『為義愛「棒」起來，有心一起做公益』

雙十是國家的生日，天氣晴朗最適合大手牽小手走出戶外。當天在洲際棒球場有盛大活動，除了有棒球比賽，表演舞台，更有各式各樣的攤位滿足與會大眾吃喝玩樂的民生需求。

第一次進來洲際棒球場看比賽，這場比賽的主角們很有意思，一邊是精明幹練的大人「鉅眾棒球隊」，一邊是青春洋溢的下一代「新竹中山國小棒球隊」，在義愛文化培育協會葉信村理事長及體大校長開球後，雙方體型、經驗、成熟度差異頗大的雙方便開始精采對決，最後由中山國小棒球隊獲得獎金十萬元整。

舞台上表演毫不冷場，展現青春的活力，稚氣青澀的臉龐閃耀展現自我的光采！主辦單位不僅貼心為民眾準備棚架遮蔭，也提供椅子給逛累的民眾歇腳。底下的眾人大包小包都是因為20%的收入將捐出給公益團體！除了全家出動，當然也要揪親朋好友一起來參加，感謝這個活動不僅為公益團體募運作資金，也成為久沒聯絡的親朋好友見面的契機。

更多精彩活動花絮在
臺中市義愛文化培育協會活動網站 http://activity.eiei.org.tw/news.html

臺中市義愛文化培育協會粉絲團  https://www.facebook.com/weloveei

MAMA MIA!

This is a movie which is an adaption of musical play. The main plot is about a girl, Sophie, who is going to get married doesn't know who is her father. The only clue is her mother's diary which keeps her mother's entire secret.

Donna once had three lovers at almost the same time, but none of them got married with her. At that time, she found she was pregnant. Sophie hopes to find her true father and wishes him to give her away on wedding day. Therefore, she sends invitations to these three people, Bill, Harry and Sam. She believes she would know who is her father when she sees him.

At the same time, Donna is exciting about meeting her two best partners, Tanya and Rose. They were once a band twenty years ago. Sophie hides the three men in the goat house but still being discovered by Donna. Donna asks them to leave. On the other hand, Donna tells the truth to her best partners- she did not know who is Sophie's father.

Sophie takes the chance to get along with these men one by one, and hopes to find the clues which could tell her who is her father. When Bill tells her that the hostel is sponsored by his aunt, Sophia, Sophie thinks Bill is her father. The next day, Sophie has an argument with Donna. When Donna walks away, she meets Sam who shows his concern for Sophie. Both of them realize they still love each other.

However, Sophie's fiance, Sky, is furious at Sophie's behavior because she does not consult him
about looking for her unknown father. After few days, the wedding begins. It is Donna who gives Sophie away. Donna tells Sophie that her father is here, but she does not know which one is the real one among Bill, Sam and Harry. These guys are willing to be Sophie's one third father. Suddenly, Sophie announces that she and Sky wouldn't get married right now. They decide to travel all over the world together. At the end, Sam purposes to Donna. Sam and Donna finally get together.

I think this movie is funny and interesting. There are lots of songs in this movie and those songs are wonderful. I think the end is full of interesting. Although Sophie doesn't know who is her father at all, she finally recognizes herself. She accepts who she is instead of deny herself. Looking for a father is like looking for her identity. All people have an imperfect life. People still have their own regret for anything, like dreams or relationship with friends. But everyone lives well after a long time passed.

GANGLAMEDO

It's story about a mysterious Tibet legend. A Tibet girl is famous for her perfect performance at a traditional Tibet song, GANGLAMEDO. Because her voice, she is called Ganglamedo. However, she disappears in her wedding day. After sixty years, a Han female singer sings the song again. She loses her voice in one performance and disappears. Is it a curse to sing this song?
The Han girl believes that her voice is taken away by a goddess of Tibet. Therefore, she comes to Tibet and tries to find her lost voice at the god lake. In the process of seeking the god lake, she needs to rely on a man named Zha, who is a famous drummer in Tibet. Zha is falling in love with the female singer, An Yu, when he met her at first. They have lots of conflicts during the way, but they get closely to each other. However, they don't get the god lake together. Zha decides to return to Lhasa because of a bar called GANGLAMEDO. He wants to have it because his grandfather draws a picture of a beautiful woman named Ganglamedo. This picture is a lover of his grandfather sixty years ago. They felled in love, but Ganglamedo's father married her to another man. Ganglamedo ran away from the wedding and lived beside the god lake. Ganglamedo waited for Zha's grandfather there, but Zha's grandfather didn't come. Zha's grandfather lost his memory during the way to the god lake. When Ganglamedo finally sees the picture of herself which is brought by An Yu, she dies with smile.
Though its story is a little bit out of date, but this movie is exotic. I see the daily life of Tibet people even it's not the important part of the movie. In addition, the music is the most important part of this movie especially the song, GANGLAMEDO. It's really fantastic.

