Let's Do The News! (December 30, 2013)

The big scoop today...

Japan PM Abe's visit to Yasukuni Shrine enraged other nations

Yasukuni Shrine
Source: Getty Images

In the 26th of December, 2013, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the once-notorious Yasukuni Shrine to pay respects to those that fallen during World War II, especially those labeled as war criminals at that time. His visit may serve as the 1st anniversary since Abe regained his Prime Minister status last year but that enraged other nations heavily affected during WWII, including the United States, South Korea, China, and many others.

"I have no intention to neglect the feelings of the people in China and South Korea" Japan PM Abe said to the reporters.

This is the first time in seven years a Japanese PM entered the infamous war shrine where the dead who are honored include convicted war criminals. Former PM Junichiro Koizumi once visited that shrine before, causing a massive outrage from neighboring nations.

Report: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/12/26/257266634/japans-abe-may-have-hoped-to-anger-others-with-shrine-visit?ft=1&f=1001

Formula One legend Michael Schumacher injured in ski accident

Reports circulated all over the world that a legendary F1 racer, famed for being a 7-time world champion in the past, Michael Schumacher, was heavily injured while he was skiing in a resort in France, hitting his head on a rock even when he's wearing a helmet.

Looks like Schumi, what the doctors said, is in "critical condition" and he's heading on a state of comatose.

Report: http://www.autoblog.com/2013/12/29/schumacher-ski-accident-report/

MMA fighter Silva heavily injured during a rematch with Weidman

Anderson Silva's horrible leg injury
Image: Reuters

The rematch between UFC fighters Anderson Silva and middleweight champ Chris Weidman made the unexpected thing happened in front of the spectators here and around the world. During the fight, Silva suffered a massive leg injury while in the second round of their rematch last night on the MGM Grand Garden.

While Weidman declared himself a victor in last night's fight, medical experts placed a splint on Silva's leg and removed him from the cage on a stretcher.

Could this injury end Silva's lifelong career as an MMA fighter in the UFC?

Report: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/mixed-martial-arts-anderson-silva-39-s-career-105840941--mma.html

Manila Seedling Bank to close tomorrow

As the year ends, the tenants of Manila Seedling Bank are unhappy by the announcement that just as 2013 ends, that is tomorrow, Manila Seedling Bank closes its doors ever since it has violations of the QC Revenue Code and the National Building Code.

Report: http://www.interaksyon.com/article/77699/goodbye-fireflies--manila-seedling-bank-to-close-on-december-31

First 2015 Mustang to be auctioned...

2015 Ford Mustang

The first unit of the all new 2015 Ford Mustang will be auctioned at next month's Barrett-Jackson auctions and proceeds will go to JDRF, a global organization that funds type 1 diabetes research. 2014 marks the Mustang's 50th birthday and Ford would love to do something special for the new Mustang by auctioning their first new model to charity.

Report: http://www.topgear.com.ph/news/industry-news/first-retail-unit-of-all-new-ford-mustang-to-be-auctioned-off

TTFN!!!

REMEMBERING 2013 - Part Five

Hello, and welcome to the fifth part of my year-ender called Remembering 2013. I'll be randomly listing stuff that came throughout 2013. From good things, bad things, best things, worst things, whatever you name it, that year-ender list is on me. It's on my head so let's get cracking!

Syria Uprising

One of the major news regarding the whole Syria Uprising is the chemical weapons issue. Since late August 2013, tons of Syrian people were killed by the chemical weapons, especially children. They're putting the blame on Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and if that wasn't enough, US President Obama asked Congress for a military strike against Syria but the strike was averted thanks to Russian president Vladimir Putin asking Syria to hand over their chemical weapons.

Because they have a large stockpile of chemical weapons, it will take a billion dollars and a year to dismantle those. But still, Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moallem expressed his government's intention to abide by the UNSC's resolution demanding the elimination of the country's chemical weapons.

Russian president Putin is hailed as "the most powerful man in the world" according to Forbes Magazine.

Storms in the Philippines

The Philippines has been always been prone to deadlier storms but for 2013, it was the worst for us. There was Typhoon Labuyo in Luzon, Typhoon Maring with a deadly mix of hanging habagat that caught Metro Manila a week of floods since August, and the most deadliest was Superstorm Yolanda in Visayas region. Over six thousand people were killed, making this the most deadliest natural calamity in the history of the Philippines.

The October 15 quake in the Visayas Region

A huge catastrophe happened in Central Visayas! A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck the province of Bohol. The quake was tectonic in origin and occurred 2 kilometers southwest of Carmen town. It was the strongest since the 1990 Luzon Earthquake disaster.

US Government Shutdown

The biggest news in US history is the US Government Shutdown caused by the Republicans. The shutdown happened in the first of October, 2013, because of Republicans trying to deal against President Obama's affordable healthcare plan, known as Obamacare. During the shutdown, employees involve in the government were laid off, state parks and recreations are closed, and numerous bad things happened.

There is a well known risk that if the shutdown is prolonged, it will trigger another World Financial Crisis since 2008.

After 16 days of shutdown and tensions between the Demos and the Reps, US Government was reopened after US President Barrack Obama backs the approved budget bill from the Senate and the House. Not only the US Government will be reopened but the debt ceiling will be increased as well as the spending limit until January 15, 2014.

