ENGLISH

2004-06-02T17:52:00.000-07:00

2 THE ROCK
This is the rock profile before and after he was a star.

PROFILE

Name: Dwayne Johnson
Birth Name: Dwayne Douglas Johnson (Nickname: The Rock)
Height: 6' 5"
Sex: M
Nationality: American
Date: May 3, 1972
Birth Place: Hayward, California, USA
Occupation: actor, wrestler
Education: Freedom High in Bethleham, Pa
Wife: Dany Garcia (married on May 3, 1997)
Father: Rocky Johnson (WWF wrestler; African-Canadian; born in 1945)
Mother: Ata (Samoan)
Grand Father: Peter Fanene Maivia (wrestler; died on June 13, 1982 in Hawaii, USA; cancer)
Claim to fame: WWF (World Wrestling Federation) Champion

THE ROCK
Is interested in entering politics. (March 19, 2004)
Johnson has sealed a deal with Universal to star in SPY HUNTER, a blockbuster treatment of one of the '80's coolest videogames -- In the movie version, he will play an ex-fighter pilot who battles numerous spies and assassins with the aid of a Bond-esque car called the G-6155 Interceptor. (September 27, 2003)
Favorite movies: 48 Hrs (1982); UNFORGIVEN (1992); ENTER THE DRAGON (1973); RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981); ROCKY (1976); STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980); PREDATOR (1987); BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969)
He did all his own stunts in THE SCORPION KING (2002).
He has said that he intentionally shied away from using any trademarks of his WWF character The Rock, in order to give THE SCORPION KING character a life of its own. The only exception was THE PEOPLE'S EYEBROWS, which he does in response to another character's reference to a harem. He said he included THE PEOPLE'S EYEBROWS to acknowledge the millions and millions of Rock fans.
The self-proclaimed Most Electrifying Man in Sports-Entertainment slammed, crashed, and crushed his way to becoming the youngest Intercontinental Champion in WWF history at the age of 24 before winning the WWF title record six times.
He is best-known as The Rock
Suffered from food poisoning and sunstroke during production of THE MUMMY RETURNS (2001).
When he was attached to star, THE ONE (2001) was known as The Rock Movie. When he left to work on THE MUMMY RETURNS (2001), it was listed for a short while as Untitled Sci-Fi Project, and when Jet Li came aboard, it became THE ONE.
Nominated for Best Fight at MTV Movie Awards for WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE (2004)

Quotes
“The Rock is without a doubt THE most electrifying man in sports entertainment today!”

Awards
Teen Choice Awards: Film - Choice Sleazebag, THE MUMMY RETURNS (2001)

2004-06-02T17:42:00.000-07:00

1 "what is" list

What is something you dislike about yourself?
What is something you do well?
What is your favourite room in your home and why?
What is a good neighbour?
What is the worst thing parents can do to their children?
What is your favourite time of day?
What is your idea of a dull evening?
What is the best way to treat meddlesome people?
What is something you are optimistic about?
What is something you are pessimistic about?
What is your most indispensable possession and why?
What is the meaning of "He laughs best who laughs last"?
What is your favourite song and why?
What is the best birthday present you ever received?
What is the best birthday present you could receive?
What is something that makes you feel sad?
What is your favourite book and why?
What is something that really bugs you?
What is something that really makes you angry?
What is the best advice you ever received?
What is your favourite holiday? What makes this holiday special?
What is your favourite day of the week?
What is your favourite month? Why?

2004-06-02T17:40:00.000-07:00

2. Super Size Me! - overweight culture and the fast-food lifestyle.

Morgan Spurlock ate McDonalds every meal for a month to see if he could survive, to see what would happen to his health and to prove that McDonalds is the cause of so many obese people in America.
He ate three meals a day for 30 days.
During the 30 days Spurlock, 33 and once healthy, had a splotchy face, had gained 11 kilograms, was transformed into a pudgy man, dangerously high cholesterol, chest pains and a liver that was overwhelmed by the fat in his system.

McDonald's spokesman Bill Whitman says that this movie only has to do with a man overeating and nothing at all to do with McDonalds.

