Okay, I know I said I'd stop blogging for a bit, but this is one of those "need to post" blog posts.
There's a viral song going around the world. As I have explained in earlier posts about memes, this song has turned in to one. It is a "KPOP" song. For those who do not know what KPOP is, it's Korean pop music. I must say, it is quite catchy and you can learn a few things from watchin' those Koreans dance. Here's the music video.
After watching that, it sounds like any other pop song you may here on today's radio. The guy, whose band name is PSY, seems like some guy you REALLY want to hang out with because of his motto, "dress classy, and dance cheesy" as he said while teaching Britney Spears and Ellen DeGeneres on Ellen:
From the first video, it didn't make too much sense, except that EVERYONE loves the dance. Even I learned it within the two minutes. This past Saturday Night Live opening skit included a scene with Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy and many others, and Kenan Thompson are working at some what seems to be a video store and I didn't qute understand it, but every time you press this button, this PSY impersonator came out. Then the next time, two other guys from the video. Then the next time, two girls. Then the final time, the REAL PSY comes out and dances!
Sorry that was the best quality I could get.
As I announce again, this was a NEED-TO blog post.
Okay, 8th grade is WAAAAAAYYY harder than I thought, especially putting in to thought that I'm in all the top classes in my grade (not to brag, *cough cough*)... Unfortunately, due to a lack of visitors to my blog, my weakness of coming up with post ideas, and the extreme amount of 8th grade homework, I will be having to shut down my blog for a while.
I don't know when I will resume blog posts... Maybe I'll just post once in a while every time something major comes on my mind... Anyways, I'm really sorry to the people who actually appreciate the things I put on my blog, but I'm taking a break...
Kay, so to start this off, I went to school on Tuesday last week. It was great to see everyone back and see if they have changed a lot, or not that much. It was fun to meet new teachers and make new friends. But, with a new school year comes new responsibilities, differences, and a lot more.
Let's start with differences. The obvious: teachers are different, homework is different, and people are different However, there was one difference that really stood out to me and everyone else. Our lunches have changed. There's no more sloppy-joes in the cafeteria; now, it's more of a "food court" themed lunch period. It looked and seemed really cool to everyone at first! Y'know, restaurant signs, different menus, new flavors, many food options, etc.. But frankly, that was all just a hoax. Everyone had their first meal that first day of school, and everyone was very angry. I know what you're thinking, it's only been one day, how bad could it be? Well, let me tell you... Our lunches last year did not require us to take a FRUIT or a VEGETABLE when we ordered. Our portions last year were much LARGER last year than this year. There was a FLY in the salad of one of my classmate's lunches.
It was ridiculous. I mean, you could decide what you wanted last year from a small menu, but it worked for us! All of the students adapted to the lunch menu and we appreciated it! Obviously, lunches aren't the healthiest of food, but that's the way it's meant to be! Not that healthy! It is now a law in my state that everyone is required to take a fruit or a vegetable with their lunch. I believe that parents should be teaching their kids that they should be taking responsibility and maintain healthy habits by eating a fruit or a vegetable at lunch. I always take what they offer for three distinct reasons: 1. I'm getting what my parents are paying for, 2. Most of the time, the fruits and vegetables tasted pretty good, and 3. I'm always starving at that time of day. Other kids are frequently thinking, "meh, I don't need a fruit or vegetable." To me, I would blame the parents. Like I said earlier, its partially their responsibility to teach their kids healthy habits. Now, because of the failure to get fruits and vegetables, we are receiving a new lunch menu which is supposedly healthier and we are now required to take fruits and vegetables.
Another thing is the fruit. They have a fruit bowl filled with the same things every day. Plums, apples, and another undefined fruit. This undefined fruit is supposed to be an orange, but it is more of a lemon-lime-orange. I mean, It's green, yellow, and orange all in one fruit. I couldn't even decipher what fruit it was! I tried a plum the next day, but it was completely sour and underripe and if you ask me, I think we're just doing the school a favor by throwing the fruits away for them.
What mostly shocked me was that I heard that these new lunches were actually CHEAPER for the taxpayers. It didn't make sense. We previously had a somewhat large size lunch portion last year with the old menu, the old menu was very limited, and you could take what you wanted. This year's menus consists of a very small portioned lunch for the same price as last time, a large seleciton of food choices, and we are forced to take a fruit every single day. How the heck is this cheaper? I have no idea.
I think it is crazy how we are required to take a fruit, half the lunch options aren't even great in taste, and this new lunch system is cheaper for taxpayers. I hope you're just as confused as I am.