Washington Navy Yard shooting

In mid-September 2013, there was a shooting occurred at the Washington Navy Yard. 13 people are killed in the shootout, including the killer behind the DC Navy Yard shooting, 34-year-old Aaron Alexis.

Some reports said that the suspect is "obsessed with violent video games" and played them for "hours on end". Fox News interviewed University of Missouri associate professor of psychology Bruce Bartholomew who said, "More than any other media, these video games encourage active participation in violence. From a psychological perspective, video games are excellent teaching tools because they reward players for engaging in certain types of behavior. Unfortunately, in many popular video games, the behavior is violence." Wall Street Journal reported that one of Alexis' pals said he undergone marathon sessions of FPS while The Telegraph reported that he played Call of Duty and Biohazard (Resident Evil) for up to 16 hours and friends believed it could have pushed him towards becoming a killer.

iOS7

2013 signals the newest Apple iOS known as the iOS7. This latest iOS from Apple is available only to 5th generation iPod touch, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad with Retina Display, iPad Mini, as well as new models like the 5S and the 5C. To me, this new iOS kinda looks like the ones you saw from Android-powered smartphones. Anyway, Kristin.com listed the top 17 things you should check out (and turn off) right away in Apple's new iOS7 operating system.

Suzuki still king of fuel consumption

Suzuki Alto Eco

Since August 2013, Daihatsu facelifted their fuel-efficient Mira e:S and with the 33.4kmpl fuel economy, we were wondering what's going to be the response from Suzuki. Guess what? They've responded...hard. And to counterattack the e:S' fuel economy, Suzuki updated their Alto Eco to have fuel economy up to 35kmpl. 35kmpl! About the same as the Toyota Aqua hybrid but more importantly, about 1.6kmpl more than the recently facelifted Daihatsu Mira e:S!

So, how did Suzuki do it? The 660cc engine's compression ratio is now 11.2: while the combustion efficiency was improved by reshaping the piston to its smooth concave shape. The friction was reduced with the adoption of frictional resistance and the powertrain's optimized. The CVT's shift control's optimized, making it possible to run at low speeds. 2WD models also get improved heater performance and coolers as well.

With all the upgrades for the Alto Eco, looks like Suzuki Motor Corporation is acknowledging their achievement, giving the Daihatsu Mira e:S rival a run for its money. Prices now start at 838,950 Yen for the ECO-L model.

Those copycat movies...

What made me confused about 2013 is the rise of those copycat movies. You know Oblivion? Yes, it's the one with Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman in it and this sci-fi is worth the watching but when Elysium came, with Matt Damon in it...this movie feels like Oblivion to me. Then. there's Olympus Has Fallen, where a Secret Service agent, played by 300's Gerard Butler, risks everything to save the president from terrorists. Good movie though until White House Down came and sheesh, it feels like the same thing! How about This Is The End? Oh yeah, best comedy movie of 2013! Seth Rogen and his pals, you can't beat that but when a British comedy movie titled The World's End came with Nick Frost and Simon Pegg in it...hey, everything feels too familiar for me...

The Purge...very scary movie about a family trying to survive the night against a bunch of killers in one lawless night called the annual purge. Most of them got scared on this killer flick until a movie called You're Next came in and hey! You're Next kinda feels like The Purge to me.

Those copycat movies always stealing ideas from one movie to another...

Top Gear Awards 2013

Top Gear Awards 2013

BBC Top Gear Magazine listed the winners of the Top Gear Awards 2013 as they crowned the best cars of 2013 across 20 categories including picks from Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May.

McLaren P1 - Hypercar of the year, Clarkson's COTY
Ferrari 458 Speciale - Supercar of the year, May's COTY
Porsche 911 GT3 (991) - Hammond's COTY
Jaguar F-Type - Convertible of the year
Honda Mean Mower - Thing of the year
Citroen C4 Picasso - Family Car of the year
Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series - Lairy Car of the Year
Chevrolet Corvette C7 Stingray - Not The Muscle Car of the Year
Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W222) - Luxury Car of the Year
Rolls Royce Wraith - Rather Splendid Motor Car of the Year
Hyundai i10 - Bargain of the Year
Peugeot 208 T16 - Racecar of the Year
BMW i3 - Green Car of the Year
Range Rover Sport - SUV of the Year
VW XL1 - Innovation of the Year
Porsche - Manufacturer of the Year
Ford Fiesta ST - Hot hatch of the Year, TOP GEAR COTY 2013 Winner

The Richard and Maya wedding episode

In the 15th of November, 2013, there was a special Be Careful With My Heart episode where this is the first time this special episode gets its own global simulcast. Not only this special episode aired in ABS-CBN but globally via The Filipino Channel where in the same time, Filipinos worldwide get to watch the special Be Careful With My Heart episode. It's the wedding of Richard "Ser Chief" Lim (played by Richard Yap) and Maya Dela Rosa (played by Jodi Sta. Maria). Maya and Ser Chief, finally tied the knot.

Things are looking good for our favorite slice-of-life morning TV show...

Shake It Up reached its climax

Shake iT Up: I ♥ Dance

If you're an avid Disney fanatic, then you are just one of the many who enjoyed the hit teen comedy series Shake iT Up! It's the show where rising stars Bella Thorne and Zendaya played roles as CeCe Jones and Rocky Blue, two teenage girls who are part of the Shake It Up Chicago variety show and every week, the girls are into some sorts of troubles to deal with from school life, their careers as dancers on a variety show, and other stuff.

