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Chus says the Filipino psyche may be summed up with a line from Temptation Island by Joey Gosiengfiao. The beauty queens and hunks are shipwrecked on a desert island with no food or water, only a cassette player and a disco album by Giorgio Moroder. Azenith Briones sums up the situation.

“Walang tubig. Walang pagkain. Magsayaw na lang tayo.” (No water. No food. Let’s just dance.)

There’s a bit of that loony logic in Here Lies Love, David Byrne and Fatboy Slim’s song cycle about Imelda Marcos and her yaya, Estrella Cumpas.

It’s arrived! Had to yell at someone in DHL, but it was finally delivered last Saturday (Thank you for coming through on a holiday, but you are in the Urgent Delivery business).

The Here Lies Love package contains a 120-page book with the lyrics, David’s notes, and archival photographs of Imelda Marcos,

Two CDs of original dance music featuring vocals by Sharon Jones, Florence Welch from Florence Against The Machine, Cyndi Lauper, Natalie Merchant, Tori Amos, Kate Pierson of the B-52s, and many others, and a DVD with six music videos.

Here’s a photo of Imelda Marcos with Andy Warhol at an art opening. Of course the most important page in the book is 101, the Acknowledgements, because I’m in it nyahaha (The continuing quest to be an extra).

The official release date for Here Lies Love is April 6. You can order your copy here.

The album is available in multiple formats: MP3, FLAC, Apple Lossless, and CD/DVD.

Photo: Leonardo’s Mona Lisa vs. Michelangelo’s David

Who was the greatest artist of the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo Buonarroti? Jonathan Jones weighs in.

Here’s the simple visceral test. Go to the Louvre and check out the Mona Lisa (La Gioconda). Inevitably the room is full of Dan Brown devotees scrutinizing her famous smile; from where you stand she is still postcard-sized. You squeeze your way to the front for a closer look. Okay, very nice, but in the back of your head there’s a little voice saying, “That’s it?!” Being the most famous painting on earth raises expectations that are just about impossible to meet.

Then go to the Accademia in Florence, where the original David of Michelangelo stands. Inevitably the room is full of tourists scrutinizing his famous muscles, but from where you stand, he’s huge. Pictures and videos do not prepare you for just how massive he is, but at the same time, how light he seems. He’s alive! The voice in the back of your head says, “Holy crap the cosmos really loved this guy.” Despite being the most famous sculpture on earth, Michelangelo’s David surpasses expectations.

If the question were “Who is the greatest Renaissance man?” it would be Leonardo, no contest. His writing, drawing, scientific inquiry, feats of engineering, drafts of machines that haven’t been invented yet; centuries on, we’re still trying to catch up with Leonardo.

I’ve had this postcard for years, and now I can finally use it.

Your response to LitWit Challenge 2.5: Confessions, Revelations, and Other Monsters in Your Dungeons was so great, I wanted to give a copy of PostSecret to everyone who sent an entry. Then I came to my senses. But we now have two books to give away instead of one, and the winners are. . .

wickedmouth and epaloids.

The winners were chosen by raffle (one entry each, including those with multiple posts). Wickedmouth and epaloids, please post your full names in Comments (They won’t be published, and we will not keep a record). When we have the information, we will deliver your prizes to National Bookstore in Power Plant Mall, Rockwell, Makati so you can pick them up.

Thanks to everyone who joined the mass confession, I may actually grow fond of you. The Weekly LitWit Challenge is brought to you by our friends at National Bookstore; the next LitWit Challenge is coming up.

* * * * *

Epaloids, got your note. Yes, you can claim your book in July. Wickedmouth, your book will be delivered to the Rockwell branch today so you can get it anytime starting tomorrow.

The best time to be in Manila is from Maundy Thursday to Black Saturday. Nearly everyone’s out of town, traffic is very light, the air noticeably cleaner. It’s even cooler—I’ve realized that one major cause of heat is all the exhaust from all the airconditioners working to beat the heat.

The malls are closed but a few restaurants are open for stragglers. We had lunch at our old reliable Old Swiss Inn, and dinner at Italiannis (bigger crowd, smaller portions). For dessert I suggested we drive around Bonifacio Global City to see what was open. Voila, many of the restaurants in High Street were open and packed; New Orleans even had a jazz singer on. There were so many people we couldn’t get a table, so we went back to Makati.

“We could go to the Pen,” Noel suggested.

“I’m wearing slippers,” Joey said.

“They really enforce the No Slippers in the Lobby rule?”

“Yes, there’s a note in the rooms telling the guests to wear shoes.”

“You mean I can only sit in the lobby of City Garden Hotel?”

“They don’t have a lobby,” Joey said.

We ended up in the Makati Avenue-Burgos-Koreatown area, where all the bars seemed to be doing good business. “If I wanted to do penance I’d go inside Pussycats,” Noel said. We skipped penance and went to Ferino’s Bibingka across the street, a tiny take-out station with two tables on the sidewalk. One order of the P95 Super Bibingka was enough for three of us, with hot chocolate.

“We could’ve gone to Cafe Adriatico in Malate,” Joey said.

“Naah, this is fine,” I said. We don’t often get to hang out on the sidewalks of Makati Avenue (Wouldn’t want to be mistaken for a transvestite, not that some of them aren’t fabulous). And we had a view of Pussycats, Andok’s, Hotel Inwangsan and Joey’s new car.

“What a beautiful car,” Joey sighed. Joey has reason to sigh—getting that car involved months of waiting and an epic correspondence with the dealers. We have renamed Joey “CX”.

Uro de la Cruz photographed these details from Luciano Dans’ 18th century mural Langit, Lupa, Impyerno in the Paete church.

I call this “Be Careful What You Vote For.”

This one is obviously “Campaign Promises” or “Eat the poor.”

“The Counting of the Ballots.”

Micky was looking for All Blacks rugby jerseys for her men so I tagged along to the Adidas store on Queen St. The jerseys were available in different sizes, but she wasn’t sure if her son was XL or XXL.

“I’m an XL,” said the clerk, “Would you like to see it on me?”

A. Is that a trick question?
B. You mean right here?
C. But we haven’t been properly introduced.
D. Aba, suma-Scott Caan.
E. Noel: Ohhhhh is that how you put it on? Can you do it again, please?

I said, “Yes.”

Immediately I texted my friend, who replied, “Yan ang sales! (That’s salesmanship!) Send me a picture.”

I asked the guy if I could take his picture and he agreed (although he wouldn’t stand still so the shots are blurry).

My friend said, “The jersey is not tight enough.”

I said, “That’s how you know he’s not one of us (girls).”