WEST POINT OUTING WITH THE 3VA!!!

                Instead of going to school on Friday, I was on my way to West Point. Granted, the bus trip was more than four hours long, but it was worth it. When we got to West Point (not the campus may I add, just some woods around it) and we began the three mile hike up bull hill. Unfortunately, I don’t have any good landscape pictures, as I didn’t bring a camera, but the view is pretty good from the top. I finally got a bull hill pin this year (they ran out early last time) and we went down the mountain to our campsite. The adults had set up camp while we were hiking there, so we just messed around for the rest of the night and got settled. The next morning, we woke up early and did some PT with our cadet (we called him Omo because his real name was a lot harder to say) and ate breakfast. Afterwards we went to a live demonstration of tactical maneuvers and some people parachuted in from a helicopter. I had control of a group of about seven scouts and we went around camp and did stations. Some were physical like the Ranger challenge or fitness, and some were more practical like Fire building. There were also many different demonstrations and other things to go see, like a jeep, holding a saw (a suppressive LMG) and a police exhibit. After a long day of stations, we played some ultimate frisbee and other games with our cadet and ate dinner (Lucky me, I got my hands on an MRE). Oddly enough, out of nowhere Evan Tridone shows up at the event, and we end up in the same spot at the rave/concert/dance party/giant bonfire event that night. In the morning, we packed up and left to return to Maryland. Unfortunately, due to complications we did not get a tour of the campus this year, so we went straight back. Apologies for turning this in so late, but as you can see I was a little preoccupied.

Why welfare isn't always the best solution

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on Rome. First, we went over the Punic Wars in brief detail. After the Punic Wars, there was a large influx of slaves into Italy, about 50,000 Carthaginians and 150,000 Greek POWs, and others. By the end of the 2^nd century there were over a million slaves in Italy. While they were out at war, many small farmers lost their land to aristocrats. This land was then added to different latifundias, and slaves were made to work on them. This put much of the middle class out of work, and in turn to keep the people from revolting, free bread and entertainment was provided for their benefit (I’m sorry, but this sounds to me like why welfare is pushed so much by the Democrats, which is so they can get more votes from the people on it who don’t try to work) so then they wouldn’t pull themselves out of poverty and never got into a better social standing. Tiberius Gracchus actually wanted to improve the middle class’ living standards by not using government welfare, but was unsuccessful. Other military generals saw this and liked the idea, and gave spoils to their men after fighting battles. This eventually made soldier’s loyalty to their leader, and not Rome.

The Puny Wars

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on Rome. We went over some past slides, and then moved into some new ones comparing the US government to Rome’s government. In the Executive branch of Rome, Rome had two consuls with a one year term each, they controlled the military and had veto power over the other. There could also be a dictator appointed for a six-month period in times of crisis. In the Roman Legislative branch, there were about three-hundred senators, all aristocrats, who had a life term and were elected through Tribal or Centuriate methods. Although there were 193 to start with, they eventually moved up to 373 senators. In the Judicial branch of Rome, there were Praetors, who were elected for one year and chosen by the Centuriate Assembly. Rome’s legal code was called the Twelve Tables, and gave public rights that stood the same for all, even plebeians. However, these laws only affected free males. Next, we moved on to the Roman legion. At first, most legionnaires were not in it for the pay. There were about 5000 of them, with groups of 80 being a century and there is also cavalry. The legionnaires were equipped with shields, swords, daggers, and armor. Next, the Punic Wars. The Punic Wars ranged from 264-146 BCE, and actually had three wars in it. The First Punic War (264-241 BCE) was basically a naval battle between Carthage and Rome over Sicily. The Second Punic War (218-201 BCE) was when a 29-year-old general Hannibal went to attack Rome from the north, and was successful at laying waste to the northern part of the peninsula. However, he never reached Rome. In the Third Punic War, (149-146 BCE) Rome set out to eliminate Carthage. Mercilessly attacking it, Rome totally destroyed it and the city burned for 17 days. When the war ended, the last 50,000 people of Carthage were sold into slavery, and Carthage and the areas it controlled were annexed into Rome.

