The Truth According To Daphne

Let's do this...

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 13:48:00 +0000

I am now in a new chapter of my life and one of the things that I want to do in this new chapter is to start blogging again. To be quite honest, I have no profound reason why I want to be active again, I just want to do it. I am such a lazy bum that I want to challenge myself and Just do it! (no pun intended Nike).

I have a lot of ideas on what I would want to blog about. However, I am not sure what would the "theme" of this blog really. Will this be a fashion blog? (Maybe) Will this be a travel blog? (Probably) Will this be a food centric blog? (Hopefully) Will this be an entertaining blog? (I pray to God it will be since no one wants something that doesn't deliver its purpose).

Anyway, I am crossing my fingers and toes (both left and right) that I will be successful in this endeavor and not stray from my goal. I am hoping that you will support this blog too just like how you supported my Sandara Park fashion blog.

Lastly, I am taking your suggestions on what you want to see in this blog.

P.S. I do not bite so you can tweet me @sandara_fashion. However, I only follow accounts that I feel like following. Please don't take it personally if I am not following you back. Thanks y'all!!!!

Chubby cuppy cake Sam

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:20:00 +0000

I love the Internet, we have the best relationship ever. He doesn't complain when I overused him sometimes. Okay, that didn't come out nice but seriously I love the internet and one of the things I like doing online is looking at funny, cute and interesting videos.

Check out this Kid, very cute indeed.

adopted and in loveeee

Nobody knows me at all

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 02:12:00 +0000

I adore the Weepies, I know that they are not that popular with the mainstream market but if you like Music you will love The Weepies. Their song Nobody knows me at all is my life's themesong, check out their very simple but meaningful Music Video below.

Who Not to Marry: 6 Black Widows

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:07:00 +0000

by Miss Cellania
Source: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/48472#more-48472

Some women who vow to “love, honor, and cherish” end up violating those vows in a deadly manner. These stories of women who kill their men have some eerie similarities. A man dies, and someone notices his wife had already lost a husband or two due to a similar illness. An investigation reveals that each man had the same poison in his system. That’s the story of the human black widow.

1. Belle Gunness

Brynhild Paulsdatter Størseth was born in Norway and came to the US in 1881. Later known as Belle Gunness, she married Mads Albert Sorenson in 1884. The couple produced four children, two of whom died in infancy, but were fortunately covered by life insurance. During the marriage, both a home and a business burned down and insurance was paid out. Sorenson died on July 30, 1900, coincidentally the one day that two of his life insurance policies overlapped. Belle married Peter Gunness in 1902. He already had an two daughters, one an infant who died while under his new wife’s care. Gunness himself died in December of 1902 when a heavy machine fell on him. Peter Gunness’ older daughter prudently went to live with an uncle. Gunness’ death was investigated, but Belle was not charged -possibly because she was pregnant. Soon after, her adopted daughter Jennie Olsen, who was questioned over remarks she had made about Gunness’ death, disappeared completely. Gunness began corresponding with men through a lonely hearts club. She invited suitors to visit her and bring money. John Moe, Ole B. Budsburg, and Andrew Helgelien were among the many men who came to visit Gunness and brought money to help the poor widow with her mortgage, and were never seen again. She became suspicious that her hired hand, Ray Lamphere would rat her out, so Gunness fired him and reported that he threatened her.In 1908, the Gunness home burned down. Four bodies were found under the piano, three of Gunness’ children and the headless body of a woman whose measurements did not match Gunness. However, dentures found in the ashes were hers, and the coroner pronounced Belle Gunness to be dead. As the property was cleared, depressions in the ground raised suspicions. Digging revealed the body of Jennie Olsen. The bodies of six suitors and two children were also found. Many other possible victims were reported to the police by concerned relatives. The hired man Ray Lamphere was convicted of arson and died in prison, but not before he revealed details of his days with Gunness. He had told a minister how Belle would kill her victims with strychnine or a meat cleaver, then dismember their bodies before Lamphere buried them. The fate of Gunness has never been positively determined. She had withdrawn her money from the bank before the fire. The identity of the headless woman has also never been determined.

