In true show-biz style, Dr. Vicky Belo has replaced long-time legal counsel Archie Fortun for a younger, more handsome lawyer, opposition spokesman Adel Tamano. Atty. Tamano is a Harvard alum and president of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.

A report in the Philippine Star says that looks certainly was a factor. Mr. Fortun gallantly admitted that Mr. Tamano is indeed better looking than him. Adel jokingly said: “Off the record, it is because I am good looking.” Which promptly went on the record.

In any event, Dr. Belo will have the best of both worlds, as Mr. Fortun will stay on as counsel in a pending cases and will be available at any time to handle special projects or whenever she needs a legal pit bull. Not that legal expertise and experience would be lacking on the part of Mr. Tamano. He also has as law office partner former Supreme Court Justice Santiago Kapunan. Adel will likewise be the mouthpiece and public face of the Belo Group, which will give it some degree of class and credibility beyond its current tacky image.

This arrangement dovetails nicely with Adel’s plans to run for the senate in 2010, as Belo’s hefty advertising budget and broadcast media connections will guarantee that he will constantly be in the public eye. A good deal all around.
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Photo from travelchannel.com

Anthony Bourdain of “No Reservations” fame was in Manila to film his show and I wasn’t even aware of it until weeks after he left. My wife knew, but didn’t say a word, not knowing or caring who Mr. Bourdain was.

As always, I found out first from the blogs, notably marketmanila.com and food-stylingmanila.com. I was on the verge of tears and dying of envy of everyone who had a chance to interact with the Great Bourdain. Needless to say, I’m a huge fan of the show and when I got a copy of “No Reservations” the book, around this time last year, and saw that he had never been to the Philippines, I knew that it was only a matter of time before he landed on our fair shores and sampled our unique cuisine.

Well it happened, and he and his crew went in and out the country like ninjas, stealthily but effectively. They had no choice, I suppose, as the resulting media frenzy would have kept him from sampling the authentic grub which was their real objective. And they did their homework, zeroing in on the authoritative people who could give them a broad sampling of honest Filipino cooking at its best during their short stay. Guys like Market Man, Claude Tayag and Gene Gonzales.

Bourdain is the first to admit that he’s a fair to middling chef, with “no hopes of attaining the peaks of Culinary Olympus ” (his words, from Kitchen Confidential). But as a raconteur, he’s nonpareil. And he has the greatest job in the world, being paid to travel and eat. Who wouldn’t want to be Anthony Bourdain ? (Or at least have as sweet a gig)

He was rightfully dismissive of balut, calling it “so last week”. But he appears to have enjoyed all the other dishes brought his way, and this will undoubtedly be a classic segment no one will want to miss.

The next best thing to being there is reading about it in the blogs of Market Man and Anton Diaz.

And here’s the video made by Augusto from Long Island, New York entitled “Philippines: Manila & Cebu” — one of the finalists for the Bourdain FAN-atic contest, with its mouthwatering visuals which enticed Bourdain to come to the country. And he might yet return, since I heard he and his family are thinking of settling down in neighboring Vietnam.
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In a press conference to announce the details of Jay Leno’s departure from “The Tonight Show”, the comedian turned up in disguise to ask questions about his own future. Leno put on a bald cap, fake goatee and glasses and joined the real reporters quizzing NBC executives about the turnover from him, after having hosted the show for the past 16 years, to Conan O’Brien.

It was revealed that the date set for Leno’s last “Tonight” appearance would be Friday, May 29, 2009, while Conan takes over the following Monday, June 1.

To his credit, Jay has put on record early on that the transition will be smooth and hassle-free. His beating out David Letterman as host of NBC’s “Tonight” show in 1992 was fraught with drama and ill feelings, and he has been quoted as saying that “Quite frankly, I don’t want to see anybody go through that again”. Even though, as reported by Slate, the lame duck has quacked that he doesn’t want to give up his gig.

Conan has been uncharacteristically mum about the whole thing. The 1985 magna cum laude (seriously) Harvard grad (History and Literature) prefers to let things play out and allow Leno center stage in the lead up to his long good-bye. He’s also been dealing with a problem which seems to have stepped out of one of his comedy routines, involving a Catholic-priest stalker.

I like both Jay and Conan, and for some reason I can’t explain, I just don’t find David Letterman funny or even entertaining. He comes across as a mean old coot trying hard to be nice. But between the folksy Jay and the self-deprecating Conan, I guess I prefer the latter. His sketches are funnier and he has a flair for physical comedy which Leno just can’t match.

Rumor has it that Jay will eventually join either ABC or Fox, which may result in another late night war reminiscent of the Leno-Letterman tussle, but this time involving three combatants. It’ll be interesting how this one would turn out, although I predict that in a three-way battle, Letterman will be given the boot.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Fallon is all set to take over Conan’s slot and will prepare by posting short comedy sketches nightly on the internet.

Conan O’Brien’s commencement speech to the Harvard class of 2000.

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