Change has hit America!

America wanted change and from 6:00 am NST Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States and the first African-American President.

His oath was muddled up a bit, but his speech made up for it.

There were great lines in his speech like:

"Starting today we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin the work of remaking America"

and

"On this day we gather because we have chosen hope over fear"

Around 2 million people gathered to watch Barack Obama's Inauguration

2009!

Last year was brilliant,

John Key won the election,

Barack Obama has become the first African-American to be a president elect,

V8 Supercars came to Hamilton,

The Olympics were in Beijing, China, what a party that was,

But most of all I was in Mr. Woody's class.

My real question is,

What will this year hold in store for us?

Remeber 2008 was last year, it is already written in rock,

but 2009 is the present and it is still being written, anything is possible,

and all doors are open.

School 2008!

This year has been the best year of my life.

I have just had an absolutely awesome year being in Mr Woody's class.

Thanks for teaching me.

Anyway, what have been your favourite parts of this year?

Awards!

Everyone loves awards.

Well at least I do.

It's prizegriving tomorrow, who's going to get what?

We'll just have to wait and see.

Awesome Clip!

This Virtual Barber Shop Clip is really awesome.

You will need some headphones, and you will need to close your eyes.

Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA

Or,

You can just click on the blue video above.

Gravity!

A few days ago, Mech-boy and I stayed for awhile after school talking about this

What is it?

Do you know how it works?

Why do we need it?

New Prime Minister!

On Saturday it was polling day.

2,979,366 people were enrolled to vote. Did you know if you are over 18 years of age you have to be enrolled to vote but this doesn't mean you have to vote.

Over the 6 months of electioneering the One News Polls were against Labour showing that National could take it out. Well this is what they did. Once all the votes were counted and Winston Peters had made his "I'll be back speech" it showed that there would be a John Key lead government.

This is how the percentages went:

National 45.5% (59 seats)

Labour 33.8% (43 seats)

The Green Party 6.5% (8 seats)

Act 3.7% (5 seats)

Maori 2.3% (5 seats)

United Future 0.9 % (1 seat)

Progressive Party 0.9% (1 seat)

Bill & Ben Party just over 0.5% (0 seats)

Nz First OUT (0 seats)

Some of the big surprises of the 2008 elections are:

Helen Clark stepping down from the role of the leader of the Labour Party

Winston Peters not getting Tauranga and not getting into parliament

Simon Bridges getting Tauranga by a convincing 10,000 votes

Judith Tizard (one of Helen Clarks best friends) being knocked out of parliament by Nationals Nikki Kaye

Michael Cullen (Labours finace minister) stepping down from his roles of deputy Prime Minister and Finace Minister but still being an MP

So all and all it was a clean win to National.

GO BILL AND BEN PARTY!

WARNING!

WARNING!

SOME PEOPLE SOMEWHERE IN THE WORLD HAVE FOUND A WAY FOR COMPUTERS TO READ THE WORD VERIFICATION THINGS, OUR BLOG SITES ARE NOT SAFE ANYMORE FROM SPAMMING!

BE CAREFUL!

Here is where it came from:

http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/scrt/4BF353E56E42376DCC2574F60064DE95?Opendocument&HighLight=2,captcha

Orangutans!

In class yesterday we had a discussion about Palm Oil and Orangutans. On this post you will be able to discuss your points of views and ask questions which hopefully I will be able to answer.

This primate is now only found in rainforests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Orangutan fossils have been found in Vietnam, China and Java but now sadly no Orangutans live in the wild in these places now.

Black Belt!

On Saturday I graded for my black belt in Kenpo Karate.

Guess what, I got it!

The best Kenpo artist in the world was there as well as black belts from Australia and around New Zealand.

The grading took 3 hours. I have been doing Kenpo for 6 years.

So now I've made the first step to becoming an adult black belt, well so GL would say.

My 2008 South Island Trip!

This is a photo of Mt Cook looking out over Lake Matheson (the quality of photos on blogger aren't that good).

On the last Friday in Term 3 I set off with my family on a trip all around the South Island.

We stayed 15 nights in 12 different places.

We spent 67 hours and 49 minutes travelling in the car.

We did 4651 kilometres.

We used 471.3 litres of petrol.

I will tell you the best thing I did each day.

Picton- Slept (we got off the interislander at 11pm and left for Nelson at 9:30

Nelson- Saw my Great Aunty

Greymouth- Shanty Town

Fox Glacier- Saw the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers

Queenstown (Day 1)- Found the Remarkable Sweet Shop

Queenstown (Day 2)- Luge and Shotover Jet

Queenstown (Day 3)- Skiing on Coronet Peak

Te Anau (Day 1)- Manapouri Dam

Te Anau (Day 2)- Milford Sound

Dunedin- Cadbury Chocolate Factory

Oamaru- Moeraki Boulders

Lake Tekapo- Mt John Observatory

Christchurch- Antartic Centre

Hanmer Springs- Hanmer Springs Hot Pools

Wellington- Went walking around Wellington

You can ask me questions e.g. What else did you do in _______

Mr Teehan has a new class!

Calling all Room5ians, Mr Teehan is back with a new class.

He has told his new class about us and about blogging and our new topic, sustainablity.

To go to his blog click here:
http://teehan2008.blogspot.com/

Spring!

It's finally here... SPRING!

The season where new lamb frolic around.

Trees bloom and sway in the light breeze.

You walk with a "spring" in your step.
Have to start buying for Christmas.

You can plan a pinic the week before without worrying it might rain.

Picture from:

http://images.mooseyscountrygarden.com/mooseys-garden-tour/driveway-garden/blossom-tree-stone-circle.jpg

It's All Over Rover!

Well the 2008 Olympic games are over France grabbing the last gold medal in the sport of handball. The closing ceremony was just as amazing as the opening ceremony.

The job has now been handed over to London for the 2012 Olympic games.

Over all the medals given to athletes the country that came out on top was the host nation China. New Zealand finishing 26th on the medal table with 3 golds, 1 silver and 5 bronze.

For the closing ceremony go to:

http://tvnz.co.nz/content/2031977