Amazon Daily

Kyah is a German Shepherd puppy whose cuteness is the kind that can stop cars in their tracks and make grown men cry. She is the new baby sister to Dozer and had her first trip to the big Marymoor off-leash dog park in Redmond Washington. There she learned how to swim, hide in the tall grass, eat weeds and even had her first kiss. She excelled at hiding behind her mom, who, coincidentally, works for Amazon.com! Kyah will soon join her big brother in trips to her mom's office at the exciting Amazon headquarters, where she will learn to be a mover and a shaker for the company.

--Jamie Pflughoeft, Cowbelly Pet Photography
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Jamie Pflughoeft is the owner and photographer for Cowbelly Pet Photography, and a regular contributor to Wag Reflex.

In this edition of YA Wednesday, we make it easy for you to find banned books, talk about a revolution, and continue our obsession with the Twilight debates.

How do you get teens to read a book? Ban it.
The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) and the American Library Association (ALA) launched a Banned Books Week website this week. Censorship is no laughing matter, but it still cracks me up that the people who work so hard to ban books don't seem to get how much banning helps a book. During Banned Books Week (September 27 - October 4) bookstores and librarians will display these books, and bloggers will list them and link to them for people to buy--while all the lonely non-banned titles sit on the shelves, wishing they were just a little more controversial.

So, I'm doing my part now for the continued success of the following books, YA and adult titles for teens among the 10 most challenged in 2007:

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
TTYL by Lauren Myracle
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

You can see the full list with the reasons for the bans, plus more stats from 1990-2007, on the ALA website. (Reported yesterday by SLJ)

What I'm Reading Now: The Revolution of Sabine
Beth Levine Ain's The Revolution of Sabine came to me just at the right time. I watched HBO's John Adams a couple of weeks ago, devouring the whole series DVD-style in a couple of days--so I'm pretty into Ben Franklin and powdered wigs. It's a great idea: what better setting for a rebellious teen than an actual revolution? (Sabine is from a French aristocratic family in the 1770s.) The early scenes have a slight Edith Wharton-like sensibility, with strict fashion rules and an overbearing, social-climbing mother who is devastated when Ben Franklin fails to show up at her ball: "How will they manage to run a whole country when their leaders behave this way?"

Quick links...
ALAN (Assembly for Literature of Adolescents) has posted a preliminary schedule for their 2008 ALAN Workshop, coming up in November. With titles like "Gods, Foods, and Tattoos: The Mixed Mythos of Urban Fantasy" and "Advice for the Lovelorn: Dating Faux Pas and Successes in Young Adult Literature," it looks pretty intriguing. 

Yesterday, Alison Morris on PW's ShelfTalker blog linked to Flux ("A new imprint dedicated to fiction for teens"), complimenting them on their teen-friendly covers. Then Flux linked to ShelfTalker complimenting Alison Morris on her "awesome post." Ah, blog love.

In the Salt Lake Tribune, columnist Rebecca Walsh talks about how Breaking Dawn author Stephenie Meyer is now getting it from all sides (with one LDS blogger even calling for her to be excommunicated). Walsh's take? Lighten up, people.
--Heidi

So you may have noticed a commercial or two during the course of the just-concluded Bejing Olympics. And some of the best ones promoted one of my favorite things: Fall TV!. Yes, I know the TV world is moving toward an on-demand/year-round schedule, but there's still something special about the onslaught of shows, like colorful leaves falling from a tree with roots made from coaxial cable. Wow, that little metaphor got weird. But not as weird as the news that the most recalled, most anticipated show among Olympics ad watchers was ... not The Office (third place), Not Heroes (second place), but Deal or No Deal. Sigh. What fall return are you looking forward to most? My list includes Heroes and The Office of course, but also Chuck, Sarah Connor, Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Kitchen Nightmares and 30 Rock. -- Stephanie Reid-Simons, Unbox TV Freak

Trixie the American Eskimo pup looks adorable gnawing on an old shoe. Her owners may not think this is as cute when she's older.

From flickr.

--Spanno

This life-saving cocktail will make you all kinds of happy, with a jolt of rye (which, thankfully, is much more available today than even two years ago) shaken up with sweet vermouth, orange curaçao, and a touch of fresh lime to bring it all home. It’s an older drink now forgotten by most, but I’ll bet it can make even the worst weeks seem a bit better (and it's fun to introduce such a pleasant combo to friends, too).

Ingredients:
Ice cubes
1-1/2 ounce rye
3/4 ounces sweet vermouth
3/4 ounce orange curaçao
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice

Directions:
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add everything. Shake well.

2. Strain the mix into a cocktail glass.

--A.J. Rathbun

Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah. Can Hydrogen-powered powered vehicles kick butt in dry lake racing?  If what I saw during Speed Week 2008 at the Bonneville salt flats is any indication, the answer is yes. Last week Ohio State's Center for Automotive Research entered Streamliner No. 2016, the Buckeye Bullet 2, and made history. The car was--you guessed it--hydrogen fuel cell powered. What about filling stations you ask? Filling stations are not an issue at Bonneville. There are none, for hydrogen or any other fuel. The closest thing I saw was a man holding a red can of racing fuel.