2. Marie Becker

Marie Alexandrine Becker was a bored, middle-aged Belgian housewife in the 1930s. Her husband Charles Becker, a cabinet maker, supported but did not excite her. Along came Lambert Beyer, who offered her the excitement of an affair. It wasn’t long before Charles died and left her an insurance settlement large enough to open her own business. Becker married Beyer, but the excitement of the illicit affair was no longer there. Two months into the marriage, Beyer also died. He had, of course, lived long enough to put Becker in his will as the sole beneficiary. She lived the high life, dancing, drinking, and carousing with men until the money started to dwindle. Becker then volunteered to take care of ailing elderly people, who would soon die and leave her an inheritance. She may have gotten away with it, except she generously offered to help a friend “get rid” of her bothersome husband. The friend went to the Belgian police, who found digitalis in Becker’s home. They exhumed the bodies of people who were known to be in Becker’s company before they died, and found evidence of digitalis in victim after victim. She was found guilty of ten murders, although she is suspected of more. Becker died in prison two years after receiving a life sentence.

3. Blanche Moore

Blanche Taylor Moore married her first husband James Taylor in 1952 when she was 19 years old. She jumped into marriage to escape her abusive father, an alcoholic minister named P.D. Kiser. Kizer died in 1966 of heart failure while under his daughter’s care, although he reported symptoms that indicated poisoning more than heart trouble. In 1970, James Taylor’s mother died of what was determined to be natural causes, despite evidence of arsenic poisoning. Taylor himself died in 1970 after a mysterious flu-like illness. Blanche had been carrying on an affair with her co-worker Raymond Reid for years, and they began dating openly after her husband’s death. Reid, however, died in 1986. Blanche then was able to openly date another man she had been seeing secretly, the reverend Dwight Moore. The two married in 1989. Immediately after returning from their honeymoon, Rev. Moore was admitted to a hospital. Suspicious doctors found he had been poisoned with arsenic. Dwight Moore survived with treatment, but was disabled for life. The bodies of P.D. Kiser, James Taylor, Isla Taylor, and Raymond Reid were exhumed; all showed high levels of arsenic. Blanche Moore was arrested and tried in 1990 for the murder of Raymond Reid. She was found guilty and sentenced to death. Moore is on Death Row and continues to profess her innocence. A made-for-television movie about the Blanche Taylor Moore case was aired in 1993. Elizabeth Montgomery played the role of Moore.

4. Judias Buenoano

Judias Buenoano was an abused child and already had a son when she married Air Force officer James Goodyear in 1962. The couple had two more children and settled in Florida. Goodyear served in Vietnam, but died of a mysterious malady three months after coming home to his wife in 1971. Buenoano collected on three life insurance policies. A couple of months later, she collected on another policy when her home burned (another insured home burned a few years later). By 1973 Buenoano had a new lover, Bobby Joe Morris. She and her children moved to Colorado with Morris in 1977, but he died of a mysterious malady in 1978. Again, Buenoano collected on three insurance policies. Back in Florida by 1979, Buenoano’s adult son Michael visited his mother and suffered base metal poisoning, which left him disabled but alive. He drowned in 1980 while on a canoeing trip with his mother. Buenoano again collected on three life insurance policies. She dated John Gentry and took out a life insurance policy on him. He was hospitalized with a mysterious malady, but survived, only to return to the hospital when his car exploded in 1983. Gentry cooperated with investigating police, telling them of the vitamins Buenoano gave him before his earlier illness. The “vitamins” contained paraformaldehyde and arsenic. Gentry also found out that Buenoano had told her friends that Gentry had a terminal illness (he did not). The bodies of James Goodyear, Bobby Joe Morris, and Michael Buenoano were exhumed and found to contain high levels of arsenic. In 1984, Judias Buenoano was sentenced to life for the murder of her son, and in 1985, she received a death sentence for the murder of James Goodyear. Buenoano was executed in Florida in 1998.

5. Velma Barfield

Margie Velma Bullard Barfield was not home when a house fire killed her first husband Thomas Burke in 1969 in North Carolina. Another fire soon after destroyed what was left of the home. She married Jennings Barfield in 1970, but he died in 1971. Barfield moved in with her parents, but her father died of cancer and her mother died in 1974 of a mysterious illness. A boyfriend also died in a car accident. Barfield moved in with Dollie and Montgomery Edwards in 1975 as a nurse for the elderly couple. They both died in 1977. The next elderly man in her care, John Henry Lee, also died in 1977. Barfield then moved in with her boyfriend Stuart Taylor, who soon died of a mysterious illness. Taylor’s autopsy showing the presence of arsenic and a tip from Barfield’s sister led to her arrest. Jennings Barfield’s body was exhumed and also found to contain arsenic. The widow confessed to killing her mother, Taylor, and the elderly people she attended, but denied killing Burke or Jennings Barfield. In 1978, Velma Barfield was convicted of the murder of Stuart Taylor and in 1984 became the first woman in the US executed by lethal injection.

