it is sad how two people who have so much in common are only friends.
When both of them are dedicated to finding a silver lining in the misery their life brought to them as children, and rising above it all, they chose NOT to wallow in it, being caught in the attention-getting hell of hysterical suicide attempts just because one refuses to get over the childhood trauma.
Yet society is not friendly to truth tellers, and people who may mete revenge when the authorities refuse to do anything after being told of a death threat by a minor. You go to jail for using violence to exercise your right to protect yourself from harm, even if a minor.
This is a travesty of justice, and Canada is guilty of that whenever a child chooses to protect himself from an evil man with a gun and they side with evil.
This is why Canada is threatened by such men, and their ilk. For any man who abuses children and uses fear of death to control them is truly evil, and deserves anything a child who is courageous enough to do to protect his life.
Thus do I condemn the Canadian Criminal Code for excluding justice for children at risk.
20130528
20130525
The Aftermath of a Good Concert
Rumor has it that 25,000 Mumford & Sons fans descennded on two beer gardens after becoming a captive audience with money. They left behind mountains of plastic cups and lots of pop bottles & food wrappers and the like.
It's estimated to take all Saturday and Sunday to clean up Holland Park in Surrey.
Sorry, but I decided not to snap photos of the mess.
IMO the only good to come out of the concert was Surrey may make money on the food sold as a lot of Mumford & Sons' fans from outside Surrey (almost all of them) will now return to Surrey to eat at their restaurants.
Though, it's also rumored that not all the food vendors were from Surrey.
It's estimated to take all Saturday and Sunday to clean up Holland Park in Surrey.
Sorry, but I decided not to snap photos of the mess.
IMO the only good to come out of the concert was Surrey may make money on the food sold as a lot of Mumford & Sons' fans from outside Surrey (almost all of them) will now return to Surrey to eat at their restaurants.
Though, it's also rumored that not all the food vendors were from Surrey.
20130524
Love with an Iron Fist
When shit goes bad, tell your parents.
It's worth the scolding, which is a sign of LOVE. Only a parent who truly loves and cares for his or her child will scold them. Those parents who say not are guilty of child neglect.
All neglect does is show to a child that they are free to do ANYTHING, even kill.
So if you see a peer doing anything they want, then gently scold them. Even if they beat you up, you have done the right thing.
However, even a person who shows his peers his or her loving nature does not stand for violent confrontation when they act out.
Love still must be tempered by nn iron fist.
It's worth the scolding, which is a sign of LOVE. Only a parent who truly loves and cares for his or her child will scold them. Those parents who say not are guilty of child neglect.
All neglect does is show to a child that they are free to do ANYTHING, even kill.
So if you see a peer doing anything they want, then gently scold them. Even if they beat you up, you have done the right thing.
However, even a person who shows his peers his or her loving nature does not stand for violent confrontation when they act out.
Love still must be tempered by nn iron fist.
20130522
Nobody not Even Hollywood Could Afford to Build a Tardis (Doctor Who)
IMO they can't afford to support the R&D to make a Tardis.
Only Gallifreyans could afford it, because not only do they have two hearts, their Time Lord economics implies time manipulation to afford the technology, which has to be REALLY EXPENSIVE!!
THINK ABOUT IT!
If a Tardis is big on the inside, then you know Tardis spacetime physics requires more than tachyons, especially since a Tardis is big on the inside due to the tesseract effect.
Those kinds of violations of spacetime physics requires a lot of energy i.e. of a black hole. You can't make that kind of star with a Higgs cyclotron. You'd need more power than what's currently available on Earth! Indeed, the math for this has yet to be invented.
Since Hollywood employs people with basically a BA degree rather than a BSc, they don't think R&D to make a Tardis is worth it as it entails an economy bigger than the American one.
Plus, it also means no electricity for you and I. This explains why Rassilon and his crew wore robes. They lived on Gallifrey where control over spacetime also means a nice climate and other advanced technology.
Nobody wants that mainly because Time Agent technology in criminal hands could threaten fixed points in time like time cops' family histories.
Ergo, we'll never build a time machine because nobody's done the math, and the costs involved would bankrupt nations.
Plus, what's to stop the black hole from eating the Earth???
Only Gallifreyans could afford it, because not only do they have two hearts, their Time Lord economics implies time manipulation to afford the technology, which has to be REALLY EXPENSIVE!!
THINK ABOUT IT!
If a Tardis is big on the inside, then you know Tardis spacetime physics requires more than tachyons, especially since a Tardis is big on the inside due to the tesseract effect.
Those kinds of violations of spacetime physics requires a lot of energy i.e. of a black hole. You can't make that kind of star with a Higgs cyclotron. You'd need more power than what's currently available on Earth! Indeed, the math for this has yet to be invented.
Since Hollywood employs people with basically a BA degree rather than a BSc, they don't think R&D to make a Tardis is worth it as it entails an economy bigger than the American one.
Plus, it also means no electricity for you and I. This explains why Rassilon and his crew wore robes. They lived on Gallifrey where control over spacetime also means a nice climate and other advanced technology.
Nobody wants that mainly because Time Agent technology in criminal hands could threaten fixed points in time like time cops' family histories.
Ergo, we'll never build a time machine because nobody's done the math, and the costs involved would bankrupt nations.
Plus, what's to stop the black hole from eating the Earth???
Asuras are Demons
In Buddhist cosmology, the Asura realm supposedly is between the human realm and the godly realm.
Though, IMO asuras are demons. Here's why:
"Because of their passions, Rebirth as an Asura is considered to be one of the four unhappy births (together with Rebirth as an animal, a preta (hungry ghost), or a being in Naraka (the Hells)). The state of an Asura reflects the mental state of a human being obsessed with force and violence, always looking for an excuse to get into a fight, angry with everyone and unable to maintain calm or solve problems peacefully."
The obsession with violence and confronting life with it reminds me more of demons than gods.
Ergo asuras are so low a form of "god" that they could be compared to all the anti-heroes and enemies of Greek gods, including the many mythical creatures that the gods played a practical joke on i.e. centaurs are probably a joke Zeus played by taking the form of a pretty horse just to seduce a virgin.
Likewise, the Minotaur, a bull-headed man-beast is a joke played by Zeus when he took the form of a bull to seduce another virgin.
Getting back to asuras as demons, this is only a mental landscape, because the Six Realms is a mental construct designed to educate Buddhists about the evils of passions and other slipper slopes we really don't need to venture on but usually do because of our ignorance.
Essentially, the Asura Realm is where Buddhists who obey all the precepts but were not very nice in the human realm are reborn. If they mess up there, then it's the Hells for them.
Reference:
Asura: http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php?title=Asura
Though, IMO asuras are demons. Here's why:
"Because of their passions, Rebirth as an Asura is considered to be one of the four unhappy births (together with Rebirth as an animal, a preta (hungry ghost), or a being in Naraka (the Hells)). The state of an Asura reflects the mental state of a human being obsessed with force and violence, always looking for an excuse to get into a fight, angry with everyone and unable to maintain calm or solve problems peacefully."
The obsession with violence and confronting life with it reminds me more of demons than gods.
Ergo asuras are so low a form of "god" that they could be compared to all the anti-heroes and enemies of Greek gods, including the many mythical creatures that the gods played a practical joke on i.e. centaurs are probably a joke Zeus played by taking the form of a pretty horse just to seduce a virgin.
Likewise, the Minotaur, a bull-headed man-beast is a joke played by Zeus when he took the form of a bull to seduce another virgin.
Getting back to asuras as demons, this is only a mental landscape, because the Six Realms is a mental construct designed to educate Buddhists about the evils of passions and other slipper slopes we really don't need to venture on but usually do because of our ignorance.
Essentially, the Asura Realm is where Buddhists who obey all the precepts but were not very nice in the human realm are reborn. If they mess up there, then it's the Hells for them.
Reference:
Asura: http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php?title=Asura
"Be All that You Can Be"
:Love is the only cure for depression, paranoia and the schizotypies of post-Modern life.
FWIW the average person at age 19 is essentially has developed the characteristics of a paranoid-schizoid personality with symptoms of depression arising and falling according to his moods. He is also likely to be male, interested in women but not ready for a relationship, and on the average, spends too much time on his own in the privacy of his bedroom.
Thus, there is a likelihood that if he gives up on life, then he will cause himself the Hells of a psychoneurotic existence, alone, living inside his head and developing phobias as part of the mental defense mechanisms in a bid to remain paranoid, schizoid, and depressed.
Thus, it is actually the obligation of the average young female adult to find this lonely guy, and change his life. For a young woman is actually less likely to develop the symptoms of the average male. That comes much later after she makes a series of bad choices in the name of love, never distinguishing between idealistic love and the rampant lust that too many people mistake for true love.
Sadly though, most men and women are not like this at all. They may even have a boyfriend or girlfriend. They too are obligated to document their relationship history so that single men and women who are lonely do not give up on love.
Anyone who thinks they do not owe the lonely even a moment of their time because they think they are in love, but aren't willing to share their experience, will soon realize the errors of their way.
Note: I do not believe that medication is the "cure" for paranoid-schizoid personality disorders or for depression. Only love can truly relieve the anxieties of such an existence.
Definition:
Schizotypy: the typical path of a person based on his or her idiosyncrasies which may or may not develop into a personality disorder, specifically of a schizophrenia, due to his or her inability to cope and adapt to stress.
The cheapest way to uncover a schizotypy is to do the two-week basic training, and if you pass that test, then try out the pre-deployment advanced training. Finally, your experience in the combat zone of a nation at war will help you discover what it means "to be all that you can be."
FWIW the average person at age 19 is essentially has developed the characteristics of a paranoid-schizoid personality with symptoms of depression arising and falling according to his moods. He is also likely to be male, interested in women but not ready for a relationship, and on the average, spends too much time on his own in the privacy of his bedroom.
Thus, there is a likelihood that if he gives up on life, then he will cause himself the Hells of a psychoneurotic existence, alone, living inside his head and developing phobias as part of the mental defense mechanisms in a bid to remain paranoid, schizoid, and depressed.
Thus, it is actually the obligation of the average young female adult to find this lonely guy, and change his life. For a young woman is actually less likely to develop the symptoms of the average male. That comes much later after she makes a series of bad choices in the name of love, never distinguishing between idealistic love and the rampant lust that too many people mistake for true love.
Sadly though, most men and women are not like this at all. They may even have a boyfriend or girlfriend. They too are obligated to document their relationship history so that single men and women who are lonely do not give up on love.
Anyone who thinks they do not owe the lonely even a moment of their time because they think they are in love, but aren't willing to share their experience, will soon realize the errors of their way.
Note: I do not believe that medication is the "cure" for paranoid-schizoid personality disorders or for depression. Only love can truly relieve the anxieties of such an existence.
Definition:
Schizotypy: the typical path of a person based on his or her idiosyncrasies which may or may not develop into a personality disorder, specifically of a schizophrenia, due to his or her inability to cope and adapt to stress.
The cheapest way to uncover a schizotypy is to do the two-week basic training, and if you pass that test, then try out the pre-deployment advanced training. Finally, your experience in the combat zone of a nation at war will help you discover what it means "to be all that you can be."
Translink Driver Busts Lady for Fare Fraud
Today, I witnessed a case of fare fraud. All university students get a Go card at discount every semester. Yet, not all students use them because they made a friend who takes them to university. My guess is, one student made the mistake of giving her mom her Go card under the mistaken impression that anyone can use a Go card.
So her mom get on the 316 Surrey Central bus, and the driver calls her down — I thought he was calling me down, until he added "lady".
Anyway the lady comes up and lies to him twice, and ends up paying her fare.
A warning to anyone with a spare Go card your son or daughter isn't using: "Don't try to defraud Translink. Pay for your ride!"
So her mom get on the 316 Surrey Central bus, and the driver calls her down — I thought he was calling me down, until he added "lady".
Anyway the lady comes up and lies to him twice, and ends up paying her fare.
A warning to anyone with a spare Go card your son or daughter isn't using: "Don't try to defraud Translink. Pay for your ride!"
20130521
Evil is Evil
Evil is evil and good, good. Yet Christians today abhor the truth that God is the author of good and evil. They say he is all good, but much of the Old Testament, God appears to use men to do his will and appears to approve of murder, violating one of his own commandments.
Christians justify this by stating that the people who God's people killed were sinners. However, these sinners did not cast the first stone. Likewise, in the religious wars in Europe and in the Holy Land, the Crusades also violated the commandment to not kill. Ergo, they have no true moral justification. Rather, they were motivated by the sin of lust for glory and gold.
This is why people today are more likely to go atheistic: Christianity today often violates the Ten Commandment and substitutes for them rules based on Paulician gospel, which often is used to justify oppression of women, anti-gay advocacy and other things that seem more important than the Commandments.
Even as a Buddhist, if I had a choice in what good I could derive from the Bible, then it would be the Ten Commandments because they are common sense. Civilizations are formed based on these rules, but no one is civilized who does not consistently follow them.
In my eyes, Christianity creates unnecessary evil by being inconsistent about killing.