The team of engineering students worked most of the week to get their car in shape and make a successful run. There were several days of runs with no recorded times; this is not unusual, given that technical problems and blown engines are as common as salt at Bonneville. On Friday the team had real success. On three runs they consistently crossed the 200-mph barrier. Their best exit speed was 286.476 mph. The team easily entered the 200-mph club and was a scant 13.5 mph away from the 300-mph barrier, a great achievement for any car or team.

Bonneville is a place of great silence that is broken only by magical sound of high-performance engines tuned to within an inch of their lives and often pushed beyond their limits. In this land of extremes, the Buckeye Bullet 2 was unique in being almost completely silent. On the starting line it let forth a single long sigh and then gracefully rose to a speeds over 280 mph.

Does this herald a sudden conversion to hydrogen fuel cell powered cars? No. Is dragging hydrogen -powered cars across the country on flatbed trucks, in a failed PR stunt, bad form? Yes. Folks, learn a thing or two from the intrepid Buckeye engineers, and if you're going to try to drive hydrogen powered cars across the country, have a tanker follow the PR team or set up regular fuel stations at key intervals. That would make a PR point about the need for said hydrogen fuel stations.

What the Buckeye Bullet 2 does is show what can be achieved with smarts and a lot of hard work. The Bullet was designed and built entirely by engineering students at Ohio State. Hello, Detroit! Hello, world! Hire these guys--they should be designing our next generation of street vehicles ... now!

The Bullet 2 did not win in its class; to do so it would have had to beat the record achieved in 2004 by the original Buckeye Bullet, the world's fastest electric car, which turned in a speed of 314.958 mph. If you are wondering, those fractions of a second really do matter at Bonneville.

The video shows the start of the Buckeye Bullet 2's final run just before sunset on Friday Aug. 22. In the tradition of Bonneville racers, the start is slow and assisted by a pusher truck. Gearing and traction conditions often prohibit vehicles from making an unassisted start. The high-pitched sounds from the Bullet faded shortly after the push start and were replaced by the sound of pursuit vehicles and racers on the adjacent "short course."  For those who want more details, here is the Buckeye Bullet's website and blog.

Ohio State engineers quietly rocked the salt at Bonneville and made history. The students baked in the Utah sun, worked incredibly hard, and had real success in the Special Construction Class, competing for records posted by turbine vehicles and blown fuel streamliners and lakesters--not to mention their own 2004 electric vehicle record. Bravo Buckeyes! I can't wait to see your next run, and good luck when classes resume next week.

--Mochi Mochi

OK everyone, how cute are these cupcakes?! There do seem to be endless examples of too-cute-to-eat cupcakes out there, but I thought these ones were worth sharing. I love how they use chocolate-covered graham crackers for the chalkboards and white Good & Plenty candies for the chalk. Check out the instructions over at FamilyFun.com. In addition to these Blackboard Cupcakes, they also feature several other back-to-school cake styles:

• Book Cupcakes using Fig Newtons for the books
• A Pencil Cake made out of brownies
• A School Bus Cake featuring both wafer cookies and mini doughnuts
• Individual School Bus Cupcakes using sugar wafers to construct the bus shape
• A Soccer Cake where you can prop up photos of each player

Check out more cute ideas for school lunches and snacks. Absolutely do not miss their too-adorable pretzel-based School of Fish recipe. Almost makes me want to be a kid again! Good thing I have a little one to try all these fun recipes out on!

--KitchenMaus

Are you ready to weather the storm? Hurricane preparedness is not just about batteries, flashlights and stocking up on food and water. You need to be prepared not only for yourself but also for your pets. Did you know that most hurricane shelters do not accept pets? What would you do if you needed to evacuate from your area tomorrow? Would you be ready?

There first step in being hurricane ready for your pets is to get a folder together with copies of your pet’s current vaccination history. If your pet’s vaccines are not current then you should visit your veterinarian and get them up to date as soon as possible.

Get your pets microchipped. A microchip is a small silicon transponder about the size of a grain of rice that is placed in the deep subcutaneous tissues between the animal’s shoulder blades. This microchip has a unique number that is then registered to that particular animal. Remember, the registration process is up to the owner to complete. If you get your pet microchipped but never register the number then the microchip is basically no good. A microchip can be a lifesaver in case you ever get separated from your pet.

Your pets should have collars and tags stating their name, your name, address and phone number. Put the most recent rabies tag on the collar. When your pet gets microchipped a tag is given to you to place on the animal’s collar that has their corresponding microchip number on it. Place this tag on the collar as well so it will be obvious to everyone that this animal has a microchip.

If your pet is on any medications, be sure you have enough on hand to get them through at least a week. Ensure the medications are labeled and the instructions are clear.

Make sure you have enough food to get your pets through at least a week. This is especially important if the animal is on a special diet or a prescription diet.

Cats and small dogs should have their own carriers. The carrier should be labeled with the pet’s name, your name, address and phone number and your veterinarian’s name, address and phone number. Also consider putting an alternate contact person’s information on there such as a relative or friend that can be trusted to make decisions about your pet in case you can’t be reached.

If you live in a hurricane area be sure to contact your local evacuation shelters to see which ones will accommodate pets. That way you won’t be scrambling around trying to find a pet-friendly shelter at the last minute.

If you follow these simple steps you will have your pets hurricane-ready in no time! You know what they say, “It is better to be safe than sorry”!

--Dr. Hinson
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Dr. Hinson is a mixed animal veterinarian in Tampa, FL and a regular contributor to Wag Reflex.

Disclaimer Regarding Veterinary Information