Supreme Blackjack update

1) The wheel from Blackjacks old cage

2) Tube leading from Blackjacks cage to dining room (9) 

3) Ropes

4) Cool house 

5) Water container

6) Food bowl

7) Tube leading from Blackjacks cage to lookout (8)

8) Lookout

9) Dining room

Blackjack is getting spoiled. He has now moved from his little home to a giant mansion. His favorite thing in his new cage is the cool house. He spends a lot of time in the place eating and sleeping because the thing is made from a special aluminum so it is always cold. Another thing Blackjack loves is the dining room. He stores his food in the place and likes to clean himself in there too. He also goes there when the air con (which is right next to the dining room) is on. The last thing I am going to mention in this update is the lookout. Blackjack likes to climb up on the top and sometimes I feed him his treats through the top.

Causeway bay big pool party

Every few weeks there is a giant pool party at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club in Causeway bay. So far I have been there two times. The party fills up quite quick so you have to get reservations pretty fast. The pool party has one huge inflatable with a slid on it and, there are a lot of small inflatables. There is also huge buffet with an infinite amount of ice cream! The last time I went there was Saturday the 5^th. There were lots of kids and I even made friends with some of them. That time all the kids could bring inflatables on the giant floating plaything. In the beginning when most of the kids were around a lot of kids were running and jumping trying to get on the barge. So many kids did this that the lifeguards had to push the kids off. There plan kind of backfired because all the kids started pushing the lifeguards off. At the end of the party a lot of the kids had left so it wasn’t so crazy. The day was very fun.

            

Greek Half Bloods and Monsters

Chapter 1 - I Beat the Bully
“Hi” my name is Charlie Thomas. I live in Seattle in an apartment with my mom Claire Thomas. I had a normal life until one day at the school cafeteria.
While eating my lunch, Buddy, the class bully said, “Catch this!” I turned and saw his lunch box flying through the air. I closed my eyes and waited for the impact. Surprisingly, it didn’t hit me. When I opened my eyes, I saw buddy on the floor unconscious with his lunch box on his chest.
Just then, the math teacher Mr. Brian came in the room, grabbed me, and walked me out of the room and into the back entrance. Suddenly he hit me hard on the head. The last thing I remember was Mr. Brian dragging me out of the

school grounds.

Chapter 2 - I Fight Cyclops
When I returned to consciousness, I was in a dark cave with lime stone ridges and watermarks. It looked like it was thousands of years old. I was bound in rope near a girl that looked a couple years older then me.
I asked her what she was doing here and why my math teacher attacked me. All she said was “You’re a half blood”. “A what?” I exclaimed. “A hal”- she was interrupted, “Where’s my lunch!” roared a booming voice.
Just then a giant humanoid entered the room. It was hairy, 7 feet tall, and had one big eye with a red pupil. The girl next to me said “of course. A Cyclops.” I thought about the name and realized that Cyclops meant ‘kuklōps’ in Greek.

The Cyclops interrupted my thoughts by picking me up
and throwing me across the room. I hit the cave wall with a crash and got dizzy but fortunately didn’t black out. It hurt and I got pretty mad at the Cyclops. The anger caused a tugging sensation in my gut. I heard thunder and saw a lightning bolt blast a hole in the ceiling, then hit the Cyclops on the head with a loud thump. That was obviously too much energy for the Cyclops because he instantly disintegrated forming a big mound of dust on the cave floor.
The girl had somehow gotten out of her binds and untied me. We ran out of the cave and walked in the forest. I asked her a lot of questions and she gave me an assortment of yes’s, no’s, and wait till we arrive at camp’s. After I gave up on getting a clear answer from her I asked her what her name was. She said “Sophie”. “What’s yours?” she asked.
“Charlie” I said.

After walking over a couple hills, around a swamp, and through a lake we reached the end of the forest. We went through the last of the trees and I could see a camp across a large field in the distance.

