By Erika Tapalla
INQUIRER.net

TOBEY MAGUIRE looked so hot as Spidey, not so much because of that tight black suit wrapped around his toned bod, but because he swiftly pranced from building to building, ever so gracefully swinging from the tallest skyscraper to the next, seemingly without any concern for his own safety. There’s something fascinating, or maybe even attractive, seeing someone willingly put themselves in so much physiological danger yet survive it. And survive it elegantly at that.

Luckily for the female population who, like me, have entertained the idea of spending the rest of her young adult life with someone like Tobey or Spidey for the very reason I have stated, I am pleased to tell you that I have found a solution. I didn’t exactly find a Spidey costume or a Tobey lookalike, but I did find members of Parkour Philippines who could jump far and high, and, hear this: they don’t need a tight spandex suit tighter than your tights to show you their skills.

Here’s a video I took for INQUIRER.net VDO.

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Adapted from Parkour pioneer David Belle’s philosophy or discipline of getting to point A to point B as efficiently as possible using only the strength of the human body, the members of Parkour Philippines have gathered to train their minds and bodies to achieve the same goal. Seeing some of their YouTube videos, I thought it would be interesting to learn more about this art form and actually participate. After an exchange of quite an amount of SMS messages, a jamming session was scheduled and posted online for the benefit of other traceurs (Parkour practitioners) and first-timers who also wanted to give it a go.

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AS the countdown to the 2008 Olympics hosted by Beijing begins, INQUIRER.net has launched a special site that will gather all our Olympics-related content and provide in-depth coverage once the competitions are underway.

Check out the site today.

CHECK out this teaser clip of “The Contender Asia.”

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Video provided by AXN, a partner of INQUIRER.net.

IT was a real pleasure meeting professional poker player and model Lacey Jones when she visited Manila.

That’s (L-R) me, Lacey and INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla during the podcast recording session.

Lacey was also our guest on the second episode of our Sports Aficionado podcast, which featured her boyfriend, mixed martial arts fighter Heath Herring. Episode 3, however, is all about Lacey as she shares how she got into poker and modeling, while giving tips on how to improve your game.

Here’s the video of the podcast recording session, which we did at Crowne Plaza. Video taken by INQUIRER.net reporter Alex Villafania.

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NOT only is Mac Danzig “The Ultimate Fighter 6″ champion, but this mixed martial arts fighter is also doing his share in promoting vegetarianism.

The 27-year-old welterweight appears in a new testimonial ad for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Asia-Pacific.

Here’s an excerpt from the PETA press statement:

“Animals on factory farms and in slaughterhouses don’t have a fighting chance,” says Danzig, who forced his opponent, Tommy Speer, into submission using a rear naked choke just two minutes and one second into the first round of the championship match [in December]. “I don’t eat animals because I don’t want to contribute to their suffering — it’s that simple. Do yourself a favor, do the planet a favor, and help end animal abuse. Go veg.” Danzig got his shot at the crown by prevailing over his competitors on [Ultimate Fighting Championship's "The Ultimate Fighter," which airs] on Solar Sports.

Why is a vegan diet the diet of champions? Consumption of meat and other animal products has been conclusively linked to heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and obesity. Meat production is also a leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and land degradation. And, of course, the best way to fight the cruelty of factory farms and slaughterhouses is to kick the meat habit.