For your mp3 collection, part 8

It's my GO-card wall.

I'm back in Trekroner, buying time as I put together my recollections of Brussels. Patience, guys!

Asobi Seksu:"Walk On The Moon"-clear vocals on fuzz

The Brindley Brothers:"Rise Above"-the pounding beat

David & the Citizens:"Let's Not Fall Apart"-Swedish pop

Deastro the Dawntreader:"Green Harbor"-in a word: thick

Die Romantik:"Narcissist's Waltz"-don't listen to him

Elk City:"Cherries in the Snow"-Ooh la la

Georgie James:"Cake Parade"Jewel crossed with Feist?

Jesse Harris:"I Don't Mind"-as bare as tell-alls go

Matt Pond PA:"If You Live"-love the strings

Savath & Savalas: "Era Tu"-through ethereal mists

Swati:"Blackjack"-interesting story

Deadline day!

Pardon me, I have a deadline! Here's all I can tell you: it's all Greek (and Latvian) to us. This is me with my roommate Santa (yes, as in Claus) with our European Parliament shirts, which read: "My ideas don't shrink in the wash." Woozy from lack of sleep, haha!

Bienvenue à Bruxelles!

Blogging outside the Press Room of the European Commission in Brussels, thinking about how curious this situation is.

Since I arrived the other day, it's been exhilarating for me to be seeing as much as I could for the first 24 hours, then joining the participants of the European Youth Media Days yesterday.

I'll save the touristic blabber for next week. For now, I'll be working. Join us at blogger@youthmediadays.

When Asian Americans burst into song

Taking place in the suburban town of Colma, where the dead outnumber the living 1500 to 1, Colma: The Musical weaves the music of H.P. Mendoza into a fresh and personal look at the ups and downs of early adulthood.

Looks like a little film that could. Hope I get to see it.

[via The Nepales Report]

European Youth Media in focus

Brussels, here I come!

The 270 participants for the European Youth Media Days have been selected. Among more than 2.500 applications, the most creative and qualified are being rewarded and will join the event. The people chosen will have the chance to go to Brussels to meet the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, the chairmen of the political groups in the European Parliament and other top politicians, journalists and experts. Together they will create media products supported by experts in TV, radio, newspapers and online media. The European Youth Media Days are an event hosted and organised by the European Parliament together with the European Youth Press.

By virtue of residence, I was considered eligible to attend the European Youth Media Days in the European capital. With a little luck, much persistence and a good deal of creative thinking, I passed the application process.

Flying off to the capital of Belgium (and of Europe) tomorrow. More on EYMD in the coming days.

The wisdom of the suitcase

Obviously somebody was inspired by the Hogwarts Sorting Hat.

Royal Caribbean asks, what is your vacation personality? Check the Vacation Fun-a-lyser. Sammy the Hungry Suitcase says Europe is for me. I'm in the right place, then.

[via Adverblog]

Will be doing a lot of traveling in the coming month. Finalizing arrangements for the Eurotrip with Indi. Stay tuned!

Midsummer fest, part 2

Click to start slide show

There were no buses to Lejre Research Center, so it was a good thing Selin was with us, as she was familiar with the area. We walked through four kilometers of slugs and baby frogs before we got there an hour later.

The longest day of the year has already come and gone but summer solstice was celebrated just yesterday. The other night was Sankt Hans aften or Saint John's Eve. From Wikipedia, in Denmark:

It is the day where the medieval wise men and women (the doctors of that time) would gather special herbs that they needed for the rest of the year to cure people.

It has been celebrated since the times of the Vikings, by visiting healing water wells and making a large bonfire to ward away evil spirits. Today the water well tradition is gone. Bonfires on the beach, speeches, picnics and songs are traditional, although bonfires are built in many other places where beaches may not be close by (i.e. on the shores of lakes and other waterways, parks, etc.). In the 1920s a tradition of putting a witch made of straw and cloth on the bonfire emerged as a remembrance of the church's witchburnings from 1540 to 1693 (but unofficially a witch was lynched as late as 1897). This burning sends the witch to Bloksbjerg, the mountain 'Brocken' in the Harz region of Germany where the great witch gathering was thought to be held on this day.

Holger Drachmann and P.E. Lange-Müller wrote a beautiful midsommervise (Midsummer hymn) in 1885 called "Vi elsker vort land..." ("We Love Our Land") that is sung at every bonfire on this evening.

The festivities were in Danish, so I could not understand what the woman performing was saying (something about an apple?). For an old tradition, you would think they would have already mastered the art of lighting huge bonfires, but no. It took a while for the wood to go ablaze.

As it was 1030pm and getting dark, we did what would have been unthinkable had Flora not been around: we hitchhiked to the station. We went into separate cars. It was a bit scary, but as there were four of us together, we were ok.

I slipped out of the train almost 1130pm (the rest went to Copenhagen) to catch up with Hao, who prepared dinner. We went singing aided largely by YouTube. Hung out outside the Blue Tower for a little chat before finally calling it a day.

Midsummer fest, part 1

Click to start slide show

An early, muddy start: walking to the post office in the drizzle. The last time I went there, it was still winter and I had to maneuver the sidewalks thick with snow carefully.

By 1pm, the sky had cleared, and we made our way to Valby for the tour of Carlsberg Brewery.

Being no beer fan, I only had half a glass of honey ale (enough to make my face and neck red already) and a glass of cola, some chips, a piece of bread and a bite off a banana. For the student price of 25 kr (~P209), the tour (though not authentic) includes two beers--good value for money. There were even a number of repeat visitors among us.

It rained again when I headed with Mark and Simon S. for Frederiksberg while thinking of showtunes. We had spaghetti at Irene's place before taking the train to Lejre.

Backtrack: Dyrehaven

Click on the image to start slide show.

Irene entrusted me with her camera (an IXUS 50), so that kept me occupied in Klampenborg.

We who survived Danish class

Since most of us don't really need the credits, the drop-out rate was very high. For Module 1, I'd say more than 70% of those who attended at least thrice didn't finish the course. But we made it through and got our certificates. Now what do I do with an A1 level in Danish?

Heroes from a small planet

Click to view Frontline World on PBS

Social entrepreneurs are people like you and me who are living their dream of a better world.
[via How to Change the World]

The past 48 hours

A look at the last couple of days, with Flickr photos to make up for the lack of images.

Doctor's office: Something involving the doctor fishing out something from my back with a needle. A long and funny (eww-spiring) story

Roskilde Bibliotek: Of all the things I could borrow, it had to be books on London. Raket! Their "English for all" campaign is a riot! Funny signs putting together famous sayings. "If all else fails, read the manual."
photo by engelskforalle

Netto: But of course! A girl has to eat.

Amalienborg: The home of Danish monarch. On display at "The Chronological Collections of the Danish Kings" were the rooms as the king had left them and the dresses of female royalty.
photo by Morten Mitchell Larød

Marmorkirken: If that dome looks too much like St. Peter's, it's true-that's the inspiration. The Frederikskirke, aka the Marble Church, looks out of place in Copenhagen.

Kunstindustrimuseet: The Danish Museum of Art and Design has a lot of porcelain and chairs. I wanted to protest when I saw that a bag made of Big 250 and Plus! King Size wrappers were marked as coming from Africa. Noooooooooooo!
photo by ines_na_dinamarca

Den Grønne Kælder: Celebration dinner with my groupmates at a vegetarian restaurant near Kongens Nytorv. We had been planning to go for a long time now, but we were politely turned away last time because they had run out of food. My most expensive meal so far in Denmark, but very filling.

Tivoli: With a few hours to spare, I explored the corners of the park that I didn't see last time and rested my feet while waiting for musicians who never came. (No Friday shows.)
photo by me (taken in March)



Stats
Post offices visited for various errands: three (four if you include this morning)

Friendly Filipinos met at Tivoli: eight, all between the ages of 50 and 90. A group of US-based siblings and their spouses account for seven; a woman married to a Dane and here since '61 is the other.

