One of the most exciting aspects of molecular biology is that young adults my age are getting in on the ground floor. There is still a multitude of information yet to be discovered and its applications are nearly endless. Through gene therapy we see the possibilities of eradicating cancer, curing the blind, and preventing deadly illness. The recent advances in these fields are vastly exciting and I find it impossible to imagine where it could be even one year in the future. Science does not reject new ideas that stand in conflict with the accepted doctrine but, on the contrary, is constantly adapting to new information so as to form a holistic view of the world around us. Science is not so arrogant as to know it is right but is eager to destroy, adapt, and rebuild itself in order to come closer to accuracy. The idea of science and, more specifically, molecular biology is thrilling and the opportunity to eradicate currently terminal diseases is one that I can’t stand to miss.

BELL

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist.

Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the top musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written,with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station

was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty?

Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Companies pour millions of dollars annually into advertizing and presentation. Tests have proven that if two of the exact same object are presented to a person, one in elaborate packaging and one not, the former is chosen as the better product. The point of the subway experiment was to see if this principle transcends into areas other than consumerism such as beauty and the arts. The main question posed by the experiment is this “In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?” Judging by the numbers it’s clear that most of us would rather adhere to our schedule then to stop and notice such beauty. It was noted, however, that children would stop and listen and only move when their parents tugged enough and still then always looking back at the performer. Do children notice more then we do because they aren’t so preoccupied? Are we too preoccupied for our own good?

Pigs; three of them

This web article outlines a recent advancement where scientists grew pork meat in a Petri dish by culturing a pigs myoblast cells (the cells that give rise to skeletal muscle tissue). Cloning also has the ability to end world hunger and yet people starve to death every day. Why? Part of the answer is that the technology is still in its relatively early stages but another part is controversy raised by the “left” or liberals. This group of people is against the consumption of cloned meat even though it has been deemed safe for consumption by a number of world agencies and governments based on scientific research. Still though there are a number of groups that are explicitly against the consumption of cloned animals. This behavior of refuting scientific evidence based on morals and values isn’t just found in liberals but is found in all groups who refuse to compromise in light of scientific research. In turn, they commission research in their favor and instead of science being used as a tool to find new truths and further our understanding, it has become a vicious battle of he-said-she-said propaganda so one side can prove the other wrong. Has science become degraded in modern society? Are its findings as valid as they were 100 years ago?

Thanksgiving Dinner

That is by far the biggest most audacious thanksgiving dinner I have ever seen before and I've never wanted to eat something more. At my house we always eat Italian for dinner because my grandma is from Italy and she cooks the dinner. We usually have baked ziti, olives, stuffed mushrooms, homemade bread, and some sort of vegetable. My grandmas always makes pumpkin pie just for me though and whatever we don't eat at her house I get to take home for myself. My grandma is the best chef in the entire universe besides the guys at Texas Roadhouse. Did you know everything is made from scratch there? I was working one day and we had to make soap. The soap for the bathrooms...is made from scratch...at Texas Roadhouse. But I digress. I mostly enjoy spending time with the family at thanksgiving but the food is what keeps me coming back.

One Act

Me and Bryson Young have been considering doing one act plays, monologues, and dialogues after school in the auditorium. The goal is to get a drama program going at school running seperate from the Drama Program and Drama Club. We want to do this for 2 main reasons:

We can work on more worthwhile plays
We can work with people who actually care about what they are doing.

We don't plan on it being very large but we do plan on having dedicated cast members which is something that both the drama program and club lack. We are not simply going to put on plays but are going to give criticism in order to improve our acting and make quality productions. We are looking at a once act right now called The Hardy Boys and the Mystery of Where Babies Come From. Despite the plays seeminly docile subject matter it is riddled with adult material. We arn't quite sure how this will go over with the school, but art shouldn't be restricted in any instance.

You wake up too late in the day, a world of orange specked with shade: A tent gone stuffy in the midday summer heat. Content to lie in a while listening to nothing in particular while fat blowflys drift lazily through the air outside. Climb a dune tonight to witness the stars in fantastic numbers, not hidden by the lights of the city. Below them rolls the tide in a timeless tribute to tradition. Returning once again below the tree-line where a small fire will shirk from the darkness while you sip cheap beer.
-Harmon y

The Moving Wall

I went and saw the Vietnam wall this weekend. All along the bottom of the wall are tokens of affection and remembrance left by the families and friends of those whose names appear on the wall. Before going to see this memorial I was told I would be moved emotionally by the power it carries with it. After viewing the wall, tokens, and people around me I felt nothing whatsoever. This made me wonder if it was natural for me to feel nothing in the presence of such a supposedly awe-inspiring event. Looking back at the names it became obvious to me: they were just names, nothing more. I did not see suffering. I did not see sacrifice for my freedoms. I saw over 50,000 names on a wall. If I were to view the actual wall in Washington, would I have felt differently? I doubt it would influence me anymore then the mobile memorial. The way I perceive the world may be slightly different then the majority of Americans but as an individual I’m too distanced from the event to feel emotionally about it in any way. The work of art is unimpressive and is lacking in emotional impact.

