Quote Week: June - Day 5

"You look like you're in a rocking chair."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
During a Revision Quiz, Wadz's webcam happened to be gently rocking, giving the effect that she was on a rocking chair. Clever, eh?

Quote Week: June - Day 4

ANT: "I can't be bothered with Art."
Master: "Art can't be bothered with you."
- A.T. J.C.

Story behind quote:
Friendly banter between ANT and Master ;p

Quote Week: June - Day 3

"Nothing is going to be a surprise. I lived it!"
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
ArwaChihuahua and Wicks argue over whether or not they should be allowed to look in the Blog Book. This is Wicks' argument ;p

Quote Week: June - Day 2

"You look like Ariel from the Little Mermaid."
- A.T.

Story behind quote:
ANT compliments Wadz on her formal dress. What an interesting compliment :)

Quote Week: June - Day 1

"Why are there two 6's?!"
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
Carrying on where we left off from Exam Week 2: Day 1, it happened that there were two 6's on ArwaChihuahua's oragami fortune teller. Why? I don't think anyone knows.

June Quote Week starts tomorrow!

We've got an early Quote Week for y'all. Don't miss out all next week ;)

Weekly News Round-Up #31: 26/05/2013

Arguably the toughest week that we have had yet, in terms of exams. Let me tell you that we are all just so relieved that this week is finally over! It's half the battle won, in a way.

During the week, we made rather good use of our time. We were given the opportunity during PE to do revision, and that's exactly what we did. More or less.
Wicks and Master gave poetry readings, followed by lengthy discussions about the deeper meanings.
It sort of went off at a tangent afterwards and the conversation leaned more towards card games. This included Wicks educating us on the rules of 'Blackjack' and 'Spoons'.
And after that, we had another round of Wicks' Campfire Tales (soon to be published in the coming weeks). Not gonna say too much about them, don't wanna ruin it for you ;p

As it was our last official week of this academic year, teachers were bringing in food, etc. What made Wadz and Master's lives complete was receiving bendy pencils and retractable highlighters from their Geography teacher! It was pretty awesome, especially as Wicks taught Master's some knot-tying skills (learnt from Scouts) using the pencil. Fun times ;p

At lunchtime, the group was most appalled when there were some younger students running over the grass when they were supposed to keep off. This led to ANT expressing her opinion that there are not enough people keeping watch. She also thought that we would make pretty good grass law enforcers. Master then went on to call the group 'lawn enforcers'. Pun times ;p

Friday/the last day/the best day ever was pretty darn awesome.
An indication of the atmosphere is that we virtually ate nothing throughout the day. We were running on pure adrenaline for the best part of it!
We went to see ANT and ArwaChihuahua's Art exhibitions, which were most incredible. Wicks was able to decipher the true meaning of ANT's project: there was a painting of a wardrobe and also a lion, hence, when Wicks stood in the middle, it formed 'the Lion, the Wicks and the Wardrobe'! Clever, eh?

That's not the best thing though. There was a point during lunchtime when Master spotted the B-Cox look-a-like. Unfortunately, he had walked past before Wicks saw him. We went on to joke about how we should go up to him and ask for a photo and say stuff like 'we're really big fans'.
Well, you just wouldn't believe the opportunities you're given in life. After seeing the Art exhibitions, we spotted B-Cox walking in front. We literally ran to catch up with him and, when we were close enough to talk to him we almost backed down, but Wicks and ArwaChihuahua plucked up the courage to ask him for a picture. (Just a side note: none of us have ever spoken to him before.) At first, we think he thought we wanted him to take a picture for us, but really we wanted him to be in it. So there you have it, Master took 2 pictures of ArwaChihuahua, B-Cox, Wicks and ANT. Later on, we proceeded to rub it in Wadz's face ;p I don't think any of us will ever get over that photo.

By the end of the day, emotions were running high. However, the major downer was the fact that it was raining. If one was to take a leaf out of ANT's book, one would say, 'It's ironic that the B-Cox story was literal and completely non-exaggerated, however it did literally rain on our parades during the day'.

Overall, what a fantastic day! The assembly was awesome, with our Form video being perhaps the shortest and worst out of them all, but that's just the way things go.
For ANT, the day definitely ended on a high as, on our walk home, we realised that the skip had gone!

