Just in time for the Christmas Shopping Season!

Brandywine Community Library is having a book sale in the library this Saturday 11/24 - Saturday 12/1. A great selection of hardcover, paperbacks, books on tape, VHS tapes, and childrens materials.

Prices range from .50 cents - $2.00. 100% of the proceeds benefit the library.

Library Hours

Saturday 10-5

Monday - Thursday 10-8

Ms Emily Goes To The Movies

Review by Emily Trosprel
10th Grade BHHS
Senior Entertainment Editor

Darjeeling Limited

If whimsy was a genre, Wes Anderson would be its master. His films are an acquired taste, there’s no question, but once acquired are some of the most delectable, bizarre, and well, whimsical cinematic journeys one can embark on, bypassing the mainstream and heading straight for indie dramedy. All in one and a half hours. In Darjeeling Limited, one would be embarking with the three brothers Francis (Owen Wilson), mummy-like with heavily bandaged scars from an ill-destined bike ride; Peter (Adrien Brody), an obsessive hoarder of their dead father’s trinkets; and Jack (Jason Schwartzman), a seducer and semi-fictional story writer armed with pepper spray. Gathered by the eldest, Francis, the ill-paired trio takes off for a spiritual, itinerary-filled journey to reform their lost brotherly bonds in India (if they ever had any to begin with.) Thus, the train (named the Darjeeling Limited, curiously enough) pulls out of the station, with a destination of nowhere save for the possibility of meeting a mother who ran off and abandoned her sons to become a nun. Of course even if it’s a road with no end, it’s the journey that matters, in this case one filled with venomous snakes escaping from a skull and crossbones bearing crates, plenty of Indian cough syrup, rituals involving peacock feathers being buried amid human sound effects, and Anjelica Huston looking downright scary in heavy eye makeup. Anyone mention this wasn’t mainstream?

The appeal of the film to the individual viewer teeters precariously on the question of if they “get” the characters. Luckily, mix equal parts comedy, drama, and Anderson’s writing and the result is one brilliant script. Still, despite sharp acting or perhaps because of it, to call the film quirky would be an understatement; be prepared. The word “meticulous” would be another understatement. If directing doesn’t pan out with the box office, Anderson could have a future in art direction, so carefully does he construct his worlds within the frame. Perhaps they are a touch too careful; there’s not much feeling of spontaneity left in what could seem a most uncontrived story. Darjeeling Limited may have very “limited” prospects outside of the art theater which is unfortunate for average movie-goers simply looking for a decent film. It won’t make converts; audiences who know their opposition to “indie” types of movies in all likelihood won’t be swayed, but it’s a gem worth seeking for the rest. It’s funny. It’s sad. And whether one loves or hates him, they’ve got to admit, Wes Andersons got style!

Three and a half stars out of Four Stars for Darjeeling Limited

Happy Thanksgiving

A little early but watch this and it should make your holiday more meaningful.

Is this reallly what people want at Brandywine

RIPON, Calif. (AP) - Six cheerleaders are fighting suspensions after they flashed football fans a message on their underpants. Vice Principal Ken Goeken ordered the girls to serve suspensions Tuesday and Wednesday for defying their coach and going ahead with a special cheer they choreographed for the last day of the football season.

At the end of the cheer, the girls bent over, lifted their skirts and showed the crowd the words "Indians No. 1" on their bloomers.

The girls - who missed reading scenes from William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" and fear their grades will suffer - are asking to make up coursework and instead be banned from cheering at an upcoming basketball game.

Common Application

The toughest part of attending college could be just the application. There is the Common Application an attempt at one stop shopping but now more and more colleges want to add their special question(s) so it is quickly becoming the Uncommon Application and now has a rival application organization. It may have changed but the PA state colleges were not using either of these application, so PA applications have yet another hoop to jump through.

Teaching languages to young children may improve math, reading test scores

Thousands of" Glastonbury (Connecticut) Public School District's "students have built proficiency in" languages ranging from Spanish to Mandarin Chinese, beginning as early as second grade. The language program "is now viewed as a model for meeting the demand for graduates with language skills and an understanding of other countries and cultures." At a time when many schools are "beefing up instruction in mathematics, reading, and to a lesser extent, science, to meet the demands of the federal No Child Left Behind Act," many schools are reluctant to add language classes for young children. But advocates believe that foreign language skills are rapidly growing vital in a globalized economy, and that students learn languages more easily in elementary school than in later years. "Several research studies since the 1990s have concluded that elementary pupils learning a foreign language performed better on standardized tests in math and reading than their peers who were not in such classes." - Teacher Magazine

Seems reasonable learning math is that not different from learning another language. It has even been referred to as a universal language. Research has shown that learning different languages early does have a positive effect on the brains ability to pick up different ones. The brain works on the principal of use it or lose it. If the area for languages is not used early enough it is taken over for use by other functions. Like the remarkable ability to remember things like t Walter Hunt was the inventor of the safety pin. That has proven so much more useful then the ability to learn some language spoken only by foreigners .

When Miracle Drugs Fail

When the newest drugs fail to cure an infection such as MRAS, doctors look to the past and use a natural treatment used by the Mayans, Aboriginal tribes of Australia and in Europe during the Renaissance. It was even used by the Confederate medical officers during the late unpleasantness.

You can read about it in Wikipedia but don't do it before or after meal time. If it doesn't make you want to wash your hands and keep wounds treated nothing will.

Suspected MRSA case at Brandywine

There is a letter concerning a suspected case of MRSA in the district recently posted on the school's web site.

Last Night's Tragedy Update

The car wreck last night near DEKA resulted in the death of the guardian of three students in the Brandywine District ages 10, 9 and 8. The children were in the car but are currently reported in good condition. Article