Give Me My Regards to Blogger

CTY: Lancaster

2010-07-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

As you might have realized, I haven't exactly been writing articles on my blog for a long time. The reason is I've been away at an amazing summer camp that I highly recommend everyone who is able to, to go to. It's CTY.

CTY stands for Center for Talented Youth and requires aspiring campers to take the SAT for qualification. If studnets are qualified, they can choose from a variety of interesting and differing courses, ranging from History of Disease to Pop Culture. Students "swallow" a semester full of information in 3 weeks, while staying in a large campus. It's similar to being in a college.

On the first day, I had a slight surprise when I found out that my RA (hall assisstant) lived on my street and my roommate was the only person even close to my age. The rest of the people in my hall were all seniors. We spent most of the day getting to know each other and moving into my room. Along with my usual possessions I brought my radio and a Rubik's Cube to keep myself entertained. Then, it was teime for the first meal. The food wasn't exactly bad, but it wasn't exactly good either. However, I still managed to get through my 3 weeks.

After an opening ceremony with long speeches and not so funny skits, I was introduced to my class. We went through a 3-hour class in the morning, a 2-hour class after lunch, and a 2-hour study hall after dinner, where our assistant teacher would give us carefully researched, amusing, and moderately violent history lectures on Rome.

But of course, when I wasn't in class, I was hanging out in my friend's hall or my own hall watching some kids participate in a violent frisbee game or learning how to string. We also signed up for various random activities that only extremely creative people could ever think up. I took part in a "zombie apocalypse," ran around the campus invading other activities... There were also several competitions you could take part in. I participated in the Poker Tournament, and to my surprise, I got a lucky streak and managed to finish in 4th.

We also had many dances where I spent most of my time chatting with my friends and listening to music being blasted. After spending some time at the dances, I learned about the very strange and creative CTY traditions. At weekends, we trekked through the streets to Turkey Hill and were rewarded with candy and drinks to buy.

3 weeks went by in a blur, but soon it was time to leave. I was already packed and attended the closing ceremony. I was able to brag about the 39/40 I got on the National Latin Exam and about the information I learned. After 2 hours, I was back at home and looking forward to CTY next year.

Pokemon: Soulsilver Review

2010-04-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

Preview:

5 years ago- Red is facing off against a Team Rocket admin. He had become Champion, but chose instead to give the position to Lance. He quickly defeats the admin, who realizes that Red had already defeated the leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni, and has disgraced him into going into hiding. He realizes his action and swears to reestablish Team Rocket and bring Giovanni out of hiding. He leaves behind notes on the computer on radio waves and evolution. "I'd hate to think about what would happen if his words were true," Red thought. "By then, I hope a new hero will rise and stop Team Rocket."

Present- The admin, now known as Archer, sits with his 3 comrades. He has reestablished Team Rocket and will only make things even harder a new hero who will ultimately stop Team Rocket again.

Plot:

The player character now travels in the beautiful Johto region, a region that borders Kanto, where Red first became Champion. Through battling some Gym Leaders, and facing off against his rival, Silver, the player character strives for the goal of becoming the champion.

Review:

Long foretold games after the remakes of the Generation I games, Heartgold and Soulsilver have finally been released. These games has given a nostalgic sense to those who played the originals from 1999. The game has improved the graphics and added some great features, while keeping the plot intact. Personally, I prefer this region the best for many reasons. It does have a few cons, such as the region being extremely crowded. Other than that, there are very good sides of the game. The rival is one of my favorite characters of the game. He is portrayed as the misguided rebel, who will ultimately learn something from the hero of our game. The gym leaders are all interesting people with varying personality that can tell a whole story. They can all be compared to people in real life: the silent one who inherited everything from his father, the walking encyclopedia, the newcomer to the world of Pokemon, the sage who is admired and feared, the powerful man who trains constantly, the loner, the veteran in Pokemon, and the stubborn one who doesn't admit defeat. The Gym Leaders have extremely varying difficulties. There were some that were defeated in the matter of a minute, and others who made me want to throw my DS at the floor. Some Gym Leaders could have been made a little easier, like Whitney in the 3rd Gym. There have been some recurring themes in the game, and one is where the Champion and final boss of the game, aids the player against the villianous team without the player ever realizing who the accomplice is. Lance is the one being described. A "cool" person who commands an aura of supremacy, he is very deserving of the title: the last boss of the game. Lance is also very eloquent, and his speech on how I (the player character) should never give up on my goal to beating the Champion (himself) rang in my head even after he departed. Now onto the villainous team I mentioned earlier. They are first what seems to be like a minor gang. They only do annoying crimes like cut of Slowpoke tails for a profit. This is where the lowest rank executive is first met. Proton is the self-proclaimed most cruelest and wrathful executive, and many would agree with him. In their second crime, they use radio waves to cause Magikarp in the Lake of Rage to evolve into Gyarados and rampage. This is where the player first meets Lance and he helps them against a hidden Team Rocket base. Petrel is now encountered. He is the more carefree executive and the master of disguise. It's very obvious that he considers himself a nice guy and doesn't take his job seriously. His carelessness leads the player to meet the second-in-command, Ariana, who bears a striking resemblance to Silver. She doesn't seem to have a distinct personality bult is intent on carrying out Giovanni's goal. After going to thwart Team Rocket's most dastardly plan, infiltrating the Goldenrod Radio Tower to try to bring Giovanni out of hiding, the player can meat the temorary leader of Team Rocket, Archer staring at the sky. Although he puts up a good fight, he is defeated and asks to be forgiven by Giovanni. Rather than deciding to escape and later battle the player again, like the "villianous team bosses" of the the other generations, Archer decides to follow Giovanni's "example" and disband Team Rocket again. This came as a shock to me that Archer would be so quick to grow up. This generation's villainous team seems to have been the least successful, and their actions have been almost annoying instead of causing any trouble. A change I did wish was for something similar to Team Galactic's actions, and that Team Rocket had intended to be focused on trying to control a powerful legendary Pokemon (Lugia) rather than make an easy buck and try to find their former boss. Some good additions of the game were the Pokeathlon, which I found very enjoying, and a pleasent change from the rather dull Contests. The Bug-Catching Contest is also a great way to spend some time. The Game Corner game has been switched from a confusing slot game to a rather fun game that I find similar to Minesweeper. Not to mention, the Pokewalker has made exercinsing even more enjoyable and has encouraged me to take the time to walk around some more. Through all the pros and cons, I'd say I'll still give this game the perfect 5 stars. I definitely recommend you pick it up sometime.

Luke Castellan: Son of Hermes Part 1: Into the Underworld

2010-02-02T15:52:00.000-08:00

Luke was floating. His head was spinning and the world around him flashed. Everything materialized, and he found himself in the waiting room in Los Angeles. "I died....," he said to himself and felt his arm. His hand passed right through. He reached into his pocket and found 2 drachmas, gifts from his father Hermes. Approaching the ferry captain, Charon, was a frail old man. The man yelled, "Please! I've been waiting here for 5 years. Take me to the Underworld!" Charon smiled, turned, and ignored him. Luke ran and handed one of his drachmas to the man. "Take this," Luke said, and thrusted a coin into the man's hand. The old man smiles wistfully at Luke and hands his drachma to Charon. Luke does the same. Charon looks at the drachmas, nods his head, and opens a door behind him. The last thing Luke hears in the mortal world is Charon yelling, "Welcome to the Underworld. Watch your step!"
It was a bumpy ride on the way to the Fields of Asphodel. Luke gazed down at the River Styx. "It's hard to believe I bothered bathing in this," he thought. The old man he had recently met struck a conversation. "Young man, I must thank you. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the 3rd and final reincarnation of Heracles. This is my 4th time in the Underworld and I shall go to the Isle of the Blest. I do wish that you manage to join me sometime in the Isle." "Too bad I don't deserve the chance," Luke mumbled to himself. Suddenly, the boat rocks to a stop. "Off you go!" yells Charon.
As Luke was herded off the boat, he stopped immediately. Hades, the lord of the dead, had returned from Olympus and was waiting for him with a smug smile on his face. It took Luke all his willpower not to run off. Hades beckoned for Luke. "Great," Luke thought. "I heard all the 'special' cases are taken by Hades." He followed Hades to his palace. They passed tormented spirits that had chosen not to be judged. Frail men and women walked up to him slashing their hands ominously. Luke was taken away by Hades, before anything else could happen.
Hades sat down on his throne and cleared his throat. "I understand that you have gone through harsh times," Hades says. He thrusts his Helm of Darkness at Luke. "Do you know what this is!" Hades yells. Luke tries to talk, but his throat his dry. Hades takes a deep breath and calms down. "This happens to be my symbol of power, the Helm of Darkness. Don't think I forgot the time that you stole it from me." Hades sets it down and starts muttering to himself. The Helm of Darkness vibrated and switched forms, until it had taken the form of an orb. Hades touched the orb and images swirled around. "We'll poke around your life for a while to come up with a final decision." With that, Hades snapped his finger. Everything went black...

To Be Continued in Part 2: The Early Years

Reign of Darkness Part 1: Our Adventure Begins

2009-12-23T13:46:00.000-08:00

Note: This story is non-canon to the Bionicle storyline and takes place in an alternate reality.
Bionicle is the sole property of Lego. I do not own Bionicle.
This is the final version of Reign of Darkness Part 1. It will be updated a few times a day.

I clutched the strange stone that was recently given to me by that strange tall figure. Someone was approaching. "There he is!" the figure yelled. "Take him to the Brotherhood base." A beam of dark energy went above my head. I gazed at the shining stone, which had been covered by an ornate map. What did I get myself into now?
I better get into introductions. I am Olrik, a Matoran. You're in the Bionicle universe. The dominant reisdents are Matoran. Ever since an evil being named Teridax took over the galaxy, things have been tough for everyone. Before that, everything had been normal. I had taken my friend Hewkii's place as the offense of the Po-Koro Kohlii Team and as the head of the Po-Koro Guard, ever since he left and became a Toa. He has now returned but has been imprisoned with the rest of the Toa.
I remembered the day before Teridax took over. There had been a big Kohlii match between Po-Metru and Onu-Metru. My team consisted of my friend, Hafu. He is currently Turaga Onewa's, our village's elder, right-hand Matoran, while I'm his left-hand Matoran. Over on the other side, I saw Onepu and Taipu, the Onu-Metru team's players. Turaga Whenua sat next to Onewa. It was an intense battle. I grabbed the first Kohlii ball and flipped in the air. I threw the ball, but Taipu simply blocked the shot. Onepu grabbled the ball, and we spent some time hassling for the ball. I knew this was going to be a long match.
A few minutes later, we had been tied 2-2 and on a sudden death round. I grabbed the ball from Onepu. He jabbed my stick sending the ball flying away. He grabbed it and ran. I kicked off a wall and scooped the ball from him. I jumped and sent a kick into the goal. It shot into Taipu's shield, but he couldn't stand the force and the ball bounced into the goal.
There was a huge cheer. I leaped up and saw a proud Onewa give me a copper mask, which represented Turaga Vakama's own mask. I lifted it up and walked out. It was time for the Toa Nuva to shine. They had awaken Mata Nui. While they were in the stadium to the cheer of all the Matoran, they confirmed they finished their quest and Mata Nui was awakening.
It was a momentous event. Not even my diary can fill the vast amount of sensation I felt. I saw the Great Spirit rising. He was of a momentous size and made of various metals. The rest happened too quickly.
Suddenly, a red light shot out of the stadium. The "Great Spirit" grinned and revealed that he was really Teridax. I saw him take a shiny mask and throw it at the stars. The Turaga gasped and Matoran pointed at the horror. Within the first week, the Turaga and Toa had been imprisoned.
Now where was I? Oh yeah, it was all because of that strange stone that the figure gave me. I suspected that he was a Toa, but there's been a sudden decrease in Toa ever since Teridax took over. I looked at the stone more closely and gasped. It was a Toa Stone. I recognized the pattern and saw that it glowed a strange brown glow.
The figure turned. "Found you!" he shouted. He snapped his fingers and suddenly a strange machine creature ran to block my path. I recognized it as a Vahki, but it had a different color tone and seemed more bulky. It prepared a Kanoka disc at me ready to fire...
I woke up in a cold cell. My body ached. I got up and looked around. I felt the stone still in my hand. I felt relieved, and started to look around. The cell was a little rusty, and I could tell that the door was coming loose. I remembered how Po-Matoran can break most things with their feet. I reared up my foot and began to kick. I kicked the door, resulting in a small crack appearing and my foot getting sprained. "Aahh!" I screamed and I bashed my head at the door in frustration. The door shattered quickly and I ran out.
I listened in the corner. I could hear some voices, saying, "Quick, did you knock him out like the other 5 we found with the stones." A different voice responded, saying, "Not yet. I'll see if I can persuade him to talk unlike the other 5." I realized just then that 5 others were given Toa Stones, most likely 1 from each other Metru.
I ran and turned into a cell. There was a green body in the cell. He was maskless. I looked around for anything. There happened to be a trophy room. Realizing the horrible meaning, I walked in to find the masks of former Toa fallen by the Makuta. I scooped up 1 for each element and walked out. I broke in to the other cell and put a mask on the green body. The Matoran coughed, and shook his head. I told him to be quiet and to follow me.
In a nearby cell, I found Onepu, maskless. I repeated the process and put a mask on his body. We walked around and repeated the process, nearly getting caught by a sentry. Soon, I found that the Matoran were Klevin, Onepu, Kapura, Macku, and Kopeke.

Brotherhood of Makuta: A group once sworn to protect the universe, but turned on the Great Spirit, Mata Nui.
Olrik: Me! The main character of the serial. Fan-made.
Matoran: The primary species of the galaxy. Matoran are biomechanical beings.
Teridax: The former leader of the Brotherhood of Makuta, now conqueror of the universe.
Hewkii: Turaga Onewa's former right-hand Matoran. Now currently a Toa.
Po-Metru: The Metru (city) dedicated to Po-Matoran. Deserts and canyons make up this place.
Kohlii: The Matoran equivalent of hockey/lacrosse/soccer. The game is played with teams of 2. Each team is devoted to one Metru.
Po-Metru Guard: The army that protects Po-Metru. Members ride mounts of Dikapi, flightless birds with extreme endurance and powerful beaks.
Toa: The protectors of the universe. Very few are left.
Onu-Metru: The Metru dedicated to Onu-Matoran. Underground caves make up this place.
Hafu: The master carver of Po-Metru and Onewa's right-hand Matoran.
Turaga: A former Toa that has fullfilled their destiny and has given up their Toa power for the greater good.
Onewa: The leader of Po-Metru. He used to be the tactician of a Toa team, but is currently a Turaga. He is now known as The Referee, because of his ability to judge decisions fairly and without being questioned, even if his decision takes forever to make.
Onepu: Turaga Whenua's right-hand Matoran. He is the leader of the Ussalry, Onu-Metru's guard, as well as my friend.
Taipu: Turaga Whenua's left-hand Matoran. He is very strong and gullible.
Copper Mask: A trophy given to winners of Kohlii matches. They are powerless Kanohi masks.
Vakama: The leader of Ta-Metru. He used to be the leader of a Toa team, but is currently a Turaga.
Toa Nuva: The main Toa team. They are on a mission to defeat Teridax and bring back Mata Nui.
Mata Nui: How could I forget him! He's the Great Spirit of the Universe and created Matoran.
Toa Stone: A stone created from the power of a Toa. Using it turns the chosen Matoran into a Toa, and the Toa who gave up his power into a Turaga.
Vahki: The former protectors of the city. Extremely powerful, the machines were demolished when Teridax first took over a millenium ago. They seem to rebuilt into a more power form.
Po-Matoran- A Matoran devoted to Unity and Destiny. These Matoran have innate powers of stone and seem to have great physical strength. Po-Matoran can be stubborn and headstrong, but are very loyal to their friends.

Reign of Darkness Brainstorming

2009-12-20T06:23:00.000-08:00

The post to write all the random ideas I get for the story I'm writing:

~~I'm beginning to get second ideas about being a Po-Matoran. I might want to be a Ta-Matoran.~~

After watching Bionicle 2 again for inspiration, I decided that instead of the Matoran finding Toa Stones, they'll be given the Toa Stones from ~~the Toa Nuva~~ Krakua, a lesser known Toa of Sonics.

A glossary will definitely be added to help others understand the story.

I'll try to create some mentor characters in the beginning of the story. ~~I already know that I'll make one die similar to how Lhikan died in Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui.~~

I will continue the tradition of the Chronicler becoming a Toa, so I'll make Kopeke the Toa of Ice.

After the Toa are created, their first mission will be to find the survivors of the destroyed island Daxia. It is then where they meet their mentors.

The Toa will also discover their new mask powers on the quest. I already planned out ~~my character's~~ the team's mask powers.

Official writing has started.

Reign of Darkness Draft

2009-12-12T11:29:00.000-08:00

Note: This story is non-canon to the Bionicle storyline and takes place in an alternate reality.
Bionicle is the sole property of Lego. I do not own Bionicle.
This is just a draft and a teaser, and the real thing will be written after I set things straight and correct some errors. The final version may be very different from the draft, and will have a glossary.

It's been a month now. I am Olrik, a Po-Matoran. An evil entity named Teridax has taken over the body of the Great Spirit, Mata Nui, exiling him from the universe.
Before that, everything was normal. I could remember the day Teridax had taken over. Ever since my friend Hewkii and his partners left and became Toa Mahri, guardians of the universe, I became part of the Po-Metru Kohlii team. I was never as good as Hewkii, but I still won some Copper Masks. It had been a Kohlii game, similar to the human sport of hockey. The Po-Metru team was versing the Onu-Metru team. It was agreed that it would be a sudden death round of one goal. Soon, the ball was off. I leaped up and grabbed it, only for it to end up in Onepu, the opposing offense's stick. I rushed at him and he tossed the ball into our goal. Hafu, my friend and the goalie, blocked the ball with his shield. I leapt up and grabbed it. Onepu tackled me, but I rolled around and threw the ball. Taipu, the opposing defense, watched the ball bounce off his shield. I caught the ball again and threw it again. The ball knocked the shield out of Taipu's hand and bounced into the goal. Wiping my mask, I walked out of the Coliseum.

Now, everything's changed. The Toa Mahri have been defeated, and thrown in who knows where. The Toa Nuva are off in another place, defending against more of Teridax's acts of evil. The final straw came when the Turaga were kidnapped. The Turaga, leaders of their respective village, used to be powerful Toa called Toa Metru, until they relinquished their power to save the Matoran. Onewa was kidnapped in front of my own eyes. At a meeting, each Turaga and their right and left-hand Matoran came. To my shock, I was invited as Onewa's left-hand Matoran. Before the meeting, Onewa said to me, "You've heard the stories of Metru Nui. Should anything go wrong, find the stone in 'the mountain of balance.'" The Turaga discussed various things in hushed voices, while I looked around the room. I saw Taipu in the corner next to his Turaga, Whenua. However, Ahkmou, a Matoran that had caused a pandemic to the Po-Matoran, stormed in. He explained that he had gone into hiding after his plan failed and was now serving Teridax. The Turaga realized what was happening, and quickly told us to fleeand that they would hold him off. I ran reluctantly with the others. Rumors said that Ahkmou brought in Dark Hunters, that eventually found the Turaga in the Archives and hauled them away...
Ahkmou later declared himself the Turaga of Metru-Nui and began ordering everyone to carve statues of Teridax. After I almost got "arrested" for not "carving Teridax properly", I knew that I had to do something. Becoming a Toa was out of the option. No Toa was able to make a Toa Stone in these dark times. In fact, no Toa could afford to become a Turaga. After all the Matoran came to Metru Nui, the Toa Stones used to summon the Toa Nuva were hidden various places of the Metru. I suddenly realized that this was what Turaga Onewa was talking about. The stones were unused, but I knew that Onewa would want me to take the chance and use them.
I hiked through Po-Metru looking for ideal spots where a Toa Stone could be hidden. I remembered a story Onewa told me once about how he once found one of the Great Discs, a legendary disc, hidden in a statue shaped like an upside-down mountain. I decided that it was a good place to find the Toa Stone. The trouble was finding it.
To make a long story short, I'll skip over the minor details of losing my way twice and getting chased by a herd of Muaka. I found the Toa Stone hidden in a niche in the statue. Just as I expected.
A note was wrapped around the stone. It said, "If you found this, it means Metru Nui is in a time of great need. You will need to find 5 other stones for the suva to work. -Onewa" So, the Toa Stones were indeed used to make new Toa. I decided to find 5 other Matoran, so we could indeed become Toa. Metru Nui depended on us. But who could I choose...

Please comment on what Matoran you want for the Bionicle Liberation Team in the final version. Use the format:
Ta-Matoran-
Ga-Matoran-
Po-Matoran- Reserved
Ko-Matoran- Kopeke
Le-Matoran- Reserved
Onu-Matoran-

Alaska Trip Day 11

2009-11-07T10:16:00.000-08:00

This was my last day of my Alaska vacation.
Heading to the airport, we saw a group of people huddling up waiting for the plane. In compensation of the delay, everyone received a coupon of $100 of our next Continental Airlines flight.
The plane finally came, and I tiredly clambered on. After listening to some music and watching a little bit of Star Trek and The Soloist. Soon, we reached Houston, Texas, where we boarded another plane (not tardy) and went back to New Jersey.
After reaching the Newark Airport, I felt relieved and we were taken home by a taxi and arrived at around 7 pm.
Alaska was a memorable trip.

Alaska Trip Day 10

2009-11-07T09:46:00.000-08:00

This was my final "real" day of vacation.

First, I woke up and our family returned the keys to our room. We were preparing to go on a Tour of Denali National Park. While waiting for the bus, I browsed around a gift shop and saw a particular book I wanted, about bear attacks. However, there was no time to purchase it, as just then, I saw the tour bus arriving.
The first I noticed was that there were paper boxes engraved with a map of Denali National Park. Inside the box was a bag of reindeer meet, cheese, mayonnaise, two loafs of bread, and some Alaskan Chips. This was meant for lunch. Water bottles were also handed out. The driver explained that everything would be recycled. Within some time, the bus started.
We traveled through Denali, while the bus driver explained that the only change made to the park was that a road was added to it. The park rangers allow nature to do its work. After a few time traveling, we encountered some bears, a fox, and a lynx. I got a close view at these thanks to a conveniently installed video camera system on the bus. After a few stops, it was 12, and I started eating. After eating the sandwich and chips, I began to get motion sickness. It was a great relief when the bus finally stopped.
After getting halfway into the park, the bus turned around and we started to head back. On the way back, I saw some Dall sheep, a coyote, and more bears. At around 3 pm, we made it back to the resort.
Heading to the airport, it was a shock that the airplane was delayed for around 5 hours. It was a miserable night waiting for the plane. I ate some chicken wings for dinner and played on my DS. While I was studying music theory, I heard the plane was coming soon...
This is where my penultimate day on vacation ended. Stay tuned for my final day.

Alaska Trip Day 9

2009-09-27T18:18:00.000-07:00

Here it is. My final day on the cruise, but not my final day of my trip. After waking up early, we all packed up our things and ate one last breakfast.
Soon afterwards, it was done to the 1st deck to exit the cruise. I was allowed to keep my room card as a souvenir from the cruise. Soon after crossing the gangway, it was goodbye ship. We headed to a tent where our suitcases were being stored and embarked off to our bus, which would be taking us to Denali National Park. After making a stop somewhere for another bus, I read about an anchor that was one of the remains of the Good Friday Flood, that killed many.
Soon afterwards, we headed out on what was a very long bus ride, that ended up taking most of the day. In the most part, my brother Kevin and I started roleplaying on the bus and we played some videogames. We made quite some stops, including a ranger base and near the Anchorage Museum, which was actually quite small and only contained a few paintings and artifacts. Anchorage, which was a lot more interesting than Juneau, was going to become the new capital of Alaska due to popular demand, but the offer was declined when the people of Alaska found that they had to pay more tax to fund making Anchorage the new capital.
After at least 5 stops, we made it to the McKinley Village, located near the famous Denali National Park, which contained Mt. McKinley, which was the highest peak in North America. There, there were warnings of a stray grizzly bear, which scared me. After ordering a pizza and watching some Discovery Channel, I fell asleep in my new cozy lodge room with my brother and grandfather.
Tune in tomorrow for my second last day of my vacation touring Denali National Park.

Alaska Trip Day 8

2009-09-27T17:58:00.000-07:00

Today, I would be taking a little break from the tiring walking I had to do yesterday as there was no stop for the cruise today.
I was waken a little early by my parents, who were already bright awake to see a glacier. I drank some hot chocolate and quickly woke up to go to the 9th deck of the ship. There, I managed to take a few pictures of the famous Hubbard Glacier and different fishing boats and buoys we were passing. Instead of shrinking, this gigantic glacier was actually getting bigger. This reminds me of a joke I would hear from a famous comedian on the ship tomorrow:
Comedian: So, yesterday, I saw a man who came to the cruise alone videotaping the glacier for 30 straight minutes! Imagine the look on his family's faces when he comes back with that video, pure white for 30 minutes. (Imitating man) Wait, look, some of it falls into the water!
Fun Fact: Did you know that glaciers can seem blue, because they're so dense that they absorb all the colors except blue, causing them to appear blue?
After taking many pictures, and sitting there watching our ship move slowly in the ocean, I headed out for some table tennis and video games. Soon after, it was time for lunch. After that, it was soon just another regular day of time on the cruise, eating and hanging out in the jacuzzi.
Soon after dinner, which was shrimp cocktail, cold black cherry soup, and lasagna, I watched some television and fell asleep.
Tune in later for my final day on the cruise and leaving to Seward.

Alaska Trip Day 7

2009-09-27T17:27:00.000-07:00

I woke up on my cruise ship getting ready for a new experience. Our ship was docked at sea, because there was no available port, so drift boats on the ship could take people to shore.
After eating a breakfast of some bagels, I packed up a camera and bundled up in clothing to head to shore. There, I reached a very lonely tourist town, that was packed with other cruise passengers. There, we took a short walk through a forest and after about half an hour of walking, ended up near a beach. There, we took another half hour walking around the wet rocks of the beach surface looking for wildlife. We found some seagulls, starfish, and an almost microscopic hermit crab, while we collected some worthwhile rocks. Afterwards, we rested our cold bodies near a fire that was recently made, while we started burning leaves in the fire and watching them slowly turn to a black crisp.
When all that was over, we looked at salmon preparing machines and read about the history of Alaska. I had some fun sampling some salmon mix on crackers, and soon, my parents read about a town called Hoboken nearby, where descendants of Native Americans settled.
However, this "nearby" was a euphemism. After walking about a mile to Hoboken, which I still couldn't see, Jesse's family left to go back to the cruise. My family still continued walking on. After a long time, I made it to Hoboken with some bruising feet. There, I met my father's friend's family, which included Richard, a boy 1 year younger than me who I met when I was little. They told me about how they found a whale, something that has eluded me. After a while, a tour bus came and my family barely managed to get back to the cruise in time before it left.
Soon after, I played about an hour of table tennis with Jesse and Richard, who both turned out to be raeally good. After a typical day of relaxation of sleeping and a spa, we headed out to dinner, which turned out to be spring rolls and some pasta.
That night, I went to sleep, resting my sore feet for toomorrow.
Tune in later for my day in the ship sailing near the Hubbard Glacier.

Alaska Trip Day 6

2009-09-06T14:58:00.000-07:00

I started the day off waking up, and eating some breakfast as normal. It was a sunny and warm day, and the ground was a little wet from the night's rain. Soon, we headed out of the ship and onto the pier of Skagway.
We all walked around a little to kill some time, before we would go on the White Pass Trail: a path surrounded by fog that was used by gold mining stampeders. I filled in a little tour book for fun, and soon found out a little about how gold was discovered by William Seward, and how many people quickly came to get rich. Along with that, I toured the ancient town, and was amazed by the quaint buildings and the fake entrances that were commonly installed.
In a talk program, I learned about Jeff "Soapy" Smith, who was a famous con man and ran a gang. One famous trick Soapy used was make a fake telegram office, that made fake calls asking people to send their money, only for the money to be taken by Soapy. A group was made to stop Soapy, but he burst in with a gun firing some shots. However, a certain Frank Reid got in a gunfight with Soapy and killed him. However, Frank died from a bullet wound 12 days later.
Then, I visited the house built my the man who started Skagway: Captain William Moore. The house was extremely small, with a huge painting collection in the parlor "living room." After exiting the house, I listened to a park ranger who was playing the banjo.
Soon, after eating lunch, we got on a tour bus and drove up the White Pass Trail. It was also known as the Dead Horse Trail. One scary part of the tour, the bus was on the side of a cliff, with a huge drop of about 1000 meters. After what seemed forever, we arrived at the train stop, where we would be riding a train back.
On the train, I read about the history of Skagway and admired the views. There, I bought a comemmorative hat on the train and spent about 4 hours moving around the train. Finally, we got out of the train and headed to a creek to watch even more salmon. Finally, it was about time that we went back to the cruise.
It was just another day of relaxation afterwards. I watched a little TV after dinner then quickly fell asleep soon after, exhausted.
Tune in for my tiring trip in the Icy Strait and Hoonah tomorrow.

