Holly’s Space

Michel Fournier a french adventurer age 64, attempted to break a world skydiving record last Tuesday at Battleford, Saskatchewan. He had hoped to break the record for the worlds fastest and longest free fall. At the same time he also hoped to break the record for the highest parachute jump, the highest balloon flight and also he wanted to bring back some information to help astronauts and others survive in high altitudes.

It was all ready for him to attempt. He had a $200 000 helium balloon in which he hoped would take him to a height of 130 000feet (39 624metres). This is around the equivalent of four Mount Everest’s on top of each other or about three times higher than what a commercial jetliner flies.

So the huge helium balloon was to be attached to a capsule in which he would free-fall from and break the world record. But unfortunately it somehow became unattached from the capsule and just floated up and up. Michel Fournier had to just stand there and watch as he chances floated up towards space.

I think that Michel Fournier would have been absolutely devastated. To see his chances of breaking the world record and $200 000 floating away into space, he would have been very annoyed and sad. Although I did actually find it quite funny but I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have. I also think Michel Fournier is very brave for even wanting to try this, I know for sure I never would have.

Here is a website I found with an article about it. This is where I got most of my information from-http://www.insidesocal.com/dailylink/2008/05/skydivers_chance_at_world_reco.html

I also found a video of it which is on this website. It was part of a news program which is all about this disaster-http://tvnz.co.nz/view/video_popup_windows_skin/1803758

Totara Springs is a band camp, which is pretty self explanatory. It is a camp where most of the band students go, it is combined with the choir. Matamata Intermediate band and choir also participate in it. We are there for two nights and on the last night we have a big concert where all our parents and friends are able to come along and watch. I play the trombone as part of the TAI (Te Awamutu Intermediate) Senior Band.

I definitely enjoyed Totara Springs. It was really fun but a lot of practice! So it was all practice practice practice on the first couple of days. But during each break we all relaxed, hung out with our friends and played on the playground. Many people also went on the lullaby, which is pretty much a long wooden swing that you can fit ten people on. Although with four boys pushing it and only a few others on, it can get really high and scary! (Trust me, I’ve tried it). There was a heap of music practice but each session had a good break in between them so I didn’t really mind.

Tuesday night came and we had the concert. All of the bands were tuning up our instruments and chatting to our friends in the lecture theatre. Everyone was so loud that we barely even heard the fire alarm going off. We all evacuated onto the field wondering what was happening and why it was going off. Mrs Germann, one of the music teachers, had to stand on the picnic table and call the roll, in her high heels! Luckily she had only called a few names when the camp caretaker came and told us it was only a towel on the heater. A sign of relief came over her face as she shouted out “Phew, at least I don’t have to stand on the table in my heels anymore!”

We all slowly moved back into the lecture theatre and carried on tuning up. Finally the time came to go into the auditorium for the concert, as I walked in I noticed how many people had come to watch, there were heaps. We played a few songs, some of them being- ‘Latin Fire’, ‘Mack the Knife’, ‘What a Wonderful World’ and ‘Surfin’ USA’. The junior band played and the choir sung a few songs. It was lots of fun. Also the ‘Salvation Army Band’ came and played a few songs. They were really good and after they played their songs we had a final song that the Senior Band and the Salvation Army Band played. This song was ‘Eye of the Tiger’. So overall I had lots of fun and would definitely go again if I had the chance.

I went to a writing workshop last Thursday. Phyllis Johnston, a New Zealand author, came to talk to us about how she became succesful and give us some tips about writing. Phyllis Johnston is quite a successful author having twelve books of hers published. One of the things Phyllis Johnston talked about was her ‘Recipe’ for a story. It has five ingredients. The first one being a ’scene’ or the place where it happens. A scene can be any where, from outer-space to a hole in the ground! The second ingredient is the ‘characters’, the main people in the story. Within the first few pages of introducing a character the reader should be able to picture the character in their own mind. Also Phyllis Johnston made us realise that a character has to have feelings, not just one feeling but a range of feelings. In other words a character can’t always be excited or surprised, their feelings should change. Like Phyllis Johnston said “a story without feelings isn’t a story at all”. Another ingredient, the third one is the ‘action’. The action is the part where somethings happens to build up to the big problem. While writing this part of a story you should be asking yourself questions like ‘What would they do in this situation?’ and ‘What will happen if they do this?’. The next part is the ‘crisis or tension’, I also like to call this the big problem! This part should always be the most important and exciting peice of the story. Last but not least is the fifth ingredient ‘the end’. One of the tips Phyllis Johnston gave us was to use a few words from the first sentence in the last one. This gives it a good effect, it is as though the whole story has formed a circle and come back to the start again. So as you have seen, I have learnt heaps and will use these tips in my future writing.

Once again in the news today there was an article about cellphone and internet safety. A fifteen year old girl who had never had a boyfriend before found a forty-one year old man on a text chat-room. They began to talk all the time and as far as her parents knew she was just texting her friends. Since the fifteen year old had low self-esteem, the forty-one year old kept telling her she was beautiful and saying all the things she wanted to hear. After a while the man became her so called ”boyfriend” and seduced her. The man has now been arrested and all the girls family have had a real shock.

I think that some of these matters are very disturbing. For one thing I can’t believe anyone would ever do something like this. It is wrong and just sick, I don’t really see why anyone would ever do anything like this. This man must have had some serious problems to make him even think of trying this let alone actually do it. Another thing is how safe people need to be on their cellphones. I for one have never heard about these “text chat-rooms” and don’t plan on going on one. To me phones are used for keeping in touch with friends and family not trying to meet someone new. I think that everyone out there needs to be VERY careful with what they do or say to people whether it be on bebo, texting or on a chat-room. You never know who could be on the other end if you don’t actually know them. So my advice would be to make sure you never text, e-mail or reply to strangers, you wouldn’t just walk up and start talking to a total random in real life. Would You?