All my classmates are rushing to our school's online website to see what their new schedules are for the year. It shows what teachers and classes they have, so everyone's excited to see what they get. Obviously some will not be happy as much as others. Also, people will want to know who is in their class, right? Well, that's where the handy-dandy Facebook comes in.
My school year starts on Tuesday (pretty early for around here). There are a lot of new changes now that it's a new year; completely new menus for lunch, new students, schedules, teachers, and it's going to be a blast. Even more important, I'll be the top dog of the school. No more being picked on as a 6th grader or 7th grader. As an 8th grader, it's time for me to do some of the picking (not really *cough*).
My Facebook homepage is flooded with my classmates' schedules all with the same quote; "Who's in my class?" Of course, this is very chaotic when you have a lot of buddies at school who all want to know which classes you have in common. Lucky for me, I was one of the first to post my schedule which means two things: number one, I got the whole schedule-posting trend started and number two, I get to know who is in my class before anyone else since mine is the only one currently in everyone's news feed.
I really like my new schedule and can't wait for the year to start!
My question for the week is for adults...
Did you ever call up your friends when you were younger when you got your schedules to see who was in your class?
Now a question for the people still in school...
Are you excited for this new school year?!!? I know I am!
As I remind my weekly blogviewers, I am currently busy preparing for school still so this post may seem somewhat short.
So, I'm sure many people watched the Olympics throughout the last couple weeks. I'm not really a big fan of the Olympics compared to other people in my family. I just find it interesting that everyone that wants to compete gathers in one area in the world to play different sports.
Are they really sports? I mean, water polo?! More like sticking a soccer ball in the water and hitting it around! Is that really even a sport? If so, how come I've never heard of it? Some of these so-called "sports" just don't seem like actual sports to me. Here's a video of people in the Olympics playing water polo in case you have no idea what I am talking about.
Kind of a strange sport if you ask me. Another part of the Olympics is the opening and closing ceremony. I watched bits and pieces of the opening ceremony, which I have to say was somewhat boring and overrated. It was just people in costumes dancing around for half the time. Then came the closing ceremony which I found fun to watch.
During the closing ceremony, many people were performing, but what really amused me was the Spice Girls' appearance on stage singing a mix of their songs titled "Wannabe" and "Spice Up Your Life." I originally knew the Spice Girls from their song "Wannabe," but when they were performing and I noticed that they mixed another song, which I discovered was called "Spice Up Your Life," I could not believe how incredibly catchy that song is just like "Wannabe!" I liked their reunion and their performance. To listen to their performance at the olympics, click below.
Remember one of my blog posts titled, "Don't Let Summer Waste Away?" Well, is it me, or is this summer flying by? It probably is just flying by. I mean, one week. I'm at home relaxing, the next I'm on vacation, then all of a sudden it's August and I'm back home! Well, it seems I'm turning into a hypocrite and not taking my own advice to not let my summer waste away. In reality, it isn't because I still have a running list going of the activities I do every day on a calendar. To me, I have to be doing something special or different every day. That's my main summer goal. It's a hard goal to achieve, but that's what makes a goal a goal.
Every time summer rolls around, I want to do so much, but within the first week, I've forgotten everything I wanted to do during the summer and I am sitting at home doing what I am now; blogging, computering, Minecrafting, whatever. I do not want that happening again next summer. So, I created a plan to make a list starting now until next summer of the activities I would like to do when summer comes again. The things I want to do will be things that make me feel... um... what's the word for this... uh... 'accomplished.'
I encourage you all to keep track of what you want to do in the future. It's a great way to get stuff done in your life and feel good about yourself. I know everyone talks about time management and goal setting, and everyone ignores it. But, I am almost a master of time management and leaving notes for myself. Trust me, it's worth it.
I know this was a quick blog post, but I'm running low on time now that summer is coming to a close and I'm going back to school soon. Hopefully, I will have more time in the future! Sorry!
Ever seen people showing their talents on the streets of major cities like New York, Las Vegas, or Boston? Well, I don't know why, but I find them highly amusing. They just bring up their equipment to a random spot on a sidewalk and just dance around, sing, play guitar, or something random. You never know what you might see.
This week, I traveled to Boston, Massachusetts and saw several street performers there. My favorite, however, was a group of "black people" dancing. They had a large crowd of people surrounding them in a square. Also, they were very funny as they tried to handle business. Don't understand what I mean? By handling business, they told people to move closer to them to leave enough space for people to walk by behind them but also were funny as they said, "nothing to fear, it's just black people dancing. We don't have our weapons on us today, we're off duty." Very stereotypical towards themselves and others, but everyone found it hilarious.
