Geography 5- Penélope Cruz

Penélope Cruz is a Spanish actress, born in Madrid, 1974. Growing up, Penélope had no intentions of being an actress. She was more focused on dance. She had studied classical ballet for nine years at Spain's National Conservatory. Ballet instilled in her discipline that would be important in her future acting career. At the age of 15, she got signed by an agent. In 1989, at 15, she debuted and starred in the music video "La Fuerza del Destino" of the pop trio Mecano. Penélope had a lot of experience on television acting. She hosted the Spanish talk show, "La Quinta Marcha" , a program aimed at a teenage audience. In 1992, she made her first film debut, as the lead female role in the comedy drama, "Jamón, Jamón". She achieved recognition for her lead roles in "Vanilla Sky" and "Blow", which were very successful worldwide.
Penélope has appeared in a wide genre of movies, from Thrillers such as "Gothika" in 2003, to "G-Force", a family animation, and in the musical "Nine". Penélope is known for her role in "Volver", a Spanish movie about two sister's, who's parents have died. Sole, one of the two sisters, can see her mothers ghost, and agrees to let her stay with her. Meanwhile, Penélopes character deals with other issues. Her husband tries to rape her daughter, claiming he isnt her biologoical father, and Penélopes character stabs him in self-defense. The movie deals with a strong theme of death. Penélope's role in "Volver" earned Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. She received an Academy Award for her role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Penélope was the first Spanish actress in history to receive an Academy Award, and she was the first Spanish actress to receive a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Geography: The mainlands of Spain are very mountainous. The Pyrenees Mountains borderline Spain and France. It separates the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of continental Europe. Andorra, a Spanish country, lies between them. The Pyrenees Mountains are older then the Alps. They were formed about 100 to 150 million years ago. The eastern part of the mountains consist of mainly granite and gneissose rocks, where as the western side of the mountains mainly consist of limestone. The mountains are huge and unworn, because they are made of granite, which is resistant to erosion. The western side of the mountains recieves much more precipitation, then the eastern side, because of the moist air that blows in from the Atlantic Ocean over the Bay of Biscay. After dropping its moisture over the western and central Pyrenees, the air is usually dry over the eastern Pyrenees. The average climate is -2 degrees.

Geography 4- Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger, born in Perth, Australia in 1979, was an tv and film actor. He built up his acting career in Australia, by mostly doing small television roles.
When he was 16, Heath left school to persue his acting career. In 1992, he landed himself a small role in "Clowning Around", the first part of a two-part television series, and to work on the TV series Sweat. From 1993 to 1997, he also had parts in the Perth television series "Ship to Shore", "Roar" and in 1997, Heath appeared in the popular Australian show, "Home and Away". He also got himself a role in the Australian film "Blackrock" which was his feature film debut.
In 1998, Heath moved to the USA, to develop his film career further. While in the US, he starred in 19 films, including "10 Things I Hate About You", "The Patriot", "Monster's Ball", "A Knight's Tale", "Brokeback Mountain", and "The Dark Knight". While in the US, he also directed music videos and tried to persue a career in film direction.
Heath won the 2005 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and the 2006 "Best Actor" award from the Australian Film Institute and was nominated for the 2005 Academy Award for Best Actor as well as the 2006 BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, for his powerful portrayal as Ennis Del Mar in "Brokeback Mountain", in 2005. Heath was nominated and won awards for his portrayal of the Joker in "The Dark Knight", which was filmed just before his death in 2008. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, a Best Actor International Award at the 2008 Australian Film Institute Awards, for which he became the first actor to win an award posthumously. He also won the 2008 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, the 2009 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and the 2009 BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.
On 22nd January 2008, Heath was found unconscious in his apartment in Manhattan, by his housekeeper. Emergancy medical technicians arrived within minutes, but were unable to revive him. Heath was pronounced dead and his body was removed from his apartment. A number of autopsys were done and it was confirmed that Heath died from an accidental toxic combination of prescription drugs, at the age of 28.

