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Miles, a social outcast at school becomes board of his eventless life, and he is tired of being a nobody.  But that all changed when he moved to a boarding school called Culver Creek in search of “the great perhaps”.

Soon Miles befriends a group of teens including the colonel, his muscular but short roommate; Takumi, a Japanese student with a strong interest in rap; and Alaska, the impulsive, gorgeous, and intelligent, female leader of the group.

Miles gets dragged into a world of pranks, adventure, dating, and rule breaking -the great perhaps he was searching for.  This novel starts 136 days before a life changing event and ends 136 days after it.

Looking for Alaska is intended for an older audience, as it contains a lot of scenes and words that are inappropriate for children.  It also contains a lot of symbolism and messages about life.  This book is not quite as funny as Paper Towns, but it is in some ways deeper and more meaningful, due to the fact that it deals with more serious subjects.

This novel is a great read, and I would recommend this to anyone above the age of 14.

“How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?” – Simón Bolívar’s last words and one of the central themes of this novel.

Tune in next week for An Abundance of Katherines.

“We just had this amazing inner feeling of: ‘We’re going to do it’. I don’t know why… we were just cocky” – George Harrison

In March of 1957, John Lennon, vocalist and guitarist, formed The Quarrymen with a couple of friends, he was only 16 at that time.  Soon after, Paul McCartney, a 15 years old guitarist, joined that July who later introduced George Harrison, who was only 14, into the band and became the lead guitarist the following February.  By 1960, the group consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, fellow friend of Lennon, and recently auditioned drummer Pete Best.  The five-piece band left for Hamburg in 1960 arranged by their unofficial manager, Allan Williams.

The band, now named The Beatles, played at a series of clubs in Hamburg over the next 2 years. During this time, Stuart Sutcliffe left the band to continue his studies and tragically, passed away from brain haemorrhage less than a year later.

The Beatles also became more popular back home in Liverpool where they played at the The Cavern Club.  They met Brian Epstein, who later became manager of the band, and their producer, George Martin, signed The Beatles to EMI’s Parlophone label.

June of 1962, the Beatles had its first recording with Abbey Road Studios and the band’s final member, Ringo Starr, replaced Pete Best as drummer.  The Beatles as we know today is finally complete! The Fab Four released their debut album, Please Please Me, in November and Beatlemania began!

Enjoy The Beatles’ great single, My Bonnie, as their great journey continues!

So the hottest track being played right now is Jay Z’s “Empire State of Mind”.  This track features Alicia Keys and has one of the hottest hooks we’ve heard on a track this past year.  It’s Jay Z and Alicia’s Key’s love song to New York which is their home city.  It was only a matter of time before another city made their own version of the track and Toronto has done just that.  A radio station in Toronto has produced “T-Dot State of Mind”.

When I first saw that this track had been made I was a little skeptical.  But, after listening to it a couple of times, I’m kind of feeling it.  Firstly, I love how it actually attempts to be a track instead of a spoof.  Secondly, there is a guest appearance from the guy that played Joey Jeremiah on Degrassi.

Check out the track below.  Let me know what you think of it and if Calgary needs their own version.

Welcome to part three of my series reviewing television programs. If you missed the previous part you can check that out here.

If you are into the mystery or sci-fi genre, then the television show Fringe will be right up your alley.  Fringe follows a FBI “Fringe Division” team who use unconventional, fringe scientific methods to investigate strange & unexplained events, such as paranormal activity.  Due to the nature of the show, it has been described as a cross between other famous sci-fi television shows such as The X-Files and The Twilight Zone.  Fringe does a great job of setting up scenes with really strange and unique events, which is why it can be compared to such famous shows. J. J. Abrams is one of the creators of Fringe, so if you enjoy his creative style of production from his other works, most notably Lost, that might be another reason for you to check this show out.

If you are interesting in checking out Fringe, just head over to CTV and you can watch episodes from the second season.  New episodes are usually up every Thursday night or sometimes Friday.

Also, if you would like to give any suggestions on reviews you would like to see done for future posts, just leave a comment here and I will check it out.  Enjoy!

Many of us use Youtube to watch videos and listen to music, but what really is Youtube? Take a look below to gain some more knowledge on this site.

YouTube is a video sharing website on which users can upload and share videos.  Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005. In November 2006, YouTube, LLC was bought by Google Inc. for $1.65 billion, and is now operated as a subsidiary of Google.  The company is based in San Bruno, California, and uses Adobe Flash Video technology to display a wide variety of user-generated video content, including movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as amateur content such as video blogging and short original videos.  Most of the content on YouTube has been uploaded by individuals, although media corporations including CBS, the BBC, UMG and other organizations offer some of their material via the site, as part of the YouTube partnership program.

Unregistered users can watch the videos, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos.  Videos that are considered to contain potentially offensive content are available only to registered users over the age of 18.  The uploading of videos containing inappropriate or violating content is prohibited by YouTube’s terms of service.  Accounts of registered users are called “channels.”

For more information on Youtube, click here!

