Elizabeth Taylor Ill, Put on Life Support

Elizabeth Taylor, 76, has been put on life support, reports the London tabloid The Daily Mail, after suffering from congestive heart failure. She made history, of course, in 1960 when she she won the Oscar Best Actress for portraying a tracheotomy in Butterfield 8. More recently, she made history for the worst ever piece of dialogue uttered by an Academy Award winner, when she sneered at Fred Flintstone (John Goodman), "you're as drunk as a skunkasaurus!" (somebody post it on YouTube, quick)

The Daily Mail also links to pictures of an emaciated, wheelchair-bound Paul Newman, 83, who reportedly is battling lung cancer.

UPDATE: The official word, from Ms. Taylor's representatives: "Ms. Taylor is fine. Her hospital visit was precautionary. She will be returning home shortly. At present, she is surrounded by family, friends and fabulous jewels."

The Assassination of Yogi the Bear

There probably is an episode somewhere of Yogi Bear, or his bosom pal Boo Boo, getting his head stuck inside a jar while being chased around by Ranger Smith -- it's a cartoon staple after all. Further proof that real-life is ultimately, Akira aside, bleaker than cartoon life is this story from CNN:

Minnesota wildlife officials tried for six days to capture a bear that had a plastic jar stuck over its head, but ended up killing the animal after it wandered into a city during a festival.

The wild black bear -- whose head got stuck inside a 2½-gallon clear plastic jug presumably while foraging for food -- ambled into the city of Frazee, about 200 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, during the town's busy Turkey Days celebration.

Why kill the bear, and not just tranquilize it? Said the authorities, they had tried to tranquilize the bear during its six-day ordeal, but they failed.

Karaoke at the Batasan; Da Art of Nonoy Marcelo

Today I found myself at the basement of the House of Representatives at the Batasan Pambansa complex, researching at its archives. It was shortly after lunch -- siesta time in the old days -- and the atmosphere was unsurprisingly languid. Then, I could hear from the next room through an open door, a male voice belt out the opening words of the Bee Gees song Holiday:

Ooh you're a holiday....such a holiday...

The voice was clear, pitch-perfect, and alone. Yet by the second stanza (It's something I think worthwhile...), other voices were joining in. They were less vibrant than the leader's, yet the harmonization was quite good, proficient enough for me to second-guess whether I was actually hearing an open radio. The librarian at the archives was not joining in, but she bore a faint smile that I sensed was knowing.

By the time they reached the infamous coda (Ti ti ti ti ti ti, ti ti ti ti ti, ti ti), the troubadours were at full strength. As a kid, that part of Holiday made me laugh silly, and I actually wanted to join in. That I did not is proof positive how much soul has died in me, or how much sense has grown in me.

Sometime later, the leader attempted to spark something new, singing the first verse of Celeste Legaspi's Mamang Sorbetero. Nobody joined him, and he lapsed into silence for a few minutes until he suddenly burst out with that song's coda (La la la la la, la la la la la...). I heard laughter, and figured he'd go for the sols next. Perhaps Cuando Caliente El Sol...

Afterwards, I dropped by one of my old haunts, the Vargas Museum at U.P. It currently features (until August 23) an exhibition of the works of the the late Nonoy Marcelo. I was hardly a devotee of the great Filipino cartoonist, but what struck me was how unique his voice was, and how we may never see the likes of him again. You may not always agree with his viewpoint (and cringe at his occasional lapses into xenophobic stereotypes), yet I admire how able he was to go for the emotional jugular and crystallize impolitic yet honest reactions.

What is also striking, viewing his earlier, pre-martial law works, is how drastic was the evolution of his tone. The clean-cut Tisoy, his first popular character, soon gave way to Metro Aide Aling Otik, then finally, to bleak bleak Ikabod and his fellow sewer inhabitants from Dagalandia. I was reminded of George Carlin, who grew his hair and shed his suits to become a godfather of counter-culture. Ikabod is a defiantly ugly strip (Erap in mouse form is especially hideous), and you can't help but contrast it with that other popular social satire on the funnies, Pugad Baboy, which visually strives to be pleasant, or at least, endearing.

One interesting panel featured on the exhibit is a 1960s vintage spoof Marcelo had drawn, of what was then the most popular newspaper comic, Larry Alcala's Kalabog and Bosyo. I remember when Alcala died in 2002, I received this text message saying that despite a diligent search, they could not find Mr. Alcala's body.

If Manny Pacquiao Won His 2007 Election...

He'd probably be a contender for President in 2010, positioning himself as the Barack Obama of the Philippines. Short on political experience, long on charisma and popularity. Granted, Obama is a much better speechmaker, but Pacquiao would have his audience howling, screaming and swooning no matter what comes off his mouth. And really, how far apart, on the scale of the vapid-meter, is Yes We Can from Para Sa'yo Ang Laban Na 'To. (This of course doesn't mean that there aren't any current presidentiables who probably are right now examining the Obama model)

If McCain defeats Obama, electing Manny Pacquiao as our next president may be a cagey realpolitik move. Mr. McCain is fanatical, obsessive even, about boxing, and he would readily buddy up with a Pangulong Pacquiao, team-up Double Dragon style to beat up radical Islamofascism. The New Republic details McCain's passion for boxing and reveals the Senator's utter utter hatred for Ultimate Fighting. A telling passage:

A decade ago, Slate editor David Plotz interviewed McCain at his Senate office. McCain loves boxing, and Plotz politely challenged his belief in that sport's moral superiority to ultimate fighting, noting that boxers can be killed and often retire with severe brain damage. "At that point," Plotz recalls, "he said, 'If you can't see the moral distinction, then we have nothing left to talk about,'" and abruptly stalked out.

