Twelfth Night? What's It All About?

If you think that New Year's Eve is really the end of this holiday season you have obviously forgotten about Twelfth Night. Here is your chance to learn about Twelfth Night cake, wassailing the apple trees, Molly dancers, Mummers, grand balls & more!

Take a look at these interesting links about this particular celebration:

Understanding Twelfth Night: The Holiday That Time Forgot
by the Camden County Historical Society

Twelfth Night by The School of the Seasons

& Twelfth Night (Holiday) by Wikipedia

Enjoy!

Too Cute Bookmarks to Download!!!

Are you giving books as presents this holiday season? Then you will want to go to Jinjerup and snag some of these adorable bookmarks to go with them.

All you have to do is download, print on card stock , & cut them out. How easy is that?

Christmas Penguin & Snowmen Bookmarks

(OMG! Only two days til the BIG DAY! Where's a good elf when you need one???)

Non-Fiction Books for the Ten and Up Crowd On Your Shopping List . . .

Here are some great book recommendations from an article in Bookslut by Collen Mondor.

(In case you were wondering: "Bookslut is a monthly web magazine and daily blog dedicated to those who love to read. We provide a constant supply of news, reviews, commentary, insight, and more than occasional opinions.") Find the article here: Nonfiction Books For Curious Readers  Then go explore the rest of the site. You'll be glad you did!

Happy Winter Solstice!

Today is the first day of winter and also the shortest day of the year (if you live in the northern hemisphere that is).

The good people at National Geographic have put together a  few facts about this annual event. Check it out here: Winter Solstice 2009

Can You Name All of Santa's Reindeer???

Then Christmas Trivia is the site for you!

All of the quizzes are available online or in printable pdf format. And there are several categories to choose from: General Christmas Trivia, Christmas Tree Trivia, Christmas Music Trivia, & Christmas Movie Trivia. Quizzes are rated by difficulty so there is a little something for everyone to be found here.

So put your Christmas thinking cap on and enjoy!

Frosty the Snowman....

  

What's winter without a snowman?

Ever wonder where the snowman comes from? Glad  you asked! It turns out that the snowman does have a history and it just might be one that you weren't expecting. Check out this Smithsonian article by Bob Eckstein (who also wrote a book on the subject called History of the Snowman): Snowman Gone Wild.

We are so glad that Frosty was able to clean up his act which led to the famous song from the 1950's. Get the scoop on the song @ Wikipedia: Frosty the Snowman 

And then take a look at this original vintage Frosty the Snowman video (with lyrics) from 1954:






To finish our "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Snowmen" tour try building one of your own online from the good people at Highlights:
Build A Snowman (Don't forget to print your creation!)

Now we just need a good snow day!!!

A Snowglobe for the Slightly Warped

Hey, Peeps! Check out this flash snowglobe from E-Tractions. It's a great way to get your holiday aggressions out in a safe & amusing way. Enjoy!

E-Tractions Snowglobe

About Snowglobes plus make a Digital one of your own! TGIFF!

Snowglobes are quite in keeping with the season and there is nothing like having your own miniature world  (complete with blizzard) at your fingertips.

Ever wondered about the history of these sometimes lovely, sometimes tacky curios? Check out what Wikipedia has to say about Snow Globes. You may be surprised.

Then go here: Sony Ericsson Snowglobe where you can make your own little wintry world (you can upload your own photo if you'd like to) , add a message, and send it to friends and family!

Get your blizzard on!

Make Your Own Advent Calendar

Here is a nice template and instructions for making an Advent Calendar using your own photos from the good people at Kodak.

Yes, I know the season has started already but there is always next year, right?

Enjoy!

Hot Chocolate on a Stick from The Giver's Log blog

The Giver's Log is the place to go for ideas on gift giving, gift wrapping and more!

AmberLee has collected ideas on gifting, wrapping, thoughtful gestures, and gift etiquette from friends, bloggers, and herself.

There are do-it-yourself projects as well as links to nifty things on the Web. She also has gift ideas by category such as teacher, hostess, grandparent, client, farewell, new baby, & teens, to name a few.

Here is one that would be a perfect treat to make for this time of year:

Hot Chocolate on a Stick





'Tis the season for giving.....Go forth & be inspired!

Winterbells for TGIFF!

Winterbells is a fun little game to play on a winter's day.

Click on the snowflake to get started.

You use your mouse to move.
Click the mouse button to jump
& touch the bells to score.
Birds will double your score.

