Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick

This is slightly unusual for me, but I am going to review a novel intended for a preteen audience. Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick follows a social outcast named Max, a teenager who is very large and has an intellectual disability.  He lives with his grandparents because his mother is deceased and his father is in jail.…

The Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games start THIS WEEKEND!!

Even with the Olympic games over, most of us are still feeling the rush of patriotism!  Every time the Olympics come around, I always wish they lasted longer.  I love watching the different sports and keeping up to date with who has the most medals.  This year was an amazing record breaker for our Canadian athletes,…

Perspective Pt. 4: DIY Time Warp!

Hey folks! This week in YAA’s Perspective series, we’re going to stop time.  Yeah, that’s right!  All we need is a camera and a little bit of ingenuity.  🙂 To explain the project to you, it’s pretty simple. We’re going to take a picture of a falling drop of water so fast that there’s no blur in…

CANstruction: A Creative Food Drive

Most of the food drives I hear about tend to be pretty straightforward – you scrounge around in your cupboard for anything that’s good and then you drop it off in a box somewhere and maybe get $2 off admission to a concert.  But an idea that seems to be gaining popularity around the country…

Mmm…chocolate…AND cake?!

Did our Where It’s Art: Please Do Not Taste the Artwork series interest you?  Got nothing to do this coming weekend? Come check out the L’Arche Calgary Cake Walk and the Lindt Chocolate Competition! This Sunday, March 14th, 2010 from 12pm to 3:30pm, you can take part in this family friendly event which actually showcases…

Time To Get CHIL-ed

It’s that time of the year again! The Calgary High School Improv League (CHIL), a group of high school students from schools all across the city have been working for months, learning about the art of improvised theatre, thanks to the Loose Moose Theatre Company.  CHIL will be presenting all they’ve learned through a little…

3D Television is Here

If you have been to the cinema lately, chances will be that you have a very good idea of what 3D movies are like. In fact, there are 3D movies being released all the time, Avatar being the most popular one lately. If you have had the opportunity of seeing a 3D movie, you were probably…

Oscar’s New Home

A follow up on Sunday evenings 82nd Academy Awards! The hosts Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin started the ceremony with a glamorous entrance being lowered from the ceiling and humor was present throughout the show, especially ones regarding Avatar. (Ben Stiller’s Na’vi makeup suits him) Speaking of Avatar, the movie was highly anticipated and was…

International Women’s Day: Are Men and Women Finally Equal?

International Women’s Day is a globally renown day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. Yesterday was International Women’s Day, but I thought I would share a bit about this day and my thoughts on its purpose. In the early 1900’s, women were suffering from inequality and oppression. This…

Let’s Skype!

What is Skype? Skype allows  millions of people to connect for free across the world.  Skype brings people together.  Skype is software that allows people to make phone calls and video calls to other people all over the world, all free or at a very cheap price.  It’s a lot more cost-efficient, and more fun than long distance…

Change Making and Solar Panels

TED has invaded Calgary and it’s making local people think about global issues.  There is another TEDx event coming to Calgary on April 29th.  For more information check out http://www.tedxcalgary.ca.  To give you an idea of what TEDx is doing I want to share a TEDxYYC presentation done by Eden Full.  Eden full is a…

World War Z by: Max Brooks

Continuing on in the adventure of exploring new authors…Here’s where I’m at: Zombie novels are lame… at least that is what I believed until I read World War Z by Max Brooks.  I thought World War Z was going to be another one of those zombie stories where a group of people find a bunch…

Mayor’s Youth Council Podcast

It’s been a couple of weeks since we lasted posted about the Mayor’s Youth Council but we’re back with the MYC  Podcast. As a refresher, the Mayor’s Youth Council is the voice of young people in Calgary. This week, the MYC is meeting up with the Mayor to present about some issues that matter to…