Wednesday 18 July 2007

Things We Do in Summer: Climb Every Mountain

While I listed some summery tags in Bulongbulongan I am posting
here some of my favorite summer photos. These ones were taken
during a trekking tour in Hochgernhaus in Southern Germany
organized by dear friends Moni and Caro for some multi-cultural
mountain trekking neophytes who would prefer to stay in the
beerhouses down in the valley than enjoy the breathtaking view
after the hard climb.
Plans are on the way for another tour and if you wish to join
us, just email and we could arrange a weekend climb if Moni
is still willing to guide us. Meanwhile, enjoy the digitalized
moments without having to perspire.






And finally, beer and shiatsu for the dear guide

Sunday 15 July 2007

Fatima and Her Love Song

She will wring my neck if she finds out I posted
our experimental mini musical in my blogs but
I've taken a liking in her song...humming it
when I am searching for papers, folders or cds
in what I call "life is found in movements" writing
desk. She explained to me once that the song
means "I can not lie to you." I would like to
propose this song to be one of the campaign songs
of our politicians. Will ask Fatima to give me the
complete lyrics before she finds out I have her
immortalized in my pinay kaleidoscopic blog.
So here's our experimental mini musical
"Fatima and Her Song"


Apropos on lying...we do have songs, romantic pledges
on similar lines, right?
I remember these lines...
"Hindi baleng huwag mo akong mahalin
Huwag mo lang akong tawaging Sinungaling."
(It is not important if you won't love me
but just don't call me a liar.)
In the same vein, one could also sing:
"Hindi na baleng ako ay inyong botohin
Pagsisinungaling ay aking galing."
(It is alright if you give me your vote
My best talent is lying.)

Any song you could share about love and lying?
Puede din yun lying and vote loving.

Dear Fat, please don't get mad
if your friends chance on this experimental solo
performance, just tell them you are trying to do
a bit of political awareness raising through this
love song.

Friday 13 July 2007

Mitbringsel or Pasalubong "Perks and Irks"

 

Blessed are those who do not expect for they will be
given pleasant surprises. But this time I was expecting
because I gave him an extra travelling bag to use for my
ordered "pasalubong or bilins."
So when the Datu came home from his short lecture
stint in the Philippines including a brief visit
to Jolo (the news I found out through another friend
in Manila)and stay in Hongkong and Macau,I was a bit more hopeful
that he would this time surprise me with my ordered
goodies from Chinese silk shirts to moon cakes.
"If only looks could kill," he said, when I saw this
red plastic bag he was holding when he got out of the ICE
train from Frankfurt airport, and the extra travelling bag
was nowhere to be seen. Not a good omen, I thought saying
goodbye to wishful thinking about silk blouses and moon cakes
and all other "bilins" I wrote in this piece of paper which I
tucked into this extra bag for Mitbringsel or pasalubong which
is a compulsory gift given by the travelling partner
to his/her partner who freely opts or forced to stay domestic
than jet-setting.

Pasalubong, btw (by the way) is not only for those who
are waiting for your return from your journey but these
are the goodies given to the nice people of your destination
for waiting for your visit. In short, they are symbolic
small things saying you have not forgotten these people
and if you are married, related, friend, supportive to someone from
this Wow! 7,107-island Archipelago, then you are in such a big
trouble if you do not know what "Pasalubong" is all about.
Well, the Datu has known his trouble and he seems to be
getting used to it. So don't despair, nothing is really
so serious with us people coming from this Wow! 7,107-island
Archipelago if you do not really care about the implication
of not having any Pasalubong.

But to be fair to the Datu, when he opened the plastic
Travel Value bag and started giving me its contents, I was
all forgiving for his forgetting my ordered moon cakes from
Hongkong. He handed me the following treasures which I either
ordered or sent as Pasalubongs by friends and members of my clan
back in the "Madercountry."
* Filipinas Photographs by Isa Lorenzo from dear Ricarda K.
* A Bag out of recycled tetrapaks from Ricarda K.
* Book "How to Win an Election" given by Klaus P.
* Book "The German Club - A History of the German Community in
the Philippines" given by Thorsten F.
* One small bottle of Taba ng Talangka (crab eggs)
* 3 Pieces of JMGoulbourn linen blouses (each piece costing about
850Pesos...my order and not pasalubong)
* A plastic SM bag full of Choc Nuts, Adobong Butong Pakwan
(dried watermelon seeds),dried mangoes and pastillas from Lengleng
* Malong from Luz M.
* Tausug table cloth from Zeny S.L.
* Badjao pearl bracelets from Zamboanga (no longer called
City of Flowers but Asia's Latin City)
* A necklace of smoked topaz from China
* Two wooden necklace from my elder sister
* Two hundred pieces of calling cards...thanks Paula G. for ordering them.

