The Subject Is Woman, Uncovered.

Art & Science in Human Anatomical Studies.

If there are no cadavers for anatomy classes, what could be a beautiful alternative for studying the complex structures of the human body?

Combine art and science. Let the students be models and artists; let them explore every part of the body with their fingers and then paint them on the skin as close to reality as possible like that in  the front page cover of the Diario de Natal above.  The story feature in the inside pages had a picture of a a pregnant belly being painted on with the representation of the fetus.

This education tool is being used in the Natal Faculty Development in Rio Grande do Norte (FARN) in Brazil.

The city of Natal is a major tourist mecca in the state of Rio Grande de Norte, and we are surprised that there is a lack of cadavers for anatomy classes in the FARN.  The report says a technique for painting on the human body has been successfully developed that a Center for the Study of Artistic Anatomy was set up four years ago.

We wonder if this mixture of art and science in anatomy studies has attracted more students to take up medicine and other health-related courses.  Painting on live models (themselves) certainly is more attractive than dissecting cold cadavers and tinkering with body parts and organs.

The last reminds us of the Bodies Exhibition we saw in New York two years ago, and which opened somewhere in Metro Manila recently.  This had several bodies, organs and organ systems that seemed reproductions in wax or plastic; these were cadavers preserved using a process called polymer preservation.

We remember that most of the bodies were male except those in the reproductive and urinary system exhibit area, which also showed placentas, embryos and fetuses to illustrate embryonic and fetal development.

But then again, if there are no cadavers, why think about polymer preservation? There's artistic anatomy, an old art form evidenced by the works of Michaelangelo such as those up the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

The front page cover below with the portrait of Lien van de Kilder, a TV/movie personality, in the Belgian paper Het Nieuwsblad has something to do with women's bosoms or breasts.  The story is titled "Ode to My Bosom" featuring 12 popular Belgian women talking about their breasts. 

"Ode to My Bosom"

A blogger commented that this weekend supplement of the Het was much more sensous than the average cover of Flemish men's magazines.  We understand it was a big hit at the newsstands.

 

Zenyatta lost; "Blame the winner!"

Before the great race

One need not be a horse lover or horse whisperer or horse race bettor to find Zenyatta's horsetory interesting. Zenyatta is female, a mare.

Her run at Churchill Downs during the $5-million Breeders' Cup Classic on 06 November was for a horsetoric 20-0 retirement record.  But she lost by a head to a male.  "Blame the winner!," the papers screamed; that's his name, Blame.

We rang up our horse racing aficionado friends, Wednesday denizens of beer joints cum OTB's, and a good friend who owns a number of racing horses, to check if they are familiar with Zenyatta. Yes, they do, in the same way they know of the legendary Seabiscuit, whose burial ground is still a secret, and the last movie about him had Tobey McGuire as the jockey.

Here's Joe Drape of the New York Times (06 Nov) describing Zenyatta's dramatic final run in Louisville, Kentucky:  "...So when jockey Mike Smith cornered the big girl and squared her shoulders toward the finish line in dead last, the more than 72,000 people here at Churchill Downs rose to their feet and held their breath. Zenyatta not only had 11 horses to pass, she also had a dozen or so lengths to make up....They were boys. She was the only girl in the bunch, and at age 6 the oldest of the lot.... When he finally got her outside and clear, Zenyatta charged. ...Smith was fanning Zenyatta, a mare he loved, with his left hand. She dug in, and Blame’s lead grew smaller with every stride. With 20 yards to go, Zenyatta was at Blame’s tail. Then hip. Then neck. There was a roar, the flash of a finish-line photo, and then silence."


Art Wilson of the Whittier Daily News said of "[t]his Breeders' Cup Classic, which included a superstar mare trying to retire undefeated, [as] the first Ali-Frazier fight, the 1960 World Series and Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal in the 2007 Wimbledon finals all rolled into one."

Zenyatta's jockey Mike Smith was reported to be in tears blaming himself for her defeat.  Jerry Moss, the owner, remained proud of their girl, and graciously accepted her defeat to another great horse.

What could have been like among the crowd of 72,739 at Churchill Downs? 

