A plethora of comments...

1)  To my dearest friend, Mister Michael "Black Mike" Wilkison:
      "This post is just so snazzy! I really liked the way you apologized for your pictures in the first paragraph. That made me laugh too hard! The song was also really jazzy. So jazzy, in fact, that I'm gonna go download it as soon as I get home. Your description of the book and characters made it sound like an all around fun read! I'm going to read The Great Gatsby for my next read for a lifetime book for sure"

 2) To the artist formerly known as Richard Ketter. You, sir, are a true doctor of literature indeed.
      "Richard, yours and your fellow pudding enthusiast's blogs really display the pure.. dapper essence that your book, The Great Gatsby, is dripping with.This post as well as your classical music post just exude class of the most perpetual level. I especially liked the picture of the nice shirtless fellow with the red car and the jewelry. He sure does look like a fine young citizen. Based on your blog I sincerely can't wait to read this book during the second quarter.

Stay classy,
Brandon Blewett"

3) To the eternally beautiful and eloquent Stevie Dailey:
      "[starts slow clap] Stevie, this is just pure genius. The way you articulated what the main character was going through; gold. The song, after listening to it, was just how you described it, so kudos for that too. All in all, just a fantastic and thought provoking entry. Bravo, Bravo."



     Three thought provoking comments were requested, three comments were given. Were they interesting, inquisitive or insightful, per-say? Well, dear friends, that is up to you to decide. So comment if you please, criticize if you must, and please do donate to charity. That is all.
                                                                                                  Happy Sunday,
                                                                          The proprietor of this fine blog, Brandon Blewett

Classical Connection

http://www.classicalconnect.com/Piano_Music/Sviridov/Valse/2653

     Valse, by Mikayel Gabrielyan is a good accompanying piece to the book, Around the World in 80 Days.  It gives a sense of an old time nickelodeon, which is something the book makes me think of. The tone of the song lends itself to Verne's writing in this sense. The song sounds adventuresome, which goes well with the frantic rush around the world depicted in the book. However, parts of the song such as the beginning, are very measured and calm. This relates to the nature of the main character, Phileas Fogg, who keeps his cold composure despite the stressful challenges of navigating around the world.

Around the World in 20 pictures.. get it? HaHa

Around the World in 80 Days Book Cover

Phileas Fogg is the main character.

He lives in London...

 ...and is pretty rich.

Also, he is super OCD.

Seriously, he fired his servant...for bringing him his water two degrees too cold.

"I don't always drink water, but when i do...

...it best be 68 degrees."

So anyway, he hires this snazzy new french servant, Passepartout.

Pictured: Who Hollywood cast as the French servant.

 Fogg likes to play Whist with his rich buddies.

Artist rendering of Fogg's buddies

They talk about a bank robber (Foreshadowing is rampant)...

...and a new railroad Fogg claims allows circumnavigation in 80 days.

One of his  friends says, "I do say, Phileas..."

"... no man could travel around the world in 80 days!"

Pictured: Phileas.

Phileas bets half his life savings that he can do it.

Phileas and Passepartout set out on a train.

Surprise, a cop thinks Phileas is the robber. Shenanigans ensue.

(Insert Creative Title Here)

     Hello, my name is Brandon Blewett. Honestly, I have never been a blogger and never really thought I would, however, here I am. Last year I had a psuedo-blog experience on moodle in Mr. Dunn's English class, but have never formally blogged before. If nothing else, this should be an educational experience, but hopefully I will end up enjoying it a little bit too. Now for reading, I wouldn't call myself an avid reader, but I did read all the books that were assigned for class last year, so there's that. I used to read a lot more out of class before high school, but things get too busy as high school progresses. The read for a lifetime program actually contains a few classic books I wouldn't mind reading, so hopefully it will not be too much of a chore and the reading and blogging could quite possibly be an enjoyable experience. Here's hoping for that.

     This brings me to the book I chose for my first read for a lifetime book, which is Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. I chose this book because it is a well known classic, and it seemed like it would be beneficial to read it. For this same reason, I will probably also read The Great Gatsby as one of my later read for a lifetime books. This blog's purpose will be for me to have a space to address my thoughts and observations about the book and future read for a lifetime books as well as responding to questions and topics that are posted as part of the English 3 curriculum.

     Well, having not gotten far into the book, I can't really say what blog topics might be very interesting and appropriate. However, from what I have read and already know, the book seems to be driven primarily by character developement and description of places (seeing as how it is about a travel around the world and the first chapter is dedicated to characterizing the protagonist of the book). Based on this, I would say that a blog addressing different characters and their traits that make them interesting or relatable would be an interesting blog topic. Another possible topic would be something relating to the places the characters travel in the book. Other than that, I really have no other recommendations for posts thus far, although I'm sure there will be plenty to blog about.