I don't care if anyone reads, I'm just writing.

Sorry, but it's politics again...

2010-01-27T11:45:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'm bored, so I thought it would be quite nice to start blogging again. Well, nice isn't the word. The word is "Slightly-less-boring-than-sitting-around-doing-sweet-f.a.". And yes, it is ONE WORD! It's hyphenated ;]

So, I wanted to rant today, but you probably won't want to read about my annoyances, because Id just name "Such and Such a person" and then I'd get my arse kicked in school. Which would be a pity in itself, because I've gone at least two months without getting beat up. Really. Believe me, please...

So basically I thought I might write about that thing that was recently in the news about France banning Headscarves in public places. Now, I'm going to be impartial at least for this next paragraph, while I try to explain to you what the French government are doing and why.

The thing is, the French government is Secularized. If you don't know what that means, it's the concept of a government or other entities being COMPLETELY seperate from any kind of religous influence. And no, I didn't copy and paste that from Wikipedia! Anyway, what the secularisation of the French government means is that everybody is equal, no matter what religion you are. What the French government is TRYING to do with the banning of the headscarves and all, is making sure that everybody is equal. Or so they say. Now what is getting on people's goat is that the government is apparently infringing people's rights to do what they want to within the law. But the thing is, the government is trying to CHANGE that law. Now, the French government is saying what is very important is that people willnot be allowed to wear these scarves in public, but they will when in the privacy of their own homes. Like being naked, basically ;]

So what do I think about this? Well actually, I'm quite pro-banning. I know, que the long attacks of "Boo-Hiss! What about people's civil liberties?" Well, the thing is, if this makes everyone in France slightly more equal, well, go for it! Why not? And by the way, it only tells women to "Dress Conservitavley" in th Qur'an, so nobody can make that argument ;]

Well, all the best, and sorry for not blogging in a while!

Iwan ;]

Exams. Ranting style.

2009-06-01T07:15:00.000-07:00

It seems that the world has gone mad. It's not as if I've only just noticed it, but I'm just too lazy to coment on it. You see, some people think that all exams are excellent. I am not included in this category of people by the way. I can proove that these people love these exams as well. Politicians are complaining that our current way of testing- the General certificate standard examinations- or the G.C.S.E's to me and you, are too easy. It sounds dumb. And it is. They say, and I quote ;"The young people of today need something more challenging to proove to Universities and Colleges that they are worthy of a place[in their establishment]". This was a Lib Dem on the BBC Parliment channel a few days ago. I can't remember who, just the quote. Anyway, what this guy was saying was that the children of today needed something to keep them off the streets and to get them working. Now, sorry, but what'll happen if you get even harder exams, these kids won't even bother, because half of them aren't good enough. Secondly, aren't the current exams hard enough? Seriously, we barely get 65% of year 11ers through GCSE's, without making it harder. If you want to make the exams harder, make optional ones, because those kids that can't do bugger all except drive a stolen Honda Civic for 20 minutes before being "nicked" will just sod off and drink! Now, to be honest, these politicians think they're all good at exams because they got 10 A* or whatever, but the fact is, exams are getting harder and harder. I'm not certain what David Cameron had to do for his Welsh GCSE, but i doubt it had to with learing 15 poems. So there.

All the best.
Iwan;]

Films.

2009-05-04T12:45:00.000-07:00

Aaah, I'm sorry for not writing for, like, aaaages. I have been reasonably preocupied with work n'stuff. But I'm not here to apologize to anyone about anything, NO! I'm here to WRITE.

Ahem. Yeah, I don't actually have anything to talk about, so I'll talk about FILMS. ;]

I've been very excited for awhile now to go and see many a film, such as the new X-MEN film about Wolverine, the new Star Trek film and also Angels and Deamons. If I'm correct, all of these films are coming out at roughly the NOW time,(not sure about A+D actually) so I can't go see them. Firstly, my mother won't let me, because I have to work, and secondly, I'm just way too nervous bout my exams to go see anything in the cinema.

You see, whenever I see a feature-length anything, be it Stargate or Doctor Who, or whatever, something from that feature-length will push some valuable information out of my brain and make me forget useful stuff. Which is rather unfortunate. But it's worse with films. You see, films tend to be much longer than TV programmes, and therefore there iss MUCH, MUCH more information to absorb. Unfortuantely, my brain is full of useful stuff that is just willing to be pushed out by stuff in films, and there's my connundrum. Should I go see a film or two that I've been aching to see for AAAAGES? Or should I stay home and revise? You see, I've properly been looking forward to these films. OH!!! Harry Potter's out soon aswell!

Ach, you see? It's as if all of these film-makers decide that all of the students in this world aren't good enough to see their films, and therefore decide to put them in the cinemas at the exact time everybody's either revising, revising, revising or sitting exams.

But what the hey. DVD's are just as good. ;]

I watched a film the other day on TV. It was very good. Now, I don't want you thinking I'm gay or anything, but I'm into chick flicks, and romantic films. Mhm. Rom-coms especially. ;]

Here's a clip from the Fabled YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uh2l0TQrdo

Sorry, it didn't allow embeds. ;]

All the best,
Iwan;]

Geography Coursework.

2009-02-12T11:48:00.000-08:00

I'VE ALMOST FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!

That's all folks!

Iwan (o:

Forecasted: Snowstorm...

2009-02-01T11:36:00.000-08:00

I was watching the news tonight, as you do, and it was very interesting, you know, as it is. Afterwards came the weather. The girl said;
"Hi, I can tell you that a severe snow storm will be coming our way, so I advise you to wrap up warm, and to cancel all travel arrangements unless compleatly nessecary. "

I was DISGUSTED. WHO IS THIS GIRL TO TELL ME WHAT TO FEKKING DO?! I was outraged. But, I did laugh. Because, you see, unless your heating doesn't work, why would you need to wrap up warm, if you cancelled all travel arrangements? Isn't that just being ever so slightly hypocrytical? Anyway, this girl, who I openly scorn at for telling me what to do, then said that a possible 10-30cm of snow might fall in extreme circumstances. 10-30cm...

Is that a severe snowstorm? Seriously? Can you go to the alps and say:
"Oooh, we had a severe snowstorm about a week ago, it was about 10cm high. How are your snowstorms here?"

"Oh, only about 500 fet tall."

Ok, I'm exagerating a bit, but I think I've got my point accross. The thing is, that here in Britain, when there is a teeensiest amount of snow, there is panic. Widespread utter bloody fekking panic. And car crashes. And school shutdowns. While over in the Alps, the little French blokes are growing eine in under 500 foot of snow.

Get a grip, people. Get some skiis.

Iwan (:

About that thing about apples.....

2009-01-27T14:06:00.000-08:00

You remember when I said I'd write about apples?

Well I lied, I copied amd pasted it off Wikipedia. Enjoy (:

Apple
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

This
article is about the fruit. For the electronics and software company, see Apple
Inc.. For other uses, see Apple
(disambiguation).
Apple

Blossoms, fruits,
and leaves of the apple tree (Malus domestica)
Scientific
classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
Division:
Magnoliophyta
Class:
Magnoliopsida
Order:
Rosales
Family:
Rosaceae
Subfamily:
Maloideae
Tribe:
Maleae
Genus:
Malus
Species:
M.
domestica
Binomial
name
Malus domesticaBorkh.
The
apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus
domestica in the rose
family Rosaceae. It is one of the most
widely cultivated tree fruits. The tree
is small and deciduous, reaching 3 to 12
metres (9.8 to 39 ft) tall, with a broad, often densely twiggy crown.[1] The leaves are alternately arranged
simple ovals 5 to 12 cm long and 3–6 centimetres (1.2–2.4 in) broad on
a 2 to 5 centimetres (0.79 to 2.0 in) petiole with an acute
tip, serrated margin and a slightly downy underside. Blossoms are produced in spring
simultaneously with the budding of the leaves. The flowers are white with a pink
tinge that gradually fades, five petaled, and 2.5 to 3.5
centimetres (0.98 to 1.4 in) in diameter. The fruit matures in autumn, and
is typically 5 to 9 centimetres (2.0 to 3.5 in) diameter. The center of the
fruit contains five carpels arranged in a five-point star, each
carpel containing one to three seeds.[1]
The tree
originated from Central Asia, where its
wild ancestor is still found today. There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of
apples resulting in range of desired characteristics. Cultivars vary in their yield and the ultimate
size of the tree, even when grown on the same rootstock.[2]
At
least 55 million tonnes of apples were grown worldwide in 2005, with a
value of about $10 billion. China
produced about 35% of this total.[3] The United
States is the second leading producer, with more than 7.5% of the world
production. Turkey, France, Italy and Iran are also among the leading
apple exporters.
Contents[hide]
1 Botanical
information
2
History
3
Cultural aspects
3.1 Germanic
paganism
3.2 Greek
mythology
3.3
Christianity
4 Apple cultivars
5 Apple
production
5.1 Apple breeding
5.2 Pollination
5.3
Maturation and harvest
5.4 Storage
5.5 Pests and
diseases
6
Commerce
7 Human
consumption
7.1 Fallen apples
8 Health
benefits
9
References
10 External links
//

