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In January, 2009, a thirty-one-year-old prostitute visited a clinic in Kyoto, Japan, for a routine checkup. Because sex workers are so likely to acquire sexually transmitted diseases, many have themselves checked for infections even in the absence of symptoms. Indeed, although the woman displayed no outward signs of gonorrhea, her lab test came back positive; she carried the gonococcus microbe in her throat, a common reservoir. After a second visit, doctors at the clinic gave her an injection of ceftriaxone, an antibiotic considered by infectious-disease experts to be the definitive treatment for gonorrhea. It didn't work; two weeks later, when she returned to the clinic, a throat culture again tested positive. She was given another dose, but it, too, failed, and, at first, doctors assumed that she had been newly infected. Now, however, public-health experts view the Kyoto case as something far more alarming: the emergence of a strain of gonorrhea that is resistant to the last drug available against it, and the harbinger of a sexually transmitted global epidemic. "The microbe appears to be emerging as a superbug," Dr. Magnus Unemo, the head of the World Health Organization's Collaborating Center for Gonorrhea and Other Sexually Transmitted Infections, in Sweden, told me recently. "This is what we have feared for many years."
Gonorrhea is the second most commonly reported infectious disease in the United States, after chlamydia. More than three hundred thousand new cases are reported each year to the Centers for Disease Control, although the actual incidence is probably twice as high. A hundred million annual cases are estimated worldwide. Symptoms, when they occur, are very painful: swelling and a burning sensation in the urethra or the urinary tract, often accompanied by the release of pus. Untreated, gonorrhea in men can lead to scarring of the urethra and, eventually, to epididymitis, a painful condition of the testicles that can result in sterility. In women, the infection can migrate from the cervix into the uterus and the fallopian tubes, causing pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility. Infants born to mothers with gonorrhea can contract the infection in the eye and become blind. In some cases, among both men and women, the microbe enters the bloodstream, infecting the joints, the skin, the heart valves, and even the brain; it also increases one's susceptibility to H.I.V. Remarkably, more than fifty per cent of women infected with gonorrhea display no symptoms at all; they carry and transmit it unaware. While gonorrhea in the throat may cause soreness, ninety per cent of throat infections, like the Kyoto case, produce no symptoms whatsoever.
Gonorrhea has been recognized since antiquity. The second-century physician Galen, mistaking pus for semen, derived the name from the Greek words gonos ("seed") and rhoia ("flow"). In the time of the Tudors, gonorrhea was called "the clap," a term that was still in use when, in 1760, at the age of nineteen, James Boswell, the journalist and the biographer of Samuel Johnson, was first infected by a London prostitute. He apparently contracted the disease at least a dozen more times; the infection spread to his testicles and prostate and scarred his urinary tract. (In his diary, he referred to his malady as "Signor Gonorrhea" and "a memorandum of vice.") He died, at fifty-four, of kidney failure brought on, some medical historians believe, by complications from the disease. In 1901, the New York City medical examiner, the founder of a "social hygiene" movement, estimated that eighty of a hundred men in the city had contracted gonorrhea at some point in their lives.
Cures ranged from the absurd to the excruciating. At various times, Boswell tried bloodletting, a low-calorie diet, and a daily bottle of Kennedy's Lisbon Diet Drink, which cost a lot, contained mostly sarsaparilla, and did nothing. In some cases, a doctor might use a thin tube to open the blocked urethra and, with a syringe, inject a solution of vitriol—sulfuric acid—or salt solutions made with mercury or lead, which over time could do as much damage as the disease. The historian Allan Brandt describes a cure proposed by one physician for chordee, a complication of gonorrhea that causes the head of the penis to curve downward. The affected member, the physician wrote, should be placed "with the curve upward on a table and struck a violent blow with a book . . . and so flattening it."
In the nineteen-thirties, antibiotics changed the clinical picture of gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases, and, with it, social attitudes. Once feared for its devastating complications, gonorrhea was now viewed as a bothersome but temporary price to pay for sexual freedom. The sexual revolution of the nineteen-sixties ushered in rising rates of gonorrhea, as condoms, which effectively prevent transmission, were abandoned in favor of oral contraceptives. Only after the risk of death from AIDS began to increase, in the nineteen-eighties, did condom use again become a norm. A federally funded gonorrhea-control program, started in 1972, perhaps made a difference; by 1997, the number of yearly cases of gonorrhea reported to the C.D.C. had fallen by nearly three-quarters compared with its peak, in 1975. In 2009, the number of gonorrhea cases in the U.S. was at an all-time low. "Ten or fifteen years ago, we thought it was going to be eradicated in some Western countries," Unemo told me.
But as modern medicine has adapted so has the microbe. Natural selection has given rise to strains of the bacterium that are resistant, in varying degrees, to some or all of the treatments applied to them—sulfa drugs, penicillin, tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones, and macrolides. Now only one class of drugs, called cephalosporins—cefixime, a tablet, and ceftriaxone, administered by injection—is known to reliably treat it, and for several years resistance to cefixime has been rising. (In the lab, resistance is measured by testing how susceptible the microbe is to various concentrations of a drug.) Between 2000 and 2010, the number of cases of decreased cefixime susceptibility in California and Hawaii rose from zero per cent to more than four per cent and seven per cent, respectively, probably as a result of traffic from Asia, where cefixime resistance is more widespread. Five per cent is cause for concern; in August, the C.D.C. recommended phasing out cefixime nationwide and, instead, treating gonorrhea with a combination of ceftriaxone and either azithromycin or doxycycline. According to a recent British report, last year eleven per cent of isolates of the microbe showed reduced susceptibility to cefixime; among gay men, the figure is seventeen per cent.
"We are seeing decreased sensitivity to cefixime in all twenty-one countries in Europe," Dr. Catherine Ison, a researcher in the U.K.'s surveillance program for sexually transmitted infections, told me. "It's worrying."
The Kyoto case, in 2009, marked the appearance of a microbial strain that was resistant to ceftriaxone—the first instance of broad resistance. In June, 2010, a second case emerged, in France; a third appeared in Sweden in July of that year, in a man who had recently had protected vaginal sex and unprotected oral sex with a casual partner in Japan. A fourth case occurred in Slovenia last September, and a fifth and sixth in Spain this past May. All appear to be descendants of a single cefixime-resistant strain, and they "are probably only the tip of the iceberg," Unemo said. "Japan has been the epicenter for their emergence, and now these antibiotic-resistant gonococcal clones are spreading." No cases have yet been reported in the U.S., but resistant gonorrhea is likely to arrive and spread long before physicians and the C.D.C. recognize it; some public-health officials predict that in five to eight years the superbug will be widespread. Whatever freedoms were won during the sexual revolution, bacterial evolution promises soon to constrain.
Under the microscope, Neisseria gonorrhoeae looks like buckshot—small, round bacteria that tend to form pairs. The microbe carries specialized proteins that help it attach firmly to the surface of cells and other proteins that blunt a host's immune-system response and prevent white blood cells from ingesting and degrading it. Together, these tools grant the gonococcus the ability to fasten to and invade the cells that line the human urethra, cervix, rectum, and throat, and the lining of the eyelid and eye.
In some respects, N. gonorrhoeae is a fragile organism; dry conditions, changes in temperature, and the ultraviolet rays in sunlight destroy it. As a result, it is transmitted only through intimate contact with body fluids; it doesn't thrive on inanimate objects and can't be picked up from toilet seats. Yet it is far more contagious than H.I.V. A woman who has unprotected sex with an H.I.V.-infected man has roughly a one-in-a-thousand chance of contracting the virus. The transmission rate among gay men having anal sex is an order of magnitude higher, about one in a hundred. In contrast, with gonorrhea a man has a twenty-five-per-cent chance of catching the microbe from an infected partner. For women, the odds are as high as sixty-six per cent.
Gonorrhea is commonly thought of as a painful genital infection. But the microbe also grows robustly in the pharynx, at the back of the throat. With hairlike structures that extend from the cell surface, it scavenges DNA that has been cast loose by the death or dissolution of other microbes, and incorporates them into its own genome. This turns out to be a highly efficient way of acquiring resistance to antibiotics. Multiplying in the pharynx, the gonococcus regularly encounters infectious microbes; these include other strains of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea and unrelated microbes that have accumulated mutations to withstand antibiotics of the kind taken indiscriminately for sore throats and other ailments. A 2011 study by researchers in Japan contends that the Kyoto strain acquired its resistance to ceftriaxone in the pharynx, from other bacteria of the Neisseria family that live there.
In effect, the human pharynx is a spawning ground for resistance. "Neisseria gonorrhoeae is just infinitely mutable," Dr. Katherine Hsu, an infectious-disease expert and the medical director of the S.T.D. Prevention Division at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, told me. The throat, she said, is where "the gonococcus is having sex, so to speak, with other bacteria." And, because pharyngeal gonorrhea rarely produces symptoms, it is more likely both to go untreated and to be passed on unknowingly.
A driving factor behind the rise in gonorrhea infections, as well as the trend toward total antibiotic resistance, is our complacent attitude toward oral sex. Saliva contains enzymes that destroy gonorrhea, so kissing and cunnilingus don't spread it. But fellatio, which brings the tip of the urethra near the pharynx, carries a high risk of infecting one partner or the other. According to Dr. Peter Rice, a gonorrhea expert at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, fellatio "is the only predictable way to transmit gonococcal infection to the pharynx."
In many circles, however, especially since the era of H.I.V., oral sex has been embraced as a safe alternative to intercourse. In August, the C.D.C. reported that, of more than six thousand teens interviewed between 2007 and 2010, nearly half said that they had experienced oral sex; the study's authors concluded that "adolescents perceive fewer health-related risks for oral sex compared with vaginal intercourse." Recent statistics from Los Angeles County suggest that the proportion of pharyngeal to genital gonorrhea cases among adolescents has increased sevenfold since 1988. "This represents a change in sexual practices in American youth and may provide antimicrobial-resistant gonococci an added advantage," Rice told me.
