UP Ibalon Bicol: human interest

Showing posts with label human interest. Show all posts

Picture worth a thousand words

9/08/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

A situation that opens a coversation within the soul. An experience that may well influence our lives and define our unguarded moments. From a friend, an interesting photo sent in the email that's worth a pause and a thousand words. =0=

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Labels: human interest, life, message, military, Photos, pictures, Totie Mesia

Princess Diana remembered

9/07/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

Princess Diana
1 July 1961 - 31 August 1997

“…that girl given the name of the ancient goddess of hunting was, in the end, the most hunted person of the modern age.”

In the early morning of August 31, 1997, Princss Diana died of injuries sustained in a horrible car crash in Paris as reporters hounded her. The memory of her short life receded in time, but one could recall that on September 6, 1997, her brother Earl Charles Spencer delivered a breath-taking tribute to the world’s Queen of Hearts--- that was during her interment, 12 years ago. (Photo Credits: Rosi)

At Westminster Abbey where the tombs of England’s monarchs rested, the irreplaceable Diana was eulogized that stirred the feelings of those present and the millions who watched in anguish in TV.

Tony Blair called her the people's princess. For her philantrophic works on landmines and babies wih AIDS, Daily Express referred to her as an "international angel of mercy." Part of Spencer's eulogy to the lady with a "sparkle in those unforgettable eyes" beautifully reads:

“Today is our chance to say thank you for the way you brightened our lives, even though God granted you but half a life.

We will feel cheated always that you were taken from us so young and yet we must learn to be grateful that you came along at all. Only now that you are gone do we truly appreciate what we are now without and we want you to know that life without you is very, very difficult.

We have all despaired at our loss over the past week and only the strength of the message you gave us through your years of giving has afforded us the strength to move forward.

There is temptation to rush to canonize your memory. There is no need to do so. You stand tall enough as a human being of unique qualities not to need to be seen as a saint. Indeed, to sanctify your memory would be to miss out on the very core of your being, your wonderfully mischievous sense of humor with the laugh that bent you double, your joy for life transmitted wherever you took smile, and the sparkle in those unforgettable eyes, your boundless energy which you could barely contain.

But your greatest gift was your intuition and it was a gift you used wisely. This is what underpinned all your wonderful attributes. And if we look to analyze what it was about you that had such a wide appeal we find it in your institinctive feel for what was really important in all our time.” =0=

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Labels: Earl Charles Spencer, eulogy, human interest, In Memoriam, Milestone, Prncess Diana, speech, Totie Mesia, transition, tribute

Baao, Camarines Sur & its Grand Pintakasi

7/27/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

ABANGAN!

“But alas! You'll get there, oh flow'rs,
Perhaps you'll retain your colors;
But far from your native, heroic land
To which you owe your life,
You'll lose your fragrant odours;
'Cause aroma's the soul, and ne'er leaves the sky,
Nor forgets, that saw at birth its light.”
---To the Flowers of Heidelberg, by JP Rizal, (trans. Alzona, E.)

As the feast of St. Bartholomew in August draws near, the people of Baao, Camarines Sur in Bicol are preparing for the traditional revelry that marks the celebration!

Miles away from home, in the West Coast of continental US, Baaoenos are eager to do the same. Watch out for a commemorative piece about Baao and its Pintakasi, an interesting town fiesta by people with a strong sense of community, fondness for neighbor, and love for wholesome fun. =0=

"Baao, sa kanakong kalipungawan, ngowan na aldow, di ta ika maling’wan."

RELATED BLOG: News from UP Ibalon Bicol and Friends Posted by mesiamd at 5/17/2009

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Labels: Baao, Baao PIntakasi USA, Bula Camarines Sur, Camarines, entertainment, fiesta, human interest, St. Battholomew, Totie Mesia

UP Ibalon trivia: the mystery guy in the BNAA convention

7/22/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

Now that the Bicol National Associaton of America (BNAA) Convention has been concluded in the Northeast, it can be said that an Ibalonian attended the affair from far away Houston, Texas. In the picnic last Sunday, July 19, 2009 at the Freedom Park, New Jersey following the gala dinner, a guy in blue with a friendly smile, loud laugh, and scintillating demeanor came along.

