As the the end of this season of Formula One draws nearer than you think, the heated duel between the two Mercedes drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, is still burning on to the bitter end and the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas is just one of the latest examples of their heated rivalry for the title.
With Hamilton won the race and Rosberg placed second, the gap between them is now 26 points, Rosberg's 331 compared to Hamilton's 305, and with only three races left on the season, we can expect a very close race between the two Mercedes aces.
The next race is on Mexico this 30th of October, 2016.
After fans hanging out with the previous five installments of THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS STARLIGHT MASTER range, inspired from the hit app game THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS Starlight Stage, there is now a sixth installment of the range and it's going to get a lot romanesque.
THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS STARLIGHT MASTER 06 Love∞Destiny
Those who already played the song titled "Love∞Destiny" from a relaxing Debut to the finger-crippling Master difficulty setting finally get what they deserved because the full version of the said song, as heard in-game, can now be yours to listen while you relax your fingers after spending the whole day crippling your fingers to finish that song from the easiest to the most difficult of settings. Because it has that romantic feeling on that song, which stars Mayu Sakuma, Karen Hojo, Riina Tada, Chieri Ogata, and Miho Kohinata, you can expect coming back on this song for more as much as you enjoyed it in-game.
Aside from that cover song, there are two new songs you can listen out for keeps such as 青空リレーション by Aiko Takamori, and PANDEMIC ALONE by Syuko Hoshi.
Be sure to collect the latest installment as well as the others (if you haven't done that) before the next one arrives and keep playing THE IDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls Starlight Stage for more!
Before we say goodbye to the Kalos region, the definitive collection of songs heard throughout the course of the XY&Z season that was aired last fall until now are now here in Pocket Monsters XY&Z Character Song Project Collection Vol.2.
Pocket Monsters XY&Z Character Song Project Collection Vol.2
Pocket Monsters XY&Z Character Song Project Collection Vol.2 [Limited Edition A]
Pocket Monsters XY&Z Character Song Project Collection Vol.2 [Limited Edition B]
This is the complete and definitive set of songs heard throughout the series. The songs that were previously included on Volume 1 are now added with new songs such as the Serena version of the Shoko Nakagawa hit song Doridori, Kirakira by Clemont, the Pikachu song made in honor of the face of the Pokemon franchise, which is Pikachu, Meowth's ballade, and as an added bonus, a movie version of the show's theme song, XY&Z, as heard from Pokemon the Movie: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel last summer. The definitive collection of Pokemon XYZ theme songs, as penned by the man who orchestrated this Character Song Project since the start, Tomohisa Sako, makes our Kalos sendoff a sweet soiree before we say au revoir to the XYZ saga and aloha to next month's Sun and Moon saga.
There are two limited editions offered. First, there's a special "shiny" Altaria card featuring Tomohisa Sako himself, who made a special guest appearance on the show as one of the opponents during the Kalos league arc of the show as well as a special DVD packed with special interviews by Tomohisa Sako, Rica Matsumoto (Japanese CV of Ash/Satoshi), and the others. Then, the other one has a special Ash-Greninja card and a special DVD featuring textless opening and closing sequences as seen on the XYZ anime.
As always, the folks behind the Pokemon XYZ congratulates everyone for being part of their Kalos journey since the start and they will look forward for your next adventure on the Alola region on Pokemon Sun and Moon, airing on TV Tokyo this November 17, the day before both the 3DS games were launched. Until then, au revoir, Kalos!
- President Rodrigo Duterte said that his Japanese visit will be a valuable opportunity to deepen and broaden the Philippines' relationship with Japan. Duterte leaves Tuesday for a three-day visit to Japan following PM Shinzo Abe extended the invitation on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Laos last month. He also mentioned that he will be paying a courtesy call on Japanese Emperor Akihito, saying the visit "imbued with great and special significance".
- The training squadron of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force arrived in Manila yesterday for a goodwill visit to the Philippines to enhance friendship with the Philippine Navy. The visit includes a series of engagements between the PN personnel and their counterparts such as ship tour, courtesy call to navy leadership, goodwill games and receptions for cultural exchanges.
