A distance far away

In a distance far away
Lies the end of our dreams
As we approach it seems farther away

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/10/when-you-fall-in-love-with-a-stripper.html?source=TDB&via=FB_Page

Eunoia - its Greek to me

I'm not sure why the Ministry of Education chose the word "Eunoia" for the name of the name college.

According to http://www.vocabula.com/vrbestwords.asp

eunoia (yoo-NOH-ee-ah) — It comes from a Greek word meaning "well mind" or "beautiful thinking." It is also a rarely used medical term referring to a state of normal mental health. In rhetoric, eunoia is the goodwill a speaker cultivates between himself and his audience, a condition of receptivity. In book eight of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle uses the term to refer to the kind and benevolent feelings of goodwill a spouse has which form the basis for the ethical foundation of human life (from Wikipedia). 

This word is the shortest world in the english language that contains all 5 vowels. It means beautiful thinking, or as a medical term it means a healthy mind. I first found it in Aristotle's Nichomechean Ethics in book 8. Nichomechean ethics was written as a guide to Aristotle's son as to how to achieve a happy life, the good life. Book 8 focusses on friendship and eunoia is one of the bases needed for a trusting friendship between husband and wife. I think it's a beautiful sounding word, with a beautiful meaning and story.

Frankly they might as well have chosen Oxford, Cambridge Or Harvard. I suspect the Singaporean parents would have been delighted by those three other choices.

I'm still not sure why a Greek name was chosen - its not as if the govt appreciates the finer points of ancient Greek life - like debate or democracy very much.

I think a better choice would have been "Trinity" - a name that some of the school kids were advocating. That seemed more fitting since three schools were joining together for this effort.

Marcia Lucas - Star Wars - from http://fd.noneinc.com/secrethistoryofstarwarscom/secrethistoryofstarwars.com/marcialucas.html

One of the great mysteries of the Star Wars film series - is why the Prequels were not as good as the original Trilogy. 

The original trilogy had a better written story, better pacing, superior camera angles - I'm sure you can think of more.

The reason why the Original Trilogy was so brilliant was that Lucas had an extremely talented group of individuals behind him. Read the book by Dale Pollock's "Skywalking" and you'll find a host of other artists that helped craft Lucas' vision into an Epic.

Among that host - was George Lucas' ex-wife Marcia Lucas.

"In Tribute to Marcia Lucas Biographer Dale Pollock once wrote that Marcia was George Lucas' "secret weapon." Most people are aware that George Lucas was once married, and probably some are aware that his wife worked in the film industry herself and edited all of George's early films before their 1983 divorce. But few are aware of the implications that her presence brought, and the transformations her departure allowed. She was, in many ways, more than just the supportive wife--she was a partner as well. "Not a fifty percent partner," as she herself admits, but nonetheless an important one, and the only person that Lucas could totally confide in back then. Today, she has been practically erased from the history books at Lucasfilm."

She was able to challenge her husband and ameliorate or change his bad ideas.

After the divorce Lucas was so bitter - that he added back the scenes she and her team had deleted from the original theatrical release in 1977. I think the 1995 re-release of Star Wars - with ridiculous add ons like the "infamous Greedo shoots first" scene - speaks volumes of Lucas' failings as a story writer and fim maker - and should have served as a warning to fans that the Prequels would have issues.

This was how the original scene was shot. Its important because it shows what sort of character Han Solo is - a hard nosed smuggler - a cut throat - someone who had to be persuaded with a lot of cash to go rescue a Princess he had never met. He was no clean cut hero.

That's why his decision to come back and save the day in the Death Star battle is so powerful.

Having Solo shoot last also does not explain why he shot at an unarmed Darth Vader. He's no white knight John Wayne caricature. 

IMHO if Marcia Lucas and the rest of the original Star Wars team -  including Ainsworth, the designer of the Storm Trooper helmet (that Lucas sued) - the Prequels could have been as great as the original Trilogy.

Young killers

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/6647837/Teenager-Lisa-Borch-murdered-her-mother-after-becoming-obsessed-with-IS-videos.html

I'm not sure why Society has problems with capital punishment. We routinely slaughter millions of babies a year in abortions.

One star One sky

I watched this amazing video of Orcas attacking a herring fish school. I found it so beautiful that I'm moved each time I watch it.

 Its matched with an equally exhilerating song by the band Alice and the Glass Lake. Here's that video and the lyrics.


 
Norway Orcas and Humpback WhaleHD from Cristina Mittermeier on Vimeo.

In the corners of every room
Through the floors
Comes the light from an open sill
Little windows
Paint the sheets of a silver moon
Make ‘em glow
This is the this is the light I've known
So long
I see it running through you
Through you
Oh, Love

Runs through you

One star One sky
Fill up my old heart
With new light
I'll take all I can
Loving in the moment
Is something luminous

Shimmer down from my fingertips
Subtle warmth
To the brim with brilliance
Reborn
 Feel the power in every limb I'm not alone
This is the this is the light I've known
Would come along-long-long

One star One sky
Fill up my old heart
With new light
I'll take all I can
Loving in the moment
Is something luminous
 And I thought I was done
 Thought I, th-thought I I thought I was done
I thought I was done
Thought I was done
But I see it running through you
Through you, oh love
See it running through you
Through you, oh love
Feel it running through you
Through you, oh

 One star One sky
 Fill up my old heart
With new light
I'll take all I can
Loving in the moment
Is something luminous

Alice Glass Lake

Christmas, Jesus, the Virgin Birth

Today is Christmas, the time of year in the calendar where we mark the birth of Jesus Christ - a Jew born out of wedlock to a Jewish peasant woman who the Church claimed to be a virgin. He founded a Pacifist religion whose adherents have been regularly trying to massacre the Jews for the last 2,000 years - who says God doesn't have a sense of humour or irony?

Think about it.

Merry Christmas.

In the moment of clarity where is God?

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2011/02/salinger-201102

I like to read.

Here's a good article about the famous author JD Salinger and his experience with war.

"The most powerful portion of “The Magic Foxhole” is the opening scene, which describes the landings at Normandy. Among the dead bodies on the beach is a solitary living figure—a chaplain crawling around in the sand, frantically searching for his glasses. The narrator, as his transport nears the beach, watches the surreal scene in amazement, until the chaplain, too, is killed. It was no accident that Salinger chose a chaplain to be the only living man among the dead in the heat of war. It was also no accident that the chaplain should be desperate for the clarity his glasses would provide. A man who believed he held the answer to life’s great questions suddenly discovers that he doesn’t—just when he needs an answer most. It is a critical moment in Salinger’s writing. For the first time, he asks the question: Where is God?"