Wonderful Winter Break part 3: Marvelous Mikado

2 days ago the cast list was posted for the opera the MOTCC does every year. This year we're doing the Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan. Gilbert and Sullivan have written many operettas like "The Yeomen of the Guard", "H.M.S. Pinafore", "The Pirates of Penzance", and "The Mikado". I got the understudy of the role of Ko-ko. He is one of the leads. My friend Eddie got the role of Ko-ko so if he's not at the performance I will be Ko-ko. This is the exact opposite of what happened 2 years ago for the Brundibar pre show. I got the main role of "The Little Boy" and Eddie got the understudy. Our 1st rehearsal is on Monday Jan 4; the same day we restart school. UGH!

Watch for Part 4: CHRISTMAS!!

Wonderful Winter Break Part 2: Feel the Force Awaken

On Monday the 21st of December, we saw the new Star Wars movie: STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS. It was great! I even think Jude would like it! This is the biggest rivalry in our class: STAR WARS vs. STAR TREK: the Battle of Sci-Fi Movies. Jude is on the Star Trek side and I'm on the Star Wars side.

To be continued in part 3: Mikado Cast List

Wonderful Winter Break Part 1: Campus Martious

I've had an amazing break this winter and I can't wait to write about it in a 5 post super-post. On Friday I sang on the radio with some other people in the principal chorus of the MOTCC at the Campus Martious park at night. It was freezing cold outside! My friend Eddie said when we finished that he "couldn't feel his anything"! My friend Ben, J.T. and I talked about the game Dragonvale. 

Radio Friday

Today if you've been following my posts, is the day that some other choristers of the MOTCC and I will be performing on 760 A.M. or WJR. We'll be singing Christmas carols and whoever's listening can sing along! We will also be performing live at Campus Marshus at 8:00, which is the same time the show starts.

Magic Flute

Yesterday I had an audition for the opera "The Magic Flute". I was auditioning for one of the 3 Spirits. They're 3 boys (although they've been played by girls) who come from time to time. Also, if I get the role, I get paid!!

Dragonvale Review

There's this game I like to play called Dragonvale. Dragonvale is a game where you hatch, breed, raise and evolve your dragons. Each dragon has a rarity. The rarities are Legendary, Gemstone, Epic, Rare and Common. Epic dragon and gemstone dragons are the hardest to breed out of all of them.

Radio Station Performance

The station we're performing on is WJR or 760 A.M. 🎸🎵

Radio Sing-A-Long

Yesterday I was at a rehearsal for a sing-a-long that me and some other members of the MOTCC Principal Chorus are in. We're singing Christmas songs like: Jingle Bells, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, O Christmas Tree and The First Noel. Did I mention we will be live on the radio? Tune in to the station I put on my next post on Friday the 18th, which coincidentally is on the exact same day  that Star Wars: the Force Awakens comes out in theaters (so Jude, you will be able to try and listen). It will be at 8:00 in the night. We will be at Campus Marshus in Detroit. 

Siracy Science Fair

Hi, everybody! We are holding a school science fair on someday in 2016. We hope you come and bring your inventions (for BCS students only)!

What does T.H.I.N.K. Stand for?

The T in THINK stands for True. H stands for Helpful. I stands for Inspirational. N stands for Necessary and K stands for Kind.

My Favorite MOTCC Song - in a Book!

Today, as I was reading the book Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper, when I got to chapter 8, I knew the song the characters were singing in their classroom. This book is set in 1932 so there's only 1 classroom, and every grade 1-11 (there wasn't any 12th grade). They sang the song "Go Where I Send Thee"; a song I remember from singing in the MOTCC last year in our concert, A Winter Fantasy. Here is a link to the lyrics for every song we did last year. The lyrics were a bit different in the book but it probably changed over time, since it's a folk song.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

Today we are having the best dinner food in the history of the world: PIZZA!! Pizza can be in 2 forms: Original (round) pizza or the kind I prefer: Deep Dish (square) Pizza. I will always capitalize Pizza in this post because it's a proper noun. The only Pizza I like is just plain cheese. I have never liked flavored chips like BBQ Lays or Cheetos (those are automatically flavored). So I guess it's natural for me to like Pizza with nothing except the cheese. I was super-hungry so I got to eat 4 pieces of Pizza. My dad sometimes likes to call Pizza "Za". I don't know why.