- Former PAGCOR chairman Cristino Nagulat and 10 others were charged for plunder and graft over an alleged anomalous lease deal with a private company. The case stemmed from the disbursement of P234 million in public funds as payment to VMC for the lease of a property in Manila that would be used for a casino gaming facility.
- Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is on her trail at a rally Manchester, New Hampshire, alongside Senator Elizabeth Warren, to contrast her plans to confront the country's challenges with reckless remarks from her Republican rival Donald Trump. Both Democrats and Republicans in New Hampshire are uniting to reject Trump's statements while Clinton highlighted reports today of a suit against Trump's New Jersey golf club by a former employee, alleging a hostile workplace where he was harassed because he is gay.
- A shocking report told that soldiers are being told to repay thousands in old enlistment bonuses as the California National Guard tries to recoup money from soldiers who accepted bonuses a decade ago for enlisting to serve to the United States during times of war.
- Fisker returns with a teaser of its new electric vehicle.
- Hyundai Motor Company showcases some teaser sketches for their next-generation Grandeur saloon.
Sixth-generation Hyundai Grandeur teaser sketch
- The new BMW 5-Series goes action packed in a BMW Films movie called The Escape, featuring actor Clive Owen.
- HOLD IT! There's a Ryuichi Naruhodo (Phoenix Wright) figma added on the court record of Phat! The hero of the Gyakuten Saiban (Ace Attorney) franchise can be yours to order for 6,800 Yen plus tax and deliveries will commence this May. OBJECTION!
As everybody around the road are very busy doing things in Forza Horizon 3, there are new cars arrived in the game courtesy of its Smoking Tire Car Pack and what better way to honor the latest car pack by driving one of the cars offered such as this one; the most extreme Aston Martin ever made for track racing in mind called the Vulcan.
Weird for car that sounded like either a volcano or a kind of machine gun fit for heavy machinery or a video game villain holding a machine gun but anyway, the Aston Martin Vulcan. What is it, then?
Forged from Aston Martin's motorsport knowhow, the Vulcan is a track-only machine that incorporates most of its racing pedigree to create the most intense and exhilarating vehicle to date. Limited to just 24 examples worldwide, the Vulcan uses a 7.0L V12 engine producing over 800HP of power output, making it the most powerful Aston Martin ever made. It was mated to a 6-speed sequential shift gearbox from Xtrac.
Apart from its monstrous power output, the Vulcan's power-to-weight ratio is beyond compare to their GTE-class cars which compete in the FIA's World Endurance Championship, courtesy of its carbon fiber monocoque and body constructed by Multimatic. It even comes with integral LSD, magnesium torque tube with carbon fiber propeller shaft and Brembo racing calipers acting on carbon ceramic racing disc brakes.
Although it certifies most of the FIA's safety regulations, it wasn't made to compete in various motorsport activities but instead, customers are offered with exclusive track day events to demonstrate the Vulcan's driving potential on the track. They even offered simulators which was used to be reserved for Formula One use in order to help customers prepare for any race. All these packaging for the Vulcan is part of the "Q by Aston Martin" bespoke personalisation service, which comes with a special VIP service for clients.
Like all track-only cars, the Vulcan wasn't made to race on the track because it's too loud and it's too illegal to drive it on the road but because you're in Forza Horizon 3, no one's stopping you from driving the most extreme Aston Martin ever made and so am I.
Upon witnessing my first dibs on the Vulcan, I never realized that it was that tricky to master this machine because with all that power unleashed on the rear wheels, getting off the line is a challenging task and apart from that, the Vulcan requires precise driving skills to handle it with precision because there is a chance of understeer if you don't get your timing right on the tight corners. Worse, you could be missing a few checkpoints and you're going to redo the whole set over again.
Which reminds me of the shooting I made for this car...
As the famous Game of Thrones dialogue that goes "Brace Yourselves, Winter is Coming", the Vulcan has been vulcanized for its shooting at Surfers Paradise but one major make-up has been made before its filming day round the metropolis; it now gets themed after Lily Shirogane, a character who appears from the Aikatsu Stars anime series. Yep, there goes that "Winter is Coming" feeling everytime she appears. He he he...
Anyway, no time to have my phone ringing to the sound of PPAP, it's time to do some filming! Lights! Motor! Action!!!
After several takes later, it's a wrap! Cut! Good take!