I heard someone mentioned his name. I almost couldn't believe it. As if I was hearing somebody from yesterday right under the shadow of the statue of Lady Liberty.

I had to be sure and so I asked. True enough, it was him, our Ibalon pal---found after more than 30 years! Who could he be? What might be your guess? =0=

Answer: Stephen (Steve/Tibo) David, originally from Legazpi City who was part of the core-group that established the UP Ibalon in Diliman, Quezon City. Steve spent time with the Department of Foreign Affairs and serve as a consular official in USA before assuming the presidency of the Filipino American Caucus for Empowerment. He is currently based in Texas.

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Labels: Bikol National Association of America, BNAA, human interest, Liberty Park, New Jersey, organization, picnic, reunion, social network, UP Ibalon

In the hospital

7/14/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

On Tuesday, July 7, 2009, I was to join my New York visitors to a trip to
West Point in Upstate New York. Poppa Lossiette Oracion from California was a Philippine Military Academy (PMA) professor in the Philippines and I knew it would be a treat to have him and his family see the sprawling American military academy near Hudson, a nostalgic recall of the stretch of attractive land of similar beauty in Baguio City, Philippines where he used to teach.

Yet the day before our trip, I realized I wasn’t feeling well. Before I slept that night, I said to Lossiette I might not join them to see the rustic wooded camp less than 2 hours by car north of New York city. I thought it wise to rest as my body was telling me.

When I woke up the next day, they were gone. I was left at home feeling weak with high fever, an indicator that I need to go to the emergency room alone. In a background of a chronic immuno-suppression, I had to do it. I must be having an infection.

It happened to me before. I developed a rapidly progressive sepsis---something that is understandably dangerous. My quick decision to go to the ER saved my life back then, in time before shock from overwhelming infection destroyed my body. That was a learning experience, a real brush with death that I couldn't forget.

I therefore called a limousine to pick me up from home to NYU Medical Center. Not for long, I was given a bed in the busy ER after a brief triage in the crowded action spot. Before the afternoon ended, I was settled at Room 1654 in Tisch Hospital building. My gut instinct was right. I was started on IV antibiotics for what turned out to be a lung infection.

It was only later that I was able to tell with certainty my airway was a bit irritated with a developing cold. I was coughing like crazy. At home, my visitors returned and read my short note telling them where I went. They quickly understood.

Poppa Lossiette and wife Tita Celi were able to tour the West Point without me. They embarked on an exciting discover adventure with newcomer Tita Meding in the bowels of Manhattan while I recuperated in the hospital. I had to direct their moves as they visited tourist spots, rode subways and buses. My hospital bed turned as the command center that made their tour of the city quite happy and meaningful. (Photo Credit: Pidgeons at Times Square) =0=

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Labels: Hospital, human interest, illness, infection, Lossiete and Celi Oracion, New York, New York City, Totie Mesia, travel, West Point

Ibalon friends in New York

7/04/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

Among recent visitors of New York City, Ibalon friends Mrs. Modesta Wilson and Mr. and Mrs. Lossiete and Arceli Oracion of Carson, CA and Harbor City, California respectively breezed trough the big Apple for the Independence day weekend.

Mrs. Wilson, the widow of Fred B. Wilson is from Indianola, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Oracion, originally from Fairview, Quezon City are the loving parents of Dr. Renato M. Oracion, a well-known dermatologist in Odessa, Texas. They are house guests of Dr. Marietta F. Mesia. (Photo Credit: AFM) =0=

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Labels: California, Dr. Marietta Mesia, Dr. Renato Oracion, friends, human interest, Lossiete and Celi Oracion, Modesta Wilson, New York City, Totie Mesia, UP Ibalon, visitors

MALIGAYANG ARAW NG MGA TATAY

6/20/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

Sa Pag-alaala ng Araw ng mga Tatay...Hunio 21, 2009

Ang lakas ng isang ama ay hindi sa lapad ng kaniyang mga balikat.
Ito’y nadarama sa higpit ng kaniyang mga yakap.

