Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Pokemon's back

Hey blogdogs,
Sorry it's been a while, but I got a new computer and it's been great fun. We've also been doing a school project to help people in East Timor, but finally i've been able to get back to the blog. This time the review is on everyone's favourite pet game, Pokemon. If you recall, Pokemon games have been around since 1998. This video will show you some of the past games.




Now you've seen the history of the games, we'll introduce the new games Heart Gold and Soul Silver, which are actually remakes of old Pokemon games - Gold and Silver. The new ones were released earlier this year and they've already been smash hits.



Personally I have played most of the Pokemon games in the series and I think that Soulsilver is one of the best games ever. First you get your starter Pokemon, such as Chikorita, Totodile, and Cyndaquil, then you have to go on a quest to defeat the eight gym leaders and then the elite four. After that there will be a second part of the game. I won't spoil it by telling you what region it is but you will be able to get the other starter Pokemon such as Charmeleon, Squirtle and Mudkip and you have to battle the elite four a SECOND time and it will be harder. After finishing the second part of the games, then you have to defeat the ultimate trainer of all the games, Trainer Red. The most challenging parts of the game involve defeating Trainer Red and defeating legendaries, with Pokemon over level 80. If you need help to get through some of these hard parts, you can go on YouTube and find walk throughs of the game, which I found very helpful.

This time when you go to safari zone, a bonus after you defeat the elite four and help the owner of the safari, is that you can customise the safari. You can also go to the pokeathlon stadium where you will be able to get your pokemon into sports and I found it a lot of fun, I think you will too.

This game is challenging because there are the two parts, I thought I'd finished the game, and then found there was a whole other part. Legendaries (such as Lugia, Ho Oh, Groudon & the three legendary bir pokemon) are the hardest part of the game, you can spend hours trying to catch them. They have a way of keeping you going these games, and I spent about three weeks just coming back to this game. Out of my game ratings, I'm actually giving it a 5/5. There is nothing wrong with this game. I've played Heart Gold as well and I recommend Soul Silver as the best - and I now have some awesome Pokemon.

Friday, April 30, 2010

The Story of Stuff

Yo blog dogs, it's me again. I'm back and thank you to my friend Max in England for giving me some encouragement. You're making one kid very happy!

Caution - don't blame me if this is a bit of a downer, that's what it did for me, watching this video. This is a serious talk ... about the environment and the system which involves our shopping and how this is destroying our planet.

Yesterday in class I saw this movie and until now I thought this planet was fine but now I see that this planet is heading, like the Mayans said, towards a possible end (they said in 2012, I hope not).





The Story of Stuff was created by Annie Leonard - a woman who was obsessed with finding out about 'stuff'' - where it comes from and what happens when it's disposed. She researched it for ten years and found out that the system is not exactly what it seems. Like if you've seen advertising on TV telling you to keep buying new stuff. The honest fact is that it is making you feel like other people are going to laugh you... so to make you feel good you have to go to the mall (shopping centre here) to buy stuff. But honestly it is based on the destroying of natural resources so that we can live a life of comfort. The real deal is that they have to cut down trees and mine mountains to get the resources from other countries who are poor. The next problem is the way things like computers don't work after a year. It's because since WWII businesses have made things not last as long so that you have throw out the old one and buy a new one - that's consumption. It's not just small things, it's fridges, washing machines, gaming consoles, all the way to the grand-daddy of everything, the TV. With things like TVs they encourage you to throw out stuff that's perfectly good to be fashionable.

At the end of all this 'stuff' gets thrown out into dumps. Some of it gets buried but here's the worst part - some of the stuff has to be incinerated before they bury it. The problem is this is that the toxic gas is released into the air, and it is turned into super toxins such as dioxines. Dioxins are poisonous to man and nature, causing cancer, embryo damage and other serious harm.

But there is another school of thought and another way. We can all try to help contribute and I encourage you to try and produce ZERO waste! I have a few other suggestions. You could use reusable packages to carry your food around. I'd also suggest recycling. There's also people trying to stop incineration of waste and trying to change governments and labour laws. As for a rating, I give it 4 out of 5. It gives you good information but it scares you a bit. I think the woman who made it, is a very brave person and I think she deserves the reward of your support, she's got mine!

