№ 247. Urbi et Orbi

CNN reports about the Trump Phenomenon and this got me thinking.

The U.S., as the lone superpower, sets the agenda for the world. Like it or not, if Trump wrests his way to Washington DC, the ripples of his pompadour will be felt in this far corner of the world. Shouldn't we, at least, take notice and somehow be heard, as well?

Here's a shout out:

The U.S. President is, to be sure, the de facto leader of the world. That means Trump's policy will affect me--- an Asian, a non-citizen and leaps of miles across the Pacific lake (yes, it has shrunk). And I don't get to say or do anything?! There ought to be a law.

Urbi et Orbi

№ 246. Tuesday Find: Calligraphy

Interesting Tuesday find: Calligraphy!


 

№ 245. North Face Access Pack

Just saw this on Facebook streams.

It looks promising enough because of the easy access compartments and the streamlined look. It doesn't appear bulky especially for the urban commute. Read: MRT pressing and canning ordeal.

It's about time something new, more functional and, hopefully, less expensive than Tumi comes up. Please hurry up.



Happy New Year!

№ 244. I Prefer

I prefer
to breathe ungoverned
like the furnaces
contained yet defiant against EDSA's clots.

I prefer
to move unobserved
like the strays
stalking a wounded maya.

Poets in the Wild NYC

№ 243. Bento Box: Kiwix

Monday's Bento Box: Kiwix

Kiwix is a free and open-source offline web browser created by Emmanuel Engelhart and Renaud Gaudin in 2007. It was first launched to allow offline access to Wikipedia, but has since expanded to include other projects from the Wikimedia foundation as well as public domain texts such as Project Gutenberg.

Kiwix

№ 242. Manila, a Final Frontier

From the 1500s to the 1800s, the Philippines had been a frontier at the western edge of the Spanish Empire.

Because we were so far away from the throne --- two oceans away to be sure--- we were governed remotely and indirectly through the viceroy in Mexico. 

Global Map

Mexico, almost midpoint from Spain, was an accessible foothold to the New Worlds because it sits in the middle of the two maritime expanses of the Pacific and Atlantic. More importantly, it's geography was strategic. It served as a land bridge that facilitated the transshipment of people, information, culture and goods between the two oceans (Panama Canal was completed only in the early 20th century). Mexico's relative proximity to the Philippines not only cut down administrative challenges to the overextended Iberian royal power. It also trimmed down the time and costs of projecting the delegated power to the subjects in the Asian colony.

№ 241. A Canticle Today

The Canticle of the Sun, also known as the Canticle of the Creatures or Laudes Creaturarum (Praise of the Creatures), is a religious song composed by Saint Francis of Assisi. It was written in an Umbrian dialect of Italian but has since been translated into many languages. It is believed to be among the first works of literature, if not the first, written in the Italian language.

Today's Gospel reading: Mark 6:34-44

Altissimu, onnipotente bon Signore,
Tue so le laude, la gloria e l'honore et onne benedictione.

Ad Te solo, Altissimo, se konfano,
et nullu homo ène dignu te mentouare.

№ 240. Happy New Year

№ 239. Heaven—Haven

Heaven—Haven

Remembering those who passed in 2015

A nun takes the veil


I have desired to go
Where springs not fail,
To fields where flies no sharp and sided hail
And a few lilies blow.

And I have asked to be
Where no storms come,
Where the green swell is in the havens dumb,
And out of the swing of the sea.

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89)