Richard's Post

The Olympic Games By: Richard On the 8th of August, 2008, 8:07 P.M., the countdown for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games began. When the timer reached zero, hundreds of fireworks went off at the exact same time and made the Bird's Nest, the Olympic stadium that seemed like a nest constructed of steel twigs, seem ablaze. Even before the fireworks at the Bird's nest were all launched, exactly 29 sets of fireworks (because these were the 29th modern Olympic Games ever held), resembling footsteps from Tiananmen Square leading to the Bird's Nest. When the final footstep arrived, even more rounds of fireworks were launched, which were accompanied by drum roll by 2008 drummers, for the year 2008. After the raising of the Chinese Flag and the announcement of the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, The Opening Ceremony started with the four ancient Chinese inventions, the Compass, paper, fireworks and printing, but one didn't show up, which was the compass. Just as the speaker finished, an LED screen began to unroll and some performers began to make a painting of the mountains and water with their bodies. When the performers finished, they stepped aside and the entire sheet of paper was lifted into midair. When a few other acts were over, a set of movable-type blocks rose from the floor and imitated some patterns by moving up and down, made the Great Wall of China and the Chinese word for harmony about three times. When the tops of the blocks flipped over, I realized that people, not hydraulics or computers were inside. After more acts were made, a giant globe rose from the floor where the blocks once were, and people were walking on the exterior, except we don't have side effects from walking near the South Pole of the real Earth. After a little while, two singers appeared at the top and began singing. When they finished, fireworks went off all over Beijing. When the fireworks were over, every single athlete that was competing was paraded into the bird's nest. Anyways, did you watch the opening ceremony? And what events did you watch? (I watched Swimming, Basketball, Cycling, Volleyball and Gymnastics.

Summer is Finally Here!!!

Dear Penguins, what are you doing this summer? Are you ready to do something silly? Are you ready to be muddy, goofy, or just exploring? No matter what you choose to do, stay cool! Have some fun, relax, and share your stories with us!

Shivani's Post

Spring Break By: Shivani Spring break is over! Darn! What did you do over the break? Did you go to PEP? Seven students in our class went to WASHINGTON D.C. !!!!! For many students, being away from home for one week must have been a great experience, but for others it must have been sad. If you went, how did you feel about being away from home? But anyways we had such wonderful supporting chaperones and teachers. We saw many amazing sites like, The White House, The Capitol Building, John Fitzgerald Kennedy's gravesite, President’s Park and Old Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg. We also saw the Washington Monument. We saw Ford's Theatre where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and The Peterson House where he died. Some of the memorials that we saw include The Lincoln Memorial, The Jefferson Memorial, The FDR Memorial and the Army Memorial for Men and Women. We visited the Smithsonian Museum and saw the Tomb of the Unknown soldiers in Arlington National Cemetery where two of our presidents are buried. My favorite part was going to President's park and The Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. Now if you did not go to Washington D.C, would you want to go now? And if you did go, what was your favorite part and what more would you have wanted to see?

Chinmaya's Post

By: Chinmaya I won an award from CEEF (Cupertino Educational Endowment Foundation)!!!!! It feels great to have one of the best movies!! The category I won is the “Best Instructional Video” and the name of my film is Gears in Action. You can make movies to try to win against other movies and hopefully you win. Why don't you try? It's easy! But now that it's over for this year, you have to wait till next year. When you receive the form in the Thursday folder, fill it up and give it to the office. They will give the form to the CEEF people who will mail you the information about CEEF and the rules. Now the fun part begins! Pick a topic, build your movie, and take it to the CEEF office. The suspense will come once you go to see if you win. Good luck!! Now, do you want to try to win your own award from CEEF? What else would you like to know about this competition?

