~ Lizzieness.info ~

LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson, the sensationally gifted child star who rose to become the “King of Pop” and the biggest celebrity in the world only to fall from his throne in a freakish series of scandals, died Thursday. He was 50.

Jackson died at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Ed Winter, the assistant chief coroner for Los Angeles County, confirmed his office had been notified of the death and would handle the investigation.

The circumstances of Jackson’s death were not immediately clear. Jackson was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m., Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to the hospital, Ruda told the newspaper.

Jackson’s death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music’s premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.

His 1982 album “Thriller” — which included the blockbuster hits “Beat It,” “Billie Jean” and “Thriller” — is the best-selling album of all time, with an estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide.

The public first knew him in the late 1960s, when as a boy he was the precocious, spinning lead singer of the Jackson 5, the music group he formed with his four older brothers. Among their No. 1 hits were “I Want You Back,” “ABC,” and “I’ll Be There.”

He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves and his high-pitched voice punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove, tight, military-style jacket and aviator sunglasses were trademarks second only to his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance.

“For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don’t have the words,” said Quincy Jones, who produced “Thriller.” “He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever. I’ve lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him.” More HERE

SYDNEY (AFP) – An Australian state is offering internationally what it calls “the best job in the world” — earning a top salary for lazing around a beautiful tropical island for six months.

The job pays 150,000 Australian dollars (105,000 US dollars) and includes free airfares from the winner’s home country to Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland’s state government announced on Tuesday.

In return, the “island caretaker” will be expected to stroll the white sands, snorkel the reef, take care of “a few minor tasks” — and report to a global audience via weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates.

The successful applicant, who will stay rent-free in a three-bedroom beach home complete with plunge pool and golf buggy, must be a good swimmer, excellent communicator and be able to speak and write English.

“They’ll also have to talk to media from time to time about what they’re doing so they can’t be too shy and they’ll have to love the sea, the sun, the outdoors,” said acting state Premier Paul Lucas.

“The fact that they will be paid to explore the islands of the Great Barrier Reef, swim, snorkel and generally live the Queensland lifestyle makes this undoubtedly the best job in the world.”

Lucas said the campaign was part of a drive to protect the state’s 18 billion Australian dollar a year tourism industry during the tough economic climate caused by the global financial meltdown.

“Traditional tourism advertising just doesn’t cut it sometimes and we are thinking outside the box by launching this campaign.”

Queensland Tourism Minister Desley Boyle said some people might question whether it was risky to let an unknown person become an unofficial tourism spokesperson for the state.

“I think the biggest risk will be that the successful candidate won’t want to go home at the end of the six months,” she said.

“This is a legitimate job which is open to anyone and everyone.”

Applications are open until February 22. Eleven shortlisted candidates will be flown to Hamilton Island in early May for the final selection process and the six month contract will commence on July 1. Article from Yahoo.

THIS IS DEFINITELY THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD. Apply na!

(CNN) — Barack Obama told supporters that “change has come to America” as he claimed victory in a historic presidential election.

“The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America — I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you — we as a people will get there,” Obama said in Chicago, Illinois, before an estimated crowd of up to 240,000 people.

With Obama’s projected win, he will become the first African-American to win the White House.

Obama had an overwhelming victory over Sen. John McCain, who pledged Tuesday night to help Obama lead.

“Today, I was a candidate for the highest office in the country I love so much, and tonight, I remain her servant,” McCain said.

McCain called Obama to congratulate him, and Obama told the Arizona senator he was eager to sit down and talk about how the two of them can work together.

President Bush also called Obama to offer his congratulations. Full story here.

“Eraserheads concert cut short, Buendia rushed to hospital “

By Erika Tapalla
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 22:12:00 08/30/2008

MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATED) The Eraserheads Reunion Concert was cut short Saturday night when lead singer Ely Buendia was rushed to the Makati Medical Center after collapsing backstage during a 20-minute intermission of the planned 30-song concert.

The concert’s sudden end was announced by Buendia’s sister Lally who went onstage with Ely’s band mates Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala, Marcus Adoro and concert organizers stating that the band’s lead vocalist and songwriter was in poor health. The band members apologized to the audience for cutting short their performance.

MTV Philippines President Francis Lumen asked the crowd for a minute of silence to pray for Buendia’s health.

“He had a slight attack because of stress due to the recent passing of his mother (Lisette Buendia), and their sound check which lasted till 3 a.m. today (Saturday),” said MTV Philippines and Radiohead director for marketing Ronald Esguerra in an interview with INQUIRER.net. “But we have received word that Ely is now in stable condition.”

Organizers also belied erroneous reports that Buendia is undergoing triple bypass surgery, adding that the Eraserheads frontman actually wants to check out of the Makati Medical Center and go instead to his personal doctor.

According to Jing Garcia, former music journalist and currently technology editor at Manila Times and a friend of the Eraserheads members, Buendia collapsed backstage after the last song before the intermission, which was “Lightyears.” The band had already played 15 songs by then.

