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Timeless LIFESTYLE
The Power of Plants How plants affect our moods.
EXPLORE THE BALLET WORLD AN ART BEYOND TECHNIQUES
BRAINS vs. ICE-CREAM FIND OUT HOW BRAINS RESPOND TO ICE-CREAM
UNDER THE TRUMP ERA
FASHION IS WAY AHEAD OF
TRUMP'S SEXISM
Photo taking tips that you MUST know!
PHOTOGRAPHY
SECRETS
01
Content
FASHION IS WAY AHEAD O F T R U M P ’S S E X I S M ! Find out how trump is igniting the rage of stereotype and prejudice in the fashion world.
02 SECRETS THAT FOOD P H O T O G R A P H E R S D O N ’T WANT YOU TO KNOW How teenagers could gain 1000+ followers/likes on Instagram and other social medias.
03
BRAIN VS. ICE-CREAM? Psychology explains why/how our brains respond to ice-cream consumption so actively.
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05
PLANTS' POWER ON MOODS Preheat the grill on high heat, and use a grill brush to clean properly
04
BALLET: AN ART BEYOND TECHNIQUES Viewing ballet from a different perspective. Learning the basic concepts about ballet gives you the right lens.
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UNDERÂ THE TRUMP ERA politics and society
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Check out how Trump's recent Tweet has re-enlightened Americans' minds on stereotype and sexism.
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FASHION IS WAY AHEAD OF TRUMP’S SEXISM
Trump's provocation of stereotype/sexism in America
Written by SALLY LEUNG Photo Cr. CANVA
If you haven’t read the news about young Korean pop star G-Dragon wore female collection from CoCo Chanel, and Dolce&Gabana; Hong Kong famous idol William Chan wears female brand Ground Zero, you are way behind the trends!!! (I know! OMG) In multiple recent shows, GD deliberately wore female clothing not only to launch a brand new idea of ‘males in female collection’ but also to overturn the public’s fixed view on feminism and gender stereotypes. In Asia, YES, this could be a stunning turning point in men’s fashion since most 60’s to 70’s adults are still limiting their sights between “males in jeans” and “females in dresses.”
However, with an infusion of overwhelming fashion influence that comes from western style, K-fashion has employed a variety of mind-blowing inspiration that powerfully indicates how Asians are widening their perspectives on different fields. As G-Dragon said in one of his interviews that “there’s no right answer in fashion,” fashion around the world has been viewed, tried, and examined in totally different perspectives that almost makes no gap between male clothing and female clothing. So far, dressing has long been considered as a form of identity that represents a culture and religion. Along with the changing female clothing trend, Asian cultures’ views on women’s fashion have also been more opened.
For example, in countries like China, Japan, and Korea, the line between genders have gradually been blurred and more people are willing to welcome novel, creative,and innovative ideas. This new path that Asia is approaching might seem quite surprising to you; however, western countries’ path could be unbelievable to the world. Whenever we heard topics like freedom, equality, and human rights, we usually attribute them to most western countries, especially America. However, sadly, these ideas could no longer belong to the US after just one tweet from US president Donald Trump was sent out. photo cr by Canva
In several speeches, by the way, you would never believe that Trump mentioned that “pregnancies is an inconvenience to employers” and named many female political representatives as “Miss Piggy” and “Miss Housekeeper.” These unreasonable and extremely sexist words have even angered lots of teenagers in states. Trump’s mind-blowing actions and attitudes about stereotypes and gender equality could symbolize an overturn of the open-minded American spirit. Rather than keeping the melting pot as a major specialty of the state, Trump, as a president, is breaking the tradition and limiting the nation’s potentials from advancing: stereotypes are expanding among young citizens, democracies, and arguments are dispersing the nation’s unity, and even wars are recurring among different countries… You may never imagine this shocking circumstance as the symbol of America, but this happened to be the reality… (oops.)
