New Places to Eat in Mill Valley

Has anyone been to Lollipop or Maria, Maria? If so, can you give us a review?

I have a friend who works at Lollipop, which is in the spot where Lyla's Chocolates used to be. Lollipop sells candy, cupcakes, ice cream and take home to bake cookie and scone batter. My friend says it's good, not so much for the candy, which you can get in a lot of places, but for the other stuff, which is all made at the store. She likes, for example, the Coffee Oreo ice cream (she thinks the coffee flavor might be too strong for some people, though), which is made from a recipe created by the owner. In fact, while only 16 flavors of ice cream are on display, they have recipes for over 200 different flavors! My friend also really likes the cookies, cupcakes and scones and says that the workers will sometimes accidentally on purpose damage a cookie or something so that they can eat it...

Maria, Maria, is where the Cantina used to be. They still sell Mexican food, but it is notable because it is owned by local rock legend Carlos Santana. In fact, Maria, Maria is the name of one of his hit songs. Haven't heard anything about their food.

Santana isn't the only local rock star who's in the food and beverage business. Can you name another one? Hint: he has a daughter at MVMS.

Another Stereotype Bites the Dust

Mr T says: Statistics have shown that girls enter middle school with math skills equal to or better than those of boys, but by the time they leave, they've fallen behind. The common belief was that boys were just better at math than girls. This study proves that belief wrong. If any of you dreams of being a scientist or engineer or computer programmer as an adult you should know that math skills are crucial skills for success in these fields - don't let the stereotype that girls can't do math stop you. This study is more evidence that you can do anything you set your mind to do.

Numbers show girls as good at math as boys

Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer

(07-24) 11:04 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Researchers say the long-running debate is settled: Girls are just as good as boys at math.

After checking the test scores of 7 million students in 10 states, university researchers found no difference between the sexes in performance on math tests given in grades 2 through 11.

The study seems to settle old theories about the existence of a math gene that gives boys an edge over girls in advanced coursework and ultimately in the workforce.

"Today, we do know that women can do math," said Marcia Linn, UC Berkeley education professor and co-author of the report, published in today's issue of the journal Science.

Decades ago, girls took fewer advanced math and science courses, and those who did posted lower scores. The old line of thinking seemed to say: Girls, who don't like math and aren't good at it, should shy away from those brainy courses.

That perspective was embraced by the popular doll Teen Talk Barbie, who briefly proclaimed in 1992: "Math class is tough."

Concerted efforts over the last 20 years to encourage girls to pursue math seem to have paid off, the researchers found. By 2000, high school girls were taking calculus at the same rate as their male peers, a trend that could be interpreted as showing they no longer felt shut out of the most demanding math courses.

"Equalization of math enrollment has led to equalization of performance," Linn said.

Previous studies have shown that girls are just as capable at math as boys, but the new research was the first to look at such a massive sample of students across the country, taking advantage of the standardized test scores now required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The study's five researchers, from UC Berkeley and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, compared the average performance of all students on the tests, the scores of the most gifted children and the ability of students to solve complex math problems.

"In all cases, girls measured up to boys," the authors said.

The National Science Foundation funded the research, which sought to dispel the stereotype that girls lack mathematical ability and to offer insight into the underrepresentation of women in the highest levels of math, science and engineering.

High school sophomore Frances Fu of Oakland said she can't imagine a world where girls couldn't or wouldn't measure up in math - her favorite subject.

"Girls in my class participate more, and with the boys it's the opposite," she said. "Definitely, it's OK to be smart in math."

She earned at A+ in geometry last year as a freshman at Skyline High School.

Fu participates in a Girls Incorporated of Alameda County program called Eureka, in which mentors support and encourage girls to take math and science courses. It is one of many programs in the state and the nation trying to get more girls into male-dominated fields.

While the social stigma still exists - that it's not feminine to like math or science - girls are becoming more confident about their abilities and skills, said James McErlain, a science, math and technology specialist with Girls Incorporated.

"You can be whoever you want to be as a girl and still enjoy math and sciences and be OK with that," he said.

Despite the similar test scores in math, the gender gap continues to persist when it comes to the workplace, the researchers noted in the Science article.

Perhaps many girls are still influenced by the stigmas and math phobias that persist among previous generations.

"Parents and teachers really need to rethink how they are presenting math to their children and their students," Linn said. "It is equal. But the perceptions may still impede career decisions."

For some reason I want to know what every ones fav song is. Mine is Say My Name by Destiny's Child. 

What is yours??

P.S. Say who it is by!

Bye,

Maddy D.

Endangered Condors Survive Big Sur Fire

(07-18) 04:00 PDT Big Sur -- As wildfire whipped toward a remote sanctuary of the endangered California condor last month, the rare birds got their biggest test in survival after years of pampering by biologists: They had to live completely on their own.

