Friday, April 25, 2014

MY INSPIRING PERSON : JOANNE KATHLEEN ROWLING


Have you ever read one of those books?


Or... have you ever watched one of those films?

I'm sure all of you have read the book(s) or watched the film(s). Yes, it is HARRY POTTER. The books and the films are really really really amazing! I read the books when I was in elementary school :p And do you know who is the author of those books? Of course you do! Hahaha. Yes, the author is J. K. Rowling or her full name is Joanne Kathleen Rowling. We usually call her "Jo". She is my inspiring person, because she is very creative and she has shown true kindness. She could write 7 amazing books with wonderful story. The books were become best seller all around the world hahaha :p And her books were adapted to make films. She also write another books, such as The Cuckoo's Calling, The Casual Vacancy, etc. Do you want to know more about her? Let's check it out!

I'm sure you have seen this picture lol

Biography



Joanne Rowling was born on 31st July 1965 at Yate, Gloucestershire is a British writer and author of the Harry Potter fantasy series, the idea came to her whilst on a train journey in 1990 and she wrote her first story in Edinburgh. Her books have gained worldwide attention, won many awards, and sold nearly 400 million copies. 

Rowling read for a BA in French and Classics at the University of Exeter, with a year of study in Paris, Rowling moved to London to work for Amnesty International. In 1990, while she was on a delayed train trip from Manchester to London, the idea for a story of a young boy attending a school of wizardry "came fully formed" into her mind. When she had reached her Clapham Junction flat, she began to write immediately. However, in December of that year, Rowling's mother succumbed to a 10 year battle with multiple sclerosis. Rowling said this death heavily affected her writing and that she introduced much more detail about Harry's loss in the first book, because she knew about how it felt. 

Unemployed and living on state benefits, Rowling completed her first novel in numerous cafés in Edinburgh and since then she has received world wide success, encouraging children and adults to get back into reading. Forbes has named Rowling as the first person to become a U.S.-dollar billionaire by writing books, the second-richest female entertainer and the 1,062nd richest person in the world. 

In 2000, Rowling established the Volant Charitable Trust, which aids women and children, and to combat poverty and social inequality. The fund also gives to organisations that aid children, one parent families, and multiple sclerosis research. Rowling said, "I think you have a moral responsibility when you've been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently."

In 2001, the UK anti-poverty fundraiser Comic Relief asked Rowling to submit a booklet related to her most famous works. Rowling's two booklets, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages, and since going on sale in March, 2001, the books have raised £15.7 million for the fund. The £10.8 million they have raised outside the UK have been channeled into a newly created International Fund for Children and Young People in Crisis. 

In 2005, to improve the lot of vulnerable children in eastern Europe, Rowling and MEP Emma Nicholson founded the Children's High Level Group. In 2006, Rowling went to Bucharest to highlight the use of caged beds in children's mental institutions. To further support the CHLG, Rowling auctioned one of seven handwritten and illustrated copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a series of fairy tales referred to inHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The book was purchased for £1.95 million by on-line bookseller Amazon.com. Rowling commented "This will mean so much to children in desperate need of help. It means Christmas has come early to me." 

Rowling has contributed money and support for research and treatment of multiple sclerosis, from which her mother died in 1990. In 2006, Rowling contributed a substantial sum toward the creation of a new Centre for Regenerative Medicine at Edinburgh University.

J K Rowling was runner up in the 'Person of the Year' 2007 for her social, moral and political inspiration she has given her fans.

As well as writing she supports charities such as Comic relief, Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and one parent families.

She is an inspiration to both adults and children through her writing. The Harry Potter series has encouraged children and adults to read. Also her achievements as an author have inspired others to write.



Her Inspiration

JK Rowling lived in Edinburgh when she wrote the Harry Potter books. 

She went to Greyfriars Kirk (a Scottish word for a church) and the churchyard, which is the home to a very famous dog called Greyfriars Bobby, but lets not go there now because that's a whole different story. In the graveyard she found ideas for spooky settings such as the castle, a very old graveyard with spooky trees lurking in the background. A lot of these gravestones have a skull and crossbones on them, this shows that these gravestones are very old. This is where she got ideas for Tom Riddle's family grave. Also in the graveyard she found old stone books, this probably gave her the idea for the restricted section in the library which was full of the oldest books.

In the Churchyard she also found the grave of Tom Riddle, and used this name for Lord Voldemort. She also found inspiration for the name of Professor McGonagall the head of Gryfindor.

