Forza Horizon 3

The Horizon Festival goes Down Under in this latest installment of the Forza Horizon series and unlike any other Horizon Festivals you've been through since the first one, Forza Horizon 3 puts you in charge of Horizon Australia as your goal is to make this Horizon Festival a success while driving a roster of fast cars on Australian roads, a dream come true for the discerning petrolheads living the life of the location ubiquitous for shooting promo videos and commercials on new cars.

Forza Horizon 3

For a skeptical car enthusiasts, the reason why Australia is picked on this installment is not just because of the breathtaking scenery courtesy of the beaches, the jungles, the outback, but for some, it was considered to be a universal automotive playground because every time when a new car launches, it has to look good to do some PR stuff by driving around Australian roads. Most car commercials, obviously Korean and Japanese ones, done that on purpose, and in Forza Horizon 3, it's a great honor to feature Australia on this installment.

Apart from driving the hero cars of the game such as the Lamborghini Centenario and the all-new Ford F-150 Raptor, Forza Horizon 3 features a stellar lineup of half-a-century of cars. From rare classics, timeless supercars, muscle cars, extreme offroaders, Aussie utes and now three-wheelers and buggies, every car has their own unique characteristics and how to live it up to these machines is up to you. As you drive through Australian roads, you get the feeling that you're not alone because there is now a new Convoy feature where a push of the horn will lure Drivatars and they will follow you until you opt them out. This nifty free roam feature surely comes in handy when you're in a middle of a lonely situation. Apart from that, customization has been a key aspect of FH3 car ownership and in some cars, bodykits are now added to the mix, courtesy of top companies such as Liberty Walk and Rocket Bunny. Here's your chance to add some cool body kits on your JDM faves such as the Toyota 86!

By fulfilling certain conditions, you can engage a new Drone Mode feature where you can use a drone to fly freely through the Australian roads. Perfect for reconnaissance on barn finds when told or following a certain drivatar/car for the fun of it. 

In Forza Horizon 3, you are now the boss of this festival and as the honorary boss of the Horizon Australia, your top priority is to expand the festival to become the most successful by taking on races, take on showcase events, complete Bucket List challenges, even hire Drivatars to your preference. You can even create your own challenges courtesy of Horizon Blueprint. Want to set a fast time on a Isetta? Challenge accepted. Drift a three-wheeler? No problem. Need a race with just JDMs or American cars or Europeans? After you. Thanks to Horizon Blueprint, you can come up with tons of challenges from your little imagination and let your friends take on yours whatever they like.

Music has been part of the Forza Horizon culture since the beginning and in FH3, it offers an eclectic playlist of songs from house music, rock, metal, hip hop, even classical as well. Didn't like the playlist FH3 offered? Don't worry because if you got Groove Music active, you can bring the playlist to FH3, either from your Groove Music subscription or your songs stored on your OneDrive cloud storage.

Community plays a key role in the franchise and in Forza Horizon 3, it offers the same community favorites from tuning, designing, picture-taking, and so on. In online multiplayer, not only you can compete or joining the fun with other players but, for the first time, you can play cooperatively to complete certain objectives. Apart from that, the auction house makes a comeback and you can either auction your car you don't want or bid for a certain car of your liking, even the ultra-rare Horizon Edition cars packed with special skills that will level up the playing field to your preference.

Because Forza Horizon 3 is one of the XBOX One games that feature a "play anywhere" capability, you can play not just on the XBOX One but also on Windows 10 PCs as well.

So, thoughts about Forza Horizon 3? With our dream of living the fantasy of being on a universal automotive playground that is Australia fulfilled as well as new features that will keep us longing for more, this is destined to be one of the best driving games of 2016 by a margin and with so much possibilities to explore, it will make players coming back for more.

The festival is yours.

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: North Korea criticized at IAEA meeting

The top officials at the general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency have condemned North Korea for its nuclear and missile programs.

At the 60th annual IAEA meeting in Vienna, Austria, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said the issue remains a matter of serious concern as he called it a growing threat to peace and security in northeast Asia and beyond.

Japanese State Minister of Cabinet Office, Hirotaka Ishihara, told the session that North Korea's threat to the international community has reached a new level. He called Pyongyang's actions unacceptable and a serious challenge to the international regime of nuclear non-proliferation.

