The Green Teen: The Eco-Friendly Teen's Guide to Saving the Planet by Jenn Savage is a wonderful book for teens to read and use to help save our planet. It is one of the most organized and easy to use books I've encountered. And she starts off by explaining to teens that since it will be them and their children that will be most affected by the effects of the environment, they need to be involved in trying to fix it.

The book is divided into five areas that teens can try to do something about:

• Global Warming
• Air Pollution
• Deforestation
• Sweatshops
• The Planet

Within each of these areas the author discusses the problem, its cause, the effect of the problem and how to fix it. These are actually short chapters written mostly to educate teens about the problems. The fixes are actually discussed in more detail in the more detailed type areas below:

• Green Yourself
• Green Your Home
• Green Your School
• Green Your World

In each of these sections, teens are given detailed, yet easy to read: shopping guides, lessons on label reading, answers to "why bother?", green tips, tips to get parents involved and more. There are also interviews with teens that are already green. The Green Teen is filled with pictures and lists to keep it very manageable. I highly recommend giving this book to any and all teenagers. It is very motivating, will help our planet and will help make the next generation more responsible to our planet than we have been.

View blog reactions

If you have an iPhone or are planning to get an iPhone in the near future, then you will want to read "My New iPhone: 52 Simple Projects to Get you Started" by Wallace Wang. Although meant mostly for those without very much iPhone experience, this book can be valuable to anyone. I can hear many of you, including my own teenage sons, saying "I don't need a book, I know how to use the iPhone on my own". However, there are so many thousands of things that you can do with an iPhone, it is possible that there are still things that anybody and everybody can newly discover.

Some of the things that you will learn how to do by reading My New iPhone are:

• View weather predictions, traffic patterns, flight information, and stocks
• Take notes, text message your friends, and browse the web
• Customize your iPhone by rearranging icons and changing its wallpaper and sound effects
• Find and install the best new applications and games
• Browse iTunes, listen to music, and watch YouTube videos
• Use Skype to call your family for free
• Create your own ringtones and get free podcasts and audiobooks

My New iPhone will not be available in print until July. However it is available to purchase online as a PDF. However, if you preorder the book you can download the PDF now for free. If you still aren't sure that this book is for you, you can sample part of the book right now. A good chunk of My New iPhone is available to be read for free on Scribd.com so go check it out.

See also:
iPhone: The Missing Manual - New for 3GS 
iPhone apps: Something new for parents and teens to bond over

Skype Mobile - Talk Free with Skype On the Go

View blog reactions

While reading the novel Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs, I found myself relating to the main character Gus (short for Augustus) in many ways. Even though she has her own cooking show and I am the world's worst cook, we both have issues with aging and have children that are becoming adults.

I originally was drawn to Gus and her worries about how aging could impact her career. But what really made me think about myself was when Gus's daughters began working on her show. My sons have played some part in almost everything I've done since they were born.

I had always seen myself as a career woman and never thought I'd stay home for a day after I had kids. That changed the second my baby was born. For six years I became a stay at home mom, and despite everything I ever thought, I loved it.

When my kids were six and three, I bought a computer school for 3-8 year olds where I ran the office out of my home and hired teachers to go and do the teaching. Not only was I home with my sons, but they got to test (play) with every new piece of educational software that I bought. I wonder if this had anything to do with my oldest becoming a software engineer.

When my kids were in high school I sold the business and became an academic librarian at a law school. I became a wiz at online research and became very Internet savvy. Not only was I very helpful to my sons when they had papers to research, but I was always just as up-to-date with technology as they were, if not more.

Once they were both in college, I decided to take up blogging. What was the first thing I thought of when trying to decide what to blog about? My teenage sons. I added in our love of pop culture and my knowledge of technology and once again by kids were part of my new career.

This post was inspired by the book Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs that I read as part of the Silicon Valley Mom Bloggers Book Club for May.

View blog reactions

Rock Band and Pepsi want to make you famous. If you have a band and are at least 18 you can enter to win the Rock Band music video contests.

All you have to do to enter the big contest is:

1. Make a music video with your band using one of these Rock Band tracks.
2. On June 2nd, 2009 between 12:01am ET and 6:00pm ET go to the Rock Band/Pepsi website and enter the sweepstakes and upload you Rock Band music video.
3. Be ready to leave immediately if you win. This is because the winners will be flown to Los Angeles to perform the next day at E3 (The Electronic Entertainment Expo), the annual trade show for computer and video games. The winner will perform as the official Harmonix (Rock Band's developer) house band in the Beatles: Rock Band Booth.

If you don't win this first prize, or don't have time to make a video by June 2nd, you can submit a video anytime through July 28, 2009 and have a chance to win a special MTV music video award. Pepsi, Rock Band and MTV have teamed up to give fans an opportunity to win a Moonman by entering this contest.