Alaska Trip Day 5

2009-09-05T17:30:00.000-07:00

I woke up late to see that almost everyone was ready for breakfast and to get off the ship into Alaska's capital Juneau. I quickly got ready and ate a bagel and some eggs for breakfast.
We soon got off to Juneau. I was a little disappointed as the city was really small and a little bit worn down. There we walked around for a while, and browsed through the shops. Some of the products were promising. There was a nice jade seal statue with a salmon that I saw in a store along with Alaskan ulu knives, and some other sculptures. After browsing through the markets in Juneau run by locals, we headed to the famous Mendenhall Glacier.
After going in a city bus, we ended up on the Mendenhall Glacier. There, pink salmon were migrating to their breeding grounds. I looked for bears, who liked eating salmon as a tasty snack, but I was unable to find one. I managed to go up close to the waters surrounding the glacier, and I found another salmon that had gotten lost and had died. I threw some rocks and managed to pellet the salmon one.
Later, I went to the Visitor's Center and saw an extremely short movie. Then, after seeing some exhibits, including a taxidermied wolf and bear, we headed back on the city bus back to our cruise ship.
After relaxing a little in my room and eating some pizza, my family headed out to go to the official Governor's House (Alaska's version of the White House.) First, we bought a new friend for my little brother, Kevin's, stuffed animal, Tom. Kevin called his new friend Jerry, named after the show "Tom and Jerry." After a really long walk, we made it to the Alaskan White House, took some pictures, and took the long way back. It was about 3:00 when we made it back, and then we spent the rest of the day on the cruise relaxing.
Tune in tomorrow for my article about my favorite part of the trip in Skagway.

Alaska Trip Day 4

2009-09-04T07:27:00.000-07:00

I woke up to find that the ship was docked in Ketchikan, a town that Native Americans used to settle in.
We all left the ship to Ketchikan after eating breakfast and we headed to a creek where a salmon run was taking place. Salmon were swimming in the creek against the current to go back to their traditional breeding grounds. They are guided by the taste and smell of the water they travelled through. The run is extremely tough, and only 3%-5% of the salmon make it as they are strong enough to swim up waterfalls for hundreds of miles.
There in Ketchikan, even though it took a while, I spotted some pink salmon jumping up tiny waterfalls. After taking a short nature walk, I made it to a small bank, where I could observe salmon swimming from only a few feet away. There, we saw a dead salmon, and pelleted it to make sure they were alive. After a little more walking, I made it to the creek where there were a hundred or so salmon who were so tired they were lying on their side. However, I had a feeling this was not the mating grounds and most salmon were not going to make it.
Soon, we made it to the Indian Wildlife and Totem Heritage Center, where we all bought tickets and entered two centers dedicated to animals and totem poles. In the first center, I saw 2 female eagles, whose wings were broken and couldn't fly properly. Their eggs were taken annually and given to a science center where researchers could study them. In the next room, I learned about the stages of the salmon and how the center breeds the salmon, giving them the smell and taste of their traditional breeding grounds, and pushed them out into the wild. In the final room, I saw the tank where the salmon were pushed into a creek and out into the wild, where they would head to saltwater, grow, then swim back and mate. In the next center, I saw a group of totem poles and took many pictures.
Finally, it was time to go back. Since most people's feet were tired, we decided to take a trolley back. Once there, we looked at more salmon, took more pictures, and made it back to the ship in time for lunch.
Afterwards, it was just another afternoon of relaxation.
Tune in tomorrow for my trip in Alaska's capital, Juneau.

Alaska Trip Day 3

2009-09-03T08:10:00.000-07:00

I started off my day in the Inside Passage badly, as I was extremely seasick from the ship's now increased rocking. I only had a bagel for breakfast, and I went outside and watched the horizon, in order to avoid watching the rocking sea.
Soon, I recovered and managed to take a few pictures and watch the endless ocean and the occasional fishing boat. Soon, it just got a little too boring so I went back to my room and played on my DS for a while. Afterwards, I played some ping-pong with my brother and a kid I met when I was little called Richard.
Soon, it was time for lunch, and I had about the same thing I had as yestarday: vegetables and pizza.
The day went by quickly, and I spent most of my time swimming in the cold, salted swimming pool and relaxing in the Jacuzzi.
I went back to my room at 7 and watched a magic show. My favorite act was when the magician imitated a trick from the Japanese Kabuki Theater, where he put a person in a box, folded it to a very small size, stuck various swords in it, unfolded the box, and let the person out again.
It was about time for dinner after that, and I had a spring roll and some pasta and beef.
Again, it was time for bed, and I went to bed enjoying my luxurious life.
Tune in tomorrow for my trip to Ketchikan.

Ship's Log:
Part cloudy with highs up to 16 degrees C and winds coming from southerly direction up to 25 knots with moderate seas
8 a.m.: Exit Queen Charlotte Strait, head towards McInnes Island.
Noon: Pass through Laredo-Squally-Grenville Channels
9:30 p.m.: Head towards Alaskan waters passing through Revillagigedo Channel up to Twin Island

Alaska Trip Day 2

2009-09-02T14:15:00.000-07:00

I woke up early and watched some Discovery Channel, before eating some leftover dinner from yesterday for breakfast.
We soon headed out around town and first stopped at a particular Wolf Mountain. I had loads of fun climbing one of the harder trails, where I felt like an adventurer climbing up a mountain, who was risking falling down to his doom. After I reached the top, which took about 2 minutes as the trail was so short, I found a wildlife habitat, where there were a couple of wolves hiding behind bushes and using their gray fur to blend in with the rocks.
After that, we headed for a short drive in a place called Stanley Park. A few years ago, a hurricane had ravaged the part and destroyed several trees. However, most of them had grown back by then, and the park was fine. Soon, it was time for the moment I've been waiting for: it was time for me to board the cruise!
There at the boarding center, all our luggage were shipped off. My dad and Jesse's dad headed off to return our van to the rental place. While we were waiting, we read an Alaska guidebook, and played Hangman.
Finally, we were able to board the ship, through a wave of security guards. There, I immeadiately had lunch at the ship, and ate some meat and pizza. Finally, we watched the ship leave the port of Vancouver to go to the Inside Passage and took an extremely large amount of pictures. After that, I spent the rest of the day in a Jaccuzi, that I haven't been in since I was 7, and eating a fancy dinner of shrimp and pasta.
Soon, I went to the sleep, safe from the ship's light rocking.
Tune in tomorrow for my relaxation in the cruise in the Inside Passage of Alaska waters.

Alaska Trip Day 1

2009-09-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

It was that time of year again. On August 20th, my family and my friend Jesse's family left on a trip to Alaska.
We first departed at 5:00 on a taxi to the Newark Airport. When we got there, it took some time to make it to the Continental airplane, where we would fly to Vancouver, stay a day, and take a cruise for a week.
At the airplane, I spent some time listening to (bad) music and playing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time. On the plane, I went to sleep later, and that consumed most of my flight. Later, we picked up all of our baggage and headed to a car rental.
At the car rental, we picked a van so we could fit 9 people and headed towards our 5 star hotel. It was one of the fanciest hotels I ever seen, with a marble floor and neat rooms with an LG Television and comfy beds.
Next by incident, we decided to make a stop at the first interesting place we saw: the Capilano National Park, as we needed to get lunch and a drink. There, I got some ice cream and some iced tea. We headed to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, which I incidentally did a report on in the Talented Program at school, when we had a bridge project. There, I was too frightened as the bridge was about 30 meters above the hard forest floor and the rocky river. I could barely breathe as the simple suspension bridge rocked side to side. In the end, I managed to pretend the bridge was collapsing to force me to run across the bridge to the other side.
Finally, we made it to the other side, where there was a deep forest. There I walked across a group of tamer simple suspension bridges. We took lots of pictures and I saw a group of wild fish and an eagle in captivity. Soon, it was about time to cross the Capilano Suspension Bridge again. We went back to our van, then headed back to our room.
After spending some time watching MythBusters, we headed out for dinner. However, we turned out getting lost and not being able to find the restaurant we were looking for, and we headed back hungry. Vancouver at night was very spooky, and I was glad to get back to my lighted room in the hotel.
I ended up having some rice and eggs for dinner, and then I blacked out on my bed.
This concludes my first day of my trip in Vancouver. Stay tuned for my post about my second day in Vancouver tomorrow.

Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando: Episode 5: Arena Battle

2009-08-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

Soon, I headed a different way and found a bunch of Thugs. They all fought me, but were no match to my awesomeness. Soon, I learned about strafing, which was running and shooting at the same time, and ledge holding. I managed to jump to the side of a building in an area where there were shock panels installed in the floor. There I received a...

Platinum Bolt!

Soon, I came to a place where there was a helicopter that kept on warping Thugs into the battle area. I ran past and came to a vendor. I finally made it to the arena.
There, I was introduced by an announcer that barely knew my name. I fought a group of robots, mines, and gladiators and got the prize of the Electrolyzer.

GADGET FILE
Electrolyzer: This gadget allows me to fix machines by playing a minigame of timing.

I went in more battles for more bolts. I managed to buy the Blitz Gun.

WEAPON FILE
Blitz Gun: This gun fires a shockwave that damages enemies. The closer the enemy, the more damage it loses.

I soon went to a few boss fights.

***INCOMING MESSAGE***

Arena Boss: Chainblade
This monster wields two long swords. First, he comes in to swing them at you. I kept on throwing my Gravity Bombs at him. Soon, he levitated in the air and forced me to strafe and jump to avoid his swords. When, I was out of Gravity Bombs, I fired my Lancer at him and he went down.

***MESSAGE ENDED***

***INCOMING MESSAGE

Arena Boss: B2 Brawler
A cyborg programmed for no mercy, it first started walking slowly towards me. I avoided its lasers and threw Gravity Bombs and fired the Blitz Gun. When it lost enough health, it fell on the floor and started spinning. I fired my Blitz Gun at the head, its weak spot, and soon, its legs stopped spinning and his brain burst.

***MESSAGE ENDED***

Soon, I had experience with Electrolyzer minigames which were very annoying. I had to flip multiple switches to allow a charge to go through. However, if the charge hit the side of the switch, I had to start over again.
I repaired some energy bridges to make a shortcut, so I could always access the Arena if I wanted to. However, when I was about to fix the last bridge, the Thief broadcasted to me and told me he had Clank captive and I had to stop trying to get the Protopet.
I was steaming angry, so I decided I was going after the Thief. I found the coordinates to the planet and headed there. I'm going to rescue Clank no matter what the cost. Ratchet out.

Funplex and MagiQuest

2009-08-09T04:33:00.000-07:00

For my brother's birthday yesterday, we went to the Funplex, which turned out to be really exciting.
There, first, being a magic and gamer fan, I went to MagiQuest, an attraction I saw advertised on TV. I heard that it was just like living in a video game. They were right. I purchased a blue dragon wand, which looked really fancy and had good protection against dragons. The dragon wand functioned like the Wii Remote. I also received the Ancient Book of Wisdom, which gave me riddles telling me how to complete my quests and adventures. There, we went through a tutorial, and soon I was free to roam. The guide recommended I first do the lightning quest. So these were the quests I did.

Lightning Rune Quest:
This was a very easy quest. I found armor, a shield, the Magi's Codebook, a sword. Then I talked to the Gargoyle in the Dark Forest and I received the Lightning Rune.

Enchant Creature Rune Quest:
I found a few chests with animal symbols in them, then gave them to the pixie. I received the Enchant Creature Rune.

Dazzle Rune Quest:
I found a few crystals that represented red, blue, yellow, purple and white. I received the dazzle runen from the Lady in the Leaves.

Distract Rune Quest:
First, I looked around in each of the Forests and found two pieces. Soon, I realized it was asking me to look outside. There, I found both chests. I paid 2000 gold to the Gargoyle to get the Shadow Rune.

Heal Rune Quest:
I went around looking for some plants and finally gave them to the princess to receive the Healing Rune.

Portal Rune Quest:
I went to the arcade and soon found the portal star and found it near the entrance. I lit it 5 times and went back. Then, I found the portal chest and paid my 2000 gold to the Lady in the Wall to receive the Portal Rune.

Soon, I went on an Adventure, which is like a longer quest with interactivity with the characters.

Pixie Adventure:
Requirements: Enchant Creature Rune, Dazzle Rune, Heal Rune
I talked to a few creatures in the forests and soon learned that the Radiant Green Crystal that helped Pixies hide was in a chest I found earlier. I brought it back to the pixie and used the Heal Rune and the Dazzle Rune to make it better. I was rewarded with the Pixie Crystal, which allows me to restore my mana in duels.

Princess & Goblin King Adventure:
Requirements: Lightning Rune, Distract Rune, Portal Rune
I first lit the Goblin Crystal and made it into his palace with my Portal Rune. I lit the torch and signaled the guard, who wouldn't let me through to the Goblin King. I managed to distract him and make it to the Goblin King. I duelled him and managed to defeat him with the Lightning Rune. He told me the crystals were scattered around the dungeon. I found all of them in some time and gave them to the princess to get the reward of the Amulet of Andover, which allowed me to reflect my opponent's attacks in duels.

Then I took some time off at the Funplex and haad fun with my 20 tokens. I played a few games and managed to win a lot in a fun game where I used a robotic chameleon to eat some bugs and got a ticket for each bug it ate. In total, we had 115 tickets and my brother got a ring and a water gun.

Then, it was back to MagiQuest!

Reveal Rune Quest:
I found a fairy statue, yellow flower, map, and dark hole, which all represented different colors. Soon, I made it to the Dungeon Eyeball, where I got my reward of the Reveal Rune Quest.

Rune of Protection Quest:
First, I found the hourglass, which told me I had 30 seconds to find the chest that contained the Crown of Protection and to open it. The first time, I ran out of time, but I managed to do it on my second try. Then, I paid 2000 gold to the Wizard Statue for my Rune of Protection.

Rune of Freezing Quest:
I lit a lantern, met a talking tree, read a Book of Freezing Spells, and found a portrait of the Fairy Queen, to get my reward of the Rune of Freezing from the Old Man in the Stump.

Ice Arrow Rune Quest:
Soon, I found an icicle, a snowflake, dragon scales, and a claw in the courtyard and the 2 forests. I met the Wise Old Owl to get my Ice Arrow Rune.

Now it's time for another adventure.

Dragon Adventure:
Requirements: Portal Rune, Protection Rune, Rune of Freezing, Ice Arrow Rune
I first found a portrait of Charlock the Dragon and managed to learn he was in the dungeon. I lit up the Dragon Crystal and each of the stones in the right order. Soon I was in. I learned I had to use the Protection Rune to weaken his fire attack, then freeze him while he was on his side and had his weak spot, then shoot an ice arrow at him. However, my wand ran out of mana and I couldn't beat him.

My Wizard So Far...
I have a Nobility Magi who has currently completed every beginner's quest, except the Master Magi Quest, and who has completed two adventures.

Then, I had to leave. I had an adventurous day at the Funplex and MagiQuest. I hope to come here again.

Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando: Episode 4: Big Towers

2009-08-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

This visit to the Jamming Array was violent and short. I remember later in the game, I glided up and went to a tower. I hyper-jumped up and got a...

Platinum Bolt!

Then There were tons of Chickenbots and Chainsaw Bots that tried to overrun me. However, I found out that the jamming towers could be raised by using a bolt crank to leave the generator exposed. Soon, I destroyed about 2 towers this way. However, there were still 4 left.
I soon found another tower, in an unfinished part of the Jamming Array filled with lava. I jumped from platform to platform, and destroyed that one.
There were still 3 towers remaining. They were all located on high platforms. Wait, is this a jump pad. Whoaaaaaa! I landed on a platform, and jumping from platform to platform, the jamming towers were all destroyed.
On the way back, I met Mr. Fizzwidget, who told me Arena Games were back on and I could win something interesting, and find the whereabouts of the thief. He gave me the coordinates to Barlow, where I could race on Hoverbike races, which sound like Hoverboard races, and find more about this Thugs-4-Less organization from the Desert Riders, an elite group of Bikers that are sponsored by Thugs-4-Less.
Well, I'm heading back to Maktar Resort so I can check out the Arena Battles and find something cool. I wonder how Clank's doing? Ratchet out.

Ratchet and Clank Going Commando: Episode 3: Thugs and a Bunch of Chickens

2009-08-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

Ratchet here. I made a little detour, when I got attacked by some thug ships, but they were easy and I proceeded to Maktar Resort.

Thugs have taken over this popular vacation spot and jammed arena battle shows with their Jamming Array. I soon was able to defeat most of these Thugs, who shot powerful lasers and Chickenbots. I soon was able to hack into the Thug's security system, using an reluctant inspector bot, and the Tractor Beam.
By then, I was already greatly weakened, and I felt I was going to collapse. However, soon I found something that the Thugs had forgotten about: a space limousine. It had the coordinates to the Jamming Array and I headed there.
Well, sorry to cut this entry short, but I'm blasting off to the Jamming Array. Ratchet out.

7 Steps of Introducing Yourself

2009-07-29T17:06:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone. In the program "Let's Talk!," I learned the 7 Steps of Introducing Myself.

1. Stand up (shows respect)
2. Posture (straight back, etc.)
3. Smile (friendly)
4. Introduce myself (first and last name)
5. Eye contact (helps acquaint oneself better)
6. Use strong, confident, leadership voice (important)
7. Shake hands (final step)

Fireworks

2009-07-26T14:19:00.000-07:00

Crackling fireworks,
Illuminating the night,
Red, white, and blue.

The Manhattan landscape,
So diverse and bright,
Fireworks light up the night.

Loud cracks and pops,
It deafens my ears,
A beautiful cacophony,

The lights with so many colors,
Light up Hoboken,
In this dark night.

The light bouncing off everyone's face,
Standing on my bench,
Fireworks light up the night.

Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando Episode 2: I Have Some Ooze in My Suit

2009-07-23T07:29:00.000-07:00

Ratchet, reporting in. I'm continuing my search of the thief on Planet Oozla. It used to be a base of Megacorp, until he broke the security system, resulting in the death of many employees. Who knows, I might find something there...

On the planet I found a few new weapons and bought a promising-looking weapon called the Chopper. I went on the first trail I saw and met some new and interesting creatures. The most deadly one was the mutant swamp monsters. I managed to fight my way through with the Lancer and the Chopper. I tried to save a Megacorp employee, but he was soon consumed by other monsters. Soon, I made it to a platform that looked like there was going to be a potential boss fight.
Okay, so I've braved those swamp octopus things and the hopping spitters. I think I'm close to the Gadgetron store. Yes, I see an entrance! Now I need to just hop across these lily pads. Wait, is that a giant tentacle and a person struggling for freedom. Let me get a closer look.
Oh my god. Oh my freakin' ***Static***

***INCOMING MESSAGE***

Planet Boss: Swamp Monster I
I was forced to dodge from side to side, up and down, from that thing's tentacles. Soon, I found out shooting the eye stalk took away more damage. Soon, with my Lancer and Chopper, the creature was vanquished.

***MESSAGE ENDED***

Soon, I made it to the Megacorp store. It was entirely deserted, except for one Dynamo file.

GADGET FILE
Dynamo: This useful device allows me to zap machinery to create temporary barriers, platforms, openings, etc.

I tested out my new Dynamo and soon made it to the center of the school. There I met Mr. Fizzwidget, and he gave me the coordinates to Maktar Resort, to participate in arena battles, whatever they are, and hijack the Thugs-4-Less, a strange gang working for the thief, by destroying their jamming array.
However, I still have another path to take. I went the other way and shot a few pterodactyls to get a...

Skill Point!

After riding on some turtles, and meeting some serpent turtles and Venus Flytraps, I met the map-seller in the transmission. I bought a Tractor Beam off him. I used it to scale a building and found a...

Platinum Bolt!

Soon, I scaled a cliff and made it back to my ship. I took the Tractor Beam path again and I soon found a new Serpent Turtle and rode it to a cliff to find a...

Platinum Bolt!

I guess I'm done for this planet. Again, I'm on my goal for the thief. I'll get back at him no matter what. Ratchet out.

Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando Episode 1: Our Adventure Begins

2009-07-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

I'm writing a review for one of my newest games, Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando.

Hi, I'm Ratchet. Wait, you don't know me. I saved the galaxy from the threats of Chairman Drek and the Blarg. It's a year later. My best friend, Clank, and I have became celebrities, but now it's a year later. Things are starting to slow down. I guess nobody needs a hero right now...
Almost immediately afterwards, I was teleported to another galaxy. I met a man, Abercrombie Fizzwidget, who was CEO (Chair Executive Officer) to Megacorp, a weaponry company. He offered me a job as a Commando, which I quickly accepted. After a week of intense training, I had mastered the arts of armory, heavy weaponry, survival skills, ballroom dancing, and origami. I was sent to Aranos to recover an experimental product, a Protopet, from a mysterious Thief.
On Aranos, I got used to my new commando moves that I have never been able to do before. After destroying a few chainsaw bots and flamethrower bots, I headed towards the center of the planet. There I saw the pet. I reached out to grab it...

WEAPON FILE
Lancer: This bad boy is similar to the Blaster I used in my previous mission against the Blarg. It launches a steady stream of bullets at enemies.

WEAPON FILE
Gravity Bomb: Handy, for clearing out any room, this weapon will leaves any place in devastation.

But the thief came and took it bad. I couldn't describe how angry I was. He let out a wave of robots...
The way I defeated this part was throw a couple of Gravity Bombs. When I ran out of ammo, I fired my Lancer like heck at those robots and destroyed a couple that survived by awesomeness with my wrench
Those robots couldn't handle the power of me, Ratchet. After I fought a little more, I came to a dead ends. A bunch of chainsaw robots came, and I jumped to be rescued by my ship that had flown by. Abercrombie told me that I had to go to another planet, Oozla in chase of the thief. There, the thief had stolen a map and shut down the security system keeping the carnivorous monsters out, resulting in the death of many Megacorp employees. I'll make that Thief pay. This is Commando Ratchet, out.

Bakugan Dojo

2009-05-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

Hi, Bakugan Fans like me! Here's a perfect website to check out new information about the TV series and find new Bakugan!
It's Bakugan Dojo.
Check it out today!

Unforgotten Realms Part 2

2009-04-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

Spoiler Warning: This contains spoilers for other episodes

This is the review for Seasons 3 and 4 of Unforgotten Realms.

Trailer:
It starts with Maelstrom, the previous villain absorbing the hand of god instantly doubling his stats by 10, while listening Gregor the Overlander, his father, making a speech to his son many years ago. Maelstrom creates and undead flying rhino, a spoof of Saragosa from World of Warcraft, and leads his army. You can then hear the Dragon Warrior ordering Maelstrom to use his powers for good, while Tim is laughing.

Theme Song:
It starts with our heroes. Sirschmoopy has a top hat and a mustache, and looks a little bit like Abraham Lincoln. Eluamous has a monocle and a smoking pipe. After clips of the past season and the Season 3 trailer flash by in black and white, our heroes jump and the song begins. It features Sirschmoopy singing and his glorious moments. After that, Eluamous is making a fuss during the part he's supposed to sing. It then features Roamin, Gaary, Timmy the Evil, the Dragon Warrior, and a surprise visit from the pink unicorn! The theme song ends with Mike staring at Rob in an angry and confused way.

Plot:
Season 3:
After Sirschmoopy explains heroes, he falls from the portal he entered onto a civilian boy., killing him. He revives the boy with the potion he looted from his body in Episode 30. After careful observation, it seems that the boy might be Timmy the Evil, but Sirschmoopy doesn't notice it. However, he agrees to go on Sirschmoopy's collection and delivery quest where they collect the Nator Gems and deliver them to the Mountain of Impending Doom. The boy, which Sirshmoopy named Douglas Winchester (formerly Ronald Pindersen), tells him that he doesn't know where they are. Schmoopy tries to make a "figure shit out" check, only to find out one doesn't exist. The two set off, while our narrator explore the possibility Roamin is dead... Meanwhile, Eluamous and Gaary land in a town and attend a gladiator fight. They find out that one of the fighters might actually be Petey! "Petey" has a brown a color fur now and is able to defeat things 10 time his size with a single strike. Things turn out shocking, and Eluamous is thrown into the fight pit... After a long wait, Rob, Mike, and Tim finally return. Rob and Mike are bickering each other about what the story is about. Rob gets the plan to just hide one Nature Gem forever, so nobody can unite all of them. Tim hears this starts DMing and explains his latest plan. He tells Professor Walrus that our heroes are really in the past, which explains all the changes. Tim will give one of the Nature Crystals, which really has untold power, to Schmoopy's ancestor. In every possibility, Schmoopy will get killed. If that doesn't work, Tim will just kill them in his sleep with a gun... Rob hears this and makes Tim fall out of a ventilation shaft with a ski causing Tim to bleed "on a 7 out of 10." Schmoopy and Douglas finally arrive at Reldawin and meet a strange person, Douglas, who looks like Roamin, except has gray hair. Douglas, the one Schmoopy fell on, is renamed Douglas 3. The 3 is for just in case they meet another Douglas. He sends them on a quest to kill 8 wolves and bring 8 wolf hearts. However, our heroes have to kill over 20!? Later, Douglas offers to go to an inn with them. He leaves at the last moment and talks to a shadow of a Kobold. Douglas turns into an axe person, who resembles Jacque and leaves. The Kobold sends one of his Kobold dogs to kill Sirschmoopy and Douglas 3 in their sleep with a gun... However, the Kobold completely misses. Later, Sirschmoopy and Douglas 3 (who I'll now simply call Douglas) go to a ceremony honoring Eluamous who is the new champion of the realm. Eluamous, Sirschmoopy, and Douglas go to a school called Hogwarts, after a certain Diligoth Nator recruits them. In their first year, Sirschmoopy defeats Charles Pinmissile, and finds out when united, the crystals form an illusion of Diligoth, who once faded out of existence. In the second year, Sirschmoopy tries to find a time portal back, but ends up being confronted by Nator. In the third year, it turned Diligoth explained the Sins of the Unforgotten, where if one gets 5 sins, he'll be possessed by an evil guardian of the realm, and that all members of the Order of Chaos, where Charles came from are possessed. It's the fourth year now, and our heroes are called by one of their professors, who turns out to be the axe man. Now it's the fifth year, and the trio defeat the axe man by casting the memory reversal spell: Reverso Memorino. In the next episode, Rob takes the day off to play his favorite video game, as it's his birthday. Then, it turns out Timmy has to play with Rob and Mike, because Rob hit him with a ski. Soon, Sirschmoopy stabs his dagger into his new teacher, Timmy the Super Nice Guy, believing him to be Timmy the Evil. Unfortunately, Timmy the Super Nice Guy turned out to be really who he said he was, and turned into Timmy the Evil. Timmy the Evil used a special ability that allows him to keep attacking. However, Rob punches Timmy and rips up the ability. However, Timmy brought photocopies and stabs Nator turning him evil. Everyone evacuates.

My Interpretation:
This show is pretty hard to understand. This is what I think.
Maelstrom absorbed the Hand of Thor, something from one of the Classic episodes of Unforgotten Realms, making the Dragon Warrior the old Schmoopy. Ronald Pindersen was really Evil Tim, before he became evil. The arena rat is Petey before he died and lost all his levels. The axe person is Jacque, but is somehow later turned into an axe later in the story. The Kobold in Shadow is obviously Maelstrom. Timmy the Evil used to be Timmy the Super Nice Guy, before Sirschmoopy stabbed him with the Alignment Dagger. What Sirschmoopy and Eluamous are trying to prevent in the present is the crystals uniting at the mountain, causing the Evil Nator to come out.

Spring Break Day

2009-04-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

My school in Basking Ridge is finally off today. The Bernards district is one of the last school districts in New Jersey to have spring break. I've been looking forward to spring break and wondering what I would do. This is what I did for my spring break. I'll update this post as the week of leisure goes on by.

Day 1:
My family started off the morning visiting cherry blossoms in a park. My family thought we were in the wrong place, so drove for another ten minutes only to find out we were going around in a circle, and ended up where we started. There, my family walked around the park. I took a stroll around with my grandmother and brother, while my parents were behind, and my grandfather was walking a different way. The blossoms were very vibrant, though barely any of the petals were still attached to the trees. I spent some of time going back to the car messing with my mom's cell phone, and I discovered the voice recording application. Once my whole family was at the car and we checked to make sure everything was there, we headed off to a restaurant.
We arrived only to find out that the Chinese restaurant we were planning to go to for my grandfather's birthday was closed, so we ended up going to one next door. Immediately, I could tell it was better than the first. There were all sorts of foods from garlic bread to noodles to jello. After running around a little with my brother, I quickly filled up my plate, and "pigged" it down. Once I was done, I felt ready to burst, so I went on a short walk. Back home, I'm working to make up for the time I spent outside. Tomorrow, I'm going to work for most of the day. Wish me luck.

Pokemon Platinum Preview

2009-02-21T10:02:00.001-08:00

You all know I'm a Pokemon fanatic. A new game is being released to the U.S. in March 22, 2009. This game was released in Japan a few months ago. It's the official sequel to Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. Meet Pokemon Platinum.
In the old game, the main focuses were to become the Pokemon League champion, see every Pokemon in the Sinnoh Pokedex, and to defeat the nefarious Team Galactic. In Platinum, the focuses are the same, except there are new characters, exotic places, and an expanded storyline.
New looks are introduced for the heroes, Lucas and Dawn (player characters), and Pearl (your rival and best friend). In the beginning, a gate to the Distortion World, a place where Giratina, seen on the box above, makes its home. Sinnoh, your region/country, is turned slightly colder, so instead of t-shirts and shorts you wear in the other game, you now have sweaters and scarves. A new character, Looker, is introduced. He's an undercover police officer determined to bring down Team Galactic. His partner is a Croagunk, a Pokemon resembling a poison dart frog. A new villain, Pluto, also joins Platinum. He's a strange, old man and second-in-command of Team Galactic. He used to live in the Old Chateau, a haunted mansion near Eterna City. He discovered and named Rotom, an electric ghost Pokemon. A new dungeon is the Distortion World, mentioned earlier. In it, laws of physics and gravity don't exist and you're able to walk and surf on walls. The champion of the Pokemon league, Cynthia, helps you find Giratina.
Platinum's Pokedex is also expanded. There's more Pokemon, like the new evolutions, Gliscor, Probopass, Dusknoir...
Even trainer battles have been modified. There's a new display screen, that's a lot fancier than its predecessor. Moves, like Hypnosis and Razor Leaf, have been modified. Some trainers, like Gym Leaders, are now animated. Some trainers also use seals, a decoration you can use to decorate your Pokemon. Many gyms have been modified. My favorite gym is te Hearthome City Gym. In Diamond and Pearl, you had to do simple arithmetic and walk through doors. In Platinum, you find your way through a catacomb armed only with a flashlight.
This is much better than Diamond and Pearl. As years pass by, Pokemon games get fancier and more interesting. Preorder your edition today!

