MANILA, Philippines — Former president President Corazon Aquino has passed away at dawn today (Aug. 1) due to complications from colon cancer, a statement from her family said. She was 76.

Mrs. Aquino, who has been confined at the Makati Medical Center for over a month, died around 3:18 a.m. after succumbing to cardio-respiratory arrest.

“She would have wanted us to thank each and every one of you for all the prayers and your continued love and support. It was her wish for all of us to pray for one another and for our country,” the Aquino family statement said.

“Hinihiling po ng aming pamilya ang konting panahon para makasama namin ang aming mahal na ina (Our family is requesting for some time to be with our beloved mother).”

The Aquino family members said they will be announcing further details of her wake.

Supporters and close family members have been holding a 40-hour prayer vigil at the Edsa Shrine for Mrs. Aquino’s recovery from her debilitating illness since Thursday night.

The latest prayer offering for the cancer-stricken Aquino will end noon today.

Mrs. Aquino, considered as an icon of democracy in the country, spearheaded the first People Power revolution in 1986 that ousted the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr. She is the widow of former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.

Source: http://www.philstar.com

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – July 22, 2009 — Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. and Legendary Pictures announced today that Sam Raimi has signed on to direct the eagerly-anticipated major motion picture based on Blizzard Entertainment’s award-winning Warcraft® universe. Raimi has, in the course of his career, clearly demonstrated a genius for developing and adapting existing fictional universes for mainstream audiences while staying true to the spirit of the original content.

Raimi directed the Spider-Man trilogy, which has broken box-office records around the world and garnered five Academy Award® nominations. Known for his imaginative filmmaking style, richly drawn characters and offbeat humor, Raimi wrote and directed the cult classic, The Evil Dead and produced 30 Days Of Night. He most recently wrote and directed the supernatural thriller, Drag Me To Hell.

“At its core, Warcraft is a fantastic, action-packed story,” said Raimi. “I am thrilled to work with such a dynamite production team to bring this project to the big screen.”

Source: http://www.blizzard.com

I imagine the Warcraft’s world to be sort of an epic like the setting of Lord of the Rings. I hope that the producers won’t go low budget on this one. A high-profile project like this do not deserve to be played safe by going mid-size. It is a guaranteed box-office hit just to measure the number of hardcore game players that would come to watch. So we should be expecting to see another epic-scale production that deserves a two-thumbs up to the highest level!

Another YouTube sensation, Marié Digby is coming to the Philippines. She became famous in YouTube with her own acoustic rendition of Rihanna’s Umbrella, and other popular artist covers such as Linkin Park, The Game, Incubus, Maroon 5 and Nelly Furtado. The American singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist is coming to Manila for a concert on August 1, 2009 at the NBC Tent in Taguig City.

She captures the heart of her fans with her angelic face and voice. By arranging her own acoustic riffs of other artists’ songs and adapting them with her own style, she managed to make people notice her talent. But she is better with writing her own songs, though. Few of these original songs include Unfold, Say it Again, Traffic and more. The tracks on her album may sound more like POP, but I would like to see her sing live playing more acoustics.

Watch her YouTube videos here: http://www.youtube.com/user/MarieDigby