JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

For the 50th anniversary show of the Lopez Memorial Museum, Leo Abaya created an intermedia installation about museums and what happens in them.

It starts at his Paakpaak sculpture on a motorized bicycle wheel attached to a bank of video monitors

showing works of art from the Lopez collection “unravelling” into other artworks

while a camera catches visitors looking at the art and projects their images onto the other viewers

and guests can read the replies to the invitations to the opening of the Lopez Museum at its original site on Lancaster Street, Pasay, on February 13, 1960,

an altogether more gracious time, when people who received invitations bothered to write back and indicate whether they were attending or not, (And we were fascinated by Mr. Nagasaki’s letter and want to know who he is and what happened in 1942)

while sitting on the white benches from the old museum site, marked with the posteriors of the artist’s friends, who sat on black acrylic paint then imprinted the seats for posterity.

This installation and the other works will be on view at Power Plant Mall before coming to rest at the Lopez Memorial Museum in Ortigas.

(May I say I don’t care for the design of the invitation, but I’ll view the exhibition anyway?)

As a Moleskine user I am shocked, Shocked at all the colors and variations on my beloved black carnet. First there were those silk-covered notebooks for the Van Gogh Museum, then all the commemorative stuff—Woodstock, Helvetica, and so on. In soft cover! What is this world coming to! Must those young whippersnappers defile the classics with such impunity?

That’s my fuddy-duddy tone. I like this: the limited edition My Pilipinas notebook, a collaboration between Moleskine, Collezione C2, and National Bookstore. The notebooks are now available at Collezione C2 and National Bookstore branches—P995 for the pocket notebook, P1480 for the large notebooks. My one complaint: it’s only available in soft cover.

At our interview, Rhett Eala mentioned that Collezione C2 now has a bespoke service. Hearing the word “bespoke” triggered my endorphins; I’m at the age where I get excited over the concept of “made to order”.

The thing that’s kept me from buying a Collezione C2 map shirt: Everyone’s wearing it. It’s like a uniform. However, with the bespoke service you can customize the shirt to your requirements, choose the color combination, and add your initials. It takes less than hour for the Rockwell store to do it; longer when more people hear about it (So get it done pronto).

I chose a white map on a white shirt, with my initials. I should get more white clothes for the summer. Besides, my cats are always sitting on my shirts, which are mostly black, and they all have white bellies so I have to go over everything with a lint brush.

My initials are fairly unique, although I share them with Beyonce’s husband, my ex-publisher and his dad, and John Zorn. Total cost of the bespoke shirt: P550 for the shirt, P150 for the initials, P250 for the map embroidery. I had mine done at the Power Plant branch.

This is the smallest they can make the map. You could have the map embroidered on the center of your chest and ringed with your initials if you want. Or have your initials ringed with maps of the Philippines. Your call.

Map bags have just arrived at the stores. This one holds all the stuff I carry around (3 notebooks, 5 pens, etc), in a cat-hair-proof shade. (Pin not included in the design.)

Upon the recommendation of my annoyingly knowledgeable friend Rene I looked up A History of the World in 100 Objects, a BBC Radio 4 series, on the Beeb’s website. You can listen to all the episodes, 18 so far, on the site, or download them for free on iTunes. Each episode is about 15 minutes long, and narrated by Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum. . .

Stone chopping tool from the British Museum

Episode 2 features the oldest object in the British Museum, an Olduvai stone chopping tool 1.8 million years old, found by the archaeologist Louis Leakey in Tanzania. It’s a stone that’s been chipped several times to turn it into an efficient knife. According to the host, the people who made tools like this were probably not hunters but “brilliant opportunists”. They lay in wait while lions and other predators killed their prey, and after the predators had moved away they collected the meat from the dead animal. Without such sneakiness our species would not have survived.

