FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Morgan Freeman, George Jones, Barbra Streisand, Twyla Tharp, and Pete Townshend & Roger Daltrey
To Receive 31st Annual Kennedy Center Honors

America to Celebrate the Careers of Six Extraordinary Artists,
Sunday, December 7, 2008

Gala will be broadcast on CBS

Washington, D.C.-The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced the selection of the individuals who will receive the Kennedy Center Honors of 2008. Recipients to be honored at the 31st annual national celebration of the arts are: actor Morgan Freeman, singer George Jones, actress and singer Barbra Streisand, choreographer Twyla Tharp, and musicians Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of The Who.

"With their extraordinary genius and tenacity, the 2008 Honorees have redefined the way we see, hear and feel the performing arts. We will forever be thankful for the great gifts they have shared with us," said Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman. "Morgan Freeman's name is synonymous with great screen acting and is one of the most respected performers in American cinema. With his unique voice and extraordinary career endurance, singer George Jones has been instrumental in making country music a vital force in American life. Barbra Streisand's trailblazing career in music, theater, films, and television is one of the most thrilling spectacles of our culture. Choreographer Twyla Tharp is an American original, whose work has indelibly enriched the vocabulary of modern dance, contemporary ballet, and the Broadway musical. As the heart and soul of the seminal band The Who, songwriters and singers Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey transformed the sights and sounds of rock and roll."

The annual Honors Gala has become the highlight of the Washington cultural year, and its broadcast on CBS is a high point of the television season. On Sunday, December 7, in a star-studded celebration on the Kennedy Center Opera House stage, produced by George Stevens Jr., the 2008 Honorees will be saluted by great performers from New York, Hollywood, Nashville, and the arts capitals of the world. Seated with the President of the United States and Mrs. Bush, the Honorees will accept the thanks of their peers and fans through performances and heartfelt tributes.

The President and Mrs. Bush will receive the Honorees and members of the Artists Committee, who nominate them, along with the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees at the White House prior to the gala performance. The 2008 Kennedy Center Honors Gala concludes with a supper dance in the Grand Foyer.

The Kennedy Center Honors will be bestowed the night before the gala on Saturday, December 6, at a State Department dinner, hosted by Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.

The Honors Gala will be recorded for broadcast on the CBS Network for the 31st consecutive year as a two-hour prime time special.

Stevens, who created the Honors in 1978 with Nick Vanoff, will produce and co-write the show for the 31st year. The Honors telecast has been honored with five Emmy's for Outstanding Program and is nominated again this year. It has also been recognized with the Peabody Award for Outstanding Contribution to Television and seven awards from the Writers Guild of America.

The Boeing Company is the exclusive underwriter of the 2008 Kennedy Center Honors Gala and weekend of events, which includes the honorees luncheon and post-gala supper dance in the Grand Foyer.

Delta Air Lines, the official airline of the Kennedy Center Honors television broadcast, will provide transportation for the performers and television crew that will be coming to Washington for the Honors Gala.

The Honors recipients recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts- whether in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures or television-are selected by the Center's Board of Trustees. The primary criterion in the selection process is excellence. The Honors are not designated by art form or category of artistic achievement; the selection process, over the years, has produced balance among the various arts and artistic disciplines.

Past Honors recipients, as well as Members of the Kennedy Center's national artists committee, made recommendations of possible 2008 Honorees. Artists making recommendations included: Alan Alda, Dan Aykroyd, Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney, Glenn Close, Joel Coen, Christine Ebersole, Renée Fleming, Savion Glover, Thomas Hampson, Herbie Hancock, Paloma Herrera, Hugh Jackman, Billy Joel, Evgeny Kissin, Patti LuPone, Rob Marshall, Reba McEntire, Terrence McNally, Mark Morris, Mark O'Connor, Bernadette Peters, Frederica von Stade, Forest Whitaker, Damian Woetzel, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Previous Kennedy Center Honorees, including Carol Burnett, Clint Eastwood, Elton John, James Levine, and Sidney Poitier, also made nominations.

Michael M. Kaiser, President of the Center, expressed the national cultural center's gratitude to the many individuals involved in the success of the Honors program. "In addition to recognizing our most treasured artists, the Kennedy Center Honors also supports many of our performing arts initiatives, education and public service programming, and national outreach efforts."

