Archive for April, 2004
Pardon Who?
(Update: Arnold just pointed out that Philippine elections are May 10, not 20. I don’t know how I missed that. Maybe it was from thinking of 2010. And I think Erap really does have Gloria dancing in the palm of his hand: she even sent him a penholder for his birthday. Update: And golf carts! [...]
Bro Eddie’s Chance
When one thinks of TV evangelists running for president, most Americans probably think of Pat “Nuke the State Dept” Robertson, but it’s Bro. Eddie C. Villanueva who’s on Filipino Christians’ minds these days. ECV is no ordinary born-again televangelist. Check out this fairly dramatic bio. Hailing from an entrepreneurial background, ECV studied economics, commerce, and [...]
Wife vs Puppet
Meanwhile, FPJ now has Marcos backing. Marcos! Yes, the family of the late kleptocratic dictator Ferdinand and his wife Imelda “3,000 pairs of shoes” Marcos! FPJ can now draw financial aid from the Philippines’ own Gold of Tolosa, along with moral support from his best friend, an ousted corrupt incompetent. Welcome to the family, FPJ. [...]
Roco’s Denouement
Just three weeks to May 2010 elections, and it looks like Raul Roco is out of the race, having left for the U.S. to seek treatment for what might be cancer. Back before May, he says, but the damage is done: already trailing in surveys, now he is unable to make campaign appearances or attend [...]
False Alarm
Early Saturday morning, I was awakened by the noise of sirens, as firetrucks pulled up in front of the building. They had gotten the ladder up to the top of the building before being told it was a false alarm. Photo taken with a Palm Zire 71.
Executive Graven Image
Do you want a lithograph of President George W. Bush at a podium, head bowed in prayer, while the spirits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln flank him, hats off and heads also bowed, their hands on Bush’s shoulders, with a shining white cross over the Presidential seal, adorning the chief executive’s head like a [...]
Tax Haiku
Hello, tax refund. Goodbye, credit card balance. Goodbye, tax refund.
An Udvar-Hazy Day
In the post about Seagulls On Ice, I mentioned that Amy and I were off to the NASM Udvar-Hazy Center in Dulles, but I never got down to writing about how that went, did I? Well, It was great, well worth the 45-minute bus ride from DC out to VA. The annex is a huge [...]
Ustinov as Friedrich
Hearing of Peter Ustinov’s death last month made me think of the last film I saw him in, Luther. Amy and I watched that last August with Valerie. The film itself was pretty ordinary, not too daring, more like an exceptionally well-made docu-drama. Joseph Fiennes as Martin Luther was simply not a reconcilable image. I [...]
Dance of the Simple Gifts
So I mentioned last night that I have a bit of a problem with Sydney Carter’s Lord of the Dance. It’s a petty problem. But first, the positive: Dance can go hand in hand with song as an art form and an expression of worship, and it’s an interesting symbolism. (Myself, I don’t dance, but [...]