For my reading minute i am reading the book Vendetta and the author is Chris Humphrey. The book takes place in many different places around Europe but mainly Italy. The book is about a young man named sky whos grandfather teaches him the ancient Norse magic of the runes to travel through time. While he is traveling through time Sky is trying to find the blood of his ancestors and is trying to trace back his heritage but all this came at a price of his cousin Kristen. An evil man named Sigurd has stolen her life and possesed her soul. Now Sky is determined to free his cousin Kristen by traveling to a mysterious island of Corsica and while trying to save his cousin, Sky also unravels the truth about his family and the lies of his grandpa.

1. For my final blog post i read an article in time magazine titles Time magazines 50 best inventions of 2008 and its by Christopher Null. In the article i read about many new inventions of 2009. The first invention i read about was the mono tracer. The mono tracer is basically a mini motorcycle but with a cover over the top of the motorcycle. It has two seats on the inside and a mini steering wheel. Another new invention i read about was the retail DNA test. With the DNA test you can find out what your risk's are for developing genetic based diseases.  This test cost's about $400 over the counter. The last invention i read about was the mobile, dexterous, and social robot. It can get your drink and food from the fridge and even play music. The robots are very expensive and have a waiting list of about 2 years to get one. These were some of the cool new inventions of 2009 that i read about.

For today's post i read an article about dieting myths titled "The truth behind diet myths" by Mirranda Hitti and i found it on Webmd.com. In the article it talked about many diet rumors and told yo if they were really true or not. The first one i read about was eating at night makes you fat. In reality there is no proof for this myth what so ever, its your calorie total that matters not when u eat it. Another rumor i read about was is caffeine unhealthy. The truth to that is caffeine may have a positive effect on some diseases like parkinson's, but other then that and its famous alertness buzz its not unhealthy. The last rumor i read about was the less fat you eat the better. People with heart disease, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome may benefit from adding a little healthy fat to there diet and cutting carbohydrates. But they shouldn't increase their overall fat intake. These were some interesting diet myths that i read about that surprised me and shocked me very much.

A late article i read for sunday's post is called "Surprising signs you'll live a long time" by Liz Varciello and it was on shine.com. There are many new signs of health that keep you living longer that are less known to the world. The first sing is that drinking one or more regular or diet sodas every day doubles your risk of metabolic syndrome which is a combination of conditions that increases your chances of getting diabetes and heart disease. Another sign that will lead you to longer life is if your mom had you when she was under the age of 25, your twice as likely to love to age 100 as someone born to an older mom, according to the university of Chicago. One last sign that may lead you to living a longer life is red wine, concord grapes, blueberries all get deep rich color from polyphenols-compounds that reduce heart disease risk and may even protect against alzheimer's disease. These are all new signs that i read about that say lead to longer life.

This mornig i read a very interesting article on yahoo and it was by yahoo authors and it was titled Vick To Plead Guilty On Dogfighting Charges. Old NFL star plans to plead guilty on tuesday to state dog fighting charges. Vick is pleading guilty in hope of getting an early release from his federal sentence and hopes to reach a halfway house. By Vick pleading guilty he was admitting that he bankrolled the operation known as “Bad Newz Kennels” which was ran on his property in Virginia.Court papers showed disturbing details of the operation, including the execution of underperforming dogs by electrocution, drowning, hanging and other means.Vick was sentenced on December 10, 2007 to spend 23 months in jail. With good behavior, the former quarterback could have his sentence reduced to 18 months, which would result in a release from prison in the summer of 2009.

This is a picture of the stanley cup. The stanley cup is what any NHL player would dream to win. It is the trophy for the best team of the year that wins the end of the year tournement which is called the Stanley cup finals.

The hockey player in this picture's name is Wayne Gretzky. Wayne is easily and unarguably the best hockey player of all time. He is the biggest hockey legend and hero in his day and in ares. He was the one who invented all of the fundamentals of hockey and how to play the game in the best way possible. He has brought many skills and teachings to the game and still is today as the head coach of the Phoenix Cayotes.

"Hockey's a funny game. You have to prove yourself every shift, every game. It's not up to anybody else. You have to take pride in yourself".
Paul Coffey

The reason i choose this quote is because its short and precise and still tells you that the hardest part of the game is having to prove yourself every shift so you will be able to go out again because if you dont show the coach that your worthy to play then he won't play you. It also talks about taking pride in yourself which is also a key concept in the game of hockey because if you dont have pride in yourself then your not going to be able to accomplish anything.









