Tada, I have read two asigned books, and now I have read three! I looked around on other people's blogs, but only one review of Ship Breaker. So I was unprepared for this book. When I was reading it, it had the same sort of feel as House Of The Scorpion. It even was similar. Half men=Idjits, Nailer's father=Matt's "father", The guy who helped Matt escape=Tool, The whole clone harvesting, I have to escape= I helped Nita run away from Pyce, I have to escape. But still, it was a good book.
It starts out with a whole bunch of confusing belief systems (the rust saint, the fates, and the scavenger god) and a whole bunch of confusing concepts (half-men, the life cult, and the ship breakers). Nailer is a light crew person, meaning that he crawls into the ships and strips off the wiring and copper, while heavy crew strips off the ship parts from the ship. After escaping from an oil room in a ship, Nailer is considered as Lucky Boy, and his abusive father stays away from him for a while. But when he and Pima find a clipper ship, with a live rich girl in it. Every thing changes. After making her swear a blood oath that Nailer, Pima, and her (Nita) were crew and had each other's back, she tells them her story. She says that she is being chased by her fathers enemies who want her for leverage to make her father smuggle illegal goods for them, or something like that. Then Nailer's father's mostly heavy crew finds the clipper and her. When the find out that the people who came ashore are not her award giving family, they want to kill her, but then when the people (her enemies) offer money, they prepare to sell Nita. Nailer, Nita, and Tool, a Half-man who somehow wasn't loyal to his "master" escape to where her father's loyaler ship crews could help her. When they get to New Orleans, or what was left of it after some city killers or Hurricanes destroyed it and New Orleans II, Nita is lost and Tool refuses to help Nailer take on Nita's father's enemies. His reasoning being that he will not jump into un-winnable battles like any other Half-man. So Nailer and the loyal crew of the Undauntless sail off to find Nita. Soon they get caught in a beggining city killer, while being followed by the ruthless Pole Star. The same ship that Nita was running from when she crashed into the shore. Nailer offers a suggestion that might help them escape. As they near his beach he worked as a Ship Breaker on, he says that they could go through a gap in "The Teeth" (a bunch of drowned buildings that shred up ships like teeth) which the Pole Star cannot get through. Then they could board it and get Nita. They do. But when Nailer finds Nita, she is with his father, who is saying she is now "body scavenge" (a term for dead people who wash up on shore, who are then broken like ships). Nailer then fights with his dad and ends up killing him by turning on the gears for something extendable that will grind up anything in them, in this case, Nailer's father. He then escapes with Nita and is given a reward and so does Pima who then are able to sort of get off the streets, or in this case, beach.
Themes: One prominent one is that killing should hurt. And if it doesn't, there is something wrong with you. There is also another one about loyalty, that sometimes no loyalty is good (Tool betraying his master for a good purpose) and sometimes loyalty can be good (the crew of the Undauntless saving Nita). Themes in there that were in the similar book, House Of The Scorpion: Something about that everyone deserves life, Nita, even though she is rich and none of the Ship Breakers would care about her. And Matt, he's a clone, but he deserves to live even though he is just meant to be harvested. Other than that, I can't think of any others.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
The Immortals, by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddel
This is my eighth blog post, and yet, I have only read two of the books I set myself to read. This is the final book in the edge chronicles which I did a post on earlier, and it was a very good ending. I wanted to read it all at once before we had to go to Italy, so I didn't read the first bit for first impressions, which I seem to be doing a lot.
It starts off with our main character in a mine where they mine stormphrax. It is a thing that explodes if hit not in twilight light, and its powder can be used to purify all liquids. But nothing comes without a price, and the phraxmines are very dangerous, because if a twilight lamp is lit too bright and someone hits a crystal of stormphrax, an explosion, too dark or not on at all, the crystal becomes heavier (they get heavier in darkness) and smashes through all the sleeping quarter's and kills everyone. The explosions are taken advantage of by sky-ships which use the explosion to keep their ship in the air. Nate Quarter is the main character who works in the mines until he gets caught in a drunken brawl and has to run away. He finds work in the city of Great Glade and becomes part of their thousandsticks team. The book skips forward a couple of years to when the big game against the other team is happening and the owner of the factory that Nate worked in is disowning his own son and letting Nate inherit the company. Then as it alternates between then (inheritance time) and now (thousandsticks time) and in the now time the disinherited son who was on the other team reveals that he blew up the factory to Nate (caused by an accident with a lamp and stormphrax, which would be blamed on Nate because it was his job to maintain the lamps) and then pushes him off the very high pole where the winning point is. The object of thousandsticks is to shove the other teams out of the way as you climb over hills, and then send your players up the pole hill and reach the top of the pole before anyone else. Then it turns out that the son killed his father by accident with the explosion, so he flees and so does Nate, his friend Slip, a bander bear (very large and intelligent bear), and Eudoxia who was the grand-daughter of the owner of the company who now just wants to find her father in the other city of the hive. When they get there they find her father taken as a political prisoner (they had to dress up as militia officials to see him) and then get swept into a war against the city of Great Glade. While the war is being lost by the Hive, Nate, Slip, the bander bear and Eudoxia manage to escape. Nate leaves Slip and the bear with Eudoxia's father and leaves to Riverrise with a friend they met on the way to the Hive. Eudoxia had a bullet in her ear and now is very sick, so they needed the healing water's of Riverrise to heal her. When they get there,. they realize that the place is a place where even your thoughts are unsafe because it is ruled by a waif (Waifs can read minds) tyrant and his waif followers. The waif, Golderayce, has been ruling Riverrise for thousands of years because only he has access the the very healing waters (which can reverse age) at the top of the waterfall which he hoards jealously, by controlling the flow of the waterfall. But what is needed to cure Eudoxia is the very healing waters, some easily found herbs, and some that are only found up at the top of the water fountain. So with the help of two of Golderayce's servants he manages to get into the garden of life at the top and get the healing waters and the plants. But Golderayce finds him, and he has a instant death poisoned dart ready to be shot. Nate manages to delay him until he collapses into dust for not getting the needed water to stop him from becoming dust. Nate heals Eudoxia and then participates in an expedition to The Edge (where the world just ends in a never ending cliff) and then to a mysteriously returned city of Santraphrax which supposedly floated away in the first books. As Nate, Slip, the banderbear... go on the rock with a lot of other people. They see that it is inhabited. But one person who broke away from the group, finds his brother who was lost on a previous expedition. The brother tells him that the place is not inhabited by people but shape-changing Gloamgozers who live off fear and want to take over the world. He takes him to a laboratory where pre-life organisms, glisters, are turned into Gloamgozers. His brother is killed by the explosion when his brother blew it up, but now there can be no more Gloamgozers. Meanwhile, the Gloamgozers reveal themselves and the fact that the floating rock the city is on is being destroyed by a long ago plague of stone sickness where floating rocks no longer float, and that the city too is ruined. Then they begin to feed off the fear of the expeditionaries jumping off the rock to escape. After that it begins to rain the waters of Riverrise which kill the Gloamgozers and heal the rock. The story ends with Nate descending down on an edge expedition and a picture that the drop off the edge is not bottomless.
What I liked, the characters all were very real and well played out. And so were the themes of injustice and greed, and bad things happening to good people. What I didn't like is why they had to add on the Gloamgozers and how the whole healing rain was a sort of Deus Ex Machina. I did think that it was a good end for the series aside from that and enjoyed it very much. Although, as a small note, there are other themes, but they are small and not easy to describe, although they are present in the other books which I do not remember very well.
It starts off with our main character in a mine where they mine stormphrax. It is a thing that explodes if hit not in twilight light, and its powder can be used to purify all liquids. But nothing comes without a price, and the phraxmines are very dangerous, because if a twilight lamp is lit too bright and someone hits a crystal of stormphrax, an explosion, too dark or not on at all, the crystal becomes heavier (they get heavier in darkness) and smashes through all the sleeping quarter's and kills everyone. The explosions are taken advantage of by sky-ships which use the explosion to keep their ship in the air. Nate Quarter is the main character who works in the mines until he gets caught in a drunken brawl and has to run away. He finds work in the city of Great Glade and becomes part of their thousandsticks team. The book skips forward a couple of years to when the big game against the other team is happening and the owner of the factory that Nate worked in is disowning his own son and letting Nate inherit the company. Then as it alternates between then (inheritance time) and now (thousandsticks time) and in the now time the disinherited son who was on the other team reveals that he blew up the factory to Nate (caused by an accident with a lamp and stormphrax, which would be blamed on Nate because it was his job to maintain the lamps) and then pushes him off the very high pole where the winning point is. The object of thousandsticks is to shove the other teams out of the way as you climb over hills, and then send your players up the pole hill and reach the top of the pole before anyone else. Then it turns out that the son killed his father by accident with the explosion, so he flees and so does Nate, his friend Slip, a bander bear (very large and intelligent bear), and Eudoxia who was the grand-daughter of the owner of the company who now just wants to find her father in the other city of the hive. When they get there they find her father taken as a political prisoner (they had to dress up as militia officials to see him) and then get swept into a war against the city of Great Glade. While the war is being lost by the Hive, Nate, Slip, the bander bear and Eudoxia manage to escape. Nate leaves Slip and the bear with Eudoxia's father and leaves to Riverrise with a friend they met on the way to the Hive. Eudoxia had a bullet in her ear and now is very sick, so they needed the healing water's of Riverrise to heal her. When they get there,. they realize that the place is a place where even your thoughts are unsafe because it is ruled by a waif (Waifs can read minds) tyrant and his waif followers. The waif, Golderayce, has been ruling Riverrise for thousands of years because only he has access the the very healing waters (which can reverse age) at the top of the waterfall which he hoards jealously, by controlling the flow of the waterfall. But what is needed to cure Eudoxia is the very healing waters, some easily found herbs, and some that are only found up at the top of the water fountain. So with the help of two of Golderayce's servants he manages to get into the garden of life at the top and get the healing waters and the plants. But Golderayce finds him, and he has a instant death poisoned dart ready to be shot. Nate manages to delay him until he collapses into dust for not getting the needed water to stop him from becoming dust. Nate heals Eudoxia and then participates in an expedition to The Edge (where the world just ends in a never ending cliff) and then to a mysteriously returned city of Santraphrax which supposedly floated away in the first books. As Nate, Slip, the banderbear... go on the rock with a lot of other people. They see that it is inhabited. But one person who broke away from the group, finds his brother who was lost on a previous expedition. The brother tells him that the place is not inhabited by people but shape-changing Gloamgozers who live off fear and want to take over the world. He takes him to a laboratory where pre-life organisms, glisters, are turned into Gloamgozers. His brother is killed by the explosion when his brother blew it up, but now there can be no more Gloamgozers. Meanwhile, the Gloamgozers reveal themselves and the fact that the floating rock the city is on is being destroyed by a long ago plague of stone sickness where floating rocks no longer float, and that the city too is ruined. Then they begin to feed off the fear of the expeditionaries jumping off the rock to escape. After that it begins to rain the waters of Riverrise which kill the Gloamgozers and heal the rock. The story ends with Nate descending down on an edge expedition and a picture that the drop off the edge is not bottomless.