Chapter 3 Camp Half Blood
When we arrived at the camp I noticed a lot of kids about my age. I followed Sophie into a large farmhouse she called The Big House.
When we were inside the building I saw two people playing a game with cards. One of them was in a wheel chair, had a long white beard, and looked ancient. The other person had a tropical themed t-shirt and pants. The guy in the wheel- chair said “How was your quest Sophie?”
“Can we talk about this later Chiron?” she answered. Chiron looked at me, “I see you found a new demigod”. “Yes, his name is Charlie,” Sophie informed.
Chiron pointed across the room and said, “Charlie, can we

please talk in my room?” “Sure” I answered.
We went to his room and Chiron started “Charlie do you only have one parent?”
I was startled but answered, “Yes, how did you know?” Chiron looked at me “You’re a half blood”.
There was a pause then I said, “what’s a half blood?”
“A human that has a godly side and a mortal side” Chiron answered.
“Let me guess, Greek mythology is real?” I asked.
Chiron looked at the mini stuffed animal hydras in the corner and said, “Yes you are correct”. After a long silence Chiron said, “Go to Sophie, she will show you the camp.”
Camp half blood was made up of teenagers. There was a basketball court and a whole field of growing strawberries. There were 12 cabins each standing for a separate major god. There was archery class, swords class, canoeing races,

and more. After touring the camp Sophie showed me the weapons shed. I found interest in an axe and kept it.

Chapter 4 - I Get Claimed
After three days at camp I learned a couple things. First, that I could read Greek easily. Second, I liked fighting with an axe and third, you got to fight real monsters like giant scorpions, hydras, big bats, and more.
I lived in the Hermes cabin with all the other unclaimed kids. Chiron got me some belongings of a mattress, a toothbrush and paste, a light, and some other stuff.
One night at the campfire after eating the dinner of a BBQ, shepherds pie, a line of pastries, and more a camper gasped and said “look!”
All the campers stared at me. I realized I had a bright glow above my head. I swatted at it but it didn’t go away. The mark stayed for a moment but disappeared after a while. “What was that?” I said. Chiron answered by saying, “all hail son of Zeus”.

Chapter 5 - Lightning

After the songs from the Apollo cabin we all went back to our cabins. Sadly, I was all alone in cabin 1 with a big statue of Zeus staring at me. Miniature lightning storms circled the room with lightning coming out of the clouds making thunder sounds. There were no bathrooms, beds or any thing you needed to live with so I put my belongings on the floor and went to sleep.
While I was sleeping I had a dream. There was a flash of gold as a creature 40 feet long crushed a building. It had long iron sharp claws and two glowing red eyes. Its teeth were bright white and were so sharp it looked like they could poke a hole in metal, as a needle would do to a Balloon. Its scales were harder then titanium and were blocking everything that hit it. My fellow campers were hacking away at the thing with all their weapons. The massive destruction machine turned toward me and blew fire.

I woke up with a start. I heard a tapping sound on my door so I got out of bed and opened it. There was a cat outside. He had a yellowish tinge to his fur. He had blue eyes and was quite cute so I let him inside. I gave him some of my beef jerky from my belongings and made a miniature bed for him. After doing this I went back to sleep.
*
Next morning when I woke up I fed my hungry cat some more beef jerky and thought of a name for my cat. I decided I’d name him Lightning.

Chapter 6
The Golden Drakon
Two days later.
I woke up in the morning and I heard a lot of noise outside. I jumped out of bed, opened my window, and looked. There was the terrifying dragon-like thing of my dreams fighting my friends. I strapped on my armor, grabbed my axe then went outside.
My cat Lightning was raking the creature with his sharp iron like claws while Sophie and her friends from the Athena cabin attacked it with their daggers, swords, axes, and more weapons. Everything that hit the creature bounced of it.
I ran in and started slicing at the thing. An Ares sibling shouted, “die drakon!” but got silenced as the drakon blew a column flame at her. I summoned a few lightning bolts but they did nothing but irritate the drakon. After smashing the Hera cabin the drakon roared and ran away. When I went back to my cabin to get out of my armor I realized I was missing something, my cat! 

Chapter 7 Lightning goes Lightning
I decided I’d go get Lightning. I’m pretty sure the golden drakon took Lightning somewhere in the forest. I kept on my armor and followed the drakons’ huge footprints into the forest.
Its footprints lead through the wreckage and went to a cave. When I went inside the cave, I saw a pair of blue eyes as a creature zipped past me.

