Terror teachers

Before anything else, I'd like to greet Ashleiy, my Nigguh, a very happy 19th birthday. If you guys want a good dose of good art, then check out her Multiply.

Oh, something more to impress you: Ashleiy won the Philippine Daily Inquirer's Super! contest. ("The Nokia 6300 Personal Style Contest"). And to think that I was the one who told her to join. -_-

Here's her submitted picture to Super!:

And here's the article which featured Ashleiy:

And here's the article said:

^{(PANIS! Hindi naman idol ni Ash si Kate Torralba eh! ;P Haha!)}

Happy birthday Ash! I so so love you. See you on the party! XD

---

If you love nuns then I strongly advise you not to continue.

Hah!
I knew it!...

Nuns are the most vicious of all teachers!

Our Theology prof's a nun, and even if everyone in our block found her friendly, I knew that she was someone I have to protect myself from. Or I atleast have to be extra careful when I'm dealing with her. Why? Well... she's a nun. 'Nuff said. -_-

Now, I kind of have an irrational fear of having sisters as teachers, because I feel that their emotions are bottled up. Nasa loob ang kulo, ika nga. Nuns are supposed to be calm, and they're supposed to spread love to the world, so showing negative emotions isn't really advisable. But somehow, their "true colors" show when they face their students. Oh, poor students. Nuns = terror teachers. Poor me. Boohoo.

So a while ago we were having our Theology quiz, and because there was a great deal of confusion among us students, our ever beloved teacher suddenly erupted, and boy, she made us extremely silent with our fear. Mind you, I was even shaking a bit (am not exaggerating); I was nervous that she would catch me doing a simple mistake then embarrass me in front of the class (well, I was a potential candidate: I was at the aisle so she could easily see me). All the time she was shouting at us and got very irritated with questions. Simple, happy nun turned terror teacher in an instant.

Honestly, I have never been this scared of a teacher since my elementary days (Mrs. Acyapat. Haha.). But I kind of understand our prof. I know she's bitter (another ha-ha) because she's single! And that's actually the reason why many nuns are so unpleasant; hostile, even. Because they're single (insert pitiful tsk tsk).

Okay, I know I'm being narrow-minded with this post, so please forgive me.

Media all day

I'm so missing the Spice Girls. I miss them so much! They've been part of my childhood, and I remember being crazy about them, memorizing their songs by heart and begging my mum to buy different Spice Girls merchandise. I was probably their biggest fan ten years ago, so imagine my pain when Geri left the group. Ah well. Life goes on.

BTW, I was watching some of their music videos when I encountered "2 Become 1" Alright, I knew from the start that the song's message is a bit dir-tay. Haha. I kinda sniggered when Baby Spice sang this line:

"Be a little bit wiser baby, put it on, put it on. Coz tonight is the night when two become one."

I was like... 0_O eh? What the ef? And when I was a kid I used to sing that song a lot. Man, you just gotta love the Spice Girls. And another: just now I'm beginning to think that Mel B. (or Scary Spice) was the most beautiful among them. Really, watch some of their videos and you'll know I'm making some sense. But of course, that was about ten years ago, and you know how time changes people.

Spice Girls: then and now.

And if they're ever going to have a concert here in the Philippines, I am so gonna buy a ticket.

(Oh, and yeah! My favorite Spice Girl back then was Mel C., or Sporty Spice. The tomboyish one. Just sharing. ^_^)

---

You know what movie it is that I'm so looking forward to watch?

BATANES!!! _{Come on, that's Ken Zhu. :D}

I want to watch this... so badly! I think it's... argh! Words cannot explain my excitement! I'm going to watch Batanes in the movie theatres and buy a pirated DVD after! I feel that this is one of the films that I'm going to love, seriously.

TRAILER!

(Wait, I'm a bit confused. What is it, really? Ken Zhu or Ken Chu? Or can it be both? Oh, whatever.)

If you're a sucker for romantic films (or if you haven't gotten over the F4 fever o_O), then Batanes is the movie for you. It'll be shown in December 5 in theaters everywhere! Until then, I can't waiiiit!

Hello, goodbye

Haha. Mom got me a Samsung SGH-U600. She bought it when the plane she was at stopped over at Abu Dhabi. ^_^


Finally, I have a new phone! I really needed a new one as my Nokia 3230's battered. It's slooow, plus the battery drains easily even though I'm not touching my phone. Hah! I'm happy!