How is killing Muslims "good" when murder is evil? If a mother kills her children, then why do they go to heaven and why should she go to hell? Why is it that all people who side with the devil be condemned to the Hells to burn for eternity when God is love? Would not a merciful God merely purify all of his creation, which each person is from conception, through fire and brimstone?
Is not being condemned to burn forever in the Hells torture and thus ungodly? If so, then it is not God who inspired the author who wrote Revelations but a man who was a despot and hated Christians for not respecting the Roman gods.
I do not write any of this to expect reformation amongst Christians, but to point out flaws in Christianity. Because Christian religious belief is not based solely on reason but on the emotional attachment to faith justified by a rational outlook based on God alone, some of the stuff that is supposed to be good gives enough temptation to sin.
However, nothing in Christianity so far tempts me to convert from Buddhism, mainly because belief in their imaginary friend, his father and especially his mother is based on a faith foreign to me.
Christians justify this by stating that the people who God's people killed were sinners. However, these sinners did not cast the first stone. Likewise, in the religious wars in Europe and in the Holy Land, the Crusades also violated the commandment to not kill. Ergo, they have no true moral justification. Rather, they were motivated by the sin of lust for glory and gold.
This is why people today are more likely to go atheistic: Christianity today often violates the Ten Commandment and substitutes for them rules based on Paulician gospel, which often is used to justify oppression of women, anti-gay advocacy and other things that seem more important than the Commandments.
Even as a Buddhist, if I had a choice in what good I could derive from the Bible, then it would be the Ten Commandments because they are common sense. Civilizations are formed based on these rules, but no one is civilized who does not consistently follow them.
In my eyes, Christianity creates unnecessary evil by being inconsistent about killing.
How is killing Muslims "good" when murder is evil? If a mother kills her children, then why do they go to heaven and why should she go to hell? Why is it that all people who side with the devil be condemned to the Hells to burn for eternity when God is love? Would not a merciful God merely purify all of his creation, which each person is from conception, through fire and brimstone?
Is not being condemned to burn forever in the Hells torture and thus ungodly? If so, then it is not God who inspired the author who wrote Revelations but a man who was a despot and hated Christians for not respecting the Roman gods.
I do not write any of this to expect reformation amongst Christians, but to point out flaws in Christianity. Because Christian religious belief is not based solely on reason but on the emotional attachment to faith justified by a rational outlook based on God alone, some of the stuff that is supposed to be good gives enough temptation to sin.
However, nothing in Christianity so far tempts me to convert from Buddhism, mainly because belief in their imaginary friend, his father and especially his mother is based on a faith foreign to me.
Pantheism and Pandeism...
"Pantheismus und Pandeismus, Monismus und Dualismus: alles dies sind in Wirklichkeit nur verschiedene Formen des Gottschauens, verschiedene Beleuchtungsarten des Grundbegriffes, nämlich des Höchsten, von dem aus die verschiedenen Strahlungen in die Menschenseele sich hineinsenken und hier ein Spiegelbild projizieren, dessen Wahrnehmung die charakteriologische Eigenart des Einzelindividuums, die durch zeitliches, familiäres und soziologisches Milieu bedingte Auffassungsgabe vermittelt."
English translation:
"Pantheism and Pandeism, monism and dualism: all these are really just different forms of looking at God, different types of illumination of the basic concept, namely, the Most High, cut from which are the various radiations in the human soul, and in this is projected a mirror image, the perception of the characteristics of the single individual, mediated by temporal, familial and sociological apprehension."
— Paul Friedrich Köhler (1916). Kulturwege und Erkenntnisse: Eine kritische Umschau in den Problemen des religiösen und geistigen Lebens. p. 193.
English translation:
"Pantheism and Pandeism, monism and dualism: all these are really just different forms of looking at God, different types of illumination of the basic concept, namely, the Most High, cut from which are the various radiations in the human soul, and in this is projected a mirror image, the perception of the characteristics of the single individual, mediated by temporal, familial and sociological apprehension."
— Paul Friedrich Köhler (1916). Kulturwege und Erkenntnisse: Eine kritische Umschau in den Problemen des religiösen und geistigen Lebens. p. 193.
20130520
The Beauty Before Us All (poem)
This Monday I looked at the sunrise,
and noticed — to my surprise —
the clouds above sending me a message.
Though I didn't write the code,
sometimes it's better to sit back
and let the beholder determine
the beauty before us all.
20130517
Animated GIF: Lotus fountain at Holland Park, Surrey, BC
Today I was at Holland Park to make animated GIFs.
20130516
Diary Entry 20110516.1836 The OAPFiles Series 1 Episode 3: The Beast Below Review
For Amy Pond's first trip on the Tardis, the Doctor takes her to visit the starship UK, which turns out to be driven by compassion.
Yes, that's right: a star whale did it for the kids.
Overall the episode was solid. Both Gillan and Smith handle landing in the whale's mouth well.
Why am I spoiling it for Episode 2 of Series 5? The whole point of the episode is to show that compassion tends to motivate the "monsters" in this case.
This part gets lost on the Doctor Who fans a lot. So this episode is actually one of the best of Series Five. 10/10 from me.
Even so, the crack shows up again...
Yes, that's right: a star whale did it for the kids.
Overall the episode was solid. Both Gillan and Smith handle landing in the whale's mouth well.
Why am I spoiling it for Episode 2 of Series 5? The whole point of the episode is to show that compassion tends to motivate the "monsters" in this case.
This part gets lost on the Doctor Who fans a lot. So this episode is actually one of the best of Series Five. 10/10 from me.
Even so, the crack shows up again...
Update: adapting to no medication and observations of bipolar patients
Although I've been battling insomnia, the lack of flexiril and gabapentin hasn't cause insomnia. That's a fallacy. Rather, the insomnia has come and gone during those two weeks mainly due to how much time I've been online.
Overall, though the the end of the fortnight, I've been getting adequately amounts of sleep, by going to nap when I want to. My reasoning for going off the medication is twofold: 1) gabapentin and flexiril are being used to give a hint to sleep, since neither is a sleep aid, and 2) to understand that without the gabapnetin, I don't get quality sleep, and without the flexeril, I don't fall off to sleep.
As well, I've tried the hypoglycemic reaction, to observe the role of high glycemic foods in sleep quality
I'm sure after a two week washout, both the gabapentin and flexiril will do their job.
In other news, anti-histamine effects of mirtazapine and quetiapine are directly related to binge eating. You just never see it with first-generation antihistamines due to the strong sedative effects.
However, low doses of quetiapine have no effect on the manic part of bipolar disorder except to stabilize the mood. It's more likely alcohol consumption has a lot to do with a bipolar patient's recovery as the less consumed, the more stable the patient is.
Sadly though, a lot of bipolar patients are moderate to chronic alcoholics. As well, the higher level of anger observed in bipolar patients is a good indication of their level of stress.
It appears that the psychiatric staff have no means to deal with the alcoholism that the bipolar patient retains. However, it is associated with anger and stress.
Overall, though the the end of the fortnight, I've been getting adequately amounts of sleep, by going to nap when I want to. My reasoning for going off the medication is twofold: 1) gabapentin and flexiril are being used to give a hint to sleep, since neither is a sleep aid, and 2) to understand that without the gabapnetin, I don't get quality sleep, and without the flexeril, I don't fall off to sleep.
As well, I've tried the hypoglycemic reaction, to observe the role of high glycemic foods in sleep quality
I'm sure after a two week washout, both the gabapentin and flexiril will do their job.
In other news, anti-histamine effects of mirtazapine and quetiapine are directly related to binge eating. You just never see it with first-generation antihistamines due to the strong sedative effects.
However, low doses of quetiapine have no effect on the manic part of bipolar disorder except to stabilize the mood. It's more likely alcohol consumption has a lot to do with a bipolar patient's recovery as the less consumed, the more stable the patient is.
Sadly though, a lot of bipolar patients are moderate to chronic alcoholics. As well, the higher level of anger observed in bipolar patients is a good indication of their level of stress.
It appears that the psychiatric staff have no means to deal with the alcoholism that the bipolar patient retains. However, it is associated with anger and stress.
Review: Epson Stylus NX130 Printer
I love bargains, and when Future Shop had dropped the price of the Epson Stylus NX130 Printer in it's daily special, nothing could stop me from getting it.
Originally when the nX130 hit the shelf at the beginning of 2013, it went for $69.99. Future Shop had already dropped the price to $59.99 before specially dropping it by $30. Over all, I paid $41 for the printer.
It's a 3-in-1 printer, meaning it's a scanner and photocopier, but being Epson, the print prints black and white very nice.
Futurue ad for Epson Stylus NX130: http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/epson-epson-stylus-all-in-one-colour-inkjet-printer-nx-130-stylus-nx-130/10229006.aspx
20130515
Nerd Review: IPhone 4 as Video Camera
English Warning: this is a nerd review i.e. the potential for too much information overload may occur while reading portions of this review! Eyes glazing over while vaguely remembering your first encounter with a geek or nerd may occur — to prevent this, please look at the videos.
Attention: the first video has a faint recording of several women speaking either Gujarati or Hindi, or Cantonese or Mandarin. If you are able to understand either languages, then please determine which language they are speaking and the content of their chatter.
中文（简体）警告：这是一个书呆子审查，即潜在的太多信息超载可能发生，而读这篇评论的部分！同时依稀记得你第一次遇到一个怪胎或可能发生的书呆子 - 防止眼睛呆滞，请看看视频。
注意：第一视频有几个女人讲古吉拉特语或旁遮普语，粤语或普通话淡淡的记录。如果你是能够理解两种语言，那么请确定哪种语言他们说话的内容，他们的唠叨
中文（繁體）警告：這是一個書呆子審查太多信息超載的潛力，即可能發生在讀這篇評論的部分！同時依稀記得你第一次遇到一個怪胎或可能發生的書呆子 - 防止眼睛呆滯，請看看視頻。
注意：第一視頻有幾個女人講古吉拉特語或旁遮普語，粵語或普通話淡淡的記錄。如果你是能夠理解兩種語言，那麼請確定哪種語言他們說話的內容，他們的嘮叨
ગુજરાતી ચેતવણી: આ સમીક્ષા ભાગ વાંચતી વખતે ખૂબ માહિતી ભારને માટે સંભવિત એટલે કે એક nerd સમીક્ષા થઇ શકે છે! અસ્પષ્ટ એક રુચિ ધરાવો અથવા nerd આવી શકે છે સાથે તમારા પ્રથમ એન્કાઉન્ટર યાદ છે જ્યારે ઉપર આંખો ગ્લેઝિંગ - આ રોકવા માટે, વિડિઓઝ જોવા વિનંતી.
ધ્યાન છે: પ્રથમ વિડિઓ ગુજરાતી અથવા પંજાબી, અથવા કેન્ટોનીઝ અથવા મેન્ડરિન ક્યાં બોલતા અનેક મહિલાઓ એક હલકા રેકોર્ડિંગ છે. તમે ક્યાં તો ભાષા સમજવા માટે સમર્થ હોય, તો પછી તેઓ બોલતા અને તેમના પપડાટ સમાવિષ્ટ છે, જે ભાષા છે તે નક્કી કરો
हिन्दी चेतावनी: यह इस समीक्षा के अंश पढ़ने के दौरान बहुत अधिक जानकारी अधिभार के लिए क्षमता यानी एक बेवकूफ की समीक्षा होने पर हो सकती है! थोड़ा एक geek या बेवकूफ उत्पन्न हो सकता है के साथ अपनी पहली मुठभेड़ को याद करते हुए अधिक आंखें ग्लेज़िंग - इस को रोकने के लिए, वीडियो देखने कृपया.
ध्यान दें: पहला वीडियो गुजराती या पंजाबी, या केनटोनीज या मंदारिन तो बोल रहे कई महिलाओं के एक बेहोश रिकॉर्डिंग है. आप या तो भाषा को समझने में सक्षम हैं, तो वे बोल रहा है और उनके बकवास की सामग्री रहे हैं जो भाषा का निर्धारण कृपया
In this review, I'll be discussing the finer points of the use of a iPhone 4 as a video camera. At some point in the discussion, the Quicktime data of the audio and video stream of the movie may be displayed. According to Apple, display of said data may be subject to their copyright coverage. When I get the email from Apple to seize and desist, I'll let you know.
In the meantime, let's see how the iPhone works as a video camera.
First off, the video camera in the iPhone 4 is based on a 5 MP (2592 × 1936 pixels) camera but uses the 1920 x 720 format of Quicktime using the mpeg-4 standard of H264 for video and AAC for audio. This means the video is crisp and clear, and the audio quality is CD quality.
The camera is based on the backside illumination (BI) sensor made by Omnivision Technologies. This sensor makes use of wavefront coding created by radar engineer Edward Dowski and his thesis adviser Thomas Cathey at the University of Colorado in the United States in the 1990s. Because universities were yet to be business-savvy, both Dowski and Cathey formed CDM-Optics, which was acquired by Omnivision in 2005. Wavefront coding was designed to extend the depth of field of a digital imaging system such as a video camera.
As a result of the BI sensor in the iPhone 4, the video camera demonstrates extended depth of field when compared to other smartphone video cameras. However, the camera proper tends to ramp down the brightness on images focused on the sun. This makes it difficult to photograph sundogs, which helps to test camera firmware's ability to compensate properly when pointed at a very bright point of light (the sun).
