Mongolia

Courtesy of tiarescott (Wikimedia Commons)

I've been wondering what it would be like to live in Mongolia. Pictures of this land, like this one, make me want to fly over its mountains and oceans of plains. I think that the part of why Mongolia inspires me is it's vast ruggedness, and the fact that I don't know hardly anything about it. The grass is always greener on the other side.

My fascination with this land of soaringly wide grasslands and rough stone has led me to add it to my list of Places to Live, which grows longer every year, and includes places such as Peru, Argentina, Bolivia, New Zealand, and South Africa. What lands call out to you, and why? What are the countries on your Places to Live list?

--edie

Old Classics

Three weeks ago I learned about this movie called 2001 Space Odyssey. Like many of you who are reading this blog, I didn't know what this movie was until Mr. Sanders told me it one was of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time. I watched the full movie in Youtube (i can't put it in this blog because its too long).

The movie is unlike anything you have seen in modern sci-fi movies and is innovative creative and even for the time it was made ( more that 10 years ago) it had some good effects. The story plot is about a black monolith that appeared in space. The government sent a group of people to investigate the monolith commanded by intelligent computer. The innovative part of this movie are all the different scenes it shows. One moment it is the prehistoric era and the next is the modern time. The plot is very deep and has many plot twist that will keep you at the edge of your seat.

I believe that modern movies like Transformers should worry less about special effects and more about the content in the movie.

What is your favorite movie?

luciano wolff

Which piece of music is "sad" for you?

During the orchestra period, our class always have conversation about some song and make comments on the song. Some of us have said "this song is sad," while the professor disagreed with us. So I decided to search for what was actually "sad" for most of people who enjoy classical music and I found this music from Tchaikovsky. I chose classical music because it doesn't have lyrics and it can be interpreted in different ways. As you listen to this song, what can you think that this song's flow is like? Is it sad? Is it happy? Is it exciting?

Even though I was looking for a "sad" violin concerto, I actually found this song as a dramatic piece of music because it had different changes of mood in between times. Some parts, I actually thought it was joyful, which was the opposition of what I was looking for. Thus, I think a piece of music can be interpreted very differently in different point of views.

What do you think is the mood of this song is? Why do you think music can be interpreted in many different ways?

By. HaNuel Lee

How Can We Set A Goal?

Do you have a goal you want to accomplish by the end of this year, month, or even, day? Everybody has goals to make your life have more hope and accomplish what you want to do during your life. But sometimes, your goals do not get successful because your goals were too fantasy or you just chose too easy goal for yourself. It is always easy to set a goal because you could just say "I will get A+ in every class this year!", and never get even close to what you have said. It is never easy to achieve a goal that you always wish.

Today I was reading a blog post in a Korean blog and I read that goals should be much more than what you actually can accomplish. I partly agree to that statement because I think that if you have higher expectation for yourself, the chances are that you will work harder to achieve it, but I was partly disagreeing with the statement because if it is too unrealistic, the chances are higher for a person to give up, since the person might think it is "impossible" to achieve it.

What are your opinions on setting your goals? Do you think it is true that the goals should be more than what you actually can achieve, so you can push yourself? Or do you agree that goals should be setted realistically? and why have you made that choice?

By. HaNuel Lee

Songs of Life

I've been listening to the soundtrack from the movie Into the Wild. Eddie Vedder, the lead singer of the band Pearl Jam, sings Guaranteed, a song that floats with me wherever I go:



I appreciate this song because it genuinely expresses freedom, at least the freedom I've felt in my life. It's become a part of my life's soundtrack, the songs that stay with me.

Have you ever stumbled on a song that illustrates experiences, thoughts, or feelings you've had before on the deepest level? What are some of the songs from the soundtrack of your life?

-edie

Li Ching-Yuen: Inner Quiet and a Daoist Life of 256 Years

Benjamin Hoff mentions a curious story in his book, the Tao of Pooh (in short, the Tao of Pooh is a book illustrating the principles of Taoism through the characters of A.A. Milne's Winne the Pooh):

"In 1933, newspapers around the world announced the death of a man named Li Chun Yun [a Time article titled Tortoise-Pigeon-Dog is notable for spreading the news of this man's life to the Western world]. As officially and irrefutably recorded by the Chinese government, and as verified by a thorough independent investigation, Li had been born in 1677. When over the age of two hundred, he had given a series of twenty-eight, three-hour-long talks on longevity at a Chinese university. Those who saw him at that time claimed that he looked like a man in his fifties, standing straight and tall, with strong teeth and a full head of hair. When he died, he was two hundred and fifty-six years old.

