Farewell FM

Baby Grasshoppers by Francis Magalona

"Mga Kababayan" was the first cassette tape I bought and it was also the last. I remember I had my Uncle buy it for me since I was only 7 years old then. I had to save half of my allowance just to buy myself a copy and be part of the cool craze. Yes, I was a big fan back then. Come to think of it, I never stop being a fan. I still love his music.

Did you know he's also into photography? And man, he's one good shooter. He bagged two trophies for the Camera Club of the Philippines 2008 Annual Awards and the photo above was one of the winning shots.

Just like everybody else, I was completely shocked hearing about his death. I didn't know he was under a very critical condition. Did some research and turned out the overall cure rate for patients with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) is likely lower about 20-45% survival rate.* According to news, he got the worst of its kind.

Reading his blog where he chronicled his battle with cancer was heart-rending. I admire his courage and determination. Despite all the pain he went through, he didn't lose hope and stayed positive all the way. He did fight a good battle.

Francis Magalona will surely be missed but he will always be remembered as his music and legacy lives on. I'm happy that he won't be in any more pain and suffering now that he's at home with his Master.

We offer our deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to the Magalona family. May you rest in peace FM.

http://francismagalona.multiply.com/
http://happybattle.multiply.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/francism/

*Source: Wikipedia

What's Up With BB G?

OMG. First, the he-woman shocked the world with these glamor shots.

And now this video. I'm seriously having a hard time understanding what's he's trying to say here.


WOW! What a big leap from this hunk. But I must say GOOD JOB BB! Change is good indeed.


*The photos were splashed all over Google. Credit to whoever posted them.

Twilight

Bella: So what you’re saying is, I’m your brand of heroin?

Edward: Yes, you are exactly my brand of heroin.

This book melted my heart. One of the best contemporary love stories I've read. It's so hard to put down I finished it in 2 days! The story revolves around Bella Swan, the heroine, a beautiful 17-year old brunette who is very much mature for her age, thus the strong character. She moves to Forks, Washington to live with her Father. She's quickly gained lots of attention from the local boys. None of them interests her except for this one guy who is so godly handsome but seems repulse by her, Edward Cullen. To make the story short, Bella's attraction remains despite his dark secrets and they fell in love with each other.

Sigh.

What could be more romantic than forbidden love? The book was being narrated by the heroine so when you read it, it's like you're actually Bella herself. You feel her emotions; her pain, her excitement and her love for Edward. Well, I can't blame her. Edward also made me weak in the knees. His love for Bella was so great you can't help but to envy the girl.

I'm dying to see the movie. A and I will check it on Thursday. I hope it captures all elements of the story. Thanks to my BFF Toni I am so hooked I can't wait to read the rest of the Twilight series!

Angels and Demons Official Trailer

Angels and Demons was the prequel to The Da Vince Code. If you're also a fan of Dan Brown's novels then you'll be as excited as I am for this film. The story was centered on Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), a Harvard symbologist who's trying to solve a murder that involves the Illuminati, terrorists, and the Vatican. This was a hard book to put down. A story full of action and mystery from the beginning to the end -- shockingly, wonderfully written! So I am very much interested to see how it'll translate into film. Hopefully, it will be as good as the trailer promises and better than The Da Vinci Code.

Angels and Demons will hit theaters on May 2009. I can't wait!

http://www.angelsanddemons.com/

Barney Live at SM Cinemas

Image from Ticketnet

This would be our first time to watch Barney LIVE and we're so excited for our dear Hamy. She loves the purple dinosaur to bits! I hope it won't scare her to see Barney so big in person. Well, she's not afraid of mascots so I have high hopes here.

Yes, this would be a tee-rific time to have fun with your kids so check your calendar and buy your tickets at any Ticketnet outlets or call 911-5555. Here are the details of the 40-minute show:

Ticket Prices:
VIP - P1,150 (Hitch: The chance to take pictures with the cast)
Deluxe - P930
Premiere - P590

Showtime: 12:00 nn/3:00 pm/6:00 pm

SM North EDSA Cinema 8
November 22 & 23 (Saturday & Sunday)

SM MOA Centerstage Cinema
November 29 & 30 (Saturday & Sunday)

SM Sta. Rosa Cinema 3
December 6 (Saturday)

SM Dasmariñas Cinema 2
December 13 (Saturday)

SM Megamall Cinema 4
December 14 (Sunday)

There's only limited seats so hurry up and book your tickets as early as now. Toodle-oo!

yet another proud moment for charice

Celine Dion's Taking Chances Tour
Madison Square Garden, NYC, New York
Sept 15, 2008

Grabe! I had goosebumps all over while watching this on the news and the full video almost brought me into tears. Amazing voice. Surprisingly, if you Google just the name "Charice" it will come back with Charice Pempengco results. Wow. That's how big her name now. Maybe David Foster was right that she'll be known by her first name just like Cher, Madonna and Celine.

Go Charice! Shine your way to stardom.

Watch Charice on Oprah: Part 1,Part 2,Part 3,Part 4,Part 5

the mummy 3: tomb of uh-oh

It was disappointing to learn that Rachel Weisz pulled out from The Mummy 3. Some say she dumps it for Sin City 2 while others claim it's all because of bad script. Nevertheless, we went to watch it.