Buendia suffered a heart attack on January 7, 2007 and had already undergone surgery.

The concert, which was staged at the Fort Bonifacio Global City open field in Taguig, started at around 8:15 p.m. and paused for a break at around 9:30 p.m.

The Eraserheads opened their much-awaited reunion concert with “Alapaap” and “Ligaya,” complete with fireworks display.

After waiting at the open field for an hour since the intermission hoping for further developments, loyal fans of the band calmly left the concert area after being treated to a thrilling first set.

MTV Philippines’ Esguerra said that while he is hoping for a second Eraserheads reunion concert, there is still no word on whether another one would be staged.

“We have received no word of a Part Two but we also hope there will be one,” he said. With a report from Pocholo Concepcion, Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Yes, it’s confirmed: The Eraserheads are reuniting after many years of being apart, not for good but only for one show slated for Aug. 30 at the CCP Open Grounds.

According to the STAR source, all the original members (photo) are performing — Ely Buendia, Buddy Zabala, Marcus Adoro and Raimund Marasigan.

This piece of good news should make the Eraserheads fans very happy.

Said to be the ‘greatest Pinoy band,’ the Eraserheads will sing all their hit songs, including Alapaap, Toyang and Ang Huling El Bimbo.

So much water, so to speak, has flowed under the bridge since the band broke up years ago.

Ely, who survived a heart attack two years ago, has formed two bands, Mongol (which didn’t last long) and Pupil (still playing).

‘It took one big company to bring the former band members together,’ said the source who is keeping the company’s identity ‘confidential’ for the time being.

Really now, don’t the Eraserheads fans wish that the band would stay together not just for a one-night-only concert but for good…for old time’s sake?— Ricky Lo

Source: Philstar

And here’s another article I found on gmanews blog. You may want to read it if you have time.

Why Eraserhead’s reunion concert sucks.

Roll of Successful Examinees in the
NURSE LICENSURE EXAMINATION
Held on JUNE 1 & 2, 2008
Released on JULY 23, 2008

8826 DELOS SANTOS, JULIUS FUENTES
8827 DELOS SANTOS, KRIS MISCHELLE VILLAPANA
8828 DELOS SANTOS, LLIEY ANN GERANGCA
Source: Inq7.net

Congratulations to the hubby’s cousin for passing the 2008 Nurse Board exam. We are proud of you.
Picture source: bass.multiply.com

So that’s explains why it’s raining…

Weather Bulletin issued at 5:00 pm, Thursday, July 24, 2008
Forecast:

Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms. The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to at times cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening.

Moderate to occasionally strong winds blowing from the southwest will prevail over the western sections of Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and the coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to occasionally rough. Elsewhere, light to moderate winds coming from the southwest will prevail with slight to moderate seas except during thunderstorms.

The active low pressure area inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) has formed into a tropical depression and was named “IGME”.

Location of Center:  1,060 kms East Northeast of Basco, Batanes
Coordinates: 21.8°N, 132.8°E
Strength:   Maximum sustained winds of 600 kph near the center
Movement:  West Northwest at 07 kph
Forecast Positions/Outlook: Friday morning:  920 kms East Northeast of Basco, Batanes

Be safe everyone!

07/22/2008 | 12:04 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Jeep drivers in Southern Luzon have set a region-wide transport strike Thursday to decry continued increases in prices of fuel and government’s refusal to scrap the value-added tax for oil.

Rolando Mingo, secretary general of the Southern Tagalog Region Transport Sector Organization (Starter), said the strike will start 4 a.m. and end at 9 p.m.

Read Complete story *here*

I got this entry from my cousin Ramil.

Article taken from Philippine Star - Saturday, July 12.

If you are “techno”-crazy like my nephews, chances are that you are an avid fan of Power Rangers.

For the sake of old fogeys (like this one), here’s a little backgrounder on Power Rangers, culled from the Net:

Power Rangers is a long-running American children’s television series adapted from the Japanese tokusatsu Super Sentai Series, though it is a “new” production with English-speaking actors spliced in with the original Japanese footage in varying ratios. Due to the very Japanese nature of many of the Super Sentai Series’ stories and design, the American shows are altered to fit the Western audience. However, many of the action sequences featuring the characters in costume and the mecah (referred to as “Zords” in the English series) are typically dubbed.

The series that began the franchise was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which began broadcasting as part of the Fox Kids group of programs that aired on the Fox network. It lasted for three seasons (from 1993 to 1996). The franchise has continued, and as of 2008 has consisted of 16 television seasons, 14 different series, and two theatrical films. The 15th season and the 13th series, Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive, debuted on Feb. 26, 2007, and completed on Nov. 12, 2007. The new series, Power Rangers: Jungle Fury, debuted last Feb. 18.

