Concert Evaluation

I think the band concert went very well overall.  I loved the choice of music for the concert.  There was a mix of fast, slow, relaxing, scary and scary pieces which made the concert all around.  It was very appealing to have this mix of songs.

I think the 7^th grade band blended their sounds overall in every piece.  They could have used better dynamics though.  My favorite piece was Space Journey because there was 3 movements and I thought it was very interesting to hear all the different types of music they were playing.  You also got to hear all the instruments in that song because every section had their own time to shine.  Zoom was also another good piece.  I liked how all of the sudden the mood changed and went back to the fast paced music again.  It also had a catchy tune to it.

I think the 8^th grade band did great.  Sometimes the music just sounded like “blaaaah” but the music was way better than the 7^th grade.  Even though I didn’t know the names of the piece.  The second piece that was played by the 8^th grade band was train related.  You could make a good guess because of how well they made the train noises, which I’m assuming is a good thing.  They had lots of tempo changes which I thought was really cool.  The last song that the 8^th grade played was my favorite from the whole concert because I knew the music from somewhere but I can’t recall when I had heard that song.

I thought that both the bands played well but there could have been some better dynamics with changing the mood of the music.  The 7^th grade band mostly played forte, and the 8^th  grade band did a better job than 7^th grade, but the still played pretty much the same.  I still loved the band concert because it is my favorite class.

Journal: Quote That Was Meaningful

“If someone wrote a book about the risk of smoking and lung cancer, and the people are weeping, burn it.”  This line shows that the people in Fahrenheit 451 don’t care about everyone, they only care about a group of people.  They are basically saying that if one person doesn’t like something, to take it away from someone else.  That is why this world is in chaos.  You don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.  Which means if you are angry at the way something is, and you take it away, in the end, it only hurts you. 

Point of View

“But he’s my brother!”

“I know he is but you know its trap.” Percy said.

“I.  Don’t. Care.  WE are going to get him out of the jar.  No matter what you say.”

Percy was really ganging on her and she didn’t know why.  Yes it was a trap and the giants are going to kill us and whatever but she had heard about Percy.  Everyone said that he had overcome lots of godly challenges.  She’d also see him take down one giant.  Taking on two giants couldn’t be that hard right?  With all the help they had, she was sure they could at least get Nico out of the jar.  Maybe not completely obliterate them into Tartarus but surely save her brother.

“How about we take a vote.” Percy said hastily.  She knew that he was nervous that she was going to have an outburst about how there would be no vote.  But she didn’t say anything.

All who want to go save Nico, raise your hand.” Percy said.   Everyone’s hand except Percy’s was in the air.  Looks like mission save Nico was a go.

“How did I get myself into this mess?”, Nico mumbled.  He was the son of Hades for Zeus’s sake.  At least he had his moms seeds.  Nico had seeds from his mother Persephone that if you ate one seed, it would keep you full for the whole day.  He only had eight though.  And that meant he had three more days with his moms seeds and then he was doomed.  No food.  And then he was dead.  Nico had no hopes.  He was by himself when he was kidnapped.  He didn’t know where he was.  The jar was somehow demigod proof.  There was no way he could break the jar.  Even his sword didn’t work.  No way of contacting anyone.  Nico didn’t want to die of starvation.   But he had no choice. The way you die is the way you die.  And he was also going to die alone.

Times Square

The steam blew into my face as the train blew into the station.  I had always wanted to come and see this train station.  I had never ridden a train before.  I was so excited.  The train made a "psssh" sound and came to a stop.  The passengers exited almost immediately.  All of them were laughing and talking to one another.  I guess some people had made friends along the way.  Maybe I would too.  The light came from the big windows above.  I was standing right in the middle of one.  Then I remembered why I was here.  My name is Carson.  And I have a story to tell you.

When I was six, my dad was killed in a work fire.  My mom was a stay home mom because dad got lots of money at work.  So when daddy died, we had no car and no money.  We went out on our own.  We had it all worked out with the stealing and all that stuff.  Mom would even pickpocket, attack and steal movie tickets from people so we could watch movies sometimes.  Then she was caught.  We saw a sign that had mommy's face on it one day.  Mom said no more movies.  I was sad.  One day we were walking down the street when we heard police cars.  Mommy told me to run away but I didn’t go.  Mommy promised movie tickets later so then I ran to the nearest alley and watched the whole scene.  Some big bullies came out of the police car and put mommy in handcuffs.  They put her in the car and drove away.  I knew mommy wasn’t coming back.  I was on my own now.

I had walked and walked and walked, stealing food from grocery stores and sometimes pick pocketing people for actual money that he could use for movie tickets or anything I wanted. I mostly stole food and water though, because that was all I needed.  I didn’t have any friends to pass the time with.  No one to talk to except the big people in the alleys or the homeless guys in the woods.  No one.  But I still had one hope.  The last thing my mom said was, "5th Avenue, across the street from the subway station.  Room 245." And then they took her away. 

So here I am.  I took my ride from Brooklyn to 5th Avenue.  And the light for the crosswalk turned to the white sign for walk.  I walked. I was stunned. I didn’t know what was going to happen.  It happened all too soon. I snuck in from the back and climbed up to the second floor.  240…241…242...243…244…245. The knock.  My heart could have burst out of my chest and start to walk away because I had so much adrenaline. The door opened. Mommy was there.

