Three Days Until One Direction - Harry

Name: Harry Edward Styles

Birthdate: Harry was born on the 1st of February 1994

Birthplace: Worcestershire England.

Interesting Information:
When Harry was 16 years old he auditioned for the 2010 British X-Factor singing the song “Isn’t She Lovely?” by Stevie Wonder. When Simon Cowell and Nicole Scherzinger decided to put Harry in a band with Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson, Harry was the one who came up with the name One Direction. Harry’s celebrity girlfriends include: Caroline Flack, Taylor Swift, Kendall Jenner and Cara Delevigne. Harry’s star sign is Aquarius and he relates well to his star sign as he has an “outwardly expressive, extrovert” personality. In November 2014 his tattoo collection came to the amount of 56 tattoos.

Why  I like Harry:

I personally like Harry Styles’ uniqueness. Many people would beg to differ and say that everyone knows ‘his type’ and that Zayn is actually the ‘different’ one in the band. But I find Harry to be more unpredictable and spontaneous compared to the other boys. Often he is criticized on his tattoos or his hair and his styles but those are the things I love about him (Especially his style!) I think there is a huge side to Harry that nobody really knows, maybe it’s because he never lets anyone see it or maybe it’s because nobody ever really looks hard enough. Either way I think there is a lot more to Harry Styles than meets the eye.

If I could take Harry Styles anywhere in South Africa so he could get a true sense of our country, I’d take him on a road trip from Johannesburg, through the Karoo, through Cape Town, and down to Cape Infanta by Cape Agulhas because there is so much of South Africa to see so few people can ever really get a true sense of our country.

This blog post was written by Celine Cooper (she helped me out with the three fanfictions as well :) which is probably why you recognize her name).

Follow her on twitter: @CelineRose_xx

Four Days Until One Direction - Louis

Name: Louis William Tomlinson

Birthday: 24 December 1991 (Age: 23)

Birthplace: Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England

Interesting Information:

Louis auditioned for The X Factor UK in 2009, but was turned down, and returned in 2010 at age 19 to prove a point. He made it through the first couple rounds but was eliminated, and then joined with Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Liam Payne to form the group One Direction. The group finished 3rd overall in the competition, and their rise to fame started from that moment. Louis has been a member of 1D for almost 5 years now, and has been a part of their 4 albums – him being a major writer for the albums Midnight Memories and Four. Louis is often known as “The Prankster” due to his love of practical jokes, and he has often claimed to be very immature. Louis is well known for his love of tattoos, he actually has about 33! Louis has recently split from his long-time girlfriend Eleanor Calder who he has been dating since 2011.

Why Louis is my favourite:

Louis is a very fun, jovial person and he always makes me smile with his little jokes. He often fools around in interviews and on stage, and I love this about him because it shows that he doesn’t take the whole ‘fame’ thing too seriously. Louis is also an amazing singer, and his voice is very soft and soothing which I love. Louis also contributes to charity – he plays in charity football matches and donates a lot of money and time to different organisations – which I find very inspiring. Louis also has a lot of public love for his family, and I absolutely adore that he loves his family.

My favourite 1D song:

Clouds from Four or Spaces from Four

This blog post was written by Kieryn Sutton.
Follow her on Twitter: @kie_sutton

Five Days Until One Direction

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
I can't believe that after years of waiting there are only 5 days until One Direction perform their first concert in South Africa. Every South African Directioner is biting his or her nails and counting down the days! So, in honour of this long-a-waited countdown I have decided to do a countdown of my own with the help of some awesome Directioners.

Here's how it's going to work:


Everyday from now until Saturday I will post a page of information about one member of One Direction.

Today is ..... NIALL!!



Name: Niall James Horan

Birthday: 13 September 1993

Birthplace: Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland

Interesting Information:

Niall has always loved performing. He began by singing in his school choir and after he received a guitar for Christmas he realized he had a talent for music. But, he didn’t just like performing for himself so he played gigs supporting other people e.g. Lloyd Daniels (an X Factor contestant). At the age of 16 Niall auditioned for X Factor; they accepted him into the official competition but although he made it through several rounds he was eliminated. He then joined Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne to form One Direction. The band soon became world-famous and are now on their fourth international tour. Niall is well known for his love of Nandos and football.

