QOTD

QOTD #2
================================================================
by Philipina A. Marcelo


"Hapag ng Pag-asa" by the late Filipino artist, Joey Velasco.

"There are words that give power, others that make us all the more derelict, and to this latter category belong the vulgar words of the simple, to whom the Lord has not granted the boon of self-expression in the Universal tongue of knowledge and power."

- Adso of Melk
  from "Il Nome della Rosa" ("The Name of the Rose")
  by Umberto Eco
  (Translated from the Italian by William Weaver)

***

Just being lazy...

...'cause on vacay! :)
================================================================
by PAM


I know, I 'whine' - not so often... but often enough - about vacation not coming soon enough... especially when the going gets impossibly and punishingly tough in the workplace for a 'normal' human being to take! :)  Three or four days of vacation is glorious, I think... beyond that, while I still cannot lay my eyes on backlog from work, the bed surprisingly seem to have ceased as inviting as it was five days ago!  And, it was Holy Week, too... the beach wasn't as enticing as it normally did, even when all the Week's obligations have already been fulfilled.  Therefore, today... time to go on a trip - to the bookstore! :)  Wait... how 'bout we check what's on-line and what's playing in the sports channel first?  Brilliant!  Hey, I never said I wasn't boring!

***
Oldie and wisey

So, I came across this interesting article about how wisdom is related to age, and how this relationship varies among Americans and among Japanese.  As Asian (reasonably familiar with Japanese culture) who lived a number of years in the US, I find the article truly "entertaining".  The link to the article arrived in my inbox (ages ago, apparently) from The Economist.  Hmm... so, we learned that the...

"...five crucial aspects of wise reasoning: willingness to seek opportunities to resolve conflict; willingness to search for compromise; recognition of the limits of personal knowledge; awareness that more than one perspective on a problem can exist; and appreciation of the fact that things may get worse before they get better."

and that...

"Americans do get wiser with age... Japanese (high) scores, by contrast, hardly varied with age."

Making the author conclude that...

"...Japanese learn wisdom faster than Americans."

Are you fascinated now?  Ah, just you wait 'til you read the "exchange of wisdom" between readers in the comments section!  Fun read, I think... but do proceed, with caution, open mind... and, uhm, wisdom!  :)


***
Footie beautie!

Yeah, I did watch football on Holy Week.... 

And so, from 10 points in early March, it became 4 this part of April!  Yes, yes, yes... and yes (!), I'm talking about the lead of Real Madrid CF over FC Barcelona at the Primera Division of the Spanish La Liga!  After their successful ventures in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) quarter-final round last week, qualifying in the semis, the two Spanish football giants went into the weekend, separated by six points - with the Blancos on top - and then emerged with only 4 points separating them. 

Barça faced Real Zaragoza last Saturday with overgrown flowering grass at La Romareda.  What the... uhm, sad joke was that about?  Oh, well....  Pep Guardiola made some changes in his starting line-up compared to his first XI against AC Milan at the UCL QF in the middle of the week.  In the absence of Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Gerard Piqué (who was injured) in the starting line-up, the World Champions didn't seem as superior as they should be over the hosts, who were playing splendid football!  But then, Lionel Messi was on the pitch... so, what else could any side who has this genius could ask for?  None apparently.  Eventually, his genius shone through!

And so, after heart-breaking misses (I can just imagine) from the hosts, fine saves from Victor Valdes (about time, too!), a lucky follow-up goal from the hosts, a wonderful picking-up-remnants goal from the focused Catalan Captain, Carles Puyol, emotionally charged air where yellow cards were waved and the Zaragoza squad getting reduced to ten men,  lady luck showed which side she favored amidst the flowering grass!  Messi hit his 59th (via a vintage Messi, Alexis-assisted thing of beauty) and 60th goals (via spot kick) of the season (37th and 38th for La Liga) in all competitions.  Therefore, the "flowery day" at the La Romareda was the day when Messi became the first man to reach 60 goals in a single season since the 1972-73 season, getting closer to breaking Gerd Müller's record of 67 goals in
Hmmm... it's that bad, eh? But, come now, Crissy... hush!that season for Bayern Munich. Oh, my... and the 'little man' is only 24!  Wait, there's more... the magic man also assisted Pedro Rodriguez in the latter's rare goal after coming back from injury-induced hiatus, bringing the final tally to a 4-1 win for Barça.

