a testimonial to TADO

doing a favor for a friend, i was starstruck seeing Strangebrew's BrewRat, Arvin Jimenez, in person. fondly called TADO by everyone, the activist, politician, writer, life coach, funny man, radio announcer, TV personality, the person is much down to earth and very accommodating in entertaining his fans and guests.

TADO is a graduate of Psychology in Polytechniic University of the Philippines. the university where i came from. a father of 4, Arvin "TADO" Jimenez is also a businessman and seeing the other side of the person makes him more interesting. his store in Marikina shows the different side of him and it is portrays his deeper, more serious type.

while looking around the store LimiTADO, i can see the Bohemian blood in the person. his love for peace, freedom, diversity and art can be seen all throughout. i got these two items which my friend asked me to have Tado signed into.

each cost Php 150 and if you find Tado in the store, he will be very generous to sign them for you. much to my priority, i forgot to bring the other book he also wrote. but thank you, Tado. the moment is very much treasured.

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A magic carpet ride

i was transported back in time when i saw Atlantis Productions' newest musical, Disney's ALADDIN. starring Tom Rodriguez as Aladdin and our new Disney Princess from the Philippines, Kayla Meagan Iovan as Princess Jasmine. opening November 16 to December 9 2012 at the Meralco Theater, this is one musical that you have to take your kids and kids-at-heart to.
one of the very famous Arabian Nights tales, ALADDIN takes us all into the adventure of a street rat getting lucky rubbing a magic lamp and assisted by a genie (Aiza Seguerra) to grant his wishes. including to impress a girl who happens to be the princess of Agrabah and whose title throne would be sacrificed when not married at the right time. living in a lie and adding to the big ambition of Jafar, a wizard with an evil plan to rule Agrabah, Aladdin discovers that greatness is not what found on the outside, but what is inside.

when Atlantis Productions makes this musical to happen, i already had a lot of things to think on how they will do the set, the Cave of Wonders, grandiose productions and most of all, the magic carpet. some characters from what we know of the Disney animation, Abu the monkey was replaced by three men who also come as narrators and comic relief of the story. when Tom and Kayla went out, everybody was already expecting A Whole New World over the magic carpet which flowed gracefully onstage. both of them are in their prince and princess aura. Tom also had that Aladdin role very well suited for him from a playful street rat and to a gallant prince. Kayla, on the other hand, is a strong-willed princess. and she sang almost like Lea Salonga! A Whole New World turned very romantic while seeing them up the magic carpet.

ALADDIN takes us more to the Arab culture with the set and costumes. the market to the palace and to Genie's production numbers, are wonderful.

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Star Cinema makes us fall in love 24/7

in this very special occasion, Star Cinema celebrates Star Magic's 20th anniversary with an anthology of stories that will make us believe in love at every moment. 24/7 IN LOVE features seven heart-thumping clips with Star Magic talents every one loves.

in a conference held attended by Pokwang, Piolo Pascual, Maja Salvador, the actors shared that love has no boundaries and you should grab it when it comes to you. movies are made to a light mood and tailor-fit to be executed by directors Mae Cruz, John-D Lazatin, Dado Lumibao and Franco Mortiz.

Pokwang (@pokwang27) also described her scene with Sam Milby as a fantasy came true. playing as a 40-year-old virgin, she summarized that their characters will complement the things their are missing. and as age and preferences may differ, love put them closer together.

on Piolo Pascual's story, they regarded it as the "heart" of the whole movie as Piolo and the two kids portray a puppy love in a hospice. Piolo has a different role here as a young kid in a man's body due to a brain illness. people will have another understanding to people in the situation which Piolo portrays. Maja Salvador tells that she is a very prompt personal assistant to Diether Ocampo. in her case, she is a kind of person that opened up the door for Diether's character to love again.

other stories combines ABS-CBN Primetime stars, Bea Alonzo and Zanjoe Marudo in a funny straight-girl, gay-guy relationship; Angelica Panganiban and John Lloyd Cruz in a very romantic scenery abroad; Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson in a campus romance; and Kathryn Bernardo with Daniel Padilla in a fan-idol setting.

opening November 21 2012, 24/7 IN LOVE will be seen in theaters nationwide. you can follow Star Cinema's social media accounts: http://FB.com/StarCinema, http://Twitter.com/StarCinema, http://gplus.to/StarCinema, and the official Facebook page of the movie http://FB.com/247InLove.