In response to anti-sexism, as one of the issues that Trump has ludicrously brought up, multiple brand designers have also taken the idea about anti-sexism into new collection design. For example, US brands such as Brandy Melville, Nasty Gal, and Vetements have presented lots of gender equality signs are all promoting sexism as a social priority element in fashion designs. By using “free the nipple” movement as an inspiring design, using varieties of pink elements in male clothing, and having unisex clothing size for all design, these brands are starting to break the stereotype about gender difference in current society. Many fields in today’s society have demonstrated the characteristics of each culture by opening more opportunities to experience new perceptions. Asian cultures have been continuously breaking the traditional viewpoints that the world had. However, the political field in America is unexpectedly shutting down the doors and potentials for America to achieve more in the future. Unfortunately, even president Trump couldn’t help Americans to dissolve their concerns since he is leading the spirit of America to a wrong path.
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On Thursday, June 29, Donald Trump sent out a tweet that directly assaults Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s weekday morning broadcast show Morning Joe, by saying she was “bleeding badly from a Face- Lift.” This tweet not only raises lots of political controversies but also reignites women’s rights and independence in America. The tweet was sent out as a response to Mika’s harsh stance on Trump in one of the MSNBC shows. Though some have admitted rebuke is very likely to appear on Mika’s extreme opinions, the history of trump degrading women from their age, gender, and appearance has not been forgotten by most of the critics. Trump’s famous sexist quotes such as calling women ‘pigs, slobs, and dogs’ cannot stop the audience from arguing back how demeaning and inhumane Trump’s lines are on women’s rights.
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YOU KNOW, IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER WHAT [THEY] WRITE AS LONG AS YOU'VE GOT A YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF ASS.
33 | TRIPMAG.COM
-- Donald Trump, US President
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FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY
SECRETS THAT FOOD PHOTOGRAPHERS DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW
CHOOSE AN APP Thanks to the influence of different social medias (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest), food art and food photography have drawn modern teenagers’ minds to the aesthetic satisfaction of a photo. If you are reading this, you might also have at least clicked one of the blogs, photos, or articles about food art. But what really attracts everyone is probably the professional photos that are used in those sites. In fact, without any professional equipments that cost a huge amount of money, you can be a rock star in food photography! Now, go back to the last photo you took of your meal and follow these simple steps, you will see the difference in just a few minutes!!
Before learning skills and special techniques, you can easily take a powerful photo with multiple editing tricks. IOS Apple store offers a wide range of apps for photography lovers and, believe it or not, those apps can instantly boost your photos with effects that can give a new look to your plate! One of the HIGHLY recommended app ‘Foodie’ has grabbed lots of attention from many professional food photographers. Many food youtubers or bloggers also take their photos with this app. This app offers around 30 to 40 free enhancements and free effects for photo, free camera with cross grid and applied effects, and even various video effects. Also, the app helps the camera to adjust lighting, saturation, and exposure automatically, which means a person no longer needs to worry about the position/angle of lighting.
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“In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary.” – Aaron Rose
LIGHTING IT'S ALL ABOUT THE NATURAL LIGHTING Speaking of lighting, many advanced apps can indeed substitute for the natural lighting that a professional picture initially needs; however, there is still a subtle visual difference that turns a photograph from ‘professional’ to ‘mastery’. When finding a good lighting doesn’t mean actually finding somewhere bright and clean, artificially creating a spot with good lighting sometimes comes a lot more handy than carrying a professional set all day. For example, using a flashlight from another device would definitely be an easy trick, but you may not know what to do or how to place the flashlight after you have turned it on. If you want to avoid having a shadow of your camera on an object, you need to closely place an extra lighting source from the back of the camera. Consider taking a photo of sunset, you would need to face the sunlight in order to show your face; otherwise, your shadow will be printed on the sunset. If you are taking a close up shot with a focal point on an object, you can utilize the flashlight to create that visual effect. When the camera is very close to the object, the extra flashlight should be placed also at a low angle beside the object. This will intentionally create a high contrast on the texture of the object by enhancing its value/shadow.
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PROPORTION
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PROPORTION MATTERS (BUT NOT JUST RULE OF THIRD..)
When talking about proportion in photography, the first that comes into mind may be “rule of third”-placing the object on one of the vertical lines on the camera grid. However, only using rule of third doesn't seem to work all the time. There are a few more tricks that can combine to boost your photos to the next level! A common mistakes that people are making is the sizing of the object that's affected by the camera angle. Take landscape, for example, lowering the camera angle and tilted it toward you for about 45 degree. This will not only widen the horizon and the sky view but also combing the sky and the objects to create a balanced view (Insert photo example). In food photography, you always want a focal point somewhere on the food. If we divide a photo into three major range. Usually, the foreground can occupy the most space since a blurry foreground can readily create depth in a picture. The mid ground should be the main focus in the frame and its proportion is best to be around the middle range. The background is a source to further emphasize the depth, so it should be the most blurry and wide portion.