Those around us

I don't believe we live our lives for those who came before us so much as for those that come after us. We take direction from the ones that preceded us and in a way I assume that's a way of living through them. I think it should be the goal of everyone who is blessed enough to live without struggling for basic needs to give those pleasantries to others. It is in human nature to crave intimacy and and a great source of intimacy is to be found in bettering another persons life. Anything else is selfish. When thinking about the future it is almost impossible to fathom without putting it in the context of the people who influence your life now. It seems weird to me though because it's not fair to assume that these people wont change or if they will even still be here. But then again when thinking about the future nothing is certain save the fact that it will be magnificent.

This song is a perfect sample to take to illustrate why popular music is so atrocious. Lyrically the song consists of a long string of extremely overused clichés and imagery and instrumentally it is utterly uncreative and if it weren’t for the lyrics one would be very hard pressed to tell the difference from an array of songs. The song exemplifies some common components of popular music across genres. The majority of popular music uses the same concepts, often the same imagery and lyrical content, for the most part is extremely unimaginative, and to put it bluntly is simple. This trend isn’t localized to music, popular television and movies follow the same path. Why is it as a society we idolize the simplicity of these artistic mediums while more in depth and symbolic art takes a backseat as “underground”? Dr. House is the remarkably intelligent and perceptive doctor from the television series “House” which is one of the few popular shows that has complicated character relationships and an in depth plot. One of Dr. House’s character traits is that in spite of his intelligence, he enjoys simple mind numbing pleasures such as soap operas, strip clubs, and video games. Art and media that is intelligent and has substance to it, pushes us to reflect on the world around us and more importantly ourselves. Dr. House is constantly trying to avoid confronting his demons and would rather enjoy simple pleasures rather than face the truth (Brave New World). Could this be the reason for the content of popular music? As a society would we rather be blissfully ignorant or truthfully authentic?

Price Gouging

This picture simply states the fact “Price gouging is illegal following a declared State of Emergency.” Florida is not the only state to invoke laws banning the raising of prices on essential goods after a natural disaster and many other states have fines up to $25,000 for “price gouging.” Is it morally wrong though? Prices allocate goods in market systems and when supplies fall short when demand soars it is called a shortage. If prices aren’t raised when shortages occur then it’s very hard for suppliers to sustain the supply of a certain good because consumers buy much more of the good then they need. If we expect customers to be able to receive the essential goods they need in an emergency, why then is it illegal for suppliers to attempt to compensate for a highly increased demand by raising prices? It is the consensus among economists that price gouging is a positive force that allows the market to function efficiently, benefits the supplier and the consumer, and saves lives. Why then do politicians make laws banning price gouging from happening? The people see price gouging as an immoral and evil thing to do, the media portrays it in the same light, and politicians react in their favor despite the fact that is actually quite the opposite of immoral and evil. If politicians know that price gouging is beneficial but the people are against it, is it ethical for them to act with the people or against them for their own good?

O brave new world, That has such people in't!"

Brave New World is a novel written by Aldous Huxley that explores a society set in the future that is much different from ours today. Driven by technology, stability, and equity this civilization is Huxley’s warning as to what could happen to our own society if technology were to take over and also a satire of the society that the author lived in. One of the major themes in the book is the affinity of truth and happiness. The major question asked on the subject is can the two exist together in their totality? Real scientific exploration was totally inhibited and was instead replaced only with scientific research that would promote happiness among the people such as “feelie” movies and soma. The arts were destroyed and works such as Shakespeare and The Bible were replaced by meaningless music and assorted scents. There are then two kinds of truth that have been suppressed: empirical truth (scientific, mathematical) and human truths (love, artistry). If we lose these foundations of our own society in the future, do we lose our humanity as well? What defines humanity? As far as truth and happiness are concerned does one take precedent over the other?

Mark Twain

I think Mark Twain's words ring true, as most of his words usually do. I've learned that I hate most of my extended family and the only people I can truly stand to be in a confined space with for a long period of time are people who never challenge my judgment and accept my direction as law. You never really have any disagreements with people who always agree with you =]. It's not just traveling though, spending too much time with anyone enough can cause you to notice the small things about them that annoy you. To take that sentiment even further, too much of anything turns out to be a bad thing.

All things in moderation.