The emerging drug-resistant strains of gonorrhea are most common among commercial sex workers and men who have sex with men, perhaps because these groups are more likely to be infected repeatedly. But the wider picture is more complex. In the U.S., gonorrhea in general is linked to poverty and youth; it is far more common among blacks than among whites, and men and women between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four make up the largest percentage of cases. According to the C.D.C., adolescents and young adults account for nearly half of all new cases of sexually transmitted disease, even though the group represents just twenty-five per cent of the sexually active population. The adaptive nature of the gonococcus, coupled with the prevalence of unprotected oral sex, all but insures that drug-resistant gonorrhea will eventually take root in the general heterosexual population. Unemo warned, "When you get into the population of young heterosexuals, it can very quickly spread."
The progression of a disease like AIDS is straightforward: in the absence of drugs, it kills. Gonorrhea produces a subtler array of outcomes. Even without antibiotics, most people who contract gonorrhea will recover spontaneously, as their immune systems eliminate the microbe. This can take weeks or months; in the meantime, the infection can damage vital tissues, causing scarring and a painful stricture of the urethra in men and pelvic inflammatory disease in women. James Boswell, like many in his situation, often found that if he abstained from sex for a few weeks his condition cleared up by itself. Unemo posits that the Japanese prostitute who tested positive in 2009 for ceftriaxone-resistant gonorrhea naturally fought off the infection after several months, perhaps without experiencing any symptoms.
Effective antibiotics can eliminate the microbe within hours. The surest defense against cephalosporin-resistant gonorrhea would be a new antibiotic, but there are no commercially available treatments to take the place of ceftriaxone. The economics of drug development favor daily medications that are taken for long periods—such as Lipitor, for high cholesterol, and Prozac, for depression—over antibiotics that are typically prescribed for only days or weeks. As a result, efforts to develop new antibiotics against superbugs have been all but abandoned by most major pharmaceutical companies. "We're down to the last class of antibiotics known to treat gonorrhea," Dr. Gail Bolan, the director of the Division of S.T.D. Prevention at the C.D.C., told me. In February, Bolan was among the authors of an article in the New England Journal of Medicine that alerted the clinical community to the threat of resistant gonorrhea. A bill, called the GAIN Act, has been introduced in Congress that would speed up the approval of new antibiotics, to encourage drug companies to join the fight. At least one study at the National Institutes of Health is investigating whether combinations of existing drugs might have the ability to treat ceftriaxone-resistant gonorrhea. But such solutions may be years away, Bolan said.
Scientists likewise have made little progress in developing a vaccine that would gird the human immune system against a gonococcus infection. The challenge is daunting, Dr. Fred Sparling, an infectious-disease researcher at the University of North Carolina who has labored for years to develop a gonorrhea vaccine, told me. Although the body can gradually clear gonorrhea on its own, most people are easily reinfected, which suggests that whatever immune response occurs the first time does not last for long. In experiments where healthy male volunteers were infected with gonorrhea, the subjects showed no sign of an increased resistance to a second infection—such as a rise in the number of antibodies—even when the second infection followed within just two weeks of treatment of the first. A vaccine trial among high-risk U.S. military personnel stationed in Korea was equally disappointing. "The result was not even a hint of protection," Sparling wrote in a journal article last year.
In a potentially promising study, Peter Rice has been following the wives of men in China who contracted gonorrhea from other women. Although the wives have been exposed to the microbe, a third of them don't become infected; Rice suspects that some in this group may produce an antibody against a certain sugar on the microbe's surface, which might provide the basis for a vaccine. But, Sparling notes, because the gonococcus naturally infects only human cells, a gonorrhea vaccine will be difficult to test on animals. "I am still optimistic that a gonococcus vaccine is possible," Sparling told me. "But it suffers from lack of will and money. Certainly, the time has come to get serious about this."
In June, the World Health Organization issued a Global Action Plan against drug-resistant gonorrhea, offering a long list of recommendations, many of which are already being followed in the U.S. and Europe. One was a call for more drug research and development. The report also encouraged early screening of patients and educating them about the risks of the disease. The main concern is identifying drug-resistant strains as they emerge and reporting them to public-health authorities, so that the recommended treatment can be changed, if necessary.
This summer, I visited the walk-in clinic at Fenway Health, a community health center housed in a modern building on Boylston Street, in Boston. People often go to a walk-in clinic to be tested and treated for sexually transmitted infections, either because they don't have a primary-care doctor or because they prefer the anonymity. This makes clinics ideally suited to identifying emerging superbugs. Fenway Health sees twenty thousand patients a year, about half of whom are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, and keeps extensive electronic records. Thanks to state-government support, anyone without insurance can drop in to be evaluated for free. That afternoon, one of the patients was a man in his late twenties who wasn't sure that he was gay but, he said, had become addicted to sex with men. In the past year, he'd had more than forty anonymous encounters, arranged through Craigslist or a smartphone app. Marcy Gelman, a nurse practitioner, took a urine sample and two swabs, one from his throat and the other from his rectum, and sent them to be tested.
There are two kinds of tests for gonorrhea. One involves culturing the bacterium in a slurry of hemoglobin, amino acids, and vitamins, which reveals the specific strain of the gonococcus and the drugs to which it is more or less susceptible. It is a laborious process, and most clinics have abandoned it in favor of a DNA test that rapidly indicates whether the patient has gonorrhea, but not which variety. Fenway Health is the rare clinic that regularly performs both tests; public-health officials depend on it as a surveillance outpost for tracking the spread of gonorrhea. Other clinics have the option of sending specimens to state labs to be cultured; the results are factored into the C.D.C.'s Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project, which tracks antibiotic resistance in gonorrhea in the U.S. But many clinics have been closed in recent years owing to budget cuts, and few public-health labs test for antibiotic resistance.
"Both in terms of recognizing the problem when it emerges and dealing with it once it arrives, clinicians and the larger health-care community are getting to a cliff here," Dr. Judith Wasserheit, an expert in sexually transmitted diseases at the University of Washington and the author, with Bolan and Sparling, of the recent New England Journal of Medicine article, told me. "Gonorrhea is doing again what it does so well—it's getting ahead of us. What's changed is that we don't have a drug, and we have dramatically reduced the capacity to recognize, on a routine clinical basis, when resistance emerges."
The primary hope for stemming the expected epidemic of resistant gonorrhea lies in persuading people to alter their behavior. "The public doesn't really understand the links between gonorrhea and infertility, or that gonorrhea means an increased risk of acquiring H.I.V. and transmitting the virus," Wasserheit told me. She added, "If your alternatives are vaginal sex, anal sex, or oral sex, most people feel like oral sex is the safest of the three. And, you know, in some ways they're probably right." Still, Wasserheit said, "it's important to communicate that oral sex is not necessarily safe sex."
The first educational message, Bolan told me, "is to use condoms correctly and consistently," because this is known to reduce transmission. The next step is to promote condom use not only for vaginal and anal intercourse but also for fellatio. That will be a challenge, as public-health experts concede. Of the dozen patients I saw being screened during my visit to Fenway Health, not one had used a condom for oral sex.
Fenway identifies the most high-risk carriers—crystal-meth addicts, people with multiple partners—and tries to persuade them to abandon unprotected sex. At the clinic level, safe-sex education "is a kind of bargaining," Dr. Kenneth Mayer, an infectious-disease expert who oversees Fenway's research program, told me. "You're trying to get the person to the next place"—to where talking about the necessity of using condoms during oral sex is even plausible. Dr. Stephen Boswell, the president and C.E.O. of Fenway Health, added, "It's a tradeoff if your goal is to protect somebody from acquiring or transmitting H.I.V., and you are really trying to use a condom every time you have anal sex. But saying to somebody, 'Use a condom every time you have oral sex,' we don't think that is necessarily going to be tenable."
This summer, I also visited the Boston Medical Center, which draws from some of the city's poorest neighborhoods; in the past year, nearly twenty-five hundred patients were tested for gonorrhea. Over the years, Faye Huang, a nurse practitioner, has seen high-school students, eighty-year-olds, prostitutes, men cruising for men, as well as what Huang calls the "worried well"—patients who have had limited or bad sexual experiences and are "constantly worried that, even if the condom was on, they might have gotten something." Recently, a twenty-four-year-old Indian man had come in after noticing some swelling at the tip of his penis. He had had only two partners in his life: a woman in India and another in the U.S., with whom he had not used a condom. Huang got a urine specimen and drew blood to test for syphilis and H.I.V. "You never know," she said. The urine test came back positive for gonorrhea. Huang gave him the C.D.C.'s recommended treatment: a shot of ceftriaxone and tablets of azithromycin. When he declined her suggestion that his partner be informed, she referred his case to Mark Thacker, a disease-intervention specialist with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Soft-spoken and with the build of a football player, Thacker tries to cajole patients who test positive for gonorrhea into letting him notify their sexual contacts. He starts by discussing their social and medical history, and talking about the disease, then asks about the partners the infected person has had in the past sixty days. When one man couldn't remember the screen names of his anonymous partners, Thacker took out his BlackBerry and offered to go online and try to pull up their profiles. "We actually show them pictures and get a little graphic, to get some leverage and, hopefully, coax them to be a little more compassionate about what might happen to the other person," Thacker said. Only about half of the infected people he approaches readily divulge information about their sexual contacts. "A lot of people take it very, very lightly," Thacker said. " 'Yup, I'll just go get the shot, I'll just take these pills, and I'll be fine.' "Pursuing a case can take hours, as Thacker contacts doctors and nurses to request the release of information, then waits for return calls and follows up with the patients who have not been treated. Sometimes he drives out to the infected person's home and takes him or her to a clinic for treatment. He routinely gives people his cell-phone number. In Massachusetts, there are as many as four thousand cases of gonorrhea each year to track, and only five disease-intervention specialists like Thacker. "We are caseworkers, case managers, and counsellors. You have to wear quite a few different hats to really do this work." But, he said, "we are not the sex police."
In the early nineteen-eighties, as a physician at the U.C.L.A. Medical Center, I cared for some of the first people diagnosed with AIDS. The disease was horrific, an unrelenting series of infections that filled lungs, inflamed bowels, and destroyed the brain. Yet it took years for sexual practices to change. Condoms, long dismissed as unnecessary for birth control and suboptimal for pleasure, ultimately returned as a proven way to stem the spread of H.I.V. The challenge now facing the public-health community is how to persuade people to rethink an insidious disease—and, to a great extent, a sexual practice—that has come to be viewed as trivial. As the distinction between safe sex and safer sex becomes ever less meaningful, the responsibility to be vigilant grows more personal, and more urgent. ♦


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Pneumonia is a common lung infection caused by bacteria or fungi. You may cough, run a fever, and have a heard time breathing, and anyone can get pneumonia.
