Dolphy, gone at 83

The Philippine entertainment industry is mourning the passing of one of its remaining “legends”, Rodolfo Vera Quizon Sr. more popularly known as “Dolphy” passed away last July 10th 2012 exactly 8:34 pm at the Makati Medical Center in Makati City, Philippines.
According to the official statement made by the Makati Medical Center, Dolphy’s death was due to complications resulting from his Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Eric Quizon, one of his sons, expresses their families deep gratitude for all who have shown love for their father.

"He lived a full life. He's at rest. He's at peace. He knew as he was going how much the country loved him. He knew how everyone was praying for him. And if he could, he would have stayed just so he could thank you personally. But where his spirit was strong, his body had so weakened. He had to go.

"Pray for his eternal repose and in his honor, please smile at the person standing next to you. Heaven is a happier place with him there. And for us whom he's left behind, comedy is dead but long live comedy," Eric added.

Jessica Sanchez on a 5-city Philippine concert tour

Here's another Jessica Sanchez news for you American Idol fanatics.

Fresh from her stint at the recently concluded American Idol Season 11, runner-up Jessica Sanchez will doing a 5-city Philippine tour.

Manila, Bataan, Baguio, Cebu and Davao will be her pitstops here in the Phillipines.

A show to be held at the Newport Performing Arts Theater of Resorts World Manila is still under works, this will be in addition to the 5-city tour originally scheduled.

The shows comes after her scheduled concert with the other American Idol finalists on September 21 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The specific dates and venue are still yet to be determined but I am sure that her fans are eagerly awaiting for this concert.

This concert will serve as a test for the 16-year old diva as this will be her first solo major concert after being part of the American Talent show.

Talking about a very busy schedule for Jessica Sanchez, that will be a total of 6 shows for Jessica Sanchez (who I think still deserved to win!)

Jessica Sanchez's concert is actually made possible by a Radio High 105.9 a local fm radio station here in the Philippines.

follow me on twitter @chinelas

Jessica Sanchez shines on stage of NBA Finals 2012 Game 1

Using the words of the Dawg, Randy Jackson,

"Jessica Sanchez slayed it".

This is referring to her performance of the US National Anthem in the 1st game of the Nationally televised Game 1 of the NBA Finals between Oklahoma and Miami.

Jessica Sanchez has performed on two major sporting events already, from the Pacquiao vs Bradley fight to the NBA FInals.

She is already reaping her rewards after being the runner up in Season 11 of American Idol

Jessica Sanchez has been getting good feedback about her two recent performances of the Star Spangled Banner. In fact her rendition in the NBA Finals trended worldwide on Twitter with the topics
“Jessica Sanchez”, “Star Spangled Banner”, “She SANG” and “That Asian”

I was able to read one article wherein it quoted a twitter reaction saying:

“First Pacquiao, now Spoelstra/Heat. Is Jessica Sanchez bad luck to Pinoy athletes/coaches? But she nailed the national anthem once again!”

I think that the person who twitted this must be superstitious.

Just to feel the vibes about Jessica's performances, I checked my own twitter feeds and saw this one from @phent0ts

"Oh noh, Jessica is singing?!? Baka matalo nanaman manok ko! LOL #Heat #HEATFinals"

It makes me think. Jessica has been involved in 2 different sporting events both involving Filipino (or Half Filipino) descent in which the results are loses.

Pacquiao vs. Bradley.

Pacquiao lost by a split decision to (the Judges) err, Bradley .

Oklahoma vs. Miami, Game 1 of NBA Finals.

Miami (collapsed) I mean, lost.

Some conspiracy theorist say that Jessica Sanchez shouldn't be involved with any sporting event where a Filipino is part of since they end up losing.

Tsk tsk, really now? You don't have to go that far and we can discuss that in another article. But nonetheless, Jessica Sanchez is now making her own mark in the American market, a feat that she so deserved.