6. Nannie Doss

Serial killer Nancy Hazle later became known as Nannie Doss and was also referred to in the press as “the Giggling Granny” because of her bizarre behavior. In 1921, when she was only 16 years old, she married Charlie Braggs. They produced four daughters. The two middle daughters died under mysterious circumstances in 1927, and Braggs left Doss. She met Robert Frank Harrelson through a lonely hearts club and married him in either 1929, 1937, or 1945 (accounts vary). He died from ingesting rat poison in 1945. Meanwhile, two of Doss’ grandchildren died under mysterious circumstances. Doss married her third husband, Arlie Lanning in 1947. He died in 1950 of heart failure, although he had no history of heart problems. Soon after, their home burned. The house had been willed to Lanning’s sister, but the insurance beneficiary was Doss. Soon after, Lanning’s mother and Doss’ sister died. Husband number four was Richard Morton, whom Doss married in 1952. During that marriage, Doss’ father died and her mother came to live with her. The arrangement did not last long, as Louisa Hazle died within a few days of her arrival in 1953. Richard Morton died three months later. Nannie Doss immediately began looking for another husband, and married her fifth, Sam Doss, in 1953. Within a couple of months, he was hospitalized with a mysterious illness, but survived and was sent home on October 5th, only to die later that night. Sam Doss’ suspicious doctor ordered an autopsy and found (you guessed it) arsenic. Nannie was finally arrested, and she confessed to murdering all four deceased husbands, a mother-in-law, her own mother, her sister, and a grandson. She pleaded guilty to the murder of Sam Doss and was sentenced to life. She died in prison in 1965.

I love you Jason Mraz

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:20:00 +0000

I Loooooooooove Jason Mraz. Okay so there's too many O's in my love for Jason Mraz because I believed that he is one of the most talented singer-songwriter out there. I also loved the fact that he seems to have a bohemian lifestyle which is very cool. He is not one of those who are trying to be a hearthrob, you do not see him attending awards night. He rarely grants interview and I know that he is smart based on his answers on question thrown at him. If I have the power to marry someone right now it would be Jason Mraz, he is just sooooo cool.

Here are some videos that reminds me why I love him:

"Lucky" Official Video With Colbie Caillat

Jason Mraz | MySpace Video

Click here for more

I'm Yours

Jason Mraz | MySpace Music Videos

Wordplay

Jason Mraz | MySpace Music Videos

Geek In The Pink

Jason Mraz | MySpace Music Videos

Enjoy and Jason please marry me...haha

21 Lame Excuses

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:22:00 +0000

By Andy Simmons

"Frankly, I'm a Shallots Man Myself"

Peter Ivan Dunne was awaiting trial in Ireland, charged with a sex crime. Before the trial ended, he fled to England and was convicted in absentia. About to be extradited, he explained to a British court that he should not be sent back, because his experience with the Irish penal system had led him to believe that his right to life, as spelled out by article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, would be violated.

The lame excuse: They'd serve him red onions. Dunne's allergic to them, and he was sure the prison would make him eat the "potentially life-threatening" vegetable.

Did anyone buy it? The court decided that it was doubtful that the prison would have such a "cavalier attitude" toward his allergy and shipped Dunne back to Ireland.

read more

"My Hands Are Clean—My Liver, Not So Much"

When in doubt, blame booze! Unless, of course, the drunk excuse only makes matters worse. Last year, then–New York congressman Vito Fossella was pulled over in Alexandria, Virginia, by a cop and blew a 0.17 on the Breathalyzer—more than twice the legal limit. After the hangover, Fossella knew he'd better start thinking fast.

The lame excuse: His high blood alcohol level was a result of the alcohol-based hand sanitizer he'd used.

Did anyone buy it? After several "What do you take us for?" looks from the cops, DAs, the press—pretty much everyone—Fossella changed his plea from DUIHS (driving under the influence of hand sanitizer) to good old-fashioned DUI.

"No Thong? No Candy? No Mr. Nice Guy!"

Marco Fella of England admitted attacking his girlfriend with a dog toy and, another time, biting her finger. But it wasn't his fault.
The lame excuse: "My client's temper snapped because he felt his partner was not making enough effort in the relationship," said his lawyer.

The lamer excuse: She wore baggy pants instead of the sexy thong he preferred.

The lamerer excuse: Biting and assault with a pet toy aside, Fella is not really violent—he just hadn't had his fill of Mars bars. See, Fella is a sugar addict and has a ten-Mars-bars-a-day habit. And if he's jonesing for one, well, he's not responsible for his actions.

Did anyone buy it? Possibly the Mars, Inc., marketing division, but that's about it. Fella enrolled in an anger management course.