Sounds simple, right? Good Luck!


This game comes from the Orisinal:Morning Sunshine site by Ferry Halim (from Fresno, CA) where you can find many other nicely crafted Adobe Flash games with nice art and ambient music. Orisinal: Morning Sunshine has won several awards. Find out more about it here: Orisinal - Wikipedia

Get The Skinny on Christmas Foods & Their History . .

 The Food Timeline - Christmas Foods History is the place to go for information on your favorite holiday food traditions, as well as recommended reading, some recipes, & specific topic resources.

About "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens

What would Christmas be like if this wonderful story had never seen the light of day? Go to David Perdue's site and find out how Charles Dickens saved this holiday.

Christmas and Dickens

(While you are there take a look around at all the other fascinating info on this author!)

And then, by the wonder that is the Web, you can go here:                                                  

Looking Over the Shoulder of the Creator of "A Christmas Carol" (by the New York Times)

and actually look at a high resolution (hand written) copy of the only manuscript of the story that Mr. Dickens left behind. How amazing is that?


Wait! There's more!


Last, but not least, is a rather nice electronic edition for your online reading pleasure:
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Ok, Peeps, there should be no bah-humbugging around here!

Enjoy!

SnowDays . . . Make Your Own Snowflake . . .TGIFF!

Let's get this holiday season started! 

For some of us it's never too soon for the white stuff so here is your chance to make your own snowflake, add a message, share it with the world & be notified of any responses you get AND check out the snowflakes that others have created.

SnowDays is the place to go if you love snow because it's where the snow never stops falling!

To make your own snowflake just click on the appropriate tab and follow the directions. (It's merely a matter of clicking and dragging. There's a preview pane, too.)

To view what others have created put your cursor on a falling flake (as of this post there were over 8 million designs).

You can also search for a particular flake using several different fields.

OK, Peeps, what are you waiting for? Let's go play in the snow!

Happy Thanksgiving & a Video . . .

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Here is a little Turkey Day video by MentalLapse from YouTube for your enjoyment:

Thanksgiving Stats . . .

The Facts for Features & Special Editions section of the U.S. Census website consists of statistics from the Bureau's demographic and economic subject areas collected to commemorate anniversaries or observances or to provide background information for topics in the news.

So this is the place to go to find out about turkeys & turkey day: Facts for Features -  Thanksgiving Day Nov. 26, 2009 .





And here is a report from the AAA Newsroom (where you can also find other interesting info) on Thanksgiving Travel.

Mind Your Manners @ the McCord Museum of Canadian History!

The McCord Museum of Canadian History in Montreal was founded in 1921, and embodies the vision of  passionate collector, David Ross McCord, whose abiding wish was to shed light on the history and cultures of his country and thus bring its people together.

Here you will find online exhibits, history online, thematic tours, educational resources and more!

The website of the McCord Museum is definitely worth a visit if you do nothing else but try the Mind Your Manners role playing game for the Victorian Era. (FYI: there is also one for the Roaring Twenties). 

 This online game has many delightful Monty Python-esque attributes. Be sure to have your sound on. (Miss Bun especially appreciated the fate of the lady who wore the wrong dress to the evening dinner at home.) The whole game is very amusing! And be sure to check out the other interactive games to be found on this interesting site. 

P.S. A "thank you kindly" to my sources in New Hampshire for alerting me to this site!

This is Papercraft Heaven!

 Hi Peeps! It's been a really busy week in Library Land ... hence the lack of posts ... BUT ... here is a site from Canon  (the technology company ... I'm sure you've heard of them?) that really is a bit of heaven for papercraft enthusiasts.

Canon Creative Park is an amazing site with amazing projects that are all free.

Here are their categories for all sorts of things to do and make with paper and a printer: Gift & Card, Paper Craft, Scrapbook, Art, Calendars, and Photo Gallery.

There is everything from the very simple to the complex, from one dimensional to 3D and beyond! I have to say there are some very talented people out there designing these projects.

Creative Park gives users a choice of five languages. Each project has author info, release date, recommended paper & printer settings as well as download-able pattern and assembly instructions. 

So limber up your phalanges and click on over to (the aptly named)  Canon Creative Park!



Enjoy!  

The History of Thanksgiving. . .

On The History of Thanksgiving by history.com you can:

• Find out what the first Thanksgiving menu was
• Read the proclamation that started it all
• Find out about the first broadcasted  football game in 1934
  
• Look up Thanksgiving trivia

And lots more!

