The Glass Beach

Glass Beach is a beach in Fort Bragg, California that is abundant in Sea glass created from years of dumping garbage into an area of coastline near the northern part of the town.

In the early 20th century, Fort Bragg residents threw their household trash over these cliffs.

They discarded glass, appliances, and even cars. The land was owned at that time by the Union Lumber Company, and locals referred to it as "The Dumps." Sometimes fires would be lit to reduce the size of the trash pile.

In 1967, the North Coast Water Quality Board and city leaders closed the area and various cleanup programs were undertaken through the years to correct the damage.

Over the next several decades the pounding waves cleansed the beach, wearing down the discarded glass into the small, smooth, colored trinkets that cover the beach today.

Balikbayan Box

What's better than receiving relief goods 2 days after Ondoy wrecked havoc in our house?

Receiving a Balikbayan Box, of course. Filled with items you won't find anywhere else in the local market, whether it's a can of sardines or a bar of soap, even if you have enough money to buy groceries, it's still feels so much better to receive them for free and goggle on the different brands not available in the country.

Just last night, we opened two boxes from my uncle in United Kingdom. Just so you know, I love smelling the trapped air inside those packing-tape-battered cartons. I don't know if science is behind me here, but I do believe the smell of air in countries vary from one another. I might be deluded, though.

So after battling the sticky powers of various tapes mummifying the box, there in front of us was loads of canned goods in all shapes and colors. For me, it's not about "Oh my Obama, we finally have food!" because we have awful plenty, it's mostly "Ooh what is this?" and "How do you pronounce this word?". I love trying out food from other countries that it even include preservative-filled ones.

In the end, the most interesting pieces I got was perfume (smells pleasantly like the rain), 1 box of Ferrero Collection chocolates (Ferrero Gardens, oh heaven!) and a vibrating toothbrush. It's funny, I thought it being named Oral-B Pulsar is just an advertising stunt but lo and behold, it actually has an internal battery and an on and off switch. We were laughing so hard.

I dream of one day, when I get to work and/or study abroad, packing a box that I will send to my relatives back in the Philippines. I wonder if it's enjoyable shopping for other people and sealing those items in a big brown box. Because it sure is delicious opening one.

Crows on cigarette break stun tourists

Tony and Judie Ellis, from Crowborough, (we're not joking) Sussex, watched in amazement as the crow landed on the roof of a water villa next to theirs and calmly began extracting the cigarettes from the packet.

As Judie, 53, rushed to get her camera to record the scene on the Maldives two more crows arrived for a fag break and picked up the cigarettes in their beaks.

Judie said: 'The crow which flew past with the cigarettes seemed to be dishing them out to the others.

'It was taking the cigarettes out of the packet and putting them on the roo of the water villa. Then the other crows were picking them up. It was amazing that they seemed to have them in their beaks the right way round.'

The couple, who work as toy inventors, were told after the incident that crows can sometimes be a bit of a nuisance on the islands. They were told that another holidaymaker had a sandwich stolen by a cheeky crow.

Judie said: 'We have been to the Maldives four times before but never seen any sort of crow behaviour like that. I was lucky to be able to record this on my camera.'

source: Metro

New Montauk Monster sighting? Bizarre creature washes up in small Ontario town

Locals in a small Canadian town have been stumped by the appearance of a bizarre creature, which was dragged from a lake.

The animal, which has a long hairy body with bald skin on its head, feet and face, has prompted wild internet speculation that it is a more evolved version of the famous 'Montauk monster'.

The creature was discovered by two nurses in the town of Kitchenuhmaykoosib in Ontario, Canada, while out on a walk with their dog.

When the dog began sniffing in the lake, the two women started investigating, before the dog pulled the dead animal out.

After taking some photographs of the odd animal, the nurses left it alone. When locals decided to go back and retrieve the body, it has disappeared.

The photographs have now been posted on a local website, with an explanation which reads: 'This creature was first discovered by Sam the Dog, a local dog.

'It was discovered first week of May in the creek section of town, hikers noticed Sam sniffing something in the water and they approached to see in what the Sam had detected and they noticed the creature in the water face down.

'The dog jumped in the lake and pulled the creature to the rocks and dragged it out for the hikers to see and these are the photos they took.

'The creature's tail is like a rat's tail and it is a foot long.'

There has been much speculation about what kind of species the animal is.

The body of the creature appears to look something like an otter, while its face - complete with long fang-like teeth, bears a striking resemblance to a boar-like animal.

