Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater is a classic children's chapter book.  The book was originally published in 1938 and a film based on it was released in 2011.

The main characters of the book are the Popper family and the penguins.  Mr. Popper is really interested in Antarctica and reads about it a lot and listens to a radio show broadcasted from Antarctica by an Admiral Drake.  In response to a letter Mr. Popper writes to the Admiral, the Admiral surprisingly sends Mr. Popper a penguin.

The Popper's care for the penguin like a pet and eventually the penguin ends up with a mate from a zoo and they have ten penguin babies.  In order to afford to feed and keep the penguins, the penguins begin to perform in a circus act.  The Popper family and the penguins have some adventures as they travel with the circus including ending up in jail.

In the end, it is decided the circus act is inappropriate for the penguins and instead the penguins and Mr. Popper go to the North Pole with Admiral Drake to possibly set up a penguin colony up there.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Bells to be rung in Antarctica as part of All the Bells ringing to start 2012 Olympics

Bells will be rung across the UK and around the world to honor the start of the 2012 London Olympics at 8:12 a.m. London Time.  A bell will even be rung at one of the UK's research stations in Antarctica.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

South Africa's New Icebreaker Begins Maiden Voyage

South Africa's new icebreaker the SA Agulhas II began its maiden voyage/shakedown cruise on July 9, 2012.  The cruise is a 26 day one to the Antarctic ice shelf.  The new icebreaker is replacing the 34-year-old SA Agulhas.  The new ship features more features to help with the scientific purposes of the vessel including 8 permanent laboratories and the Moon Pool that helps allow deploying and recovering of sampling devices even when in pack ice.

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