Godzilla Review

(Check out Godzilla's old movie theme!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE-JwmDrTNI )

This remake of the classic film; Godzilla, came out a while ago. Wanting to see the remake of the classic movie (and to see how it stacked up to all the hype) I saw it with my brother and frankly, I enjoyed every bit of it! Like my previous reviews, I'll give a brief, spoiler-free synopsis of the movie and highlight my personal pros and cons of the film. This, again, is so that you may judge for yourselves whether or not this movie is good. Personally, I enjoyed this movie (as I mostly do) so I'll do my best to make things as clear cut as possible so that you can decide whether or not to see Big G himself!

Rundown

The movie takes place in a variety of locations, but first takes place in Japan 15 years before the main storyline. The parents of the protagonist, Ford, work in a nuclear reactor when something bizarre happens and kills his mom. Fast forward to the main storyline in San Francisco, we find out that Ford's father, Peter, suspects that something unnatural caused the "accident" at the plant. They go to Japan, discover a government cover up, are arrested, Peter dies, (this isn't a spoiler, it happens after 15 minutes) and the whole thing suddenly explodes into a monster vs. monster fight. Though this summary seems very short, that is the basic premise of the movie, but don't worry, it's full of explosions, tension and amazing and beautiful special effects.

Pros

-The nice thing about this version of Godzilla is that the monsters are scientificially explained (in a brief, acceptable way) so that modern movie goers aren't wondering why Godzilla came about all of a sudden
-The sets that are used are beautiful! The coastal town in Japan and bright, sunny San Francisco was very pleasing to the eye
-Characters are realistic with feelings, worries and concerns we can relate to
-Special effects are great! Godzilla looks menacing as always.
-This movie is fast-paced, which is good since people don't want to get bored with everything.
-When you realize that there's an unexpected hero

Cons

-"Wait!" You call out, "you got the character's names wrong in your summary!" Yeah, well, sorry about that. But the thing is the characters don't really stick with you. There is so little character developement that in the death of Ford's father, you don't feel sad for him. We hardly even knew him! It sucks that your dad died Ford, but I didn't really feel anything since we've only known him for 20 minutes. ...Sorry.
-Characters can sometimes be too monotone. In (assuming the name's right) Peter's death scene, I don't remember Ford being too sad. Maybe he was, but it might've been too suttle to remember.
-Movie feels too fast in the emotional parts
-Godzilla is OP

Sulli Events! The Annual Carnival

On Thursday, May 22nd, Sullivan hosted the annual carnival. With a great turn out and a bright, fun and busy atmosphere, the school's Co-Op Class, Junior Leadership and Student Council did an amazing job of entertaining everyone! Although, there was a bit of a rough start...

Almost immediately after starting, the carnival was abruptly interrupted by a fire alarm! Staff, student and visitors were thoroughly surprised. Thankfully, the volunteers and staff did an amazing job in keeping people calm and directing them to nearby exits in an orderly and calm fashion. After waiting outside for a few minutes, everyone was let back in and volunteers quickly continued to their duties.

The rest, as you say, is history. We had beautiful performances by our wonderful Sulli talent as well as breath-taking moves by our Sulli Junior Hip-Hop team and senior dancers Brandon and Jacob!

(By the way, a big thank you to the wonderful volunteers! You all did such a great job keeping calm during all of this, and you all made the carnival so much fun! Thank you!)

Below is a small collage of all that happened, enjoy!

Did you enjoy the carnival? Did you go? If you were at the carnival, what would you have liked to see? Let us know!

Amazing Spiderman 2 Review

♪ Spiderman, Spiderman does whatever a spider can
Spins a web any size
Catches thieves just like flies
Look out, here comes the Spiderman ♫

(Check out the retro Spiderman theme song!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o29VoxtsFk)

The Amazing Spiderman 2 came out a little while back. Apparently full of beautiful special effects, my brother and I left for the theatre and went to go see ol' Spidey for ourselves! Like with Captain America: Winter Soldier, I'll give a quick spoiler-free summary of the movie and outline the pros and cons to the movie in my opinion. Again, this is because a movie is only as good as the viewer. If someone hates superhero movies and were to see this, they'd absolutely despise it. If a regular person were to see this, they might also hate for their own reasons. For me, I really enjoyed this movie! Andrew Garfield plays a pretty awesome Spidey. Well anyways, chacun son goût. Let's get started with the review!

