Friday, April 30, 2010

Ephemerid World

Fire tree (Delonix regia) - its full summer bloom -
doused by the first rain of May. Acrylic AVR (1988)



Abe V Rotor

True beauty’s so brief and shy,

And elusive to behold,
Gaining all the eyes of the world,
Yet alone to be awed.

Beautiful. Yes you are!
Clothed with the colors of the sun;
For now you’re a flower shining,
Shining, dying.

Sparkling dewdrops cling and rise
To bring down a passing cloud;
Beauty can’t wait, like the seed.
Waking to nature’s bid.

Friendship earned but in a glance,
Like butterflies on a tree;
Resting on a long journey,
To where they are free.

Ephemerid World


World is Beautiful, we have the license to be the stewards of our own home, not to destroy it.We have many natural resources that gives life to our environment, we should know how to use it.


Comment:
The article gives us the realization that everything that we have is a gift from God. We should be stewards of it and be a good role model to others.
- Chiara Alyssa Cochico



Don't Cut the Trees, Don't, UST-AVR

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Young marine biologists - unveiling the secrets of the sea

Abe V Rotor

Discovering an underwater world
On-site, hands-on study of marine life

Studying specimens washed ashore

Microscopic world of plankton
Lighter moment with a mass of green alga
Phycology class from University of Santo Tomas, Faculty
of Pharmacy at work in Bacnotan, La Union, circa 1995

Your wealth oh, sea, so enormous we don't know your limit;
Little do we know your creatures, nil on your dark floor,
The power of your tides and waves, humming on your shore,
At your edge we look beyond, but first under our feet.~

Living with Nature 3, AVR (All Rights Reserved)

Monday, April 26, 2010

Practical Technology Series 1 - Home-made tapa

Photos by AVR. Sto. Domigo, Ilocos Sur

Tapa is prepared by sundrying. To prevent flies, sandwich the meat with fine aluminum mesh. To prevent ants, place stool in basin half-filled with water. Three to six hours are needed to make tapa. Try this method with fish, small or sliced, Try this method in drying fruits like native cherry, sliced mango, pineapple and banana. ~

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Philosophical Quips.

Abe V Rotor

• Old man to young man: “I have eaten more rice than you had.” (Meaning the old man is more knowledgeable by experience.)

• Old man to young boy: “Amoy gatas ka pa lang, hijo.” (“You smell of milk, child,” a sarcasm comparing ignorance with the innocence of a child.)

• “Isang sigarilyo lang ang layo.” (It’s only a cigarette away, the distance covered by smoking a stick of cigarette.)

• “Pumurao ton’ diay uwak.” (Ilk) Literally, “The black crow will turn white.” You cannot wait for the impossible.

• “Hindi mo magising ang gising.” You can’t wake up one who is already awake.

• “Agannad ka no saan mo nga kayat ti agtangad ti barsanga.” This is a cold warning on the face, which literally means “Beware if you don’t like to look up at the grass.” (barsanga is sedge, a relative of the grass growing on open field).

• “Saan nga napan no saanna nga nayon.” (“It’s not there if it’s not part of it.” - referring for example, fly maggots in fermenting fish sauce or bagoong.)

• “Di ka pay la nakuret.” (Better if you had died of kuret, a tiny poisonous crab that resides in the gills of big fish.)

• “Matira matibay” It refers to Darwinian concept of “survival of the fittest.”

• Nothing goes up that does not go down. This phrase refers to one who has reached the pinnacle of wealth or power.

• “Aramid ti saan nga agdigdigos.” (“It's a work of a hippie or bum.”)

• “Balat sibuyas.” (An expression that refers to one who easily gets peeved.)

. "Biruin mo na ang lasing wag lang ang bagong gising." Make fun to a sober fellow than one who woke up on the wrong side of the bed. (Contributed by Elaine Batica)

."Daig pa ng maagap kaysa masipag" meaning, early birds have more opportunities than those who merely work hard. (contributed by Elaine Batica)

Add to the list for our followers and readers to enjoy philosophies at the grassroots. Comment in this Blog, or send it by e-mail avrotor@gmail.com

Living with Folk Wisdom, AVR

Environment: A Pocket Tropical Rainforest in the City

A Pocket Tropical Rainforest in the City
Dr Abe V Rotor

Towering dita (Alstonia scholaris), UST Botanical Garden

What really makes a beautiful garden may draw to school of thought- Romanticism and functionalism. The University of Santo Tomas botanical garden does not take side in the issue; it portrays both in an integrated, harmonious design patterned after the richest and the most enviable biome on earth- the tropical rain forest.

