Replay: UAAP Cheerdance Competition

Channel 23 was replaying the 2007 UAAP Cheerdance Competition yesterday. I never got to watch it when it was live, and now I missed half of it. That's why I looked them up in YouTube:



In case you don't know, UP was champion, UST was 1st runner-up, and FEU was 2nd runner-up. UP's music was predominantly rock, and they employed hard moves in SYNCHRONIZATION. UST was lively to watch and looked more like a pep squad than UP, but their routines were slightly predictable. They were well synchronized and had a pretty cool domino-effect/falling down routine at the end, but they didn't have the hard-to-do moves of UP. FEU started out pretty lame, but brought down the house at the end.

NU had more of the standard routine, not too many hard moves that might have earned them extra points. Adamson had nice dance moves tucked in here and there ... also lacking in the more hard stuff that could have gotten them more points. Half of UE's routine reminded me of water ballet. Pretty rad but they lacked the "hyper" factor. They could do with more dancers, too.

Ateneo was disappointing. They were all over the place and did not look synchronized. They spent too much time setting up those pyramids, flips and tosses that you don't see much going on while they were at it. How do I say it? .... there wasn't fluidity when it comes to putting together their moves? It wasn't one smooth number, but a series of flips, pyramids and tosses? They were reportedly in 4th place if there is ever an award for fourth place. If that's true, then I guess those tosses earned them enough points.

DLSU had the pitiful mistake of having too much props and not having enough practice using them. They had a really upbeat start and was doing fine till they started pulling out those upside down, not in order letters, and banners that made a jigsaw puzzle on the floor rather than show their school logo. Scratch those props faux pas, and you can say their routine is livelier and more fun than Ateneo or UP. The cool endings still belong to UST and FEU.

Prince Caspian Trailer

I saw this trailer shown on cable TV days ago, but some may not be aware that it's already available.

Presenting the preview of the movie Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian


For any fan of the first movie, and especially for fans of both the movies and the books they're based on (like me), this is undoubtedly a much-awaited sequel (My mind was actually going "wheee!!" when I first saw this trailer).

Prince Caspian's theater release will be May 16, 2008.

You may want to check out the website: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/narnia/

Movie: Golden Compass

	Studio:	New Line Cinema
	Release:	December 7, 2007
	Genre:	Action/Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Adaptation
	MPAA Rating:	PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence

I loved the novel, which is why I had to see this movie. Like most adaptations, a lot of stuff from the novel was cut out. They are little things that probably wouldn't matter in the movie, but in the novel they emphasized the differences between our world and Lyra's world - like Texas being a country separate from the United States (the label "lone star state" makes more sense in their world), and the Church under the title of Magisterium had retained and spread its power over nations.

The pace of most of the movie is slow ... and might actually bore those who are looking for adventure. Although I don't think that the issue of "Dust", which is the root of the trouble Lyra finds herself in, was explained enough in this movie, I also think that the academic discussion of it will add more to the boredom factor. The movie is picture perfect though, and has a good cast.

Kidman played the enigmatic Mrs. Coultier perfectly, although she did not really look like the Coultier described in the novel. Dakota Blue Richards wasn't my idea of Lyra either, but she was feisty enough when the scenes needed her to be... and it is important that Lyra comes across as the girl who always gets into trouble for being too inquisitive. There's even less of Lord Asriel here than in the novel, which makes the character more mysterious.

When it comes to Lee Scoresby, my image of this cowboy was more of the "Marlboro" commercial type, or the rough cowboys Clint Eastwood played. That's because Scoresby was always on the go, and basically lives in his air balloon. I had not thought of Scoresby as the dapper, sheriff type of cowboy I saw in this movie.

On daemons... I don't know if those who didn't read the novel actually grasped that they are souls. It was wonderful how the CGs for daemons were created in this movie. Pan is as cute as I pictured him to be. The artists really studied animals ... it was lifelike when Pan was in the form of a cat and bristling with anger. It was also cool how they showed that Mrs. Coultier controls or hurts other humans by making her golden monkey make a move on their daemons first.

Since we are on the subject of CG animals I must say that Iorek rules! Loved the bear in the novel, love the bear in this movie. The combat scene just rocks! Your heart will truly go to, and cheer for, Iorek as he tries to defeat his bigger adversary. When Iorek's paw is hurt, he hops along and tries to retain balance ... and I find that piece of detail coming from the CG artists great! I don't know why they had to change the name of the bear king from Iofur to Ragnar ... I could only speculate that Iofur is too close to Iorek and therefore confusing.

I did say that most of the story went at a slow pace. It does pick up a bit and climaxes at the battle of Bolvangar ... with Serafina Pekkala's witch clan (I have to emphasize that it is Pekkala's clan that helped Lyra, since in the novel some withches were on the other side) and Gyptians overrunning the facility and saving the kids - including Lyra and her friend Roger. After that, the movie ends abruptly, with promise of more adventure coming from Lyra who intends to "makes things right" - whatever that means for the character (at this juncture in the timeline, she has not yet grasped how much worse the problem is).

This ending is albeit more positive than the novel's ending. In the novel, Lyra joins her father Lord Asriel, believing him to be on the good side since her mother (Mrs. Coultier) and the rest of the Magisterium is after him. Lyra would later feel betrayal when Lord Asriel "kidnaps" Roger when she is asleep, then kills the boy in order to get the big burst of energy he needs for his experiment. Watching the portal between worlds open after the death of Roger, Lyra realizes that her mother and father have similar goals though they may not be on the same side. The promise of more adventure in the novel comes from Lyra's decision to cross the portal on her own and try to find the source of Dust herself.

I don't know if this movie will make enough money to justify making the sequel. The movie has two problems to deal with: (1) a boycott from religious organizations who take offense at the portrayal of the Church in the novel, and make an issue of the author being an atheist; and (2) the novels may have a fanbase that will definitely see the movie, but that fanbase is not as big as that Narnia, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings.