The Frenchman's Body

2009-02-19T17:00:00.000-08:00

This is a story from a book "Phone Call From a Ghost" by Daniel Cohen, an author who I highly recommend to everyone. Some people believe this tale is true, but others don't. I believe that this might have happened. Read the story and find out!
Summary:
One day, in Battle Creek, Michigan, a man named Harper Allyn saved a cat from a rattlesnake. He knew this cat belonged to a hermit in the woods. Harper returned the cat and became close friends with the hermit. They hunt and fish together. The hermit calls himself Stephen Strand. One day, Harper is forced to take shelter in Stephen's home. Harper notices that Stephen, though usually brave, is shivering and locks his house. Stephen then confesses an amazing story. He was a sailor who once encountered a fierce storm. He bumps his head on the wall. He wakes up only to realize he's dead. However, he manages to take control of a Frenchman, Jacques Beaumont, who survived the accident. Every thunderstorm, the Frenchman comes back to take possession of the body. Harper doesn't believe the story at first, but soon comes to admit that the story is true. A year later, there's a huge thunderstorm. Harper rushes to his friend, but finds Stephen's cabin empty. However, it looks like there was a struggle. Before Stephen disappeared, he gave Harper a gold box with the name, Jacques Beaumont, in exchange for Harper's picture.
Many years later, Harper goes to France and meets someone named Lily Beaumont, the daughter of Jacques Beaumont.She states that an old man came saying that he was Jacques Beaumont and showed her a picture of Harper. Harper stays with the Beaumont family. He has his doubts that Stephen was able to survive the previous thunderstorm. Harper occasionally visits the old man. Many years later, the man is dying. Harper asks the old man whether he is Stephen or Jacques. The old man makes the booming statement, "In the presence of God, I swear I am...", before he falls down dead.
Opinion:
This is an incredible ghost story and highly fascinating. Even I have my doubts whether this story exists, but anything can be possible.

Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia

2008-11-23T12:18:00.000-08:00

Look at the box right next to you. You're looking at the container of one of the world's greatest video games to ever be manufactured. It is a companion game to one of my video games, Pokemon Diamond.
In this game, you're a young child who travels to a region called Almia in a quest to be a Top Pokemon Ranger. Pokemon Rangers are a group of heroes who befriend wild Pokemon, a fictional group of monsters. You keep the enviroment clean and you're also a 24/7 policeman. However, a group of people called the Team Dim Sun are going to make things difficult...
This game is very different from Pokemon Diamond. In Diamond, you control a trainer who captures Pokemon. However, in Ranger, you control a ranger with a Pokemon friend who befriends Pokemon and work together to solve obstacles. In Diamond, you use a device called to Poke Ball to befriend Pokemon. However, rangers use a tool called the Capture Styler which captures Pokemon and can call from help from other Pokemon in emergencies.
The storyline is simple. The game starts after your long journey. You quickly pass the entrance exam in to Ranger School, much to the surprise of everyone else. When you graduate, you become partners to all the rangers in your patrolling area. Together, you all begin a struggle of Team Dim Sun, which begins when your character finds a strange machine in a cave...
This is a recount of about everything I do in the game.
Chapter 1:
Ranger School- The Start of my Adventure
After that long journey to Almia's Ranger School, what do you know, some crazy teacher gives me a stick and lets loose a Pikachu on me. I have no time to react. The teacher tells me to rotate the stick around Pikachu. After a few seconds, I succeed in slowing down Pikachu. A minute later, I finally manage to catch it. The teacher is shocked and tells me that I had a potential to be a great ranger. I meet everyone in the class and become friends with two students, Keith and Rhythmi. Everyone shows me around the school and I learn the ropes.
During the night, things are different. Keith wakes me up and brings me to a secret conference between all the students in my class. I learn that in order to be truly accepted, I must pass a courage test. I go around the school and I find four stylers. I have to place them in front of a door in the basement. Everything goes along fine, except for a Gastly attack. A teacher called Mr. Kincaid caught us, but it was nothing serious.
Keith and I have a small misadventure when we try to capture a thief.
Near the last day of school, Keith and I are teamed up for 1- Day Internship. We head for Vientown to meet all the other rangers. We're told to deliver a very important package. I wonder what it is? After traveling for some time, I find the other rangers and deliver the package. What do you know? It's a picnic. We don't have that much time to enjoy it, because then, Pokemon on the beach suddenly start acting wild. I don't have much time to react and I run toward Munchlax, a cute blue Pokemon that looks like a bear, fox, and dog and loves to eat. I capture it and everything calms down. The Munchlax bonds with me, and I promise to come back once I'm a real ranger.
The next day, I'm finally graduating when I hear a huge explosion. A duo of two Pokemon jump out. They look like a bush covered in blue weeds. I think they're called Tangrowth. Everyone runs, but Keith and I jump to the rescue. The capture is slightly easy, except their poison powder did take away considerable damage. In the end, I catch my Tangrowth and I release it.
Chapter 2:
The Ranger Base- Meeting Team Dim Sun
After a long farewell, I meet all the rangers at the Base. I have a small newspaper delivery assignment with Crawford, a ranger who loves to joke around. Everything goes along fine, until a machine is found. A disturbance was in Marine Cave. I jump to the mission with Crawford and we do some exploring. We learn that this device, Gigamero, can control Pokemon and it makes them unable to be befriended. We look around for a bit and finally manage to destroy it using a Gastrodon. I also take a small task to calm down a Miltank for a milkman I rescued from a Bidoof. Later, surprise, the forest is on fire. I go with another ranger, Luana, to save the forest. We manage to clear some logs and I put out the fire using Blastoise's Rain Dance. Later, we find some stranger with a Gigamero. Crawford takes him back to the Base for questioning. However, the stranger, nicknamed Ollie, refuses to talk.
Chapter 3:
Road to Top Ranger- Team Dim Sun's Vengeance
I get my first real mission when I'm sent to Pueltown to investigate more Gigamero. I'm again assigned with Luana, and we find our way to Pueltown through Vien Forest. There, I found out that the whole city was covered in Gigamero. There were many different types, each with a special weakness. I ran around the city, trying to get help from Pokemon. I must have burned off a thousand calories. There, I met, Brook, a person who's always trying to help, but always ends up getting himself in trouble, and Melody, the little sister of Isaac, a child prodigy who went to Ranger School with me. I finally manage to destroy most of the Gigamero, when I discover one near a strange man, who belongs to Team Dim Sun. He sends out a Toxicroak at me. It attacked vigorously with poison and nearly broke my styler. I succeed catching a boss again and the Dim Sun member escapes with the Gigamero.
Afterwards, at the Base, Ollie finally confesses that he was payed to put Gigameros in Vien Forest, but accidentally sets the whole place on fire. I escort him back to Chicole Village to talk to his mom. There, I help my family when I a Kricketot that was roaming around the farm.
Later, Barlow and I have to go to Altru Town, but the bridge to there is locked and the key was lost by Brook while he was swimming. I find it.

Unforgotten Realms

2008-10-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

Spoiler Warning: May contain spoilers of episodes

One day, while randomly looking around a website, I found it. It was a web show called Unforgotten Realms, by Robert Moran. I chose to watch it merely because I was curious on what it was about. It talked about two teenage boys who were playing a game, Unforgotten Realms, which I later found out was a different version of a real game, Dungeons and Dragons. Though they are best friends, they fight each other constantly.

Mike is the voice of reason in the group. He's the dungeon master, the person who tells the story. His character is a wizard in fire robes, Eluamous Nailo. Eluamous Nailo's signature spell is Fireball. Later, Mike becomes Steven, a sorcerer who learned Flare. Mike has learned to be less of a "nerd" and more of a hero.
Mike's friend is the dimwitted Rob. The creator, Robert Moran, based Rob on himself. Rob is extremely funny and is used as comic relief. He earned the privilege to control the Non Player Characters (NPCs) by annoying Mike. Rob also cheats a lot in the game. Most of the time, Mike regrets inviting Rob to play the game. Rob's character is a sorcerer, Sirschmoopy of Awesometon, who he based off Abraham Lincoln, the person he thinks is the best sorcerer in the world. His catchphrase is "I wanna cast a spell," which he usually says before casting his spells. His favorite spell is Flare, which he enjoys casting at Mike. However, there's more than meets the eye for Rob. He proves his intelligence by making plans that Mike would've never thought of and finding loopholes in Mike's story. Later, Rob becomes James Jingalo, an assassin based on Altair in Assassin's Creed. Rob has become much stronger, and "slightly" less annoying. He still doesn't get along well with Mike. Later in the storyline, Sirschmoopy meets his hero, Abraham Lincoln, who urges Sirschmoopy to save the world.
Some other characters are Petey, Sirschmoopy's pet poisonous, undead rat, and Jacque, the group's talking axe. These two characters enjoy trying to kill Sirschmoopy.
There are two different series for Unforgotten Realms. The first one is classic. This is the first version of Unforgotten Realms. It looks a little sloppy. The heroes have to find a herb that will save Sirschmoopy's dying grandma. This series ends with Sirschmoopy summoning Thor to destroy every villain the team met. In the end, the heroes walk off into the distance. One unique character was Cindy, Mike's other friend. She thinks Rob is annoying and constantly slaps him. Her character is a centaur. She appears in the Unforgotten Realms holiday special, An Unforgotten Christmas. Another special episode is Episode 40 Billion. It's basically random things piled together into a huge catastrophe with no storyline whatsoever.
The new series is an improved version. Its story is divided into seasons. Season 2 is currently starting. The graphics are much better and it is funnier than the older version. The characters are on the same quest. At first, the two versions are the same, but they eventually turn into different storylines.
Notable characters are Roamin and Gaary. They were first introduced in the last episode of the old version in a cameo. Roamin is a counterpart for Rob and Garay to Mike. The two are sent to hunt down the heroes, but Sirschmoopy and Eluamous Nailo always escape. Roamin and Gaary constantly are fighting. One issue that Roamin and Gary fight about is time traveling. Later, Roamin and Gaary team up with Sirschmoopy and Eluamous Nailo to save the world. Gaary later becomes the Arbiter, based of the Halo character of the same name. Roamin also gets an artifact, the Mace of Windu, based on the Star Wars character Mace Windu. At the end of Season 2, it was revealed that deep down, Roamin and Gaary are friends. Gaary jumps into a portal, reluctantly leaving a petrified Roamin behind, who was caught in an explosion. Roamin is currently presumed dead.
Another character is Tim, Rob's younger brother, who carries around a walrus called Professor Walrus. In the game, his name is Timmy the Evil, and his sidekick is Professor Walrus.
The first season is light-hearted and about our heroes trying to desperately save Sirschmoopy's dying grandmother by finding a magical herb. In the second season, our heroes have accomplished their quest. Now, in different bodies, they are sent to save the world from the dangers of the Nature Gems and the Mountain of Sure Destruction.
New episodes have been released every two weeks. However, episode 19 marks the beginning of the first episode that's released after a week.
Theme song:

Classic:
I have a video of the Classic theme in one of my posts.
Season 1:
The new theme song is louder and has more action. It shows a knight about to be knighted. However, Sirschmoopy barges in. Eluamous Nailo teleports next to Sirschmoopy. Jacque and Petey appear on the scene. The group then fights all the guards at once. Sirschmoopy then uses his ring of fire. The theme ends with Rob holding a guard character sheet on fire. This song has no words, it's instrumental.
Season 2:
This theme song begins with a knight, who looks like Altair from Assassin's Creed, who's later revealed to be Sirschmoopy. It shows all the characters with their catchphrases. In the end, the screen says Sins of the Unforgotten (with a blood streak, later changed to 2), as it zooms away from all the characters. The theme song changes in the middle of the season to show the new characters.

Plot:
Season 1:
In the real world, Mike is over at Rob's house. Rob is extremely bored. He decides to join Mike's game, Unforgotten Realms, even though he thinks it's boring. The two get into a scuffle, involving Rob trying to become a lumberjack and Mike's limited edition book getting soiled. In the game world, everything seems fine, except when Eluamous accidentally kills an innocent rogue. The two are sent to court and the duo choose the Judge's choice of going on a quest over being imprisoned. While the two are on a quest, Schmoopy kills a beggar that he thinks is an evil wizard. The duo are imprisoned again and they're both given a curse that will explode if they don't bail out in a certain amount of time. Schmoopy is given one more curse for making fun of the judge. It will make him explode if he teases the Judge. Schmoopy gets angry and says bad things about the Judge. The court explodes. Mike orders this part to be erased out of their game and they continue on their quest. On the way, Schmoopy finds an undead rat and becomes friends with, but not before almost being killed from poison. Later, Schmoopy figures out the ax they have to deliver in the quest can talk and names it Jacque. Now in the real world, Tim, Rob's little brother, asks if he can play. The two don't let him, because he's too young. Tim creates a character called Timmy the Evil and sends out the beggar that Schmoopy killed in a real evil wizard form. In game world, Schmoopy and Eluamous have a rough fight against it. Rob comes up with a plan and orders his partners to retreat. He makes Schmoopy call the Judge on a phone and insults him. Schmoopy seemingly dies in the following explosion. Eluamous finds out that Schmoopy sealed away his spirit in a crystal he got from the beggar. Schmoopy's spirit is put in a wolf, which is a parody of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The two head toward a haunted house, but are assaulted by an ogre. They fail to even make a single hit on the ogre, until Rob comes up with another plan. The group enlarges Petey and jumps inside, an obvious parody of Mario. Petey poisons the ogre and waits for it to slowly die. Each turn, the group heals Petey. They have a long battle, but the ogre is finally about to die, when Mike realizes that they have to make the final blow. The group all summon their strongest attack vanquishing the ogre. Meanwhile, Roamin and Gary are introduced and are hunting for Schmoopy and Eluamous for letting off a magical explosion. Eluamous and Sirschmoopy are introduced to Jason, a ghost who attended Sorcerer's school with Sirschmoopy. He helps cure the duo's curses and gives Sirschmoopy a spell that makes him the same race as the person who looks at him. However, Jason admits that he was the one who cursed the duo in the first place. Schmoopy angrily attacks him and runs away. However, Roamin and Gary set up an Adventurer- Catching- Trap. However, Jason ends up trapped in it, because it's really a Ghost- Catching- Trap. Roamin realizes that Jason attended school with him. Meanwhile, Eluamous and Schmoopy get ensnared by a pair of savages, who set up a Adventurer- Catching- Trap, instead of a Ghost- Catching- Trap. Schmoopy then realizes that the leader was Wesley, who attended school with Schmoopy. Wesley tells Schmoopy that the herb to save his dying grandma is in Moonwell Pass, on the moon. They must travel through Mount Norrington to reach the moon. The duo crash into Roamin and Gary. They have an argument on who attacks first. SchmoopyRoamin and Gary in an argument on time traveling. Schmoopy and Eluamous manage to sneak into Mount Norrington, but find an armored bear, a parody of Iorek Byrnison, guarding the way. The bear was sent by Timmy the Evil. It reveals itself to be Ursa Arcadia, archduke of the high bears. The duo have to guess a password to pass and get another crystal, called the Crystal of Absorb, which lets you absorb the energy of anyone you beat. Roamin and Gary come and anger Ursa. Eluamous and Schmoopy use this chance to escape back to Cotswell, the town where the duo was arrested. They find out the town has been overrun by a race called Kobold, who repeatedly say Kobold. The group sneak in, but are caught. They try to prove themselves as Kobolds by answering the magic question: How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if woodchuck could chuck Kobold. The answer is Kobold. Eluamous and Schmoopy find out that everyone in town were thrown into a jailhouse, while the Kobolds plan to slaughter the dwarves, even though they used to be good friends. Their leader, Maelstrom, who talks in rhymes, shoots Eluamous with an arrow. The Judge, who wasn't locked up, is shot too. Eluamous and Schmoopy are thrown in jail. Meanwhile, the Judge, who survived, calls Roamin and Gary and orders them to come. The group escapes thanks to Schmoopy's reverse psychology, even though it didn't make any sense. Roamin and Gary arrive thanks to Ursa, who agreed to help him after Roamin guesses the password, which was Pocahontas. They managed to get on the ship by using a rocket launcher. Schmoopy finds his grandma and uses the body- switching crystal to switch her with a healthy person. Schmoopy's grandma teleports everyone away, except Schmoopy and Roamin, who decide to fight after Maelstrom kills Ursa. A huge battle scene starts and many Kobolds are killed. Roamin retreats, but Schmoopy has one last plan. He kills a Kobold and then states to the shocked Kobold, he leveled up. Mike is amazed by Schmoopy new power. The season ends with Schmoopy saying his catchphrase, "I wanna cast a spell..."

Best joke:
Roamin and Gaary are arguing whether God exists.
Roamin: If God doesn't exist, who invented Coca Cola?
Gaary: John Pemberton.
Roamin: How do you know?
Gaary: Wikipedia.
Roamin: Then who invented John Pemberton.
Gaary: John Pemberton's mom and dad.

Season 2:
This season begins with Schmoopy yet again making an explosion after using his new move, Ignite Mana, on all the Mana potions in the ship. Judge, Eluamous, and Roamin each make up their own theory on why the Kobolds attacked. Roamin, Gary, Eluamous, Petey, and Jacque head out on Roamin's "ship", the S.S. Paladon, which turns out to be a raft. Timmy the Evil creates another crystal and makes a spider bear to guard it, when Mike and Rob leave to stack the dishes. Timmy also leaves behind a Pokemon dice that always rolls 1. Eluamous' group later sees that there are no bodies, but find a note from Timmy the Evil (aka. Timmy the Good Guy) saying that what they want is underwater and leaves a spell to get there. However, Mike uses the Pokemon die and rolls a 1, turning them into Ninja Turtles from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Roamin makes a theme song, and the group heads underwater. They are attacked by a sea dragon. Roamin and Eluamous fall asleep, because of the monster's ability to drain the aura of weak- minded people. Jacque comes up with a plan to smash the sea dragon into a wall. Gary hates the plan. Meanwhile, Opposite Day begins and Roamin wakes up and Gary falls asleep. Roamin loves Jacques' plan, but accidentally uses it on a beaver, instead of the sea dragon. Gary makes a statement that if Opposite Day happened, it would be the opposite of itself, which would mean it wouldn't happen. This confuses Roamin. The sea dragon takes the chance to eat the group. When Eluamous tries to find a torch, someone casts flare. The group is shocked to look into the face of Sirschmoopy of Awesometon... Sirschmoopy tells an unbelievable story on how he escaped. His Ignite Mana turned out to be useless. The Kobolds threw him off the ship. Then, two Kobolds started arguing about how explosive their cargo was. Ursa Arcadia turns out to be alive and he shoots his rocket launcher, exploding the whole ship. Meanwhile, Roamin comes up with an insane plan. He kills everyone on the team, except Jacque, who he's friends with, and Petey, who got away. Roamin absorbs all of them into his body and then teleports away, even though Sirschmoopy, Eluamous, and Gary's bodies, and Petey are still in the dragon. Later, Roamin is able to extract our heroes out of his body and sells them as lemonade. They trick a bunch of adventurers, James Jingalo (an assassin), Steven (a sorcerer), and the Arbiter into drinking the lemonade. Sirschmoopy takes over James' body, Eluamous takes over Steven's, and Gary takes over the Arbiter's. A vampire, named Gavin, meets our heroes (who have different bodies) and takes them to a palace. Roamin is left out. The group meets, surprise, surprise, Maelstrom. He orders our team, who have coincidentally taken over the bodies of his brothers, on a quest. The whole episode ends mysteriously. On their journey, James, who's in Sirschmoopy's mind, explains that they, along with the Arbiter, were childrens of the Dragon Warrior. They also say that it's their fate to save the world from the Nature Gems. They decide to head on to an ogre village to steal the next nature gem. However, our heroes first extract James, Steven, and the Arbiter from their bodies and ditch them. Meanwhile, Gavin says to an ogre that Maelstrom has decided to betray his brothers (our heroes) and want the ogres to ambush them. This episode ends with the ogre and Gavin laughing together. The next episode is Roamin and Jacque doing crazy tasks together, like playing Clue, and charging everyone 87 gold 50 silver ($87.50). The episode ends with Roamin and another citizen from Cotswell finding out about an ogre raid. Roamin decides to attack with Cotswell's 6 soldiers. He states it will be like 300, the movie (at the end, 300 Spartans verse 150,000 Persian soldiers, and give up their lives to help others to escape). In the next episode, Roamin makes a long speech, before firing their only weapon, an arrow. It bounces harmlessly off the ogres. The scene switches over to James, Steven, and the Arbiter. James tries to sneak in to find a Nature gem, and kills 2 ogres. Unknown to him, Maelstrom ordered the ogre master to destroy our heroes. The ogre master discovers James and offers the Nature Gem. Mike and Rob return after a few episodes of remaining anonymous, which I love. Mike rolls a bluff check for the ogre and gets a perfect 20. James tries to get it, but falls down a hole into a gladiator match with a Spiderbear. However, Sirschmoopy manages to swap the crystal, the Crystal of Talent. He uses its power to change classes and abilities to trick the Spiderbear, Tasha, into attacking the ogres. The leader ogre kills Tasha, but this gives enough time for our reunited heroes to slip away. They decide to go to the Tower of Ultimate Wizardry, under the Judge's instructions. Meanwhile, it's unclear whose side Maelstrom is on. Our heroes meet Carl the Kobold and his friend Phil carrying the sea monster that Schmoopy escaped from. Schmoopy takes advantage of his curse of turning into any race, to speak something repeating "Yo dawg" over and over again. Afterwards, Mike and Rob go upstairs to take a rest. Meanwhile, Tim turns the Tower of Ultimate Wizardry evil, but is caught by Rob, who beats Tim up. On the first floor, there's a ceiling of spikes, which will only stop falling if you press a button. After a few arguements and hours of searching, the group gives up and waits for their doom...only to find out that a door appears if you don't press the button that stops the ceiling. On the second floor, a wizard meets the heroes and asks them to go on a quest.: to rescue some villagers from a wolf on a hill faraway Schmoopy shoots down a wolf with his flare. However, when the heroes arrive, everything changes and the landscape turns to acid. In order to save themselves, the heroes must get rid of 3 bodies from the hill into the acid. The heroes reluctantly sacrifice the villagers on the hill and go to safety. The wizard tells them that they should have just jumped off at the same time, and they killed his sons. He is too shocked to notice anything and our heroes sneak past. On the third floor, our heroes have to cross a long pit. Schmoopy tries throwing a stone to find an invisible bridge, only to find out that if you fall in a pit, you end up falling up and down, until you reach the other side. However, Eluamous deduces that falling on the other side might kill you. Meanwhile, Schmoopy decides to cheat again! He moves Roamin from Kadoral to the Tower, so he can experiment on Roamin. Meanwhile, Kadoral was amazingly still intact, while Roamin was discussing with the friar about wielding an purple artifact called the Mace of Windu (parody of Mace Windu, a character in Star Wars who wielded a purple lightsaber.) Roamin launches into a speech in how he'll save the town, when he's teleported to the Tower. He shows our heroes the mace, accidentally using the wind abilities to throw our heroes to the other side. Everything seems fine, until Eluamous finds out that Schmoopy has fainted... Schmoopy somehow is revived when Rob sees Mike's poster of the Sins of the Unforgotten. They meet a stone face who asks them riddles. He instructs them to only answer his questions with "yay" or "nay," and they can't give the same answer 2 times in a row. He asks his first question whether the heores unterstand the rules. Eluamous accidentally says "yes" instead of "yay," and is incinerated by the walls' dual daggers of pyeow pyeow. In the next question, the wall asks how many pieces Schmoopy exploded into by a curse. Gaary and Roamin answer with numbers, instead of "nay" (the only choices were "yay" and "nay," and "yay" was already taken.) They're both burned. Schmoopy answers with "nay." In the end, the wall asks Sirschmoopy a question that doesn't have an answer of "yay" or "nay". It was: what was you original intelligence stat? Sirschmoopy accidentally answers with his old body's intelligence stat: 12. But, he still gets it right, because his new body, James, also had an intelligence stat of 14. Our heroes are revived and pass the wall. However, Mike accidentally tells Rob that James' original intelligence stat was 14, until he swapped it for dodge rate and decreased the intelligence to 12. The stone wall overheard everything and prepares to inflict its punishment: sending our heroes to the past! Miracously, our heroes escape and end up on the final floor. There, with a few arguments, our heroes meet Abraham Lincoln, who gives Gaary freedom. Gaary quickly responds by jumping out the window. However, Lincoln couldn't talk about the Nature Gem, because Tim stole the Artifacts book. Later, Gavin shows up with the Crystal of Change, which he stole from the heroes. In Kadoral, the Dragon Warrior shows up. He looks similar to the old Sirschmoopy except he has a white beard and more buffed-up armor. He fights with Maelstrom, only to be killed. However, before his death, he fires a flare at an unknown location. Later, the Gaary is amazingly reunited with the group and they team up together to fight Gavin and the Kobolds. Sirschmoopy finds his old body and is reunited with all his possessions, including his beard and his silver key in the first season. Gavin "tricks" Roamin into giving him the Crystal of Talent, and insults Roamin. Roamin, furious at being tricked, multiclasses and faces off against Gavin through all the floors of the tower. Roamin is turned to stone by Gavin. Finally, our heroes seem defeated, until Abraham Lincoln shows up. Lincoln makes a wall of fire. Sirschmoopy finds a silver door and inserts his key, showing a multicolored portal. Lincoln sets up a curse by insulting the Judge of Cotswell and making himself explode, which used to be Sirschmoopy's curse. Just before Lincoln explodes, he urges Sirschmoopy to jump in. Before leaving, Sirschmoopy tells Gavin that he's Sirschmoopy, not James. He falls through the portal. In the credits, he lands on the groud and asks where he is...

Best Joke:
Roamin is doing random jobs around town.
Roamin: It's Professor Plum in the ballroom with the wrench.
Bystander: He's right!
Roamain: That will be $87.50.

I'll be making a new post for Seasons 3 and 4.

Brunch of Disgustingness

2008-08-30T13:42:00.000-07:00

The remaining campers have reached the halfway point. Too bad Harold isn't there to enjoy it. The teams are separated into genders. They are forced to eat disgusting food.
Camper out: I don't know
Quote:
No good one yet

Henry Reed Inc.

