A 63 yr old widow was admitted to the hospital in Recife, Brazil, suffering abdominal pains. X-rays showed that she was carrying a 20-inch long skeleton of a fetus which she conceived a decade earlier. It had become lodged outside the womb and was never expelled from her body.
I read this story today and I had no idea that this was even possible! How could she go that long without figuring there is something wrong with her. And 20 inches is not anything small either. It would be one thing if the skeleton was 2 inches long but having a 20 inch skeleton inside your body for 10 years without having a clue is mind blowing.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Ship Breaker, pgs 1-32
by Paolo Bacigalupi
Nailer, a teenage boy, is part of a crew of people in the future who scavenge for copper wire in grounded oil tankers. They are called the light crew and Nailer crawls through ducts in an old ship searching for copper wire so it can be sold. After Nailer collected some copper wire he headed back through the duct and made it to the deck of the ship. The crew then spent time to take the insulation of the copper wire so that just copper wire was left over. Their boss then shows up, Bapi who is smug and only cares about himself, and informs the crew that a storm is coming soon and that they need to take as much wire as possible from the ship.
Nailer is forced to go back deeper inside the duct to get more wire. As he gets deeper he started to panic and when he tried to head back out of the duct it started to creak. Suddenly the duct collapsed and Nailer fell far into a liquid. He struggled to swim and found out that he was swimming in oil. He started to panic but eventually he was able to reach the side of the room that he fell in to. After a while another person of the crew, Sloth, came and found Nailer. Sloth did not really do much to help Nailer because she need to get more wire to get quota and she was complicating if she should let Nailer die and later take the oil for herself since oil was extremely valuable.
As Sloth left, Nailer had to make the decision to either find a way out or to wait and hope that Sloth goes to get help. Nailer figures that their may be a door below in the oil and decides to dive down. If there is not a door then Nailer will die.
So far I have found this book very interesting. It makes you wonder if people will be making a living taking apart things like old oil tankers in the future. Of course I expect that Nailer will find a way out of the room full of oil considering it is the very beginning of the book. He might even be able to make a huge profit from the secret oil stash and better his life. I find it very cruel that Sloth would not immediately help Nailer but it shows the desperation that these people have to make some money.
Nailer, a teenage boy, is part of a crew of people in the future who scavenge for copper wire in grounded oil tankers. They are called the light crew and Nailer crawls through ducts in an old ship searching for copper wire so it can be sold. After Nailer collected some copper wire he headed back through the duct and made it to the deck of the ship. The crew then spent time to take the insulation of the copper wire so that just copper wire was left over. Their boss then shows up, Bapi who is smug and only cares about himself, and informs the crew that a storm is coming soon and that they need to take as much wire as possible from the ship.
Nailer is forced to go back deeper inside the duct to get more wire. As he gets deeper he started to panic and when he tried to head back out of the duct it started to creak. Suddenly the duct collapsed and Nailer fell far into a liquid. He struggled to swim and found out that he was swimming in oil. He started to panic but eventually he was able to reach the side of the room that he fell in to. After a while another person of the crew, Sloth, came and found Nailer. Sloth did not really do much to help Nailer because she need to get more wire to get quota and she was complicating if she should let Nailer die and later take the oil for herself since oil was extremely valuable.
As Sloth left, Nailer had to make the decision to either find a way out or to wait and hope that Sloth goes to get help. Nailer figures that their may be a door below in the oil and decides to dive down. If there is not a door then Nailer will die.
So far I have found this book very interesting. It makes you wonder if people will be making a living taking apart things like old oil tankers in the future. Of course I expect that Nailer will find a way out of the room full of oil considering it is the very beginning of the book. He might even be able to make a huge profit from the secret oil stash and better his life. I find it very cruel that Sloth would not immediately help Nailer but it shows the desperation that these people have to make some money.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Mockingjay, pgs 372-390 (end of the book)
After Katniss shot and killed Coin she was taken away by guards and thrown into a room. Her first thoughts were to kill herself but she had no way to do that. For days she waited in that room waiting for something to happen. Finally Haymitch came in and said that her trail was over and she was allowed to go back to District 12 and live the rest of her life. A new president was elected to run Panem.
