Okay Ba Tayo, Tyan?

It seems I have a new addiction.. and it's centered on a fermented milk-like product from Japan: Yakult!

Maybe it was due to the Chinese milk powder scandal. Maybe it was the fact that Yakult was a good alternative for milk to someone like me who likes milk but is unluckily lactose intolerant. Or maybe its interesting taste just had me hooked.

I'm not the only one. Two packs of Yakult aren't enough for me and my siblings. It'd be gone in a day if we didn't care that maybe sis or bro didn't get a drink of it yet.

I'm very grateful this addiction isn't that bad. Yakult has many benefits for the body, and especially aids with digestion.

Yakult on Wikipedia? Oooohhh...

The claimed benefits are supported by an array of scientific studies according to the manufacturer website. Those could range from maintenance of gut flora, modulation of the immune system, regulation of bowel habits and constipation and finally effects on some gastro-intestinal infections.

Josh Groban at the Emmys 2008

I know of many people who think Josh Groban's music was boring, which eventually led to him being boring as well. Ha! Well, here's a treat for them.. the talented Josh Groban performing the theme songs of US television shows over the years at the Emmys:

To the people who think classical singers are boring, this just proved you wrong.

Brisingr Delayed ... C R A P

Last week I could skip while walking and type away with no pressure when working. It's because I was looking forward to a weekend when I would be able to bury myself in Eragon's world. I was waiting as patiently as I could for the 20th of September to come around. It was at this date that the third book of the Inheritance Cycle, Brisingr, was to be on sale.

Imagine my disappointment when I found out that the shipment to our country was delayed. I was hoping that maybe other branches of National Bookstore had more luck than the one at SM City. But then that was hoping for the improbable.

My entire weekend was a little depressing due to this. I tried to cheer myself up by buying two different books -- The Bookman's Promise and Stardust --- but I don't think they're giving me the satisfaction that reading Brisingr would. They're not adventurous enough; and they're not thick enough. And I miss reading about dragons and elven magic.

It's also taking a lot of my energy not to read the Wikipedia entry on Brisingr, because it already has the summary of the book posted. Argh!

Emmy Winners List!

30 Rock is still going on strong in the Emmys, alright.. I'm just sad to see that my usual favorites (James Spader of Boston Legal and Hugh Laurie of House, among others) didn't make it.

The mian list of winners at the 2008 Emmys are the ff:

Outstanding Comedy Series: 30 Rock

Outstanding Drama Series: Mad Men

Outstanding Made For Television Movie: Recount

Outstanding MiniSeries: John Adams

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series: Tina Fey - 30 Rock

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series: Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series: Glenn Close - Damages

Outstanding Lead Actor In A MiniSeries Or Movie: Paul Giamatti - John Adams

Outstanding Lead Actress In A MiniSeries Or Movie: Laura Linney - John Adams

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series: Jeremy Piven - Entourage

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series: Jean Smart - Samantha Who?

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series: Zeljko Ivanek - Damages

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series: Dianne Wiest - In Treatment

Outstanding Supporting Actor In A MiniSeries Or Movie: Tom Wilkinson - John Adams

Outstanding Supporting Actress In A MiniSeries Or Movie: Eileen Akins - Cranford

The Beauty Is a He ... Shucks!

This may be a face that could launch a thousand ships...


.. BUT ... > there's always a "but" < ... she is a HE.

This is Kim Petras, a German boy who had hormone treatments for a sex change operation -- the youngest to do so at the age of 12. He was recently signed up for a German record label. Maybe we'll hear from him -- or her --- more in the future.

I'm sure he was cute when he was guy. But I must admit he's beautiful as a girl, too. I sigh, with frustration as to how an attractive male could have thought to disappoint females like me by denying us a chance to date him. And I sigh... because ain't he just a beauty?!

From Sir, With Love

Just when I finished writing a dreary post about the month of September, I come writing back with more sad news. I recently heard that a former teacher and principal back in elementary school passed away days or weeks ago.

He wasn't just any principal. I didn't know him as a teacher because his subjects were that of secondary level. But I knew him as a principal. And he was a very respected principal. We only had good things to say about him, as compared to the other principals before and after him.

He was diagnosed with cancer, and it had spread into his liver. I didn't get all the details. The news of his death had just been passed from one Dole Philippines School alumni to another. It only reached me yesterday, through my brother and my friends.

A fellow alumni went and visited Sir Isidro Saranillo days before he died. During his visit, he made a video with Sir Saranillo giving us his message of living life.

September is My Month.. So Why Do I Feel Crappy?

It's September, and my birth certificate says it's a time for me to look back and remember crappy and happy times in the past year while preparing to slug out another 365 days. Yes, it's my birth month. Should I be happy? Well, perhaps I should be.. but there's always a heavy cloud above me when September comes. That heavy cloud says I'm broke.

It used to be that when our birthday arrives we would think about what our parents and siblings have in store for us, and whether or not you'll get to spend a happy day with friends and family. It used to be that you were given gifts and surprise parties. As time goes by, when you've reached the 2-digit age of 20-plus and above, we find that some things have changed.

