Sky Launches "Sky On Demand"

We were at the Sky Cable On Demand launch earlier and they were really keeping things from us prior to this day. The invitation was misleading and they were talking about other things on the venue before we heard it from the CEO himself. Finally, it's something like a Netflix/TIVO service by Sky Cable, though you have to have Sky Broadband with it. Aside from that, it also works with the proprietary box intended for it. 

Ross Legaspi of Sky Marketing says "This service is simple, it's like having IWantTV on Sky Cable On Demand. You have your own profile, you can have it customized. You have every show from the most popular network in the country, but now you'll have tons of channels that are exclusive to SkyCable Broadband. You can have a marathon at the comforts of your own home. You can even stop it, then go back and play where you paused the machine when you partially watched it".

It's easy to watch now, you can watch it in your own home as Sky On Demand becomes available in your homes soon. There's a one time fee of 499 and about capacity, it's going to be unlimited because it's going to be in the cloud. It will soon be available by March and the plan is to implement it in the whole country where Sky Broadband is available. They're continuing to populate the channels and even partnered with big outfits so you can be sure you'll have more titles that you can watch over and over again only on SKY On Demand.

Morisette Amon also provided entertainment earlier!

"Sky is headed where the customer will lead us. It now is allowing us to listen to customers and choose their own content if they don't want to pay for it. The whole season of shows are already on cable and it's the currency of the content that can set us apart" Legaspi adds. If you don't have Sky Broadband, and you are a Sky Cable subscriber like me, you won't have the additional movie channels exclusive on their line. If you want to try it out, they told me they can accommodate anyone a 15 day FREE trial so just ask and see if the experience wows you, that's SKY ON DEMAND! 

For more information about their services:

SKY CABLE

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New Places to Stay: Makati Junction Hostel

The owners and the Clingers at Makati Junction Hostel (Photo credit to Rodel Flordeliz of NognogintheCity.com)

It's a new place that deserves to be mentioned. This is the new Makati Junction Hotel located at the Annex Matheus Building at General Luna St. corner Don Pedro, Makati City. I had fun when the Clingies and I visited the place a few days back. You see, I've always have high standards with hotels, and hostels were much like a different league for me so I don't really expect much if I'm staying in one when I'm out of the country. I guess in the Philippines, this might just change your mind when looking at hostels. Yes, I think I found a spot that I can say, be worthy of fun, worthy of the trip to be there.

The interiors and design was done by Edwin Uy, a well renowned Architect in Manila. When this project was given to him, he had hesitations because the place was pretty much like a dump when he found it. The building was new, but the floors and everything else looked dated. There were things here and there that he knew would be a pretty tough job to work on. He mentions "If you really saw what this place looked like when we started, you wouldn't think it would turn out this way. It was hard because we also had a similar adjacent building, we painted the walls, the windows, the rooms, the hallways, the tiles were "baduy", even the air conditioning, we had to make everything else from scratch to make it all look different."

"The kitchen is made of a trailer, and needed a ten wheeler truck, plus a crane to put it in (it was a nightmare waiting to happen). They decided to cut it up on a weekend and opened up the windows so they could get it all in, then rebuilt it by welding it back. We felt we needed something different to give back to Pinoys. It has to be Pinoy. It's a global Filipino, the millenas, that's how it started. We took a trip but only got drunk when we got there. When we found it, we offered it to him (Edwin Uy) and he said NO. It was a huge work and we were in a budget, City really pushed it and it was scary. We did go over budget a little but it is a challenge, and he liked that challenge. It's an economical way of making interiors. From there, it just came through. The lights on the ground floor, it wasn't easy either. It's 123 individual lights so just imagine the magnitude of it. The board is the map of the world and those who stay are encouraged to pin up something from their country to signify they're here." says Ms. Cyndy Jarabata who owns the hostel.

When we saw the ground floor, we felt Edwin Uy seems to be very experimental. It was like taking the things from outside the street in.

His play in textures, colors and graphics is unbelievable. I think he's been given a lot of freedom when it comes to the aesthetics, I like it a lot. The common room would be so nice to hang out in. The decor would also be a nice conversation piece. Aside from that, the kitchen, the tables, the chairs, the windows, everything else contributes to a whimsical play on Makati, to show what it's like to live there.

I don't know any other hostel in the area that encourages hooking up, but I know it's conducive for talk and communing. The rooms are also set up to accommodate male, female, or coed bed spaces and could fit up to 100 people in one go. This is one of the firsts among a number of hostels and hotels that they want to put up. They showed us the rooms later on with the help of their very warm staff.

As for me and my friends the "Clingies", we'll definitely be back there and try out the stay. There's more things to discover and more reasons why to stay in this new place in Makati. There are hundreds of people to meet and who knows, it could happen right here in Makati  Junction Hostel. It's a stones throw away from Makati Avenue and about a few meters away from the fun district. You just have to try and stay in a place that's unique, ultra modern and fun because that's where you'll meet the most interesting people. You can call them at +632-5016575 or visit them at Annex Mattheus Building at General Luna Street Corner Don Pedro in Makati City. 

