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Teen Blog

Reading, Wellington, and whatever else – teenblog@wcl.govt.nz

Month: September 2010

BIg Day Out 2011

The line up for next January’s Big Day Out was announced yesterday. There are usually another couple of announcements before the actual event, so while this list will be added to I thought it a good idea to highlight the artists we have in our collection to further inform the decision on whether or not to drop the $150 on a ticket before they go on sale October 8.

The DVDs that are the newest

Fullmetal alchemist. Collection 2, Volumes 7-13

“Edward and Alphonse Elric continue on their journey to find the Philosophers stone to restore their lost bodies. In order to do so they must come to face with many people from the past and discover the true purpose of the Homunculi. Will their journey lead them to the promised powers?” – Cover

Resident Evil : Apocalypse

“Heroine Alice is thrust back into the war against the bloodthirsty undead and the fight against the powerful Umbrella Corporation, and is pitted against a super-human super-weapon, who has been unleashed to destroy her.” – Cover

Looking for Alibrandi

“Josie Alibrandi has a lot to deal with right now. She’s 17, got the dreaded H.S.C. in front of her and the boy of her dreams seems completely out of reach. Then there’s that other problem. She’s a wog. Sure it’s where Josie comes from but it’s not where she feels she belongs. In fact, Josie doesn’t know where she belongs. With her Nonna in one ear talking about the old country and the stuck-up girls at her school telling her she’s an outsider, it’s no wonder. This year, however, everything is going to change. Josie will let loose, face her fears, uncover secrets – even discover the true identity of her father. It’s going to be a year when Josie finally finds out where she belongs” – Cover

Trials of life. Volume 1

“Life is one long struggle, a challenge for even the fittest animal. Leaving parents, searching for food, building a home, finding a mate – each day brings a new test. These programs, superbly crafted and originally presented, investigate the many amazing ways in which creatures from all parts of the globe face up to and resolve The Trials of Life.” – Cover

The private life of plants. Volume 1

“David Attenborough’s study of the world of plants, which demonstrates, with the aid of time-lapse photography, the rich and varied ways in which they flourish.” – Cover

Top Ten: Comedy DVDs

 There is a Comedy DVD display in the YA area of the Central Library at the moment, this list is an online companion piece.

  1. Cool Runnings – Not only hilarious, it’s emotional too. Someone at Teen Blog HQ admits to getting choked up at the end of this one, others just enjoy Doug E. Doug’s antics.
  2. Mean Girls – Lindsay Lohan is mean, and funny!
  3. Superbad – Unpopular kids try to find girlfriends, general ineptitude interferes and provides lulz.
  4. High School Musical – You have probably all seen this, and as such any description of plot etc. is surplus to requirements.
  5. The Mask – Jim Carrey puts on a magical green mask and turns into what pretty much amounts to a living cartoon. Visual gags aplenty.
  6. 17 Again – The dreamy Zac Efron plays a man who magically gets turned from a forty-something loser into, well, the dreamy Zac Efron. All sorts of rofl-tastic capers ensue.
  7. Legally Blonde – Reese Witherspoon plays the stereotypical blonde valley girl in a fish out of water scenario where she goes and studies law at an ivy league school. Hijinks follow.
  8. School Of Rock – Jack Black teaches kids how to be in a rock band by shouting, waving his arms around and acting manic.
  9. Dude, Where’s My Car – Ashton Kutcher wakes up after a big night out and realises his car is missing. Then he is confused for pretty much an entire day.
  10. Adventureland – A quirky rom-com set in and around a theme-park.

Moar Haiku

brandon flowers

Brandon Flowers – Flamingo

Diminutive front
man sets out alone, travels
back towards Sam’s Town

chemical bros

Chemical Brothers – Further

Nineties stad-house “bros”
borrow chillwave blueprints and
add personal touch

britannia high

Britannia High

Gary Barlow pens
tunes for what I imagine
to be UK Glee

 adam lambert

Adam Lambert – For Your Entertainment (bonus tracks)

Your entertainment
is now prolonged by roughly
fifteen more minutes

Right Here, Right Now : 34 massive radio hits from the 90s

You may not recall
what the nineties sounded like,
though with this you can

Bonobo – Black Sands

Bonobos are like
chimpanzees. Black Sands is like
Sunday afternoons.

Harry Potter Part 1 Trailer Part 2

It is fitting that a book that’s become two movies should have more than one trailer for each part. Here’s another sneak peak at Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. More creepy Voldemort, more foreboding skies, more special effects. Edge of your seat stuff (and it’s only 2 minutes and 28 seconds long).

Chilling.

About an Author: Sarah Dessen

We recently-ish did a post about a Top 100 YA fiction list, in which Sarah Dessen featured strongly. So what about Sarah Dessen then? Who is she and why is she so popular? Here’s a very brief summary.

Sarah Dessen is the writer of (currently) nine novels for young adults, all of them stand-alone (which is unusual, since it seems everyone thinks you have to write series to be popular). We have them all! She studied creative writing in college (lucky her) and her first book, That Summer, was completed while she was waitressing (good job for writers: write during the day, wait at night).

