By Anna Valmero
INQUIRER.net

HOW can one achieve immortality?

Traditionally, people preserve their beauty and peak of status through portraits, as we in our time today, preserve important moments through photographs. Over time, these portraits or photographs preserve in time the sitter’s life and is passed on to future relatives.

In popular culture, stories with fantasy or horror themes play up the idea that having portraits or taking photographs can capture the soul and even possess someone’s spirit. This is true of Japanese manga or anime and is also found in the classic novel Dorian Gray.

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HOW did the economic crunch affect Filipinos’celebration of the coming of the new year? INQUIRER.net VDO went to different places to ask what adjustments Filipinos made to maintain a festive mood while tightening their belts. As expected, fireworks were still aplenty, and injuries were still reported. Video and photos taken by Janie Christine Octia, Izah Morales, Anna Valmero, Marjorie Gorospe, Lawrence Casiraya, Erwin Oliva and Leo Magno.

Also, hundreds fill up the plaza of Eastwood City in Libis with their eyes on the clock tower for the countdown to 2009. Meanwhile, the sleepy town of Mangaldan in Pangasinan wakes up when a Judas Belt firecracker combination worth P20,000 was set off, lasting for a little more than a minute. In Imus, Cavite, residents welcome the new year and turn the streets into a virtual war zone. Video taken by Leo Magno, Erwin Oliva and Alex Villafania of INQUIRER.net VDO.

By Quay Evano, Contributor
INQUIRER.net

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates–During the press conference of award-winning composer and rock balladeer (l-r) Wency Cornejo, sexy actress-turned-singer Ara Mina and saxophone player John Ray for their show in Dubai called “Rock Ballad, Soul and All That Jazz,” one of the members of the Filipino Press Club-UAE asked the three artists how they want to be remembered by people when they are no longer famous.

Wency quickly answered: “More than anything else, I think I will be remembered for my songs. I believe I have composed many songs that have touched the hearts of many Filipinos. For an artist, I believe that is what is important — to have a legacy in the lives of people. Even if I pass away, my songs will live on and in some sense, so will I.”

Yes, for millions of his Filipino fans, Wency Cornejo, the unique and soulful voice behind beautiful ballads such as “Habang May Buhay,” “Hanggang” and “Only You” and generation-defining rock anthems like “Next in Line,” “Mangarap Ka,” “Pagtawid” and “Panahon,” he will surely be remembered for his songs. His immortality is clearly defined in his music. But for most of his closest friends, it is his true friendship, more than his music that he will be remembered for… because that’s what he really is aside from being a true musician — he is a true friend.

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By Momar G. Visaya, Contributor
INQUIRER.net

NEW YORK–A soldier of Filipino descent emerged victorious at the recently concluded 2007 Best Warrior Competition held Oct. 1-5 at Fort Lee, Virginia and was declared the Department of Army’s Soldier of the Year.

Spc. Heyz T. Seeker, who represented the US Army Special Operations Command, won the grueling competition after competing with 12 other soldiers in tests of physical fitness and military skills ranging from marksmanship to first aid.

“It’s still sinking in. I was really overwhelmed at first,” Spc. Seeker told the Asian Journal in a telephone interview Thursday, Oct 11.

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A VENDOR sells Philippine flags along Roxas Boulevard in Manila to be used for the celebration of Philippine Independence Day.

Photo courtesy of INQUIRER/Ryan Lim.