Well apparently my whole life is a lie.
O.O I thought it was a kingdom of fans too.... XP (See T2B68 - T2B70)
Tuesday, 31 March 2015
T2B27
... Remember that one post where you asked me about what a fandom is?
Well apparently my whole life is a lie.
Well apparently my whole life is a lie.
Monday, 30 March 2015
T2B26
OH MY GOODNESS THIS IS SO DEEP I CAN'T EVEN:
http://www.vh1.com/celebrity/2011-12-02/divergent-veronica-roth-dystopian-week-guest-blog/
JUST READ IT. JUST. OMG. The very bottom part when Veronica Roth starts talking about the whole utopia/dystopia thing is just OMG. I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT. OMG. OMG. OMG.
I guess there's this whole, completely philosophical perspective on futuristic societies and dystopias (because dystopias are really popular right now) that I've never thought about. Fiction/reading was just something I did for fun, but it's actually so deep.
JUST-- THE LAST SENTENCE IS JUST SO OMG-WORTHY. *PSHEEEEW makes little explodey sound with hand coming off of head* *mindblown*
http://www.vh1.com/celebrity/2011-12-02/divergent-veronica-roth-dystopian-week-guest-blog/
JUST READ IT. JUST. OMG. The very bottom part when Veronica Roth starts talking about the whole utopia/dystopia thing is just OMG. I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT. OMG. OMG. OMG.
I guess there's this whole, completely philosophical perspective on futuristic societies and dystopias (because dystopias are really popular right now) that I've never thought about. Fiction/reading was just something I did for fun, but it's actually so deep.
JUST-- THE LAST SENTENCE IS JUST SO OMG-WORTHY. *PSHEEEEW makes little explodey sound with hand coming off of head* *mindblown*
Sunday, 29 March 2015
T2B25
OMG I just finished The Rule of Thoughts and it is so scary.
So you know the main character is named Michael? He and his friends Sarah and Bryson are gamers in the VirtNet, which is like a really, really advanced and futuristic version of the internet--you get into a NerveBox that completely immerses you in the virtual world. Basically, the virtual world is like your world, except it's all in your head. To Lift means to be taken out of the VirtNet and back into the real world. I still am kind of confused about it, because I can't tell if it's just for games or what, but the point is there's a game called Lifeblood (basically a virtual world that matches the real world), and a Lifeblood Deep (a more realistic version of Lifeblood). So there's all this complicated schmuddle of stuff, but if I told you, I'd ruin it (well I guess I'm ruining it now?). SPOILER SPOILER:
So they think they're in Lifeblood Deep for something, but it later turns out that they were actually in the real word (the "Wake"). Then Michael gets thrown in jail and someone comes to visit him.
ANYWAYS NONE OF THIS REALLY MATTERS it's just a little bit of background so what this guys says makes sense.
So anyways. We have no idea who this dude is, (although I kind of suspected he was Kaine, but his words don't sound like it), and this is what he says to Michael.
"I'm going to leave you now. You'll have plenty of time to think before things come to a head. I hope you've learned a valuable lesson from what happened at that building. About the nature of the VirtNet. About the nature of reality."
"What do you mean?" [Michael said.]
"When mankind can create a world that is so like our own," the stranger said, "then how can we possibly ever know what's real and what's not real again? I could Lift you right now, pull you out of a NerveBox, and then you'd say, 'Ah! I'm back in the real world!' And then I could Lift you again, and you'd be surprised, but feel for certain that this time you're in the... what do you kids call it?... the Wake." The man brought his hands up and gripped the bars until his knuckles turned white. "I could Life you a hundred times. A thousand. How, Michael, could you ever know again that you are truly, truly in the real world? For that matter, who's to say there even is a real world?"
WHOOOAAAAAA.... That's some scary stuff. We watched The Matrix in English at the beginning of Term 2, and it was a similar idea--how do you know what reality is? Machines took over and humans were living in a dream-induced "reality". In the Mortality Doctrine series, the VirtNet is sometimes all that some people live for. I won't spoil it for you, but there is also this idea of a Tangent, which is a programmed intelligence (like AI but more advanced/human, I guess) walking around in Lifeblood Deep to simulate the people in real life (because pretty much no one actually makes it into Lifeblood Deep, it's really, really, really hard to get in, and the people that are in are all like really advanced gamers).
