Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 1-Review

I’m not even going to introduce it this time. Where is your home-rock if you haven’t ever heard about Harry Potter. The beginning of the end has started. I watched the movie on 11/26/10, and let me tell you, it’s great.
First things first: we all know just about every book-based movie has some inaccuracy. Just like with the other Potter movies, if you want a comprehensive, word for word, reiteration, go read the book. I know some fans will rage (don’t call me ignorant, I read the book, I know what happens), but at this point, I don’t give a darn. It’s a good movie, and that’s what we’re here for.
I know no one wants spoilers, even though the book is a gigantic one. If you haven’t read it, stop reading. If you have, what do I have to tell you?
It’s a serious movie. It doesn’t have the slight comedy elements of Half-Blood Prince and, to be a bit unoriginal, it sets a darker tone. But there is one funny bit. Sorry if I mess it up.

Dobby:*Knocks down chandelier on top of Bellatrix*

Bellatrix: YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME!

Dobby: Dobby was not trying to kill… perhaps maim or… seriously injure.

By the way, there’s new Dobby voice acting, and it’s not as good as the old one. Also, that text was not in the book, but who the frik cares, it’s hilarious.
Some say that the movie follows the story too much. Have you read the book? I would use a snappier line, but I’d rather not offend my readers. In any case it is different, and skips large parts of chapters and skips some medium-important things. You can find an excuse for this, though. What you can’t find a excuse for: THEY MESSED UP THE DATE OF HARRY’S BIRTHDAY!
Yeah. The movie’s awesome. Watch it. I COMMAND YOU, FOR MY POWER LEVEL IS OVER 9000 BECAUSE I HAVE FALCON PUNCH ON MY SIDE! Hooray for references to references I don’t understand.

Deepavali 2010

This year, we had a lot of fun at Deepavali (A.K.A. Divali).

On Thursday, 11/4/10, we celebrated the first day of Deepavali. Wee lit some lamps, made some chalk drawings, and best of all, USED FIREWORKS! We used Colored Snakes, garlic firecrackers, Flowerpots, and the most terrifyingly fast of them all, the one I gave a name myself, the HYPERSPEED!

The Colored Snakes were these little pill shaped things reminiscent of lamp pills that you put on fire. When set on fire, they slowly made a snake shaped structure out of ash. These were pretty bad snakes; it looked like the fire was pooping something, and smelled like it, too.

Garlic firecrackers are little packages of wood shaving inside paper. When you throw them at a hard surface, they explode with a pop. They’re always a nice way to begin or end a session of fireworks.

Flowerpots are these huge, mini-versions of regular fireworks. First it spit up color, then multicolored missiles into the air. There are explosions all over the place, blowing up like real firework missiles. These are probably the best fireworks on the non-pyrotechnic market.

“Hyperspeeds” are little spinners. They look like flowerpots, but act nothing like them. There are other types of spinners, but these are probably the most magnificent. After a short time on the fuse, it seems to have stopped working. Then it explodes, moving really fast, throwing multicolored sparks, and changing colors. They are quite epic.

We didn’t do anything on the second day, 11/5/10, but on the third, 11/6/10, we invited my uncle and set off… guess what… MOAR FIREWORKS! Yes, MOAR, because only epic people misspell stuff like more. The third day of Deepavali is the day when you celebrate brothers, so we invited my uncle and his family to set off fireworks. We used multiple types of sparklers, spinners, a Magic Trick, party poppers, a supreme party popper, and all the other ones we used before.

Sparklers are sticks that, when set ablaze, explode in beautiful arrangements. Some spat red sparks. Others exploded in yellow stars. And some shined white.

Normal spinners spin around, hurling yellow sparks in a small circle that they spin in once the fuse burns down.

Party poppers are these little canisters full of confetti. Pull the string, BOOM, a whole bunch of confetti flies out.

Supreme party poppers are much, much bigger, shooting out much more, bigger confetti. We were ripped off, though: there was barely any confetti in ours.

And magic tricks, somehow, are even better than Flowerpots, if MUCH more terrifying. Put it on fire and hold it, the ends explodes, sending down more stuff that explodes randomly over and over and over again, making a huge cacophony. We set off only one because it made a lot of noise. We wouldn’t have even bought them if we knew what they were.

Deepavali this year was really great, and I hope next year’s will be just as awesome.

Leadership Retreat 10-1-10

Today, we had our first leadership retreat. A leadership retreat is a special day at Merryhill when advisory groups learn teamwork. Today was the first for this year. I was in the purple advisory group. Purple, the color of the void, evil, and gigantic floating eyes with tentacles. Marvelous, isn’t it. Also, NUCLEAR SOAP!

This morning we walked *cough* ran against the rules *cough* to Cardoza Park. The place was quite entertaining, really. We waited for some 15 minutes and then started the day. We had 5 activities, which will be described in the next paragraphs.

The first activity we did had to do with concentration and memorization. Well, actually, with our strategy, it was just remembering a number and touching 1 to that number. We had to run around as fast as possible and touch a number stuck to the ground. The next person had to touch that number and touch another number. It wasn’t really difficult, just time-consuming, but maybe that’s just because we were a good team.