What I liked, the characters all were very real and well played out. And so were the themes of injustice and greed, and bad things happening to good people. What I didn't like is why they had to add on the Gloamgozers and how the whole healing rain was a sort of Deus Ex Machina. I did think that it was a good end for the series aside from that and enjoyed it very much. Although, as a small note, there are other themes, but they are small and not easy to describe, although they are present in the other books which I do not remember very well.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Discovering Pig Magic
Well,this time I had time to read a little of the book to do first impressions. It is about three girls Ariel Niki and Margaret . It keeps on referring to some sort of ritual, I guess I will have to find out later. So far it is very suspenseful and good. Happy reading everyone!
I have now finished the book, here is the plot summary. But first, an explanation about the ritual. Apparently, the three girls found this old book of magic in a thrift store. The ritual was a ritual for change, and they had to go somewhere and bury these "objects" and think of what change they wanted to occur. Now for the plot summary. Once again, Margaret gets a pig for her birthday (it started a long time ago, and now she hates pigs). But now she is going into middle school and does not want to be known for pigs. Everything starts out fine, and the ritual appears to be working. But then weird things start happening. Margaret had wished for James, a boy she had a crush on, to notice her. But he starts noticing her, as pig girl, not what she wanted. Niki, one of her friends, had a brother with down syndrome, and she had wished for him to go away, meaning for him to go away to sort of special needs home so her mom could have more time. But instead, he starts going away as in dying, because his heart turns out to be bad. Ariel wished to become a proffesional chef. And she is on her way, because she won a cooking contest and now has a scholarship to a cooking college (or something like that). But the recipie she entered was from a cooking show, with only the flour altered, and now she is afraid she'll get in big trouble, or be sued. So they all decide to reverse the spell. They go to a forest near a bay where they burried the objects and mark the spot where they burried them so they can come back after they have a sign that tommorow is they night they should reverse the magic. But then their next door neighbor dies of stroke, maragret's mom is revealed to be an agoraphobic and is now on some sort of anti-agoraphobic drugs, and Niki's little brother is in the hospital. Ariel and Niki both agree those are signs not to do they ritual but margaret doesn't agree. They all have a fight and kind of stop being friends. Margaret goes out to reverse the magic herself but gets delayed so much that she gives up and goes home. Then when they all meet and make up, they begin to believe that even undoing the ritual won't stop all of this and stop believing in magic. Ariel refuses the scholarship and fixes her problem, Maragret smashes all her pigs, and I forget what Niki does. Maragret's aunt discovers the pig massacre and when M tells her that they didn't have any real memories to go with them, she says they did, and then M agrees. Niki's brother is now better, but not perfect. And so is M's mom. Then in the epilogue M digs up her object, her very first pig, sells the magic book and buys one last pig.
What I liked, it kept the theme hidden until the end. Can anyone guess the theme, all right, here it is: Be careful what you wish for! It was also a very cleverly done coming of age story, middle school and all that. But what I didn't like is how it did not explain how the unstoppable destructive power of the ritual was averted and everyone lived happily ever after. I suppose it has to do with "Pig Magic" which probably isn't really magic but some sort of pseudo magic type thing which I still do not understand. But other than that it was a good book.
I have now finished the book, here is the plot summary. But first, an explanation about the ritual. Apparently, the three girls found this old book of magic in a thrift store. The ritual was a ritual for change, and they had to go somewhere and bury these "objects" and think of what change they wanted to occur. Now for the plot summary. Once again, Margaret gets a pig for her birthday (it started a long time ago, and now she hates pigs). But now she is going into middle school and does not want to be known for pigs. Everything starts out fine, and the ritual appears to be working. But then weird things start happening. Margaret had wished for James, a boy she had a crush on, to notice her. But he starts noticing her, as pig girl, not what she wanted. Niki, one of her friends, had a brother with down syndrome, and she had wished for him to go away, meaning for him to go away to sort of special needs home so her mom could have more time. But instead, he starts going away as in dying, because his heart turns out to be bad. Ariel wished to become a proffesional chef. And she is on her way, because she won a cooking contest and now has a scholarship to a cooking college (or something like that). But the recipie she entered was from a cooking show, with only the flour altered, and now she is afraid she'll get in big trouble, or be sued. So they all decide to reverse the spell. They go to a forest near a bay where they burried the objects and mark the spot where they burried them so they can come back after they have a sign that tommorow is they night they should reverse the magic. But then their next door neighbor dies of stroke, maragret's mom is revealed to be an agoraphobic and is now on some sort of anti-agoraphobic drugs, and Niki's little brother is in the hospital. Ariel and Niki both agree those are signs not to do they ritual but margaret doesn't agree. They all have a fight and kind of stop being friends. Margaret goes out to reverse the magic herself but gets delayed so much that she gives up and goes home. Then when they all meet and make up, they begin to believe that even undoing the ritual won't stop all of this and stop believing in magic. Ariel refuses the scholarship and fixes her problem, Maragret smashes all her pigs, and I forget what Niki does. Maragret's aunt discovers the pig massacre and when M tells her that they didn't have any real memories to go with them, she says they did, and then M agrees. Niki's brother is now better, but not perfect. And so is M's mom. Then in the epilogue M digs up her object, her very first pig, sells the magic book and buys one last pig.
What I liked, it kept the theme hidden until the end. Can anyone guess the theme, all right, here it is: Be careful what you wish for! It was also a very cleverly done coming of age story, middle school and all that. But what I didn't like is how it did not explain how the unstoppable destructive power of the ritual was averted and everyone lived happily ever after. I suppose it has to do with "Pig Magic" which probably isn't really magic but some sort of pseudo magic type thing which I still do not understand. But other than that it was a good book.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
House of Many Ways
The house of many ways book, is a sequel of Howl's Moving Castle. However, you don't really need to know anything about that book, except that Howl is a wizard and his wife's name is Sophie. Now for the plot.
Charmain is sent to look after her great great uncle's by marriage house. When she gets there, she realizes that everything has to be operated by magic, and she knows none. While she is there, a bunch of magic creatures get mad at her, she floods the house with soap bubbles, and creates a larger pile of dishes because she broke the magic faucet. Then someone called Peter, an apprentice to her great great uncle, comes and with her, explores the house more and messes it up more. Then Charmain's application to be a royal librarian is approved. When she goes to the royal mansion, she meets Sophie and Wizard Howl disguised as a kid. He says that the king needs help to find where his gold has all gone. But cannot say it to her directly because of spies and conspiracies. Then after lots of exploring, Peter and Charmain realize that the cause of everything was of a Lubbock that Charmain met earlier. It had bribed some magical creatures to create trouble between the rest of their kind and Charmain Peter. Then double crossed them by laying its eggs in them, which when the hatched, would eat them from the inside. The eggs are removed once they confessed. Also, it is revealed that Charmain's uncle is sick from the Lubbock eggs, which are also removed. Then finally, Howl and Sophie reveal that the reason why the gold is missing is because a child of the same Lubbock, is now going to be heir. He was hiding it so no one would notice that he was paying his disguised Lubbock henchmen to kill off other heirs. Then after an intense series of scenes, they manage to kill all the Lubbocks and find the gold.
What I liked, is that magic didn't come in as often in the Harry Potter way, where you have to understand every little bit in order to make sense of the plot. Here, you just needed to know what the magic was supposed to do, and what it did do. What I didn't like was that is was all very complicated. I had to stop occasionally while reading the book so the information could sink in.
Charmain is sent to look after her great great uncle's by marriage house. When she gets there, she realizes that everything has to be operated by magic, and she knows none. While she is there, a bunch of magic creatures get mad at her, she floods the house with soap bubbles, and creates a larger pile of dishes because she broke the magic faucet. Then someone called Peter, an apprentice to her great great uncle, comes and with her, explores the house more and messes it up more. Then Charmain's application to be a royal librarian is approved. When she goes to the royal mansion, she meets Sophie and Wizard Howl disguised as a kid. He says that the king needs help to find where his gold has all gone. But cannot say it to her directly because of spies and conspiracies. Then after lots of exploring, Peter and Charmain realize that the cause of everything was of a Lubbock that Charmain met earlier. It had bribed some magical creatures to create trouble between the rest of their kind and Charmain Peter. Then double crossed them by laying its eggs in them, which when the hatched, would eat them from the inside. The eggs are removed once they confessed. Also, it is revealed that Charmain's uncle is sick from the Lubbock eggs, which are also removed. Then finally, Howl and Sophie reveal that the reason why the gold is missing is because a child of the same Lubbock, is now going to be heir. He was hiding it so no one would notice that he was paying his disguised Lubbock henchmen to kill off other heirs. Then after an intense series of scenes, they manage to kill all the Lubbocks and find the gold.