Schickago

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on Rome. After kings were done away with, two consuls would be elected by the populace. They dealt out justice, made laws, and commanded the army. The consuls could veto each other, dispersing power. They only had a one year term and were always aristocrats (or patricians). In 500 BC, the plebeians challenged the patricians, and plebeians consisted of 98% of the population. Plebeians were in the army, but couldn’t hold office. Plebeians also had no rights in trials or other matters and could be put into debt slavery. Lastly, Rome had no written laws, only unwritten customs, which could be interpreted by the patricians as they pleased. Plebeians refused to serve in the military until the Law of the Twelve Tables was passed. These were made public in 450 BC. Tribunes (something like a tribal leader) were elected, and the SPQR system was used, which stands for senatus populusque romanum, which means the Senate, the People, and Rome. This made Rome many different types of government, as it had a democracy (the people’s assembly and the tribunes), a monarchy (the consuls), and an aristocracy (the Senate, made of approximately 300 patricians). Rome is very similar to the US, but each have major differences in organization. Mr. Schick also put on an excellent show of pretending to have a visitor and then coming into the room and rapping about Rome. I thought this was the best rap solo I’ve seen, and YouTube should ask for Chi Cago back.

I haven't made one of these funny blog posts in a while, so I've got nothing....

                Today in Western Civilization we started a PowerPoint on Rome (sadly, this might be the last one). Kate was back (though still not herself) and we everyone else was present, although extremely subdued (I think you got lucky, or we just really like your class and were having a withdrawal). Straight out of the gates, we have Remus and Romulus (the founders of Rome) drinking milk from a wolf. Apparently, Romulus wanted Rome on a different hill (and it went there) and Romulus killed his brother eventually over things like this. Rome borrowed many ideas from Greece, like their religious beliefs, alphabet, a lot of their art, and their military techniques and weapons. The Latins settled Rome first, who were descendants of the Indo-Europeans. They settled on the Tiber River, which had many mountains next to it (One was where Rome was, Palatine). The Tiber River was special because trading ships could go through but not war fleets. A marshy area near the Tiber, called the Forum, was drained to put Rome into the area. Tarquin the Proud’s grandfather made Cloaca Maxima, which means ‘large ancient drain’. This drain channeled water into the Tiber. Lucius Tarquinas Superbus (not Super Bus) was the seventh and final king of Rome, also known as Tarquin the Proud or Tarquin the Arrogant (whenever you say this I always think Grand Moff Tarkin of the Galactic Empire). Long story short, Tarquin was manipulated by his wife into killing a bunch of people to gain power, and was eventually kicked out of Rome. After this, Rome did not want kings for many centuries.

Alexander The Great Persian Wars 2.0

                Today in Western Civilization we watched a movie on Alexander the Great. Mr. Schick explained that although we did get through the other important parts of Greece, we didn’t touch on Alexander. He only showed us three key scenes, which summed up a lot of what the movie was about. In the first scene, Alex asks his father to buy an ‘unrideable’ horse and tries to ride it. Alex then rides the horse with ease. This horse becomes the horse that Alex rides into every one of his battles and its name is (looks up spelling) Bucephalus. Next, we went back in the movie (forward in time) to where Alex is talking to his generals about his battle plan against the Persians. Many of them disagree with the plan, but he eventually wins their trust and they go into battle. In the third scene, the Persians and the Greeks engage. The two forces clash, and the Persians begin flanking and almost winning against the Greeks. However, Alex scares off the Persian leader but goes back to his troops to help instead of chasing the leader. What’s even funnier is that the Persian leader tried to run away (while running over his own troops with his chariot) a second time in the next battle, and was killed by his own troops.

