I finished reading the Curious Case of Benjamin Button a few days after finishing the blog post that was due last wednesday. Here is how the story continues:
Benjamin gets younger and younger and goes to fifth grade. He loses much of the knowledge he has gained over his lifetime and is worried with childish thoughts of being beat up at school by bullies. He starts failing each grade he enrolls in and ends up in Kindergarten, which he repeats a few times. The book ends as the lives of many people begin, Benjamin Button does not remember his life and is just a baby. The author does not say how Benjamin dies (or ceases to exist). I made the assumption that he merely vanished, and no one remembered that he existed, but that is just the pessimistic quality of my thinking. Another option I considered is that he may have become a baby once again, then he started getting older once again, and lived the same life he already had. Overall I liked the book quite a lot, and I thought it had an interesting plot to it, it was also very original. On the downside, I thought it lacked detail, which I suppose it had to if it were to cover Benjamin's entire life. I do not know how the movie will be. The book seems to be one of those which would not be a good movie, just because movies are supposed to be fast paced.
I;ll start a new book next week, since Benjamin Button wasn't long enough. Happy New Year!!

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Pt. 2

Recently I started reading the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and it has turned out to be a good book. Hopefully I can finish it before the movie comes out, around New Year's... I think. So as the story continues Benjamin Button learns to fit in with his family. His father, who is a prominent figure in South Carolina, is ashamed to say that his son is different from everyone else. Benjamin and Roger Button (Roger=father of Benjamin) do not get along well, instead Benjamin spends time with his grandfather and is accustomed to his company. The story progresses quickly, as years of Benjamin's life are described in every chapter. Benjamin goes to school, not fitting in at all. He applies to college at Harvard, but is ridiculed when he tells them that he is only 16 years old, although he appears to be near seventy. Out of frustration he attends Yale. And that is all that is known about that. Several years later, when Benjamin is in his twenties, but appears fifty, he starts going to "fashionable dances" along with his dad. He meets a lady, in her twenties named Hildergarde. Hildergarde and Benjamin go out on several dates, and soon get married. Benjamin soon takes over his father's hardware business and continues to get younger and younger. Benjamin eventually is not attracted to Hildergarde, and decides to enlist into the army. He quickly advances to the ranks and when he returns, he finds that his wife has moved to Italy and decides to be taken care of by his own step-son, Roscoe. That's all I've read so far, and I'm almost finished with the book, so I don't really know where the story is going anymore. I'm gonna be looking forward to snowboarding tomorrow!!!!!!! Have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

New book: Again

So the "Time Machine" wasn't exactly a bad book, but when I saw that "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" was coming out as a movie, I thought I had to read it. In the movie Brad Pitt asks as Benjamin. It is already nominated for golden globes, which means it must be good (although The Dark Knight was an awesome movie and it did not get a globe award). The story starts as Mrs. Button is pregnant and about to give birth. Mr. Button is going to the hospital, when he sees the doctor. The doctor acts very strange and Mr. Button is nervous about the health of his child. After stumbling over words the doctor manages to take Mr. Button into the hospital after swearing never to help give birth to any of his family members ever again. By now, Mr. Button is throughly frightened, as all the staff members are acting strange as well. When he goes into the room that Mrs. Button is in, he sees a 70- year old man in a baby crib. The nurse explains to him that is his son, Mr. Button thinks this is a joke but the nurse convinces him that it is not. Mr. Button is a man of high status in his town, and starts becoming weary about his image in society. He thinks that he will lose all his status and respect. Mr. button takes benjamin to a store to buy him clothes, he tries to find him boy clothes and hatches a plot to dye his hair to pass him off as a young kid.

That's all I read so far, and this is promising to be a good book already, I'll keep you posted.

Blog: Dec. 10

After hearing the same criticism every Friday that my "nine-year-old daughter is reading the same book", (referring to the Thief Lord), (if your daughter is reading this, consider an accelerated enlish program for her) I decided to start reading a new book, The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells. The first thing I realized about this book, is its style. For example: when a character speaks for the first time, it is written as "said Filby, an argumentative person with red hair"; the second time the book reads,"said the Psychologist"; the third time he speaks,"said the Provincial Mayor". This is an effective, although not very fluent way of introducing the character. The book begans as a character termed as the "time traveller" states the three dimensions as length, width, and height. But to introduce a new way of thought, he also claims that something must have duration, in order for it to exist. He is saying that the fourth dimension is time. The listener doesn't understand and tries to argue that his theory is against reason and that he is insane to think such a thing. The time traveller next puts an apparatus that represents a small lamp. He then pushes a lever and the apparatus disappears! The viewer is astonished and, and starts acting super weird (like anyone who just saw something disappear would). In the second chapter the POV switches to first person, and the new character goes to the time traveler to see for himself.