Thus, the video camera is equally sensitive to low-light conditions as the camera proper but not to intense points of light such as the sun and different types of lamps. As well, to properly adapt such exceptional light conditions, the user is forced to download an app to give it the same qualities of better thought out camera optics and firmware.
Overall, the video quality displayed is more than adequate. Here is information of the file format for the Quicktime MOV format displayed by the Linux app, mediainfo:
$ mediainfo 1327386B-D90A-4115-A82C-C640CAF883F4.MOV
General
Complete name : 1327386B-D90A-4115-A82C-C640CAF883F4.MOV (Apple uses a UUID-like identifier to uniquely name each file iOS creates. My guess is this UUID becomes date and time of file creation.)
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : QuickTime
Codec ID : qt
File size : 80.1 MiB
Duration : 1mn 3s
Overall bit rate : 10.6 Mbps
Recorded date : 2013-05-10T11:21:40-0700 (The date area is copied to converted MP4 and MPEG files, thus retaining the local and UTC date and time. it is duplicated in the Apple quicktime API information below.)
Encoded date : UTC 2013-05-10 18:21:40
Tagged date : UTC 2013-05-10 18:21:53 (According to this tagged date, it takes 13 seconds to tag the resulting video file.)
Writing application : 6.1.3
Writing library : Apple QuickTime
Model : iPhone 4
: +49.2045-122.8897+041.860/ (This is the GPS location of the iPhone 4 during filming of the video. It is repeated again under the Apple quicktime API information listed below.)
Make : Apple
com.apple.quicktime.make : Apple (Apple quicktime API information)
com.apple.quicktime.creationdate : 2013-05-10T11:21:40-0700
com.apple.quicktime.location.ISO : +49.2045-122.8897+041.860/
com.apple.quicktime.software : 6.1.3
com.apple.quicktime.model : iPhone 4
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Baseline@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 1mn 3s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 10.5 Mbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Minimum frame rate : 28.571 fps
Maximum frame rate : 30.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.381
Stream size : 79.6 MiB (99%)
Title : Core Media Video
Encoded date : UTC 2013-05-10 18:21:40
Tagged date : UTC 2013-05-10 18:21:53
Color primaries : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4, SMPTE RP177
Transfer characteristics : BT.709-5, BT.1361
Matrix coefficients : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4 709, SMPTE RP177
Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC (This is the Low Complexity version of AAC, which is technical jargon for simplest version.)
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 1mn 3s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 64.0 Kbps
Channel(s) : 1 channel
Channel positions : Front: C (Sound is recorded as thought it is front and centre.)
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 496 KiB (1%)
Title : Core Media Audio
Encoded date : UTC 2013-05-10 18:21:40
Tagged date : UTC 2013-05-10 18:21:53
Attention: the first video has a faint recording of several women speaking either Gujarati or Hindi, or Cantonese or Mandarin. If you are able to understand either languages, then please determine which language they are speaking and the content of their chatter.
中文（简体）警告：这是一个书呆子审查，即潜在的太多信息超载可能发生，而读这篇评论的部分！同时依稀记得你第一次遇到一个怪胎或可能发生的书呆子 - 防止眼睛呆滞，请看看视频。
注意：第一视频有几个女人讲古吉拉特语或旁遮普语，粤语或普通话淡淡的记录。如果你是能够理解两种语言，那么请确定哪种语言他们说话的内容，他们的唠叨
中文（繁體）警告：這是一個書呆子審查太多信息超載的潛力，即可能發生在讀這篇評論的部分！同時依稀記得你第一次遇到一個怪胎或可能發生的書呆子 - 防止眼睛呆滯，請看看視頻。
注意：第一視頻有幾個女人講古吉拉特語或旁遮普語，粵語或普通話淡淡的記錄。如果你是能夠理解兩種語言，那麼請確定哪種語言他們說話的內容，他們的嘮叨
ગુજરાતી ચેતવણી: આ સમીક્ષા ભાગ વાંચતી વખતે ખૂબ માહિતી ભારને માટે સંભવિત એટલે કે એક nerd સમીક્ષા થઇ શકે છે! અસ્પષ્ટ એક રુચિ ધરાવો અથવા nerd આવી શકે છે સાથે તમારા પ્રથમ એન્કાઉન્ટર યાદ છે જ્યારે ઉપર આંખો ગ્લેઝિંગ - આ રોકવા માટે, વિડિઓઝ જોવા વિનંતી.
ધ્યાન છે: પ્રથમ વિડિઓ ગુજરાતી અથવા પંજાબી, અથવા કેન્ટોનીઝ અથવા મેન્ડરિન ક્યાં બોલતા અનેક મહિલાઓ એક હલકા રેકોર્ડિંગ છે. તમે ક્યાં તો ભાષા સમજવા માટે સમર્થ હોય, તો પછી તેઓ બોલતા અને તેમના પપડાટ સમાવિષ્ટ છે, જે ભાષા છે તે નક્કી કરો
हिन्दी चेतावनी: यह इस समीक्षा के अंश पढ़ने के दौरान बहुत अधिक जानकारी अधिभार के लिए क्षमता यानी एक बेवकूफ की समीक्षा होने पर हो सकती है! थोड़ा एक geek या बेवकूफ उत्पन्न हो सकता है के साथ अपनी पहली मुठभेड़ को याद करते हुए अधिक आंखें ग्लेज़िंग - इस को रोकने के लिए, वीडियो देखने कृपया.
ध्यान दें: पहला वीडियो गुजराती या पंजाबी, या केनटोनीज या मंदारिन तो बोल रहे कई महिलाओं के एक बेहोश रिकॉर्डिंग है. आप या तो भाषा को समझने में सक्षम हैं, तो वे बोल रहा है और उनके बकवास की सामग्री रहे हैं जो भाषा का निर्धारण कृपया
In this review, I'll be discussing the finer points of the use of a iPhone 4 as a video camera. At some point in the discussion, the Quicktime data of the audio and video stream of the movie may be displayed. According to Apple, display of said data may be subject to their copyright coverage. When I get the email from Apple to seize and desist, I'll let you know.
In the meantime, let's see how the iPhone works as a video camera.
First off, the video camera in the iPhone 4 is based on a 5 MP (2592 × 1936 pixels) camera but uses the 1920 x 720 format of Quicktime using the mpeg-4 standard of H264 for video and AAC for audio. This means the video is crisp and clear, and the audio quality is CD quality.
The camera is based on the backside illumination (BI) sensor made by Omnivision Technologies. This sensor makes use of wavefront coding created by radar engineer Edward Dowski and his thesis adviser Thomas Cathey at the University of Colorado in the United States in the 1990s. Because universities were yet to be business-savvy, both Dowski and Cathey formed CDM-Optics, which was acquired by Omnivision in 2005. Wavefront coding was designed to extend the depth of field of a digital imaging system such as a video camera.
As a result of the BI sensor in the iPhone 4, the video camera demonstrates extended depth of field when compared to other smartphone video cameras. However, the camera proper tends to ramp down the brightness on images focused on the sun. This makes it difficult to photograph sundogs, which helps to test camera firmware's ability to compensate properly when pointed at a very bright point of light (the sun).
Thus, the video camera is equally sensitive to low-light conditions as the camera proper but not to intense points of light such as the sun and different types of lamps. As well, to properly adapt such exceptional light conditions, the user is forced to download an app to give it the same qualities of better thought out camera optics and firmware.
Overall, the video quality displayed is more than adequate. Here is information of the file format for the Quicktime MOV format displayed by the Linux app, mediainfo:
$ mediainfo 1327386B-D90A-4115-A82C-C640CAF883F4.MOV
General
Complete name : 1327386B-D90A-4115-A82C-C640CAF883F4.MOV (Apple uses a UUID-like identifier to uniquely name each file iOS creates. My guess is this UUID becomes date and time of file creation.)
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : QuickTime
Codec ID : qt
File size : 80.1 MiB
Duration : 1mn 3s
Overall bit rate : 10.6 Mbps
Recorded date : 2013-05-10T11:21:40-0700 (The date area is copied to converted MP4 and MPEG files, thus retaining the local and UTC date and time. it is duplicated in the Apple quicktime API information below.)
Encoded date : UTC 2013-05-10 18:21:40
Tagged date : UTC 2013-05-10 18:21:53 (According to this tagged date, it takes 13 seconds to tag the resulting video file.)
Writing application : 6.1.3
Writing library : Apple QuickTime
Model : iPhone 4
: +49.2045-122.8897+041.860/ (This is the GPS location of the iPhone 4 during filming of the video. It is repeated again under the Apple quicktime API information listed below.)
Make : Apple
com.apple.quicktime.make : Apple (Apple quicktime API information)
com.apple.quicktime.creationdate : 2013-05-10T11:21:40-0700
com.apple.quicktime.location.ISO : +49.2045-122.8897+041.860/
com.apple.quicktime.software : 6.1.3
com.apple.quicktime.model : iPhone 4
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Baseline@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 1mn 3s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 10.5 Mbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Minimum frame rate : 28.571 fps
Maximum frame rate : 30.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.381
Stream size : 79.6 MiB (99%)
Title : Core Media Video
Encoded date : UTC 2013-05-10 18:21:40
Tagged date : UTC 2013-05-10 18:21:53
Color primaries : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4, SMPTE RP177
Transfer characteristics : BT.709-5, BT.1361
Matrix coefficients : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4 709, SMPTE RP177
Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC (This is the Low Complexity version of AAC, which is technical jargon for simplest version.)
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 1mn 3s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 64.0 Kbps
Channel(s) : 1 channel
Channel positions : Front: C (Sound is recorded as thought it is front and centre.)
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 496 KiB (1%)
Title : Core Media Audio
Encoded date : UTC 2013-05-10 18:21:40
Tagged date : UTC 2013-05-10 18:21:53
Skytrain Mk.2 Arriving at Surrey Central Station
Today I had a chance to snap three pictures with my iPhone 4 while shopping for the last Epson NX-130 from Future Shop. More on this deal in a later post.
There is nothing like waiting for the Skytrain to arrive at Surrey Central Station. Since the rail guide curves to the left out of view, I could never time an arrival precisely.
Basically, I use my ears to guess where the next Skytrain is coming eastbound from Vancouver. First the sound of the wheels of the trains alert me to its approach.
Then it looms into view.
How I Took These Pictures
With the iPhone you just unlock the phone. Then point and click.
How the Pictures Were Edited
After uploading them to my Instant Upload by running the Google Plus app, I copied the pictures into their own album.From my PC, at my discretion, I deleted the originals to save space as I have used 3348 MB (65.4%) of my 5120 MB allotted on Picasaweb.
Then I edited both pictures with Creative Toolkit using the crop tool. After carefully cropping each picture to almost match, I saved each of them.
How the Blog Was Created
Once that was done, from my PC I logged into my blog and added both pictures to the top of this article. Next, the first draft was created. At this point in the process, I turned to the blogger app on my Android smartphone. Using the blogger app I finished the article up to the paragraph that you see here.
Then I returned to my PC to tidy up the article. For example, the blogger app shows HTML code in the text including the code to make bold text (<b> and </b>), and to make line breaks (<br />).
20130514
Review: Nokia 500 Totally Locked to Mobilicity A Bad Idea
When the Nokia 500 came to Mobilicity a couple years ago, it was an entry phone for smartphone fans who can't afford Google smartphones, Apple iPhones, and especially Samsung superphones (anything associated with 4G).
Initially Mobilicity was selling Nokia 500s for $250, then $200, then $150, then $100 and when fans could afford it, they discontinued it.
Yet almost everyone who bought a Nokia 500 bitched and complained about it. First, Anna barely worked. It crashed or froze. So Belle replaced Anna, supposedly over the air, but in most cases the Nokia user needed a PC with Windows to upgrade the OS.
So much for OTA on Anna.
Me, I waited a long time when Nokia 500s were being sold by jaded smartphone fans for under $100. After picking up one for $75 CAD recently, I concur with the disappointed Nokia fans who are either iPhone fans or Android fans now: Anna is a disappointment.
It too me a week to figure out my Nokia 500 is locked to Mobilicity for life. Coming from a store that sells mid- to high-end smartphones on a prepaid contract, I'd expect better. Though it turns out now that Mobilicity has seen the light and offered unlocked phones.
The only catch here is that the phone must have the 1700 MHz band to be fully functional in their AWS network.
Theoretically, an iPhone 4 might work as a 3G phone but will be slow to refresh the browser screen. All that's missing in the HSPA bands is the 1700 MHz band in an iPhone. In iPhone 5, it has the band for GSM along with the 700 MHz band but the CDMA version unlocked will not work on a GSM network.
So GSM phones might work in Bell's network only if addition to CDMA, Bell has a GSM 3G network to augment the CDMA channels.
Enough of smartphone specifics.
A close look at Nokia 500's specifics shows that it has full HSDPA range with 1700 Mhz band. Bell's 3G+ is UTMS so the frequency bands for a Samsung i757m locked to Bell are not equivalent to a Samsung i727 locked to Rogers.
The fact that HSDPA is used in a Nokia 500 suggests that it would work on a Bell network up to 3G but not on a Rogers network.
