Charice Vows For A ‘Special’ Whitney Houston Tribute

International singing sensation Charice is set to wow the audience in her special tribute to the late music icon Whitney Houston.

Somewhat “owing” her stardom to the illustrious diva, Charice shared in a phone interview with “TV Patrol” aired on Feb. 16 that she hopes to make her tribute “special.”

“Gusto ‘ko pong maging special siya talaga. Maybe magiging emotional talaga. Ang hirap pa rin tanggapin kasi parang nawalan ka ng kamag-anak. I mean na-discover po kasi ako kasi siyempre dahil kinanta ‘ko ‘yung mga songs niya,” said Charice.

The report said that the tribute would happen around the same time as her concert tour, which is slated to kick off on March 2 in Dubai.

After Dubai, the concert tour for Charice’s second album “Infinity” will be followed by stops in Singapore, March 5; Jakarta, March 7; Philippines, March 9; Hong Kong, March 19; and Korea, March 21.

Unfortunately, her dream to perform a duet with Whitney is no longer possible. But Charice lightened up when she recalled their first meeting about year and a half ago at the backstage of Whitney’s Beverly Hilton Hotel show.

“Sobrang bait po niya, as in nanginginig ako that day dahil kilala niya ako. Sabi niya napanood niya ako sa DVD tapos nagjo-joke pa siya, sabi niya, ‘Kinanta mo ‘yung mga kanta ‘ko na effortless,’” she recalled.

Meanwhile, Charice who has gained famed for her powerful rendition of Whitney’s all-time hit “I Will Always Love You,” clarified the circulating video of her “tribute” to Whitney purportedly created on Feb.13, two days after Houston was found dead in a hotel in Los Angeles.

“Medyo mali nga ‘yung ibang information. ‘Yung iba sa kanila sinasabi na kagabi lang daw. Actually, ‘yung video nga na ‘yan ‘yung iba last year, ‘yung iba like 2009,” she said.

For instance, the footage of a sobbing Charice while performing “I Have Nothing” was actually from the last stop of the US tour of “David Foster and Friends.” Charice accounted her turning emotional while performing that song to the fact that she’d be missing the members and crew of the tour, with whom she has grown very fond.

As for the late legendary singer, a Friday CNN report said that Whitney’s “by invitation” funeral service on Saturday [US time] is expected to be made available for television and web streaming from the Newark, New Jersey New Hope Baptist Church where she grew up.

The CNN report also quoted a source as saying that actor Kevin Costner, who starred with Whitney in the movie “The Bodyguard,” will speak, and singers Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin—Houston’s godmother—will reportedly perform.

Although the family is not commenting on Houston’s burial location, the article said that her death certificate filed Wednesday [US time] in Los Angeles supposedly listed the Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, New Jersey as Whitney’s burial site.

Article courtesy of www.mb.com.ph

Coming Up: DOGGIE RUN 2012

GREAT NEWS to all you Pet Lovers! Pet Express is hosting a Doggie Run on March 24, 2012 at the SM Mall of Asia giving us pet lovers a great opportunity to run alongside our lovable pets.

Doggie Run
March 24, 2012 @ 5:30AM
1.5K / 3K / 5K
SM Mall of Asia

Registration Fee:
• P350
• P300* (no dog bandana/dog race bib)
*Limited to 2 non-dog race kits per regular race kit (non-dog race kits cannot be purchased on its own)

Download Registration Form Here:

Doggie Run 2011 - Registration Form (400)

Pet Express Doggie Run 2012 features:
• 1.5K/3K/5K Run
• Fun Run Fur-stival Game Booths
• Souvenir Photo Booth

Pet Express Doggie Run 2012 Race Kit (P350) includes:
• Event Dri-fit Running Shirt
• Event Dog Bandana
• Race Bib (for master)
• Race Bib (for dog)
• Paw-ket Dog Running Manual
• Pet Express Doggie Dollar
• Insurance Coverage
• Donation to SAWS (The Strike Animal Welfare Society)

For Registered Doggie Finishers:

• Finisher’s Doggie Loot Bag (first 500 dogs only)

Dog Runner Prizes:
• 1.5K- 1st, 2nd, 3rd Place (only toy/small dogs are eligible to win in this category)
• 3K- 1st, 2nd, 3rd Place (all breeds/sizes)
• 5K- 1st, 2nd, 3rd Place (all breeds/sizes)
1st Prize- Gold Digger Medal + Doggie Loot Bag
2nd Prize- Silver Sniffer Medal + Doggie Loot Bag
3rd Prize- Bronze Barker Medal + Doggie Loot Bag

Registration:
1. Register at any Pet Express branch. (SM Cubao 912-5924, SM Hypermarket Makati 843-7174, SM Mall of Asia 836-8955)
2. Fill out the registration.
3. Choose your shirt size.
4. Upon payment, Pet Express will be giving you an acknowledgement receipt for claiming of race kits.
5. Race kits will be available for claiming in Pet Express stores by March 19, 2011 onwards.

