Stress

Having to study about stress for my Extended Essay, it’s made me think start to think if we even need stress? All stress is a bunch of hormones to activate our flight or fight responses. It activates and when we get past the stressor that is stressing us out, it stops releasing those hormones and we go into a recovered phase. If the stressor is still there we continue to flight or fight until we become exhausted, however the hormones will continue to release until the stressor has been dealt with. Now that humans have evolved to have imaginative minds, able to think of hypnotical situations, that stress response has turned against us. While it is able to increase our sense perception, dilate our pupils, get more blood pumping in our body, increase in blood pressure, these all result in effects that would be useful when in the Savanna running from lions. While in today’s world such things would just never happen, yet we still get the same effects when we trigger our stress response, in conjunction with our creative minds, makes for an unhealthy mess of side effects and health problems. As with our minds we are able to think of anything as potentially stressful, which means as we’re thinking of those exams coming up, our stress is triggered because we can view that situation as alarming and something that needs to be done with now. So, our bodies activate the stress response, that’s why we get the sweaty palms, shacking hands, increase in sweat. Because our blood is pumping and getting ready for it to flight or fight. Which is not useful because we have to concentrate on writing an essay or studying yet we can’t focus because our bodies, as primitive as they are, think we’re trying to run away from a lion in the Savanna. 

Alien and Aliens review

Being born at a time where all best movies were released well before I was born (expect Mad Max) is an exciting position to hold. I’m able analysis how a particular movie has influenced not just movies but all parts of the media. Due to this, there are obviously many movies inspired by those classical pieces, however; those classical pieces for this generation become not something new and exciting but something typical as we see parts of the plots, characters, and ideas from those movies in new, sometimes better movies. While classic movies usually never are forgotten, or become redundant, as those films will stand the test of time as the panicle of a genre and they were the ones that have influenced most contemporize media and have revitalized entire genres by themselves. It doesn’t mean that those movies are any more interesting now, epically if something within the plot becomes a TV trope. Take Star Wars for instance, when it first came out its story was revolutionary. However today that kind of story is a tired TV trope within today's movies.

Take Alien (the first movie) and Aliens (the second movie); both are classical pieces of their respected genre (The Horror genre for Alien and the Action Genre for Aliens). They both have both been a part renewing interests in their respective genres at the time of them realize and have influenced many forms of media from their releases. However, as I’ve watched them both recently with my dad, I must say for me, there isn’t anything too special about them. While I did enjoy Alien and Aliens quite a lot, the plot of Aliens isn’t anything new or exciting, and the idea of the Alien in Alien (this gets confusing for me even to write) is nothing really terrifying to me as its design and concept has been repeated in so many types of media and different places. The movie (Alien) still managed to scare and frighten me due to its excellent pacing, soundtrack, and plot, while some of this I can say is because it is a great movie, but I would also consider that the horror genre is all that huge. Whereas a film like Aliens felt to me a tad bit too slow and adding unnecessary sub-plots or attempts to pull at your heart strings (such as the whole thing with the little girl still alive in the camp). Because I’ve seen it all done better in other films, while Aliens is a good movie, it felt like watching movies that I’ve seen before.

So, while the classics are good (that’s why they’re called classics) because they are good they influence the media. Thereby creating movies that copy the classic in some way, sometimes creating a saturation within the market of that plot hook, ending, a particular character. From that it makes it so that a generation which didn’t have that classic movie come out while growing up, makes the classic less valuable and wanted to the newer generation.

So in conclusion, Alien 9/10, Aliens 6/10.

'False' life

Recently scientists have created the first synthetic DNA in Microbes. A couple of Biologists edited some DNA within a Microbe, making an artificial living being, and it has lived and been functioning as an ordinary Microbe. For right now, all this can do is edit the way protein is handled within the body. Shortly though this breakthrough in science is a huge discovery regarding in what can happen from here, improving human lives, better and more 'real' Artificial Limbs. As they can be crafted to people with missing limbs to be able to live better, or the entire line of more humanoid robots can be crafted to help with a shrinking workforce. However, there are also large ethical issues that society has to come to a point on. For example, should we even create any more synthetic DNA due to it's 'unnaturally' state, or what of the harm that synthetic life forms can bring? Some famous Sc-Fi films such as Terminator, The Matrix, Alien (the first one), and 2001 A Space Odyssey, explore the issue of robots taking over our lives in some aspect whether that be robots taking over the world or enslaving humanity, most films about robots show how they are evil. These movies might have even inspired the general feel for societies hostility of robots. Some of the issues are legitimate, though. However, all these matters have to be evaluated and seen if they are real threats that should stop this line of science or that the risks are small enough to create something for the betterment of humankind.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

