Pomposity of colors - Nature's tool for survival

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Butterfly plant, what a coincidence 

in form and structure, and color;

I'd rather say,  a case of mimicry,

mutual protection, a favor of both.   

Angel's trumpet, flimsy sinister, heralding 

not of victory but defeat;

Narcotics its essence, abuse its courtship,

to the unwary on a dark street.   

Balibago - white in the morning pink after;

your secret of a short lived;

you must court the sun and bee without delay,

in the act of make believe.

Mickey mouse the male, Minnie mouse the female,

both flowers born on one plant;

If ever Disney got the idea from this plant, he's right,

mystery is what people want.  

Begonia, frail and dainty, and easy to wilt

must shout its color to the butterfly and bee,

else its flowers like spinsters just fade away

sad and lonely though colorful and free. 

Caladium - but you are not a flower and far from one;

yet you are an apple to the eye of the beholder;

whatever perceptions you create to your pollinators, 

count me as one, your ardent gardener. ~

Adda Kadi Pay Bambanti? (Are there still scarecrows?)

Abe V Rotor

 

Scarecrow in the rice field  (Siquijor) from Travelpod, thanks

The Scarecrow is an art in the countryside.

Maysa nga arte ti away ti bambanti. Nakamattider iti tengnga ti kataltalonan a mangbutbuteng kadagiti billit babaen dagiti nakadeppa nga imana ken ti datdatlag a rupana a nalingdan iti payabyab. Bantayanna dagiti nakadawan a pagay tapno awan ti agkaan a billit-tuleng (Lonchura malacca jagori ken L. m. formosana) wenno maya iti Tagalog.

Adda dagiti billit-tuleng iti agarup sibubukel nga Asia ken iti Pasipiko. Ad-adda a dawa ti pagay ti pagbiagda, ken bukbukel dagiti ruot. Makadanonda pay kadagiti mandala wenno sarusar a pagtuktokan iti irik. Maris-daga wenno kayumanggi dagitoy a billit ken nagsinan-trianggulo ti sippitda nga umisu unay iti panagsippit ken panagukisda iti bukbukel wenno dawa. Sangapangen no agdissoda iti kapagayan.

Isu nga adda dagitoy bambanti nga agbantay. Iramanda pay nga abogen dagiti billit-tsina, ken dadduma pay a billit nga agkaan iti dawa. Nareppet a garami a nangsinan-T daytoy bambanti. Sa mabaduan iti daan a kamiseta wenno bado nga atiddog ti mangngasna ken payabyab. Daytay aglanglanga a kasla mannalon tapno kabuteng dagiti billit.

Adda ketdi parikutna daytoy. Kas iti nasursuruan nga aso ni Pavlov (ti prinsipio ti nakondision a pannakasursuro), maamiris met dagiti billit-tuleng a saan met gayam a pudpudno a mannalon dagitoy bambanti. Ket sakbay a maammuan ni mannalon daytoy, nagum-uman dagiti billit-tuleng kadagiti dandanin maani a pagayna. Amangan ta adda pay dagiti agbatay a billit-tuleng iti mismo nga abaga wenno ulo ti bambanti.

Kadagitoy a tiempo, matmatayen nga arte ti bambanti. Kas sukatna, mangibanteng dagiti mannalon iti tali iti kapagayan a pakaisab-itan dagiti namamaris a plastik bag. Adda met dagiti mangibanteng iti “tali” ti daan a cassette tape wenno video tape— no agangin, aguni dagitoy a mangabog kadagiti billit. Adda payen dagiti agusar iti ‘pellet gun’.

Naminsan, nakakitakami iti maymaysa a bambanti iti tengnga ti kataltalonan. Idi maasitganmi, naduktalanmi a maysa gayam a manekin ken nabaduan a kunam la no adda iti maysa a mall. Nalagipmi la ket ngarud ti ubing a nakaduktal iti estatua ni Venus de Milo iti maysa a pasto iti Gresia.

Iti sabali pay a gundaway, nakakitakami kadagiti lobo (balloon) ken styropore balls a nakabitin kadagiti pinagayan a namarkaan kadagiti rupa da Jollibee, Power Puff Girls, Batman, Popeye, Mr. Bean, ken sumagmamano a karakter iti pelikula ken cartoon. Ket nadlawmi nga awan a pulos ti billit iti aglawlaw!

Idi nadakamatmi iti maysa a gayyemi a maysa nga entomologist, nga epektibo daytoy baro a bersion ti bambanti, kinunana nga aglinglingaling: “Mabalin nga awanen dagiti billit.”

