Three young people are needed for the 2011 Wellington City Youth Council. Could you be one of them? Read about it and apply here.
Author: Simon Page 2 of 15
Do you have an iGoogle homepage? Sure you do! There’s now an official Wellington City Libraries Catalogue search gadget you can add to your homepage that will effortlessly allow you to find whatever you’re looking for. Get it here (and give us feedback about it why don’t you).
The Superbowl – America’s premier lawn bowls championship playoff thing – was yesterday, and during the ads many new film trailers were screened for films that we can not wait to see! (And subsequently stock in the library, of course.)
Here, we’ve embedded some. The first two are superheroes; Captain America and Thor. I suspect they’re leading up to the eventual Avengers film (this won’t make any sense to anyone not familiar with Marvel comics).
Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Seas, the fourth film in the series based on a theme park ride, has a new trailer. Pirates! Zombies! The usual! No Jack Davenport though! :`(
Here’s one for a film called Super 8 which is maybe about aliens? I’ve not done much research.
Transformers : Dark Side of the Moon has a new trailer! (Hopefully it is better than the last one, frankly.)
Battle LA seems to be a mixture of the last two films, in so far as mass destruction by aliens goes. Which is all the way to the bank!
Cowboys & Aliens. Sure, why not? The title is pretty literal. It is what it says on the label.
The End.
There’s another competition that anyone in the world can enter. Are you a Twilight Superfan? Can you prove your superfandom somehow? Because if you can you and ten others could get to meet and spend time with Stephenie Meyer. Where and for how long I do not know! Presumably it will be somewhere cool (a castle! a cruise ship!) and for just long enough (but not so long that conversation dries up).
Good luck, Superfans!
Google is running a Global Science Fair for teens. As it is global, anyone in the world can enter. Even a NZer. Especially a NZer, since we’re quite good at innovation and science. Entrants (i.e. everyone reading this I hope*) need to be between the ages of 13 and 18, and can work solo or in groups of up to three. You enter it online obviously!
*The prizes are beyond awesome. They are actually epic. Guys you need to win this.
Fans of the film Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus (the library’s copies have become popular so therefore it has fans I guess) will be thrilled to learn that a sequel is imminent! It is called Mega Shark Vs. Crocosaurus, and the trailer is below. Something to look forward to.
It is true! This only makes sense if you’re a Vampire Diaries fan, actually.
Cover to Cover is Kerikeri High School’s library blog, and it has loads of content! Loads of excellent content that we wish we had (and maybe will have soon, haha). Anyway, do take a look!
BreakOut is a database of “scholarships for school, polytechnic or travel grants; sports and arts schemes; personal grants; personal development funds; and academic and non-academic funding” (that covers everything I guess!) for New Zealanders, young and old. You can access it (and loads of other databases) through mygateway.info, provided you have a library card.
Hi! Here are some new books.
Bait, by Alex Sanchez (239 pages) – Sixteen-year-old Diego is in trouble with the law, and has a deeply troubled past. His probabation officer, Mr. Vidas, is able to bust through Diego’s shell and help him out and ‘navigate his rocky passage to maturity.’
First line: ‘“This is Mr. Vodas,” explained Diego’s court-appointed attorney as they headed into juvenile court.‘
Wolf Squadron : Special Operations, by Craig Simpson (318 pages) – Secret agents Finn, Loki, and Freya must head into enemy territory to rescue downed aircrew, Wolf Squadron, and a British double agent. Finn & Co. have escaped from Nazi-occupied Norway and now work for Special Operations, a secret agency led by old Winston Churchill himself.
First line: ‘“Stop it! Leave hinm be, you two. Can’t you see you’re frightening him?” Freya reached out and grasped my arm.‘
Wayfarer, by R. J. Anderson (296 pages) – Linden is a teenaged faerie whose people – the Faeries of the Oak – are endangered. She has the last of her people’s magic, and with human Timothy, must save the humans and the faeries from a potent and ancient eeeeevil.
First lines: ‘The Queen is dying. The knowledge sat in Linden’s belly like a cold stone as she hunched over the tub of greasy water, scrubbing her thirty-ninth plate.‘
Other, by Karen Kincy (326 pages) – Gwen is an ‘Other’, in that she belongs to the barely-tolerated group of vampires, centaurs, and other mythical creatures. In her small town, however, Others are not tolerated at all, and when they start turning up dead she – and a sexy guy/Japanese fox spirit – must find the killer.
First lines: ‘I can’t last much longer. It’s been on week, three days, and I forget how many hours.‘
Leftovers, by Heather Waldorf (198 pages) – When Sarah’s abusive father choked to death on a piece of steak, it was the best day of her life. Shortly afterwards, after a brush with the law, she ends up doing community service at a camp for shelter dogs. There she meets Judy (a dog) and Sullivan (a human).
First lines: ‘Ah, summer. Lazy mornings in bed, flipping through back issues of People and munching on chocolate chip waffles.‘
Marrying Ameera, by Rosanne Hawke (292 pages) – Seventeen-year-old Ameera Hassan is falling for her best friend’s brother, Tariq. Her traditionalist father learns of this and send her to Pakistan, to get married to some guy she’s not met. Desperate to leave, she makes a bid for freedom.
First line: ‘“Ameera!” I head my name and then the single toot; Riaz was in his car already.‘
Graffiti Moon, by Cath Crowley (264 pages) – Lucy is desperate to find the graffiti artist, Shadow, whose secretive nature means no one know who he is (a la Banksy). Some guy named Ed, who Lucy doesn’t want to see, says that he knows where to find him, and he takes her on ‘an all-night search to places where Shadow’s thoughts about heartbreak and escape echo around the city walls.‘
First lines: ‘I pedal fast. Down Rose Drive where houses swim in pools of orange streetlight.‘
Split, by Stefan Petrucha (257 pages) – After his mother’s death, Wade can not decide whether to become a musician or a scholar. So he splits his mind into two and becomes both. But soon these two worlds begin to collide, and Wade will need to ‘save himself’.
First line: ‘I’m staring at Mom’s face, a face I’ve seen at least as often as the sun or the moon, only something’s gone from it now.‘
Witch Breed, by Alan Gibbons (311 pages) – Book four in the aptly titled Hell’s Underground series, about the demonic entity under London. In this volume, Paul travels to the 1700s when it was an especially rough time for women accused of witchcraft.
First lines: ‘‘Tell me you will never forget me.’ The quill pen falters on the page.‘
Moment of Truth : The Laws of Magic Book 5, by Michael Pryor (442 pages) – I will quote a comment from Gill when we wrote about the fourth book in this series: ‘Laws of Magic is a wild steampunk fantasy adventure with nice touches of humour and even romance. It’s a world like ours just before WW1 but with magic. Lots of spying and plots and assassinations and misunderstandings. The main characters, Aubrey Fitzwilliam, is the son of the prime minister and he’s also sort of dead thanks to a magical experiment gone wrong. He’s involved with his friends in adventures. Great books!’
First lines: ‘Aubrey Fitzwilliam was on a mission. Determined, unwavering, purposeful, he would not be diverted from his goal, especially since spring was in the air.‘
Operation Ocean Emerald : A Luke Baron Adventure, by Ilkka Remes (307 pages) – Fourteen-year-old Luke Baron sneaks aboard the luxurious cruise ship, The Ocean Emerald, and encounters a criminal gang who have captured the ship. Only he can escape and save everyone. The cover (ominously!) features an exploding cruise liner!
First line: ‘Luke was looking at the computer games and didn’t notice a thing when Toni slipped the DVD into his shoulder bag.‘
And this week’s magazines:
Transworld Skateboarding October 2010 – Skateboarding | skateboarding | skateboarding! | skateboarding? | shoes
Dolly October 2010 – What to do when your friends ditch you | Bonus! Quiz book inside | Denim again, but with polka dots?!
Entertainment Weekly #1122 – Modern Family | Reviews, and more
Justin Bieber has written an autobiography! Is there nothing he can’t turn his hand to? We will get it at the library, but it might be a while. (System upgrade, you see.)
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.
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.
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 : 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.
Library Week is coming up, and they are running a graphic novel competition. There are two age groupings! One for teens, and one for adults. You only need to add four frames to the continuing story to enter, and it begins on Monday, the 26th (and finishes on the 20th of August, during Library Week).
There are other competitions you can enter as well.
Two weeks ago we posted a weird, black and white square and asked that you figure it out. Only two people did! That’s no good. It was, in fact, a QR code, which you photograph with your cellphone. Your phone cleverly translates it into an URL and takes you to a webpage. It’s big in Japan you know. Here’s how you do it.
1. Make sure your cellphone is able to even do it! Look at this list or even just google your phone’s brand and ‘QR code’. If your cellphone can’t do it, then, I guess that’s too bad.
2. Find some compatible software to download to your cellphone. Not all software will work on all phones. Again, check sites like this one.
3. Install the software. Hopefully your phone will know what to do. Mine did. <3
4. Start the application, take a photo of a QR code*, and be amazed.
Charges may apply. See your cellular phone provider for more details! (Usually it’s about $1 for 10MB.)
*You might find them in books, or magazines, or who knows where. Billboards? You can make your own QR code.
Landcare Research would like your help for the 2010 Garden Bird Survey. It takes an hour, and all you need to do is count the different bird species you see in your backyard, school, park, garden, or meadow (I think that covers it). It’s been going on for a few years now, and the results are used to find out if common bird populations are increasing or decreasing. SO if you want to do it you can go to this webpage and download an identification flyer with a recording form. Will house sparrows win for the fourth year running? Will silvereyes make a late resurgence?
Smart Girls at the Party is a digital TV series in which Amy Poehler interviews girls who do really cool stuff (the latest has someone who makes robots! And also is an archer). It’s won a Webby! And it is also very funny. And inspiring. You should watch it (the second series has just begun).