2004-06-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

TASK 5
1. Michael Moore and his latest film Fahernheit 9/11
Michael Moore's reason for making Fahrenheit 9/11 was to get at George Bush and to prove that George could have done something to stop the terrorist attacks that happened in New York, on the Pentagon and a plane that crashed before attacking somewhere.

2004-05-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

THE NEWS

American hostage Nicholas Berg killed in apparent revenge for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops."
CNN NEWS
His captors said the United States refused to exchange him for prisoners in the Abu Ghraib prison. A senior U.S. official told CNN he does not believe that to be true.

The captors also issued a direct statement to President Bush: "The worst is coming and, God willing, the tough days are still to come. You and your soldiers will regret the day that you touched the ground of Iraq."

In the video, a man identifies himself as Nicholas Berg, 26, of Pennsylvania and is shown sitting in an orange jumpsuit in front of five armed, hooded men.

The one standing directly behind Berg reads a statement identifying himself, and then Berg is pushed to the floor.

Berg is heard screaming as his throat is cut. One of the captors then holds up his severed head.

"For the mothers and wives of American soldiers, we tell you that we offered the U.S. administration to exchange this hostage for some of the detainees in Abu Ghraib and they refused," the hooded man standing behind the American said just before the killing.

"Coffins will be arriving to you one after the other, slaughtered just like this."

BBC NEWS

There has been widespread revulsion in the US after a video of his killing was shown on an Arabic-language website.

His captors said they were avenging the abuse of Iraqi detainees, new images of which will be shown to senators later.

The CIA is checking claims that top al-Qaeda suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was involved in the killing of Mr Berg.

The grainy pictures of the murder were preceded by a caption announcing that al-Zarqawi would carry out the killing.

The BBC's Justin Webb, in Washington, says the murder has produced a rare moment of political unity amid the increasingly partisan divisions over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers.

But Nick Berg's distraught family have partly blamed the US-led coalition for creating the circumstances in which he was abducted, about a month ago.

'Enemies of freedom'

For reasons that are not yet clear Mr Berg - a telecoms worker - was arrested by Iraqi police two months ago and handed over to the coalition authorities.

According to his family he was held by them for 13 days before being released without charge. Mr Berg's father, Michael, said his son had been trying to come home before the violence in Iraq worsened.

MY OPINION
The iraqi did the wrong thing by killing to reveng their abuse, It wasn't the media who reported, it was the American troops who reported about the iraqi prisoners abouse.

2004-05-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

TASK 4
1
a. What is a micronation?
A Micronation are countries that are declared endipendent by accentric idividuals or small group of people but not achived democrosy.
b.Why do people create them? What are some different reasons?
the world and the internet are awash in micronations of various sorts: from facetious gaming simulations to truly serious states seeking global acceptance; from fledgling micronations still in the process of being born to micronations that have been around for hundreds of years. Although these micronations have readily apparent differences, they also have legitimate underlying similarities. The UM seeks to focus on the similarities, and promote mutual growth between and among micronations through our assembly.
c. What are the common characteristics of micronations?
They are small.
-They have a small population.
-Most of them depend on bigger nation to jelp them with impotant stuff.
-They are all not well known.

In many contries there are always many thingd to cosider. Like coins, who's coins to use their own or someone eleses. And also the milatry case. Should we build our own army or should we relay on the bigger countires to protect us. Then there is the language issue. What language should our nation speak. One of the biggets issue is on water and food. Somtimes rivers run through a few countries and if one contry pollutes the water the next one gets angry. Mabey poluting the air and taken to much food from the sea that their share. So because there is so much things that thee share. Trouble will start.

KINGDOM OF BABKHA
This micronation stimulates persian culture, civil and political institution and society. (As mention on the first sentence.) Apparently, it is a 'real' place however, it has no inhabitants.
The site wants to start a micronation of Badka so that Badka can have its own virtual community.
The history and culture of this micronation is extremely detailed,which is why I am not going to read it...all. The history involves both factual and fictional elaborate information and description.