However, HSPA+ being common to both networks, a phone with 850/1900 MHz bands will work on both networks when unlocked.
Therefore a Nokia 500 if unlocked would also work on Bell, Telus and Rogers networks.
Sadly though, Nokia 500s are locked. You'd have to beg Nokia directly for a factory reset and be prepared to pay upwards to $100.
Since this involves a credit card, I'm stuck with Mobilicity. I'll pass.
Overall, though I used the Nokia 500 as a camera when I recently visited Victoria but stopped using it when I realized that it'd be best to transfer the pictures by Bluetooth to my Samsung phone as the Nokia had no way to upload by wifi to my Google account.
This is what happens when Symbian is locked to the Nokia network. It's also why Nokia's shares are falling. Yet the ex-Nokia fanboys are bitching at Nokia rather than Microsoft, who is the real reason why Nokia never went for Android.
Overall, Nokia + Windows 8 is as proprietary as Apple and iOS. Symbian appears to reflect this old-fashioned philosophy.
But I digress.
Overall the Nokia business model is failing its investors. Sadly, their lack of understanding of both the Apple + iOS business model and the Google + Android business model is why they went with Microsoft. I can only see big gaping security holes due to Windows.
Even so, Symbian has the potential were I to sign up to nokia.com. However, I want to get Belle into this Nokia 500 before I even consider it.
20130513
The Short Meditation on the Metaphysics of Non-Duality
Dualism affects the Western mind so much it rejects the truth that good and evil depend on what man creates.
The epitome of dualism is "Either you are for us or against us" which is a logical fallacy since picking sides has dire consequences.
The non-dual approach says, "Who cares is One is not equal to Zero?" They merely represent the Absolute (1) and the void (0) but are in themselves both a duality and a continuum.
Non-dualism does not reject duality, but renders good and evil a subset of the Absolute.
Thus the ultimate truth is that what man creates may be either good or evil. For duality is an exception of limited value.
For example, objectivity is at the core the brief focus on what subjectivity is not. The mind still is subject to the whims of the body i.e. the emotional content of subjectivity.
Thus objectivity is an artifact of logical thought as opposed to subjectivity's ties to the heart-mind and its emotional content.
What ties objectivity and subjectivity together is the mind's ability to view such abtract concepts in terms of wholes.
Thus objectivity is associated with our observation of the world, while subjectivity is associated with introspection on the inner world of the mind.
Ergo nobody has a clearly objective mind, as objectivity is part of the consensual reality shared by everyone.
Indeed, the objective mind has no body since it exists outside the body and its subjective mind.
Yet this apparent duality fades when one looks for the objective mind. Indeed, the objective mind is related to the concept of single-minded focus (samadhi) of Buddhist philosophy.
Thus non-duality encompasses both duality and itself, just as basic goodness includes both what man creates and whether it is good or evil.
The epitome of dualism is "Either you are for us or against us" which is a logical fallacy since picking sides has dire consequences.
The non-dual approach says, "Who cares is One is not equal to Zero?" They merely represent the Absolute (1) and the void (0) but are in themselves both a duality and a continuum.
Non-dualism does not reject duality, but renders good and evil a subset of the Absolute.
Thus the ultimate truth is that what man creates may be either good or evil. For duality is an exception of limited value.
For example, objectivity is at the core the brief focus on what subjectivity is not. The mind still is subject to the whims of the body i.e. the emotional content of subjectivity.
Thus objectivity is an artifact of logical thought as opposed to subjectivity's ties to the heart-mind and its emotional content.
What ties objectivity and subjectivity together is the mind's ability to view such abtract concepts in terms of wholes.
Thus objectivity is associated with our observation of the world, while subjectivity is associated with introspection on the inner world of the mind.
Ergo nobody has a clearly objective mind, as objectivity is part of the consensual reality shared by everyone.
Indeed, the objective mind has no body since it exists outside the body and its subjective mind.
Yet this apparent duality fades when one looks for the objective mind. Indeed, the objective mind is related to the concept of single-minded focus (samadhi) of Buddhist philosophy.
Thus non-duality encompasses both duality and itself, just as basic goodness includes both what man creates and whether it is good or evil.
Review of Rockfish RF-SPX15-T
Apologies about the poor quality of the video. I was playing around lo-fi special effects, handmade with loving care. :)
Today's review is the Rockfish RF-SPX15-T, a Bluetooth speaker that I got free in a smartphone deal with my Best Buy Mobile dealer.
Here is the speaker bonded to the iPhone 4. I make no money for this video as it has copyrighted content, so Youtube will get its 100%.
It's a great speaker and has some audio distortion at maximum volume due to the form factor. Though, distortion is relative to the environment. A bunch of party-goers won't care about the sound as much as a sober audiophile.
Though I tend to think audiophiles who think good audio can be objectively evaluated forget that psychoacoustic properties are mostly subjective.
YMMV
The Legend of Nazaré
The Legend of Nazaré tem-se que no início da manhã de 14 de setembro de 1182, Dom Fuas Roupinho alcaide de Porto de Mós, Portugal, estava caçando em seu domínio, perto da costa, quando ele viu um cervo que ele imediatamente começou a perseguir. De repente, um forte nevoeiro se levantou do mar. O veado correu em direção ao topo de uma falésia e Dom Fuas, no meio do nevoeiro foi cortado de seus companheiros. Quando ele percebeu que ele estava à beira do precipício, ele reconheceu o lugar. Ele estava ao lado de uma pequena gruta onde a imagem de Nossa Senhora com o Enfant era venerado. Assim, ele orou em voz alta, Nossa Senhora, me ajude. De repente, o cavalo milagrosamente parou no final de um ponto rochoso suspenso sobre o vazio, o Bico do Milagre (Point of the Miracle), poupando assim o cavaleiro ea sua montada a partir de uma queda de mais de 100 metros, que certamente causou sua morte.
Dom Fuas desceu e desceu à gruta para rezar e dar graças pelo milagre. Então ele ordenou a seus companheiros para buscar pedreiros para a construção de uma pequena capela sobre a gruta de modo que a imagem milagrosa poderia facilmente ser venerado por todos e como um memorial para o milagre que o salvou. Então, antes de murar a gruta os pedreiros destruiu o altar existente entre as pedras onde eles encontraram uma caixa de marfim, contendo algumas relíquias e um pergaminho velho descrevendo a história da pequena estátua de madeira, uma palmeira alta, de Nossa Senhora sentada amamentando o Menino Jesus sentado sua perna esquerda.
De acordo com o pergaminho a estátua deve ter sido venerada desde o início do cristianismo em Nazaré, na Palestina. Ele foi resgatado dos iconoclastas no século V pelo monge Ciriaco. Foi ele quem trouxe a Iberia, para o mosteiro de Cauliniana, perto de Mérida, onde permaneceu até 711, ano da batalha de Guadalete, quando as forças cristãs foram derrotados pelo exército invasor mouro vindo do norte da África.
Quando a notícia da derrota chegou a Mérida, os frades da Cauliniana preparado para deixar seu mosteiro. Enquanto isso, o rei derrotado, Roderic, que foi capaz de fugir do campo de batalha sozinho e disfarçado de mendigo anonimamente pediu abrigo no mosteiro. Quando ele perguntou a um dos frades, Frei Romano, para ouvi-lo em confissão, ele tinha a dizer quem ele realmente era. Em seguida, o frade sugeriu que fugir juntos levando consigo uma imagem antiga e sagrada de Maria com o Enfant venerada no mosteiro.
Assim, a estátua de Nossa Senhora de Nazaré, que recebeu o seu nome da aldeia em Terra Santa, onde foi o primeiro venerada, foi trazida por Frei Romano e pelo rei Roderic para a costa atlântica. Quando eles chegaram ao seu destino que se estabeleceram em um eremitério vazio no topo de uma colina rochosa, o Monte de S. Bartolomeu, e lá permaneceu por alguns dias. Eles, então, decidiram se separar e viver por si mesmos como eremitas. O frade pegou a imagem e se estabeleceram em uma pequena gruta, na beira de um penhasco acima do mar, ao lado da colina onde o rei passou a viver.
Um ano se passou e Roderic decidiu deixar a região. Frei Romano ficou em seu eremitério acima do mar, até que ele morreu. A estátua de santo, uma Madonna negra, ficou no altar onde ele deixou até 1182, quando Dom Fuas, depois do milagre, mudou-se para a capela construída sobre a gruta como um memorial para o evento, que salvou sua vida. Assim, a capela ainda existente foi nomeado Capela da Memória (Capela da Memória).
Santuário de Nossa Senhora de Nazaré, capela-mor
Em 1377, por causa da crescente afluência de peregrinos, o rei Fernando tinha uma igreja construída perto da capela para onde a estátua sagrada foi transferido. No fim do século XVI esta igreja sofreu o primeiro de uma série de reconstruções e ampliações. O edifício existente é agora o resultado de várias intervenções a partir do século XVI ao século XIX, que lhe dão um caráter muito peculiar. Esta igreja ou santuário é chamado Santuário de Nossa Senhora da Nazaré (Santuário de Nossa Senhora de Nazaré). A imagem do santo agora está em exibição na capela-mor, em um pequeno nicho acima do altar, que pode ser acessado por uma escada que conduz da sacristia. Então a estátua permaneceu no mesmo lugar desde 711, em uma aldeia chamada depois Sítio da Nazaré (local da Nazaré). Nesta aldeia, hoje um bairro da cidade de Nazaré, ainda se pode visitar os três santuários mencionados acima: a ermida no subsolo, a pequena capela acima dele, a igreja onde hoje se pode visitar Nossa Senhora de Nazaré.
Segundo a tradição oral, o ícone sagrado foi esculpida por São José, o carpinteiro, em Nazaré, quando Jesus ainda era um bebê. Algumas décadas último São Lucas, o evangelista, pintei. Assim, ele pode muito bem ser a imagem mais antiga venerado pelos cristãos.
Reference:
Google Translate: English o língua portuguesa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_Nazar%C3%A9
Por favor, ajudar a corrigir a redação da história.
Dom Fuas desceu e desceu à gruta para rezar e dar graças pelo milagre. Então ele ordenou a seus companheiros para buscar pedreiros para a construção de uma pequena capela sobre a gruta de modo que a imagem milagrosa poderia facilmente ser venerado por todos e como um memorial para o milagre que o salvou. Então, antes de murar a gruta os pedreiros destruiu o altar existente entre as pedras onde eles encontraram uma caixa de marfim, contendo algumas relíquias e um pergaminho velho descrevendo a história da pequena estátua de madeira, uma palmeira alta, de Nossa Senhora sentada amamentando o Menino Jesus sentado sua perna esquerda.
De acordo com o pergaminho a estátua deve ter sido venerada desde o início do cristianismo em Nazaré, na Palestina. Ele foi resgatado dos iconoclastas no século V pelo monge Ciriaco. Foi ele quem trouxe a Iberia, para o mosteiro de Cauliniana, perto de Mérida, onde permaneceu até 711, ano da batalha de Guadalete, quando as forças cristãs foram derrotados pelo exército invasor mouro vindo do norte da África.
Quando a notícia da derrota chegou a Mérida, os frades da Cauliniana preparado para deixar seu mosteiro. Enquanto isso, o rei derrotado, Roderic, que foi capaz de fugir do campo de batalha sozinho e disfarçado de mendigo anonimamente pediu abrigo no mosteiro. Quando ele perguntou a um dos frades, Frei Romano, para ouvi-lo em confissão, ele tinha a dizer quem ele realmente era. Em seguida, o frade sugeriu que fugir juntos levando consigo uma imagem antiga e sagrada de Maria com o Enfant venerada no mosteiro.
Assim, a estátua de Nossa Senhora de Nazaré, que recebeu o seu nome da aldeia em Terra Santa, onde foi o primeiro venerada, foi trazida por Frei Romano e pelo rei Roderic para a costa atlântica. Quando eles chegaram ao seu destino que se estabeleceram em um eremitério vazio no topo de uma colina rochosa, o Monte de S. Bartolomeu, e lá permaneceu por alguns dias. Eles, então, decidiram se separar e viver por si mesmos como eremitas. O frade pegou a imagem e se estabeleceram em uma pequena gruta, na beira de um penhasco acima do mar, ao lado da colina onde o rei passou a viver.
Um ano se passou e Roderic decidiu deixar a região. Frei Romano ficou em seu eremitério acima do mar, até que ele morreu. A estátua de santo, uma Madonna negra, ficou no altar onde ele deixou até 1182, quando Dom Fuas, depois do milagre, mudou-se para a capela construída sobre a gruta como um memorial para o evento, que salvou sua vida. Assim, a capela ainda existente foi nomeado Capela da Memória (Capela da Memória).
