2009 12/23-12/29

MANILA MAIL COMMUNITY

Manny 'Pacman' Pacquiao's March 13th fight with Mayweather, Jr. reportedly has found a venue, after seriously considering Dallas, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Wynn, Georgia - his favorite MGM Grand in Vegas, to be officially announced next few days.

Newly-minted Commissioner, Al Perez, left, being congratulated by Ms. Esther Chavez, Philippine American Press Club (PAPC) USA President..

Ms. Esther Chavez, Philippine American Press Club (PAPC) USA President, 4th left, had the grandest time with other PAPC members during their Annual Christmas Party and Fundraiser held last Saturday at the Intramuros Music Hall.

Mitos Cunanan Enriquez, 2nd left, had a High School Class reunion last Sunday with her classmates she contacted through FaceBook, today's highly popular social networking site.

Marilen Bernardo, left, celebrated her recent birthday Monday, Dec 21st, shown here with San Jose's Michael Back and US Air Force's Judy Villar Cayabyab, right.

Commissioner Ray Satorre (3rd right), attended Club Royale International Grand Dame's Jett Viray-Navarro's (5th right) Annual Christmas party held at her Ocean Avenue home, shown here with LuzViMin President Rey Reyes (3rd left) and other guests.

State Senator Leland Yee, 2nd left, had a grand time with San Jose's Fashion Photographer, Eddie Cotillon, left, Dave Rodriguez, 3rd left, and Richard Lao, right.

Seen at the recent San Francisco Marriott Marquis Christmas Party are Philippine Airlines' Herminia Lavarias, right, having a tete-a-tete with Pan American Remittance's Susan Pacifico.

Photographer, Vince Monasterio, left, gamely poses with friend World 2-DivisionBantamweight Champion, Ana 'The Hurricane' Julaton of Daly City before her HP Pavilion title victory just a few weeks ago.

Newest San Francisco Commissioner is a Pinoy

Al Perez To Be Inducted Formally Next Year

It’s official – ‘Mr. Pistahan’ himself, Al Perez, a Filipino, was appointed as the newest member of the The San Francisco Entertainment Commission last week, according to the joyful President of the Filipino American Arts Exposition Pistahan Parade and Festival at Yerba Buena Gardens himself, this Columnist speaking to him personally at last Saturday night’s Annual Christmas Party of the Philippine-American Press Club (PAPC) USA held at the Intramuros Music Hall in South San Francisco.

After hurdling several difficult selection interviews and voted unanimously by members of the board, Al’s appointment is noteworthy not only due to its nationalistic impact to the community, but also because San Francisco is one of the largest and most popular tourist destinations in the world and its high-class entertainment offerings are almost always headline-grabbing.

Established originally in 2003, the San Francisco Entertainment Commission’s mission is to regulate, promote and enhance the field of entertainment in the city of San Francisco . The seven-member commission has powers to accept, review and gather information to conduct hearings for entertainment-related permit applications. Additionally, the Entertainment Commission plans and coordinates the provision of City services for major events for which there is no recognized organizer, promoter, or sponsor.

Our Al Perez, Commissioner – Neighborhood Representative, will be joining the 6 other Entertainment Commissioners, namely, Justin Roja, President - Urban Planning, Audrey Joseph, Vice Chair - Industry Representative, Terrance Alan, Commissioner - Industry Representative, Jim Meko, Commissioner - Neighborhood Representative, John Newlin, Commissioner - Law Enforcement, Neal Cavellini, Commissioner - Public Health Representative

Aside from the annual Pistahan Parade and Parol Parade, San Francisco is also home to Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, Film Night in the Park, Renaissance Festival, Free Shakespeare in the Park @ The Presidio, Autumn Moon Festival, Chocolate Festival, International Dragon Boat Festival, the highly-controversial Folsom Street Fair, Oktoberfest by the Bay, Castro Street Fair, Fiesta on the Hill, Treasure Island Music Festival, Wine Week, Hip Hop DanceFest, among other events and festivals.

The board holds its bi-weekly afternoon meetings at the Room 408 of the San Francisco City Hall located at #1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA. 94102 and the public is welcome to attend.

Incidentally, the PAPC Annual Christmas Party and Fundraiser event was sponsored by The Philippine Center San Francisco and the club’s member publishers, namely ManilaMail, Philippine Headlines, Asian Journal, Filipinas Magazine, Filipino Guardian, Filipino Gazette, Filipino-American Radio Network, Inquirer.net, Philippine News, PhilippinesToday, The Islanders- Ch 28, Filipinas Magazine, FilAm Star and ABS-CBN. ‘Party Diva’ Angelica rendered a special number while all-night dance music was provided by The Young Once Band. A Wine Tasting by Eden Canyon Vineyard, also was held that night.

SEEN IN THE CITY

USF Wins 2009 Tala Award, Canon Kip 2^nd Place

The energetic and creative Filipino-American students of Kasamahan of the University of San Francisco is this year’s Tala Award Grand Prize winner, besting the 25 contingents of the San Francisco 7th Annual Parol Lantern Festival including the depending champion Canon Kip Senior Center .

