Darkazord's Blog

Hey guys! People in my class will (hopefully…) know about a task that we’ve been set. It’s called a Personal Research Project, or a PRP. Basically, you choose a topic to present to your classmates in the form of your choice, whether it’s a slide show, a poster, or a model. My topic will be on the video game, Ratchet And Clank. I chose this topic because I am familiar with it, I know a lot about the topic, and because it is something that interests me. Also keep your eyes peeled for a post about the first Ratchet And Clank games’ story. But until then, keep on bloggin’!

Harry Potter’s holiday’s were often stinkers (after all, he lived with the Dursleys), but his current situation was particularly unpleasant. Not only had one of his fellow students been murdered by Lord Voldemort, who had risen to power once again two months previously, but he had not heard anything for several weeks from his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Even his school headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, had seemed reluctant to speak to him. To make matters worse, Harry and his cousin, Dudley, are randomly attacked by Dementors, guards of Azkaban prison. As Harry must use magic while underage, in front of a Muggle (Dudley), and in a Muggle – inhabited area, Harry must stand trial at the Wizengamot. He is then taken, for his own safety, by members of the Order Of The Phoenix, a secret society founded by Dumbledore when Voldemort first rose to power. Harry meets his godfather, Sirius Black, who offers his home as headquarters for the Order.

When Harry returns to Hogwarts, however, things have changed drastically. The Minister For Magic, Cornelius Fudge, has pulled some strings to allow the sweetly sadistic Dolores Umbridge to become the school’s new Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher. Fudge, believing Dumbledore wishes to take on the Ministry, demands that, rather than teaching the children actual magic, Umbridge must teach the students theoretically. This causes Harry to create Dumbledore’s Army, which allows him and other students to practise and learn defensive spells and charms. However, something much more sinister is happening in Harry’s mind. He keeps dreaming about a long, dark hallway ending in a locked door, and wakes up with his scar hurting. Meanwhile, just outside Hogwarts, Voldemort continues to grow stronger as he searches for a dark secret located in the Hall Of Prophecy…

This book is personally my favourite in the Harry Potter series. It is a story of rebellion, a crumbling government, and a rising evil. The book delves deeper into Harry’s relationship with Ravenclaw student Cho Chang. It also looks into a great mystery: Harry’s connection to Voldemort, and why the Dark Lord chose to do what he did that tragic night at Godric’s Hollow.

As we all know, eBooks and other similar devices/technology are becoming very popular in this modern day and age. However, a result of this is that less and less people are reading actual books (that is, books made of paper, not a screen, some circuits, and electricity…). So the question is this;

Are books going to be replaced by technology, are they becoming extinct, or has it already happened?

My answer is, I’m not sure. You do see people using iPhones and eBooks almost everywhere (mainly iPhones). However, I believe that there are people who prefer normal books to technology, and I’m one of them. So hopefully, we will keep books alive, while still reading the odd eBook or two. Thank you for reading!

This week at school, we had Book Week. It is a special week at our school where the students get to celebrate books, meet authors, and even dress up as their favourite book characters.

Several picture books are short-listed for the students to read and vote on. this years books were, in the order we read them:

Mr. Chicken Goes To Paris

To The Top End

Isabella’s Garden

Fox And Fine Feathers

The Hero Of Little Street

The author we met was a man called Michael Panckridge. He has, alongside famous cricketer Brett Lee, written the Toby Jones series, as well as many other sports-related books (we are also reading one of his three fantasy novels, The Immortal). He also ran a writer’s workshop, where we get to plan our own story for possible development for the future.

But, after all that, the best part of Book Week was perhaps the Book Week Parade Day. Students come to school dressed as their favourite book character. I came as Alistair Oh from The 39 Clues. In the morning, the school went into the gym, and the students, in their class groups, walk around and show off their costumes.

No news yet on which book won the vote, but I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for reading!

Main Characters: Amy and Dan Cahill, Nellie Gomez, Grace Cahill, Eisenhower, Mary-Todd, Hamilton, Madison and Reagan Holt, Irina Spasky, Alistair Oh, Jonah and Broderick Wizard, Ian and Natalie Kabra, Ned, Ted, and Sinead Starling, William McIntyre, The Man In Black.

The Cahill family is one of the most influential families on Earth. The Cahills are split up into four different branches: the scheming Lucian branch, founded by Luke Cahill, the inventive branch of the Ekaterina, founded by Katherine Cahill, the tough-as-nails Tomas branch, founded by Thomas Cahill, and the branch of the talented Janus, founded by Jane Cahill. The world’s most famous names have been part of the Cahill family, like Winston Churchill, Marie Curie, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Amelia Earhart. Through her will, Grace Cahill asks the members of her family to make a choice: take 1 million dollars and walk away, or receive the first of 39 clues (placed around the world by the branch founders) that lead to immense power. 7 teams (the Cahills, the Holts, Irina, Alistair, the Wizards, the Kabras, and the Starlings) are formed…and the race is on!

A story of a broken family, deception, and a worldwide treasure hunt. Definitely my kind of book! What I like about the 39 clues series is the amount of creativity put into making the clues, and the intelligence needed to solve them. I enjoy reading this series very much, and hopefully, you will too. Thank you for reading!