Santuário de Nossa Senhora de Nazaré, capela-mor
Em 1377, por causa da crescente afluência de peregrinos, o rei Fernando tinha uma igreja construída perto da capela para onde a estátua sagrada foi transferido. No fim do século XVI esta igreja sofreu o primeiro de uma série de reconstruções e ampliações. O edifício existente é agora o resultado de várias intervenções a partir do século XVI ao século XIX, que lhe dão um caráter muito peculiar. Esta igreja ou santuário é chamado Santuário de Nossa Senhora da Nazaré (Santuário de Nossa Senhora de Nazaré). A imagem do santo agora está em exibição na capela-mor, em um pequeno nicho acima do altar, que pode ser acessado por uma escada que conduz da sacristia. Então a estátua permaneceu no mesmo lugar desde 711, em uma aldeia chamada depois Sítio da Nazaré (local da Nazaré). Nesta aldeia, hoje um bairro da cidade de Nazaré, ainda se pode visitar os três santuários mencionados acima: a ermida no subsolo, a pequena capela acima dele, a igreja onde hoje se pode visitar Nossa Senhora de Nazaré.
Segundo a tradição oral, o ícone sagrado foi esculpida por São José, o carpinteiro, em Nazaré, quando Jesus ainda era um bebê. Algumas décadas último São Lucas, o evangelista, pintei. Assim, ele pode muito bem ser a imagem mais antiga venerado pelos cristãos.
Reference:
Google Translate: English o língua portuguesa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_Nazar%C3%A9
Por favor, ajudar a corrigir a redação da história.
Një nënë në vuajtje / A Mother on Suffering
"Vuajtja do të sjellë njerëzit më afër Jezusit." - Nënë TerezaNjë shqiptar i lindur në Üsküp (Shkup), Kosova, Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, i cili u bë Nënë Tereza ngritur punon bamirëse në Kalkuta.
Pas vitit 1995, gazeta UK Guardian shkruan për jetimoret e saj.
Një nga akuzat kryesore që ata të bëra ishte se kujdesi i jetimëve nën Nënë Terezës "përbëhej nga bruto neglizhimit dhe abuzimit fizik dhe emocional."
Kështu, në fillim të shekullit 21-të, Nënë Tereza u bë paku biseduar rreth katolik, për shkak të përshtypjen se ajo kishte torturuar jetimët pafajshëm për të lavdëruar Perëndinë.
English translation:
"Suffering would bring people closer to Jesus." — Mother Theresa
An Albanian born in Üsküp (Skopje), Kosovo, Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, who became Mother Theresa set up the charity works in Calcutta.
After 1995, the UK newspaper The Guardian wrote about her orphanages.
One of the main charges they made was that the care of orphans under Mother Theresa consisted of "gross neglect and physical and emotional abuse."
Thus, by the early 21st Century, Mother Theresa became the least talked about Catholic, due to the impression that she had tortured innocent orphans to glorify God.
Reference:
The Criticism of Mother Theresa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Theresa#Criticism
Beau Sia, Slam Poet Extraordinaire
Beau Sia is a slam poetry contestant. In 1998, he put out the slam poetry album on CD, Attack! Go! Go!
It was through Sia that 2011 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Poetry winner, Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz got interested in slam poetry.
Slam poetry is what I'd call a flyting "martini." Its insults could easily result from clever tricks of the tongue. Yet no one would believe just they've been subject to even one insult.
In some ways, even slam poets would beg to differ, for slam poetry reminds me of my potential greatness were it not for me being a total fanboy of the greatness of the Buddha.
Reference:
Beau Sia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beau_Sia
Crossing the Road Friday Afternoon
View of Central City tower near Old Yale Road and University Boulevard, Surrey, BC
Photographed at 1231H on 11 May 2013.
God as the Projection of the Muse (poem)
God is a romantic notion
that the unconscious creative processes
of the mind are projected
as the sole divine creator
while conveniently ignoring
the reality of human existence.
that the unconscious creative processes
of the mind are projected
as the sole divine creator
while conveniently ignoring
the reality of human existence.
Well, April was a Flop in Blogger income
After a small amount of income happening last fall and winter, the spring brought me the realization that I cannot be happy and make money online as it means spending too much time indoors. My happy times are when I'm out and about.
It makes me doubt that people successful at this are sitting on their asses making money. They must have a staff or are super organized.
Also, it appears that my "spamming" of Blogspot articles to Google Plus has led to changes that makes it difficult to maintain a high output to compensate for the brevity of my articles.
I discovered yesterday that I would have to work 24/7 to maintain more than $1 a month of income.
As for Youtube posts, I would have to post no less than 5 posts a day. However, it cannot all be music videos as it takes 2-4 hours per video to create the song and transform pictures into video. It would be easier to create a vlog and discuss a topic but that demands a script.
I'd be better off trying to intentionally make money from blog and youtube posts by increasing production but not end up losing sleep — something like a 9-5 on-line existence.
I also need new material and have tried to write about topics other than Buddhism to see what the Google Plus fans want.
Thanks for your support!
OK, I just realized that twitter solves the spamming issue by turning on the feature that tweets ever G+ I make...
It makes me doubt that people successful at this are sitting on their asses making money. They must have a staff or are super organized.
Also, it appears that my "spamming" of Blogspot articles to Google Plus has led to changes that makes it difficult to maintain a high output to compensate for the brevity of my articles.
I discovered yesterday that I would have to work 24/7 to maintain more than $1 a month of income.
As for Youtube posts, I would have to post no less than 5 posts a day. However, it cannot all be music videos as it takes 2-4 hours per video to create the song and transform pictures into video. It would be easier to create a vlog and discuss a topic but that demands a script.
I'd be better off trying to intentionally make money from blog and youtube posts by increasing production but not end up losing sleep — something like a 9-5 on-line existence.
I also need new material and have tried to write about topics other than Buddhism to see what the Google Plus fans want.
Thanks for your support!
OK, I just realized that twitter solves the spamming issue by turning on the feature that tweets ever G+ I make...
Pure Mind and Ten Virtues
From birth to death, a person exists. Yet throughout his life he soon falls asleep to the call of Buddha Nature.
From lifetime to lifetime, for countless millennia, this person then becomes caught in the cycle of rebirth, reborn as Hell being, hungry ghost, animal, human, demon or god.
This is the fate of the sleepers who never awaken to Buddha Nature.
However, the Buddha has shown that with diligent effort through countless lifetimes,
it is possible to let go of desire so that rebirth in the six realms of desire
becomes unnecessary.
All it takes is mindful contemplation to settle the mind and achieve the calm mind conducive to the arising of Bodhi Mind. From that point, one merely observes his mind to discover the ends to escape the cycle of rebirth.
Both contemplation and observation of the mind is known as samatha-vipasyana meditation, and is the skillful means to break that cycle.
What are those ends? Samadhi (single-minded focus) which is of the eightfold path (pure concentration) that leads to the Pure Mind.
This Pure Mind is the end result of practicing the Ten Virtues
Ten Virtues: http://ddmba.org/pages/about-us/guiding-principles/ten-virtues.php
From lifetime to lifetime, for countless millennia, this person then becomes caught in the cycle of rebirth, reborn as Hell being, hungry ghost, animal, human, demon or god.
This is the fate of the sleepers who never awaken to Buddha Nature.
However, the Buddha has shown that with diligent effort through countless lifetimes,
it is possible to let go of desire so that rebirth in the six realms of desire
becomes unnecessary.
All it takes is mindful contemplation to settle the mind and achieve the calm mind conducive to the arising of Bodhi Mind. From that point, one merely observes his mind to discover the ends to escape the cycle of rebirth.
Both contemplation and observation of the mind is known as samatha-vipasyana meditation, and is the skillful means to break that cycle.
What are those ends? Samadhi (single-minded focus) which is of the eightfold path (pure concentration) that leads to the Pure Mind.
This Pure Mind is the end result of practicing the Ten Virtues
Ten Virtues: http://ddmba.org/pages/about-us/guiding-principles/ten-virtues.php
20130512
Review on PBS' New Asylums 2
The use of prisons as the asylums of the 21st century for the mentally ill came about after the State decided freeing the mentally ill from state hospitals and treating them in the community is cheaper than the costs of hospital maintenance, due to union wages rising since 1972.
That's when the first releases were done. From there, the State rented halfway houses from property owners to house mental health clients in an appropriate community setting.
However, a mentally ill person is treated like a possible criminal when his behavior is associated with a crime. Unfortunately, prison is bedlam when it comes to the mentally ill.
This video lacks that information, and appears to start from the second-half of the documentary itself.
Overall, I did not learn if any of the mental health clients improved as the filming progressed. IN the cases of patients who get imprisoned, the likelihood of that is rare since they have been in and out of prison for several years on petty crime charges.
My impression of prison is its use in maintaining stabilization of clients is negligable. The overall impression from this video I got was that criminally charging clients for petty crimes is not conducive to maintaining a stable environment for them.
War of Sexes Begins In Grade-school
When I was in grade 1, I had the best of time playing with the girls, until the boys shamed me into joining them.
That led to a slide down a dirt hill and a dishing out by my second grade teacher.
Since then I developed hay fever out of stress of trying to fit in.
IN Grade 6, I got out of a softball game during which the boys used insults to win the game. The girls were glad that i offered Kleenex in sympathy.
So yes, grade school was when I learned about the war between the sexes. any man who denies this is either sexist or selective about his grade-school memories.
That led to a slide down a dirt hill and a dishing out by my second grade teacher.
Since then I developed hay fever out of stress of trying to fit in.
IN Grade 6, I got out of a softball game during which the boys used insults to win the game. The girls were glad that i offered Kleenex in sympathy.
So yes, grade school was when I learned about the war between the sexes. any man who denies this is either sexist or selective about his grade-school memories.
The Good Goddess (poem)
All women are divine,
from head to toe,
due to the Good Goddess' benefice.
Then some silly men,
envious of Her allure,
invented the unknown god.
Ever since then, the light
under the basket has burned down
every sign of the Good Goddess.
Latin Translation:
Divina sunt omnes mulieres,
a capite ad pedem,
ex bona deae beneficium.
Ergo ex stultissimo
invidentes eam allicere,
invenit: Ignoto Deo.
Quo deinde sub lucem
signa diam Bonae Deae
omne incensum est.
Reference:
Bona dea:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bona_Dea
from head to toe,
due to the Good Goddess' benefice.
Then some silly men,
envious of Her allure,
invented the unknown god.
Ever since then, the light
under the basket has burned down
every sign of the Good Goddess.
Latin Translation:
Divina sunt omnes mulieres,
a capite ad pedem,
ex bona deae beneficium.
Ergo ex stultissimo
invidentes eam allicere,
invenit: Ignoto Deo.
Quo deinde sub lucem
signa diam Bonae Deae
omne incensum est.
Reference:
Bona dea:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bona_Dea
Rationale for May is Masturbation Month
During 9/11/01, the terrorists missed their target: the Wall Street server farm. When the Occupy Wall Street movement happened, they too missed their target and never shut down Wall Street.
Both of them missed by three city blocks.
I cannot support such failure, but neither can I support the oppression that Wall Street represents.
Therefore, I support May is Masturbation Month because orgasms have never failed.
This post has nothing to do with masturbation.
Both of them missed by three city blocks.
I cannot support such failure, but neither can I support the oppression that Wall Street represents.
Therefore, I support May is Masturbation Month because orgasms have never failed.
This post has nothing to do with masturbation.
"Satan is Dead": The Myth of Satanism
The marketing of satanism as diabolism is silly. Human sacrifice in modern times is murder, no matter how it is rationalized by purported satanists. Indeed, the devil, satan, and even demons are mental and physical negativities of a person or group of people.
Yet, as a Buddhist, I believe that good and evil have no external existence as fixed points of time and space. Rather, what we create has either good and evil attributed to it by public opinion.
Everything I just said about evil in the previous two paragraphs applies to God. Yes, I am saying God and even Jesus are projections of basic goodness.
However, mixing Christian sybolism with Buddhist symbolism often leads to cognitive distortions like confusion and even cries of syncretism despite the fact that much of the Bible hints at syncretism in the New Testament.
Even so, I will deny that the mind stream is akin to the soul, which violates the no-self principle. For even the soul is subject to a finite existence.
Even though this brings up eternal life and how Christians misinterpret Buddhism, I'm not talking about it. I'm discussing the myth of satanism.
Mass media loves to perpetuate the propaganda about satanism because it scares the churchpeople and then they can do public service by doing a mini series about it.
Even so, I will stick to my denial about satanism. My earlier comment about human sacrifice being diabolism implies only that the evil that man does is created by his acts against humanity.
Ok, I'm done with this topic for the time being, but reserve the right to beat this dead horse some more.
Oh yes! SATAN IS DEAD! Vive le diable!
Yet, as a Buddhist, I believe that good and evil have no external existence as fixed points of time and space. Rather, what we create has either good and evil attributed to it by public opinion.
Everything I just said about evil in the previous two paragraphs applies to God. Yes, I am saying God and even Jesus are projections of basic goodness.
However, mixing Christian sybolism with Buddhist symbolism often leads to cognitive distortions like confusion and even cries of syncretism despite the fact that much of the Bible hints at syncretism in the New Testament.
Even so, I will deny that the mind stream is akin to the soul, which violates the no-self principle. For even the soul is subject to a finite existence.
Even though this brings up eternal life and how Christians misinterpret Buddhism, I'm not talking about it. I'm discussing the myth of satanism.
Mass media loves to perpetuate the propaganda about satanism because it scares the churchpeople and then they can do public service by doing a mini series about it.
