inspiration and stimulation for our current projects
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| Christmas Eve 2021 |
The central Philippines region has been slammed by the recent Typhoon Odette [Rai], making nine destructive landfalls in the country on December 16.
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| Typhoon Odette crisis response page on Facebook |
In Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte; Cagdianao, Dinagat Islands; Liloan and Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte; and Pres Carlos P. Garcia and Bien Unido in Bohol.
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| Palawan Relief Efforts |
Christmas is in the air! Happy holiday cheer to all!
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| native bamboo Christmas ornaments |
The Philippines is notorious for having the longest Christmas season and Filipinos throw ourselves fully into the holiday spirit with great gusto.
We have countless Christmas customs to celebrate the occasion - with food, feasting, and festivals fare. Christian, traditional, or familial - we all have our special triggers, practices, and customs that enliven our celebrations.
There bamboo trimmings capture the spirit of Christmas in our island home. They are a collaborative creative achievement between Hacienda Crafts of Manapla, Negros Occidental and CM Bamboo Craft Centre of Iloilo.
Fellow Filipina and prized photojournalist Hannah Reyes Morales has been tapped to highlight Nobel Peace Prize winners through a photography exhibition in Oslo, Norway and share their stories with us and the rest of the world.
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| Images: Nobel Peace Center; Hundred Heroines |
Morales, along with her fellow photojournalist Nanna Heitman's coverage of Dmitry Muratov, will feature the significant contributions of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureates, who were selected “for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.”
Morales “has created a documentary photo series that depicts how social media permeates everyday life in the Philippines. This work is personal: like many of us at home, watching the consistent assault on truth has been deeply disturbing.”
Morales told the Nobel Peace Center, “I’ve been able to take a closer look at the chaos that is rooted online, and in the dark, I was reminded constantly that on the other side of the screen are people.”
Brava! Mabuhay ang Pinay!
Let us be of one mind that we may do this properly.
We give thanks for our Clan Ancestors.
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| Thanksgiving family feast, Edgewater NJ, 2021 |
And the Great Mystery, told us this:
I shall continue to dwell above the sky, and that is where
those on the earth will end their thanksgiving.
I shall always be listening carefully to what the people are saying and
shall always be watching carefully what they do.
They will begin on the earth, giving thanks for all that they see.
They will carry that gratitude upward, ending where I dwell.
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| Thanksgiving family feast, Negros Island PI, 2021 |
Lasting three hours, 28 minutes and 23 seconds, the November 19 lunar eclipse breaks monumental records. There hasn’t been a longer partial lunar eclipse since 1440. According to NASA, it will remain the longest eclipse for the next 648 years - until the next one in 2669.
Plus this lunar spectacle has the Moon passing so deep through the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow that it almost qualifies as a total lunar eclipse and barely a penumbral one.
full beaver blood moon over NYC
According to astrologer Cathy Pagano, Eclipses represent portals of transformation and awakening, opening us to unknown parts of ourselves. Perhaps it’s time to cleanse and heal past life patterns that tested us to grow.
Lunar eclipses often finish up old business. Eclipses sometimes bring fated events into our lives that help with the evolution and growth of our soul, especially if they contact any of our natal planets.
Eclipses come around to ask, Are you living from the heart? Taurus asks, What is of value to you and your life? Scorpio asks, How long are we going to hold onto childhood’s traumas when the world needs us to grow up?
At times things look sunny on the surface - yet there may be some limiting [beliefs, doubts, or blocks] in the unconscious that need to be cleared out - to get closer to our truth.
How exciting to be at the forefront of shaping a new vision of life for a new society. What do we each have to do to make this a reality today?
wonder | wander| world in conversation — with our fellow island born, nurtured circle of friends, and former high school classmates — got to talking about our campus life back then.
registration building & Oblation statue, UP Diliman campus
A few of us went to college at the University of the Philippines, Diliman (UPD) in Quezon City. Growing up on our little lush tropical island made us appreciate the campus more — our escape from the concrete and crush of the overcrowded chaos in sprawling Metro Manila.
