Survivor

THEME DAY: WOOD • This high relief screen made of narra and painted a deep chocolate brown is all that remains of the woodwork of the 19th century San Ignacio Church in Intramuros. The screen is attributed to Isabelo Tampingco (or Tampinco, 1850–1933), one of Manila's best sculptors at the time. Tampingco and his atelier were commissioned to create all of the San Ignacio's interior woodwork and it was largely because of their handiwork that the church was hailed as the most beautiful in Manila from the late 19th century to the early 20th. The church was put to the torch by the Japanese in 1945 during the Battle of Manila. The screen survived because it was borrowed by the RVM sisters from the Jesuit priests before the war and used in their central house in the southern part of the city, which was not as badly razed as the northern areas. All that remains of the church itself is its concrete shell. Come back tomorrow to find out about the bust, but would you care to guess who it is?



See glorious photos of wood in all its varied colors and textures from City Daily Photo bloggers. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Friday Finds at the Bookstore: In Lucia's Eyes by Arthur Japin

 Published 2007 (In Bookstores now)

I am usually not a big Casanova fan but the cover completely sucked me in on this one!

Synopsis:  (From the Publisher)
Amsterdam 1758, and a man is artfully seducing a woman. He is, to all appearances, Monsieur le Chevalier de Seingalt, a French government envoy selling shares to the Dutch; she is a courtesan, wellknown in Amsterdam for the fact that she never removes her veil. He sets her a challenge: if she can find a woman who has suffered after falling in love with him, she is entitled to resist his charms; if not, she should succumb. What Seingalt doesn't know is that he has already met the veiled woman many years ago, in another life. What Lucia doesn’t know is that Seingalt will go down in history as one of
the world’s greatest lovers, Casanova. The inspiration for this perfectly plotted, wonderfully romantic historical novel lies in Casanova’s memoirs, and a tiny reference to the woman he fell in love with at seventeen, but later met, hideously disfigured, in an Amsterdam brothel. Arthur Japin has expanded this anecdote into a deliciously entertaining and moving story of innocence and experience, love and sacrifice - all seen through eyes of the woman who first broke Casanova’s heart. His cunning narrative takes the reader on an entrancing journey from the canals of Amsterdam to those of Venice, painting a glorious portrait of the eighteenth century with all its contradictions of reason and instinct, wit and sensuality, head and heart.

Graffiti Creator 2 | Graffiti Creator Walls

Graffiti Creator 2 | Graffiti Creator Walls. Create graffiti alphabet letters on the wall

History of Alphabet | Graffiti Alphabet Letters

History of Alphabet | Graffiti Alphabet Letters. Graffiti alphabet letters with a hand symbol

History and graffiti style alphabet letters AZ began in ancient Egypt. By 2700 BCE Egyptian writing had a set of some 22 hieroglyphs to represent syllables that begin with a single consonant of their language, plus a vowel (or no vowel) to be given by native speakers. This glyph is used as a guide for pronunciation logograms, to write grammatical inflections, and, later, to write down loan words and foreign names.

However, although it seems alphabet in nature, the original Egyptian uniliterals not a system and never used by themselves to encode Egyptian speech. In the Middle Bronze Age apparently "alphabetic" system known as Proto-Sinaitic script is estimated by some to have been developed in central Egypt around 1700 BCE for or by Semitic workers, but only one of the early writings have been described and their properties remains open to interpretation. Based on appearances and names the letter, believed to be based on Egyptian hieroglyphs.

This script eventually developed into the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, which in turn was refined into the Phoenician alphabet. This also developed into the South Arabian alphabet, from which the Ge'ez alphabet (a abugida) are descended. Note that the script mentioned above is not considered feasible alphabet, because they all lack characters representing vowels. Vowelless alphabet is called abjads early, and still in scripts such as Arabic, Hebrew and Syriac.

Phoenix is the first major phonemic script. In contrast to the two writing systems are used extensively at the time, Cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs, each containing thousands of different characters, it is only about two dozen distinct letters, so the script is simple enough for common traders to learn. Another advantage is that the Phoenix can be used to write many languages, because words are phonemically recorded.

