Jessica’s Blog

Recently we have been studying refugees in English and i for one was surprised at how little we know about the treatment of asylum seekers in this country. Upon fleeing war-ton countries such as Afghanistan, these people are locked up for indefinite periods interrogated over and over again, so that the government can “confirm” that really are asylum seekers and not of any threat to Australia. They call Australia the lucky country, because we have large ammounts of open space, some of the most unique terrain in the world, and we boast many other beautiful things that most Australians take one look at and move on. If there is so many “boundless plains to share” like the album suggests, then why are these refugees locked up like criminals? They are victims, not terrorists. They are fleeing violence, not trying to start it. The Government says that it’s for our own protection, but do you really believe that someone that has had so much violence inflicted on them would try to hurt Australians? I, for one, don’t. Sometimes these poor people are locked up for years before they are freed from the looming prescence of the razor-wire fences. And even then, the Government tries to send them back to the country they spent so much time fleeing from. It is also appalling what views most Australians have on refugees from Muslim countries, as seen in the movie ‘Letters To Ali’, where one man thinks that a 15 year old refugee from Afghanistan will kill his children. Australia is meant to be a multi-cultural country, so why all the racism?

We have been asked to take the first paragraph of the Hobbit and continue writing the first chapter the way we want to. Mine started out fairly serious and somewhat sad, but then somehow changed. Oh well, here it is

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole, with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat. It was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

Though the sun shone down on the hobbit-hole, the inhabitant was bitter and lonely. This was a hobbit who’s whole life had been nothing but trouble, and wished for the mercy of death. He was old and grizzled, and moved with stiff legs. He held a large cane with which he ocassionally hit something to express his feelings. Day after day went by and to the hobbit they all seemed the same. He had nothing to do but sit in his old armchair nd wait until it was nightime. He would then shuffle back to his bedroom, fall asleep, and wake in the morning to find things the same as the day before. But this particular morning, as he drowsily made his breakfast, he had no idea that today would be different. He had just finished his breakfast and had just sunk into his chair when there was a rap at the door. The hobbit groaned and tried to ignore it, but the rapping continued persistenly until at last he rose stiffly and limped to the door. He opened it hesitantly and the morning sunlight streamed into his eyes. He blinked, and shielding his eyes with his hand he was able to see a silhouette before him. “Hello!” it said cheerfully, and moved forward. The figure squeezed past before the hobbit could stop him, and for thefirst time he saw who the silhouette actually was. Squinting in disbelief, he said in his scratchy tones “My God! Is that Gangrene the Wizbot?” The figure, which was actually a robot, laughed evily. “Indeed it is!” His dark eyes (which were really just pieces of plastic) slanted into a glare, and he advanced towards the hobbit, robotic arms outstretched. “DESTROY THE HOBBIT! DESTROY THE HOBBIT!” he chanted in his metallic tones, and the hobbit, now thoroughly spooked, backed down the narrow corridor. After him came the wizbot, rolling along on his four wheels. His chanting continued, echoing around them as the chase continued. The hobbit suddenly threw open a door on the right of the passage, and before the wizbot could follow, he had dashed in a locked the door. Gasping for breath, the Hobbit limped over to his old bookcase to fetch “The Bad Book”. This was where he recorded every bad thing that ever happened to him. He shoved it in the faces of those who dared to tell him his life wasn’t so bad, and he was determined to add a new entry right now. He pulled at the book, but instead of coming clearly of the shelf, it stayed put. There was a strange clicking sound, and the Hobbit noticed that the bookcase was rotating. But before he could react it had swept him into whatever secret lay on the other side…

I love an untamed country

With oceans deep and blue

I love the deserts, love the plains

And i love the BBQ’s

There is more to us Australians

Than slang and Vegemite

We may face terrorism

But we won’t give up the fight

In our heads is the sound of screaming

As we worry what is to come

Will we be next, will we survive?

Will we fight, or succumb?

John Howard tries to calm us

“They won’t do what they did with the Poms”

But as night settles over the bush

Our dreams are riddled with bombs

We gaze out of our windows

And see nothing but polluted skies

And my mind is filled with a question

I think to myself, “Why?”

