One of the things Capt. Zexiv makes it a point to see every time he is in Washington, DC - aside from the interesting shops and old homes in the Georgetown area - is the National Geographic Museum at Explorer's Hall, located at 17th and M streets, NW. The museum usually has three to four exhibitions ongoing simultaneously at any given time, which run for a number of weeks. On this particular visit, the highlight was an ancient (third or fourth century) Coptic bound manuscript containing the only known surviving copy of the Gospel of Judas, as well as three other texts.
This was the only exhibit which had a long line leading up from the reception area. It was well worth the wait though for Capt. Zexiv, Puff, his brother-in-law and seven-year old nephew to see first-hand pages of this famous manuscript, which is featured in this month's issue of National Geographic and has been making the news lately, through enclosed glass cases. The ones shown appeared not to be fully intact; Zexiv learned later on that many of the pages have in fact fallen apart from handling over the centuries and have only fairly recently been restored.
From Capt. Zexiv's understanding, the manuscript appears to represent a departure from traditional church teachings on Judas, and show him in a more favorable light, acting apparently according to instructions from Christ himself (Zexiv's seven-year old nephew, however, thought otherwise, saying, "I don't like Judas"). At the end of the display, there was a sample of a book available also for sale at the museum shop, containing the English translation and commentary on the restored pages. One line which struck a note in Capt. Zexiv went something like, "what you do not have within you will eventually kill you and what you have in you will save you".
There were other exhibits which Zexiv and company saw, such as one featuring the kimonos worn by a famous twentieth century geisha and another on color photographs from Mongolia, which were also interesting but nowhere near as fascinating as the first.
After seeing the other exhibits, the group checked out the very interesting museum shop, without which a trip to the museum would not be complete. Zexiv got a "March of the Penguins" DVD and a National Geographic cap (to wear on the boat on their future diving trips), for Puff and himself. The captain's nephew was very practical, picking out a brightly colored travel bag where he could organize and store his art materials. He also thought of his little sister, selecting for her a set of little sponges (?), which expand into trains when you put them in water.
According to National Geographic, the Gospel of Judas will run until July 9, 2006. Highly recommended for those of you who will be visiting the Washington, DC area.
Another exciting exhibition, entitled "Tut Unwrapped", opens on June 24. This should be worth seeing as well.
I have decided to devote my journal today to finally responding to Inverbras, who tagged Capt. Zexiv more than two weeks ago in his blog of notable fours. I initially had some reservations on this "tagging-tagging" business and asked Capt. Zexiv over a hot lunch of Spanish sardines in olive oil today if he thought it was just a blog version of the infamous chain letter - which must have originated with a chisel and stone, before moving on to messenger pigeon, paper and pen, typewriter, telegraph, telex, fax, and finally to e-mail. Capt. Zexiv however thought that it might be a good way for his family and friends to get to know him better, and suggested I include my own list as well, since I am currently displaced from my many relations, comrades, and unrequitted loves from all over the world, and especially since it is my blog after all, and not Zexiv's. Privately however, I am agreeing to his suggestions only out of fear that something evil and sinister may befall us if I refuse to do so (as is what is rumored to happen if you don't forward a chain letter). Blast that Inverbras! ....
Anyway, Capt. Zexiv's list first:
Four jobs I've had in my life: - Money market trader - Account officer - Producer - Transcriber, encoder, aspiring photographer, and captain of Fantastic
Four movies I would watch over and over: - A Bridge Too Far - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - Sound of Music - Empire of the Sun
Four places I have lived: - Metro Manila (Quezon City and Makati) - Angeles City (a.k.a. Medieval Pampanga to Inverbras) - New York City - BC
Four TV shows I love to watch (all reruns): - I Dream of Jeannie - Bewitched - Star Trek (Original, Next Generation, and Voyager) - Seinfeld
Four Places I have been on vacation: - Alaska - Singapore - Berlin - Glasgow
Four websites I visit daily: - snoopy - wikipedia - best crosswords - amazon
Four of myfavorite foods: - Burgers (from Vera's) - Beefsteak, yellow rice and black beans (from La Caridad) - Sizzling sisig, crispy tawilis, and San Miguel Strong Ice (from Viewsite) - Mom's apple pie
Four places I would rather be: - Scuba diving in Anilao with Puff - On the beach in Boracay with Puff and both our familes - Inside the American Museum of Natural History in NYC (as a tourist, not a relic!) - With my nephews and nieces wherever they may be
Four people I'm gong to tag: - Crazy Lady in the Apple - My middle sister - My youngest sister - Walrus
And now on to my list (Sgt. Stingray's):
Four jobs I've had in my life: - Private - Corporal - Sergeant - Navigator and first mate of Fantastic Sub and personal biographer of Capt. Jack Zexiv
Four movies I would watch over and over: - A Bridge Too Far - The Longest Day - The Great Escape - Mogambo (love that Grace Kelly!)
