Contextual Studies (CTX)
Lecturer: Mr Charles
Basically CTX is a one of our module that involves a lot of thinking and researching. It opens up our mind a bit more to understand the reality of life. As the University of St. Gallen said, " It gives us the opportunity to develop our mind intellectually and culturally". I know that this module is going to be challenging, but whatever it is I am willing to accept the consequences. I will share you my knowledge from this journey, and let us hope it will be as exciting as the video that Mr Charles made for Contextual Studies.
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Hands; Appreciating them.
Hands, my topic of the day would be about hands. You guys might be wondering, out of all other topic, Hands? Now before you start reading the next sentence, I want you to click play to the song by Petit Biscuit and look at your hands. Have you ever wondered about your hands? I mean we basically do everything with our hands; shower, scratch, type, write, cook, pray ... I mean, everything. Let's take a moment to appreciate our hands for a bit. OK, moving on, hands is the terminal, prehensile part of the upper limb in humans and other primates, consisting of the wrist, metacarpal area, fingers, and thumb. It can also be defined as possession or power; control, custody, or care. Like other paired organs (eyes, feet, legs) each hand is dominantly controlled by the opposing brain hemisphere, so that handedness (the preferred hand choice for single-handed activities such as writing with a pencil reflect individual brain functioning; Left-handed/Right-handed). Oh, science.
Anyway, the song that you just played is called "Alone" created by a 16 year old french DJ, Petit Biscuit. There are no lyrics to the song as it is instrumental but when I listen to that song or any of his songs I feel at ease, or like if I shut my eyes while listening to his songs I feel like I'm in a different place (no joke) and living life to the fullest. The music video to this song was about hands and I was inspired by it because it made me wonder and realize that we do everything with our hands (and of course, our mind/brain). In my opinion, I think the second most hardworking organ of our body would be our hands, to be honest I am really fascinated of what we could do with our hands and what we can tell by looking at it. We can tell the feelings of a person through the motion of their hands; angry, frustrated, or motivational when the hands are rough and aggressive, shy if the hands are fidgeting, nervous if its shaking or tired when the hand is tired (which is an obvious fact). We can love and comfort our loved ones with our hands; holding hands, hugs/cuddles. We can feel freedom when putting our hands up high or guilty because the police officers ordered us to do so. We thank God with our hands, we wipe our tears with it, we drink, eat, play, .. everything right? I mean, I'm the type of person who love myself (and my family of course) and appreciate my body parts. For example, even though I want to lose weight to feel good to myself and prove to "someone" that I'm better now (we're getting deep), but every now and then I look at my fats, and sort of pet them. I know it's weird but that is just how I show love to my body parts. If you know my friend, Felicia, then ask her if you think I'm bluffing. But our hands, imagine the disabled beings that were born without hands, some of the poor Palestinian that hands were gone, and the paralyzed beings from being able to do stuff to not able due to accidents and what not. We are considered, the normal beings who were born with a good shape of hands should appreciate it and do good with it. "You have two hands, one to help yourself and the to help others". It's funny when you stop and suddenly you can think of all the things that you could do with your hands. |
CTX Essay; Assignment one.
Imagine being in a society without emotions, without having the feeling being in a curious mind, and everything is so physically and mentally black and white, being in love or even having the feeling of love is restricted and having fun is limited. Well, the movie that I just watched was about that. After the ruin, all the memories of the past were erased and they started their life in a new way, creating a new society, one with true equality. Except for Jonas, the divergent in the movie, filled with curiosity and very mindful. What if we are in the process of the ruin, what if the ruin is equivalent to our era now? What if the life that they shown in the movie will be our future, how we will think in the future? Will we be evolving to that state of thinking when life is colorless, programmed and less fun?
