El Dia de los Muertes

(The Day of the Dead)

In America, for approximately 200 years, the death of a person is mourned, but in Mexico for over 3000 years, there are three days of celebration and prayer for the soul of the beloved dead ones.

Analee Fuentes, 2-D Studio Foundations instructor at LBCC since 1998, did a presentation on El Dia de los Muertes to a crowd of 20 in the DAC on October 31, 2012 at noon.   The presentation really enlightened the crowd about the celebration and not the mourning of the dead and people were invited to color posters to be placed on the altar in the DAC to celebrate a loved ones life.

This was a very informative lecture with lots of photos, which can be seen at the website below.  El Dia de los Muertes has become a ritual passed down from the indigenous tribes of the Americas del Sur (South America).  In these countries, the celebrations last a full month, but today most celebrations last from October 31^st through November 2^nd.  These celebrations were originally dedicated to the goddess Catrina or Mictecacihuatl, known as the “Lady of the Dead.”

October 31^st is El Dia de los Muertes with altars built to celebrate the lives of the dead.  Not only do people wear wooden skulls called calacas but also make sugar skulls with the deceased name on the forehead to be eaten in tribute.   These skulls denote death and rebirth, while many thought the dead returned during these celebrations to visit.

November 1^st is El Dia de Muertos Chiquitos, The Day of the Little Dead, also, known as All Saints Day for any children who are deceased.

November 2^nd is known as El Dia de los Muertos, All Soul’s Day, for any adults who are deceased.

Therefore, the altars will usually have items the deceased loved, food that they ate and many times items worn by the deceased.  Death is not considered the end of life but the continuation of life and it is embraced for the reason.

Many have tried to destroy this ritual, but it has survived and is growing as the population spreads throughout the Americas.  Analee Fuentes said there has been a demographic shift, in Oregon of 11% Hispanic population over the last 29 years.  This has given her a greater audience to express her heritage and help others understand the ritual of El Dia de los Muertes.

In Mexico, the loved ones graves are visited and decorated with marigolds (Tagetes erecta) and candles, with toys for the dead children and bottles of tequila for the adults, with Pan de Muertos, or Bread for the Dead.  Families, also, have picnics next to the gravesites and celebrate with the deceased ones’ favorite foods.  Later, there are dances and parades going to the gravesites. 

Building altars in their homes is done in both the United States and Mexico’s larger cities.  From the pictures, in the links below, you can see the vibrant, colorful and exaggerated picture of the life the people who have died.  Loving the ornate, excessive, and overdone, Analee Fuentes states she looks at fish or water and have the same visual experience as she has looking at a 17^th century Mexican church, an almost mystical experience for her.

At A Glance:

El Dia de los Muertos, celebrated from October 31^st through November 2^nd is a celebration of the life of the deceased with parades, dances and altars of appreciation.

For more information, please check out the following sites:

http://analeefuentes.com/index.htm

http://analeefuentes.com/series-dayofdead.htm

http://cf.linnbenton.edu/artcom/art/fuentea/web.cfm?pgID=8

The Man with the Iron Fist-A Review

Do you love Quentin Jerome Tarantino’s directing skills and know or love Bruce Lee’s fighting prowess?  Then you have to see The Man with the Iron Fist. 

This is the directorial debut of RZA, born Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, leader of Wu-Tang Clan, a hip hop group.  After following Quentin around for approximately 5 years and learning as much as he could about directing, RZA co-wrote the screenplay for The Man with the Iron Fist with Eli Roth.  Who is this RZA?  RZA has had a successful hip hop recording career and started acting in such films as American Gangster, Funny People and Repo Men.  He is not only a chess champion, but also a very prolific reader of all types of religious teachings.  RZA per Wikipedia  “has taken on various aspects of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Islam, and Christianity as stated in his book The Wu-Tang Manual, as well as Hinduism, which he talks about thoroughly in The Tao of Wu in order to expand his spiritual growth.”

These spiritual influences can be seen in this movie and really enhance the story.  Set in 19^th century China, this film stars Russell Crowe, Cung Le, Lucy Liu, Byron Mann, RZA, Rick Yune, David Bautista, and Jamie Chung. 

The premise of the movie is the emperor has some gold being transported over land by the Geminis, played by Andrew Lin and Grace Huang through a jungle village of two feuding clans, the lions and the hyenas, trying to capture said gold. The martial arts of these groups are fantastic and awe-inspiring

RZA plays Thaddeus, a blacksmith in a small village, with Lucy Liu, Madam Blossom, running a beautiful whore house, where his girlfriend, Lady Silk, is indentured.  He is responsible for making all the weapons used by all sides in the show to kill each other.

Russell Crowe is a crusty opium addicted British soldier, who appears to be a self-centered man of great appetites and prowess.  Crowe was only on set for 10 days and did the film because of his previous knowledge of RZA and the Wu Tang Clan.

David Bautista, known as Batista, better known as an American mixed martial artist, bodybuilder, actor, and former professional wrestler, does a very credible job of being a bad guy with a magnificent Brass Body, his name in the film.

