This movie is really funny and this scene is one of its best. I used it to practice imperative forms in a challenging way because the students have to practice listening comprehension as well.

A. Talk to a partner. What do you do if you see a bear near your house? Share your ideas with the rest of the class.

B. Match the beginning of the instruction with the complement:

1. Don't
2. Keep
3. Avoid
4. Speak
5. Don't shoot
6. Assume

a. run
b. calm
c. direct eye-contact
d. in a soft monotone
e. the bear
f. a cannonball position, covering your head and your neck with your hands and your arms.

B. Watch the movie segment and check your answers.

C. Prepare a poster warning about how to proceed in case of a bear attack. You have to write down 8 special pieces of advice, using imperative forms. Add 2 sentences of your own.

1. ........................................................................

2. .......................................................................

3. .......................................................................

4. .......................................................................

5. .......................................................................

6. .......................................................................

WORKSHEET

Answer Key:

1. Don't run.

2. Keep Calm

3. Avoid direct eye contact.

4. Speak in a soft monotone.

5. Don't shoot the bear.

6. Assume a cannonbal position covering your head and your neck with your hands and your arms.

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It's so freaking small and blurry! But you can still kind of see whats going on so lets go with it. It looks nice, I'll admit. And maybe it'll look better when it isn't so blurry. But my favorite is still Blameless.

Still, I can't wait to read this one!

**EDITED ON FEB.03** Found the bigger cover. It looks good, but I don't know, it doesn't look as good as the rest of them. Maybe because of the pose? It does look kind of awkward... Anyways! Will still devour this book once it's out and about!!

*May or may not be the final cover, found it at amazon.com

PS; comment here and get an extra entry in my Goodbye 2010 contest =]

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Title: The Lost Saint

Author: Bree Despain

Series: A Dark Divine Novel

Book #: 2

Pages: 416

Reading Level: Young Adult

Published Date: December 28th 2010.

Publisher:  EgmontUSA

Book Rating: .6

Cover Rating: 

The non-stop sequel to The Dark Divine delivers an even hotter romance and more thrilling action than Bree Despain's first novel.  Grace Divine made the ultimate sacrifice to cure Daniel Kalbi.  She gave her soul to the wolf to save him and lost her beloved mother.  When Grace receives a haunting phone call from Jude, she knows what she must do.  She must become a Hound of Heaven. 

Desparate to find Jude, Grace befriends Talbot - a newcomer to town who promises her that he can help her be a hero.  But as the two grow closer, the wolf grows in Grace, and her relationship with Daniel begins to crumble.  Unaware of the dark path she is walking, Grace becomes prideful in her new abilities - not realizing that an old enemy has returned and deadly trap is about to be sprung.  Readers, raveous for more Grace and Daniel, will be itching to sink their teeth into The Lost Saint.

Taschima's POV:

I loved this book! It was so awesome. Much better than The Dark Divine!! The plot was quick, intriguing and fun to read. It's the total package.

We start off I think about 8 months after the events in The Dark Divine. Grace is being trained by Daniel, to no avail. She is no closer to getting her powers to work on her will than she was a month ago. School is normal, her ex best friend is not talking to her, and her brother vanished. Now her mother walks around the house as if she were one of the living dead and her father is on a wild goose chase half the time looking for Jude. Things are definitely not right in the Divine household. Give it a few weeks and things will start getting even weirder when a man named Gabriel pays a visit and Daniel starts acting all sorts of strange.

When I started this book I didn't remember half of The Dark Divine. Seriously, I was half lost (hehe I was kind of like the lost saint) but as I read this book I started remembering the bits and pieces of the previous book. I will not go into so much details about this novel (I don't want to spoil it) but I just gotta say that it was great. There was a lot of ass kicking performed by no other than Grace! Her relationship with Daniel was tested by secrets and another man who comes into Grace's life called Talbot. This book though is definitely more plot driven, action packed, and less romancy (though there is romance). It didn't make me swoon, but it did make go to "Hell yeah!"

Most of you have read it by now and know what I'm talking about. But for those of you who haven't I gotta say you have to. I was a little nervous going into the book because I didn't know how the end result was going to go like, but it was so worth it. I would read it for a second time. And maybe a third time... It was just that good.

