Elaine Chew❤

Humor and it's benefit

2011-02-28T19:59:00.000-08:00

Society promotes always doing the right thing. We base, or most of us base our doings on that idea. We try to be polite; we try to be correct; we try not to be offensive. Things that we do but don't know why we do it. Things that we assume to be good. And to me, a humorist is that little voice that asks why to all the little and insignificant things in my life that I do without knowing why. Alain de Botton argues that humorist's job is not merely to entertain but “to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” Society allows humorist to say what they want to say because they do it in a way that makes you question his attitude towards it. Due to the way humorist presents himself, it becomes hard for people to take it seriously. Humorist, plays the character between right and wrong; They say things that societies ignores. Which is why humorist is not seen as rude but honest.
I remember the first time I saw Dave Chapelle on youtube. I think he was speaking about the. I laughed and laughed until I was out of breath. It became addictive. I watched until there was no more videos to watch. It wasn't until I ran out of things to watch did I realize why I was so into his shows and why it made me laugh so hard. He spoke about the everyday things that people do without a reason. The things society teaches you to do. Things you often wonder why but you never proceed to find out. He occasionally mocks the way society is. He teaches people about stereotypes by making fun of it. None of which is illegal but all of them are offensive. Offensive because it is true. And not everyone in this world could handle being offended. Therefore I, and I believe many others respect humorists for their - crudely states – balls
It isn't the jokes that make them so interesting though. Everyone thinks about the things humorist says. They think about it and they often question it. People do think about the. But no one has the ''balls” to say it. No one wants to point out the stupid things we do in life. Yes, humorist serves a vital function in society but not necessarily for the issues they point out but rather for their attitude towards such issues. The care free and happy-go-lucky attitude they have about things such as racism and sexism helps people bond together in a unique way. Thus through a show they learn about each other and become more acceptable through laughters.

The Absurdity in Death

2011-01-31T08:46:00.000-08:00

As I grow older, I develop more personality and gain more knowledge I have realized that the thought or the idea of death has crossed my mind countless time; I think it has crossed many other people’s as well. What I am speaking of here is not suicidal tendencies. It is whether or not death should be feared. Despite the many things people say to get themselves feel better about the situation of dying, in the end, it always comes down to whether I have accomplished the many things I wished to have accomplished during my lifetime. The fear of dying before achieving all you desire in this lifetime scares most people which is what I believe to be the prime cause of fearing death. I understand where most people are coming from, but if you would just take a look around you’ll understand the one thing we know about death -- the one thing we can never really know. It is that death will come for everyone and there’s no way of predicting when, where and how.

We know very little about death. This fact makes our perspective fairly important on how we view death. Three philosophical approach to death and life could categorize the different perspective: Existentialism, Absurdism and Nihilism. Existentialism is about the finding and creating meaning even though meaning is meaningless. Absurdism is about the paradox between people’s attempt and failure in finding meaning. Nihilism is about understanding that creating meaning is useless. Each of these philosophical beliefs are too complicated for me to go into however, I believe that absurdism best explains life in terms of death.

Absurdism emphasizes on that things simply happens to people, that nothing has any meaning. Anything could happen to anyone at any time. It is as if the death and life has the same meaning. Absurdism is the attempt to find a different meaning for life, a more meaningful one but fails because none of these meaning will make a difference in life. I understand if the idea is hard to grasp which is why I have the perfect example. The Stranger by Albert Camus is a short novel which depicts the life of an absurdist. The novel shows the realization and growth of the absurdist character. The novel is truly a piece of work because it has the essence of a true absurdist. The novel won the Nobel prize 1957 and Albert Camus died in an car accident 3 years later, making Albert Camus the perfect example. His death explains the human inability in finding meaning in life, ergo things happen, and nothing has any meaning. Being the shortest-lived Nobel Prize winner, the irony in that is almost strange and even freaky. So basically, even if you have achieved everything in life, death will still come and get you.

Despite all I have said, it is necessary to fear death to some extent for people to function normally in this world. It is impossible to progress if everyone has a indifference attitude toward death and therefore life. The idea of what I am trying to convey here is hard for many to understand because the absurd is a paradox and so is death. Death is absurd because the many perspective we have about death. To talk about the absurd with absurdity is quite difficult for me to explain thoroughly without writing a whole book about it. But what I really am trying to do here is to expose you all to absurdism through death and hopefully you will all make further connections to life and all other things in it.

HIV people!!

2010-11-30T18:16:00.000-08:00

Recently I've been seeing a lot of ads and articles about HIV and other STDs. All of then raising the awareness of how serious this problem really is. In an article I read on yahoo news, it reveals that fewer than 1/2 of the Americans have tested for HIV. The study shows that if people were to find out earlier it's easier for the medicine given to take effect. It also protects your partner from getting it.

