Cortex Critique

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Fany Savina

Cortex, a french movie directed by Nicolas Boukhrief in 2008, tells the story of a retired cop, Charles Boyer, suffering from Alzheimer's who decides himself to be placed in a retirement home specialised for mental disorders. However, he starts to notice patients dying, but are his cop instincts wronging him or is he truly on the tracks of a killer? But would he even remember his investigation in the first place?

This all sounds very interesting and the idea is certainly a thrilling one. Although there may have already been thrillers where no believes the poor person aware of the killer, this one is slightly different in the 'forced institutionalisation', in the fact that the retired cop willingly goes into the home, albeit regretting it later. Although it isn't my favorite movie and can find flaws in it, it enjoyable and worth the watch. But writing a critique wouldn't be complete without elaborating the flaws of the movie:

Firstly, I want to talk about the Alzheimer's. It is clear from the first scene (Charles packing and his son driving him to the home) that the disorder is pretty severe, the character asking his son 'What disorder did you say I have again?', to paraphrase. At first, I suppose to show the effects of memory loss, we know exactly what it is Charles does not remember, but as the movie progresses, Charles wakes up more and more, neither he nor the audience knowing what happened between the two scenes. Although a good way to add suspense and fill out requirements for the thriller genre, we do not know what happens during these blackout even at the end of the movie.
Before I continue, let me explain something I noticed about movies. They can be in 'first' or 'third' person, just like a novel. There are, of course, many exceptions, but most can be classified as such. We either know only what the main character knows, usually seen in suspenseful movies, such as Rosemary's Baby. In can be guessed what the problem with the baby is, but we can only make guesses on what Rosemary sees. We do not see the neighbours plotting or performing a ritual. Then there is the third person, where we know almost everything. Like we are bystanders, or deities, as I like to think, and we merely watch, waiting for everything to collapse or fall into place, depending on the situation. There are too many films shown this way to name one, but and example of a plot would be knowing that the husband is cheating on the wife with his secretary, and simply waiting for the wife to find out, in this case bringing out the 'collapse' scenario.
To get back to Cortex, it is seriously confusing, because I have no idea in which person it is. At times it is one, the other, or both.

Spoiler Alert

 

In all, I liked this movie, but was left disappointed at the ending. Even so, the movie itself is a good watch which I recommend on a casual movie night.

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Le Conseil Général

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Fany Savina

Le conseil général représente le département. Les membres du conseil sont élus par suffrage universel direct, un par canton. Un canton est un regroupement de communes, et un département est un regroupement de cantons.
Un candidat, pour se présenter en tant que conseiller général, ne doit pas forcément faire parti d'un conseil municipal. Un candidat doit seulement avoir les mêmes qualifications qu'un électeur; avoir plus de 18 ans, un casier judiciaire vierge, faire parti du canton et être inscrit en tant qu'électeur.
Un candidat peut être élu dès le premier tour s'il obtient une majorité absolue des suffrages exprimés, c'est-à-dire 50% + 1 voix, tenant aussi en compte que ces suffrages doivent égaler au moins 25% des inscrits. Mais, dans le cas le plus probable où les candidats n'atteindraient pas la majorité absolue, les deux candidats ayant les meilleurs scores, passent au deuxième tour. Le candidat qui gagne l'élection est celui qui remporte le plus de bulletins, peu importe le nombre mis dans l'urne. Le candidat élu devient alors conseiller général, il représente son canton. Tous ensemble, les conseillers forment le conseil général.

À partir de 2014, en accord avec les nouvelles lois de réforme des collectivités territoriales françaises engagées par Nicolas Sarkozy, un nouveaux conseil, le conseil territorial, remplacera à la foi les conseils généraux et régionaux.

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The Beginning of the Tudor Legacy

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Fany Savina

The Tudor Rose, family symbol. A mixture of a York and Lancaster Rose.

