The Great Blue Hole

The Great Blue Hole is a large underwater sinkhole off the coast of Belize. It lies near the center of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll 100 kilometres (62 mi) from the mainland and Belize City. The hole is circular in shape, over 300 metres (984 ft) across and 125 metres (410 ft) deep. It was formed as a limestone cave system during the last glacial period when sea levels were much lower. As the ocean began to rise again, the caves flooded, and the roof collapsed.

This is a popular spot amongst recreational scuba divers, who are lured by the opportunity to dive in crystal-clear water and meet several species of fish, including giant groupers, nurse sharks and several types of reef sharks such as the Caribbean reef shark and the Blacktip shark. Other species of sharks, like the bull shark and hammerheads, have been reported there, but are not regular sightings. Usually, dive trips to the Great Blue Hole are full-day trips, which include one dive in the Blue Hole and two further dives in nearby reefs.

On-shore caves of similar formation, as large collapsed sinkholes, are well known in Belize, and in the Yucatan Peninsula, where they are known as “cenotes”.

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RON MUECK, ARTIST, HYPER-REALIST SCULPTOR

Ron Mueck (born 1958) is an Australian hyperrealist sculptor working in the United Kingdom.

Mueck’s early career was as a model maker and puppeteer for children’s television and films, notably the film Labyrinth for which he also contributed the voice of Ludo, and the Jim Hensonseries The Storyteller.

Mueck moved on to establish his own company in London, making photo-realistic props andanimatronics for the advertising industry. Although highly detailed, these props were usually designed to be photographed from one specific angle hiding the mess of construction seen from the other side. Mueck increasingly wanted to produce realistic sculptures which looked perfect from all angles.

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Some of his works:

VINTAGE RACIST ADS

Racism is the belief that race is a primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. Or, on the opposite side, racism can be described as the belief that a certain race or races portray undesirable characteristics . In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or receive preferential treatment.

Racial discrimination typically points out taxonomic differences between different groups of people, although anyone may be discriminated against on an ethnic or cultural basis, independently of their somatic differences. According to the United Nations conventions, there is no distinction between the term racial discrimination and ethnic discrimination.

I WENT AND LOOK OUT THE HIGHWAY

Too much traffic, I don’t want to be stressed by that. I halted and buy a prepaid for my cellphone to call the company and bid them good bye, then text-ed mum that we should buy TV tomorrow instead.

Now I saw my cigarette box with two sticks left…and decided I want to be stressed by the traffic to be able to buy another pack.

Addiction is a motivating factor.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Emotionally withdrawn Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) and dysfunctional free spirit Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet) strike up a relationship on a Long Island Rail Road train from Montauk, New York. They are inexplicably drawn to each other, despite their radically different personalities.

Although they apparently do not realize it at the time, Joel and Clementine are in fact former lovers, now separated after having spent two years together. After a nasty fight, Clementine hired the New York City firm Lacuna, Inc. to erase all her memories of their relationship. (The term “lacuna” means a gap or missing part; for instance, lacunar amnesia is a gap in one’s memory about a specific event.) Upon discovering this, Joel was devastated and decided to undergo the procedure himself, a process that takes place while he sleeps.

Much of the film takes place in Joel’s mind. As his memories are erased, Joel finds himself revisiting them in reverse. Upon seeing happier times of his relationship with Clementine from earlier in their relationship, he struggles to preserve at least some memory of her and his love for her. Despite his efforts, the memories are slowly erased, with the last memory of Clementine telling him to “Meet me in Montauk”.

In separate but related story arcs occurring during Joel’s memory erasure, the employees of Lacuna are revealed to be more than peripheral characters. Patrick (Elijah Wood), one of the Lacuna technicians performing the erasure, is dating Clementine while viewing Joel’s memories, and copying Joel’s moves to seduce her. Mary (Kirsten Dunst), the Lacuna receptionist, turns out to have had an affair with Dr. Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson), the married doctor who heads the company—a relationship which she agreed to have erased from her memory when it was discovered by his wife. Once Mary learns this, she steals the company’s records and sends them to all of its clients.

