SPACE TRAVEL Are we lost in space?

SPACE TRAVEL

REACHING FOR THE STARS

By Brennan Ison

THE BEGINNING OF SPACE TRAVEL

            You may think that space travel has always been around.  Well, the concept started back to the time of Isaac Newton when he was doing calculations of gravity and inertia.  Legend has it, that the first space man was Wan-Hu, a Chinese adventurer who, in the 16^th century attached 47 rockets to a chair.  Once lit, the rockets produced a cloud of smoke, Wan-Hu was never seen again!  Since the time of Wan-Hu, there have been several advances in space travel.  Up to the point which we are today.  You may think that America invented rocketry.  But actually, it was invented by a Nazi scientist.  Yes!  Nazi!  His name was Wernher Von Braun.   He developed the first rocket labeled the V2.  This was used by the Nazis as the last ditch effort in WWII.   Meanwhile, in America, they had their own rocket scientist.  His name was Robert Goddard.  He was America’s first rocket scientist.  The story goes that American Robert Goddard felt the urge to fly to space while climbing a tree as a teenager.  17 years later in 1926, he launched the first liquid fuel rocket.  With many to follow reaching speeds just below the sound barrier.   The rocket was launched in New England and crashed into a field of cabbages.

The V2 rocket that Von Braun invented was a missile and it was used by Nazi Germany against the allies in Britain and France.  Unfortunately the rocket wasn’t very effective and barely hit any targets.  After the war, Werhner Von Braun and other scientists were captured by the USSR (or the Soviet Union) and the United States to use in their space programs during the Cold War.  These two rockets were considered to be “Space Bombs”. 

The first V2 rocket entered space in 1944.  Soon after, these bombs were attacking England, France and Belgium.  The rockets did indeed strike fear into the hearts of Hitler’s enemies but were not very effective weapons.  Each one killing an average of 2 people. 

            In the evening of October 4, 1957, a rocket took off from site Number 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in what was then deep in Soviet territory.  Within a few minutes, the first artificial satellite was in orbit around Earth.  The spacecraft was called “Sputnik 1”.  This is simply the Russian word for Satellite.  It might also be translated as companion or fellow traveler.   It weight 176 pounds and orbited every 90 minutes, 300 miles above the surface.   It’s signature sign was beep… beep… beep… which could be picked up by any amateur radio.

LANDMARKS IN SPACE EXPLORATION

            The first animals in space were fruit flies and they were launched in 1947.  They were launched in a captured US V2 Rocket.  November 3, 1957, soviet dog Laika was the first animal to orbit the earth.  Sadly the dog died 6 hours into launch after overheating.

            The first person in space was Yuri Gagarin a soviet cosmonaut.  This was April 12, 1961. 

            May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard was the first US astronaut to fly in space.   Shepard was in sub-orbit trajectory.

            February 20m 1962, John Glenn becomes the first astronaut to orbit earth.

            June 16, 1963, Soviet Cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space.

December 24, 1968 Apollo 8 becomes the first craft to orbit the moon carrying people.

            July 20, 1969, US Astronaut, Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to walk on the moon.

            July 17, 1975, the first time a US and Soviet spacecraft dock together.  Signaling the end of the Space Race!!

            In my opinion, many people see this as a waste of money while one country tries to beat the other, but we need to look at this from a different perspective.  These programs were some of the best in America history even though we were enemies back then, we must look beyond that into a better understanding of ourselves and our universe.

THE EXPLORATION OF PLANETS

            If you have read page 1, you know that space travel was in its infancy.  However, that started a domino effect which led us to greater and better projects. This page will focus on our exploration of the solar system and it’s planets.

            We start on August 17, 1958.  Pioneer 0, aka Thor Able 1 was launched by the United States, is the first attempted launch beyond earth’s orbit.  The mission lasted only 73.6 seconds.  Unfortunately the vehicle failed at a maximum altitude of 16 km.

January 4, 1959, the USSR launches Luna 1, a lunar flyby.  It is a partial success.  The first spacecraft in the vicinity of the moon.  It contained radio equipment including a tracking transmitter and a telemetry system and five instruments to study the moon and interplanetary space.

Pioneer 4 was launched by the USA on March 4, 1959, achieved distant flyby of the moon and the first US probe to enter solar orbit.

Luna 2 was launched on September 14, 1959 by the USSR.  It was the first impact on the moon.  On board Luna 2 were 5 different instruments to conduct various tests while on its way to the moon.  A lot of the tests had to do with the Van Allen radiation belt.  The Van Allen radiation belt is a zone of energetic charged particles captured by the planets magnetic field. 

Luna 3 was launched by the USSR on October 6, 1959.  It was the first probe to have images from the lunar far side.  Otherwise known as “The Far Side of the Moon”, or Dark Side (that makes it sound more ominous).

            On May 26, 1951 President John F. Kennedy made a special announcement to Congress.  “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieve the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth”.  Thus began the Apollo program.  The most ambitious space program that America had ever seen!

            The Apollo program ran from 1961 to 1972.  Sadly, the first mission was a failure.  In 1967 the Apollo I test run caught fire, killing all the crew inside.  It was a major setback for the program. 

On April 14, 1970 Apollo 13 suffered a catastrophic explosion when one of its oxygen tanks exploded nearly killing all of the crew.  Thankfully, the crew survived and managed to return safely to the earth.

            The great success of the Apollo program was on April 20, 1969 with Apollo 11 landing the first man on the moon.  That was man Neil Armstrong.  His famous words were “That’s one small step for man.  One giant leap for mankind”.  Fun fact… Neil Armstrong intended to say “That’s one small step for A man.  One giant leap for mankind”.  You cannot hear this, because there was a glitch in the transmitting system.

            The last flight was Apollo 17 which the mission lasted from December 7^th to the 19^th in 1972.  This mission was NASA’s last man landing on the moon.  The last man on the moon was Eugene Cernan.

ROBOTIC PROBE MISSIONS

            Lets now look at other planets in the solar system.  Starting with Mercury, the first probe being the Mariner 10 Probe.  It arrived in 1974 and flew past the planet 3 times before its fuel ran out.           

            The Messenger Probe is an orbiter and it was sent to Mercury on March 18, 2011.  It’s mission is to collect images.  It also mapped the planet Mercury.  During its stay in Mercury’s orbit, Messengers instruments yielded significant data including characterization of its magnetic field and the discovery of water ice at the planets north pole.  Its mission was completed on April 30, 2015 by deorbiting the probe.

            Now we look to Venus.  The first probe to Venus was Venera 1 on February 12, 1961.  Unfortunately the spacecraft had a communications failure on May 19, 1961.  It’s arrival date is unknown. 

            In March 1982, a Russian spacecraft called Venera 13 parachuted onto Venus and photographed its surface.  The pictures showed an orange desert littered with broken rocks.  Possibly remains of lava flow.  The craft survived for 127 minutes before Venus’ atmosphere destroyed it.

            On to Mars.    One of the first probes to land on Mars was Viking 1, launched by the United States in July 20, 1976.  It was joined by the Viking 2 lander in September 3 of 1976.   

