Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Minor Reference to my Harry Potter Obsession

I got these from Bailey's blog, http://theramblingsofaninsaneteen.tumblr.com/, who probably got them from somewhere else, and I thought they were pretty much the most amazing thing ever! :D

Books [just for reference]
1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
3. Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Askaban
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter from He Who Must Not Be Named's perspective
1. Harry Potter and that time I picked the wrong head to chill on
2. Harry Potter and that time he killed my snake
3. Harry Potter and the time I was not around
4. Harry Potter and that time I killed some spare
5. Harry Potter and the time I hung out in the Ministry
6. Harry Potter and that time that I wasn’t there but Snape Killed Dumbledore
7. Harry Potter and the time he and his friends kicked my butt.


Harry Potter from Ron's perspective
1. Ron Weasley and the Frigging Three Headed Dog
2. Ron Weasley and the Possessed Sister
3. Ron Weasley and the Rat That Isn’t A Rat
4. Ron Weasley and the Green Monster of Jealousy
5. Ron Weasley and the Year of Quidditch
6. Ron Weasley and the Girl Drama
7. Ron Weasley and the Wooing of Hermione Granger

And maaaybe I'll just add that The Deathly Hallows Part 1 is AMAZING!!!! :D :D :D :D :D
Favourite Parts:'
- Fleur as Harry: "Don't look at me, Bill, I'm hideous!" and cuddling up against Bill's shoulder
- pretty much the whole Seven Potters Scene!
- when George walks in on Harry and Ginny kissing
- Harry and Hermione's dance

- Ron: "Midnight. Mom always said midnight. Sounds better than twilight."

- Harry[after the scene where Ron goes on about hearing Hermione's voice]: "yeah, why don't you keep it up about seeing her light and stuff? I'm sure she'll come around."

- Dobby: "Kill?! Dobby never means to kill!! Just maime or seriously injure."

- Fred[worriedly]: "How do you feel, George?" George: "Saint-like." Fred: "What?" George[pointing to his ear]: "I'm holey. Get it?"

- Ron, Hermione, and Harry in the Ministry as the adults. Imagine what it would've been like for the actors!! lol

- and then the part with Ron and Harry's fight almost made me cry ... it's just so sad when you've seen them through so much! :(

Et Voila, that's the first Harry Potter blog entry, with probably many more to come. This was just triggered after seeing Deathly Hallows for the first time. Friggen great! :D



And, NO, I am not just a movie cheat. 'Cuz everyone knows the books are better than the movies.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Even if I eat my veggies, starving kids in China are still starving...

Wear a ribbon for breast cancer, wear a poppy for Remembrance Day, eat your veggies at dinner because there are starving children in China who would love to eat them, take a Vow of Silence for children who do not have a voice, etc. What difference does it make? When it doesn't really affect the people who we're doing it for? To raise awareness? Well what are the people we're 'awarifying' going to do? Do the same thing and make more people aware? Lot of good that will do...
This is really debatable in my head, as I can see the point from both sides. However, I'm leaning more towards doing it. It's kind of a personal thing. Giving money all the time loses its meaning after a while, and it's just another dollar going to some organization. Wearing the ribbon or making some sort of stand reminds you of why you're doing it. It reminds you that you care, and truly are in support of whatever you're supporting. Don't you feel better when you can physically see that you're doing something? Donating is good, but you can't actually see with your own eyes what you're sponsoring. When you where the ribbon or eat your veggies or take the vow of silence, you do it proudly, knowing that you're in support of whatever it is. It gives the giver both a sense of pride in what they are doing as well as sort of puts them into the shoes of whoever they're supporting, or makes them realize what they have that others don't.
Not that it's only for the person doing it, of course. People do notice and they do take joy in the fact that you're supporting it, and sometimes they ask what it's for, but not always. It does raise awareness, but not nearly as much as your own. It mostly increases your will to give and support this cause.
Well that's all I can think of at the moment. You'll see there's no structure to this entry at all, just like all the others. I'll probably continue this later with more and better points, but for now that's all there is.

