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The Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition of Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust, in the new translation by Lydia Davis, is available at National Bookstores.

We’re going to read Swann’s Way, the first volume of In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. Everyone is welcome to join the reading group. Each week we will post a short report on our progress, and we’ll expect you to give your own update, with observations, complaints, cries for help, etc.

When we finish Swann’s Way: madeleines and tea.

Download C.K. Scott Moncrieff’s translation of Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust at Project Gutenberg.

Summary: Spot-on depiction of stupid rich girls.

Rating: Incomplete. According to reports, director Andoy Ranay was not allowed to finish the movie—and it shows. Voice-over summation, anyone?

This is the story we heard from industry wags. Andoy comes to the shoot one day, and one of the actresses says, “Happy Last Day, Direk!”

“Hindi pa last day, we have some more shooting days left.”

Then someone else goes, “Happy Last Day, Direk!”

“Anong pinagsasabi ninyo?”

So Andoy finds the producer, and the producer says, “Direk, sorry…”

Recommendation: Fun to watch with actual sosyaleras.

Read our review at InterAksyon.com.

WE’RE FINISHED! We’re freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Rustic Mornings by Isabelo

Marikina is alien territory to us, even if we lived there for a few years in the 1980s. Every time we go to Marikina we marvel at how much nicer it is than the muddy, dusty neighborhood we remember. The other week our friend had a birthday brunch at Isabelo’s Garden in San Roque, Marikina. (This was between Xmas and New Year’s Day, when traffic was moderate.) We’d never been there, but using Google maps and GPS we found Isabelo Mendoza Street without difficulty. We’d have gotten there much sooner, but we were stuck behind a funeral cortege on the narrow streets.

There was some confusion because we found a garden with a restaurant in it, but it was called Rustic Mornings. The waiter assured us that it was the place—same food, same chef, same furniture, just a different name. There were tables in the very pretty garden, but we chose to sit inside—some of us are weirdly attractive to mosquitoes, and we wanted to have brunch, not be brunch.

Indoors it’s charming, with blue and white tiles and shabby chic furniture. The effect is Weekend in the Country, which is probably why the service was a little too relaxed. We had the hot dog with chili con carne, good, and the waffles, which were excellent. A big, lazy brunch with juice and coffee costs about Php600. (“Makati prices,” our friend groused.) They’re open everyday from 8am to 4pm, no reservations required. Verdict: We’d go back, if someone else is driving.

For the menu, directions, etc, visit the Rustic Mornings by Isabelo website.

Three times we’ve attempted to eat at Wildflour at Bonifacio Global City—twice we couldn’t get a table, and on Sunday evenings it’s closed. Last Friday we descended on the place with Mike of the Walk and Eat blog. We showed up at 1:30pm to avoid the lunch crowd, but it was still full. There was a table available inside, but the minute we sat down we realized we couldn’t hear each other.

Mushroom tarte flambee

This is a common problem among the newer restaurants: the acoustics are terrible. Of course we go to restaurants primarily to eat, but we do have conversations. Or are people too busy taking pictures of the food, checking their Facebook and tweeting their meals to actually speak to each other? Since we prefer not to yell across the table, we decided to get a table outside. Fortunately it’s gotten cooler since our summer in December. We noticed, though, that by the end of our meal the book we placed on a chair was covered with grit.

Escargot souffle

Our meal consisted of banh mi sliders–very good, a mushroom tarte flambee—not a big fan of caramelized onions, escargot souffle—delicious, but essentially it’s a little cup with a crust containing a minuscule snail, and their deservedly famous croque madame (which our kusinera friend Andresa has managed to copy haha). The bread is wonderful—warm and crunchy on the outside, soft inside.

Croque Madame

Wait for Mike’s proper review at Walk and Eat. With three different desserts, two glasses of Pinot Noir and a pot of coffee, lunch—which was really brunch—cost Php2700. Steep, but it was Mike’s treat. Verdict: We’d go back, if someone else is paying.

Lemon meringue

Wildflour Cafe and Bakery is on the ground floor of Net Lima Bldg on 26th and 4th Streets in Bonifacio Global City.

It’s too easy to make fun of El Presidente: General Emilio Aguinaldo Story and the First Philippine Republic. This historical movie may not be as bad as Carlo J. Caparas’s Tirad Pass: The Last Stand of General Gregorio del Pilar, but from hereon we shall be leery of any movie title containing a colon.

