Geography of Wicked!

Here is all the five links to my Geography Project :)

• Post 1:  Where it all began..
• Post 2:  Geography of New York
• Post 3:  Geography of Singapore
• Post 4: Geography of Sydney
• Post 5: Geography of The World

Hope you enjoyed reading my geography project all about Wicked

Finale of the Geography of Wicked V



Also If it wasn't for Winnie Holzman the story would not have been created as she wrote the novel in 2003 and  then Stephen Schwartz made It a Broadway debut!


Winnie Holzman grew up In New York City and was born in in 1954, she is an dramatist, screenwriter and poet. She studied English and Creative Writing in Princeton and she graduated with a Masters in Musical Theatre from New York City in 1934.

Therefore, since now we have learned that "Wicked- The Musical" has been so
popular,it has  - from Singapore to the USA to London, it is simply GLOBAL! So guess what I'm dedicate my last blog post to, the geography of the WORLD!


Fun geographic facts about the world

• About four billion gallons of water is used worldwide each day
• The moon is about 100 times drier than the Gobi Desert.
• Earth travels through space at at 66,700 miles per hour.
• From a distance Earth would be the brightest of all nine planets as sunlight is reflected by the planets water.
• The Persian Gulf sea is the warmest of all the seas as it reaches 35.6 degrees centigrade in the summer.
• Sunlight can penetrate clean ocean water until the depth of 240 feet.
• The total surface area of the of the Earth is 197 million square miles.
• The worlds deadliest recorded earthquake happened in 1557 in China when over 300'000 people were killed.
• The deepest depth in the ocean is 36'198 feet in the Pacific Ocean well south of Japan near the Mariana Trench.
• Only 3 percent of the water is fresh , rest 97 percent salted. Of that three percent, over two percent, is frozen in ice sheets and glaciers. Means less that 1 percent fresh water is found in lakes, rivers and underground. 

I hope you have enjoyed reading my project as much as I have enjoyed doing it!

Here is the number one hit of Wicked "Defying Gravity" Enjoy :)

Image of Winnie Holzman: http://www.google.ie/imgres?hl=en&biw=1920&bih=924&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=D-mb6CKqXs7pZM:&imgrefurl=http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-editorial-photo-winnie-holzman-opening-night-musical-image20854893&docid=NThCJlCA8BbWiM&itg=1&imgurl=http://www.dreamstime.com/winnie-holzman-at-the-opening-night-of-the-musical--thumb20854893.jpg&w=293&h=450&ei=xNq7T77zMcaZhQfH5tXzCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1696&vpy=258&dur=280&hovh=278&hovw=181&tx=169&ty=181&sig=100547586202292015474&page=1&tbnh=112&tbnw=74&start=0&ndsp=55&ved=1t:429,r:24,s:0,i:132
Image of the World: http://www.google.ie/imgres?hl=en&gbv=2&biw=1920&bih=924&tbm=isch&tbnid=o5CImxu38RLArM:&imgrefurl=http://larvalsubjects.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/what-is-a-world/&docid=Ca3dp3PbWJH-QM&imgurl=http://larvalsubjects.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/earth_from_space1.jpg&w=320&h=320&ei=9Nq7T6iEEcO7hAft68iICQ&zoom=1
Video of Defying Gravity:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlMBcTGJ4YM

Exam time...

This week we have our exams, I just had an essay on Sylvia Plath and it went alright :/ Have an Irish aural next and a Spanish Test! But once this week is over, we have our TY night to look forward to, and Sports Day :D

Can't believe TY is nearly over! It's so sad :(

Talk soon xo

Geography Project on Wicked Part IV

In my last post, I discussed the Geography of Singapore, the Cast of Wicked in Singapore the girl who plays "Elphaba"Jenna Rix was born and raised in Sydney. So I decided to dedicate this post to the Geography of Sydney.










Here is a few facts of the Geography of Sydney

• Sydney has a population of over four million people.

•  This covers almost 1120 square kilometres. 

• This city is the capital of the Australian State of New South Wales.

