More on Doppelgängers

In my first two posts, I talked about doppelgängers and my experience with my own. It is widely believed that doppelgängers tend to live far apart from each other. However, now I am speculating the possibility whether our doppelgängers are actually closer than we think. During my skiing trip last Saturday, I noticed that many of the skiers looked remarkably like some of the people in Niskayuna. For example, I saw one man who bared striking resemblance to my physics teacher. I sighted him plodding through the snow while my friend and I were taking the ski lift. "Mr. Delano! Hey Mr. Delano!" we cried out. After yelling at him several times, he caught attention to the great deal of noise we were making. As we got a better view of his face, we realized that in fact, he was not our physics teacher, but rather some other white male in his thirties. Also, one of the skiers I almost crashed into looked just like my United States History teacher. At the bottom of the hill, I spotted him with a group of small kids, which I presumed were his children. I was almost tempted to approach him and say hi, but he soon turned away and disappeared in the crowd. I am still unsure whether he was actually my social studies teacher to this day. How eery.

As I spotted more familiar-looking people, I became increasingly fascinated with the doppelgänger phenomenon. I was almost expecting to see my own doppelgänger at the ski ridge. Due to all the shenanigans he caused last year, I would not have been surprised if he decided to make another appearance. From my experience, I have concluded some of our doppelgängers in Niskayuna exist closer than we think. Hey, if mine lives right here in Niskayuna, there is definitely a possibility that some live near the Maple Ski Ridge in Rotterdam.

More doppelgängers. They live among us.http://www.mountainhomenews.com/photos/13/10/37/1310378-L.jpg

http://images.gizmag.com/hero/robotic-doppelganger-1.jpg

Downhill Skiing

Yesterday I went downhill skiing for my first time at the Maple Ski Ridge in Rotterdam. I felt reassured when I found out that most of my friends were beginners as well. "Great!" I thought. "We can learn together!" When we arrived, I was intimidated by the skill of some of the skiers. Although the Maple Ski Ridge is probably the easiest ski place in New York, I was still impressed by how effortlessly some people could slide down. I even observed one man who was skiing backwards and then gracefully slowing to a stop. To my surprise, I was actually fairly decent at skiing downhill at breakneck speed. Most beginners fall several times while going down the hills, but I faced completely different issues. While taking the ski lift up the bunny hill, I had great trouble grabbing onto one of the moving handles. The first time I grabbed on, my skis intersected each other, causing me to squirm violently and fall to the ground. As a result, the supervisors had to press the emergency stop button to give me time to re-stabilize myself, but even as I continued up the lift, I still felt rather wobbly and clumsy. I would have never anticipated that the actual downhill skiing wasn't the only difficult thing.

Another problem I faced was steering. My friend advised me to swivel from side to side to minimize the speed. I found this to be very nerve-racking, since while I was swiveling  I almost crashed into several people. I screamed "watch out!" several times to warn them. At one time, I actually tapped into some lady, and she nonchalantly batted me away to avoid a serious collision. But one of my biggest accidents occurred while skiing down one of the more difficult slopes. It may have seemed daring for me to advance so quickly on my first downhill skiing trip, but I felt ready to embrace the challenge. At the top of the hill, I decided to ignore my friend's advice, and proceeded to ski straight down, causing me to zoom down at an break-neck speed. As I continued down the slope, I was terrified yet thrilled at the same time by how fast I was going. These are the same ambivalent feelings one may experience while going down a an amusement park ride, such as a roller coaster. As I approached the end of the course, I began to decelerate by implementing the swiveling motion my friend taught me. At the last second, I noticed a huge ditch in front of me, and I made a sharp turn......into a ribbon fence. During the crash, all of the supporting stakes came out and the ribbons looped around my skis. I lied on the ground, tangled up in a most uncomfortable contortion. When I finally untied myself and stood up, a skier approached me and plainly asked "Are you okay?". Fortunately, I felt completely fine, even though the fence was in shambles. "You looked pretty good up there. Until the end of course. Haw haw haw!" the skier joked. As I regained my breath, we shared a good laugh at my spectacular wipe-out. This skier looked very similar to someone I knew from Niskayuna, which will be discussed in my next blog entry.

  A professional skier skids off a mountain. I wish I could do that! Hoy hoy.

.http://ctsportslawblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/downhill-skiing-1.jpg

A female skier makes a hilarious wipe-out.
http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.4860.1313647172!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_350250/videos-spectacular-crashes-ski-racing-history.jpg

Mirror Therapy

After listening to another chapter on phantom limbs, I have discovered a treatment for this strange condition. If a patient is experiencing perceived pain on his/her phantom, then a mirror can help alleviate their discomfort. If a patient is missing his left arm, he/she would place his right arm in front of the mirror. The reflection makes it appear that the person still has the missing limb. After moving the right arm, the mirror makes it look like the amputated limb is moving. If the patient was experiencing "pain" in his/her phantom limb, this removes the pain. This process somehow helps unlearn the pain developed by the neuron signals from the phantom limb. According to neuroscientist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, other therapies have only been successful with a handful of amputees, while mirror treatment works with just about everyone.