The new face of the garden is striking. Let us begin with the cascading 6- foot waterfall and trace its flow on a meandering rocky stream that ducks under a footbridge before plunging into the depth of a pond, its bottom murky and cool and rich in detritus. Here calms and snails, and other bottom dwellers, mostly decomposers, reside, shy from the sun and remain ensconced in the very food source that settles down. Such in the niche of these sessile, benthic organisms.

Bryophyte Garden

Along the “river”, the water keeps the environment fresh and cool, lapping at the rock, sending spray on its banks. Through time, on the walls of the waterfall and on any rocks that lies across the path of water, grow countless kinds of algae and mosses that build layer after layer until a carpet is formed, thus giving rise to another niche- the domain of bryophytes in Lilliputian imagery, or one depicted in the movie, “ Honey, I shrunk the kids”.

Bryophytes are among the earliest plants and are, therefore, primitive. It is as if we are turning the hands of time some two billion years ago or so, when these prototypes began to fill the atmosphere with oxygen, which later favored the growth of more, advanced vegetation. Perhaps their most outstanding contribution is in oil building, breaking up rocks exfoliating them, virtually skinning them with their acidic foothold, and, together with their biomass, making a mass we call soil.

Micro- Climate Effect

The ultimate source of water is the sky, from the clouds that gather and grow atop the forest. Transpiration and evaporation combine to attract the clouds, which come down as a shower or a downpour at any time of the day or night. It is for this phenomenon that this biome got its to simulate this condition, the waterfall and running streams, together with a large fountain and a series of ponds near by, maintain high humidity in the area that is the key to the formation of a multi- story vegetation and myriad of resident organisms.

It will take time for the UST botanical garden to reach the status of a true typical rainforest. Years shall pass, and in the process students and visitors shall witness here, the transformation of one sere after, until a climax community is formed. It is not only for the scientific and aesthetic aspect that count; it is for something more - that which presents itself in the realm of ethico- morals that governs man in his role in God’s creation- the transformation of man himself as a true and faithful steward.

Evolving Ecosystem

Orchids find a home on the trunk of big trees without harming them.

The UST botanical garden is being transformed as a deliberate expression of an evolving ecosystem. It is Nature’s laboratory and a playing field of biological diversity.

Environment: A Pocket Tropical Rainforest in the City As a field laboratory the garden demonstrates ecological cycles- invasion, colonization, competition, and emergence of dominant species as well as seasonal and long term succession patterns. We may not have the four distinct seasons, but there are tropical trees that demonstrate some characteristics they carry in their ancestral genes, such as deciduousness in narra ( Ptercarpus inducus), our national tree.

The garden is a living manifestation of dynamic balance in a changing environment with the organisms constantly adjusting to the demands of the latter, but in the process slowly affecting the environment itself. Such transformational stages, called seres, always lead towards homeostasis, and the result is a climax ecological system.

As a showcase of natural habitats, the garden adjusts to the development of niches and diversity indices. The garden never sleeps, to speak. It is a living arena and the drama of life goes on and on.

When we look at a life, we look at it in physics and chemistry- the flow of energy through the food chain, food web and their heirarchic order, the food pyramid. The light energy of the sun is transformed into chemical energy in plants, and is passed on to various organisms, one after another through the links of a chain. The remaining energy is used by the decomposers that transform organic substances into inorganic forms for the use of the next generation organisms- and the cycle goes on and on. We can witness this phenomenon among the residents in the pond, and among insects, arachnids, birds, and reptiles that reside nearby.

