The cake is a pie.

Essay-a-Week Challenge - Week 8

"June 24th: Cake vs Pie (Alternatively, for the gluten free: Sorbet vs Ice Cream)"

The great debate. What is the chosen dessert?

 Topics from, A Bookful Blockhead.

Of the thirty teeth I currently have, I lack a sweet tooth, and usually prefer "savoury" in the sweet vs. savoury debate. Of cake and pie, I have a better impression of cake, as it seems to be ever present at the most important moments of our lives: birthdays, graduations, and weddings. Pies are also relatively rare in Asian cuisine (to my knowledge). Growing up, I would rarely have the opportunity to eat pies, with the exception of egg tarts (which are technically pies?).

But if this argument is supposed to be for "the great debate", I lack the authority or experience to make convincing statements and even my anecdotal evidence is weak. So instead, I turn to my peers - no, not fellow essayists (n will probably be less than thirty), but all those netizens on the world wide web. And if I can assume that those who frequent the world's most visited website represent an unbiased sample in the cake vs. pie debate (I see no reason for dessert bias), then I think we should have no problems consulting Google, which now sees over a billion unique visitors on a monthly basis. Thus, here begins five rounds of dessert-filled searching:

Round 1: Google Search (via Google Insights for Search)

Google Insights for Search is essentially a spruced up version of Google Trends, which I talk about in the beginning of this blog post. We can start by comparing the worldwide search volumes of "cake" and "pie" since 2004. 

On average, there are 40% more searches for cake than pie, though pie enjoys a peak during late November, presumably for American Thanksgiving. Both terms are gaining search share each year, but cake takes the cake, surpassing pie queries year round since 2008. Furthermore, while the top search for pie is American Pie, an extra boost from the song and the movies, all top ten searches for cake are food related (i.e. cake recipe, chocolate cake, birthday cake, wedding cake, cheese cake). Round one clearly goes to cake.

Google Doodle: Google's 4th Birthday, celebrating with cake.

Round 2: Youtube

Despite cake's popularity among websites, pie is the bigger star of Youtube filmography. A simple search shows 748 000 hits for pies and 667 000 results for cake. While covers of American Pie take some of the fill, pies show their versatility with video recipes, animations, and the pieing of politicians like former Prime Minister Jean Chretien. Cake, on the other hand, is out-layered with songs by Cake, a band. The first dessert-based video is far down the page, trumped by more than ten other music or comedy videos.

In true Youtube fashion, cake appears to be most viral, with "chubby cubby cake boy" at the top with 52 million views. Meanwhile, Youtube ranks "LA CINTURA MAS DELGADA DEL MUNDA" (translation: world's thinnest waist) as the most watched video among the results for "pie", seemingly at a big sacrifice to relevance. The video has 47 million views, greater than the population of Spain, but does not seem to mention pie at all.

With the two desserts  each with an advantage in either general popularity or viral trending, pie takes the lead with the President Obama's Youtube endorsement near the top of its results with "I like pie. You like pie too?" So congratulations oh crusty dessert, you've just won Round Two.  

Thanksgiving, 2005. Bush may have pardoned the turkey, but that pie's not going anywhere.

Round 3: Google Images

This round was an easy one for cake, topping pie with 56.1 million hits compared to 31.7 million. And it wasn't just sheer numbers that made this an easy win for cake:

Cake pictures have a lot more design and pattern - the dessert is like a blank canvas for the artist, or cook, to prepare - that's why you have shows like Ace of Cakes, and that's why the cake is one of the centrepieces of a wedding banquet. There is so much variation and creativity that can go into a cake, a media which pie can't seem to rival (clip art?!?). Perhaps it's the pie filling that gives it some inner beauty, but in terms of photo shoots, cake is getting the cover page and the centrefold.

Google's 7th Birthday.