Awareness Ribbons:
White - adoption awareness, Methamphetamine[Meth] abuse awareness, lung cancer
Yellow - bone cancer, suicide awareness and prevention, endometriosis awareness, bladder cancer, Association of Young People with M.E, genocide awareness
Puzzle Pieces - Autism awareness
Clouds - Congenital diaphragmatic hernia [I think it's some sort of birth defect thing...?]
Blue - child abuse awareness, 'Bring Home our Troops', thyroid awareness, prostate cancer, colon cancer, anti-sex slavery, ant-tobacco
Jade - Jade Ribbon Campaign [hepatitus B and liver cancer]
Purple - crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, sarcoidosis, religious tolerance, domestic violence awareness, childhood stroke awareness, alzheimers, cystic fibrosis, March of Dimes
Lavender - epilepsy, cancer awareness[general]
Periwinkle - stomach cancer, eating disorders, esophageal cancer, pulmonary hypertension
Pink and Blue - Pro-Life, breast cancer, infertility awareness, infant loss, pregnancy loss, male breast cancer
Orange - self-injury, animal protection, leukemia, multiple sclerosis, anti-racism, kidney cancer, ADHD
Red - heart disease, AIDS, substance abuse, vasulitus
Gray - mental illness awareness, diabetes, brain cancer, asthma, and... zombie awareness[yes, it's real!]
Black - melanoma awareness, Anarchist Black Ribbon Campaign, remembering the Virginia Tech massacre thing
Pink - breast cancer, LGBT violence
Green - bipolar disorder, gastrochisis, depression, lyme disease, organ transplantations, environmental protection, mitochondrial disease, pedestrian safety
Teal - ovarian cancer, OCD, panic disorder, dissocatiative identity disorder, anti-bullying, batten disease, agoraphobia, food allergies
Violet - testicular disease
Gold - bone cancer, childhood cancer
Silver - brain disorders
Daisy - neurofibromatosis[those bumps on old people]
Burgundy - brain aneurism, headaches
Red and Blue - Haiti recovery[from earthquake]
Orange and Black striped - World War II
Red and Black - atheist solidarity
Blue and Black - law enforcement

And then of course there's the poppy on Remembrance Day, and many many others. There's also [my favourite] awareness bracelets!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