To visit Youtube, click here!

I’d like to say that you heard about LoveYourFlawz last week on our WFW saga, but it was actually just two days ago! Either way, time flies.  But just to make this last stretch of November fly by even quicker, or more bearable to those with a lot going on, I’m going to tell you about Operation Beautiful.

Yes, that’s right, you DID just read “Ending Fat Talk One Anonymous Post-It at a Time“. Operation Beautiful’s mission is to post anonymous notes in public places for other people to find. Why? Because everyone is beautiful, just the way they are.

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Last week, on November 18th, the 2009 YMCA Calgary Peace Medals were awarded to eight very worthy recipients, and I got to attend.

I was one of four students representing my school for our nomination for the award.  We were amoung 39 outstanding nominees, in eight categories. The YMCA Peace Medals give a chance to recognize the fabulous effort and love of numerous individuals, organizations and teams. It was truly humbling, and a great honour, to be amoung so many people who have not only reached out to their community, but have reached out to countries all over the world.

The eight recipients, including YAA and CYFC’s very own Sheena (we’re sooo proud of you!!!!), have worked tireously and selflessly to bring peace, joy and justice to our world, and they all deserve to recognized.

Here are the recipients:

For “Community Individual”, Jean Johnson, for transforming Piitoayis Family School, a culturally based school that serves a diverse group of aboriginal students.

For “International Individual”, Tiffany Fontaine, founder of Fontaine Children’s Charity Foundation, helping to take boys in Mozambique off the streets.

For “International Youth”, our friend Sheena Parris, who has been involved deeply in Centennial’s Social Justice Club and has taught others about social justice and peace.

For “YMCA Staff”, Judi Rich, for personifying peace in every way.

For “International Group”, Operation Eyesight Universal and Pat Fergusen, for restoring eyesight to millions of the world’s people in poverty.

For “Humanitarian”, Dr. Chris Brooks, for moving to  South Africa to treat patients in Malawi.

For “Community Group”, Aboriginal and Diversity Learning Support Advisors, for creating a positive cultural identity for aboriginal students for over 15 years.

For “Community Youth”, Bishop O’Byrne Leadership Class, for taking an active role in making a difference in the community with more than 20 projects.

To find out more about the YMCA Peace Medals, or to read the stories of the recipients and nominees click here!

Maybe football is not your thing and you were just planning on locking yourself in the house this weekend in hopes of avoiding Grey Cup Weekend.  Well, I might just have a solution for you to still go out and have a good time.  The Calgary High School Improv League (CHIL), a group of the most talented high school students from around the city who have been working hard since September, learning about the art of improvised theatre.  This weekend CHIL will be presenting all they’ve learned through a little friendly competition between three teams performing a series of scenes, under the direction of the very talented Jamie Northan, Melissa Northan and Andrew Phung.  I’ve had the opportunity to attend a few of CHIL’s shows in the past and have been blown away by the young talent we have in Calgary and by how quickly all of the students think on their feet!

When: Sunday, November 29th

Time: 7:30 sharp; please make sure to come 15-30 minutes early to purchase your tickets at the box office!

Where: The Loose Moose Theatre: 1235 26 Ave SE, in the Crossroads Farmer’s Market on Blackfoot and Ogden Road.

Cost: Only $8 per person!  And it is worth every single cent!

Hope you guys will have as many laughs as I do!

Loudcrowd: where music meets play, gaming meets people, people play with people, and encounter squirrels, cupcakes, and toast that like music.

My experience with social networking sites started with Gaia Online when I was about 11 years old.  It introduced me to a close-knit, forum-based online community of elite role-players, general discussion debaters, and otaku. B ut I’ve since moved on (really my account was hax0red and I figured it was time to quit anyway);  I’m a different person with a different life and I’m not necessarily part of the niche that Gaia appeals to anymore.

Although I doubt I’ll ever get as involved in an online community again, one social networking site that appeals to a demographic more relevant to myself today is LoudCrowd.  It aims to combine music, social networking, and on-line game play into a listening experience that is more collective and engaging, combining a club atmosphere with listening parties.

I’m not an avid user of a lot of their social-networking features, but the music aspect around which the site is based has had me quite intrigued.  Each day there is a “DJ”, which plays a setlist throughout the day.  These playlists feature selections from over 50 “indie” artists, including Justice, Phoenix, and The Raveonettes, and selections from partner indie labels, such as Beggars Group, Domino, and Modular, which have offered exclusive music content to users. Most of the games available on the site are rhythm-based, and so users world-wide who are all listening to the same song at the same time play along to the same beat.

It’s a really innovative approach to engage listeners, and WIRED speaks to that here in more detail and with more eloquence than I can.

So if you’re at all into the indie ’scene’, give it a try and let me know what you think.

Welcome to the first instalment of Sam’s Weekly Serving of NeRd! Today, we shall learn how to make organic plastic!

