Red meat product indulgence and the scientific warning

I think the talk of the town today cannot be other than the scientific evidence support that correlation between meat product intake and the bowel cancer is at the same level as smoking. I think that might be a nightmare for many meat lovers all around the world.

According to the "Meat and tobacco: the difference between risk and strength of evidence" in the Guardian, "The headlines are referring to the news that the World Health Organization has classified cured and processed meats (bacon, salami, sausages, ham) as group 1 carcinogens, because there is a causal link between consuming these meats and bowel cancer. This group also includes tobacco, alcohol, arsenic and asbestos, all known to cause certain cancers." So, It causes a lot of panics; the medias are spread the news repetitively. Then the topic in the article leads to the official media announcement in form of infographic from the health organization which is Cancer Research UK or CRUK. They give us a lot of numerical facts; moreover, the common information about how we read a scientific evidence is also provided in a very beautiful and interesting way which you can follow here. That is very civilized way to cope with the mass who are frightened by a scientific fact that can be misunderstood easily and may have a numerous impact to many industry.

CRUK’s infographic comparing tobacco and processed meat in terms of cancer risk Photograph: Cancer Research UK

Anyway, those who don't care just enjoy their favorite dish happily, besides those who anxious always concern about their food and tend to be vegetarians or very choosy about food selection. Maybe not many people will change their behaviours by just listening to the news. We always live that way and have many excuses to confirm ourselves to find the happiness, especially our favourite dishes.

_______________________________________ 

My question is:
Would you stop eating your favourite dish if the scientific evidence or the doctor says that it's bad for your health?

___________

References

Gage, S. (2015, October 26) Meat and tobacco: the difference between risk and strength of evidence. the Guardian. Retrieved from  http://www.theguardian.com/science/sifting-the-evidence/2015/oct/26/meat-and-tobacco-the-difference-between-risk-and-strength-of-evidence?CMP=fb_a-science_b-gdnscience?CMP=fb_a-science_b-gdnscience

 Dunlop, C. (2015, October 26) Processed meat and cancer – what you need to know. Cancer Research UK. Retrieved from http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2015/10/26/processed-meat-and-cancer-what-you-need-to-know/

Comparing works of art. Quest 2, p. 90 - 91. Term 6, 2015

These are the works of art on pages 90 - 91 of Quest 2 (Hartmann, 2007).

The Lamentation,
by Master of the Codex of Saint George, c. 1340 - 45.

The Death of General Wolfe, by Benjamin West, 1770.

Cooling Off by the Riverbank,
by Kitagawa Utamaro, late 18th century.

In the Omnibus, by Mary Cassatt, 1891.

__________

Reference

Hartmann, P. (2007). Quest 2 Reading and Writing (2nd. ed.). New Yok: McGraw-Hill.

Art as the Mirror of Everyday Life. Quest 2, p. 85 - 87. Term 6, 2015.

These are colour images of the works of art discussed in "Art as the Mirror of Everyday Life" (Hartmann, 2007, pp. 85 - 87)

Court Ladies Preparing Newly Woven Silk, by Zhao Ji, China, 12th century

Février des Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Illumination by the Limbourg Brothers, France, early 15th century.

Count of the Cattle, Tomb of Meketre, circa 2000 B.C.E.

John Brown Going to His Hanging, by Horace Pippin, 1942.

__________

Reference

Hartmann, P. (2007). Quest 2 Reading and Writing (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

The Sacred Realm of Art. Quest 2, pp. 76 - 82. Term 6, 2015.

These are the images shown or discussed in "The Sacred Realm of Art" (Hartmann, 2007, pp. 76 - 82).

Standing Figure Holding a Baby,
Olmec, 800 - 500 B.C.E.

Bwa tribal mask and costume. Burkina Faso.

Bwa tribal mask. Burkina Faso.

Tathagatas Ratnasambhava,
Central Tibet, ca. 1200-1250

This is a different version of the work discussed in Quest, which I was unable to find. I think it's similar enough not to matter. I'm not sure that the reference information given in Quest is correct (p. 270). For more information, see Three Tathagatasat http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/svision/i23.html 

Madonna Enthroned
by Cimabue. c. 1285.

For more information, see "Santa Trinita Maestà" at http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Santa_Trinita_Maest%C3%A0&oldid=485139381

__________

Reference

Hartmann, P. (2007). Quest 2 Reading and Writing (2nd. ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Who has inspired you in your life?

