Little Scientists Training

Little Scientists Training Day

Thursday, Jan. 31  

4 p.m.

Step into the laboratory and conduct science experiments with preschoolers. Community Service hours given.

Taylor Swift and Her Great Love?

Taylor Swift is an astute businesswoman and the superstar has landed partnerships with major brands Cover Girl and Keds!  Now, she’s teaming up with soft-drink giant Diet Coke.







Swift posted a video on Sunday in which she talked about how she’s “making it official” with “one of the great loves of my life”                  This looks like a relationship that will actually last!


According to Ad Age, Coke’s marketing plan for Swift hasn’t been revealed yet, but it’s anticipated she will become a brand ambassador (much as Beyonce serves for Pepsi). Fans who want to keep up with the partnership can “like” Diet Coke’s Facebook page for updates.

Teens CAN Make a Difference!

READ ON ...

Responding to consumer concerns, PepsiCo today announced that it will remove brominated vegetable oil (BVO), an emulsifier, from citrus-flavored Gatorade.
The Mississippi teenager, Sarah Kavanagh, had launched an online petition in November that drew recent media attention, including a story in the Chicago Tribune on Monday. 

 Kavanagh, 15, said she used to drink Gatorade frequently before she checked the ingredients to see if it was in line with her vegan diet. When she looked up brominated vegetable oil online, she didn't like what she found:


BVO has been patented as a flame retardant and is banned in Japan and the European Union.  

American Idol Surprise!

"American Idol" went totally askew (or Askew) during the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, auditions this Thursday--but in the most awesome way possible. Although much of this tricky 12th season has so far focused on the icky infighting and Springer-style drama behind the judges' table, on Thursday a brilliantly bizarre boy brought so much sunshiny rainbow-striped radness to the show, he may as well have entered the audition room on a unicorn. That magical, mythical boy's name was Charlie Askew.

Read the whole article and listen to his audition...click on the link!
Charlie Askew

No way!!!!!!

YES WAY!

Lauren Oliver announced yesterday that DELIRIUM has been ordered by the Fox Network! 

That’s right, DELIRIUM might be coming to you soon as a 
TV SERIES!

For more information, click on the link below.

http://lauren-oliver.tumblr.com/post/41284293685/announcing-the-delirium-tv-series

Do you love the Supernatural?

Out in theatres now...

Mama, a supernatural thriller that tells the haunting tale of two little girls who disappeared into the woods the day that their mother was murdered. 

When they are rescued years later and begin a new life, they find that someone or something still wants to come tuck them in at night.

PG-13  1hr. 40 mins.

Will YOU be able to go to sleep?

Worlds will collide on August 23, 2013!

Bring it!

Just Dance 4 Tournament

Saturday, Jan. 19

2 p.m.

Let’s see who rules the dance floor! This tournament will be played on Wii. Prizes will be awarded to the top winners.

TGIF!

There are three awesome programs at the OPPL on Friday, Jan. 18!! 

Writers' Corner

4:30-6 p.m.

Teen Inc

6:15-7 p.m.

Zumba

7-8 p.m.

Breaking News...

Summit Entertainment announced today that  

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 will be available on Blu-ray, DVD, Video On Demand and Digital Download on Saturday, March 2.

Best Buy Scholarship

2013 Best Buy Scholarship Program– Students That Hit the Books and Help Their Communities

Best Buy and Best Buy Children’s Foundation serve a diverse population of young teens by providing access to opportunities for teens through technology. Through its support of out-of-school programs, Best Buy is a conduit for teens to reach development opportunities that are important to them.  Best Buy will help teens develop the technology skills they will need for success in college, careers and life….and when they’re ready, we’ll help students in grades 9-12 reach their dreams of college by providing access to education through the Best Buy Scholarship Program.

This year the program will award scholarships to students in grades 9-12 living in the U.S. or Puerto Rico who plan to enter a full-time undergraduate course of study upon high school graduation.

