March 23, 2012 Hunger Games hits the Theaters

Have you heard the news yet on who’s been cast for the movie version of The Hunger Games?

Here  are some  pictures from IGN Entertainment  (please remember our disclaimer – you will no longer be on the PPS L/TC website when you click on the link, and we’re not responsible for the content there)

New on the PPS shelves…

Dying to find out what happens to Thomas from Maze Runner?  We just got two copies of the third and final book in the series, The Death Cure.  Coming soon to a library shelf near you!

 

 

Attention eighth graders!

This is just to check and see if you’re following me on your RSS reader.  The first four eighth graders to read this post and come to me with the secret password (shhhhh! – it’s Hambleton’s Round-O) will win a sweet treat!

At last – date announced for last book in Paolini’s “Inheritance Cycle”

According to Publishers’ Weekly, “More than a decade in the making, Christopher Paolini’s bestselling Inheritance Cycle draws to a close this fall with the publication of the fourth and final book, Inheritance, which Knopf Books for Young Readers will publish on November 8. Random House has announced a 2.5 million–copy first printing for the book. “The burning questions asked by fans around the world will finally be answered in this last installment,” said Paolini in a statement about the new book. “All will be revealed!”

Honda – The Cog (Eat your heart out, Rube!)

Another favorite Rube Goldberg-type video – all done with pieces of a Honda Accord – again, I’m not advertising for them, I just think this is a way cool piece of video.

Honda – The Cog, posted with vodpod

One of my favorite, most colorful ads

While I’m posting my all-time favorite videos… those of you that know me know that I’m not a huge TV fan, so I’m not really advertising this Sony TV – I just think this is a brilliant work of video art. Jose Gonzales’s music is perfect, too!

Sony BRAVIA – Balls (Hi-Res), posted with vodpod

OK Go – This Too Shall Pass – Rube Goldberg Machine version – Official

My understanding is that one of these guys has a sister who is a choreographer, which is how they got started on their videos – in this one, they’ve abandoned their dance routines for an amazing Rube Goldberg-ian contraption – watch for the surprise ending!

OK Go – This Too Shall Pass – Rube Goldberg Mac…, posted with vodpod

 

2nd Grade Bird Banding Adventures

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Latest “Wee Free Men” book is here

I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Terry Pratchett is a genius! This book is the fourth in the Tiffany Aching Adventures, and my favorite so far, I think. Tiffany is a sixteen-year-old witch, self-assured and very wise beyond her years, yet still down to earth (or, in her case, chalk) and still sixteen. She is once again joined by her small, blue, kilted, ale-drinking, fist-fighting, hygienically challenged, oft-invisible clan of Nac Mac Feegles who provide the story’s comic relief. Her nemesis this time is the Cunning Man–the pure, stinking essence of evil left eons ago when a witch-burning fanatic was drawn into the flames himself by one of his young victims. Tiffany realizes that a bit of him exists in all of us as the seed of doubt, fear and xenophobia that can grow into hatred, prejudice and mob violence all too easily. She finds herself facing off against him at a time of change and transition; the old Baron has died peacefully, just a few days before his son, Roland, is to be married. Several of Tiffany’s witch sisters arrive for the occasion including Mistress Weatherwax, her severe but ultimately caring mentor, and the bawdy Nanny Ogg (who most willingly fills the bride-to-be in on some wedding night secrets and advice, wink-wink nudge-nudge). As usual, Pratchett had me in alternating tears of hilarity and tenderness and empathy. And, as always, the book ends with the reader feeling a cathartic cleansing, and the sense that Tiffany Aching is in her place, doing her job the best she knows how, and all is right with the world.

Click here if you would like to watch a talk by Terry Pratchett at Barnes and Noble.

“The Shallows” – food for thought

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas G. Carr

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don’t give 5 stars lightly, but this book was absolutely fascinating – to me, at least. Though, as I read passages, I kept thinking of yet another person who ought to read it. Carr (and the book) have been getting a lot of “air play” lately – blogs, NPR, etc., and chapters and snippets of the book have appeared several places (the snippet-ization being another result of the internet that he discusses). Lots of readable, distilled scientific info about current thinking on how the brain works (adult brain much more plastic than previously thought) and possible implications for our new information MO – browse and scan – what else are we to do when faced with the massive amounts of info now available to all? The tone is not that of a Cassandra nor Henny Penny, nor is it holier-than-thou; Carr quite self-admittedly is as much of an Internet addict as any of us. He does a really nice job of sketching out the history and the effects of the printing press on our thought processes as well. The change is happening — Carr simply invites us to be cognizant of that fact and to consider the implications, rather than just letting it happen to us.

View all my reviews