Four places I have lived: - Bataan - Corregidor - New York - BC
Four TV shows I love to watch (all reruns): - Combat! - Tour of Duty - Rat Patrol - Baa Baa Black Sheep
Four places I have been on vacation (and where Capt. Zexiv dreams of going someday): - Tubbataha - Italy - Spain - Kruger National Park
Four websites I visit daily: - stripes - gi photo joe - tintin.com - national geographic
Four of my favorite foods: - K-rations - Hard tack - Puff's adobo - Puff's aligue pasta
Four places I would rather be: - FAO Schwarz - Central Park - Undergoing PT with the ADMHS Air Police (most rigorous in the world, according to Capt. Zexiv) - With my comrades in the secret subterranean hideout in PPT
Four people I'm going to tag: - My special friend helicopter pilot Jane - My other special friend secret agent Mademoiselle Marie - My Action Soldier comrade - My Action Pilot comrade
Going Solo, Camp Grayloft, and the Mysterious Toyanese
In between minor engine repairs and inspecting the Fantastic Submarine today for a suspected leak (yes, the sub is fantastic, heavily armed, and has gone from Alaska to Singapore but is not unsinkable) and trying to decipher the manual (anyone have an Enigma Machine in storage?) that came with the new camera, I decided to take a long walk and explore my new surroundings. My new base is apparently one and a half levels with a huge skylight casting a cheery light on almost the entire area during the day. At the bottom level I found a communications center, a mess hall, a movie viewing area for the troops, pictures of family members, and a fairly sized library containing a partial collection of Capt. Zexiv's and his wife Puff's books and photo albums. The books covered a wide range of subjects, both fiction and non-fiction, such as war, photography, children's stories, classics, and even paleontology.
I was especially pleased to find a copy of Roald Dahl's "Going Solo" and took this out of the bookcase to reread in my spare time. It's the second part of Dahl's autobiography continuing from the time he left school to work as an expat for Shell in Africa in the years immediately preceding the Second World War. Along the way, he has various adventures such as encounters with dangerous beasts such as the black mamba and air battles with the Germans over Greece as a fighter pilot with the RAF. He also becomes seriously injured when his plane crashes. All this of course happened long before Roald Dahl became famous writing children's stories such as "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". I found it quite interesting as I am always fascinated by accounts of life in foreign lands, especially during colonial eras. It is something I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a good adventure story, whether they be children or adults.
My journey to the second level later in the day was delayed by the discovery of a series of about fifteen chest-high ridges requiring specialized equipment and a lighter load to traverse so I have decided to hold off further exploration until a later time or date. I have heard rumors of a mysterious and elusive race of beings called the Toyanese who are said to occupy the upper level. In any case, night has fallen and it has become necessary to set up a security perimeter. In the meantime, I have decided to rename this place Camp Grayloft. Tomorrow I may ask the assistance of Capt. Zexiv's niece in deciphering the camera manual as I hear she is a master decoder at school - a Mata Hari in the making! ...
Many years before he became captain of the fantastic and world travelling submarine, in between kindergarten and the first grade (otherwise known as "prep"), in the Jesuit-run school he went to for twelve long years, Capt. Zexiv became classmates and good friends with a small but tightly knit group, who were to become his closest friends for many years. This group, drawn together by similar interests including a love of nature and the great outdoors, a general disdain for organized sports (except for maybe one or two in the group), and some difficulty with Math and a certain required subject, called themselves the "Chum Family", and vowed to stay pals for life. They hung around places like the Rock Garden, the great rubber tree (which they fondly referred to as "Gerbie"), and the giant steel slide beside it.
While most boys their age were either playing or watching soccer (a big thing during those elementary school days), in the lunch time games between class sections that became known as "lightning football", the members of the Chum Family were hanging out in the hill above the football field, perfecting the art of catching dragonflies, red ants, and praying mantises, picking up iron filings in the soil with magnets, climbing the rubber tree, playing "lava monster" in the Rock Garden, and floating insects on makeshift boats made by leaves or bottles caps down rapids created by opening several faucets on the school grounds. They joined school clubs like the Rondalla and the Boy Scouts and went to classnights at school together, where the highlight of the night was always the trading of the ghost stories followed by a hunt for the infamous "headless woman" of the Rock Garden.
When the Chum Family weren't in school, they hung out and attended each others' birthday parties at Shakey's Pizza, went trick or treating on Halloween near the house where Capt. Zexiv's parents live, and swam at the club. They continued to remain close friends throughout the years. At one point around sixth or seventh grade, three or four of them - including Capt. Zexiv - even formed a make-believe, extremely amateurish and admittedly terrible sounding rock band, which they called "Stingray". In third year high school, by some coincidence, about five of them became classmates again, the largest number together since the third grade.