Risk factors that increase your chances of getting pneumonia include:
Many different germs can cause pneumonia, however, the five main causes are bacteria, viruses, mycoplasmas, other infectious agents such as fungi, and various chemicals.
Symptoms can vary from mild to severe, depending on the type of pneumonia you have, your age and health. The most common symptoms are:
Additional symptoms include:
Your physician will perform a physical exam and listen to your lungs. If you have pneumonia, your lungs may make crackling, bubbling, and rumbling sounds when you inhale. You may also be wheezing, and it may be hard to hear sounds of breathing in some areas of your chest. Your physician will order a chest X-ray if pneumonia is suspected, to look at your chest.
Depending on the type of pneumonia you have and how severe it is, and if you have other chronic diseases, treatment varies. The goals of treatment are to cure the infection and prevent complications. Most people can be treated at home with the following steps:
If your pneumonia becomes so severe that you are treated in the hospital, you may receive fluids and antibiotics in your veins, oxygen therapy, and possibly breathing treatments.

subset: commoncrawl


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In the Scene
Celebrating the 'different' at The Collective
Introducing The Collective, this (somewhat) "underground" venue in Makati City that is worryingly starting to be swallowed by condo developments all around it. Offering venues appealing to various (and not always) mainstream preferences, it's time to head to this place to check out what it has to offer in case it starts to disappear.
Who was it who said that the only thing permanent in this world is change? Yeah, yeah… you may want to go pilosopo and argue against that point; but it still highlights how – arguably particularly nowadays, with the highlighting of the world's pre-occupation with quickly-achieved fame and fortune (e.g. look at the fame delivered at the feet of those who made "leaked" sex videos) – humanity's fickle-mindedness has never been most apparent. Now add to that list of impermanence our pre-occupation with what's "in" and what's "out". And here, we need only go to various parts of the Philippines to see scattered examples.
Think of Torres St. in Davao City, which once hosted a thriving party scene that seemed to go on forever. But after various venues closed, it now makes for an ideal location to shoot a horror movie (think of a ghost town and you'd get the point). Closer to home, there's the "demise" of Malate in the City of Manila as the (somewhat) bohemian capital of Metro Manila, with the "in" places closing or moving out, so that what's left are tacky (and sleazy) hanging out venues, or multinational corporation (MNC) junks. And then there was Cubao's Mogwai, which just… ceased to exist.
What this temporariness highlighted are two (interconnected) key lessons as far as "in" versus "out" venues are concerned. On the one hand, what's "in" now will not be "in" forever. On the other hand, be sure to head to the "in" places at some point – particularly while they're still the "most happening" places; and not only because you want to be part of the "in" crowd (though for many this matters), but because you can really only experience a place's vibe when you drop by while it was at its peak.
That's a (somewhat) lengthy intro to discuss The Collective – this (somewhat) "underground" venue in Makati City that is (worryingly) starting to be swallowed by condo developments all around it.
The "underground" culture, by the way, continues to be hard to "capture" in the Philippines. Yes, YES, I know that sounds… oxymoronic – after all, it is "underground", so getting "captured" is not its intention. But, heck, we don't even have a skate park in the Philippines that we can be proud of (!). It is, therefore, more common seeing skateboarding happening in front of KFC (in Buendia in Makati); or Rajah Sulayman Park (in Manila); or some of SM's car parks. Often, too, the skateboarders are chased away by security guards (if not the police themselves).
Yes, having a place where one can be "different" is important. And finding such a place is just as important.
In so many ways, The Collective attempts to be such a venue.
The Collective is actually a gathering of venues in one place, so that just about everyone's preference is readily serviced.
You want to go vegetarian, but know (for a fact) that vegetarianism is NOT cheap? Head to Wabi Sabi.
You are into organic stuff, but don't know where to start? Head to The Ritual.
You believe that art galleries do not always represent the best, and wonder if there are other galleries where the not-so-popular yet better-than-mainstream-shit are exhibited? Try Kanto Artist Run Space.
Wanna learn a new musical instrument? Lessons are offered Ukulele Philippines.
Wanna satisfy the comics craving? Head to Castle Geek.
And I have not even scratched the surface.
There are restos, bars, fashion stores… you get the point.
I fear that this place may not last for long.
The venue sits on a prime real estate location.
And that condo that was only recently finished beside is already being advertised by (gasp!) Kris Aquino-filled posters that serve as come-ons.
And when it folds, it's gonna be sad, indeed.
After all, we call can't just pack our bags to head to Sagada or Puerto Princesa to check the non-mainstream.
But while it's there, head to The Collective.
You may just find something to tickle your fancy.
And if that "something" celebrates what's "different" in you, so much the better.
The Collective is located at 7274 Malugay St., San Antonio Village, Makati City, Metro Manila.
In the Scene
UP Repertory Company to focus on LGBTQIA stories in opening of 47th production season
UP Repertory Company opens its 47th production season with DADA: The Chika Minutes¸ a performance of LGBTQIA stories.
This November, the UP Repertory Company opens its 47th production season with DADA: The Chika Minutes¸ a performance of LGBTQIA stories.
DADA: The Chika Minutes is a documentary theater performance of various narratives from the LGBTQIA community, exploring documentary merged with the company's own art form, tula dula (a poem written in verse, acted out in mime). With 16 segments of a spectra of LGBTQIA narratives, DADA will be tackling the real life experiences of kids to OFWs to pageant queens to sex workers to community builders and activists.
"In this period of intense hate crimes, controversies and fake news about SOGIE, we bring the stories of the LGBTQIA you might have missed," UP Repertory Company stated.
With the dramaturgy of Ligaya Sinfuego, additional choreography by Michelle Alde, and choreography and direction by Jasper Villasis and Malvin Ramos.
DADA: The Chika Minutes will be staged this coming November 28 and 29 (7pm) and November 30 (3pm and 7pm) in UP Diliman.
For details on tickets and show venue, contact Hillary Guevara at 0906 626 0900.
In the Scene
5 Reasons why you should consider watching PETA's 'Rak of Aegis'
We take another look at "Rak of Aegis" to see what makes this iteration worth it…
In the later part of 2012, PETA's artistic director Maribel Legarda had a chat with Liza Magtoto about making a musical using the songs of Aegis (the group that gave Filipinos the can't-be-escaped "Basang-basa sa Ulan", among others). We know the approach re making of such a musical, of course; overseas, "Mamma Mia!" has been making waves (and lots of money) by using the songs of AbBBA; ditto "Across the Universe" that uses the songs of The Beatles.
Though that chat was – in a way – partly a joke, Magtoto said that the musical that "had a Pinoy soul in it" eventually came to life because: 1. if you're a Filipino, there's really no way to escape Aegis (Hello "Halik!"); and 2. if you listen closely to the lyrics of Aegis songs, you'd eventually understand why they "click" (e.g. "Basang-basa sa Ulan" has a line: "Ngunit hero, bumabangon pa rin").
And so – eventually – "Rak of Aegis" came to life (the title a play at "Rock of Ages").
That was around 2013, when the "rock comedy musical" was (first) rolled out. And now, for the Nth time, PETA is rolling it out again…
We take another look at "Rak of Aegis" to see what makes this iteration worth it…
1. Providing a "current" look at current issues…
"Rak of Aegis", for me, remains relevant because it tells a story that's valid on our times.
To start, there's climate change, and how this particularly affects poorer places (say, a country like the Philippines).
"Rak of Aegis" tells the story of Aileen (and the people around her) who lives in Barangay Venizia, a place submerged in flood waters for two months already. The flood has already affected the livelihood of the locals (e.g. shoemaking); and is affecting other aspects in the lives of the locals (e.g. her mother has leptospirosis, a disease spread by contact with water contaminated by the urine of infected animals).
Though she works (as a saleslady, a contractual worker), Aileen falsely and blindly believes that their way out is for her to be famous (I'd say: "Welcome to this famewhoring generation"). So she kept trying to make a YouTube video to make some "noise", hoping that the "likes" she gets will save her, her family, and the entire barangay.
Aileen eventually gets her wish, forcing the cause of the flooding (i.e. absence of a sewerage system in a nearby subdivision development) to surface; the enterprising spirit of people (e.g. holding a concert in a flooded area) to become apparent; and opportunism to be seen (e.g. surfacing of other wannabe celebs to follow Aileen's footsteps)…
All these issues are "now" issues; and kudos for PETA for being able to roll them into a "rock comedy musical"…
2. A glimpse at intersectionality.
Yes, there are poor people. And poverty is NOT (only) because people are lazy. Their contexts need to be considered – e.g. access to education, access to opportunities, et cetera.
Yes, the Internet can help popularize issues; but keyboard activism – on its own – is NOT the solution. Being proactive in developing efforts offline/in the real/physical world is just as important.
Yes, opportunists abound (e.g. real estate developers that don't give shit for the environment so long as they get ROI); but "kaput sa patalim" (that "opportunism" because people are left with no choice) is also existent (e.g. we put up with shitty proposals from those in power because… it's not like we really have any choice).
All these – and more – are tackled (lightly or in-depth) by "Rak of Aegis"…
3. Worthy production…
PETA – being PETA – is expected to produce good shows; and this is no exemption.
Take the set design (by Mio Infante) that may look simplistic; but gives life to Barangay Venizia as a water-swallowed place (i.e. with an actual "flooded" canal in the middle).
The lighting (by Jonjon Villarreal) more than helps set the atmosphere of the scenes; it also – for me – highlighted specific moments/people worth highlighting. Think of the character Tolits (Pepe Herrera in the production watched for this review), who had more than one, two or even three breakout scenes; all of them emphasized by how well he was literally given the spotlight.
PETA's facilities aren't as big as, say, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). But that it was able to make the most of what it has is praiseworthy…
4. The cast, the cast…
When I first saw "Rak of Aegis", somewhat-celeb Aicelle Santos was the lead (as Aileen), supported by the likes of Jon Santos (Fernan, the real estate developer); Kakai Bautista (Mercy, the mother); Isay Alvarez-Sena/Bayang Barrios/Jenine Desiderio (as Mary Jane, the barangay captain, and former GF of the father); and Robert Sean/Noel Cabangon (as Kiel, the father of Aileen). That this is a star-studded affair is… a given; so for stargazers, this is an opportunity to see these celebrated thespians performing.
