Aprils Fools Day

With April Fools’ Day coming round the corner, here are top 5 pranks that have been pulled in the history of April’s Fools.

1) Digital Big Ben – In 1980, the BBC reported a proposed change to the famous clock tower known as Big Ben. The reporters stated that the clock would go digital. England was in a state of shock.

2) Jovian-Plutonian Gravitational effect: In 1976, British astronomer Sir Patrick Moore told listeners of BBC Radio 2 that unique alignment of two planets would result in an upward gravitational pull making people lighter at precisely 9:47 a.m. that day. He invited his audience to jump in the air and experience “a strange floating sensation.” Dozens of listeners phoned in to say the experiment had worked.

3) National Public Radio Every year National Public Radio in the United States does an extensive news story on April 1. These usually start off more or less reasonably, and get more and more unusual. A recent example is the story on the “iBod” a portable body control device. In 2008 it reported that the IRS, to assure rebate checks were actually spent, was shipping consumer products instead of checks. It also runs false sponsor mentions, such as “Support for NPR comes from the Soylent Corporation, manufacturing protein-rich food products in a variety of colors. Soylent Green is People.”
4) Water on Mars: In 2005 a news story was posted on the official NASA website purporting to have pictures of water on Mars. The picture actually was just a picture of a glass of water on a Mars Candy Bar.
5) Google Changes their name to Topeka – In response to the mayor of Topeka changing their city name to Google, Google has decided to honor their gesture by changing their own company name to Topeka.

Well, did you have a good laugh? Now, it’s your turn to make a fool out of your friends!

From the Teachers’ Table:
1) Tell your class that Common Test has been pushed forward to today because MOE has announced that all school-based exams must be scheduled on the first week of every month.
2) Walk into the classroom with bandanna wrapped around your head saying, “Anti-student committee”
From the Students’ Schoolbag
3) Write all homework on the board. But at the very bottom remember to include this, “All homework given today is an April Fool’s Joke. Do not comply.”
4) Send around a note saying that the School Clock tower will be transformed into a digital one in complementation of our school going IT.

Well, now all that counts is pulling that prank successful on your victim. Who knows, maybe yours will one day enter the hall of fame too!

By the way, we have received a message from the School’s Student Welfare committee that our school PE t-shirt will be modified to sleeveless with effect from 4th January 2013 to increase students’ comfort during sports lessons. We would therefore like to protest against this cause and seek your support in retaining our current PE t-shirt. If you would like to support this cause, please gather at the Foyer on the 3rd January 2013. Do bring along your sleeping bags. This cause is being supported by several teachers in this school who see the decision as an outrage of modesty. Do register with us by the 3rd of April by emailing cedaroink@gmail.com your name and class. Thank you!

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Just kidding! Happy April’s Fools:)

Written by: Esther Chow
Mindy Low
Jamie Loh
Baskar Shanthini

References: http://www.cleancutmedia.com/news/most-famous-aprils-fools-day-jokes-in-history-by-the-media

Weird Festivals

Suffering from post-CNY depression? Fear not! Here's an odd festival that will probably have you laughing at its complete absurdity!

La Tomatina is celebrated annually on the last Wednesday of August in the town of Buñol in the Valencia region of Spain. On this day, 9,000 locals and 20,000 to 40,000 foreigners descend on the town to throw tomatoes at each other in honor of the Virgin Mary and St. Louis Bertrand. The tradition has been around since the 1940s, though it was briefly suppressed under the reign of Franco. It started during a parade, when young men who wanted to participate in the event staged a brawl in town's main square, the Plaza del Pueblo. Since there was a vegetable stand nearby, they picked up tomatoes and used them as weapons. The police had to intervene to break up the fight, and forced those responsible to pay the damages incurred.

The following year the young people repeated the fight on the same Wednesday of August, only this time they brought their own tomatoes from home. They were again dispersed by the police. After repeating this in subsequent years, the party was established. In 1950, the town allowed the tomato hurls to take place, however the next year it was again stopped. A lot of young people were imprisoned but the Buñol residents forced the authorities to let them go. The festival gained popularity with more and more participants getting involved every year. After subsequent years it was banned again with threats of serious penalties. In the year 1957, some young people planned to celebrate "the tomato's funeral", with singers, musicians, and comedies. The main attraction however, was the coffin with a big tomato inside being carried around by youth and a band playing the funeral marches. Considering this popularity of the festival and the alarming demand, 1957 saw the festival becoming official with certain rules and restrictions. These rules have gone through a lot of modifications over the years.

La Tomatina begins with a person attempting to scale a greased pole to capture a cooked ham while everyone else sings and dances. Once the ham is taken down from the pole, water cannons are fired at the participants and over 100 tons of tomatoes are dumped into the streets for throwing. Women are expected to wear white and men to wear no shirts. After the festival, fire trucks hose down the streets and participants use hoses that locals provide to remove the tomato paste from their bodies. After the cleaning, the village cobblestone streets are pristine due to the acidity of the tomato disinfecting and thoroughly cleaning the surfaces.

La Tomantina is certainly a weird, weird festival. Doesn’t it make throwing yusheng at your annoying cousins every Chinese New Year seem so normal in comparison?

Chinese New Year Celebrations 2012

On Friday, 20th January 2012, during the last few periods, Cedar celebrated Chinese New Year with various splendid performances. The Hub was filled with cymbal crashes and drum beats as two lions danced around, ending their performance together with Mrs Ou Yang presenting blessings to the school.