Nidhi's Post

April Fools' Day By: Nidhi I hope you all enjoy April Fools Day because it is coming up! I am sure you all like to play tricks on people but have you ever wondered about its history? April Fools Day is known for practical joking and celebrated on the first of April. I never knew but with other customs, there is a time limit; anyone attempting a trick after midday is taunted:"April Fool is gone and past,You're the biggest fool at last". April Fools Day is also called All Fools Day. In France, if a trick is played on you are a Poisson d'avril (April Fish), in England you're a noodle, in Scotland you're an April gowk (cuckoo or fool) and in America you're just an April Fool! The origins of April Fools Day are unknown, although various theories have been proposed. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar (the Gregorian Calendar) to replace the old Julian Calendar. The new calendar called for New Year's Day to be celebrated on Jan. 1. France became the first country to switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. This switch meant, among other things, that the beginning of the year was moved from the end of March to January 1. Those who failed to keep up with the change, who stubbornly clung to the old calendar system and continued to celebrate the New Year during the week that fell between March 25th and April 1st, had various jokes played on them. For instance, pranksters would secretly stick paper fish to their backs. That is why in France if you fall for a trick you're a Poisson d'avril. Here is another story about April Fools Day. British legends link April Fools Day to the town of Gotham, the legendary town of fools located in Nottinghamshire. According to the legend, it was traditional in the 13th century for any road that the King traveled over to become public property. The citizens of Gotham, not wishing to lose their main road, spread a false story to stop King John from passing through their town. When the King learned of their trickery, he sent a messenger to demand that they explain their actions. But when the messenger arrived in Gotham he found the town was full of insane people who were engaged in foolish activities such as drowning fish or attempting to cage birds in roofless fences (though, of course, their foolery was all an act). The King fell for the ruse and declared the town too foolish to authorize punishment. April Fools Day has supposedly celebrates this tradition. Do you know any other theory of April Fools Day's origin? Or a April Fools Day story? Have a happy April Fools Day! Hope you don't get fooled!

Eric's Post

The Wii is Born!! By: Eric The Wii isn’t a sudden moment idea, nor is it something that has been in development for the last two years or so. The Wii is a direct thought process that has been upgraded out of the very beginnings of the GameCube, the success of the DS and a huge shift in power at Nintendo’s HQ in Japan. Before, gamecube was a game console that is connected to a television. It has multi controllers and could be played by many friends. Also the DS is a small game system that has a little pen to move the characters. The combination of these two systems gave them the idea of the Wii. Now, the Wii has sensor controllers and could act like the real item. For example if you want to play baseball you could swing the controller like a real bat and hit the ball. Also if you’re playing Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga you can swing the lightsaber (a sword made of light) like you are really holding it. Another thing special about the Wii is that you are exercising while you are playing the game. The movement of swinging the controller improves your muscles. Because of those two ways Wii attracts all kind of peoples such as adults to play it. The three latest games I like the most are Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga, Wii sports and Wii play. First of all Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga is my favorite because it is a combination of the epic story from all six episodes and the endless customization of Lego. You go exploring in the Star War galaxy with different characters. If you die the Lego studs (money) you collected will go flying everywhere. Of course the Wii feature of this game includes new Force power, new power-ups, and new Challenge modes. Also it completes the whole Star Wars saga with new levels and characters. Lastly the Wii controller gives you exciting new ways to control the characters moves!!! Wii Sports as my second favorite game is a game where you create your own Mii (characters in the game) and play the following sports: tennis, baseball, bowling, boxing, and golf. Wii Play is the same thing as Wii Sports except with some different kind of sports and activities such as: Wii chess, Wii music, and Wii fit. Well all I have to say is that the Wii is the most excellent and best game console the world has ever known. I wonder what kind of game consoles the world would invent in the future? Now do you like the Wii? What kinds of games do you have? What kind of game consoles do you like the best? Do you like or know the three games I mentioned?

Archita's Post

The Ugly Prince (A silly version of Cinderella) By: Archita King Ron the fifth was an early father of a charming, handsome, and decent prince but, a few years later he soon learned that his prince charming well...wasn't exactly "charming." The King's son, David, would chew with his mouth open and scowl. He was uglier than his attitude. His hair was always in a mess, his teeth were all crooked, and his body was always dirty. Even though his father despised him, he accepted his son just the way he was even if David was rude. After David turned five his Father hire him a tutor to try and teach him to be nice. Unfortunately, David was still rude, ugly, and mean. On the other side of Glitterles-shoo a poor farmer said goodbye to his lovely daughter,Alexandria, as Mrs. Carter gratefully adopted Alexandria. Mrs. Carter loved Alexandria's "shining" beauty. (She had to wear goggles to block the rays though.) Sadly, Mr. Carter would make Alexandria work all day and get the chores done while Mrs. Carter was at work. He did this because he thought Mrs. Carter loved Alexandria more than she liked him. In the Castle the king was having problems of his own.When David was old enough to take up the job as king, his father decided to create task(s) to find the perfect Queen for David who also will be a great ruler. Stop! What do you think happened next? What crazy task(s) do you think the King came up with?

