Friday, April 16, 2010

starlight





When I look up towards the black sky



Through shadow, to the edge of night



I see the stars up oh so high



I marvel at their shining light





Light twists and turns, through the never



Like unknown eyes out in the dark



Out to the edge of forever



The light travels to make its mark





As I lay gazing at a star



Thoughts start to drift up in my mind



I wonder if a place so far



Has a creature that’s like my kind





Far away some creatures like you



Are wondering the same things too

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

orb title acrostic

Could ancient aliens have visited earth in the past?
How could primitive societies produce monuments that modern day engineering can not?
Are the throes posed by mainstream science incorrect?
Recent archeological finds may support Von Danikens theory
Is the grand monument at Copan an ancient depiction of a space craft?
On the plains of Peru, the Nazca lines are some of Van Danikens best evidence
The pyramids built by many ancient civilizations are surprisingly similar, and are almost impossible to build.
Some religions all over the world depicted gods as beings that came from the sky in metal ships, only to return to the stars.

On many south pacific islands, allied soldiers and their plains were worshiped as gods.
For far to long, we have been ignorant to the possibilities of ancient aliens.
The Sumerians people had complex math, equal to our own, 6,000 years ago, and they appeared out off know where.
How could these Stone Age societies have such knowledge of the stars?Even now, we can not replicate some of the ancient monuments built thousands of years ago.

Gods supposedly came from the sky, gave knowledge, and then returned to the stars.
On many cave drawings, flying saucers are depicted.Does the Piri Resse map hold clues to the astronaut mystery?
Does the past hold clues to our future?
Sand has been charred in many monuments, only possible by a nuclear explosion

Monday, March 15, 2010

3rd quater ORB reveiw

PJ Farnsworth

Chariots of the Gods: Erich Von Daniken, 1969 Econ Verlag genre: non fiction



Chariots of the Gods Is the first book by acclaimed author Erich Von Daniken. The book contends that the modern view of the past has to many anomalies to be accurate. In the book, Daniken contends that the advanced characteristics of ancient people cannot be explained with the current day theories. Daniken contends that we should be open to the fact that extra terrestrial life has visited planet earth in the past and interacted ith ancient societies, providing them with the tools necessary to become so advanced. Of course, a claim this bold needs proof. Daniken points to the many ancient monuments that are far to advanced to be built by ancient methods. The proof is pretty convincing

“The books arguments are irresistible and could possibly change completely our knowledge of our own history and evolution” the book jacket says.

Chariots of the Gods is a very interesting book. Daniken is a superb writer that crafts his ideas masterfully. Things that you might have scoffed at previously suddenly open up into the realms of possibility. When he writes, he does not come of as conceded or arrogant. He never states that his ideas are fact. He always poses them as questions. He used more question marks in one chapter than most authors do in an entire book! He also often exclaims things, showing how surprised he is about it. It is obvious that the author cares deeply for the subject matter.

The most intriguing thing, however, is Von Danikens evidence. The way he puts things, he connections he makes, make history all make sense, at least, much more than it does now. He asks the questions mainstream archeologists are too scared to ask. The connections he makes are very bold, to say the least, but you can see that there is some possibility for what he is saying to be true. If there is a chance that something happened, that’s all that matters, and its then worthy of investigation.

“We must now take a look at the forest of question marks- the array of unexplained mysteries. Do the make sense as the remains of prehistoric space travelers? Do they lead us into our past and yet link up with our plans for the future?”(27)

I am a total fan of Von Danikens work. I think that his arguments make a lot more sense then some mainstream theories. They are very convincing arguments all through out the book. Each page brings a new fact, a new piece to the puzzle. I would recommend
everybody read this book, as it could change your out look on life, the universe, and everything

Thursday, March 11, 2010

the old man and the sea

Everyone faces obstacles in life. Like walls in the mists of time, reaming unseen until it is too late. Or like rouge waves on the ocean of eternity, cresting just as you turn your back, Problems are major setbacks you can’t see until the end, things you must struggle against.

You must endure, or you will lie down and die. Every one who ever was, is, and will be on this little blue planet will face them. Santiago, from The Old Man and the Sea, faces much more than the average human can possibly take.

The first struggle was the fact he hadn’t caught a fish in a long time. “But after 40 days the boys parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally salo, which is the worst form of unlucky”(1). He is filled with fear and self doubt. He doesn’t know if he can ever catch a fish again.

Adding to the fact is that Manolin is doing so well. It fills him with even more stress and anguish. He does not want to rely on the boy, even though he offered to come, which would have made this ordeal 20 times easier. Still, Santiago struggles on, and goes out to catch his dreams.

