All of us are grandchildren. Some of us have had the good fortune of having our grandparents doting on us while some of us wish that we had the chance to know our grandparents better. However the circumstance, we all have unexpressed thoughts and feelings that we wish we could convey to our grandparents.Now, we have a chance to express our unspoken words of love and appreciation!

To My Grandpa/Grandma Contest is organised by National Library Board for Singaporeans to share our stories and memories about our grandparents.

Submit a short video (movie, montage, or animation) between 30sec to 5min or a written entry of not more than 500 words and stand a chance to win 1 of the 6 Tokyo tour packages kindly sponsored by SA Tours!

Send your submission to 75557@stomp.com.sg by 31 August 2008! All entries will be posted on STOMP at http://www.stomp.com.sg/talkback/grandparents. Written submissions will also stand the chance to be published in special edition books!

For more information, visit http://www.stomp.com.sg/talkback/grandparents/

This contest ended as of 3 Aug 2008, 2359hrs. Thank you for your participation! Winners will be notified shortly.

In 300 to 500 words, send us your critical review of any Japanese film found in the Film Village, library@esplanade. In line with the theme “The Woman in Japanese Film”, your review should emphasise the feminine perspective of your chosen film.

The best entries win tickets to the Japanese Film Festival 2008 (22 - 31 August), brought to you by The Embassy of Japan and the Singapore Film Society (SFS). Winning entries also stand to be published by NLB and the SFS.

E-mail entries with your Name, NRIC, Address and Contact Number to epcl@nlb.gov.sg

All entries should also include the Title and Call Number of the reviewed film. Please indicate NLB – SFS Japanese Film Festival Contest in your subject header.

Deadline for all entries is Sunday, 3 August 2008, 2359 hours.
All prizes kindly sponsored by the Singapore Film Society.

General Rules and Terms & Conditions:

1. The above contest is open to everyone residing in Singapore, with the exception of NLB staff and past and present SFS Committee Members.
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2. Participants are allowed to submit multiple entries.
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3. Entries must be original submissions by participants. Incomplete, late and/or plagiarised submissions will be disqualified and prizes, if awarded, will be forfeited with immediate effect.
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4. Only participants whose works are selected as winners will be notified of the outcome. Winners and prizes are awarded at the sole discretion of NLB and the SFS.
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5. The SFS shall decide, at its sole discretion, the Japanese Film Festival 2008 screenings to which ticket winners are entitled to attend.
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6. NLB and SFS reserve the right to make amendments to your submission(s) for publication on the platform(s) chosen at their sole discretion.
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7. NLB and SFS reserve the right to amend the above rules, terms and conditions at any time.

For more information on the Singapore Film Society (SFS) and details on the Japanese Film Festival 2008, please visit the SFS website, here.

NEW PROMOTIONS and lists of recent arrivals, that’s what!

From the lame title I’ve coined for this post, I’m sure you’ll have figured out that library@esplanade is holding a loan promotion for M. Night Shyamalan’s latest offering, The Happening!

As per usual, borrow 8 items and stand a chance to win premiums and movie passes to The Happening! Heck, with the Force still strong on D.E.A.R., you might as well get 16 items and stand 2(!) chances to win some goodies from the show. But don’t forget to split the receipts, dears! The Happening promotion runs from 13-22 June 2008, so don’t dilly-dally and come down to the library today!

All premiums and movie passes kindly sponsored by 20th Century Fox.

But wait, wait, wait, WAIT!

That’s not the end of it because all public libraries are also holding a promotion to celebrate the Ian Fleming Centenary and the release of the new James Bond novel, Devil May Care. Written by Sebastian Faulks-writing-as-Ian Fleming (howzat for twists!), be prepared for a ride full of thrills and spills that only this master-within-a-master can conjure!

To win a copy of this book, all you have to do is approach the Customer Service Counter and show your loan receipt of at least 4 borrowed items (combined receipts accepted) to receive a Devil May Care promotion quiz form. Answer the simple quiz, fill up your details and drop it into the contest box provided. Receipts need not be attached to the form.
white noise

This is where you wanna listen well and listen good!

