Well, it's a little past midnight here right now, meaning that about eight hours later from now, I'll be heading down to O'Hare to fly out to California. It's already been a week since my last final exam and it feels like I've been out of school for a month. In case you're a member of a union I'm a part of and you're wondering where I have been lately, I've just been relaxing and getting ready for this trip. I'll be gone for three weeks, so don't expect me to be on anytime soon. Heck, I might just decide to leave or just become inactive for most of the unions I'm in. Well, that's all I have to say. By the way, I'm excited for the NBA Finals (Cavs vs. Spurs), Halo 3, which I just read the updates on Bungie.net, and Forza Motorsport 2, which is really tempting me to buy an Xbox 360. Yes, it seems like something random to mention, but they're just things that I've been looking forward to these past few days.

INSERT

And the Bulls’ season is offically over. Chicago just minutes ago lost Game 6 95-85. The Pistons now move onto the Eastern Conference finals for the 5th straight year. The Bulls put up a good fight, but they just couldn’t win. P.J. Brown had a superb 1st half, scoring 20 points, which tied a playoff career high. Yet he failed to score again and ended up being Chicago’s leading scorer. One key factor that caused the Bulls’ demise was the performance of the starting guards, Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon. These two are key players to the Bulls, yet only scored 30 points together. Another would be the free-throw shooting. They had 35 attempts, but only made24, shooting 68.6%.

The good news is that this Bulls team is still very young and it has a lot of years left in it. We can only hope that John Paxon can gather more great players to the team and that the current players will improve. This is the first time that many of the Bulls have been to the 2nd round of the playoffs. Coming from a series that they were trailing 0-3, they were able to make this series really look like a playoff series. They were put up against the best team in the East, who were much older and experienced. After watching the games they played against Detroit, I have high hopes for the Bulls. Maybe next year, we will see both teams meet once again, this time in a more appropriate setting – the Eastern Conference finals.

The Bulls are back in this series against the Detroit Pistons. They were able to avoid elimination Sunday, entering Game 4 with Detroit leading the series 3-0. With a strong 1st and 3rd quarter, Chicago won 102-87. Luol Deng led the Bulls with 25 points, along with Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich knocking down 19 each.

Back at the Palace of Auburn Hills tonight, started out and finished off strong. Like in Game 4, the Bulls were looking like the team they were during the regular season, unlike Games 1, 2, and 3. Tonight, Ben Gordon had a hot hand and scored 28 points, with Luol Deng contributing 20 points as well. Chicago opened up with an extremely high field goal percentage of 72%, later moving down to the 60s, and ultimately to 57.3% after some bad shots from the bench in the final minutes of the game. While they weren’t able to get more rebounds than the Pistons, Chicago had 13 fast break points. They made 10 of 16 3-pointers. Not one Piston scored over 20 points. Final score was 108-92.

Throughout the game, I was completely worried. The Bulls never trailed the entire game and had large leads nearly the entire time, but Detroit can come back quickly, as seen in Game 3. The Bulls had a huge lead in the 3rd quarter, but ended up blowing it, losing 81-74. With a needed win tonight, the Bulls will take Game 6 to Chicago on Thursday, May 17. It will be broadcasted on ESPN. The time is still to be determined. The pressure continues to stay on Chicago. While they are a good home team, having the best home record in the Eastern Conference, the Pistons are a good road team, having the best road record in the East. In fact, they were the only team in the East to have a winning road record. The intensity that I’ve been feeling since Game 1 continues.

Daisuke Matsuzaka

Though his has nothing to do with the Bulls, I thought that it was worth noting that yesterday, Daisuke Matsuzaka, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, pitched his first complete game against the 2nd place (In the American League) Detroit Tigers. His ERA dropped from 4.80 to 4.17. He allowed only 6 hits and a run, gave no walks, and threw 5 strikeouts. Matsuzaka improved to 5-2.