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the cast of LES MISERABLES

we're counting down the days to Christmas and to all Broadway musical fans, LES MISERABLES is the ultimate movie blowout. with the most-loved cast of Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean, Russell Crowe as Javert, Anne Hathaway as Fantine, Amanda Seyfried as Cossette, the dream definitely came into reality.

below are the cast photos that were recently released.

LES MISERABLES is a story of a paroled prisoner Jean Valjean who seeks liberty for him and the people at the time of the French Revolution. this is the latest adoptation of the musical inspired by the novel by Victor Hugo.

opening December 25 2012 in the USA and January 23 2013 in the Philippines, LES MISERABLES is directed by Academy Award-winner Tom Hooper and distributed by Solar Entertainment Corporation.

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SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD movie review

a heart-striking drama and Steve Carell like you've never seen him before, puts on good emotion and hope for everybody to find his/her true love despite of an impending apocalypse in SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD. opening today in Glorietta and Greenbelt cinemas by Focus Features.

as an asteroid nears to put absolute destruction to the earth, Dodge (Steve Carell) finds himself alone as his wife also left him for an unknown reason. as all panic in the forthcoming destruction, he finds his own purpose on how to spend the remains of his life. finding his high school sweetheart from far away was his neighbor Penny (Keira Knightley) who didn't catch the flight to go back to her family. so together, with the very prompt Dodge and wasted Penny, they didn't think that their differences would compliment each other.

others might resolve on crazy ways like sex and alcohol, on how to spend their pre-apocalyptic life, the two agreed to help each other to get to where they needed to. along the way they meet friends whom they learn some lessons about life, which also brought the two closer.

the sweetest part is that they please each other in order to achieve what they needed in the first place. this is not a comedy movie but the drama makes you think to spend each day special for everyone around you. you might not know that it would be your last time together so make the most out of it.

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4TH NATIONAL THEATER FESTIVAL opens this week!

in celebration of Philippine arts and culture, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and National Center for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) holds the 4th National Theater Festival on November 8 - 18 2012 at the CCP theaters.

i am familiar of 6 of the 18 productions from different all-Filipino theater groups who will perform in the festival. i'm actually looking forward to restaging of these productions and would like to see all of them (crossed fingers).

LIVIN' LA VIDA IMELDA performed by Carlos Celdran. well it mainly talks about Imelda Marcos' life. her glory as the former first lady and her downfall after the Martial Law. it is another approach by Carlos Celdran in presenting history where he is very well-informed about.

OROSMAN AT ZAFIRA, the musical which i fell in love with Dulaang UP. and continued to support until its commercial release last year. this awit by Francisco Baltazar talks about the greed between three tribes and the love of our two protagonists which conquers all.

SAYAW NG MGA SENIORITA is a farse about the life of gays in their golden years. Gantimpala Theater brings known film personalities Soxie Topacio, Bb Gandanghari, Arnel Ignacio, Joel Lamangan and Manny Castañeda in this story of love, success and despair of the gays.

the award-winning WILLIAM by PETA is also joining the line up. a Shakespearean musical sang in rap genre to cope up with the new generation. also one of my favorites.

Tanghalang Pilipino brings two productions and STAGESHOW is one that i have to see. i heard that Liesl Batucan is great in this production which will open the festival season. she will be on the November 8, 3PM show. and another is WALANG KUKURAP -- that Layeta Bucoy play which squirts blood to the audience. a highly-political drama which i also recommend for everyone to see.

you can also check the other productions. check the schedule in the CCP website. you can get tickets by calling the CCP Box Office at 832-3704 or TicketWorld at 891-9999.

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HANSEL AND GRETEL WITCH HUNTERS promos

the upcoming Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters is another spin-off from the timeless children's classic story. after years they defeated the old witch from the gingerbread house, they had developed their skills in hunting witches and keep them from kidnapping children for food.

Jeremy Renner stars as Hansel and Gemma Anterton plays Gretel in this action movie. Hansel and Gretel are now equipped with weapons that will help them put down witches. strong CGI effects also help in the transformation of different elements how beautiful women transform into evil witches.
this action, comedy, fantasy movie is set to be in theaters January 23 2013. distributed by Solar UIP.

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