Mitsuru

"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift up my lamp beside the golden door." -from " The New Colossus " by Emma Lazarus The United States of America was built on the blood, sweat and tears of immigrants. Whether one is white, black, brown or yellow is irrelevant and immaterial since we all have a part in its creation and continuing existence as a safe haven for all peace- loving and hard- working people. What it is now is the product of the combined work of the hands and brains of every person who landed on its shores centuries ago up to the present; a country that is the melting pot of all the peoples of the world. But in this day and age of Ethnic Profiling and the Post 9-11 Paranoia it is advisable for all peace- loving and law- abiding immigrants especially if one is a Person of Color in the Land of the Free to know what our ...

I watched the other day on ESPN the finals of the 2007 International Skating Union Ladies Figure Skating World Championships held in Tokyo, Japan from March 19- 25 and narrowly won by hometown gal Miki Ando over her more popular teammate and crowd- favorite Mao Asada by the narrowest margin of 195.09 to 194.45 . I always love watching those pretty ballerinas on ice since way, way back. I love their elegant movements and their grace under pressure. I guess I like watching all kinds of sports from mixed martial arts to basketball to car racing and of course, figure skating. The competition for this year’s edition is not that deep name- wise. Gone were the likes of Shizuka Arakawa, Michelle Kwan, Irina Slutskaya and Sasha Cohen who never fails to electrify the skating world with their showmanship and grace on the ice rink. But their absences were made up by the presence of the young and talented skaters eager to prove their mettle as worthy successors to the Rink Goddesses that once...

I’ve been so busy the past week that I hardly had time to update my blogs although I was able to spare a bit of time to take a peek on some of the blogs in my blogroll on some nights that I was home. Anyway, I read in the March 15, 2007 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer the news about the National Power Corporation’s cutting off supply to the entire province of Albay because of the Albay Electric Cooperative’s unpaid debt in the amount of a whopping P981.3 million . At first, my mind tried to brush it off but my heart begged me to say my piece after I realized that Aleco is so much in the red and could accumulate a debt that will reach a billion pesos in the next few years or so which will have a very negative effect to the lives of the people of Albay. It used to be a profitable cooperative run by honest and hardworking people in Albay where the welfare of its constituents were paramount and service excellence its battle cry. In fact, my Grandfather, Jose C. Templado used to b...

Les Miz at The View Note: Thanks to Augustine73 for the video clips

Meet Daniel Tammet a.k.a. BrainMan A 26- year old Brit widely known for his extra- ordinary abilities and a highly- functional “Autistic- Savant.” He was and still is the subject of curiosity as well as studies of ordinary people and scientists alike for years now about the mystery of the human brain. He was recently seen on TV’s 60 Minutes wherein he showcased his God- given talent for all the world to see. To those who have seen him on TV before, relive your wonderful experience here and for the first timers, just sit back, relax and enjoy the show! Now you see that God really works in mysterious ways… Visit his official website: Optimnem

I almost choked on my Tim Horton’s doughnut this morning when I logged into my laptop and saw the news from the homeland on the front pages of ABS- CBNews, Philippine Daily Inquirer and The Philippine Star. Good thing there was a bottle of caffeine- free diet Pepsi nearby that eventually washed the darn thing out of my throat down through my esophagus and into the deep recesses of my gut. The culprit was NSO administrator Carmelita Ericta proclaiming the “results of the January 2007 Labor Force Survey by the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed that the country’s employment rate went up to 92.2% from 91.9% last year.” "This means that nine in every 10 persons in the labor force were employed," she concluded. This could only mean that the long- suffering Juan and Juana de la Cruzes will stop worrying about their next meal on the table and this county long- dubbed as the sick man of Asia is on the way to a wonderful recovery which neither science nor faith can explai...

The Stardust Resort and Casino, that historic 63 acres of fun on the famous Las Vegas Strip widely known for its big, big excesses in everything during its heyday was finally erased from the map at 2:33 A.M. on March 13, 2007. And She did it with a bang and in typical Las Vegas fashion complete with fireworks and an implosion that was watched by thousands of spectators who in the end have to scamper for their precious lives when the dusts and smoke of the Old Lady came running after them. LOL Another landmark in the ever- changing, neon- lit, money- powered gambling and entertainment capital of the world gone-- A victim of the dreaded Vegas curse: where fortunes could change hands overnight; where lives could be made or broken by the roll of the dice; where the only thing constant is --Change. But I am not a gambler so what do I care? Shhh, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas... From Dust to Dust goes the legendary Las Vegas Casino STARDUST and its 48 years of memories ...

It was 38 years ago today when my Dad, a Japanese who was a member of the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer (JOCV) met my Mom who was his English Teacher in Tiwi, Albay in the Philippines . My father, at 21 years of age, was the youngest in his batch of "Peace Corp Volunteers" in 1968 when he was first assigned in our town that he called home for more than 20 years until he died due to complications of Emphysema in 1990 while my mother was a fresh Journalism graduate of the University of Santo Tomas who opted to teach English and Literature in her hometown. They met at a Dance Party where they were introduced to each other by the town mayor, no less. At first, my Lolo opposed their relationship due to the bitter memories of the war and filed a complaint with the Japanese Embassy wherein my father was subsequently pulled out of his assignment and recalled back to Japan where he wrote my mother in his funny English everyday. Soon after, he returned to the Philippines as ...

Yes folks, Lea Salonga’s back in Broadway where she is essaying the role of the tragic character Fantine in the theatrical adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Classic Novel Les Miserables at the Broadhurst Theater . The Tony Award - winning musical created by the two collaborating geniuses Alain Boublil and Claude- Michel Schonberg , with English lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and produced by Cameron Mackintosh is a heart-wrenching and thought- provoking musical that would melt even the hardest soul among us. Les Miserables set in the 1800s in volatile France tells the stories of Jean Valjean an escaped convict and his struggles to start a new life while being relentlessly pursued by an obsessed Police Inspector Javert . By the way, talk about injustice, like Nelson Mandela , Valjean was wrongly convicted for stealing a mere loaf of bread and served 19 years of his life for it! You can just see the parallelism here of the situation in the Philippines where the poor w...

The first total lunar eclipse in three years was seen last night all over the world where a lot of people went “nuts” over the phenomenon; from Europe to Africa to Asia to the Americas, people watched this rare occurrence with enthusiasm and excitement. A Lunar Eclipse occurs when the moon passes through the Earth’s shadow and can only take place when the moon is full and when the sun, earth and moon are aligned. To explain this further, There are two parts to the Earth's shadow; the penumbra , and the umbra wherein the former is the outer part of the shadow where sunlight is not completely blocked and its shadow only dims the moon slightly while the latter is the actual shadow created by the Earth and that is where a total lunar eclipse occurs. Unfortunately I failed to watch the spectacle for I was on the second day of my killer three -day, 12- hour shift, working in the busy ER but I could tell from the way people who were flocking to the hospital in droves that the moon is fu...