In Thailand, the beliefs regarding horoscope and astrology have been quite commonplace in society since the past time. Astrologers play an important role in the country, especially in the royal or even national activities such as The Royal Ploughing Ceremony taking place in May of each year at Sanam Luang in Bangkok. At present, there have been many Thais that are fortunetellers as either a main job or minor occupation. In the meantime, people can easily know about their horoscope via a huge range of media which are typically free like applications on smart phone and tablet, websites, books, magazines, newspapers etc., but it might not be as full of detail as direct contact and talk with fortunetellers or even some monks. Most of the matter that people need to get an advice from them are generally about auspicious times for wedding and stuff like that, lucky numbers for car registration or mobile phone numbers, names or surnames etc.

As an illustration, my name and surname, in fact, have not been named by my parents but by the monk so that this would be luck for my life. However, I am not sure if our names can astrologically shape or psychologically influence on our lives. In “Does a baby's name affect its chances in life? ”, Kremer (2014) says that the researchers have tried to study the effect on people whose names are strange to the eyes for many decades. The results in the past pointed out that men having unusual first names were more inclined to drop out of school and then become alone in their lives, whereas if those who were patients with mental illness and have such names were likely to be more solicitous. Yet, in recent works, there has been finding that there is no negative impact on people with odd names, while sometimes common or uncommon are both regarded as their desire. Besides that, similar works by other researchers by a sociologist, an economist and the like have revealed that there is no correlation between their effect on people’s life and different names.

Further supported by the results of research works, I am convinced that our lives mainly depend on our action rather than our names or fates. It is indisputable that people’s characters or personality would be varied because of different society and place (environment) they live in. This corresponds to the “looking-glass self” concept, a psychology concept that our identity is partly shaped by the way we are treated by other people. Thus, it seems to me that some people may not realize that their traits and lives mostly tend to be like their surrounding; on the other hand, others are prone to spend their lives based on the people who they select as role models. 

So, what about you? Do you have any role model (father, mother, teacher, stars, and the like) in your life? Who is your role model?

_______________________________________ 

My question is:

Who is your role model in your life? and Why?

___________

Reference

Kremer, W. (2014, April 11). Does a baby's name affect its chances in life?. BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26634477

How do you explain your answers to the facts survey?

The results of our quick survey this morning were interesting, I thought, both for the agreements and the disagreements.

For example, despite my carefully chosen examples, the substantial agreement to the first question, whether facts about the material world are discovered or created, is not what I was expecting. This is fine, but when something is not what we expected, we like an explanation, so perhaps a few of the people who checked the "Both" option there could explain their reasoning.

Also interesting was that while half of us (50%) think that moral and mathematical facts have more in common than either has with material facts, there seemed to be some different ideas on the independent questions about those two types of facts. Again, some explanation would be useful.

_______________________________________ 

My question is:
On what basis, for what reasons, did you give the answers you gave on the survey this morning?

___________

Reference

6 responses. (2015, October 26). [Summary of responses to Google Form]. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/a/auathailand.org/forms/d/1dVm0m39rjxkMvEYhqU9QaZUyEXIg-K1tw1g2rb5uhZs/viewanalytics

So that the record of our initial responses is not changed, I've turned off responses for the form we used in class, but there is a copy of the form here if you would like to see the exact questions.

Health warning: Healthy salad ahead. What surprising fact has recently contradicted one of your old beliefs?

Although I did study physics for a couple of years at university, my major was in philosophy. Nonetheless, I love science. If you want to know how the world works, what is in it and how the bits work together the good answers come from science, not from tradition, not from religion and not from philosophy. Of course, there are whole areas where science is not the useful tool for understanding: it cannot tell us why 1+1=2, or even what a number is, nor can it tell us what makes an act or attitude morally right or wrong, nor can it give meaning to human life.

 But even in the realm of human behaviour and relationships, science is a powerful tool to help us understand how we work: it is science that tells us that most of us are dishonest, but unhappy to admit that about ourselves, and that can help us understand why this dishonesty is so prevalent a part of human behaviour, even suggesting some solutions that just might work because they are solidly founded on verifiable evidence (Mazar, Amir & Ariely, 2008).

I have to admit that when I saw the New York Times headline "How Salad Can Make Us Fat," I suspected the sort of explanation for it, but that the mere presence of healthy salad on a menu can cause unhealthy eating was still surprising when backed up with solid evidence (Hutchinson, 2008).

