The white Italian scooter seen on national TV last weekend was indeed a Hello Kitty Vespa ET4 loaned by Gift Gate especially for Tessa Prieto’s performance in Celebrity Duets”. Vexel, my Vespa Club buddy, saw the unit firsthand at the time the show was being taped in the GMA studio. He shared with me some pics that his wife took using her phone:
Vexel notes that if one looks closely at the scoot’s odometer, it reads only 18km. Proves that this Vespa is a display piece only.
side view: Check out the glove box; it doesn’t say ET, but KT!
during Tessa’s performance
The Hello Kitty Vespa being used as a prop for a rock song is great. But Gift Gate could’ve gone the extra mile had they lent both performers some added accessories to complete their look and for some good old product recall for Kitty. Here are my suggestions… Read the rest of this entry ?
Since my side of the family is not exactly small, the whole brood gathers at least once a month to celebrate someone’s birthday. It’s usually held on a Saturday, and for the past three or four birthday dinners we’ve had, we never failed to get a glimpse of a show called “Celebrity Duets” on GMA. Hmmm… if catching the show happened on several occasions already, it couldn’t be dismissed as a mere coincidence anymore. Someone in the family is obviously following every episode religiously; but I’m not one to reveal who it is.
Anyway, there was a segment last Saturday where Tessa Prieto-Valdez (she’s one of the contenders) had a duet with the legendary Mike Hanopol singing, what else, but the anthem of all jeproks (Tagalog street slang for ‘tough’) called “Laki sa Layaw.” As a prop to this live performance, Tessa posed beside a white Vespa ET right up there on the stage at the start of the song. What’s the connection, right? I guess it’s jeproks to have a Vespa… hahaha
I went to youtube to see if I could grab a broadcast recording of the show but only found this home video of the said performance taken by a studio audience. It was uploaded by a certain hkpirate/DV which I could only assume as Dennis Valdez, Tessa’s better half (Note: If you’re following the show, you may be interested to read his blog and read about rumors about what the other contestants are doing to get text votes).
Watch their performance:
The vocals weren’t clearly audible because of the quality but the band sounded great… and Mike Hanopol still rocks!
During the break, I saw this commercial — with pretty newcomer Maja Salvador — where I spotted another Vespa. The ad is for a product called Lewis & Pearl cologne and I think the ad was shot in Downtown Manila. If you haven’t seen it, take a look at it here. Read the rest of this entry ?
So what’s up with that date? I checked wikipedia and it’s not Earth Day(that on April 22); I also check the wikipage about October 15 and there’s not one occasion listed there even related to taking care about our environment.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m no environmentalist. But ever since I’ve seen Al Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary called “An Inconvenient Truth,” which tackled the issue of global warming (notice how those two words have now become bywords in our society), I started to be concerned with what’s happening around us. Suddenly, the unusual and extended summer heats, super typhoons, and all the other natural calamities suddenly have a explanation.
Which leads me to the question: How come there are two events happening that day which are both related to being green? Beats me! But since these are worthy causes, I’d still blog about them. Amazingly, one is even related to riding a scooter! But I’ll talk about that later. I’ll start with the other event first:
The first one is called “Blog Action Day” (www.blogactionday.org). Here’s what the site says about that day:
What would happen if every blog published posts discussing the same issue, on the same day?
One issue. One day. Thousands of voices.
On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. The aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.
Here’s a short video clip about this year’s Blog Action Day:
The other event is the “Go Green Vespa Video Challenge” which is a contest by Piaggio Group USA inviting scooter owners, enthusiasts and consumers alike (sorry guys, it’s for U.S. residents only) to create their very own 15-second to 2-minute video promoting the fun factor and environmental benefits of riding a motorized scooter. The top 3 winners get to win their very own Vespa scooter! The contest ends on — you guessed it right — October 15, 2007! Read the rest of this entry ?
The blog title is in Filipino/Tagalog which loosely translates to: “It’s safer from danger when one wears a helmet.”
I’ve been meaning to blog about this but slipped my mind until I was reminded at a party last night. There’s this new local TVC being aired about responsible riding. The ad ‘feels’ Japanese with the Bioman/Shyder homage, animae-ish stuts and effects, and the hardly understandable Nihongo jingle. The ad was directed by Yeyey Yatco — my Vespa riding buddy — and was made for Kawasaki Motors Philippines by Provill.
If you’re like me who’s more in front of the PC than the boobtube, you probably haven’t caught the commercial yet. Good thing there’s YouTube!
I’m glad that direkyey didn’t take the preachy route nor resorted to guilt-trip to put a very important message across. The use of a Bioman/Shyder-like hero is also something that the target audience could easily relate to.
Just for kicks, here’s the full lyrics of the Japanese jingle and the translation courtesy of direk as translated by Take Onishi, his DOP (I assume that means Director of Photography). Read the rest of this entry ?
Seems like September is gonna be a very busy month for me and blogging would have to take a back seat for thie time being.
Anyway, I’ve been hearing some buzz about plans for Vespa Attack III - the third installment of the annual scooter gathering here in Manila. Details are still a bit sketchy but think this one’s gonna big bigger than last year’s.
Jordan ‘The Ambassador’ Cinco — the Fil-Am guy who brought this scooter rally concept here in Manila — emailed me these two teasers about this forthcoming event.