Plog No. 9

Heart-Lung Machine, one of many
Philippine Heart Center
Me wearing Heart Center OR Scrub Suits
This rude nurse has her feet up during our basic life support seminar
and a doctor was discussing in front! It was a formal lecture... sigh...
Beautiful intern stitching up a ripped up mouth
This guy got punched with a knuckled fist
Early morning East Avenue Medical Center E.R.
Looks like alien symbols
View from OR lounge Heart Center
Wall of OR - Laminar Flow

Surgery ER Duty 2 : The Stabber

Back from my second ER Duty in surgery. As fate would have it, me, Niña, Sandy, a little of kim, Dr. Fabie our acting SROD (while Dr. Varela was doing surgery upstairs) and our surgeon-rotator from Capitol Medical Center were wearing ORANGE! I didn't know if it was a goodluck charm or a curse. Our duty was more toxic than the first one but not necessarily too exahusting for me. I'm here writing right?!

Kim, Outgoing SROD Dr. Garcia, Chris, Sandy, April

I was able to do something new in this duty though. 1. I saw brain peeking from the skull of a living person (a child actually); and 2. I apposed muscle together ON MY OWN!

This kid got hit by his godfather driving a tricycle, talk about fate. I don't know what happened with this kid after he got admitted but I saw his scans and he had A LOT of fracture. I guess a tricycle's a really big vehicle if it's hitting a small child.

With Dr. Fabie temporary replacing Dr. Varela

We had a 4 stabbing victims last night. Two were stabber and his victim (he alsto stabbed back), one was stabbed two times with an ice-pick and one knife stab wound, and the last one was stabbed by the rake behind his farming tractor when it turned-over. The man hurt by the farming equipment was quickly sent to the OR while two just went home. I got the last one left (the stabber) and sew his forearm extensors together. Whew! I don't remember how long I took, must be long and I had one time I was calling for one of my residents because I had a bleeder I can't find which I found when he was already wearing gloves hehehe. Anyway I felt like a surgeon suture-ligating the vessel and then continuing on reattaching the muscles. I think I really enjoyed doing it even if I was half asleep, it was 2 am in the morning. By the time I was sewing the skin together, we had ran out of anesthesia and he was squirming. Good thing he's so drunk he really can't focus on his pain. By the way I was doing this on his left arm while his right arm was handcuffed to the stretcher (in case he runs away?!). I remember enduring his stomach turning smell, his naturally bad-odored body (hahaha) and his vomit (remember he's drunk) - lots of it urgghhh.

To cap it up, this morning while getting ready to go up to endorsement-meeting, I (along with two more residents) got hijacked by Dr. Roxas (senior resident-on-leave) to help him to do a mastectomy (for a consultant) at the Philippine Heart Center. It was my first time to see the PHC OR. Nice... It's not new but I can see that when it was built, it must have been the most advanced thing on the eastern hemisphere. It's still very well-equipped but old has blended with the new already. Heart lung machine just lying on the side. They have laminar-flow, where bacteria-filtered air in the room is directed in one direction only via an entire wall that looks like a radiator and a vacuum on the other side. This helps in keeping the air sterile.

One of the things I liked about the design of this building is that it's so intelligently designed that hospital staff and visitors/patients/family are separated functionally and physically. It has been already modified but I can see the intention of the designers, hospital staff can go around without meeting the public, separate corridors, even in the operating room. Patient's enter from one side, staff on the other you have to necessarily pass through the changing rooms to get to the OR so you can't cheat. The OR lounge area has a great view of the courtyard, scrub suits are provided for. Sigh... you can't complain about anything. I deeply thank Mrs. Marcos for this. This is one thing she did good. Kudos.

This makes me think If I still want to be a surgeon, going full-circle back to my first interest. Can't I be all of it? If I can only live forever...

