Careful to All No. 2's

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" 

This video has been going around. I need to show this to the hubby so he'll know the dangers of infidelity. 

What were you thinking?! Another "Missed-Lang"

For those whose lives revolve around networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, you really should be careful with what you tweet/post. You are not only exposing your life to the unknown, but other's lives as well.

@iamtimyap a.k.a. Tim Yap, self proclaimed "eventologist" mistakenly tweeted the name of a Philippine Daily Inquirer reporter's name as the Grand Lotto 6/55 jackpot winner. Now his life is in chaos.

PDI reporter fears for life over Tim Yap tweet

By Miko Morelos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:13:00 12/01/2010

MANILA, Philippines—So this is probably how a lottery jackpot winner feels—paranoid, insecure and uneasy.

But in my case, I’m neither P741 million richer nor a consolation prize winner, and yet I share the burden of the mystery bettor.

On Monday night, I filed breaking news on the winning combination of the 6/55 Grand Lotto, a much anticipated result because the jackpot was the biggest prize ever in the country’s lottery.

Monitoring the radio, I took note of the numbers and sent them as soon as the combination was complete. I was told the combination was flashed on the INQUIRER.net website, sent via SMS and Twitter.

A call to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office turned my draft—which assumed there was no winner since bettors were luckless the past 85 times—180 degrees. “There is a winner from Luzon,” PCSO assistant general manager Liza Gabuyo told me.

Adrenaline rush

The adrenaline rushed through my veins. I told myself the one in a 29 million chance did exist. It was the odds a punter must hurdle to win the top prize.

I called up the duty editor to inform him that there was a winner, and that I would file a story shortly. I rehashed a draft I prepared last week.

I sent a one-line e-mail to our Twitter operator saying “One winner from Luzon confirmed.”

Minutes later, I filed the story, headed home and called it a night.

Unthinkable

Then the unthinkable happened.

“Did you really win the Grand Lotto?” was the first line my college pal told me as he rang my phone.

“Huh? I didn’t even get a chance to place my bet,” I replied.

“You should tune in to Magic 89.9 because people are saying you won,” he said. I tuned in to the FM radio station only to miss the announcement.

Call from mother

My mother was the second person to call me up. She posed the same question. I gave her the same answer, and she said my sister was being asked by her friends about Monday night’s draw. My mother passed the phone to my sister, who said her friends had learned about the information via Twitter.

I mumbled profanities and curses on my way home. Once there, I immediately logged onto my social networking accounts. To my surprise, what my friend, mother and sister had told me was no bad joke; people took the information as gospel truth.

Stream of messages

I had over 100 people I never personally met asking me to add them as a “friend,” while a stream of congratulatory messages flooded my inbox. I told myself the situation was getting out of hand.

The first thing I did was to snoop around while replying to concerned friends who exerted efforts in trying to clear the miscommunication. The snafu even reached a couple of my friends based overseas who also tried to clarify the issue by sending retweets.

I discovered who the culprit was.

Tim Yap

Apparently, it was celebrity host Tim Yap who branded me the winner in his tweet a few hours earlier.

“Eto na, PCSO confirms one winner—his name is Miko Morelos. He gets to take home the P741.2M peso Grand Lotto 6/55 Jackpot! #magtagokana!” he said in his Twitter account (@iamtimyap Tim Yap)

The first thing that crossed my mind was how clueless Yap was on the subject. The PCSO does not disclose the identity of any winner for obvious security reasons.

What was appalling was the hundreds of people falling for the false information. They even set up a fan page on Facebook encouraging me to spend the money wisely, while not taking seriously the clarifications from the Inquirer Twitter account and “Mr. Bigshot socialite” (Yap) himself.

Yap continued with his tweets: “And guess what? Miko Morelos is on twitter! @mikomorelos I already sent a request. He protected his tweets already. #afraidforhislife,” @iamtimyap Tim Yap said.

He tried to clarify the matter when he tweeted: “Okay, ladies& gents excited about the winner of the lotto jackpot—I received reports that Miko Morelos is the Inquirer reporter who reported about the lotto. Not necessarily the winner. #sorrynacarriedawaylahat.”

(I personally find the hashtags contentious bordering on the malicious.)

Damage done

The damage had been done.

My mother called me up Tuesday afternoon saying the classmates of my sisters appeared to be convinced that I won the jackpot, no matter how much they denied the information.

