NY Times Ethicist - Giving Back

     David Bomse's mother died at 92. After a few weeks, he received a gift intended for her from a friend she worked for 25 years ago. David could not notify that person of his mother's death since he did not have his contact information until the gift arrived. Now he wonders whether he should send the gift back or keep it.

     According to the ethicist, since the gift did not reach David's mother, it should be considered as the property of the sender, not someone who first opens the package first. Therefore, she claims, David must return the gift to its owner. I believe this would be the right choice logically, but returning the gift would not be polite. Unlike the ethicist, most of people response that David should not send the package back to its owner since the action is abruptly rude. For example, returning the gift which is not some kind of a letter but an actual gift, by marking "return to sender" would be a churlish manner.

     I also agree with the responses that David should call the sender of the package personally to inform that his mother deceased and ask what he should do with the present sent to him. This would be a much more polite way to handle the situation.

Combination between art of illusion and modern technology

     I will write how magic tricks and modern technology can be combined to create ipod magic, computer magic, and projection tracking magic, which take the art of illusion to the next level. By comparing some of the famous routines of the past century to modern technology magic, I want to show how the mixture between magic and science has made the art much more easy, convenient, and wide open. For example, a magic that required a big stage and large set ups before can now be performed close-up with iphones and computers.

     The sources I found are similar that they all deal with technology magic such as ipod and computer magic. Two of them are videos of Marco Tempest performing his techno-magic, one with ipod and one with projection tracking system, which I will discuss the effects in the essay. His idea of combining sleight of hand with iphones was outstanding and dazzling.

Comparison/ Contrast Essay on Beatbox

     In my essay, I will compare and contrast beatboxing styles of the two great beatboxers, Rahzel and Kenny Muhammad. Rahzel and Kenny Muhammad have been best friends since they were very young and often performed beatbox together. While they have many things in common in their musical styles, they also have several significant differences. Since I am very interested in beatbox and have been beatboxing for 6 years, I chose to write about this topic. And by analyzing the techniques of the world top beatboxers, I would  like to develop my own skills and offer useful information to beatbox fans. I will first write about the similarities between Rahzel and Kenny Muhammad's beatbox followed by the differences which are less obvious and more interesting.

Fight Club Quotation #1

Marla Singer: why do you do it (coming to support groups for sick people)?

The Narrator: I don't know, when people think you're dying, they really, really listen to you instead of just...

Marla Singer: instead of just waiting for their turn to speak.


   The narrator suffers from insomnia and starts to attend gatherings for sick people. He goes to meetings for people with testicular cancer, alcohol addiction, and tuberculosis pretending to be one of the victims, and finds himself being relaxed and that he could sleep again. So he becomes addicted to these support groups. Then, Marla Singer appears and bothers the narrator like "the little scratch on his roof of his mouth that would heal if only he could stop tonguing it, but he cant." The narrator feels as if his own secret shelter has been exposed by his enemy.

    So why are both the narrator and Marla Singer obsessed with these support groups for dying people? People are selfish and really like to express themselves more than anything else. This is a natural thing. In order to survive in this competitive world, we have to be selfish. I mean, we must commercialize ourselves to jobs to get a job. This is why everyone likes to talk about themselves more than to actually listen to what others have to say. When my friend comes to me and asks something like "hey man, I'm meeting this girl tonight and what do you think I should talk about?" I say, "man, you don't have to talk about anything, just listen and respond to what she says." I say this because everyone likes to talk about themselves and be listened. And this is why the narrator and Marla attend the meetings for the sick every night. No one outside listens to them. No one really cares about the narrator's pain from insomnia or any other kind of agony he feels. People who really listen to them are the ones who suffer enormous pain themselves and have no hopes for the future.

  I'm not saying that there isn't anyone around us who truly feels and cares what we say, but I think our favorite conversation topic has been and will always be ourselves.

P.S. I could be worng.. and you guys might disagree.. but these are just my own thoughts on the scene. 

  

Intro

   

   When someone asks me to name one great movie that sticks in my mind, I say, without hesitation, Fight Club. Fight Club is full of interesting philosophical ideas and makes us deeply think about ourselves. It shows how a person's invariable life in the materialistic world full of dissatisfaction degenerates his mental stability. Fight Club still punches me in the face and tells me that I must wake up and live a life for myself, not for others. It tells me never to let the fear of what others think of me stop me from achieving what I truly want. No other movie has yet conveyed so many influential messages about the true inner freedom. Not only that, but also its thrills, competitive action scenes, and especially the characters' inspiring speeches surely dragged my attention.

   In this blog, I would like to share with you some of my favorite quotations from Fight Club and talk about how they affected me to change my view towards life and spiritual freedom.

   If you have not seen the movie yet, do not just read the plot summary and pretend like you know what really is going on. Fight Club inspires you to deeply think about yourself and the world you are involved in. I highly recommend that you actually watch the film. However, if you are too lazy to appreciate the movie and choose to keep on living a life full of discontent, you can just click the X button in the upper right corner of your screen and get out of my blog. If not, you are more than welcome to share your thoughts.