Star-Gazette from Elmira, New York • 19

TECHNOLOGY Apple iPod Nano music and video player has some competition. A reviewer takes a look at three alternatives. PAGE 5C FIGHTING BOREDOM Creative moms and a camp director offer ideas on summer activities that keep kids from getting bored. COMING TUESDAY INSIDE TV listings 2D DearAbby 2D Ask Amy 2D Dr.Gott 2D Classified 3D mm Of ID Monday, August 4, 2008, Star-Gazette, stargazette.com Twin Tiers Life Editor Bob Jamieson, (607) 271-8276, bjamiesonstargazette.com pea Pi It's time for the (SMI These are the guys of summer A reminder of some neat things going on this week IK 1 Yltf Compiled by CATHERINE Today Fun for kids The Chemung Valley History Museum on Water Street in Elmira kicks off Museum Mondays, a new program series for families, with an exploration of Old Fashioned Games at 10:30 a.m. Visitors can play games that children enjoyed Mm i 04 mmsmj chemung during the 1800s.

The series is free, and runs on Mondays through August Information: (607) 734-4167 or www.chemungvalleymuseum.org. I Ho Tuesday Sing a song Crystal Chords, a barbershop women's women of all ages to Summer Sing from in August at First United Methodist Church, 1034 Broad St. in Horseheads, The group is offering free voice analysis and singing lessons to all interested women through Aug. 26. Take up a new hobby or put your hidden talents on display.

Call (607) 936-9189 or e-mail XTV 1 BANKSStar-Gazette Friday i i 88 Marvelous music Hear Bob Ayers perform blues; country and contemporary music at Ten West Espresso's Muse Music Series at 7:30 p.m. at the coffeehouse on North Main Street in Mansfield. Enjoy tasty snacks and groove to great tunes, or bring your own creative works to share during an open mic set. Cover is $2 for adults, $1 for students and free for age 12 and under. Call (570) 662-2979 for information.

Saturday Town talents Find out what special talents your friends and neighbors have or show off your own at the 14th annual Spotlight on Talent competition, starting at 9 a.m. at Ernie Davis Middle School on Lake Street in Elmira. The event is open to participants from preschool age through adult. Cash prizes, ranging from $50 to $500, will be awarded. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.

Admission for spectators is free. Information: (607) 733-9555 or 732-6964. Rural Research Laboratories The Amot Art Museum sits behind the museum at 254 Baldwin St in Elmira. Your exhibit Rural Research Laboratories the Arnot Art Museum in Elmira is hosting Plan Against Loneliness, an exhibit from photographer Wilka Roig, that will incorporate audi ence experience, on display through Sept. 15.

Roig will be on hand from noon to 4 p.m. most Saturdays through Sept. 6 to meet with visitors, interview them and take their picture to create her exhibit. Learn more at www.ruralresearchlabs.com then head to the gallery and become part of the exhibition. 89 ill' Waverly.

Check out the race cars and some of the teams that will take to Watkins Glen International this weekend. There also will be fun stuff for kids, vendors, food and more. Event proceeds benefit local scholarships and community events. Spanish stories Olympics! The Games of the XXIX Olympiad NBC take place BEIIIIMG Aug. 7-24 2 8 I in Beijing, China, and NBC will broadcast more than 1,400 hours of television coverage on its family of neworks, which include MSNBC, USA, Oxygen and Telemundo.

Catch the Opening Ceremony Friday from 8 p.m. to midnight on your local NBC station and visit www.nbcolympics.com for a complete schedule. Sunday Time travel Take a step back in time when you visit the Sterling Renaissance Festival this weekend in Sterling, N.Y. You'll see rogues and wenches, sorcerers and sword fights at this unique summer fest. History comes alive at the event through magic shows, jousting contests, storytelling, music and more.

Visit sterlingfestival.com and make your plans now. Need a chuckle? Visit www.willitblend.com and watch video of Tom Dickson, founder of Blendtec, show off the power of his machines by attempting to blend, well, just about anything: a running video camera, golf balls, marbles, hockey pucks, glow sticks, cigarette lighters, cell phones and my personal favorite a metal tape measure. 1 3, i ma 5 .1 Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Windows and Mac PCs). CEO Todd Hollenshead will provide an update this weekend in Dallas at the 13th annual QuakeCon. "We are calling it the new 'Doom' for now," he says.

"Doom 3," released in 2004, sold more than 35 million copies. "It may be 'Doom 4' or it might not be 'Doom 4' or it may be 'Doom' with a subtitle or something descriptive of the setting," says Hollenshead, who would not reveal any story details. The company has many projects in the works. A free "Quake Live" Web-based game is set to go public soon (quakelive.com). A "Wolfenstein RPG" cell phone game is complete while work on a new mobile "Doom RPG 2" game has begun.

A reimaging of the 1991 sci-fi Nazi fighting game "Wolfenstein" is in production (id is overseeing its development by Raven Software) for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Windows PCs. 810 Eric's cornef UL i- Hear Annette Ramos of Rochester spin Hispanic tales when she visits Schuyler County for two sessions of bilingual storytelling: at 10:30 a.m. at Watkins Glen Public Library on South Decatur Street, and at 1:30 p.m. at Dutton S. Peterson Library in Odessa.