The garden is a laboratory for sociobiology, in the words of the founder of this field, E.O. Wilson. Animal behavior is demonstrated both by instinct and condition learning, and, to an extent, incipient intelligence. The ingenious building of a spider’s web, the predatory, awes student’s techniques of the preying mantis and the green tree ant. But this study may go into the physiologic responses in plants - tropism or reactions to light, touch, and the other elements. Plants, to sociobiologists, are not insensitive and incapable of communicating with one another. As members of a community, they, too, respond, singly and collectively, through some kind of communication medium.

There are biological indicators of the state of the environment. The garden has a host of these indicators, such as lichens and fireflies, the presence of which attests to the fact that the environment is tolerably favorable to them in spite of air pollution, and that the garden has become their home. The garden itself is also a barometer of climatic adversity life El NiƱo. The flowering of the bamboo is an antecedent of its episode.

I believe that, in spite of the crowded environment of high rise buildings around the UST, the Botanical Garden is not without natural populations of species, such as butterflies. Having the kinds of plants they feed on and rear they young, the garden is their natural abode. The ponds are a sanctuary of dragonflies as well, and their waters teem with both phytoplankton and zooplankton, seen only under the microscope. These in turn key up the food web, linking one organism to another in an amazing network of interrelationship.

"As a gene bank, the garden is a depository of biological diversity, providing access to genetic studies, propagation and exchange with other institutions," says Dr. Anselmo S. Cabigan a well known biologist and ecologist. The UST Botanical Garden is being supervised by Dr. Romualdo M del Rosario.~

A beggar boy goes to school.

This painting reproduction was given to me by a Palestinian student of mine in the Graduate School of the University of Santo Tomas. He told me he carried it all along with his books until he finished his graduate studies.

"Thank you for everything, sir." He said brimming with smile. His handshake of goodbye was firm. Then he opened his briefcase. "I am giving you this simple souvenir. I hope you'll like it."

It is the most haunting painting I've ever seen. It is a contradiction of society - and to mankind.

How do you interpret the painting? Enter into the Comments of this Blog your answer. Or send by e-mail avrotor @gmail.com Our followers and readers, I'm sure, will be greatly delighted of your interpretation. You may use poetry, essay or any form. Thank you - AVR.



Reactions
The way I interpret the painting is that everyone has a chance to experience the normal life of a person. Even though someone is unfortunate to life, he has the right to experience also the things that a normal boy can get. Poverty is never a hindrance to continue life and to improve ones life status. Even if the boy is a beggar, he has also dreams that he wants to achieve. It is heart melting what the painting shows. Some may discriminate these people but we must never underestimate the capabilities of each of us, because we will never can tell who can really be successful and find fulfillment and happiness in life.

Mary Beth C. Galleto, St Paul University QC


The painting portrays a child watching a group of children in the school while studying. I think the child is envious of the children who are studying because their parents can afford their education while in his case, he’s just standing outside the room and can’t do anything but only to stare at them. It’s a sad reality that many children nowadays can’t go to school because they can’t afford the tuition. One of the main reasons why this is happening is because of poverty. Yet we can overcome this problem by doing something for ourselves, we can go to a public school, study hard, aim for high grades, attain our goal to finish studies and to have a good job in the future.

Maveric Cabardo, SPUQC
II- BST

It made me realized how lucky I am experiencing all the comfort in life. And for having the opportunity to study in a good school.

The boy is a representation of a person who has the complete determination in everything that he does, no matter what the hindrances are.

Chiara Alyssa Cochico, SPUQC




Light from the Old Arch 2, AVR

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Test on Plato’s Republic and Passion of Saints

Plato, the teacher (left), in the like of Leonardo
da Vinci,and his
greatest pupil, Aristotle, holding
his great book, The Ethics.

Ruins of Plato's Academy (387 BC to 521 AD).
The ACADEMOS flourished for over 900 years
was and still is the, the longest existing university
in the world. It was closed by Chirstian emperor
Justinian who claimed it was pagan.
(The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)


Abe V Rotor

1. Plato is the greatest student of Socrates so that philosophers would quip, Plato is Socrates, and Socrates is Plato.

2. Plato’s Republic is a “Utopia” which means a perfect society that does not actually exist.
3. Singapore is the closest society of the Republic.