Then, he fights against the marlin. The marlin, a great beast, fights valiantly and to the end. It is stronger, faster, and bigger than Santiago. “You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother. Come on and kill me. I do not care who kills who."(92). The marlin wears him down to the brink. It almost kills him.

Still Santiago endures. The have an epic battle, lasting for days. No one has the clear advantage. Finally, by the skin of his teeth and his grit, Santiago kills the beast. Santiago triumphs where most men would fall. It in almost inconceivalbe to people that this frail old man could bring down the modern day equivalent of the Leviathan. It would be like like an old man in a nursing home killing sasquatch with a stick.

Fate still has more in store for Santiago though. This blood bath draws the attention of some very hungry sharks. The sharks are attracted to the now deceased marlin, and Santiago must fight to defend his prize. Hordes of sharks emerge from the ocean, hell-bent to steal Santiago’s fish away.

Broken, beaten, and scarred, Santiago keeps on fighting; he never gives in, never gives up. “Fight them, he said, I fight them till I die.(115) Santiago absolutly rocks the sharks, killing almost all of them. Even though the sharks absolutely gorge on the fish, Santiago still has the will to go back to shore, fish skeleton and all, because even if he lost the fish, he still won this day.

It is almost like if you just fought Mohammad Ali, then fought Joe Frazier right after. Santiago has turned into a absolute force of nature. By this point, he is an unholy killing machine.Then he has the will to just get up and go home, without the full fish, which is by far the hardest thing to do.


Santiago faces inconceivable obstacles on his quest to catch the fish. He cant get what he wants, but still he perseveres, still he tries. His will is unbelievably strong, far stronger than most. It almost seems like Santiago is inuman. The things that this man did are absolutly ridiculous, and his strentgh of will even more so. Maybe, if we learn a bit from Santiago, we shall become stronger willed ourselves.

Monday, January 25, 2010

the 10,000 year war

Long ago, in a far off world out on the edge of forever, there was a great civilization called the Dangites. They were once part of an interstellar civilization. The galaxy they lived in was very populated, and the civilizations all formed an alliance. However, the Dangites left, they wanted to be by themselves. You could say that they were xenophobic. They felt that they would be better of on their own, and they were more technologically advanced than all the other planets. For example, they had machines that the cleaned the air, ran businesses, taught children, and kept peace. They even had defense system such as an anti-spaceship field over their planet. Any unauthorized ship trying to enter the Dangites airspace, would to be vaporized.

For centuries on the planet Dangite, there was no war, no disease, and no religious conflicts. However, among these people, there were those that were greedy. Some went against the Dangite principles and wanted power to further their own agendas. As is almost always the case, this caused massive upheaval and global war. The weapons unleashed were on a cosmic scale, dwarfing anything the galaxy had seen.

Some of the higher educated Dangites rejected the war and took refuge in safe houses on remote islands. These people were the paragons of their civilization. These Dangites took their most advanced technology and their books that detailed their history and principals by which they lived. They hoped to use them to help rebuild after the war. They put themselves in cryogenic sleep, and set it for 100 years. However, the constant bombing outside, the machines recalibrated and were set it to 10,000 years.

When the enlightened Dangites awoke awoke, they were shocked to find that the world was a far different place than they left it. They sent out a drone to scout the area to gather information. The world was drastically altered. The terrain, which was comparable to Earth’s, was changed to something far different. Instead of a few major continents, there was now one giant ocean, with thousands of islands scattered through out the planet. The massive bombing generated massive amounts of heat formed a green house effect, making the world substantially hotter. This melted the polar ice caps and raised sea levels. Continents also broke into pieces because the tectonic plates were ruptured by the sheer force explosions.

Confused by what they saw, the Dangites asked Athena what happened during the 10,000 years they were asleep. Athena was an artifical intelligence device that the Dangites installed to keep watch over what happened and record everything while they slept. Athena told them that the war got drastically out of hand. It did not stop till almost everyone was dead. Only a few people survived. Living in underground shelters, these survivors had to stay hidden for nearly 9,000 years because of the excessive amount of radiation on the surface. What little was left of them was scattered throughout the surrounding islands. One island in particular had an extremely savage group that called themselves the Dread Knights. This tribe was led by a man named Zhou the Conqueror. They goal was to pervade the surrounding islands and conquer all off the remaining inhabitants on the planet.

