petron blaze import player ronaldo balkman grabs the neck of teammate arwind santos

this is the worst that we have seen from the PBA or any other basketball game – a PBA player, import balkman in fit of stupidity grabs the neck of his own teammate, arwind santos.

this display of rage and anger is uncalled for in every circumstance. there is no excuse or explanation where we can say this was acceptable and even forgivable. unfortunately the petron blaze coach is saying the import needs to be given a second chance which can mean balkman continues to play in the PBA.

it’s a sad and wrong thing to do. PBA fans should show its displeasure on  balkman by booing him  on the court until petron blaze gets rid of this import.

senator pia cayetano on new UAAP rule on residency : “unconstitutional; unjust and cruel to athletes”

we are posting in full statement by senator pia cayetano:

Dear UAAP Board,

Many athletes, former athletes, and parents of athletes are in an uproar over the recent decision of the UAAP board to require graduating high school students to sit out 2 years if they come from a UAAP high school and go to a different UAAP college.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the 2-year residency requirement for other than to curtail the freedom of the young athlete to choose the college where he wants to study and play?

In the USA, transferring college athletes have a 1-year residency rest before they can play for their new school – only 1 year, and it doesn’t apply to high school students who choose to go to a different college. The 1-year residency rule requires an athlete to sit out one year of competition because transferring student-athletes suffer academically over time. The year-in-residence is meant to help the athlete acclimatize to the new school and adjust academics-wise. [1] So what’s your 2-year rule for?

A student-athlete’s choice of university is influenced not only by athletics, but also by academics, campus life, and personal situation [2], and the 2-year residency encumbers their freedom of choice.

In my humble opinion as an athlete, a parent of both a college and a high school athlete, and a lawyer, the 2-year residency that is currently applied to transferring college students, as well as any residency rule for high school students, deny athletes of their rights to develop their full potential. It goes against the Constitutional mandate to promote sports especially among our youth, and is an unreasonable limit on an athlete’s freedom of choice as well as academic freedom to choose which college to enter into.

Section 19, Article 14, of the 1987 Constitution states that:

“(1) The State shall promote physical education and encourage sports programs, league competitions, and amateur sports, including training for international competitions, to foster self-discipline, teamwork, and excellence for the development of a healthy and alert citizenry.”

Will the new rule help achieve this?

To excel in sports, one needs to be in constant training of both the body and the mind. Do you know what it’s like for an athlete to sit out two seasons? Athletes thrive on competition. That’s what gets us going. That’s what all the hard training is about. Its what makes it all worth while. To make an athlete sit out two seasons? That just kills the dream. Para sa isang atleta, para mo na ring sinabi na wag ka na lang maglaro. Is this what you want to achieve? Seriously?

I am against any kind of residency rule for graduating high school students. For transferring college students, the 1 year residency rule will suffice. Anything more than that is injustice to an athlete.

I will end this letter by citing a provision in our Bill of Rights against cruel and unjust punishment. For an athlete, this 2 year residency rule is cruel and unjust punishment!

source : http://www.mydailyrace.com/?p=2566

 

read : new UAAP rule on residency is unjust, unfair and harms high school athletes

philippine stock market reaches past historic 6,800 all time high, so far record broken 23 times in 2013

here is some trivia : of the 23 times the record high was broken, 19 times or 83% occurred on consecutive days.

new UAAP rule on residency is unjust, unfair and harms high school athletes

social media was ablaze in the last few days on this new rule of the UAAP on residency:

HIGH school players who will transfer to another UAAP school in college will now have to wait for two years before becoming eligible to play in the league.

The UAAP board on Tuesday approved the recommendation of its amendments committee to increase the residency requirements for transferring high school players from one year to two years.

The new rule, which got the vote of the board during its regular monthly, meeting will take effect immediately and will cover the current batch of graduating high school players in the UAAP.

source : http://www.spin.ph/sports/basketball/news/blow-to-pingoy-astransferees-required-to-undergo-two-year-residency-under-new-uaap-rule

apparently this rule was invented as a reaction to the recruitment war between the Ateneo and FEU on a star high school player of FEU, a two-time MVP in the high school league.

( read here :   http://www.spin.ph/sports/basketball/news/blow-to-pingoy-astransferees-required-to-undergo-two-year-residency-under-new-uaap-rule and here http://www.spin.ph/sports/basketball/news/new-residency-rule-wont-stop-pingoys-switch-to-ateneo-insists-dad)

we think the new rule is all wrong :

• this new rule benefits only the UAAP schools, not anyone else, not the high school athletes and not the league. and the benefit to the schools is just temporary, all it does is delay the playing time and does not totally protect the schools from losing their top high school players to other schools. the obvious intent of the new rule is to prevent or strongly discourage high school athletes from moving to another school for college.  it’s a selfish, misguided rule just for the benefit of the schools.
• it does the most harm to the high school athletes as they are unjustly deprived of playing the sport they love and have labored for for another year. the one year residency to begin with is wrong and extending it for another year makes it doubly wrong.  these high school athletes have been competing, honing and practicing their skills throughout high school and to many it started during their grade school days, this rule puts a two-year stop to that regimen, to that success formula. any athlete know that sustained and continued playing time, specially in competition play and training are key to sports greatness. all athletes know – you stop competitive playing and you don’t improve and to some lose some of your skills while others who continue progress more.
• putting in place rules that have the effect of barring or impeding a high school student from pursuing his college education in the school of his choice is wrong and immoral, specially if this is being done just to protect the school’s college sports program.  the fact is schools have differing quality of education, the same as having differing quality of sports programs. high school students, including athletes choose the best that they can have (and afford). putting in barriers for the students to choose the best or better education and sports program is wrong for the schools to do so.
• it does not make sense that the league is stopping high school students from pursuing greater things for their education and the sport they love.
• the new rule does not make the UAAP league any better nor does it do anything positive to sports, all it does is give the schools some kind of fake psychological benefit.
• the new rule is definitely discriminatory against universities who do not have coed high schools like la salle and ateneo. this will mean their women recruits for the women sports in the UAAP sill need to wait it out for two years. not having female students in their high schools automatically mean they will need to recruit from high school girls.

