Thursday, June 25, 2015
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Ten Syndromes that Haunt Humankind
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday
1. Syndrome of Facelessness - Wearing the mask of anonymity, arrogance, indifference, coldness – in partnership, too.
2. Narcissism or the Syndrome of Images – Reality turned into Fantasy
3. Frankenstein Syndrome – Man is the victim of his own invention. “Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all - the apathy of human beings.” (Helen Keller)
4. Utopian Syndrome – in Search of the Lost Atlantis
5. Tower of Babel Syndrome – short cut to Heaven. “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope or confidence.” (Helen Keller)
6. Syndrome of Re-Creation in pursuit of Perfection (E.g. Genetic Engineering defies natural law of life and evolution.)
7. Quicksand Syndrome Defeats Mankind Itself. This can be visualized from the painting of Spanish painter, Francisco Goya in the 18th century depicting two men clubbing each other to death as they are being swallowed by quicksand.
8. Janus Syndrome - We wear the mask of the Greek god; we are Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde – at one time or another; we ride on the goodness and evil of mankind; and on the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse as well.
9. Quest for Immortality Syndrome. The concept of resurrection and eternal life is no longer confined in the spiritual realm and fantasy.“The time has been that when the brains were out the man would die, and that’s the end.” (Macbeth)
10. Syndrome of Periodicity and Fatalism. “Something was dead in each of us, and what was dead was Hope.” (Oscar Wilde)
“Never lose the child in you - that Little Prince must never grow old.” AVR
Rock Pool - Child of the Sea
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly Tenorio
738 DZRB 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday
Rock Pool by the Sea I, in acrylic by the author
How can the sea, so deep and vast leave behind an offspring
between two worlds?
Wonder if Nature is kind, abiding to the laws and values
of Man as her guardian;
If there was any mistake in God's creation after His rest
on the seventh day;
If perfection is but a long time goal beyond man's time
and imagination.
Rock Pool by the Sea II, in acrylic by the author
Wonder if creation is a long and painful process called evolution
in the book of sages;
And change is a continuing process on a crossroad of possibilities,
chartless and endless;
Yet in every second or in man's life time, creation goes on and on
beyond his understanding;
And soon the rock pool becomes a sea in itself, a miniature copy
of its magnificence.
Wonder if creation is a long and painful process called evolution
in the book of sages;
And change is a continuing process on a crossroad of possibilities,
chartless and endless;
Yet in every second or in man's life time, creation goes on and on
beyond his understanding;
And soon the rock pool becomes a sea in itself, a miniature copy
of its magnificence.
The Happy Expressions of Home
The Happy Expressions of Home
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog
Lesson: Home has as many expressions as people's thoughts and feelings about it. Let's take a glance on what they say.
Top: Bahay Kubo in oil by AVR patterned after the song of the same title;
Lower photos: western bungalow cottage; typical bamboo and nipa house.
1. For a home beauty and function are one, in the same way as in biology – morphology and physiology.
2. Aesthetics is an art – it is both natural and man-made; it is a harmonious combination of the two.
3. Sanctuary is a home, simulated from the natural habitat of an organism or group of organisms. Sanctuary implies values of kindness, care, respect and understanding.
4. Generally, there are two parts of our garden to landscape – the public area and the private area, which are self explanatory.
5. Home is a call, ancient craving, in fact, biological like the salmon and the dove. It is the same homing instinct of the balikbayan.
6. Home is a fortress and a lighthouse.
7. Home is made by man and perfected by his hopes and dreams. We can reach the state of perfection, if only we do the best we can.
8. These are great Filipino artists whose works contributed to having our happy home of today: Nicanor Abelardo (music), Fernando Amorsolo (painting).
10. Other great Filipino women whose works likewise contributed to the making of a happy home: Fe del Mundo (health, specially children’s healthcare), Maria Y Orosa (home economics/food art).
11. Even how inadequate may be our home – even if it is located along the railway - it comes to full bloom when Christmas time comes.
12. A home is a movable feast, referring to Ernest Hemingway’s early novel The Movable Feast.
Home is a greenery13. A home must be efficient in protecting the dwellers from ultraviolet rays that causes skin cancer, unburnt carbon and acid rain that cause allergy and other ailments.
14. A home is surrounded by trees. Trees buffer disturbing noise from traffic, but they are good resonators of music and conversation.
15. A 20-year old acacia tree gives a cooling effect in its shade the equivalence of 10-window type air conditioner 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, virtually without any cost.
16. Have plants in and around your home. Plants give off O2 as a by-product of photosynthesis. It is good to health.
17. The best model for a garden is the Filipino style, because it is patterned after the structure of a tropical rain forest.