Oh, by the way, dad's not going to buy me a Mini Cooper anymore. When he last checked the store, the price of the Mini Coopers increased by 100K pesos, plus it'll take the people there three months to make one. So that's the end of it. But anyway, it's okay. My aunt's planning to buy a new car, so I think she'll give me her old one, a red Toyota Corolla. A red one! Boohoo! (According to a book I've read, red cars are in the risk of having more accidents than any other car of another color. And since I'm just going to start driving... terrible.)

---

I've been working on my diet (no rice), but I don't think it's going to work if our ref's overflowing with chocolate. -_- Oh my. There's still the plastic bag filled with Cadbury, and now there's mom's Swiss Chocolates. -_- But! I'm going to enjoy myself. Chocolates are yummy and they make me happy. I just hope I have enough willpower to do Taebo/Kickboxing atleast three times a week. I've already started last Tuesday _{and I plan on continuing...?}

Yes. I plan on continuing.

Cutting class = not good

I absolutely cannot believe what I'm doing. I'm cutting class!

I had a very clean record last sem. I've had an absence in only two subjects, but this semester it's just not the same. I've already got three cuts in Humanities; two in Child and Adolescent Development; one in Educational Technology; and one in Sociology. Damn. And I'm only allowed three cuts per subject, or else I get a failure due to absences. And to think it's only been the third week of classes! OH NOOOO!

I must be cured of my sloth. And I must stop myself from being jaded. I must enter the dean's list and get my ass out of Miriam! I can't take it there anymore!

On a happier tone... I've accessed the private section of Mangadownload.net! Hoorah! I could finally download rare manga ^___^

---

By the way, there's this picture that I saved in my folder for quite some time now. It's really interesting and... creepy.

You know how Chinese girls got their feet bound before, right? It was suppose to symbolize beauty. But if you really see how their feet looks like, it's... inhumane.



I can't believe it!!! I mean, the toes... they're folded up like that! And the foot looks like a shoe with heels... *shivers* Anyway, I'm glad that the Chinese don't bound feet anymore. That's excruciatingly painful and causes a lot of problems to the Chinese women's health and physical being.

---

Mum's coming home from England! Ah, I'm so happy and excited. I missed her. Maybe I could finally stop cutting classes.

The Amazing Race is back!

YES!
THE AMAZING RACE ASIA SEASON TWO IS HERE!

Filipinos, you must watch the first episode of the Amazing Race Asia 2 (AXN, Thursday, 9 PM)! Why, you ask? Well, simply because all 10 teams are going to the Philippines in the first episode! And everyone's going to eat balut!

I absolutely cannot wait. I've been dying to watch the second season! I'm can't contain my excitement!

Go go go Philippine teams! Don't disappoint us! (Ha-ha.)

Christmas Wish List

I'm not going to school today. I'm sick - I think one of my block mates transmitted a virus when we slept at Hotel Pontefino. Anyway, I'll just study - and I mean really study - today so that I could make up for being absent.

Anyway, I'm surfing the net as usual, and since there are only 35 days to go til Christmas, I decided to make my Christmas Wish List. I'm just hoping that my parents get to read this (scratch that - they'll find out that I didn't go to school). Well, not only my parents, but every single adult related to me. (Cries: "YO! Ping Lacson and Norberto Gonzales! I hope you read this coz we're actually related~ ^__^)

What I want this holiday season...

1. Ze Mini Cooper + driving lessons- Like I said in one of my posts, dad's planning to buy me a Mini Cooper, and I'm quite positive that he'll keep his promise. All I need to do is get closer to him and give him high grades (which is more than possible if you're studying in a school like Miriam College). But what I'm not sure of is whether he'll give it this Christmas or on my birthday (February 1).

2. Samsung S730B - Pardon me, I'm not good at choosing digital cameras, so this will have to do. Anyway, it seems to me that I'm the only one in the whole wide world who doesn't own a digital camera (or a Multiply account), and not capturing moments is a sad thing for me. So Samsung S730B is what I need. It has a 7.2 mega-pixel CCD that can support ISO 1000, 3X optical zoom and a 2.5" LCD. Aside from that, the S730B has an Advanced Shake Reduction and can access various photo effects and editing directly. So, with this Samsung Digital camera, it's not that hard to imagine.