This has been such an amazing experience and I cannot wait to spend an amazing summer with you all. I really cannot wait for next year and all the adventures it will bring. I don't think I'll ever forget this section of my life (unless I get Amnesie. More on that later on in the summer.) Thank you to everyone for making it what it is: incredible :)

Weekly News Round-Up #30: 19/05/2013

Exams have started this week! Eeek :S

Apart from that, the week started off pretty well. For one thing, Commander Hadfield was on the news on Monday morning! I'm sure the Beckster's mom enjoyed that :)

At breaktime, it was rather rainy. However, Wicks and Ruby discovered just how dramatic the Casualty theme tune is. Let me tell you now, it is perfect for any dramatic situation.
What made it even better was, when our Form tutor walked by, and just hummed a random note ('um'), we almost expected him to start singing with us. Fun times ;p

On the topic of vocals, Wadz and Master have discovered that they are able to say 'absolutely shoe-ed', and pretty much anything, in harmony. It's a beautiful thing. On the way back home, they were just reading the off the numbers written on the side of the skip near ANT's house, just because they could. And they could do it harmonically. How much better can you get, eh?

Also on the walk home, they were discussing scary YouTube videos. ANT claimed that they don't particularly frighten her, which was confirmed by Wadz through the following anecdote: ANT and Wadz were playing the game 'Slenderman'. As many will know, it is meant to be scary, however it seemed to have the opposite effect on ANT. Instead, she got rather bored and attempted to find Slenderman herself. Now, that's not the aim of the game, ANT. But never mind.

Throughout the week, Master has managed to avoid having a photo taken due to attending various meetings during form time. However, on Friday, Master did have two photos taken, which very much surprised ANT.

So there you have it, a short and sweet summary of some of the more interesting parts of the week :)

Weekly News Round-Up #29: 12/05/2013

Monday was a Bank Holiday, but I think it's fair to say that it was no holiday for us lot, in fact it contained a lot of revision. This worked out for everyone because of the glorious technology around us! However, it's also true that there were a few problems, for example, Wadz's microphone kept turning itself down so she was very quiet for some parts.
Also, webcams were a little unstable, consequently making everyone feel a little sea-sick!

Due to missing out on a day of school, everyone's minds were a little jumbled up. Wicks walks into school on Tuesday and says, "What day is it today? Mon-Tuesday?!" To Master, it sounded like a day dedicated to the snack, Munchies (which ANT loves oh so much).

Wednesday morning saw our Form huddling together in form time for a photo. Ruby managed to avoid this as she was unfortunately ill on that particular day, but it's arguable that Master got away with it in a much more creative way. It just happened that in all the photos, because Master was standing in the back row, only her forehead was visible.
Later on, ANT decided that it would be fair that a massive picture of Master's head should be Photoshopped in. The two options to include Ruby were to take a separate photo and cut it out (with a thin white line around the edge so that it's clear to all viewers that it was added separately) and stick it in. Alternatively, we could go 'Woman in Black' style and have her wearing a black veil and Photoshop her into a window. Which idea do you think would have been better?

Wicks noticed that ArwaChihuahua, amongst others, consumes far too many packets of crisps everyday and it should be reduced. Hence, the '1 Packet Rule' for crisps was devised. That's right kids, don't be over-doing anything, a balanced diet is the way to go ;)

One of the main events at breaktime and lunchtime is that ArwaChihuahua and Wicks believe that they are twins (with Wicks being the 'albino twin', as ArwaChihuahua likes to put it).
The word 'albino' led to a little debate. Most of us pronounce it as [al-bee-no], however ANT just has to be different and say [al-bi-no]. And with that, ANT went around trying to subtly convert everyone to pronounce it as she does.

In other lunchtime news, Wicks, ArwaChihuahua, ANT and Master decided to amuse themselves one day by attempting a three-legged race, but without the rope tying their legs together. Believe me, it's actually a lot harder without the rope. They even went on to attempt a five-legged race (skills!) and it did work, to an extent. Such fun ;p

During the middle of the week, the Beckster tells us of how her mother is seemingly obssessed with Commander Chris Hadfield. She is said to most enjoy reading his Tweets and clearly admires the man. Why don't you check out Commander Hadfield's Twitter?

