macksom ballistic: June 2011

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Accio Contests!

In honor of my upcoming trip to Orlando for LeakyCon, I'm hosting a huge Harry Potter giveaway. All through the month of July, I'll be accepting entries here at this post. There are loads of prizes and two different ways to win.

The House Cup Giveaway

1) Fill out the form below to enter to win one of the Hogwarts house prize packs. Each one comes with two books and some house-themed silly bands. I will randomly draw a winner from each of the four houses:

Gryffindor

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Quidditch Through the Ages

Harry Potter Coloring Book

Hufflepuff

The Gospel According to Harry Potter by Connie Neal

The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter by David Colbert

Ravenclaw

The Science of Harry Potter by Roger Highfield

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Slytherin

The Great Snape Debate

Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody by Michael Gerber

The "Happy Birthday, Harry!" Fan Fiction Contest

2) You can also enter the fan fiction contest. Just sign up now with your blog link and then post your entry on July 31st (Harry Potter's birthday!). The piece should be no more than 750 words, involve characters from the Harry Potter books, and also have something to do with birthdays. I'm pretty flexible, so unless you've written something that has nothing to do with Harry Potter and birthdays and is grossly exceeding the 750 word limit, you're good.

The prize for the winner will be something fabulous that I pick out from The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Right now, I'm only planning on one winner, but if I come across some smaller goodies, I might give out second and third prizes, too. The winners will be selected by me and guest judges, Colene Murphy and Abby Minard. Stay tuned for more specifics after I return from my visit to Hogwarts' Florida campus!

Enter your link below:

And now for the rules...

* You must be a follower of my blog to enter either contest.
* You can enter both contests and win both!
* The deadline to enter the House Cup Giveaway is midnight on July 31st (I'll announce the winners a few days afterwards).
* The "Happy Birthday, Harry!" Fan Fiction Contest entries must be posted sometime on July 31st to qualify.
* The contests is open to residents of the United States and Canada (my apologies to my Wizarding friends from other parts of the world).
* You get extra points for tweeting, blogging, and Facebooking (is that a word?) about the contests, so make sure you check those boxes in the form.
* I did put one question at the end of the House Cup Giveaway entry form to test your Harry Potter knowledge. If you've read the books (or can use Google) it's no problem at all, but you do have to get it right to qualify for the random drawing.

Good luck, my Muggle friends!

-- Lisa

Daily Thoughts 7/1/2011

Marshall, Henrietta Elizabeth (1908). Stories of Beowulf. black and white illustration of a mother and son reading a book on a chair.

Daily Thoughts 7/1/2011

I read some more of How The Hippies Saved Physics this morning. The author is writing about the idea of the observer effect in physics.

Library Journal sent me some Advanced Reading Copies of books; Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, A Sound Among the Trees A Novel by Susan Meissner, The Double Life of Alred Buber by David Schmahmann which has an interesting cover, The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh which is coming out in September, Child Wonder a novel by Roy Jacobsen told from a child's perspective, The Harvest of Grace by Cindy Smallwood which has an Amish element to it, and The Crossing A Novel by Serita Jakes. I think I am going to read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, it seems to have that bits versus atoms thinking which is starting to crop up among the digerati. Also, Child Wonder looks quite interesting.

Today, I worked on writing a number of flyers for events including a wills workshop and a workshop on mortgage law. As always, I checked the Twitter account and the displays and looked over the book sale.

I also checked out the book, HBR's 10 Must Reads On Strategy which is published by the Harvard Business Review.

How The Hippies Saved Physics is become more interesting as I read it. It is describing how the Fundamental Fysiks Group got funded and tied in with new age and eccentric groups and places like Esalen, Werner Erhard, and Henry Dakin. There is a touch of spoon bending with Uri Geller, psi, fringe science, and pseudoscience thrown in to make it even more fascinating. We get descriptions of quantum physics in relation to remote viewing, underground newspapers from the 1970s, and makeshift laboratories. The list of ecceentric physicists is interesting including Richard Feynman, Fred Alan Wolf, and Jack Sarfatti. At points it makes me laugh and smile because at the same time as it is very serious, it touches on the outlandish. There are points where icons of counterculture get woven into the story like Ram Dass and Ira Einhorn. It is a great read, especilly if you are interested in how fringe science becomes accepted or counterculture.

