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Cigdem Göle

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    Seven Pounds

    in Film Reviews

    Posted · Edited by Cigdem Göle

    Seven Pounds is the second film where we see the Italian director Gabriele Muccino and Will Smith work

    together. The first one was the wonderful The Pursuit of Happyness.

    It's difficult to talk about the plot without giving away the surprise element in the film. However, I'll try and

    briefly summarize the plot.

    Smith's character Ben Thomas is an IRS agent who is suffering from a horrible mistake he made in the past.

    Crushed under the weight of his mistake, he decides to help seven people in need whom he chose randomly.

    He makes a list and begins helping the ones that are on the list. What he doesn't know at the start is that he will

    have to make a dramatic change in his plan when he falls in love with one of the people he chose to help.

    However, the plot itself which pushes the idea -there are good souls out there who can do anything to help

    people who are total strangers to them- and the surprise ending are far from being convincing. Even the grotesque

    atmosphere of the film and Smiths's performance are not enough to save Seven Pounds from being utterly unrealistic

    and unnecessarily melodramatic.

    When it comes to comparing Smith's two characters (Chris Gardner - The Pursuit of Happyness and Ben Thomas - Seven Pounds)

    his performance in Seven Pounds is both disappointing and weak. Chris Gardner is a single parent who is trying to overcome

    the difficulties of life with determination whereas Ben Thomas is an unstable, confused, shallow cry-baby (a saint-like man at the same time!). Although Smith's Ben Thomas appears to know what he is doing, he fails to convince the viewer.

    After his beautiful and unforgettable performance in The Pursuit of Happyness, Will Smith's Seven Pounds is a total disappointment.

    The Trouble with Coincendentalists

    in JFK Assassination Debate

    Posted

    It is over. We must realize that this horrible event was not some evil plot. It was the product of chance, not conspiracy.

    It was the cosmic joker. I knew all along. :lol:

    Hey Cigdem,

    Good to hear from you.

    The cosmic joker does play games.

    By any chance do you speak/read arabic?

    I need a English translation of something in arabic.

    Very short and sweet, if possible, or if anyone else can help.

    http://remembertheintrepid.blogspot.com/20...etery-gate.html

    I know it doesn't say Mens Room - No Conspiracy Theorists.

    Thanks, Bill Kelly.

    I don't know Arabic but I know somebody who does.

    I'll show the photo to him tomorrow and let you know.

    Best Excerpt In A Novel

    in English

    Posted

    And at night you will look up at the stars. Where I live everything is so small that I cannot show you where my star is to be found. It is better, like that. My star will just be one of the stars, for you. And so you will love to watch all the stars in the heavens . . . they will all be your friends. And, besides, I am going to make you a present . . .

    In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night . . . You--only you--will have stars that can laugh!

    And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure . . . And your friends will be properly astonished to see you laughing as you look up at the sky! Then you will say to them, 'Yes, the stars always make me laugh!' And they will think you are crazy. It will be a very shabby trick that I shall have played on you . . .

    The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

    Why do teachers leave the profession?

    in Debates in Education

    Posted

    I'm sure most teachers at least once thought of leaving due to stress, workload and

    low salary. Another reason for young teachers to quit early can be the realisation of the difference between the perfect teaching job in their dreams and the reality. Soon after they enter the classroom

    they feel they won't be able to cope with the needs of the students and the administration. This gives

    the young teacher the feeling of being trapped. They find themselves struggling with exams, observations, paperwork and problematic students.

    Although I've been teaching for more than ten years and find it a rewarding profession, I still think of

    leaving from time to time.

    Magic Gopher

    in Maths:Resources

    Posted

    10{a}+b is the "setup" for a double digit number.

    {a} cannot = 0 and must not be greater than 10.

    If {a}=0, then 10{0} +b= 0+b, which is a single digit.

    I{a}=10, then, 10{10}+b= 100 +b, which is three digits.

    I'll pick a number and set it up for you, say 51.

    51=10{5}+1

    a=5 and b=1 Add these digits {a+b} 5+1=6

    Next,we have to subtract the sum of our digits from the number we chose.

