the bird on fire

My Tom & Jerry

January 22, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Quintus’s contribution to Editor Chelsea’s directive–”Write about animation!–involves a look back at a favorite cartoon, Tom & Jerry.

By Quintus Ni

I guess most of us have watched Tom and Jerry, which is a great cartoon. Today I’m going to write a story about a cat and a mouse. I know that life is all about running and chasing; we are all ceaselessly chasing somebody and running from somebody, always searching for an opportunity.

I think you won’t be happy if I compare you to a mouse, so I’ll be the mouse and you’ll be the cat. I’m a mouse who likes to make people laugh. I enjoyed hanging out at night and talking to random strangers. But not so much now, I don’t have the passion like I used to; maybe it’s because I’ve entered a different mental state. But the meeting of you and I would never happen if the story is about now, nor would there be the tale about how a cat is played by a mouse.

I met you – a naughty kitty – one morning when I didn’t have to go to work but stayed in my house. I wandered on the internet since I had nothing to do; that’s how I met you. It seemed like you were coming back from a friend’s house and had squeezed in some time in the running car to have this little chat with me. I remembered this because it was the first time I knew that people can chat online while driving. Back then you were such a curious cat you liked to look around you, while I was just a mouse being scared that I might get eaten by you. I was afraid that you might quit this chat with me, but then you appeared to be talkative and you raised many fantastic and bizarre topics. They say that when a mouse meets a cat, there is no escape…is there?

Life could be dramatic sometimes. The cat and the mouse were slowly getting to know each other better; they spent time chatting when they were not busy. Actually the cat was quite cute and the mouse kinda enjoyed teasing her. He went to her whenever he got the time; he liked to listen to her talking about the little things in life. Sometimes the mouse called the cat “big sis,” and she responded with a smile. However, the mouse was the only one who knew that he was the older one between them, but he simply didn’t want her to know, because to him, watching his cat care about him thoughtfully and always forgive him for his childish tricks like a big sister was such a joyful thing. Anyway, the days went by in laughter. But then one day, the cat found out about the truth – the mouse was lying all the time. She became furious, but the mouse didn’t realize how serious things were, and he just laughed, carelessly. Finally, the mouse was kicked out for what he had done.

But, cat, do you know that in the heart of the mouse, it does not make any difference how you were called, all he ever cared about was the time you two spent together with love and joy, and happiness. Time goes faster when you’re happy. Now years have gone by; cat, on the other side of the internet, how I wish you remembered our days. My wish for you is that you could be happy. It doesn’t matter if we are to meet again; I just want you to live a happy and healthy life. The path you’re on may be difficult, but I believe that happiness is waiting for you.

My biggest wish now is for you to be happy…

I love the music in your zone

Love the way it makes me feel

Love the romance between the tunes

Love to come by when I’m alone

To visit you and to close my eyes and feel the mood

Time runs so fast

And for you, here I am again

Composing this letter just to make a memorial of the days of us~

Animation Editor: Chelsea

Which Mythological Beast Are You?

January 22, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Chelsea curates our Wednesday Writing Prompt that asked: “Which mythological beast are you?” Below is the prompt and blog staff responses.

Prompt: Two hundred years ago an eccentric sorcerer turned all mythical creatures into humans to try and prevent them from being hunted to extinction. Now that the spell is starting to wear off, the descendants of the original beasts are slowly beginning to morph back into their true forms. What happens as you morph back?

Our fellow responders:

Katelin

I lie in bed. I cannot sleep. My head hurts as well, but this time it seems to be a similar pain to the one my friend described to me. However, it seems to be a different kind of pain; it is not the coolness my friend has described, but it burns. I get up in the night, and look at my mirror. Everything seems fine, so I turn around to go back to sleep. When I turn around, I see it in the mirror, angry red lines on my back. I run my hand across them; they sting and burn underneath my touch. I lie back down, but the discomfort in my back is too much. I don’t sleep the rest of the night. In the morning, I get up and go to school. The pain is too much for that, so I leave after the first class. My mother has taken me to the doctor, and now there are reporters asking me questions……

Quintus

Once upon a time, I saw birds speaking lots of languages with different people from different countries. They were charming and elegant, and dressed in luxurious clothes with diamonds. The peacock was the queen of the thousand variety of birds. She was elegant and fancy. Every year, the whole world experienced Celebrating Peaceful Day, which is working for the relationship between the birds and humans…..