Web Bits

Crowdfunding: When the Publisher Doesn’t Cover the Creator’s Expenses
By Todd Allen

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/book-news/comics/article/47781-crowdfunding-when-the-publisher-doesn--t-cover-the-creator--s-expenses.html%20%20

Albums I Love

The Rolling Stones
Jump Back: The Best of the Rolling Stones 1971-1993

CD info:

Date of release: August 24, 2004
Has songs from every album from 1971's Sticky Fingers to 1989's Steel Wheels
Track listing:

Start Me Up
Brown Sugar
Harlem Shuffle
It's Only Rock and Roll
Mixed Emotions
Angie
Tumbling Dice
Fool to Cry
Rock and a Hard Place
Hot Stuff
Miss You
Emotional Rescue(ext. edition)
Respectable
Beast of Burden
Waiting on a Friend
Bitch
Undercover of the Night
Wild Horses

Bridges to Babylon

CD info:

Date of release: 1997
Followed the 1994/1995 Voodoo Lounge tour and Stripped album
Track listings:

Flip the Switch
Anybody Seen My Baby?
Low Down
Already Over Me
Gunface
You Don't Have to Mean It
Out of Control
Saint of Me
Might as Well Get Juiced
Always Suffering
Too Tight
Thief in the Night(Keith Richards on vocals)
How Can I Stop(Keith Richards on vocals)

Hot Rocks

CD info:

Date of release: late 1971
Has all their early stuff, from 1964-1971
Track listing:

Gimme Shelter
(I Can't Get No)Satisfaction
Time is on My Side
Play with Fire
Heart of Stone
As Tears Go By
Get Off My Cloud
Mother's Little Helper
19th Nervous Breakdown
Paint It, Black
Under My Thumb
Ruby Tuesday
Let's Spend the Night Together
Jumping Jack Flash
Street Fighting Man
Sympathy for the Devil
Honky Tonk Women
Midnight Rambler
You Can't Always Get What You Want
Brown Sugar
Wild Horses

Forty Licks

CD info:

Date of release: Sept. 30, 2002
Has 2 CD's
Disc 1:

Street Fighting Man
Gimme Shelter
(I Can't Get No)Satisfaction
The Last Time
Jumping Jack Flash
You Can't Always Get What You Want
19th Nervous Breakdown
Under My Thumb
Not Fade Away
Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby? Standing in the Shadows
Sympathy for the Devil
Mother's Little Helper
She's a Rainbow
Get Off My Cloud
Wild Horses
Ruby Tuesday
Paint It, Black
Honky Tonk Women
It's All Over Now
Let's Spend the Night Together

Disc 2:

Start Me Up
Brown Sugar
Miss You
Beast of Burden
You Got Me Rocking
Don't Stop
Happy
Angie
Shattered
Fool to Cry
Love is Strong
Mixed Emotions
Keys to your Love
Anybody Seen My Baby?
Tumbling Dice
Undercover of the Night
Emotional Rescue
It's Only Rock and Roll
Losing My Touch

The Beatles
1

CD info:

Date of Release: Nov. 13, 2000
Compilation CD
Has virtually every song from 1962-1970
Good CD to choose if you want to start listening to the Beatles
Track listing:

Love Me Do
From Me to You
She Loves You
I Want to Hold Your Hand
Can't Buy Me Love
A Hard Day's Night
I Feel Fine
Eight Days a Week
Ticket to Ride
Help!
Yesterday
Day Tripper
We Can Work It Out
Paperback Writer
Yellow Submarine
Eleanor Rigby
Penny Lane
All You Need is Love
Lady Madonna
Hey Jude
Get Back
The Ballad of John and Yoko
Something(George Harrison)
Come Together
Let It Be
The Long and Winding Road

