Monday 24 May 2010

Journal for The Giver by: Jonas


The ceremony of twelve is finally over, everything was going as it should be until the Elevens got their assignment and they skipped me and I had no assignment. I was feeling terrible and thought i had done something wrong. While I was thinking had about what i could have done wrong, the Chief Elder called my name and said that I had been selected to be the receiver, this was very, very rare and the community hadn't changed their receiver in years. When the Chief elder finished her speech she went off stage, I was left alone on stage confused for what I was going to do.

Friday 21 May 2010

Clio Award Advertisement Deconstruction

Target audience

Parents who move a lot



Why Clio chose this advertisement: The reason Clio chose this advertisement was because it crabs people attention because their is a famous person in the ad and they think if he or she is on that ad they will have stuff like them or be as cool as them. Also this ad is easy to understand.
  • Symbolism: The tape on the Boxer means that the tape they are trying to advertise is ultra strong, rough, and can go through anything but still keep the package sealed.
  • Body Language: The body language in this ad is the boxer looking ultra strong proving that the tape is as strong as him.

  • Camera Angles: The cameras is angled so you can see the boxers big muscles meaning that he is strong like all boxers.

  • Special Effects: The special effects were the tape was darker or brighter in some places, this was done by a computer.

  • Lighting And Colour: The background in this ad is dark so that the boxer stands out because he is bright.
  • Beauty And Social Standing: This boxer is famous so people will think that the tape will be as strong him.

  • Layout And Graphics: There is not that much text, but the message that the advertisers are trying to give across come trough clearly.

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Bicycle Advertisement

XOS 1853 (bicycle)
Target audience
Male Teenager
Plan:

  • Good looking bicycle
  • Good brakes
  • Designed to go anywhere
  • Built for speed
  • Strong tyres able to sustain high pressure
  • Suspension on the front wheel

Advertisement:

Are you looking for a new hot ride? check out our new XOS 1853. The XOS bicycle is built for speed and will bring you anywhere at any time. The XOS brakes and wheels are able to sustain irregular surface without a problem. Sales won't last long, so get it now before it rides away. XOS 1853

Monday 10 May 2010

20 Word Summary of 'The Giver'


Until the seventh page of the Giver, I have read about Jonas's inner feelings while cycling home from school. Always after dinner, Jonas's family discuss their experiences of that day.

Sunday 18 April 2010

Psych

On Friday Mr. Hughes class watched an episode of Psych as it is part of our English unit. The movie is about a murder crime. A rich person organises his own kidnapping. Later he and his brother are both found dead.
The crime was the murder of two people. The victims were the two wealthy brothers. The detectives were from the FBI assisted by Gus and his psychic buddy. The following evidence was found at the crime scene: a gun, blood on the floor and on the corner of the table, a broken mug, spilled coffee on the ground, and a half empty coffee kettle. There were no suspects interrogated by the FBI. But Gus and his buddy had a few in their mind: the father, the sister of the two dead brothers, and the sisters friend. The villain was the father. The twist was that the suspect whom was believed to be guilty was innocent, however the father was guilty.

Monday 12 April 2010

6

This is evidence because it was the tool used to kill the victim.
This is a villain, who just robbed a bank. As you can see in the picture he has lots of money in the bags he is carring.

At the end of mystery stories some times there is suspense. In the picture you can see two cars chasing another car.


This is a suspect being interrogated by the police.



As you can see in the picture this detective is trying to find out who did the crime.








In mystery stories there is always a crime. As you can see in picture the antagonists has killed a person and now the detectives are trying to find the murderer.

Friday 9 April 2010

Monk


Yesterday in English we watched an episode of monk. There was one murder but three dead people(they were all with vodo dolls monk thought). The first death was a accident by a baseball player hitting a ball over the fence and it hit a old lady on the head which killed her. The second death was a golfer struck by lighting and killed him. There was the same paramedic a each death. Soon the paramedic's uncled died and there was another vodo doll. Monk assistant then got a vodo doll because the killer thought that he was getting to close her and she was very important to him so got distracted. Later they found out that the paramedic was the killer of one murder, but the rest were accidents. She was at every death so she got the key to their house and the put a vodo doll in their house. She killed her uncle to get his money, since he was rich. Monk then found out who it was. When his assistant was in an ambulance because she drank something she wasn't supposed to drink. He saved her and then put the killer in jail.