Over the past three seasons, we've seen misfits backstage, trying to impress their boss Gary, more of Flynn's misfits, rivalry between CeCe and Rocky vs. Gunther and Tinka, school life, family life, career life... international stardom, there's so much that Shake It Up has to offer and sadly, it's goodbye to this show.

In the finale, Bella got amnesia after an accident at a charity fashion show, and Rocky tried everything she can to make her best friend remember or else she might stick to rival Tinka. Anyway, but still, in the end, Bella finally remembered everything and then...poof! Happy ending with a match of production number under the final song in the last episode of Shake It Up titled Remember Me.

The Day of The Doctor

The Day of The Doctor

For the first time in the history of Doctor Who, the highly anticipated Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special, titled The Day of The Doctor, gets a global simulcast, meaning the whole world witnessed the most exciting day any Whovian would be blessed for. Matt Smith as The Eleventh Doctor, David Tennant as The Tenth Doctor, Jenna Coleman as Clara, and Billie Piper as Rose were on the TV special as well as the special participation of veteran actor John Hurt as the mysterious War Doctor. You may remember him at the end of Series 7 but anyway, the other Doctor, 400 years ago, finally makes an appearance in the special.

The most exciting part of the special is the "Gallifrey Stands" scene where the three Doctors trying to communicate with the Time Lords from Gallifrey as they'll use their TARDISes to freeze Gallifrey in a single moment of time. What surprised in this scene is the surprise teaser of the next Doctor, Peter Capaldi.

Another big surprise is the surprise appearance of former Doctor Who lead actor, Tom Baker, who played as the curator of the museum The Doctor and Clara are in. Surprises, surprises. How this special ended? When all the Doctors showed up at the ending! Quote?

At last I know where I’m going…Where I’ve always been going…Home.

Classic Doctors in the 50th? Check!

Tom Baker in the special? Yes.

Peter Capaldi? Surprise teaser.

But still, the 50th special, which is now the world's trending topic in the minds of Whovians, serves as the ultimate DW experience ever witnessed. The alien shape-shifting Zygons does add some dramatic touch, though.

Equestria Girls

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls

Finally, after years of waiting, MLP fans finally get what they wanted...well, apart from the fourth season of the show but the Equestira Girls film where we get to see our favorite ponies gone humanized in the human world. In the film, Twilight Sparkle is tasked to retrieve the crown back from an evildoer named Sunset Shimmer, only to find out that she will be travelling through the human world with her new human look while her baby dragon companion Spike turned into a cute little puppy.

The movie was shown in select cities across the US since the summer of 2013 and in autumn, it spawned a DVD release as well as a televised premiere at the Hub Network.

This is it, thanks to Equestria Girls, this is exactly what you should be cosplaying as because when you're trying to cosplay as a pony, it's impossible because ponies run on four legs while us, humans, run on two legs, so it's difficult. Instead, best to cosplay as one of the Equestria Girls. Simple.

Miami Heat is 2013 NBA Champions

Miami Heat - 2013 NBA Champions!

After 7 games, Miami Heat won the 2013 NBA Championship against the San Antonio Spurs. With thanks to Mr. Lebron "The King" Raymone James, Shane Battier, Dwayne Wade, the birdman, and the rest, they tried so hard to win the dogfight at the ring! Oh and credits to head coach, Erik Spoelstra, as well!

FnF actor Paul Walker killed in car accident

Brian's GT-R from Fast and Furious 6

It is with a truly heavy heart that we must confirm that Paul Walker passed away today in a tragic car accident while attending a charity event for his organization Reach Out Worldwide. He was a passenger in a friend's car, in which both lost their lives. We appreciate your patience as we too are stunned and saddened beyond belief by this news. Thank you for keeping his family and friends in your prayers during this very difficult time. We will do our best to keep you apprised on where to send condolences. - #TeamPW

This message was confirmed by the official Paul Walker Facebook page as The Fast and the Furious lead actor died earlier in a car crash occurred in Santa Clarita, California. Paul Walker was famous for being the former cop turned street racer Brian O'Connor from the Fast and Furious franchise. His recent FnF appearance was in Fast and Furious 6 since the summer of 2013.

Paul Walker's last photo

This is the pic in question. The photo which some say to be the last known photo taken of Paul Walker has gone viral and it was captured moments before his untimely death alongside his pal and business associate Roger Rodas, who reportedly owned the car and also a racing driver. They co-owned a tuning shop called Always Evolving.

Reports said that the Fast and Furious lead actor attended a fundraising event organized by AE and his charity organization Reach Out Worldwide. Some say that most of the beneficiaries of this event were the Superstorm Yolanda/Haiyan victims.

The end of Winamp

Winamp

Remember the Winamp? Yes, it's one of the most popular and best media player available for Windows. Users love to use Winamp to play music in Windows XP. Since AOL took over Winamp, it became less user friendly than the old one and even with upgraded versions, it seems people stopped using this software for good.

Winamp was discontinued since December 20, 2013 and here's the announcement by the company behind this memorable app:

Winamp.com and associated web services will no longer be available past December 20, 2013. Additionally, Winamp Media players will no longer be available for download. Please download the latest version before that date. See release notes for latest improvements to this last release. Thanks for supporting the Winamp community for over 15 years.