            Mars Pathfinder lands successfully on July 4, 1997.  Carrying with it, Sojourner one of the smallest rovers on Mars.  Pathfinders mission objectives were to prove that the development of faster better and cheaper spacecraft was possible.   Also, to show that it was possible to send a load of scientific instruments to another planet with a simple system.  Finally, to demonstrate NASA’s commitment to low cost planetary exploration.

            Spirit and Opportunity await!  Spirit, a Mars exploration rover launched on June 10, 2003.  It landed successfully on January 4, 2004.  Unfortunately its wheels became trapped in sand.  The last communication received from the rover was on March 22, 2010 and communication was cut on May 25, 2011.  Opportunity was launched on July 7, 2003 and landed successfully on January 23, 2004.  Currently it is still active even after all of this time.  The primary mission is to search for and characterize a variety of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity on Mars.

            Finally we have Curiosity.  The latest rover on Mars.  Curiosity was launched on November 26, 2011 from Cape Canaveral Florida.  The spacecraft landed in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012.  As of May 9, 2017 it has been on Mars for 1,736 days.  It’s primary mission is to see if Mars could have once supported life and to study the climate and geology of Mars which will help further human exploration on Mars.

            Voyagers I & II

            The Voyager spacecrafts were two spacecrafts launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets of the solar system, ie, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.  Voyager I explored Jupiter and Saturn.  Voyager II explored Uranus and Neptune.    Each one of the Voyagers carries a golden record.  It doubles as a time capsule in the hopes that extra terrestrial life or future humans will discover it.    Voyager I began photographing Jupiter in January 1979.  It explored the Jovian System, mainly Jupiter and its’ moons Io, Europa and Ganymede.    Voyager encountered Saturn in November 1980.  It also explored Saturns moon, Titan, along with photographing pictures of Saturn, it’s rings and moons, Mimas, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Titan.  As we currently speak, Voyager has interstellar space and will travel for hundreds if not thousands of years until discovered by any kind of intelligence.

            Voyager II did the same thing as Voyager I except it explored Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune but we will focus on Uranus and Neptune.  The closest approach to Uranus occurred on January 24, 1986.  It discovered the moons of Uranus. These are Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Juliet, Desdemona, Portia, Rosalind, Belinda, Perdita and Puck.  It also examined the Urania Ring System.  It discovered Uranus’ sideways rotation.  Voyager II’s closest approach to Neptune occurred on August 25, 1989.  It made a close flyby of Neptune’s moon Triton.  The Voyager probes were originally sent to explore Pluto.  But unfortunately the exploration of the discovery of the gas giant moons prevented the exploration of Pluto.

            Cassini probe is a robotic probe sent to study Saturn.  The spacecraft was launched on October 15, 1997 by NASA.  It entered orbit around Saturn on July 1, 2004.  On December 25, 2004, the Huygens separated from the orbiter and landed on Saturn’s moon titan on January 14, 2005.  It was the first landing accomplished in the outer solar system and not one has been made since.  To this day it continues to orbit Saturn.  Sadly, on September 15, 2017 it is planned to deorbit in Saturn’s atmosphere.  To avoid contamination on some of Saturn’s icy moons.  Many of which seem to have life.  Just like Jupiters moon, Europa.

The Juno spacecraft is a probe sent to explore Jupiter.  The Juno spacecraft was launched on August 5, 2011.  It entered a polar orbit of Jupiter on July 5, 2016.  The scientific objectives of the Juno spacecraft are determine the ratio of oxygen to hydrogen in Jupiters atmosphere, obtain a better estimate of Jupiters core mass and linking Jupiters formation to the solar system, precisely map Jupiters gravitational field to assess the distribution of Jupiter’s interior, including properties of its structure and dynamics.  Precisely map Jupiter’s magnetic field, map the variation and atmospheric composition, temperature, structure, cloud opacity and dynamics to pressures far greater than 100 bars at all latitudes. 

            New Horizons is an interplanetary space probe to explore Pluto and the Kuiper Belt.  On January 19, 2006, New Horizons was launched from Cape Canaveral Florida.  On January 15, 2015 New Horizon spacecraft began its approach phase to Pluto.  On July 14, 2015 the spacecraft arrived at Pluto.  It took almost a decade to reach Pluto.  It was currently the fastest spacecraft ever built.  The New Horizon spacecraft has maneuvered for a flyby of a Kuiper Belt object.  It is expected to arrive on January 1, 2019.

SPACE TOURISM

            By now you’ve read the articles above and you are thinking, Man I really want to go to space!  Unfortunately the only way to go to space is an astronaut or a billionaire.  Thankfully in your lifetime there could be a way for you to get to space.  S P A C E   T O U R I S MMMMMMMM!!!  You might think that is in the future, but no, these are actual companies that are wanting to take your money and put you in the next frontier.  Many companies like SpaceX and Virgin Galactic do have ways to get you into space for low cost.  But by normal standards, the price is outrageous.   For example, Virgin Galactic has Spaceship Two tickets selling for around $200,000.00.  Crazy right?!?  Well, there have been concepts to get you to space and enjoy yourself there.  Companies like Bigelow have attached inflatable module to the International Space Station to make affordable arrangements at no cost and for feasible travel to interplanetary voyages such as Mars.  It can also be a good spot for you to have your very own space hotel or rent one.  However, the price will still be very high.  Buy hey!!! It’s a space hotel!!   Currently only 7 people have been classified as space tourists.  Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, Gregory Olsen, Anousheh Ansari, Charles Simonyi, Richard Garriott, and Guy Laliberte’.    

            In February 2017, Elon Musk announced that substantial deposits from two individuals had been received by SpaceX for a moon loop flight using a free return trajectory.  This could happen as soon as late 2018.  Musk said that the cost of the mission would be about $70 Million US dollars. 

Attitudes Towards Space Tourism

            A web based survey suggested that over 70% of those surveyed wanted less or equal to two weeks in space ; in addition, 88% wanted to spacewalk. (only 14% of these would do it for 50% premium), 21% wanted to stay at a hotel or space station.  I wonder if you could rate these experiences on Yelp or Trip Advisor?

            So who wants to travel to space?!?

           

THE FUTURE OF SPACE TRAVEL

            There isn’t much to talk about with what might happen with the future of space exploration.  However, I have a few ideas of what might happen!  We could see a return to the moon and possibly making a moon base for exploration or tourism.  Another reason for building a moon base would be to mine a special substance called Helium III which would be necessary create fusion energy to provide unlimited energy to the people of earth. 