Anyways, I could talk all day about this, but it's actually a really good series and makes you think. They're actually really philosophical and a good read. (And kind of creepy. Okay, really creepy.)
Saturday, 28 March 2015
T2B24
So true, so true. Girls, listen to Emma Watson:
OMG LOL I found this one too and I just died laughing:
T2B23
Haha I can totally imagine this happening (I made it x-large so the text is easier to read...):
LOLOLOLOL more of Percy's awesomeness:
LOLOLOLOL more of Percy's awesomeness:
Thursday, 26 March 2015
T2B22
This is like my favourite moment in the entire movie.
She is seriously so cute in this moment. XP
Wednesday, 25 March 2015
T2B22
So in Applied Skills on Monday, we watched "Chantek: The Ape Who Went To College", and afterwards we had a discussion on whether it's right/possible to "own" an animal. I thought it'd be a great debate--the ethics of ownership. I thought Mr Olson brought up a great point--what differentiates animals from humans? Aren't humans animals too? That really made me think.
Also, whether or not it's ethical to raise an orangutan as a human. That was interesting too.
T3B19, T3B20, T3B21
O. M. G.
I seriously cannot believe this.
How about I take you through my reactions after school today. The exact procedure.
"Am I in trouble?"
Those were the first words out of my mouth.
(Wow, I just realized that'd be a great story starter.)
Anyways, moving on.
Mr. Hauck looked at me and said, "Read this with me."
"Hi Martin,
We are finalizing our registration for Junior Nationals and have an additional space. [Me] is our first alternate."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
OMG OMG OMG AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--
*some time later*
--AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!
*happy dance*
I actually did scream a little when Mr. Hauck told me.
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, I'M GOING TO NATIONALS, I'M GOING TO NATIONALS, I'M GOING TO NATIONALS.....
OBTW debate nationals.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!
*happy dance some more*
I seriously COULD NOT BELIEVE IT when Mr. Hauck told me. Me, nationals?! It's my first (well, second, but first serious debating) year, and I barely made provincials! (number 18 out of the 20 people going to provincials). I guess that might be because all the "good people" were in grade 10, so there weren't really that many grade 9's. Out of 64 people, I ranked 55. So, yeah. I'll let the numbers speak for themselves. XP
Mr. Hauck said that it was the top grade 9 debater in each region (we had 7 regions) going to Junior Nationals (which is just for Grade 9's) because they want region diversity, so some people ranked below us got to go because they were one of only 2 debaters in their region. After that, the remaining spots out of 12 get filled by the high scorers in the regions. I was first alternate, which means that if someone didn't go, I would be the first person they'd call to fill the spot.
OMG OMG OMG I STILL CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!
Anyways, I'm so excited. I can't believe I made nationals (barely) in my first year. It might be easier for grade 9's, though, because I think next year grade 10's will have to squeeze in with Grade 11's for their nationals. But I'm going to work harder than ever, so I will make nationals again. There's a Chinese proverb, which is that if you laugh too early, sad things will happen (literal translation). Basically what is means is that if you get too proud too early and don't work hard, you won't be good for too long and you will fall back down. So I will work harder than ever to ensure I make it into Nationals next year with flying colours.
*happy dance some more*
I seriously COULD NOT BELIEVE IT when Mr. Hauck told me. Me, nationals?! It's my first (well, second, but first serious debating) year, and I barely made provincials! (number 18 out of the 20 people going to provincials). I guess that might be because all the "good people" were in grade 10, so there weren't really that many grade 9's. Out of 64 people, I ranked 55. So, yeah. I'll let the numbers speak for themselves. XP
Mr. Hauck said that it was the top grade 9 debater in each region (we had 7 regions) going to Junior Nationals (which is just for Grade 9's) because they want region diversity, so some people ranked below us got to go because they were one of only 2 debaters in their region. After that, the remaining spots out of 12 get filled by the high scorers in the regions. I was first alternate, which means that if someone didn't go, I would be the first person they'd call to fill the spot.
OMG OMG OMG I STILL CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!