4. Hitler’s Germany can be compared with Plato’s Republic.

5. Darwinism – survival of the fittest – is also applied in human society, but touches ethico-moral issues.

6. “Christianity is Plato for the people,” says German philosopher Nietzsche.
7. “Everything is just a footnote of Plato,” says philosopher Alfred North Whitehead.

8. Socrates – one of the most respected citizens of Athens was condemned to die by no less than the leaders of this greatest city state of the world at that time.

9. A candidate for sainthood is well studied by the Church for miracles for which he or she is attributed. One miracle is sufficient for canonization.

10. Joan of Arc, the patron saint of France was canonized 100 years after her burning at the stake.

11. Joan of Arc was condemned to die of witchcraft by one arm of the Church and canonized by the other arm, so to speak.

12. The choice for the Nobel Prize for peace was narrowed down between Pope John Paul II, and an Iranian woman lawyer Ebadi. Easily the Pope got the much coveted prize.

13. All saints really existed in flesh and lived with the people.

14. San Claus is a contemporary mythological character whose origin is said to be the North Pole.

15. The catacombs in Rome were hideouts of the early Christians. They were underground villages.

16. Kings never became saints.

17. Pagan literary mean people living on the countryside.

18. The canonization of Maximilian Kolby who offered to be executed in place of a fellow prisoner who pleaded for his life because he had a wife and children, marked the new concept of sainthood – that of charity.

19. We will never know who and how many saints there are in the world. Somewhere, sometime, someone is a saint as lonely and obscure as the unknown soldier.

20. Apparently, as portrayed on media, there were more people who mourned for Princess Diana than Mother Teresa who died and were buried almost at the same time.

21. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, when she died automatically became saint by virtue of having been long regarded as a living saint.

22. St. Paul witnessed the stoning to death of St. Stephen when he was already an apostle.

23. There are very few people who turn completely around from their wicked ways; one of them who became said was St. Thomas Moore.

24. Christ tells us, “Carry your cross,” which is the best way to imitate him.

25. The fastest growing religion today is Christianity.
~
Answers will be posted after two weeks.

Living with Nature 3, AVR

Monday, April 19, 2010

Resurrection and Regeneration

Field cricket (Acheta bimaculata) can regenerate
a lost leg or two, including the large hind legs.


The moss dies in summer and resurrects in the next rainy season.


Abe V Rotor

Old folks tell us of the magic of lizards growing new tails, crabs regaining lost claws, starfish arising from body pieces. How can we explain the mystery behind these stories?

The biological phenomenon behind these stories is called regeneration.

The male deer grows a new set of anthers, and lose them after the mating season. Sea squirts and hydras are produced from tiny buds, so with yeast forming buds. This is the same way plants grow from cuttings, seaweeds grow from fragments, and algae from filaments. New worms may regenerate from just pieces of the body, and some fish can sprout new fins to replace the ones that have been bitten off.

Experiments demonstrated that the forelimb of a salamander severed midway between the elbow and the wrist, can actually grow into a new one exactly the same as the lost parts. The stump re-forms the missing forelimb, wrist, and digits within a few months.

In biology this is called redifferentiation, which means that the new tissues are capable of reproducing the actual structure and attendant function of the original tissues.

Studies on children who lose fingertips in accidents can regrow the tip of the digit provided their wounds are not sealed up with flaps of skin. They normally won't have a finger print, and if there is any piece of the finger nail left it will grow back as well, usually in a square shape rather than round.

Curious the kid I was, I examined a twitching piece of tail, without any trace of its owner. I was puzzled at what I saw. My father explained how the lizard, a skink or bubuli (alibut' Ilk), escaped its would-be predator by leaving its tail twitching to attract its enemy, while its tailless body stealthily went into hiding.

“It will grow a new tail,” father assured me. I have also witnessed tailless house lizards (butiki) growing back their tails at various stages, feeding on insects around a ceiling lamp. During the regeneration period these house lizards were not as agile as those with normal tails were, which led me to realize the importance of the tail.

Regeneration is a survival mechanism of many organisms. Even if you have successfully subdued a live crab you might end up holding only its pincers while the canny creature has gone back into the water. This is true also to grasshoppers; they escape by pulling away from their captors, leaving their large trapped hind legs behind. But soon, like their crustacean relatives, new appendages will start growing to replace the lost ones.

