Thursday 28 March 2013

Kim Possible Petition

Hi Everyone who's out there!  If you grew up with Disney Channel's Kim Possible & want it back on the big screen, sign this online petition. It's totally legit- all your personal information will not be shown. The aim to get a 5th Season of KP is 15,000 votes, and so far they've only got 8,656 votes.

Most of the shows that now run on Disney Channel just don't have the same level of humor and 'golden' stuff in them as Kim Possible had. You've got the best villains, the funniest sidekicks, a naked mole rat, your average high school drama, mutations, and tons of other cool save the world adventure going on!


So if you care and want to bring Kim Possible back, or just want to make other people happy in helping, sign up on either one of these two links.
Remember, it's legit! If you don't want to show your real name just type in random letters.



If you don't have FaceBook (or do have it but you don;t want to use it):
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/164/600/385/bring-kim-possible-back-to-disney-channel

If you do have FaceBook:
https://www.facebook.com/KimPossibleFightForFivePetition
Log in to access the petition.











And if you don't sign it, well........




 This is a bit more about Kim Possible:
Website: http://www.tv.com/shows/kim-possible

Disney's smash hit Kim Possible is focused on the everyday life of a high school teen. Kim Possible has to find a balance with everything school related, and battling super villains on a regular basis. Of course, all heroes need a wisecracking, clumsy partner. Kim is no exception. The comic relief of the heroic duo, Ron Stoppable, is always there for Kim, though his pet and second best friend Rufus, the naked mole rat, is always there to help out the duo when the going gets rough.

Character Guide:

Kim Possible: High school cheerleader by day, crime fighter by. . . well, day as well. She still has to be home by curfew, after all. Kim has no secret identity, which makes her that much more of a hero in that people can relate to her and don't seem to make a big deal out of it, mostly at her insistence. Her fiery red hair is a symbol of her attitude that is best summed up by the phrase, "I can do anything." She is stubborn, strong-willed, and has a fuse shorter than a grenade with a three second delay. Despite all of this, however, she is extremely humble, refusing to take credit for her truly amazing actions.

Ron Stoppable: Kim's best friend, partner, and in fourth season boyfriend. His nonconformist "never be normal" philosophy is applied to all facets of his life, and he has taught Kim a thing or two about peer pressure. He takes great pride in eating, and is the proud inventor of the Naco. Unlike Kim, who refuses to take credit for her actions, Ron is, as Kim puts it, "prone to big-headiness." While he's a bit of a glory hound, he always shares it with Kim (often to her chagrin) instead of soaking up the limelight. His unwavering devotion to Kim is simultaneously his greatest strength and his greatest weakness, for while it is the trait that makes her take notice of him, it also leads to her taking him for granted more often than not.

Dr. Drakken: For a supergenius, Theodore "Drew" P. Lipsky aka Dr. Drakken is pretty stupid. He has the brains to come up with some great ideas, but he lacks the patience it takes to iron out all the kinks and get his inventions fully functional. If it wasn't for Shego, he would have been out of the villain game a long time ago.

Shego: Essentially Kim's dark reflection. Both are smart, athletic, attractive, not to mention they both have green eyes. The only difference is that Shego has raven black hair as opposed to Kim's auburn locks, and the fact that she chooses to use her powers for evil rather than good. And boy, does she have powers. Her fiery personality is illustrated perfectly in her ability to encapsulate her hands in green plasma, as well as shoot these bursts of plasma at whomever she chooses. Shego takes great pride in sidelining Drakken's megalomaniacal ranting with the occasional snide remark and attempts to act as the voice of reason but fails utterly because Drakken is, well, insane. Why exactly she sticks around other than that is uncertain, but it may have to do with some feelings that may forever go unexplored.

Wade: As Kim's gadget guy and operator of her website, Wade is an invaluable addition to Team Possible. Despite only being 13, he holds several PhDs and can type at over 300 words per minute. He is a genius at all things technical, and proves invaluable as a support operator. He would be world renowned if he ever left his room, but the fact that he has only left it once shows signs that Wade suffers from agorophobia, the fear of going out into public.

Mr. Dr. Possible: As a rocket scientist, he's a living analogy for intelligence. He views women as equals with their own opinions rather than as underlings to be ordered around, and for this reason he is a great father to Kim and lets her live her own life, but he has letting go issues. He just can't handle the fact thas someday somebody will take away "his" Kimmie-cub, who will forever remain four to him. But with Kim now dating Ron, he'll have to let go sooner or later.

