1000909 Turn Off Your TV!

Turn Off Your TV!

A new study reveals that watching less television may lead to a longer life

August 17, 2011

By Alice Park

Sitting in front of the television may be relaxing, but spending too much time in front of the tube may take years off your life.

That's what Australian researchers found when they collected TV viewing information from more than 11,000 people older than 25 years. The study found that people who watched an average six hours of TV a day lived an average 4.8 years less than those who didn't watch any television. Also, every hour of TV that participants watched after age 25 was associated with a 22-minute reduction in their life expectancy.

What’s Going On?

It's no mystery that sitting in front of the tube isn't exactly healthy. The more TV you watch, the less physically active you are. And the less exercise you get, the more likely you are to develop diseases such as diabetes or heart problems.

Lennert Veerman is the lead author of the study, which was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Veerman works at the University of Queensland. He acknowledges that it may not just be the sedentary nature of watching TV that lowers life expectancy, but also the poor diet that onscreen junk-food advertising can promote. But Veerman says that the association between watching too much TV and lower life expectancy persisted, even after adjusting for diet.

Veerman says that it might make sense for doctors to start asking their patients about how much time they spend in front of the TV, and to treat TV time as they would other risk factors for poor health, such as lack of exercise and an unhealthy diet.

Veerman points out that people who are concerned can simply turn off the TV and gett off the couch. "Exercise is good," he says, "but even light physical activity also improves health."

Max- After August, we start school again at September. We could not relax anymore after this, but we had lot of fun at summer. Some people do some outdoor activities in summer, and some people play computer games and watch TV for the whole summer. Researchers found out watching TV for a long time can take years off from your life. Because we may watch TV for a few hours during the whole summer, so we would get unhealthy. As we say some people are couch potatoes, this is worse than just being a couch potato. I can’t even imagine that your life would shorten for a few years by just doing such a thing that’s not important like smoking and drinking alcohol! So maybe couch potatoes should spend less time watching TV, and go to exercise to have a healthier body!

1000902What makes a good teacher-Max

What Makes a Good Teacher?

By Max

     Everyone in the whole world can see a teacher during school. Teachers are always very good tyo students, because teachers need to give effort to the students to let them study well.

     But in our real life, not every teacher is good in school, and that is because of the way of how they teach is different. For some teachers, the way they teach is good and effective. But some other teachers treat students very badly, even though they want their students behave well, but the wrong way has the opposite effect.

     I am a smart student, and I met a lot of teachers before. The teacher I liked the most is the teacher who taught me from third to fourth grade. She is very kind and not really strict. Even the way she taught isn’t very good, but she sometimes talks about some stories to let us relax. I can always get high scores in this class because I am happy about studying in this class.

     If I can pick a teacher to teach me, I wish I can pick the kind of teacher that can be kind, that can accompany me, and teach me things that I don’t know. Because I am the kind of student that studies everything I need to know, so I wish I could have this kind of teacher.

     Everyone doesn’t like the same kind of teacher, because their personality isn’t the same. I think every kind of student matches with the exact kind of teacher. This may be a good way to be a good and happy student.

1000805 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Report

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Report

By Max

After I saw the movie “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”, even I almost threw up bacause it was boring, but after I read the book, it beacme interesting.

This book is very funny because half of the things it contains are nonsense. The author, Douglas Adams is making fun of the way people live and value things that aren’t really important. So today I’m going to write a book report about this!

At the start of the book, the author mentions some green pieces of paper and digital watches. Of course, this has nothing to do with the story, so maybe the author is just having fun with this. But if you read that part again and again, you might think it will be interested in what is he talking about. I have no idea what he means when he is talking about the small pieces of green paper, but I may know about the digital watches. In the story, he wrote a lot of people are mean and miserable, even “the people with digital watches”. Why? I think he says this becuase people are getting richer and can buy things they want, but a few days after buying that, they would be unhappy and start to want something else. This process lasts forever. This part is just the preface, and I now think he is talking about the people’s feelings on Earth, rather than just talking nonsense. You may understand this part even if you forget about those small pieces of green paper.