Why is Niall my favourite member of One Direction?

Niall and I happen to have the most things in common which is why he is my favourite member of the band. We both don’t like needles (though I’m more terrified of blood); we both believe that a girl doesn’t need to wear makeup to look pretty and we both love eating South African food (he like’s Nandos and I love biltong and Milk Tart).

If I could say one thing to Niall it would be:
I hope you’re visiting a game reserve whilst in South Africa; keep an eye out for rhinos for me please :)

Rhino Weekend

It's only the first week of March and already my schedule is pretty hectic. This weekend was no exception; however, it was certainly one that I will never forget.

Unlike every other weekend so far, this one seemed to have a theme: saving rhinos. For instance, although I spent Saturday morning doing homework the evening was quite different. I wore my Rhino SA shirt and rhino badge as usual but since I would be attending a formal event I wore a black jacket, pumps and black pants as well. The change from my usual jeans and t-shirt made me feel slightly older and more professional, so when we arrived at the Protea Archery Awards Ceremony I wasn't as nervous as I originally expected.


Once there we enjoyed the ceremony, applauded the archers who received their Protea colours and flushed with pride as they stood next to the South African flag. They all seemed to be very excited and those we spoke to were keen to explain their sport to us.

Just before the desert buffet opened I took off my jacket and walked onto the stage. There I congratulated the archers and thanked them for choosing Rhino SA as their charity. I then told them more about the problem of rhino poaching, wished them luck in Estonia and showed them a video depicting the life of one of the lucky orphan rhinos. After I had spoken to them, their team captain told us about the secret members of the team, their mascots Rhinny the Rhino and Papa Smurf. The stories that went hand-in-hand with the mascots were very entertaining. However, the event soon ended and when morning came around I had another rhino event to attend. This time my family drove all the way to Askari Lodge in Plumari Game Reserve. There we bonded with the other Rhino SA Champions, brainstormed various ideas and drew our hand prints around the sketch of a rhino. When we were finished with the first part of the day we were lucky enough to go on a game drive where we saw eland, giraffes, elephants, impalas, wildebeest, zebras and two white rhinos. Whilst we were taking photographs of the rhinos we noticed that their horns were cut off; we asked the game ranger and he explained that Askari had hired a vet to cut off their horns ao they would not be poached; these horns were then burnt so they would never fuel the illegal rhino horn trade.

All in all, this weekend was thoroughly enjoyable and I would like to thank everyone involved for the amazing experiences I had! I hope you all carry on spreading the word about the rhino's plight!

Good Luck!

Tomorrow is the day; after weeks of reading and discussing vairous South African Short Stories we are finally going to write the 3 hour English Olympiad! I hope all participants are inspired and ready to write essays and creative writing pieces that they'll be proud of.

If you haven't yet fallen in love with literature here is an amazing poem by GCINA MHLOPE; it's called IN THE COMPANY OF WORDS.

"It is truly marvellous, wonderful and comforting

To know that I have eyes to read

Hands that can write

And an enormous love for words

I am lucky to be speaking a few extremely beautiful languages

For I love words – language’s ancestor

When I’m happy, words define my happiness

When I’m sad and confused

Words turn into clay and allow me

To mould and remould my muddled up thoughts

Till I find inner peace in my soul

Had I to choose, between weeping and reading

I’d most definitely choose reading,

A good book

For I have proof, for aches and tensions

It works!

Countless times I’ve turned my back on pain

And found friends in characters from far off lands

Countless times I’ve defied anger

And caressed my nerves with an old comic book

Countless nights I’ve triumphed over insomnia

And had a heart to heart talk with my pen and paper

I come to my desk in the dead of night

I sit, without a clue as to how I wish to start

But then, before I know it, words of all types and sizes

Come rushing unto my finger tips

As I feel my whole body smile

I welcome them every single one of them

Like the good old friends that they are

When they start dancing in large circles around me

Throwing teasing wordy circles on my walls

I am convinced that I was not born to be bored

For how indeed can boredom even begin to penetrate

My timeless word circle

Now you see, why I’m so content

In the company of words"

An Activity I Love

Love is in the air; but, whilst some people have been staring at each other over candelabrums I’ve been doing the things I love. One of these activities is debating. I spend two or more hours on this activity every week and sometimes I end up dedicating my entire Saturday to this cultural. And yet, there aren’t that many people who actually know what debating is. So I think it’s about time you learnt. BTW the following information is handy to possess for general knowledge discussions, quizzes and the moments when you REALLY want to win an argument.

