A Combination of Beethoven's Symphony #5 and Prado's Mambo # 5

This piece by Miyagawa's just made my day. I can not stop smiling as I listened to this very creative masterpiece. I hope you enjoy this music as much as I did.

Griiled Whole Pompano Fish from Sea Food City

Yesterday, my sister-in-law (JM) from the East Bay visited us since it was her day of. As usual, she always bring us Pinoy delicacy and goodies that she purchased on her way to our residence. Her favorite store is the Grill City Restaurant in Seafood City in Concord. Yesterday, she brought us barbecued pork and chicken, tinola and her favorite dish grilled whole pompano fish. The fish was stuffed with onions and tomatoes and cooked to perfection. Macrine and I enjoyed the fish with my favorite vinegar sauce. Again, JM thanks a million for the food and your visit. Because of the this visit, I searched for recipes on grilled pompano. The following is a video of grilled fillet pompano for your viewing pleasure.

Causes of Lung Cancer for Non-Smokers

Last week, I received a call from my wife's closed relative and phone pal, that she was just diagnosed with lung cancer. The extent of cancer (stage) has not been verified. Pet Scan and Imaging test is scheduled for next week.

Macrine's closed relative is a non-smoker. Her call reminded me that Macrine's mother also died of lung cancer. Macrine's Mom was a non smoker. These two incidents prompted me to do some Internet search on causes of lung cancer not due to smoking. According to the American Cancer Society, 20% of lung cancer deaths are people who have never smoked. The following is a summary of information from www.cancer.org on factors that may cause lung cancer for non-smokers.

1. Radon gas- The leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers is exposure to radon gas, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It accounts for about 21,000 deaths from lung cancer each year. Radon occurs naturally outdoors in harmless amounts, but sometimes becomes concentrated in homes built on soil with natural uranium deposits. Studies have found that the risk of lung cancer is higher in those who have lived for many years in a radon-contaminated house. Because radon gas can’t be seen or smelled, the only way to know whether it’s a problem in your home is to test for it. A Citizen’s Guide to Radon, produced by the EPA, explains how to test your home for radon easily and inexpensively, as well as what to do if your levels are too high.

2. Secondhand smoke- Each year, an estimated 7,000 adults die of lung cancer as a result of breathing secondhand smoke. Laws that ban smoking in public places have helped to reduce this danger. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action NetworkSM (ACS CAN), the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, is working to expand and strengthen these laws to further protect both smokers and non-smokers from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

3.Cancer-causing agents at work- For some people, the workplace is a source of exposure to carcinogens like asbestos and diesel exhaust. Work-related exposure to such cancer-causing materials has decreased in recent years, as the government and industry have taken steps to help protect workers. But the dangers are still present, and if you work around these agents, you should be careful to limit your exposure whenever possible.

4. Air pollution- It’s long been known that both indoor and outdoor air pollution contribute to lung cancer. In 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified outdoor air pollution as a cancer causing agent (carcinogen). According to Elizabeth Ward, PhD, American Cancer Society National Vice President, Intramural Research, the risk of lung cancer associated with air pollution is lower in the US than in many other countries because of policies that have helped to lower the levels of exposure.

5. Gene mutations- Researchers are learning more and more about what causes cells to become cancerous, and how lung cancer cells differ between non-smokers and smokers. For example, an article published in Clinical Cancer Research explains that a particular kind of gene mutation is much more common in lung cancer in non-smokers than smokers. This mutation activates a gene that normally helps cells grow and divide. The mutation causes the gene to be turned on constantly, so the lung cancer cells grow faster. Knowing which gene changes cause the cells to grow has helped researchers develop targeted therapies, drugs that specifically target these mutations.

There are two major types of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Staging lung cancer is based on whether the cancer is local or has spread from the lungs to the lymph nodes or other organs. Because the lungs are large, tumors can grow in them for a long time before they are found. Even when symptoms—such as coughing and fatigue—do occur, people think they are due to other causes. For this reason, early-stage lung cancer (stages I and II) is difficult to detect.

