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The book “The Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educator’s Rules for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child” was written by Ron Clark an American teacher who has worked with disadvantaged students in rural North Carolina, and Harlem, New York City.  He is known for his books and multiple teaching awards.

Clark’s first year spent in Harlem was the focus of a 2006 made-for-TV movie, The Ron Clark Story, starring Matthew Perry. 

Clark is known for his ability to raise test scores by using unique and innovative methods that incorporate innovation, creativity and 55 classroom rules.  He has appeared on many national TV shows, including two appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show, where Ms. Winfrey named him as her first “Phenomenal Man.”

Clark received the 2001 Disney Teacher of the Year award.

In 2007, Ron’s story was turned into a TNT Johnson and Johnson Spotlight Special Film, starring Matthew Perry, and garnering an Emmy nomination for Exectutive Producers Howard Burkons, Adam Gilad and Brenda Friend.

Ron has written two books. The first, called The Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educator’s Rules for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child (2003), is being published in 25 countries.  In 2004 he followed with The Excellent 11: Qualities Teachers and Parents Use to Motivate, Inspire, and Educate Children.

In December 2008, Oprah Winfrey donated $365k to Ron Clark, for the Ron Clark Academy, for his profound dedication to teaching.

A lot of people fret over what to get their friends and family for any major gift giving event. And it can be particularly intimidating to try to find the perfect gift for a teenage boy. Whether he’s your brother, son, nephew, or grandchild, let’s be honest—teenage boys are notoriously difficult to please. It seems like they always fall in one or more categories. Either they are disinterested in everything, or they already have everything. This makes the thought of giving them a gift particularly unappealing. But thankfully, in the age of technology, there’s a tried and true fallback gift.

Now that everyone is so dependent on technology and so connected to their electronic devices, just look into any number of entertaining electronic products. If they are always talking or texting on a cell phone, look into cell phone accessories, or if you’re really generous, an entirely new phone. And if they are always connected to their video game console, just pick up one or several top video games. Just make sure you always save the receipt or give a gift receipt, just in case the teenage recipient has already been given that particular video game.

This DVD movie is Rated R.  It stars Keifer Sutherland as Ben Carson, Paula Patton as Amy Carson, Cameron Boyce as Michael Carson, Erica Gluck as Daisy Carson, and Amy Smart as Angela Carson.

When he goes to the rounds in his first night, he finds that the mirrors are impeccably clean and his colleague explains that the former night watch was obsessed by the mirrors.  After a couple of nights, Ben sees weird images in the mirrors, but due to the lack of credibility of his past, his ex-wife Amy believes he has hallucinations as a side effect of his medication. When Angie is found brutally murdered in her bathtub, Ben discovers that there is an evil force in the mirror that is chasing him and jeopardizing his family.

Kiefer is excellent is this movie.  The movie is a thriller and it was great!  I definitely give it 5 stars.

The video game F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is a horror first-person shooter video game, developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros, for Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360.  It is a sequel to F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon. 

F.E.A.R. 2 does not allow the player to manually save and features a single save slot.  However, the game allows the player to replay any level from the main menu after first completing that level.

The second heart-stopping shooter by Monolith (after F.E.A.R.) continues the spine-tingling supernatural suspense story of an escalating paranormal crisis that threatens to destroy a major American city.  At the center of the calamity is the mysterious Alma, whose rage against those who wronged her triggered a chain of events that has spiraled completely out of control.  Now that she has been loosed upon the world, the consequences will be unimaginable.

You must utilize the world interaction enhancements to create instant cover or remove obstacles.  The game include iron sight aiming, creating cover by pushing objects, and the ability to use mechs during vehicle segments.  You can play with and against friends in multiplayer competition.  Enhanced graphics engine takes action horror to new heights through enhanced visuals and effects.  Enemies behave realistically and use the environment against you through vastly enhanced enemy.  Artificial Intelligence maintains the authenticity of the Alma storyline.

You must dry your vehicle after applying any waterless carwash product.  Even a few drops of water will create problems, i.e. the polish will be difficult to remove and will probably leave streaks.

Furthermore, waterless carwash products shine and protection qualities will be greatly diminished.

