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Responding to letters from the bank

Responding to letters from the bank

For many homeowners who receive correspondence from their mortgage bank, understanding the letters and replying to them prove a task too much and no replies are sent. This is one of the biggest mistakes a homeowner can make. It is usually the bank's intention to make the homeowner appear unco-operative as they can then move forward with demanding voluntary surrender or initiating court proceedings.

Don't avoid replying to the bank....
For those who do respond, they do so by phone and fail to keep a permanent record of what has been said or how co-operative they have been. With no paper trail the homeowner looks very naked compared to the bank, festooned with files and files of documents as they always appear to be. The very few who do write back to the bank often do not write letters as effectively as they could or should.

Although the National Land League are rolling out workshops throughout the country to assist homeowners in defending their homes, we cannot even hope to reach all of those in trouble. The following article is an outline of key tips and advice when reading bank letters and responding to them. We will try to provide you with this information as simply and clearly as possible but it is important you understand that you must practice if you are to master "critical" correspondence exchange.

There are a number of reasons why critical correspondence exchange is important to the homeowner in arrears, namely..... (i) Creates evidence of your co-operation, (ii) ensures that the bank do not make untrue statements that go unchallenged, (iii) assists you in accessing your rights under MARP - Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (please see earlier blogs), (iv) assists you in collating evidence against the bank.

To critically assess some information, let’s say a report or correspondence, means to examine it from alternative viewpoints. Critical assessment requires a number of pre-requisites, in other words things in place, before it can happen. The pre-requisites to critical assessment are….

1. A doubting mind (never accept information in a letter at face value).

2. An understanding that the “other side” has alternative motives.

3. An awareness of protocol and procedure (such as CCMA/MARP)

4. A framework of critical variables (categories / types of things to look out for)

In social sciences for example, critical variables can include considering reports or correspondence in terms of what it says about: Gender; Class; Religion; Age; Disability etc. The reader would ask him/herself, how does this material relate to women? To the poor? Etc. In the case of critically assessing bank correspondence there will be a different list of critical variables to use, namely…….

A. Does the correspondence make any untrue statements?

B. Does it provide you with an opportunity to make a reasonable request for information before making a final response.

C. Does the correspondence comply with CCMA/MARP?

Before diving into a bank correspondence it is best that you have certain tools at hand. Three blank sheets of paper and a pencil for start, and if possible a photocopy of  the bank letter. If you have a photocopy, you can write notes on it, but   you are advised to use the blank paper. You may wish   to use the original copy as evidence into the future. On each of the three sheets, write one of the three Critical variables on the header section. Make sure you are in an environment conducive to clear focus and free from interruption.

We shall look at each variable in more detail now....

A. Does the correspondence make any untrue statements?
Banking administrators often make efforts to portray those in arrears as un-cooperative. This can speed up the possession process and may also, if unchallenged, influence a Judge into the future. It is very important that you rebut (deny) any untruthful statements made in banking correspondence. If you do not rebut it is accepted as fact. Untrue statements can come in a number of forms like actual statements of fact, and others come in the form of presumptions.

Examples of banking untrue  “statements of facts”…

•“We have been trying unsuccessfully to make contact with you.”

“As per our correspondence of the 22/03/14 (earlier dated postmark)”.

“You have not made your repayments as per our most recent agreement.”

“As you have failed to correspond…”

“You have not provided us with the information we have requested…”

Any such “untrue statements” of fact must be responded to in your correspondence. As part of the critical assessment process, make a note on the first sheet headed “untrue statements of fact”, noting the paragraph number, the untrue fact, and your initial response.

Banking “presumptions” are statements made that appear to convey a decision already made without your input or consultation.

Examples of banking “presumptions” include….

•“As we have not heard from you we understand that you are no longer within MARP and we have sent your case to our legal department”.

“As per your call with our advisor, we are awaiting/you have missed your first instalment in your agreed repayment arrangement and you are now outside of the MARP.”

“You may Appeal to the Ombudsman, or alternatively, you may complete a new SFS, we have included both applications with this correspondence”…. (at the point of Appealing the MARP decision)

Any such “presumptions” must be responded to in your correspondence. As part of the critical assessment process, make a note of the back of the first sheet (variable 2), noting the paragraph number, the presumptions, and your initial response.

B. Does it provide an opportunity to request information?
Usually banks appear to be requesting information from you all of the time. As such, it can feel like you are always on “the back foot”, that the bank have you “on the hop”. In contrast, asking for information you are entitled to can change the power axis, and it often proves the case that the bank do not have/do not wish to reveal/have incorrect information requested. This can advantage you in a number of ways. Firstly, it delays the banking debt collection process, particularly when you state that the clock stops until you get the information. Secondly, further information can add to your defence. Finally, it increases your negotiating strength into the future and in some cases may prove the bank uncooperative from an early stage.
Prior to and during the MARP process you may request information to assist you to be “cooperative”. Requests for information may always be introduced by stating something to the affect…

 “To assist me to provide the best application/best Appeal/make the best decision/to understand my position best…. I am requesting the following information…..”

Although you may decide to assault the bank with a barrage of data requests, it is better to use this ammunition wisely, particularly if one of your objectives is to slow down the bank’s processes and systems. There are a number of considerations regarding what you choose to request at any stage: At all stages you may usefully request for example....

• “Current, detailed accounts of all of the debts your Institution claim I owe, to include any interest payments, service charges, insurance charges, administrative charges and any other fees considered liable to me”.

• “Details of the Instruments used to calculate the sustainability or otherwise of my mortgage” (at an advanced stage such as MARP appeal, one might request: write-down funds and securitisation benefits accrued).

A detailed explanation of the factors underpinning your decision in these matters”.

• “An explanation of your decision not to offer me an alternative to X such as Interest only/full moratorium/partial write-down”.

C.  Does the correspondence comply with CCMA/MARP?

Lending institutions such as banks and building societies are bound by two statutory codes of conduct in relation to mortgages. These are the Central Bank's Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears (CCMA) and the Consumer Protection Code 2012. The CCMA relates to primary residences, and the CPC to investment properties, credit cards etc. In this Module we shall focus on the CCMA. The CCMA requires mortgage lenders to adopt specific procedures when dealing with borrowers experiencing arrears and financial difficulties. Such procedures must be aimed at helping you as far as possible in your own particular circumstances and are called MARP.

We have posted a number of blogs on MARP and intend to post more over the coming weeks. It is important that you make yourself aware of your rights under MARP. By knowing your rights you will be able to see when you are being abused by the banks in their correspondence, Again, having made yourself familiar with your rights, make a note on your paper of where in the bank letter, the bank have failed to follow MARP.

In writing back to the bank the golden rule is "less is more". Sometimes homeowners tend to be emotional, such as angry, and this is not something that should be recorded on paper and may well convey your mental state to the bank. Why give them any extra information? Instead, simply address the matter at hand, rebutting any untruths, seeking any further information you may require and insisting on your rights under MARP and the CCMA.

On a final note, remember that if the bank is demanding that you do something in a particular time frame, or insist on phoning you, write to them and insist any time frame must be agreed and that you will communicate through written correspondence only, that is your right.

To Find out about upcoming free workshops in your area please call the National Land League on 0894740811...