18. A home garden simulates a tropical rain forest which is basically made up of four stories just like a tall building: ground plants, shrubs, bushes and small trees, canopy layer, and emergents.
19. The most common canopy trees are most fruit trees, like santol, avocado, mango, while the most common emergent is the coconut.
20. A home is compared to a bird's nest. After the chicks have grown up and have learned to fly, they leave the nest. The difference from that of the bird's nest is that, the home is not abandoned. Now and then. the children visit their parents (and grandparents).
21. Life and love emanate, reside and grow in the home.
22. Home is “heaven on earth.”
23. Home is a rocking chair with long arms.
24. Home can be missed sorely like Heidi in Sipyri’s novel, about an orphan girl who was separated from her grandfather in the Alps mountain. Only when she was able to go back to her home with his grandfather that she found her world complete gain.
25. A broken home is the most difficult to bear – broken by divorce, misunderstanding, quarrel, by early death, by prolonged absence – and most especially, by apparent lovelessness. If you belong to this kind of home there are two things you can do. Rebuild it, pick up the pieces and mend them together. The other is to make a new home yourself, and make it the ideal home of your dreams, the ideal home which is the highest expression of our worthiness on earth, and worthiness in heaven. ~
Traditional Thai House, Bangkok
Wigwam - dwelling of aboriginal Indians in Manitoba, Canada
Country farm house, Peñablanca, Pampanga
738 DZRB 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Harvesting the heart (ubod) of a senile coconut tree
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
This coconut tree finally bid goodbye to old age and pest - the rhinocerus beetle (Oryctes rhinocerus or uwang) and scale insect (cocolisap). In its senile stage its nuts became smaller and fewer, so with its leaves. It outlived neighboring coconut trees, towering over houses and trees in the area. Its silhoutte in the dark sky is chilling during stormy weather. A nearby coconut tree was struck by lightning. Felling the old tree was nostalgic yet gave relief from danger in the place. It final gift is its "heart" - (ubod) which throbbed for nearly half a century - now a favorite recipe, lumpiang sariwa.
Felled senile coconut tree yields ubod (heart) the main ingredient of a favorite recipe - fresh lumpia. Right, young frond (palm) used as palaspas on Palm Sunday. Both mature and young nuts (buko) are harvested as as well.
Coconut tree stump and lumber. Put together, the tree stood 30 feet high, excluding its leaves.
Living with Nature School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to FridayThis coconut tree finally bid goodbye to old age and pest - the rhinocerus beetle (Oryctes rhinocerus or uwang) and scale insect (cocolisap). In its senile stage its nuts became smaller and fewer, so with its leaves. It outlived neighboring coconut trees, towering over houses and trees in the area. Its silhoutte in the dark sky is chilling during stormy weather. A nearby coconut tree was struck by lightning. Felling the old tree was nostalgic yet gave relief from danger in the place. It final gift is its "heart" - (ubod) which throbbed for nearly half a century - now a favorite recipe, lumpiang sariwa.
Close up of coconut heart (core) and leaf bud (top left)
Coconut tree stump and lumber. Put together, the tree stood 30 feet high, excluding its leaves.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Don't be a Victim of Computer Syndrome
Try locking up your computer and TV and other electronic gadgets on a weekend. Impose curfew hour every night. You'll discover more in life than all the computers in the world combined.
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday
Did it ever occur in your mind that many ailments are connected with computer addiction?
People, especially children and adolescents who sit before the computer for many hours everyday are victims of a new kind of addiction I call computer syndrome. A syndrome leads to a trap of slow, incipient signs and symptoms akin to various ailments and defying treatment until the very source of such ailment is removed. This is a thesis which I propose to help our youth from getting into the tender trap.
These are premises of my thesis.
Computerizing whether for school assignment, hobby or just entertainment, consumes precious time and energy. It robs our children of their wholesome hobbies, rest, reflection, exercise, socialization, or for quiet and peace. It disturbs ideal time management – the way our predecessor in pre-computer era made use of the 24-hour cycle, the 7-day and 30-day cycles. And the 365-day cycle. In short the computer has not only reset, but tinkered with, our biological clock.
We do not follow our regular sleeping habit, because the computer demands no strict time limit or schedule. Imagine also that a favorite program on TV is on the computer, especially DVD shows. Computer addicts may become night owls. Others have developed cat napping to compensate for lost or lack of sleep. Not following regular sleeping habits is not healthful, it retards growth and may lead to insomnia. Many drugs today are for insomniacs. Abuse of sleeping pills is reminiscent of some prominent victims, among them were Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Priestley.
