The school production is now over, but for me this has been replaced by the other production I am in; the Wizard of Oz. There are 3 practises a week, and they all go for 2-3 hours depending on what we are rehearsing that night. It’s very tiring, but rewarding!

Apart from that, I also have netball, dancing exams, music exams and homework I need to finish so I am pretty busy lately. Next term is going to be even busier than the last, with Cross Country, Speeches, and all the other stuff that has slipped my mind!

So please forgive me if there are huge time gaps between my blog posts

Being the only alive person in the world would also have its positives I suppose. You could have uninterupted access to everything that everybody else had left behind. It would also be very easy to find out things that you wanted to know. So I would probably run around and found out all of the stuff I wanted to know…. like read all of the confidential peices of paper etc.

Another thing I would do if I were the last person on Earth, is I would learn how to fly a plane, so I could visit the other countries. But that would be a bit pointless if you had nobody to visit, or if you got lost and there would be nobody to give you directions…

And there would be nobody to supply food, like growing fruits and vegetables or creating commercial foods. There would also be no electricity with nobody to control it, and no running water with no one to control that…

To put in bluntly, I think there really is no point to living if you’re completely on your own. It would be virtually impossible! Because if you think about it, most of the things you do require someone elses help, or are for someone else’s entertainment or benefit. Like there would be no point to writing this blog post if nobody else was going to read it. And I wouldn’t be writing this blog post if nobody had invented computers or taught me how to write!

So I really hope that nothing causes the rest of the human population to die, because I would be very unhappy.

At the audition, I had to sing a song, and read some lines. After hearing me sing, the auditioners got me to try and sing ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’ (a song from the movie). I thought that I did well with the song, seeing as I had only heard a couple of times when I was younger. I left the theater feeling a bit worried, but glad that I had decided to go for it.

The next day, I got a call from the show’s director Susanne. She asked me if I could come back down for a second audition, along with 3 other girls that she was considering for the part of Dorothy. Dorothy is the lead role of the whole production- she is basically onstage for the whole show- so you can imagine how amazed and excited I was!

The second auditions were last night. So I went back down to the theater, and was surprised to see that my friend Briar had also made it to the callbacks, because I hadn’t even known that she’d auditioned! I also kind of knew another girl there. Anyway, once we had all arrived, Susanne got us to get onto the stage and sing ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’ one at a time. After we had all done that, we then had to take turns reading some lines. On my turn, I actually had lots of fun! The script is very funny. I thought that I had done alright up to that point. Susanne then made us all go and wait out in the foyer, because she had to discuss who she was going to pick with the other auditioners.

We all waited nervously. Then, the door opened. Susanne came out and told us that even if we didn’t get chosen, she still wanted us in the rest of the show.  But the two people she had decided on to be Dorothy, were Bethany and…me!

When Susanne said my name, I was so proud and excited! I had no idea that I would come this far. Susanne picked two Dorothy’s so we can take turns doing the shows, and in case one of us gets sick. I’m so happy that I got the part, because I love performing, and the Wizard of Oz was one of my favourite movies when I was younger. Dorothy has lots of solo songs so it’s gonna take a lot of work, but it will be worth it in the end!

I hope you all come to see the show! (But be sure to come on a night that I’m performing!)

D’oh! The Simpsons could be encouraging another generation of young people to take up smoking. One of the most popular television shows in history contains a “large number” of tobacco-related scenes, say researchers who watched 400 episodes of the cartoon for science.
“We recorded 795 instances of smoking or references to smoking,” says Dr Guy Eslick, a fellow of the International Union Against Cancer and honorary associate of the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health.
“The most notable characters who smoked were Marge Simpson’s sisters Patty and Selma, Krusty the Clown and Bart’s school teacher Mrs Krabappel.”
Dr Eslick assessed the first 18 seasons of the program and found the number of smoking references per season ranged from just over 10 to more than 60.
Smoking was presented in a “positive way” in just two percent of these cases, in a negative way in 35 percent of cases and neutrally in 63 percent. – http://www.stuff.co.nz/

When I first read this, I was thinking ‘not another story on encouraging children’s bad habits!’ To me, it seems that all people worry about these days is sending the wrong message to children! The people complaining are probably doing the damage themselves by shedding light on things that young people may not have noticed in the first place. I don’t think that The Simpsons of all things is something to worry about. Sports stars or famous actors and singers- people that kids look up to, are more of an issue of children imitating. Don’t get me wrong, some children might look up the Simpsons characters, but from my experience the characters they mentioned aren’t really ones that seem favoured by young children! Besides, the article mentions that only 2 percent of smoking references in the program were positive, so I think there’s nothing really to worry about! I also think that if children/teenagers are thinking of taking up smoking, it’s more likely to be because some of ther friends are. Comment and tell me your opinion please!