This manuscript is spread by Phoenician, which allows Thalassocracy script to be spread throughout the Mediterranean. In Greece, the script is modified to add the vowels, giving rise to the first true alphabet. Greece took the letters do not represent the voices that are in Greek, and change them to represent vowels. This marked the formation of a "true" alphabet, with the presence of two vowels and consonants as explicit symbols in a script. In the early years, there are many variants of the Greek alphabet, a situation that causes many different alphabets evolved.

Suffrage March

Welcome to Women's Suffrage Week here at OPOD. We sort of kicked things off yesterday with the picture of Alice Paul, a leader in the movement in the 1910's. Today, we continue with this picture, taken in 1917, of a march on the capitol. The picture was taken from the steps of the capitol.

The movement got started around 1850 by Susan B. Anthony and others. They finally got the right to vote in 1920. One wonders why it took the movement so long to be successful. Perhaps there are clues in this picture. Notice how the women are marching quietly in a neat single file line? No yelling, no fists in the air. Perhaps they should have taken some lessons from the thugs over at ACORN. You never see them protesting in a neat single file line. My first advise to this group would be to show up more like an angry mob. Second, notice that all the banners are very neat, but have no words on them. The few that have words are very low contrast, and the words are hard to read. I feel that better signage, and presenting their demonstrations in more of a mob like atmosphere could have potentially knocked 10 years off the effort.

Graffiti Stack: Graffiti Street Art

Graffiti Stack: Graffiti Street Art Full Color

ABC Historical Fiction Challenge: Letter D

This is a challenge from Historical Tapestry, that occurs every fortnight.

This fortnight I have chosen Outlander by Diana Gabldon to fulfill the quest for the letter D.

You can read my review here.

This is the first book in the Outlander series; and what a way to start the series! It's an excellent and fast paced book that you never want to put down. I am definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the series. 

The King's good servant, but God's first

Early in his life, English lawyer, statesman, scholar, and writer Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535) was torn between a monastic life and a life of civil service. He became a Carthusian monk but eventually, his desire to serve his country won out and he entered the field of politics after three years. His thirty-year political career was tumultuous and controversial, and when he refused to swear to the 1534 Act of Succession and Act of Supremacy, which declared King Henry VIII the supreme head of the Church of England, More was tried, found guilty of treason and beheaded. For the same reasons that he was beheaded, Thomas More was canonized as a Catholic saint in 1935 and he is considered the patron of lawyers and politicians. It is therefore not surprising that the chapel in the Ateneo Professional Schools (law, business, government, and medicine and public health) in Makati City is named the Chapel of Saint Thomas More.

FREIGHT TRAIN GRAFFITI

Thanks to James Ensor's original photos

Cool Graffiti Style Alphabets | Graffiti Fonts

Cool Graffiti Style Alphabets | Graffiti Fonts Black and White Design. Graffiti Alphabet Letters A-Z

Contest

OK, lets get this contest underway!

Creator Makes Graffiti Alphabet Letters On The Wall

Creator Makes Graffiti Alphabet Letters On The Wall: Graffiti Street Art

Alphabet Graffiti Style Letters A-Z Of Stone

Alphabet Graffiti Style Letters A-Z Of Stone. Unique graffiti fonts. Samples cool graffiti alphabets

Floating fish

We saw a new restaurant in Harbour Square during our last visit, but afloat on Manila Bay rather than being a part of the complex. Does it look like it can actually sail? Even if it doesn't, if the dining area overlooks the bay, it might still be worth trying out. Mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) is a large fish found in warm seas; its flesh is firm, white and very tasty.

See what's reflecting what at James' Weekend Reflections.

Book Review: The Queen's Mistake: In the Court of Henry VIII by Diane Haeger

Synopsis: (From the Publisher)
From the author of The Secret Bride, the tragic tale of the fifth wife of Henry VIII...