            Something else we could see is asteroid mining.  Asteroids already pose a gigantic threat to the earth.  Just remember, the dinosaurs didn’t have a space program.  There are two benefits of asteroid capturing.  One, we could redirect an asteroid that could pose a direct threat to life on earth and place the asteroid in low lunar orbit.  Two, mine the asteroid for platinum and other rate metals that will help make asteroid mining a really rich industry.  Another thing we could see is by the 2030’s we could see man on Mars.  This would be the greatest benefit in the history of mankind for multiple reasons.  For one, it could be a good refuge for humanity in case of a war or natural disaster that destroys life on earth.  Two, we could discover if there was ever life on Mars or if there was liquid water there or if life is still capable of living on Mars.  Three, this is a far fetched idea, but we could terraform the planet.  Terraform involves converting a planet into a second Earth.  This is unlikely to ever happen in the near future.  This might happen 10,000 or a million years from now.  Another thing we could see is missions to the Jovian System ie, Jupiter and it’s moons.  Preferably Europa.  One of the reasons we would go to Europa is because it is a icy moon.  Some theorize it is incredibly likely that there is an ocean with liquid water and possibly life!  So we would send a small probe with a heated drill bit, send in a small submarine and see what is down there.  If there is no life, then snowballs and ice cubes for everyone!  One last thing that could happen is we could see a lander on Pluto.  I’ve heard of this once or twice but I don’t know if it will ever get off the ground.   (PUN INTENDED). 

            No matter what happens, our curiosity and willingness to explore is what drove us to America or explore the furthest corners of the globe in the first place!  Space should be no different because it is there and it is something that is waiting to be seen.  It is within our grasp!  We should not let anything on this earth draw us away from what is and what will be.  Through all the conflicts and wars and natural catastrophe’s that could have killed us, it is truly a miracle that we have reached this far in a universe like this, where there is such beauty and such high possibility for life for us to make friends and hopefully have a greater understanding of the universe and where we are as a species.

New Year 2016

Hello Fellow Followers and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

How has your past 13 days in this new year been?  (Please comment below, I am really interested in what you have to say.

Here are some of the things my family might do in 2016:

Visiting Florida, family weekend trips close to home, possibly another cruise (gulp), family reunions to local state parks and just being happy being together.

I was recently asked to join National Junior Honor Society.  I was pretty excited to be asked.  There was a couple of pages that I needed to fill out telling all about my life accomplishments up till now.  My mom kept really good records of all the great things I've done.  Among those things that I've done, this blog is one of them.  Some of the other cool things I've done are:  Organize a lemonade stand for the animal shelter, been in two church plays, PRIDE community clean up every year, Emcee of the 5th grade math concert and of course Voice of the Cougars.  If you have gone to any of the Middle School Football Games this past year, then you have heard me! 

I am looking forward to adding to my life accomplishments and this blog.  I like volunteering and helping others.  It makes me feel good about myself and knowing that I am making other people happy.  I've helped out at the food pantry recently.  I didn't know what to expect but we got the job done of course.  I helped put food in boxes and load them into people's cars.  The people there were very appreciative of my work there.  I was glad to help.  It made me realize how fortunate most of us are.  We ALL need to help others so they can benefit from our generosity.

One of the things I've done in 2016 so far is read the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid series (#10 Old School).  So far it's the 10th one in the series and I recommend it because the series is funny and lighthearted with a little touch of comedy in there which is why I love it.  There are very funny pictures which help tell the story.  My favorite book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series was The Long Haul (#9) where Greg and his family go on a road trip.  It was really funny because there are many, many funny situations that happened while they were on the road.  When Greg throws a cheese doodle to a seagull, an entire flock then suddenly invades the whole car. 

Another thing that I am going to do this year is get new glasses.  You see, the ones I have now are children's sizes and are too small.  They have created a small raw spot on my temple.  So yesterday, my mom took me to pick out new frames.  We found a very handsome pair.  They make me look even smarter! 

Please comment on what you think of my blog but more importantly let me know what you would like me to blog about next! 

Goodbye and I'll blog again soon.

Your favorite blogger,

Brennan  Ison

New Horizons Space Probe

Dear all you viewers.... This is your favorite Blogger, Brennan!  Sorry I haven't been posting anything in a while.  I've had a hard time thinking of things to put on, (also I've been sick but I'll save that story for another blog), but today, I have something to talk about!!  THE NEW HORIZON SPACE PROBE THAT PASSED BY PLUTO ON JULY 14 OF THIS YEAR!

If you want to learn more about it, just type in New Horizons Space Probe on Google and look at the images that it has taken.  You may be thinking, did this thing orbit or did it send a lander..... NO!  The problem was that they needed the probe to be light and fast.  It took almost a decade (9 years) for it to get to Pluto.  Also, you may be thinking it was like the Cassini Space Craft that landed a probe on Saturn's largest moon, Titan.  And like the New Horizons Space Probe, it was launched by NASA.

Here are some things that I know about what the probe has seen and what I have heard in the news about it:

Pluto has 11,000 ft. high mountains of water ice.  Pluto also seems to be geologically active and scientists are wondering where the heat is coming from since Pluto is the farthest planet away from the sun.  And yes, I'm still calling Pluto a planet!!!  A likely theory about where the heat is coming from is that it's largest moon Charon is not orbiting Pluto in a way you think the moon orbits the earth.  It is actually referred to as a binary system since the objects are very big in mass, Charon and Pluto both orbit each other and in between them is a thing called the Barycenter.  This is not a black hole but a place that is in between both their planets where their separate gravities intersect each other and perpetually turn each other in an orbit.

About the heat from Pluto... Scientists propose that the gravity from Charon is possibly deforming Pluto causing it to maybe turn into an oval or pear shape.  This is referred to as gravitational bulging.  Look it up on Google.  What happens is, both objects have very large masses and because of this they both pull on each other.  It's like a tug of war where each team is pulling on each other and sometimes they bulge a little.  The extreme tidal forces from Charon and Pluto is possibly driving some sort of geothermal activity on Pluto which explains why the surface looks very new and there aren't many craters.  An example of this is the Moon Io in Jupitor.  Io is very close to Jupiter and Jupiter is very massive.  Jupiter's gravity is very strong and pulls on Io just like our moon drives the tides on earth.  But with Jupiter's large size, these tidal forces are very extreme. 

The New Horizons Space Probe did not drop a lander but this thing called a fly by.  There was no time to go into orbit because they didn't have any fuel left.  But they did get some fascinating data on the hard drive and it is still beaming back to earth as we speak or as you read this blog.  There are so many fascinating things about Pluto.  It is the furthest and least known about planet until now.  The man who discovered was named Clyde Tombaugh in 1930.  When Clyde died, his remains were cremated and a small portion of his ashes were sent on the New Horizons Space Probe.  NASA is carrying on his memory by sending his ashes on the fly by of Pluto. 

New Horizons will also be joining some of the few space craft that have left our solar system.  These include Voyagers I and II, Pioneer 10 and 11.  Which means that they will not be coming back to earth and they will keep going to Infinity and Beyond until they are possibly discovered by a race of intelligent creatures likes us.

In conclusion, this moment in history is something great for all of us and for NASA with more data on how binary systems interact with each other and possibly how they are formed.  There is still a ton of data left on New Horizons hard drive which is still streaming from his long range antenna.  And will possibly conclude by the end of the year or more.  Until then, there is still so many mysteries about Pluto that we have yet to see or understand.

This has been your favorite blogger, Brennan Ison.

To Infinity and Beyond

Look at the images from Pluto on Google.