Nalagipmi la ket ngaruden ti Silent Spring, ti premiado a libro ni Rachel Carson. Dagiti billit iti dayta a panagrurusing (spring), natayda gapu iti pannakasamalda iti pestisidio.—O

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The scarecrow is found in many parts of the world in different versions according to culture of the place. It has one universal design though - a T-frame dressed like a human.

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Love that scarecrow (banbanti Ilk.). It is folk art on the farm. In the middle of the field it feigns scary to birds, what with those outstretched arms and that mysterious face hidden beneath a wide brim hat. There it stands tall amid maturing grains, keeping finches or maya birds (Lonchura Malacca jagori and L. m. formosana) at bay. Finches are widely distributed in Asia and the Pacific feeding on rice grains, and alternately on weed seeds, but now and then they also steal from the haystack (mandala) and poultry houses. They are recognized for their chestnut colored compact bodies, and sturdy triangular beak designed for grain picking and husking. The scarecrow also guards against the house sparrow, mayan costa (billit China Ilk.), including the lovable turtle dove or bato-bato (Streptopelia bitorquata dursummieri), all grain feeders.

A scarecrow is usually made of rice hay shaped like a human body wrapped around a T-frame. It is simply dressed up with old shirt and hat. The idea is to make it look like the farmer that the birds fear. There is one problem though. Birds, like the experimental dog of Pavlov (principle of conditional learning), soon discover the hoax and before the farmer knows it a whole flock of maya is feasting on his ready-to-harvest ricefield. It is not uncommon to see maya birds bantering around – and even roasting on the scarecrow itself!

Today the scarecrow is an endangered art. In its place farmers hang plastic bags, or tie old cassette and video tape along dikes and across the fields. These create rustling or hissing sound as the wind blows, scaring the birds. Others use firecrackers and pellet guns.

At one time I saw a lone scarecrow in the middle of a field. On examining it closely, I found out that it was made of a mannequin dressed the way the fashion world does. It reminded me of the boy who discovered the statue of Venus de Milo in a remote pasture in Greece. On another occasion I saw balloons and styropore balls hanging in poultry and piggery houses, bearing the faces of Jollibee, Power Puff Girls, Batman, Popeye, Mr. Bean and a host of movie and cartoon characters. Interestingly I noticed that the birds were nowhere to be found.

When I told my friend, an entomologist, that these new versions of the scarecrow seem to be effective, he wryly replied, “Maybe there are no more birds left.” Suddenly I remembered Silent Spring, a prize winning book by Rachel Carson. The birds that herald spring had died of pesticide poisoning.

Our dear followers and readers: Please write something about the scarecrow and let's help preserve this endangered art. (AVR)

The blackbird is back - so with other threatened animals

 Dr Abe V Rotor

Blackbird (Martines), Drynaria fern and towering acacia tree make
 an ecological sanctuary, together with a host of other organisms 
that depend on them. Tagudin, Ilocos Sur.

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In less than a human lifetime, dozens of wildlife species have rebounded from the brink of extinction - and are establishing their territory in suburbs.  Here are twenty (20) animals that have made a remarkable comeback.

1. Kiyoaw or Oriole (a family of 4 to 6 members frequent our backyard trees, just outside the La Mesa Reservoir watershed)
2. Reticulated python or sawa (a one-meter baby sawa was ensconced in a burnay or earthen pot.) 
3. Fireflies (They can be observed on empty lots adjacent to the Sacred Heart seminary, Novaliches QC
4. Pipit (popularized ina song of the same title, local counterpart of the huming bird)
5. Tuka'k Ba-ung (bellied frog, long thought to have succumbed to pesticides.  See separate article in this blog) 
6. Skink or alibut Ilk (Twice in ten years I spotted this shiny ground lizard at home near the La Mesa watershed.
7. Gecko Lizard (Tuko or tekka Ilk., hunted for its alleged aphrodisiac value)
8. Atlas moth (biggest of all insects by wing span, threatened by the gradual disappearance of native santol being replaced by the Bangkok variety)
9. Black Bear (Prowler in the kitchen and on garbage when hungry)  
10. Canada Goose (Remember Fly Away Home ?)
11. Alligator (relative of the crocodile, we don't have alligators, instead crocodiles - they are coming back, too)
12. Gray Wolf (found in wastelands and open areas)
13. Deer (rebounded in no-hunting forests and grasslands) 
14. Wild Turkey (particularly in the US and Canada)  
15. Cougar (relative of the wolf in the US)
16. Beaver (natural dam builder of forest streams in temperate countries) 
17. Raccoon (common in North America)
18. Wild Pig (baboy ramo, alingo Ilk, one of the most popular game animals; it is a pest of nearby farms, feeding on root crops and succulents, Our native pigs are the progeny of a cross indigenous and wild genes.)
19. Rhinoceros beetle (appears like Triceratops, with three horns, apparently the male; the female has shorter horns)
20. Wildcat (In China the civet cat, counterpart of our musang, is invading homes.  One reason for its comeback is that it eats fresh coffee bean and defecate the seed which is then ground into a special blend that commands a lucrative price.)  