If any of you are amputees or have relatives with phantom limbs, then I highly recommend this therapy. Not only is it consistent, but it is also painless and easy to perform. After discovering this, I am almost tempted to test it out myself. Time to get out the machete! Haw haw just kidding. But really, if I ever lose a limb to an accident, fight or whatever, then I will definitely try this out.

                         A patient uses mirror therapy to treat his phantom leg.
                               http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46140000/jpg/_46140759_jex_422407_de27-1.jpg

Phantom Limbs

I have been recently listening to this exceedingly interesting book-on-tape about the functions of the brain by neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran. One of the aspects that really caught my attention was his discussion on a bizarre phenomenon of "phantom limbs." A phantom limb is a sensation that one is still feeling and moving an amputated limb. For example, if an amputee loses his right arm, he/she may still feel its presence and sensations associated with it. This is because the neurons in the brain have already established a connection to that limb, and even if it is removed, these neurons may still send signals to the brain. Thus, the brain can still make the amputated person feel his lost limb. Interestingly, these unique individuals are not delusional, as they know that the limb is not really there. However, their brain gives them strange sensations associated with the missing limb.

Many of the neurons and receptors that are associated with different body parts are also neurologically mapped to other body parts. For example, one of Dr. Ramachandran's patients experienced a sensation in his phantom right arm when he was rubbed on the chin with a Q-tip. This is because the same receptors/neurons that connect to the chin are also associated with the right arm; both are active and operated by the right side of the brain. Also, the same patient experienced a trickling feeling that traveled down his phantom arm when a drop of water was placed on his right cheek. To make this even more bizarre, the trickling feeling was able to go against gravity, since it still traveled in the same direction when he pointed his "stump" towards the ceiling.

"Phantom limbs" is further explained in Ramachandran's The Tell Tale Brain. I will continue to listen to it to gather more information on this interesting concept.

Is it really there?

                                          http://www.medindia.net/patients/patientinfo/images/phantom-limb-syndrome.jpg

The Laramie Project

Just about a week and a half ago, my friends and I saw an extremely interesting play based on a tragedy called the Laramie Project at the Albany Civic Theater. The play is based on a true story about a gay teenager, Mathew Shephard, who was beaten to death and tied to a fence. The play draws on many interviews conducted by the theatre company with the townspeople in Laramie, Wyoming and other people involved in the incident.

One may ask why I would want to spend a weekend night with my friends to see such a serious play.  The main reason why we felt so compelled to watch the play was because it featured someone we have known for a long time, Mr. Kevin Barhydt. Mr. Barhydt has a son, Kentaro, who is our long time friend at Niskayuna High School. Since we have known Kentaro for a while, we are well-acquainted with his father through various car pools and other social gatherings. While Mr. Barhydt works as an IT Specialist at Union College; unknown to us, he also has a hidden talent as an actor. When my friends and I first heard about this, we became very interested to see him act, so we immediately reserved tickets to see the play.

While watching the play, we were completely blown away by Mr. Barhydt's performance. He played Mathew Shepherd's father, Dennis, who had very emotionally powerful lines regarding his son's death. I was particularly astounded how a normally cheery man could be so earnest and despondent in a play; it was like seeing a completely different side of him. When Mr. Barhydt began to weep in the play, his crying face was very believable (although just the slightest bit comical; this could be because I know him). Overall, I was moved by his touching performance. When the play ended, I immediately sprang out of my seat and applauded exuberantly. I now recognize Mr. Barhydt as an exceptionally talented actor, and I look forward to seeing him perform again in the future.

John Cage's 4′33″

John Cage was an American composer who wrote several famous and unusual experimental works. He is probably best known for his piece 4'33", which is pronounced "four minutes, thirty-three seconds." The orchestra is required to merely sit on the stage and do nothing for this amount of time, and yes I am absolutely serious. This sounds very odd at first, but John Cage did have a rational idea behind it. He was largely influenced by Zen Buddhists, and was trying to imitate a "blissful peace" through his composition. When you hear this particular piece, you may be reminded of the "silence is golden" expression. The "music" in this case is the silence. John Cage truly believed that some of the best moments in music occur when no sound is made whatsoever. Why he chose the time frame of "four minutes, thirty-three seconds" is still uncertain to me.

I first came across 4'33" last October when I played with the Berkshire Symphony at Williams College. On the day of the concert, I heard a last-minute rumor that we would be playing this piece. I was confused at first, since we never actually rehearsed this. When I heard what 4'33" actually entailed, I was intrigued by the idea of performing a piece without having to play any notes. What confuses me is why anyone would want to purchase such a musical score that only consists of a title and blank measures.