PS; comment here and get an extra entry in my Goodbye 2010 contest =]

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724

acrylic on canvas 20x28" sold

Aston Martin DBR1

Carroll Shelby & Roy Salvadori

winners

Le Mans 1959

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Announced! The release date is March 23, 2012. Aren't we excited?! No cast has been announced yet (sadly) but this is what the article on Ology has to say:


"Gary Ross, who directed Pleasantville and Seabiscuit, will helm The Hunger Games; the project is expected to begin shooting in late spring or summer.

Collins followed up Games' success in 2008 with two sequels, Catching Fire and Mockingjay. No word yet on when we can expect those movies, but considering the fanbase for Hunger Games, we bet it'll be another trilogy a la the Twilight movies. In fact, Lionsgate has hired The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn casting director Debra Zane to choose the perfect actors to portray Katniss, Peeta, and the members of the other districts."

Ology on The Hunger Games

So what do you think about everything? Do you think it's wise to have the director from Breaking Dawn do the casting? I think The Hunger Games has the potential to kick the Twilight franchise on it's butt, but well see what happens.

PS; comment here and get an extra entry in my Goodbye 2010 contest =]

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723

acrylic on paper 6x14" sold

shooting between the hedges

Rudolf Caracciola

Mercedes W125

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722

acrylic on paper 6x14" sold

Caracciola

Mercedes W125

Brno 1937

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Spooky Things are Hiding In Plain Sight...

And I'm not Talking about Vampire!

Expected publication: December 8th 2011 

by Philomel/Penguin

"Mary Lindsey's SHATTERED SOULS, a dark and dangerous forbidden love story about a Speaker who helps lingering ghosts pass to the spirit world and the Protector who has pledged to serve her, to Jill Santopolo at Philomel, by Ammi-Joan Paquette of Erin Murphy Literary Agency (World)."

Expected publication: September 2011 

by Tor Teen

"Just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story. . . 

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. 

So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay. 

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home. 

And she, for whatever reason, spares his life."

 Hardcover, 352 pages

Expected publication: June 21st 2011 by Walker Books for Young Readers

"Violet Willoughby doesn't believe in ghosts. But they believe in her. After spending years participating in her mother's elaborate ruse as a fraudulent medium, Violet is about as skeptical as they come in all matters supernatural. Now that she is being visited by a very persistent ghost, one who suffered a violent death, Violet can no longer ignore her unique ability. She must figure out what this ghost is trying to communicate, and quickly because the killer is still on the loose.

Afraid of ruining her chance to escape her mother's scheming through an advantageous marriage, Violet must keep her ability secret. The only person who can help her is Colin, a friend she's known since childhood, and whom she has grown to love. He understands the true Violet, but helping her on this path means they might never be together. Can Violet find a way to help this ghost without ruining her own chance at a future free of lies?"

Hardcover, 336 pages

Expected publication: May 17th 2011 by HarperCollins

"The New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series delivers her first novel for adults, a story about the living, the dead, and a curse that binds them. 

Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville, the town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn’t a funeral that Maylene didn’t attend, and at each Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual: three sips from a small silver flask followed by the words “Sleep well, and stay where I put you.” 

Now Maylene is dead and Bek must go back to the place—and the man—she left a decade ago. But what she soon discovers is that Maylene was murdered and that there was good reason for her odd traditions. It turns out that in placid Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected. Beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D—a place from which the dead will return if their graves are not properly minded. Only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk."

Hardcover, 400 pages

Expected publication: June 7th 2011 by HarperCollins

"Can there truly be love after death?

Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead. With no recollection of her past life—or her actual death—she's trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.

Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.

Thrilling and evocative, with moments of pure pleasure, Hereafter is a sensation you won't want to miss."

I know two of these authors! Melissa Marr (Wicked Lovely) and Alyxandra Harvey (The Drake Chronicles). I am so very curious as to how they will tackle the ghost scenario. And the summaries? I mean, the Heverafter summary is to die for. Anna Dressed in Blood is creeeppy which makes it ten times as awesome, and Shattered Souls is a forbidden love ghost story. You gotta love it.