Forced away by flames, their scientist handlers could only hope the birds' animal instincts would kick in. To their delight, they did.

The birds found fresh air and food: a beached whale and decaying California sea lion at the edge of Big Sur's cliffs. After the blaze swept through the area, many even returned home.

"It's incredible. They did just what they're supposed to do," said Kelly Sorenson, executive director of the Ventana Wildlife Society, which runs the sanctuary. "I was honestly thinking we'd lose four to six birds. You can rebuild pens, but we only have a limited amount of time to restore a species."

The vulture was declared an endangered species in 1967, when its population - estimated to be 50 to 60 birds at the time - was in sharp decline because of poaching, habitat destruction and lead poisoning.


In the 1980s, the U.S. government approved an ambitious and costly conservation plan that brought the last of the nearly two dozen surviving California condors into captivity for a captive-breeding program.

After teaching the newborns with puppets and other tools how to survive in the wild, reintroduction into forests started in the 1990s. While there have been some setbacks (power lines have proved a difficult obstacle to navigate), there are now 332 condors, half of which are living supervised in the wild in Arizona, California and Baja California.

The Ventana Wildlife Society near Big Sur is the only nonprofit in California to prepare captive-bred condors for life in the wild, making it an integral part of conservation efforts to save the condor from extinction.

Flames from the 188-square-mile fire in the Los Padres National Forest last month destroyed the society's aviary and release pen and thousands of dollars worth of equipment. The fire also displaced the 43 free-flying birds the society monitors and forced a hasty Coast Guard rescue of seven year-old chicks and their adult mentor.

For 17 days, biologists were cut off from the sanctuary, monitoring the wild birds by electronic transmitters.

"We felt so helpless," Sorenson said.


Last week, Sorenson and Burnett returned to the burned-out sanctuary and hiked to the edge of the feeding site. At the top of a charred Ponderosa pine, the alpha male of the group surveyed his blackened canyon.

Burnett pumped his fist.

"They survived on their own without us," Sorenson said. "It shows us they can do it."

Boy, 11, Tracks Speeders With Toy Radar Gun

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Police can't be everywhere, so 11-year-old Landon Wilburn is on patrol in the Stone Lakes subdivision in Louisville. Landon told The Courier-Journal he and his friends used to shout at speeders to slow down -- then had a better idea.

Last month, Landon began pointing a Hot Wheels-brand radar gun at them and charting their speeds. The orange radar gun, which costs $30 to $40 at toy stores -- although Landon traded toys with a neighbor for his -- can clock the speed of almost anything from baseballs to cars.

While on "duty", Landon wears an orange safety vest, a bicycle helmet and carries, in addition to the radar gun, a battery-operated flashlight with a built-in siren.

George Ayers, 61, who lives on Stone Lakes Drive, said he could not believe his eyes when he first saw Landon with the radar gun. He initially didn't recognize the boy and, judging by drivers' reactions, he thought he might be a police officer.

"When I saw it happening, I got the biggest kick out of it," Ayers said. "People were locking up their brakes when they saw him."

Recently Discovered Animals(click on photos to enlarge and see captions)

"Ghost Slug" Eats Worms

July 16, 2008—A previously unknown species of meat-eating slug that sucks up earthworms like spaghetti has been discovered in Wales, scientists announced.
The so-called ghost slug—pictured above—first appeared in South Wales gardens in 2006, possibly after arriving as a stowaway in imported potted plants, said biologist Ben Rowson of National Museum Cardiff.
The nocturnal predator is armed with blade-like teeth (see inset) for slicing through animal flesh and can measure up to 5 inches (13 centimeters) long when stalking its prey, Rowson said.
"They engulf the worms piece by piece," the biologist noted. "One end of the worm will still be alive while the other is being gradually ratcheted into the slug by the teeth."
Rowson was part of the team that recently named the white carnivore Selenochlamys ysbryda—"ysbryd" being Welsh for "ghost." Its pale color and lack of eyes suggests the animal evolved underground, Rowson said.
The slug's origins remain a mystery, but the study team speculates that it may be native to deep caves found in Georgia, Armenia, or Turkey.
No one knows whether the spooky creature presents a serious threat to Britain's earthworms or other native animals.
—James Owen
Photograph by Amgueddfa Cymru/National Museum Wales; courtesy Cardiff University

