Denial

Denial
Do you know about the movie  "Negative and affirmative" that is Japanese subtitle and in Japan, is going to be released on December this year. The English title is "Denial".
I knew it from TED talk. (Deborah Lipstadt : Behind the lie of Holocaust denial) When I'd read the article at first, l couldn't understand it completely.
That is a strang story and people don't probably want to watch it, especially Japanese. It's because it reminded me of the Japanese military comfort women.
However, it's very important.
Now, on the internet, this move is announced.
What do you think?
I am sorry if it's not to your liking.   
        

Terminator 2

Terminator 2

In fact, I don't know about the movies of the series well. Probably, l think that Terminator one to four or five would be released and I’ve heard that the next will be released in the near future. It will be necessary to hurry because the major character Arnold Schwarzenegger who commonly called Schaw chan in Japan will be older.    

When I watched this for the first time, I was surprised that he was still very young. It's in Volumes 2 but I’ve watched 2 before 1.

The first scene that I remember is a woman training herself hard. She is Sarah Connor in the Terminator series.

She just lives for her mission assigned. To protect the world and her son who is only said to be able to protect the world from the Terminator.  Her son's father was killed before her son was born. Thus she thinks that she has to be strong and she trains herself day after day to protect her son alone.

Then she teaches her son how to use the guns.

In the picture at that moment, she is really cool.

Her trained arm muscles are very beautiful and black tank-top really suits her. It became my baby goal.

I have attached the picture on the wall not to lose my goal. I can see it always. I will show it to you.

my favorite proverbs 2

This is also a famous proverb though I don't understand it well. It's because I found something with an alternate one and I think that they are really true. What do you think?

1, “Necessity is the mother of invention”

This is an expression that means that if you really need to do something, you will think of a way of doing it.

When the need for something becomes essential, you are forced to find ways of getting or achieving it.

2, “Invention is the mother of necessity”

However, sometimes our reasons will be changed but there are new things that others invented already nowadays. We think that we have to use them because there are there.

3, “Lazy is the mother of invention”

I'm sorry that this is really true. We sometimes have lazy thoughts.

However, thinking what we don't want to do something that might be sometimes better. It's because they will make us time. We can think how we have to do to finish earlier.

Hahaha!

my favorite proverbs 1

my favorite proverbs

1, Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

It means that it is more worthy to teach him to do something than to do it for him.

I found this proverb by chance and at that time, I thought about Japanese volunteer activities because I think that

Japanese volunteer activity is only about giving something. Thus it is difficult to continue for a long time. We have to teach something and it is important.

2, Let him that would be happy for a day, go to the barber, for a week, marry a wife, for a month, buy him a new horse, for a year, build him a new house, for all his lifetime, be an honest man.

I found this proverb also by chance.  In the past, I saw a man who often lied but he said that he was unhappy himself.

I thought that he was not honest. That's why he was unhappy. I wanted to throw this.

Scent of a Woman

I was happy to find this Youtube.

Scent of a Woman

This is one of my favorite movies.

People say that if you love the leading actor, Al Pacino, you should watch the movie of The Godfather, I'm sorry that I haven't watched it yet, though.

To beat someone, not to use a gun, not to persuade and not deeply supplicate to people but to be able to make it big, I like those strategies.

Then there is a beautiful relationship women don't have between men, especially two men in the movie.

I thought that it was different from women and Japan. Like shaking hands in overseas, hugging tightly, cheering and applause between especially men were very wonderful and natural because it's probably different to Japanese culture and customs.

I want you to feel creating a bond between two men in the movie.

At last, this movie has one more beautiful scene which, in fact, I already saw many times. The old man notices the scent of a beautiful woman and dances with her but he was blind.  

Again, I think that I also want to be asked by him.  It will be wonderful if such a great man speaks to me some day. Then I don’t wear my fragrance because I want to feel yours forever. it reminds me of you.

Letters to Juliet

Letters to Juliet

This is the story about the love of the main character Sophie.

In the movie, she broke up with her fiance though she could romantically find new love.

However, I had focused to see only the old woman Claire, because I felt like the movie told me that it's not too late to love someone even from now.

In the movie, Claire went to meet her old fiance after 50 years years have passed.

When she found him, he said to her, " This was destiny".

So, age has nothing to do with love and it is wonderful.

I had clearly forgotten this was a movie, I thought it absolutely wanted to happen to me when I am the same as age as her.

I was surprised that the English title of the movie was Letters to Juliet but the Japanese subtitle was Letters from Juliet.