I grabbed my camera and began to record a bit of what they were doing. Here is a clip of one of them dancing and doing their thing:
At the end of their performance, they grabbed 3 random people and lined them up. They told them that one of them were going to jump over them. Then, more stereotypes come in and they say, "this isn't fun until we have an asian guy come here!" So, they found an unsuspecting asian man who looked to be in his 50s and pulled him in. It was hilarious. The performer jumped over all four of the people, no problem, adding a flip as well. Unfortunately, I didn't get a clip of this part... but it was pretty amazing!
These guys are the perfect example of everything I love about street performers.
My question for the week is...
Have you seen street performers before, and if so, what did you think?
This past week, I went to a camp where we learned how to compose music. Unfortunately, I was only able to stay 4 out of the 5 days the camp took place. Even more unfortunately, it was the last day where everyone throws a celebration and shares what they learned and created. However, I still got to learn a lot.
When I first arrived, I was a little wary of how this whole class would be taught. Soon enough, I felt comfortable with everyone else. They passed out sheets of blank music paper for us to start composing. The instructor teached us how to compose and how to use different scales and chords. By the third day, we were all using a program called Finale Notepad to create our official pieces. We worked day 3 and day 4 composing and rehearsing for the final day (day 5). Like I said, I was unable to go to the final day because I'm currently on vacation.
You may be wondering, how did I write my piece? Well, I took four chords from a song I know, "Forget You" by Cee Lo Green which I had figured out on my own piano at home a while back. The rest just came to me. My piece turned out really great for my first time. It was written for piano and was finished in one day, with a couple minor boo-boos fixed by the next day.
Here is a picture of some of the song:
If you would like to listen to my song, click here to download Finale Notepad. When you get on Finale, click here to download the song, titled "Skies of Colors" (please tell me if the link does not work). Don't worry, there are no viruses on the song. To play it, open Finale Notepad and click "file," then "open." Locate where you saved the song I composed and open it. Press the play button and listen to my song. Be warned, the way I have it written in Finale isn't exactly how I wanted it to sound, for example I added a repeat and it does not repeat.
This week, my grandmother and I traveled to New York to see the longest running Broadway musical that is STILL playing, The Phantom of the Opera. This musical was created by Andrew Lloyd Webber. I recognized the name from my jazz band; he was the one that wrote most of our music! After I heard that, I knew the music would be fantastic. The first showing of this play was in 1986, but it is based on a book in French by Gaston Leroux which was writting in 1910.
It was hard to make out what the plot was because almost everything is sung. Despite this play's "hard to understand" storyline, I really enjoyed listening to the loud music. I now understand why this play is still running strong on Broadway. I couldn't get the music out of my head after seeing the play! Here is the theme song of the Phantom of the Opera:
Pretty catchy, right? I have to admit, this musical does not compare to the Lion King which is another Broadway musical I saw last year around this time. It is a kid-friendly Broadway musical and is a classic Disney movie. I guess because I knew the Lion King better than the Phantom of the Opera before I saw it made it more enjoyable for me.
My question for the week is...
Have you been on Broadway, and if so what musical(s) have you seen?
P.S. Towards the end of the musical, the people are located in a sewer. As a sound effect, you could hear running water from the sewer. I don't realize they were in a sewer, which made me believe there was rain outside. I finally convinced myself that it was part of the play. The ironic thing is that when my grandmother and I stepped outside, it was pouring rain in New York City - not a good thing! So my grandmother and I were soaked by the time we got to the bus terminal. Oh, the irony!
This past Wednesday and Thursday, My parents and I went on a mini vacation to the beach. Our skin was kissed by the sun while we relaxed in the sun and we shorely had fun dodging the waves in the water (pun intended). I used to be one of those kids that would want to go into the ocean for every second of the day, but this year, I've changed and I have allowed myself some time to rest and relax on the sand.
At a point when I was in the ocean, I was wondering to myself how many thing could be lurking beneath the waters of the sea; sharks, turtles, fish, octopuses, jellyfish, and many more. Some are dangerous and can threaten to sting, bite, strangle, or kill you. Scary thought right? Good thing we can't always sea them (yes, pun intended again). The reason we can't see them? Humans.
It's hard to see in the ocean because of all the junk that ends up in it. This ranges from pollutants such as oil to the urine of some uncontrollable people. Have you ever stopped to think of how much pee you're probably swimming in when you're in the ocean? Here's a way to check how much pee is in the water; when you get out and take a look at the edge of where the water hits, there may be a thin line of yellow. That's urine alright. Truly disgusting, but no one seems to care. Also, no one can help getting that salty water in their mouth or on their lips, so what ends up happening is spit flying out of mouths everywhere. So, to sum it up, the ocean is 15% water, 30% pee, 30% saliva, and 25% salt.