Mrs. Dr. Possible: Top brain surgeon and mother to Kim, Mrs. Dr. Possible has yet another analogy attached to her name. She is essentially Kim all grown up. Smart, independent, attractive, and not afraid to have a little fun, the Possible matriarch is a little more lenient than her husband, but she still enforces the rules when they truly matter.

Jim & Tim Possible: Kim's twin brothers or "Tweebs" as she calls them. They are super smart, but they use their intelligence more to annoy their sister than anything else. Despite the annoyance that they can be, twin supergeniuses can be quite useful on a mission.

Bonnie: If Shego is Kim's dark reflection, then Bonnie is Kim's polar opposite. Her stuck up, pessimistic, OCD, holier-than-thou attitude makes her the typical cheerleader. She makes it her mission to make Kim's social life miserable, but ends up failing most of the time.

Monique: Essentially a guidance counselor in the form of an African American teen. "Wise beyond her years" is the understatement of the century when it comes to Kim's best female friend. She has the uncanny ability to identify the source of and solution to other people's problems, which means she'll make an excellent therapist some day. Like Kim, Monique stands up for herself and refuses to let herself be controlled, earning a steady salary as a salesgirl at Club Banana. She is also an avid wrestling fan, which gives her and Ron something in common.

Sunday 24 March 2013

The Elves' Wings

Hey everyone, this is a writing prompt I found. I found the picture interesting and the concept was intriguing. It was almost begging me to write a story. So I started a short one that I'll hopefully intertwine into my current novel.

Enjoy!




























Aria and Elmond led us out of the mountain and out into the dim light of outside. Glimmering snowflakes drifted lazily down from the grey clouds on the early winter breeze. I stayed close to Ben, knowing that this could very well be our last day alive.
The two elves walked briskly in front. I hurried to keep up but at the same time studied my surroundings. Now that we were out of the inside Dwarves' realm that was in the mountain, everything had a brighter shine to it. There was no more gold, running down the inside of the mountain like solid rivers. The Dwarves had for eternity hammered at the walls for the gold, and hoarded it and kept it safe from unwanted hands with their lives.

The view held an eerie beauty to it. The valley was white with snow, and the rocks had acquired a blueish tinge to them. Strange, teal colored creatures dove in and out of the clouds, their screeches bouncing off the mountainous facades. One of the animals perched high above us on a ledge, watching us pass with a black eye. It had a resemblance to a small dragon. Its limbs were graceful and fine, its wings armed with hooks at each point. Its tail was outstretched, and waved from side to side as it leaned over the edge.
I could hardly run properly with the hide ropes that bound my hands together. So, stumbling, I caught up with Aria, who was staring stony faced at the cracked stone path that lay ahead. Between breaths, I said, "What are those creatures?"
She was long to answer, but at last she faced me and said, "We call them Dragurni- Elida, which means Sky- Dragon in our language. They are our wings."
I did not dare myself to point out that I knew perfectly well the meaning of the ancient language. It was odd, as I had not grown up with it. Ben was convinced the language had come up in one of the books I read back at the palace. When I told him he was wrong, he, who had not had the chance to get a proper education, satisfied his worries by telling himself that either the Elven language was Latin with a magical twist, or Latin was a dialect of the ancient language, and vice versa. I had given up on arguing a long time ago.
I nodded. "So," I said, trying to befriend the elf, "what is happening?"
She tucked a strand of her dark hair behind one of her pointed ears. "We are taking you to the court of Elregion. He is the Prince of our race. His mother and father died of grief when his baby sister went missing. No one knows what happened to her."
"Uh huh." I said, and dropped back a couple steps to be with Ben again.
His voice was a hushed whisper. "Where are they taking us?"
"High court of some Prince. Their Prince." I corrected myself. He didn't say anything after that. Personally, I wasn't too scared about meeting some kind of Elven royalty. Ben, however, looked slightly green as he took reluctant footsteps.

"Single file," Shouted Elmond over his shoulder, as he readjusted the quiver strap on h1is shoulder. He removed his elder-wood bow from his back and nocked an arrow to it. Ben and I shot each other a puzzled glace. "Don't step too close to the edge. The Dragurni - Elida don't usually approach people that are not of a magical race kindly."
Elmond went first, with Ben closely following. He was as white as a sheet, and kept his eyes on the paved floor the whole time. I went after him, and Aria brought up the rear.