What I liked, is that magic didn't come in as often in the Harry Potter way, where you have to understand every little bit in order to make sense of the plot. Here, you just needed to know what the magic was supposed to do, and what it did do. What I didn't like was that is was all very complicated. I had to stop occasionally while reading the book so the information could sink in.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods
This is a book in a series. I will give a little background. In underland (a land under the ground) humans live in a sort of medieval society but with certain breaks from that. Everything down there is magnified, spiders, rats, cockroaches, ants, bats, frogs, they even have some sort of preserved plesiosaur species. Anyway, that is it for the background.
So Gregor had previously gotten a prophecy and a note that one of his "friends", a rat, would send escorts. The escorts turn out to be millions of little rats dragging them out of the apartment. Finally Gregor decides to go with his sister Boots, but his mom wants to go as well because she wants to know what happens to him if anything at all does. So Gregor brings her along. It turns out that The Curse Of The Warmbloods has struck and is some sort of the Black Plague. On a mission to dispense some anti-flea powder to the rats to stop the plague from spreading, Gregor's mom gets bitten, and gets the plague. This gives Gregor the incentive to go off of a mission to find a plant called starshade which is the cure. On the way members of the party die off from huge carnivorous plants, quicksand, giant poison dart frogs, and other things. Finally when they get to the one and only field starshade, an army of giant ants come marching in to destroy the starshade and kill off the party. They succeed in eradicating the starshade, but don't kill off the party. They all sit around thinking that underland will be doomed and the plague will spread to overland (our world). Then one of the rats who came (one died in quicksand, the other by a plant) points out the importance of one puzzling stanza in the prophecy.
Turn and turn and turn again.
You see the what but not the when.
Remedy and wrong entwine,
and so they form a single vine.
The turning part, if facing the field of starshade, makes you end up looking back at the city. From what they had seen, they realize that the doctors at the hospital were probably very nervous as they were because they had started a plague. The rat left says that it was probably created as a biological weapon to kill the rats with. A missing in action person they met in the forest agrees with him, so they all set off back home. It turns out to be true and that the doctors and nurses (before they were all executed for their crimes, harsh, I know) were hoarding a whole cave of antidotes. Then everyone is cured and Gregor goes back up. And then, because there was no logical explanation for where he got his weird shoes/socks made of lizard skin, he spills the beans to his neighbor who had originally suspected something strange was going on in his first trip.
What I liked is the prophecy. I always find prophecies really interesting, because they have a sort of aura of "Well, it could be this, or it could be that." and always when coming true, are sure to be surprising. What I didn't like was that the book came only in large print, which drives me crazy. And that even though it was clearly told in third person, I kept on thinking it was first from Gregor's point of view.
So Gregor had previously gotten a prophecy and a note that one of his "friends", a rat, would send escorts. The escorts turn out to be millions of little rats dragging them out of the apartment. Finally Gregor decides to go with his sister Boots, but his mom wants to go as well because she wants to know what happens to him if anything at all does. So Gregor brings her along. It turns out that The Curse Of The Warmbloods has struck and is some sort of the Black Plague. On a mission to dispense some anti-flea powder to the rats to stop the plague from spreading, Gregor's mom gets bitten, and gets the plague. This gives Gregor the incentive to go off of a mission to find a plant called starshade which is the cure. On the way members of the party die off from huge carnivorous plants, quicksand, giant poison dart frogs, and other things. Finally when they get to the one and only field starshade, an army of giant ants come marching in to destroy the starshade and kill off the party. They succeed in eradicating the starshade, but don't kill off the party. They all sit around thinking that underland will be doomed and the plague will spread to overland (our world). Then one of the rats who came (one died in quicksand, the other by a plant) points out the importance of one puzzling stanza in the prophecy.
Turn and turn and turn again.
You see the what but not the when.
Remedy and wrong entwine,
and so they form a single vine.
The turning part, if facing the field of starshade, makes you end up looking back at the city. From what they had seen, they realize that the doctors at the hospital were probably very nervous as they were because they had started a plague. The rat left says that it was probably created as a biological weapon to kill the rats with. A missing in action person they met in the forest agrees with him, so they all set off back home. It turns out to be true and that the doctors and nurses (before they were all executed for their crimes, harsh, I know) were hoarding a whole cave of antidotes. Then everyone is cured and Gregor goes back up. And then, because there was no logical explanation for where he got his weird shoes/socks made of lizard skin, he spills the beans to his neighbor who had originally suspected something strange was going on in his first trip.
What I liked is the prophecy. I always find prophecies really interesting, because they have a sort of aura of "Well, it could be this, or it could be that." and always when coming true, are sure to be surprising. What I didn't like was that the book came only in large print, which drives me crazy. And that even though it was clearly told in third person, I kept on thinking it was first from Gregor's point of view.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Daredevil, comic book.
This was a comic book. About a superhero named Daredevil. It was very confusing and I apologize if my plot summary doesn't make sense.
It was made of 3 parts, one was something about nazis which I tried to read but I could not follow the plot, the second one is the one I will put in the plot summary, and the third one was extremely confusing like the first one but worse. (Small note: Daredevil does not have any superpowers. He is blind but has his other senses enhanced to a point where its crazy)
It starts off with Daredevil being constantly followed by the press because now they know who he really is. But in the past he had been somehow viewed as a criminal, which even with extensive hours of research, I still don't get. Then later on, Daredevil escapes and Melvin apologizes. Then an FBI agent comes up to him, she says that she has to make a case against him. But she doesn't want to. She just wants to know why he dresses up and beats people up. Then she says that she came to ask him what to do, because she had been given an amulet which gave a previous hero his powers. And she wants to know what to do. He asks her to meet her the next day on top of a roof. When she meets him the have a mock fight, and after the mock fight, he says that that is what she should do with her powers, fight. While he is going home, one of his other "super"friends named Melvin meets him. Daredevil asks him what he was doing there, and Melvin (previously a villain I think) said "You should have killed me when you could. I'm sorry."or something like that, and then knocks him out. A crime boss is now going to kill Daredevil, but the FBI agent jumps down and saves him and drags Melvin along. Then as DD helps the FBI agent to prevent a store robbery, he tells her why he wears the costume and delivers some thematic advice.
What I liked, is that it was very thematic. And surprisingly so, which made it worth reading. What I didn't like, is how I couldn't understand most of the book. Although, when I paid close attention, the seemingly different story lines were actually one big one.
It was made of 3 parts, one was something about nazis which I tried to read but I could not follow the plot, the second one is the one I will put in the plot summary, and the third one was extremely confusing like the first one but worse. (Small note: Daredevil does not have any superpowers. He is blind but has his other senses enhanced to a point where its crazy)
It starts off with Daredevil being constantly followed by the press because now they know who he really is. But in the past he had been somehow viewed as a criminal, which even with extensive hours of research, I still don't get. Then later on, Daredevil escapes and Melvin apologizes. Then an FBI agent comes up to him, she says that she has to make a case against him. But she doesn't want to. She just wants to know why he dresses up and beats people up. Then she says that she came to ask him what to do, because she had been given an amulet which gave a previous hero his powers. And she wants to know what to do. He asks her to meet her the next day on top of a roof. When she meets him the have a mock fight, and after the mock fight, he says that that is what she should do with her powers, fight. While he is going home, one of his other "super"friends named Melvin meets him. Daredevil asks him what he was doing there, and Melvin (previously a villain I think) said "You should have killed me when you could. I'm sorry."or something like that, and then knocks him out. A crime boss is now going to kill Daredevil, but the FBI agent jumps down and saves him and drags Melvin along. Then as DD helps the FBI agent to prevent a store robbery, he tells her why he wears the costume and delivers some thematic advice.
What I liked, is that it was very thematic. And surprisingly so, which made it worth reading. What I didn't like, is how I couldn't understand most of the book. Although, when I paid close attention, the seemingly different story lines were actually one big one.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Flora's Dare
This book comes after Flora Segunda, and also deserves a blog entry.
It starts off with Flora being stuck in her room, grounded, because she danced with the birdie (the bloodthirsty god country) ambassador, which was sort of treason. She then goes to a theatre where a sudden ant-government rally breaks out while she is in the toilet. She manages to escape, because her sister Idden pulls her out of the crowd to tell her that she has deserted the army and to make Flora swear not to tell. Then they all get into a horse carriage to get away, although Idden jumps off and disappears into the city. Udo, who came with Flora has obtained a zombified Springheel Jack (infamous outlaw) who he stores in Flora's house when they realize that he got killed in the rally as they were escaping and now is an undead zombie. He stores him at Flora's house so the zombie powder can wear off, then he can drag him to the police station and get the bounty.
Then Valefor, in desperate need of Life force, eats Springheel Jack, but left the boots so Udo can still get the bounty. They were proof he was dead because he would never take them off, alive. Udo gets mad, so instead of getting the bounty, he wears the boots. Which begin to influence his attitude until they inject a full blown Springheel Jack sentience into Udo's body. The boots turn out to be simply the storehouse for his soul.
Then the birdie ambassador tells Flora that he needs her help to free a giant magical squid under the city. The squid is actually a magical entity trapped in the form of a squid in order to threaten the city for someones evil purposes. It worked. But now the squid is having a baby and is going into labor and causing city endangering earthquakes. Now Flora sets off on a mission to gain a diary that will tell how to release the squid. While doing so, she accidentally travels into the past but eventually gets back while she and the person she met are teleporting away from a ghoul.