THE KINGDOM OF MOROVIA
This micronation is probably set our in a more formal, more organized way than the micronation, BADKA and it contains even more writing. The micronation was probably made before the micronation that i mentioned before because it was supposedly, the biggest and fastest growing micronation. Apparently, it has joined up with another type of micronation, alias 'Reunion'. The site has alot of text exactly the same style as the micronation that i had mentioned before and, this micronation being pretty big it is probably been created longer and the 'Badka' micronation had copied some text from it.
The Micronation started of as a Republic but then changed to a monarchy. (It is usually the other way around which makes this micronation unique.) Therefore, there is a king, i think it is 'KING VINCENT'. It is extremely detailed, containing all areas of information and constitutions etc that are required in a community (i think).

2004-04-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

A film review
WALKING TALL
When a former member of the U.S. Army Special Forces returns to his small hometown in rural Washington State to revive his family's lumber mill business, he discovers that much has changed, as the normally tranquil town is now besieged by drugs, outbreaks of violence and a general feeling of malaise and terror, with many pointing a finger at the influence of a crooked casino where his ex-girlfriend now works as a dancer. Seeking to wreak vengeance, with a four-foot-long 2-by-4 in his hand, and righteousness in his heart, the highly-trained soldier, now the county's sheriff, and his deputy, realizes it's time to bust some heads with a very hard piece of wood.
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson plays Chris Vaughn, a retired soldier who returns to his hometown to make a new life for himself, only to discover his wealthy high school rival, Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough), has closed the once-prosperous lumber mill and turned the town's resources towards his own criminal gains. The place Chris grew up is now overrun with crime, drugs, and violence. Enlisting the help of his old pal Ray Templeton (Johnny Knoxville), Chris gets elected sheriff and vows to shut down Hamilton's operations. His actions endanger his family and threaten his own life, but Chris refuses to back down until his hometown once again feels like home.

2004-04-19T17:08:00.000-07:00

BLOG TASK 5
The people who reads blogs are teenagers who wants to find out what other people are thinking and people with shared interest with them could help them realise that they are not alone in this world. The way that relates to 'it connectedness in the virtual world" is because people are communicating through the computer by blogs for other people to read instead of reality with friends.

I can't find a blog about the September 11 bombing.

2004-04-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

BLOG TASK 2

After looking at the other blogging sites i've realised that pitas.com and diaryland run off the same design, they both look girly but diaryland has more pictures of cartoons, flowers and cats, etc. Out of all the blogging servers, they all have their own selection of templates for the sites.
I think that movabletype.org is well set out and looks more professional.
movabletype.org is needed to be downloaded where as the other blogging servers just are run right from the browser.

2004-03-28T16:43:00.000-08:00

Advantages

- Kids can learn about caring for others.
- Kids can learn to make money
- Kids can communicate with other kids from around the world.
- Kids can play games against others

Disadvantages

- Advertising is used against the kids, ( eg. Buy a subscription to YM Magazine and get 300 NP), this makes kids want the magazine more for the points rather than the magazine.
- Pedophiles can communicate with kids.
- Makes kids spend too much time on the internet.
- Kids can focus on Neopets and gambling rather than study for school, etc.

2004-03-28T16:17:00.000-08:00

Blog Task 4
1. I think the medium of the message means the body of the message, what it is actually about.
2. Marshall McLuhan was an outspoken character who belived that the teaching of education was not done correctly. Some of his quotes are money is the poor man’s credit card, mud sometimes gives the illusion of depth and The answers are always inside the problem, not outside.
3. I believe that the Hypertext theory is to breakdown writing into an shorter medium so it is easier to read. maybe Sinclair means how connected the world is now doe to the internet, so many people connected up to the same source.
4. Afternoon by Michael Joyce is a electronic fiction, a story about how a man see's a wrecked car that might of belong to his wife. I think it this book the writer is trying to show the distance between the present and your memory

2004-03-28T15:53:00.000-08:00

Games, not school, are teaching kids to think

The US spends almost 50 billion dollars a year for education purposes.
40% of kids basic reading skills, and have poor grades compared to foreign students. The US is now going back to the basics, with multiple answer questions & line-by-line scrpting. Kid aren't learning to think anymore, they are only memorizing facts. But fortunatley we have video games. After school is where a lot of the learning is happening. Kids are learning new concepts and skills.

