Podcast #800

Wow. I just posted my 800th podcast! And considering that I just took a month's hiatus, that is pretty incredible. At least I think so. So what did I chose for this momentous podcast? Well, yesterday the family sat around and watched a pretty bad movie on scifi channel. It was about a tornado striking a nuclear power plant and the "heroic" efforts of a few of the staff to save the world from a meltdown. So what does this have to do with today's podcast? All through the movie, the young skeptic was wearing a Kiss tee shirt. I found that amusing. I don't know why but I guess if I could choose my wardrobe for the end of the world, it might not be a Kiss tee shirt. But, in honor of the saving the world from nuclear disastor:

Weintraub, Aileen. KISS : "I WANNA ROCK AND ROLL ALL NIGHT"
In the 1970s, Kiss was one of the first bands to use explosions and flashing lights in their
concerts. Part theater, part rock performance, each concert was elaborately staged and unforgetable. When the band first formed, they decided that they didn't just want to stand in front of an audience and play music. They wanted to stretch the boundaries of performance and shock their audience. Coming on stage in face makeup and relying on special effects, they achieved their goal. Some say that Kiss is the greatest rock band ever. Whatever your feelings about them are, they are truly unforgetable.

http://www.nancykeane.com/booktalks/mp3/weintraub_kiss.mp3

Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd

Dowd, Siobhan.
BOG CHILD
New York : David Fickling, 2008
IL YA
ISBN 0385751699
Fergus knows if he is caught, there will be big trouble. But he also knows they need the money to live. So he and his uncle are in the bogs before daybreak cutting peat. He can not know how his life is about to change. As he is digging, he discovers her -- a young girl preserved in the bog. Can she possibly be from the Iron Age of years ago? When the archaeologist from Dublin arrives to take over the investigation, Fergus learns much about his own life as well as the little mummy he names Mel. Set against the theme of the 1980s hunger strikes, readers will also learn about the troubled times Ireland.

http://www.nancykeane.com/booktalks/mp3/dowd_bog.mp3

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Anderson, Laurie Halse.
WINTERGIRLS
New York : Viking, 2009
IL YA
ISBN 067001110X
Lia and Cassie have been best friends for a long time. And now Cassie is gone. She was found dead and alone in a motel room. After leaving Lia 33 messages that Lia ignored. Is there something that Lia could have done to save her friend? Lia doesn't even recognize the self-destructive tendencies in her own life. The anorexia, the cutting, the low self image. Even after lots of therapy and threats from her parents, Lia is still obsessed with her weight. She plays the game of getting better but delights in seeing the numbers on the scale go down everyday. 101.30, 97.00, 89.00 ...

http://www.nancykeane.com/booktalks/mp3/anderson_wintergirls.mp3

Back to blogging

Oh wow. Has it really been 2 months since I posted?? My class was so much work that I really had no time to do much else but work on it. No time to read for pleasure or think of anything but advanced cognition. But I got through and then just vegged for a couple of weeks. I am coming out of my doctoral stupor now and have been catching up on my pleasure reading, blogging and podcasting. My next class is starting soon and it will be an intense 6 week course so I may be absent again in a few weeks.

Today's podcast is for the book Why are animals red? by Melissa Stewart. I had never really thought too much about this question but I did enjoy this book. It is definitely for the younger crowd but I think other children will enjoy the wonderful pictures.

http://www.nancykeane.com/booktalks/mp3/stewart_why.mp3

Stewart, Melissa. WHY ARE ANIMALS RED?
Berkley Heights, NJ : Enslow Elementary, 2009
IL K-3
ISBN 0766032493
I saw a beautiful bird on a bush outside my window. It was a red bird that I believe was a cardinal. I started thinking that I don't know of too many red animals. There are lots of green and brown animals that blend in with their surroundings, but what kind of animal is red. And then I picked up this book and found out!