Although the Vulcan is a very tricky car to master because of that monstrous power output that upsets your handling if you're not very careful, getting to know about Aston's extreme racing machine is a lot more fun if you put a lot of effort to it. Challenging it may be but it can be very rewarding.
See the Vulcan and the other cars at FH3's Smoking Car pack, available now.
- Despite everything happened, the United States supports the direct dialogue negotiations between the Philippines and China in settling the South China Sea dispute, according to US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel. Russel met with Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. to discuss various issues including President Rodrigo Duterte's China visit last week.
- The latest eruption on Mt. Bulusan in Sorsogon yesterday lasted for 15 minutes, according to PHIVOLCS. The explosion, the fourth recorded in a week, produced a dirty white to grayish ash column that reached 2.5km high and drifted west-southwest.
- Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has filed a resolution directing the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs to conduct an inquiry into the alleged involvement of some PNP members in extrajudicial killings. The Senate Resolution 201 seeks to revisit the PNP Reform Act to ensure that the mandate of the police to "Serve and Protect" remains upheld.
- The French government says it will demolish a migrant camp in northern France starting Monday, according to the French interior ministry. As many as 10,000 refugees and migrants are said to be living in a camp at Calais, a port town facing Great Britain. People from Africa and the Middle East began to gather there since summer of last year, hoping to reach England.
- Turkish ground forces in Iraq begun attacking Islamic State target in the ongoing offensive to recapture Mosul. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Sunday that Turkish tanks and artillery in the nearby city of Bashiqa are bombarding the militants at the request of Kurdish forces.
- Atieva has been renamed as Lucid Motors and they are prepping their first concept electric car within the end of this year. The startup company was behind their prototype electric van that overtook the Tesla Model S and a Ferrari last summer.
- Vancouver-based video game developer United Front Games has been recently shut down. The video game developer made games such as ModNation Racers, LittleBigPlanet Racing, open-world action game Sleeping Dogs, and the recent PC multiplayer game Smash+Grab.
- The teaser trailer for the third Wolverine film, Logan, is out. Check it out.
- The Guardians of the Galaxy will return for their Vol. 2 sequel movie, which will hit theaters this May 2017.
Whoa, we thought we let that one slipped by. Anyway, on the 20th of October, 1996, about eight months after the first Pokemon games were launched on the Game Boy in Japan, the Pokemon Trading Card Game was launched and became the hallmark of the strategic card games we know and loved today. The year 2016 marks 20 years since it went out the market and this is just one of the stuff to honor the franchise' 20th anniversary.
20 Years of Pokemon Trading Card Game
For over twenty years, the Pokemon Trading Card Game has been one of the best-loved strategy card game of all time and when it became part of the Pokemon World Championship rules apart from the normal Video Game Championships, the Trading Card Championships put the elitist of the TCG players to test their intellectual strategy to overcome different opponents and aiming for the top spot at rankings. From the long list of Pokemon cards, Trainer cards, and energy cards needed to use a Pokemon's move, strategy has been a vital aspect of the game as a well-rounded deck of cards decide the fate of the players and the difference between a win and a loss is measured on the deck of cards. Of course, even if you got your hands to a more powerful and ultra-rare Pokemon card in your arsenal, you'll still be beaten by a pack of basic cards if you don't get your strategy right.
Apart from the strategy, people who turned up in a well-prepared and well-sorted deck will never know what kind of opponents they'll be facing on the table or what fate will throw on them such as the case of a coin toss that has one in two chances of making you win or lose, but whichever they'll be facing with, the Pokemon Trading Card Game really is an unpredictable game for the unprepared but it sure is a lot of fun getting to know how to play the game from the very start. Winning or losing, it's about having fun while learning a few tricks they will use on their next battle and that's how the game works for you and I.
Happy 20th anniversary to the Pokemon Trading Card Game and here's for more to collect, trade, and win on your next battles.
In the meantime, enjoy the Pokemon TCG TV commercial that looks like it was aired two decades ago.
Pokemon Card Game Art Collection
Oh yeah, be sure to check out the Pokémon Card Game Art Collection, available now. It's an artbook highlighting twenty years of illustrations featured on the cards as well as special interviews from the ones behind it. The artbook is available for 2,500 Yen plus tax at your nearest bookstores across Japan.