Anyways, I'm so excited. I can't believe I made nationals (barely) in my first year. It might be easier for grade 9's, though, because I think next year grade 10's will have to squeeze in with Grade 11's for their nationals. But I'm going to work harder than ever, so I will make nationals again. There's a Chinese proverb, which is that if you laugh too early, sad things will happen (literal translation). Basically what is means is that if you get too proud too early and don't work hard, you won't be good for too long and you will fall back down. So I will work harder than ever to ensure I make it into Nationals next year with flying colours.
T2B18 (Part 3 of Spring Break)
Yeah, I totally forgot to blog for a few days... sorry. :(
Anyways, part 2 of Spring Break was the oh-so-glorious, oh-so-snowy Boston.
We actually planned to go to Boston later than we did, but we went earlier so we could visit Harvard. :)
I planned like an entire day there. We went on a historical yard tour, wanted to watch a lecture (BUT THE PROFESSOR DIDN'T LECTURE :( It was like a "section" or something? :S I dunno what that means XP), listened to an admissions committee Q&A, and then went on another tour. XP
And OMG. Harvard is amazing! The campus is beautiful, it's big, and it's really nice. Harvard's resources are also AMAZING. The one story I heard 3 times that day was like this. The first tour guide, Adam, said that his friend wanted to learn some sort of obscure African language that he'd never even heard of. Harvard has 42 "concentrations" (majors) but his friend didn't want to do any of them and just wanted to learn this language. So guess what Harvard did. Harvard brought in a professor to teach him that language for a semester! Like OMG! That's so amazing!
Also, our second tour guide, Madi, said that the professors are really nice and they're always willing to make time for you, even though they have a reputation of always being busy with work. She said that Harvard has a "faculty dinner" where you invite a professor to dine with you, and most of the professors are really enthusiastic and nice about that :)
Apparently, Harvard has 42 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports team, more than any other college in the country. Wow. If I played sports, I'd be impressed. (Actually, I'm still impressed. Even if I don't play sports. XP)
Harvard is like a dream college for me. It's soooo nice, has lots of good resources, and its academics are amazing. After spending a day there and listening to a few tours, I'm seriously so captivated by it. We heard a whole bunch of other stories about different elements of Harvard life, but there's a lot so I don't have room to talk about them :(.
One more story XP:
You know there's a John Harvard statue in Harvard Yard? Apparently, it's also called the Statue of Three Lies. On the statue, it says something like John Harvard established this college in 1638.
So the first lie is about John Harvard. He didn't actually found the college, it was founded by some group with a long name that I forget. XP He was, however, the first major benefactor, donating over half of his estate and more than 400 rare books to the college. They renamed it Harvard college in his honour.
The second lie is that it was founded in 1638. It was actually founded in 1636. It was renamed in 1638.
And the third and final lie is that the man in the statue (oh that kind of came out wrong, I meant to say the man represented in the statue. This makes it sound like he's stuck inside or something, srry...) is John Harvard. That man is not John Harvard. It's someone else, but no one really knows who. There is no surviving representation of the (now mysterious) John Harvard, as his only painting burnt down with one of the library ages ago.
I didn't know this until Adam (the first tour guide) told us, actually, and it's pretty interesting. He also pointed out the irony--Harvard's motto is "Veritas" which is truth in Latin, and yet its most famous landmark is the Statue of Three Lies. (only a nickname, people, only a nickname. XP)
I had an awesome day touring Harvard.
In Boston, we also went to a seafood trade show (the seafood trade show XP). I didn't do as much there, wandered around a bit and sat outside a bit, because I was a little bit tired by this time of the trip. It was still fun, though :) and I learned a lot. :)
(And then we came back.)
Overall, it was a really fun trip and a good learning opportunity! :D
Anyways, part 2 of Spring Break was the oh-so-glorious, oh-so-snowy Boston.
