My Wacky Response Blog to Other Blogs :)

http://me-blog-explosion.blogspot.com/2010/11/reality-blows.html?

"Reality Blows" by Louis Bonnet (ME + BLOG = EXPLOSION)

http://benselablog.blogspot.com/2011/01/lady-looking-through-telescope-while.html?

"Telescope" by Ben Futterman (Ben's E.L.A Blog)

http://nukethatblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-can-write-reasonably-good-article.html?

"I can write a reasonably good article about this now" by Jack Cassidy (Angry Twinkie Blog)

Louis wrote a sensible and meaningful blog, and deserves to be a mentor text. He explains how silly it is, to ask a young child what they want to be when they grow up. Why is it pointless? Why is meaningless? Well, asking the question is fine, but being concerned about what they say is just dumb. Louis elaborates on his opinion with understandable logic. A person's idea to figure out what their occupation is going to be when they grow up, will change once they become older and older. This may not happen with every child on the planet. Who knows? Maybe a person stuck to their dream when they were five years old. I really enjoyed reading this blog because Louis made good connections with the character he talks about, and lots of his writing shows good examples of a legible blog.

Telescope, a poem written by Ben Futterman, is a perfect mentor text for me, especially, because he uses certain technique skills I could learn when writing poetry. For example, he uses smoother rhythm and rhyming. He also knows how to end a poem, without leaving the reader confused. Something else I could relate to Ben’s poetry, is his humbleness. When I read the comments below of his poetry blog, lots of people compliment or even praise it. Letting him know that he wrote a really good poem. Then, Ben replies back saying he hates the poem and he feels that it’s the worse poem he ever wrote. In my opinion, my poems is really nothing special. When other people tell me that they enjoyed my work, I usually reply back saying something like, “It wasn’t all that good”.

I really admire Jack’s blog here, because the voice and tone can really match what he’s trying to point out. His words articulate well and doesn’t sound like the voice of a recorder messaging machine. Also, he speaks in the tone of a professional book reviewer, or something related to that. Jack is descriptive and creative with his choice of vocabulary. I’m kind of into reviews and since this blog has the voice of it, I think it’s perfect for a mentor text. 

Introducing the Warzone

Introducing the Warzone by Kai Junn Lathrop

I stride across the soothing forest,
as I swim across the sparkling lake.
I can't deny the nature,
With the birds chirping,
with the rabbits hopping,
with the tigers roaring.
Feeling the smooth, wet rock against my hand.

The forest speaks to me.
It says, "Be free, be free! Enjoy the soft silky grass!"
It's peaceful, so quiet.
I took what I had to enjoy

Then...

BOOM! The bountiful memories of nature flashes before my eyes.
A panda chewing bamboo blurs into a firing tank.
Birds flying into the sky blurs into a fighter plane.
The trees burining,
the lake drying,
the grass pulverizing.

I wish that the whole world can see,
that nature is in fear,
my eyes drop into tears.
I wish that nature was free as me.

I sit under the smooth rock
which is now a half stone.
I moan... I moan...
This is me,
introducing the warzone.

Faking the Sickness

Sick by Shel Silverstein

"I cannot go to school today,"

Said little Peggy Ann McKay.

"I have the measles and the mumps,

A gash, a rash and purple bumps.

My mouth is wet, my throat is dry,

I'm going blind in my right eye.

My tonsils are as big as rocks,

I've counted sixteen chicken pox

And there's one more--that's seventeen,

And don't you think my face looks green?

My leg is cut--my eyes are blue--

It might be instamatic flu.

I cough and sneeze and gasp and choke,

I'm sure that my left leg is broke--

My hip hurts when I move my chin,

My belly button's caving in,

My back is wrenched, my ankle's sprained,

My 'pendix pains each time it rains.

My nose is cold, my toes are numb.

I have a sliver in my thumb.

My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,

I hardly whisper when I speak.

My tongue is filling up my mouth,

I think my hair is falling out.

My elbow's bent, my spine ain't straight,

My temperature is one-o-eight.

My brain is shrunk, I cannot hear,

There is a hole inside my ear.

I have a hangnail, and my heart is--what?

What's that? What's that you say?

You say today is. . .Saturday?

G'bye, I'm going out to play!"

The “story” or idea of this poem is pretty simple. A kid doesn’t want to go to school, so he pretends that he is sick. I love how Shel Silverstein puts creative and wacky expressions to describe how many ways you can get sick. I notice how the poem builds up into a transition, like you hear a girl groaning in pain. But then you here her say, what? It’s Saturday? So the voice and tone of the poem changes erratically. I also noticed how the poem starts off with Peggy Ann having a soar throat, and then comparing what she says at the end, I have a hole in my inside my ear. I also noticed interesting metaphors, like my brain is shrunk and my belly is carving in. I don’t know how, but Shel Silverstein must have a ton of creative ways for metaphors and descriptions. The reason why I find it so original is because the phrase isn’t so predictable.

