Human being - definition

Human being is a bipedal mammal that is related to ape species. Humans have more developed brain, thus, they can plan ahead and organize processes in order to achieve their goal, usually by wisdom. One of such processes is inventing tools; humans are far more inventive than any other animals. They invent tools for facilitation in many purposes. Though some animals appear to be able to use tools such as a chimpanzee using a twig to drag out some insects for eating, they cannot invent complicated tools such as a bow for hunting or a trap for larger animals. Another process is using verbal language. Humans develop a number of different verbal languages that are used in order to communicate to each other in each society. Unlike humans, many other animals have no verbal language, so they can just produce some simple sounds and use gestures to communicate. As a result, such implications are not so detailed for another to promptly understand the meaning. For example, a tiger which wishes to join a new group has to keep following that group for a long time to prove itself to be no harm; however, for a man, he may just be interviewed and get accepted to be in a company to prove himself later. Last, for the intention of living together with peace, humans develop ethics. They have social norms, cultures, and various religious that cause them to judge whether or not that a certain thing is acceptable, not merely an animal’s instinct.

Black Beauty - best suit me

Yesterday, I cleaned up my messy desk and found a novel lying under a pile of sheets then I realized that before I start a new one that I’ve picked for John’s reading, I should finish this one, which I have read for a couple of month, first.

This novel is Black Beauty, and is written by Anna Sewell. The story is told through the view of a horse, Black Beauty, who is the main character. He describes the story of his whole life, from his birth place to his last home where he is promised not to be sold again. The life of a horse bred in men’s society is tough, to be more accurate, miserable. And Sewell points out those miseries through her pen quite noticeably that I think it’s one of her main purposes of her novel. Although Black Beauty is a fine, high-bred, the most sweet-tempered and the best-behaved horse, half of his various masters misuse him; one hires two grooms that maltreat his horse, some destroy his will to work by the bearing rein, and the others force him to work till he breaks his knee badly or drop down unconsciously. On the contrary, the others of his masters are very careful to their horses and of course being with them, Black beauty is treated well, so he lives with them with happiness and full of will to work. When include some ladies and gentlemen that always pop up to help poor creatures from their cruel masters, Sewell shows me how horses were treat those day and how people view that. I think, at that time, so many horses must be misused that there is some group of people stood against that, as it is pointed out in her novel and her writing itself. This makes me feel happy for those creatures since nowadays they are used far less than those old days.

For me, this novel is like a horse’s diary which, therefore, not so many people like. I once asked a friend (who is the only one out of a hundred who knows this novel and read it already) what does he think about this novel, and his answer was “it’s extremely boring.” No surprise for me since he isn’t crazy about horses and that, thus, caused him that “extremely boring”

Though it is boring for others and I’ve read the entire story in Thai, I enjoy reading it so much since i love horses, and this original version is far more detailed and, thus, so pleasant that I want to keep the rest, if any, for another day when I may get up set and need something to cheer me up.

But anyway, it is also a good chance to get rid of my sluggishness and start some new books! What about you? Do you have any book that suits you so much like my Black Beauty?

Magic for reading: Harry Potter!

The very first thing that came up in my mind when I heard the word “magic” is Harry Potter. I was in the first year of my secondary when the vast popularity of this fiction burst out. I read it just like most children did that day, and thanks to J.K. Rowling! my reading habit has begun since when I finished the first book of Harry Potter. Before that, I had never picked up any book except cartoons (and of course, texts, too!) but this fiction fascinated me so much that I immediately continued on the second and the third, and though I had to wait for a long time before the others were released, my enthusiasm for reading remains in high degree. After finished some of HP novels, I started to read other Thai novels such as White Road, The Thief of Baramos, which I like so much too, for the writer’s eloquence and reflection to society nowadays, and some other short stories of Prabda's. But still, the most favorite book for me is Harry Potter because of its imagination: the existence of magic, Hogwarts School with many mysterious, intriguing things, and magical creatures.

After a long period of reading Thai novels, I started reading English ones, and if there’re no Harry Potters, I would not be interested in any books and keep my reading proficiency poor and far more slowly as it is now.

Thanks for casting a spell on me! J.K. Rowling!!

(As you may notice, I really have no idea to talk about magic so thanks to Pach’s strategy, changing the topic!! ;P)

Lucky and Unlucky signs

Hi everyone :D

like John said, I and some others in the class have already have our own blogs, and I'm happy to continue on this one. Here, I've posted some articles and put some links in. Please do not hesitate to comment on any of my postings, including this one which I'm going to add a paragraph John assigned this morning.

