...And What Happened After.
The Tale of the Great Ring, compiled by Bilbo Baggins from his own observations and the accounts of his friends. What we did in the War of the Ring as seen by the Little People."
BEND, Ore. (AP) -- Last weekend, Bend gas station owner Kent Couch settled down in his lawn chair with some drinks and snacks - and a parachute.
Attached to the lawn chair were 105 balloons of various colors, each 4 feet around. Bundled together, the balloons rise three stories high.
Couch carried a global positioning system device, a two-way radio, a digital camcorder and a cell phone. He also had instruments to measure his altitude and speed and about four plastic bags holding five gallons of water each to act as a ballast - he could turn a spigot, release water and rise.
Destination: Idaho.
Nearly nine hours later, Couch was short of Idaho. But he was 193 miles from home, in a farmer's field near Union, having crossed much of Oregon at 11,000 feet and higher...
...Why would Couch try such a flight?
"When you're a little kid and you're holding a helium balloon, it has to cross your mind," he told the Bend Bulletin.
Thanks to THE BACKYARD for featuring our blog this week. If you haven't visited there yet, or not in a while please take a trip over. They have neat contests and entries. You can contribute too and have your work published. You'll be famous! ;- )
Now, WE WANT YOU! to please send us any poetry that you have written since we are the poetry moderators. We will post it at The Backyard on Wednesdays. Every week we post a new poem, so please don't be shy. Pull out those poems that you are keeping to yourself and share them with the world. By the way, you must login in order to see The Backyard weblog to keep it safe for youth.
Oh, and HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY to those who are Americans! Nobody celebrates it over here so feel sorry for us while you are watching fireworks.
Do you hate to fold clothes? Are your drawers a mess? Then this video is for you. Are you a neat freak? Every thing must be perfect? Then this video is for you! Amazing!
Here is a good Bible quiz you can take. My score was this: (I'm quite pleased of this score, but is He pleased with my life?)
You know the Bible 100%!
Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses - you know it all! You are fantastic!
My Dad and I have been playing chess together a lot lately, and last week when we heard there was a chess tournament playing throughout Saturday and Sunday, we decided to participate.(To play, one must be a member of the National Turkish Chess Federation, so we joined it.) It started at 1:30 Saturday afternoon, that is, was supposed to start at 1:30 Saturday afternoon but it ended up starting two hours later, since the registration took so long.There were three classes; under ten, under fourteen, and above fourteen.I was in the second class, with twenty-six people.In each class, everyone plays six games and whoever wins the most games receives the gold medal.If there is a tie, the points of the people that the winners have beaten are counted up and compared.The games are timed, and each player has one hour.So that is two hours total, though the games seldom took that long.It was really exciting.I won the first, third, fourth, and fifth games.The second game, (I am so upset I lost it!) I was winning and I shouldn’t have lost it, but I just didn’t see the checkmate.(Neither did my opponent.)The sixth game was tough.I played with the winner of the gold medal and lost.But I did win the bronze medal and I should think that is okay for first time, right?The tournament took about ten hours total and the next one is April twenty-third.I am going to continue practicing a lot.Running for the silver this time…
I am officially hijacking this blog because as I am the mother of Frodo and Legolas I feel it is my duty to inform the world that both of my lovely daughters had a birthday very recently. Since they will not tell you, someone has to.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Frodo and Legolas!
XOXO
Now that I have spoken my piece, I will give you back your blog, my dear daughters.
TheRebelution.com has launched the results of their massive Modesty Survey! Over 1,600 guys have answered questions on everything from glitter lotion and lip gloss to swimsuits and skirt slits! It's everything girls have ever wanted to ask guys about modesty, but were afraid to ask! For guys, it's really interesting to see what other believing guys think!
Most importantly, the survey is presented as a resource to help girls (and guys), not a list of legalistic rules, and it is accompanied by the Modesty Survey Petition (which tons of guys have signed) which encourage young women to focus on the heart, not the hemline, to honor their parents, etc.
Name four things you would like to do sometime in your life
1. Go scuba-diving in the Coral Sea.
2. Own my own sailing ship and sail up to the northern seas around Greenland.
3. Publish The Last War. (Or at least finish writing it to my satisfaction.)
4. Go hunting wild boar with a bow and arrow or a spear (My dad has two spears for the purpose but I have not been allowed yet.I intend to, though, even though I am a girl.)
Name four movies you would have liked to be in and which character would you have liked to play in each?
I wouldn’t really like to play in any movies and if I were I can only think of one; Eowyn, in The Lord of the Rings
3. Name four places you would like to visit sometime in your life.
New Zealand
Greenland
Iceland
Switzerland
4.Name four silly things you have done in your life.
