LAST December 30, I happened to look up and gaze at a beautiful full moon. It's strange but I would always associate this natural wonder to some successful undertaking in my life. Whenever there's a full moon, I would tell my children that I would be lucky on that day.
As I write this article, I did a little research in the Internet and "discovered" that this past December we had a blue moon on New Year's Eve, an extra thirteenth full moon with a partial lunar eclipse last Dec. 31, 2009 in addition to the twelfth full moon that was seen last Dec. 2. This lunar event happens every 2 to 3 years and this probably gave rise to the phrase "once in a blue moon."
Another person who probably feels a similar affinity for the moon is Stephenie Meyer, the author of Twilight, a series of four vampire-related romance novels which were adapted for film because of their immense popularity with kids and young adults. I've seen its enchanting power take hold over my two daughters who are quite enamored with the movie stars of these fantasy films.
My youngest daughter Janette recently received a magazine featuring the superstars of the movie "New Moon" from her Tita Gigi who resides in the US. This daughter of mine is on the verge of a new phase in her young life, as she turns from a young kid into a teenager over the weekend. Just as the moon goes through a lunar cycle, exerting some sort of influence over the onlookers, people also go through the great cycle of life cultivating their own spheres of influence among colleagues and peers.
These two daughters of mine are strongly drawing me into the Twilight series madness as I try to catch up on the latest songs and music videos of these blockbuster movies. Just this morning, I listened to Death Cab for Cutie's "Meet Me on the Equinox", the first track on the Warner Music Sampler 2009 CD that I received from Mr. Jose Raymund Romero, Station Manager of Crossover 99.1 FM radio station last Dec. 2. See, I'm really lucky during full moon days! In fact, Mr. Romero gave me two music samplers on that day.
If you're wondering what equinox is, then according to the dictionary it's either of the two times each year when the sun crosses the equator and day and night are everywhere of equal length. This usually occurs around March 21 and Sept. 23 of each year.
International Year of Astronomy
The sun and the planets are celestial bodies which are subjected to scientific studies under the field of astronomy. Incidentally, year 2009 was declared by the United Nations 62nd General Assembly as International Year of Astronomy. A crucial factor in the development of this science was the invention of the telescope. Those of us who wanted to get a better look at the moon might have used this gadget for the purpose.
One of the disciplines under Astronomy is the making of calendars, which brings us to a discussion of a special kind of calendar - the Lunar Calendar of China. Based on this calendar, we are in the last days of Year 4706, with the Chinese New Year commencing on Feb. 14, 2010 which is already a red-letter-day in our social calendar, being also Valentine's Day.
The Chinese base their Lunar Calendar on astronomical observations of the movement of the sun, moon and stars. The Chinese New Year starts with the new moon on the first day of the New Year and ends on the full moon fifteen days later.
Year of the Golden Tiger 2010
One way of naming a Chinese New Year is by assigning a name of one of twelve animals and year 2010 happens to be the Year of the Golden Tiger. Among the must-have artifacts for good feng shui in one's homes are a number of tiger statues depicting various poses of this particular animal.
A noticeable feature of these Chinese handicrafts is the symbol of wealth which is called an "ingot". This term seems to be as hard to pronounce as my last name Engo which incidentally is pronounced with a double "g".
In Dictionary.com website, "ingot" is defined as a mass of metal cast in a convenient form for shaping, re-melting or refining. Golden tiger statues carrying ingots in their mouths, paws or in pots on their backs are definitely the in-things this Chinese New Year.
Tigers of Crossover 99.1
They are Jose Raymund Romero, station manager and Berdie Vargas, account and sales manager of the radio station that plays music of the Rhythm and Blues and Jazz genres.
These two fellows personify media practitioners who started as DJs and eventually climbed up the corporate ladder, with decades of broadcasting experience in their impressive resumes.
They are the men who could talk about the glorious past of radio broadcasting, the time when DJs were hired on the strength of their great know-how of the music industry and were required to speak in straight English live on air. This was in the mid-80s when people looked up to radio broadcasting as a glamorous profession.
These men of Crossover 99.1 are like the climbing tiger statue on a cloud, the symbol of a career promotion this Chinese New Year of the Golden Tiger. Maresa G. Engo