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ANGLE MAKES THE DEAL! LEARN HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST ANGLE FOR YOUR EVERY MEAL
photo cr by me When talking about proportion in photography, the first that comes into mind may be “rule of third”-- placing the object on one of the vertical lines on the camera grid. However, only using rule of third doesn't seem to work all the time. There are a few more tricks that can combine to boost your photos to the next level! A common mistakes that people are making is the sizing of the object that's affected by the camera angle.Take landscape, for example, lowering the camera angle and tilted it toward you for about 45 degree. This will not only widen the horizon and the sky view but also combing the sky and the objects to create a balanced view (Insert photo example). In food photography, you always want a focal point somewhere on the food. If we divide a photo into three major range.
“I LIKE TO PHOTOGRAPH ANYONE BEFORE THEY KNOW WHAT THEIR BEST ANGLES ARE.” — ELLEN VON UNWERTH Usually, the foreground can occupy the most space since a blurry foreground can readily create depth in a picture. The mid ground should be the main focus in the frame and its proportion is best to be around the middle range. The background is a source to further emphasize the depth, so it should be the most blurry and wide portion.
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BALLET AN ART BEYOND TECHNIQUES
SPIRIT photo cr by google
GET TO KNOW GET TO KNOW BALLET
Bunheads, tutu, swan. Maybe these are the three things that most people would think of when talking about ballet. Growing up as a child, many girls would dream to become a beautiful ballerina wearing a pink tutu on a stage. However, as they learned from the societal expectations or norms about ballet, many teen girls and boys are turning their faces away from topics related to this type of “classical dance�.
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The most common reason behind this phenomenon is that most of the kids think that they cannot reach the strict and precise techniques that ballet requires. However, there has been a brand new perspective on ballet that occurred recently in our society, which explains why those traditional ideas
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about ballet could be wrong.
UNIQUE & DIFFERENT? One element that separates ballet and movement is the term art that lies between them. Movement can be as simple as a gesture or an arm motion, but can also be as complex as a gymnastic movement. Everyone can perform a physical movement in numerous ways, with various feelings and diverse difficulties. One could, definitely, say that ballet is a kind of difficult movement that is very similar to
ECNAD
WHY IS BALLET
artistic gymnastics.Â
 However, when two images of ballet
YOJNE
and gymnastics performance are compared side by side, people would instantly feel the difference between. It is not the difference in movement or in difficulty, but rather, it is the artistic sense in ballet that general movements are lacking. When art and movement are combined, the emotional connection will be built to link movement and ballet together as a form of art, which gives the audience’s eyes a novel and bewitching appearance. A little stretch in fingers, a tiny angle of head position, and even a subtle breath would give the professional quality of a ballet dancer. photo cr by me
W
hy is it so hard?
The physical techniques that is required at a high
standard are no doubt
extremely high, just as in any sports. These rigid skills are fixed as rules that maintain the ballet world and the unreachable mastery in ballet is what keeps all
. For all ballet dancers, the key to explore or improve their artistic body flows and techniques is to discern their own sensations that would provide their muscles the best condition. Before reaching a goal of a position, dancers need to gather a concentrated energy from the center of the body in
ballet dancers unsatisfied
order to control their limbs
with their performance. In
even under an unconscious
fact, people don’t actually
state. This energy is usually
know the processes and
called by dancers as the
stages that dancers really
“universal force” since this
need to go through before
personalized force could be
each success
considered as an inclusive solution in all movements.
Every top dancer can definitely tell you the amazingness of their “AhHA” moments that seem automatic, which is when their centered personal energy occurs. Of course, this exuberant moment doesn’t happen with just a few snaps of fingers, it is so abstract for the body to experience and remember the senses of success that it varies from person to person.