Oh and they all have AMAZING covers! My favorite would have to be between Anna Dressed in Blood, Shattered Souls, and Haunting Violet. Pwetty! 

Which is your favorite? Which one/ones are you looking forward too? Are you going to add these titles into your TBR pile? 

PS; comment here and get an extra entry in my Goodbye 2010 contest =]

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Do you guys by any chance my last CSN review? It concerned Laptop Sleeves. Well now I think I might want a kick ass laptop messenger bag, and I think I know just the place to find it...

CSN!

They have a bunch of different kinds of messenger bags, like:

Laptop Messenger Bags

Women's Messenger Bags

Business Messenger Bags

Urban/Casual Messenger Bags

Kids Messenger Bags

Cute as hell.

Fabric Messenger Bags

Leather Messenger Bags

Closeout Messenger Bags

and

Cool Messenger Bags

Don't they look awesome?! For an affordable price too.

Then again, I might get a bookcase, since I'm in a dire need of one.

Ive gotten stuff from them before, and they haven't disappointed me so far. Their delivery time is shorter than expected every time, their product was in perfect condition when it got to my door, and from then it was a breeze to either unwrap the product or put it together.

Style in an affordable price, now who doesn't just love that?!

PS; comment here and get an extra entry in my Goodbye 2010 contest =]

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721

acrylic on canvas 20x28"

the Siffert Redman

Gulf Porsche 917k

another enlarged study

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This romantic comedy is much better than I had expected it to be. It is a story about prejudice and dealing with adversities. I really enjoyed it. It is perfect to practice the present perfect tense.

I. Watch the movie segment and write down HE if the activity was performed by the male character. Write SHE if she did it. The main characters used to be lovers but they have spent the past 5 years apart, doing different things.

( ) 1 Visit Paris

( ) 2 Interview several people

( ) 3 See the kids play baseball

( ) 4 Travel to third world countries

( ) 5 Broadcast the news as a TV anchor

( ) 6 Travel to New York

( ) 7 Drive across the desert

( ) 8 Go on a safari

( ) 9 Go to fancy parties

( ) 10 Teach needy children in Africa





II. Now write down what both of the them have done while they have been away from each other.

Ex: She has interviewed several people



III. Work in pairs and discuss the following questions:



1. How different have their lives been?

2. Who had a happier life? Why?

3. What kind of life would you rather have? His or hers? Why?

4. Do you think that such different couple can be happy together? Explain it.

WORKSHEET


Answer key:


HE - 1 - 4 - 7 - 8 - 10
SHE - 2 - 3 - 5 - 6 - 9

1 he has visited paris

2 she has interviewed several people

3 she has seen the kids play baseball

4 he has traveled to third world countries

5 she has broadcasted the news as a tv anchor

6 she has traveled to new york

7 he has driven across the desert

8 he has gone on a safari

9 she has gone to fancy parties

10 he has taught needy children in Africa

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Title: Vesper

Author: Jeff Sampson

Series: Deviants

Book #: 1

Pages: 298

Reading Level: Young Adult

Expected P Date: January 25th 2011.

Publisher:  Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins

Book Rating: 

Cover Rating: .9

Emily Webb is a geek. And she’s happy that way. Content hiding under hoodies and curling up to watch old horror flicks, she’s never been the kind of girl who sneaks out for midnight parties. And she’s definitely not the kind of girl who starts fights or flirts with other girls’ boyfriends. Until one night Emily finds herself doing exactly that . . . the same night one of her classmates—also named Emily—is found mysteriously murdered.

The thing is, Emily doesn’t know why she’s doing any of this. By day, she’s the same old boring Emily, but by night, she turns into a thrill seeker. With every nightfall, Emily gets wilder until it’s no longer just her personality that changes. Her body can do things it never could before: Emily is now strong, fast, and utterly fearless. And soon Emily realizes that she’s not just coming out of her shell . . . there’s something much bigger going on. Is she bewitched by the soul of the other, murdered Emily? Or is Emily Webb becoming something else entirely— something not human?

As Emily hunts for answers, she finds out that she’s not the only one this is happening to—some of her classmates are changing as well. Who is turning these teens into monsters—and how many people will they kill to get what they want?

