Boys may not show as much interest in reading as parents would like.  You know being able to read well is a key indicator of success in school and the business world.  You want your son to achieve great things, but it is obvious that reading is not high on his list of things he wants to do. 

 

Forming a Boy’s Book Club can motivate your son to read more.  There are some important points to keep in mind though.  First, independent reading, which is so important for solidifying reading skills, must be interesting to the reader.  Independent reading is reading we do because we want to.  It is not because it is required by a job or the school curriculum.  Next, boys crave activity.  Sitting around is not usually high on their agenda.  Given these provisos, here are some ideas on setting up a book club for boys.

 

Club size.  A small group is usually more interactive than a larger group and the goal of the club is to read and discuss the book for the month.  A group of five to 10 boys will work well.  More than that and the group dynamic shifts to a few outspoken individuals controlling the entire discussion.  So in this case, smaller is better.

 

Next topic, please.  Focus the group on a particular subject matter for the choice of books.  Manga is a very popular book category among teens in many parts of the country and the interest level in reading these books is very high.  Remember the purpose of the book club is to motivate your young son to pick up a book.  This is not school and it is not the place to learn the classics.  Other ideas for book subject matter include sports (include books on different aspects of sports, biographies of great players, sports magazines), cars (including different makes and models, picture books of sports cars, biographies about car builders, the history of car making, etc), action/adventure, science fiction, and the military (fiction and non-fiction, biographies of soldiers, historical battles, military uniforms and fighting techniques).  Librarians can help the book club find books of interest in the subject area selected.

 

Pass the popcorn.  Plan to serve snacks at the book club meetings.  People feel more relaxed and talk more when they have something to sip and nibble.  Evoke the feeling of a party, instead of classroom, and the club will immediately feel more special and fun.

 

Bring it on.  Jazz up the meetings by having club members dress up as their favorite character, bring in pictures or cards of their favorite players, make a model of their dream car, demonstrate fencing techniques, or play a game of basketball afterward. 

 

As publishers of books for children, we often hear from parents of boys (particularly teenage boys) about their son’s lack of interest in reading.  So much happens during the teen years.  A Book Club with the features mentioned here may be just the thing for sparking more interest in reading.

“Tokyo Police Club” are a four-piece Canadian indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario. Tokyo Police Club were formed in 2005 and they are Dave Monks (Vocals and Bass), Josh Hook (Guitar), Graham Wright (Keyboards) and Greg Alsop (Drums). Their musical genres are mainly indie rock, garage rock and post-punk revival. 

Elephant Shell has a good opening with “Centennial”. In the few seconds upon opening, you can hear the sound of a malfunctioned robot. The robot might be stuck or jammed somewhere, i thought to myself. Shortly, the draggy keyboard and Dave Monks just come in. Centennial is not a fast tempo track, but the guitar and bass seem to be able to work this track out. In the bridge, handclaps joining by keyboard, just come in for a brief second. And that might be one of the best moments on Centennial. At the end, i like Dave Monks goes, “I’m only wishing well, though you won’t believe me, this coming Thursday evening, is our centennial…” and succeeded by wedding-like keyboard. A short opening, but i’m convinced to find out more about Tokyo Police Club. 

“In A Cave” starts with guitar that comes in from afar before joining by In A Cave’s core bassline. Before Dave comes in, the music is already really good. When it comes to the chorus where Dave again goes, “All my hair grows in, wrinkles leave my skin, but still, don’t fade… I’ll be back again when the tide is in some day…”, the keyboard suddenly enters and the rest of Tokyo Police Club can be heard helping Dave out in the background. The second verse gets even fiercer with the guitar and bass, but somehow it’s not loud. It still manages to sound light and effortless. The best bet on In A Cave is definitely the remaining 1 minute after the second chorus. Dave just struts his stuff, “Elephant shell, you’re my cave and I’ve been hiding out, will you tell me a little bit about, a bit about yourself?” and joining him are the guitar, bass, drums and keyboard which play in notes that we first heard in the beginning. Only this time, Tokyo Police Club add some magic to it! Impressive stuff by Tokyo Police Club here! 

