It’s December 23rd — Festivus.
Today is the day we forget about those having birthdays … instead celebrating a holiday invented by Frank Costanza on Seinfeld. Because Christmas is too commercial.
A Festivus for the rest of us.
Click PLAY or watch Seinfeld on YouTube.
Jeepneys are the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines. They were originally made from US military jeeps left over from World War II and are known for their flamboyant decoration and crowded seating. They have become a ubiquitous symbol of Philippine culture. …
I rode on top from Sagada to Banaue, Philippines. A crazy fun hour descending narrow mountain roads.
GREAT views of the famous mountain rice terraces!
Some of these are 2000-years old.
… Here’s the issue — should you tie yourself on to the roof rack? … Or take your chances jumping to safety just in case the Jeepney goes over the cliff?
I did tie myself on. But was ready at an instant to unclip in an emergency.
What’s the world record for most number of people in a Jeepney? … You don’t want to know. 🙂
More photos of my roof ride.
Shiro bought me a book written by his guru, Nikkyo Niwano, spiritual leader of Risho kosei-kai, a lay Buddhist organization out of Japan.
Published 1976, it’s still relevant today:
… Living with Nature
Self-confidence
Self-sacrifice
Expecting too Much
Expecting too Little
The Virtues of Work …
… you get the idea.
What I like about the book is what I like about Buddhism, it addresses a philosophy of life. How to live best. How to live the most fulfilling life.
The Hobbit is an upcoming two-part epic fantasy film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a film adaptation of the 1937 novel of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien and a prequel to The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
The films are The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) and The Hobbit: There and Back Again (2013).
Click PLAY or watch it on Apple.
Ian McKellen is back as Gandalf the Grey.
The Wall Street Journal’s Gary Hamel:
… I compiled a list of 12 work-relevant characteristics of online life. These are the post-bureaucratic realities that tomorrow’s employees will use as yardsticks in determining whether your company is “with it” or “past it.” In assembling this short list, I haven’t tried to catalog every salient feature of the Web’s social milieu, only those that are most at odds with the legacy practices found in large companies. …
1. All ideas compete on an equal footing.
2. Contribution counts for more than credentials.
3. Hierarchies are natural, not prescribed.
4. Leaders serve rather than preside.
5. Tasks are chosen, not assigned.
6. Groups are self-defining and -organizing.
7. Resources get attracted, not allocated.
8. Power comes from sharing information, not hoarding it.
9. Opinions compound and decisions are peer-reviewed.
10. Users can veto most policy decisions.
11. Intrinsic rewards matter most.
12. Hackers are heroes.
Sounds like the Longs have enjoyed New Zealand best of all on their Round the World family holiday.
… We have been traveling and staying with the Closson family since we arrived. Clossons are our friends from Saskatoon, for those of you who do not know them. They are on an ambitious one year round the world tour. Kim lived here when he was younger and so still has many friends and connections. Fortunately for all of us, many of Kim’s friends have been very generous and allowed squatters in their “bach”.
A bach is typically a small holiday cottage, but our first “bach” was a luxury highrise at the beach with views of the ocean and harbor. Thanks Kim!! …
read more – New Zealand #1
Jimmy Kimmel:
… asked parents to let their kids open one (bad) present two weeks before Christmas and upload their reactions to YouTube with the title “Hey Jimmy Kimmel, I gave my kids a terrible present.” …
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
via Mashable – Ungrateful Kids React to Bad Christmas Presents [VIDEO]
Sagada is charming. Especially compared with the rest of the tourist mountain towns in the north of Philippines.
There’s a big legacy from Christian missionaries. In 1909 local tribes were still hunting heads!
A voluntary 9pm curfew. How about that?
see more on flickr
Dengue fever is bad. And getting worse.
… The incidence of dengue fever has increased dramatically since the 1960s, with around 50–100 million people infected yearly. …
About 40% of the world’s population is vulnerable.
Sisters, gymnasts from Manila, were just recovering from bouts of Dengue fever. The first people I’d ever met who had been afflicted.
In Philippines, 300 died from it in 2008.
Here it’s most prevalent in the big cities like Manila. That species of mosquito bites day and night.
… Happily I’ve seen very few bloodsuckers in December.
There are people working on a cure. Here’s one very optimistic scenario.
Infecting Mosquitoes With Bacteria To Keep Them From Infecting Us With Dengue Fever
That’s on Co.Exist, a site dedicated to WORLD CHANGING IDEAS AND INNOVATION.
I had an upset stomach for a few days. (Not Dengue — rather traveler’s diarrhea.)
If you have to be sick, you might as well be sick in paradise.
This is Sagada. (pop. 10,930)
Boys playing basketball, girls volleyball. Christmas carols boom from the Church. A little girl plays with a kitten. Very domestic. Very rural.
In these limestone mountains almost anything will grow: cabbage, tomatoes, green pepper, potatoes, carrots, beans, and other temperate products. Coffee. Citrus, mainly lemon, lime and Valencia oranges. Strawberries and apples.
This is the coldest place in the Philippines. But I’d still call it tropical. There are exotic flowers and flowering trees everywhere.
Formerly a hippie hangout, the tourists here right now are an older, savvy crowd. French, German, Polish, Australian. I met one other Canadian. There are a number of excellent restaurants, a legacy from the hippie days.
Even with my bad stomach, I got out once or twice a day for hiking and jogging.
… Departing Sagada, it feels like I’m finally starting my trip home for Christmas. Home is Parksville, B.C., this year.
Rick McCharles 