Apollo's Rebellion

For I am a dreamer
With dreams that
Span the entire Earth. 

Call me the dreamer
With impossible dreams,
But call me a failure
For I am that too.  

I have not
Lived a long life,
Nor have I
Lived a good one. 

Call me honest,
Call me kind,
I do not believe it
To be true. 

For I am a human,
With a human heart.
For I am a human,
With human emotions. 

I have made mistakes
And I have learnt,
But through it all
I was true.
True to myself
And true to my faith. 

Call me invisible
For that is the truth.
Call me forgettable
For I am forgotten. 

A quiet whisper in a
Never ending storm.
A small light
Blinking out in the dark. 

Call me a dreamer
With impossible dreams.
For I was the dreamer
With hope in my heart
And a fire in my soul.

Note from the author:
Sometimes the words just come to you at any given moment and you have to just write it down. I wrote this poem while studying for a chemistry test (which I think I failed) and I thought I would share it with the rest of the world. I'm not really the type to write poems because I either want to make it rhyme or it ends up being a paragraph. This is the first poem that I've felt happy about showing and it pretty much reflects the mood I'm in. Hope you liked it.

IT IS 1939. NAZI GERMANY. THE COUNTRY IS HOLDING ITS BREATH. DEATH HAS NEVER BEEN BUSIER, AND WILL BECOME BUSIER STILL.
Liesel Meminger and her brother are being taken be their mother to live with a foster family outside Munich. Liesel's father was taken away on the breath of a single, unfamiliar word - Kommunist - and Liesel sees the fear of a similar fate in her mother's eyes. On the journey, Death visits the young boy, and notices Liesel. It will be the first of many nearer encounters. By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is "The Gravedigger's Handbook", left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery.
So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.
But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jewish fist-fighter in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.
"The Book Thief" is a story about the power of words to make worlds. In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-wining author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

The blurb at the back of the book doesn't even begin to describe how wonderfully magical this book is. It is set in a time we all know about: The Holocaust and tells the story of Liesel Meminger who goes to live with the Hubermanns on Himmel Street. The story follows Liesel's journey from making a friend of the hopeless Rudy Steiner to finding hope in words. 


The best part about the book? It's narrated by Death. When I first heard that the book was narrated by death two thoughts popped into my head. Thought #1, "Isn't that just a bit morbid?" and thought #2, "That's brilliant! Why hasn't anyone thought of that before?" Placing death as the narrator was one of the best choices Zusak made. He (or she?) is witty, clever and a bit cynical at times. The punch is that Death isn't the Death we hear about everyday (for example The Grim Reaper), Death does have attachments and, quite honestly, feels emotions, but don't tell Death that. The fact that he is telling Liesel's story shows us that he does feel attached to humans and collecting the dead is just part of his day (and night) job. Zusak's take on Death is fantastically new and makes you think a little. Without giving too much away, this is how Death describes himself (or herself?): "You want to know what I truly look like? I'll help you out. Find yourself a mirror while I continue." Pretty much sums up Death and his view on humanity.

Every single character in this book is memorable, even the minor ones. Every character has a heart and dimension, which made choosing my favourite that much harder. Usually, by the end of a book I can tell you the character I loved the most. Sometimes it's because I can relate to them and sometimes they're just the most lovable character in the book. Once I had finished The Book Thief I didn't have a favourite character, I had many. So here's the list:

Liesel Meminger: 
Her determination and fighting spirit is something that makes her stand out from the rest of the girls. She's not afraid of getting dirty, but is afraid of being hurt. Liesel's main triumph was learning how to read and write. She's taught by her foster father, Hans Hubermann, who she calls Papa. She is strong-willed and able to compete against the boys, her loving and caring personality also allows her to be sensitive towards others.

Hans Hubermann:
The man who taught Liesel how to read and write. He is the perfect father to her. Hans Hubermann paints, plays the accordian and has a smoking addiction, but he is so much more than that. He is loving and patient and cares for everyone and everything. Because of his caring nature, he gets quite a reputation amongst the Himmel Street residents. He is a perfect example of a well written character.

Rosa Hubermann: 
Rosa is a character I've seen and read about many times, but the way she is portrayed in The Book Thief is absolutely brilliant. Rosa has a hard outer shell  but a soft inside. She would never admit it to you, but the people she loves the most are the people she insults the most. She has a quick temper and the house is her domain. If there's one thing I've learnt about Rosa it's don't get on her bad side because you never know what may come out her mouth next.

Rudy Stiener:
He is the boy who never stopped loving Liesel. He is Liesel's best friend, ally and, later, her partner in crime. He is described as having lemon yellow hair and is often (affectionately) called Saukerl by Liesel to which he teasingly calls her Saumensch (two words that they both learned from Rosa). His one and only dream is to be a star athlete just like the Black-American runner Jesse Owens. Rudy is brave, mischievous and very, very clever. Rudy is the type of character you can't stopping loving.

