The Leading Men

This is one of my favorite bookmark series I have. Each bookmark features an old romantic film that was a box-office hit several years ago. Below are the leading men who starred in the films. I got these beautiful series from a swap partner in Spain.

The Leading Men (left to right)
Johnny Weissmuller (Tarzan: The Ape Man)
Paul Newman (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)
James Dean (Rebel Without a Cause)
Marlon Brando (A Streetcar Named Desire)
Sean Connery (Goldfinger)
Gary Cooper (Saratoga Trunk)
Rock Hudson (Pillow Talk)
Humphrey Bogart (High Sierra)
Clark Gable (Gone with the Wind)

Ye Shanghai

Accidentally, a classmate in my photography class learned that i collect bookmarks. He, surprisingly, told me he'll give me some bookmarks his wife brought from China. It was so thoughtful of him especially that we weren't really talking in the class. Anyway, so in the next photography meeting, he got me this. Very Chinese and it's lovely. Below is write-up on its back.

A fitting dress with a high Mandarin collar and equally high slits, the qipao was the height of fashion in the 1030s. Tailored to flatter the slim figures of Shanghainese women, it became the pinnacle of Shanghai's fashion culture and established the city as the fashion center of China. Beautifully dressed, the city's elite would flock to Nanking Theater to watch foreign films. Today, the theater has been renamed Shanghai Concert Hall, home to the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

Despite the modern-day, cosmopolitan landscape known as the Paris of the East, the links to the past remain strong.

This bookmark must show

I got this metallic bookmark from Powerbooks. I simply like the quote.

David Copperfield or The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (which he never meant to publish on any account) is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a novel in 1850. Like most of his works, it originally appeared in serial form a year earlier. Many elements within the novel follow events in Dickens' own life, and it is probably the most autobiographical of all of his novels. In the preface to the 1867 Charles Dickens edition, he wrote, "… like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And his name is David Copperfield."

***Wikipedia

Chilean sailor, i guess

This lovely bookmark i got from a swap partner in Chile. This is only one among the series, which is enclosed in a nice packaging. This is an art from the Fundacion Pablo Neruda.

According to its rules, the Pablo Neruda Foundation holds as its general purpose, “the practice and divulgation of arts and letters”. It acquires legal existence with the publication of the Justice Department’s Supreme Decree 368 in the “Diario Oficial”, on June 4th, 1986. Its legal precedent was the will of Matilde Urrutia, the poet’s widow, which constitutes the Foundation, outlines its rules and appoints its directors and counsellors.

Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), whose real name is Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto, was born on 12 July, 1904, in the town of Parral in Chile. His father was a railway employee and his mother, who died shortly after his birth, a teacher. Some years later his father, who had then moved to the town of Temuco, remarried doña Trinidad Candia Malverde. The poet spent his childhood and youth in Temuco, where he also got to know Gabriela Mistral, head of the girls' secondary school, who took a liking to him... continue

Pen Bookmark

Who says a pen can't be a bookmark?
It's a pen and a bookmark in one. Another clever cute little thing. Only you shouldn't use the pen in marking/highlighting parts of your book. Never ever write on your book. It would ruin the pages, and of course, it would make it look untidy. If you have to save important messages, then grab a piece of paper or a notebook and jot down what you have to.
I got this from a swap partner in France.

Rainy Days Bookmark

This i would call, "Rainy Days bookmark". I'm fond of fleece material especially in blankets. I have a low tolerance in cold temperature so I would always give credit to the makers of fleece blankets. :D

With this bookmark, my rainy season reading, surely, will be warmer.

Fleece is a general term for a soft fabric (often with a deep pile). Also refers to the woolen coat of a domestic sheep or long-haired goat, especially after having been sheared (but before being processed into yarn or thread)

***Wikipedia

Saigon Lady

This is a bookmark painted in Dzo Paper me and Brando got from Vietnam. Shown in the painting is a Vietnamese lady in traditional costume with her bicycle. This is a typical view in Vietnam, even nowadays.

Although fragile and flexible, the dzo paper (made from mulberry bark) is also long lasting and durable. Used by ethnic minorities for altar paintings, for honourable certificates and for inscribing buddhist sutras.

