Ty Reflection

We were told to have this done for Thursday and to keep it brief but I think trying to keep this brief will be hard as so much has happened this year and we've done so much. I remember when we first started TY everyone was so scared almost, nervous I'd say cause we didn't know eachother that well. Before TY our 3rd year classes never really socialized or did things with eachother that much. Everyone pretty much kept to the people in their own class.
On my first day here I was glad to see that I was with my past 3rd friends but also happy that we were with some new people. It was starnge being without my 3rd class.
I think some of the teachers were surprised about how quiet we were at the beginning but we soon eased into everything and of course we all became a bit noiser :).
Soon afters we realised how different TY was to all the other years, a good different though. We did so much through out the year that it would wayy too long to write about. But overall it was a great year and was really quite a unique experience. I hope people who choose to do TY have as good as a year as I did :)
I know I'm going to miss TY and all the people in it and all the great teachers in it and everyone will be bawling their eyes out during TY Night.

Love Fiona :)

Book Review- How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

Summary- This book is about a 15 year old girl called Daisy from Manhattan, who is sent to England to live with her cousins for a while. She goes there to meet her 4 cousins and Aunt whom shes never met before. There are 3 boys and 1 girl, the boys names are Osbert, Edmond and Issac and the girl is called Piper.

After Daisy meets her Aunt Penn, she has to leave soon after Daisy arrives to go away for business. But then the next day a bomb goes off in London and is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy.

Power cuts and systems fail, the farm which they live on becomes more isolated. Though despite the war they remain to be untouched by the wars horrors and evils. It becomes their kind of Eden in a way, especially since no adults are about which means no rules. But this farm becomes a very special place to Daisy where she forms a very unique and special bonds with her cousins. These bonds are very unique as she has quite unique cousins. The relationships with them turn turns into something very rare and extraordinary.

Unfortunately they cannot escape the war that is destroying London and they soon become sucked into it all.

The war separates them all as they are moved into different homes. Issac and Edmond were sent away together and then Daisy and Piper, Osbert wasn't sent away as he got a job in the army. This brakes their hearts to all be separated from one another, especially for Edmond and Daisy who form more of a romantic relationship and fall so in love with each other.

The war pushes Daisy and Piper to their limits and beyond. Their thirst for love and to be safe saves them in the end. They make it back home safe enough and Daisy is then shipped home straight away.

After 6 years Daisy is finally able to go back to England. When she gets there Piper and all have grown up. Piper has met a boy named Johnathan and they fell in love from the moment they met each other. Issac has become noticeably more grown up and has moved on from the war but Edmond was effected horribly from the war as he had to watch people die all around him, their screams forever haunt him and he will never forgive himself for being alive.

Daisy tries to talk to him by joining him when he gardens and learning from him. And, that's where the story ends. I guess it leaves you to imagine what their lives might be like.

Review- Personally I loved this book and everything about it. I loved the fact that it wasn't a traditional love story between 2 people, it was more than that. Edmond and Daisy both knew that it wasn't exactly how cousins are 'suppose' to feel about each other and that it was odd since they were family. But I loved the fact that they didn't care and just put everything they had into the relationship.

But this book wasn't just about the love story between them 2, it was also about the relationships which Daisy had made with her other cousins. She had felt a love and feelings she'd never really felt for anyone before and cared for them all more than she had even cared about herself.

Piper seemed to amaze Daisy throughout the book as she is a very unique kind of girl. When you read about their journey back to safety, their home and possibly freedom, you can't help but wish and hope they make it through everything that they will come across. Especially in a certain chapter when they can hear people's screams and bombs and shots going off and how the sounds start to close in on them and you can't help but feel so sorry for them.

Coming towards the end of the book all you hope is that they become reunited with one another and that they are all still alive.

Luckily they all survived the war and its tragedies. But Daisy was separated from them soon after her and Piper made it back home. For 6 years she tried to live her life as normal as possible by keeping herself busy basically, then she was finally able to go back to England, back home, and to see them all again. When you're reading Part Two of the book all you want for the characters is that they are all alive and well and that Daisy and Edmond reunite with one another.

At the very end of the book you find out what happened to Issac and Edmond during the war and you find out that Issac proved to be the stronger one mentally and emotionally, which is actually quite surprising. Edmond is silent after the war and channels all his emotions and anger by gardening. This is Daisy's only way of talking to Edmond, constantly reminding him that she's there with him.

Vampire Weekend

Shakira

Shakira

Top of the Pops 2

Top of the Pops

Top of the Pops

Top of the Pops-Sydney Opera House

Bat for Lashes

Natsha Khan

Bat for Lashes

Trip Around the World- Geography

For my trip around the world for geography I decided to base mine on music. To start off I decided to start off in London where my favourite band/artist was born. Her name is Natasha Khan but her band/ stage name is Bat for Lashes. Her music genre that she plays is very indie/pop/techno. She has a Pakistani father and an English mother.
The band that she plays with isn't really an official kind of band, there more used for her concerts and live shows. So far she has only released 2 albums: Fur and Gold (2006) and Two Suns (2009). My favourite song from her first album has to be " Whats a girl to do?" and my favourite songs from her second album are: "Daniel", "Siren Song" and "Pearls Dream".