there is something very wrong with UAAP schools looking for ways to improve their chances at winning games in the league not by improving their sports programs but by imposing rules that discriminate other schools and do nothing but harm high school athletes.

winning UAAP games is best done by winning in the courts during games, not in meeting rooms by creating unfair, discriminatory, harmful and selfish self serving rules. this new UAAP rule does not help the league in any way, all it does is hurt the future and dreams of high school athletes.

read more here : Twitter ablaze as #NewUAAPRule stuns UAAP fans http://www.rappler.com/sports/23150-twitter-ablaze-as-newuaaprule-stuns-uaap-fans

Willie Revillame rants on live tv (again!) – against Ate Guy and Ethel Booba

this latest live TV rant of willie revillame is about what happened backstage between him, ethel bubba and ate guy. the ladies apparently complained to willie about something that happened on TV.

willie felt so livid about the encounter that he felt compelled to disrupt the live show to go on air and tell everyone in the studio and the millions watching on TV what happened backstage.

you could see this was an un-scripted interruption by williem the producer and star of the show.

looks at the girls who were on camera at the start – this lady in a yellow skirt was in mid sentence when she saw revillame approach with a microphone. her facial expression was priceless, then she slowly hides behind the another co-host on stage before leaving it completely.

then the lady in a red dress started to walk off the stage too, with her head bowed down. the kembot girl on willie’s left tried her best to stay put but eventually felt so uncomfortable that she also leaves.

willie’s live rant was obviously unplanned and spur of the moment. the show did not even bother to let the sequence end and cut to a rant segment. the director and floor director must have been so surprised too that they forgot to do their jobs and ask everyone on stage to leave.

looks like this latest rant is just one more thing that happens in a day in the life of willie revillame and the tv shows he appears in.

sports photography – just one or two more seconds for the money picture shot!

the alternate title – damn it’s hard to take sports shots! sub-title – specially if you do not have the camera and lens for it.

those are things we knew before but got confirmed when we actually tried it.

the football match was between the juniors teams of Ateneo and FEU at the Ateneo football field for the UAAP. given that we did not have the right camera and lens for sports shots, the expectations for great pictures were intentionally set very low.

sports photography is probably one of the few types where you do need really specialized cameras and lenses. you need a fast camera, a fast and very long lens (telephoto or zoom)  and one that can take many multiple shots one after the other with each shot perfectly focused. these types of cameras and lenses will cost easily more than $100,000 versus the camera and lens we used which was a fraction of that cost.

but we took the pictures anyway.

we wanted to capture a a specific shot – one that an Ateneo striker kicking a ball past the  FEU goal keeper. i was hoping that the picture will show the ball just passing through the goal keeper.  the shots we got were multiple shots and resulted to some nice pictures of the ball getting kicked, sailing to the goal keeper and then passed the goal keeper down deep into the net for a goal.

but no shot where the ball just passing the goal keeper. we missed that shot by a mere one or two seconds!

nice try, better luck next time.

photo #1 : ateneo player prepares to kick the ball into the net. feu goal keeper prepares himself to defend

photo # 2: football sails through the air after the ateneo player kicks it

photo #3 : well in this space is supposed to be the shot we wanted to record – the ball sailing just past the goal keeper. but the camera motor failed me as it was unable to take the shot. we swear our finger was continuously pressing the shutter button!

photo #4: it’s a goalllllllll! football hits the net as FEU goal keeper looks at it and the Ateneo player runs back to his team mates to celebrate.

the other thing we experienced was the need to stalk the play of the game. we intended to take a goal shot and we needed to read the game and get ready to take the shot when the goal was supposed to be made. looking at the viewfinder the whole time to follow the flow of the game didn’t work. we needed to remove the camera from our eye to watch the game. and as soon as a developing goal was about to be made, that’s when you put the camera up to your eye.

these were lucky photo shots as we were able to read the play correctly and a goal was made. but, those one to two seconds delay didn’t allow us to achieve our goal.

oh well, that is what happens to amateur sports photographers with amateur cameras and lenses. (insert laughter here)

boston on the cold and snow, deep snow

just how bad was the snow storm that hit boston and other parts of the northeast in the US? these pictures show it, one day after the storm left and it became safe to go out.

valentine ads that will turn you red in the face, for better or worst

here are three ads that has the power to turn you red in the face, for better or worst.

 

beer on valentine’s? that is not the usual alcohol usually considered during velantines. something italian or some bubbly perhaps but not beer. this heineken ad gives beer a new respectability and yes a romantic twist to what happens when you see the bubbles coming out of the chilled heineken. romance with a beer, that works very well.

 

this ad got replies from a lot of people in my timeline in twitter, all of them ladies.

a girlfriend who wanted to be an ex bought ad space in a place where her boyfriend goes to buy his lunch at work. in that ad space, she told her boyfriend she was breaking up with him, complete with the boyfriend’s name and some important information like where his stuff are. for sure the boyfriend would read the message, plus a few more hundreds who go to the same place, the ad space was rented for a month.

and the replies from the ladies in my twitter timeline was unkind and in disagreement with laura. your take?