Sorry for putting that disturbing mental picture in your head, but on another note, my parents and I went out for dinner to a restaurant with very large portions and excellent food. When we were trying to find a parking spot, we found a car parked with a sign in front of it. Here is the picture:
If you can't see it, it says "Don't Even Think of Parking Here." What. The. Heck. It gave us a laugh and we knew we had to take a picture of it. After we took the picture, a guy that was cooking food in the restaurant shouted out the window, "are you guys taking a picture of the sign?" and we said yes. The next thing he said was "everyone has seen that before!"
So back to the ocean. My question for the week is...
What does Independence Day mean to you? Does it mean staying up late watching fireworks? Having a neighborhood barbecue? Viewing a parade? Or does it mean understanding the history of this historical holiday? It upsets me that not many people do not know the history behind the holiday, so I am going to give you a quick lesson on Independence Day.
To begin, we should all know that Independence Day, or the Fourth of July, is the celebration of our country, (or most of my blog viewers' country,) the United States of America, adopting the Declaration of Independence and the birth of our country. Now that everyone knows that, we can read on...
On July 2nd, 1776, the thirteen colonies (the first thirteen states of the United States along the east coast) was seperated by Great Britian. This happened during the American Revolution, which was a historical event where the thirteen colonies tried to break free from Great Britian's rule. A committe called the Second Continental Congress voted on the idea brought up by a person by the name of Richard Henry Lee that proposed a resolution for independence. This congress voted that they should further the explanation of the resolution by creating the Declaration of Independence.
John Adams, one of the past presidents and one of the people who signed the Declaration of Independence, sent a note to his wife explaining what has happened and that he believed that July 2nd would be a historical day in history. His prediction was off by two days, because Americans decided to celebrate on the 4th of July, the day that most of the copies of the Declaration of Independence were published in, and not the 2nd of July when the idea for the resolution was approved.
Now you know a little bit of background behind the holiday that happened last week, Independence Day. My family celebrated Independence Day by hosting a barbecue for our neighbors and going swimming.
Ever heard of memes? Well, if you're one of the oldsters out there reading this, probably not. If you're a youngling, you may recognize what I'm about to talk about. First, let me tell you what memes are. Basically, memes are anything that spreads very quickly through the Internet and becomes well known by Internet users. Memes can be a picture, a video clip, or something else in that nature. You have probably seen more memes than you think! I'm about to talk about memes and how they can influence you (not really, but you get my gist).
...Okay, actually, let's cut the chase and I'll just show you some pictures of popular memes you may have seen. Do not look at the link below the image unless you want to check your answer, because it may have the name of the meme in the address and it is a required citation:
This meme is called "Troll Face." Some other names for it are "Coolface" and "Problem?" It first appeared as a drawing made on a popular website for drawing artists called deviantArt. With the growing rate of memes in 2008, the popularity of comics on the Internet went up. People would use memes in a four block comic strip. The meme symbolizes the expression on someone's face when they theraten or bully someone else on the Internet.
This is "Me Gusta." For those that do not know, "me gusta" is Spanish for "I like." This face symbolizes the expression you make when you realize you like something that everyone else finds strange or unusual. Here's a poor example: Everyone at school hates the school lunch one day, except for you. You could say, "Me Gusta."
Everyone say hello to "Rage Guy" also known as "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-" This guy usually appears at the end of a rage comic when someone is furious with the result of something. The long string of letters resembles a bad wor-- ...Yeah, you know what word it is.
If you would like to look at some of the comic strip memes with these meme faces, please visit http://knowyourmeme.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&context=entries&q=rage+comics, but be aware that some may be innapropriate for some viewers. I'll tell you now, there is a LOT of bad language and possibly some sexual references, so be aware and look at your own risk.
But wait! Memes aren't just faces; there are videos and other things too! To check out some meme videos, look below:
To go to the ultimate source of all memes, visit http://www.knowyourmeme.com/ and you will learn EVERYTHING about current memes and old memes. Also, go to this site to search for the reason that the videos and pictures above are memes. It's a very great and reliable source for all your Internet needs.
After studying and seeing many memes, a video by a very talented group came out in late 2011. The creators used over 40 memes in the song; for example, it will have them playing "Numa Numa" on intstruments while jumping around with the meme faces like "Troll Face" and "Me Gusta." It is really creative and you need to check it out if you have seen some of the memes. It is called "Le Internet Medley"
This summer, my friends are off to camps, going on vacation, and all other fun activities while I'm stuck at home waiting for our July vacation to start. It kind of surprises me that my friends and their families immediately go on vacation right after school lets out, though. Usually people will take a couple weeks to relax and then head off, like my family. So, I am scavenging daily for activities I can take part of. It's quite a hard task to look for things to do, and I end up repeating the same thing I do the day before.
