Lea Salonga and the Comong Les Miserable Movie

Lea Salonga singing I dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables Broadway Musical Les Misérables is an upcoming British epic musical drama film produced by Working Title Films and distributed by Universal Pictures based on the musical of the same name, which is in turn based on an 1862 French novel by Victor Hugo.

The film is directed by Tom Hooper, written by William Nicholson, Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg and Herbert Kretzmer, and stars an ensemble cast led by Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe. Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Samantha Barks, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, and Aaron Tveit also star. The film tells the story of Jean Valjean, a former prisoner who becomes mayor of a town in France. Valjean agrees to take care of Cosette, the illegitimate daughter of Fantine, and must avoid being captured again by Javert, a police inspector.

Development of Les Misérables began in the late 1980s. After the musical's 25th anniversary concert, producer Cameron Mackintosh announced that the film resumed development. Hooper and Nicholson were approached in March 2011 and the main characters were cast in 2011. Principal photography of the film commenced in March 2012, and took place in various locations in Winchester, London and Portsmouth in England, as well as Paris in France.

Les Misérables is scheduled to be released on 14 December 2012.

Obama is still on track for Electoral Victory

In spite of the recent news on Health care (Obama Care), Immigration Reform, Same Sex Marriage that majority of Americans are not in favor of, President Obama is still predicted to win as of this writing date. Of course his win will depend on the up or down swing of the US economy.

Here's the latest news about his predicted victory. Obama still on track for electoral victory By Charles Riley (June 29, 2012):

President Obama is still on track for an electoral victory this November, according to a forecasting model produced by Moody's Analytics. But his advantage over Mitt Romney is narrowing. According to the model, which produces a state-by-state prediction based in part on the latest economic data, Obama is on track to capture 303 electoral votes. That's more than the 270 required for victory, but if economic growth slows further, the model could easily shift. In May, the economy added just 69,000 jobs. And revisions from previous months showed the economy gained 49,000 fewer jobs in March and April than originally thought.

Moody's lowered its growth forecasts for the year as a result of the dour economy data. In the model, Obama's electoral vote‐weighted share of state popular votes dropped to 51.98%, down from 52.17% the previous month. According to the model, Obama is likely to hold onto the key battleground states of Virginia, Ohio, New Hampshire, Colorado, Nevada and Pennsylvania. But states like Florida (29 electoral votes) and North Carolina (15 electoral votes) are likely to turn from blue to red (Romney).

According to Moody's, Obama's lead is narrowest in Virginia and Ohio, where he is projected to capture 51.6% and 51.9% of the vote. Should those two states flip, Obama's electoral vote count would be released to 272 -- in other words, an extremely narrow victory. Of course, the model is likely to change as election day approaches and more economic data is included. CNN's own interactive electoral map,still rates Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Virginia, New Hampshire and Florida as "toss up" states.

Have you Heard of Dr. Michio Kaku?

Michio Kaku (加来 道雄 Kaku Michio, born January 24, 1947) is an American theoretical physicist, the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics in the City College of New York of City University of New York, a co-founder of string field theory, a futurist, and a "communicator" and "popularizer" of science.b> He has written several books about physics and related topics; he has made frequent appearances on radio, television, and film; and he writes extensive online blogs and articles. He has written two New York Times best sellers, Physics of the Impossible (2008) and Physics of the Future (2011). He has hosted several TV specials for BBC-TV, the Discovery Channel, and the Science Channel. Here's another interesting video from several of Dr Kaku's videos.

The Rock- My Action Film of the Month

The Rock is a 1996 action film that primarily takes place on Alcatraz Island and in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was directed by Michael Bay, director of Bad Boys, and stars Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris. It was produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, producers of Top Gun and Crimson Tide, and released through Hollywood Pictures. The film is dedicated to Simpson,[2] who died five months before its release. This was the first film on which Cage and Bruckheimer worked together.

Plot: A group of rogue Force Recon Marines led by disenchanted Brigadier General Frank Hummel (Harris) seize a stockpile of deadly VX gas–armed rockets from a heavily guarded military bunker, reluctantly leaving one of their men to die in the process, when a bead of the gas falls and breaks. The next day, Hummel and his men, along with more renegade Marines (Captains Frye and Darrow who have never previously served under Hummel) seize control of Alcatraz during a guided tour and take 81 tourists hostage in the prison cells. Hummel threatens to launch the stolen rockets against the population of San Francisco unless the government pays ransom and reparations to the families of Recon Marines, (using money the US earned via illegal weapons sales) who died on illegal, clandestine missions under his command and whose deaths were not honored.