When the young and beautiful Catherine Howard becomes the fifth wife of the fifty-year-old King Henry VIII, she seems to be on top of the world. Yet her reign is destined to be brief and heartbreaking, as she is forced to do battle with enemies far more powerful and calculating than she could have ever anticipated in a court where one wrong move could mean her undoing. Wanting only love, Catherine is compelled to deny her heart's desire in favor of her family's ambition. But in so doing, she unwittingly gives those who sought to bring her down a most effective weapon-her own romantic past.

The Queen's Mistake is the tragic tale of one passionate and idealistic woman who struggles to negotiate the intrigue of the court and the yearnings of her heart.

My Review:

Catherine Howard, an impoverished child who grew up to be the doomed fifth wife of King Henry VIII.

We first meet Catherine at her family home, Horsham. She is wild, flirtatious and enjoys toying with mens affections. Henry Manox and Francis Dereham are the two men she is intimately involved with. It quickly becomes apparent that she has no emotions for them and that boredom is the only reason she has impure relationships with them. Her guardian/grandmother knows all the unclean things Catherine is involved in and believes that it is a good education for her future life at court. The Duke of Norfolk (her uncle) soon visits Horsham and decides it's time for Catherine to come to court and be a lady in waiting to the Queen.

When Catherine arrives at court she is overwhelmed. All of the Queens ladies ignore her and she is constantly compared to her late cousin and former Queen...Anne Boleyn. The only two who show any kindness is the current Queen and Lady Jane Rochford. In her first few weeks at court she continues to act as she did at Horsham and ends up having a quick affair with the first charming man she meets. A few days after that incident she becomes attracted to Thomas Culpeper and they begin a passionate love affair.

Unfortunately, Catherine soon discovers her uncles true meaning for bringing her to court. King Henry VIII will soon be free of his current wife/queen and Catherine is to be her replacement. King Henry is quickly besotted with Catherine and lavishes her with the most extravagant things. Catherine plays her part well and feigns innocence with the King, while at the same time continuing her love affair with Thomas.

Threats from her past, at Horsham, come to her in full force at court. There is no one she can truly trust and everyone has some selfish use for her. She tries to think a way to escape and live a happy life with Thomas, but she soon realizes where her inevitable and unwelcome destiny lies.

Catherine is now Queen and her physical love affair with Thomas ends, but she can not help what her heart still feels. She shows King Henry VIII all of the love and respect possible and ends up truly caring for him. Catherine believes herself to be safe from all of her past threats and soon, with the help of Lady Rochford, secretly meets Thomas. She remains faithful to the King but those who are still a threat to her view it as an opportunity to seal her fate. King Henry VIII soon learns of Catherine's transgressions and joins her fate with that of her cousin Anne Boleyn...


When I first decided to read this book, I was excited at the prospect of learning more about Catherine Howard, a queen I knew little about. Unfortunately after reading it I still feel as though she is a distant character. Catherine was very unlikable in this novel; it was impossible to see anything deeper then her childish and one dimensional character. Since everyone was so one dimensional, it unfortunately resulted in not really caring what happened to them. The characters might not have been in depth but the scenery was. The author's descriptions of clothing, banquets, gardens, etc. were absolutely wonderful. I was able to read the book quickly and never felt tired of it but at the same time I did not have a strong desire to find out what happened next. I do have to say the ending was really emotional, touching, and beautifully written. If only the rest of the book had been written in that manner, it would have been an excellent read.


A little extra:
After reading this book I can definitely say that my interest in Catherine Howard has been piqued. Below is the actual letter from Catherine to her lover Thomas while she was Queen.

~The surviving letter from Queen Catherine Howard to Master Thomas Culpeper~

"Master Culpeper,
I heartily recommend me unto you, praying you to send me word how that you do. It was showed me that you was sick, the which thing troubled me very much till such time that I hear from you praying you to send me word how that you do, for I never longed so much for a thing as I do to see you and to speak with you, the which I trust shall be shortly now. That which doth comfortly me very much when I think of it, and when I think again that you shall depart from me again it makes my heart die to think what fortune I have that I cannot be always in your company. It my trust is always in you that you will be as you have promised me, and in that hope I trust upon still, praying you that you will come when my Lady Rochford is here for then I shall be best at leisure to be at your commandment, thanking you for that you have promised me to be so good unto that poor fellow my man which is one of the griefs that I do feel to depart from him for then I do know no one that I dare trust to send to you, and therefore I pray you take him to be with you that I may sometime hear from you one thing. I pray you to give me a horse for my man for I had much ado to get one and therefore I pray send me one by him and in so doing I am as I said afor, and thus I take my leave of you, trusting to see you shortly again and I would you was with me now that you might see what pain I take in writing to you.
Yours as long as life endures,
Katheryn.
One thing I had forgotten and that is to instruct my man to tarry here with me still for he says whatsomever you bid him he will do it."

Graffiti Creator: Graffiti Murals | Graffiti Playdo

Graffiti Creator: Graffiti Murals | Graffiti Playdo. Graffiti Street Art

Cool Style Graffiti Alphabet Letters A-Z

Cool Style Graffiti Alphabet Letters A-Z. Graffiti design unique alphabet uppercase. Graffiti Fonts Black and White

Old Style Hat

OK, we are wrapping up the Hat series today with this one. I am not sure what this style hat was called, but they were very popular. You see a lot of pictures from the 1910's where there are crowds of people, and every person in the crowd is wearing one of these hats.

I find this picture a little awkward. It looks like he is seated on the armrest of the bench. But looking at the leg of the bench, and where the armrest would be, it looks like he would be falling or tipping over.

Graffiti Alphabet Scramble: Create Graffiti-Style Letters

Graffiti Alphabet Scramble: Create Graffiti-Style Letters. Graffiti alphabet full color graphics

A Spaniard in a Roman plaza in Manila

In front of the Manila Cathedral is a small park with a fountain and a bronze statue. During the Spanish colonial period, the open space was called the Plaza Mayor and was the site of bull fights and other public events. In 1797, the Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines Rafael Maria de Aguilar y Ponce de Leon turned it into a garden. The bronze statue of Carlos IV, king of Spain from 1788 to 1808, was installed in 1824 as a tribute for his sending the first smallpox vaccine to the Philippines. During the American period, the park was named Plaza McKinley after William McKinley, who was then the president of the United States. Since 1960, it has been called Plaza Roma because of a reciprocal agreement between the Philippine government and the Vatican (there's supposed to be a Piazza Manila somewhere in Rome).



The Intramuros Administration says that they refurbished the park in 1980. I think it's about time that they reconditioned the bronze statue again.

3D Graffiti Alfabeto: 3D Graffiti Alphabet Letters

3D Graffiti Alfabeto: 3D Graffiti Alphabet Letters. Cool alphabet graffiti design software. New alphabet graffiti style

ATOS

Trainsformerz

MCats

Love Cops, Hate Art

Moa

MST

Tauro

Seneca

A few Seneca quotes (specially for bing index)

"A great mind becomes a great fortune."

"A happy life is one which is in accordance with its own nature."

"Expecting is the greatest impediment to living. In anticipation of tomorrow, it loses today."

"It is more fitting for a man to laugh at life than to lament over it."

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult."

Rile

Dedicated to Alora Brooke

APH

Alphabet Graffiti Graphic Design: 3D Graffiti

3D Graffiti Art Alphabet Letters. Alphabet Graffiti Graphic Design

How To Write Graffiti Letters Name in English With a Variety of Fonts on Facebook

How to write graffiti letters name in English with a variety of fonts on Facebook. How to write the alphabet letters graffiti design as above.

Old Hat

This picture is from the early 1900's and shows a man in a suit and tie, with a nice hat. I notice he is wearing a necktie not unlike ties of today. I wonder when this type of necktie became popular. Also, I notice his eyeglasses do not have the little arms that go back over the ears.