Why I have a dislike for extremists, synecdoche and metonymy -- Florida Pastor and the Quran

Well I'm sort of taking a big risk in doing this post (depending on who comes to this baby of a blog) but this issue kind of irks me.




and more info here

So this guy, Terry Jones (who happens to bear the same first and last name of a Monty Python cast member) wants to hold a day (I think it's September 11) to burn copies of the Quran (there's more than 1 spelling for this and I'll stick with this one) in return for the World Trade Center which was destroyed by suicide bombers who happen to be Muslims. Basically I see this as one of those "eye for an eye" kind of things.

University is one of those places where you get to see people from all over the world and different religions. I have met people (mainly girls though) who are Muslim and they are nice people. The ones that appear on television/hear in the news tend to be the extremist groups and it is the extremist I find to be vocal about their causes. Also the media will put a spin on things to show what they want their audience to see and hear. If the media is backed by a political organization or someone who supports some political organization the news coming out of the tube or read in the paper will carry their ideas and views as well. So with people over in the countries who have a majority of Muslims hear about something that is offensive, more or less harshly criticizing their beliefs and what is held sacred, it is natural to say "I don't like what you're doing, that's not very nice." Same goes for those living abroad. Doing something radical like this after what that Danish cartoonist did will give the impression that people outside of <insert name of country here> don't have tolerance for Islam.

Here is where I would like to bring in synecdoche and metonymy. Apparently Jones's congregation is very small compared to the rest of the population of the United States. Yes there are people in the there who are anti-Islam but still that doesn't represent the whole of the population. Not entirely sure how large the Taliban is compared to Jones's congregation and any other group that shares similar views but again any small group or one person doesn't necessarily represent the view of everyone (the same goes for a majority as it reflects the views of most but still not all).

I may not be religious but I do believe it is a bad idea to destroy any religious text. I don't really believe that the content in any of the holy books is propaganda (more or less guidelines, following them being an option) but the people who use it as a tool for propaganda make it propaganda. The reaction I see to this seems to me like taking something irreplaceable and destroy it right in their faces. Sure holy books can be produced in mass production but I'm going to take a stand on the golden rule here. Don't mess with them and they in return won't mess with you.

Not sure if I have anything else to say on this topic but I quote Homer Simpson here:

"Because in the end, aren't all religions the same? They tell us what to eat, when to pray, that this lump of clay called Man can somehow shape himself to resemble the divine. But we can't learn to live together if we have hatred in our hearts . . . We all have our differences. Some of us don't eat pork. Some of us don't eat shellfish. But we all eat chicken . . . So spread the word: peace and chicken" 

Kid Drawings

I'm not sure if anyone when they were in their last years of elementary school and maybe some high school too remembers this. There was always an assignment where you had to draw something like a title page for . . . let's say science class and the next topic being covered in class is the sound and light unit. Sure it's the easiest thing to do as all you do is doodle something and hand it in, but I actually hated doing it. I hated for either one of two reasons (maybe both at times):

• I have no idea what to draw
• I am a bad artist

I never knew the reason why title pages had to be done for science, gym class (this only happened in grade 7) and history class (again I think this only happened one time). I assume this was part of the visual component of the grade but wouldn't a simple model of something suffice?
The title pages are also evaluated. Drawing very little would get you somewhere between no mark to just made it mars. Meeting the minimum requirements no matter how good or bad you draw would get you average near complete marks. Creating something that has more than the minimum requirements as well as having some artistic ability on hand would get the full marks as well as a sticker. When I was in grade 4 there would be some sort of contest where everyone would vote on whose title page is the best and winner gets some sort of prize (either candy or a pencil, something of that sort). The winner was usually someone who had top notch artistic ability, even though it may not be the same person each time.

So even though the art assignments are easy getting good marks on them is not. Maybe the reason I'm ranting about this has to do with how I take criticism and with something that has to do with my childhood. Don't really remember what year it was but I think it might have been grade 2 or grade 3. I was colouring something like the sky or the ocean and the teacher goes to check on me and notices that I was colouring in different directions and tells me that I should colour in one direction. This makes me wonder why abstract artists make a lot of money for painting something like this while something that has more than just a line across the page (ex. trees, animals, a boat maybe) but tell me that I should colour something in one direction? (------ instead of -----||||||)

Then there is visual arts class from grades 7 and 8. I think I might have enjoyed it to some extent as even though the artwork you had to do in that class had to be reflective of something being taught in that class at least you had some creative control over it like the snakes picture below.

Just for fun, craptastic artwork form back in the day:

Grade 8 Heath assignment

This was done for grade 8 gym class for the health class component. The assignment was to create two magazine advertisements: 1 for showing the dangers of drugs and alcohol, and 1 ad targeting young people into smoking and drinking. This happens to be the latter. As you can see one arm is shorter than the other. The copyright 2003 at the bottom was mainly to give it the magazine ad look. Other than that it's a total kid drawing.

Grade 7 Snakes on a spider web assignment

The second one, which I really like, was done back in grade 7 art class. I'm thinking it was more of an activity than an actual assignment. The idea was to draw snakes on a spider web. I think it was originally supposed be snakes upon a zigzag spider web and it eventually became black and white banded snakes on a rainbow explosion. This was displayed as one of the student artworks for open house that year.