Even though I'm fairly skeptical these days of all amazing claims, not believing something until there is solid evidence or sound reasons, I still regularly find that I have ideas accepted on little more than faith that is often proved undeserving of my trust. I'm reminded also of my surprise when I learned recently that the evidence suggests that is little health benefit in green tea, and a lot of health benefits in coffee addiction. I guess I'd just picked up that notion from friends, from social attitudes that are everywhere, and had not insisted on the evidence. The result was I was sincerely believing something wrong for years! Having the wrong idea about green tea probably wasn't very serious, but not understanding the way salads can work to undermine my health can be dangerous - happily, the article also suggests some healthy measures to counter our natural human tendencies (nature is so nasty!).

_______________________________________ 

My question is:
What surprising think have learned recently that forced you to reconsider some old opinions, that showed your old beliefs to be either seriously incomplete or totally false?

___________

Reference

Hutchinson, A. (2015, October 23). How Salad Can Make Us Fat. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/opinion/sunday/how-salad-can-make-us-fat.html

Mazar, N., Amir, O., & Ariely, D. (2008). The Dishonesty of Honest People: A Theory of Self-Concept Maintenance. Journal of Marketing Research, 45, 633 - 644. Retrieved from http://people.duke.edu/~dandan/Papers/PI/Dishonest_JMR.pdf

What would you like to do when you are 70 years old?

When somebody asked me what are you going to do in the future; indeed, I can explain much about my approaching plans, and I am quite sure that people, especially teen to young adult like my age, firstly think about their wishes and dreams which they are trying to reach for. Recently, I just had some questions after I watched The Intern on Thursday that how can I live when I am getting older and older? Is there somebody else besides me when I am nearly at the late life? Importantly, what things I would like to do when I am during that time?

In The Intern movie, on one hand is the 70-year-old man named Ben (casting by Robert De Niro), presently struggling to deal with the concept of retirement and would like to do something new to fulfil his heart; on another hand is the 32-year-old working woman named Jules Ostin (casting by Anne Hathaway), the founder and CEO of a rapidly successful fashion-based e-commerce company called 'About the Fit' who is presently struggling to deal with the demands of her investors while not neglecting her six
-year-old daughter and stay-home husband.

Even though, according to "Nancy Meyers: ‘I don’t see a lot of movies about complicated women … I think it’s gotten worse’" (2015), some people said that The Intern is feminism, for me, the movie is merely shown a role of women nowadays and the balance of work equality (in Jules's company). It is not only just so simply, gentle and warm-hearted but also overwhelming.  Besides, exactly, "experiences never gets old" (2015, The Intern's quote), Ben shows that he has never give up with his old age; that is, no matter how old are you, you can learn anything you desire such as cooking, yoga, learning new languages, or applying as an intern. He is an example of being a real old man, which is developed both physical care to be healthy and emotional maturity. At the same time, I also like Jules Ostin, she is the type of 21st century women. Being a working woman is not easy but it is not too hard to do as well.

In conclusion, it is quite certain that everyone is not perfect, not successful all steps of work, and not happy all the time. However, there are always beautiful things during the hard time and interestingly they are just little things around us like talking with somebody who made you calm, or soothing fresh air, etc. That's why I like to watch this kind of movie; it's just a little thing that makes me smile.

_______________________________________ 

My question is:
What would you like to do when you are 70 years old?

___________

Reference

Freeman, H. Nancy Meyers: ‘I don’t see a lot of movies about complicated women … I think it’s gotten worse’. (2015, October 1). The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/01/nancy-meyers-the-intern-interview-women-hollywood

Looking at art: What's the story? Quest 2, pp. 72 - 75,b. Term 6, 2015.

These are the three pieces of art that Hartmann presents in black and white on pages 74 - 75. 

And Hartmann's question that is exercise B. on page 72:

• Which of these pictures do you like the most? Why?
  Do you know something about any of these pieces of art? 

The Art Critic by Norman Rockwell, 1955 

Aquila degli Abruzi 
by Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1952.

Street Scene, Haiti, by Laetitia. 20th C.

__________

__________

Reference

Hartmann, P. (2007). Quest 2 Reading and Writing (2nd. ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Looking at art: What's the story? Quest 2, pp. 72 - 75. Term 6, 2015.