Richard's Post

Raven's Tale By: Richard On Tuesday, March 25, 2008, our class went on a field trip to the performance of Raven's Tale, at the Sunnyvale Performing Arts Center. The performance was composed of four short legends and was approximately an hour long. It was about Raven creating the animals and bringing the sun to the world, the story about Raven falling in love with the spirit of the whale, the story about the fisherman's home, and the burning of the cannibal. I liked the storyline and the acting because the stories were interesting and the acting was attractive, but the part about the woman rooted to the floor's voice sounds a little freaky. Did you like the play? If yes, which parts and why?

Dhruv's Post

Mario: Past and Present By Dhruv Walia Mario was born in 1980. Nintendo Co. Ltd. was looking for the name of character in their first and all time hit game Donkey Kong. Can you believe he was named after landlord of a warehouse “Mario Segale!” Now you must be wondering how did Mario get his funny looks. Remember Mario was created in 1980 and the designer Miyamoto had a challenge to design a character with limited money. They used hat to avoid showing hairs, moustache and big nose to make it look funny. Mario’s outfit changed from game to game but the colors were blue and red. Mario changed with every new game. From Nintendo to Super Nintendo to Game boy to Nintendo 64 to Game Cube and now Wii. Mario looks the same but his games have improved with graphics and speed and fun. See below for improved graphics Pictures Some of the Mario’s all time hits are Donkey Kong (1981, Aracade), Mario Bros. (1983, Arcade), Super Marios Bros (1985, with this game he entered our houses), Super Mario Land (1989, now it was in our hands), Super Mario World (1991) Yoshi’s Island (1995), Super Mario Sunshine (2002). But the next landmark is yet to come which again changed the gaming systems and that is Wii. Now in Wii we do not use regular controller, but a motion sensor controller. You use strategies to unlock puzzles and mysteries and exercise with this video game. So now parents know while playing video games we are getting exercise also. Even parents can play with us. Here are my two latest favorites: The first one is SuperSmashBros.Brawl. In this game you can, use many characters you can use from Nintendo. Like Mario or Bowser. The objective of the game is to knock the other player of by fighting. There is also adventure mode. You can unlock many characters like Luigi or Ganondorf. The other game I want to tell you about is Super Mario Galaxy. The story of this game is Mario is going to a party but Bowser shows up. He kidnaps Princess Peach and takes her away. Mario jumps onto the castle but an evil wizard knocks him away. Mario wakes up at Planet Plant. Three bunnies wake him up and take him to a space station. In the space station a woman tells him that the only way to save Peach is to power up the station with Grand Stars. Once he gets six of them. He can go to the center of the universe and fight Bowser. Do you have any favorite videogames or games? Have you played any of the Mario games? Also do you have a Wii?

Rishita's Post

Orcas By: Rishita Mehta

Orcas are often known as killer whales, but they are actually the largest member of the dolphin family. They have different ways of catching their prey, depending on where they live. The orcas living off southern South America will deliberately launch themselves at the sea-lions. In Polar Regions, orcas will surface under ice floes in order to tip penguins into the water. Orcas live in the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and half of the Arctic Ocean. You can see orcas at any Sea World water show or you could go on a whale watching trip. You can do any of these things in your home state. An average adult orca weighs up to 10 tons. A calve (baby orca) is 8 ft. when born. Did you know: 1. The average dorsal fin size for a male orca is 6 ft. 2. Orcas have large, oval pectoral fins that are unlike a whale’s fins. 3. The white mark that looks like the orca’s eye is not the eye, the eye is located directly underneath the front tip of the white mark. Now do you like orcas? Why or why not?