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CREATIVITY CHALLENGE!

Two Parts to this!

2) Creative Challenge: Who might say it and under what circumstances?

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NEW DISCOVERY! The Canadian Academy offers summer school credit courses in France.

Ontario Sarracini Travel/Can-Learn International

2706 Keele St., Downsview, ON M3M 2G1 416-249-7607

Canadian Ecology Centre – Summer Eco-Camps (sign up for summer)

Canadian Voyageur Adventures (sign up for summer)

Canoe Ontario – Canoe Expo

NEW DISCOVERY! Collingwood Scenic Caves Nature Preserve

Collingwood, Ontario, Canada

Computer Science Summer Workshops (registration)

Deep River Science Academy (registration)

NEW DISCOVERY! Elliott Avedon Museum and Archive of Games

HTS Summer Camps (work as a Teacher aide or attend camp)

McMichael Canadian Collection –Art Gallery Summer Art School

Moorelands Camp (work in a camp for disadvantaged kids)

National Music Camp of Canada (summer music camp)

One of Kind, Canadian Craft Show and Sale

Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship (nominate somebody)

Ontario Science Centre Science School (apply for Fall courses)

Our Kids Go to Camp (for the summer, as a counsellor?)

River Run Rafting and Paddling Centre (waters are high for rapids rafting)

Ryerson University – Summer Teen Leadership Proghram

Springwater Children’s Camp (Catholic summer camp)

Summer Opportunity in Applied Research (SOAR) (summer math camp)

Summer Theatre Camp

Talent Identification Program/Canada (summer enrichment for gifted students)

Toronto Sportsmen’s Show

Upper Canada College Summer Academy (enrichment or credit courses)

YMCA Young Leaders (Orillia. Introductory Leadership training camp)

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Julie A., Gr. 9, was involved in an exchange with a cousin in France last year. She spent a month in the south of France and Paris. This is a good way to learn a language. Maybe some of your foreign relatives or those of friends would be interested.

Kate A., Gr. 10 went to St. Donat, Quebec for a week of skiing.

Alexis C., Gr. 11, is going on a cultural exchange program this summer to France.

Amelia M., Gr. 10, participated in a mock United Nations conference, Cayley Math Contest, Junior Math League championships, and joined the LAT Curling Club. She is a major curler outside of school too.

Kathy L. and Eugenia P., Gr. 10, entered the AM10 Math contest and the Cayley Math Contest in February.

Tracey L., Gr. 11, takes a Saturday advanced studio art class at the Art Gallery of Ontario. She is also a leader of a church youth group.

Olivia M., Gr. 10, is involved with Junior Achievement. Her group is making beeswax candles gift boxes. She is also planning on going to the Queen’s Mini-Enrichment Program in Kingston.

Cristina C., OAC, is tutoring 2 young Vietnamese boys in reading on Saturdays. Congratulations on being such a giving volunteer.

Natasha V., Gr. 9, will be trying out as an assistant soccer coach this summer. Registration for many soccer leagues is this month. Look into it.

Sarah L., Katherine L., Cristina C., Emma W. competed in the Metro Toronto Debating Championship. As a school team, they placed second. Congratulations! On an individual basis, Sarah and Cristina will go on to the Ontario Debating Championship.

Sarah L., Gr. 11, met with Jeannie Lee, TV Business Reporter for the CBC. She is interested in learning more about broadcasting. She was also, finally, in the TVO production in which she was debating. The episode she was in will be aired in the Fall. Next, she will be attempting to find out more about the "Counterspin" productions at the CBC.

Kristen F., Rosanna C., Melissa H., Katie K., Joyce L., Victoria W., all Gr. 9, LAT Gifted Program students, wrote the Pascal Math Competition. We are looking forward to hearing the results. Good luck. (these students represent almost 30% of the Gr. 9 members of the LAT Gifted Program)

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On Saturday, Feb. 23, I attended the Canadian International Auto Show.

My first impression was, this place is huge! With more than 150 exhibitors and over 800,000 square feet of exhibit space, there was a lot to see and so little time.

Even though I went on the second last day of the show, it was still extremely busy. I spent over 10 hours at the show looking at new car models, concept vehicles and alternative fuel vehicles. This year there was an added bonus for modified car enthusiasts. On the 100 level of the skydome there was a 40,000 square feet exhibit called the "sport compact revolution". This gave people a chance to show off their prize winning souped-up imports.

