Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! However, you probably didn’t know that May 12th is also National Limerick Day! So instead of just wishing your mom a good day and signing your name on a lame card, write her a limerick instead!
Here’s mine:
My mom was a shining beacon of light
Always stood by to relieve my plight
She watched me climb trees
Then patched my skinned knees
But kept my allowance ever so slight
Love you mom!
Over the past few weeks, the Pink Floyd website has been adding special Dark Side of the Moon prism artwork to their index page from artist Storm Thorgerson (who created the majority of the Pink Floyd album artwork over the years – guy is awesome). It has been in celebration of the 40th anniversary of one of the most absolutely badass albums of all time. In 1973, Pink Floyd released Dark Side of the Moon, and it has since been the longest running album on the Billboard charts. It was the first Floyd album I bought way back in middle school that helped turn Pink Floyd into one of my favorite bands. And now, 40 years later it hasn’t lost a shred of its sheer awesomeness. (40 years since its release – not since I was in middle school!)
To all my young readers, this is a perfect opportunity to begin your journey into musical discovery. Ask your parents, I’m sure they’ve got the CD, the cassette, or, hopefully, even the LP. Though, I suppose you don’t know what an LP is. There’s something else you can ask your parents about.
Anyway, the whole point here was that all the special artwork has been revealed, and it has been made into a downloadable poster in three different sizes. Click the link above or the poster below to go to the site, and download whatever size you want. A preview of the poster is below. Enjoy. See you on the dark side of the moon.
TK-341 plays with his new toy.
KCCOeveryone!
It’s not often I post about other blogs – or even get a chance to steal a look at some of the millions of blogs out there. But, I wanted to give a long overdue shout out to a particular site run by 11-year-old Erik that I think deserves some extra kudos. Erik has been a devoted follower of my blog (thanks dude!), and in his spare time has been running a fantastic service of his own, for other like minded kids of his age.
Erik reviews books. Books for kids. Of all ages. Picture books, novels, comic books, graphic novels, and more. You can find his reviews on his site This Kid Reviews Books.
Perhaps one reason I’m so enthralled with Erik’s site, is because as you all well know, I’m a 5th grade teacher. There is nothing more near and dear to my heart than seeing a student of his age thoroughly enjoy reading, be excited by it, want to pick up book after book, and then share it with others. Browsing through the pages of his reviews I can easily recognize countless books I have on the shelves of my own classroom library. The same books my students and I order from the Scholastic Book Club every month. Erik reads a few books per week, and blogs about most of them. I think one of my favorite parts of his blog is his Accelerated Reader (AR) counter. For those unfamiliar, the AR program quizzes readers on comprehension, plot devices, etc. Different books are worth different amounts of points – depending on length, complexity, and reading level. An average 5th grade novel is usually about 10 points. Some larger books like Harry Potter can be worth as much as 30. Right now, his total is just a hair over 1,000 points. My class’s total so far this year? 890. Yup, Erik alone has out-read all 23 of my students put together. Awesome job, dude!
Erik’s reviews aren’t lengthy, and in his short blurbs does a great job of rounding up a book’s perspective, story, characters, and points out if anything might be inappropriate for younger readers. They’re perfect for kids to read. He writes them all himself, too. His parents help with the behind the scenes functions of the site, and preview some more young adult books for him. I’d like to tip my hat to them for being so incredibly proactive in Erik’s love of reading. I wish all my students had parents as engaged in their child’s education.
So parents, kids, everyone – make sure you head on over to Erik’s site and find some books to read. I’m sure he can help you out.
Erik takes suggestions for books to read and review, so I’ve got a couple for you, buddy. (And I highly, highly recommend these for any and all students of a higher reading level in grades 5 and up:
-The Giver by Lois Lowry
-Haroun & the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie (currently my read aloud book in class)
Happy reading!
Many awesome thanks to the folks at Minifigs.me for helping Lord Vader KCCO with BFM.
The custom torsos came out fantastic. Another Chive shirt coming up tomorrow!
(Parents: Please be aware the Chive is a very popular website but it’s not for kids. Please be mindful.)
Ormus tends his rooftop garden.
Contact Sensei Flush for service so fast you’d swear he was a ninja.
(He really is)
Wanted to thank you all for your suggestions on where to look to get some custom minifigs made. I ended up using the website minifigs.me, and the “design your own” option. It was very simple. They have a nice simple downloadable torso template that you can put your design or picture onto, then upload it to the site as you are choosing your options and checking out. Their customer support was quick and helpful too because when I first tried it, the site kept yelling at me and not accepting my upload. So I contacted them, let them know the problem, and it was fixed the next day.
Pricing was reasonable as well. I paid about $20 for two custom torsos with standard rest of the body, and international shipping. If you want more customizations, there are added costs, but they are also reasonable – $1 or 2 for premium colors, or leg designs, etc.
While I can’t vouch for the quality of the pieces yet – as they won’t arrive for about 2-3 weeks – I’ll say things look good so far! Clearly there shall be a picture or two when they arrive.
In other news. I did go get most of the Series 9 minifigs yesterday. The chicken suit is so boss. Pictures forthcoming this week, I think. I can’t reist.
Standing watch for all in 2013.
Mithrandir & the Hiker are going on an adventure.
Bandits got away with one of Santa’s sacks.
Surrounded by murderous robots programmed to destroy all humans, Steve hoped his camouflage would hold up.
Easter Bunny in the off-season.