Then the big magician says that the only way to release the squid by deactivating the imprisoning sigils, is for the last descendant of the person who trapped the squid to die. Then he says that she is the last descendant, and proceeds to use his birdie police force to try and kill her. Flora comes back to him at the Blinskir baths and says that the only way for the sigils to be broken is for the last descendant to die by drowning. She then zombifies him, and leaves Udo (back to normal) to keep him zombified or knocked out until she comes back. She then dives into the baths which are actually not filled with water, but with breathable liquid magic. This happens only once in a while when the baths connect with the magic ocean. Flora uses this to access the squid's prison, then she uses a key obtained from the past to unlock the sigils. Then everything is happily ever after with Flora dancing with ghosts of her dead relatives at her real rightful house (weird happy ending) But one thing is strange, the person she met in the past, Tiny Doom, her mother, is not there. And this is because she had tried the Ultimate Ranger Dare, to escape death. Small note: from knowledge gained from the book, you do this somehow by drowning yourself in the magic ocean and jump over the abyss where all souls go, unless they come back out as ghosts. The second to last ranger, (missing in action) had almost done this, but only attained a sort of time travel into the future where she met Flora. Then it just leaves me hanging off a cliff, cliff hanger.
The only thing I could say about that book was, that it was intense, and very well thought out. And also, I can't wait for the next book to come out.
It starts off with Flora being stuck in her room, grounded, because she danced with the birdie (the bloodthirsty god country) ambassador, which was sort of treason. She then goes to a theatre where a sudden ant-government rally breaks out while she is in the toilet. She manages to escape, because her sister Idden pulls her out of the crowd to tell her that she has deserted the army and to make Flora swear not to tell. Then they all get into a horse carriage to get away, although Idden jumps off and disappears into the city. Udo, who came with Flora has obtained a zombified Springheel Jack (infamous outlaw) who he stores in Flora's house when they realize that he got killed in the rally as they were escaping and now is an undead zombie. He stores him at Flora's house so the zombie powder can wear off, then he can drag him to the police station and get the bounty.
Then Valefor, in desperate need of Life force, eats Springheel Jack, but left the boots so Udo can still get the bounty. They were proof he was dead because he would never take them off, alive. Udo gets mad, so instead of getting the bounty, he wears the boots. Which begin to influence his attitude until they inject a full blown Springheel Jack sentience into Udo's body. The boots turn out to be simply the storehouse for his soul.
Then the birdie ambassador tells Flora that he needs her help to free a giant magical squid under the city. The squid is actually a magical entity trapped in the form of a squid in order to threaten the city for someones evil purposes. It worked. But now the squid is having a baby and is going into labor and causing city endangering earthquakes. Now Flora sets off on a mission to gain a diary that will tell how to release the squid. While doing so, she accidentally travels into the past but eventually gets back while she and the person she met are teleporting away from a ghoul.
Then the big magician says that the only way to release the squid by deactivating the imprisoning sigils, is for the last descendant of the person who trapped the squid to die. Then he says that she is the last descendant, and proceeds to use his birdie police force to try and kill her. Flora comes back to him at the Blinskir baths and says that the only way for the sigils to be broken is for the last descendant to die by drowning. She then zombifies him, and leaves Udo (back to normal) to keep him zombified or knocked out until she comes back. She then dives into the baths which are actually not filled with water, but with breathable liquid magic. This happens only once in a while when the baths connect with the magic ocean. Flora uses this to access the squid's prison, then she uses a key obtained from the past to unlock the sigils. Then everything is happily ever after with Flora dancing with ghosts of her dead relatives at her real rightful house (weird happy ending) But one thing is strange, the person she met in the past, Tiny Doom, her mother, is not there. And this is because she had tried the Ultimate Ranger Dare, to escape death. Small note: from knowledge gained from the book, you do this somehow by drowning yourself in the magic ocean and jump over the abyss where all souls go, unless they come back out as ghosts. The second to last ranger, (missing in action) had almost done this, but only attained a sort of time travel into the future where she met Flora. Then it just leaves me hanging off a cliff, cliff hanger.
The only thing I could say about that book was, that it was intense, and very well thought out. And also, I can't wait for the next book to come out.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Flora Segunda
This book isn't necessarily on my reading list, but it deserved a blog entry.
It has a simple magic system in which you recite a word or phrase in another language, Grammatica, and a sigil comes out of your mouth and does the magic work. It was a nice simple system, which I liked. Whereas Harry Potter's system is incredibly confusing. It is about a girl named Flora who comes from a long line of soldiers. However, Flora wants to be a Ranger, practically the opposite of a soldier, and learn Grammatica which is forbidden due to family policies.
When Flora leaves a book behind, she takes a shortcut and uses The Elevator. (small note, the whole house's rooms are constantly shifting around and require a little bit of will power to make sure you go in the right room. With the lack of a magical butler who keep houses in order, the elevator is incredibly dangerous) When she uses the elevator, it does not take her to her room so she can get her book. Instead it lets her off high up in a big sealed off library. There she meets Valefor their banished magic butler. She gives him some of her life force so he can regain strength, then leaves.
Later, Flora and her friend Udo, find out that the very last Ranger (missing in action) is going to be hanged. This was not due to governors wanting him to be hanged, but because of a peace treaty made with a bloodthirsty country that made human sacrifices to their gods. He and Flora go off to rescue the last ranger under disguise. Udo under magical disguise and Flora under makeup. They manage to rescue him, by releasing a curse put on him stopping him from using magic, and letting him ride away.
But before he left, he mentioned that Flora was suffering from life force deprivation (because she gave some to Valefor). When she came home, Valefor said that they now had a unbreakable connection, and that when he faded away because of being banished, so would she.
After that Flora goes on a solo adventure to regain her Life force. Although, she gets it back because the greatest magician says he won't help her. Because her plight was the cause of her own selfishness. Then she gets really mad and breaks the link between her and Valefor.
I liked this story because it had an interesting sort of double plot that flowed into each other, and that even though if I tried to explain the magic system now, you would get confused. But in the book, it makes it very clear. I would recommend this book.
It has a simple magic system in which you recite a word or phrase in another language, Grammatica, and a sigil comes out of your mouth and does the magic work. It was a nice simple system, which I liked. Whereas Harry Potter's system is incredibly confusing. It is about a girl named Flora who comes from a long line of soldiers. However, Flora wants to be a Ranger, practically the opposite of a soldier, and learn Grammatica which is forbidden due to family policies.
When Flora leaves a book behind, she takes a shortcut and uses The Elevator. (small note, the whole house's rooms are constantly shifting around and require a little bit of will power to make sure you go in the right room. With the lack of a magical butler who keep houses in order, the elevator is incredibly dangerous) When she uses the elevator, it does not take her to her room so she can get her book. Instead it lets her off high up in a big sealed off library. There she meets Valefor their banished magic butler. She gives him some of her life force so he can regain strength, then leaves.
Later, Flora and her friend Udo, find out that the very last Ranger (missing in action) is going to be hanged. This was not due to governors wanting him to be hanged, but because of a peace treaty made with a bloodthirsty country that made human sacrifices to their gods. He and Flora go off to rescue the last ranger under disguise. Udo under magical disguise and Flora under makeup. They manage to rescue him, by releasing a curse put on him stopping him from using magic, and letting him ride away.
But before he left, he mentioned that Flora was suffering from life force deprivation (because she gave some to Valefor). When she came home, Valefor said that they now had a unbreakable connection, and that when he faded away because of being banished, so would she.
After that Flora goes on a solo adventure to regain her Life force. Although, she gets it back because the greatest magician says he won't help her. Because her plight was the cause of her own selfishness. Then she gets really mad and breaks the link between her and Valefor.
I liked this story because it had an interesting sort of double plot that flowed into each other, and that even though if I tried to explain the magic system now, you would get confused. But in the book, it makes it very clear. I would recommend this book.
Soon I Will Be Invincible
The book is told from two perspectives. Villain, Doctor impossible, a evil genius. Hero, Fatale, a cyborg.
I read up to page 37, two chapters, for first impression. So far DI (Doctor Impossible) is still in jail. Wondering how he'll get out and why he deserves to be stuck with a bunch of petty criminals. And talking about how it is to be a villain. Fatale has just joined the Champions and is going on about how she hated her cyborg body, her not knowing what happened, or who made her. So far, strangely, the villain is more liked by me. He seems to be more of an interesting character.
Basically DI escapes and begins to take over the world. He makes many visits to other villains and has so many flashbacks I had to pause to absorb all the information. But in a way, the flashbacks were helpful, because there were so many mysteries. With so many villains and all the escapades coming at you all at once, it was nice to have a break and review the backstory of DI and Corefire.
Fatale is one of the superheroes and is trying to find DI and still has internal monologues about topics mentioned in the first paragraph. She also has flashbacks, but in a different way because she forgot everything about her past. Her flashbacks are about other heroes explaining what it used to be like and an especially boring, but helpful, scene with Elfin/Damsel (I can't remember) and Fatale watching a documentary about the Champion's group history.
DI eventually gains a hammer which makes people invincible although broke and not very effective. He begins to gather his materials and shifts the world's position and create an ice age and he would be the source of all heat and light. Although he said he wasn't going to be a jerk about it and have a couple of sunny days once in a while. As he is moving the moon, Corefire comes back from the dead, or I should say: state of Missing in Action, and invades DI's fortress. DI activates the hammer and then knocks him out and ties him to a pillar.
Then it gets confusing. DI's girlfriend, now a hero, Lily, comes and defeats him. She says that she is not from a far distant alternate future. But was DI's other girlfriend Erica whose love was stolen away by CoreFire who saved her from a beam of energy by taking the beam (like taking the bullet) and got superpowers. She said that she fell into a lot of chemicals and became all transparent and strong. She then built a time machine and went to the future and found out that nearly everything was wiped out by "The Blight" caused by the broken hammer that granted invincibility not being moved. She then came back and lied about being from the future. And then revealed the irony that DI had saved the world by moving the hammer. It ends by DI starting to take over the world again.
What I didn't like is that it was all very confusing. And that the Champions didn't save the day. What I did like is how they built up all the suspense and let out the backstory information slowly and carefully. One thing that was interesting was that DI didn't know who "killed" Corefire, but you forgot that when it switched to Fatale's perspective. I liked the book very much and recommend it.
