Duke
April 25, 2013
Early this year, I met this hunk. His name is Duke.
Duke is one handsome Alaskan Malamute!
I met Duke and his folks, lovely husband and wife and dog-lovin’ duo Jun Sunga and Vanessa Matsunaga, during a commercial assignment for Bow & Wow The Natural Pet Foods Store back in January. We shot on-location at the couple’s place in Tagaytay. It was a beeeauuutiful day for a shoot. (Yes, that sky is real.)
Duke was charming, friendly, calm and dignified. It was love at first sight for me. So “guapo”!
Such a pro too, I tell ‘ya!
Notice Duke’s wet paws? We had been shooting under the hot sun for quite a while that during breaks in between sets Duke wouldn’t just lap up the icy cold water in his giant bowl, he would dip his paws in them too. The cutest thing!
Thank you Duke for being such a sport, for sitting and staying, for running and playing, for agreeing to pose this way and that, and for NOT hunting down the cat! Hahaha!
Thank you too Jun and Vanessa for being such gracious hosts that day, and for being inspiring examples of awesome pet-parenting.
(Jun and Vanessa share their home with three Alaskan Malamutes, Duke, Kara and Simba, and one Newfoundland named Mosley.)
Piolo
February 25, 2013
”Old dogs, like old shoes, are comfortable. They might be a bit out of shape and a little worn around the edges, but they fit well.” - Bonnie Wilcox
Valentine Giveaway
February 14, 2013
Happy Valentine’s Day!!!
PPBD has been so blessed that I can’t help but share the love! This year, I’ll be giving away a free Summer Mini to a Facebook fan! All you need to do is “like” the page and tell me how much your pet means to you via email to get a chance to win! Entries will be accepted until Feb 28.
(Summer Minis will be held on-location within Metro Manila in April. Details soon.)
Scooby
February 9, 2013
I love how Scooby looks so calm and serene next to the twins. I guess you’d expect that from an old dog. He is, after all, eleven years old… quite past the average life span of a Great Dane. Oh yet calm and serene, Scooby is anything but!!! Haha!
Great Danes have been described as regal, strong, elegant, and… well… huge! But there’s way more to Scooby than all that! Here are just a few photos from our session…
In the words of his human, Rachelle Uy: ”Scooby is a big baby…”
“He likes to be the center of attention and is very affectionate but quite unruly…”
“He’s old… but he acts like a puppy.”
Oh yes he does!!!
In spite of his old age and his hip dysplasia, Scooby is an incredible bundle of energy. He is playful but gentle. He loves his toys and will do anything for bread, his favorite treat.
Thanks for hamming it up for the camera, Scooby!
And thank you Rachelle! So honored to have met and photographed dear Scooby. What a truly GREAT dog he is!
(Coming soon on the blog… Scooby’s buddy Piolo the English Mastiff.)
Sumer Is Icumen In
January 29, 2013
Summer is a-coming in,
Loudly sing, Cuckoo!
The seed grows and the meadow blooms
And the wood springs anew,
Sing, Cuckoo!
The ewe bleats after the lamb
The cow lows after the calf.
The bullock stirs, the buck-goat turns,
Merrily sing, Cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo, well you sing, cuckoo;
Don’t you ever stop now,
Sing cuckoo now. Sing, Cuckoo.
Sing Cuckoo. Sing cuckoo now!
(English Translation of “Sumer Is Icumen In”, a Medieval folk song)
It isn’t summertime in Manila yet, but there have been days this past month when I could’ve told you otherwise. Global warming much?
“Sumer Is Icumen In” is Middle English for “Summer Has Come In”, a 13th century pop song that I’ve been humming to lately while doing my editing work, thanks to a sweet 9 month old Golden Retriever named Summer whom I photographed a few weeks ago. (You can listen to the song here.)
During one long night of caffeine-induced insomnia I googled away and became strangely engrossed in the history of this medieval English rota. It was the coffee, I tell ‘ya!
Wikipedia and various other online sources say pretty much the same thing: No one knows for sure who composed the song, but it’s believed to have been written in 1250 at Reading Abbey, Berkshire, England where its manuscript was found. (View the manuscript here.)
Sumer is icumen in,
Lhude sing Cuccu!
GroweÞ sed, and bloweÞ med,
and springÞ wde nu.
Sing Cuccu!
Awe bleteÞ after lomb,
lhouÞ after calve cu.
Bulluc sterteÞ,
bucke verteÞ,
murie sing Cuccu!
Cuccu, cuccu,
wel singes Þu Cuccu
ne swik Þu naver nu.
Pes:
Sing cuccu nu. Sing cuccu.
Sing cuccu. Sing cuccu nu!
(Middle English text)
In the manuscript you’ll notice lyrics in the vernacular written in black, and right below it, lyrics in Latin written in red.
Perspice Christicola,
que digacio;
celicus agricola
pro vitis vicio,
filio,
non parcens exposuit
mortis exicio.
Qui captivos
Semivivos
a supplicio
Vite donat
et secum coronat
in celi solio.
(Latin text)
Why two sets of lyrics? The song, I learned, is an example of a “contrafactum”. A what??? A contrafactum, the practice of borrowing a song from one sphere and making it suitable for use in the other by the substitution of words, which apparently was a pretty common practice back in the middle ages. In those days, lyrics of songs were often changed either from the “sacred” to fit the “secular”, or from the “secular” to fit the “sacred”. So, that meant that tunes sung in churches would be the same tunes sung in local pubs and vice versa, but with very different lyrics to them. For this particular composition however, no one is certain which set of lyrics came first – the sacred or the secular.
Okay so before I continue to bore you with ancient dialects and dead languages… here’s a tiny sneak-peek of Summer’s photo session held at the La Mesa Eco Park, an awesome nature reserve surrounding the La Mesa Dam in Quezon City.
“Summer is a-coming in… Loudly sing, Cuckoo! The seed grows and the meadow blooms, and the wood springs anew… Sing, Cuckoo!” (In this case… Peek-a-boo!!!)
Love the expression on her face!
Oops! There goes my lens.
Surrounding La Mesa’s watershed are 2000 hectares of forest area, the last one of its size in Metro Manila. How I wish we had more parks with trees!!!
Aww… isn’t Summer sweet? I’m humming again.
Thank you KC Casas and Pam Lu, Summer’s wonderful humans, for coming out to play that day. Summer is so obviously loved!
Okay now back to the song… (Haha! Kulit…)
I think the Latin lyrics are awesome! So, I’m gonna end this blog post with its English translation… just because… well… because it’s my first blog post for 2013… and I guess it’s always good to start the year by taking to heart how I plan to get through it: God’s grace!
Observe, worshipper of Christ,
what gracious condescension!
The heavenly husband, (another translation says “farmer”)
because of the vine’s imperfection,
not sparing His Son,
exposed Him
to death’s destruction.
The prisoners,
who are half-dead
on account of the death sentence,
He restores to life,
and crowns them at His side
on heaven’s throne.
(English Translation by Ernest H. Sanders)
You see, it’s inevitable! New Year’s resolutions will most likely be broken this year. (I broke mine on January 1, hello! Fail! Haha!) But I thank God for the Gospel, the good news that His love isn’t ever based on MY resolve, but on Jesus’ resolve for me! Have a grace-filled 2013 everyone!
