A good friend passed these on to me and I thought this is fun trivia for a hot, humid summer evening. I need to write in my blog more and will do so now that I have a new PC and a lot of time on my hands and in my mind.
Very Interesting Anecdotes
If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on the right side of your mouth. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on the left side of your mouth.
To make half a kilo of honey, bees must collect nectar from over 2 million individual flowers.
Heroin is the brand name of morphine once marketed by 'Bayer'.
Tourists visiting Iceland should know that tipping at a restaurant is considered an insult!
People in nudist colonies play volleyball more than any other sport.
Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952, but he declined.
Astronauts can't belch - there is no gravity to separate liquid from gas in their stomachs.
Ancient Roman, Chinese and German societies often used urine as mouthwash.
The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows. In the Renaissance era, it was fashion to shave them off!
Because of the speed at which Earth moves around the Sun, it is impossible for a solar eclipse to last more than 7 minutes and 58 seconds.
The night of January 20 is "Saint Agnes's Eve", which is regarded as a time when a young woman dreams of her future husband.
Google is actually the common name for a number with a million zeros.
It takes glass one million years to decompose, which means it never wears out and can be recycled an infinite amount of times!
Gold is the only metal that doesn't rust, even if it's buried in the ground for thousands of years.
Your tongue is the only muscle in your body that is attached at only one end.
If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. When a human body is dehydrated, its thirst
mechanism shuts off.
Each year 2,000,000 smokers either quit smoking or die of tobacco-related diseases.
Zero is the only number that cannot be represented by Roman numerals.
Kites were used in the American Civil War to deliver letters and newspapers.
The song, Auld Lang Syne, is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the new year.
Drinking water after eating reduces the acid in your mouth by 61 percent.
Peanut oil is used for cooking in submarines because it doesn't smoke unless it's heated above 450°F.
The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.
Nine out of every 10 living things live in the ocean.
The banana cannot reproduce itself. It can be propagated only by the hand of man.
Airports at higher altitudes require a longer airstrip due to lower air density.
The University of Alaska spans four time zones.
The tooth is the only part of the human body that cannot heal itself.
In ancient Greece, tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage. Catching it meant she accepted.
Warner Communications paid $28 million for the copyright to the song Happy Birthday.
Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
A comet's tail always points away from the sun.
The Swine Flu vaccine in 1976 caused more death and illness than the disease it was intended to prevent.
Caffeine increases the power of aspirin and other painkillers; that is why it is found in some medicines.
The military salute is a motion that evolved from medieval times, when knights in armor raised their visors to reveal their identity.
If you get into the bottom of a well or a tall chimney and look up, you can see stars, even in the middle of the day.
When a person dies, hearing is the last sense to go. The first sense lost is sight.
In ancient times strangers shook hands to show that they were unarmed.
Strawberries are the only fruits whose seeds grow on the outside.
Avocados have the highest calories of any fruit at 167 calories per hundred grams.
The moon moves about two inches away from the Earth each year.
The Earth gets 100 tons heavier every day due to falling space dust.
Due to earth's gravity it is impossible for mountains to be higher than 15,000 meters.
Mickey Mouse is known as "Topolino" in Italy.
Soldiers do not march in step when going across bridges because they could set up a vibration which could be sufficient to knock the bridge down.
Everything weighs one percent less at the equator.
For every extra kilogram carried on a space flight, 530 kg of excess fuel are needed at lift-off.
The letter J does not appear anywhere on the periodic table of the elements.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Holy Week - 2011
Since I haven't written in some time and I'm leaving for Florida soon, I will just share a poem I wrote way back in high school that has everything to do with Holy Week.
The Vigil
A woman stands beside the cross
Her beautiful serene eyes are glistening with tears
Her rose-tinted skin is now almost transparently white with grief
Her glorious mass of shining chestnut hair
Has tumbled over her shoulders
Now shaking with her silent weeping.
She raises her head toward the figure hanging on the cross
And as she looks at Him, a dagger pierces her soul
The Man hanging on the Cross is her only son
She is filled with anguish, pain and sorrow
But, helpless to do anything for Him.
There is a woman beside her sharing her sorrow
A woman called Mary of Magdala.
A group of soldiers are gambling for His seamless robe
Which she made for Him, so long ago.
The sky has suddenly become dark.
Lightning and thunder break through the unearthly stillness
With an angry force
And the woman hears a voice she knows to be her son’s murmur….
“Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.”
And a soldier exclaims in terror and wonder…..
“Truly, this is the Son of God.”
A soft drizzle begins to fall
As two men take the Savior off the cross
And they lay Him in His mother’s arms.
There is still great sorrow and pain in her heart
But, she is also happy.
That He is rid of His suffering and agony.
His hands still bear
The marks where the nails had been cruelly driven into
Those divine hands
Which had caressed her cheek as a babe,
Had helped His father at work
Had healed the sick, the blind and the lame
And had changed bread and wine
Into His own Body and Blood.
The people had demanded the death
Of her Divine Son
This innocent Man
Lying in her arms now
Who had come down to earth
To save man from his sins
Their God and Creator
Who had brought the message of…
Love your neighbor as yourselves.
She thinks about this as she lays Him in the tomb
And she weeps again
But this time, for those who have denied Him
Hoping they will find Him again.
And as she walks down the path, away from the tomb,
We see a Queen, a Mother, a Saint, an Angel
And her name is MARY.
Happy Easter yet again all and I will write when I'm settled in Florida with my laptop and everything connected and running.
The Vigil
A woman stands beside the cross
Her beautiful serene eyes are glistening with tears
Her rose-tinted skin is now almost transparently white with grief
Her glorious mass of shining chestnut hair
Has tumbled over her shoulders
Now shaking with her silent weeping.
She raises her head toward the figure hanging on the cross
And as she looks at Him, a dagger pierces her soul
The Man hanging on the Cross is her only son
She is filled with anguish, pain and sorrow
But, helpless to do anything for Him.
There is a woman beside her sharing her sorrow
A woman called Mary of Magdala.
A group of soldiers are gambling for His seamless robe
Which she made for Him, so long ago.
The sky has suddenly become dark.
Lightning and thunder break through the unearthly stillness
With an angry force
And the woman hears a voice she knows to be her son’s murmur….
“Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.”
And a soldier exclaims in terror and wonder…..
“Truly, this is the Son of God.”
A soft drizzle begins to fall
As two men take the Savior off the cross
And they lay Him in His mother’s arms.
There is still great sorrow and pain in her heart
But, she is also happy.
That He is rid of His suffering and agony.
His hands still bear
The marks where the nails had been cruelly driven into
Those divine hands
Which had caressed her cheek as a babe,
Had helped His father at work
Had healed the sick, the blind and the lame
And had changed bread and wine
Into His own Body and Blood.
The people had demanded the death
Of her Divine Son
This innocent Man
Lying in her arms now
Who had come down to earth
To save man from his sins
Their God and Creator
Who had brought the message of…
Love your neighbor as yourselves.
She thinks about this as she lays Him in the tomb
And she weeps again
But this time, for those who have denied Him
Hoping they will find Him again.
And as she walks down the path, away from the tomb,
We see a Queen, a Mother, a Saint, an Angel
And her name is MARY.
Happy Easter yet again all and I will write when I'm settled in Florida with my laptop and everything connected and running.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Long time no write, BUT.......
Its been ages since I've written but that's because my life will be undergoing a major transformation as of March 1, 2011. It will be the first day that I WON'T have to get up to go to work. My last official day of work is February 28, 2011, which happens to be a Monday! I'm finally retiring after 27 years at Polytechnic, and, 4 years or so before that at law firm Fisher & Fisher, Esq., and before, that 3 years with Savings Banks Trust Co. in Manhattan, and before that, about 5 years with Comercial Sert, S.A. in Barcelona, and before that - my first job was with Production Associates, Inc. in Manila! Phew!
Now, I am planning to retire to Florida because one more winter in New York and I will literally turn into a block of ice. Talk abut "The Winter of Our Discontent" !!!!