These are colour images of the first of the works of art discussed in "Looking at Art: What's the Story" (Hartmann, 2007, pp. 72 - 75). It is the Edomite figure shown on page 72. (There is a slightly expanded version here of this reading, using the same sources.)

"Cult" Stand, Statue Anthropomorphic, Painted
800 - 600 B.C.E.

For more information see "Cult" Stand, Statue Anthropomorphic, Painted at http://www.antiquities.org.il/t/item_en.aspx?CurrentPageKey=2&indicator=11&shalemid=589
________

__________

Reference

Hartmann, P. (2007). Quest 2 Reading and Writing (2nd. ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Art: Themes and Purposes. Quest 2, p. 71 - opening page to chapter 3. (2015, term 6)

For the rest of the term in Quest, we will be reading about and discussing art.

Painting Van Gogh by T. F. Chen, 1991

An obvious first question might be: What is art? 

However, Hartmann limits her discussion to a much narrower set of art, starting with the image of the painting above on the opening page of chapter 3, and we too can probably ignore the difficult question of what art is, even if we do not limit ourselves here to the traditional visual and sculpted forms of art that are the subject of chapter 3 of Quest (2007, p. 71 - 104).

Write down your responses to Hartmann's questions on page 71, as below: 

• Look at the picture. What images do you see in the painting? Are they realistic? 
• What do you like or dislike about this painting? Why? 
• What is your favourite work of art? Why do you like it? (p. 71) You need not limit yourself to visual art in responding to this question. 

__________

Reference

Hartmann, P. (2007). Quest 2 Reading and Writing (2nd. ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

What musical instrument do you want to play most?

What do you do to relieve your own stress?

If I am feeling overwhelmed by a stressful situation, I try to take a break and listen to classical music. I also enjoy listening to instrumental music while studying, or even I am writing my blog post at this moment, I am also listening to it.

However, some of my friends told me that they felt somewhat distracted and could not concentrate on their studies when they heard some noise. But personally, calm and relaxing instrument music soothe me and make me less stressed, and I feel I can work more effectively.

Charles Richard-Hamelin (r)
congratulated Seong-Jin Cho on his victory

According to “South KoreanSeong-Jin Cho wins Chopin piano competition”, young pianist from South Korean, Seong-Jin Cho, has won the Chopin piano competition in Warsaw.

After the result was announced he was very really happy. He said "It became my dream to participate in the competition and I cannot believe this moment".

This news reminds me that when I was young I dreamed to be a classical musician. My favourite musical instrument is the flute and I used to learn to play it when I was young. Unfortunately, I stopped studying it when I was a secondary school student, and I have not kept on practicing it, so now I can play it just a little bit.

Actually, there are also some of other musical instruments that interest me; for example, I also love the soulful and beautiful sound of violin. I think it would be nice if I had a chance and time to learn to play this musical instrument.

_______________________________________

My question is:
If you could to learn play one musical instrument, what would you choose?

___________

Reference

South Korean Seong-Jin Cho wins Chopin piano competition. (2015, October 21). BBC News. Retreived from http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34589558

The speech from the man who can't speak

I have discovered very interesting speech ‘Martin Pistorius: How my mind came back to life — and no one knew’ from TEDxKC on last august. Actually It’s not the speech literally, because he cannot speak since he was a child resulting from the illness, so he use the program dictation his word automatically. This is the introduction of the clip.

‘Imagine being unable to say, "I am hungry," "I am in pain," "thank you," or "I love you,” — losing your ability to communicate, being trapped inside your body, surrounded by people yet utterly alone. For 13 long years, that was Martin Pistorius’s reality. After contracting a brain infection at the age of twelve, Pistorius lost his ability to control his movements and to speak, and eventually he failed every test for mental awareness. He had become a ghost. But then a strange thing started to happen — his mind began to knit itself back together. In this moving talk, Pistorius tells how he freed himself from a life locked inside his own body.’

The program has read his word very naturally, and the talk is very smooth. Even though he cannot use his own voice to communicate; his emotional expression also appears all over the clip through his eye about his sadness from his hard time or his hope from the help of the technology and the supporting from his family.

Now he has recovered from the serious sickness, but his speaking ability has not brought back yet. When he talks about the speaking with his own voice, He reminds me about the ability to the non-verbal communication, which may be loss in the modern technology or the social media. I have heard a lot about the misunderstanding from the words in the social media or the wrong interpretation of the writer’s purpose, such as intention to make a satire instead of the discrimination has caused the hot temper for the mass instead of joke.