If I miss mentioning your pasalubong, please do email me and will
hold the Datu responsible for this oversight. Maraming Salamat!
Grazie Tanto! Vielen Dank!
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Wednesday 11 July 2007

Can you spare a 50 Euro bill please?

 
 
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While clearing the aftermath of our tiramisu meet and eat
(will post later on this), I heard from WDR 2 something
about fake Euro bills and the release of one German hostage
in Iraq. There is a circulating speculation on the amount
of ransom paid by the German government regarding the release
but I was amusing myself with the thought that there must
be a correlation between rise in counterfeiting Euro bills
and talks about ransom.
If ransom is involved, who would be more keen on
recognizing fake bills from the genuine ones? The giver?
The receiver? Just an amusing thought early this morning.
But I really checked on my 50 Euro bills (not that I have
them all the time at home like a dutiful, economical but
loving wife and please don't confuse economical with
economic says my dictionary of contemporary English) stashed
away in this Da Vinci Code book and googled some tips
on how to tell fake from my faith in these 50Euro bills.
So if you wish, do check these how to tell tips
www.bundesbank.de/bargeld

and take note this short tip from an economically loving wife:
*Bill should not be slippery but according to
the German word 'griffig' which is translated in English
as handy! Hah! Handy Euro bills! With the bill, of course,
we are talking about the paper money, bank note.It should
not easily slip out of your fingers when you are feeling
the note. (Hallo Tita Sol, I know you are thinking
of something else because you are a flute player!)
*If you are managing a paluwagan then be extra careful in
getting the dues from your banking ala Pinay group or get yourself
a fake bill detector.(The detector should not be fake but should
help you in sorting out your notes.)It should be worth the cost as you
could lend it to other economical wives for them to
check bills handed by the dutiful Breadwinners for their budget.
*And just for fun...how about surprising yourself with redux of
"Wanted Penpal" in one or two bills, write your sites, links, whatever
and see who will heed your SOS. BTW, I still say that word, Baduy.
You see, living abroad makes you really economical with trendy Pinay
or Pinoy words despite the mighty web. But check your bills and if
in doubt,give them back to the giver. And if you really are sure
you have fake bills in your piggy banking, I could offer these
tips:
a) Try depositing them back to your saving banks. According to one
introduction to this phenomenon of counterfeiting Euro notes,
even some banks employees could not tell the fake from the real
ones. So to whom shall we go?
b) Check local Lotto dealer for fake bills detector. If none, pay
the fake note and if you win, don't forget our developmental
projects for our dear Motherland.
b) Try donating them to a church. It has such a power it could
convince any bank to convert their collection to any amount worthy
of time deposit interest. Maybe local banks or your favorite church
will donate them further to a more powerful institution...
the Vatican Bank. Who knows, it could mean that the cycle has been
completed. Just entertaining amusing thoughts this one summery
Wednesday.

Sunday 8 July 2007

Cologne: Christopher Street Day Aloha!

 
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Homo europaeicus geht aufrecht...
Homo Europaeicus walk upright

The traditional yearly Christopher Street Day
was blessed with sunny, dry and really hot weather
and the news said that there were about 20 thousand
participants to this year political demonstration
of gays and lesbians in Cologne.
I am sharing some photos I took while squeezing
my way through the crowd in Heumarkt. I promised Korkie P.
that I would be posting some photos for her. Enjoy them!


Who Are You? Brad Pitt's Avatar? Why are you on the other side?


Equal Rights for All Brides!

Cool Angel in a Summery Cologne City


Stand By Your Woman!

Saturday 7 July 2007

07.07.07 Live Earth Concert and My Pledge for Mother Earth

 
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Live Earth Tokyo update reported from the ground:
Twenty year old Japanese pop star Ayaka moved many at Live Earth
Tokyo to tears, telling the captive audience, “We now hear a lot
about global warming. This is really everyone’s business.” Ayaka,
who is known for her smash hit “I Believe,” continued, “There are
many things we can do.I want everybody to take action.” Ayaka, the
third performer on-stage in Tokyo, followed Al Gore’s virtual
appearance at Makuhari Messe.
The Tokyo crowd went wild for pop and hip-hop artist Ai Otsuka.
Between sets, Ai said her participation in Live Earth had encouraged
her “to start with [changing] small things.” Ai said she now brings her
own bag to stores when shopping, turns off lights when she’s not
using them,uses water as little as possible and rides her bicycle as
frequently as she can. “I sometimes think we should turn off
everything around the world for just five minutes,” she said.

