Goodbye Miss Grundy

I'm sure that a lot of you are familiar with the Archie Comics. It's one of long running syndicates strips in the United States and has reached the far corners of the world. I grew up reading classic Archie and the gang thanks to my tita's collection which she had since the 1970s. Each character is known to me, much as one would know a neighbor or a classmate at school.

My friend Ryan, a fellow toy collector and comic enthusiast, shared this link today that shocked me to the core. Riverdale High's long-time teacher Miss Geraldine Grundy gets cancer. That's not the worst of it. She never successfully battles it and she subsequently passes away.

This storyline will be featured in "Life With Archie" Issue #6. This shows how reality is creeping into the fictional and somewhat perfect world of Archie Andrews.

It makes me sad. It's like losing an old friend. I remember numerous storylines where the gang would try to bring her together with The Bee. Or how the girls once gave her a make-over to help her get a date. It's those little things that bring her close to you even though you know her character exists in between those sheets of paper. While I probably won't read this comic (I don't know if I will be able to get one), just knowing how it goes makes me really sad.

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Image is from Comic Vine.


Rest in peace, Miss Grundy.

BSP releases redesigned Philipine Peso bills

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas today revealed the new designs of the Phillipne Peso bills. According to BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr., these designs took three years to conceptualize and print. One the whole, a lot of the bills' designs are the same, but some elements were changed and added.


P20 bill
Obverse: Manuel L. Quezon
Reverse: Banaue Rice Terraces and a palm civet from the Cordilleras, which are famous for producing the coffee alamid.



P50 bill
Obverse: Sergio Osmeña
Reverse: Taal Lake and the Giant Trevally (locally known as Maliputo), a delicious milky fish which thrives only in the waters of the lake.



P100 bill
Obverse: Manuel A. Roxas
Reverse: Mayon Volcano and “butanding” or whale shark, the world’s largest living fish which is the main attraction of Donsol, Sorsogon.



P200 bill
Obverse: Diosdado Macapagal
Reverse: Chocolate Hills and the Philippine tarsier, one of the world’s smallest primates.



P500 bill
Obverse: Corazon Aquino and Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. (Tetangco said the addition of Mrs. Aquino was decided after she passed away in August 2009 and before her son announced his candidacy for president)
Reverse: Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park and the blue-naped parrot, which thrives in the forests of Palawan and Mindoro.



P1,000 bill
Obverse: Josefa Llanes Escoda, Vicente P. Lim, and Jose Abad Santos
Reverse: Tubbataha Reef Marine Park and the South Sea Pearl, which is produced by oysters that thrive in the South Seas which the Sulu Sea is a part of.



Fe Dela Cruz, director of the BSP’s corporate affairs office said that the images of the national figures have been changed to reflect their younger selves, as they served the country during their prime.

The banknotes have new security features to help prevent them from being copied. These features increase as the value of the note goes higher. They include: embossed prints, serial numbers, security fibers, watermarks, security thread, optically variable device, optically variable ink, and a see-through mark.

This see-through mark is the word "Filipino" and is written based on the pre-Hispanic Philippine writing system called "Baybayin".

Sources:
Pinoy Tumblr
GMANews.TV

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