World Book Night – time to share the love of reading
Have you heard of World Book Night? (Not day, NIGHT! NIGHT!) It’s a scheme to give free books to people and hopefully get more people reading. Volunteers get to choose a book from a shortlist, then they get 20 copies to give away.
El and Jae applied to be a World Book Night giver and were superchuffed to be accepted (last year Jae was not accepted – must’ve been on the naughty list). Jae would like it to be known that she turned down a free trip to Disneyland Paris in order to be here for World Book Night. That is commitment.
El chose the book Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman because she had not read it (shock horror!) and had really wanted to for a while. Plus she had already read Boys Don’t Cry by the same author for the Southern Schools book awards and had really enjoyed it. (And met Malorie Blackman at the award ceremonies but we won’t go into that.)
Tonight we are giving the books away! Perhaps you are reading this because we gave you a book?
Here is a little bit of background about where the books have been before. We picked them up on Saturday from Waterstones in Brighton. El loves this shop (understatement). It is her dream job to work there one day, though she may not realise that you have to do more than just read the books when you work in a bookshop.
The first person we spoke to in Waterstones didn’t know about World Book Night! Quelle horreur! Luckily the second person did, and said our books were in the “special cupboard”. We are very excited about this – perhaps this special cupboard leads to Narnia, the Mines of Moria or Hogwarts Common Room. Here is Brighton Waterstones, complete with Special Cupboard: 
Then we took our box of books to a cafe. As you can see El was supervising them very closely. 
We took the books to Boots to buy deodorant. Actually, the books smelled fine but Jae gets sweaty (joking Jae). Again, El supervised the box of books, this time by sitting on them: 
As it was a heavy box we had to take it home on the bus. We let the box sit on the disabled seat as no one else was using it, plus a box is not able to walk. We also let the books have a little sit down on a bench cos they were tired. And it had another little sit down on the bus stop because El had bumped into her friend. 
So you can see that if we gave you a book, it has been on quite a journey. Treat it well, like a baby kitten or a precious jewel. Now we are going out to give away our books. We will report back later and let you know how we got on.
El & Jae
Book Distribution Service
UPDATE – LATER THAT NIGHT
We did it!
Jae almost lost a finger on one or two letterboxes and narrowly avoided being arrested as a weirdy stalker-type person. We put some through letterboxes of people we know and the rest in random houses. All in all it was really good fun.
We also put a few in the doors of a cafe, a church hall and some flats (so they will have to fight for who gets it!).
This trip has lead us into new insights about letterboxes. Especially those weird furry bits in them. There was one or two we couldn’t get the books in 
So if you get a chance to be a World Book Night giver, go for it. And if not – at least we’ve always got reading!
Extreme Reading – Volume 3
Spring is here. Ha ha ha ha we wish.
At least we always have books to keep us warm. The good thing about having Extreme Reading as your sport of choice is that it doesn’t matter about the weather and it is always the right season.
So where has El been reading recently?
Even when temptation is offered you must stay strong padawan.
Reading in an office shop is always good because you’ll always have somewhere to sit.
Just ignore any distractions behind you.
So the lesson we have learned is – whatever is in your book is probably more compelling than whatever is in your face.
El & Jae
Page Turners
El meets Stephen Fry and his yellow tights
Do you remember when El live blogged Stephen Fry’s Gadget Man (I don’t think anyone could forget it)? Well on her birthday El had the ultimate Stephen Fry experience. First of all she got a bunch of Stephen Fry audio books.
Then she was given the ultimate Stephen Fry-related gift – tickets to see the great man himself live on stage in Twelfth Night.
Here is a picture. If you look up on the right hand side you can see El.
One of El’s favourite bits was when they first went in and some of the cast (Stephen Fry included) were getting their make up and costume done on the stage (as seen in the photo).
It was an absolutely amazing play and Stephen Fry was truly astounding, he was flabghastinglyaboslutelyterrifichewassogooditmademyeyespop! (Yes, I know that’s not word!) They put him in box at one point and he wore some magnificent yellow stockings. He was sososososososososo good!
It was very funny when Olivia was on the stage because the whole plot point depended on her being this beautiful girl that everyone falls in love with but because she was being played by a man she was a very ugly girl (although the actor who played her was not an ugly man).
The only other actor El had heard of was Barty Crouch Snr (can’t remember his real name). You know, he was in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. And he was the cyber controller in that episode of Dr Who. He is a very famous stage actor but El only knows him from these things.