The fact is when kids play video games, they experience a more powerful form of learning than when in a classroom. Learning isn't just memorizing facts it's about connecting and manuplulating them. Some people ,might say that video games teach kids to become gun-toting carjackers, or a twisted maniac. They are wrong, the fact is they teach kids to learn and figure out puzzles and stratagies. It is all based on the architechure or the game and its lay out. If a game has shocking controlling but a lot of gore and swearing, it wouldn't sell aswell as a game with perfect gameplay, and minor gore, no swearing. Learning Theorists has studied that gaming is an essential in learning.

2004-03-08T16:10:00.000-08:00

BLOG TASK 3
Pitas and blogger are all free blogging services that allow users to set up a perfectly working, well designed site in about five minutes. Things can get complicated after that, but there’s no reason they have to. But the cool technology alone isn’t enough to explain the hundreds of thousands of blogs that have appeared in the past two or three years. After all, there are lots of new Web technologies that go nowhere.

http://dawghouse201.blogspot.com/ - this blog is about movies and reviews.

Eighth Grade Horror Stories - This guy writes about being in 8th grade.

2004-02-29T22:43:00.000-08:00

BLOG TASK 1
My name is Matt am from Kenya and my favorite sport is soccer, i play midd fielder and forward so that i can help the defenders when am playing in the middle and also help the strikers when am forward.I also like playing vedio games and pc games.I have been in Australia for 1 year and a half and i have been having a great time.This also my first English class with you since i came from Kenya. When I was in Kenya I did not like the rules that were I assumed were not meant to help us. Well I have come to the outside world and those rules areas important as your life especially if you are in Kenya. Nairobi University is headed for big things in a big way. Those of us who are in this "lands of opportunities" are going to come back home and make it happen. all you guy know now daystar is the real thing. God Bless. And keep the Nairobi fire burning.I also like watching movies action movies, my favorite movies are action movies and adventures movies. Rap and hip hop are my favorite music which I would like to be musician, soccer player or a pilot. I also like holidays like an holiday to Thailand Africa to see wild animals and America. My favorite soccer player is Michael Owen he plays for liverpool and his country England. My favorite musician's are lil Romeo and bowwow the best two young rap start in the world.

2004-02-26T16:07:00.000-08:00

My name is Matt am from Kenya and my favorite sport is soccer, i play midd fielder and forward so that i can help the defenders when am playing in the middle and also help the strikers when am forward.I also like playing vedio games and pc games.I have been in Australia for 1 year and a half and i have been having a great time.This also my first English class with you since i came from Kenya. When I was in Kenya I did not like the rules that were I assumed were not meant to help us. Well I have come to the outside world and those rules areas important as your life especially if you are in Kenya. Nairobi University is headed for big things in a big way. Those of us who are in this "lands of opportunities" are going to come back home and make it happen. all you guy know now daystar is the real thing. God Bless. And keep the Nairobi fire burning.I also like watching movies action movies, my favorite movies are action movies and adventures movies. Rap and hip hop are my favorite music which I would like to be musician, soccer player or a pilot. I also like holidays like an holiday to Thailand and America.

2004-02-18T14:41:00.000-08:00

My name is Matt am from Kenya and my favorite sport is soccer, i play midd fielder and forward so that i can help the defenders when am playing in the middle and also help the strikers when am forward.I also like playing vedio games and pc games.I have been in Australia for 1 year and a half and i have been having a great time.This also my first English class with you since i came from Kenya. I did not like the rules that were I assumed were not meant to help us. Well I have come to the outside world and those rules areas important as your life especially if you are in Kenya. Nairobi University is headed for big things in a big way. Those of us who are in this "lands of opportunities" are going to come back home and make it happen. all you guy know now daystar is the real thing. God Bless. And keep the Nairobi fire burning.

2004-02-17T19:27:00.000-08:00