You see, their perspective of living in peace was by erasing the bad memories and neglecting the “dangerous” emotion as in jealousy, love, violence, anger, bullies and with limitation of fun. Everyone in that society was obliged by the Chief Elder to obey the rules the new. Rules like: use precise language like the word “love” was forbidden to use and was erased in their mind to avoid rebellious intimacy. But isn’t intimacy and love that brings us together as a happy whole? Isn’t life is all about love? Living life, loving life and appreciate life? Ernest Hemingway once said, “Live the full life of the mind, exhilarated by new ideas, and intoxicated by the romance of unusual”. Other rules like wearing the assigned clothing, everyone wears the same clothing everyday. Everyone in that society was very uniformed. That shows the true equality in life that makes them equal physically but in my opinion, boring and colorless. I mean at least let them see the colors that surround them, the refreshing color of green in the trees, the calming color of blue for the sky but instead the Chief Elder erase the colors as well? What made her think and decide such so? Was it because the past haunts her so much so that traumatised her and every emotions were so limited that the way they (the Newchildren) think is full of innocence and without the need of exploration. Jason Silva, one my favourite philosopher said in one of his shots of awe video. He said;
“Once you find the answer you risk completion.
We talk about wanting to find ourselves
We talk about being found
But isn’t it more fun to get lost?
..
Why do we look at the infinite ocean and actually feel
The sense reverence and awe?
Instead of being afraid we look at it as it
Beckons us to the unknown, the mystery, the question
That is the state of consciousness that we want to be at
We wanna be the traveller in search of signification”
I strongly agree to Jason’s idea of us being the wanderer, finding ourselves in an open space the true us and being open-minded in everything. Whereas, doing the opposite of what just mentioned feel so limited and dull. Speaking of being open-minded, when will some of citizens of our country realise that we are stepping into the future and being true to who we are matters the most? When will they realise that to take care of the next generation they mustn't mislead or mistreat the youths. Yes, we all should be treated as equal as square, but by overdoing it will just mess up the creativity and normality of the norm. Say if I were to be in this position of being dull, square and close-minded, and then out of the bloom, a glimpse of curiosity strikes in my mind, will I be that so called “rebellion” and share my thoughts to everyone in need or everybody in my generation? To make a colorful, physically and mentally proactive, to make everybody feel the emotion of happiness and freedom? YES. I will be that avant-garde of the society to make the world a better place, yes.
In the movie, they neglect such violence in the society but in the movie if a baby have a genetic disorder, twins or is an abnormal baby the guiltless and faultless baby will be put in sleep for ever or since their use of language is sensitive, instead of saying kill they use “release”.
Even so, I noticed the pros and cons of living in this society. Yes, they were living in peace. Yes, the act of bullying, judging, and racism didn’t exist in their world or society or yes, they lived in a world where differences is not allowed. But living in world without colors, without creativity, without mindfulness of curiosity to explore and live the world with pure liberty and finding our own identity, that is what we should feel as a human on earth, that is why we exist, to feel how we are suppose to feel, to transcend our mind and enjoy the satisfying feel of cognitive ecstasy or so to say, the ecstasy of curiosity. Erik Davis once said, “Immersive work of art or entertainment are increasingly not content to simply produce a new range of sensations. Instead they often function as portraits into “another world”.
In conclusion, this movie is actually about how they think the future will be like if such violence or such ruin, ruins the mind and the thinking of the leader, the traumatic experience of the leader and the over-protective thoughts of the leader. In Malaysia, the way I see it even though the mind of our leader is aware that we are living in crisis, but he seems to not make an effort to make this country a better place. Disrespecting the older and the former leader that has made a legacy in our country. Truly the movie is interesting, it has a point make such rules but some of it are not acceptable. If it’s the right thing to do, why is it against the rule?
You see, their perspective of living in peace was by erasing the bad memories and neglecting the “dangerous” emotion as in jealousy, love, violence, anger, bullies and with limitation of fun. Everyone in that society was obliged by the Chief Elder to obey the rules the new. Rules like: use precise language like the word “love” was forbidden to use and was erased in their mind to avoid rebellious intimacy. But isn’t intimacy and love that brings us together as a happy whole? Isn’t life is all about love? Living life, loving life and appreciate life? Ernest Hemingway once said, “Live the full life of the mind, exhilarated by new ideas, and intoxicated by the romance of unusual”. Other rules like wearing the assigned clothing, everyone wears the same clothing everyday. Everyone in that society was very uniformed. That shows the true equality in life that makes them equal physically but in my opinion, boring and colorless. I mean at least let them see the colors that surround them, the refreshing color of green in the trees, the calming color of blue for the sky but instead the Chief Elder erase the colors as well? What made her think and decide such so? Was it because the past haunts her so much so that traumatised her and every emotions were so limited that the way they (the Newchildren) think is full of innocence and without the need of exploration. Jason Silva, one my favourite philosopher said in one of his shots of awe video. He said;
“Once you find the answer you risk completion.