Next time I'll do my review on something less serious - on one of the best recent Pokemon games - Heart Gold & Soul Silver - and I think you'll enjoy it too. Until then blog dogs, this is JDL signing off!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Nanny's back - that's McPhee

All right blog dogs, it's good to see that i've actually got two followers. I'm going to say to both of you, thanks for looking at my reviews. I hope you'll like my review this time too.



Recently I've also seen Nanny McPhee 2, if you've seen number 1 you've seen a good part of number 2. The story starts with three children and their mother (Mrs Green) who live on a farm in the British countryside during World War II. Their father has gone off to war and is presently fighting in the infantry units. Meanwhile on the farm, Mum's brother-in-law is trying to get the house because he gambled it away to a local casino. The family's rich cousins arrive because they're afraid London will be bombed and while the mother is at work you hear the familiar magical cry "The person you need is Nanny McPhee". It bothers the mother all the way home. Meanwhile the home crisis is going on, with the rich boy destroying a priceless family heirloom. The rich boy and girl get into a rumble with the family and obviously nobody one wins until Nanny McPhee comes to the rescue.

Nanny appears and she asks them to go to bed. They obviously say no but she uses her cane and makes them fight until they wreck the entire room. Then she says "lesson number one is to obey". They go to bed and Nanny McPhee asks them to sleep together but the children says they'd rather sleep with an elephant, a goat and a cow so of course Nanny McPhee makes the animals enter the room and the children have to sleep with them.

So as you've heard the story so far, if you think this sounds familiar, you'd be right. The similar thing to the last one is that there are terrible children at the start but they all end up good at the end because of Nanny McPhee. One of the good things about this movie is that there is more action, you get to see pigs flying, motorbikes flying and London during World War II. To be really honest, I was sorry it wasn't in 3D, it was only 2D. It was pretty good though. For the rating I'd give it 3.5 out of 5. You'll quite enjoy it and some parts you'll be leaning forward in your seats.

Next time we'll review the YouTube Video The Story of Stuff. You'll learn about how humanity isn't doing everything it can to protect the environment, humanity is destroying the environment. I saw it today in my classroom and it made me think I want to do something serious to stop this.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Dragons are cool!

Hey viewers, today i'm going to tell u about one of the newest movies i've seen recently.

So we'll start my first review blog with How to Train Your Dragon. This is the classic tale of a boy (in this case named Hiccup) training a wild animal (in this case not a horse, but a dragon). Based on the children's novel by Cressida Cowell, the movie begins with showing a viking village beseiged by dragons from an unknown island shrouded by fog. The inhabitants of this village are vikings that hate dragons and consider them as pests. Driven by an unknown desire to steal food, the dragons attack the village but the vikings offer a powerful resistence against the reptile invaders.



The main characters is a young boy named Hiccup who is a different kind of viking. Struggling in a world of dragon-killing viking, he discovers that dragons are not as bad as they seem. The storyline of the movie expands showing Hiccup getting closer to dragons and training them until he becomes a dragon ambassador. At the start of the movie Hiccup hates dragons like everyone else until he fires his weapon into the sky and knocks down a relatively unknown dragon - a Night Fury. The Night Fury falls on to the island, it loses a vital piece of its tail fin and can't fly. Instead, Hiccup constructs and straps on a metal tail flap on to the dragon and then learns to fly with it and learns the ways of the dragons. Needless to say Hiccup saves the day, the vikings and their island.

I think you should see this movie while it's on 3D. Some of the best effects are when Hiccup flies with Astrid (a girl he loves who doesn't love him back to begin) on the Night Fury. You will see some amazing leaps and thrills, including the Aurora Borealis. I give this one 4.5 our of 5. There were a couple of emotional parts I didn't think were that good, but apart from that one of the best movies i've seen recently. This is JDL signing out.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Greetings world

Hi blog dogs, my name is Jackson and this is my first posting on the internet. I'm just an 11 year old boy in grade six, dealing with enough problems to fill 20 blogs or more.... but I'd rather not. I'm interested in reviewing games, movies, tv shows and any special events in the neighbourhood. I'll post my first review tonight!