Botanical information

Wild Malus sieversii apple in Kazakhstan
Main article: Malus sieversii
See
also: List
of Lepidoptera that feed on apple trees and Fruit tree
propagation
The wild ancestor of Malus domestica is Malus sieversii, which
is found growing wild in the mountains of Central Asia in southern
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
and Xinjiang, China.[4]

History
See also: Herefordshire
Pomona
The center of diversity of the genus Malus is the eastern Turkey. The apple
tree was perhaps the earliest tree to be cultivated,[5] and its
fruits have been improved through selection over thousands of years. Alexander the Great
is credited with finding dwarfed apples in Asia Minor in 300 BCE;[1] those
he brought back to Macedonia might have been the progenitors of dwarfing
rootstocks. Winter apples, picked in late autumn and stored just above freezing,
have been an important food in Asia and Europe for millennia, as well as
in Argentina and in the United
States since the arrival of
Europeans.[5] Apples were
brought to North America with
colonists in the 1600s,[1] and the first
apple orchard on the North American continent was said to be near Boston in
1625. In the 1900s, irrigation projects in Washington state began and allowed
the development of the multi-billion dollar fruit industry, of which the apple
is the leading species.[1]

Cultural aspects
Main
article: Apple
(symbolism)

Germanic paganism

"Brita
as Iduna" (1901) by Carl Larsson.
In Norse mythology, the
goddess Iðunn
is portrayed in the Prose Edda (written in the
13th century by Snorri Sturluson) as
providing apples to the gods that give them eternal youthfulness.
English scholar H. R. Ellis
Davidson links apples to religious practices in Germanic paganism,
from which Norse paganism developed.
She points out that buckets of apples were found in the Oseberg ship burial site in Norway and that
fruit and nuts (Iðunn having been described as being transformed into a nut in Skáldskaparmál)
have been found in the early graves of the Germanic peoples in England and
elsewhere on the continent of Europe which may have had a symbolic meaning, and
that nuts are still a recognized symbol of fertility in Southwest
England.[6]
Davidson
notes a connection between apples and the Vanir, a tribe of gods associated
with fertility in Norse mythology,
citing an instance of eleven "golden apples" being given to woo the beautiful Gerðr by Skírnir, who
was acting as messenger for the major Vanir god Freyr in stanzas 19 and 20 of Skírnismál.
Davidson also notes a further connection between fertility and apples in Norse
mythology in chapter 2 of the Völsunga saga when
the major goddess Frigg sends King Rerir an apple after he prays to
Odin for a child, Frigg's messenger (in the guise of a crow) drops the apple in
his lap as he sits atop a mound.[7]
Rerir's wife's consumption of the apple results in a six-year pregnancy and the caesarean section
birth of their son - the hero Völsung.[8]
Further,
Davidson points out the "strange" phrase "Apples of Hel" used in an
11th-century poem by the skald Thorbiorn Brúnarson, she
states this may imply that the apple was thought of by the skald as the food of
the dead. Further, Davidson notes that the potentially Germanic goddess Nehalennia
is sometimes depicted with apples and that parallels exist in early Irish
stories. Davidson asserts that while cultivation of the apple in Northern Europe extends
back to at least the time of the Roman Empire and came to
Europe from the Near East, the native
varieties of apple trees growing in
Northern Europe are small and bitter. Davidson concludes that in the figure of
Iðunn "we must have a dim reflection of an old symbol: that of the guardian
goddess of the life-giving fruit of the other world."[6]

Greek mythology

Heracles with
the apple of Hesperides
Apples appear
in many religious traditions,
often as a mystical or forbidden fruit. One of
the problems identifying apples in religion, mythology and folktales is that the word
"apple" was used as a generic term for all (foreign) fruit, other than berries
but including nuts, as late as the 17th century.[9] For instance,
in Greek mythology, the Greek hero Heracles, as a part of his Twelve
Labours, was required to travel to the Garden of the Hesperides and pick the
golden apples off the Tree
of Life growing at its center.[10][11][12]
The Greek
goddess of discord, Eris, became
disgruntled after she was excluded from the wedding of Peleus and Thetis.[13] In retaliation,
she tossed a golden apple inscribed Καλλιστή (Kalliste, sometimes
transliterated Kallisti, 'For the most beautiful one'), into the wedding party.
Three goddesses claimed the apple: Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Paris of Troy was appointed to select the
recipient. After being bribed by both Hera and Athena, Aphrodite tempted him
with the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta. He awarded the apple to
Aphrodite, thus indirectly causing the Trojan War.

Adam and
EveShowcasing the apple as a symbol of sin.Albrecht Dürer,
1507
Atalanta, also of Greek
mythology, raced all her suitors in an attempt to avoid marriage. She outran all
but Hippomenes (a.k.a. Melanion, a name possibly
derived from melon the Greek word for both "apple" and fruit in general),[11]
who defeated her by cunning, not speed. Hippomenes knew that he could not win in
a fair race, so he used three golden apples (gifts of Aphrodite, the goddess of
love) to distract Atalanta. It took all three apples and all of his speed, but
Hippomenes was finally successful, winning the race and Atalanta's hand.[10]

Christianity
Though the forbidden
fruit in the Book of Genesis is not
identified, popular Christian tradition has
held that it was an apple that Eve coaxed Adam
to share with her.[14] This may
have been the result of Renaissance painters adding
elements of Greek mythology into
biblical scenes. In this case the unnamed fruit of Eden became an apple
under the influence of story of the golden apples in the Garden
of Hesperides. As a result, in the story of Adam and Eve the apple became a
symbol for knowledge, immortality, temptation, the fall of man into sin, and sin
itself. In Latin,
the words for "apple" and for "evil" are similar in the singular
(malus—apple, malum—evil) and identical in the plural (mala). This may also have
influenced the apple becoming interpreted as the biblical "forbidden fruit". The larynx in the human
throat has been called Adam's apple because of a
notion that it was caused by the forbidden fruit sticking in the throat of
Adam.[14] The apple
as symbol of sexual seduction has been used to imply sexuality between men,
possibly in an ironic vein.[14] The idea
of an apple being the fruit of the Tree
of the Knowledge of Good and Evil with English speakers may
have been helped by the fact that apple could also be a generic word for fruit
in Old
English, the word being used in various commentaries on Genesis.[citation
needed]

Apple
cultivars
See List of apple
cultivars for a listing.

Different
kinds of apple cultivars in a supermarket

'Sundown'
apple cultivar and its cross section
There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of
apples. Different cultivars are available for temperate and subtropical climates.
Reputedly the world's biggest collection of apple cultivars is housed at the
National Fruit Collection in England.[2] Most of
these cultivars are bred for eating fresh (dessert apples), though some are
cultivated specifically for cooking (cooking apples) or
producing cider. Cider
apples are typically too tart and astringent to eat fresh, but they give the
beverage a rich flavour that dessert apples cannot.[15]
Commercially
popular apple cultivars are soft but crisp. Other desired qualities in modern
commercial apple breeding are a colourful skin, absence of russeting, ease of
shipping, lengthy storage ability, high yields, disease resistance, typical "Red
Delicious" apple shape, long stem (to allow pesticides to penetrate the
top of the fruit), and popular flavour.[2] Modern
apples are generally sweeter than older cultivars, as popular tastes in apples
have varied over time. Most North Americans and Europeans favour
sweet, subacid apples, but tart apples have a strong minority following.[16]
Extremely sweet apples with barely any acid flavour are popular in Asia [16] and
especially India.[15]
Old
cultivars are often oddly shaped, russeted, and have a variety of textures and
colours. Some find them to have a better flavour than modern cultivators,[17] but may
have other problems which make them commercially unviable, such as low yield,
liability to disease, or poor tolerance for storage or transport. A few old
cultivars are still produced on a large scale, but many have been kept alive by
home gardeners and farmers that sell directly to local markets. Many unusual and
locally important cultivars with their own unique taste and appearance exist;
apple conservation campaigns have sprung up around the world to preserve such
local cultivars from extinction. In the United Kingdom old
cultivars such as Cox's Orange Pippin and Egremont Russett are still
commercially important even though by modern standards they are low yielding and
disease prone.[1]

Apple production
"Apple
Blossom" redirects here. For other uses, see Apple Blossom
(disambiguation).