Ang lakas ng isang ama ay hindi sa lagong at lakas ng kaniyang boses.
Kundi sa marahan niyang tinig.

Ang lakas ng isang ama ay hindi sa dami ng kaniyang mga kabarkada.
Ito’y sa kung paano siya makisama sa kaniyang mga anak.

Ang lakas ng isang ama ay hindi sa kung paano siya tinitingala ng
kaniyang mga ka-opisina. Ito’y sa kung paano siya iginagalang sa tahanan.

Ang lakas ng isang ama ay hindi sa kung gaano siya katindi sumuntok.
Ito’y sa mapagmahal niyang haplos.

Ang lakas ng isang ama ay hindi sa lago ng buhok sa kaniyang dibdib.
Ito’y sa laki ng pusong tinitibok ay pag-ibig.

Ang lakas ng isang ama ay hindi sa bigat ng kaniyang binubuhat.
Ito’y sa mga kabigatang kaya niyang bathin.

Ang lakas ng isang ama ay hindi sa dami ng babaeng kaniyang pina-ibig.
Ito’y kung gaano siya katapat magmahal sa kaniyang natatanging kabiyak.

Source: DZAS Website/ Pinoywriters (Photo Credit: Dr. Fever) =0=

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Labels: anniversary, Father's day, human interest, social, Totie Mesia

Teary-eyed, Imelda Marcos swears on poverty anew

6/12/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

In a tragi-comic declaration, Imelda R. Marcos, the ageing widow of strong-man dictator Ferdinand Marcos asked the Sandiganbayan to spare her from “persecution” citing she is old and poor. The well-known extravagant lady complains of having to pay a P750,000 travel bond in her recent trip abroad.

Insisting on her innocence and protesting the sluggishness of the judicial rulings on the corruption charges she was accused of since the 1980’s, the 79 year-old pompous former first lady, said,

"Why is this taking so long? When they filed these cases in 1986, I was only 56 years old. In three weeks I will be 80! Justice delayed is justice denied. Ano bang kasalanan ko? Maawa naman kayo sa akin… I did so many projects … Heart Center, Lung Center, Kidney Center… and I am being punished for it.

Bakit hanggang ngayon kinakastigo ako. Ganito ba talaga ang judicial system sa ating bansa? Bakit ako ginaganito? Ano ba ang naging kasalanan ko? Minahal ko kayong lahat," she said. Malaya (06/12/09, Tabingo, P.)

It's unclear whether her audience is taking her seriously.

In April 6, 2009, GMANews.TV reported that Imelda came out in Newsweek magazine's most greedy people of all time along with Marcus Licinius Crassus, Genghis Khan, Pope Sixtus IV, William Vanderbilt, Willam Tweed, Empress Dowager Cixi, Charles Ponzi, Ivan Boesky, Dennis Kozlowski, and Bernard Madoff.

The flamboyant lady traveled to Singapore last June 2, 2009 for eye treatment. She appeared in Sandiganbayan to comply with the stipulations of her travel permit that she presents herself before the Clerk of Court within five days of her return. She said her travel was paid for by her children. (Photo Credit: ReikoChan) =0=

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Labels: Bernard Madoff, Charles Ponzi, Corruption, entertainment, graft and corruption, greed, human interest, Imelda Marcos, poverty, Singapore, Totie, travel, traveler

Looking into the eyes of Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

6/10/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

"Take back the beauty and wit you bestow upon me; leave me my own mediocrity of agreeableness and genius, but leave me also my sincerity, my constancy, and my plain dealing; 'tis all I have to recommend me to the esteem either of others or myself."---Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. English Aristocrat and Writer (1689 – 1762)

Many have been written about the beauty, kindness, and power of these two ladies---US First Lady Michelle Obama and France's First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. Both pensive and introspective, they are shown gracing the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the D-Day military assault by World War II heroes in Normandy at Colleville-sur-Mer cemetery on June 6, 2009.