The voice as he said is also reflecting the personality of the speaker. I have never thought about it before. When you say something, there is also an expression of your inner mind to the world. Then I thought that's why we call somehow speaking with the word 'release', especially when you talk to your friend about someone in a bad way, haha. I guess his heart might be overwhelmed with a lot of emotions.

That make me think about the heart of the communication is also about the sincerity to express by your own heart and voice to touch the audiences’ minds, which may be lost in our lives nowadays.

_______________________________________ 

My question is:
Do you think your personality also expressed in your voice? Or does the voice help us in order to communicate?

___________

Reference

Pistorius, M. How my mind came back to life — and no one knew. (2015, August). TED. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/martin_pistorius_how_my_mind_came_back_to_life_and_no_one_knew?language=en

Can you imagine living your life without one of the most important things in your life?

How many who have not love and lost? In this life, it is normal to have something you hold dear and close to your heart. And it's also normal to have more than one thing.  It's very natural for all of us to go through this kind of trail. Losing them will cause you sorrow and the feeling that comes with it is devastating. Just to think that we will never see them again will make your heart throb with an unbearable pain. But what if we have got them back? That will probably make you forget all the pain and sorrow you have been through. It will probably lift your spirit like nothing has ever done. In my life, I have loved and lost like many. When I lost my beloved father, it was lighting struck my heart. Although I know for the fact that he's gone and no matter how I pray, he will never come back to me. But every now and then, I still have this wistful thinking that one day when I return home, he will be there, sitting behind the desk I have bought for him. He will look at me with the same heart-warming smile and I will know that he has never been gone. Everything was just a bad dream and now I have finally woken up. But losing someone and losing something is different. Even though the devastation could be equal, but when you lost something, there is still this silver hope of, one day, you will get it back, but when you lost someone to death, no matter how you wish it, that person would never come back. What is left is only the happy memories, that no one could steal it away from us.
Smith is luck to get her beloved belongings back to her, but not every body is as lucky. I'm happy for her. Every day there is someone who will lose something dear to them. I wish all of them would have a happy ending like Smith.

_______________________________________ 

My question is:Can you imagine living your life without one of the most important things in your life?

___________

Reference: Patti Smith's stolen items returned. (16 October, 2015). BBC News. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34548074

Rules for gift exchange. Quest, p. 52, x.D, 3

In chapter 2 of Quest 2, Hartmann's academic reading, "Economic Systems," introduces the four types of economic system that economists have identified.

In exercise D. on page 52, she asks us to discuss these in relation to aspects of our own and other countries' economies.

Response write on Hartmann's question below.

_______________________________________ 

Question 3
What are some rules for gift exchange in your culture? For example, what is a typical gift to bring to a dinner party? Do government officials sometimes accept gifts in exchange for their influence? Do people discuss the difference between "gifts" and "bribes"?

___________

Reference

Hartmann, P. (2007). Quest 2 Reading and Writing (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Effect of religion on economy. Quest, p. 52, x.D, 2

In chapter 2 of Quest 2, Hartmann's academic reading, "Economic Systems," introduces the four types of economic system that economists have identified.

In exercise D. on page 52, she asks us to discuss these in relation to aspects of our own and other countries' economies.

Response write on Hartmann's question below.

_______________________________________ 

Question 2
What is the effect of religious beliefs and values on the economy where you live? What effect does religion have on the economy of other countries?

___________

Reference

Hartmann, P. (2007). Quest 2 Reading and Writing (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

What type of economic system do you live in? Quest, p. 52, x.D, 1

In chapter 2 of Quest 2, Hartmann's academic reading, "Economic Systems," introduces the four types of economic system that economists have identified.

In exercise D. on page 52, she asks us to discuss these in relation to aspects of our own and other countries' economies.

Response write on Hartmann's question below.

_______________________________________ 

Question 1
What is the economic system in the country you live in? If it is a mixed economy, does it tend to be more command or more market? What does the government regulate?

___________

Reference

Hartmann, P. (2007). Quest 2 Reading and Writing (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Do you think that Mr.A is better or Mr.B is better?

I believe that nowadays everyone would be accustomed to hearing the word corruption quite well, especially about political corruption problem. Each country has also the similar problem with the different degrees, but there would be no nation never having encountered with such problems. The root cause of a corruption problem is conflicts of interest, while its results are varied upon the way in which people do: bribery and conspiracy just to name a few. Moreover, it seems to be quite difficult to address this problem completely in many countries; however, I suppose that if every sectors—the government, private section and people—corporate to cope with it seriously with the right solutions based on the characteristics of the society, a corruption problem would be abated significantly.