Pacquiao vs. Bradley - The Perfect Storm

Its the time of the year again! Manny Pacquiao will be fighting Timothy "The Desert Storm" Bradley this coming June 9th, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada USA. People in the Philippines are now going abuzz with the fight nearing. Odds in Las Vegas, favoring Manny Pacquiao at 5-1, while here in the Philippines bets are up as to what round Bradley will hit the canvass.

Ever wonder how it feels like getting caught up when two storms meet? I imagine that it would be chaotic! And that's how I see the fight between this two pugilistic warriors would head to.

I think people are underestimating Timothy Bradley. He is for one a champion in his own right, has never lost a fight in 28 bouts and he "uses his head" to win his matches, so he should be a legit foe for our Ninong Manny.

This can be further reaffirmed when Bradley was asked during the final press conference for the fight about how was training camp and mentioned that:

"Training was like Hell",

but Ninong Manny smooth as ever countered with,

"For me, it feels like Heaven".

Wow, I did not know that Ninong Manny has some slick counter punching when it comes to verbal joust and jabs.

When majority of our Pinoy kababayans were asked about their thoughts on who would win, they are already predicting that Ninong Manny would win by a stoppage on the 6th round or late in the fight, so the consensus is clear, its PACMAN that they want to win. Of course, who else should they be rooting for?

Now let me play a devils advocate here, what if Pacquiao loses? What will happen to the Pambansang Kamao? Will the adulation and adoration for him still be the same after the dust settles and he''s left with a "L" in his boxing record?

Well for Bradley, one thing is for sure. Ninong Manny gets a rematch come November 10th 2012.



But hey! Who knows, Timothy Bradley may just be spot on with his prediction, come November 10th, 2012 he might really put the ticket into use. It can get him a front row seat for Pacman's next fight.

Pacquiao wins KO by the 7th

Two and a Half Men ex-star Charlie Sheen and Warner Bros. settles lawsuit

After filing a $100 million lawsuit against CBS and Chuck Lorre, the studio and creator behind the this TV series "Two and A Half Men", Charlie Sheen has settled his lawsuit stemming over the Sheens's dismissal from the top-rated U.S. television comedy earlier this year.

Warner Bros. did not put a figure on the settlement. The case had been settled through arbitration.

Sheen was fired from "Two and A Half Men" after publicly insulting Lorre in a series of bizarre interviews. His remarks followed a series of trips to rehab that had forced production on the TV comedy to be suspended in early 2011.

Sheen was replaced on "Two and A Half Men" by Ashton Kutcher. The new season debuted last week to a record 28.7 million U.S. viewers -- a bigger audience than any episodes in the comedy's first eight seasons with Sheen in the starring role as a womanizing bachelor.

United Football League partners with AKTV; signs 5-year TV deal

United Football League, a local football league in the Philippines has just recently signed a five-year contract with AKTV, a local sports channel as it aims to bolster the game in which the AZKALS have helped kickstarted.

In the contract between AKTV and UFL, there will be two live UFL matches that will be shown every Saturday beginning October 8, 2011 with the televised matches played at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium and non-televised games played at the University of Makati.

The season kicks off with the UFL Cup where 28 teams, including 13 guest squads, will compete for slots in the UFL’s Division II.

Group A: Nomads FC, Baguio FC, Union Internacional FC, Lions FC

Group B: Loyola Meralco Sparks FC, Internacionale FC, Agila FC, Team Socceroo FC

Group C: Global FC, Pachanga FC, Stallions FC, Cebu Queen City FC

Group D: Kaya-Cignal FC, ABC Stars FC, Schwarz, Diliman Victory Liner FC

Group E: Philippine Air Force FC, Philippine Navy FC, Manila All-Japan FC, Laos FC

Group F: Green Archers United FC, Dolphins United FC, Pasargad FC, Forza FC

Group G: Philippine Army FC, Manhur FC, Sunken Garden United FC, and Garuda FC PH

Different AZKALS players will be distributed amongst the different clubs participating in the league.

Loyola Spark FC will have Phil and James Younghusband with former national teammates Mark and Matthew Hartmann.

