A cheerful video for tough times

Things are  tough right now.  Too many  people  out of  work and too many  people who are working extra  hard.   A friend of mine  in the ” working too many hours”  category  sent the video to  me.   He  said it help  him find a more philosophical view :

Writer’s Block

So, I was sitting here staring at the screen, trying to think of something to post about and…nothing came to me. Oh dear, I thought. The dreaded writer’s block has struck me again. I don’t have time for this. What am I going to do? Then it struck me. Writer’s Block. How do other people deal with it?

Apparently, Douglas Adams once said – “Writing is easy – all you have to do is stare at a blank piece of paper until your forehead bleeds.”

Failing that, the BBC offers a website on the subject of Overcoming Writer’s Block. They offer all sorts of suggestions that range from “Just Write Something” to “Have a Cup of Tea” to “Go Do Something Else First.” eHow.com offers some similar suggestions in their article called: How to Get Rid of Writer’s Block.

I’m off to get a cup of tea. Hopefully, one of the suggestions will work for you too.

13 Random Books with Time in the Title

Thursday Thirteen #91

This week I’m thinking about Time. So I’ve brought together 13 random books with that word in the title. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to come up with your own title for a book using the word “Time.” Not a book that already exists, mind. It’s National Novel Writing Month, so let your creativity flow.

13 Random Books with Time in the Title:
1. Time: A Traveler’s Guide by Clifford A. Pickover
2. Time After Time by Sue Haasler
3. My First Book of Time by Claire Llewellyn
4. Time Among the Maya : Travels in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico by Ronald Wright
5. Time and Again by Jack Finney
6. Time and the Clockmice, etcetera by Peter Dickinson
7. Time and Mr. Bass; a Mushroom Planet Book by Eleanor Cameron
8. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
9. As Time Goes By: Boomerang Marriages, Serial Spouses, Throwback Couples, and Other Romantic Adventures in an Age of Longevity by Abigail Trafford
10. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
11. Conversations About the End of Time by Umberto Eco, et al.
12. A Time Apart by Diane Stanley
13. Time and Tide by Edna O’Brien

—–

Creativity from the Comments:
*Tracie: The Time I Swallowed a Watermelon Seed

*Adelle Laudan: The Day Time Stood Still

*graywolfie: I need more time

*Brenda ND: Time Out

*Vixen: Do You Remember That One Time?

*Susan Helene Gottfried: This One Time, at Band Camp!

*CountryDew: The Time the Books Lost Their Words

The Castro Valley Library Book Pass

The new Castro Valley Library is now open! Part of the opening day festivities was the Great Book Pass. You can find out more about the event over on the Castro Valley Library’s blog.

Yay for Alameda County’s newest library!

Centerville Kids Book Club!!!

Our  next  book  club  meeting is November 12th from 4 to  5 and we  will be discussing Airborn by Kenneth  Oppel.

This is an exciting novel that take place in a world where airplanes were never invented. Instead people travel by airships — that are a cross between dirigibles and cruise ships. Matt, a cabin boy ,meets Kate , a passenger; who is determined to prove that her grandfather did discover a new animal. Matt is intrigued by Kate’s grandfather’s journal. However ship duties, chaperones, and pirates make the task more difficult and exciting.

Come join the discussion!

November is:

Did you know? November is:

• National Inspirational Role Models Month
• National Pomegranate Month
• National Lifewriting Month
• National Scholarship Month
• National Roasting Month
• National Novel Writing Month
• National Blog Posting Month

I wonder if roasted Pomegranates are any good…Either way, you could post about the adventure on your blog.

Source: Chase’s Calendar of Events 2009

Knock, Knock, Knocking on Kevin’s Door

The title of this post is a mondegreen, a snippet of spoken language (in this case a song lyric) that has been misheard. Ever had this happen to you? Sylvia Wright did. Throughout her childhood, her mother often recited “The Bonnie Earl O’ Murray,” a poem from the 17th century. Wright always heard the first stanza as:

Ye Highlands and ye Lowlands,
Oh, where hae ye been?
They hae slain the Earl Amurray,
And Lady Mondegreen.

The actual fourth line is “And laid him on the green.” Wright did not realize for years that there actually was no death of Lady Mondegreen. In 1954, she invented the term mondegreen to describe this type of mishearing, naming it after her fictional heroine.

Here are some other mondegreens. See if you can recognize what the line should actually be.

Olive, the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names

Baking carrot biscuits

Sleep in heavenly peas

Jose, can you sing?

The ants are my friends, they’re blowing in the wind

Looking for more? Family Circus cartoons are a treasure trove of mondegreens (and other examples of language running wild). See some examples below.

13 Films with Vampires

Thursday Thirteen #90

Hello all. This week I’m making it quick, as my computer seems to be freaking out. I bring you a list of 13 Vampire films. What would you add to this list?

13 Vampire Films:
1. The Lost Boys (1987)
2. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
3. Fright Night (1985)
4. Twilight (2008)
5. 30 Days of Night (2007)
6. The Hunger (1983)
7. Blade (1998)
8. Interview with the Vampire (1994)
9. Near Dark (1987)
10. Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)
11. The Little Vampire (2000)
12. Dracula (1931)
13. Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995)

Bits of New Moon

The next Twilight Saga film is New Moon. It’s headed to theaters on 20 November. In fact, I’m told that the midnight showings of the film are selling out all over the place already. Good thing I wasn’t planning on catching one of those.

While we wait for 20 November to get here, I offer you a few videos to keep you entertained. They seem to have changed a few things in the transition from book to film, but I remain hopeful. Okay. Really, I can’t wait.

New Moon Clip 1:

New Moon Clip 2:

TV Spot 1:

TV Spot 2:

Most Recent Trailer:

Wicked: The Film

It’s all over the ‘Net, and, more specifically, over on Nancy Holder’s website. The rights to Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié’s New York Times Bestselling “Wicked” series have been purchased by DreamWorks. Word is that Aaron and Matthew Benay are the ones working on scripting. I’m not sure how many films are being planned, but the series itself spans five books. As usual, I guess we’ll have to wait and see how it all works out.

Congrats Ladies!