A Dark Truth

Creeping in the darkness,
Mankind slaves away,
Looking for its partners,
Who are now here to stay.

Viruses in the air,
Poison in the sea.
It just wasn't fair,
Just to blame you or me.

We are all at fault now,
For causing all this mess,
But I still don't know
How we can put ourselves at rest.

Someday you will realise,
That we will be the end.
So don't think that I feel wise,
For I am just Godsend.

Truth be told to humans,
To Adam, Eve and Child,
To small freaks and large mutants,
To domestics and wild.

It falls onto our shoulders,
To fix the world again.
In the eyes of beholders,
Earth will soon be right as rain.

Phantoms and Monsters - Paranormal, UFOs, Cryptids and Unexplained Phenomenon

Above is a very interesting title. What does it remind you of? For me, it reminds me of a very nice refuge where I can retreat to at the end of a very long day, and where I can relax and unwind while immersed in a subject that interests me more than anything else in the world. It reminds me of - The Unexplained.

The above title is also the title of a blog which I often visit. Its content is far better than any other blog I've ever seen. The main content of the blog is about:

1). Cryptids or Cryptozoological Creatures (Ghosts, Close Encounters etc.)
2). UFOs or Lights in the Sky Phenomena
3). Fortean/Oddball News (Which is basically strange news from across the globe)
4). Unsolved Mysteries

This list is arranged in descending order of preference, meaning the higher up an item is, the more I like it. Mainly my favourite posts are the ones which detail discoveries of new evidence to prove the existence of cryptids. These are followed by UFO reports, then the strange news reports from around the world. Last but not least are the Unsolved Mysteries, most of which are not very interesting.

Several posts also appear when the creator of the blog, Lon, is unable to find anything interesting enough to deserve a place on this blog. The most significant of these are the Monsters, which are elaborations of folk tales told around the world about Monsters or Creatures not yet proven to exist.

What I like about this blog is that it has a wide variety of posts, and posts are made every day. Also, these posts give us insight into things which are happening all over the world right now. Besides, who wouldn't like to read a blog that talks about their favourite subjects over and over on a daily basis?

If anybody is interested in checking out or visting this blog, you can find it at this address: http://www.naturalplane.blogspot.com/

Do give it a try! Who knows, you just might find something that catches your eye!

Homework for Term 3 (Part 2)

This post will be even more boring than its prequel. Therefore, I advise you turn back now and remove this site from your History (unless you are a Language Arts teacher).

1) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a fantasy book by Samuel Langhorne Clemens, or Mark Twain as he is commonly known. It tells the story of a young boy living in the Mississippi river town of Missouri.

The story tells Tom's adventures and misadventures in the town. Some of the adventures include the way Tom got his friends to whitewash a fence for him, when he himself did not want to do it. This was the basis of one of Mark Twain's famous quotes - "In order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to obtain".

I first read this story when I was very young, and for some reason, memories of those days were imprinted into the book although I did not understand it then. Memories of long ago came flooding back when I read it again, and this has made a very good impression of the book.

2) The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

The War of the Worlds is a science-fiction story by H.G. Wells. It is the narrative of an Englishman living in London, during the time of a Martian alien invasion.

The story starts from the day the aliens' first scout landed and ends several days after they are defeated by you-know-whats - viruses. These tiny little things proved yet again how important they are to our life cycle! The aliens were never adapted to life on Earth, causing their downfall and our survival.

The interesting part of H.G.Wells' stories is the fact that he imagined scenes long after his time. This, combined with his descriptive writing style, makes H.G. Wells' stories delightful reads, especially to bookworm science-fiction lovers like me.

The Maria Hertogh Riots

This is a nice bunch of slides for our project:

The Maria Hertogh Riots

View more presentations from mrsirvinglong.

Homework for Term 3 (Part 1)

This post is my homework for Term 3. Please ignore this post unless you like to read boring, uninteresting and monotonous words about some random subject that you've never heard about and never will.