This is what I was able to piece together about Capt. Zexiv's childhood recollections of a few of his friends from that time, whom he keeps in touch with or bumps into from time to time to this day:
Wilt - Had a crewcut and wore thick glasses in his early years. Was a great storyteller - Capt. Zexiv remembers his account of an uncle getting eaten by a crocodile in Africa and wonders to this day whether he may have dreamt of the whole thing - and a basketball fanatic. Capt. Zexiv used to call him up regularly after classes during school days to chat and would think he had his full and undivided attention until he would hear the half-time (?) siren of a televised basketball game in the background (Capt. Zexiv believes it was Toyota and Crispa in those days). Capt. Zexiv used to admire the zip up leather ankle length boots he wore with his school uniform as it reminded Capt. Zexiv of the ones worn by the Beatles. A very loyal friend - Capt. Zexiv once remembers him protecting him against a fat school bully - and constant lunch companion.
Solomon - Very talented musically, could play the piano and (toy) accordion by ear, wrote screenplays (including one for the fictitious band Stingray called "The Golden Record Caper"). Solomon was the product of an American mother and Filipino father. Also a great storyteller and highly imaginative who easily aced English exams without studying. Another constant lunch companion and regular at the great rubber tree and giant slide (together with Wilt and Capt. Zexiv). Once led Capt. Zexiv into the treacherous quicksands of Pulang Bato near his house out of which they were fortunately able to escape. Sat in front of Capt. Zexiv in third or fourth year high school, was always strong for his age and would always beat Capt. Zexiv in arm wrestling. He remembers very well the first thing Capt. Zexiv said to him when they ran into each other at the state university years later: "Hey Solomon, we're college boys now!".
Atticus - One of the smartest members of the Chum Family, very funny and a good mimic. Considered "good looking" in his youth by Capt. Zexiv's parents and was one of those kids your parents wouldn't mind you hanging out with since he was also very polite and a good talker. A natural leader. Also had a wild imagination and was always coming up with new things to do. A regular lunch partner (this was to be repeated many years later sometime during their working years) in the hill above the football field. Slightly chubby but full of spunk, Capt. Zexiv remembers another school friend telling him about an incident one morning at high school where he saw Atticus and a much larger schoolmate fighting and rolling on the ground in front of the Admin building because Atticus objected to his younger brother who was cadet officer trainee being bossed around by an superior officer in a higher year (the fight was later broken up by the old schooltaker, Big Boy). Atticus became a superhero later on, fighting graft and corruption.
Belushi - Another member of Stingray - he played a huge bongo drum belonging to Capt. Zexiv's dad - Belushi used to be one of the smallest members of the group but quickly caught up in height in his high school years. Capt. Zexiv remembers introducing him to his love of the Beatles and him also becoming a Beatles fan. Lived near Manila Bay and wallking distance to Harrison Plaza. Capt. Zexiv and Atticus had really fun sleepovers in his place. Everyone had a crush on his older sister during those days :). Knew a lot of the pretty girls in high school and was one of the original class preppies. Capt. Zexiv's biking companion and "weekly brother". Went to the same state university as Capt. Zexiv and Solomon.
Juan - Very mestizo looking, Juan lived about a mile south of Capt. Zexiv's house and they rode the same school bus for a number of years. Was a regular weekend visitor to Capt. Zexiv's house during the earlier years and would many times bring his GI Joes over to play, to the delight of Capt. Zexiv, who had none at the time. A member of the hobbycraft club in elementary for many years, Juan loved building model planes and later pursued his dream of becoming an airplane pilot after college. Was a very strong runner in track and during his entire stay in high school held the school record for a long distance route.
We arrived in Vancouver today after a more than seven hour voyage plagued by schools of giant squid, mutinous crew members and overzealous customs authorities. Capt. Zexiv and his wife Puff are happy to be back again in Beautiful BC after almost two weeks of being away in Washington DC and New York. During this time Capt. Zexiv spent the Easter holidays with his family, picked up his first digital camera, got together with a long lost lava monster friend, watched a Billy Joel concert, ate in La Caridad, Kang Suh, and Jackson Hole, visited FAO Schwarz and Central Park, was treated to a delicious Japanese buffet by Crazy Lady in the Apple, had some beers and watched old "Combat!" episodes with his pal Walrus and brother Inverbras and attended probably the longest wedding celebration he had ever been to in his life :). Inverbras was the perfect host, giving us tips on blogging and bringing Capt. Zexiv and Puff to this great sandwich place near his office, where the sandwich of Capt. Zexiv unfortunately self-destructed. He also took a few pictures of me, some of which are posted here. At present, I am preoccupied with establishing a new base and conducting repairs of the sub but promise stories and pictures from our trip, as soon as we can both figure out how to download pictures from the new camera - didn't I tell you we are both new to digital photography?
After a long and distinguished career in the military, I retired as master sergeant, settling down in New York City. On a hot April day in 2006 I had a chance meeting in FAO Schwarz with Capt. Zexiv who invited me to join his sub as first mate, navigator, and personal biographer. I look forward to many exciting adventures together.