Once Katniss arrived in District 12 she barely even moved because she was still grieving over all the people that lost their lives because of her and the war. Slowly she began to become more like herself and she ended up spending the rest of her life with Petta. She has kids now and there are no longer any Hunger Game in Panem.
I think that I liked the ending to the Hunger Games series. In ways it was sad and horrible ending for Katniss since she lost her sister. Some good things happened to her also, she is able to live a free life without worries from a controlling Capitol and she also ended up with Petta. She also had kids in which she can tell stories of what she had to endure through her life as a child. All in all I loved reading this series and kind of sad that it there are no more to read.
Once Katniss arrived in District 12 she barely even moved because she was still grieving over all the people that lost their lives because of her and the war. Slowly she began to become more like herself and she ended up spending the rest of her life with Petta. She has kids now and there are no longer any Hunger Game in Panem.
I think that I liked the ending to the Hunger Games series. In ways it was sad and horrible ending for Katniss since she lost her sister. Some good things happened to her also, she is able to live a free life without worries from a controlling Capitol and she also ended up with Petta. She also had kids in which she can tell stories of what she had to endure through her life as a child. All in all I loved reading this series and kind of sad that it there are no more to read.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Mockingjay, pgs 347-372
So i was wrong when it came to my prediction. The second round of bombs that went off and killed the children burnt Katniss extremely bad and she had to be taken to the hospital. While she was in the hospital getting treated for her burns, the rebels were able to take over the Capitol and President Snow surrendered. For days after this Katniss kept to herself and the explored the presidents mansion where she was staying. While walking around one day she ran into some guards guarding a door.
At first they would not let her in but eventually somebody else told the guards to let her in. She entered into a greenhouse where roses were being grown and also where President Snow was being help prisoner. When they were talking to each other he revealed that he did not order the killing of the Capitol children and that it was actually the rebel leaders who ordered this. They did it to quickly end the war and this made Katniss furious since those bombs killed her sister. She complicated with what Snow had told her and she was not sure to believe him. Eventually Snow was to be put to death and Katniss was going to kill him in front a crowd of people in the Capitol. At the very end of this section a surprise occured when instead of Katniss killing Snow, she shot and killed Coin who was the leader of the rebels and the new president of the Capitol.
I was shocked that Katniss killed Coin. She never really like Coin but I was not expecting her to do that. Maybe a good reason for it is that Katniss believed in Snow and that Coin was actually responsible for the death of her sister. I do not think that Katniss will be put to her death for her actions but she will most likely be punished.
At first they would not let her in but eventually somebody else told the guards to let her in. She entered into a greenhouse where roses were being grown and also where President Snow was being help prisoner. When they were talking to each other he revealed that he did not order the killing of the Capitol children and that it was actually the rebel leaders who ordered this. They did it to quickly end the war and this made Katniss furious since those bombs killed her sister. She complicated with what Snow had told her and she was not sure to believe him. Eventually Snow was to be put to death and Katniss was going to kill him in front a crowd of people in the Capitol. At the very end of this section a surprise occured when instead of Katniss killing Snow, she shot and killed Coin who was the leader of the rebels and the new president of the Capitol.
I was shocked that Katniss killed Coin. She never really like Coin but I was not expecting her to do that. Maybe a good reason for it is that Katniss believed in Snow and that Coin was actually responsible for the death of her sister. I do not think that Katniss will be put to her death for her actions but she will most likely be punished.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Boiler up!!
Mockingjay, pgs 315-347
Inside the women's apartment they find nobody else. Katniss and her group know that they have to keep moving so that they wont be found. They look outside and see that they have entered deeper into the Capitol and people are walking through the streets. After looking through the closets and finding disguises to wear they blend in with the crowd of people. While walking through the streets sirens go off and people are warned to look out for Katniss and her group of soldiers.