Almost burned the house down by putting the clothes drying rack too close to the coal stove.It burned up the floor and rugs and all the clothes.
I forgot to put flour in the cookies I was baking.
Saved up my money to buy a chemistry book I really liked and then lost it soon after.
I have a habit of leaving books wherever I last read them such as: the car, the last tree I climbed, by the roadside, my dad's office.Yeah, my mom does NOT like that silly thing about me.
5. Name four of your very favorite foods.
Ice cream
Sigara böreði (Turkish cigar pastries)
Iskender (sliced meat in tomato sauce, yogurt and spices over pita Turkish style)
Monte Cristo sandwiches
6. Name four books you would have liked to be in and what characters would you have liked to be?
In The Lord of the Rings, I would have like to be Eowyn.
In the Silmarillion, I would have liked to be Nessa.
In The Last Battle, I would have liked to be Tirian.
In The Dawn Treader I would have liked to be Caspian.
7. Name four things you do not like.
Rats in the trash
Large insects in the house
Showers: why can't I just stay clean with a magic wand? Showers waste time. I DO take them, however.Fear not.
Durian fruit- eeeeuuuugh!
8. Name four people you would like to meet if you could.
The President
J.R.R. Tolkien
C.S. Lewis
King David
9. Name four historical people you find interesting.
Albert Einstein
George Washington
Genghis Khan
Mary, Queen of Scotland
10. Name four animals you would like to have – they can be any kind!
The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet.
The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.
We have been playing this board game for several weeks now.We even woke up one morning a 6:30 am to play a round with our dad before he went to work.My mom thinks we have all gone off the deep end.But we know better.The World is at stake!
A narrative of the latest war
After the tragic bombing of Pearl Harbor, the American forces have sunk the attacking fleet and built a great navy in the Pacific Ocean to attack and destroy Tokyo.After having the seen the mistake they have made in attempting to destroy the Japanese fleet, they have retreated to Eastern America, seeking to aid Britain in the destruction of Berlin.Here they landed a company of men in western Germany and seized it, also sending a number of planes to Britain to aid in defense.The German navy attacked the invincible American fleet and, we grieve to say, destroyed it.Not without a price.The vengeful British air forces utterly defeated the German armada and wiped from the face of the seas.Shortly following these grievous events, Germany occupied India, the location of Britains industrial unit.Germany captured Karelia and Japan invaded Moscow.Western Europe was retaken and Japan began continually bombing the indestructible British-American navy as fast as it was rebuilt.Most of Africa had been occupied by Germany at an early stage in the game and this did not greatly assist Britains economic distress.At the climax of the evil situation, Japan invaded Alaska and Western America.The Allied forces did not dream of the invasion of indomitable Washington, but the need for forces protecting it took from Americas capability to support Britain.It is believed in some faithless parts of the planet, that the Axis forces will control the world.It is far from America and Britains inclinations to admit this impractical fact but the war grew somewhat tedious, and they graciously surrendered to the Axis the success that they disdained to take part of and would have retired to their refined dwellings and mourned for the loss of Russia, had not the Russian government turned against them after its defeat and informed them repeatedly how the Axis would destroy them in the following duplication of World War II.
1. How long ago did you start blogging and why did you start?
We started blogging in March 2005 and we did it because we wanted to write about the things that inspire us to be noble, good and heroic in life, hoping that you would be inspired, too.
2. How did you come up with your username/URL address?
We had already planned to make LotR our blog theme and we chose Ringbearer to remind us that we are all on a Quest to conquer sin and go the Grey Havens just like Christian in Pilgrims Progress was on a journey to the Celestial City.
3. What do you enjoy most about blogging?
Thinking about future posts and reading good articles on other friends blogs.(We save the ones we really like) Your encouraging comments inspire us to do our best, too.
4. What makes one blog stand out to you from all the others?
There are two things that make a blog stand out to us (1) well-written posts that make us think, laugh or learn new things and not just talk about what someone did that day and (2) a beautiful or creative design that is not too cluttered with a hodge podge of stuff.
5. On an average how long does it take you to write a post for your blog?About a 1/2 hr.
6. What has changed in your life since you started blogging?
We have learned some HTML, made new relationships and increased the amount of time we spend writing. My mom says we write better too.
7. Does your family support you (if so how) or do they think you're a blog addict?
Yes, they support us by reading our posts, offering ideas, and maybe giving us some tips on how to improve them.We arent blog addicts and dont spend a whole lot of time on our blog. It is really just writing the posts that take awhile.We don't visit many blogs and only comment on a few.We just don't have the time to do that a lot.
8. Have you ever gotten a negative comment?If so, how did you deal with it?
No, we have never received any negative comments, YET.
