No, I mean those wonderfully cheesy movies we watch over and over again until they become classics. At least, I think Scrooged is a classic by now: Bill Murry as Scrooge? What’s not to love?  No other holiday captures Hollywood’s imagination like Christmas. Sure, there’s Easter Parade and Pieces of April (Katie Holmes before she married TC), but the silver screen LOOOVES Christmas.

Do you have a favorite holiday flick?  Each decade seems to have one, but they don’t seem to become “classics” until they’re at least ten years old, so I’m not up on the current favorites. Although I did watch Twelve Men of Christmas on Lifetime last weekend – I love Kristin Chenoweth.  Here’s my guess at the best of the last six decades of  holiday movie madness:

Forties: Christmas in Connecticut (a little like Julie and Julia, but during the war) and of course,  It’s a Wonderful Life (occasionally sappy, but Jimmy Stewart remains charming).

Fifties: White Christmas (Danny Kaye and Vera-Ellen snap, crackle and pop.

Sixties: A Charlie Brown Christmas (can you believe it’s that old?) and The Grinch.

Seventies: frankly, I couldn’t find anything good. Lots of lame TV movies and bad animation. Can you think of anything?

Eighties: A Christmas Story (Ralphie dreams of a BB gun)

Nineties: Home Alone (of course) and Miracle on 34th Street (an excellent remake with adorable Mara Wilson)

Aughts: Elf . . . and what else?

Tell me what you’re watching these frosty evenings!

The major marketing research company, Nielson, has this (and more!)  to say about you teens.

It says that radio is the top source of music consumption for 16% of teens globally and the secondary source for another 21%.    Hmmm – what does that mean?

37% of teens in the WORLD listen to radio sometimes? 37% doesn’t seem like much. But what about you?

Especially, you students related to the well organized high school radio station WMTH.

Do you listen to radio stations online, or through the airwaves? What about WMTH? Word has it that the station just had its 50th anniversary celebration.

So somebody’s listening.  Is it you?

The young woman who approached the desk looked like she needed a fix. Whether  a book, DVD or CD fix I couldn’t tell, but perhaps I should have guessed from the look in her eyes that she needed a Twilight fix.

There’s a lot of that going around.  And hope springs eternal–at least in this young woman’s eyes–for she wanted to know if we had the New Moon movie, which  opens in theaters on Friday, November 20th.

Curious about the release date of New Moon on DVD, I checked Internet Movie Database, Amazon, and a few other websites, but alas, the DVD release date is still cloaked in darkness. (I did learn that there’s a New Moon musical jewelry box and a New Moon wallet, however. Who knew!!)

So what’s a Twilight fan in need of a fix to do?

If  you’ve already devoured the books, check out the soundtrack to Twilight and/or put a hold on the soundtrack to New Moon, which is on order. The Twilight soundtrack includes music by Muse, Paramore, and yes, Rob Pattinson! New Moon features the music of Death Cab for Cutie, Thom Yorke and many others.

Also, if you don’t mind a bite-sized  Stephenie Meyer fix, check out the anthology Prom Nights from Hell, which includes the Stephenie Meyer short story “Hell on Earth,” in which “a prom is nearly destroyed by warring biblical demons; then dreamy half-angel Gabe comes to the rescue.” The other prom nights in the anthology are “surreal, scary, and often populated with monsters and zombies” (Booklist).

If you’ve read all the Stephenie Meyer books and you’d like to find some titles in a similar vein, check out this list and/or stop by the Readers’ Services desk on the 3rd floor for other suggestions.

Hate Twilight? Stop by the Readers’ Services desk anyway and we’ll try to find something more to your liking!

A book of memoirs came out last year – a very short book of memoirs.  In fact, each writer had to write his or her life story in six words.   Since I tend to be, well, rather verbose, this was a daunting challenge but I came up with the following:

Ballerina dreams, bad feet, library school

Or

The last kiss always a doozy.

Or

D.O.B. , B.A.  Mrs., M.L.S., I.R.A., R.I.P.

Okay you twitterers… let’s see some short memoir!

Writing a blog takes time, energy, dedication….it’s hard work! Coming up with a topic can be a real challenge sometimes. So let’s hear it teens of Des Plaines. This is YOUR blog! What do you want to read about? Music, tv, books, programs, games? Or better yet- if you’re a teen DPPL TAB member you can write for the blog.

So comment away! What do you want to see here? And if you’re interested in writing short posts just email me: tab AT dppl.org

That’s right, Susan Beth Pfeffer (the author of the fantastic Life as We Knew It and The Dead & Gone) is going to be at Niles Library this SUNDAY (the 18th) from 2pm to 3:30pm in their large meeting room A&B. Click on this link to learn more and register!!

Starting on October 18, the entire world past, present and future celebrates the teen book.  What is your favorite teen book of all time?  I have two favorites and coincidentally, people tried to ban both!  The first is The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.  The narrator Holden Caulfield sets the standard for all the confusion every teen who is ever walked this planet experiences day after day.  (Holden’s favorite word?  – phony)

The second book is The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier.  How can teens be so cruel to one another?  How can authority be so injust?

So what’s your favorite teen book?  It can be a book written specifically for teenagers or a book about a teenager.  (A Catcher in the Rye, for example, is also an adult book but since it’s main character is a teen, it qualifies.)

That’s right- you can learn to protect yourselves! This Saturday is a self defense programs for girls 12-19. It’s being taught by IMPACT Chicago. You’ll get to learn and practice physical self-defense skills and verbal boundary setting in a safe and supportive environment. A female instructor will lead the physical training and discuss the “what if” questions we all think about. It’s this Saturday, October 10, from 1-3pm in Friends Room A/B/C on the first floor.

What about moms or aunts? They can take the class for adult women from 1o-12 on the same day.

To register for the TEEN class, click here.

To register for the ADULT class, click here.

(BONUS! Teens that are 15-19 years old can register to attend the teen class from IMPACT Chicago for $100! The class meets October 17,18, 24, and 25 and all you have to do is write “DPPL Jill” on the online application. You do not have to sign up for or attend the library program to get this discount. Go to IMPACT Chicago to register.)

What do you feel about how the library treats teens and teen programming? What kinds of programs should we have? What are the newest, greatest, best books, graphic novels, video games, and DVDs out there? Is the library too BORING? Help us be cool!

How do you do that? Come to the library’s Teen Advisory Board meetings. We’ll feed you snacks and candy, you help us come up with great ideas. Everybody wins! It all starts Thursday September 24th from 4-5pm in the Teen Lounge on the 3rd floor.

We need your help!