“The legend of sleepy hollow” by Walt Disney (1949)
 
Link to the movie: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x28oc6j_the-legend-of-sleepy-hollow-1949-cartoon_shortfilms

This movie is an animated short (25 minutes), like most of Disney’s movies, and is a movie adapted from the short story “The legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving. 

The movie opens up much like the book, describing the small and isolated valley of Sleepy Hollow which is just some ways away from the port town of tarry town. Where there is a new schoolmaster, for the choir school, by the name of Ichabod Crane. After some time in Sleepy Hollow Ichabod encounters a woman of the name Katrina who has just turned 18 and is the daughter of the richest framer in the small town, however Ichabod encounters some rivalry when trying to woo her heart. Brom Bones, as he is called, is a very strong, dexterous man with short black curly hair. He did like to cause some mischief here and there but had a strong dash of “waggish good humor”. There is a party at Katrina’s house for Halloween, with Ichabod and Brom Bones seeing this as their chance to advance on Katrina. Ichabod dances with Katrina, “[he] prided himself upon his dancing as much as upon his vocal cords”. While Brom Bones was setting up a spooky story as “local tales and superstitions thrive best in these sheltered long-settled retreats”. The tale was about the Headless Horseman who reads within Sleepy Hollow killing anyone who gets in his way at night. Once the party’s over and Ichabod Crane leaves dead at night through the forest and is met with the Headless Horseman. Next morning all that can be found is a shattered pumpkin next to Ichabod’s hat.

Now since this is a Disney animated movie it is targeted towards a younger audience, with the setting of Sleepy Hollow being a lot more colorful and brighter than described in the book, no twisted trees, no mentions of ghosts or specters. There are also some musical hits (like all Disney films) that don’t really fit the tone of the book but again it is aimed at children. However, when it comes to right after the party at Katrina’s house, where Ichabod is recalling every sentence and detail of Brom Bone’s story there some great and subtly imagery that evokes a little horror: fireflies inside a tree making it look like a ghost, frogs saying “headless horseman”, crows calling out “beware”, plants hitting trees making it sound like another horse is approaching, and a hand-like cloud grasping at the moon. The design itself of the Headless Horseman is quite good as well, black clock with a sword in one hand and a pumpkin in the other with a pitch black horse as his companion. The designs of all the characters stay true to the books description, although the relationship between Brom Brom Bones and Ichabod is fleshed out more with some more scenes and greater intensity of fighting over Karina.

The animated does stay true to the book in terms of plot and overall feel, especially towards the ending. However, the generally mood of the movie is a lot happier, colorful and cheerful than the book, with the characters acting in a more ‘cartoonish’ this may be a problem in just trying to make “the legend of sleepy hollow” an animated movie in the first place. This can be seen as an upside depending on what you are looking for in a movie though, but for me this movie was pretty good even with its tone change from the book. 

8/10

Russia and the Anti-Doping Agency

With the Olympics come and gone, what is happening with the Russians and the Anti-Doping Agency? Well a lot of hackers are now accessing files to show that some athletes are taking illegal substances in competitions with the Anti-Doping Agency not caring.

Now this started just before the Olympics when the Anti-Doping Agency found out that the Russian Track and Field team had and still are using illegal substances for competitions, with apparently the government helping them out with the doping as well. The Olympic board then banned the Russian team from being able to go to the Rio Olympics. In response over time hackers have then been getting into the databases of the Anti-Doping Agency and have released confidential information about other athlete’s medical files. These files don’t contain anything ‘under the rugs’ per say, but there is renewed decisions about allowing TUEs (Therapeutic Use Exemptions) allowing some athletes to use illegal substances in competitions if they’re sick or have an allergy. The group that is hacking into the Anti-Doping Agency says that allowing TUEs to exist is basically allowing the legal use of illegal substances. How it just gives the athletes with TUEs a ‘license to dope freely’ because they’re ‘sick’, leading to the hacker group calling the Anti-Doping Agency “corrupt and deceitful”.

