Bollywood

I read an article about Bollywood from the BBC. I read about what Bollywood is, where it all started, why it is so big now, why it is so unusual, who the big stars are in Bollywood, what the problems of Bollywood are, and what it's future is. First of all, Bollywood, a mix of Bombay and Hollywood, is India's version of our Hollywood only it makes about twice as many movies as Hollywood. Bollywood began in 1899, first with a shot film, then in the 1930's, it began having talking videos, and now it is a huge movie making center. Bollywood started getting attention in 2002 when Indian films were shown in Britain during a cricket match of India and England. Once the people saw these videos, it became really popular and department stores even started selling Indian clothing. What makes Bollywood different from Hollywood is that their movies all follow a very strict format of singing and dancing. Here in America, we have Brad Pitt, but I learned that in Bollywood, their huge star is Arjun Rampal. As successful as Bollywood sounds, it has trouble breaking even on some movies because piracy is a big problem over there. Also, the younger people are finding the movies to be too predictable because of the same format for every movie. Even with piracy and younger people being turned off, this article says that the future is bright for Bollywood. This article relates to my life because now I want to see one of these movies if they are now going to be a big deal. I also want to see if these movies are as predictable as they sound.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/2003/bollywood/newsid_2683000/2683857.stm

Mexican Culture

One thing that Mexico is well known for is its food. My favorite Mexican food is a taco with rice. In a typical day in Mexico, corn, hot peppers, and beans are eaten at almost any meal. Mexicans consume their corn as a cooked or roasted corncob, also known as an elote, a cooked grain of corn, porridge, also known as atole, as a wrapped and steamed dough with filling, also known as a tamal, and my favorite, as a tortilla. Tortillas are the outer shell of tacos and burritos which are very popular in central Mexico. The hot peppers that Mexicans eat are not always hot. They range from the large and sweet chile ancho to the small and extremely hot chile habanero. Durring the day, Mexicans will normally have a light breakfast, a mid-morning tortilla snack, the comida, which is normally from two to four in the afternoon, and lastly their dinner which is normally from around eight to around ten. The food aspect of Mexican culture is very important to me because I eat tacos atleast once a week and beans and rice atleast three times a week. Their food is also important to me because I usually eat a light breakfast.

http://www.mexicanfoodrecipes.org/Mexican-Recipes/index.php

Change

Sonnet: Change You Can But…

Change you can your hair color, not your skin;

Change you can your smile and grin: not your eyes;

Change you can your sex partners, not your kin;

Change you can your sinful life: Be soul-wise!

Change you can your friends and foes, not parents;

Change you can your teacher/guide, not your brain;

Change you can your exam-marks, not talents;

Change you can your habits bad and be sane.

Change you can the environment, not the sun;

Change you can the landscape old, not the soil;

Change you can your temperament and not run;

Change you can your heart and mind: you must toil.

Change you can your ambitions but be brave;

Change you can your life-styles much but behave!

For this blog assignment, I researched a poem about change titled, " Change You Can But..." This poem reflects the many changes that happen in peoples lives all over the world. It talks about all of the changes that induviduals are able to make happen and the ones that come into peoples lives naturally. This relates to my life because over the years many changes have occured. For example, the transfer from middle school to high school influenced my life greatly. Not only did I meet many new frieds, my family also moved into a new neighborhood which was a new experience that I had to adapt to. In all, proved by this poem, change is a universal concept that happens to everyone.

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sonnet-change-you-can-but/

Hope

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking for stars" (Wilde).

This quote by Oscar Wilde really stuck out to me when I was looking for quotes about hope. This quote stuck out to me because it says that the rich aren't better than the poor, males aren't better that females, and old aren't better than young. When this quote says, "we are ALL in the gutter..." (Wilde), it means that we are all in the same and equal place. Wilde follows that up by saying, "...but some of us are looking for stars" (Wilde), which explains why we are all in different positions in life with more or less things than our neighbors and friends. Overall, this quote is saying that what truly separates all of us and makes us who we are is how we hope and dream. Just after Presidents Day weekend, this quote is perfect because all the presidents are the same as us, but with their hopes and dreams, they have gotten to where they are today.