At the end of the summer, I go back to school and everyone talks about vacations and everything that happened. I then begin to tell them about my vacations, but totally forget what I had done at home before my family's vacation had begun. I completely get paranoid and think, I just wasted a whole summer doing nothing! I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks that, but I REALLY felt bad for myself.
This summer, my mom came up with the idea to keep a calendar chart of everything I did every day, such as go bowling, swimming with friends, or going to a lake. That way, at the end of the summer, I can look back at what I did each and every day. Now, I can say, hey, I didn't waste every day typing blog posts or sitting at home watching TV. My goal is to do something exciting every day this summer.
I forgot to fill out Friday's, but click on it to make it larger. Take a look at what mine looks like so far:
Pretty cool, huh? Well, I think you guys should give it a try.
I've always talked about nostalgia and how I can't relate to it as much as "90's kids" could, but the Mario Party series continues to grow in popularity from the first installment of Mario Party in 1998 to the present with the most recent Mario Party, Mario Party 9. It was released this year in the United States on March 11. It has always been a classic video game, where players choose their favorite character and travel across a board collecting coins to buy stars and become the "superstar" by collecting the most stars. This Monopoly-styled game is very fun. The game can change in numerous ways, such as buying and using items on yourself or other players, winning minigames for coins, using the dice to land on a desired spot, etc.
Here is a picture of the front cover of Mario Party 9, which I got on Monday this week:
You may be thinking, how has this series lasted through nine games and still remain popular? Well, for many reasons! Each game has an addition of new minigames, items, maps, characters, and many more to make it even more exciting than before. But, this all takes a big turn in Mario Party 9. Mario Party 9 probably brought the most changes from one game to the next. First off, in the others, players traveled seperately, but now everyone travels together in a vehicle. This doesn't allow much strategy for some other players; for example, if you want to turn left when the player whose turn it is (the captain) wants to go right, you are goin' right. Second, in the other games in the series, you could set a limit to how many turns everyone takes. Now, you go from start to finish, meaning games could range from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Third, usually after everyone takes a turn, a minigame is played. Now, a minigame is only played if you land on the specific space on the board that starts a minigame. And fourth, the creators this time tried to incorporate "boss battles" into the game. You can't lose them, and it is basically a minigame. You have to understand that this game was designed for younger kids, and inside, I am. They have used many ideas from other Mario games to make it more interesting.
Don't run off thinking I hate this game, because I don't. I just enjoyed the original style Mario Party games, where players try to get coins to get stars and have a set amount of turns each. This is obviously not my favorite Mario Party game, but there are some good things about it. One thing is the exciting music. With the growing rate of techno music, Mario Party 9 has also used some techno-dubsteppy music to suit minigames. Just listen:
While this is very upbeat and catchy, I actually enjoy a specific song from Mario Party 7. It is the theme of the board, Pagoda Peak. It is a Chinese-style board, with gongs, mountains, pagodas, and a koopa master. This is the theme of the board:
I recommend purchasing this game if you enjoy Mario games, especially the Mario Party series. Hopefully, you will enjoy it as much as I do. Also, try buying one of the older Mario Party games to have a different experience! Have fun!
Imagine going to your mailbox everyday and expecting more than just junk mail. You could be receiving plenty of exotic stamps and postcards from around the world. This is an introduction to what is known as Postcrossing. Postcrossing is a fun hobby for people of all ages who love to hear of different cultures and look at postcards from others' countries.
This online project known as Postcrossing came out in 2005 and was founded by Paulo Magalhães. The idea of the project is to send a postcard from your country to another area of the world. When that person receives a postcard, you will then receive one from another area of the world. You can choose to have the option of sending and receiving from your country as well. Be aware that just because you send to one country doesn't mean your next postcard you receive will be from that specific country.
Let me show you Postcrossing:
If you create an account, this is the first page you will see when you are registered. Let me explain everything that is on it. First, when we take a look at "Your mailbox," we see how many postcards I have sent (113), how many I have received (105), and how many postcards I have currently on the road to their selected countries (11/11). It also shows an estimate of how far your postcards have traveled and how far others' postcards have traveled to come to you.
You also get to write a bit about yourself on your profile as well as what postcards you prefer. Also, when you send or receive a card, you can upload a picture of the postcard for others to "favorite" and comment, kind of like FaceBook. When you register, you also need to give your address to your mailbox, which may make some people wary of strangers. No need to worry, because postcrossing only shares your address with people who are supposed to send you a postcard, so your address is kept safe from creepers and pedophiles.
This website is very simple to use. You click on "send a postcard" to obviously send a postcard. It will generate an address of someone who is expecting a postcard (since they already sent one to someone else). You write down their address on a postcard. Along with their address, the website generates a postcard ID. This tells what country the postcard came from. It also tells what number postcard is being sent from that country via postcrossing. For example, if you were given the ID, US-74972, then that means the postcard came from the United States of America and this is the 74,972 postcard from that country that was sent using postcrossing. This is one of the most important parts of the postcard, as it allows the other person to register it and tell postcrossing that you are expecting another postcard. Write a message to the person you are sending to after reading their profile to find out more about them. Then, apply the correct postage amount in order to send to that country. Currently in the US, it costs $1.05 to send a postcard internationally. With the poor economy, the price could rise so check with your post office for the current price to send a postcard. The Postcrossing website is absolutely free to use; however, you will have to pay for postage stamps and postcards in order to send a postcard to a country. When the person on the other line registers it, be sure to look in your mailbox in the next upcoming days for a postcard!
Now, you may notice that I have sent more than I have received. The reason for this is because another person must register my postcard with the postcard ID in order for the website to know that I have sent one. Then, another person will receive my address and send me a postcard as well and the cycle repeats. I currently have 11 postcards that I am sending to someone else. I can only send a maximum of 11 postcards at once. Your maximum limit is determined by how many you have sent. Once you get up to 100 sent postcards, your traveling limit increases by one for every 50 you send i.e. x/11 traveling, I sent 100. x/12 traveling, I sent 150 and so on. You can click on your "traveling postcards" tab to see how long they have been traveling.
I have collected (so far) 105 postcards, which is not nearly a lot compared to others. Postcrossers have been on this website for years and they have received over 5,000! Wow! If only I had that many! You should definetly use this website if you are one who loves to collect, then you should try this out today!
My question for this week is...
What do you think of Postcrossing?
Here are some of my postcards I have received and the countries they came from:
So, I've probably talked about the end of the year many times than you've probably thought. But, right before the school year ends, I have something that is new to me this year. Finals, finals, and even more finals. Let me introduce you to my current schedule:
English from 8:45 to 10:11
History from 10:11 to 10:54
Science from 10:54 to 11:37
Lunch from 11:37 to 12:07
Math from 12:07 to 1:13
Spanish from 1:13 to 2:02
Gym from 2:02 to 2:50
...and go home.
Now, on Wednesday, I had a Spanish final in which I got one point off on for not knowing how to conjugate the verb, "saber" which means "to know." Oh, well. I was the highest in the class, so that counts for something. Immediately following that Spanish final, I had cooking class instead of gym that day and had a mini quiz in that class. I do not know what I got on that quiz, but it was extremely easy; it had questions like, "What does T. and tsp. stand for?" After that, I went to Science to take my next final, and this was the part of the day that I was most scared about. I got my grade back the next day and I got a B+. Not bad, but considering it was only out of 43 points AND I'm in the highest science class in my grade, I think it was good. After the test, my friend reminded me we had a retake on our math test in our next class. We had a long-term substitute who was not the best at teaching, but had to be our math teacher. We took a test during her time with us. Everyone except me and a few others failed the test. She allowed us to retake it and she averaged the two grades. I didn't take it the second time. Our original teacher came back and let us take it AGAIN and she took the better of the two. This totals to be THREE times that we retook this test. The third one I decided to take since it couldn't harm my grade and I improved my score by 1.5 points. I winged this math test since I forgot that we were going to retake it Wednesday. Luckily, math is my best subject.
Next came Thursday. Thursday consisted of a surprise vocabulary final in English class. It wasn't graded, but we got to see how well we did. I got 107/110. After that, I had my history final on everything we learned that year. It was graded, but only counted if it improved your overall grade. I don't know what I got, but I know it improved my grade. Next, I have yet again another science test, but it was a benchmark. A benchmark is an exam we take to show how much we know to our teachers for next year. It didn't count as a grade, but they showed us our grade after we took it. I got 26/30 and missed questions on the areas that we were never taught, so that is good. And later, I went to math and had my mid-term, which is basically the final, but for math. You see, my math class does half of our algebra book in one year, and then the other half the next year. The math class above us does the whole book in one year. My math class is the second-highest math class and the math class that learns the whole book in a year is the highest class. However, almost everyone in that class is failing, so I'm glad I'm in the second-highest. It's perfect for me. Anyway, I got one point off on my mid-term. Wow, four tests in a row.