When you do some exercises like climbing mountains and running, you can use a towel to dry your sweat. Towels are a regular thing. We may know how towels work in a regular way: washing your face, cleaning yourself, and washing other things with it, etc, but in this book, the author writes some ridiculous ways to use a towel when you are a hitchhiker. He says, you can lie on it when you want to take a rest. You can use the towel as a pillow to sleep on. You can use it as an oar to sail a boat. You can even use it as a hat to avoid something falling on you. And the most ridiculous way, if you are a hitchhiker with a towel, and you are traveling with a nonhitchhiker (which is also called a strag), the strag will assume that you have any supplies he might need, just because you also have a towel. After reading this book, I really thought about why I didn’t know these purposes of the towel, even though they are crazy! I really approve the author’s imagination because of his comments about the towel.

Do you have fish in the fish tank that you need to feed? I believe many people have them. On Earth, we can feed fish to prevent being bored, to make ourselves feel happy, or feed the fish to eat them later. But in this book, it introduces a different way to use fish. Even though it looks like a ordinary fish, the fish is called a Babel Fish. When you need to use this fish, you need to let it go into your ear, which is really yucky because you may be uncomfortable having a slimy thing in your ear. The fish becomes a tool to translate what you hear. I think this part of the movie is very funny because Ford tried to stuff the Babel fish into Arthur’s ear. The fish keeps sliding in and out because Arthur wants to let the fish out of his ear. I can only say it is very cool and extraordinary, but a bit slimy.

The last thing I would say is about the “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. Remember I’m not talking about the book you guys read! I’m talking about the guide that appears in the movie, but for a different function. In the movie, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” is just like an iPod with a keyboard. It is rectangular, and it can tell any information you need to know. The only thing different is that the icons are bar-shaped, and when you choose a bar, you need to type something to make it find the information you want to know. This machine is just like a electronic dictionary, but it not only can find words, but everything. So this is a good invention for all the characters in the film, and it helped Arthur and the other people a lot. After I saw this machine in the movie, I thought the movie is talking about the machine! I realized, however that they are different

This movie is really sci-fi. Even though the aliens looked very ugly, they actually were very smart! I thought their home is very ugly, but they were very clean. They also invented a lot of things that we don’t have. The movie always tested my ideas. Overall I think this movie is a little bit hard to understand, but it is still better than I thought.

1000723 "Disaster Movie" Movie Review

“Disaster Movie” Movie Review

By Max

     Disaster Movie is a comedy film made by Jason Friedburg. The plot is about the end of the world, August 29, 2008 has been predicted in the ancient years. In that same day, Will and his friends and some guests are having a “Super Duper Sweet Sixteen” party in his house. At suddenly, the house started to shake hardly, and Will and his friends knew about the earthquake is caused by a meteor rain, if they don’t return the crystal skull they have to the altar, it is the end of the world! So they start their journey to bring back the crystal skull.

     I think the camera work was perfect, like the crazy Chipmunks wanted to kill Juney in the shelter, and they ate her vertebrae. That vertebrae was just like a real one, it was emersed from her body, so I felt it was a bit scary. The effects are also good too, at the part of the three heroes wanted to fight with the natural disaster, instead of winning, they are all knocked by some big cows falling from the sky. It was pretty funny because when the Green Hulk wanted to fight it, his pants are blown away and he is very shy. He is also knocked by the cows.

     At the scene of everyone leaving the city, Batman talks to Will and realizes that is 5:30pm, he hooks the rope to the roof of a building, but misses and accidentally hooks to the back of a car, Batman ends with being pulled by the car and hit a lot of things. At that scene it was pretty funny because of Batman doing the wrong thing.