Ice cream flavors tasted: four - two at Tivoli (nocciola, cafe latte), two at Paradis (fløde karamel, hazelnut) Brown tastebuds, eh?

Kids at heart

Kids for all of three hours. That's how I would describe myself, Jörg, Jiří and Viktorija last Wednesday, when we went to the Eksperimentarum in Hellerup, north of Copenhagen, also by S-train.

We competed with schoolkids, but, as Indi would say, what the hey. We had fun.

Funny-scary-embarrassing moment: me screaming in the balance shell because I was unable to make the chair stop spinning me around. Got so, so dizzy. Viktorija, I owe you my life. Priceless moment: Jörg and Jiří climbing up a wooden ramp like overgrown little boys. If I ever have twin boys, you know who I'm naming them after (even if the accents on the letters are tricky, ahahaha!).

We walked along the waterfront until we found a small sailing ship and two giant Tuborg bottles off the shore. Back along Tuborg Boulevard, we pondered on the new developments in the area: posh flats and sleek office buildings. Think gated communities without the gates.

Afterwards, it was only a bus ride to Rådhuspladsen, where models of the imagined Copenhagen of the future were on display. It's helpful to see visions and possibilities for built-up old cities. There's always room for improvement, even in crowded areas. *Cough*Metro Manila*Cough*

Breezed through Thorvaldsens Museum. On my own, I passed by Christiansborg Palace and the old stock exchange, walked through the Det Kongelige Biblioteks Have (The Royal Library Garden) before having a sandwich at Den Sorte Diamant (The Black Diamond). At that point, fatigue crept over me, so I made my way out of Copenhagen as fast as I could.

Taming the sea snail

From Forbes.com

Poison Pill
Dennis Posadas

Venom from sea snails is used to treat chronic pain and may soon yield new drugs for Parkinson's and other brain disorders.

As a boy in his native Philippines, Baldomero Olivera spent countless hours scouring for seashells on the beach. Once he'd made his finds, he'd rush home and pore over marine-life books to identify his treasures. He was particularly intrigued with cone snails, beautiful but deadly sea snails that kill their prey with venom. Thirty years later Olivera's fascination with cone snails would open a new pipeline of drugs for discovery.

Read more

After the exam

To celebrate a successful exam, I went with Irene and Mike (talk about third wheel!) to Dyrehaven in Klampenborg by S-train from Copenhagen.

We made a pit stop at Statoil to buy some food, passed by Bakken and took a long route to the Eremitageslot, named so because it is all alone like a hermit. Plenty of deer with majestic antlers roaming freely in the plain.

A 300-year-old tree. A group of seniors running. A man walking his baby while running. A man walking his dog while running. A man biking while walking his dog. Multi-tasking men. Hmm.

We played frisbee near the beach but never walked on the sand. A great way to catch some sun and stretch some muscles.

Our path in red:

Homesick for Pinoy radio

Nope, not your regular radio stations. (Them you can find here.)
OPM Radio is indie, philradio.com is not. Take your pick.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Borrowed Flora's DVD of the 2003 movie about Vermeer (though fictional). It's simple, with lovely lighting and an opening worthy of Babette's Feast.

I can't ask for more from Scarlett Johansson's performance. I've always liked her as an actress. (Her Danish father accounts for that last name.) Colin Firth is his usual brooding self. Cillian Murphy's wig makes me laugh. Regardless of how covered-up in fake facial hair Tom Wilkinson is, I will always remember him in The Full Monty.

What has the media done to us?

Are we all just producers and spectators now? In a way, yes. Let's not forget to act!

[via Media@LSE Group Weblog]

Did I just almost forget to blog? No! I dated the post below incorrectly. Long stor(ies) to come.

Women in IT

These GO-CARDs (free postcard) caught my eye. The second image is what I first saw on the postcard, which I find more eye-catching. Looks like RUC IT is targeting women for the PhD program.