We talk about wanting to find ourselves
We talk about being found
But isn’t it more fun to get lost?
..
Why do we look at the infinite ocean and actually feel
The sense reverence and awe?
Instead of being afraid we look at it as it
Beckons us to the unknown, the mystery, the question
That is the state of consciousness that we want to be at
We wanna be the traveller in search of signification”
I strongly agree to Jason’s idea of us being the wanderer, finding ourselves in an open space the true us and being open-minded in everything. Whereas, doing the opposite of what just mentioned feel so limited and dull. Speaking of being open-minded, when will some of citizens of our country realise that we are stepping into the future and being true to who we are matters the most? When will they realise that to take care of the next generation they mustn't mislead or mistreat the youths. Yes, we all should be treated as equal as square, but by overdoing it will just mess up the creativity and normality of the norm. Say if I were to be in this position of being dull, square and close-minded, and then out of the bloom, a glimpse of curiosity strikes in my mind, will I be that so called “rebellion” and share my thoughts to everyone in need or everybody in my generation? To make a colorful, physically and mentally proactive, to make everybody feel the emotion of happiness and freedom? YES. I will be that avant-garde of the society to make the world a better place, yes.
In the movie, they neglect such violence in the society but in the movie if a baby have a genetic disorder, twins or is an abnormal baby the guiltless and faultless baby will be put in sleep for ever or since their use of language is sensitive, instead of saying kill they use “release”.
Even so, I noticed the pros and cons of living in this society. Yes, they were living in peace. Yes, the act of bullying, judging, and racism didn’t exist in their world or society or yes, they lived in a world where differences is not allowed. But living in world without colors, without creativity, without mindfulness of curiosity to explore and live the world with pure liberty and finding our own identity, that is what we should feel as a human on earth, that is why we exist, to feel how we are suppose to feel, to transcend our mind and enjoy the satisfying feel of cognitive ecstasy or so to say, the ecstasy of curiosity. Erik Davis once said, “Immersive work of art or entertainment are increasingly not content to simply produce a new range of sensations. Instead they often function as portraits into “another world”.
In conclusion, this movie is actually about how they think the future will be like if such violence or such ruin, ruins the mind and the thinking of the leader, the traumatic experience of the leader and the over-protective thoughts of the leader. In Malaysia, the way I see it even though the mind of our leader is aware that we are living in crisis, but he seems to not make an effort to make this country a better place. Disrespecting the older and the former leader that has made a legacy in our country. Truly the movie is interesting, it has a point make such rules but some of it are not acceptable. If it’s the right thing to do, why is it against the rule?
My Summary; Assignment two.
In this assignment, we were told to create our own summary/short story based on the movie genre that we have just reviewed and the goal is to do a summary with similar message from the movie that I have chosen. Here are my summaries. I wrote two summaries because from that, I can ask Mr Charles which one is better and choose the suitable, easy (not complicated), story line. However, before I even start the first sentence of the summary, I make sure I draft it first. This way also, it gives you the flow of writing out the summary.
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Attempt One:
Before the era of technologies evolved, a man fell in love with a woman. He was an engineer and she was a gardener. They are both adventurous and love to explore the world. In 2026, the age of technology rise drastically and a child (Aria) was born. She was different than any other youths. She was gifted with the ability to transcend the mind of spiritual reality but only realises it at the age of 16. Before her parents died in an accident, they taught her to stay kind and be adventurous. In this world of technologies, any outdoor activities were forgotten. It was her destiny to make the youths feel the freedom and fresh air again.