Could it have been folksy like how Peter, Paul and Mary sang about when Stewball raced?  Listen:  "Oh, the fairgrounds were crowded,/ And Stewball was there /But the betting was heavy /on the bay and the mare. /And a-way up yonder, /Ahead of them all /Came a-dancin' and a-prancin' /My noble stewball. /Oh, the hoot owl, she hollered /And the turtle dove moaned /Of a poor boy in trouble /on a long way from home. /I bet on the gray mare, /And I bet on the bay. /If I had bet on ol' Stewball, /I'd be a free man today." 

Or could it have been very genteel like the fashionable polite blue-bloods at the Ascot in Loewe&Lerner's "My Fair Lady"? Listen:  "Ev'ry duke and earl and peer is here /Ev'ryone who should be here is here./What a smashing, positively dashing /Spectacle: the Ascot op'ning day./At the gate are all the horses /Waiting for the cue to fly away./What a gripping, absolutely ripping/Moment at the Ascot op'ning day./Pulses rushing! Faces flushing! /Heartbeats speed up! I have never been so keyed up!/And second now They'll begin to run. Hark!/A bell is ringing, They are springing Forward Look! /It has begun...! What a frenzied moment that was!/Didn't they maintain an exhausting pace?/'Twas a thrilling, absolutely chilling /Running of the Ascot op'ning race."  In this gavotte, one saw only the heads of horses flashed by so very briefly. 

End Notes:

• Churchill Downs located in Louisville, KY  is "the legendary home of the Kentucky Derby, has previously hosted the Breeders’ Cup in 1988, 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000 and 2006 and has been the site of six of the seven largest crowds in Breeders’ Cup history.
• The Breeders' Cup administers the Breeders' Cup World Championships, a year-end Thoroughbred racing event comprising 14 races and $25.5-million in purses.  This year's event at Churchill Downs is the 27th 

References:

1.   Drape, Joe. (2010, November 06). Zenyatta Misses History by a Head. New York Times Online.  Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/sports/07breeders.html. 

2.  Wilson, Art. (2010, November 06). Blame the winner: Zenyatta rallies from last place, but bid to go 20-0 thwarted in Breeders' Cup photo finish.  Whittier Daily News Online.  Retrieved from http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_16543323?source=rss#ixzz14kC7Grtb 

3.  Breeders' Cup Website:  http://www.breederscup.com/  

4.  Churchill Downs Website: http://www.churchilldowns.com/ 

5.  Lyrics of  Stewball retrieved from http://www.elyrics.net/read/p/peter-paul-&-mary-lyrics/stewball-lyrics.html  

6.  Lyrics of Ascot Gavotte retrieved from http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/myfairlady/ascotgavotte.htm

Gaudi's Sagrada Familia Consecrated & Designated a Basilica

It is still unfinished since after the first stone was laid in 1877, and its completion is expected by 2026 at the  earliest. It is hoped that the main entrance and the cloisters surrounding the building will be completed by  2016.

 

This is the Sagrada Familia (Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family), considered the masterpiece of the reclusive Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926) although the writer George Orwell described it as "one of the world's  most hideous buildings."

Its construction began in 1882, based on a traditional neo-Gothic design by Francisco de Paulla Villar. When Gaudi took over in 1883, he overhauled the plan completely to  include 18 spires and five naves, richly detailed with colorful ceramic adornments. Once completed, it will become the world's tallest church with its central tower at 170 m (560ft). 

Religious services had been held in its underground crypt through the years but it was only last Sunday, 07 November, that the first mass was celebrated at the central nave by the head of the Roman Catholic Church himself, Pope Benedict XVI, when he consecrated Barcelona's emblematic Sagrada Familia and designated it a basilica. 

Gaudi devoted the last 15 years of his life entirely to the project, living and working on site. Construction was slow, and Gaudi's defense was "my client is not in a hurry."  He died in 1926, when he was ran over by tram 30 of Barcelona.

The Sagrada Familia is now a UNESCO world heritage site. The building is funded by donations and fees collected from visitors. It is said that in his time, Gaudi would even go out to beg for money to help pay for the project.

Here are some reflections of Pope Benedict on Antoni Gaudi and the Sagrada Familia in his homily during the consecration mass, which make us understand why Gaudi has been called "God's architect" through the years --

"What do we do when we dedicate this church? In the heart of the world, placed before God and mankind, with a humble and joyful act of faith, we raise up this massive material structure, fruit of nature and an immense achievement of human intelligence which gave birth to this work of art. It stands as a visible sign of the invisible God, to whose glory these spires rise like arrows pointing towards absolute light and to the One who is Light, Height and Beauty itself.

