The Combine

A combine is a harvester used by farmers to reap grain crops. I do not even believe that McMurphy is vulnerable.  I think he has an advantage to get away from the figurative combine because he can use his head.  The other patients are already sucked in and always drugged up but McMurphy is like a mentos in a diet coke.  All he has to do is remain himself and continue to function on his own and the combine will not get to him.  It has not already gotten to him because he constantly defies Big Nurse and the everyday rules of the institution.

I do not believe every institution is a combine.  A combine only goes as far as their are people who do not think for themselves.  IF you think for yourself and are a leader than you can counteract the combine.  Some institutions are but there is always rebellion and people who will not accept order.

Asylum vs. School

The biggest similarity between the two is the strict rules.  Like the electronic device policy for school is pretty outrageous.  If they were to make the rule to only not use them during class but in passing time you could, it would cut down the amount of texting during classes and such because people would just wait for after class.  The asylum has dumb rules like the toothpaste rule.  These rules are for equal discipline and they make us feel like we are inferior to those who make dumb rules.

Between the two institutions there is also a very rigged schedule that we abide by,  In school we have a period set everyday and are allotted a certain amount of time between classes and really do not have an opportunity to go outside or break away from the daily routine.  In the asylum it is even harsher because there are severe consequences for breaking routine, like electroshock therapy or a trip to the disturbed ward.  For school the consequences are Saturday school or detention but I do not think those are as severe or life threatening.

The buildings themselves are very similar too.  They are open and have lots of rooms in them.  Schools are very basic and do not have a lot of color in them.  I have never been to an asylum but I am sure they are not the most cheerful and upbeat places in the world.  It is described as a gloomy building with nothing on the walls.  That is basically how schools look too, probably because administrators do not want a "distraction."  When in actuality the less exciting rooms are more of a distraction because they bring the mood down.

Doctor's Experimental Rights

The times have most definitely changed in the field and the practice of medicine.  Maybe fifty or so years ago when doctors did not really understand the human body as much, it was okay to experiment on patients when there was no cure available.  My only justification for this is that when a loved one is ill you will pretty much let the doctor do anything to make them better.  Sometimes the experiments worked but unfortunately they made the problem worse a lot of the time.  This may not be the safest but best solution but that is how we evolved into modern medicine; with trial and error.  It is better to experiment on humans who are terminally ill rather than test on animals that do not have the same bodies or reactions as humans.  We get better results if we experiment on our own kind. 

Nowadays I would say that this is not a good idea because there is always another way to cure someone rather than just to experiment randomly with no idea how the outcome will be.  This would cause a lot of court cases and a lot of money on everyone's part.  The only time this is okay is if you have the patients consent.  If the patient agrees you can do whatever you want because they signed their life to it.  If a patient is going to consent they cannot get mad if it does not go their way because they signed for a experimental treatment, not a definite cure.  Bottom line, if we are talking about present day it is not okay to experiment on a patient unless they have consent from the patient.  If we are talking about back in the day, I would say go for the experiment if you have nothing to lose.

10 Must-See Movies

The Movies

I. Lady and the Tramp (1995)

Lady and the Tramp is a highly regarded love movie.  Who does not like to see cute dogs go through the similar struggles most people go through with love?  It is a renowned Walt Disney classic.  Like most of his movies, the morals and lesson are timeless.  Never give up.

II. Saw [the series] (starting in 2003)

Many people are put off by scary movies.  Not only a scary set of movies but it also has a lot of torture scenes.  As twisted as it is to have this in must-see movies, the plot is amazing.  The whole story and point of the movie has so many twists and turns that no one sees coming.  A true psychological horror movie. 

III. Planet of the Apes (1968)

The original of course is absolutely timeless.  A true journey through a world run by intelligent apes so discover the most plot twisting ending in movie history.  The special effect6s are killer for its time period as well as having a renowned actor, Charlton Heston.

IV. Wayne's World (1992)

As a musician this comedy gets even funnier because of the lack of musical talent Mike Meyers has.  Wayne's World is a highly quotable movie and really takes aim at a specific audience, people with a sense of humor.  It is a hilarious movie.

V. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

I do not even think anyone saw previews for this movie or heard anything about it, then it happened.  It turned into a phenomenon because of how pointless and unstructured the movie was.  It is so bad it is good and laugh-out-loud funny.  A must-see for someone who is alive.

VI. Billy Madison (1995)

Probably Adam Sandler at his best.  An alcoholic going back to school; it really does not get any funnier.  Everyone in that movie has at least one line that is funny.  Maybe one of the funniest movies of all time.

