31 January 2006

Blatant Plug: Thud! Splat! Blog!

I've been thinking if I should plug my new blog here but then again, it dawned on me that heck! This is my blog too and I can post anything in it. (Not as if anyone would care, right?)

Anyway, here's my first ever ummmm... article? It's Philippine boxer Manny Pacquiao: TKO (The Koup is Over):

How Filipino boxing phenom Manny Pacquiao saved the Philippines from another failed coup. And his goal to sell more socks, sardines, cock fighting medicine and to properly say the word "conflagration".

Yup. I'm blogging about boxing gloves against M16 Assault rifles...

The I.T. Crowd


In a cluttered basement deep in the bowels of Reynholm Industries lurk Roy and Moss, the I.T. Department. Reviled and mocked by cooler colleagues, their world of servers and firewalls is rudely interrupted by the arrival of Jen, a new "Relationship Manager" who knows as much about computers as a yak.
She doesn't want to work in a dingy basement, and they don't want a manager who doesn't understand BASIC let alone binary, but they discover sometimes there are benefits to having a woman about the place.

This has been going round the net for awhile. Now BBC's The I.T. Crowd is now out. And you can watch it online too!

Fear of Girls: True Love is but a +2 Broadsword away.


Meet PLP (Platonic Life Partners) Game Master Doug Daglason and Raymond Ractburger, a 7th level Barbarian. Two Uber geeks who must be respected and feared because of their ability to bend the walls of reality with their ummm... imagination?

This is one cool Google movie!

If you are a geek or a geek at heart, this one scrolls like butter.

And remember, vampires aren't evil, football players are. And don't expect mercy from them, Raymond is chaotic neutral...

Russian Inventor Patents Invisibility Cloak

A professor from the department of quantum and optical electronics of the Ulyanovsk State University in western Russia has patented a method of making things invisible, Interfax news agency reported.

The so-called invisibility cloak, created by Oleg Gadomsky, is called “The method of conversion of optical radiation” in the patent.

An Invisibility Cloak! This is more Predatorish than Harry Potterish, donchatink?

Cool Free PC Games

Here's a short -- and totally idiosyncratic -- list of some of my favorite free games, each of which innovate one thing cool and new:

Man! I haven't really logged in any decent time in gaming anymore. It's blog, blog, blog. Am I getting old?

Come to think about it, I haven't even upgraded my Warcraft III to Frozen Throne.

THE STORY OF ANDY'S COMPUTER

Recently I got myself a new computer. I bought it as components because it was cheaper and I've been telling people that I assembled it myself. However, I can no longer live this lie. I must now reveal ...

THE STORY OF ANDY'S COMPUTER

First, I used my pretend palm pilot to explain to R2D2 what kind of computer I needed.

I wonder if R2D2 subcontracts. His workers are awesome!

The 25 Top Jobs for 2005-2009

Fast Company based this year's index of the top jobs on four categories: job growth, salary potential, education level, and room for innovation. Relying heavily on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the work of Dr. Kevin Stolarick, a lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University and an expert on the creative class, Fast Company has assembled a list of the 25 Top Jobs for 2005.

To those entering college: Remember, it's best to predict what jobs would be hot WHEN you graduate. Oh wait, I'm talking to freshmen, ummm... dude, Don't think Playstation 3. Try and be Playstation 6.

Pope John Paul II's first step into sainthood

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican may have found the "miracle" they need to put the late Pope John Paul one step closer to sainthood -- the medically inexplicable healing of a French nun with the same Parkinson's disease that afflicted him.

Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the Catholic Church official in charge of promoting the cause to declare the late Pope a saint of the Church, told Reuters on Monday that an investigation into the healing had cleared an initial probe by doctors.

Oder said the "relatively young" nun, whom he said he could not identify for now, was inexplicably cured of Parkinson's after praying to John Paul after his death last April 2....

Out of millions of prayers, one "relatively young" nun gets cured and they say it's him. I don't want to sound sacrilegious but how does the Vatican know it's Pope John Paul II? Did he leave a calling card?

I can just hear all those donation boxes filling up this Sunday...

30 January 2006

Big Mac Prices In Asia


The price of the McDonalds Big Mac in the United States: $3.15 an order.

In other Asian countries, the Big Mac prices (are:

  • Philippines: US$ 1.56

  • Indonesia: US$ 1.54

  • Thailand: US$ 1.51

  • Malaysia: US$ 1.47

  • China : US$ 1.30


These are based on the current dollar rate. I've been wondering about this for so long, now I know...

