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Weng Weng, originally uploaded by 160507.

Look at this fantastic t-shirt. I was at dinner with a film director and a retired but still fabulous movie queen (my late mother would’ve plotzed with joy) when an Australian video crew arrived. They were doing interviews with the directors and stars of Pinoy cult movies from the 60s and 70s, and they were wearing “The Search for Weng-Weng” t-shirts. I said, Where did you get that shirt, I need to buy one. So they gave me this shirt. It turns out that we all know Pete Tombs, yes, Tombs, what else would a guy who distributes classic cult and horror movies on video be called?

The 80th Academy Awards nominations have been announced. There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men, Atonement, Michael Clayton, and Juno are nominated for Best Picture. Hmm, best-looking Best Actor race I can remember: Day-Lewis, Mortensen, Clooney and Depp can have a bone structure face-off.

He was 28. He was found dead in his SoHo apartment Tuesday. The cause of death appears to have been an accidental overdose of sleeping pills. This is the initial report in the NYT city room blog.

He was brilliant in Brokeback Mountain, conveying the rage, sadness, and grief that his character could not articulate to himself. He played The Joker in the upcoming Batman movie, The Dark Knight, and was working on a Terry Gilliam movie. He also appears as one of the Bob Dylans in Todd Haynes’s I’m Not There. Remember him in Ten Things I Hate About You? You think you’re in for a typical teen flick, and then you’re going, Who’s that guy?

Last Friday there was a 32 percent increase in the number of subscriptions to this blog. By Saturday the numbers had returned to their normal level. I haven’t analyzed the stats in detail, but I think the surge may be attributed to one or all of these factors:

(a) Carlo’s dates in the last two weeks all logged on to see if they were in his dream.
(b) It was a really slow day.
(c) Lots of people searched for “lithium”.
(d) Lots of people searched for “vitamin C”.
(e) Lots of people searched for “Jaime Augusto and Fernando Zobel”.

Let’s test the hypotheses beginning with (e). Last year I asked Jaime Augusto Zobel to write the foreword to a book. We met at the Starbucks in Ayala Tower One (the mothership). Jaime ordered a latte at the counter. The barista in the Starbucks in the mothership looked at the overlord and said, “Can I have your name, sir?”

I began shrieking with laughter, only silently. Think of all the possible answers to that question.

(a) “Steve Martin.”
(b) “Elvis”. Which is actually the name I use when ordering at Starbucks.
(c) “I am George Clooney’s father.”
(d) “Get out of the mothership! Out!”
(e) “Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala II.” Try writing that on a small latte cup.

But Jaime only said, “Jaime”, so this story has no punchline.
Now let’s see those stats.

1904. Checked the stats, no spike. Nope, it’s not (e).

There’s a scene in Michael Clayton that made me stop the DVD, stand up and clap for the writer-director Tony Gilroy and his star, George Clooney. In the scene, Michael’s 10-year-old son Henry sees his alcoholic uncle Tim weeping and trying to talk to his father. Michael hustles the kid into the car and drives away, then he stops the car and talks to him. That’s not going to happen to you, he says, You’re tougher than that. Then he goes on to say that weakness abounds in the world, but the kid shouldn’t worry because he’s strong. What he’s really saying is, You’re better than I am. I wish parents were that honest with their kids. All they can really do is tell their children the truth: that life is hard but they are tough, and the failures of their elders should not poison their lives.

The movie, by the way, is smart and great fun: the study of a man who figures he’s already sold his soul cheaply, but finds there’s something left. How did Clooney, the prototype of the man who is envied by other men, get so good at playing honorable borderline losers? A star has become an actor.

Visit The First Annual Moleskinerie Exhibit, a retrospective of selected works by Moleskine users from all over. My pocket notebook is the one with the serial killer (freakishly even) handwriting. And I wasn’t even Best in Penmanship. Thanks to Armand and the Moleskinerie team.