Castle and Graveyard
Skull and Crossbones
Tom Riddle's Grave
Mc Gonagall's Grave
________________________________________________________________

After working at Amnesty International in London, Rowling and her then boyfriend decided to move to Manchester. In 1990, while she was on a four-hour-delayed train trip from Manchester to London, the idea for a story of a young boy attending a school of wizardry "came fully formed" into her mind. She told The Boston Globe that "I really don't know where the idea came from. It started with Harry, then all these characters and situations came flooding into my head."

Rowling described the conception of Harry Potter on her website:

"I was travelling back to London on my own on a crowded train, and the idea for Harry Potter simply fell into my head. I had been writing almost continuously since the age of six but I had never been so excited about an idea before. To my immense frustration, I didn't have a pen that worked, and I was too shy to ask anybody if I could borrow one… I did not have a functioning pen with me, but I do think that this was probably a good thing. I simply sat and thought, for four (delayed train) hours, while all the details bubbled up in my brain, and this scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who didn't know he was a wizard became more and more real to me. Perhaps, if I had slowed down the ideas to capture them on paper, I might have stifled some of them (although sometimes I do wonder, idly, how much of what I imagined on that journey I had forgotten by the time I actually got my hands on a pen). I began to write 'Philosopher's Stone' that very evening, although those first few pages bear no resemblance to anything in the finished book."



Another J. K. Rowling's Books






"I am an extraordinarily lucky person, doing what I love best in the world. I'm sure that I will always be a writer. It was wonderful enough just to be published. The greatest reward is the enthusiasm of the readers." - Joanne Kathleen Rowling


Sources:

Friday, February 21, 2014

EIFFEL TOWER, PARIS


Several weeks ago, my English teacher, Mrs. Wiwin told us that we had to post about something amazing in our blog. Sooooo this time, I want to post one of amazing places in the world! In 2007, this place was a finalist in a world-wide campaign to name New Seven Wonders of The World. Do you know what is it? If you had read the title of this post, you will know what the amazing place I meant lol hahaha. Yes! It is EIFFEL TOWER in Paris, France. The Eiffel Tower is great and romantic! XD I want to go there now! ;-;

Wow very romantic *-*

Description


The Eiffel Tower (French: Tour Eiffel) is a 19th century iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris that has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The Eiffel Tower, which is the tallest building in Paris, is the single most visited paid monument in the world; millions of people ascend it every year. Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, the tower was built as the entrance arch for the 1889 World's Fair.

The tower stands at 324 m (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-story building. It was the tallest structure in the world from its completion until 1930, when it was eclipsed by the Chrysler Building in New York City. Not including broadcast antennas, it is the second-tallest structure in France, behind the Millau Viaduct, completed in 2004. And while the Eiffel Tower is a steel structure, and weighs approximately 10,000 tonnes, it actually has a relatively low density, weighing less than a cylinder of air occupying the same dimensions as the tower.

The tower has three levels for visitors. Tickets can be purchased to ascend either on stairs or lifts to the first and second levels. The walk to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. The third and highest level is only accessible by lift. Both the first and second levels feature restaurants.

The tower has become the most prominent symbol of both Paris and France. The tower is a featured part of the backdrop in literally scores of movies that take place in Paris. Its iconic status is so established that it even serves as a symbol for the entire nation of France, such as when it was used as the logo for the French bid to host the 1992 Summer Olympics.

The metal structure of the Eiffel Tower weighs 7,300 tonnes while the entire structure including non-metal components is approximately 10,000 tonnes. Depending on the ambient temperature, the top of the tower may shift away from the sun by up to 18 cm (7.1 in) because of thermal expansion of the metal on the side facing the sun. As demonstration of the economy of design, if the 7300 tonnes of the metal structure were melted down it would fill the 125 meter square base to a depth of only 6 cm (2.36 in), assuming a density of the metal to be 7.8 tonnes per cubic meter. The tower has a mass less than the mass of the air contained in a cylinder of the same dimensions, that is 324 meters high and 88.3 meters in radius. The weight of the tower is 10,100 tonnes compared to 10,265 tonnes of air.

History


Gustave Eiffel, a French civil engineer, is usually credited with designing the tower that bears his name. However, it was actually two lesser-known men, Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, who came up with the original drawings for the monument.


Kochlin and Nouguier were the chief engineers for the Compagnie des Etablissements Eiffel — Gustave Eiffel's engineering firm. Together with Eiffel and a French architect, Stephen Sauvestre, the engineers submitted their plans to a contest that would determine the centerpiece for the 1889 World's Fair in Paris.

The Eiffel company's design won, and construction of the wrought iron tower began in July 1887. But not everyone in Paris was thrilled with the idea of a giant metal monument looming over the city.

