The Twilight Phenomenon

The widespread appeal of the Twilight novels and the huge online fan community of the series are often noted, and the author and the series' popularity are often compared with J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter. Upon Twilight's initial publication, the book generally received positive reviews, which acted as a catalyst to spread its popularity. A social networking community for Twilight fans has over 200,000 members at the series' official site, and the series has spawned hundreds of fansites. The Twilight series' popularity and enthusiastic fan following have grabbed media attention and been dubbed "The Twilight Phenomenon". Economically, the town of Forks, Washington, the setting for the Twilight series, has improved due to tourism from fans of the books. Forks are visited by an average of 8,000 tourists per month, and have been described as a "Mecca for Twilighters".

The main characters in the series
1. Isabella "Bella" Swan – The protagonist of the series, teenager Bella is a perpetually clumsy "danger magnet", with dark brown hair and brown eyes.
2. Edward Cullen – Edward is a vampire who lives with a coven of like-minded vampires known as the Cullen family, who feed on animals rather than humans. Like some vampires, Edward has a supernatural ability, mind reading; it allows him to read anyone's thoughts within a few miles radius. Bella is immune to his power as a human, but learns how to lower this "shield" after her transformation to a vampire.
3. Jacob Black – He resurfaces in New Moon with a much larger role, becoming a werewolf and Bella's best friend as she struggles through her depression over losing Edward. Although he is in love with Bella, she initially sees him as just her best friend. In Eclipse Bella realizes that she loves Jacob as well, though this love is overpowered by her love for Edward Cullen.

WWE Wrestlemania 26

It was announced via an official press conference that World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s Wrestlemania 26 Pay-Per-View will be held in Glendale, Arizona. The state of Arizona had begun the bidding process several years ago to get the event in 2010. Wrestlemania 26 will most likely start at 7 PM EST on Sunday, March 28, 2010. Wrestlemania 26's location will be held at the University of Phoenix stadium which hosted Super Bowl XLII. The Arizona venue which can be arranged to hold over 71,000 fans should be just as jam-packed and it should bring a week's worth of great events to the Glendale area including superstar appearances, interactive exhibits and autograph signings. Wrestlemania 26 is sure to include many of the same great wrestlers and more exciting matches. Fans are already speculating who will be the defending champions as the event approaches. There's early speculation that the 2010 WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony would be held right down the road at US Airways Arena. The arena in downtown Phoenix is currently the home of the NBA basketball franchise, the Phoenix Suns. As for possible names to go into the 2010 Hall of Fame for WWE, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Honky Tonk Man and "Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase have all been mentioned as rumors. 2009's ceremony saw the Texas Rattlesnake, Stone Cold Steve Austin inducted along with Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and longtime WWE announcer Howard Finkel.

Click here for the following information for ticket prices and promos for Wrestlemania XXVI.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse will hit theaters in 2010. This is the third sequel of Twilight series. The Eclipse Plot: The vampire Victoria (James's mate from Twilight) has created an army of "newborn" vampires to battle the Cullen family and murder Bella for revenge. Meanwhile, Bella is impelled to choose between her relationship with Edward and her friendship with Jacob. Edward's vampire family and Jacob's werewolf pack join forces to successfully destroy Victoria and her vampire army. In the end, Bella chooses Edward's love over Jacob's and agrees to marry him. The story is set primarily in the town of Forks, Washington, where Bella and her father, Charlie Swan, live. Other cities in Washington briefly appear in the series or are mentioned, such as Port Angeles, Olympia, Seattle and La Push. Some events in Twilight take place in Phoenix, Arizona, where Bella was raised. Volterra, Italy, is featured in New Moon, when Edward travels there to commit suicide and Bella rushes to save him. Jacksonville, Florida, is mentioned first in Twilight and second in Eclipse, when Edward and Bella visit Bella's mother, who has moved there with her new husband. Twilight is a series of four vampire-based fantasy/romance novels by American author Stephenie Meyer. It charts a period in the life of Isabella "Bella" Swan, a teenage girl who moves to Forks, Washington and falls in love with a 104-year-old vampire named Edward Cullen. “Twilight Series: Eclipse” hits theaters on June 30, 2010, and “Twilight Saga: New Moon” comes out on November 20, 2009. I am more than happy with the fact that "Eclipse" is being made. The fact is that many of the special effects which are going to be made in "New Moon" can be used again for "Eclipse" so any director should have no problem implementing into both movies. Also, if the same casts for the werewolves were used and the same actress for Victoria was used (the one from Twilight) it would make things a heck of a lot easier on everybody.