1000721 Scary Movie 4 Movie Review(Edited)

Scary Movie 4 Movie Review

By Max

     Scary Movie 4 is a comedy movie directed by David Zucker. In the movie, the main character Cindy finds work with a home healthcare company taking care of an old woman who lives in a scary house. Her neighbor Tom falls in love with her after she moved in, but aliens invade the world and everything gets crazy. I really enjoy watching this movie because the unique lighting and special effects make the humorous scenes standout. Further, the screen writing always keeps me thinking. Let’s take a closer look. 

     This movie’s lighting is overall very good, but the scene where Cindy and the other supporting characters are trapped in a bathroom really demonstrates solid light work. At first the bathroom the bathroom is pitch black, then lights turn on flickering and we are left with an image of them wearing a venus fly trap.  It’s hilarious.

I also like this movie’s special effects very much, for instance when the Tripods come out from the road and transformed into aliens.  This is extremely funny because the Tri-pods actually looked like I-pods at first, and we are expecting some very scary aliens to emerge, not mp3 players.  The special effects men also do a very nice job transforming the shape of the Tripods from an I-pod into a cockroach-like creature. It is fantastic. 

     Throughout the movie, the screen writing really makes the jokes enjoyable. There is one scene where the president of the United States is testing out a weapon which makes people’s clothes disappear. Of course we wind up with a naked President on screen! I think everyone can find things to make them laugh in Scary Movie 4. I highly recommend it.

1000719 Scary Movie 4 Movie Review

Scary Movie 4 Movie Review

By Max

     Scary Movie 4 is a comedy movie directed by David Zucker. In the movie, Cindy finds work in home healthcare to take care of an old woman in a scary house. Her neighbor, Tom, loves Cindy after she came. But, alien invaded the world, so Tom leaves with his son and daughter to the battlefield where the U.S. fights with the Tripods, and Cindy leaves with Brenda, another person that she met, to a village that can’t leave when staying it. They met each other again in the bathroom at the start, and they need to play a game with Billy Puppet to save the world and themselves.

     The scenes include Shaq and Dr. Phil in the bathroom with nerve gas in it, the scary house that Cindy need to take care of an old woman, the street that the Tripods started to invade Earth, the village that Cindy and Brenda went to, the battlefield that the U.S. army fought with the Tripods, and the bathroom that they woke up the next morning (It is the same bathroom in the start!), and some more scenes.

     This movie’s lighting is very good, though, even there is a lot of scenes are dark, but the lighting is great in the lighter scenes. About the camera work, it is very good too, with some shots of close and some far images. I like this movie’s effects very much, like the Tripod came out from the road, and it transformed into an alien. The huge laser rays and explodes are making the scene like a true thing happened here!

1000715 Youtube

Youtube

By Max

     Youtube is a web page that has many videos on it. It brought people some entertainment on the web, and you can relax and watch some videos without going outside.

     We could see some movies, concerts and songs on Youtube, not only watching videos. These video clips are being posted to Youtube by us, so using this way is like sharing some videos on the web.

     Youtube also helps our homework, too. When we need to write a project about the environment, you just enter the word on Youtube and you can see videos that are related to it. We could see that many education videos are also posted on Youtube, so this is also one of some good ways to learn things on the web.

     Everyone has some experience about using Youtube. Like me, I registered a Youtube account, and posted some of my own made videos on Youtube. While doing that, I also watch other people’s videos, and I sometimes will leave a comment or question about the video. After I learned about Youtube, I and my brother really liked to see Billboard Hot 100. It is very good to watch!

     Saying of Youtube, it is very convenient! When you want to see some concerts and movies, and hear some music, you just find them in Youtube! You can never spend money to see concerts and movies, and CD’s too!

1000709 The Sun’s Legend

The Sun’s Legend

By Max

     About 460 million years ago, our solar system was born. In the solar system, there are a few planets inside; one of them is the Sun. The Sun is very bright and hot, but it gave our planet brightness and warm climates until now.

     There are also some Chinese legends about the Sun. According to one famous legend, there are ten suns on the sky in ancient China, so the weather became very hot, and the crops died, so the people have nothing to eat. One famous archer called Hou Yi wanted to save the world from starving to death, so he used his bow and arrows and shot down nine of the ten suns. Because there is only a sun on the sky, so people can live happily again.