"I Was Too Taxed to File"

Charles J. O'Byrne, the top aide to New York governor David Paterson, neglected to file tax returns for five years. "Neglected" is really the wrong word, says his lawyer: O'Byrne couldn't pay his taxes.
The lame excuse: He suffers from a medical condition called late-filing syndrome, which is caused by depression. And even though this depression did not stop him from being a highly functional professional or enjoying an active social life, it did seem to affect his ability to pay taxes—five years in a row.

Did anyone buy it? Not the American Psychiatric Association. An APA representative told the New York Times that it doesn't recognize late-filing syndrome as a psychiatric condition.

"Decimal Points Are So Confusing"

A $1,772.50 bank deposit showed up in Randy and Melissa Pratt's bank account as $177,250. No problem, said the Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, couple. We'll just quit our jobs, close up the house, and move to sunny Florida. Bye! Of course, banks hate to lose that much money, so they sicced the cops on the Pratts. But the couple swore they weren't thieves and that it had all been just an honest mistake.

The lame excuse: Her husband was a roofing installer, said Melissa Pratt, so they often got large checks. And, well, all large checks look alike, so they didn't pay such close attention, because, after all, who pays attention to a check for $177,250?

Did anyone buy it? Would you? Melissa Pratt pleaded guilty to theft, and Randy Pratt was awaiting trial at press time.

"Our Garbage Is Made from Only the Choicest Trash"

Is it possible that Ralph Reese was fired from a Manhattan Whole Foods as part of a cost-cutting program? The high-end supermarket isn't talking, except it claimed that Reese was shown the door after he was caught taking food.

Lame excuse: Was it fresh Chilean sea bass? A case of rice milk? A shipment of silken tofu? No, Whole Foods canned Reese for taking a tuna fish sandwich that was being thrown out.

Did anyone buy it? Reese's attorney, Elizabeth Shollenberger, didn't. She suspects the company wanted to trim payroll and unemployment insurance costs. She grants that Whole Foods has a policy against employees taking food without paying for it. But still, a tuna fish sandwich? Destined for tuna fish sandwich heaven?

"You wouldn't think a reasonable person would fire anyone over that," she says. Indeed, a study by the Urban Institute found that in these economically tough times, more and more companies are charging employees with misconduct so that they can avoid paying unemployment insurance, even to someone like Reese, who's never been accused of stealing food before. Either way, Reese successfully appealed to get his unemployment benefits.

Calling eHarmony!

Breaking up is hard to do, as these romance-quashing excuses from online dating services prove.

Lame excuse: "My dog has been suffering from depression, and I really think he and I need some time together."

Lame excuse: "My friend is going to be on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and I'm her phone friend, and you know what these shows are like. They could ring anytime."

Lame excuse: "The football season has just started. I'll call you when it's ended."

Go, Speed Racer, Go!

Frankly, a lot of excuses from speeding drivers—"I had to go to the bathroom," "I didn't know what the speed limit was," "Everyone else was going even faster"—seem pretty legit to everyone except the cops who have to listen to them. Here are some others they've heard:

Lame excuse: "We're rushing home because I have to take my fertility shot. We're in baby-making mode." (Given a warning)

Lame excuse: "I was trying to get to my best friend's house as fast as possible because her fiancé just left her for another man and she's going to have to call off the wedding." (Given a citation)

Lame excuse: "My buddy [the passenger] just got back from Iraq, and I'm rushing him home so he can have sex with his wife." (Given a warning)

Take This Job and …

Thinking of playing hooky from work? Keep in mind that 31 percent of employers check up on employees who call in sick, and 18 percent have fired workers for going AWOL without a really good lame excuse, like these:

Lame excuse: "I dreamed I was fired, so I didn't want to get out of bed."

Lame excuse: "I was up all night arguing with God."

Lame excuse: "A raccoon stole my work shoe off my porch."

Lame excuse: "I wasn't thinking and accidentally went to my old job."

Lame excuse: "While rowing across the river to work, I got lost in the fog."

Lame excuse: "I didn't have money for gas, because all the pawnshops were closed."

Lame excuse: "My dog dialed 911, and the police wanted to question me about what 'really' happened."

Source: http://www.rd.com/clean-jokes-and-laughs/21-lame-excuses/article166260.html

Today I learned...Coffee was once forbidden by Christian Priests!

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:05:00 +0000

The Church declared coffee “ the devil’s drink”, until Pope Clement VIII decided to sanctify it in the 15th Century. In the 17th Century, scientists also believed that coffee was a poison, adding that "on the Day of Judgement, anyone who has drunk it will emerge from the tomb as black as coffee grounds".