From the lyrics of “Graves”, it sounds like a script of a horror movie. “Pack your ashes pack a watch, change of clothes and a face cloth, meet me where your mother lies, we’ll dig graves on both her sides…” The guitar keeps playing in a loop once Graves opens before the drums, bass and keyboard come in all together. A sudden adrenaline rush! Graves is one of those tracks that don’t really have a chorus and relies on the music to drag it or make it a longer track. After Dave’s vocals on the second verse, it feels like Tokyo Police Club are having a short break by playing the music. They really do have a strong liking for keyboards. Nearing the end, Dave just sing to the end accompanied by a howl-like sound that comes on and off. 

“Juno” has some drum beats going on. As Dave sings in the chorus, it looks like there’s a sound in the background which i think is produced by the instrument Xylophone, adding some Christmas feel to it. Reaching the chorus, Juno seems to be turning to keyboard to go along with Dave’s vocals, “You and your soapy eyes, called it off so late at night, but your hand’s on your heart, because your head’s always right…” The Xylophone also plays its part here on a few notes that really complement the chorus. As Juno goes on, it ends on a sudden and tired note, “Juno, you’re tired…” But i’m just getting started to know Tokyo Police Club. 

“Tessellate” has some high and sharp pitched guitar in the beginning. Just as Dave sings each phrase of the verse, the keyboards which possess some catchy ingredients just come in at the right time to make sure we as listeners are having a good time listening to Tessellate. In the chorus, Dave sings with his already-known voice, “… Dead lovers salivate, broken hearts tessellate tonight…” Tokyo Police Club show some effort here by adding hand claps along side to Dave’s voice. The real deal on Tessellate is definitely the sound of the keyboard which always never fails to capture my attention as it’s too good. And at times, it sounds like a piano. Now i just can’t get the sound of it off my head. 

“Sixties Remake” kicks off with some crunchy guitar opening that reminds me of those motorcycles engine on the highway. As this song goes and reaches a point where an exclaimation of “Hey” can be heard, i already knew Sixties Remake is one of the tracks that is going to be my favourite on Elephant Shell. The crunchy guitar is one of the factors that keeps Sixties Remake so good. In the chorus, Dave just goes, “Hey! Bat your lips, shut your eyes… Hey! Swing those chains, and start a fight, because you’ve got nerve, but we’ve got tapped…” This has got to be one of the loudest and crunchiest tracks on the album. 

“The Harrowing Adventures Of…” has me thinking that this is one of the tracks that might be suitable for babies. The xylophone just plays in notes that will make all babies in the world smile upon listening to it. It’s not long before Dave enters the bay twilight zone, “The harrowing adventures of, you and I when we were captains of, submarines made of steel…” When it got to the point that sounds like a chorus, acoustic guitar can be heard playing in a way that blend in so well with the vocals of Dave and xylophone. Two string instruments which sounded like a cello and a violin can also be heard here. I really didn’t expect that to come, but Tokyo Police Club surprise me here. The Harrowing Adventures Of… is undefiantly cute and cheeky in its own way. It will gulp you down slowly. 

“Nursery, Academy” is a short rock track that i find Dave sings on different notes in a few minutes. In the beginning, Dave can be heard singing, “I would’ve gone back home, i would’ve gone back home, it’s bad enough you’re here and it’s worse that you’ve come along…” Smart lyrics i thought. This song begins to pick up in a short while once the bass comes in. Keyboardist Graham must have worked very hard here as the keyboard is all over the place with different notes. Tokyo Police Club are trying very hard on this track to make it sounds as good as possible. I can feel that they work very hard on this track. 

“Your English Is Good” has Tokyo Police Club choiring, “Oh, give us your vote, give us your vote, if you know what’s good for you…” before the whole track sounds very full as the music comes in all together. Your English Is Good is cheeky and cute with the keyboard playing in repetition in the same notes throughout the track. Everytime the keyboard enters, a smile appears on my face. Tokyo Police Club also go together with, “Because your English is good, we can see it in your bones, in this neighborhood, we ain’t driving you home…” With such title, Your English Is Good will definitely catch everyone’s attention in the tracklist section. Plus another good thing is the cute keyboard and choir that are in this track. Sweet and cute! 

