Weight Lifting Program

32465 R.D 10
Las Animas, CO 81054
26^th October, 2010

 Carl Lindauer
300 Grove Ave.
Las Animas, CO 81054

Dear Mr. Carl Lindauer

 Being a student at Las Animas High School, I recognize the pros and cons of our school system and facilities. You know as well as I do that here at Las Animas, we take our athletics very seriously, and are willing to do whatever it takes in order to be more successful at sports.  So if the weight lifting classes were offered, I would be very appreciative.
Its been proven that simple strength building exercises (such as weight lifting) decreases the number of serious injuries in all sports. Some injuries that can be avoided are ACL tears, muscle strains and muscles tears. Also, if you are doing your proper stretches after weightlifting, you will notice your game improving as you become bigger, faster, and stronger. When you gain more muscle, your speed will increase for track, your vertical will increase in basketball, your strength will enable you to tackle harder and recover faster. But these are not the only benefits of weight lifting.
I know that the school’s budget for hiring new teachers is very low at this point in time, but if a couple of the physical education classes were combined, then the P.E teacher could offer an hour or two of weight lifting classes.  Also if more classes were offered, there would be a greater variety of electives for students to choose from. If more electives were available, then other classes would have a smaller number of students, allowing teachers to teach more effectively.
I want the best for our athletes here at Las Animas, but with a few modifications, our sports programs will see a dramatic effect in the right direction.   

Sincerely,

Taylor Spady

"THE BIRDS"

Taylor Spady

Mr. Armstrong

English 1

12^th, October 2010

MOVIE REVIEW

If you are looking for a movie produced in the 1970’s, that will rise the tension and make you weary when you look up at the sky when you see strange flying creatures above you, then I know the perfect movie.  In the last few days, I was given the opportunity to watch Daphne du Maurier’s “The Birds”.   Alfred Hitchcock (the director of “The Birds”) does a great job with this movie.  He ties in his bazaar and creative ideas to raise suspense and horror of this film.

            Hitchcock did an outstanding job when it comes to picking the right characters to play the roles in this movie. It starts of with Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) at a pet store buying birds in her home town of San Francisco.  Then a young man walks in by the name of Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) walks into the store and starts giving Ms. Daniels a hard time. Mrs. Daniels being mighty clever and all decided to take a pair of love birds to his weekend home at Bodega Bay.

            When she arrives at Bodega Bay, she finds out that Mitch has a little sister named Cathy, so she address the envelope to her instead of Mitch.  Hitchcock does a great job at this part when he has Tippi Hedren portray how anxious Ms. Daniels  is to find the Brenner’s house.   

            After she drops off the love birds and is paddling back to the other side, she is struck by a gull and is bleeding.  The special effects of this movie were top of the line at the time, but watching it now after seeing the movies that were produced lately, you can tell that that the birds are fake. It appears as if someone off the set is throwing the birds at the people, and the blood is too red and looks as if it were sponged on. No matter what type of bird is attacking, they all make the same sounds, which does NOT make the film realistic. 

            Also, the movie “The Birds” was completely different from the book. Some of the differences would be were the movie is based, and the entire story line.  The only things that remained the same in both the movie and the book is that the birds attack in cycles, and they both boarded up the windows and doors.

              I also didn't agree about how Hitchcock ended the movie. Melanie was injured after being attacked by the birds in the attic, but the film suddenly ends when Mr. Brenner and his family are taking her to the hospital in San Francisco. But then again, the book had a terrible ending as well. Over all this is a very good movie and advise you to watch it. 

Cause and Effect Essay

Taylor Spady

David Armstrong       

English Cause and Effect essay         

17 September 2010

Have you ever started reading a book that was so fascinating that you couldn’t set it down?  Or, you are so hooked on a book that when you read it, it feels like everything else doesn’t exist?  When an author writes a book, their goal is to make their writing as interesting as possible while staying on topic.  One of the ways the author grabs your attention so you will continue to want to read what they have wrote is by adding suspense in either action, fear, or romance.  In “The Most Dangerous Game,” cause and effect relationships cause suspense.       

            In the story, what made it so interesting was how the suspense kept you curious and wanting more. When it started, it was like any other story until it said “I had to invent a new animal to hunt.”(Connell, 27) At this point, the tension was dramatically building, because General Zaroff mentioned how he had conquered the task of killing numerous terrifying animals such as elephants and water buffalos. Not everyone you see on the street can proudly say that they have hunted these types of creatures.  So when a man claims a “new” creature was created for a more extreme hunt, something couldn’t be right.

            While the General and Rainsford were having an elegant dinner with champagne on his personal island, Rainsford was admiring some of the generals many animal heads mounted on the walls.  There were so many fierce animals, such as lions, tigers, elephants, bears, jaguars, and cape buffalos. The General recalled that one night after hunting, he was laying in the tent with a headache when the thought came into his mind that hunting was starting to bore him! Especially when he mentions “It must have courage, cunning, and above all must be able to reason,” (Connell 27).  There is only one living thing that has all of these qualities.              

            As the story continues to unfold, Rainsford accused the General of murdering, not hunting.  The following day, the General explains the rules for the game so Rainsford has a fair chance. He even informs Rainsford to wear moccasins since they leave less of a trail of footsteps. “I’ll give him a trail to follow muttered Rainsford, and he struck off from the rude path as he had been following into the trackless wilderness.”(Connell ). At this point, the tension is sky rocketing, because if Rainsford doesn’t stay out of the Generals reach, then he is just going to be another trophy under his belt. But if he escapes, or doesn’t get killed, he’d be the only victim the general failed to kill.

          In this story, the author always had different cause and effect relationships that lead to suspense. There were also several quotes that made the suspense breath taking. But in the end, Rainsford survived for the three total days, and the General and his first hunting failure. In the last paragraph of the story, while the General was furnishing a repast for the hounds, Rainsford got to sleep in the comfortable bed.

Hunter? or Prey?

Since time began, there has always been the predator and the prey. Its part of how the cycle of life has lasted this long. But can you imagine being the one hunted? Your heart would pound rapidly against your rib cage due to fear, your muscles tense. This is why I would rather be the hunter. In the story, the general mentioned to Rainsford that he never had one person make it through the three day hunting period. So, if no prey ever lived, it would be better to be the hunter. There is some fear when it comes to hunting, but even Rainsford, a very experienced hunter, had to remind himself to watch his nerve and stay calm so he would be focused and think clearly when he was the prey. Being the hunter, you are never in really in danger unless the person you were hunting knew how to set up traps such as a Burmese Tiger Pit. I really don’t like being over whelmed with fear, so that’s why I would rather be the hunter in a situation like this.

FIRST BLOG!!!

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