I haven’t got many sponsors so far, but I hope to raise my fundraising money to $50, which all goes to World Vision. The whole school had the option of participating in this, so we should raise hepas of money this year. Wish me luck! I will post again afterwards to let you know if I slipped up or not!

Once we were all seated on the bus, there was a last minute role call and then the buses roared to life. About 45 minutes later, we pulled into the gates of our destination. Matamata Intermediate were already there. Once we had all found our luggage and cabins, we began to unpack and relax. But not for long, because soon the bell rang for our first rehearsal!

Over the next two days, our lives consisted of lots and lots rehearsals, meals, and occasional breaks. (Where we got to go on things like the big spinning platform that you jumped on and off of, the lullaby swing, the big hammock, the hot pool, trampolines, and the playground.) This continued until we reached lunchtime of the second day. Now we were to begin the dress rehearsal for our big concert that night! First we had to move all of the equipment into the big auditorium, then we had a big run through of the whole program. After all that, we got to go back to our cabins and relax, and then we had some more free time before dinner. After dinner, we got dressed into our ‘nice’ clothes ready for the performance.

The whole concert consisted of performances from the Junior Band, the Senior Band, the Choir, the Jazz Band, very talented drum and violin groups, and a special performance from the Salvation Army Band! The audience enjoyed it a lot.

The next and last day of camp was the day that most people were looking forward to the most! It was the day where we got to go on the hot hydroslide, or do other activities such as archery, rifle guns, the flying fox, and the Burma Trail. I went on the flying fox, which was a lot of fun, because we all got to go on it about 3 times! After that, we went over to the hydroslide. The hydroslide was great, because the water is really warm, the slide is open-roofed, and the whole thing is outside in the bush! It was freezing waiting in line for the slide, but once you hopped on, you warmed up straight away. After we had all completed our activities, we had a big cleanup and lunch, and then we hopped on the buses, and got ready for the ride back home.

The whole camp was a lot of fun, and it’s quite sad to think that this was the last time I would go to Totara Springs, seeing as I’m off to college next year. But I hope the year 7′s will have a great time when they get to go again next year! Thanks to all of the parents and teachers that came and made this camp possible.

Well isn’t this everybody’s goal in life? Settling down and having a family I think would be one of the most important things you do in your life. And I have always thought that 3 kids would be a good amount!

2. Buy a house by a beach and have a cool job

I have always wanted to live by the beach- I think it would be a great place to raise a family, and you could go an sunbathe or swim whenever you wanted! And having a job doing something I love would be great.

3. Go skydiving and/or bungee jumping

This is something I have always wanted to do! I love adrenaline rushes like roller coasters etc, so this experience would be amazing.

4. Save someones life

I think it would be so cool, knowing that you are the reason somebody is still alive.

5. Go to Disneyland or Disneyworld

This is quite similar to the bungee jumping/sky diving thing, but I think going to one of these places would be so much fun.

6. Get a pet dog

Dogs are one of my favourite animals, because they are so friendly and playful, and they can come in all shapes and sizes. I’ve never had a pet dog, but I definitely want to get one one day.

7. Travel the world

There so many places in the world I want to visit!

8. Become a member of a ski place like on Mt Ruapehu

I love skiing! Ever since I went on the ski trip last year, I have been dying to go back to the snow and ski again. I’m going on the ski trip again this year, but I would love to be able to go there often when I get older.

9. Be really well known for something

I would love it if I was famous, like a household name, so I would be remembered when I die! I don’t know what I would want to be famous for, but it would be cool.

10. Make it to 100

I don’t know really why I want to do this, but I think it would be cool to have an age in the triple digits. Oh and apparently you get a letter from the queen if you reach your 100th birthday!

Stephanie Naumoska

Personally, I think that it’s very unfair on her. Yes, I know she may be a bit underweight, but maybe she can’t help being skinny, just like some people can’t help being overweight. We aren’t all made to be the same shape and size, and I think it’s great that everybody is different.

Also, well these days lots of young girls feel self conscious about their body weight, because sadly its usually only very skinny girls that you see in runway shows and in magazines, so maybe this model is being especially targeted because some people may even feel jealousy towards her… this is taking it to an extremity but I think that it could be a possibility.

Most of the people complaining about this model, say that she’s making some young girls even more self conscious about their body weight. I do not think that they should blame her, because the people that are really to blame for low body confidence are those that, again, only let really skinny models in magazines and fashion runways.

Please comment and tell me your opinions about this topic.