For those of you who didn’t know, I am in fact a Boston Red Sox fan. While I am a recent fan, I became one long before they became the (current) number 1 team in the league. I officially became a Red Sox fan on December 14, 2006, when they signed Matsuzaka to a six year deal. So yes, he is the reason why I am a Red Sox fan. But of course, I am still a Chicago Cubs or White Sox fan as well. Though the team that has my loyalty has yet to be decided. I told myself that I would wait to see who reached 20 wins first, but I decided to wait and see who will win the Crosstown series this year instead. It will decide which team I’ll be a fan of.

Today, the press was allowed to access the Halo 3 beta five days earlier than the other players eagerly waiting to get their hands on some action. As a result, GameSpot is currently holding a live gameplay marathon for it. And here I am posting my impressions and thoughts on it.

First Match
The first match GameSpot editors Jeff Gerstmann, Ryan McDonald, and Aaron Thomas (with Brad Shoemaker and Ryan Davis spectating) played took place in High Ground. Game type was Crazy King. Once the match started, I was immediately was impressed with the graphics. Because of the size of the media player, it’s hard to fully take in the beauty, but despite this, the game was looking great. This is still the Beta, which means that there’s still time for improvement in all aspects of the game. One thing that is notable is the HUD. It’s slightly curved, sort of how it was in Metroid Prime, and gives the impression that you’re actually looking through a helmet or a visor.

Weapons seen in the match were the Assault Rifle, the starting weapon, the Plasma Pistol, Brute Spiker, Sniper Rifle, and possibly a few more that aren’t coming to mind at the moment. The Assault Rifle seems to be coming back with a vengeance, looking better than ever. It seems to pack quite a punch. It seems to be one of the weapons I’m really looking forward to use. I didn’t manage to see the Plasma Piston charged up and shot, so I don’t know whether or not it locks on, an issue that many players had with Halo 2. The Brute Spiker seems to be like a nail gun and sub machine gun according to Jeff, the latter later being noted by Jason Ocampo.

The only vehicle present was the Mongoose. It looks to be pretty fast, somewhat like a mini-Warthog. With it being smaller, it’s able to turn further and faster. Its size allows the player to drive even through buildings.

One of the new features in Halo 3 is equipment. Taking the function of the X button, pressing it allows you to deploy equipment picked up. The ones seen in this match were the bubble shield and the portable gravity lift. They’re just what they sound like. The bubble shield creates a small, bubble-like dome around you that anyone can walk in and out of, but stops shots, grenades, and explosions from passing through it, whether they come from inside or out. The portable gravity lift greats a gravity lift wherever it is dropped. Of course, to balance the gameplay, there will be very little on the map at a time. They act like any other weapon or grenade, where if your enemy is holding it, you’ll be able to pick it up when they die.

Second Match
This match took place in Snow Bound. Once again, the graphics were looking really impressive. The sniper rifle was used a little more often. Another weapon introduced was the shotgun, which was also in previous games. It seems to be pretty powerful. The newest grenade, the Spike Grenade, was seen. When thrown, it acts like the Plasma Grenade where it sticks once it comes in contact in something, and when it goes off, it launches many spikes around. The entrances have a shield that can block shots and explosions, just like the bubble shield. Other than that, nothing new was really seen. Just a lot of good-looking multiplayer action.

Third Match
The third match took place in the final map available in the beta: Valhalla. The level’s environment is like the second level of the first game, where the Master Chief first arrives on Halo. Like the previous levels, graphics are looking really good. This level contained water, and the effects are looking nice. Valhalla features the man cannon in the large structure. The man cannon is like a powerful portable gravity lift that launches you forward into the battlefield. The level looks to be very large, most likely the largest of the three available levels.

Fourth Match
The GameSpot editors returned to Valhalla once again. I wasn’t paying much attention to the third match, as I was typing the beginning of this, so some elements that may have been shown in the previous match may be mentioned here. Anyway, Jeff picked up a portable turret, which switches your view to third person. Although he was quickly killed, so we didn’t see any turret action.

