Not sure if it's lack of interest, short time span or just that very few people read this blog, I'm extending the deadline for the context until next Friday, March 6th.

Hope you'll consider participating...all it takes is a book and a camera! Details here.

Leave it to hubby to find the most interesting news stories. I'm not sure what portals he uses to find this stuff but almost every night he has some new "cool" thing to share and this one's right up there with the coolest I've seen.

Michael Wright, a former senior curator at the Science Museum, demonstrated how the computer, referred to as "Antikythera", works based on a model that was replicated after years of studying pieces from an original mechanism. It's totally fascinating and you can check it out below.

More details on the machine with links to answer lots of questions can be found at The Guardian.

It's not enough that The A-Team movie will be shot in Vancouver. If you're a hardcore fan, and trust me, there are a lot of us, you'll likely love all things related to the 80's TV show. I don't have memorabilia but whenever I skip by the show on TV I can't help but stop and take in the greatness of Hannibal and his classic "I love it when a plan comes together." Iconic I tell you, iconic.

Now you can have the greatness of "The A-Team" on your computer all the time. Someone has gone ahead and created a pack pack of icons which you can download for free over here.

I thought this would be a great time to share the opening credit sequence (which I love) but looking for it I spotted this lego version which kicks a whole lot of ass. Enjoy!

We were in the car this morning when the radio announcer mentioned it was pink day. I threw my hands up in upset. I'd been thinking about wearing pink in support of Pink Shirt Day, an anti-bullying initiative, but when I got dressed this morning, I didn't even think about it.

But then, a few moments after swearing at myself for not remembering, I had a thought: I think I'm wearing pink. Low and behold, when I got to the office and took my jacket off, here I was in glorious pink shirt. Looks like the subconscious was hard at work this morning.

The sad part is that I really didn't remember what I was wearing. Goes to show how much attention I pay in the morning. Oops!

Are you wearing pink?

It's not like LOL Cats but it definitely has something going for it.

In preparation for our Oscar live blog yesterday (if you missed the action, check out the crowd reaction here) I was looking around the web for a picture that would adequately capture the feeling of "Upset!" when a favourite was overlooked (ie. Penn over Rourke). In my browsings through the much despised Google Image Viewer, I stumbled on this funny graphic on the webpage for the South Vancouver Island Classics' Soccer Association. Looks like the picture is a placeholder for potential advertising but something about it had me cracking up and whenever I posted it (and I did, a few times even out of context), I couldn't stop laughing; to the point where I was crying because I was laughing so hard.

Why we are! More specifically, the Vancouver Movie Meetup group!

Yesterday I posted a meetup for the first big blockbuster of the year and the group is heading out to see the movie on Saturday, March 7th. Yes, it's going to be busy but standing around "shooting the shit" before the show is half the fun. As a bonus, I've also managed to secure some wicked cool swag that I'll be handing out both in-line and at the theatre. That alone is nearly enough for you to show up!

So if you're interested, be sure to head on over to the event page and RSVP. If you don't want to join Meetup, just leave a comment in the post and I'll add you as a guest - just to keep track of the numbers. Also, be sure to purchase your ticket in advance and this sucker is sure to be a sell out!

And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, maybe you should check out the trailer for the film adaptation of one of the most respected graphic novels of all time...

It's easy to take it for granted when you walk into a bookstore to find hundreds if not thousands of books to choose from but even with all the freedoms allotted to us, there are still many books that are, for one reason or another,  not easy if at all possible to find.

The Freedom of Expression Committee is a committee of the Book and Periodical Council and they monitor censorship issues in Canada as they pertain to books and every year they run "Freedom to Read Week" in an effort to shine light on the censorship issues.

Looking down the list of banned books is something else, especially when it includes titles like "A Handmaid's Tale" and "Snow Falling on Cedars" (really?).

There's a lot of action going on this week in support and even our Bookcrossing friends are getting in on the action but I want to do something a little special.

Until Friday, I will be running a contest and the winner will have a chance to win a book from the censored list. To enter, simply email me a photo or link to a photo in the comments, of you reading. It's pretty simple - I just ask that you keep it PG please!