3. Nokia N82 - Not yet available in the Philippines, but this phone is great. You could access the internet in WiFi zones, listen to music through built-in speakers, take pictures with a 5 mega-pixel camera, Carl Zeiss Optics and Xenon flash photography, and a whole lot more (just check this for more info). The only problem I have regarding this phone is the keyboard - but not to worry, I'll get used to it (as if someone will give me this phone).

4. iPod nano 4 GB - First of all, let me tell you that I'm a simple girl and I really need only 4, and not 8, GB. I don't know why I want this, as I already have a lovely Sony MP3 Walkman... maybe I'm just materialistic. That's probably it.

5. Imation USB Flash Drive Mini (2 GB) - I really need a USB. Mom has one of these and she, obviously, finds it very useful. According to Imation's site: "Featuring an all-in-one swivel cap design that protects the drive and eliminates lost caps. Weighing less than one ounce, the drive fits easily in your pocket, briefcase or on the supplied key chain. It's a quick and easy way to transfer or share digital photos, music, presentations or other digital files. Available in a variety of capacities to suit your needs. The plug-and-play format allows you to drag and drop with ease on almost any computer with a USB 1.1 or 2.0 port. "

6. Fitness First membership - I want to be fit, not thin. And honestly, I'm not very comfortable with my body. I'm not used to having this bod. I want the one I had in my H.S. days; now I've grown large because of so much free time and because of a more insatiable appetite. Oh help.

7. Piano + piano lessons - haven't I told you how desperately I want to learn how to play the piano? And how I'm dying to play the pieces of Mozart, Beethoven, Bacht, Maxim, etc.? Oh man, I wish my parents would give this to me.

Yeah. That's about it.

But wait.

Give me William Beckett (of The Academy Is...) and/or Gerard Way (of My Chemical Romance) and I will be more than happy to not ask for anything else as long as I live.

Hooohoho, I love you CiCi and Gee (William and Gerard's nicknames, respectively. It's obvious that I've been doing a lot of research)! I love you, I love you, I love you. And both of you are all I want under my Christmas tree.

(BTW, want to know how talented William is? Then check the music video on my blog. That's him singing!)

Seven facts

Now who would've thought that our team building seminar would be held at Hotel Pontefino. It's a very beautiful place, a five-star hotel, I think. Pictures will be posted as soon as one of my friends, Pia, will upload at Multiply.

---

I'm going to show you some paintings. What I want you to do is guess who painted them.

Very nice, right? Now, the man behind all these beautiful paintings is... Adolf Hitler. Seriously. It would be better if he was just a painter.

---

Instructions: Each player starts with 7 random habits/facts about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

Seven things I wanna share:

1. Senator Panfilo Lacson's my uncle (his grandfather's the brother/cousin of my dad's grandfather). And I just recently found out that I'm related to Norberto Gonzales, too (his father's the brother of my grandmother)! Ah, politician blood running through my veins. Seriously, though, I doubt any of them knows I exist.

2. I'm not proud to say this, but... I hate my school. So much. For now I'm just doing my best so that I'd get a high enough average to be able to transfer to U.P. Diliman.

3. If I didn't stop suitors from courting me (or if I didn't stop people from becoming suitors, for that matter ), I would've had... four girlfriends (!) and a boyfriend or two. Yeah. It's nice to count them. It's an ego-booster! LOL. (But I'm an N.B.S.B. No Boyfriend Since Birth.)

4. I love eating! My fave resto? Super Bowl of China! I just love Chinese food! But Filipino food is THE BEST. Sinigang, please!

5. What I fear more than anything is the death of one of my family members. So at times I imagine that all of us will just die in a car crash so that none of us will suffer losing one another. A bit morbid, isn't it?

6. I don't like it when people are being baby-ish. You know, when their voice turns child-like and their facial expressions go all... baby-ish. It's not cute. It's annoying!

7. I've kissed my brother, Bryan, with parted lips. I'm no pedophile! It just happened that I was sleeping beside him, and I dreamt that I was kissing my crush. The kiss felt so real, that I woke up to see myself in that disgusting situation that I'd rather not mention again.

Tag: Alphabet Version...

A - Age: 16

B - Band Listening To Right Now: The Academy Is... (I love you, William Beckett! You're so papa-ble. LOL.)

C - Career: SPED teacher, though I'm thinking about working for UNILAB first.

D - Drink or Smoke: Drink, but I've changed my ways. I even refuse dad when he offers me a drink.

