L.C. Clark's Blog, page 11

Blog’s 4th Anniversary

   The first three anniversary post are about the articles, the page views / audience and reviews of shows I found interesting.  This time, on the 4th anniversary of this blog, I want to make it about writing.  What has writing done for me?
   When physical activity has been limited by age or health problems, mental capacity could deteriorate as a result.  I have noticed in me more and more incidents of forgetfulness and loss of focus.  The article Keying In really happened among other manifestations of short term memory loss.  I am afraid that I might turn senile.  
   Writing the articles serves as exercise for my brain.  Some topics use some imagination or a bit of research, thanks to Google, Wikipedia and JW.org.  Lay outing and formatting the articles, some with videos or photos I took myself, or a chosen music pulled from YouTube allows me to get creative.

   Creativity is a privilege given by our Creator when he made man in his image (Gen. 1:27)  No other creature on earth was given artistic or literary talent other than us, mankind.  There are a ton of entertaining videos of animals on line or on television.  None of those animals can write.
   In between blog articles, I edited my first book The Email Ordered Wife for the third time.  I thought I would never see the book printed.  Then I submitted to Barnes and Noble for paperback sales.  It came out on October 4, 2016.  I received two copies of the printed book from Barnes and Noble in the mail with a note that said “Thank you for publishing with us”.  I wrote an article on the journey titled, Paperback Writer.
   I was encouraged to finish the second book REBEL which I started writing in August, 2012, almost immediately after the first book came out in Amazon.com for Kindle.  This second book was completed in May 2016.  I continued editing it to search for errors until in January 13, 2017, the REBEL came out in paperback on Barnes and Noble.  I wrote the article Paperback Writer – Book 2.
   To have a book in paperback is a gift from God, to have two is an undeserved blessing.  I can’t see why but for some reason Jehovah God loves me.  He never gave up on me through my rebellious decade followed by my decadent decade.  Now that I’m in my mid-sixties, he is keeping my head straight.  I have started my third book titled The Matriarchs of Cavite.  Hopefully, by 2020 I will have my third book in paperback before I lose some part of my brain to aging.


See also: 
Blog's 1st Anniversary 
Blog's 2nd Anniversary 
Blog’s 3rd Anniversary

Paperback Writer - Book 2

   The REBEL is now in paperback.  I hope it provides some insight into the heart of a nation on its journey to freedom.  The  REBEL is a tribute to a political activist better known as REB.  He was not as heroic or as famous as Commander Dante.  The news media never met him. However, I feel it’s time that we read about the man, as a father, as a husband and his contributions to the movement as far as disclosure allows.
   The book provided an acknowledgement to the leaders and members  of the Kabataang Makabayan who have similarly given their lives to the struggle.  Ginto and Kinis died of natural causes.  I heard Baba died in battle.  It was said that he used to stand up in the open, daring the enemy, during gun fights.  I bumped into Bungo during First Quarter Storm (FQS) founding dinners in the 80’s.  I have heard nothing about Naning for decades.  Penny has taken the fight for social and political change right here in America.
   As a wife’s testament to a uniquely wonderful husband, the book REBEL is not all politics.  It gives a glimpse of a place and time too fresh to be called history and yet too far to relive.  The sexual revolution that came with the women’s liberation movement affected the conservative Filipina the most.  While the western teens had been dating for decades prior, the Filipino teens found not only their voice but also their sexuality in the late 60’s, shaped by their cultural, religious and regional influence.
   The details on poverty are not meant as a put down but rather as an evidence of the Filipinos’ determination to survive whatever life throws their way.
   
See also:Kabataang Makabayan (KM), In Hindsight A Breakout Nation Reshaping the Philippines