• Punch Drunk Love: How Boxing Explains John McCain -- The New Republic

Filipino Olympic Athletes, Fun Facts About (Part 1)

The Olympic fever is throbbing on my fingertips right now, so on to the list. Many sports-related facts courtesy of The Olympic Movement in the Philippines (Hiyas Press, 2003) by Celso Limjuco Dayrit.

• The Philippines first participated in the Olympics in 1924, or 4 years after Tug-of-War was last accredited as an Olympic sport. The Philippines had sent one representative to the Paris Olympiad, the sprinter David Nepomuceno, who ran the 100 meter dash in 10.8 seconds. To provide perspective on this feat: in the 1988 Seoul Olympiad, Ben Johnson (the Canadian sprinter, not the Elizabethan playwright) ran the 100 meters in 9.79 seconds, or only 1 second faster from Mr. Nepomuceno. And Mr. Johnson of course was a cheater.


• Eleven years before the Philippines deigned to join the Olympics, Manila played host to the largest international sporting event up to that point in human history, the 1913 Far Eastern Games. It featured the best athletes from the three countries comprising the Far East -- the Philippines, China and Japan. In size and number of participants, the 1913 Games exceeded the 1912 Stockholm Olympiad. The country that dominated the 1913 Games was that athletic dynamo, The Philippines. Our nation was led by sprinter Fortunato Catalon, discusser Regino Ylanan, and runner Pedro Ablan, still household names in their respective households.


• Just one year before David Nepomuceno made Philippine history in the Paris Olympiad, the 1923 Far Eastern Games had Filipino basketball player Lou Salvador score 116 points in a single game. The performance still stands today as the most individual points scored in a single game in international competition. Salvador later became a bodabil impresario who introduced to the world such talents as Canuplin, Pepe Pimentel, and Kuya German Moreno. He also grandfathered Philip Salvador.


• If we had sense and invested in football early on, then Paulino Alcantara (1896-1964) may have led us to glory in that sport. Eight decades before the Younghusbands emerged on the local footballing scene, Iloilo-born Spanish-Filipino mestizo Paulino Alcantara was dominating Spanish football as the star of FC Barcelona (pre-La Liga). He remains the all-time goalscorer of that historic club, scoring 357 goals in 357 matches (wow). He did play for the Philippines in the 1917 Far Eastern Games, leading us to victory in the gold medal game, 15-2, against Japan. By any measure, he is one of top five greatest Filipino athletes of all time. But almost no Filipino knows who the hell is Paulino Alcantara. (YouTube tributes with way-old footage here, here and here)
  
  
  


• The Philippines won its first ever Olympic medal, a bronze, in the 1928 Amsterdam Games. The winning medalist was the "Ilocano Shark" Teofilo Yldefonso (1902-1942), who placed third in the 200m breaststroke. He would win another bronze in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, and die in the Japanese concentration camp at Capas, Tarlac. According to The Comfort Rooms, Yldefonso is the grandfather of the present-day swimmer Daniel Coakley, one of our 2008 Olympians.
  


• The 1932 Los Angeles Olympiad saw the Philippines garner an unprecedented and unsurpassed record haul of three medals (all bronzes). Apart from Yldefonso, the other Filipino medalists were bantamweight boxer Jose "Cely" Villanueva (b. 1913; Wikipedia does not report a date of death, so he's 95 if still alive) and high jumper Simeon Toribio (1905-1969). It is reported that Toribio could have won the gold medal, but he failed to clear the final bar because he needed to pee. Toribio later became a Congressman from Bohol, leaving office in 1953 to be succeeded by the inimitable Bartolome Cabangbang, leader of the self-explanatory Statehood USA movement.


• Miguel White (1909-1942) of Albay won the bronze medal in the 400m hurdles in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The '36 Olympics -- the Führer's attempt to show the world Nazi Germany as Hitlerrific -- are still the most controversial Games of all time (do make an effort though to catch Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia). Hitler's belief in Aryan supremacy was embarrassed by the phenomenal performance of the African-American track star Jesse Owens, so I wonder if Mr. Hitler would have taken comfort in the decent enough finish of a White, albeit a White from Albay. Sadly, Miguel White, like Yldefonso, was a casualty of World War II, proof that Japan did not take well all that losing at the Far Eastern Games.


• The 1936 Games also saw the first Olympic appearance of Martin Gison (b. 1913). His remarkable Olympic career spanned 28 years. After Berlin, he saw action in the 1948 London Games, the 1952 Helsinki Games, the 1956 Melbourne Games, the 1960 Rome Games, and, at the age of 50, at the 1964 Tokyo Games. Granted, his sport was shooting, where in theory, you could be wheelchair-bound and still participate. Still, he got to fire his guns in six different countries, and how many Filipinos can brag about that.