Attempt Two:
Before the era of technologies evolved drastically, a man fell in love with a woman. He was an engineer and she was a gardener, both so adventurous and love to explore the world. November 15th 2020 they got married and shared a lovely and unique daughter named (name). Everything was going so well they lived a very happy life together until the year 2036, the city of Detroit introduced transcended technologies to the world and everything changed. Humankind in that era lived in a futuristic world where outdoor activities became indoors and mountains became skyscrapers. Three years after the new era began, (name) parents died in a car accident and she was then sent to place called the New Generation Society where every parent-less child turned into an experiment to train their creative abilities and a game to entertain the rich. (name) was gifted with [the ability to see the past but not the future and able to think like nobody would think]. She was abnormal. Her parents taught her to keep that ability to herself, always have courage and be kind. When she realises that humankind these days think so much about themselves, they did not care much of nature, and also cannot appreciate the true joy of life, she wanted to change that. She wanted them to feel freedom and enjoy life before the time has come to an end.
14th November, 2016. Assignment two update;
So, Mr Charles have read the two attempts and he chose "Attempt One" as it is more simpler, basic, straight to point summary. We had our tutorials on the 14th November, 2016 in the morning, before our next class (English II) start. Just a quick meet-up with Mr Charles to ask about our next step. Which is creating a Short Film/ a simple video of the summary! This is getting more complex, the end product of our video will be our final assignment/project, so the pressure is on. "If at first you don't succeed, live the rest of your life with your mom - JUST KIDDING, DON'T. - try, try again". When I heard "video", "film", "final assignment" I paused reality (daydream) and started sketching that curly-headed clown that is smiling but also crying. I don't even know why, but I think that is my subconscious self knowing that it is going to be a struggle. Anyhow, all I have to do know is create a simple storyboard of what I want for my video to look like and then shoot it. Oh and keep on saying positive words to keep me motivated and not panic. #FunFact I am a Gemini in personality but a Scorpion originally. It's weird but yes.
25th November, 2016. Assignment two update;
A quick disclaimer, I am aware that I am 11 days short of this blog update. That is because, the team and myself have been working on 3 D Design (Sculpture) second assignment. Which was to basically make a sculpture out of wire. The theme for that was Animals in Malaysia, I presume. More of this detail will be on 3D Design (Sculpture) page. I will link that page as soon as possible. But now, UPDATE. This quite exciting- really exciting for me because I have decided on what type of video I should make! Before I start telling you the type of the video, Let me just explain the objectives; So, this video will be about technology. since technology became the life of our future mankind, it disconnects us to the nature life and more technology= more money, more money=paper, paper=trees. Basically I will try to convince my viewers to keep technology away for some time and start enjoy nature before it is too late. In this video, I will be in character as Aria as she was the child mentioned in Attempt One Summary. Ok, to the good part. Also in this video, Aria (me) will be presenting this message in a Poetry, Slam Poetry. I just hope it works.
The Poem ; Poem 1
*Note: Aria, the character in Attempt One Summary will narrate this story/poem. The second stanza is just a story for this project. It did not happen in real life. Also, this just a draft, some of the words are just temporary :)
I'm Curious ; Poem 2
- "I'm Curious" was written on the 1st of January, 2017.
- This is the final result of the poem. Scroll down to see how I get this.
- For clearer understanding, you can click on the link below and it will lead you to google docs.
1st January, 2017. Assignment two update;
HAPPY NEW YEAR READERS! 2017 YOU GOTTA WANT IT.
Blog update:
Blog update:
- I made a new poem called "I'm Curious" which you have already read.
- However, that is the new very much improved poem. I will show you the actual drafts of it. You can probably tell where/which stanza I struggled from the drafts. Although, I can tell you that blue pen means "yeah, I got it.. sort of" and black pen: "yeah I'm not sure if I should put this in"
2nd January, 2017. Assignment two update;
I woke up early today to shoot the beautiful sunrise. Unfortunately, the sunrise was covered by clouds but I manage to catch a bit of sun rays.. a bit. Here are some photos and videos I got from today. Although, I am still considering whether to put it inside the final video or not. We'll see.
- It is my greatest apology to inform you that I could not upload the videos because then I need to upgrade this blog website which cost a lot of money. I guess you might have to wait for the final product to see the footage.
All these photos were taken at the one and only Bayshore Condo also known as house numero uno.
10th January 2017. Assignment two update;
I have finally showed Mr Charles the "I'm Curious" poem and he said it was fine but there has been some grammar mistakes and the final page was not necessary. He suggested to sort of make it more like a question rather than giving the readers ideas on how to use techs wisely (if that make sense). With that, the readers will then ask themselves the questions that are in the poem and solve it/answer it independently.