The Power Rangers series was distributed by Saban Entertainment from 1993 until the end of 2001 and was broadcast on Fox until the fall of 2002. The franchise was purchased by the Walt Disney Company as part of the buyout that took place between 2001 and 2002.

But what Power Rangers fanatics probably don’t know yet is that a Filipino actress has been in the series (Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive), playing Rose The Pink Ranger, for almost a year, so petite (standing 5′1″) that she looks like a Dresden Doll side by side with the other Rangers: Samuell Benta as Will The Black Ranger, Caitlin Murphy as Roni The Yellow Ranger, James Maclurcan as Mack The Red Ranger and Gareth Yuen as Tax The Blue Ranger.

She’s none other than Rhoda Montemayor, 23, a full-blooded Filipina born and raised in London, along with her two siblings Renee (older), also an actress, and Rowena (younger) who, believe it or not, played the son of Lea Salonga in Miss Saigon when the Cameron Mackintosh megahit musical opened at the Theatre Royale Drury Lane in London’s West End. Her mom, Rosalie Pichay Viloria (related to former Rep. Prospero Pichay), is Ilocana; and her dad, Eddie Montemayor, is Kapampangan.

“My sister Renee is the reason why I am in this business,” revealed Rhoda. “She’s the actress in the family, the first UK-born Filipina to play Kim in Miss Saigon. I wasn’t always into the performing arts. I used to do ballet classes as a part-time work in school and Renee, seeing the potential in me, pushed me into auditioning for some plays.”

Whatever happened to Rowena?

“She didn’t pursue acting. She’s 21 now and she’s into events marketing.”

Rhoda graduated from the Laine Theater Arts in London, a school which she described as “very similar to Fame” (remember the movie?). She can dance but even if, as she herself admitted, “I can’t sing,” she has been in several musicals-on-tour, such as West Side Story and A Chorus Line.

“I can carry a tune, all right, but I am not as good a singer as those in the Philippines where there are so many fantastic singers,” Rhoda said in all candor and humility.

Rhoda is here for her regular vacation and she’s staying for two months. She arrived on June 16, going around incognito, and she hasn’t even said yes to any of the invitations for her to guest on TV. This interview was her very first ever.

So how did Rhoda get into Power Rangers?

“Disney went to London to look for actors to play The Black Ranger and The Pink Ranger,” said Rhoda. “They had already found the other Rangers but they couldn’t find the remaining Rangers, even if they had already auditioned dozens of aspirants in such faraway places as New Zealand, Australia, India and South America. I don’t have any idea what qualities in the actors they were looking for. They actually went to London as a last recourse.”

Rose The Pink Ranger is supposed to be a genius who graduated from Harvard at the age of nine.

“I was to find out later that the Disney people wanted an actor who is quite cool and who is able to pick up quickly,” added Rhoda, “and who is trained in martial arts which I was not. I would learn martial arts only on the job. During the audition, they asked me to memorize some lines and they wanted an American accent. Three weeks later, I got the part. Before I could recover from excitement, I found myself on a plane to Auckland, New Zealand, for the shoot. I was there for seven months. Everything happened very fast, like a whirlwind.”

Her background as a dancer came in handy for the choreographed action scenes.

“It was in Auckland where we trained in martial arts and stunts. There are a lot of explosions in the series, so we were trained how to run so that we wouldn’t get burned. We were also taught how to fall properly so we wouldn’t break our bones, and how to kick and be kicked without getting hurt. We started shooting in 2006 and the series started airing seven months ago in the US. It should be showing in the Philippines soon.”

How much of her is Filipino and how much is British?

“Oh, I guess 50/50. I was raised in a Filipino family, even if my surrounding is very British. No, we never experienced any clash of cultures. Our parents instilled in us very Filipino values. Family and religion are very strong factors in our upbringing. We children were baptized Catholics.”

As soon as she’s back in London, Rhoda will resume work on a British film called Suicide Kids, a horror-thriller. Her first movie was Finding Neverland (yes, the Johnny Depp starrer) which was shot in London. Her other films include Animal (no, not the Rob Schneider starrer) and Adulthood (a sequel to Kidulthood), now showing in London, where she plays a cameo. (She has auditioned for other Hollywood films, one of them Memoirs of a Geisha.)

Would she consider an offer to do a project here?

“I’m here on vacation but I’m open to anything.”

Hmmmm. That’s your cue.

~ Us with a Power ranger! ~

This was taken last June 29 @ Phoebe’s first Birthday. She was very nice and she adored all the kids!

After two days of waiting and waiting… I finally got approved by Page.ph for a site sponsorship. I was thrilled to see a reply from their billing department who broke the news and now asking for my personal information. I quickly replied because this is a chance of a lifetime. You see, I got rejected before because their previous promo on site sponsorship already ended. Good thing, my friend Malen suggested Page.ph again and here I am–jumping for joy!

I know there’s so many things to be do and I hope I can get this site up and running in no time. I’m excited. For now… Thanks PAGE.PH.