Even the local police chief Donny Morris is baffled, saying: 'What it is, I don't know. I'm just as curious as everyone else.'

The pictures of the animal have caused mass speculation online, from bloggers who are all stumped as to what the creature could be.

Read more: DailyMail

The Real Iron Man

There is a saying that it's the suit that makes a man and for Anthony Le, of Thornton, his suits certainly draw plenty of attention – especially from women, he said.

"It's a chick magnet, no doubt," he said.

But Le's suits are not made from the finest cuts of wool or cotton. Rather his material of choice is custom-cut high-impact urethane plastic and the pieces are held together by hundreds of rivets.

Simply put, he is Iron Man – or at least he's as close as anyone has come outside of Robert Downey Jr.

Over the past two years, the 25-year-old has built a name for himself in the costuming community for his highly elaborate suits based off of the popular Marvel Comics' character. His efforts have even caught the attention of "Iron Man" director Jon Favreau, who mentioned him on his Twitter account. Le said he started this hobby in 2008, just a week before the release of "Iron Man" in theaters.

"There were no tutorials (to build an Iron Man costume) whatsoever," he said. "So I ran to Wal-Mart and picked up some stuff I could see if I could make it out of and that's when I decided to take cosplay to a new level – by trying and going a little more crazy making something that nobody else has made."

read more: asiaxpress

Philippine General Hospital Training (APCN)

 PGH's 27th Batch Advancement Program in Clinical Nursing (APCN)

(6 Months Training Program)

QUALIFICATIONS (any of the following):

1. A recent graduate of the BSN program; or
2. With clinical &/or hospital experience for the past five (5) years
(2005-2010)

• May 18, 2010 Screening
• May 25, 2010 Qualifying Exam (Php 100)

REQUIREMENTS:

1. Letter of intent addressed to Ma. Rita Villanueva Tamse - Deputy Director for Nursing
2. Dean's Form (Available at DNET Office)
3. Photocopy of Transcript of Records
4. Certified True Copy of Board Rating
5. Authenticated copy of PRC License
6. Photocopy of PNA Membership Card
7. Qualifying Exam (To be scheduled upon submission of requirements)

FEE: P 10,000

For more information, please visit:
http://www.pgh.gov.ph/divisions/nursing-services/training

GLEE "Dream On" Ep feat. Neil Patrick Harris, Joss Whedon and JOLLIBEE

The first thing I noticed when I opened up my Twitter account is Jollibee 10th on the Trending Topics list. After a couple of seconds of "WTH?", I couldn't believe that people are saying that the popular pinoy fastfood chain made a cameo on Glee. Of all TV shows, on GLEE. Especially, on the NEIL PATRICK HARRIS episode. On the JOSS WHEDON (creator of my dearest Buffy the Vampire Slayer and spin-off Angel) directed one that I've been waiting for the whole week. How fantastic is that?

Thankfully, I easily found a decent megavideo link and watched the episode via streaming video. Frankly, I didn't noticed the happy bee even after I have finished watching the whole thing. Probably due to the epic awesomeness (Yes, that's retarded fan speak) of "Dream On".

The episode, as is obvious with its title, is all about some of the characters' most intimate dreams in life. It is surprisingly deep yet it didn't showcase the usual "Don't Stop Believing" performances we are used to. Which is a great thing for a show slowly losing its heart to grand showstopping numbers. I mean, if we wanted to be treated to 40 minutes of sing and dance musical gimmicks then we would've watched a concert. This episode, I think, brings us back to the basics. More character driven plots, less jazz hands.

Best Glee episode of the year, hands down.

Back to Jollibee, I really did not see it. But once I did, it was obviously everywhere on the "We Can Dance" mall dance routine of Artie. I'm betting "PR STUNT" but I might be wrong. Either way it brought us Glee loving Filipinos something to talk and tweet about.

Next stop, the Lady Gaga episode...

Lung Center of the Philippines Basic Skills Training for RNs

Lung Center of the Philippines

Tel: 924-6101 loc. 270 and 385

BASIC SKILLS TRAINING Requirements

• Resume with latest picture
• TOR including Diploma and RLE Records
• Board Rating Certificate
• PRC License
• Certificate of Passing
• 2 pcs 1x1 picture
• Chest Xray and PPD c/o Lung Center
• Long Brown Envelope
• BLS Certificate and ID
• Must have undergone IVT Training

Registration Fee:

• 6,000 for 3 months
• 1 month lecture and 2 months practicum.