World football has been convulsed by the US investigation

Yet, corruption is not a critical problem only for politics, but also in other fields such as industrial section, educational section, sports section etc. According to “FIFA corruption crisis: Key questions answered” (2015), The sporting event in which people watch most in the world is not Olympics, but the football world cup—held by FIFA, which generate a great deal of revenue (nearly many billions of dollars). Recently, there have been arrest and investigation for doubts about the honesty as well as transparency of football world cup event in terms of the steps of allocating tournaments, electing the president, funding and so on. Ultimately, 14 FIFA official and associates have been indicted by the U.S. with accusations of serious corruption after deciding to select Qatar—small island but rich—as a place where the 2022 World cup will be held. This organization and its member has been investigated by FBI of the U.S., particularly about the bidding process for the Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 world cups by speculating back at its dealings over the past two decades. 

After reading this news, what comes to my mind is a question I was once asked by my teacher. The following is such a thought-provoking question. Let’s say. There are two persons—Mr. A and Mr. B. who are working in your company, and the company have had a project for both of them with the same amount of budget (100 baht). Mr.A swindled 80 baht and spent the remaining budget (20 baht) to make the company be still happy and get as high profit as 100 bath. On the other hand, Mr. B is a very honest man but has a lower ability and productivity. He spent full amount of budget (100 bath), but got very low profit, only 5 bath. Based on this situation, if your company were able to select one person to be a CEO instead of you, who would you select? 

This question led to the debate in my class. Some people agree that the excellent result is more important. No matter how Mr.A has done, getting the highest benefits and profit matters for the company to grow and survive. Nevertheless, others contend that the way (principle or morality) is more essential. The action of Mr. A is to corrupt the company. Although Mr. B have tried to get as much profit as possible—but still very low, it is better to swindle others’ money (corruption). Thus, no matter how the result is, it does not matter.

By the same token, if this were your company, in that situation, who would you select to be the next CEO of your company? Why?

_______________________________________ 

My question is:
Who do you prefer (as the next CEO that leads prosperity to the company)? Mr.A or Mr.B?

___________

Reference

Fifa corruption crisis: Key questions answered. (2015, September 2015). BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32897066

If you could be a producer of Disney, what would you do?

Disney has been my favorite company since I remembered. I watched many stories from the production including Snow white, Cinderella, Pirate of the Caribbean, Frozen. I used to play a video game which asked for Disney knowledge such as the founder of Disney company, the first name of Mickey mouse. The Disney products are also everywhere in different forms: stationary, shirt and collection from 7-11.

Mickey mouse churro

In 2000, my father surprised my mother, my siblings and me with the tickets of Disney on ice show. It was Snow white and seven dwarfs which was at first in Thailand. I can remember briefly; by the way we were really happy from the show and a Mickey mouse binocular.Besides, last three years (2013), we went to Tokyo Disney Land and there was a large group of  people. Most machine themes, souvenirs and foods relate to Disney stories with Disney's characters parade at night. There was a happiness atmosphere.

According to "Aladdin musical comes to the West End", Disney has been on Broadway since
March 2014, which is expanded the production to Japan, Berlin and Sydney respectively. The next story is Aladdin that has James Monroe Iglehart performs as Genie at the Prince Edward theater, London's West End on July 9, 2016.

Disney's products have given happiness to people around the world that is a reason why Disney is at the second rank of productions worldwide. It has extended from a black-white animation production to color animation, movie, graphic animation, amusement, TV channel, variety kinds of stage show that most of them are happy ending; however, the origin stories which Disney took from are different. Sleeping beauty, Rapunzel, Little mermaid are scary and terrible as Grimm's.

Disney production has been such creative to produce those stories suitable for children and has shared happiness since 1923.

_______________________________________ 

My question is:
If you could choose a movie (may have not been produced by Disney before) to produce by Disney, which story would you prefer? What is the story - same or change from the original one?

___________

Reference

Aladdin musical comes to the West End. (2015 October 10). BBC News. Retrieved from www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34548120

Is tipping necessary in restaurants?