- The red lines was the correction by Mr Charles.
- As you can see, I cancelled the last page.
20th January, 2017. Assignment two update;
So my sister decided to go for a hike at the Shah Alam Botanical Garden, and I thought "This might be the perfect opportunity to shoot some content for CTX video! and to lose some of that Christmas weight". This is what I got:
- Again, I was unable to upload the videos
- Some of these pictures will be featured in Intro to Photography page.
- Watching these trees was mesmerizing and I felt awesome just to be with nature. I really hope the final video will turn out good.
20/01/17 - 31/01/17 - Unfortunate Week.
For these past few weeks, me and family have been very busy with packing and all that moving stuff. Plus, on January the 20th 2017, my brother was very sick for a week and since my mother was not around in KL, I was the one who took care of my brother, because (a)I have a driver's license, (b)I love my brother and (c)There is a saying that my family always use "Familia Son lo Primero" it means Family comes first. He is currently going through a disease called the tonsillitis. One of his tonsils (the right one) was infected and now swollen badly. He suffered for two weeks now. Since it is a Chinese New Year Holiday, none of the specialist Doctors in hospitals are available, so I drove him to the ER in Hospital Malaya. The Doctor gave him some good medicine to reduce the pain but after few days, the pain came back. The next day (28th Jan 2017) we went to another ER in SJMC (Subang Jaya Medical Center) and the Doctor told him to continue taking the previous medication and gave him pain killers to "reduce" the pain. One day after that day (30th Jan 2017), we went to SJMC again because the pain was brutal on the night of the 29th. Because my brother could not swallow the pills, the Doctor changed it to liquid medications (except for the antibiotics). He was supposed to be admitted to the hospital but the expenses were too high because we don't own health insurance, so one night in that hospital will cost us roughly RM6000. He was in severe pain until my mother flew from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur to take care of him so that I can continue with my assignments. Mother arrived at 7AM, 31st Jan 2017. She decided to go on with the operation of his tonsils in Melbourne instead because we will be relocating there very soon.
Busy as a Bee..
Submission is today, but I have not complete my video.. thank you to the packing and moving stuff. However, Mr Charles is kind enough to agree that I submit it with the blog link. As soon as I arrive Melbourne, I will start editing this piece. I just hope there will be no event stoping me from editing this, Please God help.
21st February, 2017 - Finally..
After weeks and weeks of worrying about not being able to complete the video, the time has finally come. Luckily, I manage to edit it on time, with some shortage of footage and some technical difficulties- I managed. I know it might not be the best video you have ever seen but to be honest, I truly gave my absolute best to reach a slight goal. Besides, I had so much fun shooting the video with my sister back in Kuala Lumpur and it gave us a sister-bonding time which is quite rare because before, we would always be with our phones but now we appreciate life more than we should be. The objectives to this video was to send message to public about the use of too much technology and to just appreciate life.
Feedback from Mr Charles:
Feedback from Mr Charles:
- The wordings - The space of the wording I too noticed, they did not fit the frame. To let you know, that was not intentional. I just realised that when I have already uploaded it to YouTube + gave him the video link. Although, I think maybe the software compressed the video and it became like that (?) because when I edited it it was totally fine. Other than that, the font was actually intentional because I thought it was the most casual font I found in the software- not too boring & not too fancy, but I also did not realised I elongated the height of the wordings too much and made it look like I was trying to fit the words in.
- The ending - Ohh the endingg! it was (to me) horrible. I wanted the sentence to stay and make readers wonder, but it instead it shut down so quickly and made them think, "Oh, ok that's it" - ahh in my own opinion, it was terrible but at least I learned my lesson, to ALWAYS double check your videos before you submit it.
I AM CURIOUS. by Alicia Diego - 21/02/17
24th February 2017 - Sister's 20th BIRTHDAY!