The ever increasing features of the computer making today’s state-of-the art in computer shades the 1960 predecessor a hundred folds more proficient. Pretty soon we will be groping and grappling with artificial intelligence. Already chess games with the computer is like playing with Fisher or Karpov or Kasparov. War games need the intelligence and skills of Napoleon Bonaparte on land, and Horatius Nelson at sea. The computer does not only trace the campaign of Alexander the Great who attempted to create the largest empire on earth, but continue the campaign even after his death.
Entertaining, isn’t? Maybe, but at what price? Hear the testimonies of victims, which I analyzed and made into a check list. Check those that apply to you. Supply the details. The idea is to become aware on how close you are in getting into addiction with the computer, and television as well. This includes texting and use of other electronic devices. Seek for advice while it is still early.
1. Interruption of mental concentration
2. Short attention period
3. Irregular meal, often substituted with fast and “junk” food.
4. Strained eyes, and also ears
5. Sustained suspense
6. Nervousness, easily gets surprised or excited
7. Cold and perspiring hands and feet
8. Increased pulse rate and heart beat.
9. Muscle strain, poor reflexes
10. Coffee and tea drinking
11. Smoking and Drinking
12. Estranged relationships
13. Games, games, games
14. Dependence on tranquilizer and/or stimulants.
15. Headache and migraine
16. Hallucinations
17. Insomnia
18. Depression
19. Psychosomatric symptoms
20. Boredom
To sum it up, the Computer Syndrome has five general manifestations, namely:
1. Disruption of Mental Concentration
2. Social Detachment
3. Physiologic Imbalance
4. Wasted Time
5. Indeterminate Purpose
Are you a potential victim of Computer Syndrome? Get out of harm's way. Go back to your hobbies - sports and arts. When was the last time you went camping, fishing, hiking, biking? Shakes those lazy bones, build some muscles while you are still young. Get closer to nature, you will develop natural resistance against stress and diseases.
Are you the handyman type of a person. Make toys, renovate your home. Do you have a green thumb? How about raising some vegetables organically on your backyard. Have pets and love them, they have feelings. They reciprocate. The computer doesn't.
Take a break with the family. Bonding is the most beautiful thing to do for a busy family. Take time out, go to the countryside. Talk of sweet nothings. Tell jokes. Light moments contribute to good health and long life - the most practical therapy.
Join community organizations, church organizations. Support projects for a cause - like environmental conservation, saving endangered species, home for the aged, juvenile rehabilitation, projects for out-of-school youth, orphanage. Look beyond yourself - to and for others.
Try locking up your computer and TV and other electronic gadgets on a weekend. Impose curfew hour every night. You'll discover more in life than all the computers in the world combined.
x x x
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The recent study found that children aged 8-18 were watching TV, playing video
games, on their computers, and listening to music for a total of 6 hours and 23
minutes EVERY DAY! Many kids were doing two or more activities at once. Most of
this time is still spent watching TV. Kids spent almost four hours every day
watching TV. With so much time in front of TV and other media, perhaps Kaiser
should have labeled it "The Media-Addicted Generation."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Self-Administered Test:
Find out if you are part of "The Media-Addicted Generation":
1. Does your family have more than one TV set? Yes [] No []
2. Are you in front of a screen for more than 2 hours per day?Yes [] No []
3. Do you sometimes have trouble getting TV or video game
jingles "out of your head"? Yes [] No []
4. Is there a TV/video game/computer playing in your
home much or all of the time? Yes [] No []
5. Do you have a TV, video game, and/or computer in your
bedroom? Yes [] No []
6. Is it easy for you to turn off the TV/video game in the
middle of a favorite show/game? Yes [] No []
7. Do you ever rush home, ditching friends and family, to
catch a favorite TV show, play video games, or go on the
computer? Yes [] No []
8. Do you frequently eat meals while in front of the TV,
video games, or computer? Yes [] No []
9. Have you ever caught yourself unintentionally mimicking
a TV or video game character? Yes [] No []
10. Do you talk to and play with your friends more than you
watch TV, play games, and play with computers? Yes [] No []
11. Can you turn off the TV, computer, and video games OFF
right now and leave them off for three days? Yes [] No []
12. Do you ever mindlessly surf through TV channels or
the internet? Yes [] No []
13. Do you need TV, video game, or a computer to relax after
a rough day? Yes [] No []
14. Do you feel edgy, anxious, or "not right" if there is no TV,
video game, or a computer playing? Yes [] No []
15. Do you watch TV, play video games, and/or play on the
computer more than spend time with your family? Yes [] No []
16. Do you ever watch the TV, play video games, or surf
the internet longer than you intend to? Yes [] No []
17. Do you feel spend too much time with TV, video games,
or computer? Yes [] No []
18. Have you missed a special event with friends or family
because you were watching a TV program? Yes [] No []
19. Have you ever tried to quit watching TV, playing video
games, or going on computer, but were unsuccessful? Yes [] No []
20. Do you have difficulty limiting the time you watch TV,
play video games, or go on the computer? Yes [] No []
*Note: Time spent on the computer for homework purposes does not count:
To calculate your score:
For all questions, except for #6, #10, and #11, give yourself 1 point for every "Yes" answer and 0 points for every "No". For questions #6, #10, and #11 give yourself 0 points for every "Yes", answer and 1 point for every "No". Add your total.