The boycott for the Golden Compass is ridiculous in my opinion. The movie has actually toned down the reference to the Church in its portrayal of the Magisterium, and there is little in the movie that encourages atheism.

On the other hand, a boycott on a movie based on the second novel, The Subtle Knife, would be understandable. Pullman's Dark Materials novels are intended to be anti-Narnia. And like the Chronicles of Narnia, where it is not apparent that Aslan is Jesus until one reads the sequel, Pullman's atheism and the heretic elements that religious groups would find offensive are to be encountered by the reader in the second book. Witchcraft in Harry Potter is nothing to compared to what one will find in the Subtle Knife and the Amber Spyglass. The theories presented in the last two books are actually in league with what is "revealed" in Dan Brown's DaVinci Code when it comes to unsettling religious groups. And if we're talking of quality and not merely shock factor, then the Da Vinci "revelations" are crap compared to what Pullman presents in his novels. I must say that if you weather these without losing your faith, then you would end up with stronger faith.

The movie's website is http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/

It has a page where a series of 20 questions will reveal your daemon. I took the "quiz" twice:

Which do you think fits me better:

Alexius - who is solitary, fickle, flexible, passive and spontaneous?:


or Callum? ... who is solitary, modest, fickle, flexible and passive?

Movie: Enchanted

	Studio:	Walt Disney Pictures
	Release:	November 21, 2007
	Genre:	Action/Adventure, Comedy, Kids/Family, Musical/Performing Arts, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Animation
	MPAA Rating:	PG for some scary images and mild innuendo.

In my opinion, this movie is something to take note of because of the following reasons:

1. It deals with animated characters becoming "real" ... which is different from movies that pulled "real" humans into cartoonworld or cartoon characters retaining their cartoonishness in the real world.
2. Disney spoofs its own classic animated movies. Previously, you'd find the spoofs in movies made by other studios like rival Dreamworks (Shrek).
3. The movie explores how the Disney formula (the innocent good guys, the singing, the helpful creatures) would actually hold in a place like New York (not very well).

In other words, Disney has just let loose in New York a cast of characters that would have no problem securing slots in a mental institution.

Amy Adams, who I last saw in "Wedding Date" (she made more movies after that but I haven't watched any of them) stars in Disney's "Enchanted". Already in her 30s, there are some scenes where the lines near her eyes already show. Nevertheless, she is still youthful-looking and very pretty. In this movie she plays Giselle, a character that incorporates all the known princesses of classic Disney animated movies.

Playing Prince Edward, which again incorporates within his character all the known princes of classic Disney animation, is James Marsden - who I loved more when he played Lois' husband in Superman than when he was in X-men.

The two were pretty hilarious ... Giselle is all sweet, kind, innocent, and annoyingly chirpy while Prince Edward is a heroic, nice but vain and arrogant prince ... who is blessed with cluelessness regarding his stepmother's wicked strain.

Rounding off the top three characters that live in the fairytale land of Andalasia is Queen Narissa, played by Susan Sarandon. She pulls off the sexy villainess ... but I bet Michelle Pfeiffer would have played it more wickedly... starting with the eyes.

The New Yorker who has stopped believing in fairy tales and who plays good Samaritan to Giselle is Robert, played by Patrick Dempsey. It's funny, but at the same time questionable, how Robert tolerates the lost girl who might have escaped from a mental institution. Not everyone would still be helpful after discovering that the girl you saved from the mean streets:

• cuts your mats, tablecloths and curtains to make clothes
• insists she is a princess and must wait for her prince who is looking for her
• invites animals into your home - even the kind most people consider pests like rats and cockroaches
• endangers your relationship with your girlfriend by her mere presence in your apartment; and
• has the embarrassing habit of bursting into song

I had to chuckle when Robert says "I don't sing" ... because exposure to the other Disney hit "High School Musical 2" made me remember the scene where sports guy Chad says "I don't dance" to drama geek Ryan.

What really stuns me is that Amy Adams and James Marsden actually did their own singing in this movie. Carrie Underwood merely sings the pop-flavored song played at the end of the movie. Before watching the movie, I thought Carrie sung the songs sang by Amy Adams' character. By the way, the music isn't bad either... the songs were written by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz.

Adrian Pasdar's Videos on YouTube

It's only Friday now, and C/S replays Heroes on Saturdays at 7PM. More than 24 hours to go. I don't usually watch the Heroes replays on Saturdays, but I wasn't able to watch Heroes this Monday because I was in Hong Kong. Which is why I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

To fill the gap and my "withdrawal symptom", it's a good thing I discovered that Adrian Pasdar's hobby is filming his castmates behind the scenes and posting the clips on YouTube on his buckshotwon channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/buckshotwon

Loving the Heroes actors more now. They're quite hilarious off camera... especially David Anders and Greg Grunberg.

And yes, I love Adrian Pasdar for doing this.

One of Grunny's funniest:


-----edit: Dec. 1------

I don't believe it ... they actually replayed last week's episode. This means I didn't miss one episode at all. What sucks is that I waited ... only to watch what I've already seen before. Either my prayer wishing I won't miss an episode worked way too well, or C/S wants other Heroes fans in the Philippines to catch up on season 2.

Waiting for "The Echo"

Not really a fan of horror movies. But when a Filipino movie gets picked up to be remade in the US, and they decide to retain the Filipino director as well as the beautiful Iza Calzado, I take notice.

Been following up the progress of the movie through Yam Laranas' blog: http://yamlaranas.blogspot.com/

They're done with principal photography and editing. Now they're moving on to the soundtrack.

Will I watch this movie in theaters? Probably not. I'll probably do what I did with The Ring, Sixth Sense and similar movies - rent the DVD.

