3Monday 22nd March, 2010

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by Bookworm

First love is daunting and unde-niably frightening – even moreso when you add homicidal

faeries and strange gifts into theequation.

Maggie Stiefvater’s Lament: TheFaerie Queen’s Deception is abeautifully crafted piece ofyoung-adult fiction, which willappeal to anyone with a love ofthe face as they appear in old leg-ends: dark, sinful, seductive,deceptive and, lest we forget,deadly.

Heroine Deidre Monaghan, a

painfully real 16-year-old, hasuncanny music ability and psy-chic powers. Her sudden andintense romance with Luke, a boywith a terribly dark and abhor-rent past, creates the perfect bal-ance in this teen love story – witha supernatural twist, of course.

Stiefvater carefully tackles fragilefamily issues in this fast-pacedpiece. I would highly recommendthis book to fans of Holly Black,Melissa Mar and Charles De Lint.

Maggie Stiefvater was born inNovember 18, 1981 in the USA.Most of Maggie Stiefvater's lifedecisions have been based aroundher inability to be gainfullyemployed. Talking to yourself,staring into space, and coming towork in your pajamas arefrowned upon when you're a wait-ress, calligraphy instructor, ortechnical editor (all of whichshe's tried), but are highly prizedtraits in novelists and artists.She's made her living as one orthe other since she was 22.

for lazy monday...

Lament: The FaerieQueen’s Deception byMaggie Stiefvater

Anger is the emotionthat seems to get people into themost trouble with teachers, par-ents, family, friends and police.

Too much anger fuels hugeproblems. Ever see someonehaving "road rage?" It's scary towatch or experience and it's verydangerous. Someone who getsthat angry is out of control, isshowing terrible judgment and isplacing his own and other's livesin great jeopardy.

Anger occurs when frustrationis high. In moderation it is fine. Itwarns us that something is wrongand needs to be addressed. Itoften arises from a sense ofinjustice, a feeling that somethingis very unfair. It is a great motiva-tor: sometimes for the good, aswhen a person uses anger totake constructive action and doesnot lose control; and sometimesit's bad, as when a driver losescontrol and acts with reckless

hostility. We all live in a frustrating

world. We all need tolearn how to control ordirect the frustra-tion, which canquickly turninto anger.Tempertantrums areonly for veryyoung chil-dren. When youfeel yourselfbecoming tooangry, or on the brink of actingon your anger, you might:

Try the old "count to ten"technique: it often works bydelaying action.

Think about the fear or

frustration that caused the otherperson to act in a way that upsetyou.

Try to feel empathy for theperson rather than anger.Sometimes compassion calmshostility.

If you or someone (orsomething) you care about isbeing treated unfairly, try to offera solution that makes the situa-tion more fair.

Sometimes simplywalking away is a greatalternative to acting outyour anger. That takesa lot of poise and matu-

rity---and it shows a lot ofpoise and maturity, too.

Anger doesn’t haveto be a bad emotion.

When kept in check,anger can inspire great writing,great athletic performance orgreat social progress. Butrestraint and good sense are thekeys to having anger be con-structive rather than destructive.It can be either.

Advice

by Gretta

Fronted by KurtCobain, Nirvanacame out of

Seattle and helpedshape the fabric ofalternative rock byintroducing the newsub-genre of grunge.But it wasn't until theband's secondalbum,“Nevermind,”that Nirvanagained enor-mous popular-ity andentered themainstreamwith the help of singles like“Come as You Are,” “InBloom,” “Lithium,” and ofcourse “Smells Like TeenSpirit.” Ultimately the albumsold 10 million copies in theUnited States and 26 millionworldwide.

“Nevermind” starts witha bang with the hit single“Smells Like Teen Spirit.”Combining Cobain's famousscratchy vocals and addictiveguitar line, the song wasthe quintessential teenanthem and remains oneof their most well-known.It was even crowned thenumber-one song by VH1.

As the album contin-ues, the songs becomedarker. However, just asyou begin to feel that“Smells Like Teen Spirit”is the only bullet inNirvana's rock arsenal.Cobain's vocals becomerougher and scratchieruntil he lets out afinal squeal. Nowthat's dedicationto your work.

