Wednesday, April 30, 2008

movies

two movies i have recently watched in the theatres.
iron man starring robert downey, jr., gwyneth paltrow, terrence howard, and jeff bridges. WOW. WOW. WOW. it's five chigi stars for this. spectacular special effects. just the right amount of comedy. A LOT of action. just the right amount of drama. i think casting mr. robert downey, jr. was a right decision, he channeled iron man delightfully. he was arrogant but not to the point of annoying and his bad boy background made the character more believable. i didn't recognize jeff bridges, boy, he was a good villain! i hope they make a follow-up.i can't wait for the next marvel productions movie since they've gone independent, the remake of the incredible hulk written by and starring my favorite mr. edward norton!
another great movie. the forbidden kingdom features the legendary pairing of jackie chan and jet li. wow! they were of course funny! although i think the story line was a little weak. but anyway, wonderful special effects and great fight scenes.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Monday, April 28, 2008

Our Shining Moment

This Moment, This Minute, and Each Second in It!
Will Leave a Glow upon the Sky
And as time goes by... It will never die... This will be Our Shining Hour...
Fine and Happy and Bright...
In Our Dreams, Our Faces will Flower...
Through the Darkness of the Night...
Like the Lights of Home... Before Us
Or an Angel, Watching Over
This will be Our Shining Hour
Till We're Together Again...

Composed by : Harold Arlen
Performed by : Frank Sinatra

Photo Credits :
Ailen Aldon, Mark Alag, and Miss Ivy Cloma
more pictures here >>

Friday, April 25, 2008

solemn investiture

24 april 2008
Solemn Investiture
UST Faculty of Medicine & Surgery
Class of 2008
Philippine International Convention Center

Most Reverend Rolando dela Rosa, O.P.
Rector Magnificus
Pontifical & Royal University of Santo Tomas
Guest of Honor
more pictures here >>

Monday, April 21, 2008

babs' $5M gift for cardiovascular research


LOS ANGELES (April 16, 2008) – A bold new resource for women’s heart health, The Barbra Streisand Women’s Cardiovascular Research and Education Program at Cedars-Sinai, has been created with a philanthropic gift of $5 million. The gift brings to nearly $16 million the money raised from her recent concert tours she has directed to charitable distribution in the areas of education, the environment, women’s health, and other key civic concerns.

“Cardiovascular disease is the leading killer of women,” says Eduardo Marbán, MD, PhD, director at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. “It kills nearly 500,000 women in the U.S. each year, more than all cancers combined. The medical system has failed to recognize female-pattern heart attack symptoms; current testing and treatments are geared toward male physiology.”

Ms. Streisand, who has contributed to women’s health programs through the Streisand Foundation since 1986, explained: “Women need to be educated about female cardiovascular disease, and the medical community must be propelled toward change. Just like with breast cancer, the impetus must come from women themselves striving to become empowered to reduce their risks for heart disease.”

Streisand’s endowment will provide permanent funding for research and education at the Cedars-Sinai Women’s Heart Center, which will empower women with vital information about female cardiovascular disease and raise awareness of the disease within the medical community. It will expand current and future research efforts and create breakthrough diagnostics, treatments and technologies. It will facilitate better understanding of gender differences in heart disease, with the aim of improving treatment options for women at risk for, or suffering from heart disease.

earth day 2008


april 22, 2008
happy earth day tomorrow! i hope i can give my contribution tomorrow, i think i will not leave the house, i will not turn on the computer nor the lights, and save water. oh! it happens to be my dad's birthday too! happy birthday dad!
i pray God will guide the people in becoming better stewards of the earth.

more interesting facts about the pastoral staff


the pope does not use a crozier (a bishop's staff surmounted by a crook) because according to tradition, st. peter gave away his crozier to someone to be used to cure somebody. i forgot where but there's a parish claiming they have st. peter's crozier. so the popes since then has not used the crozier but wielded a staff surrmounted by a cross. actually, the pope's have only used the pastoral staff since recent centuries.