Rundown

The movie takes place about two years after Amazing Spiderman 1 (we can tell because the protagonists were in highschool in this movie's prequel and are now graduating). So Peter Parker is still with Gwen Stacy... Kind of. The promise he made to Gwen's father in the previous movie is still kinda haunting him. He's conflicted whether or not to stay with her or to stay away. Furthermore, a seemingly innocent and unimportant character; Max Dillon, somehow finds his way into a giant mess of things. Then Peter's childhood friend pops up, couple-issues with Gwen and Peter and one of the biggest side-plots: Peter's parents. I won't delve into too much, but there's a lot going on here.

Pros

• The movie was solid! You really can feel all the characters emotion and how everything is falling (... wow, too soon me. Too soon.) into place. Most of the loose ends get tied up and movie is very enjoyable to watch
• To make reference to what I just said: actors. FANTASTIC! Characters feel real and I felt I could sympathize with all of them
• Stan Lee is there, and that's always nice.
• The new villain, Electrode, is scary and twisted and dark. Fantastically played by Jamie Foxx despite me feeling that it was awkward at first. The awkwardness was his CHARACTER. Again, character department is awesome.
• Side plot of Peter's parents adds a bit of depth. The backstory of a hero is always appreciated
• Did you notice that Spiderman was really funny and sarcastic? GOOD! That's how he's SUPPOSED to be!
• This movie was funny! Lots of times the theatre started laughing, which is always appreciated.
• Visual effects are STUNNING. A beautiful colour palette was chosen by the creators/designers of the movie and it really goes a long way
• This movie has a lot left open for more movies, which is great - more Spidey for everybody!

Cons

•  
  
  The main problem, I feel, was the quick drop of plot and characters. Yes, both these aspects of the movie were very good. But the minute Peter discovers the truth about his parents, it feels like he drops it too quickly. "Oh my parents were really like this? Okay then, back to doing something else!" It felt that there was no thought about it once the truth was set free. Also, Max Dillon. He's a sweet awkward guy at the very beginning and the transition between him and Electrode seems WAY too sudden. Also, where did he come up with all that stuff about him being in a merciless and cold, dark place? And where did he get the idea for Electrode? Was he planning this? Why does it seem, all of a sudden, so clear? I thought he didn't like hurting people, and now all of a sudden he feels like being a God? What?
• Do you like Gwen? ... You'll see why.

Have you seen this movie yet? What do you think about it? Let us know in the comments!

Sullivan Height's Annual Carnival

Every year near the end of May, Sullivan's student council holds a carnival to celebrate the end of the school year! This year is no different in that there are a ton of things to look forward to. On May 22nd from 3:30 - 6pm, students will be able to enjoy a wide range of games, food and entertainment that will leave them satisfied for the day.

Games

As always, student council has rented a bouncy house for every person to jump and play in! As well, there will be face painting, henna and various other games set up by the school's Co-Op class. In these games, you can win tickets that can get you some pretty neat prizes, such as small toys for your younger family members or a nice Tim Horton's giftcard that you can enjoy!

Entertainment

As you know, there's a lot of talent in our school! Set up in the middle of the hub will be live performances by various singers in the school, the Bhangra and dance teams! Wait! Do you know someone who'd like to perform? You better let them know! Student council is more than happy to have more performers show their talent, so be sure to tell them to pass by B206 and let Mrs. Becker know they're interested!

Food

Ah, food. So delicious, and so so good. This year we're going to be serving the regular stuff: Hot dogs, chips, pop and water. BUT! This year we have a cotton candy machine! Want something sweet? Cotton candy. Want something light to just ease your appetite? Cotton candy. Want something typical of a carnival? Cotton. Candy. Enough said. Prices will be nice and clear too, so just look at the signs and make your purchases!

Excited for the carnival? Any plans on what you're going to play? Let us know!

May 2014 Disney Trip!

During May 4-8, students who normally volunteer in the school were given the opportunity to go to a trip to Disneyland in order to be a part of leadership workshops called the "Disneyland Youth Education Series". Throughout the 4 days and nights, the "SHS Disney Crew" were taught how to be strong, caring leaders and were put into the shoes of Walt Disney himself who faced constant adversity and challenges while building his wildly-loved magical kingdom.

The first workshop that students went through talked about the Four C's of being a leader - Curiosity, Confidence, Courage and Constancy. Throughout a series of activities and deeply thought-out games, the students were taught how each trait is vital in life and in any task they are in. In this workshop, students were asked to talk about their traits, what their dreams were and were told the story of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and how Walt Disney lost him and much of his hard work.

From the first workshop alone, students were already saying they felt changed.

The next workshop that took place focused on confidence and keeping your dreams. Involving pylons, a rope treehouse area and a few moments of honesty, students were taught that for all the doubts they worried about and all the negative traits they saw in themselves, there were a billion other happier things that countered them. Here, students learned that in realizing that there was a lot of good rather than bad in them, they could accomplish anything.