There was this advertisement I saw the other day on the TV. It's about a bunch of people in a club and a girl asking a good looking guy if he tested for HIV and the guy jumped away and yelled at her asking her if she's crazy for asking something like that and the guy she was dancing with leaves. However, a less attractive man overheard the conversation and went up to her to tell her he tested for HIV and then they hooked up. So the story ends there...I just thought it was pretty funny. What was even moreeeeee funny was that this commercial was the idea of the head of the health department in taiwan. He planned on going to a club to promote this advertisement. He is currently 65 years old and he was going to go to the club at 7pm....which is quite weird cause the club isn't open at 7pm...hahahahahahhaha

Anyways I just thought that was funny of him. But I thought the commercial was pretty cool. Try to see if you can find it on TV it should be on the news channel. However, just because im joking and laughing about the commercial doesn't mean I don't take this very seriously. I've heard of people who got AIDs from going to the theater and sitting on a chair where a HIV patient planted a needle with her HIV positive blood on it. EVIL!!!! anyways. Just be aware kids. Protection.

Sources: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101130/ap_on_he_me/us_med_hiv_testing;_ylt=AogKSbbz8DJ1IR4_JDqad1ys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFkdjV2aGR1BHBvcwMxNDEEc2VjA2FjY29yZGlvbl9oZWFsdGgEc2xrA2Zld2VydGhhbmhhbA--

Finally CHINA!

2010-11-30T07:20:00.000-08:00

In the past few weeks one of the main major issues of the world is North Korea. Ever since it's attack on South Korea's Yeonpyeong island, world leaders have been having conferences to decide on what actions should be taken. Major countries such as the US and Japan have been publicly displaying their support for South Korea. US especially have taken major consideration in aiding South Korea. However with China still unsure of what to do, the rest of the world remained fairly calm. It has been revealed that there are nuclear centrifuges and missiles all over North Korea. North Korean officials said these are built for civil war and the US were not able to confirm if the nuclear facilities work or not.

HOWEVER, BREAKING NEWS!!
China has finally formed an opinion on there stand in this situation. TODAY!!!! China's foreign minister has said that he believes North Korea's behavior is like that of a "spoiled child". The Chinese officials believes that North Korea should reunite with South Korea however the US should remember that North Korea is still China's neighbor. Many Chinese officials also believes that the North Korean nuclear power plant is a danger to the rest of the world.

ANYWAYS. crazy North Korean's seriously. if you are north korean and you are reading this please don't kill me. But I honestly think that this is so out of no where. I mean, was it all necessary to attack an island like that. Sure this attention whore thing so that other countries will supply food and other things for them makes a good reason but not a good enough one to bomb their neighbor. The consequences like civil war, world war, nuclear warfare....etc I don't know if its worth it at all..

Sources: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11871641

Breast Implants and Artificial Hips

2010-11-14T08:11:00.000-08:00

BOOBS
picture only for attracting your attention so you would read this

BBC news recently reported a story about the danger of breast implants and artificial hips. A specific type of breast implants called the Poly Implant Prosthesis(PIP) was recently banned in the UK because of the implants chance of rupturing in patients body. The implants was used widely in the Plastic surgery world. The gell-filled shells are not up to standard causing it to be easily ruptured in your body. When it ruptures the gell-filled shells harden and becomes a lump in your body. The buffer in the breast implants in absorbed into your body and causes no harm. One patient originally thought the lump may have been cancer and was relieved to find out it was not but was furious that it was the beast implants and no one warned her the consequences of it.

Back in my grandma's time this was one of the breast implants that were available and she received it when she was young. The implants ruptured a few years back when I was in middle school. I didn't learn about this till recently. the implants had turned into something that has a hardness of a rock and was hurting in her body. She got it checked up and got the implants removed. She lived with the pain for months and did not know what it was. After the surgery she was unable to function and by that i mean eat, sleep, go to the bathroom..etc. She survived so chill everyone who thought she died...if you didnt good..cause she's super healthy now

anyhow my point on this was ....i thought about breast implants and how cool they are and how popular they really are in the real world but considering the pain it caused or might cause...I don't think anyone should try it.

The artificial hips...similar story a popular surgery done among people and the risk were not introduced. The story goes that the metal artificial hips made by johnson and johnson breaks in to pieces the lodges into a patients body causing it to rott form the inside.

No my grandma didn't get this surgery.

But think about the risk of plastic surgery just for one second. Considering the beauty it may bring you one day and the pain it may cause you another day and than think about aging regardless of how many botoxs you have received or implants you've made yourself go through THAN think about whether that was all worth that much trouble.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11739475

Paris Hilton AGAIN.

