Thursday, December 28, 2017

Harry Potter Theories By: GS187

The Gryffindor Trio:
Hermione, Harry, and Ron


I had finished the Harry Potter series about eight months ago. While I was reading it I couldn’t help but imagine reasoning behind J.K. Rowlings decisions made in her writings about Harry Potter.. I have some intriguing theories.

The Dursley Family 


I believe that the Dursleys are mean because Harry is a horcrux. In Harry Potter and  The Deathly Hallows it says that Ron left  Harry and Hermione while hunting horcruxes because the horcrux that was Salazar Slytherin’s locket in their possession was making him mad. Along that reasoning,  since Harry was a horcrux, the Dursleys would obviously
be mean to Harry. As the reader is introduced to the Dursleys, they show no love nor compassion for Harry who is in their care. Perhaps they are unable to since they’d lived with the horcrux that is Harry for 11 years.

Harry Potter being sorted by the Sorting Hat


In Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone the Sorting Hat chooses the house you go into, but my theory suggests not for Gryffindor. The only way to get into Gryffindor is to ask the Sorting Hat to put you there. This is evident with many people including Neville, Hermione, and Harry. Neville is probably the least bravest person in Hogwarts when he steps up to the Sorting Hat. We can only suspect that he asks to be in Gryffindor. Hermione is very clever and is obviously supposed to be put in Ravenclaw but somehow gets put in Gryffindor. We have no other reason to think she got placed into Gryffindor then asking the Sorting Hat to put her there. And finally, Harry. Here’s where we get actual proof. The Sorting Hat wants to put Harry in Slytherin, but Harry specifically asks not to go there. Now, Harry doesn’t directly ask to go to Gryffindor, but I believe that the house Harry fits into most aside from Slytherin is Gryffindor.

The Elder Wand


The Magic number throughout the Harry Potter series is seven. There are seven books in the Harry Potter series, seven horcruxes revealed, and Voldemort tries to kill Harry seven times. I reason this is why the Elder Wand is so powerful. If you look at the Elder Wand it has seven raised areas on its surface. I think that those seven areas give it great power.

The Harry Potter Book Series, a Must-Read!


I hope you enjoyed the theories about the Harry Potter series. If you have only watched the movies, I highly suggest reading the books. They are wonderful pieces of literature, and are very exhilarating books.

Saturday, July 22, 2017

My Obsession with Lego Fidget Spinners

If you don’t know what a fidget spinner is, you’ve been living under a rock for the past six months! A fidget spinner is pretty self-explanatory. It is a spinner that helps kids with A.D.D. and A.D.H.D. help concentrate, but fidget spinners have become a great toy for any and all kids. If you know me, you know I love Legos. Since I have a room completely devoted to Legos, I thought I could try to make some Lego fidget spinners. I decided to look on YouTube to see what kind of Lego spinners people have made and I found some cool stuff.

The first video I found was an Incredible Science video, LEGO Spinner Fidget Toy Tutorial! How to Make 5 Different Hand Spinners!. Then I found more and more Lego spinner videos and my absolute, number one favorite Lego fidget spinner video was LEGO Justice League Fidget Spinner Toys (Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg). I’ve made two of the fidget spinners from this video, the Wonder Woman, and Batman Lego fidget spinner.

Batman and Wonder Woman Fidget Spinner

Backside of Batman Fidget Spinner

There is another video by this YouTuber that is an Avenger themed Lego fidget spinner collection. I have only made one of the Avenger set and that is the Iron Man Lego fidget spinner. I attempted to make the Thor fidget spinner in the collection, but it just turned into a hammer fidget spinner.

Iron Man  Fidget Spinner


I encourage you guys to check out these videos and try making some Lego fidget spinners yourself!

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

And Finally, Norse Mythology, My Favorite





Norse mythology was made by the Vikings, Nordic sailors who conquered, traded, and lived in Scandinavia which consists of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. They called their gods Æsir Gods. The King of the Æsir Gods was Odin. He was the God of War, Wisdom, Death, and the Sky. It was rumored that Odin could start a war just by throwing his magic spear.


Odin’s son was Thor. He was the God of Thunder. With his mighty hammer Mjölnir, he fought giants and monsters. His step-brother, Loki, was the God of Trickery and Shapeshifting.


There were nine worlds in Norse mythology. They were all connected  by the Tree of Life named Yggdrasil.


There were:


Asgard, the land where the Æsir Gods lived.
Midgard, where all humans lived.
Nidavellir, the home of the dwarves.
Muspelheim, the realm of fire and demons.
Alfheim, the world of the light elves.
Vanaheim, the home of the Vanir.
Helheim, the home of Hel and the dishonorable dead.
Niflheim, the world of ice.
Jotunheim, the home of all giants.


Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life


Loki was very mischievous, in fact,  Loki once placed a bet with a dwarf named Brokk, that none of the royal weapons could be bettered. Loki said if the dwarves won, they could claim his head. Brokk took the challenge and while the dwarves were working, Loki turned into a fly to distract them. The dwarves won the bet, but, when they came to claim Loki’s head, Loki said that they could take his head, but they had no right to any part of his neck. Since none of the dwarves knew where the head ended and the neck began, they punished Loki by sewing his mouth shut.


Odin once had a dream of how to get more knowledge and see the future. To get this information, he had to hang himself from a tree for nine days, pierced by his own spear.


Loki and Angrboda the giant had three monstrous children, Jörmungandr, Fenrir, and Hel. Jörmungandr was sent to surround Midgard to protect all the humans. Fenrir stayed in Asgard, and Hel was half-alive, half-dead and was sent to Helheim as the Goddess of the Dead.


Fenrir was put in chains in the palace in Asgard to protect the gods. The gods challenged Fenrir of his strength and said that he couldn’t break his chains. Fenrir easily bit his chain and released himself. The gods then went to the dwarves and asked them to make a chain that would withstand Fenrir’s strength.
After the chain was made the chained Fenrir and asked him to break the chain. Fenrir could not and stayed chained forever.


The gods, other than Odin, Thor, and Loki, Balder is the God of Light, Joy, Purity, Beauty, Innocence, and Reconciliation. Frigg is the Queen of the Æsir Gods. She is also the Goddess of Love and Fertility. Tyr is the God of War, Patron, and Justice. Freya is the Goddess of Love. Those are all of the gods you need to know. The others have pretty much the same powers as the other gods but different names. All the Æsir gods lived in Asgard.

Asgard, the Land of the Æsir gods


Norse mythology is a very interesting mythology because of Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life. It holds nine very interesting worlds, but my favorite is Nidavellir, the home of the dwarves. The dwarves are such interesting beings. They always stay inside creating weapons and jewelry from metals because if sunlight touches their skin, they turn to stone!

Dwarves



The second most interesting things in my opinion, are the light elves. These creatures have pointed ears and can do magic. The exact opposite of light elves, are dark elves, which do everything light elves do, but are obviously dark and evil.

Most people think that Vikings wore horns on their battle helmets. That is not true. Hollywood movie makers put horns on the helmets depicting Vikings to make them look more intimidating.

Authentic Viking Helmet


Personally, Norse mythology is my favorite. Please comment on what your favorite myth is. Thank you for reading this three part blog.

Friday, March 17, 2017

Roman Mythology: A Quick Guide

Remus and Romulus’ parent was Rhea Silvia, not the Rhea from Greek mythology. Amulius, the wicked king, hired a slave to throw Remus and Romulus into the Tiber River. To give them a chance, the slave put the boys in a cradle and sent them floating down the river. A she-wolf named Lupa picked them up from the river and raised the two children.

Amulius taking the twins Remus & Romulus


Lupa with Romulus & Remus


When the boys got tall and strong they went back to kill Amulius for his dastardly deed. After they killed Amulius they became rulers. Over time they got bored and wanted to make a city on the countryside where they grew up. They started arguing who should get to be king and eventually, Romulus killed Remus, and named the city after himself. The city’s name was Rome.

Romulus killed his twin brother Remus &
named the city of Rome after himself
Seen here Dabbing.


The Romans copied the Greek Gods with some name adjustments.
Here’s  a chart:

Zeus=Jupiter, God of the Sky
Hera=Juno, Goddess of the Heavens
Poseidon=Neptune, the God of the Sea
Hades=Pluto, the God of the Underworld
Demeter=Ceres, Goddess of the Harvest
Dionysus=Bacchus, God of Wine
Hephaestus=Vulcan, God of Fire and Metalworking
Athena=Minerva, Goddess of Wisdom and Crafts
Ares=Mars, God of War
Aphrodite=Venus, Goddess of Love
Artemis=Diana, Goddess of the Hunt
Apollo=Apollo, God of Music and the Sun

The monsters are the exact same thing as well as the heroes.


Make sure to check out my third and final blog in this series about Norse mythology!

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Greek Mythology

In the fall of 2016, I started reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I have recently started on the third book of The Heroes of Olympus series. All of this got me thinking, I should do a blog about myths.

No I don’t think I’m a “myth-master” just because I read the series. I have been researching all myths on my own, including the following: Greek, Roman, Norse, and Egyptian mythologies.