I'll still be damn interested with how much success and exposure Yam and Iza will get if this film turns out to be good and let's not forget - popular - with the American audience.

So far, our movies just gain recognition in film fests. Nice if you're collecting kudos, but let's face it - they're not earning dollars much, are they?

A New Video from Zelle

Opened my YouTube account after about a week of not visiting it. Saw from my subscription box that Zelle has a new video:



Once again, nice music - even if their song's subject matter tends to be "not my type". I think I wrote that to Ian when he started promoting this band (coincidentally, I decided to create an account on YouTube because Ian was promoting the "Sabihin" video via YouTube).

Happy for Zelle (and their managers) that "Sabihin" is getting a lot of airplay these days. Now if only they make a video where the topic is not about heartbreak or stuff close to it. Ha ha ha! I like their sound but I'm just not into their lyrics. Then again... Filipinos love those kind of songs. Oh well.

----edit------

Just realized someone posted a comment on a previous "Sabihin" entry I made. The poster preferred to be anonymous but had some good points ... so I e-mailed them to Ian just in case he thinks the band would appreciate the comment or not.

Lucas Grabeel in Oreska movie

The guys over at Lucas Grabeel's official site did some rehauling and one thing caught my eye: his latest listed feature film is called Oreskaband.

Googled "Oreskaband": there's a Japanese ska band with that name.

Hmmm... Lucas once hinted at wanting to go to Japan

Googled "Oreska Lucas" and got this actor's website instead:
http://www.brandondean.net/news.htm

Says there that Lucas plays a character called Donny Greene.

Googled "Oreska movie" and got these results:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/convention/2007/anime-expo/oreskaband-focus-panel
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200705020089.html

Apparently, the High School Musical producers saw the band (which hails from Osaka and has quite a following) and wanted to make another musical featuring them.

The asahi article offers the plot:

The film's musical story centers on an American student in Japan who hears the sextet performing at a live music venue in Sakai.

The music talks, and the girls soon become friends. After the American girl returns home, her Japanese band friends come to visit her and play a few gigs. They are soon a huge hit, and their musical careers are set.... Shooting starts this fall at locations around Sakai and Los Angeles. The film will open in Japan and the United States next year.

Got a link to their blog from the animenewsnetwork article: http://playlog.jp/ore_english/blog/

Figured out they are currently in Utah preparing for the film.

Casting hasn't been finished yet according to this site:
http://www.showfax.com/role_selection.cfm?l=1&t=3&p=91931

Their website: http://www.oreskaband.com/

I don't know if Terry's the manager or something like that, but this is his blog and it complements the girls' blog (he likes to post pictures): http://playlog.jp/o-s-k/blog/

The girls' blog and Terry's blog are also mirrored in the band's MySpace account :
http://www.myspace.com/oreskabandus

Heh... and I'm wondering why I keep getting the research and "make a manual" assignments in the office.

----------edit-----------

Variety has a new article on the film:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117975075.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

Sony does Japanese 'Musical'

'Lock and Roll' about girl-band's American invasion
By DAVE MCNARY

Sony's Japanese music arm is partnering with the producers of "High School Musical" for "Lock and Roll Forever," a feature centered on an all-girl Japanese band coming to America.

"Lock" is a co-venture between T&C Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Producers are Bill Borden and Barry Rosenbush, the team behind three iterations of "High School Musical;" Arata Matsushima is exec producing.

Script's penned by another member of the "High School Musical" team, Peter Barsocchini. TV helmer Chris Grismer, whose credits include "Queer as Folk" and "Playmakers," is directing.

Pic stars members of Oreska Band from a small Japanese industrial city. Lucas Grabeel ("High School Musical"), Ike Barinholtz, Taylor Negron, Brad Dourif and Naoko Nozawa also star.

Shooting began this week; locations include Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and Japan.

Music industry veteran Kaz Utsunomiya is the music producer.

---------edit #2-----------
From StarExtras:
http://starextras.com/news_view.php?ID=455

The thing about reading those bits casting agencies post when looking for extras is that you get to know more of the story (does this qualify as a spoiler?):

Feature Film: Oreska

The six-girl Japanese rock band, Oreska Band, comes to Los Angeles, intent on becoming stars, under the aegis of shifty "impresario" Donnie Greene.

Role: LOMAX - Funny, the comic relief, cool and hip, and keeps Donnie on the right track, and is Donnie's sole employee and apparently, his sole remaining friend. In charge of driving Donnie's tour bus, Lomax is at a professional dead end, along with Donnie. A cultural hero in Japan because of the popular toothpaste commercial he did a few years ago, Lomax reduces the Oreska-band girls to giggling squeals, and he/she soon comes to like them. He/she is person with a conscience, Lomax urges Donny not to break any of his many promises to the girls.
Female or Male - All Ethnicities - 25 to 30


Role: "Z" - All-knowing, hip, cool, eccentric, knows all the answers -- the "go to" person. Would love to cast a Rock n Roll Icon - anyone from Roger Daltrey to Ludacris to Deborah Harry, or could even be a Comic Icon - anyone from Cedric the Entertainer to George Lopez. This character will be related to Donnie.
Female or Male - All Ethnicities - 40 & Over


Role: MARTY POST - He's a shady looking music producer. Marty in fact is an extremely successful, extremely wealthy power broker who spots Oreska-band at a karaoke performance, and requests they play at a private party at his home.
Male - All Ethnicities - 45 to 60

Zac Efron in Lucas Grabeel's Music Video

Well, the full music video for Lucas Grabeel's You Got It was just posted, but it's not on Itunes. They uploaded it to Payloadz.com. This is the link: http://payloadz.com/go?id=360265
It's cheaper than Itunes by $0.49.

