Reading is the next best thing to do.... What should I read next?

School Library Journal

Gr 6-8-Pfeffer tones down the terror, but otherwise crafts a frighteningly plausible account of the local effects of a near-future worldwide catastrophe. The prospect of an asteroid hitting the Moon is just a mildly interesting news item to Pennsylvania teenager Miranda, for whom a date for the prom and the personality changes in her born-again friend, Megan, are more immediate concerns. Her priorities undergo a radical change, however, when that collision shifts the Moon into a closer orbit, causing violent earthquakes, massive tsunamis, millions of deaths, and an upsurge in volcanism. Thanks to frantic preparations by her quick-thinking mother, Miranda's family is in better shape than many as utilities and public services break down in stages, wild storms bring extremes of temperature, and outbreaks of disease turn the hospital into a dead zone. In Miranda's day-by-day journal entries, however, Pfeffer keeps nearly all of the death and explicit violence offstage, focusing instead on the stresses of spending months huddled in increasingly confined quarters, watching supplies dwindle, and wondering whether there will be any future to make the effort worthwhile. The author provides a glimmer of hope at the end, but readers will still be left stunned and thoughtful.-John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Sorry, NO practice Today!!!

David Cook covers Cutting Crew's: I just died in your arms tonight. Had a great show at the House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach last night.

Was the photoshopped Ralph Lauren model fired for being overweight?

Was the photoshopped Ralph Lauren model fired for being overweight?


* by Joanna Douglas, Shine Staff



Last week Ralph Lauren came under fire for (what looked to be) an extremely altered photo of a model in one of its ads. Bloggers at the website BoingBoing.net posted the image online, and lawyers for Ralph Lauren attempted to sue them for copyright infringement. Unfortunately for Ralph Lauren, this only furthered public interest and outrage over the dangerously thin looking model and, eventually, the clothing company released this apology:

"For over 42 years we have built a brand based on quality and integrity. After further investigation, we have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman's body. We have addressed the problem and going forward will take every precaution to ensure that the caliber of our artwork represents our brand appropriately."

Unfortunately,"addressing the problem" may have included firing the model, 23-year-old Filippa Hamilton. She is 5'10" and weighs 120 pounds--clearly more full-bodied than the photoshopped girl we see in the advertisement. Though Hamilton has modeled for Ralph Lauren since she was 15, the company let her go "as a result of her inability to meet the obligations under her contract with us." But the story gets worse: Hamilton says she was let go because she'd become too fat to model for them. "They fired me because they said I was overweight and I couldn't fit in their clothes anymore," she explained. "I was shocked to see that super skinny girl with my face...It's very sad, I think, that Ralph Lauren could do something like that."

Most of us know that a tall, young woman who weighs 120 pounds is not overweight. But Hamilton claims Ralph Lauren was dissatisfied with her body, and therefore fired her six months ago. However, the company continued to use her image, whittling down her arms, waist, thighs, and possibly several other body parts in the above ad. If they were so unhappy with how she looked, why not get another model for the campaign? Why use the photos and alter and distort them?

Today, Ralph Lauren himself is distancing himself from the ad, claiming, "The image in question was mistakenly released and used in a department store in Japan and was not the approved image which ran in the U.S." So we're confused. They say the photoshopping was an error, that Hamilton is "beautiful and healthy," yet they allegedly fired her for her size? With all these apologies and statements it sounds like the brand still has yet to accept responsibility for their actions.

The truth is, models get fired or overlooked all the time for being what the industry considers overweight, we just rarely see or hear about it. Eating disorders are not only common among models, but they're also common among the women and young girls who emulate them. We're happy to see that Hamilton has come forward, and wish more models and celebrities would do the same. It's awesome and empowering when stars admit they've been photoshopped for an ad or movie poster and say how dissatisfied they are about it. With foreign countries banning underweight models from their fashion weeks, and the increasing presence of "plus size" models in women's magazines, we wish the unhealthy representation and falsified depiction of models—and women—would come to an end entirely. Do you think the day will ever come?

Waccamaw Indian People Mini Pow Wow

UNFILTERED on News 13 Network, October 12, 2009

UNFILTERED the library teen band seeks new singer

Teen rock band seeks new lead singer
By Rusty Ray | WBTW Anchor/Producer
Published: October 12, 2009


As the band “Unfiltered” worked its way through a rundown of rock standards one Friday afternoon, people would stop and stare into the windows of the band’s practice room.
Not only were the onlookers interested because the whole band is made up of teenagers, but they were probably wondering why the band was making so much noise inside the Conway library.
The band is an outreach of the Horry County Teen Library program, and its members came together about a year ago for the first time.
“After a couple of weeks, we sort of became like brothers,“ said Hunter Ness, who plays bass.
The band worked through songs like “Smells Like Teen Spirit,“ “Enter Sandman,“ and “Man In The Box” during rehearsal—ironic because most of those songs were written before or right about the time most of these kids were born.
Thomas Gore, a 19-year-old keyboard player, is pulling double-duty lately. The band’s lead singer recently moved away, and Gore has to fill in on the mic.
“I just have to kind of hold it down during rehearsals,“ said Gore. “Whatever I need to do,“ he said.
The band wants to encourage any one who is interested in singing to come out and see the rehearsals on Friday afternoons between 4:00 and 7:00 at the Conway library.
If you’re interested, you can contact Stephanie Mikalatos with the library at (843) 915-7444.
“Anybody can do it,“ Ness said.