One person in the group, Cressida, is familiar with the Capitol and leads them to a fur store where she knows they can stay hidden. The worker of the store is a former stylist for the Hunger Games and is willing to help in destroying the Captiol. For a couple days the soldiers hide in the basement of the store while the rebels work to take over the city. Refugees of the Capitol in different parts of the city flood into the main section of the city looking for shelter since it is very cold outside. At this point Katniss is only four blocks from Snow's mansion. They realize they need to get out of the store and all put disguises back on and work their way toward the City Circle where Snow's mansion is located.
As they walk towards the mansion rebels appear on the roof top and begin to shot at the crowd of people. In the chaos Katniss and Gale try to escape and experience many different challenges to survive. When they break into a building some soldiers of the Captiol are able to capture and take Gale while Katniss is able to escape. Katniss finally works her way back with the crowd of people and to the front of Snow's mansion. In front of the mansion kids are collected into a group and bombs go off. Rebel medics run in to save the injured childeren and Katniss sees a girl that she describes as her sister. All of a sudden more bombs go off.
This could be horrible if it is actually Katniss's sister because she loves her sister and would die for her. I was right that Katniss would end up all alone on her mission to kill Snow and I still believe that she will be able to kill Snow. In the last 40+ pages this is what I predict will happen, Katniss will end up having no choice but to sacrifice her self to the Capitol because there is no other way to reach Snow. Snow will end showing himself to the public to humiliate Katniss and Petta will show up to either kill Snow or help Katniss escape.
One person in the group, Cressida, is familiar with the Capitol and leads them to a fur store where she knows they can stay hidden. The worker of the store is a former stylist for the Hunger Games and is willing to help in destroying the Captiol. For a couple days the soldiers hide in the basement of the store while the rebels work to take over the city. Refugees of the Capitol in different parts of the city flood into the main section of the city looking for shelter since it is very cold outside. At this point Katniss is only four blocks from Snow's mansion. They realize they need to get out of the store and all put disguises back on and work their way toward the City Circle where Snow's mansion is located.
As they walk towards the mansion rebels appear on the roof top and begin to shot at the crowd of people. In the chaos Katniss and Gale try to escape and experience many different challenges to survive. When they break into a building some soldiers of the Captiol are able to capture and take Gale while Katniss is able to escape. Katniss finally works her way back with the crowd of people and to the front of Snow's mansion. In front of the mansion kids are collected into a group and bombs go off. Rebel medics run in to save the injured childeren and Katniss sees a girl that she describes as her sister. All of a sudden more bombs go off.
This could be horrible if it is actually Katniss's sister because she loves her sister and would die for her. I was right that Katniss would end up all alone on her mission to kill Snow and I still believe that she will be able to kill Snow. In the last 40+ pages this is what I predict will happen, Katniss will end up having no choice but to sacrifice her self to the Capitol because there is no other way to reach Snow. Snow will end showing himself to the public to humiliate Katniss and Petta will show up to either kill Snow or help Katniss escape.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Mockingjay, pgs 289-315
The book is getting close to the end and it is getting very intense. Katniss and her squad relized that they better get moving and try to find Snow. They decided that they would use the various underground tunnels in the Capitol to try and reach Snow's mansion. Luckily they have a person in the squad who was an Avox (slave) for the Capitol and is very familiar with the tunnels. While they were running through the tunnels the Capitol was digging through the rubble in which they believed Katniss and her squad had died in.
All of a sudden Katniss began to her name quietly hissed through the tunnels. She realized that the Capitol found out that the her squad had not died and they knew she was in the tunnels somewhere. The Capitol had sent "mutts" to find and kill Katniss. The mutts finally caught up to Katniss and in the chaos they tried to escape to above ground. A couple of the people in her group died and when she open the hatch to above ground she entered a utility room to someones house. A women entered the room and without hesitation shot an arrow right threw her heart.
Katniss is getting closer and closer to finding Snow and I still think that she will be able to kill him. Although, Snow has gotten close to killing Katniss and she will probably have to go threw many more challenges to reach him. The author of this book does a great job of creating surprises in these books so anything can happen.
All of a sudden Katniss began to her name quietly hissed through the tunnels. She realized that the Capitol found out that the her squad had not died and they knew she was in the tunnels somewhere. The Capitol had sent "mutts" to find and kill Katniss. The mutts finally caught up to Katniss and in the chaos they tried to escape to above ground. A couple of the people in her group died and when she open the hatch to above ground she entered a utility room to someones house. A women entered the room and without hesitation shot an arrow right threw her heart.