Nearing the end of the week, Master experienced some problems with her locker once again. The area where the locker is just seems to be a people magnet. ANT very much enjoyed watching Master trying to make her way through the crowd. I just don't understand why the spot is so appealing to some.

On the walk back home on Friday, Wadz decided to 'forget' who everyone was, which gave ANT and Master the perfect opportunity to call themselves different names. On this occasion, they were 'Courtney and Dodger', the crime-fighting duo. What dya think?

When we reach ANT's home, ANT appeared to be rather annoyed (well, isn't she always? jokes). There was a skip parked right in front of the house, which no one seemed to be using. ANT explained that it has been annoying her family for quite a few days now. Meanwhile, Wadz and Master thought this was rather amusing.

There was plenty more revision during the weekend. However, when Wadz was meant to be present, and she was not, everyone B-COX-ed her (sent her messages exclusively consisting of 'B-COX').
Otherwise, during the chat, when everyone was there, the written conversation became spammed with a variety of different topics, including fruit and supermarkets.
It was also an emotional/comical moment, when Wadz was hosting the Great Revision Quiz, and ANT just explicitly expresses that she does not care much for the subject that Wadz's quiz was based around. This led to Wadz giving a very much heart-felt speech on what hosting the quiz meant to her. Let me tell you, it meant a lot.

Well, that's it for this week!

Until next week, have a good one :)

Weekly News Round-Up...coming right your way!

Hey peeps!

Thanks so much for bearing with these weeks. I really appreciate it.
It's been quite a few weeks since the last Round-Up, and both Wicks and ANT have expressed their slight disappointment at this fact, so I decided that today's the day to fill you all in about what's happened.

I've got three Weekly News Round-Up's which will be posted very soon (yep, today's your lucky day). They will be for 12/05/2013, 19/05/2013 and also this week's one (yes, it's gonna be released early).

Now, I think it has to be said that this will probably be the lot of them for this academic year as we will not be having anymore full weeks at school until September.
If you're worried, don't be, because we've got Quote Weeks sorted out, and I'm sure there will be plenty of stuff to write about this summer (which we've decided shall be the best summer yet). Plus, the Book Blog shall be up and running once again later next month!

So much to look forward to eh?

Taa for now,
Gerry

The Nagini Series: #2

It seems that Wadz has started a spoof series based on the part in Harry Potter where Voldemort tells Nagini to kill Snape.

Part 1 of the series can be found here.

As for part 2...

Exam Week 2: Day 5

"You may have ruined you life, but at least you have a nice quote to read."
- A.T.

Story behind quote:
ANT jokes about Exam Quote Week ;p

Exam Week 2: Day 4

"You can play till the cows come home!"
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
What a wonderful expression used by Wicks :)

Exam Week 2: Day 3

"You may have saboutaged the rest of the paper, but at least you know why he wants to write a blog."
- J.C.

Story behind quote:
ANT's determination gets her caught up on a particular question on a German practise paper (about a boy writing a blog). This is Master's response.

Exam Week 2: Day 2

"What's the one that looks like an intestine?"
- A.T.

Story behind quote:
ANT inquires about an alien from Doctor Who. Great description, mate ;)

Exam Week 2: Day 1

"There isn't even a 9..."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
ArwaChihuahua made a very small oragami fortune teller. To annoy ArwaChihuahua, Wicks asked for the highest number possible, which she thought was 9 (but was really a 6), so it would be inconvenient. Naturally, there are only ever 8 segments, however ArwaChihuahua fell for the 9. Wicks only realised later that they had both made the mistake of the 9. Oh lol ;p

Exam Week 1: Day 5

"The cat would be the trigger and the water would be the bullet."
- J.C.

Story behind quote:
During a discussion about hel and hell one lunchtime, we developed an idea that what if the method of one's death became one's special power in heaven? For example, if you died in a fire, your power in heaven would be fire. By the end of lunch, ANT was playing devil's advocate and questioned what your power would be if you tripped on a cat and fell into a river, consequently drowning. Somehow, this led to Master getting a little metaphorical...

Also mentioned in Weekly News Round-Up: 28/04/2013.

Exam Week 1: Day 4

"It's there for confict."
- A.T.

Story behind quote:
The pen clip proved to have such great spinning qualities that ANT decided to keep it in the event of an argument. The idea is to spin it and whoever it points to is correct.

