Love in the making

 How the 'Anyone But You' cast prepped for their rom-com roles

The cast of ‘Anyone But You’ at the New York premiere of the film in December 2023 (from left) Joe Davidson, Glen Powell, Dermot Mulroney, Alexandra Shipp, director Will Gluck, Charlee Fraser, Sydney Sweeney, Michelle Hurd, and Darren Barnet. PHOTO COURTESY OF COLUMBIA PICTURES

Get ready to be charmed by Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell, and the rest of the cast of "Anyone But You," which opens today in cinemas nationwide. But first, find out how they prepared to play their roles in director Will Gluck's new romantic comedy.

In "Anyone But You," Sweeney ("Euphoria") and Powell ("Top Gun: Maverick") play romantic enemies Bea and Ben, respectively, who have to put aside their personal vendettas and pretend to be a head-over-heels couple to keep the peace at Bea's sister's wedding. The film also stars Alexandra Shipp, Darren Barnet, Hadley Robinson, Dermot Mulroney, Rachel Griffiths, Michelle Hurd, Bryan Brown, Charlee Fraser, Joe Davidson, and GaTa.

Work hard at working out

"I didn't realize how naked I would be [in the movie]," shares Powell, who plays Ben. "I knew it was a rom-com, which meant I should stay away from the beer for a bit. But I didn't expect to be this naked, this often. I kept weights and resistance bands in my trailer that I would break out on certain days, just to keep everything looking good."

Joe Davidson, who plays the boyfriend of the woman Ben is truly after, was traveling in Tasmania when his agent called with the news that Gluck wished to meet with him in Sydney. "It said specifically in the email that Beau must be big and strong, and I'd just spent a few weeks in Tasmania traveling around, so I wasn't in peak physical condition at all," recalls Davidson. "I headed up to Sydney and went into a KMart, grabbed two dumbbells, and started a little workout. I did sit-ups, and everyone was like, 'What's this guy doing?' I did a 30-min Kmart workout, then headed in for my audition."

Possible tropical and floods continue in Mindanao, Westpacwx Bagyo Update

https://www.patreon.com/RobertSpeta

Disease threat from climate change must be addressed

By The Editorial Board

January 17, 2024 70

PUBLIC health experts are becoming increasingly alarmed at the spread of tropical diseases driven by climate change, both in terms of their appearance in new regions and their increase in occurrences in tropical regions where they are already prevalent. The reports from data collected for 2023 are disturbing and strongly suggest that our own health authorities must take a more proactive approach to identifying and preventing diseases such as dengue fever and infections from bacteria.

The problem is getting the most attention from countries such as the US simply because cases of diseases associated with tropical conditions are beginning to appear in numbers there. In October, two cases of locally transmitted dengue infection were recorded for the first time ever in California; prior to that, all cases of dengue that appeared in the US were in people who had been infected in other countries. There have been numerous cases of infection in the US from the Vibrio vulnificus bacteria, a pathogen that thrives in warm water and is sometimes associated with so-called red tide algal blooms; at least 17 deaths were recorded in 2023, with a couple of those occurring as far north as New York and Connecticut.

There have also been increases in the number of heretofore exceedingly rare tropical infections, such as the nearly always fatal Naegleria fowleri, also known as the "brain-eating amoeba"; coccidioidomycosis, also known as "Valley fever," a fungal respiratory infection; and infections from the lone star tick. The latter is at least one dangerous pest that we do not have to fear here in the Philippines as of now, as it is endemic to warm areas of the southern US and Central America, but we should be cautious about preventing it from arriving here accidentally, such as in cargo shipments; the most common lasting health effect it inflicts on its victims is a lifelong allergy to red meat.

Elsewhere, in South and Southeast Asia, most of Africa, and Central and South America, health authorities have also reported what seems to be a steady rise in the incidence of diseases associated with warmer climate conditions, some of the ones described above as well as other dangerous infections such as malaria. There is also some evidence to suggest that warmer conditions are contributing to a rise in cases of tuberculosis in many tropical countries, including the Philippines.

Researchers have explained that the warming climate is helping diseases thrive and spread to new areas for two main reasons. The first is obvious; most pathogens and their vectors (such as mosquitoes) thrive in warm conditions. The second reason is the changes in patterns of human movement and habits due to hotter conditions. People are simply more likely to expose themselves to diseases, especially waterborne infections, by seeking to keep cool in hot weather or through unintentional means such as being exposed to floodwaters.

Despite their understandable concern, researchers have said that the trend in the increasing numbers and geographical spread of tropical infections is not surprising. Since the problem is being driven by global warming, it is expected to become progressively worse. That is certainly not at all an encouraging outlook, but awareness of the problem does suggest a way in which public health authorities can manage it effectively. However, it will require a substantial shift in the approach to addressing disease incidence, from responding to outbreaks to anticipating them.

Put another way, health officials cannot simply wait for diseases to appear but should apply effort in seeking out the potential infectious agents and the conditions that allow them to thrive. This is already done in some ways, such as the occasional campaigns to educate the public and clean up stagnant bodies of water that can harbor disease-carrying mosquitoes, but these types of initiatives must be expanded and carried out even in the absence of any actual cases of infection.

At the same time, the monitoring and treatment of tropical disease cases should be reviewed and strengthened. The public health system will need to be able to effectively handle the inevitable increase in disease cases, as well as to ensure prompt identification of potential new problem areas that might be revealed by cases of infection, even if there are only one or two victims.

Specialty coffee auction in Davao City set

BY KEITH BACONGCO

  

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DAVAO CITY – Coffee producers from the famed village of Balutakay at the foot of  Mount Apo in Bansalan, Davao del Sur will hold its first auction of specialty coffee here on January 20.

A FARMER sorts coffee cherries in Barangay Balutakay, Bansalan, Davao del Sur.  (Photo courtesy of MCN)  

Rhoda Ruth Pillerin, chief executive officer of the Model Cooperative Network, said the specialty coffee beans are from 18 producers from the Balutakay Coffee Farmers Agriculture Cooperative (Bacofa).

Pillerin added that the Arabica coffee green beans have been graded by Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) certified graders.

MCN is providing technical assistance to  support the coffee value  chain activities under its project Strengthening the Implementation of Regional and Local Peace and Development Agendas (SPADe) and Mindanao Peace and Development (MinPAD) RISE Program of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA).

It is also supported by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development through the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Pillerin added that only those graded 80 and above have been selected for auction.

Over 100 producers submitted their samples but only 18 made the cut.

The highest cupping score was earned by Cherry Gil Cabanday with 85.45 with cupping notes berries, cinnamon, and wine.

Unlike other coffee varieties, Arabica coffee is considered the superior coffee and sold at higher prices.

“This is the first time that Bacofa will hold an auction of their specialty coffee in the Philippine market,” she admitted. “We are also testing the water through this auction to see the response of the market.”

Pillerin added that most these producers also belong to winners circle of Philippine Coffee Quality Competition (PCQC).

Coffee producers in Bansalan have been consistent in the winners circle in PCQC since 2018.

As of January 12, several prospect buyers have signified their interest in the auction that will be held at Park Inn by Radisson Davao.

Under this project, Pillerin hopes to educate the public on the value of the specialty coffee from the Davao region.  

MCN assists the coffee producers in making sure that they are following top quality standards in processing their coffee beans, she added.

She urged local coffee shop owners, roasters, and even home brewers to patronize the local specialty coffee to further boost the income the local producers.

“Because when you are buying local specialty coffee from Bacofa, it could help in the expansion plans of the group,” Pillerin said.

High-Rise Buildings in the Philippines| Davao City

Philippine-German Relations (VII) - Deutsch-philippinische Beziehungen (VII): German Jesuits - Deutsche Jesuiten

1595 kamen jesuitische Missionare auf die Philippinen, wo sie in Baclayon eine Kirche bauten. Alexandre de Rhodes kam 1619 nach Indochina und konnte nach seiner Schätzung 6700 Vietnamesen taufen. 1625 kam der Jesuit Antonio Freire de Andrade in das Gebiet des Himalaya.

In his book entitled "The Jesuits in the Philippines, 1581 - 1768", Father Horacio de la Costa lists several German names from the non-Castillian Jesuits who came to evangelize the natives. Although the Spanish Goverment's policy at this time was send to send only Spaniards to work in the Christianization of their newly-acquired  territory, some Germans werde made an exception to the rule. 

One reason for this was the fact that the Germans were especially trained in some fields , particularly pharmacy, medicine and the sciences. Another reason was that in the middle of the 18th century, the Jesuits were expelled from many countries of Europe. 

The native Filipinos generally thought of those German Jesuits as Spaniards because of their skins' color. For them white people were always Spaniards, just as today all white people people in the Philippines are Americans.

Besides, the German Jesuits had adopted not only the Spanish language and ways to live. Father de la Costa listed in his book some German names of Jesuit priests and brother who came to the Philippines in the 17th and 18th centuries: Johann Lorenz, Georg Josef Kamel, Paul Klein and many more.

The beginnings of Philippine-German trade relations  started in 1836.

(To be continued)

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In seinem Buch mit dem Titel „Die Jesuiten auf den Philippinen, 1581 – 1768“ listet Pater Horacio de la Costa mehrere deutsche Namen der nichtkastilischen Jesuiten auf, die kamen, um die Eingeborenen zu evangelisieren. Obwohl die Politik der spanischen Regierung zu dieser Zeit darin bestand, nur Spanier zur Christianisierung ihres neu erworbenen Territoriums zu entsenden, machten einige Deutsche eine Ausnahme von der Regel.

Ein Grund dafür war die Tatsache, dass die Deutschen in einigen Bereichen, insbesondere Pharmazie, Medizin und Naturwissenschaften, besonders ausgebildet waren. Ein weiterer Grund war, dass die Jesuiten Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts aus vielen Ländern Europas vertrieben wurden.

Die einheimischen Filipinos betrachteten diese deutschen Jesuiten aufgrund ihrer Hautfarbe im Allgemeinen als Spanier. Für sie waren Weiße immer Spanier, so wie heute alle Weißen auf den Philippinen Amerikaner sind.

ußerdem hatten die deutschen Jesuiten nicht nur die spanische Sprache und Lebensweise übernommen. Pater de la Costa listete in seinem Buch einige deutsche Namen von Jesuitenpriestern und -brüdern auf, die im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert auf die Philippinen kamen: Johann Lorenz, Georg Josef Kamel, Paul Klein und viele mehr.

Die Anfänge der philippinisch-deutschen Handelsbeziehungen begannen im Jahr 1836.

(Fortsetzung folgt!)

Typical Filipino (XXXVI) - Typisch Philippinisch (XXXVI): "Lista sa tubig" - Teilen und schnorren

 

It is the rule to share with relatives. And you measure a relationship by your willingness to share everything with others. It is natural not to pay a friend or relative, an author, painter or shopkeeper, for a book, picture or bar of chocolate they receive. This would mean being placed on the same level as other mortalities and not being treated as a special confidant. Filipinos tend to serve themselves, assuming that if the other person is friends or related to them, they won't be confronted or objected to. Some expressions that describe this behavior are "T.Y." (thank you, thank you), "ambush", "lista sa tubig" ("have someone write to you on the water") and "dilihensiya" (assistance).

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Es ist Regel, mit der Verwandschaft zu teilen. Und man misst eine Beziehung an der Bereitschaft, alles mit anderen zu teilen. Es ist selbstverständlich, einem befreundeten oder verwandten Autor, Maler oder Ladenbesitzer nichts für ein erhaltenes Buch, Bild oder eine Tafel Schokolade zu zahlen. Dies würde nämlich bedeuten, mit anderen Sterblichkeiten auf eine Stufe gestellt und nicht als ein besonderer Vertrauter behandelt zu werden. Filipinos neigen dazu, sich selbst zu bedienen, in der Annahme, dass man sie nicht zur Rede stellt oder etwas dagegen einwendet, wenn der andere mit ihnen befreundet oder verwandt ist. Einige Ausdrücke, die dieses Verhalten bezeichnen sind "T.Y." (thank you,danke), "Hinterhalt", "lista sa tubig" ("auf dem Wasser anschreiben lassen") und "dilihensiya" (Hilfeleistung). 

PAGASA announces new names for 2024 typhoon season

Flooding in Davao, Mindanao as the Shearline : Bagyo dominates the region

Tennis princess Eala, spiker Carlos to be feted

BY MANILA BULLETIN SPORTS

AT A GLANCE

• Rising talent Alex Eala and star player Diana Mae ‘Tots’ Carlos will have a share of the spotlight in the San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association (SMC-PSA) Awards Night two weeks from now.

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Rising talent Alex Eala and star player Diana Mae ‘Tots’ Carlos will have a share of the spotlight in the San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association (SMC-PSA) Awards Night two weeks from now.

Alex Eala (left) and Tots Carlos (File photo/PVL Images)

Eala, 18, is going to be crowned Ms. Tennis, while Carlos, 25, will be hailed Ms. Volleyball during the formal affair set Jan. 29 at the grand ballroom of the Diamond Hotel.

The two will be joined by June Mar Fajardo (Mr. Basketball) and Sarina Bolden (Ms. Football) as recipients of a special award from the country’s oldest media organization headed by its president Nelson Beltran, sports editor of The Philippine Star, for their outstanding achievements in their respective fields in 2023.

All four personalities form part of the huge 130-plus awardees who are included in the PSA honor roll.

Highlight of the event presented by ArenaPlus, the leading sports entertainment gateway in the Philippines, and the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, MILO, PLDT/Smart, and Cignal as major sponsors, is the bestowing of the prestigious Athlete of the Year Award to world no. 2 pole vaulter EJ Obiena.

Also backing the gala night are the Philippine Basketball Association, Premier Volleyball League, 1-Pacman Partylist Rep. Mikee Romero, and Rain or Shine.

A recipient of a Major Awards two years ago, Eala will be honored this time for a hectic year that saw the Filipina netter establishing herself as an emerging force in the sport by winning two ITF Circuit titles and barging in the Top 200 rankings in the world. 

At the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Eala ended a 61-year medal drought for Philippine tennis by winning the bronze in the women’s single event, and then teamed up with Francis Casey Alcantara for a podium finish in the mixed doubles.

Carlos meanwhile, distinguished herself as one of the best volleyball players in the country today by leading Creamline to the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) First All-Filipino Conference title opposite Petro Gazz in the absence of injured star Alyssa Valdez.

During the same tournament, the product of the University of the Philippines from Lubao, Pampanga was adjudged PVL MVP, marking the third time she won the league’s highest individual honor.

Before the end of 2023, Carlos also steered the Cool Smashers to the Second All-Filipino Conference championship where she was named Finals MVP following a two-game sweep of Choco Mucho before a record crowd of 24,459 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.