San Miguel Beermen wins the PBA Philippine Cup

Image: San Miguel Beermen Beerkada Facebook page

After their decade-long decay over the PBA Philippine Cup, the San Miguel Beermen finally emerged as the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup Champions after defeating the Alaska Aces at the score of 80-78 on the seventh and the final game of the 2015 PBA Philippine Cup held at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum earlier. SMB's June Mar Fajardo and Arwind Santos was named as this year's MVPs due to their outstanding performance that wowed the crowd to victory.

Source: http://www.interaksyon.com/interaktv/june-mar-fajardo-arwind-santos-shine-as-san-miguel-wins-game-seven-claims-philippine-cup-crown

Let's Do The News! (January 21, 2015)

Welcome back. Here is your current sitrep:

- In his recent State of Union address, US President Barack Obama declared an end of the global financial crisis and pledged economic policies to benefit all Americans but such plans are deemed to be unlikely from the eyes of Republicans, who are now took control of both the House and the Senate.

- According to French PM Manuel Valls, France will boost counter-terrorism measures by creating 2,680 new jobs and boost spending by 425 million Euros following the Paris attacks that killed 17 people by Islamists.

- Following the captive of two Japanese journalists by ISIS, Japan PM Shinzo Abe pledged that this nation will not bow to terrorism and will do everything to save the captives. He returned to Tokyo after his Middle East tour that began last week.

- Chin Shunshin, a renowned Taiwanese-Japanese novelist who won Japan's Naoki Prize in 1969 for his work "The Sapphire Lion Incense Burner" died at the age of 90 at a hospital in Kobe, Japan,

- Mercedes-AMG signals the end of the M157 5.5L V8 BiTurbo engine by phasing out this engine after 2016. The upcoming GLE63 AMG Coupe was reportedly to be the last Mercedes-AMG engine to use this engine as they make the transition to its smaller 4.0L V8 BiTurbo engine first applied on the Mercedes-AMG GT sportscar.

- ICYMI: The German Grand Prix on the upcoming F1 2015 season has moved from the Nurburgring GP Circuit to the Hockenheimring.

- Developer Scott Games unveiled a teaser pic for the upcoming third installment of the ever popular Five Nights at Freddy's app game.

- Hanayo Koizumi from the Love Live! anime series gets the Nendoroid treatment! She's available this May for 3,241 Yen (plus tax). Another part to complete the girls of μ's!

- Meanwhile, Good Smile Company also announced another Takane Shijou figure from The iDOLM@STER, only this time, it replicated her pose as seen on the anime DVD/Blu-Ray cover. Made under the Phat! brand, this figure costs 8,000 Yen (plus tax) when she arrives this July. Time to get our fat checkbooks ready!

- Atoy Llave, the founder of ATOY Bodykits, made an amphibious trike called the Salamander by H20 Technologies. The Salamander could be the answer to the Philippines' flood problems because it can travel from both land and sea. It's powered by two powerplant choices; an 5kW electric motor or a 250cc internal combustion engine. It can seat up to six people (four in water). So far, it remains a prototype for now due to lack of funding. Let's hope they'll approach to a nearest Shark or Dragon and wait for their approval to invest on these.

TTFN!!!

G-Power's S63 AMG Coupe makes more power!

G-Power S63 AMG Coupe

Just because 585PS of power from its AMG 5.5L V8 twin turbo engine wasn't enough to satisfy your love for power, the folks from G-Power has tuned the S63 AMG Coupe to be as powerful as supercars can get! G-Power was known for tuning BMWs but now, they've tuned Mercedes cars as well especially as this one.

Thanks to some improvements to the AMG's 5.5L V8 BiTurbo engine that powers it especially with the additional control unit, this tuned S63 now generates up to 705PS of power and 1,000Nm of torque. 0-100kph is now 3.8 seconds and it can keep going all the way to 330kph.

Styling-wise, it wears 21-inch forged wheels wrapped with Michelin tires.

This tuning package costs 6,898 euros while the additional wheelset bumps the price to 9,095 euros.

Scoop: http://www.auto-news.de/tuning/anzeige_Irre-Leistungssteigerung-Mercedes-S-63-AMG-Coupe-Tuning-von-G-Power_id_36234

Let's Do The News! (January 19, 2015)

Welcome back. Here is your current sitrep:

- In Game 6 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals, the Alaska Aces leveled the score at 3 wins each against the San Miguel Beermen after their 87-76 win, forcing them to the final game of the finals. Game 7 will find out who wins the title this Wednesday.

- The Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots will be playing at this year's Super Bowl XLIX!

- Chad sent its forces at the request of Cameroon for a joint ops against the Islamist group Boko Haram.

- Chinese authorities detained over 1,200 people since last May in an operation to prevent illegal exists from the country. A majority of them are believed to be ethnic Uygurs.