Mysterious Red Bug Plagues London Museum of Natural History

July 15, 2008—Even with 28 million insect specimens in their collection, experts at London's Natural History Museum haven't found a match for a mysterious bug—pictured above—found in their own backyard.
Since it was discovered last year by entomologist Max Barclay, the tiny, red-and-black, seed-eating ground bug has become the most common insect in the museum's wildlife garden.
It has also been spotted elsewhere in the city.
"Today we've had people ringing us up saying they've known about this thing in [central] London for six or seven years," Barclay said.
"It's only when it gets to somewhere like the Natural History Museum, where there are loads of specialists hanging around, that somebody will pick it up."
While the insect looks similar to a Central European species, Arocatus roeselii, it is a darker red and lives on plane trees—what Americans call sycamores—instead of alders.
It also resembles a mystery insect found in France that likely isn't native to Europe at all, Barclay said.
"It's also very similar to a common North American pest called the boxelder bug, but it isn't that," he added.
Barclay believes the ground bug either represents a variation of a known exotic species or it's a newly discovered species.
Museum scientists hope an analysis of the insect's DNA will finally solve the mystery.
—James Owen in London
Photograph courtesy the Natural History Muesum in London

Hey people!!! sup wanna know whats up with me ill tell u whats down first

- I'm at home!

- I miss my best buddies!!!

- I miss suzy!!!

Here are the ups:

-i went to dc and nyc

-im going 2 camp

bye bye for now!!!

cami

The All Night Party: A Puzzle for You

In a small town in the United States, a teen aged boy asked his parents if he could go to a friend's party. His parents say okay, provided that he returned home before sunrise. The boy left for the party that evening clean-shaven, but when he returned, just before sunrise, he had a full beard. What happened?

Beware of Teenagers Bearing Gifts - A Cautionary Tale

At the the end of the last basketball season, one of my high school players gave me some shorts as a gift. It was still winter when I got them, so I didn't wear them for a couple of months.

Later, on a warm spring day, I put them on and went shopping. My first stop was Target.

As I entered the store, the alarm sounded. I looked around and noticed a shopper going out of the store. I simply thought that a checker had forgotten to remove a sensor from some merchandise the shopper had purchased and continued into the store. A few minutes later, unable to find what I was looking for, I left. As I exited the store the alarm went off again. There was no one else going in or out, so it had to be me that set it off. A couple of people looked at me suspiciously. I raised my hands in mock surrender, spun around and walked on.

As I walked, I felt around in my pockets to see if there was anything in them that didn't belong there. Nothing.

I continued my shopping trip. I stopped at Borders, Best Buy and Orchard Supply Hardware. At each stop, I set off alarms. It was becoming embarrassing. I thought about going home, but I needed to find a gift for my brother. So, I continued my trip and went to Circuit City.

Circuit City had a greeter who was handing out their weekly ad to everyone entering the store. She'd started her greeting to me, "Hi, welcome to Circuit...", when the alarm went off. She smiled uncertainly at me.

"I've been doing that all day," I said. "I don't know why."

The greeter looked me up and down, then asked, "where did you get your pants?"

"They were a gift," I answered.

"I'll bet they came from Old Navy," said the greeter. "Old Navy sews tags into their pants that you have to cut out before your wear them. Go home and check it out."

I did, and there was.

So, if you ever get pants from Old Navy, save yourself some embarrassment and remove the tag. Here's what it looks like:

KATIE

   I have been doing softball for the past 2 moths I think.  But thats mostly it so far.  I think 5th was my favorite year at park.  This is a point less post. Sorry!

Back in the Day ...

From Camille ...

Hey!

Hey! I just discovered something that is VERY important! It is on this clocks you tube video too! Goodness gracious me oh my!

HI!

Hi. It's Maddy D. I have not done anything this summer... o, except for getting a new computer, going to camp, and not having to do school. I have not read any books over the summer, yet.

I am a little more excited for next summer because I might go to MEXICO! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so happy that me, my brother and my parents might go there. but if we don't I will be said.

And ya. Hope everyone is having a great summer! 

Bye,

Maddy D.

Up Date from emily

Well first of all I got braces and they really suck. I can hardly eat and everyone can call me brace face or metal mouth. My brother is going to the Viva la Viva Coldplay concert, which is a very good band and the album is great. I'm going to a academic summer school in Richmond and I'm going to Denver, Boston and DC.

That all for now. Hope you all are having a great summer!

Treasure Hunt

I read a column in the Chronicle today about how the pastime of reading books is going out of style. People today seem to prefer reading electronic media like emails, text msgs, and well, blogs. There's nothing wrong with this, except electronic media tend not to cover anything in depth and it can't transport you away to another world created by the words on the page and your mind's eye. Books can.

I like to read books. During school, I don't have that much time to read for pleasure, usually only just before I go to sleep, but I still manage to read a book every two weeks or so.

Now that school's out, however, I have lot more time to read and will finish about a book per week. So, the first thing I needed to do, once school ended, was stock up.

Although I often visit both Borders and Barnes and Noble, I rarely buy books from either store. I buy most of the books I read at used book stores. In fact, browsing though a used book store is one of my favorite things to do. It's like a treasure hunt. You never know what you'll find.