The Media Then and Now

   There was a time when media had integrity and substance.  Back then it was more credible than government and trade pronouncements.  Thus, it served as a check and balance between the powerful and the marginalized.  It exposed crimes against humanity for the world to learn from the experience.
From: https://i.ytimg.com   Some notable media exposés that rocked the status quo are Mi Lai Massacre, Watergate and Iran-Contra.  The Mi Lai Massacre was covered up “for a year until an independent investigative journalist - Seymour M. Hersh - uncovered the story in 1969.  Once surfaced, Newsweek, Time, and Life magazines featured the story, including the gruesome images of slaughtered villagers.” (Lessons of Vietnam and Military Reform) 
From:http://blogs.elpunt.cat/   Watergate was the scandal that brought down President Nixon. “The connection between the break-in and the re-election committee was highlighted by media coverage—in particular, investigative coverage by The Washington Post, Time, and The New York Times.  The coverage dramatically increased publicity and consequent political repercussions.” (Wikipedia)
Fro m: http://nacla.org/   The Iran-Contra scandal stemmed from the US’ foreign policies regarding Nicaragua and Iran.  Fearful of socialism in Nicaragua, the US backed ‘contras’, paramilitaries against a revolutionary regime. “On November 3, 1986, two Lebanese newspapers broke the story of the Iran arms deal, and quickly thereafter the entire scandal began to unravel in the United States.” (The Iran-Contra Affairs) 
   It wasn’t easy to be a news reporter.  Questions were asked to get to the truth.  Answers were analyzed to find hidden motives.  Journalist were assassinated by the evil people they went against.  At least 72 journalists have been killed in 2015.  In August 26, 2015, two journalists in the US, Alison Parker and Adam Ward, were killed during a live news broadcast on WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia. (Wikipedia)
   Lately the evil assassins found a better way to kill journalism.  It’s called “dollar-a-word deal” with the unscrupulous “yellow journalists”.  Biased reporting has been used to hurt or help.  Worse than that, fake news have proliferated to confuse the public so that we simply give up on the search for truth.  
   One news program stands out.  World News Tonight with David Muir, available in Hulu, has consistently broadcasted the news exactly as it happened, no tricks, no innuendos.  At the end of every episode a heartwarming or tear-jerking segment on humanity is featured, like a desert that takes away the aftertaste of bitter food for thought.  
See also: 
Climate Change is a Poverty Issue 
Creator of Poverty 
Nature’s Water Park

A Night with Commander Dante

   I’ve had anger management problem before the phrase was invented.  I didn’t spank my children like typical parents but they have experienced my erratic behavior.  They have seen me fight with neighbors, a nun school principal over my son’s haircut, a PE/CAT teacher who made my son do 70 push ups that sprained my son’s arms to swell, etc.  My kids kept to themselves other potentially volatile situations in fear that my reaction would escalate the situation.
   In the mid 80’s, Rody, my cousin next door was half Japanese.  He arrived in the Philippines at 20 years old to meet his Filipino father who had moved to Canada more than a decade prior.  Having been raised in Japan he was not aware of Filipino protocol about confronting children without the presence of parents.
   All was well, or so I thought, until my live-in help told me about an altercation between the 30 year old Rody and my 17 year old son while I was at work and my husband was abroad.
   “Jojo!  Jojo!  What happened between you and Rody?” I screamed instantly.
   “It’s nothing, mom.  It’s no big deal.”
   “Let me be the judge of that!”
   “Rody said, he was out doing Karaoke the past night and my playing my electric guitar kept him from sleeping late that morning,” my son explained.
   That was enough for me.  From the kitchen I flew to my front door in anger. 
   “Hey you people were not invited here.  Go back to your own country!” I yelled.
   Rody came out of his place saying in Tagalog with his Japanese accent, “You know, I have grenades I haven’t used.  Maybe one day I’ll use one.”
   We’ve heard rumors that Rody was working for Yakuza, a Japanese mafia of sorts.  I was not going to take the subtle threat sitting down, not with my three kids living a few meters from Rody.  I said nothing more but that didn’t mean I was backing down.
   Cory Aquino had just been seated as the new president of the Philippines.  The first thing she did was to release Commander Dante from jail.  Dante had become a folk hero.  The media could not get enough of him.  Student organizations sponsored ‘meet and greet’ and discourses.  It wasn’t called ‘meet and greet’ at that time.  I attended one of those.
   At the end of the event, after the students have left, the adults started drinking.  I inserted myself in their midst.  Then, I invited Dante to my place in Cavite for more beer.  I promised to drive him and his security back to Manila after breakfast.  Dante was so kind to accept my invitation.  Despite threats on his life, he trusted me.
   There was no privacy fence between Rody’s home and mine.  The next morning, Rody looked out his window and found Dante doing stretches in my yard.  The next time I left home for an errand, Rody built a wall between us.  The somewhat 20 meters long, 6 feet high structure was erected in 8 hours!  
   In God’s mercy and understanding of my anger issues, no violent encounter happened between the Yakuza and Dante’s men.  I never saw Dante again. 
See also: Climate Change is a Poverty IssueA Nationalist Abroad The Filipina in Adversity

