The Little Prince Comes Alive

Little Prince Comes To Life


Maybe and just maybe I underestimate the brain power of five year olds.




I spent Saturday lunch with this little guy. For the sake of this story and very public blog, let's call him George-Ringo. I have not seen him since Dec 2009. It did not stop him from being friendly and trusting when I brought him around while his mom was occupied in the mall.



George-Ringo brought me to the panels that you step onto before you actually get on the escalator. Then he asked me if there was a motor underneath the panels. I started telling him all I knew about the inner machinations of an escalator which took all of 8 seconds. It's a cute moment and all that but after thinking about it well after I left the little guy's company I was reminded of 'drawing No. 1' in the Little Prince. The first chapter I have reproduced below.


One of the themes I will always revisit is the eternal battle of substance over style. Function over form, Cake vs. Icing. Here is a guy who just turned 5 and already he is concerned with what lies underneath. Not solely accepting the surface. Not solely defining his experience by what's obvious. The exact opposite of the vain and the shallow people I love to satirize in this blog.

I just thought that mental process I observed was worth sharing.

Ed

PNoy Proposed Prayer Vigil Preposterous Presumes Privilege is Pseudo Patriotic and Prostitutes Piety

Let me get this straight. Our country does not put away people for crimes like drug smuggling and murder. China does. Their system seems to work and we are supposed to pray that it doesn't just because pinoys are involved. It's not an issue of of guilt or justice anymore it's racism. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20110218-320968/DZIQ-Aquino-calls-for-national-prayer-vigil Feb 21, '11 6:52 AM


Why doesn't Noynoy ask for a national prayer vigil so the Lord can give him some brains. Maybe even Noynoy knows there are somethings beyond the control of the Lord.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20110218-320968/DZIQ-Aquino-calls-for-national-prayer-vigil Feb 19, '11 11:21 AM



Here is a radical idea. Instead of praying for the lives of drug smugglers to be spared. Why not pray for wisdom that people do not smuggle, sell or use illegal drugs? http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20110218-320968/DZIQ-Aquino-calls-for-national-prayer-vigil Feb 18, '11 7:05 PM


Laws are laws and rules are rules and drugs are drugs and guilty is guilty . Who cares if a Filipino gets caught in a foreign country breaking their rules??? Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. No excuses. No pampering under the guise of nationality.

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20110218-320962/Even-VP-Binays-trip-cant-stop-executionsChinese-embassy
Feb 18, '11 6:53 PM

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/notes

http://twitter.com/edrlopez


If you have seen the above quotes before it's because they were previously published in my Twitter, FB, Multiply Notes etc. What Noynoy is saying by this is because you are Pinoy , accident of birth then you deserve not to be dealt with by the laws of the foreign lands that you go to. Just because you are Filipino you don't have to be accountable for your actions. The laws do not apply to you. Or at least not to their fullest extent.





Whenever you encounter a head scratcher in life always consider the source. Here is guy who did nothing to earn his position. His position happens to be the highest elected office in the land. I have summed up his uselessness in one sentence: take away his last name and what do you got? All this guy is off spring of people that represents romantic history to much of the voting public and not much else. Whatever there was of it back then I doubt he is creating now or will ever create. All the guy does is wear yellow, make the "L" sign with his hand and talk about his parents. He does not have the credentials to manage a Burger King. Nobody not even his fans ever cite anything he has done in Congress or the Senate except ask for money. Face it, that's what your twelve year old does.








Prayer means many things to many different people. I might as well talk about what it means to me. If you think God is important and supreme and I do then what you pray for should be important. Four days ago I was told something I found very profound by somebody who is 89 years old. She really makes it a point to kneel even a little bit in front of her statue of the Lord when she prays. She is right. Something about that external acknowledgment that adds some power to it. If you agree with my point that God should be respected and the way to show that respect is to avoid frivolous things when to pray, I will define for me what is frivolous:

• praying for preferential treatment in terms of a single race and not action.
• praying for victory in any sort of artificial contest that is merely meant to entertain.
• praying for victory in any sort of artificial contest that is merely meant to entertain in terms of a single race.
• praying for personal gain in an effort to compensate for lack of effort.

For my other thoughts on prayer you may look here.



Yes there is a separation of Church and State. There also should be a separation between prayer and indulgence. I love certain spectator sports but never once have I prayed for outcomes of sporting events. I have seen starving children living in squalor and they deserved prayer more than the Washington Redskins.