Why am I leaving arguably the greatest city on earth? Well, sincerely, because, to me, it never was. For too many reasons to count, but it never lived up to my naive hype about it, which was formed by the movies we saw in Manila featuring New York - Breakfast at Tiffany's, Barefoot in the Park, Sunday in New York and almost every picture of Doris Day with Rock Hudson and Tony Randall. Hah! What a surprise I got when I finally got here. Granted it was the middle 60's when Filipino nurses were butchered in Chicago, Civil Rights riots were occurring everywhere, the subways were graffiti laden ovens and dangerous, we had a major blackout and a subway strike within 6 months of my arriving here, not to mention one of the coldest winters in decades (the winter of '66), and I didn't know a soul here! I never made peace with this city until 1984 (7 years after I returned from Spain (I left NYC in August of 1969)), when I finally found a nice little apartment on Second Place in Carroll Gardens and I must admit for about 3 or 4 years, I was finally having a good time here, and then I had to move because the landlord was selling the building. I moved a couple of blocks away to another apartment in Carroll Gardens which I really liked and the rent was reasonable ($500/month) and stayed there 16 years and then I had to move again because the landlord needed the apartment for his family, and that's when all hell broke loose. After that, I finally found an apartment, still in Carroll Gardens, though the rent was now almost triple the rent I was paying before, and though it was/is a sweet apartment, (lovely floors and painted all new and within seconds walking distance of grocer, cleaners, laundry and subway), something died in me and from then on, all I looked forward to was the day I finally reached the point that I COULD retire and leave all this behind.
I'm not naive to think that now my life will all be a bed of roses but I intend to be warmer in the winter and not deal with icy sidewalks, absentee landlords, and have to wake up before the sun is up to take showers in a freezing bathroom and wait on an icy subway platform for a train that is crowded and late or in a sweltering platform in the summer for a train that is crowded and late.
Friends advise or warn me (with all good intentions) that life is not all roses somewhere else (of course! no place is perfect and the alternative may be Perfect but I'd like to prolong that a bit) but if Florida can get humid, and has hurricanes, mosquitos and one may need a fan or airconditioner in the summer - well, if I lived in Manila for the first 20 years of my life - this is old hat to me!
I haven't found the definite place in Florida yet but a person near and dear to me is helping me tremendously with that by taking me there for the first two weeks of January of this year to have a look-see and now while I am finishing off my final weeks at Poly, he is going back to Florida for a few days by himself to see if he can finally settle on something he knows will be good for me, then I will consonsider myself lucky and can't wait to move there. If that doesn't work out, I am even thinking of going back to live in Spain to some nice little city or town near the coast - SOUTH of Barcelona or even the south of Spain or maybe someplace like La Coruna. Who knows. I'm doing my best (with help) but looking on my own too and praying a lot and what will happen, will happen. You know the saying "Man plans and God laughs" or as they say in Spanish - "hombre propone y Dios dispone"
The only really sad thing is that I will be moving away from the state where my closest and dearest relatives live - my daughter Frances and granddaughter Laura and son in law, but they, unfortunately, live in a lovely town upstate from NYC where it is all lovely but there are no apartments nearby and I would need a car to get around and back to the cold weather. But they are being understanding and lovely about it and besides my Laura will get a chance to get out of the cold (no fan of it herself - she wears hoodies in my apartment in the summer!) and visit me somewhere where we can walk or take a short ride to the BEACH - our favorite place to be!!
So there you have it folks. Another big change in my life, but it's time. Polytechnic University, as I used to know it, has changed and moved on, and so must I.
I owe a lot of the help in my decision making to someone special and I am and will be forever grateful for everything he's done for me - however things turn out. Fate is the hunter and I am prepared for this new adventure in my life. I thank God for continued good health and pray that I don't slip on these icy sidewalks before I get a chance to leave.
I'll have to budget my life a bit more carefully but for many, many years, I've done more with less. If I can turn a clean but slightly shabby room in a pension in Barcelona in 1969 to a cozy room where everyone wanted to hang out in, I can do most anything. Almost.
Will keep you posted on where I end up.
Now, I am planning to retire to Florida because one more winter in New York and I will literally turn into a block of ice. Talk abut "The Winter of Our Discontent" !!!!
Why am I leaving arguably the greatest city on earth? Well, sincerely, because, to me, it never was. For too many reasons to count, but it never lived up to my naive hype about it, which was formed by the movies we saw in Manila featuring New York - Breakfast at Tiffany's, Barefoot in the Park, Sunday in New York and almost every picture of Doris Day with Rock Hudson and Tony Randall. Hah! What a surprise I got when I finally got here. Granted it was the middle 60's when Filipino nurses were butchered in Chicago, Civil Rights riots were occurring everywhere, the subways were graffiti laden ovens and dangerous, we had a major blackout and a subway strike within 6 months of my arriving here, not to mention one of the coldest winters in decades (the winter of '66), and I didn't know a soul here! I never made peace with this city until 1984 (7 years after I returned from Spain (I left NYC in August of 1969)), when I finally found a nice little apartment on Second Place in Carroll Gardens and I must admit for about 3 or 4 years, I was finally having a good time here, and then I had to move because the landlord was selling the building. I moved a couple of blocks away to another apartment in Carroll Gardens which I really liked and the rent was reasonable ($500/month) and stayed there 16 years and then I had to move again because the landlord needed the apartment for his family, and that's when all hell broke loose. After that, I finally found an apartment, still in Carroll Gardens, though the rent was now almost triple the rent I was paying before, and though it was/is a sweet apartment, (lovely floors and painted all new and within seconds walking distance of grocer, cleaners, laundry and subway), something died in me and from then on, all I looked forward to was the day I finally reached the point that I COULD retire and leave all this behind.
I'm not naive to think that now my life will all be a bed of roses but I intend to be warmer in the winter and not deal with icy sidewalks, absentee landlords, and have to wake up before the sun is up to take showers in a freezing bathroom and wait on an icy subway platform for a train that is crowded and late or in a sweltering platform in the summer for a train that is crowded and late.
Friends advise or warn me (with all good intentions) that life is not all roses somewhere else (of course! no place is perfect and the alternative may be Perfect but I'd like to prolong that a bit) but if Florida can get humid, and has hurricanes, mosquitos and one may need a fan or airconditioner in the summer - well, if I lived in Manila for the first 20 years of my life - this is old hat to me!
I haven't found the definite place in Florida yet but a person near and dear to me is helping me tremendously with that by taking me there for the first two weeks of January of this year to have a look-see and now while I am finishing off my final weeks at Poly, he is going back to Florida for a few days by himself to see if he can finally settle on something he knows will be good for me, then I will consonsider myself lucky and can't wait to move there. If that doesn't work out, I am even thinking of going back to live in Spain to some nice little city or town near the coast - SOUTH of Barcelona or even the south of Spain or maybe someplace like La Coruna. Who knows. I'm doing my best (with help) but looking on my own too and praying a lot and what will happen, will happen. You know the saying "Man plans and God laughs" or as they say in Spanish - "hombre propone y Dios dispone"
The only really sad thing is that I will be moving away from the state where my closest and dearest relatives live - my daughter Frances and granddaughter Laura and son in law, but they, unfortunately, live in a lovely town upstate from NYC where it is all lovely but there are no apartments nearby and I would need a car to get around and back to the cold weather. But they are being understanding and lovely about it and besides my Laura will get a chance to get out of the cold (no fan of it herself - she wears hoodies in my apartment in the summer!) and visit me somewhere where we can walk or take a short ride to the BEACH - our favorite place to be!!
So there you have it folks. Another big change in my life, but it's time. Polytechnic University, as I used to know it, has changed and moved on, and so must I.
I owe a lot of the help in my decision making to someone special and I am and will be forever grateful for everything he's done for me - however things turn out. Fate is the hunter and I am prepared for this new adventure in my life. I thank God for continued good health and pray that I don't slip on these icy sidewalks before I get a chance to leave.
I'll have to budget my life a bit more carefully but for many, many years, I've done more with less. If I can turn a clean but slightly shabby room in a pension in Barcelona in 1969 to a cozy room where everyone wanted to hang out in, I can do most anything. Almost.