There is one more contest that you don't need any talent or skills to win. As part of the "Drink Up, Rock Out" promotion, fans who see a Rock Band icon on specially-marked packages of Pepsi products can look under the cap for a code and then go to the PepsiRockBand website and enter the code for a chance to win prizes. During this promotion, MTV and Pepsi will give away a Rock Band 2 Special Edition bundle every hour and thousands of Rock Band downloadable tracks every day.

Good luck to all of you Rock Band, MTV and Pepsi fans.

View blog reactions

Tomorrow, May 25th is Geek Pride Day (aka Nerd Pride Day). Coincidentally, this year, it falls on Memorial Day. However, unlike Memorial Day, Geek Pride Day is always on May 25th, regardless of the day of the week. Why May 25th you might ask? That is the day in 1977 that the first Star Wars movie premiered.

If you haven't heard about Geek Pride Day before, neither did I. Don't feel bad. It hasn't been around very long. It began in 2006 in Spain. It didn't reach the United States until 2008 when it was the talk of the blogs. This year, 2009, The Science Channel's programming is geared toward Geek Pride Day, with episodes such as "Science of Star Wars" and "The Day of the Cyborg".

I love that we now live in a time when it is cool to be a Geek. Thank you J.J. Abrams and Judd Apatow to help us arrive there. Parents, if any of your teens are geeks, be proud. They will lead the world. Any closeted geeks still out there? Tomorrow is the day to come out. Read a comic book. Play a video game. Watch or read some science fiction. If you haven't seen Star Trek yet, that's a good place to start. Happy Geek Pride Day everyone.

See also: Bringing Up Geeks: Book offers alternative method of parenting

View blog reactions

As most of you know, Funny or Die is a video website in which users submit funny videos that they have made. The website was founded by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay and many of the videos are contributed by actual comedians.

Fresh Films is a film competition created just for teens aged 14-19. Every summer Fresh Films selects teens to spend 7 days being part of a Fresh Films teen film crew and work in every capacity to create a short film. The films are either short Out of Control comedy themed films or short films with a SuperHero theme.

This summer, Funny or Die is going to hook up some of its top talent to star in the Out of Control comedy films. And writer/director Adam Mckay and writer/producer Chris Henchy of Funny or die will be reviewing all of the summer 2009 films created by teens.

Parents, if your teens might be interested, you must move fast. Applications must be in by Monday, May 25th. Sorry for the short notice but I just found out about this great teen filmmaking contest myself. Go to the Fresh-Films website for more information and the link to apply. I have been told that you have until May 25th, so don't worry if you see another date. Good luck in the contest.

If you don't get picked in the contest this year, or if you aren't a filmmaker, but are a writer, actor, musician, etc, look around the Fresh-Films website while you are there. Under the categories "Other Opportunites", "Resources" and "More Programs" you might just find something to suit you. So, all of you parents and teens, go look for some creative opportunities.

New contest for spring break 2010:

Teens Spring Break Filmmaking Experience from Fresh Films

View blog reactions

I watched the premier of Glee last night, the new musical comedy TV series on Fox, and absolutely loved it. It was amazingly funny and had great music and an extremely talented cast. Glee is a perfect show for the entire family; parents, teens and tweens will all love it. It looks like Fox is going to have another hit on its hands.

Glee is about a high school glee club and Will Schuester, the teacher that tries to transform and inspire it. He begins to find success after he deviously recruits a popular football player to the club. Will also has to deal with his wife, the guidance counselor who has feelings for him, the cheerleader's head coach who would love to see him fail and the principal. The glee club singers have to deal with the football players and cheerleaders.

The music on Glee was exceptional. Glee premiered right after American Idol, and I must say that the singing on Glee put American Idol to shame. Two of the tracks from the premiere episode are available for purchase on iTunes, "Don't Stop Believing" originally recorded by Journey and "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse. A short preview of Glee is available on iTunes for free.

Unfortunately, there will not be another new episode of Glee until September 2009. I'm not sure the reason for Fox's strategy, but they decided to only air the pilot this spring and hold off on the rest of the series until fall. With the great reviews and buzz that Glee is receiving, I think that it would have been wise to keep it going now as a summer series. When it does return this fall, Glee will be on Wednesday nights at 9:00 ET, at least until American Idol returns to the schedule in January. To learn more about Glee see the official Glee website.

Added September 1st: Fox airing director's cut and tweet-a-long
Added September 8th: Glee Keeps Getting Better

View blog reactions

Today I had the privilege to be part of a conference call with Katie Couric and her team at CBS news to talk about the problems facing "Children of the Recession". This came about because Katie reached out to the Silicon Valley Mom Bloggers Group to help her with story ideas and to get the word out. The 50-something Moms blog that I contribute to is part of that group.

