Was browsing the news today and saw this: Rowling to kill two in final Potter book

Yayks! Will she really kill Harry? Hope not! I'm a sucker for happy-ever-after endings!

Let's just wait and see :)





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Created: Tuesday, June 27, 2006

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 Saw this alarming article over at Yahoo today --> Americans' circle of close friends shrinking

To quote:

Nearly a quarter of people surveyed said they had "zero" close friends with whom to discuss personal matters. More than 50 percent named two or fewer confidants, most often immediate family members, the researchers said.

This quote made me wonder:

People were not asked why they had fewer intimate ties, but Smith-Lovin said that part of the cause could be that Americans are working more, marrying later, having fewer children, and commuting longer distances.

I am seeing the same pattern here in the Philippines, Filipinos do work more now than before, extending more than the usual 8 hours. Most tend to work overtime mainly because of the additional pay it will bring. Most of the bachelors I know also tend to delay marrying, taking care of their finances first, and trying to get themselves stable before finally settling down. And even after marrying, most would plan on having just two to three kids, mostly because of fear of not having enough to support their children. I am speaking of the middle to upper class families here, choosing not to delve into the lower DE population, as it may be a totally different world altogether.


But are we seeing the same case where Filipinos' feel more alone? I am not feeling that right now. Atleast, I still feel that Filipinos' tend to feel at ease with their friends that they can easily open up to them. Communities spring in the office, from highschool and college friends, and even from the Internet. Even in the workplace, you will see the effort to build alliances and cammaraderie among the employees, through parties, sports events and team buildings. Most multinationals also advocate the balanced life principle, where people are encouraged to go home early and spend quality time with family and friends.

Lastly, I think because of our very close family ties, it is almost impossible for someone to have no one to turn to. We value family relationships, we care so much about our family members and make a very big effort to be always there for them. All we need is phone and for sure someone will answer at the other end.



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Created: Tuesday, June 20, 2006

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Saw this latest news over at the site http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au , very interesting discovery. Reminds me so much of that movie Anger Management.



Road rage disease
By LINDSEY TANNER
June 07, 2006
TO you, that angry, horn-blasting tailgater is suffering road rage but doctors have another name for it – intermittent explosive disorder and a study suggests it is more common than realised.
"People think it's bad behaviour and you just need an attitude adjustment but what they don't know is that there's a biology and cognitive science to this," University of Chicago chairman of psychiatry Dr Emil Coccaro said.
Road rage, temper outbursts that involve throwing or breaking objects, and even spousal abuse can sometimes be attributed to the disorder, although not everyone who does those things is afflicted.
Intermittent explosive disorder involves multiple outbursts way out of proportion to the situation, often including threats or aggressive actions and property damage.
The disorder typically first appears in adolescence – the study identified the average age of onset as 14.
The study, funded by the US National Institute of Mental Health, was based on a national face-to-face survey of 9282 US adults who answered diagnostic questionnaires in 2001-03.
About 5 to 7 per cent of the sample had the disorder, which would equate to up to 16 million Americans – more than better-known mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
The average number of lifetime attacks per person was 43, resulting in $A1812 in property damage per person. About 4 per cent had suffered recent attacks.
The findings show the little-studied disorder is much more common than thought, Harvard Medical School health care policy professor Professor Ronald Kessler said.
"It is news to a lot of people, even specialists in mental health services, that such a large proportion of the population has these clinically significant anger attacks," Professor Kessler said. Dr Coccaro said that the disorder involved inadequate production or functioning of serotonin, a mood-regulating and behaviour-inhibiting chemical in the brain.
Treatment with antidepressants, including those targeting serotonin receptors in the brain, is often helpful, along with anger management.
Most sufferers in the study had other emotional disorders or drug or alcohol problems but only 28 per cent had ever received treatment for anger.
"This is a well-designed, large-scale, face-to-face study with interesting and useful results," University of Vermont psychiatry professor Dr David Fassler said.
"The findings confirm that, for most people, the difficulties associated with the disorder begin during childhood or adolescence and often have a profound and ongoing impact."