Chelsea

First, I realize there are mythical forces surrounding everybody. Of course, I’m not the only one noticing this; some students start to question what’s going on while the others are just playing along. Secondly, around noon the day darkens, but there are no clouds covering the sun. Many students panic as their mythical forces become stronger while the others are shouting, “THIS IS SO COOL!” (I would totally do that). Things are just going to get more interesting, and who knows what magical secrets we might discover; guess we’ll just wait and see as the day goes by…..

Editor: Chelsea Xu

How Colors Represent Emotions

January 22, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Chelsea, who’s feeling “blue” today–her favorite color (along with black)

Hey guys, I’m back with the newest post. Editor Luke’s theme is “introspection,” so the topic that I’m going to discuss is how colors represent our emotions inside or the emotions you are trying to express. But, please, keep in mind that not everything is accurate since this post is based on the public’s opinion.

Black: Black usually represents the darkness inside of you. It can represent the bad or evil side of a person. It can also represent death.

White: White is usually the color of heaven or angels, so it represents your innocence, purity, or goodness. But in some cultures, white can also represent death.

Pink: Pink is the color of love. It’s the color that you usually use on Valentine’s Day. Thus, it represents the romantic feelings toward a certain person. It also represents anything sweet, playful, or feminine.

Red: Red is the color that usually represents fire. It shows determination, strength, power, and can sometimes be used for love (the red string that connects soulmates).

Purple: Purple was the color used for royalty and nobility back in the days. It can also represent your own feelings of pride, mystery, peace, and dignity.

Blue: Blue is the color of the sea. It usually represents the trust, loyalty, wisdom, or intelligence of a person. It’s also the color of calm and cool.

Green: Green is the color that usually represents life, nature, and energy. In a person, on the other hand, green can represent one’s ambition, greed, or jealousy.

Yellow: Yellow usually represents the energy, happiness, optimism, enlightenment, honor, or joy in a person.

Orange: Orange is the color that represents enthusiasm, fascination, and encouragement. It symbolizes strength and endurance in a person.

Introspection Editor: Luke Langlois

Sources Referenced:

http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html

Light Boom and Superluminality, from Impossible to Plausible

January 17, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org 2 Comments

When Editor Renée told us to write about “light,” James went superluminous.

By James Zheng

Light has a really miraculous existence within the realm of physics. We understand light’s form to be more a ray than a physical entity, and, generally, we describe it as both particles and waves due to its property of spreading easily and still bouncing off of objects. Scientists have discovered plenty of other marvelous phenomena about the nature of light. The phenomenon I like the most is the light boom.

What is a light boom? We’ll get there. First, I want to introduce you to the idea of a similar phenomenon called a sonic boom. A sonic boom occurs when the speed of an object exceeds the speed of sound. There will be strong air resistance, which causes strong oscillation and speed decay. When breaking through the sound barrier, the compression of the air caused by the speeding object doesn’t allow the air to spread easily. The air gradually accumulates in the windward area of the object and finally forms a shock wave, on which the kinetic energy is highly concentrated. These energies are transmitted to people’s ears in the form of a strong explosion, and this is what is typically called a sonic boom. Simply put into layman’s terms, a sonic boom is just a situation in which the speed of the object goes beyond the speed of sound.

The light boom, similarly, is the effect of particles’ speed exceeding the speed of light. When the speed of moving charged particles exceeds the speed of light, a special phenomenon of light emission occurs.

However, the conditions to create a light boom are extremely difficult and cannot be achieved in a vacuum. When the phase velocity (Electromagnetic wave’s propulsion speed on a single-phase point), and group velocity (Electromagnetic wave’s propulsion speed on any phase points through spaces) of light in the medium decreases, it is possible for the moving charged particles to surpass the phase velocity of light. This phenomenon, generally, would only appear in the cooling water of nuclear reactors and would produce a very subtle blue light that can be seen with the naked eye. That blue light is a light boom.

Light booms were originally called Cherenkov Radiation. This radiation was discovered in 1934 by former Soviet Union physicist Pavel Alexeyevich Cherenkov; it was named after him.