All this week on the CBC Evening News (6:30 p.m. in most places, but check your local listings to be sure), Katie is doing a report on Children of the Recession. She is doing this mainly because "the ones who bear no responsibility for the crisis, our children, are often shouldering the bulk of the consequences". For more on Katie's discussion of this series, see her blog post on the NYC Moms Blog.

Katie Couric welcomed us all to the conference call and thanked us for helping. She told us that almost all of the CBS news programs will be helping cover this story, in addition to the CBS Evening News. Some of the the many problems facing Children of the Recession that we discussed were:

• Abuse and neglect cases are on the rise. Katie will be reporting on this during Wednesday night's (5/20) evening news.
• The psychological ramifications that the recession has on children. Kids can usually feel the anxiety that their parents are experiencing. Katie will be reporting on this tonight, Tuesday 5/19.
• Teachers who are already overworked and underpaid are now dealing with this. Often they are using their own money to help these children out.
• On Thursday Katie will be interviewing two homeless boys, ages 8 and 10, living in a motel.
• 20% of all families are forgoing medical care. If dental care isn't kept up with it can lead to serious medical ramifications.
• On Monday night, 5/18, Katie ran a story about a grassroots movement began by a doctor called Safe Families. Families take in kids for up to a year to give them a good safe place to live while their parents get back on their feet.
• On Wednesday morning's Early Show (5/20) there will be an expert discussing how parents can talk to their kids about the recession.
• Many families are spending less money on food. Depending on how they are doing this, it could lead to more childhood obesity.

If you miss any of these stories you can see them on the CBS News website. Katie told us that she is trying to tell these stories from the perspective of the children. She feels that this is one story that has been mostly ignored during all the reporting of the recession and she wants to shine a light on it and hopes to start a national movement. After doing a story every night this week on Children of the Recession, she plans to continue to do one a week thereafter. Asked by one of the mothers how she can work long-term on something so heartbreaking and emotional, Katie answered that like her work with colon cancer, these children can't be forgotten about. Their story must continue. The KatieCouricSVMomsGroup is going to try to help.


Click here to submit your Video

View blog reactions

T-Mobile's Family Allowances plan helps families stay connected while avoiding unexpected overage charges. They have put together a fun quiz for moms of teens and tweens to help you determine your parenting style. T-Mobile empowered me to take the quiz, which was fun and only took a few minutes. The quiz consists of 10 multiple choice "what would you do" questions. As you can see, I am a "Free To Be" mom. Take the quiz and see what category you fit in. Just click the "Take the Quiz" link in my badge.

Cell Phone use is growing so rapidly that I'm just wondering when land lines will become an old relic. A good plan is necessary, especially for teens and tweens that use their cell phones to talk and text like we use air to breathe. And I've come on board with texting ever since I've discovered that it is the best way to reach my teens.

View blog reactions

I just finished reading a wonderful book for 8-12 year olds, Mackenzie Blue by Tina Wells. Since my kids are much older, I haven't read a book written for this young an audience in a while, but I thought I would check it out for my niece. I enjoyed everything about Mackenzie Blue and highly recommend it not only for tweens, but for their parents also.

Mackenzie Blue is about friendship, mystery, seventh grade and music. Mackenzie's best friend moves to Paris right before the start of seventh grade. On the first day of school, Mackenzie loses her diary and it seems that somebody else now has it. She is also worried about the big Teen Sing contest and her crush on the cutest boy in seventh grade. The characters seemed very real and the mysteries of the diary and who would win teen sing kept the story moving quickly.

Tina Wells, the author of Mackenzie Blue, is the CEO of Buzz Marketing Group which she started at age 16. Needless to say, she knows a great deal about tweens. One of the best devices in the book is the use of illustrations. All of the text messages, diary pages and instant messages are shown in illustrations that look like the real thing. There is a glossary in the back for parents in case they don't understand all of the texting abbreviations. This is just one of the many reasons that Mackenzie Blue is a great book for discussions between parents and tweens.

After reading the book, you must visit the accompanying Mackenzie Blue website. It is packed full of profiles of the book's characters, pages from the diary and many fun things to do. If you haven't read the book yet and want to check it out, you can do that on this website also. And it turns out that Mackenzie Blue is the first book in a series. You and your tweens can continue to follow her adventures in the second book "Mackenzie Blue and the Secret Crush".

Teen picks for the best 2009 books, video games, music and DVDs from the NYPL

View blog reactions

This was a great week for series finales. Each night one of my favorite television shows had a completely freaked out, mind blowing season finale. It was one shock after another. On Monday night it was House, then the new series Fringe on Tuesday, Lost, of course, on Wednesday, and then Grey's Anatomy on Thursday.

