White Doves in the Blue Sky

White Doves in the Blue Sky

Composite Painting by Dr Abe V Rotor

"Emissaries of good will and tiding 

uniting heaven and nature sing..." 

"... frozen in the mind like crystals,

immortalized in paint on glass."

Pet Birds - are they?

Pet Birds - are they?

Dr Abe V Rotor

Birds in captivity is a great attraction to children. Here finches of different kinds are sold in small cages. Birds are the freest creatures.  They die in captivity by exhausting themselves to death trying to get out of their confines.   

 

Pet birds in cages weaned from their nest,

to market, to market, but why the haste?

Children are waiting, urging their parents  

to buy them pets - but what a waste! 

 

A pet is a pet, and curiosity is not enough,

short live impulse, deep ignorance;

and poor child, the world is beyond him, 

to understand the difference.

 

Pet is freedom, pet is love, it is mutual;  

not in the cage but in trees singing,

a family and whole flock, it's a part of,

not money but freedom - or nothing. 

 

The children's faces are full of desire

but not of love's true expression;

Reverence for Life they must be taught;

we grownups, it's our mission. ~    

 

Artificially colored maya appear unique, it may be mistaken for another species, perhaps a rare one to the innocent customer. Colors are harmful to both birds and man because of their lead content. 

Finches are made to appear unique and "beautiful" by dyeing 

and painting them with different designs. 

 

Can you tell what these children are thinking about? Palm on check with 

serious expression maybe the turning point of reason - "if you were in the 

shoes of someone." Would you be happy if you were inside a cage? 

 

Colored day-old chicks are deceiving. It is not fair to the children, it is not fair to the Creator. ~  

Light Through the Treetops. “God is the same everywhere.”

Light Through the Treetops 

“God is the same everywhere.”

― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

Dr Abe V Rotor

Light Through the Treetops in acrylic by AV Rotor 2024

"There is a Cathedral in the woods, on the meadow, 

 over the rainbow, in the hearts of the meek and low."

"Look! It's a light tunnel from Heaven to Earth."

 

"If butterflies mingle with flowers during the day;

 so do fireflies with stars at night, I would say."

"The goal of life is living in agreement with nature.”- Zeno

"Living pillars these tree trunks resemble 

 for many creatures their home and cradle." 

"A crown of light symbolized by a white dove

that bestows the world with peace and love."

 

 

"Shafts of light bathe these trees

        and light the bottom of the forest." ~

"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous."

- Aristotle

Therapy with a Family of Ducks

 Therapy with a Family of Ducks 

Dr Abe V Rotor 

In the midst of a pandemic in a little corner,

on a backyard the world stands still;

here emerges not a revolution but of peace -

 peace of mind and being - and unity,  

a universal language unspoken in oneness

of creation in a troubled world. 

A mother duck broods over her  newly hatched offspring.

Ducklings to ducks - a transformation in two months' time.  

 

 

Daily scenes at feeding and leisure time, and on emerging 

and returning to the shed, led by a drake as head of the family. 

The Fire Trees’ Finest Hour

 The Fire Trees’ Finest Hour

Dr Abe V Rotor

Fire Trees in acrylic (34” x 55”), A V Rotor May 27, 2013

The earth is driest before the monsoon,

     yet the fire trees’ finest hour;

when everything around is prosaic and dull,

     the old trees unleash their power,

building fire in their crown to singe the sky,

     painting the sun in deep crimson,

riding on wind in glorious confetti,

     falls to the ground like setting sun.

Pity the soul that is not keen of the fire,

     stepping on petals strewn,

the bold holding the red sign of battle,

     the consoled by a lonely tune.

When there’s too little, others can’t survive,

     the fire trees live on their store;

their seasoned roots seeking the Pierian* spring,

     to share it with every creature

living on the hills by the waterfall,

     and courting  the clouds into rain,

dousing their fire that ends their finest hour,

     but neither in vain nor in pain. ~

* In Greek mythology, the Pierian Spring of Macedonia was sacred to the Muses. As the metaphorical source of knowledge of art and science, it was popularized by a couplet in Alexander Pope's 1711 poem "An Essay on Criticism": "A little learning is a dang'rous thing; / Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring." Wikipedia

Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid  with Dr Abe Rotor 

and Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM, 8 to 9 evening class Mon to Fri ~

Perpetual Enchantment of Nature's Music

 Perpetual Enchantment of Nature's Music 

No one tires with the rhythm of nature – the tides, waves, flowing rivulets, gusts of wind, bird songs, the fiddling of crickets, the shrill of cicada. In the recesses of a happy mind, one could hear the earth waking up in spring, laughing in summer, yawning in autumn and snoring in winter – and waking up again the next season, and so on ad infinitum.         

