I read an article on CNN.com about melamine being found in Chinese eggs. It was interesting reading the article. I liked how they had multiple points of view. In one section, the article talked about how it was not going to be as big a scandal as the melamine in milk, and wasn't going to sicken as many people. Later, however, it interviewed a woman who said that eggs were just as bad as milk, because people eat just as many eggs as they do milk, and they're impossible to cut out of their daily diets. The Chinese health officials apparently reassured reporters that, although of course they were going to solve the problem as soon as possible, a child would have to eat 20 eggs a day for a week for the poison to have any effect. Ignoring these reassurances, Wal-Mart has pulled eggs out of all their Chinese stores, but the chicken-made dairy product is plentiful pretty much everywhere else.
It seems to me that people outside of China are making a bigger deal out of the scare than the Chinese people themselves. Among others, the WHO has published reports criticizing Chinese health standards, but all the Chinese people interviewed didn't seem worried. They kind of had a well,-it-won't-happen-to-me kind of attitude toward it all. My theory is that this is the rest of the world trying to put down China. I mean, the US, UN, and more are all not on good terms with them right now, so maybe they're just using this as an excuse to make China look bad. On the other hand, China might be trying to downplay this so that other countries don't make them look bad. But that'll eventually backfire on them if it turns out to be a big deal and they haven't done anything about it.
I'd like to keep following these stories to find out what happens. If more and more Chinese kids get sick, I'm guessing they're going to actually have a problem, but if the rest of the world is blowing this up to be more than it actually is, they're going to end up looking pretty sheepish. In honor of this, I'm going to put up a picture of a sheep in my little box.
Til next week!
~Marcella
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Backstage Pass. Among others...
by Mary Wilcox (245 pg)
I am getting so sick of these cheesy teen novels. Yes, they inspired the title of my blog, but honestly, how predictable can you get? I thought this might be a little bit off the beaten track--a mystery novel!!-- but apparently not. The plot went something like this:
Sister becomes a famous tv star.
Someone tries to sabatoge her career.
All the clues point to jealous co-star.
...Who has an excellent alibi.
Turns out to be a jealous lighting boy.
Main character gets hot boyfriend.
With plenty of awkward moments, obvious clues, and shameless flirting to add to the fun!
In fact, that was so annoying that I'm going to go read something else right now, and blog about it instead.
...
In a happy coincidence, I've run across a text that relates to what we're learning in class! It's called "Worst Analogies Ever Written in a High School Essay". An analogy, of course, is a literary term used to describe comparisons, usually similes. In the list, there were many notable examples of analogies not to be used.
Some of my favorites include "He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree", "John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met", and "Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph".
As you can see, I've found a much more inspiring and meaningful piece of literature than the books I was reading earlier.
Maybe next week I'll find something slightly more... stimulating.
Until then, I suppose!
~Marcella
I am getting so sick of these cheesy teen novels. Yes, they inspired the title of my blog, but honestly, how predictable can you get? I thought this might be a little bit off the beaten track--a mystery novel!!-- but apparently not. The plot went something like this:
Sister becomes a famous tv star.
Someone tries to sabatoge her career.
All the clues point to jealous co-star.
...Who has an excellent alibi.
Turns out to be a jealous lighting boy.
Main character gets hot boyfriend.
With plenty of awkward moments, obvious clues, and shameless flirting to add to the fun!
In fact, that was so annoying that I'm going to go read something else right now, and blog about it instead.
...
In a happy coincidence, I've run across a text that relates to what we're learning in class! It's called "Worst Analogies Ever Written in a High School Essay". An analogy, of course, is a literary term used to describe comparisons, usually similes. In the list, there were many notable examples of analogies not to be used.
Some of my favorites include "He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree", "John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met", and "Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph".
As you can see, I've found a much more inspiring and meaningful piece of literature than the books I was reading earlier.
Maybe next week I'll find something slightly more... stimulating.
Until then, I suppose!
~Marcella
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Peach Girl: Change of Heart vol 10
by Miwa Ueda
This is a manga book I read. It's a complicated story about a love triange- Momo likes two guys, and they both like her back. Her friend Sae is always trying to mess up Momo's relationships, and after all sorts of misunderstandings in the first nine books, Momo finally has to choose which guy she's going to go out with.
