Living Bi-coastal

Click. Fox News channel quickly materializes into view, with tele-genic hosts delivering in soft and modulated cadence. Up to the minute streaming news and human interest stories parade through one’s ken, presented in typically very soothing fashion allowing one the feeling to sit back comfortably, create a calming atmosphere around the electronic presence, and generally feel good about the world. (Okay, maybe not the last phrase.)

Another Click. And comes the screechy high-pitched voices of newscasters and program hosts, giving an almost caricatured and very loud rendition of news reporting or program hosting. Jolting one to sit nervously on edge, and maybe run reflexively for the remote to reduce volume.

A world of difference?

Wrenched from my adopted country of almost 30 years and living again in the old homeland for the last three months, I do need to be kept abreast of the news (and maybe, scandals) on both coasts, for very understandable personal reasons.

Cable TV affords one that convenience of surfing not only through local channels, but through many of the international channels as well. From CNN, to BBC, and to the local upstart, Fox News.

One cannot help but compare how news and messages are delivered from two sources separated by a wide ocean and thousands of miles apart. Differences abound not only in the language that they are delivered, but also in how news/messages are articulated over the air ostensibly for the listening delight of the listeners. Although, local news and programs are also done in English and at times in a combination of both, called locally under the euphemism of Taglish (Tagalog interspersed with English, or vice-versa).

Locally, to bring across passion, commitment, seriousness and deliberateness it almost seems like the “town crier” has to shout every word, with almost unnatural modulation, and definitely, loud voice. Live programs with audience participation are almost always a shrieking cacophony of shouting matches from hosts to audience, from light banter exchanges to ad-libbed live ads.

Why so loud with each talker holding on to the best sounding microphones very close to the mouth, one is left to ponder. And tossing one at sea in bewilderment.

Is it too much to expect from producers of shows or the hosts themselves to understand that delivery is very critical in bringing across from studio to listeners whatever messages they are trying to convey?

That shouting them, especially in unison and cadence with others only serves to audibly blur the messages, or worst muffle them badly as to be lost to or even misunderstood by the listeners?

Haven’t the ever vigilant and money-wise advertisers not wakened up to this, and politely requested for subtle changes in how their messages are articulated and delivered electronically?

But hey, maybe I am wrong. Very dead wrong. Maybe there is deliberate method to this seeming madness. Maybe surveys have determined this is the best way to deliver not only messages to the Filipino listener, but also to show commitment, passion, and deliberateness.

Whatever it is, please do not shout at me!

I am just wondering aloud.

More From The Ancient Department

Ronson lighters were the Roll Royce of their times, when smoking of cigarettes was considered "cool" for both men and women. Well-crafted, dependable, and a bit pricey, especially compared to matches.

And to extend one's "coolness" to the bathroom, Ronson also made electric shaver products, fit for the coolest of smokers and a gift fitting for the gentleman who had everything.

This yeoman's facial hair remover was in the hands of most adult males in the mornings. Sturdy, convenient, and durable. Replacement for replaceable blades was easy to secure.

Another sturdy product of youth. A heavy cast-iron hulk of a two-hole puncher, weighing at least three pounds. Could double up as weapon against pesky officemates.

For the consummate devotee of orderly and neat office paper files, a small paper cutter able to fit easily on any table top.

Garbage Guaranty

UPDATE: (June 28th, 2008)

Now, does that look like "fresh" garbage added on the heap, after a newly-painted garbage drum has been added for the dumpers' convenience?

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One sure way to guarantee that garbage and refuse will be dumped on your vacant lot.

Of Older Stuff

Pictured below are old products that surely have gone the same dusty and forgotten way of Beta-Max, VHS, VCR, 3D films, etc.

A miniature Mamiya film camera that fits snugly in one hand but weighs maybe two pounds. Loaded with all the fine-tuning adjustments one found in a regular-sized camera then.
The Kodak Instamatic, the most convenient piece of picture-taking equipment appropriate even in the hands of a child. Most households had one then, and the price was quite affordable.
What about a sturdy, industrial-strength, made of heavy cast-iron, one-hole puncher for your school work. Weighs maybe two pounds.
And a manually-operated numbering machine that produced professional-looking numbers, then at least. Number crunchers had to have one.
For the audiophile, a transistorized reel-to-reel tape recorder that one could carry around for listening to recorded songs or for interviews of important personages.


Those were the days.

ADDENDUM:
Call this your check protector. After writing out your check, roll this gadget over all the text and numbers you just wrote and viola, instant protection. It embosses and perforates the areas touched by it. A hardy and endurable product made in the good old US of A.

A Path Less Traveled

Dear blogger, ever wonder who visit your blog? And where they come from? Or even what they visit in your blog?


Sitemeter can be a credible source enough to learn about them. Especially if your blog is pretty much like mine, where unique visits are few and far between. Currently, I get a little less than 40 unique visitors each day.


One or two are quite regular visitors, like fellow blogger PhilippinesPhil, and thus would not be representative for why a typical or casual visitor decides to open up on my site. Phil visits almost all blog entries I write, whether serious, fanciful, or even those which may be woefully adjudged by some as bordering on inanity.

But many (and I say that relatively and advisedly given my blog’s miniscule reach) span the entire globe – from Finland, to different African countries, to Palestinian occupied territories, to most Asian countries including the old homeland Philippines, and even to unfamiliar places like Stoke-at-the-Trent, UK. I have been introduced to so many unheard of places that Google had only been too happy to oblige. And for me it is addedly exhilarating to note that certain things I write about, which admittedly have some profound importance to me, are also sufficiently interesting to other people in the globe.

But what things?

When I wrote a little piece on Cartesian logic, really just a passing reference and a little exposition of its meaning, little did I realize that to this day I continue to get visits from different parts of the world, but more likely from France and neighboring European countries. Of course, this type of logic is oft described as a national trait of the French.

The same thing happened when I started the series on food recipes of the different regions of the Philippines. In any given cluster of visits, I could depend on one or two visits looking for recipes of regions they originally came from, that is, from Filipinos who are now living abroad pining for the local cuisine of their youth.

One time I wanted to find out what could make my blog garner more visits. And early on had decided that writing about a breaking news scoop could be a good vehicle. Try I did about a grisly suicide of an accused husband to a murdered Philippine actress, and immediately tripled my readership. Unfortunately, the spike did not correspondingly elate and elevate my spirits. It was sort of an empty victory. Don’t they refer to this as Pyrrhic victory? I wanted more, more in terms of what I felt was important for me too.

So immediately reverted to my usual tack, writing mostly about things that meant something to me, and as much as possible giving them a positive spin. This way I felt good about myself, and thus motivated me to regularly go back and reread the stuff I had written, not so much as an ego-trip but to try and relive the warm feelings engendered by my writing the entries.

Writing about the genealogies of my father, my mother, and my wife’s mother have also stirred continuing interest. Right now, the genealogy of my father’s family continues to get hits from around the globe which I suspect come from possible relatives who want to learn more about their past and relations.

But beyond this, and more like the wayward but equally delicious crust of a favorite pie, it also made me feel fuzzy to discover that strangers from some distant corners of the world, populated by people who do not even share commonly my background and predispositions could find some of my writings interesting enough to go and visit for a few minutes or so. Like entries about credit unions, some hobbies and pastimes, even deeply personal things such as sketches and drawings.

All these have helped make regular blogging to this day a sustaining effort for me.

Thanks to all visitors. You are most welcomed.