The Postmodern Virus.

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Postmodernism.

Above is a short animation about postmodernism. Enjoy.

Leonardo da Vinci.

Most think of da Vinci as an artist, others, a scientist; but in my view he was more of an idol. When I was young my grandmother bought me a 4 movie set on painters, some from the present, some from the past, all from different places around the world. When I got this gift from my grandma, my response was unenthusiastic, to say the least. But there were a few great things that came out of those movies, and one, was my discovery of Leonardo da Vinci.

To me, he was an idol, not in the way that I wanted to draw or paint like him, though that would be wonderful. But the thing that he inspired me most to be, was curious. Da Vinci had a constant craving to learn more. He satisfied it with his paintings, wrintings, inventions, and ideas.

In my eyes Da Vinci was a revolutionary, he had theories that were not yet being thought by people as a whole, he dug deep into ideas to find out more. He painted like nobodies buisness, and he is continued to be thought of as somewhat of a legend to the world.

Leonardo da Vinci is a huge influence to me, he in a way taught me to satisfy my curiosity and go far with my dreams.

Above is a one of my favorite paintings by Leonardo da Vinci.

2150 A.D.

2150 A.D. is a book by Thea Alexander. It has always been one of my mothers favorite books, and growing up she always told me about it, bringing up things in it, and telling me how it changed her life. I always wanted to read it, but she never let me, "it's too mature," she would say, "wait until you're older." Finally at the age of 15 I picked it up and decided all by myself that I was mature enough.

The book 2150 A.D is about Macro philosophy, and a new world. It was published in 1976, and takes place in two time periods. The first time it takes place in is 1976, and the second is 2150. The story follows a man named Jon, in 1976 he is a professor who has lost his leg in the Vietnam war. But when he goes to sleep in 1976 he wakes up in 2150 with his leg back, and a body of a man of 24. Through his journey in his dreams he sees a world, and a way of life that people in 1976 have only dreamed of having. There are no wars, no chaos. It's a utopia, and it works.

The thing about this book that changed my life, and my mothers, is that the ideas these people use to achieve the lifestyle most people wished we had, is that they are realistic. In the book they explain all of their ideas and they all make sense, and can be made real, you just have to take the time to alter the way you think and view things.

I recommend this book to anyone who 1) enjoys complex books, and 2) enjoys books that change the way you think. The only problem is, this book is terribly hard to find, and there are two versions of it. But if you have the time, I really do recommend it.

It's A Wonder.

I titled this blog, It's A Wonder because it's a wonder to me. What you ask? Everything. Here I am 16 years old, sitting in my English class, and i'm wondering. I've read the first sentence in over thirteen articles, trying to find the article that will get me by this week. I'm wondering quietly to myself why exactly I settle every Friday on an article I only slightly find interesting.

At the beginning of this project I thought it was giving a different spin on an article you've read, and I was not excited. So this is my plan, i'm changing it up. I plan to break away from the rubric, or at least what I thought was the rubric.

So here's the scoop, my blogs will continue to be educational, and possibly educate your brain; but they will hardly ever be about an article and a small opinion of mine on it. This project has not been as exciting to me as it should be so I am changing it up. From now on my blogs will be about influences, mostly mine, but also the people I talk to.

So here we go.

No on Prop 8

Usually my blogs are about an article that I have recently read, and my opinions on them. But this blog post is going to be different. Since the elections are coming up, I figured I would share my opinions on a matter that personally has been getting to me. Prop 8. Should gay marriage be legal or not.

To me this seems like a power trip. The people who want gay marriage to be banned are getting a kick out of taking away peoples fundamental rights. Some people I have talked to have said, "Being gay is a disease, they can't help it." Well if thats the case, then people should be able to call in sick for being gay; and they can't. If being gay is a disease, why don't they have a pill for it? Because it's not. Since when is a lifestyle choice a disease, or to be shunned upon, that's like saying a painter can't take pictures, it just doesn't make sense to me.

Everybody says that love is sacred, some people never find it. So why are people punishing the people who find love? Love is love, it shouldn't matter whether its two girls, two guys, or a man and woman. If you are lucky enough to find love, so be it.

No on prop 8. Don't make life a power trip, don't keep us stuck in recession.

Genetically-Engineered Tomatoes

Scientists have genetically-engineered tomatoes, and made them purple. No, it's not a color twist on the usual red fruit. It's actually supposed to be healthier for people's welfare. Scientists have taken genes from the snapdragon flower that creates a compound called anthocyanin, which is what makes the tomatoes purple. The compound has been proven to increase the protection against certain cancers and diseases.

So the question is, should we trust it? Genetically-engineered food has always been subject for debate. Whether it's good for us, or bad. In my opinion it seems like a good thing, when scientists have reached the point where they can help out nature and make us healthier; I think that's huge. Isn't it the goal of most people to live longer? I mean that's why there's medicine and hospitals in general. If people didn't want to live longer, they would accept whatever they had. In that sense, I believe that this is a good thing.

But at the same time, who are we to mess with nature? I mean we do that enough, don't we; with our buildings and power plants? Things have been the way they've been, well forever. Plants grow and we eat them. That's just the way things used to go, but not anymore. Now there's miracle grow and things of that sort. Genetically-engineering our food is just as bad as growing life in a test tube.