Joel and Clementine come upon their Lacuna records shortly after re-encountering each other on the train. They react with shock and bewilderment, given that they have no clear memory of having known each other, let alone having had a relationship and having had their memories erased. In the end, they reunite despite knowing that their relationship may repeat its negative turn.

Common English Language Errors

LITERALLY

This one is not only often used in error, it is incredibly annoying when it is used in the wrong way. Literally means “it really happened” – therefore, unless you live on a parallel universe with different rules of physics, you can not say “he literally flew out the door”. Saying someone “flew out the door” is speaking figuratively – you could say “he figuratively flew out the door” but figuratively is generally implied when you describe something impossible. Literally can only be used in the case of facts – for example: he literally exploded after swallowing the grenade. If he did, indeed, swallow the grenade and explode – that last sentence is perfectly correct. It would not be correct to say “she annoyed him and he literally exploded” unless she is Wonder Woman and her anger can cause people to blow up.

I COULD CARE LESS

I have to add this one as a bonus because it is one I especially hate. When you say “I could care less” you are saying “I care a little so I could care less”. Most people when using this horrific sentence mean to say “I couldn’t care less” which means “I care so little I could not care less”.

IRONIC

Isn’t it ironic? Actually, no, most of the time it is not. Irony, in its true form, is when you state something to a person who does not understand what you truly mean, but another person does. Essentially, it makes the hearer the brunt of the joke without their being aware of it. This is called dramatic or tragic irony because it originated on the stage where the audience knew what was happening but the victim on stage did not. The most sustained example of dramatic irony is undoubtedly Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, in which Oedipus searches to find the murderer of the former king of Thebes, only to discover that it is himself, a fact the audience has known all along.

Another form of irony is Socratic irony, in which the person pretends to be ignorant of a subject in order to truly show the ignorance of the person with whom he is arguing.

Unfortunately, poor Alanis Morissette had no clue when she said “it’s a free ride when you’ve already paid” or “it’s like rain on your wedding day”. This is not irony – it is misfortune or coincidence.

To sum it up, basically Irony is a figure of speech in which what is stated is not what is meant. Sarcasm can be a type of Irony.

AFFECT VS. EFFECT

Affect In order to understand the correct situation in which to use the word affect or effect, the first thing one must do is have a clear understanding of what each word means. According to yourDictionary.com, the word Affect means:

1. To have an influence on or effect a change in: Inflation affects the buying power of the dollar.
2. To act on the emotions of; touch or move.
3. To attack or infect, as a disease: Rheumatic fever can affect the heart.

Effect

The word effect has a different meaning. Here is the meaning according to yourDictionary.com:

1. Something brought about by a cause or agent; a result.
2. The power to produce an outcome or achieve a result; influence: The drug had an immediate effect on the pain. The government’s action had no effect on the trade imbalance.
3. A scientific law, hypothesis, or phenomenon: the photovoltaic effect. |
4. Advantage; avail: used her words to great effect in influencing the jury.
5. The condition of being in full force or execution: a new regulation that goes into effect tomorrow.
6. Something that produces a specific impression or supports a general design or intention: The lighting effects emphasized the harsh atmosphere of the drama.
7. A particular impression: large windows that gave an effect of spaciousness.
8. Production of a desired impression: spent lavishly on dinner just for effect.
9. The basic or general meaning; import: He said he was greatly worried, or words to that effect.

Grammar Rules for Affect and Effect

Now that we have the two definitions, how do we know which word to use? Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind:

1. If you are talking about a result, then use the word “effect.”

• Example: What effect did the loss have on the team?

2. It is appropriate to use the word “effect” if one of these words is used immediately before the word: into, no, take, the, any, an, or and.

• Example: The prescribed medication had no effect on the patient’s symptoms.
• Example: In analyzing a situation, it is important to take the concepts of cause and effect into consideration.

3. If you want to describe something that was caused or brought about, the right word to use is effect.

• Example: The new manager effected some positive changes in the office. (This means that the new manager caused some positive changes to take place in the office.)

4. Affect can be used as a noun to describe facial expression.

• Example: The young man with schizophrenia had a flat affect.
• Example: The woman took the news of her husband’s sudden death with little affect.

5. Affect can also be used as a verb. Use it when trying to describe influencing someone or something rather than causing it.

