7 Wonders

In the past year the world was asked to vote on what the “New 7 Wonders of the World” were going to be. The New 7 Wonders…why do we need new wonders? This has been bothering me for a long time now, pretty much since the vote began. What was wrong with the old wonders of the world?

Well…most of them are no longer in existence.

6 out of 7 of the “Old” wonders of the world are no longer standing. Has our society really gotten to the point where their need for instant gratification hinders their ability to appreciate the difficulty of creating something, such as the Hanging Gardens, unless they can see it in person. Now this isn’t to say that I think the New Seven Wonders were easy to create. I appreciate the difficulty they represent, however, I don’t think they are any “more” wondrous than the original wonders. After all, to be on this list shouldn’t there be mystery surrounding how a thing was created.

“Old” 7 Wonders of the World:

Pyramids



Built in Ancient Giza around 2560 BC, these royal burial places have withstood the test of time. After many Egyptian official, archaeologists and scholars expressed their outrage at putting the Pyramids up to vote the “wonders” committee withdrew the Pyramids from the competition in April and granted them "honorary wonder" status. After all the Pyramids are one of the few structures still standing today that keep historian guessing about how they were made.
Colossus



Completed in 282 B.C, the Colossus was a feet of engineering in the ancient world. The statue took 12 years to build and stood 110 feet tall, the tallest in antiquity. It was composed of stone and iron, encapsulated by a layer of bronze. An earthquake snapped the statue off at the knees a mere 56 years later, sending it into the Mandráki Harbor.

Lighthouse of Alexandria

Believed to be the tallest building in antiquity, with the lowest estimate is equal to a 40-story building, the Lighthouse was a highly efficient structure. It used bronze mirrors to reflect light, from a fire at night and from the sun during the day, out to sea. It is rumored that this beacon could be seen 35 miles out at sea. It stood for over 1,500 years before earthquakes finally took it down.

Statue of Zeus at Olympia



A 40 foot-tall gold statue of Zeus, the King of the Gods, sat on a wooden thrown, holding a separate statue of Nike, goddess of victory, in his hand. There are two rumors around it’s destruction. It was either destroyed by the Christians, or moved to Constantinople, where it would have perished in a fire.

The Hanging Gardens



They stood on the banks of the Euphrates River. Built by Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 BC for his wife. The masonry needed to build the aqueduct system and tired gardens would have been awe inspiring in its day.

Mausoleum of Halicarnassus

This tomb is the source of the word Mausoleum. The mausoleum stood intact until the early 15th century. The central burial chamber was decorated in gold, while the exterior was adorned with ornate stone friezes and sculptures.

Temple of Artemis

Located in modern day Turkey, the temple was made in honor of the virgin goddess Artemis, sister of Apollo. The 120 columns supporting the temple also housed great works of art. These pieces included a vast array of sculpture depicting the mythical Amazons. Today Archaeologists have reconstructed its base and supporting structures, but most of the Temple is still lost.

“New” 7 Wonders of the World:

Christ the Redeemer

A 105-foot-tall statue in Rio de Janeiro. I can honestly say I did NOT vote for this one. There is a lot of controversy surrounding this particular “New” wonder. The controversy coming from the government asking that the residents of Rio de Janeiro to vote for the statue as much as possible, insisting the majority of its citizens to vote multiple times. Now this could be seen as typical propaganda, but when the votes were tallied over 50% of the votes for this site came from…Rio de Janeiro.

The Great Wall of China

The only man made structure that is visible from space, or so I’ve heard. Ok, I agree that this is pretty amazing, considering it’s length, about 4,000 miles, and when it was built. However, it is also horrific. It’s a testament to human cruelty, after all it is filled with the bodies of workers who dies because they were being over worked during its construction. The wall didn’t even work, the Mongols were able to overcome the structure in most locations. Even the Chinese state heritage officials refused to endorse the competition for new wonders and didn’t broadcast the Wall’s recognition.

Petra, Jordan

Whenever humans live underground people become awe inspired. I personally can’t imagine living without windows, I already have to work without them and can’t stand that. Living underground has been done for thousands of year, although not with this much aesthetic value. The underground city in Cappadocia, Turkey and ancient cave paintings can attest how long we have gone underground to hide or find spirituality.

Machu Piccu



A 15th-century mountain Inca settlement in the Amazon region of Peru. The site sits on a mountain 7,970-feet-high. It has great architecture, equaling in grandeur to that which can be found in Mesopotamia, but at an altitude that limits oxygen and access to supplies.

Chichén Itzá

A Mayan temple city. The city was a religious and political center for the Mayan civilization. The Mayan’s were the largest civilization in the world during their time of power, which lasted from A.D. 750 to 1200.