E - Easiest Friends To Talk To: Ashleiy, Jil, Alfonso/Cha

F - First Crush: Sir Benjamin Tesoro! Back at first grade. Haha. If you know him, tell him I liked him! LOL.

G - Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: Gummy Worms! Gummy Bears have a weird taste.

H - Have a Girlfriend/Boyfriend: No.

I - In love: with William Beckett and Gerard Way.

J- Junk Food You Like: A lot. Lays, Pringles, Piattos, and so much more!

K - Kids: Yes, I love kids.

L - Longest Ride Ever: Plane ride from Manila to the States.

M - Making love out of nothing at all: I like that song! Making love, making love! Out of nothing at all!

N - Names For Your Future Kids: Lara, maybe. Asia. What the heck, I still have a lot of time to think about that.

O - One Wish You Have Now: Transfer to U.P. Diliman!!! That's all I could ever wish for myself right now.

P - Phobias: Open water. Give me a picture of a lake or an ocean and I'd be very scared.

Q - Favorite Quote: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world" -Ghandi

R - Reasons To Smile: A lot.

S - Sleeping Time: 9:30-10 PM

T - Time You Woke Up: 5:30 AM, though we don't have classes.

U - Unknown Fact About You: Haven't I just mentioned seven unknown facts about me?

V - Vegetable You Hate: Ampalaya. I don't know the english word for that.

W - Worst Habit: Procrastinating.

X - X-rays You’ve Had: Chest, teeth.

Y - Yummy Foods: Chinese and Filipino food.

Z - Zodiac Sign: Aquarius!

I'm tagging you. (Yes, you! )

Short - EDITED

So aside from joining a fraternity, my mum also used to play with those Ouija boards. cool.

My head really, really hurts. A lot. It's throbbing. I feel like I'm gonna puke. :(

---

Saturday: It's 4:45 in the morning and I'm headed off to Batangas. Us Child Development students are going to have a team building seminar until tomorrow.

I don't want to come, I need a break. I've been so tired this week. But, alas, if I don't go I'll get a sanction. So I just have to enjoy myself while I'm there.

(Oh, and I'm okay already. Just needed to sleep the headache off.)

Thank you, Jerry Plak

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight."

-Proverbs 3:5

I honestly don't know how to start this.

Maybe that's God's message for me. You've just got to believe in Me, don't have any second thoughts, He says. Because right now, I'm really disturbed. Why did God make some people poor, some people rich? What's His basis?

---

I met a street kid today as I was going home. I rode a jeepney, and I was halfway through the ride when he went in. He was short, maybe about 4"2'-4"5'. His hair was short and gleamed brown in the sun. He had scabs on his hands and feet, and his fingernails were dirty. Yet, despite of this, he looked innocent. His eyes were... just so sad.

As he entered, the driver and the conductor shouted at him, telling him to get out as he didn't have any jeepney fare. But he didn't, so they let him sit instead as he was blocking the passengers' way. He then eyed on the seat beside me.

When the boy sat beside me, I stared at him for a long time. I wanted to talk to him badly. I wanted to know his name, his age, whether he was schooling or not. I wanted to know where his destination was and I wanted to know if he has eaten. It took me a long time, but I finally had the courage to talk to him when he faced my direction.

"Hello," I said, "ano pangalan mo (what's your name)?"

I was afraid that he might be frightened and not reply, but instead he did. "Jerry," he said.

"Nag-aaral ka ba (are you schooling)?"

"Opo. Grade one po (Yes, grade 1)."

"Ah... Ilang taon ka na ba (how old are you)?"

"Kinse (fifteen)."

I was a bit surprised that he was already fifteen, as he said that he was at the first grade. And for his frame, he's easily mistaken for a ten-year-old.

He continued, "Pero pinatigil po ako ng nanay ko kasi wala na kaming pera (but my mom let me stop as we don't have money anymore)."

"Ganon? Ilang taon ka na hindi nakakapag-aral (How many years has it been since you stopped schooling)?"

"Walong taon na po (Eight years)."

This, of course, broke my heart. Education is important, especially today when we need the youth to uplift our system. But so many kids are like Jerry, who has stopped schooling, and with that, how can we hope to have a brighter future for our country?

We talked more. Jerry said that he was going to stop at Binangonan, as he lives there with his father and grandmother, and that he's going to beg for food in the wet market near his home. I asked if he had any siblings, and he said he did, but they were living in Cagayan, their province.