Guidelines:
1. All participating dogs must be properly vaccinated.
2. Bitches must not be in heat.
3. Please keep your dogs in a leash.
4. Please provide a muzzle for unfriendly dogs.
5. Please be considerate and pick up after your dog’s waste.
6. Never leave your dog unattended. Pet Express will not be liable for dogs that are lost
or missing during the event.
7. The organizers reserve the right to reject the participation of a dog that might cause disruption or disturbance in the event (i.e. dogs with aggressive behavior, bitches inheat, etc.)

Source: Pet Express

Jeremy makes the cover of Time magazine. What's next?

Apparently Jeremy Lin’s TIME magazine cover is causing a little bit of controversy since he’s only have five games and other notable basketball stars have never had this cover.

Yes, Jeremy Lin after starting a grand total of five games for the New York Knicks made the cover of Time.

Kobe Bryant has never been on the cover of Time. Same goes for Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning and just about every other active athlete in professional sports today. LeBron James made the cover as part of Time’s preview of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. The Olympics are one of the only times that Time puts a sports subject on the cover with Bode Miller, Michael Johnson (twice) and Carl Lewis making the cut.

Congratulations Jeremy. You have now made the cover of Time the same number of times as Michael Jordan. Linsanity reigns on.

Source: EbenGregory.com

Up to new gadgets?

The upcoming year will be an exciting year full of a new gadgets derived from modern technology. Many companies are ready to launch their new products which will make our life easier. Here are some of the coolest gadgets that will be released in 2012.

Apple iPad3:
In 2o12 most of the Business people will have Apple iPad3. It will have a screen resolution of 2048 by 1536 pixels that will be five to six times higher than that of the iPad 2.
It has the following Specifications

• A5 Processor quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 design
• High Definition Screen
• Retina Displays with a screen resolution of 960 x 640.
• LED flash support Camera
• Chips
• SD card slot

Apple iPhone 5:
The Iphone 5 will have half inch longer and wider while becoming thinner as well. The rumoured features of Apple iPhone 5 are,

• S/W & H/W upgrades
• iTune Cloud integration
• iOS 5
• Flash Camera (8MP device (3264×2448 pixel)
• Retina Display
• More Internal memory
• mobile Payment Services
• Two or three Internal Antennas
• Fire proof and Wireless Charging.

Canon 5D Mark 111 DSLR Cameras:
It will be interesting to see canon 5D with the features from the list below. The rumoured specifications of this camera,

• DIGIC 4 image processor
• 4:2:2 Video Range
• Full frame sensor with dust reduction system
• No RAW0
• Resolution of 5616×3744 pixels (21 Megapixels)
• OLED Screen
• Extended battery Life (1800mAh LP-E6 battery)

Sony Xperia Play:
Long awaited Sony Ericsson’s play station phone finally becomes reality. It provides you the gaming power you could want in a mobile phone.The rumoured specifications of this includes,

• Qualcomm Scorpion Processor
• Backlit LCD Screen
• 5.1 Megapixels Camera
• Social Network Integration
• Stereo Speakers
• 8GB of Storage
• 1500mAh battery

Blue ray Players:
In 2012 it is slowly replacing the old DVD Players into Blue ray Players. Since it has the larger memory space, Long battery life and good sounding system it will take over the DVD players.
The right features are,

• Video streaming
• BD-Live
• Wi-Fi
• 3D capability
• DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance)
• A/V connections
• Disc capacity
• connections and memory-card slots

The launch of these new gadgets in today’s increasing technology, will began a new stage of highly upgraded products with constant functions.



Source: http//techzoomin.com

Education and Juan dela Cruz

Education, as they say, is the great equalizer. It is an avenue where the rich and the poor, big and small become equal. The words of the wise tells us that education is our key to success; the poor man’s passport to a prosperous life.

Education has always played a significant part in the Filipino culture. It has always been inculcated in every Juan de la Cruz that education is an important tool to success. It is always believed that the higher the educational attainment, the more likely that the person would become successful. As a result, parents are willing to sacrifice everything to send a child to the best school they could afford to pay and students strive hard to attain a degree.