What might be in their minds? Look. If you could, try to decipher their thoughts.(Photo Credit: Reuters; Philippe Wojazer (France Politics Anniversary) =0=

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Labels: anniversary, beauty, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, celebrity, D-day, entertainment, France, human interest, MIchele Obama, Normandy, Totie Mesia, USA

Transplant patient shows her new face

5/07/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

After a disfiguring gun shot injury inflicted by her husband five years ago, Connie Culp was helped by a reconstructive surgery involving a rare face transplant done by doctors at Cleveland Clinic in December 2008. The first near complete face transplantation ever performed by plastic surgeons in the United States, Culp is shown before and after the operation which took 22 hours to do.

The successful surgery certainly gave Culp a new face. People who suffer the same facial damage may find hope, courage, and inspiration from her and her physicians. (Photo Credit: AFP; Reuters/ Cleveland Clinic Handout) =0=

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Labels: Connie Culp, face transplant, human interest, plastic surgery, reconstructive surgery, Totie Mesia, transplant

Michele Obama's beauty secret

4/14/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

The only US First Lady who seeks the services of a full-time make-up artist in her travels, Michele Obama seems to be gaining the dividends of looking good.

Criticized for her shrewd and angry looks, Michele, according to observers looks kinder on and off the cameras.

“Mrs Obama drew criticism on the campaign trail for looking "angry" following fiery comments that were interpreted as unpatriotic.

Some critics even warned that her perceived anger would cost her husband the election. But a few deft flicks of the tweezers later, Mrs Obama's eyebrows had been trained into a gentler arc, giving her a friendlier appearance - a move style watchers have attributed to Mrs Grimes-Miles.”---Telegraph.co.uk (04/13/09)

Ingrid Grimes-Miles, is a 49 make-up artist from Chicago who takes extra care to make Michele appear her best. (Photo Credit: Story Accent) =0=

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Labels: beauty, human interest, Ingrid Grimes-Miles, MIchele Obama, Totie Mesia

World’s largest egg up for sale

3/28/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

Believed to be the planet’s biggest egg laid in the 17th century by an elephant bird of Madagascar, the huge orb is up for sale in a Chelsea antique fair.

Offered for 5,000 pounds (about $7,000) in UK this week, the egg has a circumference of more than a meter. It is supposed to have been laid by a now-extinct flightless big bird larger than an ostrich ---scientifically called (Aepyornis maximus) which stands about 10 to 11 feet. The egg's volume is about 160x more than that of the chicken. (Photo Credit: wikipedia; http://wagerwebentertainmente/) =0=

Elephant Bird (Aepyornis maximus)
Source: Answers.com

(Aepyornithidae)
Class: Aves
Order: Struthioniformes
Suborder: Aepyornithes
Family: Aepyornithidae
Thumbnail description: Extinct, large, flightless birds of massive build, known only from fragmentary fossil remains
Size: Some species probably 10 ft (3 m), 880 lb (400 kg)
Number of genera, species: 2 genera; 7 species
Habitat: Thought to have inhabited woodland and forest in southwest Madagascar
Conservation status: Extinct
Distribution: Madagascar

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Labels: Aepyornis maximus, animals, conservation, egg, elephant bird, entertainment, environment, human interest, Madagascar, Totie Mesia

A large Florence Nightingale lamp lights up for a nursing board topnotcher

2/21/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

"Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, It requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation, as any painter's or sculptor's work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of God's spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts." -- Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)

Overwhelming happiness must be what nursing board exam first placer Jovie Ann Decoyna feels. The farmer's daughter whose mother works as an OFW in Taiwan basks in the glow of honor after the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) released the result of the November licensure test yesterday.

