How did you spend the Kadayawan Festival?

Kadyawan is a festival celebrated by Dabawenyos each year in the month of August. It is celebrated to thank our creator for the good harvest and blessing. There are lots of events, tourist from around the globe, TV Icons visiting and having Mall Shows, Sale and many marked down prices on almost all items in the Malls, Sporting events namely Motocross, Fun runs, marathons and many more. There is also street dance and float parade where each participants showcase the culture and creativity of Dabawenyos and many spectators enjoy the colourful costumes and designs.I spent the Kadayawan Festival with friends, classmate and family. On the first day of the festival me and my Classmates in English 102 namely Erix, Princess and her friend Jela went to a KTV near People’s Park. We sang, danced, and stuffed ourselves with delicious food and snacks. Even if we don’t hit the right pitch of the song we still had fun laughing at ourselves. We had so much fun starting at 4 o’cl ock in the afternoon up to 8 o’clock in the evening. After the KTV we went separate ways and my friend and I went to Gaisano Mall and had our dinner at Pizza Hut then went home.On the second day, my friend and I went to Crocodile Park and watch the motocross. It was my first time to see it in person and I was so amazed to see the stunts like floating in the mid air. I was also impressed to see kids driving side by side with professional motocross racers. After watching motocross we to a restaurant and had some Pancit for snack then went to Nccc Mall. I bought some toys and books for my son. It was so crowded in the Mall because Enrique Gil was there but I was not able to see even just a glimpse of him.Then me and my friend went to Jade by the sea at Times Beach where we had our dinner and sang again in a KTV room. I went home past 10 o’clock in the evening. On the third day, Sunday, My Family went to church. I thank God for the protection and for all the blessings He h ad given me and for the good health especially during the celebration of the Kadayawan. Even if there are bomb threats and the City is on Red Alert, I would say that God shielded my friends, family, love ones and all who Dabawenyos from any harm. I never stop thanking him for everything.Before, I don’t usually enjoy Kadayawan because I only watched it on TV but this time that I had experienced the fun that I’d missed for all those years. But this time, next year I would make sure that in every celebration I will be there to have fun and see the different presentations of our culture. Three days of enjoying was not enough for me but it was still worth it. I would also like to thank our City Mayor for a well organized Festival and especially for keeping the City safe from terrorist attack. I am so lucky to be born in Davao and I am very proud to be called a Dabawenyo.

Beautiful Mind Essay

Based on what I have watched from the movie of â€Å"A Beautiful Mind†, which is a biography based on the true life story of a math prodigy, John Forbes Nash Jr., is an incomparable math genius student from Princeton University who definitely amazed the minds of people he meets. For me, he is an extraordinary person having a broad and an odd imagination as well. Unfortunately, he suffers from a mental illness called schizophrenia which he doesn’t even know himself. His friends find him weird or likely a nerd, but still they try to make friends with him. Nash tried to communicate and interact with them but in the end, it’s like there’s something that bothers him, some kind of paranoia that leads him to stay away and find himself alone and unconsciously creating things that aren’t really there (hallucination) and believing things that aren’t really true (delusion). Like for example, an imaginary friend which is known to be Charles (his room mat e) and Charles’ niece. It’s odd but I strongly believe that all the things kept from his subconscious mind releases through Charles and other delusions his mind creates. I believe more than anything else, this movie focuses on perceptions of life. Perception of what is reality and what is imaginary, not only his perception but also people’s perception of him, and of the situation. Yet he was a brilliant man, although at times to people he seemed a bit unorthodox he was eventually accepted. Ironically enough I believe that it was his problems of not liking people, but wanting to be accepted and acknowledge that aided his mental state, however by the time he had become accepted his imaginary world was out of control. As years passes without knowing that he has such mental illness, Nash have invented some kind of Mathematical formula (equilibrium) which become popular and it startled me. He graduated and become a professor in Mathematics and romantically involved with his hard working student named Alicia and they even got married. But his illness turned out to be worse than I thought; his delusions become rigorous and more uncontrollable by his mind. He even believed that he’s been hired to work to the government to break codes. His other delusional product named Parcher, keeps on haunting him to work and to work which have caused him so much stress that made the symptoms worse. He keeps on believing that there’s a conspiracy, a mission by the government that will lead him to honor, but all of these are only in his mind. Nash continued his medication and deal with his delusional state. And it made me wonder, because according to my belief, â€Å"real mentally abnormal person doesn’t even know that he/she is not normal†. But in Nash’s case, how come he realized that he’s suffering from this illness and he can even stay away from his delusions? I don’t know but all I know are risks that may happen if you pay no attention to this illness. Without medication and therapy, they are unable to function in the real world. If they fall victim to severe hallucinations and delusions, they can be a danger to themselves and those around them. Schizophrenia usually develops gradually, although onset can be sudden. These were the symptoms that Nash have: Confusion, Inability to make decisions, Hallucinations, doesn’t eat regularly and lack of sleep, Delusions, Nervousness, Indifference to the opinions of others, A tendency to argue A conviction that he is better than others, or that people are out to get him. Fortunately, he was able to cop with his Paranoia and lived a simple life, he even got the Nobel Prize he ever wanted because of his genuine mind.