Oh and about the picture, yeah, yeah, compared to the real thing, the picture is smaler...

28 January 2006

Thud! Splat! Blog!

I got a brand new spanking blog. It'll be way different from this one. How different? Well it's like comparing apples and oranges. Oh wait... they're both fruit. Hmmm... a cat and a dog? No, I mean The Ca t has dibs on that already. Wait... I get it, it's like comparing ummm... ummmm... oh heck! You get the point don't you?

Cool title though, huh!

The Passion of the Clerks Trailer


Oh My God!

It's the Clerks II: The Passion of the Clerks Movie Trailer!

I spent so much time on that test (only to find out, some did more under an hour) that I almost didn't catch this.

Does that mean I'm a genius?


If you get 19 + of these, you are a "genius".

Believe it or not, this type of test can be a good estimate of intelligence (if you excuse the cultural bias).
People who did well on this type of test are likely those who are gifted with verbal ability and linguistic pattern recognition.
This sort of assessment would discriminate against those with non-linguistic pattern recognition (like solving jigsaw puzzles)
and spatial intelligence (like the ability to use a map or see hidden figures in a drawing).

Not really sure about it but this one is a "Mensa" Intelligence quiz.

Ok, so I got 24 out of 33. It took me about two hours and honestly without cheating. Does that mean I'm a genius? Wow. I didn't know that.

So how come I flunked my integral calculus but passed my differential calculus?

(via J-Walk Blog)

Flying Car in Google Maps Solved?

Remember that flying car in Australia that made the rounds of blogs last week? Well, someone visited the actual place and took pictures. Go check it out and see what the whole hullabaloo is about

27 January 2006

A Piece of Internet History


What you're loooking at is the first ever banner ad placed on the Internet.

AT&T was the first to dish over some money to HotWired to display the beast they created, a 468 x 60 banner that came to life on October 25 1994.

Notice that even with the first banner ad, it was still deceptive. I mean, no mention of AT&T or anything. Just a click here thingy.

I wonder what the first Google Ad was?

Embassy of the United States in Manila, Philippines


Since the Republic of the Philippines gained its independence in 1946, the United States government has been represented in the Philippines by the U.S. Embassy in Manila. The Embassy exercises many different functions in its official representation to the Philippine government. These include political, administrative, economic, public diplomacy, and consular affairs managed under the Ambassador by counselors from the Department of State. The U.S. Agency for International Development manages bilateral development projects. Military affairs are handled by the Defense AttachĆ©’s office at the Embassy. The U.S. Veterans Administration has its only overseas office at the Embassy in Manila. This office takes care of veterans affairs for the many American and Filipino veterans residing in the Philippines.

This is the official site of the Embassy of the United States in Manila, Philippines. Basically it's the best site to check out for any U.S. Visa requirements or U.S. Visa questions.

When I Wake Up


Remember E.T. the movie? Don't remember E.T. the videogame?

Well, the story goes, that the game was so bad that Atari dumped all of the game cartridges in a landfill in New Mexico.

The video tells the story.

No Internet in Quezon City. No good reporting in INQ7.

A Bayantel customer service representative admitted, "we've been flooded with calls from the Quezon City area about the outage."

...Joevel Rivera, vice president, product development and management division of Bayantel, told INQ7.net that there is no major outage in Quezon City.

He said the problem might be isolated in a few areas.

There is no major outage because we could have been swamped with calls,” Rivera added.

In Philippine journalism, being swamped with calls is way way different from being flooded with calls...

Oh and remember International Internet Free Day on Sunday, January 30.

International Internet Free Day

Why an Internet-Free Day?

- Because it's all too easy to miss out on face-to-face interaction with your family, friends and neighbours.
- Because the net can be addictive, and a day of cold turkey won't hurt.
- Because blogging doesn't provide your daily vitamins and minerals.
- Because you've got RSI coming on in your mouse arm.
- Because we all need time to reflect.
- Because the real world is a wonderful place.
- Because if the mere idea of it enrages you, you definitely need it

Sunday, 30 January 2005, is Internet Free Day. Turn off the PC. Unplug the modem.

Go out. Have a picnic. Dust off that frisbee. It's International Internet Free Day! One day without being connected! Enjoy life! It's going to be gr...Ack! I don't know if I can handle it though...

(via J-Walk Blog)

26 January 2006

Christopher Penn Dead

Actor Chris Penn, the younger brother of Sean Penn, has been found dead at his home in Santa Monica, California.