I once found a great book called "Heaven is a Playground" which is about a sportwriter who went to Harlem to write a story about playground basketball. Instead of staying for a few days, he ended staying all summer, coaching a bunch of kids and following their lives through high school and beyond. Funny, sad, touching. The book was printed in 1976. Try finding that at Borders (you can get any book I mention at Amazon).


I also found a book called "You Gotta Have Wa" which is about ex American major league baseball players going to Japan to play. This is a fascinating and funny contrast between two cultures and how it effects the way the game is played. Can't find that at either of the above stores. I know. I looked.


Anyway, the weekend after school got out, I went book shopping. My favorite used bookstores are all in the East Bay, mostly in Berkeley. For me a perfect book shopping day is when I find all the books I'm looking for plus something interesting that I spot and pick up in the spur of the moment, but not all in the first store I go to. It's more fun that way.

On this trip, I visited two stores and bought 8 books (did I mention that used bookstores sell their books at half the original price?). I bought one serious novel, "Cities of the Plain" by a great writer named Cormac McCarthy,


two mysteries by a guy named C.J.Box which are set in the wilderness of Wyoming, a book on the US Air Force, a legal thriller by Scott Turow and, because of comments made by some of you, the first three "Maximum Ride" books. So far, I've read one of the Box books and the Air Force book. I started "The Angel Experiment" yesterday. I like it so far.


Anyway, if you want to try something a little different and can convince somebody to take you, I recommend a trip to a used book store. It's relaxing, it's fun and you never know what you're going to find there.

Stinson Beach

So, my family for two weeks went to Stinson Beach at a rental house. It really made you, or at least me, feel scared about the fires even though we were really far away. The air was always smoky, the sky was very smoggy-Katie and I agree that Apollo (Is that how it's spelled?) Forgot to get his smog check.- it was really hazy. Everything. You couldn't tell were the water ended and the sky started. Oh, we also saw Betty Jen and Morgan! Bye, my sister wants to play Teletubies on PBS Kids!

G.I. Joe Steals Barbie

This is one of the greatest car commercials ever made. Make sure you click on the links at the end.

Fire

Hello everybody,
I was at camp last week, but a fire was only 6-10 miles away. There was a 50% chance I was going to have to get evacuated and I wouldn't have been able to bring any of my stuff. One night I got really scared. All around camp there were fire hoses it was super scary. By the way my camp was a sleepover camp (my first sleepover camp). There have been a lot of fires lately so be careful of what you are lighting. Hahahahahaha hehheheheheheheheh. I like saying Hehehehehe.

bye bye,

Hannah


HEHEHHEHEHHEHEHEHHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHEHEHHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE

Quotes from the Class of 2008

People in your graduating class said the following things to me. Can you figure out who?

1. I'm fine! Thanks for asking!

2. Have you ever been to Kentucky?

3. Today I asked what a thong was and everyone laughed at me!

4. Am I in trouble?

5. I used to hate P.E.. Now, it's not so bad!

6. I used to think you were mean. Now, I realize it's just fake mean.

The Gourmet

By the time my sister April was about your age, she'd begun to behave like my mom whenever we went to a restaurant (see "The Papaya"). When it was April's turn to order, she'd ask the waiter what seemed like dozens of questions, like "What's good?" or "What do you like?" or "Is the seafood fresh?" She'd even point at the food on someone else's table and ask "What's she having?"

After thoroughly interrogating the waiter, my sister would usually order one of the most expensive items on the menu. My dad didn't seem to mind for he knew that if my sister didn't like it, someone else (usually me) would finish it for her.

Later, when the food arrived, my sister would always ask the waiter one last question:


"Can I have some ketchup?"

My Mac

Okay. First of all I have to say that I was completely blown away by your gift. Utterly unexpected and incredibly generous.

I also have to say that I was a little apprehensive about setting it up. After all, I'd been using Windows computers since at least 1990 or whenever Windows 3.1 came out. Switching to a Mac after all that time? Kind of scary.

After letting it sit in its box for almost a week, I set it up.

Wow! Such a beautiful design! Elegant. Simple. Great monitor, much sharper(and bigger) than my old one. And so fast! Example: after waking my Windows machine from sleep, it takes about 90 seconds to boot. The Mac takes less than three.



It was comforting to know that Windows will run on this machine. That way, years of files can still be used. The first thing I did was run Boot Camp and install Windows.

The second thing I did was set up this blog.

BTW: the Ipod Touch is waaay cool too. Tons of stuff on it including Safari, so I can use it to access the internet when I travel. My laptop never seems to work properly.

So, thanks again.

New Page Elements

Did you know that Emily is an ice skater? Check out the videos of her team. Just click on the new video bar below.

Also, see the new book poll. You've got one week to answer.

I'm also adding a blog link. Does any of you have a blog that you'd like to link to this one? Of so, email me your URL.

Up next: slide show!