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Created: Thursday, June 08, 2006

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 Three years ago, Mr. Butch Jimenez's commencement address to the graduating class of UP entitled "What's Better Than?" made the email rounds and inspired readers with the practical sense the speech offered. This year, Mr. Jimenez was invited to address the graduating class of Silliman University and likewise, his speech (though he does not have a written one since he spoke only from an outline) and its transcribed form is again making the rounds of email. This is a copy of that speech, with messages on leadership and success and an interesting hook -- Descending (yes, not Ascending) to the Top. Take the time to pause from work and read thru it for a lesson or two and some quick inspiration...


93rd SILLIMAN UNIVERSITY COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES
Luce Auditorium Lobby
March 26, 2006

Descending to the Top

Delivered by

Mr. Menardo "Butch" G. Jimenez Jr.
Senior Vice-President, Retail Business Group PLDT
OIC, Wireless Consumer Division, Smart Communications

It is a privilege of mine to be here. In 2003, I was requested to be the commencement speaker for the graduating class of the University of the Philippines-Diliman. And after I gave that address, I said to myself-and this is true-the only other invitation that I will accept after UP Diliman is Silliman University. I have actually been waiting for almost three years. And I would have waited 30 more years to address you. You may be asking, "Why is that?" It is simply because of the Christian roots and the Christian heritage that this university has; the same roots and the same heritage that my great grandmother, my grandmother, and even my mother have tried to instill in my life.

That is why I am here. So thank you very much for the privilege. I am actually quite excited to address all of you.

One of the questions running in your mind today as you graduate and move forward is, "How do I reach the top?" A fair question and one that needs to be answered. And since I now presently handle marketing for both PLDT and Smart, let me share with you some marketing principles that I have learned, that may guide you on your quest to the top.

A battle for the mind Success in marketing is a battle to be the first in the mind of the consumer. That is the principle proposed in the '80s by two authors, Al Ries and Jack Trout, in their classic book, "Positioning."

Ries and Trout said that success in marketing is a battle to be the first in the mind of the consumer. If you are first in the mind of the consumer, in most cases, you will rise to the top and become the leader or number one. So, the battle is to be the first in the mind.


Let's give a couple of examples. When I say cola, what comes first in your mind? It's Coke. And today, Coke has risen to the top and is number one. When you say beer, the first thing that comes into your mind is San Miguel. They are first in the mind, they are at the top, and they are the leader. When you say toothpaste, in most cases, what comes to mind is Colgate. The same rule holds true. Colgate is at the top of your mind, and they are number one. When you say photocopier, it's Xerox. They are first in the mind, they are the leader, and they have risen to the top. Let's try something more hip for the new generation kids. When you say mp3 player, what's first in your mind. I can actually read your mind. The iPod. They are first in the mind, they are at the top, and today, they are number one.

So, in many instances, the rule actually works. If you want to rise to the top, you have to be the first in the mind.

The second thing that Al Ries and Jack Trout talked about, aside from being the first in the mind of the consumer, is burning an attribute or a characteristic in the minds of the consumers.

For example, Volvo did that. They burned into the mind of the consumer the attribute of safety. If you want a safe car, Volvo is it. iPod, for example, is burning in all our minds the attribute of being cool. They want to drive into our minds that the Ipod is the coolest gadget in the universe today.

So, two concepts we learn from Marketing to reach the top: Be the first in the mind and burn an attribute in the mind. Then, you start rising to the top.

So what does this all mean to you, as you go out into the workplace?

If you guys want to start rising to the top, you have to do the same thing. You have to be the first or the top of mind amongst the people that you work for specially your boss. When the boss needs something done, you have to be the first in his mind. If you're just the third, or the fourth, or the fifth, or the tenth in his mind, you're just like a company that is in third, fourth or fifth position -- far, far away from rising to the top.

But like I said earlier, being top of mind is not enough. You also have to burn an attribute in his mind. Now, a slight word of caution. Burning an attribute in your boss's or co-worker's mind is a double-edged sword. You have to make sure that you burn a positive attribute and not a negative one. Ries and Trout explain that it is very difficult or next to impossible to dislodge an attribute in ones mind once it has been established. If you go into the workplace and the attribute you burn in your boss's mind is tatamad tamad ka (you're lazy), mahirap kang pakisamahan(you're not a team player), or di ka mapagkakatiwalaan (you're not trustworthy) then chances are, that attribute will stick in his mind for years to come and you'll have a hard time rising to the top.

