I haven't been very diligent as of late in updating goOAKS.com with the latest happenings around the school, but all of the sudden, I became motivated and I've started updating it as best I can. Part of the problem is; I have to go looking for content, I rarely have someone approach me to suggest additions to the site. So I've got to be pro-active, and I think I might prefer it that way anyways. Anyways, the video is promoting Oakridge's participation in World Vision's 30 hour famine this year. The 30 Hour Famine is a fundraising drive aimed at helping to rid the world of poverty by giving impoverished children access to the appropriate medical attention, education, and basic necessities of life. If you go to Oakridge, and you're interested in helping out, just go see Rachel Annunziello to get a registration form, then you can start canvassing.
I've got lots going on this weekend, so there's no end to the activity. On Saturday I've got a meeting in the afternoon for the Scouts Canada National Jamboree coming up this summer, then Stake Choir Practice in the evening. On Sunday, after church, I'll be going to help run a bowling tournament my Venturer Company has organized. Within all of this, I'll be attending as much of the 177th Semi-Annual General Conference as I can. I hear there's breakfast and dinner cooked for everyone on the Saturday, but I'm not sure how much of it I'll be able to attend.
I'm sitting down right now to write a report on Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. I just happened to finish the book a few moments ago, and I felt compelled to learn more about the story through research on the Internet, and by writing about it. I feel somewhat embarrased confessing that I have waited until now to actually read this account, and I don't know why I haven't made an effort to in the past. I feel very strongly now that each young person should read this diary, for in it is the account of one young girl abruptly forced out of childhood by the hand of evil, and brought though many important life lessons almost too fast.
Thoughout most of the novel, it is not difficult to see the Anne was a girl longing for a normal life, but under the oppression of the NAZI regime, this was literally impossible. So, she did some unusual things to pass the long a hard wait in the Secret Annexe. One of Anne's loves was writing, and she made incredible progress throughout her period of hiding in her literary abilities. If you were to compare early entries with the last few she made, you can clearly see that Anne underwent a drastic change in both her technical skill and her ability to think. It is almost as though I approached the end of the book, I was somehow able to sense that Anne was conveying many of her deep, inner thoughts, and philosophical ideas into her diary, almost as a closing to the epic adventure she had already documented her pages upon pages of daily experiences.
There's no way in this short blog entry, that I could convey upon you the impact this book had on me. So I therefore challenge each person that reads this to read the diary for themselves. Even if you have already read it, read it again. Human kind needs to learn from it's past, and by letting such great literary works as this fade, is to abandon that past, and therefore doom us to repeat it again.
Oh, the joys of getting your wisdom teeth removed! Just yesterday, I wa in the hospital for a decent percentage of the day getting ready for , recovery from, and the actual removal of my Wisdom Teeth. Now talking about it the day after, the effects of anaesthesia have pretty much worn away, but the aching teeth, and inability to eat anything remains.
First we headed over to the hospital early in the morning, at which point I sat in half a dozen waiting rooms just to see the doctor that would administer the G.A. Then shortly afterwards, we headed off to the operating room.
In a stroke of bad luck, I started getting sick the day before with flu like symptoms, but since I didn't have a cough or any sort of air-way irritations, they decided to go ahead with the procedure anyways. They just said I would feel worse than usual after procedure due to the fact that the surgery would amplify the way I had been feeling that day anyways. So here I am the day afterwards, the feeling in my lower jaw has returned, and I'm barely able to eat banana bread. Needless to say, I'm starving, and unable to eat! If my recovery keeps going well, hopefully I'll be recovered mostly by monday. Unfortunately, I've got a math test to study for, and english quiz to study for, an english essay to write, a video to edit, and lots more to do by monday.
This is it: my last blog post before I head back to school from the nice comfort of the March Break. While talking with a few people, I discovered something interesting. The March Break isn't as common of an occurance as I thought. Some people down in California have never heard of such an event, and have been going to school for the past five days. Who knew?
On Monday and Tuesday, I do believe we had some of the warmest weather since the snow came back in January, and from the look of the forecast we're scheduled to get that back towards the latter part of the week. I can't wait until I can go biking again down at the park, I'm beginning to feel cooped up.
Anyways, I hope my first week back goes well, and just taking a look at the calendar, it looks like I've got alot planned over the next couple of months!
What's one family recipe that you wish you knew how to cook?
Nasi Goreng. It's a Dutch Rice dish recipe, It's sooooo good, only my mother knows how to make it, although it can't be that difficult, you pick up the mix at the store.