After a moment I saw a pair of big red eyes that belonged to the drakon in the distance and quickly decided I’d follow the creature with blue eyes. After I was out of the cave I realized that the creature with the blue eyes was my cat, I said to him “Quick lets get out of here” He seemed to understand me but the drakon came out of the tunnel and blocked our path. We were trapped!

I took out my axe ready to fight and Lightning unsheathed his claws. I charged at the massive drakon and started looking for cracks in its armor where I could stab while my cat was clawing the drakon like crazy. The drakon was too powerful and was gaining on us.

The drakon was about to smash my cat when Lightning did the most amazing thing. He turned into lightning. Lightning the lightning zapped the drakon over and over while I summoned some lightning bolts to help him. The drakon started to weaken from all the power and with a last agonizing roar crumpled to ash.

Chapter 8 The End
I made my way back to camp. I was sweating and real tired. When I came to the front of the big house I collapsed. When I woke up I was in the big house with my cat snuggled up to me on a bed. Chiron came in the room and said, “I see your awake Charlie.”
“Yes, I am” I said.
“Do you know who your cat is?” said Chiron.
I thought about it then with no answer said “Who?” Chiron said, “Your cat was Zeus’s pet a long time ago”.
I questioned him “why are you telling me this, does my cat have to go?”
“No, just telling you that your cat is an immortal indestructible beast that was made to protect Zeus when he was young.” Chiron explained.

I frantically said “But he is my friend too!”
Chiron looked at me with a serious stare “Do you want to keep him?”
There was a long pause, then I answered him, “Yes”.
Chiron ended the conversation “Then you may”.
“Can I take a look outside Chiron?” I asked him.
“If you are able to you can, and remember to defeat a drakon is a heroic thing, ” he told me.
I went outside, there was a cool breeze cooling me down on the hot sunny day. The boys from the Apollo cabin were playing basketball with the Hermes siblings while the Ares cabin members battled a giant spider that strayed out ofthe woods. The Hephaestus siblings were in the forge and Hypnos’ children were sleeping. I guess I will be in Camp half blood for a while.
THE END (for now)

The Greek Glossary
DRAKON: RELATIVES OF THE DRAGONS BUT OLDER AND BIGGER.
CYCLOPS: BIG HUMANOIDS THAT HAVE ONE EYE.
LIGHTNING: A CAT THAT HELPED ZEUS WHEN HE WAS YOUNG.
HYDRAS: THESE GIANT SNAKE LIZARDS HAD HEADS THAT WOULD GROW MORE HEADS IF CUT OF.
CHIRON: A CENTAUR (HORSE-MAN) THAT BECAME IMMORTAL WHEN HE STARTED TRAINING HALF BLOODS.
HYPNOS: THE GREEK GOD OF SLEEP.
ZEUS: THE GREEK GOD OF THE HEAVENS AND SKY. ALSO THE KING OF THE GODS.

HERA: THE GREEK GOD OF MARRIAGE. ALSO QUEEN OF THE GODS.
ARES: THE GREEK GOD OF WAR.
ATHENA: THE GREEK GOD OF WISDOM AND STRATEGY.
HERMES: THE GREEK GOD OF TRAVELLING, COMMUNICATION, AND THIEVES.
APOLLO: THE GREEK GOD OF THE SUN, PROPHECY, MUSIC, AND HEALING.
HEPHAESTUS: THE GREEK GOD OF FIRE, CRAFTS, AND OF BLACKSMITHS.
HALF BLOODS (ALSO DEMIGODS): HALF BLOODS HAVE A GODLY SIDE AND A MORTAL SIDE. 

Blackjack update

Last blog picture

This blog picture

Blackjack is again in my blog. I've been finding a lot of new pet shops that sell dwarf hamsters and tons of materials. They sell lots of chew things like shrimp, fish and even chocolate. I thought hamsters only ate seeds. I guess I'm wrong. Anyway I have bought a few things that Blackjack likes. In these two pictures above there is one difference. Its not the water container. Here is a hint: look where Blackjack is in the older picture. Have you guessed? The answer is the new chewy banana. The first one I got was in Kota Kinabalu and the second one I got here!