How many classmates do you know have been branded "lazy", "a flirt", "playboy", "cheater" etc. Think about it, no matter how hard they try to change their image, it just sticks and is so hard to dislodge from your mind isn't it? That's how powerful burning an attribute in the mind is, positive or negative.

So, key lessons if you want to rise to the top is, you have to be the first in their mind and you must burn positive attributes in their mind.


Discipline

This leads me to the question, "What attribute should you burn in the minds of the people in today's world?" There are many attributes that I would have wanted to share with you, but in the interest of time, I will focus on two.

The first one is the attribute of discipline. If we want to be able to compete not only with our peers, but with the best in the world, we have no choice. As a person, as a people, and as a country, we have to be disciplined.

Discipline is a very fascinating thing. In the world of competition, you're always competing with somebody else. There is Smart competing with Globe, There is GMA competing with ABS-CBN, there is Sony competing with Samsung, and the list goes on. But when it comes to discipline, you are not competing with anybody else. You are only competing with yourself. And if you lose, guess who actually loses, only you.

A year and a half ago, I went to a leadership conference in Singapore that put together and assembled some of the best speakers in the world. I actually had to pay a huge amount-probably my whole month's salary-just to be able to enter that conference. Al Ries was speaking. Film legend, Francis Ford Coppola was speaking, Rudy Giuliani, who led New York to rise from the 911 crisis, was speaking and Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore was one of the speakers.

I wanted to listen to Lee Kuan Yew and what he had to say. Lee Kuan Yew shared how he built Singapore from nothing to where it is today. He shared that Singapore, barely a generation ago, was far worse than many of its peers. But today, it is an economic superpower. He narrated that when he first started to lead Singapore, he asked his think tank to visit neighboring countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and figure out what they don't have. He said they all came back with one conclusion: These countries lacked discipline. So to differentiate Singapore from its neighbors, he decided to build his country on discipline. This meant that if Singapore promised something to its people, to its foreign investors, and to other countries, it will be fulfilled. A disciplined country and a disciplined people-that's what he built Singapore on.

Discipline is a very important attribute all of us must have to be able to bring this country up from where it is today. If you want to reach your goals and dreams, you cannot do it without discipline.

One of my good friends is the president of Alaska Milk, Fred Uytengsu. I used to see him on the baseball field when he used to coach his son's team and I was an assistant for my son's team. One day, I saw him wearing a shirt that said, "If you don't have discipline, you don't deserve to dream." No matter how harsh it may seem, the point is true. If you're 350 lbs. overweight and you're dreaming to become the next big hunk, but you don't have the discipline to watch what you eat, to exercise, and to make it happen, it isn't going to happen. Don't even bother dreaming, if you don't have the discipline to make it a reality. You'll just get frustrated. That's how important discipline is in achieving success.

In the world of business, discipline is defined as work ethic. I'd like to share with you an anecdote from a great man who epitomized what work ethic is all about. Thomas Alva Edison. At the age of 82, the President of the United States said it was about time he was honored with an award for his lifetime work. So they put together a huge event in honor of Thomas Alva Edison. Being 82, he felt a bit sick that night and fainted. Good thing they were able to revive him and he was still able to go up on stage. Edison upon accepting the award simply said, "I am tired of all this glory. I want to get back to work." 82 years old, and all he can think of is going back to work.

That is work ethic. That is discipline. And that is one of the attributes we need to burn in people's minds if we are to rise to the top.

Execution

The second attribute we should burn is execution. We need to be able to drive in the minds of the people that we work with that we are the "go-to" guy. That if they want to make something happen, you are the guy to go to, because you are the person who can execute. Execution is one of the attribute that will help you rise to the top.

I'd like to quote one of the greatest mentors of all time who said to his pupil: "Luke, there is no try. There is either do or not do." You know who that is? That is Yoda teaching Luke Skywalker of Star Wars one of the most important lessons in life: execution or making it happen.

An icon of execution, of course, is Michael Jordan. He is arguably one of the greatest basketball players that ever lived, but not without getting the ball, taking that shot, and executing the play. Can you imagine what would have happened to Michael if all he ever did was to plan on shooting the ball but never did? One of the things you have to remember about execution though is that it doesn't mean you have to be successful every single time. Part of execution is learning how to fail yet rising up again.

Michael Jordan says this, "I missed more than 9,000 shots in my career and lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions, I have been entrusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life, and that's precisely why I succeed."

When you go out to the real world, you will realize that there are many people out there who have great ideas and great plans. And that is good. But like I always tell my team in PLDT, what separates the good from the great is execution. We can spend endless hours and tons of money strategizing, planning, team building, and analyzing to come out with a great plan. But until we execute that plan, that's all it will ever be, a plan.

When something goes wrong in a company, the question the leader or the CEO almost always asks is not, "Who has the best grades?" "Who has a diploma?" "Who has all the awards?" "Who is the summa cum laude?" "Who graduated from an Ivy league school?" The CEO just asks one question: "Who can get the job done?" That, dear graduates is the importance of execution.

Let's learn a lesson from Mickey Mouse. Well, maybe not from Mickey, but from his originator, Walt Disney. Walt had four mantras: dreaming, believing, daring, and then doing. Of the four, "doing" is what turns everything into a reality. Walt said, "Dreaming, believing and daring without doing is just like Dumbo, the elephant, without ears. It just won't fly. ABRAKADABRA will never work." Only execution does.

Descending to the Top

In my UP speech, I talked to them about "what's better than," and I juxtaposed what's better than this versus what's better than that. Now, all of us want to ascend to the top. No doubt about it. And we should. We should plan on ascending all the way to the top. But I will pose the same question I did three years ago: "What's better than ascending to the top?" The answer is DESCENDING to the top.

That may actually baffle a lot of your minds. "What is he talking about?" "How can descending to the top be better than ascending to the top?" It is a biblical principle. The Bible tells us that he who wishes to be the greatest must be the servant of all. That is the concept of descending to the top. What I want to share with you is that as you rise to the top, the more you have to be a servant. The keyword is humility. The more you start rising to the top, the more humility needs to become an important place in who you are and in your life.

I want to share with you what happened to Steve Jobs the founder of Apple computers and now the Ipod. We all know what a great visionary Steve Jobs is. But if we chronicle his career, Steve Jobs, as he was ascending to the top, as he was rising towards greatness, forgot all about humility. While he was hitting his peak, all he thought about was how great he was, how fantastic he was, and how the world and his company revolved around him. That is ascending to the top. The higher you go, the bigger your head.

What happened to Steve Jobs as he hit the peak? He was driven out of his company both in failure and in disgrace. Then after having failed in many other endeavors, he started again and went on to make an indelible mark in the entertainment industry, and with the extraordinary success of the iPod, regained his reputation as the "greatest innovator of the digital age". And so Steve Jobs, after having ascended to the top and then unceremoniously booted out, now gets the chance to lead Apple again. But something was different about the man this time. People started to feel Steve had changed. And so in a big conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, there he was, listening to the chants of his people, demanding him to come back and run Apple again. Let me share with you how the new Steve answered the call. No longer ascending to the top, but understanding what descending to the top is all about. And I will quote from the book, "Icon: The greatest second act in business".

For the first time in his public life, there on stage, Steve appeared genuinely touched when the people were starting to ask him to come back and take the CEO position. He wasn't brash or cocky anymore. Maybe his four kids and the complete failure of a company and the near failure of another taught him something. There on stage, he fought back the tears as he mumbled something to make it clear that yes, even Steve Jobs can change.

He had made the transition into a world where feelings and passion could partner with business and technology. Steve Jobs said, "You guys are making me feel funny right now. I get to come to work with the most talented people on the planet at Apple and Pixar. The best job in the world! But these jobs are team sports. I cannot do it alone; I can only do it with a team."

A team sport. Fifteen years ago, it would have been a lie. It would have been all about him and how great he was. But now, everything was different. He now understood that it was really the many others who helped him succeed. He did realize it wasn't all about him. That Apple is a team sport.

That is descending to the top - the higher you fly, the lower the ego.

If you're able to get a copy of Time Magazine's issue where they declared who their Man of the Year was for 20005 you'll see their choice was Bill Gates. But not because of what Bill Gates has done for Microsoft. Not because he revolutionized the computer industry. But because of what Bill Gates has started to do for humanity. If you read that article, Bill realizes that this is probably the generation where if health care were given enough resources, he can actually make a big difference in millions of people's lives. And that has become the man's passion and advocacy, donating billions to uplift the health of poverty stricken nations. This today is what truly defines him; no longer his technological achievements. It is now about serving and helping other people. In other words, descending to the top.