Tuesday 30 March 2010

Plastiki


On the 23rd of March 2010 expedition Plastiki set sail from San Francisco to Sydney, an 11,000 mile journey. David de Rothschild first drew the 60 foot long boat but it took him 1096 days to make his drawings into to real life.
The reason why David de Rothschild wanted to make this boat was because it is recycling old bottles, and he thinks it will change the way people think about waste. He has use 12,500 bottles filled with gas to make the two hulls of the catamaran. They have very good electronic systems and the boat is well equipped for sailing across the Pacific Ocean. Plastiki has also solar panels and a wind mill to give them extra power, another thing that the crew has put on is a hydroponic vegetable garden which should provide the crew with vegetables along the voyage.

Tuesday 2 February 2010

Vocabulary list 7

  1. Mildew: A wet piece of clothing that is left around somewhere for a while and has not dried and has a bad smell.
  2. Out Of The Blue: A random thought that come from the sky and has to do nothing with the topic.
  3. Hesitantly: Saying or doing something for the first time and you find it awkward.
  4. Hatch: A verb or a window on a ship.
  5. Orientation: finding out where you are or getting directions of somewhere.
  6. Chateau: (In France) a castle or fortress.
  7. Thunderous: Making a loud sound.
  8. Contradiction: When you jump on something that someone has said and start and argument mainly with your parents.
  9. Faults: A failure of something or a line where an earthquake hit.
  10. Preserve: To keep something in good hands so you can use it again.

Tuesday 26 January 2010

10 Reasons Why Haiti Is Poor....

  1. A bad Colonial past and slavery.
  2. Haiti was the first black independent country in 1804, USA, England and France still had slavery and were afraid their slaves would want to go free. So they didn't buy any goods from Haiti. The result ended as Haiti got no money.
  3. 1915-1938 Haiti was occupied by the USA and took over the financial income.
  4. Power of the elite, not sharing, wealth and land.
  5. Corruption: the elite were corrupt, no money nothing happens.
  6. Human rights violations: resulted in a regime of fear.
  7. French is the official language but only 10% speaks it and 90% speaks Creole
  8. Ignorance and illiteracy, because of the language barrier.
  9. Mis-education, education is free but very limited. 30% of kids start school but only 2% stay after 5 grade.
  10. Soil erosion: Mountainous country, they been have cutting trees down for fuel, living and ignorance.

Monday 18 January 2010

Update On Haiti Earthquake

On the 12-01-2010 there was an earthquake of 7.0 on the Richter-scale. People from France, US, Brazil, Spain and members from the UN are helping the Haitians to recover from the disaster that occurred last week.


Humanitarian Aid is coming in to the capital Port-Au-Prince but is not getting distributed to the other villages in the rest of the country. The UN is distributing the aid very slowly while the Americans are distributing in large numbers by coming in a helicopter 10 feet of the ground and throwing the aid to the people on the ground. People miles away from the capital in despair are digging with their bare hands to get any resources from crushed houses. People are getting violent to get a hold of supplies for them selves and the injured.

Thursday 14 January 2010

Earthquake Destruction In Haiti

On the 12 of January 21:53hrs an earthquake of 7.0 on the righter scale hit the island of Haiti and it's surroundings. The Epicenter of the earthquake was only a few miles away from the countries capital Port-Au-Prince. The Focus of this earthquake was only 13km below the surface. Haiti is located between to tech tonic plates and that is why the affect was so terrible. After the big earthquake, most buildings barely made it, but after the many aftershocks the city got wiped out.

The impact of the earthquake was huge. Many buildings collapsed, the presidents palace got destroyed also many other important buildings were wiped out by the after shocks. People from all over the country are hurt, some even stuck under collapsed buildings. The major hit was in Haiti, but people in America, Jamaica and the Caribbean islands felt the earthquake too. They are now saying that the death toll is in the tens of thousands. I find it very sad that the people in Haiti are all suffering, and I feel very sad for all the children who have lost everything and everybody.

