JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

First sighting of Jonathan Lethem’s new novel, Chronic City, at National Bookstore in Power Plant. Hardcover, P1,135. If it’s not available at your neighborhood National, you can ask the Customer Service desk to order it for you.

The first Lethem I read was As She Climbed Across the Table. I liked it, but it was after reading Motherless Brooklyn that I resolved to read all his novels. Where’s the film adaptation of Motherless Brooklyn, wasn’t Edward Norton supposed to be making it? Then I read The Fortress Of Solitude which blew me away, beginning with the part where the narrator recalls how “Play That Funky Music, White Boy” ruined his life. Lethem is amazing when he writes about music. But his next novel, You Don’t Love Me Yet, was blah, and it was about musicians. The subject was probably too small for him. The author is at his best taking on the big stuff. He needs something broad, massive, epic.

Personally I think it’s a good policy to aim too high. It is more practical to be overly ambitious than to set a goal that is well within range of your abilities. How is this possible?

Well, if you aim low and fail, you put your talent and competence in doubt. You want so little but you still don’t get it, so maybe you don’t have what it takes.

However, if you overreach and you don’t achieve your goal, it will be viewed as a case of wanting too much rather than a simple failure due to insufficient skill. Even if you really do lack the skills and are a complete twerp. People will see the ambition first. This ambition, though it may look like hubris, will overshadow the more obvious causes, including sheer incompetence and the absence of talent. If you project total self-belief, people will tend to give you the benefit of the doubt. You might even be proclaimed a visionary.

Hmm, I sound a bit like Raul explaining why it is more practical to shop at Louis Vuitton.

Marat Safin is on the cover of the November-December issue of Tennis magazine. The magazine used a photo taken during the Hopman Cup in January (not this same one, but the same bruises). If you will recall, he arrived in Australia with a black eye and explained that he’d been in a brawl. He said he won the fight, and we tend to believe someone who’s 6’4” and looks like that. True, they could’ve picked a more flattering photo. On the other hand. . .

Nooo! Cafe Bola in Greenbelt 3 is gone! The sign on the door said they were moving, but it didn’t say where. I asked the waiters at Cibo and they couldn’t say.

Always regarded Bola as my kitchen. Where am I going to get my weekly mongo and dilis (and sinampalukang manok, and caramelized spam)? I’d have to go to Cubao, or eek! learn to cook.

Started writing a review of The Hurt Locker and The Informant! but it went on too long and became Friday’s column. So just watch them! Go!

There have been many movies about the war in Iraq, but The Hurt Locker by Kathryn Bigelow may be the first to explain why men go to war. Bigelow strips away the politics, rhetoric, and myth-making to arrive at a basic truth of the human condition: War is intoxicating. It produces an adrenaline rush like nothing else. War gives you meaning and purpose and gets you high. It is when you are in the teeth of death that you feel most furiously alive.

Now showing at Power Plant and other malls.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, The Informant! is the story of Mark Whitacre, who is
(a) A white-hat hero for truth and corporate ethics
(b) A dork in a bad toupee who fancies himself a white hat
(c) A very smart but clueless man
(d) A whistle-blower with shady dealings
(e) A fabulist
(f) Bipolar
(g) All of the above.
(h) The Jun Lozada Story, but hilarious rather than maudlin

One of the pleasures of watching The Informant! is trying to figure out what the hell is going on. If you think you’re confused, then you’re exactly on the right track!

Now showing at Greenbelt 3 and Glorietta 4.

Our guest judge, a well-known Tagalog author, will announce the winners of the LitWit Challenge: Gatsby in Filipino in a few days.

Let’s move on to this week’s LitWit Challenge: Revolting Scenarios.

It’s almost Halloween, so let’s think of something horrifying. In 250 words or less, describe The Most Revolting Possible Outcome in the 2010 Presidential Elections.

The winners will receive:

Revolting Recipes by Roald Dahl!

Post your entries in Comments by Friday, October 30, at 11.59 pm.

The weekly LitWit Challenge is brought to you by the very nice people of National Bookstore.

Speaking of elections, if you have not yet registered to vote, or if you haven’t voted in years and are not sure you’ve been stricken from the list of voters (You may have “voted” in every election, without your knowledge, maybe more than once) you have until October 31 to register with the Commission on Elections.

Even if you don’t like any of the presidential candidates, you have to register. You need to vote for your local officials. As the recent disasters have shown us, the local executives have the power to screw up our lives on the most basic level. At the very least, vote for someone who will have the garbage collected, keep your streets safe and well-lit, keep real estate developers in line, and send in rubber boats when needed.

Need help navigating the turbulent waters of Philippine politics and society? This might help.

The Flip Reader is available at all National Bookstores.

I’m always looking for a lightweight bag that will carry all my stuff without tearing off my shoulder. Here’s one I found at the Likhang-Habi Philippine textile bazaar at RCBC Building last Friday:

You can wear it like a vest or put it over your shoulder.

My friend Rene found this for me: a pre-WWII vintage “Binakol” woven blanket. It’s beautiful and practically indestructible, and if you stare at it long enough you see visions. My cats took to it instantly.

If you’re interested in fabrics, linens, blankets, and other materials woven the traditional way, Rene represents the weavers’ cooperatives in Ilocos Norte and can help you source them. His email address: rene.guatlo@gmail.com.