Sunday 23 August 2009

notes and letters home #119

I was skimming through Jeffrey Sachs’ book: Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet (Penguin, 2008), and i thought i should jot down some notes. I've taken liberty with some of the text. Am just glad this is a blog and not an academic paper. He he.
Sachs, like most economists, believes that China, India and Brazil will rise to economic dominance in the world stage. He argues that in particular, the rise of China is causing massive global change. China"s demand for raw materials from around the world is huge and rapidly growing. It needs forest products for residential and commercial construction. And this will lead to large-scale deforestation especially in Southeast Asia which supplies China’s demand for tropical hardwood. The environmental consequences are ominous and the Philippines will not be exempt. The Philippine Cordillera is a source of raw timber. The forested mountains of the Cordillera and of Mainit, are not immune from logging, legal or otherwise.
(Be wary when those rich magnates or high ranking military or politicians start visiting your local forests to ‘protect’ them).
In addition to the consequences of China’s rise as a major global economic power, are some of the impacts of climate change as cited in the Stern report, the IPCC AR 4th, etc. Warmer temperatures will lead to increased disease transmission due to widening geographic range eg malaria expanding into highland areas (in Australia tiger mosquitoes that carry dengue fever are expanding down into southern latitudes). Climate change aided by pollution, will cause a decline in Agricultural productivity, and availability of water. The threat of natural hazards will be heightened. The Philippines will face threats of extreme weather: more severe typhoons and prolonged droughts. It is also under constant threat of volcanoes and earthquakes.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, Mainit like many a Cordillera village or hamlet, meets many of the criteria of a self-sustaining community. It has moderate temperatures and is ideally situated with access to freshwater all year-round, good soils and fields with means of irrigation. It is relatively safe from tropical diseases but this could all change drastically.

Sachs is a proponent of sustainable development. In the Cordillera the problems posed by climate change and water stress can be countered with sustainable development. Foremost is the need to protect invaluable water resources and thus ensure the supply of potable water. Sanitation and hygiene issues have to be attended and brought to a manageable level or standard. Efficient agriculture and irrigation strategies such as drip irrigation, low-till systems, crop diversification, elimination of pesticides, domestic trade etc, should all be considered. The protection of traditional knowledge, innovations and practices can help conserve biodiversity. And to sustain food resources, people should learn to reduce meat consumption, and stop fully the consumption of endangered species as frogs, snakes, birds etc. Agriculture systems may also be complemented with a blue revolution: sound aquaculture such as fish farming.

The Cordillera is our homeland. Mainit is our home. It is not just where our parents or grandparents and their ancestors come from. To continue to enjoy this privilege, we cannot wait for the world to act. We cannot rely on government, NGOs, or foreign aid. But we can act now. Lobby the local officials and policy makers. As parents, talk to schoolteachers about curriculum development and raise issues such as littering and pollution, and the problems associated with local livelihood activities such as the use of mercury in small-scale mining.

Sachs showed very graphically the huge disparity between US military spending ($600B) and US aid ($20B). The developing world can only thus live in hope that america will come to their aid even in the event of dire crisis. And to live in hope that America will somehow suddenly shift policy and priority is folly. Fighting wars averts leaders' eyes and distracts them from even the basic commitments to the world’s poorest and dying people. America have their destiny- Sachs and others say that the end of the american empire is nigh. And we have ours.

Our geography is not our destiny, i agree with Sachs, rather it shapes our destiny. Respecting our fragile environment is the key. Our geography determines what industry we can have, the type of services we need eg infrastructure roads, schools, medical, and utilities, telecommunications, our agriculture etc. A strategy for sustainable development will take into account our natural resources, local climate and soil types, relations with our neighbours, the integrity of our political institutions etc. These are the variables that need to be balanced for a stable society.

Having lived in Australia for some time now, i can appreciate the paradox of enrichment: that humanity’s success in appropriating the earth’s resources could prove to be its downfall (vide Sachs). This was highlighted during the years of hubris syndrome suffered by the Bush, Blair and Howard governments. Power went to these men's heads. They believed they knew best. The war in Iraq is just one such delusion. Their supreme arrogance in implementing policy favoring the rich at the expense of the poor and disadvantaged, at the expense of the environment, really hit hard. It seemed that their policies were geared to achieving a high standard of living for them and their mates and their families for generations on end, at whatever cost. I often wondered if this was achieved - that the world is left with billionaires, but if they didn’t have a planet to live in – what’s the point?