The foundation of The Eiffel Tower
The construction of The Eiffel Tower
When construction of the tower began on the Champs de Mars, a group of 300 artists, sculptors, writers and architects sent a petition to the commissioner of the Paris Exposition, pleading him to halt construction of the "ridiculous tower" that would dominate Paris like a "gigantic black smokestack."

But the protests of Paris' artistic community fell on deaf ears. Construction of the tower was completed in just over two years, on March 31, 1889.


Fun Facts
  • Gustave Eiffel used latticed wrought iron to construct the tower to demonstrate that the metal could be as strong as stone while being lighter.
  • Gustave Eiffel also created the internal frame for the Statue of Liberty.
  • Construction of the Eiffel Tower cost 7,799,401.31 French gold francs in 1889.
  • The Eiffel Tower is 1,063 feet (324 meters) tall, including the antenna at the top. Without the antenna, it is 984 feet (300 m).
  • It was the tallest manmade structure until the Chrysler Building was built in New York in 1930.
  • The tower was built to sway slightly in the wind, but the sun affects the tower more. As the sun-facing side of the tower heats up, the top moves as much as 7 inches (18 centimeters) away from the sun.
  • The sun also causes the tower to grow about 6 inches.
  • The Eiffel Tower weighs 10,000 tons.
  • There are 5 billion lights on the Eiffel Tower.
  • The French have a nickname for the tower: La Dame de Fer, "the Iron Lady."
  • The first platform is 190 feet above the ground; the second platform is 376 feet, and the third platform is almost 900 feet up.
  • The Eiffel Tower has 108 stories, with 1,710 steps. However, visitors can only climb stairs to the first platform. There are two elevators.
  • One elevator travels a total distance of 64,001 miles (103,000 kilometers) a year.
Sources: 

And here are some amazing pictures of The Eiffel Tower:













Monday, February 17, 2014

DEWA ATHENA VI

Dewa Athena VI! Ubi Concordia, Ibi Victoria!
On Saturday, February 15th, I woke up at 5 o'clock. Every Saturday, I have to go to Lapbal to have an exercise lesson. But on that day, there wasn't an exercise lesson because there was an event called "Dewa Athena VI" or we usually call it porak. I went to Lapbal around 6.30 a.m. and arrived there around 7.00 a.m. Before the opening ceremony began, we gathered at the football field.



After that, the opening ceremony began. There was a welcome speech from Mr. Encang as a headmaster. There were also came another teachers to attended the opening ceremony. And then, Mr. Encang light a torch of Dewa Athena VI. I felt it looked like we were on the international olympic lol.


The opening game was a football match between Belitung Muda Wanita 2016 and Belitung Muda Wanita 2015. The match won by Belitung Muda Wanita 2015 with 3-0 score. After that, there was a football match between my class X IPA 2 (Sepeda Klasik) and XI IPA 8 (Poseidon). Adzana, Dimas, Thariq, Yulio and Ipin played on the first round. Almi replaced Thariq on the second round. Poseidon was the winner on last Liga BM. I thought that would be hard to play against them and the final score would be 10-0 to Poseidon lol. But unexpectedly, the final score was 1-0 to Poseidon. Good! You guys were so cool! I hope our class' team will be better and win in the next match.

After the match ended, my friends and I went to Bazaar to buy some food. I felt really hungry because I didn't have a breakfast, just ate a candy lol. I bought Indomie Kuah with meatball... hmm it's delicious! Before we went back to Lapbal, we prayed Zuhur. When we arrived at Lapbal, we saw our friends were practicing basketball. Before the match between our class and XI IPA 4 (Keparat) began, there was a footbal match between X IPA 3 (Siti Jubaedah) and XI IPA 5 (Belantara). And we watched that match first. At the end, Belantara won the match.


And finally the basketball match between our class and Keparat began! Ipin, Almi, Yusuf, Dita and Ilham played on the first round. Keparat played well, their score was higher than ours on the first round. On the second round, Xena replaced Yusuf and Thariq replaced Ilham. Unexpectedly, our class' team played better than on the first round. And at the end of the match, the score was 22-20 to our class! Yeay! Our class' team will continue to the next match.


After watched the basketball match, my friends and I went back to Bazaar to buy a drink. And then, I went home because I really missed my bed lol XD. By the way, thanks to Firari and admin of @DewaAthenaVI for the photos I had taken.

Thursday, January 30, 2014

SCRIPT OF "THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA"

Mrs. Wiwin gave us a task to post a script of drama that we had been done. My group chose the story of The Princess and The Pea to be played. The Princess and The Pea was written by Hans Christian Andersen. Let's read the script! Check this out!