Fuzzy Mud/Birbery

Today I started a book called Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar. This book is part of the Birbery competition. I started Birbery on 12-1-2015. These are the 10 books of the Birbery this year:

• The War That Saved my Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
• Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar
• Mark of the Thief by Jennifer A. Nielsen
• Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson
• The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Peterson and the Churchill Club by Phillip M. Hoose
• Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper
• Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan
• Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley
• Masterminds by Gordon Korman
• and Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. All of these books are really good. At least the ones I've read are extremely good.

The next thing is the tests. These are online using the website Moodle. First, you read the book. The test is a series of trivia questions based on the book.  One from Fuzzy Mud's quiz was:
"What does Tamaya do when Chad throws Marshall to the ground?" For Birbery, you must get an 80% or higher to pass the quiz but you get one retake. For Battle of the Books, you have to get a 60% or higher to pass. You must pass all 10 tests and read all 10 books and attend 2 book clubs to get a spot in the Quiz Bowl. The Quiz Bowl is a series of questions based off of he 10 books. Unlike Battle (short for Battle of the Books), there are no teams. You must read from 5 to 9 of the 10 to watch the Quiz Bowl. The top 5 in the Quiz Bowl get to be on the committee. The committee votes on the best of the 10 books. The book that gets the most votes is the Birbery winner. Last year, Mark of the Dragonfly won and this year it's being used as a Battle Book. There are 10 questions per quiz so that's 100 questions in all! Yesterday I took 3 tests and passed all of them! I got 100% Fuzzy Mud at home (Moodle tests can be taken anywhere.), and at school I got a 90% on Roller Girl and 100% on Mark of the Thief. 

Writing Summary of the 1st Semester

I am most proud of the fact that I have been writing a lot this year. I only wrote a bit during the summer and this year I'm very close to 100 posts. I've only wrote on this blog in 2015 so I'm proud of that. My writing habit has definitely improved since 2014.

I am most proud of the fact that my stories have gotten way better than they did last year. I had a few yes'es last year and 1 or 2 not yet's . Now I have no not yet's and mostly starting to's.

I think that if more interesting things happen in my life, I can blog more. Like my most recent blog post was about how my sister got teased at school yesterday. There's always more ways to improve.

I think that my in-class writing has improved since last year but there is a lot of room to improve on. I think that using transitional phrases and conveying a clear plot are some things that I specifically need to improve on. In all, I can improve on many things in my in-class writing.
 

Bullies

Today I have a more serious matter to talk about then all my other posts. Have you ever been bullied? This is the definition of bully:

bul·ly¹

ˈbo͝olē/

noun

noun: bully; plural noun: bullies

1. 1. 1.
   1. a person who uses strength or power to harm or intimidate those who are weaker.

      synonyms:

      persecutor, oppressor, tyrant, tormentor, intimidator; More tough guy, thug, ruffian, strong-arm; cyberbully "the school bully"

2. verb

verb: bully; 3rd person present: bullies; past tense: bullied; past participle: bullied; gerund or present participle: bullying

1.

use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants.

"a local man was bullied into helping them"

synonyms:

persecute, oppress, tyrannize, browbeat, harass, torment, intimidate, strong-arm, dominate; More informalpush around, bullyrag "the others bully him" coerce, pressure, pressurize, press         I believe that my sister was bullied today. And I want to tell you that all bullies must be stood up to. Here's the definition of standing up for yourself and others.   stand up for someone/something to defend someone or something that is being criticized or attacked You have to stand up for what you believe in. stand up for yourself: I learned how to stand up for myself early on in life. stand up for your rights: The only crime they’ve ever committed is to stand up for their rights.   And I have one more thing to say. All bullies out there, STOP BEING A BULLY! It doesn't matter what happened to you that you want to dish out on other people because IT'S WRONG THAT YOU THINK THAT!

Mark of the Thief Book Review

Today I finished my birbery book, The Mark of the Thief by Jennifer A. Neilsen. The book is about a slave boy in Ancient Rome. It's a great book I think everyone will enjoy.

TV Shows

Today I thought about the many TV shows I like and these are a few that I'm willing to share with everyone in InternetLand.








The Best of the Best: Phineas and Ferb
Runner-up: American Ninja Warrior
3rd Place: The Voice
4th Place: Pokémon Anime
5th Place: Teen Titans Go!