Also, making a cameo appearance is Pam Grier, as RZA’s mother, who gave her freedom in the South, so that he could be free.

The martial arts skills in this movie have not been seen in quite a while and it has that extra added lovely addition of Lucy Liu as the madam with charm and extra emphasis on customer service.

Being a great fan of martial arts and Bruce Lee, specifically, I was enthralled with the choreographic dance of the actors, especially the females in this movie.

The only sour point in this film was the beginning song which distracted from the opening scenes with bad language and words, which were not needed to get the audience engaged. 

This movie is definitely not for the squeamish, with lots of blood and bodies and definitely for adults, with language, drug and sexual content, not meant for children. 

If you want to spend about 96 minutes being entertained in a fast-pace, action-packed kung fu film in the style of the Shaw Brothers with some CGI, then The Man with the Iron Fist will really appeal to you.

At A Glance:

Check out the trailer of this film at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1258972/

 

 

 

ESCAPE by Elnora Palmtag

ESCAPE

Perching, watching, waiting, soaring, moving from limb to limb

Is it night or day, why do I care?

Lifting away from the cares of each day

Am I awake or asleep in my cozy escape from life?

 

I see you looking for me,

You cannot see me, away from you,

As I soar I see the thing I want

But it is not mine

I cannot reach it but I will.

 

A mother I will become who bears the burdens of life

I will you more that you are

That you can make yours more than you are

And they can make theirs more than they are.

 

But here I sit

Alone in the night

High above you

Waiting for the day

To bring on the burdens of life.

by
Elnora Palmtag
written 10/15/2012

CLOUD ATLAS-saga, epic, or flop

This film, from a six-part series by British author, David Mitchell, dates from 1849 with slave traders to post-apocalyptic 2031.

All of the actors in the movie play a different character in each era.  The actors in this film are Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent , better known from two of the Narnia movies, Hugo Weaver, who has played Mr. Smith in The Matrix trilogy and Elrond in The Lord of the Ring trilogy, Donna Bae, a famous Korean actress, and Keith David, who is known for the parts he played in such films as Platoon, Bird, Armageddon, Pitch Black and Something about Mary.  

There are many subtexts for the film but the ones that stood out was the old human condition of not learning from our mistakes and repeating them through the ages and our eternal human hope for the future.  Also, can you find the single action by a seemingly unimportant character, which started a great revolution of change?

There are so many nuances that some will be missed the first time this film is viewed.  So you must view it again . 

The acting was magnificent and spellbinding through all the ages.  While the makeup was astounding and sometimes, unbelievable, changing some of our favorite actors so that we do not recognize them.  The scenery is both familiar and different; with the familiarity making the audience feel comfortable yet the difference makes the audience enthralled with those differences.

Most of the characters  make the audience feel they are a part of the story and in one scene, the entire audience actually cheered and applauded in unison and on leaving each felt a part of each other.

It has been a while since we have had a film which makes the audience feel that they are part of the same story about their world but does not preach to the audience. 

Although the beginning is complex and needs to be viewed again to get all the nuances and changes, the audience was entranced and no noises were heard, even though the movie is 2 hours, 44 minutes. 

This film will be analyzed, critiqued, and studied, so that it can either be viewed as a saga, epic, science fiction drama, or flop.   I vote for an epic saga.

Also, there are a few lines which will live on, like, “from womb to tomb, we belong to each other,” “death is but a door, for when one closes another one opens,” and “What if no one believes this truth? Someone already does.” 

With such a great array of actors, it is no wonder that this film is a keeper.  Not only will you feel the need to see it again, striving to see what you have missed, but you will want to own it when it is released.  This is one of those films, the young of our society should see while in school to talk about the repercussions of the actions of the characters, the connections of the past and future, and the history of the times.

I feel that if I leave a film and still want to ask questions or read the book, then it has done its job of entertaining and illuminating my mind.

At a Glance:

See if you can find not only the zingers (sayings which refer to another film or event of our era) but other lines which will survive the film and become a part of history.  Also, don’t forget to watch the characters as you will not believe what makeup can do, or maybe you can.  I was shocked when I looked up the movie and found out who played which parts.

If you go to see this film, please feel free to write us, http://commuter.linnbenton.edu/, and let us know what you think of this film.

http://cloudatlas.warnerbros.com/

Cholestrol-A Great Tasting Killer

A GREAT TASTING KILLER

            While taking the Health and Fitness class, as a requirement to graduate from Linn Benton Community College, I was astounded to find out that the major causes of death in 2007 were heart disease (615,651), stroke (133,900), diabetes Mellitis (70,905), kidney disease (46,095), Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (28,504), and hypertension --high blood pressure—(23,769) for a total of 918,824 that year.  There were half of the total deaths for that year with contributing factors of tobacco (440,000) and obesity (112,000), which are controllable factors.

            Therefore, the major addictive factor of smoking is controllable by each individual. 

            However, our other addictive habit, bad eating habits is the topic I am addressing in this paper.   Over the years there have been many studies done and the major cause of all of the diseases mentioned above is the over eating habits and sedentary lifestyle in this progressive society.  As Americans, we need to change the way we are advancing into the next century.  No matter how many new parts we can replace in our body, we need to take a look at our way of life and make some serious changes.