House
House had been having hallucinations from his vicodin use for weeks. The previous episode ended with Cuddy spending the night with House helping him go Cold Turkey and in the morning they finally, after years of waiting, had sex. In the finale, House spent the entire episode happy until, the shocking reveal near the end, he had hallucinated the entire night with Cuddy. No Cold Turkey withdrawl and no sex. The episode ended with Wilson bringing House to a detox facility.

In hindsight, I should have figured it out. How can somebody go through major withdrawl in one night and go happily back to work the next day. I just thought it was one of those TV things they do that aren't accurate but they need for the plot. Was everyone as shocked as I was?

Fringe
Olivia finally learned that there is a parallel dimension that exists very similar to our own, except where different decisions have been made, and the mysterious William Bell lives there. While going to meet Nina in New York, she experiences a strange phenomenon in an elevator and when she steps out, everything seems different. She is led into an office and who walks in but William Bell (Leonard Nimoy)!! Then Olivia looks out the Window and sees the World Trade Center Towers still standing! Very freaky. Also, Walter visits a cemetery, in what I think is the other dimension, and visits Peter's grave, showing he died as a child! Or did Peter die in this dimension and maybe he somehow found the way to travel to the other dimension to bring that Peter over.

Lost
Read my post about the finale: Lost season 5 finale: The Incident top 37 moments, questions, quotes and more.

Grey's Anatomy
I thought I knew what to expect going in. I heard that George wanted to leave the show and that they were going to write him off by having him join the army. That happened early in the episode and everything seemed on plan. I wasn't sure about Izzie, but I was fairly sure she would live. Most of the episode moved along like any other episode and I was somewhat surprised that it wasn't more intense.

Then came the final few minutes and all hell broke loose. The unrecognizable man, who stepped in front of a bus to save a women he didn't even know, was finally discovered by Meredith to be George (how did I not figure that out, when he was first brought in I even said, I bet he's someone we know). A group of George's friends were gathered together because they thought that they were going to have an intervention for him to keep him from going to the army, so Meredith ran screaming to them. At the same exact moment, Izzie, who was just starting to get her short term memory back after the surgery, flat-lined. As both were being worked on, we saw Izzie getting into an elevator in the same dress she wore to visit Denny right before he died and we saw George getting into an elevator in an army uniform. The show ended leaving the outcome for both of them up in the air. My guess, George dies, Izzy lives.

What did you think of each of these finales? Any other guesses as to what will happen next in any of these series. Which was your favorite season finale: House, Fringe, Lost or Grey's Anatomy?

View blog reactions

Just added: Best Quotes from the Lost Finale The End

Wow, wow, wow! The season 5 finale of Lost just blew me away. This might have been the best finale of Lost yet and that is really saying something. So much happened in this two hour episode that it is almost impossible to organize my thoughts. I will try to do my best:

Recap Highlights:

1. We finally got to see Jacob! In 1845, we see that Jacob lives under the statute. We see him sitting by it, and it is still in one piece. Another man sits with him and they disagree about the incoming ship. The man, says they come, fight, destroy, corrupt, it always ends the same. Jacob then says that it only ends once, anything before that is just progress. The other man tells Jacob that he wants to kill him and what one day he will find a loophole. Jacob says, when you do, I'll be right here.

2. Jacob met all of the Oceanic regulars that are still alive. He gave advice to young Sawyer and Kate and an adult Jack. He seemed to save Locke's life when he was thrown from the window (the doctor's had said that it was a miracle that he lived), he congratulated Jin and Sun in perfect Korean at their wedding and he helped Hurley get back to the island with what I assume is Charlie's guitar case. The only one that Jacob hurt was Sayid by helping Nadia die and I am sure that was probably part of a plan to get Sayid back to the island.

3. When Richard questioned Locke about coming back to life, he said that it was Jacob that prevented him from aging. Is this true, and if so, how does Jacob do this?

4. When Sun and the Others stop at the survivor's camp at the beach, Sun saw Aaron's crib and Charlie's Drive Shaft (DS) ring.

5. Illana, Bram and crew tell Frank that they are friends and that "they are the good guys" as Ben always said. Then they show him what is in the box, which we don't see until the end of the episode - Locke's dead body.

6. Locke insists to Richard that Ben go in with him into the statute to see Jacob. Richard opened the door and said "tell him I say hello" and left. Locke gave Ben a knife.

7. When Illana and group arrive at the Statute she asks for Ricardos (Richard). She says "What lies in the shadow of the statute?" His answer in Latin is "he who will protect/save us all" and it appears to be the right answer from the look of relief on Bram and Illana's face. They show Richard and Sun Locke's dead body.