The Tudor family is most known for Henry VIII and his six wives. His two headstrong daughters, Mary and Elizabeth are also well known among the Tudors. In all, five Tudors ruled England and its kingdoms, the first one being Henry VII. Henry VII acquired the throne in battle, during the War of the Roses. The war of the Roses was a sort of civil war during which two branches of the Royal family, the York’s and the Lancaster’s, fought for the right to the throne. The war was named thus after the symbolic rose emblems for each family, red for Lancaster, white for York. Surprisingly, Henry Tudor, distant descendant of Edward III and an obscure member of the Lancaster’s, won the battle for the throne, effectively ending the war, and uniting the two families by marrying Elizabeth of York. Henry and Elizabeth had four children who survived infancy, Arthur, Margaret, Henry and Mary, in order of birth. Henry VII immediately wanted to make strong allies, and so, a marriage agreement between Catherine of Aragon, then three, and Arthur Tudor, then two, was made between Arthur and Catherine’s parents, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille. Catherine left Spain to be with her new husband in 1501, and they married in the same year, Arthur at fifteen, Catherine at sixteen. However, as they settled into their new home and titles of Prince and Princess of Wales, both fell seriously ill. Arthur did not survive the illness. The Spaniards desperate to keep the alliance, and the English desperate to keep the dowry which had only been half payed, started negotiations for another marriage: Catherine and Arthur’s younger brother, Henry, new heir to the throne. After much back and forth between Ferdinand II and Henry VII, the marriage terms were still not agreed to. However, the situation changed when Henry VII died of tuberculosis in 1509. Now new King of England and free of his father, young Henry proposed to Catherine, who accepted. They were married in the same year of Henry VII's death, and had a happy relationship which lasted for almost fifteen years, regardless of Henry's scarce mistresses, until one mistress in particular, Anne Boleyn, decided to take the relationship further, causing havoc between Henry and Catherine, whom had undergone many years and troubles before being married.

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Le Conseil Municipal

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Fany Savina

Une municipalité, autrement dit une commune en France, est une division administrative, la plus petite qui existe; elle correspond au territoire d'une ville, d'un village, d'un groupement de villes ou de villages. Le nom municipalité est pris du Latin municipium qui désignait une ville ou communauté dont les habitants étaient reconnus en tant que citoyens de L'Empire Romain.
Les communes comme on les connait de nos jours existent depuis la Révolution Française, lorsque celle-ci, voulant éradiquer l'Église de la France, les imposa en remplacement des paroisses.
Une commune est dirigée par le conseil municipal qui est élu au suffrage universel direct par les habitants de la commune.  Le suffrage universel direct consiste à voter directement pour un certain candidat ou liste de candidats.
Pour pouvoir voter, il faut avoir plus de 18 ans, avoir un casier judiciaire vierge, être inscrit sur les listes électorales, habiter dans la commune en question, et si n'étant pas français, faire au moins partie de l'Union Européenne.
Pour voter, un scrutin majoritaire pluronominal est utilisé, en clair, l'électeur se décide pour un groupe de candidats et non pas une seule personne. Le nombre de membres dans le conseil dépend du nombre d'habitants de la commune.

Une fois les bulletins comptés, le conseil choisi au scrutin majoritaire le représentant de la commune, qui devient le maire. Celui-ci est donc élu au suffrage universel indirect. Le conseil municipal et son maire sont élus pour six ans, c'est à dire pour un sextennat.

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Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Fany Savina

Although a lot of movies and media exist around Henry VIII, they always start with Anne Boleyn or later. I wonder why that is. I personally think that how Henry married Catherine is just as interesting, and just as long: Henry didn't divorce one, marry another and create the Church of England within weeks. Several, several years passed first during which Anne gave in to the King's advances before being married, let alone Queen. But anyway, back to Catherine of Aragon. I made a timeline of the two, from their births, to their eventual marriage. It may give an idea that marrying someone in Tudor times wasn't that easily done. But more importantly, it may give an idea of what Catherine of Aragon's life as well as Henry VIII's was like before the mayhem of infertility and Anne Boleyn. Enjoy!