     After Hou Yi shot down the nine suns, the Jade Emperor was very angry because of the ten suns were his sons and Hou Yi shot down nine of them, so he banished Hou Yi and his wife. The Goddess saw this, so she gave him an elixir of immortality. But his wife is very greedy; she drank the potion and started flying to the moon. So that’s why there is also a legend about Chang O flying to the Moon.

     The sun is very important to us, and if one day the sun doesn’t exist anymore, then we won’t survive anymore.

1000708 About the Moon

About the Moon

By Max

     If you notice the sky every night, you would see the moon. Every night, the moon would appear in the sky, but sometimes it is round, sometimes it is curve-shaped, and sometimes it won’t appear. Because the sun reflects sunlight to the moon, and it let the moon shine on some parts of the moon. So that’s why you can see a round moon in the 15^th day on every lunar month.

     When we see the moon on Earth, it looks like a ball. But actually, when one day you step on the Moon, you can see many craters on the surface. Because many meteorites and some small rocks from space would hit the moon, but there’s no sound. Because of the craters, some Taiwanese people would say there’s a rabbit on the moon when it’s a full moon.

     A Chinese holiday called Moon Festival is also related to the moon. At August 15^th in the lunar calendar, we would eat barbecue and eat some pomelos and moon cakes. Finally, we would see the full moon above the sky. Even I think Moon Festival is only like eating foods in the festival, but I think it is very fun.

     Because the moon is a close planet from us, so we should learn more from the moon. There is other many things from our lives are related to the moon too!

1000702 Science of Babies

Science of Babies

By Max

     Babies are the start of all humans. If we don’t be a baby for the first six years, we wouldn’t know how to walk, talk, and eat and some other things we need to learn later. Learning these things is very important in our future lives.

   We know that every baby is not really same about their skin color, their face, and also about their expressions after they were born. The baby’s inherent and outside relations to his dad and mom’s DNA, so some parts of the baby is like his dad, and the other parts of the baby is like his mom.

     Some babies are born with some fragmentary parts, because their body parts hadn’t grown well in the mother’s uterus. These kinds of babies should need more care and accompany from their father and mother. Even if it’s a normal baby, his father and mother should do the same thing too, to let themselves ready for their future lives.

     Some people have racial discrimination, that will discriminate some kinds of people, but I’m still sure that, every baby can be a good person in the future, that can work very hard, but also cares about their father and mother.
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/explorer/3090/Overview#tab-Videos/02983_05

1000629 A Burning Issue

A Burning Issue

New sunscreen rules make for a healthier summer

By Cameron Keady

School's out for summer! June 21 marked the official first day of the highly anticipated season. Students nationwide will soon be out of the classroom and in the warm summer rays. However, there will soon be a new set of rules for fun in the sun. On June 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced new regulations for sunscreen labeling.

The rules will go into effect next summer. They require sunscreen makers to create and advertise products that protect against both UVA and UVB rays. Both kinds of rays can cause skin cancer. UVB rays cause sunburn. New sunscreen labeling must clearly explain the effectiveness of the sunscreen and the level of protection it offers. "These changes to sunscreen labels are an important part of helping consumers have the information they need so they can choose the right sun protection for themselves and their families," said Dr. Janet Woodcock, FDA drug division director.

Word Play

The hot term to look for on new labels is "broad spectrum," which means that the sunscreen protects against both UVA and UVB rays. Past sunscreen labels have advertised protection only against UVB rays. If a sunscreen does not meet this broad-spectrum standard, its label must include a warning saying it hasn't been shown to help reduce the sun's harmful effects.

The new rules also require manufacturers to shift from labeling sunscreen as "waterproof" or "sweatproof," terms the FDA has referred to as "exaggerations of performance," to terms like "water resistant." Calling a product waterproof suggests sunscreen does not need to be reapplied after swimming or sweating, putting consumers at a greater risk for sunburn and skin disease. New labels will provide a time frame indicating how long sunscreen is effective while swimming or sweating.

