Mahe Drysdale

 Many New Zealand supporters waited for this much. To anticipate and watch this stunning race. Hoping to witness Mahe Drysdale to become successful in the men’s single scull. A single skull is a rower who rows by them self.
 During the previous Olympics, Mahe Drysdale was denied a gold medal through illness. So for the last four years he has been training to become even better. His goal was to make sure he won a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics.
 It was the last 100 meter during the final of the men’s single scull, when it became a nail biting race. As Mahe Drysdale gave it his  all to hold off his challengers, Ondrej Synek of Czech and Alan Campbell from Great Britain.
 After Drysdale's awesome competition he crawled out of his canoe and just collapsed onto the pontoon completely shattered. Mahe was feeling really elated at the same time because he had just won himself an Olympic gold medal.
 It was a huge relief when 5 time world champion Mahe Drysdale crossed the line and made New Zealand history.
 I have just been lucky enough to witness a great NZ history when Mahe Drysdale completed his race with a gold medal,  it will be a moment that will never be forgotten.

Valerie Adams

Not being able to defend her gold medal, Valerie Adams came 2nd and won the Silver. Unfortunately Nadzeya Ostapchuk, from Belarus, defeated Valerie’s personal best (21.24.) Her smile was faced up-side down as she was so disappointed in herself. She beat her best score since the Beijing Olympics.
You can find more info and pictures on this site.

The Opening Ceremony

Did you watch the "Olympic Opening Ceremony?" Well I did and it was very very fun to look at, at the same time it was very very hilarious. It was very funny because The Queen (Elizabeth the 2nd) jumped down from the helicopter. My brother, Joe, and I thought that it was really The Queen that jumped but it was a stump dummy that jumped from the helicopter and parachuted down to the stadium. The other thing was Mr.Bean. Funny Mr.Bean. He was playing the electric piano for the Orchestras Band. When he was playing the piano he was dreaming. Dreaming of racing in the triathlon and also of becoming an Olympic Star. Mr.Bean was coming first but then he got tired and started to come last. As you know sometimes Mr.Bean likes to cheat. So he saw a  car and the car started to drive faster than the triathlon athletes. For a while the driver kicked Mr.Bean out and still he came first. He woke up from his dream and the  Orchestra Band was finished.  He was still playing and then the Orchestra leader told him to stop. For a while he stopped and the crowd went wild and started laughing.

The Olympic Rings

Pierre De Coubertin was the founder of the modern Olympic games also the founder of the Olympic flag.  On the Olympic flag there were five rings but six colours. They represent the five continents.

-The Blue Represents Europe
-The Green Represents Australia (Oceania)
-The Yellow Represents Asia
-The Red Represents America
-The Black Represents Africa

The Olympic Flag mean different ways of goodwill, peace and truth. At the opening ceremony the torch lit from Olympia, Greece and transported to the hosting country ready for the ceremony to start. The hosting country rose the Olympic flag as the torch was transported.

The flag was great to see!

Thanks to my brother, Joe, for helping me finish this post.

My Response on "Brown Brother"

Joshua Iosefo is a year 13 prefect at Mt Roskill Grammar School. Joshua is Samoan, Niuean and a New Zealander. His poem ”Brown Brother” is all over the web/internet. It got filmed by his best friend Rashard who posted this poem on youtube and that is how John Campbell found this young man Joshua Iosefo. Mr Campbell made Joshua redo his poem to screen on TV.

The theme or message for this poem is to not be afraid to change and don’t believe in stereotypes. Stereotypes are a judgement about a group of people. It forces you to do things that don’t help you learn and do things that do help you.It also tells us to don’t limit yourselves and to use the 3D’s.Determination,Dedication and Desire.

Joshua Iosefo inspired a lot of people including me to never believe in stereotypes.My favourite part of this poem was when Joshua said “So do not feel alone for your God, your family and your home will forever be inside the marrow of your bones so do not threat, do not regret.”
I don't see Joshua just as an ordinary human being but as an inspirational person to look up to in the future.
Thank you to Vivienne for helping me finish it of!

Precious McKenzie the Weightlifter

Holding the weights on his chest, the weightlifter imagined what it would be feel like doing his final move to win the gold.  The crowd went silent for a minute or two waiting for his final move. With a sudden move he raised the bar of weights above his head. The crowd went wild and cheered him on.
Thank you to Ms Squires and Awhina for helping me on this post.

Comparison of Pablo Picaso/Henri Matisse

Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse were both famous painters of the same Era.Picasso was born the 25th of October,1881 in Malaga,Spain where as Matisse was born on December the 31st in 1869 in Northern France.Later in their early days they both met in Paris.They didn’t really know each other very well but they ended up becoming longlife friends.


Matisse was an expressionist and a fauvist painter.This meant that  he used unrealistic colours. Pablo Picasso was also  an expressionist painter but was most known for his cubist painting.Their similarities for these two paintings is that they both have ladies in them.


Both Picasso and Matisse have similarities in colour and shading,but they also have some differences in their themes.Picasso uses bright colours and at the same time he uses odd dark colours.Matisse uses unnatural colours like for example colours of the rainbow.


Pablo Picasso’s “Weeping Woman” has a clearly delineated painting.It also has a strong and bold out-lines.Henri Matisse’s painting, “Woman with a Hat”,has shapes that are defined by varying colours.It’s also a unrealistic perspective.


Although there are many differences between Woman with a Hat and Weeping Woman,there were some similarities.They use the same sense of colours.And they both painted a portrait of woman.But different theme for each painting.You can find Weeping Woman on this Site,but you can find Woman With a Hat on This Link