Research Question:

Should a lethal dose be administered to a patient if he or she has a terminal, or excruciatingly painful condition?

Girsh, Faye."Death With Dignity: Choices and Challenges." USA Today (Magazine) March 2000: 62-64. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Edina High School. 7 December 2008 http://www.sirs.com

Faye Girsh is the executive director of a right-to-die organization, known as Hemlock Society USA. He clearly supports a person's right-to-die, and discusses scenarios and statistics having to do with the controversial issue to allow a doctor to assist a victim's suicide. He argues that a many patients of "terminal conditions" suffer greatly and wish to end their lives with dignity. He also says that the friends and family members of the victim go through much pain seeing their loved ones dying. Girsh provides data of euthanasia, in the only state that it is allowed: Oregon. The data shows that 15 of 23 people studied, took their lives. Girsh uses this data to support the idea that a person should be able to choose to avoid pain.


Whitehorn, Katharine."How to Die the 'Oregon Way'."The Guardian 13 October 2008: 4. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Edina High School. 8 December 2008 http://sirs.com

Katharine Whitehorn describes the different countries which are fighting over legislations to legalize euthanasia. Currently it is classified as second degree murder in all states except Oregon. Whitehorn continues to provide history of the first country to legalize euthanasia. She says that euthanasia in the United States would be too commercialized, and doctors would use euthanasia to relieve over crowded hospitals. She also gives the example of Dr. Jack Kevorkian who assisted in killing 103 people, and got out of jail a year later.

QUARTER 2: Blog 4

So recently, I started reading "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke and this summary is gonna start around 1/3 of the way into the book. Read the other posts for more info on the book:

After Victor learns that Bo and Prosper live in an abandoned theatre, he goes to the owners house to find out more about it. The owner is Dottor Massimo. When victor is at the house of Dottor, he is spotted by Scipio. At the mention of the Stella, Scipio's anxious face is easily read by Vicotr and he immediately realizes that he is one of the "orphans". As Victor is leaving, Scipio trips him and runs to the movie theater to warn the other's that Victor is coming. When Victor reaches the Stella he spots Bo and threatens to kill him. Bo figures out his gun is fake and runs around the theatre to avoid capture. Suddenly, Victor is overpowered by the others and they lock him up. They leave Victor tied up in a closet for several days, but treat him well. Bo tries to interrogate him, but the only info he gets is that his turtles name is "Paula". During this time the others keep watch on the Casa Spaventa which is the house that they are going to rob the wing from. When they come back, Victor is gone and leaves a note. . .

I would write more, but I want to keep some suspense, so I'll tell you what the note says next week. Dum dum Daaah (scary music)

Quarter 2: Blog 3

I thought I'd add more detail to the last post; this overlaps with Quarter 2: Blog 2

While Mosca (another orphan), Prosper, and Scipio are with the Conte, who is Scipio's first client, Riccio, Hornet, and Bo wait outside. A man comes up to Bo and starts talking to him. He turns out to be the detective that Esther had hired to find Prosper and Bo, Victor. Since Bo is naive, Victor easily persuades him to tell him his name. When Victor realizes he is who Esther is looking for, he immeadiately asks him where he lives, and Bo tells him that as well. As Bo is talking to Victor Hornet sees that Bo is talking with Victor, and heads over to him. When Prosper starts walking towards Victor, he quickly takes a picture and runs off (probably to confirm with Esther). But the damage is done, and Victor now knows that a bunch of orphans live in an abandoned movie theater, but he needs to figure out that it is the Star-Palace. Victor quickly puts on a disguise and keeps observing the kids. Meanwhile, Prosper scolds Bo, and Prosper realizes that the man was Victor because of the way he walked and because he ran away. When they return to the Star Palace, the orphans have a little chat about what happened that day, and leave to get food. As Victor follows them he spots Hornet in an alley, he approaches her and Hornet pretends to be grabbed by Victor. Nearby civilians "help" Hornet and she manages to run away. As Victor is beat down by civilians, Hornet manages to take Victor's wallet and shows it to everyone. The find a detective ID, and all are concerned for Prosper and Bo.