E.R. Surgery : My First Duty

It was fun I must say. I really have been "benign" (most of the time) and am I glad. Our new groupmate, and my duty mate Marga's a blast! I heard an unstable gunshot wound was already called in to come in any minute around dinner time but the patient didn't arrive so we presumed he died en route. Me and Marga sewed up a man who got hacked by a broken bottle multiple times, I helped up our resident repair a man who got hit by a hollowblock on his head. I called my resident to do this because his head was a mess and there were so many spouting arteries I just couldn't take my heart to give this patient an underqualified "surgeon" (hehehe). We also had three burn patients. They were victims of their leaky LPG stove. It's funny... with one look I could tell who's "nagiinarte" lang with their injuries... the real serious ones are the ones that don't make a fuss... We had several people who had no visible injuries who are just moaning and trashing around... I felt hitting them for real so they'd know hehehe hate them attention seeking stupid people who takes away our time to rest and attend to people who really need us.

I wasn't able to sleep but i'll live. Well, we slept through the audit hahaha our entire row was asleep. I'm sure the resident on the grill was happy we did not witness his downfall.

Just Some Stuff

I was really REALLY ANGRY about an hour ago. This son of a bitch jeepney driver waited for 10 minutes on one side of Muñoz and 15 minutes on the other side!? WTF! I mean could he be anymore money-hungry!? Project 8 to Pantranco could be taken 15 mintues driving and 30 minutes on a "non-masuwapang" jeep. This jeep took me 1 hour 10 mintues. Talk about injustice. I just hope I don't see this man in my E.R. ... then we'll see...

My mom told me Mar Roxas is running next presidential elections... hmmm... I have already decided to vote for Bayani Fernando if he runs but this news is making me think now if Mr. Roxas is more suited. Bayani is really a good choice but he has a bit of the "crazy" gene in him. I totally get him don't get me wrong but it may be the "crazy" gene in me too. hehehe.

DVD Weekend

I watched a lot of DVDs this weekend but I remember these three specifically.
Jason Segal is funny. Anyone watching How I Met Your Mother could tell that. But, it's different when you're also the writer of the movie. And he's a composer too!
Great romantic movie. I loved it when he told his daughter (Ryan Reynold's character is getting divorced with his wife) "You're the happy ending..." hehehe I'm a sucker for this moments.Wow Forrest Whitaker's character here is really something.

Marikina Valley

more photos here >>

Prayer to John Paul II

I hope that John Paul II is cannonized during my lifetime.

PRAYER FOR ASKING GRACES THROUGH
THE INTERCESSION OF THE SERVANT OF GOD
POPE JOHN PAUL II

O Blessed Trinity
We thank You for having graced the Church
with Pope John Paul II
and for allowing the tenderness of your Fatherly care,
the glory of the cross of Christ,
and the splendor of the Holy Spirit,
to shine through him.
Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy
and in the maternal intercession of Mary,
he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd,
and has shown us that holiness
is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life
and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you.
Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Your will,
the graces we implore, hoping that he will soon be numbered
among your saints.
Amen.

Live Webcam at Vatican State website showing John Paul II's Grave updated every few minutes. | Link |

Plog No. 8

Student nurses at the Pugad Lawin Health Center
sharing lunch under the "gazeebo"
MRT morning rush hour
wow... Am I glad I'm not working in Makati
Ma'am Anne doing her stuff at the Pugad Lawin
Health Center
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Mint
View from East Avenue Medical Center
Napping at the East Ave E.R.
"Banderitas"
Dozing off at Figaro at Riverbanks in Marikina
Zagato Fried Chicken
Prepared for my family at Pugad Lawin Health Center
National Kidney Institute's Chapel
Senator Drilon at the NKTI lobby
Doc Mark when I visited UST for a check-up
He fed me candy when I was supposed to be fasting
View from Philippine Heart Center's Courtyard
Dra. Gamilla on a Calendar!?
Morning endorsement rounds
Medicine Department, NKTI
Morning Endorsement Rounds at NKTI
Early Morning E.R. East Ave
Lung Center E.R.
One of the Lung Center Gardens
Called the "Bromeliad Garden"

Pillars of the Earth

It's an old book rediscovered in the Oprah book club. I was channel browsing when I came upon the Oprah episode. Everybody who knows me knows my interest in architecture and the book's plot on a simple priest wanting to build a great gothic cathedral (the first of it's kind in England at that) really caught my interest. It did more than interest me. A lot of interwoven stories of people. I admit, it dragged on a little but I couldn't put it down. And what really amuses me is that I can imagine that the story of the people here is very VERY realistic. Their everyday worries of someone sacking their town, the greedy landowners, the ficklemindedness of monarchs. All in all, this book goes into my favorites list!

