Random Facts of the Week

♥ The moon weighs 18 million tons

♥ The shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes

♥ The average person’s left hand does 56% of the typing.

♥ There are more chickens than people in the world.

♥ Porcupines float in water.

Rant of the Week

On the annoyances of not having access to the internet and trying to write a review

It’s kind of crazy how much we use the internet in our lives now if you think about it. I’m sitting here trying to think of how to start a review on the movie “The Quantum of Solace” for our local paper, and I’m getting absolutely nowhere. Why? Well, first of all, the movie was awful. It was action packed, but it had no plot. It was just about Bond’s shallow struggle with revenge, and he killed everyone interesting anyway. But probably the biggest problem that I’m having is not being able to go online. There’s a word I’m trying to think of, one that means “no consequences”, in reference to James Bond’s killing habits, but I can’t think of it and my phone modem is down, so there’s no thesaurus.com to look it up. I guess I could go find a hard copy of a dictionary (do we even own one?) but I would have no idea what word to look for. I need Google even to tell me one possiblility of a word, because you can’t just go typing in “no consequences” in the thesaurus box. Also, a review should probably have a reference to what other people around the world think of the movie, like online polls, box office sales, or critic’s ratings, and I don’t have access to any of that information without my internet. The movie was really bad though, so it’s not like I can’t guess what everyone else thought of it. But still…

This has been the “Rant of the Day” with the editor

Random Facts of the Week!

-There are more doughnut shots per capita in Canada than any other country

-Children grow faster in the springtime

-40,000 Americans are injured by toilets each year

Twilight- Movie Review

Yesterday, I was offered the opportunity to begin writing movie and music reviews for our local paper. My first is on "Twilight", the object of my obsession for a long time... so here it goes:

A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine and I went to Findlay to see “Twilight”. We had been waiting for weeks for the movie to premiere, and on the car ride there, we were giggling and clapping our hands in excitement like little kids on Christmas morning. Both of us had read the Twilight series, by Stephanie Meyer, and fallen in love with her characters, especially Edward. The plot of the story seems generic; A teenage girl falls in love with the gorgeous and seemingly unattainable boy (one Edward Cullen), who turns out to be an immortal vampire. Of course, it can’t end there. This vampire family is “vegetarian”. They hunt animals rather than people, because they don’t want to be monsters. It’s hard to resist humans though, and when one of them falls in love with the girl, it becomes more and more dangerous for them to exist.

We arrived at the theatre, bought our popcorn and sat down in the best possible seats. We had come early, hardly able to contain our excitement, and had to sit through 45 minutes of ads, sitting on our hands, trying to contain ourselves until the actual movie started. We weren’t alone in this though. The movie had made girls all over the country (and even the world) crazy with anticipation. Eventually, the movie started, and we spent an amazing two hours finally seeing the books come to life.

There were parts in the book that didn’t make it to the film, one of which I missed especially. There were a few extra scenes also but none that clashed with the theme and feeling of the book. There were also some details that they left out in an effort to make the movie less confusing, which I guess makes sense, although it’s slightly frustrating for fans of the books. However, all of the pivotal scenes were kept, which is good, and more than many books-made-into-movies can claim. As a big fan of the books before I saw the movie, I can honestly say that I approve. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty close.

Of course, not everyone has time to read a 498 page book, especially one aimed at teenagers (Although, there’s an internet movement going on now called, “Twilight Moms” for 30+ year olds who love the series). So, it’s important to know how the movie would be to a person who had never obsessed over the books. I talked to some of my friends, and I couldn’t find one that didn’t like it. (Well maybe one, but he hadn’t seen it, so it wasn’t exactly fair) My grandparents even enjoyed seeing it! I think the reason that the books are so appealing is that, even though it’s considered “fantasy”, it was completely relatable. There’s a first love which is dangerous and intense, and at the same time, very sweet and innocent, but most of all, completely forbidden. The onscreen chemistry was shockingly real and the acting was believable. Maybe the best part of this movie is the family of vampires. You’ll fall in love with them. Each character is surprisingly well developed and, of course, inhumanly beautiful, with golden eyes and pale skin.

And, you can’t have a movie without a climax, of course. You’ll get your fix of action and suspense from the flick when there’s a conflict with another vampire coven… one that isn’t “vegetarian”. There are some intense parts, and one that is slightly disturbing, but nothing too bad. Also, there is one scene when the leads kiss, but not too much more. Don’t take anyone too young (it’s rated PG-13), but it’s appropriate for most people.

So, is it worth paying nine or ten bucks and driving a half hour to the nearest big movie theatre to see? That depends. If you’re ready for a bit of cheesiness, a couple tears, and some predictability, then definitely! But there are also more important issues that are underlying the story: Moral and ethical dilemmas. If you were made into a vampire, a monster, would you have the strength to resist everything that you were made to be and do? Is it worth fighting against yourself to get back some of your humanity? If you can live forever, what do you live for? I do think that it’s a movie that you should see eventually, and while it was made for the big screen, I’m sure seeing it on DVD will be almost as good. In fact, when it comes out in the spring of next year, I’ll be first in line to get it!

Random Facts of the Week!

And now we have our random facts of the week...

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The microwave was invented when a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

***

Pigs can run a mile in 7.5 minutes

My sister Sara commented on this; "That's better than I can do!"

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So there you have it!

So, there's this photo editing site: picnik.com
And I'm in LOVE with it! :) Today I had some fun with New York City.

Here's the original picture I got from Google Images-



Sunrise on the city that never sleeps...


Wish you were here!

This is New York City.... in 1961

And here we have the sci-fi city...

There's so much that you can do, and it's really easy. Anyone can use it! Plus, it's free!

Bogus to Bubbly

Bogus to Bubbly
by Scott Westerfeld
reviewed by Hannah

I have been waiting for this book to come out for years! My friend Kallen gave it to me for my birthday last week, and I read it during that day at school. (I'm not exactly sure what the teachers taught that day) Scott Westerfeld wrote the "Uglies" series, which, despite the name, is actually quite good. It had to do with ethical and moral issues in a "Utopian" community. It's a good series, because it really makes you think! It's sci-fi, but it actually has a plot and characters with real feelings, which I have found many sci-fi books lack.

This is a guide book, subtitled, "An insider's guide to the world of Uglies". Inside is information about the world which Westerfeld has created. Some sections include the science of beauty, a guide of the gadgets and technology mentioned, and the beginning of one of the books in a series from a different character's perspective To someone who only read the series once, this is an interesting read. I, however, have read the entire series 3 times (I'm sorry-- they're my favorite. haha) and so I knew most of the content already.

I did learn some new and quite random facts, which was cool; The phrase "I love you" is said exactly twice total. Also, the unit one character uses to measure beauty, milli-helens, originates from Helen of Troy, whose beauty was said to launch 1000 ships.

I would definitely get this is you see it, but only if you first read the 4 books in the series: "Uglies", "Pretties", "Specials", and "Extras". Those books, along with this guide, will give you an exciting and disturbing look in the direction our world is headed and an absorbing conspiracy plot of our planet 200 years in the future.

All we need now is a movie!