With the desperate times as indicated by the surge in petty crimes in the streets, I feared for our safety.

I commute to work from our house and the dangers of public transport are as obvious as the color of the sky. My family, likewise, does the same.

Precautions

I’ve taken precautions to salvage what was left of my identity in my social networking accounts, claiming a copyright infringement on my part for the unauthorized use of my name on the Facebook pages (including the one that’s supporting me for the sake of a level playing field).

What bothers me is how people take information at face value, without reading or even processing these bits to form a coherent thought. Is this a sign of the times that people aren’t thinking critically anymore?

I hope not.

(And even if I did win the jackpot, you probably wouldn’t see my byline tomorrow.)

article from inquirer.net

----------------------------

What's more disappointing was the tweeter's attempt to make things right... he tweets "Congratulations to Miko Morelos of the Inquirer for breaking the story of somebody winning the lotto from Luzon. #sorrypotaolangnagkakamali"

Seriously?! That's your excuse?! Tao lang?!

Again, cyberworld is a scary monster. Be careful when playing with it.

Never Been Kissed Episode: Kurt and Blaine Connection

I've often felt bad that Kurt doesn't have a love-interest in the series. But since they're writing in a partner for him, I'm super excited!

I believe in equality, even for gays and lesbian. If heteros can find love, why shouldn't they?! I think this scene is super romantic! Nice choice of song too.

Now I'm even more excited for the coming episodes.

Disney Girls

They used to be little girls. Now, they grow up into vixens!

My son has old videos of Barney and I saw Selena Gomez there as a young kid hugging Barney. Then she becomes a Disney kid playing a wizard in Wizards of Waverly Place. She's all grown up now! See her in this video...



Then of course, the golden child, Miley Cyrus who rose to fame as Hannah Montana. As she turns 18 in a couple of weeks, she goes sexier and sexier...

Let's wait for a few more years and see how sexy they've become...

And the #BOOBOO_of_the_Year goes to...

The Dangers of Tweeting
By Ira Pedrasa
Posted at 11/02/2010 11:40 AM

Updated as of 11/02/2010 3:11 PM

Mislang came under fire following her posts on the popular social networking site, Twitter.

Mislang posted in her Twitter account, “The wine sucks” after the state banquet hosted by Vietnam President Nguyen Minh Triet in honor of Aquino.

She also tweeted: “Sorry pero walang pogi dito #vietnam.” (Sorry, there are no handsome men here.)

She also posted: “Crossing the speedy motorcycle laden streets of Hanoi is one of the easiest ways to die.”

Mislang has already been reprimanded, and Malacañang has stopped its communications officials from further using social networking sites pending a review of the social media policy.

(article taken from abs-cbnnews.com)

By now the whole cyberspace have feasted on the big booboo on Twitter by one of P-Noy's speech writer, Mai Mislang. Even saw a "anti"-fanpage on Facebook for her.

So here's what I think about Twitter/Facebook/Blogging...

1. Once you put it out online, it's there forever... You can take it back but someone out there viewed it already. Worse is if they download it and successfully spread it around.

2. Remember all those internet scandals??? How they spread like wildfire??? It's the same.

3. If you're a public figure chances are you have more followers than friends.

4. If you want to blog/tweet/post without censorship, use a different username and avatar. Go anonymous! And please drop the hashtag!!!

5. You can't separate what you put online with who you are. Nowadays, blogging is like an extension of who you are.

6. If you say something wrong online, have the balls to stand by it. Or say sorry.

Not all thoughts that go through our head should be posted online. There are repercussions on us, on our friends and family, the topic of our rants or raves, and even to our readers. The old adage "think before you speak" holds true. Now it goes beyond to "think before you speak, tweet, blog..."

Katy Perry + Elmo

Sometimes it's the adults that put malice in everything... even in Sesame Street. This clip was not aired coz too much of Katy Perry's boobs were showing.

Seriously?! 

Two-year olds will say "look ma, boobies!"... I don't think so!

I thought it was really cute! 

Transformer Parking

Felt like the whole car park was going to transform into a robot right in front of me. This is in the 168 parking area. Multi-level parking at its finest.

Just sucks that it took us 45 minutes to wait for our car. There were only two operators for the whole parking contraption and queuing was a big problem. The operators didn't have a system to organize those that were waiting for their cars! 

