The Blurb

SMILE... or else!

Have you ever flipped out your cell phone in the mall and began to chat really loudly with your buddy? Have people ever stared at you, slightly annoyed, and you just ignored them? The Japanese are taking a stand against these rude, improper behaviors!

Japan has recently drafted men ages 60 and older as the "Manner Police". We question: Is it really worth the money people are paying in taxes? Shouldn't people spend their tax dollars on something more effective and worthwhile? And, more importantly, should the Japanese citizens receive punishment for "impolite behavior" in public?

Don't like the idea? Feel like rioting? Well, good luck! The "Manner Police" are also well equipped against rioters -- they each have their own personal bodyguards! Older citizens having younger guards protecting them. That's an interesting thought...

Blurb Postings #0

What do you think? Is punishing people for bad conduct a good idea, or is it totally bogus?

Drama Queen, Wicked Awesome Monkey Dude, and Flying Onion Boy

Image Credit:Smiley Face From Wikipedia , Licensed:  Creative Commons: Attribution)

Kick'n Condor Rap

I know that we usually only have a rap for you every nine weeks, but we have a special occasion, THE CONDOR IS IN DANGER! We must move fast, forget step by step! Go full speed!!! FLOOR IT!!!

Look, love is not a simple thing. There are few times in life where you experience it. Well, as hard is it is to love something as ugly as the California Condor, the Blurb is now in love with the California Condor.

We've had fund raisers, study guides (ugh), and other events to raise our awarness of this bird that flew down from the heavens and into our hearts.

And of course, THE WICKED AWESOME NACHO HOT DOGS had to get into the game, so here's our California Condor rap:

Share a comment and share your thinking on this beautiful bird!

Sincerely,

Writing done By: Wicked Awesome Monkey Dude

Rap done By: Wicked Awesome Nacho Hotdogs

California Condor by Smurlo, licensed Creative Commons:  Attribution)

Cell Phones in School

You know what? I was sitting in homeroom yesterday and I heard my principal say something very commonly said in schools:

"The staff and I have issued a new rule, all cell phone usage is prohibited until the last period bell at the end of the day. And then no using them until you get on the bus. That's all the announcements for today. Lets work hard, be positive, and learn together. Have a wonderful Tuesday!"

I was so mad when I heard this! If I hadn't known that I would've gotten in trouble, then I Would have started a protest (maybe not)! In my opinion cell phones should be allowed in schools.

The critical question is should students be allowed to use their cell phones at school or not?

Here is what we think:

Gabcast! Blurb Postings #11

So, should students be allowed? Leave us a comment and share your thinking.

Signed,
The Blooper

Just how likely is the “Dream Ticket"

Senator Barack Obama has finally got the democratic nomination for president of the USA, and some people are in shock (a.k.a. Hillary Clinton). She hadn’t backed out of the race until now. On Saturday she gathered her campign staff to withdraw the race.

However, we all know she is very comfortable with the idea of being Senator Obama’s running mate. Many people are calling this the “dream ticket”, but what I found out is just how likely that will be. In the article “Clinton Unlikely As No.2” The Wall Street Journal said “Close advisors to Senator Obama are signaling that a Obama-Clinton ticket is highly unlikely.”

Do you think having Hillary Clinton as his running mate would give him more or less votes? I heard on NPR that Clinton supporters are now turning to John McCain, and that could mean a lot less votes for Obama. If you don’t think Hillary should be his running mate who should? Leave us a comment and tell us how you feel.

Singed,

TMX Elmo

The 100 Word Story Challenge

The other day I ran across a very interesting blog entry on Ewan McIntosh's tech education blog.  He linked to another interesting blog challenging us all to write, and publish online, a 100 word story.  The rules were very simple, write a story, but you can only use 100 words, no more, no less.

I loved the idea and I posed this 100 word story challenge to our SMS Guys Read club at our last meeting.  We got some interesting results.  I even gave the challenge a crack.  Check out my story...

Ego Surfing

By Rowdy Roddy

I’m a boxer; they call me the Tuscaloosa Kid.  I’m a veterinarian, the rat vet of the year.  I’m an African Missionary, in danger of being hanged.  I’m a couple of different software engineers, doing IT stuff.  I’m a racing cyclist, with eight consecutive national championships.  I’m a photographer; I snap animals in the wild.  I’m a lawyer, counseling companies and individuals.  I’m a teacher, blogging about the joys of guys reading.  I sell Chevrolets in Aylmer, Ontario.  I am all of these things and I am none of these things.  If you want to find out about yourself, Google.

So now I challenge all of you out there to give this 100 word story a try.  The rule for us was that the title did not count against you.  Have fun, be creative, it's only 100 words!

Hit the comment button and put your story up...you can claim that you're published.

Write On,

Rowdy Roddy

Operation: International Year of the Potato

Did you know that 2008 is the International Year of the Potato? The Peruvian government was responsible for choosing 2008 to be the IYP (International Year of the Potato) and the UN came along. This major event will present many opportunities to raise the profile of the potato around the world as an important world food staple, and to raise the profile of the potato as a contributor to the Millennium Development Goals. The potato is one of the most important foods in the world. One reason is because most products sent to feed starving people in developing countries are mostly rice. Now rice prices are increasing at a high rate. Potatoes are cheap and have more calories than rice so people could buy fewer potatoes and be fuller than just buying a lot of rice. So what do you think about this awesome potato extravaganza? Leave a comment and you will be heard! (So will the potato)

Click here to listen to the best song in the world, the potato song.