Don't miss Part 2 coming soon. How did our Filipino Olympic athletes withstand the rise of The Iron Curtain, The Beatles, and the exercise-fascism of Yoyoy Villame? And who is Mona Sulaiman?

The Gospel of Obama, King LeBron James Version

LeBron James has donated US$20,000 to the presidential campaign of a certain Barack Obama. The importance of this apparent endorsement should not be discounted. In 2004, it was Ohio which gifted the world with four more years of George W. Bush, and it remains as a key battleground state in this year's U.S. presidential elections. Not only does LeBron play for Ohio's most popular pro basketball team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, he was also born and raised in Akron, Ohio, where he is building a 35,440 square foot home with its own theater, bowling alley, casino and barber shop.

Maybe Obama can clinch Ohio for sure if he can get LeBron to commit to stay with the Cavs and disavow plans to jump over to the New Jersey Brooklyn Nets after 2010.

• LeBron James dunks $20G's in the basket for Barack Obama -- Los Angeles Times

If Jodie Foster Was Never Born...

I wrote the following in 2002, one of those little things I e-mailed around. Just made a few minor style-based edits, and hyperlinks.

If Jodie Foster Was Never Born...

The most obvious implication would have been that Debra Winger would have won Best Actress in 1991 for Silence of the Lambs. But that is assuming the 1991 Oscars would have taken place at all.

 

John Hinckley would not have found sufficient motivation to assasinate President Reagan, so Ronald Reagan departs the Ambassador Hotel unscathed on March 30, 1981. Reagan would not benefit from the ridiculous surge of popularity he would have gotten had he survived an assasination attempt. His package of tax cuts and budget cuts would have still passed late in 1981, and would lead to the recession of 1982 that led to significant Democrat gains in the congressional elections that same year.

 

Democrats would be envigorated by the 1982 election results to believe that they have a significant chance for victory in the 1984 Presidential elections. Therefore, they nominate the strongest candidate possible at that time, Colorado Senator Gary Hart. The 1984 elections are closely fought. Reagan the legend may have been invincible, but Reagan the Man is vulnerable. It is a closely fought election, but in 1984, Gary Hart defeats Ronald Reagan for the U.S. Presidency. The U.S. Senate is likewise recaptured by the Democrats.

 

With the Democrats controlling both houses of Congress and the Presidency, an opportunity is seen to promote a more liberal agenda of governance. As the U.S. economy had rebounded from the recession and starts to do well again, the American people are tolerant to the idea of more social spending and defense cuts. The massive arms buildup commenced during the Reagan era are significantly reduced.

 

The reduction of arms spending relieves the Soviets, who had been worried about the effect of the Reagan arms build-up. The Soviets are afforded the opportunity for breathing room, exerting less pressure on the Soviet economy to maintain pace with the US build-up, thus causing less damage to their domestic economy. By 1987, the Soviet economy is booming, while their armory is competitive with the Americans. Awareness of this likewise creates confidence in newly installed Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. He becomes more resistant to external pressure for more domestic freedoms. He decides to adopt a policy which one of his predecessors, Yuri Andropov, had planned to undertake before his death, thereby implementing perestroika, but not glasnost. The Soviet economy benefits from more liberalization, while internal dissent within the Eastern bloc remains suppressed.

 

Meanwhile, domestic problems in the United States ensue. Right-wing Republicans, distressed by the defeat of Reagan, vow to destroy President Hart. Eventually, they come across President Hart's longtime record of marital infidelity and the same is revealed in the media. Confronted by the evidence, Hart refuses to discuss it, saying his personal life has nothing to do with the business of governance. His answer infuriates the American people, as it reveals a lack of remorse. Pressure builds up for his resignation. Hart, lacking personal charisma and political skill of a Bill Clinton, eventually resigns. He comes to regret his resignation, but by that time, his Vice-President, Lloyd Bentsen takes the presidential oath of office in 1987. Meanwhile, the Soviets decide to take advantage of the internal domestic strife in the US, and escalate its war in Afghanistan, thus increasing its presence in the Middle East.

 

President Bentsen is more conservative than President Hart. He restores the arms buildup of the Reagan years, but the advantage gained by then the US had been lost in the intervening years. In the 1988 presidential elections, the personal popularity of President Bentsen re-elects him to the Presidency, despite the grumblings of some liberal Democrats who feel that the Texan is too conservative for the Democratic Party.

 

In 1989, Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait, staking his claim on historical basis. The US immediately condemns the action and calls on support of its Allies. The Soviets however, decide to back Saddam Hussein. Several of the U.S. allies refuse to get drawn into a proxy war in the Middle East. The Soviets veto any proposed United Nations action against Iraq.  Likewise, due to the lack of universal support, Americans are divided as to whether their country should be drawn into war in the Middle East. In the end, the United States decides to enforce limited police action in the Middle East. Simultaneously, the American government decides to look inward and invest in alternative energy sources. While such decisions win acclaim among progressives, they set back the American economy by a few years.

 

Meanwhile, the Soviet Union continues to flex it's muscle. Insurgent rebellions in Lithuania, Estonia and Poland are crushed. Gorbachev consolidates his power, as his combination of economic reforms and internal dictatorship strengthens the power of the Soviet Union. Furthermore, his entreaties towards China pay off, as decades long Sino-Soviet mistrust thaw off. China is now seen as a reliable ally of the Soviet Union. It is this Sino-Soviet bloc that is the most dominant in the world today.

