outside reading

Today is an important day for the people of the Catholic faith because it is ash Wednesday. "That means it is the first day of Lent, and the season of preparation for the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday" (Richert 1). What usually happens on a day like this??? Well the answer is also at this website. "Palms from the previous are to be brought back so that they may be burned. Then the ashes are burned and some holy water is then sprinkled onto them. After this happens the priest puts a cross on the individuals forhead with the ashes" (Richert 1). If you see people walking around with a dark blob on there head you now know what that is for. Also with this time period people must give up something for the entire period of lent. Lent is usually 40 days and this sacrifice can then be eaten again on Easter Sunday.

I got this information at:
http://catholicism.about.com/od/holydaysandholidays/p/Ash_Wednesday.htm

Change

Lots of things are changing and a lot of things will change. Baseball is a game that is changing and this change is not for the good. Steroids are being brought into the game for personnal benefit. One of the greatest players to fall by steroids is Alex Rodriduez and Sports Illusrtated had a story about that. "A-Rod also known as Alex Rodriduez was a natural in his youth. In his first season as a pro with the Mariners he had a batting average of .358, 36 homeruns, 123 RBI's, and even scored 141 runs," (Posnanski 14). Then why did A-Rod fall and start using steroids and he would of said pressure to be A-Rod." (Posnanski 14). "Also among the greats who have used steroids or might have used is Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire and the reasons they could of used is age, overcome injury and everybody else is doing it." (Posnanski 14). These three players, A-Rod, Bonds and McGwire, all love the game but they are willing to use steroids for self gain instead of showing that love towards the game.

HOPE

For this outside reading blog I watched the movie Pink Panther and this is the first one not the second one. The main character Jacques Clouseau played by Steve Martin shows hope when trying to find the Pink Panther diamond. In the movie Jacques disgraces his country for bringing weapons into the airport trying to go back to France from the United States of America. When he is home he is able to find hope through his computer and get back on the case of finding the diamond. In the end Jacques prevails and becomes a hero of France. In the movie however Jacques shows people who are not rich and famous that if you keep showing hope and believe in yourself that you can do great things. He also shows that even if life is not going great you will get an oppurtunity like he did and that we should work hard at this oppurtunity because it could help shape our future.

Slumdog Millionaire

In today's world money is needed by everyone and the people of India from the stories Slumdog Millionaire and Nectar in a Sieve show that money is a necessity. In both the sotries the older son goes out in search for money. An example of this is in the book Nectar in a Sieve both the eldest of Rukmani go to work at the tannery because it offers good wages but when they realize its not enough they lead a strike. In these stories the oldest son thinks he must watch out for the family and the way to do that is through money. Another group of people who are in search for money are the people who steal. The two brothers in Slumdog Millionaire are in great need for food and money so they need to steal from others. Even though it is not right they don't have anything not even there mother. Money is in great need for the people who don't have food like the two brothers. Lastly another group of people who are in great need for money is women. Women as shown in Nectar in a Sieve look out for the food and the health of there family. Ira the daughter of Rukmani goes into prostitution in order to look out for her family and get money to save the family. This also is not right but she it shows that money has become a necessity. In life there are the good times and the bad and these time have a strong correlation with money because it is the biggest thing needed to survive in todays world.

Outside Reading gender roles

"Jasmine is 35 pounds who has a twitchy curiosity, a pink coat, brown eyes, her butt is hunched to the ground, her head is bowed back and her ears are pinned back" (Gorant 72). This may seem a little weird but in that last quote you meet Jasmine a DOG who was rescued from the Michael Vick. Even though Jasmine is a female dog she has feelings that normal people have to face. For example today I learned that women in Darfur are being raped and abused when they leave their houses in search for food. Jasmine's story is exactly the same because where she was living there was the "rape stand" which strapped female dogs to the stand and male dogs could breed without getting injured. After being raped you here stories about people being tense and how depressing it is and that is what Jasmine does. "She gets within a foot of the hand and stops. She licks her snout, a sign of nervousness, and looks up at the stranger, seeking assurance... But Jasmine pulled away." (Gorant 72). This quote shows how Jasmine feels about meeting a stanger after going throught this 'Bad' News Kennels'.

Outsider Reading #???

For this blog about culture I went to a website and read about the history of African food. In Africa farming was very important just like it is in the book Nectar in a Sieve. "Before the people of Africa were farming however the people were hunters and gathers that would mostly eat meat and wild vegetables" (Carr, 1). "Then around 6000 BC, the climate started to heat up and grasslands dried up and became the Sahara Desert" (Carr,1). With this change people in Africa began to farm and the main source of crop was wheat and barley. Now people have extra sources of food then they did when hunting and gathering so animals were being domesticated. "In Africa sheeps, goats, and cattles were the main domestic animals" (Carr,1). In the book Nectar Rukimani had a goat so these animals are all over the world. Even though this heat may not have been the best for the people it led to an agriculture society.


I got this information from the website:
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/africa/food/

Outside Reading #29

"After an inspiring fight, a beloved Hall of Fame coach succumbs to cancer" (Sports Illustrated 24). Kay Yow was a women's basketball coach who lived from 1942-2009. She coached at the University of North Carolina State. Kay Yow went through a tough time like Rukimani when the drought occured in India. Her rough time was the fight against cancer. When fighting these tough times there is always something special that happens. Rukimani shows that when struggling good things happen in life like having children. With Yow's struggle came many achievements; "Yow racked up 737 wins against 344 loses" (Sports Illustarted 24); "Her Wolfpack teams went to 20 NCAA tournaments, 11 sweet 16s and one final four and they won five ACC regular-seasonn titles and four ACC tournaments" (Sports Illistrated 24). She even won a gold medal in the 1988 U.S. olympics. "Unfortunately at the age of 66 she dies after a long battle with breast cancer" (Sports Illustrated 24), and her like the old granny in Nectar have passed away and have just become stories of the past.