Lightbending

OMG! I just saw the last five episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender. So wicked cool!
For those Avatar fans, you can download the LQ episode here. There is also a high quality download for those who have more patience and faster internet connections. Just go to avatarchapters.org.

Of course, I plan to watch it again when it does air here in the Philippines. The finals episodes do not disappoint! Really really!

What a great way to end a not so good day!

There's been a lot of hoolah-balooh with the recent revival of the Responsible Parenthood and Population Management Act of 2005(HB3773). The Church(you know what church) is calling all its minions to help stop the passing of the bill. They even printed a Manifesto that criticizes the bill. And they plan to withheld communion to the congressmen and women supporting the it. Take about Noli Me Tangere and Spanish Colonization.

I haven't read it(can anyone send me a copy?) but according to an article in Phil Star, it was full of lies and fallacious reasoning. What strikes me as the stupidest belief by the Church is that this bill will pave the way for the legalization of abortion. How they manage to connect the uplifting of reproductive rights of women and abortion is beyond me? Somehow using their sex-deprived egos, they formed this correlation. Just because it happened in other countries, doesn't mean it will happen here. Besides there are tons of countries where abortion is outlawed but there is widespread reproductive health education policies and programs.

Maybe they just hate it that women will learn that they don't have to get pregnant when they have sex. That sex could be used for fun and not just creation. Maybe they just want that all those "promiscuous" will get STIs and help make the HIV/AIDS an epidemic here in the country because, all together now, using condoms is a sin!

Haven't they heard that the recent uplifting of the ban on sex education in Manila was welcomed by not only the NGOs but also the families in Manila themselves? The Church say that they are all for the family but really what they want is for people not to have sex because priests can't have them. Sorry ad hominem but it's just so annoying.

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Something to think about:
Use of Condoms is a sin because it prevents the meeting of the egg and the sperm (Actually they still believe that the sperm contains the soul) yet, withdrawal is not. Spilling of seed, anyone?

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LOLZ: 

"Francisco also points out that the bill also prohibits persons "to act from conscience" because it threatens up to six months imprisonment for "any health care service provider who shall ... refuse to perform voluntary sterilisation and ligation" and for "any public official ... who shall prohibit or intentionally restrict" the provision of services outlined in the bill." Source

What? They are really getting desperate. Remember that ability of patients to leave the hospital even without the consent of physicians? Usually, the physicians's conscience says to sedate that individual and bind that person to the bed until he or she receives treatment. But no, the law says no. Nobody seems to protest against that.

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There are some questionable points in the bill but I think these will all be fixed during the House and Senate readings. Their lord knows how long before bills  become acts in this country.

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This is my 300th post. Wow!

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Assignment: Counter this article.

 This will be quick.

Oh my gulay! I love Opera!

Back to studying and that Sicko paper...

nothing to do with actual post...

I, along with my friends, went to CCP yesterday for the Cinemalaya film festival. We failed to get tickets for My Fake American Accent so we settled for Namets. It was a nice movie. My reaction is that this is how love story films should be, no forced kilig scenes and the plot should not be sacrificed because the audience needs to see the faces of the big stars all the time. The shorts interspersed in the main film is nice but weird. I commend the film for using the Negros language throughout, of course true to modern trends, with sprinklings of Filipino and English. The only weird part is that the conflict seem too long coming. Or maybe that's just me.

After the show, we smooched around for a bit and took pictures with some people. I didn't bring my camera with me but my classmate managed to smuggle hers inside. I was starstruck by Kidlat Tahimik and said silly things to him. Stupid. We failed to have a picture taken with him anyway.

My classmates went home so I had to see the next feature alone. It was my first time inside the CCP(yes, ordinary citizens of the Philippines feel scared of entering the CCP and other art centers) and was pleasantly surprised to see art galleries/corridors. Stupid me spent 30 mins in Jollibee reading for Clin Chem instead of ogling and appreciating the photos and paintings in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors of the complex so my field trip was cut short since the movie I was suppose to see next is about to start(I heard the CCP warning music while olging).

Brutus is the title of the movie I saw. It was screened in a relatively small room; more of a function room instead of a proper theater if you ask me. The screen was small and I had to tilt my body slightly sideways so my view wouldn't be blocked but I still enjoyed watching it. I think Namets is better but Brutus' plot has much more potential. The editing and directing of Brutus could still be improved. Lines were too spaced apart and the scene lasts longer than needed. And there were preachy lines like save the trees and stuff. Still, there were sequences of good quality.