In the 18th Century, King Gustav III of Sweden inadvertently proved that coffee was in fact completely harmless. Believing it to be poison, the king signed a death sentence, for people to be executed by drinking coffee. It is said that despite receiving large doses, the two guilty parties survived well into their 80’s.

Source:
http://www.lavazza.com/corporate/en/coffeculture/legends/bevanda_del_diavolo.html

Wow! I did not know that Coffee was tagged as such, I personally cannot live without Coffee. I start my day with a cup of Nescafe ChocoFudge, I should say thanks to Pope Clement VIII because without him I cannot imagine what would happen to me.

Twisted Princess: The Dark Side Of Disney Princesses

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:31:00 +0000

I love Disney...haha but this piece of art from deviantArt artist Jeffrey Thomas featuring darker versions of the Disney Princesses is quite interesting. Except for Nala who looks normal (technically she is not a Princess since she is a already a queen), I would say Alice gives me creeps the most. Here are the pictures:

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The Amazing Regina Spektor

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:06:00 +0000

I am always in awe when talented people create great music, Regina Spektor is one of the most talented singer-songwriter ever. Most people know her for singing Fidelity and Samson, do not get me wrong those are amazing songs but The Call is my favorite track from her album. The song conveys a very powerful message and her voice is just AMAZING. I wish I could write songs like her, but since I cannot then I'll be happy to just sing along.

The Call
Regina Spektor

It started out as a feeling
Which then grew into a hope
Which then turned into a quiet thought
Which then turned into a quiet word

And then that word grew louder and louder
'Til it was a battle cry
I'll come back
When you call me
No need to say goodbye

Just because everything's changing
Doesn't mean it's never been this way before
All you can do is try to know who your friends are
As you head off to the war

Pick a star on the dark horizon
And follow the light
You'll come back when it's over
No need to say goodbye

You'll come back when it's over
No need to say goodbye

Now we're back to the beginning
It's just a feeling and no one knows yet
But just because they can't feel it too
Doesn't mean that you have to forget

Let your memories grow stronger and stronger
'Til they're before your eyes
You'll come back
When they call you
No need to say goodbye

You'll come back
When they call you
No need to say goodbye

How Do Countries Choose Which Side They Drive On?

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:28:00 +0000

Chaos has descended this week on the tiny Pacific island of Samoa after government officials decided to force the entire nation to switch sides of the road on Monday. While Samoan officials insist there have been no accidents as a result of asking drivers to switch from driving on the right side of the road to driving on the left, many non-driving Samoans have been left stranded because the island’s buses now open to the middle of the road.

Samoa is the first nation since the 1970s to switch sides and did so, they say, to end their reliance on left-hand drive vehicles imported at great expense from America. All well and good, but the real question here is why do different nations drive on different sides of the roads? Here in England, where traffic comes from the right, it took me more than a few weeks to stop looking left every time I went to cross the street—training that was completely undone when I went to France for two weeks at the end of the summer.

So what is the deal with the “wrong” side of the road? How do countries decide which side they drive on?

Read More

Because The Pope Said SoAccording to some sources, about a quarter of the world drives on the left, as they do in Britain. This isn’t too surprising, since at one time Britain owned about a quarter of the world. Traveling on the left side of the road was a practice that started with the feudal societies of Western world, like the proto-British empire – back in the day, you never knew who’d you pass on the road, so best to keep your sword arm between you and them. In 1300 AD, Pope Boniface VIII codified the practice with a law that decreed that pilgrims headed for Rome should keep on the left.

The Birth of the Left-Hand Drivers’ SeatThings were going fine until the advent of market-based agriculture on a grand scale. In the 1700s, farmers in the US and France began hauling their products to market in big rigs pulled by many horses. Because these wagons typically had no place to sit, drivers would sit on the rear left horse, with their right arm free to whip the team along – and the left-hand drivers’ seat was born. Drivers naturally tended to ride on the right side of the road now, because it was safer to meet oncoming vehicles from where you could see their wheels. In 1792, a Pennsylvania law required that vehicles keep right, other states following soon after.

Because Napoleon Said SoAnother explanation blames Napoleon. Because Napoleon was left-handed, he demanded that everyone approach from the right, so he could keep his sword arm between himself and anyone he’d meet. That’s not exactly true; the custom of keeping to the right actually pre-dated Napoleon, but he did make sure his troops followed it whilst they spread their Empire, and from Napoleon’s lips to law. Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Spain, which were all at one point under Napoleon’s either direct control or influence, subsequently drive on the right.
It’s an England/France ThingSo on two different continents, the “keep right” rule was becoming entrenched – while in England, keeping left remained the only way to go, especially after a 1756 city ordinance decreed that all traffic on the London Bridge must keep to the left. From there, it was all about influence.