So as you may be able to tell, it was very hectic for me. Two days in a row were constant tests. But thankfully, everyone got a chance to relax on Friday while my jazz band and choir got to go to our four elementary schools in our district and perform. Believe me, I was DEAD TIRED at the end of Friday; try playing and singing the same music four times in one day! We also played (not our instruments) at the park and ate lunch while we were at it. When we returned to our middle school, it was about ten minutes until the day ended, so I ran to my locker to get my stuff for math class, but on the way down, I peeked into the room and saw everyone dancing! I realized they were practicing for the talent show that our class is in! We're all doing the Cupid Shuffle at our school's talent show for fun. I was also welcomed with the rest of the teacher's candy! It was a great day overall!
I live in a very small school district. We do not have much money, like many other schools nowadays. The thing is, we are roughly five million in the hole. This was an effect of building another elementary school the size of a really fancy high school in another district. It's ridiculously large, and should not be for little kids. Us middle schoolers are stuck in our ancient middle school while the little kids get a tall ceiling elementary school with a giant gym and many more rooms. The only downside may be that in an effort to help save money and benefit the environment, they never use lights. Instead they have sunroofs and rely on the sun to give them light. However, I still believe that older students should be able to use a giant building.
At this point, you may think my blog post is about the construction of this building our school district decided to build. WRONG. It is actually about a decision made about whether or not students will have a field trip. Our school district cut the field trip for my grade, 7th grade, but allowed 6th graders to take their usual required (and I say "required" loosely) field trip. Also, the 8th graders were supposed to have a field trip to a local pool and party all day with friends, but that was cut as well. Since it was the last year for the 8th graders, our school district wanted to make it up to them, so they had them go to our high school's planetarium. *clap* *clap* BRAVO. What a waste of money that is just to have students break their necks and look up onto a digital map. Get this: Everyone who has been in our school district since the beginning has seen the planetarium before! It was cool the first time, but I can understand why the 8th graders found it very boring and a waste of time. Some even said they would rather stay in school than go to the planetarium! Admit it, at some point in your life, you will go to a planetarium.
Anyway, I really want your opinion on this, so my question of the week is...
What do you think of the school district's decision of allowing a field trip to our school district's planetarium?
P.S. This is totally irrelevant to the topic we were just talking about, but to the Legend of Korra fans out there, check out this crazy video I found the other day... It makes no sense, but it's fun to watch:
I may not be a "90's kid," but I have a brother who was. His childhood was filled with many fun times. This included lots of excellent video games which should never be forgotten. He has passed many of the games off to me, and let me tell you, I find them just as amazing as the ones there are today. I'm beginning to notice how they were nostalgic and rememorable to him and I thought I should form a list of my top five most nostalgic video games.
5. Mario Kart 64
Number five on my list is Mario Kart 64 for the Nintendo 64. Mario Kart 64 is a racing game designed for single and multiplayer modes. It was released in 1996 and developed by Nintendo. What makes the game very memorable is the classical, simple platforms, the original items, and the themes. Kenta Nagata composed the catchy themes for this game which adds the perfect effect to each individual stage. The producer, Shigeru Miyamoto and director, Kenta Nagata did a very great job adding the best possible graphics and effects for the Nintendo 64 at its time.
In this game, players race around a course throwing items at each other, including turtle shells and banana peels. Each course had unique terrains, turns, and obstacles. One moment you're on mud, the next you're in water. Sharp turns with trucks on highways also added some challenge. The goal is to get to the end of the finish line in the highest place possible, first being the best.
4. Super Smash Brothers 64
Again, this is another Nintendo 64 game. It was released in 1999, produced by Hiroaki Suga, Satoru Iwata, Kenji Miki, and Shigeru Miyamoto. Also, it was developed by HAL Laboratory. Super Smash Bros. 64 is a fighting style game, somewhat bringing back the arcade fighting style games at the time. This game was very popular at the time, especially since it allowed players to choose their desired favorite character from their other games they had. Characters included Link, Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Pikachu, Yoshi, and Fox. The wide range of characters from many different games made this game a great start to a wonderful series. This game had awesome successors to follow including Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Each successor made new advancements including adding more characters to the selection, adding new playing modes, and a wide selection of items to use during battle.
Players choose a character and fight on a selection of different stages with different items. Each character and item has its own special abilities and the stages have obstacles that can affect players either positively or negatively. Since this game led to many sequels, it has a strong sense of nostalgia because when I play one of the more recent versions, it makes me think of this game from the past.