Garden Skink; Wild Pig (baboy ramo)

This is one for the biologist and ecologist. I say, it's one for the Book of Guinness record.

Up high in a dozen centuries old acacia trees, reaching up to 10 storeys high, their boughs and branches clothed with epiphytic ferns, I found the long lost blackbirds, we callmartines in Ilocano.

I was then in the grade school in San Vicente (Ilocos Sur) when I saw the last martines bird. But here on a Black Friday on top of these towering trees, there is the lost bird, in fact several of them in pairs and families. It is like the Coelacanth, a primitive fish thought to have long been extinct, suddenly rising from the depth of the craggy Madagascar sea. Its fossil in rock tells us it is 40 million years old. And here it is - alive and has not changed! The fossil fish is alive! So with the Martines!

The blackbirds have made the towering acacia trees their home and natural habitat, building their nests on the Drynaria fern. The fern grows on the branches, reaching the peak of its growth during the rainy season when the host tree sheds its leaves, in effect allowing sunlight to nurture the fern.

The fern has dimorphic leaves. The primary ones are long and shaped like stag horn and bear sori or spore sacs, while the other kind is shaped and arranged like shingles, enclosing the fern's rhizome. Like all ferns, Drynaria undergoes alternation of generations - the spore-forming phase and gamete-forming phase. It is the sporophytic or asexual generation that the fern plant is familiar to us. It is typically made of roots, stems and leaves - but never flowers and fruits. It is for this that ferns are classified separately from seed-forming and flowering plants. They belong to Division Pterophyta.

In the dry season, the fern becomes dormant, appearing dry and lifeless from the outside, but shielded by the shingles the fleshy rhizome waits for the rain and sunlight - and the shedding of the host tree. Then almost at an instant the fern springs to life, carpeting entire boughs and branches.

Now it's the tree's turn. In summer, while the fern is dormant, it builds a new crown, and together with those of the adjoining trees form a huge canopy that makes a perfect shade. This could be one reason the friars in the 15th century thought of introducing the acacia (Samanea saman) from Mexico to be planted around churches and convents.

Not only that the acacia is the biggest legume in the world; it is self-fertilizing and self supporting, and sharing its resources to countless organisms from earthworm to humans. How is this possible?

The acacia harbors in its roots symbionts - Rhizobium bacteria that convert the element Nitrogen (N) into Nitrate (NO3). Only then can N that comprises 78 percent of the air we breathe can be used by plants to manufacture food by photosynthesis.

And with the deciduous character of the tree, dead leaves form a litter on the ground that makes a good mulch and later becomes compost - a natural fertilizer for the tree, surrounding plants, microorganisms and animals. Then as the pods of the tree ripen and drop to the ground, animals like goats come around to feed on them and in effect enrich the ground. The tree's efficient physiology and symbiotic potential with other organisms make it not only one of the most self-reliant trees in the world, but a miniature ecosystem in itself.

We see today very old acacia trees in these places, just like those around the old St Agustine church in Tagudin built in the 16th century where I found the blackbirds among the Drynaria ferns at their tops. Tagudin is the southernmost town of Ilocos Sur, some 330  kilometers north of Manila - a good five-hour drive. It continues to attract northbound tourists to have a stopover and see this spectacle, among other attractions of this old town, such as its native handicrafts, pristine seashore and progressive upland agriculture.

Going back to the blackbirds, why do we give much importance to them? Well, the blackbirds protect both tree and fern from insects and other pests, and fertilize them with their droppings. They too, are gleaners and help keep the environment clean. Unlike the house sparrow, ground fowls and the crow, they are not nuisance to the place; their presence is barely felt except for their occasional calls which sound quite sonorous but nonetheless pleasant, and their display during flight of a queer pair of white spots on their wings. I developed the liking to watch them for hours - their gentle movement, familial ways, although they do not as gregarious as pigeons, and their glossy black bodies distinct from the surrounding and against the sky. They make a good specimen for bird watching and photography.