Katniss is getting closer and closer to finding Snow and I still think that she will be able to kill him. Although, Snow has gotten close to killing Katniss and she will probably have to go threw many more challenges to reach him. The author of this book does a great job of creating surprises in these books so anything can happen.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Mockingjay, pgs 246-289
Katniss was cleared to go into battle with the Capitol and was assigned to a group of soldiers. She was not happy with the mission that her group was given though because they would not be allowed to go into intense battle. Katniss wants to be the one to kill the President Snow, the leader of the Capitol. Katniss and her squad of soldiers eventually leave District 13 and move to a camp near the Captiol. The Captiol is rigged with "pods" which are different kinds of traps that are capable of killing people if they are triggered. Some of these include metal darts shooting out, land mines, and a nets made of barbed wire that come out of the ground and dangle people in the air.
The first couple days they are not allowed to go anywhere dangerous but still to someones misfortune they stepped on a pod that shot a metal dart through her brain and killed her. During a simple clearing of one of the Captiol city blocks the commander of the squad stepped on a land mine that blew his legs off. Katniss went to his aid and unexpectedly the commander made Katniss the new leader of the squad and he told her to not to go back to the camp and "do what you came to do." Of the course the thing that Katniss came to do was to kill the leader of the Capitol.
Katniss was quick to lead her squad to a new location now that the Captiol knew their location because of the landmine that was set off. When they arrived at a different building a few blocks away they went inside to rest and think of a plan. While they were there the television came on and a Capitol broadcast showed them blowing up the building that the squad was just in. A few seconds later they pronounced that Katniss had and the rest of her squad was dead when in actuality they survived.
I am almost certain that Katniss is going to be able to find and kill President Snow but I do not think that she will be able to do it with a whole squad of soldiers. They have too many people in their group for a secret mission like this. I believe that somehow it will just end up being Katniss by herself trying to kill the president. Hopefully she is able to do this because Snow is a horrible man and deserves to die.
The first couple days they are not allowed to go anywhere dangerous but still to someones misfortune they stepped on a pod that shot a metal dart through her brain and killed her. During a simple clearing of one of the Captiol city blocks the commander of the squad stepped on a land mine that blew his legs off. Katniss went to his aid and unexpectedly the commander made Katniss the new leader of the squad and he told her to not to go back to the camp and "do what you came to do." Of the course the thing that Katniss came to do was to kill the leader of the Capitol.
Katniss was quick to lead her squad to a new location now that the Captiol knew their location because of the landmine that was set off. When they arrived at a different building a few blocks away they went inside to rest and think of a plan. While they were there the television came on and a Capitol broadcast showed them blowing up the building that the squad was just in. A few seconds later they pronounced that Katniss had and the rest of her squad was dead when in actuality they survived.
I am almost certain that Katniss is going to be able to find and kill President Snow but I do not think that she will be able to do it with a whole squad of soldiers. They have too many people in their group for a secret mission like this. I believe that somehow it will just end up being Katniss by herself trying to kill the president. Hopefully she is able to do this because Snow is a horrible man and deserves to die.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Mockingjay, pgs 178-245
In this section of Mockingjay, it is revealed that Peeta had been changed by the Capitol to have different memories from his past. That explains the reason that Peeta started to choke Katniss. This really hurt Katniss and as a way to get away from it she went to District 2 to fight. District 2 was the only district that had not been won by the rebels and the Capitol still had control over. District 2 is very important for the Capitol because they provide military supplies and soldiers for them. The main reason that they are unable to take this district over is because most of the people and equipment are kept in a practically impenetrable mountain that had been carved out.
Gale, a close friend of Katniss, came up with the idea to cause an avalanche that would close all of the entrances to the mountain. They went with this plan but decided to leave the train tunnel that leads into the mountain open so that people could escape and could be eventually captured. The plan works as it was suppose to and sometime later people are able to escape the mountain via the train. They come armed with weapons and in the fighting Katniss gets shot on her side. She eventually wakes up in a hospital in District 13 where she is in pain from a ruptured spleen but luckily her protective gear stopped the bullet.