A delegate from the European Union expressed serious concern over the situation and urged North Korea to renounce its nuclear and missile development.

Participants at the meeting will discuss on how to deal against North Korea's provocations as they are expected to adopt a resolution criticizing the North before the five-day meeting ends this Friday.

Source: NHK World

Getting to know Milo Murphy's Law!

There's a new show airing on Disney XD this October. It's about this smart teenage boy and he gets into all sorts of trouble while having the "best day ever". It's called Milo Nurphy's Law and there are a few reasons why you should like this new cartoon.

At first glance, you can imagine that this new Disney cartoon looks and feels like our longtime favorite Disney cartoon, Phineas and Ferb, and that's true because this new show is made by the same people behind Phineas and Ferb. Yep, the blokes behind the new show, Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh were responsible for it and while the two shows are different, they both share the same mantra; making your boring day very exciting with a little imagination...and obviously, some thrills.

Just like Phineas and Ferb, the new show features two 15-minute episodes every week (and rarely a full 30-minute episode mix in with them) and every episode; Milo Murphy (voiced by comedian Wierd Al Yankovic) and pals get through all sorts of trouble; be it runaway train, falling debris, natural calamities, even getting abducted by aliens.

Yes, I witnessed the first two adventures of Milo and pals; Zack and Melissa, and with everything falling on them, this new show packs some good vibes and there's a reason to smile about it. For a walking disaster like Milo, this show got our excitement flowing through our veins and we really wish our life is as thrilling as Milo's, if we're prepared for the worst because the worst things to come could be our best day ever and this new show means a lot.

Milo Murphy's Law is airing on Disney XD on the 3rd of October. Check local listings. For those with the WATCH Disney XD app can watch the pilot episode anytime.

Image: Disney

Let's Do The News! (September 27, 2016)

- Senator Leila de Lima countered a new batch of accusations by the administration, saying evidence against her are fake while the killings are real. As a human rights lawyer, De Lima lamented that the real issue are the deaths of thousands which she described as "tragic." She said these acts continue unabated.

- Three more Zika virus cases were confirmed by the Department of Health, upping the total number of reported cases to 12.  The Zika case documented in Cebu City last week turned out to be a pregnant woman, according to the press briefing.

- According to Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay, the US officials are concerned over the Philippines' next steps on the dispute over the South China Sea, but the Philippines is not keen on discussions with other parties beside China. Recalling his meeting with officials in Washington, Yasay assured that Manila works within the bounds of the ruling of the international arbitral tribunal on the maritime row to move forward.

- Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump sized each other out, head-to-head, in their first Presidential Debate held at Hofstra University, New York City. The two are tackling topics regarding race, national security, and the economy while dealing against each other. At the end of the debate, Clinton stood tall against Trump. What's even more amazing is that Clinton even mentioned the beauty queen that Trump called her "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping". That beauty queen she mentioned was none other than Alicia Machado, a Venezuelan who won the 1996 Miss Universe and she's set to become an American citizen, in time for the elections. The next debate will be on the 9th of October at the Washington University in St. Louis, MO.

- Over 200 are reportedly killed on the resumed fighting in Syria, according to a human rights group. The government troops and rebels entered a temporary ceasefire on the 12th of September but fighting soon resumed with the launch of air raids by government forces in the northern city of Aleppo.

- Jeep unveiled the new-generation Compass crossover in Brazil and it's set to be available in the US in early 2017. 

2017 Jeep Compass

- Chika Takami from Love Live! Sunshine!! gets her own Nendoroid! Order books are now open for the Nendoroid modeled after the Aqours leader starting at 3,241 Yen plus tax while deliveries will take place this February.

Nendoroid Chika Takami

- Matt LeBlanc will host Top Gear for two more seasons alongside budding presenters Chris Harris and Rory Reid, according to reports.

- The names of the first two of three episodes that you can expect on the 2017 season of BBC's Sherlock are named. The first two will be titled "The Six Thatchers" and "The Lying Detective" while the Season 4 finale has yet to be titled.

TTFN!!!

The Magnificent Seven (2016 film)

The Western take on the legendary Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai gets a modern reboot for the 21st century and for the 2016 rebirth of the legendary spaghetti western flick, The Magnificent Seven, this revival wants to capture even the most astute of movie critics who experienced the original version since 1960.