Three winning Filipina beauty queens

Megan Young, Mutya Datul, and Bea Rose Santiago. Three beauty queens of the Philippines, each of these three won different international beauty pageants. Actress Megan Young garnered the accolade as "Miss World 2013", while Mutya Datul heralded as Miss Supranational 2013, and Bea Rose Santiago became Miss International 2013.

Miss Venezuela wins Miss Universe 2013

Miss Venezuela, Maria Gabriela Isler, was hailed as Miss Universe 2013 while Miss Spain Patricia Rodriguez placed first runner-up, Miss Ecuador Constanza Baez second runner up, our very own Miss Philippines Ariella Arida third runner up, and Miss Brazil Jakelyne Oliveira is fourth runner up.

This recently concluded beauty pageant was held in Crocus City Hall, Moscow, Russia.

The thing is though that with Miss Philippines Ariella Arida part of the top 5, she is the fourth Filipina to be placed on the top 5 since 2010's Venus Raj who placed 4th runner-up, 2011's Shamcey Supsup who placed third runner-up, and last year's Janine Tugonon who placed first runner-up.

Pacquiao wins fight against Rios

"I dedicate this victory to the Filipino people. My time is not over yet!"

After twelve grueling rounds in The Venetian, Macau, it looks like Manny Pacquiao, the fighting pride of the Philippines, won the match against rival Brandon Rios by unanimous decision! I don't believe it! Two former champs come face to face in the gaming mecca of Asia, Macau, and over the course of the fight, looks like the two fighters are in the middle of crossfire of punches. In the end, there's only one person who proved that his time is not over yet.


JOIN ME AGAIN FOR PART SIX OF THIS YEAR-ENDER SPECIAL SEGMENT!

What's in our Car Town garage today? (December 29, 2013)

What's in our Car Town garage today?

2004 Acura NSX

Shortly after Honda launched their facelifted NSX for the 2002, Acura followed suit for the NSX facelift since 2004 as a 2005 model year. The biggest change is the lamps because they've replaced the old retractable headlights with a fixed squarish headlights to add some style on Honda's only midship sportscar. Midship aside, the NSX is powered by a 3.2L V6 engine which produces 290HP of power and 224lb-ft of torque.

2004 Acura NSX

1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454

Ever since General Motors lifted the ban on high displacement on midsize cars, Chevrolet's Chevelle SS 454 herald the rise of the 455-cid mills, even though this car has a 454-cid V8 engine on it. This model could actually have two different 454-cid engines but the best thing to put in the SS 454 is the one with the LS6 engine on it because it comes with the 800-cfm four-barrel on the aluminum manifold, better compression ratio, and tons of enhancements. No other engine had a higher factory horsepower rating than this when it came out in the 70's.

1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454

2000 Honda Suki's S2000

A custom machine made for Suki from 2 Fast 2 Furios, the sequel to The Fast and The Furious movie where Brian O'Connor teams up with convict Roman to take down a criminal mastermind in Miami. It uses the 2000 Honda S2000 as its base. For a tuner car, it looks stylish, fast, and drop-dead gorgeous, suiting Suki's personality as a street racer. The pink coloring adds a nice touch, too.

2000 Honda Suki's S2000

REMEMBERING 2013 - Part Four

Hello, and welcome to the fourth part of my year-ender called Remembering 2013. I'll be randomly listing stuff that came throughout 2013. From good things, bad things, best things, worst things, whatever you name it, that year-ender list is on me. It's on my head so let's get cracking!

Bee and PuppyCat

In the summer of 2013, the folks at Cartoon Hangover streamed an original web short called Bee & PuppyCat. It's created by Natasha Allegri, who is responsible for the gender-swapped episodes of Adventure Time. 

In case you never heard of it, there was a gender-swapped episode in Adventure Time. There was Fionna the Human Girl, her best pal Cake the Cat, Prince Gumball, Marshall Lee the Vampire King, and the Ice Queen. Long story short but you get the idea.

Anyway, it's about a girl named Bee who got herself sacked from the job and she made a fateful encounter with a celestial being who is a cat? Maybe a dog? Nope, it's PuppyCat, the one who sounded like a Vocaloid.

Even though it's a short, the netizens got hooked over and because of such support, the producers opted to spawn this into a series but they gonna need a lot of backing from the fans so that's why they set up a Kickstarter goal to fund as much as $600,000 to give Bee and PuppyCat a series it deserve.

It was a slow start at the first day but several weeks later and just 6 days to go before the deadline, success at last. They meet the Kickstarter goal. Just as the clock reached zero, 18,209 backers pledged $872,133. With that funding, the series will have just about 8 episodes...I think...

The Office (US) bids farewell

After 9 seasons, it's a fond farewell to everyone at the Dunder Mifflin paper company as the US version of The Office bids farewll. In the final episode, the workers of Dunder Mifflin, past and present, gather for a wedding.

The death of Cory Monteith

Fans of the hit musical TV series Glee were saddened by the news that the actor Cory Monteith, the one who played as quarterback Finn Hudson, found dead at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel. The cause of death were supposed to be...drug and alcohol abuse last Summer at the age of 31.

An episode from the latest season of Glee titled The Quarterback bids farewell to Finn Hudson and the staff of the show weren't allowed to use the actor's cause of death to send message about drug abuse and for that, Finn Hudson's death remain unknown. Because of this, the next season of Glee will be the last season...ever. Quite sad, isn't it?