Once upon a time there was a prince who lived in a rich kingdom with his father and mother, the king and queen. One day the queen decided that the time had come for the prince to find a bride. But the prince did not want to marry just any girl – he wanted to marry a real princess. The prince packed a bag and left the palace on a long, long journey all around the world, in search of his real princess.

QUEEN : "Son, you should find yourself a princess. You’re already at the age of marriage, this is the time for you to find your true love."

KING : "Mother and I have already discussed this and we both agreed that you should find yourself a lovely princess to be your bride."

PRINCE : "Yes I will, Mother, Father, I’ll be going to search all over the country. I want a real princess, I’ll be going tomorrow at dawn. Wish me luck."

On his travels, the prince met lots of young ladies and asked  each of them the same question.

PRINCE : "Are you a real princess?"

1st GIRL : (Shouting in a bolshie manner) "Yes, I am a real princess! Marry me prince! HAHAHIHIHIHI"

The prince looks at her, thinks for a moment, shakes his head, then moves onto the next girl.

PRINCE : (To the second girl) "Are you a real princess?"

2nd GIRL : (Mumbling into her chest) "Yes, I am a real princess can’t you see huh handsome? Marry me!"

The prince shakes his head again. Another girl pushes to the front.

3rd GIRL : (Shouting) "Me next, me next!! I’m a real princess! I can prove it! Marry me!"

The prince looks at her and sighs, then moves to the fourth girl, who has a hand mirror and is touching up her lipstick.

PRINCE : "Are you a real princess?"

4th GIRL : (Adjusting her already beautiful hair and thinking a lot of herself) "Yes, I am a real princess. I have all the beauty that a woman should have to be called a princess. Marry me!"

The prince shakes his head and approaches the fifth girl.

PRINCE : "Are you a real princess?"

5th GIRL : "Ah, ah, ah-choo! (She sneezes without a hanky then wipes her nose on her sleeve) Yes, I am a real princess.  AA-CHOOH! *snork snork* Marry m….AAH CHOOH!"

PRINCE : "Oh dear!" *hands her his handkerchief*

The prince met many beautiful girls who said that they were princesses, but there was always something not quite right about them. He was very disappointed. After many weeks and months of searching he eventually returned home to the palace, sad and weary.

*Meanwhile in the other Kingdom*

EVIL KING : "Our kingdom is ruined. UGH! This is all because of you my dear ugly daughter. You’re such a pain to me I shall never see your face again!"

REAL PRINCESS : "But… Father:( *sob* What did I do wrong?:( Is it because of mo…"

EVIL KING : "SILENCE! Don’t you dare talked to me again, I shall banished you from this kingdom. You may leave! JUST GO AWAY AND NEVER RETURN!"

REAL PRINCESS : "Father please:’(" *sobs, running away from the kingdom, scared*

The princess from the Kingdom ran away from the Kingdom and with a broken heart she tried to not returned to where she belonged and kept on running and running away until she saw a castle…

*at the First Castle*

Days passed and then one night there was a terrible storm. The lightning flashed overhead, lighting up the whole sky; the thunder roared and heavy torrents of rain poured down.

Through the noise of the storm, the prince, the queen and the king could hear a knocking at the palace door. It got louder and louder. The old king grumbled:

KING : "Urgh, just as I was going to bed! Who’s this nuts who came in the middle of the night! Guards open the door!"

The king went to open the door with his guards. Outside was a bedraggled girl. She was a terrible sight. Her hair was soaked, water ran down her wet clothes and her shoes were very muddy. The king wondered who this untidy person could be.

GUARD : "Um sir you have to take a look at this."

KING : "Who are you?"

GUARD : "Becareful sir, she could be one of the spies."

REAL PRINCESS : "I am a princess. I’m lost and I want to get warm."

QUEEN : (Folding arms and looking suspicious, says to herself) "A princess? How could it be possible?"

PRINCE : (Looking intrigued) "A princess?"

QUEEN : "Would you like a cup of tea to warm you up?"

REAL PRINCESS : (Curtseys to the queen) "Oh, yes please Ma’am."

A servant brings some tea and cookies.

SERVANT : "Here is your tea."

SERVANT : "Here is the cookies."

REAL PRINCESS : "Thank you very much. How kind!"

The prince thought that the girl was very polite. He could see that she had kind eyes too. But the queen still wasn’t sure that this was a real princess. She decided that there was only one way to find out. She invited the young girl to stay the night, then she quickly went ahead to the guest bedroom.

QUEEN : "We’ll soon find out if she’s a real princess!"

