the bird on fire

Particular Parasols

March 28, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By AJ Patencio

Hello! Here in the Palm Springs area, we don’t get much rain throughout the year. Some people will say that this is all the more reason to buy a cheap umbrella that’ll last a year or two just to protect you when you have to go outside in the winter months. Others, like me, would say it’s all the more reason to treat it like a special occasion to buy a special umbrella. Not sure where to find one? Only see plain, boring, and questionable quality umbrellas at your local stores? No need to fret! You can find plenty umbrella options online!

https://www.umbrellaheaven.com/product/clear-dome-umbrella-manual-opening/

Ever want to show off your outfit despite pouring rain or relentless snow? Now you can! This clear dome-shaped umbrella will allow other people (or social media users) to see your wonderful outfit despite the bad weather! This umbrella also provides even more coverage due to its dome shape, which is possible due to the clear material that allows you to see your surroundings!

https://www.umbrellaheaven.com/product/big-top-umbrella-for-him-blue-and-white/

Do you love the aesthetic of large circus tents? Now you can bring it with you wherever you go! This Big Top umbrella resembles the blue-and-white tents you’d see when the circus rolls to town, and it matches the expectation of size due to being a golf-sized umbrella (which are larger than your typical umbrellas)!

https://www.umbrellaheaven.com/product/mini-max-compact-folding-umbrella-silver-uv/

Ever want a break from the sweltering heat of the sun and need a quick rest in the shade, but there’s no shade in sight? Don’t use any old umbrella, cuz the UV light from the sun is gonna pass right through the canopy and hit your skin! The white outer-canopy blocks and reflects the harmful UV rays of the sun, while the black inner-canopy absorbs UV light to protect you from stray rays that bounce off of the ground and would otherwise concentrate onto your face after bouncing off the inside of the white UV-reflective canopy!

https://www.pasottiombrelli.com/en/women-luxury-umbrellas/blue-swarovski-umbrella-double-cloth/pr-1694

The second most expensive umbrella I could find, this blue beauty costs around $570 USD. It’s made of a double-cloth 100% polyester satin weave, and has Swarovski crystals in the canopy and handle. The stunning fade of dark to light blue in the canopy gives a dazzling contrast to the white Swarovski gems.

https://www.pasottiombrelli.com/en/women-luxury-umbrellas/189-5d557-1-luxury-swarovski-bee-umbrella/pr-1848

The most expensive umbrella I could find costing around $600 USD, this beauty has a double-cloth canopy with a brass handle and Swarovski crystals. The outer cloth is a dark forest green while the inner cloth is a floral-butterfly pattern. Both fabrics are a 100% polyester satin weave. The handle has a wonderfully crafted brass bee with Swarovski crystals.

Editor: Overlord Susie Zachik

Me and You

March 25, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Former Blogger Jeremy Cheng has taken up poetry. He shares here his poetic thoughts on “Me and You”–in both simplified Chinese and English.

By Jeremy Cheng

你是星辰，

我是大海。

你将你最亮的一颗星给我，

我把我无边无际的爱给你。

You are the bright stars,

And I am the ocean.

You give the most shining star to me,

And I give my boundless love to you.

月亮被嚼碎了变成了星星

你就藏在那满天的星光里

The moon was chewed and became stars,

And you hide within the sky full of starlight.

Editor: James Zheng

Review of Anime Charlotte

March 22, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

By James Zheng

Charlotte was an anime that was first planned by two Japanese companies, Key and ANIPLEX, and finally released by P. A. Work. The script and characters were designed by a well-known writer named Maeda Jun. He already had plenty of outstanding works which are usually categorized as “moving” and “affecting.”

Within Charlotte’s story, in a fictional world where superpower holders exist, the hero thought he was the only superpower possessor and abused his power for his own purpose. When he encounters the heroine, his fate was changed.

(This paragraph may contain some spoilers.) Charlotte is absolutely one of the best animes, and I strongly recommend it, but I want to give it a fair review. The initial part is very interesting and novel; the first episode attracts a lot of audience attention due to the superpower motif. However, I can say that the setting is just okay. The figure of the hero is too “conventional” and too much like the characters you can see in every anime. There seems to be no creativity in the hero’s personality, value, appearance, etc. In addition, the type of anime that sets school as a stage is too common. To make it particular or special, a writer and director has to put extra effort into designing characters and script. Plus, those early episodes give the audience a sense that it is going to be a story about daily life and then suddenly it jumps to a completely different topic; then, people are confused. I am not criticizing its quality, but I am sure that the director is rushing the story, which does crucial damage to Charlotte. Officials also announced that Maeda Jun’s scripts are too massive and need to be cut down a lot, which could explain why the storyline has such problems. It actually took them a long time to make thirteen episodes. What I’ve always believed is that it will be better to split a season into two seasons rather than to rush the plot.