Santos is still with the production, though Shaira Opsimar was the Aileen seen for the review. Adept in the role, Opsimar is unlike Santos; with Opsimar, she is easily "swallowed" by her bigger-named co-performers (e.g. Sweet Plantado-Tiongson, the Mary Jane in the production reviewed). This is not necessarily bad as it creates that sense of naïveté. But those wanting Aegis-like "birit" will remember more the co-stars Tolits (Pepe Herrera), Kiel (Renz Verano), and yes, Mary Jane (Sweet Plantado-Tiongson).
Others seen in the production reviewed were the somewhat tamed down Vince Lim (as Kenny, the former BF of Aileen); and eye candies/ensemble and scene-stealers Gio Gahol and Carlos Matobato.
As a unified whole, though, the cast of "Rak of Aegis" deserve to be seen.
From the comedic timing of Jewel (Ron Alfonso), to the agaw-eksena/secene-stealing singing of the likes of Mary Jane and Kiel, you have here a definite winner…
As FYI: The "older" cast members (e.g. Aicelle Santos, Kakai Bautista, Isay Alvarez-Sena, Bayang Barrios and Jenine Desiderio) are still performing; so if you're extra picky, you may want to know beforehand who'd be going onstage…
5. Aegis songs – of course!
And then there are the songs of Aegis – e.g. "Halik", "Luha", "Basang-basa sa Ulan", "Christmas Bonus", "Munting Pangarap", et cetera.
Ogie Alcasid – yes, the hubby of THE regime Velasquez – the president of the Organisasyon ng mga Pilipinong Mang-aawit (OPM), once said that "a show like 'Rak of Aegis' is an embodiment of what we have to do as Filipinos – suportahan, tangkilikin at ipagbunyi natin ang ating sariling musika."
And he's right.
Some may say that Aegis songs can be… baduy (slang for "in poor taste" or "unfashionable"). But that they tug at the hearts of those who listen to them is a fact. Though they may tackle of heartbreak, for instance, they also talk about getting back up; of resilience.
And this speaks so much of what makes us Filipinos.
In "Luha", Aegis famously sang:
"Gulong ng buhay | Patuloy-tuloy sa pag-ikot | Noon ako ay nasa ilalim | Bakit ngayon nasa ilalim pa rin | Sana bukas nasa ibabaw naman."
This is everyone's hope, I suppose.
And with "Rak of Aegis", well… you can get some sense of trying to be on top…
"Rak of Aegis" runs July 5 to September 29 at PETA Theater Center, No.5 Eymard Drive, New Manila, Quezon City, 1112 Metro Manila.
In the Scene
Vienna comes to Manila to celebrate pride, diversity and equality
Under the theme "LGBTQIA+ Greatness in Leadership and the Arts" the Austrian Embassy and its partners Frontrow Philippines and Love Is All We Need bring together Austrian and Filipino equality advocates from the disciplines of photography, visual arts, fashion and makeup, performance art, film and music in a celebration of diversity, unity and equality.
Austria stands together with the Philippines against gender-based discrimination and violence at its first-ever MNLxVIE Equality Fest, a five-day campaign championing the LGBTQIA+ community through creative activism.
"On this 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, Austria continues to take a strong stance against isolation, hatred and discrimination, while honoring self-affirmation, dignity and equality: We are more than our borders. We are more than the languages we speak and the color of our skin. We are more than our gender and who we want to love. This was the mission statement and message that EuroPride 2019 hosted in Vienna this Pride Month successfully delivered. Today, we look back on a great deal of progress, but all along in the sober realization that there is still a way to go. And our ambitions are not restricted to just one country: because LGBTQIA+ rights are human rights – and as Austria we will always stand up for them all over the world," said Austrian Ambassador Bita Rasoulian.
Under the theme "LGBTQIA+ Greatness in Leadership and the Arts" the Austrian Embassy and its partners Frontrow Philippines and Love Is All We Need bring together Austrian and Filipino equality advocates from the disciplines of photography, visual arts, fashion and makeup, performance art, film and music in a celebration of diversity, unity and equality.
On June 25 the festival opens with a launch party at Tarzeer Pictures, Makati, by Amb. Rasoulian and equal rights advocates RS Francisco and Queenmelo Esguerra. The launch is accompanied by the photo exhibit "RECORD, RECORD" on Austria's LGBTQIA+ history and excerpts from the book "Anong Pangalan Mo Sa Gabi?" by UP Babaylan, Babaylanes, Inc. and UP Center for Women's and Gender Studies, as well as works by renowned and upcoming local LGBTQIA+ photographers. Flying in straight from Austria to join the festival are Austrian intersex rights activist Noah Rieser, filmmaker Gregor Schmidinger and drag queen Tamara Mascara.
On June 26, the Intramuros Administration unveils a Pride-themed public mural. Situated across Museo de Intramuros, the art work is a collaborative project of the Austrian Embassy, Austrian artist Katharina Kapsamer and Salzburg Global Forum fellow Ralph Eya.
On June 26, drag queen Tamara Mascara, heading cosmetics giant MAC's Viva Glam online campaign for Pride month in the Philippines, performs at Tomatito, BGC with Filipino queens MC Black, Precious Paula Nicole and Queen Viña! Don't miss Tamara on June 28 as DJane at XX:XX's Elephant Night closing party.
On June 27, intersex activist Noah Rieser leads the panel "LGBTQIA+ Greatness in Leadership: An Equality Talk" on Austria's recent legislation allowing for a third gender option in legal documents. Joining him at the De la Salle-College of Saint Benilde are Myla Escultura of Intersex Philippines, 2018 bar topnotcher Sean Borja and Filipino artist fellows of the Salzburg Global Forum Reymart Cerin, Mark Salvatus, Andrei Venal and filmmaker Cha Roque.
On June 27, Austrian filmmaker Gregor Schmidinger in cooperation with the FDCP premieres his film "NEVRLAND" in Manila at the Cinematheque Centre.
On June 28, Schmidinger and renowned Filipino filmmakers Joel Lamangan, Moira Lang and Samantha Lee discuss LGBTQIA+ films in a Q&A at the UP Film Institute.
On June 29, the MNL-VIE Equality Fest culminates with the Metro Manila Pride March, where Amb. Rasoulian and all festival participants and partners march with The Red Whistle campaign #FuelTheLove and #ExtinguishTheStigma.
MNLxVIE Equality Fest 2019 is supported by the UP Center for Women's and Gender Studies, UP Babaylan, Babaylanes, Inc., Benilde Hive and The Red Whistle; with the support of EuroPride Vienna 2019, MAC Cosmetics Philippines, Intramuros Administration, Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), Digi Ads and Think Big Events; and venue partners Tarzeer Pictures, Tomatito Manila, UPFI Film Center – Cine Adarna, Cinematheque Centre Manila, SoFA Design Institute and XX XX.
In the Scene
'Kasarisarian' LGBTQIA community cultural event slated in Lucena City on July 21-26
To "elevate the discussion about LGBTQIA Pride", QZN Bahaghari and Guni-Guri Collective are hosting the 2018 iteration of "Kasarisarian" a cultural event, from July 21 to 26 in Lucena City.
To "elevate the discussion about LGBTQIA Pride", QZN Bahaghari and Guni-Guri Collective are hosting the 2018 iteration of "Kasarisarian" a cultural event, from July 21 to 26 at the ESPASYO ART GALLERY, Quezon Avenue corner Trinidad Street, Lucena City in the Quezon Province.
Particularly for this year's event, "we're trying to elevate the discussion and the perspective on the current situation of the LGBTQIA people in the country," said Aaron Bonette, co-organizer of the event. "We want to make Kasarisarian 2 a non-hierarchal exhibition invested in grassroots community organizing, and focused on radical queer narratives, visioning and politics. This means that the curated works will tackle and represent queer lives and struggles based on the current and past experiences of LGBTQIA people that are skeptic – from the looming commercialized cooptation of Pride to the glitter industrial complex to the failed political myth of equality through law, violence against LGBTQIA people and class hierarchy."
The event will feature 15 artists based in the Quezon Province and two artists based in the Netherlands, including: Lans Lans, Elvira Bvlgari, Aaron Bonette, Syeril Powsa, Catsoup, John Van Vallesterol, Annita Remoroza, Aann Reynales, Jaymar Valdoria, Alliza Beth, Joma Importante, Skimmi Shimmi, Beatriz Rogas, France dela Paz, and Brian van Niehoff. Documentaries from Outrage Magazine's #KaraniwangLGBT series will also be shown; as will Sunugin ang Aparador by Gio Potes, and Mark & Lenny by Gio Potes.
Bonette added that the annual Pride month celebration has just ended, and yet – over 20 years since the first such gathering in Metro Manila "the LGBTQIA movement does and spends more on branding rather than coalition building, with the mainstream LGBTQIA movement focusing on soliciting funds from corporation to run our cause; it's almost like our rights have been bought, paid for and sold to the highest bidder no matter how anti-worker or neoliberal policy upholder that corporation is."
In this sense, "the metaphor of being 'treated like a piece of meat' is valid, as if our bodies and identities are there to be exploited in the free market of commodification and oppression."
Bonette said that they are cognizant that "corporate money also do some good for the community", but that awareness is needed so LGBTQIA people also recognize that "there is something antithetical about a movement for equality and justice funded by the forces in the world that is also most responsible for widespread economic and social inequality."
In the end, "we'd like to use this event as a venue to ask LGBTQIA people: What's the future ahead of us? When our community is not yet united as a social movement that addresses the issues facing the most marginalized LGBTQIA people, with those fighting against systemic poverty, are we really making any progress? Or has the LGBTQIA movement, our movement, already hijacked by power elites advocating for their own interests?"
"Kasarisarian" is a term coined from: "Kasarian" which means gender, and (2) "Sari-Sari" for variety and diversity. It aims to provide queer (and straight) artists a non-commercial and an uncompromising space to tackle and explore various queer narratives, identities and politics.