The Magnificent Seven (2016 film)

With a star-studded cast including Chris Pratt, Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, among many others, this new Magnificent Seven wants to be a bloody action film for thrill-seekers but sadly, it wasn't made the cut compared to the original version that was considered to be one of the most memorable spaghetti western flicks of the last century. In this film, it's about a group of seven vigilantes band together in a quiet town to foil the crutches of a tyrannical businessman Bogue, who rules the quiet town with an iron fist.

At first, you may feel that this is just your average action flick set in the Wild Wild West but once you got glued on that film for too long, you are getting the idea that while it sounds bland compared to hit action movies this year, it's still worth capturing the eyes of moviegoers who doesn't care which movie they'll watch. It maybe mediocre and shallow, the new Magnificent Seven is worth entertaining to watch and while this is somewhat enjoyable to watch compared to the best of action movies of 2016, the new Magnificent Seven feels and sounds just like what the original 1960 version behaves...but in the slightest way, of course.

Reviving a decade-old legend is a hard act to follow and this film tried so hard to capture the essence of a legendary spaghetti western flick but in the end, this is just another eye-gluing film that once you're glued to the film, you can't get away until the film ends.

My rating: 3.1 out of 5

Let's Do The News! (September 26, 2016)

- According to Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Charles Jose, President Rodrigo Duterte may discuss the maritime dispute in the South China Sea if it comes up during his Vietnam visit. Duterte's scheduled to visit Vietnam from September 28th to the 20th and is scheduled to meet with his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Dai Quang and pay a courtesy call on other top leaders of the Vietnamese government.

- Typhoon Helen (Megi) continues to move closer to the Batanes-Taiwan area, according to PAGASA. The typhoon is still expected to gain strength as it hovers over bodies of water before hitting southern Taiwan. Although it is unlikely to make landfall in the Philippines, Helen is forecast to bring strong winds and heavy rains over the extreme northern Luzon, which was still reeling from the past two cyclones; Ferdie (Meranti) and Gener (Malakas).

- The Philippine National Police will soon conduct Oplan Tokhang at TV stations to go after celebrities who are involved into illegal drugs, part of the Duterte administration's controversial and ongoing war against drugs.

- An explosion in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, on Saturday night injured two police officers; male and a female. The government says the blast was apparently targeted at police personnel. A shrapnel was recovered from the site of the blast and police are looking for a man in his 20s who was recorded on CCTV near the site but no further information was given.

- The suspect behind the deadly shooting at Cascade Mall in Burlington, WA, last Friday night, was arrested. The shooter, who killed five people at a mall with a rifle, was identified as Arcan Cetin, a 20-year-old Turkish national and legal permanent resident in the US. Cetin was arrested last year in Island County, according to reports. The suspect was formally charged and will be booked into the Skagit County Jail, police officials added.

- SEAT will introduce their Ateca X-Perience Concept at next week's Paris Motor Show, based on the recently launched Ateca crossover utility vehicle.

- Yes, you heard it. Saitama returns as the hit TV anime series One-Punch Man gets a sequel.

- A special episode of Is the Order a Rabbit??, announced last May, will get special theatrical screenings across Japan.

- The talent management where Charice manages, Cleverbox Events, are facing estafa over cancelled concerts the Filipino singer should have performed in other countries. According to reports, the estafa case was filed by a certain promoter/producer against the said talent management because they failed to agree on the supposed concerts from Charice to Rome, Dubai, and Switzerland that was originally scheduled on the 10th to the 18th of September.

TTFN!!!

Jubilee of Mercy: Jubilee for Catechists

Jubilee of Mercy logo

The Jubilee of Catechists, which is part of the ongoing Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, took place on the St. Peter's Square from the 23rd to the 25th of September, 2016, and this event reflects on the theme based on Caravaggio's painting "The Call of Saint Matthew", offered for linguistic groups in the following churches such as the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi, the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Basilica of San Giovanni Battista dei Fiorentini, the Basilica of Sant'Andrea della Valle, the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, and many others.

Pope Francis celebrated the Jubilee for Catechists during the Holy Mass, which occurred earlier.

The next event for the ongoing Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy will be the Marian Jubilee, happening on the 8th of October.