Ball without stand

Ball with stand

 Look at the new ball Blackjack got. I can put him on the floor while cleaning his cage or just for fun. It is a way to let him run free without making a mess or losing him.

 

I see you!

 The coconut house, home of tropical paradise. Blackjack loves the coconut. He can chew on it without getting sick and he likes to stick his head out the holes. The coconut also resembles a rocket ship and that means: the first step of rodent-kind!

Hamster bathing sand

My tube collection

The last thing I got for him is the tubes. The only thing that connected to the tubes was the bathroom which, unluckily came with special sterilized rose bathing sand. I will be buying new tubes for Blackjack as time goes on here in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Heritage Museum

One out of the many museums I've gone to here in Hong Kong is the Heritage Museum. Dad made reservations online for the Bruce Lee exhibit and we set off. It was a huge ways away but the MTR made it much easier. We had to take about four different lines with many stops. After about a hour we got of at our stop on the brown line called the Che Tung temple. It was a nice walk to the museum. When we arrived at the place we instantly went to the the Bruce Lee exhibit where I looked and read about Bruce Lees life. My favorite part of the exhibit was the cut films of the movies Bruce Lee was in. Outside of the exhibit there was lots of stuff with Green hornet and Kato on them. Green hornet and Kato are from a old film that Bruce Lee acted in. After the exhibit I went to the religion section where I looked at the old artifacts and watched at a movie about Tibetan culture. After that part I went to the small park outside/inside the museum. James played around a bit while the rest of the family sat down. Later we went to the restaurant next door called Mix Noodles. After eating spaghetti, roasted chicken wings with cheddar cheese sauce I went to the kid area where there were instruments from all over the world, and lots of interactive stuff like 3d Chinese letters and trains and cars. After playing there we started toward the Che Tung temple, a small walk away. When we got there and went up to the gate we realized that it was closed. That was the last thing we did in that zone. The last thing we did was take the bus back to Causeway Bay.

James playing in the park.

MTR map

Buddist God

Statue of Bruce Lee

  

Noon Day Gun

    

The noon day gun (午炮)

Here in Causeway Bay one of the famous tourist sights is the noonday gun (午炮). Going off at twelve o'clock the noon day gun is fired quite often. People can donate over hk$ 33,000 (us$ 5,000) to fire the cannon and get a souvenir. The noon day gun goes quite far back in history in the 1860's. The jardines would fire the gun when a Jardines tai-pan would arrive by sea. This tradition went on until a senior british officer came in and didn't know of the tradition. As a result the jardines had to fire the cannon every twelve o'clock as a penalty. The cannon, in 1941 was lost to the Japenese occupation but after british forces regained Hong Kong the gun was replaced with a six pound gun and the gun was operating again in 1947. As time went on there were many complaints so the six pound gun was replaced with a three pound gun.        

  

Amusement parks in Hong Kong

There are two popular amusement parks in Hong Kong: Ocean Park and Disneyland. In my opinion Disneyland has better characters, shows, and more family rides but Ocean Park has less lines, better transportation, and really good exhibits. They both have the same quality of rides, gifts, and food. I have annual passes for both of them. I have gone to Disneyland five times. Amazing. More times then all the times I've been to disneyland before this trip. The last time I went there was the best for it was not summer break, on a weekday, and a working day. That trio put together equals very small lines. Disneyland also started setting up the Halloween theme so Space Mountain was turned into Ghost Galaxies and so on. While we were there we got our Halloween costumes. The last time we went to Ocean Park wasn't as great as the trip to Disneyland. There were still lots of people and the park closed a lot earlier. Although there was still a lot of people I still had fun. Since we got the annual passes we got some coupons which allowed you a few free skill games and dollars off at gift shops and restaurants. They disappeared  pretty fast. Anyway, that's what I've been doing here in Hong Kong.