Ramos will incorporate dance into her storytellingChips and salsa will be served at the Dutton S. Peterson Library session. Call (607) 594-2791 to learn more. WHITEStar Gazette Graphic by ERIC -II lit Housed in the former Chemung Canal Bank Building, the Chemung Valley History Museum sits at 415 E. Water St in Elmira.

85 chorus, is welcoming 7 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays Wednesday 86 Racing fun You don't have to attend the NASCAR races in Watkins Glen to catch race fever -just head to the 18th annual Racing Fanfare from noon to 8 p.m. on the streets of mummy Thursday Play in the park The Endicott Performing Arts Center presents Shakespeare's classic tragedy "Othello" at the George W. Johnson Park on Oak Hill Avenue in Endicott at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.

The performances are free, but donations are appreciated. Refreshments will be available. The production will be held rain or shine. (607) 785-8903. COMING ATTRACTIONS That is an understatement, considering that Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven Troopers," is in charge.

"He does sexy well," says the actor, 55. Which means, "I will have to go to the gym to get rid of my "Mamma Mia!" middle." New McLachlan CD One of the best-known singersongwriters of the past two decades is set to release her first collection of hits. "Closer: The Best of Sarah McLachlan," due Oct. 7, will feature 16 tracks, including favorites such as "Possession," "I Will Remember You" and "Building a Mystery" as well as a pair of new A deluxe version will include "4 i 1 My underwear has never felt so safe. After all, The Incredible Hulk had been guarding it for days.

With panic-stricken voices, my 6-year-old twins announced his disappearance, but this was not unusual since On Second Thought one of their "guys" goes missing nearly every day. The boys concoct a variety of games to play with their action fig Kathleen Costello ures, and one of them involves hiding the guys for the other twin to find. Inevitably, one or two hiding spots get long forgotten before the end of the game. Superman was MIA for nearly a year; recently, Batman reappeared after a month behind the fish tank. That's why neither boy thought it at all strange when I returned The Hulk to them after discovering him among my unmentionables.

"Oh yeah," said one son, with a glimmer of recognition in his eye. "I forgot I hid him in Mommy's underpants!" "Cool!" said his brother. "We've never found him there before!" We have, however, found Wolverine under a toothpaste tube, "Space helmet guy" beneath a couch cushion and "Little angry Daredevil" in the baby's car seat. One of the most fascinating aspects of watching my twins "play with guys" is their utter lack of awareness that their actions are unique to childhood. They think that everyone, including grownups, owns guys that they keep in special places.

They believe everyone retains the childhood penchant for play. Perhaps that's because they constantly devise new games: Their guys race to the top of bookcases and sail down flights of stairs. They guard Lego castles and dangle from doorknobs. But mostly, they fight each other. "Pow!" "Raaar!" "Take that!" and "Oh yeah, baby!" are uttered on a daily basis as plastic limbs flail and crash to the floor.

It's been a bit disconcerting to watch my boys' seemingly instantaneous transition from fuzzy stuffed animals to hard plastic heroes and villains. Some of the menacing figurines that I would have dubbed "too scary" for them a year ago are now a normal part of their play. For about two years as a toddler, one son was inseparable from "Froggy," a simple, socklike stuffed frog who accompanied him to bed and everywhere else around the house. Froggy traveled all the way from Arizona as a gift from my friend Gail. He was such a hit that I asked her to send me another, in case Froggy ever got lost.

Except for one throwing-up incident, in which Froggy was tossed into the washing machine at 2 a.m., his replacement has remained in my nightstand just in case. That is, until last week, when during a game of "hide the guys," he was discovered. "Mommy," my wide-eyed son whispered as he slowly emerged from my bedroom with Froggy's twin pressed against his cheek. "You have one, too!" After a few moments of touching the likeness of his original guy, he said, "I'll put it back in your drawer so it can stay safe." Indeed it is. On Second Thought appears Mondays.

Contact Kathleen Costello at (800) 836-8970, or fccosteIIo stargazette.com. Actor Pierce Brosnan starts another 'Affair' bonus disc of McLachlan songs. McLachlan collaborated with longtime producer Pierre Marchand on "Don't Give Up," which traces the process of trying to reach and support a loved one, and Want Me 2," which alludes to the "come herego away" dynamic in a relationship. McLachlan recorded another new song and has three more in the works. "I work at a willy-nilly pace," McLachlan says, adding that her two daughters India, 6, and Taja, 13 months have been "a huge and fantastic distraction.

But I do play my piano every day, if sometimes just for the joy of the moment of playing." It will spell 'Doom' Game developer id Software is kicking it up a notch. The Mesquite, Texas, firm has begun working on the next "Doom" game, in addition to putting the finishing touches on its person action game "Rage" (for the Gannett News Service Fresh from stealing Meryl Streep's heart in "Mamma Pierce Brosnan will soon return to snatching rare artifacts in "The Thomas Crown Affair 2," the sequel to his successful 1999 remake that should arrive next year. The new caper is partly based on 1964's "TopkapL" "We are just using a sliver of that," he says, including the same setting, Istanbul. BROSNAN This time, though, his billionaire thief is after a priceless diamond instead of works of art. A female co-star has yet to be named, though Angelina Jolie is considered in the running.

"This is a different affair," Brosnan says..