1) A Prison Diary III : North Sea Camp : Heaven by Jeffrey Archer

The third of Jeffrey Archer's chronicles of his time in jail after being convicted for perjury. The first two books are called A Prison Diary Volume I : Belmarsh : Hell and A Prison Diary Volume II : Wayland : Purgatory respectively, and it is clear that the third book is a much happier one than the previous two.

What makes the book different from other titles is that it is not a work of fiction, and that it details Jeffrey Archer's entire time in jail. The book tells how Jeffrey Archer's time in North Sea Camp was much better compared to the previous two. He gets more freedom, better privileges and also more tales from the inmates.

This book was a change from the fiction I stories I read throughout the holidays, and it was nice to get a little more back-to-earth in this book.

2) The Master of the Fallen Chairs by Henry Porter

This book is the first of a trilogy of fantasy books by Henry Porter. It tells the story of Kim Greenwood, orphaned after his mother died, and his adventures in the House of Skirl, the house that belongs to the Drago family of which Kim is a descendant of.

One day, a servant of the house goes missing, and that very same night, a stranger comes to the door claiming to be a long-lost descendant of the Drago family. As the stranger and Kim explore the house together, they learn more and more about their family history, and find the painting of 11 gruesome deaths and 11 fallen chairs. There are two chairs left standing in the painting, and they wonder: could these two chairs be meant for them?

The captivating part of this book is the adventure and mystery that goes with it. Although most of the story's loose ends are tied up at the end of the book, a few remain, and this is what makes me desire the second book in the series.

Part 2 will come shortly after. Please do not anticipate it as it will be even worse than this post.

Home Learning Assignment

Today is another Home Learning day for the boys of Hwa Chong Institution. So here's my next assignment for Language Arts. Blog posts should follow shortly after this, so don't worry.

The Son is in Secondary School by Affian Sa’at

My badge has a Latin motto
Hope for the future
The future is hope
Or something

At times black crows try to interrupt
When we sing the National Anthem

It is difficult to maintain
The whiteness of my shoes
Especially on Wednesdays

I must admit there is something quite special
About the bare thighs of hardworking scouts

The Malay chauffeurs
Who wait for my schoolmates
Sit on the car park kerb
Telling jokes to one another

Seven to the power of five is unreasonable

On Chinese New Year
Mrs Lee dressed up
In a sarong kebaya
And sang Bengawan Solo

The capital of Singapore is Singapore

My best friend did a heroic thing once
Shaded all A’s
For his Chinese Language
Multiple-choice paper

In our annual yearbook
There is a photograph of me

Pushing a wheelchair and smiling
They caught me
At the exact moment

When my eyes were actually closed

---

This is the unseen poem which we have to analyse for our assignment.

Stanza 1: The author can briefly remember that the motto was in Latin. This shows that he was trying to withdraw old memories from within his mind.

Stanza 2: This is an example of imagery used in the poem. It creates the humorous mood which some of the other incidents point to.

Stanza 3: This is another of the examples of imagery found in this poem.

Stanza 4: The words "quite special" do not tell how they are special, but we can infer that in this case, it is funny. It also shows how the author remembers his school days.

Stanza 5: Another of the things that the author remembers about his school.

Stanza 6: This refers to Mathematics, and how the author could not do such a simple sum, thus the word "unreasonable".

Stanza 7: Bengawan Solo is an Indonesian song. On Chinese New Year, Mrs Lee, apparently a Chinese, dresses up in Malay traditional clothing. This stanza tells of Singapore's multiracial and multicultural society.

Stanza 8: This refers to Geography, and hints that he was not good at the subject, like stanza 6 does.

Stanza 9: This is another of the funny incidents which the author remembers about his school life. It is a memory which hints at the author's thoughts at the time of writing.

Stanza 10, 11,12: These three stanzas are closely linked, so the explanations will come in one go. The photograph of the author in the yearbook shows him doing charity work, yet the funny thing is that his eyes were closed when the photo was taken. This is the funny incident that sums up the poem.

