I watched the movie 13 going on 30 and find it hilarious. To me, it is the typical type of movie that has the protagonist being transported into the future.However, what made me love the movie was the comedy part. The protagonist was transported 17 years into the future, 17 YEARS! She wakes up and find herself holding a job as an editor, having to cope with relationships and lost the friendship with her best friend, Matt. The adult life that she had always wanted was actually something like this. She also looked unnatural in her 30-year old body.Due to this sudden change in her life, she is constantly in a fix and not know what to do,if with out her friend, Matt's help,she would not have been able to pull through. Some of her problems include getting accused of selling ideas to another magazine company. In the midst of the comedy, the movie wanted to send a message that "it is the best to be yourself".
Well? Are you asking me whether she went back to her childhood? That i enough spoilers for now, watch it yourself to find out!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Sense-sational settings
An evening by the beach
The sun was bathed in a golden hue of orange, red and yellow. The clouds drifted slowly across the magnificent skyline. The sea waters glowed invitingly like sapphires gleaming brilliantly under the warm glow of the evening sun. The salty sea breeze caressed my skin as the refreshing air cleansed my lungs of the pollution accumulated through then long years of staying in a city. I sank my feet slowly into the soft, white sand of the beach, and heard the smashing of the waves on the cliffs. I scooped up some sand and felt them travel across my palms and slid gently back onto the pure white patch. The palm trees were swaying to the rhythm of the wind; while the huge leafs continue to protect the fragile baby coconuts from falling. I walked towards the crystal clear like sea and carefully place my feet on the tide lines to get washed by the cooling waves. The sky is darkening soon, the beach is about to go into slumber, where only the clear sound of the tides hitting onto the cliffs remains.
A fight in public
A fist flew and hit hard on a teenager’s face. The teenager was seething with rage, the veins on hif face and hands protruded in anger. His eyes grew wide and let out a strong kick into the shop owner face. A crowd had gathered and all looked on, but none tried to help. The two men continued fighting, uncouth words came out of their mouths as punches and kicks rained on each other. Blood was flowing profusely out of their wounds, and I could distinctly smell the strong smell of blood and could even taste it in my mouth. A woman stared at those two with wide-eyed wonder; murmurings could be heard while blows after blows of punches were being dealt. The shop owner gritted his teeth in anger, and wiped the blood from his lips. The teenager gave a menacing look and charged at full speed towards the shop owner and pushed him to the floor. A violent tussle ensued; both sides were equally strong and were not going to give up until there was not an ounce of strength left in them.
The sun was bathed in a golden hue of orange, red and yellow. The clouds drifted slowly across the magnificent skyline. The sea waters glowed invitingly like sapphires gleaming brilliantly under the warm glow of the evening sun. The salty sea breeze caressed my skin as the refreshing air cleansed my lungs of the pollution accumulated through then long years of staying in a city. I sank my feet slowly into the soft, white sand of the beach, and heard the smashing of the waves on the cliffs. I scooped up some sand and felt them travel across my palms and slid gently back onto the pure white patch. The palm trees were swaying to the rhythm of the wind; while the huge leafs continue to protect the fragile baby coconuts from falling. I walked towards the crystal clear like sea and carefully place my feet on the tide lines to get washed by the cooling waves. The sky is darkening soon, the beach is about to go into slumber, where only the clear sound of the tides hitting onto the cliffs remains.
