My very own Sunflower painting. Move along, Vincent (ngek!) 😝

That voice?
So sweet and melancholy,
It touches everything and makes it holy.
Someone said if God would sing
He would sound like him.
Though I have not heard God
Still I will agree and nod.

Slowly, I close my eyes and feel
The gliding notes of his enchanting trill.
His high soaring melody
Wrapt me in a moment of suspended ecstasy.
Though I don’t understand the words
His voice takes me on high
Whirling me around and around as I fly.

Con te partiro, he sings to me.
Yes, with a skip, I will go with thee
To unknown countries across the seas.
Ciao, for a fleeting moment I leave my world;
I fly over mountains, vales and fjords;
Far away from the shadows of my crazy sorrow
And no troubled thoughts about today until tomorrow.

😝

What is happening in the world? The news that is coming out from the television is not very encouraging. People are dying and killing each other everywhere. We are living in a dark and fearful world. I am afraid that the future does not look bright for us. A learned person told me once that if I wanted to predict the fate of the world, I need only to read the signs of the times. Since I am procrastinating anyway, I might as well do that and try to comprehend what is happening around me.

The Earth is slowly deteriorating. We need only to look at our mountains and rivers to be aware of that. Our natural resources and food supplies are diminishing rapidly. The forests are disappearing in an alarming way because of mindless mining operations, logging, road constructions, cattle-rearing and private ownership of what should be public and communal land. Many species of animals, birds and medicinal plants are being brought to the brink of elimination. The deserts are expanding and croplands are destroyed. As a result, famines, scarcity of water and diseases occur. People are forced out of their lands and homes in the countryside to look for a better life elsewhere, usually in the urban areas, only to discover that the cities are already overcrowded and they are not welcome there. Most of them end up living in so-called squatter areas near and around garbage dumps, railroad trucks, riverbanks and under the bridges. The presence of displaced persons is an indication that there is indeed something wrong with the world.

Sure, there are organizations and people who are deeply concerned about these problems and are trying their best to look for ways and means to prevent their occurrence. They warn us of the impending catastrophe if this wanton destruction of nature is not stopped. Yet, many of us ignore these warnings. It is difficult to persuade us to lessen our excesses so that we can secure our future. It is even more difficult to persuade us to consider the needs also of the less-privileged and those who are not yet born. This seems to be the core of the problem. We do not care much for others. We live in a competitive world where the rich and the mighty continue to do whatever they want because they have almost everything while the poor and the weak are always the losers because they have almost nothing.

The oppressed are on the verge of losing hope. How will they escape from their poverty? Who will help them in their sufferings? Some seek the help of non-government organizations (NGOs) while others turn to religious groups. Unfortunately, there are people among these groups who also use the poor for their own selfish ends. Instead of confronting the problems in a peaceful way, the use of force is resorted to as the ultimate solution.  Thus, we have a rapid increase of violence in the world today. The most terrifying of all is that children are now considered as targets.

As I ponder on this, I asked myself: what is there to do? I begin to recall a movie I once saw where a prophet was shouting to the people: Change! It is becoming clear to me. Unless we changed our attitude and way of life, the world will certainly be heading to destruction. A priest once told me that for a Christian to remain silent and unmoved in the face of tragedy, violence and destruction, is a denial of the Gospel of Christ. I wish we can be more compassionate to our fellowmen; share and be content with what we have, treat every man and woman as equal; and most of all, protect the Earth as our LIFE depend on it.

As one of the most prolific songwriters of his generation, Bob Dylan once said, “Don’t interpret me. My songs don’t have any meaning. They’re just words“

But, no matter what he says, his songs have inspired many to think and evaluate what’s really going on in the world. Yes, some of his words are complex but they force one’s imagination to flow and be moved at the beauty of the metaphors that he alone can think of. No one can sing and write songs like he does. His songs are raw, honest and uncompromising. They speak of life, truth and ideas on how the world could be a better place. They challenge us listeners to think and do something. He is a rare artist who only comes once in a lifetime. He is one of the greatest poets of all time. I ♥ him.

He submitted this photo at the National Geographic’s Traveler Photo Contest 2011. He called it “3 Ladies and a Bride.” He said that while walking in the streets of Havana with a bride, they saw these 3 ladies sitting there. He told the bride to sit beside them and as soon as she sat down, the lady in red put her leg over. He took a lot of shots but most of them ended up a bit blurry because he was shaking with laughter while taking the pictures.

There are lots of wonderful photos submitted in the contest. This is one of my favorites. It is lovely and hilarious. I couldn’t look at it without laughing. I love it.

The episode that I watched was about this mysterious creature lurking around the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea. Locals call it the “Ballcutter” because it has a knack of cutting off the genitals of fishermen and leave them bleeding to death. The victims who survived these horrible attacks said that the fish is so strong as to be able to drag them under the water. One even claimed that the teeth biting him felt like a human teeth.  What is even more disturbing is that these occurrences happened only recently. The river has no history of this a decade ago.

