Sunday, October 29, 2017

20 Famous quotations of famous novelists to live by

20 Famous quotations of famous novelists to live by
 There are quotations that reflect the writer and his story, immortalizing his novel in the like of "the singer and the song."  
Selected and compiled 
By Dr Abe V Rotor 

A novel is long story (which differentiates it from short story). It is a narrative fiction normally in prose and published as a book. The novel has about two thousand years of history, originating from classical Greece and Rome. The versatility of media today has transformed  reading the novel to viewing it on the screen.  With TV and the computer one can enjoy his favorite novel in the living room - or anywhere with his iPhone - at his convenience. This "shortcut" loses much of the essence, including the theme and message of the story. The beauty and power of words are also underestimated, save certain quotations that reflect the story and the writer, immortalizing famous novels in the like of "the singer and the song."    

Related image
"Only a mediocre person is always at his best." Somerset Maugham 


Dr Jose Rizal is author of the Philippine most famous novels Noli Me Tangera and El Filibusterismo 

"The victor belongs   to the spoils." F. Scott Fitzgerald  



Prose is architecture, not interior decoration.
– Ernest Hemingway

To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.
– Herman Melville 

Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.
– Henry David Thoreau

Poetry creates the myth, the prose writer draws its portrait.
– Jean-Paul Sartre

The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.”
-Leo Tolstoy

People do not deserve to have good writing, they are so pleased with bad.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good.
– William Faulkner

It is the writer who might catch the imagination of young people, and plant a seed that will flower and come to fruition.
– Isaac Asimov

The work never matches the dream of perfection the artist has to start with.
– William Faulkner

Begin with an individual, and before you know it you have created a type; begin with a type, and you find you have created – nothing.
– F. Scot Fitzgerald

A wounded deer leaps the highest.
– Emily Dickinson

Only in men’s imagination does every truth find an effective and undeniable existence. Imagination, not invention, is the supreme master of art as of life.
– Joseph Conrad

Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Related imageIf you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.
– Edgar Rice 
Burroughs


Anecdotes don’t make good stories. Generally I dig down underneath them so far that the story that finally comes out is not what people thought their anecdotes were about.
– Alice Munro

Words are a lens to focus one’s mind.
– Ayn Rand

My own experience is that once a story has been written, one has to cross out the beginning and the end. It is there that we authors do most of our lying.
– Anton Chekhov

I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose.
– Stephen King.

Acknowledgement: Internet 

Verses in Ilokano: (Berso ni Bersio)

"Dumanon langit ti maikatlo nga takyag 
ni Apo Baket."
A helping hand to an elderly reaches heaven,
figuratively speaking.

Dr Abercio (Bersio) V Rotor
Columnist, Okeyka Apong: Dagiti Tawid a Sirib ken Adal (Heritage of Wisdom and Lessons), Bannawag Magazine (weekly magazine in Ilocano, published  by Manila Bulletin)  
1. Nangisngisit nasamsam-it -
Bugnay.

The darker it is, the sweeter. Duhat

2. Bislat: pagbaut, pagsurat
Ken sarukud.

Cane is for whipping, writing, and walking


3. Adda mata dagiti kaykayo,
No rumabii.

The trees have eyes at night.


4. Agkakabsat, aggugubat.
Ay, daksanggasat!

Brothers fighting each other in war,
what a tragedy! 

5. Sabong nagukrad, alimbubuyog,
Makasulisug.

 An open flower attract a 
bee. (photo) 

6. Alipupus dua, maysa’t muging,
Nasukir isuna.

He who has two hair pools with one 

on the forehead is stubborn 

7. Perlas ken lua pangar-arigan
Panagkaddua.

Pearls and tears are symbols of friendship.


8. Pan-nangan’ awan agsaramsam,
Ti nagbaetan.

Don't eat between meals.

9. Dumanon langit maikatlo nga takyag 
Ni Apo Baket.

A helping hand to an elderly reaches heaven,
figuratively, speaking.