Sarah Dessen fans (wittily called dessenites) love her for her realism, her focus on interpersonal relationships (the catch-all subject for fiction), and, yes, her books are a little bit romantic. Of Just Listen, possibly her most critically well received novel, one reviewer wrote, “Annabel and Owen’s finely limned connection alone gives this novel staying power”.

If you’re wanting to make a serious study of Sarah Dessen’s works then the place to go is the Literature Resource Centre. This is one of the online databases you can get at through MyGateway.info. The Literature Resource Centre is a fantastic resource: there are reviews (separated into reviews and more highbrow literary criticism), biographical articles and interviews, plus much more. Great for your NCEA reading log.

Sarah Dessen on t’internet:
Website | TwitterBlog | Facebook

Flash 6

This is the sixth collection of free games you can play on your PC or Mac or whatever. At home though, I don’t think many will work in the library. (They mightn’t all use Flash (the multimedia software), I realise, but it’s too late to rename Flash 1, Flash 2, 3, “4“, and 5).

Give Up, Robot – guide a technicolour robot through a series of obstacle courses (?). The cute little robot can swing and jump! Oh yes it can
Submachine: 32 Chambers – this won a ‘casual game’ award. It’s something you can play casually! Nice and chill.
One-Button Arthur – You only need one button to play this! (The button does a different thing on each level.) You can only click so many times in one game before you LOSE.
Colour Theory – a platformer about colour theory. That’s what I said! Colour theory!
Epic Coaster – imagine driving a roller coaster that can jump from track to track. And whenever you miss a track (lol) its passengers scream as they plummet to the ground. At last!
Super Mario Crossover – the name says it all. Enjoyable beeping music a plus, Crystal Castle fans.
Tiny Castle – another platformer, but with only one level. A massive, complex level!

That’s about all. I have enjoyed ‘researching’ this post.

Just so that you know

All Wellington public libraries will be closed over Labour Weekend – on Friday, the 22nd of October, we close at 7pm and reopen again on Tuesday, the 26th of October, at the usual time. This is so that the library’s computer system can be upgraded. Which means that the online catalogue (and most of the WCL site, actually) won’t be operating for that time also. Blogs will be working, though! (Blogs won’t be working!) Also, no one will be charged overdues for the days we’re shut.

FUN FACT: Labour Weekend originated in Wellington, when a man – nay, a hero! – kicked off the eight-hour working day movement in 1840. Before that people could be made to work all day! Blergh.

Some hot new books

Clockwork Angel, Cassandra Clare (476 pages) – the first in the Infernal Devices series and featuring a couple of characters that you know and love from Mortal Instruments, Clockwork Angel introduces the shadowhunters of Victorian London (think grey, foreboding, Sherlock Holmes-ian) where an evil someone is scheming and creating, well, infernal devices.

First sentence: The demon exploded in a shower of ichor and guts.

Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins (390 pages) – brace yourself to the conclusion of the Hunger Games. Will Katniss save Panem from the evil Capitol and President Snow? Will there be another games? Who will rise from the ashes? Can you stop yourself from skipping to the end while reading?

First sentence: I stare down at my shoes, watching as a fine layer of ash settles on the worn leather.

Thirst No. 2, Christopher Pike (581 pages) – this includes Phantom, Evil Thirst and Creatures of Forever, being books 4 to 6 of the Last Vampire series first published in the mid 1990s (so kind of school mates of The Vampire Diaries in a way). Alisa, a five thousand year old vampire, has become human, but can she reconcile her past with her future?

First sentence (Phantom): Someone knocks at the door of the Las Vegas home where I stand.

One Night That Changes Everything, Lauren Barnholdt (242 pages) – Eliza’s ex-boyfriend Cooper has stolen her notebook in which she writes about everything she wants but is too afraid to do, and now he and his friends are blackmailing her, giving her one night to perform all the tasks listed in the notebook, or they’ll publish. So Eliza gets the gloves out.

First sentence: I lose everything.

Sisters Red, Jackson Pearce (344 pages) – this one has good reviews! The story of Scarlett and Rosie, who hunt the werewolves who are killing the young girls of their town. Indeed, werewolves are responsible for killing their grandmother and leaving Scarlett with terrible scars, so fair enough. Silas, an axe-wielding woodsman, helps them, and maybe causes some complications in their tight relationship. Cool cover.

First sentence: Strangers never walk down this road, the sisters thought in unison as the man trudged towards them.

I Know It’s Over, C K Kelly Martin (244 pages) – the story of Nick, who must come to terms with the news that the girl he’s just broken up with, Sasha, is pregnant. One reviewer says, “teen boys will especially applaud this portrayal of a devastated and conflicted young man who makes the right decisions, but still finds that his mistakes have repercussions”.

First sentence: The first time Sasha lay spread across my bed, I felt like the world had changed.