Linguistics and Structuralism Essay

Structuralism is a mode of thinking and a method of analysis practiced in 20th-century social sciences and humanities; it focuses on recurring patterns of thought and behaviour ? it seeks to analyse social relationships in terms of highly abstract relational structures. Structuralism is distinctly different from that applied to Radcliffe-Brown? it involves more the bio and psychological aspect of human studies rather than social structures. Claude Levi-Strauss was the one to pioneer structuralism; he suggested that cultural phenomena such as myths, art, kinship systems and language display certain ordered patterns or structures. With these, he believed that the structure of the human mind could be revealed. He reasoned that behind the surface of individual cultures there must exist natural properties common to us all: innate structures universal to all man. Levi-Strauss focused his attention on the patterns or structures existing beneath the customs and beliefs of all cultures. Methodologically, Strauss drew his models from structural linguistics, analysing forms of social activity as though they were languages. In other words, the things a society does, the way people in this society act, is compared to language; behaviour is acted out unconsciously as is grammar in the case of language. Therefore, societies differ just as grammar differs between one culture and another, but what Levi-Strauss sought was the universal/common structure behind it. He believed that while the surface phenomenon may vary, the underlying ordering principles are the same. Levi-Strauss believed that basic thinking occurs as sets of contrasts. All cultures think in to terms of opposites so as to classify-meaning we must be able to distinguish between things. For example, life, death; spirit, body; black, white; red, green (stop and go) ? these words alone do not carry much significance; they have a meaning and that’s it ? basic facts. We take the words as they are by use of external references from what society acknowledges to it to be. A pen is not an eraser because society has accepted it to be a pen. Levi-Strauss argued that culture is to be understood as a surface phenomenon which reveals the universal human tendency to order and classify experiences and dynamics. He compared people’s language to the?  rules’ that govern society, in that the governed are largely unconscious of what they know. He compared speech – the use of sounds and rules, mainly in the form of sentences to the ideas and behaviour that result from the application of largely unconscious social rules. Members of a society are much more likely to be conscious of their actual ideas and behaviours than they are of the deeply structured rules that make these ideas and behaviours possible, but the ideas and behaviours of a given group of people, according to Strauss, can only be understood once the â€Å"deep† structures in their minds can be discovered. He says that human responses are largely dissimilar, and that the surface structure is what will consequently show different cultural behaviour. In T. O. K. , we are currently discussing language, mind and meaning ? we covered the same man, Noam Chomsky, the same man mentioned in the book. He pursued the same line of inquiry in linguistics as Strauss. Chomsky believes that the human brain contains a language system base before birth, but ? goes to seed’ if not stimulated after birth. All babies are programmed to all phonetic systems but are channelled into particular language groups on socialization. In other words, a child who has Danish parents will eventually end up speaking Danish unless brought up elsewhere. Structuralism is often criticized for not being able to prove something through hypothesis testing and validation. Strauss makes unprovable assumptions about humans, and some people find it hard to believe the concept of universal structures. Structuralism also tends to ahistorical, thus not accounting for the way history effects the present.

Accounting Basics for Managers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Accounting Basics for Managers - Essay Example In the financial year 2012, Home Depot shows impressive growth both financially and operationally. In the financial year 2011, Home Depot revenue increased by 3.53% to a striking $ 70,395 million which has resulted in the operating profit increased by 14.08%. Following its operational growth strategy, Home Depot has introduced diversity in its business. The company is showing interest in covering all the horizons of the globe by opening more and more stores in various areas of the globe as it planning to serve a diverse range of customers. Gross profit margin is one of the key profitability ratio indicators which indicate how well a company is in the process of utilizing its working capital in earning the desired level of profit. In order to calculate the gross profit margin ratio, the gross profit (i.e., sales less the cost of sales) is divided by the revenue of the company. As apparent, the gross profit of the company has increased slightly from the previous financial year which co uld be due to the fact that the cost of sales of the company increased with a bigger percentage as compared to the percentage of the revenue of the company. This could be due to increased raw materials prices from the supplier which the company could not recover from the customers through increased selling price. The next profitability indicator is the net profit margin. The net profit margin is calculated by dividing the net profit (i.e., gross profit less administrative and selling expenditure) with the total revenue.