Source:  Inside pages, El Mercurio, 08 Nov 2010.

"In this place, Gaudí ...made stones, trees and human life part of the church so that all creation might come together in praise of God, but at the same time he brought the sacred images outside so as to place before people the mystery of God revealed in the birth, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this way, he brilliantly helped to build our human consciousness, anchored in the world yet open to God, enlightened and sanctified by Christ. In this he accomplished one of the most important tasks of our times: overcoming the division between human consciousness and Christian consciousness, between living in this temporal world and being open to eternal life, between the beauty of things and God as beauty. Antoni Gaudí did this not with words but with stones, lines, planes, and points. Indeed, beauty is one of mankind's greatest needs; it is the root from which the branches of our peace and the fruits of our hope come forth. Beauty also reveals God because, like him, a work of beauty is pure gratuity; it calls us to freedom and draws us away from selfishness.

"...  In this masterpiece, Gaudí shows us that God is the true measure of man; that the secret of authentic originality consists, as he himself said, in returning to one's origin which is God. Gaudí, by opening his spirit to God, was capable of creating in this city a space of beauty, faith and hope which leads man to an encounter with him who is truth and beauty itself. The architect expressed his sentiments in the following words: "A church [is] the only thing worthy of representing the soul of a people, for religion is the most elevated reality in man"."

References:

1.  "Pontiff's Homily at Gaudi's Holy Family Church."  (2010, November 07). Zenit. Retrieved from http://www.zenit.org/article-30878?l=english

2.  Tremlett, Giles. (2010, November 07). New hope in campaign to make Antoni Gaudi a saint.  The Observer Online. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/07/antoni-gaudi-sagrada-familia-miracle

3.  "Pope Benedict consecrates Barcelona's Sagrada Familia." (2010, November 07).  BBC News Europe.  Retrieved from 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11705036

Women of Power

It just so happened that two papers--Kleine Zeitung of Austria and Manila Bulletin of the Philippines-- had women as subjects in their front pages last Saturday, 06 November.

The Kleine Zeitung featured six women with political power in their respective countries:  Angela Merkel of Germany; Mari Kiviniemi of Finland, Julia Gillard of Australia, recently widowed Cristina Kirchner of Argentina, president-elect Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, and Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica.

"More and more women come to power, do they govern differently from men?," the paper asked political scientist Birgit Sauer.

According to her, the increasing influence and power of women in government in Latin America and in some Asian countries can be traced back to family origins.  "Women from political dynasties have power," she said, citing Cristina Kirchner of Argentina, although "there are also many young democracies in Latin America, where political will to change" is the underlying factor. 

Do women differ from men in policy making? Sauer says yes, but adds that "gender is not a political issue. I know there are no scientific studies on the political behavior of women, but one finds women parliamentarians and ministers no different from men. Politicians are primarily committed to their party.  Women are no different ...I do not expect that men and women are fundamentally different.   For me, behaviors and gender roles are very much determined by context.  The behavior of politicians is shaped by the competitive power-related policy area." 

A woman wants to compete in a game that is dominated by men, do you think that she must follow the rules of men?  Sauer said, "Exactly.   Anyone who embarks on this territory must also adjust to the environment."  

She does not believe that the world would be better off with more women at the helm.  

We checked if there are other women holding the levers of power today; and here they are-- a mix of royalties and those who were elected by popular or parliamentary vote:

"State and Head of Governments Today"

On the other hand, eleven women of power in their careers or fields of expertise were featured in the Manila Bulletin. These were the Philippines' TOWNS (The Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service) 2010' who were honored in Malacanang by the President Benigno Aquino III himself. 

The president called them "inspirasyon kayo ng bawat Pilipino [an inspiration to every Filipino]" and expressed  hope that they will not get tired in giving strength to women affected by poverty and violence.

We are most familiar with Kara David because we do not fail to watch her documentaries in I-Witness of GMA7.  One of them, "Ambulancia de Paa" won the George Foster Peabody Award early this year.  We know that she fully deserves her award for excellence in broadcast journalism.