Wade went off to the river and tried to capture this mysterious fish. He was kind of suprise at what he caught. It was a Pacu, an Amazonian cousin of the Piranha. But, unlike the meat-eating Piranha, the Pacu are vegetarians. Their diet consists mainly of insects, fruits and nuts. Their teeth are more for cracking  nuts and crushing seeds. This fish can only be found in the Amazon. What is it doing in New Guinea?

According to one of the locals, the Pacu was brought to the Sepik River 15 years ago to boost the river’s food supply. He noticed that after the Pacu was introduced into the river, most of the grass beds that local fishes ate and where crocodiles lay their eggs were gone. He also blamed the Pacu for destroying the fish population in the river. Upon hearing this, Wade concluded that the mysterious fish terrorizing the locals is no other than the Pacu. Forced to adapt in their new environment, the Pacu have changed food supplies. They become carnivorous and grew larger in size, thus destroying the ecosystem of the river.

I thought mutation can only be found in science fiction. Unfortunately, it is really happening around us. Man sometimes try to manipulate nature to improve his lot. But, meddling with nature can be very dangerous. It does not only destroy the nature’s ecosystem, it can also transform creatures into devastating predators.

These are the last words Vivien Leigh uttered in the final scene of the movie A Streetcar Named Desire. Powerful words enhanced by a powerful performance which will linger in my mind for a long time.

I have to admit, Marlon Brando was the reason why I wanted to watch the film. I was curious to see his so-called ground-breaking performance, especially the scene where he made his now famous “Steeeeeeeellaaaaaaah” yell. But, in the end, it was Vivien Leigh who wrenched my heart and made me cry.

She played the role of Blanche Dubois, a fragile, gentle and delicate Southern lady, born to a once-wealthy family of Mississippi planters. She had been left to care for the family estate that eventually was lost to creditors due to the family’s squandering of its fortune. Deaths in the family left her alone and penniless. In her loneliness, she turned to strangers for comfort. Her numerous love affairs destroyed her reputation. She lost her job as a high-school teacher and was an outcast in her hometown. She went to her sister, Stella, for refuge and solace, but instead, found difficulty in adjusting to live with her sister and her animal of a husband, Stanley, in a squalid, cramped one-bedroom apartment. She was verbally abused by her brother-in-law who somehow knew of her shady past. She accepted the marriage proposal of Mitch, her avid suitor, hoping he would give her the security and companionship she longed desire. But it was not meant to be for Mitch jilted her when Stanley told him about her previous affairs. All these came to a boil when on the night Stella was about to give birth in the hospital, Stanley went home and mercilessly destroyed Blanche’s illusions one by one and then raped her. She was thoroughly traumatized and suffered a mental breakdown. She was finally taken to an asylum. Disgusted and suspicious of Stanley, Stella, with her baby, decided to leave him.

Sad, isn’t it? But the movie is only a reflection of what is happening in real life. Drunkenness, violence, lust and ignorance are common in our modern society. These bring about callousness of heart and lead to the cheapening of a person’s worth. It is from these that the seed of our suffering and desolation springs forth. Still, I often dream that someday human beings would stop looking at other people as mere instruments of their own desires; would stop forcing the weaker ones to do their bidding; and would stop from trying to keep the weak from becoming strong. I dream of a time when peace can reign amongst us, nurtured by our love, compassion, understanding and acceptance of each other. But as we wait for that dream to come true, the weak and the lost will continue to seek refuge on the kindness of strangers.

Last year, Negros Occidental Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez and his family gave us, their kasimanwas, a chance to go boat riding around the small islands off the coast of Sipalay. The place is so secluded that local people aptly call it Tinagong Dagat (Hidden Beach).

It’s beautiful and peaceful out there where one could only hear the gust of the wind, the soft trickle of the waves and the occasional cries of the birds. Its stillness is shattered only by the sound of the fishermen’s motored bancas. We saw a few nipa huts in some of the islands and most of them were empty. Maybe they serve as a resting place for the fishermen. We saw a few of them minding their nets in the clear and shallow waters.

It’s a pity that my phone camera couldn’t capture the exquisiteness of the place. The wind was quite strong at that time and I was a little nervous that my phone might fell into the water and I can’t afford to buy another one. Still, it was a thrilling ride.

While  I savored  the beauty of the place, I was also aware of its vulnerability. We all know that many of the mountains of Negros Occidental are barren due to decades of mindless logging and mining operations. Soil erosions and mine wastes have accumulated much on the sea coasts of the province especially in Sipalay. The islets of Tinagong Dagat have remained pristine. I dearly hope that we, especially the government, will see to it that this wonder of nature remains untouched by so-called progress.

Man and nature are connected said one learned farmer to me. Recent natural disasters have proven that to be true. I pray that, in the present rush to develop the Sipalay-Hinobaan area as a major tourist spot, the government and the developers will not only look at the locality with its beautiful beaches, coral reefs and vegetation as a means to gain profit but also as a vital support system that must be sustained so that the organisms that are thriving there at present may continue to exist.