This week I have decided to write my post about a sport that I enjoy doing, This sport is called Shotokan Karate. It is one of the 5 traditional karate types and it was formed in 1936.

This type of karate focuses on strength, and stability and has 3 main characteristics, and I will talk about those.

The first thing that you might do in Shotokan Karate is kihon, This is basic training involving kicks, punches and different types of blocks if you go to a class, this is the type of stuff you will be doing. It helps strengthen you up for when you begin doing the kata.

The kata is the next thing you would be working on if you were in a shotokan karate class. Katas consist of different moves in a certain pattern, like a punch, a block and then a kick to another side of you, this helps practice if you were in a fight with multiple people.  There are many different types of katas that you will have to practice and test on in order to rank up. A kata can be very short with just a few different moves, or it can be very long and ornate as you get to a higher rank. 

The very last thing you will probably do in a class is sparring, this is human interaction using the training you have, and practicing it on another person. normally you are too far apart to do real damage. One person will be the blocker, and the other person would be kicking or punching, this is also good practice if you ever actually get into a fight.

This week I have decided that I would like to write my blog post about different bands and artists that I like to listen to that are completely different, I will be writing about 3 different bands in the categories rock, pop/rock, and soundtrack!

The first band that I want to talk about is the Dropkick Murphys. This band has a rock sort of feel to it with it’s irish music. They are a really good Irish band, even though they don’t live in Ireland! They have been around since 1996 and I hope they continue to put out great music! 

The second band that I want to talk about is a pretty old band you have probably heard of, and thats The Beatles. They have a popular rock feel to them and I think that makes them stand out in my playlist because of that. They also have a wide variety of music to choose from slow songs to fast songs, and a countless number of c.d.’s to choose from. They haven’t put out a new c.d. in a long time, but their music is still has a new sort of feel to it.

The last music i’d like to talk about is soundtrack music, There is a very good soundtrack of the Sweeney Todd - Demon Barber of Fleet Street movie. They sound exactly the same as in the movie and I think thats pretty rare in a soundtrack, usually they sound more processed, or someone isn’t singing/talking in the soundtrack as they are in the movie.

So that concludes my music review for this week, I hope you look back next week for another cool post!

This week I have decided I am going to compare The Shining by Stephen King and the movie version of The Shining directed by Stanley Kubrick (the one made in 1980 with Jack Nicholson). 

The first thing I noticed in the differences between the book and the movie were that in the book they are saved in a yellow snowmobile and drove to the Outlook Hotel in a red volswagon, but in the movie it’s just the opposite. They are saved in a red snowmobile and drive to the Outlook in a yellow car. This happens a lot in the movie when red becomes yellow and yellow becomes red. 

Another big difference between the book and the movie is that in the book the haunted room is #217 and in the movie the haunted room is #237.

Other differences include…

• Wendy reading the play in the movie, and not in the book.
• In the movie Danny obeys his dad not to go into room 237, but in the book he disobeys.
• In the book there is one elevator, and in the movie there are two elevators.
• In the book Mr.Ullman is a mean man but in the movie he is perfectly nice.
• In the book Danny has one imaginary friend, Tony and Jack has none, But in the movie Tony is still there but Jack has 2 imaginary friends, Grady and Lloyd.
• In the book Wendy is beautiful and blond, but in the movie she has brown hair and isn’t very pretty.
• In the movie there is a huge maze out of hedges, but in the book there are hedge animals, and no maze.
• In the book Danny sees Tony, but he doesn’t see Tony in the movie.
• In the movie Dick dies, but in the book he lives.

This week I was assigned to write an essay stating what country I would love to visit, and what I would do there. I chose Ireland and the following is my essay…

If I Visited Ireland

By Elizabeth Aspbury

If I would visit any country on Earth, it would probably be Ireland. The reason I would love to visit Ireland is because there are many cool animals to see, and there are also lots of old castles and museums to explore. Ireland has a rich history, starting way back in 3200 BC.

The first reason I would love to visit Ireland is for the animals, some of my favorite animals live there. One of those animals is the badger, also known as “Ireland’s bear”. Badgers are dearly loved by most of Ireland’s residents but unfortunately some people still “badger bait”, in which a badger is placed among a group of vicious dogs. The dogs will attack the badger until it is dead. Another animal I would like to see in Ireland is a viviparous lizard. This lizard is able to lose its tail as a defense mechanism. It also has its children live instead of being hatched out of an egg like most other lizards. One of the most fascinating birds I would see in Ireland is the Coot. This bird is very cool because it is able to swim. Its main source of food is from underwater, so it likes to stay in places where it is permanently wet, like a pond or a lake. 

Two cities I would for sure visit are Belfast and, of course, the capital, Dublin. I would like to visit Belfast because it is where the giant ship, the Titanic, was built. It is also a beautiful city and has many restaurants to choose from. Dublin is widely visited by other people because it is the capital and it is very urban and tourist friendly, with lots of hotels and restaurants to choose from. 

Another thing I would love to do in Ireland is go and see castles. There are many castles in Ireland but some are already in ruins. However, some have been converted to museums and others are even used as hotels! I would probably visit the most southern providence of Ireland called Munster because it has the most castles, eleven to be exact! A popular castle is Blarney Castle, which is well known because it is where the Blarney Stone is. The Blarney stone is a boulder which supposedly gives the gift of flattery to whoever kisses it. This is a major tourist sight. A famous castle in the province of Lienster is the Dublin Castle, in Dublin. This is where the inauguration of the president is held. It also was the place where the Irish house jewels were stored until they were stolen in 1907. 

The last reason I would love to visit Ireland is for the museums. Ireland has had many wars and large historical events and I would love to know more about them by visiting places where they took place, like visiting just outside of Dublin, where the battle of Clontarf took place. 

These are the main reasons I would love to go to Ireland someday. 

This is Blarney Castle

I hope you enjoyed reading my essay!