There's something about Mary

MANILA, Philippines - Watching a movie with a twist can be a very entertaining experience. For one, it keeps the audience on their toes, guessing what’s going to happen next to the protagonist. Sometimes, the revelation towards the end also serves as the icing to the cake as it gives a smooth finish to an already intricately compelling plot. In some films, the twists can become unnecessary. But in the case of All About Steve, the recent 20th Century Fox boy-meets-girl offering for the big screen, the twists are justified because they can satisfy. Mary Horowitz, played by Sandra Bullock, is a quirky cruciverbalist — a crossword puzzle designer, for a newspaper. The insanely-smart-kind-of-autistic Mary, who can come up with any number of synonyms for any word at a moment’s notice and can drive people nuts with her incessant blabbering, is socially inept and stuck living at home with her parents. This failure-to-launch prompts Mr. & Mrs. Horowitz to set their daughter up on a blind date with Steve (Bradley Cooper), a cameraman for a national news network who turns out to be pleasingly charming and outstandingly good-looking. The date goes well — for the first five minutes — until Mary, who thinks that this is her last chance to be “normal”, is all over him. As soon as Steve realizes how clingy and awkwardly weird Mary is, he comes up with some bogus news emergency and bolts right out of the date, and hopefully of his date’s life. But Mary is as persistent as an eight year old who’s had her first crush. The cunning cruciverbalist proves to be intent on having a happily-ever-after with Steve and follows him to wherever news hotspot he is at, keen on catching the eye of the man of her dreams. This seemingly teenaged infatuation propels the plot of what could be the most peculiar film in Bullock’s body of work since Miss Congeniality. To some who may be used to Bullock playing the role of an empowered role model (a cop-turned-beauty-queen in Miss Congeniality and a bully editor-in-chief for a publishing house in The Proposal), seeing her play Mary Horowitz can be uncomfortable at some minor points in the movie. But Bullock’s infallible sincerity and dedication in playing this role get us accustomed to the idiosyncratic Mary, and make it bearable for all of us as we experience the highs and lows of the character as the plot progresses. To a certain level, the eccentric individuality of Mary is made easier to digest by Bullock’s seemingly unlimited supply of cuteness in her acting.

Cooper utilizes his patented formula of cute-eyes-cum-gorgeous-smile-combo in this film. Initially introduced to the audience in the guise of Mary’s blind date Steve, Cooper easily captivates the ladies with the same charm that won him acclaims for the 2009 romantic-comedy He’s Just Not That Into You — the very same charm that attracted Jennifer Aniston and Renée Zellweger in real life. The iconic revelation as an actor in this film is Thomas Hayden Church, more familiar to the Filipino audience as Sandman in the 2007 blockbuster Spider-Man 3. Church plays the scheming newsman Hartman Hughes, Steve’s tag-team partner in chasing down the hottest headlines. Keen on nailing that news anchor post at the CCN News and eager for that career-defining story that will propel him to Pulitzer greatness, Hartman encourages Mary to believe that Steve is truly in love with her. Church’s portrayal of Hartman is hilarious, especially when his character finds delight in tormenting Steve on a regular basis. (Case in point: those moments when he encourages Mary to believe that Steve indeed has feelings for her.) Adding humor to the film is the true-to-life rivalries between various news networks and incredible things reporters do to achieve higher ratings. And the twist of the story? Well, this story is not all about Steve, as the title states. This is all about Mary Horowitz, (an otherwise annoying character performed so endearingly by Bullock) and her uncompromising tale of how she dared challenge our standards of what’s “normal and proper.” Indeed, there’s something about Mary that makes us realize that sometimes, those who don’t fit in are the ones that stand out and become heroes in the end.

Sports Unlimited bags CMMA award

MANILA, Philippines - ABS-CBN’s Sports Unlimited hosted by Dyan Castillejo and Marc Nelson, received the Hall of Fame award for the Best Sports Program in the 2009 Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA). The award was clinched this year, after Sports Unlimited has secured the Best Sports Show citation for three years (in 2005, 2006 and 2008). Dyan, accompanied by her son Matthew Garcia, accepted the award in behalf of Sports Unlimited team. Marc was abroad at the time of the awards night. The hosts take pride in everything that the show stands for. To them, Sports Unlimited is in the business of adventure, health and fitness. “Our product is active life. Our office is outdoors,” they say. When it comes to action and adventure, the Sports Unlimited crew with Marc and Dyan set the standard. It is the only show that thrives on “firsts.” Marc was the first ever non-pilot in the country to ride an Alpha fighter jet. It was the same show that had their hosts trek the peak of Mt. Pinatubo and swim inside its crater for the first time. They were also the first to reach the peak of Mt. Kinabalu, the highest mountain in Southeast Asia, 14,000 feet above sea level and the first, too, to make it to the top of Mt. Pulag, almost 10,000 feet above Luzon. The Sports Unlimited team dared for the first time ever to attempt a nine-hour open sea journey on jet skis from Lucena to Boracay and they made it successfully. The team is proud of the show’s ability to give in depth, interesting sports coverages with exclusive interviews and unexpected features, mostly of the world’s very best athletes. Catch Sports Unlimited Saturdays.

