UP Ibalon Bicol: Los Angeles

Showing posts with label Los Angeles. Show all posts

Liz Taylor bids farewell to Michael Jackson

9/06/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

On Thursday, Septermber 3, 2009, movie actess Elizabeth Taylor went to the burial of close friend Michael Jackson whose death was ruled as homicide resulting from toxic levels of a cocktail of medications that included a powerful anesthetic.

Celebrities who attended the ceremony 70 days after his death were Lisa Marie Presley, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Macaulay Culkin, Corey Feldman, Mila Kunis and Barry Bonds.

Riding a wheel chair and clad in black, 77 year-old Miss Taylor came teary-eyed to the Los Angeles Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale to also pay her last respects. The private interment was attended by Michael's children, immediate family, and close friends.

The King of Pop was interred in a golden casket under very tight security. The cost of burial was estimated to be $1 million dollars on top of the $1.4 million dollars prviously spent in a televised memorial service last July. (Photo Credit: Getty Images/ BBB.nes.com) =0=

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Labels: burial, California, celebrity, Elizabeth Taylor, Los Angeles, Michael Jackson, MJ, movie star, Naga Camarines Sur. Totie Mesia

California wildfires burn 21 homes and threaten 12,000 more

9/01/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

The wildfire in the Angeles National Forest has raged for days and grown more than twice its original size burning at least 21 homes in the foothills and endangering 12,000 more.

Firefighters are battling the huge blaze which darkens the sky in the last 6 days, destroying 164 square miles of trees and vegetation. Using fire retardants and water, they try to protect Mount Wilson on whose slopes several edifices rest.

Defying evacuation orders, three people sustained significant burns. Five people have called for help near Gold Creek, Los Angeles, but rescuers find it hard to reach them.

On Monday, August 31, 2009, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in the counties of Monterey, Placer, Los Angeles, and Mariposa. The conflagration of about 20 miles fed on brush and inched through the terrain to threaten communication lines and an astronomy observatory in Mount Wilson.

Close to 7,000 homes were given evacuation orders as the wall of fire raged. Two of the 2,500 firefighters who battled the blaze were killed in line of their duty. (Photo Credi: Justin Sullivan/ Getty Images; Jason Redmond/ AP) =0=

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Labels: calamity, California, emergency, environment, fire, firefighters, Los Angeles, Totie Mesia, wldfire

HIV infections sweep California porn industry

6/14/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

As the Los Angeles County Health authorities announced of a sex worker having contracted HIV in the last five years, they say 16 more porn stars had been infected by the dreaded virus.

Public Health Officials said the 16 cases of HIV/AIDS were not investigated and unpublicized because of privacy rules enforced before 2006 which prohibited the disclosure of names to government agencies. It was unclear whether all of them got their illness at work.

“No state laws specifically require condom use and the vast majority of heterosexual porn movies are shot "bareback," an industry term for unprotected sex.

State labor codes, however, do require use of personal protective equipment and protection against blood or bodily fluids in the workplace. Since 2004, five adult entertainment companies have been cited for a variety of violations. Each case has been settled, state officials said.

Since 2004, 2,378 people who identified themselves as adult film industry performers have tested positive for chlamydia in Los Angeles County. An additional 1,357 tested positive for gonorrhea and 15 for syphilis, according to data released Thursday by the county's health department.” Los Angeles Times (06/12/09, Kimi Yoshino and Rong-Gong Lin II

Since the San Fernando Valley is a leading pornography capital which has an annual income of $12 billion dollars, employs more than 1,200 sex performers under at least 200 productions. The HIV outbreak is looked upon with worry because it has the capacity to spread quickly in the community. (Photo Credit: www.rogallery.com) =0=

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Labels: Aids, California, film, Health, HIV, infection, Los Angeles, movie star, movies, pornography, Public Health, sex, sex worker, STD, Totie Mesia, virus

Echo Park, Los Angeles USA Penafrancia Fiesta

5/11/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

by Rafael Garcia & Totie Mesia

“Are you from Bicol?” the excited lady beside me shouted. It was the same question I asked the smiling guy I met at the church door as I stretched my neck for the familiar faces in the gathering of people.

I didn’t realize what I was up to with those people I met that afternoon. After the foodfest which brought to recall mom’s home-style cooking, I bonded with new friends that I couldn’t have met if not for Ina."

"It must be the same date, rain or shine, that fiestas had been recalled in many states and cities across the continental United States. With all the Bicolanos and their respective organizations from California to Chicago to Hawaii to Virginia, one might wonder how many Filipino-Americans pay tribute to the patroness of the Bicol region."

"As the chills of autumn set in and the soft slanted rays of the sun became more apparent in the early evening, a pork roast, a bottle of cold San Miguel beer and social dancing could well define the Penafrancia fun." ---Penafrancia in America =0=

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Labels: bicol, California, Echo Park, fiesta, Los Angeles, Penafrancia, Rafael Garcia, Totie Mesia, tradition

UP Ibalon Bicol

Liz Taylor bids farewell to Michael Jackson

California wildfires burn 21 homes and threaten 12,000 more

HIV infections sweep California porn industry

Echo Park, Los Angeles USA Penafrancia Fiesta

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