By reading this poem, it can be inferred that the author was reminiscing about his school life, thinking about the happy and funny incidents which happened then. Being a free verse poem using imagery to present the mood, this poem clearly shows the author's sentiments.

The second task is to write a poem about your own sentiments about school. Here's mine:

School

When I went in while I was four,
I didn’t know what school was for.
But now, at the age of thirteen,
I know what a “school” really means.

School is known to be a place,
Where there is not a time to waste.
You must finish all your work,
For in the cupboard, long canes lurk.

School is where you go to see
All of your friends and enemies.
A place where friendships sprout and grow,
A place where you learn all you know.

I miss the days when we had fun,
Feeding ants with crumbs from a bun.
There was a small ant colony,
It grew large in our hearts.

When I see innocent little kids
Doing all that we once did,
I feel a pang of longing and guilt,
For deserting the friendship we built.

Now we work hard into the night,
Lest we face the discipline master’s might.
If I do not complete my work,
Out come the canes that used to lurk.

We used to have no stress at all,
We played around and had a ball.
Now we don’t stop studying,
Now schoolwork, not play, is king.

When I went in while I was four,
I didn’t know what school was for.
But now, at the age of thirteen,
I know what a “school” really means.

Going to Camp !

Tomorrow, I will be going for a Secondary One camp on St. John's Island organised by my school, Hwa Chong Institution. So I won't be able to surf the net, or even make phone calls! But still, I'm feeling strangely worried .

Why do I feel worried? Because of this. Remember how the lost city of Atlantis was drowned in a single stormy night? I'm just thinking : What will happen if that happens to St. John's Island? It probably won't, since God must really love St. John, and therefore never destroys his property. But think of all the things that happen at sea. Giant icebergs, Krakens, pirates, waterspouts, hurricanes, violent storms, typhoons and the lot. Any of these could appear around the island, except the icebergs, maybe.

Also, the island is quite big compared to humans, so if the island is actually a secret base or a giant turtle or something like that, we could just get killed. Also, my previous theory of cryptids appearing from portals might also be true. Who knows, we might just be walking into a death trap.

But the whole point of organising camps isn't to kill kids, or they would happen much more often. These camps get organised so that students can forge friendships outside of the classroom, and interact together. But when you hardly know any of the other students, how do you bond? I'm sure all that's going to happen is that bands of kids will group together and go off to do their own thing. It would have been easier if we knew some of the students from other classes and consortiums, and made friends with them.

Anyway, I hope I can remember all that happens to me during the camp , so I can tell you guys about it. Wish me luck!

BALLS!

Today, I'm going to put in a topic completely unrelated to anything in this blog: What is it like to be a ball?

First, we must consider the many types of balls. One of these types are sport balls , such as footballs , basketballs , volleyballs , rugby balls , tennis balls , table tennis balls , golf balls and more . If one of these balls was interviewed, what would they say? It would probably be something like: “I get beaten / kicked / smacked around every day of my life.” This is probably a complete summary of a sport ball's life, until it gets lost / cracked / popped.

On the other hand, there are meat balls, such as fish balls, beef balls, pork balls, and any-other-type-of-meat balls. These balls do not live very long, but a life summary of a meat ball would be something like: “I get moulded from meat, cooked and eaten.” In other words, they live for a few days at most, if kept refrigerated. But what if part of a meatballs imaginary brain was retained after digestion? It would say: “I survived the fall down the oesophagus, the acid pools in the stomach, travelled the long and winding large intestine, and escaped the ravages of the anus.”