Abbey Road

CD info

Date of release: April 1969
This is considered to be the greatest Beatles album of all time
In the picture, Paul is the only one barefoot
Track listing:

Side 1

Come Together
Maxwell's Silver Hammer
Something
Oh!Darling
Octopus's Garden
I Want You(She's So Heavy)

Side 2

Here Comes the Sun
Because
You Never Give Me Your Money
Sun King
Mean Mr. Mustard
Polythene Pam
She Came in through the Bathroom Window
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End
Her Majesty

Paul McCartney
Band on the Run

CD info:

Date of release: 1973
Made when he was with the band Wings
Track listing:

Band on the Run
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Four
Jet
Bluebird
Mrs. Vanderbilt
Let Me Roll It
Mamunia
No Words
Helen Wheels
Picasso's Last Words

Aerosmith
Devil's Got a New Disguise

CD info:

Date of release: Oct. 17, 2006
Compilation CD
Track listing:

Dream On
Mama Kin
Sweet Emotion
Back in the Saddle
Last Child
Walk This Way (Run-DMC version)
Dude(Looks like a Lady)
Rag Doll
Love in an Elevator
Janie's Got a Gun
What It Takes
Crazy
Livin on the Edge
Cryin'
I Don't Want to Miss a Thing
Jaded
Sedona Sunrise
Devil's Got a New Disguise

Big Ones

CD info:

Date of release: Nov. 1, 1994
Compilation CD
Track listing:

Walk on Water
Love in an Elevator
Rag Doll
What It Takes
Dude(Looks like a Lady)
Janie's Got a Gun
Cryin'
Amazing
Blind Man
Deuces Are Wild
Crazy
Eat the Rich
Angel
Livin' on the Edge

O, Yeah!

CD info:

Date of release: 2002
Double disc compilation CD
Track Listing:

Disc 1:

Mama Kin
Dream On
Same Old song and Dance
Seasons of Wither
Walk This Way
Big Tench Inch Record
Sweet Emotion
Last Child
Back in the Saddle
Draw the Line
Dude(Looks like a Lady)
Angel
Rag Doll
Janie's Got a Gun
Love in an Elevator
What It Takes

Disc 2:

The Other Side
Livin on the Edge
Cryin'
Amazing
Deuces Are Wild
Crazy
Fallin in Love(Is Hard on the Knees)
Pink
I Don't Want to Miss a Thing
Jaded
Just Push Play
Walk This Way(Run-DMC version)
Girls of Summer
Lay It Down
Come Together
Theme from Spider-Man
Toys in the Attic

Foreigner
No End in Sight: The Very Best of Foreigner

CD info:

Date of release: July 15, 2008
Basically a compilation CD
Track listing:

Feels Like the First Time
Long, Long Way from Home
Cold as Ice
Headknocker
Starrider
Double Vision
Blue Morning, Blue Day
Hot Blooded
Dirty White Boy
Head Games
Women
Night Life
Break It Up
Juke Box Hero
Urgent
Waiting for a Girl Like You
I Want to Know What Love Is
Down on Love
Reaction to Action
That Was Yesterday
Say You Will
I Don't Want to Live Without You
Can't Wait
Tooth and Nail
Heart Turns to Stone
Lowdown and Dirty
I'll Fight for You
Until the End of Time

Agent Provocateur

CD info:

Date of release: 1984
Foreigner is an American/British band for those who may not know
First and only #1 album in the UK
Track Listing:

I Want to Know What Love Is
Tooth and Nail
That Was Yesterday
Growing Up the Hard Way
Reaction to Action
Stranger in My Own House
A Love in Vain
Down on Love
Two Different Worlds
She's Too Tough

Shakira
Oral Fixation, vol. II

CD info:

Date of release: Nov. 28, 2005
The cover was changed in some countries due to the fact it shows a good deal of her bare body
Track listing:

How Do You Do
Illegal
Hips Don't Lie
Animal City
Don't Bother
The Day and the Time
Dreams for Plans
Hey You
Your Embrace
Costume Makes the Clown
Timor

