Many challenge the ocean to a game,

they test the waves

and usually lose to the battle

Beneath the current

lies a graveyard

Many face the hurricane

stare it in the eye even

and then they get whisked away

dragged down to the unknown

Few can withstand the dance with death

Can you?

Wednesday,March10 2010
I have been selected from Booker along with one other person, to listen and meet the former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf.  He spoke about the conflict within his country with India and how there was one of the biggest migrations ever, as well as big conflicts. The former president stated that as a 4 year old child he remembers traveling from Delhi, India to Pakistan and the horror of seeing dead bodies along the sides of the road. He also spoke about the on going trouble with the Taliban and the how Pakistan was before and after the attacks on 9/11. Mr.Musharraf also mentioned that after the US left Pakistan there was chaos and constant fighting, at that point, there was no control in the government. He said "It came to a point that there were barely any houses with roofs intact".That craziness, he believed, led to the formation of terrorist groups. His views were that many things could have been avoided if people would of listened to his ideas, he suggested not putting a time limit on the amount of time the US will be in an Afghanistan because that could encourage the Taliban that they can rise again. His word were,” We should rely on efficiency not the time" He also talked about his efforts and accomplishments as President like expanding the rights of women in Pakistan and establishing schools.. One thing that he made clear was the main stereotypes of Pakistan which were that all children in Pakistan were being taught in a school that taught extremist values, which he denied immediately stating that only about 3 or 4% of children were in those schools and majority of schools are private and schools like Christian school. The next stereotype was that because Pakistan is a third world country, the place is horrible, on the contrary, he states there is a good infrastructure and if you were to visit there, you wouldn’t know it was third world. The last stereotype was that there are bombs flying everywhere in Pakistan, which he assured that if you are in the big cities, it is very unlikely to come across a bomb attack. After that he answered audience questions but was briefly interrupted when a man stood up and was protesting about 911, moments later he was escorted out. To end well, he was asked a question asking if he would run for presidency again and he responded that it will be much harder to now  because he was president not by election the first time (which because of that was mistaken as a dictator which he denied) so for him to become president again would rely solely on if the people of Pakistan like him. With that said, the event was over, fortunately for the selected high school students (which includes me), we were able to met Pervez Musharraf after the speech and shake his hand. To end the night, we all posed for a picture with Mr. Musharraf and said our goodbyes.

Vladimer Tod is a vampire. Simple as it may seem, he has trouble trying to conceal his unhumanly manners while attending 8^th grade. Besides his little secret, he has the troubles of a everyday junior high student like bullies, getting in trouble and girls. To make things worse, he is being hunted by a vampire for a reason that is unknown to him ,his substitute teacher, it seems, may know his secrets and he is confused on if his parents really died in a fire. I enjoyed reading this book because it was a different take on vampires. Unlike all the Twilight hype, this book is only 1% romance and 99% mystery and action which keeps me interested.

The main characters of this book are Valdimer Tod who is actually half human and half vampire so his powers are a little different. Also his Aunt Nelly who takes care of him, serves him his daily meals of blood pastries and blood drinks and its kind of nice that she works at a hospital. Another important person is Mr.Otis who acts suspicious around Valdimer, for example, during a project themed on mystical creatures, Mr.Otis assigns Valdimer to present to the class everything about vampires. This sounds a little fishy to Vladimir.

I really thought this book was unpredictable which is excellent. As I read, I found about a organization that Valdimer’s dad was in or strange markings in his teacher’s house and the question that runs through your mind when you read this is why is someone chasing him. A good thing is that the book does not stop here, the book series continues to 9^th grade slays,10^th grade bleeds,and 11th grade burns. Even though this book was great there still were some points that I didn’t like about this book. The book was a mixture of his regular school life and a big mystery about his parents which I didn’t like because when all the action started happening at the end, the author forgot about his school life. Also it confused me with all the different clues and things that were being discovered almost every chapter.

To conclude, I would give this book a B just because it did not have me feeling for the character or dying to know what was on the next page. Other than that, it was an excellent book. I would recommend this book to people who like vampires and mysteries.