Geography: Uluru, aka Ayers Rock is a large sandstone formation, found in the Northern Territory of central Australia. Uluru is sacred to the Aṉangu, the Aboriginal people of the area. It has many springs, waterholes, rock caves and ancient paintings. Uluru is listed as a World Heritage Site. Uluru is one of Australia's most recognisable natural icons. It is known for changing colours as the different light strikes it at different times of the day and year, with sunset when it glows red.
Even though rainfall isnt common in Australia, when it does rain, Ayers Rock turns a silvery-grey colour, with streaks of black algae forming on the areas where the water flows. Uluru has provided Australia with tourism over the years. Tourists climb the famous rock. There have been 35 deaths recorded from people climbing the rock. Climbing Ayers Rock is popular with tourists but the local Aṉangu people dont climb it as it is of great spiritual significance to these people. They request that visitors do not climb the rock, partly due to the path crossing a sacred traditional Dreamtime track, and also for the safety of visitors. The Aṉangu also request that visitors do not photograph certain sections of Uluru, for reasons related to traditional Tjukurpa beliefs.

Geography 3 - Marilyn Monroe

Norma Jeane Baker aka Marilyn Monroe, was an American actress, singer and model, born in 1929, in California. Marilyn spent most of her childhood in foster homes. Soon she bagan a career as a model, which led to a film contract in 1946.
Her appearances in films were minor roles, but her performances certainly got her noticed. Her performances in "The Asphalt Jungle" and "All About Eve" were the turning point in her acting career, landing her lead roles. Her dramatic performance in "Bus Stop", was one of her finest performances as an actress, and she received a Golden Globe nomination.
Marilyn set up her own production company, "Marilyn Monroe Productions". They released their own production in 1957 "The Prince and the Showgirl", which she received a BAFTA Award nomination and won a David di Donatello award. She also received a Golden Globe Award for her performance in "Some Like It Hot" in 1959.
Marilyn's modelling career started, when she was working in Radioplane Munitions Factory. She sprayed plane parts and inspected parachutes. While she was working here, an Army photographer David Conover took a photo of her for a "Yank magazine" article. He encouraged her to apply to The Blue Book Modeling Agency. Marilyn became one of Blue Book's most successful models.
In 1942, Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her home. An autopsy was held and they found a number of drugs in her system. Even though they found the drugs in her system, no one is sure if she died due to suicide or murder.

Geography: California, nicknamed "The Golden State", is known for its plant life. It has the largest, tallest and oldest trees. California is home to the Sequoiadendron giganteum trees, also known as "Giant Redwood". They are the worlds largest trees. They grow to an average height of 50–85 metres (160–279 ft. The tallest Giant Redwood tree recoreded was 94.8 metres in height (311 ft). The oldest Giant Redwood recorded, by counting its rings, was 3,500 years old. They are an evergreen tree and produce the biggest pinecones. Wood from the mature Sequoia trees are highly resistant to decay but due to being fibrous and brittle, it is generally unsuitable for construction. Whereas the wood on the immature Sequoia trees are less brittle and this resulting in some interest in cultivating Giant Sequoia as a very high-yielding timber crop tree. These world famous trees have brought tourism and horticulture to California.

Geography 2 - Colin Farrell

Colin Farrell is a well known Irish actor. He was born 31st of May , 1976 in Dublin.
Colin's father, Eamon Farrell, was a football player who played for Shamrock Rovers FC, which is the most successful football club in Irish history. They have a stadium in Tallaght, in Dublin. His father was also owned a company that imported and exported canned goods in Dublin City.

Colin had small parts in television shows and films, including the BBC drama "Ballykissangel" in 1998, and his film debut in Tim Roth's "The War Zone". Although Colin has a strong Irish accent, he uses an American accent in some of his films including "American Outlaws" and his breakthrough role, "Tigerland".
In 2003, Colin starred as a criminal who plots a bank heist with other Irish actor, Cillian Murphy in "Intermission", which held the record as highest-grossing Irish independent film in Irish box office history until 2006.

Colin has a son, James Padraig Farrell, born on 12 September 2003, in Los Angeles. In October 2007, Farrell revealed that his son James has Angelman Syndrome, which is a rare genetic disorder characterized by intellectual and developmental delay, speech impediment, sleep disturbance, seizures, hand flapping movements, and frequent laughter/smiling.

Colin had reportedly grown very close to Elizabeth Taylor, recently before her death and was one of the few non-family members to attend her private funeral.