For me, Skydome housed the best part of the show, not just the sport compact revolutionary cars, but also the new Acura NSX was on display. There were Ferraris and Bentleys with a fence around the exhibit, and only prospective buyers were allowed to go near those cars.

But the best experience of going to a show like this is actually sitting in the cars. All prices were on display, along with people eager to help you. Each manufacturer exhibit was unique and had its own fun aspects. When you reached the Mini display, not only were there the new models of the classic small car but also a DJ and a dance floor. At the Dodge display, there was a Dodge Ram hanging from the ceiling.

Another great show I got to attend was "Speedorama". This was held January 25-27. The show featured modified cars and hot rods. Though smaller than in past years, the content was all there.

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(books that have made a difference in my life - editor)

Harry Potter Series) by J.K. Rowling & Lord of the Rings Series by J.R.R.Tolkien for astonishing, brain-tingling creativity)

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(contributed by Kaley K., Gr. 9 LAT Gifted Program. Thanks.)

I was walking through the streets of downtown Toronto on a sunny afternoon, my feet aching from the pains of continuously going up and down the same street, looking for that thing that would particularly catch my eye. Today the thing, which caught my eye, wasn’t a shirt in the store window, or those cute little hair bands in the accessory store. Today what caught my eye was much more important and much more rewarding.

After turning around to return to the first store that we had visited - looking for school shoes - we passed what is known as a common sight in Toronto, a homeless man and woman. Being a "born and bred" Torontonian, it wasn’t uncommon for me to see people such as these. However, that man’s eyes captured me.

Thinking back, it wasn’t that their shape, texture, or appearance captured me, but it was the look in them. Those eyes were so pain stricken, so abused, so sad and vulnerable. I have always believed Shakespeare was correct when he said "The eyes are a mirror to the man’s soul," but that day I truly lived it.

When I saw the look in that man’s eyes I did something that I rarely did, I stopped and read his sign. This sign was like none I had read before it. It stated: "Please spare change or extra food. Very close to being off the street. Starting new work outreach program tomorrow. Everything is appreciated."

I felt a sudden surge of generosity after sharing only a quick gaze with this stranger. I immediately walked to a nearby pizzeria and bought two pieces of pepperoni pizza, returned and gave them to the man for the two of them. He looked up at me holding out this pizza, not realizing it was for them, while his wife worked at adorning the sidewalk with gorgeous sidewalk chalk pictures.

After he realized what I was giving him, he looked at me once again with those very eyes that captivated me and said "Thank you." Those simple words were the best thing I had heard in a long time. As I walked away I had the greatest feeling in my heart. It was such a wonderful feeling. I went on with my business that day, but later regretted not talking to the two longer. A lesson to remember next time.

That day I learned what generosity was all about and that there is always hope. I wish that this man is somewhere taking the pain out of those eyes of his and although he doesn’t know it, he has helped me as well as humanity.

Challenge: share your stories of events that have changed your life.

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(from an article in the Toronto Star by Valerie Haugh)

King’s and Queen’s Homes Inc. head honcho is 26 year old Sula Kogan. For a woman to be in the building/renovating/construction industry and in charge is virtually unheard of. She started by helping build their own home (husband and wife) and as people got interested, she slowly started into the construction industry. Go for it.

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(original poems submitted by Victoria W., Gr. 9 LAT Gifted Program. Thanks)

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(excerpts from an article in the Catholic Register by Joseph Sinasac)

Halpern vs. the Governments of Canada and Ontario started Nov. 5. The six gay couples want the courts to strike down laws limiting marriage to a man and a woman. In a case earlier, in British Columbia, gay couples were denied legalization.

• the definition of "marriage" can only be changed by elected representatives of the population, not the courts.
• marriage is an institution that requires a constitutional amendment to redefine it.
• There is no means that exists to equate same-sex relationships to marriage, while preserving the fundamental importance of marriage to the community.
• marriage is an institution with origins in religious belief and ancient cultures, which has remained unchanged for centuries. Laws cannot define it.
• changing the definition of marriage would create sever upheaval in Canadian society.

