Funny Epitaphs
An epitaph is a text honoring the deceased, most commonly inscribed on a tombstone or plaque. In the Philippines this doesn’t seem to be common. I just normally see the name, birth and death dates of the deceased. If there’s anything, it’s usually a verse from the Bible. Still, I think it’s a good idea to have an epitaph, even if it’s non biblical.Although death is serious, some people have found a way of making the phenomenon light. Halloween is one situation that takes the gloom out of the afterlife.
Here are actual epitaphs that tickle the funny bones:
From a cemetery in Ruidoso, New Mexico:
Here lies
Johnny Yeast
Pardon me
For not rising.
A lawyer’s epitaph in England
Sir John Strange
Here lies an honest lawyer,
And that is Strange.
How to Speak and Write Postmodern
Behind the Design: The Mindanao Blogger Summit Poster
A few months ago, Blogie, one of the organizers of MBS1, shot me an email asking if I could design something for the Mindanao Blogger Summit. I was in the middle of a web building project that seems to never finish, and I needed something fun to do, so I agreed.
When conceptualizing a design, the first thing I do is “pull out” the elements. Elements are keywords in the project, the main points. In this case, Bloggers, Mindanao, and Summit. The next thing I do is identify themes or any message that clients need to communicate, I thought of diversity, unity, importance, blogosphere. From there concepts are made with minimal arbitrary design decisions. With that in mind, lets go into the elements of the design:
Debt conversion
The Automatic Appropriations Act and the government policy to resort to foreign borrowing have led to less spending for productive social and economic services.
Read more at Mongster’s Nest
Manila North Cemetery
This is a trilogy photo essay on Manila North Cemetery (or Cementerio del Norte), the biggest of the three-cemetery complex of Manila — La Loma, North and Chinese.
Around two to three million people visit this cemetery every year, and up to about half million visitors are expected to pass through its gate on All Soul’s Day.
2. The Early Birds of the North
3. The Cemetery’s Entrepreneurs
Happy Halloween!
Original DVDs On Sale
Have you been to an Astrovision lately? I have.
And good thing that I did. Most DVDs are on sale.
The lowest priced ones are at PHP 100. And they’re not the “low-budget” flicks either.
I told the seller I’m only interested in items PHP 100 or less. I got myself a copy of The Princess Bride, which celebrates its 20th year this year. The copy that I got was without special features and subtitles. But it had the movie, scene selections and trailers.
Find out the other titles available HERE.
JK Rowling Says Dumbledore is Gay, Ee-hee-hee-hee-hee!
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. — John 15: 12
Billionaire author JK Rowling sparked a bit of controversy two weeks ago by revealing that Dumbledore, the headmaster of the school of witchcraft and wizardry, and Harry Potter’s mentor, is gay. Gay rights activists all over the world are rejoicing over the revelation. And why shouldn’t they? Throughout history, we have seen literary greats transform the attitudes and the consciousness of entire generations by using stories and lessons we can all relate to and understand. Literary greats, the likes of Shakespeare, Plato, Homer, Cervantes, Montaigne, Bacon, Samuel Johnson, Goethe, Emerson, Nietzsche, Freud, Proust, St. Augustine, and now, JK Rowling will forever be remembered for their stories and their revolutionary values. They not only entertain us with their tales, they also enlighten us with their values.
Enlighten?
It may not be too obvious to a lot of readers that JK Rowling’s books are meant to enlighten, but if you read her books carefully, you will find that JK Rowling has embedded a lot of values in the story of Harry Potter. Click here and continue reading…
The Starter Wife: Book, TV Series, Contests and Promotion
I don’t remember anymore where I first heard about The Starter Wife but it got my interest right away. I chanced upon a copy of the book in Powerbooks Shangri-La and I read the first few pages. As it has always been my practice not to read the book before the movie, I resisted getting myself a copy.
Hallmark Channel premiered The Starter Wife 2 Sundays ago at 9 PM and I was hooked from start to finish. Debra Messing rocked. The subplots about her friends were also interesting. I thought that it was a one-time thing but apparently they’ve made a series out of it. Now, I can’t wait for Sunday.
Read more HERE.
Daily lesson planning, Part 2
Cross-posted from my weblog.
LAST WEEK in my weblog, I ran a survey on the question “Do Filipino teachers really need to write daily lesson plans?” Though unscientific by its nature, I feel the opinion shared by my readers are worth sharing.
Mi, a student-teacher, said in defense of lesson planning:
“I’ve always been rebellious with regard to lesson planning and following these plans, but one thing I learned — they are helpful. If you make a lesson plan, you’ll have more confidence in delivering your lesson, you know what you want to happen.
“This would be most true to student-teachers and new teachers, as more seasoned ones should have their plans by heart already.”
Tagaytay Vacation and How We Beat Liquor Ban
It was last Sunday that my high school friends (my barkada) and I went to Tagaytay for our second vacation for the year. Though at first we’ve decided on going to Pundaquit, Zambales, there had to be a change of plans because of some work schedule restrictions. Maybe next year we can have a lengthier vacation in a more far-away place. But our Tagaytay trip, though it’s only near Manila, is still one of our most enjoyable ones.
And yes, it was another adventure because it will be my first time public commuting to Tagaytay. Feeling turista!
I thought it was going to be difficult, with us coming from Bulacan and then public commuting up to Tagaytay. Actually, it wasn’t. Add to that the fact that most people are just at home because of the upcoming Barangay Elections.
From Bulacan, we rode the FX (actually it’s a Revo) to MRT North EDSA station. We took the train and got off at the end of the line which is Taft station. At the foot of the stairs going down from the MRT platform, there’s a bus terminal. See? It’s easy, right? And what made things easier was that the bus stops right in front of the subdivision where the house where we’ll be staying is.
And another surprise for me: the bus fare going to Tagaytay from Pasay is only P73! Now why was that a surprise for me? Because the fare going to Bulacan from North EDSA MRT station is about P45 and that’s via the NLEX. Comparing the distance and time traveled, I thought the bus fare to Tagaytay would have been more than P100. And so it’s good news, right? Also the bus wasn’t the rickety type you see along EDSA. It was comfortable with good airconditioning and TV and the seats are CLEAN (no crawling creepy cockroaches!). My only regret at that time was that I forgot to bring my earphones. The movie didn’t play until we were more than halfway through our trip and the driver was playing oldies tunes.