Though not a hard and fast rule, places that were under French and US influence kept right, while those under the British Empire and its influence still kept left.

In Japan in 1859, for example, a British ambassador was able to convince the government there to keep left, a major coup for the lefties and Britain (this is what the Brits say; the Japanese, however, may disagree and claim that their decision to keep left had more to do with samurai warriors and their needs).
Because Hitler Said SoWith the invention of the automobile, countries had good reason to pick a side and stick to it, although not all did. By 1938, there was another reason: Wherever Hitler invaded, he forced the native populations to drive on the right. Parts of Austria, including Vienna, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, that had historically driven on the left now had to drive on the right.

Ask Your NeighborsCountries were still making “which side?” decisions well into the second half of the 20th century. Sweden, for example, switched to driving on the right in 1967 because by then, most of the countries their burgeoning car industry sold to were right-side countries. By this time, the clearest indicator of which side a country drives on became what its neighbors did, and with whom they traded.
Of course, some places, like the US Virgin Islands, confuse the issue even more by driving left-hand side cars on the left side of the road – it’s the only place under US purview that does so.

Source: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs//archives/34094

Cast Away: 5 Amazing Stories of Messages in Bottles

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:11:00 +0000

Whenever a message in a bottle is discovered on a beach or floating in the ocean, it feels like something out of a fairy tale. The idea that two people have made a connection that mathematics would say is virtually impossible gives us hope that life is more than a series of random events. Here are five stories of the almost unbelievable connections these messages have brought about.

1. A Ticket to Freedom

During a 1979 cruise to Hawaii, Dorothy and John Peckham passed the time by writing notes and throwing them overboard inside empty champagne bottles. They asked anyone who found one of their bottles to write them back, and even went so far as to include a $1 bill to cover the postage.
On March 4, 1983, John’s 70th birthday, the couple received a letter from Hoa Van Nguyen. Nguyen, a former soldier in the Vietnamese Army, said he and his younger brother had found one of the Peckhams’ bottles as the two men were floating 15 kilometers from the shore of Songkhla Province in Thailand. They were braving the waters of the Pacific in a small, shallow riverboat in order to escape the Communist regime in Vietnam. When they saw the bottle, they felt as though a prayer had been answered, giving them the strength to carry on. After reading the letter, the Peckhams looked for Songkhla on a map and were shocked to find that the bottle had traveled 9,000 miles from Hawaii.

The Peckhams corresponded with Hoa for years, sharing in his joy when they received a photo from his wedding, then again nine months later when they saw his newborn son. But most of all, they empathized with Hoa’s desire to give his family the best life he could. So when Hoa asked if the Peckhams could help his family move to the U.S., they didn’t hesitate. After months of working with U.S. Immigration, the two families finally did meet in 1985, when a plane from Thailand landed in Los Angeles—the Nguyens’ new home.

Read More

2. Love in a Bottle

Ake Viking was a lonely Swedish sailor who decided to place his search for love in the hands of fate. He wrote a simple letter “To Someone Beautiful and Far Away,” corked it inside a bottle, and tossed it overboard in the hopes that it might help him find a young woman to marry.

Two years later, in 1958, he was surprised to receive a letter from a Sicilian girl, Paolina, who said, “I am not beautiful, but it seems so miraculous that this little bottle should have traveled so far and long to reach me that I must send you an answer…” The two began writing one another and, three years after he threw a bottle into the sea, Ake moved to Sicily to marry his very long-distance love.

3. A Soldier To Watch Over Them

When Josh Baker was 10 years old, he dumped an entire bottle of his mother’s vanilla extract down the sink. He then wrote a quick note that said, “My name is Josh Baker. I’m 10. If you find this, put it on the news. The date is April 16, 1995.” He stuffed the note inside the empty extract bottle and threw it into Wisconsin’s White Lake.

Life went on and, after high school, Josh signed up for the Marines. During his tour of duty in Iraq, he survived the dangers of fighting door-to-door in Fallujah and made it back home to the U.S. safe and sound. Tragically, shortly after his homecoming, Josh was killed in a car accident, leaving his family and friends devastated and asking the obvious question, “Why?” A few months later, Steve Lieder and Robert Duncan, friends of Josh’s, were walking on the banks of White Lake, when they saw something glimmer on the water. After fishing it out, they realized it was a vanilla extract bottle with a piece of paper inside.