The queen took all the bedding off the bed. Then she took a tiny pea from her pocket and put it onto the bare bedstead. Next, she got twenty mattresses and piled them up on top of the pea, then she took twenty feather quilts and laid them on top of the mattresses. The girl was shown to her bedroom and she climbed up onto the top of the bed.

As the night went on, the queen wondered about the girl and, as it happened, the princess was not sleeping well at all. She could feel something uncomfortable in the bed and by morning was black and blue!

The next morning, the queen went to see the princess to ask how she had slept.

QUEEN : "Did you sleep well my dear?"

PRINCESS : "I’m afraid not. There was something hard in the bed!"

The princess had hardly slept a wink. The queen rushed to tell the prince and the king.

QUEEN : "She is a real princess!"

The king, queen and prince knew that she must be a real princess. Only a true princess could have skin so delicate that she could feel a tiny pea through twenty mattresses and twenty quilts.

The prince was overjoyed. He knew that this girl was special and that he had finally found his real princess. He married her immediately in a wonderful ceremony and the bells rang for days. Everyone in the whole land celebrated and the prince and princess lived happily together for ever after.

As for the pea, it was placed in a museum where it can still be seen today.

TORNADO

Last week, our English teacher gave us a task to search an explanation text about natural phenomenon and post it in our blogs. We also can to put a video about it. Explanation text tells processes relating to forming of natural, social, scientific and cultural phenomena. Explanation text is to say ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the forming of the phenomenon. It is often found in science, geography and history text books. Natural phenomenon is a phenomenon which happen in natural and not a hand-made event.

Various types of natural phenomenon are including:
1. Geological phenomenon (volcanic activity and earthquakes)
2. Meteorological phenomenon (hurricanes, thunderstorms and tornadoes)
3. Oceanographic phenomenon (tsunamis, ocean currents and breaking waves)

I want to post an explanation text about one of meteorological phenomena, it is tornado. Here it is:


Tornado is the most damaging storm.The word tornado come from Spanish “Tronada” that mean thunder storm. Also come from Latin language ”Tonare” which mean rumbling. According to the story,the word tornado was taken from combination between ronada and Tornar in Spanish. Tornado is air column which rotate very fast and form relation between cumulonimbus cloud. Usually tornado has wind velocity between 177 km/hours or more with reach average 75 meters and attack several kilometers before disappearing. Several tornado which reach wind velocity more than 300-480 km/hours have wide more than one mile and can survive in the surface more than 100 km.

Tornado generally happens in the afternoon to evening. In America, tornado happens between 15.00-21.00. Although tornado has been research by the scientist, in every continent, most of tornado happens in America. In America, most of tornado happen in tornado alley in middle-west America. Other area which generally happen tornado are South Canada, South Africa, East and south Asia, Middle Europe, Italy, West Australia, New South Wales, and Indonesia. In Indonesia, usually happen in Sumatra and Java.

Tornado has some types. They are weak, strong and violence tornado. Weak tornado include 88% of all tornado. The wind velocity is less than 112 mph. Weak tornado happen about 1-10 minutes. Death because of this tornado are about 5% of the total death because of tornado. Strong tornado include 11% of all tornado. The wind velocity is between113-206 mph.This tornado happens in 20 minutes or more. The death because of strong tornado is about 30% of the total death because of tornado. Violent tornado is rarely happen. This include 1% of all tornado. The wind velocity is more than 205 mph or more. This tornado happens in one hours or more. Although rarely happen, this tornado can cause death about 70% of the total death because of tornado.

Before tornado happens, it has several signal. First, the sky seems dark. Then happen ice rain around the area, usually 20-25 minutes. After that, the situation will calm, but the sky become darker. Fourth, cloud moving around the area. Fifth, the sound of tornado heard. At the beginning, the sound like water fall, but in the process of time it will change until like jet plane which is very loud. A tornado usually move from southwest to north east. 

The change of air layer is the cause of tornado. In this case, if the cold air layer is above the hot air layer, the hot air layer go up with velocity about 300 km/hour. The air which infiltrating from this side, cause wind rotate and form Tornado.

The process of tornado begin with storm followed by rain, thunder and lightning. When the temperature of the soil go up, the hot and moist air start to go up too. Then, when warm, the moist and cold air fill up the dry air. That upraised up, enter to the upper air layer. A thunderbolt cloud begin to form in this phase. The move of air go up is very fast. Wind from side cause the different direction and form a very very strong rotation.A cone, result of that air rotation start to form and seem from the cloud to soil surface so form Tornado.


There are also some links of videos about tornado. Here they are: