Sparkle Me.

My wonderful friend Minnie (I'm so proud of her!) arranged for the opening of West Side Story to be a benefit show for Kythe. Please support the show!

After its highly successful staging of Footloose (2005) and Disney’s High School Musical (2007), Stages Production Specialists Inc. launches its 3rd and most ambitious production yet – West Side Story!

Touted to be the best musical of all time with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and original choreography by Jerome Robbins, this exciting production will be headed by Asia’s pop idol Christian Bautista who is perfect for the role of Tony and Joanna Ampil of Ms. Saigon fame as Maria.

West Side Story was first staged in Manila back in 1982 with Audie Gemora as Riff and Menchu Lauchengco as Maria. Happily, the Philippines’ King and Queen of Philippine Musical Theater now sit at the helm of a classic favorite which promises to bring something new for the current generation of theater goers, yet still keep all it’s charm for the generation who wishes to relive the glorious moments of the 1959 Academy Award winner Best Film. It will be revived on Broadway next year by it’s original director Arthur Laurents.

West Side Story is an intense, dramatic dance musical with many show-stopping numbers and immortal songs like “Somewhere”, “ Tonight”, “One Hand One Heart”, “America” and “Something’s Coming.”  It will be a night “like no other night”.  Come and be part of it.

The show will be on September 5, 2008. 8PM, Meralco Theater. Ticket prices are as follows:

PhP 500 - balcony sides
PhP 700 - balcony center
PhP 1000 - orchestra / lodge side
PhP 1200 - orchestra / lodge center

Proceeds from the play will be donated to Kythe, a foundation whose primary cause is children with cancer. (http://www.kythe.org) Reservations and inquiries can be sent to 0917-8676332 or minnie.fong@gmail.com.

Here's a bunch of good friends who have a lot of time on their hands and are sincerely determined (with a bit of humor) to spread Filipino Love all over the world.

--- Repost from Mickey's Site ----

Hey everyone! Do you guys have friends who want to learn Filipino?? Cris, Jov and I recently launched KalyeSpeak, its a podcast teaching Filipino, as we Filipinos speak it. So far we have 5 episodes out for Newbies.

Check it out at kalyespeak.mypodcast.com , you can subscribe to it via your iTunes (there's a button on the site!). Check it out! Leave your comments, lesson suggestions and questions. :)

We also have a multiply website that'll link you to the lessons, so add us as your friend. kalyespeak.multiply.com

My dad was the guest speaker for the Quezon National High School 2008 Commencement Exercises. I helped him write his speech, and also became his personal assistant during the event.

In one of the discussions with the principal, we got to talking about statistics:

DAD: "So, do you have statistics on how many students go to college after their high school education?"

PRINCIPAL: "Out of 100 elementary students, only [approximately] 69 students finish their elementary education. Out of those 69 students, only 20 students finish their high school education. Out of those 20 students, only 10 students finish their college education. And out of the 10 students, only ONE student gets a job."

These are shocking statistics that speak about poverty, illiteracy and ultimately, incompetence in the job market. Filipinos should not have been struggling with paying for tuition fees on basic education, because education should have been sufficiently subsidized by the government. Filipinos should not have been "finishing" school in spite of illiteracy because ideally, educational materials should sufficiently cater to learning, coupled with the constant support of teachers and parents. Filipinos should not have been finishing school and still be considered underqualified in the job market because the level of education should match the demand in the job market.

It's all just absurd. We can't even get a single aspect of public education right.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!

One more.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!

Did that make you feel better during this lull period at work, right after a long Holy Week break?

Yes.

This rut can be fun too, you know... especially, when you watch people read senseless posts like this.

You're annoyingly cheerful.

You need me.

True that.