What's Up in Quarter 2

Response to Josh Darling


I also think you did a good job on your blog. I also agree with you that we should take advantage of time to work on blogs in class. I couldn't get my VLOG to upload last quarter, so this quarter I'm going to record it at school so I can get it to work like it is supposed to. This semester I am also reading Ship Breaker. This is a good book. I was interested in reading this book and was hoping it would be good. I'll be following your blog this quarter to see what you think also.


Response to Pierre McCauley

1. I can agree with you about procrastination. I know how it is. I don't think you need to have a perfect score. There is a place in between perfect and gray hairs that will be a good place for you. Don't stress on your blog so much. You will like it better if it is something interesting. I see you want to be entertaining. That works with me, because I will be following your blog this quarter and I need interesting posts to read. Your blog is good.

   Response to Komal Chaudhry:

   
   

   You definitely don't have trouble getting a lot of words out. It seems like it's easy for you to write and write and write more. I admire that. I agree with your comments that some of the blogging assignments were not as interesting as the others. I also really liked the Animoto post. I don't know that I will want to read the book you have this quarter, but I am reading the Ship Breaker, and I want to recommend it to you. I will be following you this quarter, so we'll see how your book goes.

Second Quarter Kick-Off

We are now into the second quarter of the semester and beginning our second Read for a Lifetime book.  Blogging is a new experience for me - I never blogged before the first quarter assignment.  I can tell you for sure that if it hadn't been assigned, I would not have done it.  During the first quarter, I could have done better, but I think the combination of blogging to an audience - not just to the teacher - and learning the technology of using a blog site take some time to get used to.  I am getting more used to it now.  The first quarter I couldn't get my VLog to upload even though I recorded it over and over at home, and that was frustrating.  So, this quarter I am going to make my recording at school if we have to do it again.  Now that I am more familiar with blogging on blogger.com, I will probably have a little easier time this quarter.  I like blogging more than I like writing papers, but I don't see myself using Facebook or Twitter anytime soon.

This quarter I am reading Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi.  This book was first published in 2010.  The author was born in 1972 and writes science fiction and fantasy books.  This one seems to be a science fiction book.  The story takes place in America around the Gulf Coast.  It doesn't say what year it is, but it must be in the future because there is no more oil, so big oil tankers have been abandoned along the shore, and crews of "ship breakers" are tearing them apart to sell their parts, like the copper, brass, nickel, aluminum and stainless steel.  They also looked for hidden petrol and ship oil pockets which could buy them freedom from ship breaking. 

The main character, Nailer, is a young boy who is small enough to get into the ships ducts to pull out copper wiring for his crew.  He belongs to a crew of people who are desperate to survive, and will do practically anything to get work on a crew.  Nailer's crew is run by a guy named Bapi who is mean and only cares about how much and how fast his crew can strip a ship.  The crew have their crew's symbol carved into their cheeks to show who they work for.  The work is dirty and hard and has practically no reward for the workers who risk their lives to get the parts.  It is also very dangerous work.  The ships are broken down and dark and hard to navigate.  Nailer puts phosphorus paint on his forehead to get light while he crawls in the ships dirty ducts that are also filled with dead rats and dust and sharp rusty edges.

Second Quarter Begins

Reflection

My New Book

My second Quarter book is tittled Ship Breaker which is about a crew of pople who go to shipwreckes and scrap the reuseable parts out of the ship. In this timeperiod, resources are scarce and workers have been set in horrible work conditions to get paid a small amount of money. Food in this time is rationed off to the workers and as you can immagen it probably doesn't taste better than the food you were given by you middle-school lunch ladies.

What's Next

Animoto

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Want to Learn More

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Around_the_World_in_Eighty_Days 

This is Wikipedia's site that talks about the book.  It gives a good overview that tells the reader the story. It gives you the main storyline.

http://www.online-literature.com/verne/

This site gives you more information about the author, Jules Verne.  Jules Verne wrote Around the World in 80 Days in 1873.  The story takes place in 1872.

http://www.festipedia.org.uk/wiki/The_1870's_Train

This site gives you information on trains that were used in the 1870's.  Travel across American was made easier for settlers when the train tracks were laid.  Towns were built around train stations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rail_transport_in_India.  