A fight in public
A fist flew and hit hard on a teenager’s face. The teenager was seething with rage, the veins on hif face and hands protruded in anger. His eyes grew wide and let out a strong kick into the shop owner face. A crowd had gathered and all looked on, but none tried to help. The two men continued fighting, uncouth words came out of their mouths as punches and kicks rained on each other. Blood was flowing profusely out of their wounds, and I could distinctly smell the strong smell of blood and could even taste it in my mouth. A woman stared at those two with wide-eyed wonder; murmurings could be heard while blows after blows of punches were being dealt. The shop owner gritted his teeth in anger, and wiped the blood from his lips. The teenager gave a menacing look and charged at full speed towards the shop owner and pushed him to the floor. A violent tussle ensued; both sides were equally strong and were not going to give up until there was not an ounce of strength left in them.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Character development
Exercise 2
“Why am I so fat and ugly? Just look at my big tummy.” Tom is a plump boy with a rosy cheek. Well, rosy cheeks are supposed to be good, but he is already 16 years old, and he still had that baby-like smooth complexion and pinkish cheeks. Every day, he looked into the mirror and sigh deeply, he would pinch the fats of his tummy and feel sorry for himself. In school, he would look enviously at the people of sports CCA. “What a lean body do they have..” the he would look at himself and wallow in self pity. He could not join any CCAs because of his weight as he was forced to join the fitness club. As a result of all the factors, he had low self-confidence and do not even dare to look at some of his classmates in the eyes. After all, even he was disgusted by his own body. Every night while sleeping, he would need a lot of energy before he could flip his body, and he would perspire really easily. Actually, most of his classmates found him a nice person, just that he refused to open up to them and preferred to live in his own isolated world of self-pity. He is just too concerned about his self-image.
“I am so fat…” it was another of Tom’s self-pity time.”Hey! Tom! Want to play football together!” Tom turned and his face gleamed even brighter than the sun.
Exercise 4
I sighed. It echoed throughout the lonely four walls that were confining me. It was about five in the morning. The sheriff unbolted the prison door that was confining me and led me through the isolated passage way full of cobwebs for my daily morning bath. Every footstep was as loud as a strong drumbeat in that isolated passageway. Returning to my cell, I was handed a breakfast of plain bread and a cup of plain water through the slot in my prison. I shaved in front of the steel basin that rusted and mould over the years.
“ Is your new exercise object OK?” the sheriff asked. The weights were made available to me not long ago as a reward for supposed good behavior. “ Its fine, very good.” I replied trying to sound exhilarated. In the cases when the sheriff asked you those kinds of questions, it would never be wise to say no to his question.
After the breakfast, I changed into my uniform that has “Singapore Changi Prison” stenciled on it. I was once again accompanied by the sheriff to the prison working out area. That was the only time that we inmates got freedom to move about out of the four walls for an hour, and before we knew it, the sheriffs will lock the face-high stainless steel door and we will all have to head for our respective posts in the prison.
Returning to my dreaded prison, where there is no bed, with a floor just laid with cardboard for the slightest comfort, a steel basin that has not been cleaned for a couple of months. It had no windows, and the toilet was just beside the sink, without any doors to prevent the horrid smell from drifting out during bedtime. Just yet another standard day in the prison.
“Why am I so fat and ugly? Just look at my big tummy.” Tom is a plump boy with a rosy cheek. Well, rosy cheeks are supposed to be good, but he is already 16 years old, and he still had that baby-like smooth complexion and pinkish cheeks. Every day, he looked into the mirror and sigh deeply, he would pinch the fats of his tummy and feel sorry for himself. In school, he would look enviously at the people of sports CCA. “What a lean body do they have..” the he would look at himself and wallow in self pity. He could not join any CCAs because of his weight as he was forced to join the fitness club. As a result of all the factors, he had low self-confidence and do not even dare to look at some of his classmates in the eyes. After all, even he was disgusted by his own body. Every night while sleeping, he would need a lot of energy before he could flip his body, and he would perspire really easily. Actually, most of his classmates found him a nice person, just that he refused to open up to them and preferred to live in his own isolated world of self-pity. He is just too concerned about his self-image.
“I am so fat…” it was another of Tom’s self-pity time.”Hey! Tom! Want to play football together!” Tom turned and his face gleamed even brighter than the sun.