You see, the thing about birthdays are so exciting. We celebrate our day while becoming a year older. Entering to a whole new perspective of life each year and learning our mistakes from past years. What makes it soo exciting is that we might or might not have fun but in the end we will get what we kinda want- Love. The love from every friends you know, around the world who remembers you on your day. Isn't that fascinating? Well, obviously thanks to "Facebook" because they reminded you. Anyways, while some people hate their birthday, others tend to appreciate it. I mean, we should appreciate it because we are alive because of it (Syukur..). But see, that's the thing "we-are-alive-because-of-it" some people hate birthdays because of that phrase. It's not that they don't appreciate their existence in this world (or do they?) but because they are lacking of appreciation from people they love or used to love. Who do we love? Do we love and care enough? Did we care less? Why? or is it because financial problem that we do not want to spend too much on a day?.. Who even said that in order to celebrate birthdays, we need to throw a HUGE party? Point is, we should celebrate birthdays in form of love & compassion, without big parties or fancy invitations. Be with our loved ones, our family, the important ones also, because it is important to know that Familia Son Lo Primero.
The last poem 2016 ; A realisation to their friendship.
Their friendship was converging
Gambling alliance-like feelings, love.
Quarreling over the things that don't matter;
jealousy, late replies, visible reasons to fought over.
Stitching their friendship and got back together
as what they call it, friends.
Too ego to confess
Too late to confess now that he's taken.
Taken as, in a relationship
A relationship with her other friend.
Her heart was a glass and it cracked
Her thoughts were a mess and it wrecked.
She said someday you just got to say fuck it
and make it right just for you, screw it. She's going to do it
to confess
Although it was too late
to confess
She said, fuck it.
Love confessions and birthday celebration.
Her mouth poured out the truth 'bout how she felt what she felt and told him how awful she felt
for crushing.
Before you know it their alliance-like friendship sundered
Instead, their friendship to her is at rock bottom or maybe under.
Feelings are now demented
Overthinking becomes an addiction
Mood swings predominantly
Poetry suddenly a hobby
Musics, songs, and instrumental songs was the only accompany.
Until eventually difficulties had arisen.
She told him how awful she felt
What if he was offended?
What if he was upset?
What if he was insulted?
What if he was hurt?
What if he was not even interested?
What if butterfly feelings was just feelings?
It comes to a realisation.
Like a big fat tsunami hitting her head with a huge impact
leaving scars in her brain insane in the membrane
and rocking memories was just a memory
Bittersweet conversation was just a conversation
and alliance-like friendship was just a friendship
Nothing more, nothing less.
She was too emotionally sensitive to confess.
Close-ended questions were wasted.
Accept it happily, she said on and on
Everything became so clear for her to accept it and move on
But unfortunately, happily
Leaving scars not wound to remind her not to trust her feelings frequently.
& that was it, the story about their friendship and it was done in a poetry.
By Alicia Diego, 23.03.16
Gambling alliance-like feelings, love.
Quarreling over the things that don't matter;
jealousy, late replies, visible reasons to fought over.
Stitching their friendship and got back together
as what they call it, friends.
Too ego to confess
Too late to confess now that he's taken.
Taken as, in a relationship
A relationship with her other friend.
Her heart was a glass and it cracked
Her thoughts were a mess and it wrecked.
She said someday you just got to say fuck it
and make it right just for you, screw it. She's going to do it
to confess
Although it was too late
to confess
She said, fuck it.
Love confessions and birthday celebration.
Her mouth poured out the truth 'bout how she felt what she felt and told him how awful she felt
for crushing.
Before you know it their alliance-like friendship sundered
Instead, their friendship to her is at rock bottom or maybe under.
Feelings are now demented
Overthinking becomes an addiction
Mood swings predominantly
Poetry suddenly a hobby
Musics, songs, and instrumental songs was the only accompany.
Until eventually difficulties had arisen.
She told him how awful she felt
What if he was offended?
What if he was upset?
What if he was insulted?
What if he was hurt?
What if he was not even interested?
What if butterfly feelings was just feelings?
It comes to a realisation.
Like a big fat tsunami hitting her head with a huge impact
leaving scars in her brain insane in the membrane
and rocking memories was just a memory
Bittersweet conversation was just a conversation
and alliance-like friendship was just a friendship
Nothing more, nothing less.
She was too emotionally sensitive to confess.
Close-ended questions were wasted.
Accept it happily, she said on and on
Everything became so clear for her to accept it and move on
But unfortunately, happily
Leaving scars not wound to remind her not to trust her feelings frequently.
& that was it, the story about their friendship and it was done in a poetry.
By Alicia Diego, 23.03.16