I read up to page 37, two chapters, for first impression. So far DI (Doctor Impossible) is still in jail. Wondering how he'll get out and why he deserves to be stuck with a bunch of petty criminals. And talking about how it is to be a villain. Fatale has just joined the Champions and is going on about how she hated her cyborg body, her not knowing what happened, or who made her. So far, strangely, the villain is more liked by me. He seems to be more of an interesting character.
Basically DI escapes and begins to take over the world. He makes many visits to other villains and has so many flashbacks I had to pause to absorb all the information. But in a way, the flashbacks were helpful, because there were so many mysteries. With so many villains and all the escapades coming at you all at once, it was nice to have a break and review the backstory of DI and Corefire.
Fatale is one of the superheroes and is trying to find DI and still has internal monologues about topics mentioned in the first paragraph. She also has flashbacks, but in a different way because she forgot everything about her past. Her flashbacks are about other heroes explaining what it used to be like and an especially boring, but helpful, scene with Elfin/Damsel (I can't remember) and Fatale watching a documentary about the Champion's group history.
DI eventually gains a hammer which makes people invincible although broke and not very effective. He begins to gather his materials and shifts the world's position and create an ice age and he would be the source of all heat and light. Although he said he wasn't going to be a jerk about it and have a couple of sunny days once in a while. As he is moving the moon, Corefire comes back from the dead, or I should say: state of Missing in Action, and invades DI's fortress. DI activates the hammer and then knocks him out and ties him to a pillar.
Then it gets confusing. DI's girlfriend, now a hero, Lily, comes and defeats him. She says that she is not from a far distant alternate future. But was DI's other girlfriend Erica whose love was stolen away by CoreFire who saved her from a beam of energy by taking the beam (like taking the bullet) and got superpowers. She said that she fell into a lot of chemicals and became all transparent and strong. She then built a time machine and went to the future and found out that nearly everything was wiped out by "The Blight" caused by the broken hammer that granted invincibility not being moved. She then came back and lied about being from the future. And then revealed the irony that DI had saved the world by moving the hammer. It ends by DI starting to take over the world again.
What I didn't like is that it was all very confusing. And that the Champions didn't save the day. What I did like is how they built up all the suspense and let out the backstory information slowly and carefully. One thing that was interesting was that DI didn't know who "killed" Corefire, but you forgot that when it switched to Fatale's perspective. I liked the book very much and recommend it.
What My summer reading posts will be like.
This is going to be a quick guide to what my posts will be like. So people will know what is talking about what.
1. The Blurb, if any.
2. I will read the first few chapters and then post about my first impressions.
3. I will edit the post and put in a sort of plot summary.
4. I will write what I did and didn't like about the book.
And there is the guide to my 3 part blogs. Enjoy your own reading.
1. The Blurb, if any.
2. I will read the first few chapters and then post about my first impressions.
3. I will edit the post and put in a sort of plot summary.
4. I will write what I did and didn't like about the book.
And there is the guide to my 3 part blogs. Enjoy your own reading.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Books I have enjoyed, The Edge Chronicles
There is this series I've been reading called The Edge Chronicles. Below is a video outlining the basic plot line of the series.
Books I have enjoyed, Beyond the Deepwoods
This book was the first book in the Edge Chronicles. It tells the story of a human who lived in a large forest with wood trolls. The name of the forest is Deepwoods, hence the name of the book. It starts out with how Twig is excluded by the other trolls because he was small, skinny, and didn't fit in. Then his "parents" send him off to his "aunt and uncle" (everything is quoted because they aren't really his relatives). In order to not get lost in the Deepwoods, everyone follows a well beat path. While twig was walking down the path, he got to absorbed in the beauty and got lost. Then he helped a bunch of sky pirates (the name for people who deliver supplies in large ships built around big buoyant rocks. They also were like pirates and raided) find their flight rock. They took him in and then he fell off the ship and couldn't be found. After wandering around he fell into a colony of honey goblins. After a large conflict about stealing honey. The goblins accuse Twig of killing their mother who made the honey. Twig manages to escape by tunnels to the surface. He then gets captured by a little trog who keeps him as a pet. Then one day in a coming of age ceremony, she has to drink from a big jug of special tree sap. After doing this she becomes bald, fat, and savage like all the other female trogs. She no longer recognized Twig as a pet and yet again he has to escape. As he blundered through the Mire (a big wasteland) he comes across a big caterbird cocoon. When it hatches, since Twig was there, it said it was now its sworn duty to protect him in times of danger. Then it flies away. He crosses the Mire and goes through the city that juts out on The Edge (the entire world is this huge rock that starts up high on the spring of life and goes out. If you fall off the edge you just fall and fall until you die of starvation or get eaten by these giant moths that fly around the edge. He then gets pulled off the edge by an evil shape changer called The Gloamglozer that had led him all the way to the edge. Then the Caterbird comes and saves him and takes him to his father's sky pirate ship the one that he was taken aboard in the beginning.
Anyway. I liked this book because it was very fantastical. Not only that, but it went into very precise details but it didn't overdo it. I would recommend this book.
Anyway. I liked this book because it was very fantastical. Not only that, but it went into very precise details but it didn't overdo it. I would recommend this book.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Books I have enjoyed, Redwall
First thing I will do is to clarify why I'm doing the same blog post twice. The truth is, I'm not. The series is named Redwall and so is the first book. The whole plot is that an army of rats comes to Redwall abbey and demands to take over. The abbey, being an abbey, refuses to be turned into a castle of slavery (one of the main things that would happen during the takeover) and begins a war on them. Now a long time ago, a mouse named Martin had come to the abbey, and left his sword and shield in case the abbey was in any need of warfare help. But the problem was that they were hidden so no evil creatures could steal them. The basic plot-line is that Matthias and his old friend Methuselah (both mice) both set off to find the sword and shield. But eventually Matthias has to leave the abbey to find the sword. Meanwhile the abbey is waging a war. Below is a movie of people saying what they like about it.Saturday, May 28, 2011
Books I have enjoyed, Hush Hush
Hush Hush is written by Becca Fitzpatrick. The book is about a girl named Nora. A new kid named Patch transfers to her school and becomes her biology partner. At first all was well, but then Patch starts to be really creepy. What Nora doesn't know is that Patch is a- Well, I won't spoil the book. If you liked it, check out the rest of the series, Crescendo, Tempest and then Torment. Here is a book trailer of the book I made.Hush Hush themes and messages
Hush Hush was a really intense book once it got going. And that somehow makes it hard to find themes and messages. But maybe I'll surprise myself and write more than I expected. Anyway, here they are.
1. Always follow love, even if it seems like it will go down a bad path. Nora felt attracted to Patch, and she didn't like the attraction. However, later in the book, by letting herself feel this, she developed a strong bond with Patch which helped her out of some sticky situations.
2. Things are unpredictable. Patch. Nora thought he was some creepy dude who put on a ski mask and tried to kill her. While at the end of the book, he saved her life, and wasn't so creepy when he became her guardian angel. And for the ski mask, he was Jules, totally unsuspected. And Nora thought she would die when she threw herself off the rafters, turns out she didn't.
3. Control your fear. All sorts of bad things happen when Nora got scared. Jules was able to manipulate it and make her feel trapped. Of course, when she overcame it, she escaped. Also, Patch controlled her fear sometimes, which once again got her into awkward situations.
4. And finally, there's got to be some sort of message relating to the falling angels. Something like don't succumb to temptation. Or some other moral that has a biblely feel to it. I can't really think of it right now.
1. Always follow love, even if it seems like it will go down a bad path. Nora felt attracted to Patch, and she didn't like the attraction. However, later in the book, by letting herself feel this, she developed a strong bond with Patch which helped her out of some sticky situations.
2. Things are unpredictable. Patch. Nora thought he was some creepy dude who put on a ski mask and tried to kill her. While at the end of the book, he saved her life, and wasn't so creepy when he became her guardian angel. And for the ski mask, he was Jules, totally unsuspected. And Nora thought she would die when she threw herself off the rafters, turns out she didn't.
3. Control your fear. All sorts of bad things happen when Nora got scared. Jules was able to manipulate it and make her feel trapped. Of course, when she overcame it, she escaped. Also, Patch controlled her fear sometimes, which once again got her into awkward situations.
4. And finally, there's got to be some sort of message relating to the falling angels. Something like don't succumb to temptation. Or some other moral that has a biblely feel to it. I can't really think of it right now.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Hush Hush finished
Finally, I finished Hush Hush at 391 pages. It was only at page 250 that it revealed that Patch was an angel due to the telltale sign of Patch being able to plant words and images into Nora's, the main character, mind. Two people, Eliott and Jules, from another school transfer to Nora's school. It turns out that Eliott was one of the questioned in a murder investigation. Nora finds an article with the questioning in it and takes it home. Then the Ski Mask dude breaks in, ransacks Nora's room, and scares Nora out of the room when she comes up. Then after the police arrive, the room was all clean. Then Eliott breaks into Nora's school with her friend Vee, to play hide and seek. He cuts the power and ties Vee up. Meanwhile, Patch's angel girlfriend is trying to kill Nora because she is "stealing my boy." and because she is a vital part in the ritual to make Patch a human, which Dabria, Patch's girlfriend, does not want. Nora finds Patch and they both go off to find Vee who supposedly was camping with Eliott and Jules. Then they get stranded at a hotel where Patch spills the beans. He reveals that in order to become a guardian angel, he must save a humans life. Then they get a call from Vee, and go to the school to rescue her. She finds Eliott dead, as explained by Jules that he had too much evidence, and gets captured by Jules. Jules reveals that he is part angel and is related to Patch and begins to manipulate Nora's fear. Then Nora escapes onto the rafters and somehow sacrifices herself to kill Jules but was brought back to life by Patch. Then Patch becomes a guardian angel by saving Nora as she threw herself from the gym rafters.