bLog E (Blog 3)

I AM REALLY BORED OF TYPING SUMMARIES, SO FOR TODAY'S BLOG I THOUGHT I MIGHT ANALYZE THE BOOK A LITTLE BIT MORE (AND WRITE IN CAPS LOCK T00). SO FAR THERE IS NO APPARENT THEME TO THIS BOOK, ITS JUST TWO MISFIT CHILDREN WHO RUN AWAY. I KIND OF RELATED THIS TO MC'CARTHY'S (HORRIBLE) BOOK, aLL tHE pRETTY hORSES. IN BOTH BOOKS THE MAIN CHARACTERS RUN AWAY FROM THEIR EVERYDAY LIVES TO SOMEPLACE THAT IS A WORLD AWAY. mC'cARTHY'S BOOK HOWEVER IS MEANT FOR HIGH SCHOOL AGED PEOPLE AND UP, WHEREAS tHE tHIEF lORD IS MEANT FOR A YOUNGER AUDIENCE. aLTHOUGH THIS BOOK IS A LOT MORE LIGHTHEARTED, IT PROVIDES A RELIEF TO THE BLOODINESS OF tHE iLIAD AND tHE oDYSSEY. oNE THING THAT i HAVE OBSERVED ABOUT THE AUTHOR, cORNELIA fUNKE, IS THAT ALL HER BESTSELLERS ARE ABOUT CHILDREN GOING ON AN ADVENTURE. fOR EXAMPLE, iNKHEART IS ALSO ABOUT A GIRL WHO RUNS AWAY TO A MAGICAL PLACE (and looks for her mother, i think). "Dragonrider", another one of her bestsellers is about a boy who runs away with a dragon and goes to a fairytale land. The "Thief Lord" uses terminology that is in Italian to give a feel of how the two children must be feeling not knowing all the words. This was another connection I made to ATPH, I was instantly reminded of how McCarthy used Spanish so frequently throughout his novel. So that's all, and next time I'll post a summary again to keep everyone involved in the book

Quarter 2:Blog 2

Recently, I started reading The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke, who is also author of Inkheart and Inkspell. The Thief Lord is about two brothers named Prosper and Bo, who run away to Venice, Italy after the death of their mother. After their mother dies, Bo (5 years old) is sent to his aunt, Esther; who the book portrays as evil. Prosper (12 years) is sent to a boarding school. Sick of their lives, the two brothers escape to Venice, Italy, a city they always had heard about from their mother. The two brothers become friends with four other orphans: Hornet, Riccio, Mosca, and Scipio (who is later found out to be the Thief Lord). Prosper and Bo are led to an abandoned movie theater, which is the home of the other orphans. The children get the money they need to buy food by selling things that Scipio steals to an old shopkeeper named Ernesto Barbarossa. When things are looking great for Prosper and Bo, their aunt Esther soon finds out that the boys are in Venice. She hires a private-eye, named Victor Getz, to find where they are . Meanwhile, Barbarossa tells the children about one of his clients (Barbarossa runs a black market) that needs someone to steal something for him. Scipio accepts the challenge and meets the client, who is called The Conte. They find out that the object they are to steal is a wing (which attaches to a magical carousel of youth) and that they are to steal it from a wealthy photographer's house, whose name is Ida Spavento. Unfortunately his house is as secure as a prison. That’s all I read so far, but it is a pretty good book so far. I'll keep you guys posted

The Journey

Recently I started reading "The Capture" by Kathryn Lasky, I posted the beginning part of this summary in the previous blog post. This book is extremely short and the summary in the previous blog post is sufficient to understand it. After finishing it I started reading "The Journey", this book is the second book in its series and is about when Sorren, Gyflie, Twilight and Digger, escape St. Aggies academy for Orphaned Owls, and go in search for the Great Ga'Hoole tree where each night owls go do something good for the world, and do noble deeds. Along the way they find a peculiar burrowing owl named Digger, who has also heard about the legendary tree and wishes to accompany the lot. When they finally reach the Great Ga'Hoole tree, Sorren is enlisted as a fighter under his mentor Ezylrb. Ezylrb helps Sorren become a mature owl, and teaches him how to fight smart, using fire as a weapon (the "harvest" fire by collecting it on twigs from forest fires, kind of a far out concept). But Sorren has dificulty focusing because he wonders what has happened to his sister, and if his brother pushed Egaltine out of the nest like he had to Sorren. That's all I read for now, I might get a different book though this series is extremely weird.