Another kind of regeneration is compensatory hypertrophy, a kind of temporary growth response that occurs in such organs as the liver and kidney when they are damaged. If a surgeon removes up to 70 percent of a diseased liver, the remaining liver tissues undergo rapid mitosis (multiplication of cells) until almost the original liver mass is restored. Similarly, if one kidney is removed, the other enlarges greatly to compensate for its lost partner.

Regeneration of the kidney is in the nephron, which is composed of the glomerulus, tubules, the collecting duct and peritubular capillaries. The regenerative capacity of the mammalian kidney however, is limited as compared to that of lower vertebrates.

How about the human skeleton? The ribs can regenerate with the periosteum, the membrane that surrounds the rib, is left intact. A research was conducted on rib material being used for skull reconstruction. In that particular operation, all 12 patients had complete regeneration of the resected rib. I would not however, relate this feat to Genesis on the theory of creation.

Organ transplantation in higher animals has thus succeeded extensively and is now a regular part in medical practice. Resurrecting the dead however, remains a mystery. Stories in the bible of the raising of Lazarus and the dead little girl remain a matter of faith.

Yet in our postmodern times, a hundred or so ultra rich people lie in cryonics tanks awaiting the time when science shall then have the power to resurrect them. Then there is a short cut to resurrection, so the movie Jurassic Park, make people believe - the reconstruction of the total organism from a piece of its DNA (deoxyribose nucleic acid).

Why such wide and varied aims of man? Not because of man's unending desire for wealth and power, but the belief that the living world has common answer to present day inquiries. For example, is vegetative reproduction limited to plants and protists, why not to mammals? Why are lichens older than most organisms, outliving them by years, if not centuries? Why is a single tissue capable of complete growth to form an entire organism, and that, from this organism another generation arises? If such is the case, then there is no real death of that organism after all. For is it not that life is a continuing process; the DNA is but a continuous stream from one generation to the next, ever young and vibrant, spreading into numbers we call population, and types we call diversity?

Then, if this is so, there is but a shade that separates regeneration and resurrection - or whatever terms we describe the continuity of life on earth.~

Living with Folk Wisdom, AVR-UST; other references from the Internet.

Sunday, April 18, 2010



Ephemerida 2

Bouquet in acrylic, AVR

Abe V Rotor

Colorful. Yes, I am,
Because you lend me colors divine;
And I, I am a flower shining,
Shining and dying.


Living with Nature 3, AVR

Ephemerida 3

Red Sun in acrylic, AVR 2000

Abe V Rotor

Sundrops, splash of a melting sun;
Dewdrops, quenched thirst of the night;
Raindrops, new life after drought;
Teardrops, the mightiest might.

Living with Nature 3, AVR

Living Chain

Abe V Rotor

C0ral Reef Sanctuary in acrylic AVR

How wonderful is creation
when we realize in a minuscule
the universality of the simple
linked to the complex,
where every living thing is part
of life’s interrelationship;
like a chain, its strength
is shared by all its links
in place cooperating.~

Living with Nature 3, AVR

Saturday, April 17, 2010

A Beautiful Town

Abe V Rotor

San Ildefonso is located a few kilometers north of Vigan. It is a consistent winner in beautification, the equivalence of Clean and Green movement, and other ecological projects here and abroad. It is the town I have chosen model in this particular lesson for our millions of radio listeners in the Philippines and abroad, on Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) on DZRB, 738 KHz AM Band www.pbs.gov.ph as well as followers and guests of this blog avrotor.blogspot.com

There is a trend all over the world for people in the city to go back and live in the town. There is a growing reversal of exodus to cities. People are tired on the fast
lane. Those working abroad are homesick. They are missing the best in life. So with all of us, I suppose.

Why do we have to live like there is no tomorrow? How can we enjoy life. Let's give ourselves a break.