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Sociology of Culture
Department of Sociology
University of California, Irvine
With the “cultural turn” in the social sciences, the sociology of culture has re-emerged to produce some of the most
exciting research in sociology. At UCI, culture – whether defined as practices, symbols, discourse, or systems of
meaning – is treated in the context of social interaction at multiple levels of analysis. Dynamics of cultural
construction, contention, and diffusion are key research foci. Department members also share a concern with
showing empirically just how much culture matters relative to other variables in accounting for sociological
phenomena—phenomena as diverse as patterns in the world-wide criminal regulation of sex, Muslim-American
women’s economic advancement, African-Americans’ political participation, teenagers’ conflicts, why civil wars go on
so long, and why social movements only sometimes succeed. Sociologists of culture at UCI employ a range of
theoretical and methodological approaches, from macro-institutionalist “world polity” models to social psychological
and interactionist perspectives, and from time-series analyses of investment flows to discourse analysis of online
conversations. Indeed, the remarkable range of substantive foci, coverage of both macro- and micro- perspectives,
and use of sophisticated qualitative and quantitative methodologies that characterize the sociology of culture at UCI
make it unique among sociology departments.
Faculty members’ research overlaps with a number of other fields within the Department, especially political
sociology/social movements, organizations, social inequality, global change, gender, race/ethnicity, and research
methods. Faculty members also collaborate with faculty in other UCI departments and schools, especially,
Anthropology; Criminology, Law, and Society; Education; and Planning, Policy and Design.
(interests and current research)
Nina Bandelj -- economic sociology, organizations, globalization, social change in Central and Eastern
Current research: 1)How do cultural understandings influence economic processes? An examination of the formation
and consequences of the cultural wealth of nations, and economic nationalism. 2)How does cultural change influence
social disadvantage? An examination of poverty and inequality in transition to capitalism in postsocialist Europe.
Carter Butts -- social networks
Current research: 1) What are the structural properties of attitude and belief systems, and how can they be
measured? 2) How do beliefs, social practices, and other cultural elements diffuse through human populations, and
how does this process shape the content of cultural systems? 3) How can information from unreliable human and/or
organizational informants be used to statistically infer local structures, practices, and cultural knowledge? 4) How can
elements of material culture (e.g., ownership patterns, systematic arrangement of artifacts) be utilized to infer social
Martha Feldman -- practice theory, organizational processes, collaborative governance and inclusive management,
qualitative research
Current research: 1) How the relationship between the actions people take and the patterns they create influences
the ability to make sensible innovations in new contexts and to “go on”? 2) How do organizational processes provide
opportunities for learning and adaptation? 3) What principles of organizing enable people to respond to apparently
contradictory demands in ways that are generative?
David Frank -- world society, sexuality, higher education, natural environment
Current research: What world-cultural changes underlie (1) global transformations in the criminal regulation of sex,
and (2) worldwide university expansion over the 20th century?
Ann Hironaka* -- cultural logics of war; collective identity construction; institutional theory
Current research: I use institutional theory to theorize the historical role that cultural logics have played in providing
the basis for military calculations.
Calvin Morrill -- law and society, organizations, youth culture and conflict, education, qualitative field methods
Current research: 1) How do law and rights matter in everyday practices within and around schools? 2) How does
the increasing criminalization of youth culture shape the ways youth and adults define and act on youth conflict? 3)
What is the relationship between collective action and culture change in institutional fields?
Francesca Polletta -- social movements, democracy and deliberation, discourse analysis, storytelling.
Current research: 1)Are women disadvantaged in political discussions by a distinctive communication style? 2)How
do cultural models of democracy, conflict, and power shape the practice—and the variable success—of public
Jen’nan Read -- gender, ethnicity, religion, and health
Current research: 1) How do different dimensions of cultural identity, namely ethnic and religious dimensions, shape
gender dynamics in U.S. immigrant communities? 2) To what extent does ethnic and religious identity influence
Muslim American political incorporation, and to what extent do these identities converge and diverge?
Belinda Robnett-Olsen -- social movements, race/ethnicity, gender, African American politics, the relationships
between institutions, gender, political participation and collective action.
Current Research: 1) How do gendered cultural relations impact collective action and social movement agendas? 2)
How are racial hierarchies gendered? 3) How does the gendered nature of institutions affect men’s and women’s
types and rates of political participation? 4) In what ways are the mobilization processes of collective action
Evan Schofer -- Comparative Political Sociology; Sociology of Education; Globalization and Global Culture;
Environmental Sociology.
Current Research:1) The Origins of NGOs: Examines the role of global culture and national states structures in
encouraging the global proliferation of voluntary associations. 2) Educational structures and economic inequality:
Explores how the organizational features of education systems shape cultural categories and status distinctions as
well as subsequent economic inequality in society.
David Snow -- Collective Behavior and Social Movements, Social Psychology (Symbolic Interaction, Dramaturgy,
Self and Identity), Sociology of Culture (Frame Analysis, Ideology and Consciousness), Urban (Marginal Lifestyles
and Subcultures, Interaction in Public Places), Qualitative Methodology (Ethnography, Field Work)
Current Research: (1) extension of framing analysis to contexts other than social movements; (2) cross-cultural
comparison of life on the streets in four global cities – Los Angeles, Paris, Sao Paulo, and Tokyo; (3) the character
and persistence of “rapture”/second-coming believers and movements across time and cultures
Mayer Zald -- social movement theory, organization theory, engagements between the social sciences and
humanities (primary appointment at the University of Michigan)
Current Research: 1) How can the social sciences meaningfully engage the humanities, especially philosophy? 2)
*Cluster coordinator
To qualify for a graduate field exam and/or expertise in the sociology of culture, students must take the core course in
the sociology of culture, along with one course from the list of elective courses, and one course from the list of related
courses. “Elective” courses cover key themes and theoretical perspectives in the sociology of culture. “Related”
courses do not take culture as a focal point but do incorporate a broadly culturalist approach to institutions such as
law, economy, religion, race, and ethnicity.
Core Course:
Sociology of Culture (Polletta, Morrill, Bandelj)
Elective Courses:
Institutional Theories (Hironaka, Morrill, Schofer)
Globalization and Global Culture (Schofer)
Youth, Culture, and Justice (Morrill)
Culture and Consumption (Frank)
Sociology of Sense-Making (Snow, Hironaka)
Collective Identity (Robnett-Olsen, Hironaka, Snow)
Culture and Gender Inequality (Read)
Culture, Collective Identity, and Collective Action (Robnett-Olsen)
Contemporary Racial and Ethnic Theory (Robnett-Olsen)
Related Courses:
Law, Inequality, and Mobilization (Polletta)
Immigrant America (Rumbaut)
Deliberative Democracy (Feldman, Polletta, and Rosenberg)
Economic Sociology (Bandelj)
Sociology of Revolutions (Hironaka)
Political Analysis of Organizations (Morrill, Zald)
Social Sciences and Philosophy (Zald)
Gender and Immigration (Read and Bean)
Racial and Ethnic Feminist Perspectives (Robnett-Olsen, Read)
Race and Ethnicity (Robnett-Olsen)
Feminist Theory (Robnett-Olsen)
Students interested in taking the field exam in the sociology of culture should see the cluster coordinator. The reading
list is currently structured so that a student can tailor one component (roughly a quarter of the readings) to his or her
specific interests, for example, in culture and sexuality, culture and policymaking, the culture industry, or culture and
(Check with Department Administrator & Cluster Coordinator)
Spring: Deliberative Democracy (Feldman, Polletta, and Rosenberg)
Spring: Sociology of Sense-Making (Hironaka)
Fall: Sociology of Culture (Polletta)
Winter: Institutional Theories (Hironaka or Schofer)
Spring: Youth, Culture, and Justice (Morrill)
Spring: Sociology of Sense-Making (Snow)
Spring: Culture, Collective Identity, and Collective Action (Robnett-Olsen)
Fall: Economic Sociology (Bandelj)
Fall: Sociology of Culture (Morrill)
Fall: Globalization and Global Culture (Schofer)
Winter: Law, Inequality, and Mobilization (Polletta)
Winter: Culture and Consumption (Frank)
Spring: Sociology of Revolutions (Hironaka)

Global Inequality & Change - Sociology


Colin Charles Agenda

Working at home

I’ve always enjoyed working at home. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I got myself an office. I still don’t use the office that much, with the exception for storage. I try to check in from time-to-time since I do have a room there, but I’m still largely a mobile worker.

Today, I’m sitting in my parents house and can hear extreme drilling from a house renovating nearby.

In offices, you can’t do drilling/renovation works until the evening and most likely its usually only on weekends. At homes, you can’t do drilling/renovation works unless its confined between the 8am-5pm timeframe.

Overall, home renovations tend to be extensive. Imagine working from home and listening to drilling/knocking/banging for about six months?

As a proponent of using Bose noise canceling headphones (Bose QC-15), I can assure you it doesn’t help.