Will keep you posted on where I end up.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Thoughts for our grandchildren
For those of us raised in Manila and for our children and grandchildren who weren't and aren't, I am coopying an email I received about three years ago which should serve as a memory flashback for us and something to think about for our younger generation: Here it is -
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN?
By Letty Jacinto-Lopez
What did I get for attending the last class reunion?
Eighty new names to clutter my e-mail box. I was swept
by a tide of bonhomie and believed every scream of
"You haven't changed a bit!" Other than classmates
growing a little thicker around the middle and men
combing their hair in artistic patterns to cover
barren spots, we were faring pretty well. That was
until class president Juris Telmo sent me a list of
"do you remember whens" highlighting the four decades
that shaped and influenced our world. Like an old
pinball machine, I bounced names and places with pop,
clang and clatter ringing up friends for details that
had gone all too hazy. We brought back ghosts of the
past.
Do you recall when:
You tasted: Fres Gusto, Cosmos "Sarsi" Sarsaparilla,
RC Cola, Yes Cola, Teem, Darigold Evap, Liberty Condensada,
Choco Vim, Sunkist Orange (in tetra packs), Magnolia
Chocolait, (pronounced chocolayt), Klim (the word
"milk" spelled backwards), Big 20 Hamburgers, Tweet &
Jiggs Candies (by Mr. Krieger), Sugus Candies, Tootsie
Roll, Serg's Chocolate, Blenda Margarine,
kerosene-flavored popcorn and kropeck along Dewey
Blvd, dirty ice cream, Magnolia Ice Cream Sandwich,
Selecta ice cream (now Arce Dairy) and their fresh
carabao's milk, Magnolia popsicles in orange,
chocolate and langka flavors, Sison Ice Drops in
monggo, and buko flavors, Milky Way's buko sherbet and
Coney Island's 32 flavors.
Why can't I have "dirty" ice cream? "Because the
sorbetero peddled them in a cart going from house to
house, gathering soot and dust along the way," came
the booming reply from my mother. I envied my
playmates who were allowed to wolf down scoops of
mango and ube ice cream with pinipig sandwiched
between two slices of bread. They never got sick
either from eating something "dirty" taunting me
instead for missing out on these smooth and creamy
heat busters.
You went to: Syvel's, Assandas, Arcegas at the Maranaw
Arcade, Funhouse at Bricktown, Erehwon Bookstore,
Alemars Bookstore, Bookmark, Botica Boie, Makati
Supermarket (in Makati!), Rizal Theater (with its
spacious lobby) with D'Bankers Barbershop and Leila's
Coffee Shop, Tropical Hut (and its hamburger), Acme
Supermarket, Cherry Foodarama, The Regent of Manila,
Hotel Aurelio, Manila Hilton, Christmas carnival
(where Dusit Hotel now stands), Villa Pansol and Lido
Beach.
I met a boy whose family owned and operated Tropical
Hut and when he paid me a visit, my kid brother got
excited and said, "Can your friend bring over a fat
brown bag of nuts and chocolates instead of stuffed
toys and flowers? Throw in some hamburgers too." The
friendship never went beyond the hi-and-have-a-good-life
phase unlike their store which expanded and sold more
hamburgers. Sadly, the hamburger lost its unique taste
after ownership of the chain changed hands.
"Rizal what?" I asked. "Who would be crazy to build a
cinema in the middle of nowhere?" It turned out to be
the best theater in the city of Makati (at the same
site now occupied by Shangri-La Hotel). The builder
did not scrimp on space with its wide aisles and
double cushioned seats. There was always a good view
of the screen from any angle with no marked
distinction between the popular orchestra seats and
the more exclusive lodge and balcony seats. When I
watched a spine-tingling thriller that starred a blind
Audrey Hepburn entitled Wait Until Dark, I shivered
down to my toes not because of my runaway imagination
but the air conditioning system that was set to an
all-time blast-freezing high.
And ate at:The original A&W along UN Avenue in Manila,
Aristocrat across Malate Church, Italian Village, Café
Valenzuela, Bonanza Restaurant, Brown Derby, Little
Quiapo, Country Bake Shop, Selecta Restaurants (owned
by the Arce family), Taza de Oro, New Europe, Madrid,
Cucina Italiana, La Cibeles at A. Mabini, The Plaza,
Jade Garden Restaurant, Luau, The Makati Automat, Sulo
Restaurant (in Makati),Makati Fastfood Center (the
first ever), Bulakeña, Casa Marcos, Au Bon Vivant,
Salambao Restaurant, Dairy Queen along Buendia, Di
Mark's Pizza, the elegant dining room of the old Army
& Navy Club.
Brown Derby and their signature foot-long hotdog came
with its special, extra tarty mustard sauce and a hot,
crispy bun. We used to park at their drive-in bays
after we were exhausted from all-night partying but
with enough energy to gobble down sausages and soft
drinks. They were our comfort food that guaranteed a
long and restful sleep.
The Plaza was the favorite venue for all formal school
and social functions. Food was not a big factor so
long as cozy couples could have their special table
for two. Although we talked of young love that never
died, marriage was definitely not in our immediate
plans. But I was outnumbered by friends who made an
early covenant and literally jumped out of their
school togas and into their bridal gowns. It drove me
to ask in earnest, "Was there life outside graduation
and marriage?"
You shopped at: Escolta, Harrison Plaza (when it was
still clean and had the bump cars), Ali Mall, Rustan's
in San Marcelino, Aguinaldo's in Cubao, Quezon City;
Shoemart in Makati was a small, split-level affair.
The original Rustan's was a residential house
converted into a dazzling shop filled with eclectic
things and collectibles. I liked the signet ring that
had the profile of the Virgin Mother etched in pure
gold. It cost more than my student's allowance but
true to Rustan's slogan "Where Shopping is a
Pleasure," the management reserved it for me until I
was able to pay for it in full. That was my first
crack at a lay-away plan before the advent of the
cashless, plastic cards. The ring cost P80 ? a king's
ransom at that time. I still wear it on my finger.
Blockbuster movies were: Love Story, Mahogany,
Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Planet of the Apes, Star
Wars, Logan's Run, Battlestar Galactica, Paper Chase,
Enter The Dragon, Jaws, Towering Inferno, Poseidon
Adventure, Carrie, Willard (theme song was Ben sang by
a young Michael Jackson), Exorcist, Love Bug,
Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang.
Washington DC, 1970: There was such a big hype
surrounding this new film Love Story that my room
mates Lirio Calixto, Papoose Oteyza and Lydia Aunario
refused to watch it. They only relented when we could
not find any other movie to watch on a typical Friday
night. When Ryan O'Neal struggled to hold back his
tears while he held a young and dying Ali McGraw in
his arms, you could hear stifled sobs in the dark and
to my amusement, from my jaded roommates as well.
Lino Brocka's master work Tinimbang opened our eyes to
the arrogance of power. The rape and the childbirth
scenes left nothing to the imagination but they were
the same scenes that stayed longest on our minds. To
think we were only curious to watch this young, new
discovery Christopher "Boyet" de Leon who acted
alongside multi-awarded thespians like Lolita
Rodriguez.
You wore, carried or used Denman brush tucked in your
back pants pocket, Jordache and Sassoon jeans, Bata
rubber shoes, Botak running shoes, Ace flexible comb,
Ace clutchbag, Carrera shades, Ray-Ban Photochromic
and Ambermatic shades, Foster Grant sunglasses,
Alaskin, tie-dye shirts and pants, double-knit pants,
Sergio Valente, Vidal Sassoon, Fiorucci, Banlon, Ye-ye
Vonnel shirts, Nik-Nik, Bang-Bang, Faded Glory,
Jazzie, Puma Topfit, Tiger Onitsuka, Happy Feet,
clogs, Wet look shoes, Pierre Cardin, Brut, Jovan musk
oil, Aramis, platform shoes with bell-bottom pants and
wide-buckled belts.