The second was slightly more difficult. By that, I mean THE MOST DIFFICULT THING EVER! We had to toss a balloon between one another, tell the person we’re throwing it to’s name and the body part they must hit it with. The problem: the balloon is full of air, it’s windy, and hitting a balloon doesn’t send it very far. We failed this challenge because we didn’t finish in less than 10 minutes, the limit.

The third was the most entertaining and delicious thing I’ve ever done. You placed an Oreo on your forehead and had to move it into to your mouth without your hands. If you wanted to, you could eat it. But drop it too many times in the grass we were doing the challenge in, and was the last person, dropped it tens of times. The whole team was giving him advice, but he kept dropping it. Finally, he got it into his mouth. Then he spit it out. What a horrible waste of an Oreo. Well, it did look disgusting at that point, so I guess it was okay.

The next event was uncomfortable. We had to move a banana across a line with only our feet. The uncomfortable part? The grass was very, very, wet. We had a lot of exasperation, but it was done fairly quickly.

The last challenge was kind of like that “minefield” challenge from TV. We had a blindfolded partner and guided them through an obstacle course. It took quite a long time to do.

Next was lunch. We had pizza, chips, and bad tasting juice juice.

Afterwards, we had a tug-of-war. Three people from each team played. We lost in both our games.

After returning to school, we ate ice cream and watched the movie The Blind Side until school was over. It was a really great day.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow-Play Review

Ah, we’re back to Rainbow Theater. Ready to hear my scathing review? Tough luck, chumps, because this was actually a good play. My sister even had a part in it: the Indian Chief Phantom.

Overview:

You should ALL know The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving’s scary story. EVERYONE at least knows the Headless Horseman. If you don’t, you are a disgrace to people everywhere (I kid... but maybe). The rural town of Sleepy Hollow is full of ghosts. And the worst of them is… the Headless Horseman! I think you saw that coming. No? EPIC FAIL! But ‘nuff of that, let’s move onto the main guy: schoolmaster Ichabod Crane. “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” Yeah, most of you won’t get that reference, but it doesn’t really matter. He’s the (HUNGRY) new schoolmaster of Sleepy Hollow. He falls in love with Katrina the moment he arrives. The problem? Brom Bones, Katrina’s evil so-called boyfriend (even Katrina hates him). He doesn’t like it when guys like Ichabod come and like his girlfriend. So, anyway, a bunch of random, unimportant (but funny) stuff happens, and Ichabod finds out about the ghosts, and we learn he is a chicken. Check that. He’s an ostrich. Check that, that’s an insult to ostriches everywhere, especially the strong ones. Let’s just call him a fraidy-cat. Check… Oh just forget it! And then, a bunch of more random, unimportant (but funny) stuff happens, and Ichabod finally proposes marriage to Katrina. Of course, previously, we learned he only liked her money, though he did think she was beautiful. Anti-hero, anyone? Yes, I know, that’s an insult to anti-heroes like Darth Bane, who are completely epic, but I’m too lazy to type it. But I just… DANG YOU PARADOX OF EVIL READERS! And of course, Bones knows of this. He runs Ichabod out of the joint and into the graveyard, only thinking of his bad luck, and not the ghosts he was terrified of. AND OUT COMES THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN! And Ichabod disappears, his clothes still on the rack, one moment at a party, next moment gone, never to be seen again in Sleepy Hollow. The only thing left is Bones’s Heschan coin, and no one knows it’s his. YOU decide what happened to Ichabod. I’ll blame it on Bones, who is actually the Headless Horseman.
Other:
I didn’t feel much emotion, but the humor was LOLWTHOMGBBQ (Laugh Out Loud What The Heck Oh My God BarBeQue) worthy. But there is something faintly unsettling about seeing a headless actor with a stump on his head clap during the credits.

Rating:
I must say, it was a good play. What about LOLWTHOMGBBQ OXSOM? In other words, funny and good.

Our Home Concert

Yesterday, 9-17-10, we had a concert at our house. It was so exciting! Two days previous, we had set up our entire downstairs for the concert. We brought in all our rugs, moved the furniture, and even set up a monitor for people who couldn’t see the musicians. My dad made a slideshow all about the temples of Karnataka, the topic of our concert, and used a projector he was lent to show it on our wall. All the songs were composed by great composers in those temples.

Jayanthi Umesh, my mom’s music teacher and expert bay area singer, was the singer. Ravindra Bharati was the mridangist and Lakshmi Balasubramanam was the violinist. They were all music experts.

Over 100 people came to the concert. We were packed! I had NEVER seen that many people in a house!

There were 13 songs, each referencing a great temple of India. The songs were Matte Malaya Dhwaja Pandya Sanjate, Vaatapi Ganapatim Bhajeham, Ubhaya Kaveri Ranga, Hatakesshwaram, Sri Chamundeshwari, poetry of Putina and D.V.G., Trigunathmakale, Kandu Dhanyanade, and more.

