Mark in the right direction – at last?

Curtain-raisers:

* Could it be true that Nora Aunor is selling her New Manila (Quezon City) house to former Ilocos Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson (to the tune of P30 million)? If Chavit buys the house, it will be very ironic because it’s the same house given to Nora as a gift by deposed President Erap Estrada. Oh, well, life is full of ironies, isn’t it?

* Could it be true that Joyce Jimenez’s current flame is none other than – you didn’t guess it, did you? – yes, Mico Palanca. A Funfare DPA said that during the Sunday family gathering of the Palancas, Mico often brings along Joyce who’s embraced by the clan like their own daughter (in-law?).

* Could it be true that the sexy actress estranged from her athlete-husband-actor is going to Italy to spend a vacation with her new love – yes, another basketball player, a black one – there while he’s training for possible inclusion in the NBA? It’s the guy who gave the actress a round-trip ticket even before the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack.

* * *

I hold a spear in my hand/If it came to my face, it wouldn’t matter/I hold a spear in my hand/But for you I hold roses.

Guess who the author of that poem, entitled Nicole, is. Yes, Mark Anthony Fernandez who, like his half-brother Renz (one of two sons – the other being Rap-Rap – of Mark’s dad Rudy Fernandez with Lorna Tolentino) also writes poems.

Asked who Nicole is, Mark initially said she’s a girl in his imagination, only to admit in the next breath that Nicole was his schoolmate in the not-so-distant past. "Just a schoolmate," Mark stressed, "not a girlfriend."

The truth, according to Mark (who has a love child – not, not with Nicole but with another girl), is that he’s loveless and he’s focusing his attention on his career which is – at last, at last? – headed in the right direction.

Having kicked that bad "habit," Mark has been heeding the advice of well-meaning friends (his peers) and friends of his parents (biological mom and dad Alma Moreno and Rudy Fernandez, and step-parents Parañaque City Mayor Joey Marquez and Lorna Tolentino) to continue with the present course/direction of his life and career, constantly reminding him that he’s the sum total of his parents’ best qualities (looks- and talent-wise).

This year, Mark has already chalked up three movies: Viva Films’ Biyaheng Langit with Joyce Jimenez, the unreleased Regal movie Hesus Rebolusyonaryo with Donita Rose and Viva Films’ soon-to-be-released bold romance-drama Dos Ekis (directed by Erik Matti) with Rica Peralejo (who was Mark’s co-star on the defunct ABS-CBN sitcom Palibhasa Lalaki).

"There’s now a Strong Power ruling my life," said Mark, "and He’s none other than The Lord." (He has joined the Oasis of Love Christian movement of which Rudy and Lorna are also bona fide members.)

Still in the last stage of a depression brought about by his dad’s (Rudy’s) loss in the last elections and his mom’s (Alma’s) illness (multiple sclerosis), Mark described his life thus: "I feel as if I’m in the middle of the hardcourt. But the good thing is that I have the ball in my hands, and I know I can shoot it."

He’s living with dad Rudy and his Tita Lorna in White Plains (Quezon City) but he visits his mom Alma much more often these days to console her. (Alma said that of all her children, it’s Mark who is maka-Mama and the most sensitive, that’s why she kept her real illness especially from Mark, simply telling him that what she was suffering from was mere migraine.)

In Dos Ekis, Mark goes several degrees bolder than his Biyaheng Langit outing, showing "only my butt, but not my frontal part" in one of his love scenes with Rica (she plays a stripper and he, a hardware store helper; two bored souls eager for excitement and a change of pace in their routinary life, only to get involved with shady characters).

"This time," promised Mark, "there’s no more turning back for me. I’ve promised myself and my loved ones that I’d be a changed man. I’ve asked their apology for all the mistakes I’ve committed. My luko-luko days are over."

* * * Answers to Now 7 promo

And here are the answers to the Now 7 tie-up promo between Funfare and OctoArts-EMI

1. What is the title of the annual show that honored Janet Jackson? – mtv ICON

2. Name the two former boy band members included in NOW 7 and name the respective boy bands they originally came from. – Robbie Williams (Take That) & Ronan Keating (Boyzone)

3. Who is the lead vocalist of U2? – Bono

4. Who is the former Spice Girl included in NOW 7? – Geri Halliwell

5. Who is the NOW 7 artist who is STILL with the Spice Girls? – Emma Bunton

6. What is the original band of Damon Albarn, the singer who did the voice of the Gorillaz’ 2D? – Blur

7. How many members does Atomic Kitten have? – Three (3)

8. Name at last two (NOW 7 songs that have animated music videos. – Clint Eastwood (Gorillaz), One More Time (Daft Punk) & Let Love Be Your Energy (Robbie Williams)

9. Who is the Backstreet Boy who is currently undergoing drug treatment? – AJ McLean

10. What is the trademark headdress of Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst? – Red baseball cap worn backwards

(Note: Check with [email protected] if you got the right answers – and won.)