the activity– almost 3000 posts! With BSW only officially being open for about six months (ish) I’d say this is quite the achievement — good job guys! Hopefully by the December update we’ll be up around 200 members (which would be completely amazing!)[/quote]

And while I’m pretty sure 200 was optimistic for that December, we did make it past 150 that month. However stats for this month read 16964 Posts in 1898 Topics by 430 Members. Yes, a year ago we were at 120, now we are at 430… 310 characters in a year. Not bad guys, not bad at all. In fact, pretty bloody fantastic.

I’d like to take a moment to welcome all of our new users — we’ve had a lot of new-new people (as opposed to alt-new people) show up. Thank you so much for joining our community, and we hope you stick around. Once you get over the drooling insanity bit I presume you’ll enjoy your stay here. As a reminder, you can take a gander at our “[url=http://beyondstonewalls.com/rpg/index.php?topic=1574]Welcome Newcomer[/url]” thread that should give you the 411 on all the sticky intricacies of our forums. We’re a bit strange, so hopefully you’ll get used to us. Also, come to our chatroom http://beyondstonewalls.com/rpg/chat/

Well, that took a lot of space.

There has been a minor revolution in our NPC staff! Forget everything you knew about NPCs. (Well, except Li being the Quidditch Coach) — now the Head Profile Moderator is our beloved Sunni, and her accomplice in grammarizing is Cj who is our Profile Moderator #1. As far as the avatar makers go Mika is now the Head Avatar Maker and Avatar Maker #1 is Jessa. Thanks so much guys, seriously, the forum would be chaos without you. Remember these folks are admin appointed so treat them with the same (limited) respect you have for us.

Speaking of the profile mods — a new profile layout is about to go into effect. You’ll get a more detailed notice about this later, but we are hoping to make profiles less a “wall of text” and more a concise listing of things people might actually need to know about yours character. Any input on this can be sent to one of the Admins or one of the profile mods it will definitely be taken into consideration.

Next off is Quidditch, because I love Quidditch. (Usually). Hufflepuff has shockingly come from behind and started kicking ass and taking names much to the chagrin of Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Gryffindor. Join your house teams, get some school spirit. Also, are you not sure, but perhaps curious about Quidditch? From now until the end of time The Quidditch Coach and I will be hosting a Quidditch Panel on the 15th of every month. So stumble into chat and talk to us (times will be given relative to the month). Also, captaincy switches include Kalev Akermann and Willow Mirawk taking over Ravenclaw and Zelda Fletcher taking Hufflepuff, assistant coming soon.

Let’s see… what else…

Hogwarts Carnival happened — and is still happening. Go check that out. Prefects also had a member of the month whooo I think was Gussie Appleton. Post of the month was The Post by Syd Holmes. Go look at that stuff, its nothing but fun times all around really.

We also had some new special characters join our ranks. Specifically, a new Death Eater and a new member of the Order of the Phoenix which I think fills both of those up again. But next activity check I suspect we shall see quite a few positions opening up. Right now we are looking for a number of generic adult characters as well as shop keepers. Please apply, we want to fill out a few more areas for adult characters to go, but we need to know of some good places and this is based on who applies. Also, more students were given part-time jobs. We’d love to see some employees in Madam Malkins and the Three Broomsticks though.

Also, Order of the Phoenix, check out the new missions system in #12 Grimmauld Place. Death Eaters look forward to your own version of the mission system.

Finally, version 2. Don’t ask. =)

That’s looking like about it for November — see you all in December.

I think this is the first time I’ve left a monthly update to the last possible day of the month — so I guess I can first say Happy Hallowe’en. This will probably be ridiculously short as I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to be writing about.

As usual, I shall start out by giving you a list of forum stats, so we can see how the forum grows. As of October 31st 2009 we had 16123 Posts in 1780 Topics by 401 Members and the latest member was Annette Stone who is a new-new person and not an alt. Welcome to all of the new users who have joined the forum in October. This is pretty good, considering what I believe is about 7 users were deleted for zero posts this month. But still, that’s BSW up over 400 registered users. Woo!

Also, we’re working on a new version of the forums — Miki has finished pulling her own weight, so its just me. For a preview have a look at http://beyondstonewalls.com/alt/ it’s really all done except my part which is more the opposite. Any feedback is welcome, of course. Miki may of course tell you and your feed back to stuff it, but she may not, you never know.

HB/HG/P team has been working on what I thought was a Hallowe’en event, but am now led to believe is not. So when that finally comes to light that’ll be cool. It has been in the works since, well, a long time ago. Make sure you lot all participate when it emerges from the black lagoon. If it emerges from the black lagoon.