When Li was a child, he left home to follow some wandering herbalists. Int he mountains of China, he learned from them some of the secrets of the earth's medicine. In addition to using various rejuvenative herbs daily, he practiced Taoist exercises, believing that exercise which strains and tires the mind and body shortens life. His favorite way of traveling was what he called "walking lightly." Young men who went for walks with him when he was in his later years could not match his pace, which he maintained for miles. He advised those who wanted strong health to "sit like a turtle, walk like a pigeon, and sleep like a dog." When asked for his major secret, though, he would reply, "inner quiet.""

Li Ching Yuen (also spelled Li Chun Yun) himself believed that he was born in 1736. Certain Chinese documents, however, led some to believe that he was born in 1677. Much of the evidence verifying his lifespan is unsubstantiated, and much of what people say about his age is speculative. What do you think?

"I have done all that I have to do in this world. I will now go home." Some believe that these were Li Ching Yuen's last words. No matter the years that this remarkable man lived, it still seems to me that he found peace with himself and this Earth. He had truly found his "inner quiet."

How do you feel you achieve "inner quiet"?

by Edie

Facial Puppetry

Facial Puppetry from Jason Saragih on Vimeo.

According to a survey completed by the Council for Research Excellence, as of 2009, adults in the United States spend on average 8.5 hours out of every day exposed to screens: in bed, in airports, at the supermarket, in taxi cabs, at McDonalds, in this very blog post. Throughout your day you are constantly confronted by information presented to you on screens.

There are many, many people who are certain that our brains are changing in significant ways to adapt to our time spent with screens. And as our brains change, so do our identities.

Take a look at the video above. The kind of facial puppetry Jason Saragih has created might allow us to show a face to the world (when we are online) that is completely different than the face we were born with: a face that shares all of the warmth and complexity of our facial expressions, but without the attachment to our physical identities.

How are we going to deal with this coming change? Is it a good or bad thing that people will soon be able to look skinnier or fatter, or like President Obama, or like a tiger, or like Naruto? How might this impact how we view ourselves? More importantly, how might this impact how we view other people, when we know that the face they show to us may only be a mask?

by Mr. AB

Chicken Little Teaches a Lesson

It was saturday afternoon and I was at my cousin's house. We were both extremely bored, so we decided to get on youtube and look for funny videos. After a while of searching for a good and funny video, we found this and cracked up. It was specially funny because her phone rang at the same time it was ringing in the video. Besides laughing, we also got a little scared, but we learned our lesson. Now we know we really need to turn off our phones while watching a video, a movie or anything similar.

By Gaby Maldonado

STRESS!!

Most of the days of this week, I was having trouble with a lot of different pain due to stress from the school and many places. I think school is the most common place where students receive their stress from. I actually think most of the diseases through out your school days are due to the amount of stress you receive. Many of these diseases become severe after time. I was thinking what is making the word "school" stressing for students and I found this video.

I, as a student, agree to what the video says. What I think about stress may be different from the video, but this is my opinion on where all the stress comes from. I actually thought stress come from all the grades that you receive through your classes. Grades cause stress to everybody, students, teachers and parents. Most of us, students, study to get good grades, even though their purposes are different. If we fail from a class, we receive stress. Imagine a school without a grading system, I thought it would be more of stress-free environment.

What are your theory on where the stress comes from? What do you think will happen if there weren't any grades in your high school career?

By. HaNuel Lee

History as Told Through Hairstyle: HairStory?!?

What we have here is a stop motion animation which shows the history of western culture over the last 3,000 years or so. However, it shows that history through the various hairstyles of women (or at least one woman).

Can you draw any interesting conclusions based on what you see here?

The Aqua Tower

CC Image Courtesy of joevare on Flickr

Chicago is a very windy place. In fact, it's nickname is "The Windy City." And living in a windy place can be really frustrating because it's annoying to spend time outside when it's so stinking windy! Luckily, recent MacArthur Genius Grant winner Jeanne Gang came up with a solution.

Before we go any further, the genius grant . . . The John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur Foundation selects around 20 people each year and gives them $500,000, just because they are geniuses. Or rather, in the words of the foundation, "The MacArthur Fellows Program awards unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction." Recipients are given $500,000, just for being geniuses!

So how did Jeanne Gang win her award? Well, she's an architect. And among other things, she has designed the Aqua Tower in Chicago. It's the building you see here in the picture. And the cool thing about this building is that the unique way in which she has designed the balconies actually "confuses" the wind. The outcome is that all over the building, even on the windiest Chicago day, people can sit out on their balconies and enjoy themselves in relatively calm, windless peace.

How would you win your MacArthur Genius Grant?

by Mr. Andrews Bashan

The Electric Eel Man

I found this video on one of my favorite blogs, Boing Boing. It shows a man named John Chang, an acupuncturist who can supposedly deliver shocks of electricity through his hands. He can deliver so much electricity that he is able to start a newspaper on fire.