Pagani Huayra is the fastest on the Top Gear track

Pagani Huayra and Richard Hammond

Since Series 19 of Top Gear began earlier this year, Richard Hammond reviews the latest Pagani hypercar, the Huayra. After the review, they lend it to The Stig and in the end, the Huayra is the fastest road-legal and streetworthy car ever to go round the Top Gear Test Track, setting a time of 1:13.8 on street legal, Zonda R-derived Trofeo tyres, beating the previous record of 1:15.1 set by the Ariel Atom V8 in January 2011.

Yes, really. Street legal Pirelli Super Trofeo tyres. Just a response from the scandal claiming that the Huayra cheated on the track but whatever.

Wander Over Yonder

Wander Over Yonder

There's a new show aired on Disney Channel titled Wander Over Yonder. Yes, just another cartoon that looks a bit...well, you get the idea, and surprisingly, it's made by the man behind PPG and Foster's. Again...Craig McCracken, the man responsible for The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, made this Disney Channel original cartoon. Quite a departure but to me, there's a lot of reason why you should like this cartoon more than the well-established ones.

Wander, the interstellar fellar who loves being happy and helping others, and his best friend and trusty steed Sylvia travel through different parts of galaxy in search of intergalactic fun-packed adventures while messing up Lord Hater, the most evil villain in the universe, and an army of Watchdogs led by Commander Peepers.

Whether if its an encounter with a flesh-eating monster, an asteroid filled with bad guys, securing a package and not open it, ignoring the troll's, well, trolling, or just getting stuff from Wander's bigger-on-the-inside hat, there's nothing more enjoyable than the newest addition to the Disney family.

Liv & Maddie

Liv and Maddie

Another newcomer to the Disney family is the Rooney twins Liv & Maddie in a new Disney Channel comedy series Liv & Maddie. They're both played by a newcomer teen star Dove Cameron.

Phineas & Ferb Mission Marvel

The first ever Phineas & Ferb crossover episode featuring Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor from The Avengers and Spider-Man. In the special episode, the Marvel heroes stand powerless when one of Doof's inators zapped away all their powers and now, it's up to Phineas, Ferb and the gang to get their powers back. One of the most surprising parts in the episode is the special cameo appearance of Stan Lee.

Tokyo will host 2020 Olympics

After much bidding, it seems that after the Rio 2016 Olympics, the next country to host the 2020 Summer Olympics is Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo blitzes Istanbul and Madrid by a long shot, although I felt kinda sad to the Spaniards after their nation got eliminated from the bids. Pity though and since Spain's on the financial brink right now, there's no way that thing could happen.

This isn't the first time Japan had hosted the Olympics because the first time they held the Summer Olympics was in 1964, which is the first Asian nation to host such an event. There was this show called Eagle Sam, which is about Sam the Eagle, the mascot of the 1984 Summer Olympics in LA and oh, the venue that was gonna used for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was featured in the post-apocalyptic masterpiece by Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira

The end of The Eleventh Doctor

In the world of Doctor Who, Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith announced that he will leave Doctor Who for good. Having been around for three years, Matt Smith changed the history of Doctor Who forever. He propelled Doctor Who as the flagship of BBC with thanks to current showrunner Steven Moffat, he was voted Best Actor by Readers of Doctor Who Magazine for the 2010 season, he won Most Popular Male Drama Performance award in 2012 NTA, the first actor to to be nominated for a BAFTA in the role, one who revolutionizes bowties and fezzes as cool stuff, the man who yelled "GERONIMO" in the show, and starred alongside different partners such as Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) and most recently Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman).

Matt Smith was replaced by Peter Capaldi, the guy who's very good at political satires as proven in In The Loop and The Thick of It, at the end of the 2013 Christmas Special titled The Time of The Doctor.

Before he left, he has one thing he just told to us...

THERE'S MORE TO COME IN PART FIVE OF THIS YEAR IN REVIEW! TTFN!!!

The best Bubble Gang moments of 2013!

2013 is coming to a close and on the December 27, 2013 episode, Bubble Gang highlights the best moments of 2013 such as...

10) Tata Lino and Mr. Assimo

9) Mabait na cowboy, tutol sa libingan, and Harlem Shake Bubble Gang-style

8) Ugly man Diego gets leveled up in stuff like Pangit ka Mas Pangit ako, Diary ng isang Pangit, and the segment called ATLIT.

7) News gets messed up in REPORT REPORT, an interview with a vegetable rights advocate,

6) The Bubble Gang Summer Special 2013

5) Boy Basag defeats Boy Pick Up, and Cyber Katipuneros.

4) A Bubble Gang kontrabida named Antonietta, and a drama gets all weather-weather stuff in Bukas May PAGASA Pa

3) After 15 years, Brod Pete and his pals returned to answer life's hardest questions in ANG BAGONG DATING DOON, Secretary De Anim bares all in the name of politics, and pork barrel queen Tina Pulez doesn't know a thing or two in a senate hearing!

2) Stuff from the internet gets acknowledged in the segment called IKAW AT ANG INA.

and the number one Bubble Gang moment of 2013 is...the 18TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL!!!

2013 has been quite a big year for Bubble Gang. From new segments, more messed-up jokes, commercial spoofs, and new faces as well as familiar ones from the best funnymen in the history of Bubble Gang, it has been proven a big year for the longest running gag show in ages. See you in 2014!

Genesis finale

In the final episode of Genesis, Isaak (Dingdong Dantes) risks everything to save his people from an imminent apocalypse but first, he's risking it all to save President Sandra (Lorna Tolentino) and the Filipinos before Former President Ramona (Jackie Lou Blanco) initiates her plan to leave them face the world's end.