The Azkals’ Fil-Spanish striker Angel Guirado and Fil-Iranian Misagh Bahadoran will be donning the colors of Global FC.

Kaya FC will have Aly Borromeo, Anton del Rosario, Jason Sabio, Yannick Tuason, and Nate Burkey in uniform.

Philippine Air Force FC has scoring threats Chieffy Caligdong and Ian Araneta in harness while rival Philippine Army FC features Roel Gener and Nestor Margarse.

This will definitely be a fun league to watch as we see the different AZKALS players compete against one another. And with the continued support of the public and the Filipino people,
football is getting a much needed shot in the arm, as it popularity continues to grow in this basketball crazy country.

Long Teng Cup, AZKALS next target

The Philippine AZKALS will be heading towards Taiwan for this years LONG TENG CUP, a four nation tournament in which the Philippines has not won yet. With the experience that the team have gained over the past year, hopes are high that they would be able to win it all.

The Azkals will be playing five international matches in 11 days starting in Sept. 30 when they face Hong Kong in Taiwan. They will also play Chinese-Taipei on October 2 and Macau on October 4.
With a full complement of players, including those based in Europe, the Azkals play an international friendly in Singapore on October 7, before returning home for a date against Nepal on October 11 at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

The LONG TENG CUP will be aired live locally over at Studio 23 and BALLS. Game schedule below:

September 30
Philippines vs HongKong 4:30 p.m. (Studio 23)

October 2
Philippines vs Chinese Taipei 7 p.m. (Studio 23)

October 4
Philippines vs Macau 3pm(Kick off @ 4:30pm) on Studio 23

R.E.M says goodbye to fans after 31 years

US rock band R.E.M said goodbye to their millions of fans last Wednesday, after more than 30 years of generating hits and selling millions of records.

R.E.M originally comprised of singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bass player Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry, who suffered a brain aneurysm during the band's 1995 "Monster" tour and subsequently left the group.

Their debut album, 1983's "Murmur," helped them build a cult following among America's youth, and they crossed over to mainstream success with 1987 hit single, "The One I Love" off the album "Document."

In December of 1987, Rolling Stone magazine put the band on its cover and dubbed it "America's Best Rock & Roll Band," and after that came years of successive hits.

Well as they all say, All good things must come to an end, and sadly this holds true even if it pains us to see them say goodbye. Though they may have already said goodbye, R.E.M's music will continue to hit the airwaves and that's for sure.

Smart Gilas Pilipinas FIBA ASIA Championship Quarter Finals set today

Smart Gilas Pilipinas will be in a Do or Die situation when they battle with Chinese-Taipei for a spot in the Semifinals of this years FIBA ASIA Qualifiers in Wuhan, China.

Smart Gilas Pilipinas will be led by Naturalized Center, Marcus Douthit, Team Captain, Chris Tiu and Spitfire Guard, JV Casio, Jimmy Alapag and other key players.

Below will be the complete Quarterfinal schedule:

Game 1 - Jordan vs. Iran
Game 2 - Japan vs. Korea
Game 3 - Philippines vs. Ch. Taipei
Game 4 - China vs. Lebanon

Smart Gilas Pilipinas vs. Chinese Taipei will be broadcasted live by AKTV and BTV, game time is set at 6PM.

Here's wishing our National Team to get thru the medal round! We will all be watching! Goodluck Smart Gilas Pilipinas!

Sports: Ron Artest says goodbye to the LA Lakers

Once the NBA lockout season is over, Ron Artest will not be playing for the Los Angeles lakers anymore instead Metta World Peace would take his place.

A Los Angeles court has completed the process for Ron Artest last Friday, September 16th which requested to have his name changed last June due to personal reasons. Ron Artest will now be using the surname, World Peace which is ironic since "Peace" hasn't been his strength in his NBA career. In 2004, he received one of the longest NBA bans in history for his role in a brawl with fans in which he raced into the stands in Detroit.