After the mind-blowing lion dance performance, our international scholars from secondary 3 danced to SNSD’s “Gee” as well as “爱” (love), a mesmerising melody, with simple hand gestures conveying the message of the song.

One of the Secondary 2 students played a beautiful solo piece with a Chinese flute. The concert also included the Guzheng members who presented to us two fabulous pieces of music, which earned a huge applause from the Cedarians.

The new teachers also sang a Chinese New Year song and circled around the Hub, tossing the student body chocolate gold coins, which symbolizes prosperity. This completely heated the atmosphere up in the Hub.

The highlight of the concert was when the Modern Dancers danced to two

Korean songs, Miss A’s “Good-Bye baby” and Kim Hyun Joong’s “Lucky Guy”. They rocked the stage with an uproar of cheers from the audience.

All the performers and teachers poured their hearts and souls from the rehearsals to the day of

celebration to give us a fantastic concert. 2012’s Chinese New Year Celebration was definitely a memorable experience for all.

By: Zhang Annina & Mallika V., 2-I

Teacher's Day

(click the photo for an enlarged view)

The-much-awaited-holidays!

The term is drawing to a close, and the holidays are coming. While it is a week to relax, many students are sure to be complaining about the homework given.

Remember to organise your time well, and take some time off to take a breather before you start your hardcore mugging for end-of-year examinations.

Watch a movie, go for a swim, shop at bugis with your friends, whatever you do, have fun!

Library and Publications will be taking a break for a while.

Happy holidays!

The Present Hassle

taken from: http://cakebox.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/teachersday-cookies.jpg

Are you at a loss of what presents to buy for your teachers? Or have you decided to make something unique for your teacher this Teachers’ Day? Well, here’s some advice!

For one, a gift certificate is never a bad idea. Giving a gift certificate and allowing the teacher to choose something for herself/himself may be of better use to him/her. Through a gift certificate, it is certain that your teacher can buy himself/herself something that he/she would enjoy and would be useful to him/her.

Try to avoid giving things like mugs, potted plants, scented candles, and those mundane common gifts. Chances are that the teacher in question has received numbers of those useless and same items over the years enough to open a store! Be creative and give something that only you can give – something personal and heartfelt – to express a sincere thank you.

Homemade food items are a hit with teachers. Things like baked goodies, preserves, salsas or sauces or even mixes in jars make simple and useful presents. You may consider adding a recipe or two and bind everything up with fabrics and ribbons, so as to make your present appealing and professional. Our Wordspace houses a medley of cookbooks, waiting to be taken off their shelves. Do check out those books for fabulous recipes you can make and give your teacher as thanks. Below are certain food items you can consider presenting to your teachers.
-Cookies
-Fancy pretzels dipped in melted chocolate and candy sprinkles
-Cheesecake

Do remember that it’s the thought that counts, so the most important thing is that you show sincerity and appreciation in presenting your gifts.
To all our sincere and dedicated teachers, Library & Publications wishes you a Happy Teachers’ Day! To all Cedarians, check out the ‘Food For Thought’ column in our blog for more ideal recipes which would make perfect gifts for your teachers!

Written by Shanthini 1A

Jamie Loh 1A

Teo Qian Hui

National Day Celebrations

On 8th August, Cedar celebrated National Day with a range of exciting events. It was truly

a memorable day as Cedarians, dressed in red and white, witnessed the magnificent

parade held by our very own symphonic band and uniform groups.

The parade included a march-past by the four uniform groups and various melodic tunes

played by the symphonic band. As the different uniform groups came marching in to

the rhythm of the tune, Cedarians, who were crowded on all four levels of the school,

began to cheer loudly for their CCA, adding on to the lively atmosphere.

The parade ended with the singing of the National Anthem and the school song,

followed by a prize presentation. Next, the whole school proceeded to the Cedar Hub

for the indoor segment organized by the teachers and Cedarians.

A friendly competition was held in which the teachers took on the guises of various well-known people in Singapore. One example would be Ms Thang as Li Jia Wei, the table tennis player. They posed questions related to the history of Singapore and each level would send out one representative to answer the question. At the end of the first round, the two levels with the lowest score would be disqualified while the remaining two levels continued to

vie for the championship.

However, in the middle of the show, some technical difficulties surfaced and the

teachers had to find ways and means to entertain the audience on the spot. They

have certainly succeeded in accomplishing their aim when Cedarians began to laugh

uncontrollably at their funny antics. By this time, the technical difficulties had finally

been resolved and a video featuring teachers and Cedarians answering questions about

Singapore was played. The format was similar to 'We are Singaporeans'. It was well-received by the Cedarians, judging by the giggles in the hall as each incorrect answer was given.

Having watched the video, the pressure of the competition began to weigh on the

contestants as the questions became more difficult. In the end, the Secondary 4 level

managed to clinch the championship title and each of the classes was rewarded with

a small prize- sweets. Though the results of the competition might have been disappointing for some, Cedarians certainly enjoyed themselves and learnt more about Singapore through the competition.

Thereafter, another video was screened, where our principal, Mrs Ou Yang, teachers,

Cedarians and even the school workers were interviewed on their well wishes for Singapore.

Last but not least was the annual mass community singing, featuring some of the

National Day’s theme songs from past years. The Cedar Hub was soon turned into a

sea of red and white as Cedarians waved their flags enthusiastically, singing at the top of their voices, ending this year’s National Day celebrations on a high note.

By: Teo Qian Hui 1H