1,100 students will each receive a $1,000 scholarship. If you’re a 9-12 grade student who plans to attend post-secondary education, have solid grades and are involved in community service or have work experience, we encourage you to apply!  (Previous winners are ineligible to apply).

Since 1999, Best Buy has provided over $20.7 million in scholarship funds to help 16,545 students attend college.

How to Apply

The application period opens December 26, 2012 and closes at 11:59 p.m. CST on February 15, 2013.  A helpful hint…..don’t wait until the last couple days to apply as the site experiences heavy traffic at the close of the program.  No late applications will be accepted.  Winners will be announced on at http://pr.bby.com in early May 2012. Be sure to check back to http://pr.bby.com at that time.

 Click on the link below for more information.

http://pr.bby.com/community-relations/programs/best-buy-scholarship-program/

Imagine...It COULD happen...

 Asteroids could hit our precious Earth!

 See our Speak Up recommendation related to this story: Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Upon further review, a big scary-sounding asteroid is no longer even a remote threat to smash into Earth in about 20 years, NASA says.

Astronomers got a much better look at the asteroid when it whizzed by Earth on Wednesday from a relative safe 9 million miles away. They recalculated the space rock's trajectory and determined it wasn't on a path to hit Earth on April 13, 2036...

  as once feared possible.

At more than 1,060 feet wide, the rock called Apophis could do tons of damage to a local area if it hit and could even cause a tsunami...

but not large enough to trigger worldwide extinctions.

About 9 years ago, when astronomers first saw Apophis (uh-PAH'-fihs), they thought there was a 2.7 % chance that it would smack into our planet. Later, they lowered the chances to an even more unlikely 1 in 250,000.

Now it's never mind. 

It won't get closer than 19,400 miles. That's still the closest approach asteroid watchers have seen for a rock this large.

If you want to see a space rock come cosmically close to Earth, there's always next month.

On Feb. 15, a small asteroid, only 130-feet wide, will come close to Earth, about 17,000 miles above the equator. That's so close it will come between our planet and some of the more distant satellites that circle the globe. 

 But it will miss Earth.

The People have made their choices...

Check out the complete list of winners from the 2013 People's Choice Awards!

http://blog.music.aol.com/2013/01/10/peoples-choice-awards-2013-winners-photos/

Fan of the game Monopoly?

Oh No!  Say it isn't SO!!

Hasbro, the maker of the famous game, Monopoly, will be replacing one of the game's iconic tokens with a fancy new figurine.

Even worse, Hasbro is making you decide which one will go. From now through Feb. 5, fans can vote to save their favorite token -- and which new one will take the place of the least popular piece.
“The tokens are one of the most iconic parts of the Monopoly game and we know that people are emotionally tied to their favorite one,” said Eric Nyman, senior vice president. “When we decided to replace one of the tokens in the game, we knew we had to involve our fans in the process. We can’t wait to see which iconic piece will ‘go to jail’ and which new token the fans will choose to become part of one of the world’s most popular games.”

and just check out the choices for the replacement piece: a helicopter, a diamond ring, a robot, a cat and a guitar (see examples below).

 - but all is not lost...

The new Monopoly will arrive on store shelves toward the middle or end of the year. Hasbro has already announced plans to release a “Golden Token Edition” later this year that will include all of the classic pieces as well as the five new tokens.

It’s not the first time Hasbro has monkeyed with the game pieces. Three of the game's original tokens -- the purse, lantern and rocking horse -- were replaced in the 1950s by the dog, man on horseback, and wheelbarrow. 

Check out the possible replacements below, and cast your vote on the Monopoly Facebook page.


The Monopoly helicopter (Credit: Hasbro)

Don't Believe Everything You See on TV!

Here are just some of the many TV locations 

that L.A. faked

Los Angeles is home to the directors, cinematographers, producers, and key grips necessary to make it the beating heart of the American film and television industry, so sometimes, instead of paying to take the show on the road to shoot on location, scouts will turn up suitable stand-ins for faraway locales in L.A. or its suburbs. Here are five of the most famous faux locations, starting with Jerry Seinfeld's apartment building. Supposedly located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, The Shelly is in fact a rather seedy rental at 757 South New Hampshire Avenue in Los Angeles' Koreatown neighborhood. One former tenant—the photographer responsible for the photo above—describes the residents of the building, just a few years before Seinfeld first aired as, simply, "Rats, cockroaches, drug dealers, crazy old ladies."