Apple
breeding

Apple
blossom from an old Ayrshire variety
Like most
perennial fruits, apples ordinarily propagate asexually by grafting. Seedling apples are
an example of "Extreme heterozygotes", in that
rather than inheriting DNA from their parents to create a new apple with those
characteristics, they are instead different from their parents, sometimes
radically.[18] Most new apple
cultivars originate as seedlings, which either arise by chance or are bred by
deliberately crossing cultivars with promising characteristics.[19] The words
'seedling', 'pippin', and 'kernel' in the name of an apple cultivar suggest that
it originated as a seedling. Apples can also form bud sports (mutations on a
single branch). Some bud sports turn out to be improved strains of the parent
cultivar. Some differ sufficiently from the parent tree to be considered new
cultivars.[20]
Breeders
can produce more rigid apples through crossing.[21] For
example, the Excelsior Experiment Station of the University of
Minnesota has, since the 1930s, introduced a steady progression of important
hardy apples that are widely grown, both commercially and by backyard
orchardists, throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin. Its
most important introductions have included 'Haralson' (which is the
most widely cultivated apple in Minnesota), 'Wealthy', 'Honeygold', and 'Honeycrisp'.
Apples have
been acclimatized in Ecuador at very high altitudes,
where they provide crops twice per year because of constant temperate conditions
in a whole year.[22]

Pollination
See also: Fruit tree
pollination

Apple tree in
flower
Apples are self-incompatible; they must cross-pollinate to develop
fruit. During the flowering each season, apple growers usually provide pollinators
to carry the pollen. Honeybee hives are most
commonly used. Orchard mason bees are also
used as supplemental pollinators in commercial orchards. Bumble bee queens
are sometimes present in orchards, but not usually in enough quantity to be
significant pollinators.[20]
There
are four to seven pollination groups in apples depending on climate:
Group A
– Early flowering, May 1 to 3 in England (Gravenstein, Red Astrachan)
Group B – May 4 to 7 (Idared, McIntosh)
Group C – Mid-season flowering, May 8 to 11 (Granny Smith, Cox's Orange
Pippin)
Group D – Mid/Late season flowering, May 12 to 15 (Golden Delicious,
Calville blanc d'hiver)
Group E – Late flowering, May 16 to 18 (Braeburn,
Reinette d'Orléans)
Group F – May 19 to 23 (Suntan)
Group H – May 24 to
28 (Court-Pendu Gris) (also called Court-Pendu plat)
One cultivar can be
pollinated by a compatible cultivar from the same group or close (A with A, or A
with B, but not A with C or D).[23]

Maturation and
harvest
See also: Apple picking and Pruning fruit trees
Cultivars vary in their yield and the ultimate size of the tree, even when
grown on the same rootstock. Some cultivars, if left unpruned, will grow very
large, which allows them to bear much more fruit, but makes harvesting very
difficult. Mature trees typically bear 40–200 kilograms (88–440 lb) of
apples each year, though productivity can be close to zero in poor years. Apples
are harvested using three-point ladders that are designed to fit amongst the
branches. Dwarf trees will bear about 10–80 kilograms (22–180 lb) of fruit
per year.[20]

Storage
Commercially, apples can be stored
for some months in controlled-atmosphere chambers to delay ethylene-induced onset of
ripening. Ripening begins when the fruit is removed.[24] For home
storage, most varieties of apple can be stored for approximately two weeks, when
kept at the coolest part of the refrigerator (i.e. below 5°C). Some types of
apple, including the Granny Smith and Fuji,
have an even longer shelf life.[25]

Pests and diseases

Leaves
with significant insect damage
Main article: List of apple
diseases
The trees are susceptible to a number of fungal and bacterial
diseases and insect pests. Many commercial
orchards pursue an aggressive program of chemical sprays to maintain high fruit
quality, tree health, and high yields. A trend in orchard management is the use
of organic methods. These use a less aggressive and direct methods of
conventional farming. Instead of spraying potent chemicals, often shown to be
potentially dangerous and maleficent to the tree in the long run, organic
methods include encouraging or discouraging certain cycles and pests. To control
a specific pest, organic growers might encourage the prosperity of its natural
predator instead of outright killing it, and with it the natural biochemistry
around the tree. Organic apples generally have the same or greater taste than
conventionally grown apples, with reduced cosmetic appearances.[26]
A wide range
of pests and diseases can affect the plant; three of the more common
diseases/pests are mildew, aphids and apple scab.
Mildew: which is characterized by
light grey powdery patches appearing on the leaves, shoots and flowers, normally
in spring. The flowers will turn a creamy yellow colour and will not develop
correctly. This can be treated in a manner not dissimilar from treating Botrytis;
eliminating the conditions which caused the disease in the first place and
burning the infected plants are among the recommended actions to take.[27][27]

Feeding aphids
Aphids: There are
five species of aphids commonly found on apples: apple grain aphid, rosy apple
aphid, apple aphid, spirea aphid and the woolly apple aphid. The aphid species
can be identified by their colour, the time of year when they are present and by
differences in the cornicles, which are small paired projections from the rear
of aphids.[27] Aphids
feed on foliage using needlelike mouthparts to suck out plant juices. When
present in high numbers, certain species may reduce tree growth and vigor.[28]
Apple
scab: Symptoms of Scab are olive-green or brown blotches on the leaves.[29]
The blotches turn more brown as time progresses. Then brown scabs on the fruit
(see apple picture on the left).[27] The
diseased leaves will fall early and the fruit will become increasingly covered
in scabs - eventually the fruit skin will crack. Although there are chemicals to
treat Scab, their use might not be encouraged as they are quite often
systematic, which means they are absorbed by the tree, and spread throughout the
fruit.[29]
Among
the most serious disease problems are fireblight, a bacterial
disease; and Gymnosporangium rust,
and black spot, two
fungal diseases.[28]
Young
apple trees are also prone to mammal pests like mice and deer, which feed on the
soft bark of the trees, especially in winter.

Commerce
At least 55 million tonnes of apples were
grown worldwide in 2005, with a value of about $10 billion. China
produced about two-fifths of this total.[30] United
States is the second leading producer, with more than 7.5% of the world
production. Turkey, France, Italy and Iran are among the leading apple
exporters.[19]
In the United States, more than
60% of all the apples sold commercially are grown in Washington state.[31] Imported apples
from New
Zealand and other more temperate areas are competing with US production and
increasing each year.[30]
Most of
Australia's apple production is for domestic consumption. Imports from New
Zealand have been disallowed under quarantine regulations for fire blight since
1921.[32]
Top Ten Apple
Producers — 11 June 2008
Country
Production (Tonnes)
Footnote
People's
Republic of China
27507000
F
United
States
4237730
Iran
2660000
F
Turkey
2266437
Russia
2211000
F
Italy
2072500
India
2001400
France
1800000
F
Chile
1390000
F
Argentina
1300000
F
World
64255520
A
No
symbol = official figure, P = official figure, F = FAO estimate, * =
Unofficial/Semi-official/mirror data, C = Calculated figure A = Aggregate(may
include official, semi-official or estimates);
Source: Food And Agricultural Organization of United Nations: Economic And
Social Department: The Statistical Devision

