I, along with my batchmates, participated in a tree planting activity by the Presidential Task Force on Climate Change and NAPOCOR in Caliraya Lake, Cavinti, Laguna. I planted(dig hole + put seedling inside) 10 trees. I had to meet the quota so I "planted" some more. I have sore hands, torn skin and sunburned arms to prove it. 

It was fun except for the fact that we had to suffer constant insults and side comments from some not so nice people. Who cares if we are slow? Really... some people are so insecure that they have this need to exclaim the weaknesses of others. Good thing that I look really nerdy and people automatically think that I am weak physically which is not completely true and not completely false.

And we had to endure some really bad speeches from politicians. Yeah yeah, we know you are all important and sh*t but why do you have to come really late and then make this stupid and long speeches?

Random question: What is the appropriate Filipino translation of Climate change? Why doesn't the task force know the answer?

After the planting, we did some jump pics. Yeah, we are so mature.

I think I need to buy some UV filter and polarizers.

pics from the once on this island production(we barely managed to not look like HS students performing a play):

Peasants: He has what he deserves!

Mama Euralia: O how angry the Gods will be!

Papa Ge: His life is forever mine!

the frogs: pum-pum-pum... purum-pum-pum...

Papa Ge: Kill him Ti Moune. Kill the love you feel.

*bow*

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I saw my some of old posts. Big changes: Now I'm a real heathen. A heathen with a camera.

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I had planned to attend dance class this afternoon but my mother won't let me. And I just realized that this is might be the last free Saturday I am going to have. Next week, I'll be joining this tree planting activity. Next Saturday is grad pic day. After that, I'd probably be busy again doing school work like the THESIS. And I just remembered that I need to write the description of myself. I hate these kinds of things but I am now more self-aware than when I was in high school. This should be easier.

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SS update: We tried computing for the appropriate sample size and it always result in a number just outside of our capabilities. We really want to do a study that could be used to generalize the situation in NCR but the time allotted for the data collection is just too short.

I've been doing a bunch of stuff for our special studies(aka the thesis) and I realized how low the quality of research is in the Philippines. I guess there are good papers but you have to sift through tons of papers before you find them(if you have the access to the papers or the database at least). Even the papers written by members of UP Manila and PGH are no exception. Some are so bad that even us, undergraduates, find holes in their arguments. The worst papers, I find, are those touting the beneficial effects by these alternative modalities of treatment(eg acupuncture).

You really want to go to those authors and tell them,
"If you cannot do a study properly(insufficient sample size, insensitive and non-specific tests, etc), then don't do it! You are just wasting time and resources."

Examples:
1. change in itchiness index as measure of efficacy of virgin coconut oil against dandruff(a hospital in Makati)
-> Can't you just culture some fungi? You can't? Then do something else. Their Lord knows I have dandruff since high school and I only experience itchiness at certain times and not all the time. Meaning, itchiness is not a good measure of efficacy of something. Washing my hair takes away the itch but it doesn't take away the dandruff. Hello?

2. acupuncture effective in aiding smokers to quit BUT the treatment group contains a disproportionate number of females compared to the control. And there is that placebo effect.(PGH no less)
-> This study sucks. In its defense, the paper is written in a way that you'd have to read the whole paper before you notice something is off(no blinding and unsuccessful random allocation). I wonder why the editor didn't notice such a glaring error.

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Yes, I will work hard in order to make sure that our thesis have no huge holes. I will try very hard to make something good enough that it could be published and important enough that CPH and DOH can make use of it.

Finally the PHAC production is over. Now we can return to our "normal" lives.

And yes, the backdrop rocks.
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UP Pep Squad won the cheerdance competition. I saw the routine. Very unique but I saw a bunch of mistakes.

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Tiya Dely(Fidela Magpayo) died last week. In case you don't know her, she is this very big radio host. She was a radio host till the very end. I last listened to her when she was 77 and I was 10.

For the younger crowd, she is so big even the leader of the communist party of the Philippines says he will miss Tiya Dely.

Actually, I thought she was already dead when I started high school. I even thought a voice talent was hosting her show when I caught it right around the time I started college(It wasn't really impossible, during her peak localized[ie in the native language like Bicolano or Bisaya] versions of her show was broadcast in different provinces using voice talents.)

Another famous cultural icon just died recently(last month), Lucrecia Kasilag. She is one of the pioneers of the Bayanihan Dance Company.

chucks
wonder what the owner and her seatmate are doing...

Wednesday is like the eye of the storm. You know you need to face two horrendous days before Saturday arrives but you get to breathe first. Just don't rest too long and forget to recheck the bearings and ropes.