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POINTE PHOTO CR. PRIX DE LAUSANNE
In modern ballet industry, many professional ballet dancers and choreographers are altering their ways of viewing ballet as an open yet strict style of art and ballet is newly defined. The artistic director of the State Ballet of Georgia Nina Ananiashvili, for instance, said that "Ballet is not just movement, not simply abstract. It’s something beautiful. Sometimes there’s this feeling in the movement that makes me want to cry." Besides, judges from one of the most renowned ballet competition Prix De Lausanne has also changed their attitudes on the standard of “the best” in the competition.
Every year, thousands of specially talented girls and boys went to Lausanne in Switzerland to strive for the finals, but there are only less than ten teenagers would be selected by the ballet world. Because there is no termination for improvement in all classical dances, the judges focus rigorously on the expression and delivery of dancers’ performance. They would evaluate and give scores based on the dancers’ passions, sensations, and communications (with audience) in just a dance no more than two minutes. Finding this key to intuit the art inside a choreography (either classical or contemporary) is, thus, what makes Prix De Lausanne competition so hard for even professional ballet dancers. Can everyone do it? Now, you can see, ballet is not just about the techniques, it is more about how the dancer expresses himself/herself. Your true feeling can be totally perceived from the outside of your body even without those stiff, plain skills. No matter where or when you start from, ballet should be open to everyone around the world because in doing art, there is no shame to enjoy the true feeling of being yourself.
"BALLET IS NOT JUST MOVEMENT, NOT SIMPLY ABSTRACT. IT’S SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL. " by Nina Ananiashvilli
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ICE-CREAM CRUSH, MENTAL RUSH October 2019 | Issue 10 | Volume 5
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IF YOU OBSERVE PEOPLE AROUND YOU, YOU MIGHT HAVE NOTICED THAT SOMETIMES WHEN PEOPLE ARE STRESSED OUT ABOUT WORKS, PROJECTS, OR TESTS, THEY ARE VERY LIKELY TO BUY A SWEET SNACK OR DESSERT, … LIKE ICE CREAM. EVEN IN GENERAL DAILY MOOD, MOST PEOPLE GET EXCITED WHEN TALKING ABOUT ICE CREAM. FOR EMOTIONAL EATERS, ESPECIALLY, THEY KNOW VERY WELL THE LURE OF SOMETHING CREAMY AND SWEET WHEN THEY ARE FATIGUED, OVERWORKED, OR JUST IN A BAD MOOD. IF SOMEONE IS IN A STRESSFUL SITUATION, GRABBING AN ORANGE OR APPLE WOULDN’T BE THE BEST CHOICE TO SETTLE THE ISSUE…..
IN FACT, THERE ARE SEVERAL REASONS WHY ICE-CREAM IS CALLED THE ‘COMFY FOOD’ AND WHY HUMANS ARE SO ADDICTED TO ITS SWEET TASTE. MULTIPLE SECRETS HIDDEN IN OUR BRAIN COULD TELL THE WHOLE STORY.
When people are addicted to ice- cream, it's not that our body requires this taste to live, but rather, it's our brain that’s urging for a certain kind of “stimuli” from your stomach. Ice-cream, as a kind of fatty foods, provides the satisfaction to our humans’ brains by acting as a “happy pill” linking to our stomach. When the fatty solutions are received and left in the
However, because it's a temporary
stomach after eating ice-cream, the
stimuli that may activate your
substance plays a role in making your brain
brain very rapidly just after
more active or “alive”;
consumption, they don't last for a long time. If you would compare
KNOW IT, TASTE IT, ENJOY IT.
the fatty solutions in ice cream to a more medical brain substance, the fatty solutions could work very similar to antidepressants. Since the brain’s neural network affected by antidepressants shares a common path from the body’s stomach to the brain, using food to deliver such stress relieving effect can be considered as a successful.