10. Agar-arasaas diay dadapilan,
Bubud diay burnay.

The sugarcane crusher whispers, 

so with the brew (must) in the earthen jar.

11. Agparparintomeng, awan maka-asideg.
Lunsa-lunsa.

This kneeling creature dares anyone to get near. 
(preying mantis) - photo

12. Agbilangka't sangagasot ken maysa
No agduaduaka.

Count one-hundred-and-one if you are in doubt.


13. Itudom amin ida, no awan basolmo
ken nadaluska.

Point the blame at all 
others, if you are sinless 
and pure. It is analogous to "He who has no sin casts the first stone." (Statement of Christ before
a mob about to stone a sinner to death.)

14. Gura ken ayat, bumtak wenno umpes,
Kasla ulep.

Hate and love, like cloud, breaks and disappears.

15. Umisemkan tapno maturogen
Iti bulan.

Smile so that the moon goes to sleep.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Life is Synergy

Abe V Rotor
Jungle in acrylic AVR

Life ‘s more than the sum of its parts,
as each creature comes and departs;
synergy the key to unity,
diversity and harmony
and seat of a great mystery.




Basi Revolt of 1807 in Paintings

Basi Revolt of 1807 in Paintings 
Bantaoay River (San Vicente Ilocos Sur)
Researched by Dr Abe V Rotor

Basi Revolt 1807 - Paintings by Esteban Villanueva
The revolt took place 400 km north of Manila where Diego and Gabriela Silang heroically fought Spanish rule 50 years before. It was precipitated by the declaration of Wine Monopoly by the local Spanish government that virtually took from the hands of small cottage brewers an industry the Ilocos region enjoyed long before Spain colonized the islands. Basi was carried by the Galleon trade plying Ciudad Fernandina (now Vigan City) and Europe via Acapulco, Mexico (1565-1815). 

The final battle took place along the Bantaoay River that runs through the town of San Vicente, some 4 km from the capital where the industry flourished. Scores of Spanish soldiers and natives were killed. Although the revolt spread to as far as Ilocos Norte, and Pangasinan to the south, it culminated on September 29, 1907 with the public execution of the captured rebels. 

Fourteen big oil paintings depicting the Basi Revolt, also known as Ambaristo Revolt (named after its leader) can be seen today at the Vigan Ayala Museum, which is housed in the original residence of Filipino priest martyr, Fr. Jose Burgos. The painter, Don Esteban Villanueva was an eyewitness of this historic event. 

Today, the Basi Revolt lives on with the fine taste and tradition of this unique product standing among the best wines of the world. Nine of the paintings are posted here.  

 
 
 
  
Basi is the flagship of wine products of San Vicente Ilocos Sur which include fruit wine from chico, pineapple, dragon fruit, guava, and the like, and the popular sukang Iloko (Ilocos Vinegar). ~

Monday, October 23, 2017

Rice cake: Suman et al

Suman is a rice cake originating from the Philippines. It is made from glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk, often wrapped in banana leaves or buli or buri palm leaves for steaming. It is usually eaten sprinkled with sugar or laden with latikWikipedia
Dr Abe V Rotor
Suman


Tupig

Patupat


Gift of Ceres to our land
in paddies golden in the sun;
manna at par with any kind,
for the young and folks around -
in celebration or just for fun -
life's without the suman.


All ingredients are local farm products: coconut, red sugar, and wrappings of banana leaves.  Patupat basket is made of coconut leaves, suman sa ibo is wrapped with buri leaves. Even the bila-o is made of woven bamboo and rattan. It is associated with farm life. such as milling of sugar cane, harvesting rice, and on such social occasions like harana (serenade), fiesta, or just a simple celebration. The quaintness that goes with these delicacies creates a festive atmosphere that is part of our cultural heritage.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Ügot ken Atab’ (Low Tide and High Tide): Haiku in Ilocano

Dr. Abe V. Rotor
Columnist,
Dagiti Tawid a Sirib ken Adal (Our Heritage of Values and Lessons)
Bannawag, Ilocano Weekly Magazine
Published by Manila Bulletin 
   Children Playing at Low Tide, in acrylic by AV Rotor

1. Agsinsinnublat,
Agmalmalem, agpatpatnag,
Ugot, atab’.
High and low tides come one after the other all day and night through.

