Setting + Comparison | Maggot Moon

Maggot Moon is set sometime in 1955~1975 when the space race was on. (I have a theory that it could also be a future where humans rebuilt and forgot about going to the moon before.) The space race is one of the main events in the book and there are many mentions about it. The location is most likely somewhere in Germany with a lot of right arms being raised and heels being clicked, likely to give the impression of a closely watching government. A lot of people are affected greatly by unseen characters who are only mentioned as "them" or "the Motherland".

Aspects of setting	Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner	1984 by George Orwell	The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Time	Past/Future (undecided)	Future	Future
Setting - physical	Broken houses in the neighborhood, a school, a wall, cameras, moon movie set	Screens, crowded streets, apartments, urban towers with	A wall, a forest, a citadel, a large battleground
Setting - organisation of people	Watching government, murderous teachers, mean kids, helpful grandpa and teacher	Watching government, hidden intelligence, snitches, language deletion, guidelines to live by	President Snow watching over everything, rebellious kids, rules

Protagonist VS Antagonist | Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner

Standish Treadwell is an okay kid. He is the 15 year old protagonist, narrator and main character of Maggot Moon. So far in the novel he has been bullied by prefects, seen to have a reading and writing age of around 4 years, and made the mistake of going over the wall to get a ball with his bud Hector. Well, all humans have those sides. His hero side is not too bad, but could use some working on. One heroic action was trying to stop his teacher from kicking Little Eric to death... but he failed that. Another one was standing up to Mr Gunnell, but sadly that was what led to Lil' Eric laughing at Mr Gunnell till he couldn't take it anymore.

So far the biggest antagonist is the government as they are watching everyone with cameras, bugs and spies. They are currently antagonising students and teachers at Standish's school through an intelligent-looking cloaked proxy with a gun, who I will refer to as "Cloakman."

Another antagonist (before being shot by Cloakman) was Mr Gunnell. This short-tempered, mean-spirited government fanatic of a teacher had done many offences against children such as beating them with a cane. After killing Eric, Hans Fielder (one of Standish's prior antagonisers) stood up for Standish as he had tried to save Eric. Cloakman believed the truth and shot Mr Gunnell in the face after seeing Eric's tarpaulin covered body.

The very first antagonists were the prefect Hans Fielder and his gang, who wore long trousers unlike the usual shorts. They were bullying Standish because they believed he was a dumb runt compared to them. After a bench was put in the far corner of the playground, they used that as a screen to hide the beating on him and other kids they considered "runts."

An Introduction to Maggot Moon

In English class everyone has been forced to read an exact genre of book, that genre being dystopian fiction. The book I "chose," Maggot Moon, is written by Sally Gardner.


It seems to be set somewhere in Germany. Every now and then there are people clicking their heels, stiffly raising their right arms and hailing the Motherland. The protagonist, Standish Treadwell, lives in Zone Seven. It is a place scattered with bombed-out houses and dodgy neighbours here and there. While reading this book, there are constant reminders that everyone is being watched. Cameras at school, a man in coat with a gun, government-paid spying snitches, and forced references to the Motherland. Even the evil government-loving teacher gets killed for kicking a student's head in.

Standish Treadwell writes very strangely. It reminds me of how I tell stories; he jumps from present to past to other time periods all the time, which would make it complicated for many people to follow. I for one am captured by his writing style. It highlights that he is mentally different from the other kids. You can also see that he is bullied, as he actually gets beaten up by a guy called Hans Fielder and his gang. He and his friend Trevor imagine about going to this planet called Juniper with Croca-cola plains and other beautiful scenery. Sadly, Trevor has already been established as someone who will disappear from the beginning of the novel.

The key challenge Standish faces is pleasing the government. If he gets out of step or continuously acts different, he will very likely be eliminated. (Some other challenges are bullies, cloaked men and angry teachers.)

