Vocab. 2

Erode

erode - to eat into or away; destroy by slow consumption or disintegration

Global warming is eroding the polar ice caps by melting them. I'm not sure if melting can count as erosion but I do still understand what erode means. I just thought this was a good example.

Eulogy

eulogy - a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, esp. a set oration in honor of a deceased person

Derek Zoolander gives a eulogy after his best friends die in a freak gasoline fight accident. He truly is a great "eugoogalizer."

Esoteric

esoteric - belonging to the select few

A trip to Willy Wanka's factory is a luxury that is esoteric. Only the 5 kids who get a golden ticket can go. Personally, I wouldn't want to go. I find it creepy.

Epitome

epitome - a person or thing that is typical of or possesses to a high degree the features of a whole class

To me, Travis Barker is the epitome of a great drummer. He's creative, fast, and just overall good.

Equivocate

equivocate - to use ambiguous or unclear expressions, usually to avoid commitment or in order to mislead

Politicians, when asked questions in public on serious issues, tend to equivocate and beat around the bush sometimes, instead of giving a clear answer.

Current Event

Title of article: Violent weekend caps deadly month since Kenya vote
Author: Elizabeth A. Kennedy
Source: The Union Tribune
Date: 1/29/08
Summary: In Kenya kids armed with machetes and clubs got into running battles with police officers, and even burnt rival tribe members alive when they set their homes on fire. The tribe was out for revenge from an attack on their tribe by the rival tribe earlier. Conflicts have been erupting throughout Kenya ever since the controversial presidential election in December and tribes have been hurting eachother because of ethnic reasons.
Reaction: I find it really sad that ethnic conflicts happen anywhere in the world. It's sad that huge violent outbreaks erupt due to differences in ethnicity.

Vocab. 1 (new semester)

Intrepid

intrepid - resolutely fearless

Look at her. If that's not intrepidity, I don't know what it is, folks. Sigourney Weaver in Aliens was fearless. She single-handedly took out the queen alien, which was 3 times her size.

Decorum

Decorum - dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress, etc.

Michael Caine shows decorum. He is this witty, refined, polite Englishmen. And he can be a pretty funny guy while maintaining this persona. The best example of this is his role as the butler in Batman Begins.

Desultory

Desultory - lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order

This is Space Mountain at Disneyland. It's a roller coaster in the dark so you can't see where you're going. The track changes suddenly and not being able to see makes it even more unpredictable. Some people would say it's...desultory.

Despondent

Despondent - feeling or showing profound hopelessness, dejection, discouragement, or gloom

This is a screenshot from the music video "Brain Stew" by Green Day. The song's lyrics explain the narrator's feelings after having a huge lack of sleep. On top of the lyrics, the song itself is slow and somber, so I think it is a good example of despondence.

Formidable

Formidable - of discouraging or awesome strength, size, difficulty, etc.

Mount Everest is the tallest mountain on Earth and it is quite a challenge to climb. People die on it all the time or get injured, so for climbers, it is definitely a formidable opponent.

Current Event

Title: Once controversial pill quietly changing abortion experience
Source: The Uniont Tribune
Date: 1/22/08
Summary: The pill known as RU-486 is becoming increasingly popular as an alternative for abortion. In the U.S., it is now part of 14 percent of procedures. More physicians who did not previously provide abortions are now subscribing the pill, and doctors who already provided abortion are providing the pill on top of the other procedures, as another option.
Reaction: I think it's great because taking pills is a much easier process than a full-on operation. It also makes the process a lot more private, so women who choose to do it won't get ridiculed as much by the religious bafoons that protest outside of hospitals. That's right, I called them bafoons.

Book Report 1 (new semester) - Around the World in 80 Days

Verne, Jules. Around the World in 80 Days. Pleasantville, NY. Reader's Digest Association Inc: 1988.

I chose this book because I read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for the first time last year and I really liked it. So, I thought I would read this other Jules Verne classic. I guess you could classify it as an adventure novel. It starts out in London in the year 1872.