- Japan PM Shinzo Abe says that his country will play an important role to achieve peace in the Middle East. He was speaking at a joint news conference with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday and he also said he wants to offer candid advice to both Israelis and Palestinians as a true friends. He's planning to visit the Palestinian territories on Tuesday.

- The European Union urges broad alliance against terrorism following the three days of Paris attacks caused by Islamists especially the Charlie Hebdo attack and the uncovered plot from Belgium to spread terrorism throughout Europe.

- Investigators believed that the crash of AirAsia QZ8501 was not likely due to terrorism after numerous analysis on the cockpit's voice recorder but there are signs that it was caused by bad weather.

- If you missed the livestreaming special featuring the an exclusive preview of Top Gear Series 22, that is set to air globally after UK airing next week, watch here:



- In case you missed it: Shooting for the upcoming Series 9 of Doctor Who has commenced. The upcoming series of BBC's hit TV show which stars Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman returns this late 2015.

TTFN!!!

Pope Francis in PH - Conclusion

Photo: BBC

January 18, 2015

Over six million Filipinos have been gathered at the beautiful Rizal Park last Sunday just to attend the biggest open-air mass held by Pope Francis. That is a million more than how many Filipinos gathered for Blessed John Pope II's visit in the Philippines back in 1995. The biggest mass in Filipino history is Pope Francis' last full day in the Philippines and despite the heavy rain pouring on the nation's capital due to Tropical Storm Mekhala/Amang, those six million devotees became very defiant enough to see the Pope for one final time. It was even seen on national television as well for those who couldn't make it to the venue.

And here the curtain falls on Pope Francis' Philippine tour but that does not mean that our experiences during the papal visit will end. The moments we learned during his arrival will always be remembered for generations to come.

Further reading: 

1) http://m.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30869019

2) http://news.yahoo.com/filipinos-flock-hear-pope-offer-hope-consolation-poor-060734345.html

Pope Francis in PH - Part Three

Photo: Interaksyon/TV5

January 17, 2015

It is the third day of Pope Francis' PH tour and despite strong winds and pouring rain because of the imminent Typhoon Mekhala/Amang, not to mentioned a plane carrying officials made an emergency landing at Tacloban airport, he managed to get through the city that was heavily devastated by Superstorm Haiyan/Yolanda in 2013. The worshippers are so defiant, they've braved the harsh weather just to say hi to the Pope. Because his stay at the Visayas region was cut short due to Typhoon Mekhala/Amang, the Pope apologized the public, especially those in Leyte, because he..."had something prepared especially for them".

There was a report about one woman killed after the mass, when one of the scaffolding near the stage collapsed.

With his Visayas leg cut short due to the tropical storm, the Pope is heading back to the capital to stage a mass held at the Rizal Park where ten thousands of crowds will be gathered.

Further reading:

1) http://www.interaksyon.com/lifestyle/dearpopefrancis-day-3-netizens-ask-the-holy-father-not-to-leave

2) http://www.dw.de/pope-francis-meets-haiyan-survivors-in-the-philippines/a-18197370

3) http://news.yahoo.com/pope-heading-philippines-where-adoring-crowds-await-064259265.html

4) http://m.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30859609

American Sniper (2015 film)

NAVY Seal Chris Kyle (1974-2013) has been feared and respected as the most lethal sniper in US military history. From 1999 to 2009, he has the most number of sniper kills in history and the Pentagon confirmed that he scored over 150 kills, exceeding the average American record of 109 kills, although declined to have it verified to the public. He was awarded two Silver Stars, five Bronze stars with Valor, and numerous accolades for his outstanding military records.

Based on the best selling novel according to the New York Times and directed by the masterful Clint Eastwood, American Sniper is a powerful biopic which stars Bradley Cooper as NAVY Seal Chris Kyle as moviegoers are going to capture the life and times of a soldier that inspires both fear and admiration from his enemies and allies. From his humble past up to his decade-long career as a soldier, American Sniper delivers a powerful feel that no other war movies in history could possess.

Every time this movie progresses, we're starting to getting to know more about this feared sniper everyone's been talking about from the US military. If the man in question has survived, he would have felt a slight smile in his face upon witnessing his memoir come to life, although we weren't able to meet the NAVY Seal behind this story. Actually, it's questionable if he ever did exist.

Although mixed in reactions, whether this film is either good or bad, this war movie is the main reason why we all want to go to the movies. People who witnessed it want to burn his image to their own memories and they weren't the only ones around here who witnessed it. Last year's war memoirs like Lone Survivor and Unbroken done a pretty good job delivering an unforgettable tale about how they lived to tell the tale about their experiences during the war but for American Sniper, this has been one of the most powerful war memoirs ever experienced because it delivers a "first look", "first shoot", and "first kill" experience moviegoers looking forward to. With the drama, action, and suspense, blended together, this biopic can be a great recipe of success.

My rating: 4.5 out of 5