All about Choices

Sometimes we need to consider a lot of things before putting up a web site. The technology site that I have put up years ago will be going through another phase this year and I'm so excited about it. We already have a domain name in mind and we have created a lot of articles out of the events we went to these past few months. From servers, browsers, networking technologies and corporate news it has turned out very informative to say the least. Though it has accomplished a lot these past few months I have yet to find a web site hosting service that would be able to handle the traffic and bandwidth I require; and it has taken me a long time to get one that would satisfy my needs. I am trying to convene my friends from the IT industry on line to ask them about places I could go to for this and they have come up with a lot of companies. I need to research a lot about this obviously.

Have you ever experienced trouble choosing a name for your site? What particular things did you take in consideration before you went ahead and purchased your domain? If you were in a dilemma over the domain name would you go ahead and choose the obvious ones out of the dictionary or would you prefer a unique one so you can set it into a brand? When choosing a web hosting service provider, do you bother to look at the price points or do you trust them via the reviews they get from consumers?! I may need to look for independent ones that have impeccable customer service because the last thing I would want to have is a company that I wouldn't be able to call if problems arise. I have seen horror stories and I wouldn't want that to happen to my site. If you have invested a lot and made these articles available on the Internet they should at least stay on line all the time!

How about you?! What would you choose?

New on AXN: THE VOICE!

This has been one of the best talent shows that happened to US Television; for once there hasn't been anything like it that concentrated particularly on a blind audition... literally not seeing the contestant and just depending on the talent would take away judgement behaviors on looks alone. Things that might suade someone to vote because they just look good even if they sound mediocre would be out of the question. Professionals that don't have existing contracts yet with any record company were asked to audition and join this competition bringing them into teams representing six great artists of this time... this would be one heck of a talent show unparalleled anywhere else in the world... this is THE VOICE!

It has now reached Philippine shores through the one and only cable network that brings world class shows for Asia... AXN. Imagine 4 swiveling chairs containing the best in the industry with names like Maroon 5’s Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green (of famed single Forget You!), R&B diva Christina Aguilera and legendary country singer Blake Shelton. Be there as they decide 8 hopeful individuals to join their team in the finals. The big twist is they can actually be the ones to pit with each other if they find one or more contestants to be at par with their standards. When two or more chairs turn around for the contestant, the contestant has the right to choose who among the judges would play mentor... and I've seen a couple of them fight for that right. However if no chairs turn, it would mean a resounding GOODBYE for that contestant... something both parties wouldn't want to happen; but it did happen a lot during the preliminaries unfortunately.

Adam Noah Levine, one of my idols from Maroon 5 is one of the judges in THE VOICE. Watch as he clashes with opinions from other world renowned singers! Will his team win on this show?! Find out soon on AXN!

How do they win in the Finals?! That's where it gets sweeter. Teams will be pit against each other as each mentor shows their protege's to the world with what they will perform. The contestant who gets a lot of ITunes download/purchase would win the competition and the US$ 100,000 record deal FTW! They will however lose 2 of their members if they win for that particular week.

Christina Aguilera, one of four judges who will make a mark on THE VOICE, a new singing competition to be shown on Asia's best channel AXN!

Hosting the show is TRL's old (not in age) Carson Daly. Here's a clip from the Associated Press on his initial views about the show.

AXN will air a special two-hour hour show of The Voice this August 21st at 8PM and every Sunday hereafter. That's also 8PM in SG, MY, HK and 7pm JKT Indonesia. Watch out for that!

By the way! There are also big programs coming out in August for AXN, AXN Beyond, and ANIMAX. They're not holding back either because you'll see Teen Wolf, one of my favorite anime's Busuo Renkin, the stylist goddess Rachel Zoe's project and Top Chef. Why else would you want to watch elsewhere when they've got all of em here!

They even went all out on their Philippine Launch party over at AIM in Makati. I love how they made everyone be judges and experience the show on our own. We also had our version of the contest and the prizes were no joke! The watch was REALLY expensive LOL! Although I would have wished I won that one... really I do! =)

This was the part where they were explaining to us the ratings in US television's granularity. It got a lot of views on it's first season.

New shows and the current great shows will be retained next month. AXN is truly going to be exciting!