These days, everything is trying to be organic. But is organic really better? First off, let’s take a look at the dictionary’s chemical definition of “organic”:

or⋅gan⋅ic /ɔrˈgænɪk/  [awr-gan-ik]

–adjective : noting or pertaining to a class of chemical compounds that formerly comprised only those existing in or derived from plants or animals, but that now includes all other compounds of carbon.

Products that say “organic” on them at your supermarket aren’t usually any different than the ones that don’t say it. Organic just means that no chemical pesticides, herbicides and insecticides were used. But is it trully better? Well, it depends on what you are using the food for. You always want to scrub the outside of your fruits and veggies no matter what, so that’s no different. But, if you are going to be zesting a lemon (aka, scraping off the peel as a garnish or flavouring), then you will probably be wanting to use organic, as you will be eating the outside of the lemon.

So hopefully that cleared some of your “to organic or not to organic” questions.

Now to the good stuff: How to make organic plastic!

*Note: Do not try this project without adult supervision.

Since you’re not actually going to be eating plastic, why should it be organic? Glad you asked–when you are done with this plastic, you can throw it out or compost it without the worry of it taking hundreds of years to decompose. So if it doesn’t work the first time you make it, you’re not killing the environment by throwing it out  

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After last week’s Gives Me Hope, our WFW saga continues with another ‘feel good’ website that will leave a smile on your face.

So when we look at magazines, television, billboards and even clothing, the image of ripped muscular bodies or tall slim figures with perfect silky hair and glowing skin appear.  The flaws are unseen  and photoshopped out because it does not exist in the version of ‘beauty’ and ‘perfection’ that the media and our society has created.  Well, I  present to you, LoveYourFlawz, which de-photoshops the perfection of beauty and the way we view it.

‘Imperfect is the new perfect.’

The website is created and hosted by Caitlin Crosby (no, she is not related to Sidney Crosby) and Brie Larson.  This is a place for people to share their ‘flaw’s and together they help  inspire others to open up and share theirs as well.  Their mission?  To help us love and embrace our awesome flaws!  Why?  Because media and society puts a lot of pressure on us to look a certain way to be considered ‘beautiful’ or ‘hot’.  Our ‘flaws’ make each and every one of us unique, beautiful and real.

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Calgary has recently added a great new recycling program to the city.  It’s quite obvious that Calgarians are making an effort to help our environment is ways such as reducing our Eco-footprint.  So what’s the next step?  Compost!  Many cities around North America have started a compost program.  This program would be similar to our recycling program, where solid waste would be taken to the compost facility and transformed into resources such as soil. Edmonton has had this program since 2000 and has reduced 60% of all waste going into their landfills!  With this program, we could compost our food scraps and yard disposals such as grass clippings.

Each year, the average Calgarian disposes 1,000kg of waste into our landfills.  About 24% of our waste is food; automatically, we would be eliminating a large portion of our waste.  Calgary has websites on many great compost tips and guidelines, but not many Calgarians actually compost due to weather.  Composting will cut down our garbage by 50%.  However, having compost is not always successful; if you compost the wrong way, odors will become present. With the City compost program, we would all benefit from the resources of the compost program.  Best of all, we would be able to do so without any odor.  There are plenty of positive outcomes that will result from this program. The compost would be placed into a bin, similar to the City’s recycling blue bins.  

I think this is a great idea that many Calgarians would be willing to support!

Living in a modern city everyday, it’s hard for us to imagine a city that is lost from human touch.  It’s time that we appreciate the past glory and history of the lost cities.

There are legends and ruins of dozens of lost cities around the world.  The following 5 are the most historically significant and famous:

5. In a blink of an eye, the community of ­Pompeii, Italy was sealed by the ashes, cinders and other debris of erupted volcano, Mount Vesuvius.  It was not until 1748, almost 1500 years later, this lost city was discovered by a group of archaeologists when they found that the entire city was perfectly preserved by the air sealed volcano ashes.

4. The city of El Dorado, supposedly located somewhere in the northern portion of South America, was said to be chock-full of precious gems and gold.  It has never been photographed, so it’s existence has never been confirmed.  Many explorers have tried to find the city, but they either come back empty handed or died in the process from a variety of causes, including disease and starvation.

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Over the summer, I was talking to my uncle about this new search engine, Bing.  I thought I’d share a bit more about Bing with you all, and if you are an avid Bing user, some changes that you may have seen.

Bing (formerly Live Search, Windows Live Search, and MSN Search) is the current web search engine from Microsoft.  Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on May 28, 2009 showed it to the world at the All Things Digital Conference in San Diego, as replacement for Live Search.  It officially launched on June 3, 2009, (which would explain why it was new when I was talking to my uncle) with a preview version released on June 1, 2009.

Some changes include the listing of search suggestions in real time as queries are entered, and a list of related searches (called “Explorer pane” on the left side of search results) based on semantic technology from Powerset, which Microsoft purchased in 2008.  Bing also includes the ability to Save & Share search histories via Windows Live SkyDrive, Facebook and email.

Sounds interesting, read more about Bing on the Wikipedia by clicking here!

If you just want to try Bing, click here!