RIP Clyde Tombaugh  1906-1997

Brennan Ison, Voice of the Cougars

This is Brennan Ison here, making another blog.  I know you all have been desperate for me to make another one, so here it is!

I have been chosen to be the "Voice of the Cougars" !

 The "Voice of the Cougars" is the announcer for the Cougars JV Football games for the Middle School.

I show up at Cougar Stadium a few minutes early and take my seat and get my headphones on to block out any echos.  I sit in the "press box" but I like calling it the "voice box".  My dad comes with me and we wear our Morgan County Football shirts!!

Wen I am ready to start announcing, here is my opening statement:  "Hey all you Cool Cats, this is your man main on the microphone, Brennan Ison.  Coming to you LIVE from the voice box here at Cougar Stadium.  Lets hope we have a great game today and win.  But we all know winning isn't everything, so lets just have a clean good game and hope no one gets hurt".  Some of the other things I say are "Lets hear it for these cheerleaders.  Great job ladies", also "visit the snack bar for some good treats", "Go get yourself a wold famous hot dog at the snack bar, they are better than the ones in Chicago".  I also call plays during the game.

It's not easy keeping up with the updates the game has because I am not a fast talker, because sometimes my tongue gets in a twist.  It echos up there a lot and it's hard to not listen to myself come back into my ears.  That is why I wear headphones so I can concentrate on the words.  My dad helps me get the plays right.

During halftime, I go to the concession stand and get nachos or a hot dog or a Kit Kat.  I see a lot of my friends as I go to the concession stand and everyone says "Hi Brennan.  You did a good job".

When I am at school, and my friends tell me "I heard you at the game.  You did a good job", it makes me feel a little bit like a celebrity.  I enjoy being the "voice of the cougars".  You should come out and see the game and listen to me call it.  I hope that in the future, I will probably become a famous voice of the cougars microphone talker and probably end up in the history books.

Though it's not my goal to become like that, I just think that maybe if I do a really good job, I might become famous all around our town.

Go Cougars!


Until next time,

Your Blogger, Brennan

SIM CITY 5

Dear Blog Readers aka My Fellow Fans

Have you heard of SimCity 5?  SimCity is a game where you are the mayor and you can create your own city.  SimCity is a game about endless choices.  We can focus on growing your population, increasing your wealth or making a city that looks like your home town.  If you want to look up more about SimCity you can go to www.simcity.com where you can find out everything about SimCity and   In fact, update 7 has been just released.  You have more choices.  You can put down churches in city specializations and you can raise and lower roads with a new road tools.  You can make giant suspension bridges or deep subway tunnels.  You can even put trees on sides of roads and in parks in the nature section.

Here are some of the things you can do in a normal city.  You can draw roads, zone for commercial, residential and industrial.  Plop down a power plant to provide your city with power, plop down a water tower to supply your city with life sustaining water and even plop down a sewage outflow pipe where you dump your poo.  But you need to put this in a location where the Sims will not get sick.  Sims are the people in SimCity which make your city possible.  For money, you have simolians.  Simolians is the money in SimCity and you need enough to buy the stuff you need.   You can also plop a garbage dump or a recycling plant as long as you have a town hall you can plop other expansions, like the department of transportation or department of Safety.  The department of transportation allows your Sims to go to and from work or home.  You can do a street car station so they can travel by boat, plane, train or bus.  You can plop down a hospital, police force and have a fire brigade.  You also have to be very careful where you build your stuff.  If you put a sewage outflow pipe inside your residential zone, you would make all the Sims sick and you would have to make more hospitals to treat them, which you don't want.  Then Sims would be in lower value  which would lead to the Sims moving out.  Causing abandoned buildings and building fires which would make you increase your fire brigade which would be a big handful.  You can even put down parks to increase your land value and so much more.

You can also do great works where the city's work together to build one giant great work.  You can do a space center, do archaeology where more Sims can live which creates more money, students, tourists and workers.  You can plop a solar farm where you can supply power for your whole region.  A space launch center is great for launching satellites into orbit so people can watch TV.  It also supply's workers, education and lots of places for the students to work at and also it gives tourists a place to go. An international airport for city's to trade tourists to your city and trade their goods.

Here are some of the specializations that you can do; you can become an oil tycoon, become a mining master.  Be a man of technology in electronics.  Plop down culture for your tourist city and be a gambling maximizer.  You can trade in the city specialization.  You can trade things on the global market in SimCity (not the real global market or black market) to increase your simolians.

Did you hear about the new expansion pack called City's of Tomorrow?  It will launch on November 12 of this year!  In order for the SimCity to work, you need to have an 8 gigabyte computer.  I don't have SimCity yet, but I will for Christmas.  Tell me if you have SimCity!

I'll write another blog eventually.

PERPETUAL MOTION MOTOR

Ladies and Gentlemen of Science,

You will be happy to know that I believe that I have found the key to making the first perpetual motion motor.  What is a perpetual motion motor you may ask?  Simply, it is a motor that once started, produces enough energy to power itself and therefore would run forever because it would never run out of fuel.  It keeps itself powered up because it is running.  This is a mystery that has been around for hundreds of years.  A perpetual motion motor will solve the carbon dioxide emission problem.  Though this contraption has yet to be built, I have made the design of what I believe it will look like.

Here are some reasons why we should make this and use it around the world.  One, it does not produce CO2 emissions, thus no more global warming.  Two, this will solve the problem of cheap or free energy.  Three, there would be clean air to breathe and no more pollution.  Four, the technology will make the inventor (me) a lot of money!  And finally, it will make global happiness because the inventor (me) will share the technology around the world.

These are really great reasons to make this machine, but here are some of the downsides.  One, starting the motor when the motor is not in motion by using wind, solar, steam or geothermal.  This would be a problem because the motor will not be able to run by itself.  It would need a jump start.  Two, the build up of friction could stop the motor from working.  It would stop any rotating or moving parts.  Though we can oil the pieces, it would be a problem to keep it oiled.  Three, the build up of heat would cause the motor to overheat and stop.  The motor will produce its own heat and if that happens, the magnets will heat up causing the iron ions that create the magnetic field to come out of their straight lines.  This would cause the magnetic field to stop working.

Four, the wear and tear of the motor over time could cause the motor to stop working.  The motor overheating, the boiler cracking, the wires short circuiting, the heater overheating itself, the turbine gears coming loose and the pipe that carries the steam to the turbine could come off.  But if we found out that these problems happened, we would have to replace the parts and start all over, beginning with problem number 1, starting up the motor.  We could replace the motor but it would cost a lot of money to get the new motor fixed.  Finally, we would need quite a bit of start up money to even build this machine.  We would also need money to keep it working and replace any parts that wear out.

In the end, if we bypass all these problems, we could create world peace and stop emissions from happening.  We could replace every coal or oil power plant from ever existing and replace that with my perpetual motion motor station.

This is why I believe we should build a perpetual motion motor.

Until next time.....

Your favorite Blogger.....  Brennan!

Winter Break 2012

Hello, it's BRENNAN AGAIN!!!  It's great to be back.  Let me tell you about my Winter Break.