This is a free event (yes, there's no admission fee); though it is open for donations (during the event). Door will open at 1:00PM on July 21 and the program will start at exactly 6:00PM with a welcome reception, followed by the Artist Talk, film screening and cultural performances. This will run until July 26.
For more information, head to Guni-Guri Collective; or contact Aaron Bonette at firstname.lastname@example.com or 0995-085-3664.
In the Scene
Looking for the southern rainbow charm
Las Piñas is booming, yes. But it still doesn't have a lot of LGBT places. Ten to One Bar eyes to fill this gap as a "safe space" right in the middle of a still-largely residential location in BF Resorts in Las Piñas.
When Ten to One Bar and Restaurant opened in February, it was clear on what it intended to achieve: "We wanted to establish a safe space for LGBTQI people in the south of Metro Manila," said Eunice Roman, co-owner of the venue, who admitted that this is actually "ambitious", but that it is still "what drives (the existence of venue)."
For Eunice, this is important. A non-scene bi-identifying woman herself, she said it is difficult to make her "come out of my comfort zone". And she said she knows there are many like her out there. And so – for people like them – there aren't that many venues to go to if one wants to let one's hair down (perhaps except for cafés).
1. Design-wise and ambiance-wise, Ten to One eyes to be "a cross between a café and a bar; a "chill" hang-out place. Methinks it's really more a bar (as emphasized by the offerings); but that it's a chill place in the middle of a still-largely residential location in BF Resorts in Las Piñas matters. Because there would be suburban LGBTQI people who won't venture far just to have fun; and this place could – somehow – fill that craving to go out (though not wander to far-off locations).
2. Laid-back peeps. The bar, according to Eunice, wants to create a "community" – i.e. you could come here on your own, and end up finding new friends here. So the approach is pretty laid-back – e.g. Eunice insisted you can always approach her (and her biz partners) even if it's just to chat.
3. Unli. LP is (in)famous for everything unlimited – e.g. right beside Ten to One is a rest that offers unli-BBQ. Well, Ten to One has unlimited BBQ, too (for P175, from 7PM to 10PM). The unli choices aren't a lot; but if this is what tickles your fancy, check this out…
4. Peculiar offerings – e.g. the Chicken Skin Nachos comes to mind, which Eunice said (with a laugh) "could kill you, but you die happy".
1. Location. If you're a "mainstream" partygoer, then the fact that this place has to be "sadyain (that is, to intentionally go to)" may not make you want to go to it at all.
2. As a new bar, the foot traffic tends to be inconsistent – i.e. if you want to party, party, party with a big crowd, then (for now) it's hard to tell when best to come here to be lost in that crowd.
3. Alone-ness – i.e. some bars work because, if they don't work, you have that option to go to the bar next door. Ten to One is, currently, by itself here; so if you want to maybe move to a nearby bar, there's none that's immediately there. This point – of course – only stresses point #1 above…
LP is booming, yes. But it still doesn't have a lot of LGBT places. For Ten to One to actually "own up" as such is refreshing.
The add-on benefit is that it's right in the middle of a still-largely residential location in BF Resorts in LP matters. As stated, there would be suburban LGBTQI people who won't venture far just to have fun. Now this place could – somehow – fill that craving to go out (though not wander to far-off locations).
Ten to One Bar is located at #64 Gloria Diaz St., BF Resort Village, Las Piñas City, Metro Manila. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/TenToOneBar/ or call
0915 707 3753.
In the Scene
CAREDIVAS slated for special run from June 24-July 30
PETA and OWWA present a special run of CAREDIVAS – AN ORIGINAL PINOY MUSICAL that pays tribute to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as the present-day heroes of the country with performances beginning June 24 until July 30 at The PETA Theater Center.
Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) partnered for the special run of CAREDIVAS – AN ORIGINAL PINOY MUSICAL that pays tribute to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as the present-day heroes of the country with performances beginning June 24 until July 30 at The PETA Theater Center.
CAREDIVAS – a musical drama about five transgender OFWs in Israel who work as caregivers in the morning and transform into drag queen performers at night – premiered in 2011. That year, the musical dominated the Philstage Gawad Buhay! Awards, bagging seven trophies, including Outstanding Musical Direction, Outstanding Musical Production and Outstanding Ensemble Performance for a Musical.
Caregivers, also known as home health or personal care aides, give assistance to people who are sick, injured, mentally or physically disabled, or the elderly and fragile. Their job description includes bathing and bathroom functions, walking and light exercise, plan and prepare meals, feeding, grooming, taking medication, and some housework like making beds and change linens, dusting and vacuuming, laundry and ironing. Caregivers also make and keep appointments with doctors, provide or arrange transportation and serve as a companion for their clients. Caregivers might need to lift clients into the bathtub, cars and into bed, and need strength. They help their clients engage in activities (games, memory books) and most of all, companionship.
CAREDIVAS revolves around the lives of kind and loving Chelsea, often-sarcastic group leader Shai, ditzy Thalia, bubbly Kayla, and the ill-tempered Jonee. While desperate to make ends meet, they also struggle to search for acceptance in a foreign land.
This time around, giving life to the major roles will be Melvin Lee (Chelsea), Vincent De Jesus and Ron Alfonso (Shai), Dudz Teraña and Jason Barcial (Thalia), Gio Gahol, Jerald Napoles and Ricci Chan (Kayla), Thou Reyes and Phil Noble (Jonee).
Supporting them will be Myke Salomon (Faraj, David, Daniel), Paul Holme and Leo Rialp (Isaac, Moshe, Yaakov, Club owner), Joan Bugcat and Gold Villar (Nonah), Eric Dela Cruz and Dom Miclat-Janssen (Avi, Aryeh, Pulis), Sherry Lara (Sarah, Adara), Eko Baquial and Joseph Madriaga (ensemble).
The artistic team of CAREDIVAS include: Maribel Legarda (director), Liza Magtoto (playwright), Vincent De Jesus (lyricist, composer, arranger, musical director), Leo Abaya (set designer), Jonjon Villareal (lighting designer), John Abul (costume designer), Carlo Pagunaling (assistant costume designer), Carlon Matobato (choreographer) and Gimbey dela Cruz (vocal coach).
CAREDIVAS will play every Friday (8:00PM), Saturday and Sunday (3:00PMand 8:00PM).
The restaging of CAREDIVAS is part of OWWA's 35th anniversary celebration, "renew(ing its) commitment in promoting and protecting the welfares of OFWs". Aside from this, OWWA is also "providing social, education and training, workers welfare assistance and reintegration program attuned to the needs of OFWs and their families".
For inquiries and ticket reservations, contact PETA at (+632) 7256244 or email email@example.com; or TicketWorld at 891-9999 or visit www.ticketworld.com.ph.
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text:
The most current statistic on numbers in our profession comes from an article written several years ago, which was seeking to quantify and describe the typical professional duties of an ND. In the U.S. there are about 1300 in the field, in Canada, there are only 500. I don't know what comparison I can draw for a profession of only 500, maybe rodeo clowns?
We have a lot to offer all of the above groups, and this will continue all the more so in the years and decades to come.


text:
You would be hard-pressed (ha!) to find a better selection of wine in Davis. The Co-op offers a wide variety of wines for every taste and budget—from every corner of the globe. Italy, Australia, El Dorado County California and...well, many wines in our store come from right here in Yolo County. Whether you're serving filet mignon or a grilled cheese sandwich, the Co-op's knowledgeable wine staff can help you find the perfect pairing. In fact, they would LOVE to help!
Since the renovation, the Co-op's beer selection has grown. And grown. And grown. By now we're pretty confident in saying the Co-op offers the widest selection of imports and microbrews in town. Compare our prices and you'll see that not only do we offer the best selection, we often offer the best deal in town. We sell kegs, too! Call for pricing, availability, and give us a bit of advance notice. We provide tap rental as well.
The most recent addition to the Wine and Beer department is our liquor set. We have a small but comprehensive selection with an emphasis on organic and small batch spirits and mixers.
Join us for a taste! The Co-op offers free wine and beer sampling periodically in the evenings throughout the week and afternoons on the weekend. You can find them listed on the events calendar. Also, keep and eye out for Tasting and Pairing Classes in the Teaching Kitchen.


text:
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
I got sick this summer. And progressively sicker and sicker as fall came and wore on. Enough that I struggled to keep up my home and volunteer obligations. Enough that I couldn't always get out of bed. And a lot of days, I couldn't get much work done. Writing about something other than books was even tougher (hence, the glaring absence of such posts). I couldn't always think straight or even find the words for basic things ("Put the...thing in the...thing," I would say.) It took a lot of effort to read, let alone write a review. A post that used to take me an hour or two to write was taking me days--most of the time, I gave up. And then responding to comments became tougher because it took so much concentration, more than my fatigued body and mind could handle.
You can imagine what it felt like to stare at my own book, my own words, unable to make much sense of it all. Along came depression, yeah? That's what happens to a writer that can't write. I can tell you it sucks feeling broken.
But, I'm doing better now. Awesome, huh? While I still struggle to pull the late nights I was accustomed to, I'm a much happier person, feeling good. I was even able to go to the World Fantasy Convention last week (picture post to come soon). It didn't take much, really. Now that we know what was wrong.
Still, I feel sad that I've let so much time pass between you and me. I feel like I've neglected our friendship...like with those of you waiting for giveaway results or for books or correspondence from me; I'm especially sorry about that [on that note, I've finally posted the winner of the signed AUDITION and the winners of the signed JAY ASHER books]. I can't promise that I'll be able to post regularly, but I can promise that I'll give it my best shot. I hope you still want to be friends.
Anyway, I wasn't going to say anything. I'm not all that comfortable sharing this kind of stuff. Any kind of personal stuff, actually. I've always felt very protective of my private life (It's not because I have photos on my phone à la Scarlett Johansson. Probably.) You might have noticed, too, I rarely talk about my writing, which ranks right up there with my family and home life as PRIVATE-PERSONAL-CONFIDENTIAL-DO-NOT-TOUCH. Having any sort of online presence makes me feel...hm. Vulnerable? No, that's not the right word. Naked? Protective? I can't explain it, maybe.
