Online Space of Alvin Jimenez
Magazines
Women’s Health Magazine Philippines
Apr 18th
If you feel like you’re still on the chunky side (lol) this summer, pick up a copy of Women’s Health Philippines. I won’t guarantee that it’ll change things overnight, but I’m 100% sure Men’s Health’s sister magazine will point a lot of women in the right direction.
I’ve already gotten a chance to browse through a copy, and I’m very confident it’s going to give other women’s magazines out there a very good fight. It’s a GREAT first issue, particularly how it feels a lot more Pinoy than when Men’s Health first came out. And 16 ads in the first issue? Congratulations!
Cheap International Magazine Subscriptions in the Philippines
Oct 20th
When I arrived in the US last September, one of the first things I did was look for the Esquire 75th Anniversary issue. Being a fan of magazines, and having worked for a magazine publishing company, seeing a moving cover (holograms don’t count) is a big step for the industry, both local and foreign.
With that being said, the magazines they come up with here in the US are nothing short of amazing. Don’t get me wrong, I sincerely believe that the talent we have here is at par, or even better than those in most parts of the world. It’s just that the business model is different in the US.
Roles are more properly defined, and thus, more attention is given to the smallest of details. Just compare the staff box of a Pinoy magazine with a foreign one’s, and you’ll know what I mean. Even the culture is different (but that’s an entirely different story).
If you’re like me who’s a certified media sponge, and would like to get magazines from the US, I suggest you visit the websites of the magazines themselves. This guy was able to get a full year’s subscription of Esquire at Esquire.com for only $20 — shipping included!
The point of this post? Emerald Headway isn’t your only choice when it comes to foreign subscriptions. Their website isn’t even working.
A Bright (and sparkly) Future for Print Media
Aug 14th
Literally. Well, for Esquire at least.
The September* issue of will have an e-ink cover. 100,000 of the total 720,000 print run will be assembled by hand, with parts criss-crossing the globe before ending up newsstands, jumping out at your eyes with shifting images.
Link to full news item here.
While obviously another way to go when it comes to standing out on the newsstand, we just have to wonder if such a move is just a way for the print industry to desperately cope with the fast changing times. As the business model for magazines in the US is more geared towards subscription than newsstand sales, there is really no need for publishing companies to stick their necks out for the price of evolution.
Of course, locally, it’s an entirely different story. More >
Miriam Quiambao in Playboy Philippines
Aug 8th
The August issue of Playboy Philippines greets us with Miriam Quiambao on the cover. Though I’ve always believed that there is absolutely no way for a magazine to change overnight, Playboy has finally taken the first steps towards meaningful (and necessary) change by getting rid of Beting Laygo Dolor. Good riddance.
Here are a few things about the cover.
Rogue Magazine’s “Rogue” Joey Mead Cover
Aug 6th
I know this is 2 months overdue, but I just had to say something about this magnificent cover. It seems that Rogue caused quite an outrage when they painted the Philippine flag on Joey Mead’s body.
My take on the cover — this particular cover was done tastefully in my opinion. And no, I don’t think the people behind Rogue had intentions of desecrating our Philippine flag.
FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World Issue – A Philippine First
Jul 1st
If you landed on this page because you keyed in Katrina Halili, Angel Locsin, Diana Zubiri or Marian Rivera, you’re going to be one disappointed dude. You won’t find any scans here, unfortunately.
What you will find are a few snapshots of the local magazine industry’s first ever foil enclosed magazine.
I know, it might not mean much (at least not yet), but if you have 100+ magazines on the newsstand just battling it out for shelf space and attention, you know that anything a magazine publisher can do to stand out, just has to be done.
JustAnotherGame now blogging on FHM.com.ph
Jun 18th
Oh yeah. Thanks to Lou Albano for making this possible. Check out my first post here.
It’s about these four fellas’ below. And oh, congratulations to the Boston Celtics. They really took the heart out of my Lakers. Though he’s not a vet, I really think they couldn’t have accomplished that serious beatdown if it weren’t for Rajon. Oh well, there’s always next year.
Not everyone who buys magazines are in it for the SEX
Apr 26th
As with everything else, sex also sells magazines. One look at the newsstands and you’ll notice that nine times out of ten, any male or female lifestyle magazine out there will have a sex related feature as one of its main cover lines. Remember the first time you laid your eyes on that partially concealed Playboy magazine in some store at the Virra Mall of old? (I once caught my cousin buying one from that store. Hah!) Sadly, Playboy Philippines is slowly destroying every bit of nostalgia that came with opening an issue of the magazine.
Macho during my high school days meant being able to bring a copy of Playboy to school without being caught. Any warm blooded Pinoy who thought Baywatch Mondays with CJ wasn’t enough just had to see her without the orange suit. While running on the beach. Okay enough now.
And then came the Internet.
Type a few names (any name), and boom. Pardon the language, but guys no longer have to part with some bucks to get racy images to whack off to. That is the absolute (and unfortunate) truth.
Thank you GamesMaster Magazine
Apr 16th
Five months after my first post about GamesMaster, and I’m finally done with my story. Everyone who was able to read (love it or hate it) a copy of the mag should be thankful to the following people for making it possible. 
- Lisa Gokongwei and Aurora Mangubat, for deciding to bring in a videogame magazine
- Denis del Callar and Neil Palabrica, for giving me the chance to make my own decisions.
- Ed Geronia, Jaykee Evangelista, and the rest of the GM staff. Next to the FHM people, I think we had the most fun at the office
- The Summit Advertising Team. Special mention to Cha Clarino and Ginger Taduran (O wag na masama loob) for literally hitting our monthly quotas by themselves.
- The Production, Circulation, Trade, Web, and Events teams, for making GamesMaster’s presence felt in the three years that it was on the newsstands.
- Of course, my fellow Associate Publishers, for sitting through the long video presentations
If I forgot anyone, again, I’d like to thank you. So this doesn’t end like a goodbye blog post, time to move on…. 
To everyone who bought an issue, two issues, all issues — my sincerest thanks.
*For our June 2005 issue, we decided to give away a PSP to anyone who can give us the best picture showing how much he loves GamesMaster. Apparently, the winner was a she
*The GamesMaster forums are still active! Just visit Gamebayan.com.ph
If you haven’t read my blog posts about GamesMaster, just click on the following links:
The Truth About GamesMaster: Last Part
Apr 16th
I was just reading the news on IGN earlier today when I saw an item on World of Warcraft — 10 million subscribers worldwide. To put things in perspective, that’s roughly one-tenth of what the Philippines’ population will be in 2030.
“It’s very gratifying to see gamers around the world continuing to show such enthusiasm and support for World of Warcraft,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re always pleased to welcome new players to the game, and we’re looking forward to sharing the next major content update with the entire community in the months ahead.”
There have also been numerous claims about bringing over the game to the country. From LUG and Egames, to AMDG, the none of those rumors ever came into fruition. The license may have just proven to be too expensive not just for the aforementioned companies, but for gamers as well.
It put things into even clearer perspective for me, as to why GamesMaster Magazine had to be let go of, even if I felt that it was the right time to have a local videogame mag.