Thursday, 30 June 2011

30th June 2011 The Only Way To Keep Healthy Is To Eat What You Don't Want ...

June 30A
  • 'What you call a dog with no legs? 'Don't matter what you call him, he ain't gonna come.'
  • 'What's the difference between ignorance and indifference?' 'I don't know and I don't care.' 
  • A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
  • We girls are like phones. We love to be held, talked too but if you press the wrong button you'll be disconnected!
  • Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died.
  • I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places.
  • Always remember you're unique, just like everyone else.
  • Is it good if a vacuum really sucks?
  • Guys: No Shirt, No Service - Gals: No Shirt, No Charge.
  • If love is blind, why is sexy lingerie so popular?
  • The only way to keep healthy is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not.
  • In God we trust; all others must pay cash.
 
Prev: 30th June 2011 The Significant Days Of June

30th June 2011 The Significant Days Of June

June 30
The days of June is not just brilliance of the sun, the soothing breeze of the evenings, and the budding romance in one's heart. The fairly recent history tells us that there had been very important and significant days of June that totally changed the course of life of the world and all mankind. Like the 1st written work on the solar specks; the first publication about Aids too also in June, the Month when the magnetic North Pole was located; and the commercial TV in colour, amongst other phenomenon discoveries.  
 
400 years ago: on 13/06/1611 - the first ever work about solar specks or blemishes was recorded by Johannes Fabricius (1587-1616). He became the first ever astronaut that published his observations about the stains of sun, but remained practically ignored until 1723.
 
180 years ago: on 01/06/1831 - The British explorer James Clark Ross located the position of the magnetic North Pole in the Peninsula of Hoothia, north of Canada.
 
In the same year: on 13/06/1831 - The Scottish physicist James Clark Maxwell, established in his thesis the nature of the light as electromagnetic wave.
 
90 years ago: on 25/06/1921 - The chemist Friedrich K. Bergius invented the synthetic gasoline and 10 years later, this German scientist received the Nobel.
 
60 years ago: on 14/06/1951 - The commercial computer entered in action. It's the UNIVAC 1 - designed by John Adam Presper Eckert and John William Mauchly, the same investigators who 5 years back created  the ENIAC, the 1st electronic brain. The UNIVAC was installed in the office of Censor of United States, measured 5 metres long, weighed more than 7 tones, and housed 5,000 vacuum tubes that could effect 1,000 calculations per second, capable of adding, detracting, multiplying and dividing; organizing and made root directory and hard disks.
 
Also 60 years ago: on 25/06/1951 - The channel Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) emitted the 1st commercial programme in colour in the history of television.
 
40 years ago: on 29/06/1971 - Three astronauts died during a space mission. The 'Sonda Soyuz 11' returned to earth with the dead crew; suffocated, as consequence of escape of air in the capsule. They lacked adequate space suits. The 3 were honoured by the Soviet Union in a series of stamps. 
 
30 years ago: on 05/06/1981 - Aids became news. Michael S. Gottieb, an assistant professor of immunology of the medical centre of the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) described a new disease in Mobility & Mortality weekly Report, a publication of the centres for the Centre Prevention of diseases of the US. Six months after, ample articles appeared on the theme, signed by himself and other experts, in the magazine 'The New England Journal of Medicine, causing wide and deep impact.
 
From July 1982 - the disease is known as acquired Immune-deficiency (Aids).

In 1987- Gottieb left UCLA, to dedicate to the treatment of this infection and impel the investigation on the disease. He was one of the first to test in patients the drug Zidovudina or AZT, the pioneer medication antiretrovural. 
 
Did you notice one great curiosity or coincidence? All these dates carry the year xxx1?! 
 
Prev: 29th June 2011 Moral Medicine?

Wednesday, 29 June 2011

29th June 2011 Moral Medicine?

June 29B
It sounds highly improbable, that a medicine called 'Fluoxetina', commercialized as 'Prozac', and some other antidepressants, apart from altering the mental state of patients, could be used to help or balance certain moral conducts, and rehabilitate wicked, felonious or criminal behaviours.
 