Go over these reasons for going back to town and live there. These were gathered from various sources - media, school, community, private callers, etc. Please add on to this list.
  1. The air is cleaner, and there is more oxygen in the air.
  2. Water is clean water and plentiful.
  3. Beautiful landscape - trees, fields, hills and mountains.
  4. Enjoy going to the river and sea to fish or swim
  5. The sky is blue and look at the birds flying by
  6. Night is peaceful, there are more stars in the sky.
  7. See the faces and shapes of creatures formed by clouds?
  8. Vegetables are fresh and plentiful.
  9. Fruits in season are plentiful - and wasteful, and always there are fruits year round.
  10. Relive the good old days with friends, kababayan, with the olds.
  11. Here life starts at any age here - even after 40 or 80.
  12. Children are healthier, they build natural resistance.
  13. There are fewer cases of allergy and asthma, and tuberculosis.
  14. Put up a small business, go into farming, food processing, etc.
  15. Make basi and vinegar, patis and bagoong, jellies and pickles
  16. You need less energy, tap alternative sources.
  17. Build your own house with your hands.
  18. Make a beautiful garden, recreate Eden in a small corner.
  19. Make your homelot an ecosystem of sort, a living gene bank.
  20. It is more economical to live here, definitely.
  21. There are less wastes, less pollution.
  22. Befriend the environment and it will repay you in many, m,any ways.
  23. Less fear of terrorists’ attack, less crime.
  24. Participate in community projects.
  25. Re-create Bahay Kubo, and modify it too.
  26. Be with the old folks; go back to your roots.
  27. Make your family whole, keep it intact through bonding.
  28. You know almost everybody. Be a true son or daughter of the place.
  29. Value the sense of recognition and belonging.
  30. Take time out with outdoor hobbies.
  31. Have enough hours of sleep and rest.
  32. Shut down your Cell Phone, the TV and computer once in a while, but keep in touch with the world.
  33. You are more relaxed here. There are less worries.
  34. You are closer to Nature and to the Creator.
  35. Enjoy. Live a long active life.

Assignment: Add to this list. Enter your comments, too, in this Blog.

Living with Nature 3, AVR

The World of the Acacia Tree

Abe V Rotor

Graduation rites in the shade of the tree's spreading crown.
San Ildefonso, Ilocos Sur, Holy TuesdayApril 2010

A roof over a roof for meetings and workshops.

Massive limbs make a huge funnel that gathers mists into
dewdrops, catches the rain,
buffers dusts and noise, and
tames strong wind into gentle breeze.



The World of the Acacia Tree
San Ildefonso, Ilocos Sur

I came, I saw, I conquered.

It was the other way around;
I was humbled and conquered,
Released from daily bound -

To be here in another world
under green wings of gem,
with all the creatures aboard,
with the Creator at the helm.

I know my faith, the cross;
My hope, a flag flying high.
And where's the Garden lost?
Ask not, ask not with a sigh. ~

Living with Nature 3, AVR (All Right Reserved)

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Life on the Farm

Photos by Cecille R Rotor

Shelling mungo or balatong (Phaseolus radiatus) with an unwilling young farmhand

Riding on a sled with a bullock. Bantay, Ilocos Sur

Living with Nature 3, AVR

Local Industries Series 1 - Pottery

Photos by Cecille R Rotor

Pottery is an important livelihood in many parts of the Philippines. It is perhaps the oldest serendipity of primitive man after he learned the use of fire as attested by artifacts all over the world. No one knows who, when and where pottery started. It is a manifestation of the universal mental faculty of man to invent and discover independently. This includes the bow and arrow, sled and wheel, the common pattern of dwellings, and the like. The golden age of pottery however is in China. In fact the finest pottery materials are called China. Today it is an art on the highest form. At the grassroots however, pottery supplies the needs of the kitchen, garden, decors, and the like. Bacnotan, La Union.

Living with Nature 3, AVR

Cogon Roofing

Photos by Cecille R Rotor

Cogon (Imperata cylindrica) ready for pickup along highway in Bacnotan, La Union . Bahay kubo with cogon roofing provides a cool place for respite this summer. Cogon which is the sturdiest weed on the upland, and a nemesis to farmers, is now is now grown for the local and export market, principally to Japan.