It was all very confusing, I plan on reading it again when I have time so I can understand everything. I really liked it. Even though it started off slow, once it got going, it shot off like a rocket. Next blog will be about messages and themes.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Hush Hush, somewhere around halfway through
Hush Hush was so-so. Although the suspense is really great, the weirdness of Patch, the guy with the ski mask, Patch reading her mind, and the whole "he creeps me out." plot is great. The movement of the overall plot is as slow as a turtle. If I didn't know that it was an angel book, or looked at the blurb and saw "one of the fallen." saw the cover of a falling man with big feathers, picked up the hint about the ride "The Arch-Angel." I would have not clue Patch was an angel. I would just think, wow, Patch is a creepy as creepy can get. But there is one good thing about it. It has sooo much suspense, that I would kill myself if I put it down and never read it again. It has provoked so many questions, that if questions were helium, I would be waving to airplanes. Anyway, as soon as I get a nice long time with absolutely no questions and the trial mostly out of the way, I fully intend to finish the book all in one go. And besides the slowness of the overall plot, this book is awesome!
Books I want to read, kind of A.K.A. my Summer Reading List
This isn't technically my summer reading list, but here it is.
1. The Lost, I tried to read this book when I was at my Grandmother's but I didn't finish it.
2. The last book of the Edge Chronicles, The Immortals.
3. Soon I Will be invincible.
4. I am the Messenger.
5. Buddha Boy.
6. The Knife of Never Letting Go.
7. Ship Breaker
8. Chiggers.
9. The Good Thief.
10. The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet.
1. The Lost, I tried to read this book when I was at my Grandmother's but I didn't finish it.
2. The last book of the Edge Chronicles, The Immortals.
3. Soon I Will be invincible.
4. I am the Messenger.
5. Buddha Boy.
6. The Knife of Never Letting Go.
7. Ship Breaker
8. Chiggers.
9. The Good Thief.
10. The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet.
Books I have enjoyed, the Redwall series
The Redwall series is written by Brian Jacques. In the series, the only characters are animals, although there was a reference to a town in the first book. The animals can be assumed to have opposable thumbs because they are able to hold onto various things. Each animal has an accent, which is sometimes broken, for example, an educated mole, for plot purposes. Most of the story revolves around an abbey named Redwall named for its large red brick walls. But there was one warrior who was supposed to be there to defend the abbey. The abbey, of course had certain creatures that their species was known for fighting skills just in case. In addition to accents, each animal had a different type of attitude, for example, badgers were supposed to be huge living war machines, but could be caring animals when not under attack. One interesting thing about the series is that the difference in size between animals has been diminished, so badgers for example, are not so huge compared to mice as they are in real life. The whole thing is set in a sort of medieval time with vermin as bandits and warlords. Each character in the book appears at least twice in different books. And sometimes they only appear once because there was a time switch. What I like about it, is that it is jumping around in time, and if you read it in chronological order, nothing would make sense.For the official site, click here
Monday, May 23, 2011
10 reccomendation books
Here are ten books I have read and recommend.
1. Redwall
2. Mossflower
3. The Book Thief
4. Godless
5. To Kill A Mockingbird
6. The Amulet of Samarkand (first book in series)
7. Harry Potter and the Philosophers' Stone (first book in series
8. A Swiftly Tilting Planet
9. The Ring of Solomon
10. A Wrinkle In Time
1. Redwall
2. Mossflower
3. The Book Thief
4. Godless
5. To Kill A Mockingbird
6. The Amulet of Samarkand (first book in series)
7. Harry Potter and the Philosophers' Stone (first book in series
8. A Swiftly Tilting Planet
9. The Ring of Solomon
10. A Wrinkle In Time
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Angel factory, finished
One important line was from Thomas's sister Amy. She said that when the angels went into the angel factory, their derms (marks of their angel-ness) faded but didn't completely go away. I think this is trying to say that no matter how faulted people are, there is still some angel goodness in them. Which contributes to the bigger theme that humanity can only be saved by humanity...
In the middle of Angel Factory
Now I am in the middle of angel factory, somewhat. The book is getting very intense and awkward. Encrypted files on his parents computer reveal that he was adopted. Later the person who decoded them dies in a car accident. And now for my prediction, the people I thought were angels are angels and are training Thomas to be a good person. But not in the way I thought. They are sterile aliens that are made to look like humans and sent to earth to stop it from destroying itself. But its not bad that my prediction didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, predictable books are boring. So far the book is great, and all I'm waiting for is what comes next and the importance of the title, Angel Factory :)
Saturday, May 21, 2011
City of Angels
In the movie, City Of Angels (C.O.A.), angels are depicted traditionally and not traditionally. As for tradition, they aren't human, they come for dead people, they don't have blood, and they act in a way as guardian angels in the scene where the angels squeeze the people's shoulders when they are in a tough situation. But they are depicted non-traditionally too. Here are the ways they are depicted that way, they have no wings, they can't really fly although they can get into a lot of places, angels have free will (with real angels, this is why they envy humans), they also wear black, there aren't really assigned people for the angels to guard, and they are invisible. I thought that C.O.A. put an interesting twist on angels to make the movie interesting, but kept certain characteristics so people would recognize them. And I think it did a good job of that.
Friday, May 20, 2011
The Angel Factory, blog one, pages 1-49
This book is amazing. The best thing it has done so far is hinted at Thomas's parents being angels. When he and Gip go look at their parents files, they are labeled
"HOME
BILLS
SERAPH
TAXES" (p. 9) Seraph is an old name for angel. Also, their neighbor calls them a band of angels. I so far have really liked the book and am wishing I knew the answers to all the questions I have now. At this point, everything is just established and not concluded. The files, the warehouse in the middle of nowhere. And the weird journey inside the warehouse. But I have some conclusions that may or not turn out to be true. I believe that the parents are angels. And possibly the surfer dude, and Thomas's sister too since they are all on the train no one sees. I believe that the purple place, since it is down under the ground and comes from the black elevator is representing hell. And the reason why Thomas passes out when he goes up, is because everything is too bright and holy. The way he gets in is not very lawful, he reads his parents mail, doesn't listen to them and goes on the train with them, and he pretends to be an "angel" and walks in with the other briefcase people. So he goes to "hell". But then when he once again tries to be and "angel" and goes into the second elevator. And with all this information in mind, I believe that his parents, sister and her boyfriend, are all trying to make Thomas so good that he becomes and angel, hence the name angel factory (the title).
"HOME
BILLS
SERAPH
TAXES" (p. 9) Seraph is an old name for angel. Also, their neighbor calls them a band of angels. I so far have really liked the book and am wishing I knew the answers to all the questions I have now. At this point, everything is just established and not concluded. The files, the warehouse in the middle of nowhere. And the weird journey inside the warehouse. But I have some conclusions that may or not turn out to be true. I believe that the parents are angels. And possibly the surfer dude, and Thomas's sister too since they are all on the train no one sees. I believe that the purple place, since it is down under the ground and comes from the black elevator is representing hell. And the reason why Thomas passes out when he goes up, is because everything is too bright and holy. The way he gets in is not very lawful, he reads his parents mail, doesn't listen to them and goes on the train with them, and he pretends to be an "angel" and walks in with the other briefcase people. So he goes to "hell". But then when he once again tries to be and "angel" and goes into the second elevator. And with all this information in mind, I believe that his parents, sister and her boyfriend, are all trying to make Thomas so good that he becomes and angel, hence the name angel factory (the title).
Thursday, May 19, 2011
5 best book blogs
As our assignment, we have to find 5 book blogs we like and why. Here are mine.
One book blog I like is this one http://youngadultbookreviews.com/. It has a long list of archives from previous months on the side. It also has a search box so I can search for relevant books I would like to find. And plus, it features a summary of each book and a suggestion for its audience and a basic theme, example, this book is about coming of age. That is why I like it.
Another blog I thought was good was this one http://loveyalit.com/. This blog is put up by two people named Nora and Em. It has two paragraphs for the plot synopsis and a sum up at the end. After that it has a rating by Nora. On the sides it has an introduction to Nora and Em. At the bottom it has links to reviews, archives, and other possible book blogs.
This is another book blog that was especially good, http://iwasateenagebookgeek.blogspot.com/. This blog has links to other blogs on the side and an archive on the other. It has a blurb, that seems like its from the book. Then a review type of blurb, some personal comments. And finally something at the end which can range from excerpts to interviews. I liked it because it felt more personal, not just and informative boring posts.
This is my next to last blog I thought was really good, this is it, http://lisadgibson.blogspot.com/. This blog has links to other book blogs on one side. On the top it has multiple tabs where you can see reviews by title, or rating. Also they have a list of books they are reading or have read, and something that appears to be excerpts from a book they are writing. The thing I liked best is how they put a blurb from a professional review maker, and then they put "my take" on the book. Then they gave it a rating.
And now, the final book blog I liked, http://yannabe.com/. This is a blog written by good reader (there are lots of book reviews). There are links to most recent posts, most recent comments, and popular posts. In their reviews, they give a short plot synopsis, what they liked and didn't like, a small excerpt from the book, and a sort of spinning the post out into the world with a few last sentences. That's what I liked
So there you have it, a long post with 5 different book blogs, a description, and what I liked. Ta da.
Nico
One book blog I like is this one http://youngadultbookreviews.com/. It has a long list of archives from previous months on the side. It also has a search box so I can search for relevant books I would like to find. And plus, it features a summary of each book and a suggestion for its audience and a basic theme, example, this book is about coming of age. That is why I like it.
Another blog I thought was good was this one http://loveyalit.com/. This blog is put up by two people named Nora and Em. It has two paragraphs for the plot synopsis and a sum up at the end. After that it has a rating by Nora. On the sides it has an introduction to Nora and Em. At the bottom it has links to reviews, archives, and other possible book blogs.
