Funny Book!

Just a funny picture I found on the internet of a book... look at the title. Quite funny if you are a teenage boy.

"Star Trek", My Birthday, And More!

First of all, I'd like to thank everybody for my presents. Listed below are the presents and who they are from:

1. "Seven Samurai" DVD- Grandad
2. "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" DVD- Amanda
3. "The Blair Witch Project" DVD- Amanda
4. "Rear Window" DVD- Isabella
5. "To Kill A Mockingbird" DVD- Nana Betty
6. "Beauty and the Beast" DVD*- Nana Carole
7. "Stanley Kubrick: A Biography" by John Baxter- The Williams
8. "The Shining" by Stephen King- The Williams
9. "'Salem's Lot" by Stephen King- The Williams
10. "Skulduggery Pleasant 3: The Faceless Ones" by Derek Landy- Sue & Guy
11. "Mad Max" DVD- Sue & Guy
12. "Blow Up" DVD- Sue & Guy

*I am talking about the 1940's black and white one, not the disney one. This one is a lot more artistic, and very frightening, and very true to the original short story.

I also saw "Star Trek" this weekend, and I must say, I loved it. One of the best science fiction movies I've seen in a long time. And I'm kinda ashamed to say, but I watched a few of the original series... and I loved it! I started writing a few short stories, which you can read at this link:

www.startrekadventures.blogspot.com

Happy reading! And thanks for my presents!

New Photo From "Iron Man 2"!

Anyone see the original Iron Man movie from last year? Well, die hard fans like me will be pleased to hear a photo from the sequel has just been released online! AAAAAAHH! SUGAR CRAZY!!!

"X-Men Origins: Wolverine", "Doctor Strange: The Animated Series" and "On the Waterfront"

So... I saw the new Wolverine movie, and I have to say that it is the best marvel movie made as of yet. The only one, in my opinion, that has matched up to it in originality and... sheer art, was the animated movie of "Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme". I urge any and all to go and see it, but don't take any children who are less than 12 years old- there is a particularly nasty scene (or should I say, scenes) that features a beheading, and a character that looks like the Mummy, just without a mouth.

When you look at the title of "Doctor Strange: The Animated Series", you probably think that I was talking about the movie I just mentioned. Well, I can tell you this- you are wrong. I've begun a short, web-based television series adapting the original Doctor Strange comics. I have made two episodes as of yet, both of which are on youtube. However, a note- the first episode had the audio taken away, So i will upload both of the episodes some time in the near future. If you want them straight away, we can chat via MSN and transfer the files then. They are in .wmv format.

Also, I saw "On the Waterfront" with Marlon Brando for the first time ever. I must say it was a brilliant film, but I need to watch it again as I saw it immediately after "Wolverine" and it seemed pretty tame. Anything will after that film!

The Holocaust: A Textbook Case

In my social studies class (a mixture of geography and history) we have just begun to wrap up our knowledge on World War II. I... felt quite strange reading about it; for me, it is one of the most interesting wars I've looked at, along with The Vietnam war.

We are about to start studying the Holocaust. Our teacher, Mr. Theisen, also teaches my english class, and he tries to make the two connect for a richer learning experience. So, for example, we read "Red Badge of Courage" whilst studying the Civil War, read "Fools Crow" whilst studying Native American culture... and now, we are studying "Night", by Elie Wiesel.

I have read some Holocaust fiction before- the graphic novel "Maus". And from the experience I had reading this graphic novel, I came away with something. It changed my life, so to speak. And now, just having started reading "Night", I wanted to share with you a small passage I found:

Never shall I forget that night, the first night in the camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.

Never shall I forget that smoke.

Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky.

Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.

Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live.

Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.

Never shall I forget those things, even were condemned to live as long as God himself.

Never.

From this, and other Holocaust fiction I've read, I have derived a small fact: that you can never really learn about the Holocaust from a textbook. Sure, you can read about all the people that died, about the inhumane ways they were killed in.

But you will never learn the true horror from a textbook.

You need to read it from literature; preferably a first hand account, one such as "Maus" or "Night". And we need to learn this, because the enemy, even though physically defeated, will win this battle if we ever forget what happened.