Yes, it's that time of year again! Just as I glance out my window, I'm noticing it's very warm outside, and the snow is starting to melt. It's still a bit chilly, but just getting a glimpse of what is to come is so very welcome! Everyone's getting all worried about Global Warming, but I'm not really convinced, we get spring about this time every year, nothing different.
Anyways, lot's going on, right now. As usual, I've been handing in Job Applications everywhere I can, I really need to get a job! Ideally I'd like to work at an electronics store or something of the like. It would be the first time I could put my passion of technology it to use to start a serious income. Working at Swiss Chalet seemed too stagnant to me, because of the situation my restaurant was in, there was no room for promotion or further achievement, and I think that's something I really need. If there's nothing I can do to work for, I lose alot of motivation :(
Oh well, that's all for now, I'm going to go absorb the greatness of the snow melting!
L8er
Just found out about an amazing new project entitled "Rhythms del Mundo". If you've heard my podcast, you've definately heard me talk about where the Music Industry is heading, and it's clear by the intent of this project that these guys, and the artists providing their music are totally getting it.
In this compilation album, many popular artists from the UK and North America have given to the Cuban group; Buena Vista Social Club permission to rework the orchestration for their songs (while maintaining the vocals) to create an awesome fusion of Latin-American rhythm and sound with some of the biggest hits we've heard in the past few years. This is really the first project of this kind of heard of.
The whole idea of recording this album was as a charity project to help raise awareness about global climate change (something that is starting to become quite evident), and to benefit disaster relief organizations that in my point of view seem to be partially as the result of these climate changes. Not that long ago, we saw the horror caused by the hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast. New Orleans was literally the music epicenter of the western world. In early America, music from all around the world began to comingle and fuse together. I guess in a way, you could say this album is kinda doing what these early musicians did so well. This is why a portion of the funds generated by this album are also going towards a program to resupply musicians from the Gulf Coast with instruments...
"The album is in aid of Artists Project Earth (APE), which lends support for natural disaster relief and climate change awareness. Universal Music Enterprises will donate a portion of its proceeds from sales of the album in the United States to the Music Rising campaign, an instrument replacement fund for musicians of the Gulf Coast."
I urge you guys to take a look at the website (http://www.rhythmsdelmundo.com/), listen to some of the music, and if you like what you hear, purchase the album. This is a truly unique project, and I'm totally into this music! If you'd like to learn more about it, check out some of the content below including a full track listing, and full press release about the project.
Have you ever Googled your own name? How did you feel about the results?
Submitted by elen.
Who hasn't googled their own name? We all need some ego boosting things now and again. Anyways, I wasn't very surprised with the results. The items that were actually relevant were things I was involved in on the Internet. I didn't find any slanderous or hate websites directed at me, so all's good!
What's on your Top 5 video games list?
Submitted by mileena.
Well, I really don't play that many video games, but I'll list some of my favourites from what I have played.
1. Zelda: Wind waker
Yes, I'm a Zelda Fan, I just love the mix of adventure, puzzling, awesome soundtrack, and fun animations. The story is captivating, and I've loved the series of games ever since the first N64 Zelda was released.
2. Mario Kart: Double Dash
Yes, Mario Kart definitely is one of my favourite games. Can't explain it, but it has a social aspect to it because it is a multi-player game.
3. Star Trek Games
They're all awesome, except for the cheap ones lol
4. Guildwars
I was really into this game about a year ago, but I haven't played it in a while. Oh well, at least I'm not paying $30/mo like some of those other MMORPGs.
5. Unreal Tournament 2004 DEMO
Yes, the demo is much better than the full game. Simply because they limit it to a couple of levels, and the good parts of the game. The levels, vehicles, players, etc are everything I want out of the game. Plus, it's free! who could beat that?
What do you think, please comment at make fun of me if you hate any of these games :).
Just got home from our first music concert of the year. It was a blast, although it was a bit stressful. Since I'm running Music Council this year, I've got to make sure alot of things are going as planned throughout the concert. It doesn't help that I'm in pretty much every performing group, but some on-the-fly changes needed to be made, and although there were a few hiccups, I think the night went smoothly overall, and I believe the parents enjoyed the performance.
This year we've got some fresh ideas, such as the Saxophone Quartet, this is our first in-school performance, and I think people enjoyed it. It's also the first in-school performance of the Jazz Combo with it's new cast of musicians.
If you're interested in listening to the rest of the show, I'll be uploading it into my Audio Collection. Enjoy!
One of the problems we were having tonight was the AV people at the back. We're paying them $10 an hour, but they don't seem very professional, and they just left the auditorium in the middle of the show. The mics weren't turning on, and the guy sitting back there wasn't even trying to get it to work, he was just sitting there!