Countries from all over the world are helping Haiti to recover from natural disasters. Humanitarian Aid is being imported each day to help the people in Haiti. The Haitians are helping each other to get out of collapsed buildings and help all the injured.

Monday 11 January 2010

New Years Eve


My family and I sailed from Langkawi to Phuket and arrived on New Years Eve at Patong beach, which is famous for its fireworks. We anchored the sailing yacht off Patong beach. We went to a sea food restaurant for dinner. You could buy fireworks every where and everybody was trying them out. So during our dinner we had a display of fireworks.

In Thailand people sent their worries away in worry lamps. Since 2009 was a roller coaster for us we wanted to start 2010 in the Thai tradition without worries.So we all lit our lanterns and sent them to heaven. Our worry lanterns flew away in the sky in between the exploding fireworks.


Around 11:00 we went back to the yacht. I was very tired so I asked my mother to wake me up 15 minutes before the fireworks which began at mid-night. I fell asleep straight away and woke up just in time for the fire work show. The fireworks were amazing, with fireworks coming from each direction. It was exactly like a battle between the fireworks that were lit on the left and lit from the right. I found the best firework show ever and would never forget it.

Thursday 7 January 2010

Yachting: Sailing From Lankawi to Phuket: Part 2

I didn't only have competent crew duties I also navigated, from island to island in the Andaman sea. My sisters also liked doing it so we rotated each day. There are three main things you have to use and find out while you are navigating:











  1. Sea Charts
  2. GPS
  3. Course to Steer
  • Sea Charts:
On sea charts you can see if there are any hazards in the water that you cannot see from above, if there are any rocks or hazards you have to tell the skipper where the hazards are. Depth lines is an other thing you can see on sea charts, you see when and where the water gets very shallow and very deep. You can see land and how far it can spread out.



  • GPS:
When you are navigating you have to know your position the GPS tells you your longitude and latitude position. Once you find out your position on the sea chart you can give your skipper a course to steer. I check every 20min to see where we are, how fast we are going and to see how far we are from our destination.
  • Course to Steer:

Once you find out your position on the chart you can make a course to steer. Sometimes the wind might not be with us causing some lee way, so you have to head up. The current sometimes will be helping us or be against us.

Yachting: Sailing From Langkawi to Phuket : Part 1

After the IODA Championships I sailed with my family on a 39ft sailing yacht from Langkawi to Phuket. I was a competent crew and had two important tasks :

  1. Sail Trimmer
  2. Mooring duties
  • Sail Trimming:

I saw how the tale tails were and adjust if they were not right, pulled in the main sheet/ let out the sail and trimed the sail according to the weather conditions.

  • Mooring duties:

I had to find a good spot to anchor, see if there are lines floating in the water, see if there are any mooring buoys, let out the anchor/ bring in the anchor, make sure not to drop the anchor on coral but sand and see if the anchor bit.

Wednesday 6 January 2010

Eating A Green Chilli







31/12/09 On New Years Eve dinner my family and I and some friends went to a seafood restaurant on Patong beach in Phuket. I looked outside and saw lovely fireworks being lit up 3hrs before the show. I found the atmosphere lovely because everybody was so nice and cheerful. A waiter came over to our table to take our order. I ordered fried beef with vegetables in oyster sauce.








All the food arrived and I started to dig in. I had ordered everything non-spicy because I don't like spicy food. I was enjoying my food and tasting my parents food. I took a spoon full of vegetables and put it on my plate. I tried a piece of vegetable and chewed until I realised that it was a green chilli. I spat it out and ate all my rice and finished my soda water. After we had all finished eating we decided to go get an ice cream in the Hagen Das shop down the road.





After we had finished our ice cream we set off our worry lights, and said goodbye to all our worries from 2009 and hello to 2010!


Happy New Year








Racing

You have to get to the sailing club 2 1/2 hours before the first start to prepare your boat and make sure you have everything before 9:00am because that is when we launch.





You must check your safety equipment and trim your sail according to the weather condintions on the water.






At 9:00am we had to launch for a first start at 10:00am, it always takes 1 hour before everybody is on the water and we can start.




When everyone has launched and is by the startline we can start the first race of the day.


The first race has started and I am now rounding mark 2 after going upwind to mark 1, I have to reach to mark 2 and then downwind to mark 3 and then finish upwind.