Since I started this blog, I've taken regular, long breaks from it, usually when I'm feeling a little overexposed. Is it a writer thing, you think? Or...probably just a weird personality quirk, huh? I see some writer/bloggers who don't seem to have a problem talking about their Real Life lives, especially their writing. It's admirable, really. But my writing is like, I don't know--like my soul? Is that too melodramatic? I'm not sure if my resistance to sharing it or anything about it is born out of insecurity or self confidence or supremely anal perfectionism or clever marketing. Maybe all the above. But I do know this isn't likely to change, at least not until there's a book to promote, in which case you might be like, WTF, Carol? Or maybe even, You write? Or, I thought you weren't a real person.
P.S. I'll try not to get sucky sick again. But chances are, if it happens again, you'll probably not know about it unless I feel guilty for neglecting you. Sorry...
69 comments:
Don't apologise, Carolina - I'm so glad you are feeling better. Keep it up. They say writing is a lonely business, with only your own characters for company, so going out into the 'real' world again must feel like you are exposing yourself to a gregarious type of agoraphobia which is bound to cause a few problems! Keep getting better.ReplyDelete
Carolina, thanks for sharing why you haven't been around much. But don't worry about taking breaks, especially for health issues. I'm so sorry you've been so sick. I hope you do get your energy back. My husband has chronic serious problems so I know how debilitating it can be.ReplyDelete
I know what you mean about not being super comfortable sharing such personal stuff. I'm going through a big challenge (not happy) with work and haven't talked about it on my blog.
Take the time you need and just let us know when you have to be gone. Posting a short note about those breaks might be good. Most importantly, take care of yourself and your family.
I'm so glad you're feeling better! I can't imagine being that tired. We missed you but glad you are back! I understand. I don't always share personal things or my writing on my blog. :)ReplyDelete
Carolina!!! Don't you worry about the blogging! You're ill, you're ill and the priority is for you to get better and well and happy! Yay!! Please do take care and get better and all the best with your writing!! Hugs! xReplyDelete
Your health (physical & mental) should always comes first! Most of us understand that long absences are born out of unexpected issues beyond the control of the blogger, not because of any sort of neglect. That doesn't stop us from worrying though. I'm glad you're feeling better! :)ReplyDelete
I'm sorry you were sick and am thrilled you are feeling better. To be honest, though, this post hit home in a much deeper way than I'd like to admit. I'm actually tearing up. I'm not sure exactly what made you sick, but I do know that I've been feeling similarly since the beginning of September. Not comfortable exposing myself too much, I'll leave it at that. I just wonder how you were able to pull through. Everything seems like such a chore, right now, and I've never had that attitude. I'm always full of spunk.ReplyDelete
Anyway, I truly am glad you are feeling better!!
I'm glad you're feeling better, Carol. That's all that matters!ReplyDelete
Hey Carolina; first time reading/commenting/following. This was a good blog post, it sorta relates to some of the things I think at times and it is good to know others can feel similar.ReplyDelete
I'm glad to hear you are feeling better but I don't think there is a need to apologize or feel guilty (easier said than done) for anything. You are allowed to take time off and to also write, or not write, whatever you want.
I am glad you are back.ReplyDelete
You were missed.
Aww, I'm so glad you're starting to feel better, Carol! I can't imagine how frustrating that experience must have been for you. Here's hoping you continue to feel better. We missed you here on your blog, and I'm so glad you'll be posting more regularly again!ReplyDelete
Aw, so sorry you have been sick!! I hope you're feeling better!! You've been missed!ReplyDelete
I'm glad you're feeling better. It's hard to not feel depressed when you can't be you. Let's hope for happy days and sunshine ahead. Take care of yourself.ReplyDelete
Thanks for sharing, Carolina. I'm glad you're feeling better. :)ReplyDelete
So sorry to hear you've been sick. Take care of yourself first and the rest of us will wait. {hugs}ReplyDelete
{{hugs}} to you! YOU come first. The internet is way down the list of priorities.ReplyDelete
:(:(:( so sorry you were sucky sick.ReplyDelete
I shall want to be your friend whether you're well or sick or posting a lot or not. But I do hope you continue to get better and better. And I'm so glad you made it to the fantasy convention.
Glad you're feeling better, sweetie. I have indeed noticed your hiatus from things and am glad you're doing okay. I want to catch up on writing/your upcoming trip/life when you feel up to it! But don't feel pressured to blog...do what you can when you can...that's how life works. We're all still here, your captive audience :) Love ya! xo RobinReplyDelete
Dang, that does suck. I'm glad you're feeling better, though. And don't feel guilty or bad or whatever for your feelings towards blogging and other online stuff. You just do what you gotta do, that's really all the matters, isn't it?ReplyDelete
Sarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)
I know exactly what that feels like. I haven't posted in such a long time, but with my parents and my children and husband, I know what that feeling is like when you can't function.ReplyDelete
I am going through a lot of that right now too. Sometimes I am motivated and have some good ideas, and then I am mush that can't do anything but curl up and read a book. Just to escape reality for just a little bit.
I'm so happy that you are feeling better. I have joined NaNoWriMo in order to motivate myself in my writing. I hope it works. Best wishes! *hugs*
Nice to hear youre doing okey!ReplyDelete
Take all the rest you need...
Were just here anyway! **wink!
Thank you for sharing. A long illness takes it's toll on every aspect of your life. We've all been there in some way - and it makes us more sympathetic when someone else is struggling. Good luck, and hope you continue to feel more balance in your life in the months ahead.ReplyDelete
I'm just so glad that you're feeling better. Struggling with sickness is a horrible thing and I'm sorry you had to go through that. And you my dear, could never be a sucky friend. :)ReplyDelete
Hey, I almost died this summer, so I hear you. The good news is that we're both better, right? So let's go kick some writing butt.ReplyDelete
Sorry you were so sick! You've been missed. I don't talk much about my private life online either.ReplyDelete
I love your rambles, Carol! And more importantly, I love that you're feeling better.ReplyDelete
And as for your bloggy friends? Pretty sure we all understand and would never hold ANY of it against you...now or later. Except maybe if you never came back. That would be sad. :)
PS-I'm pretty sure on your "off days" you probably still post more regularly than most...I know I'm horrible at withdrawing for long periods of time! :)
The thing I've only just realized (and I really think WFC helped clarify this for me) is that blogging is not that important. It still has value, but it's not the priority I've been making it, at least not for me.ReplyDelete
Books are what matters. Books and real friends, not followers.
I'm going to try to start emailing you more, because comments are cool, but conversations are better (and I hate phones).
It's good to have you back :)ReplyDelete
Aw, shoot! I suck! I didn't know you were still sick. I thought you were slaving away writing. So glad you're feeling better. I should have checked in, and I'm sorry. Glad you still made your con. Can't wait to hear all about it:)ReplyDelete
I'm sending super huge cyber hugs your way and PLEASE don't ever feel like you have to apologize for taking time for YOU. I think we all go through those "sucky sick" moments, those depressive black holes of funk that you wonder if you can ever climb out of, and I think we all have our own way of dealing. Anyway, I'm glad you're starting to feel better. AND I hope you continue to do so. I'll be saying some prayers and sending good thoughts! Glad you got to WFC! And I hope Haiti was a wonderful experience!ReplyDelete
Thanks for everything you've done. I'm glad you're feeling better now, I think it had to be difficult for you...ReplyDelete
Sorry you were broken. :( I understand how this feels, and it's no good.ReplyDelete
I'm so glad to hear you're feeling better!ReplyDelete
I'm very glad to hear that you are feeling better, Carol! You're not alone - I had the same thing happen to me before and it is hell getting out of the hole you find yourself in. When your body is sick for a prolonged time, you can't help but get depressed, and then the simplest thing seems to be too much. I can remember not answering the phone because the thought of talking on the phone made me physically want to take a nap!! As they say in the good book, this too shall pass, and pass it has! Welcome back :)ReplyDelete
I'm so glad you got everything figured out. It's amazing what a difference KNOWING makes, yanno? (Well, obviously you do...) And keeping your writing close to your heart just shows how important it is to you. I used to talk about my writing (hello, Project Jane?) but the more seriously I take my career, the more it means to me and the less I'll ever talk about it. Never online and very, very rarely in real life other than a quick tagline sort of explanation. (Except for to very special people, like you! <3 )ReplyDelete
I'm so sorry you've been sick. I thought your absence had more to do with writing. Please take of yourself. I respect your privacy, but know that I care.ReplyDelete
Still blogging friends!
Oh, I hope that you continue to improve. You've done a wonderful job keeping up with what you could...without letting us know how hard it has been for you. It is difficult to balance the personal with the online life, but I think you do it well. Be better Carol. I'm wishing you a wealth of free flowing words. And I know we'll be seeing that good book news coming from you soon. I feel it in my heart.ReplyDelete
You aren't sucky.ReplyDelete
You're human.
And also hotter than Scarlett Johansson.
Feel better. We'll be here.
I'm glad you are on the mend. Take time for yourself, mentally and physically.ReplyDelete
HUGS! We are always here for you!!
I'm so glad you're feeling better! Being sick is the worst.ReplyDelete
Sweetie, what's going on? I'm sorry you've been so sick! Been thinking about you a lot. *Sends healing and happiness sprinkles* HUGS!!!ReplyDelete
Hey babe, I just got a weird spam email from you about going to Spain and getting mugged. Check you email account to make sure you are not hacked!!ReplyDelete
Carolina, I'm glad you're climbing out of the depression!! :-) :-) :-)ReplyDelete
So glad to hear you're feeling better! I hope the stories flow and keep flowing :-)ReplyDelete
Phew! You are okay, Carol. I just got a spam email from you saying you were mugged in Spain. I don't know if it's your real email address (it was from Google), but it is your name.ReplyDelete
Just thought I'd warn you since I won't be the only one of your followers who will no doubt be hit.
Carolina: I just got an email from you saying that you'd been mugged and needed money.ReplyDelete
Glad you're okay!! Blog breaks are totally excusable for all those reasons.ReplyDelete
*I dropped by off my break to warn you your email got hacked or something, and to make sure you really weren't mugged and penniless in Spain. But looks like you've already been warned!
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
It takes a lot to share what you did - but believe me, you so aren't alone!ReplyDelete
I'm sorry that you weren't feeling well, but glad to hear you're on the up and up. And taking a break from the blog? Pa-lease! You do an amazing job with your posts - much better than many of us (and yes, myself included, for sure!) - but there are so many other things that come first.
