Gotta enjoy the last days of summer.

Binghamton dorm room shohin ficus. No, Mr. B, she did all these herself. No ugly elvie under the banyan too!

Another eBay deal. 8" brass replica of a Mindoro hawk-owl or boobok (Ninox mindorensis), $5.

eBay find. Anoa mindorensis cow and calf wood carving, polished workmanship, $12.

Work inbox, 1/7/21. Phase 1B (first responders/LE) in NY get a perk. Even if I wasn't at the Dome. And words to live by from the commissioner. Four years more with the agency!

Breaking The Curse

THIS PICTURE SAYS IT ALL. HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION, ALL!

 

All members of the community and visitors had to touch the pig to transfer the curse to it. We were told the ritual would last for three days because all members of the community had to touch the ring and pig and not all were present on the first day. Here people start to move in to touch the pig. The pig was eventually killed and the meat was divided amongst the village. (Photo and caption by Jacob Maentz)

A Little History

A GOOD READ this Indigenous Peoples' Day/Dia de la Hispanidad/Columbus Day is Antoon Postma's study on the history of Calavite, a lost settlement/mission on the northwest hook of the island of Mindoro, its Parthenon on the hill. "The Calavite site, while still called Pinagbayanan or "former townsite" has only some Iraya Mangyan resident families. A certain Domingo Venturero, residing in Talaotao, a village on Golo Island, has claimed to own the area, including the ruins. Aside from that, the only visitors are treasure hunters who go inside and around the church, breaking open and destroying the stone walls, and looking for supposed wealth hidden there by the missionaries, as if the Moro pirates had overlooked something. Unless someone takes care of the church ruins, it is doubtful whether it will survive much longer as a historic monument." That was when Postma visited about 50 years ago; I wonder how the site is now.

From Punto Mindoro

In My Crap Or Sullen Art

ANOTHER ONE TO CELEBRATE is West Coast journal ZYZZYVA's 35th year of existence (it was first to publish Murakami in English translation in 1988), so I'm sharing a few signed selections from an old anthology launched 25 years ago by its founding editor Howard Junker--Strange Attraction: The Best of 10 Years of ZYZZYVA (University of Nevada Press, October 1, 1995), the affirmation I needed to tell myself I was good to go with my arse poetica. Have a great one tomorrow, and thanks for the recognition, Mr. Junker.

Traveling Light

DRUG SLANG CAN BE colorful. I was in the middle of working on this piece when COVID-19 struck, and the project was delayed for months because I had to work the reality of the pandemic into it. Of course, racial discrimination and homelessness among Pinoys in the U.S. have always been there, though largely unwritten about. So this narrative exercise, a product of this year's growing season, is for kabayans who are the lowest of the low: the homeless, undocumented, discriminated against and diseased drug addicts. One can have it all, I think. Thanks to the Mary Evans Picture Library for The Ignis Fatuus drawing (1860).

For The Fignorant

"I have not cut down any fig tree. Why then does calamity befall me?"

                                   --Ravana, the ten-headed demon-king of Lanka, in Ramayana                      

GLAD TO FIND this book order in the mailbox upon our return from our trip to Binghamton for Sara's 18th birthday last Labor Day weekend: ecologist Mike Shanahan's fascinating book Ladders to Heaven, published in the U.S. as Gods, Wasps and Stranglers. This highly informative book could be among the Complete Idiot's Guide titles.

“In his insightful book, Mike Shanahan combines poetry and science, history and humanity, to tell a story not only of the fig tree but of life on Earth in all its beautiful and astonishing complexity.”--Deborah Blum, director, Knight Science Journalism Program, MIT; author of The Poisoner’s Handbook

"A must read."--The Daily Mail

"The tree in the Garden of Eden was very likely not an apple but a fig.”--Annie Proulx

"Fig trees fed our pre-human ancestors, influenced diverse cultures and played key roles in the dawn of civilization. They feature in every major religion, starring alongside Adam and Eve, Krishna and Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad. They evolved when giant dinosaurs still roamed and have been shaping our world ever since. These trees intrigued Aristotle and amazed Alexander the Great. They were instrumental in Kenya’s struggle for independence and helped restore life after Krakatoa’s catastrophic eruption. Egypt’s Pharaohs hoped to meet fig trees in the afterlife and Queen Elizabeth II was asleep in one when she ascended the throne. And all because 80 million years ago. these trees cut a curious deal with some tiny wasps."--Mike Shanahan

From Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel fresco