Mark Twain on American Imperialism in the Philippines

Mark Twain. "The man who was so livid with anger at his country's arrogance abroad that he laid aside his own work to inveigh against imperialism."
Arguably by Christopher Hitchens. 
http://web.archive.org/web/20061010154645/http://shs.westport.k12.ct.us/conetta/US+History+Docs/mark_twain+anti-imperialism.htm
(accessed 19 may 2009)

Mark Twain – Anti-Imperialist
I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land.- Mark Twain quoted in A Pen Warmed Up in Hell
To the Person Sitting in Darkness
By Mark Twain
From Jim Zwick, ed., Mark Twain's Weapons of Satire: Anti-Imperialist Writings on the Philippine-American War (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1992). Introduction and notes Copyright © 1992 Jim Zwick. All rights reserved.

xxxxextract followsxxxx

Mark Twain, The Greatest American Humorist, Returning Home, New York World [London, October 6, 1900] You ask me about what is called imperialism. Well, I have formed views about that question. I am at the disadvantage of not knowing whether our people are for or against spreading themselves over the face of the globe. I should be sorry if they are, for I don't think that it is wise or a necessary development. As to China, I quite approve of our Government's action in getting free of that complication. They are withdrawing, I understand, having done what they wanted. That is quite right. We have no more business in China than in any other country that is not ours. There is the case of the Philippines. I have tried hard, and yet I cannot for the life of me comprehend how we got into that mess. Perhaps we could not have avoided it -- perhaps it was inevitable that we should come to be fighting the natives of those islands -- but I cannot understand it, and have never been able to get at the bottom of the origin of our antagonism to the natives. I thought we should act as their protector -- not try to get them under our heel. We were to relieve them from Spanish tyranny to enable them to set up a government of their own, and we were to stand by and see that it got a fair trial. It was not to be a government according to our ideas, but a government that represented the feeling of the majority of the Filipinos, a government according to Filipino ideas. That would have been a worthy mission for the United States. But now -- why, we have got into a mess, a quagmire from which each fresh step renders the difficulty of extrication immensely greater. I'm sure I wish I could see what we were getting out of it, and all it means to us as a nation.
xxxx

Mark Twain Quotations - PHILIPPINES
http://www.twainquotes.com/Philippines.html
(accessed 19 may 2009)

This archipelago was benevolently assimilated by the puissant Republic. It was first ingeniously wrested from its owners, by help of the unsuspicious owners themselves, then it was purchased from its routed and dispossessed foreign possessors at a great price. This made the title perfect, even elegant. Also it added a Great Power to Blitzowski's riches and distinctions of that sort. The new Great Power was really no greater than it was before; the addition of the mud-piles was about the equivalent of adding a prairie-dog village to a mountain range, but the artificial expansion produced by the addition was so vast that it may justly be likened to a case of "before and after": the great Captive Balloon of Paris lying flat and observed by no passer-by, before filling, and the same balloon high in the air, rotund, prodigious, its belly full of gas, the wonder and admiration of a gazing world....The native bacilli of the islets are of the kind called "benevolent" by the Blitzowski scientist...Yes, they are small, like their archipelago, but to hear the Republic talk about the combination, you would think she had been annexing four comets and a constellation.- "Three Thousand Years among the Microbes"
The funniest thing was when at the close of the Spanish-American War the United States paid poor decrepit old Spain $20,000,000 for the Philippines. It was just a case of this country buying its way into good society. Honestly, when I read in the papers that this deal had been made, I laughed until my sides ached. There were the Filipinos fighting like blazes for their liberty. Spain would not hear to it. The United States stepped in, and after they had licked the enemy to a standstill, instead of freeing the Filipinos they paid that enormous amount for an island which is of no earthly account to us; just wanted to be like the aristocratic countries of Europe which have possessions in foreign waters. The United States wanted to be in the swim, and it, too, had to branch out, like an American heiress buying a Duke or an Earl. Sounds well, but that's all.-

interview "Mark Twain in Clover / Joseph in the Land of Cornbread and Chicken." Baltimore Sun, 10 May 1907, p. 14

ps 24 December 2016.

Saturday 22 August 2009

homer's read lists july & august 09

august 09 blog pt 3 some august writers and reads



This collection includes some august writers.

Monbiot is a provocative writer whose ideas have attracted great debate. His book “the age of consent” is just one of those that question the status quo. This book challenges existing political systems and structures while questioning their relevance in addressing global inequalities.