Well, both letters were important, what if Claire didn't send a letter to Juliet?  What if Claire didn't receive a letter from Juliet?

The letter was written by Sophie, What if  Sophie didn't write a letter?  This beautiful story has never begun.

Anyway,  I want to write once more, until now, since I was over thirty I thought that I must not love someone. It seemed to be different. I can fall in love even from now.

"it's never too late"

Jarrett J. Krosoczka : Why lunch ladies are heroes

TED 2014

Jarrett J. Krosoczka : Why lunch ladies are heroes (transcript)

Summary

Unfortunately, Japanese school lunch system is different. In Japan, although lunch ladies cook for students in the school kitchen, there are no lunch ladies when students eat lunch in the classroom.

Students have to prepare themselves after lunch ladies cook. Students don't want to fall in line with their lunch tray if the student servers are bullies and some servers don't serve some students. That’s the time bullying happens.

Some students can’t sometimes eat lunch because of bullying and bad students often say that lunch is not delicious.

I think that firstly, at home, children have to learn that eating gratefully and saying thank you are very important.

The speaker is a writer for children’s book. He tells us that thank you can change both lives of the person who receives it and who expresses it by using his book which is Lunch Lady graphic novel series of comics. On it, it makes us notice what lunch ladies do is important and they're heroes. We should not forget school lunch ladies who are feeding our children every single day.

Words in this story
likeness / portrait, the fact or quality of being alike; resemblance.
validate /verb/ check or prove the validity or accuracy of (something).
bully /noun/ a person who uses strength or power to harm or intimidate those who are weaker.

Norman Lear : An entertainment icon on living a life of meaning

TED 2016
Norman Lear : An entertainment icon on living a life of meaning  (transcript)
Summary
This is the gorgeous interview that a great entertainer Eric Hirshberg is interviewing a greater senior entertainer Norman Lear.
Norman Lear who is a commercially successful person that was explained. Just the generation was the TV spreading and it might be able to say that he spread the TV. He tells us that in the life, there is the foolishness of the human condition though it can be your gift that you can use.
His life was not easy but  his parents didn't have better conditions to care about him. However, he says that he who created great programs for TV was created by his parents.
So your parents are very important, even if you think that they are not cooperative.
To stop thinking that you are small. If something that you do is very small, it sometimes has a big influence on someone.
To stop thinking that others can do something but you can't do it. It doesn't have differences between something others do and you do on the global scale. We are still young and you can do anything.

Words in this story
gorgeous /adj/  spectacular, splendid, wonderful

cooperative /noun/ involving mutual assistance in working toward a common goal.
cooperate /verb/ help each other

Sarah Parcak : Help discover ancient ruins — before it's too late

TED 2016
Sarah Parcak : Help discover ancient ruins — before it's too late (transcript)
Summary
In the dictionary, archaeology is the study of human history and prehistory through the excavation of sites and the analysis of artifacts and other physical remains.
Then the speaker tells us that the more important essence is what you can prove possible than what you find.
Excavation of the remains teaches you not only the past but also the present. The history is human ingenuity and brilliance, because it may be cyclical. To acknowledge that the past people existed and lived lives worth learning about leads us to acknowledging all human beings.
 Nowadays, a lot of sites are looting by economic issues. If we do nothing to stop it, all of Egypt's sites will be affected by looting by 2040. If now, we try to do it, sites can surprisingly show its resilience.
This TED talk that had extreme potential awarded the 2016 TED prize.
Her wishes are to discover and to protect the millions of unknown archaeological sites around the world and to show that they contain clues to humankind's collective resilience and creativity. She created a platform to do those with you. The satellite of NASA has a Space Archaeology program and also help her.

Words in this story
stunning /adj/ remarkable, extraordinary, incredible, gorgeous
humanity /noun/  virtue, charity
potential /noun/  possible, likely, prospective, future
compassion / pity, sympathy, empathy
thrive / flourish, be popular
slave / servant

Matthew O'Reilly : “Am I dying?” The honest answer.

TED 2014
Matthew O'Reilly : “Am I dying?” The honest answer. (transcript)
Summary
We believe that the moment of death of a person is strictly terror and fear.
We think that we have to lie, we have to say that they're not dying even if they're already facing death.
We are afraid that if we tell them the truth that they would die, they would die in terror and fear in the last moments of their lives.
The speaker is a veteran emergency medical technician and he faces the moment of death of the person many times.
Then he understood that telling the truth to the patients of their imminent demise is important.
They already knew around them. They just wanted to hear something...
They just wanted to accept that they are dying.
They were not met with terror or fear of death when he told yes to them, and then there is a need for forgiveness there.
They said, “l wish I had spent more time with my children and grandchildren instead of being selfish with my time” “Will you remember me” and “ There was so much more I wanted to do with my life”.
Listening to them is a small thing though it gives you and them peace in their final moments.