8. Locke and Ben see Jacob and he says, "so you found your loophole" and Locke says "indeed I did, and you have no idea what I've gone through to be here". That is when we know that this man that looks like Locke is really the man from the beginning that wants to kill Jacob. Jacob tells Ben that he has a choice but When Ben asks Jacob why he wouldn't meet with him before, Jacob doesn't make any attempt to lie to save himself. Ben stabs Jacob and then when Jacob says "they're coming" Locke kicks him into the fire to burn.

9. When Sawyer, Juliet and Kate reached shore from the sub, Vincent came running out of the woods. Right behind, lo and behold, came Rose and Bernard! They had been living peacefully by the shore the whole time.

10. Ben's dad shot Sayid? He was in pretty bad shape by the end of the episode.

11. Sawyer and Jack had a heart to heart talk and then almost kill each other fighting. Sawyer told Jack about his parents dying and the con man. Jack tells Sawyer about losing Kate. Jack asks why Sawyer didn't stop his dad while he was back in time. Sawyer said "Whats done is done". Sawyer reminds Jack that him and Kate will be strangers and she will be in handcuffs. Jack "if its meant to be, its meant to be".

12. Miles said something that didn't occur to anyone and that could be right "Has it occurred to any of you that your buddy is actually going to cause the thing he is trying to prevent. Perhaps the nuke is the incident". That would certainly be ironic if that was the case.

13. When Sawyer asked Juliet if they should go help Jack when they see Phil on his way to the Swan, Juliet says "Live together, die alone".

14. During the big shootout Jack dropped the bomb into the hatch. They were all anxious and scared for the explosion but it didn't occur. Then things got crazy and everything nearby was being pulled into the hatch. Miles rescued his dad.

15. Juliet got pulled down into the hatch. Kate and Sawyer try to pull her out, Sawyer held on for as long as he could yelling "don't leave me" the whole time. Juliet finally saw how much he cared. She dropped to bottom. Sawyer was desolate. Saddest death on lost!!

16. Juliet somehow didn't die on impact. According to Sayid the bomb was rigged to explode on impact. Juliet managed to grab the bomb and bash a rock into it until it exploded.


Quotes

17. Ben to Sun about Locke "I said he was the leader, a title that I've discovered is incredibly temporary".

18. Ben to Locke when asked why he didn't tell Richard his plans "If by plans you mean murder, I assumed you'd want to keep that a secret."

19. Rose's answer to why they didn't want to join Dharma with Sawyer and others "Because we're retired". LOL Loved that line.

20. From funny to heartwarming: Bernard, "so we die. We just care about being together. Thats all that matters in the end".

21. Frank to Bram "my experience, people that go out of their way to tell you they are the good guys are the bad guys".

22. Locke to Ben, "Mind if I ask you a question" Ben, "I'm a Pisces". Another funny gem from Ben.

23. Sawyer, when the bomb didn't explode "This don't look like LAX".


Other

24. Jacob was reading a Flanney O'Connor book "Everything that rises must converge" while sitting on a bench outside the window that Locke gets pushed out of.

25. The Lost title at the end of the finale was a white background with black print, which is the opposite of the normal Lost title used at the beginning of each episode.

26. Sawyer called Miles Enos, from the Dukes of Hazzard.

27. As a child, Kate stole a New Kids on the Block lunch box. The New Kids on the Block have recently made a comeback.


Questions

28. How did the statue get destroyed?

29. Who is the man from the beginning that uses Locke's body and how does he do so?

30. So, does this mean that Locke is really dead?

31. Is this the end of Juliet? Even if Jack's plan works, it should only affect the lives of the passengers of Oceanic 815.

32. Sayid is dying, but if everything is changed like Jack is trying to do, will he be alive again?

33. If Jack's plan works, will Charlie, Boone, etc. all be alive again next season?

34. How do Jacob and Illana know each other?

35. If Jacob really did prevent Richard from aging, what will happen to Richard if Jacob is really dead?

36. How has Jacob lived so long?

37. Biggest Theory/Question - It appears to have been Jacob's plan for years to get Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke, Sayid, Hurley, Sun and Jin to the Island. If that is so, then it was not just an accident that their plane crashed. Does that mean that no matter what Jack does, even if Desmond never has to push the buttons, that these people are all destined to wind up on this Island anyway?

Added in 2010:
Lost Season 6 premiere LA X Highlights and Questions 
Lost 'What Kate Does' Episode 6.3 Highlights and Questions
Lost 'Everybody Loves Hugo' Quotes and Notes

Added:
Top 70 Lost Quotes - Season 1-5   
Lost at Comic-Con: Top 10 Highlights 
Lost: Season 6 News and Untangled Music Video

View blog reactions

The vacations my family has taken together have been some of the best, most memorable, times we've ever had. Vacations became even more important when my sons became teenagers and spent less and less time with us. While traveling, it was just the four of us, and for better or worse, it was like old times again. Some of our best conversations are bringing up highlights of past trips.

