Jessica Rules the Universe
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...subscribe RSS: Jessica Rules the Universe
JessicarulestheUniverse » Adams Myth on the global financial meltdown: Bad news, good news
The holidays are over, everyone’s gone back to work, sobriety is kicking in. It’s time to ask the question: Should we be having nervous breakdowns over the global financial meltdown? I put the question to the esteemed economist Adams Myth. His treatise The Wealth Of This Nation, serialized in Flip magazine, appears in its entirety in […] [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » Incidences of indecency
Bernard-Henri directed me to an incomplete list of films condemned by the Legion of Decency. The wikipedia entry noted that “Legion-organized boycotts made a C (for Condemned) rating harmful to a film’s distribution and profitability.” Apparently not in Manila, where audiences flocked to “indecent” movies like Rocco and His Brothers, La Dolce Vita, and Les […] [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » Firsts
It is vital that you start the year with the right book and movie combination. The wrong choices won’t necessarily ruin your next twelve months, but they won’t get you thrilled about the possibilities, either. On New Year’s Eve, amid the fireworks, I watched Rocco and His Brothers (1960), directed by Luchino Visconti. It’s about […] [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » Is that the best they can do?
Buk-buk, coconut, computer virus, flip, flat nose. These are among the ethnic slurs for Filipinos in this encyclopedia of offensive terms per nationality. Thanks to Noel for the link. I’m disappointed: the terms are quite innocuous. Is that all the racists can come up with? “You…you…coconut!~ or “Beat it, computer virus!” just doesn’t sting. True, the […] [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » Prohibition
I am strangely wistful about the end of the holidays. “Strangely” because my schedule during the holidays was no different from my schedule the rest of the year. (If you like your independence, I suggest freelancing: the pay is unsteady, but the schedule is fantastic.) Metro Manila is so much nicer when nearly everyone is […] [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » Resolution 1.2: Don’t oxidize.
Purslane and Swiss chard, two superfoods that contain lovely antioxidants, are available locally as alusiman (or kulasiman) and kaylan, respectively. Look for them in your neighborhood markets and in Chinatown. There are fashion victims, and then there is our friend Guy Smiley, science victim and antioxidant junkie (Is that an oxymoron?). “Blame it on the […] [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » Driving to West Egg
Cio e un romanzo meraviglioso, ma dove e i gatti? Tutti i caratteri sono gatti, essi soltanto sembrano umani. Translated by widget. Read The Great Gatsby here. [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » Jarndyce & Jarndyce update
A few months ago we started feeding two stray cats who live in my building. I can’t let them in the house because there’s no room, my three cats would freak out, and there will be war. So I give the outdoor cats Janko Jarndyce and Jarko Jarndyce (names out of men’s tennis and Dickens) […] [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » Happy Birthday, Mr. Salinger.
From Dead Caulfields. 90 today. Still no new book. But Axl Rose wrote a song called Catcher In The Rye. When all is said and done We’re not the only ones Who look at life this way That’s what the old folks say But every time I’d see them Makes me wish I had a gun The original source of … [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » Anyone for Gatsby?
David Fincher’s movie of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button should get a few people interested in the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Does anyone feel like reading/rereading The Great Gatsby? Sign up, we could have a discussion group. Painting: “View of Toledo” by El Greco West Egg, especially, still figures in my more fantastic dreams. I […] [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » The Filth and The Furor
At the very first Metro filmfest in the 70s, Vilma Santos starred as a striptease artist in Celso Ad Castillo’s Burlesk Queen. I was in elementary school at the time, and my parents were not about to accompany me to a movie with “burlesque” in the title, but I remember the furor surrounding that movie. […] [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » This childhood was brought to you by. . .
Two women were highly influential in my upbringing (and maybe yours), and until recently I didn’t know their names. Joan Ganz Cooney was the creator of Sesame Street. Sesame Street turns 40 this year. The Complete History of Sesame Street was published recently. It details how the show was conceived as part of a grand social […] [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » Resolution: Eat these.
I like New Year’s Day so much, I celebrate it three times a year: on the first day of the Gregorian calendar, on the lunar new year, and on the vernal equinox. This leaves room for more resolutions, which should be viewed not as iron-clad restrictions, but recommendations and minor edits. There’s no point in […] [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » Projects for the Craft-challenged #2
How To Make A Bigger Earring Box Materials: One obsessive-compulsive personality; one large Royce Collection tin; lots of earrings, including hoops Procedure: 1. Cheer the fact that Royce the chocolate company has opened a store in Manila. 2. Get worried that you will spend a fortune on Royce chocolates and put on weight. 3. Head off the problem through […] … [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » Marx on Art
We’ve been talking about art. What the hell is it? Let’s hear what Marx has to say on the issue. Not that one. Groucho. [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » The Lost Nativity
On the night of October 18, 1969, thieves entered the Oratory of San Lorenzo in Palermo and cut Caravaggio’s last Sicilian painting, the Nativity, out of its frame. The painting was never seen again. It is considered one of the most notorious art crimes in history, second only to the theft of the Mona Lisa […] [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » Obits: Eartha, Pinter
Eartha Kitt, who purred and pounced her way across Broadway stages, recording studios and movie and television screens in a show-business career that lasted more than six decades, died on Thursday. She was 81 and lived in Connecticut. In Manila she is best remembered for her version of the song Waray-Waray and for appearing as Catwoman […] [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » Study shows romantic comedies ruin your love life. Duh.
In the rom coms of the 30s and 40s, everyone was constantly imbibing alcohol and nicotine. This sent a clear message to the audience that these characters were drunk ergo their judgment was impaired, and that they perceived their romantic partners through a thick haze of cigarette smoke. Even if their romances had apparently happy […] [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » Mat vs Megatron
It is I, Megatron. Puny earthlings, I have come to take over your planet. Megatron: Flee from my technological superiority! Koosi: Whatever. An earthling warrior! Fight me. Go away, it’s my sleepy-nappy time. We must do battle! At least watch my fearsome morphing. It is futile. Mat and Megatron take a nap. [Link]
JessicarulestheUniverse » Bookstores without books
I’ve always loved blank books. How beautiful they look while they’re waiting to be defiled with ink. They’re bulky and heavy though, and crossing out something you’ve written is agony. You suspect the beautiful book is sneering at your inept prose. Writing longhand is a kind of meditation. Not to mention psychotherapy. The catch is, no matter how bloodcurdling your … [Link]