• marriage is not a legal construct. It is not an institution created by law unlike the legislative concept of "spouse."
• the institution of marriage was neither created by nor defined by legislation. Legislation, however, does confer the status of "husband and wife" and this has been recognized by all major religions.
• Same-sex couples want "social and religious acceptance of the legitimacy" of their relationships. Canadian law already provides them with much the same material benefits given to other domestic partnerships.

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(from an article in the Toronto Star)

Do you think it is possible to have such a mighty drive that your golf ball comes down an hour later in another country? The answer: Yes!

The town of Haparanda is on the Swedish-Finnish border and at the local golf course the sixth tee is in Sweden but the green is in Finland, one time zone to the east. While playing there, golfers cross the border and time zone four times. If you make a mistake, you can simply go back in time and take the shot over again.

Challenge: Any great golf stories to tell us? Send them in.

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(ideas by Caroline Ryan, one of Canadian Living Magazine's top location photographers)

• Simple is best. Get as close as possible to your subject and keep an eye out for clutter and distractions in the shot.

• Experiment with how you position elements in the frame (the area you can see through the viewfinder). Dead centre of the photo is static and boring. Create movement and interest by placing the main subject to one side.

• Foreground and background. Some of today's automatic cameras allow you to capture both foreground and background clearly.

• Create visual balance, think in terms of opposites or contrast. For example, brightly coloured subjects - that new toy, your daughter in her party finery - look best offset by more muted colours. An intricate subject (your mother's handmade table centrepiece) will be most compelling photographed against a simple background.

• Change your perspective. Stand on a chair, crouch down. When you shoot upward, you can frame your subject against a plain wall or the sky and avoid distracting details in the foreground and get a sense of huge expanse. When you aim downward, you may be able to eliminate background clutter and and make land seem to stretch away endlessly.

• No squinting into the sun. Shoot your subjects looking away from the sun and let the camera's built-in flash fill in shadows under the eyes.

• Built-in red-eye reduction. If your camera makes a popping noise before it takes the picture, that's a pre-picture flash going off to reduce the size of the subject's pupils. This means that the eye will allow less light to enter, thereby reducing the red-eye effect.

• Indoors, get your subject to sit in the soft, diffuse light of a nearby window. Then shoot with fast (or high-speed) film, such as ISO 400 or higher. "If you're taking pictures indoors, determine which way the light is coming from and whether it's from a lamp or a window," says Ryan. "If you have an SLR camera with a separate flash, point it at the ceiling to fill in the light. Sometimes, avoid using the flash; just let the shadow happen. It can be really pretty."

• School concert? If you're shooting a large group, try to catch everybody's eye, advises Ryan. "As long as people can see the lens, the lens will catch them. And be sure to take more than one shot. Someone always blinks."

• If you're taking pictures under extreme conditions, such as in extremely low light or with a very slow shutter speed, hold your camera steady and level. For extra support, lean against a table or wall when taking photos; hold your breath momentarily as you press the shutter button.

• Catch those candid moments. Some of your best photos are bound to be those un-posed scenes in which family and friends are relaxed and just being themselves. This is especially true when photographing children. In fact, Ryan's favourite way to photograph kids is to not make them do anything.

Challenge: Send us your funniest picture-taking story.

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(based on an article in Metro Today newspaper)

The University of Waterloo is offering a lot of money to graduates with big ideas that can be turned into commercially viable technological inventions or processes. A realistic business plan must be sold to a panel of judges to win. It is called the Martin Walmsley Fellowship for Technological Entrepreneurship Award.

Challenge: What are some interesting ways to make money? Send us your ideas.

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(response from Cristina C., OAC, LAT Gifted Program, to an email about strange Japanese inventions)

My uncle from the Philippines told me this story. He often travels to Japan on business. He said that one time he traveled by subway and saw this one person with a headband with an attached piece of cloth draped over his face and there was Japanese writing etched on the cloth. With his stilted Japanese, my uncle asked the person next to him what was written on the cloth. The person, giggling, told him that it said: "Please wake me up when we get to York Mills (for example)!!!". I think one of these

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(based on an article in MetroToday newspaper – editor)

When there is a serious problem in life, people can become moody. We can understand and allow for that. Most people, however, don’t realize that moodiness in any other context is a control trick. Somebody is having a silent temper tantrum.

