Birth Certificate

     President Barack Obama finally revealed his original birth certificate from Hawaii this week after his being born in the United States came back into question. This was a major issue four years again when he was running for President, but he was still elected. So why did he finally come forward with the certificate now? I know he will be running for reelection soon and he probably want to silence the issue, but why did he not do this four years ago when the issue first came to light. The whole thing just seems a little weird to me and I was just wondering if anyone else had an opinion on the subject.

Royal Wedding

     I understand that royal weddings do not happen all that often, but should it really be that big of a deal here in America? Yes, our country does have ties in our history with England and we have a good relationship with the country, but I doubt enough American's care. It was broadcast on almost every news station and they covered the entire wedding and talked about it all day Friday. I know that Channel 12 skipped showing the local news to make sure that they broadcast the entire wedding. Our country has its own problems and perhaps the news should focus on whats going on here in the United States, maybe looking at the hundreds of people who died in tornadoes all across the country this week, instead of spending all day talking about things that have no bearing on our country.

Shinto Blog (The Peach Orchard)

  

     The Peach Orchard is a section of Kurosawa’s film “Dreams”. In this section, a young boy follows a girl, which is actually a spirit of a peach tree. In Shinto everything is spiritual and there is continuity between humanity, nature, and spirits or gods. The spirit leads the boy to what used to be a peach tree orchard that his family cut down. The boy is then confronted by the spirits of the trees his family destroyed. 

     In Shinto, kami is the word for spirit or natural forces which is the basis for the Shinto faith. Not all nature is kami, it has to be something that is powerful or amazing. To this boy the peach orchard was kami, you can clearly see that it was powerful to him by his anger when he is speaking to the spirits.

     When conversing with the boy a peach tree spirits says, “The vanished trees are weeping in their sorrows.”  The peach trees had a spirit and they are upset about being cut down. This is evident because, as stated by Professor Rasnic in class, “The ancient Japanese did not divide matter and spirit. They believed they were inseparable.”  

     The boy tells the peach tree spirit, “I love this orchard and the peach trees which bloomed here, but they are not here anymore and that’s why I cried.” It even says he tried to stop them from cutting down the trees. This shows that the boy had a respect for peach trees that once grew in the orchard. This is why the peach trees in the orchard were kami to him, but they obviously were not to his parents.

     In Shinto worship the rights are categorized according to size of the festivals. There are large and medium festivals as well as a few other types and prayer. I’m assuming that this would be a harvest festival for peaches which would make this a large festival. One of the peach tree spirits asks the boy how they are going to celebrate “Doll Day”, which is for peach blossoms. It would be hard to celebrate the harvesting of peaches having cut all of the trees down. By the family still celebrating, it is part of the reason for the spirits’ anger.

Pittsburgh

     As I've stated on my blog numerous times before, I'm originally from Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh. Whenever I make the roughly six and a half drive, depending on how fast I drive, it seems like there is never enough time to do everything or see everyone while I'm back home. Since moving to Virginia about five years ago it seems that as each year passes, I make even less trips back home to see friends and family. However, when I do go back I always have a blast. There are just so many things to do that it makes Richmond look like a small town. You can go see professional sports (Pirates, Penguins, & Steelers), they have finally legalized gambling so there are multiple casinos, for you music lovers there are multiple concert venues, tons of amazing restaurants, and more bars then you will ever want to see for your people who like to get your drink on. So if you are ever in Pennsylvania I highly recommend that you take the time and visit Pittsburgh, be sure to stay long enough to enjoy all of the wonderful things the city has to offer.

Next Weeks NFL Draft

     Normally I would be excited about the upcoming National Football League (NFL) draft, but things are different this year. With the NFL on the verge of a lockout and the two sides no where near reaching an agreement, it has taken all of the excitement out of this event. Shortly after the draft teams start holding rookie  and voluntary  mini-camps which indicate the season is right around the corner, but teams have already canceled these normal practices because of the pending lockout. I surely hope that both sides can come to an agreement and the NFL season will go on as planned. If not its going to be a long fall for me and millions of other Americans who will be missing football. I may have to turn to watching college football  just to get my fix if the NFL season is canceled.

Taoism Blog RLS 311

     I feel that Benjamin Hoff did an excellent job of explaining Taoism in the book the Tao of Pooh. The book was able to explain Taoism by breaking it down into small, clearly defined bits of information. Most books discussing religious ideas provide large amounts of complex information to the reader, but they do not explain it or provide direct examples as does Hoff. Although I do not agree with all of the Taoist concepts, I at least have a clear understanding of them due to the information in this book.
     The Tao of Pooh refers to the American culture as Bisy Backsons, meaning that we are busy bodies who have to be on the go constantly. Its hard to argue against this description of the American lifestyle, but I do not totally agree with this classification. For example, I agree with the Taoist philosophy on time. "You cannot save time, You can only spend it," and it can be spent either foolishly or wisely (pg. 108). No matter what you do there are only 24 hours in a day, its all about how you choose to use it.
     However, I do not agree when they say, "Bisy Backson is always going somewhere, somewhere he hasn't been. Anywhere, but where he is (pg. 97). Yes there are some American's who are constantly going and going, but it is not all Americans. I know plenty of people who like to just sit back and relax when they get free time. My other issue with that statement is that you will find people like that in every culture so I believe that it's unfair to direct that statement towards only Americans.
     Alothough I agree with some of the principles of Taoism, I don't think it's the "solution" to the "problems" of Americans. To be honest, I don't even believe that there is a problem with the American culture. The concepts of Taoism come from Ancient Chinese culture which is nothing like the modern world that we live in today. The American culture as well as most Western cultures, are fast paced due largely impart to all the technological advancements of the 19th century. These technological advancements require us to live a fast paced lifestyle and nothing is going to change that.