Build the Wall

   I’ve had anger management problem before the phrase was invented.  I didn’t spank my children like typical parents but they have experienced my erratic behavior.  They have seen me fight with neighbors, a nun school principal over my son’s haircut, a PE/CAT teacher who made my son do 70 push ups that sprained my son’s arms to swell, etc.  My kids kept to themselves other potentially volatile situations in fear that my reaction would escalate the situation.
   In the mid 80’s, Rody, my cousin next door was half Japanese.  He arrived in the Philippines at 20 years old to meet his Filipino father who had moved to Canada more than a decade prior.  Having been raised in Japan he was not aware of Filipino protocol about confronting children without the presence of parents.
   All was well, or so I thought, until my live-in help told me about an altercation between the 30 year old Rody and my 17 year old son while I was at work and my husband was abroad.
   “Jojo!  Jojo!  What happened between you and Rody?” I screamed instantly.
   “It’s nothing, mom.  It’s no big deal.”
   “Let me be the judge of that!”
   “Rody said, he was out doing Karaoke the past night and my playing my electric guitar kept him from sleeping late that morning,” my son explained.
   That was enough for me.  From the kitchen I flew to my front door in anger. 
   “Hey you people were not invited here.  Go back to your own country!” I yelled.
   Rody came out of his place saying in Tagalog with his Japanese accent, “You know, I have grenades I haven’t used.  Maybe one day I’ll use one.”
   We’ve heard rumors that Rody was working for Yakuza, a Japanese mafia of sorts.  I was not going to take the subtle threat sitting down, not with my three kids living a few meters from Rody.  I said nothing more but that didn’t mean I was backing down.
   Cory Aquino had just been seated as the new president of the Philippines.  The first thing she did was to release Commander Dante from jail.  Dante had become a folk hero.  The media could not get enough of him.  Student organizations sponsored ‘meet and greet’ and discourses.  It wasn’t called ‘meet and greet’ at that time.  I attended one of them.
   At the end of the event, after the students have left, the adults started drinking.  I inserted myself in their midst.  Then, I invited Dante to my place in Cavite for more beer.  I promised to drive him and his security back to Manila after breakfast.  Dante was so kind to accept my invitation.  Despite threats on his life, he trusted me.
   There was no privacy fence between Rody’s home and mine.  The next morning, Rody looked out his window and found Dante doing stretches in my yard.  The next time I left home for an errand, Rody built a wall between us.  The somewhat 20 meters long, 6 feet high structure was erected in 8 hours!  
   In God’s mercy and understanding of my anger issues, no violent encounter happened between the Yakuza and Dante’s men.  I never saw Dante again. 
See also: Climate Change is a Poverty IssueA Nationalist Abroad The Filipina in Adversity

My Mother's Home Remedies

   It takes a lot of pain and discomfort for a Filipino to see a doctor.  Not only because we are stingy.  We have home remedies passed down for generations that have proven to be effective.  God gave us medicines pharmaceutical companies are just discovering.  Here are some of them:
Rice Tea   When I was a child, if anyone had stomachache, my mom roasted uncooked rice in a frying pan.  After the rice has blackened, she boiled the roasted rice to make tea out of it.  The rice tea worked on stomach acid, gas, constipation, loose bowel and most everything else.  Now, here in America I found a rice tea that does not need a lot of work from Ichiban Kan, a Japanese store in Tanforan Mall.  Just drop it in hot water like regular tea.  It smells exactly like my mother's rice tea and just as effective.
From: http://neuleaftea.com/   Guava leaves when boiled helps to heal skin infections and superficial wounds.  It is also used as a first bath for mothers who just delivered a baby.  Sitting on the warm water with guava leaves helps to heal laceration. 
   Epsom salt soak for hand and foot is now available.  In the Philippines. sea salt, God's invention, was good enough.
From: http://www.aslimming.com/   Bitter melon is an ingredient in many Filipino dishes.  Some 20 years ago it was discovered to be good for controlling blood sugar.  Pharmaceutical companies created from bitter melon anti diabetes capsules, tea, etc.
From: http://freefarm.org/   Calamansi juice was used for weight loss. It is diuretic so that it prevents or reduce water retention.  It's also rich in Vitamin C.  It’s often used to flavor tea.
   God's medicine has no adverse side effect.  You can ask my mom.
See also: If You’re Tired Of… A Nationalist Abroad Ichiban Kan - Tanforan