Exercise 4
I sighed. It echoed throughout the lonely four walls that were confining me. It was about five in the morning. The sheriff unbolted the prison door that was confining me and led me through the isolated passage way full of cobwebs for my daily morning bath. Every footstep was as loud as a strong drumbeat in that isolated passageway. Returning to my cell, I was handed a breakfast of plain bread and a cup of plain water through the slot in my prison. I shaved in front of the steel basin that rusted and mould over the years.
“ Is your new exercise object OK?” the sheriff asked. The weights were made available to me not long ago as a reward for supposed good behavior. “ Its fine, very good.” I replied trying to sound exhilarated. In the cases when the sheriff asked you those kinds of questions, it would never be wise to say no to his question.
After the breakfast, I changed into my uniform that has “Singapore Changi Prison” stenciled on it. I was once again accompanied by the sheriff to the prison working out area. That was the only time that we inmates got freedom to move about out of the four walls for an hour, and before we knew it, the sheriffs will lock the face-high stainless steel door and we will all have to head for our respective posts in the prison.
Returning to my dreaded prison, where there is no bed, with a floor just laid with cardboard for the slightest comfort, a steel basin that has not been cleaned for a couple of months. It had no windows, and the toilet was just beside the sink, without any doors to prevent the horrid smell from drifting out during bedtime. Just yet another standard day in the prison.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
The Judas Strain extract
Gray’s fingers refused to move, clamped around the phone.
It vibrated and rang again.
He could almost feel the fury emanating out of it, an anger ready to be unleashed against his mother and father. He wanted desperately to answer it: to scream, to beg, to curse, to bargain.
But he had no leverage
Not yet.
“Nasser must still be in the midflight,” Gray finally mumbled to the phone.
“Due to touch down in five hours,” Seichan agreed.
Gray let a coolness wash through him, but his fingers tightened harder. “Up in the air, he’ll hesitate to make any major decisions. He’ll wait until his feet are on the ground before making a final assessment.”
“And if he hasn’t heard from you by then…”
Gray couldn’t say the words. He only nodded his confirmation. Nasser would kill his parents. He wouldn’t wait any longer than that. He’d punish Gray and move on to a new strategy.
Five hours
“We’ll need more than the second key we found here,” he said. “More than even the third key.We need to have solved the obelisk's riddle."
1. How does the first paragraph set the mood of the extract?
2.How does the obelisk riddle link to every comflict in this extract? Explain and quote evidence.
It vibrated and rang again.
He could almost feel the fury emanating out of it, an anger ready to be unleashed against his mother and father. He wanted desperately to answer it: to scream, to beg, to curse, to bargain.
But he had no leverage
Not yet.
“Nasser must still be in the midflight,” Gray finally mumbled to the phone.
“Due to touch down in five hours,” Seichan agreed.
Gray let a coolness wash through him, but his fingers tightened harder. “Up in the air, he’ll hesitate to make any major decisions. He’ll wait until his feet are on the ground before making a final assessment.”
“And if he hasn’t heard from you by then…”
Gray couldn’t say the words. He only nodded his confirmation. Nasser would kill his parents. He wouldn’t wait any longer than that. He’d punish Gray and move on to a new strategy.
Five hours
“We’ll need more than the second key we found here,” he said. “More than even the third key.We need to have solved the obelisk's riddle."
1. How does the first paragraph set the mood of the extract?
2.How does the obelisk riddle link to every comflict in this extract? Explain and quote evidence.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Prejudice compo
I woke up to an unfamiliar surroundings. My head was throbbing. “Where is this place?” I wondered to myself. I looked around and saw hospital beds and patients, and my parents talking to a doctor, while my mother was sobbing uncontrollably. It was the visiting time, and the patients were conversing happily with their family, but why can’t I hear anything? I tried my best to catch a word of their conversation, the constant sobs of my mother, the swirling of the fans, the laughter of the families. Nothing, absolutely nothing, the silence was deafening. I tried to speak but there was no sound, not even a whisper. It was as if my whole world collapsed right before my eyes. I was devastated; tears flowed uncontrollably down my cheeks. I remember now, I was in a rush to tuition and I was dashing across the road and then my whole world went out into darkness, and now, here I am, in the hospital and, deaf and mute ……
My whole world changed once I became deaf, school life was different, home life was different; conversing with others became such a chore. Every day in school, I could not make out what my friends were saying, and because of that, I was never asked out for a movie, no one ever attempted to start a conversation with me, I was living in an isolated world. Sometimes I wanted to scream, scream really loud and tell people how much I wanted a conversation, but they could never hear me, no one could.