Even so, I will stick to my denial about satanism. My earlier comment about human sacrifice being diabolism implies only that the evil that man does is created by his acts against humanity.
Ok, I'm done with this topic for the time being, but reserve the right to beat this dead horse some more.
Oh yes! SATAN IS DEAD! Vive le diable!
Mental Negativity is the Dark Side of Ego
Sometimes I'd rather be a Westernized Asian rather than fall for propaganda designed to create hatred against another nation, be it Japan, Germany or America.
Hatred causes and arises from mental negativity. It is but an ally of anger which is the root of all negativity.
Indeed, negativity is the dark side of the ego left in control of the mind, sometimes with tragic yet preventable results (war, famine, and other human problems).
Only patience and love will stand up to anger. As for hatred, it is transformed by love into compassion. For love has opened the eyes of people who once hated and they repented.
Within context of Buddhism repentance is mandatory after admitting your faults in front of fellow Buddhists.
This brings out humility, which helps the Buddhist vow to "think good thoughts" as Zen Master Hui-Neng suggests.
Hatred causes and arises from mental negativity. It is but an ally of anger which is the root of all negativity.
Indeed, negativity is the dark side of the ego left in control of the mind, sometimes with tragic yet preventable results (war, famine, and other human problems).
Only patience and love will stand up to anger. As for hatred, it is transformed by love into compassion. For love has opened the eyes of people who once hated and they repented.
Within context of Buddhism repentance is mandatory after admitting your faults in front of fellow Buddhists.
This brings out humility, which helps the Buddhist vow to "think good thoughts" as Zen Master Hui-Neng suggests.
Is Big Beautiful? Or Making Obesity Sexy?
>
What is it about a voluptuous woman that turns men on, and sometimes turns their thinner rivals jealous?
It could be the assumed fertility of thick women. Who knows? My first girlfriend was morbidly obese (400+ at 5'9.5"), and said that her period was not monthly.
This revelation tends to agree with the hypothesis that extreme thinness and thickness causes menstral dysregulation, and that they ought to be the ONLY women getting the Pill.
However, today's women use the Pill to get the same play men have been getting since the dawn of post-modern society with mass media propagandizing youth and the meme "thin is healthy and sexy" to the point where young men are exposed to pedogenic influences both on TV and in computer media.
Perverts are not born; their minds are finely sculpted by propaganda.
If the memes were sanitized, then there'd be hoopla about mind control but mass media uses propaganda to promote soft-core pornography to sell product.
BTW, big is beautiful and sometimes, obesity is sexy.
Thank you, Linda Marie!
What is it about a voluptuous woman that turns men on, and sometimes turns their thinner rivals jealous?
It could be the assumed fertility of thick women. Who knows? My first girlfriend was morbidly obese (400+ at 5'9.5"), and said that her period was not monthly.
This revelation tends to agree with the hypothesis that extreme thinness and thickness causes menstral dysregulation, and that they ought to be the ONLY women getting the Pill.
However, today's women use the Pill to get the same play men have been getting since the dawn of post-modern society with mass media propagandizing youth and the meme "thin is healthy and sexy" to the point where young men are exposed to pedogenic influences both on TV and in computer media.
Perverts are not born; their minds are finely sculpted by propaganda.
If the memes were sanitized, then there'd be hoopla about mind control but mass media uses propaganda to promote soft-core pornography to sell product.
BTW, big is beautiful and sometimes, obesity is sexy.
Thank you, Linda Marie!
Proctologist Hilarity and Urogenital Anxiety (satire)
It's sad that people are ashamed to admit they've been to see the proctologist. I certainly am not afraid to admit to it in this blog post, mainly because the embarrassment surrounding the visit to the specialist who looks after your plumbing is sometimes out of proportion to the maintenance of urogenital health today.
In 1991 I went to the urogenital specialist (proctologist) for a quick examination before surgery and thought it felt good. Though he was like, "this is an examination." The surgery was done to close one hole in the urethra, but it left a scar. This was a followup to surgery done at age five to correct hypospadia.
I remember the time when I was in the hospital in the urogenital ward for the initial operation in 1964. We kids bonded and told ourselves the lies that reduce that scary feeling of anxiety when telling the truth.
There is also a vague memory of the pre-operative procedure in which a part of the flesh around the open was burned off with silver nitrate. Before that I remember trying to imitate my father by urinating while standing up. "Mom, I'm peeing standing up!", I yelled. However, the elation from that moment was quickly dashed when my mother scolded me for dripping all over the floor.
On Canada, there is NO psychotherapy before the operation and in post op. Instead, we learned to bury our memories of the experience over time on our way to adulthood. No wonder! Society deems it inappropriate to even admit children who are deeply afraid of being different from other children. As young children, we would never admit publicly to being different down there out of fear that we'd be bullied for being the third sex.
Today, as an adult, I considered it to be no big deal to mention this incident in my early childhood because the five decades insulate me from the pain.
When I reflect on incidents between 1964 and 1991 during my childhood and early adulthood, it is of a boy who was painfully confused about his gender who grew up into a man who behaved immaturely and sometimes impulsively due to that confusion.
After the recent surgery, my confidence slowly returned since I identified as male after 1991. However, it took twenty years to tell my story. Today I appreciate my father for his work at the sawmill because his employment plan paid for the my first surgery. As well, my respect for my mother is being renewed because of her support for me.
Even so, the risk of prostate cancer is great after the age of 50 for males. In fact, prostate cancer is the second-leading causes of death for men, because of the embarrassment of the care for our plumbing.
According to the Official Foundation of the American Urological Society, I have learned that:
An analysis of autopsy studies has shown that approximately one in three men over the age of 50 years had histologic evidence of prostate cancer, with up to 80% of these tumors being limited in size and grade and, therefore, clinically insignificant. However, a recent study of incidental prostate cancer diagnosed in organ donors found prostate cancer in 1 in 3 men age 60-69, and this increased to 46% in men over age 70.
What this means is that one-third of men, aged 50 year or over, have signs of prostate cancer with 20% or less of the cases being clinically significant. While incidental prostate cancer still occurs in one in three men in their sixties, by the time they are in their seventies, that incidence has increased to 46%.
For Canada this means approximately 1.2 million men in their 50s have evidence of possible prostate cancer. Less than 240 thousand of these men will test positive for cancer. Of men in their 60s, 600 thousand of them will test positive for cancer. For the men in their 70s, almost a half million will have cancer, which is attributable to the number one killer of men, heart disease.
Up to two million Canadian men aged 50 and over may test positive for prostate cancer this year. That's a statistical fact.
So it's important for men 50 years or over to get their prostate checked and to reduce that belly fat to prevent heart disease.
Looks like I'll be booking an appointment with a urologist through my doctor to get my prostate checked this year.
Reference:
Third sex: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_gender
Hypospadia: http://www.urologyhealth.org/urology/index.cfm?article=130
Prostate cancer: http://www.urologyhealth.org/urology/index.cfm?article=146&display=1
Age (131) and Sex (3) for the Population of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2006 and 2011 Censuses, 2011 Census of Canada: http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/tbt-tt/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=102008&PRID=0&PTYPE=101955&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2011&THEME=88&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=
In 1991 I went to the urogenital specialist (proctologist) for a quick examination before surgery and thought it felt good. Though he was like, "this is an examination." The surgery was done to close one hole in the urethra, but it left a scar. This was a followup to surgery done at age five to correct hypospadia.
I remember the time when I was in the hospital in the urogenital ward for the initial operation in 1964. We kids bonded and told ourselves the lies that reduce that scary feeling of anxiety when telling the truth.
There is also a vague memory of the pre-operative procedure in which a part of the flesh around the open was burned off with silver nitrate. Before that I remember trying to imitate my father by urinating while standing up. "Mom, I'm peeing standing up!", I yelled. However, the elation from that moment was quickly dashed when my mother scolded me for dripping all over the floor.
On Canada, there is NO psychotherapy before the operation and in post op. Instead, we learned to bury our memories of the experience over time on our way to adulthood. No wonder! Society deems it inappropriate to even admit children who are deeply afraid of being different from other children. As young children, we would never admit publicly to being different down there out of fear that we'd be bullied for being the third sex.
Today, as an adult, I considered it to be no big deal to mention this incident in my early childhood because the five decades insulate me from the pain.
When I reflect on incidents between 1964 and 1991 during my childhood and early adulthood, it is of a boy who was painfully confused about his gender who grew up into a man who behaved immaturely and sometimes impulsively due to that confusion.
After the recent surgery, my confidence slowly returned since I identified as male after 1991. However, it took twenty years to tell my story. Today I appreciate my father for his work at the sawmill because his employment plan paid for the my first surgery. As well, my respect for my mother is being renewed because of her support for me.
Even so, the risk of prostate cancer is great after the age of 50 for males. In fact, prostate cancer is the second-leading causes of death for men, because of the embarrassment of the care for our plumbing.
According to the Official Foundation of the American Urological Society, I have learned that:
An analysis of autopsy studies has shown that approximately one in three men over the age of 50 years had histologic evidence of prostate cancer, with up to 80% of these tumors being limited in size and grade and, therefore, clinically insignificant. However, a recent study of incidental prostate cancer diagnosed in organ donors found prostate cancer in 1 in 3 men age 60-69, and this increased to 46% in men over age 70.
What this means is that one-third of men, aged 50 year or over, have signs of prostate cancer with 20% or less of the cases being clinically significant. While incidental prostate cancer still occurs in one in three men in their sixties, by the time they are in their seventies, that incidence has increased to 46%.
For Canada this means approximately 1.2 million men in their 50s have evidence of possible prostate cancer. Less than 240 thousand of these men will test positive for cancer. Of men in their 60s, 600 thousand of them will test positive for cancer. For the men in their 70s, almost a half million will have cancer, which is attributable to the number one killer of men, heart disease.
Up to two million Canadian men aged 50 and over may test positive for prostate cancer this year. That's a statistical fact.
So it's important for men 50 years or over to get their prostate checked and to reduce that belly fat to prevent heart disease.
Looks like I'll be booking an appointment with a urologist through my doctor to get my prostate checked this year.
Reference:
Third sex: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_gender
Hypospadia: http://www.urologyhealth.org/urology/index.cfm?article=130
Prostate cancer: http://www.urologyhealth.org/urology/index.cfm?article=146&display=1
Age (131) and Sex (3) for the Population of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2006 and 2011 Censuses, 2011 Census of Canada: http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/tbt-tt/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=102008&PRID=0&PTYPE=101955&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2011&THEME=88&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=
20130511
Saved: $5 at Future shop and the Source
Problem: I need a better charging system than what I have now which is a NiHCD portable power charger by Black and Decker.
It's only good with non-smartphone devices since smartphone have 1250mAh batteries which means only 75% of the charge will be met before the charger shuts off.
Soutioon:
So I went to Future Shop and found the Aluratek 5000 mAh Portable Charger on sale for $10 plus tax.
All that was missing was the USB to DC cable, which I have since mine came with the Kodak camera I used to use before switching to my smartphones to take pictures in addition to the 101 other things such phones can do.
The only thing I don't like about the new charger is it does not have a second port like the one I originally wanted to buy from the DMAC store for $40, but felt that a better deal was waiting for me.
After looking at the adapters for various cellphones, I realized that they would be perfect with an AC-to-DC adapter.
So I bought a Newtech adapter and polarity adapter that matches both the charger's DC charging socket and the cellphone charging adapters which came with the Aluratek charger.
This means I could use the cellphone adapters with the AC-to-DC adapter and with the USB-to-DC cable.
If I didn't by the AC-to-DC adapter and polarity adapter, then I could have saved about $9 but even after buying it in addition to the charger, I still saved about $5 over the charger I saw at DMAC.
With the USB-to-DC cable and the cellphone adapters, I can charge the charger with my USB AC adapter and have a charger handy if my mobile devices' batteries go flat on me using the cellphone adapters with the cable.
This replaces my B&D charger, iPhone USB-to-iPhone adapter cable and retractable USB-to-micro USB cable at the expense of having the device closer to the charger.
Though it makes sense to keep the retractable USB-to-micro USB cable when charging my Android phone.
With the working phones I have, I only need the iPhone adapter and the Nokia adapter since the other working phones use micro-USB.
Of course, this complicates the number of parts to carry from originally 3 to the 5 pieces I intend to use (charger, USB-to-DC cable, two phone adapters, and the retractable USB cable).
Though, this also means I always have to carry my knapsack to hold all the pieces of my new charging kit.
The old charging kit.
The new charging kit.
It's only good with non-smartphone devices since smartphone have 1250mAh batteries which means only 75% of the charge will be met before the charger shuts off.
Soutioon:
So I went to Future Shop and found the Aluratek 5000 mAh Portable Charger on sale for $10 plus tax.
All that was missing was the USB to DC cable, which I have since mine came with the Kodak camera I used to use before switching to my smartphones to take pictures in addition to the 101 other things such phones can do.
The only thing I don't like about the new charger is it does not have a second port like the one I originally wanted to buy from the DMAC store for $40, but felt that a better deal was waiting for me.
After looking at the adapters for various cellphones, I realized that they would be perfect with an AC-to-DC adapter.