In 2007, Colin was joined by other celebrities such as, Bruce Willis, Eva Mendes, Muhammad Ali, Vanessa Williams and Arnold Schwarzenegger, to be an official spokesperson for the Special Olympics, in Shanghai, China.

S.W.A.T (2003) - Nominated for Irish Film & Television Award for Best Actor
Miami Vice (2006) - Nominated for Irish Film & Television Award for Best Actor
In Bruges (2008) - Won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor
Nominated — British Independent Film Award for Best Actor
Nominated — Irish Film and Television Award for Best Actor


Geography: Ireland is the home to the famous Cliffs Of Moher, which are one of the most visited sights in Ireland. They are located in the parish of Liscannor, near the Burren area. The cliffs are over 214 meters high and attract over one million tourists each year. On a clear day, the Aran Islands are visible in Galway Bay, and so are the valleys and hills of Connemara. The cliffs are mainly formed out of sandstone, the oldest rocks laying at the bottom of the cliffs. It is possible to see 300 million year old river channels cutting through, forming unconformities at the base of the cliffs. The Cliffs of Moher have featured in many films including "Leap Year", "Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince" and many episodes of Father Ted.

Geography 1 - Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier was an actor, director, author and a diplomat. He was one of the first black actors in Hollywood. He is a Bahamian actor, and made his success by starting out in Broadway and this lead him to big Hollywood films. . His best known Broadway peformances are in "The Bedford Incident" and "A Patch Of Blue".
Sidney Poitier was the first male black person to get nominated for an Acadamy Award, for this performance in "The Defiant Ones" in 1958. He was also the first black person to win an Acadamy Award for Best Actor in "Lilies of The Field" in 1963.
In 1967, he was the most successful year at the box office, the commercial peak of his career, with three successful films, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner; To Sir," "With Love" and "In the Heat of the Night".
Poitier directed several films. His most successful direction was in "Stir Crazy" which for years was the highest grossing film directed by a person of African descent. In 1998, to 2003, Sidney Poitier served as a Member of the Board of Directors in The Walt Disney Company. In April 1997, he was appointed as ambassador of the Bahamas to Japan and he is also the ambassador of the Bahamas to UNESCO.

Geography:
The Bahamas has a subtropical/ tropical climate and is moderated by the waters of The Gulf Stream, especially in winter time. This can be very dangerous around summer and autumn months, as this is when hurricanes pass through Bahamas and the surrounding islands, which include: San Salvador Island, Crooked Island, Cat Island and Long Island. There has never been a freeze recorded in the Bahamas, but the temperature can fall between 2-3 degrees during Artic outbreaks, which also affected Florida. The last record of sleet in the Bahamas, was in 1977. July and August are the hottest months of the year in the Bahamas, usually reaching a high of about 32/33 degrees. Winter months, unlike Ireland, are usually 25/26 degrees, sometimes hotter. It usually only rains 140 days out of the year in the Bahamas.

My Sisters Keeper: Book Review

I have read the novel My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I found this book extremely moving, as it covers a sensitive topic, and i throughly enjoyed it.

My Sisters Keeper is a book about a normal family, until their daughter Kate gets diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia at the age of two, when her mother notices shes developed something that looks like "a line of small blue jewels" down her spine, and her mother knows immediately that she is not seeing normal bruises. Their life is soon turned upside down. Neither parents are a right match to be a donor for their daughter they turned to their son Jesse. He wasnt a correct match either. To ensure that their daughter would have a higher chance of survival, they decided they would have another child that would be genetically designed to be a perfect match for Kate. At 13, when her sister now needs a kidney, Anna has had enough. She hires an attorney and sues her parents for the rights to her own body.

There are a huge amount of themes throughout the novel, but the theme of love and friendship play a special role in the book.

The strongest themes in the novel are friendship and love. These two themes slightly overlap throughout the novel, but is definitely most visible and told through the characters, Anna and Kate. They share such a strong bond towards each other, as both sisters and as best friends. Because Kate has been hospitalized her whole life, she never really got the chance to make a long term friend, so Anna acts as both a sister and as the best friend that Kate never got to have. Anna has been the only person who could save Kate, and their friendship is told through flashbacks from Anna's memory.