“Beyond the brink” is a sequel to an earlier book by Australian farmer Peter Andrews. This deals with restoration of landscapes destroyed by human activity. Andrews proposes what is now referred to as 'Natural Sequence Farming' - a rural landscape management technique aimed at restoring natural water cycles that allow the land to flourish despite drought conditions. This is based on the principle of reintroducing natural landscape patterns and processes as they would have existed in Australia prior to European settlement. There are lessons here that may be applied to our denuded vegetable mountainside farms in the Cordillera.

The controversial Hitchens champions Orwell as only he can. Orwell's Victory is a good addition to understanding one of the great writers.

Idries Shah on Sufism is a great resource into other teachings, faiths and cultures – a must for modern societal harmony and tolerance.

I heard of Doris Lessing even before she won the nobel prize but didn’t really read her books. ‘The golden notebook’ is one of her better known works, and i still have only read a few pages of it. However her essays in “Time Bites” are very entertaining, educational and worthwhile.
Doris Lessings' - Doris’ lessons in good literature, in which she mentions a few of her favourite authors, are worth checking out. This book pointed me towards Idries Shah.

Arthur Clarke is my (and apparently everyone else's) favourite science-fiction writer. I have enjoyed reading his books over the years, even some of his collaborations with others. A collection of his non-fiction essays is in “Greetings, carbon-based bipeds!”. As with all the great science writers, Clarke is very enjoyable as well as informative and quite thought-provoking.





August blog pt 2 August bedchambers reads






First the books on numbers:

“Pythagoras' Revenge” is an enjoyable mystery novel - a gripping thriller intended for a broad audience, a quality book that somehow intertwines mathematical theories and philosophy into a clever and fun work of fiction.

The other book of numbers “Wonders Of Numbers” is fascinating and full of delight. a collection of common and unusual problems of varying difficulty that will entice almost anyone to pick up a pen and paper to work out a solution.

Now to the latest in music:

“Home Before Dark” is Neil Diamond’s follow up to his previous album, a collaboration with Rick Rubin. Sadly only a couple of tunes here measure up to his past achievements.
There’s nothing that’s not already been said of Bob Dylan. So on his latest album “Together Through Life” here are some comments by better informed and qualified quarters.
Rolling Stone: It is a perplexing record. 10 new songs in Dylan's vividly battered singing.
Uncut: a gas, a riot, a hoot.
Mojo: a purple patch of renewed vigour, consistency and a new record seemingly out of the blue. a record about love, its absence and its remembrance.



August blog pt 1 July's reading supplies






Another mixed bag – I like variety, for July’s peek and pry supplies.
There’s items on poetry, writing and general literature. A couple of fiction books round up the set.
Joyce’s “Ulysses” is considered as one of the most important works of modern literature. The book attracted controversy and scrutiny. It also ranks top or near top of lists of the best English-language novels. It’s a challenge to even start reading Ulysses for this lazy blogger. Believe me i tried reading this book so many times before, but i just cannot go past the first few pages. I really should buy my own...

The other book in the fiction category is actually a historical novel. “1421” is a book based on snippets of actual events and people. The plot of the book is that China discovered the world. Various sectors have debunked this hypothesis. Wikipedia lists some detailed criticism. Various other sites exposed the "1421" myth. Articles describe the book as: a fairytale, amateurish, a poser, unsubstantiated, “an example of how not to (re)write world history”, etc. But hey, it has generated a lot of interest and has sold lots of copies. So it must be good for the author.

Bryson’s Dictionary is a useful one. It is a good addition as a reference tool for pedants and recreational bloggers alike.

'The Ode Less Travelled' is a worthy book. It is instructive, witty and informative.
The Top 500 Poems' is a well-presented book. It claims to be a collection of the best 500 poems, based on the choice of critics, editors, and poets. These are the 500 poems we know or want to know. Now if i could only understand poetry.
For listening pleasure: see next blog.


homer's read lists june 09

june 09 blog pt 2 june ventilations




June is upon us or nearly gone actually. Where’d the month go? Well lest Juno vent her ire on me, as in the ‘aenid’, here’s another paltry offering.

It’s mostly a bit of everything and to those intending to marry, there’s no wedding theme songs here, but a bit of good music from a couple of cds.

A group of cardinals have put out their latest album. Their pope or prime cardinal is called ryan adams. I liked his old homily er old song called ‘my sweet cordillera’ or is that ‘my sweet carolina’?. well am goin' to cordillera in my mind.

Bruce Springsteen is still working on a dream, good song that – onya bruce.