Fun hehe!

For more information about their hostel:

Makati Junction Hostel

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http://www.junctionhostels.com/

Oscars 2015 Nominees and Winners

Lady Gaga performed songs from "The Sound of Music", it was epic!
(Image from www.telegraph.co.uk/Robyn Beck/Getty Images and not mine).  

I didn't get to catch the Oscars 2015 earlier because I had to go out and cover an event but I was watching my time line and got the best list so far that contains the nominees and winners. I think everyone would love to see their favorites, especially my favorite Julianne Moore who did an exceptional job in Still Alice.

Anyway here's the whole thing. The nominees for Oscars 2015 are as follows.


For Best Supporting Actor

JK Simmons for Whiplash -  Winner
Robert Duvall for The Judge
Ethan Hawke for Boyhood
Edward Norton for Birdman
Mark Ruffalo for Foxcatcher

For Achievement in Costume Design

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Milena Canonero -  Winner
Inherent Vice – Mark Bridges
Into the Woods – Colleen Atwood
Maleficent – Anna B Sheppard
Mr Turner – Jacqueline Durran

For Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling

The Grand Budapest Hotel – Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier - Winners
Foxcatcher – Bill Corso, Dennis Liddiard
Guardians of the Galaxy – Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou, David White

For the Best Foreign Language Film

Ida – Paweł Pawlikowski - Winner
Tangerines – Zaza Urushadze
Leviathan – Andrey Zvyagintsev
Wild Tales – Damián Szifrón
Timbuktu – Abderrahmane Sissako

For the Best Live Action Short Film

The Phone Call – Mat Kirkby, James Lucas - Winners
Aya – Oded Binnun, Mihal Brezis
Boogaloo and Graham – Michael Lennox, Ronan Blaney
Butter Lamp – Wei Hu, Julien Féret
Parvaneh – Talkhon Hamzavi, Stefan Eichenberger

For the Best Documentary on Short Subjects

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 – Ellen Goosenberg Kent, Dana Perry - Winners
Joanna – Aneta Kopacz
Our Curse – Tomasz Sliwinski, Maciej Slesicki
The Reaper – Gabriel Serra
White Earth – Christian Jensen

For Achievement in Sound Mixing

Whiplash – Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins, Thomas Curley - Winners
American Sniper – John T Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Walt Martin
Birdman – Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Thomas Varga
Interstellar – Gary Rizzo, Gregg Landaker, Mark Weingarten
Unbroken – Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, David Lee

For Achievement in Sound Editing

American Sniper – Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman - Winners
Birdman – Aaron Glascock, Martín Hernández
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Brent Burge, Jason Canovas
Interstellar – Richard King
Unbroken – Becky Sullivan, Andrew DeCristofaro

For the Best Supporting Actress

Patricia Arquette for Boyhood - Winner, (my bet too!)
Laura Dern for Wild
Keira Knightley for The Imitation Game
Emma Stone for Birdman
Meryl Streep for Into the Woods

For Achievement in Visual Effects

Interstellar – Paul J Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, Scott R Fisher -  Winners
Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Dan Deleeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill, Daniel Sudick
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, Erik Winquist
Guardians of the Galaxy – Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner, Paul Corbould
X-Men: Days of Future Past – Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie, Cameron Waldbauer

For the Best Animated Short Film

Feast – Patrick Osborne, Kristina Reed - Winners
The Bigger Picture – Daisy Jacobs, Chris Hees
The Dam Keeper – Robert Kondo, Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi
Me and My Moulton – Torill Kove
A Single Life – Joris Oprins

For the Best Animated Feature Film

Big Hero 6 - Winner
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

For the Best Production Design

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock - Winner (I think I need to see this!)
The Imitation Game: Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald
Interstellar: Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
Into the Woods: Dennis Gassner, Anna Pinnock
Mr Turner: Suzie Davies, Charlotte Watts

For Achievement in Cinematography

Birdman: Emmanuel Lubezki - Winner (though I think The Grand Budapest Hotel should win!)
The Grand Budapest Hotel: Robert D Yeoman
Ida: Lukasz Zal, Ryszard Lenczewski
Mr Turner: Dick Pope
Unbroken: Roger Deakins

For Achievement in Film Editing

Whiplash – Tom Cross - Winner
Boyhood – Sandra Adair
The Imitation Game – William Goldenberg
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Barney Pilling
American Sniper – Joel Cox, Gary Roach

For Best Documentary Feature

Citizenfour – Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky - Winner
Finding Vivian Maier – John Maloof, Charlie Siskel
Last Days in Vietnam – Rory Kennedy, Keven McAlester
The Salt of the Earth – Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, David Rosier
Virunga – Orlando von Einsiedel, Joanna Natasegara

For the Best Original Song

Glory from Selma – Lonnie Lynn (Common), John Stephens (John Legend) - Winner
The Lego Movie – Shawn Patterson (Everything Is Awesome)
Beyond the Lights – Diane Warren (Grateful)
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me – Glen Campbell, Julian Raymond (I’m Not Gonna Miss You)
Begin Again – Gregg Alexander, Danielle Brisebois (Lost Stars)