Losing No.1

   Compensation is restitution or making amends for an injury or loss.  Loses are quantified in terms of material goods or cash.  When a mother has to raise a child after losing the father, there is no accurate amount that would equal the value of that loss.  There is a tendency to over-compensate.
   From the age of twenty six, I have been twisting myself in a knot to make up to my son for our losing his father.  First I got my son a nice stepfather with no spanking rights.  Then I got us a home where my son got his own room with a nice bed and study table.  On weekends, we went biking in the park behind the Cultural Center where bicycles were available to rent.  Otherwise, we went swimming in YMCA or Los Baños hot springs.  If there was a good movie for children showing, I made sure we saw it.  When the mall arcades arrived on the scene, we went there too.  We were never home on weekends.  If I didn't have money I pawned a piece of jewelry.    
   My son got birthday parties with some surprise gift every year which included an Atari game console, an electric guitar, a bike, Game and Watch and a Karaoke set.  At sixteen, his birthday bash was celebrated with a rented mobile disco transforming the venue into a virtual nightspot with a rotating mirror ball, colored spotlights and a disc jockey playing the current hits.
   After graduating from high school, my son drove himself to college in a black Volkswagen Beetle while the rest of the family took public transportation.  As typical of teens, I bailed him out of police custody twice.
   Then my son got married before finishing his college course.  I negotiated with my father to let him have my late mother’s six bedroom hilltop home overlooking the Laguna Bay in Bicutan, Taguig.  When that property was liquidated, I gave my son a part of my share which he used to buy himself a taxi cab for business and personal use.
   After all of the above, some thirty years later, I realized my son and I never got over losing his father.  There was no compensating for losing the man we had for a mere three years.

   In the Bible, Job lost his fortune, ten children and his health but not his wife.  The God, who reads the heart of man, replaced everything  Job lost but let Job keep the same wife. (Job 42:10-12)
   “Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, glory in the flower.  We will grieve not, rather find strength in what remains behind.” – William Wordsworth.
See also: Love at First Sight One Adam for One Eve  
Greatest Love Story

Charles Dickens' Victorian London

   I don’t celebrate Christmas so I stayed away from The Dickens’ Fair.  The fair is held every year at Cow Palace, along Geneva Ave, Daly City.  I’ve been in San Francisco for three years before I took an interest to see what goes on in there.  I found out The Dickens’ Fair is not about Christmas.  It’s more about London during the Victorian era.  Street signs of the period were posted along the hallways of the exhibits.  It’s not only about Charles Dickens either.  Edgar Allan Poe was there too.  
   The costumes, food and products available during the Victorian era were displayed and were on sale.  The shepherd’s pie was good.  I also tried the hot cider with whiskey and cinnamon and the clam chowder.  There were a lot more but I can’t afford to sample all.  The products on sale were scented candles, crystallized rose flower fashioned into jewelries, handmade soap and a host of curios that may or may not have been worn during the Victorian period.
Joy  Strong playing a street wench    There were some interesting characters portrayed by actors and actresses who were all dressed in Victorian era costumes.  They stayed in character while they mingled with the spectators.  One of them was Joy Strong, who played a ‘wench’, a prostitute before the term became common.      At the end of our conversation, she handed me a ticket that meant she had given me crabs.  Another ticket meant I contracted “Scarlet Ague”, a sexually transmitted disease of the place and time.
   There were stage shows which were the entertainment during the 1800’s.  They featured acted drunken singing and supposedly lewd jokes which are tame compared to what we have today.  The audience was singing, hooting and hollering with the performers, giving the hall the atmosphere of a theater bar.  We may not have this kind of theater bar today.  These days it’s called a strip joint.
   It made me wonder if long after I have died, would people dress up in my era’s fashion to reenact the stories in my books.  That would be just as interesting I’m sure.
See also: The Circus is in Town The Heiress Grandma (Lola) Eugenia

The Makati Film Society Experience

   Back in 1977, three film enthusiasts joined hands to found a film society that would highlight memorable films.  The Makati Film Society was born.  The first project was a film revival festival to be shown in one of the theaters in Makati.  In those days there were large ones like The Rizal Theater and small ones like Quad.  A big one might be difficult to fill with a rerun film.  A small one would be perfect.
Festival Poster on Gloria's car   Dick Cutab, the moving force of the society, initiated talks to rent a small theater for seven days.  He then went to the movie distribution companies to see what could be rented on a per day basis.  The brainstorming with the other two co-founders, Tess Novero, an accountant and Gloria Samson, an Advertising Account Executive took several days off and on.  Finally, the three came up with a choice of seven films to show in one  day each for seven days.  Posters would be printed to promote the project.  Apparently, using the tape tickets from the theaters would mess up the theater’s accounting records.  Festival tickets would have to be printed.  