This is another book blog that was especially good, http://iwasateenagebookgeek.blogspot.com/. This blog has links to other blogs on the side and an archive on the other. It has a blurb, that seems like its from the book. Then a review type of blurb, some personal comments. And finally something at the end which can range from excerpts to interviews. I liked it because it felt more personal, not just and informative boring posts.
This is my next to last blog I thought was really good, this is it, http://lisadgibson.blogspot.com/. This blog has links to other book blogs on one side. On the top it has multiple tabs where you can see reviews by title, or rating. Also they have a list of books they are reading or have read, and something that appears to be excerpts from a book they are writing. The thing I liked best is how they put a blurb from a professional review maker, and then they put "my take" on the book. Then they gave it a rating.
And now, the final book blog I liked, http://yannabe.com/. This is a blog written by good reader (there are lots of book reviews). There are links to most recent posts, most recent comments, and popular posts. In their reviews, they give a short plot synopsis, what they liked and didn't like, a small excerpt from the book, and a sort of spinning the post out into the world with a few last sentences. That's what I liked
So there you have it, a long post with 5 different book blogs, a description, and what I liked. Ta da.
Nico
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Krowemoh, Homework spelled backwards
Krowemoh or homework, how much should students get?
Many people say homework is bad for kids and destroys family time. But other people say that it teaches important values. The only way we can work this dilemma out is by finding a compromise, and a good one. I believe that the compromise is to only use homework to complete projects, with certain exceptions, like math homework, which is needed to pass tests. People have argued, that there isn't enough time to get everything done in school. I agree, in school we hurry around to our classes and learn things and take notes. Unless you have an extensive time where we have no class, there isn't enough time to finish things just by doing it in school. If you were reading a book for class, would you do it at break? No, breaks are reserved times for social stuff, and they are not even long enough to retain knowledge from reading. Also classes you planned to read in can be replaced by other classes. This making reading in class not reliable enough. Therefore, all school related work that happens over a long period of time, studying, making a project, reading a book, must take place at home or in school.
If it is stated that we do need homework to get things done, then logical thinking would lead us to the conclusion that if we give more homework then more things will get done. This is untrue. The National School Board Association's Center for Public Education has found that there is no large relationship between completing homework and school achievement. There is a small relationship, which leads us to give homework to get projects done. But giving a lot of homework to students to heighten in school achievement is counter productive. The amount of homework only has a limited effect on in school achievement, and giving more than the limit will not make more achievement happen. In fact, students begin to resent the amount of homework they are given, which leads to hating teachers, hating school, and finally hating learning. Even though there are certain exceptions to the resentment of learning chain reaction, large amounts of homework usually only benefit people in high income homes because they more likely have a parent at home to help them with homework. This puts poor people at a very unfair disadvantage. All this abolishes the false need for overdosing of homework.
I suggest, that we should consider a compromise. In the compromise homework assignments would have to amount to a big picture objective. This would allow things to get done, as explained in the second paragraph, and not include high amounts of homework which cause multiple negative effects. In the compromise, teachers projects and plans would not be changed completely, but only modified to fit the compromise. For example, if students had to read something they had already read in class, and write a paper on it, the assignment has to correspond to the bigger picture of the class. If they were learning about analyzing literature, then the paper would have to be the analysis of the material so they could have practice for a big analyzation at the end of the unit. Either that, or the assignment would be taken away or replaced with something more important.
Many people say homework is bad for kids and destroys family time. But other people say that it teaches important values. The only way we can work this dilemma out is by finding a compromise, and a good one. I believe that the compromise is to only use homework to complete projects, with certain exceptions, like math homework, which is needed to pass tests. People have argued, that there isn't enough time to get everything done in school. I agree, in school we hurry around to our classes and learn things and take notes. Unless you have an extensive time where we have no class, there isn't enough time to finish things just by doing it in school. If you were reading a book for class, would you do it at break? No, breaks are reserved times for social stuff, and they are not even long enough to retain knowledge from reading. Also classes you planned to read in can be replaced by other classes. This making reading in class not reliable enough. Therefore, all school related work that happens over a long period of time, studying, making a project, reading a book, must take place at home or in school.
If it is stated that we do need homework to get things done, then logical thinking would lead us to the conclusion that if we give more homework then more things will get done. This is untrue. The National School Board Association's Center for Public Education has found that there is no large relationship between completing homework and school achievement. There is a small relationship, which leads us to give homework to get projects done. But giving a lot of homework to students to heighten in school achievement is counter productive. The amount of homework only has a limited effect on in school achievement, and giving more than the limit will not make more achievement happen. In fact, students begin to resent the amount of homework they are given, which leads to hating teachers, hating school, and finally hating learning. Even though there are certain exceptions to the resentment of learning chain reaction, large amounts of homework usually only benefit people in high income homes because they more likely have a parent at home to help them with homework. This puts poor people at a very unfair disadvantage. All this abolishes the false need for overdosing of homework.
I suggest, that we should consider a compromise. In the compromise homework assignments would have to amount to a big picture objective. This would allow things to get done, as explained in the second paragraph, and not include high amounts of homework which cause multiple negative effects. In the compromise, teachers projects and plans would not be changed completely, but only modified to fit the compromise. For example, if students had to read something they had already read in class, and write a paper on it, the assignment has to correspond to the bigger picture of the class. If they were learning about analyzing literature, then the paper would have to be the analysis of the material so they could have practice for a big analyzation at the end of the unit. Either that, or the assignment would be taken away or replaced with something more important.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
BTR or Born to Rock or Borntorock or Borntoroc
uote one: “I had a rich father!” (pg. 66)
This is an important quote because it shows the beginning of a long conflict. Leo had lost his scholarship, and was was going to join Purge on their trip Concussed. But he wasn't doing it to meet his father, but to get money for his tuition. This conflict causes problems later on, that Leo thought he wouldn't have to deal with.”
Quote two: “I just want to meet him, I lied.” (pg. 87)
This is an important quote because it shows the first signs of guilt from lying about wanting to just meet King Maggot, not asking for money. Leo was thinking about what to say, but he had a little bit of trouble because the guilt was distracting. This is a progress point in Leo's conscience, because he is starting to use his conscience and feel guilt.
Quote three: “Why don't you spend the summer traveling with me?” (pg. 96)
This is an important quote because it shows the start of a relationship between Leo and King Maggot. Before this, Maggot was saying insensitive things to everyone, and had no clear relationship with Leo. But then he offered to take him on the Concussed road trip, which is a big offer for someone you are not sure is related to you directly and you don't even remember their mother. This big generous offer shows a bit of emotion towards Leo coming from King Maggot, which is a big progress point in Leo's and King Maggot's relationship.
Quote four: “We'll make a punk rocker out of you yet.” (pg. 186)
Leo has a person he calls a genetic hitchhiker, who is the “King Maggot side” of him. This hitchhiker, being the King Maggot side, is punk. This remark came from King Maggot after Leo screamed a punk scream. At this point, Leo has begun to accept the punk side of himself by using it to scream “LLAMA!!!” This is important because for the first time in the entire book Leo has shown clear acceptance of his genetic hitchhiker.
Quote five: “I want to be a part of your life.” (pg. 260)
When it was discovered that King Maggot wasn't his father, Leo was really disappointed. Because he thought Maggot wouldn't give him the money for the tuition bill because he wasn't his father. However King Maggot's relationship with Leo had grown to a point where not being a father didn't matter anymore. And in this line, Maggot reveals that he actually cares about Leo.
Friday, February 25, 2011
9/11 stuff
1) when nine eleven happened, I was four. So I don't think I would really remember. Which means I have no memories. I think the biggest time when I really learned about it, was in fifth grade. I suppose I gradually learned about it over the years, but not as much as I did in fifth grade. In fifth grade, we were studying war, peace, and other things related to that subject. For one part of the unit, we studied terrorism. And then I learned about nine eleven. Most of the images that come to mind, are images we saw during the part of the unit. And I am still learning, Eli just told me that there were multiple plane attacks, not just two planes crashing into the world trade center building.
2) All I know about the cause, was that two terrorists got on a plane that went by the world trade center building. They hijacked the plane and drove it into the building along with another plane. The consequences were, that the building was destroyed and loads of people were killed. But a slightly more positive consequence was that some organization against terrorism was created to prevent further attacks. And that is all I know.
2) All I know about the cause, was that two terrorists got on a plane that went by the world trade center building. They hijacked the plane and drove it into the building along with another plane. The consequences were, that the building was destroyed and loads of people were killed. But a slightly more positive consequence was that some organization against terrorism was created to prevent further attacks. And that is all I know.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Snails and Freshwater
Most snails are listed on the endangered list, especially freshwater snails. They started to decline in the twentieth century. Dams and other changes made to rivers courses's, as well as agricultural and industrial pollution has been quickly declining the number and diversity of freshwater snails. When the snails die, other species such as crawfish who feed on the snails, begin to decline as well. A major snail killer is river channeling and dredging. When a river is channeled or dredged, infrastructure is added to the river, which can crush snails. Also, chunks of rocks used by snails can be loosened, snail eggs are crushed and adult snails are buried. And when snails die, their rotting bodies create large amounts of nitrates. Many snail conservation efforts are being taken, including water pollution control, and prevention of bad channeling or dredging that might kill snails. Freshwater snails are herbivores, and pollution poses a problem to this. They mostly eat algae, but sometimes large water plants. Pollution kills these plants and algae, when the snails have no food they die. When the snails die, they release nitrates which cause overgrowing of the plants they once ate. The overgrown algae and water plants is harmful to the environment of the freshwater source. Also, the amount of food snails eat, relates to their reproduction. When there is less food to eat, the population of baby snails goes down, and the baby snails are already having enough problems with channeling and dredging.
