Step into the challenge

The more you do, the more you're able to do. Your abilities grow stronger as you use them, so your best strategy is to get busy and use them.

The feeling that you cannot do something is often powerful, and can feed upon itself. The way to get beyond it is with action.

Any project you contemplate may at first seem overwhelming. That's understandable, because you haven't even taken the first step.

Once you take that first step, though, the challenge begins to feel more manageable. As soon as you actually begin the effort, you also begin to get better at doing it.

When the mountain is in the distance, it's difficult to imagine how you could climb it. Once you're on the path up the mountain, though, you'll always be able to easily see the next step and take it.

Go ahead and begin the effort. Amaze yourself by discovering how very much you can do.

-- Ralph Marston

Pacquiao, Piolo and Dyan Lead Sunday’s ‘Run for the Pasig River’

Seven-division world boxing champion Rep. Manny Pacquiao, heartthrob Piolo Pascual, and sports broadcaster Dyan Castillejo along with other Kapamilya stars, will join up to 140,000 Filipinos in “10.10.10 A Run for the Pasig River” this Sunday (Oct 10).

Pacquiao, who is in the middle of his training for a November bout, will show his support for the river clean-up of ABS-CBN Foundations’ Kapit Bisig Para Sa Ilog Pasig by hosting the pre-race program at the starting line along Ayala Ave. with ABS-CBN senior sports correspondent Dyan Castillejo and actor Piolo Pascual. They will also run the 10k race.

Comedienne Pokwang of “Pilipinas Win na Win” and “Umagang Kay Ganda” anchor Winnie Cordero, on the other hand, will enliven runners at the 3k starting line at the SM Mall of Asia grounds. On the 5k starting point at the CCP Complex, ABS-CBN Foundation managing director Gina Lopez will host the program while Bro. Mike Velarde will do the invocation.

Internationally-acclaimed director Brillante Mendoza, who directed public service announcements for KBPIP, will run in the 5k category. Former President Fidel V. Ramos will fire the gun at the 3k starting point to signal the start of all the races.

After the three races, a post-race program will be held in SM MOA featuring ABS-CBN stars Rhap Salazar, Luis Manzano, Jovit Baldivino, Karylle, Melai Cantiveros and Jason Francisco, and Studio 23 hosts Juddah Paolo, Aaron Atayde, and Angel Aquino.

ABS-CBN Chairman Eugenio Lopez III will also participate in the fun run, which aims to promote awareness on the cause and raise funds for the cleaning of Estero San Miguel, a tributary of the Pasig River. In 2009, KBPIP successfully began dredging operations in another tributary, Estero de Paco, and relocated 1,200 informal settlers to Calauan, where they are given free shelter and livelihood through ABS-CBN Foundation’s BayaniJuan.

“10.10.10 A Run for the Pasig River” hopes to break the Guinness World Record for the most participants in a footrace set by San Francisco’s “Bay to Breakers” race in 1988. With the participation of Pacquiao, Pascual, and other celebrities, KBPIP hopes to inspire more Filipinos to take part in saving the Pasig River.
Catch the live telecast of the race and the program on Studio 23 from 5am to 8am on Sunday (Oct 10).

Willie Revillame looks forward to airing of new show Willing Willie

"Tuloy ang programa ng bawat Pilipino, ang Willing Willie. Tuloy na tuloy. Itutuloy namin."

These were the first words of TV host and comedian Willie Revillame at the end of the hearing for the temporary restraining order (TRO) and writ of preliminary injunction held at Branch 84 of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court this morning, October 8.

ABS-CBN filed the petition for the TRO on October 4 to stop Revillame, a former ABS-CBN talent, from hosting his new TV5 show Willing Willie, which will premiere on October 23. In its 38-page petition, the Kapamilya network argued that Revillame is still under contract with ABS-CBN until September 2011, therefore, he can't appear in any other network.

ABS-CBN, however, was not able to deter Willing Willie's premiere airing, because the Court deferred its decision in today's hearing.

Revillame was calm and composed when he exited the courtroom after the hearing, which lasted for almost three hours. He granted an interview with the press, who were waiting for his statement.

The TV host refused, however, to answer questions about the hearing. "I think my lawyers na lang. Legal kasi 'to e. Sila ang puwedeng sumagot sa pinag-usapan," he said.

Revillame's lawyer, Atty. Paul Javalera Bongco, answered the questions about the hearing. Atty. Bongco said Willing Willie can air because Judge Luisito Cortez of the QC Court's Branch 84 will release its decision on the TRO only after the end of October.