We had a Winter Break and it lasted all the way through January 2013.  Today was supposed to be my first day back, unfortunately I had a doctor appointment, which is good for me.  So I only have 2 days of school before the 2 days of the weekends.

Anyway, enough about school.  Let me tell you about what happened on my Winter Break.

One of the first things I did on my winter break was go to a railroad museum!  Me and my grandmother and Tammy and my brother Brody, were going on a railroad trip.  When we got there, I suddenly remembered that I had been there before.  We got on the train, and who do you think showed up?  Santa!  I told him what I wanted for Christmas.  As there is an interesting fact, the conductor told us about the highest tressel in Kentucky (but we didn't go over it)   There was a model of it in the museum, it was O scale (Lionel).  Once the train stopped, we got off a saw some of the model railroads, but they weren't working.  Anyhoo, we went into another room and it showed what railroading was like in Kentucky back in the 1800's.  My favorite part of the trip was riding on the train.  But in the gift shop in the museum, was a telegraph machine that you could really work on.  I told my grandmother to get on the other telegraph machine.  I telegraphed her a telegram that said "I love you" but she didn't understand it.  So I told her anyway.

Soon it was CHRISTMAS!!!

Here is what I got for Christmas.  I got some clothes, Ship Simulator Extremes, Train Simulator 2012 (but it actually uploaded as 2013), Diary of a Wimpy Kid Dog Days, a Lego Garage, Mining Truck, Mini figs, Helicopter Rescue and a Master Builders Set.  I also got an x-box 360.  So if you play Minecraft, let me know and maybe we can play together now.  We ate lots of good food at my grandmothers house.

You see, the greatest part about this Winter Break is when I went to Columbus Ohio where my mom was raised and we went to see the Harlem Globetrotters.  We got a VIP room, which was like First Class.  We had great food, Papa John's pizza, chicken fingers, plenty of water and soda, hamburgers, cookies, brownies, chips, anything you could imagine, and 1 GIANT pretzel!  We got the best seats in the house.  Joining us at the Harlem Globetrotters were my friends Kaley & Erich and their parents.  There was a lady there with her husband who were our hosts.

After the Harlem Gobetrotters, we went back to our hotel and Kaley & Erich came over to hang out for a while.  We watched some TV, and ate candy.  The next morning, we woke up and saw a winter wonderland in Columbus Ohio.  It was like Christmas again!  It snowed 6 inches overnight!  We ate breakfast at the hotel and we could see the Ohio Capitol building out the window.  My dad told us about the history of Ohio.

After breakfast, we went to a science museum.  It's called COSI.  It's a science museum.  It had very cool stuff in it about space, the body, and other scientific things.  A very cool thing was a giant pendulum proving that the earth rotates.  You know one of those pirate ship rides, it swings back and forth like waves on a ship, if we had that ride at the north pole and the earth was straight, but rotating, if you had dominoes around the ride and if the ride was going like a pendulum the earth would slowly rotate beneath and every time it hits a domino, the earth would be rotated to make the ride hit the domino.

After COSI, we then went to mom's old home and she showed us where she used to live.  Right behind her house where mom used to live, there is a railroad line which made her love trains.

After we saw mom's old home, we got some food at McDonald's and we stopped at a few places for shopping.  We then drove home.  The coldest temperature we saw was 26 (f) degrees!  Once we got home, we cranked up the heat and fell into a deep sleep.

Then it was the New Year of 2013!  New Year's Eve is also the day my brother was born! He is now 5 years old!  We had some friends over to celebrate with us.  We had lots of food and played.  Then we all chanted together 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  We even lit off fireworks in the driveway.  It was a great time.  John Tyler was there.  We played tag, but mostly I played Minecraft on the Xbox.  John Tyler gave me a few tips.

In conclusion, this is about my winter break.  I wonder what Winter Break is going to be like next year.

From your best blogger, this is Brennan Ison signing off.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Hello there you blog lovers.  I'm Brennan Ison and I am so excited about this Thanksgiving.  Most of the time we usually go to Thanksgiving in Florida or Michigan, but not this year.  We don't have enough time to go this year.  SO, we are going to have Thanksgiving in Kentucky with my grandparents.

On Thanksgiving Day we get up and watch the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade.  (My mom really wants to go to New York sometime and watch it in person from a warm hotel room).  After the parade then the dog show comes on!  I'm really looking forward to all these shows.  While we are watching these shows, my mom is in the kitchen cooking up a big turkey!  This year she is going to make turkey, potatoes, stuffing and rolls!  My grandmother is going to make the rest.

Once dinner is ready we then sit down and say the Blessing.  We then EAT THE FEAST and THE BEAST!   My favorite thing to eat is the rolls.  Yum Yum.

Thanksgiving is a good time for giving thanks to each other.  It's about friends and neighbors time.  Its about a meaningful life that we have.  It's a time to thank God for protecting us and providing us with all the things we need.

Well, I hope you have a nice Thanksgiving this week.

P.S.  The best part of this whole week is NO SCHOOOOOOOOOLLLL!!!

From your top blogger,

Brennan!

4.3 earthquake in Kentucky

Did you feel it?  Did you hear it?  Did you see it?  Well I certainly didn't.

A 4.3 earthquake hit Kentucky which was the 2nd largest earthquake in the state.  The largest was in 1980 and it was a 5.2 magnitude that hit in Bath County.  My dad was 10 years old at that time.  He says that one sounded like a jet breaking the sound barrier.  Just like now, I am 10 years old and the earthquake struck in 2012.

I was outside.  We were cleaning out the garage and putting things back in.  My mom came outside and said "We are having an earth quake".  Her insides were shaking and she was getting thousands of text messages on her phone.  My dad said that he heard a loud rumbling sound but thought it was a bulldozer on our street. When my  mom told me what the magnitude was, I FLIPPED OUT!  I could not believe my ears.  I didn't know that an earthquake hit here.  I didn't feel a thing.  My mom said she heard the house shake and heard the windows creaking.  She says that usually happens when the wind was blowing hard.  She looked outside for the wind, but saw no wind and that's how she knew it was an earthquake!

Let me know if you felt the earthquake and tell me where you were and what happened!

Sincerely your best blogger friend,
Brennan!!

Happy Shaking

SNOW

I'm SO excited ab out the snow coming today.  I am really looking forward to this snow.  I hope it comes.  The hurricane and the cold winds are going to collide which will cause a tremendous wind storm of snow for Kentucky!  I am really excited about the snow.  I just hope it comes.

From your blogger,  Brennan.

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID (The Third Wheel)

Hello my blog fans!

You know in my old blogs, one about the Diary of a Wimpy Kid collection that I wanted, did you know that there is a new one coming out, it's called Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the Third Wheel.  I am going to attempt to get this book and read it.  You thought that Cabin Fever was the only new book that I had, but you were wrong.  There is another new book coming out about Greg Hefley.  Each time there is a new book out, I will attempt to get it and read it.  It will be a big job, but it will be fun and I think funny too.