Then there are the toy balls, such as rubber balls, marbles, juggling balls, a ball of string etc. These balls are mainly used for playing with, rather than being smacked by bats, feet, paddles and other instruments. These balls appeal most to puppies, kittens, young children, older children and jugglers. These balls undergo the same process every day: “I get pushed / thrown / flicked / tossed in the air / rolled around day after day.” The near-extinction of balls of string are largely due to less old ladies wanting to knit, or the invention of the evil “spool of thread “. Other types of toy balls simply tend to get lost after a while; either misplaced or, more commonly, escaped the owner to find other colonies of balls. Planets are also balls, albeit on a much larger scale. The planets in our solar system include Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Pluto used to be a planet, until it was demoted to the rank of sub-planet, much to Plutonians' dismay. Other balls in the reaches of space include moons (natural satellites), comets, stars, atoms, electrons, neutrons and protons. (Asteroids and meteors do not count, as most of them are irregularly shaped.)

Most balls tend to be round, but some strange balls, such as rugby balls, are shaped oddly to suit their original purpose better. Balls come in all colours and sizes, but the most common visible ball known to man is the eyeball. (The word visible is included; meaning can be seen by the naked eye, because otherwise, the atom family would be taking over. They're still seething now, so remember to read this part quietly. ) Eyeballs are the most common visible ball as there are two of them to nearly all humans and animals (even if they aren't used), and these are the most widespread visible living things on the entire planet. There may in fact be more eyeballs on other planets too, but no one knows.

Now we come to invisible balls. These refer to the balls visible individually only through microscopes. These balls are the building balls of everything, and we could never do without them (because we wouldn't exist). You can find invisible balls everywhere, from the reaches of outer space to the loving auntie's/grandma's house to the inside of your own nostrils. These balls are fundamental to fundamentals. For planet and moon balls, life is pretty much the same all the time: “I rotate and revolve round and round my star/planet every day.” As for eyeballs, all they do is: “Detect light and send impulses to the brain so the Big Cheese can tell what's going on.” In fact, some of them don't even do this! Invisible balls simply exist, sometimes revolving around something or bonding with another.

After this post, you have hopefully been enlightened on what it means to be a BALL. Please post your thoughts by commenting or writing in the Cbox!

Two Needed Posts For Any LA blog (Part 2)

This is the other of the posts which I should have done earlier , but procrastinated and left undone until now .

The two stories which I am comparing this time are Lamb to the Slaughter , featured in the last post , and The Way Up To Heaven .

The Way Up To Heaven is about Mrs. Foster , who is obsessed in being on time , and Mr. Foster , who loves to torture her by making her as late as possible . It starts when Mrs. Foster wants to go for an eight-week trip to London to visit her daughter . Mr. Foster is still getting ready when Mrs. Foster is already in the car . He is in the car when he realises that he has forgotten to bring a gift he wants to give to his daughter . He hurries back into the house , but Mrs. Foster finds the gift pushed into a crack between the seats . She prepares to call Mr. Foster , but she hears a strange sound and stops to listen . She stands for a while then realises that she must not be late and hurries the driver , who is too obedient to disobey . Eight weeks later , Mrs Foster returns to find the house absolutely the same as she has left it , except for a strange pungent odour in it . She finds the elevator jammed , pointing to between the second and third floors , and calls a mechanic to fix it . But whatever happened to Mr. Foster ?

I feel that Mrs. Foster was far more torturous in killing Mr. Foster than Mary Maloney was in killing Patrick . This is because Mary killed Patrick in the space of a few seconds at most , whereas Mrs. Foster left her husband trapped in the elevator shaft for weeks , slowly dying of thirst and starvation . But Mr. Foster probably deserves this treatment , as he tortured his wife for years , whereas Patrick was a loving husband to the perfect wife until the very end . In short , THEY BOTH GOT WHAT THEY DESERVED!

Two Needed Posts For Any LA blog (Part 1)

This is one of the posts which I should have done earlier , but my procrastinating attitude made me leave it till now .

Lamb to the Slaughter is a story by Roald Dahl . It is about a man who is killed by his pregnant wife after he tells her some bad news . The story starts with the wife , Mary , waiting for her husband Patrick , a police officer , to come home from work . When he returns , he is acting strangely , and finally tells her some bad news which he should have told her a long time ago . Filled with anger , she kills him with a leg of lemb from the freezer in a burst of passion . After that , she puts the leg in the oven and goes out to buy some groceries . When Mary returns , she finds the corpse , and after some weeping beside her husband's dead body , calls the police . After some questioning , she remembers the leg of lamb and asks the police officers to eat it , thus conveniently disposing of the murder weapon .