So what do you think? Good or bad, let me know you're opinions.

Monochrome Dreaming

I have just read a blog talking about people dreaming in black and white. It talks about how people who grew up watching black and white television, and people who grew up before color tv's tend to dream in black and white. One woman even said that she was born in the sixties, and when she dreams of things that happen in the sixties the dreams were black and white; while when she dreamed of things that happened in the present they were in full color.

This article really made me think about the human brain, and wonder how our dreams will look 50 years from now. With technology changing and influencing as it has been so rapidly, what are we to expect? What will dreams be like for the kids who grew up in our time, compared to those growing up in 2014? Will technology be so different from it is now that people will be dreaming in new qualities? Will people begin to dream in HD? All of these questions that used to seem just plain ridiculous, now make a little more sense.

So what kind of things should we expect, or maybe even start imagining? Will our dreams be like real life someday? Imagine the experience that would be, to be able to d

ream and not know if it's reality or not. Tell me what you think, do you think that it's possible?

link to original blog:http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2008/10/monochrome_dreaming.html

Has The Fountain Of Youth Really Been Found?

An article in Discovery.com states that scientists have effectively slowed the aging process in livers of mice. A test was done where two groups of mice, one group normal, and then another with which livers were cleaned of harmful chemicals, as well as adding extra cells to make up for loss of them over time. These chemicals are correspondent with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, as well as other conditions relating to age. When the test was over, the modified group's livers preformed as if they were young mice, while the other group's livers were clearly running down. All of these mice were the same age, so it is quite obvious that they have made progress. Scientists say that the process is not limited to livers, and they are eager to test it on other organs. They are also working on finding a way to make a pill that turns on the receptors in organs to make them more active, this would make the process work a lot more efficiently.

If they could successfully preform this process on humans, the average life span could be increased dramatically. Things such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's would not be extinct, of course, but the effects of these conditions would take longer to show in patients. This is so revolutionary, for centuries people have been looking for a way to live longer, and there was never a clear answer. Yes, it is proven that eating right and exercising leads to a healthier , longer life; but who would have thought that cleaning your organs would lead to a longer life too?

The question now is, how many people would use it? Would the patients who get this have to go in every year to get a check up, every couple months, or would it be a lifelong thing? Would they have to take a pill every single day, just for a few more years? These are the questions we should be thinking about. At what point does a few more years on your life lead to constant pill taking, or doctor bills? In my opinion, a lot of people will flock to this, most people want to live as long as they can, and they don't care how they do it. Whether is exercise, or taking a pill. People will continue to try to make life longer.

Is Vesuvuis Awake?

A recent article says that French and Italian scientists could not rule out another eruption from Mt. Vesuvius, such as the one that took place over 20,000 years ago, wiping out Pompeii. Scientists say that the magma is at a 5.5 mile depth underground, and that if the acid composition in the magma rises, we could be looking at a violent eruption, very similar to the one so long ago.

In the years between 1631 to 1944 there have been numerous small eruptions, basically just small lava flows, letting out steam. But these eruptions involved magma that was mainly basalt composition, instead of acid; leading to smaller, less dangerous eruptions. If what scientists are saying is true, we cannot rule out another full on explosion from Vesuvius.

What surprises me the most is that there isn't very much commotion about it. This article was put onto the Discovery Channel website on September 10th, and everyone I have talked to about it, had heard nothing about it before. This is such a big topic in my opinion, when my class were all freshmen we watched a video on Pompeii and how catastrophic the damage was, and here we are, finding signs telling us that it may be coming again, and few people know about it. If Vesuvius was to blow again it would put around 700, 000 people in danger, depending on the severity of it, danger would be an understatement.

Is this the kind of picture we are going to be seeing in the news within the next decade?

Thrill Ride, or Torture?

I recently read an article, on The Art Newspaper, about the form of interrogation called 'waterboarding' being demonstrated at the Park Avenue Armory, in New York, starting on September 21st. Waterboarding involves placing a towel into someone's mouth and nose, while water is poured over their faces. This simulates the feeling of drowning. For 1$ viewers can watch someone go through this interrogation system, thanks to an artist named Steve Powers. Steve Powers say's to the Art Newspaper, "Not calling waterboarding torture is to me as ridiculous as calling it a 'thrill ride'." Powers wanted people to have the experience of this form of interrogation, but since forcibly restraining people is illegal, itwas difficult, though the act of waterboarding is legal.

For the experiment Powers and several lawyers volunteered themselves to be restrained while ex interrogator, Mike Ritz, preformed the demonstration. Powers, nor any of the lawyers could handle the interrogation experience for more than ten seconds. They all came to the conclusion that if someone was really in that situation, they would be under so much stress that they would not have been able to let out any information anyways.

This article made me upset in a way, I don't know where people get off on putting a form of torture on display for the public. Even if it is a legal and preformed method of interrogation, it is still not something that should be open for public eyes to see, let alone for the people volunteering to go through. To me this can't even be written off as a form of art. What are we coming to, when we get to the point that public torture is a form of entertainment. I thought America was going forward, not falling back.

A picture of a waterboarding demonstration at Coney Island.