The novel starts with you meeting Phileas Fogg, a rich Englishman. He hires a Frenchman as a servant, named Passepartout. Later, at the Reform Club, Phileas talks to the other men about an article in The Daily Telegraph that presents the opening of a new railway in India, and how it would now be possible to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days. The men talk about the outside factors (breakdowns, people sabotaging the railways, trouble finding transportation, etc.). So, the men bet that if Phileas can do it in 80 days, he wins 20,000 pounds. He and Passepartout set off. Ok, I hate to get lazy, but many things happen while our friends go from place to place, like the rest of Jules Verne's books. They don't really change the characters, or the plot very much, they are just there to add action. So, I will explain them quickly. In their travels, the two: are watched by an undercover Scotland Yard detective by the name of Fix (who thinks Phileas is a bank robber from London because he fits the description), buy an elephant and ride it for a bit when they find the railway in India is actually not finished, and rescue a woman named Aouda (who they take with them) from a scarificial ritual. Then, Fix has them arrested but they make bail, so he follows them to Hong Kong. On the way, Fix talks to Passapartout (who he has met before on the train through India, where he didn't reveal himself). This time, Fix reveals himself and tells how he thinks Phileas is the bank robber. Passepartout doesn't believe him. The vessel going to Yokohama (in Japan) leaves early and to prevent Pass. from telling Phileas about it, Fix gets him drunk, causing Pass. to catch the vessel by himself without telling him. The next day when they find the vessel left, Phileas, Aouda, and Fix hop a boat to Shanghai to get a vessel to Yokohama. Once there, they find Pass. working at a circus to earn a trip back home. They all then take a boat across the Pacific to the States. In San Fran, they hop a train to New York City. Fix promises Pass. that now they are off British soil, he will not interrupt Phileas's journey and help him get to England ASAP (Fix will just have him arrested there). On the way, Native Americans attack the train and capture two passengers and Passepartout. Phileas goes on a rescue mission with the help of soliders from a nearby fort, and save the hostages. At the fort, they hire a man who pilots a "sledge" which I guess is a sled with a sail on it. Lucky for them, the wind is in their favor and the snow is hardened, so they take a quick trip to Omaha, Nebraska. There, they hop a train to Chicago and one more to New York City. There, they find the ship to Liverpool has left. They find a small steamboat headed for Bordeaux, but the captain won't take them to Liverpool, only to Bordeaux. He won't even take them there until Phileas offers him two thousand dollars for each of them. On board for a while, Phileas bribes the crewmen to mutinize against the captain and they head for Liverpool. They run out of fuel since they go on full steam non-stop for a few days. They need to keep the fires going with the wooden parts of the upper ship, so Phileas buys the ship from the former captain. They arrive in Ireland, hop a train to Dublin, and take a boat to Liverpool. There, Fix shows a warrant and arrests Phileas and throws him in jail. After a while, Fix comes in, out of breath with Passepartout and Auoda, and informs Phileas it was a misunderstanding and the real robber was arrested a few days ealier. He's freed, and he punches Fix right in the face. They miss the train and arrive in London five minutes late, so Phileas is sure he lost. He apologizes to Auoda for putting her through this and tells her he won't be able to support her now. She tells him she loves him and that she wants to marry him. Phileas accepts and he tells Passepartout to go tell the reverend. Once there, Passepartout finds out that it is in fact Saturday instead of Sunday like they thought! He runs back to Phileas and tells him that they gained a day since they travelled constantly east. Phileas Fogg arrives at the Reform Club just in time and wins the bet.
I really enjoyed this novel. Like Jules Verne's other novels, it's just a simple adventure novel. There's no deep meaning or moral or anything that you get from it, but that's ok because you still get something out of it. You get entertainment and when you read his books they just take you on an adventure and it's fun.
Like I said earlier, the other Jules Verne book I read was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I liked that one too. These two compare because both books are pretty much a compilation of adventures the characters have while on a bigger journey. Also, I noticed the main characters in both novel had a lovable, nobel servant. I will read more by this author again. I look forward to read Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Current Event

Title: High court hears ethal injection case
Source: The Union Tribune
Summary: Judges are starting to debate whether or nt the lethal injection method of execution should be considered cruel and unusual punishment. There are three injections, and the second one is supposed to be very painful and it is used to paralyze the mucsles to prevent involuntary movement. The problem is, that if the patient isn't properly anesthetized (from the first injection) it would mask if they are in a torturous pain or not. Some arguments were made about how they can find the least amount of pain possible, and opposers said, "It's and execution, not a surgery."
Reaction: First of all, I hate the death sentence already. I think it is inhumane, uncivilized, and it solves nothing. But, if they are going to do it yes they should find the least painful method.

Book Report 4 - Fahrenheit 451

Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York, NY. Simon & Schuster, Inc.

