Earthzillas of the Day

This could be another reason how some of these creatures continues to vanished or extinct - I myself get sucked into this. I'm talking about Giant Animals or Animals we don't see often. Hey man I am only human and it does looks bizzare to my own eyes. But whenever we see these oversized or undersized animals compared to their common species we tend to killem or eatem. The Aliens probably feels bad for these creatures that they abduct all the Yetis to be well preserved and far from harms way. And once in a while they let them wonder around in the woods where only a hillbilly or mountain tribesmen can witness. They might be doing the same way to other type of creatures like the famous Lake Loch Ness Monster, Giant Squid to the size of a 17th century ships, and other types of creatures that I think also being well preserved by the Aliens. Who knows maybe they even have creatures from our planet we never knew ever existed. What if all these monster like creatures will some day be released all at once here in our planet. Maaan that would be one scary sight. More like the scene in Godzilla where people would be pointing Godzilla in fear all running around screamin "aaaahhh is goodzilla is goodzilla ahhhhh." Except it's not just one Godzilla but many Godzillas.


Giant Stingray

BRITISH angler Ian Welch has landed a world record with this monster – a giant stingray which is the biggest freshwater fish ever caught using a rod and line.

Ian hooked the FIFTY FIVE STONE beast – which nearly pulled him over the side of the boat several times during a 90 MINUTE battle – before he landed it.

It took THIRTEEN grown men to heave the fish – which is the size of a garden shed – out of the water.

Weighing 771lbs it smashed the previous record of 646lbs for a huge catfish caught in 2005.

Ian, a freshwater biologist, had been visiting Thailand to help with a stingray tagging programme when he hooked the denizen of the deep on the Maeklong River. FULL ARTICLE




A Chinese Supersized Rat

A giant rat with one-inch-long teeth has been caught in the southern Chinese province of Fujian.

The rat, which weighed six pounds and had a 12-inch tail and one-inch-long teeth, was caught at the weekend in a residential area of Fuzhou, a city of six million people on China's south coast.

The ratcatcher, who was only named as Mr Xian, said he swooped for the rodent after seeing a big crowd of people surrounding it on the street.

He told local Chinese newspapers that he thought the rat might be a valuable specimen, or a rare species, and had to muster up his courage before grabbing its tail and picking it up by the scruff of its neck.


FULL ARTICLE

I forgot which site it was but somewhere in India was this Rare Barking Toad, I tried to research it again but couldn't find it. It's body looks like a frog but the head doesn't look anything like the common frog, It looks more like a lizard's head. And it barks. Like how DMX would bark with an asthma attack.


Speaking of Monsters, if you haven't seen it yet, check out this movie THE HOST. It's a Korean flick. Part comedy part thriller. It's about this humble family that owns a food stand at a river park, who later came across to a monster that looks like part squid, part salmon, and part dinosaur.

Fever

I might have a light fever. And it's gonna get worse in about few more hours. Sometimes when fever comes, the best way for me to fight it off is to just let it go all the way through, but avoid getting it worse. I still haven't sweat it all out yet, although I made a Tinola (chicken stew) with some rice vermicelli noodle sticks. I even added a little bit of chile peppers on the noodle soup. Some hot lemonade should also work. Sleep is also good. It could be from the other day when I went to get an iced coffee at Coffee Lovers. It's a Vietnamese owned cafe and their motto are French Coffees. Very strong coffee. It's not the quality of the coffee that made me sick, it's how I drank it. Wrong season to drink something really cold. And then later find out about my External Hard Drive being exposed accidentally while the internet was on yesterday. I have lots of datas like music projects I don't want being exposed. Specially my writings. Nothing was change, nothing was lost, just a little paranoid. Maaan, I live in the Silicon Valley and I suspect lots of cyber pirates all over the place. Not just from here but places far elsewhere. How I caught it is probably when my window was down while driving around the hood and drinkin' the ice coffee at the sametime. Maybe it was them cows inside this one golf park. Plus the stress. Now my throat itch, my eyes feels hot, my mouth feels hot, so it's gotta be a fever. Hopefully it'll be gone by tomorrow.


