HOW IT WAS.

Compiled from my previous Facebook posts. 

Telegram, a written or printed telegraph message that is directly delivered to the recipient by a messenger. The young today are familiar with the cloud-based, encrypted instant messaging service, also called Telegram. Telegram services still operate in much of the world although e-mails and text’ing have rendered telegrams obsolete. Then, when a telegram arrived, we knew the info was extreme. Death in the family or birth of a grandchild. 📭📨📬

Favorite TV fun. “Tarzan.” A child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes. He later experienced civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild. The character was created by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912. Johnny Weissmuller and Ron Ely were the Tarzan dudes when I was a boy. Remember as well Tarzan's girlfriend Jane and chimp buddy Cheeta. Famous yells then: Tarzan’s elongated ululate and Bruce Lee’s catty shriek. I can do both. 🦍📺🦧

Gabardine, polyester, and corduroy pants. Hot pants? Those were the “classy” fabric for pants or jackets in my youth. Party get-ups, especially for discotheque frolic. Status symbol of some sort. These pants come with the fine, shiny shirt that is half-buttoned to reveal a macho “hairy” chest though not many Filipino dudes possess such body hairs, LOL! Remember John Travolta’s Tony Manero outfit in 1977’s “Saturday Night Fever,” uh huh? 👖🎼👖

Barter. Primitive wisdom of community engagement. Not only things are exchanged; we also traded service for similar favors. Back home in a mining town where my family lived, villagers helped in a farm and so they got free veggies and meat. In West Asheville, years ago, I rendered work in a friend’s building; he gave me old furniture. Ads from local restaurants to The Indie (newspaper) for food for volunteers in our “Bonfires for Peace” concerts. ☮️😎☯️

Summer basketball. Fun episode of my summertimes then. Me and my brothers used to play in those contests in our suburban village back home. My brothers also organized events. As a city government employee, Sonny put up “inter-barangay anti-drugs” competitions. Alvaro initiated basketball clinics in poorer towns in Baguio City, our second home-city. Those days, of course, were before cellphones captured the youth’s fancy. ⛹️‍♀️🌤⛹️

Snail mail. Of course, we still get “snail mails” from the Post Office. But mostly bills, junk stuff, and commercial pamphlets. Some maintain subscriptions to local newspapers but not for news. For coupons. The cellphone and house computer or laptop/tablet rule our life now. I don’t think many still write long emails, anyhow. Texting and IMs suffice. Same with news. Not many even read actual news over Social Media banter about the news. Ah life! 📫📭📬

Words. Courtesy and civility were common sense. These days, words are either incorrect or inappropriate per cancel-culture politics. Words like beautiful, blacklist, and pet are not good. But we may cuss, curse, and slander anyone with words that are obviously offensive yet the Immaculate Academics would not complain. Then, “Thank you, Madam!” or “Merry Christmas!” were words of respect, regardless of your religion and culture? Now? Nope. 🗣👤👀

Home delivered milk. Remember? Mostly, during my childhood in a small mining village, milk came with goat cheese, fresh vegetables, eggs, and coconut bread. All home-made or community farmed and raised. It was part of my house chores to wait for Mang (or Sir) Lucio to deliver three gallons of milk etcetera each Sunday morning and then wash up and neatly place the bottles on the front door for the delivery round next Sunday. 🍶🚍🍶

Carpooling, an arrangement among a group of automobile owners by which each owner in turn drives the others or their children to and from a designated place. I am sure this community initiative tradition is still alive, especially in rural areas. But with the advent of commercial rides Uber, Lyft etcetera, carpooling has significantly lost popularity. Carpooling also allows time for neighbors to interact more, just like the good old days. Going or gone. 🚔👨‍👩‍👧🚖

Undergarments in women. Such as the “kamison” or chemise. Not saying that I disapprove that women don’t wear them anymore. Comfort, ease–all good. Just observing. These days, you can almost see within. Very transparent fashion. Suggestive. Thongs. Leggings that loudly announce shapes. No more mysteries. Some women wear chemise as swimwear, actually. Do I sound like an 18th century puritan? LOL! My observation, that’s all. 🩱👙🩱

Photo credits: Reddit. RunningSuplado. Illusions Lingerie.

