Dr. Filomena

Photo by dr. Fil, taken on Mt. Triglav

In Italy, Corriere della Sera published news of a beauty pageant  for… Catholic nuns. The pageant is open to all nuns between the ages of 18 and 40.

Italian nuns will be able to show the world God’s gift of beauty by sending their photos to priest Antonio Rungi (southern Italian diocese of Modragone) who will publish the photos online and visitors to his blog can vote on the photos.”Miss Sister Italy”, the first beauty pageant of its type to take place in Rome, aims to challenge the stereotype of old and sad nuns. Father Rungi said it was the nun’s idea and that he expects about 1,000 contestants. “Nuns are above all women and beauty is a gift from God,” priest Rungi told a daily Italian newspaper. He continued explaining how beauty is not restricted to what we see on television and that young and vital foreign nuns will be participating. (source)

I shall hereby apply self-censorship and not say exactly what I think about this particular contest. Humm, I wonder if it will contribute to an increase in eating disorders in nunneries. Oh wait… silly me!

Photo by dr.filomena: Butterfly (moth?) grounded on Mt. Triglav (click to enlarge)

I just cannot believe my bad luck! Just as I decided to go back to law school, I found that everything I learned a long time ago is now obsolete and I will truly have to start from scratch.

I was quite aware that based on the 49:26 vote in the National Assembly back in May, a new Criminal Code will enter into force in Slovenia on 1 November 2008. I was furthermore aware that contrary to what I was once taught, Slovenian criminal legislation has introduced life sentence, semi-public records of pedofiles and several other novelties.

I admit that I did not know, however, that Slovenia introduced additional definitions of criminal offences, such as the “Meeting of People” (sestajanje oseb), “Grand Filth” (velika svinjarija) and “Minor Filth” (majhna svinjarija). I thank Minister Mate and Prime Minister Janša for the pointers!

I do not think law books by some dusty old Professors compromised by the system of yesteryear will come in handy in any respect. I have resolved to study by watching live TV broadcasts from the National Assembly and reports from news conferences held by the Government’s Ministers.

If I fail an exam, I will know exactly whom to blame! And whom to ask for deus ex machina assistance.

Photo by dr.filomena: Rinka Waterfall (click to enlarge)

hodim po robu
miže
in tipam pravo pot

prsti se zlivajo s skalami
pozdravljajo drobne kaplje
ki drvijo mimo
in se ne zavedo, da so

dokler se ne umirijo
daleč od izvira
najdejo mir in globino

jaz pa še kar hodim
miže
in tipam pravo pot
brez strahu
se vzpenjam in padam

vedno v tvojo dlan

photo by dr. Filomena: a snail in the Alps

I must apologize to this blog’s fan for not having written anything in a long time. Time, along with the other three or five, is another dimension I find difficult to escape from. Though second-hand smoking in Dutch coffee shops that have recently gone tobacco-clean might help somewhat.

Just a couple of sentences on music, however, before I delve back into work.

Music means the world to me. It wakes up every atom of my body and lifts my spirit. (Which in turn helps me lift a broom and do some housework, for example.) Music fills me and takes me places I wouldn’t see or feel otherwise. It’s an essential part of my existence.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of enjoying the concert of La Scala’s Philharmonic orchestra at Ljubljana’s Cankarjev dom and the feeling was incredible. Everyone on the stage could have performed as a soloist. And I cannot imagine that anyone among them does not wish to a certain degree that she or he’d been given the opportunity to show off their mastery. And yet they performed as a team, perfectly in tune with each other, every one of them taking the spotlight at one point of the evening or another while the rest subsided ever so gently and courteously for a moment.

The end result was complete harmony that radiated a true love for music and the smiling faces in the orchestra sent out a loud and clear message:

La vita è bella!

Back to nature, my friends. Going for a trek in the mountains may be one of the few ways to escape the Big Brother’s all-knowing eye. In the country where Privacy is or rather used to be one of the very top values not to mention human rights.

I just came from a lecture by the former CEO of one of the largest and most successful European-based multinationals who made several comments on how democracy in its pluralistic form is terribly inefficient and who claimed that the fact that nowadays the more people oppose the system the more highly regarded they are in terms of academic prizes is unnatural. As he put it, back in the days of tribes, people who opposed the way the society worked were killed. As humanity progressed, they were tolerated. Now, they are awarded. Right.

Just after that, I heard that the fact that I listened to Schnappi das kleine Krokodil (more than once, as well!) would now be known to Viacom due to a US court ruling. What the $#% does Viacom care if I like a certain crocodile??? He’s cute! I will follow developments with regard to this issue with great interest as the US court ordered Google to divulge the database that contains the unique login ID of the user who watched any YouTube video, the time when the user watched it, the IP address (unique online identifier) of the computer used to watch the video and the identifier for the video (source).

I wonder how many Americans still have that ‘over my dead body’ gut response to corporations collecting their information. Isn’t it Google that is launching an online medical record database system where you can keep all your medical records and your entire medical history with diagnoses?

Collectively, people’s hindsight is gradually degrading from 20-20 to 09-11.

Repeat after me. We are all individuals.

Mountains, here I come!

Why riding a bike to work beats using the car.
Celovška cesta, Ljubljana

(image source)

The core team of the company (shameless plug: GBD Nepremičnine d.d.) decided a while ago to donate blood ‘together’ and went through with it today. It’s only natural that people hate needles so it really does help if you have somebody there as support. It turned out that the three of us cover the three basic blood groups, namely 0, A and B, which is kind of cool.

Please, donate blood!

It doesn’t take that long and you’re helping save lives! Not to mention the great breakfast they serve you afterwards. The fact that your (hint: and your partner’s) blood is checked for all sorts of transmittable diseases is an added bonus.