He explained what happened in today's hearing. "Pinakinggan muna ng court yung panig ng ABS-CBN, saka panig ni Willie. Wala pa. Kasi kailangan pang meron pang mga reply, may mga pleadings pang ipa-file," he said.

The pleadings, he added, will be filed on October 15.

"Lahat ng pending incidents, yung TRO, application for TRO, yung motion ni Willie, yung position ng kuwan, lahat submitted na by October 15. So magru-rule na si Judge after that," he said.

ON WILLING WILLIE. Revillame answered questions about his new show Willing Willie. He told the press that today's "small victory" is not for him but "for the Filipino people."

"Yung mga taong nagmamahal sa akin at mga nangangailangan ng tulong. Sa kanila ang programa na 'to e kasi, nagbibigay na ng serbisyo sa kanila, nagbibigay ng saya, at saka importante yung pag-asa," he said.

To drive the point home, he talked about his fans who camped out at the Quezon City Hall of Justice since 7:30 a. m. to show their support.

He explained, "Kaya nga dapat ituloy yung programa para sa kanila, saka para sa ibang tao pang hindi nakarating, mga hindi nakapunta. Sigurado, mga maraming umaasa na matuloy ang programa. E, simple lang naman ang gusto natin... gusto ko lang magbigay ng tulong at saya sa ating mga kababayan...."

He also clarified that his 'utang na loob' lies with the Filipino people,  not with the ABS-CBN executives who gave him a break through Wowowee.

"Pinakamalaking utang na loob ko sa mga tao," he said. "Dahil sila naman ang nagbalik sa akin diyan. It's not Boss Gabby, it's not Ma'am Charo. It was them. Sila, tao pa rin ang magdedesisyon. Kahit na gustuhin ako ng management ng isang kumpanya, kung ayaw sa akin ng publiko, at hindi ka nagre-rate, tatanggalin ka rin. Lahat ng ito ay binabase sa publiko. Lahat ng mga 'yan...."

PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) contacted ABS-CBN and its legal counsel for their side on the current developments in this issue. The Kapamilya Network issued this statement through their Corporate Communications Department:

"ABS-CBN's application for TRO has been submitted for resolution of the Judge, who ordered both parties to file all pleadings by Oct 15, after which he shall decide on the application.

"ABS-CBN reiterates that the issue on Willie Revillame is all about honoring a contract. To the Kapamilya network, it is the ethical and right thing to do.  It is a noble act of a person who values honesty and integrity.

Lea Michele - GLEE

Lea Michele Sarfati (born August 29, 1986), known professionally as Lea Michele, is an American actress and singer. Michele began working professionally as a child actor on Broadway in productions such as Les Misérables. She appeared in several more musicals before being selected for the lead role in the musical Spring Awakening, earning a Drama Desk Award nomination for her performance. Her role as Rachel Berry in the Fox television series Glee has resulted in Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.

Career

At eight years old Lea Michele went with a friend to an open call for a musical. Michele decided on a whim she wanted to try out. She was offered the part and in two weeks from her very first audition she was starring on Broadway.  Michele debuted on Broadway in 1995 as a replacement in the role of Young Cosette in the original New York production of Les Misérables. This was followed by her performance of the role of Tateh's daughter, the Little Girl, in the 1998 original Broadway cast of Ragtime. In 2004, Michele played "Shprintze" and "Chava" in the Broadway revival of the musical Fiddler on the Roof.

She played the role of Wendla in Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's musical version of Spring Awakening, starring in early workshops to Off-Broadway and finally originating the role in the Broadway production at the age of 20. Around the same time that the show was set to go to Broadway, she was offered the role of Eponine in the Broadway revival of Les Misérables. She chose to remain with Spring Awakening, which debuted on Broadway in December 2006. Michele was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her performance in Spring Awakening in the category of Outstanding Actress in a Musical.

On May 18, 2008, Michele left Spring Awakening with co-star Jonathan Groff. She performed in a reading of Sheik and Sater's new musical, Nero, in July 2008 at Vassar College. On August 8 through 10, 2008, Michele portrayed Eponine in the Hollywood Bowl's Les Misérables concert.

Michele is on the original Broadway cast recordings of Ragtime and Spring Awakening, as well as the 2003 Broadway revival cast recording of Fiddler on the Roof.

Michele currently stars in the Fox television series Glee (2009–present), where she plays the star singer of a high school glee club, Rachel Berry. The pilot aired on May 19, 2009. She has won a Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding ensemble performance and the 2009 Satellite Award for best actress. She also received nominations for an Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Teen Choice Award for her performance in the role. Her cover of The All-American Rejects' "Gives You Hell" reached number 1 on the Irish charts and the top 40 on the US Billboard 200.