We met Kara a few years ago when she filmed the release of young turtles to the China Sea and featured it in her documentary on turtle protection and preservation.  Timpuyog Zambales, our NGO, maintains a turtle conservation hatchery in the coastal barangay of La Paz in San Narciso, Zambales.  

The other TOWNS 2010 awardees were:

·  Therese Tianco "Gang" Badoy, founder of Rocking Society through Alternative Education or Rock Ed who  "by nurturing volunteerism, reached out to the youth to empower them and move them to participate in empowering others to uphold their rights to better society."

·  Arlene Javellana Bag-ao, Akbayan party-list representative, and lead counsel in the Sumilao farmers' case, who "by choosing to work at the grassroots level, has helped in the promotion of policy reforms to benefit marginalized groups and thus has given hope to the less educated, less sophisticated, and less protected people of the Philippines."

·  Laura Tenmatay David, the first female oceanographer in the country and a faculty member in the UP Marine Science Institute, who by "using a multidisciplinary approach, has studied how ocean physical characteristics affect productivity and diversity."

·  Jo Enrica Catalla Enriquez, executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women - Asia Pacific, was cited for "her work [that] has led to the passage of the anti-trafficking law that has provided much needed support for curbing human trafficking and assisting victims."

·  Therese Clarence Arellano Chua Fernandez, president of Rags2Riches, Inc., was cited for creativity in transforming waste materials into high-end designer lifestyle products: "In the process of providing a clear economic and environmental contribution to the country's development, she has been able to put to good use about 700 tons of scrap. This creativity has promoted a positive image of the Filipino's ingenuity in the international scene."

·  Regina Hechanova-Alampay, an organizational psychologist who has worked on the psychology of the Filipino worker, was awarded for "her research [that] provides the scientific bases for provisions and practices in the industrial and corporate settings that are culturally relevant and globally competitive."

·  Carmela Mortillero Lapitan, the first female urologic surgeon admitted as diplomate of the Philippine Board of Urology, a professor at the UP College of Medicine, among others, was recognized for "her work [that] offers treatment to millions of Filipino sufferers of urinary incontinence with quality care."

·  Stella Luz Alabastro-Quimbo, an economics professor at UP Diliman whose research contributed to the creation of the PhilHealth program, was recognized for "her research and publications [that] have provided empirical support for the policy pronouncements of President Noynoy Aquino on the need to achieve universal PhilHealth coverage as soon as possible."

·  Marissa Villafuerte Romero, a senior science research specialist and fellow at the Philippine Rice Research Institute of the Department of Agriculture, was awarded for "her work [that] has led to the improvement of rice quality and better processing of fruits and vegetables that will provide better nutrition for consumers."

·  Myla Cristina Crespo Villanueva, the chief executive officer of Novare Technologies and a pioneer in the Philippine information and communications technology industry, and president of the Global Telcom Women's Network.  The TOWNS award is for "her work [that] entails mentorship of young women telecom executives and developing professional linkages between women CEOs in a male-dominated industry." 

It's amusing to note that PNoy in this pose with the eleven awardees, he has not found an outstanding woman to serve as the nation's First Lady. 

As an end piece, we decided not to clip out the Manila Bulletin's item on Fil-Am judge Tani Cantil-Sakauye who was elected Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court during the US midterm elections on 02 November.  

Women of power indeed! 

Sources: 

1.   Immer öfter: Frauen an den Hebeln der Macht [Tr.: More and more often: Women on the Levers of Power]. (2010, November 05). Kleine Zeitung Online. Retrieved from http://www.kleinezeitung.at/nachrichten/politik/2545176/werden-immer-mehr.story  

2.   Sisante, Jam. (2010, November 05). Kara David, 10 others cited as outstanding women. GMANews.TV. Retrieved from http://www.gmanews.tv/story/205255/kara-david-10-others-cited-as-outstanding-women

Study says CT Scans can cut lung cancer deaths by 20%

Liz Szabo wrote in USA TODAY that a large study has shown "that using CT scans to screen smokers and ex-smokers for lung cancer can reduce lung cancer deaths by 20% — potentially saving thousands of lives — by catching lethal tumors at an earlier, more treatable stage."

 

The National Cancer Institute funded the eight-year, $250 million study of 53,000 people older than 55. 