   Quad management wanted PHP3,000. per day for one of the four theaters.  They didn’t have to come up with the cost of the entire seven days.  The ticket sales of the first day would take care of the succeeding days' rent.  Still, PHP3,000 was a fortune back then.  The three went scrambling for their share of PHP1,000 each.  They rummaged through their personal savings.  They tried to interest relatives to invest or get a loan.  A few days before the rent deadline, Dick and Tess had their shares secured.  Gloria had nothing, no savings that big, not good enough credit to qualify for a loan.  Renting a cinema and film was unheard of at that time.  Her parents and relatives thought she was being scammed.  They wanted no part of it.

   Then Gloria’s Aunty Aida arrived from the US for a vacation.  Gloria told her about the project but she had no hopes of getting a cent.  Gloria assumed Aida will be needing all her pocket money to spend on her vacation.
   “I can lend you the PHP1000 but it’s my shopping budget.  You’ll have to give it back a few days before my return to the US so I can shop in Divisoria,” Aida said as she handed Gloria the cash.  It was a surprise of Gloria’s life.  Her Aunt Aida gave without her asking.  That PHP1,000 became the seed money for her role in The Makati Film Society which lasted into the 80’s.

   The film's rent was PHP250 each but could be paid upon pick up of the film reels.  There was no deposit required.  After all, who would run off with several heavy reels that could be played only with a cinema projector? 
   The Makati Film Society film revival projects were promoted with free press releases, the Eat Bulaga television show gave free 2 seconds camera shots of the posters and announced the movies scheduled.  The first project grossed well in the box office insuring the budget for succeeding film festivals in Quad and in Ali Mall theaters.  Notable movies shown were The Godfather, Mel Brook’s Young Frankenstein, Franco Zefirreli’s Romeo and Juliet, the only one that featured the original Shakespeare language in the dialogue.
   The arrival of Batamax movie copies in the mid-80's killed the film revival projects.  The three co-founders moved on to different directions but it was fun while it lasted.  
See also:Paperback Writer Reshaping the Philippines Boston Globe’s Spotlight on Crimes Against Children

Climate Change is a Poverty Issue

   It’s easy to blame one who is not present.  Thus every calamity is called ‘an act of god’.  Climate change deniers are as many and as prominent as those who brought the issue to our attention.     There are tons of scientific evidence presented.  Famous names have taken the cause.  Some laws have been passed to minimize the advance of global warming.  These resulted in a more systematic waste segregation and recycling, better landfill management and composting on a nationwide scope.  
   Federalism created different strokes for different folks.  Wood burning fireplace is not allowed in California but is allowed in the Midwest states.  Homes in States prone to drought have a shower while in the Midwest, even the cheapest place has a bathtub. 
   Flash flooding is dealt with one storm at a time, with no permanent solution other than the age old water pump.  Flood water can be pumped into waterways, rivers and shorelines when low tide allows.  States in the center of America have no shores and may have no river running through it.  In those places, the water pump does little help.  I have seen a city where flood water is pumped towards the poor community populated by African Americans.  This results in basements requiring expensive and arduous repair, not to mention the damage to the building foundation and home appliances.
   That brings us to the one argument about climate change that has not been discussed.  Climate change is a poverty issue.  Global warming does not affect the rich in their sturdy hilltop mansions and high rise apartment towers.  In the comfort of those homes, politicians watch the six o’clock news about the flood rescue and fatalities then go to work the next day and make laws about taxing soda.
Typhoon Haiyan From: www.indymedia.org   The Philippines get six months of typhoon season every year.  If a storm falls during high tide in islands barely above sea level, people drown.  Only poor people drown.  The worst that can happen to the rich man’s home is the swimming pool gets a little messed up.
   As an act of god who loves the poor “He will have pity on the lowly and the poor, and the lives of the poor he will save.” (Psalm 72:13), global warming and climate change blame needs a second look “and the appointed time came … to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” (Revelation 11:18).  
See also:Creator of Poverty The God of the Poor A Colorful Past