March 2016 - Expat In Bacolod

God is Female

Published by Stephen Bentley on March 31, 2016

I apologize for the original post of ‘God is female’ for not appearing here. It was my fault. I accidentally deleted my WordPress database in my SiteGround web hosting cPanel. Fortunately, through live chat, I was able to restore one of my automatic back-ups. It was today’s version but backed up before I published today’s post 🙁 I will rewrite it and post again soon. Here we go (April 1st) and I will try to reproduce my original post as closely as possible. The original article that prompted this post is reproduced at the end. It comes as no surprise to me that Fr. O’ Neal reported about a ‘Mother God.’ Many people who experienced a Christian upbringing come to think of God as a male, dressed in flowing…

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Auspicious – WordWednesdayFun

Auspicious – WordWednesdayFun

Published by Stephen Bentley on March 30, 2016

This is an auspicious start to the week’s writing activity for the blog. I mean that in the sense that it bodes well that I am crafting this post on Tuesday ahead of the scheduled posting day of Wednesday. Merriam-Webster: Auspicious This word happens to be the word of the day at Merriam-Webster. This is what they have to say – auspicious adjective aw-SPISH-us Definition 1 : showing or suggesting that future success is likely : propitious 2 : attended by good fortune : prosperous Examples Being nominated for four awards, including Best Picture, the movie proved to be an auspicious start to his directing career. “In Chinese lobster is called ‘long xia,’ or dragon prawn, which has an auspicious ring to it.” — The Economist,…

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Web Hosting That Sucks!

Published by Stephen Bentley on March 29, 2016

I pull no punches in writing about a web hosting service that sucks! And, I mean truly sucks! That service (oxymoron) sounds like it is the opposite of ‘Come Mummy’ 🙂 I now have two active websites. This blog and my Stephen Bentley – Author site. A change of web hosting service was forced upon me recently. It was a case of friendship and business not mixing. I’m sure you have been there too! A former ‘friend’ is a re-seller of hosting. I was with his service for some 8 months before he gave me an ultimatum to find another hosting package. As he only gave me a week before he pulled the plug, I went to ‘Come Mummy.’ What a nightmare! 404 messages constantly – a…

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Lakawon – Why Bother With Boracay?

Published by Stephen Bentley on March 27, 2016

Lakawon is a small white sand beach island just off the northern tip of Negros Occidental, Philippines. It makes for a wonderful day out and is popular with Filipinos, resident foreigners and foreign tourists. But beware – here is a link to the high tide table at maputils.com. It is essential reading before you go. Why? There is a 20-minute banca ride across to the island. As long as it is not low tide then these boats have sufficient draft to drop anchor either close to the beach or at the finger jetty at Cadiz Viejo. If it is low tide then you are forced to clamber into small boat to transfer to the larger banca. If like me, you have mobility issues, then it is a…

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James Bulger Memorial Trust

Published by Stephen Bentley on March 27, 2016

You may recall a post here some months ago about asking for help to make it go viral. That story was about James Bulger, a toddler abducted and murdered some years ago on Merseyside, England. It is still remembered by countless thousands pf people. It shocked the nation. A registered charity was set up by Denise, James’ mother, and Stuart Fergus, her husband to commemorate the memory of James. I have decided to donate 10% of all my royalties on book sales to this charity. I also set up a JustGiving web page in case any of you may wish to donate directly. Together, we can raise money for such a good cause. This is a link to another JustGiving page with details of other fund raising efforts for the…

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Why I Love My Nikon

Why I Love My Nikon

Published by Stephen Bentley on March 26, 2016

Nikon is a Popular Choice Among Cafe Blogsters Nikon appears to be the ‘go-to’ camera of choice among members of the Facebook group Cafe Blog. It is a group for bloggers that met during either Blogging 101 or 201 run by WordPress. Allow me to introduce you to four blogging members of the group. They appear in no particular order. I asked them to collaborate with me for this post. The brief was to write about their camera and/or lenses and accompany the blurb with one pic taken with that camera. First up is Robert P. Doyle of Soundtrack of a Photograph. I use a Camera-Nikon D3100 (though I also still shoot film occasionally which is a Nikon N80). My lens is a 18-55mm typically, though I…

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Whale of a Time – FavFotoFriday

Published by Stephen Bentley on March 25, 2016

Whale Ahoy! Friday again! Tempus Fugit! Weekends are synonymous with having a whale of a time so what better subject than whales for this week’s #FavFotoFriday? A customary thanks once more to Sandy of Scribbles and Musings for inspiring this weekly feature. You will hear more of Sandy over the weekend! These pictures were all shot on a whale watching trip off Cape Cod. It was an eventful day especially when a whale actually did appear. It brightened up what was otherwise a gray day. It was a typical sunless North Atlantic day and reminded me of being back in the UK. It was a humpback whale. This is what National Geographic has to say: Humpbacks are powerful swimmers, and they use their massive tail fin, called a fluke, to…

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Night Moves

Published by G on March 24, 2016

NIGHT MOVES by G * * * * * The author retains copyrights to the work of fiction contained herein. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. The following work is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to others. …

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Shenanigan – WordWednesdayFun

Published by Stephen Bentley on March 23, 2016

Shenanigan is often used in its plural form – shenanigans. I associate it with the Irish. I can hear an Irish voice in my head saying, “Be off wit yous. Enuff of yer shenanigans!” The voice rings out chastising some noisy street urchins. The origins of the word appear to be uncertain. I still believe it is Irish in origin. But more of that later. First the Merriam-Webster definition – noun she·nan·i·gan \shə-ˈna-ni-gən\ Popularity: Top 10% of words Definition of shenanigan 1 : a devious trick used especially for an underhand purpose 2 a : tricky or questionable practices or conduct —usually used in plural b : high-spirited or mischievous activity —usually used in plural Examples of shenanigan in a sentence <students engaging in youthful shenanigans on…

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Playtime – FavFotoFriday

Published by Stephen Bentley on March 18, 2016

Playtime Playtime is everyone’s favorite time right? And playtime is the theme for this week’s #FavFotoFriday. Thanks once more Sandy of Scribbles and Musings. I love the pic above mainly for the cheeky grins on their faces. It was taken with a point and shoot compact proving you don’t need expensive DSLR’s to capture a fleeting moment. Back to my Canon DSLR (EOS 40D) for the shot above. It was 40C in Perth and the best place to stay cool was in the pool. Kinda pool kool 🙂 I have a thing about water droplets frozen by the shutter speed. I like the effect. The shot below was proof that kids love playtime. They had a mass dive-bombing of the pool to see who could make…

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Month: March 2016