That was assured by the doctors Guy Kahane and Tom Douglas, in the book they co-authored 'Enhancing Human Capacities'. Further more, the future medical advances will facilitate and expedite moral and complex manipulations.
 
All good guys. Half the doctors and most of the psychiatrists would be out of a job. Priests would be twiddling their thumbs all day with no sinners confessing and asking for absolutions; police and lawyers' jobs can be done by anyone without a special diploma or degree ... On the bigger picture, there would be no conflicts, no wars, an absolutely perfect world. I wonder whether more than a few might consider it boring!?
Prev: 29th June 2011 Giggles - The Proposal, The Last Request ...

29th June 2011 Giggles - The Proposal, The Last Request ...

June 29A
A widdle wabbit ~

A cute little girl walks into a pet shop and asks, in the sweetest little lisp between 2 missing teeth, 'Excuthe me, mithter, do you keep widdle wabbits?'


As the shopkeeper's heart melts, he gets down on his knees so that he's on her level and asks, 'Do you want a widdle white wabbit, or a thort and fuwwy, bwack wabbit, or maybe one like that cute widdle bwown wabbit over there?'


She, in turn, blushes, rocks on her heels, puts her hands on her knees, leans forward and says, in a tiny quiet voice, 'I don't think my python weally gives a thit!'


A Sermon ~

A priest was giving a sermon in Mass, when he noticed on the 1st row a man was asleep. He raised his voice but he couldn't wake the man. So he says to a boy sitting next to the man and says, 'Wake him up for me, would you?'


'Why me?', says the boy, 'You are the one that puts him to sleep!'


The last request ~

On his death bed, a man says to his wife: 'Maria, promise me, when I die, you will Mary Antonio.'

'But why, he is your worst enemy!'

'That's why.'


Contraceptive pills ~

A woman asked her doctor to prescribe her some birth control pills. The doctor, taken aback, said: 'But Mrs Greenwood, you are 82 years old. What would you possibly need birth control pills for?'


'To help me sleep better.'


The doctor considered this for a second, and continued: 'How in the world do birth control pills help you sleep?'

The woman said: 'I put them in my granddaughter's orange juice, so I sleep better at night.'


A proposal ~

Two senior citizens, she widow, he widower, have known each other for years. One night they both attended the community club dinner for retired folks, sitting opposite each other. He looked at her thoughtfully for a long while and finally gathered up courage to ask: 'Would you consider marrying me?'


'Yes, yes. I accept.' She replied.

The dinner was nice and they had a fine evening, then returned to their respective homes.


The following day, the old man was worried because he had forgotten whether the woman had said yes or no to his proposal. He thought, and thought hard, but no idea. He phoned the woman, explaining that his memory was not as good as it used to be, and was wondering whether she had said yes or no to his proposal of marriage.


He was delighted when the woman answered a positive yes. And she continued: 'Indeed I accepted with all my heart, and I am so very happy that you called to confirm it, as I had spent the whole morning trying to remember who had proposed to me last night!!!'  

Prev: 29th June 2011 Going Slow - To Savour Time & Life

29th June 2011 Going Slow - To Savour Time & Life

June 29
Time is a gift; from God if you are a believer. We hear often people say they have no time for this or that. But we do have time, and plenty. What we don't have is a healthy relation or understanding with it. Wasting or losing time is a great sin of the 21st century.  
 
Paradoxically, we put ourselves in the race and we waste the time. What we need to do is to treat time as air that surrounds us, it exists without us being obsessed with it. There is space even in the busy city of today, one just needs to rehabilitate our thoughts and actions, to plan and practice, not to treat your life like a race against time, and recuperate the pleasure of living. Slowness is more a state of mind.
 
How to apply this philosophy in work for instance? It's an art of changing paces. There are moments or areas that require more longitude better to produce bigger and better results. Some more Vanguardia companies have realized, and recognised, that employees yield more of themselves if they are given time and possibilities to manage and be their own boss in their given field of work or projects, instead of having to consult and wait for permission on every single step to carry out the work in hand. The Japanese firms are the first ones to realize and practice this, and find that the expected results come up in half the time with only 60% of the estimated man power and effort.
 