The railway in India is what started the bet between Phileas Fogg and the men at the Reform Club.  The incompletion of the railway is why they  happened to travel by Elephant and come upon their adventure with Aouda.  This site tells of the history of transportation by train in India.  In the book, Phileas Fogg and Passepartout travel by train in India.

http://books.google.com/books?id=BJg-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA243&lpg=PA243&dq=sioux+indians+attacking+trains&source=bl&ots=ApWUFb4Biw&sig=Me8XNOnwMnk-t9K_Y_FIR5dTors&hl=en&ei=lgGNTt3NC4-atwfkrr2RDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CGUQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false

This link tells the story of a woman who was captured by the Sioux Indians in 1873.  That was around the time the Sioux Indians attacked the train Phileas Fogg was taking from the west coast of the United States to the East Coast.  In the story, the trains passengers overcome the Indians.

http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=664&q=traveling+by+elephant&gbv=2&oq=traveling+by+elephant&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=5782l10180l0l10403l21l19l0l8l2l0l211l1618l2.6.3l11l0

This site shows images of people riding on elephants.  In India, Phileas Fogg traveled by elephant when the train tracks ended.  He paid a lot of money to buy the elephant.

http://books.google.com/books?id=JL8CAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA13&dq=about+whist+card+game&hl=en&ei=GAONTo_DL86gtgfOqNSiDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CFEQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=about%20whist%20card%20game&f=false

This link tells you about the game of Whist, Phileas Fogg's favorite pastime.  It is a card game he played at the Reform Club.  He also played it during his travels.

http://www.gjenvick.com/SteamshipArticles/TransatlanticShipsAndVoyages/OceanSteamships/1882/index.html

This site gives you a history of steamships in the 1800's.  This was the way people traveled across oceans during the travels of Phileas Fogg in 1872.  Airplanes were not invented yet.

http://www.reformclub.com/

This site tells you about the Reform Club - the club for wealthy Englishmen that Phileas Fogg belonged to and visited daily.  This is where Phileas Fogg made his bet.  And it is where he won his bet.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/brief-scotland.html

This site gives you a history of Scotland Yard.  Mr. Fix, a member of Scotland Yard, pursued Phileas Fogg all the way around the world.  He had reason to think Mr. Fogg was the bank robber he was looking for because he matched the description of the wanted robber.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_den

This link gives you a history of Opium dens.  At one point in the book, Mr. Fix tries to prevent Phileas Fogg from making his boat for the next part of the journey by getting his servant, Passepartout, to pass out from smoking opium in an opium den.  The trip was almost ruined by what happened in the opium den.

http://adaniel.tripod.com/sati.htm

This site explains sati which is an Indian Hindu ritual of sacrificing the wife of a dead husband...against their will.  In the story, Fogg and Passepartout save Aouda from this ritual.  They took her back to England with them.

http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/dateline.htm

This site tells about the international date line.  In the end, Phileas Fogg wins his bet because he finally realized that he was not late, but early, because he traveled east and actually gained 24 hours travel time. If they would have traveled west, they would have lost a day.

http://www.visitlondon.com/

If you want to learn more about London - this site will tell you all about it.  London was the home of Phileas Fogg and where the trip began.  It was also where the Reform Club was.

http://www.suezcanal.gov.eg/

From London, they traveled to Suez and went through the Suez Canal.  This site tells you more about the Suez Canal.  This is where Mr. Fix came into the picture.

http://www.mumbainet.com/

From Suez, they traveled to Bombay, India.  This site gives you more information on Bombay which is now called Mumbai. 

http://www.calcuttaweb.com/history.shtml

From Bombay, they travelled to Calcutta, India.  This site gives you a history of Calcutta.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/hk.html

From Calcutta, they traveled to Hong Kong.  Here is a site on Hong Kong.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2156.html

From Hong Kong, they traveled to Yokohama, Japan.  Here is a site on Yokohama.

http://www.baycityguide.com/

From Yokohama, they traveled to San Francisco.  Here is a site on San Francisco.

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