As a student that took part in this program, I still feel absolutely honoured and blessed that I could go. This workshop was short, but long enough and meaningful enough to really change me as a person. By being in this, I became much more confident and happier than I can even remember.

I'm sure many other kids feel the same and would love to talk about their stories.

Thankfully, there's a blog (made by the lovely Mrs. Becker) about our trip!

http://sullitravels.blogspot.ca/

Have any questions about the trip? Have you done a program like this before? Let us know in the comments!

Student Council Open Meeting!

Hey Sulli! Want to know more about how Student Council runs and how the club plans for events? This Tuesday (April 28) in B206, the club is holding an open meeting! Anyone curious about the club can come!

Some info:
Student Council is a club dedicated to helping the school be a more fun, enjoyable place. This club is a great way to learn leadership skills, meet new people and get volunteer hours. This club, however, requires an application which is sent out at the beginning of the year in order to ensure that members are dedicated to the club. All this, however, is worth everything. Here, the Student Council club becomes a giant family and is a great place to make memories!

The open meeting will take place during lunch, so make sure to bring a lunch that day so you can get in early! A lot of people are going to the meeting and you want to get good seats, so try to get to B206 as fast as you can on Tuesday.

During the meeting, Student Council may be talking about some events coming up (*cough cough* THE CARNIVAL *cough cough*) so make sure to bring some ideas that you can contribute to the meeting! The President, Sana Fatima, is a very friendly person so if you have any questions or ideas, be sure to talk to her!

If you want a piece of the action, be sure to pass by on Tuesday!



What are you looking forward to in the Open Meeting? What kind of things will you want to talk about?

Spirit Week Coming Up! Any ideas?

Hey Sulli! Next month, the school's final Spirit Week is coming up! This is the week that students get to show their school spirit by dressing up for the planned days. The Newspaper Club is wondering what you want to want for Spirit Week!

Are you a fan of the classic pajama day? Or do you want to make it Halloween all over again by dressing up for Halloween Day? How about something different?

Let us know!

Multicultural Week!

Hey Sulli! As you know, this week is Multicultural Week! This is the time of the year the Sullivan Heights celebrates the many cultures that are housed in our school. In order to best celebrate these unique cultures and traditions, Student Council has seperated the 4 day week into a variety of days!

Games Day

Every country around the world has it's own games or activities that children and adults alike take part in in order to pass the time. In the Hub, there will be a large variety of games featured such as the ever popular Chinese Hacky Sack, Origami and Henna stations as well as a fun guessing game! - Can you guess what each country is based on the flags given to you?

Dress-up Day

Each region of the world, from the tip of the east to the end of the west, has it's own flare of clothing. Dress-up Day is your chance to show off your culture's beautiful gowns, suits or garments. Don't have anything particularly special to wear? Then come to the Hub, put on a hula skirt and take pics with your pals in a Hawaii-like setting! Pics can then be sent to you and your buddies for memory's sake!

Food Day

Needless to say that each country has it's own unique food. Make and enjoy fine teas as you like them in our Tea Station, try the delicacies from the east as well as European and South-East Asian sweets like Crème Puffs, Gulab Jamun and many more! Make sure to bring money that day!

Performance Day

Finally, on Performance Day we'll have Sullivan's Bhangra team perform along with fantastic singers singing songs in their country's language. Performances are in the Hub, so make sure to get something to eat, relax and enjoy the show!

What are you looking forward to? The games, clothes, food or performances? Let us know!

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Review

♪ When Captain America throws his mighty shieldAll those who chose to oppose his shield must yield
When he's lead to a fight to a fight and a duel is due
The red and the white and the blue comes through
When Captain America throws his mighty shield! ♫

(Check out the Captain America 1960's cartoon theme! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVU4HURKEXs)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier came out just recently, getting fairly high scores from reviewers and being a box office hit. Seeing the movie just recently with my super hero junky friends (and awesome brother), I was stoked to go into a packed show full of fans. Personally I feel I got the most out of my free movie ticket (Merry Christmas!) but I'm not going to lie. There's a lot going on here. I'll give you a quick, spoiler-free rundown of the movie as well as my opinion of it. As well, I will not be using a scoring system. Personally, I find that movies are only as good as the person who watches them. (For example, one of my friends hated Hunger Games and one of my teachers hated the Titanic.) Some movies just don't please people. So I will just be outlining the main Pros and Cons of the movie, leaving you to decide which outweight which.