Other than that, I have nothing. Quidditch I guess, join teams etc.

Until… November.

I should currently be cleaning the flat, so that means, obviously that I am writing the update for September instead. The mess that is engulfing our kitchen can wait though, because if I don’t write this now I will never remember to write it later, and if I miss a month the sky will fall out or something. So, on to what happened this September. (I swear to god writing this preamble is hell).

So, on to stats for this month we end off September with 15340 Posts in 1729 Topics by 403 Members so we picked up about ten new accounts since September which really shocks and amazes me since I didn’t expect too much progress to be made this month. We even had a few new-new people including Nick Fergus who made his way into chat. Just to keep this really clear and on the table: We Love New People In Chat. So don’t be nervous, we can be a bit insane but it’s all in good fun.

Let’s see, we’ve spent a lot of this month trying to balance out QUIDDITCH, which we would really like to see people start coming out for even more. Even if this is your first hour on the forum the Quidditch teams are ready to snap you up. I wish I could say I was kidding. However, currently there is a gigantic Quidditch void in RAVENCLAW, and so temporarily JL and I will be running this team. However no one (leastwise us) wants this to be a permanent appointment so please, if you have a Ravenclaw, apply to join. We would prefer someone who doesn’t have a lot of special positions at the moment. However even if you have every special position on the board we do want you to join the team.

The Daily Prophet is currently on hold until Miki has more time, and I think that’s all there is to be said about that. Hold your articles, but PM Kitty if you would like to join the Daily Prophet team. It’s a bit of a free for all, but pretty funny all the same.

Also, to get buzzword-centric BSW is going viral, join our various groups on DeviantArt, Twitter, Facebook, and Leaky with more to come. Make sure you stalk us in every way possible so the word gets out. Submit Art to our DevArt, the usual! Also keep VOTING for us at topsites every single day!

Next order of business is the prefects, which have finally been settled they are working on a massive event for you guys I’ll let them tell you about it but make sure you participate — these events are planned for YOU after all. Also, Sunni was promoted to profile moderator. So, make sure you are directing all of your questions comments and inquiries to the appropriate person. (Here’s a hint– usually the right person is not Admin).

The new version of the forum was on the doorsteps, but Miki, Becca and I did some brain storming and have a new idea that should spike the activity of adult characters. But this takes laying a huge amount of foundational work that we never thought of before so the forum will be delayed while we build it around these new ideas. Just to let you know it is still on the books. But Admin has been busy with life, which is a pain. Just to let you all know though that some back stage stuff is being worked on.

Finally, we are thinking of adding some new boards where adult characters can hang out. But, we want to know some places you would like to see showing up. St. Mungo’s is a definite. Additionally some revisions may be made to the Adult characters policy, so heads up on that one.

Righto, that’s about it! See you in October.

Well, as is my custom, I, the Hawk admin am going to do my regular monthly update for August. For those of you who have not yet witnessed a wonderful monthly you are in for a real treat (that is if you like monthly updates on the goings on in your forum neighbourhood).

Off the top, I will grant you the wonderful stats 14566 Posts in 1664 Topics by 392 Members with quite a few new Slytherins this month we’re up quite a few members too, which is pretty wonderful. After all if I have to post with Nadia one more time I may need to kill some kittens or something. (Just kidding I love Nadia (Isadora Stratton) more than birdseed). We’re pleased as punch to see all of you, except Carmen (Willow Mirawk), but that’s just because she’s crabby<3

(It is so weird having to explain who people are, but I will persevere to avoid confusion)

This month we had some prefecty movement, and so there are a plethora of wonderful plans at our fingertips. Make sure you participate in the Hufflepuff Bakesale, Gryffindor’s Drunk Quidditch and Impersonate your professor day. Also, the forum wide Much Ado About Nothing plot. Try to get involved it really is much more fun for all of us if you do. Also, based on the ten page thread in the prefect lounge, come September I’ll bet you can look forward to something fun happening in the next few months.

Nextly, Quidditch since its the thing on everyone’s mind since Gryffindor and Slytherin have been duking it out since August 6th! We’re finally winding down (well we hope anyways) and the next game will be between the mortal foes Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Sign up for your teams and cheer them on! Here’s to Gryffindor taking the cup! (Yes I am biased)

Now, to take up space remember to be nice to and impress the school Head Girl as she now has Golden Midget Awards to hand out to people who achieve her high standards. So, be nice to Nadia and you may receive general approval. And if you don’t you may just kind of suck a little bit. =) I kid, I’m sure all of you are wonderful people.

