Vestal Virgins

By Brian Freeman

The Vestal Virgins of ancient Rome was an unknown cult to me. The keepers of the scared flame of Rome are hardly studied. Many including myself were clueless to the reasonability the Virgins had on Roman history. The article “Vestal Virgins Chaste Keepers of the flame” by Melissa Barden Dowling is an outstanding article that shows the social importance and political power the Virgins had on the Ancient Roman society. To be a Vestal Virgin in ancient times was to be a super powered celebrity. If the virgins existed today they would probably be more popular and more influential than celebrities the likes of Britney Spears, Paris Hiltion and Jennifer Lopez. The origin Numa paid homage to the goddess whose priestess was the unwitting mother of Rome’s founder. The vestal virgin Rhea Silvia gave birth to Romulus after being raped by Mars, the god of war.

Example of Descriptive Essay

Bedroom

A southern home is always a calm and comfortable place. Walking toward the entrance of the home, one is consumed in a festival of bright flowers that align the concrete walkway. Past the bright flowers, an elegant white door stands as the entrance to the home. One is embraced with all sorts of beautiful antique furniture when entering through the door of the home. Significant objects are aligned neatly all over the beautiful furniture. Immediately, brilliant aromas radiate from the kitchen. Interested noses wonder just what could be cooking. As walking down the long hallway, timeless pictures of the resident’s family surround the walls. At the end of the hallway stands a plain wood door.

At last, entering through the plain wood door one is impressed with what lies inside the bedroom. The carpet, walls, and curtains all have a soft light blue color to them. The carpet is thick but soft. The walls are smooth with no lines of error in the paint. As soon as one enters the room, a small wood desk sits in the corner. The desk is cluttered with all sorts of noteworthy objects. In the middle of the room a huge wooden bed stands tall. The huge bed is masculine in shape with a large wood headboard. In the middle of the large wood headboard lies an oval mirror where one can see the reflection of the whole bed. On top of the bed several blue pillows are neatly stacked. A White blanket filled with goose feathers covers the large bed neatly and is folded and tucked in at ever corner. While lying on the bed, comfort and warmth surrounds one’s body. The room gives off a sense of calm and comfort to make anyone feel as though they are at home.

Overview of "The Quarrell"

By Brian Freeman

Hersh, a rabbi, survived Auschwitz and his faith was strengthened by his ordeal, while Chaim escaped the Nazis, but had lost his faith long before. The two walk together, reminisce, and argue passionately about themselves, their actions, their lives, their religion, their old quarrel, and their friendship.

PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES: Philosophy of religion, problem of evil

CHARACTERS: Hersh Rasseyner (orthodox Jew), Chaim Kovler (secular Jew)

OTHER FILMS BY DIRECTOR ELI COHEN: Under the Domim Tree (1994)

SYNOPSIS: “The Quarrell,” like “My Dinner with Andre,” is a dialog-driven movie that consists almost entirely of a conservation between two people. Twenty years earlier, prior to the outbreak of World War II, Hersh Yeshiva Hersh and Chaim were childhood friends in Bialystok, Poland. They were both students in an Orthodox Jewish Yeshivah – an institute of Jewish Talmudic learning. Chaim became dissatisfied with the Yeshivah as his interest in creative writing developed, and he left the institute. Hersh, horrified at Chaim’s rejection of Jewish tradition, intervenes, thereby alienating Chaim from his family. Shortly after, Chaim’s and Hersh’s families were killed by the Nazis along with most of the European Jews. Twenty years later the two accidentally meet in a park in Montreal and drag skeletons out of the closet.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. Chaim blames God for the Nazi Holocaust and states “If I knew God I’d put him on trial.” The issue raised here is that, just because God is powerful, that doesn’t necessarily mean that he is good – or at least good in the way that humans understand goodness. Assuming that human and divine notions of goodness are different, should we buckle under and worship God nonetheless, or should we put him on trial as Chaim suggests?

2. Hersh argues that writers like Chaim make people’s flaws exciting, and thus justify those flaws. Instead, Hersh believes, writers should show people what they could be. Are one of these views better than the other?

3. The two argue about whether Hersh was justified in approaching Chaim’s family when Chaim first wanted to leave the Yeshivah. This intervention resulted in a rift between Chaim and his family, which we was never able to mend because of their deaths by the Nazis. Was Hersh’s heavy-handed intervention justified?

4. Discussing Hersh’s over-demanding father, Chaim states, “I used to wonder why the Bible commanded us to love the stranger but only honor the parent.” Why would any ethical text make such a paradoxical recommendation?

5. Because of his World War II experience, Hersh feels that people are fundamentally bad, and, if they followed their reason it would lead to disaster. Reason, he believed, is amoral, and he objects to the Ancient Greek view that we can be moral by following our reason. Rational morality, he argues, reduces to a matter of opinion, and so we need to ground our notions of morality in God instead. He poignantly states, “If there is no master of the universe, then who’s to say that Hitler did anything wrong? If there is no God, then the people who murdered your wife and sons did nothing wrong.” Is Hersh being a bit too hard on reason’s role in morality?

6. Chaim, by contrast, feels that people are fundamentally good, and that goodness comes from a faith that human beings ought to help each other. To illustrate his conviction, Chaim tells the story about an old Lithuanian atheist woman who risked her life to help Jews during the war. She did this because she believes in human beings and loves them. Is this an adequate basis of morality?

7. Hersh speculates that if while in the death camp an angel allowed him to switch places with his Nazi guard, he wouldn’t do it. Chaim responds that if he chooses to be a victim, then he has too much hatred. What besides hatred would be the cause of Hersh’s decision?

8. Hersh relates a story about a train trip he once took. The passenger next to him was a Jewish woman and she said to him in a whisper: “I don’t know who you are mister but I just want you to know how embarrassed I get when I see Jews like you dressed from another century. You make the rest of us look ridiculous. If you have to dress like this, the least you can do is stay at home.” When Hersh said that he was Amish and not Jewish, the woman replied, “I have such respect for you people, the way you keep your traditions.” Why would the woman think it was OK for the Amish to keep their traditions, but not Orthodox Jews?

9. “My Dinner with Andre” is non-stop dialog in a single setting. “The Quarrel” breaks up the dialog with scenery changes and moments in which the two remain silent. Does this help or hurt the movie?

By Brian Freeman

The Birmingham Museum of Art is one of the South’s most important Museums. The Museum is an 180,000 square feet and has a nationally recognized collection of more than 21,000 works of art dating back from ancient to modern. These include paintings, sculptures, graphic arts, and decorative arts from any diverse cultures. On October 14, 2007 a truly amazing exhibit opened at the Birmingham Museum. The Pompeii: Tales from an Eruption opened with lots of press and praise. Pompeii: Tales from an Eruption tells the stories of the final days of Pompeii and the nearby resort cities of Herculaneum, Oplontis and Terzigno following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

The traveling exhibition, which is on loan from the collections of the National Archaeological Museum in Naples and the Archaeological Superintendent in Pompeii, will only visit three other museums in United States. The exhibit features large-scale frescoes, mosaics, with body casts and skeletons shown in the context in which they were found as the pyroclastic surges’ ash and superheated gases engulfed the people of Pompeii. Excavated from 1780 through present day, many of these artifacts have never toured outside Italy. At 10,000 square feet and with 500 artifacts including room size
frescoes and body casts the exhibit takes about an hour and half to visit. The exhibit is not free but is reasonable price for an exhibit of this stature. The price for admission is $16 for adults; $8 for children under 12 accompanied by adult; $14 for college students (with I.D.) and senior citizens (65 years and over); $8 at the door for active members of the U.S. military (with ID). The price admission also includes the audio device which during the tour of the exhibit can be used to acquire addition information about an object. One major down fall to the exhibit is no camera policy.

As you walk through the exhibit you’re offered a rare glimpse of life in the ancient world. There is a large collection of tools, jewelry, and even a Doctors surgical kit found. The perfect reds, olives, and blues to enhance visitors emotional to the body casts Citizens clutched their most precious possessions, including exquisitely designed jewelry, coins and the tools of their trade.

The Pompeii: Tales from an Eruption is a traveling exhibit and will on January 27, 2008 which makes it a must see attraction. After leaving Birmingham, the exhibition will travel to the Houston Museum of Fine Art. Houston is the venue on its international tour. Once it was spent its time in Houston the exhibit will retire to Naples, Italy. After seeing the exhibit one is left with a lasting impression of how quickly life can tragically be taken away. This exhibit offers an emotional and life changing experience that no one should miss.

TOP 10 APPS FOR THE IPAD

By Brian Freeman

After having an iPad for a couple of weeks, I've narrowed down the top 10 apps that all iPad owners must have.

1. Netflix - Allows you to get TV shows and movies instantly anytime on the iPad.

• Price: Free (however service requires subscription)
• Category: Entertainment
• Pros: The ability to watch thousands of tv and movies anywhere.
• Cons: The service requires a subscription.

2. GoodReader - PDF reader that supports a huge number

• Price: .99
• Category: Productivity
• Pros: Able to read huge PDF files and allows PDF transfer through iTunes which more expensive apps do not allow. Did I mention it's only 99 cents.
• Cons: Sometimes runs a little slow on large PDF files but nothing really to bad.

3. Pages - App easily converts all word documents to pages so you can word process on the go.

• Price: $9.99
• Category: Productivity
• Pros: Word process on the go and ability to import or export docs via email.
• Cons: Typing on the IPad is terrible. Pages is really a very stripped down version of Microsoft Word. Also users can not send documents straight to the printer which others allow.

4. School Notes Pro (note: possible name change coming soon to Sundry Notes) - A must have app for any student who owns an iPad. Allows users to draw, record, and research notes. Truly one of the best note taking apps for any device. School Note Pro has so many great features and innovative features.

