Cheska’s Pride

Posted by francheska on July 20, 2008

I was thinking of putting up a post about the most valuable relics in history. However, I’ve decided to just include the most famous ones (for this article, Christianity’s) since people perceive the value differently (religion is indeed a sensitive topic).

Relics are important object or items that bear religious significance. There are relics in almost every religion - Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and especially Christianity - and they are usually preserved and treated as memorials. For this particular post, I will be talking about the relics in Christianity’s history.

Holy Grail - I bet everybody knows about the Holy Grail, either from the bible itself or from popular media. It has been the subject of many films and shows on TV. As you most probably know already, the holy grail or chalice is the cup used by Jesus Christ during the Last Supper. It is said to possess mysterious powers, the most popular being its supposed ability to give eternal life to anyone who drinks from it. It has also been mentioned in various legends, one of them being in stories of King Arthur.

Gifts of the Magi - Currently in the St. Paul Monastery in Mount Athos. The three magi, also known as the Three Kings or Three Wise Men, were known to be the people who visited and gave gifts to Jesus Christ after he was born. Among the four gospels, The Book of Matthew was the only one that mentioned the incident. According to Matthew, the three magi brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and mhyrr. The gifts have been criticized as useless for a carpenter’s family, however it Mary and Joseph may have sold the gifts to pay for the costs of traveling to Egypt (during their escape from Herod’s order).

Crown of Thorns - Also a well-known relic, the crown of thorns were composed of woven thorny branches that was put on Jesus Christ’s head before he was crucified. There have been at least 700 thorns that various people claim to be authentic but not all of them are.

Spear of Longinus - Also called the Holy Lance or the Spear of Destiny. It was the spear that was used to pierce the sides of Jesus Christ while he was on the cross - the purpose was to ensure that he was already dead. The incident was only mentioned in the book of John and not in any other gospel. Initially, the soldier who pierced Jesus was not named, however, various records have indicated the name of the soldier being Longinus - making the Latin name Lancea Longini correct. Various relics have been found and was claimed to the Spear of Destiny or even just parts of it. There are various spears held in different locations but knowing which one is the “real” one is still up to debate. The spear has also been featured in various media and is most often depicted as an object with mysterious power.

True Cross - Probably the most well-known among all Christians, the cross was the object used to crucify Jesus Christ. The name “True Cross” was given to the physical remnants of the said cross with the most popular part of it being the INRI inscription on top. The cross itself is no longer in its whole form and have been broken into parts and reformed into small crosses with one of the largest held at Santo Toribio de Liébana in Spain. Based on the stories leading to the discovery of the relic, I’m not sure whether to believe that the parts are really from the cross itself.

Posted under Miscellaneous

Posted by francheska on July 16, 2008

The Internet has revolutionized the way we do things. Books have been the only allowable source for research back then but now most professors allow us to use webpages for that. Blogging is a popular hobby now, and some even use it for business. We used to collect mail through the post or at work but now email seems to be the standard for most companies. Online games, Internet banking, and even shopping! Of course, there are risks coming from spywares, hackers, and viruses but there are ways to at least minimize the risk for that. However, online shopping can be quite convenient if you don’t have time to go to places on your busy schedule. Here a few tips to get you started if you plan to shop online.

Make sure the computer is secure - This is the first thing to remember and also one of the most important. Get an anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, and make sure to scan your PC every now and then. Also websites would have a secure webpage for online transactions. You will notice this if you check the address. It should be “https://” instead of just “http://”. There are secure certificates associated with those webpages and that’s also something to look out for. They can be intercepted (although very, very rarely) so make sure that the secure certificate is from the website itself. Done? Now we focus more on the items.

Check the product description - Make sure to know what you are going to purchase. Check the brand, product details, method of delivery, price (of course), and everything else. Check the pictures so you can make sure it is the one you want. If possible, inquire about the product itself from the company or person selling it just to guarantee it.

Check any information about the seller - If it’s a company or website, check some reviews about them by searching through google or any other search site. More often than not, if the company is well-known, you’ll get the information you want. If it’s from a person, check any feedback from previous buyers. I wouldn’t advise buying from somebody relatively new on the site. However, if you are willing to risk it (and if the item is relatively cheap), by all means do so. If nobody buys from him, he won’t be able to get any feedback after all. Make sure to get the person or company’s phone number as well or any method of contacting them directly. I don’t suggest email as it can easily be abandoned. That way, you can make any inquiries or complaints later on.

Check the warranty or return policy - Of course, there will be times that there may be some flaws on the product you just bought. Unlike buying from a store, there’s no way you can check the item before receiving it. Make sure to check if the seller has any return policies so you can get your money’s worth. If you think that the allowable time for it to returned or exchanged is too short, I suggest you avoid the purchase altogether.