So, don't just sit there like a stuffed turkey.....trot on over to this site and enjoy!

TGIFF & Turkey To Go...

And now, for your juvenile gaming pleasure, we give you: Turkey To Go.

A rather inane kind of game where you collect feathers for your turkey, corn is a bonus, and forks are hazardous! Beware the forks! (Or not....depending on how warped your sense of humor is!)

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Enjoy!

Hibernation Anyone??? A ThinkQuest Website has the Scoop!

Ok, so hibernation time is just around the corner (You're feeling very sleepy...) and in case you were wondering what that's all about take a look at this very good website created by a group of 5th graders for a competition put on by ThinkQuest (see below):

The Deep Sleep
Did you know there are four different ways animals deep sleep? Check it out!     

What is this ThinkQuest I speak of?

ThinkQuest  is a protected, online learning platform that enables teachers to integrate learning projects into their classroom curriculum and students to develop 21st century skills. It is provided as a free service to K-12 schools around the globe by The Oracle Education Foundation.

On the ThinkQuest site you will find the project area (here you can take a tour of ThinkQuest...fyi); a competition space where the technology contests happen and the ThinkQuest Library that houses all the projects and is a pretty nifty learning resource.There is also a professional development program for teachers.

School administrators must enroll their schools to participate in a project or competition but anyone can access the ThinkQuest Library and check out the competition winners.

You can search the library by age group, country, and subject category. There are over 7,000 websites created by students from around the world and they are amazing.  Enjoy!

OpenCourseWare from MIT! Get Your Learning On!

 
Wondering what MIT OpenCourseWare is?

Here's the scoop (from their About page): "MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. OCW is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity.

MIT OpenCourseWare is a free publication of MIT course materials that reflects almost all the undergraduate and graduate subjects taught at MIT.

• OCW is not an MIT education.                                           
  
• OCW does not grant degrees or certificates.
• OCW does not provide access to MIT faculty.
• Materials may not reflect entire content of the course."

 How cool (and educationally generous) is that!?!

There are 1900 courses listed. Some of them are Audio/video courses, some are translated courses. You can search them by several categories. And it's all FREE and no registration required.

There is also a key to what is included in each course. For example: Lecture Notes, Selected Lecture Notes, Assignments & Solutions, Assignments (No Solutions), Projects & Examples, Projects (No Examples), Exams & Solutions, Exams (No Solutions),  Image Gallery,  Online Textbooks, & Multimedia Content, etc.

There is also a newsletter & rss updates to courses you can sign up for.

Kind of puts a whole new spin on Life Long Learning, doesn't it?

Check Out the Most Famous Shipping Disaster in the History of the Great Lakes. . .

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank suddenly on November 10, 1975 in 530 feet of water without sending any distress signals. Her entire crew of 29 was lost.



The sinking of the "Mighty Fitz" became the most famous disaster in the history of the Great Lakes and was the subject of Gordon Lightfoot's hit ballad "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald".

Here are some links to a wealth of information on this famous ship and her fate:

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum  
(Don't miss the tabs at the bottom of the page for more info.)

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
This site has many interesting links to explore, song lyrics, and midi-versions of the song.

Wikipedia's SS Edmund Fitzgerald
This site has a list of the crew as well as some very interesting external links to check out including Google Earth and NOAA.

What's Big & Scaly & First Appeared in Japan in November 1954?

Godzilla (or "Gojira" as he was known at the time) was first seen in Japanese theaters November 3rd, 1954 and has gone on to become a pop-culture icon to the world.

Check out these sites for all the info you could want or need (and then some!) on our favorite gigantic lizard monster:


Godzilla - Wikipedia

Barry's Temple of Godzilla
This site has video clips, sound clips, photos, movie reviews, FAQ's just to get you started. The site is not being updated but should be looked at as more of a Godzilla museum and is well worth a visit.

Days of the Dead. . .

 

Between October 31st and November 3rd many cultures around the globe celebrate remembering the dead in some fashion or another.

Days of the Dead from Boston.com is an interesting photo journal of those celebrations from the White House to Paris to Mexico and beyond.

(It's always fun to see what the neighbors are up to!) Enjoy!

Check Out These Opening Lines. . .

100 Best First Lines of Novels . . .As chosen by the editors of American Book Review and found on the Infoplease.com site.

This is a rather interesting list and it was fun to recognize old favorites.

(Miss Bun's personal favorite is #63.)

Be sure to take a look at #95....it should win an award....or something.