She Wolf

CD info:

Date of release: October 9, 2009
Track listing:

She Wolf
Did It Again
Long Time
Why Wait
Good Stuff
Men in this Town
Gypsy
Spy
Mon Amour
Lo Hecho Esta Hecho
Anos Luz
Loba

Laundry Service

CD info:

Date of release: Nov. 13, 2001
Her first bilingual album
Track listing:

Objection(Tango)
Underneath Your Clothes
Wherever, Whenever
Rules
The One
Ready for the Good Times
Fool
Te Dejo Madrid
Poem to a Horse
Que Me Quedes Tu
Eyes Like Yours (Ojos Asi)
Suerte(Wherever, Whenever)
Te Aviso, Te Anuncio(Tango)

Enrique Iglesias
Greatest Hits

CD info:

Date of release: Nov. 11, 2008
2 new songs were added onto this album, Away and Takin' Back My Love
Track listing:

Bailamos
Away
Takin' Back My Love
Hero
Be With You
Rhythm Divine
Do You Know(the Ping Pong song)
Tired of Being Sorry
Escape
Could I Have This Kiss Forever
Not in Love
Don't Turn Off the Lights
Love to See You Cry
Maybe
Addicted
Somebody's Me
Can You Hear Me
Miss You
Push

Euphoria

CD info:

Date of release: July 5, 2010
Consists of songs in both English and Spanish
Track listing:

I Like It
Heartbeat
Cuando Me Enamoro
One Day at a Time
Dirty Dancer
Why Not Me?
No Me Digas Que No
Ayer
Dile Que
Tu y Yo
Heartbreaker
Coming Home
Everything's Gonna Be Alright

Reba McEntire
Greatest Hits vol. III

CD info:

Date of Release: 2001
Includes 10 of her songs from the 1990s
For the week of Nov. 10, 2001, it hit #1 on the Billboard Country charts and #19 on the Billboard 200
Track listing:

I'm a Survivor
Forever Love
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
And Still
If You See Him/If You See Her
The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia
Fallin' Out of Love
The Heart Won't Lie
Take It Back
She Thinks His Name was John
The Fear of Being Alone
Why Haven't I Heard from You
One Honest Heart
Myself Without You
Sweet Music Man

Tim McGraw
Greatest Hits

CD info:

Date of Release: Nov. 21, 2000
#4 on Billobard Country charts
Track listing

Indian Outlaw
Don't Take the Girl
She Never Lets It Go to Her Heart
I Like It, I Love It
Just to See You Smile
It's Your Love
Where the Green Grass Grows
For a Little While
Please Remember Me
Something Like That
My Best Friend
Maybe We Should Sleep on It
Down on the Farm
My Next Thirty Years
Let's Make Love

Live Like You Were Dying

CD info:

Date of release: August 24, 2004
#1 on Billboard 200
Track listing:

How Bad Do You Want It
My Old Friend
Can't Tell Me Nothing
Old New Town
Live Like You Were Dying
Drugs or Jesus
Back When
Something's Broken
Open Season on My Heart
Everybody Hates Me
Walk Like a Man
Blank Sheet of Paper
Just Be Your Tear
Do Yuo Want Fries with That
Kill Myself
We Carry On

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Daily Thoughts 6/30/2011

Albert Einstein

Daily Thoughts 6/30/2011

Last night I read some of How the Hippies Saved Physics. The book is a popular treatise that focuses on the philosophy of science. Quantum physics has a lot of strange qualities which can be interpreted in very unusual ways. The author spends some time focusing on the Fundamental Fysiks Group at University of California Berkeley which was a group founded in the 1970s. Right now, I am reading about the early creators of quantum physics, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Albert Einsteen, and Erwin Schrodinger.

There is a book on mashups called Remixthebook by Mark Amerika coming out in September. I spent a little time reading the latest Publishers Weekly.

I also spent some time going over the ordering pattern this afternoon as well as checked through the gift books for books to add. There were a number of donated books like Don Quixote by Cervantes and Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens which were assigned for the schools. This is the thing which is easiest to find among donated items.