A heart for our Country

Finally, as you rise to the top you should never lose your heart for our country.

I always tell my team in PLDT, that yes, we have a business to run, but let us never forget we also have a country to serve. And that is the same thing I will tell you as you guys rise to the top. You will have businesses to run, you will have your own careers to take care of, and you will have your own dreams to pursue, but never forget you have a country to serve.

You may ask, "How? How do I serve the country?" One way is actually quite simple. I'll give it to you in one word. If you are great, if you are smart, if you are the best, if you have a Silliman education, then, please STAY. Just stay in the country. You would have actually done a great service to our country just by staying.

But if you can't stay, or you don't want to stay, that's fine. If you think you want to make it out there in the world, that's a-ok with me. But I want to ask two things of you.

First, go out there and show the whole world how great the Filipino is. In whatever field you're in, prove to the world how special we Filipinos truly are.

Second, don't just plan to COME back. Plan to GIVE back to the country. If you do that, if every Filipino who goes out there into the world -- and there are millions of us already -- proves to everybody how great the Filipino is, and not only plans to come back, but actually plans to give back to this country, in less than one generation, we will be an even greater nation.

I will end with what I told the UP students in 2003. You must be asking yourselves, "How do I reach my dreams?" or "How far can I go?" I told them this: In the last 42 years of my life, I have realized one thing, "There is no destination beyond the reach of those who walk with God."

So when you go out there in the world, take God's hand and walk with him. Because when you do, whatever destination it is you are hoping to reach, if God walks with you and takes you through, there will be no destination beyond your reach.

To the graduating class of 2006, I will meet you at the top and nowhere else!




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Created: Monday, June 05, 2006

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 CNN Money has recently released it's list of top 10 U.S. cities for job growth through 2015.

The ten cities are:
1. Las Vegas
2. Orlando
3. Riverside
4. Austin
5. Phoenix
6. Jacksonville
7. Tampa
8. Dallas/Fort Worth
9. Charlotte
10.Atlanta


Here are the cities in order of projected job growth:

Las Vegas
Projected job growth: 35.5%
Median household income: $59,050
Median housing cost: $319,000
Employers to watch:
Citibank
Harrah's
MGM Mirage
US Airways
Wynn Resorts

Orlando
Projected job growth: 28.3%
Median household income: $55,100
Median housing cost: $257,000
Employers to watch:
Darden Restaurants
Hughes Supply
Walt Disney
NBC Universal
Lockheed Martin

Riverside
Projected job growth: 26.7%
Median household income: $55,650
Median housing cost: $400,000
Employers to watch:
AT&T
Kaiser Permanente
Southern California Gas
Harte-Hanks
The Press Enterprise

Austin
Projected job growth: 24.7%
Median household income: $68,600
Median housing cost: $167,000
Employers to watch:
AMD
Dell
Samsung
Toyota
Whole Foods Market

Phoenix
Projected job growth: 24.3%
Median household income: $58,300
Median housing cost: $259,000
Employers to watch:
Apollo Group
Honeywell
Intel
Phelps Dodge
Wells Fargo

Jacksonville
Projected job growth: 20.8%
Median household income: $57,700
Median housing cost: $200,000
Employers to watch:
Bank of America
CSX
Fidelity Financial
Winn-Dixie Stores
Wachovia

Tampa
Projected job growth: 19.7%
Median household income: $52,150
Median housing cost: $214,000
Employers to watch:
Bank of America
U.S. Central Command
Outback Steakhouse
Raymond James Financial
Verizon Communications

Dallas/Fort Worth
Projected job growth: 19.4%
Median household income: $65,000
Median housing cost: $137,300
Employers to watch:
Affiliated Computer Services
Electronic Data Systems
JC Penney
Southwest Airlines
Texas Instruments

Charlotte
Projected job growth: 19.0%
Median household income: $62,500
Median housing cost: $184,000
Employers to watch:
Bank of America
Wachovia
Duke Energy
Nucor
Goodrich

Atlanta
Projected job growth: 18.8%
Median household income: $69,300
Median housing cost: $184,000
Employers to watch:
BellSouth
Cox Communications
Home Depot
SunTrust Banks
UPS

It's funny how the article mentioned that the key factor for job growth in these 10 cities are the new subdivisions, and infastructures to support it's new residents. And that these kinds of work need to be delivered locally so the possibility of it going offshore is minimal.

