Sunday, April 25, 2010

NBA player BJ Armstrong meet & greet at Velocity Bar

Last week, thanks to Marriott Hotel Manila, I got the rare opportunity to meet one of NBA's legends, former Chicago Bulls basketball player, Benjamin Roy Armstrong Jr., or B.J. Armstrong, also referred to as "B.J., The Kid."

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The event was held in Marriott's Velocity Bar, the Philippines' first and only 5-star sports and entertainment bar.  The meet and greet was relaxed and casual, with people taking turns asking for autographs and taking photos with the basketball star. It lasted about half and hour and was adjourned with B.J. Armstrong giving an autographed basketball as a gift to Marriott Hotel.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Wonderful Family Movies from Disney Exclusives

Growing up to Disney Movies


I've always love Disney movies. As I child I enjoyed movies like "The Lion King" [Oh I just can't wait to be King!], "Alice in Wonderland" [the animated version - and then later on the 3D version!], "The Little Mermaid" [The seaweed is always greener...], "Alladin" [A whole new world...] and "Beauty and the Beast" [Tale as old as time...].

Then came more wonderful movies like the "Toy Story" series, Quasimodo as "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", "Monsters, Inc." lovable characters, "Mulan" a wonderful story set in China, the incredibly entertaining "The Incredibles", these are movies I've watched over and over again that I've half memorized the lines.

Even as an adult, I still enjoyed Disney movies like the "Pirates of the Carribean" franchise, "Up!", "Chronicles of Narnia", "High School Musical", and so many others.


Disney's Movie Treasure Trove

And so I invite you to dig into the treasure trove of Disney movies, with a huge library of features and short films available though Disney Exclusives.

There is a long list of Family friendly movies like "Condorman", which tells the story of a comic book writer who, by a twist of fate, lives the life of the characters he wrote about.  I also recommend "Ducktales the Movie", a fast paced adventure featuring our favorite ducklings Huey, Dewey and Louie.

Just in time for Mother's Day, get "A Mom for Christmas" a heartwarming tale about Family and Love, and stars Olivia Newton-John.

Quality time with the family is priceless, and I always enjoy watching Disney movies with mine. What is your favorite Disney movie?


Monday, April 19, 2010

Lyrids Meteor Shower!

Lyrids Meteor Shower peaks on April 22

Figure 1. Photo credits to meteorshowersonline

I have featured several meteor showers on this blog, like the annual Perseid Meteor Shower in August, and the November Leonids Meteor Shower.  This time around, another faithful meteor shower, the Lyrids, invites us to make a wish upon a falling star.

From the PAGASA Website, it explains...

How will you choose your next President?


I am reposting this blog post in preparation for the coming Elections. I am hoping you all have internalized how you will choose your next President.

How to choose the next President...

Different people would have different basis for choosing a President.  Some base it on a candidate's opinions on issues relevant to them, some base it on character, personality or even religion. Some base it on popularity, plain name recall or even looks. Some are in denial about that last one. :p Haha. Then again, c'mon really - who wants an ugly President?

Kidding aside, since I am voting for the very first time in the last decade that I have been qualified to vote, I really want to put a lot of thought in this process of choosing who to vote for. I refuse to vote for a Presidential candidate with nothing but empty promises and motherhood statements. I want at least a hint of a detailed plan - a strategy if you may - of handling this huge undertaking. 

Being President is a tough job no doubt: you have millions of stakeholders who need assistance and support, you are accountable for their lives, their security, their access to health benefits, you are accountable for the economy, and you need to find the money to fund all of your plans. Aside from that you also need to be a shining symbol of hope and prosperity for a country constantly battling poverty.

In an ideal world, the following are my criteria in choosing who should be my next President...

Friday, April 16, 2010

Charice releases "Pyramid" video, album on Oprah


Charice releases "Pyramid"

Filipino pop sensation Charice (or Charice Pempengco) has released the video for "Pyramid", the first song off her album due to drop on May 11. The video was released through Oprah.com on April 11, 2010.

She will be announcing the release of her album via her 5th guesting on The Oprah Winfrey Show on May 11, 2010, a day after her 18th birthday.

As of today, April 15, 2010 - Thursday, "Pyramid" had spent 8 weeks on the Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs Chart and is current at #7.  It has also entered the Canadian Hot 100 at #98.

I do like the song and think it is a great way for her to enter mainstream US pop music arena. I have to admit, the first time I heard it on the radio, I thought it was Jojo. But the more I listened the more I realized their differences.

"Pyramid" Official Video


The video is embedded on this post after the jump, but before you watch I want you to watch out for the following amusing things in the video...

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Google Trends on 2010 Philippine Presidentiables - interesting!

Interesting how Google Trends the May 2010 Philippine Presidential candidates in the past 12 months (March 2009 to March 2010). See the actual Google Trend here.

Please take this with a grain of salt. I have no intentions of campaigning for anyone here - I just found it interesting to share. See, Google trends would probably also translate to popularity among a certain demographic - Pinoy Google Users. :p

click the photo to see more clearly

Sen. Manny Villar

Sen. Manny Villar leads the pack by a wide margin - notice how his Google searches surged in January 2010?  It's when he revved up his campaign with "Akala Mo" and his viral theme song that begins... "Nakaligo ka na ba sa dagat ng basura?" Any marketer's dream haha! In March, his searches dropped off very steeply but remained at the top of the heap.

Sen. Noynoy Aquino

As a relative comparison, giving Manny Villar 1.0, 2nd placer Sen. NoyNoy Aquino gets 0.74. Notice where NoyNoy's Google searches peak (marked by the letter A) - it was in September 2009, when NoyNoy announced his intentions to run for President. The smaller peak before that was in August when his mother, the late President Cory Aquino, died. He remained high in the searches but was not able to catch up to Villar's Google glory.