 

 

this ikea promo ad is for what i think is just a brilliant promo for ikea.

it’s an ads that reads the habits of its target market very well. call it consumer insight that hits home and sits very well on reality among the target market. aside from roses, chocolates and dinner, what else do you do on valentine’s day to celebrate the day of love?

this promises to give a free crib for babies born exactly nine (9) months from valentine day 2013.

for sure this ad will give smiles to couples who read the ad and will generate such an abundance of brand loyalty and goodwill among those who goes to ikea to claim their crib.

my only want on this ad is this – it should have been a full page ad in the leading newspaper with better graphic design and copy. that is really a minor point. on its bare bones design and copy writing, it is still a brilliant ad and promotion. 10 stars plus one!

 

the goat and the kiss at super bowl 2013

there are two of the many interesting TV ads shown in this year’s Super Bowl 2013.

the Doritos ad does not take itself seriously, pokes fun at itself and succeeds in making it a memorable ad. of course the question ism after seeing a goat devour doritos, will it make people want to buy it and devour it themselves?

one of the pillars of food advertising, which we assume doritos is still under this category, is “appetite appeal”.  not sure many will find a goat eating doritos as appetizing. unless you are a goat yourself, of course.

one more to why doritos does not take itself seriously – the male character in this had has facial hair that resembles what we expect in goats. as i watched the ad, i thought there will be some role reversal in the end or something will be made out of the facial hair. i was disappointed, it did not end there.

the other ad with super model bar rafaeli and the lucky geek can be taken seriously by internet types who deal with GoDaddy. this ad did not score well in trackings for its too sexy content, the super bowl is typically watched by the whole family which includes children, hence the poor score.

but if you are an adult and you are into computers and the internet, this ad is an excellent fodder for dreams, wet or dry. geez, who can beat french kissing with a super model?

and a last note on the acting and production – the kiss seemed very real. in interviews given by the geek in the ad on US TV, they shot the ad for a whole day. yes, geek friends, they were exchanging kisses for the whole day!

there you go…..

UPCAT 2013 results are now out – check here! Time to panic!

find the name range to which your family name belong to, then click it. it will bring you to the list of names within that range who were accepted to UP.

 

University of the Philippines UPCAT Results 2013 Online (For incoming freshmen of AY 2013-2014) MAIN SITE | MIRROR 1 | MIRROR 2