Though this isn’t very notable, the editors decided to hop into a Mongoose and launch off the man cannon. To their surprise, it worked, and they ended up getting some distance. Something notable about the Mongoose is that you can have a partner hop onto the back, something first seen in this match. You won’t be able to shoot your weapon while driving it, along with the fact that the Mongoose doesn’t have any weapons, but if you’re riding on the back of it, you’ll be able to use yours. The Warthog was seen riding around, but I didn’t catch any action.

Player customization was seen. The emblems and backgrounds seem to be the same from Halo 2, but the colors have somewhat a larger variety. It has the same basic colors from before, but there is now a lighter and darker variant of each.

One of the editors finally picked up a Spartan Laser, which is a laser mounted on your shoulder, like a rocket, that shoots a powerful blast. It has a wide range, but it takes about two or three seconds to charge it up before you can fire. Also, you’ll want to be careful when using this weapon, for the shot fires straight across immediately, so you’ll need very good aim when firing at a mobile enemy.

Intermission
While waiting for the next match, the editors decided to show off the video feature. In Halo 3, you’ll be able to record your matches, which will be seen from your perspective. You’re given basic controls such as pause, fast forward, etc. You’ll also be able to share your videos with others.

Fifth Match
The match takes place in High Ground again, this time Team Crazy King. It was a quick match, nothing new. I did see the SMG picked up for the first time, but the match ended before it could be used.

Sixth Match
Once again in Snowbound, there seems to be a lot of action in this match. I’m seeing quite a number of Spartan Lasers being shot around. Nothing new is going on, so I might as well take the time to describe this level. As the name implies, it’s a snow-based level. A few small hills lay between two structures. These structures have ramps leading up to the top, which is just a flat platform. You can also go down into the structure to the lower level, which just seems to be a pillar in the middle in a circular room. Like noted before, there’s an entrance that has a protective shield.

Seeing how there’s nothing more to say, I decided to end my coverage here. Also, during the sixth match, the camera switched to the match where only one of the GameSpot editors was playing, so I ended up being confused. (Two editors play split-screen on one console, while another editor plays alone) Final words: the beta is looking really solid. Impressive graphics, which I just can’t emphasize any more, and fun, balanced (from what I could tell) gameplay like in Halo 2. I’m convinced that Halo 3 will not disappoint when it comes out towards the end of the year, and it can only improve as the days pass by. I love what I’m seeing and I can’t wait to play. Hopefully I’ll have an Xbox 360 by the end of the year. Anyway, back to watching the beta marathon.

The Bulls just lost Game 2 to the Detroit Pistons with a score of 87-108. Detroit leads the series 2-0 as they also slaughtered the Bulls in Game 1 last Saturday with a score of 69-95. Things are not looking good in this series. At first I expected Chicago to win the series in 6 games, winning Games 2, 3, 4, and 6. Looks like that won’t be happening. After seeing how Game 1 was played, I expect Chicago to win in 7, winning all three games at home and one game in Detroit.

Right now, I’m just speechless on how much better the Pistons were than the Bulls. I always thought that the Bulls could hold their own against Detroit, with the scores of the games being close. So far, Chicago has been completely outplayed. Ben Gordon and the rest of the team are having difficulty matching up against the Pistons. Not only that, but key players Gordon and Luol Deng are just now performing as well as they have against Miami. Gordon scored only 7 and 13 in Games 1 and 2 respectively, while Deng scored only 18 and 16 respectively. In Game 1, Gordon, P.J. Brown, and Kirk Hinrich all got into early foul trouble in the 1st quarter, each with 2 fouls.

Game 2 was just completely depressing and aggravating. I had some hope left when the Bulls brought the Pistons’ lead back to 13, but that quickly turned around back into an 18 point lead, leading to 21 point loss. Let’s hope the Bulls can execute back in the United Center. Game 3 is on May 10, 2:30 CST on ESPN.