2. Agkalintudo:
Ti nangisit pumuraw,
Puraw ngumisit.
Under continuous rain, black turns into white, and white into black.                                                                                     
3. Natagtagari,
No panagtutudo’t
Waig diay ngato.
It’s noisier upstream in the rainy season.

Rampage after heavy rain painting by the author 

4. Maisa kaniada,
Pobre agparti’t manok,
Iti masakit.
If a poor man decides to eat his fowl - one of them is sick.

5. Panaginnayat
Diay bassit a kalapaw
Napudno unay.
Love that reigns in a simple home is true.

6. Rupat’ arigna
Uray nakakidemka,
Panagsarita.
Without looking you know the character of a person the way he talks.

7. Karraragsakan
Mangparagsak dagiti
Malmalday unay.
He who makes sad people happy is the happiest person.

8. Agbiddut ngata,
Ti awan aramidna,
Agmaymaysa?
Will one who hasn’t done anything commit error?

9. Awan agpada:
Bul-bulong, bit-bituen,
Kapanunutan.
No two leaves or stars are the same, so with thoughts.

10. Napnuan saririt,
Kabusor, rig-rigat,
Pannakaabak.
One has enough wisdom from trials, sufferings, failures.

11. Lukipem sakbay
Lukatam ti panunot,
Usisaem pay.
Study a thing first before you make your mind.

12. Ad-adut’ matay
Iti lamut ngem bisin.
Nakababain.
More die of gluttony than hunger – what a shame.

13. Natalna unay,
Tarampo wenno pilid,
Kaar-aramid.
Spinning top and wheel, they work perfectly well when new.

14. Agbilangkanto’t
Sangagasot ket maysa,
Oras panagdua-dua.
Count one hundred and one when you are in doubt.

15. Maturog kadi’t
Karasaen ken buaya?
Agan-annadka.
The wicked does not sleep – beware.

16. Atiddag iti biag
No dakkel iti lapayag.
Agkalkal-lingag.
He who has big ears lives long; he is keen to sound.

Image result17. Sinardengam ti
Dumaldalan nga kuton,
Apo Solomon.
King Solomon halted his army for the ants to pass.

18. Makasulisug,
Makapurar ti puro
Nga balitoc.
Pure gold glitters, it so tempting.

19. Ipaka-ammom
Dagiti ma-anupan’,
Daras maawan.
A rich hunting ground is always kept secret by a hunter.

20. ‘Toy aw-awitek’,
Krus nakadagdagsen,
Ngem pangipanak?
This cross I am carrying, where shall I put it?

Friday, October 20, 2017

Old Nail on Old Wood

                           Old Nail on Old Wood

"Serendipity, a divine discovery..."  avr

Dr Abe V Rotor

Old Nail on an Old Wood with a mural background, both by the author.  
                On display at Living with Nature Center, San Vicente Ilocos Sur 2020

I found them separately and put them together,
     for what reason and how is serendipity, 
a divine discovery, and I, a disciple of Helena
     and Constantine, guardians of Christianity.

How little I know of spirituality, less of divinity,
     and the oneness of faith called universality,
where holiness bestows the pious and faithful,
     and I, I only found relics under an old tree.  

Through the crown of the tree came flying free,
     white doves against the blue sky and sea, 
where my faith blends with my old love biology, 
     And I, I am a witness of a great mystery. ~

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Signature of time passing

How time flies, we hear people say;
maybe, but it leaves something:
like first smile, first word, first step, ,
each a signature of time passing.

