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

Tag: Subtext

Week Six Theme: DVDs

subtext logoHello out there. You’ll be pleased to know that the theme for the final week of SubText 08 is DVDs. Nice and easy.

So, this means you get not one but two entries into the weekly draw (and the final draw for the iPod) if you send us a review of a DVD you’ve watched recently from the library’s collection. This week is your last chance to enter (before 12pm Friday 29 August), so don’t forget!

We will also have the weekly SubText quiz* ready for you to do on Monday (doing that (and getting it 100% right) will also give you a chance to win), so brush up on your movie general knowledge.

Cheers.

* Next month we’ll publish all the answers, so trivial mysteries will be revealed in due course.

Reviews of the Week 4 & 5

Waiting for the Weekend : Vol 2
Various artists

Contains many cruisy songs that are great (as the cover suggests) for the weekend. Relaxing songs you can just shill out to as it contains a range of recent famous singers, usually played on the radio. Suprisingly I found, they were mainly male artists which was a shame because as a female, it’s nice to hear some female artists too. Didn’t know that many songs when I looked at the playlist at the back but it was ok.

~ Jessica (17)

Pegasus in Space, by Anne McCaffrey

This story was a really good read and I am giving it 5 stars. This story revolves arround Peter, a Kinetic who is also a Paraplegic. At the beginning of the book he moved his body with Kinesis and by the end he could walk normally thank to a Micro-Talent Amariayah. I recommend anyone to read this book.

~ Zach (15)

Review of the Week 3

This isn’t a review of a CD but it’s topical nonetheless!

Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer

This is an amazing author, she knows exactly what people want from a book and she gives it, and more! Her books are about romance. And not the kind of puppy love that you get in high school and can’t even remember the name of when you’re older. This is the kind of love that exists until the end of time, that renders both parties useless and unable to survive without the other. Everyone who I have talked to has read this book and absolutely loved it, because it’s not just about vampires that only fantasy lovers read. This is a book everyone loves because although it’s about the supernatural it’s so completely human that it makes you want to cry. This is a truly amazing end to a mystical, magical spell-binding series about true love that conquers everything.

~ Alex (15)

Review of the Week 1

It’s that time again… we got some interesting reviews again this week (keep sending them in). Here’s one that grabbed our attention:

Machina: the machines of God
The Smashing Pumpkins

Machina is a rock album with soul. The lyrics to all the songs are deep and meaningful, and the band experiments with a range of different instruments to support Billy Corgan’s signature (almost whiny) voice.

Without damaging the album’s flow, The Pumpkins explore various music genres. ‘The Everlasting Gaze’ has a relatively fast pace, and a hard edge to it, whereas ‘I of the Mourning’ (one of my favourite tracks) is slower and softer. Billy Corgan’s vocals range from heartless to heartbroken … he has complete control over the amount of emotion he expresses in his voice.

Overall, Machina is a brilliant album, but it just doesn’t compare to Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (another of The Smashing Pumpkins’ albums). Still, I would DEFINITELY recommend it.

~ Mereana, 13

Week three theme: Music/CDS

Next week’s theme for reviews is music and CDs. Send us in a review of a CD and you will get a bonus chance to win a prize or two.

There is also a new quiz! It asks tough questions about music and musicians. It is the Kim Hill of music quizzes. Here it is!

(Don’t forget that you can still do the first two quizzes if you haven’t already.)

One weekly winner wins

All the entries for this week’s SubText08 draw were crammed in a very well-made (if I do say so myself) box and drawn by Children and Young Person Specialist and fashion icon, Ella, and special guest star, Zac Efron. The winner is Melissa, who has won a $40 book voucher.

Congratulations!

SubText08 Quiz #1 – Graphic Novels

The first of the SubText08 quizzes is available here. The theme is Graphic Novels. You have until the 29th of August to complete it, so don’t hurry – some of the questions are quite tough and may require a little research! Please make sure you’ve registered before you submit your answers.

SubText08 …. again

Don’t forget that registration for SubText08 is open! You will need to have registered to win prizes – these are drawn weekly once it begins.

Also! The Get off Yer Art! competition at Kilbirnie library is already taking entries. You’re on holiday now and it’s cold outside; what better time to explore your inner artiste?

More details about SubText08 are available at this here.

SUBTEXT08 – Kilbirnie

Here’s the information about Kilbirnie’s SubText08. Start working on your entry now!

GET OFF YER ART

Be a ‘darling’ of the art world for a night! Ruth Gotlieb Library, Kilbirnie, is staging its very own art competition with a grand gallery opening on Friday 22nd Aug 2008, 6-8pm.

There’s no theme for the art and your work can be in any media; painting, sketching, photography, sculpture or textiles…let your imagination run wild. Or if you’ve got a piece already that you’re extremely proud of, enter that!

Don’t forget to invite friends and family, this is about showing off how talented you are and basking in the glory! There will be live music and refreshments not to mention master classes and demonstrations by local guest artists ranging from fashion sketching to life drawing…Come and be inspired!

The boring but essential small print: This competition is open to teens aged 13-17 (registered Subtext entrants or not). Artwork should be delivered to Kilbirnie Library at any point between 1st July and 18th August, with your name, contact phone number and age attached. Winners will be announced on the evening of the gallery opening and there will be one overall winner to whom will be awarded an awesome mystery prize. Judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Not just books

Some libraries in Los Angeles are having gaming nights – Guitar Hero, Wii Sports, and other console games. While we don’t have anything like that here – yet! – there will be a gaming night during this year’s SubText08. Wicked.

 We do stock some good gaming mags in the teens collection; they often come with demo discs. Playstation mag, XBox 360, and Total Gamer.

SUBTXT review #1

Each week we will publish one of the reviews from last year’s SUBTXT reading programme. We received many, many excellent reviews – so many that we can post one weekly for several years to come!

 Sense and SensibilitySense And Sensibility
Jane Austen
373 pages

Theme: It’s basically a classic, old version of what they call ‘chick lit’, so it’s based around romance and scandal. The story starts when the Dashwood family are left wothout money when Mr. Dashwood, their husband and father, dies and leaves the entire family estate to his son from his first marriage who, influenced by his wife, takes basically all of it for himself. The Dashwood family move to a cottage on another relative’s property … 

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