AL GORE APPEARS ON LIVE EARTH TOKYO STAGE AS A HOLOGRAM
http://www.liveearth.org

After opening the Live Earth concert series in Sydney via live satellite
feed, Al Gore launched Live Earth Tokyo this morning in a high-tech,
virtual way – as a hologram.
After a stirring introduction by Lumi, the virtual-reality singer
of Genki Rockets, a head-to-toe-likeness of the former U.S. Vice
President materialized on stage and shared urgent yet hopeful words
to the crowd gathered at Makuhari Messe. The holographic Gore had
an expression of amazement as he delivered the following words:

What an amazing world we live in – I love it that I can stand here
on this stage in Tokyo and speak to you in holographic form. It is
astounding that in just these recent few decades we have invented
technologies that enable us to connect and instantly communicate our
ideas and intentions with people on the other side of the globe.

Because of the communication channels and technologies now
available to us, this venue is, at this moment, connected to the
entire world. You are all communicating to well over 2 billion people
right now -including all the Live Earth audiences in Sydney, Shanghai,
Johannesburg, Hamburg, London, Rio de Janeiro and New York and
the broadcast audience who will be watching on television and the
Internet in over 100 countries.

The human race is also connected by the climate crisis. It is a
global problem that transcends boundaries, languages and cultures.
The climate crisis will impact everyone, everywhere on Earth.

If we look at the Earth from space, it looks like a blue ball coated
with a very thin layer of lacquer, within which the air, water, and
living beings exist.

This fragile layer is all we have. It’s our only home – and we owe
it to our children and our children’s children to protect it.

With Live Earth, we hope to connect people through the power of
music and engage them with a simple, universal message: SOS. ANSWER
THE CALL. The Live Earth concerts have the potential to inspire a
mass audience to take immediate action and build a global movement
for change. You can launch this movement today by pledging to make
meaningful and lasting changes in your life. There are so many areas
of our lives that contribute to the problem of global warming – and
those are the very things that can we can change today and make part
of the solution.

And you can commit to this pledge at LiveEarth.org.

As you are making these critical changes in your life, be sure to
call on your leaders and elected officials to do the same.

It’s time to begin to heal the planet. Together, we can transform
the way we relate to our environment. Global warming is now the
greatest challenge facing our planet, the greatest we’ve ever faced.
But it’s one problem we can solve – if we come together as one, take
action and drive our neighbors, businesses and governments to act as
well.

This is what Live Earth is all about.

To all assembled here in Tokyo, at the special event in Kyoto, and
around the world: I thank you for being a part of Live Earth.

And I ask you to ANSWER THE CALL!

http://www.liveearth.org

THE MOVEMENT GOES LIVE! AL GORE KICKS OFF LIVE EARTH SYDNEY


Live Earth Sydney is now underway. The concert at Aussie Stadium
started with an aboriginal welcome and song & dance performance
followed by a surprise welcome issued via live satellite by Al Gore.

In his welcome address, Gore praised Live Earth Sydney’s lineup and
thanked all in attendance for “being the first to launch this movement
to solve the climate crisis”. Gore then read the Live Earth
Pledge and urged everyone in attendance — and everyone watching
from home — to sign their name to the pledge at LiveEarth.org or by
sending a text message of LEAD to 199 66 777.
The Live Earth Pledge reads:

I PLEDGE:

To demand that my country join an international treaty within
the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in
developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the
next generation to inherit a healthy earth;

To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing
my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to
become “carbon neutral;”

To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating
facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store
the CO2;

To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my
home,workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;

To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable
energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;

To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and
protecting forests; and,

To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my
commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable,
just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.

Gore delivered his welcome address from a studio overlooking the
Capitol Building in Washington, DC, where he will be presiding over
Live Earth’s special broadcast event at the Smithsonian’s National
Museum of the American Indian
featuring Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

Following Gore’s remarks, Australian radio announcer Robbie
Buck took the stage and introduced the first band to play Live Earth:
the Melbourne-based blues/roots band Blue King Brown
.

My own pledge:
* I will continue sorting out my basura or better avoid basura at all.
* I will bring always my pair of chopsticks when eating at this sushi
bar and will remind the other sushi aficionadas to bring theirs, too.
* I will remind my Japanese friend not to use so much wrappings for
gifts and not to use too many toothpicks!
* Will stop using strong bulbs...switch on to more candles for ambiente.
* Will never use disposables for picnics, gatherings and meetings.
* Will never stop to make kulits to relatives back home to plant trees, sort out basuras, love their rivers and lakes
and walk than just wait for the next tricycle and ex-communicate people who throw basuras out of cars,buses and jeepneys.

What about you energy saving bloggers?