I still have little bit of the coffee left. Not sure if I'll finish it later. I have been drinkin lots of lemon aid which is on the green cup. It should be hot lemon aid rather than cold. I'll make the lemon aid hotter on the next drink.

Filipino Food

Since Cuisines is one of my interest subjects I am going to write more on Filipino Cuisines. In addition to what I wrote about Anthony Bourdain - Philippines. As a Filipino myself, most common food for a daily routine is not always the "traditional" dish but also Canned Food, like: Sardines, Spams, and Corned Beef. Dried or Smoked Fish is also common. A more upscale routine dish can also be cured meat called Tocino and different kinds of Sausages called Longanisa. These type of food are also International and not just for Filipinos. Canned Food were introduced in the Philippines by the American Soldiers in WWII.


International Canned Food. Also typical for most Pinoy Diet. Instant Noodles are also a big part of the list.


These are Longanisa. There are two types of Longanisa that I know of. The Ilocano Longanisa and the Tagalog Longanisa. Ilocano Versions are more tangy and more smoked or dried. And It's basically pork meat and lard mixed together with salt, pepper, vinegar, and garlic. Lots of garlic. Pork intestines are used for the sausage skins. The Tagalog Longanisa or Southern Version are more sweeter, same method except it's added with some Sweet Curing Powder to have that sweet flavor to it just like Tocino. Due to the high value currency in the Philippines, Southern Longanisas are evolving to a size of a quail egg. Some tourists are even trippen' what they are, and simply being introduced by tour guides as Finger Food or Pulutan (beer snack). Like how hamburgers in America today are becoming more like muffins. Obviously it's an alternative against economic crises.


This here is Tocino. Little portion on this can get you eating a whole lot of rice if you are Pinoy or Asian in general (cultured by it's origin). I used to have this girlfriend who wasn't asian and could eat a whole lot of it without the help of rice. It was a bit insulting to me when she says that "gneee... rice are for side dish only." So wrooong man. Rice is the center of the plate in some countries.






Toyo (dried or smoked fish). Big fish to small fish. From squids to eels. The Vikings also do the same method but with shark meat, I've seen it one time in Bizzare Food. Toyo is or was considered a poor man's diet but today Filipino Chefs are experimenting more and more on evolving Toyo as an upscale cuisine.


As I write about Dried to Smoked Meat Products, it sorta gives me the resemblance of how the Buccaneer Pirates used to eat back in the 1700 or earlier than that. I even found an old illustration of an old pirate making Lechon which is the image you see on the left.




I got the image from this page: The Pirates and Buccaneers.




This is a Lechon. It's traditional like how the Hawaiians cook their pork except not underground being cooked by hot stones but by bamboo poles and over a fire. Different Regions of the Philippines have their own stuffing for their Lechon.


Exactly who were the Buccaneers. Surely and most likely you hear about them in Novel Books, History Books, and even in the Fantasy Movies where they venture navigating through out the Caribbean Shores back in the 1700 or 1600. Buccaneers are also known as Pirates. Buccaneers came from the word buccan, a wooden frame for smoking meat. I hope who ever reads this won't get the idea that I am pushing an issue to claim some historical events for another culture. I am just writing about the resemblance on how the Buccaneers prepares their food the same way how Filipinos do theirs. Besides, during the times of the Caribbean Pirates were also the times when the European Fleets were navigating in the Malay Archipelagos (The Philippines).

Wikipedia: The buccaneers were pirates who attacked Spanish and French shipping in the Caribbean Sea during the late 17th century.

The term buccaneer is now used generally as a synonym for pirate. Originally, buccaneer crews were larger, more apt to attack coastal cities, and more localized to the Caribbean than later pirate crews who sailed to the Indian Ocean on the Pirate Round in the late 17th century.

The term buccaneer derives from the Arawak word buccan, a wooden frame for smoking meat, hence the French word boucane and the name boucanier for French hunters who used such frames to smoke meat from feral cattle and pigs on Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic). English colonists anglicised the word boucanier to buccaneer.

