KATNISS, WATCH OUT

If you have told me a few years ago that I would read and enjoy a book about youngsters killing each other in an arena of nature, I would have laughed.

But I loved the novel "The Hunger Games." 

And I think they did an excellent job of adapting it into the movie of the same name.

I have wondered if the fantastic archery in the movie inspired anyone beside my daughter.

Although very much an adult, Harmony has a bulls-eye on a couple of bales of straw set up in her backyard, and tonight we spent probably a good 45 minutes trying to hit an apple off the top of the straw. Her kids and husband have gotten into it also, but no one shoots as well as she does... at least not yet.

An article in the New York Times states: "Archery has enjoyed blips in popularity from films in the past — “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and various iterations of Robin Hood are frequently cited — but nothing as big or sustained as the current surge. Nor have films ever resonated much with girls, who now frequently turn up for lessons in variations of Katniss’s side-braid hairstyle.

"'Katniss has helped give archery a hip factor it’s just never had before,” said Teresa Iaconi, the spokeswoman for USA Archery, which fields the Olympic team. “No disrespect to Kevin Costner” — the star of 1991’s “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” she added, “but he was an old guy in tights.”

"Since December 2011, individual membership in USA Archery has jumped 25 percent, while the number of clubs has nearly doubled, to 540 from 279. ...The United States Olympian Khatuna Lorig helped Ms. Lawrence prepare with 15 lessons, but she greatly underestimated the film’s potential effect on the sport. “She told me in passing that she had coached an actress for ‘some movie of a kids book,’ ” Ms. Iaconi mimicked, then laughed. “We had no idea what was coming'. "

I think I might go ahead and purchase a bow when I get home.