Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – 2015 promises to be a good year for Philippine puppetry as far as Wanlu (photo) is concerned. On March 19 to 21 at Resorts World Manila, in celebration of World Puppetry Day, Wanlu holds his fourth Battle of Ventriloquists, plus an exhibit of ASEAN puppetry arts which will include performances by puppeteers from Indonesia and Singapore. Wanlu also organized, with the help of Terence Tan from Singapore, an ASEAN Puppetry Exchange between Indonesia and the Philippines. In April, Wanlu has been invited by the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia to hold two puppetry workshops. Wanlu finds it special considering the fact that the Philippines does not have its own puppetry art while Malaysia is famous for Wayang Kulit or shadow puppetry. “We might not have our own puppetry art but Pinoy puppeteers are very good with ventriloquism and hand puppetry. In fact, we are probably the best in Asia,” Wanlu explains. Dr. Luy Chee Luen of the University of Malaya has scheduled two puppetry workshops — one inside the university for students and faculties and one in a library in downtown Malaysia. From Malaysia, Wanlu flies to Tokyo, Japan to take part in the ventriloquist convention organized by the Japan Ventriloquists Association (JVA). JVA president Takeshi Ikeda has asked Wanlu to show the members of their organization how ventriloquism and puppetry were used in Tacloban after Supertyphoon Yolanda. From Japan, Wanlu flies back to Manila for several school shows for Dolan and Jolly Cow Fresh Read More …

In this Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015 file photo, singer Robin Thicke performs at the 17th Annual GRAMMY Foundation Legacy Concert at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles. Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File LOS ANGELES — A jury awarded Marvin Gaye’s children nearly $7.4 million Tuesday after determining singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied their father’s music to create “Blurred Lines,” the biggest hit song of 2013. Gaye’s daughter Nona Gaye wept as the verdict was read and was hugged by her attorney. “Right now, I feel free,” she said outside court. “Free from … Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke’s chains and what they tried to keep on us and the lies that were told.” “Blurred Lines” has sold more than 7.3 million copies in the U.S. alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures. It earned a Grammy Awards nomination and netted Williams and Thicke millions of dollars. The case was a struggle between two of music’s biggest names: Williams has sold more than 100 million records worldwide during his career as a singer-producer, and Gaye performed hits such as “Sexual Healing” and “How Sweet It Is (To be Loved by You)” remain popular. The verdict could tarnish the legacy of Williams, a reliable hit-maker who has won Grammy Awards and appears on NBC’s music competition show “The Voice.” He and Thicke are “undoubtedly disappointed,” said their lead attorney, Howard King. “They’re unwavering in their absolute conviction that they wrote this song independently,” he said. Thicke and Williams earned more than $7 Read More …

The long hot British India summer: A long-sleeved blouse with floral print and tassel is paired with a printed dark jade sarong for ladies. For men, a long-sleeved cotton shirt with floral print over light-colored linen shorts looks cool. MANILA, Philippines – Summer will be a romantic season with British India’s latest collection suited for a sultry getaway in the tropics. A sheer floral-printed long-sleeved blouse with tassel detail is paired with a forest green printed sarong knotted at the front. The free-spirited will definitely look boho chic in British India’s diaphanous separates, like a printed blouse with bell sleeves and a printed midi skirt with bright orange embroidery at the hem. A more polished bohemian choice would be a floral printed long dress with embroidered neckline punctuated with a black floppy, wide-brimmed hat. The men will look just as good in British India’s selection of bold separates. Try something different and out of the ordinary, like a two-toned floral printed button-down or a red floral-printed short-sleeved shirt. Ground the look with neutral colors such as khaki linen shorts or dark gray cotton shorts. Take that summer-hot vacation with your beloved and watch temperatures rise.   Cinderella is located at Alabang Town Center, SM Aura Premier, Cinderella Glorietta 3, Shangri-La Plaza – East Wing, Vmall Greenhills, and Ayala Center Cebu. Visit Cinderella’s website at www.cinderella.ph and like Cinderella on Facebook (mycinderella.ph), follow @cinderella_ph (Twitter) and @cinderellaphil (Instagram).

THREE weeks ago, I ordered P2,000 worth of products from an online store where products sold are from various merchants in different parts of the country. In the past three weeks, deliveries were made and saw that there were several instances where the things that arrived were more than what I ordered or not the brand I asked for. This is a challenge that entrepreneurs have when thinking of putting up a portal that will sell products from various sources and where the deliveries will have to be made by the supplier themselves. If coordination is not made in a documented manner, it can result in errors. Customers asking to return and correct their orders would mean additional costs, as it is not the customer’s fault if wrong deliveries were made and misunderstandings occured on how an item should be delivered in terms of quantity and other concerns. When putting up an e-commerce site, an online store owner must build a front and back-end that should be ready to scale to accommodate 10, 100 or 1,000 orders a day. Such figures are no longer impossible, as there are several local e-commerce providers already processing that volume. Coordinate with suppliers to find out how much can they deliver to you in a month before going full blast in your marketing efforts for a product. If they are only capable of selling 50 items and you sold 100, that is half of your marketing spend that could have been used on other Read More …

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang on Tuesday admitted the government was also caught off guard by the recent beheading of an overseas Filipino worker in Saudi Arabia. “Ayon sa ulat ng ating embahada sa Saudi Arabia na ipinarating sa DFA, kahapon lang ng umaga nabatid ‘yung pagkuha sa ating kababayan na iniulat na binitay kahapon din ng hapon. Kaya medyo biglaan ‘yon,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said. (According to our embassy in Saudi Arabia, as relayed by the Department of Foreign Affairs, they learned only yesterday morning about our fellow Filipino being taken and eventually being executed in the afternoon. That was indeed sudden.) “Hindi naman nagkaroon ng sapat na pagkakataon para gumawa pa ng additional representation with the Saudi Arabian government for a possible further consideration of his situation or a stay of the execution,” he added. (There was not enough time to make an additional representation with the Saudi Arabian government for possible further consideration of his situation or a stay of the execution.) The DFA on Monday confirmed that Joven Esteva, who was convicted of murder for killing his employer, was beheaded at 9 a.m. Monday in Riyadh. READ: Saudi Arabia executes OFW convicted of murder His wife Nerlyn said they were stunned by the news, especially since she had just recently talked to her husband who did not mention anything about the execution. READ: Wife stunned by husband’s execution in Saudi Arabia: ‘I was just talking to him’ While Read More …