Round 4: Google Scholar, Patents

I decided to take a more scientific approach to the debate, and looked up scholarly articles on cake and pie. The first thing I learned was that Pie is the more popular last name - most of the top results featured the dessert surnames, and pie led with 1.8 million results, doubling cake's hits. Filtering the search terms to the article titles, pie maintained its lead by a small margin. Here are some of the more intriguing titles:

This is some serious stuff[ing].

• "Pi calculus versus petri nets: Let us eat 'humble pie' rather than further inflate the 'pi hype'", from BPTrends, 2005
• "Apple pie and enchiladas: Latino newcomers in the rural Midwest", from University of Texas Press, 2004
• "How to Cut a Cake Fairly", from The American Mathematical Monthly, 1961.
• "An envy free cake division protocol", from The American Mathematical Monthly, 1980.
• "Penguins can make cake", from AI Magazine, 1989

A "Pie-Juice Saver".

I also did a patent search that confirmed pie's victory. Despite cake's creative side, inventors seem to be more inclined to develop creative new ideas for the pie. Interesting patents included: a pie-juice saver, a cake umbrella, a pie ventilator, a cutting guide for layered cake, an eskimo pie vending machine, a device for preventing a cake from slipping on a plate, and also - a "combined cake and pie". Despite the efforts for peace, the debate rages on...

Thanksgiving, 2010. Another interesting fact, Google recently got the patent for its Doodles.

Round 5: Google Books (via Google Ngram Viewer)

Lastly, I shall add some historical perspective to the debate, and compare the appearances of the two desserts in the past 200 years (1800-2000). The Google Ngram Viewer (blog post here) takes advantage of Google's digitization of Books, and plots the use of terms or phrases over time. 

While we can only speculate on the popularity of desserts during both World Wars, cake is by far the more popular of the two. The only time pie was mentioned more often was before 1835, with the dessert also riding the wave of the Latin word "pie", stemming from the word "pius", seen in famous texts and poems with the phrase "pie Jesu". As pie seems to be even less popular at the start of the 21st century than the 19th century, while cake has doubled its relative share, the winner of the round 5 shall be cake!

Google's 12th Birthday, drawn by Wayne Thiebaud.

A Cake-Pie Chart!

So cake wins the Google challenge! If you have any disputes or questions, feel free to comment below. Google, of course, offers many other search features that you can also test, though a quick run through of them will show that cake has more results, most of the time. 

Final note: The top Google result for "cake vs. pie" brings you to one of the most awesome blogs out there, "Hyperbole and a Half", who lays out alot of arguments for pie. With all the "cake vs. pie" arguments among fellow essayists, I wonder if we'll start seeing our debates there too! Happy writing!

Congratulations Cake!
- from a 10 year old Google.

Götterfunken!

Essay-a-Week Challenge - Week 7

"June 17th: Music that Moves Me"

Tell us about a song, an album or a band which speaks to you in that most universal of languages.

Topics from, A Bookful Blockhead.

If, for whatever reason, there were any surprises in the previous essays of the last six weeks, I inform you there will be none of that today, as I will be writing about one of the most moving and universal pieces of music ever composed: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (full symphony, youtube playlist). It is no secret that Beethoven is my favourite composer and one of my greatest inspirations, and I have already referenced his ninth in a previous essay. Also, important to note, it's only 177 more days until Beethoven's birthday!

I was probably introduced to the music of Beethoven very early in life, as for most people. One of Classical music's most prominent composers (technically, late Classical to early Romantic), Beethoven's music can be heard anywhere, whether it's the doom-inciting four note motif of his fifth symphony or the graceful broken piano chords of his Moonlight Sonata (referring to the first movement, of course, though I also love the third).

I had a more formal introduction to the great composer not long after I started playing piano. Using the Bastien Piano series for beginners to kickstart about twelve years worth of lessons, a simplified Ode to Joy found its way into my repertoire of music, along with arrangements of Joplin's The Entertainer, and Hadyn's Surprise Symphony, all pieces that I still love today. But it was Beethoven that would remain my favourite composer, especially when I could begin playing some of his unabridged music, starting with sonatinas, moving through variations, and finally meeting the sonatas.

I also remember listening to the audio book of "Beethoven Lives Upstairs" (on cassettes, of course!), a story of a young boy who befriends the eccentric composer. Each section of the book was accompanied with Beethoven's music, usually his famous piano compositions like Fur Elise or Minuet in G. But as Beethoven continued to compose (in his real life), his music became more commanding. His early sonatas were much shorter, with simple themes typical of the Classical composers before him. By his last few sonatas (notably, the Hammerklavier), he uses the entire length of the keyboard to create his powerful music, a test of the emotions of the early Romantic period.

Left: An Early Sonata (the first of thirty-two); Right: A Late Sonata (Hammerklavier - 29th)

Just the opening minute of each can show you Beethoven's dramatic growth in music style. 

Beethoven in Central Park, New York.

Beethoven first embraced the work of music known as the symphony in his mid-twenties, shortly before his tragic, gradual loss of hearing. Like his sonatas, his symphonies document his growth as a composer, as well as his continual struggles with deafness and culture's transition to Romanticism. His third symphony, the Eroica (Heroic), was written in praise of Napoleon and his role in the French Revolution. His fifth, perhaps his most famous symphony (but I would argue for the ninth), is also a masterpiece - I was lucky enough to perform its final movement in my last year with my high school symphony. The piece ends with twenty-nine measures of pure C-chords, essentially an epic cadence to a thundering symphony.

Beethoven became disillusioned with European politics as Napoleon was declared emperor (tearing the title page of his third symphony in rage). Later, Beethoven found hope in a more liberal society, emerging in the Romantic period, and gave a triumphant tribute to freedom in his last symphony, his ninth. The fourth and last movement featured a choir singing the famous theme to Ode to Joy, arguably the most well known four-ish minutes of his ninth symphony. But the other seventy or so minutes (length depends on recording) of Beethoven's ninth are far from preamble and background - each movement captures a different aspect of Beethoven's emotion in the final years of his life, and is a worthy work of music on its own.

Having been a part of a string orchestra in school for about seven years, I find a bit of magic to the sound of the orchestra tuning, and that's how the first movement of the ninth seems to begin (video to the right). The instruments and their melodies soon pick up speed and volume, and soon there is a full strength symphony (actually, double strength - the ninth was performed with several additional parts and players) that brings in a dark theme reminiscent of his fifth.

The second movement, played very quickly (molto vivace to be exact), is much lighter to contrast the first movement and features a timpani solo (my favourite non-keyboard percussion instrument). The fast-paced section still has the drama of the first movement in an endless battle between its three and four beat rhythms and the recurring theme in a fugue-like form.

The third movement is the symphony's slow movement, allowing tension to build for the fourth and final movement, and plenty of time to draw out its powerful themes, as the notes and rhythms become more complex as the movement approaches its end. Then the fourth movement comes in, and by the time the solo tenor sings his opening to introduce the choir, you know you're listening to a whole new world of music.

The first ten minutes of the fourth movement, also known as "symphony within a symphony". You can hear some of the previous movements coming back, starting with the first at 00:50. The theme begins creeping in at 2:55, stronger by 4:16, and in full force (orchestra-wise) by 4:59. The tenor enters the scene at 6:30, and the famous chorus has its moment at 7:44. Note: see conductor at 8:38.

And yet, Beethoven was fully deaf (though not necessarily permanently - his hearing senses fluctuated) when he composed this grand symphony. He insisted on conducting (his first public performance in over decade after a disastrous piano concerto) and shared the stage with Michael Umlauf, the theatre's choirmaster. Beethoven conducted with all the gestures, though the musicians were informed to ignore the deaf composer and to follow Umlauf. From Wikipedia, "He was turning the pages of his score and beating time for an orchestra he could not hear."

Playing the symphony slightly slower in his mind (oh what a mind), he was still conducting when the orchestra had finished, and had to be turned around to see the standing ovation of the audience. They gave Beethoven five standing ovations, and made gestures - raised hands and thrown handkerchiefs and hats - so that Beethoven could see and feel the applause. A second concert of his ninth symphony would be his last public on-stage appearance. Beethoven passed away three years later with the beginnings of a tenth, and started the superstition known as the "curse of the ninth".

Handwritten notes from Beethoven's Ninth. 

The symphony is no doubt "music that moves me", and is also music that moves people worldwide. The theme to Ode to Joy is not only a piece of music that captures the hearts of individuals. Beethoven's music has inspired entire nations, and yet remains independent of the countries and their respective ideologies to remain a musical piece that all can love.

Beethoven's music was embraced by Hitler who admired the composer's genius; the Ninth Symphony could be heard at Nazi rallies. At the same time, Ode to Joy was also played in Britain for hope during the war as an anti-Nazi song. The ninth symphony returned as an anthem for a unified Germany and was played when the Berlin Wall was being torn down. Ode to Joy was also popular in post-cultural revolution Communist China symbolizing joy through struggling, while played yearly in Japan to celebrate the freedom in democracy. And, of lastly, the symphony's famous melody has been played worldwide at Olympic Events and has been adopted as the anthem of the European Union.

Compact Discs: Just enough
for Beethoven's Ninth. 

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony may not be the most popular song compared to modern music tastes, but it was definitely a favourite of Norio Ohga, one of the pioneers of today's CDs (though those are on their way out). Previously, a performance of Beethoven's ninth required three sides of a vinyl disc (well, one and a half); Ohga insisted that the CD should be able to play the entire symphony uninterrupted. Soon, the standard became the 12-cm disc, much to the dismay of Sony who had preferred their proprietary 11.5 cm discs that would just cut out the coda of Beethoven's Ninth (of the faster recordings).

So next time you pick up an album or a mix tape, considering listening to the full Ninth Symphony, and relive the life of Beethoven, the emotions of the Romantic period, and the histories of nations worldwide that have embraced his Ode to Joy.

p.s. for those more interested in Beethoven's symphonies, you can easily run through all of them twice when pulling an all nighter!

Central Park, June 10

I have been in the United States for three weeks now, staying with my aunt and uncle in the relatively peaceful Columbia, Maryland. The community is a prime example of a planned neighbourhood - its entire layout designed before its area was populated - and is seamlessly landscaped into its surrounding nature. With my weekday explorations in the lab, trying to express and purify quantities of mMYH, my weekends allow me to venture out a bit more. Last weekend, my cousin offered to bring me to New York City for a few days. I happily accepted.

I was to stay at her fiance's home in New Jersey for two nights, while spending two days roaming the streets (and subways) of the city. Everyone was very kind and welcoming, as I offered a taste of Canada and perhaps a glimpse into the characters among my cousin's family. I shall see them again when I my family returns to Columbia for the wedding later this year.

After the three and a half hour trip Northbound to New Jersey, brief introductions, and lunch, I was on the NJ Transit train to Pennsylvania Station, New York City. It's a rather massive station, covering essentially two subway stops and linking several train, and subways services. Of course, it was rather massive until I saw Grand Central Station. I bought a MetroCard (unfortunately, New York MTA has discontinued its "Fun Pass", akin to Toronto's Day Pass that allow a day's worth of unlimited transit use) and loaded it up with $20, which comes with a bonus $1.40. I swiped myself into the system (for $2.25) and tried to find the subway I needed to take.

The convenient thing about transit in Manhattan is that it's everywhere. There are several subway lines, and there seems to be a stop every block. Each "line" also has several alternate routes, to cover a whole lot of area, and there are also express and local trains. On the downside, it's a bit complicated, and it took a few minutes to figure out the four-lane subway system. Luckily, I was able to figure it out soon enough, and took the uptown C-train on the blue line to 81st street - the American Museum of Natural History.