Agenda Discovery Week Month

Curated for Me

Let's hike to the Crest house from the East side

The Albuquerque Hiking and Outdoor Meetup
Write a Review
Endorsed by Curators:
Dec 02 8:00AM - 2:30PM

What we'll do
We will meet at the Lazy Lizard and then carpool to the 10k North trailhead. From there we will hike up 10k until we intersect with the North Crest trail and head south until we reach the Crest house. We will take a short lunch break there and then head back the way we came up. This will be about a 10 mile hike with 2000 feet of elevation gain.

We will maintain a 2+ mile per hour hiking speed!
If I haven't hiked with you before I may need to ask a few questions to make sure you can keep up with the group.

Optional: After the hike we will go into the Lazy Lizard for refreshments.

What to bring
Rain gear, warm clothing (it will be cold at the top!) . Snacks/Lunch for the top.

Important to know
Check this site 45 minutes before the scheduled meetup in the event that bad weather causes me to cancel the hike.

How to find us:Park in the back, I will be in a white Tacoma

Upcoming Events


The Law of Vibration and Attraction (Part 1)

"The Law of Attraction" is the underlying principle which governs the level of your personal prosperity. However, to help you achieve a really solid grasp of this concept, it will be necessary for us to focus briefly on another law; namely, the "Law of Vibration."

The Law of Vibration accounts for the difference between mind and matter; between the physical and the nonphysical worlds.

According to the Law of Vibration, we postulate that everything vibrates or moves; nothing sits idle. Everything is in a constant state of motion, and therefore, there is no such thing as "inertia", or a state of rest. From the most ethereal, to the most gross form of matter, everything is in a constant state of vibration.

Moving from the lowest to the highest degree of vibration, we discover there are literally millions upon millions of intervening levels or degrees; from the electron to the universe, everything is in vibratory motion. (Energy is manifested in all the varying degrees of vibration.)

"Rates of vibration" are called "frequencies," and the higher the frequency, the more potent the force. Since thought is one of the highest forms of vibration, it is very potent in nature and therefore, it must be understood by all of us.

Now, the Law of Vibration may be explained in many different ways, depending upon the purpose for which it is being explained. In this chapter, however, it is our intention to confine our inquiry to thoughts alone, so we may thereby improve our understanding of the Law of Attraction.

To vibrate means: "to move backwards and forwards, to oscillate, to shake, to quiver, to swing, to waver, to cause to quiver."

To obtain a more graphic conceptualization of the idea of Vibration, just stretch out one of your arms straight in front of you. Then hold it perfectly still. While you are holding it still and are unable to perceive any motion in that arm at all, know that the electrons which compose the arm, are moving, shaking, quivering, or vibrating, at the rate of 186,300 miles per second.

The arm appears still to you, but in reality it is in a constant state of motion. Of course, although such motion is imperceptible to the naked eye, under a high-powered microscope it would become very apparent, indeed.

Now, begin to shake your arm. You, yourself, are now causing the arm to vibrate. It was already vibrating of its own accord, in obedience to the Law of Vibration (which teaches that everything is in constant motion). But you have stepped up, or increased, the rate of that vibration. You have pushed down on the vibratory accelerator pedal, as it were.

Positive And Negative Personalities

"The mind in itself and in its own place can make a hell out of heaven or a heaven out of hell."
- John Milton

People, as a rule, can be classified as positive personalities (optimists) or negative personalities (pessimists).

Those individuals who are positive in their thoughts always tend to look upon the brighter side of life. With their faces turned toward the sunshine, they attempt to see the good, even in the bad. Such individuals habitually think thoughts of a positive nature and they are a blessing to the world. They are in a "Positive Vibration," and therefore attract other positive personalities to them.

Negative personalities, on the other hand, habitually look upon the dark, gloomy, and depressing side of life. Even the good holds some bad for them. They dwell on the bad and the negative. They think about it, anticipate it, expect it, and invariably they receive what they have been seeking. Due to the negative vibration which they keep themselves in, they of course attract other miserable personalities to them. As you are already aware, "misery loves company."

Their state of mind can be compared to the person who, upon being asked how he felt, said,

"I feel alright today, but I might feel bad tomorrow."

Negative personalities are depressing to everyone around them. Their faces take on the expression, in physical form, of the negative thoughts which they are holding in their minds. Each day, one can observe such individuals passing on the street. No cheer, no joy radiates from them-just gloom, frowns and hostility. Having created their own hell for themselves, they seem to enjoy wallowing in it.

The law of Polarity and Relativity states that for every positive there is an equal and opposite negative. Therefore, both of these personality types are necessary, so you can develop the awareness to distinguish one from the other, and in that manner, choose the one which will advance you in life.

You do have Free Will. You can choose which of these two personality types you wish to adopt. Therefore, if a person is constantly negative, but tires of that state, the person may, through awareness and proper effort, change himself into a positive personality type of individual.

Understand this-The Law of Vibration will give people the awareness they require, to make the personality changes they desire.

The Brain - The Body

The human body, believe it or not, is one of the most efficient electrical instruments in this entire universe. The human brain, similarly, is probably the most efficient electrical instrument ever created. Both are truly marvels.

The brain is the part of the body where all manner of frequencies are transformed from one frequency level into another. In the brain, for example, sensations are transformed into muscular action. Sound, heat, light and thought are also, each in their turn, transformed into other frequencies, each affecting the body.

Within the brain there are centers which control and regulate the functioning of all organs and parts of the body. By means of the proper stimulation of these centers, the functioning of the organs may thereby be controlled. In our seminars, we refer to this phenomenon as the vibratory control of the body.

In the final analysis, the brain is simply a vibratory instrument. To begin to understand its functioning you must undertake the study of the Law of Vibration.

Since the early 1940's, we have had at our disposal the EEG (electroencephalograph), which reads the electrical activity of the brain, and the ECG (electrocardiograph), which traces the electrical changes which occur during heart contractions.

Therefore, vibrations are certainly not something which are new to us. Indeed, all of us have an awareness of them. However, the problem which we encounter is that the vast majority of people are not aware of the connection between their vibrations and their results in life.

It is, unfortunately, a very common sight to see people in bad or confused vibrations, busily attempting-through force-to achieve good results. However, due to the negative vibration which they are in, they are continually being bombarded by all manner of negative people and situations, which by law, are being attracted to them. Consequently, at some point, their battle must become overwhelming for them.

These people may be likened to a person who is jumping off the top of a building, and trying to go up, at one and the same time. The result, in either case, would be equally predictable and equally disastrous.

Everything Is Energy, Everything Vibrates

For you to gain a better awareness of how you are to take control over your results (i.e. to better understand how and why the thoughts and things come into your life as they do), you must go back to the basic premise with which we started: namely, everything vibrates and nothing stands still. There is, in truth, no such thing as inertia. Scientists today support this thesis and every new scientific discovery tends to lend even more credibility to it.

However, by virtue of your Free Will and the many other mental factors in your marvelous mind, you have the Co-Creative ability to cause vibratory changes to take place at your bidding in your life. The cause for our lack of ability to exercise this tremendous power for good is nothing other than our own ignorance about the Law of Vibration.

Let There Be Light-Your Connecting Link

Slowly but surely, let us see with our inner eye of understanding, how you may "connect" with the good that you desire, to improve the quality of your own life.

Two objects whose electromagnetic fields are the same are operating on the same frequency. Therefore, we can say they are in resonance, in harmony, or in rapport. When two objects are in resonance or vibrating at the same speed, the vibratory rate may be transmitted from one to the other through the medium of the electron. ("Resonance" as a field of study, is concerned with the electromagnetic fields surrounding objects.)

For example, we find a globe in a chandelier will vibrate when in resonance with a certain key on a piano; yet it will not vibrate to any other note on the piano keyboard.

The two objects under discussion are composed of entirely different material and they have completely different shapes. Still, they are in resonance with one another, due to the fact their ultimate magnetic fields are the same. They are within the same sphere of relative motion, and this holds true, irrespective of their size, shape, or the elements of which they are composed.

All electromagnetic waves, or quantums, have their own particular rate or frequency, which corresponds to the number of changes in direction they make per second. The electromagnetic wave spectrum is simply a "Scale of Vibration," and it is subdivided into specific regions.

