Sunday, September 30, 2007

Here There Everywhere

After church today, David and I headed to the country for brunch. Trust David to find a good restaurant anywhere in the world. We were lucky enough that the Miller's Essenhaus in Penn Yan wasn't packed. As to how these restaurants survive, as they were located out of nowhere (according to my opinion), is remarkable to David and me. One has to travel miles and miles just to experience country dining. It was as if we were in California, David told me. Unluckily enough the retaurant is under new management and does not honor Entertainment coupons. Well, David and I had brunch anyhow. And it was great, though it was purely American.
I like their cheesecakes.
On our way home we stopped at a pumpkin farm. We had a great time "Talking" to the farm animals, going through the mazes and picking up butternut squash. See pictures below.

David selecting the best butternut squash.

Pumpkins on the ground and the pumpkin house.


The three little pigs! Look at the themed houses.


Moi pulling our trolley.


The pumpkin farm. They also had corn maize and other games for kids (and adults).


Saturday, September 29, 2007

Grapes Festival Etc.

I haven't accomplished anything today. I mean, I haven't read my textbooks etc. David dragged me to Naples today to witness the town's annual "Grapes Festival." He also dragged Pam with us. I cannot complain. It was fun.
We visited little stores out in the county on our way to Naples. Pam bought a grape pie and other stuff. At Naples I bought four bags of Concord grapes at a super discounted price - 95% less than the regular-priced grapes. Thanks to the little old ladies at a church in Naples. They were raising funds for their church mission projects. I like Concord grapes. I am used to the seedless jumbo grapes that I buy at the public market. I am now drunk.
We also visited cemeteries.
On our way back, taking the back route, opting to look at the beautiful foliage as fall is coming, rather than watch the highway if we took the expressway. We saw so many deer.
One time we had to slow down after seeing these creatures on the side of the road, Pam opened her window and shouted at the grazing animals, "Hey, get off the side of the road!" The stunned animals ran away.
We burst into laughter.
"Hey, those old deer let the fawn go first. They want that little guy dead first," Pam said being her usual analytical self.
"Yeah, probably they want to test if it's safe to cross or not," David replied.
With Pam around our trips never get boring. Love you Pam.
Grape pies anyone?

Unique windchimes.


Kids raising funds for their trip to Jamaica.


Their school.


Popcorn and other art exhibits.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Montreal Trip


This is a postcript to our trip to Montreal this year. It was raining when we went to Canada (as in pouring rain. Pam, formerly Mrs. Rodrigues, who was with David and I on the trip can attest to that.



Here's proof that it was foggy that day. Montreal, with its old buildings, looked like a picture from a gothic novel.



David and Pam make a good team with regard to hotel hunting and unearthing tourist information that we need to know.



Pam and David at the booth inside the Tourist Information Center. The building is magnificent from the outside, homey and inviting, see picture below. Tourists may ask for hotel accommodation at a discounted price. The prices are remarkable different from the rates shown on the computer. The tourist information officers will tell you the directions too and where to find good food, etc. They greet everybody, however, in French. "Bonjour, Madame."







A two-decker bus parked outside the Tourist Information Center in the City, see picture below. It is like the one we saw in New York City. When we were hunting for a place to eat in the area a bus driver, who was coming out of a restaurant, convinced us to eat in the place. "Hey," he said, "I'm a bus driver. I know what restaurants offer good but affordable food." Nice, one way to promote the city, too.




This Made Me Think

"If you have creatd the fifth generation of atomic bombs and are testing them already, who are you to question other people who just want nuclear power. I think the politicians who are after atomic bombs, politically, they're backwards. Retarded."
President of Iran
in a speech at Columbia University
on Sept. 24, 2007

SUNY Brockport's Fall 2007 Writers Forum

SUNY Brockport's Writers Forum will be turning 27 years this year. Brockport has featured a lot of award-winning writers in their program including Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners. Paul Muldoon, who took over the literary editor post this year for The New Yorker, was featured last year. This fall they have another great selection.

The schedule and featured writers for this year are (notes about the writers were taken from the Brockport website):

September 12:
Campbell McGrath

"has received many of America's top literary honors for his poetry, including a MacArthur "genius" grant, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Kingsley Tufts Prize. He has published six books of poetry, most recently Florida Poems (2002) and Pax Atomica (2004). A new book, Seven Notebooks, will be out in January, 2008. McGrath's poems have appeared in the New Yorker, Harper's, the Atlantic, and in most of the country's significant literary journals. He has taught the last fifteen years at Florida International University, where he is the Philip and Patricia Frost Professor of Creative Writing."