Proud and admiring classmates from Baguio Central University came to gift the young professional with an extra-large Florence Nightingale lamp, a symbol of care and abiding commitment that nurses worldwide are known for. (Photo Credit: Andy Zapata/ Philstar)=0=

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Labels: board exam, human interest, Jovie Ann Decoyna, nurses, OFW, topnotcher, Totie Mesia

Great Britain's 13-year old boy-dad

2/18/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

Among the most alarming images I have seen lately is the picture of a four-foot tall, baby-faced Alfie Patten, the British boy who at 13 fathered a newborn girl. Sadly, little can be said, but much has to be done, about the immature kid and his infant whose heart-breaking photo appeared in the front page of the The Sun. The young mom is Alfie’s 15 year-old girlfriend Chantelle Steadman.

"It's an indication that we've lost our way, that people don't know the difference between right and wrong," he said of Alfie. 'The plain fact is society can't proceed on this basis. I think this is an indication of broken Britain,'" said Sir Bernard Ingham, Former Press Secretary of Margaret Thatcher. San Francisco Chronicle/AP (02/16/09, Katz, G)

In another vein, in California, USA, Nadya Suleman, a 33-year old, jobless woman who has been battling emotional instability gave birth to octuplets (8 babies) by in-vitro fertilization (IVF) done a fertility MD against the standard of medical practice. Before the birth of her 8 babies, Nadya who shares a 3 bedroom home with her financially bankrupt parents has 6 children from previous assisted pregnancies.

It's debated how the unmarried woman who lives on welfare will be able to take care of her 14 children. The hospital bills she has incurred are beyond the roof. With meager sense of accountability, she has hired a PR person to handle her book deals, TV interviews, and appeals for donations to keep her kids.

Great Britain suffers from inordinately high rate of teen pregnancies, petty thievery, alcoholism, and rampant street crimes among teenagers. America has problems which mirror these problems as well. As human beings, we think inwardly and ask, “Why? What has gone wrong in our world?” (Photo Credit: Stringer/ AFP/ Getty Images/ SFC)=0=

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Labels: Alfie Patten, behavior, boy-dad, England, Great Britain, human interest, Nadya Suleman, Octuplets, parenthood, pregnancy, sex, social, Toti Mesia

Kissing Guinness World Record goes to Mexico

2/16/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

It must be a cause of disappointment for Filipinos that this year, Mexico bagged the Guinness world record of having the biggest number of people gathered for a simultaneous kiss. On February 14, 2009, Valentines day, 39,897 Mexicans simultaneously kissed together in public to beat the the Britishers who won last year with 32,648 smoochers. The Philippines had only about 7,000 couples in a kissing event held in February 2007 in Manila.

According to Carlos Martinez, one of the Mexican organizers this year, the number could have reached 42,225, but crowd control was a problem in an open square in the city. The world record brought a shimmer of meaning when coodinators and social activists decried the growing peace and order problem of Mexico.

Almost 6,000 died last year of violence that has extended in towns along the US-Mexican border. Most of the crimes are related to the drug war being waged in the country. (Photo Credit: Sir Frank Dicksee PD) =0=

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Labels: behavior, Guinness World Records, human interest, Kissing, Mexico, Toti Mesia, Valentine message

Fiddler on the Roof''s "Do you love me?"

2/14/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

"Love seems the swiftest, but it is the slowest of all growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century."---Mark Twain

On February 14, it's nice to recall the exchange between the ageing Teyve and Golde, the interesting Jewish couple in the old musicale "Fiddler on the Roof." Their lives seem to affirm what writer-humorist Mark Twain was trying to say about the mystery of the heart. From one of the most unforgettable Broadway shows, here is the sing-song conversation about love: www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_y9F5St4j0&feature=related

(Tevye)
"Golde, I have decided to give Perchik permission to become engaged to our daughter, Hodel."