In recent years, the soaring cost of education has caused a lot of students to drop-out of school and work instead. As a result, what was once a right enjoyed by every Filipino has now become a privilege, wherein only those who can afford to support a college education or were lucky enough to get a scholarship could get a degree.

The government may not consider it a crisis but the sky-rocketing prices of goods and basic commodities means calamity to the poor Juan de la Cruz who depends everything on his meager income. Like a domino effect, these increases affects all sectors in the society–including the educational sector. With every increase, Juan de la Cruz allots less and less amount for education as he has to prioritize his family’s basic needs more than the schooling of his children.

As this predicament slowly eats the sanity of every Filipino, more and more students opt to stop schooling and choose to work instead. Instead of working to get a degree, these students are now working, oftentimes, in call centers or any other companies who would accept undergraduates in their company.

We cannot blame these students for opting to work because some of them were not given the option to choose otherwise; they have to help support their families especially that their household income is no longer enough to support the entire family. This is a trend that will persist as the economy continues to decline.

No matter how many times the government insists that the economy of the country is growing, it will be hard for ordinary Filipinos to believe it because they are experiencing the exact opposite of this so-called development. Juan de la Cruz is suffering and this is evident in various aspects of his life.

What is more painful is the fact that despite the increase in prices of almost everything—from rice, to fuel, to fare—wages remain the same. “Tightening the belt,” is what every Filipinos reaction to the surge of increases that suddenly made its way into their budgets. This tightening would mean cutting off any important-but-not-urgent expenses in the family budget. Oftentimes, the family would choose to sacrifice the schooling of the children, especially those in college, to minimize expenses.

Although some would argue that getting a degree is not really the basis for success, it would still be practical to have a degree. In a world where competition is fierce, your degree serves as your weapon. Yes, having the skill and the experience is a plus but having a degree is a bonus that could secure your way to the top.

The education sector is just one among the many victims of the declining economy. As prices continue to soar, the value given to education continues to diminish. Ordinary citizens, such as us, do not really have control over the economy and the policies that governs it. We can only voice our opinion, complain and hope that the people in power would hear our tiny voices and do something about it.

But is this enough? Probably not; activists has been protesting in the streets for so long now and things are still the same. What the country needs right now is cooperation between the government and the people. The Filipino people have already proved to the world that they can overcome even the hardest hurdles when they are united. This is what the country desperately needs right now, unity against poverty.

No matter how big the problem is, the Philippines and Juan de la Cruz will survive if everybody will cooperate and act as one in the fight against poverty and the root of all these problems—corruption. As citizens of this country, we have to do something now because if the economy of our country continues to decline, education—which has become a privilege to the rich—will no longer be an option to the poor.

Yes, love is in the air!

If only people will find the time to love everyday of their lives and not just on February 14, then this world will be a better place to live in.

It is enough that we love the people around us everyday of our lives. Yes, actions speaks louder than words but we don’t need to wait for Feb 14 to show the people around us they are special. Let us make them feel special everyday not with expensive gifts but genuine love and care.

You don’t need to spend to show the person you love how you feel. They say, it’s the thought that counts. And yes, I happen to agree with that. A simple hug, a simple smile, a simple action of love is enough.

To all of you who celebrates this day, Happy Valentine’s Day!

True Love

A lot of people spend their time searching for true love and while some claim that they have already found it, there are also those who leave this world without finding it. A lot of people waste their life in misery thinking that they could never really find true love.

But, nobody realized that the only true love in this world exists at home. If you can’t find true love at home, you’ll never find it anywhere else because there can be no greater love in this world than that of a parent to his child. Not even the world’s most dashing prince or the most beautiful princess could give you as much love as your parents could give.

Only our parents can truly love us unconditionally. Only our parents could give us love that is beyond measure; a love that would defy even death if permitted. Who else in this world would bear to be hungry so you could eat? Who else would bear sleepless nights so you could sleep comfortably? Who else would rather be empty so you can be full?

No other person in this world could tolerate your existence with all its negative and positive sides as much as your parents could. Nobody, nobody at all could accept you as unconditionally as your parents and nobody could ever sacrifice as much as your parents just to keep you safe and make you happy.

You can be bratty, stubborn, bullheaded and as wicked as the devil himself but your parents will always be there to stand behind and wait until you get to your senses and realize how stupid you have been. And when you finally do, they are the first people who would take you in and care for you again as if you never did anything.

They may grumble from to time, but when you need them the most they will always be there. They get angry at you, they may sometimes say things they don’t mean but in the end, their love for you will always win.

In the point of view of somebody who grew up with all the love I could get from my parents, I say that there is no need for me to search heaven and earth for that one true love. I have found it. And I am so glad to do so.

Just like falling inlove..

