Knightwatch
Nobody Cared
When the earth's population hit 5 billion, the earth got warmer, but nobody cared.
When the earth's population hit 5.5 billion, wars were raging, but they were far away.
When the earth's population hit 6 billion, species were disappearing, but nobody did anything.
When the earth's population hit 6.5 billion, the oceans got dirtier, but people looked the other way.
When the earth's population hit 7 billion, children were starving, but it was somebody else's problem.
When the earth's population hits 8 billion, there will be nothing left but a destroyed planet;
Will it be too late to care?
Fall
Anonymous
The leaves slowly change colours before our eyes,
The birds gracefully soar through the skies.
The air feels crisp,
It is time for hats and mitts.
October advances and people prepare,
To carve pumpkins and give each other a good scare.
Costumes are made and candy collected,
Dentists orders are neglected.
November rolls along,
It is time to recall those gone.
Snow begins to fall on the graves of those lost,
Soon it will be winter and all will be frost.
Winter
Snow falls in piles all around,
It lies in thick layers on the ground.
Snow angels are made and hot cocoa is drunk,
Marshmallows we will dunk.
Santa is near and gifts will be bought,
The perfect present is to be sought.
Children will dream of the days to come,
One child hopes from a little toy drum.
February comes and winter drags on,
Thoughts of Spring begin to dawn.
The snow will not melt,
Many poems are heartfelt.
Spring
March invites warm weather and fresh flowers,
Say hello to April showers.
The planet is slowly unfurled,
Earth turns into a dreamworld.
The spring equinox rolls by,
The gentle winds begin to sigh.
The birds in the sky begin to sing,
Finally it is time for spring
Young animals gallop around,
Little bunnies burrow in the ground.
Bears awake from hibernation,
Butterflies return from their vacation.
Summer
Green trees and perfect sky,
Spring soil begins to dry.
Cold weather is here no more,
But tending the garden is a chore.
Bike rides, and late nights,
Trips on planes at great heights.
Friends visiting from out of town,
Hoping nothing calms down.
Soon summer will be over,
The daily adventure and sweet clover.
Fall will come, and so will school,
No more swimming in the pool.
Cold winds follow close behind,
But it is fun to be in a winter state of mind.
Just Wing it:
The Art of Improvisation
By: Andrew Wiley
Glossophobia or the fear of public speaking is one of the most common phobias amongst the average person today. Standing up in front of a crowd of one’s peers, is more terrifying to some people than drowning. If that is the case then it turns out that improvisers are great swimmers. Not only can they tread water, but they don’t even have to come back up for air. Improvisers go on stage with absolutely no plan and perform an entirely unscripted scene for hundreds of their peers. Drowning doesn’t look too bad right now does it?
The Canadian Improv Games (CIG) is an organization that hosts multiple regional tournaments for high school improv teams to compete in every year.
If a team places high enough in their regional tournament they can play in the national tournament, which is hosted in Ottawa every year by CIG. Last year Nepean high school’s team won Connor’s Cup and even got to compete at the national tournament.
Each improv team is comprised of a maximum of eight members who all improvise a scene or event together on stage without any predetermined plan. There are five different types of events that a team can perform on stage. The first being a story event where the team must perform a story with characters, a plot, and some kind of narrator--based on a suggestion from the audience. The second event is a theme event where the team is given a theme and they must explore it in as many different ways as possible on stage. The third is a character event where the team must come up with and portray an original character on stage based on a suggestion from the audience. The fourth event is a style event where the team must improvise a scene that is performed in a specific style. The last event a team must perform is a life event where they portray a moment from real life on stage based on a suggestion from the audience. From these five choices the team can select four to perform with the life event being the only mandatory one.
The audience at CIG events is usually composed of past and present improvisers who create one of the most energetic and interactive atmospheres that any theatre ticket holder could dream of. So if you want to come to a CIG event remember the golden rule of Improv; don’t think twice, just do it!
“Your Name”
Ko-Chi Chen
Kimi no na wa, or the English translation Your Name, is a very popular Japanese animated film. It has become a blockbuster not just in Japan but also in many countries in Asia ever since it was released this fall.
Here’s a quick summary of the story: Mitsuha is a high school girl who lives in countryside. Tired of the inconvenient country life, she has always wanted to go to Tokyo and experience the life in the modern city. One day when she wakes up in the morning, she realizes that somehow she has transported into the body of a highschool boy, Taki, who lives in Tokyo, the capital city in Japan. The both exchange their bodies and need to find each other even if they are complete strangers to each other. I watched it a couple days ago and found it very enthralling.
The director of this film is Shinkai Makoto, one of my favorite director for animated films. His films are best known for the beautiful art style and unique storytelling technique, which, needless to say, are all incorporated in “Your name”. Shinkai Makoto creates a magnificent movie. The unique storyboards and the soundtrack that touches audiences’ hearts match perfectly and make the movie very suspenseful and entertaining.
What has impressed me most is how this brilliant producer presents the character development and their emotion, which makes the characters and their feelings more realistic and leads the audience to merge into the story, feeling what the characters feel.
Moreover, the plot twist in the film is so pleasantly unexpected that it thrills the audiences deeply. Shinkai Makoto really did an excellent job on creating new ideas for an old story theme. I have watched his previous films, and in my opinion Your Name is probably the best film he has ever made.