We and the Earth

"Poaching, Endangered, Extinct", sounds familiar?

How about "Animal, Habitat, Environment"?

Alright, in case you were wondering what this article, or blog post rather, is all about, it is about how humans have affected the natural environment of this one Earth we all live in. We humans are the foulest of creatures that walk this Earth. We destroy without sparing a thought or thinking twice. If mother nature had a choice of which species she could wipe out from this Earth of ours, I would not be sitting here typing this article...

Ever since humans were introduced onto the lands of this Earth, what we have taken away from it, is way more than what we are giving to it. So what have we done? Mankind has introduced this planet to Global Warming, extinction of species, destruction of habitats, destruction of ozone layer and the list goes on...

Man's inventions have resulted in carbon emissions being released into the atmosphere every second of everyday. This destroys the protective ozone layer that protects us humans from the sun's harmful UV rays. While the Earth had made itself a suitable place for survival of living creatures, we are destroying it.

So why are we destroying something (the ozone layer) that enabled us to live here? It is the same concept as the created destroying the creator. Men's greed for wealth and comfort of life have resulted in the poaching of animals. Men not sparing a thought for the future of animals due to self-centeredness leads to poaching of animals for its valuable body parts. This will lead to the endangering of the species and soon, extinction.

There are currently thousands of species that are endangered and hundreds of species that are extinct. The rates of extinction and endangering of animals will increase rapidly, uncontrollably if we don't take action on our own species (humans). Many species of animals are already wiped off the face of this Earth and there are more to come. If we don't do something to stop ourselves, no other living creature will. If we don't take action, the next generations might not know what's an elephant or a giraffe.

If we, humans, want to save this Earth, let us start with ourselves (the man in the mirror), to make a change. We can save electricity by switching off unused electrical appliances. We can recycle materials, boycott certain types of food (like shark fin soup). Use public transport, environmentally friendly objects or even off the shower when not in use. All these small minor stuff, which seem to be unimportant, help a lot. If everyone of us plays a part to save our planet, it will make a huge difference.

Lets us humans, save our mother Earth by each doing our small part. Every individual makes a big difference. Or we will no longer see creatures, like this leopard, roaming our lands.






(Images adapted from National Geographic Magazine links)

My Concert Band Life

Hello once again. This is my third blogpost. Today I will be telling you about my band life (Hurray!). To not bore you guys out, I shall keep it short and sweet.

I am in the clarinet section of VSCB. I play the B flat and the E flat clarinets. My classmates who are also in the band are Shu Hang, also a clarinetist and Sharil, a percussion player. I love my instruments very much and although my B flat is kind of spoilt, I still like the feel and sound of playing the clarinets. You might also like to know that when I grow up, I wish to play the clarinet in whatever leisure time I have.

However, as of now, I have to focus more on my studies. During the holidays, coming down to the band room to practice is a great way to overcome boredom. However, I am not implying that studying is not necessary during the holidays. After all, there are 24 hours in a day and about 6 hours goes to sleep, so 18 hours is a considerably long time during the holidays (but an amazingly short time on school days).

Though I agree that playing the clarinets is a good way to reduce stress. I occasionally find myself getting addicted to it, until I look at my school journal and realize the pile of homework right in my face. One good example is this blog itself...

Dave Pelzer's "A Child Called It"

Dave Pelzer is the author of the famous three part series of his life story. His interesting and emotional life story comes in three books. "A Child Called It", "A Lost Boy" and "A Man Named Dave". These speak about his life and his bad experiences with his cruel mother. Today, I shall be telling you about Dave's first book, A Child Called It.

At the early stages of Dave's life, he was treated by his mother like how all other mothers do. It was only when his mother started drinking that her evil side was unveiled. Dave suffered under his alcoholic mother for the rest of his childhood. He was treated inhumanely, forced to sit on a burning stove, forced into a bathroom filled with Clorox and forced to swallow detergent.

Dave's moral self-esteem was also greatly lowered as his mother did not take him as part of the family anymore. He was also referred by his mother as 'it'. Thus giving rise to the title of the book (A Child Called 'It'). Dave was beaten and tortured by his mother endlessly and forced to tell lies when teachers asked him about his mysterious cuts and bruises. It was as thought Dave was a Prisoner-Of-War.
I was especially disgusted when a part of the book stated that David was also forced to eat human waste (Which is--- Faeces). I cannot think of any living being in this world that would treat their child in this manner. It is simply unacceptable to everyone who is in the right side of mind and that's why Dave's mother isn't!

His father, Stephen Pelzer, was the only other family member who was with Dave all along. He was part of the reason Dave had the willpower to live on. However, Stephen's numerous attempts to save Dave from the evil jaws of his mother were all unsuccessful. Dave's father was also rejected from the family and thus went out onto the streets all alone.

In the next two books, Dave is out of the madhouse, but he starts recalling back the good years when his mother treated him like a precious jewel. He then enters a huge dilemma, not knowing what to do and who to consult. The story comes to a touching end when Dave would meet his father in a totally different state, drunk like a living corpse, having no intention for the rest of his sorrowful life. When his father died of cancer in a hospital. Evil mother still refuses to visit him, despite being successfully contacted. Leaving poor father to be laid to death only with Dave's company and his only achievement in life, his firefighter badge...