RECOMMENDED: Non-fiction Books. Alvin Toffler's “Future Shock” Trilogy.

[ ] Alvin Toffler's “Future Shock” Trilogy I: “Future Shock,” 1970. I was 15 years old when I first read this enthralling albeit jarring book by Alvin Toffler with help from spouse Adelaide Farrell. They define the term "future shock" as a certain psychological state of individuals and entire societies, or a perception of "too much change in too short a period of time." 

       As a mid-teen weaned on sci fi in the mold of “Soylent Green,” “Time Tunnel,” “Planet of the Apes,” and Erich von Däniken’s “Chariots of the Gods?” I was more intrigued than shocked/surprised by what I read of Toffler’s fantastic thesis although those were supposedly future variables. Science fiction? 

       I must admit though that a lot of his research made sense, even at a time when computers were superfluous whims, especially his insight on the evolution of socioeconomics. And so when the next two related books “The Third Wave” (1980) and “Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century” (1990) came out, I had to declare that I was a bonafide Alvin Toffler madman. LOL!

       Beyond the fantastical readings of future tech, Toffler’s thoughts on Asia’s emerging markets in the 1980s and 1990s were global integrals. Asian leaderships by Zhao Ziyang, Lee Kuan Yew and Kim Dae Jung admitted to voraciously taken heed of Toffler’s lengthy discourse.

       “Future Shock” is replete with historical antecedents that offer credence to geopolitical upheavals in the `80s/`90s. More so, Toffler pushed us to think/rethink his tarot cards as he sees tomorrow, not as a psychic but as sociologist. Not “smart” guesswork but almost a mathematical calculation or scientific conclusion/finding of our existence in the future. 

       Fast forward to 2020s. How am I supposed to dispute Toffler’s “future” now? No way. But this line bites: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.” 📚✍️📚

[ ] Alvin Toffler's “Future Shock” Trilogy II: “The Third Wave,” 1980. Let’s break down Mr Toffler’s rereading of past, present, future. “First Wave” is the settled agricultural society which prevailed in much of the world after the Neolithic Revolution, which replaced hunter-gatherer cultures. “Second Wave” is Industrial Age society. It began in Western Europe with the Industrial Revolution, and subsequently spread across the world. Key aspects of Second Wave society are the nuclear family, a factory-type education system and the corporation. 

       “Third Wave” is the post-industrial society. Toffler says in the late 1950s, most countries have been transitioning from a Second Wave society into a Third Wave society albeit largely unnoticed. He coined many words to describe it and mentions names invented by others, such as the Information Age.

       For additional readings. Google James Gleick’s “Chaos: Making a New Science” (1987) and “The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood” (2011). Gleick was the first to coin the term “information age.” Although you may want to go all the way to Claude Shannon, circa 1916 A.D., the father of the information age. That’s the kick of reading Toffler. You are coaxed to dig up and read other could-be related books. 📚✍️📚

[ ] Alvin Toffler's “Future Shock” Trilogy III: “Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century,” 1990. In “The Third Wave,” Toffler discussed all mass movement continuum expanding in “The Second Wave.” Mass production, mass distribution, mass consumption, mass education, mass media, mass recreation, mass entertainment, and weapons of mass destruction. He adds: “You combine those things with standardization, centralization, concentration, and synchronization, and you wind up with a style of organization we call bureaucracy." 

       Pretty much, we are led easily to the third phase of industrial/technological evolution, and a redefinition of Power. Toffler died in 2016 but, I reckon, he already saw the transitioning of power in a knowledge-based civilization where the workforce hands lose traction in favor of the machine or AI. 