Words in this story
adapt /verb/  modify, alter
adopt /verb/  take as one's child, be adoptive parents to, take in
strictly /adv/ severely, rigidly
emergency /noun/  crisis, urgent situation, extremity
demise /noun/   death, dying, passing, loss of life, end

Nikki Webber Allen : Don’t suffer from your depression in silence

TED 2017
Nikki Webber Allen : Don’t suffer from your depression in silence (transcript)
Summary
If you are diagnosed with depression, you won't tell anybody about it.
Usually, when people are diagnosed with depression, they don't tell anybody about it.
Depression leads to sickness and disability. It's not clear what the reasons are, but  probably, the reasons are not only mental disorders but also a chemical imbalance in the brain. Thus you can't just shake it off.
The speaker researched about depression and anxiety because she was diagnosed with depression and her nephew had ended his life because of his depression. They felt ashamed and they were silent.
It turns out that a lot of people struggling with depression will improve with therapy, treatment, and medication, however, they keep in silent and they feel lonely.
Thus we have to tell them that they can share their story openly and they can use our help to heal. Don’t suffer from your depression in silence and you can ask for a hand.
Words in this story
imbalance /noun/  disparity, variance, variation, lack of harmony
depression /noun/ melancholia, melancholy, I have depression.
depress /verb/ sad, unhappy, miserable, gloomy, glum, I feel depressed. I am depressed.

Mundano : Trash cart superheroes

TED 2014

Mundano : Trash cart superheroes (transcript)

Summary 

In Brazil, workers who collect recyclable materials for a living are called “Catadores”.  

Catadores emerged from social inequality, unemployment, a lot of solid waste on the streets, and the deficiency of the waste collection system. 

They were independently picking hard much waste from the streets and selling them to junkyards at low prices by using their bags, bicycles and Carrocas which are carts built from wood and metal.

They collected 90 percent of all waste that's recycled, thus people were helped and cities were cleaned though Catadores were not acknowledged for it.

The speaker who is a graffiti artist and activist hit upon an idea to paint on Carrocas his message. 

His message is to support urban, to have people know about Catadores, and to improve their self-esteem with art and humor. 

By his painting and a large crowdfunding, trash carts turned into huge amazing Carrocas. 

Catadores started to be respected and valued little by little. 

Now, Catadores are needed worldwide and their actions have been used in teaching recycling at a local school. Catadores are now heroes in the cities. 

Words in this story

deficiency /noun/  lack, shortage

acknowledge /verb/  recognize, admit, appreciate, approve

vital /adj/  essential, critical, crucial, key

Chris Sheldrick : A precise, three-words address for every place on earth

Chris Sheldrick : A precise, three-words address for every place on earth (transcript)

Summary

According to an application-what3words, our company is located at “salt.launched.chucks”.

This TED talk is about an application that can show your place on an online map by using  three unique words wherever you are.

In fact, in the world, over billions of people are still living without an address.

When the speaker who worked in the music business knew that many musicians couldn't find where their gigs were held and many products companies couldn’t bring the equipment to their gigs, he hit upon an idea.

This is one of the problem of map address because the map that shows latitude and longitude are too complicated. He and his friend decided to make a new system for a precise map. They created an application called “what3words”. It divided the world into three-meter square and gave each one a unique three-word as identifier and it called a three-word address.

It can show all places precisely not only in English but also in 14 languages.

By using it, musicians can find where their gigs are held. Ambulances can also find patients more quickly, letters that couldn't be delivered will reach you, and you can eat hot pizza because delivery man can find your home easily. It can give many businesses huge efficiency.

Are you standing at mustards.coupons.pinup or at pinched.singularly.tutorial?

This is the magical three-word for every place on earth.

Words in thiss story

identifier /noun/a person or thing that identifies something.

identity-noun

identify-verb

delivers-action word

delivery man

Mei Lin Neo : The fascinating secret lives of giant clams

TED 2017

Mei Lin Neo : The fascinating secret lives of giant clams (transcript)

Summary

In this TED talk, the speaker tells us that in the deep sea, there are giant claims which probably, we don't know or we’ve never seen. She showed us one big shell which is big enough for us to be surprised. The size was our outstretched arms.