"When I paint on this kind of paper, I can feel the spirit of calmness and thoughtfulness of my ancestors. Patience is also needed when working on dzo paper, and this helps me to develop new pictures slowly because when one color is dry, a new color can be applied to it with strange effects." Vu Thu Hien, Vietnamese artist

***http://www.lalunagallery.com/artist_vu_thu_hien.asp

Magnifies

Quite a unique and a very practical one for a bookmark - magnifying sheet and a bookmark in one. This is a very helpful tool for me, especially when i get older. *laughs* At least i don't have to buy me a magnifying glass anymore. A friend got this from a trade show in China, which she then gave me when she arrived home.

A sheet magnifier consists of many very narrow concentric ring-shaped lenses, such that the combination acts as a single lens but is much thinner. This arrangement is known as a Fresnel lens.

***Wikipedia

Purple Butterfly

A fun bookmark my boss gave me for my birthday - together with other stuff. It's a plastic butterfly-shaped clip bookmark.

According to the “Butterflies” chapter in Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, by Lafcadio Hearn, a butterfly is seen as the personification of a person's soul; whether they be living, dying, or already dead. In the Philippines, a superstition says that if a butterfly enters your house, the person whom you most love is coming to see you. However, large numbers of butterflies are viewed as bad omens.

***Wikipedia

People of the Lake

I got this wooden bookmark in Davao City. This is hand painted by a well-known tribe in the South (which usually refers to Mindanao) called Maranao. I'm, personally, quite familiar with this group since I'm also from Mindanao, only in the Northern part. This bookmark has a metal clam-like ornament, which clings when moved.

Maranao is the term used for the people of Lanao, a predominantly Muslim region in the Philippine island of Mindanao. They are famous for their artwork, sophisticated weaving, wood and metal craft, and their epic literature. The word Maranao, also spelled Maranaw, means "People of the Lake", referring to the indigenous people who inhabited the lands around Lake Lanao whose principal town is Marawi City. The Maranaos are part of the wider Moro ethnic group, who constitute the sixth largest Filipino ethnic group.

***Wikipedia

Jack-o'-lantern

This is another magnetic bookmark in a die-cut Jack-o'-lantern design. I got this free from a trade show in Hongkong.

A jack-o'-lantern (sometimes also spelled Jack O'Lantern) is typically a carved pumpkin. It is associated chiefly with the holiday Halloween. The tradition of carving a lantern started in the UK. However it was traditionally carved from a swede or a turnip. They were carved on All Hallows' Eve and left on the door step to ward off evil spirits. An offering or, as we know know it, a "treat" would also be commonly left, as it was feared if you didn't the demons and spirits would fiddle with property or live stock (play a "trick"). Once the tradition moved to the USA it was adapted to the carving of a pumpkin as these were more readily available and easier to carve. The ritual of "trick or treating" was soon invented to re-create the coming of demons and ghouls on the night to dwellings requesting a treat (which is now traditionally given as candy)or a trick would be played. The demons and ghouls are now of course children dressed up to represent them.

***Wikipedia

UNICEF

I got this magnetic UNICEF bookmark from a swap partner in France. It's one of my favorites.

The United Nations Children's Fund (or UNICEF) was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II. In 1953, UNICEF became a permanent part of the United Nations System and its name was shortened from the original United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund but it has continued to be known by the popular acronym based on this old name. Headquartered in New York City, UNICEF provides long-term humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries.

***Wikipedia

Precious Moments

This is a porcelain bookmark i got from Precious Moments kiosk. I thought it's something new to have a bookmark of such material. The print shows a young lady who's holding a cake and standing beside a basket of fruits. Notice the book inside her side pocket, just lovely.

Porcelain derives its present name from old Italian porcellana (cowrie shell) because of its resemblance to the translucent surface of the shell. Porcelain can informally be referred to as "china" in some English-speaking countries, as China was the birth place of porcelain making. Properties associated with porcelain include low permeability and elasticity; considerable strength, hardness, glassiness, brittleness, whiteness, translucence, and resonance; and a high resistance to chemical attack and thermal shock.

