garage sale for japan

Jaykie heard about it from Jme. Here’s the event announcement on Facebook. There’s going to be another round next Saturday (March 26), turns out, so if you have anything you want to donate to the sale, or if you have the time and money to buy some items, read up. :)

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Japan, and many have lost their homes and livelihood because of the tsunamis and fires that it caused. Right now, numerous earthquakes and aftershocks are still happening, and people from various parts of the world have extended their hands to help.

We’re a group of fans from the Philippines and we’re planning on having a garage sale. If you have a…nything that you are willing to donate (CDs, DVDs, magazines, clothes, notebooks, etc…), please click that you are attending to this event.We will arrange a date and a place where you can drop off or send your donations to, and we will inform you as soon as we have decided on it.

All of the donations will be sold during the garage sale (date and place are still being discussed), and all the proceeds will go to Japan (to be donated to International/ Japan Red Cross). Small things make big changes. Let’s start with what we can do.

We’re hoping for your kind participation.

ありがとうございます! / Arigatou gozaimasu! / Thank you very much!

DONATIONS DROP OFF:

Luke Granada’s House – 6 Malinis St. UP Village
Jamie Lynn’s House – Veterans Village (can meet up at Trinoma or SM north just contact her 09279649624)
Meet-up at McDonald’s PRC (Adelle) – Makati (Note: After office hours – 6PM)
(more soon to be announced)

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
[2011.03.14]
For those who are planning to sell their stuff. Kindly send me an email — adelleuy@gmail.com —- so that I can properly account all the items.

Also, if you have any urgent questions please send us an sms at
0922-820125-0 or 0927-964-9624

~Arigatou Gozaimasu — Adelle (^3^)

Also, Jme’s Sketching for Japan. Read more here.

By now I’m sure you’re all aware of the devastation in Japan, and if you’re looking for a way to lend a helping hand I’m Sketching for Japan.

I’ll be taking $5 sketch commissions over the next few days (or weeks, as long as it takes). $4 out of every $5 paid will go to fund relief efforts in the Pacific. Your sketch will be done and sent via email within 24 hours of payment. I also have something BIG planned as an added “Thank You” to everyone who participates in this fundraiser.

Send me a Note with your sketch details and I’ll message you back, pronto. Or e-mail me at james_macaspac@yahoo.com

If you’re not interested in a sketch, I would strongly urge you to give what you can on your own. Every little bit helps.

Thanks so much in advance, guys.

Hey, Jme! I want to join, but let me replenish my PayPal account first. (I think I only have 95 cents left, hehe.)

Anyway, Jaykie and I went to the sale at 6 Malinis St. UP Village yesterday.

I got these:

sweater (P250); bag (P30)

Jaykie got this:

"how to draw comic book heroes and villains" (P80)

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In other, mediocre news: I got a haircut at this salon near the Q. Ave MRT station, and while my hair was being cut a team from GMA came in and spoke with the owner. Apparently Kay Susan Tayo was going to shoot a segment there (something about tsismis and kwentong barbero). Susan Enriquez and Cesar Apolinario were sitting behind me as they waited for the crew to figure out blocking, watching my hair get blow-dried. How tantalizing. There was a camera trained on my hair at one point; I suppose they would use it as a filler shot?

how to donate to japan via paypal

If you have a PayPal account and wants to help Japan in your own little way, click here.

You can donate any amount to participating non-profit organizations. I donated to GlobalGiving’s Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.

GlobalGiving supports grassroots projects around the world. This project will disburse funds to organizations providing relief and emergency services to victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. GlobalGiving is working with International Medical Corps, Save the Children, and other organizations on the ground to provide relief to victims.

Washington, DC 20005

You may also donate via the Philippine National Red Cross.

If you know of other ways to donate, just leave a comment. Thanks!

the hundreds! call for submissions of 100-word stories

From Adam David and Carljoe Javier, which I heard from Tin Lao.

 

“This is a call for Love. Send works of a hundred words or whole-page strips or one-panel gags on that perpetually pervasive pandemic, either as RTFs or JPGs both in Filipino or in English to 100loves100@gmail.com, subject heading “I LOVE YOU” on or before May 10 2011 – for Love.”

Also, submit your six-word stories in Filipino and/or English to: Sais.

feast for crows

Done and done. I cannot wait to read the fifth book (which is still being written, it turns out). I loved all the story arcs in this novel, every twist and turn. Martin is one of those few writers – fantasy or otherwise – who can still surprise me with both language and plot even after several installments.

If you haven’t checked out this series yet, well go pick up A Game of Thrones now! The HBO miniseries will start on April 17th. Here’s Sean Bean (as Eddard Stark) looking dapper and morose on the Iron Throne.

Hm. I’ll probably go read Alex Garland’s The Tesseract next.

 

The Mighty Reading List!

Feast for Crows

The Kobayashi Maru of Love

Showbiz Lengua

PGS Horror issue

Floating Dragon

El Bimbo Variations

The Tesseract

The Dispossessed

Our Story Begins

Glass Soup

Here on Earth

The Pull of the Moon

Little Bee

about the fukushima nuclear accident

Found this helpful link on Twitter (with an update here). It’s a long read, and includes an explanation of how nuclear power plants work and fail, but you might want to focus on the last part (bold passages mine):

Now, where does that leave us?

  • The plant is safe now and will stay safe.
  • Japan is looking at an INES Level 4 Accident: Nuclear accident with local consequences. That is bad for the company that owns the plant, but not for anyone else.
  • Some radiation was released when the pressure vessel was vented. All radioactive isotopes from the activated steam have gone (decayed). A very small amount of Cesium was released, as well as Iodine. If you were sitting on top of the plants’ chimney when they were venting, you should probably give up smoking to return to your former life expectancy. The Cesium and Iodine isotopes were carried out to the sea and will never be seen again.
  • There was some limited damage to the first containment. That means that some amounts of radioactive Cesium and Iodine will also be released into the cooling water, but no Uranium or other nasty stuff (the Uranium oxide does not “dissolve” in the water). There are facilities for treating the cooling water inside the third containment. The radioactive Cesium and Iodine will be removed there and eventually stored as radioactive waste in terminal storage.
  • The seawater used as cooling water will be activated to some degree. Because the control rods are fully inserted, the Uranium chain reaction is not happening. That means the “main” nuclear reaction is not happening, thus not contributing to the activation. The intermediate radioactive materials (Cesium and Iodine) are also almost gone at this stage, because the Uranium decay was stopped a long time ago. This further reduces the activation. The bottom line is that there will be some low level of activation of the seawater, which will also be removed by the treatment facilities.
  • The seawater will then be replaced over time with the “normal” cooling water
  • The reactor core will then be dismantled and transported to a processing facility, just like during a regular fuel change.
  • Fuel rods and the entire plant will be checked for potential damage. This will take about 4-5 years.
  • The safety systems on all Japanese plants will be upgraded to withstand a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami (or worse)
  • I believe the most significant problem will be a prolonged power shortage. About half of Japan’s nuclear reactors will probably have to be inspected, reducing the nation’s power generating capacity by 15%. This will probably be covered by running gas power plants that are usually only used for peak loads to cover some of the base load as well. That will increase your electricity bill, as well as lead to potential power shortages during peak demand, in Japan.

If you want to stay informed, please forget the usual media outlets and consult the following websites:

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My brother and I (and several other people) have been receiving text messages about the Fukushima incident causing acid rain and radiation sickness in the Philippines.

Dear source of the stupid texts: Maybe you’re just scared, or stupid, but please please WILL YOU PLEASE JUST FUCKING STOP. Panic will get us nowhere. We need credible information.