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| Academic Oval Road, UP Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines |
Although we had since moved on and have not returned to the community, it was good to see this grand state campus still thriving and well tended. We were among the lucky few who got to dorm on campus — a great comfort and convenience at a simpler time in our lives.
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| the Threatened Species Arboretum on campus |
November 5 marks the 123rd anniversary of the Negros Revolution - Al Cinco de Noviembre or Negros Day.
This was the 1898 political movement which created an independent government in Negros Island in the Philippines.
Local sugar planters and traders along with their farm workers and grassroots groups led by political and religious heads like Dios Buhawi and Papa Isio instigated open rebellion.
Spanish-era depiction of the Cathedral and the Plaza Publica
Ending Spanish control of the island and resulting in a government run by the island natives on the western side [Negros Occidental].
The newly established Negros Republic would last a mere three months. American forces landed on the island unopposed on February 2, 1899 which brought the island's independence to an end.
pre-war photo of the Plaza Publica & historic bandstand, 1930s
Negros Island experienced three peace time years many old timers still refer to as their golden years, until the Japanese invasion of World War II.
Many islanders take pride in their revolt against the authorities and today there still is a dedicated core who promote secession and federalism.
1950's photo of plaza & bandstand with checkerboard tiles
That folks is the mixed bag of pride and prejudice for the sake of local independence.
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| current aerial view of plaza & bandstand |
October is Filipino American History Month.
Hollywood News Source is celebrating this annual occasion with book recommendations ranging from literary fiction, poetry collection, romance, YA and MG titles written by Filipino-American authors.
You can read and share these books all year-round.
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| on the opening of the city's first permanent, public library building in 1971 |
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| fiction |
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| non-fiction |
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| poetry |
We are still prickly from the recent divisive celebration of Columbus Day versus Indigenous Peoples Day here at wonder | wander | world. It is stunning how much we still need to decolonize ourselves to annihilate the level of ignorance and passive compliance we tend too easily towards.
So enough about Christopher Columbus - the symbolic figurehead of evil empire erroneous eradication. An on to the Columbian Exchange - the history of disease and food, ideas and ideals between what we have come to commonly refer to as the New World and the Old World following the voyage to the Americas by that same Christopher Columbus in 1492.
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| a seaport at the height of mercantilism - Claude Lorrain, Wikimedia Commons |
The crossing of the Atlantic by plants like cacao and tobacco illustrates the ways in which the discovery of the New World changed the habits and behaviors of Europeans. Europeans changed the New World in turn, not least by bringing Old World animals to the Americas.
Tonight it's raining down stars - still in the peak of the Draconids meteor shower, plus the Pleiades. It's the peak of the Southern Taurids meteor shower. These shooting stars harness powerful energies for manifesting. Make a wish. Meditate. Activate all day. Ascension time it is.
The new moon on October 6 ignites creativity, to birth original ideas and stimulate inspiration and insight. Carve out time for a private creative pastime or personal project. Generate especially imaginative ideas within the two weeks that follow this new moon.
On Sunday, October 10, the 10:10 stellar portal energy is massive. All the clearing work over the past few days prepared us to clear out old energies with karmic cycles in support of closing and healing.
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| circle of time - aurora vortex |
This week may not go quite as planned. We can feel the best and worst of moods, experience lovely moments of flow, and go through patches of great technical difficulty as Mercury - symbolic arbiter of communication, thought, and transport - retrogrades, as it squares difficult Pluto and trines hopeful Jupiter.
Mercury square Pluto has us look at the worst-case scenarios. Mercury trine Jupiter can help us see our situation from a larger perspective and optimistically free ourselves from old patterns. The truth of our situation may lie between these two extremes. Those conflicting aspects can neutralize each other and leave us just puttering along.
This year, the harvest moon falls on Monday, September 20 - just two days prior to the autumn equinox.
Farmers Almanac facts & folklore
The word equinox comes from Latin aequus or “equal,” and nox or “night” because on the equinox, day and night are roughly equal in length. When the sun crosses the equator from north to south, this marks the autumnal [Sep or Oct] equinox and when it crosses from south to north, it marks the vernal [March] equinox.
When Denis Villeneuve signed on to direct a 21st century version of the Frank Herbert classic sci-fi novel, Dune, he was no doubt aware of the book’s long and lasting history.