• Sydney is bordered in the east by the Pacific Ocean, to the west near the Blue Mountains

• Sydney is made up of two main regions, the Cucumber land Plain and the plateau of Hornsby.

• Sydney is greatly influenced by the oceanic climate since the location of Sydney is found in the coastal region. 

Since its a tradition now, I will leave you with another great song from Wicked! "For Good" :D

Sources

Picture of Jenna Rix:  http://www.google.ie/imgres?hl=en&biw=1440&bih=799&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=rEIXe1L-jtJmFM:&imgrefurl=http://sukiandmub.blogspot.com/&docid=NfjHjy9zWxiHHM&imgurl=http://sin.stb.s-msn.com/i/F8/32D9DBE0E79984E8A5

Picture of Sydney: http://www.google.ie/imgres?hl=en&biw=1440&bih=799&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=4C0IZcltsrySmM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney&docid=3GXtULyanc8RYM&itg=1&imgurl=http://upload

Video of For Good: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx3rjS_vSM4

Geography Project on Wicked part III

Did you know that there are five worldwide official "Wicked the Musical" company's ;Wicked USA (New York as mentioned in the previous post), Wicked London, Wicked Singapore, and Wicked The Netherlands.

Singapore is an island of 646 sq km, which is roughly the size of Chicago! It is located at one of the crossroads in the world! This position has helped it grow into a major centre for trade, tourism's and communications!

Source: 

But to be exact, Singapore is located 96km north of the equator, between the longitude 103 degrees 36' East and 104 degrees 25'East.

Singapore has been referred to as an "concrete jungle" number of times, because close to 90 percent of the population are living in flats and an ever-changing skyline of monumental buildings. However, Singapore has also been known as a green city.


Two causeway bridges link Malaysia, which is just north of Singapore. The key islands of the Riau Archipelago of Indonesia are also just a quick ferry trip away however Thailand and the Philippines are a short plane journey away. There are over 69 airlines working in the airport in Singapore, which is the gateway to Southeast Asia.

The climate of Singapore is humid and warm with temperatures ranging from roughly 23 degrees to 31 degrees Celsius. This makes it ideal for those who enjoy sunbathing, swimming, sailing and other water sports. But if you are someone who does not enjoy this tropical climate, Singapore is sheltered from the worst effects of the sun with air-conditioning in almost all of its buildings. including restaurants. Rain also falls throughout the year with more consistent rain during the monsoon season from November to January. These showers are usually sudden & heavy, but brief and refreshing.


Another interesting fact I learned about Singapore is that it is 8 hours ahead in the GMT!

Lastly to finish up with this post, is to leave you with another fabulous song from Wicked! "No-One Mourns the Wicked", enjoy!

Sources for the above pictures/videos:

Picture of Singapore Island: http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&gbv=2&biw=1440&bih=799&tbm=isch&tbnid=ufdn_6Qta5IQtM:&imgrefurl=http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/marinefish/text/117a.htm&docid=ysZiH4FyKDMAmM&imgurl=http://habitatnews.nu

Picture of Wicked The Musical: http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&biw=1440&bih=799&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=hGJDHH1eADe7FM:&imgrefurl=http://www.tonsoftickets.com/Wicked/wicked-tickets.html&docid=ZaEUuD0jh8_K9M&imgurl=http://www.t

Picture of Climate of Singapore: http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&gbv=2&biw=1440&bih=799&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=mDdeTWSauUYapM:&imgrefurl=http://www.southtravels.com/asia/singapore/weather.html&docid=revZ4OMLzZhbmM&imgurl=h

Video of "No-One Mourns the Wicked": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li8cryWN2ew








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Gaisce hike!

I just realised I never blogged about the An Gaisce Awards! Its not compulsory in our school so in total only 30 students completed it! It was really hard but I'm so glad I did it in the end!

We completed the bronze awards and this involved taking on a physical activity, personal skill and community involvement for 13-26 weeks and an 25-35 km overnight hike. I decided to take on completely new skills/activities since I had the time to experience new things in TY! I picked up the guitar, volunteered in the local boys primary school and joined a contemporary dance company. All of these have taken up so much of my time, but it has definitely been worth it!