(Golde)
"What??? He's poor! He has nothing, absolutely nothing!"

(Tevye)
"He's a good man, Golde.
I like him. And what's more important, Hodel likes him. Hodel loves him.
So what can we do?
It's a new world... A new world. Love. Golde..."

Do you love me?

(Golde)
Do I what?

(Tevye)
Do you love me?

(Golde)
Do I love you?
With our daughters getting married
And this trouble in the town
You're upset, you're worn out
Go inside, go lie down!
Maybe it's indigestion

(Tevye)
"Golde I'm asking you a question..."

Do you love me?

(Golde)
You're a fool

(Tevye)
"I know..."

But do you love me?

(Golde)
Do I love you?
For twenty-five years I've washed your clothes
Cooked your meals, cleaned your house
Given you children, milked the cow
After twenty-five years, why talk about love right now?

(Tevye)
Golde, The first time I met you
Was on our wedding day
I was scared

(Golde)
I was shy

(Tevye)
I was nervous

(Golde)
So was I

(Tevye)
But my father and my mother
Said we'd learn to love each other
And now I'm asking, Golde
Do you love me?

(Golde)
I'm your wife

(Tevye)
"I know..."
But do you love me?

(Golde)
Do I love him?
For twenty-five years I've lived with him
Fought him, starved with him
Twenty-five years my bed is his
If that's not love, what is?

(Tevye)
Then you love me?

(Golde)
I suppose I do

(Tevye)
And I suppose I love you too

(Both)
It doesn't change a thing
But even so
After twenty-five years
It's nice to know.

[Thanks to amcanclini@yahoo.com for lyrics] Source: www.stlyrics.com/f/fiddlerontheroof.htm (Photo Credits: sundaygirl; greypoint)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

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Labels: Broadway, Fiddler on the Roof, human interest, Love, Mark Twain, music, Toti Mesia, Valentine message

A footnote from Madonna’s nude photo

2/13/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

If only to remind us that it’s the culture, value judgment, and sensibility of the 21st century that people are living, Madonna’s nude photo taken when the singer was just 20 years old trying to make ends meet, fetched for a record sell of $35,500.

The astounding amount is enough to stave off hunger of more than 35,500 indigent families in the Third World for a day or feed greater than 1,167 poor families for one month.

The frontal shot was taken for a measly $25 in a 1979 photo session with the then obscure Madonna Louise Ciccone before she became the well-known Madonna, the celebrity of the musical world. The photo was bought by an unidentified European buyer at a price more than twice than originally expected in a New York auction on February 12, 2009. (Photo Credit: Tony Barton PD) =0=

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Labels: celebrity, entertainment, human interest, Madonna, nude, nudity, Photos, singer, star, Toti Mesia, USA entertainment

Biggest breast enhancement on record?

2/09/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

Texas resident Sheyla Hershey, a 28 wife and mother wasn’t satisfied with an eye-popping 34FFF surgically enhanced breasts. On medical grounds, US plastic surgeons refused her request to further size augmentation, so she went all the way to Brazil to have the operation done.

In her pursuit for a place in the Guinness Book of World records, it was reported she allowed a gallon of filling material and multiple surgeries to bring the twin firm globes of her chest to rise to its astounding size of 38KKK.

(Photo Credit: www.sheylahershey.net) =0=

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Labels: big breast, breast, Guinness World Records, human interest, Sheyla Hershey, surgery, Toti Mesia

Olympic swimming star Michael Phelps apologizes for smoking marijuana

2/04/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

Michael Phelps, most admired Olympic swimmer with 8 gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Games apologized for being caught smoking marijuana. The popular 23 year old with multi-million product endorsements on his sleeve had a picture by a British newspaper showing him inhaling pot. The incident allegedly occurred in a party at the University of South Carolina in November last year, prompting South Carolina’s sheriff’s office to investigate for criminal wrong-doing.