Greek mythology is where my adventure begins. At the beginning of time, Mother Earth, or Gaea, created rivers with the blood running through her veins. The hills and earth were made of her luscious green hair. The sky, Ouranos, took interest in Mother Earth and she consequently bore ten strong children. These were named the Titans. The youngest Titan, Cronus, was a very curious child.

Ouranos, Gaea, and Tartarus


Gaea and Ouranos next had six children. Three one-eyed Cyclops and three children with one hundred arms named the hundred-handed ones. Ouranos hated his hideous children and sent them to the bottom of Tartarus, the abyss in the Underworld where terrible creatures were held.

Gaea hated Ouranos because he killed her six hideous, but loved, sons. So in return she asked her youngest child Cronus to use an adamantine sickle to kill Ouranos. Cronus did as his mother told him and killed his father.



Cronus was then the Ruler of the World and Time. He married a Titan named Rhea. Even though they were siblings, they married because…reasons (this happened a lot in mythology). They had five children that Cronus swallowed. I’m not even joking, he ate all five of his children! When Rhea gave birth to her sixth child, Zeus, instead allowing Cronus to eat Zeus, Rhea tricked Cronus into eating a boulder.

Zeus grew up to be tall and powerful and when the time was right, Zeus overthrew Cronus and became the ruler of the world. He made Cronus vomit all of his children. They all survived in Cronus’ stomach all of those years. The children’s names were Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Hera, and Demeter.

This is where it gets confusing. Zeus got a Titan named Metis pregnant. To avoid getting overthrown like his father before him, he ate Metis (what is wrong with this family?!). Zeus started getting headaches and bore the child Athena…from his head.



Zeus then married Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest. She bore the child Persephone.

The following will perhaps be easier to understand:

Hera+sheer will=Hephaestus
Zeus+Leto=Apollo and Artemis
Ouranos’ body parts+the ocean=Aphrodite
Zeus+Maia=Hermes
Zeus+Hera=Ares      

 This is Greek mythology in a nutshell.

Stay tuned for Part II of this three part series on mythology!

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

The Lego Batman Movie Review


This Valentine’s Day my grandparents gave me and my parents some money for a dinner and movie. The movie we went to was The Lego Batman Movie. When I went in, I had high expectations because of the amazing humor-filled previews. This movie passed my expectations. (Spoiler alert) it starts with a black screen and Will Arnett, Batman, explaining how all important movies start with black screens… and then he says how he has a nine-pack.

Batman is introduced as a narcissistic and egotistical person that “…sit around all day in black clothes.” Dick Grayson, on the other hand, is a happy orphan who is a male gymnast. He meets Bruce Wayne at a festival where Barbara Gordon is becoming the police commissioner of Gotham City. Dick Grayson is asking Bruce Wayne if he is able to adopt someone, and he says yes because he is musing about Barbara and how beautiful she is and unconsciously adopts Dick. Barbara Gordon is the daughter of James Gordon, former police commissioner of Gotham City. Barbara has graduated from Harvard For Police. She grew up in a family full of police and wanted to follow her father’s footsteps. When Bruce Wayne’s parents were killed, Alfred Pennyworth became Bruce’s father figure and Batman refers to him as that.

The movie is mainly about two things. Number one, The Joker thinks he is Batman’s “greatest enemy” and does everything to prove that. Number two, in the previews there is a scene about what Batman is afraid of, and Alfred says it is being part of a family, he counters and says he is afraid of snake-clowns. Later in the movie Robin, Dick Grayson, says they are going on a family trip and throughout the movie Batman tries to deal with that without admitting that being part of a family is his fear. By the end of the movie both of those problems are resolved.

During the movie, Dick Grayson makes up things that people will know him by. He says his code name is Robin and his motto is “tweet, tweet, on the street.” He even comes up with a song, I’ll try to write it. This is how it goes: “Flyyyyy, Robin, Flyyyyy!” Batman tells Robin that he and Bruce Wayne said that they would both be his dad. Robin tries to call Batman Dad, and he immediately tells Robin to stop. Robin now tries to call him padré and Batman starts to talk, but Robin interrupts and asks him if he’s not allowed to call him that either. Batman asks what padré means and he says it means dad in Spanish. Batman doesn’t mind it and says it also means buddy.

At the end of the movie there is a white screen and Batman is explaining how all important movies end in white and then a robotic voice says: Playing Robin’s happy music, and it shows all of the people dancing around in gold and white with all the credits on the side.

The movie was so amazing! It had 188 fresh tomatoes and 19 rotten tomatoes on the website rottentomatoes.com which means it is very popular. I’m not sure but I think that is a record on Rotten Tomatoes. If you are thinking about watching a movie, I suggest the Lego Batman Movie. Not just because it’s a good movie for kids, it has hilarious adult humor as well and is satisfactory for an entire family.