St Basil (outline)

-Basil of Caesarea (ca. 330 - January 1, 379), also called Basil the Great
-Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), a leading churchman in the 4th century
-The Roman Catholic Church considers him a saint and a Doctor of the Church
-His parents were known for piety
-Basil returned to Caesarea in Cappadocia around 350-51 to begin his formal education.[9]There he met Gregory of Nazianzus, who would become a lifetime friend.[10] Together, Basil and Gregory went on to study in Constantinople, where they would have listened to the lectures of Libanius.
-the two spent almost six years in Athens starting around 349, where they met a fellow student who would become the emperor Julian the Apostate.[11][12] It was at Athens that he began to first think about living a life focused on Christian principles.
-Returning from Athens around 355, Basil briefly practiced law and taught rhetoric in Caesarea
-Basil soon abandoned his legal and teaching professions in order to devote his life to God. Describing his spiritual awakening in a letter, Basil said:
“ I had wasted much time on follies and spent nearly all of my youth in vain labors, and devotion to the teachings of a wisdom that God had made foolish. Suddenly, I awoke as out of a deep sleep. I beheld the wonderful light of the Gospel truth, and I recognized the nothingness of the wisdom of the princes of this world.[16]
-St Basil of Caesarea holds a very important place in the history of Christian liturgy
-The Eastern Orthodox Church considers him a saint and one of the Three Holy Hierarchs, together with Gregory Nazianzus and John Chrysostom

The 3 Holy Hierarchs

Commercials

Commercials help companies let the customers know their products. Advertising a product must be smart enough to interest people. Both Apple iPod and Microsoft Zune have commercials, but they are different in the ways showing their features.

The openings of the two commercials are about the same. They are all playing music and videos. The iPod commercial has different colorful iPod flying, while playing a soft, relaxing music. The Zune commercial starts with a Zune sending a file to one and another, and then suddenly a bunch of Zunes is playing a same song, then the same video. At the end, the iPod ad has all the iPods which are in different colors standing together, then at all of their bottoms come out inks with colors of their own. The Zune ad makes a list of the basic features (e.g., music, video, pictures… etc.), and then leaves a word “zune.”

Although both of the commercials are advertising a music player, the two commercials put you in different atmospheres. The iPod one makes you feel smooth, soft, and relaxed, whereas the Zune one gives you a rock and cool feeling. The Zune ad is better than the other because the scene of a bunch of Zunes playing the same music together will surprise you a lot, making a hit that you’ll never forget. The iPod ad is a little too smooth that it’s kind of boring. Above all, the Zune ad is really a good example of commercials.

It’s because the commercial is interesting that it catches people’s attention. The Zune ad is successful for it can quickly make an impression to the people who watch. There’s a key for making a good commercial – to catch people’s mind and make it easy to be remembered.

What Change Would I Most Like to Make?

Air pollution has always been a problem since people started to use gasoline. We’re now trying to solve the problem. It may be a big problem, but still there’s something we can do: to be green. The way we live in order to reduce air pollution is the change what I most like to make.

Using less energy can be a way to help. The less we use gasoline, the cleaner the air will be. First, walk, or use public transportation instead of driving on your own not only reduces traffic jams but also the using of gasoline. Second, reduce using plastic products. Plastic products are from chemical industries, which uses gasoline as a major material. Third, plant more plants at your community; make it a community work, let children plant them and water them, so that they will learn to respect the nature early.
Last, buying green vehicles and using green products is environmental friendly to the Earth.

Air pollution, which is mostly caused by the using of oil, is not good for human health. By walking or taking public transportation, reducing using plastic products can lessen the pollution and the lack of oil. Planting more trees can produce more clean air. Because of these, air pollution can be reduced, and the number of people who are unhealthy will decrease.

It’s not hard to help make the air we breathe cleaner, and it’s related close to our daily life, so making the change of the way we live is important. We can’t stop using gasoline or chemical industrious materials which make air pollution, but we can make a change, to be green, to reduce the using of the things that causes air pollution.