Although he managed to save the president, he failed to stop Ramona's evil plans into fruition, therefore, along with the high-ranking officials, Ramona left Earth with the spaceship heading to the mothership.

With nothing left, it seems that all the hope is lost and the impact from asteroid Cerberus is imminent until...a miracle happened.

An asteroid just hit the feared Cerberus asteroid and shattered into meteorites...and hitting the spaceship where Ramona and the high ranking officials on it.

With the spaceship got hit by a meteor and the feared asteroid impact now turned into a meteor shower, the world is saved!

Moments after the world is spared from the apocalypse, President Sandra adressed herself with a speech stating that the salvation of the Earth will serve as the new beginning for those affected from the major calamities.

Isaak finally reunited with his family and that concludes the story of Genesis.

Genesis ending

REMEMBERING 2013 - Part Three

Hello, and welcome to the third part of my year-ender called Remembering 2013. I'll be randomly listing stuff that came throughout 2013. From good things, bad things, best things, worst things, whatever you name it, that year-ender list is on me. It's on my head so let's get cracking!

Mitoy Yonting is the first Voice PH winner

Mitoy Yonting. If my memory serves me correctly, he was once a person who used illegal drugs in his youth years as a band member but now, his life changed forever ever since he became the first winner of The Voice of The Philippines.

The first-ever winner of The Voice of the Philippines is named on the grand finale held at Resorts World Manila and the 42 year old vocalist, is hailed the victor on this reality singing competition. A member of Team Lea, Mitoy garnered 57.65% of votes to beat Team Sarah's Klarisse de Guzman based on the number of votes including iTunes and truetone downloads. Team Bamboo's Myk Perez and Team Apl's Janice Javier were among the Top 4 finalists.

Team GILAS

Despite getting nuked by Iran in the final round of the FIBA Asia Cup, the all-Filipino basketball team, called TEAM GILAS, finally gets a shot at life at the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain next year. Since defeating numerous Asian teams, especially those from South Korea, GILAS marked in the history books as the Filipino basketball team to take on the world series. Good luck to the Team GILAS for the FIBA World Cup next year!

Top Gear UK's new reasonably priced car

Series 20 of BBC's Top Gear sees the arrival of a brand new reasonably priced car, the 2013 Vauxhall Astra Tech Line (with Lifetime Warranty...) and to kick off the arrival of the new reasonably priced car, a selection of D-list celebs such as AC/DC's Brian Johnson, Jimmy Carr, David Haye, Warwick Davis, Rachel Riley, Charles Dance from Game of Thrones, Joss Stone, and Mike Rutherford from Genesis to lap this newcomer round the track and something else...

Manila Kingpin kicked Dirty Harry's butt in Manila

Joseph Ejercito Estrada
(photo: Interaksyon)

Just kidding. Just a metaphor because on the recent elections, former PH President Joseph Estrada, nicknamed "Asiong Salonga" for the Manila mayoral race, won the elections and claimed the mayoral seat for Manila, dethroning Alfredo Lim, nicknamed as "Dirty Harry", and this puts to an end to one of the most grueling rivalry of the 2013 elections. If that wasn't enough, Vice Mayor Isko Moreno also won the elections against actor Lou Veloso, who ran with Lim.

The Gwiyomi song



The word Gwiyomi is a South Korean slang for "cute" or "cute person". The Gwiyomi song was composed and performed by musicians Dandi and Hari and it was uploaded since January and released as a digital single a month later. It became the most search term in the Korean search engine NAVER and now, it's spreading like wildfire, something that last year's Gangnam Style and the biblically terrible Harlem Shake can't catch up...

Ogie Alcasid now a Kapatid

Ogie Alcasid bids farewell to GMA7 as he signed contracts with TV5 at Aracama Restaurant at Bonifacio Global City. Ogie Alcasid's official twitter posted a tweet about his new milestone as a Kapatid;

"My friends, I humbly ask you for a prayer as is sign with tv5 this afternoon. Kayo naman lagi ang nariyan and once again I ask 4 yr support"

Aside from being a full-fledged Kapatid, he will also head the network's new music department.

You can see Ogie Alcasid in Tropa Moko Unli and The Mega and The Songwriter on TV5 as part of the Weekend Do It Better Lineup.

Orphan Black

March 30, 2013, hour after Series 7 of Doctor Who returned on BBC America, there is a new BBC America original series titled Orphan Black. Newbie actress Tatiana Maslany stars as Sarah Manning, a woman who was caught by a conspiracy that she was one of the clones. With the help of her clones, Sarah risks everything to solve the conspiracy that lurks behind them.

This show is a huge hit in America and thanks to Maslany's success as Sarah and the Clone Club, she won the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series.

Tatiana Maslany

Such success prompted BBC America to renew Orphan Black for the 2014 season and expect more plot twists than the first one.

The next-gen consoles

Sony PS4

XBOX One

2013 sees the arrival of next-gen consoles such as the Playstation4 and the XBOX One. With the $100 difference between them, both the PS4 and the X1 are packed with next-generation technology gamers would die for. So, which would you like to have it in your home? That depends but you know what? My cousin has a PS4. Good job on that...