I think my fellow audience members didn't get the foreshadowing thrown at the end scene because they were smiling and seemed happy for the end. Don't they realize that the paradise the two kids are experiencing are coming to an end again? That another cycle of logging and migration is facing the two protagonists?

Anyway, based on the two movies, indie films have come a long way. They now use better cameras, better effects and, most important, better sound equipment. I hope that gone are the days of endless white noise.

I had planned going again today to see the shorts but I'm tired and I have to tons of school work to do. Gotta get good grades to maitain my GWA! I just had my first test of the sem yesterday and I'm happy with my performance.

I did some stupid things today. And I procrastinate again. Learning stuff that won't help me graduate on time. Really... I should be studying for the double whammy next week.

After our lab session yesterday, I've realized I'm not really suited for a career as a laboratory medical technologist. I don't have the patience or the steady hands for doing the more manual tasks. Then again, I could just be beating myself up because I suck at making blood dilutions and smears for blood counts but I'm really good at microscopy and gaining more skill at venipuncture. Besides, I like analyzing stuff... I mean the act of doing tests on samples and analytes.

I'm not so sad as I do not picture myself working in an office or lab situation where you do tasks repetitively for months or years. Of course, this is for the Philippine med tech situation. I hear that tests in Hematology are very easy to do in the first-world countries where automated counters are cheaper. Anyway, there is a wider world for Public Health majors like me; areas where our skills could be of more use.

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Finally removed that annoying horizontal scroll bar! More like hid than removed anyway. Thanks to Google and this site.

Smokers can be so stupid. Especially, young smokers with plenty of money or at least appear to. And especially, those smokers in certain university in Quezon city. Use of twisted logic and laying all the blame on the Government, the Tobacco Companies and the Media. What? You didn't play a part in it? Who lit the first cigarette you ever smoked? Who first blew that swirling mass of white gas? Who went to the store yesterday and bought a stick or so of cigs?

You're complaints hit hard on us PH people as we feel it is our responsibility to protect you from this filthy filthy habit. And we are not idiots. At least not all of us. We know who are our enemies and who are the victims. Unfortunately, some of the victims are also our enemies(take you for example). We keep trying to make promotional programs, policies and laws but you young "rebels" seem to think you're above all of this. You say, "Oh! I know smoking is bad but I'm addicted. And it keeps me sane." and all that shit. And instead of actively dissuading people from picking up the habit, you keep a neutral uncaring stance. Well screw you! But then again, we'll still try to help you beat your addiction and all your complaining and bitch-fits won't stop us.

Smoking in a non-smoking area is wrong just like using the N-word is racist and wrong even though there is no black person within a 1km radius.

Holy sh*t!

The Fed or, as we(me and Federer's fiance Madie) like to call him, Feddy Bear lost to Nadal.

Ugh... ew... it hurts. I didn't saw the match. I need to sleep. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch reruns in Star sports.

History happened last night but it wasn't a good one for Feddy. Then again, this is good for the tennis drama.

I love dancing. Dance is a major part of my life and being. Part of the reason why I hate the end of semesters is because dance training is halted and will resume at the beginning of the next sem. But dance is not the only important thing in my life. My studies and fulfillment of my plans are more important than dancing.

Right now, dancing is draining most of my time and energy. Instead of relaxing or studying, I'm dancing. It's almost reaching the point where dancing is becoming like a chore. And it is only the beginning of the sem. And it seems our new adviser wants us to join a dance competition. Us, senior students, students who will be starting their thesis a month from now, students trying to maintain or pull up their GWA to get into med school. Crap. Then again I could just quit the org but I'll hate myself for doing that.

Rant rant rant. Go do your homework!

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I've been losing so many things this past week. It started with Simulaw, where I lost my dignity and self worth, but more importantly, I lost my green cap. Then, I lost my notebook for HPAd, EH and Spanish. It's a good thing that it is only the start of the sem but a lost notebook is still a lost notebook and for a meticulous taker of notes, that sucks. It really really sucks. But all hope is not lost, I might still find it, there are only two places in which I have to look anyway. Besides, unlike a cap, what possible value will they get from keeping MY notebook?

UPDATE:
I found my notebook! Yey! I'm happy now. Really happy. yeynes!

Natapos na rin sa wakas ang linggong ito. Tapos na ang Simulaw '08 at kailangan ko na simulan ang pag-re-repress sa mga nangyari. Hindi na uli ako mag-e-emcee sa isang non-formal event, ever! Promise!

