A couple of months ago, I was taking photos of the sunrise at the breakwater behind the Sampaguita Gardens Resort in Aklan when a small group of maya birds alighted on the ground. I was several feet away and I was able to photograph them using a telephoto lens. A few days ago, I was ... (more)
The Beatles valedictory speech
Posted on June 17, 2008 · 10 Comments
For days, the controversy surrounding Circleville High School (Ohio) valedictorian Melanio C. Acosta IV had been circulating around the internet but, as of last weekend, local media has not picked it up. I probably wouldn’t have read about it had not a friend, and an aunt of Acosta, told me that Acosta is a Filipino ... (more)
Back to school, part 2
Posted on June 12, 2008 · 10 Comments
In many ways, the school year opening is like Christmas. Children expect treats in the form of new shoes, bags, uniforms, supplies, lunch boxes and even new accessories to prettify books and notebooks. I must admit that I used to be one of those kids. School didn’t seem so exciting unless my parents bought me ... (more)
Back to school
Posted on June 10, 2008 · 16 Comments
The school year began a week ago for a lot of kids. Mine won’t go back to school until Friday. And that’s a good thing, really, since I’ve been out of commission for the past so many days. If your kids are like mine, then the school year opening also means no more sleeping late ... (more)
Junk food generation
Posted on May 20, 2008 · 16 Comments
The online version of The Australian recently published a report about a growing movement of parents to ban junk food ads especially on television. The reason? Because “the advertising was undermining their efforts to teach children good eating habits.” Heaven knows I’d like to see something similar in the Philippines, but the question is who ... (more)
Mad world
Posted on May 6, 2008 · 23 Comments
Which would you consider more shocking–the art student who got herself pregnant several times over a nine-month period and aborted the pregnancies so she could put the fetal blood in an art exhibit or the father who locked up his 18-year-old daughter in a basement, kept her a prisoner for 24 years, raped her regularly ... (more)
Staying healthy is no simple matter
Posted on May 2, 2008 · 15 Comments
It is summer; there are illnesses associated with the heat just as there are illnesses that are more common during the rainy season. My younger daughter has been sporting a cold for the past several days and she has her supply of milk and juices. No tablets, no pills. Unlike most households, the only medicine ... (more)
The birds of prey and Batjay
Posted on April 29, 2008 · 49 Comments
Amado V. Hernandez’s novel “Mga Ibong Mandaragit” (Birds of Prey) is required reading for third year students in the school that my daughters go to. When my younger daughter first brought home a library copy of the book, the author’s name struck me as familiar. I did a little research and found out that the ... (more)
Toxic colors
Posted on April 23, 2008 · 2 Comments
Pop culture has given a new meaning to the word “toxic” and Britney Spears’ 2004 hit written by Bloodshy & Avant, Cathy Dennis, and Henrik Jonback has not dampened the use of its colloquial meaning. Toxic means poison but, today, it is commonly used to describe work-related hyperactivity. Toxic is also the word used to ... (more)
Ethics and product endorsements
Posted on April 16, 2008 · 19 Comments
So you’ve seen Aga Muhlach downing all that Jollibee Chicken Joy. So you’ve seen Sharon Cuneta eating all those McDonald’s burgers. And watching them do it makes you want to run to the nearest Jollibee and McDonald’s outlets to get a bite of what they’re having on the screen of the idiot box. Now try ... (more)
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