Have You Ridden Your Bike Lately?: January 2006

Monday, January 30, 2006

More birthday photos

Tita Nil put together a unique birthday cake for me out of the dessert pieces served at the restaurant.

I was glad that it did not have room for 51 candles.

nickespi On-line : Lito Espinosa's Family

nickespi On-line : Lito Espinosa's Family

From Nick-Nick's web site
When was the last time you updated your site Nick? :)

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Psalm 23

To view the movie clip click on the picture above or the link below.

The text of the 23rd Psalm (KJV) is presented against a moving background of nature photography and music.

Psalm 23 movie

Be blessed!

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Pacquiao - Morales Match

in case anyone (specially outside the pinas) missed it...

Magnifying Our Master

I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. —2 Timothy 4:6

Bible In One Year: Exodus 14-15; Matthew 17

cover
As a man of unwavering steadfastness, the apostle Paul had a fixed ambition. He spelled it out in his letter to the Philippians: "Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death" (1:20).

No matter what Paul might be called upon to suffer, no matter what hardships he might undergo, he was determined that his life would be a means of magnifying Jesus. And without flinching, he held tight to that determination through peril, pain, and imprisonment, and even willingly offered his body as a sacrifice.

Some of us may not be able to see how Jesus could be magnified in our bodies. We may think that it can be done only during times of persecution for our faith. But that is not the case.

Our hands can magnify the Lord as we write letters of encouragement. Our feet can magnify Him as we go on simple errands of helpfulness. Our voices can magnify Him as we give our testimony and sing His praises. Our hearts can magnify Him as we express in prayer our love for the redeeming Christ. Our ears can magnify Him as we gratefully listen to sermons exalting His grace.

If we know Jesus, we can lift Him up to others in our daily lives. —Vernon Grounds

Take my will and make it Thine—
It shall be no longer mine;
Take my heart—it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne. —Havergal

You are one of a kind—designed to glorify God as only you can.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
Ruth & Hannah: Learning To
Walk By Faith

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Ushpizin | Official Movie Site | Picturehouse

Ushpizin | Official Movie Site | Picturehouse

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Looking forward to the release of the DVD sometime this April 2006. Tita Nil and I were blessed to have been invited by Dave and Karen to see the movie premiere at AMC Forum downtown Atwater, Montreal. Dave called CJAD during a call-in segment; the station was giving away either passes to the Auto Show or passes to see the movie USHPIZIN. He chose the latter. Thanks Dave and Karen!!
******