When we talk about tipping or gratuity, what is in your mind? Have you ever thought that it is useful and satiable for doing that?  or it is not. When we have a plan to travel or do a business in other countries, we need to research more essential information about those countries and certainly knowing how that country tips is a common thing which we have to know.

 It is very interesting and suspicious at the same time that each country is different and has own custom in terms of gratuity. Some countries, tipping is a good manner and common way to behave such as France, but some it is inappropriate to compensate individually such as Japan.

According to "The end of tipping in New York? Top restaurant group bans gratuities" (2015), there are some well-known restaurants in New York which plans to start a no gratuities policy, even though it will have a lot of mixed reactions. This reminded me to think of the topic "tipping", because while it looked like a little thing which we are familiar with, there are some people who thinks that it should be more equal.

Will it be better if the compensation included additional rewards are professionally divided by acceptable and reasonable criteria? In my opinion, I prefer to pay the total prices in restaurants which are included tax and service charges, and the service charges have to be sure as well that they are shared to all staffs, not the owners, not only the waiters but all the workers like cleaners also.

I now hopefully await for the changing of tipping customs in Thailand and all over the world, I would like to see that gratuity in restaurants is not about manner - the way of acting that the society believes are polite (Hartmann, 2007), it is just what is charged in the bill.

_______________________________________ 

My question is:
Should we stop tipping, especially in restaurants?

___________

Reference

Hartmann, P. (2007), Quest 2: Reading and Writing, page 12.

The end of tipping in New York? Top restaurant group bans gratuities. (2015, October 15). The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/15/the-end-of-tipping-in-new-york-top-restaurant-group-bans-gratuities

Would you like to be immortal?

Due to high technology nowadays , this leads people to know more about a mechanism of diseases and can find the way to cure, but surprisingly some diseases also can adapt themselves to escape being a target of our immune system or even some antibiotics. For example, one of the best ways that influenza viruses, which is known as the flu viruses, using to escape our immune system is by mutation in the genes that relates to the viral surface proteins. These lead viruses to evolve in a gradual way and also have several types, so this is one reason that why news flu vaccines need to be created for each flu season.

Anyway, I think scientists have also never stopped to search for new knowledge for new cure, and recently, I have read the interesting news which is “The creature with the key toimmortality?” (2015), prof. Dan Rokhsar

, professor of genetics at the University of California, and his team study a gene or pathway in sea anemones to search for the way that allows us to avoid ageing.

Dan Rokhsar says “As far as we know, these are immortal animals,"

 "They live a very long time - one was documented to have lived 100 years. They don't have old age. They live forever and proliferate, just getting bigger."

Actually, although he has found a lot of similarity between sea anemone and human, there is a difference between sea anemones and humans that worry him because people also have thoughts, memories and consciousness that the anemones do not have, so studying in the sea anemone may not help to retain these bright and present in new regenerating bodies.

However, I also think that someday when new innovations in medical technology have much developed, it may be possible that we might find the way that humans can live much longer than nowadays (the average life expectancy of worldwide might be around 300-500 years old),or we might become immortal.

_______________________________________ 

My question is:
Would you like to be immortal?  Why? Why not?

___________

Reference

The creature with the key to immortality?. (2015, October 9). BBC News. Retreived from http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34454844

San, Sami and pre 1700s American Indians, or 21st century US and China: which societies are more violent?

Reading Na's blog post again, I thought of a connection with the societies we have recently read about in the readings in chapter of Quest: the pre-European tribal cultures of North America, the Sami reindeer herders, the farmers of the US Midwest, modern Japan, the San hunter gatherer people, the US and China (Hartmann, 2007).

Hartmann focusses on the economic similarities and differences among the groups she discusses in her readings, but a question that occurred to me was what the differences are in peacefulness and safety from violence among the different types of society. For example, looking at my own country, which are the more violent cultures: the traditional tribal cultures of the native Australians who were there for 40,000 years before my ancestors took over, or the modern Western culture of Australia? Is modern, Westernising Thailand more or less violent than the more traditional versions of Thai culture? Also worth considering I thought is whether the world as a whole is becoming more or less violent and dangerous.

The 9/11 terrorist act that we discussed briefly in class this morning also came to mind, and apart from Na's response to the recent terrorist bombing in Turkey, the recent bombing at the Erawan shrine likely also comes to mind.

_______________________________________ 

My question is:
Which type of society is more peaceful and free of violence: more traditional societies or modern states?

___________

Reference

Hartmann, P. (2007). Quest 2 Reading and Writing (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.