But before we get to see World Peace play in the NBA, we will be seeing him in the upcoming season of the hit TV dancing competition “Dancing with the Stars”

So once the NBA lockout is over, do not be surprised to see a new name wearing the Los Angeles Lakers jersey and hear a familiar beauty contest answer echoing the staples center.

World Peace!

Tech News: Webcam 101 with Grandma and Grandpa

Two grandparents are instantly becoming a youtube sensation. Bruce and Esther Huffman accidentally recorded themselves while setting up their webcam on a new laptop. It has even been featured in Good Morning America.

For those of you who haven't seen the clip. Here you go. You might want to share it with your Grandpa and Grandma.

Original Webcam Clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcN08Tg3PWw&feature=related
Good Morning America Clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyd9wPhB1hA

Entertainment: Black Eyed Peas, Live in Manila 2011

Multi-Grammy awarad winning group, Black Eyed Peas, will be visiting Manila, Philippines for a one night concert this coming October 25, 2011 at the SM Mall of Asia Grounds.

Rappers Will.I.Am (William Adams), Filipino Apl.de.Ap (Allan Pineda), Taboo (Jaime Gomez) and singer Fergie (Stacy Ann Ferguson) will be performing for thousands of fans later this year — and there is no stopping them in rocking Manila this coming October 25 at the SM Mall of Asia concert grounds.

The best-selling group will conquer the Manila party stage with their smash hits such as “Let’s Get It Started,” “Boom Boom Pow,” “Don’t Stop the Party,” and “The Time-Dirty Bit.”
Together with their other favorites hits such as “My Humps,” “I Gotta Feeling,” “Don’t Phunk With My Heart,” and “Meet Me Halfway.”

Tickets for Black Eyed Peas Live in Manila are now available. Enjoy the 20% OFF on VIP A, VIP B, and BRONZE tickets for the Black Eyed Peas Live in Manila 2011 concert. Rush to SM Tickets and Ticketworld!

Ticket outlets:
Futuretainment - +63 0947-396-4539 / +63 0939-9019836 / +63 0917-555-5475 / +63(2)577-3265
MMI – +63 0917-555-5415 / +63(2)5867275
TicketWorld – +63(2) 891-9999
SM Tickets – +63(2) 470-2222


For more information about the concert you can visit Futuretainment Inc. at their website

Tech News: Typhoon 2000, a better alternative when checking the Philippine weather

The monsoon season is already affecting major parts of the Philippines and tropical cyclones are a constant visitors to this country. I have been visiting one particular website that focuses on giving information about the current weather pattern affecting the Philippines and neighboring Asian countries.

Typhoon 2000.ph was created specifically give its followers "easy-to-understand" tropical cyclone information over the South China Sea and Northwest Pacific Basin (from Malay Peninsula - 100° E up to the International Date Line - 180°). This website is often referred to as a "one-stop" web portal which links all Asia-Pacific warning centers monitoring active or existing tropical cyclones.

Typhoon 2000 gets its information from a variety of meteorological sources such as Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical & Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, United Nations' Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) Tokyo-Typhoon Centre (Japan Meteorological Agency), & Hong Kong Observatory.

If you want a more detailed, diversed and accurate weather report for the Philippines, you guys might want to try visiting www.typhoon2000.ph

Places: Pagcor Entertainment City; a reality or just a fantasy?

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation is trying to create an Entertainment City that would rival that of Las Vegas. The Entertainment City on Manila Bay is expected to generate at least a million jobs locally and raise the gaming revenue of the Philippines by 14 times from the current $800 million annually to a staggering $11.5 billion in revenue. The plan if to succeed will bring in an additional one million tourists to the Philippines. According to reports from certain broadsheets in the Philippines that Pagcor have already licensed four investors to help develop the project, they are: Resorts World Manila developer Travellers International Hotel Group Inc.; the SM group; Bloomsberry Investments; and Japan’s Aruze group.

I would say that this is a very bold plan and project by PAGCOR and hopefully this materializes and not just remain as a plan. I think its about time that government officials come up with such plans to further boost the marketability of the Philippines.

