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Canadian author Alice Munro has won the 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Presented by the Nobel Foundation, the award – which is presented to a living writer – is worth eight million kronor (£770,000).

Continue reading.

Listen to Alice Munro’s short story Axis, read by Lauren Groff for the New Yorker Fiction Podcast.

Congratulations, Alice Munro fans! We know you’re there.

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The GMA telenovela My Husband’s Lover started off pretty well. The acting was solid, the writing eluded cheap cliché, it attempted a sensitive treatment of its subject matter, and even if its theme song made our ears ring, it was fun to watch.

Then it became a huge hit, wrecking the competition and making stars of its lead performers. Perhaps the network did not expect that kind of success. Maybe the advertisers were cautious about supporting a show that had the audience rooting for the gay lover over the legal wife.

The advertisers came around in time—we’d be shocked if MHL didn’t have a full commercial load. But the network made some weird choices, almost as if they had panicked.

The story took a turn for the bizarre, borrowing a plot line straight out of Praybeyt Benjamin (or if you’re old enough to remember, Kumander Gringa and Facifica Falayfay). The domineering father forces the gay son to undergo military training to “set him straight”. There is less and less screen time for the two appealing leads, and more time for macho dad to make like Max Alvarado (We miss him) as the Big Bad Wolf in a kindergarten production of The Three Little Pigs. The absolute low point: Vincent (Tom Rodriguez) calls his dad the general (Roi Vinzons) to say he’s got a gun and is going to shoot himself. General Dad cradles his phone between his shoulder and his ear so he can have his hands free to clap as he says, “Magaling, magaling, magaling.” Yucch! (Kuh Ledesma was a revelation, though. Her reaction to her character’s son’s coming out (“We’ll bring you to a doctor…We’ll see a priest…”) was spot on.)

Having dug themselves into this hole, the makers of the show dug deeper, hoping perhaps to come out on the other side. General Dad has been bad, so they make Mom leave him, they give him HIV, and have him charged with attempted murder. Meanwhile Vincent recovers fully from a bullet to the head, and the only trace of that suicide attempt is his charming bonnet.

MHL was supposed to run for 16 weeks. It premiered on 10 June, which means it should’ve ended 27 September. We are typing this on 10 October, and from what we’ve seen on tonight’s episode, the network doesn’t know how to end the show. MHL is meandering along, looking for something to crash into so it can die a natural death. Yikes, they’re doing a concert this weekend. We’re guessing that every cast member is going to render the Kuh Ledesma song.

In other words, as Ricky put it, My Husband’s Lover has jumped the shark. “Jumping the shark” alludes to an episode on the American TV show Happy Days in which The Fonz, on water skis, jumps over a shark. It means “to pass the peak of creativity, excellence, or inspiration, as evidenced by a decline in quality or performance.”

While we deplore the outcome of a show that had so much promise, we are pleased to be able to use a new expression. MHL, when the shark comes around again, try to jump into its maw. Leave us now. It’s time.

– Ganoon lang? Mahina ang ani nila sa Banaue, kaya bigla nilang naisip na lumuwas ng Maynila?
– Sa Maynila agad? Di ba puedeng sa Baguio muna?
– We spoke too soon. Poverty porn is not dead, we just exported it.
– They move to a place where they don’t know anyone? Is that possible?
– Don’t they have families?
– Fine, that happens in the west. In the Philippines, it’s extremely improbable. You can barely walk out the door without running into someone who knows someone who knows you.
– The movie didn’t have to start in Banaue. The family could already be in Manila, already destitute and desperate.
– But then they wouldn’t have that shot of the rice terraces.
– Ang gagaling natin. Ang daming opinyon.
– Ibaba mo ang kilay mo.
– Hindi naman nakataas ang kilay ko, ah.
– Oo, pero alam ko ang iniisip mo.
– Bongga talaga si Althea Vega, tume-Tetchie Agbayani.
– Magaling naman ang akting ni Jake Macapagal, masyadong fino (refined) nga lang ang Tagalog niya.
– Hindi naman yon mapapansin ng mga dayuhan. Sila yata ang primary audience ng Metro Manila.
– Hindi kailangang Metro Manila ang title. Maaaring mangyari yan sa kahit aling siyudad sa Third World.
– Kung bumula ang MMDA, may karapatan sila.
– At eto na naman ang babaeng kailangang maging pokpok para alagaan ang pamilya niya. Zzzzzzz.
– Tawagan si Maning. Paradise na ngayon ang Peninsula.
– (Chorus at “Naririto sa puso mo” line) Yiiiiiiiiii.
– Uy, nabuhay ang pelikula nung dumating si John Arcilla.
– Magaling!
– Naging heist movie siya!
– (Aaaaaaa kailangan mo palang ulitin ang Himpapawid!)
– Yung first act, ayoko. Pero sa kalagitnaan, naging thrilling ang pelikula.
– The heist section is very well-executed. I like how they walk us through the plan so we’re on the edge when things fall apart.
– I did not expect that. Give it to the movie: it’s not predictable.
– Impressive visuals. It usually takes a foreigner to see the real grit and grime of this city.
– There’s a cat in it.

Verdict: After a slow start full of stuff we’ve seen in countless Filipino movies, Metro Manila becomes exciting. Watch.

Not “dinosaur porn” as in “materials catering to an obsessive interest in reptiles of the Mesozoic era”, which reminds us of that kid we sat next to at a screening of Jurassic Park twenty years ago. Every time a dinosaur appeared onscreen he would yell out its name: Triceratops! Brontosaurus! Tyrannosaurus! When a bipedal dinosaur appeared he cried, “Hypsilophodontid!” But the actors called it a gallimimus so we turned to him and said “Nyaaaah.” He may have been correct, actually.

In this case “dinosaur porn” means “sex with reptiles of the Mesozoic era”, viz. “boinked by a brontosaur”, stuff like that. Read The Women Who Write Dinosaur Erotica at New York magazine. Thanks to Tina for the link. She edited a book of human on human erotica, which makes her feel like a dinosaur.

Moleskine Passions are journals for specific obsessions, including Travel, Recipes, Dessert (new),

Books (for making note of the books you’ve read and reminding yourself who you lent them to), and

Cats (medical records, personality quirks, etc).

Buy any journal from the Passions collection (Php1299) at National Bookstores and get a free Moleskine seasonal ornament notecard (regular price: Php320) that you can hang on your tree, door, ceiling, anywhere. The freebie is available till 31 October 2013 at National Bookstore branches and at nationalbookstore.com.

Penguin Drop Caps is a collection of 26 hardcover titles (Php799 each) inspired by typography. The covers in bright colors feature illustrated letters designed by typographer Jessica Hische. That’s A for Austen, Jane; B for Bronte, Charlotte; C for Cather, Willa and so on.

Brain chair at Dr. Cuanang’s Pinto Art Museum in Antipolo.

We had a delightful conversation about brains with neurologist Dr. Joven Cuanang. The noted art collector and chief medical officer of St. Luke’s answered our questions about migraines, their causes and treatments; anti-depressants and psychiatry after Freud; memory and how to keep it sharp; and the assorted voices in our heads.

Wanna ace an exam? Listen to Doc’s study tips.

Listen to or download the podcast, A Journey Around Your Skull with Dr. Joven Cuanang.

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Saffy: This is my toy brain. I play football with it.

Saffy: Mat, I think your brain fell out.
Mat: Haha, I know that trick. Try it on Drogon.

Drogon: Is it food? Is it delicious? Can I eat it?