The Capture

After concluding that Fahrenheit 451 was a horrible and boring book, with an extremely confusing story line (with the soap opera wall and etc.). I decided to read a new book called The Capture by Kathryn Lasky. This book is the first one in a long series. The story revolves around a fantasy world of owls. But these are extremely sophisticated and intelligent. At a young age these owls go into different "careers" such as search and rescue (to recover owls lost in battles). The story starts out as Sorren is in his tree with his family waiting the arrival of his new baby sister. When she does hatch out of the egg Soren is obsessed with her (Egaltine) and cannot bear his excitement. That night Sorren falls out of his tree (which is found out to be his evil brother Kludd).One fledgling, named Soren is kidnapped by a different "evil" group of owls and starts being brain washed, along with hundreds of other young owls. Sorren befriends one of the owls who is resisting the mind-wipe, named Gyflie (along with himself). And the two of them explore the canyon they are in (the canyon prevents the owls from flying out because they (aren't strong enough yet). Gylfie and Soren are both assigned duties in the pelletorium, (they dissect pellets to find pieces of metal to make metal talons to battle with) where they learn that that at every new moon that bats suck the blood from the breasts of the owls so their bones become brittle and they can't fly (the moon-blinked (mind-wiped) owls think this is wonderful). And that was were I left off, I think I'm gonna have nightmares tonight because this is a really creepy book.

Fahrenheit 451 (pt. 1)

This book written by Ray Bradbury, is a depiction of a futuristic United States where nuclear wars have ruined the entire world. The book begins with a grim scene showing firemen burning all the books in a house, and the house itself. One of the firefighters name is Guy Montag; he wears a helmet with the number 451, which apparently is the temperature that paper burns. On his uniform there is a salamander and a "phoenix disc" on his chest. On his way back from his job, he keeps looking back, sensing a presence. He finally sees a girl named Clarisse McClellan. Clarisse is able to identify Guy as a firefighter because of the smell of the ashes. She then says that she is crazy, and does abnormal things such as talk with her family, and walk places instead of driving. This passage sets the glum tone of the book, and shows that the future isn't going to be good. Clarisse also says that in the past firefighters used to put out fires, instead of start them. Guy is intrigued by his new neighbor, and randomly starts laughing while Clarisse is talking.

End of a Paradox

So I finally finished Artemis Fowl, and this is my analysis of it:

As always Eoin Colfer begins his book, with a confusing and intellectual conversation. Except this time it's between Artemis Fowl and his baby brothers (their extremely young because he was caught up in a time stream along with a demon Warlock named No. 1). I found this interesting because it seems to be a hook that always works on me, and makes me want to keep reading. Further into the book, when Artemis and Holly have traveled back in time, Holly meets with Commander Julius Root (deceased in the present time), and has an emotional breakdown because she didn't get to see him a few days before he died. This made for a good conclusion to a side story going on between Holly and Root since the first time they met (Root thought it was a joke that a female was trying to be part of the LEP). The story line however, was a bit too confusing at the end when Artemis Jr. comes into the future, and that he has been planning on this paradox to occur for over 13 years. It seemed to me that Colfer ran out of ideas to make this work, and was forced it include something, which he knew that most of his readers would not understand. There were many other good techniques used in the book, which I don't have time to talk, about.

Hint for my next book: has a number in it

Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox (pt. 4)

In Loving Memory of Sudhir Sawant. God wanted the best for himself.