There are lots of new books coming out and I will attempt to get them.  I read two books by James Patterson that were something like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but a bit different.  My mom wants me to read a book called Frindle, but I don't want to read it.  I'm just not into those kinds of books.

Back to Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  Anyway, I'm sort of thinking of getting that new book.  I am going to put it on my Christmas list.  I hope my parents get enough money, otherwise I'm not going to be happy with them.  (mom, you better get it, otherwise I am going to be one upset kid.  Got it?)  Anyway, back to my book thing.  I just hope that I can get that book and I wonder how it's going to go.  I'm going to have to wait until Christmas.  This book doesn't come out until November anyway.

Peace out bloggers

P.S.  I will write another blog soon.

My Life in 5th Grade.

On the first day of 5th grade, I was a little nervous but I was anxious to see what it was like.  I have a new back pack, school supplies, binder & lunch box that my mom bought me.  My backpack is spikey and orange and so is my lunch box.  I started with a blue binder, but it got torn up already, so my mom bought me another new one that is orange.

My homeroom teacher's name is Mrs. Day.  She runs the 5th grade class.  She is very nice and sweet.  When I went to the classroom, I was very calm and okay.  When we started 5th grade, we got our books, I got out my workbook and we got to work.  Then we went to computer class.  We worked until it was time for Mrs. Jones.  We have our 5th grade classes in the purple pod.  We have three 5th grade classes.  Math, Reading & Social Studies.  Mrs. Jones is the reading teacher.  Mrs. Hammonds, who was my 3rd and 4th grade teacher, is the social studies teacher and Mrs. Day is the math teacher.  After we did Mrs. Jones class, we went in line and went to see Mrs. Hammonds.  Right in the middle of Mrs. Hammonds' class, was lunch time. I had a good time at lunch.  I get to eat good food.  My favorite lunch at school is pizza, mac & cheese, corn dog, hot dog & chocolate milk. And a grilled cheese and chicken patties.

We returned to Mrs. Hammonds' class and after that back to Mrs. Day's class.    On Thursdays we have computer class.  We did work in Mrs. Days' class and then we waited, got stuff in our backpacks and went home.  I have a good time in 5th Grade.

Mrs. Day has jobs for us each week.  Here are the jobs, custodian, librarian, messenger, computer man (or woman).  Those are the only jobs I know.  Some of the kids in my class are Kennedy, Kaley & Allen.  They are my closest friends.  John isn't in my class, he goes to another school, but he is my 4th good friend.

I had a good time on my first day of 5th grade. The other days have been a little tougher after that but I got through them.  My mom is going to get me a math tutor soon because I try very hard to get through math which is my worst subject.  My favorite subject is science, but we haven't started that yet.  So each day on tutor day, my tutor will help me with all the math things that I did not finish or that I need to do.

The 5th grade students have been selling candy and popcorn as a fundraiser during snack time for field trips. I am the advertiser for the popcorn and the seller and bag opener for the popcorn.  As the advertiser, I say things about the popcorn and try to get people to buy it.  To make them think that popcorn is cool so they will buy it.  This will help us get money for our field trips.

I will make more blogs along the way.  Trust me.  You know, sometimes how long you have been waiting for a new one, I sometimes fall behind.  I promise I will make more blogs.  Just wait.

This is from your blog pal, Brennan.  Your blogger.

The Old Robinson Estate

On a nice summer morning, little Jimmy Thomason was going to his grandmothers house.  She lived just a few streets over and his parents allowed him to go by himself if he stayed on the sidewalk.  His parents were going on vacation to Hawaii and he was staying with her until they got back home.  It was a really hot day and he was hoping that his grandmother had made her famous lemonade.   As he was thinking about this delicious lemonade, he passed the “Old Robinson Estate”.  The family passed away about 50 years ago and their ghosts are said to haunt the house.  There was a robbery at their house and they along with their pets were killed by the robbers.  No one ever went into the house after that fateful day.  The grass was tall and brown from the heat.  Even though the family that lived there were kind and kept the place beautiful, you could not tell it by the way it looks today. Jimmy never liked the looks of the house and didn’t like to be around it.  When he got close, Jimmy ran past the estate and suddenly a sharp pain hit his leg.  He fell to the ground and knew right away what had happened.  He looked at his leg and saw the evidence.  A bee’s stinger sticking out.  He quickly pulled the stinger out, reached into this backpack for his EpiPen and injected the medicine into his leg.  Soon the swelling went down.  He quickly arrived at his grandmother’s house where she had ice cold lemonade waiting for him.  As he walked in the door, he told his grandmother that he got stung by a bee.  She glanced down and saw that his leg looked back to normal.  She said she was proud of him for being so brave and taking care of himself so well.

Coming in to the kitchen, Jimmy sat down and asked his grandmother about the story of the Estate.  He had heard it before, but wanted to hear it again.  As she told the story, she added one new detail!  She said that their fortune still lies in the attic because of the spirits still trapped in the house.  His grandmother told him not to go into the attic and she also told him that this house was built over a gravesite.  A cemetery that sank into the ground many years ago.  She mentioned that a group of construction workers were going to tear down the house and make a new mini-mall.  Jimmy thought that would be a great idea since he didn’t like the looks of the place. 

That night after Jimmy went to bed at his grandmothe’rs house, he thought about the Old Robinson Estate and what his grandmother had said.  He was so glad that it was going to be torn down, but wait!  What about the new detail that his grandmother told him today about the fortune still in the attic!  He got up out of bed to ask his grandmother one question.  When he crept down the stairs, his grandmother was sitting on the front porch.  Jimmy went to join her and ask her about the fortune.  He asked, “Can I go to the house and look for the fortune in the attic”.  His grandmother said “Jimmy, you are always so afraid of that place.  Are you sure you can take on the house before it’s torn down?”  Jimmy answered “Yes.  I’m brave enough”.  Grandmother replied “Well, you need to be extra careful.  I don’t want anything happening while you parents are away.”  Jimmy decided that he would go tonight!   He knew that he was scared, but he had no time to waste. 

Jimmy put on the same clothes that he wore earlier.  Down the steps he went, kissing his grandmother on the cheek.  He grabbed the red wagon that was sitting in the yard just in case the fortune was in a safe. 

Jimmy went through his grandmother’s gate and turned right.  Heading directly to the Estate on that hot night.  As he approached the Estate he had second thoughts.  One, he could go inside and grab the fortune, but what if there was no fortune.  What if it was all just a story.  Two, he could turn and go back to the safety of his own bed.  He flipped a coin, heads go get the fortune, tails he would head home.  After the coin flip, and putting his fear aside, he headed up the sidewalk to the front gates of the Estate.  The gates were large and heavy and creaked as Jimmy opened them.  Fortunately the gates weren’t locked!  As he walked up the front walk, he noticed a ladder leaning against the brick wall.  Now he knew how the robbers got into the Estate.  Slowly in fear, he went up the steps and to the front door.  The house seemed sad.  Maybe it was sad that the good family who lived there, passed away inside.  He pictured before the robbery took place, the house was happy and strong as the family lived on.  As Jimmy opened the door, he heard the floorboards creak under his feet, which made him shiver.  Suddenly, he heard a mysterious noise.  He quickly realized it was just the wind wailing through the windows.  After investigating the hallway, he found the attic door.  Jimmy opened the door and found a never ending stairwell.  Jimmy knew it was going to take a long time to get to the attic.  It was hard to pull the wagon up the stairs and he knew that it was going to be even more difficult to bring it down. 