(Note: You may need to pause the video at times, the text can scroll a little quickly.)

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What came after Napoleon?!

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Fany Savina

I don't know about you, but I've been wondering what happened after Napoleon? How would France get from an Empire to a restored Monarchy to the presidential republic it is today? Well, it isn't exactly simple, but let me break it down for you.

Louis Philippe I

Once Napoleon was exiled for good, after his Hundred Days, on Saint Helena, the Bourbons were re-restored, meaning that Louis XVIII (Louis XVI's brother) was given was again the throne. However, Louis was very sick, and he died of both wet and dry gangrene in his legs in 1824, after ruling for approximately ten years. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Charles, who became Charles X. Charles was a lot more of a radical royalist than his brother, and as soon as he was crowned in 1825, he passed multiple laws that were in favor of royalists, clergy and nobles, and severely affected France's economy. In response, there was another mini revolution known as the July Revolution, which saw the end of Charles X, who went to live in various other countries in exile. Next to succeed Charles was Louis Philippe , from a branch of royal blood. His blood was royal per se, but he was a second branch of the entire family, and was not a part of the 'royal' family. Although Louis-Philippe ruled reasonably well, and did not spend lavishly like his predecessors, there was another mini revolution, called the February Revolution, in 1848. Fearing that he would be guillotined too, Louis-Philippe fled. It was then that the National Assembly of France decided to vote on a president, wo became Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte. Just like his uncle, Louis wasn't content with just a four year rule, and because the Constitution prevented anybody from being elected twice, Louis pulled a coup-d'états in 1851, and proclaimed himself president for life, and shortly after, Emperor Napoleon III. His rule was actually quite beneficial for France, as he initiated industrialisation, cleaned up Paris and re-arranged the streets into what we now have, and he also truly established peace for a while. He only entered a few wars, most of which were victories and for peaceful ends. The rest of Europe was content with his Empire as soon as it was made apparent that Louis did not intend to expand it. But Louis did want to make France more prominent and powerful, which he tried to accomplish with foreign policy, trading, and improving France overall. He managed, using industrialization, to better France's economy, to bring it to a boom even, and the opportunities for starting businesses were unlike anything seen before.

Napoleon III Bonaparte"]

[Louis

Louis Napoleon's end came when he tried to release Austria from the rule of Prussia. He began a war known as the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, but it turned disastrous and he was captured in battle the same year, which brought on another mini revolution which brought his Second Empire to the ground. He was eventually released by the Prussians, as he was no longer a powerful leader, on the exception that he should exile himself in England, which he did. The newly formed government, named the Third Empire, continued the Franco-Prussian War, although the war resulted in the German Empire, which became the new number one nation in the world, replacing France and rendering useless what Louis Napoleon did during his rule.

The Third Empire, who regularly voted for new members and presidents, remained unchanged until 1940, when it became the Vichy Regime in World War II following the successful invasion of the Nazis.

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Say it in Abma

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Fany Savina

"Say it in Abma" is an exercise I found online once but cannot remember where. Either way, it is good mental stimulation and good problem solving. Can you crack it?

Abma is an Austronesian language spoken in parts of the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu by around 8,000 people. Carefully study these Abma sentences, then answer the following questions. Note that there is no separate word for ‘the’ or ‘he’ in these Abma sentences.

Now, here are some new words in Abma:

Questions (Translate the following sentences into Abma):

1. The teacher carries the water down.

2. The child keeps eating.

3. Mabontare eats taro.

4. The child crawls here.

5. The teacher walks downhill.

6. The palm‐tree keeps growing upwards.

7. He goes up.

Answers:

1. Sesesrakan mweselkani sileng mwisib.

2. Nutsu mwatbo mwegani.

3. Mabontare mwegani bwet.

4. Nutsu mwegalgal mwabma.

5. Seseskaran muhural mwisib.

6. Butsukul mwatbo mwegau mwesak.

7. Mwisib.

Did you get everything right? I did :P .