Rundown
The movie takes place after the Avengers. Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Cap'n 'Murica, continues to work for S.H.I.E.L.D.. After a brief GSP cameo with some wicked amazing French (the Cap can speak French... Well, I know who I like now) we're shown Rogers questioning whether or not he wants to stay a hero. It also doesn't help that S.H.I.E.L.D is being reeeally secretive lately. Before viewers know it, things start going out of control and the main conflict of the movie shows: Freedom vs. Security. Not to reveal much, things kinda get turned on their head with trust issues and intel gathering and the whole spiel. I'd write more, but the entire thing is basically a plot twist after another, so feel free to research elsewhere.

Pros:
- Movie is a solid experience! All the fight scenes were fluid and well choreographed and action junkies will NOT be disappointed.
- Cameos are as colourful as ever! We have Canadian MMA fighter George-St Pierre playing Batroc the Leaper; an experienced thief and smuggler, as well as the always loved Stan Lee. Plus, yay! Black Widow! Yay! Agent lady! Yay! Old characters!
- Actors continue to fulfill their roles well!
- The introduction to the Cap's new friend, the Falcon, is great with him showing off a magnificent wing suit (probably the coolest thing ever next to Portal's Portal Guns)
- Villains are very clever and are definately who you wouldn't expect.

- The Black Widow plays a major role in this film, contributing to the Captain's trust issues and trying to convince him that he can trust his fellow Avenger pal. (Plus they have an awesome intel gathering scene which leads to the movie's biggest plot twist)
- There are major "Oh my God no that can't be what, why, how?!" moments in the movie, which is VERY fulfilling in a twisted kind of way.
- Tons of "Ha! Take that!" moments when the good guys get the baddies.
- References to the previous movie will be well appreciated by fans, especially when we see what happened to Peggy Carter; Steve Rogers' gal, and Rogers' old training base. Even those who didn't see he first movie will be given a saving grace in a scene where Steve Rogers' goes to a museum exhibit dedicated to him; which conveniently talks about all the tough stuff he's been through.

Cons

 - The main problem, in my opinion, is that Winter Soldier was too serious. Unlike the Avengers, there aren't that many, in my opinion, funny or fun moments in this movie. And when those tiny little snippets of fun come in, BOOM. Time to get back to the serious. I understand that the whole movie revolves
around "who can I trust, I can't trust anybody" but even the Avengers, with almost the same kind of premise, had fun humour here and there
- Tying into the point above, comic booky one liners are cute but, eh. Also, Rogers makes a joke about all his buddies being dead... Dark.
- Even though the Black Widow plays a major role, sometimes I felt that she kinda... got dimmed down a bit. Remember how in the Avengers she took on Bruce Banner by herself (kinda) in human and Hulk form? And how she tricked Loki into telling her his plans? Yeah, she's getting her own movie, but I kinda feel like she became more mild... Maybe that one's just me.

So, are you excited about the Captain's new movie? Did you see it? How do you feel about the movie? Let us know in the comments below!

Hey! We're Taking a Break!

Hey Sulli! (Or any other readers out there)
Just lettin' you know that the Scholar will be taking a hiatus over Spring Break!
If you want to read some past issues, click the links below!

http://paper.li/degracia_d/1366049241
http://paper.li/degracia_d/1366049241?edition_id=70643a30-a2d4-11e3-a7e0-00259071bfed
http://paper.li/degracia_d/1366049241?edition_id=483f5290-9d54-11e3-a979-00259071bfed

Have a stellar day!

Our Olympic Athletes! - Women's Hockey Team, Part 1

In order to celebrate the EPIC win made by Canada's Women's Hockey Team, the next few weeks will be dedicated to talking about the girls who brought home the gold!

First up born and raised in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan, is Hayley Wickenheiser! Being the National Hockey Team Captain since 2007 and regarded as one of the best hockey players in the world, Wickenheiser has competed in 4 Winter Olympic Games, winning 3 gold and 1 silver. Being a famous hometown hero, Wickenheiser even has "Wickenheiser Place" put up in her honour! Not only limited to hockey, this all-around woman also knows the ups and downs to softball and was even appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of the highest honours given to those who have contributed a great deal to Canada, in 2011.

Our next athlete is Meghan Agosta-Marciano. Raised in Ruthven, Ontario, she's been part of the national team since 2004 and playing hockey since 6. Prior to taking home the gold just last Thursday, she's won gold in the past Turin, Italy (2006) and Vancouver (2010) Winter Olympics. When she's not practicing the sport she's most famous for, Agosta-Marciano practices Law, earning her Criminal Justice Law Enforcement degree with a minor in Criminalist Psychology. Aside from that, she could also be seen playing golf and skeet shooting. A funny story about Agosta-Marciano, when she first started hockey, she had to play in some of the younger boy hockey teams since there were no girls teams available yet.