My second destination is Australia, Sydney. I went from London to Australia because Bat for Lashes are playing a concert in the Sydney Opera House and I looked up a popular show or act that might be playing there. So I found Top of the Pops. But this Top of the Pops isn't the famous music show that we know of. This is a group of really talented classical music players who are putting on a show on the 29th of May this year. The reason why their performance is called Top of the Pops is because they are playing popular melodies from such composers like Beethoven and Schubert.

So then fro my third destination I went back to London to discover where the original Top of the Pops music TV show was made. It began to show on TV on a weekly bases from the year of 1964-2006. The only songs they played on this music show was no.1 hits in the music charts. A few exceptions were made to let songs play that weren't top in the charts at the time. They were one of the longest running television shows ever. In their last episode one of the final songs to of been played was Shakiras "Hips Don't Lie".

This then brings me to Columbia, where Shakira was born. She started making it into the Latin American and Colombian music scene around the early 1990's. She plays a big range of musical instruments, some which I'd never heard of before. Shakira's had many hits, some of her most popular songs are "Hips don't Lie" and " She Wolf". One of the last places Shakira is going to play is in New York City. So that's where I decide to go next in my trip.

Lastly I decided to do my final place in New York and I did it on the well-known band called Vampire Weekend. Their kind of style of music is indie rock. Theirs four members in the band: Rostam Batmanglij, Ezra Koenig, Chris Tomson and Chris Baio. They've released 2 albums so far, their first one was named after themselves and the second one was called Contra.

And that's the end of my Geography trip :)

Swim a mile with a Smile :)

So on our last day before the Easter Midterm we all went to the National Aquatics Centre (NAC) to complete the swim a mile with a smile.

When we got there we all got ready as fast as we could to start swimming! Luckily you were allowed do it in groups if you wanted to, I was with Zoe at the start but then we paired up with Kellie and Siobhan because we kinda realised we wouldn't be able to do it with just us 2 :L.

But somehow some girls did it all on there own, which is 64 laps in the really deep length pool, I don't know how they did it :D

After we completed our mile we all got a free t-shirt and bottles of water thank god! haha. When everyone was done we got to go into the main pools where the slides were and we all got to go on the slides and in the pools :).

Then we got to go to Blancherdstown for food and whatever else. Everyone was pretty tired but overall it was a really good day :)

Movies :)

In French, English and Religion we're watching three different movies. In French we're watching a kinda weird musical about 8 women who are all suspicious of killing one of the womans husband. So far we haven't found out whos done it but it could of been anyone of them now I guess. Its kinda bad but funny bad at the same time :L In English we're watching the movie about Sylvia Plath the famous poet. The movie is about how she became a poet and her life married to her poet husband Ted Hughes. At the beginning you think its going to be a nice film but then things turn kinda strange, at any moment you think Sylia is going to snap and do something but so far in the movie we haven't really seen her to anything to crazy yet. In Religion we're watching Hotel Rowanda which is one of my favourites along with Sylvia. Hotel Rowanda is about the civil war between the Hutus and Tutsis. Its mainly about how one man is struggling to keep his hotel going and to keep as many people alive. He is a Hutu but his wife is a Tutsi which makes him a target to all of the Hutus who are hunting the Tutsis. I think we're near the end of the film and I'm hoping him and his family won't die :(

Dublin Tour :D

Last Thursday both TY classes went to the National Art Gallery and National History Museum. We went to go see the Bog Boddies in the NHM which was actually kinda disgusting to look at them but was really interesting as well to hear about how they were found, how they died, weither they were male or female. We got to see 3 bog boddies, 2 were male and 1 was female. They looked really horrible because the weight of the bog had flattened there bodies and there skin looked like leather, also their hair was stil perfectly preserved. I didn't expect to see the bodies flat or leather like skin at all. After that we went to go see the Jack B Yaets exhibition, which consisted of his early life, replicas of his apartments, his original poety in the original notebooks. We learned about his family tree and I foudn out that lots of his relatives were all very famous artists or poets etc. Most of his family seemed to be interested in the arts. But also I learned that he didn't marry until he was around the age of 52 which is really old because all of the previous women he had asked to marry all said no. I learned that Jack Yaets was really interested in star signs, communicating with the dead and magic etc. Then we had lunch and most people went to McDonals but I went to Jimmy Chungs which is an all you can east chinease resturant that actually has really nice food :D I was kinda expecting to get food poisoning from the food but I didn't :L The last place we went to was the NAG to go see different famous artists and to see Jack B Yaets. We saw how his artwork style had changed during the years of his life and other famous irish paintings. Overall it was a really good day and I think everyone enjoyed it :)

Percusion Workshop.

On Tuesday we had a percussion workshop for most of the day with a professional jembay musician. He was really nice and really good and was able to teach us loads about jembay and how to play all the different type of drums. Also he taught us a song and we all got to try out different types of instruments as well and he showed us a special video which was made especially for jembay.