When our sons became teens, there were many more things we could do on vacation, but we also kept in mind that they liked fun. Therefore, if we were going on a sight seeing trip, we would plan stops at amusement parks or things they enjoyed to break up the trip.

One of our favorite vacations was visiting the Canadian Rockies. We all had a great time hiking and everything was breathtakingly beautiful. Most people fly in and out of Calgary for this trip. We flew into Calgary but home from Edmonton. Why? Because Edmonton has the largest mall in North America. The West Edmonton Mall contains the following attractions: Galaxyland, the world's largest indoor amusement park; World Waterpark; the world's largest indoor waterpark; a sea-life water habitat with sea lions; Ice Palace; mini-golf; movie theaters; bowling alley and many restaurant theme areas. My sons looked forward to this the entire trip.

When my kids were younger, we took them to Disney World every few years, since we were often in Florida visiting relatives. Once they became teens, we found that Universal Orlando was a better destination for us. In addition to Universal Studios, the second theme park at Universal Orlando is Islands of Adventure. This park is perfect for anyone that loves thrill rides. There are many types of roller coasters that my sons love. There are also great special effects and water rides. The park is so scenic that I never minding sitting out the scarier rides. One of Universal's on-site hotels is the Hard Rock.

If you are looking for some new travel ideas and want to try something different, I highly recommend the book Off the Beaten Path. A newly revised and updated edition just came out and it is a great travel guide. It not only offers suggestions on over 1,000 interesting places to visit, but Off the Beaten Path includes maps and magnificent pictures. Travel with your teens and create memories that will last a lifetime.

See also: 
Best Vacation with Teens - Universal Orlando Resort
4 Fun Nonfiction Books For Teens and Tweens 
5 Reasons National Parks are Perfect for Parent Teen Vacations

View blog reactions

If you haven't seen the PBS Digital Nation website yet, you must check it out. This interactive website will actually become a one-hour FRONTLINE documentary that will be aired on PBS next winter. The Digital Nation project's aim is to explore all facets of digital life and how it is changing the way we think, learn, work and interact.

One of my favorite parts of Digital Nation is the Blog/News area. It is very easy to click on "topics" on the right and read only about your areas of interest. For parents of teens and teens themselves, there are topics for "Digital Natives", Education, Internet Addiction, Parenting, Privacy, "Social Networking", "The Media" and "Virtual Worlds".

The Extras part of Digital Nation has some fascinating features. It contains:

• An Interactive feature on digital natives
• Interviews with experts
• A special collaboration with the Columbia School of Journalism in which students contribute short video reports
• EverQuest fans at the 2008 Fan Faire Convention
• StarCraft Training
• Internet Addiction and Internet Addiction Counseling

There is also an area of Digital Nation called "Your Stories" in which anybody can make a video about their digital life and upload it for all to watch. There are many interesting stories already on Digital Nation of how new technology impacts people's daily lives. Submission guidelines are on the page.

I think that the Digital Nation website could create great discussions for you and your teens. Whether you watch it together or separate, there are so many relevant topics to discuss. You could even help each other create your own "Your Stories" videos to submit to Digital Nation.

See also: Quotes on Millennials and the Future of Privacy

View blog reactions

Anna Quindlen is one of my favorite writers. I especially love her essays that have appeared in the New York Times and Newsweek and her books Loud and Clear and Thinking Out Loud. Last year on Mother's Day I printed her essay "On Being Mom" to wish all the moms reading my blog a happy Mother's Day. I can not think of a better celebration of moms than to share that essay with you again.

So please revisit my Happy Mothers Day post from May 11, 2008 and treat yourself to Anna Quindlen's beautiful essay, "On Being Mom". Happy Mother's Day."

View blog reactions

I just finished The Glamorous (Double) Life Of Isabel Bookbinder, a very funny novel by first time author Holly McQueen. The book was very compelling, and even though there were times that I just wanted to slap Isabel, I found I couldn't stop reading it.

Isabel Bookbinder's dream was to write a novel. She did everything that a novelist should do, such as creating her perfect look and visualizing her future as a famous writer. However, the one thing she never seemed to have time for was actually writing. A combination of a series of accidental events and an overactive imagination create an extremely interesting read. The Glamorous (Double) Life of Isabel Bookbinder moves at a rapid pace and will take you into the exciting world of London's publishing industry.

View blog reactions

The new Star Trek movie by J.J. Abrams which is opening today, has been one of the most highly awaited movies of 2009. The reviews so far have been phenomenal. I am sure that the Star Trek franchise will pick up many new fans. Therefore, the timing of the release of the deluxe edition DVD of Galaxy Quest for May 12, 2009 is perfect.