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Masaya pala magpaka-photojournalist pa minsan-minsan. Hehehe. Kaya lang kulang pa rin ako sa skills. Kinakailangan ko pa kumuha ng sandamakmak na litrato para lang sigurado na may isang matino. Idagdag mo pa na hindi naman ganun kaganda pa ang aking lens at built-in flash lang ang magagamit ko. Kailan at paano kaya ako makakaipon ng 15k para makabili ng bagong lens o ng flash unit?

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Nakakaasar na emcee ako ng simulaw. Bukod sa wala akong kwentang emcee, ang ganda ng liwanag nang gabing iyon. Ang daming oportunidad para makakuha ng maganda litrato. Tsk.

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May multiply na pala ako. Masasabi ko na mas maganda pa rin si photobucket. Mas mabilis at mas madali mag-upload, mas madali mag-organize at mas mabilis at mas madali mag-download.

I am still busy with non-academic school work.(read: Does NOT affect my GWA). I love stress especially when I can dump all my stress to the one who is really in charge. Hehehe... We have huge organizational problems in the upcoming project of our batch and college orgs. People doing and leading too much stuff, people disappearing without notice, people snapping other people's heads off, people not helping. And then there is that list of forgotten but equally important tasks and commitments. I play the very annoying role of unearthing those things and dumping them on the project leaders. Yay me! But this wouldn't really happen if all those leaders sit down and have a focused meeting to relegate tasks to us willing but confused members.

Surprise! NO pictures. Haven't had the time to upload the new pics in my photobucket.

sing it like the part in It Sucks to Be Me where they sing, "We live in Avenue Q."

I just saw Avenue Q
You should too.
Bring you friends along.
You should watch Avenue Q.
You should watch Avenue Q.

Hopefully, you become lucky and manage to get seats.

I am going to watch Avenue Q on Sunday. I was lucky that there was still one seat available in the balcony area since those are the only seats I could afford. My only problem is that I don't know how to commute to RCBC plaza. Well, I have found directions but Makati is still unchartered territory for me that directions may help but I will still probably get lost. I think I'll just sit near the driver and ask him to drop me off at the RCBC plaza.

I finally got to bring our new camera to school. I'm still horrible at taking indoor pictures and moving subjects though I'll probably get clearer pictures if I stop being stubborn and start using flash. More pictures are found here. Yes, this is starting to turn into a photoblog.

School starts tomorrow. Why not today? Because pGMA decided that today is Independence Day! Uh... yay? Anyway, I'm excited for my last year but it sucks that I have a class, a laboratory class, that will start on 7 am. And I have three subjects tomorrow. Yeah, a year of 2 subject days has made me lazy.

Two consecutive posts with pics, is this becoming a photoblog?

It's so hot in my room. I am so tempted to open my air conditioner but I must resist, climate change is upon us. I haven't seen any rain the past days. So much for the rainy season, huh? At least the sky is beautiful. So beautiful that it sucks when you realize school is starting next week and you'll probably end up with skin neoplasia(or, at least, just a bit darker) if you stay outside all day looking up into the sky. Oh, I took that picture in my parents room not in mine; still hot though.

I finished registering for the 1st semester. I was so thrilled that I would finally be able to answer the question: "Graduating this 1st sem, 2nd sem or summer?" I'm so excited to be finally getting my bachelor's degree after this academic year. This is assuming that I will not become ill and have to take a leave of absence or, worse, fail a subject.

My early graduation gift from my godfather finally came: a new camera. I've been playing with it the past days. I find that half of the good shots were unintentional. I must practice.

I made a diptych.

The faded shot was unintentional.

I saw a glimpse of the report on the Glutathione content of certain whitening supplements(that sounds so wrong). This report raised many eyebrows and hurt not just one business. One of the hurt ones is going to file libel cases against the news reporter. This doesn't seem right. They should be filing complaints against the one who analyzed the supplements(the Philippines Institute of Pure and Applied Chemistry). The reporter didn't reveal the results because of malicious intent but because of her duties as a journalist.

According to a reply by a hurt company(the one in PhilStar), the PIPAC used titration to analyze the glutathione content. This wrong choice led to the allegedly biased results. Too bad I do not know the analytical method used by PIPAC so I'm not sure if it is really true. But from what I know, any method should suffice though it would be best if they used chomatography to avoid problems with contaminants and confounders. Still, titration should be fine. I think even the simple Kheldjal method could be used since theoretically the only Nitrogen containing substances in the supplements should be the glutathione. The company should also know that PIPAC do have the equipment needed for the tests they want to be performed on their products.