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Filipino Composers Nicanor Abelardo (Mutya ng Pasig); Antonio Molina (Hating Gabi)

Mozart and Beethoven are known for their compositions heavily influenced by Nature

There is more enchantment in ethnic music than in modern music.  

Each kind of music has its own quality, but music being a universal language, definitely has commonalities. For example, the indigenous lullaby, quite often an impromptu, has a basic pattern with that of Brahms’s Lullaby and Lucio San Pedro’s Ugoy ng Duyan (Sweet Sound of the Cradle). The range of notes, beat, tone, expression - the naturalness of a mother half-singing, half-talking to her baby, all these create a wholesome effect that binds maternal relationship, brings peace and comfort, care and love.

Serenades from different parts the world have a common touch. Compare Tosselli’s Serenade with that of our Antonio Molina’s Hating Gabi (Midnight) and you will find similarities in pattern and structure, exuding the effect that enhances the mood of lovers.  This quality is more appreciated in listening to the Kundiman (Kung Hindi Man, which means, If It Can’t Be). Kundiman is a trademark of classical Filipino composers, the greatest of them, Nicanor Abelardo.  His famous compositions are 

·         Bituin Marikit (Beautiful Star)

·         Nasaan Ka Irog (Where are You My Love)

·         Mutya ng Pasig (Muse of the River Pasig)     

·         Pakiusap (I beg to Say)

War drums on the other hand, build passion, heighten courage, and prepare the mind and body to face the challenge. It is said that Napoleon Bonaparte taught only the beat of forward, and never that of retreat, to the legendary Drummer Boy.

Lucrecia Kasilag, foremost Filipino ethno-musicologist

Classical music is patterned after natural music.

The greatest composers are nature lovers – Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and our own Abelardo, Molina, Santiago, and San Pedro.  Beethoven, the greatest naturalist among the world’s composers was always passionately fond of nature, spending many long holidays in the country.  Always with a notebook in his pocket, he scribbled down ideas, melodies or anything he observed. It was this love of the countryside that inspired him to write his famous Pastoral Symphony.  If you listen to it carefully, you can hear the singing of birds, a tumbling waterfall and gamboling lambs. Even if you are casually listening you cannot miss the magnificent thunderstorm when it comes in the fourth movement. 

Lately the medical world took notice of Mozart music and found out that the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart music can enhance brain power. In a test conducted, a student who listened to the Sonata in D major for Two Pianos performed better in spatial reason.  Mozart music was also found to reduce the frequency of seizure among coma patients, improved the interaction of autistic children, and is a great help to people who are suffering of Alzheimer’s disease.   The proponents of Mozart’s music call this therapeutic power Mozart Effect.

What really is this special effect? 

A closer look at it shows similar therapeutic effect with many sounds like the noise of the surf breaking on the shore, rustling of leaves in the breeze, syncopated movement of a pendulum, cantabile of hammock, and even in the silence of a cumulus cloud building in the sky. It is the same way Mozart repeated his melodies, turning upside down and inside out which the brain loves such a pattern, often repeated regularly every 20 to 20 seconds. 

Lucio San Pedro (composer of Ugoy ng Duyan, an indigenous lullaby) 

This is about the same length of time as brain-wave patterns and those that govern regular bodily functions such as breathing and walking. It is this frequency of patterns in Mozart music that moderates irregular patterns of epilepsy patients, tension-building hormones, and unpleasant thoughts.

No one tires with the rhythm of nature – the tides, waves, flowing rivulets, gusts of wind, bird songs, the fiddling of crickets, and the shrill of cicada. In the recesses of a happy mind, one could hear the earth waking up in spring, laughing in summer, yawning in autumn and snoring in winter – and waking up again the next year, and so on ad infinitum.         

"Blogs hailed as agents of change, relevance, hope." - INQUIRER.net

 "Blogs hailed as agents of change, relevance, hope." -  INQUIRER.net

Living with Nature avrotor.blogspot.com 

wins Best Web Log (Blog) for Nature and Environment

"... We, the bloggers in Nature and Environment, are all winners in the great quest of saving our Mother Earth.  We are pioneers in today's revolution - environmental revolution - the greatest movement ever that involves every citizen of the world to carry out all means of taking care of our only home - Planet Earth. Congratulations to other blogs as well for their support to this great cause; and to the organizers of this awards night." 

 - Abe V Rotor, quoted in an interview with Inquirer.net

Blogs hailed as agents of change, relevance, hope
(See story below)

 

Dr Abe V Rotor expresses gratitude to the judges, organizers and audience after receiving the award of Best Blog for Nature and Environment 2015 during the Philippine Blogging Awards night at the SMX Aura, Taguig last November 22, 2015. With him is program's dynamic master of ceremonies, Mr Cris Urbano.  