Hope that was satisfactory.
Aight, I'mma head out.
Kyle

(Includes video) A film about a toaster

If you want to understand the following video, it is a good idea to read the article it is based on (either before or afterwards): http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-426



Even though my camerawork, directing and editing skills weren't well practised, I had fun making this film with my friends. I also learned that the recruiting technique was used this time was not good or easy for both the recruited and the recruiters. However, in my view it was the best one for school, as nobody has ever gone to my events because of one of my posters. Mr. Hanson also suggested that I should continue thinking big, but scale my ideas down to a size that will not scare off other students.

Foley Job Application for Media Studies

A Foley's (named after the Jack Foley) job in film creation is to add ambient sounds such as footsteps, door creaks and paper rustling that can not be easily picked up by a boom mic. This helps the movie feel less empty of normal sounds. With that said, here is my job application.


I am good at remembering and recalling small moments in a film.
I can write on paper, allowing me to be able to plan what I should do at what time to create the intended effect.
I can think of creative and effective ways to create matching sounds.
I have some experience editing my own sound if needed.
If I miss something important I will attempt to re-record it.

Media Studies | Ajax the Kea dog

Today at Media Studies we examined a DOC video of a man and his one-of-a-kind Kea finding dog, Ajax. 

The first thing I did after watching it was examine the sound.

Music	At the start of the video, the music sounds chill and ambient, sort of like a status quo in the the forest. When the man finds a dead Kea nest, the music has more of a sad piano sound to it. After Ajax the dog finds a Kea the music suddenly gets a much more bass-y sound and happy chords come in.
Dialogue	The dialogue has a New Zealand documentary feel to it. The man talks a lot about what happens on the job and him and his dog's daily life being Kea finders and monitors.
Sounds	Sound design is good. They have very well fitting noises such as water flowing, bush rustling and other nature sounds. They also have kept in (or got a Foley to recreate) sounds that the two workers had made on the trip around the mountains.

Aferwards, I read the instructions wrong and wrote up my first impressions of the camerawork and what I liked in general.

The camera changes scenes and moves around a lot to keep the viewers interested.

There are interesting shots such as these:

I especially enjoyed this overhead shot of the dog going over the river, as it is something the cameramen would actually require a drone for.

Also, the grading after the empty Kea hole scene was very good for what they wanted to portray, which was that the man was feeling down.

In the end, I wrote that my first impressions of the music was that it was so well done that it was near unnoticeable, like Minecraft ambience going on in the background as you play.

Cya later,

Kyle

Graffiti: Art or Vandalism?

GRAFFITI

There are many different definitions for graffiti. For example, the Oxford Dictionary defines it as

writing or drawings scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public

place, while the Cambridge Dictionary defines it as words or drawings, especially humorous,

rude, or political, on walls, doors, etc. in public places.

ART

There are a lot of different definitions of art as well. The Oxford Dictionary says that the

expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such

as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or

emotional power; and The Collins Dictionary says that the arts are activities such as music,

painting, literature, cinema, and dance, which people can take part in for enjoyment, or to create

works which express serious meanings or ideas of beauty.

VANDALISM

There are… you get the idea. Oxford Dictionary says vandalism is taction involving deliberate

destruction of or damage to public or private property.

PARAGRAPH

I believe graffiti is vandalism as well as art. Specified above, there are two categories that

Graffiti can fit into. I think that Graffiti fits in to both these categories. Let’s say there was some

graffiti saying “Blind people, am I right?” sprayed onto a parking lot wall. First, it is a few

humorous words on a wall at a public place, so it is graffiti. Second, it is from a creative thought

from someone’s mind in a visual form, so it is also art. Finally, it is deliberate damage to public

property, so it is also vandalism. Many pieces of graffiti art fit in like this one. That is why I

believe graffiti is vandalism and art at the same time.

Taiwan

I am in Taiwan as I write this.
Hello, my dear readers (from other random schools), and welcome to my monstrosity!
Here are some videos I have uploaded recently on my YouTube channel.

What does S stand for?