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| new cover art |
With the release of the new movie - and hopefully more to follow on film and tv - Dune is about to have a new wave of resurrected and fresh devotees and art work to feed our frenzy.
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| more Dune covers |
wonder | wander |world can’t wait to see the concept art that comes out from all this hype. As art aficionados, we tracked the graphic design and illustration to see how much the book covers changed over the years. As sci-fi geeks, we devoured and dissected all Dune material we could find throughout the decades.
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| an older version of the Dune series |
Tracking a classic book like Dune - that tends to get redesigned every few years - clearly captures the design trends then and how they evolved through the years.
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| the version we first read in 1979 |
Here is our selection of the last few decades of book cover designs through the lens of Dune by Frank Herbert.
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| the first edition |
While we wait for the latest release and the “Art of Dune” book companion, we can pick our favorite versions from them. For other versions, you can enjoy more designs here as we step into the Dune universe and legacy.
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| foreign editions |
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the American tragedy known as 9/11. The catastrophic disaster of September 11, 2001 changed New York, the people of the United States, and the world forever.
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| Tribute in Light - 9/11 commemorative public art installation - photo by Jin S. Lee |
The recent pull out of American forces in Afghanistan has forced us all to question actions and consequences arising from this. How it has changed our world and how each of us were affected in its wake.
Life is a journey of self discovery. Everyone’s journey is different and unique. Quiet. Challenging. Adventurous. Serene. Fitful. Joyful.
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| revelatori by Tori Press |
Each one life altering, interesting, inspiring. We are all in search of acceptance and love.
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| production still - Oro Plata Mata |
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| with our production gang - eight months pregnant |
Boushra Almutawakel is a Yemeni artist and photographer passionate about justice for girls and women rights. Her ongoing series about the hijab explores the many ways to look at this veil and how it affects identity of and assumptions about the women who wear it.
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| Untitled, The Hijab Series, 2002 |
In her words: After September 11, I was compelled to create images on the veil, particularly since Islam and Muslims had taken international center stage. I found that we, as Arabs and Muslims, were either demonized or romanticized.
Not enough can be said about the women who birthed, inspired, and influenced us. We proudly stand on their amazing shoulders in an expansive world - large vistas unimpeded til the far horizon.
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| Skateistan is open six days a week and offers single gender classes with boys and girls separate. |
Enshrined goddesses of awe and wonder - famous or not, colorful or not - each distinct and all unique.
Here is a very short list, with more to come for sure.
In a true case of life being stranger than fiction, kudos to Philippine cinema and Filipino artists and creatives for these innovative films.
Life on our islands have only gotten harsher and more bleak - caught between the rock that's such deep seated corruption in government and the hard place this virus and pandemic has put us all in.
The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival is a project of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and the Cinemalaya Foundation, Inc. The all-digital film festival "aims to discover, encourage and honor cinematic works of Filipino filmmakers.”
The festival runs from August 6 to September 5 - screening thirteen competing short films, Cinemalaya also presents the Premieres section - featuring four never before seen feature films by Filipino filmmakers. Available on on ktx.ph.As with everything going on in our lives today, the Tokyo Olympics has been fraught with challenges. Under the world's microscopic and persistent gaze, it's no wonder matters are exposed and exploding all over the place under all this pressure.
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| Naomi Osaka lights the Olympic cauldron at the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) |
Under fire to produce the most gold for their country, in a blaze, for glory or bust. When did we turn on our gladiators and favor public demand instead? For whatever sells the tickets? Hell to pay, for sure then.
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| The Fighting Temeraire, 1839 |
As we ease our way back outside this summer, wonder | wander | world is compelled to explore outdoors from a fresh and appreciative perspective. Even fully vaccinated, we prefer to ease our way back into what we hope is a much better world.
We were doubly inspired by the latest works on display by famed global artist, Yayoi Kusama - now on display at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) from April 10th through October 31st, 2021.
Yayoi Kusama, still from Flower Obsession (Sunflower), n.d. Courtesy of the artist.
Read the full article here: Yayoi Kusama’s Fascination with Nature Is Crucial to Understanding Her Art (artsy.net)