       He elaborates that wealth is another form of power, and is flexible in nature, since it can be used as punishment (like a stick) or reward (as a carrot). And so on and so forth. I am rereading all three books and, I tell you, each reading requires flexibility of understanding. I don’t feel though that I am able to fully get the whole picture of the Tofflerian Crystal Ball. You just have to read them. Again and again. 

       Other Alvin Toffler books that are worth couch time: “War and Anti-War” (1993); “Creating a New Civilization” (1995); and “Revolutionary Wealth” (2006). 📚✍️📚

RECOMMENDED. “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols.”

Music/vinyl. “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols.” Released 1977, the only studio album by English punk rock band the Sex Pistols. The album has influenced many bands and musicians to go extreme on no-limits defiance, juvenile crassness, and badness fun. As expected, the industry in general lapped it up. Basically sell that celebratory mischief. Definitive, game-changing, revolutionary. And consumer market gold. 

       Johnny Rotten is the understatement of his assumed last name. Sid Vicious basically rewrote rock `n roll burnout. Plus Steve Jones, Paul, and original bassist Glen Matlock, these guys didn’t know how to play music but that wasn’t their agenda, either. Or it seems. From that point, we point at manager Malcolm McLaren, could be the prototype of “influencing” or “rebranding” that went all-out in 21st century to date. 

       Due in most part to its notoriety, and in spite of many sales bans at major retailers, the album debuted at #1 on the UK Album Charts. In 1987, Rolling Stone magazine named the album the second best of the previous 20 years, behind only the Beatles' “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Can you dig that? Just to own the vinyl version of this record could probably win you a date, LOL! 

       For additional fun, check out Hulu’s “Pistol.” Anson Boon “out-rotten” Johnny Rotten himself! And 1986’s “Sid and Nancy.” Could be Gary Oldman’s best performance, I think. 🎼🎹🎼

Old Talk: Relationships and Marriage. And Stuff.

Previously posted on my Facebook page. Or written years ago, unedited/not updated.

RELATIONSHIPS, old and new. 

       Through the years, my flailing romantic bravado, I must admit, has been considerably supplanted by sharp pragmatism. It's a good thing though. I can see more reason or smart-sense now than what it was in my youth (so I thought, hmmm...) In our younger years, love was an ice cream confection under a full moon, dreamy. In our older years, oh well.

       Many times these days, I come across lovers with a sweet litany of “I found my soulmate at last!” or “We are engaged, I can't believe it!” Then after a few months (or weeks), I hear “What a sick jerk, schizophrenic!” or “I'd rather be with my cat, relationships with humans suck!” But of course, I know of a number of friends who've gone past the irksome hawing, heaving and hassles and actually live/d together happily and hopefully, ever after. Let me talk about those who weren't so good at crossing the initial barrier—a month, 6 weeks, or maybe 1 or 2 years (of dating). 

       I believe sometimes we over-idealize love in the context of relationship than actually “realizing” it as a hit-and-miss/do-it-again interface of rampaging hormones, sensibilities and sensitivities. A relationship (or even a friendship) is not an over-the-counter commodity or Apple app that is ready-to-go, one click we are done. It is always a working project... Sure, at first we tend to get enamored by paralleled wavelengths—like a sweet commonality of culinary faves like a shared dinner of purple hummus on one plate, or synchronized footwork on late-70s disco psychedelia, or the same agreeable liking for Ray Reddington's good-bad persona. But these are mere icings, facades, largely superficial hooks—likes and dislikes that are mostly dating-site fodder. 💖👫💖

       

A COMMON fault of lovers on “honeymoon” phase is the “unrealistic” belief that one can be him/herself on the get go just “because he/she wasn't allowed or had the freedom to be that person” in the past relationhip/s. That is expected of lovers, of course. But we need to be real here. No matter how two people enjoy the bliss of a sexual tryst on the first few months or maybe you two are one in looking at Obamacare, religious “fascism” or GMO-issues, still—those are the surface of it all. Compromise and negotiation get in confused fray—as two people try to sustain a relationship and stay longer together. 