The biggest recorded individual was four and a half feet long and weighed about 550 pounds that meant almost as heavy as three baby elephants and it can live to 100.

However, giant clams are considered a delicacy,  gives fishermen strong interest to capture, and clamshells are popular in the ornamental trade as jewelry or display.

Those are the reasonsthat  they start to be endangered. Furthermore, giant clams provided housing for small shrimps, crabs, and reef. It can be said that giant clams are the base of the food chain.

Disappearing big clams leads small shrimps, crabs, and small fish to extinction, and big fish and whales also can't live in the sea.

When we think about the sea, we have to think of not only big fish and whales but also reef and giant clams.

Words in this story

spare a thought for someone / to think about someone who is in a difficult situation

circulation / cycle, rotation, movement to and fro or around something, especially that of fluid in a closed system.

endangered /adj/ɛndéɪndʒɚd/ (of a species) seriously at risk of extinction.

extinct /adj/ (of a species, family, or other larger group) having no living members.

whale /wéɪl/  reef /ríːf/  crabs /krˈæb/

Kazuo Ishiguro: Nobel Literature Prize is 'a magnificent honour'

BBC NEWS Entertainment & Arts

Kazuo Ishiguro: Nobel Literature Prize is 'a magnificent honour' (article)

Summary

This time, British writer Kazuo Ishiguro who was born in Japan has won the 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature. He has lived in England since he was five.

The Nobel Prize started from the will of the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel who established the prizes in 1895. The categories of its Prize are Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine.

They are set of annual international awards bestowed in several by Swedish and Norwegian institutions in recognition of academic, cultural or scientific advances.

His book that the Nobel committee praised is The Buried Giant which was released in 2015. It is his latest one.  

Some of his books have been translated into 40 languages and his most famous novels were adapted into films.

The news and the Academy said that he  is a different kind level of a writer. His story has a great emotional force that connects our illusionary sense to the world.

Words in this story
illusory /adj/ based on illusion, not real.
bestow /verb/ confer or present (an honor, right, or gift).

Noble prize Chronicle of wound-up ‘Harukists’as Murakami fails to win

BBC NEWS

Noble  prize Chronicle of wound-up ‘Harukists’as Murakami fails to win (article)

Summary

I thought that this is a rude article though...

This time, British writer Kazuo Ishiguro who was born in Japan has won the 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature. He has lived in England since he was five.

In fact, many people and even a famous Japanese bookshop thought Haruki Murakami would win and they have been thinking that for a long time.

The news told us that some famous actors also couldn't win and it took 23 years for one actor.

Japanese people accepted Ishiguro’s win because of the Japanese blood in him.

Furthermore, the news added that Japanese people couldn’t even  accept a person who was even born Japan and raised only Japan, just because her father was a Taiwanese and she had multiple citizenships.

Why did she appear in this article?

This has nothing to do with the Nobel Prize.

What a disagreeable news this is!

I thought that there are many other reasons that Japanese people couldn't accept her. However, in Japan, the nationality of the person matters.

We have to choose the good book that irregardless of nationalities.

Words in this story

irregardless /adv/

regardless /adv/ without paying attention to the present situation, despite the prevailing circumstances.

Hugh Hefner, Who Built the Playboy Empire and Embodied It, Dies at 91

The New York Times MEDIA

Hugh Hefner, Who Built the Playboy Empire and Embodied It, Dies at 91 (article)

Summary

Just he, Hugh Hefner, had been a playboy. He became himself a playboy, he showed a new lifestyle and he created its culture also.  It can say that he had built one of the Empire.

I was sorry that I didn't know who he was completely when I found this news. When I saw the pictures, I wondered who he was and he looked older though he was surrounded by a lot of pretty girls dressed in a bunny costume that I would like to try someday.

Then his video really attracted me.

He was the man who created Playboy magazine which everyone has heard at least one time. It was the first magazine which was kind of sensual for men in the world. However, he created not only Playboy magazine but also clothing, jewelry, opened clubs, resorts, and casinos. He and his business sometimes experienced failure but they were reviled many times, he sometimes handed over his position of the top to his son or daughter. However, he returned and continued to spread the brand of "Playboy".

Now, everyone recognize the brand of  "Playboy" and they would remember it definitely when they see bunny girls.

I think that their criticism against him is their adoration for his business, his lifestyle and himself. However, it might also say that just his timing was perfect and the generation let him win.

Then one Empire ends, but it does not die.

He sleeps on forever next to Marilyn Monroe.

He was also the man who bought the right that was a nude calendar photograph of her Marilyn Monroe.

