In Honor of World Environment Day

Martin Masadao sent us this ingenious recycling made by one of our young Pinoy entrepreneurs. Also here for the front.

6666666666

Someone sent this: "The estimated population of the world will pass 6,666,666,666 today. No doubt an interesting number for people everywhere. 5,555,555,555 was passed about 14 years ago. You may not realize that only 80 years ago, the population of the Earth was only around 2 billion. This shows how the population of the world has increased at an alarming rate in recent times, although the growth rate is almost half what it was at its peak in 1963, when it was 2.2%. Unrelated but also an interesting coincidence -- the estimated number of available IPv4 addresses is getting very close to 666,666,666. It should cross over today as well."
In a related useless matter, the Pope praised the medieval anti-birth control policy of theirs. And true to form, Inquirer's Antonio Montalvan or something immediately licked his ass.

Starts with 50

Uh-uh, Irisan People. There's Bad News for You

Short-term exposure to smog, or ozone, is clearly linked to premature deaths that should be taken into account when measuring the health benefits of reducing air pollution, a National Academy of Sciences review concludes. The findings contradict arguments made by some White House officials that the connection between smog and premature death has not been shown sufficiently, and that the number of saved lives should not be calculated in determining clean air benefits.

Youth and Plants

Why are plants green? The answer is not that easy.
Also, why does it take so long to be young.
NSFM (not safe for morons)
The more the world becomes rational, the more we need enchantment in fiction. Why?

Patis and Birdman

On Saturday, April 19, 2008 Kusina Salud presents, "Bird-Man: An Earth Day Celebration" .
Bird-Man begins at 3 pm with a talk/open forum by Wild Bird Photographer Romy Ocon, entitled "For the Birds". He will also give a slide-show presentation of the numerous birds he has passionately documented in their natural habitat. This will be followed by the ribbon-cutting of Romy's exhibit in our small gallery. Please visit http://romyocon. blogspot. com for more information.

The second half of our celebration is yet untitled because it is a 15-minute performance art collaborative by multi-awarded poetess Nerisa Guevara, seasoned thespians Nonie and Shamaine Buencamino, inimitable sound designer Malek Lopez, and educator-visual designer Blums Borres. As we speak, we are setting Nerisa's poetry to Malek's music, which will be followed by Nonie and Shamaine's interpretation of the "songs" into movement. Technical Director Mark Lakay and Production Manager Perky Parong will provide the necessary support
system to ensure the seamlessness of this once in a lifetime performance.

Tickets are PHP 500 each which also includes an all-day vegetarian buffet and a raffle of 13 prizes from artists and entrepreneurs: Master Potters John Pettyjohn and Ugu Bigyan, Brass Sculptor Carlito Ortega, Manila Tourguide Carlos Celdran, Mosaic Artist Denise Celdran, Photographer Isa Lorenzo, Chef Billy King, Accessories Designer Anton Pamintuan, Casa San Pablo, Casa Rap, Earthkeepers, Pilar Antiques and Patis Tesoro.

Proceeds from ticket sales will be shared with the Philippine Bird Photography Forum and the Artists Welfare Project. Please reserve now as limited seating is available. Kusina Salud is located in San Pablo, Laguna. Call/text Apple or April at 0921.7726985 or 049.5736155. Please e-mail us at kusinasalud@ gmail.com or kusinasalud. yahoo.com

Blandie

Know what? The global warming also makes your vegetables less nutritious than normal. Weird, because you have the greenhouse to protect your veggies from Nature and then it turns out, greenhouse effect make them less palatable. Max Taub of Southwestern U in Texas made the study analyzing 200 experiments:

Taub's analysis, detailed in the March issue of the journal Global Change Biology, found that when grown in elevated carbon dioxide levels, potatoes showed almost a 14 percent decrease in protein. Protein concentrations decreased by more than 15 percent in barley and almost 10 percent in wheat and rice. Soybeans had the smallest protein reduction at 1.4 percent.

The paranoid in me knew it that Wyeth, Dupont and other Chemical Brothers are behind this global warming to sell their products. Anyway to all you beer drinkers out there, here's the SCIENTIFIC way to make your friends think they are having more beers that they are actually quaffing.

Bacolod Air Gun Hunting Club: To call them bird-brained is to insult birds

Yes, this stupid gun club (redundant) found it "sporting" to be shooting endemic and threatened birds like they own them. And even if they own them, they are not allowed to do so. Tell them that these birds which they killed are far more valuable than them. Sign this petition.

Where You Are Destined

Sunrise, Sunset

This is an HDTV video from NHK on the Earth rising and setting. Taken from the moon explorer Kaguya, the animated pictures are the first HD images of the Earth from about 380,000 km away.