But for the rest of the holidays, I have mostly just been hanging around at home or gone out to the movies or uptown with friends. And I went to Megan (Be)’s birthday a few days ago, which was really fun because we went ice skating and shopping in Botany Downs in Auckland. Ice skating was a really cool experience, and I found that I’m not actually too bad at it! Well I went through a phase of rollerblades a few years ago and ice skating is a bit like that so I caught on pretty fast.

 There is still a few days of holidys remaining, but for those I’m planning on relaxing, beause this term is going to be really full on, especially for me because I have to handle class work, magazine work, head student work, and production practise. I hope that it doesn’t get too stressful!

The bus ride there passed by very slowly, but we finally arrived at Hutt Top 10 holiday park at around 5 30. We all rushed to our cabins to unpack, and then sped over to jumping pillow! We played a tackling game, which was banned after a while due to student injuries.

We woke up at 7 00 on Monday morning, and then got ready for breakfast and after that, the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. The wildlife sanctuary was very interesting, and although we didn’t really get to see any rare birds I enjoyed it! After that, we all hopped back onto the bus and drove to the Weta Workshops in Miramar. Most of us found the Weta Workshops really interesting, because it was there that King Kong, Lord of the Rings, and lots of other movies and characters were created.

After a quick lunch on the waterfront outside Te Papa museum, we all ventured inside the museum in our supervision groups. The museum was reeeeally cool because it has soo many exhibits and even featured the colossal squid!

After Te Papa, our class split into 2 groups, and Group A went to OnTV, and Group B went to the soundhouse. I was in group B. The soundhouse was really cool, because we got to make our own music, and video, and then showed it to the whole group! We got back to the holiday park at about 7 00, sadly with no time for the jumping pillow!

On Tuesday we were woken up much earlier, at 6 00, so we could have breakfast and get ready in time to be at the ferry terminal at 8 00. The ferry was lots of fun, because we go to walk around and explore, and go out onto the decks, even during the reeeally strong winds! We arrived in Picton at around 11 00, so we split up into our supervision groups and went to find our own place to have lunch. After that we got to go on a small shopping spree for about an hour, then we went back to the ferry terminal. The second ferry was different than the one we had been on all morning, so again we had lots of time to explore our new surroundings, and buy food at the cafes and food court. We arrived home at about 6 00 so we got to play around the holiday park or have a rest.

On Wednesday, we got up a bit later, at 7 30, so we were glad for the small sleep in! Our day started off with a trip to Westpac Stadium, where we split into our two A and B groups to have a tour. I enjoyed the Westpac Stadium, and I think my Dad did too! After that, we all hopped back onto the bus and drove to the St Pauls Cathedral. I didn’t think that I would like the cathedral, but I was surprised because I actually found it very interesting! We go to run up all the stairs to the bell tower, and walk along the inside of the roof. We also got to see Sir Edmund Hillary’s flag! Once we were finished there, we all travelled to the Beehive. We had lunch on the steps outside, and then we got to venture inside. We had to dump our bags inside the education room, and then we got to sit in the debating chamber and watch the politicians and MPs speak. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to hear a debate, but we did see John Key say a congratulatory speech (with a standing ovation!) to Helen Clark for her new job.
After parliament, we drove down to the cable cars. They were a bit disappointing, because we were running behind time and could only stay for about 10 minutes. Then we had to go straight to the Dowse Art Gallery. The gallery was a bit strange, but interesting all the same. Following the gallery, we went to the H20 Extreme Pools in Upper Hutt. The pools were fun, and we stayed there until about 7 00, when we went back to the holiday park and relaxed.

We woke up at 7 00 on Thursday morning, and then headed to the dining room for breakfast as usual. After that, we drove down to the National Museum. It was pretty interesting because it was all about war and had lots of sculptures and dug up artefacts. Following that, we went to the Museum of Wellington, where we learnt all about the Wahine Disaster. I found it interesting, because we got to try on the same design of life jackets that the passengers wore on board, and we got to watch a video. After that, we went back down to the waterfront near Te Papa and had lunch and a bit of a look around before the zoo. The zoo was lots of fun, seeing all of the interesting animals. Capital E (OnTV and the Soundhouse) followed the zoo. This time Group A went to the soundhouse, and Group B went to OnTV. I was at OnTV, which I found lots of fun, because we got to make our own TV show, of which I was the presenter! It was very funny watching the bloopers!

On Friday, we woke up VERY early. 5 45! We were on a strict time schedule and had to leave the holiday park by 8 00 so we would get home in time. The bus ride home passed a lot quicker than the ride there- probably because most people were asleep! Overall, I really enjoyed Camp Wellington, and I would do it again any time! Thanks to all of the parents, Mrs Crowe, and Gail the bus driver for making this camp what is was.