Beyond the aesthetics about the bird, I learned from my good friend Dr. Anselmo Set Cabigan, a fellow biologist and science professor, that the martines was introduced from Guam on instruction of a Spanish Governor General to control locust infestation in the Philippines. This is the first case of applying the principle of biological control in the Philippines - and perhaps elsewhere - which was then too advance in its time. Today, biological control is practiced worldwide as part of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), a holistic approach in dealing with all kinds of pests which include pathogens.

Locust (Locusta migratoria manilensis) is a scourge to agriculture in many countries since prehistoric times. I have witnessed how a swarm of locust devour complete fields of rice and corn, and other crops overnight. During swarming the sky darkens as sheer numbers of these flying insects block the sky. And as they ride on the wind they produce a deafening hissing sound that adds terror to farmers and inhabitants.

And why was the matines bird the chosen nemesis of the locust? It clearly shows the efficiency of this predator. Actually predation is most effective when the locust is still in its non-migratory phase, specifically during the congegans - more so when it is in the solitaria phase. The bird immediately checks the pest before it develops into enormous population - and reach its swarming stage.

I believe that the triad formed by the acacia tree, Drynaria fern and the blackbirds is the beginning of an emerging ecosystem where wildlife and human settlement meet in cooperation and harmony. It is a zone where Nature re-builds spent environments and creates intermediate types, in which the role of man is basically to let nature's laws and rules to prevail. For example, doves and pigeons in public squares and plazas in many parts of the world are learning to trust people, and many people are just too happy to share their homes and other resources with them. They are planting trees and setting up more and wider parks for the wildlife.

For one, Japan now requires the greening of rooftops of buildings through gardening dubbed aeroponics, and by putting up ecological sanctuaries to attract wildlife to settle in them. In Europe on the other hand, miles and miles of hedges have evolved into a unique ecosystem, that one can no longer differentiate a well-established hedge from a natural vegetation. Also in Europe, woodlands which are actually broad strips that serve as boundaries of fields and pastures, are gaining through time higher biodiversity levels, and moving towards dynamic stability, called in ecology as homeostasis.

The Philippines is not behind. We have multi-storey orchards in Cavite, Batangas and Laguna that simulate the structure of a tropical rain forest long before the term ecology was coined. And many basins of ricefields and sumps of irrigation systems have become natural ponds.

The 38th parallel dividing the whole length of warring North Korea and South Korea – a strip of no man’s land, twenty kilometers at its widest – has developed, since the armistice in 1958, into a natural wildlife sanctuary. Today it has a very high level of biodiversity and distinct from any reservation on either side of this highly restricted boundary.

These neo-ecological zones are sprouting from backyards, parks, submerged coastlines, denuded mountains, and the like. Even contiguous idle lots – and abandoned fishponds, farms and settlements - are slowly but steadily becoming bastions of wildlife.

Truly, the case of the centuries old acacia trees where the Drynaria and the martinesbirds, and man living with them in peace and in harmony - is a manifestation of Nature's triumph. It is triumph to us and the living world. ~

Grotesque looking acacia tree clothed with Drynaria fern
towers over church and convent in Tagudin, Ilocos Sur.

Photographs taken with an SLR Digital Camera with 300 mm telephoto lens.
Reference Time, December 9, 2013

Big Bang - Origin of Life

Dr Abe V Rotor

Big Bang (19" x 23") painting by the author 2012 

Once upon a distant past, a proto mass 

     of converging gases, too huge 

to hold on in space exploded -

     the Big Bang like a centrifuge.  

Born the universe and galaxies

     in countless numbers expanding,

countless more, orphans in space,

     our known world but a sibling.

Were this true - life so little do we know

     today from its very spawn; 

move over Oparin, move over Darwin, 

     theories past and our own  ~

The Uplands

Paintings by Dr Abe V Rotor

 

Living Fire in Trees in acrylic 2012

Tree of Childhood, wall mural author's residence, circa 2005

The uplands, happy they bloom fire to summer's end,
 sigh with some dying waterfall;
hues of brown and green, earth and sky they blend,
waiting for the first rain to fall,
 to wake the crickets and cicada, their songs to send
into the air nature's happy call. ~    
  

Reflections on Guimaras Island

Dr Abe V Rotor

To see the world in a grain of sand,

      And a heaven in a wild flower;

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand ,

      And eternity in an hour.

