Last January 22, 28-year-old Australian actor and Oscar nominee Heath Ledger was found dead in his Manhattan home with anti-depressant and anxiety pills beside him. What a tragic end to a very young life that was so full of potential.

He left behind his daughter, Matilda, by ex-fiance Michelle Williams of “Dawson’s Creek” whom he met in the set of “Brokeback Mountain” in 2005.

Ledger traveled quite a long way from his native Perth, Australia to the glittery Hollywood community. He started as a struggling 17-year-old who broke into the movie scene through bit roles in Australian TV shows like “Sweat” and “Home and Away” before landing into a small film called “Paws”. In 1997, he went to the United States to audition for movie roles. Ledger got his first Hollywood break via “Roar” opposite Vera Farmingan.

His outstanding role in crime thriller “Two Hands” secured him a place in 1999’s teen movie “10 Things I Hate About You”. In 2000, his role as Mel Gibson’s son in war drama “The Patriot” defined him as a serious young actor. Ledger also starred in other Hollywood films such as “Monster’s Ball” (2001), “Ned Kelly” (2003) opposite Orlando Bloom, “A Knight’s Tale”, “The Brothers Grimm” (2005) with Matt Damon, “Candy” (2006) and “I’m Not There” (2007). His rather unsual role in “Brokeback Mountain” opposite Jake Gyllenhaal earned him an Oscar nomination in 2005.

This year, the movie “The Dark Knight” is scheduled for release in July with Ledger playing the role of the greasepaint-caked Joker, Christian Bale as Batman and Jake Gyllenhaal’s sister, Maggie, as Rachel Daus. It will be his final Hollywood film. Ledger did not finish “The Imaginarium of Doctor Pamassus” which he started filming earlier this month in London.

Six to seven years ago, I never heard of someone getting paid to blog. I remember friends getting paid to write lengthy articles but no one paid attention to people who simply blog. The impression blogs created that time was limited to private posts shared among friends in an online journal community offering free membership accounts. Connecting to a larger audience may be appealing but it was not something everyone was enthusiastic about. Traditional bloggers preferred privacy over their pageranks.

Over the years, the blogosphere has evolved and matured together with its tools. Some realized that visitors online are more concerned about getting information than learn about what someone just ate for breakfast. Bloggers have found their niche in writing some companies could not resist relating their offers to. That’s where blog advertising comes in.

As a marketing professional, I have realized that blogging has become a powerful advertising tool. It outpaces traditional print media in terms of reach, frequency and cost. And the best thing about it? Businessmen get responses straight from their customers.

There is no reason why businessmen should not advertise on blogs. Blog advertising service companies such as Smorty offer both advertisers and bloggers a chance to earn online. It’s basically a partnership. Writers are paid to blog about their opinion on certain products and services offered by advertisers. Each website visit created by the product review would mean sales to advertisers. This program is effective, highly-targeted and cost-efficient.

To those who would like to venture into serious blogging or to businessmen who are exploring other advertising options, there’s money in here if only you knew where to look.

Last year, seasoned travelers and tourists flocked to see natural and man-made wonders in Africa, South America, Asia and the frozen Antarctica. iExplore, awarded as the “Best Travel Website” by Forbes and Time, came out with a list of top ten travel destinations in 2007 based on the number of their sold-out vacation packages. The adventure and experiential travel website has a steady number of visitors close to a million a month.

Egypt has been consistently on number 1 slot for three consecutive years. The ancient pyramids have never lost their magic.

• 2007 Rank

1. Egypt
2. South Africa
3. China
4. Antarctica
5. Peru
6. Galapagos
7. Thailand
8. Costa Rica
9. Tanzania
10. India

Features on each destination will be published this week, so keep your eyes peeled.

Centuries have passed and the legacy of Madame Tussauds simply waxed and never waned. Under its roof are the famous life-size wax figures of world personalities, politicians, fictional characters and even decapitated corpses and other gruesome relics of the French Revolution. Play with the child Mozart, rub elbows with the British Royal Family, board the Black Pearl with Captain Jack Sparrow or cheer for David Beckham. Possibilities are endless. Real fun begins when the elevator door opens and ushers you inside the many undiscovered worlds.

Madame Tussauds was French-born Marie Grosholz from Strasbourg. She was born in 1761. Marie’s mother was employed by Dr. Philippe Curtius, a wax sculptor who exhibited his wax works in 1770 at the Palais Royale in Paris. The young girl Marie learned the art from him.

Madame Tussauds remains as one of the finest attractions in Central London. This multi-story wax gallery is located beside the London Planetarium. Now under Merlin Entertainment, Madame Tussauds opened other branches in New York City, Washington DC, Las Vegas, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Amsterdam. We paid a discounted rate of around 20GBP each for a pass since I had with me a 5GBP discount coupon from Chessington World of Adventure.

Outside the museum were a number of souvenir stores where I bought a calendar and keychains and a burger stand where a male crew called out to us, “Kamusta po kayo?” Funny how Filipinos could smell each other even from a distance.

This particular creepy but hilarious American Idol audition in Texas made quite a strong impact, not only on judges Simon, Paula and Randy but the rest of the world itself. Renaldo Lapuz, the 44-year-old feather-clad and silver-caped “birdman” from Reno, Nevada, stole the limelight from the Belly Dancer, Willlem Dafoe (the Green Goblin girl), Princess Leia and other eccentric performers with his original composition and sunny outlook in life. He is already a certified You Tube sensation.

And presumably, a budding entrepreneur as well.

Cashing on his American Idol ticket to fame, someone opened a website where Renaldo Lapuz shirts are being sold at $19 and the “We’re Brothers Forever” ringtone can be downloaded for free. Proceeds will go to Big Brothers Big Sisters Foundation.

Ha ha ha.

Questions on Lapuz’s ethnicity has never been fully answered. Majority believes this die-hard Simon Cowell fan is a Filipino - taking into account his accent, looks and surname. If he really is, Lapuz is sure to have a lucrative showbiz career waiting for him in the Philippines.