Nevertheless, one must always remember these regions are not actual divisions, but merely arbitrary spaces covering frequencies that manifest in our senses in different ways. Each region actually "blends" into the one above and the one below, and in truth, there are no definite lines of demarcation.

Everything Is An Expression Of The Same Thing

Everything in this entire universe is connected to everything else in this entire universe, through the Law of Vibration. Just as the colors in a rainbow are connected in such a way that you are not able to tell where one color stops and the other begins, so too are you unable to distinguish where one "thing" starts and another one stops. Everything in this universe is connected to everything else in this universe, just as the water that boils is connected to the steam into which it transmutes, and the steam is connected to the ether or air into which it changes.

You too are connected to everything in the universe. Whether you can see it with the naked eye or not is unimportant. The only physical difference which exists between one thing and another, relates to the density or the amplitude of their vibration.

Therefore, as soon as you choose certain thoughts, your brain cells are affected. These cells vibrate and send off electromagnetic waves. When you concentrate on those thoughts, you increase the amplitude of vibration of those cells, and the electric waves, in turn, become much more potent.

Know that it is you who is originating those electric waves and know that you are also determining the density of them by your own free will. You must also know, since you are originating these electric waves, your whole being is being put in that particular vibration.

We have already covered the point that two objects may be of entirely different material and shape, and yet still be in Resonance. This is due to the fact their ultimate magnetic fields are the same, because they are within the same sphere of relative motion. (Keep in mind that resonance is the factor governing the transmutation of vibrations.)

When you hold the image of your goal on the screen of your mind, in the present tense, you are vibrating in harmony (in resonance) with every particle of energy necessary for the manifestation of your image on the physical plane. By holding that image, those particles of energy are moving toward you (attraction) and you are moving toward them-because that is the law.

All things are merely manifestations of energy or Spirit.

When the world comes to understand this great truth, we will be aware that all people are the same; they only appear to be different. The true dividing lines for mankind are not borders, color or language, but simply ignorance and its polar opposite, understanding.

Know The Truth And The Truth Will Set You Free.

Excerpted from You Were Born Rich by Bob Proctor.

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ChannelLife NZ - The mobile enemy

Warning: This story was published more than a year ago.

The mobile enemy

Today’s business world is fast-paced, ultra-mobile and highly productive. Data is carried to and from devices that keep shrinking in size while expanding in storage capacity, and we have got to the point where we can put everything that’s private, confidential and has immense value to our company on one portable gadget which fits in our pocket or even our wallet.

But with coolness, ease of use and high speeds comes a horde of risks that can turn into severe losses in terms of money, customer loyalty and trust. Small, easy to handle and offering increasingly large storage capacities, USB flash drives and portable external hard drives with USB or firewire interfaces come in standard capacities reaching 500GB – enough to carry all the innovative, proprietary and sensitive files of a company. However, they can be accidentally lost or intentionally stolen at any time, causing great damage to organisations and their customers. The ensuing credit monitoring, expensive consultants and lawyers, damage to the customer base or need to rebuild the trust of those who do stay on board, all cost money.

The current security challenge is to keep using all the technology breakthroughs that give a profitable competitive edge, while securing data and keeping malicious competitors, disgruntled former employees, accident-prone staff and hackers at bay. To meet this challenge, companies of all sizes need to implement an efficient and innovative data-loss prevention and device-control solution.

Effective endpoint data-loss prevention solutions are designed to minimise internal threats, reduce data-leakage risks and control devices connected at endpoints. But controlling devices doesn’t have to mean blocking or disabling, which is the first thought that enters peoples’ minds when the topic is brought to the table.

The simple process of auditing what is being connected, and making what is being connected visible and how it’s being used, can pay dividends. You may find you have no problem at all, or find that, although your security policy states users are not to use non-authorised removable storage devices, everyone has connected their smartphone to charge it, and copied the latest customer price list to it. Whilst the said price list will always be conveniently on hand, it will also be completely unsecured if they lose their phone at the gym.

Advanced endpoint data-loss solutions offer granular control of portable devices, from iPods, cameras and USB sticks to ExpressCard SDD and printers, that also integrate with Active Directory synchronisation. This will enable policies that can for example, tie a specific user to an authorised USB storage device, and by using ‘trusted devices technology’ you ensure protection for data in motion by enforcing encryption for the devices connected at endpoints.

Not forgetting a large number of highly mobile users, the solution will need to offer road warriors a way to stay active and productive when they lack a permanent internet connection, while keeping the corporate data they carry safe from common portable storage device usage threats that can lead to severe security breaches. When travelling for business, employees might be unable to connect to the internet and still need to authorise a new portable device – a printer to print out a contract, or a memory stick to save a presentation for an event on it. To help them save time and complete their tasks, a temporary offline password could be provided to them by phone, allowing them to authorise devices for a period ranging from 30 minutes to one week.

The offline security options enable employees to do their work on time, preventing unnecessary delays. Additionally, even when the company’s laptops or netbooks are being used offline, you want a solution that will enable you to do file tracing and file auditing so employees’ activity is monitored and logged in detail.

Endpoint data-loss solutions don’t have to be restrictive and disruptive for employees. They can be an enabler for the business to understand its risk profile, and make more effective and relevant end-user acceptable use policies.

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L’Eclisse (1962)

All relationships in nature have an arc – a beginning, middle, and end. The length of time in said union may vary, and the stories entangling and contributing to each component make them unique. The finality of a relationship may expose a wide discrepancy of emotions based on its journey, including sadness, joy, and indifference. The subsequent avenues of exploration taken after a breakup can therefore be endless. Unlike La Notte, “L’Eclisse”, the final film of Antonioni’s trilogy of love and loss, begins with the end of a relationship and explores the course taken by the lead actress in its aftermath.

Vittoria (Monica Vitti) is a young literary translator who used her knowledge to aid her boyfriend, Riccardo (Francisco Rabal), in his work. The silent tension between them at the beginning of the film indicates impending dissolution, and that happens in the form of Vittoria ending her relationship with him due to lack of happiness. While he continues to occasionally pursue her, Vittoria dabbles in spending time with equally emotionally confused female friends. She also attempts to reconnect with her distant mother (Lilla Brignone), who is a frequent flyer of the Rome Stock Exchange. It is there that she meets Piero (Alain Delon), a young stockbroker obsessed with increasing his monetary wealth. Vittoria and Piero begin to spend time with one another, battling reservations in this budding courtship and surrounding threats, including loss, fear, greed, and anger. However, they are fuelled by the promise of a fresh start and hope.

A solar eclipse is often viewed as an extremely rare phenomenon in outer space, whereby the Moon’s view is temporarily blocked. Contrarily, eclipses occur on a daily basis in terms of human interactions. Certain internal and external events may prevent us from experiencing life at its supreme. One such event is an affair and its impact on a current relationship, both explored in L’Avventura and La Notte. While many are absorbed in the details of ensuring a properly functioning bond with their partner, another eclipse that occurs is the loss of individuality and personal identity. I feel that this is the true common thread linking this beautifully expressed trilogy. As well, the stunning composition and editing of the revered end scene highlights the memories of physical spaces and lost promises of former optimism. “L’Eclisse” is therefore a fitting title to the final chapter.

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Ugetsu (1953)

The spirit world has been a source of polarizing contention throughout human history. The concepts of “spirits” and “ghosts” evoke multiple emotions, including fear, solace, apprehension, and peace. Certain drastic events in history may be associated with spirits, such as the Salem Witch Trials. Depending upon our beliefs, spirits’ presence and aura may serve to aid us in understanding and solidifying our own individual sense of self, as well as our connections with others and our surrounding environment. The Christmas classic It’s A Wonderful Life explores this idea, as well as the stunning 1953 Japanese medieval fantasy film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi named “Ugetsu Monogatari”.