 

Of course, if Jodie Foster were never born, it is likewise possible that John Hinckley was drawn to Brooke Shields instead, and everything would remain the same. Except that Debra Winger would star in Panic Room. 

No pretensions to erudition here, just a bit of alternative history playing. Looking back, I did fail to take into account the influence of the radical Islamist jihadists in this scenario. And how much I've shifted to the left since then, owing a great deal to political events since 2002.

Electronic Devices Not Turned Off, Yet...

CNN just aired footage from inside the Qantas flight from London-Melbourne that made an emergency landing in Manila earlier today after a large hole appeared on its fuselage. (Nobody, thankfully, was injured) Part of the footage showed the passengers preparing themselves as the plane landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The footage was captured perhaps on a cellphone or a video recorder -- certainly an electronic device. And as flyers know, the airlines consider even a powered on electronic device not actually in use as a no-no when the plane is descending for arrival. The last flight I flew, the captain even warned that an electronic device which was turned on may interfere with the plane's signals -- an ominous warning enough to dissuade any passenger embarrassed to be saddled with the responsibility for hundreds of lives based on a single cellular phone.

I do understand the instinct that may have driven the Qantas passengers to have recorded their moment of arrival, even at the risk of interfering with the plane's signals (much less a plane with a gaping hole in its fuselage). At best, the incident would have made the news and the networks would be eager for footage; at minimum, the scare was a story the passengers would retell to their friends and family for the rest of their lives -- certainly one of the top ten life moments that would warrant a videographic record. Even the most banal of landings have been deemed by passengers worthy of posting on YouTube.

Is it really dangerous to have an electronic device turned on while inside a plane that is about to land? I'd suppose a passenger in-flight will probably not dare to challenge that assumption insisted on by the airline. Maybe in a similar vein is that highly irritating warning posted on many gasoline stations that motorists should turn off their cell phones while pumping gas. There is no evidence that cellphone use in gas stations pose any harm, but if something does happen, and your cell phone is turned on when it happens, they would prefer to shift the blame on your cellphone assuming you decide to sue.

German Chancellor Unveils Feelings for Bauhaus Obama

In a comment that may or may not be pregnant with meaning, German Chancellor Angela Merkel responded to a question on what she thought about Barack Obama: "I would say that he is well-equipped -- physically, mentally and politically."

She added that she wouldn't resist receiving a massage from either Obama or John McCain. This constitutes a marked shift in policy for Frau Merkel who in 2006 reacted to a neckrub from President George W. Bush with a move which, as Jon Stewart then observed, was taught in women's self-defense classes.

By the way, check out Obama's way too cool poster for his Berlin rally, just successfully concluded. Its design, Meaningful Distraction points out, is inspired by the legendary German Bauhaus school of the 1920s.

• Merkel Open to Obama Backrub -- Ben Smith's Blog at Politico

Space Alien Claims Astronauts Exist

Edgar Mitchell is a former NASA astronaut who in 1971, became the sixth person to walk on the moon, joining the ranks of famous first sixths such as St. Alexander I (the sixth pope), Ringo Starr (the sixth Beatle), and the sixth sheep of the sixth sheik. Now 77, Mr. Mitchell has again seized the world's imagination. In an interview with Kerrang! Radio in jolly old England, he boldly claimed what no man had claimed before: that space aliens do exist. He does not admit to having seen one, but he describes them as having "a small frame, large eyes and head", putting all of us who mocked Kokey to shame.

Mitchell's claim is impeccably backed by "sources at NASA" whose identities the former astronaut prudently withholds. Lest we stampede to the nearest corner store and hoard up on pitchforks, we should take comfort in Mitchell's passivity. He explains, with the cold penetrating logic that made it possible for the human race to conquer the moon, that if the aliens were hostile, "[w]e would be been gone by now".

With this stunning revelation, it is imperative that Mssrs. McCain and Obama clearly define their policy towards our putative alien overlords. The United Nations should get its act together in a way previously witnessed only in old Superfriends episodes, and unite the nations in a singular, definitive stance towards the alien race -- no equivocating Prime Minister Harriet Joneses needed.

• Aliens Exist, but NASA Covers Them Up Says Astronaut -- The Daily Telegraph

The Most Fatal Song in History

In 1933, the Hungarian composer Rezső Seress unveiled a new song, Szomorú Vasárnap, which drew inspiration from his recent breakup with a girlfriend. The song became a hit in Europe, and the now-successful Seress proposed to his girlfriend that they get back together. She poisoned herself the following day.

As the years rolled by, Seress's tune led many many people to commit suicide in Shyamalan style. A young man at a club requested the band to play the song, then headed home and shot himself. Police investigating the suicide scene of a woman who had hung herself discovered the song's sheet music nearby. An 82-year old man jumped off his apartment window after playing the tune on his piano. One man upon hearing a beggar humming the song, gave all his possessions to the beggar, then jumped off a bridge.

The song soon found its way to America, under its English translation Gloomy Sunday. The best known version, recorded in 1941 by Billie Holliday, added an additional closing verse revealing that all which transpired had only been a dream. That did little to diminish the notoriety of the Hungarian Suicide Song. The BBC itself would ban the song until 2002, or 34 years after the death of Mr. Seress. Unsurprisingly, Seress had jumped out of his apartment window in 1968, at age 70.