***Wikipedia

Hannah Montana

Who doesn't love this girl?
I'm 26, yet I'm a fan. So I can't help but keep a few Hannah Montana bookmarks.

Hannah Montana is an American television series, which debuted on March 24, 2006 on Disney Channel. The series focuses on a girl who lives a double life as an average teenage school girl named Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cyrus) by day and a famous pop singer named Hannah Montana by night, concealing her real identity from the public, other than her close friends and family.

***Wikipedia

Elephant

Another wooden bookmark from South East Asian country - Thailand. My boss gave this to me when she arrived from a business trip in Bangkok. She kinda know i fancy bookmarks.

While Carabao is the beast of burden in the Philippines, it is the Elephant in Thailand. The Elephants were also important in battle, with kings mounted on them fighting the Burmese to defend their country on many occasions. They have also been noted for their intelligence, memory and pleasant nature. A Thai legend has it that a marriage is like an elephant-- the husband is the front legs, that choose the direction, the wife the back legs, providing the power.
Elephants only sleep for three or four hours a day, usually from 11pm to 3am. They simply lie down, yawning and later snoring just like humans. Only sick elephants sleep standing up.

***http://www.chiangmai-chiangrai.com/elephants_thai.html

The Hill Tribes

These are wooden bookmarks with a miniature doll in ethnic costumes. I got them from an swap partner from Thailand. These dolls are actually representations of the Hill Tribes. It is a term used in Thailand for all of the various tribal peoples who migrated from China and Tibet over the past few centuries. They now inhabit the remote border areas between Northern Thailand, Laos and Burma (Myanmar). These areas are known for their thick forests and mountainous terrain. The hill tribes are subsistence farmers who use slash and burn agricultural techniques to farm their heavily forested communities.

The six major hill tribes within Thailand are the Akha, Lahu, Karen, Hmong, Mien and Lisu, each with a distinct language and culture.

***Wikipedia

Tha Black Cat

Isn't he lovely?

I have a thing for black cats. They've got oozing sophistication. I've always wanted to own one. Actually, a neighbor offered his Siberian Black cat to me last January, only i refused because of the lack of space for a feline in our apartment. Not all of my housemates like cats, so that would be a problem. For now, I'll just content myself with an equally adorable Black Cat Bookmark.

A black cat is a feline with black fur. Black cats may be thought of as either good luck or bad. It is not a particular breed of cat and may be mixed or of a specific breed. The all-black pigmentation is equally prevalent in both male and female cats. It is interesting to note that adult black cats cannot have blue eyes.

In literature, The Black Cat is an 1843 short story by American author Edgar Allan Poe. In 2002, Neil Gaiman published a children's novel called Coraline, where one of the characters is a black cat who acts as a wise yet snide guide to the protagonist-Coraline

***Wikipedia

The Light of Wisdom

This is metal bookmark Brando got me from Powerbooks - one of the few good bookstores in the Philippines. It's not locally made, it's an importation, but i'll group this under Philippines anyway, since we only acquired it here.
It's named "The Light of Wisdom". Check out what's written on its case.

“There is a universe comprises of all kinds of fun, knowledge, venture, romance, passion, vision, wisdom and much more. Enthusiastic patrons may already have realized the joy they may experience in, and the power they can tap from such a universe. Accompanying your expedition in this boundless dimension, this piece of equipment serves as a milestone to register every stop you make along your voyage of acquiring the power of knowledge, the source of intelligence, the light of wisdom, the key to success and anything your quest for in this sublime resource of everything.”

Behold...

Finally, I've made a time to work on my bookmark collection. Together with a few friends, I’m working on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) registration of the organization we are starting – Bookmark Collectors of the Philippines, Inc. The thrust of the group doesn’t only focuses on collecting bookmarks per se, but actually more on cultivating the love for reading and the value of education among young Filipinos. Generally, the group commits to battle against illiteracy.
We are still in the process of putting everything together, from funding sources to searching for the right contacts in the specific sector we want to cover as the group starts.
Expect activity announcements in this blog and other relevant information.

Thanks for dropping by.