Thang Nguyen 555
Cultures on Collision Course
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Tag: God
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Industrial society once allowed to run its full course leaves behind many casualties: pollution, typhoons, unemployment and crime. Kids with early exposure to the I pad and I phone, turn near-sighted if not bi-focal. Adults with easy access to porn (free or paid) found real organic relationship something of a burden if not boredom. Back…
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When I read about a young girl who designed flip-flops and got picked up by Macy’s, I thought that was awesome. My daughter thought the girl in White House Down was also. Built-in and born with. That recognition of greatness, valor and something grander than one’s self. We might not end up being one, but we…
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Having lived in coastal cities for quite some time, I forgot what’s like to wait for Spring. We need Winter as a set up for Spring. Winter-Spring contrast is more striking than that of Summer-Fall. We also anticipated Spring more than Fall (some even wish for endless summers). Vietnamese literature and lyrics (Gold music) nevertheless, serenade Fall and…
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Faith not fanatic is one of the strongest motivators. Fanaticism is one-dimensional one-upmanship taking to the max. Not worth paying attention to (that way, it deflated on its own). But faith propels a man beyond himself. Take Cold Mountain for instance. It gives you a chill just to relate to the character (during the Civil War, weather-beaten…
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Fear, fun, money, dream, passion, human spirits are all strong motivators. This series cannot end without the mentioning of love. I came across a newspaper clip which showed two skeletons (male and female), still clinging to each other. Apparently they died in an earthquake. At least the saying “live together, die alone” doesn’t apply here. Talking…
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Papillon is a real-life recount of an undefeated spirit. Viktor Frankl talks about “they can take my body but not the spirit that is in me”. In war, down the trenches, with bullets zipping by, what causes a man to stay put? No greater love than a man who lays down his life for a friend.…
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It’s like a can of worms, once opened, can never be put back. Yet, that’s what makes us human: from A to B, we insist that a straight line is not the shortest. We have to factor in free will. Even God respects that (by not forcing us to move quickly through Foxconn-like assembly line). Our…
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I used to rely on researchers like the Tofflers (Future Shock) to “see” into the future. For instance, the pro-sumer trend, the mismatching speeds among various sectors ( IT, Financial, Educational, Governmental…in that order). Lately, all I came across in Futurism was 2012 prophecy . Like it or not, this year will have come down as a…
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I walked by a shop today and I saw a girl holding a knife, crying. She was peeling onion for the restaurant. Artificially induced tears. Not triggered by sad emotion. Real, nevertheless. It made me appreciate behind-the-scene people (since I happened to have breakfast with real onion, the same kind this girl was peeling). Nickel-and-dime…
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Have you ever wondered how some songs deliver just the right emotion? How do they know what’s relevant and resonating? Chicago‘s If You Leave Me Now, for instance. On these blogs, we often mentioned the eccentric, the peculiar and oddities. Rarely do we put much effort articulating those feelings and God forbid, meltdown or breakdown (Newtown,…