Valentine's Day 1965: I was looking for something
special to give away and there was this new cologne
called Brut. The moment I bought one I regretted it
instantly because I was allergic to perfumes and
colognes. That was not as disastrous as finding out
that every member of the male population in Metro
Manila was wearing it.
You had your hair styled or permed by: Flavio and
Carmen, Nomer's, Lita Rio, Grace Lagman, and
Kayumanggi. (Note from Beng: she forgot to mention Miloy!)
That was the time of Aqua Net stiff, foot-high
beehives, French twist and Kiss Me liquid eye liners
and Pretty Quik instant facial blotters. My hair
"drank" 7-Up or San Miguel beer because they were the
most effective setting lotions that kept my hair
styled high and in conical, cornucopian shape. My
so-called crowning glory was also the perfect nesting
place for feathered hatchlings.
You sang: Bobby, Bobby, Bobby by Jo Ann Campbell,
Someday by Ricky Nelson, And I Love Her by the
Beatles, Cherish by the Association, Because by Dave
Clark Five, Distant Shores by Chad and Jeremy, Rainy
Days & Mondays by the Carpenters, You've Got a Friend
by Carol King, Hundred Miles by Peter, Paul and Mary,
Evergreen by Paul Williams.
I saved my whole month's allowance P50 to watch
the Beatles perform live at Rizal Memorial Coliseum in
1965. Security could not control the excited crowd
from entering the gates in an orderly manner so we
were forced to jostle and elbow our way in. Everything
went wrong that night. Bad acoustics, scattered sound
and worse of all, a visibly exhausted group of
Liverpool mopheads who failed to light up the sky. But
their mere presence kept us in high spirits and we
remained diehard fans long after the group disbanded.
It was hip to listen to: Bingo Lacson and Jo San Diego
(past midnight) of DZMT, the singing sensations from
Ateneo de Manila ? RJ and the Riots, The Loonilarks,
Joe Mari Chan and the APO Hiking Society and dance to
live combo music garbed in cocktail dresses and dark
suits.
DZMT was affiliated with the Manila Times and was the
only broadcast station that stayed on the air past
midnight. Jo San Diego was their anchor woman (she
with the velvety bedroom voice). Insomniacs, students
cramming-for-exams, and those manning the midnight
shifts were fully entertained by her music, intimate
chats and chuckles.
And danced at: Manila Hotel's Jungle Bar, Stargazer,
Bayside Night Club (with live music by the Carding
Cruz band), the Nile (and the Italian singing group
Five n' Fives), Queue Disco, Circuit Disco, Where?
Else?, Altitude 49, Delirium (in Greenbelt), D' Flame,
Rino's, Velvet Slum, Wells Fargo, Coco Banana.
After graduation, jam sessions were replaced by night
clubs and Bayside was the place to go for live bands
and non-stop dancing. It didn't matter that one side
of it was cordoned off for date-less clients who paid
a premium to choose from a lineup of professional
escorts. It allowed me to catch a glimpse of the many
faceted lives that moved around Manila by night.
Do you remember when: Dollar to peso exchange rate was
$1 = P7, Walang Tindigan buses charged a flat rate of
P1, Love Bus fare was P1.50, family size Shakey's
Pizza cost less than P40, Malate streets were named
after US States (Pennsylvania, Colorado, etc.);
Parañaque, San Juan, Makati, Pasig, Las Piñas,
Taguig, Pateros and Muntinlupa were
municipalities of Rizal province; DLSU was De La Salle
College, Poveda was Institucion Teresiana, Adamson
University was the original St. Theresa's campus,
Robinsons mall was the Assumption Convent campus,
Petron was Esso, Villamor Air Base was then known as
Nichols Air Base, bancas were aplenty in the Baclaran
side of Dewey Blvd. (now Roxas Blvd.) and traffic was
non-existent in Tagaytay.
PLDT telephone numbers were five digits and you used
your index finger to dial a number one at a time.
Communication was limited to letters, telegrams and
telephone apparatus that couldn't be yanked from the
wall. If you missed the car pool, you'd be left
stranded, twiddling your fingers until the next
available transport came to take you home.
If you remember all these things, you're history, in
great company and I daresay, happy to be.
JopenSantaAna
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN?
By Letty Jacinto-Lopez
What did I get for attending the last class reunion?
Eighty new names to clutter my e-mail box. I was swept
by a tide of bonhomie and believed every scream of
"You haven't changed a bit!" Other than classmates
growing a little thicker around the middle and men
combing their hair in artistic patterns to cover
barren spots, we were faring pretty well. That was
until class president Juris Telmo sent me a list of
"do you remember whens" highlighting the four decades
that shaped and influenced our world. Like an old
pinball machine, I bounced names and places with pop,
clang and clatter ringing up friends for details that
had gone all too hazy. We brought back ghosts of the
past.
Do you recall when:
You tasted: Fres Gusto, Cosmos "Sarsi" Sarsaparilla,
RC Cola, Yes Cola, Teem, Darigold Evap, Liberty Condensada,
Choco Vim, Sunkist Orange (in tetra packs), Magnolia
Chocolait, (pronounced chocolayt), Klim (the word
"milk" spelled backwards), Big 20 Hamburgers, Tweet &
Jiggs Candies (by Mr. Krieger), Sugus Candies, Tootsie
Roll, Serg's Chocolate, Blenda Margarine,
kerosene-flavored popcorn and kropeck along Dewey
Blvd, dirty ice cream, Magnolia Ice Cream Sandwich,
Selecta ice cream (now Arce Dairy) and their fresh
carabao's milk, Magnolia popsicles in orange,
chocolate and langka flavors, Sison Ice Drops in
monggo, and buko flavors, Milky Way's buko sherbet and
Coney Island's 32 flavors.
Why can't I have "dirty" ice cream? "Because the
sorbetero peddled them in a cart going from house to
house, gathering soot and dust along the way," came
the booming reply from my mother. I envied my
playmates who were allowed to wolf down scoops of
mango and ube ice cream with pinipig sandwiched
between two slices of bread. They never got sick
either from eating something "dirty" taunting me
instead for missing out on these smooth and creamy
heat busters.
You went to: Syvel's, Assandas, Arcegas at the Maranaw
Arcade, Funhouse at Bricktown, Erehwon Bookstore,
Alemars Bookstore, Bookmark, Botica Boie, Makati
Supermarket (in Makati!), Rizal Theater (with its
spacious lobby) with D'Bankers Barbershop and Leila's
Coffee Shop, Tropical Hut (and its hamburger), Acme
Supermarket, Cherry Foodarama, The Regent of Manila,
Hotel Aurelio, Manila Hilton, Christmas carnival
(where Dusit Hotel now stands), Villa Pansol and Lido
Beach.
I met a boy whose family owned and operated Tropical
Hut and when he paid me a visit, my kid brother got
excited and said, "Can your friend bring over a fat
brown bag of nuts and chocolates instead of stuffed
toys and flowers? Throw in some hamburgers too." The
friendship never went beyond the hi-and-have-a-good-life
phase unlike their store which expanded and sold more
hamburgers. Sadly, the hamburger lost its unique taste
after ownership of the chain changed hands.
"Rizal what?" I asked. "Who would be crazy to build a
cinema in the middle of nowhere?" It turned out to be
the best theater in the city of Makati (at the same
site now occupied by Shangri-La Hotel). The builder
did not scrimp on space with its wide aisles and
double cushioned seats. There was always a good view
of the screen from any angle with no marked
distinction between the popular orchestra seats and
the more exclusive lodge and balcony seats. When I
watched a spine-tingling thriller that starred a blind
Audrey Hepburn entitled Wait Until Dark, I shivered
down to my toes not because of my runaway imagination
but the air conditioning system that was set to an
all-time blast-freezing high.
And ate at:The original A&W along UN Avenue in Manila,
Aristocrat across Malate Church, Italian Village, Café
Valenzuela, Bonanza Restaurant, Brown Derby, Little
Quiapo, Country Bake Shop, Selecta Restaurants (owned
by the Arce family), Taza de Oro, New Europe, Madrid,
Cucina Italiana, La Cibeles at A. Mabini, The Plaza,
Jade Garden Restaurant, Luau, The Makati Automat, Sulo
Restaurant (in Makati),Makati Fastfood Center (the
first ever), Bulakeña, Casa Marcos, Au Bon Vivant,
Salambao Restaurant, Dairy Queen along Buendia, Di
Mark's Pizza, the elegant dining room of the old Army
& Navy Club.