Human consumption
See also: Cooking
apple and Cider apple
Apples can
be canned, juiced, and optionally fermented to produce apple juice, cider, ciderkin, vinegar, and pectin. Distilled apple cider
produces the spirits applejack and Calvados. Apple wine
can also be made. They make a popular lunchbox fruit as well.[33] An apple
can simply be eaten without preparation, you just need to not eat the
seeds.
Apples are an important ingredient in many desserts, such as apple pie,
apple crumble, apple
crisp and apple cake. They are often
eaten baked or stewed, and they can also be
dried and eaten or re-constituted (soaked in water, alcohol or some other
liquid) for later use. Puréed apples are generally known as apple
sauce. Apples are also made into apple butter and apple
jelly. They are also used (cooked) in meat dishes.
In the UK, a toffee apple is a
traditional confection made by coating an apple in hot toffee and allowing it to cool.
Similar treats in the US are candy apples (coated in a
hard shell of crystallised sugar syrup), and caramel apples, coated
with cooled caramel.
Apples are eaten
with honey at the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah to symbolize
a sweet new year.[33]
Farms
with apple orchards may open them to the public, so consumers may themselves
pick the apples they will buy.[33]
Sliced
apples turn brown with exposure to air due to the conversion of natural phenolic
substances into melanin upon exposure to oxygen.[34] Different
cultivars differ in their propensity to brown after slicing. Sliced fruit can be
treated with acidulated water to
prevent this effect.[34]
Organic
apples are commonly produced in the United States.[35] Organic
production is difficult in Europe, though a few orchards have done so with
commercial success,[35] using
disease-resistant cultivars and the very best cultural controls. The latest tool
in the organic repertoire is a spray of a light coating of kaolin clay, which
forms a physical barrier to some pests, and also helps prevent apple sun
scald.[20][35]

Fallen apples
Eating fallen
apples, rather than picking directly from the tree, is generally safe. There may
be a risk of food poisoning if the orchard is also
the area of keeping cattle or other animals, which may contaminate the apples
with feces. Still, the risk may be small of food poisoning, but significantly
higher if the apples are used to make home-made (unpasteurized) cider or juice, thus
letting e.g. the bacteria E. coli 0157:H7
multiply.[36]
On the other
hand, if the apples are eaten unprocessed, and kept free from risk of
contamination with animal feces, then eating fallen apples are generally safe,
even if there is some general decay or worms in them, although this may
make the apples evoke disgust. Still, they may be submerged in water with salt
added, which kills the worms. [37]
Apparent molds may be
largely removed by putting in water with some vinegar added,[37] but if
they are of a large quantity then there might be mold or mold products left to
evoke mold health issues
such as allergic reactions and respiratory
problems.

Health
benefits
Apples, with skin (edible parts)Nutritional value per 100 g
(3.5 oz)
Energy 50 kcal 220 kJ
Carbohydrates

13.81 g
- Sugars 10.39 g
- Dietary fiber 2.4 g

Fat
0.17
g
Protein
0.26
g
Vitamin
A equiv. 3 μg
0%
Thiamin (Vit. B1) 0.017 mg

1%
Riboflavin (Vit. B2)
0.026 mg
2%
Niacin (Vit. B3) 0.091 mg

1%
Pantothenic acid (B5)
0.061 mg
1%
Vitamin B6 0.041
mg
3%
Folate (Vit. B9) 3
μg
1%
Vitamin C 4.6
mg
8%
Calcium 6
mg
1%
Iron
0.12 mg
1%
Magnesium
5 mg
1%
Phosphorus
11 mg
2%
Potassium
107 mg
2%
Zinc 0.04
mg
0%
Percentages are relative to USrecommendations
for adults.Source: USDA Nutrient
database
The proverb "An apple a day keeps
the doctor away," addresses the health effects of the fruit. Though this adage
was likely the result of farmers encouraging higher sales of produce in an
effort to counteract the belief that it was an apple that was the forbidden
fruit which Adam and Eve ate,[citation
needed] research suggests that apples may reduce the risk of colon cancer, prostate cancer and lung
cancer.[38] Compared to many
other fruits and vegetables, apples contain relatively low amounts of Vitamin C as
well as several other antioxidant compounds.[34] The
fiber content, while less than in most other fruits, helps regulate bowel
movements and may thus reduce the risk of colon cancer. They may also help with heart
disease,[39] weight
loss [39] and
controlling cholesterol,[39] as they
do not have any cholesterol, have fiber, which reduces cholesterol by preventing
reabsorption, and are bulky for their caloric content like most fruits and
vegetables.[39][40]
There is
evidence that in vitro apples possess phenolic
compounds which may be cancer-protective and demonstrate antioxidant activity.[41] The
predominant phenolic phytochemicals in apples are quercetin, epicatechin, and procyanidin B2.[42]
Apple juice
concentrate has been found to increase the production of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in mice,
providing a potential mechanism for the "prevent[ion of] the decline in
cognitive performance that accompanies dietary and genetic deficiencies and
aging." Others studies have shown an "alleviat[ion of] oxidative damage and
cognitive decline" in mice after the administration of apple juice.[43]
The seeds are mildly
poisonous, containing a small amount of amygdalin, a cyanogenic glycoside; usually not enough
to be dangerous to humans, but it can deter birds.

Hope you enjoyed :D

Iwan(:

My Mother is on Facebook.

2009-01-27T13:48:00.000-08:00

She isn't really, but hey, it was a funny title.

But what if she was? Wouldn't that be uber weird? And actually, uber annoying... For you see, the interweb is one of the only places that I can manage to say FUUUUUCK, without persecution. You see, if my mother was on Facebook, I would get it big time, because I manage to swear on the internet. Quite a lot.

Now, you see, if there was already a mini police- force within Facebook stoping you swearing, and that kind of stuff,( i know there is to an extent--Moderators...) it wouldn't be as bad.. But imagine your mother watching over you every five seconds.....

"Ooooh, I see you have a friend called Beatrix, are you going out with her?"

"No. She's 4 years old."

"That's a bit young to have Facebook isn't it?"

"That's called sarcasm, Mam...... Jiw jiw...!"

You see? Oh, and by the by, I don't actually have a friend called Beatrix, so ya'know, I can't possibly be going out with her. Duh.

In other news: RhAYLlYCh! Did you hear about that mother that gave birth to OCTUPLETS?!?!?! HAHA! Apparently, she knew there were 7 going to be born, but according to AOL news, the mother was "surprised when another popped out!". Now seriously, do these nitwits at AOL still believe that babies just "pop" out? And also, whyever is it news that the mother is "surprised" when she has one more baby than she thought she would!? I mean, 7 is enough, but 8!!!! pfffft, two will do for me :D..

Nos da,
Iwan (:

2009-01-23T11:45:00.000-08:00

Analysis of viewing figures shows peak demand for FilmOn's "naughty movies" was around 1116 GMT on Sunday.

I just found that on the BBC website. Yeah, the BBC.

:O

I was searching through the blogs on the BBC website, and found this. Pretty disturbing eh? No, not the fact that most people, mostly dirty old men that havent had sex in their lives, watch porn at "this hour". It's that somebody has managed to contact this company to find out exactly when and where the largest amount of "Naughty films" are dispersed. They couldn't find out about the where, apparently.

Other, perhaps more important news.

We are finally in a recession. Like properly. It wasn't official till now. Apparently, a recession is the loss of economic inturn for two terms(or more, as we may see here...) Now I don't want you to get worried, but Gordon Brown seems to have powers. Yes. Powers. It seems that Mr Brown was talking to the press in Britain today. And in America. Has Mr Brown got powers? Or has he just paid Hiro Nakamura to transport him to Washington and back?

Also, Barrack Obama is President of the Usa. What's really getting on my neves about this is that everybody is saying " Oooh, we've never had a black president before". This, my friends (or friend, not sure how many of you reads this thing...) is sooooo annoying. Firstly, WE'VE never had a black president because we live in Britain, and therefore of course we haven't. We have a parlimentary system. Also, just because he's black, doesn't mean he's going to be the best president ever. We've got high expectations of this man, and we need to calm down a bit. Oh, and spread the word. (:

Aye, that's all.
Iwan. (:

ARSE.

2009-01-04T09:54:00.000-08:00

Arse, arse, arse. I've just realized that we've only got to do 2000-2500 words for geography. I've done 1473. And I'm on question1 of 3. And that was the easiest one :D

Right, one down...

2008-12-25T09:25:00.000-08:00

Right, in my last post I talked about a girl that I like. So I've talked about one of the options of my things to talk about list, two posts ago. Brilliant. (Strictly speaking, I didn't because the actual thing was GIRLS. But, close enough...)

Now, Scott told me that I should talk about my hit list. Instead of writing it in the old fashioned paragraph way, here comes the list!!!