We see the theme of love represented in the Fitzgerald family and this is recognizable but we also see a new love form in the novel. Taylor, is also a cancer patient at the hospital, and meets Kate when he's there for chemo. He stays by Kates side as she undergoes chemo herself, and other treatments. In their relationship, we see hope for them both, as cancer patients, and as a couple.
We see this theme, strongly represented by Sara Fitzgerald, as the mother of Kate and Anna. We see the love for her two daughters, but people may only see her focused love and attention on Kate, because of her medical situation. In parts of the novel we do see a certain amount of favoritism towards Kate. The love that Sara has for all her children is often overshadowed when Kate is falling very ill. The moment we see Sara's true love for Anna, is during the court case, when we see that she loves both her daughters equal amounts, but when one is on deaths door step, wouldnt you do anything to keep her alive?

The novel is set in the present time, so its very easy to relate to, as it is an issue alot of people have had to deal with. The novel is written from the point of view from six different characters, Anna, Sara, Brian, Campbell, Julia and Jesse. Each chapter is told by a different person, in the present day, bar Sara. Until the very end, Sara's chapters are told from memories in past, whether about Kate, Anna or Jesse. I liked the way each chapter was told from a different person's point of view, as it gives readers a deeper insight into each of the characters life, and it also gives readers the chance to developed their own opinions of each of the characters.

My favourite character throughout the novel was Jesse. I found him so interesting and quirky, and i always looked forward to reading his chapters. Jesse gives you the impression that hes this big macho teenager who sets buildings on fire and one who drinks and smokes, but as you read his point of view, you really see that hes so heartbroken over Kates cancer and we see that he actually feels very isolated from the rest of the family. He lives above the garage in the Fitzgerald house hold, alone.

There were a number of subplots in the novel, but my favourite was between the attorney Anna hired, Alexander Campbell, and Anna's Guardian Ad Litem, Julia Romano. We learn that they once went to school together, and fell very much in love, but Campbell left Julia heart broken. As we read on, we find that each of them still have feelings towards each other. It was really interesting to read, and i liked Alexander Campbell as a character, i felt he brought some humor into the novel, where it was needed.

I throughly enjoyed reading this novel, and would definitely recommend it. I found it a very touching and powerful topic and Jodi Picoult's writing is very poignant. Im definitely going to read some of her other novels.

Ballet :)

Yesterday, class Amina held an Easter Feaster for class Emnet. It was so yummy :o we all brought in sweets or baked and there was a huuuuge table full of food P:
Afterwards, we headed into town to see the ballet. Hayley from TY was taking part in the shows, so we went to support her.
We all waited for Hayley's appearance on stage, and when she came on, she was mind-blowingly amazing :O She was in the background for the first dance, and then she came on for her solo; WOW :o she was amaaaaaaaaazing, and was so graceful :)
The first show was "The Ugly Duckling" and omg all the little girls were sooo cute x)
The shows were all so good and there was no speaking, the story was told through the ballet, and it was amazing how you could understand exactly what was going on.
It was suuuch a good day out and we got to go to Mickey D's which is always a good end to the day P;

Hotel Rwanda

Over the last couple of weeks in religion, we were watching "Hotel Rwanda", a movie about the Rwandan Genocide, which was the conflict between the Hutu and the Tutsi tribes. The UN tried to intervene but they to be honest, they didnt do very much. This all took place in 1994. The movie follows a man, Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager, who takes in over a thousand Hutu and Tutsi people, sheltering them from the rebels who were killing millions in the outside world. He protected these people by keeping them in his Hotel "Milles Collins Hotel" in Kigali.
The movie shows the horrors of the Rwandan Genocide, and the bravery and kindness of Paul Rusesabagina.
Millions Tutsi and even Hutu people were killed during this tragic time and its crazy to think it was very recent. Only 16 years ago.
It was interesting to compare the other movie we watched, "Sometimes In April" with "Hotel Rwanda." I found that it was much easier to understand Hotel Rwanda after seeing Sometimes In April, as we already knew what was going on. I thought that Hotel Rwanda was easier to watch as it wasnt as violent as Sometimes In April. While watching Hotel Rwanda, you didnt see the people being shot like in Sometimes In April, but you got the jist that millions were being massacred.
I found Hotel Rwanda was an extremely good movie as it showed a happy ending for most of the remaining Hutu's and Tutsi's. Sometimes In April wasnt happy in the end, as Augstin's wife had died, but there was still hope for him and Martine. I really enjoyed both movies, and was shocked to see that people just sat back and let the Rwandan Genocide happen.