For the Best Original Score

Alexandre Desplat – The Grand Budapest Hotel - Winner
Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game
Hans Zimmer – Interstellar
Johann Johannsson– The Theory of Everything
Gary Yershon – Mr Turner

For the Best Original Screenplay

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo – Birdman - Winner
Richard Linklater – Boyhood
E Max Frye, Dan Futterman – Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler

For the Best Adapted Screenplay

Graham Moore – The Imitation Game - Winner
Jason Hall – American Sniper
Paul Thomas Anderson – Inherent Vice
Anthony McCarten – The Theory of Everything
Damien Chazelle – Whiplash

For the Best Director

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Birdman - Winner
Richard Linklater for Boyhood
Bennett Miller for Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum for The Imitation Game

For the Oscars Best Actor

Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything - Winner (I think it's his year!)
Steve Carell for Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch for The Imitation Game
Bradley Cooper for American Sniper
Michael Keaton for Birdman

For the Best Actress

Julianne Moore for Still Alice - Winner (Yay!)
Marion Cotillard for Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones for The Theory of Everything
Rosamund Pike for Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon for Wild

For the Oscars Best Picture

Birdman - Winner
American Sniper
Boyhood
The Imitation Game
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Congratulations to all the winners and I hope you get to enjoy your gold statues at home. The Oscars has really chosen some good ones this year and I hope to get to see some other films that I haven't watched yet especially those short films. Selma was a little dragging though. I have something to say also about some gowns in the 87th Academy Awards that was held in Los Angeles but that's another story. For Birdman, you have my vote (for now) even though I love Boyhood better.

For more information about their awards show:

The Academy

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http://www.oscars.org/

Julian Trono Releases "WikiMe" Today on Sunday All Stars

When I last met this guy, he was doing charity work for his birthday. Then all of a sudden, word spread that he's actually undergoing training under a strict KPOP system and he's been with them for like a year or so. So when we were actually talking about his life last year, he was already keeping this as a secret. Julian Trono as you may know is just one of the talented individuals from GMA. Aside from acting, singing and what not, he's a mean spirited dancer, performer and all around entertainer. He's up to prove something and with the things he learned from the KPOP system, he's bringing in some new flavor to the PPOP scene. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Julian Trono will be launching a new song, a new single, a newer version of Julian Trono this afternoon on Sunday All Stars.

When he was preparing to go to Korea, his fans prepared a grand fans day where he finally told us about this new journey. Although we were keeping this from the general public, he had teaser videos in Korea already and it did signal that there's something new from Julian that we haven't seen before. It was a welcome sight.

 

He had a different teaser video initially but this one's the official released one. You can even hear the beginnings of his single, which he danced exclusively for us during the fans day. It was catchy, it was modern, I don't think other artists would have executed it well. The Korean management really have researched quite well about Julian and his choreographer experience, so it was really easy for him to adapt in the KPOP way of doing things. By the way, the plan was not to actually have this just released in Korea... but more of the whole of Asia. Julian Trono is just starting and by the looks of it, he can really do it well.

Meanwhile, his Korea trip was well documented. His management even released a BTS of the WikiMe music video shoot and the whole experience he had in Korea. He told us how different the training was and how he plans to deliver this different flavor into Philippine shores by doing it in Sunday All Stars later this afternoon. The BTS also includes his shoot in a Korean university, clad in winter clothes. He couldn't even go out and shop he says because it was too cold. He also got featured in Arirang which is a pretty popular TV station in Korea showing English news. It's beamed around the world and is available on cable. Just imagine the magnitude of exposure he got from the interviews and that performance on the KPOP show together with other KPOP artists.

Then when he got back, we got the chance to talk to him after his single got released on iTunes. He also showed us the music video that will be released exclusively in the Philippines. He's actually got another version done for the Korean and International market so we're kinda lucky he's got us in mind during the months of preparation.

He's got the talent, he's hungry for more and he's still very young. He's got a long way to go but it'll start this afternoon on February 22, shown on Sunday All Stars. When he comes back on stage, he'll be showing a better, bigger, and good looking Julian Trono. He's a bit different when we first interviewed him. I can totally see the difference, so now it's your turn to judge him if he's got it. He definitely does.

Oh by the way for those who want to see him in the next few days, he'll be in Sunday All Stars today plus later, a meet and greet with online winners from 12 to 1PM on a show in Starmall Edsa. On February 24, he'll be in Unang Hirit and Tonight with Arnold Clavio. On February 26, he's going to be in LSFM at 11AM and a live chat will happen on GMA from 2-4PM. He's going to the PEP Talk as well at 5PM. On Friday, he's going to guest live in Ryzza Mae Show and on Saturday he's going to a mall show in Star Mall, Bulacan. You better get to him before it's too late and he's already doing shows elsewhere. He's surely going to have a whirlwind of events real soon!

For more information about their artists:

Official GMA Artist Center

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