Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Biography #4: Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong is a very famous astronaut, most famous for being the first person ever to step on the moon. He stepped foot on the moon on July 21, 1969. He then said the words, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". He then taught at the University of Cincinnati. Today, many people have stepped on the moon, but none of those men were the first. Neil Armstrong will always be known as the first man to walk on the moon.
 
What do you want to be when you grow up?



Saturday, June 22, 2013

Book Review: The View From Saturday

I just finished reading The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg. It is a two time Newbery Medal Award Winner. The story takes place mostly in New York, but one chapter of it in Florida. The View From Saturday is a book about 4 sixth graders, Nadia, Ethan, Julian, and Noah who are picked to be their class's academic bowl team. Nadia is a girl from Florida who has a particular fond for turtles, and she moved to New York with her mom when her parents got divorced. Ethan is a boy who doesn't talk much, and his grandmother marries Nadia's grandfather. Julian is a magician who lived on a cruise ship, and has a tea party at his house every Saturday at 4. Noah was best man at Nadia's grandfather and Ethan's grandmother's wedding, and is great at calligraphy. They make the Souls. The Souls end up being a great team. Read The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg to find out more about The Souls.

Good things about the book:
 
  1. It was a well written, great story.
  2. E.L. Konigsburg could of easily made that one story at least five stories.
  3. I learned lots of new words in the book.
  4. At the end of the book, they have 15 questions with 36 answers to show that they are many ways to answer a question
 
Bad things about the book:
 
  1. They put parts of the contest in random places.
  2. They introduced a Mrs. Reynolds, but didn't say for a couple of pages that she is the High School drama teacher.
  3. Also, they said chops had something to do with the ability to do magic, but never really said what it was.
 
Homonyms:
 
  1. When you think about the word alien, do you think of those green people who live on a different planet? It can also mean "Belonging to a foreign country or nation".
  2. When you hear the word sound, do you think of things that you hear? Sound can also mean "A narrow stretch of water forming an inlet or connecting two wider areas of water such as two seas or a sea and a lake".
 
New words I learned:
 
  1. Quaint-attractively unusual or old-fashioned.
  2. Paraplegic-paralysis of the legs and lower body typically caused by spinal injury or disease.
  3. Brigadier-a rank of officer in the British army, above colonel and below major general.
  4. Sentinel-a soldier or guard whose job is to stand and keep watch.
  5. Nanosecond-one billionth of a second.
  6. Derive-obtain something from.
  7. Vulgar-lacking sophistication or good taste.
  8. Malice-the intention or desire to do evil.
 
Overall, I rate this book as a A+, and I think anyone interested in smarts should read it, and all elementary school and middle school students.
 
Have you read The View From Saturday?
 
Do you know of any books that you can relate to this?

The View from Saturday.jpg
 

Friday, June 21, 2013

2013 NBA Champions: The Miami Heat

Yesterday, the Miami Heat played the San Antonio Spurs in a crucial game. It was game 7 of the NBA Finals. The winner got a huge trophy and the loser got nothing more than a pat on the back. Game 6 was about to end with the Spurs winning the championship when the Heat came back and Ray Allen hit a 3-pointer to win the game. In Game 7, the Heat were winning almost the whole game and ended up winning 95-88. LeBron James was the 2013 NBA Finals MVP.

This was an amazing NBA season. With the Clippers' streak of 17 straight wins and the Heat's streak of 27 straight wins, and more, there were many great teams. Also, there were lots of amazing plays by people like Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Chris Paul, and more. This upcoming draft class is horrible. Nerlens Noel from Kentucky is expected to be the first pick, and his team didn't even make it to the NCAA Tournament.

Do you watch NBA?
 
Who is your favorite NBA team?
 
Did you want the Heat or the Spurs to win the championship?
 
Who do you think should go first in the NBA draft?
 




Thursday, June 20, 2013

Biography #3: LeBron James

This biography is about LeBron James. James is considered one of the best NBA basketball players of all time along with men like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. LeBron currently plays for the Miami Heat. His nickname is King James. He plays Small Forward. LeBron was drafted in 2003 out of high school as the first pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He played with them until 2010 when he decided to take his talents to Miami to play with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, making the Big 3. He has two children, LeBron Jr. and Bryce. LeBron has 4 MVP awards and 1 Rookie of the Year award. He won the NBA championship last year and has Game 7 which is a win the championship or go home situation against the Spurs tonight.

LeBron James 2011-03-30 brightened.jpg

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

The 3rd Ultimate Blogging Challenge

I am going to have the third Ultimate Blogging Challenge. I haven't done one in over a year, so I'd like to start one. If you would like to sign up, leave your first name and a link to your blog in the comment section.  This will be the first UBC that won't be done with teams. It will be done solo, so no one can rely on their teammate to do the work for them. The goal is to get people to find other blogs that interest you. You can sign up starting right now. Registration ends on July 15th at 3:00 PM.  I will not be in the challenge, but I will be trying to do all the challenges. For the first two rounds, you get eliminated by not doing the challenge.

Colossal Collections

Lots of people have collections. Some popular collections are erasers, kooky pens, and sports cards. While I collect lots of things, I have one colossal collection. My favorite things to collect are WWE and UFC figures.

I started collecting UFC figures in September of 2008. I bought figures of Royce Gracie and Brock Lesnar. I then started buying a few each month. Today, I have 56 UFC figures, only missing out on one fighter's figure that they have made. Once I had collected a bunch, I started collecting smaller ones. I collected 10 of those.

In December of 2011, I got a WWE Rick Rude figure for Christmas. At the time, I didn't watch WWE. Although I didn't watch it, I had collected a lot of UFC figures by then, so I bought 5 or 6 more. I then started watching WWE in May 2012 and realized that is was super fun to watch. I started collecting a bunch of them. At the moment, I have 93 WWE figures. Combined, my collection of UFC and WWE figures is probably worth about $1,750.

I don't just collect these because they're fun to collect. I do MMA and wrestling. When I learn a new move in MMA, I go home and try it out with my UFC figures. If you want to try and collect something, I would recommend collecting something related to what you like doing.

                                                    Do you watch WWE or UFC?                                     

              What do you collect?
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My John Cena, Damien Sandow, Mark Henry, CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, The Miz, Ryback, Triple H, and Randy Orton WWE figures.
 
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My Nate Diaz UFC figure

 
 


Friday, June 14, 2013

Biography #2: Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States of America. He is considered one of the best presidents ever, along with George Washington. Lincoln is most famous for his signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, which ended slavery in the USA. Although the news did not reach everyone right away, the Emancipation Proclamation is one of the most important things in USA history. His Vice President was Hannibal Hamlin. Andrew Johnson replaced Hamlin in 1865. Lincoln served as president from 1861-1865, before being assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. He was 56 years old when he died at 7:22 AM on April 15, 1865.

Who do you think was/is the best president in USA history?
 
 
Iconic black and white photograph of Lincoln showing his head and shoulders.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Biography #1: Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez is a very famous actress and singer. Her first acting job was on Barney & Friends from 2002-2004 as Gianna. She's most famous for her work on the Disney Channel. Selena has been on lots of shows, but she is most famous for being Alex Russo on Wizards of Waverly Place. Some of her songs are Love you like a Love Song and Come & Get It.

Are you a fan of Selena Gomez?
 
 


Biographies: Introduction

I'm going to start writing biographies on my blog. I'll try to do at least one biography each week. I'm going to be doing it for anyone. I'll do talk show hosts, astronauts, actors, directors, athletes, authors, and more! Also, if there is anyone in particular who you would like me to write about, you can ask me to write about them in the comments.

Who should I write about?