The student run Daily Prophet is going to be starting again in September, we think, ask Miki, not me.

Okay, you win, I don’t know what else to say. Happy August, see you in September.

Okay, I’ve left this a bit longer than I should have perhaps I don’t even know if I have time to finish because if my boss comes in and catches me updating I will be a very dead person. But we’ll see if I can get at least a start of this going for you all. All else fails I finish tomorrow, that’s still July, damnit.

To start we have the wonderful world of stats, because we all love stats. There are currently 12959 Posts in 1497 Topics by 366 Members. And I think we’ve all considered July a relatively slow month here at Beyond Stone Walls, so I guess its okay that we haven’t had a massively huge upswing in membership. We are happy to see the new people who are here though! Especially, as usual new-new people and not just people making alts. Lots of new Ravenclaws too, which is pretty awesome. Your prefects Calista Brennan and Daggett Prox are happy to have you. Don’t be afraid to reply to their welcome PMs or whatever, neither of these PARTICULAR prefects bite. (Gryffindor is another story all together for example)

Okay, uhm, nextly we had our first birthday, which I guess is worth mentioning again, so pleased that we haven’t gone belly up just yet, and no plans to in the near future. We’re an old forum now! Thanks to everyone who has helped us last this long on the cruel, harsh internet and make sure you keep inviting your friends (and even people who aren’t your friends– we’ll take them too)

The summer plot has been clicking along slowly, it will probably spill into the fall, but I’m sure no one is heart broken about that. There us still time for you to sign up, so don’t delay. We’re taking people new and old, and of absolutely all skill levels so please don’t be nervous about joining in the action. And of course as a note to Death Eaters who haven’t already post in Contrivance and let’s get this show on the road. Stop holding up the bloody plot why don’t you?

Also, BSW merchandise was mentioned this month. We want to know who is interested in what, and if people would actually buy BSW stuff. Also, maybe tell us a few infamous BSW quotes that you think should be included. Also, the book. Now that we are a year old there must be a few threads you people would like to see bound together in print. Show your nerdity! Really.

I have no idea what else to tell you all, we upgraded the forum and Miki got old this month…

I guess the only other thing to say is an activity check is going to be hitting again soon. So use your special characters >>; And your prefects.

See you in August

Well, the June update feels like its coming late to me. Though I guess I usually write these around the middle of the month rather then at the end. I’m not going to ramble about how I think its going to be short, because as soon as I mention that I don’t have much so say I invent enough blather to write a whole book, so there you are — we have no idea how long this update is going to be suffice to say I don’t [i]think[/i] I have very much to say.

As per usual I will start this update with site stats, because it makes me feel important. At the moment of writing this we have 11617 Posts in 1405 Topics by 348 Members which is pretty fantastic considering we deleted several users who happened to have zero posts for more than a few months. Also, excitingly enough, a lot of our new members really are new members, and not just people making alternate characters just for shits and giggles. Welcome to anyone who hasn’t had a character here before, please stick around! (Seriously while we may be as insane as we look most of us probably live far enough away from you that there’s no reason to be concerned).

And see? Now that I’ve posted the stats I have no idea what to tell you about next. Quidditch is still on hiatus until TQC’s live gets settled down a bit. However, before the season starts up again there will be an open discussions about Quidditch Rules and Practises held in the locker rooms where we will be looking to discuss rules and ideas people have about Quidditch. There have been a few complaints about the structure of the game and the rules so, in a few days I’ll open that thread up to discussion. Anyone is allowed to participate in the talk whether you play Quidditch or not. Also, if you have seen another board where Quidditch works try joining in the conversation and showing us some ideas, TQC and I are always very open to ideas. That being said, as I always add — if you aren’y playing Quidditch yet sign up for a team. The captains are always desperate for players. [size=2pt](Join Gryffindor because your Admin will love you most if you do)[/size] Quidditch is fun and quite competitive sooo if you’re looking to beat the pants off other people on the boards join the team.