“Listen To The Math” has a slow opening where Dave’s voice seems to be the music here. The keyboards and bass add some weight to Dave’s singing as he’s into the second part of the first verse. Once it gets to the chorus, it feels light with the guitar. “It’s a ruse, it’s a laugh, experts they’d agree, listen to the math…” Shortly after the chorus, the guitar switches to a chrunchier note that seems to be able to add some extra effects and weights to Listen To The Math. Another mention is the deep background voice that comes in during the chorus. It just follows Dave’s singing in the background. Listen To The Math can regarded as a ballad that will stick to you
like a fungus after a few listenes. 

As the last track on Elephant Shell, “The Baskervilles” has some moments on it that stands out. The choiring moments by Tokyo Police Club is worth mentioning and appear on some parts of the song and never fail to create an impact on the listeners. They would go, “Alright, we tried to help…” As we get further into The Baskervilles, the track starts to pick up and the music just sounds as lively as ever. The guitar and keyboards work their way out here. Even nearing the end, Dave increases his singing tone and yell, “A toast to the last of a dying breed, they’re crawling back to bed, they’re falling back to sleep” to the end. A very strong finish by Tokyo Police Club. 

Cheers! 

Darren Tan

Indiesurf.com

If you haven’t watch Fight Club, then watch it NOW! Please do not read this article until you have watched it at least three times.

First time: “what the…..” Second time: “how did I miss that” Third time: “this movie rocks”

Fight Club has all the requirements necessary to be the best movie thus far. Its filled with action, absolutely great acting, an awesome plot, and a message that really make you think about who you are and what your life is about. The later is my personal favorite.

At first you find yourself relating to the Narrator. That’s right the main character never establishes a true name. We have all been that guy. He doesn’t deserve a name anyway. He has no purpose, no life, and no one cares about him. He has no idea who he himself is or what the hell he suppose to do with himself. I believe this to be true with about 90% of American males. You know what that’s totally fine. Its to be expected. Society has brainwashed us all into leading pointless lives driven by commercials and billboards. The question is where to go from here?

Everyone has to start somewhere and the first thing we all must do is open our eyes. Its actually pretty damn scary to realize that your entire existence has absolutely no meaning. Personally I have found that there are very few out there that can sac up and face the truth, and even fewer have the balls to do anything about it. I figure some will discover truth on their own, others need a little incentive, but will get there just the same. Unfortunately there are those who refuse to even explore any possibilities that challenge their lifestyle.

Okay, so now we are opening the possibility that things are not what they seem. Good, we are on the right track. What the hell are we gonna do about it? Well the answer to that question requires you to realize that the individual is powerless. You must realize that it takes many with a common goal to accomplish changes within a society. Tyler understood this and thus his mission was a selfless act! This is very important. The cause has to be more important than any one person serving the cause. Otherwise the entire thing collapses and nothing is accomplished. In fact we are probably worst off then when we started. Every member serving any given a cause MUST care more about the cause then themselves.

Wait, wait, wait. Isn’t that what those terrorists believe?

I’m not saying lets all strap bombs to are chest. Those are the actions of mindless people who have been brainwashed. They are the opposite of what we should be. Their minds are closed and ours must be open to everything. We must question everything but with a reasonable point of view. Common sense is not as common as you might believe. We can’t believe something just because someone of “more importance” told us to. That’s crazy man! Anyway…

So finally Brad and Edward start to brake down that wall of fear by fighting. They brought down many personal bricks of fear using one of the most basic instincts. They beat the shit out of each other! They deleted the fear of pain, the fear of braking societies laws, the fear of what other people think, and not only that but they also inspired others. Showing a lack of fear is one of the most inspiring things a man can do. I makes the impossible become possible for those who never thought it would.

Great we have broken down some walls of fear. All those bricks of brainwash and deceit are now lifted. Freedom is not only visible but achievable. The fear is gone so thus begins the new goal. Project May ham! What a name, right? That’s something to believe in. Something to work towards and get some satisfaction out of. Something to call your own. I think that’s a basic need of the male gender. They just need something great to contribute to.

Well then the two side of the Narrator come together. This is the real message by the way. The main character went from one extreme to the other and then finally met in the middle. Sure Tyler died but people tend to forget the the Narrator is no longer the person he once was either. He is changed forever. He has a full understanding of what the world is now. He has seen both points of view. He comes to realize that neither side is the right way to go and he must accomplish the difficult task of walking the fine line between the two.

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