Penn, who was in his 40s, starred in Reservoir Dogs as Nice Guy Eddie, as well as Mulholland Falls and Rush Hour.

Police said there were no obvious signs of foul play. A post-mortem examination will determine the cause of death.

Oh no. He was a real good actor. I mean, he wasn't over the top or anything. I really liked his Nice Guy Eddie character.

It's always the good ones that go first.

25 January 2006

Family 2.0 Website


Instead of Friendster, this is Family 2.0! Something like friendster but for families. I mean, now you can interact with your family. Play with the kids, remind them of din...Oh wait... I get it. I get it.

24 January 2006

Drew Barrymore, her Lalas, and SNL


Everyone's talked about Drew Barrymore and her Peter Pan whatever dress and those two lalas bouncing around. Well, you gotta hand it to Drew and her sense of humor. Instead of sulking in a corner and taking it personally, she goes up and spoofs herself on SNL!

I always wanted to use the word "lalas" to describe those humvees.

Dealer Sells Cocaine on the Internet

An accused drug dealer was nabbed for trying to sell cocaine -- on the Internet.Police said that Tyrone Burgo, 20, of Brockton, posted an online advertisement for cocaine. The ad also included a phone number.

He has got to be tops on the stupidest criminal on the net.

Technology's Main Driving Force: Porn?

WASHINGTON - At the adult entertainment industry's equivalent of the Oscars in Las Vegas this month, comedian-host Greg Fitzsimmons zeroed in on the entrenched relationship between the Internet and pornography.

"The Internet was completely funded by porn," he said from the stage of the 23rd annual AVN Awards show. And if it wasn't for the Internet, he added, "you guys would be completely out of business." The audience, packed with porn actors and adult entertainment moguls like Jenna Jameson and Larry Flynt, roared with laughter.

Well come to think about it, he's right. I mean people with camera phones always have some kind of porn on it. Most clips and pics on the web that's being searched for is porn material. Heck! Internet porn is a US$2.5 Billion dollar industry.

Maybe that's the key, invent something that has great use for porn material without it being obviously for porn. The following can be a guide to such a device:

  • Affordable by teens
  • Easy to use
  • Must be able to play/record/store media content
  • Can be used in privacy
  • Can be carried around
  • Must have at least a cool factor of 8
Oh wait... isn't this the video iPod?

Famous Philippine Heroes

Listed are some famous filipino heroes (Also known in tagalog as 'Mga Magigiting na Bayani') and some not so well known ones. The bios are very well done and would be a real help to those who have to do homework on these Philippine heroes.

I'm not really familiar with some of the names here. I kind of blame it on the way Philippine History has been taught to us. I have to go back to the books and read if I really want to have a good grasp on it.

Correct me if I'm wrong but most of the heroes listed here are during the Spanish Colonial era. Nothing during World War II or the American Colonial period. I'd consider that a bit strange.

Oh well, maybe during those times there weren't any records about those forgotten Philippine heroes.

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Also check out my latest science blog: Quantum Day. It covers research material for technological breakthroughs such as stem cells, aerogels, and more!
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Agueda Kahagban Inquinto
Andres Bonifacio
Antonio Luna
Apolinario dela Cruz
Apolinario Mabini
Artemio Ricarte
Deodato Arellano
Domingo Abella
Emilio Aguinaldo
Felipe C. Calderon
Felipe Agoncillo
Francisco Baltazar
Graciano Lopez Jaena
Gregoria de Jesus
Gregorio del Pilar
Jose Rizal
Juan Luna
Ladislao Diwa
Lapu-Lapu
Marcela Agoncillo
Francisco Dagohoy
Mariano Alvarez
Marcelo H. del Pilar
Melchora Aquino
Miguel Malvar
Macario Adriatico
Rajah Soliman
Deodato Arellano
Vito L. Belarmino
Sultan Kudarat


There seems to be something wrong with the home page so I decided to post the links directly here.

Oh and here's another site that has a brief list of Filipino heroes.


23 January 2006

TV Show 'Friends' return to TV


Seminal sitcom Friends is returning to television after each of its six stars agreed multi-million dollar deals to star in four one-hour specials...
Hmmm.... you think this'll still be a hit? You think?

Additional:

This one's a hoax. NBC confirmed that there will be no reunion show.

Woman hasn't eaten for four years a half years.

...I haven't eaten for four years and a half now," said Zinaida with a smile. "Speaking of thinness, I should say that I lost some weight. I slimmed down to 74 kilos, I used to weigh 90 kilos. I really wanted to be thin and slender!"