What was surprisingly difficult about 4'33" was keeping a straight face for that entire duration in dead silence. As I glanced across the room, I noticed that several of the orchestral members were twitching and struggling to maintain an unamused facial expression. I also had a hard time withholding my amusement, and at one point, I thought I was going to succumb to laughter. Even the conductor looked like he was going to crack up. After the four minutes and thirty-three seconds passed, we breathed a sigh of relief, as the audience let out chuckles during the applause. To this day, I remember 4'33" as the most interesting, and in a sense, the most challenging piece of music I have ever "played."

John Cage, an interesting man.

                                                 http://www.brainpickings.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cage.png

My Twin Part 2

I spotted my doppelganger again at the beginning of the school year in the Media Center. After my older brother drove me to school, I was strolling across the C-hall when I spotted him in the library. He was goofing off with his circle of friends, which consisted of a bespectacled boy, a brunette girl, and an Indian girl. He was wearing a sweaty spandex shirt, which made it evident that he didn't change his shirt after gym. How disgusting! He was promptly kicked out for his rambunctious behavior by an understandably angry librarian. As he passed by me, he reeked of BO and fast food that he must have ate for lunch. Afterwards, I entered the library and began to work on my English essay, when I noticed that the same librarian was staring straight at me. I predicted what was going to happen, that she would mistaken me for my doppelganger and was going to unleash her wrath.

She approached me and said "Doing something productive? That's funny because your twin was doing the complete opposite! He was so noisy earlier! I even had to kick him out he was so obnoxious!" 

At first I thought she was being sarcastic, but I went along with it and answered "Yeah."

"You guys look so much alike," she continued. "Not just face-wise, but you boys even where the same clothes and hairstyle. Oh wait, except I saw your twin in a sweaty spandex shirt."

"Oh yeah, he's a messy boy. He has gym class in the morning and doesn't even bother to change his shirt afterwards!" I said. It seemed obvious that the librarian's sarcasm was a precursor of her wrath. At least, that's what it seemed to be.

"Do people confuse you with your twin a lot?" she asked.

"Oh yes, all the time. Some even think we're the same person! Isn't that ridiculous? Ha ha ha hoy hoy hoy!" I guffawed.

The librarian then ended the conversation, and allowed me to stay in the library. Right before the mod bell rang, my older brother entered the library and began to socialize with his friends. She turned to me and asked "Wait. Is that your tw----"? but then she cut herself off and relinquished her suspicion. I then wondered whether it was actually my brother who was ousted from the library, but I quickly refuted this speculation, since my doppelganger was wearing completely different clothes and was hanging out with different people.

My doppelganger has been responsible for several other shenanigans at Niskayuna High School. Throughout my junior year in high school, there have been various reports of a half-Asian teenager causing discord and mischief across Niskayuna who eerily resembles me. Three months ago, I was jogging around Rosendale Elementary School when I spotted him on a tree. We stared at each other for a few seconds, when he finally let out a fiendish giggle and disappeared in the back woods. Although I have not seen him since, I am fully aware that he will strike again.

My Twin part 1

There is a theory that everyone has a doppelganger that exists somewhere in the world. There have been various reports of individuals spotting people who looked eerily similar to them. This phenomenon has fascinated me for a while, as I have pondered where my doppelganger resides. Does he live in Asia, Europe or Canada? Or does he live in a remote part of the United States, or even in my same plane of existence?  Just recently, I discovered that my doppelganger actually resides here in Niskayuna! Before I dive into describing this stranger, I should probably introduce myself first. I was born on April 6th, 1996 in Redondo Beach California.  In the long line for re-incarnation, I was supposed to be the first sibling, but then my older brother budged in front of me and stole my place. This is why we are so close in age, only being fourteen months apart. Some people call this the "Irish Twin" phenomenon.  Often times, people around me have joked that we could be twins born at different times. Some even think that we actually are twins, which completely bewilders me because I don't think we look alike at all. I can't tell you how many times I have been mistaken for my older brother. This has happened several times during our childhoods, but now, such occurrences rarely happen. Instead, I have been confused with my doppelganger, who has been recently skulking around Niskayuna for mysterious reasons.

Last year, woman who works in the school sandwich line assumed that I had a twin. At first, I thought she was mistakening me for my older brother; but then I realized this was not the case when she said "Oh, you like mustard on your sandwiches. That's funny, because your twin orders the exact same sandwich but prefers hot sauce instead." My older brother never bought lunch at the school last year so it could not have been him. I told the lady that I didn't have a twin, and she looked confused at first, but then we shared a good laugh over the matter. In my mind, I thought "Could this be my doppelganger?"

                                           

                                                 Examples of Doppelgangers:

Photo Credit: http://joshuamatics.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/doppelganger2.jpg, http://www.blogcdn.com/www.spinner.com/media/2008/10/katy-zooey-doppelganger-b400lvg102108.jpg

My True Barbaric Yawp

Every once in a while, I express my fury with a terrifying scream, just like this cat.