Also mentioned in Weekly News Round-Up: 28/04/2013.

Exam Week 1: Day 3

"...I guarantee it." *pop*
- A.T.

Story behind quote:
ANT is determined to remove the clip from her pen. Right after she 'guarantees' it, the clip just pops off. What timing!

Also mentioned in Weekly News Round-Up: 28/04/2013.

Exam Week 1: Day 2

"..."
- A.T.

Story behind quote:
Before the first Great Revision Quiz, Wicks, ANT and Master did a test run. Due to technical difficulties at first, we could not hear ANT. It was rather funny to watch her facial expressions ;p

Exam Week 1: Day 1

"On a scale from 1 to sehr quick, how fast are your come-backs?"
- A.T. H.W. J.C.

Story behind quote:
The newest way of measuring how good your come-back reflexes are ;p

Exam Quote Month...starting tomorrow. Good luck everyone!

To help everyone get through this exam season, we shall have a quote every weekday from Monday 13th May to Friday 14th June. In between we will still have June Quote Week.

Good luck with the exams everyone! :)

Weekly News Round-Up #28: 05/05/2013

My sincerest apologies for this most late edition of Weekly News Round-Up. I was unable to update on time due to some technical issues.

So, what happened this week? Well...

In Form time on Monday, the guys were playing tin tong (nothing strange in that), but the best thing was that one of them dived for the tin ball, hit it back to the rest of the group, but fell off his chair. It was truly a moment to remember ;p

In History, ConscienceSarah was persuading Master to say 'rainbow bikini' in a builder voice because she thought it would be funny. Let's all try it now...

In that same lesson, we learned about John Simon who was a public health officer in the 1800's. By the name, Wicks deemed him to be possibly one of the greatest men to have ever graced the planet as his name is a mix of John Snow and Simon Wicks.

Tuesday was a day of extreme sports...well, vaulting. Upon first hearing that we had to do it, we were pretty scared. However, we all agreed that it was a lot better than we expected it to be. So, if you ever have to do vaulting, don't worry, it's not too bad.

Breaktime held the most interesting of snack discussions. It happened that ArwaChihuahua had a pack of Cheese and Bacon crisps, which blew everyone's mind as no one had ever seen anything like it before. Furthermore, Wicks had a pack of non-meat related crisps, which were apparently from a Meat Multi-pack. What's going on?!

In the middle of the week, something in Form happened that perhaps made ANT's week. As usual, the guys were playing tin tong. ANT had always hoped that one day the tin ball would come flying over to our table and Master would hit it. Well, it happens that that day was Wednesday! Whatta moment ;p

During lunchtimes this week, we came up with some ideas for what we could do in the summer. Some ideas that we came up with were chair games and Minecraft parties (of course our rooms would be stocked up with Meat Multi-packs).

Thursday proved to be an interesting day as we had to have our year photo taken. This included piling as many people as possible onto a seemingly small structure made up of metal bars and planks. I remember seeing one person on the top level who was hanging their foot over the edge.
It was only half the battle trying to fit everyone in, but it was more difficult trying to get everyone to keep still to take the photo (some people kept putting their hands up).
Overall, it took a lot longer than anyone thought. Afterwards, to kill time before the next lesson, we were allowed to take pictures by ourselves. One of the most impressive of poses was the triple piggy back. It's probably not wise to try it at home.

Wadz was pretty badly shoe-ed this week. Somehow her laces were always undone, but the worst part was that she lost an aglet. Disappointing.

Onto other matters...we know the 5 second rule, Wicks' 2-peg-policy, but now we present to you the 8 banana rule. Listen well, because, according to Wicks, if the average person has more than 8 bananas in a day, they will die. Please watch your banana intake.

There are many talented people in the Academy. This was proven on Friday when we learnt that one of our class members is able to turn someone else's bag inside out in a certain lesson. Every time without fail. And he has never gotten caught doing it. Wow.

Our last lesson of the week was German, where we took part in an active revision pub quiz (sort of). Our most formidable opponents were the guy who always says 'nein' and Mr. Sehr quick; and together they were the dream team. As expected, brilliance ensued.

Until next week, have a good one :)

Note: There will not be a Weekly News Round-Up in the following weeks. A post shall be released when it restarts.