The temples situated in Chamundi Hills, Mysore, Badami and Tiravarur, Srirangapattana, Nanjanagoodu, Melukote, Kolluru, Udupi, Sringeri, Dodda Malooru, Koodala Sangama, Beluru, and Devarayana Durga.

After the concert, we had dinner.

It was really, really, REALLY cool to have a concert in our house. If we hadn’t moved, we would never have even been able to host the concert because our old house was smaller. Our new house was another thing celebrated at the concert. Anyway, I think, and hope, that we will have more concerts.

My 12th Birthday

Yesterday, 9-12-10, I turned 12. I was waiting FOREVER for my birthday this year, and it was one of the best days of my life.

I woke up at around 8:30 in the morning. My parents told me to stay in my room while they set up for my birthday. I stayed in bed and watched videos on youtube on my dad’s phone until 9:30 in the morning. I then brushed my teeth, took a bath, and went downstairs. I got my presents. I got the new, AWESOME laptop I’m now typing this on, an Amazon Kindle with 5 books on it (I retract my opinion I posted on a previous blog about eBook readers), and 3 physical books as well. My grandparents gave me a card with $25, and the rest of my family gave me a LOT of cards and a $25 Gamestop giift certificate. My sister also gave me a lot of special stuff. She gave me origami, hand made bouncy balls, and other cool art stuff, and smelling stickers. My aunt and uncle and younger cousins also came too, and they gave me some money as a gift.

At 11:00 in the morning, my friends started coming. Sanjana, Sanjana, and Ankith all came, and we played Mario Kart Wii until it was time for lunch. We had pizza and orange cake. We then started watching the Karate Kid. However, a few minutes into the movie, we switched to Bedtime Stories. We also made our own personal ice cream sundaes.

At 2:30 in the afternoon, Sanjana and Sanjana left. We dropped off Ankith at 3:00 in the afternoon at his house. I spent the rest of the time watching videos on my new laptop and downloading an FPS until we had to leave to go to some houses for a religious festival. We left at 6:30 in the evening and got back at 10:00 in the night. I played the FPS I downloaded, Alliance of Valiant Arms, until 10:30 in the night. It ran really well on my laptop.

Like I said before, yesterday was one of the best days of my life.

eBooks-Oh the Delicious Irony

In science, in my first week of school, on 8-20-10, we talked about technology. One point that was raised was that one of the negative things about technology was that it made us lazy. And we stumbled on eBooks...

eBooks. What are eBooks.A ridiculous type of book with the letter e before it. Of course it isn't. It's a ridiculous type of electronic book. Electronic book, you say? Heresy, I say. BLASPHEMY! And the irony, don't get me started! Books created irony, and where do they go? Out the window when all sorts of newfangled contraptions like Kindles and Nooks, and the greatest evil, THE IPAD come to the world!

eBooks require the internet to get any books at all. Where's the accessibility in that, eh? And they are so EXPENSIVE! $200 could go so far. You could buy 10 nice, big, interesting books with that kind of money! And what about the libraries? Well, two things, of course! First, there is no "eBook library", and the creators wouldn't spend the money or time to code it, as it is difficult. And money, of course, is the other issue. Think of all the libraries the government is spending millions of dollars on! That's millions and millions, maybe even BILLIONS of dollars lost if everyone gets an eBook reader. And all the librarians will lose their jobs, and the billions of dollars spent on them will be lost too. There won't be any book signings anymore, either. What're you going to do, sign the eBook? *sigh* Better get a new Kindle, permanent marker won't come off... And where is the ambiance of scrolling your hand across a piece of plastic? There is no smell of fresh print, or yellow parchment, or hand-drawn pictures in eBooks. Isn't it so satisfying to flip a page in a book and learn a crucial part of the story. *engage stupid and unrealistic voice of girl who can't speak in complete sentences* OMG, like, flipping is, like, so, like, old. You must be, like, 30 to, like, flip a, like, what do you call them? Pages? Those are, like, so, like, old fashioned. And they use, like, legible and, like, complete, like, what are they? Sentences? OMG! Argh, typing this absolute garbage makes me cry. And if we keep advancing, eBooks will read to US, and no one will be able to read. People will get rid of books, and authors won't make physical copies of their books. What a dystopia. Another dystopia I heard about was when, a few years ago, I saw the back of a book called The Last Book in the Universe, and that book was the last book in the universe. Why do something as mundane as reading when you can just take a shot that tells the whole story, as if you were living it, in a millisecond. OH THE HUMANITY, WHY!

But, as much as I dislike eBooks, there are some good points. Making them is eco-friendly, compared to making millions of pages of paper. Still, plastic isn't bio-degradable... And jobs are also made by eBook manufacturing. And you can have a 3,500
book library in a 10" by 10" piece of plastic. And maybe libraries could still exist and lend books, since you can't buy every eBook.

We shouldn't let technology make us lazy, but we also shouldn't stagnate and never make stuff easier for ourselves with technology. A balance must be struck.

Well, I'm done here. I only have a certain amount of cynical wordplay and skeptics I can dispense in a day. But the dislike of eBooks is real. Think on it.