The Taj Mahal



The domed mausoleum is regarded as the finest example of Mughal art and architecture. Construction began in 1632 and ended in 1647.

The variety of areas represented in the “new” Wonders of the World is impressive. South America, an area that had previously gone unrepresented, is home to 3 of the 7 wonders. This is a cheering feet, since the ancient civilizations from this area have often been underrepresented, which can be seen in the “old” wonders of the world which are located entirely in the Mediterranean area.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is not one of my favorite holidays. I think it has something to do with the fact that I am not particularly fan of turkey, a meat which is currently occupying the majority of my refrigerator. This year Thanksgiving was slightly more enjoyable than most.

The Dallas Cowboys won... always a plus... their holiday game, despite having to play the previous Sunday. many people say that the teams that play on Thanksgiving should get a bye the week before. "It's unfair to ask them to play so soon." I do not believe this. Football players are supposed to be the greatest of all men. The Man's Man. Well a real man can play 60 minutes of football twice in a period of 5 days. Let's not be lenient on these guys. Both teams have had the same amount of prep time, thus neither team should have an inherent advantage. There will still be a winner and a loser.

Another plus... my cat, Tramples, has finally arrived and will be living with me from now on. Prior to this Thanksgiving she had lived with my parents, as I tried to find a relatively cheep apartment that allows cute fluffy animals. I had missed her greatly, and she definitely made this Thanksgiving better just by being her wonderful self.

Oh yeah, and my parents came to me this Thanksgiving, thus I didn't have to deal with holiday travel, while my Mom still cooked the Turkey. That's a pretty good deal if you ask me.


All in all it was a good day.

Meeting People

I'm a relatively outgoing person. I can sit down and talk to strangers if need be, but I wouldn't call myself overly social. (Like those people who get on a plane or train and just start talking to you! I can't stand those people. I am not on a train to talk. I am on a train to get somewhere, and in the meantime I'm going to enjoy the ride by napping and reading. Just cause I'm sitting next to you does not mean I want to talk about your niece Lizzy and her new disgustingly cute habit.) That is why this weekend was so interesting.

I met tons of people, by which I mean 7. Still a high number when you consider I spent most of the weekend in my apartment. I went out with a friend to a local billiards place and while we were there we joined up with a group of girls who had recently moved to the area. After about an hour we met a group of guys who had been living here for about a year. out of our 3 groups, none of us had ever met before, but we hit it off. We spent the night playing darts (which we all stunk at) and dancing at a club (where we were heckled by the other dancers with a chorus of "Go White Girl"). At the end of the night we all exchanged numbers and went our separate ways.

The next morning I was ridding in the elevator of my building with a guy named Tommy. We started a conversation (which is unusual for me as you could probably tell by my ideas about talking while traveling) and decided to get together again sometime.

All in all it was a very social weekend for me.

People on the Metro

I commute a fare distance on the Metro going to and from work. Now that I've been doing this for a few months I have noticed that there a few repeat characters. Last night I saw a family that I typically only see in the mornings. I was very surprised to see them on my commute home.

This family is the typical American family with a mom, dad and child. They get on the metro at Forest Glen and ride into the city. The mom probably works in a law firm or at a court office. This theory comes from the types of documents she is typically holding when she exits at Judiciary Square.

The father and son continue along the red line after her departure. I'm not entirely sure what the dad does in the day. He continues on the Red line after I transfer at Metro Center. I feel like he has a fun job somewhere. He wears jeans and simple sweaters.

The little boy is of Asian decent, adopted by his Caucasian parents. He is adorable. He is still young enough to stand on his mother's lap while riding the train, however judging by his size and her face after about a minute of this I think she's going to start vetoing that idea in a month. He seems like a smart child, his stroller is always filled with little books, which I've seen his dad read to him.

I have grown a fondness for this family and their morning intersations. It's just anouther reason why I love the city. You can develope an unwriten relationship with people you've never met.

More Pictures

A cyclone kills thousands and leaves even more stranded in Bangladesh.



The Writer's guild went on strike this week, as this cartoon seen in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel shows. this is just bad timing (depending on your point of view of course). With the busiest TV season at hand we viewers are going to be sadly feeling the down sides of this strike. Meanwhile networks such as Fox must be ecstatic with their decision to rely heavily on reality tv.



Jones Soda Co. is selling holiday-themed packs of flavored sodas. This crazy soda has flavors like: Sugar Plum, Christmas Tree, Egg Nog and Christmas Ham, Jelly Doughnut, Apple Sauce, Chocolate Coins and Latkes sodas. Yum!