- William Blake (Auguries of Innocence)

Where birds and fish meet, sky and river;

when the world is at peace and not a stir;

when the heart throbs not of fear and pain,

but tenderness of a flower grown by rain.

Living on the ledge is a curious thing,

From one world to another world; 

Where freedom is honor and pride,

And finding but the edge of a sword,
That rules the Great Divide.
 

Would you like to live behind bars of saplings and bushes?

where the pond creates a thousand images, 

where deep down breathes life, life of the pond and the trees,

where thoughts live or die as you wish?

   

It looks like a monster facing the sea,

all clothed in verdant green;

it holds back the wind, wave and tide,

the evil spirit unseen. 

How long will I wait and greet you a pleasant day?

But the shy creature is fast asleep in its burrow;

It can't understand your language, only that of the sea,

And kind notes and gestures more than humans know.  

A nursery of mangrove starts to wean

the young plants early for the open sea;

when man by contrast would not dare

but spoils his child from being free.   

And the sapling walks alone into the open,

on stakes anchored in the mud;

hello, it greets the world, and many guests,

to its shadow, confident and proud.

What is a swamp with its unkind, unpleasant name,

this forgotten domain between land and sea,

where monsters lurk, where death reigns, and life

is but an accident, where time is an enemy?

Swamp of sadness, swamp of despair, where 

legends and tales are on the dark side;

yet the riches of the world from the ancient sun

here grew, the fossils coming out alive.   

Pristine by the mirror of the sky,

the trees aligned on the shore;

the air in the stillness of peace,

the water emerald and pure.    

Thoughts run faster than vision, often reaching no destination;

While a boatload of souls patiently waits at sea with the wind 

To take them to where they are bound in work or pleasure;

Having also thoughts of their own, but aimed at their mission.   

Kugtong - giant lapulapu - feared in the bottom of the sea,

its kingdom secured by its fierce look and size;

who would believe Captain Nemo of Jules Verne's book?

Oh, unless you've seen it with your own eyes.

Bridges tell us of war and peace,

bridge across a river or waterfall; 

pontoon bridge in the battlefield - 

memories the longest bridge of all.

Either the rock is rising or sinking, I can only surmise,

A cave on the outside, a cavern deep down below;

Wish I were a witness, or that I might be -

To the creation of a world, its transformation, too,

But I would lose the essence of awe. I wish I won't be.    

  

To each his or her reflection, yet collectively the same and one:

the beauty of nature in a piece of rock floating,

Guimaras - a corner of Eden saved from Sodom and the Flood,  

where man is led back to his happy beginning.    

This post is dedicated to the participants to the 20th Annual Conference of the Philippine Society for Educational Research and Evaluation, May 10 and 11, 2012. I was given the  honor and privilege to be one of them in the group.

Dimorphism

Dimorphism 1. (Botany) the occurrence within a plant of two distinct forms of any part, such as the leaves of some aquatic plants 2. (Zoology) the occurrence in an animal or plant species of two distinct types of individual 3. (Chemistry) a property of certain substances that enables them to exist in two distinct crystalline forms 

Dimorphism in a echinoderm: four- and five-arm starfish 

 Dimorphism in a plant with two distinct flowers: yellow male and red female

Dimorphism in insects: winged male and wingless female Orgya bagworm

Dimorphism in fowls: peacock displays highly decorated plumes to woe a peahen

Signature Stories of Great Men and Women

Dr Abe V Rotor 

1. Horatius Nelson, British naval hero - Telescope on the Blind Eye

In the midst of heavy fighting at sea between the British and the Danes, Admiral Parker, thinking the British would be beaten, gave the signal to Admiral Nelson to withdraw the ships. Nelson however was determined to fight on and when the message was brought to him, he put the telescope to his blind eye and exclaimed, "I really do not see the signal." The battle continued until the Danes sent a flag of truce.    
2. Alexander the Great - The Gordian Knot.
A very complicated knot attached to a wagon with the yoke was presented to the great warrior. It was made years ago by a certain Gordius to whose name the town was named Gordium. The challenge was whosoever could untie the knot would reign over all Asia. Drawing his sword, Alexander cut through the knot with a single stroke.  That is why, when anyone solves a difficult problem, we say he had cut the Gordian knot.   

3. Florence Nightingale, founder of the nursing profession  - The Lady with a Lamp
Even in the wee hours in the morning this great English lady would visit the patients in their ward at a hospital during the Crimean War where she was assigned as volunteer nurse. She would hold a lamp to see if every patient is comfortable and that he had received the needed care and attention.  