Love is about a man and woman who have failed to find the perfect match . When they meet each other , they feel that they are perfect matches . After some time together , they realise that they are not compatible . Only at this time , they realise that they have already found the perfect match , but did not realise it in the first place . So they marry their past lovers , and "live happily ever after" .

Male Child is about a man with 6 daughters , but wants a son . His wife is pregnant , but he feels that it will be another girl . When he finds another young woman , he decides to marry her but keep her a secret . Unfortunately , she does not want to be kept as a mistress but as a wife openly acknowledged by all . He tells his wife about it , and she says that he can leave her if the next child is a girl . At this point , instead of wanting his wife to give birth to a boy , he wants a daughter . This is the turning point of the story .

The story I like most out of the above is Lamb to the Slaughter . This is because the first time I read it , I did not realise the implications in the story , as it was only a bit of leisure reading . After the LA lessons , I realised that a lot of thinking is needed to analyse the story and find the true meaning of it . This is why I like Lamb to the Slaughter , as it is the story in which I realised all the differences , and changed .

Home Learning - Naturalist Assignment

This is my home learning article on Lamb to the Slaughter .

Before you start breeding sheep , you must be able to provide food and shelter for them . Sheep need a cool , dry place , draft-free if possible , to live in .

Rearing a flock of sheep does not always mean you have to build a barn house for them . Simple ways of shelter may also work , such as fencing off a section of the farm to contain or separate the sheep . Fence panels can also help to keep wild predators away from them . Cover the area with a tarpaulin and they will have a dry , shady place to call home . But this only works in dry seasons . If the climate of that area is cold , it will take some form of enclosed shelter to prevent the sheep from freezing to death .

Sheep need different nutrition compared other livestock , but many people underestimate the quality of feed that they need . In fact , many people think that sheep and cattle can eat the same kinds of food . This is a wrong opinion , since sheep need far higher quality feed than cattle . While cows only need ordinary dried-grass hay , sheep should be given mixed hay . This is because mixed hay contains a higher nutrient level , which is more suitable for sheep .Using pasture is an important part of sheep raising . Using good quality pasture will be very helpful in maintaining the number of your sheep . Unfortunately , pasture alone may not provide enough nutrition , especially during the autumn season , when the quality of the field falls . If required , sheep should be given extra nutritional hay .


A leg of lamb is , as its namesake , a lamb's leg . Leg of lamb is quite tender although it is made up of different muscles . There are many shapes and sizes for a leg of lamb . A bone-in leg of lamb is the cheapest ; One containing the hipbone will be easiest to carve . A boneless leg of lamb can be stuffed or spread with paste , then rolled up or tied ; A boneless leg of lamb without the shank is most tender . A boned, rolled and tied or netted leg is very easy to roast .

A normal leg of lamb usually weighs about four pounds . A standard 3 ounce serving of lamb contains around 162 calories , 6.6 grams of fat , 2.4 grams of saturated fat , 76 milligrams of cholesterol and 224 grams of protein . Mary Maloney might have used the following recipe to cook the leg of lamb :


Roast Leg of Lamb

Ingredients :
3 tablespoons of coarse-grained mustard
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 to half a teaspoon of crushed , dried rosemary
Half a teaspoon of black pepper
1 leg of lamb , well-trimmed , boned , rolled and tied (about 4 pounds)

Preparation :
1. Combine mustard, garlic, rosemary and pepper . Rub the mustard mixture over the leg of lamb . Place the roast on a meat rack in a foil-lined shallow roasting pan . Preheat the oven to 400°F . Roast for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F , then roast for about 20 minutes per pound for medium or until the internal temperature reaches 145°F when tested with meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the roast.