The songscontinue togrow evendarker,and thelast track,

“Somethingin the Way,”is no excep-tion. Thisdark, gritty

track perfectly concludes theflawless album.

Nirvana released one moreCD before Cobain's untimelydeath. Instead of replacinghim, the band members quietlyleft the spotlight to pursueother interests. Notoriously,Nirvana's drummer, DaveGrohl, went on to front the FooFighters and is still makingmusic.

Why does this album con-tinue to resonate with me,and so many others? Is itbecause of the teen anthem“Smell Like Teen Spirit”?Cobain being one of thegreatest vocalists of alltime? Actually, neither.“Nevermind” grabs mebecause I can see theimages and messages itseeks to convey. In life,there's music you listen tobut may not fully under-stand its significance, andthen there's music thatstands on its own; that'sNirvana.

Manythings can be

said aboutNirvana and the

legacy they left,but one thing

remainscertain.Nirvanawas andstill is one

of thegreatest

bands of the20th centu-ry.

NNiirrvvaannaa ––NNeevveerrmmiinndd

Music review

The 10th AnnualInter-International

Schools’ Athletic Meet2010, organized byLyceum InternationalSchool, Nugegoda, washeld at theSugathadasa Stadiumrecently.

LyceumInternational School,

Wattala, emergedchampions for the sec-ond consecutive yearbeating GatewayCollege, Colombo.

The Best FemaleAthlete of the Meet andthe Best PerformanceTrophy was won byHansi Ekenayake ofLyceum InternationalSchool, Wattala.

Stop Angerfrom Taking

Over

Hansi shines withdouble trophies

Maggie Steifvater

by Ifham Nizam

Among the environment prob-lems confronting humanityin the 21st century is GlobalWarming, the destruction of therain forests and overfishing of theoceans. A shortage of fresh water isat the top of the list, particularly inthe developing world.Nearly 97 percent of the planet iscovered with salt water in the seaand oceans. Close to two percent ofearth’s water is frozen water inpolar ice sheets and glaciaers and afraction of one percent is availablefor drinking, irrigation and also forindustries. Today, estimates of 1.2billion people drink unclear water.To mark World Water Day(March 22) the Delegation of the

European Union in Sri Lanka andthe Maldives, in collaboration withthe Sewa Lanka Foundation,Mannar Officeand the ZonalEducation Department of Madhu,will carry out several activities,such as a drawing competition andan environmental awareness pro-

gramme for students in theManthai, West DS Division in theMannar district. The aim of theproject is to promote awarenessamong school children on theimportance of the conservation ofwater.The project will target approxi-

mately 1800 students from 11 schoolsin the Manthai West DS Division.The participating students aremainly children displaced by theconflict and have now been reset-tled.Earlier this month, school chil-dren from grades 6-13 (age group 11-

18 years), took part in an art compe-tition under the theme of water con-servation. A committee, comprisingof education officers, will select 250drawings for a final art exhibition tobe held on 22nd March, 2010, at theAdampan M.M.V.Additionally, some 300 studentswill attend an environmental aware-ness programme on the 22nd ofMarch, 2010, which will include aseries of interactive lectures on con-servation, biodiversity while high-

lighting the importance of waterresources and conservation. Thisprogramme aims to increase aware-ness among school children with theassistance of their teachers andmotivate students to initiate stepstoward conserving water resourcesand imparting the knowledgereceived among their peers and fam-ily members.A special awards ceremony willbe followed by the environmentalawareness programme at theAdampan School after the opening ofthe art exhibition to award the win-ners of the drawing competition.The competition winners from threecategories (age groups 11 – 13, 14 – 16& 17 – 18 years) for first, second andthird places will be selected andawarded prizes.

This event will be attended by MrGuy Platton, Counsellor, Delegationof the European Union to Sri Lankaand the Maldives, as chief guest, andgraced by other dignitaries includ-ing the Government Agent, Mannar,and Zonal Director of Education–Madhu Zonal Education Officers.

CelebratingWorld

Water Day