We actually planned to go to Boston later than we did, but we went earlier so we could visit Harvard. :)
I planned like an entire day there. We went on a historical yard tour, wanted to watch a lecture (BUT THE PROFESSOR DIDN'T LECTURE :( It was like a "section" or something? :S I dunno what that means XP), listened to an admissions committee Q&A, and then went on another tour. XP
And OMG. Harvard is amazing! The campus is beautiful, it's big, and it's really nice. Harvard's resources are also AMAZING. The one story I heard 3 times that day was like this. The first tour guide, Adam, said that his friend wanted to learn some sort of obscure African language that he'd never even heard of. Harvard has 42 "concentrations" (majors) but his friend didn't want to do any of them and just wanted to learn this language. So guess what Harvard did. Harvard brought in a professor to teach him that language for a semester! Like OMG! That's so amazing!
Also, our second tour guide, Madi, said that the professors are really nice and they're always willing to make time for you, even though they have a reputation of always being busy with work. She said that Harvard has a "faculty dinner" where you invite a professor to dine with you, and most of the professors are really enthusiastic and nice about that :)
Apparently, Harvard has 42 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports team, more than any other college in the country. Wow. If I played sports, I'd be impressed. (Actually, I'm still impressed. Even if I don't play sports. XP)
Harvard is like a dream college for me. It's soooo nice, has lots of good resources, and its academics are amazing. After spending a day there and listening to a few tours, I'm seriously so captivated by it. We heard a whole bunch of other stories about different elements of Harvard life, but there's a lot so I don't have room to talk about them :(.
One more story XP:
You know there's a John Harvard statue in Harvard Yard? Apparently, it's also called the Statue of Three Lies. On the statue, it says something like John Harvard established this college in 1638.
So the first lie is about John Harvard. He didn't actually found the college, it was founded by some group with a long name that I forget. XP He was, however, the first major benefactor, donating over half of his estate and more than 400 rare books to the college. They renamed it Harvard college in his honour.
The second lie is that it was founded in 1638. It was actually founded in 1636. It was renamed in 1638.
And the third and final lie is that the man in the statue (oh that kind of came out wrong, I meant to say the man represented in the statue. This makes it sound like he's stuck inside or something, srry...) is John Harvard. That man is not John Harvard. It's someone else, but no one really knows who. There is no surviving representation of the (now mysterious) John Harvard, as his only painting burnt down with one of the library ages ago.
I didn't know this until Adam (the first tour guide) told us, actually, and it's pretty interesting. He also pointed out the irony--Harvard's motto is "Veritas" which is truth in Latin, and yet its most famous landmark is the Statue of Three Lies. (only a nickname, people, only a nickname. XP)
I had an awesome day touring Harvard.
In Boston, we also went to a seafood trade show (the seafood trade show XP). I didn't do as much there, wandered around a bit and sat outside a bit, because I was a little bit tired by this time of the trip. It was still fun, though :) and I learned a lot. :)
(And then we came back.)
Overall, it was a really fun trip and a good learning opportunity! :D
Friday, 20 March 2015
T3B17 (Part 2 of Spring Break)
Welcome to New York, it's been waiting for you, welcome to New York...
The first thing that greeted me at the New York Airport was this sign:
XP I think New York and Taylor Swift are probably doing some sort of collaboration (because her song is called "Welcome to New York"). There's even a website: www.nycgo.com/w2ny
We only stayed about half a day in New York, because we've been before, and we did a lot of our sightseeing before. We shopped a little in Times Square and I was SOOOOO excited because there was a Muji store in Times Square! *cue the squealing noises XP*
Muji is a Japanese dollar store and they sell EVERYTHING. (Like, literally. Everything. http://www.muji.com/us/ ) But, most popular among us students, is their famed Gel Ink Pens.
They are so smooth. Like seriously. Erica and Margo could tell you that I'm way too obsessed with stationery, but they are really nice. It's a gel-based ink, which means it's much smoother than ballpoint (although I bought one of those too, because I thought I'd try it out. Melody has one, and I tried it the other day, and it was pretty good.) So anyways, I was browsing on the Times Square shop list website: http://www.timessquarenyc.org/shopping/index.aspx#.VQxf8UswhuY and I saw Muji on the list and my eyes pretty much popped out of my head. I think Muji's US stores only opened last year August or something (I searched it up later) and previously only had stores in Japan. AND THEY HAD ONE IN TIMES SQUARE AND I LITERALLY JUST OMG OMG OMG.
Okay done, moving on.