Some have sought to debunk the tragic reputation of Gloomy Sunday, but this is one instance where the legend is a truly intriguing one. I had first heard of the story on QI. The song itself, I first heard years ago -- Bjork's version -- but it is the Billie Holliday take which remains definitive. I am scared though to feature Lady Day's version so prominently here, so instead, here's a less melancholy cover by Elvis Costello. Nobody offs themself to Elvis Costello.

Site Redesign

Yeah, I redesigned. Hope this new layout is more visually pleasing than the old one.

Feisty Charmer on Sesame Street

Feist recuts her hit single 1 2 3 4 for the Sesame Street set, and it's a real smiler, with perhaps the most venturesome camera choreography seen in Sesame Street in a while.

In case you haven't seen it, the original video for that song is pretty good too. 

Christian Bale Allegedly Assaults His Mother, Is Arrested

This breaking news will make those who believe The Batman is inherently un-American and un-Christian salivate -- Christian Bale has been arrested in London, upon an allegation that he assaulted his 60-year old mother and his sister. Does this bode farewell to the Batman franchise? Hollywood has an unfortunate history of battery and spousal abuse. Even kindly old Colonel Potter from M*A*S*H was arrested at age 82 for beating up his 70-year old wife.

But, if it is established that Mr. Bale did assault his own mother -- that may be a career-killer, in America especially, where mother-love is sacrosanct, Psycho and Gore Vidal aside. I remember reading a Harry Truman quotation opining that the best measure of a man is in how he treats his own mother, and many many people will, publicly at least, attest to that as true.

UPDATE: Fun facts, according to Wikipedia. Mr. Bale's mother, Jenny Jones, is/was a circus clown. His stepmother, from 2000 to 2003, was the author and feminist icon Gloria Steinem. Had Mr. Bale assaulted Ms. Steinem, wow, what a headline that would make.

The incident, happily, supplies a possible storyline for the Batman sequel. Mrs. Wayne, you see, did not die in that dark alley but used the chance to escape the burgis life and pursue her true passion -- the circus. As a circus clown, she meets a young orphaned Dick Grayson, and mothers him with giggles and pratfalls. But her longing to see again her only son eventually drives her to stately Wayne Manor. But Bruce Wayne, long traumatized by the sight of his seemingly dead mother, does not take well to the reunion, and unveils his deeply conflicted feelings with an imprudent slap. Off goes Mrs. Wayne to Jim Gordon to file assault charges against her multi-billionaire son, and Gotham City is enraptured with the ensuing scandal. Meanwhile, Dick Grayson swears to take vengeance on the ingrate who hurt the clown who loved him, and from discarded trapeze outfits, fashions himself as Gotham's next archvillain, the Robin...

Obama Might Pick Lasalista as His Vice-President

There is growing speculation that Barack Obama might select Jack Reed as his running mate. Reed is the Senior Senator from Rhode Island who served in the military for 8 years and is presently with Obama as the presidential candidate makes his tour of Iraq.

Reed is a Roman Catholic, and interestingly, a graduate of the La Salle Academy, a high school run by the La Sallian Brothers in Providence, Rhode Island. If he is selected and the ticket wins, expect more of that vaunted Religio, Mores and Cultura in the White House. Also expect cool ties between the Obama-Reed administration and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a graduate student and former faculty member of the Ateneo de Manila. In all, Hail Hail...

Review: The Dark Knight (no spoilers)

The Dark Knight is a thriller masquerading as a superhero movie, an elaborate symphony on the theme of fear. It is quite successful in leaving the viewer unsettled with the lack of knowledge of what would happen next, and the lack of a guarantee that we will be comforted in the final outcome. The superior virtue of Christopher Nolan's Batman universe is how grounded it feels to our real world, and when it deviates from that footing -- witness the fanciful Ra's al Ghul subplot from Batman Begins -- it is at its weakest. There is much terror derived in The Dark Knight in the realization that the evil deeds unleashed in the film seem so plausible in real life - corrupt institutions, organized crime, political assassinations, and the oddball serial killer. There is even a scene that harks back to the evacuation of Manhattan on the morning of 9/11. Most remarkable is how the effective are the chills, designed as the film is for the PG audience. There barely is a trace of blood seen, except on The Joker's lips.

As a thriller, The Dark Knight receives an intense assist in that regard from the much-praised performance of the late Heath Ledger as The Joker. The evolution of that character on film is an interesting sociological phenomenon. Cesar Romero played him as no more harmful than your typical circus clown. Jack Nicholson's take is, in retrospect, Romeroesque except for his ability to actually murder people onscreen. The Joker has always been a psychopath, but Mr. Ledger is the first to eschew clownface for warpaint. His Joker is unfunny - no charm to his rogue - able to elicit only the kind of laughter hostages force out when their armed captors make any joke.

(A brief word on some of the other performances. Gary Oldman stands out again as harried, one-heart-attack-away-from-permanent-retirement Jim Gordon. Maggie Gyllenhaal is affecting in a way Katie Holmes could not fathom to be. Christian Bale is appropriately enigmatic, while Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman provide the viewers with familiar comfort when they appear onscreen. I think Aaron Eckhart was fine as Harvey Dent, but not as much once overpowered by the arresting prosthetics. William Fichtner steals a scene in the beginning, while United States Senator Patrick Leahy, as "Gentleman at Party", acquits himself in his first ever speaking role.)