Parents and couple too often neglect what's more important for their family, alleging that they want to but no time to be with them. The key is to set priorities, cut back the list of compromises and concentrate on only the most important. In a family, creating moments to be together is almost sacred.
Prev: 28th June 2011 Loud 'Whispers' About The Monaco Wedding

Tuesday, 28 June 2011

28th June 2011 Loud 'Whispers' About The Monaco Wedding

June 28B
The principality of Monaco covers just 35,646 square metres of ground, but they are expecting more than 20,000 invited guests on the coming Saturday, for the royal  wedding between Prince Albert and his beloved Charlene Wittstock. All commerce have adorned their facades and show windows with the photos of the would-be royal couple, and the citizens have put up flags of Monaco and South Africa in their balconies.
 
The ceremony will begin on Friday with the civil wedding, and on Saturday the religious ceremony, in open air, at the patio of the Palace. There will be a free concert for all of Jean Michel Jarre on the 1st of July, to welcome the successor of the unforgettable Grace Kelly, whose marriage with Rainiero in 1956 converted Monaco as Capital of Glamour.  
 
All preparation is done as it should be, in line with such an important and happy event, but for the fairly loud whispers going around for a whole week now, especially in the media, about why the Spanish Royalty members have not been invited, except just for King Carlos who is, at present, still in convalescence after his knee operation on the 3rd of June. Although for the sake of protocol, the not too harmonious relationship between Monaco and Spain has not been too pointedly made obvious, since 2005, when some sources reckoned the motive sprouted during the Assembly of COI in Singapore, to select the head-quarter for the Olympic Games of 2012. Prince Albert questioned the security measures of Madrid after the terrorists attack of 11-M. Such a question greatly damaged and prejudiced the Spanish candidature and favoured that of London which was selected.
 
So far, only the royal families of Belgium and Sweden have confirmed their attendance to the ceremony on Saturday. I wonder whether they feel uneasy about being the only royals there? I would have if I was one of them.
Prev: 28th June 2011 Good Reasoning - All To Do With Breasts

28th June 2011 Good Reasoning - All To Do With Breasts

June 28A
Biology Class - final  exam ~

Students in an advanced Biology class were taking their mid-term exam.
The last question was, 'Name seven advantages of Mother's Milk', worth 70 points or none at all.
One student, in particular, was hard put to think of seven advantages. He wrote:

1) It is perfect formula for the child.
2) It provides immunity against several diseases.
3) It is always the right temperature.
4) It is inexpensive.
5) It bonds the child to mother, and vice versa.
6) It is always available as needed.

And then the student was stuck. Finally, in desperation, just before the bell rang indicating the end of the test, he wrote:

7) It comes in two attractive containers ... and the cat can't get it.

He got an A. 
 
A friend is like a good bra ~
 
Hard to find.
Supportive.
Comfortable.
Always lifts you up.
Never lets you down or leaves you hanging.
And is always close to your heart.
Prev: 28th June 2011 The Progress Of Science - With Flies, Worms, Rats 
& Fish ...

28th June 2011 The Progress Of Science - With Flies, Worms, Rats & Fish ...

June 28
The biomedical science, agricultural and pharmaceutical, wouldn't have advanced as they had done in the last century, had it not been for the existence of some anonymous organisms, generally of small sizes, that had been converted to 'guinea-pigs' for biomedical experimentation. 


The Superior Counsel of Scientific Investigations in Catalunya has chosen 7 most ubiquitous and indispensable species, to honour them with a virtual exhibition titled 'Seres modelicos' - between nature and laboratory. (Model beings - http://seresmodelicos.csic.es


These are: bateria, yeast, plant, worm, fly, fish and rat. They are all very small in size, reproduce quickly (the rat - Mus musculus - takes just 20 days for the reproductive cycle, and about 7 babies in 1 litter), often with multiple births, and grow fast, therefore easy to handle and plenty of supply. Also, they carry genes similar to humans.

I am not normally into this type of science, but what's meant to be a quick glance-over ended up detaining me there reading and looking at everything and, even more surprising, found it quite amazing and most interesting. It's all in Spanish though, I guess you can use web translation to read it in English or other language if you wish to. 