Over at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, the hosts were held by the visiting massive force that was Valencia CF, in a scoreless draw, 0-0, on Easter Sunday.  Hmmm... I wonder what kind of 'conspiracy theory' this time is being toyed with by José Mourinho's "special mind" to put the blame on for his side's unsuccessful run in their very own turf.  If Pepe's frustration, which he expressed like a wounded animal by kicking his own teammate, is anything to go by, the draw must be indeed very bad.  Therefore, maybe it would serve everyone well if they caged Mou and his beloved pet, Pepe, for a while... or until the "hurt" subsided.  Oh, and we're not even talking about Cristiano Ronaldo's "pain" yet...  on second thought, uh, nah, let's not go there... too "painful"!  ;) 


The current fourth place, Valencia, was gunning for points - any point at all - to keep their bid for a place in the UCL next season
Hmmm..., amigo, I believe that ball is mine.intact.  The draw proved costly for Real Madrid, who dropped 2 points, cutting their lead over Barça to only 4 points now, with seven more La Liga matches to be played, one of them is El Clásico coming up on April 21 (April 22 in this side of the world) at Camp Nou!  Oh, boy... I'm not sure if I could pack enough courage to watch that Clásico... it might just turn to a 'gory bloodbath', especially with Mou and Pepe's growling emotional state... that Dani Alves do not have a drop of appreciation for!   *sigh*  And, just imagine how Crissy Ronaldo would hurt if he missed a... uhm, spot kick??  Talk about (melo)drama!


But, yeah, the weekend did blow the La Liga Table wide open!  Whoa, hello adrenalin!  Vacation, you are so welcome!  Please stay!  :)


Over at the English Premier League, looks like Manchester City's bid to win the League title this season collapsed in slow motion right before Roberto Mancini's very eyes as the Gunners' Spanish playmaker, Mikel Arteta, kicked the winning goal for Arsenal home, to claim 1-0 victory in their weekend meeting.  Before this must-win match for both sides, Manchester United won against QPR, 2-0, at lunchtime, widening their lead over second place, Manchester City, to eight blistering points, with only six more matches to be played.  Of course, City failed miserably to respond, getting walloped by Arsenal instead at tea time.  Their win over City moved the Gunners to third place, keeping their hope for UCL qualification next season alive.  If you think about where Arsene Wenger and his men were at the beginning of the season, this achievement is quite a feat, I must say!  It's the reverse of the high-spending Manchester City's case, who ventured to capture the League title this season with hefty amount of money invested on buying football superstars whose antics on-and-off the pitch are proving to be too much to handle for Mancini.  Oh, well... I guess it's a matter of management, after all... and that Wenger is still a more bankable manager?


While there were many 'collapsed' dreams, unfruitful attempts, diva-ish hurtings and heartbreaking misses over the weekend... they were all delivered via beautifully played games.  Therefore, hurray, footie beautie!

***
Photo credits:  Photos were grabbed from the Zimbio website - thanks!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!
May God gift us with colorful, joyful
and beautiful day today... and always!

***

Saturday photo

Saving Light... on Black Saturday.

***

Visita Iglesia

Thanking God for His love.
================================================================
by PAM



Visita Iglesia on Maundy Thursday with family...
a commemoration of the Passion of Christ, and a celebration of God's love for mankind.


Visita Iglesia is one of our family's most cherished Catholic traditions.  Like many Filipino Catholic families, on Maundy Thursday, we visit at least seven churches to follow the Way of the Cross, two stations per church.  We usually let the young ones in the family lead the prayers to encourage them to reflect on the Passion of Jesus Christ, and the immeasurable love of God, our Father, who sent His only begotten Son to redeem us from the bondage of sins.  We hope that through their reflections, they would mature to become good Christians and devout Catholics, with hearts filled with love for God, and with compassion for humanity - like the most devout followers of Jesus Christ, the saints and martyrs.

Because the Manila Cathedral is still under renovation, we changed our 'usual route' of Quezon City-to-Manila, where the Manila Cathedral was usually our last
Holy Week reflections.....stop.  This time, we went around Quezon City, moving southeast from our place towards the Monasterio de Sta. Clara de Manila... and the St. Pio's Chapel in Libis was our last stop.  Our late mother was a devotee of Padre Pio, even before his canonization to sainthood by Pope John Paul II, and so, we have always wanted to establish a devotion to him, too. 

