how now brownpau
Whew! All files uploaded, but there’s still lots of tweaking left to do. I need to figure out those makeshift inline comments, debug problem blog-indexes, and see if I can use MT to update the blog menu and other sections of this page (so I’m not FTP’ing all the time.)
Are there any naughty blog layouts? Please inform me ASAP. I know the centered fixed-width layouts have been breaking in certain versions of IE/Win: is that sill happening?
Collision
I rollerbladed around campus a lot in my first year of college. And once, I slipped and crashed into a girl walking in the other direction. Argh. She screamed, I said, “Sorry,” while picking myself up. Yes, I was a wiener freshman.
Dead Pianist
The church choir had been invited to sing at another church. We sang, and the pianist’s playing was much slower than what we were used to. Later on, in the Choir Room, I loudly lamented, “The pianist is so DEAD! Her playing is so SLOW!” — unaware that she was still in the same room, and within earshot.
I avoided all eye contact with her the rest of the day, and I’ve wondered since then if she remembers my face. I hope not.
Reception Faux Pas
Major social gaffe: Paulo’s poor face-name recognition strikes again. After Vic’s wedding, I was introduced to a cousin of the bride, an English teacher at the High School. I said Hi and exchanged some banter, then went on to other people. Later on at the reception, she greeted us, and I, forgetful me, didn’t know who she was anymore — while she remembered me. I completely mistook her for the bride’s sister, and remained clueless for all five sentences before I realized who she was and who she knew I thought she was.
All old Blogger entries imported, and a new archive designed. Sadly, all old comments will disappear when I finish the shift to MovableType. :(
Later on, I’m going to see if I can run the comments inline, but without having to generate individual entry archive pages. It should be a simple matter of linking to the MT comments CGI script using the entry-ID-number template tag, right?
(And don’t worry; future comments pages will still have Ahiru No Pekkle on them.)
Urk. I need to get some sleep. I’ll worry about uploading all the tweaked blog-indexes tomorrow.
Let’s try this again, shall we? This is a test. Hallo there. Linky-link.
Watched Fellowship of the Ring with Tiff this morning, at SM Sucat. Beautiful, and quite striking, how the film so faithfully rendered the exact pictures that I imagined while I read the book. Tiff and I just got drawn into it completely, from the very first shots of the prologue (Wow! Kick-butt battle with Sauron and Isildur!) to the very last closing scene. (Wow! Samwise Gamgee trying to drown himself!)
The “death” of Gandalf was quite powerful, as was the Ring’s temptation of Galadriel. Tom Bombadil was missing, regretfully, and I feel that the scenes at Lothlorien — and especially the character of Galadriel — could have used more development. But I suppose there’s only so much you can do with just 3 hours. (Forgive my Galadriel fixation. Tiff and I have this thing for Cate Blanchett. She’s just an amazing actress.)
And don’t trust Elrond! He’s Agent Smith! Clearly, we see from this movie that Rivendell is just part of the Matrix. “Return the Ring, Misssterrrr Bagginssss…”
(The paragraph about Legolas has been deleted because it engendered far too many stupid comments, even months after it was posted. Leave off, you drooling fangirls.)
And it’s either “from where it came,” or else “whence it came.” The term “From Whence it came” is redundant.
Oh, oh, one more cool thing: Wizard Duels!!! Duke it out you old bearded thaumaturgical wonders! Yeah baby!
For more enjoyment, I give you the Brunching review.
Teddy Benigno never fails to capture the issues inherent to this country’s unending problems:
A nation is immersed in historic cycles, as is man in the great drama of birth, life and death. As is any society. Our latest two mini-cycles came, the first after the First World War which brought with it independence, the second after EDSA in 1986 which came following the assassination of Ninoy Aquino. In both cases, the Philippines failed to meet the challenge of modern times, or modernization if you will. We just didn’t have the tools. Or the dynamic culture. Our education, after a brief period of vigor, slumped. As a result, the era of “human skills” or “knowledge skills” with advanced technology and rapid productivity as its twin gods, completely escaped us. So we couldn’t produce to sustain a fast-growing population. From 20 to 78 million.