Galaxy Quest, for those of you that never saw it, is a 1999 comedy about the washed up stars of an old television show named Galaxy Quest, which was obviously supposed to be Star Trek. To make money the cast members resorted to going to conventions and store openings for their devoted fans (i.e. trekkies). However, the Thermians from another planet, have been studying Galaxy Quest tapes and think it is a history of Earth. They kidnap the cast and hilarity ensues.

Galaxy Quest is not a parody of Star Trek, it is a tribute. Although anybody that knows even a little about Star Trek culture will enjoy the movie, the more of a fan you are, the more little references you will notice. The stars of Galaxy Quest are Tim Allen as the Kirk type character, Alan Rickman as the Spock sidekick, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, Daryl Mitchell, Sam Rockwell, Enrico Colantoni, Robin Sachs, Missi Pyle and then unknowns Justin Long and Rainn Wilson.

My family saw Galaxy Quest together when my sons were tweens. We all absolutely loved it, even though we all had a different level of knowledge of Star Trek lore. I highly recommend this movie for all ages. It is funny, family friendly and now that everyone will be seeing Star Trek in the theaters, what better time to then watch Galaxy Quest on DVD.

View blog reactions

So much happened in tonight's Lost episode 15, "Follow the Leader", however, when it was over it felt like the episode was just a prelude to next weeks two hour season finale. I can't even pretend to guess what is going to happen in the finale, because I haven't a clue.

Highlights of Lost season 5 episode 15 "Follow the Leader":

Top Wow Moments:
1. After Sun showed Richard a picture of the original lost survivors in the Dharma Initiative and asked if he ever saw them, he answered Yes, "I remember well because I watched them Die!"

2. When Kate tried to walk away from Jack, Ellie and Charles and it looked like she was shot, Sayid showed up and saved her. After not being in the last few episodes, I forgot about him. Great unexpected moment.

3. At the end of the episode, when all of the others were walking to see Jacob, Ben asked Locke why they were going to see him. Locke replied "So I can kill him!" I certainly didn't see that coming. The look on Ben's face was priceless.

Best lines of the night:
1. Sawyer to Juliet as they are on their way to the submarine to leave the Island and live in 1977 in the real world, "We'll buy Microsoft and pick the Cowboys in the 78 Super Bowl. We'll be rich". Best line of the episode.

2. Sayid to Jack on why he decided to help, "If this works you might just save us all, if it doesn't at least you'll put us out of our misery".

3. Richard telling Jack about Charles Widmore, "He and Eloise are ... it's complicated".

4. Ben to Locke as they watched Richard with time traveling Locke (episode 1, Because you Left), "This must be quite the out of body experience".

5. After Locke made the speech to the Others about Jacob, Richard said "I'm starting to think that John Locke is going to be trouble". Ben replied "Why do you think I tried to kill him?"

Other highlights:
1. I felt terrible for Juliet when Kate was brought into the submarine. She and Sawyer had just declared their love to each other and were making plans for a new life. Even Sawyer seemed unhappy when Kate came aboard.

2. It was nice to see that Miles now completely understood why his father kicked him and his mother off the Island the way he did.

3. When Hurley told Chang that they were not from the future, it was very funny watching him try to answer Chang's questions.

4. Locke was the most confident he's ever been.

5. Charles Widmore has now acted like an arrogant jerk on the Island in both 1954 and 1977. Hard to believe that he's the good guy that he told Locke he was.

6. Sayid believed that Ben was dead during the entire time he was hiding out.

Questions:
1. How did Locke know exactly when in time he was shot in the leg and met up with Richard? He told Ben that the Island told him.

2. Did Eloise send the Oceanic 6 back to the Island so that Jack could bring her Daniel's plan and they could change the past and bring Daniel back to life?

3. Was the map that Sawyer drew for Radzinsky accurate or did he create a fake map?

4. Why does Locke want to kill Jacob?

5. Will Jack, Sayid, Ellie and Richard succeed with Daniel's plan? If so, what will happen?

6. How do Bram and Ilana and the others from Ajira Airways factor into everything that is happening?

Lost Season 5 Finale "The Incidents" Top 37 Moments, Questions , Quotes and More

Lost Season 5 Episode 14 The Variable Highlights
Bookmark this on Delicious

View blog reactions

Last week, my 19 year old son and I saw The Toxic Avenger, an off-broadway musical in NYC, and we had a ball. If was hilarious, the music was great and the performances by the five cast members were amazing. The best part was that it was something we both enjoyed together.

The Toxic Avenger is based on a 1985 cult film. This musical reminded me of a cross between "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Spamalot". A brief description of the show:

"Armed with superhuman strength and a heart as big as Newark, he's out to save New Jersey, end global warming and woo the prettiest, blindest librarian in town."