Small cell lung cancer grow faster compared to the non-small cell type, but is more responsive to therapy. Macrine's relative did not informed me what type of lung cancer she had, However, I hope it is still in the early stages. Friends and Relatives please pray for Macrine's relative!

Six Feet Under-TV Drama Series, 2001-2005

Six Feet Under is the second TV drama series that I had enjoyed a decade and 5 years ago. It is one of the greatest and enjoyable TV drama series written during the last decade. I started watching this Series again just recently. Like, Queer as Folk, it made me cry, laugh, angry, disturbed and illicit dozens other emotions because the drama is well acted and written and discussed controversial but true to life story lines and topics. May I have the pleasure of introducing it you my dear readers in case you have not watched this very entertaining and award-winning TV series. Enjoy!

Six Feet Under is an American drama television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It premiered on the premium cable network HBO in the United States on June 3, 2001 and ended on August 21, 2005, spanning five seasons and 63 episodes. The show was produced by Actual Size Films and The Greenblatt/Janollari Studio, and was shot on location in Los Angeles and in Hollywood studios. The show depicts members of the Fisher family, who run their funeral home in Los Angeles, and their friends and lovers. The series traces these characters' lives over the course of five years. The ensemble drama stars Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, Frances Conroy, Lauren Ambrose, Freddy Rodriguez, Mathew St. Patrick, and Rachel Griffiths as the show's seven central characters.

Six Feet Under received widespread critical acclaim, particularly for its writing and acting, and consistently drew high ratings for the HBO network. Regarded by many as one of the greatest TV dramas of all time, it has since been included on TIME magazine's "All-TIME 100 TV Shows", as well as Empire magazine's "50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time" list. It has also been described as having one of the finest series finales in the history of television. It won numerous awards, including nine Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Peabody Award.

The show stars Peter Krause as Nathaniel Samuel "Nate" Fisher, Jr., whose funeral director father (Richard Jenkins) dies and bequeaths to him and his brother, David (Michael C. Hall), co-ownership of the family funeral business. The Fisher clan also includes widow, Ruth (Frances Conroy), and daughter, Claire (Lauren Ambrose). Other regulars include mortician and family friend, Federico Diaz (Freddy Rodriguez), Nate's on-again/off-again girlfriend, Brenda Chenowith (Rachel Griffiths), and David's long-term boyfriend, Keith Charles (Mathew St. Patrick).

On one level, the show is a conventional family drama, dealing with such issues as interpersonal relationships, infidelity, and religion. At the same time, the show is distinguished by its unblinking focus on the topic of death, which it explores on multiple levels (personal, religious, and philosophical). Each episode begins with a death – the cause of which ranges from heart attack or murder to sudden infant death syndrome – and that death usually sets the thematic tone for each episode, allowing the characters to reflect on their current fortunes and misfortunes in a way that is illuminated by the death and its aftermath. The show also utilizes dark humor and surrealism running throughout.

A recurring plot device consists of a character having an imaginary conversation with the deceased; for example, Nate, David, and Federico sometimes "converse" with the decedent at the beginning of the episode, while the corpse is being embalmed, or during funeral planning or the funeral itself. Sometimes, the characters converse with other, recurring deceased characters, most notably Nathaniel Fisher, Sr. The show's creator, Alan Ball, avers that this represents the living characters' internal dialogues expressed in the form of external conversations.

http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/watch/Six-Feet-Under/8153365854895881112/full-episodes#episode=6636654083398196112

Queer as Folk-TV Drama Series( 2000-2005)

The recent news on gun violence on a gay night club in Florida reminds me that homophobia still exists today. This also reminded me of a TV series that I had enjoyed 16 years ago. Just recently, I started watching the series in my PC and again, I must say it is one TV series that made me cry, laugh, angry, disturbed, concerned and most of all entertained because the variety of the subjects it has portrayed. Queers as Folk had received 34 nominations and 8 awards. However, if you are homophobic this TV drama is not for you!