Living with Nature 3, AVR

Part 2 - Self-Administered Test on the Lives of Great Men and Women

Dr. Abe V. Rotor and Ms. Melly Tenorio
DZRB 738 AM Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid
Monday to Friday, 8 to 9 Evening Class

1. England has William Shakespeare; we have Francisco Balagtas (Shakespearean and Balagtasan. (T)
Francisco Balagtas, foremost Filipino poet laureate

2. America has Henry Kissinger; we have Carlos Romulo – two world’s peacemakers. (T)

3. If Russia has Leo Tolstoy (War and Peace), we have Jose Rizal (Noli Me Tangere – both world’s acclaimed political novels that changed the thinking of the world against colonialism and aristocracy.

4. If Europe has Alexander the Great; Asia has Attila the Hun (F) Genghis Khan

5. If Germany has the Grimm Brothers (children’s story teller), and Denmark has Hans Anderson, we have Lola Basiang. (T)

6. Alexander Fleming’s discovery of Penicillium is a classical example of serendipity – providential discovery. (T)

7. Chiang Kai Shik led PROC, while Mao Tse Tung led the Republic of China. (F)

8. The genius of the world’s greatest composers is Beethoven. (F) Johan Sebastian Bach

9. The genius and benevolence behind the building of the Rice Terraces can be compared with the genius and benevolence behind the building of the Great Wall of China. (F) Terraces is a work of love and peace to secure peace; the Great Wall was built for war to secure peace.

10. The old civilization of the Aztecs was genius in astronomy, but did not even think of inventing the wheel. (T)

11. There is a saying “you cannot re-invent the wheel,” simply means that the basic principle of the wheel is the same but it has many applications. (T)

12. All recipients of the Nobel Prize contributed to the welfare of mankind. (F) DDT discoverer plunged the world into the worse kind of biological decimation of animal organisms.

13. The first explorer who reported that he can see the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other, is Christopher Columbus. (F) Francis Drake atop a tree at the Isthmus of Panama.

14. Marco Polo saw the tomb of the Three Wise Men in a town called Saveh, near Baghdad. The Christ child’s parting gift to the Wise Men was a small casket. When they opened it all it contained was small stone, which when they threw down a well in disappointment – the well burst into miraculous flame, and has been burning ever since. Allegedly, True.

15. Aesop and Socrates had one sad fate in common: They drew the ire of people displeased or angered by the moral of their stories or philosophies, (T)

16. I can only promise blood and tears. There will be forwards and retreat .. definitely there will be no withdrawal –Hitler. (F) Churchill.

17. There was a time Napoleon angered De Gaulle. The latter said, “I can eat you alive.” “Then there will be more brains in your stomach than in your head sir.” (False of course.)

18. “The 1001 Nights” ancient Persian, Arabian and Indian tales – they live by word of mouth for hundreds of years. Scheherazade wife of the Sultan was condemned to death for her wickedness – manage to put off her execution by telling of the stories to her sister each night, in the presence of the sultan. (T)

19. The Founders of Methodism were the Puritans from England. (F) John Wesley,

20. He lived for his faith – others died for their faith 18th century – Wesley. (T)

21. Alexander son of God Pharaoh kissed his feet – God (T)

22. Gordian Knot - instead of untying it, cut it just like Alexander did. (T)

23. It took the Pope to crown Napoleon, emperor of France. (F)

24. When they say, “It’s your waterloo, it means like it’s your Achilles Heels.” (T)

25. Locomotives opened new frontiers in the 19th century leading to establishment of settlements, expanded agriculture and industrialization. (First railway opened was in 1830. (T)

Mao Zedung, greatest Chinese leader

Trivia: The eight real;ms of multiple intelligence are Logic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, music, spatial, kinesthetics, languages,and naturalism.

Four attributes of man: Homo sapiens (the reasoning man), Homo ludens (man the maker), Homo jugens (man the player), Homo spiritus (the praying man).

Sunday, April 11, 2010

The Wonder of Nangka

Abe V Rotor

Nangka or langka (Artocarpus integra), Agoo, La Union


1. Biggest fruit in the world
2 .The only tree that bears underground fruits.
3. Weight of fruits surpasses that of the tree.
4. Aroma detected in small amount and at far distance.
5. Highly adapted in the tropics, requires very little care.
6. Its wood is best for violin, guitar and other wooden musical instruments.
7. Latex makes strong special glue.
8. Its family (Moraceae) is large and diverse, includes the figs, durian and breadfruit)
9. Food preparations from fruit are many, from sweets to vegetable.
10. Fruit is highly regarded aphrodisiac.