I checked the displays in the morning and udpated the Twitter account. Our website came back up which was a relief. I also sent in the monthly statistics for programs.

Things went fairly smoothly today.

On the way home, I read some more of How The Hippies Saved Physics. The author is writing about John S. Bell who describes spooky action at a distance in physics. It is hard to describe or even understand Bell's Theorem.

Web Bits

Why It's Important for Communities to Have Bookstores
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/06/27/pm-why-its-important-for-communities-to-have-bookstores/

Ladies and Gentlemen/The Rolling Stones

The name refers to the name of a movie made about the Rolling Stones 1972 North American tour, filmed over 4 shows in Fort Worth, Texas. The movie was made in 1974, and it was in support of their newly released Exile on Main St. album.

Set list

Brown Sugar
Bitch
Gimme Shelter
Dead Flowers
Happy
Tumbling Dice
Love in Vain
Sweet Virginia
You Can't Always Get What You Want
All Down the Line
Midnight Rambler
Bye Bye Johnny
Rip This Joint
Jumping Jack Flash
Street Fighting Man

I give this movie a 5 out of 5 star rating. It was definitely an old looking movie, but it was so cool. And seeing the outfits Mick constanly donned made it more fun to watch, seeing him in a white sequined jumpsuit one minute, and then seeing him in a blue with white polka dot jumpsuit the next minute made it fun to watch. And the music not to forget was pretty cool.

Ashley Tisdale in casual pictures

Here Ashley Tisdale pictures when she was spotted out and about in Santa Monica, California on june 24,2011. Ashley Tisdale best known as The "High School Musical" actress. she was looking dressed casually as she headed to Lionsgate studios.

Other 2011 Ashley Tisdale pictures

2011 Ashley Tisdale best teen picture
2011 Ashley Tisdale in planet hollywood picture
2011 Ashley Tisdale picture on Spain

Going home soon :/

In exactly one week I’ll be back in Sweden. Man, that feels weird. I can’t believe that I’ve already been here three weeks! Time really flies when you’re having a good time :(

Nevertheless, if I'm going to find some positiveness in going back though it must be meeting my girls, going out clubbing, and getting back on my normal diet so I’ll lose some weight. Oh, and the fast internet connection of course. I miss streaming Korean series, hehe :p

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

New haircut

Bloggie! Sandra is back…with a new haircut and everything :p

The last couple of days I’ve spent at my aunt Poh Suan’s house and since the internet connection/entire laptop there is crap, I just didn’t have enough patience to blog. Buuut, I had the patience to get my hair done. Initially I planned to only get rid of my split ends and then do a straight perm, but then the hairdresser (as usual) said that she needed to get rid of a little more of my hair due to breakage and dryness, so I now have shoulder length and bangs :o Oh, and the straightening is…straight, but I still think it could have been straighter. So in other words my best friend Mr. Pliers will still be my best friend from time to time, hehe.

Mmm...kaya toast ♥

Yesterday's evening tea @ Old Town White Coffee

Selena Gomez: Chicago Cutie

Here we have the famous teenager female celebrity, Selena Gomez pictures when she spotted on chicago, Illinois for some promotions event. The Justin Bieber girl looking very cute on the stage while wearing casual wear. Selena Gomez pictures cutie in chicago, june 26,2011.

Also See all about Selena Gomez :
Selena Gomez Tatto pic
Selena Gomez Hairstyles

Daily Thoughts 6/29/2011

William Sydney Porter-- O.Henry, Austin History Center, Austin Public Library

Daily Thoughts 6/29/2011

Todaywas another very steady day. I checked the displays and the booksale. I also tabulated another survey. I discussed the Central Library District allotment with thedirector this morning and looked over peoples ordering assignments.

I also spent some time helping people with job search in the computer lab for an hour. It is something we do on occassion.

A lot of the teenagers are coming in for their assignment lists and signing up for summer reading. Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees, and Animal Farm by George Orwell are very popular. The short classics are what the teenagers want to read; The Pearl and The Red Pony by John Steinbeck, Animal Farm by George Orwell, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, and The Prince by Machiavelli are quite short.