       Presence is important. But presence reveals flaws and faults, imperfections and irritations that shake and rattle a relationship. In case you are used to a 2-day or 7-hour alone time when single, excise total control of the TV remote while living with an obedient dog only, or used to hangin' out with the boys (or girls) on Friday night till 3 AM—there should be a level, a good level, of give-and-take and surrender/acceptance situation here. Are you willing to give those up, your so-called “individuality,” at least—as compromises are put on the table?

       Would you allow him/her to rearrange whoever's house (both decide to live in) to suit a partnership than, “This is my room, that is yours” or “I am OCD, I can find my little receipts in a rubble of books and McDonald's cups” or “I like the yard like that, like Naked and Afraid location shoot.” Or “I am spontaneous and loose” as against “You are regimented and uptight.” Or “You are controlling me” or “I am not going to be manipulated.” Why not find a way to figure out the sheer pleasures and easy convenience of whatever/wherever individual madness or personal truths you want to pursue? Remember, there are two people here, not one—and no two people are the same, even twins collide. But whatever we enjoy and relish alone may not work anymore, or had to be adjusted, when put upfront.

       And how do we resolve all these? Simple (although lovers tend to “blind” themselves). If a relationship doesn't make a person a better individual and only ruins her or dumps you in stagnation, quit. That'd be the time to give it all up. Life can be an uncomplicated equation, if you want it that way. So don't complicate it. If you can't co-exist with another set of exploding chakras and unaligned “madnesses.” just let go and move on. Be happy than confused.        

       Maybe a koolcat beside you in front of “Game of Thrones” is better. You reckon? 💖👫💖

RECOMMENDED. Book. “Delta of Venus" by Anaïs Nin.

RECOMMENDED. Book. “Delta of Venus,” fifteen short stories by Anaïs Nin, published posthumously in 1977—though largely written in the 1940s as erotica for a private collector. Before I continue, my warning: Don’t even try to find the 1994 film version by Zalman King. First, that movie sucks. Second, this classic is meant for reading, imagining, and imagining, and imagining. All in your mind, feel it, into your loins. You dig? Don’t watch the movie!

       I must admit, I did see the movie. As I did see all movie adaptations of “Lady Chatterley's Lover” by D.H. Lawrence. Although you may contest me on the cinema versions of “Wide Sargasso Sea,” the postcolonial feminist novel by Jean Rhys, or both 1946 and 1981 Hollywood takes of James M. Cain’s “The Postman Always Rings Twice.”  

       Nin’s erotica is sexuality or sensuality without malice yet it is straight through. If you are the kind of animal who gets turned on by Sophia Loren’s covered hips and open mouth and never with Pornhub, then this book is your firestarter. 

       A closer parallel is Erica Jong’s 1973 novel “Fear of Flying,” and “The Sleeping Beauty Quartet,” a series of four novels by Anne Rice under the pseudonym of A. N. Roquelaure. But still, “Delta of Venus” is my #1 erotica of all time. Mind you, I discovered this book when I was 13. Along with Ms Loren, Anais Nin introduced me to self-stimulation. TMI? 

       “Delta of Venus” is collection of short stories that were commissioned to then unknown “perv” (LOL!) a.k.a. The Collector who also sought erotic fiction from Henry Miller. Sure, you know that Anais was Henry’s paramour. The Collector dude was later revealed as Roy M. Johnson, a wealthy Oklahoma businessman and oil magnate. Who cares. But thank to him for the commissioned Anais work.      

       Mr Collector actually asked Ms Nin to chuck poetry and instead go for the jugular and deliver sexually explicit stuff. Yes, no Pornhub in those years yet. But Anais instead produced exemplary literary flourish and mindfuck (literally) that’d go way beyond pornography. You get it, Kama Sutra, the ancient Indian Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment, was a major reference but Nin’s reading takes us to the climax without really knowing it. I mean, that we were already there per episode. 

