Sunday is for Spam
Weekend update: I went back to school this week. I now have a definite fieldwork site: Morong, Rizal. On one hand, it's the most urban of all the 3 sites available this year, and I have the largest team to work with.

On the other hand, it's fucking Morong, Rizal. Not to knock the town, or anything, but I've got the least exotic field site location this year, compared to Siargao, Surigao, or Tampakan, South Cotabato. Both those locations have a beach, and close proximity to Muslim separatists. How fucking cool is that??

Oh well, what's done is done. I'm spending the rest of April to prepare for my trip. And I think our team has the coolest name, ever: The Fighting Morongs! :P

And as for the spam - as usual, all NSFW links will be linked through NSFW.in

Wired's Geekster Handbook - Sure, it's nothing but stereotypes. But that doesn't mean they're not true, though. :P

Korean girl driven to suicide by boyband fanclub - It's a lot more complicated than my link blurb, since the girl already had issues, cause, you know, she lost 40 kilograms! (88.18 pounds!) in 3 months after a diet of nothing but 1 glass of milk A DAY. And then not only was she getting bullied and oppressed by her family and friends before due to being overweight, now she was getting harassed because she was suspected of lying about how she lost the weight - that she may have gotten surgery and/or used diet pills. However, this fucking boyband fanclub proceeded to harass her online AND in real life all because she had her picture taken with one of their idols? And what the hell did her parents and family do to support her while this was going on??? FUCK.

Coolest name ever, or worst parents ever? - However, take note that Indonesia has different naming conventions. Singapore, on the other hand, uses both the Western and Chinese naming conventions, and requires all people residing there to use on or the other, meaning a first name AND a last name, while not all Indonesians have both. And while Suparman is a common men's name in Indonesia, leading me to suspect that this was his given first name, it's quite probable that Suparman is the ONLY name he was given by his parents, so when pressed to come up with another name for the records, he probably gave the first name he thought of - Batman. On the other hand, the "bin" in the name, similar to "ibn" is Arabic for "son of", so it's possible that his real, given name is Batman, and his dad's name is Suparman, so... Batman bin Suparman, or Batman son of Suparman. Either way, it's awesome. :P

From my sister: International Book Day at Instituto Cervantes! - This is so awesome, I have to post the whole blurb here:

It’s a mad, mad day on April 19 as Instituto Cervantes lets out the books at the Día del Libro celebrations. From 10 am to 12 midnight, bibliophiles can get their hands on a wide selection of books – children and young adult titles, dictionaries, novels, and non-fiction titles – at the Día del Libro book fair! Available at even madder prices, brand new books go for as low as Php20.00. And to make the deal even sweeter, Instituto Cervantes gives a red rose with every purchase. Also get a chance to mingle with your favorite authors as they grace this event, signing copies of their latest works. Anvil Publishing, A Different Bookstore, and Powerbooks are also there, offering books at a huge 20% discount! In addition to all these, get to taste the rich Spanish culture with poetry readings, film showings, and a dance concert featuring renowned choreographer and dance master, Myra Beltran. Free Spanish lessons and guided tours await visitors during this whole day event. In the evening, Instituto Cervantes transforms into party central as fabulous dance performances, overflowing Spanish food, and festive Latin music cap off Día del Libro. All this is in celebration of Día Internacional del Libro (International Book Day), an event that aims to promote the love for reading and the written word. Regularly observed on the 23rd of April, International Book Day was inspired by a tradition from Barcelona, Spain that celebrates St. George’s Day, where men and women exchange a rose for the gift of a book.

It's not just gonna be books in Spanish - there'll be books in Filipino, English, and possibly other languages as well. I'm gonna go there, because, holy shit, 20 pesos books???

Nicholas Jones' Book Sculptures - On one hand, OMG he hurt the books!!! On the other hand, IT'S SO DAMN BEAUTIFUL.



Parents Fight Over Which Gang Toddler Should Join - An excerpt from the news article:

A couple fighting about which gang their 4-year-old toddler should join caused a public disturbance that resulted in the father's arrest, Commerce City police said Thursday.

On Saturday, Joseph Manzanares stormed into the Hollywood Video store where his girlfriend worked, threatened to kill her and knocked over several video displays and even a computer, Commerce City police Sgt. Joe Sandoval said.