The Dark Knight though becomes somewhat clunkier as it dwells into how human nature deals with fear. There is a jarring, tacked-on reference to the history of the Roman Empire that would melt the hearts only of the history nerds. A critical scene towards the end makes a wry observation on the virtues of democracy, but is ruined, almost laughably, by the return of Michael Clarke Duncan's John "Jesus" Coffey (last seen in The Green Mile). Worst of all is the selling of the snake oil that Big Brother, if cuddly, well-intentioned and humane, is worthy of our trust as our overseer.

But The Dark Knight is very well worth the watch. Esquire has put forth the argument that Christopher Nolan may be the greatest director alive, and while I think that hyperbole, Dark Knight is a worthy addition to an oeuvre that has yet to be marked by failure. (I liked Insomnia) The audience at my cinema, with nary a fanboy in sight, took a long while in standing up once the credits started to roll. I haven't seen an audience so apparently affected in a while, and for a movie that bravely makes few concessions to mass taste. One such concession is a really cool bike.

Pope Benedict Laughs at the Archbishop of Ozamiz

The Archbishop of Ozamiz had recently issued a pastoral letter saying that pro-choice (i.e., "anti-life") Filipino politicians should be barred from receiving communion. He probably should have consulted with Pope Benedict XVI first, considering this report last April from Michael Sean Winters over at Slate:

Benedict further disappointed conservatives hellbent on denying communion to pro-choice politicians when he named as cardinal Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley, who refused to order [pro-choice] Sen. John Kerry out of church. Benedict's choices shouldn't have surprised anyone, though. According to one American present during a spring 2004 Vatican meeting with U.S. bishops, then-Cardinal Ratzinger laughed when he heard of denying politicians communion based on their political views. After all, popes have, over the years, given communion to Communist mayors, gay legislators, and countless pro-choice politicians.

• How Pope Benedict Has Disappointed the Right -- Slate

Starbucks Sorbetto 3G

I live less than 100 meters away from a Starbucks (who doesn't?), so I most often frequent that coffee shop wearing the clothes and the hair that I sleep in, perhaps to the aghastentation of the well-heeled friends whom I sometimes run into there. Proximity aside, I'm not a fan of their coffee, especially despise their Frapuccinos, and only meh about their teas and hot chocolate. And oddly for a chain with an ubiquitous presence in the Philippines, they have yet to introduce their own spaghetti. So far, I've hardly been getting my bang for my bucks. But that may change soon.

Starbucks is unveiling, in Los Angeles and O.C. at least, the Sorbetto. There are five variations, running the gamut from flavored iced yoghurt to fruit-flavored ice. Does not look especially enticing, but this reaction, reported by the Los Angeles Times, is enough to goad me to give it a try.

"I'll try one," said Rosalie Garcia, a downtown worker who had stopped in during a break. "Wow! What is this?" she exclaimed after one sip of the mango version. "It's good!"

Philippine mangos are unusually tasty and one blended into yoghurt may be worth a try if introduced. Too bad this comes too late past our summer, which I heard, was especially punitive this year. 

• Starbucks Bets on Sorbettos -- Los Angeles Times

Farewell Shariff Kabunsuan

The Supreme Court has declared the creation of the province of Shariff Kabunsuan in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao void and ruled that the power of ARMM’s legislature to create provinces and cities is unconstitutional. 

The SC, in an 8-6 vote, declared void Muslim Mindanao Autonomy Act 201, which created the province of Shariff Kabunsuan, which was carved out of Maguindanao province.

More details at ABS-CBN News Online.

World's Oldest Blogger Dies

I suppose that the blogger most likely to die would be the world's oldest blogger, and she sadly has. Olive Riley was 108, and she composed over 70 blog entries from her nursing home in Austrfrom February 2007 until last week. She also appeared in a bunch of YouTube videos. She probably will be the last person born in the 19th century to have blogged, so an era has passed.

iTunes Music Store Now in the Philippines?

My friend Bayan, citing his friend Jules, reports that the iTunes store is finally available in the Philippines. Which means that Filipinos of means can now legally purchase music from Apple for their iPods rather than scurry about in the cubbyholes of Quiapo, or sit sedately in the comfort of their lounges as they watch the torrents zip by.

I detest cries against music piracy in the Philippines when the music itself is inaccessible through legal means for Filipinos. So this news, if true, is a good thing. Or a bad thing. I don't have my iTunes right now, but I'll check later if indeed, the Philippines has finally been accepted into the iTunes marketplace.

Eraserheads Reunion Concert on 30 August

The Eraserheads will reunite for a one-night free concert at the CCP grounds on 30 August 2008. So report Ricky Lo at the Philippine Star and Jim Ayson at PhilMusic.com. That's more or less good news for their many many fans (including me), though I guess the news would have been more emotionally resonant had more time passed to allow absence to have made the heart grow even fonder.

