It’s actually a non-fiction bestseller written by Jon Ronson tackling the U.S. Army’s exploration of New Age concepts and the potential military applications of the paranormal.

But hey, you have to admit. That’s quite a catchy title for a book. Right?

You can just bet Hollywood won’t stop with it simply being that.

And true enough, latest news have it that the film adaptation of the said book is now out of production.

It’s starring 4 versatile actors that are great in any other genre, but seemingly at their best when in comedy. The upcoming offbeat comical flick casts George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges.

And adding to the winning formula is the funny actor-producer-writer Grant Heslov who was tagged to direct the film.

If the guy looks familiar it’s because you might have seen him playing various roles in major movies like True Lies, Scorpion King, Congo, Dante’s Peak, The Birdcage, Enemy of the State, etc.

As with the book, the inspired-by-real-life movie offers glimpses into a secret Army unit tasked with creating soldiers with paranormal powers. Powers as strange as the ability to pass through walls, tell the future, and even the absurd “cloud bursting”. Now with just that description alone, the movie is already a must see for me. hehehe

And with the movie up for release this coming 6th of November, the latest trailer is now out.

I’m predicting that as more advertisements come out, clamor for this absurdly interesting movie will definitely increase within the coming months.

What is Nord?

It’s a premium brand of musical keyboards from Sweden that are actually assembled by hand. From organs to synthesizers, their products have been reputed to be simply amazing and exquisite. And to top it all, they look so well crafted that they exhibit a certain attitude being distinctively red and all.

I’ve been hearing and reading of this brand before. But I never actually got to see one. That is, until a couple of weeks ago.

I was lucky enough that I got invited to the grand launching of Nord here in the Philippines. The event was hosted by Lyric, who is the company responsible for bringing in the said brand locally.

The event was graced by featured performances from Fuseboxx, Mike’s Apartment, and Cruz’in. While being treated to the excellent band performances, I had the chance to get some snaps. I’m sharing here just a few of them:

That night, I personally witnessed what talented musicians can do with just some of those bright red keyboards. I was at awe while I witnessed the talent of the different keyboardists with the matching versatility of their red instruments. It was one hell of a swing. From “progressive rock” to “soul music” then to “jazz fusion”!

Simply fantastic is how I would personally describe that night! Oh, and did I mention that the Nord keyboards were red?

In line with an earlier teaser post, I recently had time to process some pictures that are now ready for sharing.

If one of the girls look familiar, it could be because you might have seen her in a previous post where she was the model. Playboy playmate for the month of March — Jessie Medina, once again posed for this shoot. And joining her for this 2-model session is Kat Ballada.

The plan was for half of the shoot to be done outdoors. So after setting eyes on an abandoned lot as a suitable site, the camera clicking started. But as to be expected, around the time I was about to get into my groove, we were interrupted by a “site administrator”. And keeping true with the now so annoyingly familiar scene, the guy asked the shoot to stop. Arrrgh!

It actually ended with the shoot being cut short and the rest of the shots just taken indoor.

Anyway, I’m on vacation right now and looking forward to having enough time to process more photos from my backlog. To help put some order in it, I’ll try to go through about the 10 memory cards worth of raw photos (around 40 GB in total) chronologically. Now if only I can remember in which order the memory cards were used. hehehe

Good luck to me.

I recently attended the annual party that Mr. Jo Avila hosts for all his previous students and volunteer assistants (VAs).  During my early photography years, I have been privileged enough to be both. And since Jo started the tradition, I’ve always looked forward to the once-a-year gathering where I get to see the old and ever growing number of new faces.

One of the regular activities from Jo’s party is the exchanging of signed photo prints. Attendees are requested to bring a personal photograph that recipients could feel proud of displaying. And boy, did I get one this year!

The photo above is now part of my prized collection. It’s a personal photograph taken by Mr. Jon Aguirre. “Jonix” as I still often call him, is one of the few underwater photographers whose work I simply admire.

This type of photography is something I’ve always wanted to do. Exploring the vastness of beauty… the almost limitless interesting subjects… (sigh)… I can only imagine. Unfortunately, I don’t have both the expensive gear or necessary scuba diving skills to get into it.

So just imagine how wide my smile was when I got to go home that night with the picture above.

You can see more of Jon’s underwater work at these links:
Anilao – Wide Angle
Nudibranchs
Anilao – May (1)
Anilao – May (2)
Cabilao

Its now almost 2 months since my last post. As cliche sounding as it may be, but my schedule has just really been crazy these days.

My usual blogging weekends have been filled with consecutive photo shoots that I just couldn’t let pass. Now, if only I can get to the next step and process all the photos out of my camera. Then, maybe I could share the pics with all of you.

On the other hand, I’ve been down on sick bay for a few days now. And I took this as an opportunity to return and try to regain momentum on some blog updating.

To start things out, below is just a photo teaser of sort from one of those inescapable photo shoots I was talking about earlier.

Now, I sincerely hope you guys understand why I haven’t been online for some time.

Anyway, I anticipate this post is just the start and it should get me back into the blogging routine again.