As expected, it didn't WOW any of us. First off all, it's weird to see Evy in Maria Bello's face. Second of all, I didn't buy the Father and Son crap. Anuba! Brendan Fraser doesn't look like a Father to a 27 year old son at all. Make-up didn't help to make him older, hello? Parang there's no effort to really cover his younger features. It was a bit freaky watching their Father and Son moment. Naman! They looked like drinking buddies for crying out loud. Ay nako. It's a dismay. There's too much computer graphics going on. Jet Li's role was a mess. Michelle Yeoh was a bit ho-hum. The Yetis made me double check to see if I'm on the right theater. Hay. Some parts were funny. I actually loved the fighting scene between Emperor Han(Li) and Zi Juan (Yeoh) and Rick's (Fraser) wisecracks still made me laugh but sad to say it was as poor as the second movie. Hell! It wasn't even a Mummy movie.

It's a pain to see how bad the third installment went. Buti na lang I had Moroccan Mint Tea (twice!) to compensate the torture.

when eve meets adam

Haha! Panalo.

mamma mia!

20 year old Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is preparing to marry her boyfriend Sky(Dominic Cooper) at her mother's hotel on an island in Greece. She seemingly has it all; a carefree life, loving boyfriend and happy friends but one thing has been missing all her life; a father.

Her only wish now is to be given away by her dad at her wedding. By reading her mother's diary she discovers that she has three possible fathers. Sophie then secretly invites all three men in a desperate bid to discover which of them is her father before the wedding bells start to chime!

But not all goes to plan, old loves are re-kindled, new loves are formed and Sophie risks everything to discover the true identity of her father.

- Image and synopsis from IMDB

Seen this movie with Mj dear last Friday. I didn't know it's musical kasi we didn't plan to watch it naman talaga. So when the movie started and Sophie (Seyfried) began to sing "Honey, Honey" by ABBA with her two bestfriends as chuwariwaps, naloka ako nasabi ko na lng "Ay, ba't kumanta". Hehe.

I loved the movie kahit na at first I found it cheesy. It was so fun! The songs and the casts were great but sadly the story line came up short. It has a very interesting plot but they didn't execute the idea very well. The movie didn't even reveal who the real Father was. If not with all the singing and dancing of ABBA music, it will be a very boring movie. Pero OMG. It made me realized how I love ABBA! When I was still little, Daddy had this ABBA collections that he keep on playing over and over and over until halos makabisado na namin every song lyrics. So tell me, how can I not love ABBA?

One of the things that made the movie awesome was having Meryl Streep to play the lead role, Donna. She's amazing! I didn't know she could sing and dance. She has the grace of a jazz dancer despite her age. Amanda Seyfried has a sweet angelic voice and a very nice face. Oh how I loved her wedding dress! Sam, Donna's first love and one of the three possible Fathers was played by Pierce Brosnan. He's good but he look strained and uncertained when singing. The rest of the characters were great. Donna's two crazy bestfriends were really funny.

Hay. I want to go to Greece and have a small hotel on a beautiful remote island. Haha! Wish. I score this movie 3.5 stars with 5 as the highest. Fun and nostalgic.

eraserheads for one-night only

My taste in music evolves over time but my ears sometimes crave the familiar homegrown beat of Eheads. Each time I hear their music, I feel nostalgic. Memories of my great high school years flood my mind -- those times when lahat ng kababawan masaya. Sobrang hinayang ako when they disbanded in 2002. So when I heard about the Eheads concert reunion I got excited but I was also full of doubts na baka naman isang malaking joke lang to. Rumor has it that Marlboro paid each former band members a whooping P10M to pull together a 45-minute set on August 30 at CCP Open Grounds. I figured this reunion will happen but not in the near future and whoa P10M talaga each? Some said it's only around P2.5M daw. Then came this news that Ely Buendia was not open to the idea of a reunion yet. I decided to just wait and see.

And the wait is over. The Eheads reunion was finally confirmed by PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal). You may read the full details here. Yay! They will certainly make some Pinoys happy. So let's all be merry and register in The Red List for a free ticket but you must be 18 years old and above to get through. Anyhoo, mas marami nman talagang fans ang Eheads much older than that. Ano? Tara!

friday night telly madness

I seldom watch late night shows since I became a Mommy. After a long day with Hamy, I'd rather stay in our room and sleep early or surf the net. But with Sam Milby on "Maalala Mo Kaya" that's something I can't pass up, can I? I swear his acting is getting better and better. Not that I'm a fan or something. I just watched almost every movie he's acted in, added him on My Space, downloaded some of his songs and went with my friend to Victory Chapel in Galeria just to see him in flesh. Haha! Okay, maybe I'm a bit of a fan but for the record, those were the days when I still found him as a hunk with tremendous talent. But now that I'm a parent, I want him for a son. Geez. I am getting older. Anway, going back to MMK, it was a Father's Day episode and yes it was replayed. Sam gave justice to the character he portrayed -- a son who found his Father who he never seen since birth. He searched his Father as a promise to his Mother who died of cancer. His overwhelming feeling to be accepted and to be loved by his Father outweighs the truth that his Father abandoned him and his Mother. He also met a half Brother who struggles to forgive their Father for so many things and the conflicts went from there. Actually, lahat ng casts were good especially the Father role played by Miguel Vera. I am not iyakin but sad shows or movies really make me cry. It has a happy ending and thank goodness no one has died or got sick to earn forgiveness... you know, the typical pinoy story line. Hehe. Loved it!

After a dose of MMK, I went from crying to laughing with the Bubble Gang Show. They spoofed this Buscopan commercial and it was really funny! I had a good laugh at "Sumbong Sumbong kay Bonggang Bong Bong" portion and the Moymoy Palaboy's "Order Taker" nearly made me choke from laughing my cheek hurts. So, this is how my Friday night went -- at home happily glued to the TV.

Moymoy Palaboy's Order Taker