The whole Szabo story can be retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-11-04-ct-scan-lung-cancer_N.htm. 

The Giant(s) Victory Parade in San Francisco

We'll let the front pages--headlines and pictures in the 04 November issues--of selected California newspapers tell how it was when the Giants rode motorized cable cars (two per car) through a thick rain of ticker-tape from Montgomery St. to City Hall with Willie Mays (the Say Hey Kid) and Willie McCovey, both Hall of Famers, at the head of the victory parade. 

We hope our friends in the Modesto area thought of keeping an extra copy of the "A Giant Dream Come True" pull-out the Modesto Bee issue of 04 November; it's not available online for souvenir hunters like us.

This coming Sunday, the San Jose Mercury News will have a Special Giants Commemorative Section. Same wish to friends in that area for them to keep a copy for us.

We like the title of the 128-page keepsake book from the San Francisco Chronicle: "Torture to Rapture".  It doesn't come with the regular edition of the paper, but it can be purchased through http://www.sfgate.com/sfgianstsbook. 

San Francisco explodes with Giants Fireworks

[Wednesday, 03 November, 1000H, Manila].  It's most likely that San Francisco and the entire Bay area have hardly slept at all since Monday night when the Giants trampled the Rangers 3-1 in their ballpark in Arlington, Texas.  

It's going to be a raucous celebration for the homecoming today, Wednesday, of this "gang of misfits and castoffs skillfully brought [together] by General Manager Brian Sabean."  


Fans from all over the state are probably filling up and finding vantage points now along Montgomery, Washington and Market Streets up to the Civic Center Plaza  to cheer the Giants in their ticker-tape victory parade, which starts in a few more hours (1100H PST).  This is the same route that the Giants took in 1958 when they bolted from New York to San Francisco. Mayor Gavin Newsom will give them the key to the city on the steps of City Hall after the parade. 


We're short-term 'resident' of SFO every year we visit America, and our residence is a short walk on Embarcadero to AT&T Park, the official home of the SF Giants.  From our perch on the 22nd floor, we've seen crowds walking to the the brightly lit stadium every time there's a game there.

It would have been great being there today.  In our mind, we can see fireworks later in the evening like it was the Fourth of July.  After all, this is the franchise's first World Series championship since 56 years ago in 1954 when they were still playing at the Polo Ground--long gone--in Harlem, New York City.

From the accounts of this victory in the front pages of California newspapers and the New York Times, we got to know how the Giants almost made it in '62, '89 and 2002.  In the long drought history, the Giants never made it even when Willie Mays and Barry Bonds were with the franchise.

It would certainly be great to see Willie Mays a.k.a. the Say Hey Kid, now 79 and living in California, hail the Giants for this victory.  He played with them in New York in 1951-57.  New York can not yet name a street after this baseball Hall of Famer because he's not dead.  But there's a nine-foot bronze statue of him swinging his bat done by William Behrends at the AT&T ballpark, a favorite photo-op spot of baseball fans. 

California will be crying out their love for Edgar Renteria for his three-run homer and young ace Tim Lincecum for dominating eight innings to the great woe of the Rangers' and their fans in their own ballpark. Lincecum, two-time Cy Young Award winner, dueled with Cliff Lee, who's going to be a free agent unless the Rangers sign him up anew.


Renteria joins Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra in that exclusive club of batters who have delivered the winning hit in a World Series twice in their career.  His homer in Arlington adds to his two-out single in Game 7, which gave the first championship to the Florida Marlins in 1997.  He is due for retirement.

The ball slips away!

Back in Texas, the newspapers were spare and dour in their account of Game 5.  The two prominent front-page treatments we noted were in the Forth Worth Star-Telegram ("It was still a dream season"), Tyler Morning Telegraph ("Texas Barbecue") and Times Record News ("Arlington Woe").


In the Philippines print and broadcast media, a little hype was put on Tim Lincecum being a Fil-Am.

Suggested victory readings:   


1.  Shpigel, Ben. (2010, November 01).  Giants on Top at Last. The New York Times.  Available online at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/sports/baseball/02series.html?nl=&emc=a27  


2.  Schulman, Henry. (2010, November 01). SF Giants on top of the world with the 1st Series win. The San Francisco Chronicle online at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2010/11/02/MN7S1G5BQ6.DTL