Mr Rhys( Because he's a twat)
Miss Piggy
Those two girls off Two Girls, One Cup. Just why?!?!
The Queen
George Bush(I know it's not necceserily his fault for being so thick, but...)
Mr Jones(Gym)
Mr Jones(Geog)
Mr Thomas(Ginge)
Mrs Mathias(She's really getting on my nerves now ; "You are doing Welsh A level aren't you?")
Keanoo Reeves(who cares if I've spelled it wrong)
My Uncle's dog, Mali
David Cameron (Because He's a Conservative)
All the other members of the Conservative Party(Because they're Conservatives)
Most of the greedy Fat Cat bosses, and bankers who got us into this "financial crisis" in the first place"
Mr Hughes(You wouldn't know him, he's the guy that does wind band on the 4 counties orchestra. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR)
Darth Vader(Just so I could say I killed him(And yes, I know he's already dead))
The guy who invented farting
Oh, and Tchaikofschi, even though he's already dead. I will go back in time, and kill him before he writes the 1812 overture. Just so I can be happy. :D

That's all.

Iwan

A Mystery to me....

2008-12-24T04:35:00.000-08:00

Right, what's a mystery to me then?

Well, I'll tell you what. I really like this girl, like REALLY like her. And these people keep telling me that she likes me. But I'm not so sure. Why? Because I think she likes another guy. Because she seems to enjoy is company more. And he's better looking, and is more charming, and of course less smaelly. He's also more impressing, for example he can improvise on the piano, because he does jazz piano. He's also more "smooth" with girls. But. I don't actually know if she likes him in that way, becaus ehe is a bit of a tosser. And I'm not( at least I don't think I am. If I am, tell me, please...). So that's a plus. Anyway...

Now I've got that out in the open, I'm going to bury my head in the sand, and die. Lucky no one reads this thing...

Hmmmm...

2008-12-17T08:42:00.000-08:00

Excuse the title. I couldn't think of anything to say. Neither can I think of anything to blogg about...

So, I'm going to blogg about all the different things I could blogg about, choose my favourite, then blogg about it some other time. In the future.

Obviously...

Right, here we go...

1. My Day.
2.Your Day
3.Poverty
4.My Hit List
5.All the different kinds of apples there are in the world
6.Girls
7.Driving
8.Drink
9.Drink-Driving
10.Blackjack
11.Internet
12.Porn
13.A useless set of youtube things
14.Itunes
15.How to kill people in the most unhumane and painfull way
16.Stargate
17.Sex
19.Boredom
20.How great my Mam's cooking is.

Great. Try commenting- if anybody reads.. I know Scott does, if you're an annonmous reader, comment, or if you can't EEEEEEEEEEEEEMAIL ME! iwgruff@aol.com

Oooooh Yeah.

My fave's the apple thing, but a useless set of youtube things is a possibility...

Iwan.

I don't quite agree, there...

2008-12-11T12:47:00.000-08:00

Ah, I've just given it away a bit. I don't agree with something. Good working things out skills, people!

Aye, I'm afraid that I very much dissagree with Ryan. He said he'll trade everything just to know what everyone are. Brave, coward, ect. Somehow, that spoils it, doesn't it? I've met some very interesting people. From all over the place, and yet, I don't want to know- just straight off what they ARE. I don't want to know if they're brave enough to do something stupid, or such a coward that they can't do the intelligent thing. Because that's what's so interesting about people.

Everybody's different. You can't just specify if they're brave or a coward, intelligent or dumb, because everybody has a talent. Everybody have their flaws.

And it's that that makes the human race so amazing. Just so Fabulous! Ingenious, Idiotic, greedy and magnificently overeactive. But that's human nature. And to know if somebody's brave, cunning, a scaredy-cat or a wise-man at first sight would destroy the world.

Nobody could get jobs. Everybody wold turn out to be lazy slobs, except for a few induviduals who spend their whole lives working. And then everybody would turn into them. And so, in the end, anfter everybody could tell what other people are at first sight, everybody would change, to one thing. Honest.

And wouldn't that be boring?

Yes. Actually, it would.

Because everybody would be the same.

It's part of human Psychology, to work out what others are thinking. As a matter of fact, it's one of the biggest aspects of life. Without working out what other people are like, well where would we be?

Nowhere, that's where.

Sorry if I was a bit mean, Ryan, but I was just telling it as I saw it...

Off of YouTube( TiDiwb yng Nghymraeg, like)

Another..

They didn't actually die though.. It's complicated, but they basically went to another galaxy. Lush

Bye
Iwan.

On an other subject...

2008-12-09T13:02:00.000-08:00

Maths...

That's the other subject.

Anyway, after that stupid start I'm going to blogg about something compleatly unconnected to maths.

Right, for those of you who are atheists and believe that there isn't anything after death(I'm Christian donsha know. Heaven all the way..), I'm just going to start something.

Now, on Torchwood, there have been numerous death, and also numerous come-back-to-lifes. Great. Use the same plot-line over and over . Fab. But anyway. In Torchwood, whenever somebody revives from death, we find that they describe death as "The Darkness". No , not the band you fool! Stop singing "I Believe in a thing called love!!". Anyway. As Scott pointed out, nothing is nothing. Therefore, I've worked out, that if there is "nothing" after death, that there won't be any darkness. No colour. No black. Nothing moving in the corner of your eye( provided we aren't talking about maggots, after the burial, and also, we can point out -what if it's a cremation?). So what is there?

Nothing.

Absoloutley nothing. Nout. Zilch. Zero. Nil Point.

No colour, or any kind of knowlage. No memories, no sounds, taste, sight smell or feeling... And it'll be like sleeping. Without dreams. And without waking up.

Scary, isn't it?

Anyway, after depressing you a bit, I think I'll find something cheery from Youtube.

And...

Aye, that's it for now,
Toodle-oo
Iwan. (:

Just a quick hello...

2008-12-05T14:09:00.000-08:00

I just want to say--- YAY THE EXAMS ARE GOOOONE!!!! But not forever... Things only can get worse... (: Anyway, on a compleatly different matter, I found this on the Net...

Anyway, I also found this on the same theme tune. It gets a bit annoying after a while...

Merry 5th of December to you all, faithfull readers. All one of you. (:

Bye, Scott!

Iwan(:

Formula One and AIDS-Conected?

2008-12-02T08:26:00.000-08:00

Formula One. Otherwise known as F1.

I'm sure you know what they do. Race around in big expensive cars on circits until somebody wins. Oh joy. I've personally got absoloutly nothing against F1, and those who enjoy it, it's just why does it need to cost soooo much money?

Here Are Some Numbers.

First of all, Lewis Hamilton gets about 5%of the whole budget of the Mclaren team. That's 5%of $480 MILLION. In normal money, about £325.5 MILLION.

And that's quite a lot. In fact it's about... 16.275 MILLION. A year. For driving a car.

WHAT HAVE WE COME TO!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Millions of people in Africa are dying of AIDS. And we're paying Lewis Hamilton to drive around a track? A few decades ago, that was done for fun! NOT for money!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!

Anyway..

Here's a picture about AIDS.
And another..

You see, something needs to be done. Do something today. Don't watch Formula One.

Remeberance.... what?

2008-11-11T13:44:00.000-08:00

Today was Remeberance Day. It's the day that we all in "jolly old Britain" remember those who "Gallantly and bravely gave up their lives so we could live. They also gave up their lives for their king/queen and country."

Bull.

They gave their lives up because they had to, not because they wanted to. And, also, they didn't do it so we could live! Firstly, when the Germans would take over Britain, we wouldn't be shot. No, we would all be put in work camps, and worked until we learned German, and loved the Kaiser. So we would all be speaking German.

Lovley.

Anyway, I was disgusted at how our school did not represent Rememberance Day at all, even though it's to remember millions of people who've died in wars. So I was a rebel. I stood up in the middle of the hall after break and stood there quietly for two minutes(or close enough), and refused to talk, move or laught(or anything except for the nessecary functions).

Then the dinnerladies were like annoying but I just stared at them..
I have a mean stare- look0 >:¬|

GRRRRRRR.

So, that was my day. Yawn, I'm going to watch people being stupid on youtube, now.

I suggest you do the same.

Iwan.

Blah, Blah, Blah....

2008-11-08T06:42:00.000-08:00

I haven't got much to say, so I won't really say much.

On the other hand, I might as well rant on about SOMETHING!

Soon, we will be doing our mock exams. Now is it me, or is that incredibly stupid? I mean, we aren't finished with our courses, and the way that we're going, I don't think we will finish them. Oh well.

That's all.

Iwan.

AHAHAHA

2008-11-06T11:15:00.000-08:00

Cer i'r jawl, Emyr.

Right, It's simple enough, if you just...

2008-11-05T12:07:00.000-08:00

Right, as far as I can tell, we're in a "financial crisis", or a "Credit Crunch" or whatever. This, soon will turn into a recession, and we will all have to eat our own poo.

