•Who’s sleeping with separated actor?

FLASH: Could it be true that a sexy actress now often spends the night at the house of an actor separated from his actress-wife? No, his house isn’t the house where he used to share with his wife, but a relative’s house where he’s temporarily staying.

Of course, if any of them feels alluded to by this blind item, he or she will (again and as usual) deny it to death, claiming (again and as usual) that they are only friends, cross their heart. Yes, they do look very "friendly" on their TV show.

Ironically, the initials of the sexy actress are the same as those of the actor’s estranged wife.

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I guess many people, out of curiosity, must be rushing to catch the movie The Animal while it’s still showing in some theaters in Metro Manila, thanks to Makati Mayor Jojo Binay who has appealed to the MTRCB to pull it out of the theaters because, according to him, there’s a scene showing a "slur" on Filipinos.

I saw the movie, starring half-Filipino Rob Schneider, and I didn’t find that scene offensive at all. It was just as funny as similar scenes in other Hollywood movies such as that of Zorro David (identified as a Filipino) in Reflections in a Golden Eye (starring Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor) stumbling down the stairs after a gossip session with Julie Harris (as Brando’s wife whom he junked for Taylor), prompting Brando to smirk, "Serves you right!"

Or what about that dining-room scene in Her Alibi where a Filipino domestic "steals" the thunder from the lead stars, among them Tom Selleck and Paulina Porozkova, when she launches into a monologue of exasperation in Tagalog, catching her wealthy bosses dumbfounded? That was cute, I think, just like the scene in The Animal which I don’t consider a "slur" at all.

Maybe Mayor Binay will be pleasantly surprised to know that the character called a "dumb bitch" by Schneider is played by his own Filipino mother (a native of Zambales).

Come on, Mayor Binay, where’s your sense of humor?

Here’s reader Norman Gana (of Greenhills, Mandaluyong City) to further enlighten the "offended" Makati Mayor:

Dear Editor,

Mayor Binay’s request for the recall of The Animal was made based solely on the joke on the Filipino character being called a dumb bitch. But that was just part of the kind of humor of the movie. It being a PG 13 movie, parents should explain to their kids that that was just a joke. In fact, the dumb bitch referred to in the movie was played by the lead actor’s Filipino mother who plays cameo in most of his movies. Far from being anti-Filipino, Schneider is proud of his Filipino heritage. His very Filipina-looking mother appears in his movies. In the very first shot of the very first scene of The Animal, Rob Schneider is seen wearing a Baguio T-shirt. It is his message that he is part Filipino and proud to be one.

That "dumb bitch" comment was made to a character who happened to be a Filipino and not to the Filipino people at all. Oh, well, sometime we do over-react in a paranoid way, seeing a "slur" where there’s none at all.

SIS preem set for Aug. 27

The De Belen sisters Janice and Gelli’s GMA show, SIS, was supposed to premiere last Monday, Aug. 20, on GMA 7 as replacement for Dina Bonnevie’s D!Day (10:30 to 11:30 a.m., Monday through Friday), but no Janice/Gelli materialized on Channel 7 that day (nor the following four days).

Well, it turned out that the continuous rains bungled up the outdoor shooting of the show’s initial episodes so the premiere has been moved to Monday, Aug. 27.

The show promises something new, not the usual stuff televiewers have been spoonfed these past many years, with the playfulness of Gelli as perfect foil to her Ate Janice’s natural seriousness. The De Belens are sisters who are poles apart, with perhaps only their surname as similar.

For the show’s opening salvo, famous sisters will be featured, namely Lani Misalucha and sisters May and Carlyn Bayot (Lani’s real maiden surname), Sharmaine Arnaiz and sister Bunny Paras, Ara Mina and sister Hana, and the "sisterless" Candy Pangilinan (and her candy business).

Will SIS really offer something better as it goes on?

Let’s wait and see.

NOW promo contest

Funfare is again in a tie-up promo with OctoArts-EMI for its latest album, NOW, That’s What I Call Music!!! Volume 7 which features songs by, among other artists, Janet Jackson, former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, Emma Burton, Gorillaz, Robbie Williams, Limp Bizkit, Nelly Furtado, U2, Ronan Keating, Backstreet Boys, Samantha Mumba, N’SYNC, Britney Spears, Daft Punk, Atomic Kitten, Steps, S Club 7 and Coldplay.

The first five readers who answer the following questions will each get a free copy of the CD.

1. What is the title of the annual show that honored Janet Jackson?

2. Name the two former boy band members included in NOW 7 and name the respective boy bands they originally came from.

3. Who is the lead vocalist of U2?

4. Who is the former Spice Girl included in NOW 7?

5. Who is the NOW 7 artist who is STILL with the Spice Girls?

6. What is the original band of Damon Albarn, the singer who did the voice of the Gorillaz’ 2D?

7. How many members does Atomic Kitten have?

8. Name at least two NOW 7 songs that have animated music videos.

9. Who is the Backstreet Boy who is currently undergoing drug treatment?

10. What is the trademark headdress of Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst?

Now That’s What I Call Music!!! Volume 7 is still out on Compact Discs and Cassettes under OctoArts EMI Music with special thanks to K-Swiss, WBN, W. Brown and Dickies Jeans USA.

(You can send in your entries through e-mail at jojo.bacasmas@emi-music.com. Answers will be published by Funfare after the promo period.)