Harry Potter and All of the Books

With 244 views and five minutes of unbelievably awesome humour, this is a vid. you don't want to miss.

Rain

Let the rain fall down! No, not like that stupid song. If I posted about that I would probably be on every other blogger's list of assasination targets within a week. What I'm actually here to say is that for the second time in a week it rained. I never thought I would appreciate rain so much.

When in a place one tends to take his surroundings for granted; this quickly changes when in a new place. I never thought I would miss some things that I do now about good old NH. Not the house, not the country, and certainly not the politics. What I miss most about the West is the trees, the cool

temperature and the rain.

One can never tell what or when he will experience a particular emotion. Maybe it won't last, but for that last rainy day I really did miss New Hampshire.

Postponed

Due to an unforseen occurrence which I simply can not explain, my English and Irish week of posts will not be shown for some considerable time. No! This has nothing to do with me being extremely lazy. And of course I care about making posts that are original, entertaining and completely out of the blue.
The problem is time. So please forgive me if I tread into somewhat shallower waters for a while.

English/Irish Literature and Film: A week of tribute

There really is so much to say on this subject, and conveniently little else to say. I was at a loss in terms of posting. You could call it the blogger doldrums. I read the Gulf News and Khaleej Times every day, and watch a little CNN MSNBC and Fox, so I consider myself reasonably well informed. The problem, it seems, is that lately there are few things in the news that are new. Yes, of course people become hyped up about elections and wars and so forth, but these things have have been talked about enough lately. So, I said to myself, why not try something interesting to you?
All right, so this is kind of abstract. Way out of left field, old sport. Nevertheless, I am sure that English and Irish literature is a great subject. It could be posted about for several months; I will only take a week. And trust me: By the end of the week you'll be at driving to an airport near you in search of tickets to the UK or Ireland.

My Amazing Schedule

Well, my class schedule reads like this, with A days in red and B days in blue:

IB English HL
Basic Theatre Production
Arabic 1
Advanced Algebra 2
IB Chemistry SL
IB Geography SL
Directed Studies
Philosophy

Drama is quite fun; we finished off our monologues, in which I portrayed the famous Jack Sparrow during his speech to Will Turner.



Next I was part of the group effort Woman in Mind. That was not as much fun; perhaps because I portrayed a paranoid, self obsessed and profoundly boring man named Gerald. My wife was a pshycopathic character, convinced that she had a nonexistent daughter and perfect life ever since she hit her head with a rake.
Currently I am practicing for a scene from The Lion in Winter. I was cast as Geoffrey, the middle son whose more famous siblings are Richard the Lionheart and Prince John. Unfortunately my teacher said I can't do an English accent, because the brothers actually spent most of their time in France. Oh well... hopefully it will live up to my Jonny Depp impersonation.

Slicker than Before

I am proud to say that Joe's Place has recently undergone some plastic surgery and is now even slicker than before. The links list has just begun, and will soon be expanded to include the slickest sites on the internet. Also, comments will now appear as "accomplices."
Enjoy the slickness, and visit the page often!

Slick 17

Well, it was just my birthday. Yes, my friends, its the big one seven. Only twenty-two months till college,
three years till I can drink, and one year until I can drive (in this country, at least).

It's no sweet sixteen, but nevertheless this birthday felt very special. It is the first one oversea's and the
second (after my first) not in New Hampshire. So perhaps, like sweet sixteen, it deserves a special name of its
own. "Slick Seventeen" has a nice ring to it.

In honour of the most important day of the year, I received several gifts/presents. The first package I
opened contained... a pen! What the heck? Oh well, it was kind of cool, even if the joke was on me. Next was a
small case that reads: Jumeraih Beach. Another "what the heck were you thinking," but kind of funny. Third,

I received some very nice books: Typee, by Herman Mellville, and a P.G. Woodehouse novel. P.G.
Woodehouse is really a great author; I'll have to make a post for him sometime.

Finally, a very small and seemingly insignificant package was pushed in my direction. I slowly ripped off
the red paper and blue sash... (this is getting really lame)
I pulled out a new, silver Ipod Nano.




I am enjoying my Ipod after a long time without one, because some son of a $@*# broke the first one. I have already put 55 songs on it, and it will make running much more fun.

Shaken, Not Stirred- Joe's New Movie

All you 007 lovers, you're in for a real treat. Thanks to my own brilliance and close collaboration with some high up producers, such as Waldo, I bring to you this preview. As for the full length film, well, you'll have to wait for it to hit theaters.
Spread the news!

Arabic

Hello, how are you? I'm d bless you! These everyday expressions all have something in

common; hard to put one's finger on, though. Yes, that's it! They are repetitive, forced and often too generic

to say what one really means. By being so used to their sounds and meanings people become tired of them;

it starts to sound like bs asking someone, "I'm fine, thanks, and how are you?"

So why not add a little spice to the soup? Try Arabic. In a language with a different letter system and where

"Ahlan wasa lan" means welcome, what's not to like? Arabic is all new to me, whereas French was the same

letters with a slick accent. Arabic is a pretty tricknasty language, and I think everyone should give it a try.

24- Underappreciated Characters

This may seem rather out of the blue, but I felt a sudden need to put to pen my opinions on

this very important matter. So here we go.

Over four seasons, Fox Television's stellar show 24 has created riviting stories, giving every

minute the potential to change the story. However, it is the characters that make the show so

irresistable. From Tony to Milo to season five's Graham, 24 has a lot to brag about in terms of

character depth and plain coolness. Unfortunately for the show, some of the best characters are

forgotten by fans. Here's a look at some of the underappreciated characters of 24.