PAGE NAME RANGE 1 ABAC, CLARENCE RAFAEL OLEDAN – ABILA, KIARA RITA AFRICA 2 ABILAY, CARLOS MIGUEL TOLENTINO – ADAN, MARY FAITH YAMBALLA 3 ADANZA, DETLEF ALBANO – AGUILAR, ERIC KARL NICHOLAS MANGAOIL 4 AGUILAR, EVAN JOSHUA DAGSA – ALCANTARA, ARVIN JAMES MARINO 5 ALCANTARA, AVA ESPERANZA ALCID – ALIX, GIAN CARLO IDRIS 6 ALJIBE, PAOLO ENRICO OLAGUER – ALVAREZ, YYONA PAULINE RINGOR 7 ALVARO, SHEALTIEL PADRIGO – ANDRES, PHILLIPPE LUIS CASCOLAN 8 ANDRES, TRICIA DELOS SANTOS – ANTONIO, NOELLE YOSHIKO SAMSON 9 ANTONIO, PATRICK WILLIAM QUIAMBAO – ARBOLEDA, ELMA FE KATRINA PASIDERIO 10 ARBOLEDA, JULIUS JOSEPH TECSON – ARQUIZA, KYLE EISNER MANUEL 11 ARQUIZA, LORA MONINA POTENCIANO – AVELLANA, PATRICIA LIZ PASIMIO 12 AVENGOZA, JANA PATRICIA CAMBALIZA – BAES, CARINA JANELLE MERCADO 13 BAEZA, NIKKI JOY GRESOLA – BALIDA, LEX ALIKO PAREL 14 BALIGNASA, CATHERINE SALCEDO – BANING, ROSELA DUMAPIT 15 BANIQUED, CHRISTA MAE RAMOS – BARRION, ROI ZYRIL ARCAYA 16 BARRIOS, JOASH CONCLAUDE SONGCUAN – BAUTISTA, CARL ALJEREAU BUNAO 17 BAUTISTA, CARMELLENE ROSE AMADOR – BELARO, ROSEMHEL ANNE MAPA 18 BELASA, ELLEN GRACE LATIZA – BERNARDO, JOYCE CATANTAN 19 BERNARDO, LARA SOPHIA BAUTISTA – BOLANTE, GIANNE LAYNEDL RAMOS 20 BOLIGUEN, JOSHUA PENALBER – BRAZA, RONA MAY GEMANGA 21 BRAZAS, JODELYN MAGBANUA – BULFA, DIANNE ZENITH MASAGANDA 22 BULIGAN, BLESSIE JONE TUAZON – CABAYA, ALAIZZA CRISTINE PATRICIO 23 CABAZOR, ISABELLE DOMINIQUE SEVILLA – CAGAYAN, IAN SANTONIA 24 CAGMAT, AL JAN OBEMIO – CALUAG, ERWIN JAMES GARCIA 25 CALUCIN, PRINCE LUKE JANOLINO – CANLAS, JED DOMINIK CADIOGAN 26 CANLAS, JOHANNE VEATRICE RIVERA – CARENCIA, RAVEN MICO GRAJO 27 CARIAGA, NEIL RYAN UY – CASTILLO, ANDREA KATHLEEN DY-LIACCO 28 CASTILLO, ANNICKA LAUREN MANALO – CATIPON, FRANCESCA LAUREN CRUZ 29 CATLI, NICOLE BIANCA JACOB – CHAN, KEITH ANDRE TAN 30 CHAN, KENNETH DAVEBRUNE RED GERIANE – CHUA, JOHN PAUL PETER TAN 31 CHUA, JOSEPH VINCENT DEL ROSARIO – COBRE, MARICON ALFORQUE 32 COCADIZ, JUDY ANN MUNOZ – CORDOVA, JOSEPH BERNARD ESCALONA 33 CORDOVA, JOSIENNE CLAIRE MORIN – CRUZ, CALE BELYN BAINGAN 34 CRUZ, CARMELA RIELINE VERZOSA – CUENCA, DANICA LARRISE MARCELO 35 CUENCA, JOHN PATRICK DEMERO – DALIDIG, SHERIHANNE MACARAMBON 36 DALIMOCON, ROBIE MAE MELENDRES – DE ASIS, HIROMI JAMES CAMITAN 37 DE ASIS, RYAN JOHN ARGULLA – DE LA VICTORIA, REMBRANDT SIMENE 38 DE LAS ALAS, MARIA SHANAIA ARCE – DEJUCOS, NORIELLE ANTE 39 DEL CALLAR, MA KARISSA RAPHAELA SUNGA – DELA CRUZ, ROGELIO III CATUIRAN 40 DELA CRUZ, SASHEEN TUAYON – DEMOT, ARIELLE ALIZA ANTONIO 41 DENAGA, LLOYD MARTIN ENGOJO – DIMASAKA, JOSHUA TABOR 42 DIMASAPIT, MINETTE LLANES – DOLLOSO, GUSSIE YVONNE MEJIA 43 DOLOR, MONINA VICTORIA BAYOT – DULAY, CRYSTALENE LYNETTE JUAN 44 DULAY, EARL HARVEY JAN DOMINGO – EDER, CARL PATRICK FLORES 45 EDER, EPIBELLE MARCELLANA – ENRIQUEZ, ROSELLE ALEJANDRIA 46 ENTENA, MAY RAMOSO – ESPE, MARLYN JOYCE DATOON 47 ESPEDIDO, ROBYN EMIELLE SIBAYAN – ESTRERA, JOHANNIE LUCHAVEZ 48 ESTRIBILLO, JOAN OCFEMIA – FARAON, MA MIKA FERRERAS 49 FARENAS, GERTRUDE ANMARI EVANGELISTA – FERRER, KENNETH BARROMA 50 FERRER, KHRYSS LERIO – FRANCIA, BEATRICE GAY DELDOC 51 FRANCIA, MERRYL KRISTIE MURO – GADOT, SHAIRA JUNE GALVE 52 GAELA, VENUS MARIE ABCEDE – GAMBOA, LOIS DANIELLE LAZATIN 53 GAMBOA, MOLLY POLLIN PATRIMONIO – GARDOCE, NOEWEH MUSNI 54 GARDUCE, MICAELLA LOU-ANDREA MAGDAEL – GEPITULAN, CZARPANIE AMOGUIS 55 GEPULLANO, CRIS EDWARD BERCADEZ – GOMEZ, BENJIE MAE CRUZADA 56 GOMEZ, CALLINE DANICA DE GUZMAN – GOZAR, REBEKAH KEZIAH BELTRAN 57 GOZO, EMMANUELLE ANN FERRER – GUILLEN, LIEU GEE KEESHIA II CASANO 58 GUILLEN, MARY WELCEY IBALE – HALUAG, DERRICK DEE VIBAL 59 HAM, JIM MATTHEW OMANA – HO, JUNA CABRADILLA 60 HOGGANG, CATHERINE FAITH GONZALES – INCION, TERESA PACAMPARA 61 INCIONG, BIANCA EVANGELINE AMANDA DE LA CRUZ – JANDAYAN, MONIQUE GRACE VILLANUEVA 62 JANDUSAY, MARY RHOSE MAGCULANG – JOROMO, JAN MICHAEL LAURENCE EVANGELIO 63 JORQUIA, HANAH FLORES – KHO, JOYCE ANNE TIU 64 KHO, JUSTIN KEDRICK WYNN BALONAN – LADERA, MICHELLE PAJARILLAGA 65 LADERO, BRYCE PETROS – LAO, RENZ MIKAELLA CHAN 66 LAOC, CAMILLE PRINCESS ZOZOBRADO – LAYOS, EONNA LEY ALCALA 67 LAYSON, ANGELICA PANGANIBAN – LERIOS, KATRINA MAE LEGASPI 68 LERIOS, KRISTINE NOELLE SAN JUAN – LIM, YASMEEN INGRID LIM 69 LIM LO SUY, LORRAINE ANG GAEID – LOFRANCO, KRISTILLE MARIE PACALDO 70 LOFRANCO, LILY AMELIA JOY MARIANO – LOZANO, PRINCESS ANTONETTE GENOBATIN 71 LU, AMANDA KELSEY UYBOCO – MABALOS, MARCE IAN CUERPO 72 MABANTA, JOANNE MARIE MANANTAN – MADRID, BEA KORINA TAYSON 73 MADRID, IVANDER LATOMBO – MAGSINO, HARRAH GRACE LINGAO 74 MAGSINO, JOHN PAOLO MIGUEL GARCIA – MAMAUAG, ALEXANDRA BEATA TRINIDAD 75 MAMAWAL, DIANA ROSE DEMETILLO – MANGCO, RANIEL ABRAHAM ALBERTO 76 MANGENTE, JARRA DUPLA – MARANTAN, ALYSSA PEARL MATA 77 MARAPAO, GLYN ELINOR BUANSI – MARTICIO, MELISSA ROSIN 78 MARTIJA, ALFONSO-MIGUEL III SANTOS – MAYO, RONALIE NICOLE SAGUN 79 MAYOLA, GIA DAYLE ESPINA – MENDOZA, MARJORIE MASARAP 80 MENDOZA, MATTHEW IMAN TECSON – MILANTE, MICAH PAULA DELA FUENTE 81 MILITANTE, AILEEN MARIE DEQUITO – MOJICA, VIELLE MICHAELA JUAN 82 MOLDES, SYLVAN DAN MACABANTE – MORADA, JAN KARLO ISAAC 83 MORADO, JULIA MELISSA CARO – NACION, LADY FE JUMAPIT 84 NACIONGAYO, DEBORAH SUYO – NAVIDA, DANICA OSIANA 85 NAVIDAD, MIKAELA SASUMAN – NOLASCO, MIKHAELA JANE NAVA 86 NOLASCO, NINA PAOLA BORROMEO – OCCIDENTAL, KIMBERLY POLICARPIO 87 OCEAN, JETHRO LEE PASCUAL – ONA, JESSAMINE BEATRIZ PERMEJO 88 ONA, SAMUEL PANA – ORO, CLYDE PRINCESS KHIM VERGIO 89 OROCEO, JOHN PAUL LARRODER – PADASAS, JIM KYLE BERNALDO 90 PADAYAO, JOWETT MILLAN – PALERMO, RONALD GOLIAT 91 PALEVINO, CRISTIAN OGAYON – PANTO, GERALDINE ANN GUDIN 92 PANTORGO, MARIA LOUELLA RANCES – PASQUIL, JOHN IVAN INFERMO 93 PASQUIN, MARIA ANTONETTE DELA PENA – PENARANDA, SHAENA SULIT 94 PENARANDA, ZYRAPHYL LAGARDE – PIAO, CHARLITO JR GARDE 95 PICACHE, FRANCESCA MA ISABELLA PALOMO – PONCE DE LEON, RENCY JOSEPH MATUSA 96 PONGASE, VAN MELBERT DALIS – PUNZALAN, ALESSANDRA LAYDIA 97 PUNZALAN, ANTONIO RAFAEL CHIONGBIAN – QUISTO, RHOMIERENE BALBURIAS 98 QUITADIO, QUEENIE ANE CAMPOSANO – RAMOS, GERALD RIVERA 99 RAMOS, GERVEIVE ABALORIO – RECENTES, JOSEPH NIKKO FLORES 100 RECIO, AIRA MADELEINE MALABUYOC – REYES, ABIGAIL GARCIA 101 REYES, ABIGAIL TABONTABON – RICALDE, BRYAN CHRISTIAN CERACAS 102 RICALDE, JENIFER GALLARDO – ROCILLO, BERNADETTE BELLE RELCOPAN 103 RODA, CHRISTINE GLYDEL SOLON – ROSALES, KRISTOFFER IMPERIO 104 ROSALES, MA ERICA GEGUINTO – SABIO, JOSEPH ANGELO REFALDA 105 SABLAD, ROGER JR MACAPAGAT – SALES, SHIRLEY FAYE DE GUZMAN 106 SALES, SIMONE MARIE – SAN JUAN, ALBERT ANTHONY PEREZ 107 SAN JUAN, ALYSSANDRA KEN MARI MARQUEZ – SANTILLAN, JOHN JASON BERANGEL 108 SANTOS, AL RICA GATPOLINTAN – SARAPUDDIN, HULSEN TANGKIAN 109 SARAPUDDIN, ZARINA TAMBOBOY – SENANGOTE, RHEANE JOY ESPONILLA 110 SENATIN, ALYSSA NICOLE MANUEL – SICAT, ARVIN CARLO BAYANIN 111 SICAT, KEVIN ANTHONY PABIA – SOLAINA, IDA SISON 112 SOLANO, JUSTINE KAYE OLIMPO – STA ANA, ENRICO II VILLANUEVA 113 STA ANA, JHIONE KLEO MOLINA – SUROT, JINESSA MARY ARCOS 114 SURPIA, MIKAELA YU – TACORDA, ALFRED JOHN GUMABON 115 TACSAGON, KENT NOVIE TACAISAN – TAN, ANALYN GRACE BAGAPORO 116 TAN, ANDRE TIU – TANIEGRA, SHARALAINE PRANADA 117 TANLIMCO, ADRIANNE ARLENE CHENG – TEMPORAL, CARLOS ANGELO OFRENEO 118 TENEDERO, MA THERESA MONICA ILAGAN – TIONGSON, JENA THERESE RUELO 119 TIONGSON, JOSE ENRICO BUENAFLOR – TONO, JOE ANNE TINGZON 120 TONOLETE, PIA LORRAINE NARIDO – TUASON, NEIL ROBERT MERCADO 121 TUASTOMBAN, DENNY JANE SELIM – UMBINA, DANIEL FRANCISCO 122 UMBINA, JALAN JOY BELINGAN – VALENZUELA, MA ALEXANDRA NICOLA BASILIO 123 VALENZUELA, ROBERTO III CABRERA – VERANO, JOMEL AMPASO 124 VERAR, ALYSSA VENIZ UY – VILLAMOR, NICO JOSHUA ZALAVARRIA 125 VILLAMOR, ZENITH PSYCHE SUGANOB – VINLUAN, IAN PAOLO AQUINO 126 VINLUAN, RYAN OGALINO – YASTO, JASON MARTIN BARRETTO 127 YATA, LOU ADRYAN PADERNAL – ZAMUDIO, MARIELLE ALYANNA BOLINAS 128 ZAMUDIO, TRISHA ANNE RAMOS – ZUYCO, MARIBELLE KATRIN 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#gangsters’ twin celebration last january 27, 2013