    51-6=45.

    Written another way,

    10{5}+ 1-{5+1}=9{5}.

    but if you can see the value of a, then you can multiply that value by 9, instead of adding and subtracting.

    Let's try another one.

    28=10{2} +8.

    Add the digits {a+b} 2+8=10

    Subtract this off of 28, our original number.

    28-10=18 or 9{2}

    So just set up your original number as 10{a} +b, and multiply {a} times 9.

    This works because

    10{a}+b-{a+b}=9{a}

    And each time you play anew, the symbols on the board change--look at all the multiples of 9,they are all the same symbol, except 90 (which could not be generated according to the rules.)

    Is this better, Cig? :)

    So, the key to this trick is number 9, yes? :ice

    Magic Gopher

    in Maths:Resources

    Posted

    Another little item with this game:

    Since a double digit number is 10 times some number {a} plus the single digit {b}, the double digit number looks like this:

    10{a} +b

    0<a<10, b<10

    Since we know that in order to generate the new number, we have to subtract the addition of the digits from the original number:

    10{a}+b -- {a+ b} = 9{a}

    And because the gopher works on multiples of 9, to generate the new number for use on the symbol board, just use the value of {a} multiplied by 9 to go directly to that new one.

    Saves a little time.

    Kath,

    I played the game and still surprised at how it is done...and still haven't understood anything from your explanation.

    But of course, for a math genius(!) like me, it is normal.

    See the example dialogue between my mom and me that took place two days ago.

    Mother (on the phone): Aren't you late for class?

    Me: No, it's only ten past eight now. If I leave home at five past eight, I'll be at school on time.

    Mother: So you'll travel in time then!?

    Music on YouTube

    in Music:Resources

    Posted

    Were you in Australia to see what it's like to be a woman in Oz? Where in Oz, what strata, which grouping?

    No, I haven't visited Australia but I would like to. I'm sure it's a great place.

    I would like to come to Turkey. As a Kurd sympathiser with trotskyist leanings, would I be able to leave? (let alone enter?).

    If this statement of yours is not a joke, then it shows how prejudiced you really are.

    Or am I pre judiced by the portraying of Turkey in movies like 'Midnight Express'.

    It seems you are.

    You can't say the Kurds and the 'terrorist' Kurds are two separate issues.

    Oh yes I can. It would be unfair to label all Kurds as terrorists because they are not.

    And since this thread is about Music on YouTube, I think these issues should be discussed elsewhere.

    Music on YouTube

    in Music:Resources

    Posted · Edited by Cigdem Göle

    C, (I mean no offence re writing C,

    None taken.

    and take none for calling me J, it's all good (to me)). So, I am interested in my preconceptions of many cultures, in this case Turkey. From what I've read it has been a difficult place to live at times, depending on ethnicity, religion et.c. yet it has for a long time maintained its border integrity. It's interesting that the official line is that Kurdistan (if there is such a place) is seen in Ankara as an Iraqui issue. From here the Kurds seem to have a legtimate claim to autonomous territory (even sovereign nation) covering parts of Iran, Iraq and Turkey. Is there much about this in the local press? Or are they seen as terrorists, as for example the official Spanish view of the Basques?

    Kurds are not terrorists and they have never been seen as such. There's a terrorist organization whose militants are mostly Kurdish.

    And the fight with this group is an issue, not the Kurds.

    http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200512/16/eng20051216_228411.html

    Well, I suppose it's a compliment, but it is, to me, a factual statement. Such is a compliment to Turkey in toto, that someone can speak so freely.

    How many Turks have you known that cannot speak freely?

    So, to me there are curious aspects, like a country going through a period of gradual change in a positive way. Is there any sentiment that the Kurds may have a legitimate claim?

    John, I understand your curiosity. So, why don't you visit here and judge for yourself? Maybe then we can discuss (over a cup of coffee :) ) the Kurdistan issue as well as the Aborigins, whether they have a legitimate claim and the conditions they live in.

    Btw, the joke was funny.