Next is Catherine Ward, une montréalaise who's been a part of the team for many years. With Vancouver acting as her Olympic debut, Sochi proved to be, once again, successful for the Canadienne athlete, adding onto her many awards, titles and medals. A cute detail about her is that she started hockey when she was five, wanting to join her dad and brother on the center ice as well. A fun memory that she recalls is the three of them going out to outdoor rinks and skating and playing until they couldn't feel their toes.



Next is our first goalie, born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Shannon Szabados! Growing up playing against and with boys, Szabados currently has a tournament save percentage of 98.04%, making her one of the top goaltenders in the country. In Vancouver, she let in only 1 out of 51 shots on her and earned a shutout in the gold medal game win against the US. She got into the sport by watching hockey on TV with her dad. At the age of five, she one day went up to her dad and asked if she could play. It's a good thing he said yes, because now we have a strong, determined and amazing goalie that we're proud of!

Raised in Beauceville, Québec, Marie-Philip Poulin was only 18; the youngest member of the Canadian Women's Hockey Team, when Canada won the gold in Vancouver. Being a key component, spectators fondly remember Poulin scoring the goals in the victory against the States. Being a part of the national team since 2007, Poulin has a pot-pourri of titles under her belt such as MVP, top forward and media all-star. Outside of the ice, she's studies psychology at Boston U and is close to finishing.

Our last, but never least, athlete for this week is Caroline Ouellette from Montréal, Quebec! A proud veteran of the team, Ouellette has her history of gold, winning it in Salt Lake City in 2002, Turin in 2006, Vancouver in 2010 and; to add to her collection, Sochi just last Thursday! Outside of the Canadian sport, she studied and completed a degree in Criminology and Women's Studies from the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2005. A cool fact, she has an arena named in her honour!

Did you miss the game from Thursday? Ha, well, I'm sure you can find it somewhere. Have any teams you'd like to know about? Any particular athletes? Let us know! Tune in next week for more of the Canadian Women's Hockey Team members!

 

 GOOD JOB LADIES! YOU'VE DONE YOUR COUNTRY PROUD, YET AGAIN!

Our Olympic Athletes! - Our Veteran Skaters

In order to celebrate the world's first ever silver medal won in Team Figure Skating, the Sulli Scholar will continue to write about the Canadian team that made (and continues to make) our country proud! This time around, we're focusing this article on the skaters with national and international experience.

("Wait... But what's Team Figure Skating" you ask? "We won silver?!" Yes, we did! Check it out on my previous article! http://letsfindsomethinginteresting.blogspot.ca/2014/02/the-2014-winter-olympics-in-sochi.html)

Our first lovely lady is Kaetlyn Osmond from Sherwood Park, Alberta who is the newest star of the Canadian figure-skating scene. Winning a bronze in Vancouver, Osmond's international career all started when she won the Nebelhorn Trophy back in 2012. A bit of background knowledge, the Nebelhorn Trophy is a coveted trophy given to the winner of an international senior-level competition held in Oberstdorf, Germany every year. The trophy is named after the nearby mountain. Anyways, Osmond is a new face to figure skating in general. She got into the sport when she saw her sister, Natasha Osmond, figure skate. Like all siblings, she wanted to be just as good as her, and from the age of two, started pushing herself to be at the same level as her sister.

(Did you know that siblings often compete in the Olympics together? For some siblings, check out my article here! http://letsfindsomethinginteresting.blogspot.ca/2014/01/our-olympic-athletes-siblings.html)

Our next athlete is Tessa Virtue, an athlete born and raised in London, Ontario with the fantastic reputation of earning North America's first ever Olympic Ice Dancer Champion with her partner Scott Moir. Being trained in other dance styles such as ballet and modern dance, Virtue started skating when she was six in order so that she could skate with her friends in her upcoming grade 1 field trip. When she turned seven, she was already starting to skate on the ice. At that time, she was paired up with her current partner, Scott Moir! Though shy at first, the pair slowly but surely grew together, becoming one of Canada's most successful and passionate ice dancing pairs.
Along with the lovely Tessa Virtue we have her charming partner, Scott Moir! Raised in Ilderton, Ontario, Moir happily carries the title of Olympic Ice Dancer Champion with Virtue. His skating journey came about when he was a young three year-old, wanting to be able to skate with his mom. After that, he tried skating faster in order to get to hockey, but upon finding some REALLY pretty girls in figure skating, he decided to do that instead. His first partner was Tessa Virtue, a young seven year-old at the time. Though shy, their friendship and trust began to grow into one of the most powerful team Canada has ever seen.

