MAGS Blog!

Finally I can share with some (not all) of the MAGS great Film Night presentations. Enjoy.

If everyone has come to the same conclusion, then surely that conclusion must be true. But if everyone has come a conclusion because everyone else has come to that conclusion, then surely it can not be the truth, can it?

Monday the 17th was the MAGS Media Film Night where some of the highlights from this years media students were presented at Event Cinemas St Lukes. The videos on displays were from the year 11-13 students and featured advertisements, music videos, and documentaries. It was a lot fun and the pieces were filled with great comedy, drama, and some very talented students. Here's one that was shown on the night, hopefully we'll be able to post the rest of them soon - yeah it's pretty great (not that I'd be biased or anything >cough< >cough<).

Ms. Todd is leaving MAGS as of the end of this term and we, here at the blog, would to thanks her for her three years of support, dedication, and creation of the school blog. This has been an interesting and fun opportunity to work on and it would not have been possible without her.

Random thought of the week There's a saying that you never truly know the value of what you have until it's gone, you know like those cliché stories of how the guy doesn't realise he's in love until the girl is gone and it's too late? Passenger even wrote a song about it. It's as if it's been drilled into our society to take things for granted, to live in the moment. But how could we survive if everyone we loved and who loved us just suddenly disappeared? We would be lost, empty. We'd have nowhere to run. So when you hear YOLO, instead of thinking it means you are the centre of the universe, think of everything in your life that truly matters. Think of all the people you would be lost without, and then do your best to make the most of the time you have with them, before it's too late. Cherish every friendship, every kind word, every memory, because after all you've only got one chance. So let's make the most of the chance we've got, bef...

It's poetry day... So here's a poem! Golden shimmering leaves fall down, down, down, Softly landing by my own bare feet. Dew like the teardrops that glisten in the sun, The place my world fell down. Into an abyss of numbness I'm sent As your laughter haunts my memory And stifles our hopes of long nights out And the fate that youth imagines before the fall. If only I had been there If only I could have stopped you And told you you were not alone But then again, you're gone. I know Regrets don't change a thing, But that only rips the heart string Named hope And love. By Claire Sauder

Random thought of the week Have you ever wondered whether we really are alone in the universe? What if everything we know is actually just the work of some incredibly advanced programming by some other being in a different dimension? What if our very existence is all the work of imagination? Have you ever wondered while playing The Sims whether you were actually some kind of Sim being controlled by someone on the other end who was playing Sims and pretending to be that someone on the other end? What if The Sims is actually a training program for all the beings who control us? And what if the cause of midlife crisis' is simply when these higher beings switch people? And what if, ours is just one of thousands of many alternate realities, and each person is the centre of their own reality?! There are so many questions about our very existence and so many possibilities yet to be ruled out, will we ever really know the answers?

https://vimeo.com/176253525 Do today's young people have a right to be angry about the world they've inherited? Two schoolboys use poetry and a selfie stick to confront the problems facing the world. Director/Co-Producer: Brendan Withy, Co-Producer: Doug Dillaman Loading Docs is a series of incredible 3-minute documentaries from New Zealand. Watch them all, like and share! loadingdocs.net/itwie

The Fine Arts Show The Fine Arts Show is a show where New Zealand's accomplished and top art students can displayed their artwork at MAGS. There are many difference forms of art such as paintings, sculptures, art glass, photography and ceramics. There are 300 pieces of art and more for sale. Not only are there paintings for sale but there will be canapes and drinks all through the night. Examples of Students' Work: (Fruit by Lois Wadsworth) The first opening at MAGS will be Friday 6:30pm Tickets to enter are $40 from www.iticket.co.nz However the admissions are free on the weekend: Saturday, 20 August, 10am-7.30pm Sunday, 21 August, 9am-3pm Support MAGS by coming along to the Fine Art Show. By the amazing Lois (Dog by Eloise Muir)

Random thought of the week  "The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is." ~Winston Churchill What is truth? For some of us the truth is perceived as a certainty of knowledge in which you base your beliefs. When you believe in something and are fully convinced that it is fact, for example White is a collection of all the colours and two and two make four, then it is truth. Or is it? Each of us has slightly different so called truths in which we all have a solid belief. For some it may be a strong belief in the theory of evolution, or for others the truth is the existence of the supernatural. Some believe that man has been to the moon, and others that it was all a conspiracy. Each of these beliefs are held as certain truth to individuals, but can't there really be only one true truth? And even so, does it really matter if your truth is the actual truth? We each are convinced that what we know to be the tr...

Globe Robes Interviewing a costume designer for the Pop Up Globe Bob points across the room to a massive purple and blue striped farthingale. “So that’s worn with a bum roll underneath,” (another point, this time towards a puffy curved garment relaxing on a rack,) “And you start off with a corset.” Each statement is punctuated by Bob suddenly disappearing between racks of costumes, pointing out each and every undergarment. “In fact, under the corset goes a smock, then your corset goes on top, then your bum roll, then your farthingale, then your petticoat, then you’d have a top skirt on top, then your doublet -- ” Bob breaks off at this point, wondering if there are such things as female doublets, and if so what are they actually called? “ -- Then you have your gown on top, and this is super heavy, try this on…”  Bob lifts a velvety black gown (which is usually worn by Maria in Twelfth Night...the play where all female characters are played by men,) off a coat hanger, and ...