         I find the rhyming simple in this poem, but has a very smooth rhythm. Reading it felt more like I was reading lyrics, and that’s not bad at all. So the poem is basically has an A + B pattern. Like Mumps, Bumps, Eye, Dry. I find the rhythm smooth because each segment or line have an equal amount of syllables. For example, “My tongue is filling up my mouth” and “I think my hair is falling out”. If I played a metronome throughout the whole poem, it would not sound choppy.

         Shel Silverstein has many creative ways to describe expressions and phrases, and I find most of it fairly original. That’s why Silverstein’s work is fresh, and his literature actually has the capability to get kids excited about his poems. It is also why I picked, “Sick”, because kids relate to it heavily. Waking up in the morning for kids is a bummer because, what makes you think we feel like getting up to go to school. It’s like a “Today’s another day”, moment. But the positive issue with Silverstein’s work is that we can take this example of lazy kids who don’t want to go to school, and socially, put it in a healthy manner, and have a sense of humor about it. The poem “Sick” is my main reason why I admire Shel Silverstein’s literature. 

Spin Us a Web, Spider Man

Reading the graphic novel, Spider Man, brought my “super hero” comic book experience to a whole new level. That may sound a bit silly, but reading comics was a real hobby for me when I was an elementary school kid. Then, watching Spider Man as a movie was awesome. Seeing him hop around New York with his web, and seeing it come to life was great. But then, years later, watching Spider Man as a Broadway musical BLEW MY MIND. Seeing Spider Man fly across a city was cool, but seeing Spider Man fly across a Broadway theater room was just a phenomenal, while I was there! It was simply amazing. The acting was great, the set was mind blowing, and the music was enjoyable.

Most people are pretty familiar of the Spider Man franchise. Like the story, characters, etc. But for people who are not, here is the story of Spider Man: It starts off with a shy, quiet bookworm high scholar, Peter Parker. Peter is a victim to bullies and kids who love to make fun of him for being smart. He lives with his aunt and uncle who have over-protective parenting issues. Peter loves them, but he does get irritated. When he goes on a school field trip to a science laboratory, he gets bitten by a mutated spider. It hurt, but the spider gave Peter super powers. Like climbing walls and building up his strength. Meanwhile, Peter creates his own sticky web shooter on his wrist, to reach higher places. But in other versions of Spider Man, he gets the web from getting bit by the spider and it squirts out of his veins or something. I don’t really know. But Peter, the lonely high scholar, now turns into a super hero who fights crime and beat up bad guys!

There’s the basic story, but reading the graphic novel, watching the movie, and seeing a Broadway show of Spider Man was a very interesting experience. Spider Man is a thriller, and probably one of the reasons why Broadway decided to make a musical from Spider Man. They knew that mostly everyone in the country knows Spider Man and predicted the show would be famous. And besides, it is the most costly production Broadway musical to this date. So yeah, that attracted a lot of people to see this play. 

Naughty, Naughty Grown-Ups!

Parents just hate it when their kid acts like a crazy jumping bean, it drives them nuts! Strangely, it's hard for me to say that because I'm a thirteen year old kid, and I drive my parents crazy all the time! Adults feel that young children are adorable, but they also feel that kids can be a real pain. I find that statement fair, but are adults perfect? No. Do adults always make the right choices? No. Can adults also be a real pain? Why, yes! Yes they can! Roald Dahl proves an excellent point why adults can also be annoying, immature snobs with the book that he wrote called, Matilda.

This story is about a girl name Matilda. Matilda was born as an extremely clever and bright child because she reads a lot of intelligent literature and legible books, all on her own. Matilda was fourtante in education, but her family was a catastrophe. The parents are incompetent, stubborn, ignorant snobs and all they do is eat, sleep, and watch TV. They would ignore Matilda completely and only care about their selves. Matilda would have dress herself, cook for herself, and clean herself. Everything a parent is suppose to do for his/her child, but Matilda's parents chose to not take that path.

One reason why I really enjoyed Matilda is because I love Dahl's perspective on children. I also find it  interesting that when Dahl writes the book, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", he goes through the effort to give out a message to children to not be greedy. But in Matilda, he proves that just because you're a kid and your parents have the right to boss you around, it doesn't mean that they  act like mature adults all the time. Both morals from both of those books have some sort of similarity.

 The type of character Matilda's parents have, shows a reason why grown-ups can also be spoiled. They can also be a pain and adults should think twice before saying that all kids bother them because of their immaturity. I'm not going into a bunch of stereotypical antics, but it is true. Kids are childish, children can get greedy, bratty, spoiled, but so as parents, adults, or grown-ups. We all have some sort of annoyance behavior that really get's on other people's nerves.