Congratulations to my former batchmates who passed this august's physician licensure exam! Galing mo Philip!

Top 10 Physicians:

1. Marlon Diaz Garcia, Far Eastern University-Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation -- 88.75%
2. Dave Anthony Pasetes Diomampo, Saint Louis University -- 88.17%
3. Gentry George Teng King, University of Santo Tomas -- 87.42%
3. Janice Jill Keng Lao, University of the Philippines-Manila -- 87.42%
4. Nemencio Jr Reyes Ronquillo, University of the Philippines-Manila -- 87.17%
4. Paolo Potato Villanueva, University of Santo Tomas -- 87.17%
5. Allan Louie Espino Cruz, University of Santo Tomas -- 86.92%
6. Philip Blanco Antiporta, University of Santo Tomas -- 86.58%
7. Ma Cristina Dela Cruz Briones, University of Santo Tomas -- 86.42%
8. Lemuel Benedict Robleza Non, University of the Philippines- Manila -- 86.17%
8. Sheila Jane Tan Zanoria, Cebu Institute of Medicine -- 86.17%
9. Angela Sacayan Apostol, University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Mem. Medical Ctr.-- 86.08%
9. Karel Ann Alipasa Espejo, University of the Philippines- Manila -- 86.08%
10. Grace Ann Mariano Nicolas, University of Santo Tomas -- 86.00%

Fortune(ate)

During my community medicine rotation, I was assigned to the most far flung barangay of Marikina, Pugad Lawin Health Center at Barangay Fortune. Endorsement for this barangay was dismal. It was toxic. And it was far but my experience totally negates this bad publicity.

I totally enjoyed serving at this barangay! The people are great! Not one bad apple. All are kind and understands the help we are extending to them. They appreciate the interns' presence. It's even amusing... they respect us. Not many in the hospital setting respect interns. I dare say in hospitals with no clerks... we ARE still considered the unluckiest lowliest beings.

Best even is that I've probably got the coolest consultant as my boss. Doc Ike. I won't blurt out why he's cool (just ask me in private *wink it's off the record haha).

I'll never forget the great food they feed me EVERYDAY (FREE FOOD). I'll never forget all of them and I hope I'll later have a chance to visit them and hug them. I thank them all from the bottom of my heart for a great two months vacation. God bless you all!

New 7 Wonders

PLEASE VOTE!
on
The New 7 Wonders of Nature

The Philippines NEEDS you pinoy to put it back on the map!
Our prime nominee:

Tubbataha Reef

Our Other Nominees are :
Chocolate Hills
Mayon Volcano
Puerto Princessa Subterranean River

Our Country needs this!
vote here >>

Mummy 3 : Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Watched it. Great! Although I just had a weird feeling how their son Alex can be that big and them look that young hehehe. All in all, the best in all The Mummy installments. (Biased: I love Jet Li)

DOH-PCSHC General Assembly

sorry for the poor quality of the pics. i only scanned this pictures from the free contact prints courtesy of our sponsor pharex drug company.

me & kaye
welcoming committee
air'cool' buddies

Dark Knight Special Screening

We went to a special screening of The Dark Knight at Promenade in Greenhills sponsored by a Sorority from UST last night. Thanks Roxiegirl! Mr. Ledger definitely delivered a definitive joker. He was C-R-A-Z-Y!

Jenny Pig

we've been tasked to analyze a health survey done by the city health office of marikina and some seriously funny stuff are giving us gas pains everyday. some examples...

college graduate. yet! just read it!
and asked... "do you have a pet? if yes, what?"
ummm.... what the hell is a jenny (guinea) pig!?

Pictures from DOH

grand duty medicine rotation
with our make-upper groupmate tara

more pictures from medicine grand duty here >>

brothers clad in pink
bearing marikina's favored color in front of a residential development

ice cream store fronting marikina city health office

with the world's largest men's shoes