Brown Derby and their signature foot-long hotdog came
with its special, extra tarty mustard sauce and a hot,
crispy bun. We used to park at their drive-in bays
after we were exhausted from all-night partying but
with enough energy to gobble down sausages and soft
drinks. They were our comfort food that guaranteed a
long and restful sleep.
The Plaza was the favorite venue for all formal school
and social functions. Food was not a big factor so
long as cozy couples could have their special table
for two. Although we talked of young love that never
died, marriage was definitely not in our immediate
plans. But I was outnumbered by friends who made an
early covenant and literally jumped out of their
school togas and into their bridal gowns. It drove me
to ask in earnest, "Was there life outside graduation
and marriage?"
You shopped at: Escolta, Harrison Plaza (when it was
still clean and had the bump cars), Ali Mall, Rustan's
in San Marcelino, Aguinaldo's in Cubao, Quezon City;
Shoemart in Makati was a small, split-level affair.
The original Rustan's was a residential house
converted into a dazzling shop filled with eclectic
things and collectibles. I liked the signet ring that
had the profile of the Virgin Mother etched in pure
gold. It cost more than my student's allowance but
true to Rustan's slogan "Where Shopping is a
Pleasure," the management reserved it for me until I
was able to pay for it in full. That was my first
crack at a lay-away plan before the advent of the
cashless, plastic cards. The ring cost P80 ? a king's
ransom at that time. I still wear it on my finger.
Blockbuster movies were: Love Story, Mahogany,
Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Planet of the Apes, Star
Wars, Logan's Run, Battlestar Galactica, Paper Chase,
Enter The Dragon, Jaws, Towering Inferno, Poseidon
Adventure, Carrie, Willard (theme song was Ben sang by
a young Michael Jackson), Exorcist, Love Bug,
Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang.
Washington DC, 1970: There was such a big hype
surrounding this new film Love Story that my room
mates Lirio Calixto, Papoose Oteyza and Lydia Aunario
refused to watch it. They only relented when we could
not find any other movie to watch on a typical Friday
night. When Ryan O'Neal struggled to hold back his
tears while he held a young and dying Ali McGraw in
his arms, you could hear stifled sobs in the dark and
to my amusement, from my jaded roommates as well.
Lino Brocka's master work Tinimbang opened our eyes to
the arrogance of power. The rape and the childbirth
scenes left nothing to the imagination but they were
the same scenes that stayed longest on our minds. To
think we were only curious to watch this young, new
discovery Christopher "Boyet" de Leon who acted
alongside multi-awarded thespians like Lolita
Rodriguez.
You wore, carried or used Denman brush tucked in your
back pants pocket, Jordache and Sassoon jeans, Bata
rubber shoes, Botak running shoes, Ace flexible comb,
Ace clutchbag, Carrera shades, Ray-Ban Photochromic
and Ambermatic shades, Foster Grant sunglasses,
Alaskin, tie-dye shirts and pants, double-knit pants,
Sergio Valente, Vidal Sassoon, Fiorucci, Banlon, Ye-ye
Vonnel shirts, Nik-Nik, Bang-Bang, Faded Glory,
Jazzie, Puma Topfit, Tiger Onitsuka, Happy Feet,
clogs, Wet look shoes, Pierre Cardin, Brut, Jovan musk
oil, Aramis, platform shoes with bell-bottom pants and
wide-buckled belts.
Valentine's Day 1965: I was looking for something
special to give away and there was this new cologne
called Brut. The moment I bought one I regretted it
instantly because I was allergic to perfumes and
colognes. That was not as disastrous as finding out
that every member of the male population in Metro
Manila was wearing it.
You had your hair styled or permed by: Flavio and
Carmen, Nomer's, Lita Rio, Grace Lagman, and
Kayumanggi. (Note from Beng: she forgot to mention Miloy!)
That was the time of Aqua Net stiff, foot-high
beehives, French twist and Kiss Me liquid eye liners
and Pretty Quik instant facial blotters. My hair
"drank" 7-Up or San Miguel beer because they were the
most effective setting lotions that kept my hair
styled high and in conical, cornucopian shape. My
so-called crowning glory was also the perfect nesting
place for feathered hatchlings.
You sang: Bobby, Bobby, Bobby by Jo Ann Campbell,
Someday by Ricky Nelson, And I Love Her by the
Beatles, Cherish by the Association, Because by Dave
Clark Five, Distant Shores by Chad and Jeremy, Rainy
Days & Mondays by the Carpenters, You've Got a Friend
by Carol King, Hundred Miles by Peter, Paul and Mary,
Evergreen by Paul Williams.
I saved my whole month's allowance P50 to watch
the Beatles perform live at Rizal Memorial Coliseum in
1965. Security could not control the excited crowd
from entering the gates in an orderly manner so we
were forced to jostle and elbow our way in. Everything
went wrong that night. Bad acoustics, scattered sound
and worse of all, a visibly exhausted group of
Liverpool mopheads who failed to light up the sky. But
their mere presence kept us in high spirits and we
remained diehard fans long after the group disbanded.
It was hip to listen to: Bingo Lacson and Jo San Diego
(past midnight) of DZMT, the singing sensations from
Ateneo de Manila ? RJ and the Riots, The Loonilarks,
Joe Mari Chan and the APO Hiking Society and dance to
live combo music garbed in cocktail dresses and dark
suits.
DZMT was affiliated with the Manila Times and was the
only broadcast station that stayed on the air past
midnight. Jo San Diego was their anchor woman (she
with the velvety bedroom voice). Insomniacs, students
cramming-for-exams, and those manning the midnight
shifts were fully entertained by her music, intimate
chats and chuckles.
And danced at: Manila Hotel's Jungle Bar, Stargazer,
Bayside Night Club (with live music by the Carding
Cruz band), the Nile (and the Italian singing group
Five n' Fives), Queue Disco, Circuit Disco, Where?
Else?, Altitude 49, Delirium (in Greenbelt), D' Flame,
Rino's, Velvet Slum, Wells Fargo, Coco Banana.
After graduation, jam sessions were replaced by night
clubs and Bayside was the place to go for live bands
and non-stop dancing. It didn't matter that one side
of it was cordoned off for date-less clients who paid
a premium to choose from a lineup of professional
escorts. It allowed me to catch a glimpse of the many
faceted lives that moved around Manila by night.
Do you remember when: Dollar to peso exchange rate was
$1 = P7, Walang Tindigan buses charged a flat rate of
P1, Love Bus fare was P1.50, family size Shakey's
Pizza cost less than P40, Malate streets were named
after US States (Pennsylvania, Colorado, etc.);
Parañaque, San Juan, Makati, Pasig, Las Piñas,
Taguig, Pateros and Muntinlupa were
municipalities of Rizal province; DLSU was De La Salle
College, Poveda was Institucion Teresiana, Adamson
University was the original St. Theresa's campus,
Robinsons mall was the Assumption Convent campus,
Petron was Esso, Villamor Air Base was then known as
Nichols Air Base, bancas were aplenty in the Baclaran
side of Dewey Blvd. (now Roxas Blvd.) and traffic was
non-existent in Tagaytay.
PLDT telephone numbers were five digits and you used
your index finger to dial a number one at a time.
Communication was limited to letters, telegrams and
telephone apparatus that couldn't be yanked from the
wall. If you missed the car pool, you'd be left
stranded, twiddling your fingers until the next
available transport came to take you home.
If you remember all these things, you're history, in
great company and I daresay, happy to be.
JopenSantaAna
Monday, August 9, 2010
A Happy Weekend
This will be a short post but I just wanted to share with whoever reads this, that I had a truly lovely weekend. This time I WAS where I've always been happiest - near the ocean! The weather was lovely - warm, even hot at times, but with just enough ocean breeze to believe that though "life may be a beach" for some people, to me, its almost close to heaven. I saw old friends that I hadn't seen in a very long time and best of all, spent time with a person who had been practically the center of my life for 8 years but because of this and that, I hadn't really spent time with since, well, a long time.