The book, How The Hippies Saved Physics, Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival by David Kaiser came in for me to read.

I am looking forward to The Death Ray by Dan Clowes. It should be an interesting graphic novel. It is coming out in September. I also think Lidia's Italy in America published by Knopf should do quite well. I occassionally watch the cooking show on Channel 13 while I am folding laundry.

Travel

You ever find yourself looking thru a magazine and seeing a picture of a beautiful place and saying to yourself "I wish I was there". Well, I'm guilty of that. If that were a crime, I'd be on death row for it, lol. There are tons of places I'd love to see b4 I leave this world. I'll add the pics later, the computer I'm on sucks! Here are some of them:

China

Great Wall/Beijing. I've been interested in seeing this place since actually 2nd grade! Wow!
Museum of the Terra-Cotta Warriors in Lintong, Xian, Shaanxi Province. Chinese history has always been my thing!

Forbidden City/Beijing. Just once I'd love to see all the cool places in China and this is one of them
Tianenmen Square/Beijing. I'd like to see this place because it sounds interesting. With places like Monument to the People's Heroes, Tianenmen Tower and Great Hall of the People, it has to be awe inspiring.
Summer Palace/Haidian District. It has what is called a typical Chinese garden overflowing with lovely and beautiful plants. With me having a green thumb and a love of all things green and healthy, gotta see it!

Japan

Mount Fujiyama. In alot of my previous art classes, when we were asked to do a painting or picture and we got to choose the content, I, for some unknown reason, always gravitated towards something of Asian ancestry, whether it be a picture of the Summer Palace at Yihehuan, which I think is the name for the area around it, or Mount Fujiyama in Japan. All I know is this place is a very beautiful location and I want to see it!

Ginza. Here you can see authentic Japanese theatre and arts, either Kabukiza Theatre or Shinbashi Enbujo, either one giving you an authentic taste of real Japanese theatre and performing arts. Oh yeah, I'm up for that!
Asakusa. Has all the charm of Japan from long ago, buy yourself traditional Japanese items and foods. Cool!
Imperial Palace-East Garden. With me having a good green thumb, and love of plants, I'd love to see this!

Italy

The Coliseum/Rome
Trevi Fountain/Rome

Rialto Bridge/Venice
Palazzo Vecchio/Florence

England

Abbey Road Studios. With me being a big Beatles fan, I'd sure love to see where they made their music.

I'd get 3 more people I know who like the Beatles and I'd go there with them and we'd re-create the Abbey Road image to pay respect to the Beatles.

Tate Modern. If this is an art museum, I'm okay with that. I've always had a love of art.
London Bridge. cool looking

Australia

Queensland Zoo. Pay my respects to Steve Irwin, better known as the Crocodile Hunter.

This is why I'd visit this place, to pay my respect to Steve Irwin, aka, The Crocodile Hunter. He was too young to die.

Sydney Opera House.
Ayers Rock. Northern Territory. It's cool and I wonder if it's bigger than in the pics I've seen?
National Gallery of Australia. It's an art museum, sweet! I loooooooooove art!
Sydney Harbour
Bondi Beach. Lay out and relax, maybe see Hugh Jackman there, lol? Man he's hot!

Great Barrier Reef/Queensland. I hear it's a lovely site
Lightning Ridge. Go mining for opals, my birthstone!

New York

Empire State Building, I'd love to go to the top and see all of New York from up there.
Statue of Liberty. I'd love to see it because I'd get those thoughts running thru my head saying "This is what the immigrants first saw when they entered the US all those years ago."
Ellis Island Immigration Center. I'd love to see this place because all the immigrants came here and became US citizens

Museum of Modern Art. What can I say? I'm an art nut.
Museum of Jewish Heritage. I'm part Jewish, so that explains alot, it has to do with the Holocaust. That particular topic has always fascinated me.
The Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. I'm a fan of the books they released.
Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. I wanna see who they have wax figures of.