9.How often do you check your blog for new comments?
Twice a day. Because we live on the other side of the world, it is bed-time here, when everyone else is awake over there in America so we usually check for comments in the morning and then we dont get anymore until right before bed at night.
10. Do you have a blogging tip you can share?
(1) Dont just post about your life.These posts will not really thrill people who dont know you.Write about important and worthy things that will make people think or laugh. Remember that if you have a blog, you are an author! More people will have access to your blog than they would have access to your book, if you were to write one.Choose you words carefully! Once they enter the internet, you can never erase them, even if they are erased from your blog. Blogging is fun, but it is also serious business.
(2) Be gracious in your writing, no matter what the subject is about. When answering negative comments or commenting on others blogs, speak nicely, even if you disagree. No one will want to listen to you if you are impolite.
The Dragon of Deception seeks to dissuade us and disrupt us, distract and drag us down to dreadful deadly doom. He tries to disarm us and divert us and disable and deprive us until we sink down to despondent dark despair. With disappointments and dejections and delusions and deceptions and discouraging depressions he disgraces and deceives us into disastrous darkness leading to destructive death.
Here are the answers to the Shakespeare Game. Only KayinPA tried to answer them so congratulations, Kay! (Even if you did peek at the book ) Just to let you all know: we didnt get them all right on the first try either. We missed about four.
edit: Jocelyn also posted her answers in the comment section. She did a great job, too.
1. Who were the lovers? Romeo and Juliet
2. What was their courtship like? A Midsummer Night's Dream
3. What did she answer to his proposal? As You Like It
4. What time of month were they married? Twelfth Night
5. Of whom did he buy the ring? The Merchant of Venice
6. Who were the best man and maid of honor? Troilus and Cressida
7. Who were the ushers? Two Gentlemen of Verona
8. In what kind of place did they live? Hamlet
9. What was her disposition like? The Tempest
10. What was his chief occupation? Taming of the Shrew
11. What caused their first quarrel? Much Ado About Nothing
12. What did their courtship prove to be? The Comedy of Errors
13. What did their married life resemble? Love's Labors Lost
14. What did they give one another? Measure for Measure
15. What did their friends say? All's Well That End's Well
If you have never read Shakespeares plays you can go here and read some of them in story form just to get a general idea of what they are like.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us..." GANDALF
The purpose of this blog is to record the ideas that are
most important to us. We are two sisters who choose to go by the names of
Frodo and Legolas. You will find poems and quotes,
narrations and pictures from our favorite sources that
have inspired us to use the time that has been given to
us to the best of our ability. We hope you will enjoy
the journey there and back again....
The Birth of Britain
The Brendan Voyage
Beautiful Girlhood
The Lay of the Land
Ivanhoe
Trial and Triumph
Age of Chivalry
Fearfully And Wonderfully Made
How to Read a Book
The Story of Painting
Life of Nicias by Plutarch
The Silmarillion
The Final Quest
A Taste of Chaucer
Joan of Arc by Twain
Idylls of the King
Much Ado about Nothing
A Wrinkle In Time
Life of the Spider
How the Heather Looks
Pursuit of God
Daughter of Time
In Freedom's Cause
Lilith
David Copperfield
Legolas is Reading...
The Silmarillion
Halliburton's Book of Marvels: The Occident
Age of Fable
Life of Nicias by Plutarch
The Story of the Greeks
Augustus Caesar's World
The Sea Around Us
Hittite Warrior
Animal Farm
Magician's Nephew (in Turkish)
Archimedes and the Door of Science
Swiss Family Robinson
What Katy Did
Unfinished Tales
Where the Red Fern Grows
Follow My Leader
Penrod
Story of the Romans
Along Came Galileo
Jack and Jill
Never Give In
Valley of Thorns (in Turkish)
Ben Hur
"The value of the myth is that it
takes all the things we know and
restores to them the rich
significance which has been hidden
by the veil of familiarity . . .
By putting bread, gold, horse, apple
or the very roads into a myth,
we do not retreat from reality:
we rediscover it. As long as the
story lingers in our mind,
the real things are more themselves.
[The Lord of the Rings]
applies the treatment not only
to bread or apple but to good and evil,
to our endless perils, our anguish
and our joys. By dipping them in myth
we see them more clearly. I do not
think [Tolkien] could have done it
in any other way.
- C.S. Lewis
The Music
INTO THE WEST by Yulia
The Movie
LORD OF THE RINGS The Return of the King
'When the seas and mountains fall
And we come to end of days
In the dark I hear a call
Calling me there
I will go there
And back again'
) Just to let you all know: we didnt get them all right on the first try either. We missed about four. 