Comparing that to the Philippines, it's noticeable to see the big difference. For us the life support of job growth are foreign investments (vs. for them being based on housing growth) and that jobs we hold are those that are provided offshore (vs. them who rely on local delivery).

I don't know but that made me think...are we really on our way to economic growth...or is the growth we claim actually the opposite of what successful nations think is growth?




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Created: Saturday, June 03, 2006

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Have you ever wondered how the dowry originated? If you do read on...



A dowry—the money or property a bride brings to her husband at marriage—was common throughout much of the ancient world, and also flourished in medieval Europe.

In many places around the world, weddings were formal occasions, accompanied by much gift giving and ritual. The practice of dowries apparently originated when a bride's parents gave her presents. As time went on, the dowry developed various functions. A dowry of household goods often helped the newly weds set up their own home. A dowry of property or jewelry would help the wife support herself if her husband died. Generally, the husband returned the dowry to his in-laws if he and his wife divorced or if his wife died childless.

Sometimes, the groom's family paid for the bride, often to compensate her family for the money spent raising her. If the bride had been a valuable worker, her family was sometimes compensated for the loss of her economic support.

Romans, who had complicated traditions governing marriages, had specific dowry laws. Traditional Chinese and Hindu engagements and weddings were also governed by specific rules and considerable ritual.

Today, traditional wedding observances are losing ground all over the world. However, some traditional cultures, including gypsies, many Hindus, and certain African societies, continue to see dowries as a usual part of marriage.

Dinka Perform the Dowry Dance

In the African nation of Sudan, Dinka tribesmen celebrate an engagement with a party. During the dowry dance, men try to impress the family of the bride by jumping as high as possible.

Traditionally, the family of the groom has offered cattle, often as many as 100 animals, to the family of the bride. Families of men competing for the affection of one young woman would try to outdo each other by offering more cattle than their rivals. However, the brutal civil war that has been raging in the Sudan for the past 40 years has so disrupted agriculture that cattle are rarely given. Instead, families pledge to give cattle once the war is over and they are again able to do so.

Gypsies Announce the Engagement with a Necklace

A groom of the Roma people, or gypsies, pays the bride's family for the loss of their daughter. The bride price also ensures that the bride will be well treated by her new family. Negotiations between the families of the bride and groom can become quite extensive, with the bride's father calculating how much his daughter has cost him since her birth, and how much she could be expected to earn during her lifetime.

When agreement is reached, a ceremony, called a pliashka, is held. The groom's father brings a bottle of wine or brandy wrapped in a colorful silk handkerchief and attached to a necklace of coins. He puts the necklace around the bride's neck and embraces her. This indicates that she is now engaged and unavailable to any other man. The wine is drunk, but the bottle is refilled for use at the wedding ceremony.

Hindus Honor Their Ancestors

According to Hindu tradition, a young man repaid his debt to his ancestors by marrying. Therefore, everything surrounding a wedding, including the dowry, was imbued with ritual meaning.

Brides lived with their husband's family and poor families often saw the bride as another pair of hands. Therefore, the groom's family compensated the bride's family for their economic loss. On the other hand, in Brahman, or upper caste, households, the bride was seen as a burden, requiring the support of her husband's family. The bride's family had to pay the groom's family with a dowry for taking her off their hands. Traditional wedding rituals are often followed today in India, especially in rural areas.

Chinese Observed "Three Letters and Six Etiquette"

Traditionally, Chinese courtships and weddings followed complicated traditions, known as "Three Letters and Six Etiquette." The engagement became official when the groom's family presented betrothal presents, also known as "tea gifts," to the bride's family. These might have included a fruit basket, dried seafood, tea, a roast suckling pig, tobacco, and wine. The bride's family sent a dowry—clothes, jewelry, household decorations, linen, or kitchen utensils—to the groom's family shortly before, or at, the wedding ceremony.

Jewish Brides Wore Their Dowries

Historically, Sephardic Jewish brides in the Middle East received gifts of jewelry both from their own and their husband's families. The sole property of the bride, this jewelry was an insurance policy in the event of a divorce or hard times. Well-off women were sometimes literally bedecked from head to toe with hair ornaments, bracelets, rings, toe rings, and pendants of gold and precious stones.