The pathway we were being led onto was wide enough to hold two men safely, side by side. It was an uncountably long drop down into darkness, that sent shivers up my spine. The elves that were in front of us, just talking to themselves seemed at leisure up here, as if there was some invisible fence that could stop you from falling. I settled on that they trusted their dragon friends with their lives. I didn't dare myself to pester Elmond with questions. He seemed like the kind of elf that wouldn't hesitate to spear you through with a bow and arrow.

I could barely see ahead because of the snowflakes. They coated my eyelashes with a dust that looked like crushed diamonds. The path ended as a jagged circular platform, on which was tied a colossal rock that made even a Dragurni- Elida look small. In fact, one of the Elves' wings was perched on top of the stone, craning its blue head around to face the mossy path and the elves approaching it.

I screamed and backed away, treading on Aria's foot. A Dragurni- Elida had landed in front of us, separating our little group in half. It had a wild look in its yellow eyes as it looked down on us. It reared up on its hind legs. All of the elves, as well as Ben, stopped dead in their tracks. The creature spred out its blue wings and roared. It seemed angry and more lethal than before. Honestly, I preferred it better when it was sitting perched on top of a cliff. Its barbed tail waved from side to side, as it roared its fury to the skies. Its blue scales glittered with a fierce beauty, like sapphires as it twisted and moved on the pathway.
Aria was beyond herself. Before she seemed calm but now she was in a state of outrage. She was shouting at the Dragurni Elida.
"Nie! Schasle!"She shouted. The dragon did not heed her warnings and found an arrow through his wing membrane seconds later. Startlingly red blood dripped from the tiny hole in the wing where the arrow shaft had flown through. The dragon snorted, black smoke drifting from its nostrils. I blinked as the smoke made my eyes water. Aria coughed behind me. Now Elmond was also shouting at the Dragurni- Elda. Ben had backed away from the scene, shouting my name.
"ELIZABETH!" I could hardly hear him. His voice sounded very distant, but as the Dragurni arched its neck, I could see he had made it to the end onto the large platform.
"ARIA!" Elmond also shouted, "Catch!" And he tossed her a dagger. He was so far away I was sure it would never reach us. It spun, reflecting what little sun was available of its polished blade, and came sailing towards us through the smoke. With a bound, quick as lightning, Aria snatched the weapon from the air and yelled at me to get behind her.

The attacker landed back onto its forelegs with mighty force. Elmond was still firing a few arrows. All found their mark. Jeffran, the storyteller back home was not exaggerating about the skills of the Elves with weaponry. They would make great allies to fight the White knights, if only I could persuade them.

The shaking of the path knocked me down, and I fell down hardly, backwards onto the uneven stone path, grazing my palms in the process. The Sky- Dragon looked down at me. I scrabbled backwards, kicking up loose pebbles into the creature's face. It opened its mouth, revealing huge yellowish teeth that were longer than my forearms. My arms gave way from trembling, and my breathing shallowed as I collapsed from fear, hitting my head hard. I couldn't move, and forced myself not to black out as my vision went fuzzy.
Aria put her hands underneath my arms and dragged me away from the blue dragon, where she lay me down carefully before stepping right in front of the Dragurni- Elida, brandishing Elmond's dagger. I marveled at her bravery. She did not cringe from its movements. Instead she spoke to it in a low murmur, driving it back. All too soon it put one hind leg over the side. I saw its look of shock, as it reared up once more, lost its balance, and fell over the side. The sky turned darker.
For a couple of seconds there was nothing, no sound. An eerie silence filled the air. Then a fierce, war-like roar brought me back to my senses, and my eyes flickered open just in time to see the Sky- Dragon fly up high in the sky, and it spat out white light, that crackled almost blue in its mouth.

Thunder sounded, and the snow began falling slower. Lightning illuminated the whole sky. That was when I realized the Sky - Dragons did not breathe out fire, but something much worse- Lightning. Then the Dragon vanished into the mist, weaving in and out of the jagged rocks.

Aria helped me to my feet. I shivered. "I can't believe I survived that," I said.
"I don't believe it either," Aria murmured. "A normal human could never survive that."
"Hellooo," I said, unbelievingly, "There's something called sheer dumb luck in this world."
She shook her head, and hurried to Elmond's side, chatting to him, and making urgent hand gestures. I descided not to tell anyone about what she had told me about not being normal. I followed, the last of the trembling exiting my body as my feet pounded against the snowy, paving stones, and caught up with Ben, who greeted me with a shout of joy and a rib-cracking hug. Elmond had severed his bonds, as had Aria mine.

