What was Carlene thinking?

When Carlene Aguilar was offered to be the cover girl of FHM, her first reaction was, “Should I say yes?”

Friends egged her on, “You should, so that Dennis (Trillo, Carlene’s ex and father of her son Calix) could see clearly what he has lost.”

Hmmmm, why not?

“But that was not really the reason why I accepted the FHM offer,” Carlene told Funfare. She’s the second Bb. Pilipinas (for World) to grace the cover of a sizzling men’s magazine; the first was 1999 Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Miriam Quiambao who sent eyebrows soaring when she bared considerable flesh for Playboy last year.

“The offer came at the right time,” added Carlene who gave birth to Calix in Sept. 2007. “I was back to my old shape and I thought doing FHM would help me move on. I wouldn’t have looked good if I did the pictorial showing excess poundage.”

The FHM splash shows Carlene as an aqua beauty inside a fish tank, striking difficult but graceful poses that only a seasoned model/beauty queen could. She was game. Because the water in the fish tank smelled — yes, fishy — it had to be cleaned and the water changed before the four-hour photo shoot began.

“It wouldn’t have mattered,” smiled Carlene, “because I had a cold at that time.”

It was Carlene herself who chose the peg from several samples.

“As I said, I have my old body back and I wanted to experience how it is to pose for a magazine in a bikini.”

In the FHM interview, Carlene said, “I also think na kahit mom ka na you should never stop being hot. Taking care of your body shouldn’t end at motherhood. Dapat nga mas lalo mo pang pangalagaan.”

Does the FHM “derring-do” signal Carlene’s willingness to, ehem, to do bold roles?

“Ay, hindi po!”

Yes, Dennis has seen the magazine.

Asked if Dennis’ eyes popped out, Carlene laughed.

“Sabi niya, ‘Sobra! Grabe!’ I don’t know if he meant sobrang ganda, sobrang sexy o sobrang grabe na nag-pose ako ng ganoon.”

The FHM interview ended with this question: There is going to be one actor who will see you in this magazine and say, “What was I thinking?”

Carlene’s reply?

“Eat your heart out! Hindi, friends na talaga kami. Well, ang masasabi ko lang, sobrang happy na ako ngayon.”

By the way, Carlene has found new happiness with a model who bears a striking resemblance to Dennis.

Ricky is eyeing Guinness Record

Don’t look now but Ricky Reyes, along with the Fil-Hair Co-op (the local hairdresses’ organization which he heads), is eyeing the Guinness World Record with the Co-op’s 25th-anniversary activity set for May 19 — the fastest haircutter in the world and the most number of haircuts in a single venue in eight hours.

A hairy objective, isn’t it?

“We are excited,” said Ricky, “it’s going to be a momentous event for the country’s hairdressing industry. We have started preparing Fil-Hair members for the event. We are determined to show the world that we can do it.”

A regional search will be conducted to gather 3,000 to 4,000 hairdressers who will participate in the event, with big prizes at stake.

Preliminary competitions will be held in the following places: General Santos City, Feb. 18; Zamboanga City, Feb. 25; Davao City, Feb. 28; Cagayan de Oro City, March 5; Tacloban City, March 7; Cebu City, March 9; Iloilo City, March 10; Baguio City, March 13; La Union, March 14; Dagupan City, March 15; Tuguegarao, March 18; Tarlac, March 20; Pampanga, March 23; Malolos, Bulacan, March 24; Lucena City, April 21; Naga City, April 23; Calamba, Laguna, April 27; CaMaNaVa, April 30; and Muntinlupa City, May 4.

(Note: For details, call Lito Pantig at 726-8218 or Bong Soriano nat 0917-4628128.)

Ploning not in Oscar shortlist

Even if her movie Ploning didn’t make it to the Oscar shortlist of nominees for Best Foreign-Language Film, we should commend Judy Ann Santos for her effort in pushing for it, going to the extent of raising funds among her colleagues “for the sake of the local movie industry.”

Oscar campaigning is serious business in Hollywood. According to the Los Angeles Times, studios have been known to spend as much as $50 million in a quest for those golden statuettes, so the P5 million “budget” (half of it from the government) Judy Ann and friends sank into the campaign was, well, chicken feed.

Here are the nine films from 65 countries on the Oscar shortlist:

= Revanche (Austria), directed by Gotz Spielmann;

= The Necessities of Life (Canada), by Benoit Pilon;

= The Class (France), by Laurent Cantet;

= The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany), by Uli Edel;

= Departures (Japan), by Yojiro Takita;

= Tear This Heart Out (Mexico), by Roberto Sneider;

= Everlasting Moments (Sweden), by Jan Troell;

= 3 Monkeys (Turkey), by Nuri Bilge Ceylan; and

= Waltz With Bashier (Israel), by Ari Folman, (which has just won the same award at the recent Golden Globes).

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