Leonardo DiCaprio: The Actor, The Environmentalist

And the OSCAR for Best Actor goes to...Leonardo DiCaprio!

     As the winner was announced by Julianne Moore on the Oscar Awards night, friends and colleagues of  Leonardo DiCaprio and his fans all over the world screamed for joy, that finally, the long-delayed and most coveted award is already his. Though anticipated for his acting performance in the movie The Revenant, the Oscar awards had bypassed him for four performances which most of his colleagues and fans believe he deserved to be. Imagine, a highly paid actor with box-office hits and mostly recognized by other award-giving bodies but continuously snubbed by OSCAR. Thus, numerous memes emerge on social media for non-winning of the said award (he could have won an award for the most number of memes of all time).
        In 1994, he was nominated for best actor in a supporting role as a mentally challenged younger brother of Johnny Depp in What's Eating Gilbert Grape?; best performance by an actor in a leading role for the movie The Aviator in 2005; two (2) years after he was nominated again for the same category for Blood Diamond; in 2007 he has been nominated again for the movie The Wolf of Wall Street, and finally, the prestigious OSCAR award recognized his performance in his latest movie The Revenant. He was a runner-up in those (4) movies toppled by Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive), Jamie Foxx (Ray); Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland); and Matthew McConaughey (Dallas' Buyers Club), respectively. He had won many awards from other award-giving bodies in his other movies as well as his latest one, The Revenant.

         I may have reacted to some of his movies for which he didn't win an award or get nominated for his acting. He is not only a good-looking actor, he can really act and gives justice to whatever role he was given with. Since his movie Titanic started his full stardom (though he had other movies back then), people noticed not only the handsome face he has been carrying but his charisma and how he reprises each role given to him. I have been able to watch most of his movies, from a doomed lover in a cruise ship to a medieval king with a twin, to an American backpack adventurer, to a con-man, to a filmmaker and aviator, to a police undercover agent, to a gunrunner and diamond smuggler, to a CIA agent hunting down a powerful terrorist leader, to an unheroic cowardly husband, to a corporate spy who uses subconscious infiltration through shared dreams, to a plantation and slave owner during 1850s, to a mysterious millionaire longing for his already married ex-girlfriend, to a Wall Street stockbroker millionaire, and recently to a crew trapper/frontiersman survivor. DiCaprio is also one of the highest-paid actors in the world and all his movies are earning well and well.
      Now, Leonardo DiCaprio on his advocacy for wildlands conservation, ecological biodiversity, ocean conservation, and climate change made him love even more by fans who admire him for his looks and movies. A fan like me who does not only support but practices what the Greenpeace Movement holds for, in its effort to make this place a better place to live in by our children's children, will really have his hands up for these undertakings from famous people. True to his words, he has solar panels installed in his home, he owns an electric Tesla Roadster, a Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid, and a Toyota Prius. In 2007, he produced, co-written, and narrated a documentary film about the problems facing the earth's ecosystem. The documentary entitled The 11th Hour addresses the problem of global warming, deforestation, mass species extinction, and depletion of the ocean's habitat. The 11th Hour documentary also proposes potential solutions to these problems. His winning moment during the OSCAR night was staged by an unusual speech to a call about global warming which catches the attention of all the celebrities, fans, and bashers alike.

"Climate change is real, it is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating. We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people out there who would be most affected by this. For our children's children, and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed." ~ DiCaprio, Oscar 2016

The many faces of Leonardo DiCaprio

The Real "Hampaslupa"

     Hampaslupa is a word that we mostly hear from our television soap operas when someone who has been in Alta-Sociedad (high society) belittles another person who is not equally the same with their social status. Hampaslupa, Pega la Tierra, is a derogatory remark originating from Spaniards which means "hits the ground" probably arises during the agrarian division between the haciendas and the rural folks tilling the land. It can also be associated with another Filipino expression of  "isang kahig, isang tuka" (one scratch, one peck-as what a chicken does), for hitting the ground one would be able to feed himself or his family. Until today, it has been widely used for insulting someone and in Senorita memes for humor.

     Hampaslupa used to describe our Filipino farmers, as pitiful, doing dirty work, considered a poor man's job. In contrast to other countries, farming/farmers are highly regarded. In China, Confucian ideology considered farmers as next to scholars, in Thailand, they taught their young in school that farmers are the backbone of the nation, in the United States, farming/farmers are particularly valued and mostly successful, even France and Germany shared the same view that farmers are an important factor in maintaining the equilibrium in the society's structure.
     So it is not really demeaning to be a farmer, even in the United States, they have the 'No Farm, No Food Movement' giving importance to farming as their source of food and income. Hampaslupa is the farmers who feed us, they plant and put their harvest on our table. We are the consumers of their products, therefore we are participating in farming and affirming the value and role of farmers. We contribute to tilling the soil by the choice of food we eat. Collectively and individually, we are hampaslupa. For this, we are encouraging everyone to make a pledge of securing the food on our table, encouraging farmers as well. Read the pledges and  Challenge yourself.