It was our first time to visit the St. Pio's Chapel, and we were very happy that we did include it in our list of  Iglesias this year. It was our first time to experience actually carrying a wooden cross each as we completed the Way of the Cross.  The Stations were beautiful, and the place so serene and peaceful, it did encourage a soulful reflection.  We thought we have already seen the most conducive place for praying the Way of the Cross in Quezon City at the well-kept garden of the Sta. Maria della Strada Parish Church in Katipunan, Quezon City... but the carefully prepared stations at the St. Pio's Chapel were just divine.  One of my young nieces enthused that she would like to follow the entire Way of the Cross at St. Pio's next year.  The kids then started to ask questions about Padre Pio with much curiosity.  I know that somehow, our mother led us to Padre Pio's... and it warms my heart to realize that her grandkids, whom she never met, now shares with her an endearment for the venerable priest.  Faith works in truly amazing ways!         

As per tradition, our Visita was capped with eating very, very late meal together (almost 2:00 in the morning), sharing light moments... with a priceless stop at the street food stalls along the way for quick bites.


A time for worship is a time for savoring family togetherness, too.

 ***

La Pulga y Don Andrés...

...son grandes!
==========================================================================
by PAM


FC Barcelona vs. AC Milan
UEFA Champions League Quarter-final tie, 2nd leg
3rd April 2012, Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain


Of course, Lionel Messi weaved his amazing magic again at Camp Nou to keep
Italy's best meet World's best. Game on!FC Barcelona's hope to retain the Champions League title in the Catalan capital alive and well.  He did it via amazing runs and a brace of goals - this time, both from the spot.  The two goals pushed Barça to an early lead in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League (UCL) quarter-final tie with AC Milan.  And it was a happy, happy, happy thing, especially that one of those goals was record-setting!   While that was pure Messi awesomeness, I think it was Don Andrés Iniesta who lighted the fireworks of brilliance on the pitch this time around!  The "pale assassin" slotted in the third goal that provided the necessary cushion to Barça's precarious 2-1 lead in the first-half of their match with the visitors from San Siro!  Iniesta's sublime goal, a remnant from a Messi attempt, brought the scoreline to 3-1, on aggregate, against the Italian Serie A's best to ensure a place for Barça in the UCL semi-final round.

***
Off to a flying start!


As expected, the match kicked off with both sides at full speed.  I thought Dani Alves fouled Clarence Seedorf twice with
Gerard Piqué and Ibra...tower-ful both.harder-than-necessary push, but only the second one was called. Gerard Piqué did great intercepting Zlatan Ibrahimović's early runs for the Barça goal.

At 4:38 minutes of play, Messi did a great run against three Milan defenders, getting through impressively - as usual - but Christian Abbiati did a fine save.  Awesome job - for both men!  And that was going to be the theme of the match, actually.

At 6:13 minutes, Dani Alves sent a nice cross to Cesc Fàbregas, who was behind Messi.  Fàb flicked the ball beautifully in one touch to Messi in front of the Milan goal.  Messi, with two Milan defenders on both his sides, stopped the ball with his chest and attempted to send a volley over Abbiati's head... but missed! "He's human after all," was all the stunned commentator could utter in disbelief.  Then again, one cannot discount the Rossoneri defenders around Messi.

At 8:54 minutes of play, there was a commotion between Barça's captain, Carles Puyol, and Alessandro Nesta - battle of muscles... aaaw!

At about 9:30 min, there was a big Barcelona run... Messi was running against two Milan defenders, he kicked the ball to the speeding Xavi, who miscalculated his control of the ball... but saved the ball and quickly returned it to
Leo Messi celebrating goal #1 with Cesc Fàbregas.Messi, who was still finding his position.  But Messi quickly got the ball to position for a sure goal as Abbiati was still paying Xavi, and Dani Alves behind him, his divided attention. Nesta and Luca Antonini did what they had to do: threw and entangled themselves with the speeding Messi, who was thrown down - mostly by Antonini's impact.  Penalty!  The little "magic man" himself took the shot... and it resulted to Messi's 50th goal in the UCL.  Therefore, La Pulga became the youngest player (at 24 years) to reach a half century of goals in the Champions League!  Aaawww, brilliant!  :)  More importantly for Camp Nou, Barça pushed through in front to take the early lead, 1-0.  Awesomeness! :)

The next how many minutes were relatively calmer run from Barça, just trying to make some chances to cushion their lead... and a more tactically disciplined run from Milan, especially defensively, trying to stop Barça from scoring more.  The result was a treat for football fans all around the globe!  Both teams did fantastic in a fast-moving game, tactic vs. tactic runs, trying to outwit each other in a great execution of the 'beautiful game'.  Oy!