Great Revision Quiz Report: Ethics

The results:
1st - 28 points - ArwaChihuahua
2nd - 27 points - Wicks
3rd - 20 points - ANT
4th - 15 points - Master

Highlight of the session: Wadz's as our amazing host, with her fabulous red jacket and hilarious sound-board ;p

Funny moment #1: Fruit-naming whilst waiting for ArwaChihuahua.
Funny moment #2: ANT being not bothered with the exam and getting -10 points.

Next time...
Tomorrow (Sunday). Wicks. Biology. Get set, go.

Exam Quote Month - BONUS!

Exam Quote Month does officially start next week, but this one's for all the peeps who have a Drama exam today. Good luck everyone! :)

M: "Your laugh is so annoying."
A: "Your face is so annoying."
M: "And I said that too, when I was 7."
- M.E. A.N.

Story behind quote:
The best come-back ever, from the one and only Mr. Sehr quick. So unexpected, yet such brilliance in that moment.

Great Revision Quiz Report: Chemistry 2

The results:
1st - 16 points - ArwaChihuahua
2nd - 14 points - Master
3rd - 12 points - ANT
3rd - 12 points - Wicks
5th - 7 points - Wadz

Next time...
Friday. Wadz + Wicks. RE + Biology. Double-whammy.

Great Revision Quiz Report: Biology 3

The results:
1st - 32 points - Ruby
1st - 32 points -Wicks
3rd - 19 points - ArwaChihuahua
4th - 11.25 points - Wadz

Next time...
Wednesday. Ruby. Chemistry 2.

Quote Week: May - Day 7

"Lovely cholera...Jeeves, get me some more cholera."
- H.W.

Story behind quote:
In History, they were learning about cholera in the 19th Century. As many will know, John Snow made some very important discoveries that helped people understand the cause of the disease, but he couldn't have done it without his observations and interviews with affected citizens. Of course, he realised that all the people who were dying were getting their water from the pump on Broad Street. Along with the people who were dying in the city, there was also a particular woman, living in the countryside, who liked the taste of the water from that same pump. Little did she know that the water was spreading the disease. Here is Wicks' wonderfully hilarious impression of the woman... ;)

Weekly News Round-Up #27: 28/04/2013

Welcome to yet another Weekly News Round-Up! It's been a pretty normal week, but I think it's finally hit all of us that exams are literally a couple of weeks away. Oh dear. Anyways, let's get started...

Monday form time was slightly uneventful. We got given student surveys, where most of the questions were asked twice but in a different wording. Because it was such a dry activity, ArwaChihuahua decided to make it more interesting, for the people who would be reading them, and drew a picture of a rag doll saying, 'help me'. I agree with Wicks that it was slightly freaky.

Our first lesson of the week was History. Somehow, the topic of barcode cats cropped up. I think it was ConscienceSarah who said it would be cool to have a stripey cat that would perhaps be recognised at the till in a supermarket...?!

In book news, Wicks and Master have both started reading 'A Game of Thrones' by George R.R. Martin this week. And yes, it could mean that they will be doing a double review of it some time in the future on the Book Blog... ;)

When we got to the middle of the week, we had a rather interesting assembly, complete with a marginally interesting dance and a less interesting emergency drill. With the new emergency assembly area being the field, someone asked what would happen if the grass was on fire. In that particular scenario, we wouldn't be doing too well.

I think it's fair to say that Thursday was overall a day of great timing.
Scenario #1: In German, ANT tried to remove the clip of a pen. It was a bit of a struggle, but ANT was so determined that she even said at one point, "This will be the last thing I do if I die." Five minutes later, she says to Master, "I will get this off, I guarantee it." And right after she said it, hey presto, the clip flies off. ANT claims that she had no idea that it would do that. Currently, due to its fantastic spinning qualities, the pen clip is used as the 'Ultimate Decider'. In the event of an argument, the clip is spun and whoever it points to is correct. Sorted.
Scenario #2: At lunch, ArwaChihuahua asks where Ruby and Wicks are. Right after the words leave her mouth, they walk around the corner, as if summoned.