My Sister's Keeper

In English, we were given a list of books that are on the Leaving Cert. Mrs B, told us to choose one (or two or three) books that we wanted to read off this, and to start reading. I chose "My Sisters Keeper" by Jodi Picoult. Its a story about a young girl, Kate who is diagnosed with Leukemia when she is just two years old. No one in her family is a match, so there is no one to give her blood, cells, or a kidney if she needs it. This is where Anna is created. Anna is a "test tube baby". This means she was created to be the perfect match to her sister Kate. Anna is now 13, and is sick of being poked and proded at by doctors, so she takes action.

Ive only started to read the first couple of chapters but Im really enjoying the book so far. I have seen the movie loads of times before and I am interested to compare the two, movie and book. Already I can see how things are so much different from the movie and it kind of gets confusing, as i always relate back to the movie. The book is very emotional as it deals with such a sensitive issue and I find that the book is told so nicely, and even though it is a sad story, it also has some funny one liners to lighten the mood. The way the book was written by Jodi Picoult, is very easy to read, and you do read it like its a movie, as the characters are so life- like and everything is so vividly described. Some of the language is a bit difficult though, because it deals with the Leukemia theres alot of medical words that i dont know so i have to ask my mam occasionally x)

Glendalough

On Tuesday the 5th of April, Class Amina and some of Class Emnet went to Glennalough for a retreat, with Mr C, and Mrs KB :) The bus journey down was long and warm. No windows on the bus D:
When we arrived, there were alot of other people, including some Spanish students. We were talking to their teacher person and he said he was French and German but he sounded American? Twas crazy :o
We started off with a dance type thing where we praised the earth, and touched the ground? Afterwards we did a walk through a labyrinth, which we each walked in silence. It was nice and relaxing as you didnt really have to think about anything, you just followed the path.
We then went into the museum centre and watched a short film about St Kevin and the monastary that was built at Glenndalough. Then we went for a walk up a hill/ mountain, which was actually so tiring. Here we saw St Kevin's Well and we went to The Lake, where we cupped water in our hands and the water represented our troubles/ regrets and we had to let the water flow softly out of our hands, which was represting letting go of our troubles.
We then hiked up fairly high and passed an amazing waterfall. The walk was done in silence, so we could reflect and have time to ourself and our thoughts. On our way back down, we saw where St Kevin slept while he was at Glenndalough, and we also visited the round tower.
It was an interesting day out but was extremely tiring.

Road Safety Talk

This morning, we had a talk about Cycling. A man came in and explained a bit about cycling and why we should cycle. We should cycle as its better for the environment, better for our health and doesnt cause traffic conjestion, which has been a big problem. He told is that in the Netherlands, people always cycle everywhere, in ordinary clothes. He showed us a video and it showed women cycling in heels, and people cycling in the cold, rain and without helmets. He explained that this is the norm in the Netherlands and they have much better cycling facilities, where-as here in Ireland, its much more dangerous, as alot of main roads, don't have a cycle path present, which means cyclists have to risk cycling on the road, which is extremely dangerous.
He told us that people in Ireland has alot of excuses not to cycle such as: Its too cold, its too wet and its too dangerous. I suppose these points are very true, but we should still find the time to cycle, in our local area, where its safe to cycle.
The speaker showed us a barchart of people who cycle in Ireland. And the result: 2% :L He then told us how many people cycle in the Netherlands, and it said 49% cycle.
Next week in school is cycling week, and people are encouraged to cycle to/ from school. I would if I lived closer and owned a bike :L

English Trip :)

Today, all TY's headed into town for an English/Art/History trip? We went to the WB Yeats Museum, Bog Bodies and saw some of JB Yeats.'s paintings. They were all really interesting, and I learned alot about WB Yeats. His life was very weird :O
His father was an artist and wanted his children to be artists as well but WB Yeats always found that his passion was poetry. It was also said that Yeats was maybe dyslexic? Alot of Yeats' poetry revolves around a woman called Maud Gonne, whom he had a serious obsession with and proposed to her roughly 10 times. Each time, she rejected him :( Maud Gonne had a daughter, which Yeats never knew about because she had always told him she was her niece. When he finally found out that she was, infact Mauds daughter, he proposed to her! o.O
Eventually, Yeats married a woman named Georgie Hyde-Lees. They had two kids together, even though Yeats had many affairs with other women, and spent the first few days of their honeymoon writing love letters to Maud Gonne :O But they stayed married :)

Work Experience: Day One :)

Today I started work experience in Hughes Pharamacy :) I was pretty nervous going in but soon forgot about it when I was greeted with friendly and familiar faces. My first task was doing an order, which is putting prices on each product that comes in and then stacking them on the shelves. It was pretty easy to do but took me aaages :O and i had to use on of those pricing sticker machine gun things :L which took me a while to get used to i kept getting confused :L
Then I got to go home for lunch cos i live just down the road so that was dead handy :) When i got back from lunch I helped make up a box of medical equipment, like sterile stuff, bandages and tape to send out to hospitals and other medical places. I got to work a tiny bit on the tills which I was nervous about because Im not so good with numbers :/ Before I knew it, the day was done and it was time to come home. Cant wait to see what I get to do tomorrow :)

Mini Company Competition

Yesterday, we headed off to Clane GAA Club for our Mini Compnay Competition.
When we arrived we went to an empty desk and started to set up our stand. We built the board and decorated our desks and waited for the judging. It was very intense and we were all really nervous to get judged. We walked around the hall and looked at some of the other groups from other schools projects. Some were extremely impressive :O

Evetually, we got judged and our judge was really nice and was very easy to talk to. He was very interested in our project and like the idea of our "Can-Do Plug Pop." After being judged we were free to roam around the hall and look at the rest of the projects. A group from Clane school were selling Balloon Bouquets and they had people dressed up as Mickey and Minnie Mouse and they had the proper costumes. It looked relly impressive :O
Some ideas were extremely imaginative and very advanced! Like a team from Clane created a solar panel charger from your phone/ iPod. I was actually amazed that a group of TY students were able to come up with the idea and actually get the product made :O It was amazing D:

I really enjoyed the Mini Company competition as we got to see the projects and it was a good day out, but I also really enjoyed seeing people from my primary school who I havent seen in a long time :)

Sometimes In April

Today, the two TY classes got together to watch "Sometimes In April", a movie about the genocide between the Hutu and the Tutsi tribes. We havent finished the whole movie yet, we will watch the ending after the midterm. We have watched most of the movie though, and its quite emotional and definately a powerful movie.
It involves alot of killing and emotional distress and Mrs L and Ms KB have been really great at letting us know that if we are uncomfortable, we can simpley leave the room if we wish.
The movie is about the Hutu's killing the Tutsi tribe. These were once people who got along, but the Belgains have turned them against each other, and caused the horrific genocide to take place.
I noticed some girls were uneasy watching the movie, but they showed great bravery in continuing to watch it.
I cant wait till after the midterm to finish watching it, as I am dying to find about what happens in the end.

Croke Park

On Monday 14th of Feb, we went to visit Croke Park and The GAA Museum for History.
We got the bus to Croke Park which was filled with the usual, singing beautifully on the journey there. When we got there we all piled out of the bus and went inside as quickly as possible to get away from the freezing outdoors.
When we went in, there was a man waiting for us, to bring us to a special room to show us a DVD about the GAA history and its sports. The DVD was very interesting, and showed the Irish playing hurling and gaelic football.
After the short movie was finished he took us outside the perimeter of Croke Park. It was enjoyable, but verrrryyyy cold :O
He showed us the players dressing rooms, and told us about what goes on in the dressing rooms before the team goes out to play their match. He explained that all the players have a different way of dealing with the stress, some are loud and excited, others sit and dont speak word to anybody.
The tour guide then took us to the "Players Lounge" where people usually dont get to go in. This really excited me. While we were in there the tour guide explained the history of forming the GAA and about its founder, Michael Cusack.
When we left the players lounge, we headed out to the Croke Park Stadium. I had never been before so I was excited to see what the fuss was about.
Its huuuuge :O We first got to sit in the special rows, where Mary McAleese sits, and then we got to go up to the very top of the statium and sit at the seats at the top. It was quite a drop down and alot of the girls were really scared :L
We went down again and we got to wonder around the museum ourselves and got to go to the cafe and get what ever food we wanted.
Our journey home was pretty much the same as going, filled with beautiful singing :P
It was a good day out.