I guess it's because we make our own money now and we're starting to forge our futures for ourselves. I'm in my 23rd year now. I have a good job that pays considerably well. I've just been given more responsibilities as a daughter and sister, and I've stopped receiving allowances from my parents for more than a year now.

We can call this independent living, wherein you work for what you want and almost nothing is free anymore. We pay our own bills, we plan for our career paths.. and we feel more burdened.

September is a particular time of the year when I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Well, actually, I feel like more like crying.

1. Lots of birthdays during the month. I'm not the only September celebrant around here. I have great friends who were born on September. A lot of them. I grew tired of budgeting that I eventually discarded any thoughts of sending them gifts.

2. Being the birthday celebrant means some attention will be given to you. And I just don't like all that attention. Simple birthday greetings is enough for me. But there are those who just can't help but bite my head off with taunts of free food for them. Can't they see I'm broke?

3. It's not only the birthdays. I just learned that both my brother and younger sister has their anniversary and monthsary, respectively, with their girlfriend and boyfriend (again, respectively) just days after my birthday. The way their relationship is going, looks like I'll have two more dates to keep in mind for next year.

4. It's September. The start of the -ber months. We all know what the -ber months mean. It means it's time to save because it's almost gift-giving time.

Ahh... September. I hope I'm not starting to hate it.

My Blogger Favicon

See the small image beside my URL address? That's a favicon. It's short for "favorites icon" and is used as a website icon. I wanted to put one on my blog earlier but only go the chance to do so today.

Some say that you have to convert the image to a .ico file in order to put it on your blog. But Web browsers today have eventually made it easier for us bloggers by making a .png and a .jpeg file to become a favicon as well.

Evidently, there are two ways to install a favicon on our blog. One is by converting an image into a .ico file and putting it in the root directory of the blog. Another way --- the easier way and the one I used --- is to put in an ordinary .png or .jpeg file, by putting this command on the head section of your blog's html:

link href="/path/image.png" rel="icon" type="image/png"

My favicon is temporary. I'm still looking for that one image for my blog. I wanted something like the card picture (second one on the right) but the details of the picture wouldn't be seen if the picture was resized to 16-25 pixels. My other candidates for my favicon is pretty much all about the Virgo sign. But I'm still looking, still looking...

Recorder Flute Fingerings

Yey! I found something to cheer me up amidst the bad luck I seem to having lately... I had doubts as to whether I would be able to find the notes and fingerings of the recorder flute. The recorder isn't as famous as its woodwind relations, after all. But here it is:

NOTE

FIRST OCTAVE

SECOND OCTAVE

Tuned in F

Tuned in C

Recorder Flute Holes

Recorder Flute Holes

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

F

C

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

O

X

O

O

O

O

O

F#

C#

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

/

O

X

X

O

O

O

O

O

G

D

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

O

O

O

X

O

O

O

O

O

Ab

Eb

X

X

X

X

X

X

/

O

O

O

X

X

X

X

X

O

A

E

X

X

X

X

X

X

O

O

/

X

X

X

X

X

O

O

Bb

F

X

X

X

X

X

O

X

X

/

X

X

X

X

O

X

O

B

F#

X

X

X

X

O

X

X

O

/

X

X

X

O

X

O

O

C

G

X

X

X

X

O

O

O

O

/

X

X

X

O

O

O

O

C#

G#

X

X

X

O

X

X

/

O

/

X

X

O

X

O

O

O

D

A

X

X

X

O

O

O

O

O

/

X

X

O

O

O

O

O

Eb

Bb

X

X

O

X

X

O

O

O

/

X

X

O

X

X

X

O

E

B

X

X

O

O

O

O

O

O

/

X

X

O

X

X

O

O

NOTE		THIRD OCTAVE
Tuned in F	Tuned in C	Recorder Flute Holes
		0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
F	C	/	X	O	O	X	X	O	O
F#	C#	/	X	O	X	X	O	X	X
G	D	/	X	O	X	X	O	X	X

X - hole should be covered completely
/ - hole is half-covered
O - hole remains open

Computer Down Again

Our computer is one of the most used appliances in our home (aside from the fridge, fans, tv, and DVD player). It was one of the main sources of entertainment for us --- my brother likes to download songs and play Diablo and Warcraft, my sister goes to Friendster and is currently addicted to Mahjongg Mystery, and I consider myself an average internet freak.

So it was obvious what would happen if the computer broke down. It would lead to reruns of DVDs, more news updates on TV, more soap operas, more sleeping, and more quiet days. These things happened for more than two weeks when our monitor broke down.

Now the computer is down again. I'm the one to blame... partly. I only wanted to install Adobe Photoshop on our computer and the file I downloaded ended up giving us a spyware.

> I curse the dude who uploaded the file! <

It sucked... big time. Still does, because I still can't get the spyware of the system. The antivirus can't erase it, and it seems like even Spybot can't either (guess it also got infected). Our screen is a bloody red with a bold warning to get some protection and some of our programs are lost somewhere in the system. A lot of our private files are also in danger.

There doesn't seem to be any choice now but to reformat the computer. I have been meaning to do this, but only after all downloads were done and I've made a copy of all the files. I guess my procrastination led to this unwelcomed "karma." Now there's no stopping it, and there's no chance of saving the files in the computer. It really sucks.