War is stupid, just like republicans :) Not really, but for impact it is


Seeing as it's Remembrance day, I thought I might post something in honour of the vets. Not that I support war in any way. I'm quoting Muriel Duckworth as she says for the millionth time: War is stupid! And THAT is where the title comes in. In my opinion, war is stupid, but I'm still honouring the veterins by wearing a poppy :)
I think the two world wars we had were terrible, as does everyone else probably. Although I am pacifist, I'm glad Canada joined that war. Germany was...insane, does that fit? The Canadian military was needed to stop it. All the men, younger and older, cared enough about, not just our country, but the rest of the world. I don't like that they were forced to, but I respect the men who fought. Any life that ends, at or before their time, deserves respect. Of course, I also respect the men that DIDN'T fight. My great-grampa, for example, who managed to escape being drafted into the war by hiding inside a hole under the kitchen table when the soldiers came, but that's another story. Those people who knew they didn't belong in the war and managed to remain with their families also have my total respect.
War is the worst thing on earth. One of the few things I hate. I hate it! I hate it! I HATE IT! This is where the controversy comes in, in this thing :P In Canada, we have 'peacekeepers', 'peacemakers', and 'peace enforcers'. I'm pretty sure the way they work is that the peacekeepers help two nations work out their problems BEFORE they go into war, peacemakers place themselves into warring sides to prevent attack, and the peace enforcers 'enforce' peace. That's all good...in theory! The problems are (a) the 'peace enforcers' part of the three, and (b) what these groups ACTUALLY do. You can't 'enforce' peace, just like you can't fight for peace. When someone is attacking someone else, that is not peace at all! It's a completely hypocritical situation: you can't go up to get down and you can't fight for peace. It just doesn't work that way! If someone has another opinion on what these 'peace enforcers' actually do, pleeeaaaase tell me. But really, how many different ways can you interpret 'peace enforcers' without involving physical violence?
Okay, when I say what these peace people actually do, I don't think I'm really putting that right. I think it might just be only the peace enforcers, and maybe the peacemakers to. They don't fight; they only keep the peace that's already present, and prevent the war from starting. The peacemakers I'm not too sure about. You can't really 'make' another nation peaceful. You can give them advice, try to help them see from the eyes of the other nation, persuade them this way and that, but it's all verbal, much like a person. I guess peacemaking is OKAY, because they're not really attacking anyone, and they don't fight all the time, but they ARE armed. Peace enforcers, on the other hand, no. That's like running someone else's country because you think you're better than them or something, AND you're attacking them. No. Not right.
Another thing is that the peace enforcers don't always fight on behalf of the lesser nation, or really attempt 'peace'. It's like Canada's role in, what was it, Afganistan? Iraq? Both? We ended up helping the US more than we did the other country, or for peace. How does a country with an army like ours plan to stop a country with an army like the US' from attacking? We can't. So what do we do? Apparently we go and make a big mess and shoot a bunch of innocent people. And then we hear about all those 'poor Canadian soldier deaths' on the radio. Don't get me wrong, it's not a good thing they died and they should be properly mourned, which they likey are, but what about all the Afgans or Iraqis that perished? Do we consider the deaths that person might have caused? We don't hear those on the radio. Did you know that those whom we call terrorists, in many homelands they're considered 'freedom fighters? And likely the other way around as well. When our 'peace enforcers' storm into some country shooting up a storm [you know, making peace and everything :P], why shouldn't the people consider them terrorists? Our military are terrorists. All militaries are terrorists. When someone from another nation attacks us, they're considered 'terrorists', right? Why shouldn't it work the other way around?
The two World Wars, I think, helped us realize the effects of war, and it helped create the UN. The UN helps nations communicate with eachother so much easilier. It connects all the countries with the common good. [When the US goes in and makes without the UN's permission however, is a complete other story. And how they managed to STAY in the security council of the UN even after that I would really like to know!]. But the UN is great. Once all the countries decide to join, it will be even better. Maybe even authoritarian governments will become more democratic and developing will become developed. THIS can be acheived with the UN, I believe, and, dear United States republicans, I hope you're reading.
The US has so much power over the world. I mean really. How can such a powerful nation be so blind? How can such a tv station like FOX News even air without being shut down from being so wrong? Not the people. I'm sure most Americans are wonderful people. The one's that I know are perfectly nice people. Then again, all the one's I know vote democrat, and I've not yet talked to a republican, althouth somehow they keep holding office. If there's any republicans out there, let's chat?
So there you have it. My opinion on war. Well not really just war. My opinion on war can be put in three words: "War is stupid", once again quoting dear Muriel Duckworth. This whole thing was more like my opinion on Canadian involvement in wars, and a little bit of the US.
So NOW you can judge for yourself. Was this fitting for Remembrance Day or completely and totally inappropiate? I hope the veterans aren't mad. We met a couple yesterday after the Remembrance Day assembly at school, and they were so sweet! :) I love old people! You can't even describe them. There's something about them that just makes you love them, and veterans tend to be more... real? Maybe because they've lived through so much, have felt so much, and that's taught them what to be proud of and thankful for. They might be the only ones who truly know what it's like to love what you have, because they so easily could have lost it. I have so much respect for them.
There. That's more fitting for Remembrance Day :)Adios!

Quoting Rachel McQuail: is wearing a white poppy today in remembrance of all those who've suffered and are currently suffering as a result of wars and as a prayer that one day we will invest as much in preventing wars as we now do in in fighting them so that this suffering can end.