The world's most exciting kid's book.

Inventions by Adam Hart Davis

'If you've ever wondered why the pencil came into existence, or how a steam engine works, or when we started using flushing toilets, this book has all the answers. Based on seven key areas of invention, it tells the stories behind steam power, lighting, toilets, clocks, communication, bikes and flight, and how they are relevant to our world today.'

You know how pop-up books and books with tabs you can pull are more exciting than 'normal' books? Well this has the most exciting pully-tabs of any book I've even seen! It's completely interactive while still being educational. For example: I learned that a Pendulum was more than just a drum and bass group.

It's hard to describe how awesome this book is without looking at it so I recommend you get it out ASAP!

Planning your summer feasts #2

I can't go past planning for easy & delicious summer feasts without reaching for cookbooks written by Annabel Langbein.

In my opinion, Annabel Langbein is New Zealand's answer to Nigella Lawson. Annabel makes the recipes all seem completely do-able, no matter what your level of cooking ability is. She combines down-to-earth ingredients, with an occasional dash of unusual ingredients, to conjure up amazing feasts. She has nearly 20 cookbooks to her name, as well as the recent Free Range Cook TV series.

Her latest cookbook, Simple pleasures : the free range cook, features several recipes that I want to try out at upcoming summer BBQs, including Corn & Israeli Couscous Salad. If you're a fan of Pinterest, visit Annabel's page for ideas & photos to inspire you. You can also check out her website for more food ideas as well.

And with a tip of the hat to Nigella (since Whittakers have featured her in their recent TV promotions), I'm going to recommend Whittaker's passion for chocolate as the go-to present for all the chocoholics in your life. They will love you for it.

5 ways in which dogs are better than cats

"I am not a cat man, but a dog man, and all felines can tell this at a glance - a sharp, vindictive glance."
- James Thurber

Title: Why dogs are better than cats
Author: Bradley Trevor Greive (photographs by Rachael Hale)
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Pub.
Published: c2009

I'm not a cat person. Nor a dog person. Or, in truth, a child-friendly person. This isn't to say that I'm UNfriendly to any of the above. I just don't have strong feelings about them either way. I can take or leave animals and/or kids. Weirdly, this makes them like me more. It's like they can sense my feelings - or lack of them - and want to squish me that much harder (children I meet for the first time), jump on me that much more (dogs and cats I meet for the first time), and find ways to sneak into my room and put their mark all over my things. (Yes, Mr2, I'm talking about YOU). So do I truly believe dogs are better than cats? Irrelevant! The point is, this book's author does :) And here are 5 reasons (from the many) for why Monsieur Greive believes that dogs have oh so much more awesomeness than cats.

Are you a dog person? Or a cat person? OR a child person?

Dogs want love. Cats want fish
Dogs offer us such vast amounts of help and happiness and yet seek almost nothing in return.

Dogs have helped us explore our world and our universe
The heroic actions of dogs are the stuff of legend. Can you even imagine a cat saving you from drowning? How about dragging you out of a burning building? Or digging you free from an icy avalanche? I don't think so. Cats don't rescue anybody - they just get rescued. And they never ever say, "Thank you." (pages 168-171)

Dogs see you as a parent, partner, best friend, and soul mate
Cats see you as a source of warmth and food. (page 71)

Dogs are social, cats are sociopaths
The reason dogs surpass all other species is quite simple: They get people - they really do. It's been this way since dogs and humans first bumped into one another and thought, "Hey, this could work!" (page 61)

There is a dog for everybody
Dogs come in all shapes, sizes, colours, and most important, dispositions - from gentle giants to little dogs with big personalities. This canine cornucopia means that the perfect dog is out there to complement every single human being's personality and lifestyle. Regardless of where you live, no matter how noble your endeavours, or how twisted and shameful your secret quirks, there is a dog that is just right for you. I guarantee it. (page 29)

Music or How to Ease the Craziness of NaNoWriMo

I seem to be in a musical frame of mind lately.  Last week it was classic rock, this week it's the new artists and albums that I have been checking out and listening to over the past year.

I blame it all on the madness of NaNoWriMo which is currently making my brain so fried that the only thing I am capable of (other than writing) is listening to music.

Youtube is also partially to blame.  A click here, a click there and suddenly I'm busy checking out songs and artists that I have never heard of, all courtesy of the side bar which leds you to similar songs and artists etc. It's seriously addictive stuff.  And also a big time waster (i.e. procrastination...).

Sadly for me a lot of the songs I like aren't known and easily available on CD here which is such a pity as there is some really great music out there in Youtube land.

Still some of my favourite's are available and I've been giving them abit of thrashing in the last few months along with the classic rock featured last week and others.

All Blacks in the kitchen.

NZ Rugby Kitchen : celebrating the love of food, family and rugby 
by the New Zealand Rugby Foundation. 

Take several All blacks, add over 150 recipes, combine with a charitable foundation. Mix well.

Featuring recipes from the likes of Richie McCaw, Piri Weepu, Dan Carter, Jerome Kaino, Ali Williams, Colin Meads, Andy Leslie and Graham Henry this book is sure to please a whole bunch of Kiwis. 

All the girls in the office have just agreed that an All Black cooking is extremely attractive so you should get this book out even if it's just to look at the pictures.

 I should probably point out the food looks really good too.

Good food, great All Blacks and it's for charity. I smell a best seller.