Strength in Numbers

The sun protection factor, or SPF, is a familiar label to sunscreen users. SPF labels give a number, usually anywhere between 2 and 50. Some labels go as high as 100. People who want greater sun protection often reach for sunscreens with a high SPF number. The FDA's new guidelines call into question the effectiveness of sunscreens with SPFs higher than 50. "Right now, we don't have any data to show that anything above [SPF] 50 adds any value for anybody," Dr. Woodcock told the New York Times. Unless manufacturers can provide solid results of protection by sunscreens with a higher SPF, the FDA is proposing to limit sun protection factors to 50.

On the lower end of the number spectrum, sunscreens with an SPF between 2 and 14 are required to have a warning label: "This product has been shown only to help prevent sunburn, not skin cancer or early aging." With more than 1 million Americans diagnosed each year with skin cancer, the FDA believes that new labeling guidelines will help people protect themselves from the sun.

Max- It's summer right now, so when the weather is very hot, many people will go to the beach. But, the sun is very bright, do you know that playing in the beach will cause sunburn? Becuase of this, we would spread some sunscreen to protect ourselves from sunburn. Two kinds of rays will cause sunburn, called UVA and UVB sunrays, and those two rays can also cause skin cancer. Most people wanted to prevent sunburn, so they buy sunscreen with a higher SPF. And some sunscreens with a lower SPF only prevents us from sunburn, but does not prevent us from skin cancer.  So if you go to the beach, you should notice about the sunscreen you spread on, then you can prevent yourself form sunburn and skin cancer!   

1000625 A Balanced Food Plate

A Balanced Food Plate

The USDA replaces the traditional food pyramid with a simple food plate

By Kelli Plasket

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is serving Americans a new plate. To help consumers better balance their meals, the USDA and First Lady Michelle Obama announced on Thursday that the government is throwing out its familiar but complicated food pyramid. The pyramid had been used to represent nutritional guidelines. It will be replaced by a symbol that the USDA hopes is easier to understand: a food plate.

"When it comes to eating, what's more useful than a plate?" Mrs. Obama said Thursday during a news conference unveiling the new icon, called 'MyPlate.' The USDA, which provides nutritional guidelines to consumers, first introduced the food pyramid icon in 1992. The USDA revised the symbol in 2005 to reduce the significance of grains and include exercise. Many nutrition experts had criticized the pyramid-shaped guide. It was too complicated for people to easily understand when making food choices, they said. So the USDA partnered with Michelle Obama and her "Let's Move" campaign to better show consumers how to build a healthy meal. The Let's Move initiative aims to "put children on the path to a healthy future."

"This is a quick, simple reminder for all of us to be more mindful of the foods that we're eating," the First Lady said at the conference. She emphasized the importance of having a kid-friendly nutrition symbol. "[Children] can learn to use this tool now and use it for the rest of their lives," she said.

It's Not a 'Pie' Chart!

The plate icon is a colorful circle graph divided into four sections representing fruits, vegetables, protein and grains, plus an additional small circle on the side for dairy. It illustrates that half your meals should be fruits and vegetables, a little more than a quarter should be whole grains and a bit less than a quarter should be protein, plus a small amount of dairy.

The symbol also serves as a reminder to control portion sizes and to consider various options for each category. Nutritionist Toni Bloom is the co-founder of Funfoodle, which provides hands-on food and nutrition education to kids and their parents. Bloom told TFK that the icon's simple message, such as a clear emphasis on fruits and vegetables, makes it practical and effective for families. "I like how 'clean' the plate is," she said. "There are no foods pictured on it, just words that represent a food group. This subtly suggests that any food can fit as long as it is portioned correctly and is a food that can clearly fit into a food group."