Here's how it works...

But it was such a good invention! Luvet! Cool to watch too...

The New Heatthrobs

There's a new breed of heartthrobs on t.v. And no, they're not your usual jocks and hotties... but still hotties in their own right.

"Dr. Spencer Reid"

Matthew Gray Gubler plays Dr. Spencer Reid, the youngest member of the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. His a genius having graduated high school at 12 and went to Cal Tech at 13. He's the nerd that spouts stats and quotes from the top of his head.

"Chuck Bartowski"

Zachary Levi plays the lead character in the series Chuck. Supposed to be an employee in Buy More but got entangles with the CIA. 

What's with the geeks?! They've become so hot! Maybe it's true... smart men are really sexy!

Barney for my baby

This year we have decided to do a Barney-themed birthday party for my baby. Personally, I'd rather do Blues Clues but the boy loves his Barney. So, while he is still this young and still acceptable to adore Barney, we will have the purple dino on his 2nd birthday.

Even after so many years (probably more than a decade!), Barney is still quite popular. Even if he's not shown on regular or cable tv. Blame it on dvds, I guess. My son got hooked while watching his videos. Well, Barney is an easy theme. Divisoria, and even toy stores, are full of Barney stuff. We didn't have a hard time looking. 

Although there were still stuff not available locally... costumes are so chaka in Divi. I want to get this for him. Just don't know how long he can stand wearing this in our weather...

He likes BJ by the way... thank God!

They do have Barney costumes but... no purple for my boy!

I wanna get this set too... but there's so much purple!!!

I still have a few months to finalize everything. It's just his 2nd birthday and I'm not doing an all-out party. Sigh... children party nowadays can be so brutal to parents' pockets!

Battle Royale: Angelica vs Claudine

The "war" between Angelica Panganiban and Claudine Baretto-Santiago has been in the news for a couple of weeks already. Apparently Claudine accuses Angelica of spreading rumors about her and Derek Ramsey's best friend - a non-showbiz person. And also for Angelica's behavior towards Derek's co-star and Claudine's sister, Gretchen.

In PEP.ph, several articles have been posted. First article is Angelica's camp demanding Claudine to apologize. 

"Contrary to your baseless accusations, our client has not done any of the things you have accused her of. She has not committed anything wrong, much less, maligned you or any member of your family. On the contrary, it is our client who is being maligned by your unfounded accusations. You have placed our client's reputation and good name in a bad light, in the eyes of the public. Your malicious statements have unduly exposed our client to public hatred and contempt and have caused derogatory feelings against her.

"We have further gathered that on 8 August 2010, you called Ms. Panganiban and threatened her in this manner, "[P]apatayin kita. Wawasakin ko mukha mo. You don't deserve to live. Suntukan tayo ngayon na." You likewise conveyed this threat against the life of Ms. Panganiban to no less than Ms. Mariole Alberto, Head of Star Magic, when you said "Wawasakin ko ang mukha niya pag nagkita kami Tita."

"Your threat against the life of our client, which was not made in jest, is a grave threat punishable under our penal laws.

"Let this, therefore, serve as a FINAL DEMAND on you to immediately cease from making any more false accusations and damaging remarks against our client, and to stop threatening her life and well-being.

"We likewise hereby demand a retraction from you of your libelous and slanderous statements, to correct the negative impression created in the minds of the people who have read or heard your statements against our client. Should you fail to do so within seven (7) days from receipt of this letter, we shall be constrained to take whatever legal action necessary to protect the interests of our client.

Then there's the interview with the wife of Derek's friend allegedly having an affair with Claudine. The gist of the interview is, Angelica never said anything to malign Claudine and the wife does not believe the affair.

THE BIG QUESTION.  Claudine has said there are rumors linking her and Martin, I tell Cris. Has she heard those rumors?

"I only heard them from Claudine! She's the one telling me. She said she investigated," Cris answers straight.

She says she also said to Claudine, "I said, 'What do you care? You know it's not true. I know it's not true. What do you care?'

"I told her, 'You're not having an affair with my husband—so why should you be putting so much energy into this?' But Claudine can't let it go. I don't know why she won't let it go. 

"Claudine told me she did not invent this. I told her, 'I don't care, and you shouldn't care. You have Raymart, you have your kids, your career. Why should you care? You can't find time for any of this!'"