Monday 2 July 2007

Book Launching in Quezon City on July 4, 2007

 
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The Philippine Social Science Council
and the
Philippine Migration Research Network (PMRN)
cordially invite you to a
Pre-Launch
of PMRN's 7th Publication
In De Olde World: Views of Filipino Migrants in Europe
on
Wednesday, 04. July 2007, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
at the Frank Lynch Resource Center
Philippine Social Science Center
Commonwealth Ave. Diliman, Quezon City

Congratulations to Ms. Filomenita Hoegsholm,
for editing this important documentation on
migration of Filipinas and Filipinas to
Europe. The editor is a member of Babaylan
Interim Committee, Babaylan, The Philippine Women's
Network in Europe.
For further information on the book, please email me
pinayskaleidoscope@gmail.com or
babaylanes@gmx.de

Sunday 1 July 2007

People like Barbra Streisand



People,
People who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world
Were children needing other children
And yet letting our grown-up pride
Hide all the need inside
Acting more like children than children
Lovers
Are very special people
Theyre the luckiest people in the world
With one person,
One very special person
A feeling deep in your soul
Says you are half now youre whole
No more hunger and thirst
But first be a person who needs people
People, people who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world.

With one person
One very special person
A feeling deep in your soul
Says you are half now youre whole
No more hunger and thirst
But first be a person who needs people
People, people who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world.

http://www.lyricsfreak.com

I was in Berlin but in the periphery and later I learned
that Ms. Streisand performed for about 18,000 people
in a concert last Saturday, April 30 in Berliner
Waldbühne.
I am attaching a short report on her performance
taken from www.ad-hoc-news.de
1. July. 2007.

*Barbra Streisand in Berlin euphorisch empfangen*

Rund 18 000 Fans haben der US-Sängerin und Schauspielerin Barbra
Streisand am Samstagabend in der Berliner Waldbühne einen
grandiosen Empfang bereitet. Ihr einziges Deutschlandkonzert ihrer
ersten Europatour eröffnete die 65-Jährige mit einer Hommage an
Berlin, an die deutschen Komponisten vom Barock bis zur Moderne
und an Apfelstrudel. Bei ihren ersten Songs demonstrierte
Streisand jene klare Stimme, die zu einer der am meistverkauften
weiblichen Künstlerinnen überhaupt machte.

Aktuelle *Nachrichten* - Berlin (ddp-bln).
Rund 18 000 Fans haben der US-Sängerin und Schauspielerin Barbra
Streisand am Samstagabend in der Berliner Waldbühne einen
grandiosen Empfang bereitet. Ihr einziges Deutschlandkonzert
ihrer ersten Europatour eröffnete die 65-Jährige mit einer Hommage
an Berlin,an die deutschen Komponisten vom Barock bis zur Moderne
und an Apfelstrudel. Bei ihren ersten Songs demonstrierte Streisand
jene klare Stimme, die zu einer der am meistverkauften weiblichen
Künstlerinnen überhaupt machte. An ihrer Seite sorgten Tänzer und
ein 58-köpfiges Orchester für eine begeisternde Atmosphäre in der
Open-Air-Arena. Für ihren ersten Auftritt in Deutschland war die
Waldbühne in einigen Tagen Umbau vier Meter in den Zuschauerraum
erweitert worden.
Bis kurz vor dem Konzert waren noch Restkarten an der Abendkasse erhältlich.
Die Ticketpreise im Vorverkauf bewegten sich zwischen 95 und etwa
560 Euro zuzüglich Gebühren. Einen Teil der Konzerteinnahmen will
die Künstlerin in ihre Stiftung geben, die verschiedene Sozialprojekte
für Kinder und Jugendliche unterstützt. Wegen der strengen
Sicherheitskontrollen sollte die Waldbühne am Samstag bereits um
17.00 Uhr geöffnet werden. Dennoch verzögerte sich der Einlass auf 18.00 Uhr.
Streisand schaffte ihren Bühnen- und Gesangsdurchbruch 1964 in der
Broadway-Produktion «Funny Girl», 1969 erhielt sie für ihre Rolle in
der Film-Adaption einen Oscar. Parallel arbeitete sie an ihrer
Gesangskarriere, nahm unzählige Platten auf und sang Duette unter
anderem mit Neil Diamond, Barry Gibb und auch Donna Summer ein.
Berühmt wurden außerdem ihre Filme «Is was Doc?» an der Seite von
Ryan O'Neil (1972), «The Way We Were» von Sidney Pollack mit
Robert Redford (1973), «A Star Is Born» 1976 mit Kris Kristofferson
und später «Yentl», «Nuts», «Herr der Gezeiten» und 2004 die
Komödie «Meet the Fockers» mit Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller und
Dustin Hoffman.
Dabei trat Streisand immer wieder als Produzentin, Regisseurin,
Drehbuchautorin und Komponistin in Erscheinung. 2001 erhielt sie
vom American Film Institut den Life Achievement Award für ihr Lebenswerk.
ddp/chd/stu

Photo of Barbra Streisand is taken from
www.telegraph.co-uk/arts/main Sunday, 1. July.2007