2010-11-08T16:57:00.000-08:00

Paris Hilton the hotel heiress was caught with cocaine and weed possession at the end of summer. The story goes that Paris Hilton and her used to be new boyfriend went to Vegas for PARTIES!!! On the way back to hollywood a police vehicle followed Paris Hilton's car because he smelled Marijuana. He pulls there car over and Paris pulls out her wallet and letting a bag of cocaine drop on the floor. The police officer immediately asked her what it was and if it is her's. She said it's not! it's my friend's, who lent her purse to me. (what a buyable story right?!)

Anyhow the story wasn't good enough and after a month of investigation and trials and what not. Paris Hilton is released. RELEASED did I say...sigh. She was fined $2000 and 200 hours of community service plus one year on probation. The judge warned her if she gets into any trouble other than a car accident this year while she's on probation she would be sent into jail.

I mean sure, the fining and the community service hours and probation may seem like its enough...but is it really?! If she was not Paris Hilton I bet she would be in jail right now. It's not like this was her first time going to jail and being on illegal substances anyways. I just thought this was interesting cause people always say money can't buy you freedom. NOT TRUE.

Source
http://www.tmz.com/2010/09/20/paris-hilton-plea-deal-las-vegas-cocaine-arrest/

Justice.

2010-10-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

On September 30, 2010 an American couple left their Texas home and decided to go for a short trip to the Falcon lake. From across the lake is the country Mexico. The American couple went on about their trip around the lake and decided to cross the border on their private vehicle to see the historical churches. Just past the border while they were entering Mexico three boats pulled over and were filled with armed man. They began firing and the husband was shot down from his jet ski. The wife tried to return and rescue her husband but the boats pulled over again and started firing. These boats chased her passed the American border. Her husband's body hasn't been found yet. HOWEVER, his severed head was delivered in a suitcase last week.

AND THEN...anonymous source explains that it was because the watercraft were usually a sign of surveillance and that the Los Zetas thought that they were spies. Los Zetas is a group funded by Mexican army special force to fight the illegal drug trade.

Okay...now...
I just think this is a horrible incident...Taking a trip on a lake and got shot down by officers?! And this anonymous source says that the unauthorized attack was done by the senior officers of Los Zetas and this anonymous source also said that they got rid of the body so no evidence could be put to blame on the Los Zetas.
HOW UNFAIR IS THAT....even if its not the los zetas...why did they cut off his head. And if it is the Los zetas than its even more unacceptable. Them being the special force to limit the illegal drug trade and then shooting down innocent civilians. How UNFAIR?!

Honor Killing?!

2010-10-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

The practice of honor killing is when a female member disobeys or shames the family and either gets strangled or stoned to death. This practice is common amongst the Islamic faith. The most recent honor killing happened last week. A women was strangled and cremated by her mother and father. Their reason for this honor killing is because their daughter has disobeyed her parent's wishes and married the man they did not approve of. The parents were late arrested by the police.

I don't know if it hits you as hard as it hit me that parents would kill there child for this kind of matter. She married the guy already and they must be in love so why couldn't her parents just let them be happy?!. I mean even if you don't agree and decides to cut off all connections with them its fine too...but killing?! isn't it a little bit too extreme. However, this kind of practice is quite common....which hits me even harder because that means these people actually believes that killing in honor is okay. Killing is not okay!! It's totally against human rights. PLus this girls is 22 she knows what she wants and she can decide for herself now. I'm very upset about this news...

I know the faith itself is about peace and tolerance at its basis but honor killing is simply not acceptable. Sure its not a rule or saying in the Qur'an but it's quite common amongst the Islamic faith....You can say nothing is wrong with this religion cause its not directly related but....i don't know ....what do you think?

Citation: http://sify.com/news/rajasthan-woman-strangled-in-suspected-honour-killing-news-national-kkmsOhdidca.html

Papabubble. Written especially for Mr. Smith's Kids.

2010-10-07T06:00:00.001-07:00

Papabubble, a store that started in Barcelona. This shop has now gone world wide; Places include Barcelona, New York City, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Taipei ...etc. Papabubble is famous for there creation in merging handmade candy with artistic design. There seasonal collection of candies differ for countries to countries and also personalize orders, however they offer the original selection all year round. Some original flavors in include banana, straberry, kiwi, grape, apple...etc. As for seasonal candies Papabubble would make little candies for Chinese New Years with Chinese letters printed on it or Valentines day candy with hearts printed in them. Papabubble makes little tiny candies thats the size of a eraser on the end of a pencil which is totally suitable for little kids and they also make huge lollipops that would take years to finish. There are other forms of the candy that are made but as far as I am concerned only certain forms of it are sold in Taipei. You may try ordering it online on the website but I would assume that it'll take some time to be sent over. In addition to the delicious treat there is also the bodacious wrapping. There are cute little jars or fancy little zip lock bags. When entering the shop, if you're lucky you may witness the making of the candies. Unfortunately I was unable to find the instructions on how they make the candy. However, I found some pictures of the candies in making.