Controversial story lines which have been explored in Queer as Folk have included the following: coming out, same-sex marriage, ex-gay ministries, recreational drug use and abuse (cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, GHB, ketamine, cannabis); gay adoption, artificial insemination, vigilantism, Autoerotic asphyxiation, gay-bashing, safe sex, HIV/AIDS, casual sex, cruising, "the baths," sero-discordancy in relationships, underage prostitution, actively gay Catholic priests, discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation, the internet pornography industry, and bug chasers (HIV-negative individuals who actively seek to become HIV-positive).

Other topics and story lines in this series are political corruption ( local level), platonic love between two homosexual men, brotherly and sisterly love, comics, making movies in Hollywood, fund raising scams, bisexuality, closeted gay men in sports, acceptance and non-acceptance of sons and daughters sexual orientation by their parents, testicular cancer, Proposition 14, bombing of a gay night club, and cosmetic surgery. There are several episodes with classical music (violin concertos) and art exhibits.

Queer as Folk is an American–Canadian co-production. The series ran between December 2000 and August 2005 and was produced for Showtime and Showcase by Cowlip Productions, Tony Jonas Productions, Temple Street Productions and Showtime Networks in association with Crowe Entertainment. It was developed and written by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, who were the showrunners, and also the executive producers along with Tony Jonas, former President of Warner Bros. Television.

It was based on the British series created by Russell T Davies. Queer as Folk was the first hour-long drama on American television to portray the lives of gay men and women. Although it was set in Pittsburgh, PA, much of the series was actually shot in Toronto and employed various Canadian directors known for their independent film work (including Bruce McDonald, David Wellington, Kelly Makin, John Greyson, Jeremy Podeswa and Michael DeCarlo) as well as Australian director Russell Mulcahy, who directed the pilot episode.

http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/watch/Queer-as-Folk/7415223650357422112/full-episodes#episode=7323481961721158112

US Presidential Libraries and Museums

My last posting about the Lopez Memorial Museum and Library reminded me of Presidential libraries and museums in the US. There are 13 federally operated presidential libraries and museums in the US. Macrine and I have only visited four of them. The first library we visited was the Lincoln Library in Springfield, Illinois. The second and third were the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri and the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas. The fourth library was the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California. For the list of the other 13 presidential visit the website: https://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/visit/

Here are some information from Wikipedia on the four libraries that we have visited:

1. LINCOLN: The museum contains life-size dioramas of Lincoln's boyhood home, areas of the White House, the presidential box at Ford's Theatre, and the settings of key events in Lincoln's life, as well as pictures, artifacts and other memorabilia. Original artifacts are changed from time to time, but the collection usually includes items like the original hand written Gettysburg Address, a signed Emancipation Proclamation, his glasses and shaving mirror, Mary Todd Lincoln's music box, items from her White House china, her wedding dress, and more. The permanent exhibits are divided into two different stages of the president's life, called "Journey One: The Pre-Presidential Years", and "Journey Two: The Presidential Years", and a third, the "Treasures Gallery". Temporary exhibits rotate periodically. Past exhibits have dealt with the Civil War and Stephen A. Douglas. As of February 2014, a collection of Annie Leibovitz's photography, including photos of Lincoln's items, is on display.

2. TRUMAN: The Harry S. Truman Library and Museum is the presidential library and resting place of Harry S. Truman, the 33rd President of the United States (1945–1953), located on U.S. Highway 24 in Independence, Missouri. It was the first presidential library to be created under the provisions of the 1955 Presidential Libraries Act, and is one of thirteen presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration.

History: Funeral services in 1972 for Harry Truman—president of the United States 1945—1953. His wife opted for a private service rather than a larger, state funeral in Washington, D.C.
Built on a hill overlooking the Kansas City skyline, on land donated by the City of Independence, the Truman Library was dedicated July 6, 1957, in a ceremony which included the Masonic Rites of Dedication and attendance by former President Herbert Hoover (then the only living former president other than President Truman), Chief Justice Earl Warren, and former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Here, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Medicare Act on July 30, 1965. On December 11, 2006, Kofi Annan gave his final speech as Secretary-General of the United Nations at the library, where he encouraged the United States to return to the multi-lateralist policies of Truman.