In addition, normally it makes no difference if the waterless carwash product be removed while still damp instead of letting it dry completely, but in cases where the paint is in very poor condition - dry, rough, oxidized - it is better to remove the product immediately before moving to the next area.

If you’ve never been interested in video games, you might be confused or indifferent to an acronym like PS3. But for video game enthusiasts, those three little characters induce a big reaction. PS3 actually stands for PlayStation 3. This is the third generation of the video game console known as PlayStation, which is released and produced by Sony. Differentiating itself from previous generations and other consoles, the PS3 boasts the PlayStation Network. The innovative console made its debut in 2006.

It was first released in Japan followed by the North American market and then the European market. Its main competitors are the Nintendo Wii and the Microsoft Xbox 360. Offering different options to its customer base, the PlayStation boasted an impressive amount of hard drive space, released as both a 20 GB and 60 GB option. While some people dismiss PlayStation because it has been outperformed and out-advertised by the Wii, those people should recall the console’s impressive opening day numbers. Within the first 24 hours in Japan, over 82,000 units were moved, and in North America, several instances of violence broke out from crazed fans driven to a frenzy by limited available units.

The book Watchmen was written by Alan Moore.  Moore was born on November 18, 1953 in Northampton.  He is an English writer most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels, V for Vendetta, and From Hell

Watchmen is set in an alternate reality which closely mirrors the contemporary world of the 1980s.  The primary point of divergence is the presence of superheroes who are being stalked by an assassin.  Their existence in this iteration of America is shown to have dramatically affected and altered the outcomes of real-world events such as the Vietnam War and the presidency of Richard Nixon.   

In keeping with the realism of the series, although the costumed crime fighters of Watchmen are commonly called “superheroes”, the only character who possesses obvious superhuman powers is Doctor Manhattan.  The existence of Doctor Manhattan has given the U.S. a strategic advantage over the Soviet Union, which has increased tensions between the two nations.  Additionally, superheroes have become unpopular among the public, which has led to the passage of legislation in 1977 to outlaw them.  While many of the heroes retired, Doctor Manhattan and The Comedian operate as government-sanctioned agents, and Rorschach continues to operate outside the law. 

The DVD movie Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a 2008 sequel to the 2005 film, Madagascar about the continuing adventures of Alex the Lion, Gloria the Hippo, Marty the Zebra, and Melman the Giraffe.  It stars the voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith, David Schwimmer, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Alec Baldwin, Bernie Mac, Will.i.am and Sherri Shepherd. 

In Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, is a failed attempt by maroons Alex (Ben Stiller), Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith), Melman (David Schwimmer), Marty (Chris Rock), King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen), Maurice (Cedric), and Skipper (Tom McGrath)and his fellow penguins to fly to New York.

They board a repaired airplane in the hopes of using it to fly back to New York.  Though the plane does fly, it ends up crash-landing in Africa because of lack of fuel.  By wild coincidence, this is where Alex was born–and where his father (Zuba) is still the alpha lion, and where his malevolent uncle (Makunga) seeks to take over. 

The movie was not as funny as the first one.  I would give it 2 stars.

The video game Resistance: Retribution follows the story of British Royal Marine James Grayson in the weeks following the destruction of the Chimeran tower in London at the end of Resistance: Fall of Man.  

After being forced to kill his brother Jonny inside a Chimeran conversion centre, James suffers a violent nervous breakdown.  He goes around and destroys 25 conversion centers before he is caught and is imprisoned, awaiting execution for desertion of the Armed Forces.

The European resistance – the Maquis – enlist Grayson’s help, and he joins Cartwright and Parker in Operation Overstrike to retake the European continent from the Chimera.  Grayson immediately embarks on a vendetta to eliminate every conversion centre he can find to avenge his brother.  He plans to destroy the Chimeran Tower once they have eliminated every conversion centre in Europe.  However, he learns that the Chimera have evolved a new method of converting humans in Western Europe.

Mud, clay, granules, heavy salt spray, bugs, heavy tar and tree sap are examples of things that cannot and should not be polished with waterless carwash.

Let common sense be your guide.  If in doubt, rinse off the vehicle before applying any waterless carwash product.