Wondering where you can donate blood in Slovenia? You can participate in a blood drive or you can give blood at one of the locations below at any time that suits you best. More information in Slovenian at the Blood Transfucion Centre of Slovenia website.

Zavod Republike Slovenije za transfuzijsko medicino
Šlajmerjeva 6, 1000 Ljubljana, Tel.: (01) 543 81 00
Vsak delovni dan: 7.00-15.00
Četrtek: 7.00-17.00

Center za transfuzijsko medicino UKC Maribor
UKC Maribor, Ljubljanska 5, 2000 Maribor, Tel.: (02) 321 22 75
Torek: 7.00-17.30
Četrtek: 7.00-11.00

Oddelek za transfuzijsko medicino Celje
Splošna bolnišnica Celje, Oblakova 5, 3000 Celje, Tel.: (03) 423 35 92
Ponedeljek: 7.30-10.30
Torek: 7.30-10.30
Sreda: 7.30-10.30

Oddelek za transfuzijsko medicino Izola
Splošna bolnišnica Izola, Polje 35, 6310 Izola, Tel.: (05) 660 62 30
Torek: 7.30-12.00
Četrtek: 7.30-11.00 in 13.00-16.30
Petek: 7.30-12.00

Oddelek za transfuzijsko medicino Jesenice
Splošna bolnišnica Jesenice, Titova 112, 4270 Jesenice, Tel.: (04) 586 83 08
Torek: 7.00-12.00

Oddelek za transfuzijsko medicino Murska Sobota
Splošna bolnišnica Murska Sobota, Rakičan, Ulica dr. Vrbnjaka 6, 9000 Murska Sobota, Tel.: (02) 512 31 00
Ponedeljek: 7.00-11.30
Četrtek: 7.00-11.30

Oddelek za transfuzijsko medicino Nova Gorica
Splošna bolnišnica Nova Gorica, Ulica padlih borcev 13, 5290 Šempeter pri Novi Gorici,
Tel.: (05) 330 11 76
Torek: 8.00-12.00 in 14.00-16.00
Petek: 8.00-12.00

Oddelek za transfuzijsko medicino Novo mesto
Splošna bolnišnica Novo mesto, Šmihelska 1, 8000 Novo mesto, Tel.: (07) 391 65 74
Torek : 7.00-10.30
Četrtek: 7.00-10.30

Oddelek za transfuzijsko medicino Ptuj
Splošna bolnišnica dr. Jožeta Potrča, Potrčeva 23-25, 2250 Ptuj, Tel.: (02) 749 14 37
Ponedeljek: 7.00-11.00
Četrtek: 7.00-11.00

Oddelek za transfuzijsko medicino Slovenj Gradec
Splošna bolnišnica Slovenj Gradec, Gosposvetska 3, 2380 Slovenj Gradec, Tel.: (02) 882 34 82
Torek: 7.00-9.00
Četrtek: 7.00-9.00

Oddelek za transfuzijsko medicino Trbovlje
Splošna bolnišnica Trbovlje, Rudarska 9, 1420 Trbovlje, Tel.: (03) 565 25 89
Četrtek: 6.00-9.30

Just a few impressions from Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Republic is a representative democracy with a presidential system much like the one in the US. The President is elected by popular vote in elections held every four years, always on 16 May. The latest elections took place two days ago and the main candidates running for office were the incumbent Leonel Fernandez Reyna (Dominican Liberation Party/ Partido de la Liberación Dominicana; the “violet party”), Miguel Vargas Maldonado (Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD) / Partido Revolucionario Dominicano; the “white party”) and Amable Aristy Castro (Social Christian Reformist Party (PRSC) / Partido Reformista Social Cristiano; the “red party”). (See more at the end of this post.)

I was lucky enough to have spent some time in this beautiful country of breathtaking nature, great music and cheerful people who let me bug them about their views of politics and the presidential candidates. Here are a few photos that may not be as sexy as the palm-adorned sandy beaches or perfectly cut grass of spectacular golf fields to most, but I needed some contact with real life.

One thing is certain, though… the people of Santo Domingo know how to parteeeeeeee!

Not everyone can afford a home, but none of the homeless freeze to death. Or die of hunger, I was told.

The less-frequently visited hoods of the city.

What gives?

One of the most famous streets of Santo Domingo: Calle Las Damas.

The Prez’s ride and escort in front of the Presidential Palace.

Two days ago, the incumbent Leonel Fernandez won the elections in the first round, securing about 53% of the vote. During both his previous terms, the country has done well and much progress has been made. Watching this lawyer on TV, I was impressed with the way he addressed complex legal and political issues in such a colourful and simple manner, that even I with my poor command of Spanish could follow his line of reasoning. For example, he debated the various types of judicial systems with regard to the role of the Constitutional or Supreme court and went as far as to explain his view of regional autonomy on the case of Kosovo.

For the sake of Jose Miguel and his friends I hope the old new President keeps the country on track to the prosperity that the entire island (yes, the entire island) and its people deserve.

Oooook so here comes one of the more typical Dominican photos just for you, my friends:

Punta Espada, a signature golf course of Jack Nicklaus at Cap Cana, where the first PGA tournament (Champions Tour) in the Dominican Republic took place in April 2008.

Just a photo from last Sunday and a hint at where the next post is presumably coming from.

Today, over lunch, my favourite New Yorker claimed I posted far too few photos from the Dominican Republic. So let me try to make it up to you guys. For starters, this is Jose who kindly introduced me to the “really” fresh coconuts… one to drink from and another to enjoy the delicious taste of the… fruit? Yumm… Thanks, Jose!