AHW (Kalahari!)

I went to Kalahari this weekend. I really liked it. I did get stressed out when I first got home because of my homework. I think I am a lot better now. Anyway, back to Kalahari. I went on almost of the slides. I did not go the wave rider. It is a machine that recreates ocean waves. I also did not go on the Tanzanian Twister/Twirl (I can't remember). It is a body slide that puts you into a toilet bowl shaped part and you spin around. Then you might fall in face first which I did not want to do. 

AHW

My dad has been away. He left yesterday and he is coming back tomorrow. It is pretty much the least amount of time he could go on the trip. His plane left at about 2:00 PM yesterday and his flight for tomorrow is at 6:30 AM. So he will be back about when my regular school ends. I do miss him, but I have had to go longer without him. I could not take it if one of my parents were gone for 2 weeks. I don't think I could get used to it. That is why I give credit to the kids that have to go without one of their parents.

AHW

It is so cool that I have a pen pal in New Jersey. I think that it is very fun to talk with her and that we do not have to follow a certain guideline every time we reply. We just have to answer their questions and have fun with it. Anyway I think it is really cool that we can partner up with people across North America and work on a project with them. We have not started yet, but once we do, we will be able to at least slow down climate change. I like projects like this in school because it takes learning to a whole new level when you actually get out there and do something about what you learned about. I think that might be a better way to learn than if you just think about it.

AHW

I like to watch LEGO video game walk throughs with commentary. I don't think that it is fun to just watch a person doing things on a video game without saying anything. I watch these when I am relaxing. Speaking of relaxing, I think I might be doing some of that today once I am done with my other homework. Some fun things that I like are watching video game walk throughs, reading, and playing games with my family. I just kind of go with the flow when I have the time to relax. I think that can not have too much relaxing because then you get really bored. But you can't be working all of the time either. You need a balence.

AHW

How could TV be better? You might ask. Well, I have a few reasons of how TV could be better.

1. No commerecials
I mean, think about it. You are watching a movie or a TV show and it goes on a cliffhanger. Think about how angry you could get. I mean you just want to watch the show without interruption.
2. Movies on more often
When you think about it, you might want to watch more movies. There are not many channels that play just movies. I think it would be better with a movie channel.
3. If all the channels were the same numbers on all units across the different countries.
When you go to a friends house you want to watch TV and you have to figure out their numbers.

Informative Essay

I am going to teach you a little bit about the alto saxophone. We will start off with the components, how to put it together and adjust it, and how to clean it. Next, I will teach you the right way that you should put your mouth so that you will be able to play good. I know it may seem hard at the beginning, but when you keep practicing you will agree that it is easy.

The smallest and one of the most important components of an alto saxophone is the reed. These do break, so you want to be careful with them. For an alto saxophone you will want to pick up a box of 2 1/2 size reeds. They are relatively inexpensive so you do not have to worry very much. The reed makes the instrument vibrate. When something vibrates, it creates sound. Without the reed, there would be no sound. Next is the mouthpiece which the reed goes onto. Next is the ligature which is a round metal piece that holds the reed in place so that you get a good sound. Next is the neckpiece which kind of looks like a banana. There is a cork at one end which you put the mouthpiece onto. If the mouthpiece is hard to get on, then you will need to apply some cork grease to make it easier to get it on. Next is the body of the instrument which is the main part that has all of the buttons. You connect the neckpiece into it at the top.

The things that you have to adjust are the ligature and the front top of the instrument where there are two little knobs. You can tighten those knobs to make the neck piece stick in more and loosen them to make the neck piece loosen and go all over the place. I would just go with a pretty tight fit on this one so that you can slide it in and out. You should only be able to move it with your hand. With the ligature, you should tighten the top screw and put the thin part of the reed lined up with the front of the mouthpiece.

To have your mouth in a good position, you have to have your teeth on the top of the mouthpiece and your lips over your teeth on the bottom. If this does not really work for you, you can come up with something else as long as it works. If you are going to be playing a low note, you will have to make your mouth longer like an O to get it out.

To clean it, you use these towels with strings and weights connected to them. You put a small one through the mouthpiece and pull it through. You put the big rag through the neck and pull. It will not go through, so pull it back. You then put the big towel in the body of the sax. You put it in the big side and tip the body over until the weight comes out. Then you pull on the weight to get it out.

I hope that you learned something about the alto saxophone and the right care of it. I hope that will do this in your own saxophone work.

AHW

I went to a cheer leading banquet today and I was the only kid there. It was ok though because the food was great and the things that they were talking about were interesting. I thought it was a good experience because my sister got a scholar athlete award for getting a good GPA and participating in a sport.

I also like this weekend because I do not have much homework at all. I only have to study for my Spanish test on Thursday and practice my saxophone for at least 15 minutes. I am very happy because of that so I get time to relax and hang out. I think that relaxing is an important part of life but you can not have too much.