While Angelica keeps quiet, Gretchen Barretto defended her during an interview also in PEP.ph.

"And you know what, I'll tell you this: I don't believe that Angelica said anything like that against me. Kasi kung may sinabi siya na gano'n, hindi siya makakaharap sa akin tulad nang paghaharap niya sa akin. And wala pa ni isang tao sa show business na nagsabi sa aking sinungaling si Angelica. Walang nagsasabi nang ganun.

"Parati nilang sinasabi na mabuti siyang tao, prangka siyang tao. Kung hindi siya prangka, e, di sana hindi niya ako twinit, 'no! [laughs] Di ba? At sana hindi na rin siya humingi ng tawad, di ba?

"Ngayon ko lang naririnig itong version na ito! Ang totoo, may istoryang umiikot that does not involve me at all. Hindi ako ipinagtatanggol ni Claudine dito sa away na ito—dahil wala kaming away ni Angelica.

I think this will be the news for a few more days... or until Angelica speaks up.

Philippines Still Held Hostage

A week after the hostage taking in Manila Grandstand, seems like Philippines is still held hostage over the incident. It is still topic of conversations, which is good. Sometimes it pays for people not to forget. There is action. But there is also pain. I hope we move on soon. Moving on doesn't mean forgetting. I'm sure the Chinese will never forget, but I hope they forgive us. Because one man may have started everything but the whole nation is paying for it.

People are quick to say that it should've happened this way, or handled that way, and put the blame on others. But maybe we should think about it this way... what if it happened the other way around? Will we not feel the same?

Hong Kong stages march over Manila hostage tragedy 

By Polly Hui
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 19:06:00 08/29/2010

HONG KONG-- Tens of thousands joined a rally in Hong Kong on Sunday to demand justice for victims of the Manila hostage bloodbath, as the city's Filipino community staged its own memorials for the dead.

Demonstrators voiced their anger over the Philippine government's handling of the siege in the heart of Manila on Monday, which left eight Hong Kong tourists dead amid widespread complaints of police bungling.

"It's too late for the governments to do anything, but Hong Kong people hope that, at the very least, the Philippine authorities could tell us the truth," Daisy Kwong, a telecoms firm project manager, told AFP.

"I cried for hours after watching the tragedy played out live on TV," she said.

The sea of demonstrators observed three minutes of silence as they gathered in a Hong Kong park Sunday afternoon, many wearing yellow ribbons and carrying white flowers, the traditional Chinese colour of mourning.

The Hong Kong political parties organising the rally have said it could draw as many as 50,000 people. No official figures have been released.

"I am furious," 56-year-old Law Wai-hing said. "I don't think we will ever be told the truth when the (Philippine) president (Benigno Aquino) is as appalling as he is.

"I hope the Chinese government and the United Nations can exert pressure on the Philippine government."

Members of the city's 200,000-strong Filipino community, the vast majority working as low-paid domestic helpers, have voiced fears of retribution.

Rally organizers asked demonstrators not to carry racially charged placards or chant discriminatory slogans, while several hundred Filipinos turned out to a candlelight vigil, one of several memorial services held Sunday.

"Please don't be upset. Don't be scared. It's not your fault. We share our anger towards the Philippine government, not towards you, not towards the entire nation," Fermi Wong, founder of Unison Hong Kong, a social group helping ethnic minorities, told the crowd of mainly domestic helpers.

Philippine vice consul Val Roque said that a text message was sent to members of the community asking them to "set aside what they are doing" and attend memorial masses on Sunday.

"Being mostly Catholic, it was the best way for us to express our solidarity with the people of Hong Kong," Roque told AFP.

He downplayed fears about possible reprisals on Filipinos, saying there had been no confirmed reports of harassment or physical abuse.

"We trust our friends in Hong Kong would not do anything untoward against Filipinos here... But we understand the anger must be released. We hope as the days go by that anger will dissipate."

A Facebook site to remember the victims has attracted thousands of signatures and a flood of criticism directed at the Philippine government.

Disgraced ex-policeman Rolando Mendoza, armed with an assault rifle, hijacked a busload of Hong Kong tourists on Monday in an apparent bid to win his old job back and be cleared of extortion charges.

Eight tourists and the gunman were killed in the final stages of the 12-hour ordeal, when ill-equipped police launched an assault on the bus in a drama that unfolded live on television screens around the world.