Living with Nature 3, AVR

Saturday, April 10, 2010

The World of Animae

Abe V Rotor

Young artist and his animae friends


Move over Aesop, welcome animae,
Goodbye classics, art's on the other turn -

Paintings to photos, and books to movies,
Pets to stuff toys; sport to computer game -

all's changing, but is this really our aim?


Then goodbye to the wildlife forever -
the
forests, grassland and the Savannah,
the endangered species - including ours;
a friendly world no more, and we the enemy
are now a part of the world of animae. ~


Living with Nature
3, AVR

Friday, April 9, 2010

Golden Corn

Abe V Rotor

Harvesting corn; young farmhands at work. (lower photo)
Corn drying and shelling - it's hot summer work.
Quimmarayan, Bantay, Ilocos Sur. (Photos by Cecille R Rotor)



What crop is closest to the sun and gold?
They say the sunflower, but more so the corn,
for the sun never sets on its golden color,
infinitely reborn season after season.

And families take to the field from sunrise
to sundown until the kernels glitter of gold
while kites fly high, and soon the children
are back to school happy and proud. ~


Living with Nature 3, AVR



Thursday, April 8, 2010

St John the Baptist Church

Abe V Rotor

Restored old Spanish church; ceiling mural of the
Baptism at the Jordan River
by local artists.
San Juan, La Union.

Acknowledgment: I had the opportunity to meet Rev Fr Ignacio Asuncion, parish priest of this beautiful church. It was a very pleasant talk we had on a Black Saturday morning. The church is a tourist attraction in the town consistently adjudged as one of the cleanest and most beautiful towns in the Ilocos Region. Coming from Manila, one wouldn't miss dropping by; it is the next town after San Fernando LU.

I also had the opportunity to visit
in 1992 the Jordan river at the spot Christ was baptized, for which I reason I take pride in sharing this subject with my followers and readers of this blog.
Wishing you all A Happy Easter.


Silence of the Old Bell

Abe V Rotor

Old bell forged in Spain 17th centyury, San Juan, La Union.


Who can hear you now, oh, broken bell now resting
on the ground? For centuries atop a tower
you brought the faithful together to pray and sing,
to humble themselves in the holy hour.
But I still can hear your battle cry in the night,
and your echo of an unfinished fight. ~

Light of the Old Arch 2, AVR

Sunday, April 4, 2010

The Day after the Passion

Two views of San Juan (La Union) plaza, on Black Saturday, April 3, 2010.


The Day after the Passion


Empty benches, playground and covered walk.
They too, keep vigil for the greatest spectacle,
after the darkest hour of the whole Christendom.
The prelude of resurrection, the greatest miracle.
Trees like the acacia - amidst all of creation,
are a witness to this universal faith of oneness
of the world in harmony, unity and peace,
with all living things rejoicing in goodness.

Goodness in the shade of trees and in leaves
falling one by one in glorious cadence,
in feet silently leading back home and work,
with a contrite heart of calm and reverence.~

Light from the Old Arch 2, AVR

Five hundred years old church

Dr Abe V Rotor


"How old is this church," a kindly tourist once asked.
In slow paraphrased voice the old guide answered,
"Five hundred years, five hundred years," he repeated
in quivering sonorous low tone, its echo resounded

From wall to wall, ceiling to floor, like a huge fork
Struck in a dead chamber in the dead of night.
"Please follow me," he said, lighting a candle high,
and lighted others as well. What a scary sight!

To the altar they went, and down to the catacombs,
where he recited in full the church's history -
from the dead, and from holy relics and artifacts,
Goose bumps and hair rose, chilling was his story.

"You seem to know everything about the place, sir."The old lady, before saying goodbye, said in cheers,
"How long have you been here?" To which he answered -
"Five hundred years, madam,five hundred years," ~

Light from the Old Arch 2, AVR, UST Publishing House