Activities to do in the Winter Holidays: 1) Make a hot chocolate. 2) Go ice skating. 3) Go to the movies. 4) Read lots of books. 5) Go skiing. 6) Make cheese (dip vegetables or bread) or chocolate fondue (dip marshmallows & fruit) 7) Bake sweet treats. 8) Have a sleepover. 9) Go for walks up mountains or through forests. 1 0) Have a game night with friends or family. 11) Light your fire or BBQ and toast marshmallows over it. 13) Have a cookie making/decorating party. 14) Have an indoor snow ball fight with sock balls or cotton balls. 15) Knit a scarf. 16) Make soup. 17) Have a spa day. 18) Have a movie marathon. 19) Decorate house with paper snowflakes. 20) Learn how to origami. 21) Light scented candles and listen to music. 22) Make a scrapbook. 23) Go for a walk on the beach and make a snowman out of sand. 24) Start a new hobby. 25) Play football, netball or other winter sports with friends or family. 26) Go cycling or mountain biking. 27) Go up the ...

Random thought of the week Over the holidays, you are no longer under the restrictions that you would usually be under during school. What does this mean? This means that you can spend TWO WHOLE WEEKS doing WHATEVER YOU WANT (as long as it's legal, and your parents say it's ok). You could choose to spend this time with all your best friends having a great time and creating new memories, or you might choose to spend it by yourself in a secret hide out reading a book that takes you into different universes as your mind travels through dimension and time . . . Or you could try some homework. Whatever you do, remember it is YOUR DECISION! So have an awesomely fantastically fun holiday and stay safe guys😎

Holiday Reads As term 3 draws to a close we have come up with a list of the best books to read during these school holidays: Fantasy The Percy Jackson series b y Rick Riordan The Mortal Instruments b y Cassandra Clare Inkheart by Cornelia Funk His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman Sci - fi Divergent by Veronica Roth The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer Romance The Fault in Our Stars by John Green If I Stay by Gayle Forman I Was Jane Austen’s Best Friend by Cora Harrison Dystopia The Maze Runner by James Dashner The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Comedy Tiffany Aching b y Terry Pratchett Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and Eoin Colfer   Classics Alice's Adventures in Wonderland b y Lewis Carroll ‘The Hobbit’ by J.R.R Tolkien ‘The Princess Bride’ by William Goldman ‘Watership Down’ b...

Before the Exam... Revision - make sure you know what you're being tested on so you prepare the best you can. Make sure you know what you're doing first so you can pracitce for that first. Eat and sleep properly. Don't get TOO tense.  Look back on past exams and exemplars.  Before the exam... Make sure you're there early to be in time, and that you're in the right place. Be well rested. Make sure you remember to bring all the right equipment - in a see-through plastic bag. Turn off your phones. During the exam...

Grimm's Tales is on now! Don't miss it - there is still a show tonight and tomorrow night, as well as a matinee at 1pm on Saturday. Order your tickets now on iticket - https://www.iticket.co.nz/events/2016/may/grimms-tales.

By Claire Sauer Hundreds of students are staring at me expectantly as I walk up the stairs and onto the stage. Hundreds of faces the don't know the obstacles I had to overcome to get to this point. Well, that is, if you count forgetting the guitar and having to make a trip from the hall to the music room and back again.  Then realising the guitar needed a strap and having to make yet another trip to the music room and back. Meantime discovering that the guitar and microphone wouldn't even connect to the speaker.  Then with only fifteen minutes left until the bell to get all the equipment set up and to do a sound check and rehearsal, finding that the issue is the guitar itself so we needed to get yet another guitar for the performance, then finally noticing that the new guitar doesn't need a strap and that I will have to use a chair instead, with only two minutes left until everyone comes rushing in, as a “few obstacles”.  But nevertheless, here I am, about to perfo...

The cold hard facts! If you haven't already heard we have had so many reports on the weight of the students school bag and the effect its having on our healthy and now finally the boring bit. The maths side of it. Now we have decided that a students backpack should not be more than 10% of their weight. We collated the data around this and have come up with this table: Just to explain the difference is the right of the persons bag minus their suggested weight. We have a few people there that are carrying 5kg+ than they are meant to! Here it is as a graph for those who want to see it visually :) - Hannah

A conclusion to the story. By Ella Brislen 9.4kg. That is how heavy my bag is. Note how I use the word heavy instead light. Now, if I weigh about 40kg, that means that my bag is more than 20% of my body weight. This is the "incorrect" amount of bag to body weight ratio, and, please, 9.4kg's is too heavy to be carrying around for 6 hours.                                       I actually enjoy Mondays. Quite ironic right? Well Mondays are the day that I have the most options and options mean less books. Mondays = Light day Tuesdays are best described as a ton of bricks. I have a joke among my friends that I am starting a brick factory and every Tuesday I bring in a brick. Although I don't, it seems like I could be! Tuesdays I have the least amount of options meaning Tuedays hit me like a wall o...