So I bought a Newtech adapter and polarity adapter that matches both the charger's DC charging socket and the cellphone charging adapters which came with the Aluratek charger.
This means I could use the cellphone adapters with the AC-to-DC adapter and with the USB-to-DC cable.
If I didn't by the AC-to-DC adapter and polarity adapter, then I could have saved about $9 but even after buying it in addition to the charger, I still saved about $5 over the charger I saw at DMAC.
With the USB-to-DC cable and the cellphone adapters, I can charge the charger with my USB AC adapter and have a charger handy if my mobile devices' batteries go flat on me using the cellphone adapters with the cable.
This replaces my B&D charger, iPhone USB-to-iPhone adapter cable and retractable USB-to-micro USB cable at the expense of having the device closer to the charger.
Though it makes sense to keep the retractable USB-to-micro USB cable when charging my Android phone.
With the working phones I have, I only need the iPhone adapter and the Nokia adapter since the other working phones use micro-USB.
Of course, this complicates the number of parts to carry from originally 3 to the 5 pieces I intend to use (charger, USB-to-DC cable, two phone adapters, and the retractable USB cable).
Though, this also means I always have to carry my knapsack to hold all the pieces of my new charging kit.
The old charging kit.
The new charging kit.
20130510
Seven Deadly Sins as Tools for State Control
Pornography is a tactic used as shock and awe tool by various agents contracted by the State to control the People.Thus, the use of the Seven Deadly Sins propagandized by such agents, be it Church or State, is not surprising.
In this case, Lust is promoted in a target audience (mostly men between 19 and 49) through erotica. As well, sex is extracted from its association with Sin, the major tool the Church uses to control its members.
Freed from this guilt by association, sexuality becomes a label with buying and voting power, as long as no one objects to erotica yet denounces pornography.
For the difference between erotica and pornography is only made through carefully worded propaganda by the pro-erotica agents (writers and publishers of erotic works). Only the anti-pornography agents blur the line between the two forms of sexual expression.
One could only imagine how gluttony is used to control how women eat and how they view themselves.
Catholic Church Makes a Fortune in the German Porn Business: http://www.sott.net/article/236941-Catholic-Church-Makes-A-Fortune-In-The-German-Porn-Business
Flashback to 2010: Prison Advocate Tam Phan Seeking Pardon from NY Governor
According to Democracy Now, when he was 6, Tam Phan arrived in the United States from Vietnam. He later became involved with a gang and spent 17 years in prison.
After turning his life around, he is now pursuing a master’s degree in urban policy and administration at Brooklyn College and is working at the Fortune Society, a nonprofit organization that helps ex-convicts reenter society.
Yet Tam Phan has been given a final deportation order, and his only recourse is a pardon from New York Gov. David Paterson.
He'll be deported back to Vietnam, yet has never been to the country and cannot communicate in Vietnamese.
It's only a matter of time before he may be deported if Gov Paterson does not pardon him.
Tam calls America home, having been raised in Brooklyn.
IMO it is precisely due to anti-immigration lobbyists pressuring mayors of major cities to pass anti-immigrant law that rehabilitated ex-criminals such as Phan face deportation.
Reference:
Prison Advocate Tam Phan Seeking Pardon from NY Governor; Faces Deportation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiHYNK6ZRK4
The Fortune Society: http://www.fortunesociety.org/
Ultimate Sublimation for a Dear Friend (poem)
Being able to help out a dear friend
financially is better than sex.
Even though the world expects me
to be less generous, it is
immoral to treat a dear friend
in dire straits like a mere pauper.
Even though my means aren't great,
I would rather be reborn
in the Buddhist hells
than neglect my dear friends.
For being of help to my friends arises
due to ultimate sublimation of desire.
financially is better than sex.
Even though the world expects me
to be less generous, it is
immoral to treat a dear friend
in dire straits like a mere pauper.
Even though my means aren't great,
I would rather be reborn
in the Buddhist hells
than neglect my dear friends.
For being of help to my friends arises
due to ultimate sublimation of desire.
20130509
Debunking Two Myths about Coconut Oil
In this article, two myths about coconut oil are addressed. Then referenced statements about coconut oil, unhealthy food consumption, the relationship between cheap food and obesity and malnutrition, and the high risk of cancer that fast food workers may be exposed to.
Most people who haven't heard about coconut oil are familiar with coconut. So they often ask, "Does it taste like coconut?" No, because all the taste is in coconut "meat".
Health authority tells us "saturated fats" are bad for us. So, a naîve consumer may ask, "Is the saturated oil in coconut oil unhealthy too?" No, because the saturated fatty acids in coconut are medium-chain fatty acids, compared to fatty acids in canola oil, which are mainly long-chain fatty acids.
In fact, few of the calories in coconut oil will turn into fat in the body when you reduce carbohydrate consumption.
It has always been carbohydrates and cheap vegetable oils that have contributed to the majority of unhealthy food consumption.
No doubt the food industry wouldn't be making a profit from cheap foodstuff that has been confirmed to cause obesity and malnutrition.
Fast-food joints cook in canola oil, which is known to cause breathing problems in food workers who are sensitive to the fumes.
Health authorities in the US recommended that the erucic acid content in canola oil be lowered to 2%, which led rapeseed being bred for low erucic acid content.
However, the 2% trace of euricic acid may still affective sensitive workers.
Coconut oil information:
List of food with low carbohydrates: http://www.livestrong.com/article/25154-list-carbs/
8 Foods to Never Eat: http://www.introduce.trimdownclub.com/intro1.html?utm_expid=59518127-27&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livestrong.com%2Farticle%2F25154-list-carbs%2F
Obesity is about poverty and cheap food: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/14/obesity-diabetes-cheap-food-poverty
Cooking oil fumes and risk of lung cancer in women in rural Gansu, China, 2002: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11804682
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erucic_acid
Most people who haven't heard about coconut oil are familiar with coconut. So they often ask, "Does it taste like coconut?" No, because all the taste is in coconut "meat".
Health authority tells us "saturated fats" are bad for us. So, a naîve consumer may ask, "Is the saturated oil in coconut oil unhealthy too?" No, because the saturated fatty acids in coconut are medium-chain fatty acids, compared to fatty acids in canola oil, which are mainly long-chain fatty acids.
In fact, few of the calories in coconut oil will turn into fat in the body when you reduce carbohydrate consumption.
It has always been carbohydrates and cheap vegetable oils that have contributed to the majority of unhealthy food consumption.
No doubt the food industry wouldn't be making a profit from cheap foodstuff that has been confirmed to cause obesity and malnutrition.
Fast-food joints cook in canola oil, which is known to cause breathing problems in food workers who are sensitive to the fumes.
Health authorities in the US recommended that the erucic acid content in canola oil be lowered to 2%, which led rapeseed being bred for low erucic acid content.
However, the 2% trace of euricic acid may still affective sensitive workers.
Coconut oil information:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_oil
- http://www.coconutketones.com/
List of food with low carbohydrates: http://www.livestrong.com/article/25154-list-carbs/
8 Foods to Never Eat: http://www.introduce.trimdownclub.com/intro1.html?utm_expid=59518127-27&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.livestrong.com%2Farticle%2F25154-list-carbs%2F
Obesity is about poverty and cheap food: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/14/obesity-diabetes-cheap-food-poverty
Cooking oil fumes and risk of lung cancer in women in rural Gansu, China, 2002: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11804682
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erucic_acid
Speednet Results for May 9, 2013
Test Date: May 9, 2013 7:12:27 am
Connection Type: Cell
Server: Delta, BC
Download: 3.43 Mbps
Upload: 0.50 Mbps
Ping: 80 ms
[Location removed for privacy]
A detailed image for this result can be found here:
[Ad edited and moved to Reference]
Test Date: May 9, 2013 9:27:11 am
Connection Type: Wifi
Server: Vancouver, BC
Download: 16.47 Mbps
Upload: 2.73 Mbps
Ping: 22 ms
[Location removed for privacy]
A detailed image for this result can be found here:
Reference:
Ookla operates Speedtest.net, the ultimate resource for bandwidth testing and related information. Visit it on your computer today to find out why.
Connection Type: Cell
Server: Delta, BC
Download: 3.43 Mbps
Upload: 0.50 Mbps
Ping: 80 ms
[Location removed for privacy]
A detailed image for this result can be found here:
[Ad edited and moved to Reference]
Test Date: May 9, 2013 9:27:11 am
Connection Type: Wifi
Server: Vancouver, BC
Download: 16.47 Mbps
Upload: 2.73 Mbps
Ping: 22 ms
[Location removed for privacy]
A detailed image for this result can be found here:
Reference:
Ookla operates Speedtest.net, the ultimate resource for bandwidth testing and related information. Visit it on your computer today to find out why.
A Picture Taken with my Apple iPhone 4
This picture was taken with a iPhone 4 with 5MP camera and 8GB of RAM.
While examining this picture, I enjoy letting the mind take it in.
Two trees with leaves of a different color — green and red — the buildings on the left side of the picture, and in the bottom right corner...
I love how the mind finds patterns in nature, caused by sunlight — or lack of it — and the shadows made by buildings and trees.
Yet it's important to me to stop thinking and return to the breath. It's only in the comfort of my house that I think too much. So meditation helps a lot.
When I took the picture, I just turned the iPhone up, tried to time it so that it caught the sun in shade. Here I believe the iPhone fails, because sunlight or bright lights wash out the camera shot more so than my Samsung.
Almost every time I used my Samsung to take a picture of the sun, they have turned out well: a larger than normal oval, slightly washed out.
So the proper use for the iPhone is to avoid pointing at sun. Also use flash at night time.
Pictures taken with my iPhone: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/113339991496129525363/albums/5875824921943468977?partnerid=gplp0
20130508
The Four Nevers (Samaya)
The Bodhi Mind (bodhicitta) is the cause.
Great Compassion is the root and foundation.
Skillful means are the ultimate. — Mahavairocana Sutra
Through skillful means, the view of enlightenment is fulfilled in compassion towards other sentient beings.
For all sentient beings, be they Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, gods and demons, humans, hungry ghosts, and all of suffering the hells are primordial pure.
Thus they were born basically good, but, due to conditioning, all beings appear to be sentient.
Like a mirror in a sandstorm, the mind is subject to mental and physical negativities as a result of conditioning. No matter how much we wipe the mirror clean, the dust of worldliness soon shall settle on it.
Thus, the disciple commits to the Four Nevers:
- Never to abandon the True Dharma.
- Never to negate bodhicitta.
- Never to withhold or be selective of Buddhist teachings toward others.
- Never to cause any sentient being any harm.
Reference:
Samaya: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaya
Dai Nippon (poem)
From Kyushu to Shikoku to Honshu and Yezo, the greatest Japanophile knows much about Hello Kitty, Manga, Anime, Akira, Morning Musumé, Ran, Sukiyaki, Enka, and the Meiji era.
Otaku in Japan are his best friends, and ever beautiful are the cherry blossoms of the fourth month.
That's because he's a great admirer of Japan.
A heartfelt thanks!
和訳 (Japanese Translation)
九州から四国へ本州とエゾに最大の親日家は、ハローキティ、マンガ、アニメ、アキラ、モーニング娘、蘭、すきやき、演歌、そして明治時代について多くを知っています。
日本でのオタクは、彼の親友であり、今までに美しい四月の桜です。
彼は日本の偉大な崇拝者だからだ。
私の肝臓の底からありがとうございます！
Romaji
Kyūshū kara Shikoku e Honshū to ezo ni saidai no shin'nichi-ka wa, harōkiti, manga, anime, Akira, mōningu musume, ran, suki yaki, enka, soshite Meiji jidai ni tsuite ōku o shitte imasu. Nihon de no otaku wa, kare no shin'yūdeari, ima made ni utsukushī 4gatsu no sakuradesu. Kare wa Nihon no idaina sūhai-shadakarada.
Watashi no kanzō no soko kara arigatōgozaimasu!
Otaku in Japan are his best friends, and ever beautiful are the cherry blossoms of the fourth month.
That's because he's a great admirer of Japan.
A heartfelt thanks!
和訳 (Japanese Translation)
九州から四国へ本州とエゾに最大の親日家は、ハローキティ、マンガ、アニメ、アキラ、モーニング娘、蘭、すきやき、演歌、そして明治時代について多くを知っています。
日本でのオタクは、彼の親友であり、今までに美しい四月の桜です。
彼は日本の偉大な崇拝者だからだ。
私の肝臓の底からありがとうございます！
Romaji
Kyūshū kara Shikoku e Honshū to ezo ni saidai no shin'nichi-ka wa, harōkiti, manga, anime, Akira, mōningu musume, ran, suki yaki, enka, soshite Meiji jidai ni tsuite ōku o shitte imasu. Nihon de no otaku wa, kare no shin'yūdeari, ima made ni utsukushī 4gatsu no sakuradesu. Kare wa Nihon no idaina sūhai-shadakarada.
Watashi no kanzō no soko kara arigatōgozaimasu!
20130507
"Less than 1% of women own property": Debunking the myth
This isn't a myth; it's political opinion. It's also a form of propaganda.
By appealing to the emotions, it also is a logical fallacy.