Today, in my AEP Reading/Writing five class, John assigned us homework to write one paragraph about our partner’s answer to the question, “What are some lucky and unlucky signs?” My partner was Joon who told me that he himself had no lucky or unlucky sign. However, he told me about some unfortunate signs in which Koreans believe. The first thing is the number “4” which means of death, and in Korean hospitals, they use “F floor” instead of the fourth floor. Another thing is about the 13th Friday of every month; Joon think it is like a fad which Koreans received from western culture. The last thing he mentioned is “Law of Murphy” which, in my understanding, is a period of time that a person encounters lots of continuously unfortunate events. As I have mentioned, Joon does not really believe in such things and I also agree that we should not be so serious about them.

solution to corruption

What is one possible solution to the problem of corruption?

For the efficiency of coping with the problem of corruption, the law restricting corrupt matters should be intensified. Excluding many cases of corruption which were brought up to the court and were judged free from guilt because of the inadequacy of evidence, there was a scandalous case in which the secretary of Prachatipat party, Mr. Sanan Kachornprasart, was convicted of falsifying his asset statement which describes his non-existent 45million baht debt. In this case, he was merely sentenced to be uninvolved in political matters for five years. As his corruption is obviously shown, he should not be allowed to engage in politics again. Although this may sounds uncharitable, it is rather important to show Thais that corruption is not that ordinary or easily forgivable. Moreover, the accomplices who were involved with this falsification were not prosecuted because two officers of the NCCC (The Office of The National Counter Corruption Commission) who were responsible for this case decided not to do so. It should not be an individual who holds the judgment whether or not to sue people who took part in a crime, but it should be written in the law that everyone who connives with the corruption must be punished. In this way, if the corrupt politician and his accomplices were punished and eliminated from politics, this would make others to think twice before being corrupt or involved, and due to the less seen of the example, the intention of the next generation of politicians would be more clean and incorruptible. Therefore, the punishment for corruption should be more severe, and include those who are involved to show that corruption is a serious violation.

NANA2 : the movie

This afternoon, I went to Siam to watch a movie. When I checked the list of now showing movies, NANA2 immediately caught my eyes. I was impressed by the first episode of it and deeply impressed by the cartoon version so I unhesitatingly bought the tickets.

The drama of NANA, by Ai Yasawa, is about two Japanese girls who meet each other on a train to Tokyo. Although they share the same age and the same name, Nana, their personality and attitude are extremely different from each other. “Black Nana” is quite pessimistic, spiritually strong, and aiming at becoming the most popular singer. “White Nana” or “Hachi” is optimistic, easily upset, and aiming at having a warm family. Not so long after they share a room together, two Nana begin to share their lives. They become each other’s very best friend and struggle shoulder to shoulder for their dreams.

I really like the cartoon because its content is fascinatingly dramatic, the surrounding drawn is realistic and pleasing, and the emotion of the characters is expressed very clearly though their gestures.

Just like what I have expected, NANA2 provides exactly what happens in its cartoon version; the place that events take place, the exact characteristic of every character, and even the clothes and accessories they wear in each scene! Though that doesn’t sounds very creative, I enjoyed watching the movie, part of that because it makes me realize that Yasawa builds up the scenes with the most part of them base on reality, such a surprising attempt.

Surprising 70 things

Tonight, I’ve got an email titled “Surprising 70 things”. Though I don’t know if the details are correct, I found it very interesting and funny. Some of them are unbelievable, some seem to be very simple but surprising, some are disgusting, but most of them are fun to read. Here is a part of the article which I like. Again, I translate it from Thai to English.

Did you know that…
- Louis XIV took a bath only 3 times in his entire life!
- Hitler parted his hair on the left.
- In Hawaii, a flower on women’s left ear means she is married.
- We cannot commit suicide by holding our breath.
- 3% of women don’t like wearing panties.
- Hippopotamus farts via its mouth.
- All the turbines cycle counterclockwise but not in Ireland.
- Human’s palm and sole cannot be burnt.
- A hedgehog often masturbates.
- Electric eel will short itself dead if it is in brine.
- The most popular name in the world is “Mohammed”.
- Coke, the beverage, is once green. (I’d prefer an ordinary dark one.)
- The kings displayed on cards are King David, Alexander the great, Charlemagne, and Julius Caesar.
- A couple of mice can reproduce their offspring up to a million in 18 months.
- Just like the fingerprint, every tongue print is different.
- The longest kiss recorded is 30.59.27 hours long.
- Fried spider tests like bean.
- A cockroach’s teeth are in its stomach! (ew!)
- Polar bears and kangaroos can kiss. Chimpanzees even have French kiss!
- “Hippopotomonstrsesquippedaliophobia” is the fear of reading long words.
- Google site is not a search engine only, but a calculator too. (Try 1+2)

But after I tried stupidly to search for “Hippopotomonstrsesquippedaliophobia” in Wikipedia, I realized that I was fooled.