2. Transfer roast to cutting board , and cover with foil. Let it stand for 10 to 15 minutes before carving. Internal temperature will continue to rise 5° to 10°F during stand time.

3.Cut strings from roast and discard . Carve into 20 slices. Serve .

This recipe contains :

121 mg of sodium
25 g of protein
Less than 1 g of fiber
1 g of carbohydrates
78 mg of cholesterol
2 g of saturated fat
7 g of total fat
37% of calories from fat
172 calories

Well , that's about it for my Naturalist assignment .

Sources :
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/farming/23056
http://www.chow.com/ingredients/212
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/roast-leg-of-lamb-a-recipe.htm

Studying The Stories of Sasquatch and Siblings

There are many unexplained mysteries in our world . Such mysteries include mythical beasts , lost treasures and places , hidden abilities of the mind , disappearances and many more . I have a collection of books that explain these mystries in greater detail , but I don't think that there a single compilation of all of them . (If you have ever heard of one , let me know . I will find the book and devour it.Arthur) My favourite topic among them all is the mythical beasts .

Mythical beasts are creatures which have not been proven to exist , but are so abundant in stories and legends that they cannot be dismissed entirely . The study of these beasts is known as cryptozoology , and the people who study them are cryptozoologists .

The root of the word is easily traced , as many other words are . Cryptozoology can be broken up into two parts - crypto and zoology . Crypto means hidden or secret . Zoology means the study of animals . Joined together , the word cryptozoology basically means "the study of hidden animals" .

Many examples of cryptozoology can be found on websites , in books or newspapers and even in the stories people tell . For the rest of this post , they will be called "cryptids" , a term used to refer to them used by cryptozoologists .

Sasquatch/Bigfoot

Loch Ness Monster Yeti

Jersey Devil MothmanKraken Chupacabra There is believed to be only one of the above cryptids , but there seem to be more than one of these.

Centaur MermaidGriffin DragonUnicornSatyrMinotaur
Chimera Phoenix
Many of these are simply legends , but some believe that they did exist at one time , that they simply became extinct . Since we have no proof of their existence , yet cannot prove their non-existence , whether or not they are real creatures is up to ourselves to decide.

I could have listed any number of cryptids here . But this post could be too long . Before this post ends , I tell you that I firmly believe in the existence of these creatures , only not in our time period , maybe even several worlds back . In the end , this is the only thing I ask you : Are they real ?

Poll Comments go HERE!

If there are any comments on the polls , or you have any queries about the monsters featured , please post them here !

Holidays , Doctors and Diseases

Well , the Chinese New Year is already over . Have you all had a good time during the holidays ? It was a great time for me as I managed to go back to Malaysia to visit my family . I had not seen them for a long time , so I was overjoyed to be able to meet them again .

This year , the Chinese New Year was different from others that I had experienced , as it fell on a weekend and on the same day as Valentine's Day . It was also my first Chinese New Year in Singapore . But it was also different for another reason : I was sick .

When I got back to Malaysia , my throat felt slightly ticklish and I felt a bit hot . But when I reached home again , I was so tired that I fell asleep almost immediately , and did not worry about it .

The next morning , I woke up and felt hot and itchy all over . I tried to resist the itch but it got worse and worse . So I told my mother and she brought me to see a doctor . The doctor said that I had a fever , an inflamed throat and heat rash . He gave me some pills and a few tubs of cream for the rash . After that , my mother brought me home .

I was lucky that the viruses that had infected me were only mild diseases , and therefore did not cause much harm . The human body is extremely adaptable , so after a specific type of germ has been defeated , the immune system is easily able to fight it if it comes again . This is called being immune to a disease .

Whenever we get a vaccination , we will develop a mild disease , but we either get better or we catch the full illness and might die of it . This is because a vaccine is actually a mild dose of the virus which is weakened , and is not as harmful to us as the actual virus . The immune system learns to fight the disease , so that if the virus attacks again , we will not catch the sickness .