The Bulls have done it. Not since 1998, the final year with Michael Jordan, have the Bulls won a playoff series, but that ends today, for Chicago has just swept the defending champs, the Miami Heat, in the first round. Many thought that they couldn’t give a first round upset, but they did.

Eight days ago, on April 21, the playoffs began and the Chicago-Miami series started out in the Windy City. Game 1 ended in a close finish with a Chicago victory, 91-96. Game 2 put the Bulls in a 2-0 lead in the series. After a close 1st half, the Bulls ended the 3rd quarter with 30 points, outscoring Miami’s 19. Final score was 89-107. Two days ago was Game 3, taking place in Miami. The Bulls trailed by 7 at the end of the 1st half after committing the last 14 straight turnovers, but Chicago quickly jumped back into the game. With 1:25 left in the 4th quarter, Dwyane Wade makes a jumper, bringing the Bulls lead to 3 with a score of 99-96, but Chicago was able to keep their lead in the close game and win it at 104-96.

Now today in Game 4 was the Heat’s last chance to defend their title. Miami started out the game with an 8-0 run. Not until the final minutes of the 3rd quarter did Chicago take the lead, closing it out with a score of 68-64. With some good hustle, the Bulls were able to outscore Miami in the 3rd 24-16 and in the 4th 24-15, giving the Bulls a 92-79 victory and sweep.

Ever since the Bulls victory against Miami at the season opener, I had a feeling that we were finally a better team than them. They were filled with veterans and were getting old, while the Bulls were still a young team with some veterans mixed in. Miami had a rough season with all of the injuries its players had, most notably Shaquille O’Neal’s knee injury and Dwyane Wade’s dislocated shoulder. Had Wade been healthy and at the top of his game, who knows whether the Bulls would have swept Miami. Who knows whether they would have won the series? Despite his injury, he was still putting up numbers, but Chicago still came up on top. I had faith that the Bulls would sweep Miami, even though I thought they would at least win in Game 5 or 6 when thinking rationally. Well, we’re moving on to Round 2. Time to sweep Detroit.

Like I said in the edit of my last blog entry, my new computer came in yesterday. What remains untrue is that I would have to wait till Friday to use it. My dad was able to set up the router and have a wired connection from the basement to the our two computers, the one in my room and the other one in the office. So around 12 pm, my dad and I set up my computer. We got done around 1 pm, but when we turned in on and set up the user information, the monitor just displayed the background. It sat there for a long time, so my dad called technical support. Before we did, my dad and I tried turning off the computer, but it didn’t work. He also tried unplugging and replugging some of the cables. Anyway, when the man from technical support was guiding us, the computer was able to turn off and turn back on. Afterwards, it was able to work, though I had to create a second user. I ended up deleting it. I’m glad that there was nothing wrong with the computer.

I personally think the computer is a beauty. The monitor is pretty big, and typing this on Microsoft Word makes it look even bigger. The speakers are pretty small, but look sleek. The subwoofer sitting on top of the computer looks a little weird, but it’s at least in a convienient location considering the size of my desk. The fans are pretty loud, but they don’t’ really bother me. Having Windows Media Center on here is really awesome. I like being able to watch TV through my computer, but the quality is a little bad. Plus, I have to keep my computer on in order to watch TV.











Here are the specs:
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6600 (4MB L2 Cache,2.4GHz,1066 FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs
320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
Dual Drives: 48x Combo + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable
22 inch E228WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel
256MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GS
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

I still have a lot to do. I have more programs to install, files to transfer, etc. Plus, I have to test my games out. So far, I’ve installed my Half-Life games and the Warcraft games, but still haven’t put in Oblivion. My friend came over while my dad and I were setting up the computer, so I didn’t have a lot of time to use it today. Before I go to sleep, I’ll try and test at least Counter-Strike: Source. Anyway, enjoy the pictures I took.