Grade 8 Art Class: Mythical Creature

And finally this one. One of the projects was to draw a mythical/imaginary creature. The art teacher wasn't clear if we had to make up the creature or not so I decided to go with the phoenix. Unlike the other two craptacular drawings which were done in coloured pencils, this was done in pastel. The flaming toupee (I'm not sure what to call it) was a suggestion by a classmate of mine (whom I haven't seen in ages). The wings are coloured kind of oddly but it was good enough for the teacher to say "Go find a spot on the wall if you can."




I'm not much of a visual artist and probably the only time I can be caught drawing something is during a lecture when I'm bored. Enjoy these old kid drawings.

Advice for the young grasshopper starting university -- Adjusting to campus life (and a little blurb on textbooks)

Roommates
Student Residences
Making Connections

One thing I like about university is how some days you don't have to get up early. This is of course depending on what one's schedule is like. Also depending on what type of degree you're heading off for you may have all your classes in one day to having one day free with no classes. You may have classes all morning but have some sort of 1.5 to 3 hour lecture at 7pm. Whatever your schedule is like one thing less to worry is being sent to detention for arriving late or skipping lectures and you don't need permission to leave the room while someone is talking. But still . . .

• Be respectful to both the instructor and the other students.

Even though you may be bored with the lecture and start talking to your buddy the lecturer has the right to kick you out of the room for being disruptive. Also if you do decide to leave early or come in late do it discreetly as some in the room may be bothered the constant opening and closing of the door. A course may count participation as part of the course so whether you ask a lot of questions in class or sit quietly in the corner showing up for class may count towards that.

Although attendance is not necessarily taken every day there are certain days which you CANNOT and MUST NOT miss UNLESS YOU ARE ILL OR HAVE A DEATH IN THE FAMILY:

• Labs
• Midterms, quizzes and tests
• Giving a presentation

A doctor's note or a death certificate will excuse you from these things. Not sure if any other university has this policy but missing/skipping out on labs could mean failing the lab portion of a course. Sometimes when a lab isn't scheduled it may become a help session for assignments. If these sessions don't count for grades it's up to you to attend them or not but at least here people from the help centre will cater specifically to your course whereas at the help centre they cater to all levels.

Speaking of help centres these places are useful when you're stuck on a problem or need help understanding something like why the derivative of x^5 is 5x^4 (it's been a while since I touched calculus and probably would not touch it with a 10 foot pole (Edit January 2012: A semantics course I took during the Winter 2011 semester involved something called lambda calculus. My 10 foot pole must've been too short. Mind you this is a 3rd year level linguistics course and not a beginner calculus course.)). Having trouble with <insert language here>? Unless your friend speaks that language and is willing to help go to a help centre! Some language courses have conversation classes which are free (and may be counting towards your grade just for attending them). Help centres may also have books that the library may not have. I don't think first year labs require too much research for the questions but if they do the help centre is one place to go. Help centres don't run 24/7 so instead of heading off for a 4-hour nap use those breaks between classes to try to visit the help centres.

Some courses require books. Some books you can get after the first class like a textbook but some books, like lab manuals, you need before the first class or lab session. Now some instructors on the first day jump right into the textbook so if you're the type who wants to keep up on things you can buy the book. Some teachers say that the book is optional so if you really feel the need to get the textbook then get it, otherwise save your money.

Textbook are expensive brand new. Unlike secondary school (I am assuming it's the same for all secondary school otherwise tell me) the books are provided for you as they are paid for by the school and the only time you have to pay for the text is if the book is lost or damaged. So if you are strapped for cash:

• Share of borrow from a friend or sibling
• Buy it used

With the first option if you have a relative that has taken the course or is taking the same course at the same you can share and probably won't cost you a thing. Your friend may or may not charge you but that too is an option but if your friend lives in another part of town or in a different dorm room you may end up getting any work done that involves the book. The library may also carry a copy of the book (even older editions) but there is the lending period to consider and the number of copies available so your best bet is to have your own copy.

If you're someone who is concerned about the environment getting a used book is one of those benefits. The drawback to getting a used book is either one of two things:

• The book came out with a new edition in which all older editions are deemed useless
• The department decided to change the textbook this year and are basing the course on said textbook

Sometimes instructors may allow you to use an older edition or the old book but double check with them first. When buying used you can either go to a used book store (whether it's the one on campus or around the city) or from other students. The difference is that buy from other students you're not paying any tax (unless the person you're buying from decides to but I haven't encountered anyone who does that) but usually cash only.

That's all I have to say now that you should be fully integrated into campus life. Anything missing just mention it.

A painted sky

As the sun was setting I looked out my window and was in awe with the shades of blue I saw. The clouds looked like they were painted onto the sky.

Mystery Orb Spider

This spider has been making it's living in the garage for some time. There are actually two of them but they're about the same species anyway. So far this is the largest spider I've seen that is not displayed in a museum or pinned up and frame.

Anyways so I went to Google to search for spiders in Ottawa. The first result was the sculpture outside the art gallery while the second result on the page was a bit more resourceful only to find that most of the images were gone. Yet it led me in the right direction to search for orb spiders.

Now I don't really trust Wikipedia for scientific information but I find it useful for the photos it provides (and detailed TV show and movie recaps though those things constantly change too). So the page says that these things are named after the shape of their web which is round. The webs are also wheel-shaped. Though the web is faintly shown I could say it's wheel-shaped.

Anyways so I also compared it to one of the images in the gallery and this one seemed close enough to it. As for the specific kind of orb spider, probably the Argiope but the I didn't take note if the web has some specific design or not. Well if someone out there knows anything about spiders hopefully someone can give me some insight.