I grew up on “Peanuts”, the much beloved comic strip by Charles M. Schulz, arguably the most influential and successful American cartoonist of all time. Thus, I look forward to a new authorized biography of Schulz by David Michaelis, “Schulz and Peanuts,” to be released HarperCollins.

I identified with the main character, Charlie Brown (as did millions of others, including U.S. President Ronald Regan), who was later to be eclipsed by his swashbuckling and debonair dog, Snoopy. To a jaded MTV generation used to the admittedly visually stunning SFX of today’s multimedia, it may be hard to fathom the impact a simple, daily black-and-white (except for Sundays) comic strip had on our generation.

As explained by Charles McGrath in a review published in the New York Times :

“He transformed the newspaper cartoon strip, busy and cluttered by the time he turned up in the late ’40s, by flooding it with white space, and by reducing his childish characters to near abstraction — huge circular heads balanced on tiny bodies — he rendered them far more expressive than their cartoon peers. The strip was able to register grown-up emotions, like anxiety, depression, yearning, disillusionment, that had never been in cartoons before. Instead of the “Slam!” “Bam!” “Pow!” sound effects that were the lingua franca of the comics, it employed a quieter, more eloquent vocabulary: “Aaugh!” and “Sigh.”

“Peanuts” was beloved by everyone: by hipsters and college kids (in the ’60s especially); by presidents (Ronald Reagan once wrote Schulz a fan note, saying he identified with Charlie Brown); by the Apollo 10 astronauts, who named their orbiter and landing vehicle after Charlie and Snoopy; by ministers and pastors, who read moral and theological lessons into the strip; by the suits in Detroit, who paid Charlie and the gang a small fortune to shill for the Ford Falcon. At its peak the strip reached 300 million readers in 75 countries; 2,600 papers and 21 languages every day.” Read the rest of this entry »

Burger King has re-defined the meaning of customer satisfaction by giving free arm/hand massages to its customers. Coming from a court hearing this morning, I passed by the Burger King outlet along Quezon Avenue, near the Welcome Rotonda in Q.C., for a quick bite. As i sat down with my burger, a friendly lady in red approached me and asked if I wanted a hand and arm massage. Her Burger King name plate read ‘therapist’. Well why not ? A freebie is a freebie.

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One of my guilty pleasures is watching “American Idol” (and before that the first season of Philippine Idol). I know. Its shallow, cruel and victimizes the clueless and deluded contestants who make utter fools of themselves and are degraded by the judges in front of millions. That’s exactly why I can’t turn away. This is reality T.V. at its most vicious.

To be sure, after the elimination rounds, the talent level and quality of performance increases dramatically. It then morphs into a real talent contest, which can produce genuine diamonds-in-the-rough. Witness Jennifer Hudson of “Dreamgirls” fame, an Idol alum who did not even win the top spot.

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The Apple IPhone ( the company has dropped the word “Computer” from its corporate name) is the upcoming Mass Object of Desire (MOD) for Filipinos. Its hefty price tag of US$499 (for the 4 gigabytes model) to US$599 (for 8 gigabytes) is of no moment. Pinoy consumers, particularly affluent teens and young professionals who are tech savvy and have large disposable incomes, will find ways and means to acquire the next big bling. New smartphones from well-entrenched brands like Nokia and Samsung retail for as much or even more in the Philippines and are selling briskly.

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Newsweek in its December 18, 2006 issue has a short article on coffee connoisseurship. The adjectives are the same as that used to describe fine wines. Thus, a Guatemalan coffee is “very lively”, “with strong citric notes”. Per Newsweek, the most expensive coffee is from Indonesia. It is claimed that Kopi Luwak beans have been eaten first by the palm civet then pooped out. This is then dried and processed. It retails for US$ 200 (P10,000) a pound, quite a lot for roasted cat droppings.

Nothing new there. A local coffeehouse chain, Bo’s, has been serving a palm civet coffee, called “Café Alamid”, for some time now. The civet cat (although it has feline features, it is more closely related to the mongoose ), known domestically as alamid, supposedly eats only the choicest coffee beans which it then passes out whole. This coffee, presumably, is enhanced by gastric juices and various enzymes that only a civet cat gut can provide. At around US$ 4.50 (P225) for a small cup, civet coffee is not for the budget-conscious.

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