When somebody pouts, do you get nervous and try to please the person? Do you feel you are on edge and try to be extra careful and get defensive around them? Guess what, you are being manipulated by a psychological bully.

You are not the enemy. You are not the one that should change things. The moody person is the one with the problem.

The best way to solve the problem is get the person to come out with the issues and deal with them. If they don’t, go on with your life and leave them be. They will not be suffering but you will if you go along with them. Simple solution but it should help you keep relationships you have with others.

Challenge: Send us a funny, moody person story.

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(taken from an article in the Toronto Star)

Internet users are too obvious with passwords. Statistics show:

Challenge: what is the funniest or most interesting experience you ever had with a password?

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(submitted by Pauline L. and Donna H., Gr. 11, LAT Gifted Program)

1. Barbie's full name is Barbara Milicent Roberts.

2. It is impossible to lick your elbow.

3. A crocodile can't stick its tongue out.

4. A shrimp's heart is in its head.

5. People say "Bless you" when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a milli-second.

6. In a study of 200,000 ostriches over a period of 80 years, no one reported a single case of an ostrich burying its head in the sand (or attempting to do so).

7. It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.

8. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.

9. Between 1937 and 1945 Heinz produced a version of Alphagetti especially for the German market that consisted solely of little pasta swastikas.

10. By law, every child in Belgium must take harmonica lessons in Primary school.

11. On average, in a lifetime, a human being will have sex more than 3,000 times and spend two weeks kissing.

12. More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.

13. Rats and horses can't vomit.

14. The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.

15. If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die. If you keep your eyes open by force, they can pop out.

16. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.

17. Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.

18. If the government has no knowledge of aliens, then why does Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations, implemented on July 16, 1969, makes it illegal for U.S. citizens to have any contact with extra-terrestrials or their vehicles?

19. In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.

20. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.

21. Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.

22. A duck's quack doesn't echo anywhere, and no one knows why.

23. 23% of all photocopier faults worldwide are caused by people sitting on them and photocopying their buttocks.

24. In the course of an average lifetime you will, while sleeping, eat 70 assorted insects and 10 spiders.

25. Most lipstick contains fish scales.

26. Cat's urine glows under a black light.

27. Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.

28. It was learned on a mission to the moon where a frog was present, that when a frog vomits, it regurgitates it's entire digestive system and cleans it with it's feet before swallowing it again.

29. The average pig's orgasm will last 30 minutes.

30. The only word in the English language that doesn't rhyme with another word is orange.

31. Dolphins are the only other animals besides man that will have sex for pleasure.

Challenge: What is the oddest true fact you have ever heard? Send it to us.

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What Your Tongue Says about You (Part 2, continued from last month)
(musings – editor)

Ever notice how people just don’t give a damn when and where they swear anymore? It’s become an epidemic. Really disgusting swear words are heard casually and regularly on buses, at sports events, at mall rats meetings, in school halls, the street, etc. in front of the elderly and the littlest of children. Why? Don’t ordinary words work any more?

Last summer, a friend and I went to a comedy club. The first acts were amateurs and upstarts who didn’t get many laughs. To get some audience response as they were dying on stage, many of them resorted to swearing. Some chuckles and a few guffaws from the Neanderthal section made them feel that they were funny after all. Some career.

In analyzing swear words, interesting observations can be made. First of all, in North America, swear words most commonly relate to sex, religious objects or people, the human body and animals. The words are used for: power tripping, satisfying a "need" to live dangerously, intimidating somebody, regaining ground when losing in an intellectual battle, a cheap thrill when degrading beautiful things, brazenly challenging the almighty forces, and/or self-inflation by belittling what is perceived to be less important forms of life.

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(excerpts from an article by Marilyn Schwartz for Dallas Morning News)

Most popular names are getting to be Madison (girl), Hunter (boy), Hillary, and Courtney. The effort seems to be to find a power name, gender neutral, and sounds like an investment banker. After Sept. 11^th, a lot of kids were named Hope.

We are also going back into history for these: Lillith, Sarah, Kathryn, Elizabeth, and Rudolph.

Names that probably won’t be coming into great favour: Gertrude, Pearl, and Fanny.

A new name that is popping up is America.