I will never look at these tiny 'beings' again without appreciating how much contribution they had made to human kind. I mentioned this to a lady friend while we were in a coffee bar, and she said:


'Oh no, I can't look at it. It's so cruel. To think that some of them have the life span of only 10 to 15 days (Drosophila melanogaster - the fly) and they spent all that time being used for experiments then just die without having lived their own life at all, and getting no reward for their  sacrifice.' 

I thought about that afterwards and I think, if my life should be that short, just a few days or weeks, but during that time I had done great things like they had, helping millions and millions of people having a better, healthier and happier life, shouldn't that be a worthy reward for me? There are people who live to a hundred or more years, but have done nothing with their life, just wasting time idly existing, or even existing to do bad things to others, maybe be even killing someone just for the fun of it; would that be considered having lived?


Prev: 27th June 2011 Aimi And Amy

Monday, 27 June 2011

27th June 2011 Aimi And Amy

June 27A
There's a brand new youth idol in Japan, Eguchi Aimi, a young girl with a sweet voice, a perfectly pretty face, mischievous eyes, enchanting smile and funny expressions. An ideal and adorable girl, so ideal for real. She is a technological marvel constructed in 3D based on the image of 6 beautiful girls, another product of marketing. An evolution of virtual idol that conquers Japan in all variety of fields; made to measure superstar.
 
Japan is far away. Between us there's a culture abyss, but perhaps our consumer habits are not all that different. In fact, what difference is there between Aimi and any gleaming international pop stars? Aren't they also products of media laboratories, moulded by experts of marketing, with bodies carved and chiselled by skilled means or surgical knife to previously sketched out images. Aimi is a mascot produced by the industry of idols for the masses. Human stars might make many mistakes or self destructive like Amy (Winehouse) but Aimi is always under control and behave exactly how you want her to behave.
 
The perversity is that Aimi seems somehow manages to deceive thousands of fans that believing her to be really of flesh and blood. They see and feel what the industry want them to. An authentic virtual world inlaid and decorated with layers of inserted materials for the real world. Nothing new but yes, more sophisticated. The definitive disappearance of the limits between the truth and fiction. Shuddering thought.
Prev: 27th June 2011 Food Production Increases; Hunger Too!

27th June 2011 Food Production Increases; Hunger too!

June 27
It doesn't seem logical does it? But that's sadly how it is. According to figures of the Organization of the United Nations for Alimentation and Agriculture (FAO), there are at least 1,000 million people in the world suffering hunger. The international organizations unit in summit meetings to debate, to come to a consensus, and to determine politics to eradicate such illogical situation, so do many agencies of development. But, contrary to what is hoped and expected, the desperate hunger, far from diminishing, continues increasing, although the production of food is, at present, the highest in the history of humanity.
 
The root problem seems to be that the existing economic system of today, food is considered like another commodity in the international market and, being so, is subjected to speculation and specified limits. For instance, only 50% of the world production of cereals are destined for human consumption, while the other half is used for animal feed and for producing agro-combustibles. Lots of machines and high tech systems are running beautifully, while babies are born to suffer hunger and people dying with starvation.
 
In addition, the system of production and commercialisation of food has great social and economical repercussions. Like exportation of labour, the use of systems that cause sanitary crisis, the destruction of local markets, the deterioration of environment with the loss of bio-diversity, the increase of emission of carbon dioxide, and the degradation of the land.
 
For all that it's time to intervene seriously, implicating ourselves actively, learn all possible information and prepare ourselves, demanding the installation of effective politics, and of international organisms, with solid competence to safeguard the human rights to adequate food, and penalize those who assail such right.
 
Prev: 26th June 2011 Giggles - The Taxi Driver, The Blonde, And The Granny

Sunday, 26 June 2011

26th June 2011 Giggles - The Taxi Driver, The Blonde, And The Granny

June 26A

The Taxi Driver ~
The passenger in a taxi tapped the driver on the shoulder to ask him a question. The driver screamed, lost control of the car, nearly hit a bus, went up on the pavement, and stopped centimetres from a shop window.
 