Rumor is that Ely, Buddy, Marcus and Raimund will receive between 2.5 to 10 Million Pesos each for agreeing to the brief reunion, the payola courtesy of Marlboro, reputedly the event's sponsor. However, just last week, a total ban on cigarette advertising took effect in the Philippines, and the ban covers the sponsorship by tobacco companies of concerts or cultural arts events. So the Marlboro rumor is probably incorrect. If it were true though, I'd honestly prefer that the money I paid for the Marlboros I've smoked end up with the Eraserheads than in the pockets of tobacco executives.

The reported financial inducement also called to mind the infamous 1970s offer by SNL of $3000 to the Beatles to reunite on that show. Unfortunately, because NBC is quite aggressive in policing YouTube, I couldn't find any appropriate clip from SNL.
UPDATE: It may well be that Philip Morris, which owns the Marlboro brand, is sponsoring the Eraserheads reunion concert. GMA News has alluded to the report that Marlboro will sponsor the event. That poses a problem. Section 26 of the Tobacco Regulation Act (R.A. 9211) says that "beginnin 1 July 2008, cigarette and tobacco companies are hereby prohibited from sponsoring any sport, concert, cultural or art event, as well as...artists or performers where such sponsorship shall require or involve the advertisement or promotion of any cigarette or tobacco company" or their logos or trademarks. However, the law also says that "the attribution only to the name of the company in the roster of sponsors shall be allowed." I myself could divine the possible loopholes that would allow Marlboro's participation in the concert. It has also been pointed out that thanks to the secrecy and the scoops, Marlboro has already scored lots of free publicity with this Eraserheads deal.

The Next Step for Google

Google can pretty much supply an answer to any question or search term posed to it in the English language. But it is pretty useless when you're trying to recall the title of a song which you remember the tune of, but not any lyric to. As far as I know, there is no search engine or website that supplies song titles after the user hums the tune into the computer. I am an admirer of the talents and creativity of Mssrs. Page and Brin, and I think the idea of augmenting Google by allowing a tune search is feasible.

Right now, I am stuck with this tune -- unlyricked, I believe -- that I know is traditionally associated with bagpipes and is not Amazing Grace.

Terrorist Makes U.S. Senator Lick His Knife

Among the highlights of the forthcoming The Dark Knight is the film speaking-role debut of Patrick Leahy, Democratic Senator since 1974 from Vermont, who was previously sighted sniffing some of Poison Ivy's fumes in Batman and Robin. Leahy appears to be a genuine fan of Batman (as well as a Deadhead), and had previously lent his voice to an episode of the animated series The Adventures of Batman and Robin.

The good Senator's big scene has leaked on YouTube, and it's a doozy. His one line is appropriately statesman-like: he rebukes The Joker (Heath Ledger), "We're not intimidated by your thugs!" "You remind me of my father", replies Mr. Joker before he grabs the real-life Senator by the chin and puts his knife to the politician's lips.

Of course, we Filipinos are immunized to the sight of Senators embarassing themselves on the silver screen.

• Sen. Patrick Leahy Knifed by Dead Heath Ledger -- Wonkette

The Greatest Movie Endings Ever

The London Times recently conducted a critics' poll on the 20 best movie endings ever. The list includes some good catches (Memento, Dr. Strangelove, 1969's The Italian Job), some tiresome choices (Wizard of Oz, The Usual Suspects, Butch Cassidy), and some indisputables (Casablanca, Chinatown, The Sixth Sense). The poll had Carrie at #1, but I myself would have preferred Chinatown, whose ending was virtuoso in its economy (see how many plot points get resolved in those last 2 minutes), unquenchingly bleak, originally unscripted, and capped by a perfect last line (uttered by an extra, no less).

Of course, the list has provoked some debate. The New Republic invokes It's a Wonderful Life and the first 2 Godfather films as undeserved rejects, while Alex Massie correctly argues for The Third Man. I'd pipe in with the deliciously ambiguous ending to City Lights (which though is not as great as its reputation suggests), and of course, The Searchers, whose final scene is as apt and elegant as any punctuation mark committed to film.

But the omission I'll be most passionate about is Monsters, Inc. This bears a little storytelling. As I was watching Monsters, Inc., I thought it pleasant and appealing, but it was not particularly stirring. But that final scene unexpectedly hit me hard, dredging up indeterminate emotions, and just left me weeping for minutes. And quite amazingly, to this day, just thinking about that ending makes me cry. If under the pain of death I were required to shed tears on demand, it will be the ending of Monsters, Inc. that I will summon for.

For years now, I've been trying to figure out why the ending of Monsters, Inc. had struck me so. I still don't know. But I've been finally been able to draw an analogy that nearly explains how that ending felt like. It is as if I were given the chance to go back in time and meet myself when I was two years old.

Until recently, I had not seen any online discussion on the greatness of the ending of Monsters, Inc. New York's Vulture Blog and The New Republic's Christopher Orr have recently expressed the love, so at least I am in good company.

UPDATE: Reacting to the London Times list, Christopher Orr at The New Republic puts in another plug for Monsters, Inc., as well as for The Third Man.

Dr. DeBakey (1908-2008)

A truly remarkable man died today. Michael DeBakey may very well have been the Imhotep of the 20th century. His inventions have been credited with making possible such commonplace surgical procedures as open heart surgery, heart bypass operations, angioplasties, heart transplants and artificial heart implantations. He even made history as a patient, when at the age of 98, he underwent a procedure which he himself invented, surgery to repair an aortic dissection, and becoming the oldest patient to survive the operation.