            One of the major contributors from our over eating habits is our high cholesterol  levels.  Before the twentieth century, we did not have such a mobile society nor did we have the many places to eat, where we do not have control of the products we eat.

Even in very small towns, there are numerous fast foods places, which distribute gross amounts of cholesterol-laden foods, mostly pre-processed for consumption.   The cholesterol intake in America has increased dramatically due to many reasons, including the fact that many are working far away from home and only get between one half  to one hour for lunch and must find an alternative to home cooked meals of the past.  Some people are changing their habits by brown-bagging it each day.

From the National Vital Statistics Reports Volume 59 No. 4 March 16, 2011 website, the numbers are virtually the same.  What is cholesterol and how is it possibly causing so many deaths and disabilities?

Cholesterol is a natural chemical compound, which is produced by our body from the food products we eat. It is carried in the bloodstream by lipoproteins that contain lipids (fats) and proteins.  However, I did not know that there are “good” cholesterol and “bad” cholesterol.

High density lipoprotein (HDL) is the good cholesterol and helps to prevent most of the above mentioned causes of death.  HDLs takes cholesterol from the cells and

sends it back to the liver, where it is either expelled from the body, stored in the bodyfor future use, or broken down right away for usage.  HDLs help sustain the cell membranes with crystallization of hydrocarbons in the cell membrane. 

Some of the other functions of HDL are production of sex hormones, production of bile in the liver, conversion of sunshine to vitamin D and other fat soluble vitamins, such as A, E, and K in the bloodstream.  Scientists have determined that HDL cholesterol also determines which molecules pass into cells, is essential in the production of hormones which are released by the adrenal glands, and protects nerve fibers.  Atherosclerosis, a form of arteriosclerosis (thickening and hardening of small and medium-sized arteries), in which “bad” cholesterol forms plaque, is greatly reduced by HDLs.  The thickening and hardening of the arteries is caused by too much LDL in the body.

Low density cholesterol (LDL), often referred to as “bad” cholesterol is not only found in the food we eat but is also inherited as a gene which causes people to eat too much.  Add this gene, along with our bad eating habits, and some people have a really horrible time trying to defeat the “bad” cholesterol monster.   The body does need this cholesterol but only in small amounts.  LDL carries cholesterol from the liver to cells but if there is too much, it is dangerous to the human body.

Another lipoprotein, very low density, (VLDL) is helps fats and cholesterol navigate throughout our mostly water body.  Wikipedia states that VLDL “functions as the body's internal transport mechanism for lipids.”

Finally, not the last lipoproteins, for this paper are triglycerides.  These triglycerides are made in our body but can come from other sources, such as carbohydrates.  Triglycerides, not used by the body, are stored in fat cells. So you can see that the amount of these items, not used by the body, cause most of the problems of the major killers of humans.

Lipoproteins and glucose, a sugar made in the blood, are the primary sources of energy for the body.  When the lipoproteins and glucose are in excess in the body for a long period of time, the odds of becoming diseased are highly probable.

The acceptable levels of all of the above, per Fit and Well:

Total cholesterol (mg/dl) should be less than 200.

LDL cholesterol  (mg/dl) should be less than 130.

HDL cholesterol (mg/dl) should be more than 60.

Triglycerides (mg/dl) should be less than 150.

Per Wikipedia, the normal Human Glucose Blood Test results should be 70 - 130 (mg/dL) before meals and less than 180 mg/dL after meals.

I had gastric bypass in 2003 and had to drastically change my diet.  For example, the Thanksgiving after my surgery, I fixed a plate and everyone in my family burst out laughing and I did not get the joke.  I had fixed a plate as I would have eaten the year before and it took me days to finish it.  I lost over 100 pounds and started realizing that I could walk and entered a few charity walks of at least five miles.  When I tried to eat some of the foods, rich in carbohydrates and sugars, I found my body could not process them and I went into something similar to a diabetic coma but you are upright and can comprehend what is going on but cannot do anything physically.

Because of my genetics (half of my family is extremely apple-shaped), I did not want to walk around with that extra weight on my body, so I had gastric bypass to accomplish my goal.  My father died of diabetes, my mother has low blood sugar, and my great grandmother died from cancer.

Heart disease and diabetes are a part of my history, so I will have to watch my diet and health for the rest of my life.  Eating more HDLs and small amounts of LDLs and triglycerides will make my body will perform better. 

When I started this paper, I was sure I would not be able to fill five full pages on

cholesterol but I find that I have more to say. 

There are many diets out there to help lower your cholesterol, so be careful as each should be studied because we need some cholesterol, glucose, and triglycerides of the good and bad kind to survive successfully.   

Thank you for this opportunity to understand why my body is so adverse to carbohydrates and glycogens.  The parts of the stomach and intestines which help to process these have been removed from my body and, therefore, they are not broken down, digested, and stored but rejected by my body.  I had to change my way of life totally after the bypass and thought there was no more information to be gained by this class.  Thank you for proving me wrong!!