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Objects and Methods in Javascript

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Fany Savina

Using Codecademy, I have learned about Objects and Methods in Javascript. Here's an example of what I can do:

//Here is our rectangle with set length and width
var rectangle = new Object();
rectangle.length = 3;
rectangle.width = 4;

//To define a new length
rectangle.setLength = function (newLength) {
  this.length = newLength;
};

//To define a new width
rectangle.setWidth = function (newWidth) {
  this.width = newWidth;
};

//Here we use the methods to change the values
rectangle.setLength(6);
rectangle.setWidth(8);
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How a new branch of historical painting emerged

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Fany Savina

David's painting immortalising his friend, radical revolutionary Marat's murder, finished a few months after the murder occurred.

The French Revolution is arguably one of the most important moments of French history. It all started quite slowly and progressively. When Louis XVI inherited the throne along with his Austrian wife, Marie Antoinette, France was destitute. It had just finished fighting in a war, and the people were hungry. However, instead of immediately fixing the problem, the rulers of the nation, not necessarily Louis, who was rather impressionable, raised the taxes on the poor. Finance Ministers came and went for a while, and everytime one would mention that the poor had no more money, and that instead taxes should be raised for the higherclass, they would be fired. In addition to the taxes, Marie Antoinette, who was still a very frivolous princess in her mind, spent like crazy and enjoyed the finer things in life. Although not very evil, she became the scourge of the entire population, and she was the very symbol of anti-freedom and anti-rights.
It’s no surprise that the financial situation aggravated, and the people of France had just had enough. The bucket spilled over so to speak. Now faced with dramatic conditions, the King decided to reinstate the Estates-General, a sort of grouping of each class (clergy, noble, commoners) who was faced with the task of finding a solution to the depression. Votes would be decided by group, that is, one vote per group instead of one vote per head. It was then that the lowerclass truly realised how powerless they were, for they knew full well the clergy and nobles would always stay together. The Third Estate wanted to have a meeting, but when denied such a meeting without the presence of the other estates, it rushed to a tennis court and held its meeting there, on the 17th of July 1789, while making an oath to always stay together and protect the interests of France and her people. The members of the Third Estate renamed themselves the National Assembly, and it was from there that the rioting and plotting for power and the constant hunger of the people brought on the Reign of Terror, famous for guillotine executions of anyone suspected of being against the current government, or anyone who was simply in the way of a political plot. In the middle of this we find Jacques-Louis David, a painter and friend of Maximilien Robespierre, the main leader usually responsible for the executions. David was the only painter to decide to capture the revolution as it happened, giving us the paintings we commonly see alongside a text about the revolution. His drawings also brought along problems for everyone. When he became involved with politics and voted for the death of the King, his royalist wife divorced him, he was imprisoned at the end of Robespierre’s ruling, and was an enemy to the Royalists, for his paintings in general contained messages alluding to freedom and constitution and anti-monarchy, which the people of France adopted as national symbols of the Revolution.

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Moving House

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Fany Savina

Sunrise at my new house. Notice the birds flying around? You'll get close-ups soon.

I have just moved to a somewhat bigger house. It now accommodates my bedroom, as well as a separate office. My office is completely set up, and I'm ready for learning. However, there are distractions all around. Most notable among them is the sea view we have from our back garden, which is especially gorgeous when the sun rises over the sea. Also right past our back garden, are two curious creatures: a horse and a teeny, weeny pony. I have also noticed seals, seagulls and other various seabirds at the small bay in the village. The area is rife with photographic opportunities, both goofy and artistic. I eagerly await my many photo creations of the area, as do you, I hope.

The horse, apparently named 'Pieomy'?

The pony, apparently called Larry.

An example of a goofy picture.

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