TETRIS

The Turture Playlist - Guantanamo

I didn't know these music were being used for torturing the Talibanes and Terrorist Suspects at Guantanamo. To me I feel amused, discussed, and feel remorse for the artist who created the tracks. At first I thought it was funny, and then I thought daamn that's messed up. It's bad enough for them to hate the western pop culture. Imagine the Pope or Mother Teresa chained up and had to be forced listen to these music using loud speakers. I know they are no Pope or Mother Teresa but I could just imagine how that would be.

Music Used By Military For Torture • AC/DC - Hell's Bells • AC/DC - Shoot to Thrill • Aerosmith • Barney the Purple Dinosaur - theme tune • Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive • Britney Spears • Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA • Christina Aguilera - Dirrty • David Gray - Babylon • Deicide - Fuck Your God • Don McLean - American Pie • Dope - Die MF Die • Dope - Take Your Best Shot • Dr. Dre • Drowning Pools - Bodies • Eminem - Kim • Eminem - Slim Shady • Eminem - White America • Li'l Kim • Limp Bizkit • Matchbox Twenty - Gold • Meat Loaf • Metallica - Enter Sandman • Neil Diamond - America • Nine Inch Nails - March of the Pigs • Nine Inch Nails - Mr. Self-Destruct • Prince - Raspberry Beret • Queen - We are The Champions • Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the Name Of • Red Hot Chilli Peppers • Saliva - Click Click Boom • Sesame Street - theme tune • Tupac - All Eyes on Me

Anthony Bourdain - Philippines

The show was about the Philippines which was never been shown ever before as part of Asian/Pacific cuisine since the show started. Other Asian countries was documented but the Philippines. And finally this one Filipino New Yorker named Augusto got Anthony Bourdain's attention from one of the many audition tapes. I say Augusto was a bit naive for he only been in the Philippines for about a week. Few things I notice about Augusto that he lacked about the Philippines. Which is, theres a difference between visiting and settling among the natives. Depends on how stable you view yourself coming from abroad. And how long that would last to their knowledge. Unless if you speak their languages real well, play their games, dance their music, then you get the pinoy pass. Don't just take my words for it because it all depends where you are with the natives.

The show was actually cool. There was no tourist attraction joints, it was basically the every day life of where people usually get their cooking ingredients and where most people eat at. Lots of Mamas Papas Restaurants, Street Vendors, and big to small Markets. The show journeyed from Manila to Pangpanga to Cebu. Most of the ingredients that was shown are most likely from Up North. The Ilocos regions. The south have more spices and coconuts than the Northern Area of the Philippines. I think Pangpangan cooking are better or targeted the real essence of Filipino Cuisines than any other regions. Perhaps Pangpangan Folks are just more vocal about their cuisines.

The show ended with a Lechon (roast pig) at Cebu where Augusto's and his family visited. Lechon is typical for Filipino Feast. Most of the cuisines showed in the program were traditional home food for Filipinos like Adobo, Tinola (chicken stew), Bulalo (bone marrow stew), Papaitan (bile and guts stew), Penakbet (vegetable stew), and Sinigang (like gumbo = crabs, mussels, shrimps, fish, pork, veggies, and etc.).



About Gumbo - maybe the Filipino settlers of Louisiana in the 1600 brought Sinigang in the US and then later became known as Gumbo. After blending in with the African Americans and the French came the Cajun Culture. Based from watching the Food Network, Sinigang in the Philippines was probably a Filipino version of Paella which is from Spain. The ingredients is pretty much similar except Paella has some rice added to it.

Here is Anthony Bourdain's blog about the show.

Karaoke 021609

I have something for you to listen. I left my R-09 audio field recorder at the TV Room when my folks were singing karaoke yesterday. And this is what I captured. The sound quality ain't so bad. The microphone gives that warm sound quality coming out of the speakers. And It isn't a studio quality speaker monitor either. I still gotta get me a good quality microphone for my lab.