For me, what is striking about this video is the comments that it generated on Boing Boing. If you click on the link, you will find an fairly long argument, back and forth, between people who both think this guy is faking (that he can not set newspaper on fire with his hands) and people who think his ability is real.

What is it about this video causes so many people to question John Chang's ability? Are you convinced? Why or why not? Furthermore, what would sufficiently convince you that his ability is real?

Doping or Skills?

Picture by Pictlux
How can a person as succesfull as Michael Phelps use drugs? Phelps is really good at what he does. The sixteen Olympic medals he has won in total is proof of that. He also became the most succesfull athlete in the Olympic Games of 2004 and 2008. Still, he dares to use drugs. He declared himself guilty when he was arrested for driving drunk and a picture of him using a bong, a device used for smoking tobacco or marijuana, was published. It is amazing how he did all that even when he has done so many accomplishments. Besides all that, I think it's pretty dumb how he ruined such a great reputation in that way, don't you think?

By Gaby Maldonado

How Is Your Day?

This is a brief summary of an ordinary high school boy in Korea. It shows how tough his life is. I thought it was very smart how he just summarized his day. I think it would be very difficult for anybody to outline their day into 12 seconds, because there are a lot of details that you would want to include to it. I would like to summarize it as waking up, having breakfast, studying at the school, eating lunch, doing homework, and going to bed. How would you break your 24 hours into 12 seconds? What elements would you like to include? Why are those elements one of main parts of your day?

By. HaNuel Lee

History, Kid Style

Every once in awhile Josh and me need another funny YouTube video to obsessively quote to each other. One day, Josh showed me "Kid History." This is episode four, probably my favorite, but if you feel like killing time watch all five.

I seriously was gasping for breath, rolling on the floor as I watched those kids. Every day I walk around quoting Kid History to my family. Sometimes I'll remember the jokes and randomly start laughing out loud. Today I was pondering my obsession with Kid History. Why do I find it so stomach-cluchingly funny?

I guess it is because I have little brothers and sisters, and I grew up hearing the little nuances of how they pronounce words. I have this bad habit of copying them; recently I've been talking like David, saying things like "hey, yooooouuu, yoooouuu is doing sumbing?" or "HEY! you is berry stinky!" or "ine so berry much in lub wiz you."

Then I wondered, would Kid History be funny to me if I didn't have little brothers and sisters? On a deeper level, are different things funny to different people based on past life experiences? Why is Kid History hilarious/not hilarious to you, personally?

by Edie

New Music

Being introduced to new music always fires me up. My best friend, Adam, has been pushing this band on me for a while, but I just kind of shrugged it off. Tonight I took a close listen, and I am just so happy that I did. It sounds so neat and different. I'll be listening to this as I jog.

What was the last song that shocked you into paying attention?

over-exsesive shoppers?? by Shaden AbouJaoude

What people do not realize is that at least 6 times a week they purchase something new and do not try to refuse it people. In then United States people spend over three thousand dollars every month. Sometimes even without realizing it. Most of the time boys spend it on electronics and games, and although I hate to admit this as a girl, but girls mostly spend money on shopping. Which is why I chose this picture, and also because I thought it was incredibly cute. So in the end 9 words mean a lot more. It also means that cat likes shoes.

How much time does this guy have?

This video shows the most amazing Domino course I have ever seen. This is what some one does when they want to get on the Guiness Book of World Records. This is one of those things someone does without mistakes because no one really has the heart to do it again. While you watch the video keep your jaw up and imagine what would happen if he missed the first shot.

By Josh Garcia

Some Times I Feel Like Doing This

This video amazes me in many ways. Maybe some of you guys have already seen it on You Tube. This video explains what happens when you spend all your time doing work for school and studying. You brain gets over heated and stops you from focusing. When you hit that point some people go crazy and laugh hysterically at everything. Some people just can't continue without a snack break (me). Some times when you are stuck on a question in a test, everyone is silent, you here the clock ticking, some one is tapping their foot or clicking their pen when you feel like. . . pulling out a toy gun and start a war with you fellow class mates. Maybe it is just me, but this video shows that pretty well. The Great Office War is a battle of failure at impulse control. A battle where people just can't take it anymore. If there was dialogue in the first part of the video i know what it would say:

SALES LEADER; "JUST STOP CLICKING THAT STUPID PEN!!!"
IT Leader; "I CAN CLICK A PEN IF I WANT!!!"
IT Woman; "I AM SICK OF YOU GETTING DECAF, LIVE A LITTLE!!!"
SALES Woman; "HEY!!! THAT WAS HOT CHOCOLATE!!! GET SOME!!!"

And thus, the Great Office War Began. . .

By Josh Garcia