Blog # 13

Your views: 'Dark Knight,' 'Happening' stand out

By Todd Leopold

I just watched "Dark Night" over winter break and I thought that it was a really good movie. Many others apparently thought so to because it was named one of the best movies of 2008. Movies that were least favorite was "The Happening" I haven't seen that movie so I am not sure if I agree with that it was the worst. "The Happening" was said to be a let down compared to "The Sixth Sense". Another favorite movie of the year in "Wal-E" because of it has such a big message conveyed by a robot, I haven't seen this movie either. "Twilight" was also a hit, I agree, Twilight was definitely a good movie I saw it 4 times, twice in one day, it took all the main parts of the book and made them look how many people imagined them. "Slumdog Millionaire," "Frost/Nixon," "Milk," "Let the Right One In" and "Iron Man" were others named as favorites. I haven't seen any of these but I have heard that they were all great. Two films starring Will Smith, one of my favorite actors, made it to the best of 2008, "Hancock" and "7 Pounds". I didn't get to see Hancock" but I have seen "7 Pounds" twice. I thought it was a really good movie and cried both times I saw it but I don't think that its very realistic.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/01/views.films.2008/index.html

Blog #12

Aspen bombs wrapped like Christmas gifts, police say

By CNN

In Aspen, Colorado am man named James Blanning age 72 planned to have a mass killing in a bank by threatening them for money with his Christmas gift bombs. the mans body was found in his car in a rural area east of Aspen. In an ally near by there were 2 more bombs found that were intended for other banks. The town was closed off from many on new years, one of its busiest times, to look for any more potential threats. The town was thankful for the banks being clear headed enough to alert the police immediately. Blanning used the word "we" as if there were others in his plot which is why the bomb squads had to keep the town safe on new years eve. This was also a suicide mission not just a bank robbery. Investors later found out that the bombs might not have even worked as Blanning had made it seem. I think that its sick that someone has even the thought of robbing a bank I don't see any point in it. I feel bad for the town and kind of for the man he must have been a little mental since he killed himself after.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/01/aspen.banks/index.html

Blog #11

Satellites unearthing ancient Egyptian ruins

By Cameron Tankersley

Satellites are being used to help find ancient Egyptian ruins. The satellites are said to "peer into the past from the distance of space." Archaeologists are using photos from the past decade that are the only ones clear enough to help find the ruins, some that are the size of most living rooms. Most of the ruins are in remote places that are not easy to get to. A archaeologist by the name of Sarah Parcak found that 132 sites that were suggested to have ruins by the pictures did in fact have ruins. 83 of the sites that Parcak visited had not been found or recorded by any other archaeologists. She has found hundreds of sites over the past two years and is expecting to find many more in the years to come. The government has restricted excavation in a few unsafe areas. Parcak and her team have noticed how after a place was conquered by another they just built over the existing buildings to make it their own. I think that it is really interesting how we can find and examine the ruins just by satellite pictures. Also I think that its interesting that we can depict who built and conquered places at what times without having someone that was there to tell us.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/12/23/satellites.archaeology.egypt/index.html

Blog #10

Cleveland Clinic Performs First Face Transplant in the United States

By: Rob Stein

Cleveland performs the first face transplant in the U.S..... I didn't know that it was possible to have a face transplant at all. The names of the donor and the patient were not reveled but the donor was deceased in the past two weeks and was a female. 80% of the face was transplanted. That is the most that has been transplanted compared to France and China. Many people question the ethics of face transplants, they seem to be unethical even if there purpose to have a higher quality of life. The 3 other face transplants were all in cases of people who have had major disfiguration to their faces. The recovery process is long and hard so many doctors don't believe in the procedure. I am not sure where I sit with if you should or shouldn't be able to have a face transplants. In some conditions like disfiguration but i definatly think that any other reasons that are not extreme are not alright.

Blog #9

Rise & fall of Target

By: Jackie Crosby

I chose to write about this article instead of Twilight because I thought it was really interesting. For the last 4 years Target has been having better discounts then Walmart but since November 2007 Walmart has been gaining more business while Target continues to loose more and more business. With how the economy is, Walmart has positioned itself so that it has better and cheaper prices for families that don't have or have very little income. Walmarts stock prices have gone up 13% even though Dow Jones has had record breaking lows. When Target was newer in 2003 Walmart was starting to bring in designer clothes and raised their prices because of the loss of customers. Target will not be the only ones selling products from the Apple Store, now Walmart will be selling iPhone's which will bring Walmart a even better outcome for incoming consumers. I personally like Target better then Walmart because there isn't a Walmart anywhere near where I live and because I feel like its really dirty in Walmarts, and i have been to plenty of Walmarts to know. The Walmarts in other states tend to be much cleaner then the ones here. Target will definitely be where I continue to shop even with the economy, Targets prices are not that much different then Walmarts.