The Dangites in the shelter were shocked by what Athena had showed them. Zhou and his knights were merciless and brutal. Even though the enlightened Dangites were peace loving people, a group of wise elders decided enough was enough. They needed to stop the killing once and for all. They outfitted a team with the best of their technology in order to take down Zhou. The team was led by particularly strong warrior, named Desanova. Young and brave, Desanova had a high level of dexterity and could handle weapons with great ease. Whiled he looked as if he was in his younger teens; he was actually in his mid-30s. He was tall, muscular but yet possessed wisdom far baying his years. Brash and brave, he followed his orders to the letter, and was an incredibly strong tactician. He trained a select group of 15 Dangites and outfitted them with high tech stealth suits, arm-mounted blasters, and energy swords. Their most powerful weapon was their neural receptors. These receptors used brain power to generate a field of energy which allowed them to control objects and people, emit force fields, and bolts of pure energy.

The Dangite special force left their underground sanctuary at mid day, and arrived at Zhou’s stronghold at dusk. Using surveillance generated by Athena, the scouted the island holding Zhou’s army. The Dread Knights had almost 400 men spread around a sprawling, circular complex. In center, was a massive temple that Zhou had force slaves to build as his palace. Zhou and his men had affective control of what little Dangites tech was left on the surface. The Dread Knights had their own energy swords and blasters.

Desanova knew they were outnumbered but he had stealth and surprise on his side. His team drew their swords and systematically eliminated the sentries who were on guard. However there would be no sneaking up on the main stronghold, they had no choice but to burst in and fight. They met 50 Dread Knights armed with swords in the main barracks. A desperate and bloody battle ensued. Desanova used his receptors to throw dozen of Dread Knights over the palace walls to their death. Other Dangites used blasters to annihilate the remaining force in the barracks. More Dread Knights rushed to the scene and fierce sword battle unfolded. However, with the Dangites superior weapons and training, these Dread Knights were quickly dispatched. Desanova and his men marched further into the gargantuan palace. They fought through several corridors and finally made it to the throne room.

The throne room overlooked the sea, facing west towards the setting sun, the orange and yellow reflecting off the water. Zhou sat on a golden throne, acting aloof, with 100 Dread Knights behind him. Around the room, you can see servile men in cages, some begging for water, some impaled on pikes, and some burned alive. Zhou calmly asked “Why have you come here, the stronghold of my people, the strongest on the planet? Can you not see how foolish this is?” Desanova replied “We seemed to do a pretty good job with the rest of your men” smirked Desanova. This enraged Zhou, “I have seen your magic intruder, and rest assured, it will not work on my men.” “It isn’t magic Zhou, we come from the sanctuary, and we are last of the remaining old Dangites. We have awoken, and have seen what you have done. We have come to stop it.” This piece of information clearly unsettled the confounded Zhou. “Why have you come now, we could have used your help long ago, and you just abandoned us. We fight for ourselves, and now you return and threaten to kill us, tell me, who is in the wrong here?” There was no assuaging Desanova, and the Dangite remained resolute, “We awake from our sleep and see your barbaric principles misusing our technology, violating the ancient laws. Your greed is just leading the people into another great war.”

“Enough”, Zhou said, “When we defeat you, people revered by the rest of us as gods, the world will surely bow to me!” The provoked leader then signaled to the Dread Knights to draw their swords. It was a fight that Desanova would surely lose. He and his force was outnumbered 100-15. But instead of running or taking cover, Desanova ordered his men to step back out of the room and laid down his sword. He, alone, stepped forward to the center of the room. A myriad of tenacious men charged from all sides. Desanova allowed himself to become surrounded. But just as the Dread Knights were about to attack, Desanova dropped his knees, drew upon the energy from the neural receptors and emitted a red, pulsating wave of energy. This wave vaporized the men who stood around him. When Desanova men heard the terrifying screams of the Dread Knights, they rushed back into the room and met the remaining men with a flurry of sword strokes. Desanova spun and used energy bolts to destroy one group of Knights after another.

Zhou quickly realized that he and his men was no match for Desanova. He and his royal guard tried to flee the palace using a hidden escape route. Desanova saw Zhou scampering like a little cockroach and used his force fields to grab Zhou. He then summoned all his powers to throw Zhou across the room and onto one of the slave pikes, killing him instantly, The remaining men, who were beside themselves with fear, threw down their weapons. Some jump to their deaths, others begged for mercy. Desanova rounded up the prisoners and then freed all the slaves. As he was leaving, Desanova and his men destroyed the palace and wiped out any remnants of Zhou’s rule.