2008-08-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

Summary:
Henry is the son of an American diplomat. Henry goes to an American school in Naples, Italy. During the summer, he will be going to Princeton to meet his aunt and uncle. His English teacher orders everyone that is going to America to write a journal about how kids make money. Henry describes most of the people in his class as lazy, so he thinks he should try to make the best journal.
Later, Henry meets his aunt and uncle. While they are driving, they see a beagle on the road. Henry decides to take it home and try to find the owner. Henry's uncle comments that Henry is like his naturalist mother. Later at his aunt and uncle's house Henry decides to name his dog Frightful.
The next day, Henry hears about researching from his uncle and decides to start a research company. He is painting a sign when the only child in the neighborhood, Midge, comes. Henry describes her as a girl who looks like a rabbit and has a terrible sense of humor. Midge begs to Henry to be in the company and proves her skill by telling Henry about different types of research. Pure research is research someone does to solve a mystery. Applied research is research you do for someone else. Henry decides to do pure research for himself and applied research for others. At last, when Midge offers two rabbits for tests, Henry consents.
Midge takes Henry to see the two rabbits. Henry only sees one, Margaret. Midge finally admits that the other rabbit, Jeremiah, escaped his cage two weeks before. Midge always tries to catch Jeremiah, but the smart rabbit always manages to run into the Apple's, a bratty family of old people, and Midge is always chased out the yard by Mr. Apple. Henry agrees that Midge can be part of the firm, but he won't put her name on the company sign until she gives two rabbits as promised.
The company starts out by trying to catch Jeremiah. They have Agony, who's trained in catching rabbits, to get Jeremiah. Agony chases Jeremiah, but the tricky rabbit soon sneaks away and Agony ends up chasing Mr. Apple's mean cat, Siegfried. They catch it, but Mrs. Apple is so frightened she calls the police. Fortunately, the kids aren't in trouble.
Next, Henry and Midge try to get a bathtub to store earthworms they sell for fishing. They go nearby to a farm to get a bathtub, but while driving back, the tractor Henry is driving stops in the middle of the road. This causes a traffic jam. Even Princeton University engineers on the scene can't start the tractor. They finally decide to carry away the tractor.
Later, Henry Reed Inc. do their first research plan on a magic art called divining. They are told by a construction worker about divining and decide to test it. Henry finds nothing, but Midge is able to find the same spot with divining, even with blindfolds. The two decide to dig there, but instead of finding water, they find oil! An old resident of the neighborhood states that an oil tanker was buried there a long time ago. Henry and Midge quickly become rich from the oil.
A minor problem happens during July 4th. Henry's family car gets mixed up with the Apple's car and there's huge mishap. Everything works out though.
Henry and Midge try many times to trap Jeremiah. In one attempt, Henry places a box trap on his garden. However, the Siegfried trespasses and gets trapped in it. Mr. Apple threatens to tell the police, but Henry and Midge will respond by talking about how they once saw Mr. Apple try to shoot a deer.
For their next experiment, Henry's uncle asks him to help fix the pipe that drains away the rainwater. It usually gets clogged, so it floods the garden. During another failed attempt to get Jeremiah, Agony chases Jeremiah into the pipe. Henry tries to go the other side, but he's late by a second. Meanwhile, Agony is stuck inside the pipe and can't be fed. Henry calls the fire department and they decide to make a new and bigger pipe. So, an accident Henry had actually turned out to solve his problem.
It's nearing the end of the year and Henry and Midge decide to do one research project. They want to help the Army to show that humans and animals can ride hot- air balloons for military campaigns. They put pigeon in a cage with an alarm clock. Henry and Midge work on the ultimate project of making a hot- air balloon. An hour after the balloon goes up, the alarm clock will open the cage releasing the pigeon, who will fly down to prove it's safe. However, Siegfried kills the pigeon and ruins the project. An angry Midge makes the balloon rise trapping Siegfried in. Agony is caught in the balloon too. Siegfried jumps off and hangs on a roof, while the kids watch it suffer. The kids get a neighbor who's an expert at guns and he shoots down the balloon down expertly. Agony isn't hurt. Pictures prove the experiment is successful.
Mr. Apple comes home and is in a big surprise. His cat's dangling on a roof and his lawn is ruined by escaped farm goats that Henry left in earlier. Henry's uncle reveals that he found out that Mr. Apple claimed to find a grass that grew in spirals. However, the goat ate it all.
Soon, Henry has to go away. He gets a gift that's an enlarged picture of Agony on the balloon and Siegfried dangling. Henry's uncle asks Henry to take a picture of Mount Vesuvius erupting, as he predicts Henry's knack of trouble will make it erupt. Henry promises.
This, like all the other books I read, was awesome. A solid 11/10. It's funny, interesting, and actually teaches some trivia facts. It's great that there's four sequels, Henry Reed's Journey, about Henry and Midge driving across the US. In Henry Reed's Baby- Sitting Service, when Henry and Midge become babysitters. At Henry Reed's Big Show, Henry and Midge start a show. Finally, Henry Reed's Think Tank, Henry and Midge start a think tank to help everyone in town. I also recommend one of the author's other books, Homer Price, a book very similar to Henry Reed Inc., and its sequel, Centerburg Tales.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

2008-08-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to write this post for a long time.
Summary:
There's first a brief introduction of the Clone Wars, a battle involving droids, robots that are mercenaries, and clone troopers, clones of the late bounty hunter, Jango Fett, and think nothing except of battle. The Jedi are sided with the clones, while an evil organization, the Separatists, with the Sith, renegade Jedi, control the droids. The Jedi are a group of police with laser swords, lightsabers, and a special magic called the Force. They then give an example by showing two Jedi Masters, Kit Fisto and my favorite Jedi, Plo Koon.
Now onto the story, the war is raging in the Inner Rim of the galaxy. The Outer Rim is controlled by crime lords, the Hutts. However, the Hutt leader, Jabba's, son, Rotta, is kidnapped. The Jedi must rescue Rotta if they wish to control the outer rim. Two Jedi, the talented Anakin and his former mentor Obi- Wan are the only Jedi available. However, there's a little problem communicating...
A huge war is raging on. It seems that after the two Jedi got a victory that seemed too easy, Anakin sent most of the army away to get supplies, and a new wave of droids are approaching. Obi- Wan scolds Anakin for sending out most of their army. Two clone generals, Rex and Cody, try to hold off the army. However, some large cannons approach. Anakin manages to destroy them in the end. Obi- Wan hopes his new apprentice will arrive with supplies and suggests to Anakin to get an apprentice. Anakin refuses, saying that it will only slow him down. However, the new apprentice, Ahsoka, arrives and said that she was ordered to Anakin.
The Separatists soon manage to get something very useful, an energy shield! The commander, Loathsom, decides to move the energy field forward, until their cannons manage to destroy the Jedi's cannons. Anakin and Ahsoka are assigned to destroy the shield generator.
Anakin and Ahsoka have disagreements from the start. Anakin refuses too teach her anything and they bicker over how to get past. When Ahsoka talks about how she wish she were a droid, that's when Anakin got an idea.
Later, Anakin and Ahsoka are crammed in a box, while the army is passing them. Ahsoka takes her chances and ends up triggering a trap. Droids come out of the ground, and Anakin is surrounded. Ahsoka knocks over a wall with a hole in the middle with the force. The two destroy the shield generator.
Obi- Wan managed to hold the droid army off a while by pretending to surrender. The two have a tea party to discuss what Loathsom will get. However, Obi- Wan's stalling works long enough. The shield turns off, and the paralyzed droid army meet their demise.
Later, Anakin and Ahsoka are informed of their mission. However, first they must climb up a cliff, to verse the droid army on the top. Anakin steals a droid speeder and gets to the top. Ahsoka catches a ride on an AT- TE (All Terrain Tactical Enforcer.)
The Droid Army falls against the army, but the Separatists are going to make it as hard as they can. Count Dooku, a Sith and leader of the Separatists, orders his apprentice, assassin Asajj to either get the Hutt or kill it. Meanwhile, Dooku goes to the Hutt's to start his role of the plan.
When inside the temple, a so- called caretaker tells them that the Huttlet is in the dungeon. The caretaker is actually a Separatist droid.
In the dungeon, Ahsoka makes a smart choice of killing the droids in the dungeon, as they were meant as a trap. They soon rescue the Huttlet, that Ahsoka names Stinky. However, it's sick with fever. The two treat it, while Asajj records it from above...
And projects it in the Hutt's palace. To Jabba's puny mind, it looks like the Jedi are torturing it. Jabba agrees to destroy any Jedi who passes.
Obi- Wan is flying to help Anakin as fast as he can. Together, with Cody, he manages to destroy Jabba's blockade ships. They land and go to rescue the Hutt.
Anakin finds a ship on the other side of a cliff and takes a bug to get there. However, then Asajj comes and battles Ahsoka. They're evenly matched. Then Anakin comes to the rescue, taking Ahsoka with him.
They land and find the "caretaker" droid approaching the ship. He says he's fleeing the planet, and Anakin realizes the droid tricked them. With his lightsaber, he cuts off the droid's head.
Obi- Wan and Asajj meet and battle fiercely. Asajj retreats when she realized she lost the Huttlet.
In their broken ship, Ahsoka manages to find a doctor droid who gives the Hutt medicine. It's cured of its fever, but soon, Anakin has a fight to survive. Jabba's ships are approaching, and Anakin is forced to gun them down. They reach Tatooine and Dooku comes after them.
Dooku finds Anakin alone soon after, and they battle, until Dooku cuts Anakin's backpack. Anakin dumps out the contents to showing it to be just rocks. He says Ahsoka is heading to the Hutt's palace.
Meanwhile, Ahsoka is dueling four Magnagaurds, advanced, smart droids with electric poles. Anakin doesn't notice her and speeds off into the temple.
Meanwhile, a Senator, Padme, investigates on Jabba's uncle, Ziro. She later finds out she is imprisoned, but she uses reverse psychology on the droids to contact her own droid, C-3PO. It arrives with clone troopers and Ziro is arrested.
Anakin is arrived, but is sentenced to death when Ahsoka comes with Rotta. Jabba still orders the Jedi to death, until Zero contacts Jabba admitting he did it.
Anakin and Ahsoka arrive at the Jedi Temple, and every hero from the movie comes to applause them.
After this event...
During the final battles of the Clone Wars, Anakin is promoted to the Jedi Council, but doesn't become a master. He later finds out that he was promoted to spy on Chancellor Palpatine, since they are friends. Palpatine later admits he's the master of the Sith and tricks Anakin into joining him. Anakin proves his allegiance by killing Mace Windu, one of the best Jedi, but Palpatine is seriously scarred in the process. Later, Anakin kills every Separatist leader, maybe even Loathsom. Palpatine then executes a command called Order 66. He orders clone troopers to kill the Jedi and lies that they are enemies to the Republic. Cody returned Obi- Wan's lightsaber a moment before he heard Order 66. Even though he was friends with him, he ordered an AT- TE to kill Obi- Wan. However, Obi- Wan's lizard shields him and dies into the process. Obi- Wan falls into a swamp, but lives. Sadly, Plo Koon was killed in Order 66. His probably, best and only friend, Commander Ragg shot him down in a ship. Later, Anakin kills many of the Jedi. But only 1o manage to survive. Obi- Wan duels Anakin and the fierce battle ends with Obi- Wan making peace with the force and slicing of all of Anakin's arms and legs. Yoda challenges Palpatine, but Yoda is defeated and retreats. Palpatine finds Anakin and turns him into a cyborg called Darth Vader. They together make a huge space station. Vader kills Obi- Wan in a battle and blows up a planet. However, Anakin's son, Luke, destroys the Death Star with Vader as the only survivor. As the Sith is building another Death Star, Vader duels Luke and cuts off Luke's hand. Later at the Death Star 2, Luke is tortured by Palpatine. Darth Vader turns back into Anakin and kills the Emperor. However, in the process, his suit is malfunctioned and he can no longer breathe. He dies soon after the Death Star explodes. At a celebration party, Luke cremates Anakin and sees the spirits of Anakin, Yoda, who died before the victory from age, and Obi- Wan. Some of the film's character's fates are unknown. Nobody knows what happened to Ahsoka, and when Jabba wrote his last will, before he was killed by the Jedi for crimes, he stated he had no children. All the clone troopers were killed sooner or later. But as for Ahsoka and Rotta's fate, we might never know...
There were many ads advertising The Clone Wars. Lunchables had their unique flip- and- fold card with a special code on each and when put together, showed a picture of most of the film's characters showing a battle pose. The codes are Anakin: chosenone, Obi- Wan: general, Ahsoka: padawan, and Yoda: master.

The Bronze Pen

2008-08-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

Summary:
Audrey is in the kitchen shelling peas when she says it. She talks about the lady in the cave. Her parents are shocked. They want to call the police.
You find out about how Audrey met the lady. Audrey is a girl who wants to be an author. Her mother has a mean boss and is depressed, and her father has a heart disease called angina pectoris.
One day, while Audrey is writing on the porch, a duck comes. She is a bird- lover like her late grandmother. She follows it to a cave she played Pirate with her friends, the Mayberrys, before they moved away. She finds an old lady and tells her that she wants to be an author, before running away.
Now we're back in the present. Audrey visits the old lady one more time and tells her all her secrets. The old lady gives Audrey a bronze pen hat she says to use wisely and to good purpose. Audrey then leaves.
The first thing she uses the pen for is to write a note to the lady about the police. Audrey writes she wishes she could send it, but stops midway. She returns to find the letter gone. The police find the cave empty.
Audrey then writes a story about a girl that can talk to animals. Soon, she kicks her dog, Beowulf, by accident and he tells her to say sorry. She's shocked and she goes to her parrot, Sputnik. It starts saying how bad its previous owner was. After a day, the spell wears off.
Next, she writes about the pirate game they used to play and finds herself held hostage in the cave by real cannibal pirates! Luckily, she escapes.
Audrey has to do an extra credit project, because she gets bad grades, because she's caring for her dad. She has to write a book for first- graders. She writes about a baby dragon, as she had a pretend baby dragon when she was little. She writes it with her bronze pen. Later at night, she sees a baby dragon under her bed! She tries to put it in her dog's home, but it dissapears.
The next day, she teams up with a new girl named Lizzie Morales. They become best friends and Audrey lets her in on the secret. Lizzie believes her and they decide to figure out how the pen works. Lizzie tries to use it, but nothing happens. They conclude it makes things you write come true and only works on Audrey.
When Lizzie is on a vacation, Heather finishes the book about the girl that can talk to animals, when a dog and cat make peace. Then Beowulf and Sputnik start saying giberrish to each other. Soon after, Audrey notices that Sputnik no longer pecks Beowulf.
Soon afterwards, she wishes her mom's boss won't be so tough and that her father will get better. Soon her mother is fired for taking the morning off for driving her father to the hospital. Audrey believes the pen grants the wishes in a bad way and throws the pen in the garden.
Later, her mother is rehired by a new boss (the old boss was promoted.) Audrey's dad goes to a hospital, where a rich man paid to benefit heart surgery, and is cured.
Audrey learns to write wisely and to good purpose and that any furred or feathered creature could be an important messenger.
This is a good book, except some parts are little strange. This gets 8/10. It's still an amazing book. There should be a sequel called the Oak Paintbrush (about Lizzie.)

Sneak peek in Audrey's notebook:
Debby's Dragon
By Audrey Abbot
Debby liked to think about dragons and play that she could see them. Beautiful dragons who could fly and shoot fire out of their noses.
In her room, Debby had lots of dragn pictures and toy dragons, too.
She had silver dragons and wooden dragons and dragons made out of glass.
But Debby had a secret. In her room, along with toy dragons, there was one real live dragon who sometimes hid under her bed.
Debby and her baby dragon went on being almost friendly for a long time. Until the dragon got too big to hide under the bed and Debby got too old to imagine him so well. Then he went away.

X- Treme Torture

2008-08-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

Summary:
The campers are forced to suffer painful challenges in order to win. Some of the challenges involve sofa skydiving and mud jet skiing. This will be a rough competition.
Camper out: Very, very, very... dissapointing
Quote:
No good one yet
Summary:
Chris gives out the tradition.
(Theme song starts)
The campers wake up from Chris' helicopter training. He destroys the confessional bathroom, but a new one is built. The campers are told that the next challenge will be an extreme sports challenge. He says that the winning team receives a multi- massage shower. Most people are desperate, mostly the Gophers.
Gwen and Bridgette find a mysterious poem on a plate. They argue on who its for.
The first contest is sofa skydiving. DJ and Trent must dive off a plane onto a sofa. However, when Chef gives an example of the process, the sofa ends up closing on him. Both of the challengers are frightened, but DJ, who isn't scared, even though he is afraid of heights, tries to cheer Trent up, but accidentally pushes him off. Meanwhile, the Gophers can't move their sofa, because Owen is sleeping on it. However, Heather marks a spot for Trent to land on. The Bass criticize her for her cruelty, but eventually accept it. They are so busy fighting, that Trent falls a few feet away from the sofa. He's taken away. Meanwhile, DJ freaks out while diving and doesn't activate the parachute properly, but it still opens. He lands safely giving the first point to the Bass.
Next is the moose rodeo riding. The campers have to ride 8 seconds on a bucking moose. Geoff is unprepared and ends up diving into a pile of sweaty socks. While Gwen and Bridgette make peace, they are unaware of the the trouble Leshawna is in. However it's worth it, she earns the Gopher's first point.
The final match is mud jet skiing. It's Harold vs. Lindsay. Harold is sure that he'll win and won't be bullied afterwards. He's the first one up and Heather is driving the boat. Despite difficulties, he manages to get all the flags, but when Heather is about to cut him loose, the boat crashes and explodes. This isn't fair as it's Heather's fault. Next, Lindsay is up. The Gophers think they'll lose, but don't know what Lindsay can achieve when she's desperate. She manages to get all the flags and makes Duncan, who's driving, crash into a tree. She gives the win to the Gophers.
The final marshmallow goes to either Harold or Duncan. It's a hard choice, as the episode will either eliminate my favorite camper or the strongest camper on the team, besides Eva. In the end, I choose Harold over Duncan, but the Bass don't. I was completely shocked. I continued watching.
Harold packs up and leaves. He doesn't complain and says he had a great time at camp. He says he sent the poems to Leshawna. Everyone is shocked. Harold leaves. Later, Leshawna chases Heather for making Harold lose.
Camper out: Unfortunately, Harold. He was my favorite camper. I'll still watch the show, but I'm nuetral, though I slightly want DJ to win. I'll never forget him at camp. There's rumors that two campers will be brought back in another episode and there's going to be a sequel to TDI. I'm crossing my fingers for Harold to come. In his audition, he shows his many Possum Scout badges and plays his keyboard. He does well, but then it falls over.
Quote:
Harold: If there's one thing I'm sure of, winning is inevitable. Today, I say good-bye to nerdy, bullied, wedgied, and toilet plungered Harold and hello to Dirty Harold!
Memoirs of Harold:
Going to camp
Making a bad impression
Winning the dodgeball match
Winning the talent show
Fighting against ninjas
Burning canoe oars
Winning blind bungee
Getting bullied
Eliminating Courtney
Leaving camp

Basic Straining

2008-08-21T14:51:00.000-07:00

The campers have to be in a boot camp run by Chef. Duncan bullies Harold to the limit, causing Harold to get revenge.
Camper out: Surprising
Quote:
No good one yet

Summary:

(Missed) Chris states that the this will be the most dramatic ceremony.

(Theme song starts)

Chef calls everyone out to the docks. However, the Bass boys stick Harold's underwear in smores, stalling him.

Chef tells everyone they'll be in a boot camp run by him. Everyone is dissapointed, except Gwen, who actually likes the challenge.

The first part is holding a canoe over your head. Everyone thinks this is easy, but they're wrong. Three hours later, Harold gets a fishing- pole wedgie. He acts quicky and is kept in the challenge. However, Lindsay can't take it and she forfeits.

Lunch is garbage. Heather and Courtney refuse to eat it.

Later, Chef forces everyone to write a 300- word essay on why they like Chef so much. Duncan writes 5 pages worth of very in his essay. Trent and DJ fall asleep and are eliminated for their laziness.

Later is dancing to tire the campers out. I laughed until tears came out when I saw the crazy dance.

Next is an obstacle course. Campers who can't finish the obstacle course in a minute are eliminated. Some funny things happening are Owen making the climbing wall collapse, Heather getting tangled on a rope, and Leshawna getting stuck in mud. This challenge eliminates most of the campers.

Later, in a boathouse he was sent to for kissing Chef on the nose, Duncan dares Courtney to steal food. They become friends and get snacks for everyone. Later someone drew a peanut butter smiley face on Harold's bed. Harold sees Duncan and Courtney and decides to get revenge.

Later, the campers are forced to hang on trees. Duncan jumps off. Heather quits due to Owen's farting, but Owen soon falls on her. Courtney falls down from laughing. It's Gwen vs. Geoff. Gwen claims she can do this all day. Geoff soon drops off. The Gophers win.

At the campfire ceremony, Harold gets the last marshmallow again and Courtney is eliminated. The other Bass claim they didn't vote her off. Courtney is dragged to the Boat and Duncan gives her a carved skull as a gift.

Later, Harold is thinking about Duncans bullying. Then you see him opening the voting box, adding different papers, and smiling.

Camper out: Courtney, about time! She was eliminated when Harold switched the votes. Bonus! In her audition, she gets her student council speech and audition speech mixed- up and threatens not to make the cameraman her secretary, unless he makes a remake.

Quote:

Chef: This is just one sentence with five pages of verys in between!

Duncan: It's three hundred words exactly. You can count it if you want.

Who Can You Trust?

2008-08-14T17:48:00.000-07:00

The campers have to rely on each other to finish their challenges. This episode might be pretty funny.
Camper out: Mysterious
Quote:
No good one yet
Regular tradition.
(Theme song starts)
Chris tells the campers their next challenge is to test their trust. He says that he will be choosing partners.
The first competition is a cliff rigged with booby traps. The teams are Heather and Gwen and DJ and Duncan. DJ tells Geoff to hold Bunny. Heather sets up a secret rope on Gwen's harness. Gwen seems to be an expert at rock climbing. Gwen soon triggers a dynamite explosion, and Heather tries to hold her. But Chris knows Heather's hate of being dirty and squirts sauce at her. Gwen falls to the ground, but catches up. Then Heather yanks the spare rope. It rips off the harness, showing Gwen's underwear to the Gophers. Despite the embarrassment, Gwen still manages to win.
The next competition is cooking the poisonous puffer fish. Geoff counts on Bridgette, and Trent is depending on Lindsay. Trent feels better when he hears that Lindsay takes Biology. Bridgette makes some nice sushi rolls that Geoff tastes and compliments. However, Lindsay offers a dish with chopped parts and a head in it. Trent tastes it and is fine at first, but then he chokes, punches himself, faints, and throws up on the floor. He's taken away. The Bass take this one. It turns out that Lindsay took and failed Biology. Trent is forced to have a purple formula injected into him.
Geoff and Bridgette celebrate, but Bunny is eaten by a snake, which in turn is eaten by a hawk, which is eaten by a shark. Geoff wonders what he should do.
Next is a Blind Triathlon. They first have Blind William Tell. According to the legend, William Tell was forced to shoot an arrow off an apple of his son after he refused to bow down to a dictator. He shoots the apple and eventually kills the dictator. The game is the other way around, except the shooter is blindfolded. Leshawna manages to get the arrow off after a few tries, but Sadie shoots Courtney so many times that Courtney has to go to the infirmary.
The next is Blind Trapeze. The jumper is blindfolded. Harold catches Bridgette, but Lindsay misses Heather, and Heather jumps in a lake full of jellyfish.
The last event is the Blind Toboggan Race. The Bass have to win it or they'll be tied. DJ refuses to talk to Geoff, but Duncan manages to find a replacement Bunny that looks like the old one, and might actually be the original one. DJ takes off his blindfold for a second and they win the race. However, the Bass lose for taking off the blindfold.
The last marshmallow goes to either Harold or Sadie. Courtney says that Sadie is going. Harold gets the marshmallow. Sadie calls everyone marshmallow- eating freaks, but soon forgets after she meets Katie. They scream and hug.
Camper out: Sadie, for no apparent reason. In her audition, she accidentally knocks Katie out ina pillow fight.
Quote:
Trent: I thought, you said, that you passed Biology!
Lindsay: I said I took Biology.

If You Can't Take The Heat

2008-08-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

Summary:
The campers have to cook a meal. This time, all the Gophers find out about the statue. It's pretty obvious who's going to get out. Meanwhile, the Bass get revenge at Harold for something he did.
Camper out: You know already
Quote:
No good one yet
Duncan wakes up and finds Harold's underwear next to him. The rest of the boys decide to teach Harold a lesson.
Chris tells everyone that their next challenge is a cooking contest. Geoff and Heather are captains. Geoff forms a union devoted to making Italian food. Heather leads a bunch of people who hate her and don't know anything about cooking.
The Bass seem to have a good time. DJ and Bridgette make spaghetti. Harold and Sadie make a antipasto. Duncan and Courtney are forced to work together to make a cake. They seem to have a good job getting everything done. However, the boys steal all of Harold's underwear and shorts, except a really small underwear. Harold wears his underwear to the kitchen, frightening everyone. The boys tell Harold to get a fresh pair of underwear and shorts that they placed in the drawer. However, the pair has hot sauce. Harold has his butt burned and then goes to the kitchen in his pajamas. He still doesn't admit it was his underwear.
The Gophers are making a random gourmet feast. Owen tries to get honey, from bees, but he gets stung twice. When he throws a crate of oranges at Trent, Trent couldn't continue in the challenge. Leshawna gets an allergic reaction, after Heather forced her to chop pineapples, even though Leshawna was allergic to pineapples.
(missed)
Owen gets the job of guarding the food. However, Owen's appetite takes over and he eats all the ribs.
There's then a taste test. Chris gives an excellent rating to the Bass. However, Chris hates the Gopher's ribs which he manages to get a small bite from and has the dessert explode at him and choke on it. The Bass win again. Heather is let out of the fridge by Lindsay and makes a startling discovery.

Beth's statue is on the dining table. The Gophers are furious at Beth, thinking that the statue she got cursed them. Then, there are commentaries about some team members wanting to vote her off. The final marshmallow goes to Heather, thus kicking Beth out.

Later, Harold still denies the truth and the boys play the ultimate prank. They drag Harold's bed to the lake and Harold wakes up embarassed. He finally accepts that he left his underwear out and the boys stop bothering him.

Camper out: Beth, she deserved it. In her audition, she tries to sing a song, but is off tune. No surprise.

Quote:

Courtney: Duncan is so inattentive in the challenges! (the tape fast forwards) Owning sun-glasses does not automatically make you cool. (the tape fast forwards again) And he has such poor fashion taste! And don't even get me started on his hair!

Trivia:

This episode proves that he American and Canadian TDI are different. At the end of the Canadian episode, Beth yells "I'll be back!" and Harold admits the truth earlier.

Frightful's Mountain

2008-08-02T07:58:00.000-07:00

This book is part of the Mountain trilogy. In the first book, My Side of the Mountain, a boy named Sam runs away to a forest. There, he survives on his own and gets a pet peregrine falcon Frightful, a weasel Baron Weasel, and a raccoon Jessie Coon James. In the next book, On the Far Side of the Mountain, some men steal Frightful from Sam. Sam's sister, Alice, soon runs away to find Frightful. Sam must find both of them. This is the last book in the series. This takes place at the same time as On The Far Side of the Mountain. Sam must release her to the wild.
Two men, Bate and Spud, Frightful and trying to sell her to a man named Skri. They go over to Sam's house, dressed as rangers, and told Sam that it was illegal to keep a falcon without a falconer license and take Frightful away. However, Alice realize that the men were Bate and Spud. She follows them and frees Frightful. Bate and Spud are arrested.
Frightful flies back to Sam, but he doesn't call her. She then flies away when a falcon named Chup leads her to a nest. Chup's mate died, so he wants Frightful to take care of his babies. Frightful soon becomes attached to one of the babies, Drum. She practices hunting with a dog. Later, the young falcons take off, when it's winter, but Frightful is clueless. Frightful finds Bate and Spud near a cabin. One of her eyases, Duchess, is there too. She helps Duchess escape the thieves. One day, while she's still near her nest, she bumps into a wire and is shocked.
A birds naturalist, Jon Wood, picks her up. He is shocked to find Frightful still alive. He notices her flight feathers are burnt and decides to keep her until winter is over. She makes a fast recovery. Jon's wife, Susan, names Frightful Destiny. When Jon Wood show Frightful to the school, the pupils write to the utility company and the company fixes three wires.
Frightful is freed and she flies back to the nest. The oldest of the nestlings, Lady, isn't lucky. She ate DDT and will die in a few years. Frightful doesn't follow Chup, because she wants to nest on an iron plate on a bridge. She mates with a falcon named 426 and they fly for Sam. Soon, Frightful lays three eggs. However, the bridge is being repaired and 426 is afraid of loud noises. Sam dresses up as a nest and feeds Frightful. Soon the eggs hatch. The babies are Oski, Screamer, and Blue Bill. However, some men arrive and say they want to take the babies, so their parents will follow them to a safer place. It turns out the men are Bate and Skri, who escaped from jail. Spud mysteriously vanished.
Only Frightful and Oski are left. 426 died. Sam takes Oski in a box and hangs it in his yard. Frightful can't find the box, so Sam feeds her, while in a chicken costume. Frightful soon finds Oski. Alice comes and tells Sam she found Mole in a cabin. She says there were two rangers there, but Sam knows there aren't any rangers there. He checks it out and finds Bate and Skri. They're both arrested. Screamer and Blue Bill are sent to a falconer named Perry Knowlton.
Soon, it's winter again. Frightful migrates this time and meets Drum along the way. Blue Bill follows some waterfowl, his favorite food, south. However, Screamer is shocked by a wire and his fate is unknown.
Later, Frightful comes back to the mountain. Sam asks her to stay, but she leaves when Chup comes. They make a nest on the roof of a courthouse. Sam has a feeling she will visit often.
Suddenly, a falcon flies through the air and lands on the box. It's Oski. She calls for a mate.
This is an awesome book, easily rate 10/10. However, I didn't like how Screamer bumped into the wire. I think he should have lived. However, this is a good way for the author to conclude the trilogy, but I think this book should have a sequel about Frightful's eyases called something like the Nestling's Mountain.

