Skip to main content

Aurora

Nice photos below. Some day I'll go North and see the auroras. It must be a breathtaking sight. Auroras occur due to the earth's magnetic field, electrically charged particles, gas particles, and solar wind. I think the idea is particles like electrons travel along the earth's magnetic field lines and in collisions with gas atoms in the ionosphere light is emitted. These emissions can be made into spectacular displays as the one below via influence from the sun's magnetic field, which is what we mean by solar wind. Why do I say North? Because the earth's field terminates at the poles, and there the lines are packed more densely, i.e. the field strength is stronger. One would therefore expect the electrons to be much more energetic and in such collisions give rise to this phenomena.

The second photo is that of an interesting and touching story. The mouse, I think named Gohan, was originally to be fed to the snake, but somehow, the snake instead of swallowing the mouse, became its friend. Now the two are best buddies. Perhaps animals are not as "animal" afterall.

I went to see Brokeback Mountain with a couple friends. Don't worry, there were girls. I didn't go alone or with just guys! Haha. I have to say, I think it's a beautiful movie, and not because the topic is so, touchy. Obviously we no longer live in a time where gay behaviour is taboo, but it is still largely frowned upon. I believe that although attraction to members of the same sex is not beneficial to survival of the human race, it is nonetheless a possibility in the general scheme of evolution. Therefore, I am not bothered by it, and I believe that homosexual relationships should be legally equivalent to heterosexual ones. As the movie also clearly points out, if there is a gay gene, it can and still will be passed on, since both characters married and had children. This is particularly true if society shuns upon homosexual behaviour. In order to survive, gays must marry and have heterosexual relationships. It's kind of ironic how a society that cannot tolerate differences in fact ensures the continuation of the behaviour that is frowned upon, especially if the behaviour is innate and genetic. The conclusion here is the following: we must learn to tolerate. The overarching goal is to ensure humankind survives. Of course learning to tolerate is another one of those "easier said than done" statements.

Ang Lee has done a good job in making a good movie, and I think he deserves the accolades. Taiwan pride!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Youthful Reminisces

These past four days have been a trip down memory lane. I'm going to try to organize some of the memories for blogging, though not all in this post. My parents, M and I took a road trip to Hualien, partly as a family get-away, and also to introduce our Taiwanese hometown to a group of my brother's ( Albert Wu see here and here ) students from France. Albert and his wife are jointly teaching a course in history in Paris, and over the last few weeks they have been taking their students on an abroad research-coursework-fun tour of Taiwan. If you know my father, he tends to try to get involved in some way with any of his sons' projects, and from our perspectives, it's great to get his help and/or just advice (from time to time). My brother and his wife planned a historical, social justice introduction to Taiwan (I wrote about a visit to Dadaocheng ). Important components to understand the complex identities and mindsets of Taiwanese today involves understanding the Ea

Did X say that?

I was cleaning out old draft emails when I came upon these quotes. 1. “Set your goals high; make friends with different kinds of people; enjoy simple pleasures. Stand on high ground; sit on level ground; walk on expansive ground.” 2. In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit . -Albert Schweitzer, philosopher, physician, musician, Nobel laureate (1875-1965) Both quotes resonated with me, and both quotes provide profound, provoking, prose projecting providence. But for the first quote I'm not sure who to attribute, and for the second, while I'd like to imagine he said that, I'm not really sure if Dr. Schweitzer did (because I have never met him!). In the internet age, I think it really behooves one to critically analyze everything read online. Does X make sense, did X say that? Sometimes it&

Just a few more quotes to post and share!

See the post title. ***** If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. -Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author and aviator (1900-1945)    "No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions d