Pep Guardiola was angry. One irate Manchester City supporter was practically foaming at the mouth. Even the club's owners must be taken aback by the perplexing reaction to their historic treble. Where's the love? Where's the eternal gratitude for providing the greatest show on Planet Football? Were we not entertained? Actually, the lazy Gladiator quote is an apt one here, because Manchester City's domination of Watford in the FA Cup final was just as one-sided as Lions against Roman slaves and the underlying circumstances were the same. City just couldn't lose to the Hornets. The first treble in English history wasn't the coronation that City hoped for, but a depressing confirmation of monopolistic control. For the first time, Europe's top-five leagues saw their titles retained. Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and City unwittingly came together to highlight the rich-poor divide like never before, because this has never happened before. Even though City became … [Read more...] about Neil Humphreys: Big boys’ dominance bad for football
Dreaming big quotes
Endless summer
BEVERLY Hills, California — “Oh, so you are from the Philippines?” asked Wolfgang Novogratz when he learned where your Conversationalist came from. “My best friend is married to a Filipina and he goes to Manila once a year.” Of course, I took it as a compliment which I returned towards the end of the interview by commenting that he is a potential Superman since he has the looks reminiscent of the late Christopher Reeve, the original DC Comics iconic hero. That brief light banter set the tone for this Conversation with Wolfgang and the five other stars of The Last Summer, an original Netflix film now streaming. The five others were KJ Apa, Maia Mitchell, Jacob Latimore, Halston Sage and Tyler Posey. Directed by William Bindley (who wrote the screenplay with his brother Scott, and co-produced with Mike Karz and Wayne Rice), The Last Summer is a coming-of-age movie that follows a group of recent high school graduates as they navigate their way through their … [Read more...] about Endless summer
What do clients want?
I was not an easy client to advertising agencies because I insisted that the agency should understand my business and must figure out the way I think. I was decisive and I get frustrated when the agency does not know what I want. Other cases are different, and most advertising people know this. They complain that clients want attention-grabbing innovative ideas that nobody has ever thought of. So the creative people dream up a lot of ambitious stuff and present these creative, big, and bold designs only to have clients shake their heads and wince. They claim that the studies are not what they are looking for and then direct the agency towards a campaign that is safe, timid and boring. The fact is, many clients do not know what they want. Honestly, I was the opposite type. I wanted advertisements to be: “In your face,” edgy and bordering on the ridiculous because the fashion industry caters to the young, and the young demands a lot of excitement and creativity. I knew what I … [Read more...] about What do clients want?
What Richard Yap dreams for Cebu
First of all, we want to improve the mass transport system in Cebu. We are also pushing for the LRT to be built, that is one thing that can help us with our traffic. Waste to energy (facility), renewable energy, those are the things we want for Cebu. We want to bring water to the mountain barangays. These are the things that require immediate action. I think we also need to go into the direction where Singapore has gone, which is water recycling. They recycle their water, wherein their waste water becomes so clean that they can drink it. Big dreams? Not really, if you ask Richard Edison Uy Yap who is running for congressman in Cebu City North District against a political veteran. “So far,” Richard admitted in an interview for Cebu Vote, the special election coverage of The Freeman, The Philippine STAR’s Cebu-based sister publication, “it has been going very well, I think, we’ve had a lot of resistance in the beginning. But I think people are now warming up … [Read more...] about What Richard Yap dreams for Cebu
Going (pili) nuts about beauty
The tough shell of the pili nut is cocooned by what many have claimed is the fountain of youth. And this “fountain” is the pulp that coats the nut. When blanched, “depulped” and manually pressed for extraction, this turns into oil. And voila! After purification and filtration, the pili oil, without preservatives, is ready to turn your dreams into Instagram-worthy reality. “This is actually the next big thing since Argan oil,” says Jane Ong of Pili Ani, the only skin care line made with powerful pili oils. Pili stands for the fruit and for “Pilipino,” as the Philippines is the world’s only grower of pili trees, and Ani means harvest. “Because what we have in the pili tree is a treasure that we don’t really know we have — we have two oils from one tree. From the pili tree, you can get elemi oil, which is the one Chanel buys from the Philippines. Chanel started buying elemi oil from the country around 30 years ago. If … [Read more...] about Going (pili) nuts about beauty