Talk About Wardrobe Malfunction…

Talk About Wardrobe Malfunction…

Review of The Chronicles of Narnia Book 2: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a fantasy novel by C. S. Lewis.

Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie are sent to live with an old Professor during World War II. While exploring the house, Lucy stumbles upon a disused wardrobe with an entire world inside. At first, Lucy’s siblings don’t believe her tales of a faun and a magical land called Narnia, yet they too soon discover the world in the wardrobe. However, Narnia is ruled by the evil White Witch, who is determined to destroy any humans who set foot in her land. When Edmund turns traitor, Peter, Susan, and Lucy must find Aslan, the Great Lion, and save their brother as well as Narnia.

Although The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe has a relatively light tone, it is unlike most other fairy tales; rather than focusing on romance, Lewis explores themes of betrayal, sacrifice, and loyalty. (Personally, I found this a bit refreshing). The plot is truly splendid, and Lewis’ writing style is at once both humorous and profound. While reading this book, I felt like I was reliving a bit of my childhood. By the end, I had developed such a strong attachment to the characters that I found myself wanting to reread the entire book.

If you love adventure and fantasy and are looking for a light yet captivating read, I highly recommend C. S. Lewis’ timeless novel. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

 Ananya Swaminathan

Demon King review

The Demon King Review

 

By: Aishwarya Ramaswamy

 

So, have you ever had a friend who just kept giving you things with good intentions, but it always ended up bad for you? I have one who gives me a book a month and all they do it is make me cry. She is in India, and she sends me the novels they receive, translates it, and sends it to me via email.

 

She recently sent me The Demon King, the first part of the Seven Realms series. Unlucky for her, I already read it. But this friend of mine keeps sending me books that make me cry at the end, because someone always gets severely injured.

 

The Demon King is a book that describes the lives of Han-a former gang member and street lord, who has recently left the life, for his sister- and Raisa ana’Marianna, the princess heir to the throne, whose future was coming to a sharp turn in spite of the arrival of her sixteenth name day.  The story alternates between the two stories, until when the have a complication which ends in where Han kidnaps Raisa, without knowing her true identity.

 

After that, they continue on their separate lives, as they both learn disturbing stories of the Demon King, a man who went insane and nearly destroyed the world. Raisa is the bloodline of Hanalea, the woman who married a man she didn’t love to save the world from her true love, the Demon King.

           

No one knew Hanalea was in love with the Demon King until Han discovered it, by his friend Lucius. The end of the novel shows signs that the war had only begun, and that though Raisa and Han had no other confrontation besides the kidnapping incident, that was only the beginning of their relationship.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as it made me realize the aspects of the varied lives of those in power and those forgotten. The advantages and disadvantages are crucial in these lives and sometimes, we let the power get to our heads. The novel represents manipulation, and how the hardest choices we make, are the ones that define us.

 

This book by Cinda Williams Chime is the first installment of the series, which creates a mysterious time, where one of the many themes shows, that love is very complicated.

 

The Most Annoying Word by Bilal Syed

The Most Annoying Word

            A lot of the times when we are having conversations, we might get annoyed of certain phrases or words. It’s not like we don’t like the person we are talking to, but they just say stuff in certain ways that just tick you off. For the past five years, the word “whatever” has been ranked the most annoying word in people’s conversations.

            “Whatever” is a way to show that you don’t care what the other person is saying? Sometimes your friend might be saying a very exciting story, and then asks for your opinion. If you say “whatever” then that’s like telling them that you did not listen nor care about that story. You have just treated them like garbage. If you were a true friend you would have at least commented about it. A lot of the times we don’t realize what we say is something very offensive to people, when it really is.

            People in general now days are not good at conversing one on one in person. Maybe it’s because they are so used to texting on their phone or any other social networking website. However they need to learn, for it is necessary when doing job or college interviews. Maybe this is the reason why people fail to find public speaking interesting. 

Bilal Syed

Car Wrecks Nothing New for Indy Couple

Car Wrecks Nothing New for Indy Couple

            A lot of people may think a car crashing into someone’s living room is quite an unusual event. Perhaps it only happens to a few unlucky people that we see in the news. The chances of this event happening to typical family are pretty low, right? Well may be not for the couple in Indianapolis, whose living room was crashed by an SUV for the eleventh time in the past thirty years. Lee Mccall and her husband Timothy’s house was destroyed, and it’s going to take ten thousand dollars to clean up the mess.

            Mccall says that it was a typical day until she heard glass shattering. She says that she was only inches away from the car. For a minute she was in shock, and then her husband, Timothy, urged her to quickly get out of the house. The driver of the car says that she was crossing some rail road tracks near the couple’s house, and then all of a sudden, her car slid into their home. She was then thrown through the windshield, and taken to the hospital. However, she only had minor injuries.  The Mccalls say that this is the worst of the total eleven accidents that happened in the past thirty years

            Now who would have thought a car crashing through someone’s living room is nothing special. It looks like the Mccalls should probably get a new home if this is happening a lot. All of us should be thankful that we don’t live in an area like that where it is possible for such accidents to occur. Next time you look up to those people who live in mansions, remember the people whose houses have been destroyed so many times. Such homes include the one of the Mccalls, and also everyone’s homes who got destroyed during Hurricane Sandy.