The museum entrance (the Central Park West entrance, to be exact) is also a memorial hall to Theodore Roosevelt, featuring his statue by the outside doors, and four passages engraved on the interior wall dedicated to Nature (see left), Manhood, Youth, and the State. The atrium also featured full dinosaur fossils (above), wrapped around by the lines of visitors about to enter the museum's massive, world class collection, as the Internet and relatives tell me. With the sun out, and only a few hours, I decided to cross the street to Central Park instead, saving the bulk of the museum for a later visit (though it was my rain-day option).

Everything in New York feels like a super-sized version of an average city's counterparts, and Central Park sits at the centre of it all. Wikipedia tells me the park is 843 acres (3.41 square kilometres), or in standard American measurements, 637.88 football fields. For my records and perhaps your amusement, I mapped my 2-hour path as I spidered my way through the south side of the park (in eight legs?). The park features so many statues, fields, and paths, and with only a simple map on my phone. I set out in a southeast direction, not sure exactly where I wanted to go. I knew I wanted to visit Strawberry Fields, and I knew there was a statue of Beethoven somewhere, and with a vague impression of the park, I set out.

After some initial awe of the size and nature of the park (it's easy to forget you're in the biggest city in the United States), I stumbled upon the Shakespeare Garden. Not to any surprise, there were plenty of flowers; making the garden special were several plaques that featured lines from Shakespearean plays involving plants and flowers.

 

Next I headed south towards the lake, appropriately named "The Lake". I choose the left side of the fork and travelled along the lake's east edge, which had several small forest-like trails. Walking along paths near the centre of the park, surrounded on both sides by trees and water, the only hints of New York City were the glimpses of skyline that seemed so far away. The Lake was relatively quiet, though there were more people around Bow Bridge, a popular area for canoeists (yes, it's a word).  A little further to the south was Cherry Hill Fountain, before coming to "The Mall".

Left: Westward view of the lake. Right: Bow Bridge

Cherry Hill Fountain

Breakdancers at the north side of The Mall

There seemed to be more and more people towards the south end of the park. "The Mall", one of Central Park's most well known sights, features a wide path surrounded by Elm trees with several artists and musicians lining the walkway (left). The north end had a crowd watching a few breakdancers (above), as well as the Naumberg Bandshell (right) with a band just setting up.

By the time I finished walking The Mall, I realized that I had overshot Strawberry Fields, so I turned northwest and cut through Sheep Meadows. Central Park also features a whole lot of sports fields, including 20 or so baseball/softball diamonds, tennis courts, a pool, two skating rinks (in the wintertime), and croquet fields. But in case all that isn't enough, there's Sheep Meadows, an incredibly wide field almost as large as the lake. The field was filled with people sunbathing and others playing soccer, football, and frisbee.

Sheep Meadows

Not too far north of Sheep Meadows at the west side of the park was Strawberry Fields! It's a memorial to John Lennon, nearby his New York apartment and the place of his death. The memorial is a stone mosaic with the word "imagine" in its centre. If you click and see the full picture, you'll see a tribute to John Lennon at the top right corner, and five Beatles symbols in the middle: a green apple with a sketch of John, a yellow submarine, a strawberry with "JL", a walrus, and a green apple with a headband that says "Let it Be". The memorial was surrounded with a circle of people - sketching, listening to music, or just meditating. Gary dos Santos, as Wikipedia tells me, was dressed up in 60's gear, and added to the mood at the memorial; he can credited with laying the flower arrangements each day.

I headed back eastward, not exactly sure where to go, so I followed the sound of music. Soon, I noticed a familiar silhouette... Beethoven! His statue is just to the west of the Mall's Bandshell but unfortunately blocked with a tree. Luckily, through circling back to Strawberry Fields, I was find my way to my favourite composer and return to the Mall where the band that was previously setting up was now playing a cover of the Beatles' Paperback Writer.