Here's an extra clip from Michael's YouTube account...Zac Efron making an appearance:


Reminds me of their Popstar "rap":


--------edit 02-Nov-2007----------

Had a peek at the You Got It video. I don't think that clip of Zac Efron's appearance actually made it to the final cut... maybe that's why Michael called it "Extra". He he ... like most dance tunes, it's about 4 minutes of one phrase being said over and over. It is nowhere near what I expected though(I thought it would be Fatboyslim funny, remember?).

The Kids of Widney High

Watched "The Ringer" on cable last night. Ended up being a fan of a band called Kids of Widney High.

They're actually a bunch of special education kids in LA who have released several CDs. If you read their website, it all started out as a music/songwriting class which happened to produce really good music that the school decided to hire a band and record the songs using the kids themselves for vocals.

I learned all that AFTER watching the movie. But I already liked their "Pretty Girls" while they were performing it in a movie scene. I wasn't sure then if they were "special kids", but it didn't matter. The song is delivered like reciting a poem in a singsong manner. The lyrics were simple but catchy. Frankly, it is fun music to listen to whether the vocalists are special or not. I'll bet there are some bands fronted by "normal" people who actually sing in this style. Below is the music video to Pretty Girls from YouTube:



If you get to listen to their other songs, you'll discover that they're the kind you make up while you hum to yourself, only these kids have a band for back-up. Lyrics to "New Car" definitely describes what a guy who has a new car will be thinking of his new toy. "My Cat (not your cat)" starts like something from a rhyme book or even Dr. Seuss. "Ride Away" has a pretty melody and heartfelt lyrics.

Links to Kids of Widney High:
Website: : http://www.kidsofwidneyhigh.com/
YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ProfKlickberg
MySpace account: www.MySpace.com/TheKidsOfWidneyHigh

Movies on Cable: The Ringer

	Studios:	Fox Searchlight Pictures
	Release:	December 23, 2005
	Genre:	Comedy
	MPAA Rating:	PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, drug references.

I must really like this movie enough to even write a review in Yahoo!:

Surprisingly delightful
by jingfrey Oct 28, 2007

Overall Grade:	B-
Story:	D+
Acting:	B
Direction:	B-
Visuals:	B-

Saw this on cable last night. This movie has a bad premise - a lame excuse to plant a character into a situation: a guy needs money and hopes to get it by joining and fixing the Special Olympics. I was glad I stuck around to finish the movie. In a surprising and refreshing twist, we see a side to the mentally disabled that's rarely shown on movies. It does not ask the viewer to feel sorry for them. The movie tells us that they are aware of how most people perceive them, that they can read into situations, and that they can even pull a sweet prank or two on "normal" guys. I ended up being a fan of the Kids of Widney High after this movie.

What's cool is that this movie shows us how in the world of Special Olympics, crushes, jealousies, and cliques exists. Shows us that certain human behaviour pops up anywhere, regardless of culture, environment or mental abilities.

Three of the actors here are actually current or former participants in the Special Olympics. John Taylor and Edward Barbanell both have Down's Syndrome and are part of Jeffy's gang. The third one is Leonard Flowers who plays Jimmy - the crowd favorite everyone is jealous of. Yup, Flowers was really cool playing the arrogant star athlete. Edward Barbanell playing the stage "divo" at the end was also cute. He has played in theatre productions prior to this movie debut, and it shows. He's really confident on stage and has no trouble with delivering lines.

Special Mention: This movie exposed me to, and made me a fan of the Kids of Widney High. These are special education students who have actually released CDs. Some songs are covers like "RESPECT" which played at the end of this movie, and some are originals, like the catchy "Pretty Girls". I actually waited for the credits to find out the name of the group. I'll be writing about them in a separate post later.

Lucas Grabeel's "You Got It"

Was checking on my YouTube account 2 days ago when I saw this under my subscriptons box:


I couldn't believe Lucas and his gang are actually releasing a video to "You Got It". When I first heard the audio only version of the song, I found it funny that all you could hear is "you got it". The song's really not great, but it tends to get stuck in your head till you catch yourself humming it.

I think the full music video will be entertaining if this teaser is any indication. According to his friend Michael, the idea was to put Lucas in situations where people would have to react...the idea reminds me of Fatboyslim's "Praise You" video.

The gang took the footage during their European trip. I actually think Lucas dyed his hair to be incognito in Europe and do the crazy things he's done in this clip. I also think they filmed this before Lucas appeared in the launching of HSM2 in France where everybody first saw his new hair color.

This teaser can be viewed for free in YouTube, where lots of fans have already posted kudos. Now, it's pretty obvious that I like Lucas, but I think the praises the fangirls have heaped on this teaser are overboard, making this teaser overrated. It's probably going to be "cool", but definitely not the "greatest video ever made". Fangirls...sheesh.

The final version of the music video will be available next week ... but you have to pay to view it because it's on Itunes. Which makes me wonder if I'll actually get to see it. I'm not keen on spending $2 to download any music video, and even if I become one of those inclined to pay for it, itunes is not available in the Philippines. Mike says he'll find other ways to make it accessible to people who can't access itunes. I think he means other pay per view sites.

For the clueles: This song has had an interesting journey. Lucas was strumming it on a guitar while on the HSM concert tour in Latin America. The dance version was heard in the High School Musical 2 movie as the radio song being played in Sharpay Evans' car while the twins were headed to their parents' resort. Due to apparent demand from fangirls, this song was offered for download from itunes. Now the music video will be on itunes as well.

An observation: I find it a bit appalling that the other song this kid wrote/improv'd also used repetitive words. If you listen to the song Lucas was singing in the video tribute to his fans (below), you'll hear "cool" a lot.


I hope he's written better songs. If they all sound like these two, he should just stick to acting, singing and dancing. He'll still be in my list of multi-talented people to watch out for though.