But if the virus is a new species , we will not have a vaccine for it . This means that only a small percentage of the people who catch the disease will live to tell the tale . If the disease is extremely contagious , it can easily be spread to other parts of the globe , and many people will catch it and die .

This is called an epidemic . For example , the A(H1N1) pandemic (which is an epidemic that has spread very far) last year killed over 10,000 people worldwide . If a new species of virus managed to infect a large number of people , and the human immune system was unable to fight the disease , millions could die of it .

The disease smallpox no longer troubles us , as humans have prevented the spread of it naturally and only keep a few laboratory samples . But if the samples got loose one day , the disease which has killed millions could kill more , perhaps even every last human on Earth.

Viruses are another possible theory of the end of humanity which is not to be taken lightly , as the ever present factor of evolution could mean that a virus mutates every year into a more deadly version of itself . Is it possible for viruses to wipe out the human race ? I don't know about you , but I sure think so!

Ghosts , Gore and More

I got another load of books from the library today , each with the same theme . The common theme of the four books I borrowed today is - horror . Yep , they are all ghost stories !

I love horror stories , the kind which , if made into films , would be rated "18" , meaning that they are considered too gory for under-eighteens . But the great thing is that I can imagine the scenes of the story in my head , just by analysing the descriptions . This gives me a clear enough image of what is happening in the story , which is how I read books fast .

Besides horror stories , I also love reading about the unsolved mysteries of the world . Even with our understanding of science , and our mastery of technology , why are there still so many things which we humans do not understand ?

For example , the existence of ghosts . People say that ghosts do exist , and there are enough sightings from around the world to prove that it is not a hoaxed phenomenon . But sceptics claim that there is no proof of their existence , and these claims are therefore untrue .

Humans are like that , aren't they ? Unless they see it with their own eyes , they will distrust all that others say . We should be more open-minded , and be willing to accept the unproven as true . If aliens were invading the Earth , would you still say that aliens do not exist , that they are hoaxes ? If we continue this kind of mistrusting behaviour , we might be causing our own collapse .

Today was a horrible day for me . Remember what I said in my last post ? Well , it actually came true !

In case you don't know , I borrowed some books from the library on Friday . I said that I should be finishing them by Tuesday , which I honestly did not believe . But it still happened ! This was what shocked me .

It happened during Study Time , when we should have been doing our homework or revising . But there wasn't much which I could do , and I never revise unless I feel that it is needed . So I brought two of the books down to read , just to relieve myself of boredom .

But what I did not expect what that the second book , The Night The Heads Came , would be so easy to read . As it was , I finished it in probably 45 minutes (it could have been more). The first book was The War Of The Worlds , which I put off for a while even though I had already read it halfway through . It was very descriptive , which I find difficulty in comprehending . So I skipped it for a while .

In the end , I finished The Night The Heads Came . So I continued to read The War Of The Worlds , and shockingly , I finished it too ! And just in time for the end of Study Time .

Now that I've finished them , I'll have to get more books from the library to sate my thirst for (fictional) reading material . Which means another chance to lose myself in the vast expanse of knowledge that is the library (probably for an hour at least) .

The lesson I learned from this is that I should not read too fast , nor pull on to today what I could do much later . Perhaps doing too much can be wrong ......

Today , I finally went for the Library Club Trials . The seniors who were on duty today taught us a few basics about being a librarian , and promised to show us more if we joined the Library Club .

I learned that being a member of the Library Club is not what it seems . The Library Club members are not simply librarians . The Library Club actually organizes all the events held in Hwa Chong , but many people do not know this as they do not belong in the Library Club .

Unfortunately , I may not be able to get into the Library Club , as they are only willing to accept no more than 6 - 7 members out of the entire Secondary One cohort .So my chances of getting into the club are not as high as I expected .

After the trials , I checked out a few books to read over the weekend . The first is The Time Traveller , by H. G. Wells . The title tells you all about the story doesn't it? Still , as a science fiction fan , I feel it is only right to read a classic sci-fi tale . The second is The War of The Worlds , also by H. G. Wells . Another science fiction classic , which became famous after it was broadcasted over the radio and sent people into a state of panic .