The show actually gets funnier as it goes on. The three other actors in the show (after the Avenger and librarian) play multiple roles. Instead of hiding it as most shows do, The Toxic Avenger actually uses this to great comedic effect.

The voices of all five cast members were fantastic, and they were given great rock music to sing.

"The Toxic Avenger features music and lyrics by David Bryan (keyboardist and founding member of Bon Jovi), book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro (I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change) and is directed by Tony Award winner John Rando (Urinetown)."

The Toxic Avenger has been nominated for Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League awards. I give it an award for great show for parents to see with their older teens and twenty something kids. It is not for tweens or children. Check it out at the Toxic Avenger website.

If you will be in New York and think you might want to see The Toxic Avenger within the next few months, here is a discount code for show between now and July 31, 2009:
Valid on performances: Now – July 31, 2009
Code: TOBLOG409
Regular Price: $71.50 / $51.50
Discounted Price: $45(includes $1.50 facility fee)
Legal copy: This offer is valid for select performances thru 7/31/09 and is subject to availability. Not valid on prior purchase. Offer cannot be combined with other discounts or promotions; blackout dates and restrictions may apply. Limit eight (8) tickets per order. No refunds or exchanges. Offer may be revoked at any time. Additional service fees may apply to phone and website orders.
Deep link: http://www.broadwayoffers.com/go.aspx?MD=2001&MC=TOBLOG409


See also: Stick Fly on Broadway: Review of Alicia Keys Produced Play

View blog reactions

I have previously recommended a few websites for teen and tween girls such as A Stroke of Pink and the many girl sites in the Teen.com Network. I now have a few more websites to recommend:

1. GirlMogul Magazine - Encouraging Self Esteem in Girls. "The GirlMogulMagazine blog is intended as a place for tween girls (ages 6-13) to read, enjoy and learn about all things girl power." There also is a GirlMogul Mom blog with parenting advice on raising tween girls.

2. Girl Ambition - a positive place for girls, ages 7-12, to play online while teaching them critical Web survival and social online networking skills. There are games, videos, arts & crafts and the ability to create customized avatars. There is also a website for parents that provides articles and videos about tween self-esteem, online safety and other topics relevant to tween girls.

3. All Girl Arcade - a fun social game website for tweens and younger teen girls. The girls play games, make friends, watch videos and can decorate their page with virtual goods that they buy with with virtual game winnings. (Warning: This website plays music when you open it, so you might want to turn off your volume before you check it out).

Not all websites are for all people. But if you or your daughters or other teen girls that you know find even one new website today that you enjoy, I'll be happy.

See also: 
KidzVuz - Tweens Create Video Reviews on Their Own Online Community
3 New Safe Social Websites for Tweens
Websites for Teenagers - 2 Different and Interesting Sites
Social Websites for Teens and Tweens




Bookmark this on Delicious

View blog reactions

One of the best ways for parents to connect with their teens is through music. Letting them turn you on to their favorite songs and artists (and vice versa) can create a bonding experience like no other. However, if you are not yet up-to-date with today's music technology, it will make sharing music with your teens more difficult. iTunes is the most used application for managing music on computers. Even if you are already using it, do you know how to use all of its features? If not, than you need to download the free ebook The Big Book of iTunes from the fantastic website Make Use of.

This iTunes ebook has everything from advice for the beginner that has never used iTunes to advanced topics such as using Applescripts. Some of the topics in between are cover art, sharing, organizing, ringtones and the iTunes store. This ebook is a fantastic resource, which is not surprising since Make Use Of has always been one of my favorite tech blogs for learning how to do new things and finding other cool new sites. Enjoy your free iTunes ebook and connect with your teens through music.

Added 9/12/09: iPhone: The Missing Manual - New for 3GS



Bookmark this on Delicious

View blog reactions

See Win American Idol Finale Tickets in SWEEPSTAKES for 2010 season 9 tickets.

Are you a huge American Idol fan? Do you and your teens watch and bond over American Idol weekly? Would seeing the finale together be a dream come true? It just could happen. Unfortunately, it isn't going to be cheap.

The Paley Center for Media has four pairs of tickets for the Tuesday, May 19th American Idol show in which the contestants compete. They also have four pairs of tickets for the Wednesday, May 20, 2009 show in which the winner is crowned (and many special guests and performers will appear). American Idol provided these tickets to The Paley Center to auction off to help support their work advancing the understanding of media worldwide.

The bid for each pair of tickets begins at $1,000. The winner must pick up the tickets in person from The Paley Center in Los Angeles. For more information and links to bid, visit this Paley Center American Idol web page. With the current recession, I would imagine there will be many less people bidding that might have before. However, I am sure that there will be 16 very happy American Idol fans attending the finale shows with these tickets.

Also: See comments below for a chance to win tickets to the American Idol Finale in a contest.



Bookmark this on Delicious

View blog reactions