This video is almost like a mini recap of the history of hockey and shows all the greatest hockey players of all time.



THE HOCKEY GOON

When the puck drops his opponents will fall after the whistle he'll go after them all with hip checks and cross checks and sticks that are high there'll be bruises and cuts and even black eyes some play for the money and some for the fame but he simply plays for the love of the main man

Michael Kenneth Panton

This poem is a classic exapmle of the hockey goon. In every game of hockey that you ever will play there will always be a goon on the ice who just plays to hit and hurt people and thats jsut the way it is





























This is a picture of Bobby Orr holding the stanley cup. Bobby Orr was also unarguably one of the best hockey players of all time. He had some of the greatest stick handling moves the NHL has ever seen. He is a legend of the bruins winning them more then 3 stanley cups while he was on the team and will always be remembered in the NHL as one of the greatest stick handlers and leaders of all time.

This is a video of some of the greatest hockey plays ever in the NHL. 

Conclusion.

While i was studying heroes of hockey i found out about some of the greatest hockey players of all time and learned more about the true origins of hockey. I learned that the founder of the fundamentals of hockey was Wayne Gretzky and a player that created some of the greatest stick handling moves of all time was Bobby Orr. In the end, i learned that there are two types of hockey players. Hockey players that play for the love of the game and hockey players who play to just hit kids and hurt them. I also learned that the 3 core values to become a great hockey player are true courage, self motivation, and belief in yourself. With these 3 core values and devotion to the game anyone can make it to the NHL.

One last article that i read over my MEA weekend was also on yahoo and it was titled 9 Chinese Oil Workers Kidnapped In Sudan, and the author is Sarah El Deeb. Nine chinese Oil workers were kidnapped in a region rich with oil in southwestern Sudan in a city called Khartoum. Sudan's official are blaming a Darfur rebel group for the kidnapping's on Saturday also calling it a stab at developmental efforts in Sudan. The attack took place just outside of the western Darfur region, and none of the Darfur rebel groups who have fought the central goverment of Sudan for five years are taking responsibility. Although rebels have targeted Chinese interest's outside of Durfur in the past, saying that the Asian power's massive investments in Sudan"s oil sector have helped the goverment and it's fights in the region of Darfur. Although about a year ago one of the Darfur rebel groups threatening and warning the chinese to leave their country. This is the third attack on chinese targets over the past month and probably wont be the last. The close ties with China and sudan have only helped fuel the bloodshed in Darfur, which has left as many as 300,00 dead and have driven more then 2.5 million people from their homes since 2003.

One article that i read over MEA which was supposed to be my Wednesday's blog post but is a little late was titled Dikta could have altered history. The author is Chris Chase and i read the article on Yahoo. So far Barack Obama has already had 1 easy win in the 2004 Illinois senate race which brought him to national fame and has started his path toward the whitehouse. That was a well earned victory that is now just a footnote in the career of baracks journey for the white house. But that victory wasn't so for certain as it appears in retrospect. For a couple days in that summer of 04 there was a big possibility that Mike Dikta could have been the republican opponent in Obama's first major election. Jack Ryan had won the republican primary that year, but dropped out of the race after embarrassing papers were realesed of him and his wife's  high profile divorce. The vacancy left GOP leaders rushing to find a replacement. In fear that the election was already lost the republicans decided they needed a big name for there canidate in order to turn the tides and Mike Dikta, The Chicago Bears coaching legend was the name. For days the press played the "will he" or "wont he" stories until finally he announced that although he really want's to he will not run as the republican canidate because he didn't want to give up his jobs as an NFL analysist at ESPN or as an endorser of a casino and car dealership. There's really no way to know if Dikta would have ended up winning or not butif he would have won, then Obama would be no where near where he was today and for surely would never have been running for a presidential candidate of 2008.