I headed through the Mall again, before heading further east, opposite of Sheep Meadows and entering the southeast corner of Central Park, also known as the Central Park Zoo.  The North Gate featured the Delacorte Clock and a statue I thought looked like a dog, but turned out to be a "honey bear". I walked through the "zoo bypass path" that gave me a few glimpses of the zoo without paying fare (I didn't have much time to explore a zoo anyways) and headed back out the North exit.

Left: The Honey Bear; Right: I took a picture because it reminded me of the McMaster Marauder. 

Left: Seals! Right: The Delacorte Clock

Heading back out of the zoo, I stumbled upon Shakespeare, who apparently isn't enjoying his own gardens but much further south. Near the end of my walk, I finally reached the visitor centre, though there wasn't much there except a gift shop. Nearby was a checkers and chess area, where a handful of people were playing games in the nice outdoors.

Lastly, I ended my journey in Central Park at Columbus Circle at its southeast corner, passing by several playgrounds. Columbus Circle featured a monument to the USS Maine (below) and a fountain in its centre. I descended down the subway steps across the street from the Trump International Hotel and Tower and headed south to Times Square.


Later in the day, I would stop by Times Square (but I will detail this more in my post for June 11 when I revisited Times Square along with Broadway) and met with my cousin at Astor's Place, known for its "Alamo" sculpture, also known as "The Cube".

Picture courtesy of Wikicommons; I forgot to take one.

We had dinner at a Japanese ramen restaurant called Ippudo, which reminded me of a upscale, busier, and more modern version of one of the noodle shops (Du Xiao Yue) I visited in Tainan last year (can be seen at this post, near the bottom). Both menus featured a nice cultural touch, while the cooks preparing the food were in plain sight. Besides the awesome noodles and its accompanying soup, the servers and chefs yelling out Japanese phrases was a nice touch.

Very tasty, though Ippudo's website features everything in better lighting. 

We would end the night by "people watching" at the stairs of Union Square and having dessert/cupcake at Crumbs, before making it back to Jersey to see the last three minutes of the Canuck's final victory of the season. New York is a very exciting and busy city: there are always things to do, people to meet, places to see or go. It's definitely a wonderful place to visit, but I'm not sure if I would be up to living the life of a New Yorker on a daily basis. Instead, you'd probably find me wandering Central Park (warning: incredibly hi-res photo) for most of the time. =).

Tune in for Broadway, June 11th, to be posted soon!

19.15 mmol of C6H12O6

Essay-a-Week Challenge - Week 6, Part 2

"June 10th: One Movie Everyone Should See"

Whether a chick flick or a slasher, take go ahead and gush about a film you love.

Topics from, A Bookful Blockhead.

Part 1 (preamble), here. 

Unlike the mysteriously magical nanny, the above recording is not practically perfect in every way, due to some rusty fingers and poor recording equipment. But enjoy nonetheless =). 

My favourite movie, and perhaps the movie everyone should see, is Mary Poppins. It's a movie based on a children's book, and while its appeal is mostly for kids, the story brings out the inner child in everyone. There are plenty of heart-warming themes, a cast of interesting characters, and an endless track of wonderful songs. Despite the father, Mr. Banks, playing the early antagonist, by the end you'll feel happy for everyone in the entire family as Mary Poppins floats away in the distance.

I have always enjoyed watching my favourite movies and shows over and over again, and I have watched Mary Poppins dozens of times. I never tire of the music, the penguins, and the tap-dance number of "Step-in-Time". Most recently, I went through much of the film last Wednesday, while facing the much dreaded, corrupted server-monster that hosts McMaster's course registration services (needing to get up early the next morning, I started Mary Poppins at midnight and promised myself to go to sleep if the movie finished before I got into the system, as opposed to staying up 'til 3:30 the previous year to get into just 40% of my courses). Thankfully, the movie made the "tab, enter, enter, and repeat" sequence slightly more bearable.

