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Teen Blog

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

Month: August 2008

Good news, everyone

Stephenie Meyer’s latest book in her Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, sold so many copies when it was released in England over the weekend that booksellers are comparing it to the Harry Potter books. I’m not sure how well it sold in NZ, but judging from the number of reserves it is very popular. So popular that we’re purchasing more copies of all the Twilight books – if you’re in the reserve queue your copy should arrive a bit sooner now.

Reserve Breaking Dawn here. The rest of the series can be found in this earlier post.

Make it work

Fashion 101 : A Crash Course in Clothing, by Erika  Stalder – This mighty fine book contains over 300 illustrated wardrobe items in alphabetical order, from a-line dresses, clam diggers and palazzo pants to pouchettes, riding boots and madras shorts. Each entry explains the item’s history, its place in fashion, and even provides an illustration on what the item of clothing should look worn. Fabrics, patterns, cuffs and sleeves and many sartorial terms are all explained in detail. An excerpt is available online.

See also these items held by the library:
Tease : 50 Inspired T-shirt Transformations by Superstars of Art, Craft & Design
I Wanna Make My Own Clothes, by Clea Hantman
Teen Vogue magazine (website)
Design, Cut and Shape, by Hazel King

More info about NZ fashion can be found at the Runway Reporter website.

Men in tights

man in tightsExcitement: we now have the complete series one and two of Robin Hood in the Young Adult DVD collection for your viewing pleasure. All swashbuckling fun, gripping action and witty one-liners, we know you’ll love it … and for the bargain basement price of 50 cents each (on a YA card) you can’t really say no, can you? I was going to describe the series to you, but the blurbs on the DVD cases are so entertaining…

Series One:
Robin of Locksley heads home from the Crusades to find his people starving and brutalised under the tyrannical rule of the new sheriff. Robin quickly discovers that the only way to reason with this Sheriff is with bow and arrow – even if it means sacrificing his title and his lands and consigning himself to life in the forest.

Series Two:
In the second series of Robin Hood the stakes are now much higher. The fight is for the very soul of England as the Sheriff of Nottingham and his sadistic lieutenant, Guy of Gisborne, hatch a scheme to assassinate King Richard and put Prince John on the throne. With a traitor in the gang, Maid Marion remaining in the castle as a spy, and Prince John threatening to raze Nottingham to the ground if the Sheriff is killed, the odds are stacked against Robin and his men. Only through bravery, breathtaking archery and swordplay, as well as more outrageous scams, disguises and tricks, can the band of brothers hope to save the king and the country…

I love that last sentence. It really does sum it up perfectly.

New CDs and New DVDs

We have a handful of new CDs and a few new DVDs. The CDs are … 

» Ms. Kelly – Kelly Rowland. This album by the second-best Destiny’s Child was actually released last year, but a newer, digitally remastered version was re-leased this year. This isn’t that version.
» Seeing Sounds – N.E.R.D. This is their third album, and probably their best. N.E.R.D is an acronym for ‘No-one Ever Really Dies’, and band member, Pharrell Williams, is vastly talented.
» The Day Has Come – Cheyenne Kimball. This album is a couple of years old, to be honest. Kimball had her own MTV reality series for a while.

And now for the new DVDs!

» Doctor Who : The Infinite Quest. A feature-length animated version of the Doctor Who animated series, which I don’t think has ever screened in NZ.
» Indiana Jones : The Adventure Collection. This is all of the first three Indiana Jones films in one boxed set. It is packed with special features.
» The Simpsons Classics : The Last Temptation of Homer, Bart Wars (The Simpsons Strike Back), Springfield Murder Mysteries, and The Simpsons go to Hollywood. Each of these compilations has four episodes of The Simpsons from when it was funniest (in my opinion, anyway). 

Enzed Live lives

Enzed Live is a very new social networking site (like Bebo or Facebook) for New Zealanders. It was created by a 17-year-old kiwi from Auckland, Anjileen Daji, who says, “I wanted a place where New Zealanders could hang out online and have a good time. There are other social networks out there but none that really cater to the needs of us kiwis. I’ve been interested in web design since a pretty young age, and thought this would be an awesome opportunity to do something I love while giving back to the community at the same time.”

Enzed Live is free to use to anyone over the age of 13.

Fush and chups

Can you guess where their accents are from? This is a (pretty tough) flash game where you have to guess the speaker’s nationality – and their city – from their accent. I can mostly tell which part of the U.S. someone is from by listening to them talk (I blame years of American television), but some of the European accents are very difficult to identify.

You should be able to spot the New Zealander – but can you tell which city she’s from?

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.)

SubText Event tonight at Karori

Don’t forget that tonight at Karori library is the annual SubText games night. It starts at 6pm, and there will be lots to do and food to eat. The library will be closed to the public so you will have the place to yourselves. At last – an opportunity to run around and eat junk food in a library! A dream fulfilled for many of us.

Interesting facts about Karori; the name possibly comes from a Maori word relating to ‘snare’, or trap. Karori became part of Wellington in 1920, and has one of the largest cemeteries in New Zealand.

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