So we walked to the Muji store, which took a little bit of time to find because it was actually in the New York Times building (BTW calling their line actually said where the entrance was, so now I actually know that calling can be useful. Because before, I always thought calling was kind of a hassle, but now I know it isn't :) ). And then I bought a lot of pens XP.
That was pretty much the highlight of NY. And I bought some clothes. :D (And I bought Mickey and Minnie at a Disney outlet in Chicago and a T-shirt at the Times Square Disney, because I am a Disney lover.)
SOOOO, that was New York in a nutshell! (A disproportionately large nutshell, considering the time I spent there... but I just had to rave about Muji. Had to.)
**Also, I think Muji will be opening stores across Canada soon! Actually, the first retail opened in December 2014, I think, in Toronto's Atrium on Bay, and Muji plans to open up to 7, one of which is rumoured to be in Vancouver! :D http://www.retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2014/11/muji-new
Thursday, 19 March 2015
T3B1 to T3B16 (part 1 of Spring Break)
Okay, I know I haven't blogged for like 2 weeks.
I forgot to blog the last few days of school because I was really busy, and I left the first day of spring break on a trip, and I got back yesterday.
So as a result, I will blog a veeeeeeery very long post (actually probably several) about my trip and lots of other things because I am just too lazy to try to separate them into the different numbered posts. :)
Soooooo, part 1 today--Chicago.
I went to a trade show with my parents in Chicago, and it was reeeeally fun. It was like a home and hardware show, and I mostly stayed in the Wired + Well exhibit hall (the technology sector). This trade show was SOOOO huge, it took up the entire Chicago convention centre (which was pretty big) and there were so many exhibit halls. There was a LOT of new technology there. My dad says that trade shows are also popular for displaying and testing new technology (out on the market) because they want to see if buyers will want to distribute it. (So I went as an "industry affiliate" with my dad's company :P) I literally saw *counts* 6 filtering companies. And this is where I do a massive face palm, because I LITERALLY just finished my science fair. On water filtration.
*cries*
If I could have seen this, like 4 weeks earlier, my project could have been so much better. :( but then again, the show wouldn't have been there, and these filtration systems wouldn't have been there last year either. :(
There was this one company called Clean2O which claimed to reduce pH, which was EXACTLY WHAT I DID MY SCIENCE FAIR ON and I spent about half an hour talking with the people there and I seriously wanted to cry when I realized they also had an alkalizing filter.
Anyways.
So there was also a carbonator (which is something you use to carbonate water). Sodastream is a company that makes carbonating machines where you fill a bottle with tap water, add CO2, and it just magically turns to sparkling water. I asked, and basically it pumps the CO2 into it, and it's the same method that all the soda companies use, but on a smaller scale. They were "premiering", I guess you could call it, the newest automated machine they have, but I can't remember the name right now... get back to you when I do.
It's not going to come out in the US until 2015 Summer and not in Canada until Februrary 2016. They have a whole bunch of other carbonation machines, which don't need electricity because you just pump the thing (it's basically CO2 powered), but this new one needs plugging in because you simply select a "level of carbonation" and it does it for you. We watched a demonstration and tried some--It was awesome (and tasted pretty good too).
I think it's pretty awesome and I think we might get one if we can find one. My mom really likes Coke, but we try not to drink it because it's pretty bad for you, but if we just drink regular sparkling water (or like lighter/sugarfree flavours) it's a little healthier and more guilt free. (although technically you're still drinking sugar....)
This is the Canadian website: http://www.sodastream.ca/en/index.php
It's really, really cool. Go check it out. XP
Anyways, I spent basically the entire of the trade show wandering around different products and checking out all the cool stuff that people were showing. Whirlpool was launching a new water filtration system, called "EveryDrop" (their logo is the same upside down btw! XP totally random) and it's a portable filter. Like, is. That. Not. Cool. It looks like a drop of water (hence the name), comes in blue, and it's basically where you rest the filter on any bottle, pour water in, and it just gets filtered through. Here's the Amazon exclusive link: http://www.sodastream.ca/en/index.phphttp://www.amazon.com/EveryDrop-Water-Whirlpool-Replacement-Exclusive/dp/B00G5H56RY
I also got a few ideas for my science fair next year. Needless to say, I had a lot of fun and it was a really enlightening experience.