This is my mother. She says she wish her older sister can hear her singing this song who passed away three years ago. She says her sister was a winner in singing Filipino Melodies and dancing the Tango and the Cha-Cha back in the day at her town. If my relatives hear this back in Pangasinan, this is for you guys.


The old man.


Romey (the renter). I still think there's something not quite right about this dude but here he is singin'.


Romey's wife Amalia. She's a nice ol lady. She cooks good beef stew and chicken stew. She usually share a big bowl of her cooking fresh off the pot. I guess I know her long enough to trust her dish. And I trust writing for the fact that I trust her dish.


Found this cool site where you can embed your audio files:

The Gym

Hello again, part of my body is sore and my gut hurts getting up from the bed. Did some running and sit-ups (not crunches) while setting up "The Gym". We got the Smith Machine from a good bargain a long time ago. It's so long ago that it's partly rusty and it's been in the garage since we got it. Sometimes I can use it when have some space to get around to it, but most of the time it's my mother's clothing hanger. So I figured another place for it, cleaned it, used sand papers, used water to wash it with, wiped it with towel, and then laced it with some grease to prevent it from getting rusty. Now it's in the backyard hoping for the old man to approve it. And thank God my bro and mother backed me up. Most likely though, I prefer them Compound Pulley Machines where you don't have to use plates and weights. But they are expensive, so why not just use what we already have and make the best out of it for now. Commercial Gyms are also cool for they have the Saunas, Swimming Pools, Indoor Tennis, and the motivation to compete working out, the only problem is that our local Gyms are usually packed. Plus I rather save some mullahs later and maybe use it to travel Mount Fuji or The Philippines. I still have to Explore the rest of California.


The Gym


Im keeping the Belt, 2 Spinlock Bars, and the Curl Bar. I'm gonna put away the rest. I need few more weights for the Spinlock Bars.


Thats all I have on the barbell weights and plates. Most of the plated weights are used on the Punching Bag Stand.


Finally have a cool spot for the Treadmill. It was also buried in the garage.


...


Losing mass and being fit is one thing, but I'm also fighting Sleep Apnea. If I don't get lazy, this would be my Exercise List:

5-7 Minutes Stretch =
Click [?] for Illustration.

-Neck Stretch = 10 second each: Face Right / Face Left / Chin Down / Right Ear Up / Left Ear Up [?]
-Shoulder Shrug [?]
-Shoulder Stretch [?]
-Wrist Flexor Stretch [?]
-Finger Laced Stretch [?]
-Toe Touch Stretch [?]
-Side Stretch [?]
-Sitting Back and Hip Stretch [?]


Treadmill = 10 minutes

Bench Press = 100 lbs / 3 set / 10 reps

Tricep Pull Down = 25 lbs / 2 set left, 2 set right / 10 reps

Arm Curl = 30 lbs / 3 set / 10 reps

Dumbbell Shrug = 20 lbs / 3 set / 10 reps

Sit Up Bench = 2 set / 10 reps (all the way)

Cycling Machine = 5 minutes

Inversion Table = 1 minute

Punching Bag = jabs, hooks, elbows, forearms, back hand, hammer hand, knife hand, and palm strikes / 5-10-20-30 minutes

Mini Rattan on Tire Stacks = Short Drill


Repeat except "No Stretching" = Depends on time and stamina but keep repeating until enough for the session.

Space Invaders

Getting in Shape

Doing light exercises. I've been telling myself to dedicate more to it but sometimes stress gets in the way. So little by little for now, I'll do something more advance later on. I know all kinds about nutritional food but I'm not en-charge of the kitchen at the moment. But I do get lucky on them Fish Soups with Veggies once in awhile.


Another thing is, me trying to get fit for a certain position. I might go for these courses here. What I want is a baton training, since I am a bit familiar with Arnis. Perhaps later. Little by little.


Lately there's this Red Alert about Peanut Butter. I ain't gonna buy any buttered peanuts for now. No Kare-Kare for those Filipinos unless you know how to make your own peanut butter. It's about Salmonella. Isn't that in cows too?