----------October 30, 2007 Update----------
Well, the full music video's up, but it's not on Itunes. They uploaded it to this link: http://payloadz.com/go?id=360265
It's cheaper than Itunes by $0.49.

Movie: Stardust

Studio:	Paramount Pictures
Release:	August 10, 2007
Genre:	Action/Adventure, Comedy, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Adaptation
MPAA Rating:	PG-13 for some fantasy violence and risque humor.

My Yahoo! Movies Rating:

Overall Grade:	B+
Story:	B
Acting	B
Direction:	B
Visuals:	A

The movie flows like a sing-song reading of a familiar fairy tale. I say familiar because there are many character-types and elements here that one finds in the old fairy stories, and yet the story being told is definitely different.

The world beyond the Wall is beautifully crafted. Like a dream, it is tangible enough to move in, yet it shifts seamlessly from one scene to another that one is reminded that this is not the "real" or "ordinary" world.

The story has humor, which is even irreverent at times, yet it does not take anything away from the illusion.

De Niro pulls off the cross-dressing pirate captain well. Although he makes us chuckle while dancing around in a dress, it is still believable that he can order around the crew of a pirate ship.

I think that Claire Danes is either miscast, or the choice of the make-up department wasn't good when it came to her character. Danes, whose character is a star fallen from heaven, looks more human than Cox, whose character is the mortal one. The actress who played her character's sister had the right look though.

Breaking Benjamin

Music Video: Breaking Benjamin - Breath



Been looking up the YouTube sites of music labels and after surfing through Sony/BMG and Atlantic records this weekend, I'm now moving through the videos in hollywoodrecords. The latest posts are mostly by Disney artists (current or ex): Aly and AJ, Corbin Bleu, Hillary Duff, Vanessa Hudgens and the group that first caught my attention when they sang the theme song for "American Dragon: Jake Long" - the Jonas Brothers (I thought they were cool, just had no idea they'd soon be very popular with the tween/teen set).

In between there's Breaking Benjamin. I like the music. I just don't dig the vocals much. It's a mix between singing and shouting. It works with some artists ... but with the two videos from Breaking Benjamin that I've seen so far, they have to work a bit more on timing when to shout. Oh wait, they've been around since 2001 and "Breath" actually topped Billboard at one time. I guess a lot of people like that style. So why change it?

Serious karaoke guy

I mentioned in my Orangeade blog that EA has jumped on the social networking wagon with The Sims Onstage site. I also mentioned that my favorite area there is the karaoke section. The guy in the video below just made me realize how serious some of the members are when it comes to the karaoke. With his earphones and mike, it's like he's in a sound studio. Ha ha ha! He's made quite a number of recordings on the site that had high scores. I myself give him a 5 for this one ... not only because he carried the tune, but mostly because I found it hard to keep up with the lyrics onscreen and sing R.E.M.'s Stand, and he did it! He he he!



Ofcourse, if you're reading this entry from my Multiply blog, you wouldn't know from which blog you read about the Sims Onstage site first. Multiply gathers all entries from all my blogger sites. Nice feature.

"Living with Lucas"?

Just saw this blog entry from the "Lucas Grabeel Official Music MySpace" site:

October 4, 2007 - Thursday

"Living With Lucas" Febuary 25th 2008!
Current mood: happy

Hey everyone!

This is Lucas. I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm so glad that I have fans like you guys. You mean the world to me, if I didn't have you guys, I wouldn't be here now. Thank you so much.

I just wanted to clear somethings up with you guys.
First off, I'm getting my own show! "Living With Lucas"
I can't tell you much about it, but I will give you little details.

I've got one problem though, this isn't the myspace account cited in Grabeel's official website. This news is also not in his website, nor in his official myspace account. If this announcement turns out to be a prank, then the poor souls who responded with "kudos" and positive comments are getting excited over nothing.

An interesting October 3 article from the National Ledger that may or may not be related to this:

NOW FOR HIS NEXT FEAT: Lucas Grabeel, who plays Ryan Evans in the "High School Musical" movies, says he plans on striking while the iron's hot. "I've been auditioning like crazy. I'm also going to be starting a production company and will be making my own stuff," claims the actor, who tells us acting is his primary passion, though he grew up surrounded by music. "I want to create projects with people that I want to work with -- stuff that really means a lot to me. It might be kind of a guerilla film-making style, just going out and shooting things on the fly."

This bit is true though: Lucas Grabeel dyed his hair while in Europe (around 2 weeks ago). The first people who saw it were High School Musical fans who went to the special screening in Paris and those who lined up to get his autograph.



Snatched this photo from his friend Marc Blackwell's website. It's from the trio's Europe trip (Lucas dragged along his high school buddies Marc and Mike).

Simon and Ryan

JustJared.com is your typical paparazzo site ... full of stolen shots of celebrities. Thought of visiting the site today and found this tickler:



Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest of American Idol hanging out in a Miami pool. This is the link to the article, which has more pictures: http://justjared.buzznet.com/2007/10/03/ryan-seacrest-simon-cowell-shirtless/

Cocktales

A supplement to my reading the news is Victor Agustin's "Cocktales" blog. I find it easier to go straight to his blog than find his article in a newspaper site. His column is where one may find some rumors in the business circle that won't see print as news stories.

Having been axed by Inquirer, I do notice that he has a particular interest in reporting anything "bad" about that newspaper. He's also obviously pro-GMA. His pet peeve these days is the "Black and White" movement. He's recently called the people behind the group as gays, angry old maids, and closet autocrats. If you're not aware yet, "Black and White" movement is currently one of those groups attacking Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's way of running the Philippine government.

Once you have sifted through his biases though, you'll sometimes find the rare juicy industry news... ahem, I meant rumor.

