Leonardo da Vinci: A True Renaissance Man

Leonardo da Vinci is most often described as the most famous painter of all time, but he has also been noted as a skilled inventor and scientist. Indeed, he studied many aspects of science, among them botany and aerodynamics. This deep interest in a myriad of different subjects makes Leonardo a fully acclaimed renaissance man.

'Renaissance' can mean an explosion of interest and ideas, and so Leonardo was an explosion of many talents and ideas. He was not only an accomplished painter from a young age, but was also skilled in science and talented in devising inventions. Fascinated by the natural world, he preferred to observe with his own eyes than to read about it in the reports of others, claiming they were too 'tormentingly long-winded and confusing'. He often studied human muscles and tissues, racing against the clock to record them carefully before they rotted. As an engineer, his inventions ranged from practical to mythological. He devised ways to harness water as a powerful source (electricity was not a power source at the time) and used gears and levers to lift huge weights. With his talent in art, he not only drew the famous Mona Lisa, but used his skill to draw, to the greatest detail, his observations in science or his inventions, inside and out.

Leonardo da Vinci was a man of many talents and many interests, and so a true renaissance man.

Brunelleschi: A Story of High Stakes

This building is the Santa Maria del Fiore of Florentine. Behind it is a very interesting sunset, and so behind the making of the dome is also a very interesting story.

The story of Brunelleschi's famous dome is one of courage, virtuosity, creative leadership, and very high stakes. Risks are essential for change, and for achieving ambition. And Brunelleschi's ambition was not ordinary in the slighest; to build a dome that spanned the empty top of the Santa Maria del Fiore of Florence, without scaffolding.

Courage was needed to brave the scorn of his fellow architects, virtuosity to come up with the remarkable idea of the building structure, and creative leadership required for convincing others less brilliant than he to trust in his plans. But what I thought was needed the most was the ability to take risks. The knowledge and instinct to be able to know, or sense, when he could take considerable risks and trust in his understanding of human nature or when he had to cut his losses and wait for a better time. That, in itself was a risk all on its own, but it wasn't the only. It was a dangerous game, and one that had to be played carefully. Risks drove Brunelleschi to succeed because he had to, he wanted to, and so he had to try. If he had to play this game of politics to gain the privilege of designing the beautiful dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, then so be it. The higher the risk, he knew, the better the prize. He just needed to gauge when it was too good a prize to risk. When the stakes were high and less people were willing to take that same risk you took, Brunelleschi went ahead with his plans full force. But when many were vying for the same coveted position as his wanted, he kept well back and pretended not to be interested.

This risk led to Brunelleschi's rise in the standing of his guild and his city, but it also sparked a changed in the views of architecture. This decision, made by Brunelleschi, helped change to happen, like an open door in a flaming building. The actions of this talented man changed Florentine and allowed more inventions of the Renaissance to spring forth.

Where do new ideas come from?

New ideas can happen anywhere, at any time. Some believe that it is some sort of 'Eureka!' moment, but new ideas usually come from prolonged thinking and brainstorming. Most great inventors and scientists in history rarely think up their theory in moments, unless you count Isaac Newton's 'apple on the head' moment of enlightenment. Ideas usually come from experiences coupled with imagination, or problems that are in urgent need of solving. An example of this is Alexander Graham Bell's invention, the telephone. Many people were having trouble with long-distance conversations, having to rely on telegraph or letters. Even though this is usually fine in most circumstances, emergencies posed an urgent problem to the usual time it took for a letter or telegraph to be delivered. This was a problem that needed to be solved , and the telephone became the solution that let others talk simultaneously to one another. Sometimes, ideas come from someone else's thoughts or words, something that sparks one's imagination and in time forms an idea. Other times, the different people would come to the same conclusion and scramble to publish their ideas first, like Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace. Each came to a similar theory on evolution and while Darwin had come to the conclusion first, he had yet to publish his ideas. This gave way to a scramble for the patent of the theory. All these are ways to come up with new ideas, which are usually revised over and over to become a single, original idea that is both interesting and appealing to humanity, or maybe something that interests you.

My Favorite Short Story From the unit

During the unit of short stories, we read and annotated three stories: The Sniper, Lamb to the Slaughter, and Thank You, Ma'am. When forced to chose a favorite I decided to choose the one had an interesting and intriguing plot, which I thought was the Lamb to the Slaughter. Roald Dahl, the author of this short story, added a sense of secrecy. I liked the suspense, which helped to move the story along and keep a underlying feeling of fear. It gives the story an interesting feeling, one of betrayal and secrecy which really intrigues me because I like to see the way criminals cover their crimes. This story therefore really amazes me in the simple but effective way Mrs. Maloney gets rid of the evidence.

This I Believe: Powerful Laughter

I believe in the power of laughter. I believe in its ability to forge bridges between distances. My name, Yi, means happiness so laughter is something special to me. My laughter, your laughter, his laughter, we’re all laughing for the sheer joy of it and it’s something we can all share. That is what this pictures shows. It shows laughter, like a light from a fire, spreading to the face of everyone present and touching the hearts of all. It never excludes, just brings people together.

I was a new kid in school. It wasn’t the first time, since my dad’s job makes us move around the country, but this was in Norway. Its calm, postcard like demeanor was somehow terrifying to me. I was used to the hustle and bustle of city life, with street vendors and cars honking. In Norway, everything slowed down. The people walked slowly, a peaceful silence hung over the air. And school, the one place I had always felt at ease outside of home, was now as unfamiliar and uninviting as everything else. I could hear my own footsteps plodding unwillingly up the stairs and into the hallway.

As I put my bag in my locker and shut the door, I heard a sound. A comforting sound, as close to me as the sizzle of mum’s cooking. The sound of laughter. Slowly, timidly, I inched closer to the source and saw a group of girls laughing at something.

A boy, shorter than me by a lot, was balancing a football on his nose, then his forehead, and then his tongue! His face looked so comical I laughed too. Without thinking, I asked a girl next to me who he was. The girl looked at me, ignoring that she didn't even know me, and answered like she had been my friend for years. Pretty soon we were laughing and chatting like old friends. In that few seconds, maybe even minutes, of laughter, I made a friend. Just like that, I felt included and not that shy anymore.

You see, “When you laugh, the world laughs with you, but when you cry, you cry alone.” But why cry when you can laugh? Laughter is contagious, you share it without a thought but you still always have some left. That girl I met became my best friend for 3 years. Even though I moved back to Malaysia, we still contact each other through email and chat. We still tell each other everything, from the time this guy in my class fell off his chair screaming “No!” to uploading a new song on her iPod. We still remember the first day of school when I met her, and I think we can’t even go 5 sentences without referring to ‘that first day of school.’

That is why I believe laughter is powerful. It's also why I believe laughter can bring people together, forge friendships as unbreakable as iron, and can bring a newbie straight into the heart of a new school.

Computer Games with a Spark

The Battle of Fulford, Battle of Hastings, Battle of Stamford Bridge. both are historical battles fought by a people who lived in England long ago: The Anglo-Saxons. They fiercely guarded their land, rich and powerful, from their neighbours, the Normans, as well as the fearless Vikings. In 1066, King Harold of England was confronted by two fierce armies from two different directions. Duke William of Normandy, in search of conquest, and Harald Hadrada (hard-ruler) of Norway. Nowadays we live in comfort, at least some of us, anyway, and can only dream of the battles of old. However, the rise of technology has given us the ability to enter a 'virtual world', fight to the death, and return to reality unscathed. In the game 1066, you can control an army and challenge your friends or the computer to a battle. I suggest playing in story mode; it is more interesting and you can learn a little history along the way. Show off to your parents your, ahem, limited knowledge of the war between the Anglo-Saxons and their enemies. In the game, you will be asked to play mini games to give your army that winning edge. The hardest, for me, is angling the archers' bows just right to achieve 'brutal shots' upon the enemy. Having said that, I enjoyed planning the army's movements and participating in the mini-games. It's almost like chess; except more brutal and life-like. If you have younger siblings, please keep the sound off or you will find them suffering from nightmares. I learnt battle strategy and tactics that I shall probably never use ever again, but I have learnt something interesting and maybe even useful; An army's self-confidence, or anyone's, for that matter, is very important. Should anyone manage to break another's self-confidence, that someone is lost. Not material-wise, but it will be like a candle with no flame. If the army loses hope, they are likely to turn tail and run. An important rule for future politicians; encourage your followers frequently. In case you are wondering, The Battle of Hastings is just one battle in the war for the English throne. In it, the Anglo-Saxon army have just won a victory against the Vikings, which have admitted defeat and escaped back to Norway. However, they have also marched 250 miles to meet their other enemy, the Normans,headed by Duke William. Although they put up a great fight, they are eventually defeated by a series of trick retreats, in which the Saxons thought the Normans were running away, and so pursued them, only to be massacred when the cavalry did an about-turn. It was during one of these charges that Harold of England was killed, and upon seeing their brave king dead, the Saxons quickly surrendered. i believe this game is an interesting learning experience because it's like experiencing the battle yourself, with all the bloodshed and cries of pain and surprise. You see how horrible it must have been to be one of the men, the be scared just before battle and during the fight. This game has quite violent tendencies; don't say I didn't warn you. As I said before, KEEP THE SOUND EFFECTS OFF. I really is horrible to hear those sound effects and your parents will come and assassinate me for encouraging you to play such a violent game.

Past Events: So What?

Books like Boy In Striped Pajamas by John Boyne and Rose Blanche by Robert Innocenti and Ian McKewan are set in the Holocaust, one of the darkest times in history. They both have child protagonists, each still innocent and tender in the midst of the nightmare spreading across Europe. Both children are from German families, so are not targeted so long as their parents do not speak up against the injustice of the Nazi beliefs. Yet, they manage to stumble upon a Jew concentration camp, disturbingly near to their homes. The protagonists, Bruno from The Boy in Striped Pajamas and Rose Blanche from Rose Blanche, both decide, of their own accord to befriend and help these people from the other side of the fence, as Bruno calls them. These fences, these boundaries, are everywhere, though some are less visible then others.

Unfortunately, these boundaries will never completely disappear, because it is a human habit to put people into little boxes with labels and preconceive ideas about them. However, we COULD erase those boundaries until they are barely visible, not a barrier but rather a passageway. That was only one of the lessons the Holocaust taught people in that era, but now we are forgetting it. We learn our mistakes from the past, from what happened to others and how they reacted. We could learn something from Bruno, whose inquisitive nature brought him closer to the truth than anyone not involved in the operation could. He wanted to know what was happening, even though he sometimes dreaded the possible truth.

We could also learn something from all the resistance groups that sprouted up, although we could only dream of the courage they found to fight against the oppressive cloud of Nazi forces. For example, the White Rose Movement was formed by a group of young students studying in the University of Munich. Their founders were medical student Hans Scholl, his sister Sophie Scholl, Christoph Probst, Willi Graf, and Alexander Schmorell. Together they wrote leaflets which they transported and mailed. German army’s defeat in Stalingrad on January 1943 led White Rose members handed out pamphlets encouraging the students to rebel. Unfortunately, a janitor saw them with the pamphlets and betrayed them to Hitler’s secret police. February 22, 1943 saw the execution of Hans and Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst.

Another brave stand against the mass Jew killing was the joint effort of the villagers of Le Chambon-Sur-Lignon. 5000 Protestant Christians sheltered and provided food, work, education, and most importantly a refuge with a sense of peace and affection. Their leader was André Trocmé, the spiritual leader of the congregation. He and his wife, Magda Trocmé, urge their villagers to help these ‘people of the Bible’. André’s wife Magda played an important role in many Jews’ escape to neutral Switzerland. She lend Jews, mostly children across the secret mountain passes to Switzerland. She also found villagers who could take in Jews and prepared nearby schools for ‘increased enrolment’. This joint effort was eventually noticed by the officials, who ordered Trocmé to stop his ‘illegal’ activities. Trocmé responded that these people came here to find shelter, so they would give them shelter. Later Trocmé was forced to go underground but his fellow villagers never ceased their taking in of Jews and continue with a will.

These lesson of human rights and courage and will are timeless; we should never be without them, no matter what time period. These traits are what makes a loving, peaceful community that is the dream of every human being in the world. We should be reminded of these traits and what the lack of them could mean for humanity. Hopefully, most of us will learn something through study of the Holocaust and refrain from ‘repeating history’ in the here and now.