That explains our laggard economy, one of the worst in Asia, our grim and ghastly poverty, the utter ignorance and alienation of our masses, our exploding population, the criminal neglect of our cities and towns, our mounting garbage. This explains why out of this misery crime and violence stalk the face of our earth with increasing national pain, why the rich become more rich and the poor become more poor.
What amazes me is that our national leaders fail — intellectually and morally — to see the many faces of this national tragedy. So do the captains of industry fail to see it, as well as our economists, political and social scientists with very rare exceptions. Certainly our military cannot see it, for the blood of Ninoy Aquino remains on their hands, certainly not our police biggies with the reek of drugs in their swollen bank deposits. They may not see it or grasp it fully — I mean the huddled masses of the poor — but they feel it. Like the animals and insectivora of the forest, they sense it, they sense an approaching earthquake and are prepared to rampage out of their hedges and holes when it comes. Or even before.
Where does it end, I wonder? How low will the Philippines go? I look at Argentina, and I wonder if that’s where we may very well end up. More chillingly, Benigno likens our current political climate to that of post-WW1 Germany, with the pro-Erap “Puwersa ng Masa” (Power of the Masses) in the role of the rising Third Reich — to whom the masses, in their ignorant starvation and utter desperation, are listening.
Again, I wonder, how will it end?
If you haven’t yet heard Thomas Tallis’ 40-part motet, Spem in Alium, go over to the CD store and buy it! I recomend this recording by the Huelgas Ensemble, crisp and clear.
Take it home, put it in your CD player, and concentrate on the music, the chords, the flow, the buildup of forty different voices singing forty different parts, all coalescing into an unbelievably cohesive vocal masterpiece. You will not be disappointed.
It’s even better when you can follow the words:
Spem in alium, nunquam habui prater in te, Deus Israel, qui irasceris, et propitius eris, et omnia peccata hominum in tribulatione dimittis. Domine Deus, Creator coeli et terrae, respice humilitatem nostram.
The text is from the History of Judith (an apocryphal book, I think), and is roughly translated, “I hope only in you and no other, God of Israel, who angers, is again gracious, and forgives all man’s sins in his suffering. Lord God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, see our disgrace/humility.”
Tallis saw interesting days in English history, serving through the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, “Bloody” Mary Tudor, and Elizabeth I — and adapting his music for the religious environment of each reign. It was probably during the latitudinarian days of Elizabeth that he wrote the 40-Part motet.
Interestingly enough, I also have a recording of the Kyrie from Antoine Brumel’s Missa “Et ecce terrae motus, and it strikes me how similar they sound. Well, okay, not too similar. Few compositions can approach the historic grandeur of Spem in Alium, but the same “cosmic” atmosphere permeates Brumel just as it does Tallis. They obviously had a rich weave of tradition to draw from that period.
From: ***@inq7.net
Subject: RE: Application status?
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 14:03:03 +0800
Dear Mr. Ordoveza,
Good day!
We have taken note of your letter. Your resume will be on our file for future reference. Thank you for your application.
Cordially,
***
Multimedia
INQ7 Interactive, Inc.
A GMA Network and Inquirer Company
(That sounds like a “No.”)
Now we know: it wasn’t just the Jews. The Third Reich also had plans to destroy Christianity as we know it.
First the Nazis came for the Communists; and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews; and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. When they came for the trade unionists I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a trade unionist. And when they came for the Catholics I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me… and by that time there was no one left to speak for anyone.
– attributed to Rev. Martin Niemoeller
Here’s that Baptist Confession of Faith, those of you who are interested. I think some of it was revised and polished by Spurgeon.
Hey, look! It’s the new 10-peso coin! And right beside it, the old 1-centavo coin that no one ever uses anymore! To give you some idea of how much you’re looking at, the coin on top is worth about 20 American cents. It can buy you two small cups of steamed rice. The coin below it is worth about 0.02 American cents. It can buy you nothing. Zilch. You can’t buy anything on 1 centavo. Not even a piece of cheap candy. (Actually, at the rate our currency is losing value, you can’t buy all that much with 10 pesos either. It won’t be long before even one cup of rice is beyond the ability of a 10-peso coin to cover.)