Sideshow | Dumbledore in a new light

With author

J.K. Rowling's

revelation that master wizard Albus Dumbledore is gay, some passages about the Hogwarts headmaster and rival wizard Gellert Grindelwald have taken on a new and clearer meaning.

The Harry Potter series author stunned her fans at Carnegie Hall Friday when she answered a reader's question about Dumbledore by saying he was gay and had been in love with Grindelwald, whom he later defeated in a bitter fight. The news brought gasps, then applause, and set off thousands of e-mails on Potter fan Web sites - some were dismayed but most supportive.

Melissa Anelli, Web master of the fan site http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org, told AP of Rowling, "By dubbing someone so respected, so talented and so kind, as someone who just happens to be also homosexual, she's reinforcing the idea that a person's gayness is not something of which they should be ashamed."

Potter readers had speculated about Dumbledore, noting that he has no close relationship with women and a mysterious, troubled past. "Falling in love can blind us to an extent," Rowling said Friday of Dumbledore's feelings about the evil Grindelwald." His love, she observed, was his "great tragedy." - Associated Press

Movie director

Kevin Smith

plans to shoot a movie in Pittsburgh.

Smith wrote on the Internet blog viewaskew. com that he may announce the cast of the movie Zack and Miri Make a Porno in the next two weeks. Smith's career was launched with 1994's Clerks. He directed Dogma in Pittsburgh in 1998.

Beyoncé Knowles

was in the Horn of Africa Saturday, helping Ethiopia celebrate its 2,000th birthday with a spirited concert in the capital, Addis Ababa.

About 5,000 adoring fans turned out, despite the country's usual predilection for music in the national language, Amharic. "I want to thank you," the 26-year-old R&B star told the screaming crowd. "You have been one of the best audiences of my lifetime." - AP

George Clooney

will become an executive board member of a new Swiss energy company that will develop environmentally friendly techniques for car engines and other devices, the billionaire who is setting up the firm said Saturday.

Nicolas Hayek, chairman of the Swatch Group, told the Berner Zeitung, "First I hesitated between Al Gore and Clooney." He said he went with Clooney because it was still unclear whether Gore would run for the U.S. presidency.

Country singer

Porter Wagoner

, 80, has lung cancer and remains hospitalized in serious condition, his Nashville publicist says.

- AP