Entertainment: Shamcey Supsup proves that there is more to Philippines than Manny Pacquiao

Leila Lopes from Angola won the recently concluded Miss Universe 2011 held at Sao Paolo Brazil.

The contest albeit frustrating for majority of the Filipino people was definitely a good one. The Philippines bet, Shamcey Supsup placed 3rd runner up which was a bit of surprise, considering that she had a good chance of being in the TOP 2 especially after her answer during the Q&A portion for the TOP 5. There were unconfirmed reports that the same sentiment was shared by Oprah Winfrey during her interview with NBC news with regard to the result of the 2011 Miss Universe

"I have reservations with the results. If the only basis is the Q and A portion, after having been trimmed down to 5, Ms. Philippines deserved to win. What made her different from the rest is that she had no seconds to rethink of her answer as she had no interpreter to break the ice. The rest had their interpreters and having breaks on seconds to think about their answers. Hands down, Ms. Philippines answered straight to the point."

Nonetheless, unconfirmed or not, Shamcey Supsup's win was another testament that the Philippines can compete with the rest of the world when it comes to beauty contests and that there is more to the Philippines than Manny Pacquiao.

Tech News: Pacquiao's HP TouchPad got KO'd by Apple's iPAD

Boxing celebrity and 8 division world champion Manny Pacquiao, got knocked out by Apple's iPAD.

HP tapped the Fighting Congressman to be part of its list of celebrity endorsers for their HP TouchPad - designed to counter Apple's iPAD. But barely 2 months after Pacquiao's commercial has been released, HP has decided to pull the plug due to poor sales.

HP opted to slash TouchPad’s price by $250 in an effort to recover part of the $100 million it was expected to lose because of the decision to stop selling the tablets, according to an article in www.thenextweb.com.

Just last month, HP released a 31-second TV ad featuring Pacquiao, the Saranggani lawmaker who is also acknowledged as the best fighter pound-for-pound on the planet today.

The ad shows Pacquiao discussing how he conquered doubts about his boxing skills, political acumen, and lately, his ability to make it as a singer. All the while, he is holding a TouchPad in front of his face, flicking through its variety of features.

“Now, I’m trying to make it in music,” the congressman says in the ad, which shows a clip of his duet with Dan Hill as they sing “Sometimes When We Touch.

“Haha, millions of hits,” he ends, referring to the song’s online clip.

But all of this was a futile effort made by HP to directly compete for the iPAD's market. Now I was wondering if they could have priced it lower than the iPAD would it make a difference?

For those who have not yet seen the commercial, just click on the link below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd5up6XrzQc

Tech Tips: Facebook Security Changed again

I know that most of us has a Facebook account and are likely using it everyday to interact with people and connect with long lost friends. But as a user we need to be wise enough to know the dangers that it would bring once an account is hacked or maliciously accessed. Most of you probably don't know that when accessing Facebook it has to be in a secured environment in order for it not to be hacked. Facebook has recently changed its security settings (again!) without notifying its users. Apparently, Facebook has automatically set to default the setting of everyone's account security to Non-Secure.

Take a look at your URL. If you see "http" or just "www" instead of "https", that means you DO NOT have a secure session & your account can be hacked. But don't fret, if you want to change this just go to Account Settings -> Account Security -> click Change. Check box (secure browsing), click Save. Then after that you should see the https://www.facebook.com as the url for your Facebook page.

It's definitely frustrating to know that Facebook would have to do this and not let their users know about it, but we just need to suck it up and learn it from someone else's.

Happy browsing everyone!

Events: Concert - Miley Cyrus, Gypsy Heart World Tour, invades Manila

Miley Cyrus, the teen star that popularized Hannah Montana is here in the Phillipines for her Gypsy Heart World Tour. Philippines will be the only Asian country that she will be visiting for her world tour.

Her concert will be held at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds this June 17, 2011, concert starts 8PM.