October 11:
7:30 pm, Auditorium Center875 Main StreetRochester, NY 14605
The 2007 Writers Voice visiting writer
Ha Jin

"was born in Liaoning, China, in 1956. As a teenager he served in the Chinese People's Army, . He is the author of two short story collections, Ocean of Words, winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award, and Under the Red Flag , which received the Flannery O'Connor Award. His novels include Waiting, winner of the 1999 National Book Award, The Crazed, and War Trash. His newest novel, A Free Life, is forthcoming from Random House. Currently a professor of English at Boston University, Ha Jin is also the author of two volumes of poetry, Between Silences and Facing Shadows."

October 24:
James Longenbach

"the Joseph Henry Gilmore Professor of English at the University of Rochester, is a widely published poet and critic. His collections of poetry include Threshold, Fleet River, and, most recently, Draft of a Letter, all from the University of Chicago Press. Among his many books of criticism are The Art of the Poetic Line, and The Resistance to Poetry. His poems and reviews appear regularly in the Boston Review, Slate, the New Yorker, TriQuarterly, and the Paris Review."

November 14:
Steve Fellner
"was born and raised in Chicago, and teaches in the English Department at SUNY Brockport. His poems and essays have appeared in Doubletake, North American Review, Mid-American Review, and elsewhere. His first book of poems, Blind Date with Cavafy, was chosen by Denise Duhamel as the winner of the 2006 Marsh Hawk Poetry Prize."

Anne Panning

"is an associate professor of English at SUNY Brockport, where she codirects the Writers Forum. She is the author of a collection of short stories, The Price of Eggs. Her creative nonfiction and short stories have appeared in such publications as the Beloit Fiction Journal, Prairie Schooner, Quarterly West, Black Warrior Review, and In Short. Her newest book, Super America, is the winner of the 2006 Flannery O’Connor Prize for Short Fiction."

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

This Made Me Think

The ceremony of wearing a kimono can make one wish for the era of Adam and Eve when clothing was so simple that one simply had to pick leaves if she wanted to change fashion.
-Michelle P. So
"Chopstick stuck in a geisha’s ear"

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

This Made Me Think

I don't know anyone who didn't like this book or hear one negative comment against it, which is unsual. This is New York, and everyone's a critic.

-Carol Wald of Three Lives & Co., a NY bookstore,
Quoted from a USA Today article (Sept. 25, 2007 page 1D)

Monday, September 24, 2007

This Made Me Think

Americans, unconsciously arrogant because we live in what is temporarily the most powerful nation on the planet... tend to think that we invented the world... We tend to think that the First Amendment is the only mechanism for the protection of free speech and the press and that other democracies, without it, must be deficient (rather than different).
"Orientations: The Press and Democracy in Time and Space" quoted in
The Press, edited by Geneva Overholser and Kathleen Hall Jamieson

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Feeling the Heat in Vegas

This was taken at the rooftop (8th floor) of the parking garage for the hotel. David rented a car.


It was close to midnight when we arrived at the Mirage. As we descended the escalator, coming from the parking building, to walk past the lobby, the deafening beat of dance music greeted us. We were astounded by the number of young men and women falling in line, waiting for their turn to get into the nightclub.

The spectacular waterfalls.

So, our curiosity notwithstanding David, my sponsor, and I stood in a corner and watched the people squeezed on a file. An elderly couple stood nearby. I heard the woman say, “I cannot believe there’s a long line to get in to this club at this hour.”

“What kind of dresses do these girls wear?” was the reply.

“There must be a convention going on,” the old lady cannot contain her curiosity.

“Yeah, a convention of whores,” the old man said.

Okay, there was no need for the old folks to feel sorry for the kids. Afterall, Vegas’s sweltering heat was inevitable. The temperature rose to 114 degrees Fahrenheit. It was just understandable that

This was actually taken early in the morning. By 9 a.m. the pool was packed you'll not find a spot.

the girls should wear dresses that will make Tim Gunn scream. But the fashion guru will understand that if you just had a boob-job and hair removal done there is a certain guide to style. If you paid for it, flaunt it (taking a cue from Dr. 90210).

One of the marvels of the Mirage pool.

It was a Saturday, the fourth day of our 8-day vacation in Vegas when we witnessed the scene. We just got back from watching “Mamma Mia,” a musical based on the ABBA’s song, at the Mandalay Bay; purchasing the ticket at a sale price at the Fashion Show mall. We’ve spent hours of “deliberation” that day on what to do. It proved to be worthy endeavor even if we swerved through the streets going to the hotel. David hates driving at nighttime.