Katy Perry live in Manila postponed to November 14

MANILA, Philippines - Due to the unfortunate circumstances brought about by Typhoon Ondoy to our neighboring cities, the event on Saturday, October 3 is postponed to November 14, 2009 at the Mall of Asia Concert Grounds. The concert is said to be the biggest fund raiser concert for the typhoon victims as foreign and local artists will be supporting the cause in Katy Perry’s lead. Typhoon Ondoy (international name Ketsana) hit Philippine soil in the morning of Sept 26, 2009. Many underestimated its strength. Unexpectedly, downpour was reported to be the heaviest rain in more than 40 years on Metro Manila and neighboring areas. The nine-hour deluge left some areas of Metro Manila under 20 feet of water. The situation got thousands of people stranded on the streets, families loosing their homes and lively-hoods, relatives left unaccounted for and people struggling for survival. Three days after the typhoon, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said it has accounted for 1.87 million affected people, 250 dead, 37 missing, 374,890 of which were sheltered in 607 makeshift evacuation camps and schools around Metro Manila, Rizal and other areas in Luzon, an image truly heartbreaking. Seven days after the typhoon Ondoy, the Philippines is threatened again by 2 typhoons, one of which is confirmed to be a super typhoon named “Pepeng.” According to reports, Pepeng is anticipated to hit yet again northern Luzon later this afternoon until early Saturday morning (October 3). With this strike, no one knows how this will affect the country but it’s best to prepare for the worse. It is for this reason that Music Management International (MMI) and All Youth Channels Inc (AYC) postponed the Katy Perry, Live in Manila concert happening supposedly this October 3. Set to make the concert much bigger, better and more relevant, the two companies will be transforming Katy Perry’s concert into a fund raising gig scheduled on November 14, 2009 still at the Mall of Asia Concert Grounds. According to Ronald Esguerra, AYC’s Marketing and Communications Director, “we are currently working on foreign and local artists to join the cause. We feel that through the universal language of music, we will be able to unite and move everyone to help out.” The fund raiser’s net proceeds will be awarded to an agency that has actively and efficiently been deploying donations and aid to the typhoon victims. Name of agency is yet to be announced at a later date. The concert would also be an avenue for people to drop off their donations as it houses booths specifically intended for it. Donations in kind like food, water, clothes, blankets and medicines are welcome. We highly encourage everyone bring at least one item to donate. These items will be deployed to victims of the tropical storm. This event is presented by Smart Buddy, me na me talaga! and co-presented by McDonald’s, SM Mall of Asia and U92. Special thanks to the official hotel residences: Makati Shangri-La Hotel and Edsa Shangri-La Hotel; participating sponsors: 7 Pecados, Armvet Printing Company, Music Management International, Pioneer Insurance, Polyeast Records – EMI and Penshoppe; official TV partner ABS-CBN; other media partners: Business Mirror, Business World, Manila Bulletin, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philstar.Com, Pinoy Exchange and Web.com.ph; and official radio partners: RX 93.1, Mellow 94.7, 96.3 WROCK, Yes FM 101.1 and Y101

Rihanna speaks for victims of domestic violence

Rihanna (photo) says dealing with the media attention after being assaulted in February by ex-boyfriend Chris Brown was humiliating. But she now hopes to speak for young women who are afraid to talk openly about domestic violence. The 21-year-old pop star told Glamour magazine in an interview posted on-line that the police photo of her bruised face that was leaked to reporters added insult to injury. After the assault, she awoke to find helicopters circling her house and reporters swarming her street. “I felt like I went to sleep as Rihanna and woke up as Britney Spears,” she said. Rihanna said she felt disappointed and taken advantage of, especially when she heard that the two officers under investigation for leaking her photo were women. “I felt like people were making it into a fun topic on the Internet, and it’s my life,” she said. Rihanna said she didn’t realize how much her decisions affected people she didn’t know, like her many fans. She feels stronger, wiser and more aware now, she added. “Domestic violence is a big secret,” Rihanna said. “The positive thing that has come out of my situation is that people can learn from that. I want to give as much insight as I can to young women, because I feel like I represent a voice that really isn’t heard. Now I can help speak for those women.” Brown, 20, pleaded guilty to felony assault in June. He was sentenced to five years’ probation, six months of community labor and a year of domestic violence counseling for the attack.