Salmonella in a Microscope

I'll blog about Growth Hormones in cows later. Because if you eat cow meat, most likely you and your family could also be eating the same Growth Hormone. Like I do. American 10 year old kids lookin' like 20 year old men from China and I meant that as a complement to my Chinese causins. They do that in chickens too. Chicks lookin' like Hens. And plants - Like mixing water-mellon genes to strawberries, so strawberries are the size of an apple. Organic Food should be cheaper and save money from making Frankenstein Food. Organic Food are more expensive because they are grown naturally without any Growth Hormones. This method isn't new though, farmers had been putting fertilizers to their crops for many many years. I notice places like Morocco or Vietnam where they also eat lots of meat - but they are not as obese. And most of them lives a long time. Maybe because they don't use Growth Hormones in their food. I'm down if there are jobs for Organic Plantation Farms. As long as they pay enough.

To know more about "Salmonellas", check this blog out: Salmonella Blog


I recently seen this quick news from CNN, careful not to wear them scarf inside a Car Wash. Like this lady did.

Woman nearly strangled In car wash accident. Customer saves car wash worker when scarf gets caught.

EASTHAMPTON, Mass. -- A Massachusetts car wash worker is battered and bruised but thankful to be alive after her scarf got caught in machinery at her job last weekend. A customer leaped to her aid and saved her life, reported WCVB-TV in Boston. FULL STORY.

Barry McGee & Margaret Kilagallen

One of my favorite Graffiti Artist. I've seen Barry McGee's work in Juxtopoz Magazine and it was in the front cover. Very unique style, specially when he makes his characters lookin' like 1920-30's mobsters with tired lookin' eyes. I don't know man, I just like his work - that big red background and big white character paintings and then the little clusters of characters. It may look like a mess but it actually looked clean. His works looks clean. And for Margaret, today is the first time I found out about her works. Her flat paintings are cool. These two are meant for each other.

Dubai

The back pain is gone. It was probably some bad air other than the way I sit.

My Mother was talking to a relative from the Philippines one time and I asked how they are doing. Sometimes there are other things I am concerned about, but that day, I wanted to know. Two relatives are living in Dubai. One from my father side and one from my mother side.

The one from my father side, is a youngster who took care of the house we left in the Philippines, he's a Landscaper specialty in Saint Merry Shrines. The house is not the best but we sent money from time to time to get it remodeled. My folks plan was to visit there often when they retire but my father never reached his retirement from his previous job. The caretaker later became a seaman and when he reached Dubai he work as a carpenter. His wife (my second cousin) moved to the country side and constructed their own house. The house we left behind isn't abandoned, I have another cousin living there.

The one on my mother side, I don't know much about. From what I was told, he is also in Dubai and his wife (my first causin) is in Hong-Kong. I still have to find out what she does in Hong-Kong. I know them creepy shit they do in asia sometimes but for sure she is in good hands.

Now, what is Dubai. And where is it at:




Due to the economic crises, some projects are on hold. Other than that, It sorta reminds me of what you read, heard, and seen illustrated about Atlantis. Lot's of Sky Scrapers and Hotels that are being built simultanously, lots of Amusements Parks, Man Made Islands that are shaped like Palm Trees, and Man Made Islands formed togethere like the world. Maybe they will be the first to have them flying cars around. These are different projects from different countries more of a United Countries or Nations rather than like the United States. Or the United Kingdom. Just to issue the location since Dubai is an Arab Country, Dubai is the world's project. In my opinion, when it comes down to comparison between the US and Dubai, there's no competition as far as Natural Landscapes goes, places like: Alaska, Hawaii, Colorado, Yosemite, San Andreas, or New York. Well maybe not New York.


Skyline


Palm Island - Jebel Ali


Palm Island - Jumairah


Palm Island - Deira


These are the three different Palms Islands:
Jebel Ali, Jumairah, and Deira


The World Islands


Being built by sands. The Arab world are rich with sand, so this is a smart way to take advantage of that. I wonder if they used sands to built them buildings and scrapers too. That would be like real life Sand Castles. It reminds you a bit of the game War Craft and Sim City on how they construct the Dubai City.