What is interesting is that all four women are not from pure IT backgrounds. Somewhere along the way, they've been studying another discipline. I think this is an important point. Education reflects the need for multiple skills in an increasingly interdisciplinary world. (Ooh, I'm repeating my exam here.)

Good Copy Bad Copy

A recent Danish documentary on copyright and culture.

[via BoingBoing]

The web loves karaoke (and I do too)

I'm sure there are lots of ways to have karaoke online, but none of them are as slick and Web 2.0 as SingShot. Ok, maybe kSolo is pretty close.

My voice is not powerful to begin with, and I don't have an external mic, so I have to lean forward because the mic is below the screen, which makes me cross-eyed when I'm reading the lyrics. Ah, well.

A number of times during playback of the other recordings, my voice is completely out of synch with the accompaniment, I'm not sure why. I suspect that the recordings are separate from the music track and then they don't quite match.

I got so hooked that I was late for the last lunch with the Danish classes even though I prepared the simplest food I could think of: frikadeller and mushrooms.

I'm scared that my neighbor and the passersby will hear me, so no belting for now. Maybe I should wait until my neighbor walks her dog. Whitney and Kelly, we'll have our day.

This was my first, somewhat-off-tempo-in-the-chorus attempt at 9am yesterday, so please forgive the way I sound. I set all my recordings (five as of last night) to private, but if you think you can endure them, email me and I'll send you the links.

Listen if you dare.


[via Queer Chef]

Before farewell

There's not much logic behind the the selection of these shots, but it's enough to remind me of the semester that was.

Used Blogger in draft to upload the video.

When you know what you're missing

Hanna sent me the link to her Facebook photos of Josie's party, hoping I'd sign up for Facebook. Though I appreciate the effort (it's not the first time she's asked), there's something about being out-of-touch that I'm quite comfortable with.

Hengdian, gate to Chinawood

If, like me, you've been wondering where they shoot all those epic Chinese movies, here's the answer. Covering 330 hectares and with a full-size copy of the Forbidden City, Hengdian World Studios is massive.

Since filming the movie Opium War in 1996, Hengdian World Studios has welcomed more than 300 shooting groups, and filmed more than 5,000 sets of movies and teleplays until 2005.

The best part? It's also a theme park and the entrance is only $5. See the teaser for the documentary film The World's Largest Studios here.

[via Cinematical]

Google Video + PowerPoint = Zentation

A Father's day discovery for the geeky dad. Zentation.com splits the screen so that you can sync video and presentations. I imagine this could pave the way for long-distance lectures and documentation of exams. Of course, some people are already using webcams for that purpose, but this makes the process a lot less complicated.

Watch Guy Kawasaki's The Art of Innovation Presentation at the 2007 Event Marketer Conference.

Death and Taxes

Jesse Bachman is a DJ who blogs and makes gig posters. He also made this, a "visual guide to where your federal taxes go". Click on the image to see the 2008 US version up close.

Isriya Paireepairit made one for Thailand:

Any Pinoys up to the challenge?

Writing for Musa

Musa Dimasidsing, 60, designated election supervisor in Maguindanao, Southern Philippines, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen last Saturday.

Dimasidsing [...] reportedly witnessed the alleged rigging of the votes in the province.

Dimasidsing also filed a complaint against several members of the Board of Election Inspectors after accusing them of committing irregularities in the canvassing of results in Pagalungan.

The district supervisor was said to be the one who also confirmed the testimonies of Pagalungan Elementary School teachers that they were harassed and intimidated by political operators behind the town's election irregularities.

Dimasidsing also reported to authorities that four ballot boxes were snatched by armed men believed working for a politician in Pagalungan during the May 14 elections.

Dimasidsing death came as Comelec commissioners in Manila are starting to get a clearer picture of the wholesale cheating in Maguindanao.

Volunteers from an independent watchdog authorized by the Comelec have complained they were not allowed to monitor the vote counting, and were not provided with election returns from the province.