While Romo is behind Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre among the NFC quarterbacks, 10 other Cowboys were leading their respective positions from the fan votes for Pro-Bowl.

The Closing of the Western Mind by Charles Freeman

I just finished a book titled "The Closing of the Western Mind: The Rise of Faith and the Fall of Reason" by Charles Freeman. I really enjoyed this book. Freeman takes the reader along the path of Christianity from just before Christ to the Renaissance. Freeman follows a series of events with a perspective that is not typically expressed, as it is not how the Church views it's past.

When looking at the title of the book I thought that it was going to be about undermining the Church. Saying that the Church squandered the potential of the human mind. I am happy to say that this was not the case. Freeman did not write this book to bash the Church, but to show that "Greek intellectual tradition was suppressed rather than just faded out" as is the widespread belief.

Here are a few quotes of Freeman, or of others that he used to enforce his points.

"If truth is to be effectively advanced any findings must be open to challenge, and this means that even the greatest thinkers must never be made into figures of authority"

- on the stance of Greeks prior to the foundation of Christianity.

"No authority can dictate in advance what can and can not be believed, or there is no possibility of progress."

Greek philosopher/scientist predicts an eclipse. This was the start of Greek Philosophy, and the idea that the cosmos had an observable order.

"As long as no ruler attempted to force a definition of the Supreme Deity fruitful speculations about 'him' and 'his' nature could continue."

-on why debate about a supreme god could flourish in ancient Greece and Rome.

By the 4th century Paul and the Old Testament were used to justify the destruction of pagan art and architecture.

Constantine's philosophy did NOT involve Jesus. Constantine created a relationship between Christ and war for political reasons. This was not backed by scripture.

"You submit to the judgement of the elders (in all you do and think)"

-Basil on how monks should act in a monastery.

Pagan teachers had their licenses (parrhesia- freedom of speech) to instruct others removed.

St. Augustine was unknowingly using poor Latin translations of a Greek and Hebrew bible. This caused a moss of meaning and could lead to misinterpretation.

"Now we have no more meetings, no more debates, no more gatherings of wise men in the agora, nothing more of all that made our city famous."

-An ancient Roman's account of how his city had changed.

The penalties for transgressing the boundaries in this world and the next were too great for debate. The volume of heresies that caused you to be condemned in this world and the next worried those who would have debated to the point that people made the effort to focus only on what is acceptable and not step off of that line.

"The Arabs sustained the Greek tradition by valuing the intellectual achievements of the past without being overawed by them." - Freedman on how Greek tradition stayed alive in the Arab world, which would later come to help in the time of the Renaissance.

St. Thomas Aquinas restored the relationship between reason and faith.

For a more coherent explanation of Freedman's book and more information I suggest... reading the book. It's really good. It makes you think, but only about the bureaucracy of the Church, it never addresses the authenticity of Christianity, just the authenticity of it's Orthodoxy.

CSI: Sara

CSI, the origional, is one of my favorite shows. I have had difficulties seeing the show this season, however I still try to catch it as much as possible. A big change is about to happen on the show. It seems that they are getting rid of the charecter Sara Sidle.

Sara, played by Jorja Fox, has been with the show since the first season. She came onto the show in the second episode, following the murder of a fellow CSI in the pilot. Personally, I never really liked Sara on CSI. Her arrival at CSI in the first season always felt a bit off. In fact, of all the charecters, I'm glad Sara is leaving. She has grown on me over the years but I never felt her charecter really fit the show. All the other charecter's fit together so well and gave room to have side plots and for the viewers to really relate. I always felt that they gave Sara the "love" story because her charecter was the weakest. Now that they've sorta played that out it only makes sense that she's leaving.

Now I wonder how their going to send her off. There are alot of theories out there: murder, mental breakdown, something invloving her mother. Since I haven't been able to watch much this season I'm not going to hazard a guess, but I do hope it is a good send off. Her charecter has been here for too long to just send her off.

How will Grissom handle Sara's departure?

I can't wait to find out.