If you wanna stand the chance to win a bundle of stuff from the library@esplanade, here are the steps a certain “guru” (Ed: *ahem*) suggests you take:

1. Grab 16 worthwhile items you wanna borrow from library@esplanade.
   WIN!
2. Separate them into 2 batches of 8 and borrow them all.
   WIN!
3. Grab both receipts and head to our Customer Service Counter to exchange for 4(!!) James Bond promo quiz forms.
   WIN!
4. Fill up the quizzes and drop them into the James Bond promo contest box. DO NOT attach your receipts to the quiz forms!
   WIN!
5. Shuffle over to The Happening promo on your right, fill up your details (name, IC number, telephone and email address) on both receipts and drop them into the promo box provided.

That’s it! You’ve given yourself 6(!!!) chances to win some awesome gifts and premiums! Now how’s that for happening stuff at the library, eh?

Last but not least, here are the lists of recent arrivals at the library. As usual, they’re done up by eLiz, so go ahead and download away! You’ll need a PDF viewer to read the files, yah?

* This listing is non-exhaustive. Please check the catalogue for the availability of the items.

To download the list, “Right Click” and “Save As” on the following links:

• New Arrivals - Week 13.05.2008
• New Arrivals - Week 23.05.2008
• New Arrivals - Week 02.06.2008

To all this great stuff happening at the library@esplanade, as the great John McClane (no, I don’t mean him) once said, “Yippee Ki Yay, Mo—.”

Phew, got so excited I almost got carried away ;)

Spring is here again and to kick the season off, library@esplanade brings you not one, but two great promotions!

First up is Street Kings, starring “The One” and only Keanu Reeves as an LA cop who loses direction in life after his wife’s untimely death. When he finds himself implicated in the murder of a fellow officer, he has to stand up against his former partners in order to clear his name.

Penned by writing powerhouses James Ellroy and John Ridley, Street Kings promises to be a gritty affair that sees Reeves back in all-out action-hero mode dashed with a huge dose of anguish. So don’t miss the chance to win movie passes and premiums to the show!

Check out the Street Kings promo, here!

Next up is Michael Haneke’s remake of his own Funny Games. Word has it that this is almost a shot-for-shot retelling of his disturbing original, but with an all-star cast featuring established thespians Naomi Watts and Tim Roth, plus the up-and-coming Michael Pitt in key roles, this is a remake you don’t dare to miss!

So give yourself a head start by checking out library@esplanade’s promotion for the movie here!

Now that you’ve heard from us, be sure to take action! If you miss out on the goodies otherwise… Well, then…

You Must Admit, You Brought This On Yourself.

Let the Games Begin.

And Pray You Win.

Head on over to our Promotions page now to check out the details of the promotion!

The Spiderwick Chronicles is based on the eponymous best-selling children’s fantasy book series by Holly Black with illustrations by Tony DiTerlizzi.

Read the rest of this entry »

*For full details of our 27 Dresses promotion, head over to our Promotions page, here.

“Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.”

By day, Jane (Katherine Heigl) is an advertising assistant, but her true role in life seems to be a wedding planner-cum-bridesmaid to her friends and colleagues. She’s secretly in love with her boss, George (Edward Burns), but doesn’t have the courage to confess her feelings.

With her own day on the altar nowhere in sight, along comes her wild-child sister, Tess (Malin Akerman), who sweeps George off his feet. The couple are soon ready to marry and they want Jane to be their wedding planner! If that’s not enough for the despairing Jane, she’s also being pestered by the pesky New York Journal writer, Kevin (James Marsden), who wants to do an article on the perennial bridesmaid.

So what’s a bridesmaid got to do?!

27 Dresses stars the lovely Katherine Hiegl, of Knocked Up and Grey’s Anatomy fame, and is brought to you by the screenwriters of The Devil Wears Prada (available at the library@esplanade! Click title for details). It’s the ultimate romantic-comedy not to be missed!

What’s more, the library@esplanade is holding an exclusive promotion for this movie!

For full details, head over to our Promotions page, here.