[EDIT]: Sorry. This was meant to be posted up nearly two hours ago, but I had some problems with my Internet connection, so I couldn’t post this up till now.

Only three more days till my computer comes. I’m so excited. Well, my dad and I are getting ready for it. I bought The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion yesterday since I’ve wanted it for a long time. I won’t be getting an Xbox 360 anytime soon, so I decided to get the PC version. Plus, with a powerful PC, I’ll be able to run it well and possibly get it to look better than the 360 version. My dad bought a wireless Linksys router yesterday. I’m not sure exactly how he’s going to set up the connection to my computer, which will be in my room. He brought out a lot of Ethernet cables though, so I’m assuming that he’s just going to make it a wired connection. At least I’ll finally be able to go online with my DS Lite. Finally, I reserved Pokémon Diamond at Target today. I didn’t get the free stylus since they ran out. It sucks, but whatever. Now, I’ll continue reading more Naruto. I’m finally on Part II/Shippuuden. Yesterday, I finished Volume 27, concluding Part I and Kakashi Gaiden. First, I must finish downloading some more volumes so I can read straight away. This should keep me busy till Friday. My dad has to work all day Thursday, so even if I do get my computer that day, I won’t be able to use it.

[UPDATE - Mar 27, 2007]: The computer came in early in the morning today, but I still have to wait till Friday to use it.

I created some new Chicago Bulls banners and userbars for my signature today and felt like posting them here.








I'm currently using the first and last one. I plan on making some Los Angeles Lakers ones soon as well.

My parents ordered my computer today. Should be here by the 29th. More on this later.

Looks like I got a new emblem, known as Regular Gumshoe. This was awarded for posting “constructive feedback” here. Apparently, my feedback was good enough, and I received a new emblem. Being a detective/mystery fan, it’s definitely one of my favorite emblems so far. Also, with this new emblem, I began my 4th row. I can’t wait till it fills up.

I began to download a Detective Conan episode (more of that in an upcoming blog) today and I looked at the file size. It was 200MB. That’s no problem, but considering that there are over 450 episodes and 10 (soon to be 11) movies of the anime. With 1024MB in a GB, that comes out to roughly be over 90GB. Sadly enough, there’s only about 75GB left on my family’s computer, which is going to continue to grow.

Stored on the second hard drive is all my PC games, my music, my Naruto manga and anime, and also my Detective Conan manga. The Naruto anime is still going, along with both the Naruto and Detective Conan manga. I haven’t even finished downloading all the available manga for the two series. It’s impossible for me to be able to keep all these files on this computer, so I was thinking about getting a computer. This PC isn’t upgraded enough to handle all my programs and games well, considering it was bought back in February 2004. Also, since I’m not the only one who uses the computer, I can’t stay on as long as I want, especially when relatives come over.

So having my own computer might not be a bad idea. I still don’t have my Xbox 360. I’m not sure if my parents will let me get both. If they don’t, I’m willing to wait till the end of the year to buy a console. This will allow time for price drops and to see if a winner for this generation of games is clearer. I won’t be getting a computer till around May or June if I do get one, so who knows. I was waiting till May to get an Xbox 360 anyway. Now I can’t for school to end, or at least for May to come around.

I just got back home from school. Right now, it’s 9:55 a.m. Why did I get back so early from school? Because school was canceled! Yes, that’s right. It was canceled. During the last five minutes of 2nd period, the principal announced that school would be canceled right after the period was order due to problems with the fire alarm system. Once the period was over, which is 9:20 a.m. except on Wednesday, everyone was celebrating in the hallways. People were all talking about how happy they were, calling their parents on their cell phones, and rushing to their lockers and to get outside to the buses. Since it was unexpected, they had to fit all the bus routes on 5 buses. The bus my cousin and I were on only had 3 routes, but it was already crowded. We were lucky to get on the first time, because if a bus were overloaded, the other people would have to wait for it to come back. I’m not sure if our bus had an excess amount of people, but that doesn’t really concern me. Also, of the three routes, our route was driven through first. My stop is the 4th one, but the people who get off at the stops before us weren’t there, so my cousin and I quickly got home. This is great. Now I have a lot more time to do whatever I want than if I had a whole day of school.