(OBTW, we also did a little shopping in Chicago, and we were going to go to the Willis Tower, or the Chicago Skydeck, also known as the highest tower in North America, but it was a 2 hour wait and we were leaving that afternoon. :( sad.)
And we went to the University of Chicago and wandered around a bit, took some photos of one of the libraries there. We went into the entryway XP but you needed a student ID to go into the actual library part. I peeked in and it looked really awesome, the first floor was computers, I think, so I didn't actually get to see the library collection. :(
More on New York tomorrow!
**Oh I totally forgot. I thought of this in the middle of the trade show, completely randomly and from nowhere. XP Trade shows can kind of be compared to tournaments. There are the smaller booths around the edge of the exhibit hall, and then there are the really big, demonstration table, laaaaarge companies from all over the world. If we were to talk debate tournaments, the smaller tables are kind of like the new debaters, or novices. The more trade shows/tournaments you go to, the more you grow, so you turn from the little novices/booths into the retail giants/top-ranked debaters in the trade show/tournament. (The slashes are kind of confusing... srry. ;P)
I forgot to blog the last few days of school because I was really busy, and I left the first day of spring break on a trip, and I got back yesterday.
So as a result, I will blog a veeeeeeery very long post (actually probably several) about my trip and lots of other things because I am just too lazy to try to separate them into the different numbered posts. :)
Soooooo, part 1 today--Chicago.
I went to a trade show with my parents in Chicago, and it was reeeeally fun. It was like a home and hardware show, and I mostly stayed in the Wired + Well exhibit hall (the technology sector). This trade show was SOOOO huge, it took up the entire Chicago convention centre (which was pretty big) and there were so many exhibit halls. There was a LOT of new technology there. My dad says that trade shows are also popular for displaying and testing new technology (out on the market) because they want to see if buyers will want to distribute it. (So I went as an "industry affiliate" with my dad's company :P) I literally saw *counts* 6 filtering companies. And this is where I do a massive face palm, because I LITERALLY just finished my science fair. On water filtration.
*cries*
If I could have seen this, like 4 weeks earlier, my project could have been so much better. :( but then again, the show wouldn't have been there, and these filtration systems wouldn't have been there last year either. :(
There was this one company called Clean2O which claimed to reduce pH, which was EXACTLY WHAT I DID MY SCIENCE FAIR ON and I spent about half an hour talking with the people there and I seriously wanted to cry when I realized they also had an alkalizing filter.
Anyways.
So there was also a carbonator (which is something you use to carbonate water). Sodastream is a company that makes carbonating machines where you fill a bottle with tap water, add CO2, and it just magically turns to sparkling water. I asked, and basically it pumps the CO2 into it, and it's the same method that all the soda companies use, but on a smaller scale. They were "premiering", I guess you could call it, the newest automated machine they have, but I can't remember the name right now... get back to you when I do.
It's not going to come out in the US until 2015 Summer and not in Canada until Februrary 2016. They have a whole bunch of other carbonation machines, which don't need electricity because you just pump the thing (it's basically CO2 powered), but this new one needs plugging in because you simply select a "level of carbonation" and it does it for you. We watched a demonstration and tried some--It was awesome (and tasted pretty good too).
I think it's pretty awesome and I think we might get one if we can find one. My mom really likes Coke, but we try not to drink it because it's pretty bad for you, but if we just drink regular sparkling water (or like lighter/sugarfree flavours) it's a little healthier and more guilt free. (although technically you're still drinking sugar....)
This is the Canadian website: http://www.sodastream.ca/en/index.php
It's really, really cool. Go check it out. XP
Anyways, I spent basically the entire of the trade show wandering around different products and checking out all the cool stuff that people were showing. Whirlpool was launching a new water filtration system, called "EveryDrop" (their logo is the same upside down btw! XP totally random) and it's a portable filter. Like, is. That. Not. Cool. It looks like a drop of water (hence the name), comes in blue, and it's basically where you rest the filter on any bottle, pour water in, and it just gets filtered through. Here's the Amazon exclusive link: http://www.sodastream.ca/en/index.phphttp://www.amazon.com/EveryDrop-Water-Whirlpool-Replacement-Exclusive/dp/B00G5H56RY
I also got a few ideas for my science fair next year. Needless to say, I had a lot of fun and it was a really enlightening experience.