Lake Erie is a large freshwater source, and it has been having problems lately. High phosphorous levels coming from pesticides and fertilizers that ran into rivers, along with multiple sewage outbreaks from other cities has all flowed into Lake Erie and caused an outbreak of Mycrocystis algae. This algae can cause cramps, nausea, diarrhea, and sometimes death. It also uses up oxygen and causes animals with gills to sort of suffocate. The range of its oxygen sucking can vary from hypoxia (little oxygen) or anoxia (no oxygen). When the algae is in high concentration it forms little blooms which turn the water green, and suck up oxygen when they decompose. The cells are colonial, meaning that they can group together to create a film of algae near the surface of the water. It cannot survive in very salty waters, which is why it flourished in Lake Erie, a freshwater lake. Only one third of all the types of Mycrocystis algae are toxic. When it blooms, it is usually because the water is warm and nutrient filled, phosphorous fuels the blooming better than most nutrients. The main cause of this outbreak was there were sewage treatment systems and not enough control on pesticides and fertilizers used in industrial farming.
There are two types of pollution, point source pollution, and non point source pollution. Point source, is where there is one pipe for example that is polluting, non point source is where there are multiple little pipes that all add up to pollution. Point source pollution is much easier to fix, but non point source is not so easy to stop. All though its strange, heat is pollution, so when power plants use water to cool down their facilities, they harm temperature sensitive organisms in rivers. Non point source pollution consists of pollution runoff from industries or small sources. Construction, sewage management, agriculture, and mining are large contributors to freshwater pollution.
There are two types of pollution, point source pollution, and non point source pollution. Point source, is where there is one pipe for example that is polluting, non point source is where there are multiple little pipes that all add up to pollution. Point source pollution is much easier to fix, but non point source is not so easy to stop. All though its strange, heat is pollution, so when power plants use water to cool down their facilities, they harm temperature sensitive organisms in rivers. Non point source pollution consists of pollution runoff from industries or small sources. Construction, sewage management, agriculture, and mining are large contributors to freshwater pollution.
| Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. "Microcystis in the Environment and Its Health Effects." Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2011. <http://research.myfwc.com/features/view_article.asp?id=25259>. |
Grant, Julie. "Algae Overgrowth in Lake Erie Could Cause Sickness." af the allagheny front environmental radio for western pennsylvania. af, 4 Aug. 2010. Web. 8 Feb. 2011. <http://www.alleghenyfront.org/ story.html?storyid=201008041136040.804177>. |
"What do water snails eat?" What do Snails Eat? What Do They Eat?, n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2011. <http://www.whatdosnailseat.info/>. |
Maryland Department of Natural Resources. "Microcystis." Harmful Algae Blooms in
Maryland. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2011. <http://www.dnr.state.md.us/
bay/hab/microcystis2.html>.
Maryland. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2011. <http://www.dnr.state.md.us/
bay/hab/microcystis2.html>.
Johnson, Paul D. "Sustaining America's Aquatic Biodiversity - Freshwater Snail Biodiversity and Conservation." Virginia Cooperative Extension. Tennessee Aquarium Research Inst., Cohutta, GA, 1 May 2009. Web. 8 Feb. 2011. <http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/420/420-530/420-530.html>. |
Hicks, Sarah. "Pollution." LAKE SCIENTIST. Kent State U, 2010. Web. 12 Feb.
2011. <http://www.lakescientist.com/learn-about-lakes/water-quality/
pollution.html>.
2011. <http://www.lakescientist.com/learn-about-lakes/water-quality/
pollution.html>.
Friday, February 4, 2011
water
1) one out of eight people does not have access to clean water. Every day, the global water and sanitation crisis claims the lives of as many children under five to equal that of jumbo jets crashing. Global warming dumps salt into freshwater, making it undrinkable instantly. Storm water is also a problem, with so much concrete, the water has nowhere to go, so it picks up a lot of garbage and floods into the sewer and later on out into the river. Also fertilizers used in farming, wash off the farms, down the roads, into the sewers, and out into the river. The fertilizers kill the animals in the river and make it undrinkable.
2) to deal with the shrinking amount of drinkable water, we are combating global warming to stop salt being dumped in freshwater. To deal with the storm water, more straining systems have been put into use in sewers to eliminate the garbage during flooding. To help with the fertilizer problem, more organic farms are being introduced, to lower the amount of fertilizers used. To solve the not having access to clean water, many organizations are creating easy ways to access a hidden source of clean water. Such as Ryan's wells, which builds wells that lead to clean water sources underground.
3) Water allocation is a very big problem. Its where people dam up a river so farmers/industries/power plants can get all the water for their needs, but the people/farmers/industries/power plants who gain the water from the natural course of the river don't get any water at all. One way to solve the problem is to split the water half and half to each group that needs it. Or split a little part off the river, but increase the efficiency the farmer/industries/power plants use it with. For example, the power plant could recycle the water it uses to turn the turbines which in turn (sorry for the pun) make electricity. The basic idea is to use, clean (if needed), and re-use the water. Or have a meeting with all of the people who need the water, and find if someone doesn't really need that much water. Or use new technology that makes water that was currently unusable, able to supply one or more of the water consumers.
4) We should shorten our showers so we save water, and avoid taking baths unless absolutely needed because they use up a lot of water. Don't water the lawn, only water your potted plants. Also cut the grass more to make the individual grass plants need less water, and when they need less water, they don't die because you didn't water them. That prevents erosion from happening when the grass dies and no longer holds the ground together, and no dirt washes down the street, into the sewer, and into the river where it might clog it up. Use more water efficient cooking. If you need to water plants, use rainwater collected from rain barrels to water them, this might work for cars as well. When we save all this water, we allow more of it not to be wasted, and are demand for water goes down in our neighbor hood, and it can be diverted to other places that need it more.
2) to deal with the shrinking amount of drinkable water, we are combating global warming to stop salt being dumped in freshwater. To deal with the storm water, more straining systems have been put into use in sewers to eliminate the garbage during flooding. To help with the fertilizer problem, more organic farms are being introduced, to lower the amount of fertilizers used. To solve the not having access to clean water, many organizations are creating easy ways to access a hidden source of clean water. Such as Ryan's wells, which builds wells that lead to clean water sources underground.
3) Water allocation is a very big problem. Its where people dam up a river so farmers/industries/power plants can get all the water for their needs, but the people/farmers/industries/power plants who gain the water from the natural course of the river don't get any water at all. One way to solve the problem is to split the water half and half to each group that needs it. Or split a little part off the river, but increase the efficiency the farmer/industries/power plants use it with. For example, the power plant could recycle the water it uses to turn the turbines which in turn (sorry for the pun) make electricity. The basic idea is to use, clean (if needed), and re-use the water. Or have a meeting with all of the people who need the water, and find if someone doesn't really need that much water. Or use new technology that makes water that was currently unusable, able to supply one or more of the water consumers.
4) We should shorten our showers so we save water, and avoid taking baths unless absolutely needed because they use up a lot of water. Don't water the lawn, only water your potted plants. Also cut the grass more to make the individual grass plants need less water, and when they need less water, they don't die because you didn't water them. That prevents erosion from happening when the grass dies and no longer holds the ground together, and no dirt washes down the street, into the sewer, and into the river where it might clog it up. Use more water efficient cooking. If you need to water plants, use rainwater collected from rain barrels to water them, this might work for cars as well. When we save all this water, we allow more of it not to be wasted, and are demand for water goes down in our neighbor hood, and it can be diverted to other places that need it more.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
News stories
Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney is a former Massachusetts governor. As a republican he ran for president before but lost.
However, even though he has been a governor, he is not qualified to be a president because he has little experience in foreign policy. To deal with this, he has taken a trip to Afghanistan. While he is there, he will train Afghans in his views on the issues of leadership, public service, economic opportunity and democratic participation. He will also share his views with local leaders. Based on the facts that he has been a business man and governor, two qualifications needed to be a president, and is going for the last one, it seems he is running for president.
Michele Bachmann
Michele Bachmann is a congressional representative who founded the Tea Party group in congress. She is a conservative republican from Minnesota. In 2010 Ms. Bachmann beat Tarryl Clark (a democrat Obama supported) in her re-election for her spot in congress. She was elected into congress in 2006, over the last two years she became more well known. She has fought tax increase, the health care law, and big spending. When she was asked whether she was going to run for president, she said “I’m going to Iowa—there’s your answer. I am going to Iowa,” referring to the fact that elections start there. She is running for president.
Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani is the former mayor of New York and is a republican. He is running for president. He has scheduled a trip to New Hampshire to talk to the voters there. Since New Hampshire is one of states that votes early along with Iowa, he has decided to go there so he can boost his chances of winning (he did not win when he ran there previously). He thinks that the election will be full of far right candidates, so he thinks that there will be chance for a candidate who has a background in national security. He has run for president in 2008 in New Hampshire and came in fourth place. He is running for president.
Johnson, Glen. "Romney on Trip to Afghanistan, Middle East." abc NEWS/ U.S.
N.p., 9 Jan. 2011. Web. 10 Jan. 2011. <http://abcnews.go.com/US/
wireStory?id=12575209>.
THE DAILY CALLER. "Rudy Giuliani asks former campaign advisers about his chances
in 2012 presidential race." THE DAILY CALLER. N.p., 7 Jan. 2011. Web. 10
Jan. 2011. <http://dailycaller.com/2011/01/07/
rudy-giuliani-asks-former-campaign-advisers-about-his-chances-in-2012-presidentia
l-race/>.
The New York Times. "Michele Bachman." The New York Times 6 Jan. 2010, online
ed.: n. pag. Web. 10 Jan. 2011. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/
timestopics/people/b/michele_m_bachmann/
index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=Michele%20Bachmann&st=cse>.
Daily Beast. "Michele Bachmann Weighs 2012 Run." CHEAT SHEET MUST READS FROM ALL
OVER. Daily Beast, 7 Jan. 2011. Web. 10 Jan. 2011.
<http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/item/
michele-bachmann-weighs-2012-run/eye-on-the-prize>.
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