Ira Gaines


Gaines is a hilarious villian. Although he really doesn't do very much to move the story forward (aside from kidnapping Jack's wife Terry and Daughter Kim) there is something funny about his name. "Gaines" is so simple for a name, and not a very well chosen one. Awesomeness-6/10



Alan Milliken

Alan is perhaps the most awesome of forgotten characters. He not only has a very cool role as David Palmer's campaign backer, but Milliken's part enjoys one of my favorite 24 lines. His "Fire Wayne, David, and this all goes away," was one of few highlights in the Presidential plot line of season 3. If only Sherry had given him that prescription bottle...
Awesomeness- 9.5/10




Lastly, I can't leave out Ryan Chappelle. He may not be the most popular character on 24, but to me he's one of the best. Blessed with such lines as "I want that baby out of here!" and "Chloe's a pain in the ass," Chappelle adds meat to the bone of 24. He didn't have a good exit from the show, but overall Chappelle is a great additon to the"drama."
Awesomeness- 8.5/10


These are a few of many cool guys and girls on 24. And if my instinct is right, there will be many more funny, cool, and just plain awesome characters in Season 6 of 24.

How a Fantasy Win Became a Reality

I Can't Take All the Credit: A Few Reasons I Won

Best Pickup for a Position Player

Jorge Posada: A late pickup for me,
but he certainly proved his worth
with his 23 home runs and a healthy
on base percentage of .374. Posada
filled the no. 1 spot perfectly, outperforming both
Javy Lopez (8 home runs, .297 on base
percentage) and David Ross (21 home
runs, .353 on base percentage), to
earn the Prime Ministers starting position.

Jered Weaver: My best pitcher of the year.
Amazingly he did bettter than Blue Jays' ace
Roy Halladay, also on my team. With 11 wins
and only 2 losses, Weaver showed just how
much better than his brother Jeff he is. I
picked Weaver off of the free agents list. He
did well his first few starts, so why not? He
ended up being the best pickup of the year,
with a 2.56 era over '06.


Most Consistent

David Wright:
David's been on my team since
the draft. He was one of my most reliable
players, appearing in 154 games while sporting
a .311 batting average and a surprising 116 RBI.
Wright also stole 20 bases and had a .381 on base
percentage. For a player making less than $4oo,ooo
a year, that's not bad.






MVP/Unexpected Hero




Justin Morneau: Everyone should know this guy's name
by now. He was by far the Most Valuable Player for the
Prime Ministers, and surprised almost everyone with his
amazing season. For instance, in 2005 Morneau hit 22 home
runs, a mere 79 RBI and had a lowly .239 average. This year
he made up for lost time with 39 homers, 130 RBI and a
stunning .321 batting average. Yes, that's 73 points higher than
last season. Justin Morneau is the reason the Twins are in the
playoffs and part of why the Prime Minister's won the League
Championship.

Rate My Teacher

Rate My Teacher.com- a great web site for many reasons. Firstly, you can put anyone on there, from Albus

Dumbledore to that annoying substitute who wouldn't let you go to the bathroom. Then you get to rate them,

from one to five depending on helpfulness, clarity, and if they're cool or not. Needless to say, when I'm writing

reviews some do significantly better than others. And by the way, I did add Albus Dumbledore. Didn't you see

him subbing for IST last year?

Best in the Business- Prime Ministers

Well, well, well...

It's that time of year when most people heave huge sighs and say, "You just wait for next year!"

That's right, ladies and gents, fantasy baseball is over... more or less.
With a commanding 14-6 lead over the Abu Dhabi Bullets, the Prime Ministers are set to become this years winners of the league finals. Now, I suppose it's difficult to be objective when it's my team we're talking about here, so I'll stick to the facts. Here are this year's numbers:

Prime Ministers
Season place- 2
Record- 129-89-35
Moves- 30
Playoff Byes- 1
Playoff Wins- 1
Playoff Losses- 0
Manager Experience- 1st year

So put your money on the Prime Ministers, because come October first I think we all know who the winner will be!

Sports

Wow. The seasons for sports are so different here from New Hampshire. Most of these changes are good, though. Firstly, Cross Country is in the winter, so I don't have to run as much, persay, as I would be in the US. That's fine with me though, as its about 40 deg. C. The heat would really suck, but the swim season just started.

After swimming for weeks during summer, I feel that this will be a very good season for myself and hopefully our team. Not surprisingly the team is smaller than last year's.

I'll be looking forward to seeing how the BHS team does in winter. They just added it to direct athletics, so I can check out the results for swimming, xcountry and track. Pressure's on!!!

ParTEY

Albert Einstein... science
Roger Federer... sports
Santa Claus... just a nice guy

These people are famous for being awesome in some way. They come along only every once in a while. Hmmm... this list seems so hollow. What about film? JAMIE FOXX!!!

Actually, I was just kidding. Although I respect him an actor, I'm not obsessed with Foxx. But it was cool to meet him. At the embassy party (at the US ambassador's home) we saw not only JFoxx, but fellow actors Chris Cooper(Seabiscuit, Bourne Identity) Jason Bateman (Arrested Development) and Jeremy Piven; the only movie I've seen him in is Rush Hour 2, as that gay guy at the department store.

I got autographs from all, and was able to talk to Bateman and Piven for a while. I don't know much about Arrested Development, but I told him the last ep. I saw was with the English girl he almost marries.
Piven talked to me about acting, which was pretty sick. He's a very funny guy.
Foxx, on the other hand, played checkers and chess with his security personnel the whole time. There must have been five or six of them. Okay, the guy even has taste testers to make sure his food isn't poisoned. Two!
Needless to say, I didn't get to talk to him. He wasn't talking to anyone, so I just stood right behind him and had a guy from the embassy take a picture.
All in all, it was a fun night. I was up till 1:30 doing homework, though (or 5:30 at night, NH time.)