They made us experience how to be judges in this show. We became instant judges!

We did the blind judging too! Imagine how everyone voted for the contestants! They counted people who stood up for their choices! One lucky person won a very classy watch!

Thank you SO MUCH to AXN for that one! They even flew straight from Singapore just to be here on this momentous event!

Need I say more?! Watch shows on AXN okay?!


Capisce?!


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Meeting Yeng Constantino

I watched Pinoy Dream Academy a few years ago and in some whiz of nature I wanted to actually join that competition. I'm a song writer/lyricist but I haven't gone out of my way and put music to some of my creations because I'm handicapped in picking up instruments even though I know what it'll sound in my head. This is why I'm so envious of Yeng Constantino. Aside from her off the wall understanding of her craft, she's one badass songwriter and singer. It was indeed an honor to have met her in person last week. I've asked a couple of questions too and she never hesitated to tell me point blank about what she's done so far; years after her win in PDA. Some small disappointments or challenges never stopped her from fulfilling her dreams. So from the success of her first concert, here she is again in "RakenRol Jamming" slated August 5, Friday at 8PM. This is her second major concert and I'm so excited that I'm going!

She was so nice. I never felt any aura of divaness (if there is such a word) from her. She was very willing to talk intimately while she sat with us at lunch. Now I know why she is well loved by her minions; she's genuinely nice and candid. I see the difference between her and some other stars, she loved her craft and she wants to pay homage to what she believes is true to her music. She says she owes to her fans and believes that the right formula is staying to her roots and genre, a fact that put her in a Pop Rock Princess title when she started!

I loved how she showed us her newest baby! From Star Records comes "YENG VERSIONS LIVE". It's a compilation of 70's, 80's and 90's music. All of these were done on her terms so Yengsters and everyone should expect the best recordings of her performances then and now. I'm so excited for her, she was so proud to see this new album that afternoon. I'm sure when they see the concert at the ALIW theater she'll give them one heck of a dosage of what Yeng Constantino really is. They gave her lee way to do her version of Florante, Eheads, Blue Jeans, Apo, and Yano's music. Just imagine those classic hits brought to life again from the one and only Pop Rock Princess of the Philippines!

Here's an excerpt of the interview!

To Ms. Yeng Constantino, thank you so much for the chance to interview you. You are a very genuine person and I'm sure you'll go a long way in the music industry! Continue doing what you do best because that's how everyone loved you in the first place... Everybody is eagerly awaiting your concert in ALIW Theater this August 5. Ngayon pa lang CONGRATULATIONS! :)

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Yeng Constantino

The Proposal

It was a big secret and I was into it. I didn't really know what would happen that day; but since he's my cousin I went ahead and said yes for all the wrong (of course not!) and right reasons. I was happy for him and true enough we went ahead with the plan. The plan was for him to settle down but this wasn't an ordinary way to do it! He's got their engagement rings set, wedding rings and the whole brouhaha organized in just a couple of days. I was so glad to be a part of it!

I went up this huge building over the metro's business district and waited an hour or two. It was a radio station and the DJ was a friend of my cousin. They talked about this already so I didn't really have to brief them. When they arrived everyone became nervous. I didn't know how to shoot them secretly or even look at them straight in the eye. Since I was there already I just went with the flow. The DJ started a topic about traffic and higher toll fees during the show while we sat on the side and listened. They asked a question or two from callers and proceeded to ask my cousin. They pretended to ask around again and did it to the pretty young lady in this story. She didn't even want to move to the microphone and begged off to be aired on national radio. When she did they asked more questions. My cousin almost fainted from nervousness but went ahead and popped the question. Out came the gorgeous ring and she was really surprised! People became teary eyed in the station. I started shooting and even tried to manage to get a video recording. The moments were precious and I didn't want to lose any detail. It was heartwarming and something out of the ordinary. She gave a resounding YES to him. We smiled, he got relieved and cried (of course he won't admit that!). It was nice to see them so in love with each other. It was one of the nicest things I've ever seen in my life. I'm happy for my cousin and his fiancée. Really happy!


They just asked everyone to save the date on January and I'm sure this will be so much fun! I'm very happy his fiancée will soon be part of our family. I hope for the best on their wedding day!

Congratulations!