I just looked at my profile and saw that I received a new emblem, Biological Warfare! This emblem was discovered about a week ago. I found out about it from The Emblems Union. When I first read the description, I thought it had to do with GameSpot Badges. Looks like I was right. Two days ago, I made a Google page and put up my badges on there. Yesterday, I had my cousin, adi0sk8t3r, do the same thing. We refreshed a bunch of times, and it looks like thats what got us the emblem. Thanks to those in The Emblems Union for trying to figure out how to get this awesome emblem. Now I have three full rows of emblems. One more, and I'll begin my fourth.

So how long has it been since Part II to Naruto, also known as Naruto: Shippuuden, premiered in Japan? Well for the anime, about 11 days. Yes, it’s been about 11 days since the anime premiered. I remember that night, I went on YouTube and was looking at the most viewed videos for the day. A lot of them were the RAW episodes of Shippuuden. I was wondering what that was, so I watched it. Apparently, it was the name to Part II of the manga/anime. I only watched the beginning before the intro played, but it was amazing. It got me into Naruto once again.

It was a while since I was really into Naruto. That weekend and every other day since then, I’ve been trying to catch up on Naruto. I left off on Episode 107, so I started from there on the 16th. Then last Saturday, I finally finished watching the main story arcs. For those non-Naruto fans, after Episode 135 are episodes that were never in the manga, known as the fillers. They’re basically numerous story arcs that were made to allow the manga to develop. There are about 85 filler episodes, since they go to Episode 220 before Shippuuden begins. Eager to watch Shippuuden, I decided that I would watch the fillers next time and moved on. After all, they’re not significant.

Now that I’m caught up with the main story arcs in the anime, I’ve gone into a Naruto craze. I’m once again trying to download all the episodes again. I left off with Episode 16, which I downloaded March 16 of last year. The reason why I stopped downloading them was because they took too long and because I just watched episodes through YouTube. I’m currently downloading Episodes 37-44.

Another thing I’m doing is downloading the manga. Currently Volume 8 Chapter 69, I’ve still got a long way to go. Thankfully, it only takes a few seconds to download a chapter. I’ve read Volumes 1-4 since I own them in real life, but I won’t start reading the rest till this weekend, which is good since I have 4 days off.

Finally, I’m also watching the fillers while I try to catch up on the manga and await new episodes of Shippuuden, which premiere each Thursday. I’m going to watch Episodes 148-150 today, and watch at least two episodes tomorrow and Wednesday.

Over 300 chapters of manga to read, more 60 episodes to watch, and more than 100 episodes to download. That’s a lot to do; and I’m trying to get this done before the summer begins! I’ve got a lot to do, but it’s something I enjoy. I can’t believe it’s been over a year, possibly even two, since I started watching the anime. I started watching it when it first premiered on Cartoon Network's Toonami on September 10, 2005. Afterwards, I started watching the Japanese fansub episodes on YouTube. Now, I’ve got to get back to watching and downloading more Naruto!

Yesterday was a disappointing day for some students in the Chicagoland area. A snowstorm was moving in and it was snowing the night before. Southern areas gained a lot of snow, while places up north, like where I am, only got a couple of inches. This wasn’t enough to close school, and a lot of students at my school complained about it all day. Well, throughout yesterday and last night, it snowed again. It looked pretty hard at first. Not like a blizzard, but there was a lot of snow coming down at first. My mom came into my room this morning, turned off my alarm and told me there was no school today. This makes snow day #2 for the school year, the last one being on December 1. So I went back to sleep. Around 6:30 am, I went downstairs and logged on to the computer make sure that there wasn’t any school. There wasn’t, so I went back to sleep. I woke up at around 9:00 and ate breakfast. Afterwards, I spent my day off playing Counter-Strike: Source and going online for a couple of hours, played the piano for two hours, and just watched T.V. and relaxed. I was glad to have the day off, but it felt like I wasted it. I guess it doesn’t matter, since it was a small taste of summer vacation. Anyway, I hope my Algebra II Honors test is be pushed back to Friday.