By the time he reached the top of the stairs, he saw a safe. The safe said “Property of Robinson’s”.  Jimmy found a piece of paper with the combination.  He put the numbers in the safe and it opened right up with a creak.  Then he saw a bag with a “$” symbol.  He quickly grabbed the bag, and realized that he didn’t need the wagon.  He could make it out of the house even quicker.   As he turned to go downstairs, he stepped on a shovel which flung a ball into the hair and hit a hornets nest.  As he was going down the stairs, he felt something sharp hit his arm, then he heard it.  The buzzing.  He ran as fast as he could out the front door, the hornets stopped chasing him and went back to their nest.  When Jimmy reached down to his pants to get his EpiPen, the pen was gone.  He looked around and saw it on the stairs.  But by this time, he was so weak and frightened that he would get stung again he couldn’t get the pen.   As he lay on the dusty couch, he then saw a white figure walk toward him holding his pen.  Then the white figure put the pen into Jimmy’s hand and said “I believe this belongs to you” and the figure disappeared.  Vanished into thin air.  Jimmy injected the medicine into his leg.  He lay there for a few more minutes thinking about what had happened.  He went back to grandma’s house and showed his grandmother the fortune and told her the story.

Three days later, he told the press about his experience in that house and the construction was halted and they decided to build the mini mall somewhere else.

Jimmy was happy because he knew the people who lived in the house were still living their today.  They were good ghosts and he knew there was nothing to fear at the Old Robinson Estate any more.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book Collection

Hello, It's Brennan again.  

I just want to talk about my Diary of a Wimpy Kid book collection.  The reason why I got it is that I think that Diary of a Wimpy Kid is really funny. I've watched both movies and I wanted to read all the books.  There are 5 books in the box and there is a 6th book called Cabin Fever that's not in the box.  I got these for Christmas because I could buy them with my allowance because my allowance was too small and the price of the books was too high.  

Let me tell you what books there are:

1.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid

2.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid Roderick Rules

3.  The Last Straw

4.  Dog Days

5.  The Ugly Truth

6.  Cabin Fever

There are more coming soon.  I can't wait to get the new ones.  I think they are going to be even more funny than the first ones.  I read all 6 books by the end of of February.  They were great.

My favorite book was The Last Straw because kids made farting sounds and one kid grabbed a tuba and blew it and made a giant fart noise and that made me laugh.

In conclusion, I just want to say that I like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and I think the next books are going to be even funnier with more laughs.  I'll tell you about them after they come out.  

Sincerely,

Brennan.... your blogging friend.

THE ECLIPSE OF THE MOON TO EARTH

If you look at the sky on May 20th, you will see in the nighttime that there will be an eclipse of the moon.  Do you think it will hurt our eyes to look at it in the dark?  I think it won't because there won't be enough light, you know.  I think it will be safe for our eyes.  


I've never seen an eclipse before but I hope I remember to look that day.  Someone needs to invent solar eclipse glasses to protect our eyes from the solar eclipse's rays.  I put it on my calendar to remind me of what day the eclipse will be on.


An eclipse is what happens when the moon gets in front of the sun and creates a shadow on the earth.  I just know this information, not sure how I do, it's a science thing.  I hope you get to see the eclipse on May 20th.  Tell me if you video taped it and put it on www.Youtube.com so that we can watch it.


From,


Brennan aka Blog Master


UPDATE:


What a rip off.  No eclipse. 

THE SUPER MOON

If you looked at the sky on May 5, 2012 (which was actually 4 days ago) the moon was the biggest and brightest you've ever seen. I took a picture of the moon that night when was having family movie night. The moon looked like a tiny dot, it was very far away. If you had a telescope it would have looked much bigger. The moon's orbit is an oval shape and it was at its closest turn to earth and it was facing the United States. They called it a Super moon because it was very close to earth. The moons orbit is because of earth's gravitational pull. Earth's gravity must have gotten stronger to pull the moon closer to the earth, but not too close or the moon would then fall to earth and then collapse in on you and destroy every living thing on the planet. All that would be left is the inner and outer core and the crust. There would just be a giant hole of debris. I don't think the earth would be knocked out of its orbit because the sun has a strong gravitational pull on the earth. The earth won't go any further to the sun because the sun's gravitational pull is very stable and stays that way.  I hope you saw the moon's fantastic close encounter.  Please type to me if you saw the moon outside that night.

From, Brennan Ison,
Blog Master

Tornado outbreak! O.M.G.

Oh my gosh guys! A tornado hit West Liberty Ky on March 2, 2012! They say the ratings were up to an F4 or F5. They say the destruction is so bad that there is nothing but debris on Main Street and the top of the clock tower is completely gone. I mean, it's like clean off!

Let me start at the beginning.... On February 29, 2012 there was an F2 tornado near our school. I was in class when it happened. We had a tornado drill and all the girls were freaked out. We were in reading class then. So we went into the hallways for the tornado drill. I thought it was just a drill, but then I noticed it was the real thing. So then we went to the green pod, in an old empty Kindergarten room. We hid under tables and I hid in the cubby next to Casey. Ms. Amanda said that I should go over to the girls. Then I thought of getting them pillows and I put them on the girls. Then they put the pillows behind their heads. I was singing a song to the girls to make them feel better. But I did put in a few words in the song that kind of freaked them out.... oops.

~ March 2, 2012

Two days after the F2 tornado hit near our school, another tornado was on the way, you know the F4 & F5 were the ones. I was surprised when I thought there were going to be no tornadoes in Eastern Kentucky. Only the southern part get those. I didn't think a tornado would hit here. It's like Tornado Alley shifted and it swallowed up half of Kentucky. If only Reed Timmer (storm chaser who lives in Oklahoma in tornado alley) were here, he would be able to measure the scales of these two tornadoes. Actually, make that 3 if you count the F2 tornado. Reed is a successful storm chaser who spends most of his time chasing storms. He has a lot of equipment that helps him detect the storms readings. He would be surprised from our tornadoes readings! He drives a vehicle call the "DOMINATOR"! (it looks like a big red shoe) Anyway, back to the chase... if he were here he would protect our lives and let us know what we need to do in a tornado.

Now, on to 964 Dogwood Lane, March 2, 2012 We had to get to the basement. We got everything, flashlights and candles and it was Friday. It was Family Movie Night time. We got our movie players out and charged them up so then we could watch Family Movie Night. We got two movies, "The Ant Bully" and "Everyone's Hero". But enough of that, let's get back to the tornado.... while we were in the basement, lights went off and the sky got dark and the trees started to sway. You know Casey and Dora my dog and cat from my other blogs right? My pets curled up under some outside furniture so then they were safe from any debris hitting them. (Meanwhile, back in the basement...) we were all ready to go to sleep. We were done watching our movies and we had plenty of food and water. I didn't know the scale of the tornadoes but then I found them out the next day. I didn't know what was happening but I was being very brave. We got on the mattresses and fell asleep.

