$AceDavid$

The N game originally started on this website http://www.thewayoftheninja.org/.  The goal of a level is to run past the “switch” that opens the door and of course then run into the door, this applies in every level although there are always complications like robots and mine and other miscellaneous items. The game is and was so popular that versions have been made for mainstream game consoles like the PS3 the Xbox 360 and even the portable PSP and Nintendo ds. 

In my opinion and i think in most other people’s this game is very addicting because there are over 500 level’s structured within 100 episode’s. One episode contains five levels numbered 00-04  and even if someone were to complete all the levels but hen get stuck on level four it would not save hence a whole episode must be completed if any progress is wanted. This, as i said before makes the game extremely addicting.

It is designed well but the difficulty increases dramatically as it goes on making it, towards the end well almost impossible actually and not very fun because even though the “Ninja” has an infinite amount of lives equating to always being able to restart if he dies this means the game can get incredibly repetitive quite often. 

Also i think that on the PS3 the cooperative mode would be quite fun because it means that sometimes it is possible to cheat through a level with one protecting the other. All in all N is a good game but does still need some development. 

English Project Of Mice And Men

I have found a news article about a stoat apparently going crazy and messing around and I think this is opinionated because the person who wrote the description for the video.  Because of the snow it might be cold and trying to get warm or it might be a new behavior that scientists haven’t discovered but we’re dismissing all of these possibilities because of one persons word.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7870000/newsid_7875500/7875560.stm

Artemis Fowl is a teen genius from ireland who is very rich and goes on adventures with is bodyguard butler. Artemis Fowl knows lots of things normal people do not like he knows about demons and he also has a fairy friend aswell as mulch (Gnome) and Foaly (A Centaur). In this book someone called minerva discovers that faires do exist and wants to capture one, but not a normal one, she wants to capture a demon, the most human hating species unknown to man. Artemis must stop this but at the same time he must stop the magical time spell unravelling. This spell keeps Hybras were it is because demons were silver all the time because they are attracted to the moons and silver helps anchor them to Hybras. Before a demon becomes a demon they are called imps and they only begin changing when they get very bloodlustful and then when they do they get covered in goo and begin changing (like a butterfly but not a elegant). There is an imp called number one who can not seem to change and he secretly suspects that he might be one of the very last few living dwarfs. Meanwhile the time spell is unravelling, which keeps Hybras where it is (without Hybras would be sucked to earth and everyone on it would be to, so artemis meet with number one and holly (his imp friend) goes to taipei to get another dwarf and so then they all travel to hybras and save the human race. Overall i think this is a very good story and i definitely recommend it.  

People like rock, people like the blues and jazz and pop and funk but there is one genre that is singled out because of its lyrics and only its lyrics. I know that as headmaster you want to do whats best for the school making both the students and teachers life better ones by letting them do certain things like having a staff room and giving us the students quite a number of apple computers to work on, so, i have addressed an issue that might be aprecciated by the students. Yes, rap can be innapropriate, but most of the time rappers are only vividly expressing themselves. Isn’t that, one of the aims of english class ? to teach people vocabulary ? If students saw you listening to rap you really would develop a certain amount of “street cred” with the students. It would also make the relationship between teachers and students more like friend to friend and less like teacher to student. The reason this would be appreciated, is people from our school could say our teachers listen to all the genres including rap, we have our own school skate park and many other aspects of our school that make Y.I.S a unique and wonderful place. I believe that this is only one of many things we could do to make our school “cooler” and to also make our teachers easier to have a conversation with. So, give it a try, listen to just one rap song and see if you like it. Whether you do or not, tell other teachers to listen to just one rap song and see if they like or dislike this expressive genre. To help you, heres a list of songs to try : LL Cool J – Headsprung, Eminem – Lose Yourself, The Game – How We Do, Mike Jones – My 64 and last but not least Bubba Sparxxx – Ms New Booty.

Sir Ken Robinson makes a a lot of statements and a lot of jokes and i think he is right because he clearly states that the arts (Voice, Drama and Art for YIS) aren’t practiced as much as things like science english an math. I know if we asked the teachers to let us take these subjects more they would probably tell us that we don’t take them as much because they are not as important and i agree. But for someone considering an art that might not be so wise…

Skellig

1.What are the themes raised by David Almond’s Skellig and what techniques does he use to get us thinking about them?

I think the themes that are evident in Skellig include the following: education,  life and death,  homelessness,  old age,  re-building and  nature.

David Almond uses the baby, Joy, as one of the symbols of life, demonstrating the life and death theme.  By introducing the baby Joy, I think he is representing new life.   Joy has been just been born and she is being well taken care of ,  and being given a lot of attention.  Skellig, on the other hand, is living like a tramp, living off garbage, barely able to survive.  The baby and Skellig have something in common, they are both struggling to survive.

That all changes when Michael moves into the house.  Michael comes and feeds Skellig, with two dishes from the Chinese take-away menu; numbers 27 and 53.  As a result of Michael’s caring behaviour, he and Skellig become friends.  It is possibly because of this friendship, that Michael tells Skellig about the baby, and how she is sick and struggling for life in an incubator.

Another character,  Mina, is an artist who sculpts and draws birds and animals, which are all from nature.  This connects to the theme of life and death in nature, and the struggle to survive. Another thing used to represent this theme is the chick, who is just learning to fly. The chick also represents the theme of education. 

Mina’s own, home education really brings her a lot closer to nature, in the sense that she is being educated by her mother, in a way that is not dissimilar to the way that for example, a polar bear cub would learn how to hunt or to build a shelter from its mother.  It is interesting that Mina chooses to draw and sculp natural things like birds and other animals.

Education seems to be a big part of this story and is illustrated in many different ways. A good example of the educational theme,  is the different ways that Michael and Mina are being schooled. Michael is attending a public school and is being given information to develop his knowledge, following a more ‘linear’ educational path, whilst Mina’s schooling is fun and creative and based more on the arts and nature.  There is a big difference between the two educational types for these two children, and David Almond uses this contrast to make us think more about this theme.

I think that old age is demonstrated in the book, by three things.  One is Skellig, who looks physically old,  because he has been in the garage for a long time.   The grandfather’s house is also a symbol of old age, because Mina’s grandfather was quite old when he died and he lived in that house.  When Michael and Mina took Skellig to live in her grandfather’s house, that provides a link to old age and the theme of aging.

The concept of re-building does not only apply to buildings,  although in the book, there is a specific reference to re-building when Michael’s parents buy the house and begin renovating it.  The author gets us to think of re-building, not just the house,  but also, more symbolically, by Michael moving into a new home and having to re-build his life. 

This is a book review about the book entitled “Beowulf”. The book is quite an enjoyable read and makes you want to keep on reading it till the very end. This story is the story of beowulf with his warriors who travel to the kingdom that has put out kind of a distress call offering lots of money and gold for anyone who kills a monster called grendel, now, this monster is obviously sensitive to human noise because one night he hears the nobles of the kingdom having a feast and he just can’t stand the noise so he walks to banquet hall and burst through the door, then proceeds to kill every drunken or sober attacker that comes his way and the story progresses from their, (i don’t want to give it away). On every page there is words painting coulourful and vivid images in the mind. It is written in a somewhat old style of language and may be hard to understand at times but is mostly understandable i think it does actually have some translation i think. Any way this book is a good image conjuring read and i would definitely recommend.