...It is an alternative way of nourishment, feeding on original energy the way minerals, plants, and plankton do. This kind of nourishment becomes a reality when the points of spiritual power (called chakras in Yoga) on your body get cleansed."
Alternative way of nourishment? That's putting it mildly.

You think her tummy will explode if she wolfs down a quarter pounder?

Philippine Moviemakers

This is a site about Philippine movies and famous filipino film makers. This covers a list of popular Philippine directors such as Marilou Diaz-Abaya, Ishamel Bernal, and even Jeffrey Jeturian. This site is really comprehensive as it lists the film makers bio as well as movies they have made.

Although it (the site) has been taken down, the Wayback Machine helped out and gives us access to a truly rich ummm... site about Philippine cinema.

A Personal Post


Fruits and vegetables... How about fruit juice? I just quit smoking and am on a diet so this one is a bit personal but today's strip is a bit prophetic for me...

22 January 2006

Famous Philippine Athletes


It seems filipino athletes are again taking the spotlight. Go check out this site. Actually, this site seems to be taken down for some reason. Thank god for the Wayback machine.


They have featured bios of Philippine Athletes like:

  • Manny Pacquiao - won the International Boxing Federation super bantamweight championship at the age of 23
  • Lydia de Vega - Asia's fastest woman in the 1980s. Brought home the gold medal twice in a row in the Asian Games in the 100-meter dash; and the silver medal in the 200-meter run.
  • Paeng Nepomuceno - the all-time greatest international bowler with six world championships to his credit
  • Bong Coo - made her mark in the bowling world when she delivered nine consecutive strikes in 1979. She has continued to reap honors for the country since then.
  • Carlos Loyzaga - led the Philippine team that won a bronze medal in the 1954 World Basketball Championship and four gold

    And many more famous filipino athletes. Go check 'em out. Click on the title to go to the link.

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    Also check out my latest science blog: Quantum Day. It covers research material for technological breakthroughs such as stem cells, aerogels, and more!
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  • Comic Strips to the rescue





    Seems it's a slow post day. Thank god for comic strips. I mean, three posts that are japan related. And this is the Philippines!

    Japanese Emoticons

    The difference between Western Smileys(Emoticons)(1 byte) and Japanese ones(2 bytes)
    Apparently, Japanese Smileys(Emoticons) are read vertically while eastern Smileys(Emoticons) are read hosizontally. And Japanese Smileys have more variation than eastern ons. I think the reason is that while American(alphabet) letters in computer are 1 byte, Japanese letters in computer are 2 bytes, so Japanese letters can have more characters. And also, Japanese sentences contain Chinese characters which are phonograms, so it is easier to express and recognize something graphic with letters for Japanese people.

    I kind of like these emoticons. They're so Sanrio! I mean, it has that light fun thing. And you don't even have to tilt your head sideways!

    \(^0^)/

    Japanese Commercials with US Celebrities

    Many of America's biggest celebrities avoid advertising to preserve their perfectly marketed Hollywood image, but apparently when they visit Japan, all bets are off! Japander is a wonderfully cool website that has a video archive of some truly amazing ads featuring celebs that you'd think you'd never see. Give 'em a look and make sure you see some truly inspired examples featuring Nicolas Cage extolling the virtues of Pachinko, and Arnold Schwarzenegger in some truly batshit insane works of art.

    Remember Steven Seagal and his local Tanduay rhum commercial. It was tanduay, right?

    And to those who don't know who that guy is, that's Rick Astley. If you were as old as me, you'd remember him.

    (via Retrocrush)

    8 Pointers on how to correctly do Powerpoint

    8 mistakes when creating PowerPoint presentations-I've just come back from a gruelling week of corporate meetings, a 5 day marathon of seemingly never ending PowerPoint presentations. As the person in charge of marketing and IT, part of my job is to be the contact point for all of the attendees, folks ranging from 1st year sales reps to divisional presidents, COO's and CEO's. Everyone is required to send me their presentations in advance, so that they can all be put on a single computer. If I get them in time, I usually go through them quickly and fix any of the obvious problems. Human nature being what it is though, most people actually gave me their presentation the morning they were presenting, usually on a memory stick with the words 'I made some last-minute changes, just put this one in instead...'. Sometimes this doesn't work quite as well as they would like:

    Well, this is a very useful "how to do" Powerpoint right. You can never go wrong with these eight pointers.

    21 January 2006

    Japanese Women in an obstacle course

    A group of women are hypnotized so that loud sounds cause them to ummm... you know, and then set on a very loud obstacle course.