The next day, we learned in the news that Leonardo DiCaprio was at the hotel’s BARE pool a day before while we were at the common pool. Leo was also at the same nightclub I mentioned earlier that night. No wonder the girls were wearing their “finest” clothes. Also, Helen Mirren was at a restaurant in Caesar’s Palace, just a walk away from our hotel. We were planning that day to visit Caesar’s but abandoned the idea, opting to spend time in the pool, to cool off as the Vegas’s desert heat was its highest. I am not crazy about these stars but it would have been nice to see how they look like in person. In Altanta, Georgia, while going to our terminal we saw Fantasia Barrino being guided into a private passage by an airport staff. We did not dare shout for her name as we were afraid of her bodyguard.

On Friday, we visited Hoover Dam and explored this engineering

Families and couples enjoy the cool water.

marvel without getting dizzy of its height (though I have to calm down David who is afraid of heights). As we were just between the boundary of Nevada and Arizona, I took the opportunity to step on the Arizona soil. You know, to brag to everyone that I’ve been to Arizona even just for 15 minutes. Later that night we went to see Lance Burton’s magic show at the MonteCarlo Hotel.

Knowing David is not someone who’d stay at one place, we drove to Ethel’s Chocolate Factory the day we arrived in Vegas. As usual we lost our way. We only realized it as we saw vast area of desert land and not a soul in sight. With my incompetence with the map, David used his common tactic - ask for directions from the first person he sees. It turned out that we were heading in the opposite direction. We breathed deeply after finding the factory, where M&M’s and other popular chocolates were being made. After downing a big bowl of chocolate ice cream at the visitor’s lounge and gift shop, we visited their marvelous cacti garden.

Although The Mirage is as busy as an anthill, its 24-hour casino in the lobby was none of our interest. I’ve never seen so busy a hotel in all my life. Well, except for the hotel and casino in Montreal, Canada. We busied ourselves watching shows and going to sites. At the Treasure Island we watched Mystere. It was probably the most spectacular show I’ve ever seen. The Cirque du Soliel performers were outstanding. Then there’s Madame Tusaud’s at The Venetian Hotel were I got to meet Hollywood stars; getting the chance to talk with Oprah and Larry King. We also took the time to visit old Vegas, where most of the old time movies were shot, and ate at the Four Queens Hotel. Food-hunt was an indulgence as we prefer buffets. Before heading for home we visited the Red Rock Mountain. It was the most marvelous stone formations in Vegas.
There’s no place like Vegas. The sweltering heat is only matched by the glitter and glamour of the casinos and hotels. But what I know is, as I heard a man say, “Vegas is no place to raise a family.” It maybe the place to retire or do business but never would it appeal as a family-oriented place.
(published in Sun.Star Bacolod, Sept. 25, 2007)

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Toe-Tappin' Concert

The magnificent Mendon Church choir.

Just got back from watching a church concert at Mendon Church. David sings in the choir. I took the pictures (as usual).

The concert was called Toe-Tappin' Southern Gospel Favorites. The concert was organized and conceptualized by Dr. Lon Beery, also the choir director.

The concert started at 7:30 p.m. It was a SUCCESS.

Congratulations, Lon!

Acquisitions

  1. John Adams by David McCullough
  2. Personal History by Katharine Graham
  3. Collected Poems by Louis MacNiece
  4. Collected Poems by Philip Larkin
  5. All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
  6. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
  7. Plainsong by Kent Haruf
  8. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
  9. This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer
  10. A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor
  11. The Lord of the Rings (One-Volume Complete Edition) by J.R.R. Tolkien
  12. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
  13. The Sportswriter by Richard Ford
  14. The Country Ahead of Us, the Country Behind by David Guterson
  15. Laughable Loves by Milan Kundera
  16. The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde by Merlin Holland
  17. Rose by Anne Lamott
  18. The Woman Who Walked Into Doors by Roddy Doyle
  19. East of Mountains by David Guterson
  20. Ignorance by Milan Kundera
  21. The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
  22. Unearned Pleasures and Other Stories by Ursula Hegi
  23. The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale
  24. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
  25. The Best American Mystery Stories of 1998 Edited by Sue Grafton
  26. The Joke by Milan Kundera
  27. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
  28. Break, Blow, Burn by Camille Paglia
  29. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
  30. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  31. The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro
  32. Naomi by Junichiro Tanizaki
  33. The Uncle from Rome by Joseph Caldwell
  34. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
  35. Another Country by James Baldwin
  36. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
  37. A Widow for One Year by John Irving
  38. The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
  39. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
  40. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
  41. Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
  42. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
  43. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
  44. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
  45. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

(That's just half of my collection. I'm quite selective. I gave three boxes full to David last week for donation. Hu hu hu).