So here's my take on things.

As far as I can tell, BIG banks have been lending money they simply don't have. They lived in a wonderfull world where they could borrow £500 for 2% intrest, and lend it for 5,000,000,000% intrest.

So one day, one guy in America woke up and said "Oh, shit, I can't afford my bloody mortgage..."

So what's happening is because everybody's in debt and stuff, the banks are refusing to lend any money to anybody, so when a perfectly good graffics company in Slough goes bust, it won't be able to lend any money. Which means it'll go bust. And about 100 people will loose their jobs. In which case they won't be able to pay their mortgages, and the banks will reposess their houses and sell it for £2. Because NOBODY is buying houses any more. And then, that'll make the banks less likely to lend again. So we'll all be in the SHITS.

So kids will have coal for Christmas, instead of a Playstation, and the Playstation people will be made redundant. So those poor little people in Japan won't be able to celebrate Japanese Christmas. Japmas.

So, because that STUPID Americanbought that house for $200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 and had to borrow it all from the banks, You're buggered.

Oh, and just to give you some figures, Iceland is probably in the most SHIT.

It's banks are in six times more debt that THE WHOLE COUNTRY'S GDP!!!! That's scary.

And there's no point of increasing taxes, because nobody'll be able to pay them.
Theycould try printing more money, but that would bring inflation, so a loaf of bread will cost £20 Trillion. Seriously.

So, the governments will borow cash they can't repay. So they'll go bust as well. So they won't be able to pay the army. So there'll be civil disobediance. Which means everybody in the country that grow cabbages will be ok, unless people will come and steal them. So that's wrong. Everybody who lives in the country that grow cabbages will be ok, grated that they have a gun..

And then nobody will buy oil. So there'll be loads of fighting in Saudi Arabia. And Iraq, and them places.

But Sarah Palin will be ok, because she'll be up in Alaska burning Polar Bears to keep warm. No, not eating them. She'll eat shit like everyone else. Or stel cabbages. No she'll be burning them for heat.

SO-IF YOU ASK ME.. What you'll need is a damn good gun and a lot of ammo. It's quite possible to soot everyone in debt over.. say $/£100k?

Good, and while we're at it, let's shoot some bankers to boost morale as well.

That should do it.

Of course, it's possible by tomorrow, that it'll all be fine, and everybody'll own AT LEAST a Mercedes S-Class. In which case, we're all buggered again, because every other car company will collapse.

BUGGER...

You just can't win.

After all that, my fingers hurt.

Bye,
Iwan.

Daily Youtubeness, i just remembered.

Oh, what the hell, you deserve another for reading all that.

Oh, go on then, just another...

Are you more qualified than Sarah Palin? I bet you are...

2008-11-03T09:21:00.000-08:00

While on Facebook,( Add me!) I found this. I LOLed, to say it in Scott's words.

Right. I want you to tell me what you got.

http://www.brainfall.com/quizzes/are-you-more-qualified-than-sarah-palin/

This is what I got.

You are 83% more qualified than Sarah Palin. You're no short-term political stunt, you're the real deal, the VP the American people deserve. I guess your phone was off the hook when John McCain was calling around looking for a running mate... must've been one of those pesky robo-calls.

I'm better than Palin, and I'm 15, and I live in Wales. So I don't know too much about America. But Palin is a Dumb-Dumb.
Innit.

Go Obama! Last Day before the ELECTION!!!!!

O-Ba-Ma!
O-Ba-Ma!
O-Ba-Ma!

WOOT!

Haha, these are quite funny.

2008-10-30T14:24:00.001-07:00

Right.

While searching the "net" for interesting stuff, I found these clips and parodies of Star Wars.

Enjoy.

Haha, a bit boring at the beginning, but it just shows that Lord Vader is actually just a real Guy.

Next, please.

I wanted to be "Red Leader" when I ws Likkle. I thought I could have done a better job.

That one's good.

Check out the 1 and 2 part on Youtube, though. Luushin.

NEXT!

NO! WINDU!!

Anyway.

After that sadness, I'm leaving you with this quote:
“To make a man perfectly happy tell him he works too hard, that he spends too much money, that he is ''misunderstood'' or that he is ''different''; none of this is necessarily complimentary, but it will flatter him infinitely more that merely telling him that he is brilliant, or noble, or wise, or good.”
Helen Rowland quotes (English-American writer, 1876-1950)

Think about it.

Iwan.

Pah. Fringe Sucks. Watch Sanctuary.

2008-10-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

According to Scott, in his last post, you should watch Fringe. Don't.

Watch Sanctuary. Also, I can't be bothered to explain it, so Wikipedia shall do it for me.

Sanctuary follows the exploits of Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) as she seeks out all manner of terrifying and monstrous creatures. Some of these creatures she needs to lock up to protect the public, and some of them she needs to protect from the public. She is aided in her quest by her reluctant protégé Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne), her intrepid, if somewhat reckless, daughter Ashley (Emilie Ullerup), the talkative geek Henry Foss (Ryan Robbins), a computer and security expert, and Bigfoot (uncredited actor), her taciturn Neanderthal-like assistant.

The central plots of the webisodes and TV episodes that cover the same story line are the same, yet like different eye witnesses recounting the same events, there are some relatively significant discrepancies in the actions, dialogue, and guest characters between the webisodes and TV versions.

WOW.

It's on ITV4 on Monays but if you haven't seen it, catch up on the NET. Because it's a bit complicated.

Oh, and Tapping's daughter is HOT.

And Tapping herself isn't doing too badly...

For 43! O:

Also, I bought a scarf today. I don't know why you'd like to know that, but eh.

Also, I have another cool video from youtube for you to watch.

Haha.

What the FUCK do you mean 3% commission?

I think I'll have a Video from the Tube of You on here everytime I blogg.

Good Plan aye?

Night,
Iwan.

Arr, this one bee funny.

2008-10-22T10:21:00.000-07:00

Arr, this one bee funny.

Bill the Bisexual

2008-10-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

Hello.

English lessons are getting on my nerves ever so slightly... They have been getting really crap, and I soo want a better teacher. Like Miss Tilly. Miss Tilly taught me in yr 7, and I had the MOST AMAZING English lessons with her. She was a better teacher that Miss Bressington, and more experienced.

Miss Bressington is very young, having only just come out of teaching collage. That's a little bit silly, I hear you say. Yes it is, because she's teaching set 1, even though sometimes I find she hasn't got a clue what's going on. I don't want her to teach me nothing! ( I know that was wrong, 'twas a DOUBLE NEGATIVE.)

And we're doing coursework on Macbeth as well, which we haven't done enough on.

Also Macbeth is, how would you say it?... Oh yeah, SHIT.

ARR.

I hate Shakespeare. Also they think Bill Shakespeare was bisexual. Which brings me on to another subject. Bisexuals are REALLY greedy. Don't you think? I do. Why can't they make their mind up on who they want to sleep with?!

Man-Man,
Man-Woman.

Woman-Woman,
Woman-Man.

Yeah, that's what's going throught a Bisexual's mind while deciding who to have sex with.

Sorry, that was a bit mean, but I've just been watching Torchwood with a friend, and I had to get Captain Jack Harcknes'antics off of my mind. So sorry, Bisexuals, I might like you as people, but not in bed.

Arrr,
That was random.

Iwan

Foofin' Foof.

2008-10-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

I thought I might start off with something random, so foof.

Hellobytheway.

School was ok today. But then I realised that it wasn't when I forgot my pencil case and physics folder. It turns out my Mam brought these up, JUST after I told Mr Webb that I didn't have them at break time.

Foof.

So I pretended that I didn't have it because I was too embarassed to show him that I did have it after I told him I didn't. *gasp* .But i9t turns out that Mr Webb had other plans. We started another thing, so I didn't actually need the folder that my Mam brought up to the school for me (this is a 15 min drive bytheway, just so you know.), and I could have just asked for a pen.

OOHH!

My friend, Hannah Kennedy, has recently awakened from a coma. After being in a coma for 4.5 years, she's now 18, although her mind keeps telling her she's 14. Uh-oh. But at least she's ok. They were talking about turning the machine off.

But that would not have done, eh?

On another note, Miss Tomos, you bitch, you killed the FROG PEN!!!!

ANGRY!

Anyways, I don't really have much more to say, so I'm buggering off.

Bye,
Iwan.

An angry bitch, Belgium and Amanda Tapping...

