The Legend of Bagger Vance - Movie Review

“The Legend of Bagger Vance” is an inspirational drama on over coming adversity and returning to the things you love and cherish. It is set 1931 during the aftermath of the great depression in Savannah Georgia. Matt Damon portrays a young and out of it Rannulph Junuh. Junuh returns to Savannah after running away from the war. Savannah needs Junuh for an upcoming golf tournament. After characters such as Adele Invergordon (Charlize Theron) and Hardy Greaves (J. Michael Moncrief) practically beg Junuh to compete, Junuh finally decides he will play and represent Savannah. But as we learn the biggest factor in Junuh’s return would have to be that of Bagger Vance (Will Smith) a dark and mysterious and almost godly figure that shows up out of the woods from seemingly nowhere to offer to be a caddie for Junuh. Bagger Vance will ultimately prove key in helping Junuh remember his authentic swing and over coming his demons to tie Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen in one of the biggest golf comebacks of all time. Directed by Robert Redford the film so eloquently indulges itself into the golfing world, from the emotions, struggle and heartache the game can so easily bring upon you. The movie which skips between the golf competition and the romance between Junuh and Adele goes very well together as it is easy to tell that Adele and golf are the two things that Junuh truly loves. The top notch cast also includes Jack Lemmon as Hardy Grieves as an old man, Bruce Mcgill as one of Junuh’s playing competitors “that hits more bad shots in a single round then most players hit in an entire season”. The films director, Robert Redford casted Matt Damon to play Junuh because he is a very prominent actor with notable roles in films such as “Good Will Hunting and “Saving Private Ryan”. His brisk performance is the royal icing on a clever and dramatic confection that manages to be substantial and inspirational all at once.

West Edmonton Mall

Mom said when everyone finished 2 subjects in their homeschooling books we could go to West Edmonton mall. We went last weekend! The first day we went to the water park and Nanny came with us. My favourite was the blue bullet waterslide. The next day we went to Galaxyland. This is me and Joe on the merry go round and it was so much fun.



And this is just me on the merry go round.

This is Katie and Sarah on the boat ride. If you look really closely you can see them. I went on the boat ride too but I'm not in this picture. And this is me and Dad on the bumper cars and it was a lot of fun!!! This is me and Joe at the play place and it was fun too. This is the swing of the century. I went on it, but I'm not in this picture . It was my favourite ride.

This is Joe in the play place.

This is me in the hot air ballooon ride.

And this is Katie in the hot air balloon ride.

And this is Joe in the hot air balloon.

And this is Joe on the airplane ride.

And this is Sarah at the mini golf place. She got a hole in one!!

This is me at the mini golf place.

And this is us at Chantelle's house and we stayed overnight there.

This is Sarah and Dad sitting on the couch at Chantelle's house.

And the then cute Wiskey dog.

THE END

The Panama Canal

In 1539 the first plans for the Panama Canal were drawn by King Charles V of Spain, but the project only became practical more then 300 years later with the construction of the Panama railroad. The railroad was used to transport goods from vessels on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, and became helpful in choosing Panama as the site for a water transit route.

Construction began in 1880 by the French under Ferdinand de Lesseps, the same person who conducted the construction of the Suez Canal in 1869. Harsh working conditions, yellow fever and malaria wiped out an estimate 22,000 lives before the project was bankrupted in 1889.

From 1819, Panama was part of the federation and country of Colombia, but when Colombia rejected United States plans to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, the U.S. supported a revolution that led to the independence of Panama in 1903

In 1904 the project was taken over by the United States under Theodore Roosevelt, after orchestrating Panama’s move for independence from Colombia the previous year. The discovery that mosquitos as the carriers of yellow fever and malaria allowed for disease prevention, and work moved quickly under improved conditions, although it would claim another 5000 lives before completion.

picture from 1904

The Panama Canal was finally completed in 1914. The total cost was $375,000,000. It was 51 miles long. And allowed more than 14,000 vessels ferrying nearly 280 million tones of trade goods between the Eastern and Western nations to pass each year. The cargo ship Ancon was the first to cross on August 15^th 1914.

Gatun Locks

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal

http://geography.about.com/od/specificplacesofinterest/a/panamacanal.htm

Global Climate Change

Today I learned about global climate change. The earth is heating up because human activity is increasing the greenhouse effect. Greenhouse gases come from using coal and oil. Polar ice shelves are breaking into small pieces. Polar bears are drowning because the ice is melting away.

There are things that everyone can do to slow down global warming. We can look for solar, tidal, hydroelectric, and geothermal power. We can stop driving so much, and start biking or walking instead. Or we could buy electric cars. We can turn off the lights, TV and computers when we're not using them. We can reduce, reuse and recycle.

Pauline Johnson

Today I learned about Pauline Johnson. She was born on March 10, 1861, near Brantford Ontario. Her father was a Mohawk Chief named G.H Johnson and her mother was an Englishwoman named Emily Howells. She became a much loved Canadian poet. She wrote 'The Corn Husker' and 'Canada'. Some called her The first Native voice in Canadian literature and others called her the 'Mohawk Princess'.

Canada (an acrostic poem) by Pauline Johnson

Crown of her , young Vancouver; crest of her, old Quebec;
Atlantic and far Pacific sweeping her, keel to deck.
North of her, ice and arctics; southward a rival's stealth;
Aloft her Empire's pennant; below, her nation's wealth.
Danger of men and markets, bearing within her hold,
Appraised at highest value, cargoes of grain and gold.

I'm driving

On Feb. 9th I got my learners licence.

I studied for a long time. I was really nervous, but I did good. I got 93%.

My Mom gave me my first driving lesson on Saturday. We went up to Monterra where there wasn't any traffic.

After I drove around for half an hour, I got comfortable with the gas, the brake, and turning.

I'm going to practice once a week with my mom.

Tommy Douglas

Today I learned about Tommy Douglas.

Tommy Douglas was voted in 2004 as 'The Greatest Canadian', even though he wasn't born in Canada. He beat Alexander Graham Bell, Terry Fox, Wayne Gretzky, and Fredrick Banting. He won because he is the father of Medicare in Canada.

Tommy Douglas was a politican who introduced government funded health care. When he was little his family couldn't afford the surgery he needed on his leg. Luckily a surgeon agreed to do the surgery if his student's could watch. So Tommy was able to keep his leg. When he grew up he knew how important health care was to poor families. In other countries people have to pay for healthcare.