Keep records of the purchase - Just like when buying at a store, it’s important to keep a receipt or any record of the transaction. Check your credit card statement if it’s the payment method you used. Make sure that the price and charges match those that were included in the price and description and that there are no unauthorized charges.

Hopefully, these online shopping tips would prevent you from any inconveniences of shopping online. I’ve made a lot of orders online as well, and by following these I’ve had no trouble so far.

Posted under shopping

Posted by francheska on July 8, 2008

I managed to get some free time to surf the web even with my busy schedule. During that time, I noticed that another contest has started in a website that I frequently visit so I entered and, hopefully, I win this time around. I was also trying to look for something to write about and thankfully, I found some weird Japanese fashion trends I’d like to share with you.

I don’t really want to call them weird since I believe that different groups of people have their own sense of fashion. However, personally I found their style really strange for some reason. Well, its simply based on my own preference so I won’t force you to agree with me. Also, the theme they have going with their fashion isn’t really one of my personal preferences so that could be another reason. Anyway, here they are.

Lolita - There are various subcultures associated with the “Lolita” look but one thing’s pretty common among them - the baby girl look. The subcultures range from the darker themed style Gothic Lolita (or GothLoli as they usually call it), Punk Lolita (PunkLoli) that seems to follow the singer/songwriter Nana Kitade’s style, to the baby-doll looking, Sweet Lolita (SweetLoli).

Elegant Gothic Aristrocat or Elegant Gothic Lolita - The term Elegant Gothic Aristocrat was originally coined by a fashion designer and former band leader of Malice Mizer, Mana. You can easily spot them by the mostly black outfits and makeup. Unlike the Classic Gothic Lolita look, they wear long skirts, tailored jackets and tight fitting shirts with long sleeves. Corsets, gloves, stockings and books are also used to mimic the old Victorian look that this style seems to follow are also common. They also have an androgynous theme going making the male and female outfits similar in style. Although I think it’s a weird fashion trend for today’s modern style, I still like the look (although I admit it doesn’t fit my personality). I do have a friend who’s crazy about it though I won’t post her pics or she’ll kill me.

Ganguro - The ganguro subculture in Japan gained a lot of popularity around the year 2000. The fashion trend of the subculture involves bleached hair, tanned skin, fake eyelashes, platform shoes, blacelets and other accessories, mini-skirts, and bright makeup. They’re very easy to spot, really, just going with the description above. They also have a penchant for showing off their cellphones and taking pictures from picture booths (or purikura).

Anyway, being someone from the west, I mostly can’t relate to why they chose to go with the trends mentioned above. I mostly think of them as strange or weird for the modern day setting, and although some do look tasteful (like the gothloli ones), I don’t think it would fit in today’s society.

Posted under Fashion

Posted by francheska on July 5, 2008

It has been said through generations that accidents can happen anywhere and at any time. That’s why they are called accidents in the first place - they happen unexpectedly. Even if a person has been trained to be very careful, it’s still impossible to avoid them from happening. Models have been trained to be perfect in what they do, but sometimes, a bad stroke of luck could get them off the runway in seconds. Here are some fashion show or contest accidents and a video of how they happened.

Miss USA slips on the runway - Wearing a black gown, Miss USA 2007 Rachel Smith, for the Miss Universe competition suddenly slips on the runway. She immediately pulls herself up and continues as if nothing happened. A good performance! Like they say, “the show must go on.”

Vivienne Westwood Spring, Summer ‘07 - Model Kamilia Wawrzynia falls on the runway at Vivienne Westwood Spring while carrying a watering can full of water. She stumbles at first and continues like nothing happened, then she falls over twice while on her way back. I believe it has something to do with her heels being unstable.

Shadang Fashion Show - A Shaolin monk performs a stunt and breaks a hole on the runway at Shadang fashion show by designer Rafi Anteby. Fashion model Sarah Welch walks right into it and ends up getting wet as she falls into the hole which was above the swimming pool at Mondrian hotel during LA Fashion week. She immediately left afterwards. That must have been very embarrassing on her part.

Jessica Stam Falling on the Runway - Jessica Stam falls over and seemingly hits her forehead on the runway during a fashion show. She continues on but it’s easy to see how she was so embarrassed about it. But like any trained fashion model, she continues with her walk like nothing happened. Good performance and she’s so cute!

Naomi Campbell Falls on the Runway - According to the description on youtube itself - “The video was shown during her appearance on David Letterman, somewhere around ‘95 (as she mentioned being 25 yrs. old during the interview).” The fall must have been pretty embarrassing for her but she simply laughed it off. Of couse, it can happen to anyone as well so it’s understandable.

Lastly, here’s a compilation of video of some more accidents that have happened on the runway. Entitled dangerous runways, you’ll know why it is so. Enjoy! On, another note, I recently entered another contest. I hope I win this time!

Posted under Fashion