They say when you're in love,

you can hardly eat.

you can hardly sleep.

you can hardly think of anything else.

you spend for it.

you suffer for it.

you try to be patient.

you do your best to understand.

and that is exactly the same thing I feel with my wisdom tooth.

So therefore...

Falling in love is like a growing wisdom tooth.

painful. uncomfortable. depressing.

but all will be well in the end.

hopefully.

HAPPYNESS

Happiness is.

bouquet of flowers.

a sunset.

a heartwarming laugh.

a comfortable chair.

a baby’s smile.

a kiss under the mistletoe.

an unexpected birthday party.

a big hug.

a kiss on the cheeks.

a warm hand.

a perfect score during exam.

a tap on the shoulder.

an answered prayer.

a delicious dessert.

a nice view.

a cool splash on summer.

having the best getaway.

a touching story.

a helping hand.

the word thank you.

seeing a rainbow.

a good girl talk.

nice walk with friends.

rolling over the grass.

a nice cup of coffee.

dancing in the rain.

a loud applause.

hearing a good joke.

playing with a cute dog.

a good sleep.

pieces of pictures.

a graduation day.

In this fast paced world, where there is less time noticing the simple things that would make us smile, it is essential to sit and find time to appreciate even the smallest events that comes our way.  we would often work hard to satisfy our needs and luxury that we tend to forget that the things that would really make us happy are those we need not work for. let us not always be attached to what the world could give us, rather, to what life has to offer in the simplest of things. 

Go out and have fun! take pictures and paste in on your scrap book. take time to listen to the soft purr of your kitty and the wonderful sound that your little bird makes. make mistakes and learn from them. take time to search for your true self. it is not always required for us to walk on straight path.. maybe that is why detours and left turns are made. let us not force ourselves to be perfect, rather let’s strive to be the best of what we are and what we can be. Gather all the patience that you can get. learn the value of waiting for good things come to those who do. be not materialistic for material things fade and get old but true happiness makes us young forever.

What a LEADER should be

It is often said that there are so many ways to exercise leadership and there are so many kinds of leaders. Every leader has their own way of managing their teams. Some are strict while some are not.

The article, Characteristics of an effective team leader says that true leaders, empower their teams by their behaviors. The article enumerated that a true leader acts as an advocate with the upper management, facilitate honest and open communication, model behaviors that they want from the team, acts instead of react, facilitate decision making and discussions with teams, recognize the stregths of each member and use it for the advantage of the team, see the big picture and communicate each member’s role in the context, encouraged independent thinking and trust his members to decide for themselves, and gathers members with complementary skills and darw from the strength of each member.

Allow me to focus on some points.

Facilitate honest and open communication among members. In a group, it is important that a leader is neutral to its members. Leaders should not take sides when members are in conflict. Instead, a leader should take the initiative to reconcile members and sooth conflicts. As a leader, you may encourage members to discuss matters in a professional manner, take things easily and talk about the conflict instead of taking sides and complicating the situation.

Model behaviors that they want from the team. “Follow the leader” is a very common line and should be taken seriously. I, for one, believes that the attitude of your subordinates is a reflection of the kind of leader that you are. If you are a responsible leader, you will encourage your members to be more responsible. You cannot expect your members to be responsible if you yourself cannot do your responsibilities.

Recognize the stregths of each member and use it for the advantage of the team. I remembered a line in the book, The Little Prince where it says that, one should demand from one the duties which one can perform. It is important that each member do the things that they are capable of doing for a better result. You cannot expect one to do programming if his strength is in advertising.

Encouraged independent thinking and trust his members to decide for themselves. This will allow members to be more independent and self-confident. Someday, these members will become leaders themselves and they will be making important decisions. It is therefore the role of the present leader to train the members and prepare them for the future. You will not always be with the company or the group and someday somebody will have to take your place. The success of a company or a team is only assured if everybody is prepared to take the helm when the situation calls for it.

Leadership is a hard position. It is not just a job but a vocation. You don’t cease to be a leader during day-offs or weekends. Once a leader, always a leader. So better start acting like one.

DO YOU HONESTLY BELIEVE?

That this country is hopeless? That it has no future and all of us are doomed?

Think about Europe in the days of Hitler. Think about how those Jews were treated in those times. Think about how hopeless their situation was. Relate it today. Think of how much more we can do today. Think of how much change we can accomplish. Think of how much power we have today.


We have hope. The moment all of us believes that this country is hopeless, everything becomes impossible. Being pessimistic is not the way to change this country. There is already a dark cloud in the horizon, discouraging the people around you will not make things any better.