His life that anyone could never walk was great.

Words in this article

embody /verb/ be an expression of or give a tangible or visible form to (an idea, quality, or feeling).  

incarnate / (especially of a deity or spirit) embodied in flesh; in human form.

Catalonia referendum: Does the region want to leave Spain?

BBC NEWS

Catalonia referendum: Does the region want to leave Spain?　(article)

Summary

I think that  human beings have to be altruistic. People were taught, knew, tried that before.

However, why would that be changing?

In Spain, Catalans have continued taking the streets in strong protest for their independence.

They still have their separatist government and it has held a referendum on leaving Spain.

However, Spain side has rejected the vote as illegal. Spain police have arrested and raided some Catalonian to stop the protest but some people were injured. The protest still continues.

Catalonia is one of Spain's wealthiest and most productive regions.

Catalonia has a distinct history dating back almost one thousand years though it was granted autonomy that showed "nation" later.

Catalonia had held a referendum on secession sometimes.  

Repressive campaigns of Spanish, the economic crisis in Spain on 2008 and the complexity of budget that seemed to be the strong reasons to want to be independent.

If the referendum is right, the law explains that within two days of Catalan electoral commission proclaiming the results, the independence of Spain must be declared by parliament.

Words in this article

altruism /noun/  the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.

secession / separation, the action of withdrawing formally from membership of a federation or body, especially a political state.

independent /adj/    independence /noun/

proclaim /verb/proʊkléɪm/ announce officially or publicly.

declared  /verb/dɪklɛ́rd/say something in a solemn and emphatic manner.

Gregory Petsko : The coming neurological epidemic

TED 2008

Gregory Petsko : The coming neurological epidemic (transcript)

Summary

This was a really shocking article for Japanese people. It's because on the map every country of which is colored blue has more than 20 percent of its population over the age of 65, Japan was deep blue, and the speaker said that people’s lifespan is still increasing currently. It means that the risk of getting an Alzheimer's disease will increase certainly.  

In the article, he mentioned about Parkinson's disease though I somehow pay attention to Alzheimer's disease.

He tells us that these two neurological diseases come from the formation of tangles that seem to kill large sections of the brain.

This will be epidemic because of an aging, no cure, and no clear prevention. We have to wait for the study development.

Although he said there is no prevention of Alzheimer's disease, it turns out that fish oil has an effect of reducing the risk. We should also keep our blood pressure down and we always have mental stimulation.  

Words in this story

reducing /  lessen, make smaller, lower

tangle / a confused mass of something twisted together.

philanthropy / charity

Kenneth Shinozuka: My simple invention, designed to keep my grandfather safe

TED 2014

Kenneth Shinozuka: My simple invention, designed to keep my grandfather safe (transcript)

Summary

I was very surprised that the speaker looked very young though from the title, he seemed to invent something. Furthermore, his name Shinozuka was a Japanese name and he spoke English fluently.

When he was four years old, he saw his grandfather who had Alzheimer's disease wandering. Then the wandering became a big stress for his family because one of the family had to stay awake to stop it all night.

He became really concerned about his family's health as well as his grandfather's safety so he started to search for a solution.

One night, when he was looking after his grandfather, the moment his grandfather's foot landed on the floor, he hit upon a good idea  to put a pressure sensor on the heel of his grandfather's foot.

The plan was that its sensor could send an audible alert to family's smartphone by body weight. He was six years old at that time.  

After that, when an elderly family friend fell down in the bathroom, and suffered severe injuries. He thought of a sensor of a smart bathroom system again.

He continued thinking that sensors can improve the quality of life of the elderly and his family could sleep much better at night without having to worry about his grandfather wandering.

It took a lot of time to translate his ideas into reality because he hadn't graduated from kindergarten when he had the ideas.

Finally, he created a wearable sensor that was thin and flexible enough to be worn comfortably on the bottom of the patient's foot.

Over ten years, his grandfather's condition got worse and worse, however, its sensor was detecting his grandfather wandering many times and it had a 100 % success.

He continued studying to improve patient care, to create other products, and to collect the data of his sensor to lead to a cure for the disease.

He hopes that his inventions can change people's lives for the better.

Alzheimer’s disease is the brain disease. It mainly affects old people and results in the gradual loss of memory, speech, movement, and the ability to think clearly. It becomes a big stress for its families and a big problem for the aging population, especially Japan.

Words in this story

dementia / a disease or condition that exists esp. among older people, and that results in the gradual loss of mental abilities, such as the ability to think, reason, and remember things

look after / take care