Toji, Momo's first boyfriend, is a cute athlete, who's always very truthful and uncomplicated. I thought he was too boring for Momo, who has such a fun personality. Kiley is a bad boy, but nobody really knows about his complicated past. He's kind of unpredictable, but I like him better than Toji. He's so fun and loving, and there's never a quiet moment when he's around!
Momo's been flipping back and forth between Kiley and Toji for almost two years by the time this book happens. They've all been through a lot together, so no matter who she chooses, Momo is going to have some regrets.
I really like manga books because I can actually see what I'm reading. After a day of euro notes and stuff, it's nice to not have to open a book and see another huge block of text. Plus, some of the visual emotions are a lot more interesting to look at than to read, especially when the author uses funny effects.
It's also really fun when they have fan letters and extras in the back of the books. Some people send in pictures of the characters, and some send in long letters and have heated debates. I think it's cool to be able to read other people's perspectives on the book.
~Marcella
This is a manga book I read. It's a complicated story about a love triange- Momo likes two guys, and they both like her back. Her friend Sae is always trying to mess up Momo's relationships, and after all sorts of misunderstandings in the first nine books, Momo finally has to choose which guy she's going to go out with.
Toji, Momo's first boyfriend, is a cute athlete, who's always very truthful and uncomplicated. I thought he was too boring for Momo, who has such a fun personality. Kiley is a bad boy, but nobody really knows about his complicated past. He's kind of unpredictable, but I like him better than Toji. He's so fun and loving, and there's never a quiet moment when he's around!
Momo's been flipping back and forth between Kiley and Toji for almost two years by the time this book happens. They've all been through a lot together, so no matter who she chooses, Momo is going to have some regrets.
I really like manga books because I can actually see what I'm reading. After a day of euro notes and stuff, it's nice to not have to open a book and see another huge block of text. Plus, some of the visual emotions are a lot more interesting to look at than to read, especially when the author uses funny effects.
It's also really fun when they have fan letters and extras in the back of the books. Some people send in pictures of the characters, and some send in long letters and have heated debates. I think it's cool to be able to read other people's perspectives on the book.
~Marcella
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Knocked Out By My Nunga-Nungas: Confessions of Georgia Nicholson
By Louise Rennison. (173 pgs)
I love this book. This is probably the fourth time I've read it, but it makes me laugh so hard... It's English. British English, that is, and the Brits have a way better sense of humor than us Americans, or as Georgia would call us, her dear friends from Hamburger-a-gogo land. It's actually the third book in a series that has eight books (one just came out!!), and I've heard they're making a movie of them. I am so excited, you can't even believe it.
One of the only downfalls of this book is that it makes me start thinking in a british accent. And then I start using strange British words when I talk. And then people start having absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. I don't know if that's necessarily a bad thing, but it can cause problems when I'm trying to actually get a point across.
Anyways, Georgia finally got her crush, Robbie the Sex God, to ask her to be his official girlfriend. She is oh-so-happy, until this other guy she flirted with, Dave the Laugh, accidentally kisses her. And she accidentally kisses him back. And he's an "item" with Georgia's friend Ellen (thank goodness no one saw that kiss!). So Georgia is just so traumatized by this that she decides to be full of "maturosity" and "sophiticaticatiosity" and show Robbie that she really is his one and only. The book is written completely through diary entries, and I have seriously fallen off my bed laughing it.
Awesome book.
~Marcella
I love this book. This is probably the fourth time I've read it, but it makes me laugh so hard... It's English. British English, that is, and the Brits have a way better sense of humor than us Americans, or as Georgia would call us, her dear friends from Hamburger-a-gogo land. It's actually the third book in a series that has eight books (one just came out!!), and I've heard they're making a movie of them. I am so excited, you can't even believe it.
One of the only downfalls of this book is that it makes me start thinking in a british accent. And then I start using strange British words when I talk. And then people start having absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. I don't know if that's necessarily a bad thing, but it can cause problems when I'm trying to actually get a point across.
Anyways, Georgia finally got her crush, Robbie the Sex God, to ask her to be his official girlfriend. She is oh-so-happy, until this other guy she flirted with, Dave the Laugh, accidentally kisses her. And she accidentally kisses him back. And he's an "item" with Georgia's friend Ellen (thank goodness no one saw that kiss!). So Georgia is just so traumatized by this that she decides to be full of "maturosity" and "sophiticaticatiosity" and show Robbie that she really is his one and only. The book is written completely through diary entries, and I have seriously fallen off my bed laughing it.
Awesome book.
~Marcella
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