I dream of the old Australia

Of mountains unconquered and rough

Not the wasteland we have created,

Or the ozone, now not so tough

My Australia’s untarnished and beautiful

My Australia is always my home

Stop thinking about my Australia,

And start thinking about your own

Think of poor mother nature

Who has suffered so much since we came

Clean up the rubbish we have left

And spare her more of the same.

We have been asked to write a post about heros and the journey they go on. Apparently, all heros have life lessons that prepare them for this journey, whether they planned to go on it or not. These are the heros that i think fit under the category:

 Clark Kent (AKA Superman). Clark, after all his hard years of being a teenager (this is portrayed in Smallville.) has learnt some hard lessons in his life. He is destined to be Superman, fighting evil and saving innocent people. His main lessons in life are that not everyone appreciates his superpowers, so as Superman he tends to keep it on a low.

 Zorro. I don’t know that much about Zorro, only that he is a master of swords and cuts a funny z shape into a woman’s top. So maybe he hasn’t learned that many lessons, being a total sleaze. Perhaps he grew too swollen headed over his incredible fighting skills and decided that he was God’s gift to woman, however he passes his knowledge on so that the legend of Zorro can be continued and Zorro can continue saving people. Also, Zorro is a remarkable horsemen and has learned from the death of his wife and the kidnapping of his daughter that you can’t always win.

Luke Skywalker. Luke has had a hard life. He grew up not knowing his father or his mother, and when he finally met his mother they spent about two minutes together before she died. As a result, Luke is quiet but confident, knowing that he must defend the Republic. He is extremely eager to be a Jedi, and sometimes makes mistakes, and that is why i like him because most of the Heros are portrayed as perfect, beautiful people with bulging muscles. Luke is scrawny and definetly not perfect, but his flaws make him much more realistic.

Spiderman. Spiderman (I don’t know his real name) must deal with being a freak. Before he was bitten by the radioactive spider (or whatever it was) he was just a normal man, and this makes him a lot easier to relate to as a superhero. He still has to deal with love, as well as hiding the fact that he’s a mutant. I love the fact that he doesn’t believe that every women will come running to him, instead he’s quite nervous and shy with relationships. His “normal” life is also part of his supernatural journey.

 Wow, that was a long post

 This book is the first in the series and has gone on to be a best-seller. It’s all about Artemis Fowl, a 12 year old genius. His father is also a genius, but a criminal genius, and has been missing for over a year, assumed dead. Perhaps his death has affected Artemis, as now he is following in his fathers shady footsteps; always wanting more and more money to add to the Fowl fortune. It is on the internet that Artemis discovers dodgy sites…ones about creatures supposed to have never existed. Artemis believes that there are fairies that live underground…and he also believes in their large hostage fund. So Artemis sets out to capture a fairy, and one night he succeeds. This is where Captain Holly Short of the Lower Elements Police enters the picture. They take Holly hostage and soon the fairies find out…but these aren’t the fairies of bedtime stories. They’re supremely intelligent, their technology is far more advanced than our own, and they don’t take humiliation lightly. They won’t pay the gold Artemis demands for Holly’s safe return. They have more dangerous ideas…ideas that spare no thought for Artemis’s life.

In English we have been reading a book called Juggling with Mandarins. The story is about Pip, a 13 year old boy dealing with the problems of teenage life as well as his father. His Dad wants Pip to be a big soccer star like Nick, his brother, and is at every day, cheering and shouting from the sidelines, questioning the Referee’s every decision. Pip is embarrassed, and secretly hates soccer. One day Pip is walking along when he notices that the door has been left open to the new sporting stadium being built. He sneaks inside and begins climbing the rock climbing wall, but gets stuck up the top. Luckily Rob, a climbing instructor, finds him and helps him down. There a friendship begins and Pip goes on to win the climbing championships. 

I think this book deals with the stress of teenage life, as well as problems with the other gender. Most of the book I did enjoy because the storyline flows nicely. The bit I don’t like is when Pip tells Katie he likes her…he should have known it would never work out. I don’t really have a favourite character. I don’t think the ending between Pip and Katie could have been different, because Pip would always act funny around her and Katie would’ve caught on after awhile. The book is called Juggling Mandarins because Pip is juggling problems. 

As the title suggests, this is a blog. My blog, actually. And this particular post is meant to be an introductory post, you know, to get you interested in this blog. Well, there isn’t much here currently but hopefully soon it will be a little more inttresting.

Jess