Mary Poppins, Julie Andrew's first major movie, was filmed in 1964 in glorious 2-D. Arguably a classic, the movie does not feel like one, with its main conflict - the battle between work and family - at the heart of modern troubles, and it is easy to relate to the Banks family. Only we wish we could have such a mysterious, magical nanny to pay us a visit.

Whenever you're a bit bored, or looking for a movie to cheer you up a bit and release your inner, confused-but-optimistic child, then consider picking up Mary Poppins. Oh, and the music. is. wonderful. Besides Chim Chim Cher-ee winning the Oscar for Best Original Song, I enjoy every song of the movie, from the famous "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" and "A Spoonful of Sugar", to Mrs. Bank's "Sister Suffragettes". Oh yeah, the film won Best Original Score as well.

Besides showcasing a lovely repertoire of Disney songs, I give credit to Mary Poppins for my self-training at a young age to "play by ear", that is, playing a song after listening to it. The first song I can recall trying to figure out is Chim Chim Cher-ee, and once I was able to reproduce its melody (I even scribbled down some messy notes on staff paper), I was soon trying to replicate any song I wanted to learn. More than 10 years later as I write this, I've embedded a more recent play-by-ear attempt [above], a Mary Poppins medley that I put together earlier this week, played courtesy of my aunt and uncle's newly-tuned piano.

I hope that you've all watched this movie at some point, and can reflect on some of the scenes and clips from Youtube and recall your thoughts and feelings from when you first watched it. And if you haven't watched it yet, I would strongly suggest watching Mary Poppins. Or even better [perhaps], seeing the musical adaption, Mary Poppins the Musical, in person. I was lucky enough to see in last week, and my post about that can be seen here (to be written).

Sorry for this late post, but better late than never. I'll leave you with a video clip of "Step In Time", and I hope I'll be in time for the next post.

Well begun is half done.

Essay-a-Week Challenge - Week 6

"June 10th: One Movie Everyone Should See"

Whether a chick flick or a slasher, take go ahead and gush about a film you love.

Topics from, A Bookful Blockhead.

I will be in New York for the next couple of days, so I present to you the first half of this post. The second half is already written, at least in my mind, but I'll leave you with my usual preamble for now; I hope for a surprise early next week. But for now...

There is a bit of contradiction between this week's title and its subject, since a film that I love is not necessarily the one movie everyone should see. More importantly, I don't watch many movies (not that I don't like them - there are some that I love!). I tend to watch movies only when the occasion arises - in a class, when friends organize something, on a long flight. As a result, there's a long list of classics and blockbusters and films with critical acclaim I have not seen [that I'm sure to read about in the upcoming week]; the likelihood of the "one movie everyone should see" falling into the category of "movies I have seen" isn't very high. (hidden premise: I shouldn't label a movie as "one movie everyone should see" until I have seen it).

I consider this wave of topics, starting last week, to be part of the second theme: choices (the first theme being personal knowledge). We are tasked with choosing a favourite book, movie, film, or dessert, and then asked to defend our choice. In reading the posts of several bloggers, I found the reasoning for their favourite book to be just as interesting as the book itself. One of my favourite posts of the past week (from, "This could end badly") concluded that "the book that everyone should read" should be a children's book.

I will apply the same logic here, and say that "the book everyone should read" should be a children's movie. Possibly because I'm biased, and I grew up in the Golden Age of Disney Animation. Also probably because I watched more movies when I was a kid. But perhaps it's because the movies that convey simple themes through light-hearted plots filled with songs and music are what people really need. These movies are not only geared for the kids but for their parents too.

The movie I believe everyone should see is a musical film, based on a children's book.

... to be updated early next week!

Read! Read! Read!

Essay-a-Week Challenge - Week 5

"June 3rd: One Book Everyone Should Read"

We all have a handful of books we just can’t stop talking about. Pick one and tell the world why you love it and what you think other people will get out of it.

Topics from, A Bookful Blockhead.

Also one of my favourite beards.