http://www.startribune.com/business/36071729.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU7EaDiaMDCiUZ

Blog #8

Twilight End of Chapter 1

So after the awkward conversation in the car with Charlie, Bella finally gets to her new permanent home where she realizes that there is only on bathroom for her and Charlie and is not excited by the thought of sharing a bathroom with her dad. Bella is glad that Charlie doesn't hover so she can unpack her things. Then Bella talks about how she never has been able to relate to her peers and how she is nervous that she is going to be judged by the people at her new high school in forks. She thinks that the people at school expect her to be tan and a volleyball player or cheerleader, but she is the opposite. Bella is a klutz and very uncoordinated and very pale skinned. At her first day of school the first person she meets is Eric and he seems to be too helpful towards Bella. Finally Bella gets to lunch and that's where she sees "them", what the Cullen's are referred to first in the book. Bella is curious about why they aren't eating or talking and are just sitting at their lunch table in the corner of the room. To Bella they all look different but at the same time they look alike. Bella asks Jessica who they were. Jessica explains that they are all the adopted kids of the Dr. Cullen, the doctor the the town, and about how they are "together" as she puts it. All the Cullen kids are dating, Rosalie and Emmit then Alice and Jasper but then there is Edward. Jessica tells Bella's that she shouldn't waste her time with Edward because he doesn't think that any of the girls in Forks are good enough for him. Bella looks over at Edward and he seemed to be smiling at that comment that Jessica made. The Cullen's all leave the lunch room and one of Jessica's friends Angela has the same next class as Bella so they walk to class together. Once they get to class Angela goes to her seat and Bella realizes that the only open seat is by Edward Cullen. Bella's crosses the isle to the teachers desk to get a slip signed and is conspicuously watching Edward who meets eyes with her and then all of the sudden has a horrible looking face as if he smelled something dusting. When she is instructed to her seat Edward just looks at her with his deep black eyes and leans away with his hand over his mouth/nose. Bella smells her hair to make sure she doesn't smell bad and she doesn't, but the whole class Edward sat there with the same expression leaning far away from her. Right as the bell rang Edward was out of the room and Bella was in shock at how rude he was. She goes to the office to turn in her signed slip form all her teachers where she finds Edward leaning far over the desk trying to persuade the lady behind it. Edward notices that Bella has entered and stops arguing with the lady and says never mind then very hastily and is again very rude to Bella as he leaves the office.

Blog #7

Twilight
by: Stephenie Meyer

I am re-reading Twilight because I am curious to figure out what is missing in the movie. I have now seen the movie 4 times and feel like it is missing a huge part of the book but I can't remember what it was that is missing. Right now I am only in the first chapter where Bella is just leaving her home in Arizona with her mom and her mom's boyfriend Phil. She describes how much she dislikes Forks, the town she is moving to, and how she is not to excited to be living with her father. She gets off her plane where she is not surprised that it is raining since she is in Washington state where is is cloudy and rainy most of the time. Bella and her dad Charlie have to drive an hour to get from the airport to their home in Forks. Charlie tells Bella about her homecoming present which is a car from one of his friends Billy Black. She has no memory of Billy or his son Jaboc. She is not thrilled of how Charlie explains the car but is glad that she does not have to buy a car with the little money she has. In the movie this is different, when Bella gets to her house she is surprised by a visit from Billy and his son Jacob who are coming to watch T.V. with Charlie and is completely excited about the car and remembers Billy and Jacob right away.

Blog #6

Luxury Cruise Ship Outruns Pirates

I expected to read about a movie set that was mistaken for a real pirate attack but there really was a pirate ship that attacked a cruse ship. The cruse ship, the Nautica, was attacked by pirates off the coast of Yemen. There was no one injured in the attack and they arrived on time to their destination of Salalah, Omen. It is apparently not unusual for their to be smaller attacks on smaller boats but this was the first attack on a ship this size, this year. It's emphasised that the ship was off the coast of Yemen not Somalia because Somalia is a known to be a base for pirates. I personally didn't think that pirates were really, but now I have have read this article and some others that are similar to this one I think it's really weird that there is still pirates. The cruse ship could have avoided the whole situation be avoiding the area. The captains were aware that the area could have had pirates near but they didn't believe it was a major threat.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/12/01/pirates.cruise.ship/index.html