“The scoring is tight,” says artist Carlo Ricafort, one of the three-person jury, “there are many outstanding and beautifully crafted and well-lit parol lanterns.” Since the launching of the Tala Awards in 2006 for the San Francisco Annual Parol Lantern Festival participating contingents have showcased their creative talents in both designing collective parol lantern and group presentation.

In Ricafort’s notes: Their (USF-Kasamahan) parol was a five-foot 10-point star, yellow with gold paper parol, structurally a more challenging choice of shape and was lit well. Traditional and yet the overall appearance was beautiful. What added to their parol (bonus points) was their presentation/formation. They showed up not just their numbers but in focused enthusiasm. They took their participation seriously and it looked like they rehearsed. They definitely embodied this year's theme of "Light the Way, Be Counted".

Canon Kip Senior Center , the 2008 Tala Award grand prize winner, is not far behind. “They stood out because each member of the organization made a parol with his/her picture on it and many, if not every one, of the parols were lit.” according to judge Mercedes, “It was consistent with the theme ‘Be counted’. The parol with the backlit photos was really cool and clever; the colors could have popped out a little more, maybe layering light-colored cellophane behind the photos for effect.”

The third place went to Veterans Equity Center ’s structurally innovative map-like image of the U.S. covered with flags and accompanying lights. The other lanterns that stand-out are from The Women Contingents, SOMCAN, Bayan-USA/Filipino Community Center, Skyline College ’s Kababayan, Chi-Omicron, Hogan’s High School of Vallejo , and PACE of San Francisco State University .

The three judges for this year's Tala Awards are Mercedes Cormier, a graphic artist and photographer who has shown her woodblock prints and photography in various art exhibits from Los Angeles to San Francisco, Abel Manalo , a San Francisco based artist whose primary mediums are oil, acrylic and mixed media, and Carlo Ricafort, a visual artist who draws inspiration from popular expressions found in art, current events as well as in music - namely hip-hop and jazz.

The strong winds and rains outside the church did not dampen the radiance of the parol lanterns and the peoples’ enthusiasm for the annual event. Despite of the drizzly weather a parol gallery was also mounted at the wall of Jessie Square , the plaza adjacent to St. Patrick’s Church.

The Parol Lantern Festival was held last December 12, 2009 at St. Patrick’s Church.

The annual parol lantern festival is presented by the Filipino American DevelopmentFoundation and KulArts and in close partnership with the MJM Management, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, St. Patrick’s Parish, and supported in part by the PG&E, Alliance of California Traditional Arts, and Grants for the Arts. The media partners are ABS-CBN International, Asian Week Foundation and Inquirer.net.

TO-BE-SEEN IN THE CITY

Vegas Beats DAllas To Stage Pacquiao Fight

It’s not yet official, but at least two websites had published online reports that a venue had been selected for the March 13, 2010 fight of Pacquiao vs. Mayweather. And the winner is – MGM Grand, who reportedly offered more than $30M to stage the event, beating Dallas Cowboys’ Superdome $25M offer. Previously, LA Staples Center offered $20M while Wynn Hotel proposed to build a 30,000 seat outdoor arena close to the Vegas strip.

According to FightHype.com. “the people behind Pacquiao-Mayweather decided to stick it out with the long-time Sin City venue for big-moneyed fights, choosing it over the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington , Texas , whose owner Jerry Jones reportedly offered up to $25-million for the hosting rights.

“It’s the MGM Grand. It’s definite," a source told FightHype.Com.

MGM Grand reportedly eyes to generate $32-million for what’s expected to be the biggest fight of the decade, giving it the leverage in the selection process.

Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, confirmed in a separate interview with site Examiner.com that a venue has been picked, although he declined to say which got their nod.

“They (Top Rank president Todd duBoef and Mayweather’s rep Richard Schaefer ofGolden Boy Promotions) have selected a site. But I can’t say a word other than that," Arum told Examiner.Com’s Michael Marley Saturday prior to the Kelly Pavlik-Miguel Espino fight in Youngstown, Ohio.

A press conference will be held Jan. 6 in New York to be followed by one more in Los Angeles on Jan.8^th.

PERSONAL NOTES

Belated happy birthday to Gary Enriquez of San Ramon (Friday, Dec 18th).

Happy birthday to Marilen Bernardo of South San Francisco (Monday, Dec 21st), Christine Pacifico Paul of the Silver Creek Country Club (Dec 23^rd) and to Noel Nuguit of San Jose (Dec 23^rd).

Quote of the Week – "If there is a hell, you might want to go there for R & R.” - Colonel Miles Quaritch, portrayed by Stephen Lang in the $73M grossing blockbuster movie, ‘Avatar’ which I saw last weekend at the Regal Hacienda’s IMAX Theater, despite the heavy rains. He was referring to the deadliness of Pandora, the distant moon inhabited by the 10-feet elongated human-like creature made possible by today’s performance-capture movie technology employed by its director and creator, James Cameron. The movie has all the good intentions and it was superior in all aspects, story included.

This column also appears online athttp://sites.google.com/site/adkinsmmcevents/Home/

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