Child of the Field

Living and growing up in a place where plants and other creatures grow abundantly has its perks. In my case, one of the most enjoyable reward being a ‘child of the field’ has got to be having my own wonderful ecosystem of sorts just around our house.

Insects, grass, fruit-bearing trees, flowering shrubs, more insects, vines, frogs… you name it and our yard most probably has it.

And whenever I have a chance, I take photos of the wonders of nature our front yard possesses just for the sake of taking pictures.

The fact that it is hard to predict what is to be found and what are potential subjects to photograph adds more fun to the experience.

Moving subjects, like tiny insects are harder to photograph. I was lucky to take a photo of a dragonfly. This dragonfly just caught a tinier insect, so its guards are down.

Grasshoppers, on the other hand, are very quick and hard to spot because they tend to use camouflage to hide from their predators.

Plants are easier to work with because working with them gives me the freedom to find better angles and light.

And because it is nature I am working with, it’s not unusual if I see how species interact with one another.

Although I was the one who strategically (and heartlessly) placed that little frog where those ants ‘hangout’, it still shows that nature is about, as Herbert Spencer puts it,  the survival of the fittest. Or the luckiest.

#134: Lovi Poe on FHM September 2011 + FHM Collections with Derek Ramsay

I know I have been posting FHM related blogs later than what is expected from eager bloggers (yes, I just called me a blogger). But this month’s post went over the top when it comes to the lateness of a review. Well, let’s just say that people around our household have been very, very busy, hence the lack of time for the internet.

Forgive me, dear readers. I know there are 10,000+ page views on my blog and I just gave myself an obligation to post some more (I just really need to say that my blog is 10k views strong)

Elephants are amazing creatures. Other than their notable physical attributes and humongous appearance, there are many special things that make today’s largest living earth mammal amazing, pathetic and an object of envy all at the same time.

FACT #1: Elephants cannot jump…

…because the bones in an elephant’s foot are too closely packed together hence the lack of flexibility and spring mechanism to enable them to enjoy skipping ropes and imitate Super Mario.

FACT #2: Elephants don’t forget

Scientific researches proved that ‘elephants can certainly build up a memory over the years and hold on to it’. It helps that they have the most well-structured brains amongst mammals of all types.

FACT #3: Elephants are well-loved in Thailand.

Not only because they are very useful as assistants to manual laborers, but also because they are important religious icons in Buddhism. According to legend, Buddha’s mother dreamt of a white elephant prior to Buddha’s conception. Ganesh is an elephant, too.

So the elephant sharing FHM September 2011 cover with Lovi Poe is very lucky and deserving. First, he will never EVER forget that a scantily clad Filipina actress once caressed him on all the right places. Then, of course, a god-like creature (and a trained actor) like this elephant deserves an equally god-like muse to join him in his FHM debut (or the other way around). Too bad he can’t jump and rejoice because if I were him, I certainly would.

COVERGIRL

Lovi Poe’s pictorial looks very nice. One look at the cover and you would think that it is not FHM you are seeing. I have to say, best cover of 2011 so far. I have to disagree with others who say that the photos were too high fashion. Yes, it looks classy but not too fashion-y as to not qualify as a men’s magazine material.

Lensman Mark Nicdao also did the same with Solenn’s FHM debut earlier this year, and it looked really nice. Kudos to FHM for trying to up the ante and venturing into more artsy and risqué concepts. Lovi looked better here compared to her Rogue Magazine photos last July. But the last two photos of Lovi didn’t look coherent with the others because of the treatment. But everything looks fine in general

Pam Quinones did well in styling Lovi. The armor and the black dress looked good on Lovi.

Lovi Poe is very deserving to be on FHM. I mean, she has shown us in more ways than one that she has a rockin’ bod and the natural appeal to back it up. Having a buzzed about pictorial is just a bonus and not really important.

FEATURED GIRLS
The line-up of this month’s girls (and their photographs) is not impressive. DJ Sarah Robertson did it with disco balls; Jenny Xen in a pool (which looked good) and a bowtie, red undies and nothing more in another layout. Jen Bustillos… meh pictures.

The girls who caught my fancy were September GF Arra Pascual

and starter babe Yuri Okawa.

I hope they would return with more photos and hotter concepts.

Also featured in this issue is a 5-page spread for the remaining 6 Premiere Vixens. Their photos are electrifying. Not only do we see their goodies, everybody registered striking faces in all photographs.

(Kyoko Amano, Aya Alonzo and Linda Persson)

(Bridget Suarez and her cheeky pals…. with Dorina Groh and Ayumi Sogawa)

FEATURED READS

I haven’t read any of the articles but I know that there’s one about painful medical procedures. Ah, the mental images we get. AT least it has no graphic images compared to last month’s article on the art of torture.

I look forward to reading the article about REAL super Pinoys.

FHM COLLECTIONS

On the flipside of this issue is Derek Ramsay covering the yearly FHM Collections where they feature men in good-looking but theoretically hard to wear clothing. Of course they have stories to tell, too.

This year we have sports greats like Atoy Co, Paeng Nepumuceno, James Yap, et cetera.

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Overall, it’s not a bad issue. Not a knockout, but most definitely not the worst.

Oh, and people are guessing that Daiana Menezes of Eat Bulaga! would be next month’s cover. I hope she tags EB Babe Saida along. One Caucasian beauty, one Asian.

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*Cover images, Yuri Okawa, Arra Pascual photos from FHM.com.ph

**Other images are from my digicam. Please lang.

Coldplay: Moving to Mars

Somewhere up above the stars
The wreckage of a universe floats past
Somewhere up above my heart
A tiny little seed is sown, 
A government is overthrown, 
Who knows when we’ll be coming home at last

And I heard it on the radio
That one day we’ll be living in the stars
And I heard it on a tv show
That somewhere up above
And in my heart
They’ll be tearing us apart, 
Maybe moving us to mars
Past the satellites and stars, 

Maybe moving us to mars

We won’t see the earth again
In these seconds just remain unchanged
8 to 9, 9 to 10
We are meeting for the first time
We might never meet again you and me
We are meeting for the first time
Can’t you see
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We are meeting for the first time

Singing this space symphony
They’ll be tearing us apart moving us to mars, 
Past the satellites and stars
They’re moving us to mars

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Dynamic and well-written with subtle touches of emotion all over.

This relatively new Coldplay song is nice. The first part of the song sounds bluesy and quiet with just the piano and Martin’s voice doing the song. And just when I thought that this one would turn out to be as soft, emotional and quiet like ‘The Scientist’, the band started playing along during the second half of the song.

Lyric-wise, the song was well-written. The words are just so magical, and yes, songs written with these words are good to listen to when you are feeling a bit out of track. We all have days like that, don’t we?

Too bad this song won’t be included on Coldplay’s soon to be released record called Mylo Xyloto. But fret not, you can (as always) get your way online. Download this on iTunes or any other downloading sites (free and illegal) or just rape the replay button on YouTube.