In conclusion Stephen Fry was amazing hewasbetterthananyoneheisagodtomeomgheWASmalvoliohewastransformedmylifeiscomplete!
And if you get a chance to see him then you MUST go. Also Shakespeare AMAZING! People who think he’s boring just haven’t seen the light yet!
El and Jae
Makingwordsup
Our greatest hits – packed with nutritious goodness
Eljae is now a year old! It’s grown from being a baby blog and is now going to be a terrible toddler. But Jae wrote a book about toddlers so we think we can cope.
We’ve been looking back over the last year to see which posts were the most popular.
Number one by a long way is Reasons why homework should be banned – this has had thousands of hits and is on page 1 of Google for that phrase, proving once and for all that homework is evil. Unfortunately El’s teachers haven’t listened.
Number two is the main home page which makes sense really as it’s the first page you come to. PROOF THAT YOU GUYS LIKE US FOR US! 
Next most popular is our list of Top 10 cool kid bloggers. We really like this post and we hope that we have introduced many people to new blogs.
Jae’s favourite posts of the year are the ones where El reads books in all kinds of weird places. None of this is staged, THIS IS WHAT EL IS REALLY LIKE (she feels a little frightened if she ventures out of the house without a book).
Jae also likes the post about What to say if someone at school calls you a nerd because it’s good advice.
El’s favourite posts have also been the extreme reading ones but she also really likes the things that make you go lol post because it’s funny and whenever she watches the videos she gets a happy. 
We have been asked to review a few things which is cool but we won’t be doing too many of those unless it is to tell you about something that is super super fun.
Most of all we like writing random stuff that nobody else does. There are millions of words on the internet but you can still be an individual. Please stay and read our blog in 2013 if you like being an individual too. And where else are you going to hear about beards and moustaches that are not beards and moustaches?
El dreams up new blog posts
In the year to come we intend to write about such things as moustache sandwiches, more Dennis the cat and what to expect when the aliens arrive.
El & Jae
Keep Calm and Blog On
2012 – an extremely Eljae year
El and Jae say Happy New Year
We’re just squeezing in a last post as 2012 draws to a close.
So – how was it for you? Did you enjoy the Olympics? Did you do Gangnam Style? Did the rain fall on your lovely head?
This is what we liked about 2012 (not necessarily in order):
1. The royal pregnancy being announced.
El is very into the royal family as she considers them to be history in the making (El is into history). When she heard about it El did a happy dance. We look forward to seeing the baby in 2013. (Will it be a boy or girl?)
2. Diamond Jubilee
60 years on the throne! How do we celebrate? Draw some boats in the rain. Marvellous!
3. Olympics
Other than getting to watch a bit live and the opening and closing ceremonies El was a bit ‘whatever’ about the whole thing. She’s not that sporty. We just put it in because the Queen parachuted out a helicopter. Jae enjoyed it all more than she expected to.
4. The aliens landing
Only Jae really knows about this and no one believes her. But you will in 2013.
All in all it’s been a good year. And now 2012 is ending and El is now a teenager. Will we get out of it alive???????
Happy New Year, we love you!!!!
El and Jae
New year, same old bloggers
Teenmageddon Approaches
El is turning into a teenager soon.
Jae is scared.
But at least El is still polite.
El and Jae
Balancing on a precipice. Send chocolate.
Live blogging Stephen Fry:Gadget Man
I am a MASSIVE fan of Stephen Fry and I ADORED the last episode so I have decided to live blog this new episode of Stephen Fry: Gadget Man. Wish me luck!
If you are not aware of this series, then it is basically Stephen Fry telling us about awesome gadgets. This episode promises to be particularly good as DERREN BROWN will appear at some point. It is annoying that it overlaps with the Gadget Show but that show has gone a little down hill since Suzi Perry left.
OMG IT’S STARTING!
8:32 - No it’s not, it’s late.
8:33 - Here we go, here we go!
8:33 – HE’S GOT A BEARD! An awesome beard.
8:34 – INTRO OVER!
8:35 – Hee hee, his shopping trolley was stalking him.
8:36 – I like his fork. AHHHHHHH IT’S THE STALKER TROLLEY AGAIN! And it fancies Stephen Fry. Sweet.