Ricky Carandang's Blog

ANC News reporter Ricky Carandang keeps a blog. If you watch the news as much as I do (apart from news feeds from Reuters and Bloomberg, we've one TV tuned in to ANC and one tuned in to CNN), there's nothing new to read there really. What amuses me are the comments. Take this excerpt from a comment by TDC on Ricky's post on "Abalos Takes One for the Team":

One by one, they are falling by the wayside (either by divine intervention or by scandals…)in 2007.

1)Claudio(Resigned due to delicate operation)
2)Lolo Gonzales(Kidney transplant)
3)Abalos(ABCZTEFG)
4)Miriam(foot in mouth disease)
5)Neri(cowardice)

It's the "Foot in Mouth disease" that had me and Rey laughing.

Gotta Go My Own Way

I've watched High School Musical 2 three times now. This time though, I try to tap out the melody of some songs on the piano ... had luck with the chorus parts only.

One song I'd really like to be able to play is "Gotta Go My Own Way". Really love the piano work on that one (and I think there's a guitar in there too). Probably will be on the look-out for a lyric sheet with chords. Why not music sheet with notes? I only reached around 2nd grade in my piano studies (my piano teacher died and I didn't want to change teachers because it meant repeating from grade 1). When I did decide to learn further on my own, I focused on the chords. Ergo, I got used to just knowing the chords and improvising on the fingerwork that's why. You would think I won't have a problem learning the guitar ... wrong ... I had more luck figuring out the ukelele chords on my own (but I play rock songs on the ukelele not hawaiian songs, hahahah!).

Below is Nikki Gil's version of the song. Had a hard time finding a clean video on the net.

Hey There Delilah

Feel like playing this song ... it's been raining all night and we've got cloudy skies this morning. The guitar play echoes my mood today.



Plain White Ts: Hey There Delilah music video
This single is from their album Every Second Counts on Hollywood Records.

Still Ok: Zac and Vanessa

After rumors of a break up caused by the stress of the Vanessa Hudgens nude picture scandal, HSM's famous couple have been seen and photographed together this week (now I believe Kai, hehehe!):
http://justjared.buzznet.com/2007/09/27/zanessa-truly-outrageous

Which makes this song more appropriate for the Zanessa ship, don't you think?:


This is the music video for Vanessa Hudgens' "Say Ok REMIX", which features Zac Efron. Released by Hollywood Records.

Betcha they weren't thinking of the scandal when they released this video last May.

Crazy but Incredible

Crazy But Incredible, Brian Josef's carrier single, and also the title of his debut album released under Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

Words and music of all 12 songs in the album are by Brian.



I like ;-)

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His Friendster account: http://profiles.friendster.com/3391201

He said She said

Ashley Tisdale's latest video on YouTube.

She plays my favorite character on the High School Musical TV-movies: Sharpay Evans. I love the fact that she's way too nice compared to the Sharpay character.

And below is Lucas Grabeel's take on the "He Said She Said" routine (he plays her brother Ryan in the movies):

Laughed really hard when Lucas asked: "I was wondering though, did you name each hip 'He Said' and 'She Said'?"

Frozen Life : An actual movie

Was looking up Yam Laranas' blog - the director of "Sigaw" and its American remake "The Echo", which has a link to "Grudge" screenwriter Stephen Susco's blog, which in turn has a link to a movie website that has this byline: What links them are the frozen sperm and loneliness.

This is the link to the movie's website: Frozen Life

It's actually some sort of drama. If you click "story", it's even weirder than what the byline suggests.

Commercials unfit for regular TV

Alicia Silverstone bares all for PETA:

Dunno why they pulled it out of regular TV (Houston?) when it's actually done in good taste. Some music videos are more suggestive compared to this.

Sean Combs/P. Diddly/Sean John has a series of commercials for his Unforgiveable fragrance. His official YouTube channel is currently featuring this commercial:


However, I think the version that sparked controversy is this:

Zelle the Band on the radio

I've been hearing "Sabihin" sung by the Zelle band on the radio for about a week now. That must be good news to Ian, whose company, Talentfolio, manages them. I think they launched the band last June. The song is from their album, "Search for Warmth".

In case you haven't noticed, clicking the Song title brings you to the music video on YouTube.

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Added on 22-Sep/2007:

Was browsing record shops in Makati last night: didn't find any CD of Zelle displayed anywhere. Lots of DVD movies on sale though... almost bought some but decided not to.

Blogging about Lucas

I have to admit I enjoy High School Musical. I almost didn't see it ... simply because I hated being told by a huge disney marketing campaign to watch it. anyway ... I caught it the second time it was shown and understood why kids love it.

Which is why I watched the sequel the first time it was shown in Asia.

I love the Evans twins. I love them both in High School Musical, and love Ashley's Sharpay in the second one even more. It was Clueless meets Legally Blonde. Favorite scene? "Drummer, give me a beat" ... then Sharpay sashays out of the rehearsal room. Favorite song? Fabulous.

Ryan had an interesting "arc" ... but at the end of HSM2, he has stepped too far away from the Ryan that I found hilarious in the first movie, that I couldn't say he's still a favorite character.

I still love Lucas Grabeel though. Ha ha ha! Three reasons why: he can sing/dance/act (all around guy - that's impressive), he's played a spectrum of characters from villain to heartthrob to effeminate drama king (he can switch roles easily - brands him a real actor to me), and he's not as hugely popular as Zac Efron (makes him an underdog, which means it would be interesting to watch how much farther his career will go until he becomes really famous). Let's add two more reasons: He's cute and funny.

A gauge to measure a celebrity's popularity is seeing how much people are talking about him on messageboards and blogs. This morning, I decided to look up people blogging about Grabeel.

So why am I blogging now?

Lucas' best friend Marc Blackwell keeps a blog. He has mentioned sometime last April about getting prank messages or calls on his cellphone. Guess what I found this morning? Someone blogging about a friend knowing some girls who managed to get hold of Lucas's roommate's number and leaving messages but not having the guts to answer the return calls.

