Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Veld


Book Review By Nicholas Yeh in Mrs. Pettigrew's class

Win the Game!! OR begin again, and again, and again…. This Book!!! Heir Apparent is a Sci-Fi based on a medieval video game. Giannine, the girl in this book gets a video game coupon for her birthday. She goes to the company and chooses a game to play there. The objective if the game is to prove your mother, 3 half-brothers and other barbarians that you are the heir to the throne. As she plays, a group of rioters outside of the building sabotage the gaming equipment causing Giannine to keep playing or else she dies. Soon she embarks on her quest to prove herself. She has to find the magic ring, find the stolen treasure, answer the dwarf’s riddles, come up with a poem for a head chopping statue and so much more. This book will keep you excited and energize till the end.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Top 4 Strategy Games (In my Opinion)




AT Number4 we have, Supreme Commander!! Supreme Commander is based on three factions: The UEF, The Cybrans and The Aeon. The UEF is mainly an Earth based empire. The Crybrans are Genetic Mutations of humans. The Aeon are peace aliens that fight to create peace. Each faction uses land forces such as, tanks and robots. Air Force, which consists of Bombers and Fighters. Navy which consist of battleships, subs and destroyers. You control a huge robot that builds factories that produce such forces. This is a number 4 because it is hard to play and hard to get the storyline well.







A Number 3, we have Red Alert 2 and its expansion pack Yuri's Revenge. Red Alert 2 is about a war between America and the Soviet Union. Using some futuristic technology, you can witness a great war between both factions. In Yuri's Revenge, Yuri is a power crazed maniac that uses mind control to win the war. After the Americans defeat the Soviet Union, Yuri arises and tries to take over the world. This game is a 3 because of the cheesy videos and the weird futuristic technology. Also, this game has really weird sound effects.



At Number 2, We have Command and Conquer Generals. Generals is again based on three factions. This time they are modern day factions. We have, the Technological Advanced Americans. Next we have the Innumerable Chinese Army. Finally, we have the power crazed Global Liberation Army which is mainly a Middle Eastern group. This game is a modern warfare game. Using many forces that are used nowadays. However, there are some futuristic items in our game. For example, the Americans have created a tank called the Paladin Tank. It is mainly a normal tank except is has a laser that can destroy missiles. In its expansion pack called: Generals Zero Hour, you can use computer generated generals that have special capabilities that are different to one another. I gave this a number 2 because the graphics on this game was great, but it was also very challenging.


And Finally, at Number 1, we have Empire at War and its expansion pack, Forces of Corruption. In the original Empire at War, the game basically follows the original last 3 movies, storyline. The game ends when the 1st Deaths Star is destroyed. This action packed game uses many original forces seen in the movies. In Forces of Corruption, you use a new faction called the Zann Consortium. They plan to conquer the galaxy using corruption. The storyline begins with Tyber Zann(Your Major Hero) breaking out of jail. You help him destroy the Empire and raid the Emperor's Personal Vaults. I give this Game a 1 because of the in depth graphics and the creative storyline. Not to mention the exciting battles you can play in this great game.


Thank You for reading my Top 4 Strategy Games Post. Please make comments.


Thanks.


Nick Yeh

Sunday, April 13, 2008

The Funniest Movie Ever: The Longest Yard


This movie is the funniest movie ever made. It all starts out will Paul Crewe (Adam Sandler) is drunk at his girlfriends party watching football. Paul Crewe was convicted of shaving points in his earlier football career. So, he steals his girlfriends car and sets out driving with an 8-Pack of Beer. He soons starts speeding and, all of a sudden there are squad cars and police helicopters chasing him. Finally, he piles into a group of police cars, and thus ends the chase. Paul is then sent to jail where the warden forces him to help his jail guard football team. Paul soon assembles a team of prisoners and soon schedules a game with the warden's team. Now if I tell me more, I will spoil the ending. This is a funny movie some wild swearing. Just watch it and you'll like it.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

American Food in General


I believe that American food in general have bigger portion than other places in the world. For example, the first time we ate KFC in America, I was surprised that the KFC bucket was really big. After that incident I had to adapt to the large portions of food. Many restaurants have huge plates stuffed with food. I think that if people would make smaller portions, it would be easier to eat.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Hotel One in Taichung










When someone says about Hotel One, a new hotel in Taichung, I think about the great service at the hotel. For example, when I was there one time I was going up to grab some pancakes for breakfast. Just as I got it, a waiter came by and said the pancakes were too dry and that he would ask the cook to make some better ones. He also said that he will bring me some when he was done. After this happened, I was so shocked because many other hotels don't really care if the pancakes were dry or not. While we were at Hotel One, we stayed in a huge room with two bedrooms. Each room had a huge tv in front of the bed. Amenities such as high-speed internet access, iPod connection, in-room printer for your computer, decent size room and nicely appointed bathroom. Also, you can find stationary items in the desk under the TV. Furthermore, services provided from the front-desk, to the restaurant, were low-key but attentive. Location -wise, Hotel One's location which is close to several museum and parks is anther big plus for visitors to Taichung. I think that Hotel One is a 5-star hotel because of the service and ammenities. I would recommend tourists who are looking for some luxury, should go to this hotel.




Sunday, April 6, 2008

Sahara


An early Clive Cussler book, this is a interesting story with a lot of adventure and some humor. The story starts from a pilot named Kitty Mannock who crash in the dry Sahara. Also it starts during a Civil War battle where Southern Sailors prepare to leave port with a kidnapped Abraham Lincoln. The main characters in this story is, Dirk Pitt: A NUMA marine engineer who is the main adventurous in this story; Al Giordino: Dirk Pitt's Assistant The story rages on with a illegal mining facility to a missing Ironclad in the Sahara. However, if you have watched the movie but haven't read the book, you are in for a big surprise. First of all, the movie does not mention Kitty Mannock or Abraham Lincoln. Second of all, many characters in the book did not appear in the movie like St. Julien Permultter, a scholar. Finally, one of the most interesting part of the story was when U.N Special Forces get trapped in a old Fort was not in the movie. So, I think that the book is way better than the movie.
This story is great for adventure fans.