VII. Strangers (2008)

So my theory on scary movies is that movies are only scary to a person if they find the situation in the movie realistic and scary.  It has to be something that seems real to them.  Quite frankly, someone breaking into my house and terrorizing me seems pretty plausible.  I love scary movies and it takes a lot for movies to scare me, but this one takes the cake.
VIII. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)

Clint Eastwood is a film genius.  Not only writing and directing the movie but he also starred in it.  The Man with No Name series, which this is in, is all spaghetti westerns and they are just timeless to watch and have a lot of action and reckless bandits.

IX. Zoolander (2001)

Ben Stiller and his father are both extremely slapstick funny.  But a very inconsiderate male model who is not that bright makes for the perfect recipe for a hilarious movie.  It kind of flys under the radar as a funny movie but everyone who has seen it knows it is funny.  I mean even Will Ferrell is in it.

X. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

Will Ferrell's best movie.  It is so funny that i get cramps from watching it sometimes.  The lines are so funny and he just knows how to play the character of an egotistical anchorman really well.  Plus that is just a funny character to have to play.

Themes

Time is forever.  This theme is controversial because it is positive but also has a very negative side to it.  The idea of continuously getting better as time moves on is significant to being a salesman.  Some people may be born with talent but others work for a while and hard to earn prestige.  However time turns on us as we get progressively older.  Willy Loman is experiencing that because he is getting old, losing his memory, his kids are older and distant and with age comes death.  

Women come second to men.  This may not ring true now but back in the 50's, when the play takes place, women are definitely viewed as lower class.  Willy constantly demands things from Linda, interrupts her and does not really listen or care about her opinion.  Plus he cheated on her which shows how little he cares.  Willy's actions reflect in his sons because they are both womanizers and do not really care about woman's feelings or thought.  Willy remains alpha-male along with most husbands from the time period.

There is constant mentioning of things falling apart in the house.  Willy's life is falling apart.  His kids are bums and are living in the house, Willy is not making enough money, and he is slowly going insane.  The refrigerator is broken, the car, the hot water and the ceiling.  Not only is it breaking hard enough, but more ironic is that he has to pay for all this but is not making enough money to do so.  The tough thing is to judge whether or not WIlly actually knows his life is falling apart.  I'd place my bet on yes.

Death of a Salesmen (Homework I)

Willy's biggest value is hard work and he really tries to instill that in Biff and Happy.  One really cannot just slack off and be successful, sure it is possible but it really is not as rewarding.  Willy also seems to focus on being well-liked.  Being well-liked will get you only as far as people are nice.

Hard work is more important to teach a son rather then being well-liked because if my father really only taught me to be well-liked we would probably have a better relationship.  Hard work is all he cares about but it makes sense because if you cannot work hard to get what you want you will really never get anything.  I would probably be like Willy though because you really cannot be a jerk because that really will not get you far either, but you cannot be friends with everyone, someone hates you.

Willy contradicts himself a lot but it may be because of his very bad memory.  It really is not his fault because he cannot control his poor memory.  It probably cannot all be to blame his memory either because he seems very indecisive which is a really bad attribute to have.  If you cannot make a decision and stick with it, no one will ever believe what you are saying.

It is not apparent if Linda is blind to his constant inconsistencies or just does not want to embarrass him.  This hurts Willy in the long run because he may not be aware of it when someone could be telling him.  Linda could probably tell him without him freaking out if she tells him the right way instead of just being very upfront about it.

Target

Lets be honest, we see the red bullseye or the Target dog pretty regularly.  I am semi-proud to be a part of the establishment, rather than with its foul competitors, Wal-Mart or K-Mart.  I could probably talk about Target all day but that is not the point of this blog.  Working at Target, I deal with the public.  Lets just start off by saying, the common man, Joe Shmo if you will, tends to be lazy, not the brightest bulb in the chandelier and rude. 

Now when I say lazy, I mean apathetic.  Half of the people who come into Target ask me a question about where something is, which I can understand because they may have never been there or they were mislead.  The other half do not bother looking.  They are three steps from what they want and they continue to ask me where it is.  The best example is when someone asks where a price scanner is and they can litterally touch it if they turn around.  So after I direct someone to an aisle, they usually walk right by it.  People are very oblivious to the aisle numbers.  Then, if they go to the right aisle, it is my fault when they cannot even find it in the aisle.  People are very rude.  I get some of the worst attitude from helping people find something then some people ever get in their lives.  Now I am not going to call the public dumb.  I think I will retract that comment but some people really get to you with the questions people ask.  "Whats duck-tape? I've only ever used duct-tape," or "If I drop this fishing rod in the ocean, will it float?" or the best question ever "Can you use this soccer ball for basketball?"  To which I tell them whatever sells the product.

Do not get me wrong, I deal with a lot of intellectual people who one-up me on products, correct me on locations -which does not happen frequently- or tell me I am lazy for not walking them to a product.  I do like my job and I like helping people, however it would be nice if people were not so snarky.