A REALLY local BC boy (Coquitlam, to be exact) Kevin Reynolds had his first Olympic breakthrough last year, taking an unexpected gold medal in the International Skating Union's (ISU's) Four Continents Championships. This medal marked his first senior victory, adding on to his many, previous national titles. Being just short of making it to Vancouver, Reynolds successfully qualified for the Figure Skating Team in this year's Olympics. A cool fact to know about Reynolds, he enjoys playing video games and is determined to learn Japanese in order to communicate with other athletes and fans.

Last, however as always, certainly not least, we have Patrick Chan. Brought up in Toronto, Ontario, this Canadian figure skater is perhaps one of the most famous figure skaters, being the reigning world champion for THREE years in a row. Along with this are his two impressive Grand Prix Final and ISU Four Continent champion titles. Despite this handsome resumé, Chan continues to strive to become Canada's first ever male figure skating gold medallist. Continually working hard, Chan moves on. One more day passed and another step closer to his dream.

Want to know about the other members of the team? Check out my previous article! http://letsfindsomethinginteresting.blogspot.ca/2014/02/our-olympic-atheletes-debut-figure.html
Have any athletes you want to know about in particular? Let me know!

The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi - Stadiums: 2014 vs. 2010

There are many differences between each Olympics every year. For one, they are never consecutively hosted in the same country or city and the medal placings, of course, change from year to year. However, a main difference between each of the occuring Olympic Games are the buildings used to host those Games. Often, the cities that host invest immense amounts of resources towards building new, fantastic stadiums for the international event and often, these buildings differ from country to country. One only has to look at Vancouver's BC Place Stadium and Sochi's Fisht Olympic Stadium for such a comparison. In factors such as appearance and the time took to build both vary considerably.

Firstly, let us look locally towards Vancouver. The BC Place Stadium is, of course, not new. In fact, it is very old. The stadium was constructed in 1981 in which it was completed in 1983. The construction we're familiar with, however, took place on May 4, 2010. This was for the installation of a new, retractable roof:

Other things to note are the fact that BC Place has an oval design. This is to coincide with the various football and soccer matches that take place here. In this way, it has a lot in common with other stadiums across the world. Aesthetically, it's not anything unique, however, the fact it is situated in such a way that it is both surrounded by city and water is truely beautiful.

Meanwhile in Sochi, we have the Fisht Olympic Stadium. This stadium was built recently and, for now, solely for the Olympics. Being contructed and opened in 2013, the Fisht has certainly established itself fairly quickly and charmingly:

While the Russian stadium has been argued to have been built too fast, its results are absoulutely stunning. Not your typical stadium, the exterior in itself is pleasing to the eyes. However, the surrounding area around the stadium is somewhat... Stale. Maybe that's a good thing considering it's a very eye-catching building in itself, but up close the stadium seems too empty. But still, incredibly beautiful.

Our Olympic Athletes! - Debut Figure Skaters!

To celebrate Canada and the World's first ever silver medal win in Team Figure Skating, this post, along with next week's is dedicated to introducing the figure skaters who worked their hardest in order to make Canada proud. (Which they did! Awesome job guys!) Our athletes this time, however, have one thing in common (other than taking part in the same sport). They all are in pairs AND Sochi serves as their Olympic debut!

Our first athlete is from St. Catharines, Ontario who is known to be a proud and funny hard worker. Here is Kirsten Moore-Towers! A fun story that is passed around is the story of how Moore-Towers became a figure skater. It all started when her mom brought Moore-Towers to skating at the age of two, thinking that it was an important skill to master. It was a typical child-parent scenario: The kid didn't like it, but the parent told her not to give up. By the time Moore-Towers grew into the sport, it found a very important place in her heart. From then on, she continued to train, always telling her mom that someday, she would go to the Olympics. Fast forward to 2014 Sochi serves as that dream, Olympic debut. With her and her beaming partner, Dylan Moscovitch, they have established a stong reputation of always pleasing a crowd and putting on a show.

Skating with the lovely Kirsten Moore-Towers mentioned above, Dylan Moscovitch is a Toronto-born athlete who is known for his charming sense of humour and passionate, energetic and fun performances. Moscovitch has had a long history with ice, learning how to skate right after he learned how to walk. Like his partner, Moscovitch has told his parents his dream of competing in the Olympics for as long as he can remember. One of his fondest memories is of him watching his now teammates Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir win gold in Vancouver. As the clock ticked by 4 years later, he is in Sochi, skating and devouring his Olympic debut and working together with his partner and the teammates he admired all those years ago in BC.