Last Wednesday, my English teacher gave my class a writing assignment on the computer in order to improve our writing skills. We were to write a standard 5-paragraph paper on a prompt that we would be given. The program would then rate us on different things on a scale of 1-6 and give us suggestions to improve our paper. The prompt was titled The Person You Most Admire. Here were the instructions:

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The Person You Most Admire

At a school assembly, the person you most admire is going to speak to the students in your school. You have been chosen to introduce this person to the audience. Who will that person be, and what will you say about that person? Write an essay introducing the person you choose and describing the person's best qualities. Remember to provide enough details about this person so the reader can picture him or her in their mind.

As you write, remember your essay will be scored based on how well you:

• develop a multi-paragraph response to the assigned topic that clearly communicates your controlling idea to the audience.


• support your controlling idea with meaningful examples, reasons, and information based upon your research or readings.


• organize your essay in a clear and logical manner, including an introduction, body, and conclusion.


• use well-structured sentences and language that are appropriate for your audience.


• edit your work to conform to the conventions of standard American English.

Use any of the tools available to you, such as the Checklist, Spellchecker, or Graphic Organizer.

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Rather than make the obvious choice and write about my parents, I decided to write about Michael Jordan. I received a 6 on the Holistic Score, which I assume is the overall score, 6 on Focus and Meaning, and 5 on Content and Development, Organization, Language Use and Style, and Mechanics and Conventions.

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Today, the person I most admire will be speaking with you all. You may not all like him, but most of you, if not all of you, will know him. He is an accomplished athlete, arguably one of the best in the world. He is a great person, who helps the community and is there for his family. He is a hero and an inspiration to people around the world. He is one of my heroes and role-models. He is former Chicago Bull, Michael Jordan.

If you did not know already, Michael Jordan was one of the greatest basketball players of all time. At 6 feet 6 inches, he played the position of shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls with the number 23 on his jersey. He was the third pick in the first round of the 1984 NBA Draft, coming from the University of North Carolina. Michael was a great basketball player. He was an excellent shooter and played great defense. His spectacular dunks gave him the names of "Air Jordan" and "His Airness." Ultimately, he led the Chicago Bulls to their first 3 championships in the 1991, 1992, and 1993 seasons. After that, he retired for two years, but went back to the game. With his new number, 45, he proved to be just as good as he was before, and led the Bulls to another 3 championships in the 1996, 1997, and 1998 seasons. Throughout his career, he was voted MVP five times. He was also the Finals MVP each year the Bulls won the championship, voted into the all-star game 14 times, won two Olympic gold medals, and became an icon.

Not only was Michael Jordan a great athlete, but he was a great person as well. On the court, despite his competitiveness, he showed excellent sportsmanship, even against players that were considered his rivals such as Magic Johnson. He was a leader for the Chicago Bulls, not only leading them through his performance, but through his spirit as well. Off the court, he has donated a lot of money to nonprofit charities and organizations such as playing in a charity golf tournament. He also supports his family. Michael has two sons, Jeffrey and Marcus, who have followed in their father's footsteps and play basketball. Unless he is busy with work or business, he attends all of their games and supports them.

Michael Jordan is a hero for many people around the world. He is a role-model, even for his own children. He is an inspiration for many aspiring basketball players who love the game and who want to "be like Mike." Michael was even an inspiration for current stars of the game such as LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who even wears Michael's number, 23. The main thing he emphasizes in the game of basketball is to have fun, something that everyone can appreciate.