In that same lunchtime, they had a discussion about hell and hel again. They fantasised that perhaps heaven is like the Room of Requirement from Harry Potter. This brought on ideas that everyone got their plot of land in heaven and there were portals where you could go visit other people. Somehow, the topic took a turn and a more obscure idea was thrown around: what if the method of your death became your special power in heaven? For example, if you died in a fire on the field, your power in heaven would be fire. By the end of lunch, ANT was trying to find faults in the system and, consequently, Master got rather metaphorical in counter-acting ANT's comments.

Some of you may remember Wicks and Master's conversation about Adventuring Shoes and meeting at Dustbin Corner. Previously, Master had forgotten twice about the meeting (let's be fair, Wicks also did it once ;), so this Thursday, to ensure that the mistake is not made again, Master wrote the letters 'D.C.' on her hand. However, after a moment, the skin had become slightly raised, therefore giving the impression that it was tattooed on! At least Master didn't forget ;p [For those concerned, it was just biro and came off easily with soap and water.]

In Friday's Physics lesson, the main door to the classroom was locked. Additionally, it was hailing outside. This obviously called for the members of the class, who got into the room via the back door, to initiate lockdown. This meant closing all the blinds and shutting the back door. Pretty serious stuff.

To round off the week, ANT and Master have been getting rather competitive in racing to the door at the end of a lesson. Usually ANT waits for Master, but after a chance incident, where Master got out before ANT, it has brought about a whole new level of competition. Let's just say that it has gotten to the point that they both have their eyes on the door as soon as the bell goes. Fun times ;p

Until next week, have a good one :)

Quote Week: May - Day 6

"I'm being blinded by my own skin!"
- A.T.

Story behind quote:
This week, the sun has been out so much that ANT was finding it difficult to look at her own skin since the light bouncing into her eyes was just so bright. She even went as far as to compare it with a sheet of plain paper ;p

Great Revision Quiz Report: Physics 2

Props to everyone for being on time today! This is the first time that we have started on the dot, so I think we should count that as a pretty big achievement :)

The results:
1st - 40.5 points - Wicks (a lot of marks were awarded for describing sequences such as the life cycle of stars)
2nd - 27.5 points - ArwaChihuahua
3rd - 20 points - ANT
4th - 14 points - Wadz
-
5th - 6 points - Ruby (who only joined us for a short amount of time at the beginning)

Highlight of the session: Throughout the quiz, Wadz was pretty annoyed as she thought she wasn't being awarded enough points.

Funny moment: To put the person, who was answering, off, the others kept going right up to the camera and making faces ;p

Next time...
Monday. ANT. Biology 3. See ya there.

Quote Week: May - Day 5

"Living life on the edge, literally."
- A.T.

Story behind quote:
ANT was explaining how her bro, KrazyK, often likes to stand as close as he can to the edge of the train platform...please don't try and take a leaf out of his book.

Quote Week: May - Day 4

"...you know, their crawl brawl?"
- J.C. to S.A.

Story behind quote:
A snippet of Master's conversation with ConscienceSarah about the scene in the last Harry Potter movie, where Voldemort and Harry are both crawling towards their respective wands for the final Avada Kedavra. It seems that Master's brawl obsession continues...

Great Revision Quiz Report: Ethics & Poetry

Tonight's quiz was hosted by the lovely ArwaChihuahua, who presented us with a fantastic set of questions on both Ethics AND Poetry. Now that's what I call killing two birds with one stone (it's just a saying, please don't attempt to harm any animals).

It should also be noted that we were joined by Wadz, who made the experience even livelier. (The more the merrier, they say)

The results:
1st - 21 points +2 points from Monday- Wicks
2nd - 17 points - ANT
4th - 14 points - Wadz
4th - 14 points - Master

Even though Ruby was in attendance, she decided to take a seat in the back and not join in the quiz. However, I think you will agree wit me that it was rather remarkable that she earned a solid 4 points by answering every now and again when no one else knew the answer. Nice one mate!

Highlight of the session: Hats and lollies are officially must-haves for the session. Wicks had her Goat hat and Wadz had a nice bear hat (that jiggled).

Funny moment: Due to ANT's webcam having some awesome effects features, there was one point where it looked like her head was on fire. Fun times ;p

Next time...
Friday. Master. Physics 2. Be there (preferably on time).

Quote Week: May - Day 3

"The knot's not coming undone."
- J.C.

Story behind quote:
Bit of a funny sentence for you all. It's like when you happen to say 'do' twice in a row ;p