First of all:

A SACCEE debate consists of two teams each with three members on it. The structure of a debate (without floor[1]) goes like this:

The Proposition Team is the team that is arguing for the motion (topic) e.g. if the motion is: THW (stands for THIS HOUSE WOULD)  hold both developing and developed countries equally responsible for fighting climate change – then the Proposition Team would need to prove that both developing and developed countries have contributed to the greenhouse gasses affect and that all countries are able to fight climate change.

The Opposition Team is the team that disagrees with the Proposition team and thus argues against them. If the topic above was the motion that was to be debated then the Opposition team might argue that developing countries contribute more greenhouse  gasses than developed countries thus developing countries should be the most responsible for combatting climate change (this is just an example it may or may not be 100% true in 2015).

Speaker Roles:

Proposition 1:

This speaker should:

1.  Begin with an introduction and contextualisation (explain the situation that is happening wherein the motion is necessary for example if we had to debate the topic I’ve already mentioned the first speaker would explain that we are experiencing climate change and thus there is an increase in natural disasters)
2.  Burden of Proof (this is when you explain what Opposition needs to prove if they are going to win the debate).
3.  Define the important words in the topic.
4.   Give a case split (explain what your team members are going to be talking about during the debate).
5. Explain your policy (here you answer the questions who, what, where, why and how you are going to change the current situation).
6.  Now you introduce your positive matter (explain the pillars that you have identified that will prove why you will win the debate).
7. Conclusion

Opposition 1:

This speaker will basically do exactly the same as the Proposition 1 speaker however, instead of defining the key terms this speaker does rebuttal (this is when the speaker mentions what they disagree with so far in the debate and the speaker explains why they do not agree with these points) before they introduce their counter-policy (if a counter-policy is necessary, if it isn’t then the rebuttal is before the positive matter).

Proposition 2 and Opposition 2:

1.      Introduction

2.      Case Split (the speaker explains what he or she will be speaking about)

3.      Rebuttal

4.      Positive matter (the speaker brings up more points grouped in pillars that explain why his or her side of the debate should win)

5.      Conclusion

Proposition 3 and Opposition 3:

This speaker’s responsibility is to prove that their team has won the debate and whilst doing this he or she must also prove why their opponents have lost. Basically he or she just deals with rebuttal. No positive matter is added in this speech except in special circumstances.

REPLY:

The speakers who do reply are supposed to summarize the debate by showing how their team won the main clashes.

This is a BRIEF summary of debating if you have any further questions feel free to ask me J

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[1] Floor is the session during a debate wherein the people who are watching the debate argue for the team that they are supporting. They can bring up new points or simply argue against the other team, however, all their points need to be addressed through the chair, i.e. they have to begin by saying “Through you Madam/Master Chair”. The Floor takes place after Opposition Speaker 2 and before Proposition Speaker 3

A Sneak Peak at My Reading List for 2015:

City of Ashes (Mortal Instruments #2) by Cassandra Clare 

The Queen (The Selection #0.3) by Kiera Cass

Maximum Security (Cherub #3) by Robert Muchamore

Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza

Killing for Profit by Julian Rademeyer

1984 by George Orwell

The Revenge of Seven (Lorien Legacies #5) by Pittacus Lore 

Half-Blood (Covenant #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Clockwork Prince (Infernal Devices #2) by Cassandra Clare

Altered by Jennifer Rush

Breaking Point (Article 5 #2) by Kristen Simmons

The Heir (The Selection #4) by Kiera Cass

Manners and Manipulation (Finishing School #4) by Gail Carriger

Become friends with me on Goodreads if you want to see my reviews :)