    This is just too weird not to blog. Only in Japan will they think of stuff like this. Now... I wonder if I can get hypnotism or is it hypnosis lessons to do this.

    You gotta hang around for the last obstacle. That one's a doozy. Hypnotizing people is fun!

    Update:
    Sorry but the video's been taken down.

    Famous Philippine Scientists

    Here's a short list of famous Philippine scientists, their bios and what their contribution is. These Filipino scientists and their colleagues abound but aren't given the proper acknowledgement that they deserve. It's rare for a scientist in the Philippines to be famous outside the academic circle.

    Now, posted below is from the DOST site that was taken down. I pasted the whole thing for those who needed it can easily access it:

    Filipinos have long been known for their resourcefulness and inventiveness – from the creation by Amado Flores of the now -ubiquitous fluorescent bulb to the invention of the popular board game Salpakan or Games of the Generals by Sofronio Pasola. The creativity and resourcefulness of the Filipino inventor knows no bounds.

    Here are some living Filipino inventors and their contributions to the march of science and technology in the Philippines and globally. Here are five of the many Filipino scientists and inventors affiliated with the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) who have put the Philippines on the scientific world map.



    Gregorio Y. Zara, D.Sc. Physics — His important achievements include: the invention of the two-way television telephone, the discovery of electrical kinetic resistance known as the Zara effect, the invention of an airplane engine that runs on alcohol instead of aviation fuel and methods by which solar energy can be harnessed. Zara’s airplane engine was successfully tested in a test flight conducted at the Manila International Airport (now the Ninoy Aquino International Airport) on Sept. 30, 1954. For having completed over 40 research papers and making 20 outstanding contributions to science, Zara received many awards, including the Presidential Diploma of Merit. He was conferred the Distinguished Service Medal in 1959 for his pioneering works and achievements in solar energy research, aeronautics and television. Zara was also given the Presidential Gold Medal and Diploma of Honor for Science and research in 1966; the Cultural Heritage Award for Science Education and Aero Engineering in 1966.




    Magdalena C. Cantoria, Ph.D., Botany — With an extensive education in the fields of pharmacy and botany and degrees in these same fields gathered both here and in the United States, Cantoria focused her research efforts on the morphology, physiology and biochemistry of drug plants. She has done basic studies on the pharmacognosy (study of medicines derived from natural sources) of agar, rauwolfia, datura, mint and Piper species. For her research paper on the morphology and anatomy of rauwolfia vomitoria Afz., Cantoria received the Edwin Leigh Newcomb Award in pharmacognosy given by the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education in 1954. She again received this award in 1962 for her research work on the growth and development of Daturia strasmodium L. She is also the recipient of the Phi Sigma awards for marked distinction in biology in in 1951 and was proclaimed the Most Outstanding Phi Sigman in 1977.

    Paulo C. Campos, MD is noted for his work in nuclear medicine. As a health scientist, Campos authored and co-authored 75 scientific publications, some of which have won awards. Three of his works, titled Observation of Some Parameter of Insulin Action, Cr-51 Tagged Red Cell Studies and The Genetic Factor in Endemic Goiter, have won the first prize in Research Award. For his achievements in the field of medical research, Campos was named conferred the Gregorio Y Zara award as an outstanding scientist by the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Science (PAAS). He was credited for establishing the first known radioisotope laboratory in the country and the first research laboratory of the University of the Philippines Medicine Department. He also established the Thyroid Clinic of the UP-PGH.

    Pedro B. Escuro, Ph.D. Genetics and Plant Breeding — As a scientist Escuro has made significant contributions to rice breeding as plant breeder Professor extension worker and consultant in agricultural projects. He provided leadership in the development, isolation and release of nine Seed Board rice varieties: Milpal 4, HBD-2, Azmil 26 and C-22 (upland) and C-18, C4-63, C4-137, C-168 and C-12 (lowland). Escuro has 18 honors and awards to his name, including two Presidential awards – the Presidential Plaque of Merit for outstanding accomplishments in rice improvement (1967) and the Rizal Pro Patria award for his outstanding contribution to rice breeding and genetics. He also received the University of the Philippines Distinguished Professorial award in agriculture (1973) and D. Sc. honoris causa in 1974, and the 1974 Ayala award in agricultural science.