Paintball Deer Hunter

2008-07-25T17:38:00.000-07:00

Summary:
The statue's curse is still on the Gophers in the next challenge. Everyone will split into teams, Hunters and Deers. The Hunters hunt with paintballs. One Gopher will walk the Dock of Shame. Heather and Beth start a rivarly.
Camper out: Disappointing
Quote:
No good one yet
Summary:
Regular tradition starts.
(Theme song starts)
Christ annoys everyone by waking them up with a helicopter. He tells the campers that their next challenge is a paintball hunt.
Paintball guns are given to the hunters. Harold, Bridgette, and Geoff hunt for the Bass team, while Owen, Beth, Lindsay, and Leshawna hunt for the Gophers. Bridgette doesn't want to hunt, until she realizes that Heather is a deer.
Lindsay and Beth are forced to follow Heather's instructions. Cody is happy being a deer. He runs into Beth, who is carrying a bag of chips for Heather. She gives them to Cody, as she is tired of being bossed around by Heather. Heather attacks Beth. Leshawna comes and attacks Heather by accident. Soon, there's a huge paint fight. The Bass hunters notice the commotion and shoot the members.
Owen is going after DJ. He soon corners DJ, but runs out of ammo. DJ pushes Owen into the river. Owen then goes after Duncan, but his fart gives him away. Duncan runs into Courtney and they get their antlers are tangled together.
Cody is soon mauled by a bear, who wants his chips. He is forced to be attached to emergency equipment.
Back at camp, it's obvious who won: the Bass.
Cody talks about how he'll be fine, and then some campers talked about voting Cody off.
At the campfire ceremony, Cody and Heather are left. Heather gets the final marshmallow, and Beth pushes Cody to the Dock of Shame and shows him her Boney Island statue. Cody tries to say something, but there's bandages all over his mouth. Beth pushes Cody, but he falls off the dock.
Camper out: Cody. He was my second favorite character, and either Beth, who caused Cody's mauling, or Heather, who caused the team to lose. I thought that either he, or Harold would win. It's a terrible episode. In Cody's audition, he plays on an electric piano and his father turns off the camera.
Quote:
Cody: I was pretty psyched to be a deer. I'm small, but I'm quick. Lots of practice dodging spitballs in math class.
Memoirs of Cody:
Coming to Total Drama Island
Beating DJ and Katie in dodgeball
Being mauled by a bear

William Annin Middle School

2008-07-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

My family moved into a different town for a better school district. I have gotten a look at my school thanks to the program Camp Jumpstart held in it. It's a middle school stimulation, where we have lockers and go to different classes, for kids arriving at Middle Annin. These are the thing we do in our classes.
At the first day, since I was new, I stared. I just sat down and nobody noticed me. We went to our homeroom teacher Mrs. Osborne, the Study Skills teacher. She told us to bring binders to school and that we would be learning about organization and research. She taught us how to open locks, and I opened mine up before she finished explaining. We then went outside and played games to help us learn about each other. Then, we had lunch, where I sat with another new kid, Youske, who would become part of a small lunch group I would be in. After lunch, we played games that involved learning more about each other and working with teams. We had an activity where we had to do all sorts of things with a rope without using your hands. There, I made my first friend, Tommy. Soon the first day ended, and more serious things would start.
In Study Skills, we learned about organizing binders. A guidance counselor came and taught us about the counselor office and how to read schedules. Right now, the class is working on a project where we make a Powerpoint on a hero. My hero is Harry Houdini. My Powerpoint is almost completed. We had a presentation with a costume of our hero. I was in a straitjacket.
For English, we have Mr. Amicone. He taught us about exposition, rising action, conflict, climax, falling action, and resolution. He read us Rikki- Tikki- Tavi, one of my favorite stories, that I read about three times. It's about a mongoose that has to protect a human family by battling 3 snakes in the garden. We also watched the film and now we're making board games based on the book and film. This is probably the best class. My game was almost impossible though.
We then have snack. I'm in a small gang with Tommy, Youske, and Dayton (a kid who's in my Viking Academy group, which I'll explain later.) We just eat a snack and talk to each other about random things.
After that, there's math with Ms. German. On our first week, we made airplanes. I was so busy trying to make my plane perfect that I didn't have time to tape some parts. My plane flew only 4 feet, but when I tape some parts of the plane, it flew 34 feet beating the class' top record by 8 feet. We then used Skittles and popcorn to find out percentage. They were a tasty math challenge. We had Math Olympics too. We participated in kid versions of Olympic events, estimated our total, found the real totals, and made a graph to record our totals.
We also have Viking Academy. It's where we're divided into groups and learn different things about middle school. Our first class was Cooperative Learning with Mr. Karch. We learned to work together. It was pretty easy. The next class was Academic Q & A with Ms. Gialanella. She told us about homework and detention. There was then a tour of the school by Mr. Amicone, and a guide on the school website by Mrs. Osborne. I made bubble makers with Dayton in Science with Ms. German. We learned about making maps for Social Studies with Mrs. O' Brien, and clubs with Ms. Fuellhart. We had a boring lesson about community service with Mrs. Bollaro. Mr. Bouton talked fire drills for a minute, then gave us Sudoku to work on. We ended Viking Academy with Mr. Mullarkey giving us letters to decorate for a mural. I made a Senior N and Action N.
Every Wednesday, we have a Field Trip. The first was to Liberty Science Center. I saw basically everything I saw before, but I watched a different movie that was about Mummies. We also went to Adventure Aquarium. It was awesome, with all the exhibits, but my group had a strict chaperone, and the bus ride was too long. Dorney Park stank! There were only two interesting rides.
On the last day, we had a scavenger hunt. I figured out 2 puzzles and our class came in second. This was only because two people we sent out took a long time looking for a clue in the wrong place. We then had a pizza party. I said good- bye to all my friends. Everyone watched a slideshow of Camp Jumpstart, got binders and binder pencil cases, and the Camp ended. I can't wait until school starts!

Up The Creek

2008-07-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

Summary:
The campers must row up a creek to an island called Boney Island. The Bass are going to have major problems again, but one unpopular Gopher might bring home something that will curse all the Gophers and send them on a losing spree.
Camper out: Surprising and funny
Quote:
No good quotes

Summary:
Regular tradition is given.
(Theme song starts)

Chris explains to everyone about their next challenge. They are going to canoe to Boney Island. They'll then walk their canoes to the other side, make a rescue fire, and row back. He tells them that if they take anything of the island, they'll be cursed. Beth comes back, from the bathroom, and asks if she missed anything. Chris briefly tells her canoes. Both campers reach the island, unknown of the dangers.

The Bass are fine. The Gophers are a magnet for misfortunes on the island. They first run into monster beavers, which they outrun. When Owen farts, man- eating birds notice the group. Cody leads the birds away with bread. The Bass end up in a fork. They choose right, while the Gophers choose left. Cody saves Lindsay and Trent by trying to grab them from a vine. He ends up smashing into a tree. However, the force lets down a vine, which Trent and Lindsay climb up. Geoff breaks his foot on purpose, to attract the attention of Bridgette. Both teams arrive on the other side and make the fire. The Bass have the advantage from Duncan's lighter. Harold accidentally throws the paddles in the fire, in his carelessness. The Gophers score the point with Izzy's natural fire starter, that she made, which turns their fire into a raging inferno. Beth takes a souvenir, before leaving. The Gophers row back. DJ is the Bass' only hope. He conquers his other fear of water and swims the Bass back to shore beating the Gophers. This was Beth's souvenir's first reign of bad luck!
At the campfire, the final marshmallow is between Lindsay and Izzy. Suddenly, a police helicopter comes and Izzy runs away. The bad luck has struck again! Leshawna then remembers a story Izzy told her about burning a kitchen and the police being after her.
Later, Beth looks at her new statue. The camp lights go out.
Camper out: Izzy. She was cursed by bad luck. In her audition, she twirls a fire baton and it starts the emergency shower.
Quote:
Gwen: Cody, to me, is like a little brother.
Cody: (Makes air guitar noises in the confessional)
Gwen: An extremely annoying little brother.

Phobia Factor

2008-07-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

Summary:
The campers are forced to face their worst fears. The only one not struggling at it is Beth. However, one camper will succumb to their fear and will be forced to walk the Dock of Shame.
Fears:
Beth: Bugs
DJ: Snakes
Gwen: Being Buried Alive
Geoff: Hail
Lindsay: Walking through a mine field- Bad haircuts
Heather: Sumo Wrestlers
Duncan: Celine Dion music store standees
Tyler: Chickens
Harold: Ninjas
Trent: Mimes
Bridgette: Being alone in the woods
Leshawna: Spiders
Sadie: Bad haircuts
Cody: Defusing a time bomb under pressure
Owen: Flying
Courtney: A big surprise
Izzy: Flying
Camper out: I'm not telling!
Quote:
No good one yet
Chris gives the regular tradition.
(Theme song starts)
Sadie is still crying. Bridgette yanks Sadie off the dock and some of it goes with her. Theya whole conversation about the camper's fears. The cameramen report this and Chris forces the campers to force their fears.
Beth is easily able to face her fears by eating worms. Lindsay and Sadie are forced to wear hideous wigs. Owen and Izzy have the flight of their lives, in a broken plane! Harold fights ninjas in the bathroom. Leshawna runs for her life from Chef Hatchet in a spider suit. Heather unintentionally makes a sumo wrestler trip on her, giving the Gophers another win. Bridgette heads into the woods. Gwen is buried, while in a glass case. DJ touches a snake, after suffering from Courtney's bossiness. Trent tells Gwen how he first met a mime and how the mime mimicked everything he did. Trent turns around and finds a mime. He runs away. Cody has to defuse a time bomb attached to garbage. Duncan hugs a Celine Dion standee earning the Bass another win. Trent is still running away from the mime. He devises a plan. He jumps in the water and tells the mime, if he jumps in, he'll ruin his make- up. The mime leaves. Geoff is chased by a robotic hail cloud. Trent asks Chris if they forgot something and is reminded of Gwen, when Chris talks about burying Geoff in hail. Bridgette is frightened when she hears an explosion and then sees Cody covered in garbage. She runs away, giving up her task. Gwen comes out safely and wins another point. Tyler chickens out against his fear, and Chris tells Courtney he knows her fear. He figured out that Courtney was afraid of green jelly, when he saw her freak out. Courtney refuses to face her fear. Every camper who's doing a challenge automatically loses. The Bass lose.
Tyler is the one to walk the Dock for not facing his fear. Lindsay says good- bye.
Camper out: Tyler. This isn't fair as it's Courtney's fault. Courtney should be out! Tyler was my brother's favorite character. Tyler's Audition: Tyler wipes out in football, diving, and basketball.

Quote:

Lindsay: (after seeing Geoff being chased by a hail cloud) Awww, how cute. That cloud is following him. It's like his own little cloud. I want one. Here little cloudy-cloud.

The Sucky Outdoors

2008-07-06T17:20:00.001-07:00

Summary:
The campers must survive outdoors. However, it's not the conditions they're suffering from, it's each other. The Bass team will suffer some casualties and a close friendship will be broken temporarily, but not enough to save the camper.
Camper out: It's a surprise!
Quote:
Courtney: You're such an ogre!
Duncan: I've been called worse.
Summary:
Chris gives the tradition and claims it will be the most exciting marshmallow ceremony ever.
(Theme song starts)
The campers are told that they would have to camp out in the woods, and the first team back with all their campers win. Both teams will have trouble involving bears, weather, and friendships.
The Killer Bass quickly lose two of their players, Katie and Sadie, who wander off to eat blueberries. The two BFFFL's (Best Female Friends For Life) quickly vow that they wouldn't be friends with each other and find refuge in a cave. The rest of the Killer Bass are unsuccessful finding food and decide to live off berries and grubs. Meanwhile, DJ gets a pet rabbit called Bunny. Duncan tells a creepy story about a killer who has a hook hand and scares the group with a toy hook. The Bass are scared to leave the tent, but are forced to when Bridgette burns the tent with a coal from a campfire. The Bass campers sleep outside miserable.
The Screaming Gophers seem to have more luck and are getting along, except for the Heather and Gwen. Owen gets a huge load of fish, and entertains the Gophers with a story about how he and his grandpa killed a 10- foot bear. Izzy soon goes missing, and the group suspects that she was eaten by a bear. Very soon, a bear attacks and it is found out that Owen was just making up the story to build up drama. The campers climb up a tree, and when Leshawna falls down, the bear reveals itself as Izzy. Later at dinner, another bear attacks. Half of the group believe it's Chris in a costume, while another careful half walk away. Owen takes the risk of walking to the bear, and finds out it's real. The Gophers climb up a tree to sleep there and lose their map.
Later, both teams make it back. The Bass seemingly win, but are missing Tweedledum and Tweedleidiot (Duncan's way of calling Katie and Sadie). The team is convinced that Katie and Sadie were eaten. Then, the two campers come back and become friends again. Chris gives the Gophers a free trip to the Tuck Shop. The Bass are infuriated. Later at the campfire pit, Katie is the one to walk the Dock of Shame.
Katie and Sadie are miserable that they have to be separated, but Sadie feels better when Katie tells her to win it for both of them. At the cabin, Duncan apologizes to Courtney for scaring her and then whips out his hook. Courtney screams, and Duncan is pleased.
Camper out: Katie, for coming back late with Sadie and costing the team the challenge. Katie's Audition: Katie and Sadie are dancing and Katie does a spin and topples the camera.

Help! I'm A Prisoner in The Library! (100th Post)

2008-07-06T11:25:00.000-07:00

Every week in the summer, I'm going to write a book report about a book I got from the library. This week's book is Help! I'm a Prisoner in the Library!
Book Report:

Mary Rose and Jo- Beth's dad is called Last- Minute Harry for a reason. He always waits to do everything at the last minute. However, waiting until the last minute to fill the car with gas leaves them stranded on the road in the middle of a blizzard. Jo- Beth has to go to the bathroom so they enter a library, The Finton Memorial Library, which is also a home for the librarian. After they're done, they are so interested by a display of an old school wagon, that they forgot the closing time, which was right now. The librarian, Mrs. Finton, checks the library for kids, but doesn't find Mary Rose and Jo- Beth. Harry knocks on the door and claims his daughters are in there, but Mrs. Finton doesn't believe him and closes the door. She locks Mary Rose and Jo- Beth in and goes upstairs to sleep.
At first, the sisters panic. Jo- Beth, the imaginative one, tries to make a sign. Mary Rose, the one with common sense, tries to call the police. While Mary Rose is calling the police, Jo- Beth yells in the phone and the police department hangs up. Jo- Beth screws up on the sign and spells Library Liberry. Then, all of the sudden, a blackout starts, and all the tiny lights in the library go off.
The sisters panic again, until Mary Rose turns on a flashlight key chain. They find a piece of chocolate that they share and a mynah bird that loves to say "Off with their heads!" Suddenly, the sisters hear moaning and a thump.
The two go upstairs, believing it was a monster, and find what seems like a dead body on the floor. They soon realize it's alive when it wakes up. They realized it moaned when it tripped after the lights went off, and the thump was when it fell down. They help it by keeping it warm and help themselves to the fridge. It soon wakes up and stares at the sisters eating chicken legs next to the fridge.
Mrs. Finton is furious that that the sisters were in her house. However, she soon forgives them. They look at her collection of wooden storybook characters, save a stranded cat, and set off fireworks. Jo- Beth comes up with a plan to save the wooden storybook characters when Mrs. Finton is gone. She says they can turn the museum into a storybook museum. Mrs. Finton promises them that she'll try.
Later, the power is back on. The girls call Harry and he comes to the rescue. Later, a cameraman takes a picture of the abandoned sign: Help! I'm A Prisoner of the Liberry!
Review:
This is an awesome book. It has a unique and interesting plot. It's like a library version of My Side of the Mountain. Out of a scale of 1- 10, I give it an 8.5. It's still an amazing book though.
Quote:
Jo Beth: "What's it doing here anyway? What kind of a library is this? I'll tell you one thing, Mary Rose. I'm not going up any more steps. If we do, it will be to our certain death." Jo- Beth liked the sound of that. She repeated it with joyful gloom. "Certain death."
As celebration of my 1o0th post, I colored this my favorite color.

Not Quite Famous

2008-07-06T06:44:00.000-07:00

Chris gives the regular tradition.
(Theme song starts)
The campers wake up and figure out they have to figure out they have to make a talent show. Heather quickly takes charge of the Gophers and Courtney takes charge of the Bass. The Gophers quickly decide that Heather, who will dance, and Justin, who will also dance. Meanwhile, Gwen goes away annoyed to write in her diary after Cody bothers her. He tries to take a look in her diary, but Gwen forces him to scram.
Meanwhile, Lindsay is sent by Heather to spy on Gwen, but Lindsay is distracted by Tyler. Later, when Gwen goes swimming (also spoiled by Cody), Heather steals Gwen's diary for a surprise. Meanwhile, the team decides on Trent to perform his guitar too.
Meanwhile, it's decided that DJ will do a ribbon dance and Geoff will do skateboard tricks. Courtney was supposed to play her violin, but Bridgette accidentally breaks it in a bet. Bridgette volunteers to replace her in the talent show with a performance of her standing on her head.
The talent show begins. Justin's flash dance scores 7 points. However, DJ tangles himself in his ribbon and earns his team only 2 points. Trent performs a song on his guitar which dishes 9 points. However, Bridgette feels sick from cookies she ate earlier and starts a puking frenzy in which she, Owen, Katie, Sadie, Leshawna, and Tyler are involved. She only gets 2 points. Heather then reads Gwen's diary. Because of her cruelty, she doesn't earn anything for her team. Geoff breaks his skateboard forcing the team to choose their last player: Harold.
Harold starts beatboxing. He earns a perfect 10 points for his team. Hooray! Even though they lost by 2 points, Chris gave the challenge to the Bass for Harold's perfect performance.
Meanwhile, Heather forces Lindsay, Beth, Izzy, and Owen to vote for Justin. This causes him to be the next player to walk the Dock of Shame. Half of the gophers are infuriated at Heather.
At night, Gwen asks Harold for his red ant farm. Heather runs out screaming in the night with ants biting her.
Camper out: Justin, because Heather secretly plotted against him. No lesson here. In Justin's audition, he walks around while the camera says Justin.
Quote:
Owen: There are two syllables for hot: Jus and Tin. Man, that guy's so hot I could kiss him! Because he's a good teammate! Do'h! Why did I just say that?

Kung Fu Panda

2008-07-05T15:35:00.000-07:00

Today I watched the movie I've been wanting to watch for the whole summer, Kung Fu Panda. The movie was awesome and clearly an A+. The plot is as follows.
A story tells of a Dragon Warrior who's a panda. It is just a dream and ends abruptly when a clumsy panda, Po, who wants to be the dragon warrior wakes up. In a martial arts training temple, Jade Temple, the Master Shifu is told of a prophecy from the wise master, Master Oogway the turtle. He says Tai Lun is going to escape. No one knows who Tai Lun is so far, but they can tell he's evil by the surprised look on Shifu's face.
Later, Shifu orders a ceremony to coronate a dragon warrior out of the Furious Five. They are:
Tigress: The fierce and cunning tiger who seems to be the leader of the group.
Monkey: The acrobatic member of the group.
Viper: A sneaky and swift fighter who gives opponents a hug they'll never forget.
Mantis: A small but strong warrior.
Crane: A fighter whose wings come in handy for battle.
Po hears of this. He tries to go to watch the battle, but his father, Ping, refuses to let him go, unless he sells noodles from their family noodle shop. Po gives up on dragging the noodle cart later and runs to the temple. However, the gates close. Po tries many ways to get in the temple, until finally using a chair of fireworks to go in. He lands in the group of the Furious Five. Master Oogway chooses him as the dragon warrior.
Meanwhile as someone from Shifu delivers a message to the prison to increase security, Tai Lun escapes. He picks his lock with a feather and breaks out. It is revealed he is a snow leopard. He beats up all the 1000 guards and escapes into the night.
Later, everyone doubts Po is the dragon warrior. However, when Oogway orders Shifu to train Po on his deathbed, Shifu agrees. Meanwhile, Tigress tells Po the story of Tai Lun. Tai Lun was Shifu's adopted son and was a master at kung fu. However, when Shifu denies Tai Lun as the dragon warrior, since Oogway sensed darkness in Tai Lun's heart, Tai Lun tried to destroy the valley. This led to him being imprisoned.
Shifu trains Po and learns Po could outmatch him in fighting when Po was encouraged by food. Po quickly reaches the highest level and gets the dragon scroll, a scroll destined for the dragon warrior. However when he opens it, it's blank.
Tai Lun attacks the Furious Five. Tigress is especially angry at him, because Shifu didn't appreaciate her much, because she reminded him of Tai Lun. Tai Lun quickly defeats them by attacking their pressure points. Tai Lun then heads toward Shifu.
While the villagers are evacuating, Ping tells Po the ingredient of his Secret Ingredient Secret Soup: nothing. It only tastes good, because people believe it is special. Ping teaches Po that anything can be special if you believe it is. Po opens the scroll again and realizes it shows his reflection. He believes he's special and feels the true power of the scroll.
Tai Lun severely beats Shifu, but Po comes to the rescue. Po's fat blocks Tai Lun's pressure point attacks. They scar each other and Tai Lun grabs the dragon scroll and opens it. Tai Lun doesn't realize the lesson and tries to destroy Po. Po slams Tai Lun down to the ground. Po then uses the Wuxin Finger Hold. There's a huge explosion. However, there's a chance Tai Lun didn't die, because Shifu tells Po it just stuns an opponent.
Po rescues Shifu and they meditate in the Valley of Peace.
This movie was amazing. I was stunned by the amazing battles, great graphics, and humor. This movie also teaches many lessons. It's a must- see for everyone.
Chinese Trivia:
Shifu means master.
Oogway means turtle.
Tai Lun means too cold.
Quote:
Master Oogway: Yesterday was history, tommorow is a mystery, and today is a gift, that's why it's called the present.

Dodge Brawl

2008-06-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

Chris gives the tradition and says it's the most dramatic campfire ceremony yet.
(Theme song starts)
It's morning and the Killer Bass are in a grumpy mood. Harold kept them up all night. He keeps on repeating that it's a medical condition. Heather tries to force the Bass into quiting. Courtney tries to attack her, but ends up attacking Gwen.
Chris tells everyone their next challenge is dodge ball. However, Duncan, the Bass' toughest player after Eva left, falls asleep and says if they wake him up, it'll be the last thing they do.
The Gophers win their first game when Cody knocks out DJ with a hook shot and Katie with a ball charged with static electricity, a trick Cody learns making machines. Tyler orders the team to give them all the balls, so he can win the round. The team refuses, because the first time he threw the ball it hit Katie, but they agreed in the end. Meanwhile Noah neglects his duty of going up, and Heather goes instead.
Tyler throws all the balls. The only ball that hits a target crashes into Lindsay. Tyler gets himself out, and they go on a walk. The Gophers win the round.
The Bass team are desperate. They wake up Duncan by sticking a stick up his nose. He's angry at first, but calms down when he finds out the situation. They used a move he learned in jail called Run the New Guy. Everyone aims at one person. The Bass win a round this time.
Heather goes back to retrieve Lindsay and Tyler. She comes back to see the Gophers losing another round. The tiebreaker round starts. The Gophers get used to the strategy and start catching balls. The Bass team responds with the same thing. Soon a fast forward of the game starts. Noah still stay in his seat. It ends with Owen versus Harold.
Owen responds throwing 3 balls. Harold ducks them from his talent of figure skating. Courtney tells him to catch a ball, because whenever he throws a ball, it bounces away harmlessly. Owen throws his last ball. The ball jets at Harold causing smoke. A hand rises out of smoke. On the hand is the...
ball! Harold has won the challenge. Hooray! The Gophers all look at Noah. Later at the campfire ceremony, Lindsay and Noah are unsafe. The final marshmallow goes to Lindsay. Noah leaves disappointed.
Camper out: Noah, for his laziness. Let this be a lesson to you! Noah's Audition: Noah tells everyone that the brains always win in the end, and his friend congratulates Noah for winning the student president election.
Quote:
Harold: Come on guys! We need to believe in ourselves!
Courtney: Oh! I believe! I believe you suck!
Tyler: Yeah, you throw like a girl!
Courtney: You should talk!
Tyler: That was just a practice shot! Listen! Just give all the balls to me! I can dominate this field!
Courtney: (sighs) Fine, but try to hit someone on the other team!

The Big Sleep

2008-06-29T17:39:00.001-07:00

Chris gives the tradition.
(Theme song starts)
Chris wakes everyone up at 7:00. He tells them that their challenge is to run 100 k around the camp lake. Everyone is surprised at this. The campers are forced to jog in the hot day.
The Gophers seemingly win the challenge. However, Chris explains the challenge isn't over. Then, a real banquet is given to the campers. Once the campers are done, Chris tells them that the second part of the challenge was to stay awake as long as you can. The campers soon realized Chris gave them the run and the feast to make it harder for them to stay awake. The campers think they'll all be out cold in an hour, but...
After 24 hours, some campers are still awake. Lots of things happened then. While the campers were struggling to say awake, Heather finds Lindsay and Beth, two people she think are dumb enough to follow her. She tricks them into forming an alliance and promises them they'll become top 3. Heather then grabs Eva's MP3 Player and hides it. She expects Eva to be angry at her fellow Bass, turning the whole team against their toughest player.
Back at the present, Chris is reading fairy tales to the campers and Chef Hatchet is dressing up as a fairy and sprinkling the campers with a sleeping powder. Justin cheats by painting his eyelids and is out of the challenge, but not the game.
Owen goes on an adventure himself. He sleepwalks and ends up swimming with salmon up a waterfall. He ends up in a beaver's dam. Later, the knocked out campers wake to find themselves messed with by Duncan, like Noah waking up kissing Cody's ear.
After reading about Canada's history, Chris knocks out all the campers, except Gwen and Duncan. However, Duncan falls asleep in the bathroom. The Killer Bass suffer their second loss.
Eva is wrecking the whole cabin searching for her MP3 Player. Heather gives it to her. Eva is embarrassed. You know who rode the boat of losers, did you?
Owen is sleeping with bears. When he farts, they throw him out.
Camper out: Eva, for not controlling her temper. Control your temper everyone! Her audition is her telling everyone that she's the strongest girl in school.
Quote:
Owen: Stay awake for 12 hours? I can do that in my sleep.

Not So Happy Campers Part 2

2008-06-29T08:38:00.000-07:00

Chris gives an overview of the previous episode. He does the original tradition and yells out Total Drama Island.
(Theme song starts)
The campers are huddled around a tall cliff. They are requested to jump off it into the shark infested lake. One zone is safe. That's the point they're aiming at. They then have to open crates to construct a hot tub. The winning team gets a hot tub party. Harold suggests that they force Chef Hatchet to test the challenge. This is disagreed by Chris.
The Killer Bass have to start first. Almost everyone chooses to dive off. Sadie complains she can't dive without Katie. Izzy offers to go to the Gophers, in exchange of Katie. An annoyed Chris agrees. Katie and Sadie jump off together. DJ, who's afraid of heights; and Courtney, who refuses to jump off, get a chicken hat.
The Screaming Gophers are on next. Chris offers the team wheelbarrows to tow the crates if they bet the Bass' record. Beth refuses to jump off. Owen is left. His decision might cost the team the challenge. He decides to jump. The campers give their prediction. All of the comments point to the same thing: Owen's going to die! Owen dives off. He lands safely and the team gets wheelbarrows.
Meanwhile, there's a mishap in the Bass team. Everyone has a grudge against someone else. Katie and Sadie go in poison ivy. With the Gophers having the help of wheelbarrows, you know who won. The Gophers! They were delayed for some time, when Chris ordered them to open their crates with their mouth. The Bass' team's tub falls apart!
In the mess hall, there's a problem. Everyone's debating who they should vote out. Ezekiel claims that he's much better than the girls. This causes all the girls to get angry at him. Courtney's bossy temper also gets her endangered of getting out.
At the campfire pit, only Courtney and Ezekiel aren't safe. After tense waiting, Courtney gets the marshmallow. Ezekiel departs. Meanwhile, the Screaming Gophers are celebrating a pool party. Courtney states she's here to win and no one is going to stop her.
Camper out: Ezekiel is out for insulting the girls. Lesson here: treat everyone equally! Ezekiel's audition is him hunting for moose, but he accidentally shoots his mom.
Quote:
Courtney: I say we vote off Tyler.
Lindsay: (stands up): No!
(everyone looks at Lindsay)
Lindsay: No... salt. No salt on the table.

Not So Happy Campers Part 1

2008-06-29T05:07:00.000-07:00

The episode begins with Chris McClean, the host, giving an introduction of Total Drama Island. He talks about the rules and traditions then yells Total Drama Island.
(Theme song starts)
He explains that the brochure said they would be staying at a five star resort. However the island is rundown. Chris says that the campers might be annoyed by this. The campers arrive.
Beth: A girl who acts extremely friendly, but has trouble making friends. She seems to be puzzled by obvious things.
DJ: A tall kid who's cool and kind. He doesn't seem to be annoyed of the camp. He likes talking to Chris.
Gwen: A goth girl who is shy and angry. However, she is able to make lots of friends. She is totally ticked about the camp.
Geoff: A friendly, popular cowboy kid who's athletic. He doesn't care much about the competition, because he only wants to have fun.
Lindsay: An absentminded, rich girl who forgets things a lot. She claims she's the prettiest and Chris agrees.
Heather: A mean and bossy girl. She always wants to get her way. Her personality causes lots of people to rival her.
Duncan: A tough boy who lives with a family of police officers. This doesn't stop him from being arrested and escaping from jail. Skills he learned in jail might come in handy for challenges.
Tyler: A nice kid who made a show by arriving on water skis. He thinks he's good at sports, but the truth is he sucks at them.
Harold: Seemingly a nerd, he has a huge vocabulary. He may seem weak, but he has a hidden potential that might help his team win. My #1 favorite!
Trent: A cool guy who's good at sports and smart too. However, a course of events just might get him kicked out.
Bridgette: A water girl who's extremely clumsy on land. She comes unprepared, because of the misinforming brochure.
Noah: A smart and lazy kid. He gets sick a lot, but he doesn't last long. His rival team might use his laziness to their advantage.
Leshawna: A easygoing girl who acts cool. She will form a rivalry with Heather, who describes her as a gangster rapper wannabe.
Katie and Sadie: Two overexcited girls who are completely different, but act like twins. They always do exactly the same thing.
Ezekiel: He was homeschooled in the prairie and almost never went outside. This makes it hard for him to make friends which might cause him the game.
Cody: A cool kid who tries to make lots of friends. He likes making machines and this skill might come in handy. On a test to see which Total Drama Island character I was, I was him.
Eva: A girl bully who carries dumbbells in her bag. Her attitude might cause her team to rebel against her.
Owen: A really enthusiastic and obese kid who loves the island. He might last in the game for a long time.
Courtney: A polite girl. She acts like a leader of her team. She keeps on throwing it in people's face that she's good at surviving in camp.
Justin: About the only thing known about him is that he's handsome. This mysteriousness might get him kicked off.
Izzy: A strange girl who acts like an animal and loves to eat. In a future challenge, this characteristic might get her kicked off.
Everyone goes to the dock for a group photo. However Chris' camera is malfunctioning. Before he can take a picture, the dock collapses!
The campers are divided into two teams.
Screaming Gophers: Gwen, Trent, Heather, Cody, Lindsay, Beth, Katie, Owen, Leshawna, Justin, and Noah
Killer Bass: Geoff, Bridgette, DJ, Tyler, Sadie, Izzy, Courtney, Ezekiel, Duncan, Eva, and Harold
Katie and Sadie aren't pleased that they were put on different teams. The campers go into the mess hall to have lunch. The Chef, Chef Hatchet, prepares the meal: Brown sludge that moves on a bun. The campers think it's the first day, so their challenge will be easy. The challenge turns out to be jumping off a one thousand foot cliff.
To be continued...
Camper kicked out: Nobody
Quote:
Harold: I've never seen a girl like you in real life before.
LaShawna: Excuse me?
Harold: You're real big and loud.

