Today is Thursday, December 7th. I had an unbelievable time at Apl.de.Ap's (Black
Eyed Peas) birthday bash in Hollywood on November 28th at The Highlands at the Hollywood and Highland complex in Hollywood.

I interviewed the famous dancer/choreographer Filipina Cheryl Burke, the winner of "Dancing with the Stars" with her partner Emmit Smith (former Dallas Cowboy). It was incredible to ask her questions about her comparison of partners Drew Lachey (last year's winner) and Emmit. She told me, "Drew was a singer and had natural talent while Emmit was respectable to the sport of dance and wanted to learn to perfect his routines."

In regards to my interview with Apl, he told me that he chose Operation Smile as his pet project (An organization who helps reconstruct childrens' cleft palates to be worldwide.) and he said,
"I liked how they helped the children in the Philippines and so I wanted to give back to them."

I also met artists from Bad Boy Records, a new Filipina artist named Liberty, and even Kid from the old school group "Kid N' Play!!" I told Kid, "I still do the Kid N' Play dance to this day!!" He just looked at me in surprise and nodded his head in acknowledgement. Even the hottest Filipina actress who came out of the PI named Juliana Palermo was there. She told me that a few of her films were being shown at the Cannes Film Festival.

Of course the Basco Brothers were there on the red carpet except for bro Darion who was home with an illness. Can you believe I ran into Camile Velasco, American Idol alumn from the Fantasia era, twice this year??? She's pretty cool and is in the recording studio with a possible track with Apl in the future.

The list goes on......Xinghu, martial artist who is collaborating on the film BBoy which is directed by Cris Judd....reality show stars, etc. etc.

My wife Rose and I were just so damn happy to have met Cheryl and Apl. Cheryl was so down-to-earth and Apl, in my opinion, is the unprecedented "Tupac for the American Fil-Am Revolution!!"

Next stop is Arianna Basco's 2nd launch of her zine titled Tard and Feathered....it takes place this Saturday, December 9th in Downey. For more info, check out www.myspace.com/ladybasco or www.myspace.com/tardandfeathered.

You can read my latest article in Philippine News about Arianna at philippinenews.com and search for Arianna Basco in the archives.

Peace, Love, Mabuhay, and Happy Holidays,
R.A. Mendoza
The P.o.e.t.i.c Educator