The Royal Baby

Royal couple Prince William and Kate Middleton finally gave birth to a healthy baby boy, who will serve as their future successor. It happened since July 2013 and the whole world awaits the rise of their future heir to their throne. The Royal Baby's name is...George Alexander Louis. Yep. George Alexander Louis is the name of the Royal Baby capable enough to become the future royal successor to Prince William and Prince Charles.

I WILL BE BACK FOR PART FOUR!!!

What's in our Car Town garage today? (December 27, 2013)

What's in our Car Town garage today?

2003 Bentley Continental GT

This pure British beauty combines the luxuriousness of a premium saloon car with the sportiness of a sportscar, making this ultra-expensive gran tourer doubles as a daily driver, luxury cruising on the city streets and sporty driving on the open roads. The Bentley Continental GT comes with the 6.0L W12 twin-turbo engine mated with a 6-speed automatic gearbox, which delivers supercar-like performance in a luxury packaging. This is the first time this Bentley was made under the supervision of its new owner Volkswagen ever since they took over the British marque in 1998.

2003 Bentley Continental GT

1963 Aston Martin DB5

This classic Aston Martin needs no description because this is well known to be the famous Bond car a secret agent would drive for. Aston Martin cars and James Bond movies have been hand-to-hand for decades and ever since it showed up in the Bond movie, Goldfinger, it sparked a wondrous partnership between Aston Martin and James Bond. Having one of these feels like you're a secret agent from Her Majesty's Secret Service.

1963 Aston Martin DB5

2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STi

For its second facelift on the second-generation Subaru Impreza WRX STi, this tuner favorite born from the success in World Rally Championship gets even more fiercer than before, probably thanks to its reworked grille that was inspired from its aircraft roots. Of course, Subaru, the carmaker, was born from its aircraft beginnings as Nakajima Aircraft, but this is no time for history lesson. For the 2006 model WRX STi, it's powered by an EJ25 boxer engine developing 280PS of power, comes with the updated DCCD, and the added wheelbase as found on the JDM Spec C model.

2006 Subaru Impreza WRX STi

2014 Nissan Serena C26 Minor Change

2014 Nissan Serena

It's a new Nissan Serena! Well sort of. Anyway, the fourth-generation Nissan Serena gets is first facelift after having been around since its 2010 debut. It maybe a worth contender in the MPV market but don't be fooled, the Nissan Serena has been a favorite among Japanese families when it comes to conveniences, fuel economy, and refinement. Now, let's get my 47 Second Science ready.

2014 Nissan Serena

On the facelifted Nissan Serena C26, the exterior design hosts a wide array of changes to keep Japan's favorite MPV updated for more. The front bumper's revised, the headlamps now looking similar to next year's Nissan Elgrand E52 facelift, a new front grille, new alloy wheels, and new LED rear combination brake lamps with an S-shaped design. On the inside, it still looks intact to me. It's still comes with a choice of a 7-seater or an 8-seater. With the 8-seater model, it comes with 14 seat configurations to choose from depending on the scenario the user faces.

2014 Nissan Serena interior

2014 Nissan Serena interior

Nissan said that the 2WD S-Hybrid model, the one with the small electric motor fitted alongside the MR20DD engine, now has improved fuel consumption and how much is it? 16kmpl in JC08 Mode standards. Aside from being more fuel-efficient than the pre-facelifted model, the Serena C26 is now made even safer with the addition of Emergency Brake, Lane Departure Warning (LDW), AVM (Around View Monitor) with MOD (Moving Object Detection), Emergency Assist for pedal misapplication and Driver Attention Alert.

2014 Nissan Serena

Because this is the S-HYBRID model, this Serena comes with an ECO Motor which controls Idling Stop and functions as an alternator during deceleration. Of course, it even comes with an Idling Stop System, which shuts down the engine when idle, and restarts in just 0.3 seconds after the brake is released.

The new 2014 Nissan Serena C26 starts at 2,184,000 Yen for the entry-level 20S model up to 3,018,750 Yen for the 20G with the "Advanced Safety Package". For recommendation, Nissan recommends the Highway Star model with the Emergency Brake option for 2,568,300 Yen, the Highway Star model with the Advanced Safety Package for 2,654,400 Yen, and for 2,927,400 Yen, the Highway Star G Advanced Safety Package. What's a Highway Star G you ask? It's the one with the 16-inch alloys on it.

Available Colors: Tiger Eye Brown, Blue Moon White Pearl, Premium Deep Coral, Rose Bronze, Brilliant White Pearl, Diamond Black, Brilliant Silver, Crystal Mist, and Solid White.

Photo: Nissan Motor Company

REMEMBERING 2013 - Part Two

Hello, and welcome to the second part of my year-ender called Remembering 2013. I'll be randomly listing stuff that came throughout 2013. From good things, bad things, best things, worst things, whatever you name it, that year-ender list is on me. It's on my head so let's get cracking!

Lamborghini 50th Anniversary

2013 marks the 50th anniversary of the famed Italian carmaker, Lamborghini, and to celebrate Lamborghini's 50th year, they've gone through demented ways by releasing special models to incorporate that event such as the Lamborghini Veneno, the Lamborghini Aventador Roadster, the Lamborghini Aventador LP720-4 50° Anniversario, and many others.