To friends and family, the message from 10-year old Josh appeared when they needed it most. It felt as though he was reaching out, letting them know that he was watching, and trying to help them move on. This message of hope is currently displayed in the Bakers’ home as a constant reminder that their son is still with them, even though he’s gone.

4. The Right Fisherman

In 1999, Steve Gowan spotted something clinging to his fishing nets. It was a very old bottle containing two letters written by Private Thomas Hughes, dated September 9, 1914. The first message asked the person that found the bottle to forward the second message to Hughes’ wife, Elizabeth. The note for Elizabeth was a nice, simple love letter, showing that his wife was in his thoughts as he made his way to France to fight in the early days of World War I.
After reading the letters, Gowan felt a great personal responsibility to see that they found their way home, even though he assumed Mrs. Hughes had died long ago. He began searching for her descendants and soon learned that Thomas and Elizabeth Hughes’ daughter was still alive in Auckland, New Zealand.

Sadly, Hughes died in battle shortly after he wrote the letters, so he never got to see Elizabeth, nor his two-year old daughter, Emily, ever again. Due to her young age at the time of his death, Emily never knew her father, though she grew up listening to stories about him from her mother and cherishing his posthumously award medals. So when The New Zealand Post offered to send Gowan to Auckland to hand deliver the bottle to Emily, he jumped at the chance to help her connect to this lost piece of her past.

For Emily, the bottle was a great source of joy and comfort. She said her father’s message couldn’t come home “until the right boat came along at the right time with the right fisherman.”

5. Laura Buxton, meet Laura Buxton

Technically this isn’t a “message in a bottle” story, but it’s the same concept—and the story is simply too good not to mention it.)
In June 2001, 10-year old Laura Buxton released a red balloon into the air over her hometown of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. On one side of the balloon, she had written “Please return to Laura Buxton,” and on the other side, her home address. A few weeks later, a man 140 miles away in Milton Lilbourne found the balloon stuck in the hedge that separated his farm from the next-door neighbors. He noticed Laura Buxton’s name and address and immediately took the balloon to the neighbors’ house, showing it to the 10-year old girl who lived there…whose name was also Laura Buxton.

Laura Buxton from Milton Lilbourne wrote Laura Buxton from Stoke-on-Trent to let her know that she had found the balloon. Thinking this coincidence was simply too amazing to be true, they decided they had to meet in person. And that’s when things got really weird.

On the day of the meeting, the two girls wore the same outfit – a pink sweater and jeans. The girls were the same height, which was unusual because they were both tall for their age. They both had brown hair and wore it in the same style. They both had three-year old black Labrador Retrievers at home, as well as gray pet rabbits. They both brought their guinea pigs, which were the same color and even had the same orange markings on their hindquarters. It was almost as though these two Laura Buxtons were the same person.

The strange events surrounding their meeting have helped the girls form a strong bond, and they remain friends eight years later. Both feel the circumstances that brought them together are too significant to be written off as mere coincidence.

Source: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/36541

Paolo Nutini...My One True Love

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:06:00 +0000

Last Request
by: Paolo Nutini

Slow down, Lie down,
Remember it's just you and me.
Don't sell out, bow out,
Remember how this used to be.

I just want you closer,
Is that alright?
Baby let's get closer tonight

[chorus:]
Grant my last request,
And just let me hold you.
Don't shrug your shoulders,
Lay down beside me.
Sure I can accept that we're going nowhere,
But one last time just go there,
Lay down beside me

Oh, I've found, that I'm bound
To wander down that one way road.
And I realise all about your lies
But I'm no wiser than the fool I was before.

I just want you closer,
Is that alright?
Baby let's get closer tonight

[chorus]

Oh, baby, baby, baby,
Tell me how can, how can this be wrong?

[chorus x2]

Yeah, lay down beside me.

One last time let's go there,
Lay down beside me

Here' Something that will Gross you Out...Enjoy!

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:32:00 +0000

Biggest Zit in the world...BACNE

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Bahay Kubo By Luke

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:27:00 +0000

Wait...wait...Oh I love this kid. Can I have one? Where can I buy one?

Hong Kong here I come...

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:06:00 +0000

It's 00:06 in the my clock right now, I already finished writing down all our itineraries information from Bus Station locations to MTR routes. Exactly 76 hours from now, I'll be leaving for Hongkong. This is my first time out of the country travel and I am very excited because it's HongKong.

I'll be traveling with my older sisters, I am sure we will have a blast since they are the coolest people on earth. What can I say, my family rocks!

Tommorrow, I'll be learning some Chinese words to at least narrow the communication gap with the locals.

