Two Filipinos make it to Top 20 of “Dance Idol” Contest Down Under

Two Filipino-Australian made it to the Top 20 of So You Think You Can Dance Australia. J. D. Carteret and Demi Sorono hope to wow Australian viewers of the dance reality show. One might consider the show as a counterpart of the “Idol” show.

Plain blackmail

A report over the Inquirer.net caught my eye and I felt disgusted at how blatant some people in “forcing surrender to another party over a hovering threat to their money’s lifeline. ” The report quoted Makati Business Club Chairman Ramon Del Rosario, Jr. talking about a board member of the club who received a text message from a government official threatening to “set loose the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) on the MBC.” The threat is plain blackmail and the MBC shrugged it off welcoming any inquiry from the BIR. As expected there were denials from the government side and while throwing praises to the MBC as an advocate in tax collection, this showed that the BIR, or any other government office for this matter,could and will be used against any group or personality if they become a threat to the state (read: threat to their money’s lifeline).

The Word that Made People Happy

Sorry

It was a word that most indigenous Australians have been waiting for more than four decades and it came at a right time. It came as a surprise that the opposition has supported the apology when it was implying weeks before that it will not agree to such moves. The nation was ecstatic and everyone was unanimous that this is the start of the healing process and Australia can now move forward. This came at a very good time when the economy of Australia is bullish and it has a new leadership with commitment.

Crime on the blogosphere

Well, this is off my beat but this is an interesting take on law and blogging. After the infamous battle of Yuga against a libel case against him and the fight for justice for a jailed Malaysian blogger, here’s another blogger fighting (or outwitting) the law. This blogger is certainly passionate but his passion is not welcomed by everyone.

This blogger blogs about his attraction to what he calls “LGs” or little girls. His confession of loving LGs has become a debate among lawyers and law enforcers as to how they will be able to protect the community. As one US federal prosecutor said (as this article reported) “there’s no law against someone making you feel uncomfortable.”

Law enforcers have tried to charge the blogger with minor offenses for taking photos of children in a certain school in the US. But in the words of the blogger, “I thought it was the best therapeutic thing for my own head to kind of put this out there, what I’m thinking,” he said before his arrest. “I’m determined not to do anything illegal. I haven’t done anything illegal.”

I hope you stick to your word brother. I hope you do.

Heath Ledger, 1979-2008

The news about Heath Ledger’s death spread like fire over Perth yesterday as radio, TV and internet broadcast news about his untimely death. His family formally confirmed Heath’s death and described his death as accidental. While police downplayed foul play, mystery still hounds the cause of Heath’s death as initial autopsy were inconclusive and it might take about 10 days more to identify the cause of death of the rising star.

EDSA 2

Got this from Shari.

Bloggers’ Kapihan 3 Event

January 19, 2-5PM
Kape Tasyo (Freedom Bar)
Anonas, Quezon City

Tom Watson: The Essence of Great Writing

Just re-posting a blog post I read last year from Tom Watson who quoted Ken Levine on “what it takes to be a professional writer”:

Another New Beginning

I wanted to start 2007 right, so I blogged about it and envisioned where I wanted to go. Let’s just take a quick look at some excerpt of that blog and what happened.

Metro Manila Film Fest, etc.

The Metro Manila Film Fest was held last December. It is the time of the year when most of Metro Manila residents get saturated with Filipino films and time for most film producers to make “better than usual” films (well, film makers are expected to make quality films every time but the Manila Film Fest is quite different).

Australia welcomes New Year first

Australia welcomed the New Year ahead of other countries. The iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge became a spectacular site as fireworks marked the start of the New Year in Australia. Meanwhile here in Perth, about 10,000 are estimated to have attended the NYE (New Year’s Eve) Disco in Northbrige.