The Pentagon and FBI develop a plan to retake the island with a Navy SEAL Team, enlisting the bureau's top chemical weapons specialist, Dr. Stanley Goodspeed (Cage), who initially thinks he's consulting the team, but soon learns that he has to accompany the SEALs due to his specialisation in chemical warfare. Goodspeed's confidence, already shaky as he received only minimal training in combat, is further tested when his fiancee Carla reveals that she is pregnant.

Recognizing that any surface approach will be seen by Hummel's men, FBI Director James Womack (John Spencer) is forced to turn to federal prisoner John Mason (Connery), a former MI6 Agent and SAS Captain who has been illegally detained for decades by Womack and his predecessors. Mason is the only Alcatraz inmate ever to escape through the prison's uncharted tunnels, doing so in 1963, one year after imprisonment.

Although Goodspeed manages to convince Mason to cooperate with the FBI in return for a pardon from the US Attorney General, Womack reneges on the deal. While in custody under the supervison of Special Agent Ernest Paxton (William Forsythe), Mason manages to escape to see his estranged daughter Jade (Claire Forlani), who is the only proof that he exists. Goodspeed arrives and reveals to Mason's daughter that he is aiding the FBI. Womack initially only wants Mason to consult the SEALs, as he confides to Agent Paxton that he does not want Mason loose, but the FBI have no choice but to let Mason accompany the SEALs since he has committed the maps to memory.

The team infiltrates Alcatraz, through the underground tunnels with Mason's guidance. The SEALs however are surrounded and gunned down by Hummel's marines in a shower room after SEAL Commander Anderson (Michael Biehn) refuses to surrender (the fight is provoked by Marine Captains Frye and Darrow, later revealed to be following Hummel only for the money instead of honor), leaving only Mason and Goodspeed alive. Womack plans to abort the mission, but Paxton agrees to let them them continue saying that Mason and Goodspeed are their last hope. Mason attempts to leave the prison, but Goodspeed manages to convince him to help him defuse the rockets, since Mason's daughter is at risk from the rockets. Using Mason's knowledge of the prison, they quietly eliminate several small teams of marines and disable 12 of the 15 rockets, until Hummel threatens over the loudspeaker to execute a hostage if the remaining "Navy SEALs" do not surrender and return the guidance chips from the rockets. Only Mason surrenders to Hummel, trying to buy Goodspeed some time. Though Goodspeed manages to disable another rocket, the Marines capture him shortly thereafter. With the incursion team lost, the military readies a backup plan: an air strike by F/A-18's with Thermite plasma, which will neutralize the poison gas but kill everyone on the island including the hostages.

As Mason uses his unique experience to escape from their cells, he reveals why he was held there for so many years — for stealing a microfilm of the United States' most closely guarded secrets, including the Roswell UFO incident and the John F. Kennedy assassination (Womack revealed this to Paxton, earlier). Mason states he didn't return it, because he knew the FBI would "suicide" him, if he did. While Goodspeed and Mason search for the final two rockets, Hummel fires one of them but changes the coordinates at the last second causing the rocket to crash harmlessly out to sea. Facing Captains Frye and Darrow's (Gregory Sporleder and Tony Todd) frustration, Hummel explains that their bluff failed and that he refuses to harm innocent civilians. He orders them to exit Alcatraz with a few hostages and the remaining VX rockets to cover their retreat, while he'll stay, personally assuming blame.

Realizing that they will not be paid their $1 million apiece, Frye and Darrow, along with Sergeant Crisp (Bokeem Woodbine), decide mutiny against Hummel and his second-in-command, Major Tom Baxter (David Morse). With Mason and Goodspeed watching from afar, Crisp attempts to secure Hummel on Darrows orders, but fails as the General is able to hold the NCO at gunpoint. When Baxter is asked to take a side, he appears to side with Frye, Darrow and Crisp. The Major says what a privilege it was serving with Hummel, then fires at the three rogues. In the ensuring firefight, Crisp is killed by Hummel but Baxter is killed while Hummel is fatally wounded and pulled away by Mason. Darrow and Fyre proceed with the plan to fire on San Francisco. With his last breath, Hummel tells Goodspeed the location of the last rocket. As the jets approach, Darrow is killed when Goodspeed fires the last disarmed rocket into him, launching the Marine outside where he falls and is impaled on a fencepost. Goodspeed stows the last gas pearls from the warhead and takes a loose one, but is then attacked by Frye who begins to strangle Goodspeed to death.