Freaking hilarious! I just found out where some of those prank callers are. Ofcourse, the blogger was writing last August 2006 and it may not be Marc's number they were calling.

--------
Added on 22-Sep-2007:

Checked out Smallville bloggers talking about the "Reunion" episode of the said TV show where Grabeel plays young Lex Luthor. They seem to agree that it was good casting as Grabeel acted/moved like the older Luthor as portrayed by Rosenbaum. It's actually refreshing to read someone blogging about Lucas without the "OMG he is hot!!!" phrase typed all over the page.

Below is someone's clip on YouTube on the flashback part:


Comments on the video were mostly from disney fans who I just realized live in a totally different world because 1) they found the clip hard to watch and 2) they can't get over Lucas cursing and being violent. Crazies, at some level.

TV Movie: High School Musical 2

Distributor:	Walt Disney Pictures
Release:	August 17, 2007
Genre:	Musical, Drama, Comedy
MPAA Rating:	Not Rated

My Yahoo! Movies Rating:
B-

Overall Grade:	B-
Story:	C+
Acting	B
Direction:	B
Visuals:

The East High Wildcats looked forward to summer fun but got drama instead.

Troy and Gabriella's relationship gets the romance/drama treatment in this movie, with Troy acting a bigger jerk than he was in the first movie. And the two characters have gone past "sweet".

Sharpay is at the root of everything as usual, and her attempts to steal Troy from Gabriella and the wildcats cause her twin brother to break away from her. The Evans twins still provide a lot of laughs in this movie.

The story centers more on Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay and Ryan, that we see less of the rest of the cast ... and yet they are more involved in the singing here.

The dance numbers have become a bit more complicated here, and the music as a whole isn't as memorable as that in the first movie. There are a couple of gems that are better than any of the music from High School Musical 1 like "You are the Music in Me" and "Gotta Go My Own Way".

TV Movie: High School Musical

Production Cos.:	Salty Pictures/Walt Disney
Release:	January 20, 2006
Genre:	Drama, Musical & Performing Arts, Comedy
MPAA Rating:	G

My Yahoo! Movies Rating:

Overall Grade:	B-
Story:	C+
Acting	B-
Direction:	B
Visuals:	B-

I didn't watch this movie during the first few months it was shown on Disney channel, which is why I couldn't understand its popularity. When I finally decided to watch it, I found it very entertaining despite my being way too old for its target audience.

The story is actually run of the mill boy meets girl with the "can't be together because we come from different worlds" kind of situation. This one is even a bubble-cotton-candy-pop version of high school that the angst is toned down.

Perhaps what helped it stand out from other high school movies is that it's a musical. It's obviously aimed at kids, as the music is easy to sing along to, and it's fun to imitate the dance steps. It's also managed to put in the right amount of comedy so that people won't gag from too much sweetness.

This movie has a very good looking, poster perfect cast. Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens look very good together and play well against each other. Hudgens has the tendency to overact at times, which is something I've observed her do also whenever she guests in "The Suite Life".

Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel play over the top characters and obviously had fun doing it. Sharpay and Ryan Evans are actually my favorites.

What I truly admire about the kids in this movie is that they are able to sing and dance. Let's say they lip-synched a lot ... they still get credit for the dancing.

Fall Out Boy

About two weeks ago, Rey mentioned that his son Tryke had asked him to buy a ticket for the September 21 concert of Fall Out Boy (FOB) at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. In fact, Tryke had been dropping hints about Fall Out Boy ever since he made the first request. Back then, Rey was not inclined to pay for such a ticket.

With Tryke's birthday coming up, Rey decided to finally give in and buy the ticket. Problem is, the Sept. 21 concert is fully booked and the only tickets available are for the Sept. 20 concert ... which Rey wouldn't want Tryke to attend because it is on a Thursday night and Tryke would still go to class Friday.

Rhoda, on the other hand, bought her son Raphael his ticket early August. Rey remembers that both of them planned to buy the FOB tickets at the same time... so now he's annoyed with himself for not buying the ticket when she did. After browsing around the net, I told him that tickets were sold as early as last half of July, so it's no wonder they're sold out. He told me pointing that out does not help him feel good about himself. Ha ha ha! Anyway, if Rey never gets hold of a ticket, he plans to buy Tryke a cellphone instead as the kid had been using an old model ever since he lost his new cellphone (Tryke's already lost 2 or 3 others, so Rey wasn't keen on buying him a replacement immediately).

Now, with all this talk about FOB, I got curious ... the band's obviously hot amongst the high school kids but the name is not familiar to me at all. After browsing on the net ... I realized why I'm not familiar with them - they're a pop punk rock band bordering on "emo". That's one genre where I only like about a quarter or less of the songs. A number of pop punk bands love "noise" ... and I'm not a fan of music where "noise" is prevalent and I can't find a bit of "melody" or "harmony". With pop punk songs, sometimes all I could hear are just noise. Some pop punk music have okay melodies, but the lyrics are juvenile ... and I don't mind the juvenile lyrics only if the sound accompanying it goes beyond "okay" (nice guitar work, or awesome beat on the drums is always a plus).

To give you an idea, here's a few songs of the genre I like: Simple Plan's "Perfect" does not have that great a music but I like/remember it because it has nice lyrics... and the accompaniment allowed the lyrics to stand out. Blink 182's "All the Small Things" has juvenile (okay, maybe not that juvenile) lyrics, but its combination of beat and chord work works for me. Green Day's "Wake Me Up When September Ends" has nice, even poetic, lyrics accompanied by guitar and drum work that start out slow and simple then adds more chords/beats with each round as the song crescendoes (and gets faster and louder as well) to an "instrumental" segment then pauses before going into the denouement of the final stanza that repeats the simple to "ornamented" progression of the guitar and drum work.