The black-and-white film is set in the humble village of Nakanogo, where we follow the story of two couples. Miyagi (Kinuyo Tanaka) and Genjuro (Masayuki Mori) create and sell beautiful pottery, supporting themselves and their adorable young son, Genichi (Ikio Sawamura). Tobei (Sakae Ozawa) and Ohama (Mitsuko Mito) operate a farm, whereby Tobei has immeasurable dreams of becoming a samurai. Amidst their perceived tranquility, there is impending and inevitable chaos in their village created by the army of Shibata Katsuie. This consequentially leads to separation, displacement, and abandonment of responsibilities. Tobei becomes relentless on his quest to become that of an oxymoronic figure who damaged his home and relationship, while Genjuro encounters a beautiful, wealthy woman of seeming nobility in the form of Lady Wasaka (Machiko Kyo).

The English translation of the title is “Tales of Moonlight and Rain”, as the ancient East Asian tales from which the story is based revolves around natural elements forewarning humans of the uncontrollable spiritual forces. The film has a splendid mystical quality reflecting the original tales, supported by smooth transitioning between fantasy and reality and occasional hazy cinematography. Furthermore, fairy tales are often disguised cautionary tales to their readers about indulgence, patriarchy, dishonesty, greed, and inevitable destruction if we become highly swept into an imaginary world at the expense of others’ well-beings. This film effortlessly exemplifies and reinforces these themes, additionally resonating with audiences post-WWII in the aftermath of worldwide exploitation of power. “Ugetsu” is a pertinent reminder that our commitment to family, friends, and our communities is the glue which allows us to remain steadfast in the face of outside challenges which threaten our unique essence.

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The Ballad of Narayama (1958)

Respect and dignity of all human life, regardless of age, is paramount in society. Care of the elderly is a burgeoning topic due to the increasing number of baby boomers entering senior citizenry. Advanced health care directives, power of attorney, and deprescribing medications are some of the initiatives taken to improve the quality of life of our elders and to also endorse their autonomy. They have lived and breathed through a mountain of experiences, and it is essential that we value their contributions to youths’ and young adults’ knowledge bases. Unfortunately, their worth may sometimes not be esteemed by younger generations, and their future may be dictated by predilections beyond their control. Also explored in Make Way for Tomorrow, the heartbreaking “The Ballad of Narayama” (1958) directed by Keisuke Kinoshita addresses these widespread concerns.

Orin, played by Kinuyo Tanaka, is a 69-year-old female living in a tiny Japanese village. She has resigned to and embraced her fate as travelling to the mountain Narayama at age 70. According to ancient Japanese custom, elders at this age in a community facing famine would succumb to Narayama’s harsh environment in an effort to indirectly supply a greater quantity of food to youth and young adults in the village. The conflicting attitudes of her various family members as well as complex village dynamics surrounding her impending journey are examined. In addition, the stunning colour cinematography, set design, and theatrical staging serve to create distance between the ultimate joys and sadness in the community, inadvertently highlighting the disregard and complacency of the village towards elders. Overall, famine, theft, and inevitable greed are commonalities throughout the villagers’ lives, whereby Orin’s fate may be a relief from the jarring discordance of her world.

A great deal of the film’s narrative is told through traditional Japanese music, which is reflected in its title. However, a ballad often consists of mournful content. It is quite evident that Orin’s son, Tatsuhei (Teiji Takahashi), is grieving for his mother’s fate as well as that of all of the elders who took the fatal expedition to this location. Submissiveness, abandonment, guilt, and fear are emotions often uncovered in ballads. These feelings are entangled within Tatsuhei, and are highly represented throughout this gorgeous film. The differences in opinion between family members can often create such a magnitude of tension that ‘black and white thinking’ can be overpowering, severing ties. It is imperative that humans and all creatures cherish the role of family members of all ages. While they can be highly critical of our perceived weaknesses, their support develops and fosters our strengths.

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The Earrings of Madame de… (1953)

Many inanimate objects have a particular monetary value. Materials used in an item’s development, its demand, or certain components of the market for which it is usually targeted and sold may determine its worth. They may also have a strong sentimental significance, representing a pivotal life changes or nostalgia. A compelling bond with this treasure may also reveal specific yet unexpected aspects of our personal values. In the exquisite French film “The Earrings of Madame de…”, directed by Max Ophuls in 1953, the main characters’ secrets and frustrations evolve through the changing distribution and ties with a pair of earrings.

Louise (Danielle Derreux) and Andre (Charles Boyer) are a seemingly loving, wealthy couple living in late 1800’s Paris. However, there is not an ounce of passion in their marriage, and Louise has accumulated a great deal of debt due to her supreme extravagance. She therefore decides to sell a heart-shaped pair of earrings given to her by her husband for a past wedding anniversary to the original seller and local jeweler, Monsieur Remy (Jean Debucourt). At this point, the earrings have no emotional worth to Louise as they symbolize a reminder of her more hopeful marital past. It is from this point that the earrings begin their geographic and emotional journey, travelling between continents and through the hands of lovers associated with the unhappily married couple. One such admirer is portrayed by acclaimed Italian director and actor, Vittorio de Sica.

The earrings play a crucial role in the plot as indicated in the film’s title. However, the anonymity and ambiguity of Louise’s surname is also essential in understanding her life circumstances. Women always adopted their husbands’ surnames during that era, and the viewer can assume that is Louise’s case. This longstanding custom has often signified an enmeshment of patriarch of the household into the female, melding the more dominant male role into her own identity. As well, the viewer never hears her surname due to clever editing techniques. I feel as if all of these elements convey Louise’s lost individuality, emptiness, and daily guilt. As the main character, many live a life whereby they conceal their true self for fear of persecution, abandonment, and change. This stifling can create extreme tension, snowballing into a constant sense of dread. The context and environment of one’s trepidation may undergo a transformation such that relief and freedom of originality can spur creativity and pure joy, but it may remain such that the least desired outcomes continue to be entrenched in reality.

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La Notte (1961)

Relationships are constantly in a fluid state, and follow no prescribed formula. They are strengthened and weakened by monumental life events, small gestures, as well as geographical and emotional distance among a multitude of other variables. In turn, our self-worth and personal value is shaped by our sense of belonging. Marriage is the ultimate creation of partnership and potential enmeshment between two individuals, and its dissolution can create empowerment, disdain, or a void in the lives involved. “La Notte” (1961), the middle film in Michelangelo Antonioni’s trilogy of loneliness and emotional detachment, examines the decomposition of a marriage quite astutely.

Giovanni (Marcello Mastroianni) and Lidia Pontano (Jeanne Moreau) are an upper middle class Italian couple, with the former being a successful writer and the latter being a housewife originating from wealth. The palliative illness of their dear friend and writer Tommaso (Bernhard Wicki) distresses Lidia greatly, detaching herself physically from her famous husband for a brief period of time to pay homage to areas of Milan they knew when they were in love, optimistic, and naive. The film later tracks the course of their empty marriage throughout a party hosted by a highly materialistic businessman, Mr. Gherardini (Vincenzo Corbella). The value of fidelity, honesty, connection, purpose, and sense of identity are questioned by the main as well as some supporting cast. As in L’Avventura (1960), it becomes evident that monetary wealth facades the essence of individuality.

The party referred to in the previous paragraph took place during “the night”. Life-altering events or revelations can evolve slowly or occur instantaneously during a short period of time, such as over the course of an evening. The blackness and finality of night itself can signify bleakness, reflection, and absolution. It is thus no coincidence that many characters’ awareness of self and interpretation of the present in the film, especially that of Lidia, occurs over this time frame. Cognizance of the limitations of self-indulgence and vanity can also lead to comprehension of our shortcomings, sensitizing humans to the reality of the twists and turns that occur daily in our lives. Although not fully explored in this challenging and rewarding film, I feel that this strength can create resiliency, allowing us to tackle and cope with an assembly of puzzles and problems.

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Walkabout (1971)

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Floating Weeds (1959)

Traveling is required in a large number of professions – flight attendants, workers on oil rigs, and potentially for those working in large corporations. Some employees may feel unappreciated and overworked, moving aimlessly from place to place in hopes to find purpose. They may feel as if they are “floating weeds”. However, the phrase and title of this outstanding Ozu film from 1959 can be applicable to our desire to belong in a multitude of life scenarios. In a remake of his 1934 film, Ozu carefully explores several precarious and tense situations through the eyes and heart of a “floating” theatre troupe.