Plastic Bag Street Art

This video is about Joshua Allen Harris, a street artist, who cuts and tapes old trash bags and shopping bags together and proceeds to tape them to subway vents. When a train passes by underground, air is pushed upward to the street and the bags inflate into whatever shape he has designed whether it be a bear or a centaur. After the train passes, the bags slowly fall to the ground and appear to be trash again. I find this method of artistry is looked down upon by conventional artist lovers as a crude expression of thought that isn’t on the same level as more orthodox art. This methodology, though, speaks to city life directly. Large cities are often referred to as concrete jungles and when the city is bustling (when the train goes by) the animals spring foreword with life to greet them and as soon as the train leaves, they die again. They are composed of material that is scattered throughout the streets which makes them a literal part of the city they inhabit. Street artists put their art out free for the public, they almost never write their name on their art, and they tend to use materials they find around them. I see this as the evolution of art because it as we become more of a “global village” art is no longer locked inside a museum but is coming to life in the very streets we walk.

Spring

When I think about spring, the first thing that comes to mind is planting season. I love medicinal herbs and plants used as incense. Every spring I hoe out a part of my backyard by hand and plant all sorts of plants. It's always rewarding to be able to watch something you planted grow. Other than planting, not much comes to mind in spring for me. It's a pretty uneventful season as far as I'm concerned. I enjoy fall and winter the best.

Substitute Swear Sayings

This picture depicts Dr. Evil, a character from the Austin Powers movies, using the substitute swear word “frickin’” in place of the word “fucking.” Although he does not in fact use the profanity, he replaces it with a similar sounding word that carries exactly the same meaning, but, oddly enough, is deemed with much less stigma. The role of language is to convey thoughts in a way that can be understood to other people. In the case of profanities, the thought is normally interpreted as rude, vulgar, and disrespectful and therefore using the words is generally considered coarse. There is now a whole array of words that are used in place of these profanities but are used in the same manner, are spelled very similarly, and carry the exact same meaning, but because they aren’t themselves profanities, they are inoffensive. If we can substitute words for each other to abstain from vulgarity, would it be possible to substitute other vulgarities with new inoffensive actions or is this phenomena purely lingual?

Knowledge and Experience

This song uses blues style instrumentation to tell the story of three people who are lower-working class and who have been faced with various challenges. The general hook of the song (it varies with each character) talks about walking a mile in someone else’s shoes so that you can understand what it’s like to know what they know. Do you actually have to experience something to know truth about it? Experiencing something first hand implies that you use your senses to derive an emotional response from a situation. This is hardly a reliable means of finding truth, seeing as your senses are biased to your relative world. If your senses are biased then any emotional response that is elicited by them cannot be held as fundamentally true. Experiencing something first hand is not a means of extracting truth, it is instead a means of clouding judgment and forming a biased opinion based on an emotional response that is passed as truth.

The Stranglehold of English Lit

This website has posted what they believe to be the 100 greatest novels of all time. Of all the authors on the list only one was born in a non-English speaking country, Vladamir Nabokov, but he wrote almost all of his major works in English including the work that made the list. This clearly demonstrates the dominance of English literature on the artistic world. We know that there have been great works written in other cultures in different languages but none of these works have made the list. Why has this specific language taken over literature and do the same criteria that judge English literature transcend other cultures? Are there qualities of some books that are lost in translation? Can literature be universally good? Has this dominance had an effect on the literature written in other cultures so that they may compete with such a competitor?

Shamanism or Shizophrenia?

This video is about the way that Western society views people with schizophrenia in contrast to the way tribal cultures view shamanism. The video explores the stigmata assigned to people who have mental processes that we can’t understand and the resulting casting off that these people must go through. Is it productive to treat people who are different by ostracizing them into lock-up the same way we do criminals? Shaman’s act in very similar ways to people who exhibit schizophrenic behavior but they are treated as polar opposites in their respective societies: the former as an outcast who must be treated; the latter as revered leader from which there is much to be learned. We feel it necessary to treat schizophrenics in hopes that we can coax them to think more normally but in shamanistic cultures they are armed codes, traditions, and tools that have been handed down for generations so that they can expand their thought. Is it morally justifiable to stamp someone as diseased and prescribe treatment because we can’t understand them? Why as a culture, do we fear madness?

Friendship

This proverb definatly doesn't hold true to me. It is very possible for it to be flipped the other way around and have your joy cut in half while your grief is doubled. If you are someones friend then you trust them. If you trust them then you respect them. If you respect someone and they let you down, then it hurts. It hurts much worse then if you were to be let down by someone you don't respect. Friendship is a fantastic thing, like anything, when it works how its supposed to but in a 3 demensional world you can't sum something up so finitely.

What family means to me

I was blessed, if with nothing else, with a caring family. I've got two parents that support me in everything I do and have never tried to hide anything from me at any point in my life. I've got Grandparents who shower me with affection and are quite crazy. I've got a sister who I rarely have problems with and finally I've got a step mom who I feel like I've known my whole life.

My place in the family is hard to put a finger on but I'd have to say that to the women, I'm their baby boy who could NEVER do anything wrong. To the men, I'm loyal which is a #1 trait in their eyes. My family is old fashioned Italian if that helps the image at all.