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Girls in the MP3, or youngest age group, perform at the Girls Rock! Indianapolis showcase after the camp in 2011. Girls Rock! is a week-long event that brings girls ages 8 to 16.
No Direction, a punk band made up of 13- and 14-year-old girls, powered through their original songs about everything from striking out on their own to bad relationships and self-empowerment. Girls Rock! is a weeklong experience where girls learn not only to play an instrument, write their own music and perform onstage, but important lessons about being a woman in today's world.
The girls that strut around the stage are hardly recognizable as the ones who started playing together at Girls Rock! Indianapolis camp four years ago. But attending the camp helped infuse them with confidence to perform.
They hear about important female leaders from throughout history, from Susan B. Anthony to Ruth Ginsburg. A workshop on self-defense teaches them how to protect themselves in case they are attacked.
The hope is that music provides a foundation of self-confidence that girls can build on in their everyday lives.
"They learn to hold each other up instead of tearing each other down," Sharon Rickson said. "There's no gossip. They're all here to be awesome together, and share ideas and excel. And the girls pick up on that."
Girls from ages 8 to 16 come to the camp as a positive way to express themselves. The whole week is a transformation in confidence, creativity and vital skills, Rickson said.
Camp organizers let the girls take a hands-on approach to their band. They design their own logos, self-publish their own fan magazine and most importantly, write their music. The girls are encouraged to create something original, rather than do a cover song.
"It's about self-expression. You can learn from playing other people's music, but it's such an emotional and growing link," Rickson said. "Younger girls usually write very silly, goofy, cute songs. But when you get to the tweens and teens, you're getting some heavy, dark, witty stuff."
- Posted on May 10, 2013
Ever Had an Extinct Omelette?
For sale: An ancient, extra-large egg from a long-extinct bird
TOP: The fossilized egg is more than 100 times larger than a chicken egg!
BOTTOM: Elephant birds in Madagascar grew to be 11 feet tall and weighed roughly 880 pounds. (Jaime Chirinos / Science Source)
Easter may have come and gone, but there is one more egg hunt to win. Christie’s, a famous auction house in London, is selling a giant fossilized egg expected to be worth thousands of dollars! Why the fuss? The enormous egg, laid hundreds of years ago, is from an extinct bird.
THE ELEPHANT BIRD
The egg was laid by an elephant bird in Madagascar, an island country off the southeastern coast of Africa. These birds, whose scientific name isAepyornis maximus, looked like big ostriches. They grew to be 11 feet tall—nearly as tall as the average elephant—and weighed roughly 880 pounds. They were unable to fly. At the time they lived, they were the largest birds on Earth.
Elephant birds became extinct between the 14th and 17th centuries. Scientists are not sure why. Some think humans on Madagascar hunted the giant birds to extinction. Others believe that elephant birds died from diseases carried by chickens and other animals brought to the island by humans.
EGG FOR SALE
The fossil measures one foot tall and has a diameter of nine inches. That makes it larger than many dinosaur eggs—and more than 100 times larger than a chicken egg!
Whole elephant bird eggs are extremely rare. Some specimens (samples) are pieced together from leftover shells and then sold to collectors.
James Hyslop, a scientific expert at Christie’s, tells ITN News, “It’s the first one that I’ve handled that is absolutely complete. The only other ones that I’ve seen have been patched together from composite specimens.”
Sale of the egg is scheduled for April 24. It is part of a collection of scientific and natural-history items that are being auctioned at the same time. Christie’s officials believe the egg could sell for roughly 30,000 British pounds, or about $45,000.