Not what death looks like aka The Grim Reaper

Max Vandenburg:
Max is the Jewish fist fighter that comes to stay with the Hubermanns. Max's character makes a huge impact on Liesel. Liesel finds comfort with him and his stories of his fist fighting days and, like Liesel, is plagued with nightmares every single night. Together they help each other overcome their struggles and he sees something in Liesel that he likes and she sees something in him that she likes. To Max, everyday that he is alive is a punch in the face for Hitler and he even dreams about having a boxing match with the Fuhrer one day. Max is a fighter and it's his fighting spirit that keeps him alive for so long. 

There are so many more characters I could write about, but I won't bore you with details. Some of the others I did like were Ilsa Hermann, Tommy Muller and Frau Holtsapfel. 

The Book Thief is the type of book that clings onto you after you've read it. It's a simple story about a girl who lives in Nazi Germany that is written in such beautifully complex way. It's the type of book that you have to read to understand what all the hype is about. The Book Thief is one of kind and is one of the best adventures I've ever been on. 

After much anticipation the new episode of Doctor Who aired yesterday and what an episode it was. In this episode the Doctor is more dejected and refuses to help in anyway possible. He knows that there is something sinister going on, but he is still adamant on not helping "Team Vastra" as they've been dubbed by fans. There is, however, one person who can change all that... (Warning! Spoilers ahead)

This year's Christmas special brought about a whole lot of news. New TARDIS interior, new companion and a new title sequence and theme tune, but I'll get to that later. Firstly let's begin with the story line.
It all starts with a little boy who excludes himself from the kids. Probably because he doesn't like them or more so maybe because they don't understand him or maybe he prefers his own company. For whatever reason, this telepathic snow chooses little Walter Simeon to mirror. 50 years later and Walter and his giant snow globe are trying to take over the world one snowman at a time. It's a classic Doctor Who villain story and Richard E Grant makes a perfect Dr Simeon, but the person who stole the show was none other than Jenna-Louise Coleman. She is such a superb actress and Clara is a no nonsense kind of girl. Barmaid by night and prim governess by day, Clara is just the perfect type of person to bring the Doctor back from the sad place he entered when Amy and Rory left. Clara, like most of us, is very curious and she is also very brave. One of the first things she does is chase after the Doctor's coach and pop her head through the roof as well as following the Doctor to his TARDIS in the sky. Jenna-Louise Coleman is perfect at playing her, but I'll get back to that in a minute.

Moving onto Team Vastra. It took me a while to get used to Vastra, Jenny and Strax and, although I liked their parts in A Good Man Goes to War I wasn't sure if I would like to see them return, but I quickly warmed up to them. Vastra and Jenny are such a good pairing and to me it doesn't seem at all weird that Vastra is a lizard woman let alone lesbian. The thing that bothered me was seeing two of the Doctor's enemies become his friends, still Strax brings a humorous side to the episode and I like that Vastra is also nicknamed the Great Detective. Speaking of detectives there are multiple Sherlock Holmes references in the episode from Dr Simeon mentioning a "Dr Doyle" to the Doctor wearing a deerstalker and going under the alias of Sherlock Holmes. It was almost like Steven Moffat's way of saying this is the closest thing you're going to get  to the Doctor and the famed detective. (Just a little side note the Doctor has dressed up as Sherlock Holmes before.)

This Christmas special was possibly one of my favourites, it was humorous, sad, captivating and played out like an hour long movie, but the biggest mystery came at the end when the Doctor realised Clara's full name (Clara Oswin Oswald) and he set about trying to find her. The episode ends wonderfully with Clara (or Oswin or Jenna or whatever you wanna call her) standing over her tombstone in modern day England. This sets in motion the rest of series and I can only assume that the Doctor finds her soon after that because she is wearing similar clothes to some of the behind the scenes pictures.

Anyway, getting back to review at hand. Let's move on to the "news":
New title sequence and theme tune: I had to watch this twice to fully grasp everything about it. I have two words: Classic Who. It reminds me so much of the classic series, but is also up dated and somehow feels modern. I like the new arrangement of the theme and it gives the show a bit more of mystery-thriller atmosphere which it sometimes is, but it stills feels like it had that adventure to it. The only problem I have with the new title sequence is that it's a bit too red for me, but that's just me.
New TARDIS interior: I don't like it. I can live with, but I don't like it. After making the TARDIS into a living breathing person, you can't all of sudden make it into an odd metallic machine! The TARDIS felt so homely and welcoming before, but now it feels more like something that is just transport. The TARDIS isn't just transport it's a whole world inside a 1960's police box! Yeah, it might take me a while to get used to this new interior.

How could you not fall in love?