On the MyPlate website, the USDA provides a tool to determine more specific serving sizes based on your age and health. Other dietary guidelines from the USDA's include eating whole grains for at least half your grain servings, choosing low- or fat-free milk and water over sugary drinks; and selecting soups, bread and frozen meals with lower sodium, or salt, levels.

Max- We knew that keeping healthy is the best way to live longer. So we always have some good ways to keep healthy. Like doing some sports and exercises, and some good healthy habits will be good for being healthy. But the most important thing to get healthy is to eat balanced meals. Many peoples’ meals aren’t balanced enough, some eat very many meat and fast foods and some eat very less vegetables. Eating balanced meals can protect us from getting many diseases, from colds to getting a fever, from being fat to getting cancers, that’s why eating a balanced meal is very important! To have a balanced meal, we must eat many vegetables and fruits, and some grains, and a little meat and dairy. If you eat balanced meals and do some exercises every day, you will become healthy very much!

1000621 A Bad Bug

A Bad Bug

A germ called E. coli causes a deadly outbreak in northern Germany

By Liz Sawyer             

German officials continue to search for the cause of the world deadliest E.coli bacteria outbreak. The outbreak began on May 2 near the city of Hamburg in northern Germany. A crop of vegetables is the likely cause.

So far, the super-strong strain of E. coli has sickened 2,400 people in 12 countries, including the United States. It has killed 24 people. More cases are being reported every day.

What Is E. coli?

E. coli are bacteria that live in the guts of humans and animals. They help the body break down and digest food. Most of the time, E. coli are harmless. But sometimes they can get into food, including meat and vegetables. How does that happen? The bacteria are found in cattle poop, called manure, which is used to grow crops. Bacteria can also get into food when water contaminated with E. coli is used to irrigate crops.

When eaten, the bacteria may cause a severe infection. Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting and cramps. Most people recover from the bug within a week, but sometimes it can be deadly.

Which Crop Is the Culprit?

The exact cause of the outbreak is still unknown. Last week, German officials apologized after identifying Spanish cucumbers as the source. On Sunday, the government claimed that bean sprouts grown in northern Germany were actually to blame. After testing both crops, neither vegetable showed signs of the dangerous strain of E. coli.

Guenael Rodier of the World Health Organization said these results don necessarily let the bean sprouts off the hook. Investigators continue to test the crop for signs of the bacteria.

"Just because tests are negative doesn’t mean you can rule them out," Rodier said. "The bacteria could have been in just one batch of contaminated food. By the time you collect specimens from the samples that are left, [the bacteria] could be gone."

A Tough Task

Scientists say identifying the source of the contaminated crops may be difficult now because the produce has likely disappeared from the marketplace.

"It like looking at camera footage of a traffic intersection today to see what caused an accident three weeks ago," says Michael Osterholm. He is the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

Osterholm adds that finding the source of the outbreak may take time, but still, it not an impossible task. In the mean time, consumers are being extra cautious about what and where they eat.

To learn more about food safety, click here.

Max- E. coli is just like other germs that live in the guts and help digest food. It is harmless when it’s in the own place, but when they go outside the guts, it won’t be harmless anymore. Like most of the germs, they can spread from place to place. And if they spread from the water to the soil and to the food we eat, we would be infected by the germs. Now, one kind of germ called E. coil started to let Germans sick, and some even died. This germ now cause more than a thousand people infected, and about 20 people died. Germans still didn’t know which crop E. coil existed, But after they thought that the cucumbers in Spain would be the culprit, they found out that the bean sprouts in northern Germany is the real culprit. Now, these two vegetables didn’t have E. coil in it, but we don’t know how long to let the infection stop.

1000603 A May Day for Mom

A May Day for Mom

You may know your mom, but how well do you really know Mother's Day?

By Carolyn R. Buchanan

Cards, flowers, sales, TV specials, and a day off for someone who really deserves it—that's what probably springs to mind for many people when they think about Mother's Day. But there's definitely more to the story.