Boston marathon bombing

Since April of 2013, there has been two explosions occurred during the Boston Marathon bombing. The person, who believed, behind this was a 19-year-old named Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. He and another suspect responsible for the bombing engaged in a gunfight against the cops in a Boston suburb. That other suspect was killed on the shootout earlier. Cops made a door-to-door search all over the Boston suburb until some say that Tsarnaev was hiding in a boat placed in a house's backyard. "We Got Him!": That's what the cops say when they apprehended the suspect and justice is served.

"CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won,"

Juan Dela Cruz

ABS-CBN once aired a fantasy action drama titled Juan Dela Cruz starring Coco Martin, Erich Gonzales, Albert Martinez, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Gina Pareno, and new actor Aaron Villaflor. In the hit series, a young man is on the quest to protect the human world against the horde of Aswangs using the power of the Bakal na Krus. With the show's popularity, it even spawned a My Little Juan prequel TV drama showcasing the side story that bridges the gap from Father Cito raising young Juan after his mother's death to the death of Father Cito.

The end of Multiply

Multiply closure

Right before the age of Facebook and Twitter, there was once a blogging site called Multiply. Anyone remember this site? Trust me. I started my blogging days back then since 2008. Ah the memories... Okay, last year, we were shocked that Multiply ditched is social networking and content sharing state in favor of being the marketing site for Filipino and Indonesian sellers. However, Multiply closed its doors on May 6, 2013 and ceased business operations at the end of May 2013.

PSY's Gentleman

To succeed from 2012's Gangnam Style, internet sensation and K-POP rapper PSY returns with his latest sensation called GENTLEMAN. Don't be fooled though, this new song became a viral hit, so sensational, it's one of the most-watched music videos on Youtube this year with over 610 million viewers worldwide.

Bugatti's world record reinstated by Guinness World Records

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport

Following the sudden announcement that the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport stripped off its world record title due to mechanical issues and being kicked by the Hennessey Venom GT from America, there's a good news that the "fastest production car in the world" title has been returned to the Veyron SS. Good news! A spokesperson said that after several evaluations, Guinness World Records is satisfied that the change to the speed limiter does not affect the fundamental design of the car or its engine.

The end of Playfish



The cause of declining players of the social games from Playfish, an EA-based developer, such as SimCity Social, The Sims Social, and Pet Society pushed the American video game maker to retire those social games on the 14th of June, 2013 as part of "sharpening its focus to provide games for new platforms and mobile". Such decision is not an easy task to make but it's for reallocation of servers and resources to popular social games.

NSA Scandal

The whole world's been talking about the leaked documents from the NSA done by the whistleblower Edward Snowden. It's about the US Government has been using the internet to watch, record, and track huge numbers of normal people from every corner of the globe and gets worse. The government has all of their phone calls, they know where they are, and what they're doing.

Because the US Government is spying on every conversation, it seems that everyone in the US that has a gadget is considered a terrorist, even if they had a smartphone because you know most of the smartphones had cameras on it and it seems that the US Government is taking advantage of it to hound you down even after hours.

The Republicans from the House of Representatives still support NSA surveillance programs, in case you never heard of it. There's a well known theory that because of the House supporting over NSA surveillance programs, the NSA will think that 60 million Americans as well as the foreign immigrants from other countries are terrorists.

Pilipinas o Filipinas?

There are some experts out there suggesting the Tagalog word for Philippines is Pilipinas should be called Filipinas instead.

What does it sound like? Pilipinas or Filipinas? Don't know but that kind of proposal from the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (KWF) sure knows that they want to swap the letter F from the letter P. Some say, the use of Filipinas instead of Pilipinas recognizes the country's history and development as a nation.

Here's the clip that sums it up...

iCarly's Sam and Victorious' Cat team up in a new show

iCarly and Victorious maybe consigned to the history books for good but two characters from two shows starred in a brand new show of 2013. Sam Puckett (played by Jennette McCurdy) and Cat Valentine (played by the talented Ariana Grande) joined forces in the newest Nick teen comedy show, Sam & Cat and every week, this show is guaranteed to deliver big laughs for the two familiar faces as their newly-found friendship is tested no matter how big and how messy things would happen. This new show is a hit among teenage girls many.

JOIN ME AGAIN ON PART 3 FOR MORE OF REMEMBERING 2013

DW 2013 Christmas Special

The Time of The Doctor

The 2013 Christmas Special of BBC's Doctor Who titled The Time of The Doctor signals the final journey for Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith. Having him around since The End of Time Part 2, Matt Smith's role as The Eleventh Doctor changed the show's history forever and famed for skyrocketing the fish fingers and custard, jammie dodgers, fezzes, and bowties to the cool wall...apparently.

"We all change. When you think about it, we're all different people all through our lives, and that's okay, that's good, you've got to keep moving, so long as you remember all the people that you used to be, I will not forget one line of this. Not one day. I swear"

Matt Smith's departure is worth the sad moment for us Whovians, but the arrival of Peter Capaldi as The Doctor is worth the beginning. Looking forward for his maiden voyage when Series 8 starts next year alongside Jenna Coleman as Clara.

For some related topics, here's the video the BBC streamed online. It's another one of Strax Field Report online featurettes where, in this segment, our Sontaran pal Strax explained the outcome about The Eleventh Doctor's regeneration. Here's the clip...

Here's another one with outgoing Doctor, Matt Smith, and Jenna Coleman, talking about his final journey as The Doctor.



The folks from BBC America featured a deleted scene from this episode. You can watch it here.

"And now it’s time for one last bow, like all your other selves. Eleven’s hour’s over now. The clock is striking twelve’s."