Using the VX to defend himself, Goodspeed shoves the gas pearl into Frye's mouth and gives him an uppercut to the jaw, breaking the pearl and exposing both of them to the gas. Goodspeed injects himself in the heart with atropine as Frye dies from the VX gas. Goodspeed then lights green flares to signal that the threat is over, but only after one of the pilots fires, sending Goodspeed flying into the sea. The early detonation hits the back of the island and harms no one else.

Mason reappears to pull the unconscious Goodspeed to shore. When he recovers, Goodspeed tells Mason that Womack tore up his pardon, which Mason expected. When radioed, Goodspeed states that Mason is dead. Goodspeed tells Mason to go to his hotel room, take a change of clothes and $200 he stashed and run. Mason thanks Goodspeed, and gives him a note that holds the location of where he had stashed the microfilm. When the FBI arrives, Goodspeed is asked about Mason and says the man was "vaporized." Paxton simply grins, suspecting otherwise as he, too, sympathizes with Mason.

Goodspeed and his pregnant bride Carla (Vanessa Marcil) visit Fort Walton, Kansas, recovering the microfilm with a half-century of state secrets, including who actually killed John F. Kennedy.

Our Second Home-Boac, Marinduque, Philippines

Chateau Du Mer Conference Hall dressed up for a Wedding Reception

The following video was tagged into my FaceBook timeline by Dr Roby Montellano and made by Bert Morelos of Vancouver, Canada. Thank you Roby and I am taking this opportunity to share this video with my blog readers from 152 countries all over the world.

Boac, Marinduque, is our second Home! The economy and tourism of the province is now being threatened by trimming of Zest Air flights from Manila to Boac after the end of October this year. I am hoping that another airline will take over air service to this beautiful island-known worldwide as the Heart of the Philippines. Boac is the Capital town of the Province of Marinduque in the Philippines. One of its barangay is Amoingon, where my beach resort Chateau Du Mer is located.

Short History of Boac:The name Boac is derived from the Tagalog word biak, which means "divided". The town had been divided into two areas by a river running from the Eastern hinterland to the Western plains down to the sea. The two areas were the Northern Area and the Southern Area.

In 1621, the Spanish Jesuit missionaries brought the 3-foot Marian image to Boac. So began the people's devotion to the image of the Virgin Mary. In the mid-seventeenth century, a group of Muslims within the Philippines called the Moro people felt threatened by the actions of the ruling Spanish government. So, they challenged the government by launching attacks on coastal Christian towns. This resulted in a raid along the shores of Barangay Laylay, near the Boac River.

During the siege, the neighborhood people fled in panic and took refuge inside the fortress church of Boac, which is now called Immaculate Conception Cathedral. In the meantime, all able-bodied men defended the outer walls of the church fortress against the attacks. Many Christians were killed and, by the third day of violence, those still alive began to run short on food. The capture of the fortress seemed imminent.

The survivors began to pray fervently at the throne of Mary, asking her to deliver them from their enemies. Legend says that suddenly there came a very strong storm, with torrential rain fall, thunder and lightning. At the very height of the storm, it is reported that the image of a beautiful lady with outstretched arms appeared standing on the top of the wall. Terror seized the Moros and they fled in confusion to their vinta boats. Thus, the Christians were saved from death by Mary.

Ever since this incident, the image of Mary has been honored and given the title “Biglang Awa.” In order to commemorate the miracle, a stone niche was built on the wall at the very spot where Mary appeared. The old image brought by the Jesuits in Boac was placed there. There is still a shrine at this location today.

Governor Carmencita Ongsiako Reyes built a larger-than-life-size image of the Virgin Mary in cement and placed in the seashore in Balanacan Port to welcome travelers to the island.(see photo on bottom of this page)

On May 10, 2008, the Diocese of Boac celebrated the thirtieth anniversary and the golden anniversary of the canonical coronation of Mahal na Birhen ng Biglang-Awa (1958–2008). Cardinal Ricardo Vidal of Mogpog, Marinduque, officiated at the consecrated mass.

In 1942, Boac was occupied by Japanese troops. In 1945, the Battle of Marinduque began and the American - Philippine Commonwealth troops landed in Boac. Boac is now the home of about 50,000 natives called the Boacaneous.