Through his publicist, Brad Pitt has officially announced that he has filed a petition formally in Los Angeles to add his surname to Angelina Jolie’s adopted children’s names, the end result of which the children’s surnames will become Jolie-Pitt.

Although most of the press believe that this action is an adoption, or, even better, a silent announcement of impending nuptials, a person working in juvenile and family law for 18 years, begs to disagree. “A name change does not require an adoption, [nor does it] confer any legal rights to the child, nor does it obligate the person.”

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I clarified with Globe supervisor Maritoni Pablo which promos are still ongoing for the month of January.

Globe TXT NONSTOP Ongoing till 06 February 2006, this looks like a promo that will keep getting extended. Aside from the Php 15/day, Php 25/2 days, there’s the newly introduced Php 100/10 days. The Php 50/5 days will end on 17 January 2006.

Smart has also brought back its unlimited text promo.

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07 January 2006 proved to be exciting for Glorietta shoppers as the Activity Center was converted into the wintry Narnia, adorned with the White Witch, and a frozen Mr. Tumnus and centaur to add authenticity to the scene. But the highlight of the event was the show sponsored by Nestle Koko Krunch and Powerbooks to launch the showing of The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe film from Disney and Walden Media.

Drew Arellano and Iya Villania- The real life couple teamed up to co-host the event.

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Pointing out how services and products are lacking can be quite daunting in the beginning, but, like any new skill, will become easier with practice. Here’s what you need to remember.

Request for the superior or a person with authority. Never reprimand the person in question. Your objective is to let the person with the authority do a corrective action. Venting your frustrations directly will be quite useless, because it is very unlikely that the person will report your complaint because it concerns himself.

So for example, in the situation regarding the McDonalds Sundae Standard (Ire). I never spoke directly to the server in question, rather, I requested another McDonalds employee to please get the manager or supervisor working at the time.

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Tanghalang Pilipino announces open auditions for four
male roles to play in a Filipino production of
“Waiting for Godot” to be directed by visiting French
director Alain Timar. Auditons will be held on
January 23 and 24, 2006 from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM. The
rehearsal will run for six weeks prior to performances
from June 23 – 25. Interested parties may call
Tanghalang Pilipino at 832-3661 or 832-1125 locals
1620/1621 to register and to find out the audition
venue. Applicants should be available for call back
auditions from January 25 – 27.

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All I wanted to know was whether to spell its name with the letter C or K, and, although I learn that both are correct, I found out in the process that the Kalachuchi is known in several parts of the world for similar or varied reasons.

Here in the Philippines the kalachuchi flower is associated with death. Surprisingly, it is also known as dead man’s flower in some parts of the USA.

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Sister Dina, from the country of Myanmar, kindly demonstrated how to make this dish to satisfy my curiosity. Initially, when she gathered the kalachuchi flowers, the Filipina nuns were aghast at the idea of cooking them. So she thought that the local kalachuchi flower must be a non-eaten variety, or, even worse, poisonous. Happily, after experimenting, she found that it’s the same kind that can be found in her country.

Kalachuchi Flower Salad- You would never know to look at it, but this dish is totally made from the petals of the kalachuchi flower, the garden variety kind that you can find in your own backyard.

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A few months ago, Encantadia’s production manager allowed my friend’s family to visit the set. One of her daughters presented personal drawings to each of the princesses as her way of saying thank you, with her email address written at the bottom.

Unknown to me, Diana promised to send an email to her, which is something every adult has to be very careful about, because in my experience, children do remember tenaciously.

To my surprised delight, my friend told me about Diana’s promise and how her daughter was deliriously happy to receive the promised email. The young Encantadia fan has kindly allowed me to share the pictures she received.

My thanks to her, and to all Encantadia fans, “Enjoy!”

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