 
4. George Frederick Handel, composer of the famous oratorio Messiah - "He saw all Heaven and God Himself while composing the Hallelujah Chorus"
Ruined in health and fortune, and terribly discouraged, Handel decided to abandon opera and instead turned to religious music. He hardly stirred in his room for twenty-three days. His servant would bring a meal, only to find the previous one untouched. When he completed the second part containing the Hallelujah chorus the servant found him with tears in his eyes.  The composer said, "I did think that I saw all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself." When the king heard his majestic work, he was so moved that he stood up out of respect, a tradition which audiences honor to this day. 

5. Simon Peter or St Peter, the  apostle - "Quo vadis?" (Where are you going?) 
Having denied Christ three times in order to save his own life, and fearing apparent death if found to be among Christ's apostles, Peter slipped through the gate of Rome in an attempt to escape.  It was the hour before dawn when he met someone outside the walls of the great city who asked him, "Quo vadis?" To which he found no ready answer, and when he looked back, the person had completely disappeared. Then he remembered Christ who had just been crucified. Peter exclaimed, "My Lord!" He went back to the city to carry on his Master's teachings where he died as a martyr.    

6. Joseph, the Dreamer interpreted The Pharaoh's Dream  

Joseph was called from his prison cell to interpret the Pharaoh's dream. The Pharaoh saw seven fat cows grazing by the river Nile, then came seven miserable thin cows and ate up the seven fat cows. The Pharaoh went back to sleep and dreamt again.  This time, he saw seven ears of corn spring up from one stalk, all good and full.  After them came seven thin ears, dried and scorched by the wind - and the thin ears swallowed up the seven full ears. Joseph said,"The seven fat cows and the seven good ears of corn are seven years.  The sevn lean cows and seven poor ears are seven years.  There will be seven years of plenty in Egypt, then will come seven years of famine.  Such a grievous famine that the years of plenty will be forgotten." The Pharaoh did not only believe Joseph; he made him governor of Egypt to administer the first known food security system - the building of a granary enough to supply the needed food during the seven years of poor harvest. Today countries all over the world adopt a buffer stock system, and in fact regional cooperation such as the EU and ASEAN, has as a priority agenda the assurance of food among the member nations.  
     

7. Christopher Columbus waited for seven long years for the King of Spain to decide on his plan to search a new land West. King of Portugal refused to help him. Henry the VII refused. Charles VIII of France also refused. All hopes gone … then the queen of Spain through Juan Perez her chaplain, sent money to buy clothes and hose, to see the Queen Queen Isabella received Columbus. Condition to be promoted to Admiral and entitled one-tenth of all the wealth, He was refused. A messenger overtook him. And Columbus once more went to the Court . Got the nod of the King and Queen but actually cost them nothing. Port of Palos under displeasure for unpaid taxes and liable of heavy fines. Palos was ordered to provide Columbus his needs. Three ships and men from the town. Came the Pinzon brothers provided Pinta, Nia and Santa Maria.

Magnetic North – is not the true north, and its direction varies from different places on the earth’s surface. But Columbus told the worried crew that it’s not the compass that is wrong but the north star which moved from time to time. And the sailors were satisfied – and they headed into the unknown. It took five long weeks to see land. West Indies (Columbus believed it was part of India) part of Cuba.

The Hills are Alive

Ephemeral each note like the wind passing by,  

     yet touches the spirit sublime.

Dr Abe V Rotor

The Hills are Alive in acrylic AVRotor 2011

I hear the breeze in the trees like melody of the pipe,

     And the cadence of the clarinet;

Downstream the rolling, rumbling of snare drums, 

     Stones clicking like castanet.

Sweet violins I hear from cicadas on the treetops,

     While robins sing in their nest; 

Distant thunder rolls like muffled bass and gong,

     Frogs boom with their breast.

I imagine the sound of the butterfly gathering nectar,

     Each flower a melody;

I imagine the clouds ever changing, making faces,

     Dynamics of harmony.

Music audible and imagined makes the hills alive,
     An orchestra in its prime;
Ephemeral each note like the wind passing by,  
     Yet touches the spirit sublime. ~

Miniature Dioramas of Nature

Dr Abe V Rotor

Tropical Island miniature diorama

Among the best features of the former Museum of St. Paul College (now university) QC are a dozen mini-dioramas depicting the major biomes of the world.