The  TV period drama Mad Men might be set in Manhattan and the surrounding suburbs, but many of the locations, from the restaurants to the character's homes, are located in L.A. 

So many, in fact, that Curbed LA published a map of 20 such locations. Leading that list was the idyllic home of the Draper family, allegedly located in Ossining, N.Y., which actually sits in the tony L.A. suburb of Pasadena.

Paddy's Pub, the headquarters for all the gang's antics on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, is said to be located in an alley on that city's south side, but is, in fact, a warehouse in downtown Los Angeles, a revelation that goes a long way to explain why it's always sunny. The location in an industrial district not only matches the grungy backwater aspect of the bar itself, but also probably makes filming a whole lot less expensive. Not far from the LA River and the rail yards, the immediate neighborhood is quickly becoming a mecca for creative types looking for cheap rent, so get down to 544 Mateo Street quickly to see this brick set in all its decrepit glory.

Showtime's friendly serial killer series Dexter, much of the action revolves around a Miami-area strip club operated by a bunch of Russian baddies, known as The Fox Hole. AsDexter is only set in Miami, and now shot primarily in Los Angeles, the real location of this fictitious gentleman's club is 1600 Argyle Avenue in Hollywood, fashioned out of the rear entrance of an actual nightclub called Tru.

One of the most beloved teen dramas, The O.C. was set in Newport Beach, Calif., a southern satellite of Los Angeles. It shouldn't have been difficult to find a suitable setting for the Cohen family in Newport Beach, where Mediterranean-style mansions are the norm, but the producers inexplicably decided on a house in Malibu instead. Stranger still, only the exterior shots were filmed here, while another house down the block was used for some interiors, and most of the interior action shot on sound stages. Plus, this particular mansion doesn't even have a pool house, the supposed home of the Cohens' adopted son, Ryan.

Librarians' favorite cupcakes!

Community Service for High Schoolers!

You can help us and we can help YOU!

Sign up for community service opportunities here at the OPPL

Register starting tomorrow, Saturday January 4, 2013 for our Computer Volunteers:

Help with computers and earn community service hours. Duties include releasing print jobs and assisting children and teens with basic Internet and MicroSoft Office questions . 

Volunteers must be able to commit to one shift a week for 4 weeks.  Call the YS Dept. at 428-5127 with any questions!


Check your personal schedule and REGISTER through 1/28/13 at 5pm

Dark Secrets Will Come To Light on 2.13.13!

Ethan longs to escape his small Southern town. He meets a mysterious new girl, Lena. Together, they uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history and their town.

Read the book before the movie comes out!

Call #: YA GAR

Strange but True...

Nature can accomplish many really cool things, 

like this tree that actually GREW around a bike parked up against it. 

 Read ON...

A young boy's lost bicycle has led to a unique piece of natural roadside art on Washington state's Vashon Island, over 50 years later.

Traveling off of Vashon Highway, about 50 feet into the woods behind the local Sound Food Café, travelers will come across a peculiar site - an intact, 1950s-era bicycle embedded into a tree.

In 1954 Helen Puz had been recently widowed when she received the bike as a gift from someone in the community.

"People were very sympathetic and generous," Puz said. "We were given a girl's bike and my 8-year-old son Don seemed the natural one to ride it."

But Don Puz was none-too-pleased to be cruising the island, which is nestled between Seattle and Tacoma, on a girl's bike. One day he told his mother that he had lost the bike, and given that it was built for a girl, they decided to let it go.

It wasn't until decades later that Helen Puz, now 99, found out what happened to her son's bike when she read in the local Beachcomber newspaper that someone had discovered the bike five feet high in the air, embedded in the tree. The tree had grown around it!