Harry Potter is a seemingly ordinary boy. He lives with his arrogant Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and their son, Dudley. Harry is forced to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs, and he is punished severely for speaking his mind. He has no recollection of his real parents James and Lily, as they died in a car crash when he was only 1 year old. There is something strange about Harry. He can make unusual things happen. And when Harry begins to receive letters addressed to him from no-one, he begins to suspect something. His suspicions are confirmed when a giant called Hagrid comes to tell him the truth; he is a wizard, and the letters are an invitation to attend Hogwarts, a school for wizards. Harry buys his basic wizarding supplies, like his school robes and wand, from Diagon Alley. Harry then travels to King’s Cross Station, where he meets a red-headed wizard family that help him reach Platform 9 3/4. There, he boards the Hogwarts Express, and meets the youngest son of the wizard family, Ron Weasley, and in turn meets a girl called Hermione Granger. Their adventures throughout the year include fighting a troll, flying broomsticks, and defeating the evil Lord Voldemort himself.

I love this book because it begins one of the most famous and popular book series of the modern decade. J.K. Rowling has captivated children and adults across the world with this remarkable series. The whole series tells the the story of someone who is loving, but never loved back in return. He is then swept up into this mystical world full of people that know and accept him, no matter who he is. But he still meets people who do not like him, some of which may kill him if they get the chance. He discovers powers he never knew he had, but more importantly, he has a chance to know of his family again. Overall I would give this a 10/10 for being a terrific, humorous, and wildly fantastic novel. Stay tuned for my next book review on the first book in the 39 Clues series!

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the above concept, a parent-teacher interview is a meeting between a student, their parents (or, in my case, parent), and the students teachers. My interview was on Wednesday, 23rd of June. My classes whole assignment was to prepare a Powerpoint presentation using the 5 R’s model (the only three I can remember are Reporting, Relating, and Reconstructing) and to present it to your parents and teachers at the interview. The presentation needs to be about your work, achievements (social and academic), goals, and anything else you think should be added. When you are finished presenting, your teacher/teachers will talk to your parents about your work ethics, how you tackle problems in class, your behaviour and attitude, your successes, friendships, problems you might have, whether it’s with work or classmates, and anything else that may need discussing. If there is nothing else that needs to be talked about, you and your parents are free to go. Thanks for reading!

Well, two weeks ago, the dreaded NAPLAN tests started… and then finished, almost instantly. But I’m sure I speak for every Australian Year 3, 5, and 7 student when I say “I breathe a heavy sigh of relief.” Not only were we put through practise session after practice session almost every day during the week before the tests, but almost everyone was saying “How am I going to do in the tests? Will I be O.K?” No-one remembered from previous years that no matter how good or bad you do in the NAPLAN test, it won’t count against your grade? I’m sorry, but that’s just really weird. In fact, it’s more than weird! It’s just freakin’…

NOTE: The above blog post has been cut short by the Edublogs Admin Team for being too stupid/rude. It has also been deemed to be dangerous towards your health. If you read, look at, touch, hear, taste, smell, or even think about the above blog post, you will explode. In fact, you probably don’t want to look at anything on the Internet. Put down the laptop and walk away. Thank you.

Since going on camp to Aldinga, I have learned a lot about Aboriginal culture. I learned that:

All Aboriginal tribes build shelters, but they all have different names. The tribes also never put their shelters under trees, because if lightning hits them, the tree will fall and the shelter will be crushed, possibly injuring, or maybe even killing, the people inside.

Most trees can provide medicine and other materials that are used in daily Aboriginal life.

Aboriginal hunters are able to look at tracks and find out what animal made them.

The names of a vast majority of Australian towns and cities are Aboriginal words or names.

Thanks for reading, guys. And with regards to my review on the Percy Jackson film, you may have to wait a little longer; I haven’t really been able to free up any time. So anyway, if you liked this, check out some of my other posts, I got TONNES more coming. And don’t forget to comment. Until next time, good bye!

(In ominous tone) The podcast is coming.

Hello everyone, and welcome to 2010! I hope you all had a good break from school; I know I did! For Christmas I got the Doctor Who series 2 box set (which I watch a LOT!), Doctor Who Top Trumps collectible cards, Doctor Who 2010 Calender (as you might have guessed, I’m a pretty big Doctor who fan/Whovian/Wholigan.), the book 1,000 Disgusting Things, Duel Masters handbook, a block of chocolate (FINALLY!!! Something edible!), and a T – Shirt. One thing I did was Laser Skirmish at Zone 3. There are 3 teams (red, blue, and yellow), and each team can have a maximum 0f 4 players. During the game, team members wear these pack things (they have name but I don’t remember it) that are attached to a gun. The gun won’t fire unless you have both hands on it. Each team also has a base; Blue’s base is up the ramp on the second level, Red’s base is next to a computer terminal in this smoky area that smells like perfume (???), and Yellow’s base is protected by a dragon. To destroy the base you must shoot into the barrel; it has some censor inside it, and when it gets shot alarms will sound until the base is destroyed. But enough about my holidays. As you know, (unless you have been hiding under a rock since New Years Eve!) school has started and this year is my final year of primary school. That’s right…I’m a Year 7! But the big thing for me this year is the fact that I have made a massive improvement, work – wise, from last year to this year. I’m managing my work well, and my teachers and parents alike are amazingly impressed with me (he he he!) Well, that’s enough from me. I pretty sure this is my longest blog post ever… anyway, thanks for listening and don’t forget to leave comments! And stay tuned for my review of the new film Percy Jackson And The Lightning Thief! Bye!