3. Super Mario World
Number three on my list is Super Mario World which was released on November 21, 1990 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was directed by Takashi Tezuka, produced by Shigeru Miyamoto (again), and had an amazing composer by the name of Koji Kondo. Let me tell you something about Kojo Kondo... He is FABULOUS at creating video game music. He adds the correct musical effects at the perfect time which fits into every stage. In some of the more recent Mario games, he has composed all of the music in them.
The evil Bowser captures Princess Peach and is keeping her locked up in his castle. Mario must travel the world to get to Bowser's castle to defeat him and save his princess. That is the main gist of the storyline.
In Super Mario World, a player chooses either Mario or Luigi. They go from level to level via a world map, running from left to right through each level getting ot the flagpole at the finish. The world map wasn't a new edition to a Mario game, as it was seen in Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES); however, this map was much larger and had many more levels. The levels had creative enemies, platforms, and much more. All of this added to a challenging, yet exciting game.
To here some of Koji Kondo playing some of his video game music, CHECK THIS OUT:
This is a snapshot of the whole world map from the game (it's zoomed out the whole way to fit all stages, but during the actual game, it zooms in on specific areas where you are located):
Donkey Kong Country 2 (DKC2) was released on November 21, 1995, developed by Rare, published by Nintendo, directed by Tim Stamper, produced by Gregg Mayles, composed by Dave Wise, and had artists Steve Mayles and Mark Stevenson. Its platformer was the SNES. If you could tell by my other blog posts or maybe even just this one, I love music; specifically video game music. Its amazing to me how people can think of the right music at the right times, and this game is a PERFECT example as to what I'm talking about.
DKC2 is much like Super Mario World; you pick between Diddy Kong or Dixie Kong, travel across levels via a world map, and finish at the end. Now the reason this game tops Super Mario World is because of the music. They have music for dense jungles, slippery iceland, muddy swamps, and much more. All of the themes fit perfectly. When you die in a level, there is a short tune you hear. This tune fits in to the stage as well. What I'm about to show you is exactly what I mean how it fits in. This video will display the name of the current stage's biome such as jungle, fortress, etc. All of the tunes have a similar jingle. For each death tune, try to imagine yourself in the area:
Now do you know what I mean? Now, you may have noticed that this is Donkey Kong Country 2, and not the first. The first is very good, but it didn't have the various tunes for each death theme and the different themes for each stage. But, here is the cover picture of Donkey Kong Country (1):
In DKC, the storyline is that King K. Rool stole the Kongs' bananas. In DKC2, Donkey Kong is taken hostage, so Diddy and Dixie must rescue Donkey Kong. You may not believe it, but yes; there was a third DKC. DKC3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble, has Dixie and her cousin, Kiddy must rescue Donkey Kong AND Diddy Kong.
1. Super Mario 64
Ah, Super Mario 64 (SM64)... It was developed and published by Nintendo, directed and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, and had composer (yet again), Koji Kondo. It was released on June 23, 1996. Here is the cover picture:
This game was advanced for its software at the time. It is a single player game and players run around freely through a 3D world from level to level. You progress through the game via collecting stars from each level. At the end, you save Peach from Bowser who yet again, steals the princess. Seems like he never gives up, right?
Now you probably know what I'm going to say next. The music (here's where you say, "here we go again...") in this game is absolutely fantastic. Again, it matches the theme in each level. Let me show you example instead of wasting my time typing away:
This is a watery stage where you rome around a vast sea. The title of the level this music comes from is called "Dire, Dire Docks."
The music still isn't the whole reason I find this game nostalgic, but the successors of these games were just as amazing as this! This game led to Paper Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy, and many more 3D games! This game is just the very original of all the successors! All of the successors had great editions to the musical aspect of the games. Some remixed the original compositions while others may have created a medley of themes together for each level.
Words do not explain how awesome, fabulous, wonderful, or amazing these two people are at creating video game music: Dave Wise and Koji Kondo. Koji Kondo I must say has been one of the greatest human beings alive right now. He created an amazing era of epic music (and so has Dave Wise). Here is his outstanding orchestra while they play their music to Super Mario Galaxy, one of the successors of Super Mario 64:
I want to briefly touch of Paper Mario 64. It is near the top of my list of favorite composed music. This game is another successor of Super Mario 64. Everything looks 2D, but everything travels in a 3D world. The vast variety of areas, large world map and excellent composed music makes this game very fun. Mario travels around the world and if he bumps into an enemy, he must battle them. this style of gaming really catches my attention for some reason. Here is the catchy music every time you hear when you battle a minor enemy:
Now you know my top five nostalgic Nintendo video games!
My question for this week is...
Have you ever played any of these games I've mentioned? Seriously, if you haven't, try buying them on the Wii Shop Channel on your Wii or buy a used system online!