Sometimes, Life, Fate, or God (when He's in a humerous mood), sends us a minute, an hour, a couple of days, or years to just be plainly happy and content. And, since we all know that there is no status quo, (things get better or, get worse), the deal is - enjoy that minute, hour, day or years to the fullest. Life does come around only once (and sometimes if we're very, very lucky, we get a chance for a "do-over"), so make the most of every minute. The glow will carry you through the rougher, darker times - really, I know, because I've been there. As Julia Roberts's character Shelby said in the movie "Steel Magnolias" - "I'd rather have 3 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special."
Amen.
Sometimes, Life, Fate, or God (when He's in a humerous mood), sends us a minute, an hour, a couple of days, or years to just be plainly happy and content. And, since we all know that there is no status quo, (things get better or, get worse), the deal is - enjoy that minute, hour, day or years to the fullest. Life does come around only once (and sometimes if we're very, very lucky, we get a chance for a "do-over"), so make the most of every minute. The glow will carry you through the rougher, darker times - really, I know, because I've been there. As Julia Roberts's character Shelby said in the movie "Steel Magnolias" - "I'd rather have 3 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special."
Amen.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Quotes to live by, or that I try to live by....
I know many of you may have heard or read the quotes that follow but I think they all have invaluable lessons - some are heartbreaking, or beautiful, or sad, or the absolute truth, or just funny. I hope you enjoy reading them as I have enjoyed (and continue to...) collecting them. There are blanks after some quotes only because I can't remember who said them or they have been repeated so often, the world has forgotten who said the wise words.
It's a hot day in the summer of 2010 - August 5, to be exact - but I hope these quotes give my readers a pause to think and comment on the quotes below. The quotes in bold and italics are my personal favorites, though technically I love them all since I collected them through 4 years!
Here they are:
"I believe that addicts are not responsible for their addictions, but they ARE responsible for their actions, just like everyone else." - Susan Cheever
The opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is indifference. - Maggie Scarf
Having the right to do something doesn't mean it’s the right thing to do. - WSJ 8/3/10
"90 percent of life is just showing up. The other 10 percent might be knowing when to leave." - Woody Allen
"Fast ripe, Fast rotten" - Japanese Proverb
Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true." - Demosthenes
"You have to accept that on the Internet there is no erase button." - Sandra Zoratti, vp of global solutions at InfoPrint Solutions Co.
Work is the rent you pay for life – Queen Mary of England
"It isn't enough to succeed; your friends must fail" - Gore Vidal
"Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt" Abraham Lincoln
We don't play God when we take terminal patients off life support; we play God when we put them on it. Norris Church Mailer - "A Ticket to the Circus: A ...."
It’s our choices that make us who we are.
"Los hombres teneis muy poca memoria" - MJPerez Meler - "Dias de otono...donde esta el Rey?"
A death unseen is a death unrealized.
The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband I'd poison your tea." He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."
A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease." "That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."
"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill
"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).
45 THOUGHTS TO PONDER AND LIVE BY -
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But, don't worry, God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But, the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years, will this matter?".
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.
Patriotsm means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president. - T. Roosevelt
......Everytme you think you are in control, God taps you on the shoulder - or kicks you in the ass, depending on what you need - and shows you who is really in charge. - Melissa Gilbert
Marriage changes passion. Suddenly, you're in bed with a relative.
The best way to predict the future is to create it.
"Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent." Marilyn von Savant
Remember where you're standing when the spotlight goes off. You'll have to find your own way off the stage - Lovell
To name a demon is to make it yours.
Let another hail him dear -
Little chance that he'll forget me!
Only need I curse and fear
Her he loved before he met me - Dorothy Parker
Because your eyes are slant and low
Because your hair is sweet to touch
My heart is high again, but, oh,
I doubt if this will get me much – Dorothy Parker
Scratch a lover, and find a foe - Dorothy Parker
Where's the man could ease the heart like a satin gown? – Dorothy Parker
The sun's gone dim and the moon's turned black, for I loved him and he didn't love back – Dorothy Parker
Say "I love you only when you really mean it, and learn to say "I'm sorry" even when you don't.
Never take something from someone that was never yours to begin with.
"You're one decision away from disaster....." Kathy Lee Gifford
"A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child." Sofia Loren
"I didn't know how to ask for what I wanted for fear of losing what I had." Jane Fonda
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable" John F. Kennedy
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Happiness makes up in height what it lacks in length.
I'd rather have three minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special. (“Shelby” –Steel Magnolias )
It’s hard to shine when you stand next to the sun - TIME re Bill Clinton and Hillary
"Susanne, if sex were fast food there'd be an arch over your head" (Designing Women)
"For those who know me, no explanation is necessary. For those who don't, no explanation is possible." - Yogi Berra
"Pity goes hand in hand with contempt."
"He looks at me like he's the spoon and I'm a dish of ice cream"
You don't get rich doing what you love. You get rich doing what no one else wants to do.
".....its what you don't choose that makes you who you are" Ben Affleck in "Gone Baby Gone"
A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out - Walter Winchell
Statistics are no substitute for judgment - Henry Clay
Meetings are indispensible when you don't want to do anything - John Kenneth Galdbraith
I'm always fascinated by the way memory diffuses fact - Diane Sawyer
Just when I thought I was out they pull me back in – (Michael Corleone -Godfather III)
I've always depended on the kindness of strangers...(Blanche Dubois - A Streetcar Named Desire)
Sometimes people who really love each other have the knack of making each other uncannily miserable.....
To understand a man, you must know his memories. The same is true of a nation. - Anthony Quale
Any child can tell you that the sole purpose of a middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.
There ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them - Mark Twain
When all else fails read the instructions.
Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them - Lady Bird Johnson
NOTHING MAKES A PERSON MORE PRODUCTIVE THAN THE LAST MINUTE
Any time you think you have influence, try ordering around someone else's dog
Other things may change us, but we start and end with family - Anthony Brandt
It is a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it - W. Somerset Maugham
It infuriates me to be wrong when I know I'm right - Moliere
Never let people see how you feel, it gives them too much power. - Mike Nichols
The problem with doing nothing is not knowing when you're finished. "Night Fall" Nelson DeMille
Be careful whom you choose for an enemy because that is who you become most like - Nietzsche
Provided you have enough courage or money, you can do without a reputation - Margaret Mitchell
Oh let's don't ask for the moon.....we have the stars – (Bette Davis in Now Voyager)
I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last for days – (Kevin Costner in Bull Durham)
Children are paparazzi. They take your picture when you don't want them to, and then they show it to you. - Jamie Lee Curtis in AARP May/June issue.
The value of education is not in learning of the facts, but in training of the mind to think.
Statistics is like a bikini. What it reveals is suggestive. What it conceals is vital.
One doesn't plan to fail, one fails to plan.
Take what man makes and use it, But do not worship it, For it shall pass. - Anonymous
"Say hello to my leetle friend." – (Al Pacino in Scarface)
Do not mistake coincidence with fate.
You want to risk a no if you ever want to hear a yes.
It’s not our abilities that show us who we truly are – it’s our choices.
Though you can't change a situation, you can control how you respond.
Bad table manners have ruined more marriages than infidelity - "Gigi"
Romantic is the life you want to live. Sexy is the night you want to have.
Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want - Krutch
Time spent with cats is never wasted. - Colette
There are many intelligent species in the universe. They are all owned by cats. - Anonymous
There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats. - A. Schweitzer
You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats. - proverb
There are few things in life more heart-warming than to be welcomed by a cat. - Tay Hohoff
The Present is the living sum-total of the Past. - Thomas Carlyle "Characteristics"
Perception is the ultimate truth.
Never interrupt an enemy while he's making a mistake - Napoleon Bonaparte
Man plans, God laughs.