• Price: Free
• Category: Productivity
• Pros: One of the best note taking apps and with the ability to upload notes to facebook, google, Twitter and Amazon Cloud only sweetens the free deal.
• Cons: Typing on the IPad is a pain and adjusting text boxes on the fly is tedious but the developer constantly updates so maybe possible changes coming soon.

5. Harbor Master - Okay, this is one of the most addicting games I have ever played. If you bought a iPad I am pretty sure your broke, so this nice free game is just for you. Beware this game is a productivity killer.

• Price: Free
• Category: Game
• Pros: It is pretty much Flight Control HD except without the $4.99 price tag.
• Cons: Doesn't contain multiple levels or co-op versus mode but it is free and fun so who cares.

6. ABC Player

• Price: Free
• Category: Entertainment
• Pros: The player loads extremely quick and ads only last 30 seconds.
• Cons: It’s not Hulu and only ABC shows.

7. Text Plus - Go ahead and call your cell phone company and tell them you need to reduce your text messaging plan. This completely free app let's you send text messages to any cell phone for free.

• Price: Free
• Category: Social Networking
• Pros: Absolutely free texting to any cell phone.
• Cons: The program is ad supported and some cell phones, most notably anyone using AT&T, will have problems sending messages to your iPad.

8. Wikipanion - Wikipedia viewer.

• Price: Free
• Category: Reference
• Pros: Quickest and easiest way to navigate Wikipedia on the Ipad. Also allows you to save articles to read when internet is not available.
• Cons: All the arguments about Wikipedia not being a reliable source of information.

9. USA Today

• Price: Free
• Category: News
• Pros: Free instant paper no subscriptions required from one of Americas most trusted papers.
• Cons: The app can be a little buggy however the developers have released two updates just this week in order fix some of the problems.

10. Comic Reader Mobi - This comic book reader can read almost any digital format of comic books available and allows custom viewing options.

• Price: 14.99
• Category: Comics
• Pros: Users can sync comics Quick and easy through iTunes or wifi networks.
• Cons: Using the app requires the user to customizes viewing options and this takes time and testing. The price is a little high for some users.

**Notable mentions: GodFinger free game kind of like Sims. Dragon Dictation a free talk to text program which will impress your friends. Pandora Radio free app that allows you to stream music from online stations. There a a ton of piano apps on the iPad but Virtuoso Piano HD is a free app and one of best apps that allows you to play the piano on the iPad.

**Worst Apps: Keynote Presentation program has some serious issues that need to be addressed crashes constantly. Flight Control HD $4.99 the price is way to high for this game. IDW Comicbooks great comic book company but the app doesn't compare to Marvel or X-Comics apps.

Knowing We Dream

I was a little kid I would dream that I had the ability to fly like Superman and my superhero name was "chubby boy". The dream felt so real that when I woke up I thought I would have those abilities.

As I got older, I would dream about how it would feel to get married (I know awwww) or if I would ever get to kiss Topanga from Boy Meets World. For some of my dreams I knew exactly why I dreamed them, as for others, I had no idea why I dreamed of those situations. I knew exactly why I wanted to kiss Topanga or be a superhero. However, I didn't know why I dreamed of getting married or other weird dreams. Some dream of past loves, family members, finding themselves naked in public or being chased by somethig scary.

Where do dreams come from?

Who is to decide what they mean?

One of the most famous theories is Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic perspective in which dreams stem from unconscious thoughts and desires. Meaning, even though you aren't not thinking about a certain situation it is still weighing in your mind. It is like putting something in back of your mind and forgetting about it. If you are interested in Freud's theories on dreams he is also recognized for his famous book, The Interpretation of Dreams.

I could say Freud is right and there are certain things I do think of unconsciously or try to forget. There are many theories that many psychologists can come up with and make you wonder if they're right. Additionally, there are many websites that have many interpretations on what certain objects or situations in your dream mean.

However, out of all the years that I went to college and being a person that thinks things through, I have come to the realization that, "you know why you dream things." I know now why I dream of certain things even though they don't make sense at first. I know why I dream of getting married and wonder where I would be 10 years down the road even though at first I never had a clue.

So, if you ever wonder why you dream of something or what it means…just think really hard. And if you do think really hard but still have no idea what your dream means, there is always those palm readers.

Sent from my iPad

Sites that Help You Save

By Brian Freeman of Digitalfactory.tk

Everyone in this day and age buys off the internet. Usually we buy off the internet to save because it's cheaper online, but one way to save even more is the use of promo code or promotion code.

Companies pass out thousands of promo codes every year for number purposes. Most often consumers will get free shipping, a percentage off their purchase or, a favorite among consumers, a free gift with purchase.

How do you get a promo codes?

First, you can join the emailing list to get updates. I, personally, hate spam emails, so my personal favorite sites for promo codes are http://www.retailmenot.com/ andhttp://www.promotioncodes.com/. Both websites have promo codes for everything, including merchant stores, hotels, and even Redboxes.

Retailmenot.com is the better of the two websites, and it has a handy success rate so users can see if the code works.

Next time you buy anything from the Internet, try to find a promo code before checking out because, in this economy, every penny counts.