Philippine police said Sunday they were certain that the Hong Kong tourists were killed by Mendoza, rather than by police bullets during the ill-fated rescue operation.

Hong Kong undersecretary for security Lai Tung-kwok said on Saturday autopsies had been carried out on all eight victims, which may lead to an official inquiry.

Five senior Manila policemen who took part in the assault have been suspended and their commanding officer has also taken leave.

Hong Kong's Sunday Morning Post newspaper reported that a letter containing an offer by the Philippine police to suspend Mendoza's dismissal and try to end the hostage crisis had arrived at the scene too late.

But this claim was dismissed by country's national police spokesman.

NAKAKALURKY!

I saw love them! I could feel their love for Venus Raj!

And isn't that Veejay Floresca from Project Runway Season 1?!

IDOL: Pinoy GLEE

I know imitation is the best complement but for goodness sake... are we pinoys not creative enough to come up with a totally original series???

I bet they also want to copy CSI but too difficult for pinoy budget.

BEKIMON

Oh gosh! This is too much! Hilarious!



There's more!!!



Seriously... I luvet!

And the battle continues

Actions really speak louder than words... see Mommy Annie and judge for yourself.

Wondering how will Kris react? Check out this site for her exclusive interview...

Okay, okay... that was a joke!!! But woudn't it be funny if it was true?!

(linked The Professional Heckler's site)

Yes, I think I can dance...

Whenever I watch So You Think You Can Dance, I suddenly miss dancing. I really do! I miss ballet most of all. I used to hate it when my mom makes me take classes til I started wearing toe shoes... then I started loving it! I wish I took it MORE seriously. Maybe studied even til college.

That's why I'm such fans of dance shows! 

And that's why when daughters of friends start studying ballet, I'm super supportive!

GLEE BOYS ON TEEN CHOICE

USmagazine.com reports that Cory Monteith (Fin), Mark Salling (Puck), Chris Colfer (Kurt) and Kevin McHale (Artie) of Glee will be hosting the Teen Choice Awards along with Katy Perry.

Awww... there will probably be a production number!!! Hope they'll show it here in the Philippines! Show will air on August 9, Monday on FOX (800-1000pm ET/PT).


Incidentally, was watching Oprah on Hallmark channel and guess who's there?! The Glee cast!

Love in World Cup

I heard C&D talking about this on the radio this morning. I just had to look for it on YouTube! Hay, sweeeeet!

This is why I love World Cup better than NBA... while I do love basketball (ingrained in my blood being an Atenean and all), World Cup has more yummy, virile, hot and gorgeous young men to see!

Was that too much adjectives for one sentence???

Well, in this video, does help the girl is hot as well.

Oh, by the way... Viva España!!!

NED VS ESP

NETHERLANDS VS SPAIN

July 11, 2010 at 230am to be aired live on BALLS Sky Cable

Obviously I will be quite tired on Sunday with the World Cup early in the morning and UAAP in the afternoon.

Uh-oh... my bad!

FIFA drops refs who made biggest mistakes

PRETORIA, South Africa – The World Cup’s worst referees were sent packing on Tuesday as soccer’s governing body tried to cut down on the glaring errors that have plagued the tournament.

The 10 referees deemed to be the worst in the tournament were excluded from the final list of elite officials who will be in contention to take charge of the all-important quarterfinal rounds onward.Koman Coulibaly, the referee who gained notoriety for controversially denying the United States a potential game-winning goal against Slovenia in the group stage, was sent back to Mali without having refereed another match since his glaring mistake 11 days ago.

All 10 packed up their things from the secret refereeing base near Pretoria – where the officials have lived in isolation since the start of the World Cup – and were due to catch flights home either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Yahoo! Sports exclusively revealed hours after the USA 2-2 draw with Slovenia that Coulibaly would not be allowed to referee another match, and so it transpired.

Also on the list of those axed was Uruguay’s Jorge Larrionda, who committed the most high-profile mistake of the event by denying England’s Frank Lampard a goal against Germany, even though his strike landed more than two feet over the goal line.

Another referee to be sent home was Stephane Lannoy of France, a leading European official who was originally expected to take charge of key matches late in the tournament. But Lannoy’s fate was sealed when he sent off Brazil’s Kaka against the Ivory Coast for an innocuous challenge. So too was that of Italian Roberto Rosetti, who allowed Argentina’s hotly disputed first goal against Mexico in the round of 16.