For a second both of them went quiet, then the driver said: 'Look mate, don't ever do that again. You scared the daylight out of me!' The passenger apologised and said: 'I didn't realized that a light tap would scare you so much.'
 
The driver replied: 'Sorry. It's not really your fault. Today is my first day as a cab driver. I have been driving a funeral van for the past 25 years.'
 
The Blonde ~
A redhead, a brunette, and a blonde were robbing in a supermarket. A police officer walked in and saw what was happening. He dashed towards them, but they were able to run away into the back of the store. There they found 3 sacks to hide in. When the police officer checked there, he examined each sack.
 
He kicks the first one, and the redhead says 'meow' in a high voice. The cop determines that it must be only a cat, and he moved on to the next. He kicked the 2nd sack, and the brunette says 'woof' in a low voice. The officer determined that it must only be a dog in that sack, so he moved on to the last one.
 
He kicked the 3rd bag, and the blonde shouts 'potato'.
 
The Granny ~
At a local coffee bar, a woman was expounding on her idea of the perfect mate to her lady friends: man I marry must be a shining light amongst company. He must be musical, tell jokes, sing and stay home with me every night.'
 
An old granny overheard and spoke up: 'Honey, if that's all you want, get a TV.'
Prev: 26th June 2011 Learning To Think ...

26th June 2011 Learning To Think ...

June 26
I posted a Blog day before yesterday about the film 'Confucius'; which set me thinking on philosophy, a subject that enters my mind only very rarely. I am curious by nature, about a lot of things, too many, therefore it's hardy possible for me to get deep into it often. But the study of the principles of existence, ethics, behaviour and knowledge, of the nature of human thoughts and of the world, is indeed fascinating. 


The statistics today point out that 400 people have presented themselves for the 18 available posts of professor of philosophy in Catalan institutes, stirs up my thoughts on this topic - philosophy. Sadly, thinking is not seen as a decent or proper job. A footballer once called Pep Guardiola (football manager and former player) 'philosopher' intended as , an insult.


To put it in a nutshell, a philosopher is one who thinks, and such a professor could be said as one who teaches people to think, or incite them, with reasoning, to do so. It sounds vague but it's far from it. The way I see it, philosophy is the love for knowledge, the passion for knowing more, even though knowing that you might never get to really know ... It's basically reflection, humility and criticism. Often we think we know everything, but there had been many people who had thought of many things before us.



In material sense, there's no defined usefulness in such practice. But to be constructively critical, setting yourself theories and questions and not conform with the immediate and obvious outcome is useful. In present days, everything is very visceral, a feeling, not rational nor logical. And this could lead to fateful or inauspicious consequences. 


My stomach turned when I see so many young people in favour of the death penalty. Have they really thought about it? No. They have heard things and form a visceral reaction. Philosophy is useful to prove otherwise what we thought we were sure of. Perhaps you would never act like a character did, say in a novel or film, but you can understand his motive and that, to me, is vital empathy. 


It's a good practice to put yourself occasionally in another person's shoes. To experience another way of thinking. I believe it's hard to be happy in a world where the rest of the people are not. Philosophy is also anti-manipulation, a weapon against dogmatism. 

Prev: 25th June 2011 Giggles - The Clever Blonde Mortician

Saturday, 25 June 2011

25th June 2011 Giggles - The Clever Blonde Mortician

June 25A
A dead man is delivered to a local mortuary wearing an expensive, expertly tailored black suit. The female blonde mortician asks the widow how she would like the body of her husband dressed, but pointed out that the man looks good in the black suit he is wearing.

The widow, however, says that she always thought her husband looked his best in blue, and that she wants him in a blue suit. She gives the blonde a blank cheque and says 'I don't care what it costs, but please have my husband in a nice blue suit for the viewing.

The woman returns the next day for the wake. To her delight, she finds her husband dressed in a lovely blue suit with a subtle chalk stripe; the suit fits him perfectly ...


She says to the mortician, 'Whatever this cost, I'm very satisfied. You did an excellent job and I'm very grateful. How much did you spend?' 

To her astonishment, the blonde mortician presents her with the blank cheque.

