Man, Island and Connections-Poem and Video

John Donne's Poem of No Man Is An Island suggests the idea of everyone makes the world whole. Without some people, the world isn't whole. In his poem, Donne said that if we broke one little part of Europe off, Europe is the less. Every death in the globe pains him because Donne wrote that he is involved in mankind. Every man is a piece of the world and every man is never an island because of their religion, country, race, etc. Therefore Donne feels connected to every one like Matt Harding and his dancing video. Harding and Donne has made a point of connected and not being a island or trapped in a jail-like state.

Jason Van Genderen's short film called Mankind is no Island was inspired by the poem John Donne wrote. Van Genderen promotes the idea of helping homeless people with his short film using words on 2 streets. It shows how they are also the same specie as us and how they are being ignored and treated unfairly. Van Genderen strengthened the loneliness of the beggars/hermits by telling us that they don't have a family to go or a home to stay when they are faced with difficulties in life or terrible weather.

The message Van Genderen, Harding and Donne is trying to communicate is we are connected to each other and we should start helping now. I have helped and have donated to charity. Donating to charity helps me to become a better person and also helps other with crisis, health, finational, etc. The reason for why I added the picture of a star like wall surrounding a communilty on a Island is this connected with The Island book. In the end the community built a large wall like this one so they are forever isolated. Van Genderen, Harding and Donne's overall idea is no man is an island and ignorance makes one less human.

Theseus and the Minotaur:Medea and Minotaur 2 voice poem

Click here to view the poem:https://docs.google.com/a/iskl.edu.my/document/d/1aWadIm7Nmza4gxl04Sk_-1biPfrcrZSMPLwqrs7RHr0/edit?hl=en#

The main character of this 2 voice poem is, of course, Medea and the Minotaur from the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. Medea in this story is the same Medea from the Jason and the argonauts. Medea has a tragic life which caused her to have bitter conflicts with everyone around her, that is one of the reasons I chose Medea. The Minotaur has a interesting background, he has been brought up in captivity and has never experienced freedom. The only kind of food he has are humans which forced him to become savage and bloodthirsty.

Meaning of a name(Draft)

We all have different names and that partially makes up what we are. My name is Brandon Lien and I think my name is average and normal. That was before I discovered the meaning of my name. Brandon means broom hill, hill covered with broom in Old English and prince in Celtic. It was most popular in 1985 which 1.524 of baby boys were name Brandon.(See below) Lien means Connected in Mandarin.

My parents chose the name because they looked in a book of names and chose it mainly becasue it has no negative meanings. Back in 5th grade someone started with a nickname of Branflakes and has been calling me Branflakes until 6th grade which they stopped, because it was getting old. I really hated when they call me Branflakes because it made no sense of why they call me Branflakes. Branflakes is a cereal for old people which I don't eat. The positive facts about my name is that it's not really easy to create a nickname unless you're super creative at nicknames and it's easy to remember. On the opposite side, the negative thing is that people often get mixed up with other similar names, like Brendan, or Brendon. I like my name because this is the name that my parents gave me, so I should respect them and not dislike my name. I use to think my name was average and normal, now I think it as meaningful and exciting.

Interest? Hobbies? Sports?

Interest, hobbies, sports, instruments all in 10 things that represents me. A mystery book, Ping Pong paddle, mini playing cards, Scrabble,badminton birdie, magnetic piano, clarinet reed, spot the difference book, Wii sports game disc and a robot. A mystery book represent me because I like to read mystery. Mystery books challenges your brain to guess who the culprit is by using the evidence. The first mystery book I ever read is a Scooby-Doo book when I was about 3 years old. I can feel questions forming in my head as I read the books. Each mystery book is different and unique, just like people. The reason that I like ping pong and badminton is that I’m really enjoy doing it and is a sport that everyone in my family participates. I started badminton when I started 5th grade; I was really doing poorly at first, then I practiced every weekend and I got better and better. During the weekends, my family goes to KDE to practice badminton and Ping Pong. I collect playing cards, from classic to each kind. I have enormous ones and tiny ones. This collection started from second grade. I collect them from all around the world, like from Oceania to Malaysia. The reason I collect them is because it makes me feel connected to other places , like Matt Harding when he shared his video of dancing. Another thing I enjoy doing is playing Scrabble and other similar games with my family. Scrabble is a great game because it challenges you to make up words only in your hands. I often lose because my mom always gets more points than I, but I still enjoy the game. Mainly because of the excitement as you spell out a word hoping to get more points. Other games that I also enjoy are Uno and Monopoly. I first played Monopoly was when I was at Taiwan. I have different kinds of Monopoly. Taiwan version and London version, paper money and electronic banking. My favorite Monopoly is the London version,because it is electronic banking. I also have different styles of Uno, normal Uno, Uno spin and Uno Attack. My favorite Uno is Uno Attack because you'll never know when the cards will shoot out. For the magnetic piano and the clarinet reed, I play both of the instruments. I take clarinet at school and piano at home. My little sister, Phoebe used to play piano, but she quit because she keeps falling asleep on the piano. The reason I play piano is because of the music it makes when I press the keys on it. When I'm sad or frustrated, I play piano to calm me down. The magnetic piano shown in the picture was given to me by my mom and I'm learning piano, so she gave it to me as a present.I take band in period 1 which is right after Humanities. The clarinet is made out of mainly 5 parts. There's the mouthpiece where I wet the reed and fasten it to the mouthpiece. The bell at the bottom, the two body where I press the keys to make sound and the part that connects the mouthpiece and the body together. In order to make sound to come out of the clarinet, I have to blow into the instruments and make the reed vibrate and the air will pass through the body and out from the bell. To control the sound, I have to press the keys and blow at the same time. The hardest of the notes are the high notes because I have to use the register key which makes the high notes. It took me about a few months to be able to play a high note. On the other hand, the easiest note is G, which I don't have to press any keys at all. Clarinet is the second easiest instruments to play in band. There is a Wii at my house and everyone in our family plays it to exercise and workout when it rains outside. We have a lot of game disc, but most of them are pirated. My mom says you sweat and exercise more when you do the real sport, not the graphic. Even through with Wii, you can actually move with the person inside. After the game, we feel sore when we play sports and not sore at all when we play something else, like Mario. The robot represent that I like technology and that’s why I took Robotics as a elective this trimester. Starting from 6th grade, I took Information Technology as a elective in trimester one and has been interested in technology ever since. Since we're talking about technology, I also have a Mp3 and a Ipod touch. The robot shown on the picture can walk on windows because it has pads on it's feet. I discovered computers in 1st grade, but I'm not very interested until 6th grade. Another proof that I'm into technology is the electronic banking in Monopoly that I mentioned before. The last thing that represent me is a Spot the difference book, seeing the difference can help me in real life, like seeing the things that are missing and locating objects. The first spot the difference book I ever read was a sticker spot the difference book, you have to see what's different, then stick a circle sticker over the difference. Overall, I am like mystery books and plays Ping Pong and Badminton. I also play Scrabble, spot the difference and Wii as entertainment. My interest is collecting playing cards. Piano and clarinet are instruments that I do when I’m bored. I am also into technology, that’s why I have a toy robot.