A Good Husband

What is the definition of a good husband? He should be good at doing housework, making a lot of money, or has high reputation in the society. He should be handsome, intelligent and gentle. He should remember all the important days for his spouse, like Valentine's Day or her birthday. Besides, he should have some sweet behaviors, like giving flowers to his wife sometimes or giving gift to her on those important days. That is probably every woman's Prince Charming. But for me, a good husband must have these three qualities: he must be in good health, have wisdom and respect me.

First of all, he must be healthy. He needs not have big muscles but has to be in good health condition. With good health, he could live happily. Besides, he could have vitality to work. Even under pressure, he would deal with it very well. He could also do things he is interested in. I have read one story in the newspaper. There was a rich man who spent his whole life making money. However, he found that he got cancer. All of his families did not care about his health. What they care was how to share his wealth. That is really sad. Although he may make a big fortune by burning his oil day and night, it is meaningless. Only with good health can one be able to enjoy life.

Second, a good husband has to be wise. He should not only be smart and knowledgeable but should also understand things which others do not. When there are misunderstandings or quarrels, he would not jump into judgment quickly. In addition, he should be good at communicating with others, too. If he could not express his idea clearly, it is useless even he is wise. When my parents quarreled with each other several years ago, my father often blamed my mother for everything she did. My mother was not good at refuting my father's opinions so she did not say anything. In the end, my father would regret for he was too impatient to judge things. Recently, they seldom quarrel with each other. When they are going to quarrel, one of them would walk away. Then they will communicate with each other after they calm down. With wisdom, they deal with things better.

Most important of all, a good husband knows how to respect his wife. He is not self-centered and respects his wife's thoughts and decisions. He gives his wife freedom to grow and is willing to grow with her. They are pursuing the same goal with determination. My aunt and her husband are the best example. When they have to decide on important things, my uncle-in-law would ask the opinion of my aunt. Moreover, he respects my aunt's decision when she decided to change her job. He also encouraged my aunt to challenge different things and accompanied her. Now, they are devoting themselves to protect the enviroment. This kind of relationship is exactly what I expect.

Many people always want to find good spouses who understand themselves, but not everyone could meet the right people at the right time. When they search for soul mates, it is important for them to prepare themselves at the same time. Prepare early and wait for chances to come. That is the efficient way. After all, finding a soul mate is like two people run in three-legged race. They must have similar concepts and would adjust themselves for each other so that they could run to the destination at one heat. If I met such a person, I would take this chance immediately because a soul mate is hard to find.

Is Plastic Surgery Really Helpful?

My nose is not straight at all, what can I do? My face is like a full moon, how can I change it? The actress's face is so graceful that I wish I was like her. Most of people are not satisfy with their appearances, especially women. They want to have big round eyes, oval-shaped face and sexy thick lips. In the past, it is an impossible mission to change people's appearances as they wish, but people could become beautiful and attractive just as those idols on television with the help of plastic surgery now. Plastic surgery can make people become who they want to be. This could be the biggest step in modern society. However, having a plastic surgery could not help people to build up their confidence and it will not be absolutely safe and cheap as people think. They also have to face the discrimination from others.
People who have plastic surgery claim their confidence is built up by plastic surgery. After surgery, they become beautiful and handsome. They get more job offers than before and their interpersonal relationships also get better. They feel quite content with the outcome of plastic surgery, but they forget the most important thing: confidence is not built on beauty but on heart. If a person could not accept his original appearance, he would not satisfy anymore. Then what will happen? They will spend a lot of money in order to look perfect. Finally, they will be addicted to plastic surgery, like Michael Jackson. He has undergone many surgeries that change his skin color. Therefore, there was once news about his face that is totally ruined because of the surgeries.
Having plastic surgeries is not safe and cheap at all. Although plastic surgeons claim those surgeries to be absolutely safe, they still have some side effects. Take those people who have breast augmentation for example. Because breast augmentation is to embed silica gel into the body, some people may have exclusion or infection. Besides, the filler may get hard if people do not knead their breast. What's worse, what how can they deal with the failed surgeries? Should they have another operation or just accept the failed outcome? In fact, having plastic surgeries is quite expensive. They have to pay thousands of dollars for each surgery at least.
Even though those people who have plastic surgeries are satisfied with their transformation, how their friends and family think is another question. Do they really accept the new and artificial perfect people? In Taiwan, some people do have discrimination against those who have plastic surgeries. Generally people think they are like fakes and their beauty is artificial. Everyone could have it if they had enough money. Families would not be so harsh, but some parents may feel sad for they do not give perfect appearance to their children. So their children have to become perfect by means of plastic surgery.
Pursuing perfect appearance is the human nature. After all, people would have good first impression to those pretty and handsome ones. They do really have more chances than others, but beauty is not the most important factor to judge a person. Those people who want to have plastic surgery should think more before doing it. Is it necessary and helpful? What is the motivation? People should accept their original appearances instead of trying to fit themselves into the standard of modern beauty. Otherwise, they may spend lots of money but get serious side effects and others’ discrimination. Is this outcome really worthy?