Quidditch not your thing? Try your Kitty’s pet project the Daily Prophet. Not the real DP, but Daily Prophet Junior written by a fully student staff. I believe issues are released twice a month or something. So, if you want to write articles about the student body, staff, or other adult characters send a PM to your favourite admin Kitty. Unlike myself who gave Quidditch away to someone more responsible than myself Kitty is still in charge of the Daily Prophet. So questions comments and inquiries can all be thrown at her head.<3

Other than that– I haven’t seen much action in the prefect bathroom recently, so I’m not sure if any of the houses have any evil schemes cooked up for you all over the summer. However, as a note to Hufflepuffs, your male prefect Noelen Scatto is on hiatus until late July, so please, any messages you have please send them to your female prefect Wendy St. John.  (Or I’m sure the Head Girl/Boy could straighten out any problems that you have) Prefects, try to remember to keep pming and posting with new people, though I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this. Just a note, you should be directing most of your questions or problems to the appropriate prefects who will refer to us if they don’t know the answer to your question. They know just as much as we do about the rules (and probably more). So, don’t think all your problems have to come through admin.

Next is about NPCs, we now have a good NPC system going of three profile mods and two avatars makers (AMs and PMs if you will) so, that means all avatar and profile related problems will be taken care of by them. Please let these people do their jobs meaning do not PM people about profile or avatar problems unless you are an AM or a PM. You may PM an avatar maker, or profile mod about problems you may have noticed but let the NPCs deal with the problem so we don’t get more than one message sent to new people with issues. The AMs and PMs are MORE than capable of the job we’ve assigned them so, DON’T interfere please. Thanks guys, we appreciate that you’re trying to help, but we have this under control. =)

Okayyy, so here’s the part you all actually care about I’m sure. Summer forum plot: starts next week. I had hoped to get it up before that, but there’s some writing I want to do for it to set it up and I’ve been doing my posting marathon, so I really haven’t had the time. We will need any and all Death Eaters and Order of the Phoenix members. Canons are optional as we won’t have Harry Potter around to take part (as Rola is away) and I haven’t seen Ron or Hermione in awhile. But any students who want to may participate, just wait for the info thread to pop up and decide if you want to sign up. Please note, we will probably be chasing people around with sticks about posting quickly for the plot so we can get it wrapped up before we’re all back at school. (Myself included) Also, please remember we aren’t just looking for old well established members we want new people to get involved with this plot also.

I want to quickly say we are working on forum version two, we don’t have much to show for it yet  but a start has been initiated. Any suggestions for features you would like to see PM Hawk or Kitty, since we’re heading up the project =D

Finally, because new people may actually read this –> http://beyondstonewalls.com/rpg/chat/  <– That is our chatroom, step inside. Serious insanity, but awesome fun.

See you all in July.

Mike.

Alrighty, the months are flying by and already it is the time for the May update. It feels like just yesterday that I had nothing to say for the April Update… but I’ll try harder this time. Mostly because I’m not just posting for the same old anymore so I probably needs to sound less properly demented.

As usual I will start with stats, because I love stats (not really) but if you look at all the updates you can see how quickly we’ve been growing. We currently have 10252 Posts in 1217 Topics by 314 Members. Which never fails to wow me, good job guys we have over three hundred registered accounts. And for once I can’t say it’s all the same three people, because now I think there are about five or six of us instead. No, no I kid, there has been a real influx of members and admin is pleased as punch about it. I would like to welcome all of the new faces around here, we hope you stick around and that we don’t scare you too much. Also, people, keep inviting your friends and families to join, a bigger userbase means you don’t have to post with me, thereby making your wait time about thirty million years. (To be fair, a lot of people that I have owed for months have recently gotten replies, so, make sure you check and see if you were one of the lucky ones). Also, new people, consider filling out one of these so we can get to know you better: http://beyondstonewalls.com/rpg/index.php?topic=965.0

Next I guess I’m going to talk about Quidditch, which should be starting in a few months when The Quidditch Coach is allowed out of the hell that is school. Currently I believe most of the teams except Slytherin are full or close to it. However, I know from being the Gryffindor Quidditch Coach that that isn’t too helpful when everyone drops out before a game, and so, if you don’t yet have a character playing Quidditch sign up with your house team. You may find yourself warming the bench for a game or two, but Quidditch teams absolutely always need new players. Many people have players on multiple teams and would generally prefer to only have one. So, for the love of Merlin sign up your characters today. (Also members of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, drunk Quidditch Practise is going to happen, watch for the thread!)

I also, while I’m promoting things members can do to get involved, want to tell/remind people about the Beyond Stone Walls Chat probably the most popular aspect of the forums. (Seriously, no one ever posts, they just chat). It can be found at http://beyondstonewalls.com/rpg/chat/ . Everyone is welcome to join us in chat, new, old, whatever. Memebers of the chat have been known to be a bit strange, and at any given time the conversations can be a little PG-13, but take everyone in there with a grain of salt and you should get on just fine. Ravenclaw Prefect Daggett Prox, also known as Eva in the chat has written a guide for it, so look at that in the Help and Suggestions board. And remember to play nice in the chat. Also, for those not used to the general chat atmosphere, because we’ve been a really miniature communit for such a long time people may be very forward about asking you your real name, where you are from, and your contact details. This is because as a collective we know each other very well, however, should you feel uncomfortable with telling anyone this information no one will blame you or be upset with you so be as private or as open as you want to be.