Taschima's POV:

I would say Vesper is the Twilight for Deviants lovers. The similarities aren't in the plot really, it's just the feeling of the novel. But while Twilight is all about the vampire romance, Vesper is about the discovery of your "true" selfs. It's nice, its fun, its worth a read.

We start off by meeting Emily Webb, a quiet geeky girl who doesn't have many friends (she doesn't care to). She usually spends her days watching movie and doing geeky stuff (love her). She is the kind of girl that I can totally and completely relate to (I'm starting to think the author followed me around to get info on his character's personality).

At the beginning of the novel we start off by seeing another side of Emily because she is kind of getting question by a scientist guy about what happened to her. The novel is framed by chapters  that focused on the present (not many at all) and chapters that are focused on the past (most of the chapters). Every few chapters (the chapters that happen in the "present" about 10%) they stop to discuss what just happen in the chapters before, which I thought was pretty neat. I think it will be fun to read the journey of Emily and how she ends up being the girl in the interviews. Also there was something I wasn't expecting at all that made the novel that much more enjoyable! A sort of supernatural bomb. Quite the curve ball Mr. Sampson.

Also the main character has multiple personalities, she is Daytime Emily, Nighttime Emily, and the Vesper Emily. It's not confusing at all, the differences are pronounced, so don't worry about that. Its fun to see how our shy girl turns into a wild girl and vice versa (kind of like the United States of Tara thing). Throughout the novel Nighttime Emily is searching for the "others", her Vesper mates, while trying to avoid getting murdered by this creepy dude who is going around killing teens left and right. Emily knows all the teens that are targeted, could there be a connection?

Theres a little bit of everything in here. I can assure you its entertaining and unlike anything else you have read. I can't wait to see what the author will come up with next!

PS; not a fan of the cover. I like the red smoke, but the other part is sort of blahish.

PS; comment here and get an extra entry in my Goodbye 2010 contest =]

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720

acrylic on paper 8x12"

Zandvoort 1978

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Gail Carriger is the author of a popular steam punk series called The Parasol Protectorate, its first installment's name is Soulless.

 The Parasol Protectorate books are comedies of manners set in Victorian London: full of vampires, dirigibles, and tea. They are Jane Austen doing urban fantasy meets PG Wodehouse doing steampunk.

- www.gailcarriger.com

Sound familiar? Well if you have been living with the, well, living and not under a rock somewhere then you should know what I'm talking about. Her series is freaking awesome. Ive been waiting for a bit of information on Heartless, the fourth installment in the series, and now, finally, my wish has been granted.

Heartless

Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages

To be Published: June 28, 2011

Publisher: Orbit

Lady Alexia Maccon, soulless, is at it again, only this time the trouble is not her fault. When a mad ghost threatens the queen, Alexia is on the case, following a trail that leads her deep into her husband's past. Top that off with a sister who has joined the suffragette movement (shocking!), Madame Lefoux's latest mechanical invention, and a plague of zombie porcupines and Alexia barely has time to remember she happens to be eight months pregnant.

Will Alexia manage to determine who is trying to kill Queen Victoria before it is too late? Is it the vampires again or is there a traitor lurking about in wolf's clothing? And what, exactly, has taken up residence in Lord Akeldama's second best closet?

 No cover yet, but I bet it's going to be drool worthy. All the other covers in the series have been.

PS; comment here and get an extra entry in my Goodbye 2010 contest =]

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It may sound wrong, I know, but it's not what you would normally think (even that sounds wrong). This site is filled with pictures of bookshelves everywhere in all kinds and sizes. I first stumbled across this site at First Novels Club and now Im a better human being for it. Past sins will be erased if you look at this site, guaranteed*.

This is what someone said about Bookshelf Porn:

"bookshelfporn.com has dissuaded me completely from buying a kindle. thank you"

Via Twitter.

I thought you guys would appreciate it, I certainly did!

This is how my living room is going to look like (hopefully)

My special book room (can hardly wait!).

And I just thought this was hilarious, and sort of true.

If you want to see more pics click here. Trust me, its worth it ;)

*don't actually believe me, I have no power in the whole sin department lol


PS; comment here and get an extra entry in my Goodbye 2010 contest =]

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