As much as I mock Noynoy's Prayer Vigil , it is still very indicative of the culture I live in. Can be summed up in four words: "Basta Pinoy Da Best" . It explains the hysteria in this country for anything Manny, Charice, Arnel, Azkals etc. It does not matter if you don't appreciate a particular field of endeavor but if a Pinoy is involved then suddenly you should be an expert at it. I know many relatives who even in their 20s and 30s play or coach organized soccer. Those people represent the .0002 % of pinoys who recently cheered on the Azkals that watched more than 10 minutes of soccer back in 2009. They do not appreciate soccer but the nationality of the people playing soccer. If you are one of those people, do yourself a favor and look up the definition of the word "intrinsic". So in this case pinoys or pinays go into China attempting to smuggle drugs and are caught. The laws should apply to people based on action or non-action. Not based on race. To hope for an outcome on those grounds is racism. Noynoy is in effect praying for racism. If he told you to pray for an unjust law that would be one thing. But he is telling you to pray that the law of another country not be applied to violators who happen to be Pinoy. If you love your country then you want your country men to behave as well as possible. Not to avoid punishment when they do not.


Samuel Johnson said Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel . Based on the article below how can this NOT apply to Noynoy. This Prayer Vigil encourages entitlement. It does not encourage accountability or even contemplation. Which pretty much sums up Noynoy.


Ed




http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20110218-320968/DZIQ-Aquino-calls-for-national-prayer-vigil



DZIQ: Aquino calls for national prayer vigil


INQUIRER.net
First Posted 18:15:00 02/18/2011

Filed Under: Religions, Benigno Aquino III

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III on Friday called for a national prayer vigil for the three Filipinos facing execution in China on charges of drug smuggling.

Radyo Inquirer reported that Aquino was hoping for a miracle to save the three sentenced Filipinos from death.

Of the three convicted drug smugglers, two are scheduled to be put to death on Monday in Xiamen while the other one is due to be executed on Tuesday in Shenzhen.

Tags: prayer vigil, nationalism, noynoy aquino, prayer, accountability, laws, dumb, bandwagon

Late Night World of Love featuring Jerry Vale

Some video clips from the NBC show back when it was for me must see viewing. The opening clip features cult hero Chris Elliot being stopped by security. Of course the highlight is Ernie Fajardo lookalike Jerry Vale singing the haunting anthem "Late Night World of Love". Make sure you stay till the very end. The old NBC David Letterman lives in this blog.

In the future I will be posting more versions of the haunting late night anthem.


Ed

Eddietorial - LeBron and the case for Cleveland Audioblog

Hello and thanks for coming. This is my first audio blog and I really hope you take the time to listen to it. I designed it to be entertaining regardless how much or how little you care about the subject which is LeBron James' departure from the city of Cleveland. This process of narrating something then adding clips from movies etc is nothing new to me since I used to do a lot of it in the mid 80s. The difference now though is digital mixing plus getting the odd obscure clip from Youtube. Even with all this technology and the library of sounds I still like visualizing people like George Martin, Alan Parsons , Tom Scholz and Jeff Lynne just monkeying with sound to produce something different. Not that I am doing anything remotely close to what they were doing. Still I would like to think even if you are familiar with the topic the more you will be entertained with my treatment of it.





In 25 years my speaking has not really gotten any better but I hope you get some laughs along the way. Hopefully most of them with me and not at me.

Ed



Points of references that I base the blog on

LeBron James Cleveland Miami

http://www.mediafire.com/?121tpnccq9lezvl

(audio)

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1234/Eddietorial_-_LeBron_and_the_case_for_Cleveland_Audioblog_ (video)


Dan Gilbert

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2010/07/gilberts_letter_to_fans_james.html

Noynoy Bites The Hand That Fed Him

You have heard of the expression bite the hand that feeds you. You have also heard the expression double edged sword or it cuts both ways. Dang this guy is a moron. President Noynoy Aquino in his never ending display of naivete wants advertisers to boycott sensationalist media. First of all, I have lived here 11 years and I have news for the President. Any media that services the masses here are all sensationalist media. You would know that reading this blog.


You all know I am pro business but I am also pro truth. In this country those ideals often conflict with each other. The job of PDI, Philippine Star , ABS CBN is not to tell the truth but to sell space and time to advertisers. Maybe the world has changed.







Well respected American writer George F. Will mainly writes about the goings on in Washington. His second area of expertise happens to be baseball. Granted he comes at it from a purist or traditionalist approach. His comment in response to the trend twenty years ago of baseball venues also having arcades and in between inning entertainment. "Isn't baseball enough"? So to transpose that sentiment to our current topic, isn't the truth enough in news media? Apparently in this market truth is only there if it will help sell the story.