The next morning, we found out that the electricity was still out and we didn't have TV for 6 days. (it was a very boring 6 days) In the morning, my mom took me and my brother to Morehead to buy supplies. We got ourselves a big generator for the office and a chain saw and lots of batteries and water! As we came back to West Liberty, we saw that there was security on the county lines. Mom had to show that she was an insurance woman and that's when we went through West Liberty.

The first damage I saw was the Methodist Church, this was my church. We go to it every Sunday (usually). It's steeple toppled over near the road. Luckily it didn't hit anyone. Then the movie theater, it was barely damaged, because it's located underneath. You know about the clock tower don't you. Commercial Bank was destroyed too. Some of it's iron steel beams were twisted inside. The whole town looked like a bomb went off in the center. Old Mill Park was damaged too. There was a big flood of the Licking River. Some of the park was swallowed up by the water. I'm sure it's gone down by now, right? In 2013 all of this will be gone. That is one year from now. When I saw the damage for the first time, I felt like everyone I knew and loved was dead, but they weren't. It made me sad, but I didn't cry. It felt like I was crying from the inside. The entire city was my heart and it was shattered. I couldn't believe this. I didn't think something like this would ever happen. I thought our town would always stay the same.... but it didn't. I hope to make new memories from our new town.

I hope you tell your kids about this when you are old and make sure you hold some of the evidence of the tornado damage. People from the Methodist Church are collecting glass from the broken windows to remember our old church and to remember the day that came. I hope you have a piece too and make sure you tell your kids and make them tell their kids and tell this story for generations to come.

Right now for the next few weeks, we must be thankful that we are not hurt. Everyone should work together as a team and make sure our community is like it was in the past. We shall work together to rebuild ourselves. To rebuild our love that we had for the City and make sure we don't waste it and make sure that we save it for the generations to come and remember the people who lost their homes and their lives. God's hand will always protect us from the evils of the wind that came to us but we can fix everything that we have. As long as we work together in love.

We will always love West Liberty.

P.S. CURSE YOU MOTHER NATURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~~~Another blog from Brennan..... I'll write more soon!

NO MORE SMOKING

Dear Fans, I have an important message for you....

PLEASE STOP SMOKING!!!

Did you know that you can get cancer by smoking and you will have to go to the surgeon and get all the cancer out. He will have to cut you open and get the pitch blackness out of your body.

Your lungs will shrivel up. You will be not able to breathe and you will certainly die if you do.

My mom and my Mimi took me to Bodies the Exhibition. At that exibit we saw what happens when you smoke. We saw blackness on ACTUAL human lungs. It was GROSS!

Also, smoking stinks. It's polluting our air and when we are close to somebody that smokes, we take in that smoke that they smoke too, and we end up with the same thing they have.... cancer.

There is so much information about smoking that I can't understand why people still smoke. Maybe it's just a hobby. But it's a gross hobby and you should NEVER do it!

Always be part of the red ribbon. It means I don't do drugs and smoking is the grossest thing in the universe. Are you going to stop now from this day forth? Let me know if you do!

Brennan (a non smoker forever and his family too)

Lego Train Coach

One Saturday afternoon in January, I got on the Lego website to play. I discovered that I could design my own Lego project. I decided to make a Lego dining car for a train. I got to work!

I had a little help from my mom, so if I had any errors she could fix them and then I could get back to work. The dining car was a lot of work, but I managed to make it. It took me a couple of hours to do. After I got the car looking like I wanted it, I then got my parents in the room and they saw it. We noticed that we could purchase the dining car that I made. So my mom helped me look in to doing that. Also, the website allowed me to create my own box. I put the dining car on the front. I added 4 minifigs and it was perfect picture. I got to design the front and the back of the box. It also will come with instructions for putting it all together.

It takes 15 days for the package to get here. This was my first creation that I designed and bought from Lego. I can't wait until it comes!! Toot toot... All aboard!

Summer Vacation 2011 Recap

Hellooooooo blog readers...........................

Today I am going to tell you about my vacation this past summer.

The day school let out I was VERY VERY happy! I knew that I would have a big time during summer break! I had thousands of things to do and I loved it. Starting of the summer vacation was the greatest thing in the world. I had been waiting for this my whole life. I was wondering when we were getting out and I found out and I was so happy!

The first day of summer vacation, I slept in. I thought it was a school day, but then dad didn't wake me up. I slept and slept until I woke up and I said in my head IT'S SUMMER VACATION! Then we did a thousand things.

We went to my grandma's pool a bunch of times and I played with my toy Titanic in the pool!

.... The next day I also did some tennis lessons. I did tennis lessons all summer with the greatest tennis player in the world, Emily! She hit those balls and I hit them harder than she would. I love tennis. It is my greatest new sport and I want to be a famous tennis player when I grow up. By the end of summer, I was serving and returning balls!

Then this summer, I also went to Florida with my family on an airplane. We went there for a week which is equal to 7 days. We played Putt Putt Golf, we body surfed at the beach and collected shells and made sand castles. We ate out a bunch, saw Cars 2 in 3D, we went on an COOL airboat ride in the Everglades. We went to a place called the Imaginarium which is a science place which I like. We also went to the Naples Zoo and went to the Audubon Nature Preserve and walked 2 miles ona boardwalk. We saw HUGE grasshoppers that looked like they had colorful armor on them. I did not like it. I saw a spider and it was huge, it's butt was like a rectangle that had an arch on the top. It had super long arms and it was in a big web. We also saw a mommy alligator and her babies in the wild. They were about 50 feet from us and mom said "let's get out of here"! Then we went to Uncle Bub & Aunt Linda's house. We played in the hot tub with our model Titanic and had dinner there. Then we went back to the house in Florida and had more fun until we had to go back home. So back on an airplane we went! Just like when we went to Florida, only we were going the opposite direction of Florida.

Other things I did this summer was, I went to the Newport Aquarium with my brother and my grandparents and our friend Tammy. I saw a lot of things there. Like sharks, penguins and lots of fish.

I played with lots of Lego's this summer! Including a train one that I took to our Family Reunion at Carter Caves State Park. Mimi, Papaw, Uncle Bub, Aunt Linda, Grace, Lily, and lots of other kids were there. We went into the X-Cave and the Cascade Cave. It was cold inside those caves. We saw bats in the Cascade Cave but none in the X-Cave. The tour guide said they were full grown bats but they were very tiny! From us, they looked tiny, but from them, they were full grown. One swooped down onto the crowd and then went back up into it's nest. They were all huddled together like a big nest. There was a waterfall and a lake inside the cave. But then we came back home and it was 3 days until back to school.

When the 3 days were done, I was not too happy. Then I had a very boring life and I was very upset and I wish summer vacation lasted more. But to worry, we are going back to Florida this fall!

The end.

Bye blog readers, I'll make another blog post soon!

Brennan