Dr Abe V Rotor
 Weaning leaves the infant stage behind. 

First birthday is full of love and affection.

From the confines of home to the open arms of Nature.

Bridging three generations in a row.

Youngest visitor suspends work momentarily.  
 Ate na si Mackie
Growing up with the national language guided by parents and teachers. 
 
Mackie and Lolo, Tagaytay 2016
Picking flowers with the young and old, 
    a joyful time to spend and behold;






Mackie before a wall mural by the author at her home in Lagro QC 2015



Mackie used to be afraid of the owl;
I captured the scary creature with paint brush on the wall,
where kids could talk to and touch; now the owl is friend to all. ~

Jesus T Tanchanco Remembered

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog

NFA homecoming 2012 turned out to be JT's adieu.  Author and wife present book, Living with Folk Wisdom, to former Administrator Jesus T Tanchanco. Both worked under JT, first administrator of then National Grains Authority, one of the first agencies created when President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972.  It was during JT's term that the Philippines became a net exporter of rice.  



Among the projects JT initiated was the Farmers' Museum housed at the NFA Regional Office building in Cabanatuan.  The museum focused the role of farmers as the "backbone of the nation." In the photo are the author left, and Dr Romualdo M Del Rosario (in barong) of the National Museum who assisted in the setting up of the museum. A set of seven dioramas depicting the rice industry was the centerpiece. The museum declined in post-Marcos era until it was finally phased out. Thirty years after however, the museum was re-opened.  


Living Rock

   Dr Abe V Rotor
 
       Under the shade of a fire tree,  University of Santo 
                   Tomas campus, Manila

Shower me with petals of red and orange glare,
Ephemeral on the concrete floor in summer air;
Let the sun shine on my guests - a twosome fair,
Whispering sweetly, building castles in the air. ~

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

The Candle Man

Dr Abe V Rotor
Candle Vendor,  San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

He looks into your eyes, queer, penetrating,
candles, sir, for the Apo;
and you look into his eyes, gentle, appealing,
and pay, from others' view;
something mysterious this candle man seems,
ask, "'tang how old are you?"   
Repeating the question like talking to a deaf,
answers low, "one century ago." 

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Part 2 - Paradise Lost in Our Midst


Part 2 -  Paradise Lost in Our Midst
This article serves as reminder in observing World 
Environment Day. *  

 Dead Tree Standing, Mt Pulag, Benguet

“As politics starts with good citizens, so ecology starts with us who in
mind and spirit respond to the call of unity and harmony with nature.” - AV Rotor

Recently I was a speaker on ecology before students at St. Paul College QC. It was in observance to Guidance Week with emphasis to values education.   It was also a demonstration of integrating art in science teaching, an alternative methodology that makes a subject not only better understood but experienced. Hence it is also called experiential learning.

When I received the invitation, I said why can't  I try the approach I used at St. Paul?  Prof. Arlene and I had a lengthy talk regarding the outline of my discussion which I am going to present - and if you would allow me – I will use it in conducting a similar exercise with you which would take some ten minutes. 

First, “governance in the hands of the few,” mean autocratic and monopolistic rule, which has led to abuses of power in manipulating the affairs of the state.

v  Throughout history such abuses have been committed not only in closed societies, but in open societies as well.

v  Dictatorship – call it benevolent dictatorship which was claimed as the trademark of Lee Kwan Yu, Park Chung He, Chang Kai Sek, et al *– is without the shade of radical dictators like Pol Pot and Stalin.
  
v  We often hear people asking, “What about World Bank and IMF, GATT which led to World Trade Organization?  Do they also bear the brand of dictatorship?”

