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Stuff to think About

Here are some points to ponder. Think about it.

Why is the alphabet in the order it is in?

How do people with no arms vote? Now, you may just think, they can tell someone their vote and that person will check it off for them. But it would have to be someone you trust VERY much.

Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

Do people say relativism is absolutely true?

Which came first: language or conscious thought?

Winners aren't quitters- what about smoking?

What came first: the chicken or the egg?

Is it possible to choose a random number between zero and infinity?

Who first thought to make music?

M & H's Book Awards 08

Mary and Hannah have collaborated to bring you are first annual list of the Best Books that, well, we think others should read as well. We are young, and have read not too many books. But the books we have read are good. From classics, to great new books, here is our list of books:

Picture Books:
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

Best Series:
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery

Best Non-Fiction:
Jesus Freaks by dc Talk
The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson
A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Best Classic:
A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Best Novels for Young People:
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
pictures of hollis woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry by Mildred D Taylor
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Best Book Ever:
The Bible by God

Book Review: Twilight

Around here, everyone is reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. A lot of my friends said how good they were, so I decided to give Twilight a try. Well, here's what I thought.
At first I didn't think it was that great of a book- I work at the library and I'm always putting away books like that- you know, romantic thrillers. It's certainly no Jane Eyre, but then again, it wasn't trying to be. I think what Meyer was aiming for was an Anne Rice- type novel. Since I haven't read any Anne Rice, I wouldn't know. I do know one thing- Meyer captures teenage angst, love, and heartbreak perfectly. I'm just finishing New Moon now, and I am excited to read the next two books. Unlike every teenage girl I know who read Twilight, my favourite character is not Edward, but Jacob. Sure, Edward is hot. But Jacob is nice. I was kind of devastated when he (*spoiler alert*) turned into a werewolf. In a way I wish that Bella just falls in love with an ordinary, human boy and lives happily ever after. But I guess there would be no books that way. I guess the falling in love with ordinary human boys is left up to us.

good ol goethe

Nothing is worth more than this day

The Story of the Christmas Truce

With Remembrance Day coming up, it is also important to remember peace. In school, we learn about wars of all kinds. Never about peace. So I will share this well-known story with you. OK, so I copied it from Wikipedia. I couldn't figure out how to get those underlines off.

The truce began on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1914, when German troops began decorating the area around their trenches in the region of Ypres, Belgium, for Christmas. They began by placing candles on trees, then continued the celebration by singing Christmas carols, most notably Stille Nacht (Silent Night). The Scottish troops in the trenches across from them responded by singing English carols.

The two sides continued by shouting Christmas greetings to each other. Soon thereafter, there were calls for visits across the "No Man's Land" where small gifts were exchanged — whisky, jam, cigars, chocolate, and the like. The artillery in the region fell silent that night. The truce also allowed a breathing spell where recently-fallen soldiers could be brought back behind their lines by burial parties. Proper burials took place as soldiers from both sides mourned the dead together and paid their respects. At one funeral in No Man's Land, soldiers from both sides gathered and read a passage from the 23rd Psalm:

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

The truce spread to other areas of the lines, and there are many stories of football matches between the opposing forces. The film Joyeux Noël suggests that letters sent home from both British and German soldiers related that the score was 3-2 in favour of the Germans.

In many sectors, the truce lasted through Christmas night, but in some areas, it continued until New Year's Day.

The truce occurred in spite of opposition at higher levels of the military. Earlier in the autumn, a call by Pope Benedict XV for an official truce between the warring governments had been ignored.

British commanders Sir John French and Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien vowed that no such truce would be allowed again. (However, both had left command before Christmas 1915.) In all of the following years of the war, artillery bombardments were ordered on Christmas Eve to ensure that there were no further lulls in the combat. Troops were also rotated through various sectors of the front to prevent them from becoming overly familiar with the enemy. Despite those measures, there were a few friendly encounters between enemy soldiers, but on a much smaller scale than the previous year. The 1984 song "Pipes of Peace" by Paul McCartney was written about the Christmas truce.

Best Songs in General

So, I figured, can't limit my list to just Nova flippin Scotia. So, here's a list of the songs I think are the best. Now, bear in mind, I am just one person, living in one time in the world. This list will be biased from the point-of-view of a Christian, Canadian Anglophone young female in the 21st century. I also only have a little over 1000 songs in my iTunes library, of which I consider a little over 300 to be actually good. And out of these, I have carefully chosen the best. As of this moment of time. I will catagorize each of these. Like the Grammy's. Except not. Because the catagories are pretty much arbitrary
So Without Further Ado, the Winnners
Best Christian Song- "Only You" by the David Crowder Band
Best Coldplay song (yes, this is a catagory)- "Swallowed in the Sea" by Coldplay, obviously.
Best song sung by a female- "On the Radio" by Regina Spektor
Best Country Song (one of only two I listen to, in case you were wondering)- "Someday" by Steve Earle.
Best Beatles song- "For No One" by the Beatles of course
Best love song- "My Favourite Chords"- the Weakerthans (I'm warning you, at this point at time I am obessed about the Weakerthans. They are the best thing since Switchfoot)
Best Indie-type song- "Killer of Dragons" by the High Dials
Best Francophone Song- "Manon" by Les Trois Accords
Best Song that Has been in A Commerical- the song from the Discovery Channel Commercial ("I love the whole world...")
Best Rock Classic- "November Rain" by Guns n'Roses
Best song without words- "Music for a Found Harmonium"
Best song with the Name of a Month in it- "Cold December" by Matt Costa
Best Song that is always getting stuck in your head- "The Henney Buggy Band" by Sufjan Stevens
Best Break-Up Song- "Night Windows" by the Weakerthans
Best Canadian Song- "Bobcaygeon" by the Tragically Hip
Best song by a guy who converted to Islam- "Wild World" by Cat Stevens
Best Switchfoot song- "You"
Best song that has been in a film- "My Hands are Shaking" by Sondre Lerche (from Dan in Real Life)
Best song that I can play on guitar- "The Cure for Pain" by Jon Foreman
Best happy song- "Don't Worry Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin
Best song to sing around a campfire- "Wonderwall" by Oasis
Best pre-1900 song- "Be Thou my Vision"
Best 1900-1930 song- "In the Good Old Summertime" by John Philip Sousa
Best 1930-1960 song- "They Can't Take that Away from me" by Fred Astaire
Best 1960s song- "Walk Away Renée" by the Left Banke
Best 1970s song- "Knocking on Heaven's Door" by Bob Dylan
Best 1980s song- "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen
Best 1990s song- yeah, I will just skip this catagory
Best 2000s song- "When I Go" by Slow Club
Best punkish song- "Outrage" by Capital Lights
Best crazy weird song- "High 5" by Calibretto 13
Other songs that I should have mentioned but didn't but did now-
"Watermark" by the Weakerthans
"The Blues" by Switchfoot
"Nine Million Bicycles" by Katie Melua
"Breakdown" by Jack Johnson