Vintage Imelda

Just this once I am going political because I can't pass up on this article published in The Australian Magazine, the Sunday magazine of the The Australian that came out in its March 10-11 issue. The article is entitled "Lady in Waiting" which is about Imelda Marcos. (Sorry the article is not available online.)

Quotable Quotes

Here are some quotes from Imelda's interview that appeared in the article written by Emma-Kate Symons:

"We did not kill Ninoy and Marcos is not a dictator."

"I know there are many, many people who would like me to return to politics" (Yeah, the 10% who voted for her in the 1992 elections.)

"When the world went to my closet they found only shoes and jewels, not skeletons." (Coz the skeletons were buried in mass graves.)

"These last 25 years they have deprived me of everything. My country, my art, even my shoes."

Her Philosophies

Here are glimpses of what she believes in:

"My philosophy in life, because I'm committed to beauty, is very spiritual. Beauty is a religion for me because beauty is God made real. I have been brainwashed by beauty."

"My philosophy in life is the only things we keep are those we give away" (referring to the art collections, furniture and other stuff sold by the Aquino government).

Her Claim to Fame

"Look at these shoes, they only cost $US3" (Poor girl, she must have worn them out right after the interview.)

Imelda quoting Mao: "Mrs. Marcos is so natural and that is perfection...And she finished in five minutes or five seconds the Cold War". (Gee, I must have read the wrong history book.)

If you don't know it yet, she has published a book entitled Circles of Life : A Perosnal Mythology Guide. Got to know about it when I saw the movie Imelda. If you haven't seen the film, go watch it have a look at how her seven circles is really ten and have a good laugh. And I thought I was good at counting.

Imelda in the Eyes of the Writer

These were how Imelda and her home was described in the article:

"...startlingly well-preserved."

"...Marcos's style as crass while chuckling at her narcissistic claims. But there is method to her madness."

"On her grand piano are rows of photographs of Marcos with her dictator's hall of fame. Pride of place is reserved for her 'dear friends' Hussein, Fidel Castro, Gaddafi, and Mao Zedong." (Birds of a feather? Nah, she did say her husband was not a dictator right? Maybe he just hanged out with the wrong crowd.)

As for her book and video collection, these were some of the titles Symons saw: Saddam Hussein: A Biography, Hitler's Children, Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser. It's obvious that he holds Saddam in high esteem, I wonder how she felt when he was hanged. Oh and just because she has these books does not mean they were a source of inspiration while they were in office. Her video collection consists of her "peace missions" as the First Lady to Iraq and Libya and also includes PowerPoint presentations of how she "ended the Cold War". Professionally speaking its a rather interesting collection and I won't mind organizing and cataloguing them for her.

But I'm sure she wouldn't have any use for my talents as she knows where everything she owns are.

Unputdownable

This is what I can say of Stephen Abram's book Out Front with Stephen Abram: A Guide for Information Leaders (Chicago : ALA, 2007). I have just finished cataloging the book and intended to read it later but when I started reading the first article I just couldn't stop. (Frankly, for the first time I actually hoped I would miss my train on my way home home so I can read more but I arrived a couple of minutes early at the train station. However, I made use of the train ride and was able to finish the book in time for me to get off the train.)

The book is a compilation of Abram's post from his blog Stephen's Lighthouse, his articles from various publications, and live Power Point presentations. Credit for compiling, selecting, and editing Abram's works goes to Judith Seiss and Jonathan Lorig who deserve a round of applause for their efforts and for taking care not to leave out any type of library or library user. The duo organized the collection into four themes: advocacy, technology, communities and generations, and the future. Stephen's writings not only reflect his passion for the profession but he also challenges his readers to think and encourages them to communicate their thoughts and put them into action.

This is definitely a must-have for libraries and library schools and a must-read for librarians and information professionals and library and information science students. I strongly encourage colleagues in the Philippines, especially those concerned with professional development and continuing education, to get a copy of this book because the articles are a good source of topics for fora, seminars, etc.

My Secrets Are Out

I thought I'd never be able to make another post before the end of this month. There's just too much work, both professional and domestic, that doing this post provided some relief.

Zarah tagged me to reveal five secrets (thank goodness it's just a small number) so here they are:

1. Library Science was not my first choice for a career. I really wanted to take up Computer Science but my parents could not afford it since my brother was already taking up the course in a premier university. The good daughter that I was, I let my parents talk me into taking up LibSci. But hey, no regrets there.

2. Battle City, the predecessor of today's video game consoles, remains to be my favorite video game.

3. After I graduated from Hardy Boys (owned and read all titles) and Nancy Drew (read all of them too), I read Sidney Sheldon, Harold Robbins, Barbara Bradford Taylor, Jean Auel, and other steamy novels in high school while shunning away from Sweet Valley High and Bobsey Twins.

4. I have experienced being one with nature if only for a few seconds during a meditation retreat in 2005.

5. I've always wanted to be a cataloger after graduating from college but ended up doing mostly reference work for 16 years.

I would have loved to add some more but I have to stick with just five otherwise....

I'm tagging Ms. L (Lyn Lagundi-Wayman) who's got her own blog now. She was a great loss to the academe when she left for New Zealand to be with her husband.

Wake Up Call

I have just previewed Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth which won for him an Oscar for Best Documentary. Al Gore, who described himself in the film as "used to be the next President of the United States of America, presents his slide show on global warming - its causes, effects, and progress - and how we can in our own little way reverse the process.

While it is an engaging film, I tended to question the inclusion of his personal reflections which were in black and white. His slide show with all its text and images were enough to drive home the point of how global warming is affecting our planet and to sound the alarm bells that it's time to do something about it. But the personal reflections, for me, smacks of politics. My thoughts were somehow confirmed when the Herald Sun, in its print edition last Friday, ran a story from the Tennessean that Al Gore's annual electric consumption is 20 times the nation's average. Not walking his talk? I believe so.

But the medium (Al Gore) is not the message in this film, let's not forget that. Towards the end of the film, you'd be agreeing with Gore that we are indeed seeing the effects of global warming with extreme weather conditions around the globe and the chilling forecast for the planet that reminded me of the film The Day After Tomorrow. Seeing from the film how rising water levels will affect the big countries like USA and China, I suddenly felt a fear that the Philippines just might get washed off the face of the earth. I pray not.

Give the film a chance if you haven't seen it yet and get a copy for the library. And if you feel, like me, that Gore's personal reflections leave a bad taste in the mouth, just press the forward button on the remote.