Greg Mortenson's and David Oliver Relin's "Three Cups Of Tea"

How many of you fellow readers consider yourself charitable? Perhaps you've donated money in the past, went to an Oxfam shop and bought something, or perhaps even lent a pencil to someone in class or at work? Well, prepare to meet one of today's greatest humanitarians- Greg Mortenson.

Some of you may already know the name through the news media, but, if you do know his name, you will probably know it from a no. 1 New York Times Bestseller, "Three Cups of Tea". The book details the turbulant life of Greg Mortenson, starting from early 1993 to 2003. Greg Mortenson, in 1993, attempted to climb the worlds highest peak, K2, to honor his sister's memory, who had recently died of an epileptic fit. He fails, and wanders into a small village in the Karakoram (the mountainous regions of Pakistan) named Korphe. He was inspired by the uneducated children living there to build a school for them.

What started as one school has so far climbed to over sixty schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where children can get a non-extremist schooling that has propelled them to greater heights than anybody could ever have guessed.

If you'd like to make a donation, visit www.ikat.org, the homepage of Mortenson's company, Central Asian Institute. If you'd like to find out more about Mortenson's work, I'd suggest reading his book "Three Cups Of Tea", as it is not only informative, but is a great read and a life-altering experience as well.

"The Glass Castle" by Jeanette Walls and Dracula

Last Tuesday, school ended. Even though the school year was incredibly stressful and full of work, I found that it has been one of the best school years of my life. Part of the reason for this is my English and Social Studies teacher, Mr. Theisen, who, unfortunately, won't teach me again.

When we are on our summer holiday, we have to read three novels for school. This year, we have to read "The Glass Castle" by Jeanette Walls, "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson, and "When Asia Was the World" by Stewart Gordon. Although I was not particularly looking forward to reading any of these books (all of them are filled to the brim with disturbing and graphic images), I must admit that I am enjoying "The Glass Castle".

I won't tell you anything about the book, other than it is a memoir. I have only gotten up to page 19, but already I am in it's infamous grip! The writer's style is very open, and you really get the feeling that you are on to something when reading it.

Other than that, all I plan to do this holiday is make my own documentary. I chose to do one about Dracula, and his influence on modern culture. I am currently downloading the film "Bram Stoker's Dracula", and I have already downloaded "Nosferatu", "Horror of Dracula", and "Dracula", starring Béla Lugosi. I am using the films for footage which will be included in the documentary. For example, the title sequence is primarily composed of sequences from "Dracula".

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!

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.

Aliens?

I know that most of you are probably familiar with the Alien Merchandise- started by Ridley Scott and killed off in the recent "AVP" movies. Well, I always thought of it as... somewhat stupid. I mean, I sort of saw it as one of those really violent video games, like "Halo", where there is not really any objective apart from follow the road and kill people.

I never liked those games. Too violent for me. And Aliens... where do I begin. I always thought it was some stupid movie that was all about seeing marines killing- or vica versa- Aliens. It always looked like it had the bones there, but where's the meat?

About a week ago, my view of the merchandise changed. First of all, we have to state that the creatures are what they look like- skeletal, bug-like and drooling. And yes, I admit that they look like they're out of a game like "Halo". However, The first film is supposedly very clever. I've heard many of my suposedly "clever" friends say it's somewhat like watching a haunted house movie in space. Similar in style to "The Shining"- which I saw the other day, and, frankly, loved.

Now that I know that the Alien Merchandise is somewhat clever and exciting, I've started dipping my toe in the water. I bought the "Alien Triple Pack" which contains the first three movies- and, if I like what I see, will go on from there. I won't bother with "Alien: Ressurection", however, as loads of people say it's a bad movie. So, if I like it, I may check out some of the comics and novels (depending on the violence- I don't want people being ripped apart in front of my eyes). But, I am going to say this- I'm not going to bother with "Predator", unless someone convinces me likewise.

"Ranger's Apprentice" by John Flanagan

I drew some fan art of this exceptional series... anyone intrested in reading some new and original fantasy works, read this, 'cause it's absolutley mind-blowing. I read the first book- "The Ruins of Gorlan"- and am in the process of reading the second, "The Burning Bridge". Who knows where I'll end up with this new obsession?

Ranger's Apprentice Poster by ~comicprints on deviantART

Jeff Kinney's "Diary of a Wimpy Kid"

I was looking in the school library today. I have just started a two week break from school, and it is sort of required that we have a book to read. 'Cause I've been working so hard at school recently and I haven't really had one seconds rest, I chose an easy book to read: "Diary of a Whimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney. I started it at 12:00, stoppped at 12:20, and then after school started reading it again.

I finished it in one sitting.

So for anybody looking for a good book to read, and not necessarily a hard book to read, I heavily suggest this book. It takes the concept of an illustrated book and makes it into a blend of novel and comic book. It was an intresting read.

The premise of the book is that there is this kid called Greg Heffley. His mom says that if he starts writing a journal and writes an entry every day, he gets out of his chores for the weekend. Always taking shortcuts, the boy accepts, and soon he enters seventh grade (year 8 for us english people). His brain-dead friend Rowely hangs out with him and he generally has a bad time- all this is happening under the watchful eye of "The Cheese", a slice of cheese that has been on the basketball since last spring.

Again, quite an easy read. It is based on an online blog that the writer has- Funbrain.com- but I suggest that you read the actual book, as it is superior to the online book.