Komajuro (Ganjiro Nakamura) is the lead actor of an unpolished group of actors who travel to various coastal towns in Japan. Their style of acting is quite tacky, and their plays have not fared well financially. However, they continue to optimistically perform to increase their financial and emotional stability. It becomes quite evident that achieving these goals, especially the latter, would deem extremely difficult. Early in the film, the protagonist visits his former mistress, Oyoshi (Haruko Sigimura) as well as his son, Kiyoshi (Hiroshi Kawaguchi), who believes him to be his uncle. The development of Komajuro’s and his son’s relationship evokes reward, hazard, curiosity, and indirect divisiveness. As the norm in small towns, private occurrences become public knowledge.

Ozu’s characteristic still yet balanced cinematography as well as attentive storytelling aid in beautifully capturing human joy and struggle in all of his masterful films. This is definitely no exception, with the added use of glorious colour saturating the film surroundings. Dishonesty, hypocrisy, jealousy, conformity, and need for appreciation are all themes investigated in the film. Venturing outside of the realm of uniformity within a group can create suspicion among others. There are unspoken nuances of familiarity, and there is a fear of group cohesion becoming dismantled. This creates a ripple effect of fear, coercion, and intrusion, which can ultimately destroy a ‘garden of blooming flowers’ into a field of weeds. While Komajuro is one discussed who experienced these dilemmas in the film, all individuals fear complete isolation. It is important to treasure the connections we make, and to encourage delving into the unknown. This helps to solidify and anchor roots, so that we can flourish and grow into well-rounded human beings.

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A Day in the Country (1936)

Vacations are meant to be utilized as necessary escapes from the realities and struggles of everyday life. There is often a balance between great preparation and spontaneity in the construction of this elaborate repose, whereby individuals may meet locals quite familiar with the area being visited. A sense of wonderment experienced by those vacationing may not be apparent to residents due to extreme familiarity. There may be a discrepancy between lifestyle and surroundings between the two groups, creating a sense of awe and congeniality. This dynamic is explored in Jean Renoir’s understated unfinished 1936 film entitled “A Day in the Country” or “Partie de campagne”.

A wealthy shop owner, Monsieur Dufour (Andre Gabriello), and his family from Paris opt to travel to the beautiful, natural countryside along the Seine River one summer day in 1860. They are treated to great local hospitality, and are given a great meal as well as fishing rods! However, two men set their sights on wooing Dufour’s wife (Jane Marken) and daughter Henriette (Sylvia Bataille). Henri (Georges D’Arnoux) creates delightful chemistry with Henriette, who is unfortunately engaged to her father’s clumsy apprentice, Anatole (Paul Temps). Her planned future may thus unhinge, as her heart’s new feelings may not align with the romance that has been conveniently prescribed. The gorgeous scenery and somewhat remote location aid in amplifying these sentiments.

The events and emotions that one encounters during one particular day may change the course of one’s life. Pivotal moments can happen when least expected, such as an employment opportunity, or may be in our awareness for quite a while, like the birth of a child. “A Day in the Country” effortlessly demonstrates this concept, with an innocent trip leading Henriette to question the course of her destiny as a partner and wife. Events such as these have a ripple effect, whereby choices made stemming from these occurrences can alter our life’s passage. These decisions may have positive or negative effects, further guiding us on our journey. Thus, the struggle of weighing passion versus practicality is very genuine.

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La Belle et la Bete (1946)

Fairy tales have been dazzling young children for centuries. They relish in the imaginative worlds conveyed in these creations during storytime at school as well as prior to drifting asleep. Beneath the exterior fantasy of these narratives are themes relevant in the day-to-day lives of adults – jealousy, betrayal, and conflict. Children are subliminally exposed to these truths through these elaborate plots only to realize as adults the harsh actualities of the stories. “La Belle et la Bete” (1946) is one such tale, magnificently directed by Jean Cocteau in movie format while Nazis occupied Paris.

Belle (Josette Day) and her family are in extreme debt. After travelling to a nearby town with failed hopes of inheriting a fortune, her dearly loved father (Marcel Andre) stumbles upon obtaining a rose for Belle as per her request. This leads him into an inconceivably beautiful garden and castle, where inanimate objects are anything but. He also meets the Beast (Jean Marais) who condemns him to death for picking a highly coveted rose, but his death will be absconded if a daughter can go in his place. Belle takes this role without hesitation, and her journey into the Beast’s world begin. Enmeshment, anger, disgust, and questions of possession unravel as their relationship develops with familial worries and conflict playing a major role in Belle’s future.

The title of the film can have a multitude of interpretations relevant to the fairy tale as well as means by which this film came to fruition. All individuals have positive and negative qualities, with some outshining others as integral components of our personality and coping strategies. While Belle copes with poverty through selflessness, her sisters Adelaide (Nane Germon) and Felicie (Mila Parely) adapt through selfishness and manipulation, especially towards Belle. The Beast grows to love Belle and cannot imagine a life without her, but excessively dominates her freedom. Thus, themes of jealousy, guilt, oppression, trust, and revenge all emerge from a story “most appropriate for children”. The medium of this particular film expresses these themes with the aid of careful and innovative editing and set design. Extravagant budgets and sets were not possible in this war-torn area of Europe, and thus a claustrophobic yet mystical aura materializes from the direction. Thus, there is a simultaneous “beauty” and “beast” in all individuals and in circumstances in which we find ourselves.

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Pickpocket (1959)

The orchestration of an unlawful event requires a great deal of planning and co-ordination. Those involved are quite aware of law enforcement’s potential interception of their illegal activities. However, they venture regardless for the sake of greed, power, bravado, and the ultimate thrill of successfully tiptoeing around danger. These activities are quite varied, with shoplifting being one such pursuit. The theft conveyed in the 1959 Robert Bresson film “Pickpocket” mirrors such pristine organization, as well as carefully examining the central character’s motives and growing desire to become an “expert” in this field of crime.

Michel, played by Martin LaSalle, is a young male living in poverty in Paris. He is also quite obstinate in job propositions. As an amateur pickpocket, his successes are initially limited. Upon meeting more seasoned members of this trade, he is taught a multitude of means to obtain money and valuable items. The fruits of their labour are later displayed in highly crisp, choreographed sequences, whereby a variety of wallets and other prized items vanish from their proprietors. Michel’s personal relationships with close family, friends, and the police are also explored in this film. It is no surprise that initial query necessity turned obsession with theft has an influence on the integrity of these bonds.

As I mentioned in my previous blog post on “Au Hasard Balthazar”, Bresson’s magic ingredient is simplicity. A plethora of themes emerge from this quietly acted film, which delve into all emotions associated with any act for which society has great disdain. Suspicion, deception, addiction, and exploitation are all components of Michel’s facade and contrasting inner turmoil while navigating through his newly minted escapade. Furthermore, dialogue commenting on spirituality unfolds during the film, with one’s degree of adequacy and acceptance within the eyes of God taking centre stage. It is interesting to view Michel’s cold exterior yet internalization of this question contrast to the more demure and concerned Jeanne (Marika Green). He is aware of his potential future as well as current reality based on his choices. However, others may deride feelings associated with deceiving acts, either avoiding or highly engaging in spirituality or good deeds as a means of redemption. Overall, I feel that this film subtly reminds us of the possibilities that humans can embark on in their life journey, and the means by which they come to terms with the impact of their decisions on the lives of others.

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Case study

George Tee — Procurement graduate

george tee

George landed a place on Centrica's Procurement and Supply Chain Graduate Programme after completing the BSc Geology and MSc Management (Finance) qualifications at Durham University

Can you tell us about your experience of the programme so far?

It involves three eight-month rotations in different parts of the business. I spent my first eight months in the Supply Chain Risk team in Windsor, helping to identify and mitigate sources of financial and corporate social responsibility risk associated with our supply chain. For my second rotation, I moved into our Exploration and Production division, which is where I am today.

What is your current role?