#gangsters and guests

last january 27, 2013, the #gangsters held it’s first tweetup of 2013. it was a twin celebration plus special guests joined the event.

dr. clinton balud

the first celebration and this one is probably one of the grandest that the #gangsters will ever have is dr. clinton balud, a baguio-based doctor who joined us that evening. he came all the way from baguio to rejoin the #gangsters after what he calls a “successful second life”.

a day after a #gangster tweetup in december 2012 at Slice High Street, dr. clinton suffered a major heart attack when he returned to baguio. he needed to go through a major heart operation and with just a few weeks after the operation he is all well, fully recovered and even looking healthier than before.

the #gangsters were all over themselves in seeing dr. clinton at the tweetup in just a few weeks after his operation. he is known to be a health buff, always going to the gym regularly and ate healthy foods. those and his young age according to him ensured he will recover from the major heart surgery with flying colors. on top of those things, it did help that his heart attack in baguio happened right at the hospital where he worked. he received excellent medical services from the surgeons, doctors, nurses and other hospital staff who made sure he will go through it well and fit. dr. clinton also credits his friends, families and even strangers who prayed and wished him well.

dr. clinton’s experience reminds us all that living healthy, exercising regularly, eating the right food and having loving friends and family is THE most effective formula for success in health, even a major heart attack.

las vegas – based tony shappy

the other half in our twin celebration was meting Tony Shappy who is part of the #gangsters in twitter and is based in Las Vegas, USA. tony who was born and raised in angeles city, pampanga was home for a short vacation and he wanted to make sure he gets to see the faces behind the #gangster usernames in twitter.

what is a #gangsters tweetup without special guests? that is  rare. in this tweetup, we were joined by HOR rhbill champion representative kimi conjuangco   and her husband and ex-representative mark cojuangco; the popular tour guide and artist carlos celdran who in the past days is in the news and beth angsioco, one of the #gangsters and  a noted women’s rights advocate and newspaper columnist.

represntative kimi cojuangco

rep kimi told us inside stories about what happened at the HOR on the trek of the RH Bill to becoming RH Law.

she credits social media, twitter and the #gangsters in particular in playing an important role in getting the RH Bill passed. it was unmistakable based on her experience that the #gangsters through twitter was instrumental in getting the RH Bill from being close to dead and ignored  at the HOR to something alive, strong and getting all the attention it deserved.

in our view, the #gangsters’ tweets gave rep kimi’s lone voice strength and loudness that not only enabled her voice to be heard by other RH Bill advocates in twitter and other social media, but also by traditional media, the other members and leaders in the legislature and specially other key national leaders.  this collective loud voice caused the action by leaders to get it done in congress and eventually at the senate and the office of the president.

the #gangsters may have tweeted with text via keyboards, but they came out noisy and strong to be heard by all key players in and outside of social media and the internet. it may just be #gangster words in twitter, but they caused action in the real world.

“mr. damaso” carlos celdran

we have been to carlos celdran’s tour at the malate church some years ago, we were more than a dozen people, adults and kids belonging from 3 families and all of us ended the tour smiling, happy, entertained and better informed about the philippine history and the malate church and nearby places during the japanese war.

we would not be surprised to know that celdran’s middle name is “entertainment”. entertained he did to us during the tweetup. he told us his own experience when he was “arrested” for the protest action he did at the Manila Cathedral two years ago to which he has been charged with a crime. the tweetup was on a sunday and the decision on his case will be handed down next day, monday.

celdran gave us tiny details of what happened from the time he prepared for the protest action at his residence in malate to the court hearings. it was full of funny and interesting tidbits that made us wonder is this for real or a skit in a comedy show?

it was real alright as next day, celdran was found guilty by the court of the crime of  ”notoriously offending religious feelings”. (read here: ”Carlos Celdran’s guilty verdict “offending religious feelings”)

beth angsioco

beth angsioco gave us a short history of the long history of the rh bill. it was a long and winding struggle from the beginnings of the rh bill  where each and every step of progress seemed to take a march of a thousand steps. without saying it, we believe beth was telling us  it was a journey worth taking as she believed in it and believed that it will really make a difference in the lives not only of women but also of pinoy families and the poor.

it was a beautiful evening with the #gangsters. it was interesting that the members were all strangers to each other at the start but has evolved to a community founded on shared values and advocacy, including jokes and laughter.  until the next historic tweetup of the #gangsters….

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more pictures here, click : http://wp.me/PaTrm-1YC

playboy model goes commando, flashes serbian prime minister in fake interview

this is apparently a true story. a few things:

• did the group have press credentials that THE PRIME MINISTER accepted the interview and even went to the studio of the prankster?
• if you see an interviewer dressed like that, micro mini skirt with a very deep neckline, wouldn’t you suspect something is wrong?
• the prime minister’s staff did not go to the place ahead of time to check out the place?
• the prime minister’s staff did not check before hand who will be interviewing their boss? and if they did, they would have been given a name unknown to them, they did not suspect anything?
• for sure this embarrassing  event will result to the media and security staff of the prime minister will be fired from their jobs

this is a gross disrespect to the highest government position of serbia, the perpetrators should be prosecuted.