MR. SMITH IF YOU WANT TO BUY CANDIES FOR YOUR KIDS YOU CAN GO TO:
Taipei City Da An District Jen Ai Road Section 4 Lane 151 # 12
THERE # (02)-8773-0955

BEST HANDMADE CANDY EVER!!!!

My Sources:
http://foodarty.com/papabubble-hard-candy-made-by-hand-made-with-love/2
http://papabubble.com/
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2008/10/papabubble/
http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2007/10/cult_candy_shop_papabubble_int.html

Eiffel Tower Bomb Threat

2010-09-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

According to the article there is a terrorist plot against the UK and france. There has been threats and false alerts such as this one on the Eiffel Tower so therefore the French and British officials have not yet raise the threat level. The warning came from a telephone booth. Soon after the intelligence officials received the calls they evacuated the Eiffel Tower. No bomb was found in the Eiffel Tower but the intelligence officials are claiming these false alarm that has been produce in the last week or two are all Islamist Connections.

I know that bombing and this war on terror is serious and really should be looked at thoroughly but I do think that labeling Terrorism to all Islam communities are unfair. In France, the government have even banned veils/hijabs in public placing insuring the safety of the country. I feel like this is only going to increase the tension between the two culture. I understand that they may be potential threats but veils are there tradition and so far I don't think many parts of the world has given any respect to the Islamic Culture. Not all Muslim are bad. If more time and afford is put into understanding these people that shares completely different culture as us, I think the tension would decrease by a great amount.

But I don't run countries so I don't make big decisions like this.
My Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100929/ap_on_re_eu/eu_europe_terror_plot

Pole Dancing!

2010-09-20T18:32:00.000-07:00

Despite the stereotypical image of naked women pole dancing on stage and pervy old man shoving money wherever there is a place for it, pole dancing is actually now a popular sport that could benefit your health and body shape. Instead of spending time in the gym working on the wrong muscles and sweating in your ugly gym shorts many women have found alternatives to working out and exercising. Pole dancing not only gives you the chance to wear sexy attires such as high heels and hot pants but it also works on abs and your flexibility. Due to the intense amount of stretching a pole dancer needs to do, dancers are usually thing elongated and fit in the right way. Therefore it would be hard to find women whose trying to get fit but turns into hardcore bodybuilders. Im sure bodybuilders chose to be the way they are but if a women is really trying to just get fit and sexy then I think pole dancing is definitely the right option. Unfortunately pole dancing hasn't been widely accepted yet so I wouldn't try to do this in Taiwan.

My Source:
http://www.divinecaroline.com/22176/105055-pole-dancing-health-benefits-body

Lack of Sleep can make you FAT?!

2010-09-13T18:19:00.000-07:00

This article talks about the risks of gaining weight due to lack of sleep. At first I thought the article meant that if I didn't sleep enough I would immediately gain weight and if I do sleep enough I would lose weight so I was like "Oh Sweet!" However, after I read the article, i realized it was more about how your hormones function if not enough rest is given. Instead of gaining and losing weight just by sleeping, your body actually releases hormones that will increase your appetite and therefore completely put your body into a mode where it relies on energy from sugary snacks only. The minute I read this I thought to myself, "I could totally elate to this." People like me are the victims in the articles. The lack of sleep not only does it mean we don't have energy to exercise it also means that to keep us awake we have to keep eating. The worse thing is even if you have a healthy diet, if you didn't sleep enough your body weight wouldn't be stable. After reading the article I realize that SLEEPING is the first step to losing weight.

My Source:
http://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20232959_2,00.html

The Sketchbook Project

2010-09-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

The Sketchbook Project is an art project funded by the Brooklyn Art Library. Every year thousands of sketch books gets sent out to places all over the world. Every artist who decides to participate will receive the same notebook. Each artist has around 4 to 5 months to complete the sketchbook depending on when you signed up for the project. When the deadline arrives, every artist are to sent out there sketchbook back to the Brooklyn Art Library. These thousands of sketchbooks are then toured around the United States whether it's exhibiting in the museum or galleries. When the tour is finished the artist could either decide to sell, exhibit or take back there sketchbook.

The idea of Sketchbook Project is to bring everyone whose interested in art together. People who has signed up for this project in the past aren't necessarily professional artist; Some of them are housewives who enjoys drawing. To join this project you simply go on there website at arthousecoop and pay $25 to receive the notebook. It's availability and price not only makes it a fun doodling project for people it also helps shape culture.

"Anyone - from anywhere in the world - can be a part of the project."