Starting Saturday, I will post the photos and allow individuals to vote on their faves with the one receiving the most votes winning. That part of the contest will run until March 7th with the winner being announced on March 8th.

Get those cameras ready and send in your entries!

Thanks to Monica for the info on Freedom to Read Week!

It's even better if you check out the full screen version over here...

I vaguely recall doing one of these lists a while back but I'd be damned to find it among hundreds of posts (some before tagging ever entered my little mind). I pulled this one off of I.A.M.'s blog. Apparently the BBC believes that the average person has only read six of the books on the list.

Instructions: Look at the list and put an ‘x’ after those you have read

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen [X]
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien [X]
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë
4. The “Harry Potter” series - JK Rowlin
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible - Various
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell [X]
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman [X]
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
12. Tess of the d’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. “The Complete Works of Shakespeare” - William Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald [X]
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams [X]
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll [X]
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Graham
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. “The Chronicles of Narnia” - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen [X]
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen [X]
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini [X]
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden [X]
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell [X]
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown [X]
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving [X]
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery [X]
47. Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood [X]
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding [X]
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert [X]
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen [X]
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley [X]
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon [X]
60. Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men- John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov [X]
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt [X]
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On the Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding [X]
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker [X]
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett [X]
74. Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Inferno - Dante
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert [X]
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad [X]
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery [X]
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespear [X]
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I guess I'm anomoly - I've read 29 of the titles on the list. How do you stack up? Share in the comments or post your own - just be sure to leave a note so that I can visit! :)

I'd heard via the grapevine of a "New Moon" filming location but I didn't want to post it until I had confirmation and now I've been given the word.

"New Moon" will start shooting at Van Tech in March. At this point it's not clear what sort of filming in going on - I'm assuming it's only principal photography but it has been confirmed. Feelers are out to find the dates but at the moment, all I know is March. If you have a tip, be sure to leave a comment or drop me a line.

Because I just can't help myself...

I've talked about book trailers in the past but even the one I tracked down that was good wasn't quite this good. It's more of a teaser and really only works, I assume, if you've read the series but I'm curious for those who aren't familiar with the "House of Night" series: does this do anything for you?

I missed Friday's post but OMG. Just got a load more pictures. Stay tuned for *lots* of Keanu love over the next few weeks. Prepare for the sigh:

If only they'de let me know that it was coming, I would have waited but I guess better late than never. HMV, the bane of my existence (only because I never manage to walk out of their downtown store without something under my arm), has announced the release of their Collector's Edition. The DVD set includes the 2 disc Special Edition release of the film along with an extra disc featuring:

• 22 minute Conversation with Stephenie Meyer,
• The Evolution of Bella’s Lullaby (5 min.)
• Becoming Edward: Rob Pattinson’s Journey (5 min.)
• Becoming Bella: Kristen Stewart’s Journey (5min.)
• Catherine Hardwicke’s Vampire Kiss Montage (2 min.)
• Catherine Hardwicke’s “Bella’s Lullaby Remix” Music Video (3 min.)
• Robert Pattinson Piano Montage (3 min.)

If that's not enough, they're also including a "Twilight" film cell.

The offer is only available between February 9th to the 15th or while quantities last (limited to 5,000). Wonder if it's too late to cancel my Borders order? *sigh* Details of the film cell are here.

You can PLACE YOUR ODER HERE.

And HMV, if you're listening: Next time, be sure to let your shoppers know in advance.

Not totally on repeat but listened to more than once:

By this point, you already know that "Twilight" is coming to DVD on March 21st but along with the release of the Two Disc Special Edition there are also a number of Collector's Editions available through a number of retailers. As of this morning, I'm aware of two different editions.