Last Friday as our school finished for the weekend, we all headed towards Kippure in Wexford for our 25 km hike! On the first day we hiked for 13 km and at times it was very difficult! But on the second day we also hiked for 12 km and then completed the high ropes activity which was really fun but scary!

Geography Project - Wicked Part II

In my last post for my Geography Project, I mentioned that the composer of Wicked was Stephen Schwartz and he was born and raised in New York. So I decided to link this fact into this post, the geography of New York!


     As you may know New York City is located on the coast of the Northeastern United States at the mouth of the Hudson River in southeastern New York state.



The New York Harbour: has deep waters and sheltered bays, it helps the city grow in significance as a trading city. The majority of New York is built on three islands- Manhattan, Staten Island and western Long Island which in time makes the land scarce and encourages a high population density.



Boroughs: New York City consists of five boroughs

1) The Bronx, population: 1,364,566

Fun fact - The Bronx is the only borough of New York City which is believed to be apart of the United States mainland.

2) Brooklyn, population: 2,511,406

Fun fact- Brooklyn was incorporated into New York City in 1898, it was the borough that questioned joining NYC and they had several conditions that had to be met!

3) Manhattan, population:1'606'205

Fun fact-  Manhattan's Chinatown is the largest Chinese encase in the Western Hemisphere.

4) Queens, population: 2'256'576

Fun fact- Queens is the largest borough in New York City, by size. Total land area is 178.28 sq.

5) Staten Island, population:475'014

Fun fact-  The nickname of this borough is called "The Forgotten Borough" because it is the smallest borough by size and its residents feel its the last to receive the city's services.


The Land: New York city's land is to be estimated at 321 square miles. But, a more recent estimate calculates a total land area of 304.8 square miles. The highest natural point of New York city is "Todt Hill" on Staten Island, which at 408 ft above sea level is the highest hill in the Eastern Seabound south of Maine.

Lastly, to link back to the main subject of my project Wicked is another fabulous musical number "I'm not that girl"

Sources for Pictures/Videos:

Video of "I'm not that Girl":  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaT7DaqPbxs

Picture of New York Harbour:  http://www.google.ie/imgres?hl=en&biw=1440&bih=799&tbm=isch&tbnid=q02ZJ3Qk_s-5gM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Harbor&docid=u9y0d5LuAuGepM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi

Picture of Five boroughs of New York CIty: http://www.google.ie/imgres?num=10&hl=en&biw=1440&bih=799&tbm=isch&tbnid=9mQUQGBBWuPZhM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:5_Boroughs_Labels_New_York_City_Map_Julius_Schorzman.png&docid=Xfsd7wD8KkxrpM&im

Picture of three islands:  upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Usgs_photo_New_York_five_boroughs.jpg/250px-Usgs_photo_New_York_five_boroughs.jpg

Geography Project on the musical sensation.. Wicked!

  

I have decided to base my Geography project on the musical "Wicked" Wicked is by far my favourite musical, and I was very lucky to get to see it in the Apollo Victoria theatre, London a few years ago!

For you guys who don't know the story of Wicked it goes a little like this...Wicked tells the story of Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, and her relationship with Galinda the Good Witch of the North. Their friendship struggles through their opposing personalities, rivalry over the same love-interest, and lastly ultimately, Elphaba's public fall from grace. The plot is set before and during Dorothy's arrival from Kansas, and includes several references to well-known scenes and dialogue in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz as a backstory.

However,  If it wasn't for Stephen Schwartz, our beloved musical "Wicked" would not exist!

He is is an American musical lyricist and composer and Schawrtz composed the musical "Wicked" He spent four decades focused on his career and in total, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as  Godspell,  Pippin and Wicked. He has also contributed lyrics for a number of successful films such as Pochantas , The Hinchback of Notre Dame , The Prince of Egypt and Enchanted.

Below is the official soundtrack of "Popular" one of the many amazing song featured in this west end sensation!