...


His girlfriend told police that they had been arguing about the upbringing of their son and which gang he should belong to. The teen mother, who is black, is a member of the Crips. Manzanares is Hispanic and belongs to the Westside Ballers gang, the woman said.

"They have different ideas on how the baby should be raised. Basically, she said they cannot agree on which gang the baby would 'claim,'" Sandoval said.

This is where my current wallpaper comes from:


I love my Alex Ross art! This will be the cover for Uncanny X-men #500. The alternate is a yucky stolen Greg Land cover. Shit, why do people keep buying a fake artist's work?

Some Florida teens believe drinking bleach prevents HIV/AIDS - Congratulations, America. Your sex education level in Florida is now actually worse than the Philippines' in certain places.

Angelina Jolie's sexy pictures when she was a 16 year-old model - Holy shit. She's hot in these, just as she's still hot today. But as my sister Isab said, "Wow, she has fat in all the right places." And you know what? I agree. Angelina's too thin right now! She should get back to a healthier looking weight. I firmly support her being on the list of Ten Skinny Ass Ladies Who Used to Be Hot, in that she needs to eat more, stat, but I think she's still hot nowadays. Just... not as hot as she used to be.

Stuff Nobody Likes

Sexy Vintage Stewardess Photos from the 1970s! - Goddamn, these are hot. Yeah it's a bit sexist, but why can't we have hot flight attendants nowadays? Okay, to make it equal opportunity fan-service, both male and female flight attendants should be hot. Not necessarily wearing nothing/bikinis, since that kills the mystique, I think. Just, you know, great uniforms and personalities?

The Museum of Broken Relationships

Study: 'Weight-ism' More Widespread Than Racism - I agree that I am sometimes guilty of this - I get so pissed whenever I see an obese person taking up so much space in a jeep or train that I'm riding on. I sometimes feel that when you're fat enough to take up seating for 2 people, you should start paying the fare for 2 people, or start slimming down, ya know? But then this article tells me that it's actually really difficult for people to lose more than 10% of their current body weight unaided. Man, we have to do a massive social engineering to change this.

Pirate's Dilemma author's speech: "To get rich off pirates, copy them" - A really cool article (with an accompanying video lecture that I, sadly, can't enjoy on my current PC due to lack of sound) about how piracy is only going to become more prevalent in the future, and why a successful attempt of corporations to crush it may result in the end of non-commercial culture.

Stupid Finn Damages Easter Island Statue

Biologist Rupert Sheldrake stabbed at lecture

Memo Shows George W. Bush was aware that torture was being used in American prison camps - my problem with this is that I am living in a country where it is by default assumed that torture is used on "lower class" prisoners as a means of securing information. This, I believe, is a large part of why nobody has faith in the Philippine justice system. Now imagine the implications of this on American Military Intelligence, supposedly guiding the most advanced (and deadliest) army in the world.

IDW's Star Trek Comics!

Minas Tirith, done in Matchsticks

Photoshop Disasters - I've got half a mind to submit pictures of a certain boy band I've seen to this site...

Florida lawmakers pass "take your guns to work" law - What the hell? In order to better protect people from getting shot at work, they're going to allow people to bring guns to offices?? This is logic fail.

Some commonly used plots in Sci-fi and Fantasy series

Blood and water fuel Maasai warriors' marathon - An excerpt:

"And we will do the whole marathon with no water," Isaya adds. "We often travel for many days, eating only twice a day, and we have no water."

"If we have no milk or meat, we cut the cow's neck and let out the blood to drink. If I drink enough blood -- maybe two or three liters -- it gives me a lot of energy and I can go for days without food or water."

The Maasai warriors, whose role is to protect and help provide for their people, hope to raise enough money to find and access a fresh water source for their community -- something they say could cost up to 60,000 pounds ($120,000).

Whoa. I wish I could send money to support them.

A creepy story: Man with suicide victim's heart takes own life. - Subtitle: He even married the donor's widow after the transplant 12 years ago.

Saudi man killed daughter for using Facebook

I don't wanna end this post on such a downer, but I don't have any more links to post here. I guess... tell me what you think. If you have any links you want me to add in my next Sunday Spam post, post it in my comments. I want to hear feedback!