And now the books: not a lot there – an odd mixture in fact.

David Cromwell chronicles the reminiscences of an old spy, and that’s about the only book i enjoyed in this set.

Hunter S. rambles and one is better served with Kerouac or even Steinbeck.

The Wolf girl demands liberty, and reveals a few shenanigans in the so called 'democratic' American society – nothing new there but certainly worth reading.

There’s a book about Socrates’ six questions. I am still working out the question to the answer “blowin’ in the wind” (vide douglas adams), so i’ll pass on this.

Am travelling north again soon. Have to earn my keep.

First we take Brisbane, then we take Eastern Queensland.




June 09 blog pt 1 may you have reading ideas
The shelves are bare this merry month of may. So it’s very lean pickings for good reads.


I picked up what i could.






There are some ideas in Steven Pinker’s book "Stuff of Thought". Pinker himself is not afraid of bringing up ‘dangerous’ ideas. Dangerous ideas in the sense, not of being harmful but rather, of statements that challenge prevailing thought. He encourages the exploration of relevant ideas: those that exclude lies, propaganda, conspiracy theories and misplaced technology. Read Pinker. You’ll know what i mean.

Peter Watson’s book 'IDEAS' are a summary of thinking from ancient times to the time of freud.Watson tells ideas from prehistory to the present day, beginning with how the earliest ideas might have originated. All the obvious areas are tackled the Ancient Greeks, Christianity, astrology, the soul and self and beliefs, Islam & the Crusades, the Renaissance, the scientific revolution, the age of discovery, Shakespeare, the Romantic period, Darwin, to Freud right up to the the internet. Watson looks at the development of simple ideas, language, family and writes about philosophers, artists, scientists, inventors, poets, historians etal, and how their ideas have shaped our lives and thinking.


I then looked into some old american folk music. Sadly there is no more of this music these days.





The Wisdom of the Elders: Sacred Native Stories About Nature by David Suzuki and Peter Knudtson speaks to the necessity of respecting, honoring and retaining the wisdom found among indigenous people around the world who have gained the ancient wisdom of respecting and caring for the Earth in environmentally wise ways. The important message found in this book is that recognizing Nature's sacred balance and keeping its equilibrium, maintains ecological sustainability and supports our survival.
They could easily have doubled the size of their book had they gone to the philippine cordilleras for some sage igorot advice.

A bit of sci-fiction is LeGuin’s ‘left hand of darkness’ which is about 99% fiction and 1% science. It is a popular book but somehow i felt short-changed.

There's also some easy listening music, and a recent 'discovery' fromthe author of 'the three musketeers'. Or you can try Pynchon's penchant for Joyce-like literature in a book about linemen.

The rest of the pile are just props.
oh but remember to revisit stories from king arthur's court.

that's entertainment - from homer may 09

May 09 blog pt 6 time for an easter break



April has come. and she's looking relaxed.
So i stopped by the library one day.
I will be travelling interstate this month. Just for a bit of a holiday to the southern states of victoria and new south wayus.
The airline has only allowed me 20kg luggage so my reading items will have to be pared down a lot.
I’m not sure why i borrowed the ‘new scientist’ and ‘american scientist’ mags. They are quite light though. And there’s some interesting articles in them. If i could only remember what i read.Dawkins' tales of our ancestors are quite engrossing. But the book is quite heavy.
Rachel Carson’s ‘silent spring’ should be a required reading for every politician and climate change denier or skeptic. and that includes policy makers everywhere including the cordillera. if only to rid our farms of ddt and cyanide and thiodan and all those toxic chemicals that we pour on to our vegetable and rice fields.
'The secret agent' was a backup read which i didn’t get to open. Maybe someday i will get to read it.
So i put on my earphones and put on some easy listening.
This blog’s not going according to script, and anyway it’s been overtaken by previous posts, so see the travel notes in:
http://anigorotodyssey.blogspot.com/
And check back here in a couple of weeks.


May 09 blog pt 5 april comes she will



who comes?
Avril.
avril who?
avril la vignette, my short description of a particular person, which i'll expand on in time
First, a bit more variety of leisurely reading as we approach the end of march.
I always enjoy Umberto Eco’s books and i recommend him.
David Suzuki reminds us about the fragility of the environment. If you haven’t read or seen him before on tv or elsewhere, his books are always very sobering.
Brockman’s compilations of thoughts by leading writers around the world are similarly worth the dog ears – but do lend your ears to the voices within, but with a grain of asin.
Dawkins, who i only discovered recently, has the wit of Carl Sagan and the credentials of Stephen Hawking. A good place to start with him is the book on modern science writing.
There’s other items on the list that may be or may not be worth one’s time.
Oh and i could do with a bottle of bourbon. That would be a fine companion whilst reading a good book under a gum tree on a warm day...
while waiting for april...
or dreaming of april-


May 09 blog pt 4 the ides of march







I have unearthed (not plucked from the air) some books worth reading. This set includes some books by well known atheists and scientists among others.