Such athletes like Bradley Wiggins had permission to take 2 banned substances on several occasions. One of them, triamcinolone acetonide, was allowed to be taken because he was allergic to pollen according to the medical files. The French cyclist Froome was taking steroid-like drugs because he had a chill during his competitions. Are these just fake excuses for athletes to take drugs, or they have legitimate medical reasons is based on what you think. However, it still comes to the question should we make TUEs public? Since they are just drugs that are should just be used for helping with some small medical problem, but making TUEs public does violate most athlete’s personal privacy.

The Anti-Doping Agency has responded by saying that they are "very mindful that this criminal attack, which to date has recklessly exposed personal data of 29 athletes, will be very distressing for the athletes that have been targeted; and, cause apprehension for all athletes that were involved in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.” The Director of the Anti-Doping Agency has stated that this attack was probably a retaliation from the fact the Russian Track & Field team couldn’t come to the Rio Olympics and that the Russian Government was sponsoring this cheating. 

What are my goals for english this semester?

This year I have Mrs. Graciano as my english teacher this year, and what I would like out of this year's first semester in this class is to be better at constructing and writing essays. I would like help in vocabulary as with a bigger vocabulary you can describe and use better terminology for the appropriate field and object I'm talking about. However I would like to focus on essay writing as that is a ginormous part of the IB and I will try my hardest to get the best grades I can and will need more help with essay writing if I'm going to. The problems I've had with essay writing in my past has manly been spelling, messy handwriting and being to slow when writing. This has been solved by the fact I can use a computer now for my essay's. 

"the King in Yellow"

I love myself some art that thrives against the the social norm. Art that is grotesque, peculiar, and beautiful. And such a school of thought holds such art. Art that serves to provoke, to shock, to upset the norm. Art that is reflective of societies fears, and this has never been more present in the more apparent production of the lamentable play "the King in Yellow". For many years the mere existence of this play was only a rumor. Those in the circuit of theatrical plays, such as myself, always seemed to know a "friend of a friend" who'd espied this pandemonium play. Those such people were in some forbidden underground spectacle, but a few firsthand accounts were found. Individually everyone of the viewers ended the story losing their grip on reality, went mad with the amount of zest for the play they had, and vanished off into some hideous, grotesque secret society.

However, after last night's play, I'm dubious of such claims and must laugh at such preposterous ideas. How any viewer of this turgid play would be led to any sort of insanity. The play is about some yellow trite ghost stories and them in some sort of after life. The wooden acting was only surpassed only by the flat direction, dire pacing and yellow.

The actress who portrayed the confusingly written character of Cassilda seemed almost in a state of apoplexy, seeming almost drugged or in a daze, just mumbling her lines without yellow sign. I see no further use of her acting; a used car commercial on cable T.V. would stretch her talents.

The set design was a mess, haphazard of different and non-matching pieces of decrepit background, it was doubtlessly an afterthought. I don't know what they were thinking with the strange pasteboard castles. The costuming was horrendous have you seen it with one yellow stunning exception.

The arrival and design of the character "King in Yellow" was impressive. As it oozed out it whispered to us in a calming tone, I found myself actually quite taken with the effects have you seen it. The actor's flight harness was completely occluded from my position, as it hovered menacingly over have you seen the yellow sign. I was momentarily distracted from the King's speech by my rogue cellphone and had to yellow. I was simply so amazed by this single monologue, if only the rest of the production had been as intricately crafted as it. But while the yellow sign, I found myself wondering have you seen the yellow sign. In the end have you seen it? Yellow is the only thing with signs, have you seen the yellow sign. Otherwise the yellow sign, have you seen the yellow sign have you seen the yellow sign have you seen the yellow sign have you seen yellow signs you have seen the yellow sign have you seen the yellow have you seen the yellow sign have you seen the sign have you seen the yellow sign have you seen