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Currently Reading

  1. Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag
  2. The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick
  3. The Anchored Angel edited by Eileen Tabios

Currently Watching on DVD

  1. The Blue Kite by Tian Zhuangzhuang
  2. The 39 Steps by Alfred Hitchcock
  3. My Beautiful Girl Mari by Lee Sung-Gang
  4. Amelie
  5. Vera Drake by Mike Leigh
  6. Bobby by Emilio Estevez
  7. Sunset Boulevard
  8. Spellbound
  9. Annie Hall by Woody Allen
  10. The Grapes of Wrath by John Ford

The Richest US Americans

Forbes Magazine just released a report about the richest Americans (2007). And the are:


1. William Gates III
2. Warren Buffett
3. Sheldon Adelson
4. Lawrence Ellison
5. Sergey Brin
5. Larry Page
7. Kirk Kerkorian
8. Michael Dell
9. Charles Koch
9. David Koch
11. Paul Allen
12. Jim Walton
12. Christy Walton & Family
12. S. Robson Walton
15. Alice Walton
16. Steven Ballmer
17. Abigail Johnson
18. Carl Icahn
19. Jack Crawford Taylor & Family
19. Forrest Mars Jr.
19. John F. Mars
19. Jacqueline Mars

(I don't know, but some of them call me in the middle of the night to borrow money).

This Made Me Think

While eating at a restaurant today I saw this quote:


"There is life after table salt."

2007 Man Asian Literary Prize

I am truly glad to have read that Dr. Jose Dalisay made it to the longlist of this year's (and the inaugural year) of the 2007 Man Asian Literary Prize (Asia's version of the Man Booker Prize). I wonder why only Dr. Dalisay was the only Filipino who entered the competition. There are a lot of outstanding novelists in the Philippines.

Here is the longlist:

  1. Tulsi Badrinath, The Living God
  2. Sanjay Bahadur, The Sound Of Water
  3. Kankana Basu, Cappuccino Dusk
  4. Sanjiv Bhatla, InJustice
  5. Shahbano Bilgrami, Without Dreams
  6. Saikat Chakraborty, The Amnesiac
  7. Jose Dalisay Jr., Soledad's Sister
  8. Reeti Gadekar, Families at Home
  9. Xiaolu Guo, 20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth
  10. Ameena Hussein, The Moon in the Water
  11. Nu Nu Yi Inwa, Smile As They Bow
  12. Jiang Rong, Wolf Totem
  13. Hitomi Kanehara, Autofiction
  14. N S Madhavan, Litanies of Dutch Battery
  15. Laxmi Narayan Mishra, The Little God
  16. Mo Yan, Life and Death Are Wearing Me Out
  17. Nalini Rajan, The Pangolin's Tale
  18. Chiew-Siah Tei, Little Hut of Leaping Fishes
  19. Shreekumar Varma, Maria's Room
  20. Anuradha Vijayakrishnan, Seeing The Girl
  21. Sujatha Vijayaraghavan, Pichaikuppan
  22. Xu Xi, Habit of a Foreign Sky
  23. Egoyan Zheng, Fleeting Light

The judges are Andre Aciman, Adrienne Clarkson, and Nicholas Jose.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Reminder

David and I will have dental appointment with Dr. Clark on Feb. 23, 2008.

His dental assistant, hygienist Sharri, did an awesome job in polishing and checking on our teeth.

Vegas Shows

Whenever David travels he makes sure that he is on the go every day. He doesn't want to stay at the hotel, even more at the hotel room.

"You are on a vacation. You need to get out and see the world!" he would say to me.

So, when we were in Vegas we were out seeking every nook and corner of the place. Aside from driving out into the dessert, we went to see shows!

Here's what we saw:

Mamma Mia at the Mandalay Bay:







I love this musical. I wasn't very interested about it at afirst when David asked me if I want to watch the show. He convinced me in the end. Now it is one of my favorite musicals. I love their stage production.

Lately, it has been reported that a movie-musical of Mamma Mia is being brewed with Meryl Streep doing the title role. Sigh, I'll make sure I get the ticket for the film.

Another show that I liked was Mystere by Cirque du Soliel. It was shown at the Treasure Island, the hotel next to where we stayed, Mirage.



This is the show to watch. Never mind if it doesn't have a story. The production was GREAT!