    Worst Music Ever

    in Music

    Posted

    Oh yes it can. The very worst never even gets a mention.

    Right. I knew I forgot something. I should have included Glass Candy to my list.

    I haven't heard such terrible sound for ages.

    That reminds me of the worst line in a song, "You can't touch this".

    Fortunately, MC Hammer is no longer around.

    Music on YouTube

    in Music:Resources

    Posted

    C, you're an intriguing person.

    J, I take it as a compliment, thank you.

    So much of what you post and topics of choice speaks (to me) of a remarkable woman. I'm interesting in what it's like to : be that. in Ankara, and in Turkey.

    No different than being that in Australia B)

    It's a fascinating country how it's maintaied its role in a middle of such clashes of cultures from all around through history. What does Kurdistan mean in Ankara?

    Kurdistan : An autonomous entity located in Iraq and not recognized as a country by any of the countries in the world.

    "The Kurds are a Sunni Muslim people living primarily in Turkey,

    Iraq, and Iran. The 25 million Kurds have a distinct culture that is

    not at all like their Turkish, Persian, and Arabic neighbors

    (Hitchens, p. 36, 1992). It is this cultural difference between the

    groups that automatically creates the potential for conflict. Of the

    25 million Kurds, approximately 10 million live in Turkey, four

    million in Iraq, five million in Iran, and a million in Syria, with

    the rest scattered throughout the rest of the world ."

    including refuge in Sweden and Australia. I've been to Kurdish celebrations in Melbourne (or was it Sydney (I ocsillated all over the place for many years, did the real geographical, (so compared to many, I suppose, "I've been everywhere, man..." (Oz song))) and marched in favour of the Iran revolution, Then after (and during) the awful Iran Iraq conflict, the brutal repression of the Kurds from all the nations its nation is broken up into. I've followed the writings of a Kurdish leader in Sweden, was dismayed that the Kurds seemingly didn't take the high ground and call for a life scentence for Saddam. Why continue with the selfdestructive spiral of recrimination that more and more legitimises what is horrible. I grieved for my children possibly seeing the hanging endlessly repeated on telly 24/7. Why is the death sentence still on the books (in Turkey)?

    I hope it won't be in the books in the near future.

    Does it want to be in Europe? etc etc

    If you mean the EU, the answer is, yes it does.

    Çiğdem

    ps http://www.flashpoints.info/countries-conf...n_briefing.html

    http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=2xKHGTGzEPg

    (kids, pls ask mum or dad if it's ok to watch these, please.)@

    @ http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=RfL5YHwMilY

    @ http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=wSKKQ4qvOY8

    Best Excerpt In A Novel

    in English

    Posted

    The Fate of A Man by Michail Sholokhov, Closing

    Two orphans, two grains of sand swept into strange parts by the tremendous hurricane of war... What did the future hold for them? I wanted to believe that this Russian, this man of unbreakable will, would stick it out, and that the boy would grow at his father's side into a man who could endure anything, overcome any obstacle if his country called upon him to do so.

    I felt sad as I watched them go. Perhaps all would have been well at our parting if Vanya after going a few paces had not twisted round on his stumpy legs and waved to me with his little rosy hand. And suddenly a soft but taloned paw seemed to grip my heart, and I turned hastily away. No, not only in their sleep do they weep, these elderly men whose hair turned gray in the years of war. They weep, too, in their waking hours. The main thing is to be able to turn away in time. The main thing is not to wound a child's heart, not to let him see that dry, burning tear on the cheek of a man.

    Is The State of Israel Above The Law?

    in Political Conspiracies

    Posted

    UN levels war crimes warning at Israel

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/09/gaza-palestinians-israel-evacuees-zeitoun

    More than 750 Palestinians have died since the start of the Israeli military operation. More than half of Gaza's population are children, and the Palestinian ministry of health said about 42% of the casualties have been children.

    Unicef said at least 100 children and minors were killed in the first 10 days of fighting. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, which posts staff at hospitals to track casualties, put this number at more than 160.

    Stop child slaughter. Have mercy.

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