Total Drama Island

2008-06-28T18:19:00.000-07:00

What's Total Drama Island you may be asking. What's Total Drama Island!?!?!? It's only the best, new, and animated reality show that started in Canada and wormed its way into Cartoon Network. It's an amazing show.
22 campers face off together in a crummy and old camp. The campers form friendship, rivalry, and secret alliances. An example of friendship could be shown with the two girls, Katie and Sadie, on the bottom row wearing matching outfits. Rivalry can be shown against Heather, the girl in the top right corner; and Leshawna, the girl next to the girl in the blue bandanna. Secret alliances can be shown by Heather; Lindsay, the girl in the blue bandanna; and Beth, the girl in the bottom right corner.
The campers are divided into two teams, The Screaming Gophers and The Killer Bass. The two teams face off in challenges. The losing team has to go the campfire pit. Each person votes for someone to go out. The host, Chris MacClean hands out marshmallows to those are safe. The person who doesn't receive a marshmallow goes to the Dock of Shame and rides the Boat of Losers away. The prize is $100000 and magazine fame. It's like a child's version of Hell's Kitchen.
My favorite characters are Harold, the kid on the top row wearing the glasses; Cody, the kid doing the peace sign, and Owen, the easy- to- notice fat guy. My brother's favorite characters are Tyler, the guy wearing all red; Justin, the tall boy left to Owen; and Cody.
This show is totally awesome. I recommend this to everyone, no matter what your interest is. I give it 2 thumbs up and 5 out of 5 stars. Everyone should watch this show. If you miss some episodes, there's a marathon next Saturday called Total Drama Rama. Stay tuned for more of Total Drama Island!
Lyrics to Theme Song:
Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doing fine
You guys are on my mind
You asked me what I wanted to be and
now I think the answer is plain to see:
I wanna be... famous.
I wanna live close to the sun
Well, pack your bags 'coz I've already won
Everything to prove, nothing in my way
I'll get there one day-yyy
'coz I wanna be... famous.
Nah-nah-na-na-nahh...etc etc!
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous!
I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous!

Moving to Basking Ridge, Somerset County 07920

2008-06-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

The Internet is finally back on. This is the story of what happened in the long period I didn't write a post.
It was the end of 5th Grade. I knew what would be happening then. I went over to each of my close friends' houses to play and say good- bye. I was moving to a better school district. I rode home and saw a moving truck next to my house. Workers were packing up our furniture. All my brother and I did was play outside.
I had asked my dad earlier if I could spend the time with my best friend Ben. He was also moving to the area I was going to. However, he would be gone the whole summer to Japan and China. Conveniently, Ben's mom called and invited us to Ben's house. I rushed there and totally aced him at his video games. When the packing was done, I felt miserable. However, I knew he would be moving soon. We said a good- bye to each other and parted.
I wanted to ride in the moving van, but my dad said that furniture could fall on me. Hearing this, I forgot my intentions. We drove to Basking Ridge. We passed a gloomy, small, poor town called Plainfield. I didn't like it all. We drove out of it to a highway. I waited for ages and soon saw a sign that said Basking Ridge to the right. We finally arrived at Basking Ridge.
At first, it wasn't so exciting as there were a lot of trees and really tall grass. We arrived at our home. Since we didn't have time to buy a house, my family was forced to get a town house. It was average. The former owners obviously neglected it. There was gum everywhere, there was graffiti on the floor and walls, and there was a lot of old property, like balls, left behind in the backyard. Worst of all, it was crowded. I had to share a room with my brother and grandpa. But still, it was located in a good place.
We went back the next day to clean up our old house. I could here my voice echo. While my parents were cleaning, I stopped off at another friend's house. We were finished. The buyers took a long tour. I waited outside and felt myself shriveling. Once the tour was done, I was totally bombed.
We settled down now. Every Saturday, we drive to Edison to have a lesson with my piano teacher. Today, we passed our old house. I felt a longing to go inside and live there again. I was away from it and was joyful to be united with it. I loved staring at my old house and remembering memories I had there, like the flood in the basement, playing games, and the third- grade party I had where I invited almost everyone in my class. I was really tempted to go in, but the owners weren't there.
I'm settled down in my new house. I've made some friends here and there. That's it for my post this time. I'm writing here from my new house.

5th Grade Graduation

2008-06-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

Today, the school had our 5th grade graduation. This was an important event, because I would be graduating from elementary school and move to go to a middle school better than the one in my town.
The whole 5th grade practiced for the graduation for about a month. A day before the graduation, where we were sorted into groups for the round we were singing, The Round of Goodbyes. We were told the schedule of the graduation and the rest of the day afterwards. After the graduation, we would have a whole our to ask our classmates to sign our yearbook. We would ask students from other classes to sign our yearbook later. After the signing, we would have a huge banquet with pizza, chicken, and soda. After the banquet, we would have field day with three events: Football, Capture the Flag, and Volleyball. The school day would then end.

When we got to school, we waited for 30 minutes to be called down to the graduation. My friend, Sheel and I played cards to pass the time.

When we were called down, we saw a huge crowd waiting us. My whole family, except my brother, were in the front and 2nd row. I saw my mom, and she started flashing the camera. Principal Wilton started off with a long speech. She included one of Mr. Roger's quotes. The Principal usually states Mr. Roger quotes in important assemblies. We then sang the song Ready to Go. There were a lot of awards given out, like the Outstanding Physical Education Award. I made it into the Honor Roll. Most students were able to make it in. Each 5th Grader got a certificate for passing and surviving Elementary School. The Heart of a Lion was given to a 5th grader I didn't know. The graduation was over.

It was easy to get everyone in the class' signature. Even my rivals and enemies gave signatures. I finished 15 minutes early and played Poker with Sheel, until we were called down to the banquet.

The food tasted great! I ate 2 slices of pizza, some chicken, an Iced Tea, and a lollipop. I spent the rest of the feast running around with my friends and hanging out at the Slushy Machine. The slushies wouldn't be served until Field Day. The whole 5th grade then had recess. Everyone had a slide party where they bunched up in the playground slide. I managed not to get squeezed intensely by staying towards the back to be pushed by less force.

Field Day began. We started off with Kickball. I managed to make a run. The other was tough though. I got into an accident when my best friend, Ben, jumped on me and I landed on my head on the ground. I felt dizzy for a while. Ben was later injured when he scraped his knee. This was bad news, because he played a major part in my plan in Capture the Flag. Our team lost.

In Capture the Flag, I had to dodge and weave everyone. I was in a safe zone that I could only stay in for 5 seconds. I constantly jumped in and out. I captured 1 flag. When a guard's back was turned, I charged at her flag. I was suddenly chased by loads of people. I had to make strange poses to avoid the grabs the guards made at my belt. A girl grabbed my belt, and I knew it was over when I fell into my side. There was a part in the game when lots of people were captured. Most of them included my friends and classmates. I took 3 unsuccessful charges. I knew I would either free everyone, or stay in prison where someone else could get me. I charged in without running back. I weaved in and out and freed everybody. My team lost again anyways.

We had a break where we drank slushies. There was a choice between Cherry and Lime. I chose Lime. After I drank the slushy, someone found a dead fly in the Lime slushy storage container. I felt sick immediately. We played Volleyball. It was boring and my team lost as usual.

As we were packing up, I thought about how great the day was and how much I would miss Elementary School.

Not Speaking Up

2008-06-08T15:34:00.000-07:00

I worked hard in Chinese school at an extra credit project. I had to tell a Chinese story in front of the class. However, I got scared and refused to speak out. I regret this now.
I worked really hard during the Chinese school year. In first grade, I became one of the top 2 in the class. However in second, I dropped down to top 7 In third, I dropped down to average. In forth, I dropped to below average. I planned to get at least top 7 this year. I worked really hard. I felt sure that I achieved my goal. However, I messed up in the extra credit project. I wanted to tell my story, but I got scared and decided not to. This ruined my good streak in Chinese school.
The Chinese school day started off with everyone taking a final exam. Then we had story telling. I wanted to tell my story, but I was afraid that I would make a mistake. I hesitated, and then someone else got picked. The same happened for the rest of the day. I was ashamed that I messed up my great reputation in Chinese school just because I was afraid.
That night, I felt disappointed that I couldn't say my story, so I said it in front of my family. I'm determined to do better next time and be a good crowd speaker. Whenever I get the chance at anything, I'll speak out.

Max Out

2008-05-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

Summary:
A man walks into a coffee shop. A waiter approaches him, and the man asks for coffee. You see his face, and you immediately find out it's Grandpa Max. The waitress opens a covered platter, and a DNAlien head pops out. The waiter grabs Max. Max pulls the waitress' head. A mask falls off revealing a DNAlien. Max pins the DNAlien to the floor and destroys the head. Max angrily leaves the shop.
(Theme song starts)
Ben is telling Kevin to help him find his cousin Ken. When Gwen says Ken is her brother, Kevin agrees. The drive to the town Santa Maria, where Ken was last seen. There in a garage, they find Ken's abandoned car, The Awesome- Mobile, covered in DNAlien slime. The Omnitrix starts beeping. Two men enter, and the force threatens to call the police. Ben opens the container they're carrying to reveal more slime. The Omnitrix blinks more. Lightning flashes and DNAlien images flicker on the men. This reveals that DNAlien disguises don't work when lightning flashes. The men are put down by Ben as Humongosaur, Gwen, and Kevin.
Later, Gwen traces Ken's steps with magic to a coffee shop. They find a truck which contains a DNAlien. He reveals that Max tied it up, and Ken is in the Hatchery. This is not a hatchery for chickens. It's a hatchery for the heads!
Ken is tied up on a chair. A DNAlien says everyone's using Ken for bait. The DNAlien puts the head, which it reveals as a Xenocyte, on Ken. The head morphs with Ken and turns him into a DNAlien.
The force arrive at the hatchery. They see pools of slime that are the only way to get pass the DNAlien sentries. A weather tower is above them. Kevin says who would be crazy enough to swim in the pool.
Max is shown swimming in a pool. He hides and attacks a DNAlien. Max uses a Null Void Projector to vanquish it. The Null Void Projector is a laser that projects enemies into a dimension, Null Void. He gets two more DNAliens, before walking into a room. He sees Ken with the Xenocyte covering some parts of his face. One of Ken's eyes, his mouth, and his hair are the only things not covered. Ken asks Max to help him. Max approaches and is knocked unconscious by a small wrench that generates electricity. The DNAlien Ken smiles.
The force swim through, before Gwen is dragged under the water. She emerges blasting away Xenocytes. They swim away and emerge surrounded by DNAliens. Ben turns into Big Chill. The force makes quick work of them. One DNAlien acts strange. His face falls off for a second revealing Ken. They drag Ken into the Hatchery. Ben tries to cure Ken, but it doesn't work. The Omnitrix then talked, asking Ben if he wanted to do repair Ken's genetic code. Ben agrees and he falls into a dimension.
The dimension is completely green. Ben soon realizes he's in the Omnitrix. He sees Ken's head covered in the Xenocyte. Ben touches Ken's face and pops out of the Omnitrix. Ken is cured. The force with Kevin run to a prison room. Max is inside. They free him and Max forgives Ken. They run to a balcony and find the DNAliens gathering Xenocyte. Max says they're going to make an army of DNAliens. The force rushes off to destroy the trucks in which the Xenocyte is kept. Max stays behind to do what is done.
The force destroys all the trucks with the help of Ken and Jetray. They enter the hatchery only to find Max in hand- to- hand combat against a Highbreed. The Highbreed threatens to kill Max if they attack him. An army of DNAliens surround them. Max takes out the Null Void Projector and says that if the focusing lenses are off, the projector can be used as a hand grenade. The projector explodes with the force in the safety of Gwen's force field. The force decides that they need to save the world. Ken is now a member of the force.
Two men look in the ruins of the Hatchery. One finds and Xenocyte and throws in a garbage can in others. Lightning strikes and DNAlien images flicker on them.
Opinion:
This was a great show filled with climax. However, I believe they showed Max and the force's reunion too early. It should have been the season finale.
Quote:
Gwen: Kidnap my brother, turn him into a monster, and capture my grandpa! I've had it! (unleashes magic nova blast)

All That Glitters

2008-05-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

Summary:
A girl is seen pounding a door. She says she needs to see someone called Mike. She opens the door and large mouth comes out. Later, a zombie who looks just like her walks down the street.
(Theme song starts)
Ben watches Grandpa Max's holographic message over and over again. Meanwhile, Kevin and Gwen get into a huge fight. Ben asks for Kevin's Plumber's Badge and shows him a tracking device. They decide to use it to find the Plumber's badge to find the Plumber's kids to make a force. The first person on the list is Mike Morningstar.
As Kevin is driving down a bridge, a girl named Trina walks on the road. A car swerves on the bridge and a truck crashes destroying a section of the bridge. The truck turns over and sets on fire.
Gwen uses her magic to rescue the people on the bridge, while Ben as Humongosaur holds it up on his back. Kevin rescues the truck driver. Another car is about to hit Trina when a glowing figure flies through the air and grabs her.
The force rush over to the the figure. He introduces himself as Mike Morningstar and a fan of Ben. Apparently, he got his powers from alien ancestors like Alan the Pyronite. Ben is eager to add him to their team. The force and Mike meet over at Mike's house. He reveals that he lives alone. This infers that Mike is evil, because some villains in the Ben 10 series, including Kevin 11, stayed alone. Mike says that strange things have been happening around his town. Mike shows them special alien technology, including a badge communication system. Suddenly, his electricity consumption monitor indicates extreme and there's a short blackout. It's stopped by Mike's backup generator. The force, with their new member Mike, go to the power plant to check out what's happening. However, Gwen notices a mouth tattoo on her arm.
There, they see zombie girls breaking electricity wires. They attack the force. Mike tells everyone to try not to hurt the. He shoots out energy blasts from his hands. Kevin and Gwen both use their powers to defend themselves. One zombie attacks Ben with a lightning rod. Ben turns into Chromastone. The lightning rod harmlessly touches Chromastone, who responds with a lightning blast generated from his body. Mike shoots pipes allowing the zombies to escape. Kevin is suspicious about Mike, but Ben thinks Kevin is just jealous about Mike. Mike asks Gwen out for dinner and she agrees.
Kevin claims that Mike is turning girls into zombies and already started doing the process to Gwen. Kevin gets out of the car and tries to hack into Mike's house. Trina comes and says she needs to see Mike. They notice mouth tattoos on her arm. She starts acting strange. Ben finally agrees with Kevin and they track Mike down using Kevin's Plumber's badge.
When they enter a building, they see a zombie Gwen and a Mike covered in gold plating. Kevin instantly absorbs steel and charges at Mike. Mike beats Kevin in hand to hand combat. Ben turns into Jetray. The fight lasts less than ten seconds. Jetray is shot by a combination of energy from the girls who became zombies, Mike's energy bolts, and Gwen's magic. Jetray turns back into normal, because the Omnitrix stops going in alien mode if intense damage is inflicted on it. Mike then punches Kevin teering off most of Kevin's steel plating. Mike removes the rest by an energy surge. Mike shoots down a laser to bring down part of the roof and then...
Gwen absorbs the laser. She gets her energy back, ripping Mike's steel armor and some parts of his face in the process. Then, the zombie girls come. Mike orders them to give him more energy. However, they absorb their energy back. Mike is now a zombie, but incredibly weak and partially paralyzed too. Kevin takes Mike's Plumber's badge and grinds it up.
Back in the car, Ben apologizes to Kevin and Gwen and they drive off.
Opinion:
This was a really interesting episode also filled with humor. I enjoyed Mike Morningstar and I hope he returns somewhere in the series.
Quote:
Ben: It was my fault, I was in such a hurry to build our team, I ignored the danger. If I'm going to be a good leader, I'm going to need to show better judgement
Kevin: If you're going to be a good leader, you need to stop sounding like such a jerk
Gwen: Kevin
Ben: No, that's okay, He's right, I'm a jerk

Kevin's Big Score

2008-05-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

Summary:
A strange porcupine alien, Argit, walks down the alley. Kevin drives up to him. Argit is annoyed that Kevin is ignoring him. Kevin asks for another chance. Argit asks for special equipment in Grandpa Max's Rustbucket. Kevin says he doesn't have it, but he'll trade if for a hologram. Argit makes the deal.
(Theme song starts
Later, Kevin is fixing the Rustbucket. Unknown to Ben and Gwen, who are looking at pictures when they were still kids (one showed them in front of the Rustbucket with Max), Kevin installed advanced alien technology into the Rustbucket. Kevin gets in the Rustbucket and drives it away. The rest of the force is stunned. Ben turns into Big Chill and chases the Rustbucket. Big Chill and the Rustbucket go into a canyon path. Kevin unleashes a laser. It goes right through Big Chill and he turns invisible and launches ice. Kevin is surpised. The chase continues. Big Chill turns invisible again. Kevin uses a scanner and shoots Big Chill out of the air. Big Chill turns back into Ben. Kevin speeds away. Gwen catches up to Ben.
Kevin presents the Rustbucket to Argit. Argit is impressed and releases a barrage of needles. It paralyzes Kevin and Argit drives off. Before leaving, Argit states that one of Ben's enemies, Vulcanus, has the hologram and wants Kevin dead.
Ben and Gwen meet up with Kevin. Ben is angry at Kevin. Kevin simply shows them that he placed a tracking device in the Rustbucket that is connected to his Plumber's Badge. They find the Rustbucket without the techonology. Ben finds Argit and turns into Echo, Echo. They surround Argit. Gwen and Kevin are knocked out by Argit's needles. Echo, Echo is immuned to the needles, because the main alien can shift into other clones. Each clone can revive another clone by combining with it. Using this plan, Bne finds a weak spot and attacks with wall of sound. Argit wakes up only to find out that his needles are super- glued to his back making them useless. They tie Argit up and leave him there. Only one piece of alien technology is recovered. Ben is still furious at Kevin for getting them into the trouble. Kevin ditches the group and looks for Vulcanus.
In an abandoned warehouse, Kevin finds Vulcanus' miner slaves. They lead Kevin to Vulcanus. Vulcanus is angry at Kevin for betraying him in a robbery scheme years ago and taunts Kevin with the hologram. Kevin can get the hologram for only one condition. Kevin absorbs a rare crystal and turns into the crystal with large spikes growing out of his back. Vulcanus says his miners will mine Kevin apart, and he will sell them piece by piece. The miners mine of the spikes and when they are about to chop Kevin in half, Big Chill appears with Gwen. Big Chill blasts away the miners. Vulcanus runs at Big Chill and punches at him. The punch goes through Big Chill. Vulcanus takes out his arm only to find it broken. Vulcanus sprays a liquid at Big Chill and punches him with his remaining arm. Big Chill rapidly goes through Vulcanus freezing him. Big Chill responds with a punch. It shatters Vulcanus' armor turning him into a weak midget. However, Vulcanus will get new armor, because in the old Ben 10 series, he appears in the episode Ken 10, an episode when Ben is grown up, with new armor. Gwen frees Kevin. The force leaves Vulcanus with the crystal spikes. Kevin grabs the hologram and turns it on. It shows Grandpa Max. Max says that Ben is pretty deep if he got the hologram and Ben will need to find other Plumber kids and to make a force.
Opinion:
This episode states why this series is named Alien Force. It hints that Kevin might betray the force again later on in the series. I particularly enjoy Big Chill and his powers. He moved to the top of my list of favorite aliens.
Quote:
Vulcanus: (punches at Big Chill)
Big Chill: Nice way to break your arm
Vulcanus: (looks at broken arm)

Everybody Talks About The Weather

2008-05-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

Summary:
A Pyronite (Heatblast-species) alien flies through a field. A police squad chase after him in a special designed tractor police car. The Pyronite crashes into a scarecrow and turns into a human kid. The police chief calls the Pyronite by Alan, and takes Alan to an ice warehouse. The police believed that Alan was responsible for crop burnings. They question him and take away his Plumber's badge. Alan complains that it was his father's.
(Theme song starts)
Meanwhile, Ben, Gwen, and Kevin find a signal on Magister's Plumbers badge. It shows a radar to another Plumber's badge. Ben guesses it's Grandpa Max. But, the path takes them to an ice warehouse...
Inside, Alan has trouble breaking free, because the ice takes away his powers. He then spits on his handcuffs melting them. Alan sneaks into the ice warehouse lobby, turns into a Pyronite, breaks a hole, and flies out, but not before the police notice him.
The force discovers a large hole in the warehouse. They turn around and see a Pyronite flying past them. Ben thinks fast and turns into Jetray.
There's a savage pursuit between Jetray and Pyronite. They fly at each other blasting lasers hoping to knock the other out of the air. When Jetray aims a shot, Pyronite speeds away and fires his own fireball. Jetray blocks it from a blast from one of his tentacles and shoots down Pyronite with the other. Jetray flies down and turns back into Ben. Ben questions Pyronite if he saw Max. Alan is in the dark. The police arrive and accuse both Ben and Pyronite for setting the fires.
Ben and Pyronite make a run for it. They go through tall piles of corn. When the police see a glowing light, Kevin's car speeds out. Ben and Pyronite slip into the night. The police give Kevin and Gwen a speeding ticket, but Kevin doesn't mind.
Later, Alan tells Ben that his father is a Plumber and a Pyronite. They are soon caught up by Gwen and Kevin. Ben said that he noticed that there were circles on the fields. Kevin insists a hoax, but Gwen thinks that it might be from and alien. They get up to have a better view. They see that the circles make a pattern and are circuit boards.
They notice someone in a suit burning the field. The person activates the circuit board and creates an enormous tower. Then, it starts snowing. The force runs to the tower and encounter the strange person. More of the people come. Ben turns into Swampfire. They start a battle when the police arrive. The chief accuses Alan of making a tower to steal heat to feed his fire powers. Then, Swampfire blasts the mask off one of the people. It reveals a DNAlien. The DNAliens like cold weather, so they made a weather tower to make the weather cold. Suddenly, it shoots a laser and freezes the police squad. Soon, Gwen, Kevin, and Swampfire are frozen along with them. A DNAlien attempts to freeze Alan, but Alan turns into Pyronite. The laser bounces off him. Swampfire gets escape by melting through his prison. This surprise advance drives most of the DNAliens away.
Swampfire and Pyronite team up to destroy the tower. Pyronite glides up with a hoverboard made out of pure lava and destroys the sentries. Swampfire roots himself to the ground and pushes the tower down. Later, everyone is freed. Ben asks Alan to join their force. The chief says Alan needs to protect the town from other aliens. Alan simply says if the force needs help, they just need to give him a call.
Opinion:
This was a show filled with suspense. It's also filled with humor, such as the part where Kevin shoves his speeding ticket into a compartment filled with others. However, I was dissapointed that Ben didn't turn into one of his former aliens, Heatblast (a Pyronite).
Quote:
Kevin: That wasn't so bad. We led them away from them, and only got this.
Gwen: Kevin, that's a four-hundred dollar speeding ticket!
Kevin: I know (Kevin opens car drawer, and tickets pop up). I think it's a personal record.

Ben 10 Returns Part 2

2008-04-29T18:21:00.000-07:00

Summary:
The dragon roars. Knights run in from every direction. Magister, Gwen, and Kevin take on the knights. Ben experiments with the Omnitrix again and turns into Echo, Echo. Echo, Echo attacks the dragon but fails. Gwen takes out most of the Knights. Kevin uses his absorbing powers and stuns most of the Knights. One knight aims a blaster at Kevin. Magister blocks the blast and the blaster explodes. Kevin promises to owe Magister. Echo, Echo launches a sonic wave that disintegrates the dragon. The weapons are disintegrated as well.
Magister discovers there's a hole in his suit. Kevin offers to help him, but Magister refuses. Magister ordered Kevin to finish his mission. Kevin takes it seriously.
Later, Gwen traces the Forever Knights with a spare weapon Kevin saved. They go in a mine shaft and find out that the DNAliens were behind the illegal trade too. Ben steals a disguise and he hacks into the DNAlien supply ship with Gwen and Kevin. Ben turns into Humongosuar. Inside, they destroy the weapons inside, but cause a racket. DNAliens rushed in, but are defeated by the combined forces of Humongosaur, Gwen, Kevin. A DNAlien Highbreed clone then enters in.
Humongosaur orders Gwen and Kevin to flee. Humongosaur and the clone have a fierce duel. They punch and kick each other. Humongosaur bites the commander. The clone flees, and Gwen and Kevin come back in the ship.
After the force is escapes out, the ship launches into the air and aims a laser at a hospital. The laser travels slowly destroying everything in its way. Humongosaur grows and jumps on the ship. Humongosaur frantically rips out wires. Just as the laser is about to hit the hospital, the ship explodes and falls into a cliff. Humongosaur falls off and the force creates a trench.
Gwen and Kevin rush to the trench. Humongosaur reverts back to Ben. Ben then reveals a hidden weakness that the Omnitrix newly gained. Damage done to the aliens are still on the aliens even in human mode. Humongosaur skinned his knee, and Ben showed Gwen and Kevin his bruised knee. When Ben gets up, he talks to Kevin. He said that they had trouble before, but if they would work together now. Gwen backs up Ben. Kevin says he made a promise to Magister and shakes hands.
Later, the chief DNAlien walks back to Highbreed. He reveals that the supply ship was destroyed, Ben has the Omnitrix, and Max continues to spy on the DNAliens. Highbreed says that the force will soon be defeated. The view goes back and shows thousands of DNAliens.
Opinion: This was another great episode. It was filled with loads of suspense, especially at the laser scene. There's a cliffhanger in the end that makes viewers want to watch the next episode.
Quote:
Kevin: (to DNAliens) You guys made me lose a major payday!
Gwen: (Stares at Kevin)
Kevin: Also, because they're evil and we're against that.

Ben 10 Returns Part 1

2008-04-26T15:51:00.000-07:00

Summary:
The episode begins with a chief DNAlien walking down a dark alleyway. He talks to his boss, Highbreed. The DNAlien shows Highbreed an image of Ben's grandpa, Grandpa Max. Highbreed orders Max destroyed.
(Theme song starts)
A soccer game begins. Two school bullies, JT and Cash aim at the goal. Cash shoots and Ben as the goalie catches the ball. His team wins. Ben is granted Most Valuable Player. Later, a girl named Julie congratulates him.
Ben bikes off to his grandpa's trailer, the Rustbucket. Ben enters the trail, unaware that someone is spying on him. Ben finds the trailer deserted. He looks around, but Max isn't there. Suddenly, a DNAlien attacks Ben. Ben eventually defeats the alien and finds a hologram of Max. It states that he has the Omnitrix. Ben is surprised and runs back home. However, Ben fails to notice that an image of a DNAlien flickers at the end of the hologram.
At home, Ben looks through a box filled with personal items. He finds the Omnitrix. Later in High School, Ben seeks his cousin Gwen. He finds her and they go back to the Rustbucket and they watch the hologram. Gwen suggests that it's a secret message to put back on the Omnitrix.
The spy attacks. Gwen unleashes her magic powers and ends the fight quickly. The alien, Magister, reveals that he's a Plumber and lost contact with Max on a mission against the DNAliens. Hearing this, Ben straps on his Omnitrix.
Magister, Gwen, and Ben plan a stake- out on the Forever Knights, a partner to the DNAliens. They meet up with with Kevin 11, a superpowered teen fugitive who is one of Ben's greatest enemies. When the battle starts, Ben finds that the Omnitrix is malfunctioning. Magister and Gwen are defeated. The Omnitrix then mutates and starts again. Ben learns he has 10 new aliens. He randomly selects one and becomes Swampfire. Ben conquers the Forever Knights and Kevin 11. The Forever Knights flee leaving Kevin behind. This turns Kevin against them.
Kevin leads them to a dark castle. They look for a secret door where the Knights are hiding. Ben yells when he sees a statue knight. This alerts a dragon that wakes up and attacks the group...
To be continued...
Opinion:
This episode was a great way to start the new show. It told more about Max's history and united hero and villain. The scriptwriters wrote a great episode. It's humorous. The suspense in the ending leaves viewers hanging.
Quote:
Kevin: (Grabs golden goblet and medallion from Knight treasury)
Ben: (angrily) Maybe you should have brought a shopping cart.