Borders Exclusive Edition

The Borders Exclusive Edition includes the 2 Disc SE along with a bonus DVD which includes:

• Exclusive Twilight Cast Interviews with Kristen Stewart (Bella) and Robert Pattinson (Edward)
• Exclusive Twilight Cast Interviews with Cam Gigandet (James)
• Exclusive Twilight Cast Interviews with Edi Gathegi (Laurent) and Rachelle Lefevre (Victoria)
• Exclusive Red-Carpet Interviews from the Twilight Movie Premiere
• Exclusive Never-Before-Seen Red-Carpet Footage! Includes extra interview footage with Kellan Lutz (Emmett), Ashley Greene (Alice), rock band Paramore, and Nikki Reed (Rosalie)
• Exclusive Borders Book Club: Stephenie Meyer talks about the Twilight Saga

Exclusive Photocards
10 exclusive photocards are printed on a gorgeous pearlescent paper to give a dramatic sparkly effect—the perfect way to view your favorite vampires

That edition is available only through Borders at a cost of $29.99 which is only $5 dollars more than the list price for the Standard 2 Disc release.

You can PLACE YOUR ORDER HERE.

Amazon Ultimate Collector's Set

The Amazon Exclusive Ultimate Collector's Set only seems to be available in Blu-ray but it includes the 2 Disc SE in Blu-ray along with:

• Collector's Box
• Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
• Six Collector Cards
• Twilight Bookmark
• Exclusive Watch
• Limited Edition Charm Bracelet
• Certificate of Authenticity

That edition is available only through Amazon at a cost of $69.99 which is a little pricier.

You can PLACE YOUR ORDER HERE.

Since I don't have a Blu-ray player and I don't care much for jewelry, I skipped out on the Amazon offer for the Border's offer instead. Plus, $70US is a little hefty for my wallet.

Hot Topic Release


Hot Topic is releasing the 2 Disc special edition at the same cost of most retailers ($24.99) but as an added bonus, you get:

• Exclusive Edward movie cell

You can PLACE YOUR ORDER HERE.

Barnes & Noble Release


Barnes & Noble is releasing the 2 Disc special edition  for $26.39 but as an added bonus, you get:

• Customizable Twilight Skin for your cell phone, PDA or MP3 player (individual code redeemable at Skinit.com)

You can PLACE YOUR ORDER HERE.

If you find any other Collector's Editions, please let me know. I'll provide updates as more become available.

NOTE: Apparently the Special Edition Blu-Ray disc will only be availabe on March 21st via Best Buy and Target (though neither site has the DVD listed for pre-sale) and then to all other retailers on May 5th. This seems like a bit of a moronic move but I'm sure they've got their reasons. Also note that they've added a new feature (to the Blu-Ray edition at least): "BD Live with "New Moon" teaser" - whatever that means.

This intimate look on making the movie will include inside secrets on everything from casting to wardrobe along with personal notes from Catherine and behind-the-scenes photographs.

 The book goes on sale on March 17th and is now available for pre-order from a number of online retailers.

Amazon has the book listed at the cheapest price: $10.70
Borders: $12.59
Barnes & Noble: $12.14

I chose the Borders option since I had a coupon but the no brainer is Amazon and combined with a few other purchases (the "Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion" would make a handsome purchase) you may get over into the free shipping threshold.

You can thank me for the research later!

In my daily trek through the interweb, I came across a great article by Bryan White who is the editor at the excellent Cinema Suicide. He wrote a great piece for Geek Force Five in which he examines this "new breed of vampire" looking specifically at the vampires currently at the fore-front of the entertainment world: the "Twilgiht Vampires" and the "True Blood"/Sookie Stockhouse phenomenon.

It's an excellently written, well though out look at the current state of vampires which includes a musing on why these specific types of vampires are so popular in today's culture. Read the article here.

I plucked this from Film Experience Blog. The title of this post, along with Nathaniel's comments say it all:

I can't be the only one who misses Orlando Bloom's pointy ears

A few weeks ago it was announced that Fleetwood Mac was coming to town. I'm a fan but not as big a fan as hubby. When my inbox got a pre-sale invite, I asked hubby if he wanted to go and he, surprisingly, considering that "live music isn't my thing", agreed that it would be very cool to go - if we could get tickets.

I logged in on the pre-sale morning and secured two tickets to the show. Not the best tickets in the house but the best that we could afford. We were both excstatic but it didn't really sink in until this afternoon when the tickets arrived in the mail. OMG. We're *actually* going to see Fleetwood Mac!!