Religion vs. Spirituality

I read an article by Tejvan Pettinger comparing and contrasting religion to spirituality. This article says that religion focuses more on the past with ancient texts and spirituality focuses more on the present. It also says that religion teaches us to fear God whereas spirituality teaches us to love God. Next, the article says that religion says that God is "high in the heavens", but spirituality tells us that God is all around us. Another point the article makes is that religious people only think that their way will lead to salvation, but on the other hand, spiritual people believe that there can be many different approaches to salvation. Lastly, the article says that religion places more emphasis on outer worship, but spirituality places more emphasis on inner worship. Even with all of these differences, Pettinger argues that "religion can embrace spirituality" and "each religion has produced spiritual seekers of the highest order" (Pettinger). After reading this article, I feel that I am more spiritual than religious because although I read the Bible, I believe that others that don't believe what I believe will find salvation and I believe that God is all around us.

Pettinger, Tejvan. "Religion vs Spirituality." Biography Online. 15 Feb 2009 .

Gender roles

I read "With More Equity, More Sweat" by Washington Post staff writers Richard Morin and Megan Rosenfeld. This article says that having both sexes equal in the work place has made it better for both men and women alike. On the down side to this however, this article says, "this relatively new world have made building successful marriages, raising children and leading satisfying lives ever more difficult". I think that although the equal job opportunities are important for women, I do not see why it should have such a great effect on marriages. This article reminds me of my reading in AP World History because we have learned about many societies; all have a patriarchal based society. I find it interesting how once women and men are considered equals in the work force, building successful marriages becomes more difficult. I know that over time, change happens, so I hope that marriages become stronger as women remain as equals to men.

Morin, Richard and Megan Rosenfeld. "With More Equity, More Sweat." 22 Mar 1998 A1. 11 Feb 2009 .

Roman Culture

In each chapter of my Latin textbook, Cambridge Latin Course Unit 3, there is always a few pages about Roman culture. In our latest chapter, we learned about how we can learn Roman Britain culture through literary and archaeological evidence and inscriptions. Through literary evidence, we have learned about Julius Caesar's attempts to take over the southeast coast of Britain in 55 BC. Through literary evidence, we also learn about Agricola through Tacitus' biography of Agricola, a British govenor and Tacitus' father in law. Though archaeological evidence, we have learned about specific time periods in the empire because of what is inscribed on coins. For instance, if a coin has a picture of a Julius Caesar, it will be from his reign. Pottery can also show us trading routes that were used by the Romans. From the inscriptions on tombstones, we have learned about the Roman possession of Britain.

http://www.cambridgescp.com/page.php?p=clc^top^home

Pope, Stephanie M., Patricia E. Bell, Stan Farrow, Richard M. Popeck, and Anne Shaw. Cambridge Latin Course Unit 3. Fourth Edition. New York: Cambridge, 2002.

Overcoming Fears When Living with Myositis

I read an article about people living with myositis. "Those with a rare chronic illness like myositis not only live with existing fears -- they often find themselves facing new ones" (Hunter). This article talks about common fears found in people with myositis. These common fears are the fear of loss of control, fear of dependency, fear of isolation or abandonment, fear of change in appearance, and fear of stigma. All these fears make them feel unwanted, not needed or useful, and not confident or motivated about anything. If I had any of these fears and the symptoms that come with them, I would see no reason to carry on and would find it hard to keep wanting to live and fight this disease. This article also talks about the ways they cope with the fears. It talks about how all these people need self-esteem boosts, feelings of acceptance, and even just the knowledge of what they are fighting. This annoys me because in this age of free messages via e-mail, I think doctors need to be sending their patients information about this disease. Also, when the doctors send them messages, it gives the patients a sense of belonging and acceptance since they are talking to them. If the patient is not diagnosed with the disease, friends and relatives, in my opinion, need to have some common sense and talk to their friends and family who they think might be struggling with something. I know diseases like this are definately tough, but they can be easily beaten.

Hunter, Angela. "Overcoming Fears When Living with Myositis." 07 May 2007 03 Feb 2009 .

Tornados

I read and watched a couple of video clips about tornados. Tornados interest me because they are one of the main natural disasters that we experience in Minnesota. I learned that tornados can spin up to 300 mph and can cause damage a mile wide and 50 miles long. I learned that tornados cause about 80 deaths and 1,500 injuries a year in the United States. Watching the videos, tornados look so unreal, like something you would see in a movie. I wish I could just sit and watch them but they are very unsafe. Storm chasers study tornados by setting up cameras right were they think the tornado will go. Tornados start in the spring when warm humid air collides with cool dry air. This forms super cells which is where tornados come from. That is just about all scientists know however. They cannot explain why all tornados come in different magnitudes and shapes.

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/tornado-profile.html