Our next athlete was born in Sudbury, Ontario. Falling just short of making the cut in 2010, Meagan Duhamel is in Sochi, ecstatic about her Olympic debut. A bit of background about Duhamel, at the age of three she would skate with her sister, cousins and uncles during their breaks in family hockey games. There, she was taught so skate, and loved it. When her athletic career was growing, her previous partner, Craig Buntin, announced his retirement in late 2010. This left Duhamel unsure about her future. Then her coach, Coach Richard Gauthier, suggested that she try out with Eric Radford, her current partner. Both athletes were a bit hesitant... after all, they had went through a few partners and the results weren't that good. However, thanks to a bit of encouragement, the duo have had steady progress in their skills and have since greatly improved their international results.

Our last, but certainly not least skater is Eric Redford who was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. An intersting tidbit about Radford, he started out as a solo skater, winning various titles and awards at young ages. However, as he grew (in height and in experience) he was starting to look better suited for pairs. At first, it didn't turn out too well until he paired up with Meagan Duhamel after the Vancouver Olympics. A thing to note about Radford is that he loves music. Growing up, he fell in love with the sport because it was a unique sport performed to music. Studying music in York University, Radford has even compiled many piano pieces, one of which is used in one of Radford and Duhamel's 2013-2014 event!

Did you know that Canada won silver in the WORLD'S FIRST EVER Team Figure Skating Event? Check out the details here! http://letsfindsomethinginteresting.blogspot.ca/2014/02/the-2014-winter-olympics-in-sochi.html
Want to know about an athlete or team in particular? Let us know!

The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi - Canada's Historic Figure Skating Medal

As the Winter Olmpics commence and our athletes fight hard in the hopes of winning medals, one medal has made Canadian history as of February 9th, 2014. Being second place in the figure skating events, Canada proudly took a silver medal, being just short of a gold and just above a bronze. While the medal's value in itself is amazing on Canada's part, the significance of the medal is much more outstanding.

Firstly, a bit of background knowledge. A bit before the Olympics started, it was announced that a new event would be included into the Winter Olympic itinerary. An event called Team Figure Skating. The rules are simple. Each country compiles a team of skaters based on tryouts, discipline and abilities. In that team, there must be one man, woman, pair and dance couple. When the team performs, each individual or pair will perform, their scores will be given and averaged and viola, the medals are then distributed accordingly. While this is fairly simple at first glance, there's a lot of strategy involved. For example, a medal won in this event counts for only ONE medal in the medal counter. So, should a coach put his/her best skaters in the team and win ONE gold medal or mix it up a bit so that you can lose a medal and possibly win 3 or 4 more?

(TSN wrote a WONDERFUL article about this. Check it out here! http://www.tsn.ca/olympics/story/?id=443400 )

Anyway, that's the strategy involved in this event.

In the world debut of the event, Canada did wonderfully and brought home silver. Being the first event of its kind in history, it's encouraging to know that Canada will now be added in the Olympic World Records as the first team to win a silver medal for Team Figure Skating.

All of our athletes did a wonderful job! Keep working hard everybody!

The team was as follows (Left to Right):
Patrick Chan
Kaetlyn Osmond
Dylan Moscovitch
Kirsten Moore-Towers
Kevin Reynolds
Eric Radford
Meagan Duhmel
Tessa Virtue
Scott Moir

Want to know a bit about the athletes? Check out my blog post about the athletes on this team! http://letsfindsomethinginteresting.blogspot.ca/2014/02/our-olympic-atheletes-debut-figure.html

The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi - Where is Sochi, anyway?

As most of us know, the Winter Olympics in Sochi are going to take place on the 7th through 23rd of February. And while previous Olympics have been held in well-known places like LA, Berlin, Paris, London and our very own Vancouver, not much is known about this year's destination - Sochi. This article is dedicated to discussing a bit of Sochi's history as well as educating the reader on why Sochi was chosen and where it is.

An example of the contradicting weather patterns in Sochi

Firstly, where is Sochi? Sochi is a city located in south-western Russia about 1622 kilometres away from the capital city of Moscow. (It's about a day's drive to get to Sochi from Moscow). A very unique place, Sochi is actually most famous for its beach resorts, being one of the warmest place in the Eurasian country. However, due to it's situation between the Caucasian Mountains and Black Sea, its Krasnaya Polyana mountains have beautiful snow conditions (despite the warm weather!) known to be protected by the wind and therefore, not lost in any way. These contradicting yet wonderous conditions cannot be found anywhere else in Europe.

As said earlier, Sochi is located in south-western Russia. This would make Sochi's second attempt in trying to gain the title of the Winter Olympics' Host City. (The first attempt being in 2002, losing to Salt Lake City, Utah, US.) The main ski resort used during the 2014 Olympics will be built by the same company that built Vancouver's pavillions in 2010, hosting both outdoor and indoor sports. The fact that Sochi has strong public and political support was possibly the driving factor in it winning the bid for the Winter Olympic Host title.