Read more:
Importance of Agriculture

No Farms, No Food

GreenPeace Green Tips on Recycling Bottles

     I have received a Christmas card from GreenPeace as a token for the great year of action and change. Since I have a passion for landscape photography, I join an organization that would protect something we enjoy and has been entrusted to us. I think nature's wonder should stay for us to enjoy it more. It has been four years since I signed up to be a volunteer for this environmental organization. And being a volunteer is not only limited to donations but to sharing/disseminating the information through social media and joining the fight for a greener and safer environment. Along with the card that they sent me, they are issuing a regular newsletter for their supporters. So there goes my blog about what GreenPeace has just recently sent us on recycling plastic bottles.

     According to GreenPeace, plastic bottles take at least 1000 years to break down. Wow.. it would take iPhone to innovate as many versions as they could have until none. So, what can we do to these bottles? Here are some tips...

Coins/Jewelry /Small trinkets Organizer
1. Cut the bottoms of 2 bottles approximately 5-8 cm but it depends on the type of bottle to be used and what is intended for.

2. Combine the two plastic bottles' bottoms by attaching a zipper between the two ends by gluing them on both sides. You can add up some designs to the organizer.




Candle Holder
1. Cut off the tops of two bottles. Make the one shorter than the other.
2. Glue the two mouth ends of the bottles together, with the bigger one at the bottom.
3. Design with a ribbon or shoelace the glued portion.

 Follow these tips, take pictures
 and send them to us to be featured here.




For any recycling ideas, click  here 

 Join us and help protect our environment

Arctic Region's Role in Climate Change

     Arctic region is found in the northernmost part of the earth and is made up of countries like

Greenland, Iceland, Sweden , Finland, Norway, Canada, USA and some parts of Russia. Different type of animals also make their home in the arctic which includes the polar bears, wolverines, squirrels, birds, walrus and sea lions. Despite its cold climate, the Arctic has a number of natural resources, including fish, oil, gas and various minerals.. and this is where the problem goes...

     Major companies capitalizing on Arctic's natural resources threaten its fragile ecosystem due to offshore drilling and destructive industry, thus, climate change is already affecting Southeast Asia.

How does it affect Southeast Asia?

First, Arctic region plays a critical role in regulating the global climate, acting as the "world's refrigerator" and keeping the planet cool. Second, Arctic's ice acts as a "giant mirror", bouncing sunlight and heat back into the atmosphere, so without it, the effects of climate change will become unstoppable.

     As the ice melts, climate changes are on its way, affecting Southeast Asia with higher temperatures, decreasing rainfall, rising sea levels, greater frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. All these changes lead to widespread flooding, landslides and drought. Climate change is putting more energy in the form of heat, into the world's weather systems. And this energy speeds up the whole system, increasing the number and intensity of storms. One example is the typhoon Bopha (typhoon Pablo) which is categorized as Super Typhoon 5, the strongest tropical cyclone ravaged Mindanao in the southern part of the Philippines.

    Unless we protect the Arctic by voicing our opinions and signing up to make an impact, climate change will become even more severe. I care.. so I have added my voice to the millions who already made themselves heard! If you don't care who else will..

Sign the petition now..

or  Know more how to be a Greenpeace volunteer..

My Thinning Diet Regimen

     The summer season is the best time of the year for me to lose weight. During this time, metabolic change occurs, or rather my appetite changes because of the summer heat. Breakfast is a heavy meal for me all throughout, but it lessens as the day goes by...with some exception of course if the dinner menu is really superb. Summer's heat lessens my consumption of rice and meat but not pasta ('',). Though I love vegetables, I do love beef. Summer is also that time of the year wherein you can see different types of fruit and the mango season which I really love!

       So, how do I do my thinning diet regimen? 

     During ordinary days, I follow the after 6:00PM diet. Why after 6?  During this time, less energy is expended when relaxing at night and for bodily functions while sleeping, so any calories you consume at night go straight into fat storage according to James Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado. The 6:00 diet theorizes that calories from food consumed during the day are burned off, leading to weight loss. This kind of diet follows the age-old advice to eat more on breakfast since it is the most important meal of the day. As I have said breakfast is a heavy meal for me, I can skip lunch or dinner but not my breakfast. There goes the saying, during breakfast eat like a king, at lunch eat like a  prince, and at dinner eat like a pauper. Following that principle will lessen your weight problem as well. If it works for me, it will work for you but it requires discipline and self-control. 

     During summer days, less work for a teacher like me so I eat less and it's my time clock to eat more fruits than anything. My breakfast during this season depends on the time I wake up. If it's too early like 6 or 7 AM, I would stick to my old habit of heavy breakfast meaning more rice, bread, coffee, and fried dishes. If it's rather late I would eat sliced or diced fruits (papaya or mango or avocado or banana-lakatan, ) blended in a cold glass of milk (3-4 tbsp. of powdered milk without sugar), but fresh milk is much better. To avoid lactose intolerance, I've tried different fruit settings. So it goes the same for me the whole day with some bread though not regularly because I do indulge in some luscious meal of having veggies sauteed with ground beef.   

     Eating fruits have lots of benefits too, less fat and more anti-oxidant which is good for our skin, and I thank myself for that, I still have that supple skin at my age. By the way, I rarely drink soft drinks, just for emergencies if nothing I like is available or if there's no water. I always go for iced tea or natural fruit juices.

 #diet #thinningregimen #summer #aftersixdiet