The third is Abduction , by Rodman Philbrick and Lynn Harnet . It is about aliens which take over people's minds to control them . The fourth and final one is The Night The Heads Came , written by William Sleator . I haaven't read any of this book yet , but as it was in the science fiction section as well , and it looked rather interesting , I decided to borrow it .

I've nearly finished Abduction , and I'm starting The Time Traveller already . At this rate , I'll probably finish them by Tuesday . Then I can borrow more books ! Yay!~

Puzzles , Patties and People

Today , we had a very interesting lesson in our English Special Programme , which is a compulsory programme to join for scholars like us . What was this interesting lesson ? Puzzle arranging !

I have always loved puzzles , ever since I was a kid . This was because they let me exercise my brain , as piecing together hundreds of pieces requires us to use logic and think , "Where will this connect , and how ?"

In this lesson , we had a very interesting puzzle . Each piece was not simply part of a picture , but an individual image which had to be put in the right position to make a story . I teamed up with Ray Wen to complete the puzzle . After we completed our part of the puzzle , we had to wait for the other teams to complete theirs , before putting it together into a story about how our fast food is made .

Our part of the story was about beef patties . I can tell why we never did this in primary school , as there was a lot of blood ! I think that humans are too inconsiderate when they eat . They simply eat delicious food without even a second thought as to where it came from . Meat is especially bad . When you eat a burger or some chicken or fish , do you ever think about what has sacrificed to give you a single meal ? Then we complain that it is boring , that we want tastier meat .

Perhaps this is part of human nature . We don't think about all the lives that are lost for a single person in one lifetime , and how many people are there ? BILLIONS ! Billions of us to feed off the limited amount of animals , as we never manage to fully replenish the supply . But still , we are never satisfied , wanting more when we are already being given all that there is left .

If humans continue to deplete resources without replenishing them , soon , we will run out . When we deplete , we take two steps back , but when we replenish , we only move one step forward . This will soon cause us to fall into zero , then even further .

Perhaps we should reflect on our actions . We should stop such intolerable behaviour , derived from our own human greed , before it becomes the cause of our downfall .

Well , yesterday , I got my new laptop . From tomorrow , I should be making posts more often . For the time being , here's a question to get your brain juices flowing . There are two sentences , written by my friend . This is what they say :

Sentence A : I am a boy . Sentence B is false .
Sentence B : I am a girl . Sentence A is true .

So , is my friend a boy or a girl ?

There's been a week's gap in between this post and the last one . That's because there's been a lot to do in the past week , with a lot of assignments to rush . Here's a new question for you guys to ponder : Do aliens exist ? Scientists say that the possiblities of life on other planets is slim , but there are a few planets which we know of which may be capable of sustaining life . If this is the case , then there are possibly plenty of aliens out there right know , with thinking capabilities just like ours . And also , if aliens do not exist , where did all the rumours and stories about aliens come from ? I don't think it's possible that all the reports of alien spacecraft could be false . Humans just don't have the ability to make up stories of such wide ranges . Obviously , something is out there in our skies . It might not be aliens , but we will never know unless we find proof which is unable to be contained by the governments of the world . So , here's my parting comment : Do YOU think aliens exist?

Here's a scary thought - The world will end . It may not be as soon as you think , but it WILL happen , one way or another . Here are some of my theories :

1. An asteroid crashes into the Earth , causing the death of millions .

2. Meteor showers strike the Earth .

3. A viral outbreak kills all of mankind .
4. Razing of trees causes a decrease in oxygen levels , killing thousands .
5.The Sun dies and the resulting explosion envelops the Earth .
6. Infighting and wars slaughter all humanity .
7. Aliens wipe out the human race . (Not too possible , but still ...)
8. Natural disasters wreck the Earth .

As you can see , there are many ways the world could end , and these are only MY theories . What other possibilities might have been suggested by other people ?

P.S. Do you see who the writer is ?