Back to FOB. After listening to some of their songs from their official website, I find that their music isn't that "noisy". It's something I could nod my head to. However, based on the selected clips available for listening, none of them would be something I'd really hum afterwards. "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" definitely stood out as it is one of the songs that do not conform to their generic sound. I say generic because after a few minutes of checking out their audio files, I've realized half of them sound the same. After I've checked all the music on that site, I still haven't heard anything that I remember hearing before.

Next stop on that site? Looking up their photos. Bingo ... the faces are familiar and yes, I've seen their music videos before! I guess I'm not really into their music because I find their faces more memorable than their songs.

I'm thinking that what makes them one of the hottest bands today are the lyrics. The lyrics, and even the titles are actually well thought out. Their words will indeed resonate with teenagers and young adults ... people that are in the phase of actively questioning the social, political and whatever structure they see around them ... which is what rock is mostly about, actually.

Linking YouTube videos to Multiply

Dennis told me yesterday he could not play the videos on my Multiply site. Checked it last night and apparently, the feature that linked my YouTube account to Multiply did not work.

Removed all those videos in Multiply and decided to re-post the videos link by link. This time it worked. Did not post the videos made before 2007 though. Figured if someone wants to see them all, they might as well visit my YouTube channel.

Criminal Minds

I just realized that Kirsten, who plays Penelope Garcia in the TV show Criminal Minds, had updated her blog last July 31 (Link on the right side of this blog).

'Sniff!' Reading it reminded me that Mandy Patinkin has left the show.

His character, Jason Gideon, wasn't really my favorite, (I like watching Morgan and Reid annoy each other), but Gideon has been essential to the chemistry of the cast. He is Reid's mentor, he got on Garcia's nerves once, and I like the fact that I don't know when he will suddenly step out of his serious demeanor and do something funny.

The show's just two seasons old and two original cast members have already left the show.

Joe Mantegna is replacing Patinkin. Am looking forward to see how the cast chemistry is changed by this.

Sector Seven at Second Life

I know it's been over a month since Transformers the movie was released. I have just decided to try recreating the Sector Seven headquarters in Sims 2, which means I have to go back to http://www.sectorseven.org/ (password is "deceptibot") to get the building's supposed schematics.

Hours later, when I've cut and pasted the images in a Powerpoint document (it's easy to manipulate images there than in Word or Excel), complete with annotations, I realized I have to figure out how it should look from the outside. After all, it is supposedly inside the Hoover Dam. Sectorseven.org doesn't have that on their site.

The next stop? Second Life - that virtual world where even advertisers have a presence. I don't hang around Second Life. I think I've been there only around thrice ... twice because of sector seven, with the second visit being today. Second Life has little appeal for me, but the account I opened out of curiousity has come in handy when I wanted to visit promo sites... like the Sector Seven region.

How do you get to Sector Seven in Second Life? Search for "Sector7" in the map in order to teleport there. Once you get to the area, you'll find yourself on "Hoover Dam".

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

You take the stairs leading down into the dam.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

You'll find yourself in a tunnel. Follow it.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

The end of the tunnel is perpendicular to another passage.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Ignore the door on the left. It doesn't open.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Go to the right.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

You'll see blue rays go off when you enter the portal. That's because this is supposedly the "X-ray scanning area".

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

The passage way continues on the other side of the portal.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Although you may find another door at the end of this tunnel

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Don't bother going there because it won't open either.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Go back to the big steel door. This is the elevator. On the left is a button you may push to wait for the elevator to open.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

However, it may take forever waiting for the elevator to open. It is best to use the teleport pad.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

If you wait too long, you may see someone who looks like Bumblebee come along. He's a guide.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

This guy will hang around just in case you need help.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Once you've taken the elevator or teleported, you'll find yourself at the bottom level of the structure. That's the only level you can explore in Second Life.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Just outside the elevator is another billboard that encourages you to join the Sector7 group. You'll find the teleport pad beside the elevator door again.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

This is a very wide passageway.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Best navigated when flying.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

There's not much to see in this area. So it's best to just fly to the end of the hall where you'll find the "round tunnels".

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Don't enter the tunnels just yet because near it you'll spot a box.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

You can get free Transformer t-shirts for your avatar by "buying" the item.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

After collecting the t-shirts, you can enter one of the tunnels. They all lead to the same room so it doesn't matter which one you take.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

You'll next find yourself in the "Megaman" hangar where Megatron is cryogenically frozen.


You can lounge in the seats in the room. It even has a window.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

On the side opposite the window, you'll notice a door. But let's go in that later.

By jingfrey at 2007-08-22

Nearer Megatron are two more boxes.

One box gives you a Bumblebee avatar. The other box gives you a Barricade avatar.
.

You can best appreciate Megatron up close by flying upward.


Let's now enter the door we saw earlier.


You'll find lots of equipment here.



This is the machine where they tested the All-spark.


You'll find a stack of boxes with documents. Amongst them is a box with more free t-shirts for your avatar.


Looking around you'll find that this corner has an opening leading to a flight of stairs.


This room is full of shelves stacked with "classified" documents lining the wall.


Looking down from the top of the stairs, notice that the design on the floor is Sector Seven's logo.


At the foot of the stairs, you realize that this area is a gallery of posters and stills from the movie.





More sofas to lounge on.


Nearby is a another flight of stairs.


Just more "classified documents" lining the walls here.


When you climb up the stairs that led into this room, you'll see there's a door leading out to the Megaman hangar.


You realize that's all that can be seen. To go back out, you exit the hangar.


You don't need to go back through the "round" tunnels though because near the tunnels there is a teleport pad.


This pad teleports you back outside the elevator at the upper level ... the one near the X-ray scanning area.


This is the end of this trip.

I did realize that the interior of the dam is different from the Facility Map available from sectorseven.org.