Let me sum it up.

The storyline in later episodes feels scrawled; Maeda Jun puts the focus on the end rather than at the beginning; he was expecting to make a “boom” to the audience. But, he failed at this attempt. He puts his own affection into it, but the audience does not feel it. Well… even though he failed at this attempt, that does not mean the anime is awful or he is a terrible writer. My recommendation remains for Charlotte: see it. The only flaw that Charlotte has is the unreasonably rushed storyline. The characterization, for the most part, is extraordinary, and Charlotte creates a compelling story due to the efforts from character voice actors. There are transformations of plot in the later story which may seem too sudden and unnecessary, but without those details, the whole story would be completely flat.

Watching anime has the same property as admiring artwork. I would not just see how the surface is bright and ignore connotation inside the story. I was quite upset to see how anime critics throw negative comments at Charlotte. At the same time, I was also glad that I was one of the few people who could really understand Charlotte.

The story of Charlotte is not ordinary.

Editor: AJ Patencio

Education: Is it Brainwashing?

March 22, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org 1 Comment

By Luke Langlois

Welcome to Editor Hannah Hall’s Conspiracy-Themed Week. Luke, below, is being satirical. Of course, he loves the College Board and all teachers.

Dearest readers of the blog, it is time to WAKE UP! It has come to my attention that there is a grand conspiracy that deeply, greatly, severely affects each and every one of us. Schools are beacons of brainwashing. If the government wanted to instill a certain set of values or ideas in the next generation, what would be the best way to do it? Would it be propaganda posters? Would it be a top-secret kidnapping program? The answer to both of these is, as you may have anticipated, no. The best way for the government to have its iron fist control the generation of the future is through the education system, through our teachers.

Teachers are one of the first authority figures we encounter in our lives. From very early ages we are taught to respect teachers and learn from what they have to say. As young children, we do not know any better than to absolutely accept this logic. Herein lies the problem. From this point on, teachers are fully capable of being the conductors of our poor, impressionable brains. The government is well aware of this fact and uses it to their advantage. Have you ever heard of the “Common Core State Standards Initiative”? This is an educational (BRAINWASHING!!!) initiative that sets the national standards for what students should know at the end of each school year. If schools are shown to have underperforming students, they are penalized. Unfortunately, this 2010 initiative managed to slip by our speculative goggles. Common core is the government’s way of controlling the teachers on a massive and undetectable scale. Quite frankly, it is the perfect crime. Teachers are unified under one curriculum to create a single mind. And, don’t even get me started on the College Board!

Here’s the bottom line: this systematic brainwashing causes us all to have artificial thoughts and ideas. None of us are our true and natural selves because of the specifically engineered influence from schools. We are all brainwashed to some degree. Who knows, perhaps you and I would be completely different people if it were not for this “education” system. Regardless of your allegiances, KEEP YOUR EYES AND EARS OPEN!

Editor: Hannah Hall

‘Sup, Beaches

March 21, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org 2 Comments

By Blog Beachcomber Hannah Hall

“Let’s go to the beach, each, let’s go get away”–Nicki Minaj

You know what has water? Beaches! As we explore the aquatic life this week, let’s explore beaches. Here–according to Hannah– are seven of the most beautiful beaches around the world to go and visit.

Giants Causeway Beach – Ireland

You may not want to take a dip in this beach of cliffs, but it definitely is a sight to see! The waters crash up against basalt columns of all sizes.

Hidden Beach – The Marieta Islands by Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

This “beach” isn’t just any beach. It’s a giant hole. It was formed by a bomb while the Mexican military was testing bombs down by the coast–just 20th-century things. To make this “holey” beach an even cooler spot, you get here by walking through a water tunnel!

Pink Sands Beach – Harbour Island, Bahamas

The title of this beach pretty much gives it away….the sand is pink! This is a pretty hot tourist attraction, so watch out for those flashing cameras!