    

The Flash, Ocean Park

Mad Hatter's Teacups Disneyland

James in Grizzly Gulch, Disneyland

Orbitron, Disneyland

Us with Buzz Lightyear, Disneyland

Blackjack

Blackjack, a dwarf hamster, the perfect boat pet. I got him in Kota Kinabalu, in the Sunday Market. I had always wanted a pet. It all started when Mom wanted to go to the Sunday Market. I asked if I could go to the market to buy a pet. She said I could go. We took the bus there and got off at the beginning of the gigantic market. As we walked in we looked at numerous clothes, jewelry, toys, pets, ect. Choosing a pet was hard for there were so many. I was thinking about the turtle but, I thought that it would live longer than me so, I moved on. The next pet I ran into was the fish. A quick no. Eventually I came to the hamster section where, I stared at the rats, gerbils, Guinea pigs, hamsters, cages, and equipment. Mom eventually got me to move on to the end of the market where I found Blackjack and his equipment. I have now had Blackjack for about 6 months getting him toys, food and fluff (wood shavings).

Good Stuff Issue #12 04/13/2013

The Long Walk Home

Written by Jacob Burke / Good Stuff staff

April 13th 2013

I remember the walk home that night very well. It was late in October, near the end of the month, I think. It had been a cold day, and there were dark clouds piling up in the west. They had hidden the setting sun and were moving quickly over me, for there was a strong wind blowing. The dark and bare trees along the lonely road creaked and moaned as they were blown this way and that. Their branches seemed to reach and clutch at me like old and thin hands. I wish the bridge wasn’t washed out so I could have taken my usual way home.

As I hurried along, I noticed that the lights of my friend’s house had disappeared around the bend, and the other houses on that long, gravel road were dark. As I walked along among the cold, dark, houses I saw the old Finster house on the hill. A strange feeling occurred as I approached. I remembered all the tales the kids have told. I didn’t believe them or that the house was haunted and I didn’t believe the rumors about Mr. Finster either. I told the kids the road past Mr. Finster was the fastest way and I had to get my chores done before Dad got home.

I looked at the house closely as I walked along the road. Some of the windows were cracked, the paint was pealed, and the roof was caked with moss. I decided to take a closer look and see what all the rumors were about. I brushed through the cobwebs and cleared though the bushes and emerged closer than I planned. The house was huge and more like a mansion. There were spiders of amazing sizes climbing on the windows and a few rats scurrying on the floorboards. I started to see why kids would call this a haunted house. A lump formed in my stomach as I thought about my choice of coming this way to get home but still believed there was nothing to the ramblings of zombies and undead pets.

I looked in the window as I was walking along and I thought I saw a shape move from inside. The shadow was spiky and big. It was a creepy sight and I wondered why I chose this route to my home. I started getting goose bumps all over me. I heard a creak from the roof just as a big black bat flew into the sky. I started wondering and hoping that I would make it home.

My parents had told me Finster was a quiet old man and he had moved out two years ago. The rumors from the playground at school told of a grumpy man, mean to children who died in his home and each evening his zombie body arose from the dead and left his house to seek vengeance on the world for his death.

I shook off those thoughts as I saw the “For Sale” sign. I told myself no one could be home. The house must be empty; it should be empty. As I neared the backyard I saw rotted plants, mole holes, and creepiest of all a little cemetery made for Finister’s pets. Many of the kids said their zombie bodies followed Mr. Finster when he rose from the dead. I heard a crackle of lightning in the distance and saw old bones in the ground by a gravestone labeled “Ole Snoopy”. The lightning flickered again and I swore the bones moved. The rumors were true about Finister’s undead pets. I was wrong to ignore the warnings and stories. I had made a grave error.

I was paralyzed with fear and it took all my strength to force my feet to move. With what seemed ages I moved one foot then the other, building speed as I used all my strength to I ran away from the old mansion. As I ran away I thought I heard a ghostly voice moaning, “I will get your soul.”

As the distance grew between the Finster house and me I began to calm down. As I entered my neighborhood I felt safe being among the well-kept yards and friendly pets. As I managed my way up the front path to the door I put Mr. Finster out of my mind. I stared to list off the chores that need to be done before my father came home.

To this day I never take the long way home and advise all children to avoid Mr. Finster’s House.

THE END