Stone chopping tools were used for stripping meat and breaking into the bones to collect marrow fat, the most nutritious part of the carcass. (The host notes that marrow fat doesn’t sound too appetizing; obviously he’s never had bulalo.) Having this protein to eat meant that they would survive to produce offspring who could make even more complex tools. We’re here today because our ancestors were clever enough to get bulalo. . .

Bulalo photo from pinoycravings.com

Objects make us human in Emotional Weather Report, last Sunday in the Philippine Star.

A History of the World in 100 Objects, with photographs of the objects and transcripts of the podcasts, is at www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld.

The best time to read your horoscope is the following day, so you can see if it was correct. Otherwise there is the danger of the self-fulfilling prophecy: you read a dire prediction, you get all worked up, and in your anxiety you make the direness happen. This morning I stumbled onto my horoscope without meaning to—fortunately it said “a generous and delicious conjunction of loving Venus and lucky Jupiter”.

Today’s earrings: Our Lady of Guadalupe. Ricky found them in Bangkok. On a churchgoer they would not look unusual; on me they’re ironic.

I had a chore in Salcedo Village near my friends’ office, so I dragged them out to lunch. Chuck had the lengua, I had the lamb stew, Noel the callos, Don the callos, and Boboy the callos. What delightful smells emanate from the kitchen at Terry’s Selection—you can feel your hips growing as you inhale. Lunchtime conversation included the dangers of parking by the pier, bad customer service, excellent customer service (Boboy called Manila Water because their water pressure was so low it was like the faucet in Lino Brocka’s Insiang. Not only did the Manila Water repair crew arrive in one hour, but they fixed the problem quickly. Bravo.) and the news that Nora Aunor is now in Japan for cosmetic surgery. When she makes her comeback, she will look like. . .Vilma Santos! Kidding. We’re all fans of Nora and Vilma, and Noel can give you a lecture on their different approaches to acting.

Vegetable terrine and Chicken liver pate at La Cuisine.

My friends had to go back to the office, which is the trouble with being gainfully employed, whereas I can be lured away from work for no reason at all. Rene called just as our check arrived and said he was down the street at La Cuisine with Michelle. I joined them, allegedly for coffee, but Michelle started plying us with food and it would’ve been ungracious to decline. We tried a new item on the menu: Vegetable terrine. Knowing of my aversion to vegetables had it served with chicken liver pate. Did you know that parsley is not only edible but delicious?

The baby Piper Heidsieck and stuffed animals. I got the rhino and the giraffe; Rene the giraffe and the baboon that was anatomically incorrect because its butt wasn’t big and red.

On Valentine’s La Cuisine had a Piper Heidsieck promo: Buy a bottle, get a mini-bottle and a stuffed animal free. I whined until I got a baby champagne bottle, plus stuffed animals. This time the conversation was about the nature of luck. In my case I can never make major long-term plans because they tend to go kaput. However if I just do what I always do with no thought of rewards or consequences, I get lucky.

Next item on the lunch menu: Beef cheeks braised in beer and served with mashed potatoes. Fantastic! I forgot to take a photo. For dessert: Nougat ice cream with walnuts and ginger. So no one was having any supper, it was worth it.

Nougat ice cream with walnuts and ginger

La Cuisine is on the corner of Sedeño and San Agustin Streets, Salcedo Village Makati, near Makati Sports. Telephone 5015202 or 7520335. We’re planning dinner plus movie nights on the Mondays of March, I’ll let you know.

It was 12 noon when I sat down to lunch; when I next looked at my watch it was 4pm. On the way home I dropped by Books for Less in case some rare book had appeared on the shelves. Found these for a total of P157. They should vacuum more often, though.

A Madeline and a Mary Renault

Amount of work done by 6pm: None. I blame my horoscope for forecasting “generous and delicious”. But there are worse things.

Apart from the obvious reasons.

Photo from Notorious, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary and Ingrid Bergman.

In this lovely note to Art Roth of Levi’s, he says thanks for the gift of shirts, then politely explains why he cannot wear them. This and more fascinating letters at Letters of Note.