If there is a book that everyone should read, that book needs to be good, and not just in the literary sense. Good books are those that can affect your life or the way you see the world, those that enhance your mind and your thoughts, and those that bring you peace, catharsis.

Plenty of titles come to mind. One of my favourite books is Fifth Business, a novel by Canadian author Robertson Davies, chosen for our Grade 12 English class. The narrative focussed on the theme of finding one's place in the world, providing new perspectives in a time of decision-making. On another note, I would credit Charles Darwin and his famous publication, On The Origin of Species, for enhancing the way I think and study as I admire Darwin's ability to experience the world around him and beautifully translate his ideas into the founding ideas of natural selection. For finding peace, I enjoy reading the picture books and novels I grew up with, I suppose connecting with a younger self of a simpler time, re-exploring the deep themes of Lois Lowry's The Giver or enjoying the simple themes of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle.

mmm... Google.

For me, there is one book that satisfies all three - affecting my life, my thoughts, and giving me peace - and that book would be the Bible. The Bible can be many things: a source of stories and parables to learn from, a record of the events in the lives of Jesus, prophets, and historical figures, and passages that inspire reflect on the themes and questions that have been with humankind forever.

But for this essay, I will not choose the Bible, partially because religion and spiritually should not be forced on individuals. I do believe, however, that the Bible contains a lot of interesting and useful passages, and as the most published book and a text that is found in many religious and cultural studies, people should be exposed, at the very least, to parts of the Bible as one experiments with their own spirituality and philosophy, as they explore one of the core elements of humanity. Also, the Bible is rather long, and in a society driven by tweets, making the Bible a book everyone should read is not very realistic.

On the plus side, the Bible is very accessible - they are often given out for free, it's available online and for many different reading levels, and is the world's most translated book. Since the Bible is also a collection of many books, by various authors, written at different times, I will instead choose one of these - short, enough to be accessible and readable by everyone, and relevant, something we can all reflect on. While one of the Gospels might seem like the obvious choice, I will go with a personal favourite, the book of Ecclesiastes (link to full text).

There is debate over the author of the relatively short twelve chapters (perhaps shorter than the Wikipedia page describing the book), who describes himself as "the preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem" (English Standard Version). Some point to the wise King Solomon, who is common credited for the preceding Book of Proverbs, but others say otherwise. It does not matter much though, all is vanity under the sun.

I like the book of Ecclesiastes because it resonates with a lot of philosophical discussion, and it is less of a historical account and more of an anecdote or narrative that many people can relate to. The first few chapters describe life as 'useless', 'futile', and 'meaningless', writing: "All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever." (Ecc. 1:2-4). The passage goes on to describe the "Vanity of Wisdom", similar to the phrase, "ignorance is bliss", as the writer says "for in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow." (Ecc. 1:18).

After detailing the vanities of self-indulgence, living wisely, and toil, Ecclesiastes takes a lighter spin into its most famous passage, "A Time for Everything". The eight verses are featured in the song, "Turn! Turn! Turn!" by the Byrds, and is embedded below.

The book goes on to describe a balance of fear, happiness, and work that should be incorporated into one's life, a part of the neverending debate between the Stoics and the Epicureans. The author poses the same questions that many ask today: "All are from the dust, and to dust all return. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth?" (Ecc. 3:20-21).

The cry of vanity simmers down as the end of the book approaches, though it never fully goes away. A few morals enter, as the writer ultimately defends wisdom: "The words of the wise heard in quiet are betting than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good." (Ecc. 9:17-18). The last few chapters describe one's relationship with the king and with the Lord, in a world of vanity and toil, helping to establish a sense of balance in life.

I really like the Book of Ecclesiastes - the flowing language, the questions, and its message. I will not go into any more detail, because it is really what you make of it, but even if you do not agree with its message, I hope that you will have enjoyed its poetic verses and that some of the verses can get you thinking. And now to go look up all the wonderful books that the other essay-a-week challengers are suggesting...