'There's no charge,' she says.


'No, really, I must compensate you for the cost of that exquisite blue suit!' she says.

'Honestly, ma'am,' the blonde says, 'it cost nothing. You see, a deceased gentleman of about your husband's size was brought in shortly after you left yesterday, and he was wearing an attractive blue suit. I asked his wife if she minded him going to his grave wearing a black suit instead, and she said it made no difference as long as he looked nice ...

So I just switched the heads.'
 
Prev: 25th June 2011 The Dancing Egg In The Fountain

25th June 2011 Dancing Egg In The Fountain

June 25
There are some most peculiar customs and traditions in Catalunya, Spain; I guess most countries have their own too. Today, in Barcelona and most other Catalan cities, there would be eggs, imitating Anita Ekbery, dancing in the public fountains, part of the closing ceremony of the Corpus Christi (marked by fresh flowers and plants to form delightful 'carpets covering most main streets). 


The egg had been emptied and it would have some wax to add weight. Positioned over the ever rising and falling of the water jet reflecting the colourful lights all around the edge of the fountain, the egg starts turning this way and that without falling. In addition, the fountain is decorated with hundreds of fresh flowers and fruits of all variety, all combined to present a live, colourful and fragrant spectacle.


It dated back to the XVll century, the origin of it I know nothing of, nor the few Spanish people I had asked. However there exist a couple of speculations. In the religious version, the dancing egg represents the Eucharist (Christian ceremony commemorating the last supper of Jesus and his disciples, sacrament of the Lord's Supper Communion). The other interpretation, the egg is the Eclosion of fertility and fruitfulness.

Whatever might be the origin, this tradition has resisted the passage of centuries, started off in the fountain of the Cathedral and later copied by many other cities and towns, even some villages.


Today, from 10.00 to 22.00 this wonderful display can be enjoyed in many locations in Barcelona, apart from the Cathedral, Palace, town squares, churches, open public courtyards, Museum grounds ...

Friday, 24 June 2011

24th June 2011 Sarcastic Wisdom & Funny Observations

June 24B
  • There is one difference between a tax collector and a taxidermist - the taxidermist leaves the hide.
  • Every time I appoint someone to a vacant position, I make a hundred unhappy and one ungrateful. - Louis XIV
  • Life is strange. Every so often a good man wins.
  • I'd never join a club that would allow a person like me to become a member. - Woody Allen
  • Know thyself? If I knew myself I would run away.
  • One-tenth of the folks run the world. One-tenth watch them run it, and the other eighty percent don't know what the hell's going on.
  • A sign of celebrity is often that their name is worth more than their services.
  • The only reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.
  • The average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the average man can see better than he can think.
  • There are no stupid questions, just stupid people.
  • Everyone has photographic memory; some just don't have the film.
  • Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling it brings.

Prev: 24th June 2011 About Writing - And The Way I See It ...

24th June 2011 About Writing - And The Way I See It ...

June 24A
More than a a few times, and more than a few people who had read something I wrote, seemed to consider me a writer, and offered their suggestion that I should do something about it. They meant I should try to publish something. I always feel that I am only a writer in the sense that I write, and regularly, but I have never considered myself good enough as a writer in the professional sense. Apart from a few brain exercises I call them, the little fiction stories I occasionally attempted and posted here, plus a couple of times responded to some newspaper's public invitation to send in something on certain theme (I did and got published a few times), the thought of improving myself to the standard of able to publish articles and especially a book, frankly scares me to death.
 
I am also too free spirited, lacking patience and discipline, to work on set schedules, having to produce certain number of words per day, per article or book. It's more me to let impulse guide my pace and direction, falling sideways when pleasant distraction occurs, happily yielding to temptation once in a while and matters to me not if I should thus make some mistakes.
 
I do however, try to keep within certain rules when I write, as I have noticed too many hopeful, on-the-make writers overlook some elements that without their realizing it, hinders their progress to become a good writer; concentrating too much to, how should I put it, impress rather than just express, clearly and to the point.
 