So hurry down now to the library@esplanade and win something special for your darling Valentine!

*Promotion ends on 1 February 2008. All premiums are kindly sponsored by 20th Century Fox.

Right. Time for another update.

The chippies may have squirrelled away, but in their place, we have not one but TWO new promotions to fill up the squeaky squeals gone silent! Yes, you read that right — TWO!

But first, congrats to all the winners of the Alvin and the Chipmunks promotion which ended on 20th December 2007. Be sure to come down to the library@esplanade to collect your exclusive premiums!

If you’re still hoping to strike gold, look no further than our National Treasure: Book of Secrets promotion now on at the library@esplanade! Borrow 8 items from the library@esplanade and stand a fantastic chance to unearth some great treasure for yourself in the form of exclusive premiums from the Book of Secrets! FOR ALL THE DETAILS, GO HERE. Or perhaps here. Maybe there. What, where?! Oops, it’s actually here!

Man, you don’t get easier clues than that!

The goodies don’t end there! Or, erm, here. I’m confusing myself, but anyway, we are also running an Aliens vs Predators 2 promotion at the library@esplanade! But *shhhh* you’ll have to come down to the library to find out all the details on taking part!

All I’ll say is, with D.E.A.R. still on active duty, max out your loan quota of 16 items at the library@esplanade and you’ll stand to win exclusive premiums from not one, but TWO — yes, TWO! — end of season blockbuster movies! So hurry down now!

But do all good things come in twos? No, because they sometimes come in 9s!

Yes, don’t forget Staff Jamz 9 is coming up on Saturday, 29th December 2007, 6.00pm – 7.30pm. Rock to the rhythms of the NLB Band as they end the year with a big bang at the library@esplanade!

Finally, to build up some buzz for Staff Jamz 9 this coming week, look out for our Music Week Special (yeah, self-declared!) right here on the library@esplanade blog.

With this much happening, have you bookmarked us yet?

Posted By: Peck (!-marks-are-my-new-best-friends!) Keong

Aside:
Interestingly, although both are sequels, neither of the two movies actually have a “2” in their official US titles. In the States, they are respectively known as National Treasure: Book of Secrets and Aliens vs Predator: Requiem, or simply AVPR.

Well, we might be almost halfway into December 2007, but that’s no reason not to give a heads-up on what will be happening at the library@esplanade for the rest of the month! So prick up your ears and listen! Or, erm, freshen up your eyes and read on!

First up is our Alvin and the Chipmunks promotion, now on at the library@esplanade till 20 December 2007. Simply borrow 8 items and stand a chance to win premiums from this holiday season movie that your kids will love! With the D.E.A.R. promotion still in full swing, grab this chance to bag yourself some nice – and free! – gifts for Christmas. For full details of the promotion and how to participate, please go here. Alvin, Simon and Theodore are waiting!

Next up, the NLB Band takes the Open Stage and brings to you, Staff Jamz 9! Led by library@esplanade’s very own library officer, Indrashah Isa, this year’s performance will feature the theme Stripped! Split! Switched! Oh my, what are they planning?! You know there’s only one way to find out!

So make your way down to the library@esplanade for the show to be held on 29 December 2007, 6.00pm-7.30pm. The NLB Band promises to blow you away with an explosive performance that will have you rocking all the way through the New Year holiday! Don’t you dare miss it!

And don’t forget to watch out for Indra’s post nearer the event, as he reveals more about the show, the band and gets you in the mood to get Stripped! Split! Switched!

Lastly, be sure to look out for these features that will be appearing on our blog over the next few weeks:

• a special look back at the recently concluded film festival, Animation Nation 2007, organised by the Singapore Film Society, with the National Library Board one of its partners for the event
  

• a Resource List on Christmas selections available at library@esplanade for the festive season

• and much, much more!

Here’s a final tip to round things off: See the Open Navigation button near the top right corner of the blog? Well, click on it and connect yourself to the New Media outposts of the National Library Board!

To reach out to more of you, we’re galloping head-on into the Wild, Wild West of the World Wide Web.

Care to join us for the ride?

Posted by: Peck Keong