Change should start within us. Before we demand change from our leaders, let us learn to change ourselves first.


What makes this country hopeless is not the fact that it is plagued by leaders who doesn't know how to lead. It is not even the fact that it is weakened by corruption, crime and what-nots. What makes the Philippines hopeless is the fact that we can never bring ourselves to cooperate with each other and do more for this country. We are hopeless because we think and act like one. We are hopeless because we never learn from the past. We are hopeless because we can never be the change we want. We are hopeless because we are cowards who can only demand for change but never step forward and become an agent of change. We are hopeless because we never see the light in the dark. We are hopeless because we never believed in hope.



So yes, we are hopeless; we are doomed. We have no future. We are hopeless because we choose to be.

Throwing Stones

People love throwing stones at each other. Being judgmental as we are, we love looking at the flaws of others, highlighting them and broadcasting them to the world in bold letters. Oftentimes we forget that the very same flaws exist in us and because we are too busy minding other people's business, we already forget to look within ourselves.

"Now, standing in a pile of shards where a glass house once stood, I can't remember who threw the first stone. Maybe it was me. Maybe not. It doesn't matter. The stone-throwing got so intense that I forgot why they were being thrown to begin with. Oh, yeah. I remember. I was pointing my finger at others and accusing them of things for which I was equally, if not more, guilty. For every stone I threw, a bigger one came back at me." (from: Goals of a Recovering Idiot)

Reading those lines from a web article I've read triggered some thoughts in my mind. Those lines were honest, bare and hits the heart.

Many times I have been guilty of the same thing. Throwing stones at others who also throw stones at me. At first we hurl pebbles to each other, smirking whenever the other speaks or laughing behind each others backs. Then we found bigger stones and started throwing them at each other, not necessarily minding who gets hit and what happens after that. The only thing we want is to get even, to hurt the others more than they hurt us, to prove who hits better. And then we found boulders of great sizes and we decided to hurl them at each other too. In the end, nobody won---we all end up wounded and tired.

Instead of taking direct actions and accepting our mistakes and respecting each others individuality we opted to act like a bunch of neanderthals and started throwing darts on each other. We could have save ourselves from pain if we only realized earlier that throwing stones at each other only makes life harder.

We are all idiots. At some point in our lives, we all become idiots. I guess I have to agree with whoever the author of that essay is when he said that the "things that annoy us about others are often characteristics we possess." True isn't it? I guess I understand why.

Oftentimes, we pretend that we are perfect, that we are free from flaws and that flaws only exist in others and not in us. So when somebody comes along who possess the characteristics we try so hard to ignore in ourselves, we start hating them. Why? Because its like facing a mirror and seeing a huge ugly scar on your face. Or I guess its more like facing a magnifier which emphasizes all the flaws you are so desperate to hide.

Instead of facing the fact that those scars exist and instead of focusing on healing the scars, we often opt to blame the scars, hate it and scratch it hoping that if we do it will go away. WRONG. The scar will of course stay and instead of making it better, you only made it look worst.

Throwing stones at each will not make a problem go away. Something that we should always remember.

GAY-ness is HAPPINESS..

The world may be more tolerant now to gays and lesbians, still a large chunk of our population remains discriminating towards them. It could be the religious upbringing or the society we grew up in but all the same, we cannot ignore the fact that whatever their gender preference maybe, Gays and Lesbians are humans that we should learn to respect.

Personally, I think Gay people are intelligent and fun individuals. In a way I envy them of their superb artistic abilities, their wit and their comic tendencies. It seemed so easy for them to have fun despite what the world thinks of them.

It is nice to know, therefore, that sites such as the DarQ exist. It gives people a deeper understanding of gays and lesbians and serves as a proof that these people are no different from us. They too have their own opinions; they think like us, breathe like us, laugh, cry and fall in love just like the rest of us. DarQ contains posts that ranges from entertaining to enlightening, various topics that could make you smile and think.

SOME THINGS ARE JUST SO FUNNY..

...like the way some people act when they get a position or elevated to a certain level of power.

...like the way things that were so normal for you appears weird to somebody and what is normal for them is weird for you.

...like how much you strive to be liked by somebody to the point of changing yourself without noticing that a million other people likes you the way you are.

... like how your former friends change in just a matter of a few months.

...like how you realized that never really were your friends.

...like movie reruns makes you laugh when the very same movie irritated you when it premiered before.

It's funny how you consider yourself made of gold and then allow others to treat you like trash.
It's funny to see those people who liked stepping on you before eating everything they ever said about you.
It's even funnier to see those people fighting to get your attention because you were better than they are now.

Life is full of funny moments. Funny in a strange sort of way.