Anyhow - maybe take the rest of the year to get things settled, make sure your health is in check, and get back to the things that matter most: yourself, your family, your writing. We'll always be here. Promise.
Hey Carolina, I think your email@example.com account has been hacked, as I just got the below message from it. Sorry to post it here on your blog, but I didn't want to reply to your email if it's been compromised. Just a friendly heads up. The false message is below.ReplyDelete
I made a quick trip to Spain on a short vacation unfortunately i got
mugged at the park of hotel where i stayed,worse of it was that my
bags, cash, mobile phone and credit cards were all stolen at GUNPOINT
leaving me penniless right now.
I swear it's was a horrible experience for me,i need help flying back
home and the authorities are not being 100% supportive but the good
thing is that i still have my passport.I need some cash to settle my
bills and get on flight back home. please let me know if you can help.
I would appreciate your reply.
I wouldn't worry about having to take breaks. We all do what we have to.ReplyDelete
Incidentally, your email may have been hacked. I just received an email from you that's clearly NOT from you. LOL
"I made a quick trip to Spain on a short vacation unfortunately i got mugged at the park of hotel where i stayed,worse of it was that my
bags, cash, mobile phone and credit cards were all stolen at GUNPOINT leaving me penniless right now.
I swear it's was a horrible experience for me,i need help flying back home and the authorities are not being 100% supportive but the good
thing is that i still have my passport.I need some cash to settle my bills and get on flight back home. please let me know if you can help.
I would appreciate your reply."
It's amazing how well this sort of thing must work for people to keep trying it. Thought I'd let you know.
Sorry to hear you've been feeling so awful, but I'm glad you're now on the mend. {{HUGS}}. And yeah, your gmail account was hacked--I know you'd never make so many grammatical errors as appear in the fraudulent message.ReplyDelete
Glad to hear you're feeling better! You're only human and sometimes real life gets the best of all of us.ReplyDelete
I do share some real life stuff on the blog, but I'm private about other things and I'm pretty private about my writing. I'll do prompts sometimes or post a two line snippet, but I hardly ever talk about what I'm working on. I don't know why. I guess I like keeping my secrets. :)
Anyway, I also stopped by to tell you I got a spam mail from your email, but it looks like others beat me to the punch.
I too got the hoax mail, and I have alerted my followers to it.ReplyDelete
I was popping over to tell you your emails been hacked, but I see others have mentioned it.ReplyDelete
The timing really stinks! It's such a pain when that kind of stuff happens. I hope you're feeling better. Being sick and down like that is the pits. Sending you lots of healing/healthy vibes. And virtual cupcakes too! Take care *hugs*
So glad you are feeling better. How discouraging for a while, there! Everyone gets sick though, to one degree or another, so we understand. Hope you can stay well! and get back to your writing. :)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 2, 2011 at 5:17 PM
I also got the hoax email. It was full of typos, so I thought that can't be our Carolina.ReplyDelete
I'm glad you're feeling better.
When I'm out of town or having technical difficulties I worry that I'm ignoring my online friends.
Congrats to the winners.
I'm glad you're feeling better, and it was wonderful to meet you at WFC!ReplyDelete
goodness, Carol! I'm so sorry to hear you were ill. And might still be a little. That sounds like such a strange affliction--I hope you've been to the doctor. And I'm sure you have. Take care of yourself, focus on your writing. Best! :o) <3ReplyDelete
Aww Carolina! You don't have to apologise. Being sick is your body's way of telling you that you need a break. Take some time to breathe and go easy on yourself. Don't worry about us. We'll still be here when you're back in full form. Until then, just relax and take care of yourself!*HUGS* We miss you! <3ReplyDelete
That had to be so scary! I'm glad you're better. Take care of yourself and don't worry about us. We'll be here. :)ReplyDelete
I'm a private person as well, so I definitely understand why you didn't want to write about this. But hey, look at all your well-wishing friends. Sometimes you just have to share to understand, we're pulling for you.
- AnonymousNovember 4, 2011 at 12:00 AM
I'm mentally sending you bunches of hugs and a cute get-well card with a puppy or kitten or other such cute animal, that plays a cute song when you open it and makes you smile. :] Don't feel guilty. We love you. ~ GabiReplyDelete
Sheesh! That's no good that you were so sick. Hope you're getting better every second!ReplyDelete
I wish I could respond to all of you personally and privately with the warmest best wishes and gratitude. You know I would definitely try, but I can't access my email at the moment to which all your comments are forwarded so I can reply. Some turkey's gone and hijacked it. Even this comment, I've had to sign in with another email I don't use much. I'm terribly sorry. But I wanted you to know how much I appreciate all of your kind words and encouragement. I treasure all of you.ReplyDelete
Don't apologise! The list of things more important than your blog is considerable -- your family, your writing, your volunteer commitments, your sanity, the downtime you need to refill the well!ReplyDelete
I'm so sorry to hear you weren't well, and you should know that you have a big pool of people like me who love to read your blog, but would much rather you focused on keeping yourself well! We'll be here whenever you are, but for sure nobody's sitting around indignantly wondering who you think you are to skip a post. I hope the worst of it's behind you now, but make sure you keep taking care of yourself.
And there's this -- I know you read the comments, and so does everybody else. You don't need to reply to them. Save your energy for where you need it.
(And, after telling you to relax, I'll also admit that I can't wait to see WFC photos -- but there's no hurry!)
So glad you are on the up and up. It's difficult when health problems plague us and the fact that it affects our writing and blogging makes it seem doubly worse. I've had my share of health issues so I understand where you are coming from. I hope you have beat the worst of it and best of luck with everything in the future.ReplyDelete
So glad to hear you're feeling better!ReplyDelete
Sorry you've been sick. :( I know what you mean about being private. There are somethings I never talk about in blogland. Some things I don't like to discuss with anyone. Yep, I like to bottle things up.ReplyDelete
I'm glad you are feeling better. Blog when you can...You are loved. :)
I'm sorry you were feeling so ill...:( Don't ever worry about things like keeping up with comments or time between posts. Everyone in this community is very supportive and understanding. It's like how old friends can pick up where they left off and it's as if they never lost touch. *big hugs*ReplyDelete


text:
Science Friday® is produced by the Science Friday Initiative, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Science Friday® and SciFri® are registered service marks of Science Friday, Inc. Site design by Pentagram; engineering by Mediapolis.
In this segment, Ira talks with paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson, co-discoverer of the 'Lucy' fossil, about the find and what's been discovered since then about the human family tree.


text:
From the Orthodox Church of America's online Resource Handbook for Lay Ministries' Parish Development Page, by Permission:
The Accessible Church by the Very Reverend Father John Matusiak, rector of St. Joseph Church, Wheaton, IL; managing editor of the publication "The Orthodox Church;" and secretary of the Orthodox Church of America's Diocese of the Midwest.
|The Accessible Church
By Fr. John Matusiak
|The rights of people with handicapping conditions first received the support of federal law with the enactment of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Title V, Section 504, prohibits discrimination against qualified persons with handicapping conditions in federally-assisted programs or activities solely on the basis of disability.During the years immediately following enactment, administrators and advocates learned that non-discrimination is more difficult to practice with the disabled than in cases of racial or sexual discrimination. The reason is that people with disabilities may need different treatment than others for equal access to public life. That realization prompted demonstrations at Health, Education, and Welfare offices across the country and led to the development of the Section 504 regulation in 1977.For the most part, churches have ignored the needs of the disabled, and many church buildings are virtually inaccessible. Steps, pew placement, inaccessible washroom facilities, and insensitivity to the needs of the disabled in general have posed problems for decades. Yet as we consider the means by which the Orthodox Church in America can effectively evangelize, grow, and reach out to everyone — including the disabled — we should consider accessibility one of our top priorities, as every parish can expect that one out of four of its members will be handicapped at some point in life. A major attitudinal barrier to overcome is the idea that people with disabilities are people in need. As Orthodox Christians we should strive to see people as having abilities instead of disabilities, capable of offering leadership and a host of other talents to the Church and community. The parish which truly seeks to evangelize as Christ commanded will welcome all people, as Christ Himself did.
Building Language
Let's consider a few facts.
The disabled persons are not necessarily handicapped. A handicap exists when the disabled person cannot overcome a barrier. Therefore the responsibility for accessibility is in those who create barriers or who should remove such barriers once their presence is recognized.
Buildings send messages in what might be termed "building language." The message that church buildings need to say is "welcome." A church building or parish hall with countless steps, inadequate sound systems, or inaccessible facilities surely does not extend a warm invitation to the disabled.
We may fool ourselves that proposed structural changes are planned only for the permanently disabled people. Not so. At any moment many able-bodied parishioners are recovering from illness or are temporarily in casts or on crutches. Further, every parishioner is growing older. These are all conditions which benefit from "barrier-free" access to our church facilities.
One of the purposes of the Church is the maintenance of Christian fellowship. We assume that it is a person's desire to continue active involvement in worship and in fellowship as long as life will allow. On the other hand, every parish has its list of homebound parishioners who are no longer active. The decision to be homebound is theirs. They perceive that, given their disability, to leave home and enter the church building or hall is too difficult. If every church building could be barrier free, the greater part of the perceived difficulty will have been removed.
Assessing Needs
An Accessibility Audit is one of the easiest ways of discovering architectural barriers, and considering the different ways in which these barriers can be removed is usually quite simple.
Determining costs, procedures, and the time involved in removing physical barriers is more difficult. But with such information in hand, decisions, plans, and implementation take place at whatever pace a particular parish accepts.
Awareness-building might proceed more quickly if able-bodied parishioners used a wheelchair or crutches to tour their parish facilities in order to experience first hand some of the problems faced by disabled persons.
It is also essential to recognize the fact that we are long past that time when the need for accessibility developed. The long list of those now considered shut-in makes that self-evident. We need also to remember that removing existing architectural barriers will not, of itself, return to active parish life those who are comfortably established in their home-bound lifestyle. Those for whom we are becoming barrier free are, primarily, those who are presently active and those becoming active as time goes on, the one out of four who will become disabled at some point in their lives. Our goal should be to extend their time of active participation for as long as possible.