When you are just starting to shape yourself to be a good writer, doing your best is not competing with other writers, but with yourself, against bad habits like the mistaken idea of standing out, the tendency of overloading with long and rarely used (therefore less understood) words, phrases or sentences, to appear more 'literary', but often become pompous and pretentious. Instead of using one good adjective, use 4 or 5 to show off your knowledge. Or try to make it more commercial. If your work is good, it sells itself. I believe there's nothing better than to use a language direct, clean and precise.
 
Many who believe they can write forget one very important thing: to read. Not just reading works of great masters, but read everything. Because writhing without having read anything is like setting out running without knowing how to walk first. Not reading to copy, but a sure way of learning what is good writing and what isn't. And that there are endless ways of saying the same thing so, find your own way.
 
Prev: 24th June 2011 Confucius - Epic Film

24th June 2011 Confucius - Epic Film

June 24
Confucius. Even if you don't know anything about this man's life and work, no doubt at all you have heard of him, and know at least that he was one of the most revered philosophical figures in China. Everything he had ever said has been quoted thousands of times not just in China, but all over the world.
 
The film was premièred last night. It begins with Confucius as an old man, thinking back. Then we see him in his early 50s, being promoted from Major to Minister for Law in his home state of Lu. He is confronted with ethical issues after saving a slave-boy who was due to be buried alive with his former master who has just died. There is a lot of complex politics and war, ending with Confucius being rejected and becoming a wandering scholar. After many hardships and losses, he was invited back as an old man. His writings still provide the answers to modern questions.
 
Faye Wong sang the theme song for the film. Her "soothing and ethereal voice" was considered appropriate for the lofty spirit of the song, "Orchid Parade" This film is on now here in Spain. For past records, nearly all Chinese films sell like hot-cakes here. I don't know why. Like films from any other country, there are good and bad ones, but the Spanish just seem crazy about Chinese films. It's not another Kung-Fu film but a $20 million super-production, with good acting, very impressive grand scale scenes, beautiful and atmospheric cinematography. 
Prev: 23rd June 2011 Giggles - The Library, The Discussion, And The Cupboard

Thursday, 23 June 2011

23rd June 2011 Giggles - The Library, The Discussion, And The Cupboard

June 23A
The Library ~
 
'What time does the library open?' the man on the phone asked.
'Nine a.m.' came the reply. 'And what's the idea of calling me at home in the middle of the night to ask a question like that?'
'No! Not till 9 a.m.' The man said, sounding disappointed and upset.
'Why do you want to get in before 9 a.m.?' The librarian asked.
'Who said I want to get in? The man sighed sadly. 'I want to get out!'
 
The Discussion ~
 
Three friends are discussing what is the fastest thing in the world.
The 1st says: I think it's the lightning. It falls from the sky so quickly you don't have time to see it.'
The 2nd says: 'I think it's the electric light. You touch the switch and the light comes on instantly.'
The 3rd says: 'I know something else quicker and faster than lightning or light.'
His 2 friends ask: 'And that is ...?'
'Diarrhoea. One night I was in the field and my stomach suddenly turned violently. I ran home in lightning speed and immediately switched on the light; too late, it's done.'
 
The Cupboard ~

A woman bought a cupboard from Ikea, the cheap type that comes in pieces and you have to mount it up yourself. She did a perfect job of it, but she lives right above the railway track and, when the train passed her house, the cupboard she had made up fell apart. She did it again and it fell again with another train passing.
 
She phoned the shop and asked for help and they sent her a technician/carpenter. But the same thing happened to him too. So he said to the woman: 'Now I will mount it up again and enter inside myself to see which is the weak part that falls when the train passes.' So he did just that, got inside the cupboard and waited. But before the train comes, the husband came home. He praised his wife for a wonderful job building the cupboard. He opened the door to look inside and was surprised to find the technician.
'What are you doing there?' The husband yelled at him obviously very angry.
 
'Well sir, if I tell you that I am not here fooling around with your wife, but was actually waiting for the metro train, you probably won't believe me!'
 
Prev: 23rd June 2011 Mental Imbalanced Explained - Sort Of ...

23rd June 2011 Mental Imbalance Explained - Sort Of ...

