True to the slasher genre, it’s off to a bit of a slow start, but it’s good enough for me to keep watching. The cast is better than expected, and the soundtrack is horror movie-perfect.
There’s a total of 13 episodes, ending in July. There’s also an accompanying series of webisodes, Harper’s Globe, about what’s happening to the intern at the island’s paper, the Globe, at the same time as the events of the TV series. Aspects of the TV and Web shows will apparently cross over occasionally. There’s even an iPhone app.
So it went better this morning at Hollyvale Elementary School, where I read to three classes. The sixth graders were again the least impressed — the school put out a selection of books that I think were just too young for them — but the two fourth grade classes I read to loved the two books I read, both by Robert Munsch, the Farrelly Brothers of children’s books: Pigs and Angela’s Airplane.
Pigs, which features on the loose pigs that, among other things, pee on both the title character’s father’s and principal’s feet, was the bigger hit, although there were girls in one classroom that really seemed to click with Angela’s Airplane.
I like doing this every year — reading to elementary school kids — but don’t let the school staff fool you: sixth graders are significantly tougher than younger kids. Younger kids don’t sigh and dangle their arms as you read (just a few in a class of about 30, but enough), and act as though you’re literally boring them to death.
I’ll get another chance, though: In addition to reading at Topaz Elementary School today, I’ll be reading at Hollyvale Elementary School on Monday and then, Monday afternoon, will be talking about newspapers at an assembly at Mission Crest Elementary School. (They’re using Read Across America as a kick-off to a month of reading.) Yes, I’ll be that guy at the school assembly.
I suppose this is Banana Republic‘s attempt to woo me as a customer: Liz Phair is one of a set of adult contemporary artists (apparently, that’s my demographic now, ugh; Banana Republic is not impressed by me listening to the Blakes or Honeyhoney on my iPhone) doing a series of “City Stories” promotions for them this spring.
There’s a mini-site featuring Liz, and it actually has some new content, as opposed to her official page and her MySpace page.
In May, there will be a new free song available from Banana Republic, the first from the newly re-independent Liz (other than Exile in Guyville bonus tracks included on the reissue of that album; all of those were 15 years old).
If Banana Republic really wanted to get me, they’d bring back the funky Indiana Jones chic that they started off with; I loved the old Jeeps they had sitting in the middle of their Tysons Corner store. I guess there’s only so many khaki cargo shorts they can sell, though.
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