It's that time of year again.......

     As the title says its that time of year again, what time of year is that you might ask? It's time to schedule for next semester, which for most of you freshmen here at VCU you will find is normally a stressful time. I'm a Health and Physical Exercise (HPEX) major and scheduling every semester is a struggle. I understand that it is not one of the biggest programs here at VCU, but they definitely need to add more sections to the classes that are also requirements for other majors as well.
     Due to the limited number of sections available it's almost certain that it will take you more than 4 years to get your Bachelor's  Degree. When I first arrived at VCU I thought perhaps it was because I was one of the last people scheduling, but as I have progressed into the program learned that its just difficult to get into the required classes. The majority of class that we are required to take only offer one section per semester and some of them only offer one section every other semester which makes it even harder to get into them. I'm not sure if the program has grown faster than  anticipated or if there is a shortage of professors, but this issue needs to be addressed.

So enjoy your scheduling, I know I'm having a blast!

Serena Williams

     I'm not much of a tennis fan, but I'm an all around sport junkie. Serena Williams is undoubtedly one of the best female tennis players of all-time with her 13 Grand Slam titles, but sometimes you just have to question her decision making. As you can see from the picture above she  decided to wear a skin tight pink body suit to practice in for her up coming event and this is in lieu of her recent Wii video game commercial being pulled from television because of her racy outfit. Don't get me wrong this woman definitely has a fit body, but some things just are not meant to be worn to play sports in or to be worn in public period. Leave the fashion to the experts and just do what you do better than any other woman in the world, play TENNIS!

Government Shutdown

     According to the Associated Press (AP) about 800,000 workers are bracing for the potential U.S. Government shutdown. If the government does in fact shutdown these people will be sent home from their jobs without a paycheck. I don't have the time or patience to go into great detail about why the two sides of the Federal Government cannot come to an agreement on the budget for the upcoming year. However, I did find something very interesting about this situation. If the government does in fact shutdown and force people to go home without a paycheck, the Republican and Democratic Congressmen who are causing this shutdown will continue to be payed as normal. I think it is crazy for the people who at the heart of the problem to continue to get payed while thousands of other Americans are forced to sit at home and not know when they would be able to return to work and start collecting a paycheck again.  

The Clarks

     Last Saturday night I went and saw a concert  at The State Theatre outside of Washington D.C. The headliner for the concert was The Clarks. I'm originally from outside of Pittsburgh, PA where the band is from so I have seen them perform on more than one occasion. The band was formed 25 years ago while attending IUP (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) and has been putting on shows  ever since. They put on one hell of a show in front of a sold out crowd and they can still perform after 25 years. Being from around that area and listening to their music for years it never even occurred to me that a lot of people from this area have no clue who  The Clarks are, so if you don't check know out their music sometime you wont be disappointed.

Physical Education Bill

http://www.nbc12.com/story/14315880/mcdonnell-vetoes-unfunded-mandate-on-localities?redirected=true

     For those of you who don't know Governor Bob McDonnell recently vetoed a bill that would have required elementary and middle schools here in Virginia to have 150 minutes of physical education per week. Me being a Health and Physical Education major, I have a slight bias towards this topic so I was wondering how others felt related to this topic. I know some people do not have fond memories of physical education class while in elementary school or middle school, but with childhood obesity on the rise I thought that increasing physical education while in school could help this problem.
     I know that some people are going to say, in my school we did not do that much physical activity in physical education class. Given the fact that youth today would much rather sit around on the computer or play video games, any amount of physical activity is better than none at all. This sedentary lifestyle in addition to poor eating is the prime reason for childhood obesity. If children are not going to be active on their own, then requiring more physical activity in school appears to  be a valid solution. I believe their is only one reason that Governor  McDonnell rejected this bill and it is funding. Physical Education has no Standard of Learning testing, therefore it has no ties to the amount of Federal funding that Virginia schools are going to receive. This just shows that until the Federal Government puts a mandate on Physical Education, state funded public education is going to turn a blind eye to the growing problem.

Favorite Place to eat in Richmond

     My favorite restaurant in Richmond is Texas De Brazil. Its located on the west end outside or Regency mall. It is an expansive meal, but it is definitely worth your money. This is an all you can eat Brazilian buffet. I believe the entire buffet costs 49.99 per person or you can get just the salad bar for 29.99 (I only eat here when I have a coupon). You can register on the Texas De Brazil website and on your birthday and/or anniversary they email you a buy one get one free coupon.
    This restaurant has an extremely large salad bar featuring 50-60 items daily. The salad bar includes such items as shrimp, salmon, and sushi as well asthe various salad bar items and soups. In addition to the salad bar their are Gaucho's walking around serving about 10-12 different cuts of meat. These include flank steak, filet mignon (bacon wrapped and non), sirloin, different types of chicken, prime rib, leg of lamb, lamb chops, as well as sausages. If you are a carnivore you will love this restaurant, but it also has the best salad bar I have ever seen. So if you get some extra money sometime check out his restaurant, but I recommend you make reservations.