Blog #2: A Culture Different From Your Own

"Shortly before parliamentary elections in December, foremen fanned out across the sprawling GAZ vehicle factory here, pulling aside assembly-line workers and giving them an order: vote for President Vladimir V. Putin’s party or else," Clifford J . Levy wrote. I can not believe people still do that. Ordering people to vote for a certain party just shows how insecure the people of the party really are. But, I supposed, where ever you go bribery and threats will follow. This article goes on about how Vladimir Putin is turning into a dictator, ruling with an autocracy. That is how Hitler got elected to office; by democratic vote. So, what if Vladimir is the next Hitler? Hopefully he won't put people in concentration camps or anything extreme like that, but people did not really expect that from Hitler, either. What if Obama turns into a Hitler character? Gaining millions of supporters and love; he could turn on us at any second... But he won't. I think Vladimir Putin is just a stickler and will only have things his way and people like that scare the rest of us. But, maybe we, the people, the supporters and voters, maybe we need to just have a little faith in our leaders. Putin may look rough and stern on the outside, but he did get elected by the people so the people should trust in the decisions they have made; not go back on their word.

Levy, Clifford J. "Putin’s Iron Grip on Russia Suffocates Opponents." New York Times. Feb 24, 2008. March 4, 2008.

Blog #1: Natural Disaster

An earthquake in China a little over a year ago left 80,000 people dead or missing. A
four-year-old reservoir, the Zipingpu Reservoir, built close to the fault line at the center of the earthquake is speculated to have been the trigger. With that piece of information alone, one can only suspect how the Chinese government is faring. We all understand that dams and reservoirs are funded and owned by the government, so saying government property has caused one of the most terrible natural disasters in Chinese history can be a huge blow and set back. But aren't natural disasters, well, natural? Natural meaning not being caused or triggered by human behaviour? A natural disaster is related to land and wind and air. But then again, that is the question; did the government cause this earthquake? Or was it destined to happen? Based on the information given in the article, I find it hard to believe a reservoir could cause seismic waves in the earth's crust. Honestly, if the Earth wants to have an earthquake, the earth wants to have an earthquake. It's not one of those things that can be created by water pressure in a corrupt country. And, really, the government wanted to help it's country by creating a dam, not to trigger a terrible "natural disaster".


Lafraniere, Sharon. "In China Quake, a Man-Made or Natural Disaster?" International Herald Tribune. Feb 6 2009. Feb 16 2009. < http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/06/asia/06quake.php>

Smooth Out That Worry Brow

"Ileana doesn't direct the course of affairs; that's not our way. She believes in letting folk make their own errors. If that results in disaster, so be it" (Knopp 112)
Jena and her four sisters find a secret portal in their castle and find that it leads them do the Wildwood. Long ago, back when only Tati and Jena were alive, they found this other world and have been going there every full moon since. This world is a magical one, filled with dancing, dwarfs, faeries, witches and vampires. It is a huge risk traveling there every full moon, but the girls insist on it. Tati, the eldest sister, falls in lust with one of the Night People, a vampire. Jena shows great concern and asks the Ileana, the queen of faeries, when the Night People are leaving (the Night People are nomads).
Ileana's response is unusual; if someone you love is in great danger, you help to rescue them. But not her. Ileana wants everyone to understand that the chips will fall where they may and that no one should disrupt that process. Jena, being the outspoken-I'm-always-right kind of girl, keeps trying to convince Ileana of the danger Tati is in. But Ileana is also very stubborn and will only see her way.

Lady-Like

"This isn't fair!" I snapped, realizing with horror that from Cezar's point of view, his action was perfectly logical. "You cannot just take over our funds and expect to decide what we can and can't spend money on. I'm a grown woman, I can deal with this!" ( Knopp 97).
When Jena's father leaves to peruse his business needs, she is left to deal with the accounting on the house and the servants. Jena finds this task quite easy for she has helped her father with it for years. Unfortunately, her father's extended absence worries her cousin, Cezar, who's father has just died and is managing his own estate. Jena is a very outspoken girl; she wants things done her way or the highway, not a very lady-like virtue in this time period. Cezar finds it embarrassing when she picks fights with him when they're around other people (but secretly he's in love with her. I can tell). Cezar also thinks it not lady-like for a young woman to be so involved with the funds of estate so he intervenes. He takes it upon himself to look over Jena and her four sisters, not as a man managing their estate, but as a father. And that aggrivates Jena more than anything.

Rapunzel

I know I switch books a lot, but I found this really great volume of the Grimm Brother's Complete Fairy Tales. I read recently "Rapunzel" and it's different then what I was told when I was a little girl. This version involves the prince making love to Rapunzel and Rapunzel by accident tells the witch about the Prince. The witch then cuts off her hair and sends her off to a wood no one knows of. The prince comes one night but the witch is in the tower, not fair Rapunzel, and in his agony, jumps from the tower landing on rose bushes which scratch out his eyes. He then wanders the wood aimlessly for Rapunzel until many years later he hears the beautiful voice he knows oh too well. Rapunzel cries out with joy, her tears falling on his eyes, making him see again. He sees she has twin children and rejoices with his family. They live happily ever after.
Of course the version I was told didn't include the eyes being scratched out or the prince making love to her. This is written by the Grimm Brothers, however, so it is understood.

Challenge

With the passing of a most competitive king, Stronghold is now wondering who is to inherit the land so many witches and faeries inhabit. Only three of king's sons are alive (four dead) Primus, Tertius and Septimus. Of course the king killed all his brothers for his place and is disappointed with his sons' inability to finish each other off; that is until only one brother remains. The king then devises a challenge; he throws the Stonghold Topaz into the air and all the sons watch with amazement as it floats upwards into the sky. "To him who retrieves the stone, which is the Power of Stormhold, I leave my blessing, and the Mastership of Stormhold and all it's dominions" (Gaiman and Vess 59). And then a star falls and the old king whispers, "There," and dies. So, the old king left this great challenge to his sons; some not so bright, to find this Topaz that floated up in the sky.
But, what if the star falling has something to do with the Topaz? What if they are related in some way? None of the sons have any idea what do to so a great challenge this is.

Fantasy.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess': "One star fell" (Gaiman and Vess' 59). The movie Stardust is a wonderful tale of romance, war and fantasy. The novel is much different than the movie and a million times better.
In our case, a star is just a captured meteorite that, for some obscure reason, shines at night. In this novel, however, a star is not a meteorite but a person; a beautiful woman that shines and radiates beauty with from every inch of her body. But, it is also told that if one posesses the heart of a star, one is granted immortality. Strong princes and terrifying witches seek the star, hoping to capture her heart and gain immortality. (Capture her heart is meant quite literally. To cut out her heart and eat it.)