The guy who came in to show us and teach us was really nice and he told us how he became interested in becoming a jembay player and how he started up his own business. He now oes aroudn to lots of different places like hospitals, youth centres, prisons even! But it was really nice to learn about something that we didn't know much about and which was really fun and interesting :)

Work Experience

I went to the Four Courts in Dublin to follow around a Barrister, his name was Darach MacNamara and he was really nice :) On my first day there he told me all about the different Civil Courts and the differences between them all. He showed me around the place and I learned loads already that day.

During the week he didn't have much exciting work for me to do so I went around with another Barrister called Brian, he is Darachs devil which means that Brian learns gets all of his work experience from Darach and learns more about being a barrister himself ( devils kind of follow around there masters)
Brian is mainly based in the Criminal Courts of Justice but does some work in the Civil Courts as well. Brian is one of the few extremely busy devils because he has had previous work experience and has a lot more degrees than most average devils.

Brian taught me loads about being a Barrister in the Criminal Courts and what its like. I went to all different types of cases in the Criminal Courts, some cases which are considered petty offences were things like theft, not driving with license, drink driving. But some others were a little more serious like assult cases and I got to sit in a murder trial for a bit which was really good and I really enjoyed it.



I spent some days in the CCJ and the Civil Courts and some days I spent all day in either one with someone. Anytime I was in the CCJ I would always be with Brian, but when I was in the Civil Courts I was either with Darach, Carroline or Alan. Carroline was a devil and was in her first year of deviling, she was really nice and she was really young so it was easy to talk to her. Alan was just finished deviling and he was a really good barrister as I got to see him in action in the Masters Court.



My overall work experience was really great and I loved being there. I learned loads of things and my idea of barristers has changed, I think its a lot more exciting than people think it is. I think as a future career I would definitely consider it

RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms

The Girl Effect:The Clock is Ticking

I thought this video was really interesting and its amazing what happens if a girl is given an education and has access to a doctor. Also what makes this video different is that it's an ad yet it doesn't feel like one.

3-3-11

Next week is the beginning of our last work experience. Everyone is pretty excited for it and nervous of course as I think some people are going for things that are different and wouldn't interest them usually.
For my work experience I'm going to be brought around by a barrister called Darch McNamara in the Four Courts.

I hope everyone enjoys there last work experience and that it all goes well for everyone :)

Mini Company Heat

So yesterday we had our mini company heat in Clane GAA Club. The minute we got there everyone was rushing around full of excitement and nerves. WE had only 10 minutes to set up our stands as we got there a bit late so our group was in a bit of a panic setting up our stand.

But eventually the time came when the judges were coming around and interviewing us. Luckily our interview went well and we ended up being put on the shortlist but we didn't get through to the next round. Me and my group were pretty happy and surprised that we even got onto the shortlist. After our interview we had a look around the other stands and groups and were amazed by some of the quality of products and the great ideas that had been thought up by some of the groups. Everyones stand looked really great at the competition.

10/2/11

So today we were told that our school is organizing a trip to Poland for this years TY's and this years 5th years for October. Everyone is pretty exciting and almost everyone really wants to go. But there is only 40 places so fingers crossed :)
From the sounds of it we would be very busy while in Poland with getting to see all the best tourist attractions and of course to do some shopping in there huge shopping centre :D The trip really does sound amazing and Poland seems like a very interesting country to visit. I learned a lot about Poland and some of the things you can do there when Mia gave her presentation on it. She talked about the Salt Mines and Auschwitz. She also said that the food over there was pretty nice and is quite cheap compared to over here in Ireland. I didn't really ever think that Poland would be a great tourist destination but after Mia's presentation I was surprised and I've wanted to go to Poland since :)

Also today the Mini-Company group had a bake sale for to raise money for their mini company called Baby-Cakes. We helped out the group to sell everything and hopefully they made enough money. On the plus side we got to eat whatever was left over so we were all pretty happy either way :)

Desert Flower-Waris Derie- Book Review

I think this story of the Desert Flower is a very emotional and quite and eye-opening story. It really does make you feel for Warris because she had a horrible circumcision performed on her. It is really frightening to know that this goes on and is performed upon girls as young as 5.

Before this story I didn't even really know that circumcisions done to girls in such a horrible way. Nor did I know the pain and hardship women then have to face throughout their whole lives and that's if they survive the circumcision or infection and shock that is inflicted on these young girls.

Even though Warris went through all this I found her amazingly brave and strong willed when she went to London with just her uncle. She is clearly a very hard worker because all she waned to do was send enough money to her mother so that her mother could afford all the things she needed, so she wouldn't have to work as hard as she does.

Throughout the story it is nice to know that she gets a brake from her tough life and is discovered by a photographer and from there on her life completely changes in the best possible way. Finally she has more than enough money to go and visit her mother after many many years. As her life goes on she becomes a UN Ambassador and starts a campaign against FGM (Female Genital Mutilation). She begins to raise awareness about this cicumcision carried out on young girls in a lot of countrys. But she works and is still working hard to fight against those who perform it on young girls.

Her story has the happy ending to it that we all wanted for it from the very beginning as she becomes a very famous and well known model and she finds a man whom she loves very much and has a little baby boy with.

.....