Sorry, but during Noynoy's rise to the highest elected office in the land the mainstream sensationalist press was a downright cheerleader. Which is very different from delivering the truth to you.







In a perfect world the head of state would fill available positions with the people who have accomplished something. News makers instead of people who write opinions about the news makers. Noynoy hired Ricky Carandang and Manuel Quezon III both of the uber yellow ABS CBN. The Holy Week preceding the 2010 Presidential Election ABS CBN conveniently broke the local tradition of religious programming during that time and showed movies of Noynoy's parents triumphs.



Noynoy thought he was using the media. He is too dim to know the media was using him. I have said this on the record before. All the media did was make a guy who did nothing look like he deserved the top office in the land. Shame on the media for hoodwinking us. Shame on us for falling for it. Ed

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/tag/newspapers

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1141/Reason_1642_Why_We_Dont_Subscribe_To_The_Inquirer


http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/688/Why_Are_Our_Filipino_Newspapers_So_Dumb

http://ohnoy.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/boycott-these-shameless-pro-noynoy-aquino-companies/

http://petitionagainstabscbn.info/30/tv-patrol-is-pro-noynoy/

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/abs/20110217/tph-pnoy-takes-swipe-at-media-sensationa-8061bf7.html

PNoy takes swipe at media sensationalism


[PNoy takes swipe at media sensationalism] PNoy takes swipe at media sensationalism

MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday took a swipe at media outlets who promote sensationalism over truth.

During the oath taking of AdBoard officers and directors in Malacañang, Aquino told advertisers that those who support media outlets that promote sensationalism "undoubtedly contribute to the problems we are facing and that's where we have to look beyond the confines of our needs to promote our products."

“We are working overtime to shed daylight on the country, and you can help by encouraging media to police its own ranks, and to provide clarity to issues. Needless to say, the marketing communications sector can help promote a trustworthy, transparent relationship between the government, and the Filipino people,” he said. "Unfortunately, in our country, sometimes sensationalism is a lot better than spreading the truth. Sometimes, the truth seems to have been a forgotten concept by some of our media practitioners,” he added.

"Those of us who would support them in their endeavors undoubtedly contribute to the problems that we face; and that's where we have to look beyond the confines of our needs to promote our products and be the responsible Filipino that we all can be. The future is ours to make today. Let us make the right decisions to have the right future," Aquino said.

The NBA IS Not King

"The five most-watched events in U.S. TV history are now "M-A-S-H" (seen by just under 106 million people on Feb. 28, 1983) and the last four Super Bowls, Nielsen said." link



I have said this in other entries but I consistently have to remind the culture that I am in that the NBA is nowhere near the dominant sport in it's own country than it is here. Then again FPJ, Richard Gomez, Tito Vic and Joey have dominated the cultural landscape here for decades so what does it say about this place? What does it say about the fact that this is the only country where basketball is not the dominant team sport. It's the only team sport.

The NFL is the #1 team sport in the US. The most sophisticated, diverse sporting nation on Planet Earth. The best hockey, basketball and baseball players go there to play. Guess what? In terms of TV ratings the #2 sport is College Football. The US has soccer and it's treated no better than a fifth class citizen. Nothing against Bolivia or Uruguay but if their favorite sport is also their only sport that is no reason for the US to follow suit. The US already has the most choice and the NFL totally dominates as if they were Godzilla being unleashed on Smurfs.




Back in 2007 the NBA Finals was on free over the air network TV featuring Lebron James The Sopranos Finale was available only to HBO subscribers. Not even basic cable. Guess which show got better ratings?? The Super Bowl last Sunday was highest rated show out of every show that has ever showed.



I will keep harping on this since the typical pinoy truly believes that the NBA trumps every sport anywhere just because it does so here. The NFL not only beats basketball, it beats all other TV.

You can devote your life to the NBA for all I care , just don't think it dominates anywhere else but here.


Ed

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/224122

http://cornholiogogs.multiply.com/journal/item/1017/Hypocrisy_of_the_Recognition_and_Admiration_of_Efren_Penaflorida

Link to Highest Ratings Ever


Link


Super Bowl sets record with 111M viewers in US
AP - Mon Feb 7, 7:22 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) -- For the second year in a row, the Super Bowl has set a record for American television viewing.