    Jose N. Rodriguez, MD Leprology — He is a renowned Filipino leprologist and researcher who has devoted 53 years of his life to the control of leprosy in the country. As one of the few pioneers in the early fight against leprosy worldwide, Rodriguez proposed a leprosy control program which was adopted by the Philippines and other Asian countries. He has written many scientific articles on leprosy which have been published in various medical journals all over the world and which are considered classic texts in leprosy research. In recognition of his untiring struggle to control and eradicate leprosy in the Philippines, he is the recipient of many honors and awards, including the 1974 Damien Dutton Award.

    Source: NAST, The First Decade National Academy of Science and Technology, DOST

    Also, go check out the following. The ones here are just related links:

    Link 1: Here's a more comprehensive list of Philippine Scientists, their field of specialization and the year they were honored with the title of National Scientist of the Philippines.

    Link 2: Check this for a famous Philippine Physicist. I never did know until now that a Physicist from the Philippines had an integral part in the space program.

    For other scientists, look at the following:

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    This site features: Famous Scientists of the 21st Century

    For other science stuff, check out Quantum Day!
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    Cognitive Dissonance Reduction

    I hardly post about other blogs. More so about personal blogs. But Cognitive Dissonance Reduction is different. I just don't know why. This blog has heart. Lots of it.

    I mean, looking thru all of Noel Dolan's posts, it seems you see a person going thru ups and downs. You gotta feel for this guy.

    Here's a sample:

    I met my estranged wife on Friday.

    She was customarily late (40 minutes)...

    ...It was a good exercise for me. I realised that she's still the same person two years later. She was even wearing the same kind of clothes and had her hair in the same style and colour. Nothing about her has changed.

    She still talks about all the things she's 'going' to do but never actually does. She dropped out of her distance learning MA in anthropology, she still hasn't written that novel, still hasn't graded from a white belt in Shotokan after almost two years and still hasn't lived and worked abroad.

    ...All the same I went home later that day and cried over her but this time it was different (again)

    If I can only have the courage to write the way he does. I'd be a thousand times a better writer than I am now. He makes it so easy to identify with what he's feeling. It's like he's right beside you telling you his story over a beer.

    And all the while, you're rooting for him to overcome and everything. Wishing that all will turn out alright for him.

    You rock Noel. You rock.

    Doing Porn Blogs Right

    Do you run a porn site? How about a webcam peep show? Or perhaps an adult entertainment conglomerate, distributing content in every format from new-hotness mobile phones to old-and-busted VCRs to (gasp) print?

    If you publish sex, you might be wondering how best to take advantage of blogs -- text, graphics, audio and video -- and whether they can boost your bottom line.

    The answer is: "Yes, probably, if you do it right."

    he he he... she said "do it right"....

    Sorry for the Beavis and Butthead reference but it's been ages since I did one...

    Nurse pours urine on patient's head

    A nursing assistant dripped urine on the face of an 83-year-old resident of a suburban care center, then threw a soiled diaper at his head after he asked for help, DuPage County authorities said Thursday.

    For a second there, I had this nagging fear that the nurse may turn up to be a filipino...

    Pope John Paul's attacker arrested

    ISTANBUL -- Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981, was arrested in Istanbul on Friday after Turkey's highest appeals court ruled he should return to jail, city governor Muammer Guler said.

    ...The Court of Cassation ruled Friday that Agca should go back to jail, overturning the decision of a lower court, media reports said in Ankara.

    Isn't there such a thing as double jeopardy in Istanbul. Oh wait, that just means you can't be tried again for something you've been proven innocent for.

    So what does this go under? Or is this a legal thing to do?

    4 killed as school bus rams into Metro Rail post

    Three men and a 15-year-old boy on a school bus were killed early yesterday morning after their vehicle rammed into a Metro Rail Transit post on the center island of the Edsa Crossing underpass in Mandaluyong City.

    ...The school bus is owned by a private company servicing De La Salle Greenhills, investigators added.

    Some of the victims were employees and former workers at the private company. Their friends just tagged along, not knowing the ride would end in tragedy, police said.

    Ok. So they were said to come from a drinking session.

    And they used a school bus to get there.

    Plus, they had a 15 year old minor with them.

    That just takes the cake.

    Jennifer Love Hewitt to pose for Playboy?

    Star magazine says now that Hollywood good girl Jennifer Love Hewitt is seriously considering an offer from Playboy to pose nude because she feels she is losing film roles because of her image. Hewitt has always been very clear that she would never pose naked for any magazine or role, but her career is mired in TV movies and low-rated dramas, and at age 26, the time may finally be right.

    Say what you want to say but Jennifer Love Hewitt still rocks in my book

    Bryce Dallas Howard is Gwen Stacy in Spiderman 3

    Spider-Man's got a new girlfriend.