Second, there is “low priority of government on effective resource management” is true.  Let us look at it this way as gleamed from Prof. Arlene’s paper. 

v  Environmental management today focuses on ecology and conservation. There is much debate until now whether it is better to adopt total log ban or selective logging.  It is a sort of battle between fundamental and practical ecology.  Remember the Alaska oil pipeline conflict?

v  The thrust of environmental management in colonial times was exploitation. Our best timber was exploited during the Spanish and American colonization, and Japanese occupation. The Japanese mined Taiwan’s ancient forest. The Dutch thinned the Indonesian forest. Other colonies suffered the same. 

v  The strength of our economy when we were second to Japan in Asia was based on a vibrant exportation of raw materials such as lumber, copra, sugar, ores, etc. 

v  Cash crops economy as dollar earner bears the design of our sound economy in the past, but the player is the agri-businessman and not the small farmer.

Third, environmental degradation is a syndrome of modern society.

v  It dates way back to pre-history, but the problem is exacerbated by the growth of population and affluence.

v  Aborigines too, were also destructive to the environment.  Slash-and-burn is the most destructive method of farming. Today Easter Island is a no man’s land. Much of Peru’s original vegetative cover started to decline with the Incas, so with the forest around Lake Teotihuacan in Mexico.

v  The first recorded animal that became extinct in the hands of man is the mammoth. 

Fourth, forest denudation follows the concept of the Domino theory, a kind of chain reaction. It is loss in diversity on three levels, namely

v  Genetic diversity.  Varieties and cultivars of plants, breeds of animals, strains of microorganisms are forever lost.

v  Species diversity. The species itself can be eliminated on the surface of the earth.  Examples are the saber-tooth tiger and the dodo fowl.  Thousands of species all over the world are endangered as their natural populations continue to dwindle mainly because of human exploitation.

v  Ecosystems diversity.  The loss of natural habitat is the worst kind of environmental destruction.  Deforestation will not only eliminate the resident organisms, the forest itself is lost.  It will never be one again, contrary to the belief of many.

Fifth, authoritarian rule in the Philippines from 1972 to 1982 spawned politicians and cronies whose concern for the environment cloaked a distinct privilege of exploiting our natural resources.

v  This opened a floodgate in post-martial era leading to drastic decline of forest resources, as shown by deforestation records.

v  Forest reserve was stable for years at over 15 million hectares until 1972.  It fell in 1982 by 14 percent and continued on to decline after.

v  The plunge was in 1990 when our forest reserve was cut to almost half that of the end of martial law.

v  By 1997, our forest reserve represents only 18 percent of our total useful land (land-use area) which is 30 million hectares. It continued to decline after. 

v  What is appalling is that our land area devoted to different uses (other land-use area) such as subdivisions, industrial zones, golf courses, resorts, and the like, grew to 75 percent in 1997 as compared to 12 percent only in 1960. Our farmlands today have shrunk tremendously, the main reason we resort to importation of rice and corn, fruits and vegetables, and other commodities. 

v  Without forest we will experience desertification.  Much of Southern Cebu, Northern Luzon, the two Mindoro provinces, Eastern Samar, Masbate and other provinces have virtually lost their original forests.

Six, people’s participation in environmental conservation through community organizations and NGOs is a potent force barely tapped.
Let us consider the following:

v  Growth of Civil Society. Citizens from different parts of the world regardless of affiliation, ideology, race and belief picketed the hall where the World Trade Organization was to be signed. They nearly succeeded.

v  Greenpeace, a radical organization blocked the trade route of wildlife items, demanded governments and corporations to comply with environmental laws.

v  Time launched the search for Heroes for the Earth.  They are the likes of Rachel Carson (Silent Spring), Schumacher (Small is Beautiful), Cousteau (Oceanography pioneer), Macliing (Chico River project rebel)
  
Seven, there are social scientists who believe that ecology struggle is part of a larger ideological struggle.

v  Andre Gorz (pen name Michel Bosquet) sees ecology struggle not as an end in itself but as an essential part of the larger struggle against capitalism and technofascism.  He champions a “shifting of power from government the state and political parties to the local community and the web of social relations that individuals establish amongst themselves.”

v  Rudolf Bahro, a German philosopher, wrote “Historical Compromise” in which he blamed monopoly capitalism’s constant search for new profits as the major cause of the environment crisis threatening humanity.