I have introduced two terms not many are perhaps familiar – diorama and biome. Imagine a stage scene with the characters performing a play with appropriate props and background. Now compress everything to fit into a standard home aquarium. It is a miniature version of the large dioramas at the National Museum or at the Ayala Museum.

A diorama has a specific subject matter from which the viewer, like in a stage play, associates a theme or event. It may be something to recall from ones readings or class lectures, such as the First Philippine Independence. It could be a view that is faithfully copied, like the Rice Terraces or Mayon Volcano.

At the SPU Museum, the depiction of the different major biomes or ecotypes is likened to Nayong Filipino where the visitor, after going though the place, feels he has traveled the Philippines and saw the country’s major tourist spots.

Similarly, viewing a desert biome makes one feel he is in Sahara or Utah. Inside a tropical rainforest one has to peer into the undergrowths and epiphytes, and the many creatures that live there, recalling his experience in climbing Mt. Makiling or simply associating the view with what he saw on TV, say the Amazon on National Geographic Channel.

Perhaps the most challenging biome to interpret into a mini diorama is the underwater world in profile with the land. As a marine environment at least five ecosystems are shown: intertidal zone, mangrove, estuary, seagrass bed, coral reef and continental shelf. In this case, the presentation is specific to the ecosystem to present overloading, as one can gleam from the photographs.

The Idea of a Mini-Diorama

It all started with my children at our small frame shop. Anna’s group in school was to make a diorama depicting a picnic scene on the shore of Laguna Bay in Rizal’s “Noli Me Tangere”. There you can see Ibarra courageously saving Elias from a ferocious crocodile before the eyes of his beloved, Maria Clara who was at the verge of losing consciousness while the rest of their companions were suspended in fear and helplessness. So dramatic is the scene that it veered away from reality. But by studying the symbolic role of the characters, the scene was an important chapter in Rizal’s book.

Leo Carlo made a different diorama for his school assignment. It is a tragic yet romantic scene in Francisco Balagtas masterpiece, “Florante at Laura.” Tied to a post Florante waits in despair as hungry beasts surround him. So alive are the lions that Leo skillfully made out of plastic lions he bought from a toy store. For Florante, he converted toy Tarzan to look like a medieval character. The trees were made from driftwood and twigs. Seen from three vantage points, the scene appears to move like a revolving stage, giving a feeling to the viewer that the lions are as restless as their potential prey.

Techniques and Materials in Making a Mini-Diorama

The mini-dioramas at the St. Paul Museum are made of local and recycled materials, toys, and figurines. The expensive part is the glass casing, but even discarded aquariums can be used for this purpose. The beauty of a mini-diorama lies in the skill of the maker, the artist. For example, the characters and parts must be of appropriate size and proportion,

Through a technique Michelangelo and El Greco developed called foreshortening, the effect is that depth and distance are enhanced in spite of the limited space. Similarly dimensions of objects are purposely distorted just like a movie backdrop. The background must create a panoramic effect and must blend with the stage or ground. It integrates the whole view to appear as one contiguous scene.

Lighting is very important just like a stage. Pin lights are ideal but expensive. Under ordinary or natural lighting the mini-diorama is placed as near as possible to the source of light where light penetrates well into the glass casing without causing glare.

Before closing the diorama air tight with silicone glass sealer, everything inside must be thoroughly dry. To insure dryness hide a bag of silica gel which acts as desiccators and a ball of naphthalene to control possible pest.

Guide in Making a Mini-Diorama

1. Before making your project, plan it well. Have a definite subject matter and make a scaled plan for. Sketch the characters, compute for their measurements. Indicate their positions.

2. Have a reference that is reliable. Not from comic books, unless fiction and fantasy is your subject. For science like biology, your reference must be one that is an authority on the subject. This should not prevent you from substantiating it with rich imagination.

3. Firmly secure all parts using strong glue or fastener, as may be the case. Do not use materials that melt, e.g. wax and molding clay. In time these get destroyed by extremes in temperature and by handling.

4. Simulate natural scenes with permanent materials. For example, a lake or pond is made using a piece of glass placed over a blue bottom. A field or meadow is made of cement shaped with the corresponding contour and painted to appear like one.

5. Use acrylic or oil paint. Avoid colors that flake or fade. Remember that artistic quality must conform to the subject being portrayed.

6. Be accurate with your subject. There are no lions in the Philippines, Bats do not go out during the day. Be factual. There was no man yet at the time of the dinosaurs. A waterfall has a living source of water.