Bone by Bone by Bone, Tony Johnston (184 pages) – Set in Tennessee in 1950. David is living up to his father’s wishes to become a doctor, but his friendship with a black boy called Malcolm doesn’t please his father at all. So when his father’s assertion that he will kill Malcolm if he comes into the house is tested by the boys he pulls out his shotgun. Ellipsis.

First sentence: The ghost possessed the liveliest eyes I had ever seen.

Rules of Attraction, Simone Elkeles (324 pages) – written by the author of Perfect ChemistryRules of Attraction follows the story of Alex’s brother Carlos. Alex forces Carlos to come and live with him in Boulder, Colorado, away from his Mexican gang. So Carlos ends up in the home of one of Alex’s professors, in close proximity to the professor’s daughter, Kiara.

First sentence: I want to live life on my own terms.

Five Minutes More, Darlene Ryan (212 pages) – D’Arcy’s dad told her that everyone can survive for five minutes more, so when he dies in a car crash she hopes it was an accident. D’Arcy struggles to cope with his loss, with the help of her maths tutor, Seth, but Seth’s own issues surface and complicate things more.

First sentence: I play the Five Minutes More game.

Summer: Beautiful Dead, Eden Maguire (274 pages) – following from Jonas and Arizona. Darina turns her attention to the murder of Summer Madison, a singer-songwriter, posing as her agent in order to track down her killer.

First sentence: Who decides what’s normal and what’s not?

Fifteen Minute Bob, Catherine Forde (244 pages) – Rory’s life gets turned upside down when his struggling muso father releases a music viral with two musician friends.

First sentence: Imagine this, okay?: It’s your Sixth Form Parents’ Night.

Secrets of my Hollywood Life, Jen Calonita (242 pages) – the cover says, “At last… What it’s really like to be a celebrity ‘It’ girl.” Kaitlin is a 16 year old actress who just wants to be normal, so she assumes a secret identity and enrolls in the local high school. So, exclusive academies in reverse.

First sentence: I’m going to let you in on a little Hollywood Secret: movie stars don’t always get along.

Also briefly:

Soft Targets, Harry Edge – book one of Kite Identity

Bright Angel, Isabelle Merlin – from the author of Three Wishes, Pop Princess and Cupid’s Arrow

Haiku Review: Volume Two

jack johnson en concert

Jack Johnson – En Concert

Jack brings his guitar
around the world, along with
a tape recorder.

pitbull

Pitbull – The Boatlift

A man names himself
after a breed of dog and
raps about strippers.

gaslight anthem

The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang

Four guys who enjoy
Springsteen make alt-punk music
and put out record.

american idol

American Idol : Season Nine

Did you watch the ninth
season of Idol? No, well
here is a recap.

beirut

Beirut – Lon Gisland

Can’t think of a thing
to say about this one. So
I apologise.

scouting for girls

Scouting For Girls – Everybody Wants To Be On TV

Everybody
Wants To Be On TV is
by Scouting For Girls.

opshop

Opshop – Until The End Of Time

I heard the singer
has a bunker in his yard
like Ned Flanders does.

If you like voting, vote here

While New Zealand is getting all excited about voting for mayors and whatnot (if you’re 18 or over then don’t forget to vote by October 9!), here are a couple of places you can exercise your right by voting in the following competitions/vote offs/popularity contests:

1) Until the 17th (was a bit slow out of the blocks) you can vote on the ALA (American Library Association) Teen Choice Teens Top 10 2010 List. Voting is for the best books of the previous year, so titles include such gems as Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, City of Glass by Cassandra Clare, Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, and much more.

2) And again, if you vote, like, today (sorry!), there are the Teen Reads Awards. These are Canadian, and they’re a bit like the Teen Choice awards you see on TV. Categories include Best Hottie, Best Villain and Best Lip Lock, see.

We might check back in later with results, in case you’re interested.

Parkour

It’s  been an age since we linked to some parkour/freerunning videos. So we must remedy that! Watch this video and marvel as gravity is defied.

Do you like this? Go to the NZ Parkour Association website!

ETA: some more on parkour, here’s a summary of Chase Armitage (professional free runner (which you can be)) and his talents.

The window is the best bit.

First Day

First Day : The Series is a webseries that will have eight episodes (or webisodes!), and is about a high school student who gets to relive her first day at a new school over and over, like Groundhog Day. It is brought to you by the same company who produce the Pretty Little Liars and Gossip Girl television shows, so quality is assured.

Bandcamp And BARB

Hello, I’ll get to the new CDs later in the week, for now I just wanted to tell you about a site called bandcamp (watch the intro video, it explains the site better than I could possibly hope to). A lot of newer bands and artists have started to use it as a platform to release music over the past couple of blog years. Searching the tags is a great way to discover new bands and a lot of them are giving away mp3s and sometimes entire albums away for free. Free! Once you’ve found something cool it’s very easy to share on facebook, blogs etc. here is a song by Liam Finn and Connan Mockasin’s new band BARB

Incidentally, BARB is one of the new CDs on the shelf. If you enjoyed the track above, why not get the full album out from the library? Hmmm? It’s very good.