As we neared the huge rock, I could see it was secured to the platform with thick ropes that were made out of braided hide. The front of it looked unwelcoming. It was a big, dark hole, that seemed infinitely long. The entrance was outlined with Elfish runes that I surprisingly could read without much difficulty.   They were engraved deeply into the rock, and decorated with golden leaf. They read: "The blue moon that once was mine, has come to a rest in the caverns, as the rising sun tints the sky red with the blood of the fallen warriors." That, I presumed, was Elfish poetry, which always has very deep meaning to it, like the entrance to the cave.

Slowly, and hesitantly, after Aria and Elrond bound our hands again, Ben and I, with fearful looks on our faces, reluctantly entered the cave, with Aria and Elmond watching us.
Deep into the darkness, I whispered, "Ben?"
"Yes," he said in a cracked voice.
A tear rolled down my cheek. "Should our intended fate befall us, I just wanted to say, that you've been the best and only friend I've ever had. Thank you. You've supported me all of the time."
"Oh, Elizabeth," he said. "You've twisted my life around. Now little Sylvi, she can live better with father back home. Thank you." I knew it was difficult for him to speak of his little sister and father, being perfectly aware that he might not every speak to them again.
And, side by side, knowing that very soon, we would never see the light of day again, we advanced further into the pure blackness of fate and the cavern.

Seriously? Seriously.

 This weirdo is Motor Ed from the TV show Kim Possible. He has serious issues with his language. I stumbled upon this video on youtube and it's hilarious. 
Motor Ed is a mechanical genius, seems immune to pain 'most of the time', and thinks he's so awesome and cool. The ego probably comes from his cousin, Dr. Drakken, a 'Mad Genius' whose only aim is to wipe his nemesis Kim Possible from the face of the earth, and have global domination. Once he tried to merge all the continents back into one and call it Drakkengea. His sidekick is Shego, a woman with glowing green laser hands and who is extremely sarcastic.

I hope you like this video.


Monday 18 March 2013

Twist of The Handles

Hi Everyone. Enjoy this post. It's a quick beginning of a story (to be continued (hopefully into a novel)) that I was inspired to write when I saw this writing prompt. That box could be anything. It could do anything you wanted it to do. You're the writer, so you choose!
Enjoy.



My breath was coming out in pants. I tripped over a tree root and fell. Scrabbling in the dirt,  I picked myself up and resumed my flight. Glancing back, I  saw the alpha wolf’s yellow eyes peering out at me from the gloom underneath the trees. I kept running, yet I knew it was hopeless. The pack was almost upon me now. I couldn’t outrun them, nor could I mask my scent from them or tempt them with a tastier prey. They could smell it on me, the blood running down my forehead. They knew I was weak and injured.    

I stumbled, gasping for breath, into a clearing. Perfect, I thought ironically. Just what I needed. The wolves would spread out and attack me from all sides, savaging me to pieces. This was not the way I had imagined my trip out in the woods. Although, I told myself in my head, no one will miss me. I had no one, just the orphanage that hated me anyways. I had been taken there at the age of five, when my parents had mysteriously disappeared on a sailing trip. 

I slowly walked towards the centre of the clearing. The moon illuminated it, bathing it in a silvery light. I inched towards the very centre of the clearing, constantly turning around, keeping my eyes on the slowly advancing wolf pack. 

Then I felt it. I could feel its presence, a warm, glowing and comforting feeling in amongst all this darkness surrounding me, like the first crocus bursting out from the snow in spring. The wolves could feel it too. They stopped dead in their tracks, yellow foam encrusting their mouths, saliva dripping from their open jaws, their pink tongues licking their startlingly white fangs. Many pricked their ears up. Some lowered their tails and whimpered. Others took tail and fled, their ears flat against their skulls. The alpha twitched, as if the warm substance was merely and annoying fly, then continued to stare at my forehead wound hungrily. 

I turned around. The light was coming from a small box, that hung in midair, floating on the chilly wind. My boots crunched in the snow as I walked nearer to it. I could have sword it was trapped sunlight, for it glowed like the sun. I couldn’t help being a bit afraid of it. I had no idea what it was. I put my hand through the orange light that the box gave away, enjoying the appearance of flames coursing through my fingers. 