New companion: I love her. She is wonderful. Truthfully, I liked Karen and I liked Amy, but there were times when I didn't like Amy. I didn't like the way she treated Rory and occasionally tossed him aside, but then the next minute she's proclaiming her love for him. Clara, I can say, is no Amelia Pond. She's fun, clever and extremely good looking. She's also really good with kids. Clara is the only person able to get the Doctor back to his good ol' ways and with just one word: Pond. Her entire interview with Vastra is fantastic and quirky. As you probably know this isn't the first time Jenna-Louise Coleman's appeared in Doctor Who and the mystery of her character is further investigated. She's a face that keeps cropping up everywhere and keeps dying. I hope the dying stops, though, I don't want another repeat of Rory. Oh and did I mention, "It's smaller on the outside."

The episode was wonderful. It kept me engrossed and it wasn't bordering on too dramatic. It was well thought out and not lazily written like some previous episode. After a somewhat disappointing series 7 part 1 and one of the most annoying companion send-offs, it was nice to see Steven Moffat and Matt Smith back on top form and keeping me entertained.

Quite recently, my sister asked me to find a good photo editing software or website that she could use to add effects to some of her pictures. The one website we used to use was Picnik, but is moved to Google+ and so began my journey across the entire worldwide web to find the perfect photo editing tools and programs.

The BeFunky image edited with another on CS5.

Before and after comparison of the two images.

Behind the Scenes: The Crimson Horror

I also had some fun making this gif image of some promotional pictures from the Christmas Special. 


Another website I used was pixlr-o-matic and I even have the program on my computer. You can also use it on Facebook, Google Chrome (as an app) or on your iOS or Android device. It quickly edited the picture below to show off a bit of what it can do. It only adds effects, overlays and frames, but it is fun to use and the effects are wonderful.

Behind the Scenes: Time of the Angels

Black and white picture of Matt for luck

Everybody Lies.

A Beautiful Lie is set in India, 1947 during the partition and birth of Pakistan. It follows the story of a young boy named Bilal and the lengths he goes to to protect his ailing father from the outside world. Bilal's father, who he affectionately calls Bapuji, is a very strong-minded person and Bilal knows that the political situation in India will almost tear his father apart. So he decides to lie instead. He enlists the help of his three friends, Chota, Saleem and Majeet, to help him keep up this lie. The biggest thing Bilal is worried about is that the many visitors that Bapuji gets will tell him the truth, so, while Bilal is in school Chota will keep a watch on his house and, if he saw anyone approaching it, he would give Bilal a warning. This system works well, but then the lies start getting bigger and the truth becomes blurred.

Written in 1892 by William Ernest Henley, Invictus is a poem about a man's struggle against life's toughest opponents. When Henley was 17 he had to amputate his foot due the contraction of tuberculosis of the bone when he was 12. Shortly after his affected foot was amputated he received news that another operation must be done on his other leg. He enlisted the help of a another doctor, Joseph Lister, and he was able to keep his other leg by undergoing intensive surgery on the foot. 

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul. 

In school, we are watching the movie Invictus directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. The movie is set in South Africa during the 1995 Rugby World Cup. It shows the tension  on and off the field as a nation struggles to unite after Apartheid. As a South African, this movie makes me feel proud of who I am and my heritage. I first watched the movie with my dad and he was telling me about things that happened during the matches and even some stories about Apartheid. In the movie, Nelson Mandela recites the poem Invictus and tells Francois Pienaar that it gave him inspiration while his was in prison at Robben Island. He says, "It taught me to stand when all I wanted to do was lie down." This is the exact same thought I had when I read the poem. Quite recently, I've been going through a very rough time. In school I'm not doing as well as I want to (especially in English) and since I'm entering my matric year next year, I have to start thinking about possible career choices.

 All my life I've wanted to write and it seems that this year is the year that everyone decided to kick me while I'm down. Everyone suddenly wants to become a journalist or writer now and I feel like I'm getting lost in a sea of loud, overbearing people who are better than me. I was so unsure about myself that I started to doubt my abilities. I tried everything to get myself out of this rut, but nothing seemed to work, except for this poem. This poem is about standing tall and being confident about yourself. It is about determining your own future and not letting others dictate it for you. I realise that my fate is whatever I want it to be and I will work hard to achieve it.

This first line that caught my attention was "...for my unconquerable soul." It implies that your soul can't be destroyed, it cannot be bruised or broken like your body. Your soul is able to heal itself and no one can defeat it. "My head is bloody, but unbowed." No matter how many times you beat me up, not even when I'm bleeding and in pain, I will still stand strong. I will hold my head up high and I will not accept defeat. I will keep fighting until the end.

Even though my struggle isn't as big as the one faced by Nelson Mandela and even though I still have my entire life to live, I have found inspiration in these words and, whenever I am going through a tough time, I will keep coming back to this poem because I am the master of my fate and I am the captain of my soul.

Doc Brown’s De Lorean, the Doctor’s TARDIS, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. What do they all have in common? Besides the fact that they’re all a work of fiction, they also deal with time travel.