Some of these books are a must not just for freethinkers but also for ordinary blokes and dummies like me. Openminded religious people be they Christians, Muslims, Buddhists etc will also find it worth their while to go through these books. This might lead to a basic understanding (the fundamentals if you like) of the scourge of religious fundamentalism.

There’s also the Australian version of a review of climate change, superannuation etc.

Those finding common themed literature may email me references by the end of eclipse. Patterson’s plots are too far-fetched actually. Better off revisiting Mark Twain’s miracle of a real eclipse in king arthur’s court.


May 09 blog pt 3 the nones of march



March continues the tone of the year so far – quietitude (this a word?) and inactivity. Yet time marches on... time hurries on i think is the lyrics in song.

So, more time to indulge in other pursuits such as musical entertainment.

Am still waiting on Neil Young’s archives. Hopefully in ten years' time, they’ll see the light of day.

People who went to see the old lion Mr. Cohen in concert gave glowing reviews about him. He’s in my must see list.

Nick Cave i have also yet to see, but he’s still got a long way to go to be in my must see list.

The old ‘song and dance man’ mr zimmerman is again showing the younger ones with his latest album offering. Books about him are too numerous to all read. However a respectful and friendly book by an old flame offers another perspective on his early life and times as a troubadour. The other book about Dylan’s most popular song is more of the usual grist.

May 09 blog pt 2
that's entertainment vol. 902b



What else is in store for this month?
say again:
What? Elsie's instore? where?
(thought she was offshore? lame i know. very.)
Anyway let’s check out what the stars say shall we?
Consult your astrologers and your fortune-tellers if you like.
Me I much prefer what the stars do say. So let’s check out what Sobel writes (i liked his book on Galileo), and probe the new solar system too.
In an early book, Sagan writes about a place called Eden. I really must visit there. Someday maybe - sounds like a song title - yea 'someday baby'.
The books by Jared Diamond are full of thought-provoking ideas and assertions that affect current beliefs. Guns, Germs, and Steel is a Pulitzer Prize winning book by him. Part 4 of this book has most relevance to Philippine pre-history. Here Diamond claims that archaeological and linguistic evidence show that expansion went from the South China coast to Taiwan, and thence to the Philippines and Indonesia (This contention is opposed to that proposed by others that expansion proceeded from the malay peninsula, to Sumatra, the rest of Indonesia and finally to the Philippines).
In Collapse Diamond subscribes to the adage that 'prevention is better than cure' especially with environmental problems that lead to societies’ collapse.
That Davies fellow can get a bit too deep. So I’ll just listen instead to the wichita lineman’s version of ‘these days’, or perhaps relive the music of Woodstock and listen to Hendrix and country joe & the fish give it to the wankers (that’s Aussie French for ‘master baiters’).
Now what’s at the bottom of my pile, ahh finally a book with pictures – thanks queensland.


May 09 blog pt 1 entertainment monthly vol 902
I am on the lookout for a good camera. Can someone direct me to the right angle?


Those photography magazines seem to cater for the 'can afford' mob only.

Paul Simon suggests a brand of camera in kodachrome but am not sure that’s necessarily a good guide.
Old len cohen’s got a good pose and smug look on his dial, but am no ladies man, though maybe i should ask his photographer for advice.

Now there’s a dylan track on some country singer’s latest album which i think’s got a blues feel or beat to it. It’s alright if i don’t think twice about liking it.


And if only my housemates' mags stop blocking my angles, i might not get off tangent too often.

that's entertainment from homer january 09

January blog 4

and now to sport

January is usually a quiet time at work. Not too many deliveries required. so i did an itinerary, splurged on a few tickets, booked first class, and decided to attend some sport.First to the cricket, the south african team is in town, and finally giving the hometeam some long overdue beatings. South Africa beat Australia in the test series 2-1 and the 5 game ODI series is tied at 1-1.