As the days passed, I could now read people’s lips and guess what they are saying. However, it only made my life worse. I could read the jeers from their mouth. “He’s deaf and mute, he cannot answer and cannot even understand what you are saying, hahahaha….” this sentence from a group of classmates pierced through my heart like a bullet travelling at full speed. I spent many nights thinking “Why me? Why am I the one that have to become deaf and mute after an accident?” while I tossed and turn on the bed, tears will start to flow uncontrollably, not because of the fact that I was deaf or mute, but because of the prejudice and discrimination I was getting.
“Let this come to an end…” I thought about it several times and it would be the best way to end my pain. I am now standing on the fourteenth flour of a HDB flat; I took a wide jump forward into the air, and felt the wind tossing me around, as though still mocking me……
“ Oh my…… Look!”
“ Hey! That’s the deaf and mute child next door, .…..”
“ So he’s the one, the deaf and mute….”
My whole world changed once I became deaf, school life was different, home life was different; conversing with others became such a chore. Every day in school, I could not make out what my friends were saying, and because of that, I was never asked out for a movie, no one ever attempted to start a conversation with me, I was living in an isolated world. Sometimes I wanted to scream, scream really loud and tell people how much I wanted a conversation, but they could never hear me, no one could.
As the days passed, I could now read people’s lips and guess what they are saying. However, it only made my life worse. I could read the jeers from their mouth. “He’s deaf and mute, he cannot answer and cannot even understand what you are saying, hahahaha….” this sentence from a group of classmates pierced through my heart like a bullet travelling at full speed. I spent many nights thinking “Why me? Why am I the one that have to become deaf and mute after an accident?” while I tossed and turn on the bed, tears will start to flow uncontrollably, not because of the fact that I was deaf or mute, but because of the prejudice and discrimination I was getting.
“Let this come to an end…” I thought about it several times and it would be the best way to end my pain. I am now standing on the fourteenth flour of a HDB flat; I took a wide jump forward into the air, and felt the wind tossing me around, as though still mocking me……
“ Oh my…… Look!”
“ Hey! That’s the deaf and mute child next door, .…..”
“ So he’s the one, the deaf and mute….”
Reflections for the lesson
Today i had my lesson on what is prejudice, discrimination and stereotypes. They are in fact, all interlinked, but also different from one another. We categorised the different prejudices we had for the different races, gender, or even a particular person. What made me think was how to link this prejudice to the supposedly "good" characters in "to kill a mockingbird" eg. Tom robinson, Atticus
Tom Robinson thought that he doesn't have any hope winning the case because he is a coloured-man. That is prejudice, isn't it/ In my opinion, Atticus do not have any prejudice so far through my understanding of the book. However, it is almost impossible that a person have no prejudice against anything.
Back to the lesson, the part that i enjoyed most wasthe sharing of our prejudices. It was really fun to look at your friends prejudices as you get to know more about them and you learn while you categorise them. It was a meaningful lesson!
Tom Robinson thought that he doesn't have any hope winning the case because he is a coloured-man. That is prejudice, isn't it/ In my opinion, Atticus do not have any prejudice so far through my understanding of the book. However, it is almost impossible that a person have no prejudice against anything.
Back to the lesson, the part that i enjoyed most wasthe sharing of our prejudices. It was really fun to look at your friends prejudices as you get to know more about them and you learn while you categorise them. It was a meaningful lesson!
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