I haven't been well since yesterday. I have a slight fever, flu symptoms, and a stomach that isn't cooperating with me. (Thanks, M, for taking care of me. :P )
Johnny Walker's latest Keep Walking ad just caught my eye--the one about the landmines in Cambodia (?).
The Pope's speech about the U.S. Catholic Church scandal about their erring priests. I'm grateful that the Pope decided to personally step in and intervene. The issue isn't really in the headlines here (nor, I gather, is it in the rest of the world) the same way that it has been in the U.S. Nevertheless, the whole issue has saddened me deeply. Sigh.
I always thought Natalie Imbruglia was from somewhere in Europe. I just found out she's Australian. Well ... nowadays it's hard to tell because most international singers who sing in English, sing in American English. (What's with that anyway?)
And I just found out that Fatboy Slim used to be part of the Housemartins. Geez. Where have I been all these years? The people who grinned themselves to death .... Man, that was a classic!
I've been receiving several e-mails infected with the W32/Klez.gen@mm worm, or one of its variants. Good thing our server deletes the worm before it reaches my inbox ... PLUS, I read my e-mail using a browser, not a mail client. Still, this is giving me a horrible headache.
Extreme rightist Le Pen has made it to the 2nd round of France's presidential race. How someone from his political color made it so far in a country like France is a shock in itself. Another implication, however, is that this leaves the French Left out in the cold, with no representative in the election. How strange, how strange, how strange. What does this say about the color of European politics these days?
I don't know how far one can take the analogy but I have a feeling that Le Pen's semi-victory (I say "semi" because he doesn't have any chance of beating Chirac at all) bears some similarity to Estrada's victory in the Philippines, in 1998. I'm not sure, but I'm guessing that Le Pen's semi-victory might reflect the vote of a sector of French society that corresponds to the sector of society who voted for Estrada here. It's something I have to think about (and research about) some more, but if my guess is correct, then ... could it be that the the Estrada and Le Pen supporters are the voice of a sector of the global village reacting vehemently to the current global political economy?
In New York state:
(1) It is against the law to throw a ball at someone's head for fun.
(2) A person may not walk around on Sundays with an ice cream cone in his/her pocket.
(3) While riding in an elevator, one must talk to no one, and fold his hands while looking toward the door.
(4) Slippers are not to be worn after 10:00 P.M.
(5) And in New York City, citizens may not greet each other by "putting one's thumb to the nose and wiggling the fingers".
In Singapore, you may not walk around your home nude.
In England:
(1) Mince pies are not to be eaten on Christmas Day.
(2) It is legal for a male to urinate in public, as long it is on the rear wheel of his motor vehicle and his right hand is on the vehicle.
(3) Any person found breaking a boiled egg at the sharp end will be sentenced to 24 hours in the village stocks (enacted by Edward VI).
(4) And in Liverpool, It is illegal for a woman to be topless in public except as a clerk in a tropical fish store.
In Florida:
(1) It is considered an offense to shower naked.
(2) You may not kiss your wife's breasts.
In San Francisco:
(1) It is illegal to to wipe one's car with used underwear.
(2) Persons classified as "ugly" may not walk down any street.
Anj posted something from Pedro Arrupe that I've always really liked. I'm going to post it here too:
Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in love, stay in love and it will decide everything.
-- Pedro Arrupe, S.J. (1907-1991), Superior General of the Society of Jesus 1961-1984
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Speaking of spirituality ... heard about Catextism yet? Heehee! Amusing. :)
Link from raffy: a history of the Internet in the Philippines. If I'm not mistaken, we first got an Internet connection back in 1994 ... so that means I've been a citizen of the Net since the very start. Kewl.
Meanwhile, I'm enjoying my new cellphone, and finally playing all the Playstation games I never got to play over the years. (Then maybe in a few years from now, when the Xbox is obsolete, I'll be able to afford one of those too. Heehee!)
One of the perks of having a boyfriend is that you have someone to convince you to finally get all those gadgets you hanker for. (Hehe! Mwah!) Boys and their toys. :) (Case in point: M has been playing NBA Live on my Playstation for the past half hour.) :P
More errands today. M and I filed our taxes. I bought a voice recorder, which I hope will help me store ideas for my thesis. I purchased a new SIM card for my cell phone, and M applied for a post-paid cellphone line. And now I'm waiting for M to get out of a meeting.
I'm going to get a new phone! Excited me. :)
BTW, Peter Jennings was really cool today on Larry King Live.
My cousin who lost her fiance in the 9/11 tragedy regularly sends her family and friends (including me) updates on how she's handling the loss. She ends those e-mail messages with some borrowed positive thoughts. Here are some of the thoughts that she sent today:
A weed is but an unloved flower. -- Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave. -- Rainer Maria Rilke
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On a lighter note: Beware, misbehaving prisoners, of Prison Loaf. (Thanks, brownpau.)
I accidentally left my cellphone in Naga City when I was there for the philosophy conference. But I considered myself fortunate, because some of my colleagues stayed longer than I did, so I just called one of them up and asked her to bring my phone back with her when she flew to Manila.
This morning she called. The morning before she left Naga, she packed her luggage, putting my phone in her duffel bag. She left the bag in the sleeping quarters and joined the others for a last trip around the city. When she came back to the room, the sleeping quarters had apparently been entered into, and my phone was gone.
The worsening Middle East crisis is making me more depressed than 9/11 did. (Interesting blog about it.) I feel sad, angry, frustrated, helpless .... And it isn't just the Western part of Asia that's in turmoil. India isn't faring much better. And in my part of the world (South-east Asia), the situation threatens to blow up as well.
In my life ... I was in Naga City from Wednesday, up to this morning, attending a conference on philosophy. The conference was good--excellent papers, excellent speakers. But the food and accomodations were wanting. Stimulating three days.
Today, I flew back to Manila, checked my mail ... and learned that my grand-uncle has passed away. :( :( :(
The Easter Vigil, for me, is the most beautiful Mass in all of liturgy. In the dark Church lit up only by the Paschal flame, the chanted words of Scripture transport us thousands of years back to the first Jews' wonder at God's creation in Genesis ... to the Exodus of the Israelites through the desert and into the Promised Land ... to Christ's victory over death ... and to our own redemption through Christ's resurrection.
This is the Feast of Passing Over. From chaos to creation. From slavery to freedom. From death to life. From sin to salvation. This is the Feast during which we celebrate the core of our faith: the Paschal Mystery, the mystery of passion, death, and resurrection--of Christ and of all humanity.
And in the liturgy of the Easter Vigil, we enter into this Paschal Mystery: both historical and eternal, specific moments in humanity's salvation story celebrated both as memorial as well as in timelessness.
While the Easter Vigil transcends time, it also transcends space. During the Service of Light, as the Paschal flame is passed on from candle to candle, we remember that millions of people all over the world are sharing the same flame, passing on the same light of Christ's redemptive act.
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"Why is this night different from all other nights?"
In the Jewish Passover meal, the youngest child at the table asks this question. The answers given to him remind him and all at the table of the history of salvation of the Jewish people.
"This most holy night ...."
In the Christian Passover, we all partake in the Mystery of the Pasch: that through the Cross Christ transformed our brokenness of pain into a brokenness of sharing: death has become life, and suffering has become love.
Comments by YACCS.