Diplomacy is the art of saying nice doggy, until you can find a rock. (Nelson De Mille - Plum Island)
"You can never be lonely if you read." - Brooke Astor
There comes a point where life stops giving you things and starts taking them away – (Indiana Jones - Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
We are the choices we have made – ("Francesca" - Bridges of Madison County)
I don't want to need you if I can't have you – (Robert to Francesca – BOMC)
This kind of certainty comes but once in a lifetime – (Robert to Francesca BOMC)
I watched him walk away and all the blood in my veins followed him. Anita Shreve
'People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But, people will never forget how you made them feel'.
"After the first death, there is no other" - Dylan Thomas
It's a hot day in the summer of 2010 - August 5, to be exact - but I hope these quotes give my readers a pause to think and comment on the quotes below. The quotes in bold and italics are my personal favorites, though technically I love them all since I collected them through 4 years!
Here they are:
"I believe that addicts are not responsible for their addictions, but they ARE responsible for their actions, just like everyone else." - Susan Cheever
The opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is indifference. - Maggie Scarf
Having the right to do something doesn't mean it’s the right thing to do. - WSJ 8/3/10
"90 percent of life is just showing up. The other 10 percent might be knowing when to leave." - Woody Allen
"Fast ripe, Fast rotten" - Japanese Proverb
Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true." - Demosthenes
"You have to accept that on the Internet there is no erase button." - Sandra Zoratti, vp of global solutions at InfoPrint Solutions Co.
Work is the rent you pay for life – Queen Mary of England
"It isn't enough to succeed; your friends must fail" - Gore Vidal
"Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt" Abraham Lincoln
We don't play God when we take terminal patients off life support; we play God when we put them on it. Norris Church Mailer - "A Ticket to the Circus: A ...."
It’s our choices that make us who we are.
"Los hombres teneis muy poca memoria" - MJPerez Meler - "Dias de otono...donde esta el Rey?"
A death unseen is a death unrealized.
The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband I'd poison your tea." He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."
A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease." "That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."
"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill
"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).
45 THOUGHTS TO PONDER AND LIVE BY -
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But, don't worry, God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But, the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years, will this matter?".
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.
Patriotsm means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president. - T. Roosevelt
......Everytme you think you are in control, God taps you on the shoulder - or kicks you in the ass, depending on what you need - and shows you who is really in charge. - Melissa Gilbert
Marriage changes passion. Suddenly, you're in bed with a relative.
The best way to predict the future is to create it.
"Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent." Marilyn von Savant
Remember where you're standing when the spotlight goes off. You'll have to find your own way off the stage - Lovell
To name a demon is to make it yours.
Let another hail him dear -
Little chance that he'll forget me!
Only need I curse and fear
Her he loved before he met me - Dorothy Parker
Because your eyes are slant and low
Because your hair is sweet to touch
My heart is high again, but, oh,
I doubt if this will get me much – Dorothy Parker
Scratch a lover, and find a foe - Dorothy Parker
Where's the man could ease the heart like a satin gown? – Dorothy Parker
The sun's gone dim and the moon's turned black, for I loved him and he didn't love back – Dorothy Parker
Say "I love you only when you really mean it, and learn to say "I'm sorry" even when you don't.
Never take something from someone that was never yours to begin with.
"You're one decision away from disaster....." Kathy Lee Gifford
"A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child." Sofia Loren
"I didn't know how to ask for what I wanted for fear of losing what I had." Jane Fonda
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable" John F. Kennedy
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Happiness makes up in height what it lacks in length.
I'd rather have three minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special. (“Shelby” –Steel Magnolias )
It’s hard to shine when you stand next to the sun - TIME re Bill Clinton and Hillary
"Susanne, if sex were fast food there'd be an arch over your head" (Designing Women)
"For those who know me, no explanation is necessary. For those who don't, no explanation is possible." - Yogi Berra
"Pity goes hand in hand with contempt."
"He looks at me like he's the spoon and I'm a dish of ice cream"
You don't get rich doing what you love. You get rich doing what no one else wants to do.
".....its what you don't choose that makes you who you are" Ben Affleck in "Gone Baby Gone"
A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out - Walter Winchell
Statistics are no substitute for judgment - Henry Clay
Meetings are indispensible when you don't want to do anything - John Kenneth Galdbraith
I'm always fascinated by the way memory diffuses fact - Diane Sawyer
Just when I thought I was out they pull me back in – (Michael Corleone -Godfather III)
I've always depended on the kindness of strangers...(Blanche Dubois - A Streetcar Named Desire)
Sometimes people who really love each other have the knack of making each other uncannily miserable.....
To understand a man, you must know his memories. The same is true of a nation. - Anthony Quale
Any child can tell you that the sole purpose of a middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.
There ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them - Mark Twain
When all else fails read the instructions.
Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them - Lady Bird Johnson
NOTHING MAKES A PERSON MORE PRODUCTIVE THAN THE LAST MINUTE
Any time you think you have influence, try ordering around someone else's dog
Other things may change us, but we start and end with family - Anthony Brandt
It is a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it - W. Somerset Maugham
It infuriates me to be wrong when I know I'm right - Moliere
Never let people see how you feel, it gives them too much power. - Mike Nichols
The problem with doing nothing is not knowing when you're finished. "Night Fall" Nelson DeMille
Be careful whom you choose for an enemy because that is who you become most like - Nietzsche
Provided you have enough courage or money, you can do without a reputation - Margaret Mitchell
Oh let's don't ask for the moon.....we have the stars – (Bette Davis in Now Voyager)
I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last for days – (Kevin Costner in Bull Durham)
Children are paparazzi. They take your picture when you don't want them to, and then they show it to you. - Jamie Lee Curtis in AARP May/June issue.
The value of education is not in learning of the facts, but in training of the mind to think.
Statistics is like a bikini. What it reveals is suggestive. What it conceals is vital.
One doesn't plan to fail, one fails to plan.
Take what man makes and use it, But do not worship it, For it shall pass. - Anonymous
"Say hello to my leetle friend." – (Al Pacino in Scarface)
Do not mistake coincidence with fate.
You want to risk a no if you ever want to hear a yes.
It’s not our abilities that show us who we truly are – it’s our choices.
Though you can't change a situation, you can control how you respond.
Bad table manners have ruined more marriages than infidelity - "Gigi"
Romantic is the life you want to live. Sexy is the night you want to have.
Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want - Krutch
Time spent with cats is never wasted. - Colette
There are many intelligent species in the universe. They are all owned by cats. - Anonymous
There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats. - A. Schweitzer
You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats. - proverb
There are few things in life more heart-warming than to be welcomed by a cat. - Tay Hohoff
The Present is the living sum-total of the Past. - Thomas Carlyle "Characteristics"
Perception is the ultimate truth.
Never interrupt an enemy while he's making a mistake - Napoleon Bonaparte
Man plans, God laughs.
Diplomacy is the art of saying nice doggy, until you can find a rock. (Nelson De Mille - Plum Island)
"You can never be lonely if you read." - Brooke Astor
There comes a point where life stops giving you things and starts taking them away – (Indiana Jones - Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
We are the choices we have made – ("Francesca" - Bridges of Madison County)
I don't want to need you if I can't have you – (Robert to Francesca – BOMC)
This kind of certainty comes but once in a lifetime – (Robert to Francesca BOMC)
I watched him walk away and all the blood in my veins followed him. Anita Shreve
'People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But, people will never forget how you made them feel'.
"After the first death, there is no other" - Dylan Thomas
Friday, July 30, 2010
My 3 cents on the article of the Barcelona Reporter on Bullfighting in Catalonia
Deveras, que tiene que ver las corridas de toros con la independencia o nacionalidad o lo que hizo Franco hace 50 anos? Digo yo. Ver articulo que sigue que copie del “Barcelona Reporter”
Catalonia’s Independence from Spain drives bullfighting ban
Catalonia’s decision on Wednesday to ban bullfighting in 2012 is akin to Quebec banning hockey or California banning fireworks on the Fourth of July.