Music Management International, the same producer of Justin Bieber’s Manila Concert at SM Mall of Asia on May 10, is the group responsible for bringing Cyrus in Manila.

Tickets are still available thru Ticket World or any SM Ticketnet outlets
Ticket Prices: VIP Php7,460 GOLD A Php4,670 SILVER Php3,500 BRONZE Php1,844 GENAD Php 650

Sports: 2011 NBA Championship: A DejaVu from 2006

Call it dejavu with a twist. This year’s 2011 NBA season is not deprived of plots and subplots as Miami vs Dallas will surely be barnburner. This is a rematch of an epic 2006 finals wherein Miami down 0-2 bounced back and won 4 straight games to capture their first Larry O’Brien trophy.

There are a lot of things to look out for this year’s NBA finals since a lot are at stake.

Miami – Is this the year where they start their reign as Kings of American Basketball? Will the experiment work? James, Wade and Bosh
Will they fulfil their promise of winning multiple championships together?
Will Eric Spoelstra win his 1st ever championship ring as a head coach?

Dallas – Is this the year where Dirk Nowitzki, Jsaon Kidd, Shawn Marion, and the rest of the Dallas mavericks win their 1st ring?
Is Tyson Chandler the missing link that they have been waiting for?
Will Rick Carlisle finally win his 1st championship ring as head coach?

A lot are at stake and pressures are high. Which team will step up to the plate and claim this year’s championship? Hold on to your seats as this will be one exciting series.

Dirk is on mission and you can see it in his eyes, though I can’t help but root for Eric Spoelstra who is Half-Filipino. Plus the fact that it’s the trio of Lebron, Wade and Bosh. So as for my thoughts as to who will win it?

Hate to say it but Dallas in 6.

Here is the game schedule:

US TV coverage by ABC

Game 1: Mavs @ Heat - Tue 5/31 9:00p ET
Game 2: Mavs @ Heat - Thu 6/02 9:00p ET
Game 3: Heat @ Mavs - Sun 6/05 8:00p ET
Game 4: Heat @ Mavs - Tue 6/07 9:00p ET
*Game 5: Heat @ Mavs – Thu 6/09 9:00p ET
*Game 6: Mavs @ Heat – Sun 6/12 8:00p ET
*Game 7: Mavs @ Heat – Tue 6/14 9:00p ET

* If necessary


Philippine Free TV Coverage ABS-CBN Channel 2

Game 1: Mavs @ Heat - Wed 6/01 9:00am
Game 2: Mavs @ Heat - Fri 6/03 9:00am
Game 3: Heat @ Mavs - Mon 6/06 8:00am
Game 4: Heat @ Mavs - Wed 6/08 9:00am
*Game 5: Heat @ Mavs – Fri 6/09 9:00am
*Game 6: Mavs @ Heat – Mon 6/13 8:00am
*Game 7: Mavs @ Heat – Wed 6/15 9:00am

* If necessary

Tech News: Twitter and Facebook rule Philippine mobile users

According to a recent survey made by TNS, an international media research firm, Twitter and Facebook saw an increase in their popularity last year among Filipino mobile device users, thanks to cheap and unlimited data services.

The international media research firm also mentioned that a total of 91 percent of mobile device users in the Philippines this year access sites such as Facebook. This is a good 54% increase in penetration for the same population last 2010.

And it’s not just Facebook that got the interests of Filipino mobile device users, microblogging sites like Twitter saw a 17% increase in 2011 from 4% last 2010.

An estimated 73% of mobile phone users use their devices to send personal messages. Filipinos also use their mobile devices to enjoy digital music, video calling, bluetooth functionality, and as a planner for their calendar functions. This just shows that Filipino’s are putting their mobile devices into good use

While majority of Filipinos continue to use the short messaging service (SMS) on their mobile devices, the levels have been declining as social networking steps into the picture.

I wouldn't be surprised if the trend continues to go up every year, as mobile service providers continuously find ways on how to better incorporate data services packages into their mobile plans and services.