Upper Back Pain

For few days now, my damn back had been killing me. And it ain't even the lower back where you typically place patches. It's my upper back on my right rib cage. For some weird reasons I thought it was some sort of a Liver Cancer. And I hope it isn't. I've been trying to avoid meat and had been drinking lots of water lately. Just incase. I later find out that it's the way I had been sitting down in-front of the computer. The pain even got worsen when I sat on this wooden chair at the backyard when I was sorting the CDs and scraps. Scraps I had to recycle to the Junk Yard. Speaking of the Junk Yard, the place I went to today was so damn shady and the service sucks. All yelling and shit when I asked if they got my scraps calculated properly. He called my name and then went to some white dude. So I said I'm right here and then the dude looks mad for some reason. I figured he had some issues so I just let it slide. It was my first time going in there too. And as soon as the dude that works at the front gate asked if my stereo works with a laughing smile on his face, I knew then that it's gonna be a shady day. There was little parking to get to the warehouse, big trucks and forklift carts are driving all over the place. I felt like the chicken trying to cross the road from some Atari Game, just to deliver my electronic scraps from my truck to the warehouse. And the employees looks so damn tense. Nothin' but pissed faces, specially the Forklifters. I probably ain't gonna recycle my scraps there again. I'll just dumped them at the Dumped Yards. The only thing is, you pay because they are toxins and really bad for the environment. If we can fix them pissed off faces at the Junk Yard perhaps the Environment will be a better place to breath on. Im sure there are other folks that probably tried to disposed their recyclable electronics at the same place but were too intimidated. And later gave up to help clean the environment. They do have better deals on Plastic Bottles and Soda Cans than the place I usually go to. And my family are big consumers on Bottled Waters and Sodas, so I have to go back to recycle Plastic Bottles and Soda Cans to the same place. I just have to keep my distance away from the Forklifts and the Piss Head that works at the front office where the Electronics, Coppers, and Metals Department at.


All About Upper Back Pain
By: J. Talbot Sellers, DO


Upper back pain (thoracic spine)

Although upper back pain is not a very common spinal disorder, it can cause significant discomfort and pain when it does occur. The most common causes of upper back pain are muscular irritation (myofascial pain) and joint dysfunction.

There can be an injury to a disc in the upper back (such as a herniated disc or degenerated disc) that causes upper back pain, but such injuries are very rare.

It is important to note that the thoracic spine (also called upper back, middle back, or mid-back) is very different in form and function than the cervical spine (neck) or the lumbar spine (lower back). While the neck and lower back are designed to provide us with mobility, the thoracic spine is designed to be very strong and stable to allow us to stand upright and to protect the vital internal organs in the chest. Because this section of the spinal column has a great deal of stability and only limited movement, there is generally little risk of injury or degeneration over time in the upper back.

I got this from: http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/upper-back-pain

Lumpiang Shanghai

I know this is kinda silly but this caught my attention today. It's about Lumpia a Filipino own version of eggrolls. I thought for few hours today that Lumpiang Shanghai was a place in China. So I search the internet and it isn't a place but it is Filipino. The damn sweet and sour sauce is just called Lumpiang Shanghai. I do know that Shanghai is a place.

This sweet and sour bottle schooled me today.


Here is a closer look. It's like a place or something.


This is how to make Lumpiang Shanghai Eggrolls. Maybe all eggrolls are originated in Shanghai.

STATIX - Playlist 01

Don't take it literally when I say "mixtape" although I may have some of the tracks somewhere in one of my old cassette mixtapes. I took the time to browse through some of the old CDs with an R&B themes. Most of them sounds sad specially songs from Brian Mcknight and some sounds a bit cheesy. Boys 2 Men and Jodeci can really sing good. Reminds me of church back when I used to go to a non denominational congregations. Don't get it twisted now because I also added Tamia in here, I really like her voice. I was gonna add them diva singers and operatic singers like: Celine Dion, Mark Anthony, Whitney Houston, and etc. But they are so common, you can pretty much imagine them in your ear singing.