Group 1 Crew, "Ordinary Dreamers" Review

Group 1 Crew, a Christian rap/R&B band from Orlando, Florida, after releasing their debut album last year, has excelled quickly in the Christian music scene. The threesome went out on tour, and starting to write their next album. Now, a year and a half later, the Group releases their sophomore recording, Ordinary Dreamers.

Opening up with a beat-driven “Movin’, the melody will really make you want to move. The song gives you a fresh feeling with some effects. Highlights including “Gimme That Funk,” the powerful and lyrically-driven “Keys to the Kingdom,” “iContact,” and the party feeling “Critical Emergency.”

Comparing to their debut album, Group 1 Crew has innovated their sound and putting more instruments and sound effects in it. The music brings you happiness and makes you relax. Still, the Crew keeps the lyrics clean and Christ-centered, while making the songs have fun and dancing. Both of the CDs are great, it’s hard to say which is better. They won’t let you down.

Overall, Group 1 Crew is still doing well so far. They have incorporated many different sounds and without forsaking the Christian message. If you’re looking for new rap/R&B to listen to, look no further than the sounds of Group 1 Crew. Ordinary Dreamers showcases Group 1 Crew doing what they do best: having fun and praising God at the same time.

Kutless

Kutless is one of my favorite bands. Formed in Portland, Oregon as a worship band name Call Box in 2000. Then in 2002, they changed their name to “Kutless” before releasing their first full-length album on BEC Recordings. Kutless chose their name because of a specific Bible verse. Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (NRSV). Because of this, the band says, "He took our cuts for us... leaving us 'Kutless'." The band plays Christian rock, alternative rock, with inspiring and heart-touching lyrics. They are famous in the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) world.

The band started in church, and then became a professional Christian band. They released their first album self-titled, featuring 2 hit singles, “Your Touch” and “Run”. “Run” is one of the most played songs on ChristianRock.net. In 2004, the band released their sophomore, Sea of Faces. This album has given them a huge success and expended their fan base many times over. There are plenty of hit songs on this record, such as “All Alone”, “Sea of Faces”, “Perspective”, and “Troubled Heart”. “Sea of Faces” is a touching song, which gives a message of the loving care of God. “Troubled Heart” is saying that in the midst of your tragedy, God’s eyes are starring down, and He feels your troubled heart.

Strong Tower, released in 2005, is the band’s third album. This album is a collection of thirteen rock-oriented worship songs. Although there are only 2 songs written by the band, they made the album nearly a perfect one. This is the album that introduced me Kutless. The hit song, Strong Tower, which is the title track, was made into a music video (go search YouTube, type “kutless strong tower”).

After Strong Tower, they released Heart of the Innocent and To Know That You’re Alive. Kutless has always been a great band to me. I have all of their albums, and it’s really great to know such an awesome band…(unfinished)

Which iPod are you?

iPods have been popular since they are found by the company Apple Computer. There are different types of iPods, and each of them has their own features. iPod classic and iPod touch, which are going to be discussed in this essay, are not the same at all. Although they are all from the iPod family, but their features make them different.

iPod classic and iPod touch are different in some ways. First, they play the some kinds of song and video files, display the same kinds of image files. Secondly, both iPod classic and iPod touch need iTunes for file synchronizing and organizing. They both are similar in their function, only the operating system.

The features make both iPods different. iPod classic owns a bigger storage. It can store more things than iPod touch. It is controlled by a “click wheel”, in contrast, iPod touch is controlled by touching the screen. iPod classic has longer battery life, up to 30~40 hours of music playback, and up to 5~7 hours of video playback; on the other hand, iPod touch only have up to 22 hours of music playback, and up to 5 hours of video playback. While iPod touch has shorter battery life, it only takes 3 hours to charge complete, whereas iPod classic takes 4 hours to finish charging. A comparison between the screens of both iPods shows that iPod touch has a 3.5-inch diagonal screen, unlike iPod classic, only 2.5-inch. By comparing with their size, iPod classic thicker and heavier that iPod touch. Both of them have their own specific features, so they’re completely the same.