8:38 – He has a wine app. Might have to tell Jae about that…
8:39 – HE’S GOT A BATMOBILE!!!
8:39 – I like that little stirrer. It’s cute. OMG TOUCH SCREEN HOB!
8:41 – That sausage is in a cage…
8:42 – There’s an app for that. THERE’S AN APP THAT TELL YOU WHEN THE MEAT IS COOKED IN YOUR BBQ!!!!!!!!!
8:43 – I’m liking the gadgets of the past – CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN!
8:44 – MOMENTARY FLASH OF DERREN BROWN OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8:45 – Ad break.
8:47 – Ooooo I like that vacum cleaner.
8:48 – STARTING STARTING!
8:49 – Ewwwwwwwwwwww soup!
8:50 – I like his yellow jumper. SUCCULANT STEAK!
8:50 – GADGET CHIPS! I’m all of a flutter. Oh hang on I don’t like Jo Brand. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH DERREN BROWN *starts hyperventilating*
8:52 – My life is complete. Ahhhhhh DB. HE’S EATING SOUP!
8:53 – World’s biggest wine opener. Derren Brown. Stephen Fry. My life is complete
8:54 – DB is so going to steal that thing.
8:55 – Oooooo Derren Brown is so clever.
8:56 – Why is he putting ice in a hamster ball?
8:57 – CHOCOLATE PRINTER! WOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DERREN BROWN CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8:58 – I like his igloo.
9:00 – Help! It’s Lord Sugar! Oh poop it’s over.
Well I hope you enjoyed my take on this amazing show and I hope my capital letters didn’t creep you out. I’m just really exited.
El
Gadget Girl
Stir it up, it’s Christmas cake time
Today is known as Stir Up Sunday, a time when people traditionally make their Christmas pudding. Have you been making a Christmas Pudding? We have been making a Christmas cake.
This is part of Jae’s secret plan to offload stuff like this on to El. One day Jae’s hands will turn into claws because of too much typing, so she needs to have a spare pair of hands all trained up and ready.
In our house the Christmas cake making is a bit more involved because we make two cakes so that we can give the extra one away.
We never know exactly who to give the extra cake to, but somebody who deserves it always pops up. Last year we cut the extra cake into four and gave away 4 mini cakes. Turns out there were a lot of good people around last year.
So who will get the extra cake this year? Whoever it is, it’s OK if they have a nut allergy cos we forgot to put the almonds in!
And if you’ve never made a Christmas cake, it’s very very easy – we use Mary Berry’s recipe and it always works.
El and Eye don’t really like Christmas cake because it is tastes of fruit and alcohol, (though this is exactly why Jae and Eldad like it). The icing is nice though.
El and Jae
Don’t mention the almonds
Extreme Reading: A half term special
Ah, the half term. A chance to go out, enjoy yourself and get up a bit later than usual. So what does El do?
What she always does! She reads. That’s the best thing about half term really – more reading time.
The Rule of El: Never leave the house without a minimum of 5 books
What will happen if you leave the house with less than 5 books? We don’t know, we’ve never tried.
And now here are some tips from El to help you enjoy your book fully.
When reading a book set in the past why not travel back in time and really get a feel of the era.
If you wish to focus upon your book more then read it next to a beautiful castle and carefully ignore it.
And of course if you go to see a show, always take a book in case the show is boring
And remember – never let a day out get in the way of having a good read.
El & Jae
Book, book, book, book, book
A day of dogs and zombies
What’s got six legs, lots of hair and blogs?
It’s El and Phileas Dogg!
A blogger meet up at Brighton Pavilion!
Yesterday we were honoured with a visit from Attlee AKA top dog blogger Phileas Dogg and his human companion Jane. They had come to check out how dog-friendly Brighton is. Alas not so much, as it turns out you can’t take dogs on the pier.
Weirdly, yesterday was also the day of the Zombie Beach Walk, and so whilst they didn’t allow dogs on the pier, they did allow zombies. There were THOUSANDS of them. We’d like to imagine what people would have thought if they hadn’t known what was going on.
OH GOD THE APOCALYPSE HAS COME!!!
And Attlee made friends with a zombie dog. Well as friendly as you can be with a zombie who probably wants to eat your brains. Actually it seems Attlee was the scarier hound.
So thank you to Attlee and Jane and all the zombies for visiting Brighton. It was hair-raising to say the least!
El and Jae
Raised from the dead