Most popular names of 2001:

Boys – 1. Alexander, 2. Benjamin, - Matthew, Ethan, Zachary, James, Noah

Girls – 1. Emily, 2. Emma, - Sarah, Catherine, Grace, Olivia, Alexandra, Meaghan, Hannah

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(excerpts from an article in "Eye for the Future" magazine by Laura Divilio-Rebick)

As people are different, they also deal with money differently. This has nothing to do with the mechanics of money but with how people think about it.

What is money? It is a mental construct, a belief system, in our minds, an illusion. We have all agreed that a funny piece of paper allows us to pay for things we want in life. Without that belief, the paper would not exist.

As we go on in life, we load it with monetary value as well as power. We divide the world into "have’s" and "have not’s" based on money. Somehow it becomes absolute, like breathing and is able to keep us alive. "Money makes the world go round." Somehow we let it become a symbol of our success in life, our self-respect, our bottom line.

Some ways people think about money:

1. "Poverty Conscious" – "We better hold on to what we get or else we will be out of luck." These people have a lack of faith that the world will provide so they grab as much as they can and hang on for dear life.
2. "Obsessive" - A deep preoccupation with money is based on poverty in the person’s mind and psyche. Feeling "I never get what I want" for material things leads to: addictions, overworking, stealing, neediness, hoarding, overeating, perfectionism.
3. "The Dragon" – A loner who feels unloved and is angry because he/she feels hated, feared, and/or abandoned in the world. They ravage the countryside and hide the loot in a cave and stockpile it. They can never fill the "hole."

1. Spiritual purist – A puritanical view leads a person to believe that the material world is corrupt and evil. Because money is distasteful, the belief can cause problems of undervaluing oneself. Nobility hides a great underlying insecurity.
2. Worker for a higher cause – This person will take advantage of money that comes from grants, friends, and family. They appear to be living a life of restraint and responsibility and do "voluntary" charitable works but other people foot the bill. They have convinced themselves to receive for the good of all.
3. Angry rebel – The angry, radical artist needs no one and is very cynical about the world. They feel they do not belong and are misunderstood and imagine they were born at the wrong time. They are anti-success and anti-image. Truthfully, they want a sense of rightness.
4. The Miser – He is so tight, he squeaks. This person is greedy, power hungry, heartless, unlovable. Material wealth is all that counts. He is alone…very alone and commands others through wealth.
5. The Big Spender – They want what everybody else has. Spending is obsessive. They are always discontented and miss out on what is right there for them.
6. Golddiggers – they covet other’s wealth. They look for "sugar daddies/mommies"
7. to come and save them and take care of them.
8. Jackpot Hitters – They live in the fantasy that they are going to hit the jackpot one day. They may feel helpless and hopeless of ever succeeding for themselves. Rather than facing problems and working their way out of their rut, they gamble and dream. "Just imagine."
   

Look into your motives. What is your net worth based on? Who you are is not how much money you make. Watch for signs that making money is fulfilling needs that should be filled by human contact. Invest in your personal happiness. Your hero is yourself who will rescue you from the grasp of the terrible beast (your ugly undesirable hidden self).

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Madeleine Francineau, 95, and Francois Fernandez, 96, got married in southern France and hope to enter the Guinness book as the world’s oldest newlyweds.

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A frog telephones the Psychic Hotline and is told, "You are going to meet a beautiful young girl who will want to know everything about you."
The frog says, "This is great! Will I meet her at a party, or what?"
"No," says the psychic. "Next semester in her biology class."
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Why doesn’t Tarzan have a beard?

Don’t sweat the petty things and don’t pet the sweaty things.

If man evolved from monkeys and apes, why are there still monkeys and apes?

Never trust a stockbroker who’s married to a travel agent.

Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don’t.

On the other hand, you have different fingers.

Married people don’t live longer than single people. It just seems that way.

I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where is the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.

If all those psychics know the winning lottery numbers, why are they still working?

Disneyland: A people trap operated by a mouse.

It may be that your sole purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.

A hen is an egg’s way of making another egg.

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

War doesn’t determine who’s right, just who’s left.

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It only takes about 30 seconds. Don't cheat!

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Of course not!

Now smack yourself in the head, get a life, and quit playing stupid e-mail games!

(Don't tell the secret to others. Send them this in an e-mail! Smile & have a great day!)

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