The Hobbit Prediction Piece

In J. R. R. Tolkien’s book, The Hobbit, Bilbo is a tiny little guy who lives in a hole on a hill.  Gandalf believes that Bilbo is a master thief and he can steal treasure from a dragon. 

Bilbo was a peaceful hobbit, who was comfortable in his hole on the hill.  He was smoking outside, doing his daily stuff, when Gandalf came by and told Bilbo that he needed him.  Like any other person would do, Bilbo rejected Gandalf’s request and sent him off.

Gandalf would not take the answer no and put a mark on Bilbo’s door.  The next day, in 1 hour, 12 dwarves and Gandalf are sitting at Bilbo’s table, eating his cake and drinking his tea.  Bilbo knows that to get these people out of his life, that he needs to go on this quest, he still has no idea what he’s going to do.

Bilbo goes on the quest and faces many monsters and creatures, like one time, he faced three trolls that were 5 times the size of him, and he had to pickpocket the trolls.  That didn’t work out so well.  Gandalf had to intervene and stall because trolls are petrified when exposed to sunlight.  The dwarves like to sing too, which drives Bilbo crazy.

I think that Bilbo will be a master thief at the end of the book and that he will be honored for finding the Fellowship of the Ring and getting past the dragon who guards the treasure.  Of course Bilbo faced other challenges and had to be ready to steal the ring.

Roger's Future/Prediction Piece

"Bye Drew!"  It was a great checkpoint in my life.  My first son Drew was finally going to Kindergarten.  He waved at me until the bus turned the corner and I could no longer see his face.   I was standing next to my wife Marissa.  She was waving with me.  We walked down the street to our house and realized that we were not kid free.  Our twins, who were two years old, Rodney and Lou, were crying their cribs, waiting for us to change their diapers and play with them.  Marissa I groaned as we climbed the stairs to our hard day of work.

Drew walked home today.  He wasn’t very happy about that.  He had wanted us to be there after his first day of school. But he told us all about his first day of Kindergarten.  He did finger paintings, started to learn the alphabet (all he could say was A,B,C), and had his little centers like coloring, snack, and movie.  Marissa and I decided to take everybody out for ice cream.  When we parked in the parking lot, Drew was so excited he jumped out the door was about to run into the middle of the parking lot when I got the back of his shirt,

"Oh no you don’t!" I said.

I looked at the door to the ice cream place and I saw a big, black woman, walking with a teenager, into the joint.  I stood there, not even realizing that Drew was already to the other side of the parking lot.  Marissa waved her hand in front of my face and snapped me out of it.  I couldn't stop looking at the woman at the next table.

Character Analysis of Percy: Lightning Theif

Percy could hold his breath for a very long time. He was dyslectic. He had ADHD. ADHD and dyslexia adds up to being kicked out of 7 schools for Percy. Percy wonders why his life sucks so much. His Mom and Dad are divorced and he lives with a stepdad who smells like a pig and sits down on the couch and drinks beer. He goes to a museum on a field trip with his classmates and his whole life changes. Percy is a demigod, son of Poseidon. A monster attacks him in the museum and he has no idea what it is because he does not know he is a demigod. It turns out his friend Grover, is a satyr. Half donkey, half human. Grover takes Percy to Camp Half Blood and Percy’s quests and training begin.


 Percy had to prove himself. He shows everyone that he is capable of completing a huge quest within 2 days of arriving in Camp Half-Blood. When Percy first arrives at Camp Half-Blood, Annabeth, the best fighter in the camp, thinks Percy is weakling and couldn’t win a sword fight. When the camp plays capture the flag, Percy finds the flag , but Annabeth was hiding in the trees, waiting for someone to come by. But Percy proves Annabeth wrong and Percy beats her. Annabeth realizes that Percy is not a nobody. Grover and Annabeth come with Percy on his quest to the Underworld to save his mom. They work together, with a little help from Luke, to get all the pearls and then go to the Underworld. The pearls are for when you want to get out of the Underworld. You imagine where you want to go, step on the pearl, and then you are transported to wherever you want to go. Percy was the big leader in this quest. He found all three of the pearls with great challenges guarding them. He pretty much did all the work and everybody loves him for his leadership and personality. Percy changed when he figured out that he was being chased by monsters and his teacher and friend were both half human, half animal. Percy’s whole world turned upside down when he learned that his dad was a god. Percy now figures out that he can control water and talk to water animals because his dad is Poseidon, the sea god. Percy’s mom was taken by the Minotaur that attacked him on his way to Camp Half-Blood with his mom and Grover. Percy’s mom is trapped by Hades in the Underworld and no matter how experienced he is, he goes on a quest to save his mom from the lair of Hades.


 Percy, Annabeth, and Grover find their way to the Underworld on the Hollywood sign. They go into Hades’s Palace where Persephone and Hades are waiting. Hades forced Persephone to marry him. Percy defeats Hades with the help of Persephone. Persephone doesn’t like Percy at first, but she shows him how brave he is and decides to help him.