-           Bilal Syed

Despicable Me Prequel Coming Soon

Despicable Me Prequel Coming Soon

            In 2010 Despicable Me became the third biggest opening grossing for an animated film. The movie made a total of $543,010,705 worldwide. Its sequel, Despicable Me 2, was the next big thing when it came out in 2013. The sequel made a total of $918,557,955 worldwide. This was the most profitable film in the hundred year history of Universal Studios. It is obvious that this series is very popular and had nothing but good reviews. One thing that all Despicable Me fans adore is the minions. They are the protagonist’s main sidekicks that are absolutely hilarious. Where did these oval shaped cute little creatures come from? This question will be answered in the newest prequel to Despicable Me, known as The Minions. The release date was announced to be July 10^th, 2015.

            This movie will consist of mostly minions, and the main character Gru will not participate. So far what we know from the movie is that it will show how the minions were created from yellow single celled organisms. They were existent since the beginning of time to serve the most ambitious evil villains as their only purpose. After all of their masters were destroyed, including Dracula and T. Rex, they decide to start a new life in Antarctica. By the 1960s, the minions become in a state of depression, due to their lack of masters. Kevin and two other minions set out on a journey to find a new one. Their adventures eventually lead them to a villain convention. They take interest in Scarlet Overkill, whose goal is to be the first female super villain, and to dominate the world. The whole movie will be about how they compete to become the henchmen for her.

            After seeing the first two movies, people can predict that The Minions is probably going to become a big hit. Despicable Me fans are probably going to be very excited to see how the minions came to be. A lot of people who watched the series liked it only because of the minions, so those people would love to watch this movie. Everyone will just hope for this movie to become a success.

-         Bilal Syed

Thoughts on The Alchemist

My Thoughts on the Alchemist

The Alchemist is one of the most inspirational books that I have ever read. It teaches

readers how to follow their dreams and to never give up. The book was written by Paulho

Coelho, and it sold millions of copies worldwide. The New York Times said "This Brazilian

wizard makes books disappear from stores."

The Alchemist is basically about a boy named Santiago. His dream is to travel the world,

which led him into getting the job of a Sheppard. One day he has a dream that a child tells him

that he must travel to the pyramids and obtain a valuable treasure. He sets out on his journey to

Africa, and enters a whole new world. He is then faced by a series of events that teach him how

life really is, and how he can connect with the soul of the world.

I recommend everyone to read The Alchemist, for it is truly inspirational. There

are a lot of dreams we had as children that we gave up on. It is not too late to accomplish them.

This book will make you want to get up and accomplish all the things that you forgot about. I

was truly inspired, and I am sure you will too.

- Bilal Syed

Paper Folding

Paper folding is a cheap and fun art form. A stack of real origami paper (about 100 sheets) will go for about $6.99. If you don't want to buy origami paper, any paper that can hold a crease can be used as origami paper. Models in foil paper look really cool.  Beginners can start off with simple models like the Crane, and the Fortune Teller (which most of you should have seen somewhere). Experienced folders can try out modular, crease patterns, and complex Star Wars Origami models.

Origami originated from Japan, when papyrus was used to fold animals and the environment. Modern origamists use tweezers for very complex models. You may have noticed the origami sculptures on the shelves of the South Brunswick library. These are modular origami, which uses multiple sheets of paper to create models. This method can be tedious and time consuming, but the finished models will look very nice. Diagrams for the Millennium Falcon are found http://www.flickr.com/photos/matayado-titi/sets/72157629344531435/

I fold paper because it is fun and challenging to fold complex models. It's like sculpting. I occasionally fold paper toys like Cootie Catchers for younger kids. I first started folding when I was 8 years old watching Activitytv.tv, which provided video tutorials of Micheal Lafosse folding basic models like ducks. Then I folded paper airplanes for a few months then left the idea for a few years. In Grade 6, I read Tom Angleberger's The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, which contained instructions on how to fold a simple Yoda. It was interesting and I wanted to attempt harder Star Wars models. I moved on to advanced characters like Fumiaki Kawahata's Jedi Master Yoda  http://www.spitenet.com/origami/pdf/Yoda-JediMaster.pdf. Then I moved on to the iconic Star Wars Ships like the X-Wing and the Millennium Falcon. I use foil paper because it is easy to fold and looks aesthetic. 

Origami can help children improve their creativity and Geometry. Because most models are 3-D, this can help them improve three-dimensional perception, which is better than the 2-D world of the TV. 

Diagrams for the Millennium Falcon are found here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/matayado-titi/sets/72157629344531435/  .

Sincerely,

Jay Manchiraju