Anse Source d’Argent – La Digue, Republic of Seychelles

Imagine a water-smoothed rock. See these rocks washing up on the shore basking in the sun. Now, blow the imagined size up 100 times. Here, at Anse Source d’Argent, you will be surrounded by tall stones draped with bright green trees beside crystal clear waters.

Benagil Sea Cave Beach – Algarve, Portugal

Yes, this beach is THAT beach. On Instagram, I know I see this beach pop up on my feed alllllll summer long. To get to the water, you will enter hollow caves with holes on the top that are just big enough to see the clear skies and to let the warm sun in.

Whitehaven Beach – Whitsunday Island, Australia

This beach looks like clouds sitting just under water. This is because the sand is white and made of 90% pure silica. You will need to travel here by boat, but ditch the sandals because this sand doesn’t retain heat.

Bioluminescent Beach – Vaadhoo, Maldives

Washing up onto this shore at night might feel like swimming with little fireflies. But, no. The shimmering light is actually caused by bioluminescent phytoplankton. The best time to see these blue little lights is during the months of July to February.

Editor: Luke Langlois

Sources:

https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/best-beaches-in-the-world

https://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2016-04-19/the-most-beautiful-pink-sand-beaches-in-the-world

15 Of The Most Exotic Beaches In The World

fishes: a-z

March 20, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Makena Behnke, who may learn to swim with the fishes

since this week’s theme is fish, or rather aquatic, i’m giving you a very nice list of fish. if you’re like me, you don’t know much about fish, but you think they’re pretty cool. there are so many different types of fish with different colors, sizes, and breeds. here is an a-z list of fish:

alligator gar. this swimmer is particularly scary-looking, very dinosaur-esque. usually found in the southern US in rivers, reservoirs, and bays.
blue tilapia. this one is probably my favorite fish on this list. it’s just so pretty. found in mainly Florida.
cobia. this fish weighs an average of a whopping eighty-two pounds and is about the length of a grown man’s wingspan. found in the Virginia area and throughout the Gulf of Mexico.
discus. this fish is properly named seeing as it is shaped like a disc. also known as the king of the aquarium fish. found in the Amazon River basin.
eagle ray. a more interesting-looking ray than the usual grey/silver-ish ray. found in New Zealand bays and rocky reefs.
flounder. no, not the blue and yellow fish from The Little Mermaid. the arrowtooth flounder is found in northeast Pacific Ocean.
gag grouper. found from North Carolina to Brazil. they like to feed on round scad, sardines, porgies, crabs, shrimp, and squid.
hogfish. found from Canada to northern South America in coral reefs. they are also protogynous hermaphrodites.
indian glassfish. staying true to its name of “glassfish,” this fish is transparent. found in mainly South Asian waters.
jarbydy. found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, they’re omnivorous and are big fans of small fish.
knobbed porgy. found from North Carolina to southern Florida. they grace the waters with their silver body and a red tint.
lemon tetra. found in South America, they feed on worms and crustaceans.
mudskipper. found in the Indo-West Pacific Ocean. these guys are easy to catch and fun to play around with (according to Makena and her “personal experience”).
northern hog sucker. found in the Great Lake area. it sucks up snails and insects, hence the name sucker.
opaline gourami. found in Southeast Asia. lives in lowland wetlands, marshy and swampy areas.
pomfret. found all across the Pacific Ocean. they stay close to the surface of the water, and they’re rarely caught inshore.
quillfish. found in the North Pacific. they’re found at the surface at night and burrow in the sand during the day.
redbreast acara. found in Central American waters. they prefer more stagnant waters.
swordsnout grenadier. found in the Western-Center of the Atlantic and the Eastern Atlantic. they feed on crustaceans and small fish.
tapar. found in European and Asian waters. they inhabit large rivers and freshwater lakes.
uaru. found in South America. they feed on crustaceans and small fish, but eat plants to get their nutrients.
vermilion snapper. found from the western Atlantic to southeastern Brazil. the adults prefer deep water and rocky bottoms.
wahoo. found from New Jersey to Columbia. they travel in loose groups of fish rather than compact schools.
x-ray tetra. found in South America. they feed on worms and small fish.
yellow cichlid. found in lower river valleys in Central America.
zander. found in Europe and Asia. they inhabit brackish lakes and rivers.

