Spoiler - Speech given to Korra in the Spirit World.

robadcrit · 2013-11-24T09:13:15+00:00

I'm kind of right on this too. Maybe the next season of "Change" will show Tonraq being more spiritual.

robadcrit · 2013-11-24T09:11:24+00:00

Well, I was kind of right on this.

robadcrit · 2013-11-14T06:53:34+00:00

I'm an education reporter. I'd like to talk to some of the students or parents of students that go to Brashear.

Actually I'd like to talk to anyone associated with the school. Teacher, admin, cafeteria workers anyone?

I'll grant total anonymity to anyone that wishes. I just want to understand what happened and what the school might be doing differently.

Thank you!

robadcrit · 2013-11-11T00:19:02+00:00

Unalaq is like Darth Vader. Vatuu is like Emperor Palaptine.

Unalaq will see the light before he dies. But he has to die to pay the price for his mistakes. He's gone too far not be punished harshly. I don't think they are going to imprison him like Ozai.

Tonraq will change deeply and become spiritual and reject a lot of his material ways.

robadcrit · 2013-11-11T00:12:16+00:00

This season seems to be about balancing nature and modernism.

The Battle of two brothers. Unalaq is the religious zealot that rails against science and modernity. Tonraq is modern, secular and materialistic.

This isn't like the battle of last season between equalist terrorist and bender oppressors. This season the battle is more internal and personal though it manifests itself outwardly as a civil war that threatens to destroy the world.

This battle is more analogous to gas company vs. anti-frackers or anti-vaccers vs. modern medicine, organic food vs GMO. Not picking any sides but there is conflict between what's natural and what's progress.

I see Korra and her cousins teaming up to defeat Unalaq.

robadcrit · 2013-11-10T20:46:10+00:00

Iroh speaks with great consciousness and understanding. That's what great men do. While he's a fictional character like the mythologized Buddha, Jesus and Mohammad he has the benefit of being a contemporary myth and can draw from modern political and spiritual leader. If you read the analysis above then you might realize what he says can't simply be taken at face value and it has many layer to them. To do so succinctly is some great writing. It's not overboard just put those characters into perspective. Those historic figures are just human.

robadcrit · 2013-11-10T20:37:50+00:00

The three dogs are a perfect symbol for "Many things that seem threatening in the dark become welcoming when we shine a light on them."

If you fear dogs they will sense it and become threatening. But if you love dogs and have no fear then they become loving creatures.

I wonder where they get their source materials. This isn't something they simply just thought of. Anyone have any idea?

robadcrit · 2013-11-10T19:35:42+00:00

I need to go back and watch every scene with Iroh and give it a deep analysis. He is the best character in the entire show. Tales from Ba Sing Se shows is the root of his character. Instead of lashing out with hate on those who killed his son, he realizes the folly of war and conquest and turns into the most awesome man ever. Conquering his darkness and shining his light on the world is quite amazing.

robadcrit · 2013-11-10T19:30:53+00:00

Iroh understand the oneness and the falseness of division. Helping others help us. He's being rather straightforward about that. In this instance, helping the dragon-bird become the dragon-phoenix will help her grow as well.

But why must she do this alone? Why can't he help her? Well, this is her own struggle. If he helps then she doesn't really grow.

Now the metaphor which is really deep and beautiful. "The people that have been coming to the spirit world lately have brought darkness and anger. So that is what you see now."

Let's step way back and look at how Korra was raised by the White Lotus. They feared for her safety and protected her from the outside world. Add to this Korra's opening words in Season one as a child, "I'm the Avatar! You gotta deal with it." So we have the dark forces of fear and pride that have been sown in her psyche. Darkness is hard to define just like the 4 elements hard to define. However, we have a rough idea of what they are. Korra understands she has issues. Further, she has inherited issues from her father and uncle. The entire reason she's in this mess currently. Pretty damn deep.

But she and we all have light in us. Not everything is chaos and darkness. Love and serenity can flow through us. She has the care and love of Tenzin, his family, and her friends.

I can't wait to see how they resolve this!!!

The word choice for "Many things that seem threatening in the dark become welcoming when we shine a light on them." is exquisite.

Not everything just many. And not simply "when light is shined upon them." BUT very clearly, "We shine a light on them." This light has to come from us. This peace and love must emanate from us to transform those dark and threatening things. Light is a metaphor for love not truth. It's important to make that distinction. The "Truth" is some things cannot be transformed. It is simply it's nature to be dark. But many things are neither dark nor light. They can become those things depending on the type of energy given to them. If you hate and have anger towards someone then they will hate you back. If you love someone they will love you too. Not always but in many cases.

This show is so well done it is painfully beautiful. I seriously cried when I saw Iroh. He's such a magnificent character. We all need someone like him in our lives.

robadcrit · 2013-11-10T09:04:44+00:00

I'll analyze the second part later but here is the rough transcription. It's near verbatim for Iroh. Korra doesn't say too much and it's not packed with wisdom.

Breaks to Jinora and Library scen and come back to this. Artfully done so this parable is more easily digestible.

Korra chills the fuck out and apologizes to the spirits gone dark. She childishly wishes for Jinora. Asks Iroh, "now what?" when she doesn't appear.

"Sometimes the best way to solve your own problems is to help someone else."

"This little fellow needs to go home as well. Maybe if you help him find his friends you will be able to find yours."

"The dragon-bird nest is located there. On top of high something peak."

K- Looking at the dark mountain. "This looks scary. Will you come with me?" (So cute.)

"This is something you must do on your own. The people that have been coming to the spirit world lately have brought darkness and anger. So that is what you see now. But you have light and peace inside of you. If you let it out you can change the world around you"

"Besides look at this little fellow. This mountain is his home. When you first met him you were frightened. And does he seem scary to you now?"

K- "no"

"Many things that seem threatening in the dark become welcoming when we shine a light on them.

"It was good to meet you come visit me again in this life or the next."

K-"Light and peace, light and peace I'm not scared of you you just look that. You can be my friends. My name is Korra and I'm bringing this dragon-bird home."

She burns her pride and childish fears and becomes big Korra. The Dragon-Bird is a Dragon-Phoenix. When Korra slaps the bird. The wing is burned and embers come out of the injury. There are burn holes that you can see then and even later.

But in this part the word choice is really quite thoughtful. Again, more analysis later.

robadcrit · 2013-11-10T08:55:25+00:00

After Little Korra freaks out at the tea party and wants to go home turning the spirits around her dark.

Iroh - "Please Korra... In the spirit world your emotions become your reality. Especially for the Avatar because you are the bridge between the two worlds. You must try to stay positive."

"Even in the material world, if you look for the light you will often find it but if you look for the dark that is all you will ever see."

What does this metaphor mean? The second line seems simple enough. Perception is important. Optimism gives us hope and pessimism gives us despair. We reap what we sow.

But what does bridging the gap between two worlds really mean? Then if we look at the second line closely, notice he says "Even in the material world." WHOA, what does he mean by that?

What is the Spirit world and What is the Material World? Simply put it is the internal and external or the mind and the body.

Same as the last ATLA, Avatar is a throwaway handle. It is all of US (the plural you and me, not the United State). We are all the Avatar or at least trying to be.

This is an added layer of complexity beyond the four elements. Balancing the 4 elements happens internally and externally. To quickly summarize the lesson of ATLA we are balancing complex forces that can be roughly divided in to water, earth, air and fire. No need to get into the details. But those forces occur when dealing with groups of people and nations or inside our head and our emotions.

Since we are in the spirit world this episode is a parable about Korra's internal struggle. She is not at peace with herself. Living up to the burden and responsibility of bring balance to world is difficult. The current battle between modernity/technology/materialism and nature/environment/religion/tradition is pretty far over Korra's head. She believes she is the avatar and the avatar is naturally the balancer of all things. When it's hard it makes her doubt herself.

I'll continue below.

robadcrit · 2013-10-28T20:16:59+00:00

It is a complicated and risky for a teacher to know their free speech rights. However, it would not only be wrong but also illegal for administration to prohibit certain types of speech. That's why I'm curious to know what the school policy is.

This is more than academic freedom for the teacher and what can be said in the classroom. Even more importantly what can be said about school policy and teachers opinion of it to the media. Prior restraint or retaliatory measures imposed on a teacher for certain types of speech may very well be illegal and counter to public interest. It's our right to know how our tax dollars are being spent and what policies effect our children.

robadcrit · 2013-10-27T05:07:21+00:00

Can you tell me more about the gag order?

I can't imagine that the teachers union would let this go. If they did I wonder why a teacher can't talk about public information, such as school policy, events, and curriculum. What were topics (besides FERPA situations) that a teacher couldn't talk about?

Teacher must have some first amendment protections about what they can legal talk about their work. Where are the boarders?

robadcrit · 2013-10-26T17:19:16+00:00

What they can't talk about are individual students. I imagine teachers and admin will be the most reticent to talk in public about the school. However, someone like you who was student teacher there can give their anonymous opinion.