For through marriage, women own property. Indeed, most of young feminists today have mothers who own property. Even in countries where women are oppressed, women own property either through their husband or their son(s).
"Almost half of world property is held in trust by women" would be closer to the truth.
Reference:
Phillip Cohen (March 8, 2013), The Atlantic, "'Women Own 1% of World Property': A Feminist Myth That Won't Die"
http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/03/women-own-1-of-world-property-a-feminist-myth-that-wont-die/273840/
Transforming Evil into Good
On the journey to the Pure Land accounting for what has been accomplished is as important as focus on burning the evil karma accumulated. A sure way to remain stuck in Samsara is to falsely believe just one call to Amida is as good as ten.
This is why Buddha Recitation is important to a Pure Land Buddhist.
Yet Zen Patriarch Hui-Neng is correct about creating good thoughts right now.
So rather than counting my blessings, I count each recitation as the seed of today's good thoughts.
"Good and evil" isn't about "good or evil" fixed both in both time and space.
It's about how we color what we create by thoughts and action.
This is why Buddha Recitation is important to a Pure Land Buddhist.
Yet Zen Patriarch Hui-Neng is correct about creating good thoughts right now.
So rather than counting my blessings, I count each recitation as the seed of today's good thoughts.
"Good and evil" isn't about "good or evil" fixed both in both time and space.
It's about how we color what we create by thoughts and action.
20130505
Diary 20130505.1118H OAPFiles Series 1 Episode 2: Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour
Due to spoilers throughout this post, I'm going to provide snippets of Series 4 to explain this episode.
Doctor Who is regenerating after receiving a fatal dose of radiation. This is the result of dealing with the Time Lords in the Series 4 finale. The regeneration which leads to the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor occurs as a result of the Daleks inducing a partial regeneration which leads to the Tardis creating a second Tenth Doctor from his hand (originally lost having a sword fight with an alien species at the start of Series 3) and Donna.
The partial regeneration was necessary as Series 4's cliff hangers involve a Dalek invasion. I'm not certain why 26 planets have to be hidden, but in quest of domination of the universe, Daleks are willing to do anything, even when the Doctor, with help of a lot of friends, barely manage.
At the end of the Ninth Doctor's run in Series 1, we had Rose Tyler given omniscience in the form of the time vortex by the Tardis to defeat the Daleks.
End of Series 2, Rose is replaced by Donna Noble and the theme of companion on the eve of her wedding first starts. This is short hand in Doctor Who for companions important to the Doctor (Donna Noble & Amy Pond).
The fact that River Song's chronology with the Doctor is backwards implies that she is very important.
At the end of Series 4, I was expecting the final farewells the Tenth Doctor did, but couldn't find it. (I'll note now that I'm referring to the synopses rather than the videos since they help me properly assimilate each episode. By providing the set and setting, I can watch the episode and know what comes next, which reduces viewing anxiety about what's going to happen. This anxiety then makes me bored with the episode, and thus I get a spotty view of it.
I'm still bothered by not reading of the Tenth Doctor's final farewells, as the "End of Time" was a two-part Christmas and New Years show to resolve the earlier episodes about the Master.
The fact that "End of Time" is not a regular episode is why it doesn't appear in the Series 4 synopses. Mystery solved!
So the Doctor's regenerating from cell death due to radiation poisoning. "End of Times" ends. Then fans await Series 5's start with "The Eleventh Hour", three months later.
First, the Eleventh Doctor is formed after special effects show "regeneration energy".
After he's fully formed, he takes an inventory of his parts - legs, teeth, and hair but "Still not ginger!". Then he discovers that the Tardis has been damaged by his regeneration and is careening about London. At some point, he's holding onto her and barely makes it over the Big Ben.
Then he crash lands with the Tardis on its side, and has to escape it briefly. He meets a 7 year old Amelia Pond, and is restored to health with custard and fish sticks. Then he is shown a crack in her bedroom, and briefly leaves with promise to return in "five minutes." When he returns, he gets knocked unconscious by an adult Amy Pond. Then he also meets Rory Williams, her boyfriend. It turns out that Prison Zero has escaped due to the crack, and the Atraxi want to destroy the world if he's not found. At the conclusion of the episode, the world is saved from the Atraxi after the Doctor scares them off. They were intent on leaving just like that once they had Prisoner Zero returned but the Doctor thought it best to prevent them from returning.
Please note the wedding dress at the end of the episode. It is a sign that both Rory Williams and Amy Pond are important to the Doctor.
Doctor Who is regenerating after receiving a fatal dose of radiation. This is the result of dealing with the Time Lords in the Series 4 finale. The regeneration which leads to the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor occurs as a result of the Daleks inducing a partial regeneration which leads to the Tardis creating a second Tenth Doctor from his hand (originally lost having a sword fight with an alien species at the start of Series 3) and Donna.
The partial regeneration was necessary as Series 4's cliff hangers involve a Dalek invasion. I'm not certain why 26 planets have to be hidden, but in quest of domination of the universe, Daleks are willing to do anything, even when the Doctor, with help of a lot of friends, barely manage.
At the end of the Ninth Doctor's run in Series 1, we had Rose Tyler given omniscience in the form of the time vortex by the Tardis to defeat the Daleks.
End of Series 2, Rose is replaced by Donna Noble and the theme of companion on the eve of her wedding first starts. This is short hand in Doctor Who for companions important to the Doctor (Donna Noble & Amy Pond).
The fact that River Song's chronology with the Doctor is backwards implies that she is very important.
At the end of Series 4, I was expecting the final farewells the Tenth Doctor did, but couldn't find it. (I'll note now that I'm referring to the synopses rather than the videos since they help me properly assimilate each episode. By providing the set and setting, I can watch the episode and know what comes next, which reduces viewing anxiety about what's going to happen. This anxiety then makes me bored with the episode, and thus I get a spotty view of it.
I'm still bothered by not reading of the Tenth Doctor's final farewells, as the "End of Time" was a two-part Christmas and New Years show to resolve the earlier episodes about the Master.
The fact that "End of Time" is not a regular episode is why it doesn't appear in the Series 4 synopses. Mystery solved!
So the Doctor's regenerating from cell death due to radiation poisoning. "End of Times" ends. Then fans await Series 5's start with "The Eleventh Hour", three months later.
First, the Eleventh Doctor is formed after special effects show "regeneration energy".
After he's fully formed, he takes an inventory of his parts - legs, teeth, and hair but "Still not ginger!". Then he discovers that the Tardis has been damaged by his regeneration and is careening about London. At some point, he's holding onto her and barely makes it over the Big Ben.
Then he crash lands with the Tardis on its side, and has to escape it briefly. He meets a 7 year old Amelia Pond, and is restored to health with custard and fish sticks. Then he is shown a crack in her bedroom, and briefly leaves with promise to return in "five minutes." When he returns, he gets knocked unconscious by an adult Amy Pond. Then he also meets Rory Williams, her boyfriend. It turns out that Prison Zero has escaped due to the crack, and the Atraxi want to destroy the world if he's not found. At the conclusion of the episode, the world is saved from the Atraxi after the Doctor scares them off. They were intent on leaving just like that once they had Prisoner Zero returned but the Doctor thought it best to prevent them from returning.
Please note the wedding dress at the end of the episode. It is a sign that both Rory Williams and Amy Pond are important to the Doctor.
Update on my Medication: Sleep Deprivation versus Adequate Sleep
Psychiatry is the only profession where sometimes the doctors prescribing the drugs actually have never had any experience with them. My experience with mirtazapine is a good example of this: the psychiatrist described side effects of SSRI antidepressants which mirtazapine actually moderates due to its sedative effects.
As well, mirtazapine's sedation makes it possible to feel sociable because it's not a tranquilizer.
Though, my current usage of 200 mg of gabapentin and 10 mg of flexeril at bedtime is an improvement over the mirtazapine since even when I miss doses, it doesn't impact sleep quality. The only exception to this is when I do graveyard shifts.
In response to sleep deprivation in recent memory, I experienced a few pseudo-hallucinations, none of which actually were severe enough to warrant more than the usual rationalizations I use to treat them as exaggerations of explainable phenomena.
The pseudo-hallucination consisted of "seeing" the electric field of the power cord to my computer. Being well-rested now, I can explain this in two parts: when seen by the eyes, a black power cord could leave an after-image of lighter color. In my sleep-deprived state of mind, it is possible for the mind to add colorful detail that gives the impression of "seeing" the electric field of the power cord.
Though, I'd be happier to see a Buddha appear out of the blue. That's never happened to me ever. Most likely, this is because a Buddha is a metaphysical phenomenon while my pseudo-hallucination is the result of an overtired mind playing with a physical phenomenon.
Given the power of the mind when tired to conjure a hallucination I knew not to be real — which is what a pseudo-hallucination is — imagine what the mind could do when well-rested: analyze the recent experience of sleep deprivation and provide a rational explanation for it.
To explain how this has come about, I am going to attribute this to two causes: getting daily exercise during work shifts this week and getting regular sleep.
As well, mirtazapine's sedation makes it possible to feel sociable because it's not a tranquilizer.
Though, my current usage of 200 mg of gabapentin and 10 mg of flexeril at bedtime is an improvement over the mirtazapine since even when I miss doses, it doesn't impact sleep quality. The only exception to this is when I do graveyard shifts.
In response to sleep deprivation in recent memory, I experienced a few pseudo-hallucinations, none of which actually were severe enough to warrant more than the usual rationalizations I use to treat them as exaggerations of explainable phenomena.
The pseudo-hallucination consisted of "seeing" the electric field of the power cord to my computer. Being well-rested now, I can explain this in two parts: when seen by the eyes, a black power cord could leave an after-image of lighter color. In my sleep-deprived state of mind, it is possible for the mind to add colorful detail that gives the impression of "seeing" the electric field of the power cord.
Though, I'd be happier to see a Buddha appear out of the blue. That's never happened to me ever. Most likely, this is because a Buddha is a metaphysical phenomenon while my pseudo-hallucination is the result of an overtired mind playing with a physical phenomenon.
Given the power of the mind when tired to conjure a hallucination I knew not to be real — which is what a pseudo-hallucination is — imagine what the mind could do when well-rested: analyze the recent experience of sleep deprivation and provide a rational explanation for it.
To explain how this has come about, I am going to attribute this to two causes: getting daily exercise during work shifts this week and getting regular sleep.
20130501
I'm not mad enough for the loony bin (poem)
No, no, I'm not mad enough
for the loony bin!
Though I have tried therapy,
Once I was caught being
selective about the truths
I'd tell my ex-therapist,
My case was closed
and now I can't get back in.
No, no, I'm not mad enough
for the loony bin!
The therapist, he says to me,
"I don't think you'll ever
end up in the emergency ward."
Now my case is close,
and I can't ever get back in.
So, so, I know I'm sane,
even though from time to time,
I'll lose sleep from insomnia,
pseudo-hallucinate auras,
"smoke" floating to the sky,
and other freaky stuff like that.
Then I'll check in to sleepy time.
for the loony bin!
Though I have tried therapy,
Once I was caught being
selective about the truths
I'd tell my ex-therapist,
My case was closed
and now I can't get back in.
No, no, I'm not mad enough
for the loony bin!
The therapist, he says to me,
"I don't think you'll ever
end up in the emergency ward."
Now my case is close,
and I can't ever get back in.
So, so, I know I'm sane,
even though from time to time,
I'll lose sleep from insomnia,
pseudo-hallucinate auras,
"smoke" floating to the sky,
and other freaky stuff like that.
Then I'll check in to sleepy time.
Bipolar World (poem)
In a world of manic depressives,
everyone self medicates,
be it alcohol,
recreational drugs,
religion, shopping or sex.
everyone self medicates,
be it alcohol,
recreational drugs,
religion, shopping or sex.
I love my iPhone again!
So I've gotten my iphone apped up with Google Plus and YouTube.
After looking the specification in GSMarena specs I realized it works on both Bell and Fido when factory reset.
Neither Bell nor Fido will confirm this, with each side denying compatibility.
Also, when I switched to the Swype keyboard, words written no longer get an extra space!
How to Simplify Your Life
Just figure out how much you can live without.
At your current job, squirrel away at least $30,000. Then move to a a small town where the closest hospital is 50 miles away and there is one doctor in town. The town's population should be 5,000 or less.
Rent is going to be cheaper than any city with 50,000+. $300 or less a month! A unit in a trailer park might go for $20,000 with an annual property tax of $100. With the $10,000 left over, you have 10 months to secure a job assuming $200/month for food & bare minimum necessities of life (wood for wood-burning stove).
The worst that could happen is dying from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Oh yes! Buy thermal underwear and bear-proof your garbge containers.
At your current job, squirrel away at least $30,000. Then move to a a small town where the closest hospital is 50 miles away and there is one doctor in town. The town's population should be 5,000 or less.
Rent is going to be cheaper than any city with 50,000+. $300 or less a month! A unit in a trailer park might go for $20,000 with an annual property tax of $100. With the $10,000 left over, you have 10 months to secure a job assuming $200/month for food & bare minimum necessities of life (wood for wood-burning stove).
The worst that could happen is dying from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Oh yes! Buy thermal underwear and bear-proof your garbge containers.
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