"Bakit di ka nalang din doon sa Cagayan? Baka palagi kang may makain doon (Why don't you stay there in Cagayan, too? Maybe you'll always have something to eat there)." and to that question, he didn't answer. He kept silent.

I noticed that some of the passengers were looking at us, and I wanted to know what they thought about me talking to a street kid. A dirty, maybe dangerous, street kid. Were their thoughts more of the positive ("Wow, how kindhearted,") or negative ("This girl doesn't know what she's getting herself into,")? Either way, nothing was going to stop me from helping Jerry out.

I got very sad when Jerry asked me a supposedly happy query. He asked, "Ilang araw nalang po bago mag-Pasko (How many days are there until Christmas)?" I thought to myself, why? Are you looking forward to Christmas, Jerry? My heart became very heavy, and up to now it still is.

Then a question entered my mind, "Jerry," I asked, "ano ginagawa mo para magkapera ka pambili ng pagkain? Wag ka mag-alala, sa ating dalawa lang (What do you do so that you'd have money to buy food? Don't worry, it'll only be between both of us)."

His answer changed my whole perspective regarding street children. "Namamalimos ako (I beg)," He continued "Hindi po ako nagnanakaw. Masama po iyon (stealing is bad)."

I was changed. All my life, I thought street children would end up as criminals, because for one thing, they are uneducated, and aside from that, they grew up in a harsh environment and are made to experience life's realities too early. I never, ever thought that, despite this, street children would still listen to that little voice inside of them, telling them what's right and wrong. I was completely wrong, all my life.

I told Jerry that instead of going down to Binangonan, he could come with me so that I could buy him food. He agreed, and when the jeepney stopped at Brookside, I went down. I brought Jerry to a carinderia and told him to order whatever he wanted. He smiled shyly and said that he wanted tocilog. So, tocilog it was, and I just sat beside him. He then told me, "Ate, maraming salamat po talaga (thank you very, very much)" I smiled and told him that it was okay.

So he ate. I paid for his food and watched him eat. He asked for some catsup, and he also gulped down many glasses of water before and after he ate. It was just heartbreaking, seeing someone like him. It was sad to see him joyfully eat his meal, being aware that he doesn't experience that sort of happiness all the time. That after all this, he'd still go to the market and beg for food to bring home to his family. So I got a piece of paper, wrote my telephone and cellphone number, and gave it to him. "Kung kailangan mo tulong ko, tawagan mo lang ako (If you need my help, just call me)." I told him not to give my number to anyone else and not to call me on weekends, as I don't want dad to answer the phone. If he does, he'll surely get mad at me for getting involved with some street kid. He promised, and held the piece of paper.

After eating, I told him that I'll buy rice for him. So we went to a store and bought 2 kilos of rice; that was all the help I could give. I only had P100 left from my allowance, and I was upset that the amount of help I could give him was limited. And so, after that, I asked him to accompany me to the trike station, and when we got there, we parted ways.

When I think about what has happened, I couldn't help but wonder why things are this way. Why God made some people rich, some people poor. I'm just so confused. And I don't want to rant anymore about my faith as I don't want you to question yours.

I think this really is my calling, to help the poor. I have felt this for a long time. I seem to have so much sympathy towards them, and I really, honestly, always give what I could to them, especially the children. Maybe I'm made to build a school that offers free education for street children, a dream which I have thought about only just this school year. I want to change the future of the people. I want to give everyone better lives. It's my calling; all this time it was.

Thank you, Jerry Plak.

---

Standing L-R: April, Dian, Shan, Hams, Joan

Seated L-R: Jenny, Kring, Che

Happy 3 years and 10 months to the wackiest clique in the whole wide world, Kada Siete. I miss you guys so much.

Dress problem

I need your help on something. And I'm going to use Tagalog as I'm not going to able to express myself well in English regarding this matter.

Ganito kasi yun, yung mom ko nasa Europe ngayon. Eh may pinapabili ako sa kanya na matagal ko nang gusto. Ang problema, hindi ko alam kung anong tawag sa damit na yun. Description: para siyang trench coat na pinaliit. Halos sa gitna ng tiyan lang ang haba niya, tapos may apat na malalaking buttons sa gitna. And yung sleeves above the elbows lang ang haba. Tapos syempre, may inner garment (tee or whatsoever) ka bago mo sinusuot yun. Ano bang tawag sa ganung damit? Hindi ko talaga alam. Perp matagal ko na gusto magkaroon ng ganon.