I chose this book because people recommended it to me. Many of them said, if I liked 1984, which I did, I would like this. It's another one of those bleak future books where the government has taken complete control and there are very harsh and outlandish laws that usually ban anything to do with or anything that would spark free thinking. Really interesting stuff. It takes place in an unspecified time in the future, in the United States.
The story starts out talking about how much the main character, Guy Montag, loves burning books. It is his job, because he is a fireman. In this time, firefighters don't put out fires, they light books on fire. Guy gets a new neighbor named Clarisse who is very interesting to him because she is so outspoken and she asks him personal questions like if he is happy. This is strange in the time of the story. She also asks him if firefighters used to actually put out fires. Guy thinks about it and realizes he isn't happy. He has a wife who barely talks or does anything beside watch tv and overdose on sleeping pills. The next day they talk again, and Clarisse is going to the psychiatrist. Authorities make her go because of her independent attitude and "strange" behavior. (Behavior that seems like it would be normal if it was in this day and age). On his way to the fire station Guy talks to Clarisse every day but she doesn't show up on the eighth day. Guy goes to work at the fire station and he talks to Captain Beatty about the history of the firemen. An interesting part that happens here is that when Guy asks Beatty if firemen used to actually put out fires, Beatty opens a book and shows him that in 1790 fireman were established to burn English-influenced books and Benjamin Franklin was the first fireman. Like 1984, the government is changing history. An alarm sounds and the firemen go to an old house to burn books hidden in the attic. The firemen start throwing books out of the attic and without thinking Montag takes one. An old woman is there and she refuses to leave even when the men douse everything with kerosene. She pulls out a match and the men run as it goes up in flames. Montag doesn't see Clarisse for four days and he tells his wife Mildred about it. She tells him they moved away but Clarisse was killed when she was run over by a car. The next morning Montag feels really guilty and he tries to talk to his wife about it but she doesn't understand. Beatty comes over and tells Montag to take the day off, even though he already was going to, but while he is there he talks about how books became unpopular. TV, radio, and other things like that appealed to the greatly increasing population more. People started to have more demand for uncontroversal, simple reads which started not to exist anymore, until finally houses were all fire-proofed and the firemen's jobs were to now burn books instead of extinguish fires. Books could get people smart and make others feel inferior. During the conversation Mildred comes across the book Guy took from the house and Beatty sees but pretends nt to notice. Beatty leaves and Montag tells Mildred he wants to quit the fire squad and he shows her a hidden stash of books he's had for a while. He starts reading one. Later he calls a professor named Faber that he met a year before in park where he was reading a poetry book. Guy calls him because he needs help understand exactly what h's reading. He visits him and they talk and Faber gives him a two way ear radio so they can communicate and Faber can help Guy talk to Beatty. Guy plans to give Beatty a copy of the book Mildred found in front of him so Guy can appear innocent. Faber reads to Guy through the earpiece while there are reports that the country is getting ready for war. Guy goes home and two of Mildred's friends arrive. Guy tries to have conversation with them and the women say things that make him angry an prompt him to take out a book of poetry that he starts reading to them. Afterwards Guy throws it into the incinerator when Faber tells him to and yells at them to leave and re-think their lives. Mildred goes to the bedroom and Guy finds out she has been burning his books so he hides them again, in the backyard. He goes to the fire station and he gives the copy book to Beatty who throws it away. The alarm sounds and Guy finds that the destination is his own house. Mildred leaves in a taxi and Beatty makes Guy burn down the house by himself. If he was to try to escape, the mechanical dog they have will chase him. Guy turns the flamethrower on Beatty and kills him, knocks out the other firemen, destroys the mechanical dog with his flamethrower, and escapes. He hears on a radio that war has been declared as he runs to Faber's house. There, Guy watches the news and finds out a new dog has been sent to search for him along with helicopters. He gets a suitcase full of clothes and leaves. Faber decides he will flee to St. Louis shortly after. Guy runs away and jumps in a river that takes him to the countryside. There, he follows the train tracks to a fire with five men there. One man, Granger, has a portable tv and he has been watching the news. He tells Guy that they will search in the other direction now, to kill a scapegoat so they don't have to be embarassed in front of the many watching people. They find a random man walking alone and kill him and say it's Guy. Guy meets the other people who are all retired professors and intellectuals. They are all waiting for a time for books to be useful again so they can have a purpose in society. Jets fy over the city and bomb it, and afterwards they all head towards it to help rebuild and help survivors.
Guy Montag is changed by the plot very greatly. At the beginning it's ery clear he loves his profession of burning books, but that doesn't last too long. Clarisse's odd behavior spars him to actually think about his life and realizes he truly is unhappy with what he his. He starts to think and read and become an intellectual man.
I loved this book. It was very interesting. Like 1984, this book does a great job of painting a realistic picture of a future environment. It brings up a valid point: books really are becoming more and more obsolete as time goes on, and it's sad. I would say Fahrenheit 451 is important for people to read, especially for our generation of internet kids.
I'm not sure what else Ray Bradbury has written but the sleeve on the book says he's written over 500 pieces. But yes, I would read something by him again.