Both iPods have their distinguishing features. Different storages, battery lives, sizes meet different people’s needs. It is the customers who will say which is better, not by their mouths but actions.

Going on a vacation. Staying in a hotel or a tent?

Choosing a place in stay while on vacation is a decision should be made. There are two major places that people choose the most, hotels and tents. Hotels are comfortable, and they have pretty good services. Tents, making you feel like living in the wild, and they somehow are not as comfortable as hotels, but they give you another kind of feeling. Both of these places are for people to stay during a vacation, but the atmospheres set them apart.

If you’re choosing to stay in a hotel, the comfortable atmosphere comes to you right at the time you stepped in, making you feeling welcomed. You’ll get good services while staying, and almost everything will be done and prepared well for you. This is a great place for people who want to rest well and enjoy services.

Going camping will be another choice. If you’re not a fan of comfortable areas, tents will be a great place for you. Insects, bugs, and their noise will surround you all night, which gives you a wild atmosphere. You can see a sky full of stars, clearly and sparkling. It is an alternative choice for people who love to be near with the nature.

Although the two places are both for staying, there are some differences between them. Staying in a hotel is comfortable, and offers good services, while staying in a tent makes you feel closer with the nature. Both of them have their distinguishing characteristic of their own atmosphere, so they meet the needs for different people.

It is somehow important to choose a place to stay at night. Hotels make you feel good and welcomed, for the services they offered. Staying in a tent is an alternative choice for it provides an atmosphere of wild, and closer to the nature. The good place to stay depends on if it’s going to make your trip a better one or not. Choose the place that “fits” your vacation.

Should we do more to deal with the problem of domestic violence, or is the problem exaggerated?

Domestic violence has always been a serious problem. Some think that it’s not a big deal, while some say that it’s a problem that should be noticed. Domestic violence should be noticed because it not only causes physical injuries, but also hurting on the inside. If the victims are not healed, there will be more and more problems. Domestic violence is a problem that we should do more to deal with.

Neglecting the problem and pretending nothing’s there is not going to help. The society should face this problem as a serious problem. The government should have departments with strong groups of people that can really reach into every single family that has domestic violence problems. This helps the government know more about their people, and also helps keep the victims away from domestic violence and other relating problems, in order to give the rights back to them.

The domestic violence problem is not exaggerated. If we don’t focus on this, the amount of victims will increase. Domestic violence causes serious injuries, even death. As a result, more and more people will get hurt and die. Next, the news of people dying because of domestic violence will spread, and they will make people sad and depress. Then, there might be more crime and suicide because people are feeling blue. The problem will grow bigger and the society will be suffering the crisis.

The hurting is not only physical, but also on the inside. Although the physical pain is already gone, the hurting inside isn’t easy to be healed. This will lead to some problems like people not trusting others, murder, or doing violence to others as well. The victims may have problems dealing with their family and other people.

In conclusion, domestic violence should not be ignored, for ignoring it bring bigger crisis. Therefore, neglecting domestic violence is not a solution. We should consider these problems seriously, not saying that they are exaggerated.

Essay - Homeschooling

Every time when we think about education, what brings to mind is going to school. But not everyone was educated in school, some of them was educated at home! Homeschooling is not new stuff, but it's another decision for education. Have you ever wondered if homeschooling is better?

Is it better for a student to study at home rather than going to school? Homeschooling, might be a new way, but it takes away the opportunity of learning how to deal w/ friendship and relationship. For example, there are two children, one goes to school, the other goes homeschooling. When both of them finished their education, there might be a big difference between them: the one who goes to school has less problems dealing w/ relationship, but the other who does homeschooling has more problems. You may think dealing w/ relationship is not a big problem, but it plays a major role in our society. If there are more and more people having these kinds of problems, there might bring other problems to the society, e.g., crime, depression...etc.

Homeschooling may be another choice for education, but it doesn't make a person become more suitable to live in our society. After all, learning w/ classmates provides a more complete education.

1st Post

Hello, my name is William. This is my first post.