The Host

The much anticipated release of Stephanie Meyer's new book, The Host, is approaching fast.  In one week fans will be able to get their own copy of the book about parasites that take over the world, kind of like in the book Peeps, only with less scary facts.  

No Days Off for Another Month?

I really don't have anything to say about this except that I find it ridiculous that we got to have like 5 weeks of 4-day school weeks and then we had to wait 2 months for anymore.  We still have a MONTH left before our next one.  Very very sad.

Stephanie Meyer

Twilight, one of the best books I've ever read, if not THE best book I've ever read, is due to come out as one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year.  With Edward portrayed as Cedric from Harry Potter, and Bella as the girl from Jumper, the movie promises to live up to all the hype it has been generating for the past few months.  So far the release date is December 12th.  

take a look behind the scenes of the filming of it at:

mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1585900&vid=226476

Westport

I was in Westport today to shop, and noticed something extremely disturbing.  There are no longer any fun stores!  There is like five left.  Granted, some of the best ones are still there like Its a Beautiful Day and Arizona Trading Company, but the rest of it has pretty much been overrun with restaurants and bars.  And the stores that are still open all close at 4 or 5 in the afternoon.  So if you, like me, recognize Westport's amazing-ness and like to shop there, you should run up sometime soon before the rest of it has been shut down.  If you are more into the restaurant scene, however, check out Jerusalem Cafe :]

Rod of Asclepius

So I was reading Peeps yesterday, (written by the same guy who wrote the Uglies..) and there was a bunch of weird stuff in it about parasites.  Which doesn't sound particularly interesting, but there was a whole chapter about the Rod of Asclepius, the medical symbol with a pole and snakes wrapping around it.

I personally always thought that had to do with some greek mythology thing, and the Hermes guy.  Well, according to the book, it came from this disease called Dracunculiasis, or Guinea Worm disease.  Basically what happens is this parasite lays its eggs in a water source.  Then some poor, unsuspecting person comes along on a hiking trip or something and says "Hey, some water.  Lets drink it."  So then they end up drinking in this parasite.  Once inside your small intestine, the larvae hatches, migrates to your leg, and grows to be TWO TO THREE FEET.  Painful blisters pop up on the persons leg, and they, not knowing about said parasite living in their leg, runs into some stream or lake or something to soothe the pain.  Then the parasite lays new larvae which returns to the water to wait for some other unsuspecting victim.  Meanwhile, the 2-3 foot one inside your leg is stuck inside your leg.  And if its left in there, you will die.  So you have to remove it.  UNFORTUNATELY, you can't remove it quickly, because it has to be wrapped around a stick as it is removed, and can break easily, so it can only be taken out a little bit a day.  Basically what you are looking at is a week of this.  Seven whole days.  Of pulling a three foot worm out of your leg.  And what we get is a stick with a worm wrapped around it, which will later become the symbol of medicine.

So when you're camping guys, don't drink the water.

M.I.A.

For any of you who have ever been so lucky as to experience M.I.A. you will probably be very excited to learn that they will be performing at the Liberty Hall in Lawrence Kansas on May 14.  Tickets are $25.  If you haven't heard them look up their songs.  My favorites are  Paper Planes, Bucky Done Gone, Sunshowers, Boyz, and Galang.

Young @ Heart

For my mom's birthday yesterday, my whole family went up to the Tivoli, an indie film theater in Wesport.  Our destination was the movie The Band Visit, an extremely weird movie about an Egyptian police orchestra who went to perform in Isreal but were left stranded at the airport.  It was interesting, but I was more interested in the trailers they showed before the actual film.  Young @ Heart, a film coming out this spring about a group of 70 and 80 year olds who have a desire to form a rock band, is the funniest upcoming movie I've heard about in a long time.  The trailer featured clips of the seniors belting out "I Wanna Be Sedated," "Whip It," and "Yes I Can Can."

For more info go to their website: www.foxsearchlight.com/youngatheart