June 23
A lady acquaintance of mine told me that her husband had just been diagnosed of suffering from mental imbalance, whether that means the same as dementia or not I have no idea. So I checked it up, and found that there are 6 factors that could lead to mental imbalance. None of these would help him now that he has got it, but it might help others to be aware what might cause it ...
 
1. Living in the city - 8.63% of urban-dwellers in Spain have had some mental problems according to last year's figures. While the figures of people living in the country is 7.5%.
 
~ This is to me more obviously understandable, not so much the following factors. 
 
2. Being widow/widower or divorced (nothing to do with the above mentioned husband) - 43.1% of widowed and 29.6% divorced suffer psychological disorder, while the percentage of couples is 16.8% only.
 
~ Stay married, you probably suffer lots of headaches, hoarse voice for arguing so much, or even an occasional black eye, but no mental imbalance.
 
3. Depression and disorder of alimentation are more common in women, with 71% and 91.26% respectively, while men commit suicide 3 times more, also more problems with alcohol and drugs.
 
~ The figures are alarming! What one gets told here is that women worry so much about their shape, they alternate eating nothing with binges, so weights go up and down like a Yo-Yo causing depression, while men are cowards who, when incapable of confronting or solving problems, indulge in alcohol and drugs, when that got out of hand, kill themselves. Aren't their sane and sensible men and women about? 
 
4. The climate - According to science of meteo-psychiatry (I have never even heard this term before), the frequency of psychiatric alterations is more severe in Nordic countries than in the Mediterranean areas.
 
~ What I wish to know is why. There's a periodic strong wind called 'Tramontana' in Catalunya where I live and, nearly always without hardly any exception, I get a nasty headache, even before the wind actually starts. As if I could forecast it. Why should that be?
 
5. Education - People of higher level of social-culture tend to suffer certain type of disorders related with anxiety, self guilt and depression. While the ones with lower level, is associated with symptoms of schizoid or paranoids.
 
~ I supposed that means I got a middle education maybe. Certain aspects in my life can be said in slight disorder, but there are periods when everything is in perfect order; occasionally anxious or depressed about something, but also capable of letting my hair down, throw caution to the wind, and be utterly crazy like a March hare.
 
6. Unemployment - 70% of the mental patients are unemployed, according to statistics.
 
~ How clever this conclusion. How can these people work if they are not mentally balanced? Are they unemployed because of the sickness? Or do they become sick because  they are unemployed?
Prev: 22nd June 2011 The Boy Who Didn't Want To Win ...

Wednesday, 22 June 2011

22nd June 2011 The Boy Who Didn't Want To Win ...

June 22A
There was a couple of days ago a running competition participated by young teens. All of them are with grave physical diminution, most with crutches, with prosthesis for the missing limbs or with some extremities amputated, or with sensorial difficulties. And they all doing their best they could running towards a long and brilliantly red rope at the other end of the sports field. Whoever reached and touched that red line first would be the winner. Then ...


When one of the boys was just getting to merely inches from the red line, arms stretched out to touch it, heard the cry from the spectators, and noticed - so did all the others present - that another runner, more laggard, more disabled and with severer problems of mobility, had fallen obstreperously to the ground and was screaming with pain, mostly also of fury as he had tried so very hard to have almost got to the red line too. Then ... a miracle happened.


A fantastic rarity, oddity, totally uncommon and unexpected - the boy that was about to 'cut' the red line with his hands and proclaim himself winner, stopped. So did the rest of the enthusiastic and hopeful runners too. Those who were in front of the fallen boy turned back; those who were way behind now hastened their run, and all ran towards the boy on the ground to help him. Between all of them, they got the boy up and, together, much slower this time, they made their way towards the red line and hand in hand, crossed it together.


This race didn't have a winner. The boys showed the world that they were all winners.


Later on television, Mele, the banker who sponsored the competition, together with Buenafuente of the Sexta, said: 'In this world we all go about with crutches. We all need each other. It's not a matter of who gets to be the 1st, it's that we should all get there.'


That's the kind of bankers we need. And those boys are examples of wisdom, humanity and compassion.

Prev: 22nd June 2011 The Art Of Stealing Art