The Earliest Mother's Day

Mother's Day hasn't been around as long as moms have, but the tradition does go way back. The earliest Mother's Day celebrations were held in the springtime in ancient Greece. The celebrations honored Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. During the 1600's, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday," a day in which even servants were given the day off to spend with their families. A "mothering cake" was even served with the family meal.

Mother's Day Here at Home

In the U.S., Mother's Day began in 1872 when Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the words to famous song "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," suggested it as a day dedicated to peace. But it didn't really catch on until 1907 when Anna Jarvis started a campaign to honor her own mother. She believed that mothers could help people get over the pain they experienced during the Civil War.

Moms Celebrated All Over the World

The U.S. isn't alone in devoting a day to its mothers. Many other countries including Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, Japan, and Belgium also celebrate their moms in May. Other countries honor their moms at different times of the year.

Learning more about and celebrating Mother's Day is important, but probably not as important as understanding what your own mom, or grandmother, or aunt or anyone you choose to celebrate on May 10 has really done for you. And that will certainly be appreciated more than one day a year.

Max- Our mothers are very important for us, so we need to thank our mother to let us eat food, wear some clothes and clean our home. So now there is a Mother’s Day, which is a festival to thank our mother.   There are many ways to celebrate Mother’s Day, the ordinary way is to give a card to their mother, and write some words on the card to thank their mother. Others give flowers, presents, and even cakes to thank their mother. But, it isn’t important to use a special way or not, we just need to let our mothers know we thank them a lot.   There are many countries that celebrate Mother’s Day, but some countries don’t celebrate Mother’s Day at the second Sunday of May. Some people don’t know Mother’s Day started celebrating about two or three hundred years. So Mother’s Day is very important!

1000527 Panda Power

May 25, 2011

Panda Power!

TFK chats with Jack Black, the voice of Po the warrior panda in Kung Fu Panda 2

By Vickie An

Everyone's favorite kung-fu-fighting panda is back, and he's got some brand new moves. When audiences last saw Po (voiced by actor Jack Black), the bear had proven that he has what it takes to be the Dragon Warrior. In Kung Fu Panda 2, Po's story picks up where the 2008 hit animated film left off. This time, the panda must save China—and kung fu itself—from a new enemy. The evil peacock Lord Shen has invented a powerful weapon that threatens to wipe out the ancient martial art for good. Can Po and the Furious Five stop Shen in time? Or will a nagging mystery from Po's past keep the panda from fulfilling his duties? The 3-D movie hits theaters and IMAX on May 26.

TFK spoke with funnyman Jack Black about returning to the role of Po, and what fans of the first film can look forward to in the sequel.

TFK:

How does it feel to step back into the role of Po?

JACK BLACK:

It feels good. It's like a nice, warm pair of boots that I've kept in my special cabinet. I took them out to get shined and buffed up, and they're very soft on my feetsies.

TFK:

How has Po grown since the first movie?

BLACK:

He's matured a bit, and he's got more confidence behind his moves. Shifu sends him on a two-fold mission. The first is to save the Valley of Peace from this new supervillain Shen, an albino peacock who has an evil plan to destroy kung fu and control all of ancient cartoon China. The second is Po's quest to find inner peace, because only with inner peace will he be able to carry out the first mission. But in order to find inner peace, Po has to get to the bottom of his true origins. You see, he's not actually the son of the goose in the noodle shop. He's adopted and his real parents abandoned him for a reason, as we'll find out. So, while the movie is action-packed and exciting and hilarious, it's quite moving, too. It packs an emotional wallop.

TFK:

Why is it that Po never figured out that he wasn't really the son of a goose until now?

BLACK:

Maybe he blocked it out. Maybe it's something he didn't want to deal with or face. It was too much. But once he matures and is able to reflect on his life and situation, he starts having flashbacks from when he was an infant.

TFK:

Did you learn any new kung fu moves?