In the Olympics, countries are chosen in a series of two phases of votes. In the selection process, Sochi, Russia was put up against Salzburg, Austria and Pyeongchang, South Korea. In the first phase of votes, Pyeongchang was actually in the lead with 36 votes. Salzberg, having the lowest number of votes out of the three cities, was eliminated. However in phase two of eliminations, South Korea's city lost to Russia by just 4 votes - 47 to 51. Since then, Russia has been preparing for the day coming up for when the World's finest will compete for a taste of bronze, silver and; especially, gold.

Are you looking forward to the Olympics? Do you think Russia will be able to beat Canada's world record for most gold medals? Comment your thoughts below!

Our Olympic Athletes! - Siblings!

The Olympics are obviously a family event. Families around the world tune in or attend the games, cheering on their countries' best. However, inside the games themselves, there is a lot of family bonding happening between and during each event. It is common for Olympians to have sporty siblings to compete with and cheer eachother on. The athletes mentioned here are the siblings of other athletes in the Olympics!

The fist sibling mentioned is François Hamelin. Born in Lévis, Québec, Francois' family is known to be called the "First Family" due to him and his brother Charles debuting in Vancouver's 2010 Olympics in the Short Track Speed Skating events as well as standing on the top of the podium together winning their first and first gold Olympic medal. As per typical sibling rivalry, Francois and Charles do their best to outdo or do better than one another. Both athletes are very well trained (even making their own training ecersize; Operation Cobra, to get ready for competitions) and have an even amount of skill, so one is never quite sure which to declare "ahead" or "better". With various medals under his belt from 2010, Francois is an athlete (and brother) to be reckoned with!

Want to read about Francois' older brother, Charles? Check out my article about him here! http://letsfindsomethinginteresting.blogspot.ca/2014/01/our-olympic-athletes-charle-and-charles.html

Our second sibling-athlete is Jamie Gregg who; once his idol Jeremy Wotherspoon retired, stepped up to be declared Canada's top-ranked male athlete in short and long track events! Specializing in long track events, Jaime earned his place in the Olympics by finishing these long distance events in record timing! Going to Vancouver with his sister, Jessica Gregg, they both did wonderfully. Jaime was able to be the greatest Canadian athlete in his 500m event, beating his training mate and future brother-in-law by one place. With a speed skating mom and a hockey playing dad, it's no wonder that Jaime had the blood of an athlete. He has various 5 World Cup medals to show for his experience, so Long Track Speed Skaters, you better watch out!

Want to read about Jaime's sister, Jessica? Check out my article about her here!
http://letsfindsomethinginteresting.blogspot.ca/2014/01/our-olympic-athletes-charle-and-charles.html

The next few of athletes are all sisters who have convinced eachother to practice the same sport! There's even a funny story of how the youngest sister was bribed with chocolate to practice and race with the older two. The next three athletes I'll talk about are the Dufour-Lapointe sisters who all compete in Freestlye Skiing!

Maxime Dufour-Lapointe is the oldest of the three sisters. Being born in Montréal, Québec, she made the Olympic team in Vancouver's Olympics in 2006. Although not being part of the national team this year, he has had a reputable athletic career, being a forerunner at our Olympics and being just short of 3rd in the World Cup. Always looking to improve herself, Maxime started Freestyle when she saw and was inspired by a friend competing. After that, she would practice and skii her heart out and to make matters fun, encouraged and bribed her sisters into doing it as well. The result was a lovely set of sisters competing to outdo the other while being the greatest support an athlete could ever have.

Chloé Dufour-Lapointe is the middle child in this trio of athletes who was the first sister to have her Olympic debut at the ripe age of 18, just missing a place on the podium in Vancouver. With medals from the World Junior Championships and World Cups under her name, the only athlete Chloé's particularly training hard for is her younger sister, Justine. Watching older sister Maxime do Freestyle, she was determined to join and compete against her sister, soon helping big sis bribe little Justine to join them as well.

Our last but certainly not least athlete and sister mentioned in today's article is  Justine Dufour-Lapointe. Being the youngest of the three, Justine was often seen training hard in order to keep up with her older sisters and is famous for receiving bribes of chocolate in order to continue on. (This caused her to have numerous cavaties apparently.) Being only 19, she is recently regarded as the most successful of the trio winning bronze in her World Championship debut and silver in her World Cup. Competing with older sister Chloé, they finished 5th in Vancouver and is hoping to join her sister up on the podium for Sochi.

Do you have any siblings you like to compete with? Are there any athletes you want to know about in particular? Comment and let us know!