Letter to Curious New Zealander - (UPDATE)

I have changed my mind about sending my letter to John Gully through Jimmy- it's too easy, because John's his uncle! To make things more fun, I'll give it to my dad's friend Brent to make it more interesting, and to see how connected New Zealanders are. Also, I have an idea for Stan Walker's letter's first person- and that is Jonathan Goodall, who has done a lot of technical music stuff for musicians. So, time to do this!

A letter to a curious New Zealander

Our school is part of an experiment to see how connected New Zealanders are.

We have to write a letter to a Curious New Zealander of our choice. Then we have to pass the letter onto a random person with the instruction to pass it on to someone who might know the person who might know the person whom the letter is addressed. After they receive it, getting proof with a selfie, an email or something can be good proof that it got there.

I have chosen John Gully from the Everest Treks as my Curious New Zealander because I am really interested in Mount Everest, and also because my friend Jimmy keeps talking about him. I am going to first give my letter to my friend Jimmy because he is related to John Gully (which is why he keeps talking about John.

John Gully

Since there are a lot of postcards in the pile, I get to send a second person.

For the second Curious New Zealander, I have chosen Stan Walker because he is a cool recording artist, actor and TV personality. I'm going to first tweet him to see if he knows anyone that knows him (idea from Corianna), because I need to find out who knows him. Updates may come soon.

Stan Walker

Aluminium boats with marbles

Today, our goal was to build a boat that could hold the most possible marbles, using a piece of aluminium foil. We had to build two boats, and try to improve our design between our first and second boat. My team consisted of Me, Kyle, and Matthew.

Rules

• You may only use a single piece of foil to build your boat
• You may not touch or adjust your boat once it is in the water
• You must add marbles one at a time

Our plan

Type-up of plan

Make a hat boat and drop marbles in.

• Strength: floats because of air pockets.
• Strength: Sides hold the marbles in
• Weakness: It's tin foil.
• Weakness: Sides could fall apart.

What did the boat do?

Evaluate and Improve

A few common problems between all the tested boats are that a few are too small, or the marbles roll around the boat and unbalance it.

Good ideas are deep bowls, and big flat boats that displace water, especially when there are sections to keep the balance.

Our new design

This design incorporated both good evaluations to see if it they went well together.

They didn't.

Strength: Deep enough to hold a few marbles.

Strength: Has sections to make the weight spread out and balanced.

Weakness: IT HAS HOLES INSIDE IT EVERYWHERE

Weakness: Sections take a lot of the material, leaving only a little to use.

Ironic

Ironically, the blog post I wrote 19 days ago got a lot of views.
Funny.

Room 11

Our school has a room full of musical instruments, and that is Room 11.

I don't really see them get used a lot.

I think that we should find a room that doesn't get used anymore, and take a few of the keyboards, guitars and drums to create a music room.

Now that'll be a place I would like.

Judging

I hope little kids would
stop judging me.
They are everywhere.
I can see
their unimpressed eyes,
drilling
deep into my soul.

That poem tho.

Why I don't want to blog every time I learn a new thing

I got stabbed in the foot by a sewing needle a few minutes ago.
I like Mr Wood's education system, but have a problem with it.
Mr Wood wants us to blog every time we learn something, which is 2-3 times a day.
I think if I actually did blog it probably wouldn't help very much.
But I guess, like what I have been blogging recently, I only really blog when I want to.
Blogging is only one way of communicating.
I like presenting stuff in person more, like with music and talking.
And anyway, my audience is so small it's not really rewarding to blog on this blog.
I hate how the teachers changed us from being blog moderators to authors, unless we ask, and they agree, and then we get to be moderators for a small time. I liked my blog more when I could change the background whenever I felt like it. And also, my description about who I am (located at the top right) used to be a little different, but some teachers changed it to be more of what the majority call 'normal'.
Blogging also doesn't really motivate me to learn more things, just to show people what I can do.
I only do that with singing, dancing, instruments and magic tricks.
I don't really like the 'if one person does something bad, you all suffer' mindset.