The cuts are part of FIFA’s bid to drastically improve refereeing standards after a series of incidents that infuriated fans, players and coaches alike.

“Naturally we deplore it when we see the evidence of referees’ mistakes,” FIFA president Sepp Blatter said. “Our goal is to improve the overall quality.”

(article taken from Yahoo Sports)

Farewell Krissy!

Twitter and Facebook was flooded with tweets and statuses on Kris' farewell episode on The Buzz. Imagine, Kris Aquino became the number one trending topic on Twitter til late last night!!! I even got texts from friends who do not watch The Buzz regularly sharing their thoughts on the interview!

As expected her final "speech" and interview was explosive! Kris confirms her break up with her cager husband, James Yap. Saying there was NO third party but she just gave up and is looking into the legal aspect of dissolving their marriage. And then there is the uncertainty of what she will be doing, or not be doing on t.v.

Gosh, I feel so bad about their marriage. They may be an unlikely pair but I like them together nonetheless.

While there are lots of Kris-haters out there, you must admit that showbiz, or at least the t.v. world, won't be the same without her! C'mon... how fun will sunday be now that she's gone?!!!

Read rest of the article here.

Failbook anyone?!

Filipinos are afraid of confrontation and prefers euphemisms when dealing with people. Even when we want to be sarcastics, we just settle on "pagpaparinig" than come out and be a bitch... unless we want to lose our friends...

So, when a friend introduced me to this site, I fell inlove with it! Failbook is a site for Facebook statuses and comments that are worth featuring because of their wit, humor or sarcasm!

Here are some of my favorites:

My friend wondered why we didn't comment this way. I told her pinoys are scared of looking overtly evil ... God knows how many times I've been sooooo tempted to diss people on FB! Let's start with those wrong grammar! Haha!

Click here for the site.

Singing with Glee!!!

Guess who is Rachel's new competition next season????

This is awesomeness!!! After dodging the news a few weeks ago, Charice finally comes out and confirms the news.

She's so up there na talaga! Grabeh!

(article taken from http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/06/22/10/charice-im-on-glee-lets-party)

Down Twitter

Twitter is still down. I finally saw the whale. I think I know why it's over capacity. Coz everybody is tweeting that Twitter is down...

Twitter is over capacity.

Too many tweets! Please wait a moment and try again.

C'mon, admit it... you know you want to watch it. Maybe not for KC, but definitely for Gabby! 

I'm an 80's kid... can't deny I'm a Gabby-Sharon fan. What's your favorite Sharon and Gabby movie?! This is mine...

EMIR

I think this movie is worth watching. It's out already.

REGIONALS: Glee Finale (Highlights)

These are just some of the highlights from the Season 1 finale of GLEE. Was truly touched when they sang To Sir With Love... gave me goosebumps coz we used to sing this to one of our male teachers in highschool. 

This is Will's reply to his students... sigh! Don't you just have songs that mark significant moments in your lives?! And years after, whenever you suddenly hear it you just go back and reminisce?! Whenever I watch Glee, I feel that.

I've got a sinking feeling...

Wikipedia defines a sinkhole as...

A sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline or cenote, is a natural depression or hole in the surface topography caused by karst processes - the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks[1]. Sinkholes may vary in size from less than 1 to 300 meters (3.3 to 980 ft) both in diameter and depth, and vary in form from soil-lined bowls to bedrock-edged chasms. They may be formed gradually or suddenly, and are found worldwide. These terms are often used interchangeably though many will distinguish between those features into which a surface stream flows and those which have no such input. Only the former would be described as sinks, swallow holes or swallets.

Recently, a 66 feet wide and 100 feet deep sinkhole formed in Guatamala after a tropical storm. It swallowed a three-storey factory (read rest of the article here). 

Apparently sinkholes are more common than we think. The most famous one (apparently to the Science world it is well-known...) is the Great Blue Hole located in the east of Belize.

I've always believed that when the end of the world happens, Earth will not explode but instead implode! Like a black hole will just swallow the planet. Or maybe if the sinkholes are deep enough, Earth will break in pieces...