Oisin McGann :)

Yesterday, 16th of Feb, we had a special visit from Irish writer and Illustrator, Oisin McGann.
When he came into the room, there was definately a good atmosphere as everyone was keen to meet him and listen to what he had to say. He was so interesting to listen to and he was really funny. He first explained his background information, where he lived, and how he became a writer.
Then he started to explain how he comes up with ideas for this books. He explained to us that he takes something simple, and turns it into something crazy, scary etc. He made up a story about a shoe while we were there and it was extremely imaginative and it was quite amazing how he could make up a story about a shoe.
He then explained that language plays an important role as a writer as he listens to how people speak in everyday life and then he uses that in dialogue for his characters.
He told us that he always keeps a notebook with him, where he can write down any ideas that he may have. He writes them in his notebooks so he remembers them because otherwise, he would forget.
We watched Oisin as he drew an illustration of a character named Hugo from his book. It only took him about 5 minutes to draw, and go over with marker, and it came out perfectly. It was amazing :O On it he wrote " To everyone at St Wolstans" and he signed it at the bottom :)
Oisin McGann was so much fun to listen to and I loved his crazy, loud and bubbly personality.

Poland ? :DDD

Today we were told about a trip to Poland at the Halloween break :D yaaaaaaay :)
We got our permission slips today and our schedual for when we go there and my god I reeeally wanna go it sounds AMAZING! It'll be such an experience if I get to go Ive never been anywhere apart from France and Spain and Poland would be an amazing change (:
Im actually so excited even though I dont even know if Im going yet but ah well :)

On the trip we'll be going to a guided tour of Krakow including the Old Town Square, University District, Wawel Hill, Kazimiers & the Kewish Quarter, Shindlers Factory. We will also be going to an excursion to Auschuwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp which omg would be SO interesting :o We get to visit Wadowice which is the birthplace of Pope John Paul. We'll get to visit the Wieliczka Salt Mines, Visit the Galicja Museum (with a chance of meeting a Holocaust survivor :O) and a 3 hour session at park Wodny Waterpark :DD


How amazingly awesome does all of that sound DD:

Home Ec cooking; Yumminess number two :)

On tuesday 8th we cooked in home ec. Myself and Ciara made Hips Pudding which contained pears,blueberries and orange. It basically looked like a giant blueberry muffin it was AMAZING<3 I must admit, myself and Ciara have excellent culinary skills :L
They are really easy to make and soo yummy :P

Careers

Yesterday in careers we took an interest test which was... interesting? We have to answer various questions and at the end it gives you a list of careers best suited to you. It told me that my career best suited for me was a phyciatrist, which I must say I wouldnt mind :) my second one was a pidetrition. EW! I hate feet, I hate my own let alone anybody elses! That would definately NOT be a career choice I would even glance at. Uuugh the thoughts sends shivers down my spine :L Despite that one icky career, the choices it gave me were careers I wouldnt even have thought about but some of them sounded quite interesting and I must admit Im looking at all the other options. I always had my heart set on being a vet and i always said no id never have any other career than that one but I realise maybe there is more than one career suited for me. Well, we shall see what happens :)

Subject Choice

Oh no :/ Subject choice in less than a week. I have an idea of the subjects I wanna pick but then Im worried if in the end, its not what I wanna do at all. Its all very stressful to be honest. Its pretty scary to think that in 2 years we'll be doing our Leaving Cert.. my god :O
We are all getting to speak to our guidance councellors individually to discuss subject choice and I'm hoping that will help me make my choice D:

Spanish Project

A while ago, we were assigned a Spanish project and we each had to come up with an idea to do our presentation on. First I picked art, but that was already taken so i couldnt do that, then i chose food which was already taken, then i chose the Canary Islands which wasnt so I'm doing my project about :) In my presentation I have a different slide for each canary island and in it i have things to do in each Canary Island. I feel like Im advertising the islands in my presentation :L
Some people have presented in class and they are really good :O we are given sheets by our teacher and we have to mark the person presenting on " Content, Presentation Skills, Spanish Laguage Use, and Delivery." 1 is the highest mark being Excellent and 5 is the worst being Improvement Needed. Our teacher said that the person with the highest mark will get a prize :)

Sci Fest ? :)

We are all to enter the Sci Fest competition in March. Everyone in the class is working hard but Kate, Aoife and I have a nice break after the young scientist as we are able to use all our information; posters, project diary and report book, from the young scientist for the Sci Fest competition which was a nice surprise for us as we are still wrecked after all our efforts on the Young Scientist :) We will, of course have to make a few changes but its all good :)

Movement Workshop

Today we had a Movement Workshop which is to help us with the drama competition. A guy called Ian came in and gathered us in the hall in a huuuuge circle. We did various warmups and stretches which was really fun :)
Then we had to partner up with some and I was with Orlaigh :) We were labelled A and B and then A had to do a certain pose and person B had to fill in the spaces by doing another pose and then person A stepped away and had to fill in person B's spaces etc etc. Ok its reeeeally hard to explain but it was really funny and was really enjoyable :)

Home Ec Project :)

We have been assigned a home ec project. We have to pick a country and we must cook 2 savoury dishes and one dessert from this country. Me and Ciara chose America as they have yummmmmmmy food :P Mise agus Ciara already cooked our first dish which was Beef Burgers. They were goooooooooood <3 We also made a spicy mayo to go with our burgers :o they were really nice. Our second dish next week, we are making blueberry pudding which, according to the recipe and the picture in the cookbook, looks AMAZING!! For our third dish we have chosen to make Mac 'n' Cheese ;D I cant wait because I've never had it before and Im dying to try it D:
For this project we also have to do up a presentation which should include, the country we chose, the geography of the country, the culture and the traditional and contemperary foods from our country. Me and Ciara need to get started on this as we havent started yet D: whoopsies :O

Briery Gap Drama Competition :D

On Tuesday 25th of January we headed off to Mullingar to blow some minds with our TY plays :L "Time of our lives", "Driving under the Influence" ,"But You Didnt" and "Noughts and Crosses" were the plays within our TY classes. I was in the Noughts and Crosses production but i didnt act. Our play was about two young lovers: Callum and Sephy, who cannot be together as Callum is white and Sephy is black. It was based on the Book "Noughts and Crosses" by Malorie Blackman :) In the book, blacks are first class citizens whereas whites are 2nd class. All the racal discrimination is against the whites. Sephy and Callum are deeply in love but find the colour of their skin, tearing them apart. The play is very emotional and shows some seriously talented actresses within our class (: The other play from our class and the two others from class Emnet were very impressive and extremely well written. I think the judge really enjoyed our plays and she gave really good feedback to us about our plays. She was really helpful :D We also got to watch the plays from other schools. They were also really good :)
It was such a fun day out :D

BT Young Scientist 2011 Photos

BT Young Scientist 2011

Myself, Aoife and Kate took part in the BT Young Scientist Exhibition 2011, 2 weeks ago. While we were there I stayed in my Granny and Grandads which was fun :) <3
Our project was titled "The Free Radical Theory of Ageing and the Counteracting Affects of Antioxidants." So basically our project was testing antioxidants on micro-scopic worms called C.Elegans to see which antioxidant would affect their lifespan and make them live longer. We tested commonly known antioxidants such as: Turmeric, Cranberry, Green Tea, Acai, Gingko, and Cherry. Normally C.Elegans live for 2 weeks and when we tested the antioxidants they all did increase their lifespan but one antioxidant made a signifcant increase of their lifespan. Green Tea helped the C.Elegans live for 7 weeks which was an amazing result for us to achieve. The worms lived 5 weeks longer than they would have. This was amazing!
It was great when our fellow TY chums came to visit us in the BT Young Scientist :) It was great to see them supporting us.
Our project got "Highly Commended" on the awards night which was such a nice surprise and was a big achievement for us.
This project would not have been possible without the wonderful help we recieved from NUI Maynooth and we are so greatful for all they have done for us.

While we were there we got to meet some amazing people and we also got to get to know the other Wolstans girls involved in the Young Scientist.
The BT Young Scientist was such an amazing experience to be a part of and its so great to be able to say that i took part in the BT Young Scientist Exhibition 2011.

BT Young Scientist 2011