Consider this. In the decade Dr. DeBakey was born, life expectancy in much of the world barely exceeded 45 years and reached only around 50-51 in the United States. By the 1990s, the worldwide average life expectancy was over 65 and was well above 70 in the "developed" countries. There are a whole range of factors that led to that dramatic shift, such as antibiotics, healthier diets, and improved sanitation. But certainly the more aggressive treatment of heart disease, still well among the top killers in the world, contributed to the increased life expectancy, and Dr. DeBakey pioneered many of these techniques that had helped prolong lives.

Dr. Debakey's extreme longevity also enhanced his reputation as a physician -- what he apparently practiced was good enough for 99 years in this earth. The fact that he remained in active practice for much of the last years of his life just makes his example even more remarkable. In that, I am reminded of our own treasure, indefatigable pediatrician and National Scientist Dr. Fe del Mundo, who at 96, still performs the daily rounds.

• Pioneering heart doctor Michael DeBakey dead at 99 -- Washington Post

American Werewolves Terrorize Primitive Filipino Cavemen

I barely recall the Saturday morning cartoon Fangface and Fangpuss, so it was stunning to see that they had an entire episode set in the "creepy" Filipino jungle.

The plot -- evil Western scientist takes control of a lost tribe of Filipino cavemen (who resemble Bluto-sized Caucasian cavemen) found in Mindanao. He then steals a "power energizer" from a Filipino scientist who looks suspiciously like Lino Brocka (then fresh from his late 70s Cannes success). The power energizer is then used to empower said cavemen with superhuman strength. Rather than use the new and fortuitous strength to take vengeance on our foreign invaders, the cavemen are put to use to steal jewels from "the royal palace in Manila". Aforementioned "royal palace in Manila" (with an admittedly grand though dingy facade) stands adjacent to the jungle and is guarded by bemustachioed guardia sibils who are no match for the cavemen. The dastardly plot is foiled by a group of American teens and their werewolf friends -- a metaphor no doubt of the American occupation of the Philippines.

This cartoon aired around 1980-1981, post-U.S. Civil Rights legislation, post-Senator S.I. "Bessie the Cow" Hayakawa, so you'd think they wouldn't air a borderline racist cartoon that pretty much gets wrong all the facts about the Asian country they were depicting. But one of the teens does say, "The Philippines is such a beautiful country!".

A Goofy Bungle in the Filipino Jungle, Part 1:

Part 2:

Woes of the Pickpocketed

A thief made his or her way with my wallet late yesterday afternoon as I was riding the LRT1 line. The train was especially sardine-packed, and I may or may not have felt my wallet leave my pocket. My mind was lost though in a podcast of an especially funny edition of NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me (special guest: grunge magnate and Sub Pop Records founder Jonathan Poneman). It is possible that I was singled out for victimization by the thief as I was obnoxiously laughing to myself throughout the five-minute train ride.

I did realize my wallet was gone about 30-seconds before arriving at my stop. I scanned the eyes of everybody who surrounded me, but got no response. I contemplated making a commotion by screaming "Nadukutan ako!", but I feared possibly (a) being instantly stabbed to death with a rusty icepick by the pickpocket, who very well could have been still next to me; or (b) creating a stampede within the very crowded train, causing untold harm to my fellow pack of rush hour commuters (though if I were stabbed to death on the train, that too would cause I stampede, but that consequence did not cross my mind then). Before I could choose, the train arrived at D. Jose, and I stepped off and ran to the nearest guard. She actually tried to stop the train from leaving, but her plaint fell on deaf ears, and the person who stole my wallet sped away from justice. 

It could have been much much worse. The cash inside was minimal, and I was able to have my cards cancelled within minutes after the loss. My iPod and cellphone were way more expensive, and I would have freaked if I lost either. 

Who do I blame (apart from the thief, whom I wish falls into a bottomless asshole)?

(1) The designers of my pants. I was wearing the pants tailored-to-fit by the lowest bidder contracted by the august institution I work for to supply our office uniforms. The designs are conceptually-challenged. One barong has an embroidered floral belt that rings the breasts and back thereof. With the pants, they've designed the front pocketholes to be exceedingly short. When riding a car, I always find my pockets being involuntarily emptied by gravity's victory over the pant's design. Deeper pockets would have provided greater cover for my wallet.

(2) The Light Rail Transit Authority. Now I love mass transit. Better for the environment. If I were President of Metro Manila, I'd impose a high road user's tax to compel more people to junk their cars and take public transport. (and with that sentence, I've killed any chance of having an electoral political career) 

In fairness to LRT1, their services have improved in the last few years. Yesterday though, the interval between the train I took and the one that preceded it was nearly 15 minutes. In contrast, the Baclaran-bound trains arrived at a healthy 5-minute interval. As a result, the station had filled up with commuters by the time the already-packed train had arrived, so the train ended up being especially full. If the train intervals were more reasonable, the train would not have been as packed, and I may have had an opportunity to deliver a roundhouse kick to the gut to the thief who stole my wallet. 

(3) Evil. Self-explanatory.

I have no expectation of seeing my wallet again, but then again, its just a knockoff I bought at the Greenhills Tiangge. I do regret though the loss of my 1993 U.P. ID, which I still carry around as proof that once, I was not fat.