Managerial economics individual work week 12 Essay

Managerial economics individual work week 12 - Essay Example However, saying that you will open a given type of business because you are good in one thing would be a myth. That is because they do not always lead to successful ventures as other factors such as demand, opportunities and resources also affect performance of the venture. It is a myth to say that the customer is always right. In as much as the customer may be right in how he or she feels, they are usually wrong on many occasions. Businesses just use the statement to bend to the customer’s demands. However, the best approach would be to win the customer over and try to convince them to make a purchase. Thinking that you can open a store, and people will walk, is a thought founded on a myth. For customers to visit a shop, they must first be aware of its existence. Therefore, one needs to create this awareness through marketing or advertising. Also, customers do not just walk in unless you have what they need. Coming up with an idea and concluding that everyone will love it forms a myth. An idea may be great, but not everyone will love it. An idea will succeed if it meets the needs of people and also if the timing is good. Everyone loves quality. However, it would be a myth to say that quality guarantees success. That is because apart from quality, success also requires other factors such as a good marketing strategy, pricing strategy and even good customer relations. It is a myth to say that more people increase the speed of a project. On the contrary, more people may slow down the project. A large number slows down decision making as there is need to consult every time. Also, there may be conflicts during execution as the people may have different ideas of how to carry out the execution. To say failure is bad would propagate a myth. Failure is not the opposite of success. In fact, it is one step towards success. Failure helps us learn our weaknesses and mistakes. It makes us reflect on our decisions that led to the failure. One can,

Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 13

Research Paper - Essay Example Therefore, this paper would major on the various methods that were used to encounter Islamic influence in mediaeval Europe. The Islamic social, economic and political changes that were taking place in medieval Europe were met by different responses from Christians. One major response used in Europe was the anti-Islamic discourse. Such discourses tended to stereotype anything that was Islamic in nature. The stereotypes would touch on the religious, social, military, and technology among others. They were meant to instill fear on people to create a state of discomfort. Here, European cultures were made to appear as superior to the Islamic civilisation. It was more or less like a state of competition between the two rival religious groups (Al-Shawaf 1). The two rival civilizations in Europe were unique in that both were embedded in Christian and Islamic religions. Thus, religion took a centre stage in the social, economic and political problems faced in medieval Europe. That marked the emergence of a complex state of crisis in the economic, religious and sociopolitical campaign that was also known as crusades. Crusades were to be used to solve the existing problems in Europe. They then became the central part of European history. Crusades is also believed to have begun at around 11th century and ended in 1798. It was used by Europe as a weapon against Islamic expansion and aggression. They lasted for two decades, leading to the questioning of the moral legitimacy of the church. To some extent, crusades brought religious wars that tainted the image of the church. Destruction of the existing social life in Europe is one of the factors which drought discomfort in Europe. Europe viewed Islamic culture as barbaric and inferior to theirs. Some scholars reveal that Europe referred to Islam and Islamic culture as â€Å"the other† and "people of heresy†. Issues like polygamy, as opposed to monogamy, must have brought sharp contrast

The role of multi-channel retailing in Singapore service retail Essay

The role of multi-channel retailing in Singapore service retail industry - Essay Example Thus with the development of internet communication the consumers can now easily make purchases through the web sphere and also through their personal gadgets like Personal Digital Assistants having internet connectivity. Moreover the customers can also make relevant purchases based on catalogues or visiting kiosks of the retail stores. These services largely enabled by multi-channel retailing systems have helped in transforming the pattern of services generated in the retail sphere. Furthermore the retail firms based on multi-channel systems are also helping the consumers to avail a large number of options where the consumer can locate products in one outlet and purchase such from another belonging to the same company. Again multi-channel retailing system has also helped the consumers to gain the advantage of returning commodities in one retail outlet which was purchased from another outlet of the same company. (Berman, Retail Management, A Strategic Approach, 10E (India: Pearson Ed ucation India, 2007), 183.; Willard N. Ander and Neil Z. Stern, Winning at retail: developing a sustained model for retail success (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2004; Lena Fitzen, Multi Channel Retailing in the Automotive Industry: Determinants of Consumer Retail Choice (Germany: GRIN Verlag, 2009), 16.) Different retail companies pertaining to categories like apparel and other consumer durables make expanded use of multi-channel retail systems to reach wide number of consumers thereby focusing on market expansion and augmentation of revenues. Big retail firms through the opening up of different retail formats and through increased web presence can fulfill the business objectives of market expansion in both new and existing territories. (Joachim Zentes, Dirk Moschett and Hanna Schramm-Klein, Strategic Retail Management: Text and International Cases (Germany: Gabler Verlag, 2007), 55; Diamond, Fashion Retailing: A Multi-Channel Approach (India: Pearson Education India, 2007), 374). Multi-Channel Retailing-Advantages and Challenges The growth of multi-channel retail systems around the world led to the increase of large number of advantages and disadvantages related to it. Firstly the retail companies tending to use the multi-channel retail systems need to strategize their retail offerings and services in a homogeneous manner so that it can well percolate along the several marketing mixes. Retailers through the use of multi-channel retail concept tend to draw consumer attention to specially designed products which are not easily displayed in retail counters. These retail companies through the use of the online sphere tend to create a huge display of different types of products thus enhancing the width of the product assortments. Moreover retail companies can also cause consumer hype by creating displays of new product and service launches in their websites. Again the retailers can make use of multi-channel retailing concept to create a mass promotion of the pro ducts and services. The retailers can make use of utilities like kiosks and catalogues to help in generating large number of information to the consumes pertaining to the availability of store outlets, product and servi