It isn't surprising to learn that Schwartz has won various awards including the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics, three Grammy Wards, three Academy Awards and has been nominated for six Tony Awards!

Sources:


Picture of Wicked: http://www.google.ie/imgres?hl=en&biw=1440&bih=799&tbm=isch&tbnid=hGJDHH1eADe7FM:&imgrefurl=http://www.tonsoftickets.com/Wicked/wicked-tickets.html&docid=ZaEUuD0jh8_K9M&imgurl=http://www.tonsoftickets.com/new-im

Picture of Stephen Schwartz: http://www.google.ie/imgres?num=10&hl=en&biw=1440&bih=799&tbm=isch&tbnid=rdw6nWFUM83E2M:&imgrefurl=http://www.squidoo.com/disney-hunchback-of-notre-dame-soundtrack&docid=7miHAg

Video of Popular: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_uM8bUnlGQ

3 weeks till what?!

It is so scary that in three weeks we will be going to the A.I.B Build a Bank NATIONALS! :O

It feels like other day when we got through from regionals!

We have put alot of work in and now I just dont want it to end :(

Did you guys hear Bressie will be there??! That is why you do the bank. He is 6 ft 4 just saying..

I'll keep you posted on more Super €uro news ;)

- Aoife xoxo

Shake it out!

Tonight is our schools Music Night! We are singing Florence & the Machines "Shake it Out" with the other Transition Year class Banba! We juts had our first rehearsal and with a few adgustments we should be okay! Loads of students are performing from different years and I love these events cause we never get to see everyone else who is not in our year perform and some people are just so amazing! Lets hope we will be allowed watch the show and not be stuck backstage :/

Lets hope it all goes well!

Talk later ;)

- Aoife xoxo

Who is on the Internet...?

Last week, we had a member of Child Watch Safety come into us to talk about Internet Safety. He actually freaked me out loads about professional hackers & who is actually on the Internet. So when I went home I double checked my privacy settings, just to be sure.. and put a sticker over my web cam.

I think from that talk loads of girls including myself will think before they put stuff on the Internet because remember If you put something on the Internet it stays there for ever...

- Aoife xoxo

Best week ever! :O

I had the most amazing time EVER in The Irish Times! It was such a great week <3
On the first day I was a little  nervous but mostly excited cause I didn't know what to expect! But thank god there was a group of seven of us & they were all so nice so I knew it would be a great week! I got the bus in everyday so I was super early but I just chilled in a nearby cafe so it was all good! :) I worked from 10-5 every day. Our lunch break was from 1-2, all the TY's would go out to O'Connell street and have lunch together :)

We were in two different departments so we learned every different aspect of the newspaper

Monday: Newsroom
Tuesday: Advertising & Sport
Wednesday: The Ticket & Marketing
Thurday: Pre-Media, I.T & Irishtimes.com
Friday: The Ticket & Finance

We also were given talks from loads of different popular journalists which was so interesting & we were allowed to sit in on the midday conference with all the important editors to discuss which articles were going to be featured in the next days paper which was really cool!

My favourite part of the week so when we were in The Ticket. This was when we were given the opportunity to write a film review, we went to see Chronicle & we were given a deadline on when to e-mail it to the editor for her to read and edit it. The next morning she had them all printed out and they looked so proffesional and she gave us constructive critism about each of our articles!

To get into this work experience placement you had (as well as writing e-mails & letters) write an essay on why you wanted to go to The Irish Times. I know it was such an effort but to everyone who is reading this it completely made up for the week!

I met so many lovely people from this experience and learnt alot! Already I miss it so much :)

One of the best experience from TY so far :)

Talk Later

- Aoife xoxo

SUPER €UROS!

Hey Guys!

I am so sorry I haven't blogged in what seems like forever but I promise I will make up for it! But anyway yesterday our school bank Super €uros went to the Regional Final of the A.I.B Build a Bank competition in Lepordstown! It was such an amazing day & we all had so much fun!

