Best of the Week: Of promising futures, ruined ones and people from it

Future Bestsellers Of The Week: Keanu’s Bio And Madonna’s Comic Book

MANILA, Philippines - Perhaps in another universe Madonna and Keanu Reeves are nobodies, but good thing they live in Milky Way with us where we can adore them for the rest of our terrestrial lives. And now they are giving us yet another reason to remain fans. Keanu Reeves has released Ode to Happiness, which is about Keanu Reeves’ alter ego as an unfortunate sad little boy. The book is exclusively released in the UK, with only about 4,000 copies in existence. However, he will still be writing another book to be possibly released to a larger market, hoping that if it’s sadder than sad, it comes with free tissue paper.

Meanwhile, American publisher Bluewater will be releasing its newest title under its line of Female Force comic books: Female Force: Madonna, which is due on August. Of course, it’s about the pop superstar’s life from her humble beginnings to the events that catapulted her to popular culture. This makes Madonna join the league of icons like Britney, Beyonce and Lady Gaga, whose comic book bios were earlier released. Talk about a new, all-female Fantastic Four.

Song Of The Week: ‘Greatest Love Of All’ By Jaclyn Jose

“I believe the children are the future,” echoes Jaclyn Jose, prized veteran actress and now soon to be grandmother. Her daughter, last year’s teleserye sensation Andi Eigenmann admits her pregnancy, and will continue with it without the father. The 21-year old teen star will have to go on break from showbiz, but says will finish taping her current primetime show first. As for Jaclyn Jose, she says she is supporting her daughter all the way, but keeps a firm stand regarding the baby’s father. “Wala akong hinihingi sa kanila ni ayaw ko sila makita,” she said. Initial rumors pointed to Jake Ejercito, son of the former president, to be the dad. The ex-couple topped Twitter’s worldwide trending topics this week, which prompted Jake to deny he’s the father. ABS-CBN confirms they are supporting Andi in this new chapter in her life, and Johnny Manahan just approved a teleserye remake for Andi to be titled, Agua Buntisna.

People From The Future: Eguchi Aimi

In the time of Facebook and the pre-adolescent Astroboy (born April 7, 2003), we might be really living in the future Nostradamus described. We now even do time travel and appear in Charlie Chaplin’s live performances back in 1912 for goodness’ sake! And that brings us to our point, which is that news of people thought to be real people but apparently just fake people no longer surprise real people. We know you are confused, genuine people.

To well explain things, let’s take Japanese sensation Eguchi Aimi as an example. For months, Eguchi appeared on national television and entertained the earthquake-ravaged country by being a part of the 61-member pop group AKB48. It was just this week that it was revealed that Eguchi is a computer-generated avatar, whose facial features were taken from a bunch of ladies who auditioned to be part of the group. Fictitious superstars are becoming a fad in Japan, where non-fictitious tsunamis strike.

Exciting News Of The Week: Pixar’s First Leading Heroine!

To say Pixar is the world’s best animator is an understatement. Founded in 1979, the 3D animation studio has just produced 12 full-length feature films but has already won an amazing 26 Oscars. To this day, Pixar continues to entertain the movie-going public with groundbreaking animation ensconced in value-oriented storytelling. So what’s a better way to up their impressive resume? They’ve recently unveiled Merida, their first female lead character in the history of Pixar. She’s the leading heroine in Brave, due for release in June 2012. Set in historical Scotland, the movie tells the story of a princess who bravely breaks tradition in pursuit of her dreams of becoming an archer. Sounds like Amaya, the animated version.

Billboard Of The Week: Philippine Volcanoes For Bench Body

A giant billboard displayed on EDSA of hot, strapping young men known for their love of playing rough with balls has been causing a ton of near-accidents lately and we’re not talking about the Azkals. Nope, this time, the spotlight is on the Volcanoes, the Philippine rugby team and current endorsers of Bench Body. While the Volcanoes have been around longer than the Azkals and have one silver and gold medals for the Southeast Asian games and emerged as champions in the Asian Junior Rugby Division 2 in 2009 and 2010, it’s only recently that media fixation on them has reached boiling point, what with with them being displayed in all their nearly-naked glory in highly-trafficked areas. Coincidentally, it’s also the first time that a local clothing brand threw support behind a national team. Looks like the Younghusbands should start letting the rest of the Azkals strip down too for their Hanford endorsements. 

Apocalyptic News Of The Week: Gay Marriage In New York

It was once said that if the gays dominated the world, Apocalypse would be near. We beg to disagree. This week, the gays were able to dominate the capital of the world, New York, as they won the battle of legislation of same-sex marriage in the state. Solons voted 33-29 in favor of the bill, making New York the seventh state to allow same sex unions legally. The news was met with jubilation in the cities of New York, with important figures like Hillary Clinton and Ellen de Generes reacting positively. Long-time couple Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka have announced their application for marriage, five years after they proposed to each other. The Empire State Building in downtown NYC also joined the global celebration by beaming the colors of the Pride flag, which looked like a symbolic tribute to the equality cause. However, as expected, the news was met with utter disappointment from the Catholic Church, headed by NY Archbishop Timothy Dolan feeling down about the passage of the bill. On his Sunday Mass after the bill was passed, the archbishop kept mum on the issue, surprising both pro- and anti- camps. Rumors are Bishop Teodoro Bacani of Manila will be his spokesperson.

Tweep Of The Week: Pope Benedict Xvi

What’s sensitive to the touch, can get really hot sometimes and the Pope plays with using his finger? An iPad! The Catholic Church recently introduced the Pope to the world of Twitter, and possibly, the Justin Bieber religion. This week, the Pontiff made his first Holy Tweet from an iPad, proclaiming “Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI.” Does that actually count as indulgence? Well, maybe. If you can now tweet the Pope for an audience request, he may not be that hesitant to bless you with plenary indulgence straight from the Holy iPad.