TRACK MEET

                Today I was missing Western Civilization to go to a track meet. I left at twelve fifteen and headed down to the locker room to change into my track uniform. After that I got the water jug filled and brought it to the bus. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough seats on the bus, but I did get one in the back. Two of our sprinters had to stay at school because there were not enough seats and we even had someone sitting on the floor. I’m writing this on the bus as we go to the meet, and the bus ride is an hour long. As I’m sitting here thinking about my life choices (not really) I discuss the meet and how I’m somehow not last on the list for times because three other people don’t have registered times. Unfortunately, some of our best runners are not here, and  even they couldn’t beat some of the times from the other teams.

Greekopoly.....is monopolizing class time.....

                Today in Western Civilization we finished presenting our projects. First, we re-watched my video with me commentating and explaining the significance of what was on screen. After that we had “The Gummy Bear Phalanx” project, which consisted of a small model with gummy bears on it in phalanx formation and some stop motion of gold fish being crushed by the phalanx. This project also explained the route the Persians took to flank the Greeks (Although I don’t remember what the battle was). Lastly, we had Greekopoly. This was literally the most unorganized presentation we had, and that’s saying something considering that we had ‘Say yes to the toga’. The information presented was good, but they only had the attention of the people playing. Everyone else in the room watching was either half asleep or not paying attention to what the presentation was. I thought it looked interesting, but it would have been better if everyone could have participated in the game.

My project won an Emmy.... at least on some people's score sheets

                Today in Western Civilization we continued to present our projects. First, we had Abby, Brett, and Micah’s project. Their project was a model trireme, which was slightly boxy and was made of various wood materials. They also had a poster board with information on it. Their presentation was OK, but it seemed like they didn’t use the poster board that much, and that was one of their more prominent visual pieces. Next, we had a presentation on Greek architecture, but most specifically columns. The presentation was done by CJ, Austin, and Matt. Their presentation was also very good, as they had visual elements and explained what they did. However, I feel like they could have put more work into it, if not in the models (which is what made the project special) then possibly the amount of information they presented. We also had Kiana and Angela’s project, which was very good. All of it was great, but it seemed like Angela didn’t know the material that well. Granted, she wasn’t here for a lot of the time Kiana worked on it, but she could have learned the information better. Lastly, we had my project. I wasn’t totally sure if everyone was going to get bored of my project halfway through, but Mr. Schick’s commentary helped quite a bit. I’m also a little bit surprised by the output of excitement towards my project, but at the same time I guess people didn’t expect it. Luckily, we managed to fit my whole video into the time we had remaining, and despite some timing difficulties it was a pretty good video.

Hecate had three heads? I don't think so.....

                Today in Western Civilization we started the presentation of our projects. First, we got food from Emma, Gabrielle, and Kate’s group. This food represented and mostly was what the Greeks ate in their time in their daily diet. They also had a PowerPoint in which they presented what each piece of food was and what it was made of. They also told us about different festivals that the Greeks used that involved food. I thought their presentation was very well delivered, and had lots of information. The usage of food augmented their PowerPoint and their delivery had no stumbles. They were also very knowledgeable on what they were doing, despite the bad puns. The rest of the class time was taken up by ‘Say yes to the toga’, one of the longest and most ridiculous projects I’ve ever seen. Yes, I understand that there were a lot of Greek gods, and yes, I understand there is a lot of information that needs to be presented. However, the presentation was so long that they lost the class halfway through, and their delivery wasn’t that great overall.

I can almost taste the finish line..... and I think I hear an 89 in the air

                Today in Western Civilization we were given more time to work on our projects. I managed to finish all of my filming over the weekend (a sum of maybe ten hours of work or so) but it was worth it. In class I started editing the film, and got pretty far. I have all of the pictures uploaded into Windows Movie Maker, and I have gotten through Marathon with editing. The number of pictures I have for this video is so massive I couldn’t fit it on my flash drive, so I had to take some previous animations off of it to compensate. I do have to say, this is one of my biggest animation projects I’ve ever done. I knew we were supposed to present this, but as this is a full blown video with captions I guess I’ll just pause the video and read/explain the captioned sections. Unfortunately, I still have to write my paper on how I did my research and finish my editing for the video.