The Nielsen Co. said Monday that an estimated 111 million people watched the Green Bay Packers outlast the Pittsburgh Steelers in professional football's ultimate game. That tops the 106.5 million who watched the 2010 game between New Orleans and Indianapolis.

The series finale of "M-A-S-H" had held the title of the most-watched TV show in the United States for 27 years. It is now No. 3.

Fox had the advantage of a game between two of the National Football League's iconic franchises and, even though it looked like it could be a rout when the Packers took a 21-3 lead, it went down to the final minute and held viewers' interest.

In fact, the most-watched single play of the game was Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's (notes) final incomplete pass to Mike Wallace (notes) with about a minute to go, according to measurements by TiVo Inc., the digital video recorder maker. When that pass hit the ground, it clinched the game for Green Bay.

The five most-watched events in U.S. TV history are now "M-A-S-H" (seen by just under 106 million people on Feb. 28, 1983) and the last four Super Bowls, Nielsen said.

Television ratings in general have been super for the NFL this year, with viewership up 13 percent over last year, Nielsen said. Games on CBS, Fox and NBC averaged 20 million viewers, more than twice what networks get for their prime-time programming.

"Super Bowl XLV caps what is arguably the most successful season that any sports league has ever had," said Pat McDonough, senior vice president for insight and analysis at the Nielsen Co. "The number of people watching NFL games has never been higher, with 24 percent more people watching the average NFL game this year than just five years ago. The Super Bowl continues to be in a category of its own."

Football has become the communal event that television, in a splintered competitive world of dozens of networks, rarely provides outside of "American Idol" or the Oscars. Compelling story lines for the games and the growth in high-definition television help make the games compelling for viewers. The games also tend to be DVR-proof, with viewers wanting to see them live.

Traditions that have built around the game itself make the Super Bowl compelling to non-sports fans. Christina Aguilera's goof on the National Anthem, the Black-Eyed Peas halftime show and the dozens of commercials that companies debut on TV's biggest stage were water-cooler discussion topics along with the game on Monday.

Fox's "Glee" took advantage of the time slot directly after the game, reaching 26.8 million viewers for its special episode. It was the most-watched scripted entertainment program on TV since Fox's "House" aired after the Super Bowl three years ago, Nielsen said.

TiVo also judged the Snickers commercial featuring Richard Lewis and Roseanne Barr to be the top-rated commercial of the telecast. The company determines that through a calculation that takes in viewership and how many times people rewind their DVRs to watch the ad.

Second place was Best Buy's ad with Justin Bieber and Ozzy Osbourne.

"Funny ads made it to the top," said Tara Maitra, TiVo's vice president and general manager for audience research and advertising sales.

The Black-Eyed Peas' halftime show, with guests Usher and Slash, held its own. TiVo said it had nearly identical viewer engagement numbers as shows with classic rockers over the past two years.

People were much less likely to stop the game to repeat the ads in the second half, when the football action was compelling, Maitra said. No beer ads made TiVo's top 10 rated ads for the game.

The average Super Bowl viewer with a DVR either paused, rewound or fast-forwarded 145 times during the game, TiVo said.

How Some People Treat Hallowed Ground

St. Andrews in Scotland is the birthplace of golf. It is hallowed ground for the golfing community. Even if you are not a golfer or a golf , it does not take much to appreciate the beauty, tradition and history of this place. Keep strolling down since I have a point.











I have seen one PGA event in my life and I was glad I did. Any sports fan would be thrilled to see a major tournament in any sport. It is where history is made. There are only 4 of them in golf and in tennis. I know someone who went to the 2010 British Open in St.Andrews. But that is not why I posted this.


This person decides to honor a place steeped with history and tradition by wearing high heels. In case you don't catch the "gravity" of what I just said, imagine following golfers and they play through 18 holes while you are walking on grass wearing high heels. Last time I tried it, it was not exactly relaxing. I asked this person and she had no regrets. The fact that the heels made her sink in the ground and she left tracks was not an issue to her.


I have spoken about vanity many times in the blog and what it does to situations and people when it is given a higher priority than it should be. For me and this is just me: tradition, respect, appropriateness and utility all trump vanity. But that is just me. Corinthians 13:13 talks about faith , hope and love. It does not talk about faith hope and vanity.


The person who wore high heels in St.Andrews regardless of the impracticality justified it by saying vanity before all. I will let you decide if vanity is worth it. In this or any other situation.



Ed


http://www.standrews.org.uk/

http://www.scottishgolfhistory.net/st_andrews_oldest_golf_course.htm