... Teka, corduroy ba yun? Basta, eto siya (don't laugh at my drawing; I know I'm not good at this. Haha.):


What the hell do you call this thing? That brown one? (And BTW, those aren't necessarily brown. There are other colors.)

Another round of... procrastination!

To tell you the truth, I thought that what that hand is holding is something of the male anatomy (*shudders*). Turns out it's a baby bird... or is it?

Anyway, I've done nothing for the past three days but surf the net. Which makes me quite guilty as I have a lot of things to do, like:

• Make a reviewer for CD-101 (Child Adolescent Devt.), T-101 (Theology), and So-101 (Sociology)



• Do my P.E. homework (definition, history, and injuries related to dance, which serves as quiz 1; three reaction papers, which serve as quizzes 2, 3, and 4)



• Borrow Shan's DVD's namely Save The Last Dance, Honey, and Shall we Dance? (For my reaction papers)



• Research the lyrics of "I Will Survive" for the talent show in HU-101 (Humanities) next week (This gives you an idea of what I'm going to do at the talent show )


• Do my E-101 (Speech Communication) home work (research meaning of 10+ words and use them in a sentence)


• Start researching for our "mini-research" work in SO-101

Sigh... I'm going to do my responsibilities later. For now, I'm going to surf the net! Yippee!

Random picture:
_{This is so amazing. I'm thinking about doing this for next Halloween's trick-or-treating. Which is a year later, so I'll have more than enough time to make props.}

Oh, and by the way... check this out. And if you do, tell me your results.

The 10 Most Puzzling Ancient Artifacts

I found a very neat article which I would like to remember, as well as to share to all of you. Source: Ancientx

The 10 Most Puzzling Ancient Artifacts

The Bible tells us that God created Adam and Eve just a few thousand years ago, by some fundamentalist interpretations. Science informs us that this is mere fiction and that man is a few million years old, and that civilization just tens of thousands of years old. Could it be, however, that conventional science is just as mistaken as the Bible stories? There is a great deal of archeological evidence that the history of life on earth might be far different than what current geological and anthropological texts tell us. Consider these astonishing finds:


The Grooved Spheres

Over the last few decades, miners in South Africa have been digging up mysterious metal spheres. Origin unknown, these spheres measure approximately an inch or so in diameter, and some are etched with three parallel grooves running around the equator. Two types of spheres have been found: one is composed of a solid bluish metal with flecks of white; the other is hollowed out and filled with a spongy white substance. The kicker is that the rock in which they where found is Precambrian - and dated to 2.8 billion years old! Who made them and for what purpose is unknown.


The Dropa Stones

In 1938, an archeological expedition led by Dr. Chi Pu Tei into the Baian-Kara-Ula mountains of China made an astonishing discovery in some caves that had apparently been occupied by some ancient culture. Buried in the dust of ages on the cave floor were hundreds of stone disks. Measuring about nine inches in diameter, each had a circle cut into the center and was etched with a spiral groove, making it look for all the world like some ancient phonograph record some 10,000 to 12,000 years old. The spiral groove, it turns out, is actually composed of tiny hieroglyphics that tell the incredible story of spaceships from some distant world that crash-landed in the mountains. The ships were piloted by people who called themselves the Dropa, and the remains of whose descendents, possibly, were found in the cave.


The Ica Stones

Beginning in the 1930s, the father of Dr. Javier Cabrera, Cultural Anthropologist for Ica, Peru, discovered many hundreds of ceremonial burial stones in the tombs of the ancient Incas. Dr. Cabrera, carrying on his father's work, has collected more than 1,100 of these andesite stones, which are estimated to be between 500 and 1,500 years old and have become known collectively as the Ica Stones. The stones bear etchings, many of which are sexually graphic (which was common to the culture), some picture idols and others depict such practices as open-heart surgery and brain transplants. The most astonishing etchings, however, clearly represent dinosaurs - brontosaurs, triceratops (see photo), stegosaurus and pterosaurs. While skeptics consider the Ica Stones a hoax, their authenticity has neither been proved or disproved.


