Music day Friday...

...today!
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by PAM


It's been a very busy (joyfully busy, that is) few days, preparing for this-and-that holiday-related stuff.  Good to slow down a bit and just chill with some relaxing (pop) music.  For some reason, the first song that comes to mind is the first song I heard when I played that little radio I had in Lund, Sweden, as a visiting scholar in Lund University, Autumn of 1999 to Summer 2000...

"Sunshine through my window, that's what you are - my shining star.

Making me feel I'm on top of the world, 

telling me that I'd go far."

---"Sunshine" by Gabrielle.  It was my first time to live in the Scandinavia... and I chose the best time to go: autumn, which was actually the beginning of more than six months of biting-cold winter!  It was my first time to live in a place where English is not the native language... and it was surprisingly manageable.  People were nice, accommodating and efficient.  They seem quiet and aloof compared with us, Filipinos, and it was not easy in the beginning, especially in the middle of all that winter gloom where the predominant color is grey against virgin white snow.  Coming from a colorful tropical country that is gaily a-buzz-buzzing from overpopulation all year round, that was a major change for me.  As soon as I get to speak with my research adviser though, every thing changed!  She was incredibly nice... and it was because of her and all the people I worked with in the University, including the friends I made in the Catholic Church there, that Sweden will always be one of the nicest places on earth for me.  Come to think of it, Sweden was beautiful... especially, Stockholm, whatever time of year! :)

Aside from Academics, I did many things while in Sweden... I went hiking many times, running in all sorts of terrain, met many, many very interesting personalities, made many great friends, and went traveling, shopping and bar-hopping with some of them in various places in Scandinavia... most of all, I think I first learned the meaning of the word "innovation" from the Swedes!  Yeah, I'd love to go back to Sweden... hopefully, sooner than later! :)

Speaking of Sweden, this old ABBA song comes to mind, too...

"Tonight the Super Trouper, 

beams are gonna blind me, but I won't feel blue like I always do 

'Cause somewhere in the crowd there's you."

..."Super Trouper", one of the least known songs by the Swedish quartet, but for some reason, it's one of my biggest favorite ABBA songs.  The emotions expressed in the song seemed honest and real, and yet, it didn't lack the 'ABBA quality' that's easy to listen to.  

Of course, the theme from my favorite teleserye these days comes to mind, too...

"Tell me how two people find each other in a world that's full of strangers.

Got to believe in magic...'cause it's magic when two people fall in love."

"Got to believe in magic" performed by Juris (originally from David Pomeranz) - the theme of ABS-CBN's teleserye, "Got to Believe" starring the cute duo, "Kathniel" (Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla).  I swear, if I had kids, they would be as adorable as Kathryn or Daniel! :)  I hope that these two would stay as nice and good influence to young people... and I hope that "Got to Believe" would continue to mirror Filipino traits and values: family-oriented, loving, polite, honest, humble, God-fearing, resilient and persevering, fun-loving and service-oriented.

Oy, Music Day is a good day... and  "me time" is awesome time!

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Random nostalgia...

...music, please!
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by PAM


I was halfway through writing a "real post" here when "Perfect Day" came on on the Asian Food Channel.  The episode was shot in Öland, a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea.  All of a sudden, I miss Sweden, the kind people, especially my research adviser, who made me feel at home all throughout my stay... and the beautiful and serene Nordic countryside!  And I miss my Spanish friends, too, with whom I went on Scandinavian tour in the Summer of 2000 while on a break from Lund University... we all loved Öland!  Well, we loved the Scandinavian countryside, actually. :)  With its pristine waters, clean air, blue skies, thick but amazingly very "welcoming" forests, wildlife and fresh food everywhere, it gave us a relaxing break from the busy "urban jungles" that were Manila and Madrid... and a much needed respite from the demands of academic work in Lund.

Okay... while we're at it, let's just complete this quick nostalgic journey with one of the biggest pop hits in Sweden between 1999 and 2000...

..."Save tonight" by the Swedish artist, Eagle Eye Cherry.  Aaw, it still sounds good after all these years! :)

And, as for the "real post", which incidentally is (finally) about tennis (and Roger Federer), football (and FC Barcelona), and "shifting of gears" - professionally... uhm, I think it can wait.  Later....

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Video credit:  Thanks, YouTube, for the video link.

Wednesday nostalgia...

...reaching out across the multi-disciplinary interface, and over to the "yummy side".
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by Philipina A. Marcelo


Uh-hmm, yeah... it was around the "ber-ber" months of 1999 (whoa! 12 years ago already!) when somebody took this photo of myself...

Lund University - out there... where engineering became "yummy" for me.

...yep, I did live for a year in that lovely Scandinavian country - Sweden - with a population of 9 million (way smaller than the population of Metro-Manila!), including he who is the all-time "clay specialist" of men's tennis, Bjorn Borg, they who made us equate videoke with "Dancing Queen", Abba, and he who is the current tower of terror on the football pitch, Zlatan Ibrahimovic! :) It was there where I first attempted to specialize in an engineering area that is more benign to Mother Nature's faltering health, long before "green technology" has become the "it" thing in processing technology.

So, yeah, I went to Lund University, the pride of Skåne, with the idealistic hope of meeting "the next" Norman Borlaug
The little studio that I "shared" with Vincent van Gogh during
my Lund University days (1999 - 2000).who seeks to feed the world, this time, through the wonders of processing technology. No, I didn't meet the next NB. But I did meet 1/3 of that trio that wrote what an MIT grad student described as "the bible of membrane fouling". It was there where I shared a well-kept office pantry, coffee table and a few ideas with Gun Trägårdh of the "Marshall, Munro and Trägårdh" membrane fame! :) Therefore, I could say that I learned membrane technology from one of the very best in the world! Boy, it feels good just to be able to say that! :) Of course, I have yet to maximize the benefits of that learning, and help spread the joy of that experience - skimming Gun's head. Therefore, time to move on from where I am now.

More on Lund University, the wonderful people I met there, and the beauty of Scandinavia some other time... 'cause, yep, work beckons - again! Tsk!

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BTW, have you ever looked forward to some big event, worked so hard so you could be a part of it - day and night, even on weekends, foregoing what could've been "life-changing" social events (and giving up blog time, too, hehe...) to do so - and really happy about it, too, just because your effort seemed to be paying off with excellent results, and that heightened your excitement about participating in that "big event"... and then when the big day finally arrived, you weren't even a part of that event? That you were reduced to just a mere spectator - an outsider - rather than an active participant? And the only excuse people could offer is a "glitch" in communication line... yes, in this day and age of ridiculously advanced communication mega hi-ways, too? Did you feel crushed? Yes? Well, I know how that feels now.

Uh, nah... that has nothing to do with Lund University... I had a great time there! :)

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