Just wanted to share with you all struggling unemployed colleagues. A friend underwent this training and from what she said, the 6k was worth it. Problem is, they have limited slots that easily fill up upon opening. Better be prepared for loads of other people fighting for a spot on the program.

Irvin Rosenfeld Has Recieved Over 115,000 Joints from the Federal Government

Irvin Rosenfeld, a 56-year old stockbroker from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., doesn't look like a record-setting pothead, but last week he woke up, turned on CNBC, and lit up his 115,000th joint. If you think his dealer is thrilled to have a client who has smoked 10 to 12 joints a day for the past 28 years, you're wrong.

Rosenfeld, who suffers from a rare form of bone cancer, isn't your typical weed smoker, and his dealer isn't your typical drug pusher. He gets his joints -- 300 at a time, one shipment every 25 days -- courtesy of the United States federal government.

"I don't know that I've broken a record, but I've certainly set one. No one else in the world can document having smoked 115,000 cannabis cigarettes – let alone the ones I smoked before that. I'm living proof that medical cannabis is real medicine. We need to get medicine in the hands of patients who really need it," said Rosenfeld.

source: ABCNews

Quirino Memorial Medical Center Training for Registered Nurses

QMMC Professional Nurse Training Program (PNTP) Requirements

1. Application letter to Angeles T. De Leon (Medical Center Chief II)
2. Transcript of Records
3. Diploma
4. PRC License Photocopy
5. NBI Clearance
6. Board Rating and Certificate of Passing
7. 1 pc. 2x2 picture

• 2 months ward training
• P 1,000 / month fee

Complete the requirements then head on to QMMC. I forgot the name of the office you're supposed to submit the requirements to (and no, it's NOT the Nursing Training Office) but just ask the guard and he'll know.

Note: They only accept applications every Mondays AND Fridays 1-4PM. We made the mistake of going there on a Thursday.

Just knock on the office door and you will be given an application form. Fill it up, attach the ID picture and submit it together with your complete requirements. You will then be told the date and time of your Pre Examination. In our case, we submitted last April 30 and were scheduled to take the exam on June 22. Long wait but I heard that it's already a sure thing. The exam is mainly for evaluation purposes and not for screening candidates. Although I read on the waiver / application form that you must obtain at least 75% on the pre and post test to receive a Certificate of Training. Otherwise, one would be given a Certificate of Attendance instead.

After the two month ward training (type of ward allocated alphabetically) one can choose to pursue training on special areas like ER and ICU. Although I've been told that the special areas eligible for training would depend on the ward that one is assigned to.

Will follow up on this post as soon as I get more information. Frankly, I am itching to get back to my all whites and smell ethyl rubbing alcohol every 15 minutes.

Pac-Man Movie Speculation

Film producer Avi Arad, former boss of Marvel Studios, will appear at Namco Bandai's 30th birthday event for Pac-Man on June 15, where he will help them announce a new Pac-Man project. The speculation raging online is that the Spider-Man producer may announce that he's developing a feature film version of the classic videogame.

oO

read more: http://movies.ign.com/articles/108/1088493p1.html

pic by CreaturesInMyHead

Japanese Lamp Fight

Another bizarre japanese stuff. I do know about it but the pics talk by itself...

Cthulhu Ski Mask

Typsie sez, "My buddy Frank's wife Dianna whipped up a Cthulhu ski mask for him to wear at a recent costume party, and we were all amazed at the sheer blinding awesomeness of it. It even has a mouth-hole so that you can be an Elder God and still kick back a brewski (as pictured). We're trying to convince her to make more and sell them on Etsy."

source: boingboing

@PCOSmachine: If only machines were really this witty

 

It was the night after the elections and almost every individual in the country with an active Twitter account was glued to their streams for the latest news. Tweets about Erap not voting for a Vice President, not even his partner Binay (as clearly seen on pictures and, later on, videos), squees about how hot Gibo  is piloting a helicopter and various complaints about the long lines and malfunctioning PCOS machines dominated the cyberspace until one account managed to catch the attention of nearly all the Filipino techies online on Twitter.

@PCOS machine 's (http://twitter.com/pcosmachine) hilarious tweets caught the hearts and the RT buttons of the voters online making it gain more than a thousand of followers within an hour and 11,000 to date of this post. It even garnered several articles online from respectable news channels in the country.