I have rounded all the marks and am sailing up wind to the finish, since it was the last race I get to go back shore after I finished the race.


We have finished racing for the day and get to sail upwind to shore

Tuesday 5 January 2010

Scuba Diving

Try in the Pool

Two days before my family and I went scuba diving, my sisters and I had to learn about the equipment and get familiar with the equipment under water.









They explained these things and what they do:
  • BCD (Buoyancy Device)
  • Fins
  • Mask
  • Regulators
  • Indicators/Instruments
The instructors also taught us things under water:

  • Cleaning/Clearing the mask
  • Bouyancy
  • Signals



Diving in Sponge Reef In Malaysia

The boat trip to the reef was about 1 hour from Langkawi. We first dropped of the snorkelers and then continued to the reef. Just before we went diving an instructor reminded us of most important things we needed to know. I dived in first and I found the visibility very bad because of the green algae bloom, there was also a strong current. I did two dives, the first dive I only went 25ft down but saw a huge Napoleon fish, lion fish, lots of parrot fish, a moray eel, clown fish and many other. I went up for lunch and then dived again after that. My second dive was better than the first because a saw more different fish and a hawks bill turtle, the turtle was 45ft down under water and I was the first in my family to see it. After 40 minutes under water, I surfaced slwley and went back on to the boat.

SI and sailing Course

The IODA Asian Championship is open to all Asian nations and to all other invited countries. Every country is allowed to send a maximum of 7 sailors, mostly their top sailors, except for the host nation Malaysia who is allowed to have 14 sailors. There were 26 countries that participated at the IODA Asian Championship, with a total of 140 sailors.
All the sailors are divided into 4 colour groups. There are 2 starts in one race. Once you have done 3 races you have competed against everyone in the sailing regatta.
All this information is in the SI (Sailing Insturtions). The sailing course is also is published in the SI.Unlike the NoR the SI is only published a day before the regatta starts.

NoR of the IODA Asian Championship 2009

In July 2009 the Preliminary Notice of Race for the IODA Asian Championship 2009 was ublished. Once it came out I really wanted to go, my parents agred but there were condintions to be met. My mother still e-mailed our entry and the boat charter orms before the deadline of the 30th september.
My sisters and I had to get permission from school, but the only way that would happen is if we have fantastic mid-term school report-cards. I understood what I had to do and studied very hard. The school reports came out and I was very proud of myself. My parents were satisfied and asked permission from the Belgian Optimist Association to represent Belgium in the IODA Asian Championship 2009. Then my sisters and I had to ask for special leave requests authorisation forms from the National Belgium Sailing Team to go sailing in IODA Asian Championship in order to get special school leave.
The teachers and school were very supportive and on the 4 of December 2009 my family and I departed to Langkawi.

Monday 4 January 2010

Communications In A Sailing Regatta

This flag is the postponement signal (AP). This means that no races can start and have to wait for further notices. This flag can be shown on land or on the water. Postponements can be for 15mins to 9hrs.






These flags are AP over A. This means that all races are postponed until tomorrow or an other date.

This is the P flag. This flag is in the start. It is raised at the 4min and lowered at the 1min. If you are over the started line in the last minute this flag tells you, you can either go back under the line and start again or round one of the ends and restart. If you don't come back will be mark OCS (Disqualified for being over the start line)
This is the I flag. The I flag is just like the P flag the only difference is if you are over the line then you have to round one side of the start line and restart.



This is the Black Flag.this flag is the same as the P and I, but if you are over the start line you cannot repair and restart, if you are over you will be scored BFD,( Black Flag Disqualification)

This is the Z flag. Just like the I, P and the Black flag, the Z is also a starting flag but if you are over and do not return you get 20% of what you sailed in that race added to your score. But if you return then you will not get the 20% penalty.



This is the X flag : individual recall. When the race committee sees that a boat is over the line in the last minute before the start and did not repair they will raise this flag after the start has gone, telling the sailors that somebody or a few boats were over .


This is the general recall flag. When there are to many boats over the line to early and the race comitee can not identify them all then the will restart the race.





This is the N flag or race abandoned flag. When this flag is shown that means that something has gone completely wrong and the race is abandoned.