The ad also insulted titration by implying that since titration is a cheaper method, it is unreliable. I take great offense at this. I love titration. It is true that students and those with small chemistry sets could easily perform titration, unlike certain chromatography methods which require more special equipment. However, this that not mean that chromatography is always better than titration. Titration is indeed a very cheap method but that doesn't mean it is unreliable. Heck, in TB diagnosis a sputum exam which is cheaper than an x-ray is much more reliable. And in the hands of skilled lab tech, titration is very accurate and very precise with results comparable to that of chromatography(assuming a chemical reaction exist that could be used in titration).

Still, this would not probably help resolve the issue but I trust PIPAC. They wouldn't be swayed by money. The reputation of an analytical laboratory is priceless.

Update:
I finally saw the report on youtube(We love youtube!). I also saw the reaction of a user of Lucida. The defender said that the PIPAC made a mistake in the analysis because PIPAC methods couldn't detect the chemical lipoic acid. She suggests that another analysis be made this time by the Adamason Univ. Technology Research and Development Center. These statements though are irrelevant as the report and PIPAC only wanted to determine glutathione content of the products. Lipoic acid is not the same as glutathione. Lipoic acid was not even in the list of products PIPAC want to quantify. The statements only become relevant if lipoic acid serves as a confounding agent in the method used to quantify glutathione. Thus even if PIPAC couldn't detect LA and even if the users say that Lucida products work, the distributors of Lucida-ds would still be at fault for the false information found in their products' labels.

Links:
ABS-CBN report - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUHVCa1T4ME
Lucida defense - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_ard1mUF_g&feature=related

"If DOH and Congress had evidence linking health expenditures and outputs, then we would be well-positioned to advocate for increased funding for health. We would also be able to re-allocate funds in the health sector to support priority services such as maternal mortality reduction." Sen. Edgardo Angara, 2008 National Conference on Health.

My initial reaction:

Oh! You want evidence. You want studies.

That's BS! Why not try allocating at least the WHO recommended budget first before asking for cost-efficiency studies and evidence? But if you want evidence, here it is. Right now, PGH is running with only one functional X-ray machine. Why is this so? Because the hospital do not have enough funds to maintain the air conditioning system that keeps the x-ray machines from overheating and breaking down. ER and OPD patients have to have their x-rays taken from private clinics which slightly defeats the purpose of them going to PGH in the first place. According to my friend, they have to ask ER patients to go to another hospital because of this problem. A problem which could be solved if PGH had funds.

Why would you ask for evidence on expenditure(ie funding) and output(healthy people) when you know for yourself that the health sector is severely underfunded! How could you?! And you seemed to be one of the smarter people. I wonder if you still got applause after saying this sh*t.

My calmed down reaction:
Maybe he is taking about efficiency and stuff. But I still think that Congress should allocate the appropriate funding first before asking too many questions regarding efficiency. They have yet to see the state of a properly funded government hospital. And aren't the Brain Drain and health professional Exodus enough to show that the health sector is underfunded? When even the martyrs are complaining, they should know that there is a problem.

I love this blog!

This is such a lifesaver. Self-meditation, psychoanalysis and composition practice all rolled up into one thing.

After putting thoughts into a blog post(published or unpublished), I feel a release. It's like a load is taken of my chest. And in the making of the post, I manage to explore the issue I'm thinking about and achieve new insights regarding it. Of course the same could be said for diaries, journals and logs(travelogue, etc) but I find physically writing down stuff too slow to keep up with my thoughts. Especially if I'm emotionally involved in what I am writing about. Besides, Shrinks are not too common here and they would probably cost a lot.

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I saw the Pyro-olympics last night. Wow! Different Colors falling down from the sky, forming different shapes, some seeming to drop toward you sealing your death and then disappearing into the night's darkness, such wonderful sights(hmmm... sounds like poetry). You do not want to take your eyes of the sky not because you don't want to miss something. You don't want to because you can not. And the other good thing was I didn't have to pay for the f*ckin' Php150 ticket(greedy bastards!).

Summer is really over. We just had the first big rain of the season. I was on my way home when light rain started. Luckily for me, I managed to get into a jeepney by the time the rain started really pouring. The passengers who came after me were all soaking wet. Lucky lucky boy.

In other news, I noticed that the one of the lens of my glasses had scratches. Yes, the glasses which I saved up for are now damaged. I could still use them since the scratches are not noticeable when I'm wearing my glasses but it still sucks that my lovely pair are now damaged.

I'm trying to catch up on vacation time. I'll try to catch as many films as I can before June. I finally watched History Boys. I'm trying to finish Starter for 10 and this German movie. I wonder what I'll watch next? And I won't be watching Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones, Speed Racer and all those movies brimming with special effects and seemingly lacking in the stories department(sorry fans and fanatics of the mentioned movies).