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Hello, back after the weekends!Tuesday, November 27, 2007 Well, last sat i went out with the Fengalicious bunch to watch ENCHANTED!!! haha... This year i think i've wasted ALOT of money on movies la. But that can't be helped also since i'm boring boy and there's NOTHING (i mean NOTHING - no pool, dota or sports for me pls) my friends can do with me other than watch a movie together. Which also is kinda a sad thing cause you probably won't get to talk to your friend much during the movie outing. Well, at least now i can KBOX haha... But i'm seriously kinda sick of KBOX!!! I went kboxing TWO times in 7 days you know and both times were with my office friends who mostly like CHEENA songs. So right now i'm sick of chinese songs, sick of singing kbox, sick of my colleagues' singing (haha jk) and sick - the first time i went with a slight sore throat and the second with a recovering flu, so i'm still in the midst of recovery! argh... Ok, to be fair to my office friends, the second time was MUCH funner - all the screaming to WHAT I"VE DONE by Linkin Park and IT"S MY LIFE by Bon Jovi (mostly by small boy boy Joshie nevertheless - he's crazy i tell you haha) really liven the kboxing spirit in me haha. Which is good cause I think i'm slated to go for two more kboxing sessions with my good friends! Ok, let me come back to our "wonderfully enchanted" outing. Honestly i'm so lazy of reillustrating what happened haha... PLUS i'm a bad writer so i can't describe things well. All the years of narrative writing somehow didn't sink in i guess. haha. But, don't fret! I can always count on my trustworthy Kenny to blog about it haha.. It's here so go check it out. To be nice, i shall summarize for u: 1) we watched movie 2) walked around, shopped and almost dropped (dead) 3) finally reach Esplanade for dinner at Glutton's Bay, cam-whored and had a nice pleasant chat at the roof. But i'll still show you pictures we took! haha... FYI Pictures also not mine... (but can ALSO dpd on Kenny haha)  Don't want happy ending lor! make me feel sad everytime haha...  After the movie!  After dinner, we went to Esplanade for night shots! Well, moving on, I'm now thinking of what else i can do besides wasting my time everyday on Facebook and purely listening to music. Right now, i'm concentrating on finishing my other half of "Tuesdays with Morrie" haha... YES, I READ! haha.. But it's been a week and i'm JUST halfway through (re-reading again - STM remember? haha) Besides that, i'm trying to relight my passion for topics that interest me. Back in my college days, i slogged extremely hard for my General Paper, knowing that i'm lousy in english and not so much of a "arguer" (u get what i mean). I can write 6 essays during my June holidays and ask my teacher to assess them for me, and that's like 2 every week since the June holidays are around 3 weeks. I remember collecting all the newspaper articles that are useful and researching online for good sources of information just so i can produce quality essays - filled with good examples. But STILL, I ONLY MANAGED TO GET A PATHETIC B4. Even my gp teacher said B4 was not so good. Anyway (trying not to think about the ugly B4), even though it was tiring back then to research on the different topics, i actually like the process of learning about all the new knowledge i came across - things i would never have knew if i didn't do all the essays i did. And of course the sense of satisfaction i get when i complete my essay and EVEN better, the ECSTASY i feel when i get good grades for them (results mean everything to a mugger u know haha). But after graduation, i've become so uninterested in current news! To make matters worse, i'm even the VICE PRESIDENT for my CURRENT AFFAIRS CLUB la!!! OMG lor... i've degraded into an apathetic slacker! And of course, that is partly due to my dislike for reading. So since i'm STARTING to read, i hope (*fingerscrossed*) i can relight the passion for learning new knowledge! aha... OK, i'm so in the mood to publish my previous write-ups (last entry and now again...? haha) ! haha... Must be Kenny la... I know he doesn't want me to say this but two of his letters to his favourite magazine 8days got published la! And One of them is LETTER OF THE WEEK sia... Unlike me, Kenny got A2 for Gp and he's the publication's president so writing well comes naturally i think. I"m so jealous... SO to not lose out to him (haha)I SHALL DO THE SAME HERE! haha! Of course, the essay i'm going to publish (i'm sure it has some errors of some sort - argument, grammar, factual errors) is probably not even comparable to what some of you can write BUT WHO CARES!!! haha... Jk.. At least it's a piece of work i feel very satisfied with. Remember, it's JC standard. AJC standard. B4 standard. My standard. SO PLS DON"T TAKE IT TOO SERIOUSLY ok.. haha Well so here it goes. For light-reading purposes, i chose something more interesting (but cliche ha.) So hope you enjoy reading it! haha.. RMB, don't give me marks for that ah! (i did i SO LONG ago......) ___________________________________________________________ Laughter is the best medicine. Discuss Three theories have been put forth for why we laugh. Firstly, in the incongruity theory, we laugh when logic and familiarity are replaced by things that don’t normally go together. Secondly, we laugh when we see someone’s mistakes, misfortunes or even stupidity. Thirdly, we laugh because it is a release from we tension we face in life. Laughter has been said to be a physiological response to humour. In many instances, it is claimed that laughter can relieve our health problems and reduce conflicts and hence is seen as the best medicine. However, if we delve deeper, we will find that laughter is actually only a form of temporary release and does not solve the serious health problems that we experience. Therefore, laughter is not the medicine. In Groucho Marx’s variant, "A clown is like an aspirin, only he works twice as fast". Recent medical research has increasingly confirmed the health benefits of laughter. One pioneer in laughter research, William Fry, claimed it took ten minutes on a rowing machine for his heart rate to reach the level it would after just one minute of hearty laughter. Furthermore, a small study conducted by in Vanderbilt University found out that 10-15 minutes of laughter burned 50 calories. With a better health, it may also improve the general well-being of the person. The Laughter Clubs International is an organisation which has sprouted more than 400 affiliates in India with 50,000 members, most of whom meet in the early morning at public parks or apartment complexes for a 20-minute blend of mirthful laughter before going to work. After going through the laughter programme, members claim that it actually helps to reduce their migraine and other minor health problems. Hence, in this aspect, laughter may seem to be the best medicine. However, we must recognise that laughter alone cannot solve the serious illnesses like cancer that requires specific treatments like chemotherapy to eradicate the cancerous cells. While laughter may be able to eliminate minor health problems, laughter simply is not able to function as the best cure for serious illnesses. Yet, it does not mean that laughter is of no value when treating serious illnesses. It is claimed that optimism brought about by laughter does help in ensuring a speedy recovery. When a person’s spirits are lifted, it can improve his state of mind and thus lead to a faster recuperation. Hence, while laughter is not the best cure for health problems, it still has its significance in improving one’s health status. Besides improving one’s health, laughter also helps people to relieve their mental stress. By laughing, people seem to forget about their problems momentarily. After the September 11 incident, it was reported that TV ratings for situational comedies (or "sitcom" in short") such as Friends went up significantly. This showed that laughter may provide people with a form of temporary release and prevent them from developing depression. Hence, laughter may seem to be the best medicine to reduce one’s mental stress. However, this form of release is confined only to the short term. In the long term, laughter may not act as a cure but rather an ephemeral escape from one’s problems. Laughter in such an instance will only make the person avoid the realities of life and sooner or later, he may even be more disappointed since the problems may have aggravated. Hence, laughter would not be the best medicine. Instead, it would be better for one to face the music and concentrate on one’s problems and tackle them directly. In addition to relieving stress, laughter can also act as a good way to resolve conflicts and reduce tension. When we laugh, we tend to signal our desire to be part of the group, that we are comfortable with one another and that we can be open and free. This can improve the status of a person since he is seen as a friendly person. In embarrassing or threatening situations, laughter may seem like the best medicine as it can be a way of breaking the ice, effecting conciliation or deflecting anger. This could effectively help to resolve most arguments easily. Hence, laughter may seem to be the best medicine when dealing with threatening situations. However, laughter may be deemed inappropriate in formal discussions and meeting where a certain degree of solemnity needs to be observed. This is because serious decisions and discussions are being made and laughter would certainly not be the best way to enliven the mood. The person may be taken to be less serious about the work and this may put the person in the negative light. Hence, while laughter may be a good way to reduce tension, discretion needs to be practised as it may be inappropriate in formal events. Therefore, laughter is not the best medicine. In an ordinary day, laughter is called upon constantly. Friends, colleagues and family members invoke it to relieve stress while those in authority use it to reduce tension. Laughter may also have a positive effect on an individual’s health. However, we must also recognise that laughter is only a temporary release and is not the answer to the major illnesses we face. It may even be unsuitable during formal discussions. Thus, laughter is not the best medicine. We need to understand that while laughter is a good way to solve problems, we still need to face the realities of life when dealing with our problems. music.city.soul || 9:19 PM || 0 comments |
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