Truman's office: when Truman left the White House in 1953, he established an office in Room 1107 of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City at 925 Grand Avenue. When the library opened in 1957, he transferred his office to the facility and often worked there five or six days a week. In the office, he wrote articles, letters, and his book Mr. Citizen. In 2007, the Truman Library Institute announced a $1.6 million preservation and restoration of his working office to preserve the artifacts it contains and allow for easier public viewing. The three-stage project completed in 2009 and features an enclosed limestone pavilion for better access and viewing and an updated climate control system. The office appears today just as it did when Harry Truman died on December 26, 1972.

Truman's funeral services Funeral services for Truman were held in the Library auditorium and burial was in the courtyard. His wife, Bess Truman, was buried at his side in 1982. Their daughter, Margaret Truman Daniel, was a longtime member of the Truman Library Institute's board of directors. After her death in January 2008, Margaret's cremated remains and those of her late husband, Clifton Daniel (who died in 2000), were also interred in the Library's courtyard. The president's grandson, Clifton Truman Daniel, is currently honorary co-chair of the Institute's board of directors.

Exhibits and program: Two floors of exhibits show his life and presidency through photographs, documents, artifacts, memorabilia, film clips and a film about Truman's life. The library's replica of the Oval Office is a feature that has been copied by the Johnson, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush libraries. In an educational program called The White House Decision Center, school students take on the roles of President Truman and his advisors facing real-life historical decisions in a recreation of the West Wing of the White House. The mural Independence and the Opening of The West by Thomas Hart Benton adorns the walls of the lobby entrance. The mural, completed in 1961, was painted on site by Benton over a three-year span.

3.EISENHOWER: The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home is the presidential library, museum, and resting place of Dwight David Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States (1953–1961), located in his hometown of Abilene, Kansas. The museum also includes his boyhood home, where he lived from 1898 until being appointed to West Point in 1911. It is one of the thirteen presidential libraries under the auspices of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Admission to the Visitor Center, Boyhood Home, Place of Meditation (gravesite), and the archives is free. Admission
to the museum is $12 for adults. The complex is open every day except New Year's Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

4. REAGAN: The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Center for Public Affairs is the presidential library and final resting place of Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989), and his wife Nancy Reagan. Designed by Hugh Stubbins and Associates, the library is located in Simi Valley, California, about 40 miles northwest of Downtown Los Angeles and 15 miles west of Chatsworth. The Reagan Library is the largest of the 13 federally operated presidential libraries. The street address, 40 Presidential Drive, is numbered in honor of Reagan's place as the 40th President.

When the Reagan Library opened it was the largest of the presidential libraries, at approximately 153,000 square feet. It held that title until the dedication of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock, Arkansas, on November 18, 2004. With the opening of the 90,000-square-foot. Air Force One Pavilion in October 2005, the Reagan Library reclaimed the title in terms of physical size; however, the Clinton Library remains the largest presidential library in terms of materials (documents, artifacts, photographs, etc.). Like all presidential libraries since that of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Reagan Library was built entirely with private donations, at a cost of $60 million (equivalent to $137 million in 2015. Major donors included Walter Annenberg, Lew Wasserman, Lodwrick Cook, Joe Albritton, Rupert Murdoch, Richard Sills, and John P. McGovern. For fiscal year 2007, the Reagan Library had 305,331 visitors, making it the second-most-visited presidential library, following the Lyndon B. Johnson Library; that was down from its fiscal year 2006 number of 440,301 visitors, when it was the most visited library.

On March 6, 2016, Reagan's widow Nancy Reagan died at the age of 94 of congestive heart failure. After the funeral, she was buried next to her husband at the library on March 11, 2016.