       These days when visual bombast and cryptic nonsense proliferate? Where is your imagination? Try “Delta of Venus.” But I am sure it is “banned,” LOL! No, it ain’t. Additional reading: “Little Birds,” also by Anais Nin. 📚✍️📚

Famous Photography. And Stuff.

FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHY. The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines was the 2nd-largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century. Eruptive activity began on April 2 as a series of phreatic explosions from a fissure that opened on the north side. Seismic events happened for weeks. With a news crew, I covered some right in most hit areas. Tremors every 3 minutes, no power, a storm was raging. On our way back to Manila, a coup was rockin’ the city. ⛰🏝🌋

D-Day or Normandy landings. Airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune, it was, and still is, the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of France (and later Western Europe) and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front. Memory of war that shouldn’t be repeated. War is doom. ☮️☮️☮️

FAMOUS MOMENTS. On 30 January 1969, the Beatles (with Billy Preston) performed an impromptu concert from the rooftop of their Apple Corps headquarters in central London. They played a 42-minute set before the Metropolitan Police ordered them to reduce the volume. It was the final public performance of their career. The shoot was directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. The photographer, Ethan Russell. 🎼🎸🎼

PHOTOGRAPHY of HORROR. On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. The bombs killed an estimated 140,000 people in Hiroshima, and a further 74,000 in Nagasaki. In the years that followed, many of the survivors would face leukemia, cancer, or other terrible side effects from the radiation. ☮️☮️☮️

STRANGE PHOTOGRAPHS. While Americans are still inclined to think UFOs are not alien spacecraft, close to half believe alien life forms exist beyond Earth. A June 2019 poll found 49 percent of Americans believing there are "people somewhat like ourselves" living on other planets. A much larger percentage, 75 percent, said that "life of some form" exists elsewhere in the universe. This “UFO” was photographed in 1979 by Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson of Marshall County in northwestern Minnesota. 

       IN August of 1835, the New York Sun printed astronomical findings that detailed the discovery of life on the moon. The article was the first in a satirical series describing lunar pyramids, rivers, unicorns, bipedal beavers and bat-like people, all spied through a fictional seven-ton telescope in South Africa. The newspaper had underestimated the public’s gullibility. (Text: Smithsonian.) 🛸👽🛸

Photo credits: Albert Garcia. Army.mil. International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

RECOMMENDED. Movies. “The Godfather Trilogy.”

RECOMMENDED. Movies. “The Godfather Trilogy.” Released in 1972, 1974, and 1990 and all directed by Francis Ford Coppola, “The Godfather” is inspired by the 1969 novel of the same name by Mario Puzo. The films follow the trials of the fictional Italian American mafia Corleone family whose patriarch, Vito Corleone, rises to be a major figure in organized crime. His youngest son, Michael Corleone, becomes his successor. 

       The trilogy is heavily awarded, winning 9 out of 28 total Academy Award nominations, but there are more to the Corleone saga than the cinematic accolades. The kickass ensemble acting is an understatement. However, it is the screenplay by Mr Coppola and Mr Puzo, that kept this masterpiece set a brilliant Hollywood treasure. Mario Puzo, who passed away in 1999, also wrote the original screenplay for the 1978 “Superman” and its 1980 sequel but “The Godfather” is his true legacy. 

       Perhaps a major reason why the Corleones easily penetrated the cultural psyche is their startling contradictions. Generous and kind but wicked when turned down. Iron-willed and they mean it when they say it; palabra de honor. They can be peaceful per “gentlemanly” truce. Soft-spoken but equally loud when provoked into a rage. 

       Calculating with awesome business acumen albeit the illegal version. Good parents but won’t double think to take out fathers of children as well. Resilient and patient; well, for a time, LOL! And a sense of Catholic morality that baffles the wicked. And a searing love for family and allegiance to friendship yet when you cross them, run for your life. 🎬🎭🎬