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Photo from Businessweek.

We’ve read several reports about the coffee shortage caused by the drought in Brazil, the world’s largest producer of coffee.

News that Brazil’s coffee production in 2015 may hit a 50-year low has already pushed coffee prices to a 3-year high. This year the price of arabica beans has risen 70 percent.

Let’s assume this shortage isn’t some foul plot by speculators to manipulate coffee prices. The drought will affect coffee production in years to come, and climate change is only going to make the situation worse.

Isn’t the Philippines a coffee producer? How much coffee do we produce? Some years ago we heard that our coffee production couldn’t even meet the local demand, and the Philippines had to import coffee from Vietnam. (Vietnamese coffee growers plant robusta beans. Kapeng barako is liberica.) Has local coffee production increased?

In the late 19th century, blight destroyed coffee crops all over the world, making the Philippines, particularly Lipa, Batangas, the only source of coffee on the planet. Lipa got spectacularly rich.

The thought that our four or five cups of coffee a day may be endangered is enough to give us the shakes.

Drogon: Saffy says you’re going to eat me.

(Flashback.) Saffy: She’s fattening you up to make you into a nice prosciutto.

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Reuters photo from Buzzfeed

Confession: We’ve never read Patrick Modiano. Or heard of him.

Good thing we didn’t put money on the bookies’ perennial favorite Haruki Murakami.

Another year, another non-win for Philip Roth.

From the Guardian:

Patrick Modiano has been named the 107th winner of the Nobel prize for literature.

Modiano is well known in France but something of an unknown quantity for even widely read people in other countries. His best known novel is probably Missing Person, which won the prestigious Prix Goncourt in 1978 and is about a detective who loses his memory and endeavours to find it.

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Key books, chosen by Rupert Thomson

1. La Place de l’Etoile, 1968
This semi-autobiographical first novel made an immediate impact with its story of the repercussions of anti-semitism in France in the second world war.

5. Un Pedigree (A Pedigree), 2005
The story of Modiano’s own life up until his 21st year.

And a Nobel Prize judge says, Creative writing courses are killing western literature.

Canteen operators, hoteliers, karinderya owners, caterers, amateur and professional cooks are invited to the 1st Tindahan ni Aling Puring KAINdustriya Convention on October 14 and 15 at the World Trade Center Tent Area in Pasay City. Admission is free.

Organized by retail giant Puregold, the convention is a national fiesta where food entrepreneurs can shop for food items at discounted prices, and learn how to improve their earning potential.

“These food resellers provide a big boost to the local economy,” says Puregold Merchandising Director Vincent Co. “They source their supplies from their communities, and generate jobs in those same communities. They also provide nourishment to the country’s workforce, from laborers to executives, who do not have the time to prepare their own meals but need good Filipino home cooking to keep them strong.”

The KAINdustriya Convention aims to give small- and medium-scale food entrepreneurs what the annual Puregold Sari-Sari Store Convention has been providing tindahan owners for the last 11 years. During the two-day event, entrepreneurs may attend free seminars and learn business tips from experts, including RJ Ledesma and Anton Diaz of Mercato Centrale. They can attend cooking demonstrations by renowned chefs, check out the trade showcase, and buy food retail products at discounted prices.

This being a fiesta, celebrities will grace the event.

“It will be two days of kita, kain and kabuhayan for our neighborhood chefs,” said Co. “Through this event, we hope to foster a sense of community among our food entrepreneurs and inspire them to bring their business to another level.”

Puregold will also hold pocket KAINdustriya events at its QI Central, Paranaque, Cainta Junction, Valenzuela, Meycauayan and Dau branches. For updates on the latest Puregold events and offerings, visit their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter and Instagram.

Ina Jardiolin’s first solo exhibit Stripped is currently on view at Kaida Contemporary Gallery. The 25-year-old graduate of the UP College of Fine Arts tackles the fluid nature of human sexuality and gender.

The figures in the paintings possess both male and female qualities. “The roles we play are defined by what is born between our legs,” Ina notes. “To be successful at the feminine, one must act maternal, reserved, quiet and soft. To be successful at the masculine, one must be strong, bold and adventurous, unafraid of pain. But who decided that one’s genitals define one’s role in life?”

Stripped: A Solo Exhibit runs until October 20. Kaida Contemporary Gallery is on Scout Madrinian in South Triangle, QC.

If you’re holding a press conference to ask people for information on your missing wife, remember not to smile.

Gone Girl by David Fincher is about a missing persons case that exposes the worst in everyone: the suspect, the media, the audience, the victim herself. The one person who seems trustworthy is the celebrity lawyer who specializes in defending sleazebags, and that’s because he knows exactly what he is. Everyone thinks they’re the good guy, and the harder they try to convince us of their goodness, the more awful we think they are. If you’re looking for something to affirm your faith in human nature, do not go near this movie. If you want an absorbing entertainment in which the violence simmers just below the surface from beginning to end, Gone Girl is for you.

Read our review at InterAksyon.com.