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- SWEET TOOTH MAGAZINE -
THE MENTAL RUSH MENTAL RUSH AFTER ICE-CREAM CRSH Although using snacks and desserts could be an effective choice to reduce stress, many people are concerned about the negative effects of overeating or the feeling of fullness. However, there’s one solution supported by scientists and researchers could be used to handle this distraction after eating icecream. A study conducted by researchers at Durham University in the UK reveals that listening to music can reduce the feeling of fullness resulted from fatty consumption. The result can also be substantiated in Oudenhove’s study since the twelve participants did feel less hungry and attracted to ice-cream when listening to music after fatty solutions are injected into their stomach. After knowing the reasons why icecream can affect our moods so effectively, you would understand more about when do people need that taste of ice-cream to boost their energy and why people are eating ice-cream as a stress relief helper. Today, the different amount of fat in various ice-cream flavors could also influence the effects of the ice-cream on our brain. For example, chocolate ice-cream may contain more fatty solutions than green tea ice-cream, and thus, our brains and moods would be affected accordingly by the amount of “stimuli” in different types of ice-cream. Next time, when you want to help out your friends when they are stressed out about school work, you can buy them a chocolate flavored ice-cream instead of asking them to play video games. photo cr by me
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PLANT YOUR MOOD.
NATURE AND MIND
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THE POWER OF PLANTS ON MOOD For a long time, students (and even teachers) have been trying to boost their work productivity using many strategies that could psychologically increase one’s concentration on a specific task, rather than multitasking at the same time. Drink coffee or Redbull, playing music, and adjusting room temperature has all used quite frequently today in many places by many students and teachers. However, work efficiency has not improved very significantly these days because these may not give a durable effect. In fact, plants in a workstation could influence our moods and environments dramatically, which could play a central role in improving our efficiency. Plants control our surrounding vibes quite remarkably with visual appearance, scents, and types. As a consequent, choosing a certain plant definitely has a particularly unique effect on our feelings, which may be a helpful alternative to improve productivity and spark creativity surprisingly.
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photo cr by me Colors on plants usually influence a person’s visual field by relaxing the optical tension that may cause distractions. Visually, when bright colors and flora colors are presented in a person’s vision, he/she could naturally become calmed and soon focused on a certain task. Not only this, natural colors on plants could also unexpectedly help boost creativity and comfort since warm colors usually reduce more negative feelings and anxiety. One of the flowers in plants that may provide a soothing impact with colors is cactus. Because cool colors, such as blue and green, on a color wheel could relax and slow down the release of stress hormones in your body, using cactus as a simple, minimal plant that can easily deliver a clean feeling when working is certainly helpful for work time. Also, the different green of cactus will work on people’s moods accordingly since lighter colors give a more refreshing feeling than darker green. Some cactus types -- Globular, Pincushion, and Holiday Cacti -- can express this idea quite well. Globular and Pincushion are in a similar structure and color so Besides colors, a scent is another essential element that people always like to use in workstations. Today, many are using electronic scent diffusers instead of natural plants to generate a mentally relaxing mood for stress relief. One of the benefits of using scent diffusers is it acts as a natural plant to create a more positive atmosphere in a room, which could help elevate a person’s mind and improve cognitive function. Using extracted oil of various flower scent in a diffuser is just the same as putting different kinds of flowers in your room; however, as you can imagine, actual flowers not only provide the scent but also gives you a visually relaxing effect while being a convenient decoration in your room. Since natural plants do not require any electricity, safety concern is certainly not a major issue to consider if they are put in a small room. For scent diffuser, on the other hand, could provide more convenience to most customers and still offer a soothing effect. For both natural plants and scent diffuser, the chemical diffused in the air balance our bodies’ hormones and bodily system, which heightens our concentration level. The longer-term benefits of using natural scent in a room could even heal some underlying causes that slowly hamper a person’s cognitive function. Some example plants that could supply lots of healthy advantages through scents are sweet orange, jasmine, tea tree, scotch pine, sandalwood, vanilla, etc.
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Popular Highlights. Two scent diffusers that are very popular and highly recommended are MUJI scent diffuser from Japan and Eleven Plus from Korea.
MUJI scent diffuser has been widely used by many people globally, especially in Asian countries like Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan. Within two years, this product has gained more than thousands of positive comments from users all over the world. MUJI scent diffuser offers flexible sizes and a variety of natural plants oil for users to choose. With a dim yellow light that delicately brightens up your room, MUJI scent diffuser could really be a cheap yet creative highlight in everyone’s workplace.
Eleven Plus Aroma Diffuser, as another popular suggestion, has an even more innovative design because it is a sophisticatedly designed humidifier that could provide more a moisture feeling to a room by only connecting to a USB port. Just as MUJI diffuser, an intuitive dimming LED light gently builds a warmer environment.
Product Review Photo cr. MUJI, 11+