QOTD

QOTD #1
==========================================================
by PAM

UST Graduate School Solemn Investiture, 3rd April 2012

"It's one thing to be schooled, it's another matter entirely to be educated." 

        - Rev. Fr. Norberto M. Castillo, O. P.
          former Rector of the University of Santo Tomas; Dean, Faculty of Philosophy

***
I was "in the zone" with my research students in the lab yesterday when a Grad School staff sent a text message, reminding us, faculty, about the Grad School Solemn Investiture this afternoon.  It was 'painful' to extricate myself from 'the zone'... but I did it - mostly just physically! 

After the ceremony, I was so glad I did make an effort to attend (well, it's my responsibility as a faculty member to attend, actually).  Aside from happily listening to the Dean's Year-End Report, communing with the "brainiacs" (more of them this time!) in the University once again was 'sweet'.  And yeah, Dr. Lilian J. Sison, the Dean of the Grad School, is truly admirable... in her leadership, vision and steadfast commitment to steer the Grad School to where it is today - a place of progress and exciting dynamism, a haven for 'hardcore' academicians in the University.  This, despite the recent attempt of the filthy side of the local political world and the unscrupulous on-line journalists who patronize it to drag the name of our Grad School to the quargmire where some politicians and their minions in the journalism world dive and swim with relish on a daily basis.  Dr. Sison resisted the pull of filth with integrity, grace and poise the way a real educated educator should. 

Still... perhaps, it's true what other wise people in the School say, that Dr. Sison's success as leader has a lot to do with the people that surround her.  She has a good team... a visionary leader that she is, she sets the course of the Grad School, and she is surrounded by an abundance of talented and committed individuals who share her vision and passion for excellence.  And they all work together to accomplish the task before them willingly and unselfishly - no matter how formidable and daunting the task might be.  Once again, TEAMWORK WORKS!  

Congratulations to the Graduates... and congratulations to the Grad School Admin!

***

"Ball-iful" day...

...and what a day, too! :)
===============================================================
by PAM


So, I woke up to this video today... 



...so Nike shows us what happens when the 'beautiful game' meets the 'game for the gentlemen' with Rafa Nadal and Cristiano Ronaldo - on grass.  Then again, we have already seen that happening before in that Gillete commercial of Roger Federer and Thierry Henry (and Tiger Woods) sometime back... although there wasn't a "major action" like this one with Rafa and CR7. 

Alright, yeah, yeah, yeah... let's include basketball in the mix.  Why not?  Since Michael Jordan is no longer active, for as long as Lionel Messi is in it, it can be 'beautiful', too! :)

Aw, ball-iful! 

Alright, I think I have enough inspiration and energy now to work in the lab... even when most people are already on vacation!  Hmmm... I'm one of them, 'lucky ones'. ;)

*** 

Video credits:  Thanks, YouTube, for the video links.

Sunday foodie

Rainy days are here.... Huh?  Rainy days?

===================================================================

by PAM

  

Wait... it's supposed to be summer in this part of the world these days, isn't it?  So, why are we being hammered by torrential rain... and even bothered by flash floods?  Hmmm... probably la niña? Or, it must be... simply climate change.  Ugh, climate change, you are so not welcome!  Please go away!

So, what happens when rain comes when it's not supposed to?  You might find yourself getting out of bed in the middle of the night, tip toe into the kitchen, scan the cupboard for this... tablea pure cocoa.

Something for the "unexpected" rainy days...



Saturday photo(s)

The 2012 Thomasian Engineers Solemn Investiture

====================================================================

by PAM

The big deadlines taken care of, the semester is over... and, yeah, fantastic five years of learning, awesome discoveries, successes and failures, back-breaking and spirit-squirming struggles to clear formidable hurdles, breathtaking discovery of God's love and mercy through Thomasian ideals, the warmth of camaraderie, young love (and lost loves... and lost-and-found love, and unreciprocated love) and crushes, drama (lots of drama!), exhilarating fun and... more fun - crazy fun... a thousand and one miracles and last-minute breakthroughs later... and they're off - to graduation!   Whew!

Our Thomasian Engineers Neocentennial Batch gathered at the the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion this afternoon - a first for the Faculty of Engineering, dressed impeccably in their academic gowns, to receive their Thomasian degrees. Their loving parents, their friends, our support staff, and us - their mentors - joined them as they passed an important milestone in their lives.  

Five (or more) long years of hard toil... and then this!  Ah, sweet!