 

Serbia PM orders inquiry into “Basic Instinct” fake TV interview

(Reuters) – Serbia’s prime minister, who was flashed by a model without underwear masquerading as a television interviewer, has launched an investigation into how he became the target of the prank, an aide said on Thursday.

The video of Ivica Dacic being interviewed by a brunette former model from Croatian Playboy, who uncrosses her legs in a scene reminiscent of actress Sharon Stone in the film “Basic Instinct”, has been viewed 2.7 million times on YouTube.

“The whole case will be fully investigated,” Dacic’s national security adviser, Ivica Toncev, was quoted as telling the Serbian daily Blic.

source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/31/us-serbia-pm-prank-idUSBRE90U15520130131

 

 

 

#gangsters make it to national print media – Manila Standard Today

here is the quotation from a piece written by Beth Angsioco in Power Point at the Manila Standard Today, a nationally published broadsheet :

Even offline, tweeps have fun with each other. Yes, in person. I, for one, have met a lot of wonderful, (a few awful) people via Twitter.

At the height of RH debates, pro-RH tweeps belonging to very diverse backgrounds found each other passionately engaging the opposing group. Because of the bill, they banded online.

They eventually did a “tweet-up” (tweeps meeting personally) and named themselves “gangsters”. The bill is now a law but the gangsters still have tweet-ups almost monthly for the fun of it.

Weeks before the bill was passed, an anti-RH parody account came up with the bright idea of listing down pro-RH advocates and labeling them abortionists because of reasons as absurd as, someone is working for a pharmaceutical company, one is a daughter of an advocate, one is gay, one has a sexy picture, etc.

Carlos Celdran, yes, the one sued by a Catholic Monsignor over ‘Damaso’, was number 25 on the A-list. This prompted him to quip, “I work harder than to be 25!”

Another advocate was furious that he was not on the list. So he engaged the parody account and eventually made it. Success!

The gangsters and A-listers partied to celebrate the RH law. It was riot fun! Even Rep. Edcel Lagman who met tweeps for the first time enjoyed the party. He was surprised to know about this new “universe” inhabited by smart and articulate netizens.

source: http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/01/26/twitter-fun/

 

don’t panic (yet) – UP UPCAT 2013 results will be out very, very soon!

february 2, 2013

for UPCAT 2013 results, click here:

UPCAT 2013 results are now out – check here! Time to panic!

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the great Marvin Gaye redefines “Love” & “Sexy”

and this one is another redefinition of the same song by Kim Waters:

 

Ricky Lo interview of Anne Hathaway fail – Juan Tamad Goes To Hollywood

“transcript” from : http://technogra.ph/2013/01/18/ricky-lo-interview-with-anne-hathaway-makes-the-philippine-internet-cringe/. we have removed most of the editorials in this “transcript”, changes are mine.

0:10 – Exchange of pleasantries.
0:17 – Lo: “You lose the 25 pounds for Fantine? And how did you do it and how did you get it back?”
0:22 – Hathaway: “I’d rather not talk about weight loss please”.

0:38 – Lo glances at his phone.
0:50 – After being asked about her preparations for the movie, Hathaway talks about internalizing the “emotional toll” of “being a sex slave”, as part of what she did to “craft the character” of Fantine.
1:15 – Lo: “I have a friend from the Philippines, her name is Lea Salonga.”
1:24 – Lo hands his phone over to show Lea Salonga’s message for Anne Hathaway.
1:31 – After briefly glancing at the phone, Hathaway hands it back to Lo. “Oh I have to meet her too!” Lo: “…and she said she could hardly wait to see the movie.”
1:37 – Lo: “Yes, you really [I think he meant recently, but the syllables just slid through] said in a Vogue interview that you could never have compared with Lea and your mom was who played Fantine, Kate McCauley. Why’d you say that?”
1:48 – Before we get an answer, Lo interrupts with more praise: “But true, you were terrific in the movie”
1:51 – After another gracious “thank you”.  “I think if you think as an actor who sings, rather than a singer, I would be probably be more impressive. But Lea has one of the great voices of our time. Now I don’t think there’s vocally anything that she can’t do. And she’s made a career as a singer so I have complete deference to her. And of course, my mother has a very very beautiful voice as well.”
2:20 – Lo: “You were there in the Emmy’s and saw your mom playing Fantine. What were your memories about having seen your mom on stage?”
2:26 – Hathaway: “I was very moved. I cried. It was very meaningful for me.”
2:34 – Lo: “Did you get any pointers from your mom?”
2:35 – Hathaway : “No”.
2:38 – Lo: “And for somebody who perceived to have lived a life of luxury and privelege, how were you able to identify Fantine?”
2:50 – Lo: “Have you ever experienced to be hungry? To poor, and you know, just like the character.”
2:54 – Hathaway: “That’s a very personal question.”
2:55 – Lo : “What’s your favorite scene in the movie and the hardest to do?”
3:00 – “I think my favorite scene in the movie was when I got to come back as angel. That was with Hugh [Jackman]. Because I got to feel nice!”
3:11 – In the middle of her answer, Lo drops his phone. This prompts a kind “Oh, be careful” from Hathaway. Lo mutters “phone” while picking up his gadget.
3:13 – “The hardest scene was I dreamed a dream.” Lo: “Oh I dreamed a dream, yes yes yes yes…”
3:19 – Lo: “They’re saying that you’re a shoo-in for the Oscars next year. How do you feel about it? At this early?”
3:27 – Hathaway: “It is early, I feel like it’s early. I feel like it would be extraordinary if that were to happen but I’m not counting on anything.”
3:34 – “What about any other musical you like to do, maybe on stage or in a movie?”
3:37 – Hathaway:  “Many…many.”
3:40 – Lo: “Would you like to say any message for Lea, who’s looking forward to watching the movie and to meeting you in person?”
3:47 – Hathaway: “Well, we’ve already talked about Lea.”
3:50 – Lo: “And what about inviting fans from the Philippines to watch the movie, showing January?”
3:55 – Hathaway : “Well why don’t you invite them? I think they’d much rather hear it from you.”
3:58 – “Ah ok then!” from Lo. 4:00 – They exchange thank yous.