When Artemis rescues Holly and himself from Opal she says that Opal has mesmerized the Extinctionists to bring her the lemur which will give her the ability to control time. Holly and Artemis fly to Fowl Manor, but are followed by Koboi. When Artmis Jr. confronts Artemis he is forced to reveal his identity. Holly and Artemis return to the present with the lemur, after getting some help from the People, and Holly has a emotional breakdown when she sees her old captain (now deceased). Artmemis is about to inject the potion into his mother when he finds out that Opal Koboi has possessed his mother and caused her disease (not Artemis).
When Opal explains how this has happened Artemis reveals that he is actually Artemis Jr.. The older Artemis, meanwhile, fights with the real Opal (with Butler's help) and tranquilizes her. Since she has gained so much power, however, she recovers quickly and chases Artemis as he runs away with a decoy lemur. emis takes Jayjay and flies away from the Manor grounds in a plane, luring Opal away. She destroys the plain that Artemis was in, and Artemis is forced to cross a rope bridge and two large boulders. When Opal finally catches him, she realizes that the lemur is fake. Holly arrives at the scene and Artemis shoots the boulder which Opal is standing on and which is revealed to be the shell of a mysterious kraken, that the People were having trouble finding. The Kraken is about to shed its skin (an island) but explodes prematurely when Artemis shoots it. Opal ends up getting buried in the rubble. When the Lower Elements Police (LEP)go to find her, they find she has disappeared. After the lemur is securely in the hands of the People, Artemis visits his recovered mother, and finds that she remembers everything even though they tried to wipe her. Artemis Jr. has his mind wiped and is sent back 8 years in time.

Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox (pt. 3)

During the mix up of Holly and the lemur, the "Extinctionists" manage to capture both of them and take them to their headquarters. Artemis Sr. Disguises himself and enters the meeting (which is formal and resembles a banquet). Artemis seeing that other Extinctionists have begun to doubt the credibility of the leader, due to fake claims of new species, starts questioning their leader and all the members begin to question if Holly is in fact just a fake person. Artemis starts out by asking why her mouth is covered, then he he makes a case on why the new species is sedated. The leader enraged at this calls Artemis up to the stage and allows him to examine her. Holly regains consciousness and Artemis and Holly create a plan to escape. Artemis begins by pretending to pull of Holly’s ear (which she makes invisible using her powers) to make it seem like a normal ear. Next he pretends to wipe the makeup off of Holly, to make her seem more human. For the spectators, this is the last straw. They try to revolt against their leader, after they’re convinced that he is trying to kill humans as well as other species. Raging wildly he sends Artemis into a fiery pit, which turns out just to be a hologram. At the bottom of the pit, Opal Koboi’s (evil fairy’s) lab is found where she is taking out the brain fluids from extinct species to make herself the most powerful pixie in the world.

Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox (pt. 2)

Artemis and Captain Holly go back in time, and wind up in Artemis' bedroom. However Butler, Artemis's butler, finds them and believes them to be a threat, since he doesn't know who they are. Butler tranquilizes them and puts them in the trunk of Artemis' Bentley. Young Artemis and Butler take their victims to Rathdown park, where they are about to steal the lemur from an exhibition at the zoo. When Artemis Jr. and Butler go and stake out the security, Artemis Sr. and Holly encounter an old friend (though he isn't a friend yet in the time they are in), Mulch Diggums, a criminal dwarf. (In the book, dwarves are nasty creatures, who eat dirt and love to build tunnels). As Artemis Jr. is trying to steal the lemur, Artemis Sr. try to take it before him and there is a fight between the Artemises. Artemis Jr. manages to take the lemur, and tranquilizes the three. Later on, Artemis Jr. is meeting with the head of the "Extinctionists" who he will be making the deal there. However, since Artemis Sr. knows where the deal will be making place, he sets up to take the lemur before, Artemis Jr. reaches there. Through a turn of events, Artemis Jr. manages to capture Holly there as well, pondering over the fortune he would make for selling a fairy.

Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox

Hey Everyone!

I just started reading Artemis Fowl The Time Paradox. This book is the sixth in its series, and is a fantasy/sci-fi themed book. The series is about a criminal mastermind named Artemis Fowl who is twelve (in the first book). His lust for power drives him to find a lost civilization of fairies. The fairies however have extremely advanced technology and a ton of gold. Artemis, trying to sustain his family after his father disappeared, captures a fairy, named Captain Holly Short, and holds her for ransom. After an eventful storyline, Artemis and the Fairy people become allies and take on other villains through the next four books.

Now in the sixth book, Artemis' mother is gravely ill with a fairy disease (which is even more deadly to humans). Artemis has just found out that the cure for the disease is a derivative of oils from a silky sifaka lemurs' brain. The conflict is that Artemis had had the last lemur killed for a few million dollars to the group called "The Extinctionists" who work to rid the world of every species except humans. Artemis hatches a plot to go back in time with the help of a powerful demon warlock, who can fabricate time. That's as much as I've read so far, I'll keep posting when I read some more.

WASSUP?!

This is the Big Eyed Fi5h blog! And it is gonna be the best in town SON!!!