• Example: How does the crime rate affect hiring levels by local police forces?
• Example: The weather conditions will affect the number of people who come to the county fair this year.

U KISS Signature!! :))

Try Niyo Kayang Dumungaw Sa Bintana??

Habang sinusulat ko to, kasalukuyang nakadungaw ako sa bintana. Lagi ko tong ginagawa kapag bored ako o kaya minsan sa harap ng bintana, tumutugtog ako ng piano. Naging habit ko na ang tumambay sa bintana dahil sa init ba naman ng panahon sino ba naman ang ayaw ng hangin? Well, dahil dahil matagal ko natong gawain minsan may mga napansin ako habang nakadungaw sa bintana. Minsan may nagaaway, mga tsismis, mga taong dumadaan sa kalye o kaya minsan mga kumakandidato sa politika. Pero may something different.. may nakita akong lalaking bumihag sa puso ko.. hahaha.. may ganun? Sa totoo lang hindi ko ineexpect na nakatira pala siya sa harap lang ng bahay namin! Nakakaloka diba? Oo.. isang lalaki hindi ko man siya kilala sa pangalan pero alam ko lahat ng kinikilos niya nakikita ko. Yun na nga lahat ng galaw niya nakikita ko dahil sa bonggang bintana ko mula paggising niya hanggang pagtulog. Kahit mga hindi ko inaasahan, nakita ko pa. Pati na yung .. Oo.. (alam mo na!) Hindi ko naman sinasadya. Kasi naman hindi sinasarado yung bintana kaya pati buing kaluluwa niya nakita ko.. Pati launch and dinner niya tanaw ko rin. Minsan nga nakikita ko naglalaba pa.. Masipag! At kahit di ko pa siya nakikilala ng husto alam kong mabait siya.

Tuwing gabi, nakatambay na ako sa bintana dahil alam kong tatambay narin siya sa labas ng bahay nila. Nakakaloka ako no.. Bakit sa bintana pa? eh pwede naman akong lumabas? ayoko nga baka mahalata ako baka isipin niya nagpapapansin ako sakanya. Tatambay siya kasama niya yung mga kasamahan sa bahay nila. Naglalaro sila ng basketball, nagbabike, nagwe- waveboarding pa nga eh, o kaya misan nagpapahangin. Ako naman habang pasimpleng dumudungaw sa kanyaginagawa ko nagtutugtog ako ng piano o kaya nagkukunwaring may tumatawag sa cellphone ko! At ang malupet, laruan na cellphone! Hahahaha.. diba para kalang tanga? Hanggang ngayon ganyan ang ginagawa ko kahit muka akong tanga. Ewan ko kung bakit ko nagagawa yun. Pag LOVE nga naman gagawin mo ang lahat kahit nagmumukha kang tanag. diba? Eh NO CHOICE.. tinamaan ako.. Pero sa lahat ng pinagpapantasyahan ko sakanya lang ako ganito. Pati mga mga walang kwenta nagagawa ko.

Hindi lang yun.. Pati nga kapag galing ako ng school then uwian na, kailangan ko pang dumaan sa tindahan nila para lang makita siya.. kasi nagbabantay siya dun.. diba? MUKANG BALIW ang gumagawa nun? Minsan inaasar na ako ng mga kapatid ko at pinsan ko ko sakanya. Sinasabing crush ko raw siya pero ako TODO DENY naman.. pero siya.. SUPER MASIPAG yun!

Pero alam na niyang may feelings ako sakanya. Manhid siya kapag hindi niya alam lahat yun. Kasi minsan napapansin kong kapag nakatambay ako sa terrace namin nahuhuli kong nakatingin sakin tsaka nung dating nagbabike ako, eh nagbabike din siya.. nasira yung kadena ng bike ko.. tapos nakasalubong ko siya nakatitig sakin or kaya nung hapong nasa harap siya ng gate nila, tumitingin siya sa bintana namin.. Di ko alam kung ano ang susunod kong gagawin.. Para akong nababaliw sa mga pangyayari..

KUNG IKAW KAYA ANG NASA SITWASYON KO, ANO ANG SUSUNOD MONG HAKBANG??