Ben 10: Alien Force review

2008-04-12T17:14:00.001-07:00

For my 25th post, I wrote the Lesson of Being a Hero, . It was about my favorite show Ben 10. Ben Tennyson (10) was a ten- year old boy who found a watch called the Omnitrix. It could turn him into 10 other aliens, and naturally turned him into different unknown aliens that weren't the 10 original ones. There was occasional humor involved including the watch not getting ready in dangerous situations and Ben turning into an alien directly the opposite of the intended one. I resumed watching the show for about half a year, because I became busy. I did find out the series ended when Ben stopped an alien organization, Forever Knights, and blasted apart Mount Everest in the process.
Now, a sequel is coming out with a teenager Ben 10 and his cousin, Gwen, who shares his birthday. The young version of one of Ben's most dangerous enemies, Kevin 11, becomes Kevin Levin and joins Ben's team to fight villains, after his evil workers don't pay him and an alien hero dies to save him.
The series revolves around Ben and Gwen's grandfather disappearing after investigating a villain, Highbreed, in a mission. His grandfather claims he has the Omnitrix, but Ben still has it in his closet. Ben decides it's a secret message to put back on the Omnitrix after taking it off for 5 years. He wears it and discovers he has new aliens, after it goes crazy during a match with Kevin Levin and the evil DNAliens. These are the new aliens and their powers listed below in order from my least favorite to my top favorite:
Goop
There's more to this giant blob of goo than meets the eye. Goop is able to change the shape of his body at will. Power: Shape Shifting, Stretching
Jetray
Manta like Jetray can move through Air and Water at several times the speed of sound. Powers: Super speed, Neuroshock blast
Spidermonkey
Resembling an earth Monkey this Multi-Limbed Alien has Super Human Agility. Powers: Sticks to Wall, Shoot Webs
Humongousaur is strong enough to bench press a Pickup Truck. and his strength only increase with his size. Powers: Super Strength, Size Changing
Echo, Echo
He may be small, but this living amplifier packs some serious powers. Echo Echo produces steel shattering sonic waves. Power: Sonic Blast, Duplication
Chromastone
A living Crystal, Chromastone can absorb energy and re channel it as destructive energy blasts. Powers: Absorbs Energy, Nearly Indestructible
Brainstorm
With enough concentration Brainstorm can produce electrical energy bust and force fields using only his mind. Powers: Super Intelligence, Electrical Storms
Swanpfire
SwampFire may look like an walking compost heap, but he's one of Ben's strongest Aliens. Powers: Shoot fire, Regenerate, Controls Plants
Big Chill
Big Chill can pass through solid matter and drop the temperature of anything he chooses to nearly absolute zero. Powers: Freezing Ability, Flight, Invisibility
There is currently a mysterious alien in the Omnitrix called Alien X. It will appear in the show X Equals Ben Plus 2.
Ben has a force to help him which includes Gwen and Kevin. Kevin can absorb anything he touches which can turn him into metal, wood, and stone. He loses his alien powers from the prequel. Kevin has a green car full of alien technology. However, in the forth episode, he becomes insane for a while and runs off with Ben's grandpa's car, Rustbucket, to sell for alien technology. Gwen has increased her magic powers and can now create force fields, make steps to walk higher, and shoot out tentacles. A member from an alien peace society that Ben's Grandpa is in, Plumbers, called Magister joins the group in the episode for a short while. He was killed when he shielded Kevin from a blast from the DNAliens. This was the main cause of Kevin becoming good. A son of a Plumber, a boy called Alan, from a sneak peek of the third episode who can turn into one of Ben's old aliens, Heatblast, might join the force. One alien I recommend to join the force are Tetrax Shard, an alien the same species as one of Ben's other old alien, Diamondhead, who taught Ben how to use all the aliens, including the weak ones, wisely. Another alien I want to join the Force is Xylene, the alien who delivered the Omnitrix to Earth. Xylene accidentally gave the Omnitrix to Ben, instead of her friend, Ben's grandpa.
One episode, Ben 10 Returns Part 1 and 2, has already appeared. It' s the longest episode airedon Cartoon Network at 40 mins. per episode. The rest of the episodes are 25 min. You could wait for it to appear on Ben 10 Week next week, or you could watch it on Cartoon Network video. It may be long, but it's worth it. Watch Ben 10 Alien Force today!
It's time to go full force!

P.S. Tune in for my review of Ben 10 Alien Force Part 1 and 2 and all the other episodes

Runescape Journal 2008: A Crazy Messed-Up Shakespeare Tale and Two Gangs

2008-02-16T10:50:00.000-08:00

It's me again, Olivertang10. I spent some days doing some pretty harsh training. I met a single dark wizard once, and believe me, I never want to meet one again. I've been doing strange jobs around town lately. But the oddest is the task of Romeo and Juliet.
I have heard of the tale from a strange world outside the computer. It seems like the story hasn't happened yet. I met Romeo while strolling around Varrock Square. He asked me if I could talk to Juliet for him. I agreed and he sent me the location of her house. I went to her and she told me to send a message to him. I'm not a messenger boy!
When I arrived to Romeo, the message was surprising. It said that Juliet's father, Draul Leptoc, would kill Romeo the next time he sees him. Romeo was shocked. He decided to talk to Father Lawrence, a priest, to decide what to do. I offered to do it for him.
After a short stroll, I went to Lawrence's church. He seemed like a very bad priest. All the people were sleeping through his sermon! Lawrence heard of Romeo's problem, and suggested that I make a Cadava potion. It would make Juliet appear dead, so Romeo could go to her family crypt and get her. It was just like in the outer world story, but in the story, the plan failed and Romeo and Juliet ended up dead for real. However, I was confident and decided to give it a try.

At the local apothecary, the owner said that you needed a Cadava Berry in a forest east of the Varrock Stone Circle. I had no thought of going there, after meeting a dark wizard. However, my instincts told me to go and I went across and found a Cadava berry. I obtained the potion and brought it to Juliet. Her cousin Phillipa was in the plot too. Juliet drank the potion and Phillipa pretended to cry. Draul Leptoc came and brought Juliet to the crypt. I went to get Romeo. I took him to the crypt. He said you're a fox to Phillipa. I told him about Juliet. He asked that who was Juliet. I left smiling knowing that there would be no deaths.

I then went to the Varrock library. I talked to the librarian called Reldo. He told me about a shield called Arrav that was stolen from the Varrock museum a long time ago. I found a book about it. It was stolen by two gangs called the Pheonix Gang and the Black Arm Gang. I decided to join one of the gangs to get back the shield. I asked Reldo about them. He said a fur trader named Baraek knew about the Pheonix Gang hideout. I inquired Baraek about the hideout and he told me where it was. I went there and found the Gang leader. He would let me in the gang if I got some secret notes from a man named Johnny the Beard. I found Johnny and defeated him. I took the notes back and I was allowed in. I stepped inside.

There were thieves everywhere. I searched all the chests in the hideout, and found a half of the Shield of Arrav. I would search for the other half another day.

The Trip to the Medieval Times- Last Article in 2007 Special!

2007-12-30T15:31:00.000-08:00

Today, we went on our only trip during the Winter Break to Medieval Times. Medieval Times was a building that looks like a castle. There were people dressed up in medieval clothes. The guests were served medieval food, while watching the medieval show in an arena. To me, it was an amazing place.

We began off in the Castle Entrance, where they took our tickets and we took pictures with a person in a king costume. Before arriving to the main section, everyone in my family got a green card and paper crown. We walked around the main section looking browsing all the rooms. I wanted to go in the Dungeon, but we decided to do that after a show that was coming up. At the gift shop, my brother Kevin bought a green lighting sword that in my opinion looked like a lightsaber.

Our lap around the castle was amazing. The main hall was decorated with shields of all the colors of the teams in the stadium. There were gift stands and people crowding the room. To the left was the entrance to the arena and the bathrooms. On the right was a hall with the Dungeon, more gift stands, and colorful designs. I was absolutely flabbergasted by the display of colors, and amazed by the structures of the building. Soon, my dad checked his watch, and said we had to go to the line for the arena.

At the line, people were called by crown color. Ours, green, was called last. In the arena, there were many seats, and a mass color of lights. I found our table and we sat down. There were pewter bowls and no silverware. A waiter came to our table and told us that the menus were actually the napkins. I opened a fold in my napkin, and I was surprised to see names of foods inside. The castle's creativity was amazing. Here's a copy of the menu:

Bill of Fare

Garlic Bread

Tomato Bisque Soup

Roasted Chicken

Spare Rib

Herb-Baked Potato

Pastry of the Castle

Beverages

We were first served the bread and soup. I discovered that the bread tasted awesome dipped in soup. When I was starting to eat, the show began. It began with an introduction about a war, and how a king's brother was found dead. When the war ended, the people celebrated the victory with a contest. It began with knights coming in. My team's knight was the Green Knight. They had a steed do tricks and a person who used falconry. There was a battle tournament at the end, when the king found out from the wizard, Cedric, that the strongest knight in the realm killed his brother. I cheered as loud as I could for the Green Knight. It was an interesting match, with jousting, swordfighting, and swinging axes around. In the first round, the Red Knight defeated the Red-Yellow Knight. In the second round, the Green Knight clobbered the Yellow Knight. The Red Knight was defeated by the Blue Knight in the third round. The Green Knight was defeated by the Black-White Knight in the 4th round. In the end, one lord betrayed the king. Then his fate is unknown, but execution was highly common. Which knight was it? To find out, watch the show.

After the show, my mom bought pictures of me in a prison with my head about to be severed. Kevin and I went in the dungeon. Inside, we saw instruments of torture. One was the Interrogation Chair, a chair full of spikes. I liked the Rack, where they tortured criminals by stretching them. One of the last torture tools were too inappropiate to talk about.

When Kevin and I got out, we went back home. I started working on an article about my day which is what you just read.

My Christmas

2007-12-26T12:01:00.001-08:00

I came back to consciousness and looked at the calendar. It was Christmas Day! My brother, Kevin, was stirring around viciously in his sleep. I knew he was about to wake up. So, I jumped on his bed and started screaming. He woke up instantly, and soon everyone else woke up too. My dad said to wait upstairs, while he turned on the lights downstairs. I heard some running, squeaking, and shuffling sounds. I had a strange suspicion, but I thought I would never be able to prove it. When my dad yelled come down, Kevin and I sprinted downstairs. We found our Christmas tree lit, and a pile of presents under if. We shook all of them and found out 2 were Lego sets. Another was a set of tour movies. We delivered the gifts of an ornament and a picture to mom and dad, and some money, folders, and some little animal models to my grandma and grandpa. Kevin and I spent 2 hours making the sets and playing with them. We watched one of the movies, and played some video games. We spent a long time in the basement looking at all the old toys and the different hideouts. The rest of the day was spent reading, napping, playing piano, and watching TV. Everyone said goodbye Christmas before they went to sleep. But I know that New Year’s is coming up, and there’s only three hundred sixty- five days left until the next Christmas.

Camp Bernie: Day 3

2007-12-23T07:02:00.000-08:00

Everyone in Oak woke up when the sun began to rise. We all had scratchy voices from another pillow fight we had yesterday. I could barely even hear Neil. Neil and I only got dressed to hear the dining hall bell ring. We suddenly remembered that we were cruisers (clean up staff and waiters) for the meal. We ran to the hall and found ourselves and went in. The jobs were carrying pitchers, setting up chairs, taking platters, and setting up all the utensils. It was worth it, because all the cruisers had an early meal. I had a corn puffs cereal bowls with milk, some great tasting bread with salad, and a hard-boiled egg.
For my second to last activity, I had pond ecology. We went to a small shack and received a bucket and net. I was partnered with a new friend and a kid from my cabin. My group walked through a path through the woods marked by blue ribbons on trees. I got my feet muddy when I stepped on a floating piece of land and my feet fell in mud. We arrived at a fast flowing lake. It didn't look like there were any bugs. Our instructor said we had to flip rocks to catch bugs. I tried to clog up the stream, but it didn't work. My friend caught a salamander, but it jumped out of his hand. I found three water spiders, but I was too short to reach for them and my feet fell in the water. We still had a little fun at the pond.
We had confidence course lastly. It was awesome and extremely fun. Everyone started off by holding hands, and we twisted ourselves into a circle. It reminded me of Rubics Cubes. You have to mess up the colors by twisting the sides, and try to make it normal again by randomly twisting. We hiked to a site, and went to a rope web. The story was that we were explorers, and we found a spider web. It led to the end of a cave. However, if we touched the web, a spider would eat us. But, we would be reborn and we could try again. A hole in the web closed once someone passed through it. I devised the plan of holding hands and walking through. We managed to get through after some tries. I heard stories of other tasks like the Titanic, where you had everyone had to balance on a small platform, and the Crocagator, where you had to get your team safely pass obstacles without touching the water (ground) once. My friend told me a funny story that he lost the Crocagator, because some clumsy kid accidentally fell down.
When we started our last meal of pizza when I saw another half of the fifth grade come. I waved to the others and told them Camp Bernie was awesome. At the end of the lunch, I was one of the people to read the weather report. I went on a bus back home with everyone else. During the trip, my friend told me about funny tricks he pulled off in a cool video game called Grand Theft Auto.
My dad picked me up back at the school. At home, I had a hot bath to clean myself.
If there's one thing I can say to fourth graders to describe Camp Bernie it's: awesome!

Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T07:58:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, I woke up, and found I overslept. I jumped out of my bed and did my morning duties, and ran downstairs. I saw no one there, and ran upstairs to my brother, Kevin's, room. My parents were lying in the bed, and Kevin was watching TV. "WHAT'S GOING ON" I screamed.

All of the sudden, I remembered that it was the Thanksgiving Break from school. I took this opportunity to sneak on the computer. It took a long time for my parents to wake up, though I screamed. When they did, I pretended to have finished breakfast, so I could make room for lunch.

I waited on the computer for my parents to finish breakfast. When they were finally finished, we set to work baking food. We brought a raw turkey to bake for lunch as the main course. Unfortunately, we couldn't find the turkey rub that I liked to bake with. I knew the turkey would taste good anyway, because we bought steak sauce to dip the turkey in. We stuffed the turkey full of vegetables. We then put the turkey in the oven along with some funny shaped cookie mix blobs Kevin made. My grandma and grandpa started cooking the usual foods my family always ate. I helped them prepare dough for a special Chinese bun. I was also given the job of looking at the dough every hour to see if it expanded.

Kevin and I watched the Macy's Parade while we were waiting for the cookies to be ready. We saw some of the balloons that were featured in a preview in Fox 5 news yesterday. My favorite balloon was either Silver Bunny, an oversized bunny covered in silver foil, or Pikachu, a Pokemon and the only balloon that was glowing. There were also some marching bands and a few celebrities on floats. The parade ended with Santa and some elves. Santa marked the beginning of the shopping season at Macy's.

In the middle of the parade, my friend Ben called. He said his favorite website http://www.pokemoncrater.com/ will not be maintained because the host had to go to college for 8 years. I tried to ask if he could play at my house, but he said he didn't have any time.

Lunch finally started when the parade ended. We took out the turkey and removed all the vegetables. The vegetables had a small hint of turkey and vise versa. I didn't eat any rice, but I did eat lots of turkey covered with steak sauce. I also ate some of the broccoli that came from inside the turkey. I left the kitchen table thinking I would never eat again.

Later, my parents and Kevin went to sleep. I helped my grandparents finish cooking the bun. I rolled the dough into a long strip, and cut it into pieces. I filled the dough pieces with a gooey sweet mixture, but I only did 2 because I couldn't fold the dough properly.

After lunch, I was getting bored so I decided to invite my friend Rushil over. He said he could come. Soon, Rushil and his little brother Arush came. He showed me Naruto card game. I wasn't interested at all, because it was just about people punching each other. We played a game called Raft Wars instead. Soon, we all got tired of the computer and decided to play the PS2. We played a game called Naruto: Ultimate Ninja. I didn't want to play this because of the terrible graphics, but Rushil insisted. I snuck away to avoid watching the dull scenes, and I ate some of the cookies we baked in the morning. Rushil saw me, and stopped playing to eat some too. Everyone who ate them said they were really good even though I slightly overbaked them and they were sitting there for about 3 hours. Rushil soon had to leave while we were playing in the basement after we stopped playing Naruto. All my boredom soon cleared away.

I want to end with why I'm thankful for my family. My mom always takes care of me and is the reason I'm here right now. I'm thankful for my dad because he taught me algebra and vocabulary. My grandpa and grandma take care of Kevin and me. They're also the ones that taught me volleyball, badminton, ping pong, and jump roping. I like my brother because he's always a playmate to me, and he's the reason I got my Nitendo DS in the first place.

The whole day ended with eating turkey. This is a Thanksgiving I'll remember for my whole life.

Camp Bernie: Day 2

2007-11-18T08:24:00.000-08:00

I was the first one to get up in the morning. Judging by the light outside the window, I guessed that it was about time to get up. I heard a creaking sound. I thought it was the door opening, until I heard Neil waking up. His throat was a little sore, because he yelled to much in the pillow fight yesterday. Only Tommy, a kid called Zachary, and me had normal voices because we didn't yell yesterday. Our chaperones soon got up, and we went out of the cabin and walked to the pavilion.

Our first activity was Orienteering. Just like what I thought from the beginning, it was DREADFULLY BORING!!! It was just about learning how to use compasses. I already knew how to use them. Once we were done with our lessons, we just did a boring activity on compasses and went back to the pavilion. What a complete waste of energy and two hours!

We had Low Rope Course. The beginning where we practiced supporting each other wasn't interesting. Soon, we walked in the forest and went to an amazing rope course. We supported each other for the course, but someone got hurt. We continued on. I finished a cable walk and swinging log. It was a short walk back to the pavilion.

We had Climbing Tower next. It was only a short walk there. One of the walls were filled completely with ladybugs. Nobody dared go on that one. Our instructor taught us how to attach the harness and helmet. It was a scary waiting for me, because I was afraid of heights. I felt like I couldn't walk while I was going to the tower. When the instructor tied rope to my harness, I pushed up and started climbing. I managed to climb some of the rocks. I slipped and looked down. The height made me dizzy. My whole body went numb. I couldn't reach any of the rocks. I got afraid, and lost my balance. Luckily, I was wearing the harness so I didn't fall. The coach brought me down and it took me five minutes to stop being dizzy. After climbing tower, we had arts and crafts. It was just plain making candles out of wax. I messed up my candle, because I put on too much wax.

After dinner, there was a dance. I stayed downstairs because I got red ears and a headache if I heard loud sounds. After a long time, I emerged to get some ice cream. Back at our cabin, we had another pillow fight. I took a pillow and tackled everyone without yelling. I was held hostage three times by the other team. I also got severe headaches from getting slapped in the head. When the fight was over, my cabinmates and I gathered in a circle and we shared stories about the fight. I went back into my room and SUPRISE, Tommy was hiding under my bed. We went into our beds and talked to each other before we drifted off to sleep.

Camp Bernie: Day 1

2007-11-17T10:59:00.000-08:00

I walked to a huge pavilion after unpacking my sleeping bag. There were tables with letters next to them. I was assigned to B. My partners were a fellow classmate, my enemy, 2 people who were in my Taekwondo class, a girl, and 3 other boys. We were to have survival training. Our instructor taught us a cool clapping trick: Clap, Clap, Clap. 1 How 2 many? The answer is 2( get it).

Survival training was amazing! The instructor tried to burn a bottle with water in it, but he couldn't because nothing could burn while it was wet. We also learned that litter in the forest could help save your life. We also created shelters. My group's shelter were some thick sticks against a tree. I added leaves to the ceiling, and a wide and light log for a door.

Our next task was Sensory Development. I found it interesting that your best sense for memory is your smell. We played a game where we guess something from its smell. We had a long hike while playing the game Follow the Leader. There were some bear scratches on the trees. We then got blindfolded, and walked down a rope course. It was pretty cool, except for the occasional bumping into poles. After about a complete half mile we stopped, and hiked all the way back. I don't think my legs will ever be the same.

There was a short dinner of pasta with garlic bread. I took seconds of the garlic bread. There was a night walk going back. We learned about how our eyes become a little colorblind in the night, how you could make Wint-o-green Lifesavers glow in the dark by chewing on it. Some people got freaked out, because my friend said it was a barbie toilet seat. Everyone walked back to the dining hall, and we saw a fascinating show called the Reptile Man. He showed us different creatures, not just reptiles. My favorites were either the scorpions or the alligator.

Back at our cabin, we had a huge pillow fight. I wanted to be part of the action, but Tommy tricks me into going the bathroom. After hearing all the screams of pain in the fight, I decided it was wise to hide. After lights out Neil and I secretly talked to each other, but we stopped when the counselor came in our room. I think I'm going to fall asleep. Goodnight.

Camp Bernie: The Trip

2007-11-14T12:39:00.000-08:00

I woke up one day and remembered. It was finally the day that I would be going to Camp Bernie. I waited since 3rd grade to have the ultimate experience, and today it would finally start!

I ate a short breakfast of some toast, because I knew that there would be a lot more to eat in the campgrounds. I dragged a suitcase and bag that I recently packed, and went into my car. Before I knew it, I was at my school gymnasium. I saw other kids around me waiting anxiously for the bus. I went into the school gym. It took some patience, but soon a bus came. I was going to the camp at last.

I talked to my friend Aditya about random things during the ride. I spent the rest of the time staring out the window and saying hi to all the drivers that passed me. Some of them even waved back. I waited a long time until we finally pulled into Camp Bernie. It looked a little like what I thought it would be, except there were fewer trees and more buildings than I thought. This was the place that I would be staying over for 3 days.

During a walk to my cabin, I reunited with an old friend, Tommy, who by coincidence was in the same cabin as mine. My cabin's name was Oak 7-8. It was average size and contained a lounge, 4 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms. The beds had stiff green mattresses and a tough wood frame. They were bunk beds, so my school friend Neil slept on the top bunk, while I slept on the bottom bunk. After we done setting up our sleeping bags on our beds, we would start to do classes starting with survival training.

A Tribute to Matoro

2007-11-14T12:15:00.000-08:00

Just today, a new Bionicle comic was released. This is a brief summary of everything in all the Bionicle comics. A god called Mata Nui is dying. Robot-like people called Bionicle constantly try to save him. One day, a 6 citizens are washed to a mysterious island, and struck by lightning. They turn into heroes called Toa that try to find a mask of life that will save Mata Nui's life. They eventually go into the sea for an ultimate battle.
The comic begins with Matoro, the ice toa, saying that they were too late to save Mata Nui's life, but they could revive him. His team said they would fight the villains that are heading toward him to buy Matoro time. Matoro goes on an adventure that leads him to the core of the universe. There, he puts on the mask of life. His friends are fighting their best, and they're just about to die when they are brought to their...home island. Still in the core, Matoro's body slowly disintegrates. Soon, a giant explosion occurs. Matoro's energy is sealed into the mask killing him, but reviving Mata Nui. The comic ends with an elder of the home island saying let's go and celebrate a matoran who became a toa...and a toa that saved the universe.

Name: Matoro

Element: Ice

Job: translater

hobby: stargazing, sports

best ability: mind

catchphrase: It ends now. One thousand years of fear and violence and darkness even in the daylight … all over now.

Why I Don't Want To Live In The City

2007-11-11T16:50:00.000-08:00

I might be moving to the city (a busy area like New York) this summer. I'm doing everything to prevent this from happening, because I despise the city. I think that it's better for people to live in the country. These are some of the reasons I have.

First of all, the city is completely crowded and has almost no place to play outside. It is a complete metropolitan filled with streets, buildings, and small courtyards. There is hardly any space to play around outside. It would be hard for me to adjust to the city.

Next, pollution is high in the city due to the amount of factories. It would be hard for me to breathe. I heard that the pollution in the city causes black snow and acid rain. I wouldn't be able to live through that.

Finally, the city contains a massive amount of noise. There's always cars beeping and the occasional dog howling. It would take a lot of effort to sleep. I wouldn't like that because my favorite thing to do is sleep.

I hope this post is enough to convince you not to live in the city.

Demon Slayer Day 4: From a Runescape Journal

2007-11-11T16:12:00.000-08:00

Into the Mining Lands

I finally owned the powerful Silverlight sword. It was time to defeat the demon. But I was told that the demon would be only be summoned when dark wizards from faraway lands would come. I decided I would train and get armor before I would stand the ultimate challenge.

I decided to test and train my combat with my Silverlight. I was amazed at how I defeated peasants, chickens, and goblins with swipes from my sword. I walked down a road and found a bronze square shield in the ground. It was my lucky day!

I decided to make better armor next. I went to Varrock and started mining copper and tin. I teleported occasionally back to Lumbridge to smelt them into bronze bars. I then walked back to Varrock to smith the bars into armor. Soon a helmet was created, and a platebody was bought from an armor shop. I'm now training my smithing to be able to create a bronze plateleg. I trained on some peasents some more. Soon, it would be time to wait at the stone circle to battle Delrith.

Smoke Alarms

2007-11-10T11:46:00.000-08:00

There was a news report on Fox 5 last Thursday about smoke alarms. It talked about how some brands of smoke alarms that don't even work.

There are two types of smoke alarms. One is an ionization detector. It detects small smoke particles with sensors, and beeps when disturbed. An optical detector detects if smoke goes through a small laser beam, and beeps if it does. However on a smoke alarm test, when a room was filled with smoke, four out of ten alarms didn't activate.

The news also told a story about a house that came on fire. The parents escaped, but not their 6 year old and baby son. The kid's room was burned for 19 minutes before their smoke alarm finally beeped. Firemen rescued the baby, but their 6 year old died. The baby had to endure many painful surgeries before it became better.

The comparison of the baby before and after the baby shocked me. I immeadiatly advised my parents to buy different types of smoke alarms. I'm planning to test each one to see if they work.

If you want to be safe, buy more smoke alarms with reliable brands, and test them afterwards. Put them in all the bedrooms and on each hallway in every floor including the attic and basement. To find out reliable brands, check consumer reports.

Demon Slayer Day 3: From a Runescape Journal

2007-11-10T08:37:00.000-08:00

Sewers, Rats, and Bones Oh My!

I almost gave up on this quest, because I couldn't find the sewers. I just decided to walk around the gates of the palace. I soon found a hole in the ground. The sewer at last!

I climbed right inside. It was infested with slime and rats. I thought the gypsy tent smelled bad! I walked through a narrow passageway filled with skeletons, and soon found myself surrounded by ghosts. I ran right into a dead end. In there, I found a rusty key. It was the second key! I found it at last!

I teleported myself back to Lumbridge. I then walked through a graveyard into Lumbridge Swamp. I soon found myself in the Wizard tower. I found a wizard and jumped into battle. He defeated me easily. I soon woke up in Lumbridge again. All I had left of my inventory were the 2 keys and an old bow.

I grouchily walked back to the tower. I avoided all the wizards this time, and ran to Traiborn. He said he had the final key, except he needed 25 bones to perform a ritual to get it. I already had 5 bones with me. I went downstairs to see if there were anything easy that I could fight. Luckily, there were chickens that I killed to get bones. I gathered 20 bones and gave them to Traiborn. I got the final key! Tomorrow I'm going to get the sword.

Demon Slayer Day 2: From a Runescape Journal

2007-11-09T17:44:00.000-08:00

Gaurds, Drains, and Wizards

I wandered around town searching for the Varrock palace. I was running out of prayer points, so I decided to charge it at a church, which was located in the northeast. I headed a little too north. I soon found a huge castle right in front of me!

I ran right in, ignoring the raging guard battles around me. I looked around the first floor, and soon found Sir Prysin in a chess room. I told him the Gypsy's story. He sighed and told me that the sword was in a chest that could be opened with 3 keys. I asked him where I could find the first key. He said it was with a guard called Sir Rovin. I asked him where was the second key. He said he had it, but unfortunately he dropped into a kitchen drain. He said the third one could be found with a wizard called Traiborn in the wizard's tower. I decided to hunt for the first key.

I went up a large set of stairs, and ran into a guard's room. I avoided all of them, and climbed up a ladder. I soon saw Sir Rovin. He asked me what I was doing in private quarters. I told him the story. He refused to give it to me at first, and said to ask Sir Prysin for one. I told Sir Rovin that Sir Prysin dropped the key into a drain. Sir Rovin screamed that idiot, and was so satisfied that he gave me the key.

I looked for the other key in the kitchen. I couldn't find it. I got frustrated and went outside. Outside was a drain with a key inside! I took a bucket of water and threw it in the drain. I inferred that the key was washed into the sewers. I searched everywhere for a manhole. I couldn't find one. I think I'll have to try tomorrow.

Demon Slayer Day 1: From a Runescape Journal

2007-11-08T18:35:00.000-08:00

The Making of a Quest

Ah, the sweet smell of victory! I just arrived at Lumbridge after successfully banishing a ghost, and fixing a morphing machine to help a chicken-man. I was wandering around looking for a special fighting quest, so I decided to wander away to try to find another city to explore. I ran right out of the city and into a seemingly endless pass.

I saw some signposts leading to a place called Varrock. I heard of a legendary sword there, and decided to investigate. After walking along the path, luckily avoiding wild animals, I made it to the south gate of Varrock. I found a circular stone next to it. What was that doing here? I didn't care and headed for a bank. I deposited 300 gold coins, that I got from a quest, into a bank.

I found an old gypsy in a smelly tent. She told me she would tell my future for a gold coin. I withdrew a gold coin from the bank, and gave it to her. She told me that an evil demon called Delrith would escape from the stone. She said she saw me defeating it with a sword! I asked her where I could find the sword. She suggested asking the current owner of the sword Sir Prysin. I decided to get this sword no matter what it takes, after I take a nap.

My Return to Bertucci's

2007-11-08T18:10:00.000-08:00

As you've known from my last blog, I was previously sick. I had a constant stomachache, and a fever that lasted for a few days. After a week, I finally got better. I couldn't wait to eat all the food I liked to eat, like pizza, again. Later that day, I got a call from my friend Ben saying that he was going to have a small party at a pizza restaurant!
I thought about it overnight and realized that it was Ben's birthday party. I patiently waited for Thursday to come. Soon, the day finally arrived. I waited for a long time in the morning, doing my homework, waiting for Ben. He arrived at my house at about 11:00. We ran right into their car. I suggested to go to Bertucci's, my family's favorite restaurant. My brother, Kevin, and his brother, Ray, came with us. Ben showed me a book full of funny cartoons during our trip. Soon, I was smelling the wonderful fragrance of rolls and pizza. I was finally there again.
We ordered a dish of rolls, some olive oil, ravioli, and chicken and broccoli pizza( salano). I dumped my face into everything I got. I got stains all over my face and shirt.We had a happy dinner chatting with each other and eating food. When we were done, we went to Ben's house and we played video games like Star Wars and Cat in the Hat. My brother and I went back home after 2 hours, thinking of the great time we had.

The Liberty Science Center

2007-11-07T13:46:00.001-08:00

This week is fall break. I'm using a lot of time doing homework, and hanging around my favorite website Runescape. My dad was planning to take my brother and me to New York, but my brother got a cold and I got a stomach virus. We both got better on Monday. Now, my dad took us to the Liberty Science Center instead.

It took about 30 minutes to get to the museum. We ran in with notebooks and pencils. We went around the 1st floor. It just had a gift shop and science exhibit that was closed for the day. The 2nd floor was just as boring, except it contained an IMax theater. The 3rd floor was amazing! There were animals and displays of the human body everywhere. We immediately went in.