Your total: ____________
Scoring:
0-6: Great! Your TV, computer, and video games are not in control of your life. You are. But keep an eye on how much time you spend with these activities to make sure an addiction does not sneak up on you.
7-14: You are moderately addicted to your TV, video games, or computer. Maybe all of them. The good news is that with a little effort, a list of fun non-screen activities, and a reasonable schedule you should be able to keep your addiction under control. "The TV-FREE System" also helps you create a schedule that keeps you busy with fun, goal-centered activities. Follow your dreams instead of staring at a screen..
15-20: Yikes. You probably have a serious addiction problem. You may need to take extreme steps, including getting rid of your TV or video games, to get in control of your time. Start with the device which squanders the most of your time. The good news is "The TV-FREE System" was designed to help even the most serious addict, and can be used for video game, or computer addiction as well.
Life is too short to "watch" it go by.~
Self-Administered Test:
Find out if you are part of "The Media-Addicted Generation":
1. Does your family have more than one TV set? Yes [] No []
2. Are you in front of a screen for more than 2 hours per day?Yes [] No []
3. Do you sometimes have trouble getting TV or video game
jingles "out of your head"? Yes [] No []
4. Is there a TV/video game/computer playing in your
home much or all of the time? Yes [] No []
5. Do you have a TV, video game, and/or computer in your
bedroom? Yes [] No []
6. Is it easy for you to turn off the TV/video game in the
middle of a favorite show/game? Yes [] No []
7. Do you ever rush home, ditching friends and family, to
catch a favorite TV show, play video games, or go on the
computer? Yes [] No []
8. Do you frequently eat meals while in front of the TV,
video games, or computer? Yes [] No []
9. Have you ever caught yourself unintentionally mimicking
a TV or video game character? Yes [] No []
10. Do you talk to and play with your friends more than you
watch TV, play games, and play with computers? Yes [] No []
11. Can you turn off the TV, computer, and video games OFF
right now and leave them off for three days? Yes [] No []
12. Do you ever mindlessly surf through TV channels or
the internet? Yes [] No []
13. Do you need TV, video game, or a computer to relax after
a rough day? Yes [] No []
14. Do you feel edgy, anxious, or "not right" if there is no TV,
video game, or a computer playing? Yes [] No []
15. Do you watch TV, play video games, and/or play on the
computer more than spend time with your family? Yes [] No []
16. Do you ever watch the TV, play video games, or surf
the internet longer than you intend to? Yes [] No []
17. Do you feel spend too much time with TV, video games,
or computer? Yes [] No []
18. Have you missed a special event with friends or family
because you were watching a TV program? Yes [] No []
19. Have you ever tried to quit watching TV, playing video
games, or going on computer, but were unsuccessful? Yes [] No []
20. Do you have difficulty limiting the time you watch TV,
play video games, or go on the computer? Yes [] No []
*Note: Time spent on the computer for homework purposes does not count:
To calculate your score:
For all questions, except for #6, #10, and #11, give yourself 1 point for every "Yes" answer and 0 points for every "No". For questions #6, #10, and #11 give yourself 0 points for every "Yes", answer and 1 point for every "No". Add your total.
Your total: ____________
Scoring:
0-6: Great! Your TV, computer, and video games are not in control of your life. You are. But keep an eye on how much time you spend with these activities to make sure an addiction does not sneak up on you.
7-14: You are moderately addicted to your TV, video games, or computer. Maybe all of them. The good news is that with a little effort, a list of fun non-screen activities, and a reasonable schedule you should be able to keep your addiction under control. "The TV-FREE System" also helps you create a schedule that keeps you busy with fun, goal-centered activities. Follow your dreams instead of staring at a screen..
15-20: Yikes. You probably have a serious addiction problem. You may need to take extreme steps, including getting rid of your TV or video games, to get in control of your time. Start with the device which squanders the most of your time. The good news is "The TV-FREE System" was designed to help even the most serious addict, and can be used for video game, or computer addiction as well.
Life is too short to "watch" it go by.~
Test by Katherine Westphal
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