This moving story is the absolutely the greatest, most touching, interesting book I've read in my life.

Maksim the piano player

Maksim Mrvica is my favourite piano player of all time. He is a croatian pianist that started playing the piano at the age of eight. As his parents knew nothing about classical music, they were surprised at this  talent of his. Maksim's teacher soon discovered that this talent was indeed a rare one.

In his autobiography, Maksim stated that when war broke out. He and his family would hide in the basement. With grenades falling like rain from the sky, almost everything in sight would be destroyed. However, Maksim just had to get on with life, and getting on with life meant playing the piano to him. Thus, he would meet with his piano teacher in the basement of his house to play the piano. There, he slowly submerges himself into the beauty of the music while gunshots and explosions can be heard in the background.

At 18 years old, Maksim entered a piano competition in a neighbouring state where war had not erupted. With his pure talent and hard practice, Maksim amazed the audience and won the competition, winning fame for his state, which was still in the war.

One key lesson we can learn from this true life story is that, if one perserveres and does not lose faith in himself, nothing is impossible. Hard work and deterination is the key to success.


(You are welcome to listen to some his marvelous songs at the mixpod on the right)

A Touching Story

I would just like to share a touching story a friend of mine shared with me.

A blind man and his guide dog had been companions for many years. However, the blind man never really appreciated what the dog has done for him. He was ungrateful and did many bad deeds to others.

One day, the blind man and his dog were crossing the road when a reckless speeding driver dashed across the red light and was heading towards the blind man. Suprisingly, the dog dashed in front of the man and sacrificed its life for the man. However, the man suffered some injuries and soon passed away in a hospital.

So this blind man went up into the heavens to meet his dog. There was an angel guarding the gates of the heavens and he told the couple that there was only one place left in heaven. The first person to reach the top through the flight of stairs would get that place. And so the race started, the man slowly inched his way forward with his guide dog following beside him slowly. The angel stared at this scene, not understanding what was the matter with the two of them, and thought that the man would dash forward for the gate at the finishing line. After a very long walk, they finally reached the top. Both of them halted in front of the gate to heaven, staring at each other. When the angel asked the man why he was walking so slowly, he replied, "Never had I seen my beloved dog in my life and now I finally get to see it, I was trying to spend more time with it." The angel was moved to tears and finally asked one of them to step through the gate. With that, the dog said he wished the man shall go through the gate to heaven. Thus, the cloud on which the dog was standing on popped and he fell into the dungeons of hell.

The dog had sacrificed itself for the blind man twice. Through this passage, I not only learnt the true meaning of 'A dog is man's best friend'. But also the though meaning of friendship. I also learnt that we should all cherish what he have now and not take things for granted.

Me and My Interests

         I have several interests in life. However, I shall just mention one of my main interests, which is playing the Clarinet. Many of you readers might be wondering, "Why must everything have to do with music?". But that's my character. The main reason why I love music is that it is one of the best forms of relaxations that keep the mind calm. When one plays music, he/she will enter a world of their own where there is no such thing as stress or pressure. However, you will soon realize that all of us, no matter what, have to come back into this real world to face the reality.
         A Clarinet is a woodwind instrument played in the concert band. You might also be intrigued to know that there are actually about 12 different types of clarinets in different keys, that is, in different pitch. Usually in every piece/song-sheet, there is always a few challenging phrases that require extra practice to play. It is when you can master that passage and move on that you can feel the achievement and hear some great tunes emerging.
               
*MuSiC = My Life*

Me and my Food

Well, there are many varieties of foods that I like but my favourite food still remains as Sushi. This Japanese cuisine consists of many types of dishes. My  favourite dishes are mainly raw salmon, Chawanmushi (Japanese egg custard), and their beancurd. Sushi is an awesome Japanese dish I would recommend to all.

My other favourite food (or snack rather), is the donut, I suppose most of you people out there know what is a donut. I love almost all the flavours of donuts, each of their unique flavour and smell will give your taste buds a hard punch once you sink your teeth into them. I am beginning to smell donuts all around me, I guess I should stop here.    

Me and My Life

Hi to all. Welcome to my blog... ...
I don't know where to start off, okay...my name is Bill and I have never created a blog before.
I started this blog for a school project. It's quite cool to have English lessons on blogs, rather than the usual exercises.
Alright, let's move on, I am currently a Secondary 2 student. I mostly like Mathematics and Science. Though I am having difficulties with my Mother Tongue, I hope to make it through the exams by studying hard.
I am also a member of the Concert Band's Clarinet Section. Clarinets are pretty awesome instruments and I have no idea how they created it. Since I am on the topic of music, you might also like to know that I love playing the piano as well. Music is one of the most wonderful creations of mankind (It depends on an individual's opinion).
So that's it for now, thanks for visiting my blog.


Bill Lee