G’day from Aussieland!

by Kim

G’day to you all (y’all??) from Australia.

It’s currently…6:42 AM…on a wonderful Wednesday here in Sydney, Australia.

In Iowa, it should be about 1:42 on a Tuesday…It’s probably about 20 degrees, right? Well, I think it’s in the 60s right now. Lemme check. Yep, 63 degrees!

So, you might be wondering, “why is Kim in Australia?” well, the answer to your question is…”I dunno.”

actually, I do know. but that doesn’t matter.

So, you might be wondering, “what has Kim done while she’s in Australia?”

well, the answer to that question is, “I’ve bought a hat, and some postcards. I’ve also emailed people, rode on the AMAZING subway, taken the ferry around the Sydney area, eaten some pretty good food, taken a LOT of pictures, taken the bus to go around for two hours looking at local sites that are of some interest…seen/been to the Sydney Opera House (which is huge, and not as white as it really seems in pictures), been to the botanical gardens, taken a lot of pictures of several beaches (I wish we had beaches in Iowa…*sigh*), etc.”

“I also went shopping (not really), and then went to the Chinatown and ate food.” OH, and I almost forgot, I listened to some AWESOME Australian accents.

I’ll post more about my great trip later, but I hope all of you aren’t freezing in Iowa!

Video Games?!

by Brian

Boom Blox screenshot

Books? Pshaw! Video games are where it’s at, and we’re going to have video games to check out at the library. Starting Thursday, December 4 the library will have Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii games available for one-week checkout. There’s a limit of two per patron. They’re going to be shelved by the oversized CDs, which is by the regular CDs. Come and bask in the future!

Books?!

by jason

Yes, sometimes we also read stuff…in between watching tv and movies. So what do we want to read now? Well I’ve got a small pile goin’ with the following included :

What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell. This is a historical thriller that I thought looked hokey but it just won the National Book Award for “Young Peoples Literature” (love that category title) so it is probably better than the cover lets on.

Cover art

Nation by Terry Pratchett. Not a Tiffany Aching book (sad, though I think I read he says he’s going to do one more!) but looks good. People trapped on an island in a post-apocalyptic world, and if I know Terry Pratchett it will also include hilarity amongst the social commentary. 

And last comes Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. I resisted this book as long as I can, it just seems like everyone wants me to like this and I’m determined not to. But then I thought, “hmm maybe I’m just being weird”…and then I ate a banana.

Y’all dying to know….Did Amber like Twilight?

by amber
Bella and Edward jump through trees

Bella and Edward jump through trees

YES I DID!

Now, I know that is not really a surprise since I like everything, but even if I didn’t like everything, I think I would like this movie. Seriously! I know it is getting so-so reviews and has a lot to live up to in reader expectations, but I thought Twilight-the-Movie delivered what it promised: an obsessive romance between an awkward girl and a vampire. Here is a list of what I liked about it:
1. Kristin Stewart is PERFECT as Bella.
2. Jasper’s Hair makes me giggle.
3. Alice is adorable.
4. Charlie and Billy are also adorable.
5. The high school gang totally hams it up which really emphasizes their cluelessness.
6. The cold, shadowy look to the entire town of Forks.
7. The bad vampires totally freaked me out, but I still couldn’t help thinking “wow, they are cool (in an evil way)”
8. The baseball game in the forest was the most entertaining baseball game I’ve seen since the 2001 Little League World Series.
9. The kissing scene took my breath away for like twenty minutes.
10. Edward.
11. Edward’s eyes.

But here’s the thing: I’m not sure if people who haven’t read the book will get it. I’m not referring to the plot, but the overall feeling of the story. I loved watching the movie with a room full of girls all laughing at the sly looks Edward gives Bella, at the awkward conversations between Bella and Charlie, and gasping when James and the gang entered the clearing. Some people have claimed overacting–but it is SUPPOSED to be overacted–hellllllo vampire romance!!! it can either be creepy or campy, and like the book, the movie chooses campy. Not ridiculous campy, but just slight little goofy moments that remind you that love is dramatic but not always serious. I worry that people who haven’t read the series will go into the movie thinking that they shouldn’t laugh at the ridiculous face Edward makes when he first smells Bella in Biology class–but almost everyone in the audience of Theater 3’s midnight showing laughed and cheered and hissed throughout the entire movie. It was wonderful. I can honestly say that this is one of the few book to movie adaptations that I feel equals the book. So here is my advice:
if you haven’t read the book: it is ok to laugh at the movie
if you read the book and wished you didn’t: go see Bolt
if you like the book: bring along your friends who also liked the book
if you are obsessed with the book: see “if you like the book”
if you are obsessed with the book and you never like book to movie adaptations: go see Bolt.

Read it Watch it

by amber

So Twilight ain’t the only movie based on a book coming to theaters soon–here are some others:


Sooooo excited for this one–his little big ears are just adorable! And Emma Watson has the perfect princess voice. Although, hearing Matthew Broderick’s voice coming from an animated creature kept me looking around going “Where is adult Simba?”


Haven’t read this book yet, but always wanted to! Although, chances are this is one of those movies that I will see and then never read the book…


Love love love Britishy girl movies (Bridget Jones’ Diary–one of my fave fave fave movies of all time). But excuse me, where is Jas’ fringe????


I have not read these books and I think the trailer looks horrible. My friend, Lindsay, loves the books and she thinks the trailer looks horrible. Yesterday I saw a commercial saying that this movie was going straight to DVD. However, could be so bad its good, right?


I haven’t read The Watchmen and don’t know anything about it except that it is superhero-ish–but this movie looks crazy good. I was entranced by the trailer.


I had no interest to read this book–it seemed like a mean-spirited downer, but the movie looks kinda good. Ginnifer Goodwin’s part looked adorable!

Oh gosh, and then there are tons of others! Inkheart, Confession of a Shopaholic, Angels and Demons, oooh and I haven’t seen trailers yet but I am so excited for Where the Wild Things Are and The Fantastic Mr. Fox! It seems that children classics, girly novels and boyish comic books are most likely to be made into movies, anyone else feel that way???

Have you bought your movie ticket to Twilight yet?

by amber

Movie Poster for TwilightMidnight showings on Thursday Night (Friday Morning) at both Coralridge Mall and Sycamore Mall. You can buy them online, but I suggest just picking them up in person (I think you save a few dollars due to online fees).

see you there!!!

P.S. which snacks are appropriate for a Twilight viewing?
A Big Gulp full of Red Mountain Dew?
Butterscotch candies?
Dark Chocolate?
Sour-Patch Kids?

Word Cloud Fun!

by jill

Want to create something cool with words?  Go to wordle.net and create awesome word clouds by inputting text of your choice!  Unsure what word clouds are?  Lucky for you I’ve created an uber-amazing example featuring our favorite book series that has a movie release next week(!!!)….

This website is so much fun!  You can change the font style, layout, and color scheme of your word cloud.  You could spend hours playing with all of it.  (And I probably have.)  So go try it, and don’t forget to show off your awesome wordle designs!

New Harry Potter 6 Trailer!!

by Kim

Hey, everyone, there’s a brand new Harry Potter trailer!!! Hope you enjoy it.

http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/show/1973

Hermione’s hair. . .is very interesting.

Ron. . .umm, what does Romilda Vane even LOOK like? Or is that the girl who: “She’s only interested in you because she thinks your the Chosen One?” Is that her?

Dumbledore. . . seems to be less aggressive than usual. Odd.

Who does the narration voice? I mean, doesn’t it seem to be the same person for like, every trailer?

And does anyone else think that it’s ironic that they put: “Coming Soon”? Oh, yes, because 244 days is sooooooo close to this day.

VLOG: 3 Awesome Things from Nashville!

by amber

Hey Y’all!

Jill and I just got from Nashville and our weekend of awesomeness–an awesomeness so overwhelming that we felt we could only best express it in person via a video blog. Enjoy.

Marnie Stern kicks your behind

by jason

I’ve been listening to this song “Transformer” from Marnie Stern for the last couple days and it is rocking my brainbox. She uses a very distinctive guitar technique of two-handed tapping (much like old Van Halen stuff) which rarely sounds good to me, but here I am finding it is melting my face with awesome.

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