Without being ideological however, there are pieces of thoughts we can gather in creating a world order of ecology. Let us consider this excerpt.  To wit:
“The privileged today are not those can consume most but those who can escape the negative by-products of industrialization – people who can commute outside rush hours, be born or die at home, cure themselves when they are ill, breathe fresh air and build their own dwellings.” (Ivan Illich a social thinker, and author of “Vernacular Conviviality”1980.

This is related with the lessons on non-cash technology advocated by the Asian-Pacific Food and Fertilizer Technology Center in Taipei. I had the privilege to study in the center under Dr. H.T.  Chang, the proponent of this concept which is in line with those of Ernest Schumacher who wrote a book, “Small is Beautiful” which offers a people-based beyond the corporate formula of development, and Dr. James Yen, adviser to PRRM (Philippine Rural Reform Movement), the precursor of the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) which was headed by Senator Juan Flavier, then its director general for many years before becoming Health Secretary and Senator. 

“The progressive farmer is one who prepares his land more thoroughly, manages his nursery better, keeps his field more cleanly and has better water control – mainly through his effort and those of his family or community.  Non-cash extends further than mere savings of direct expenses. It keeps him away from debt and compromised market deals.  It means more harvest, free from residues of chemical fertilizer and spray. Ultimately non-cash technology means better home, education for his children, and a healthy environment.”

I remember the principal character of the “Mountain Man” who discovered the Redwoods of California and fought for their preservation.  President Lincoln took no time in signing the declaration of the area as a national park. This same man was dying, and it was his wish to die on the mountain alone. As he waited for death he saw the living giants that he thought he was already in another world. It was a turning point in his life, a new beginning.

I am sure there are amongst us persons of his own kind.  And if none can meet his measure, then we the members of the academe must create one – a thousand – from among the youth under our care.

May I invite you to reflect on this piece I wrote.

An Ecologist’s Prayer

When my days are done
let me lay down to sleep
on sweet breeze and earth
in the shade of trees
I planted in youth and old;
and if this were my last,
make, make others live
that they carry on the torch,
while my dust falls
to where new life begins -
even an atom let me be
with you dear Mother Earth.
                       - AV Rotor 2000

Updated 2013 ”A Reaction Paper to the Political Ecology of Deforestation. Paper presented by Prof. Arlene A. Ancheta in a Social Sciences Research Colloquium, University of Santo Tomas, Nov. 23, 2000

 The endangered Philippine deer enshrined in a fountain at UST, Manila 

 
Skull of whale (Museum of Natural History, UPLB Laguna; whole trunks of forest trees carried down by flood on Fuerte Beach, Vigan Ilocos Sur 

 Cattle ranch on a steep slope ripped off the skin of the mountain in Santa, Ilocos Sur - an example of the irreversible ill consequences of "Tragedy of the Commons." *
  Sunken town of Pantabangan Nueva Ecija resurfaces during a extreme drought. Nature is sacrificed to human needs, more so to human wants in pursuit of affluence.  


Sunken pier, Puerto Sto Domingo, Ilocos Sur; Shipwreck, Tacloban, Leyte.
To some scientists the "uselessness" of technology is likened to Lamarck's theory of use and disuse, though biological in perspective. Lamarck believed that disuse would result in a character or feature becoming reduced. 

 
 Ruin of Intramuros, Manila, left by WWII 60 years after. 
Death of cities is on the rise all over the world.
 Berlin wall falls, Germany is re-united in 1989 since end of WWII.
But more walls are built dividing cultures and politics.
 Death of trees and forests is happening all over the world.

*The tragedy of the commons is a term used in social science to describe a situation in a shared-resource system where individual users acting independently according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling that resource through their collective action. Proposed by Garrett James Hardin an American ecologist and philosopher who warned of the dangers of overpopulation.