What Is An Accessible Church?
An accessible church is one that has overcome:
The physical or architectural barriers that make it difficult for people with handicaps to enter or to participate fully;
The attitudinal barriers that keep them from feeling welcome. Of the two, the attitudinal barrier is the most difficult to overcome. Once awareness, sensitivity, and understanding are achieved, the removal of physical barriers becomes an easy task.
People with disabilities also have many gifts and talents given to them by God. We are all called to be stewards of our own gifts and to encourage others to share theirs as well.
Disabled people should be included in parish leadership roles. When planning programs, learn firsthand the needs of the whole parish.
Parishioners may have relatives with handicapping conditions who are anticipating or experiencing attitudinal or physical barriers. Listen to their fears or anger and involve them in the process of change.
To assure that people with visual disabilities can fully participate in liturgical services, contact your local society for the blind. For little or no cost they will gladly assist you in producing prayer books and other religious literature in Braille or large-type.
Christianity has a long and unfortunate history of excluding hearing-impaired persons. St. Augustine, an early Christian writer, declared that deaf persons could not be Christians because they could not "hear the Word." Past mistakes do not justify continued insensitivity. Since it is generally impossible to offer services with sign language interpretations, consider better sound amplification, which can be accomplished by installing a "loop" system in the pews. Your local society for the hearing-impaired will provide information about mechanical means of access.
Non-sighted persons will want to move around parish facilities independently. Ushers or greeters can express their welcome by orienting them immediately to steps, doors, and corridors.
Several modifications may need to be made for equal access by those in wheelchairs. Can they move freely around the church? Are some pews shorter than others thereby allowing persons in wheelchairs to be part of a row rather than an appendage of the worshipping congregation?
When your parish has learned to integrate people with handicapping conditions into its life of service, you may want to explore new opportunities for outreach and evangelization by noting in parish publications, phone directory listings, and advertisements that the church building is accessible to the disabled. It is a proven fact that the disabled will more readily join churches which are accessible.
Because of its history of barring those with disabilities, the Church is challenged to seek out people with handicapping conditions and invite their participation in a common ministry. Elimination of architectural barriers, as vital as it is, is not enough. An on-going ministry to the disabled should be an integral part of every progressive parish.


text:
We all knew that creating a hit drama series is hard work with lots of prima donnas to contend with and placate. Anthony Kim (Kim Myung Min) is a producer who has the Midas touch in creating hit shows, but he has to deal with an idealistic new screenwriter who wants her dramas to carry an important message and an arrogant, top actor who refuses to compromise in any way. Can the three put their differences aside to create a hit drama series or will their own personal dramas overtake their project?
This show does not have any episodes


text:
Table of contents
Streets of Rage 3 Cheats :
Code - Extra Lives Select
Go to the options screen and select the ''Lives'' option. Press and hold UP + (A) + (B) + (C) on Controller 2, and press LEFT or RIGHT on Controller 1 to select the number of lives you can start the game with. You will now be able to select 9 lives, past the default max of 5.
Code - Get Roo
At the title screen, hold Up and B, then press Start. A kangaroo named Roo will now be available at the character select screen.
Code - Get Shiva
After beating Shiva in the first stage when you get the last hit, press B+Start and hold it. When the continue screen comes up you'll be able to play as Shiva.
Code - Play as Ash (Japanese version only)
To select Ash, defeat him, then hold A on Controller 1. After losing all of your lives, you select to continue and you can choose Ash as your character.
Code - Play as Super Axel
Press C to select a player, then quickly hold A and sweep the D-pad in a clockwise circle until Axel appears. Then press A.
Code - Play as the same character
Hold Down+C on controller 2 as you enter 2 PLAYER mode with controller 1.
Glitch - Shiva's infinite combo
When playing as Shiva, you can hit the opponent over and over again until they die without them being able to escape you by pressing Z on a 6 button pad or B and C together on a 3 button one over and over again. This will work on any opponent apart from the ones that can block and the bosses (excluding Jet)
Secret - Another way to get Roo
When you fight the clown and Roo, defeat the clown first and Roo should hop away off the screen. When you lose all your lives and continue, cycle through the characters and Roo will now be available.
Streets of Rage 3 Cheats:


text:
Dear Herman Cain,
Your "9-9-9" tax plan has taken the political world by storm. Ever since you started talking about moving to 9 percent for federal income taxes, 9 percent for corporate taxes, and establishing a new 9 percent federal sales tax, you've been soaring in the polls.
You're the new frontrunner in the contest for the GOP presidential nomination.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
But there are skeptics out there. Some people say your plan is way too regressive, because it involves big cuts in income and corporation taxes (and rich people have the most income and are most likely to benefit from these cuts) and because it establishes a sales tax that everyone would pay.
Other people say your kind of tax system simply can't be instituted. Or that it wouldn't work if it were instituted.
You have a trump card you could play to rebut such attacks. But for some reason you're not playing it. Maybe you just don't know that there's a big state that's already put your plan in place.
It's called California.
Yes, the Golden State has a tax structure that comes closer to 9-9-9 than anywhere else.
While Caifornia has multiple tax brackets, the largest bracket -- and the one the most people pay -- is for individuals making over $48,029 a year and less than $1 million a year. They pay -- you guessed it -- 9.3 percent. We'd be happy to drop it to 9 percent in your honor.
And corporations (with the exception of banks and certain financial firms) pay an 8.84 percent tax rate. (We'd round it up to 9 percent for you, but you might not like it).
And while state sales tax is 7.25 percent, local governments add on a cent or two, which means that Californians are paying about 9 percent on their purchases.
Now, you may have heard that there are a few critics of California's tax and fiscal systems.
On the right, a few deadenders say the tax rates are so high that they're driving people and businesses out of the state.
On the left, a handful of cranks say the tax system simply doesn't collect revenue for a growing state because the relatively flat nature of the income tax doesn't capture enough revenue for the rich.
In the middle, some people make some kind of argument that this tax structure is so volatile that it contributes to the state's big budget deficits.
But no one really understands that argument.
Forget those critics. And thank you.
It's refreshing to hear a presidential candidate -- and a Republican one at this - offer such a full-throated defense of a California-style system. We're honored you see us a model for the nation.
What's puzzling is that you won't mention our state by name as an example of where you want to take the country.
Is it something about our reputation in national or international economic circles?
No way.
We're sure it just keeps slipping your mind.
Yours in mutual love,
Let us know what you think. Comment below, send us your thoughts via Twitter @PropZero or add your comment to our Facebook page.


text:
Jul 16
Jack of All Trades and Author, Ben Malisow, Visits the Child Finder Trilogy
I'm what's called a "hack" by writers, and a "whore" by normal people. I'll write anything for money. My first book is 1,001 Things To Do If You Dare, and it's a simple amusement, the kind of thing you can pick up anywhere, flip open, and (hopefully) be entertained. My second, Criminal Investigations: Terrorism, was a brief, cursory overview of terrorism, for a high school audience. I've contributed to a number of other works, including everything from a book about weddings to one about a female politician from Alaska. Read More
Posted in Author Blogs, Author Colleagues, Guest Blogging, Interviews Tagged Abductee, Abduction, Academy, Access, ACFW, Actor, Afghanistan, AFOSI, AFOSISA, Agency, Agent, Air, air force academy, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Alaska, Alliance, alphabet soup, America, American, amusement, anyone, anything, archangel, Area, area 51 ufo, armchair, association, audience, Author, averse, Bachelor, bachelor of science, bachelor of science degree, Beltway, Ben, Ben Malisow, Beretta, bin, bit, Black, Book, bottom, brief, Bureau, campus, Catholic, Central, Central Intelligence Agency, Child, Children, Christ, Christian, CIA, Clark, clark county school district, college, college of southern nevada, Colonel, Colorado Springs, colorado springs co, Community, computer, conceit, concept, consultant, contractor, Counter-intelligence, Counter-terrorism, Counterintelligence, Counterterrorism, county, couple, cowardice, Crime, Criminal, cursory, D.C., Dare, Defense, Defense Intelligence Agency, degree, Departments, departments of defense, Describe, DIA, District, diversity, dog, Donnell, doubt, dozen, engineering, English, english professor, environmental engineering firm, environmental remediation, ESP, everyone, everything, experience, Extrasensory, extrasensory perception esp, fact, Faith, Family, FBI, Federal, Federal Bureau of Investigation, federal security, Fiction, field, Finder, firm, Force, freelance, future, gig, girlfriend, God, god faith, Government, guest, Gun, gutter, Henley, highs and lows, highway, history, history degree, Homeland, Iam, industry, insight, Intelligence, international thriller, Intrigue, Investigation, investigation fbi, investigations, itw, jack of all trades, Jesus, Journal, journalist, Kel, Kel-Tec, kid, kidnapper, kidnapping, kind, Korea, Laden, Las Vegas, Library, life, Magnum, Major, man, management, management officer, management tasks, manager, MBA, Michael, Michael Angley, Mike, Mike Angley, Military, military writers, Milwaukee, milwaukee wisconsin, money, mountain, Murder, MWA, MWSA, Mystery, Mystery Writers of America, National, National Reconnaissance Office, National Security Agency, Nevada, none, nonfiction, Novel, NRO, NSA, number, objectivity, Office, Office of Special Investigations, Officer, open, Operation, Operations, opinion, Osama, OSI, overview, Pakistan, Paranormal, party, Patrick, Pentagon, Perception, Pistol, politician, Priest, principle, Professional, Professor, Program, Project, PSWA, Psychic, Psychotic, Public, publisher, Putnam, Reconnaissance, recorder, reform, remediation, Rescue, Resurrection, Revelation, RMWA, Rock, Roswell, Safety, Saint Michael, saucer, school, science, Security, security consultant, security contractor, service, Society, someone, Sorcha, South America, Southern, stint, story, stuff, Suspense, Synesthesia, Synesthete, teacher, Tec, technology, Telekinetic, term, Terrorism, thing, Thriller, thriller writers, time, today, tolerant, topic, TotalRecall, type, UBL, UFO, University, USAF, usaf air, Usama, usama bin laden, use, variety, Virgin Mary, vision, Washington, way, whore, Wisconsin, wit, word, work, Writer, Writers, youth, Zoomie Leave a comment