Wow! I cannot wait to explore Hongkong, too bad Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car (Picture above) will be close for restoration. But it's okay cause I am sure that I will be coming back next year. Hoping :-0

This video will surely make you cry

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 17:06:00 +0000

Gaki No Tsukai is the best! Woot woot

I'm back!

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 23:43:00 +0000

After months of no updates, I decide to post blogs for today. I do'nt know if I'll be able to do this again haha but I'll try my best to keep this blogsite. What's new? Nothing much but I am not complaining, it seems that I really dont have a choice for the next 3 years. So, I hope that you enjoy my post. I'll be posting some really funny stuff to help you brighten your day.

Keep Rocking!

The Royal Wii

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Fri, 22 May 2009 07:18:00 +0000

by Mike Krumbholtz

The Nintendo Wii has positioned itself as the gaming console for everybody. As it turns out, that includes the Queen of England. Well, sort of. It's not like Her Royal Highness went down to Wal-Mart and bought one with her summer job savings. Rather, she was given a special version by gaming company THQ.
The Royal Wii

Wii are definitely amused.

What makes the Queen's "Royal Wii" different? It's gold-plated, sucka! None of that lame white plastic for Buckingham Palace — the Queen needs her bling! Gaming blog Joystiq reports that the gaming company is hopeful that the PR stunt "will amuse Queen Elizabeth."

Meanwhile, Geek.com writes that the gift is actually meant to build awareness for the upcoming game, Big Family Games. An ulterior motive? What?!? As the geeks put it, "for a game that is meant to include the whole family from kids to grandparents what better family to send it to than The Royal Family in England."

According to Game Revolution, Big Family Games is a collection of mini-games, including "golf, tennis, ladder golf, lawn darts, horseshoes, bocce," and more. So far, search interest is rather scant. However, should the Queen declare her love for the gift, expect the title to get a right honorable boost in the Buzz. Silly as that sounds, it's not out of the realm of possibility -- according to insiders, she was "addicted" to playing Prince William's Wii last Christmas. Now she'll have one of her own.

Source:

http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/the-royal-wii/1316670

What do you MEAN I'm not going to die?

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Fri, 22 May 2009 05:07:00 +0000

Mon May 7, 2007 12:22pm EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - A British man who went on a wild spending spree after doctors said he only had a short time to live wants compensation because the diagnosis was wrong and he is now healthy -- but broke.

John Brandrick, 62, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two years ago and told that he would probably die within a year.

He quit his job, sold or gave away nearly all his possessions, stopped paying his mortgage and spent his savings dining out and going on holiday.

Brandrick was left with little more than the black suit, white shirt and red tie that he had planned to be buried in when it emerged a year later that his suspected "tumor" was no more than a non-life threatening inflammation of the pancreas.

"When they tell you you've got a limited time and everything, you do enjoy life," Brandrick, from Cornwall in the west of England, told Sky television.

"I'm really pleased that I've got a second chance in life... but if you haven't got no money after all this, which is my fault -- I spent it all -- they should pay something back."

If he can't get compensation, he is considering selling his house or suing the hospital that diagnosed him. The hospital has said that while it sympathizes with Brandrick, a review of his case showed no different diagnosis would have been made.

How Your Favorite Sneakers Got Their Names

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Fri, 22 May 2009 04:30:00 +0000

We all know that Nike is named after the Greek goddess of victory, and the origin of “Air Jordan” is hardly obscure, but where did some other famous shoes and brands get their names?

He's no Susan Boyle but he is freakin HIGH-Lar-Ious

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Mon, 18 May 2009 01:44:00 +0000

I am not making fun of this guy, but I just need to share this to you.

Should Universal Health Care Cover Faith Healing?

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Mon, 18 May 2009 00:26:00 +0000

Now this article from Time is very interesting. Imagine Health Care in Faith Healing Practices. That's plain Genius!

Click Here to read the article

Top 10 Art Schools

noreply@blogger.com (daphnetokki) — Sun, 17 May 2009 23:51:00 +0000

I love the arts. I love creating stuff. I love it when I produce something that is mine, I also love to study in an Art School. Last night, I searched for the Top 10 Art Schools in the World. The following are the Arts Schools that I think offers the best course the visual arts, graphic design, illustration, painting, photography, and sculpture.

1. The California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture
2. The Art Institute of Phoenix
3. The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute
4. The Cranbrook Academy of Art
5. The New York Academy of Art
6. The New School of Classical Art (NSCA)
7. The China Academy of Art
8. Iceland Academy of the Arts
9. The Royal Academy of Arts
10. The Royal Swedish Academy of Arts

Now, if only I have the time and money to attend to these Schools.

Keep Rocking!