2008-10-14T09:25:00.000-07:00

Hi

I was going to blogg about how mean Miss Tomos was Yesterday, but I forgot why, so I'm not going to. But she is a bitch, aye. She shouted at us because we were happy. GAWD- SHE SHOULD BE HAPPY! And... we were happy in a maths lesson... WEIRD!

And the bitch wouldn't do the frog pen thing. So Scott and I started to get a bit upset.(for you who don't know what the frog pen thing is- it's a pen with a frog on the top, which if you press a button, makes a sound :O i know, brilliant or what?)

On a lighter note, though... I'M GOING TO BELGIUM!!!!! Yay! And so is... Tad, David, Daniel and other friends, so I'm happy.

Ooooooh! Sanctuary is out by the way, so watch it. It's weird because Amanda Tapping has a British accent- VERY posh. AND she has brown hair!! WEIRD.

So life is good(apart from Miss T. GRRRRR.)

Iwan

P.S. Yes, Scott, I do dare shoot your cat.

Belgium... A country which I'm not going to be going to with a school trip. Probably.

2008-10-01T08:57:00.000-07:00

Hi.

Today, we got a letter in Welsh describing a trip. A very wonderfull trip that I have been looking forward to since year 10. And now my hopes have been SMASHED.

Yeah. Not nice is it? And I'll tell you why. This trip is a trip to Belgium. As a matter of fact, we'll be seeing some graves, some musuems and trenches. But it's an awfully popular trip, and 4 classes are allowed to go. But only 1 bus. And guess what? It's not first come first serve!!

They're picking the names out of a hat. OUT OF A FRIGGING HAT!!

Now this is as I have already said, a very popular trip, and alkmost EVERYONE wants to go. Overall then, that makes about.... 105 ish people that will give the permission slips and money in. But only 50 places. Therefore, 55 people will be dissapointed.

And I'll probably be one of them. Knowing my luck, all of those people who want to go because they'll be able to buy the famous belgian choclate will go. None of us cultured people with bloggs.

YEAH.

And that's why I'm pissed off today.

Thank you, and goodbye.

Iwan.

P.S. I shot your cat.

No, I refuse. I don't have a cat....

2008-09-28T04:37:00.000-07:00

Hello.

I haven't blogged in awhile, so i thought i might.

So. Here I go.

Don't you hate those spam things that say things like "OMG GET THIS! THIS IS SO TRU!!!OMG!!! READ THIS MESSAGE AND FORWARD IT A MILLION TIMES BEFORE MIDNIGHT AND YOU WILL SEE YOUR CRUSH'S NAME ON THE SCREEN! IF YOU DON'T, THEN YOUR CAT WILL SHAG NEXT DOOR'S DOG AND MYSTERIOUSLY DIE!! SOOOO WEIRD! DO IT! OMG!"

Sort of thing. And then there's the people who beleive that it'll come true! I tried one that at the end you had to press F6. My computer died. It was a Trojan Horse (I think...). But now I saw how stupid I was to trust that stupid spam junk thing. How is your fucking computer going to work out your crush's name just because you reposted something a few times!?!?! AND WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON'T HAVE A FUCKING CRUSH!!!?!?!?!?!?!??????

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

Sorry about that. But it is true. Oh and don't bother reposting those spam things if you see them ever again. Your cat isn't going to die. Stop caring about your cat. Your cat ISN'T GOING TO DIE!!! YOU DON'T HAVE A FUCKING CAT!!!!

That's all for now,

Angry as ever,
Iwan (:

AAAARGH!!! SOO BOOOOOORED!!!

2008-09-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I've not got a lot to rant about today, so I wont.

Quite frankly, I'm really disgusted with people who just KEEEEP ON RANTING!!! I just find it a bit tedious and annoying. And to tell you the truth, I could do with eatring a steak this very second!!!!!!!!AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!!!

No, I'm not drunk, I just don't have anything decent to do. That doesn't include the following:

Blogging,
Internet Gaming,
Flute Practice,
Homework,
Killing Spree.

These are all boring.

SO THERE.

Afternoon'

Iwan (:

I didn't know pigs were allowed to teach...

2008-09-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

Holy Moly! I Haven't blogged in AAAAGES now!

So here I am, blogging.

Erm, there isn't really much to blogg about...except, Miss Piggy has started teaching!!!! Now if you're sad enough to read this even if you don't know me, then I suppose I should explain who Miss Piggy is. No, it isn't that qute little puppet. It's the hideously fat and ugly teacher that teaches music in my school. To my knowlage, she has never(I stress the word never) taught anybody in her whole entire life.

O:

But all of a sudden, she's started teaching people. Including year 11(Moi.)!!! Now, that may be just a coincidence, but a very large number of pupils have complained to heads of years, and even the headteacher(we have a new head now, btw.) that she's shit, and possibly one of the largest complaints came from me. I wrote down 43 quotes and read them to the headmaster, who in turn shut me up, because I could have gone on for another 29 quotes(he got the picture.).

So, rejoice! The Piggy teaches!!!

Lots of love and kisses and punches and kicks and shotgun wounds,

Iwan (:

Reply to Ryan's Blog. What I would if I were in charge.

2008-09-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

I'm just replying to Ryan's blogg, which was extremely good, if I may say so.

Now here's a list of things that I would do if I were in charge.

*I'd line up all members of the BNP against a wall and castrate them as slowly and as painfully as possible. And for the women.... Why not think of an extremely cruel tortue and comment me? I'd be happy to take your suggestions.

*I'd do one better than Ryan. I'd ban McDonald's alltogether from making profit. They can make JUST enough to live, and to pay their workers and make food, to the best standards possible. The rest of the money will go to destroying world poverty.

*I'd ban women from walking around in Wales in only a bikini, and men without tops. This is not because I'm asexual, because I'm not, but the mere fact that they walk around WALES in almost nothing never ceases to amaze me.

*I agree with Ryan on the political correctness, the newspapers, Wales being it's own country, a ban on smoking and of course the assaination of Mr Blobby.

*I'd stop all the fat-cat bosses from making billions in profit without paying tax- there's £24 BILLION owed to our government in tax by big buisnesses. And they complain that the NHS is in £1 million pounds of debt!

*And there's the other thing. The NHS shouldn't actually be in debt. It's actually a state owned thing so therefore, it can't possibly be in debt. No, seriously. It can't, it's impossible.

*And before I start ranting on, Sarah Palin, and all peopple who agree with her that global warming is not man-made will be painfully shot in their penises or vaginas, and left on the side of a crubling ice shelf(after being tied down, so they cant escape.). Not man made eh? She's going.. going.. CRASH!!!!!! Gone.

*And last but not least, all music teachers who have not bothered to teach for aaaaages (Miss Piggy included) will be personally decapitated by me. Very slowly. With a spoon. (Actually, this is for the benifit of all future children, especially those who will be taught be the Piggynatoooor!)

And in about a month's time i will add to this list of stuff.

Unless I forget. Which i probably will.

Bugger.

That's all for now,

Iwann.

(I have two "n"'s in my name now (:) <---Argh! WEIRD SMILEY!!!!!!

Bye.

Properly now.

Bye,
Iwan (:

I feel Guilty. But perhaps not in a bad way.

2008-09-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

Hi, I was thinking last night about some things, and suddenly I decided that life was unfair. Yeah, i said to myself, " You know, life is really unfair. It's so hard and painfull. Why?".

But then I went outside at 11:47. There was much cloudyness, but for a few minutes, just a few, a part of sky above my head was clear. Clear as a.... window. And you know what I could see? I saw above. Yeah, above. And I actually started to cry, because a few minutes ago I was asking myself why life was so hard, and here in my garden I saw something that I didn't see a few minutes ago. Above.

It was amazing. Not just because I could actually see the sky, but because I could see what was beond the sky. Beond the atmosphere. Space. Everything.

I did a bit of research a few minutes ago, trying to find some stuff out about the night sky. And my, oh my did I find some amazing things. It made me feel so small. Did you know, that some of the stars we can see are actually stars that have died? And died for a very long time. But our universe is so huge that the final light from that Solar System hasn't actually reached ours yet. It just keeps on coming. Because we're that far away. And guess what? The furthest star we can see is actually in OUR galaxy. That means It's in The Milky Way. Now, I'm not trying to make this complicated, but here are some numbers.