Opposition spokesman Adel Tamano had said it planned to present the testimonies of five witnesses from Maguindanao to the elections commission who claimed to have seen incidents of cheating. One witness, who was not identified, said in TV and newspaper interviews that vote-counters were ordered to fill out ballots with the names of the 12 administration senatorial candidates.

[via GMANews.tv]

As a blogger, the least I can do is to express my outrage. Is this the kind of lawlessness I would want to return to? Will there be justice for Musa and fair elections for the people of Maguindanao? Have we become so desensitized to poll fraud that we don't care anymore? Bloggers, write for Musa, please!

Say OK!

Still hooked on maps!

Why put the Philippines over Oklahoma? The answer is here.

strange maps= cool.

I'm a C- traveler!

[Updated 5:02pm]
This is one cool app. I've probably seen more of Great Britain in 11 days than I have of my country in more than 20 years, but I'll work on it! (Just not this year.)

My score was originally an F, but creator Eugene Villar figured the system was too harsh and made some adjustments (see first comment).

Visited countries map coming in August.

My Lakbayan grade is C-!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

Confessions of an exchange student

Since the month started, it has been feeling like the beginning of the end.

There was (German) Simon's Kierkegaardhus festen on the 1st, which reminded me of the first party I crashed in Trekroner--his birthday. Anais, Li and I didn't even know him then. I remember we were supposed to go to Copenhagen but then the other Korallen people went to Filosofparken, so we just followed them. A lot of dancing and incriminating photos. Last thing I remembered, Ana and Francisco were drunkenly falling over in the snow. I dunno who took this, but this was us then.



Last night was the longest farewell to date. We bade our Québécoise Josianne goodbye with flags and signatures. She was in tears but extremely happy.

I was hoping to leave and walk with Bopha before 0230, but my supergroup wouldn't let me go. We were just hanging out at Josie's room when we heard, of all songs, Mmmbop by Hanson at around 0330 and decided to go back to the big kitchen to dance. When I left at 0445, it was already light (though cloudy) but people were still dancing.

Ah, the importance of good DJs! (Meaning in touch with the pulse of partygoers.)

=============================================

A letter best left unsent:


Dear [name of person back home],

I'm excited to come back in [x number of] days! (I'm not raring to leave, though.) I missed the food, the people and all those little things I took for granted there. (Believe it or not, there's a lot that I will miss here, too.)

The beginning of the semester was quite miserable, but I've since learned so much here (but not in the classroom), met many students from different backgrounds and did a bit of traveling, too. Maybe I've changed a bit as well. (Make that "I'm not the same person you knew" or something to that effect.) You'll notice the change eventually.

I'm saying sorry in advance if I will seem distant the first few weeks when I get there. Call it withdrawal symptoms, reverse culture shock or what you will. You might not be interested in my stories. Or you might like to hear about my new friends, only to wish you had not.

So it wasn't the biggest life-changing experience. (More of a gradual one.) Still, I evaluate my life differently now. Hope you understand. (You can try, but I know that you can't. I will have to deal with this on my own.)

See you soon! (I hate this whole packing-up-and-saying-goodbye business!)

The last exam of the semester

...is still a week away. But then I'm done with everything else.

Saturday: From 6pm to 330am the following morning, worked with my groupmates on the project. Slept on Hanna's sofa.

Sunday: Woke up at 730am to work again and was done by noon.

The train to Trekroner from Copenhagen was 37 minutes late, not the longest delay I've experienced here, but until yesterday, the whole system has had major problems.

At 830pm until midnight, reviewed Danish with Mela and Jörg.

Monday: In the morning, Hanna and I printed out the project paper, bound it ourselves and handed it in.

Li hosted dinner(again) for about 30 people, so I brought ice cream, which thankfully didn't melt through it was really warm that afternoon when I bought it.

Tuesday: Had my Danish exam with Laia. In the evening, went sailing on a Norwegian boat and came back at 930pm, when the sun was on its way down. (Details and photos in a forthcoming post.)