Catalonia’s Independence from Spain drives bullfighting ban
Seneca, the Roman playwright, cast the Iberian Peninsula as a stretched bull’s hide — la piel de toro — more than 2,000 years ago. Cave paintings discovered in Spain depict men staring down bulls. Bulls and bullfighting are icons of Spanish self-identify, and as such, are interwoven in the culture’s pageantry and sense of patrimony.
It is part of the country’s pageantry, but it’s more than that, and b.
On the surface, banning bullfights is about animal welfare, but more than anything, it’s about politics and age-old tensions being played out in the bullfighting ring.
“In this case, banning the bullfight has a lot to do with Catalonia saying, ‘Look, we are not Spanish,’ ” says Carrie Douglass, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Virginia who specializes in Spain and is married to a Spaniard from Madrid. “Because if Spain is associated with or equal to the symbol of the bull and the bullfight, and the Catalans are prohibiting it then they are saying: ‘We can’t be Spanish. And we should be separate.’ ”
Originally, the Catalans were separate, a kingdom unto themselves known as Aragon, with a distinct language, governing institutions and customs that persisted long after the birth of the Kingdom of Spain in 1469.
By the end of the 18th-century bullfighting, as we picture it today, was already fully developed as a commercial enterprise. It was the first form of mass entertainment in Western society. Arenas dotted the Spanish landscape. Stars were worshipped like matinee idols. Festivals would end with a bullfight, followed by a feast. People loved it, even in Catalonia, the first region in Spain to industrialize and, by the 1850s, the wealthiest.
“A Catalan nationalist movement emerged in the 1850s,” says Adrian Shubert, a historian at York University in Toronto. “The Catalans saw themselves as more sophisticated, more European, more advanced economically than the rest of the country.”
And the future, to the Catalans, was to be European, and being European meant no more bullfights. Bullfighting was a symbol of Spanish backwardness, of barbarity, a tradition unbecoming a progressive people. To the rest of Spain, bullfighting was the people; it was Castilian virility, artistry and bravery in the face of death.
Goya celebrated it in paintings. Federico Lorca, the poet, embraced it with verse.
“Perhaps little children cannot imagine the shape of Spain, but we adults know – our teachers told us so – that Spain stretches out like a bull’s hide,” he wrote. “In this geographical symbol lies the deepest, most dazzling and complex part of the Spanish character.”
Lorca was executed during the Spanish Civil War, a bloody conflict that ended with the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.
“Franco detested the Catalans,” Mr. Shubert says. “He saw them as separatists and a threat to the unity of the Fatherland.”
Under Franco, the Catalan language was banned in public, and banished from media. Nationalism went underground, and wouldn’t emerge again until after the general’s death in 1975.
Almost four decades later, a new civil war is being waged in Spain, and the first casualty is bullfighting. The debate that ended the blood sport played out in Catalonia’s legislature for several months. Biologists, veterinarians, philosophers, writers — bullfighters — all were invited to address the politicians before the crucial ballot was cast. And when the votes were tallied, bullfighting, and the Spain behind it, was defeated 68-55.
“Can you have a fiesta in Spain that claims antiquity — a patron saint festival — without a bullfight?” Ms. Douglass wonders. “In Spain, you can hate the bulls. But your fiesta — like the Fourth of July — is more than just corn on the cob and a band and some watermelon.”
There has to be fireworks and a rocket’s red glare. Being opposed to the bullfight is like being a supporter of the National Rifle Association in the United States: it says something about a person’s politics.
And to the Catalans, it says that we are the modern ones, the progressives and, most of all, that we are different. And they are different, even though the region has a rich bullfighting tradition and a reputation for producing some of the finest matadors in the land.
“It is not a cruel show,” renowned Catalan bullfighter Serafin Marin said this week. “It is a show that creates art.”
Text within the news headline and/or news body may be subject to copyright Barcelona Reporter does not claim copyright to any such text.unless it is written by one of our reporters :
Please refer to the URL-referenced web page (the ‘Article Source’) for further information and details of the original source from the Barcelona Reporter.com web site. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder
Catalonia’s Independence from Spain drives bullfighting ban
Catalonia’s decision on Wednesday to ban bullfighting in 2012 is akin to Quebec banning hockey or California banning fireworks on the Fourth of July.
Catalonia’s Independence from Spain drives bullfighting ban
Seneca, the Roman playwright, cast the Iberian Peninsula as a stretched bull’s hide — la piel de toro — more than 2,000 years ago. Cave paintings discovered in Spain depict men staring down bulls. Bulls and bullfighting are icons of Spanish self-identify, and as such, are interwoven in the culture’s pageantry and sense of patrimony.
It is part of the country’s pageantry, but it’s more than that, and b.
On the surface, banning bullfights is about animal welfare, but more than anything, it’s about politics and age-old tensions being played out in the bullfighting ring.
“In this case, banning the bullfight has a lot to do with Catalonia saying, ‘Look, we are not Spanish,’ ” says Carrie Douglass, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Virginia who specializes in Spain and is married to a Spaniard from Madrid. “Because if Spain is associated with or equal to the symbol of the bull and the bullfight, and the Catalans are prohibiting it then they are saying: ‘We can’t be Spanish. And we should be separate.’ ”
Originally, the Catalans were separate, a kingdom unto themselves known as Aragon, with a distinct language, governing institutions and customs that persisted long after the birth of the Kingdom of Spain in 1469.
By the end of the 18th-century bullfighting, as we picture it today, was already fully developed as a commercial enterprise. It was the first form of mass entertainment in Western society. Arenas dotted the Spanish landscape. Stars were worshipped like matinee idols. Festivals would end with a bullfight, followed by a feast. People loved it, even in Catalonia, the first region in Spain to industrialize and, by the 1850s, the wealthiest.
“A Catalan nationalist movement emerged in the 1850s,” says Adrian Shubert, a historian at York University in Toronto. “The Catalans saw themselves as more sophisticated, more European, more advanced economically than the rest of the country.”
And the future, to the Catalans, was to be European, and being European meant no more bullfights. Bullfighting was a symbol of Spanish backwardness, of barbarity, a tradition unbecoming a progressive people. To the rest of Spain, bullfighting was the people; it was Castilian virility, artistry and bravery in the face of death.
Goya celebrated it in paintings. Federico Lorca, the poet, embraced it with verse.
“Perhaps little children cannot imagine the shape of Spain, but we adults know – our teachers told us so – that Spain stretches out like a bull’s hide,” he wrote. “In this geographical symbol lies the deepest, most dazzling and complex part of the Spanish character.”
Lorca was executed during the Spanish Civil War, a bloody conflict that ended with the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.
“Franco detested the Catalans,” Mr. Shubert says. “He saw them as separatists and a threat to the unity of the Fatherland.”
Under Franco, the Catalan language was banned in public, and banished from media. Nationalism went underground, and wouldn’t emerge again until after the general’s death in 1975.
Almost four decades later, a new civil war is being waged in Spain, and the first casualty is bullfighting. The debate that ended the blood sport played out in Catalonia’s legislature for several months. Biologists, veterinarians, philosophers, writers — bullfighters — all were invited to address the politicians before the crucial ballot was cast. And when the votes were tallied, bullfighting, and the Spain behind it, was defeated 68-55.
“Can you have a fiesta in Spain that claims antiquity — a patron saint festival — without a bullfight?” Ms. Douglass wonders. “In Spain, you can hate the bulls. But your fiesta — like the Fourth of July — is more than just corn on the cob and a band and some watermelon.”
There has to be fireworks and a rocket’s red glare. Being opposed to the bullfight is like being a supporter of the National Rifle Association in the United States: it says something about a person’s politics.
And to the Catalans, it says that we are the modern ones, the progressives and, most of all, that we are different. And they are different, even though the region has a rich bullfighting tradition and a reputation for producing some of the finest matadors in the land.
“It is not a cruel show,” renowned Catalan bullfighter Serafin Marin said this week. “It is a show that creates art.”
Text within the news headline and/or news body may be subject to copyright Barcelona Reporter does not claim copyright to any such text.unless it is written by one of our reporters :
Please refer to the URL-referenced web page (the ‘Article Source’) for further information and details of the original source from the Barcelona Reporter.com web site. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder
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