this interview of prominent showbiz writer ricky lo was ablaze on pinoy social media today with many describing how they felt as they watched the video as they were “cringing”. the youtube video was eventually taken down by Philippine Star, the newspaper where ricky law publishes his column. they probably took it down as it was getting a lot of negative feedback.

we agree with the many comments in pinoy social media that the interview was cringe worthy. we did not actually cringe while we watched the interview but we were throwing our head from side to side from the very first answer lo got from his first question to hathaway. the interview started to fail from the very first question and it went downhill from there. yes, there was hill after that first question.

in between the head shaking this is what we thought of the interview:

• ricky lo did the typical interview done by pinoy showbiz journalists in the philippines – very personal and familiar questions rather than about the subject’s artistry, craft and the movie. we see these often in showbiz chismis (rumors) chows and clips in news programs in the philippines – questions about the latest break-ups with the subject’s significant other, or about the latest quarrel with another showbiz personality and the latest pregnancy or non pregnancy of the subject. in the philippines, it looks like the latest blockbuster movie is determined by how big the latest scandal has affected its stars than acting, artistry or cinema.
• ricky lo forgot that he was in fact in Hollywood and not in quiapo manila interviewing the latest star who was given a movie role after winning some reality tv show. in hollywood, movie stars talk about their acting and their craft to promote a movie, not the latest abortion or non abortion of the star.
• we thought ricky lo definitely showed skill sets way below what is needed to interview a hollywood star. it was very much like juan tamad goes to hollywood. or maybe lo did not prepare enough for the interview, still juan tamad.
• hathaway’s answer to his first question should have actually told ricky lo that his intended line of questioning on hathaway will fail. unfortunately, lo did not see that and continued on his line of questioning.
• bringing up lea salonga into the interview puzzled us. what was the point of this one? lo saying lea is a “friend” we thought indicated he was dropping the name of the tony award winner. hathway obliged him but bringing up lea again was just too much.
• the interview was about hathaway and her role at les miserables, not about lea. a comparison of lea and hathaway will not bring the interview anywhere,  it does not even make sense  considering lea appeared in a broadway play while hathaway in a movie. the point of the broadway play was the music and the story while the point of the movie was the emotion and the story. it was a comparison doomed to fail. we all know comparing a movie to a book is a bad idea, comparing a movie to a play is equally bad. worst, comparing two performers. the media are just so different from each other. 
• more importantly, if lo wanted to make a comparison, it would have been best he did it on his own when he writes the article to be published in the newspaper, not during the interview with hathaway. bringing up lea was not only out of topic and unnecessary, it could be insulting to the subject. 
• lo’s last two questions are the perfect bookmarks to this “juan tamad goes to hollywood”  interview – to ask the star to greet someone and invite the audience to watch the movie is what is being normally done in pinoy showbiz interviews of stars done on philippine tv. lo asked hathaway to greet lea salonga and ask the philippine movie goers to watch her movie. to both questions, hathway gave shut down answers, even “taray” answers. we don’t blame hathaway for this, we blame it on lo all the way. that may be SOP in the philippines but very much unheard of in the US.
• based on this interview, we think ricky lo should just stick to writing showbiz articles and stop doing filmed interviews. lo is better read in newspaper columns than seen and heard in youtube and tv. to that point, philippine star was right in putting down the video at youtube, that will spare us from viewing it.
• another reason why ricky lo is better read than seen and heard – it was absolutely awkward and clumsy that lo actually dropped his cellphone during the interview and the star he was interviewing, hathaway noticed it. (hathaway: “be careful”.)

One Direction in Manila

giant billboards featuring the boy band One Direction are sprouting all over metro manila. just like in many other cities in the world, the One Direction fever is on the high.

this billboard is on EDSA at makati city, metro manila’s main highway where almost all commuters in the city pass on a daily basis. this is just 1 of 3 giant billboards on EDSA. the pictures show just exactly how big it is – 2 to 3 story high, it can’t be missed.

the first two pictures were taken on top of the Rockwell flyover on EDSA on a busy afternoon. the last one was on ground level EDSA to give a sense of the size of the billboard in relation to the taxi and bus on the road from the eyes of people in vehicles on EDSA.

mid afternoon, with the train (MTR) on the bottom half of the picture

this time close to sunset with the headlights of the motor cars turned on

on ground level EDSA to get a sense of the size of the billboard

Ateneo ACET 2013 results – now available online (click here) & at Blue Eagle Gym

click here  to access online results :

http://ls.ateneo.edu/acet_results.php

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a lot of people have also taken cellphone pictures of the results posted at the Blue Eagle Gym
and have posted them online, most of it on facebook.

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impressive growth for the philippine stock market in 2012 – broke record highs 39 times

 

 

AY 2013-2014 ACET ateneo de manila university’s results released online & at blue eagle gym

AY 2013-2014 ACET results

click here  to access online results :

http://ls.ateneo.edu/acet_results.php

a lot of people have also taken cellphone pictures of the results have posted them online, most of it on facebook.

tweet from the official ateneo de manila university account says AY 2013-2014 ACET results will be posted at the Blue Eagle Gym on January 12, 2013. this is typically out by 8:00 AM.