7. Be sure your diorama looks beautiful in any direction, front sides and top. Actually a aquarium type of diorama is more difficult to make than a flat glass one which is typical of standard size dioramas. Thus a mini-diorama demands greater skill.

8. Consult advisers for both aspects of artistic quality and subject accuracy.

9. Remember you are making a masterpiece that should last very long like a painting or sculpture.

10. Describe your work. Give a title and put in capsule the explanation of the topic or subject. What is it that you want to project as lesson or message? Is the aesthetic value appealing and entertaining? Does it conform to good taste? Does it convey values and speak of universal  truth?

Diorama – the Ultimate Spatial Art

There is a saying that if you can make a good diorama you must be an accomplished artist. True. In a diorama, you are a painter, a sculptor, an architect, a cinematographer, a stage director, and interior decorator. Besides you must be well informed about the subject matter. You are a historian, biologist, sportsman, and the like.

It is a good training for students at St. Paul College QC, especially in the fields of natural sciences and humanities. Now and then the museum features works of students in these two general fields. Recently the museum projected environment as theme for the quarter of the last school year. As an educational tool, the students make full use of their senses as they go through the process of hands-on and experiential learning. One good thing is that critiquing is done in any stage of work as if the teacher is conducting tests or grading recitations. Group work is encouraged and expertise is tapped from each member. No it is not only cooperation that counts; it is integration of knowledge and skills. And the true test is the result of collective effort.

Other Kinds of Transforms

When Dr. Anselmo S. Cabigan showed me the works of his students in biology using nails, paper clips, tin can, buttons and anything one can pick around, to make a giant paramecium, I said it is a very good idea. It is because you can expand your imagination and not only confine yourself to the left-brain. Transforms stimulate both hemispheres of the brain, and they make the students become more aware and sensitive to the things around them. Imagine a series of nails glued along the periphery of the paramecium. It is a perfect illustration of cilia that the organism uses for locomotion, and yet the nail serves another purpose and has nothing to do with biology.

Short of saying this approach is ethnic art, in many ways, the students feels at home in the learning process. It is dollar saver if we can do away with imported models.

It reminds me of my experience as a child making toys and playthings out of simple things and without spending a cent. For example, a wooden thread reel makes a fine road buggy self-propelled by rubber band that serves like spring of an old fashioned watch. There was no need of battery and there was no such thing as depreciation. Well, because it had few parts and there was no cost involved. Today, I realize I had invented something that is worth patenting. What with the spiraling cost of energy!

Today’s toys on the other hand come handy with a rich variety to choose from. There is no more effort to play a toy, more so to understand how it works. Inside the toy is unknown, a mystery that a child would like to find out and explore. It is the dismantling and subsequent destruction that satisfies his curiosity – if ever at all. Seldom does a child today grow wiser and more mature with toys, unlike during my time when toys were catalyst to learning and growing up. Then one makes his toy; now one unwittingly destroys it. Then it was function that was important; now it is style and sophistication that create demand.

Educational Tools are Everywhere

It is the impact and value that one must look for. It is the relevance to present day situation that make these tools valuable. As science and technology progress by leaps and bounds, many educational models have become outdated. For example, in genetics, limiting the model to the gene level would not sufficiently explain genetic engineering. One must know the Crick and Watson model and its latest version showing the DNA splitting and re-organizing in order to understand how Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) are formed.

Hands-on with Computer is a Different Experience

Computers are known for rapid processing, wide coverage, versatility and virtual reality. It has wired the world and shrunk it within the reach of every user of the tool. In fact the box and the user are one, so to speak. But it is this very dependence on the computer that leaves very little room for the user to seek basic knowledge and learn basic skills.

Computers cannot totally replace transforms, audio-visual aids, and other educational tools. In the natural world the senses are very important. They must be honed. They are man’s connection to nature. Development of a skill is a actual activity, and it takes time to perfect it. Values are gained with good company. Innovativeness emanates where there is necessity. It is like saying necessity is the mother of invention. Feelings are conveyed and shared in a very  personal way. Which reminds me of a person who asked the computer what is the meaning of love. The reply was prompt and came in a hundred definitions. Not satisfied, he asked the computer to illustrate the feeling of one in love. To which the machine labored for the correct answer. Finally it gave up and replied, “I cannot feel.”

Not with a mini-diorama. One must use fully his senses, a six one included - a sense of appreciation that comes from the heart. “It is only through the heart that one speaks clearly,” said the fox to the Little Prince. It is true. True learning comes not only from the mind, but also together with the heart. ~