But this is just MY view.
Peace out - Kyle

Chinese class with Wendy!

Every Tuesday, Wendy (from China) comes to school to teach us Mandarin/Chinese, and the traditions of the Chinese. The first week Wendy came, she taught us how to use chopsticks, and then we played a game where er picked up small objects and put them in a bowl. Last week, We learned all about the Dragon Boat Festival, and Wendy played a song about it. Then we made rice dumplings, and I helped write Chinese names for everyone. Then, this Tuesday, Wendy made better names for everyone, and we practised writing them. I already have a Chinese name, so I just used that. After practising, we used colouring pens or Vivids to write them onto pieces of rice paper. It was a great time!

Hanmer Poem

It's 3:36.

Mr Wood told us to write a poem this week, and I finished it the day after.

Here is my poem.

--------------------

Have you smelled Hanmer?

Of course you have.

Remember that time when the rotten egg smells of the sulphur pool

went in your nose until you walked into the hot pools

and the heat made you forget about the smells?

Remember the first time you went down the superbowl

and it was dark at first but then you go around the bowl hoping

you didn’t get stuck or fall to the last hole backwards?

That was Hanmer.

Remember the time when you saw everybody go up the rock climb

and you thought it looked easy but when you actually

tried it it was hard but you still climbed nearly to the top on the hard one

and all the way to the top on the easy one?

That was Hanmer.

Remember that time when you walked into the Lolly Pot

and saw all the delicious candies

like Warheads, BeanBoozled and Pear drops

and feeling the excitement of taking your pick?

That was Hanmer.

If you try really hard

can you remember that time

when you didn’t want to go mountain biking

because you wanted to go to the pools

and the expected time to finish was two hours

but your small group finished it in less than

45 minutes?

That was Hanmer.

Piggbook Metalangauge

Today we started learning about a story by Anthony Browne, called Piggybook.

As you can see the cover a has puns and metaphors.

Mrs Piggot is piggybacking Mr Piggot, Patrick and Simon, SUPPORTING them.

And this book is about how they turn into pigs when Mrs Piggot leaves.

Here is the work I have done on this book, explaining some of the words.

Piggybook Metalanguage

Metalanguage	Dictionary Meaning	What I Think that that means!!!	A picture
Representation	The act of representing	Showing someone or something and explaining it
Construction	The act or art of constructing	How the book is put together and how the words are connected	This picture does not help
Stereotype	Sociology. A simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group	A widely held belief about types of people that are cliches, with a simple understanding. An example is: If you wear glasses, you are a nerd. If you are Asian, you are a bad driver.
Discourse	Communication of thought by words; talk; conversation	Talking about things.
Feminine	Pertaining to a woman or girl	How people think girls should be like.
Masculine	Pertaining to or characteristic of a man or men:	Muscular looking people.

The Wild Deer Debate: Locating

This week we are doing some reading comprehension. It is on a debate about if deer should stay or not. Here is the PDF file version: drive.google.com/file/d/0B2crh7K1KlPJVkFqTG84Y3J4SXFVQWRqMU5VRXR2ZExoQzFr/view

Here is my locating work.

The Wild Deer Debate

In this article there are two sides to this debate-those that want deer to stay and those that don't Four opinions are given. Use this organiser to locate those for and against deer, with their reasons.

For	Against
Buck and Luke don’t think the small damage by deer is a big problem. They like it when they have healthy, lean meat in their freezers. They think that deer should be able to breed freely so people can keep hunting them.	Mike thinks aerial hunting is the best way of getting deer. He also thinks 1080 would also work well, but would be controversial. He thinks that if he had the conservationist job before they came, he would have said NO to the import.
Warren thinks that deer hunting is a good sport adults and children can do together. He thinks that hunting is a good job to have. He also thinks that hunting is not just killing deer, but the whole experience.	Debs and Michael think that in a perfect world, there would be no deer in NZ. They think that if there were no deer in NZ, the flora and fauna could live safely. They think poison might not be a good approach, since people will probably rebel more.