We walked through exhibitions of many reptiles and fish. There was one that looked like fish that I had at home. Surprisingly, the sign said toad tadpoles. There were also displays about the human body. I liked the video game they had with antibiotics battling bacteria. My favorite activity on the floor was a show on surgery. I enjoyed it a lot, since I want to be a surgeon. I even got to demonstrate surgery on a banana with my brother and 3 other people.

We went downstairs to eat afterwards. I ate a hot dog and a piece of chicken. My dad, brother, and I went upstairs to go to a science room, where I was scheduled to have an experiment. However, nobody was there. I went away and watched the same guide teach us about water filtering. It was pretty cool. We rushed down to buy tickets for an IMax movie afterwards.

We bought tickets for the movie Mummies. However when we got inside, we found out it was actually for a movie called Hurricane on the Bayou. It was about the wetlands and Hurricane Katrina. My brother was horrified by the wetlands. It was pretty exciting except I think that the Mummy movie would be better.

We headed for the 4th floor. It contained an exhibit on all the sources of energy. I found it a little useful for the wind project I need to finish at school. There was also a little kid's exercise arena, and a place on pioneers and inventors. We had to exmine them quickly, then go back to the lobby. My brother and I strolled around a gift shop for a while before we had to leave.

I had a wonderful experience!

Linking Words

2007-10-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

I just read a chapter in a writing book about linking words, so I'm writing a post about them. Linking words are words that help to improve choppy writing, and combine sentences together. They include words such as and, but, or, however, and therefore. However, there are many more linking words to use to make writing better. Therefore, that ends my preview of linking words, but wait for my next one on demonstrative and relative pronouns.

Link to a Video

2007-10-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

Trip to Canada Day 9: Drive Back Home

2007-09-03T06:38:00.000-07:00

I was the first to wake up the next day. I shook awake my brother Kevin and my cousin Derick. We both started to continue the game we played yesterday. Eventually, my cousin Ying Ying woke up an we let her in the game. When everyone in the house woke up, we had a family breakfast. When we were done, a lot of pictures were taken. I managed to get a picture taken with Ying Ying. After that, our family went inside the car and said good-bye to my uncle's family. Then, we left for New York. . .
We took one last look at Canada. I got a good sight of Niagara Falls because our car was driving over its Rainbow Bridge. Eventually, we got out of Canada and drove 4 hours. We then stopped at the Corning Museum of Glass. We saw interesting shows on how glass was made and things that could destroy glass. When we were finally relaxed, we started to drive again.
We drove for three more hours. My body started too feel tense and stiff. I couldn't stand another hour. 30 minutes later, I felt like I was going to explode. 10 minutes later, I started to see thing I knew. After 20 minutes, we drove onto our lane.

Touchdown! We were finally back at our own home.

Trip to Canada Day 8: Lake Ontario

2007-09-03T05:57:00.000-07:00

Today would be the last day we would be staying at our uncle's house. So, we were planning to stay at their house for most of the day. Some time after lunch however would be used to go to Lake Ontario.
My brother, two cousins, and sister and I played a game involving a chair, gun, blocks, and 2 small pianos. We each had the chair in the middle of a hallway. We would play with two teams. I was with my baby cousin Ying Ying, and my brother Kevin was with my other cousin Derick. We would grab the chair and race to a room and close the door. We would then play random notes on the piano. The other team would type the same notes and then force open the door. Then, Ying Ying guards the chair while I battle them with blocks and guns. When Ying Ying and I try to steal back the chair, we copy the notes and attack. We kept playing in the morning until it was lunch. The person with the golden chair won. Ying Ying and I won.

After lunch, we drove to Lake Ontario. When we were taking a hike, a heavy rain started. Only my grandpa, mom, and I continued. When the rain stopped, I went back to the car because I was too tired to continue. Eventually, I went and caught up with the group. We finally stopped at a playground. I was told to babysit Ying Ying, but she managed to slide down a wet slide without me looking. She kept on sliding until the whole slide was dry. I slided down a little afterwards. After the rest, we drove back home.

When we got back, I played computer for a while until it was time to go to dinner. After dinner, I went to the toy room and fell asleep.

Trip to Canada Day 7: Toronto

2007-09-02T10:37:00.000-07:00

I woke up to find everyone already missing. I knew where everybody in my room had gone. I wasn't surprised to see Kevin inside Derick's room playing with a Lego Set. I knew this was going to be a good day, because we were finally going to see the CN Tower and an amusement park called Ontario Place. I was excited about seeing a new Chinese exhibit created at OP.

We first drove to and walked around Chinatown looking at shops and restaurants. It was interesting to see my first Chinatown. They sold Chinese food that I am very familiar with like litchis. Soon, after walking a long time, we stopped at a Restaurant. I just ate some noodles and meat.

Soon, after the rest, we walked all the way back to our parking lot which was next to CN Tower. CN Tower actually stands for Canada Network Tower. The CN Tower is the tallest tower in the world. However, the CN Tower was farther away than it looked. We had to walk around a gigantic building to get there. Surprisingly, the line to the elevator wasn't that long. When we did go to the elevator, I rushed to the window immediately. I watched as we kept on ascending until we reached the Observation Post.

I dragged my family to the Glass Floor. When I saw it, I immediately jumped onto it, and lay down face-down. My stomach felt sick at the first few seconds, but soon I adjusted to the view. I played games on the Glass Floor like pretending the black lining on the glass was a balance beam, and I had to go over it. I got a big fright when someone pushed me, and I almost thought everything except the black lining vanished. I got loads of pictures taken while on the glass. My brother wouldn't even step on the glass, so at the end, we tricked him by closing his eyes and taking him to the glass floor. When I got tired of playing around, I got some ice-cream, and started to devour it next to and Observation Post window. When we were finished, we took another elevator down. I went to the window as usual.

After that, we drove to Ontario Place. We first purchased tickets and went through a long hallway to the Chinese exhibit. There were models that had lanterns placed in them. We just walked around for a while before heading off to the amusement park. My brother and I had a fantastic time at the amusement park. We both went on two obstacle courses. I liked the second one the best, because of the crazy contraptions. I especially liked the end where there was a giant spinning tube you had to walk through. I went on a Haunted House Ride with my dad( my brother was too scared to go) and a bumper car ride with my brother. We went back to the Chinese exhibit, and walked around the displays. I learned some interesting facts about my own country like that Qin Shihaung was the first emperor to unite China.

After a whole night of walking around, my legs almost gave away. We rested while my dad got the car. Soon, I was in the warmth of my uncle's house sleeping peacefully.

Trip to Canada Day 6: Niagara Falls

2007-09-02T06:50:00.001-07:00

Today, my family went to Niagara Falls. However, my uncle and aunt were going to work, my cousin Derick went to school, and my other grandma had to stay behind to look after my baby cousin. Even with a few people coming, I was still sure I would have a great time at the falls.

When we first arrived, I saw a tower that I mistaken for the CN Tower. It was actually a new tower called the Skylon Tower that's used for viewing Niagara Falls. However, we didn't go on the tower. Instead, we walked for a long time from a parking lot to go to Niagara Falls.

Niagara Falls is the border between New York and Ontario. It also consists of two waterfalls on Niagara river. Horseshoe Falls is on the Canada side, and American Falls is on the American side. The fall moves backwards about three feet every year. Amazingly to me, the water running on Niagara Falls comes from the Great Lake.

Once I got there, I felt something like light rain. It was actually some water from the Niagara Falls splashing the tourists. My mom took a lot of pictures of me in front of a gate on the falls that my brother was too scared to go to. At the end, he became jealous and went to the gate to take pictures too. Soon, a giant rain started at the falls. A large group of people ran for shelter in the gift shop and resteraunt. I ate some pizza and french fries at a resteraunt while waiting for the rain to stop.

When the rain stopped, we started to head to a boat ride called the Maid of the Mist. My grandma and grandpa stayed behind because they didn't like riding boats, planes, and cars. The path we went on to get to the boat curved slightly downward. After walking on the path for a while, we go into an elevator and get to the bottom of the falls. The boat, Maid of the Mist, was so huge, that it could fit everyone waiting on the line. Next to the boat was a small rowboat called Little Maid.When the boat reached one of the waterfalls, it showered everyone on the left side of the boat with blinding jets of water. The same thing happened on the other side, so I changed sides of the boat depending where the jets of water were coming from.

When the ride ended, the sleeves of my jacket were soaked completely. However, my shirt was still dry. When my family finally went back to high ground, we walked all the way back to our car and went home.

At night, I slept in a play room with all the children. Ying Ying had to go, because she became overexcited and started screaming. When my room was finally quiet, I went to sleep right away.

Trip to Canada Day 5: Kingston

2007-08-31T15:20:00.000-07:00

Today was an important day. We were finally going to my uncle's house in Toronto. However, we were going to first stop at Kingston, which was the ex- capital of Canada.
My brother wasn't happy about that. He whined the whole trip, because he wanted to go to our uncle's house directly. My dad tried to explain to him that it was impossible to get to Toronto without going to Kingston first. My brother calmed down after he ate the flat bread pizza at Quizno's Sub. The pizza would have been good if it didn't had too much tomatoes.

After feeling refreshed, we all arrived at Kingston. We walked to the city hall, and just walked around it and took pictures, but we never got a chance to go inside. We walked to a dock where we would shortly be riding a boat around a place in Kingston called One Thousand Islands. My brother and I scared some birds for fun, and ran around an old train that seperated the east and west side of Canada.

When the ship finally came, my family quickly went in to find a good table. When we found seats in the corner, and sat down, the ship gave a loud pull and started to head out to Lake Ontario. I saw amazing sights on the cruise. There were 4 towers on islands, including Shoal Tower, that were used to defend Canada during a war. Shoal Tower was the only tower completely surrounded by water. The ship was going slow sometimes and fast at other times, so I felt a little sick. But, I still managed to devour the hot dog, bag of chips, and iced tea that my mom bought. I had a good time enjoying the views on the boat, and wanted to go again.

We were going to leave Kingston to get to my uncle's house. My brother was pleased, because he was going to meet our cousin Derick and a baby cousin we didn't know about yet. We drove for a while before reaching our uncle's house. I ate dinner of some rice and meat with both families.

I quickly made friends with the baby cousin named Ying Ying. In my point of view she 's really playful and funny. She sings mixed songs and speaks made up words while I play a small keyboard. She can be fun to play with and a good companion. I went upstairs and did the usual things before going to sleep in a room where Derick keeps his toys. I had a good time at my uncle's house already.

Trip to Canada Day 4: Ottawa

2007-08-30T15:03:00.000-07:00

I woke up late as usual, and I got prepared quickly. We would go to Ottawa today. It would take about as long as it would to go to Quebec city. However, this time, my grandparents were coming also.

We stopped at McDonald's before finally arriving at Ottawa. Ottawa is the capital of Canada, so it has the parliament building. It was declared capital of Canada by Queen Victoria in 1857. The first thing we did was go to Parliament Hill. At the heart of Canada's Capital, it overlooks Ottawa River, which marks the border between Ontario and Quebec. The Liberty of Parliament is one of the most estraordinary examples of Gothic Revival architecture in Canada. Inaugarated in 1876, this magnificent building survived the devestating fire of 1916, which destroyed the original Centre Block.

We walked around Parliament Hill for a while. We bought tickets for a french tour, because it started right away. The building was awesome, however the tour was terrible! The tour was completely French and made me feel lost. I had to listen to 45 minutes of non-stop French. A mace in a sealed cabinet used by the Speaker of the House got the French out of my head for a while.

After that, we walked back to our car. We drove a little more to, Rideau Hall, the workplace and home to every Governor General since the Canadian government purchased it during Confederation in 1867. When we got there, we followed a group of three soilders and a person playing the bagpipes. The building in Rideau Hall was in repair, and even if it weren't, all the tours would have ended already, because it's late. There was a rose garden in a courtyard right next to the building. There were different kinds of trees planted by prominent people in the world like Queen Elizabeth the 2nd.

After walking around, we returned to our car and drove to a hotel in Ottawa. We ate at a Korean resteraunt for a change. I went back to the hotel with my grandma and brother , while my mom, dad, and grandpa were going to buy us hamburgers because we didn't eat much.

My brother and I watched T.V. for about one and a half hour. When my mom came home with burgers, she told us to get into the car to see a sound and light show on the Parliament.

We went to it. I saw lights projected on the wall of the Parliament, and I heard the voice of the narrator booming across the whole hill. The thunder storm in the show were amazingly real. The scenes and sounds were magnificent. Lots of people including me sit on the grass. I didn't regret staying late for the show.

Trip to Canada Day 3: Quebec City

2007-08-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

Amazingly, I didn't wake up late. I actually woke up the earliest...for nothing! The morning was a complete waste. We started off by eating more Chinese Food. I ate the same thing I did yesterday. After that, we walked around our hotel just taking pictures of anything interesting. After that, we planned to drive to Quebec City.

My grandparents couldn't come because their stomachs hurt from the horse ride yesterday. It took two and half hours just to get there. We stopped to eat at McDonald's in the middle of our drive to Quebec. I felt exhausted from sitting in the car too long. We walked to the Old Parliament and took loads of pictures. It was designed by architect Eugene Etienne Tache. However, when we got in, we found out the Parliament closed early.

We then climbed a hill to an old battlefield. It was a long and tiring walk to the top. There was also a bridge that brought you to the top of a building. I didn't go on it because I was afraid of heights. When we get back from the field, we walked through what used to be a gate that Quebec closed to defend the city. It was just a giant red arch. However, the door seemed to be missing.

We walked around the city looking for another Notre Dame church. We did find an enormous hotel that looked like a castle. After 10 minutes of searching and asking for directions, we found the church. Notre Dame is one of the first cathedrals in America. The church is ravaged three times by fire throughout the centuries. Each time, it was rebuilt on its original foundations according to the original plans. Francois de Laval is the first bishop of Quebec. The church declared him blessed in 1980. He is buried beneath the recumbent in his funeral chapel. The church looked like it was made completely out of gold. A sanctuary lamp, that miraculously survived all three of the fires, is the oldest piece in the cathedral.

We walked back to our car and drove back to our hotel. When we got home we ate dinner at a you-know-what. After that, I quickly ran back to my room and went asleep.

Trip to Canada Day 2: Montreal

2007-08-28T12:43:00.000-07:00

I woke up late again in the morning. Luckily, my family was still packing for our long walk around Montreal. I went and quickly brushed my teeth and changed into my clothes. When the family was done packing, we went to Chinatown again and ate breakfast there. I ate a greasy strip made out of dough. My brother and I fed some of our crumbs to birds, and scared the birds away if there were too much. We then followed dad around New Montreal to see some of the attractions.

The first place we went to was the University of McGill. We just walked around and took pictures. Then we walked even more. Sometimes would see a statue of a famous person. However the last statue, which was at the end of the trail on my dad's map, wasn't based on a person. It was a statue of a make-believe group of people looking at a fire. On the base, there were the words:

The Illuminated Crowd

1985

A crowd has gathered, facing a light, an illumination brought about by a fire, an event, an ideology - or an ideal. The strong light casts shadows, and as the light moves toward the back and diminishes, and mood degenerates. Rowdiness, disorder and violence occur, showing the fragile nature of man. Illumination, hope, involvement, hilarity, irritation, fear, illness, violence, murder and death - the flow of man's emotion through space.

After that, we got lost in downtown. It took a long time to go back, and when we did, I felt like I was going to collapse. I ate a lunch of noodles at another Chinese Restaurant. We were then planning to explore the old part of the city. After we got out of the hotel, my mom said her camera needed charging, so everyone had to wait 30 minutes. We then took a tour around on a horse-drawn carriage around Old Montreal. It was pretty interesting. When the ride was done, we went to a church nearby called Notre Dame Basilica. It dates back to the origins of Montreal in which was founded in 1642 by Paul de Chomedey. It was ministered by Jesuits until 1657. James O' Donnell, an Irish Prostetant from New York, was Notre Dame's architect. Adoring angels are depicted at each side of a tabernacle, and they are surrounded by the Lamb of God. The church is colorful with its stained glass. Everything was French, so we just took a look around and left.

We ate Chinese food again when it was 5:00. We planned to drive onto another church on top of a place called Royal Mountain. It's 20 miles from my hotel, so I got carsick and almost threw up. It was exciting climbing up the 238 steps of Royal Mountain. We arrived at a church called the Saint Joesph's Oratory. It was a gigantic church with different kinds of doors and yellow walls everywhere. There was a preserved heart of, Brother Andre, the saint that made the church. Andre's father died when he was nine and his mother three years later. The young orphan found work in the neighboring villages and later in the textile mills. In 1904, he built a chapel across from the college in honor of Saint Joesph. A few years later, he settled there and the crowds began to visit him. I think that it's amazing that an orphan can become so popular by building a church.

When we got back to the car, my brother and I went back to the hotel with our grandparents. My parents were going to visit a famous casino. My brother and I played video games and went to sleep at 11:00. I was sure that I was going to wake up late again.

Trip to Canada Day 1: Way to Canada

2007-08-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

I woke up at 7:00. My whole family surrounded me. I realized that I woke up late for our trip to Canada. I only had 10 minutes to brush my teeth and eat breakfast. I hurried and covered my mouth in toothpaste and rinsed it out. I had a very short breakfast of eggs. I packed all of my things and went into the car.
It took 6 long hours just to drive to Canada. I watched the documentary film Planet Earth that my mom bought for 2 hours. I spent some time playing my video games, and looked at the scenery outside once in a while. We stopped to eat at McDonald’s for lunch. After a long time, I saw a sign that said customs. We finally arrived at the border of Canada.
We drove a little more before stopping at a building that was shaped like a semi-circle. It was supposed to be a bio-dome. Next to it was an Olympic arena and tower which was designed by Robert Taillibert for the 1976 Olympic Games. The arena was impressive in size and shape, and was topped with the tallest inclined tower in the world. It quickly became the choice location for major sporting events, rock concerts, and public gatherings. The place wasn't so thrilling to me, but I can imagine when the Olympic games took place there, it was a different scene. The only thing I think that was worth seeing in it was the tall diving boards near the swimming pool.

The bio-dome was a lot more interesting. There were 4 different landscapes. The first 2 were different forests, the third was a marine ecosystem, and the final one was a polar world. In the forests, it was hard to breathe the thick, moist air. The first forest contained reptiles, birds, and monkeys. The next exhibit contained mammals and lots of plants. In the third habitat, which were in caves, there were all sorts of exotic fish inside huge tanks designed to look like their habitat. At the end, I see birds and fish in both the Arctic zoo and Antarctic zoo. After the tour was done, I played a game where I’m a male frog trying to attract a female one using croaks. Other people are also playing the game too competing against me. I versed my brother. The bat in the game always eats him.
Soon, it was time for dinner. We drove to our hotel next to China Town. We ate at a Chinese Restaurant. It took about 30 minutes for our food to arrive. All I ate is noodles and meat. After dinner was done, we went to our hotel. I spent the rest of the night watching Naruto, and then I went to sleep.

Notes of Butterfly

2007-08-16T18:42:00.001-07:00

Butterfly:

. Procedure
a. Dive down, but not too deep
b. Put your chest out
c. Stretch your arms foward
d. Put your butt out
e. Snap or kick the water
f. Pull back hard

Hints on Freestyle and Breastroke

2007-08-13T18:33:00.000-07:00

Freestyle:
Keep head head steady and make forehead touch the waterline
Scoop out water when you take your arm out
Begin stroke with elbows up
Glide hand on top of water and stretch
Make each stroke straight
Kick strong with toes flat

Breaststroke:
Pull up in the the pullout and get head out of water fast
Keep head still
Stretch arms
Hold streamline for two seconds
Strong pull and snap with toes pointing out
Don't do freestyle kick

Swimming Lessons

2007-08-05T09:34:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I had my first swimming practice with a coach named Yeon Jean. I learned a lot about freestyle and how to be a good athlete.

Yeon is 18, and is going to the University of Chicago. He had been accepted to 4 other colleges including Brown University, but picked Chicago. It was the best of all 5 colleges in his opinion, and he got a scholarship. He told me he would still be swimming in college.

When we first met, he introduced himself to me. He told me that I came here to swim faster and not slower. When he pointed out I did something bad, I wanted to think of it positively instead of negatively. I needed to correct my mistakes.

I began with a 100 Freestyle which I would be doing to start every practice from then on. The coach told me that there were a lot of mistakes with my stroke. I first learned to position my forehead on the water surface and keep it steady to get less tired with freestyle. I was twisting my head too much for breathing, so Yeon taught me the right distance to turn my head. I was told not to swim around during breaks, so I would'nt get tired. I was corrected on the time underwater of my streamline, and the way I curved my hand. Yeon complimented me a lot, and said I was learning fast.

I was told to hop out of the water a lot of times. Yeon wanted me to put my hands on my hips instead of crossing my arms, so I look like a man. It took some time to get used to that. He started telling me the life lessons. Yeon told me that when he was young, he went swimming and took piano lessons like me. He didn't like it very much and told me that he used to think that it was boring. But eventually, he started liking it. Yeon also gave me some future warnings like he doesn't teach kids who don't want to learn swimming. To sum everything up at the end of practice, he said that no matter what you think, your parents are always right. I stayed more time in the pool to practice freestyle. I learned a lot from Yeon. He is a great coach!

Toa Mahri are the Best!

2007-07-29T14:10:00.000-07:00

In 2000, a brand new type of Lego was created. It had mechanical parts, and stayed together a lot better than ordinary Lego sets.

The main plot of Lego includes heroes, Toa, that save their great spirit from evil forces sent by a being named Makuta. Toas are created by strange events, such as getting shocked by lightning or appearing out of thin air in capsules.

In year 1, the first introduced group of Toa come onto the suffering island of Mata Nui. They have to fight agaist the wild beasts on the island that are being controlled by Makuta to find the Kanohi Masks of Power. When they emerge from the shrine of the masks, they face a new danger which is year 2.

Bohrok! The villians that make up year 2. The Toa defeat the Bohrok, the 2 Bohrok Queens, and the Bohrok Kal (new, improved Bohrok). However, two friends discover another Power Mask. It belongs to a 7th Toa who will defeat Makuta. One friend discovers the 7th Toa in himself, while the other one dies. The 7th Toa eventually defeats Makuta and revives the fallen friend. The 3rd and 4th year are stories told from a village elder about how he and his friends become Toa from the powers of the First Toa ever created. In the end, the First Toa sacrifices himself to save the leader of the Toa group, and they lose their powers to save the island citizens.

The 6th and current year involve how the revived friend who hunted the the 7th

Toa gathers a group of strong citizens to find a mask to save the Great Spirit. They are shocked by lightning and turned into Toa. They finally find the Mask of Life, but it falls into an ocean. The Toa are knocked by a blast to be mutated into water breathers called the Toa Mahri. They now have to find the Mask, and destroy the cord that keeps a hideout for the villains up to destroy them.

The sets for Toa Mahri just came out the same day I was elevated to White team in swimming. My mom was going to reward me with my choice of a prize. I chose the Toa Mahri Hewkii. She said I would have to wait until next week. I wasn't done yet. I begged with my brother (whose birthday was coming soon), that we could have the Toa today. My brother tried to use threats and bribery, but it didn't work. After a gigantic failure, my mom taught my brother how to write treat. I felt a feeling of hope when I came up with a plan. I took a piece of paper and wrote the words Treat Tomorrow in my mom's handwriting. My brother and I signed it, and placed our money in it. We felt excited and sneaky. When my mom saw it, she agreed to buy us the Toa Mahri tomorrow because of our clever plan. Right now, I feel hopeful and enthusiastic that I'm going to get a Toa Mahri.

P.S. There's information of Bionicle history and a music video of the Toa Mahri on http://bionicle.lego.com/en-US/default.aspx?domainredir=www.bionicle.com. If you know what the song is, email me on oliverytang@yahoo.com.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2007-07-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

At summer school, my English teacher asked if there was anyone who were going to the midnight party at Barnes & Nobles. It sounded peculiar to me, because Barnes & Nobles closes at 11:00. I suddenly remembered that the 7th Harry Potter book was going to be released on Friday at midnight.

I did a little research on the computer that night. I found out that the party was being held at the Barnes & Nobles near Menlo Park. My mom allowed me to go to the midnight party! I started running around the whole house excited and hyper. My mom asked me if my friend Rushil was coming to the party. I didn't know, so I called him and asked him. He knew the book was coming out, but didn't know that there was going to party at midnight. He couldn't go, because it was his cousin's birthday.

5 minutes later, Rushil called. He said that his cousin's party ended early. My mom agreed to pick him up to go the party. We waited until 11:00, and left for the party. That was our big mistake. When Rushil and I got there, we saw an enormous line. That was not the only line. We needed to go to another line to get a building pass. It didn't take long for us to get the building pass. To make time pass faster, Rushil and I made a new version of Harry Potter involving Voldemort trying to take over Broadway, and Harry bombing the wizard schools of Durmstrang and Beauxabotons to find the ice cream in the school mess hall.

After we ended the story with Voldemort being accepted to the play, The 3 Ugly Brothers, and Harry becoming bloated from all the ice cream he ate, Rushil and I were finally accepted into the final line. It took a short time to get in the bookstore. While we were waiting, we saw the first box get opened. The first person who got the book screamed, and was very giddy. The only thing he said was I got the book. Other lucky people got the boxes with the inscription of the book's name and the memorable date. Rushil and I talked about hijacking a box by breaking the windows.

Inside the store, the directions given were very confusing. I made at least 5 laps around the stores and 3 terrifying trips upstairs (I'm afraid of heights). When I got to the line, I found out the book only costed $21. Once I got it, I screamed yes and ran to the exit, and began reading the book immeadiatly. I couldn't stop feeling excited. I stayed up late, and I still felt proud of what I got. So far, I'm on page 150. Everything was so mysterious. It included a lot of violence already. You should read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

3 weeks later: I'm done with the book! I'm not saying what happens, but I'll tell you if you email me at oliverytang@yahoo.com.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2007-07-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was finally the day I was waiting for. It was finally my birthday party. My brother and I were having our parties on the same day. Both of us invited 3 people. For the main event, the party members were going to watch the movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

It took a short time to get to the movie theater. However, themovie theater wasn't good. There were rugs on the walls, sticky floors, and very old chairs. The party got there just in time to watch some of the trailers, and the movie.

The main plot about Harry Potter is about Harry Potter surviving an attack from a murderer that killed his parents. Now the murderer, Voldemort, is building his own army called the Death Eaters to kill enough people to become immortal.

In this movie, Harry decides to build his own army to find a prophecy about himself, and Voldemort. However, a new teacher overthrows the headmaster, and searches for the student army. Harry eventually finds the location of the prophecy, and outsmarts the teacher. When Harry and his army finally find the secret of the prophecy, they're trapped by Voldemort's army, and lose the prophecy. Harry's godfather rescues everyone and destroys the prophecy, but is killed. Harry has a fight with Voldemort, but the headmaster shows up, and Voldemort teleports away.

It's a violent and cool movie. It's great for almost any age even though it's PG 13. This movie is a must for magic fans. It's the best movie I ever saw!

My Trip to Sandy Hook

2007-07-09T14:16:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, my brother begged to go to the beach. My parents agreed. We were going to Sandy Hook after lunch.
My family packed loads of things. We brought an umbrella, ice cream, bread, swim suits, and of course sunblock and my Nintendo DS and Game Boy. After I ate a big lunch of meat, eggs, and rice, I went into the car and got ready for the exciting trip.
The car ride was supposed to be about 1 hour and 30 minutes. However, the traffic was heavy, it took 2 hours instead! I wasn't expecting this, and got very carsick. Once I got to the beach it took me 20 minutes to feel better.

It was a long walk to the beach. I had to walk in almost endless sand to get there. It felt like I was walking in the desert. When I finally saw water, I ran and swam in it immediately.

I didn't know where I was swimming. Once I stopped, a rip tide came and pushed me all the way back to shore. I finally knew how salty the ocean really was. I also started riding the waves a lot. I swam so much that I became a little clumsy on land. In the ocean, I went shell hunting. There were loads of large and intact shells. I got a lot of shells while riding the waves to try to get them to shore.

After I was tired of the water, my brother and I played in the sand. My brother buried me in the sand and pretended I was a monster. I got really dirty in the sand, so I went into the ocean every once in a while to get washed. After a long day of playing, it was time to go home.

I changed really fast, and offered to walk to the car with my dad. I had a really cool walk through the woods. When I reached the car, I immediately turned on the air conditioning. We picked up the rest of the family at a rest stop. This time, the traffic was light, and I got home a lot faster. I didn't get carsick at all. I missed the beach, but I still have a lot of souveneirs to remember it.

Cleaning Up The Basment

2007-06-24T12:50:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, there was a big rainstorm and my whole basement was flooded. My brother was the one that discovered it, when he went downstairs to play. He told me there was something downstairs. I went in with my socks on, and got the big surprise. I ran upstairs instantly.
Later, that night my whole family cleaned up the basement. Everything was moved onto our ping-pong table. I helped mop the floors, and carry rugs upstairs to be thrown away. It was a tough job! I was sweating by the time I came out. I then had to wash all the towels. It was kind of interesting operating the washing machine to dry the towels, but also tiring scrubbing the towels. I fainted on a couch, when I got out of the washing room. I thought the basement trouble was over, but I never knew that it was only half.
One week later, my mom told me that we need to clean up the toys in the basement. I was eager to do it at first, but when I saw the basement, I gasped. It had toys all over the floor, boxes on the ping-pong table, and garbage stuck all over the place. I sorted toys together in boxes. My brother took them away to make a pretend shop. He got furious at me when I moved away the toys, and tried to stop me. When I successfully moved the toys, he chased me around the basement with two coat hangers. He got sent upstairs after that. I picked up garbage after that. It wasn't so hard. I even found some of my missing Bionicle pieces. The job took a long time to finish. I felt exhausted, but did have a fun time cleaning up.