MEDIUM RARE Holy Mother Church calls it Black Saturday. On my wall calendar, courtesy of a bank, the designation of Black Saturday is augmented with the declaration of “special holiday” (whereas Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are regular holidays). A “black” day, going by liturgical...
MEDIUM RARE In December we celebrate the birth of the Baby with all the joy and hoopla of parenthood. Dec. 25 is not one day but the highlight of a season of joy. We exchange gifts, put on our best clothes, share a part of ourselves with overflowing charity and compassion. Then we welcome the...
MEDIUM RARE Friends of Zenaida Seva, the only astrologer they know in the world and the Philippines, held a little memorial lunch in her honor last Saturday, now that she “continues onward on her soul’s journey” (in her own words). She has left us and must now be traveling toward Cassiopeia,...
MEDIUM RARE Fast and furious. That’s how she was. Cecile Licad on piano, playing Tchaikovsky in a slightly faster tempo than I’ve ever heard before, her fingers racing up and down the keyboard to empower her glittering glissandos and thunderous chords. Her audience was struck by lightning as it...
MEDIUM RARE As the man said, music shakes off the dust of everyday living. What is music? The most elusive of the arts, hard to define or even describe, yet nothing like music to touch the heart, refresh the mind, enliven the spirit. The one thing to add to the joy of performing or listening...
MEDIUM RARE It’s a fairy tale city, a skyline scalloped gently in colors of brick, stone, and tiles. To leave Prague without a visit to the 200-plus-year-old Prague Castle is a crime. Did President Bongbong Marcos just commit a crime, all because the dedicated, determined, professional killjoys...
MEDIUM RARE If life is a dream, and because most trees live longer than human beings, there must be a message there somewhere from the Creator. As a friend used to say, “Trees are more useful than some people.” And now another friend is saying, “Donate to Gift of a Tree App” and help the...
MEDIUM RARE Easter Bunny. Easter eggs. What’s the connection between an egg and a rabbit? Rabbits don’t pop out of an egg, but since ancient times, the tradition of an egg hunt in spring, particularly after the somber season of Lent, speaks volumes of mankind’s concept of life, birth,...
MEDIUM RARE Somewhere between grade three and four I must’ve missed out on geography as a “must” subject, otherwise I‘d know more about Batangas and its scenic, painterly beauty. After a visit there last weekend, I can now describe one spot in the province as the place to escape to, away...
MEDIUM RARE Are we talking about saving water now that the well is dry or almost dry? Hectare upon hectare of farmland in San Miguel, Bulacan, home province of Angat dam where Metro Manila gets its fair share of water for our taps, is experiencing thirst. Zamboanga City is under a state of calamity...
MEDIUM RARE Of all the places in the world to meet on a Sunday, it had to be in a mall. But exorcists need time out to relax and be in touch with the real world once in a while, too, don’t they? Fr. Joesy Syquia, well-known in the Archdiocese of Metro Manila as an exorcist authorized by the...
MEDIUM RARE When I showed up at lunch one day, there began immediately a smallscale debate on what color I was wearing. Salmon? Orange? No, I said, peach, or better yet, peachy. Color of the year, I added. Thereupon began another debate. Peach is not the color of the year, someone said, it’s...
