One out of 5 people don’t get to see their spouses during the workweek. Parents spend less than 4 hours a day with their children. So concludes a recent survey by real estate firm Alveo Land.

“Stress is a reality that few of us can escape,” says Alveo Land’s vice president for project development, Iris Josef. It’s a domino effect that spreads down to our families, our co-workers, even the salesperson at our favorite shoe store. How many of us have taken out the day’s stress on another?
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Visual artist Ikoy Ricio discusses the role of visual artists as storytellers in a talk at the Lopez Museum on October 25, from 2 to 4 p.m. “The Artist Talks by Ricio” complements an existing exhibit, “Tell-tale: The Artist as Storyteller, Amorsolo as Co-Author,” which delves into the visual artist as collaborator and how his works are narratives in themselves.

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A traditional full-length animated film usually takes three years to complete, but Dayo, a fully digital project by Cutting Edge Productions combining 2-D and 3-D animation, will be completed in just two years. More than 500 Filipino artists from all over the country are working to get it out in time for the 2008 Metro Manila Film Festival this Christmas.

Every aspect of the film’s production has been a challenge, but it was the storyboard stage that was  the toughest, says director Robert Quilao, because it involved setting the mood and the look of the whole project. The makers brainstormed over the storyline for three days, while the script took four months to complete.

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Looking for some retail indulgement? If you’re generous about spending lately, there’s Markdown Madness over at the Enterprise that offers up to 70 percent discount on four brands–Skechers, Pony, Merrell, and Ecko. Sale runs from October 13 to 17, at 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., at 14F, Tower 1 of the Enterprise Center on Ayala Avenue corner Paseo de Roxas, Makati City.

“Lahat ng Araw” [watch it on Youtube] is the first track from Fil-Am jazz singer Charmaine Clamor’s newest album, My Harana: A Filipino Serenade, a compilation of classic harana songs sung in eight different languages and dialects. The album will be released on November 11.

Charmaine, who made it to the top 5 of JazzWeek’s World (#2) and Traditional Jazz (#4) radio charts simultaneously, is known for introducing “jazzipino,” a hybrid musical genre that combines American jazz, blues, soul, and Filipino folk music. [Listen to her interview with NPR's Liane Hansen.]

In an exclusive Innerview with Pinoycentric, Charmaine talks about the hard work that was put into the making of My Harana: [Read more]

Students at the Commonwealth Elementary School in Quezon City learn the proper way to wash hands with soap.

More than 2 million children worldwide die of diarrhea every year, says the World Health Organization, yet the simple act of handwashing is the most cost-effective way of saving half of them.

“Although people around the world wash their hands with water, far fewer wash their hands with soap at critical moments–after using the toilet, after cleaning a child, and before handling food,” says United Nations Children’s Fund representative Vanessa Tobin. “They don’t realize that handwashing is a life-saving habit that can prevent the death of millions of children.”

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