Desanova then took the prisoners and any freed men want to come with him back to the sanctuary. The prisoners and freed men received good medical attention, rehabilitation, and education. They were invited to join the Dangites society. This core group of people began working on restoring the fractured world. Many wanted Desanova to be the Emperor or King but he knew that the only way to ensure a lasting peace was to form leadership that didn’t put one man above all others. Desanova knew this new world needed to be built upon peace and prosperity for all men…not just a few.

Monday, December 21, 2009

ORB 2 review

2nd quarter outside reading book review
The last Olympian by Rick Riodan Disney books, 2008 genre: fantasy


The book starts out with Percy relaxing with his friend Rachel, the calm before the storm, so to speak. Percy, the son of Poseidon, has been fighting the lord of the titans, Chronos, for years. The prophesy about him deciding the fate of the Olympians and the world draws closer. His 16th birthday fast approaching, the date of the final battle, Percy struggles to figure out his destiny, whose side to chose, and how to win a hopeless fight against the greatest army the world has ever know. With no gods to help him, Percy and his friends have to take a final stand for all of mankind on the slopes of Olympus, convenieated under the empire state building.

The New York Times gave this book critical acclaim, saying its “ perfectly paced, with electrifying moments chasing each other like a heartbeat”

The book is clearly written for teenagers, something Rick Riodan does remarkably well. The book delivers enough action to keep you glued to the chair you’re sitting, and a deep and complex plot worth of most adult authors. Plot twists are abound in this book, a lot of times you’ll find your mind screaming at the characters decisions. It gets kind of graphic in the fight scenes, monsters fighting, children dieing, insane mothers, evil demons, this is in no way a book you give to an 8 year old for Christmas.

The author creates rich and deep characters. These kids are easy to relate to, and at some points you want to be some of these guys. The main character, Percy, turns into a nigh unkillable god, and starts pulling of ridiculous fights that would make most action movies look like indie films. The amount of monsters these guys fight makes Harry Potter look like some guy at a Star Trek convention. Adding to this is the author’s unique and dry humor. You’ll laugh quite a lot in this book. If nothing else, the books humor will keep you reading to see the next joke.

“Are they dead?” Selina asked
Ice coated my stomach. Lines from the prophesy rang in my ears, “and see the world in endless sleep”. I remembered the conversation Grover had with Morpheus in central park, “your lucky I’m saving my energy for the main event”
“Not dead,” I said, “Morpheus has put the entire island to sleep, the invasion has started.” Page 163

I really liked this book. The characters stuck me, and I loved plot. I recommend it to anybody. This book is not for everybody though. You need to understand Greek mythology. It is very difficult to get a grasp of the story without it; you will have no clue who any body is. Make sure you read the previous books first, as you’ll feel lost with the frequent flashbacks and references. When your through, at least you will enjoy reading every second of it, and it sure does make you feel smart.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

fiers quarter ORB reveiw

First quarter reading book review
Battle for the labyrinth by Rick Riordan genre fantasy
PJ Farnsworth

Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, is in a world where Greek gods exist. They live outside mortal comprehension, and guide the course of human events. The gods frequently have children with mortals, creating demigods, or mortals with some of the god’s powers, and see reality as it actually is. These demigods are some of the most important people in history. Now, Chronos, the titan, is revolting. He has amassed an army, and now searches for the one thing to take shape as a being. Percy, Grover the centaur, and Annabeth, daughter of Athena, must journey into the labyrinth of legend to find Chronos ultimate weapon.
An epic adventure, many people love the series, including the School Library Journal, who calls it “ a winner of Olympic proportions”
The writer is aiming at a teenage audience. It works generally well. The author mixes humor and teenage problems into the story. This works wonders, and allows the story to flow very smoothly. The book, with the occasional laugh, will keep you wanting to read it. The heroes are very relatable. You want to be them, or at least be in there position. It is a very fun book.
The one thing that stands out is the author’s ability to weave the story. The author makes it able to seem like the events are actually possible. The author creates something called the “mist”. The mist makes it so mortals can see things differently then non mortals. For example, a monster attack on the golden gate bridge is seen as a freak car crash. The way it is presented is amazing, and begs you to believe it, and it is very easy to. The author has a lot of symbolism in the book. It makes it so the author can portray messages to the reader. There is a fare share of tragedy in the book, and some of the fights can be pretty epic. Quite a few people die.
He howled and made another grab at me he caught a chain attempted to pull himself up. While he was struggling, I lowered my sawed off chain, hook first. It took me two tries, but I finally snagged Antaeus’s loin cloth. (pg 206)
Overall, this is a great book. I encourage others to get it. However, you should get the first 3 before you do though. The story will make a lot of sense. This is a great read and a must have to any reader,