Dennis knows the right time

By Isah V. Red

Time is gold, and Dennis Trillo, the actor who recently made waves as a superhero with spider power on TV as Gagambino, a Carlo J. Caparas creation, is telling us all that it is really.

Recently, the actor signed with AXN Time to be its face this year. The watch company recently launched Trillo at the SM Department Store.

AXN, the watch not the TV channel, recognizes the value of time, that is why its timepieces are built for keeping track of the hours and minutes for years and years. It is designed for highly active, upwardly mobile young people who work hard, play hard, and can do a lot of things.

Fans of the actor are eagerly awaiting for his next outing in a drama series, even if the afternoon series he was supposed to star with Heart Evangelista had been scrapped after the actress became finicky and didn’t want to do it. Her alibi… she can’t do steamy scenes on TV which made us laugh, of course, knowing that she had lived in with former lover Jericho Rosales and now she’s trying to project an image of la virgin inmaculada.

No, Dennis is not hurting. He knows something better will come up in a couple of months or so. Meanwhile, he enjoys doing the spoofy number on S.O.P with Marvin Agustin and another singer whose name escapes my memory.

In his free time, Dennis loves to ride a mountain bike to as far as Antipolo. He also jams at home with friends playing alternately the drums and guitar. Dennis says he likes bands like the Black Sabbath.

Will Dennis ever get the same star treatment as Dingdong Dantes, Richard Gutierrez, and Robin Padilla?

He doesn’t smile, but in his eyes it is clear that he hopes one day the same thing would come his way.

“Perhaps it’s not my time yet,” he says with half smile that makes women feel they’re still in their teens.

No money, no honey

On Sunday, Marian Rivera will be the face of a Filipino woman trying to cope with the global economic squeeze in Walang Pera?, the GMA News and Public Affairs’ special on the impact of global recession in the Philippines.

The show is hosted by Mike Enriquez, and Marian breaks away from the drama spell to portray a variety of women going through life in a situation where money is not abundant.

The episode will also tell the personal stories of recession victims, OFWs like Sheila Ramirez, who sold her belongings in order to be able to work in an electronics factory in Taiwan. The company closed only after a few months after Sheila was hired. Makati girl Darlyn Alcuriza suffered a dramatic demotion in lifestyle after her call center had to implement pay cuts, while coconut farmer Mang Cornelio from Sariaya, Quezon lost half of his income from the drop in coconut oil exports.

How did Marian fare in this new experience in her career? “I had a great time. There was not a single dialog, but I had to show a variety of emotions to illustrate how one is coping with life these days.”

Winnie Monsod is also featured in the special with her analysis of the economic situation . Ellen Ramos, Lara Agulto, Rod Aguila and Fahrenheit Inc. contributed to the special as animators.

Walang Pera airs Sunday, March 22, at 10:45 p.m. over GMA-7.

Going wild

A penguin that goes to the market to buy fish, a cheetah that can outperform humans in painting, and a swan that fell in love with a swan boat!

These are just some of the astounding behaviors and human-like characteristics of animals caught on tape featured every Wednesday in Bilib Ka Ba Nights’ Wow Hayop! Featuring Animals are People Too!

Hosted by Jose Manalo and Wally Bayola (of Eat Bulaga), Wow Hayop! Featuring Animals are People Too! gives everyone a rare glimpse into the bizarre, touching, and highly-amusing videos of animals as they project and display their feelings, sensitivities and individuality similar to humans.

While these animals, pets in particular, cannot convey their emotions like how humans do, their dispositions and behaviors can be expressed through actions people will readily identify. These creatures also respond to the environment much as humans do; they get stressed in times of danger, show affection for each other, and even fall in love like humans!

The show will also feature different pets of celebrities—how they devote their time to groom and take good care of them like they are part of the family.

Viewers can get close to these friendly creatures, from the gentle to the mighty, from feathered to furry, even the most peculiar ones that make the animal kingdom truly fascinating and extraordinary.

Wow Hayop! Featuring Animals are People Too! replaced Masquerade on the Bilib Ka Ba Nights block right after Fated to Love You only on GMA.

Mai’s music

Come in and hear the music that starts your feet moving and echoes the secret beat of your heart. Every Friday, Bykes @ Lancaster pulsates with this music genre as Mai Castro and her band perform. Mai doesn’t just sing it, she feels and lives it, and that she says is the essence of Latin music.

Latin music sort of hypnotizes you, and feeling its sound, you really end up dancing. Mai enthuses, “You can’t belt out Latin music without the emotion required of them. You must emote and that takes a lot of heart and spontaneity.”

Mai was first a dancer (way back during her school days), then a model having won the best in long gown award in a Bb. Pilipinas beauty pageant a few summers ago, before becoming a singer. This combination makes her presence on stage, hypnotizing, indeed!

Friday nights at Bykes is for everyone who loves Latin music and for those who love dancing salsa, samba, chachacha, rhumba, mambo, bachata, merengue, la cumbia and the like, as well.

Bykes is at the mezzanine floor of Lancaster Hotel, 622 Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong City.

March shows at Hard Rock Café

Hard Rock Cafe (HRC) opens summer season with a series of special shows featuring an assembly of some of today’s top bands and performers.

Leading the group is soul siren Nina in a solo performance on March 21 (Saturday, 9:30 p.m.). Music buffs can look forward to an evening of beautiful music as Nina dishes out today’s hottest chart-toppers and standard favorites as well as selected tracks from her current full-length studio album under Sony BMG Nina Sings the Hits of Dianne Warren.

Other performers at HRC are pop band Freestyle (March 27), pop/rock band Kenyo (March 28), Zoo (Sundays), Hi-Way 69 (Mondays), Tres with Kaji (Tuesdays), Area One (Wednesdays), Mocha Girls (Thursdays), and Silk (Fridays and Saturdays).

This series of musical events is in line with HRC’s Music for Life campaign—an advocacy that aims to bring top-notch musical artists closer and more accessible to Filipinos.