    Bryce Dallas Howard is in talks to join the Columbia Pictures tentpole "Spider-Man 3," playing Gwen Stacy, who takes Mary Jane's place in Peter Parker's heart.

    Howard would join returning stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco, as well as new villains Thomas Haden Church, who'll reportedly play Sandman, and Topher Grace, who's aboard as Venom.

    Well, it seems the Spiderman movies are doing better and better story wise. Now we get to see Gwen Stacy! Oh the angst! The angst!

    Can't wait to see Spiderman 4! Oh yeah, i meant Spiderman 3. But still, after this movie comes out, won't you want to see the fourth installment?

    20 January 2006

    Famous Filipino Authors

    A constant search term popluar to this site is "famous Philippine authors". Listed below are famous filipino authors and their biographies and pictures that I gathered from all around the internet about Philippine Literature. There are scores of Philippine authors around. These are just a few of them.

    Famous Filipino Authors are few and far between. But there are a lot of great Philippine authors, they just need to be discovered and read. Below are those who managed to break the barrier and imprint themselves into Philippine culture. Although some have passed on leaving their legacy, others are still around (some even new) hoping to match the their accomplishments.

    Jose Garcia Villa
    Jose Garcia Villa (5 August 1908 – 12 June 1973) is a Filipino poet and a National Artist for Literature. He is known for introducing the "reversed consonance rime scheme," as well as for "comma poems" that made full use of the punctuation mark in an innovative way. Villa is also a short story writer, critic, and painter.

    Villa was born in Singalong, Manila on 5 August 1908. He is the son of Simeon Villa, who was Emilio Aguinaldo's physician, and Guia Garcia. Villa went to the University of the Philippines High School. He studied pre-medicine at the University of the Philippines but did not finish the course. He decided to take pre-law, but did not finish it either. Instead, he devoted a good part of his college time writing short stories and poems.In 1930, he won the Philippines Free Press literary contest for his short story entitled “Mir-i-nisa” and used the prize money to go to the United States. He studied at the University of New Mexico, and later at Columbia University. He taught poetry at the City College of New York from 1964 until 1973. He also worked in the Philippine Mission to the United Nations from 1954 to 1963 and became the vice consul in 1965. After retiring in 1973, he continued to conduct poetry workshops in his apartment in Greenwich Village, New York City.

    Villar used the pseudonym “Doveglion” for his literary works. He started out as a fictionist, with works such as “Footnote to Youth” and “Mir-i-nisa.” In 1932, “Untitled Story” appeared in an anthology edited by Edward J. O'Brien. A year later, “Footnote to Youth” was published by Charles Scribner's Sons. Some of the pieces in "Footnote to Youth" were later included in “Selected Stories”, published in the Philippines by Alberto Florentino. His first collection of poetry, “Have Come, Am Here,” in which he introduced reversed consonance, was published in the U.S. in 1942 to critical acclaim. He introduced his comma poems in another collection called “Volume Two,” which was nominated for the Bollingen Prize in 1949. Other collections of Villa's poems include “Selected Poems and New," published in 1958, which gathers his works between 1937 and 1957; “Poems 55," published in the Philippines by Alberto Florentino in 1962; and “Appasionata: Poems in Praise of Love," a collection of love poems published in 1979.
    Villa is considered a powerful literary influence in the Philippines. According to Asiaweek magazine, “In a world of English-language poetry dominated by British and Americans, Villa stood out for the ascetic brilliance of his poetry and for his national origin."
    Source: Wikipilipinas

    Nick Joaquin
    Poet, fictionist, essayist, biographer, playwright, and National Artist, decided to quit after three years of secondary education at the Mapa High School. Classroom work simply bored him. He thought his teachers didn't know enough. He discovered that he could learn more by reading books on his own, and his father's library had many of the books he cared to read. He read all the fiction he could lay his hands on, plus the lives of saints, medieval and ancient history, the poems of Walter de la Mare and Ruben Dario. He knew his Bible from Genesis to Revelations. Of him actress-professor Sarah K. Joaquin once wrote: "Nick is so modest, so humble, so unassuming . . .his chief fault is his rabid and insane love for books. He likes long walks and wornout shoes. Before Intramuros was burned down, he used to make the rounds of the churches when he did not have anything to do or any place to go. Except when his work interferes, he receives daily communion." He doesn't like fish, sports, and dressing up. He is a bookworm with a gift of total recall.
    He was born "at about 6:00 a.m." in Paco, Manila, on 04 May 1917. The moment he emerged from his mother's womb, the baby Nicomedes--or Onching, to his kin--made a "big howling noise" to announce his arrival. That noise still characterizes his arrival at literary soirees. He started writing short stories, poems, and essays in 1934. Many of them were published in Manila magazines, and a few found their way into foreign journals. His essay La Naval de Manila (1943) won in a contest sponsored by the Dominicans whose university, the UST, awarded him an A.A. (Associate in Arts) certificate on the strength of his literary talents. The Dominicans also offered him a two-year scholarship to the Albert College in Hong Kong, and he accepted. Unable to follow the rigid rules imposed upon those studying for the priesthood, however, he left the seminary in 1950.