Blogs hailed as agents of change, 
relevance, hope

By: Yuji Vincent Gonzales

@YGonzalesINQ  INQUIRER.net

Whoever said that blogging is only for the young?

For 75-year-old Abe Rotor, age is not a hindrance to make the most out of the digital media. In fact, at his age, Rotor is currently maintaining three blogs, and has a total of about 5,000 posts since he started blogging in 2008. “I tell you, I enjoy blogging even in the middle of the night, or wake up early in the morning to finish a lesson or two,” he said.

Rotor, who won the best nature and environment blog in the Bloggys 2015 Awards for anvotor.blogspot.com, told INQUIRER.net that blogs should be used as instruments of compassion, interconnectedness and universality.

“The blog is one avenue you can express many things—you can express your creativity, your thoughts, your feelings, and things we think that the computer may lack like love and compassion. That’s not true. Use the blog and put your feelings there,” Rotor said in an interview during the Philippine Blog Awards Night at SM Aura in Taguig City on Saturday.

“Have compassion with people. Have your advocacy, just don’t be moralistic. Blog is the modern way of publishing. And you are always right when you blog on the condition that you are truthful and you do your research,” he added.

Rotor, award-winning author of “The Living With Nature” handbook and a former professor at the University of Santo Tomas, said bloggers should be guided by “universal values” and channel their emotions in telling their stories.

“You’ll see that the blog creates universality. So you have to be guided by universal values if you want to maintain your blog and appreciate it. You must not only address your blog to Filipinos, to your friends, but to the whole world,” said Rotor, who also served as scientist at the Department of Science and Technology, director of the National Food Authority, and Senate consultant on food and agriculture.

“You know how to blog, you know how to use social media, but don’t make it as a robot. Make it alive. Make your blog speak—speak of truth, speak of happiness, speak of sorrow. But in the end, it will have to show some kind of hope, a new determination, a new life. Don’t stop your story by being tragic at the end,” he added.

Added-value

For e-commerce advocate and Bloggys 2015 judge Janette Toral, blogs are relevant in this day and age because they share additional insights and knowledge that “usually goes beyond what the traditional media would cover.”

“I think blogs are relevant the moment they add value to their readers. The moment readers get entertained, the more readers get informed and get additional insight, and at the same time they were also able to change the lives of their readers in one way or the other, whether in perspective or in the way they do things, I think that’s when a blog becomes relevant,” Toral told INQUIRER.net.

“It has to establish a niche and go beyond just publishing a brand story. It’s about how they put themselves in the story, their insight, and how they exert effort to become relevant to their readers. Their story should not be about them but how their story will help their readers make a better decision,” she added.

Torral said bloggers should see their interest or hobby as an opportunity to foster goodwill and to promote “ideas that will make our country better.”

“Sometimes bloggers are afraid to do certain things because they saw others doing it already and they don’t want to be accused of copying. At the end of the day we all have our different audience… A blog needs to establish a certain relationship to their readers and the people who believe in them,” she added.

Meanwhile, investigative journalist Raissa Robles, who won the award for best blog in the society and politics category for raissarobles.com, said blogs can be agents of change in the “crossroads” that is the 2016 elections, as she sought the support of her fellow bloggers for a special project.

“We have to choose wisely and we have to choose well. Freedom is very much alive in this country,” Robles said in a short speech after accepting her award.

‘Alive, well, and world-class’

Highlighting the “talent, passion, and impact” of the entries, INQUIRER.net editor in chief and judge John Nery shared how the panel had a difficulty in picking the winners because many blogs have world-class quality.

“The Philippine blogging scene is alive and well,” Nery said in his closing remarks.

“Precisely because of the quality, I think it’s important to stress that each of the finalist should be considered as a winner, too,” he added.

Bloggys, a nationwide blogging event, recognized the “most relevant and engaging” blogs owned and written by Filipinos. Bloggers and readers started nominating entries in September.

Aside from Rotor and Robles, this year’s Bloggys winners include googleygoeys.com for arts and entertainment, projectvanity.com for beauty and fashion, tycoon.ph for business and finance, asksonnie.info for corporate and brand, teachwithjoy.com for family and relationships, michaelsshadesofblue.blogspot.com for fiction and literature, pepper.ph for food and dining, pinoyfitness.com for health and fitness, wheninmanila.com for lifestyle and hobbies, thedailypedia.com for news and events, sawrites.blogspot.com for personal diary, two2travel.com for photo blog, pinoymountaineer.com for sports and recreation, backtogaming.com for technology and Internet, and biyaherongbarat.com for travel and places.

Pepper.ph was also awarded as the best designed blog and the overall Bloggys champion. TVJ

11:25 PM November 21st, 2015- See more at: http://technology.inquirer.net/45393/blogs-hailed-as-agents-of-change-relevance-hope#sthash.OGGaKwzq.dpuf ~