pope john paul II's staff was made a lightweight aluminum copy for his use in his later years when he was too weak to carry the original scorzelli. i think the lightweight copy is the one touring the united states as part of a papal exhibit while the original rests in the sacristry in rome.

i'm not sure where i heard but the scorzelli is supposed to have a relic of the true cross in it.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Pastoral Staff - something interesting

well i just noticed from photos from pope benedict's u.s. visit that he's been carrying a different pastoral staff.
here is a photo of him carrying the one we used to see pope john paul ii with. apparently it was made by lello scorzelli, an italian artist for pope paul in the 1960s and has been used by succeeding popes since then.
another photo of benedict with the scorzelli staff.
now, benedict has been frequently using this older staff (a cross unlike the scorzelli which is a crucifix) since palm sunday 2008. this 19th century staff is blessed pope pius IX's. it has been used until pope paul VI's reign. the scorzelli staff is said to be "resting" in respect of it's association with pope john paul II.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

tagaytay

me and my impulsive a1 friends decided to forego bowling in robinson's place with... leslie's tagaytay! oh! i missed the sisig! my sweet lord Jesus! thank God for sisig! and the weather in the middle of manila's humid nightmare is simply... shangri-la. sigh... i love you guys i hope we'll be able to go out again sometime.
leslie's holy ground of earthly delights
miko's pajero
interns looking down on clerks. ha!
vanity fair
photo credits: mark louie c. alag, m.d.

more pictures here >>

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

clerk's night

the ust medical clerks officially ended their clerkship 1900H USTH time 15 april 2008. it was a happy night. all the clerks then went to guilly's bar, tomas morato to party till dawn! our guest of honor... dr. alfred belmonte, the director of clincal clerkship program.
fabulous foursome
with my toxic co-intern, maylynn and her fiancee
tribong irregreg!
party!
ron and melmar on the foreground
more pictures here >>

last day of clerkship

...and so the last of our days in clerkship started. i rode my fx to manila and found myself excited and sombered by the thought of leaving a life i have gotten accustomed to. as i crossed forbes and entered the clinical division lobby, i wondered how the incoming clerks were feeling. i remember i didn't have any idea what we were going to do during the start of clerkship and considering they were getting it technically more complicated than we did because all our clerkship responsibilities end tonight instead of tomorrow morning, i felt sorry for them. ha! i guess they deserve it! hehehe.

i had a long look at the second floor when i reached the top of the stairs (it was feigning nostalgia i was actually out of breath hahaha). i thought of the times i was in the micu battling with joe black, the times when i had to get up even if my body said no to monitor the patients. i thought these new clerks are lucky the kind dean is also now "acting" chairperson of the department of medicine. she said to them that it's up to them whether to do the monitoring or not. lucky bastards.

i spent the day looking for residents. verle's and my final task was to have our medico-legal papers signed and we're off! i still had to finish the section video to be shown during the clerk's night. i cannot believe i'm spending the last day of a tortured year.

looking back i can say that i've learned more in my one year of clerkship than in the three years i was inside the medicine / st. martin de porres building. the revalida, an essential part of the ust - medicine experience. fabella, totally hell. san lazaro - not very helpful in learning but good exposure... to pathogens. i enjoyed my year, found and lost love, understood a lot about human nature, life and death, the importance of communication, loyalty, murphy's law, "brotherhood," gained a title, became an expert in sleeping like a bum, and strengthen my resolve to succeed. in a few weeks time, i will officially have a suffix to my name (except for my "windows only expert" suffix). i give it to my parents who put me through medschool and brought me up well enough to endure clerkship.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

plog no. 6

verle on the foreground
our country's police force in the background
in front of PNP-Medico Legal Division
where UST clerks spend part of their Legal Med rotation
with our former classmates now UST interns
UST-OPD Triage Office
iron lung machine
san lazaro hospital
national referral center for infectious diseases
miko trying to insert a line on the baby
san lazaro hospital
clerkship...
does copying charts provide learning opportunities?
san lazaro hospital emergency room