Sources

www.wideopenspaces.com

http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/fish-finder

https://www.fishbase.de/search.php

https://thewebsiteofeverything.com/animals/fish/

https://www.thesprucepets.com/

Editor: Luke Langlois

1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red Fish, Oarfish

March 20, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Blurb by Aquatic Mastermind Luke Langlois

Our recent aquatic theme has inspired mystery both amongst the blog staff and amongst our readers. Just a few days ago, Ms. Tasha Romo’s memory was prompted to jump back a whole six years to a time where a few enigmatic deep-sea creatures known as the oarfish washed up on the shores of California. Two oarfish washed up in Oceanside, and another washed up on Catalina Island. Take a look at the picture that Ms. Romo shared of the Catalina oarfish below. If you happen to be someone who went on Palm Valley’s 6th-grade field trip to Catalina, you may recognize this camp as the one you explored. Anyways, enjoy the oarfish!

Photo taken after Catalina residents pulled the washed-up oarfish out of the water.

Editor: Holden Hartle

If you too have a contribution to a theme, send it to szachik@pvs.org. Our editors will take a look at it. If it adds to the week’s thematic coverage, we’ll post!

Conceive

March 18, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Harlow Berny

I saw a bright light in the distance. A shining light in a sea of darkness. It had to be her. There was nothing else, no one else, it could possibly be. I could hear others around me, others just like me. They wanted her. I rushed as fast as I could, my small body pushing itself out of the dark abyss and into her light. I saw her floating. She was far bigger than anything I’d ever seen before. I stayed for a second to admire her size, her dangling light, before I saw others like me rushing onto her. I hurried closer to her. I sank my teeth into her. I felt my flesh fusing with hers. We were bonding. I saw the others that were like me rushing away, accepting defeat. I had won. I was a part of her. I could feel her blood running through me, keeping me alive. We would stay like this. Forever. My small body got smaller. And smaller. And smaller. Soon, all that was left of me were the organs that could grant her children. This was my existence. This was my purpose. This is what I am.

_ . ~ * ~ . _

Thank you for reading this short horror story! If you couldn’t tell, it’s a story about anglerfish reproduction told by a male anglerfish. This was made to fit the aquatic theme set by this week’s editor and was quite fun to write. I hope you enjoyed!

Editor: Luke Langlois

March 14, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Installment #2 in our Aquatic Theme: What can be found in the deep blue sea? I don’t know. But, James does. –Aquatic Theme Editor Luke

By James Zheng

The ocean is probably one of the most mysterious places on the Earth since it’s a place humans still have not entirely explored. There are hundreds of examples of the mysteries of the ocean. And, some of them have a reasonable explanation, but some ocean mysteries remain elusive. In this post, I am going to introduce three of the strangest mysteries within the ocean.

No.1 Devil’s Sea:

This is also known as the Dragon’s Triangle. Like the Bermuda Triangle in the Atlantic Ocean, this is a similar triangular area in the Western Pacific Ocean off of the east coast of southern Tokyo in Japan. To get here, go south along the southeast of the Pacific Ocean at about 145 degrees east, then turn west-southwest; pass through the Ogasawara Islands, and then return to the Tokyo Bay of Japan along the northeast, which forms this triangle. There are many mysterious disappearances of ships and planes here. They left without a trace. What happens is that all radio contacts are abruptly interrupted when vessels approach this triangular area, and the ships that are lost have no wreckage that can be found afterwards. There is even more news that spreads that horrifies people: one marine radio center received the message from a ship saying, “The sky is open!” right before they lost radio contact. Over-exaggerated? Who knows?

No.2 Atlantis:

There are still so many myths related to Atlantis, one of the most mysterious ancient civilizations. It was said that the ancient Greek God Poseidon created this civilization. Some scientists say that Atlantis does exist, and that it was a real civilization thousands of years ago. Modern science has found that before the great floods (an unprecedented and destructive global flood happened a long time ago) there may have been a continent that was the most highly developed civilization on the Earth. In this global disaster, the continent sank into the Atlantic Ocean. Following this catastrophe, a large-scale earthquake and tsunami caused further damage. As a result, vestigial volcanic ashes covered the entire Mediterranean region in darkness for weeks. The earthquake is rumored to have been more powerful than 4,000 atomic bombs. For nearly a century, archaeologists have also claimed that they have found relics of this prehistoric civilization on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, which seems to confirm the hypothesis of Atlantis. So, where did the name come from? The name was initially given by Plato, and it is the name still used nowadays for this unknown civilization. In 2011, an archaeological team claimed that they had located Atlantis beneath the mudbank of southern Spain. In December 2013, a submerged pyramid of Atlantis was discovered in the western sea area of Portugal. It was possibly recognized as a relic of Atlantis. But, nevertheless, the existence of Atlantis is still a question mark.

No.3 The depth of the ocean

There is never an accurate answer given to say how deep the ocean is. It is way more complicated than you probably think. Humans may think that they have explored the ocean enough to know the Earth deeply, but among the vast Pacific Ocean, we might have just explored five percent of the deepest part. There is an estimation taken by scientists that the ocean might be ninety thousand meters deep; however, nobody has ever reached that deep and it is just an assumption after all. The maximum depth that humans have reached is 10,916 meters. Unfortunately, we have trouble going deeper. The water pressure will get more and more intense as you reach the bottom. Unless we have diving suits or a submarine that has an extremely strong endurance to the water pressure, the diver would certainly be killed by the overwhelming water pressure. One last thing: sunlight cannot reach the deep ocean. Human eyes cannot see anything and the creatures around there may be dreadfully unforgiving…

Sites Referenced

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%AD%94%E6%B5%B7%E9%BE%99%E4%B8%89%E8%A7%92/15795153?fr=aladdin

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%BA%9A%E7%89%B9%E5%85%B0%E8%92%82%E6%96%AF/6238?fr=aladdin

https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1576299103450316638&wfr=spider&for=pc

Editor: Luke Langlois

https://www.thebirdonfire.org/2019/03/14/3383/

Holden Rants About a Topic That Isn’t Really Relevant But Still Kinda Interesting Part 4

March 13, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Here at thebirdonfire.org, we’re trying something new. Rather than chasing down any “sophisticated schoolyard shenanigan” (our site’s tagline), we’ve embued our Student Editor of the Week with the power to NAME A THEME. Junior Luke Langlois is up first as Student Editor. He claims as his theme Aquatic. So, our student bloggers submit to you subjects and posts that fall under this week’s theme: Aquatic. Holden answers with . . . Sharks.

Sharks Deserve More Love

By Holden Hartle

Since the release of Jaws in 1975, sharks have become one of the top fears among Americans. The thought of a Great White clamping down on a leg is a terrifying thought. In 2017, Chapman University conducted a survey that showed that about 25% of people are afraid of sharks. More people are afraid of sharks than of hurricanes, public speaking, and everyday crimes like a mugging. The fear of sharks is even more prevalent than the existential fear of dying.

But, consider this, in 2018, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History, there were a total of 130 shark attacks worldwide. Of those 130, 66 were unprovoked and 34 were provoked. The other 30 attacks were due to things like boat attacks or attacks that happened post-mortem. With all of this in mind, there are predictions that somewhere around 70 million people went to a beach in 2018. Some quick division will tell you that you have a 0.000185714% chance of being a victim of a shark attack. This number drops by almost 20% if you don’t provoke the shark.

Let’s look at things from the shark’s perspective. Out of the 375 different species of sharks, only about 10 have been known to eat humans. Because sharks have not lived around humans for most of their lineage, sharks have not evolved in a way that allows them to digest human flesh. Sharks eating humans is similar to a lactose intolerant person eating ice cream. It’s possible, but sharks choose to ignore humans for their own good. Sperm and Killer Whales are much more capable of eating a human than a shark is.

If you look at the behavior of sharks, most sharks approach a human out of sheer curiosity. This curiosity leads to a terrified human, which leads to a terrified shark, which leads to a shark attack. A shark most often will bite a human out of self-defense, not because it is hungry for a human thigh. And, occasionally, a shark mistakes a human for a sea turtle or a seal.

We shouldn’t be scared of sharks; we should be helping them. The shark population has dropped dramatically in the past few years, and this isn’t just bad for the sharks; this affects the whole ecosystem. With the sharks gone, the whole aquatic ecosystem is thrown off. There are no sharks to eat the mesopredators, which are next in the food chain. And, because there is an increase in mesopredators (for example, stingrays), the amount of smaller fish decrease. If we were to stop fearing sharks and stop fishing them for their meats and their fins, the ecosystem would be balanced.

Editor: Luke Langlois