Don't Spoil Your Childhood

When you are a child, especially if you are very young, it’s important to be mindful of what you do. Just because your dad or mom has the money to get everything you desire, it doesn’t mean you can abuse your options. Most young kids want toys, dolls, and video games. That kind of thing. It’s okay to want things you love, but if you take it too seriously, people will notice that you are acting spoiled.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is one of the most famous children books in the world. Roald Dahl did an excellent job in this book showing how greedy kids can be, and what kids in the real world can do to avoid acting like a brat. Charlie is a young child who doesn’t have much money, but he’s honest and kind. He gives to his family with respect and appreciates their company, but his real dream is to go inside Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Dahl includes four other kids who are greedy, stubborn brats. Augustus Gloop is the cubby one. He would eat anything and all he wants in the world is food and chocolate. Veruca Salt is the character you love to hate. She basically owns her parents by asking for everything in the world because Veruca’s parents are extremely rich. She’s the biggest brat. Violet Beauregarde is the cocky one. She thinks that she’s the best gum chewer in the world, because all she ever wants is chewing gum. And then lastly, there’s Mike Teavee. He is obsessive over television and has a huge imagination. All he wanted to do is watch TV for hours.

At the end of the story, all the stubborn kids get what they deserve, but Charlie makes it through the whole tour. He proved that he was really not a spoiled child, and all he wanted was to achieve his dream. And that’s what all kids should want. Believe in yourself, and things may go your way.

Charlie’s grandfather plays a huge part in the story. When Charlie won the last golden ticket, he wanted to sell it for a lot of money because his family was poor. That also gives an example why Charlie is so solicitous. He cares and loves his family, but his grandfather encouraged him to keep the ticket because he wanted Charlie to live up to his dream. All Charlie ever wanted was to go into Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, so his grandfather told him that it’s also important to be mindful for yourself. It’s more than sympathetic to care for others, but sometimes you really need to follow your own interests. Because if you don’t, you might end up feeling stressed and unhappy. And that is the moral, Roald Dahl was trying teach. Don’t waste your childhood acting greedy and spoiled, and try being pleasant to others. But don’t over obsess on being sympathetic that you can’t do things you like. So balance out your karma. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a book for everyone to enjoy. And besides, how can you go wrong with chocolate? 

Stupid as a Stupid Does: A Book and Movie Comparison

When I was in seventh grade, almost becoming thirteen years old, I would love the movie, Forrest Gump. I found Tom Hank’s performance just amazing. He really knows how to play a funny and emotional, mentally challenged person. I thought Robert Zemeckis was a well-talented director to make an enjoyable film. After I saw the movie like a million times,  I thought it would be useful to read the book, which was origianlly written by Winston Groom. And let me the first one to tell you, both the movie the and book are completely different. I mean, they’re extremely different! I'll get more into it later. 

            Forrest Gump is a story about a mentally retarded man, who lives in Greenbow, Alabama. He goes through life in tough ways and happy ways. To be honest, the story really has no plot. Strange, isn’t it? The whole story is basically a question: How does Forrest Gump face his life to the real world? He grows up as a child who listens to his mother. His mother played a great role in the story. The principle couldn't allow Forrest to get into a normal school because of his low intelligence. So what does the mother do? She prostitutes herself to the principle and that is one of her sacrafices in her life. I wrote another blog about prostitution and sacrifices, (so you can check that out). Anyway,  Forrest’s mother also would give him advice to ignore people who make fun of him, for being stupid. Like, “Stupid as a stupid does.” I think that phrase means that if you’re really a stupid person, you must love to do stupid things. I really love that phrase because it made think, just because you’re not the brightest one in the box, you can do smart things. His mother also told him that life was like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get. I love that line because it describes Forrest Gump’s life to the reader or viewer. A lot happens in his life. Forrest found himself to be the fastest player on the football team,  he meets presidents like JFK and Richard Nixon, becomes a Vietnam war hero, a ping pong champion, and a shrimping boat captain. Forrest Gump seems to be a small person in the inside, but does wild bizarre things in his life. I thinks that’s what makes him such a lovable character because he doesn’t make too many dumb mistakes in his life.

            While Forrest tries to go through life, he is obsessed with a girl name Jenny Curran. Mainly because she was really the only friend Forrest ever had when he was a child, and I also really loved the “Run, Forrest, Run!” scene. Now, Jenny’s character is very different in the book and the movie. In the book, Jenny tries to do the right things. In the movie, it’s completely different. Jenny was abused when she was a five year old, so she tries to run away from her life, but then she finds herself doing horrible things. Like, taking drugs and being seen on a Playboy magazine. Jenny becomes an extremely willful character, but her heart is in the right place. She cares about Forrest, and it’s not like Jenny’s trying to avoid Forrest because she hates him in some kind of way. The book takes the strong aspects of Jenny and try to make her into a good person. She tells Forrest to stop being a villainous wrestler because it was bad for his health. But when it comes to the movie, I think, how does Jenny Curran take it so far be so pre-occupied, when she tries to run away from her life? In the book, I think how Jenny also tries to avoid Forrest in some ways, but also love him so much.

            I think this is the only time where I felt that movie had a little more to show, in terms of morals. It’s not like the book doesn’t teach the reader anything. It teaches things like, to be mindful for what you do. One small choice can change what happens in your personal future. In the movie, you really love Forrest’s character for who he is. Sure, he has an IQ of seventy and he is really not smart at all when it comes to education. But he does make smart choices and that is really what the moral of this story is about. Just because he might have some small weakness that you hate about yourself, it can’t change what you do in your future. If you make the right choices in life, you will acomplish something and feel more proud about yourself.