“You got a dream…You gotta protect it. People cant do something’ themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want something’, go get it. Period.” The Pursuit of Happyness is a tear-jerking, inspirational story  about the struggles of Christopher  Gardener who keeps his hopes up no matter what and risks everything for a better life. Accompanied by him is his young son, Christopher, who never leaves his side as money gets scarce and necessities, one by one, disappear.  Before going on, the reason why Happyness was spelt incorrectly was on purpose because it was showing that  the daycare that Christopher’s  son was going to had it spelled incorrectly on their window which he did not approve of.
First off, the characters of this movie were Chris Gardener (Will Smith), the main character who gets hit back to back with obstacles. His positive demeanor  and attitude stays true through the roughest times. An instance would be when he was left with only $5 in his wallet, as the company he was interning for’s boss was short on cash for the cab, Christopher hesitantly gave his last $5 to him. Christopher ( Jaden Smith), the son of Chris who throughout the movie faces changes in his life as things go down hill. Linda(Thandie Newton), the wife of Chris who is fed up with the drastic turns her once good life took.
The theme of The Pursuit of Happyness is that you should never give up. Even at your toughest times, you need to keep your head up and keep going. Not once did Chris Gardener ever quit and  accept his spiraling down luck. An example of his perseverance was when he was interning at a job that could possibly change his life. With his lunch break almost over, Chris hurries through the street to get back in time for his job. When running, he got hit by a car and in the process lost his shoe. After a failed searching for his shoe, he continues on his way not fazed about being hit. This movie really inspires people who are struggling to be positive.
The reason I love this movie is because  firstly, it sends a wonderful massage to everyone watching that you can be at the bottom and still make it top. Secondly, the actors of the movie portrayed the characters nicely. I was surprised  that the young son, Chris, of Christopher  Gardener was actually the son of Will Smith so the father and son connection in the movie was perfect.  What’s even more shocking is that this movie was based on the life of Chris Gardener who’s life was similar to the one in the movie. If you look closely, at the last scene, the real Chris Gardener walks pass them on the street. I feel like there was nothing bad  about the movie except that I felt that Chris was beyond lucky at some parts, for example when Chris has his merchandise stolen by a crazy bystander, days later Chris sees the same man at the park with his merchandise and was able to get it in one place.
My final grade for this movie would be a A-. Every aspect of the movie was nicely played except for my minor negative  against the movie which is why the movie got  a A-.  I would recommended this movie for people who want a movie that has a good message and meaning and may have you shedding a tear. This movie is for boys and girls and is pg-13.

a scary moment,

the breeze is light and the air is erie

noises creek at every moment

its oh so scary

alone on the walk home

darkness is my view

the shining light is my house,the dome

will i ever make it through.

“The world is going to end today!” This quote is what everybody was saying after the first 30 minutes of the movie. The overview of this movie is the earth is going to create major natural disasters that could potentially destroy the human race as we know it. The date they predicted is December 21, 2012. As the world is crumbling, Jackson must protect his family and get them safe. On the other side of the U.S. the government is battling between saving the average humans of the world or saving themselves.

            The main characters are Jackson Curtis, the father that tries to spend more time with his kids. Kate Curtis, the mother who separated from Jackson and is dating Gordon Silberman, the flight pilot/ doctor. All these people create a major role in the movie.

            The first thing I liked about this movie is the spectacular graphics that make you think twice if your really in a movie theater. An example of this would be that when Jackson and his family were driving through the disaster stricken Los Angeles, you could see the streets cracking and tearing apart making innocent people, dogs, and plants fall in the bubbling lava. In average movies, detail is overlooked but in this, detail is everything. Another example is when the family flies over a billboard. I was able to catch to the words “Your Partners in the Future” which corresponds with the movie perfectly.

            The storyline is something that really made me enjoy this movie. Everything in the movie made sense. At first you may question everything but once the movie kicks off into the action, every moment you’re having one of those “ahhhhh” moments.

According to Yahoo Movies, the critics average this movie a “B” but I disagree and give this an “A+++”. If you like movies that have action every second and amazing graphics then this movie is for you. It will appeal to all movie fans.

"Find others with goals like yours and stick with them." This simple quote was something the young boys, Sampson, George and Rameck had to learn the hard way. Drugs,violence and crime covered the streets of Newark,New Jersey, where these boys called home, this book gives an insight on the lives of the three boys and how they turned from troublemaking teens to well reknown doctors.
First off, i admit, i finished this book within the 5 hours that i got it. That already shows how captivating We Beat the Streets is. My curiosity sparked just by reading the introduction stating "We are real people. We started out as kids in the toughest neighborhood of Newark, New Jersey and today we are doctors."The chararcters all had their own personality and had their own troubles which made the book always interesting. I liked how since the book was written by the 3 doctors, they  had sections for each of the boys part of view and was nice to see as you got farther in the book the boys section started to combine together the more closer they got.
We Beat the Streets has a moral for each story and you learn from the challenges they had and the consequences that came with it. I remember in the book one of the doctors said they wanted the boys that have drifted away from the right path to read this book because the big main of the idea of the book is that no matter your situation, you need to have your goals set high ,find the right people to be friends with and everybody has potential, you just have to work hard to be successful.
Something that made me enjoy this book is they formatted it so quotes were occasionally on the side of page, a summary of what the doctor think after every chapter and real photos of Sampson,George, and Rameck. When having a quote like ,"Kids learned early that walking with a air of being in control was neccessary for survival",kind of tells you the main idea in the pages you are reading. The summaries at the end of the chapters gives a chance for the doctors to say their opinion and reason why they did certain things. Also the pictures in the book reminded you that the stories were real life events with real life people.
My final opinon on We Beat the Streets is that this book is a must read. It shows the proccess from misfit kids to doctors which i think struggling kids should take note on. I reccommend this book to everybody.