Jeorge “E.R.” Estregan acquits himself in the role of Aguinaldo, though it helps that he is a sea of calm in a storm of overacting. Baron Geisler’s cartoonish Spanish officer (kilay acting) looks set to seize the bad acting award despite fierce competition from John Regala’s Spanish friar (bangs acting), and from William Martinez’s revolutionary general who seems to be possessed by Enchong Dee’s beard from The Strangers (balbas acting). And then Christopher de Leon’s Antonio Luna rides in to show them how it’s done (bigote acting).

In the spirit of authenticity much of the dialogue is in phonetic Spanish, delivered haltingly and with an eyebrow raised, contravida style. The photography is in a washed-out blue that gives the actors a corpse-like pallor, and slow motion is overused in the big battle scenes. So far, so MMFF—and then we heard the comments from several people in the audience.

“Salbahe pala si Andres Bonifacio.”

Continue reading at InterAksyon.com.

* * * * *
From reader giancarlo:

The question of bonifacio’s treachery is still a controversial and history being something of a blackhole where light does not escape I believe that to portray Bonifacio as a traitor although a little harsh is defensible.

I have great respect for you and more so to our revolutionary heroes but I’d rather see them as they are and not as historical figures who can do no evil.

* * * * *

Do not confuse heroes with saints.

The records show that Bonifacio had a foul temper and was a lousy military leader. He did insult the Magdalo troops; in the first place he shouldn’t have horned in on Aguinaldo’s territory (ambisyoso, impertinente, walang modo).

That doesn’t make him a traitor. That makes him a crap politician.

To establish treason you’d have to prove he was plotting to overthrow the revolutionary government or sell out to the Spanish. What is certain is that after the election, both sides spread rumors that the other was out to get them.

What is certain is that elections have always made Pinoys nuts.

Go to primary sources. But not Artemio Ricarte. We’re very fond of him but, umm, he referred to himself in the third person (El Vibora!).

The Nick Joaquin essay referred to is Why Fell the Supremo? Nick Joaquin calls Bonifacio ambitious and arrogant, but “traitor” does not come up. As for his plotting: “In Naic, he was surprised by Aguinaldo himself in the act of plotting with Mariano Noriel and Pio del Pilar, two generals of Aguinaldo’s army.”

Those two generals were taken back into Aguinaldo’s army as if nothing had happened. It was Noriel who signed Bonifacio’s death warrant.

P.S. Bonifacio “The Great Plebeian” was not technically a plebeian. He was upwardly mobile. He spoke some Spanish. Many of the writings attributed to him are probably fake. He had many cedulas under different names, so we’re not sure which one he tore, or exactly when and where.

Also, Apolinario Mabini was paralyzed not from syphilis but from polio. The VD story was black propaganda from the Aguinaldo camp. We could never understand the honorific, “Sublime Paralytic”. Sublime, maybe, paralyzed, certainly, but put the two together and it sounds like he was brilliant at being paralyzed.

Summary: Emilio Aguinaldo is the most misunderstood figure in Philippine history. El Presidente tries to set the record straight and ends up giving it a really bad perm.

Rating: 1.5 stars

Recommendation: If you have to watch it, bring a friend you can yak with. The other viewers won’t mind because they’re yakking too. We saw it with our friend Vivien.

– That high collar only accentuates Jeorge Estregan’s shortage of neck. Tailoring could’ve solved that.
– Ayyyy Baron Geisler looks demented!
– That’s not caused by drugs, that’s caused by rehab.
– Look! William Martinez has been possessed by Enchong’s beard from The Strangers.
– Just when you think Baron Geisler has the Overacting Award in the bag, Christopher de Leon appears to snatch it away!

The full review is coming up.

There’s a whole movie about the issue.

Men and Women Can’t Be “Just Friends”
By Adrian F. Ward

Can heterosexual men and women ever be “just friends”? Few other questions have provoked debates as intense, family dinners as awkward, literature as lurid, or movies as memorable. Still, the question remains unanswered. Daily experience suggests that non-romantic friendships between males and females are not only possible, but common—men and women live, work, and play side-by-side, and generally seem to be able to avoid spontaneously sleeping together. However, the possibility remains that this apparently platonic coexistence is merely a façade, an elaborate dance covering up countless sexual impulses bubbling just beneath the surface.

Read the full article at Scientific American.

Hmmm. Interesting, but not very scientific. Then again 98 percent of our friends are gay men so we don’t have a problem being just friends. (Isn’t the term “just friends” is an insult to friendship?)

What do you think? We want stories! (You know you want to tell them.)