Now that the rebels have control of all of the districts, the rebels begin to plan to take over the Capitol. Katniss finds out that she will not be allowed to go to the Capitol to fight considering she has not had enough training and is still recovering from her injury. She is furious about this considering she wants to fight and be there when the Capitol falls. She is given the opportunity to fight in the Capitol if she goes through the training and is able to pass a field exam. The next couple weeks she dedicates herself to training and in the end is able to pass the test and will be allowed to go into the Captiol.
I think that Katniss is very brave the way that she always puts herself into fighting and she seems to have unlimited courage. I do not believe that I would be able to put myself in those situations. I think that the rest of this book will be extremely entertaining with lots of fighting. Katniss will be able to take her revenge on the Captiol for all the horrible things that they put Katniss through. I think that it is sad that Peeta has been changed. He is not the same person anymore and it would be horrible for his friends, like Katniss, to see your friend who acts almost completely different.
Gale, a close friend of Katniss, came up with the idea to cause an avalanche that would close all of the entrances to the mountain. They went with this plan but decided to leave the train tunnel that leads into the mountain open so that people could escape and could be eventually captured. The plan works as it was suppose to and sometime later people are able to escape the mountain via the train. They come armed with weapons and in the fighting Katniss gets shot on her side. She eventually wakes up in a hospital in District 13 where she is in pain from a ruptured spleen but luckily her protective gear stopped the bullet.
Now that the rebels have control of all of the districts, the rebels begin to plan to take over the Capitol. Katniss finds out that she will not be allowed to go to the Capitol to fight considering she has not had enough training and is still recovering from her injury. She is furious about this considering she wants to fight and be there when the Capitol falls. She is given the opportunity to fight in the Capitol if she goes through the training and is able to pass a field exam. The next couple weeks she dedicates herself to training and in the end is able to pass the test and will be allowed to go into the Captiol.
I think that Katniss is very brave the way that she always puts herself into fighting and she seems to have unlimited courage. I do not believe that I would be able to put myself in those situations. I think that the rest of this book will be extremely entertaining with lots of fighting. Katniss will be able to take her revenge on the Captiol for all the horrible things that they put Katniss through. I think that it is sad that Peeta has been changed. He is not the same person anymore and it would be horrible for his friends, like Katniss, to see your friend who acts almost completely different.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Mockingjay, pgs 158-78
Many things happened in this short section of Mockingjay. After the Captiol finished with the bombings of District 13, Katniss and many other people leave the bunker deep under the ground to assess the damages that occurred. They also went to the surface to tape propaganda to show the repels the effects of the Captiol. As they begin to tape footage Katniss becomes very emotional and unable to speak. During this Katniss was put under sedation to calm herself down. When Katniss wakes up from the sedation she finds out that her dear friend, Gale, and many other people left on a rescue mission.
The goal of the rescue mission was to save someone that Katniss loves, Peeta. They also went to save a couple more people that the Capitol was holding captive. To help with the rescue mission Katniss and another man named Finnick create a commercial to intend to distract the people in the Capitol while the rescue mission takes place. Katniss and Finnick wait in anxiousness to find out if the rescue mission was a success. All of a sudden Haymitch runs in and lets the two of them know that they had returned and the mission was accomplished. In excitement Katniss runs to find Peeta but something unexpected happens when they see each other. Peeta begins to choke Katniss.
I was very surprised that this happened because it came out of now where that Peeta started to choke Katniss. He must be mad at the torture he was put through by the Capitol and thinks that part of this was because of Katniss. It could also be that the Captiol had changed Peeta somehow and now he is not the same person. Peeta during the Hunger Games had an affection for Katniss and would nothing to hurt her. I am very interested to see what will happen next in the book and what is wrong with Peeta.