This weekend I read an article on Time.com titled Pailin's blown opportunity on energy independence and the author was Michael Weisskopf.  In the article it talks about one of the main things Palin wants to focus on in office is energy  independence and conservation.  Palin claims that this is a job for a governor from an oil and gas producing state, "Alaska". Earlier this year Palin missed an opportunity to help the U.S mainland obtain billions of cubic feet of natural 

gas from Alaska's cook inlet. This is a serious mistake that shows that she may not even be ready for

vice presidency. Since this past may, some of Alaska's gas could have wound up in domestic hands.

Palin was personally interviewed in 2007 and her only concerns were about local problems. Palin needs

to start worrying about more then just local problems if she wants to be vice president. In the end after reading

this article i have decided that i do not think Palin would make a good Vice President.

The article i read is called "Eating Dark Chocolate May Keep The Heart Healthy" and its by the journal of nutrition. In the article the main point they are trying to get out is that eating dark chocolate regularly may help lower levels of inflammation. Inflammation is strongly associated with heart and blood vessel diseases, so there fore  by keeping your inflammation levels low, you will keep away from heart and blood vessel diseases. The presence of your inflammation is determined by measuring levels c-reactive protein, a bio-maker for coronary artery disease. The researchers explain that people who eat more dark chocolate, which is rich in several anti oxidants, might have lower CPR levels. I thought this article was very interesting but also very confusing and i would recomend it to people who like to read about staying healthy.

The last article that I read this weekend was called Top 10 Wacky Inventions for the home and it was by Jennifer Pocock. In this article it talked about the newest top 10 inventions that are used in the home. There were many new inventions that i had never herd of like a glowing fruit bowl, moody houseplants that tell u when they need to be watered and even a fold-out balcony's that with a push of a button they instantly fold out of your window and can fit a small furniture set and about 2 people. They designed these balcony's for people in Sweden so they can avoid city ordinance and wont break the law. Out of all the inventions that i read about i would have to say the hovering recliner is my favorite. Its hand built and is made of clear plastics and power full repelling magnets, the hover lounger floats from its base. The price of the chair is $11, 716 so its pretty spendy but i would still say pretty incredible. 

An article that i read this weekend was an article i found on Yahoo and it was called Houston QB Rosenfel's Miscues Lead To Loss To Indy and the author is  kristie Rieken.  This article was about a football game that went on this weekend. In the article it talks about how the  Indianapolis Colts miraculously came back against the Texans by scoring 3 touchdowns in the time span of about 2 minutes. The first 2 of the touch downs came from the Texans QB who had 2 fumbles that both lead to a colts TD. Then the last touchdown was scored by a last attempt TD pass pick that colts made that they then returned for a final score of 31 to 27 with the Colts taking the victory. The texans QB that played was replacing Matt Schaub who is ill at the moment. Texans fans have wanted to see schaub be replaced by rosenfel's for the last couple of weeks with his 0-4 record. Rosenfel's was finally leading the Texans to a victory for once until he had one of the worst meltdowns in the history of the young teams franchise with 2 fumbles and 1 td interception all in about 2 minutes.

My favorite quote in the book would have to be "His family is a web of woman dead and alive with him in the center like a spider driven by different instincts. The reason this is my favorite quote is because i think it shows how Dr. Homero is dealing with so many problems all at one time for ex. how hallie is dead somewhere in nicaragua, Codi is going through all kinds of problems in her life and on top of all that he is slowly dieing and watching his family all go down with him.

MY favorite charector in the book is Loyd. The reason Loyd is my favorite charector is because for one i admire the fact that everything he does is perfect. I also think he is helping Codi with all of her problems and how to handle them. I think that if Codi didnt have Loyd for a boy freind she wouldn't even know how to handle herself and all of her problems. 

I think one of the most important scenes in the book is when Codi is up in the attic after Hallies disappearence and is looking at all of the old photos. I think this is one of the most important scenes because i think this is the turning point in the book and is when Codi really starts to find herself and that she can live on with out Hallie and doesnt need her there for everything she does.

A book that i have read recently is Lord of the Flies. overall i didnt really care for the book much. The reason i didnt care for it wasnt because of the content but i didnt reall like reading a book that was pretty old and hard to read. Another reason that i didnt like the book was because it got kind of boring and dull at some points of the book.

My favorite book would definatly have to be Of mice and men. The reason it is my favorite book is because i like how one man goes out of his way to watch out for another man just out of the kindness of his heart. I also liked all the adventures lennie and George faced through out the whole book