And these cats? I was on my way to Malin's farewell dinner last Thursday when I saw them. I stood under the open windows of the kollegium, hoping to get a shot when my camera acted up again. Ele and Mela passed by, so I asked Ele to take photos, which I cropped.

The camera still doesn't work (I try turning the power on the power everyday to retract the lens, but no luck). Successfully bid on a second-hand Ixus 800 on eBay. Hope I get it within the next two weeks.

Shirts that text back

Great concept from Reactee. An easy way to design your own advertisement or personal statement. Texting the code to 41411 enables anyone to receive a customized message from you. It would be nice to know if it works.

[via Springwise]

Mabuhay ang kalayaan!*

Kawit, Cavite - where independence was declared
Giant flag at Luneta [photos by TwistedHalo]


Today is the 109th anniversary of Philippine independence! Iwagayway ang bandila, saan ka man naroroon.


Other Flickrites showing early celebrations around the world:

NYClovesNYC in, er, where else?

JHET KWT, Kuwait

greatwolf, Sydney


*Long live freedom!

Will you vote for me this week? (Regular daily posts below)

This is very awkward. Though I can be shameless at times, I don't think I can just go "Hey, I was nominated for Filipino Blog of the Week! Vote for me!" It doesn't appeal to my concept of fairness.

So, what I'll ask you to do is to hop on over to The Composed Gentleman's blog, scroll down to look at the blogs of the nominees and then decide who to vote for (not necessarily me, but you are more than welcome to do so). Vote the whole week if you like.

The rules can be found here.

Mundania: sneakers and shoelaces

I thought 50kr for a pair of sneakers at Føtex was cheap. (Kitit said there were 20kr pairs at Tiger, argh.) But then it came in a really boring cream canvas color, so I bought a tube of acrylic paint and colored it myself. Decided to experiment a bit, so I painted even the sides. I could have made it clean by scrubbing the rubber with an old toothbrush, but the messy look gives it a unique finish, as if I stepped on paint.

Googled for ways of lacing and tying. Yes, it might be boredom. Ian's Shoelace Site displays a passion for these strings. I settled on Monte Fisher's double helix method for lacing and then Ian's Secure Shoelace Knot for tying. Neat and easy.

Graphing it

Burying myself in stats again. Interesting graphs from Data 360

Denmark is one of the least corrupt countries, beaten only by the three-way tie of Finland, New Zealand and Iceland.

If today's posts made you yawn, I'm changing the topic tomorrow, I promise!

The Summer of '98

Nine years ago, a summer workshop changed my brother's life forever. (Mine did too--that was how I got into professional theater. But anyway...) He took lots of photos, which were his prized possessions. It took him years before he got over that summer. Maybe he's not even over it yet. He scanned the photos and posted them on his Multiply site.

He took this shot, one where braces actually look fine on me. Ahahaha!

The state of ICT + Pay Attention

The 2007 Global Information Society Watch provides 2005 indicators. The comprehensive chapter on the Philippines can be found here. Also interesting is how countries compare in terms of indices





This video is low-tech for something about digital learning, but worth checking out. By the time you finish watching it, you will realize that you have ADD, but that's precisely what e-learning can work on. Multiple media and multiple modes are becoming standard and teachers should adapt.

Almost forgot to blog today! (Will tell you why in a day or two.)

The Czech (anti-) Pearl Harbor?

Jiří passed on copies of Czech films to me and to Laia in the hopes that they make the round of international students' laptops.

Tmavomodrý svet (Dark Blue World, 2001) is a well-made film by Jan Sverák, who also directed the delightful Kolya (1996). Krystof Hádek (Karel) reminds me of a young Marco Hofschneider in Europa, Europa. My only comment is that sometimes it seems that the placement of the interspersed past and the future sequences was random. It tried not to have a Hollywood ending, making it a wee bit anti-climactic.

I couldn't open Príbehy obycejného sílenství (Wrong Side Up) with any of my media players (probably a codec problem) and I've since passed on the DVD.

Old school soundtrack cover below.