I work in Aberdeen as part of our Operations and Maintenance procurement team, which is responsible for procuring everything that's needed for the ongoing operations of oil and gas exploration projects in the UK. I've worked on a variety of projects so far, in areas including geology and mechanical maintenance. I've also worked on projects relating to the chemicals that are used to produce oil and gas on our onshore and offshore assets.

What are you enjoying most about being on the graduate programme?

Any significant highlights so far?

How would you describe the Centrica culture?

Everyone in the organisation tries to live by our values, which are care, collaboration, courage, delivery and agility. I would also say that Centrica is a very supportive business, especially when it comes to its graduate employees.

What advice would you give to somebody thinking of applying?

Two things. Firstly, make sure you understand Centrica as an organisation and can demonstrate an interest in some of its key business areas. Secondly, remember to be yourself in your interview and assessment centre. It's your individual personality and ability to work with others that Centrica wants to see.


Sports Facilities

The Grass Is Always Greener, But Is It Safer?

2 Feb, 2015

By: Tracey Schelmetic
Despite Safety Assertions, Some Athletic and Parents Group Still See Health Risks with Artificial Turf

In fall of 2014, a news report came out that rocked the youth sports industry. Environmentalists and parents had assembled anecdotal evidence that suggested a link between artificial turf and cancer in the athletes who had played on it. In particular, the black crumb rubber used as infill was seen as containing traces of benzene, carbon black and lead.

At the time, it was news. Now, as kids gear up for spring sports, what has been the progress on the matter?

According to industry group the Synthetic Turf Council, studies conducted by scientists and state and federal agencies have proven that artificial turf is safe, according to NBC News. According to people who don’t put a lot of weight on the declarations of an industry group whose job it is to protect that industry’s interests, the jury is still out. Many scientists agree that there simply isn’t enough data to draw conclusions either way.

Currently, a California lawmaker is proposing a ban on artificial turf in schools, parks and stadiums, and she has a lot of parents on her side. It’s unclear, however, whether the legislation has enough support to pass.

“There has been a lot of anecdotal evidence from across the country,” state Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, told the OC Register. “We have a responsibility to ensure that our children aren’t being harmed by materials used to make their fields. Right now, we just don’t know enough as far as how safe these fields are.”

In the end, it’s often not the evidence of safety of a product that matters, but a perception of its safety (or lack of it). The makers of artificial turf playing fields may wish to examine the case study of plastic additive Bisphenol-A, or BPA. Despite the plastic industry’s years of insistence that the chemical, which is a known endocrine disruptor, was safe for consumer products such as baby bottles, a movement of parents and health conscious individuals seeking BPA-free plastic essentially forced the industry to abandon the additive.

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Questions on Jazz

This post is regarding my presentation questions from our last Jazz seminar! Yeah, I know I’m super late, I’m sorry.

  1. What is the significance of the lack parenting?
  2. What importance does the parrot that says “I love you” have? Why does Violet leave the knife in his cage?

Firstly, the theme of parents affects many characters in the novel. Here’s a recap:

  • Orphans: Violet, Joe, and Dorcas
  • Raises other people’s children: Alice, True Belle

The other main thing that all these characters share is that they are all African American. It is because of this, and because of American history, that it makes sense to say that the loss of motherhood could be connected to African people’s loss of “mother tongue” and of their language and culture during the slave era. The characters in Jazz are like continuations of this oppression, the repercussions of their assimilation into modern 20s “white people culture”. Like Dabydeen, they could be going through some sort of identity crisis, not knowing how they fit into society = not knowing their mother/parents. Golden Grey fits really well into this theory, being a person of mixed race. His motives for hunting down his father are discussed a little, and Hunter, his father, accuses Golden’s motivation of finding him was only to see if his father really was as black as they say. Like in jazz, the musical genre, the 20s were a part of the transition for the genre. It went from being an almost exclusively black type of musical, derived mostly from slave songs, later turning into blues. The first type/sub-genre of jazz was something called “Dixieland” that came out of New Orleans and was very much dominated by black people. I guess what I’m trying to say is that jazz was invented by black Americans, and only later on did it turn into swing, big band style jazz, which was heavily loved by the rest of America (white America). It’s in this subgenre of jazz that you find a lot white artists, like Frank Sinatra. This convergence of the music genre is parallel to the convergence of the actual people in many cities like Harlem, NY. It wasn’t until the later half of the 60s that African American jazz legends like Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and Miles Davis were in the limelight of the jazz community and recognized for their talent. In my opinion, I do think that the effects of jazz’s history of being (sorta) whitewashed is still seen today. The most prominent voice for jazz in popular culture right now is very white Ryan Reynolds, because of his role in La La Land, which faced some backlash for being an incredibly white film. All of this shows how fitting the title of this novel is. Jazz can stand as a symbol of the many varying struggles of African Americans in a city like Harlem, NY.

Secondly, the birds are important because they symbolize Joe and Violet’s relationship. When the novel opens, their love had just fallen after hanging on by a thread for who know’s how long. The narrator explains how they have been barely tolerating each other for many years. The presence of the parrot that mindlessly repeats “I love you” could be a parallel of their relationship as they go along with being together “in love” without putting in any effort to actually be in love. They are both very caught up with their own problems to truly open up to each other, which is fixed by the end of the novel. After Violet finds out about Joe’s dishonesty and goes on her rampage to Dorcas’s funeral, she goes back to their apartment and lets her parrot free. This act could be her trying to lose all ties to Joe and their relationship. What’s interesting is how it is noted multiple times that she is not sure if the parrot dies from this or not. It seems very likely that the parrot would be dead, like how Joe’s affair would most likely ruin any relationship with Violet. But Violet wonders if the parrot could’ve lived, suggesting she still loves Joe. When they are working on fixing their relationship at the end of the novel, they adopt another bird that is sick, and they are nursing it back to health, much like their wounded relationship.

Colour in Vertigo

Filmmakers can use colour to trigger a subconscious emotional reaction from the audience based on the connotations that we attached to certain colours. If done right, this can have a huge symbolic impact in the film. Tough luck for anyone who’s colour blind, right? We’ve already talked in seminar about the colours tied to the characters in Vertigo,  and there’s also many YouTube videos that discuss this at length, so I’ll just recap: Madeline/Judy is green, John (Scotty) is red, and Midge is yellow.

I was curious about whether the choice of these colours meant anything, or if any colour could have represented the characters. I found there is actually a colour coded “wheel of emotions” designed by Robert Plutchik, (Ph.D in medicine, university professor, and psychologist) who has published research just on the theory of emotion.

Plutchik’s Wheel

From this, we can pair Scotty with emotions like anger and annoyance, maybe because he can’t be with Madeline. Notice how the colour green can be fear and also admiration – the two themes around Madeline/Judy as Scotty falls in love with her, but there is an air of the paranormal surrounding her when we think she might be possessed by Carlotta’s ghost. Then later he falls in love with Judy, but there is a ghostly, eerie hue to her in her uncanny resemblance to Madeline (before he finds out they are the same person). The scene when Judy emerges from the bathroom, transformed for the second time into Madeline, she is surrounded by green light. That leaves Midge, who begins the film in yellow, which represent joy and serenity. I’m not sure how much that fits with her character. But interestingly, the emotion of love fits in between the colours yellow and green, similar to how Midge loves Scotty but he’s just out of her grasp, as he loves Madeline.

The nightmare scene that Scotty has is also full of colour. The screen switches back and forth from flashing many different colours until it is only flashing red.

I can’t say how much Hitchcock intended the colour in the film to have underlying meanings, or if they line up with any points I’ve made here, but there are probably some (if not all) scenes where colour is purposeful.

Plutchik wheel picture: public domain,

Dabydeen & Identity

No matter how much we talk in seminar about the poems in Slave Song, we can’t seem to come to an agreement on what the book’s purpose actually is. Is it a political statement on colonization? An attempt to recreate an authentic account Guyanese life? Or is it purely a product of Dabydeen’s fantasy, or “work of art”?

I (obviously) can’t say I know what the answer is, but I feel it’s a mix of the three. Almost like the intent of the book changes with each different “voice” Dabydeen takes on in the poems themselves vs. in the translations and notes. He jumps around from role to role, a one-man book with first-person poems told by Guyanese women paired with Western scholarly analysis, and also Dabydeen’s own introduction and postscript commenting his work. That’s why there are so many ways to read this book; Dabydeen speaks as so many characters each giving different angles to view the book’s content from.