    JoaquĆ­n died of cardiac arrest in the early morning of April 29, 2004
    Source: Pinoy Lit



    F.Sionil Jose
    Francisco Sionil Jose
    He has been called a Philippine national treasure. Born on December 4, 1924 in Rosales, Philippines, he was introduced to literature in public school and later at the University of Santo Tomas. While working as a journalist in Manila, he moonlighted writing short stories and eventually novels. In the late fifties Jose founded the Philippine branch of PEN, an international organization of poets, playwrights, and novelists. In 1965 he started his own publishing house SOLIDARIDAD, and a year later he began publishing the remarkable Solidarity, a journal of current affairs, ideas, and arts, still going strong today. Jose wrote in English rather than in his national language Tagalog, or his native language Illocano. In 1962 he published his first novel The Pretenders. Today his publications include ten novels, five books of short stories, and a book of verse. His works are available in 24 languages and some have recently been published in North America by Random House. He has been awarded numerous fellowships and awards, most notable being the 1980 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts, the most prestigious award of its kind in Asia.
    Source: Tribo Bookshop

    Jessica Hagedorn

    Hagedorn was born in Manila to a Scots-Irish-French-Filipino mother and a Filipino-Spanish father with one Chinese ancestor. Moving to San Francisco in 1963, Hagedorn received her education at the American Conservatory Theater training program. To further pursue playwriting and music, she moved to New York in 1978.
    Joseph Papp produced her first play Mango Tango in 1978. Hagedorn's other productions include Tenement Lover, Holy Food, and Teenytown. Her mixed media style often incorporates song, poetry, images, and spoken dialogue.

    In 1985, 1986, and 1988, she received MacDowell Colony fellowships, which helped enable her to write the novel Dogeaters, which illuminates many different aspects of Filipino experience, focusing on the influence of America through radio, television, and movie theaters. She shows the complexities of the love-hate relationship many Filipinos in diaspora feel toward their past. After its publication in 1990, her novel earned a 1990 National Book Award nomination and an American Book Award. In 1998, La Jolla Playhouse produced a stage adaptation. She lives in New York City with her younger daughter.
    Source: Wikipedia

    Arlene J. Chai
    Arlene J. Chai (born 1955 in Manila, Philippines) is an award winning author.

    Chai is a Filipino-Chinese-Australian, who migrated to Australia with her parents and sisters in 1982 because of the political upheaval. She became an advertising copywriter at George Patterson's advertising agency in 1972 and has been working there since. It is there that she met her mentor Bryce Courtney, who continuously inspires her to improve her work. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Maryknoll College. She is infamous for her ability to weave the political struggle of the Philippines so well into her fiction, so much that she is often compared with Isabel Allende, a successful magical realist Chilean novelist. She won the Louis Braille Adult Audio Book of the year for her novel "On the Goddess Rock" in 1999. Some of her works include her novels: "The Last Time I saw my Mother and "Eating Fire and Drinking Water".

    Source: Wikipedia

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    Peter Bacho

    Peter Bacho is a writer and teacher best known for his book Cebu which won the American Book Award. The book is considered literary significant among Filipino American literature because of its explorations in themes such as neocolonialism and Filipino-American identity.[1] Bacho also won the Washington Governor’s Writers Award for Dark Blue Suit a collection of stories. Many of Bacho's books deal with the Filipino experience in the United States. He considers himself an "old Filipino writer".[2] Bacho teaches in the Liberal Studies Program at The Evergreen State College, Tacoma Campus. He is also a lecturer in the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences program at the University of Washington Tacoma.

    Source: Wikipedia
    Among those listed, Jose Garcia Villa and Nick Joaquin are the popular filipino authors and most filipinos would recognize even without knowing any of their work. They are both Philippine National Artists and often studied about in Philippine schools. As noted, these are just some of the famous Philippine authors. I'll try and update this list and add more filipino authors to this post.


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