Photographs Bring Change

Steve McCurry, a photographer, a traveler, and a humanitarian, famous for his photograph the ‘Afghan Girl’, mainly travels through Asia, such as Burma, Afghanistan, India, and more. Steve McCurry travels around the world, capturing the feeling in the struggles and joys of life. His photos often gravitate towards people, the emotion and the experience on their faces, and the kind of condition they are in. “A good portrait is one that says something about the person. We usually see parts of ourselves in others, so the good portrait should also say something about the human condition.”

A photo which has a significant impact on me is a photo from Steve McCurry’s travels to Buddhist countries, like Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam, and such. This photo is a color portrait of a young Buddhist nun, with her hair shaved and dressed in simple, brown saffron robes. Resting on her shoulder is a red-brown paper umbrella, covering most of her dark background. Her face holds a look of great curiosity, as if contemplating the viewer. The theme seems to be the nature of a child, the need to know all that is happening around them, their innocence, and naïvety. McCurry also seems to be emphasizing the young nun’s confidence, in the way she conducts herself in the photo, staring straight out and catching the viewer’s eye. As he said, “Every time I have visited a Buddhist monastery, I have seen a playfulness among the monks, a joy in the way they conduct themselves and the way they interact with each other.” Although we, the young nun and I, are in drastically different circumstances, we both share the curiosity of happenings around us. We also share a sure air of solidarity. Lastly we have the same belief in Buddhism.

I have learned that photography is a dangerous yet interesting job, that you have to travel anywhere in the world to find things to photograph. I also found that photography has the power to bring about change, such as when we see the pain and hardship of war as well as the joys of the small things in life. For me, a great photo has to get me to pause, study the photo and think of the photo as I turn away. It needs an intriguing subject and a background that adds to it. A photo that lasts and endures time is one that draws the viewer in as they look from the subject to the background, and keeps them thinking after they turn away. My way of looking at a photo is to focus on the subject, mainly on the eyes, then the rest of the face. Then my eyes move on to the background, and I focus on that for a moment before looking at the complete photo. McCurry’s work reflects a journey through his own journey makes in his many travels and the journey his subjects undergo, their hardships and hopes. “You need to keep your heart and mind open. Life is flowing in front of your eyes and you need to be open to respond and allow yourself to be touched by things which are extraordinary and let it change you.”

Power of the VOID: Part 2

I would name the story that we read "The Lottery" because that would create excitement and tension as the reader asks, 'What do you win in the lottery?' 'What is the lottery for?' and so on. It wouldn't reveal the nature of the lottery, but would reel the reader in through the vagueness of the title. Throughout the story, I had a premonition that this particular lottery wasn't the 'happy' kind, from the ominous feeling I got from parts of the story. Some of those parts were the anxiousness of the people, the talk of some villages abandoning this 'lottery', and Tessie being reluctant to admit that her family had the big black dot. I read a little ahead of the group so when I saw we would not read the end of the story, I was frustrated and curious to what would happen next. I kind of suspected we would have a paper or something to write a response or whatever, but I didn't count on waiting until 5pm to see the contents of the paper. I did follow the instructions, actually I opened it at about 5:30pm after almost forgetting about the paper. I had a bad feeling about the box as well as the dot, due to the anxiety and nervouness both could create. Also, the color black as symbolises something bad and ominous will happen. I was pretty excited as I read the paper, but my excitedness quickly turned into horror, as I figured out Tessie fate through it hints in the last two paraghaphs. I would say my predictions are partially correct, I thought that someone would have to leave the village forever, considered inhuman and an outcast or something. I think the author was very good at giving hints, but I just misread the hints into something else. This author leaves many voids in the story to catch our attention and reel us in to the story.

Power of the VOID...

"The International School of Kuala Lumpur provides an exceptional education that challenges each student to develop the attitude, skills, knowledge and understanding to become (silence) a highly successful, spirited, socially responsible global citizen."
I think that adding a silence after the word 'become' is the most effective place to create tension. When adding a VOID after 'become', the audience would anticipate the end of the sentence. They would wonder what the student will have the potential to be if they went to this school. The audience could ask questions such as "What is a student here going to be when he leaves ISKL? What could they become if they attended this school?" The audience might try to answer the questions they are themselves, thus creating even more tension.

One way composers could create tension and release in their pieces is through the lack of a musical element, such as the melody or the rhythm. This causes the listener to ask questions. The composer could hold the tension for as long as they desired, from a few seconds to more than a minute, then releasing by returning the element to the listener, adding the melody or the harmony of the music back into the piece.