Walk Like An Egyptian

All the old paintings on the tombs
They do the sand dance don't you know
If they move too quick (oh whey oh)
They're falling down like a domino

All the bazaar men by the Nile
They got the money on a bet
Gold crocodiles (oh whey oh)
They snap their teeth on your cigarette

Foreign types with the hookah pipes say
Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh
Walk like an Egyptian

Blonde waitresses take their trays
They spin around and they cross the floor
They've got the moves (oh whey oh)
You drop your drink then they bring you more

All the school kids so sick of books
They like the punk and the metal band
When the buzzer rings (oh whey oh)
They're walking like an Egyptian

All the kids in the marketplace say
Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh
Walk like an Egyptian

Slide your feet up the street bend your back
Shift your arm then you pull it back
Life is hard you know (oh whey oh)
So strike a pose on a Cadillac

If you want to find all the cops
They're hanging out in the donut shop
They sing and dance (oh whey oh)
Spin the clubs cruise down the block

All the Japanese with their yen
The party boys call the Kremlin
And the Chinese know (oh whey oh)
They walk the line like Egyptian

All the cops in the donut shop say
Ay oh whey oh, ay oh whey oh
Walk like an Egyptian
Walk like an Egyptian

I love how a song can sweep you up and send your mind racing back to a different time and place. This is one of those songs for me. The Bangles one-hit-wonder doesn't hold any specific significance for me, however the memories that I associate with it are priceless. (Yes I know that was a very corny line)

When I was in High school my roommate and I would dance to this song, and others, late into the evening. Are favorite activity to do with this particular song was to stand in the windowsill and do the famous "Egyptian" dance. That's right folks! We were two crazy mummies!! (haha, another great line!)

I was listening to this song tonight as I downloaded it to i-tunes (a new thing for me, as I only download i-tunes about...a week ago) from a cd my roommie had made me to remind me of our awesome times. Immediately after hearing the opening notes I remembered being in that windowsill. (The best part about that dance was we had the room directly above the main entrance to the school.)

A great song with wonderful memories.

Pictures

Since I forgot to post a pictures last Friday this week will be a combination of last week and this week.



In the biggest Football game since..well the Superbowl.. Manning and the Colts faced Brady and the Patriots. This time Brady came out on top, outscoring the undefeted Superbowl Champions. Here the two quarterbacks are seen shaking hands after the game.



A fish out of water. The Mangrove Rivulus is found here living in a damp log.



Queen Elizabeth II gives a speach, which she had never seen before, durring the "opening of Parlimont" ceremonies. Her Magisty has reigned since February 1952.



The Boston Redsox celebrate their win in the World Series over The Colorodo Rockies.



A baby Giraffe was born last week. In honor of the baby's team of caretakers' favorite sports team the giraffe was named Sox.

Fish breaths... Air??

That's right folks. A very unique fish, the mangrove rivulus, also known as the mangrove killifish, is native to the Americas and is about two inches long, is able to live out of water.

National Geographic has reported studies that suggest the animals can breathe continuously through their skin, as long as they remain in a moist environment. The fish have been discovered to crowd together in logs when their habit, a swamp, annually dries up. Scientists estimate that the fish can live out of the water for 66 days.

The mangrove rivulus is not new to scientific study. It has a very rare sexual design. It's the only vertebrate known to naturally self-fertilize. In some populations, it can become a hermaphrodite, developing both male and female parts simultaneously. In these situations it has been known to clone itself.

The preliminary results of research will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal American Naturalist.

This fish could be key to understanding how life original left the oceans and came onto land.

Privy Prop

This friday Ellen Degeneres will be hosting a show about young inventors. These are brilliant kids who have invented something that not only is fully funtional, but practical.

Jake built a toilet seat "raiser" that has a foot pedal. He built a plywood base and then cut thin pieces of steel and fashioned a teeter-totter at the bottom. You step on it and the seats raises. You step off and it closes.

I am amazed at how a kid could come up with a concept like this. Jake says he got the idea when he saw a trash can with a foot pedal and thought that would be a great solution to his problem. Apparently he was constantly being scolded by his mother for not putting the seat down, which lead to her falling into the toilet. Normally I would say the mother should look where she is sitting, but in this case it lead to Jake's effective use of his creativity.

Great Job Jake!

My application for the postion of Clerk in a Tropical Fish Store

In light of the recent opening of Parliament here are the most ridiculous British laws, as voted upon in a British newspaper poll. :
1. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament (What’s the punishment?)
2. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British monarch upside-down (Understandable, after all we wouldn’t want here to get a headache.)
3. In Liverpool, it is illegal for a woman to be topless except as a clerk in a tropical fish store (Um…yeah)
4. Mince pies cannot be eaten on Christmas Day.
5. In Scotland, if someone knocks on your door and requires the use of your toilet, you must let them enter (All burglars please take note of this law.)
6. A pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet (HAHA. I can’t wait to be pregnant and travel to Britain! Changing of the Guards here I come!)
7. The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the king, and the tail of the queen (I wonder where they would store such property.)
8. It is illegal to avoid telling the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing (Hmm?? I think this one speaks for itself.)
9. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament in a suit of armor (Is the punishment death? If so can you really punish him for dying in Parliament?)
10. In the city of York it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow (But let him be if he has a gun and dynamite.)