Whether or not you knew him before, you can see that Michael Jordan truly is great. He is a superb basketball player, whose career was filled with amazing achievements. He is a great person, proving to be a leader for his teammates and donating to charity. He is an inspiration to everyone. He is considered to be the greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN. Simply put, he is Michael Jordan. It is easy to see why he is the person I most admire, and I hope that you can all appreciate his greatness as well.

I decided to go to IMDB, the Internet Movie Database, today and saw a list of movie trailers available to watch. A lot of them were movies that I either already wanted to see or was interested in. I became excited to see these movies once they come out in theaters, so here’s a list of my top 10 most anticipated movies of 2007.

10. Shrek the Third
I’m not a big fan of the original Shrek. In fact, I don’t even know if I saw it. But I saw Shrek 2 about two years ago and thought it was hilarious. The trailer looks pretty good. Nothing that made me laugh incredibly hard like some scenes in the second movie, but they’re will probably be a lot of those moments once the film is finished.

9. The Simpsons Movie
It’s the Simpsons in movie format. Nuff said.

8. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
I remember watching the cartoon back when I was a little kid. I liked it and all, but it wasn’t exactly my favorite. Anyway, the trailer didn’t tell me much. It was basically just the turtles jumping around rooftops in the shadows, and then disappearing into a sewer manhole. I can only hope for a good movie . . . with great-looking pizza.

7. Ocean’s Thirteen
Coincidentally, I saw Ocean’s Eleven just last night on TBS, twice. I really enjoyed the first two films. It’s really fun to watch. The first was pretty funny, but the sequel had its moments. I also thought that Ocean’s Eleven was more clever than Ocean’s Twelve. I can’t wait to see what Ocean and the gang have next on their list of things to steal.

6. Rush Hour 3
I haven’t seen the original Rush Hour, but I’ve seen Rush Hour 2 many times, and it never gets old. The combination of Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan is hilarious, giving me high expectations for this film.

5. Iron Man
Yes, I know that this is set to come out in 2008, but I couldn't think of a 10th movie. Growing up, Iron Man was one of my favorite superheroes. While I haven’t seen anything dealing with Iron Man since I last saw the cartoon back when I lived in Puerto Rico (at least, that’s when I think I last saw the cartoon), he is still one of my favorites. No trailer for the film yet, but I can’t wait to get a glimpse of it.

4. Transformers
I never saw the original Transformers cartoon, but I did watch Beast Wars, Beast Machines, and Transformers: Robots In Disguise a long time ago. The fan base for those three shows are most likely not as strong as the original fan base, but I am still excited for this movie. It was hard to see what the Autobots and Decepticons will look like, but it looks exciting.

3. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
I’ve seen the first film that came out in 2005, and I’ll say that I was a little disappointed. There wasn’t as much action as I was hoping for, but it was still good nonetheless. The trailer gave me a lot of expectations for this sequel. Silver Surfer looks great. I look forward to a battle between him and the Human Torch. No footage of Doctor Doom, but I’m sure they will show him in future trailers.

2. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
The popular series of Disney films is getting its third film for the trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean. I loved the first two films, particularly Dead Man’s Chest. The movies were just exciting and the cast is just fun to watch. I never expected Curse of the Black Pearl to get a sequel, let alone become the first film in a trilogy. I think that this will be a great film and live up to the hype, but I can imagine a lot of things going wrong plot wise. I can only hope for the best.

1. Spider-Man 3
Spider-Man, like Iron Man, was one of my favorite superheroes, and also like Iron, still is. I loved the first two films, and the trailer looks like this film is going to be the best of the three. This time, Spider-Man will fight not one, not two, but three villains in the film: Sandman, “New Goblin”, and the long awaited Venom. Not only that, but Peter Parker (Toby Maguire) will be sporting his black suit. I plan to watch this the day it comes out.