BLACK:

I did. You're probably thinking that I don't actually do kung fu. But the truth is that I did take some lessons from some kung fu practitioners to get into the zone. I can now put that on my resume: dancing, acting, kung fu. When you're in a big kung-fu action movie, even if it's animated, at some point people are going to ask you about your kung fu skills. I wanted to be able to show that I'm no amateur. I've got some moves of my own! So the answer is yes, I did learn some new moves.

TFK:

Do you think you could take on Jackie Chan, who voices Monkey?

BLACK:

Jackie Chan would most definitely kick my butt in less than 23 seconds . . . Unless I did a sneak attack. I think I could get Jackie Chan if he didn't know I was coming. I could get him once, and then never again.

TFK:

Po's story is kind of like Superman's. Superman's parents sent him away as a baby during a time of crisis, and he grew up to be a superhero. In Po's case, he becomes the Dragon Warrior. But Superman has a weakness: Kryptonite. What is Po's weakness?

BLACK:

Krypto-dumplings! [Laughs] I don't know . . . In the first movie, it might have been his hunger for dumplings. In this one, I think it would be his memory blocks. He can't remember where he came from. His own mind is his Kryptonite. It's an inner Kryptonite.

TFK:

How do you think Gary Oldman did as the voice of Shen?

BLACK:

I love Gary Oldman. He's my favorite cinema villain of all time. No one plays a villain better than he does. He's super charismatic, but he also plays it a little bit crazy. That's what you get with a Gary Oldman performance. That combination is very magnetic.

TFK:

How does the 3-D enhance the storytelling?

BLACK:

When the 3-D is done properly, it sucks you into the action even more. You're right in the middle of the fights. And the scenery of ancient cartoon China looks amazing in 3-D.

TFK:

What do you think fans will enjoy most about round two?

BLACK:

They're going to love the kung fu, they're going to love the humor, and they're going to love the emotion. Those are the three main ingredients. It packs not just a one-two punch of kung fu and humor, but also an unexpected and powerful kick to the heart. It will blow you across the room and out the back door and through the garden.

TFK:

You recently visited the Atlanta Zoo's new baby panda, which was named after Po. Not many people have the opportunity to be so close to a real panda. What was it like?

BLACK:

I was really looking forward to meeting the baby panda. I had been told that if you hold a baby panda, it gives you inner peace. I've heard that some people pay millions of dollars to hold a baby panda for just a few minutes, to give them that absolute serenity. But right before they brought the panda into the room, the vet said to me, "I should warn you, the pandas don't like to be touched, so don't touch the panda. If you do touch it, be careful because they have very powerful bear claws, and they can really hurt you." I was like, "What? I was hoping for a full snuggle!" She said, "No, you won't be snuggling the panda." I said, "Don't you snuggle the panda?" She said, "Believe me, I tried and this is what happened." Then she showed me a scar on her face!

Of course, when she brought it out, I was terrified of the freaking panda! I think the panda just didn't like her. Upon further reflection, I think it would have been fine. I don't think I would have been mauled. Anyway, I'm sorry I don't have a more magical story of my first introduction to a real panda. But I have high hopes for when I see the next one. I'm going to ask for a different veterinarian.

Max- Kung Fu Panda is a very good movie that the main character called Po learned Kung Fu from a very lucky coincidence, and saved the world in the end of the movie. Po is a panda that sells noodles with his dad, and he likes “The Furious Five”, even dreaming of it! One day, their master turtle wanted to pick one of the Furious Five to be the Kung Fu ancestor. Po wanted to see this, but he can’t climb the stairs, and the door is closed. So Po used a chair with fireworks to fly up in the sky to land there, but crashed in the ground. The master saw this, so he picked him to be the Kung Fu ancestor. After that, Po started to learn Kung Fu, and became very good at that in a very short time. This time, one very bad tiger wanted to fight him and take over the world. Po used many fighting skills to beat the tiger, but couldn’t make it. Finally, he used a finger snap trick and beats the tiger and saved the world!   After watching Kung Fu Panda, I just thought that the second movie is almost on theaters. I think the second movie will be better than the first one.