Admin is also planning a forum plot for the summer! Not too many details on it yet (mostly because we don’t know them yet) but the Death Eaters and Order of the Phoenix will all be involved. We will also need a group of students who would like to participate, so if you’re interested keep your eyes open for the summer plot thread that we will be posting later this month. We want as many people involved as possible, so if this is your first time on the boards just fling yourself in like a dirty shirt. Seriously.

We’ve also finally roped someone in to redo the main site, so thank you to Carmen. I know not many people go there after their first visit to the boards, but if you do now, you’ll have more than enough opportunity to laugh hysterically at my expense which is always fun if you don’t happen to be me I suppose. Anyways, also in charge of promoting the site now an epic thanks goes to Carmen for all of the work she’s done up to this point, because let’s face face it, the three of use weren’t doing it. On that note, please remember to vote for us on the topsites when you have a minute, the closer we are to the top of the lists the more awesome we look. And we do look pretty awesome.

Speaking of looking awesome, the new version of Beyond Stone Walls is being slowly concocted by Kitty and myself, any questions, suggestions etc that you think would make for a great addition to Beyond Stone Walls version 2.0 please let one of us know, and we’ll definately look into it. (Keeping in mind I do the coding and she does the layouts and graphics.) I’m estimating the arrival time of it at the end of the summer, but this date will dance around the calendar I’m sure. Just know that it’s currently on our brains and we’ll difinately be really looking at suggestions for it now.

Also, if you have some spare change, and you’d like to keep Beyond Stone Walls banner ad free consider dropping us a donation. Becca pays for this whole thing out of her own hard earned cash, and any money you can send her would go a long way. There is no obligation to donate to us of course, but if you’re feeling generous it would be greatly appreciated by us. You can PM her for more information or click the pay pal donate button on the main page. Also, donations of graphics (including banners and buttons) are also greatly appreciated by us.

Oh, and for Californian bound Stoners heading to Azkatraz  July 17 – 21, 2009 please note that one of our very own will be holding a panel on Harry Potter RPGs so, consider turning up and supporting our members. Also, this is a good time to sneakily rope in new people to join our evil empire. Not that we are evil, or an empire, really. I can’t afford to go anywhere beyond down the street right now and so I will be there in spirit. If you want to know how you will recognize our intrepid panalist, think Scotland the Brave. There you are then. (Please, if you do go take pictures of Carmen in a kilt with bagpipes, because God only knows I wish I could be there to see it for myself — I am a bitter old man.) More on this as we get closer to the event.

Finally, the prefects in their underground lair (in the prefect’s bathroom) have been cooking up some May events. So, I’m sure they’ll let you more in on that as we get more into May.

There we are, finally a healthy sized update. As usual, as soon as I post this I will think of something else to add, but let us pretend that this is the May monthly update. Happy May everyone, and I’ll post another one of these monsters in June.

Since this time next week I’ll be pulling my hair out with the stress of it all I have decided to to the April update now. Like the March Update it may end up being a hodgepodge of things that I may have stumbled across, but I have personally not been all that active recently, and, as it appears this is to be the calm exam season before the storm that is summer.

As with most of my updates, I will start with stats because they take up a few lines and I’m sure once we’ve been around for a few years we’ll look back at these totals and laugh at how small and insignificant we were back in the good old days. So, April 18th 2009 there are 9516 Posts in 1121 Topics by 285 Members. The her. newest of which, Malena Bisgaard appearing (based on her ip) to actually– finally be a genuine new-new person, so a warm welcome to her. I hope she stays around! That goes to all the new-new people here at BSW of course! I’m just picking on Malena because her name happens to be right here in front of me.

Things have been pretty laid back the past few months, most events falling through, and Ravenclaw winning the last Quidditch game practically by default. Things will undoubtedly pick up in the summer, and with the celebrated Gryffindor vs. Slytherin game around the corner I’m sure things will pick up in the pitch.

As you all may have noticed April Fool’s Day came and went and the PLANNING that went into that by the admins. We want your undying love and respect.

And that’s it. Seriously. That is all we did in April.