What if PCOS machine were human? - ABS-CBNNEWS.com
PCOS machines don't just scan ballots but tweet - Yahoo! Philippines

Tweets like this got famous overnight thanks to the blessing of retweeting.

Can somebody please send me water? I'm overheating and I'm thirsty after eating all these ballots. ktnx5:45 PM May 10th via web

No joke, just read a ballot with a CHECK mark for Villar. Also had a marking, "baby james". Weird.6:58 PM May 10th lt;/em>via Tweetie

Why does @PCOSmachine have a Twitter account?! =)))))))#halalan /via @pingchung91 - well, I hav wifi, might as well make the most out of it7:11 PM May 10th via Tweetie

"Is your @PCOSmachine a spitter or a swallower?" /via @sedriddick- under d law, we cannot swallow, we hav 2 spit it out after. Unless ur hot

A moment of silence please for my fellow PCOS machines who perished in Camarines Sur in the line of duty. They were so young and expensive.7:29 PM May 10th via Tweetie

My #1 goal in life is to ensure a clean, honest, and orderly elections. 2nd is to remove Justin Beiber from trending topics.#halalan7:50 PM May 10th via Tweetie

"Sana na-void yun ballot ni GMA. Why didn't you eat her, too @PCOSmachine?" /via @tatiny - coz she's spoiled already.8:06 PM May 10th via Tweetie

To everyone complaining about us PCOS machines overheating: have u been to the Philippines? It's freaking hot here.

"@PCOSmachine if u are not a machine, who will u vote for president and why?" /via @kingofthefranks - Gordon. Transformer. Duh.

"@PCOSmachine Where are you gonna go now since elections are over?" /via @zetweet - bodega. Unless some1 has ₱120,000 to spare, buy me pls!

Including MY (probably) MOST FAMOUS TWEET yet. 

@PCOSmachine Why do you look like a large trashcan with screen?" /via @clarriscent - don't judge me please, I am not a book.7:12 PM May 10th via Tweetie

I must admit, it's weird seeing my tweet get 'featured' by blog posts regarding the said twitter account. My question was innocent enough (those machines really do resemble black garbage cans, most people agree) and his reply was LMFAO, in net speak, worthy. Yay for Filipino sense of humor!

However, it made me realize how powerful social networking sites can be and that every tweet or post you make in any of them (Facebook, Twitter) can have a lot of impact especially these days where everyone is glued more to their monitors rather than on TV screens.

Going back to the topic, I'm glad that something / somebody managed to cool off the tension building up the night after the first ever automated election in the country. One thing we all could count on is that the ever-so-reliable Filipino sense of humor be present even in the most distressing of times.

Spring Awakening (A Rock Musical)

There are musicals that get famous because of how grand the production is. From the set design to the costumes, props and even the choreography, it is easy to get lost at how colorful the stage looks like and deem such theater production as superb.

Then there are musicals that gain recognition because of the quality of the story, the brilliance of the music and the greatness of the actors portraying exquisitely the complexity of the characters. It doesn't matter if the set is comprised of a couple of chairs, a desk, a raising platform at a fog machine and nothing more. All these superficial things are overshadowed by the story and the performance anyways.

Spring Awakening is a rock musical adaptation of the controversial 1891 German play of the same title by Frank Wedekind. It features music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Set in late-nineteenth century Germany, it concerns teenagers who are discovering the inner and outer tumult of sexuality. The original play was banned in Germany, for about a century, due to its portrayal of masturbation, abortion, homosexuality, rape, bondage, child abuse and suicide. In the musical, alternative rock is employed as part of the folk-infused rock score. Spring Awakening received eleven 2007 Tony Award nominations, winning eight, including Tonys for best musical, direction, book, score and featured actor. The show also won four Drama Desk Awards, while its London production won four Olivier Awards.

 -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Awakening

The original cast starred Lea Michelle of GLEE and Jonathan Groff who is also guest starring in the said show at the later part of Season 1. The most wonderful aspect of the show is that it centers on such taboo subjects and yet delivers the truth and the story in an entertaining yet sincere way. The theme, dialogue and songs are explicit but not at all vulgar.

Although there was a Philippine production of the musical a few months ago, I got to watch it in youtube.com of all places. Yay for whoever got the guts to record the whole show via a hidden camera. Honestly, this is one of the instances where I adore blatant piracy.

For those looking for the Spring Awakening (Original Cast Recording) Album, look no more. Once again, I searched the cyber world for a download link and have found a jewel.

DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/?yojumunyxin

 

Enjoy.