Two wheels for everyone

Like other European cities, bicycles are popular in Denmark. It's the only thing that people actually steal.

Here are a couple of local bikemakers, Biomega and trioBike. Click on the images to see their sites.



[via trendwatching.com]

Galettes, 1,925 photos and a rip-off

The fantastic French supergirls hosted a galette party at Korallen. What are galettes? "La galette est, au même titre que la crêpe, une spécialité régionale de Bretagne," says Wikipedia. Fair enough.


I CAN NOT! I cannot contain my joy. I cannot believe that it's only been a year and all these things, people, places have been in my life. A year in pictures (with the exception of a few 2005 shots) at my brand-spanking new Flickr Pro account. 1,925 shots and counting. Woot!


A warning to all the shoppers at the købmand in Trekroner: check the price before you buy. Twice I've had to pay more than the price written on the shelf. Last week, I paid 17kr for a marble cake that was supposed to be 14kr, then yesterday a carton of yogurt that was 10kr cost us 12kr. If you were using your Dankort to pay, you probably won't feel a thing, but they have to be honest with the prices, right? I told the staff about it and they don't budge an inch. Tsk, tsk.

Migrants Day

Today Filipino migrants mark the anniversary of the passage of Republic Act 8042, the Migrant Workers Act of 1995.

Four days ago, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo attended the canonization of the foundress of the Religious of the Assumption, Blessed Marie Eugenie, and three others: Blessed John Andrew Houben, Blessed Lipnica Murowana of Poland, and Blessed George Preca of Malta. GMA is an alumna of Assumption Convent. Though I'm proud to say that I also attended a school in the RA system, knowing that she graduated from a sister school does not make me proud.

Interestingly, the heads of state of Poland, Malta and Ireland were there. That of France, where Blessed Marie Eugenie hailed from, wasn't. So GMA is a stand-in for Sarkozy now?

Anong konek? An earlier report said this:

Militant Filipinos working and living in Italy and other parts of Europe are poised to hold protest rallies against Ms Arroyo in Rome.

The visits to Italy and Portugal were part of a public relations blitz to repair the country’s “tarnished image,” said Migrante International.

“The Rome visit is [meant] to get the Catholic Church’s blessing for her criminal regime … and to drum up political support for her regime’s greater diabolical plans to perpetuate fascist rule through the newly passed antiterror law,” said a statement from the group’s European-based affiliates.

According to Migrante, the defeat of the administration senatorial candidates in the overseas absentee voting was “a clear message” to Ms Arroyo “that she is already exposed, that Filipino migrants do not want her anymore, and that they are willing to take militant action to lobby their host countries and governments to stop the political killings and abductions, and to stop foreign aid to her regime.”

The three groups also condemned alleged cheating in the May 14 elections and the Arroyo administration’s supposed efforts to ensure the failure of another impeachment attempt against the President and the success of Charter change.

Before a private audience with the Pope, GMA seemed to pacify some Pinoys at the Fontifico Colegio de Filipino when she announced that the the passport fee at the Philippine embassy in Italy has been reduced from €65 to €50 and the authentication fees from €32 to €25, and that Philippine driver's licenses will be honored in Italy. Report here .

Gloria, Gloria, you will have to do better than that.

For your mp3 collection, part 7

If you get the significance of the image, you probably live in Denmark.

Autumn Defense-couldn't decide on just one song!

Babyskins:"Method Acting"-nursery mobile sounds

Cary Brothers:"If You Were Here"-anthem for two

Leif Elverstig:"Every Warm Degree"-this fire

Montt Mardié:"Birthday boy (drama)-funny memory

The Old Soul:"River of Daughters"-playing in the current

Pantsuit:"French Pop"-pa pa parararam

Sambassadeur:"Between the Lines"-mind the tambourine

Schwervoni:"American Girl"-trashy funny

Sian Alice Group: "Contours"-percussion me

Walter Kong:"Andy Warhol and the Honey Bees"-snap to it

Flowers, trains and food

A few shots from the weekend.