To tide me over for the next three games, I have brought some books to read in between overs and innings. There’s no how-to cricket books in there but I reckon I’ll learn the game as I watch.Soon as there’s a break in the cricket, I will dash over to Melbourne and take in some tennis. I fancy someone they call the fed express, although there is also the great rafa. In recent seasons, the likes of Murphy and others have come on. My other pick would have to be the jokervitch. Anyone else outside of this quartet would have to play the best tennis of their lives to win. Maybe Safin if he can fix his sapin.




And to counter the face-left face-right exercises that might cause a sore neck, I have brought another set of readers, so I can also do lookups and lookdowns in between sets.
From Melbourne, I plan to do some cycling, no I mean go and see some cycling in the tour down under. They have someone called sir lance who has a strong lance er a strongarm, and who has a strong chance to give a strong account of a strong comeback on his strong bike- wow this lance fellow must be quite strong. Depending on how he goes here, he might be a strong man in the tourdefrance later this year. Cadel evans better work well on his cadence.

There’s also some Soccer, golf, basketball etc and football coming up soon. Lucky i borrowed more books.
Well I better buy some more tickets - where’s that tv guide?
bunker down in ‘first class’, that’s my nickname for my favorite armchair,
...and a six-pack.

Now if I can only find that remote control…


January blog 3
i was born on this mountain
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=eUe6Sk1HQH8&feature=channel_page

mainit mountains somewhere in the cordillera.

these mountains are at the juncture of four provinces: mountain province, kalinga, abra and ilocos sur. now if you can see through the wall or sea of clouds, there's mankayan and cervantes on the south, and pasil on the north. looking west is abra and east is where the sun rises, the place that brings warmth to these mountains - mainit.

this mountain's my home...(i think steve earle's an igorot, although johnny cash said: "Steve is kind of like me. He's an Indian in the white man's camp". )

view 'this mountain' performed live:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=99-Sl8OnYck

January blog 2

documents on the net
the internet is such a vast resource. i never cease to be amazed at what i find in it. i have thought (didn't know i was capable) to set up a list of those documents that have found their way to the web."'Will you walk into my parlor?' said the Spider to the Fly."well am no spider man, and i certainly don't weave webs like walter scott: "Oh what a tangled web we weave..."but if you look close enough, you can see what's caught in them webs...

so this is maybe the start of a database that hopefully will grow- of documents that are relevant to the homeland.

I have set up another blog for these documents, see:http://documents-on-mainit.blogspot.com/

1. Geothermal Potential of the Cordillera Region, Philippines

File type:PDF ...Mainit in Bontoc hosted the more. impressive thermal manifestations in the form of hot ... Preliminary Asessment of Mainit-Bontoc (Mountain ...iga.igg.cnr.it/geoworld/pdf/WGC/2005/2609.pdf this paper makes a case for just what the title says: potential. and unless and until the indigenous communities understand and accept and approve of any such undertaking- it's all just like what emanates out of the hot springs: a lot of hot air (plus a couple of plane tickets to the world geothermal congress).

2. http://magkachi.wordpress.com/aus-files/aus-articles/barrio-mainit/

this site contains a 1966 article about saltmaking in mainit. this industry has ceased years ago but you wouldn't know that... the article tries to describe how the imainit grow salt on stones, but that knowledge now only rests with...

3. Book Preview: The Making of the Igorot By Gerard A. Finin





blurb is from:

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=ZHO8yje7UpAC

This work examines how and why American colonial rule transformed social and spatial relations across the Cordillera, creating a distinctive pan-Cordillera Igorot ethnoregional consciousness. It analyzes the ways in which the establishment of Mountain Province in the early 1900s and the imposition of direct American rule served to discourage contact between highlanders and lowlanders, while reinforcing notions of highlander connectedness. The author demonstrates the central role of Baguio City as an ethnically diverse urban center for cultural comparison and identity. At the same time, he captures how, in different ways, succeeding generations of highlanders embraced the social and spatial bonds associated with "Igorot-ism" and "Igorot-land." More details The Making of the Igorot: Contours of Cordillera Consciousness By Gerard A. Finin Published by Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2006 ISBN 9715504876, 9789715504874 345 pages

January blog 1

boys will be boys


so get them to being themselves...

was surfing the other day and found this clip (part 1):

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=YAV5Edt5tWs&feature=channel_page

i remember we were doing this sort of stuffback in the days of the old schoolyard

yes as yusuf the cat said: we used to laugh a lot

oh yeah,

but sometimes we cried too...



part 2:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=riWuHjCm_08&feature=related