In 1967, Louis Armstrong was paid only $250 to sing this song, which defined him more than his mainstream jazz tracks. It didn't make a dent, initially in the US, but it became Number 1 in the UK in 1968. This does not only show the maturities in the musical tastes of the two but an old (66 years old then) Black man singing an optimistic soulful song may have not struck the heartstrings of the Americans. A million copies of the original version were sold to date. Other artists who covered "WAWW" were The Flaming Lips, Shane MacGowan & Nick Cave, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole on Hawaiian ukulele, Nora Aunor (a version that haunted me to this day), Victoria Williams, Eva Cassidy, Joey Ramone weeks before his death, Tony Bennett and k. d. lang, B.B. King, Sarah Brightman, Rod Stewart & Stevie Wonder, John Legend and Katie Melua for Red Cross. God bless Kenny G, Buble and Celine for trying to cover it but the world is already wonderful without them.

Recycling Your CD

CD pirating is a police and local music and movie industry's problem. Otherwise only a small percentage of Filipinos is complaining. So our government makes a big fuss steamrolling these which is only good for photo opportunities and a nightmare for the streetsweepers:


So why not sit on it?

Power Saving

I chose this blogger typeface because it is power-saving. And as a friend said, it looks classic not like you na classic Nescafe. Anyway, San Francisco recently had a power outage day (voluntarily turning off your power for one hour especially at night) which they plan to do every week. Google sympathized by having this design for that day:

How typical of NASA to publish new set of Earth photos with the Philippines under Cloudcover

So those who signed the resolution against Teri Hatcher, please sign a new one on this perceived discrimination of your hometown (or half-hometown). We are trying very hard to project the Philippines as a sunny beach destination and this is what they give us??? We are smiling people, di ba? But no sense of ironic humor. He he he.
On a serious note, SimCity has incorporated global warming in their virtual communities. Something most of our politicians have failed to do.

100 Effects of Global Warming

Say Goodbye to French Wines
Wacky temperatures and rain cycles brought on by global warming are threatening something very important: Wine. Scientists believe global warming will “shift viticultural regions toward the poles, cooler coastal zones and higher elevations.” What that means in regular language: Get ready to say bye-bye to French Bordeaux and hello to British champagne.

Say Goodbye to Baseball
The future of the ash tree—from which all baseball bats are made—is in danger of disappearing, thanks to a combination of killer beetles and global warming

Volcanoes Blow Their Tops
British scientists warn of another possible side effect of climate change: A surge of dangerous volcanic eruptions.

And 97 more

Slide

Seems like deja vu all over again. Again encountered a slide on the same site where I encountered a rockslide 17 years ago,near the border of Bauko and Benguet. It wasn't a big slide like the last time but it would be harder to clear. Last night, a beer truck passed by a sharp curve and fell off the soft shoulder. Boulders fell on the truck. Only a few bottles can be seen from the ravine as we were passing by the mound. Soem fo the residents tried to rescue but only cam e up with few bottles of Red Horse. Tomorrow, Bontoc will be holding its festival. Seems it has to be a dry festivity. Not Super Dry but no beer talaga. I feel sad for the driver still crushed underneath.

Jonas Brigade

Jonas Joseph T. Burgos is the proud son of highly-respected journalist Jose Burgos. Manong Joe, who came from Ilocos, was also an exponent of sustainable agriculture and spent his last days in his farm in Bulacan. Jonas studied agriculture at Benguet State University. Now he has disappeared. Some people say that he joined the NPA. Why then is he not contacting his mother? Gone are the days when there is a no man's land when it comes to texting. Produce Jonas! Now in deference to the father and son, let us join Guerrilla Gardening. let us make seed grenades. Let a thousand flowers bloom! Join Jonas.

Killed by Storm Mapping

This is the world map. Look how big Philippines is. It looks like a huge fetus. This shows the map according to deaths caused by storms. Territory size shows the proportion of all people who have died in disasters due to storms, who died there, between 1975 and 2000. A disaster, here, is an event which overwhelms local resources.

3B Program

I wrote about Baguio's Balik Bayong Program. Now here's another reason why we should go into it now. This is an ad in the UK for Juice Bags from the Philippines.

Organic

I just came from the launching of the monograph by the Cordillera Green Network in line with the World Environment Day. The Little Green Book: An interview with the Cordillera Environment was a question-and-answer booklet on the state of Cordillera environment. Mau Malanes edited it. More later but I want to share to you here the list of vegetarian restos and organic market which is included in the book:
1) Azotea Green at 2/F La Azotea, Session Road, Baguio City
2) Benguet Network of Development-Oriented People's Organization at Jack Resto, Km 4, La Trinidad
3) Bliss Cafe at Munsayac Inn, Leonard Wood Rd
4) Cafe by the Ruins at 25 Chuntug
5) Ebai's Cafe and pastry at 151 Upper Session Rd
6) Honey in the Rock at Porta Vaga
7) La Trinidad Organic Practitioners Multipurpose Coop
8) Oh, My Gulay at 5/F La azotea
9) Vegetarian Center at 4th Floor of Abanao Square

Seven Wonders

Lest we forget, these are the new Seven Wonders of the World. These are:
1 Sydney Opera House
2 Eiffel Tower
3 Burj Al Arab Hotel, Dubai
4 Statue of Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro
5 Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco
6 Empire State Building, New York City
7 Channel Tunnel
Sorry. No Banaue Rice Terraces. No Stevie.