Click here to view the lyrics.

By: TubbyMcTubTub

McMadMan

Wii Think Not

What does everybody think about the Wii?  It is awesome.  I am literally DYING for one.  But someone did die for one, and the Wii destroyed someone else's brand new plasma TV.  It was all caused by this amazing device?  That is very hard to believe, but it is true.  Someone did die trying to win one, lots of people did have their TV and FACE smashed because of the system.

What I am about to tell you is about a Mom trying to win a Wii for her kids in a contest at a radio station.  The contest was called Hold Your Wee For a Wii.  The mother saw the ad for the contest in a magazine.  She wanted to win the Wii for her kids so they would have a video game system, so she entered in the contest.  The goal was to drink a certain amount of water and be the last person to use the bathroom.  She drank tons of water but won the worst prize ever imaginable, death.  By drinking gallons and gallons of water, she suffered from water intoxication, which caused all of her body fluids that were not water to be smothered by hydrogen.  The mother felt dizzy and was feeling sick, so she was rushed to a hospital.  Unfortunately, she later died.  The DJ's that held the contest were fired, even though they claimed that there should have been nothing wrong and they didn't know that would happen.  She not only died, but she lost the contest to a different mother.  This is how someone died trying to win a Nintendo Wii.

What you also should remember is that someone had their $2000 plasma TV ruined by a Wii.  This is what happened.  There was this one guy who bought a Wii and played with it when he got home.  A few weeks later, when he was playing the Wii, he thrusted the remote forward as if throwing something in the game.  But, he lost his grip, and the remote slid out of his hand, into the Television screen, and shattered the screen to pieces.  Nintendo was not charged for that action because it was the guy who tossed the remote.  But you should notice that all Wii remotes now have bracelets on them so they stay on your wrist.

What do you think now?  Do you still want one or now reconsider your choices?  Please tell me in your comments.

-Whatchamacallit   

More on the Kindle. . .

We've been doing a ton of Kindle reading here in Blurb Nation since Bam Bam first walked in with his new toy.  Here are some of our thoughts on this nifty little book reader and on digital book reading in general:

Suzy Snowboots:
I don't like the Kindle because I like the feeling of a crisp page on my fingertips.  I love turning the page thinking, "Wow!"  So whether it's old fashioned or not, I'm going to stick to the old-school, smudge-on-the-paper way of reading books.  I just don't think that I'm ready for the 21st Century!

The Belgian Waffle:
I truly believe that the idea of a small device holding all my favorite books is obscene!  A book to me should be held dearly and thought of as a portal to a new and unseen world.  I like to hold a book, feel it's paper back or glossy cover and read until daylight blooms from my window.  I very much like the physical feeling of turning a page, of feeling suspense build because all of one page's mysteries are answered in the next page.

In a Kindle, you click "Next."  It's a dishonor to authors everywhere.

Drama Queen:
I like the Kindle because after finishing a book in a place quite far away from a library, what are you supposed to do?  What if there is nothing else to read and nothing else to do?  What then?  With a Kindle, you could just download a book in a matter of minutes and continue to read.  Convenience is one of the best things about the Kindle.

Crazy Llama Girl:
Kindles are better than carrying around book bags full of text books.  Instead, you could carry around a Kindle.  You wouldn't even need a bag.  Don't you think that would make life easier?

Green Eggs and Sam:
The thing I didn't like about the Kindle is that it felt that you had to be SO careful with it.  If you dropped it, you were wasting a lot of money.  But the Kindle is still a lot better than walking all the way to the library to get one book.  You could also browse sample chapters to see if you like a book or not. 

The Nameless Wonder:
I think the Kindle is a very good device to read from.  It is easy to hold and easy to read, too.  I like it because you only have to push a button to get to the next page...I think they should start making them and putting them into stores so that many people will be able to read from them.

So what do you think?  Are digital books something that you find interesting?  A tool with great potential to make reading easier and more accessible to everyone?

Or are they obscene tools that are destroying a beautiful past time? 

Leave us a comment to share your thinking and join us again soon on The Blurb!

(Image retrieved from http://www.portfolio.com/images/feeds/blogs/kindle.jpg on June 2, 2008)

A Digital Ticket for the Future?

Have you ever wondered about how advanced our technology will be in the future? 

Sometimes I wonder if we will still be using books!  There is a new way to read books, and it is called the Kindle.  The Kindle can be used to download books (at a great price) that can be read on a high-tech advanced screen. 

The downside is that the Kindle doesn't have the characteristics a book has.  With a book, you can hold and turn the pages, where as a Kindle is a mini computer that has a button to turn pages.

I think the Kindle is a great idea that will excel more as time goes by just like iPods are!  I bet there were a lot of arguments when companies came out with the iPod because they didn't work like CDs.  But look at how much the iPods have improved and become one of the most popular ways to listen to music.

Kindles will become a popular tool that not only saves trees (by not using paper), but saves space too.  it would save space because it is a mini-computer, so you wouldn't have to lug around books for classes.

 

Image retrieved from http://blatantbibliophiles.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/kindle1.jpg on June 1, 2008.