The goal of the rescue mission was to save someone that Katniss loves, Peeta. They also went to save a couple more people that the Capitol was holding captive. To help with the rescue mission Katniss and another man named Finnick create a commercial to intend to distract the people in the Capitol while the rescue mission takes place. Katniss and Finnick wait in anxiousness to find out if the rescue mission was a success. All of a sudden Haymitch runs in and lets the two of them know that they had returned and the mission was accomplished. In excitement Katniss runs to find Peeta but something unexpected happens when they see each other. Peeta begins to choke Katniss.
I was very surprised that this happened because it came out of now where that Peeta started to choke Katniss. He must be mad at the torture he was put through by the Capitol and thinks that part of this was because of Katniss. It could also be that the Captiol had changed Peeta somehow and now he is not the same person. Peeta during the Hunger Games had an affection for Katniss and would nothing to hurt her. I am very interested to see what will happen next in the book and what is wrong with Peeta.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Walking on water????
Maybe you can really walk on water.....maybe. I was very skeptical before this video, might consider myself a "slight believer". Still some doubt in my mind.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Mockingjay, pgs 1-158
Mockingjay is the third and last book of a series written by Suzanne Collins. The series is about a girl named Katniss Everdeen and the horrific and controlling country that she lives in. She lives in a country in the future, Panem, which has a capitol city and then 12 districts that it controls over. During the first book, The Hunger Games, you learn about how the Capitol every year hosts the Hunger Games to show how much control they have over the other districts. One girl and one boy are selected from each district and they are put into an arena to fight to the death and the last child alive wins the Hunger Game. Of course Katniss becomes one of the tributes to fight in the games and it draws you into the story very quick. The second book, Catching Fire, is just as entertaining as the first.
The first 150 pages of Mockingjay describe how Katniss is now in district 13 which was believed to be destroyed along time ago by the capitol but actually is still surviving. A war has started between the rebels of the districts and the capitol city and district 13 is the command center for the rebels. Throughout Katniss's journey in the Hunger Games she has become a symbol of defiance against the capitol city and is the perfect person to lead the rebels in the fight against the cruel actions from the captiol. Katniss would love to take down the captiol because they were the ones responsible for destroying her life and even her home. But the problem is that the Capitol has somebody that she loves (she is actually very confused on her true emotions), Petta, and she wants him to be safe. Katniss finally comes around and decides to lead the rebellion and begins to create commercials that are intended in rallying the rebels and eventually lead them to victory. At the end of this section Katniss is actually becoming involved in the fighting and the Capitol even begins to bomb district 13.
I have enjoyed this series of books very much and I can not wait to finish this last book. In the end I expect that Katniss will be able to help defeat the Capitol and be rejoined with Petta. Although I am not sure if this will happen because this whole series is full with twists and turns that I did not expect. I seemed unable to predict what would happen next in these books, but oh well i guess that is what I like about them. This book makes me hope that no one will ever have to be in certain situations like Katniss. She is only a teenage girl and she is trying to lead and destroy a government. Really makes me glad that I live in....well a pretty good country.
The first 150 pages of Mockingjay describe how Katniss is now in district 13 which was believed to be destroyed along time ago by the capitol but actually is still surviving. A war has started between the rebels of the districts and the capitol city and district 13 is the command center for the rebels. Throughout Katniss's journey in the Hunger Games she has become a symbol of defiance against the capitol city and is the perfect person to lead the rebels in the fight against the cruel actions from the captiol. Katniss would love to take down the captiol because they were the ones responsible for destroying her life and even her home. But the problem is that the Capitol has somebody that she loves (she is actually very confused on her true emotions), Petta, and she wants him to be safe. Katniss finally comes around and decides to lead the rebellion and begins to create commercials that are intended in rallying the rebels and eventually lead them to victory. At the end of this section Katniss is actually becoming involved in the fighting and the Capitol even begins to bomb district 13.
I have enjoyed this series of books very much and I can not wait to finish this last book. In the end I expect that Katniss will be able to help defeat the Capitol and be rejoined with Petta. Although I am not sure if this will happen because this whole series is full with twists and turns that I did not expect. I seemed unable to predict what would happen next in these books, but oh well i guess that is what I like about them. This book makes me hope that no one will ever have to be in certain situations like Katniss. She is only a teenage girl and she is trying to lead and destroy a government. Really makes me glad that I live in....well a pretty good country.
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