SEASON 1 - EPISODE 21: FUNK

This was, for me, the BEST Glee episode since they started the second part of the first season. The storyline has been shaky for the past episodes and I'm a little worried, what with all the news on various series not getting picked up or getting cancelled. Check out the video of the different songs. Warning: some are extra creepy!

Hope Glee stays for a while. I need my "Broadway" fix!!!

Another YouTube Star

Another Justin Bieber?! This is Greyson Chance.

Apparently YouTube has become an aspiring artist's venue to be discovered. He's good but hope he doesn't end up a one-hit-wonder.

But Greyson, what's with the hair flip???

Crystal and Lee

I hope they will be the final two. They're my favorites.

What's in a Name???

Poll inspectors use nicknames to spice up random audit

AMITA O. LEGASPI, GMANews.TV

05/11/2010

01:09 PM

Tallying votes at three in the morning after an exhausting day of poll duty is no easy task. But not if you use nicknames for candidates during the random audit.

Which is exactly what the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) did while conducting a random manual audit at a precinct of the University of the Philippines Integrated School (UPIS).

The members of the BEI in the school’s precinct 1211 formulated monickers for national candidates to spice up the task of reading their names and tallying their votes.

Nacionalista Party standard bearer Senator Manuel Villar Jr. was called “Ang Bilyones" because of his wealth and seemingly bottomless campaign kitty; his running mate Sen. Loren Legarda, “Ang Halaman" because of her tree-planting projects.

Vice presidential bet Jejomar Binay was called the “White Horse," because of his lead and an ironic take on his dark complexion, while former President Joseph Estrada was called “My Shining Star," owing to his previous career as an action star.

Quezon City vice mayor and mayor-elect Herbert Bautista was called “The Bistek", his nickname during his younger days in showbusiness.

Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, who is a congressional candidate for Quezon City's 4th district, was called “The Old Guy."

For reasons known only to members of the BEI, they call out "I pity you, guy" whenever referring to Bagumbayan presidential bet Sen. Richard Gordon.

His running mate, former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando, was called “The MMDA" for obvious reasons.

Poll front runner Sen Benigno Simeon Aquino III was called “Yan ang kandidato" while Liberal Party vice presidential bet Sen. Manuel Roxas III was called “Yan si Korina" referring to his wife, broadcaster Korina Sanchez.

The teachers shout “Ang Lupa" when counting votes for Rep. and mayoralty candidate Annie Rosa Susano — known for her substantial real-estate assets — while Lakas-Kampi presidential bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr. was referred to as “Ang Kawawang Nilalang."

The teachers also tried different ways of saying the names of the candidates just to fight sleep and boredom, if only to continue the tally.

No one is interested

The BEIs lamented the people’s lack of interest in the RMA, pointing to the departure of poll watchers after the automated results of the voting were transmitted and printed out.

“Ay wala nang nagbabantay sa atin dito. Ayaw nila tayong samahan?" one of the teachers said when they noticed that only a Namfrel volunteer was present in the room.

The teachers believed that this was because RMA will not affect the declaration of winning candidates.

The random manual count is required, under Republic Act 9369 or the Automated Elections law, to test if the poll machines have accurately counted the ballots.

Five precincts in each of the 229 legislative districts — or a total of 1,145 polling centers — will undergo the random manual audit.

On Monday morning, the Commission on Elections chose the precincts to undergo RMA through a tambiolo.

The automated poll results showed Aquino with the highest number of votes (318), followed by Estrada (152) and Teodoro (124). Villar received only 12 votes.

Interestingly, presidential candidate Senator Ma. Ana Consuelo ‘Jamby’ Madrigal got zero votes while disqualified Vetallano Acosta received one vote.

Binay also won with 311 votes followed by Roxas with 266. In far third was Fernando with 78 votes while farther behind was Legarda with 23.

Local candidates Belmonte, Bautista, and vice mayoral bet Joy Belmonte also won in the precinct.

Of the 843 voters registered in the precinct, only 699 cast their votes.

It took the BEI at least six hours to manually tally the votes.

There were variations between the automated result and manual tally.

Ramon Armenta, chairman of the BEI, said this was because they recognize even a dot on the ballot which the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine does not recognize.

Melitaa LLacar, BEI member, said the taxing duty to tally the votes makes her appreciate the automated elections more.

"Mas gusto ko na itong automated, mas mabilis," she said. - LBG, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV