Thang Nguyen 555
Cultures on Collision Course
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Tag: United States
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Ceremony has its place in every culture. It’s an occasion for recognizing distinctive people or acts of valor. As opposed to guilt and shame, praise and recognition validate achievement. Maslow ranks this need right above survival and security need. Self-esteem. Martial Arts and Military subscribe to ranking and recognition more than often: black belt and…
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Cyndi Lauper and Sheryl Crow both touched on “wanna-have-fun” theme. (Girls just want to have fun, All I wanna do). The upcoming Olympic in Brazil should be a fun place (certainly more than polluted Beijing). Fun ranks up there as one of the highest motivators. It’s wired in our fabrics. Pure fun. Wholesome fun. Grand…
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As a child I feared rising flood water (drowning). I feared thief by night, bully by day. I feared having to stand out in the crowd (wearing bright colors). For a nail that sticks up will be hammered down. Fear of being drafted, of being called out in class to recite something in English. Fear…
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My birth certificate shows my parents in their early 40’s. No wonder my Dad’s taste for music was a bit off. One of his favorites however stood the test of time: Le Da. After all, it has something to do with the rock of ages. It’s very sentimental (Rock solid yet soft when it comes…
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Our gene distribution and mutation have a lot in common (survival instinct, reproduction, empathy etc…). But from there, each of us is different and unique: some poets, others warriors or both. Haruki Murakami is both a writer and a runner (100 km race). Richard Blanco, who will recite at Obama’s Inauguration, is both an engineer and…
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It’s kind of redundancy. Fast foods in Saigon? The place has already been fast. I don’t know if fast foods will help. At Saigon Central (train depot), I was told to take a number and wait (the way Carl Jr would do in the US) for my fries. Saigon is not used to mono-chronistic tempo…
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Dr Lloyd Tran never stops and hardly sleeps. For a right reason. He is an inventor at heart. He started out as a chemist. Then worked for huge corporations such as Monsanto. Then he invented and manufactured his own drug release device in Irvine, CA (right at the time companies started to look elsewhere to outsource…
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I met a pianist last Sunday. When he told me he was 65, I almost flipped. He happened to be a Judo trainer as well. Wow! He looked 45. Another friend of mine, Jazz musician and software expert, also looks young for his age. What’s the secret sauce? Shirley MacLaine doesn’t look 78. You might…
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The war novel with similar title was surprisingly good. I have known about it for a while, but couldn’t get myself to “carry” it home. Until now. Until it’s translated into Vietnamese. It’s the opposite of reading Bao Ninh‘s The Sorrows of War in English. Both novels had the same setting, same period, same conflict, same ending…
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