Our galaxy is about 100,000 Light years across. A SINGLE light year consists of about 10 TRILLON kilometers. Now multiply 10 trillion with 100,000. That's the size of our GALAXY. Yes. Quite big, isn't it? And our universe is estimated to house roughly 200-400 BILLION galaxies. Deep.

And that's why I cried. I didn't know those exact numbers at the time, but I knew that the Universe is Bloody big,(Bloody deserves a capital "B" here) and that made me feel guilty. It made me feel as I was just a microscopic little spec in the eyes of everything, and that my life doesn't really matter in the grand old scheme of things. And I was complaining about how bad life is? You have roughly 1 in 20 million chance of being born for goodness sake! I'm lucky to be alive, not unlucky to be alive. So I'm going to treasure that. Exactly like I treasure my friends, family and the world around me. The less than perfect, but still amazing world that I live on.

If you've read all of that, I thank you, and I apoplogize for any spelling errors.

That all for now,

Iwan (:

Maths sucks.....But on a lighter note...

2008-09-15T08:24:00.000-07:00

AAAARGH!!! MATHS SUUUUCKS!!!

Oh, hi by the way.
I had maths today, can you tell? We walked into the classroom and Miss Tomos (:S) said that we were going to do trigonometry today. My heart sank. And then she said that this trigonometry was going to be herder than normal trigonometry. ( I'm going to call it Trig from now on, ok?) My heart sank even more.

But then came the silly bit. She started teaching us about how somebody worked out this formula, and taught us about how we can work it out if we forgot the formula (which is stupid because it's at the beginning of the exam, thikie.). I wrote some of this down, but then got confused, and gave up. Then Miss T told us that we didn't actually need to know this and was just saying it so SOME people could understand it. You know the brainy people. Now, to me, that is a LITTLE bit annoying. As in- "Most of you won't understand this, but because 2 or 3 of you will, I'm going to waste half of the lesson explaining something compleatly ridiculous.".

Also, Scott and I(You know who you are Scott, give yourself a round of applause!) was amazed that some REALLY sad person decided one day to go to work and sit down in front of a tringle and work out how you can find out what the length of a side of a triangle is just by using the rest of the sides and the angle. (It's called the pythagoras theorem, Genius. He did manage it roughly 550B.C.)

But on a lighter note, I've got my piano lesson in 55 minutes. Happy, happy, happy.

And to finish off I found a joke on the web. Nice.

Jesus in a Bar
An Australian, an Irishman and a Newfie are in a bar. They're staring at another man. Suddenly the Irishman says, 'It's Jesus!' Sure enough,it is Jesus, nursing a pint. Thrilled, they send him over a pint Of Guinness, a pint of Fosters and a Bottle of Molson Canadian.

Jesus accepts the drinks, smiles over at the three men, and drinks the pints slowly, one after another.

After he's finished the drinks, Jesus approaches the trio.

He reaches for the hand of the Irishman and shakes it, thanking him for the Guinness. When he lets go, the Irishman gives a cry of amazement, 'My God! the arthritis I've had for 30 years is gone. It's a miracle!'

Jesus then shakes the Aussie's hand, thanking him for the lager. As he lets go, the man's eyes widen in shock. 'Strewth mate, the bad back I've had all my life is completely gone! It's a miracle.'

Jesus then approaches the Newfie who knocks over a chair and a table in trying to get away from the Son of God. 'What's wrong, my son?' asked Jesus.

The Newfie shouts, 'F*** off, I'm on workers compensation.'

Thanks for reading,

Iwan(:

What garlic is to food, insanity is to art.

2008-09-14T06:43:00.000-07:00

Afternnon' young laddie/lassie.
Food with my second cousin and family was REEEEAAALLY nice, although they did overdo the garlic in the steak's sauce.I stunk afterwards. Oh well. I had a look in her brand spanking new Audi A5. 'Twas really nice. But i tell you what, I felt really sorry for her. She doesn't have any kids and her husband is about 30 years older that her. She's really fat as well, but that's just an afterthought.(:

By the way, I have noticed how you can't use smileys on Blogger, so that's a downside, but who cares, and actually, these ones- (: are actually way cuter. (:

I was watching some Barack Obama speeches recently, and I came across this one, wich shows how brilliant that guy really is. Not only has he compassion for his own family, but he's defending Sarah Palin's daughter! What a guy.

I want to point out that I'm interested in this kind of stuff, and I'm writing about it as it happens. If you don't understad me in any way, email me or CHECK IT OUT YOURSELVES!!!! (: Not trying to be mean.

That's all for now,

Iwan. (:

Nothing really to blogg about but I still am

2008-09-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

Hi, I went to Ogmore today. That's all I've really got to say, axcept that I'm going to a restaraut with my family tonight, but I'll be home late so I'll have to blogg about it when I'm next on.

I must say though. Ogmore was lush. I threw a stone into the sea and a dog ran up to it and took it back out (:

WOOHOOO.

Right.

Thanks for reading.

Iwan (:

I'm ffed up.

2008-09-12T11:46:00.000-07:00

As you have probably worked out from the title, I'm ffed up. Yes! Ffed Up!!!! That means that I'm not too happy, a bit miffed off or ever feeling a bit shit. It's not as if I'm an EMO or anything, but I'm just not really in a good mood. Which means I'm going to start ranting about something right abouuuuuuut......... NOW!!

Right, first of all, I want to start ranting about political correctness. Now don't get me wrong, I'm very happy with some of this, but sometimes it goes a LIIIITLE bit too far. For example, you're not allowed to sing " Ba Ba Black sheep" anymore, because it's racist. Now, sorry but the fact that black sheep exist is a good enough reason for me to sing about them. And, the fact that it's RACIST is just ridiculous! I mean if you destroy all evidence that there are black things on this planet, then aren't black people going to get a TEEENSIE bit annoyed? But that's just my understanding. And I'm a bit funny around these areas, (I understad laws of physics, not so much laws of Parliment....) and so I don't want to seem as if I take the feelings of others as granted, so write to me at my EMAAAAAAIL if you dissagree.

Now another rant that I'm going to go on is Useless and pointless words. Yes there are some. Actually, there are many. But I'm tooooo lazy to list them all here so here are a few examples. For example, there is the " Hotel invented" ... MINIBAR. Yes, it's pointless. And I'll tell you why. In fact the minibar is actually just a fridge with rather expencive peanuts and lager in it. Now as Mark Watson said, "If it was actually a Mini-Bar, then it would in reality have little, tiny people being sick outside, wouldn't you?". Thanks, Mark for that quote. Oh and you know just a second ago I said that I would show you a few examples. Well I'm not. That's all you're getting.

Something that I've just very recently become ffed up with is Bebo. It's getting ratherly boring by now, and I have to amuse myself when i go on it by feeding my internet animals and watching people's video boxes. HOW SAD. But I think it's all to do with the fact that NOBODY COMMENTS ANY MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Grrr. But who give's a flying mokey's feces? Not you or me. (Feces means Poop, by the waaay.)

Now, it's not as if i'm bored of ranting, and that I have nout more to say, beacuse I have,( I could go on for HOOOOOOOOOOOURS.) but I'm ending the blog here. I'm too lazy to carry on. So, Hwyl fawr and thanks for reading.

Iwan

I don't care if anyone reads, I'm just writing.

Sorry, but it's politics again...

Exams. Ranting style.

Films.

Geography Coursework.

Forecasted: Snowstorm...

About that thing about apples.....

My Mother is on Facebook.

ARSE.

Right, one down...

A Mystery to me....

Hmmmm...

I don't quite agree, there...

On an other subject...

Just a quick hello...

Formula One and AIDS-Conected?

Remeberance.... what?

Blah, Blah, Blah....

AHAHAHA

Right, It's simple enough, if you just...

Are you more qualified than Sarah Palin? I bet you are...

Haha, these are quite funny.

Pah. Fringe Sucks. Watch Sanctuary.

Arr, this one bee funny.

Bill the Bisexual

Foofin' Foof.

An angry bitch, Belgium and Amanda Tapping...

Belgium... A country which I'm not going to be going to with a school trip. Probably.

No, I refuse. I don't have a cat....

AAAARGH!!! SOO BOOOOOORED!!!

I didn't know pigs were allowed to teach...

Reply to Ryan's Blog. What *I* would if I were in charge.

I feel Guilty. But perhaps not in a bad way.

Maths sucks.....But on a lighter note...

What garlic is to food, insanity is to art.

Nothing really to blogg about but I still am

I'm ffed up.

Reply to Ryan's Blog. What I would if I were in charge.