The Journey within

The only journey is the one within.-Rainer Maria Rilke

The reason of why I chose this quote is that this year, the main topic is the journey within and what I believe in. I believe a way to journey within is to meditate. Lots of religions believe that meditation is the key to achieve enlightenment. A word in the sentence caught my eye, it said the only journey is the one within. Rainer Rilke is trying to say that vacations and holiday trips are not as important as the spiritual journey to go within yourself and understanding yourself. The whole main idea of this year in 7th grade is the journey. Believing something is the soul inside everyone, if he/she believes in revenge. Probably she/he is not a peaceful person. A video on YouTube call The Journey Within gave me some inspiration on the paragraph. It also has some wonderful photos and quotes.

I chose this image by Bridgette Guerzon Mills because the oval shape must be our soul and the bird represent us trying to go within. Inside the oval, there are some trees meaning heaven. My opinion is that once you make the journey within, you'll find inner peace.

This poem by Connifer is talks about the idea of a heart's oasis.

It mentions a bird's song which connects back to the painting. The last phrase talks about even when your sad, the song of solitude will always in your heart. In the third verse, it mentions a bird perching on a tree which means that Connifer also thinks that trees is heaven inside the soul. I think Bridgette and Connifer both mentioned a bird because they believe that the bird can fly and make the journey. Connifer also mentioned a bird because of it's song which is kind of relaxing to hear it.

Dancing for Globalization

I think Matt Harding's video of him dancing changed the world because his weird dance moves in different countries connects people together. This is a lot like the compliment guys, the compliment guys compliment other people to make other's life better. Matt Harding's video is a entertainment, but also connects people together. Starting from 0:52 in the video, other people from all the different countries joined in.
The painting by Marc Chagall, the Juggler supports the fact that dancing can bring people together. In the top right of the painting, there is a blue dress woman dancing with the juggler.
When I first saw the video, I laughed at Matt's hilarious dance moves. Laughing helps to heal more faster and can reduce the pain. It can also reduce food cravings and relieve stress.
Rabindranath Tagore's poem about dancing also supports the fact dancing can cause connect the world together. Rabindranath's last sentence in the poem says that there are no age limit in dancing, everyone is welcome. The first sentence says that a special stream of life connects the world together and dances rhythmically. I'm guessing that the stream of life is nature, because in the second sentence in the poem says that the steam of life gives the dust of the earth grass and flowers.
The image above shows people holding each other's hands around the earth. A extra detail I found about the image is that the people in the video all have cancer, but survived.
Resource:http://www.cancersurvivors.org.uk/mission.html

Feeling of Compliment

The last time I received a compliment was when I scored an average A, my mom said a compliment to me. It made me feel warm and happy, just like those other people that the compliment guys complimented. We all want to be complimented by other people and I think the compliment guys would really make other people's day better. Everyone likes to hear positive things, especially about themselves.

On the other hand, the last time I complimented someone was when I complimented my friend on finishing a robotics project. I think my friend the same way as I did when someone else compliments me, all warm and happy. The more you compliment someone, the more he or her wants to be friends with you. I believe that compliments can make a difference and will improve world peace and globalization. I also believe this compliment thing can cause other people to compliment each other or at least try not to hurt other peers by saying negative things, like you will fail.

Teesha Moore tries to get the message of believe the thing and it will happen by combining the words and graphics together in her art. Speaking of art, this image I posted shows that if someone compliments you, you'll feel happy The person who got this image said that all you need is a little compliment to make up your day.

Resources:http://www3.whig.com/whig/blogs/aliveandwell/?p=389