(OBTW, we also did a little shopping in Chicago, and we were going to go to the Willis Tower, or the Chicago Skydeck, also known as the highest tower in North America, but it was a 2 hour wait and we were leaving that afternoon. :( sad.)
And we went to the University of Chicago and wandered around a bit, took some photos of one of the libraries there. We went into the entryway XP but you needed a student ID to go into the actual library part. I peeked in and it looked really awesome, the first floor was computers, I think, so I didn't actually get to see the library collection. :(
More on New York tomorrow!
**Oh I totally forgot. I thought of this in the middle of the trade show, completely randomly and from nowhere. XP Trade shows can kind of be compared to tournaments. There are the smaller booths around the edge of the exhibit hall, and then there are the really big, demonstration table, laaaaarge companies from all over the world. If we were to talk debate tournaments, the smaller tables are kind of like the new debaters, or novices. The more trade shows/tournaments you go to, the more you grow, so you turn from the little novices/booths into the retail giants/top-ranked debaters in the trade show/tournament. (The slashes are kind of confusing... srry. ;P)
Tuesday, 3 March 2015
T2B104
I didn't know that.
#lolsotrue
Also, I'm sooooo swarmed in stuff right now, we have to edit our socials project, I just finished studying for my science and math test, I still have to finish my 2 Maus CTRA's, Self Eval, and French presentation/paragraph, agh...
#lolsotrue
Also, I'm sooooo swarmed in stuff right now, we have to edit our socials project, I just finished studying for my science and math test, I still have to finish my 2 Maus CTRA's, Self Eval, and French presentation/paragraph, agh...
Monday, 2 March 2015
T2B103
Something that I noticed that was really effective was that both Prop and Opp teams tied their intro into their case, Sam and Lloyd especially. Margo and I never really do that, we just start out with some resolution-wise relevant but case-wise irrelevant material. Like Lloyd gave their caseline in the intro, and Sam worked her refutation in. It was good. I think I'll do that next time.
Sunday, 1 March 2015
T2B100, T2B101, T2B102
I came back from provincials debate yesterday and I'm sooooo tired.
We didn't get any awards. :( I'm really disappointed, not because I expected to get an award, but because I;d hoped either Margo or I would place top 10. Although I guess that's not realistic, since she placed 13 and I placed 18 in Regionals. These people were soooo good though--Chloe Chen, Crofton, she placed 10th in Provincials and her partner Lucy didn't even place! But they were, like, 2nd team! (I forget their individual scores in Regionals) 1st junior speaker was Adam Miller from WPGA and they also placed first in team, Adam and Eric Lyall, who happens to be the brother of the famous Lloyd Lyall, who, along with Samantha Starkey, debates nationally. (That was a really long run-on sentence.)
Anyways, Sam and Lloyd (Proposition) debated against Antonio Balogh and Adam Cicek (Opposition) from Vancouver College. (Sam and Lloyd won.) It was this actually a pretty intense debate, and it was preeetty tough.
The resolution was: THW offer dictators amnesty in exchange for leaving power.
That's... a pretty hard resolution. If you listen to the two teams debate, it makes perfect sense what they're saying. You are so ready to believe them. But it's so hard to think about it if you had to come up with it yourself. It's kind of like math. When you watch someone do a math problem, it's like, Oh yeah, I know how to do that. And then you try to recreate it and it is so. Freaking. Hard. (That's kinda why I screwed up so badly on my Trig test... :'()
Anyways, I thought they were both really good. Quinn and Lewis told us once before, the reason Sam and Lloyd are so good is because they lay everything out super clearly for you. I finally got to see this in action yesteryday! :D They explained all the steps that they would take, but in a really reasonable way. Antonio and Adam were also really good, refuting Prop's arguments by also advancing their own at the same time. The one thing about Opp, that I think may have lost them the debate, is that their refutation was based on only 1 thing, which Prop admittedly didn't take down too well, but then again, Prop refuted Opp's points really well. There weren't a lot of contentions introduced, but one thing that I think Prop did well was they explained the trickle-effects of this resolution, which was really clear. Prop (Sam and Lloyd) won the debate, but the round was so close that it was a 3-2 win. (No speaker scores, win-loss from 5 judges.)
Anyways, about Margo's and my personal experience.
We were kinda nervous going into the tournament, but Mr. Hauck told us something that I think really stuck with us. He said not to think of this as "THE PROVINCIALS" but just another debate. We were also nervous about people better than regionals (and thus being so good we'd die) but he said, the better the opposing team is, the better the debate. And that was totally true! The 5 rounds we had this time were actual fun debates, where we didn't know if we'd won or lost, but we'd tried our hardest and argued our case fairly.
Awards aren't everything. I know Margo and I both felt a little disappointed, but really, it's the experience that counts. We still have years, we'll get really good at this. It's only our first year, after all. I think just the experience of debating and the skills you get is worth it! Debate is one of the things I truly love. It's helped me so much and I think that the practice, and the learning experience is just so amazing. The more tournaments we go to, the more we improve.
I'm just happy to have made it to Provincials :) and I'm SOOOO excited for next year!
We didn't get any awards. :( I'm really disappointed, not because I expected to get an award, but because I;d hoped either Margo or I would place top 10. Although I guess that's not realistic, since she placed 13 and I placed 18 in Regionals. These people were soooo good though--Chloe Chen, Crofton, she placed 10th in Provincials and her partner Lucy didn't even place! But they were, like, 2nd team! (I forget their individual scores in Regionals) 1st junior speaker was Adam Miller from WPGA and they also placed first in team, Adam and Eric Lyall, who happens to be the brother of the famous Lloyd Lyall, who, along with Samantha Starkey, debates nationally. (That was a really long run-on sentence.)
Anyways, Sam and Lloyd (Proposition) debated against Antonio Balogh and Adam Cicek (Opposition) from Vancouver College. (Sam and Lloyd won.) It was this actually a pretty intense debate, and it was preeetty tough.
The resolution was: THW offer dictators amnesty in exchange for leaving power.
That's... a pretty hard resolution. If you listen to the two teams debate, it makes perfect sense what they're saying. You are so ready to believe them. But it's so hard to think about it if you had to come up with it yourself. It's kind of like math. When you watch someone do a math problem, it's like, Oh yeah, I know how to do that. And then you try to recreate it and it is so. Freaking. Hard. (That's kinda why I screwed up so badly on my Trig test... :'()
Anyways, I thought they were both really good. Quinn and Lewis told us once before, the reason Sam and Lloyd are so good is because they lay everything out super clearly for you. I finally got to see this in action yesteryday! :D They explained all the steps that they would take, but in a really reasonable way. Antonio and Adam were also really good, refuting Prop's arguments by also advancing their own at the same time. The one thing about Opp, that I think may have lost them the debate, is that their refutation was based on only 1 thing, which Prop admittedly didn't take down too well, but then again, Prop refuted Opp's points really well. There weren't a lot of contentions introduced, but one thing that I think Prop did well was they explained the trickle-effects of this resolution, which was really clear. Prop (Sam and Lloyd) won the debate, but the round was so close that it was a 3-2 win. (No speaker scores, win-loss from 5 judges.)
Anyways, about Margo's and my personal experience.
We were kinda nervous going into the tournament, but Mr. Hauck told us something that I think really stuck with us. He said not to think of this as "THE PROVINCIALS" but just another debate. We were also nervous about people better than regionals (and thus being so good we'd die) but he said, the better the opposing team is, the better the debate. And that was totally true! The 5 rounds we had this time were actual fun debates, where we didn't know if we'd won or lost, but we'd tried our hardest and argued our case fairly.
Awards aren't everything. I know Margo and I both felt a little disappointed, but really, it's the experience that counts. We still have years, we'll get really good at this. It's only our first year, after all. I think just the experience of debating and the skills you get is worth it! Debate is one of the things I truly love. It's helped me so much and I think that the practice, and the learning experience is just so amazing. The more tournaments we go to, the more we improve.
I'm just happy to have made it to Provincials :) and I'm SOOOO excited for next year!
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