Some jewelry served a dual purpose. Certain designs and stones were also amulets, to ward off disease or evil. Women generally wore their wealth constantly, since it was safer than storing it at home. In public, the jewelry was hidden behind voluminous scarves. In fact, some anthropologists believe the custom of the veil originated because women wanted to hide their finery from preying eyes. These customs generally died out in the 20th century.

Eastern Europeans Painted the Bridal Furniture

During and after the Middle Ages, young Eastern European girls in rural areas typically received a dowry bed when she turned 12, followed by a wardrobe the next year. Furniture was often painted with designs representing family history and specific regions. Brides often entered marriage with enough goods to set up a household. Grooms received livestock and tools, so they could begin farming.

Clear Laws Governed the Roman Matrimonium

The ancient Romans recognized different types of marriage. An in manum marriage meant the bride and all her property came under the control of her husband. If the marriage was not in manum the bride's father controlled her and her property. Dowries were generally agreed upon at the time of betrothal, and paid after the wedding. The bride's family paid a dowry to the groom. The groom gave his bride a gift, often money, and an iron engagement ring, anulus pronubis.




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Created: Friday, June 02, 2006

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 It's the Marry month of June...and brides line up churches to get married! Was browsing and found these great trivias about the many wedding rituals we are all familiar with!




Most wedding traditions, like throwing rice and eating cake, started long ago. Here are some of the stories behind the rituals.

Bridal dress
Wearing a new white dress to be used only for a wedding ceremony is a tradition that is only about 150 years old. Before that, few women could afford a dress they would wear only once.
White traditionally symbolizes youth and innocence.
Red and orange are popular in Asia and the Middle East, where they are considered joyful and festive colors.

Cake
Using wheats and grains in the making of wedding cakes is an ancient symbol of fertility.
In ancient Rome a thin loaf of bread was broken over the marrying couple's heads. The crumbs were saved and taken home by the guests as tokens of good luck.
Tiered wedding cakes originated in old England, where the bride and groom kissed over a stack of little cakes.

Canopy
The canopy used in Jewish weddings is called a huppah. The couple and the rabbi stand under the cloth canopy during the wedding ceremony; it is a symbol of the couple's future home.

Flowers
Ancient Roman brides wore bunches of herbs under their veils as symbols of fidelity.
Orange blossoms are symbols of happiness and fertility because the orange tree blooms and bears fruit at the same time.
Roses are the flowers of love, making June, the month of roses, the most popular wedding month.
The early Greeks believed ivy to be the sign of everlasting love. It is still used to trim wedding bouquets.

Flower girls
Flower girls first appeared in wedding ceremonies in the Middle Ages. Two young girls—usually sisters—dressed alike, carried wheat before the bride in the procession. Later on, flowers replaced the wheat and it became customary for the flower girls to strew petals at the bride's feet.

Glass breaking
At the end of a Jewish wedding ceremony a wine glass is covered with a white cloth and laid on the ground. The groom breaks it by stomping on it. This symbolizes the destruction of the ancient Jewish temple. It is a reminder of the seriousness of marriage and that it cannot be reversed.

Honeymoon
This first vacation taken by a newly married couple dates back to very early times when a groom wanted to hide the wife he had captured.
The Teutons, an ancient German tribe, gave the honeymoon its name. After the wedding ceremony, honey was drunk until the moon waned.

Rice throwing
Rice is a symbol of fertility and long life. Guests throw it at the bride and groom as a wish for children and a good life. Other good luck charms are confetti, orange blossoms, corn, barley, chickpeas, and dates and figs to sweeten the marriage.

Rings
Engagement rings originated from the custom of exchanging rings to seal an important agreement.
Rings are circular and without end to symbolize eternal love.
A wedding ring is worn on the third finger of the left hand because it was believed that a vein or nerve ran directly from this finger to the heart.

Veils
Roman brides wore veils 2,000 years ago. Veils were worn as a sign of modesty and secrecy and were removed only by the husband after the wedding ceremony.
The first American woman to wear a wedding veil was Nelly Custis, Martha Washington's daughter. She wore the veil to please her husband-to-be, who had complimented her on how pretty she looked when seen through a lace-curtained window.
In some Eastern countries a veil is placed between the man and woman throughout the wedding ceremony. This ensures that they cannot see or touch one another until after the marriage.



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Created: Thursday, June 01, 2006

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