Why is there such a huge difference between a sonic boom and the concept of a light boom? Since I found out the preexisting factors to trigger the sonic boom are way simpler than the light boom. If let’s say that a sonic boom is a phenomenon resulting from a speed faster than the speed of sound, then the light boom should have the same principle. But, when I discovered that there is no way of proving there could be a speed faster than the speed of light, my mind went to . . . superluminality–a speed that’s faster than light.

So, I went on researching any circumstances that could give proof to a superluminality, and all I found is the expansion of universes and black holes as the standard example of superluminality. All of those can only be seen in space; the technology we have so far cannot generate an artificial speed that goes faster than light.

Although there is not a “pure” or authentic man-made example of a light boom, we have discovered the expansion of universes and the existence of black holes to confirm the hypothesis of superluminality to at least recognize the existence of it. Once we have the ability to create superluminality by ourselves, we will witness the true light boom.

Light Editor: Renée Vazquez

Source Referenced:

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%8B%AD%E4%B9%89%E7%9B%B8%E5%AF%B9%E8%AE%BA/473499?fr=aladdin#reference-[2]-24944-wrap

The Lantern Festival: Let There Be Light

January 16, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org 2 Comments

By James Zheng

The Lantern Festival is on February 8th. By just seeing the name, you might understand it as a day focusing on “Lanterns.” But that is only how the foreign countries view this festival; it is not only about lanterns.

During the Han Dynasty, when the culture of Buddhism was spreading over the eastern part of the nation, the emperor formally established a day for people to light up lanterns in the city as a way to express their faith to the Buddha. This convention has been kept for centuries. When it underwent adaptation in several dynasty changes, peoples’ customs and habits tended to alter the tradition.

Here are some interesting entertainments you could do during the Lantern Festival:

Admiring Lanterns. Just like the name, viewing lanterns is the most exciting part of the day! By just walking on the streets, you could see the lanterns hanging on the side of each roof. Each lantern is designed in a different style. The shapes change, and people “carve” on the lantern surfaces animals or flowers. When you walk on the street, you see scenes brilliantly illuminated with splendid lights and feel the authentic atmosphere of being in the Lantern Festival.
Solving Lantern Puzzles. For some special lanterns, there will be a paper or a wooden token hanging by the lantern; these are called the Lantern Puzzles. To make people not only enjoy viewing the lantern physically, the puzzles are the parts that are more interesting and inspiring. Usually the puzzle will give you an abstract description of something and let you guess a Chinese idiom, word, slang, or proverb.
Eating the round glutinous dumpling. This is my favorite part of the whole lantern festival. The dumpling actually looks like a rice ball, and it is stuffed with different flavors inside. The classic style is the flavor with sugar mixed red bean paste, or the sugar mixed with sesame. Now people prefer the sweeter taste more, and they have invented fruit flavors for it. This dessert which we call “Tang Yuan” in Chinese has a symbol. We see the “Tang Yuan” as a thing that bonds itself tightly together, which also is a sign of reunion for us.

汤圆

Just like the Chinese New Year known by the majority of foreigners, the Lantern Festival’s cultural connotation and value are far superior to other festivals; the essence of it is more like a carnival that everyone could participate in while enjoying the extraordinary significance of our history.

Seasonal Holidays Editor: Katelin Slosky

Positivity

January 15, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Editor Luke assigned the Blog Staffers the topic “Introspection”–to write on anything introspective. Katelin takes stock as one year rolls into the next. As she ages, as she matures, she considers how she wants to live her life.

By Katelin Mei

One of my New Year Resolutions is to become more positive. I will try to make the most out of what I have and try to enjoy life. I feel that I have been quite negative in the past years. I always thought that things were getting worse and worse and that I would not be able to go back to feeling happiness like I did before when I was younger. The years seemed to go by quicker, and holidays meant less and less to me. This year has felt like it has gone by slower than my entire time in middle school, simply because I try to make the most out of everything that comes my way. I try to enjoy life now, and instead of letting each day drift by, I try to enjoy each and every day.

Introspection Editor: Luke Langlois

Blog Responds: What Happens When There’s a Rent-Paying Monster Under Your Bed?

January 15, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Compiled by Luke Langlois

To generate new ideas, fun, and creativity, thebirdonfire.org staffers respond weekly to a given prompt. Prompts are often borrowed from Poets & Writers, sometimes from Reddit. Luke curates the responses to “What if there was a rent-paying monster under your bed?”

When we fear the dark, are we afraid of being alone, or are we afraid of not being alone? In this Wednesday Writing Prompt, us bloggers have been mysteriously finding money around our homes for an extended period of time. Who knows where the money is coming from? Is it carbon monoxide poison causing us to lose our memory? No; it’s MONSTERS. One day, we discover that there have been rent-paying monsters living under our beds. Is the monster kind? Cruel? Murderous? Hungry? What do we do? Bloggers said. . .

Doreen Yuan: He was a pure black foggy body with only two white eyes. He seemed to have no mouth and could not speak, but his foggy body could be changed into the shape of words, and they let me understand what he wanted to say. Then I learned that he was the creature of all my negative energy. I accepted the rent paid by the monster and promised to keep a positive heart; otherwise, the monster would grow because of my more and more negative energy, and finally, the monster would climb out from under the bed and eat me.

Luke Langlois: There’s a monster under my bed who I’ve never noticed for any reason whatsoever, and he’s paying rent? Sounds good to me! I do nothing.

James Zheng: I don’t want to accept the traumatic fact that a monster has been renting shelter under my bed. So I made an agreement with him. I can provide him with food, water, and shelter under the bed. But he can only go out during the nighttime and must stay under the bed in the daytime. Someday I would have to make a tough decision and think of a way to find out what this monster truly is. I genuinely don’t want to betray him, but I don’t want him to live here forever.

Chelsea Xu: There was a monster under my bed! They said they were the one who was providing money to my pocket randomly! I was so scared when they said they wanted something in return. But I had nothing!! So I ran to the kitchen and came back with a kitchen knife and told the monster to back off. But instead of attacking, they freaked out and explained to me why they were there. They were looking for a friend. I understood, and we became best friends forever yay!!

Quintus Ni:

First, I will say thank you!! I appreciate the money!

I hope that monster can invite their whole family~ All come to my bedroom, and sleep under my bed, then I can get lots of money as rent. I would like to make friends with new strange guys. We can have lots of parties, and live together!!

Next monster, please~ I’m waiting~~

Some Anonymous Blogger:

I keep finding pennies. Everywhere, in everything. I find them in my drawers, in my clothes, and in my socks. I have no idea why these show up. One day, I decide to investigate. I compile all of the pennies into a pile, and then go to sleep.

I wake up, look up, and see a dark figure.

The figure is a man with backwards arms and a lizard head. He jumps up and yells “I SMELL PENNIES!!!!!!!” Then, I wake up.

My bed feels oddly hard. I pull back the sheets, to reveal more and more pennies. All of a sudden, the wallpaper peels off and reveals pennies. Everything dissolves into more and more pennies, and I drown in the mass of coins.

Renée Vazquez:

I stared at my rent bill, exasperated I had chucked it under the bed before jumping on to it and pulling the blankets over me.

“Out of sight, out of mind, I’ll deal with it later.”

This was two years ago when I had moved into my new apartment. After that, once a month, I kept finding wads of cash in my desk drawer, always half my rent. I never put any money there, but I assumed it was just my faulty memory.

I came home early one day and as I headed straight to my bedroom, I saw a large thing crawling from under my bed.

It crept toward my desk and gingerly placed a wad of exact cash in the drawer I always found it in.

“What wait?!?! Wait! What the–?!”

I stared at it and it stared at me.

“Well, um.. lemme explain…..”

“I don’t mean to be impolite, but… Who are you?” My voice came out as a cracked and quivering whisper.

“My name is Petunia, actually…”

“So, Petunia, are you the one who comes up with half of my rent money?”

“Well… yeah…”

“One doesn’t expect that from their monster from under their bed. Actually one doesn’t expect a monster under their bed…”

“But you actually seem pretty nice…” I added.

“Wait, how did you get all this money?”

She shrugged and maybe smiled.

I nodded.

“Well, Petunia. It’s probably uncomfortable under there, isn’t it?”

She shrugged again.

“Well… why don’t you sleep in the extra room? In fact, I can make some dinner now, and we can finally be actual roommates.”