The lead wolf blinked, its yellow eyes glistening with malice. I looked back at the box. It was either the box or being mauled by a huge white wolf. You can imagine which one I chose. I chose the latter.

I stuck my hand into the light, and felt myself being sucked into it, although it was barely larger than my palm. Then the world disappeared with a white flash. The wolves disappeared, as did the snow covered forest, and the moonlight. 

When I opened my eyes, I found myself gazing at a large temple. It looked familiar. It looked like something from a history book. Strange, spiky scripture was written on the top. I cautiously entered. Inside was a gargantuan statue of a woman dressed in traditional greek wear, bearing a lance and a shield, on top of which perched an owl. I racked my brains. History lesson, I thought. Then it struck me, when my gaze lingered on people dressed in a similar fashion. They were throwing golden coins in a fountain near the figure and bowing to the statue. 
Athena. The temple was the Parthenon, and not the replica in the United states. It had to be the real one. The security was not people dressed in janitor uniforms, but soldiers, wearing greek armor. The crests on their helmets were red plumes. Athena. I thought. Goddess of wisdom and war. The statue was the Goddess Athena. And that meant, if the parthenon was the actual one, that I was in Athens. Athena had had the city named after her after she had ruled out the argument by winning a chariot race against Poseidon, God of the Seas.

I was in Athens. And no, it wasn’t 21st century modern day Athens. I tried to find pockets, only to discover that I was also dressed in a tunic. I couldn’t find my phone. The only thing on me was a leather pouch holding a few golden coins- ancient greek Drachmas. Oh lord, I thought. Then I whispered, as the truth all came into place. “I’m in Ancient Greece”. 

Monday 4 March 2013

US Teen crafts tool for early cancer detection


Teen crafts tool for early cancer detection

2013-02-28 16:17
(Anne-Christine Poujoulat, AFP)
Long Beach, California – Jack Andraka catapulted from being a typical US teenager unaware of the pancreas to one with a cheap way to detect cancer in the organ before it turns deadly.

"Through the internet, anything is possible," Andraka said while telling the story of his screening breakthrough at a prestigious TED Conference in Southern California on Wednesday.

"There is so much more to it than posting duck-face pictures of yourself online," he continued, sucking in his cheeks and pushing out his lips to playfully underscore his point.

"If a 15-year-old who didn't know what a pancreas was could figure out a way to detect pancreatic cancer, imagine what you could do."

Andraka, who turned 16 in January, recounted how three years ago he began scouring the internet for information about pancreatic cancer after it killed a cherished family friend.

He told of being shocked to learn that the cancer was typically found too late to save people. On top of that, the test used to screen for the illness was 60 years old, he said.

"That is older than my dad," Andraka quipped. "More important, it is expensive, inaccurate, and your doctor would have to be ridiculously suspicious that you had the cancer to give you this test."

He figured what was needed was a test that was inexpensive, fast, simple and sensitive.

"Undeterred due to my teenage optimism, I went online to a teenager's two best friends: Google and Wikipedia," Andraka said.

What he found was there were thousands of proteins that could be detected in the blood of people with pancreatic cancer, and he hunted for one that could serve as an early flag for the illness.

"Finally, on the 4 000th try when I was losing my sanity, I found the protein," Andraka said.

The revelation came in what he described as an unlikely place, a high school biology class he referred to as an "absolute stifler of innovation."

"I was sneakily reading this nanotubes article under my desk while we were supposed to be paying attention to antibodies," Andraka recalled.

"Suddenly it hit me that I could combine what I was reading with what I was supposed to be thinking about."

He described a recipe for making paper sensors to detect the protein mesothelin in blood that is "about as simple as making chocolate chip cookies, which I love."

The test costs three cents, takes minutes, and appears to be 100% accurate, according to his TED Talk.

Andraka said he sent out 200 requests to scientists for lab space to continue his work, only to be rejected by all but Johns Hopkins University where he was fiercely grilled before being taken in.

He commenced to fix holes he discovered in his "once brilliant procedure" and went on to be awarded the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair grand prize.

Andraka described his approach as having the potential to be tailored to screen for other forms of cancer as well as heart disease or HIV/AIDS.

He said he is currently working on "something the size of a cube of sugar" that could "look through your skin" and study blood or signs of almost any disease. The cost? An estimated five dollars.