And Lance Burton at The Monte Carlo:

Friday, September 14, 2007

Last Autumn

The following pictures were taken in Autumn last year when David decided to visit Dansville to pay homage to his long-gone relatives and family members.
We were with Pam.
David grooming the grass surrounding the tombstone.

He was having a fit actually as the grasses were not trimmed properly. Here he is telling Pam his grievances against the cemetery officials.


Imagine having your tombstone placed even before your death. David is posing here with his tombstome. This is creepy.

Just a Thought

Well, if Mr. Bush doesn't want the troops to go back yet to the US, who's guarding America?

Ooops, I didn't say anything!

Hint hint hint!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Acquisition

1. 45 Contemporary Poems: The Creative Process Edited by Albert T. Turner

2. The Age of Grief by Jame Smiley

3. A Man's Place by Annie Ernaux

4. Understanding Writing Blocks by Keith Hjortshoj

5. Perspectives on Contemporary Issues: Readings Across the Disciplines by Katherine Anne Ackley

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Recent Acquisitions

1. A Day Late and a Dollar Short by Terry McMillan

2. Fear Nothing by Dean Koontz

3. Tara Road by Maeve Binchy

4. The First Counsel by Brad Meltzer

5. Summer Sisters by Judy Blume

6. Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard

7. Lady Moses by Lucinda Roy

8. Stories by Doris Lessing

9. A Promising Man (and About Time, Too) by Elizabeth Young

10. The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve

11. Defiance by Carole Maso

12. Flirting with Forty by Jane Porter

13. The Expected One by Kathleen McGowan

14. Next of Kin by Joanna Trollope

15. The Final Judgment by Richard North Patterson

16. A Perfect Spy by John Le Carre

17. Executive Orders by Tom Clancy

18. Mating by Norman Rush

19. Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book by Maxine Hong Kingston

20. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence

21. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding

22. Goddess for Hire by Sonia Singh

23. Ursula, Under by Ingrid Hill

Monday, September 10, 2007

Those were the Days

I remember the time when I was still active in the press. I never dreamed of becoming a sports writer, but I was given the chance to prove my worth.
Here I was, fourth from left, being sworn into as one of the officers of SCOOP-Bacolod. The induction was held at Casino Filipino Hotel in Bacolod City, Philippines.

Here I am, first from right, being one of the panelists being interviewed on TV. We talked about the upcoming Southeast Asian Games. I'm wearing a shirt I really liked (bought at the ukay-ukay)and the shoes David gave me. This happened in 2004, I guess.


That's me doing the layout of the sports section (2003). The table actually belongs to the Editor in Chief.


My Sun.Star Bacolod family, celebrating our anniversary in 2004.


From left to right, Ambo (with the Ambolicious look, again), Nang Tess, moi and Robert.

A Tribute To My Sun.Star Bacolod Family

How time flies. The following pictures were taken during Sun.Star Bacolod's Christmas Party at Panaad Park in Mansilingan, Bacolod City. Was it in 2005?

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SSB!

That's Ambo, the current Editor in Chief, in yellow. The supermegaMOM and kapatid (sister) of all SSB, Nang Tess in a pink shirt.



That's me on the right, trying to be funny. I do think Ambo just had a facial that day.


My Sun.Star Bacolod family! Ooops, si Miss Bonbon gali ara man gali sa picture.


Ambo and Nang Tess digging in to the roasted pork.


Ambo enjoying the feast.


Can Anyone Blame Me For Being Famous?

In our recent visit to Las Vegas, David and I encountered some Holywood celebrities. However, two of them grabbed the opportunity to interview me. We were at the Venetian Hotel that time. I normally don't give in to interviews but both of these people begged me to give them some time. Well, I have a soft heart.
A time with Oprah.

And Larry King.


They just asked me how I handle my supercelebrity status, nothing much.

Of Bird Feeders and Bird Houses

I was totally delight when Spring came. I was able to display the bird houses I purchased. Here's an example. Notice that David's front yard is still without color as his yellow flowers haven't bloomed yet at the time I took this picture.


No bird has occupied this bird house yet. Hmm... I wonder why?


This bird feeder was given to me by David as a birthday gift. I displayed it in front of the window where I can see the birds, but who do you think ate most of the seeds?


It's the chipmunk!


However, am I glad to see some colorful birds drop by and eat the sunflower seeds.


Dig it baby. Yeah!

Friday, September 7, 2007

On Top of a Hill

At Barbara-Jean Park outside Naples, NY. Lake in the background is Canadaigua Lake.
Hill on farside of lake (behind us) was ancient home to Seneca Indians.
Text by David W. Smith
Photos by FCR