Stars Shuli Rand and Michael Bet Sheva Rand. An Israeli drama with humor set in the customarily closed world of ultra-Orthodox Jews and Breslov Hasidim. Moshe and Malli (Malka), a married couple, are suffering through a severe financial crisis and so naturally they pray for help. A Sukkot miracle arrives. Or is it a holy test? Two escaped convicts appear on their doorstep. The film is reportedly the first made by members of the Israeli ultra-Orthodox community that is aimed at a general audience. The two stars are a married couple. Probably one o fthe best Israeli films of 2005
Ushpizin means holy visitors/guests in Aramaic
The NYT wrote: The Israeli film "Ushpizin" is groundbreaking on more than one count. It is a rare collaboration between secular and ultra-Orthodox Israelis and one of the first movies filmed in the insular Jerusalem neighborhood Mea Shearim with ultra-Orthodox actors. Its warmhearted vision of marriage among Hasidic Jews is also radically different from the depiction of anguished female subservience to patriarchal authority portrayed in movies like Boaz Yakin's "A Price Above Rubies" and Amos Gitai's "Kadosh." That's because the screenwriter, Shuli Rand, and his wife, Michal Bat Sheva Rand, who play a beleaguered married couple, are themselves ultra-Orthodox. Mr. Rand, who won an Israeli Film Academy Award for his performance, was formerly a secular Jew. With permission from his rabbi, he teamed up with the director, Gidi Dar, an old friend, to make the movie. The Rands' characters, Moshe and Malli Bellanga, are a devout but childless couple struggling to make ends meet. Both are intensely emotional. A robust woman with a temperament as fiery as her husband's, Ms. Rand's Malli may follow the patriarchal rules, but she's the furthest thing from a wilting handmaiden bowing and scraping before her master. "Ushpizin" (the title, roughly translated from Aramaic, means "holy guests" and is pronounced OOSH-piz-in) reflects Mr. Rand's secular-to-Hasidic history by imagining that Moshe's wild past suddenly catches up with him. And the scraps of information revealed about his younger days suggest that he was once a formidable hell-raiser. As the story begins, Moshe and Malli are wringing their hands in anxiety. It's the eve of Sukkot, a seven-day religious holiday celebrating the fall harvest. The Bellangas have neither the money to build a sukkah, a tentlike structure occupied by holiday celebrants during the festivities, nor the money to buy food for the weeklong feast. Both worry that the cause of their poverty is Malli's infertility after five years of marriage, and both pray continuously and loudly for God's help. Lo and behold, miracles arrive. A donation of $1,000 from a yeshiva is slipped under their door, and a friend of Moshe's gives them a sukkah. What appears to be another miracle occurs when Moshe's old friend Eliyahu (Shaul Mizrahi) knocks on their door, accompanied by Yossef (Ilan Ganani), a goofy sidekick with a shaved head. The guests arrive just in time for dinner. Chowing down like famished dogs, they proceed to eat and drink the Bellangas out of house and home. But the hosts are thrilled. The appearance of guests during a holiday celebrating hospitality must be another sign of divine beneficence. And when Eliyahu and Yossef make no signs of leaving, the hosts adjust their thinking and gratefully accept the boorish behavior of the men who came to dinner as a divine test with a reward at the end. .... To outsiders, the Bellangas' blind trust and constant praying make them look like patsies exploited by buffoonish, unscrupulous crooks. To the faithful it is more likely to be taken as a joyful affirmation of unshakable faith, humorously exaggerated, of course, but an affirmation nonetheless.
Born in Haifa, Israel, the director Gidi Dar's filmography includes 1988's The Poet, with Shalom Rand and Moshe Ivgi; 1992's Eddie King, with Shalom Rand, Ronit Elkabets and Eithan Bloom, which was shown at the Locarno Film Festival; 1998's music video, 'Blue & Green,' 1999's Shine, a documentary that was shown at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival and the 2000 Docfest NY; 2001's The Kids from Napoleon Hill, a TV fiction series, which won an Israeli academy award; 2002's The Kids from Napoleon Hill, Part 2, which won an Israeli academy award.

Celebrated My 51st Birthday With Loved Ones

Tito Lits surrounded by loved ones.

Dinner was at Buffet Chinois Fu Lam's on Cote Vertu (former Vichy Restaurant).

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Do "beer goggles" really exist?

Do "beer goggles" really exist?

Knowing someone of you, out of the goodness and love of your heart, will be celebrating, remembering my birthday in spirit, thousands of miles away, here is an interesting read regarding the so called "Beer Goggles" :-)
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Dear Yahoo!:

Do "beer goggles" really exist?

Tipsy

Dear Tipsy:

For those of you unfamiliar with the party scene, "beer goggles" refers to how people often appear more attractive to you after you've had a few drinks. For a long time, it was just a convenient excuse a person used to explain "regrettable amorous encounters." However, according to a study at the Universities of Glasgow and St. Andrews, beer goggles (or "brew gogs" as they're known in certain fraternal circles) are very real.

It's no secret that excessive drinking leads to poor judgment behind the wheel. Well, it can also lead to poor judgment at your local pub. According to the aforementioned study, what constitutes "attractive" changes drastically after a few drinks. In other words, while you may think you're hitting on a 10, there's a chance you're actually picking up someone in the lower-single digits.

The reasons behind this phenomenon have to do with alcohol stimulating the nucleus accumbens, aka "the part of the brain which is used to determine facial attractiveness." In the 2002 study, male and female students were shown pictures of members of the opposite sex and asked to rate them on a scale of 1-7 (sounds cruel, we know). The more students drank, the higher they rated the photographs.

We hope this sobering study helps encourage more responsible drinking. Remember -- if you're looking for love and don't want to wake up disappointed, you're better off at an ice-cream social than a keg-stand contest.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Unexpected Snowstorm Along the Way to Ottawa

Dad's car's front grill covered up with ice.

Tito Lits' car, front grill also covered with ice. Slippery and slow drive to Ottawa. Thank God we had the GPS this time to guide us, what with very poor visibility on the road.

Front yard of Len and Marv's

View from the front veranda of Marv and Lenny's house

Rear view of my car- lots of snow and ice build up around the wheel well of the car.

Drive to Ottawa, Breakfast at McD's

One of our regular stops when driving to Ottawa from Montreal in the morning hours is stopping for breakfast at McDonald's, the one located before the town of Rigaud, QC

Here's Tita Nil, and Neil (Grace and Phillip) sharing a photo opp with Ronnie McDo

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Boxing Day at the Movies

Just finished watching the movie (Boxing Day tradition), The Chronicles of Narnia- The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe at the Kirkland Colisee in Kirkland. Everyone enjoyed the movie except one who fell asleep during the movie- catching up with some zzzzzzs :-) (Pauly)

L-R: Tom (Beng & Mando), Mom, Trish (Tito Lits & Tita Nil), Allen and Pam (Tito Lits & Tita Nil), Tita Nil, Joey (Freddie & Chantey), Grace (sister), Tim (Len & Marv), and last but not least, the duo of Erika (Mike & Aimee) and Rosie (sister)

From the Kirkland Colisee we drove a few kilometers eastward to Fairview Center Pointe Claire to catch up with some Boxing Day specials (nothing much).

Boxing Day at the Movies

For the last 4 or 5 years we've (the whole family, siblings and our children) gone to see a movie on Boxing Day. I believe this all started with the first installment of Lord of the Rings.

This year we went to see the movie Chronicles of Narnia- The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

L-R: Timmy (Len & Marv), Tito Lits, Tita Nil with Erika (Mike & Aimee), Grace (sister), Laura (Mike & Aimee) and Neil (Grace's son).

Starbucks Christmas Blend coffee beans

Taken at the Fairview Centre Pointe Claire, December 26,2005, Boxing Day, after the traditional Boxing Day movie outing- Mom, me, Tita Nil, and Rosie. After picking up the Grind and Brew Coffee Maker from Home Outfitter's (the French equivalent) Rosie got us a bag of the Starbucks Christmas Blend coffee beans.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Grind and Brew Coffeemaker Present

29th Wedding Anniversary Present

As promised , here's the list of donors who gave towards the purchase of Tita Nil's coffee maker:

Len and Marv: $51.00
Mom, Dad, and Rosie: $50.00
Michael and Aimee: $25.00
Wena and Mike: $20.00

List will be updated as data becomes available - thank you all!!

Cuisinart Black Grind & Brew Coffee Maker w/Thermal Carafe:

Compact and sleek, this Cuisinart coffee maker does it all. Pour in your favorite coffee beans and it automatically grinds them for you. The built-in
charcoal filter eliminates chlorine and bad odors from tap water, so you get a fresh brewed pot every time. Program it for a preset time and let the fresh aroma wake you in the morning. The thermal carafe holds up to 10 cups of coffee and you can even interrupt the process to grab a cup before it's done, thanks to the Brew Pause feature. Push a button and it will brew from one to four cups only; adjust the amount of beans accordingly. An audible tone lets you know when the entire pot is brewed. The grinder (in the top above the coffee maker and carafe) removes for easy cleanup - just rinse under hot water and towel dry and it's ready to brew again! The thermal carafe keeps coffee warm for several hours, so even if you're away for a bit, you can still enjoy a hot, steamy cup when you return. Comes with a Gold Tone filter (paper filters not needed).

Saturday, January 14, 2006

We're Going to Miss You Grandpa

OBITUARY - DOMINGO NAZARENO

Passed away peacefully on Thursday, January 12, 2006 at the St. Mary's Hospital, at the age of eighty-three years.