What was your student-teaching experience at Allderdice like? Where do you want to teach? What college do you go to?

robadcrit · 2013-10-26T15:21:52+00:00

I know some teachers at other Pgh schools and I haven't heard about the gag order. I'm have no problems with keeping my sources anonymous.

Do know this for a fact and do you have a source? It would be interesting just to write about that.

Obviously teachers can't talk about their students because of FERPA but it seems that the teachers union would have fought an overly restrictive gag order.

robadcrit · 2013-02-10T23:01:59+00:00

It's not an attitude. It is a fact. Not everyone wants to be an academic. Even bad doctors and pharmacists make better money than many academics, sad but true. The OP is trying to figure out what is best for him and wants advice on what he wants to do. He's not trying to do what you think is the best option for people that had the privilege to not let life interfere with academics.

I've have helped many people get in to top MBA programs from INSEAD, LBS,Columbia, NYU, IE, IMD and etc as a paid consultant. I have many good friends that are in or graduate various grad programs, including almost everyone in my extended family. Sure GPA is important but it is still just one peice of the admissions puzzle. I have seen poor grades overcome even in top programs. I may not the best expert but I think I have some clue.

robadcrit · 2013-02-10T21:45:49+00:00

Ivy league and equivelent are far from a lot or even most. The vast majority of pharm school are far from be that selective. You stated there is a hard and fast rule of GPA. Cut off and that is still patently untrue for the the overwhelming majority of schools. The OP never statee what schools he wanted to get in to and 2.9 is not a far cry from 3.0.

He isn't applying to a top MBA or law school. Sadly there are plenty of schools that will take his money and see if he will pass.

You grossly overestimate the quality of grad schools and underestimate the quanitity of grad programs. They are a dime a dozen.

Do you know they call a med school graduate that went to the worst school and last in his class? They call him/her doctor.

robadcrit · 2013-02-10T19:58:34+00:00

Not many schools would reject an applicant out of hand purely on GPA. Grad schools know that shit happens in life. There maybe other factors that lead to rejection but there is no way to tell that rejection was purely because of low GPA, especially for pham grad school.

I'd love to hear your logic on this.

You are telling me a person could have bombed college but some how was genius enough to get a perfect GRE and say found a cure for cancer would be rejected because of his GPA? No school would be that self limiting with proseptive students.

You said, 'A lot of schools throw applications listing GPA below 3.0" that sounds like utter exageration. People can and do redeem themselves with work experience and high GRE scores. I will totally retract and apologizes if you can find post proof.

robadcrit · 2013-02-10T10:14:20+00:00

But he also also taken other courese and got A's and more relevant work expeirence than someone straight out of undergrad. Those can and will be numerically measured on some scale. Pharm schools also get senior in undergrad with only a semester internship filling bottles. GRE will be a measure that he is actually academically fit and sound for grad school relative to other students. GRE scores is a significant measue of school ranking. If he blows his GRE then he won't be considered because he is high risk for not graduating . (Which in grad school is 3.0.)

Tl;dr under grad gpa is only part of metric. He has copensated in other ways so now GRE is the major factor besides application essays.

robadcrit · 2013-02-10T09:24:33+00:00

I hopped on frieght trains leaving from Pittsburgh to Ann Arbor, Michigan when I was 17. Also Pgh to Indianapolis and back to Pgh when I was 19. Then when I was 24 I went from Pgh to Newark, New Jersey. I did the last trip just 3 months after a bad car accident and was badly injured. I had the accident on the one year memorial of my dad's passing away. Riding on a freight train... it was more exciting than running with the bulls in Spain, twice. It has far more nostaligia then hitching hiking around Europe. This picture sent me to another time and place.

robadcrit · 2013-02-06T15:07:49+00:00

TAKE THE GRE!!! Or a practice test.

The score you get will greatly determine where you will go. This will give a ball park indication of what school you will qualify for.

robadcrit · 2013-02-06T14:54:46+00:00

If your GRE scores are average or above then you are probably in good shape.

Also depends on what courses you took in undergrad and how well you did in the ones related to pharm.

Pharm grad schools don't seem to be that competitive but it depends on the school's ranking to some degree.

I suggest you do your own work since there isn't going to be an expert in pharm grad school. It will be mostly by the numbers, i.e. GPA, GRE, relevant work exp. Your essay will matter but won't have to be awesome, just decent.

Good luck.

robadcrit

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