But why did he write it like this? To confuse us? Maybe. Like I said in seminar, I think Dabydeen was struggling with his own identity and played with the different sides of his personality in making this book. He can identify with being an educated English scholar as well as with Guyanese culture. The history of his family mixed with his own life experiences has probably left him in some state of confusion about where he fits. Perhaps the main purpose of this book was actually to act as a therapeutic exercise for Dabydeen to explore and discover how all the pieces of him fit together or even contradict each other at times. Sometimes I feel like the poems and the translations are passive aggressively fighting each other or making some comment about each other. When the translations/apparatus feel so distanced and unaffected by the cruelty of the poems, it comes across as insulting, but at the same time purposeful. Dabydeen is simultaneously trying to speak about what happened in the past through the means of his present. This is seen in the last poem, Two Cultures, as the voice of a Guyanese man tells off a young boy for “ruining” the English people’s culture, and also for not acting true to his Guyanese origin. I believe the boy in question is representative of Dabydeen as he struggles to belong in both Guyana and England. Maybe he wants to honour his heritage in the way he knows how – writing poetry(?)

Remember, this is just another possible interpretation of many. I don’t know how much of this is actually makes sense. I’d love to hear any feedback of what you guys think. Open invitation to roast me in the comments!

Gilman and Mental Illness

“The Yellow Wallpaper” is praised for accurately describing one woman’s terrifying and slow descent into madness from her own perspective, no less. She unknowingly describes her unusual symptoms, too distracted by the ugly wallpaper around her to reflect what’s actually happening to her. But what actually is happening to her?

Gilman writes with such conviction that it is not too hard to believe the short story was inspired by her own personal experiences with curing mental health illnesses. As Christina said in lecture, she was treated with the same tedious “rest cure” described in the story and was also prescribed with cocaine and morphine – pretty weird stuff. It’s obvious during her time no one had any close guess as to what causes mental illness or what it actually is. One hypothesis suggests it is the effect of low energy in the nervous system, giving patients weak spines among other symptoms.

The complete misunderstanding of her case was most likely a driving force behind “The Yellow Wallpaper”.

I don’t have the knowledge to diagnose the protagonist of the story but my best guess is that she experienced uncontrollable episodes of daydreaming – also known as Maladaptive daydreaming. (Disclaimer: I don’t know a lot about this but I read a couple articles and they seemed interesting.) A study in 2002 claims the condition causes people to have “extensive fantasy activity that replaces human interaction and/or interferes with academic, interpersonal or vocational functioning”. People who suffer from this experience “hyper real, minutely detailed scripts that played on the walls of their minds for most of their waking hours.” Which could be compared to the main character’s hallucinations of the woman behind the wallpaper, and her reappearing outside all the windows. Even more relevant to the story, the study describes one common symptom: “As they fantasised, they engaged in repetitive movements –from pacing, rocking and spinning to throwing a ball up in the air.” Similar to the protagonist of the story’s obsessive crawling/creeping around the room in circles.

Gilman’s short brings up many questions about mental illness and how it should be treated properly. It’s almost implied in the story that the main reason for the main character’s mental state was because of her entrapment and improper care. I hope you found this interesting! Here’s the link to the full article on Maladaptive Daydreaming:

Questioning Freud

The two questions from my presentation both involved analyzing Freud’s work:

  1. How valid are Freud’s theories of the castration complex and child primary narcissism today?
  2. Do you agree with Freud’s view that suppressed desires cause hysteria given Nathaneal’s case from The Sandman?

In “The Uncanny” Freud picks apart Hoffman’s short story “The Sandman” along with many other texts, as well as his own personal experiences in order to define what exactly the “uncanny” is. He comes to the conclusion that it is not “intellectual uncertainty”, but actually “the class of frightening things that leads us back to what is known and familiar”, or the return of the repressed.

In analyzing Hoffman’s short, he claims it brings the feeling of uncanny because of its ties to repressed infantile desires. He says the act of losing our eyes is subconsciously related to our castration complex as children. The problem here is he doesn’t give much information how exactly these two things, fear of losing your eyes and genitalia, can be interchangeable. He also says the recurring theme of doubles in the story are uncanny because they indirectly remind us of our primary narcissism we had as children. Contrary to Freud, I have a hard time believing children participate in primary narcissism because they are afraid on some level of their mortality. I don’t believe small children have a strong enough grasp of the concept of death itself to begin fretting their own deaths, even subconsciously. Also, the example given in lecture of a child referring to themselves in the third person as evidence of primary narcissism is problematic. Children don’t call themselves by their first name because they wish to project multiple versions of themselves and become immortal, but simply because children don’t learn how to use pronouns before learning how names work.

It’s these little problems and ambiguity in Freud’s writings that caused me to question his credibility, especially given the case of Nathanael in “The Sandman”. While there are many instances of traumatic events in Nathaneal’s past coming back to haunt him in adult life (his spying on Coppelius and his father’s death), it is difficult to find any evidence of repressed desires that Freud believes is central to many cases of hysteria, not unlike the Nathaneal’s case. Towards the end of the story, he begins repeating phrases and acting without self-control. While this may be his repressed memories from his childhood (repressed because we never see what happens- just afterwards when Nathanael wakes up), I don’t believe he has repressed desires.

Hildegard of Bingen: the Opening Shot

Many film critics believe there is a strong importance in the opening shot of a film; that unbeknownst to the audience, it tells them everything they need to know about what they are about to see. Good film openings are rich in symbolism and set the mood and tone of the plot of the film. For example, the first seconds of the Disney classic The Lion King are iconic for the perfect portrayal of the circle of life- the sun rising over the savanna, representing the new age, just as Simba overcomes his uncle and begins the new era of balance and prosperity. This theory of the opening shot is also applicable to the beginning of the film Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen. If you can’t remember exactly how the film starts, I’ll play it out for you.

A large, bright, full moon is takes up most of the screen and is surrounded by nothing but black sky. Below, a skyline of trees and houses are outlined by the moon’s light, which extends to illuminate all that is below it. Subtle and eerie night-time sounds can be softly heard in the distance.

This all takes place in about the first 5 seconds, but nevertheless, is very important to the film. My interpretation of this sequence is that Hildegard is represented here as the moon. It isn’t radiant and in-your-face like the sun is; it has much more humble. I find that suits Hildegard very well. Also, the moon in this shot isn’t shown to be surrounded by any stars, which is the representation of Hildegard’s unique visions. She is the only person she knows who has experienced anything like them, and her relationship with God is special and separate from others. Also, she is female, which is isolating enough in her time as it is. The presence of the skyline is because of the light from the moon shining on it – which I believe is an obvious metaphor for Hildegard’s publishing of her visions, her preaching travels, and everything else she has done to share and spread her visions. Her teachings have illuminated many, in a literal sense. Lastly, I would say the lack of music and eeriness was to make the audience feel mystified, and to set up the tone for the first scene. I do believe Hildegard was sort of enigmatic and secretive herself as well.

When we first watched the film I was sure to write down my take on the opening shot, and I have written in my notes: “Loneliness. Isolation. Kind of mysterious.” It’s interesting how I had these fairly accurate descriptions of Hildegard before the film had really even started. I hope this will give you a new perspective on the beginnings of any films and movies you watch – don’t take even the first couple seconds for granted!

Well hello there, and thanks for being curious.

My name is Jenna and I’m from Winnipeg, Manitoba.  I love watching films and reading, particularity science fiction, but I’m in a huge Game of Thrones phase currently. I collect coins too.

I really enjoy music. I play the trumpet, piano, french horn, and ukulele. If anyone is looking for a fellow band nerd, I’m your person. I’m also in the Choral Union here at UBC, and we have our first concert on October 15th, if you’re interested.

Also, Pottermore just updated and published a Patronus Charm quiz, so today I found out my patronus is a leopardess. That’s pretty exciting. If you like Harry Potter.

I’m super open to making new friends, so talk to me before or after class sometime!

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