When we first arrived and sussed out the competition, we soon realised the standard was so high! We thought out idea was creative? Then we saw Alice and Wonderland, Where's Wally, & Carnival themed banks and we knew we had to give a pretty good presentation to be with a chance!

We were super nervous! The judging went well cause they were all so nice :) After Lunch an FM104 presenter announced the top 10 shortlisted banks for the competition! We were delighted when they called us out third! Our amazing manager Caitriona had to talk about our bank for exactly two minutes, once the buzzer went off you were literally pushed off the stage!

Then the judges went out to deliberate & the FM104 crowd created a flash mob with us to randomly surprise the judges with! Even though we were having fun dancing around in our Super hero costumes we were all so eager and nervous to hear the results!

They informed us that the top four banks will be getting through the the National Final! The first finalist they announced was... SUPER €URO BANK!! We were all so happy and proud of our team! We each won a 100 euro voucher and 250 euro for the school! Now were going to work so hard until the final, but were not expecting anything just cause the standards so high! But were so proud of ourselves for getting so far!






Talk soon ;)

- Aoife xoxo

My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picoult- Novel Review

I brought my copy of “My Sister’s Keeper” to several different places with me; on the bus, luas, dart, at a cafe and even on an airplane, but no matter where I was, or even who was paying attention to me, I still emotionally responded as if I was at home all by myself, which yes including me trying to cover up my tears to a waitress who was trying to take my order. The incredible thing with “My Sister’s Keeper” is that Picoult manages to utterly draw you into the dramatic family life of the Fitzgerald’s and no matter where you are or who you are with you become totally engrossed in this novel that your surroundings disappear and the Fitzgerald’s household replaces it.

This intense family drama is based on the life of the Fitzgerald’s but the main narration of the story is told through the youngest child eyes. The novel begins with the narrator Anna explaining how she was born for a “specific purpose”, she was genetically conceived to save her sister Kate’s life. Kate was diagnosed at the age of two with a rare form of Leukaemia (APL), and since their other child, Jesse isn’t a match, strong willed parents Sara and Brian decide to have Anna as a perfect genetic match in order for her to become a donor for Kate. Sara explains to Anna “We loved you even more because we knew what exactly we were getting” From cord blood to lymphocytes to bone marrow and now to her own kidney, it isn’t surprising when Anna seeks lawyer Campbell Alexander advice in order for her to sue her parents “for the rights of her own body”

 Jesse the rebel of the family seems to be constantly in trouble with the police, as a reader we empathise with this character as he tries to get any form of attention from his parents who are constantly focused on Kate. Once Anna gets in contact with Mr. Alexander, Jesse warns “Don’t mess with the system Anna, we’ve all got our scripts down pat. Kate plays the Martyr. I’m the Lost Cause. And you, you’re the Peacekeeper”

But for Kate’s respect, love and loyalty to all the family and her bravery towards her disease, she makes in my opinion my favourite and most inspirational character

A particular scene which impacted me in the novel was when Sara was trying to convince Kate to go to the Mall with herself and Anna, however Kate being greatly worried about how people will stare at her and think of her as a “freak” In an attempt to show Kate that personal appearance does not matter she shaves off all of her and Anna’s hair. The three of them go hairless and simply care free to the Mall. Sara states “We are beautiful, times three”

“My Sister’s Keeper” is beautifully written. It is expressed simply in order to get through to all readers, which leaves a strong impact. The use of dramatic dialogue is carried out throughout the story, which makes this novel a page turner. It is as if we dying to hear what different characters will say and react, “Why won’t you realise that Kate is dying?” A technique worth mentioning is in each chapter, a different character is the narrator. We get to hear their thoughts, views, and insights into life which makes the reader feel as if we know each character personally.

I feel that Picoult is an optimistic and pessimistic writer. I feel she is optimistic when she writes about the unbreakable bond the two sisters share but however severely pessimistic in relation to Kate’s life long illness and the dramatic twist in the end.

Even though it is a tear-jerker and at sometimes extremely hard to read, I would recommend this novel to everyone because it will make you appreciate your life even more and have a deep impact on how you think and feel.