Blogging leave

Will be on blog leave for about 3 weeks...
It will depend though on my internet access situation where I will be.
Keep.you.posted.

Update: I think I can blog a little bit from where I am: Tagaytay Conference Center. It's really in Mendez town in Cavite, about 5 kilometers from the Tagaytay ridge. It was raining when we arrived. It is quite cool. The Center itself is huge. Three weeks in this place: Wow!

Helluva week

Last week, we received news that two friends (fathers of friends) were sick with the Big C in advanced stage. We can only pray.

Over the weekend, when I was in Cagayan de Oro, friends also informed me that one of our friends in CdO, Mario, a well-liked teacher, suffered a double-whammy.

His wife Annalyn, who was 7 months into a difficult pregnancy with their 3rd baby, was suffering from a very high blood pressure in the early morning of Friday. Mario brought her to the hospital, and after tests, the doctor decided to do an emergency c-section as the baby's heart beat was very high, and Ann's blood pressure had shot to 240/130. The c-section would lower her blood pressure.

The first whammy. As the baby was in distress in those tense hours, he died. Mario buried him on Saturday.

The second whammy. After the c-section procedure, Ann was placed in ICU because she was very ill. A CT scan showed that she had a burst vein in her head, a hemmorage. She slipped into coma soon after. It has been more than 48 hours. She is in life support and medication. Mario already consented to a DNR, although Ann is still holding on. The prognosis is not good.

I saw Ann not more than three weeks ago, when she came to the last day of the Father and Son camp in Mapawa. The families came over to attend Mass with the fathers and sons.

+Update: Ann died 4:40am 21 March.

In CdO still, my friend Dodong's wife Luz, who has been battling cancer for almost 9 years, is turning for the worse. She is in hospital. We continue praying for a miracle.

Last week was one helluva week.

GW denier beware

Don't tell me I didn't warn you.
















Read on.

New No.1

As.expected.
Defending champion Maria Sharapova was knocked out of the Pacific Life Open on Tuesday, a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 loss to Vera Zvonareva that will cost her the No. 1 ranking.

And who is No.1? Again.

C'mon.

Justine.

The sun

Two more pictures featuring the sun.

One. Early morning sun from a cabin of the boat I took from CdO last week -- the bad thing about waking up on a boat is seeing the sun from your cabin window and a ship overtaking your own, and to think that the other boat set sail about 3 hours after one's boat left port.


Two. The sun's rays peeking out from behind the clouds at sunset (and the mall). This was taken while on a moving vehicle so it isn't quite as I wanted it to be.

Pulitzer

Many think this should get a Pulitzer -- I believe so, too.

Read Michael Yon for the story.

Stats again. Here's W. Thomas Smith Jr.'s take on Sean Hannity's comment on a 60 Minutes piece about "disgruntled" US soldiers.

Charter Day Award

Charter Day Award
Originally uploaded by asmillan3.

Cebu City awarded my school an Outstanding Institution Award during the city's charter day celebrations. This is our second OIA, the first given 10 years ago

Gulf double

Justine claimed her second consecutive title in the Gulf winning the Qatar Open 6-4, 6-2 against Kuznetsova.

Rosevale School boys @ Mapawa

Rosevale School boys @ Mapawa
Originally uploaded by asmillan3.

Rosevale School in Cagayan de Oro had their annual father and son camp over the weekend at Mapawa Eco-park. Dr. Rod, a parent, asked me to give a talk to the grade school kids -- table manners!

After the talk with some of them kids . . .

How far is Iligan?

How far is Iligan?
Originally uploaded by asmillan3.

I've passed these signs many times from the pier at Puntod in Cagayan de Oro (the end of Marcos Bridge) just before I turn left towards Liceo. Last Friday, I realized that the two signs are actually 1.5 kilometers apart, or at least, that's how I compute 'em. See for yourself . . .

and the winner is . . .

Remember Richard Branson and Al Gore's $25M award to anyone who can remove significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere? Two UK scientists want the prize. We cannot get simpler than this. Tim Worstall, however, should get the award for being the first to talk about this solution since July last year.

Its worth in ash

Did you know that the Mt. Pinatubo eruption cause a 0.5 degree C reduction of the earth's temperature?

Miracle of the day

When his story first came out, only one word could explain what happened: MIRACLE.
Fourteen months later, we check on him.