Daily Archives: December 4, 2013

The Hunger Games App

 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire came out not too long ago, but before you run to your local movie theaters to find out what happens to Katniss and Peeta, you can start  running through Panam with an official app on Android and iOS. Both (The Hunger Games and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) movies were very thrilling, intense, and of course good. The app is a simulation in which being one of the characters from the movies, you run through Panem and the districts. The link for the trailer of the game is: Hunger Games App. If you have not seen the movie or read the books yet, you should do so.

I saw the movie The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and it was amazing. I also saw the first Hunger Games movie. I read all of the books in the series. I downloaded the Hunger Games app on my IPad and it is a lot like Temple Run but with a few twists. Like the landscape changes from district to district and the power ups are different from the ones in Temple Run. The app is very fun and addicting and you should definitely download it. Also if you haven’t seen the movies or read the books you should do so.

~Brett

Surviving the Torture, She called LOVE!

The book “A Child Called It” by Dave Pelzer describes to the reader the torture he endured every day by his mother. Before Dave was tortured daily, he had a relatively happy  normal life. He would play outside with his brothers, eat meals with his family, and was able to just enjoy being a kid.  His mother developed a very bad drinking problem to help her to deal with stress.  She soon became an alcoholic. His mother treated Dave like her personal slave and made him do specific chores the other children did not have to do. He had to complete them in certain time limits or she would torture Dave with different “games” that she thought up. If Dave did not finish the chores in the time limit  she would take away food. His mother starved him for weeks. Daves starvation led to him stealing food from others at school, begging for food from strangers and even stealing from the supermarket! His mother became so upset with him stealing food, that she tortured him. Some of the torture he was forced to endure was being locked in the bathroom with an ammonia and clorox mixture, made to drink ammonia, sleep in the cold garage, put his hands on the stove and burned them, and she even stabbed him!  Dave did everything he could do to please her but nothing worked and she was never satisfied. Going to school for Dave was an escape from all the torture he had at home. When one day when he arrived at school,  Dave was called to the nurses office. She  questioned him on his bruises. He reluctantly told them that his mother  had beat him. Soon a police officer was brought to the school to take him to a safe place so that his mother could no longer get to him. Dave was finally saved from all the torture by some loving and caring adults.

The book made me wonder what it was like being tortured by someone who was supposed to be the person to provide for and love you.  I could only imagine how hard it must have been for him to stay positive through the tough time he was having with his mother and why he didn’t tell anyone that he was being beaten and tortured?  I couldn’t  believe that his mother came up with such torturous “games” to try to make his life as miserable as it was. After reading this book it made me reflect about what the authors message in the story was. I believe that what he was trying to convey is that, you can overcome any obstacles in your life. Even in the worst and darkest days, Dave overcame his mothers “games”. I often still wonder why Dave’s mother allowed her personal stresses of life allow her to  treat her son the way she did by torturing him relentlessly on a daily basis for so many years.

~Bri

The Tracks Tragedy

In New York, on December 1st, a train containing approximately 150 passengers derailed causing the death of 4 people and wounding many others. The train, traveling through the Bronx derailed as it was turning a corner at 7:20 in the morning, about 10 miles north of Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal. All 7 passenger cars went “twisting and turning” says New York Fire Department Chief Edward Kilduff. 3 out of the four that died were thrown from the car as it crossed the opposite track and rolled down a nearby hill. The train was 74 miles up the Hudson River when it left the tracks.  One car finally came to a stop about 10 feet from the Harlem River.

This terrible crash threatened the lives of many people. It is frightening to think of the how much worse this could have been.  So many people rely on the train as their primary method of commuting to work.  The article discusses the plans to examine all aspects of the situation from the track condition, to crew performance and even look for any video evidence that could help to explain what caused the crash and hopefully make the changes to prevent this situation in the future.  People sometimes are blinded to their everyday routine, such as their work commute, and it is not until a tragedy such as this that we re-examine the need for the most up to date safety features to protect the millions of passengers who travel every year.

~Karly

Woof or Meow?

“Woof or Meow?” You are probably asking yourself, “What the heck does that mean?” Well, in simpler terms, cat or dog? The feud between the two top domestic animals has been going on for years. It is proven that roughly 83.3 million people in the United States own a dog. While cats on the other hand, are owned by roughly 95.6 million people in the United States. Studies have shown that people who choose dogs tend to be very energetic. This is most likely due to the fact that dogs are typically energetic and sometimes almost “insane.” This is also why people with dogs tend to have young kids so as to give them a playmate who will always be available. Cat owners on the other hand tend to be more independent, similar to the lone-wolf nature of most cats. So ask yourself now that you know this information, “Woof or Meow?”

I personally am more of a dog guy, and here is why. Dogs in my opinion are more lovable for several reasons. First, I have noticed among my dogs and other dogs that they tend to enjoy attention, and will keep coming back to get it. Dogs also, (if you train them right), are not very dangerous. Although they have sharp teeth and nails, they don’t typically find a reason to use their weapons. Cats on the other hand tend to be more aggressive, using their claws when scared, and latching on to anything they can find, which I notice is usually me. Cats also bite if they’re bitten in the wrong spot, as proven by wikihow.com. They also tend to get feisty when someone tries to pick them up (self-defense), which is a pain for anyone who likes to pet animals, such as myself. Dogs on the other hand gladly get picked up, which makes it easy to pet them and, takes them out of harm’s way. They also are very easy to train, unlike cats who are hard to train and pee everywhere… A lot. Dogs overall are awesome and definitely take the cake over cats.

~Jason