"I'm 23 years old, and despite the successes I have had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner that people have come to expect from me," he said. "For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public -- it will not happen again."---CNN.com/crime (02/03/09)

Many said his quick apology was appropriate for damage control. In 2004, pleading guilty to driving while intoxicated (DUI,) Phelps was sentenced to 18 months probation for which he also apologized.

Role models like him run the danger of alienating fans and product sponsors if similar incidents occur in the future. The marijuana incident reveals the error-proneness of the young sports celebrity who supports the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, a group which aims to rid competitive sports of prohibited drugs. More infractions by personalities like Phelps make the public wonder if social decorum has been so compromised in the present generation. (Photo Credit Alexandre Battibugli) =0=

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Labels: celebrity, drug abuse. marijuana, drugs, DUI, human interest, Michael Phelps, Olympic swimmer, sports, Totie Mesia

Iraq unveils a shoe monument

1/31/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

We can forget Imelda Marcos’ shoes for a while. Iraqis are still elated and angered by the shoe thrown at Pres. George W. Bush and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki last December 2008 by journalist Muntadhir al-Zaidi. A brown shoe sculpture seems a funny retaliation by a culturally sequestered people who appreciate al-Zaidi and boil mad on the former US president even if they have been liberated from Saddam Hussein's tyrannical rule.

Surely, the Iraqis have strong reasons to be mad. The cost of war is high in places of ethnic strife and tribal clashes. Many human lives have senselessly been lost in the name of freedom. 5.1 million people were displaced and about an equal number of children were left without parents.

To vent their anger and send praises for the jailed shoe-thrower who dreams of getting an asylum status in Switzerland, Iraqis and children from the Tikrit Orphanage helped sculptor Laith al-Amiri make a symbolic shoe monument. A brown footware with a raggedly brown surface was mounted on a white cloth so the people could see and ponder.

Whatever thrill one gets in looking at the oversized shoe, the use of children to make a political point is disturbing. There is negatism and darkness young minds can't miss when they see the controversial shoe. The footware is less likely a symbol of disrespect and misplaced rage, but more a reminder of the derision the Muslims have for USA and Pres. George W. Bush.

Lacking gratitude after being saved from Saddam’s terroristic regime, some Iraqis have taken the low road of the warring militants who succeed in teaching generation(s) of children on selective memory and tough love. The faith-based beliefs against the "infidels" are still the driving force of hatred against the Western civilization. There are those who have become one-track thinkers--- intolerant, violent, self-righteous, and unforgiving in their political views. This is one reason why the culture of violence kills the innocents. And peace is so elusive in that part of the world. (Photo Credit: CNN) 0=

UPDATE: Feb. 1, 2009. Iraqi officials ordered the dismantling of the shoe monument in the Tikrit Orphanage. They say government facilities must not be used as a venue to air political views.

Labels: culture, Democracy, Freedom, human interest, Iraq, Middle East, moral values, Muntadhir al-Zaidi, politics, shoe monument, shoe-throwing, Totie Mesia, war

UP Ibalon Bicol

Picture worth a thousand words

Princess Diana remembered

Baao, Camarines Sur & its Grand Pintakasi

UP Ibalon trivia: the mystery guy in the BNAA convention

In the hospital

Ibalon friends in New York

MALIGAYANG ARAW NG MGA TATAY

Teary-eyed, Imelda Marcos swears on poverty anew

Looking into the eyes of Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

Transplant patient shows her new face

Michele Obama's beauty secret

World’s largest egg up for sale

A large Florence Nightingale lamp lights up for a nursing board topnotcher

Great Britain's 13-year old boy-dad

Kissing Guinness World Record goes to Mexico

Fiddler on the Roof''s "Do you love me?"

A footnote from Madonna’s nude photo

Biggest breast enhancement on record?

Olympic swimming star Michael Phelps apologizes for smoking marijuana

Iraq unveils a shoe monument

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