Winter in Jerseydale

By Phil Vigil

My house.


A view from my front yard.

Whatzis Iz 3: The "Whatzis 3 plus Special Bonus!" Answer!

Photos by Jesse Exum

This

is fire & wood.

Phil's Movie Previews

By Phil Vigil


Underworld Evolution- Coming to theaters January 20th


Annapolis- Coming to theaters January 27th


When a Stranger Calls- Coming to theaters February 3rd


Firewall- Coming to theaters February 10th


The Pink Panther- Coming to theaters February 10th


X3- Coming to theaters May 26th

Tales about Yale 2

By Phil Vigil

Yale, my guide dog in training, has been having fun socializing. Since he is a guide dog, I get to take him in many stores and places a normal dog cannot go. On my last adventure with Yale, I took him to Target. He pulls a lot while on a leash, so I have to put a "Premier Gentle Leader" on his head (a Gentle Leader fits around the dog's muzzle to keep him from pulling, as you can see in the picture.) It controls him somewhat, but he hates wearing it. He always tries to rub it off on me or on other people we pass. Anyway, as if taking him in a store with a "gentle leader" on isn't enough of a nightmare already, he poops right in the middle of Target. Before I went in I took Yale to do his "business" and he would not go. My other guide dogs also have had accidents in large stores. It usually happens not because they have to "go," but because they get overly excited in crowded environments. I still have to work on Yale's on-leash behavior and get him used to going in stores.

Whatzis 3 plus Special Bonus!

by Jesse Exum


Guess what this is a close-up photo of! A regular photo of it will be posted next week.



THE SPECIAL BONUS: Another "Picture-Perfect Picture!"
by Jesse Exum


Balanced Meal

Teen Writers

It might interest you that there are actually some popular books published by teen writers, such as:

In the Forest of the Night by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes Age 14
Outsiders by S.E. Hinton Age 16
Frankenstein by Mary Shelly Age 19
Eragon by Christopher Paolini Age 15
Diary of a Teenage Girl by Anne Frank Age 15
Please Don’t Kill the Freshman by Zoë Trope Age 15
Walter Farley started writing The Black Stallion at… Age 15
Carson McCuller’s first story was published at… Age 19
Mark Twain was first published at… Age 18

If you would like to read what other teens are writing or submit your own work, go to www.teenink.com. You can also have your poetry published in the Library’s yearly Teen Express book, and we welcome stories, reviews, poetry, editorials, photography, etc.

E-mail your submissions to karen.dusek@sjvls.org

Penguins on DVD!

by Jesse Exum


The Penguins are back! After making their debut in the computer-animated film Madagascar, Skipper, Kowalski, Private, and Rico are starring in their own hilarious 12-minute feature film! Initially shown in theaters before screenings of the clay-mation film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, the computer-animated film A Christmas Caper is now on DVD! (See details below.) A prequel to Madagascar, A Christmas Caper finds Private sneaking out of the zoo to get lonely Ted the polar bear a Christmas present. When Private is captured by an old lady mistaking him for a stuffed toy, Skipper, Kowalski and Rico have to rescue him from the old lady’s dog, Mr. Chew.
The movie features a couple of familiar voices: Rico is voiced by John DiMaggio, who also voices Dr. Drakken on the cartoon TV show Kim Possible and Fu Dog on the cartoon TV show American Dragon: Jake Long; and Ted the polar bear is voiced by Bill Fagerbakke, who also voices Patrick on the cartoon TV show SpongeBob SquarePants.
A Christmas Caper is available on the DVD of Madagascar, and is sometimes included on a bonus DVD with the DVDs of the computer-animated films Shrek, Shrek 2 and Shark Tale. It is unknown if it will be included on/with the DVD of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, available February 7th.
If you’re looking for even more Penguins fun, the Game Boy Advance game Madagascar: Operation Penguin is also available now! For those who already have it, here's a secret code: To put the game in Christmas mode, pause the game with the Select button then press Up, L-button, Left, R-button, Right, L-button, Down, R-button. In Christmas mode, various things in the game will become Christmas-themed, and you'll be able to revisit the intro level. To undo the code, just enter it again.

Ratings:
Madagascar: PG
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit: G
A Christmas Caper: G
Shrek: PG
Shrek 2: PG
Shark Tale: PG
Madagascar: Operation Penguin: E

Ebert & Roeper’s Top 10 Movie Picks for 2005

by Phil Vigil

Roger Ebert’s Picks
10. Millions
9. Yes
8. King Kong
7. Nine Lives
6. Me & You & Everyone We Know
5. Brokeback Mountain
4. June Bug
3. Munich
2. Syriana
1. Crash

Richard Roeper’s Picks
10. The 40 Year Old Virgin
9. Walk the Line
8. A History of Violence
7. Brokeback Mountain
6. Capote
5. Nine Lives
4. Munich
3. Crash
2. The New World
1. Syriana

Whatzeez Are 2: The "Whatzis 2" Answers!

by Jesse Exum


A cat.


(No explanation necessary)


A small waterfall.


Dog food.


Iron filings surrounding a green magnet.

Nursery Rhyme Retellings 2: The Pumpkin-Eater

by Jesse Exum

ORIGINAL:
Peter, Peter, pumpkin-eater,
Had a wife and couldn’t keep her;
He put her in a pumpkin shell,
And there he kept her very well.

RETELLING:
A man named Peter who liked to eat pumpkins had a wife, but she got a divorce. So he falsely imprisoned her in a pumpkin shell for a long period of time.