She maybe smiled again.

Katelin’s Favorite Musical Artists of 2019

January 13, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Katelin Slosky

Katelin offers a musical year-in-review for us. She doesn’t give us a genre or a unifying characteristic between the artists, other than these are the artists that made her 2019. If your tastes run similar to Katelin’s, try Marie Ulven Ringham, Mikaela Mullaney Straus, and Maia–aka girl in red, King Princess, and mxmtoon.

Here are some of the artists I enjoyed listening to in 2019.

girl in red

Marie Ulven Ringham is a Norweigan singer/songwriter. Her most popular songs are “we fell in love in october,” and “i wanna be your girlfriend.” My 2 favourite songs of hers are “girls” and “i wanna be alone.”

King Princess

Mikaela Mullaney Straus is an American singer/songwriter from Brooklyn, New York. Her most popular songs are “1950” and “Talia.” My favourite song of hers is “Ain’t Together,” which is also the first of her songs that I heard.

mxmtoon

Maia is an American singer/songwriter from Oakland, California. Her most popular song is “prom dress,” which is one of my favourites. I also like the song “feelings, are fatal.”

Favorite Musicians Editor: James Zheng

Life Without Light: What lurks in our ocean’s depths?

January 13, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Katelin Mei

How can life exist with little to no sunlight? How do organisms live? How do they navigate, find food, and escape predators under the crushing weight of the ocean, and the absolute darkness?

Sunlight can enter the ocean to provide light for up to 200 metres. After that, the ocean remains in partial darkness, for up to 1,000 metres. Past here, the ocean is bathed in darkness. This “lightless” area is called the aphotic zone, also referred to as the “midnight zone.” It exists below 1,000 metres. There is no sunlight that can reach this area. The only light in the midnight zone is provided by the fish themselves.

Life thrives in the midnight zone. Here are some of the creatures that live in these depths.

Viperfish – If you are going to be a predator in the darkness, you need to be ferocious so that your prey cannot escape; otherwise, you might not have food for a long time. The viperfish is one of the fiercest predators in the deep sea. They are characterized by long needle-length teeth and a hinged jaw, allowing them to eat almost any kind of prey they come across.

Pacific barreleye fish – Every fish in the deep sea has unique adaptations to the darkness. The Pacific barreleye fish has tube-shaped eyes that look through a clear dome. While their eyesight is very narrow, the tubular eyes are very efficient for picking up any kind of light. Their eyes are surrounded by a fluid-filled shield, allowing them to swivel their eyes and look around them.

Hatchetfish – Predators are fierce in the darkness, so as a result, many of the deep-sea fish have found unique ways to camouflage themselves. One such fish is the hatchetfish. These fish have light-producing organs on their bellies. Many predators hunt by looking upwards for silhouettes. The hatchetfish counters that by making its belly match the daylight filtering through. Now, it is nearly invisible.

Anglerfish – This is one of the most famous deep-sea fish species, for the way it uses its bioluminescence for hunting. Other fish will see the light from the lure, and swim close. Then, the Anglerfish eats her prey. Only the female anglerfish have a glowing lure. They have large mouths and pliable bodies, granting them the ability to swallow prey twice their size.

These are only some of the organisms that live in this area. Humans haven’t explored much of the deep sea; we’ve actually explored space more than our own oceans, so there are more mysteries to discover. But we know for sure that life lurks in even the darkest parts of our oceans.

Sources:

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/light_travel.html

http://www.mbgnet.net/salt/oceans/zone.htm

https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/fishes/hatchetfish

https://www.mbari.org/barreleye-fish-with-tubular-eyes-and-transparent-head/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/group/anglerfish/

Light Editor: Renée Vazquez

Best movies of the year

January 10, 2020 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Chelsea

Hello guys!! Welcome back! We ushered out 2019 and welcomed 2020. So, I got to wondering what were the best movies of last year to recommend to you guys. Here they are. Please enjoy my list of best 2019 movies, and I wish you all a prosperous 2020!!!!

Avengers: Endgame

Spider-man: Far From Home

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Detective Pikachu

Alita: Battle Angel

Toy Story 4

Frozen 2

Enjoy the movies, and have a great day!!

Year-End/Year-Beginning Editor: Katelin Mei