Freak the Mighty

I watched this movie in the listening class. To be honest, it's a warm story which between a slow learner and a tiny, crippled genius. Max is a slow learner who is too large for his age. He lives with his gram and grim, the parents of his mother. He's always teased by other boys. Freak is a disabled who suffer from rare disease. These two people are neighbors. The school asks Freak to assist Max to overcome his problem, so they have lots of time to get along with each other. Freak is the brain of Max and Max is the legs of Freak. Both of them don't have friends, but they become friends of each other now. Freak teaches Max about King Arthur and his loyal knights. They are trying to act like noble knights. At this time, Freak is sent to hospital because his condition of disease is getting serious which means he has no more time left. They give a purse back to a woman who is robbed by gang. However, this woman is an old friend of Max's father who is a killer. Max's father, Kenny, once killed Max's mother so Max's grim and gram try hard to keep Max away from him. Kenny is paroled and he hopes to see his son which is forbidden in law after the killing. Therefore, Kenny kidnapped his own son. He wants to take Max away so he ties him on the chair. At the same time, the woman uses the delicious food as an excuse and hands him a knife secretly. Because of Max's clumsy behavior, the knife is discovered by Kenny and Kenny is going to kill the woman. Kenny thinks she makes his son turn against him. Max gets rid of the rope and speaks out his hatred for his father. Just at the important minute, Freak finds and rescues him. At Christmas time, they eat together. Freak gives Max an empty book with title "Freak the Mighty." On the next day, Freak passed away.

The most impressive sentence is: His heart is too big for his body. It's said by Freak's mother who comforts Max. I see the true friendship between these two boys. Even Freak is a genius, he still needs friends. As for Max, he overcomes his difficulty of speaking in the end. He cherishes Freak in his heart although Freak is dead. It's so touching!

Painted Skin

This movie is based on a Chinese traditional novel which has several ghost stories in it. I once read the book, so I'm curious about how this movie will be presented. After watching it, I think it's quite different from the original story. In original one, a demon wears the skin of a beauty and tries to seduce a scholar, Wang, who has a wife. Wang is attracted by this beauty and forgets all about his wife. The demon kills him by digging out his heart. His wife tries to fight with the demon by the help of a Taoist. In the end, she brings her husband's back to life by a little bit disgusting way. However, this movie adds more plot into the original story. It describes the love between human and demon and the struggling between two brothers.

Wei is the fox demon who has good appearance. She is rescued by Wang, a general of army, when he fights with a bandit stronghold. There's a lizard demon which is in love with the fox demon. Wei needs to eat human's heart so that the "skin" wouldn't get old quickly. So the lizard demon kills people for her. Wei falls in love with Wang and she wants to be his wife. Wang's wife doubts Wei is the demon and worries her husband would be hurt by Wei. At this time, Pang comes back to this city with an unskilled female Taoist. Pang is the original general of the army who falls in love with Wang's wife, Pei Rong. Wei asks Wang's life to drink poison which can turn her into demon's appearance or Wei will keep killing innocent people. Wang thinks his wife is the demon so he kills his wife. Then he finds out Wei is the real demon. Wang asks Wei to rescue his wife by one condition of killing himself. Wei is touched by the true love of Wang and she decides to sacrifice herself. But the lizard demon stops Wei. In the end, Pang uses the Taoist's blood to kill the lizard demon. Wang and his wife resurrect again. Pang and Taoist travel the world together.

In the movie, I see the true love between couple. Also, I see the love of sacrifice. Wei still has the right to love even she is a demon, but her behavior is wrong. Love doesn't mean possession. Love means giving space to lovers and respecting each other. That reminds me of an English story "A Rose for Emily". Possession will hurt love without consciousness. That's a pity.