Beloved husband of sixty-three years of Leonora.

Cherished father of Virgilio of the Philippines, Gloria (Pros) Martinez, Felipe (Grace), proud grandfather of Rosario, Alberto, Alex, Marlene, Maritess and Marilou Nazareno, Christine (Tony), Lawrence, Josephine and Christopher Martinez and Monalee, Brent, Ian and Neil Nazareno, great-grandfather to Angelo, Shayden and Ava Marie.

The family would like to extend a special thanks to the Doctors, nurses and Staff of the St. Mary's Hospital Oncology Unit, Five Main and to Fifth Floor South.

Visitation will be held at Rideau Funeral Home, 4275 boul. des Sources, D.D.O. (514) 685-3344 on Sunday, January 15, 2006 from 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m.

The funeral will be held at St. Luke's Parish on Monday, January 16, 2006 at 11 a.m.

Interment will follow in Rideau Memorial Gardens.

Family and Friends may sign the Book of Condolences at www.rideaumemorial.com

Published in the Montreal Gazette on 1/14/2006. Guest Book

Grandpa's passed on- PTL, no more labored breathing, discomfort and pain.

He was surrounded by loved ones, what a good testimony of the love he has shown to those around him.

Sad when one goes and there's no one there; grandpa was loved, he was surrounded by loved ones, he was not alone.

Let us remember to number our days, in a positive way, so that we make good use of the time given to us by our Creator and to show our love and appreciation to those near and dear to us, in every possible opportunity.

God bless you all!!

Litsto

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Celebrating our 29th Wedding Anniversary

Celebrating our 29th Wedding Anniversary

Dinner at La Porte Grecque
l-r: Dad, Mom, Tito Lits, Nil, Trish, Allen, Rosie, Paul
Pam took the picture.

PTL!! He is Good!!

Celebrating 29 Years of Marriage

More Today Than Yesterday
( Spiral Staircase )

I don't remember what day it was
I didn't notice what time it was
All I know is that I fell in love with you
And if all my dreams come true
I'll be spending time with you

Every day's a new day in love with you
With each day comes a new way of loving you
Every time I kiss your lips my mind starts to wander
And if all my dreams come true
I'll be spending time with you

Oh, I love you more today than yesterday
But not as much as tomorrow
I love you more today than yesterday
But, darling, not as much as tomorrow

(break)

Tomorrow's date means springtime's just a day away
Cupid, we don't need ya now, be on your way
I thank the Lord for love like ours that grows ever stronger
And I always will be true
I know you feel the same way too

Oh, I love you more today than yesterday
But not as much as tomorrow
I love you more today than yesterday
But only half as much as tomorrow

To give your life to Christ now is to keep it forever

January 8, 2006

Our Eternal God

Read:1 Timothy 6:13-16

[Jesus said,] "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish." —John 10:28

Bible In One Year: Genesis 20-22; Matthew 6:19-34

Late one afternoon I stood at the stern of a ferry boat churning its way from New York City across the Hudson River to New Jersey. As the towering structures of Manhattan receded from sight, my mind suddenly recalled these words from a poem: "These all shall perish stone on stone, but not Thy kingdom nor Thy throne."

A few years later the devastating terrorist attack on the World Trade Center left an ugly gap in that soaring skyline. Everything in the world around us is subject to decline. Beautiful flowers wither and die. Even California's towering sequoias, hardy survivors for long centuries, are gradually being eaten away by the gnawing tooth of time.

As for our bodies, we grow older daily and lose the vitality of our younger years. God alone possesses immortality in Himself, which means that He abides forever (1 Timothy 6:16). The simple truth must be faced that nothing is permanent—only God is everlasting.

Yet by faith in Jesus Christ, we can receive life that will never end. He promised us, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. . . . and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand" (John 10:28-29). —Vernon Grounds

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious—Thy great name we praise. —Smith

To give your life to Christ now is to keep it forever.

FOR FURTHER STUDY

What Is A Personal Relationship With God?