The Antikythera Mechanism

A perplexing artifact was recovered by sponge-divers from a shipwreck in 1900 off the coast of Antikythera, a small island that lies northwest of Crete. The divers brought up from the wreck a great many marble and and bronze statues that had apparently been the ship's cargo. Among the findings was a hunk of corroded bronze that contained some kind of mechanism composed of many gears and wheels. Writing on the case indicated that it was made in 80 B.C., and many experts at first thought it was an astrolabe, an astronomer's tool. An x-ray of the mechanism, however, revealed it to be far more complex, containing a sophisticated system of differential gears. Gearing of this complexity was not known to exist until 1575! It is still unknown who constructed this amazing instrument 2,000 years ago or how the technology was lost.


The Baghdad Battery

Today batteries can be found in any grocery, drug, convenience and department store you come across. Well, here's a battery that's 2,000 years old! Known as the Baghdad Battery, this curiosity was found in the ruins of a Parthian village believed to date back to between 248 B.C. and 226 A.D. The device consists of a 5-1/2-inch high clay vessel inside of which was a copper cylinder held in place by asphalt, and inside of that was an oxidized iron rod. Experts who examined it concluded that the device needed only to be filled with an acid or alkaline liquid to produce an electric charge. It is believed that this ancient battery might have been used for electroplating objects with gold. If so, how was this technology lost... and the battery not rediscovered for another 1,800 years?


The Coso Artifact

While mineral hunting in the mountains of California near Olancha during the winter of 1961, Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey and Mike Mikesell found a rock, among many others, that they thought was a geode - a good addition for their gem shop. Upon cutting it open, however, Mikesell found an object inside that seemed to be made of white porcelain. In the center was a shaft of shiny metal. Experts estimated that it should have taken about 500,000 years for this fossil-encrusted nodule to form, yet the object inside was obviously of sophisticated human manufacture. Further investigation revealed that the porcelain was surround by a hexagonal casing, and an x-ray revealed a tiny spring at one end. Some who have examined the evidence say it looks very much like a modern-day spark plug. How did it get inside a 500,000-year-old rock?


Ancient Model Aircraft

There are artifacts belonging to ancient Egyptian and Central American cultures that look amazingly like modern-day aircraft. The Egyptian artifact, found in a tomb at Saqquara, Egypt in 1898, is a six-inch wooden object that strongly resembles a model airplane, with fuselage, wings and tail. Experts believe the object is so aerodynamic that it is actually able to glide. The small object discovered in Central America (shown at right), and estimated to be 1,000 years old, is made of gold and could easily be mistaken for a model of a delta-wing aircraft - or even the Space Shuttle. It even features what looks like a pilot's seat.


Giant Stone Balls of Costa Rica

Workmen hacking and burning their way through the dense jungle of Costa Rica to clear an area for banana plantations in the 1930s stumbled upon some incredible objects: dozens of stone balls, many of which were perfectly spherical. They varied in size from as small as a tennis ball to an astonishing 8 feet in diameter and weighing 16 tons! Although the great stone balls are clearly man-made, it is unknown who made them, for what purpose and, most puzzling, how they achieved such spherical precision.


Impossible Fossils

Fossils, as we learned in grade school, appear in rocks that were formed many thousands of years ago. Yet there are a number of fossils that just don't make geological or historical sense. A fossil of a human handprint, for example, was found in limestone estimated to be 110 million years old. What appears to be a fossilized human finger found in the Canadian Arctic also dates back 100 to 110 million years ago. And what appears to be the fossil of a human footprint, possibly wearing a sandal, was found near Delta, Utah in a shale deposit estimated to be 300 million to 600 million years old.


Out-of-Place Metal Objects

Humans were not even around 65 million years ago, never mind people who could work metal. So then how does science explain semi-ovoid metallic tubes dug out of 65-million-year-old Cretaceous chalk in France? In 1885, a block of coal was broken open to find a metal cube obviously worked by intelligent hands. In 1912, employees at an electric plant broke apart a large chunk of coal out of which fell an iron pot! A nail was found embedded in a sandstone block from the Mesozoic Era. And there are many, many more such anomalies.

What are we to make of these finds? There are several possibilities:

- Intelligent humans date back much, much further than we realize.
-Other intelligent beings and civilizations existed on earth far beyond our recorded history.
-Our dating methods are completely inaccurate, and that stone, coal and fossils form much more rapidly than we now estimate.

In any case, these examples - and there are many more - should prompt any curious and open-minded scientist to reexamine and rethink the true history of life on earth.

---

Very interesting. I really wish I know every mystery about the earth which has yet been solved; my brain's so thirsty for knowledge.