Michele was included in Time Magazine's 2010 list of the 100 Most Influential People In the World. FHM named her #7 on 2010 Sexiest Women List, which was the highest ranking for a new entry on the list that year. May 2010, AfterEllen.com named her #16 in Hot 100 of 2010, saying " Lea Michele is just a perfect storm of hotness" In May 2010, Michele was chosen for Victoria’s Secret Sexy List 2010 for having the "Sexiest Smile".

Noynoy as Clark Kent: Another look at the US trip

CALIFORNIA, United States—I’m all for separation of Church and State when it comes to the finer points of democracy. However, can you really ever separate the Church from the Filipino?

I wondered that recently as I waited for President Benigno Aquino III in Mission Dolores Church, the very church I attended as a boy growing up in San Francisco’s Mission District.

The Basilica, as the church is called, seemed much smaller than I remembered. As an 11-year-old, to me, the domed ceiling seemed huge. Now it seemed barely large enough to contain the egos of statewide community leaders, local elected officials, and the high spirits of a few hundred select Filipino Americans. They all wanted to do the most important thing you can do with the president of the Philippines: Pray.

Realistically, when you’re an overseas Filipino, besides sending back billions of dollars in remittances, what’s the next best thing that you can do for your bedraggled ancestral homeland and its new leader?

And when he comes into town, what do you really want to hear from him? Aquino can recite all the platitudes about rooting out corruption and cleaning up the Philippines to Filipino American benefactors. But in the end, nothing quite moves the credibility meter like seeing the leader genuflect at mass, stand for the gospel, and say amen. OK, it’s nothing as dramatic as seeing Imelda on her knees at St.Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, but you get the picture.

Seeing a president at mass at least assures us that if he really screws up, in the end, we do have the eternal recourse option.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not going Jerry Falwell and Moral Majority on anyone. But the Filipino culture is deeply religious. We put it aside when it comes to considering policies and what’s right for a society. But we can come right up to the line. In the end, faith has to count for something.

When you’re thousands of miles away, barking at the headlines might work. But prayer may be just as effective.

So, of all the events on the West Coast, the only must attend event for me was the afternoon mass that Sunday for Noynoy, P-noy, whatever you’d like to call him.

Frankly, by now the whole nicknaming thing is getting to be a tad annoying. It’s like his handlers are trying to create a new processed cheese made of part-Cory, part-Ninoy, and part the other guy. Too bad Aquino is a Trois and not a Deux, then we could settle it all by calling him Jun.

It would fit with how handlers like to position him. On this trip, the message to Filipinos here was “Look, manong, I’m just an Average Joe.” That is to say , not a dictator, a general, a movie star, or a loud tiny gal in a red dress. (Although the red dress would have made a splash in San Francisco).

Aquino’s the kind that eats at In-N-Out, and stays at the Sofitel, not the Waldorf. Not exactly sleeping on a banig in a Motel 6. But here’s a regular kind of guy, the kind who comes to America and gets lost in a crowd of Filipinos at mass.

There’s some good to be had with that approach. The problem is the Philippines’ troubles require the talent, strength, and vision of a super-human to fix. A regular guy could be overmatched. Just as a current documentary suggests that US public schools need Superman, the Philippines is no different.

The RP doesn’t need mild-mannered Clark Kent. So maybe we’re just waiting for Noynoy to find a telephone booth?

In the age of cell phones, it may take longer.

It’s just the first hundred days. Let us pray.

Nokia N8 Pre-Order Price: Php23,699

Nokia Philippines will have a media launch for the Nokia N8 on October 15 and has also opened pre-orders for their flagship smartphone, the Nokia N8.

The suggested retail price — Php23,699 (pretty good price point IMO).

Logitech Revue with Google TV now on Amazon

Google and several partners, including Logitech, announced Google TV in May. Logitech has finally made their set top box available for pre-order on Amazon at $299 — Logitech Revue Companion Box with Google TV and Keyboard Controller.

The kit contains the Logitech Revue Companion Box, Keyboard Controller (integrated keyboard, remote control & touchpad), IR Mini Blaster and HDMI Cable.

 

The Logitech Revue basically makes your TV some sort of a smart TV or internet TV by combining broadcast content and web content. You can install and run apps too.
More LED TVs (mostly from Sony) will be released soon with Google TV built into the TV itself but for the existing home entertainment systems, the Logitech Revue becomes the “brains” that extends Google TV experience. I think the whole experience will rely on how fast the internet connection is and at $299 I’m not too sure if it’s a good price point (but it’s something I look forward to trying out).