Bond... paternal bond

When it comes to Father’s Day, I’m often asked if we celebrate the occasion in the family. And to be honest, it’s not a tradition I grew up with. When I was in my teens, Mother’s Day was a big deal, as was Easter and Thanksgiving. But the fact is that just as Father’s Day was more of an afterthought in the early 20th century, as the success of Mother’s Day had people in America scrambling to have other members of the family similarly honored — so it was in our family, an afterthought. Now, with boys of my own, and in my “long in the tooth” years, I’ll take whatever attention or fawning that comes my way, and if it’s Father’s Day, I have left a trail of reminders for my three sons, and hope for the best! Things to do, and gift ideas that work whether for that special day, or on other occasions? Read on... 

An upmarket UK shirting brand recently opened its first store here in Manila. T.M. Lewin, shirtmaker since 1898, founded on Jermyn Street in London, was brought in by Vogue Concepts and now it has an outlet at the second floor of SM Aura. Its products are fine quality, two-fold, 100-percent cotton shirts, with reinforced buttonholes, choices of collar shapes, two-cuff options, and up to six different sleeve lengths. From the traditionally British, to a more modern look, both formal and casual shirts are available at the store. Essential accessories, like neckties and cufflinks, can also be found. For its formal opening recently, British Ambassador Stephen Lillie was joined by Lewin’s head of international operations Mark Cowdery. 

Father’s Day or any other dining occasion, my three boys, a.k.a. “My Band of Carnivores,” always look for a steak meal. That’s a certainty, and one eatery I recently brought them to, and they thoroughly enjoyed, was Chops, at the top floor of Greenbelt 5. This was throwback steaks as we knew them back then. No frills, no fancy add-ons, just high quality slabs of aged beef, expertly grilled and served in their juicy splendor. Thankfully, there is a bevy of options on the type of meat one will select, and while prices may marginally vary, the quality of what’s on offer remains consistent.    

For men’s fragrances, the humidity of our tropical clime means the seasonal summer scents that come out in the market actually make more sense for us. Tommy Hilfiger recently launched its Tommy Summer and Tommy Girl Summer. For men, the top notes of peppercorn, grapefruit and ginger give a fruity and zesty overlay, while the heart notes of fir balsam and sage, and the bottom notes of cedar and amber imbue the scent with a more traditional woody motif. The Tommy Girl has floral/fruity notes, thanks to its water lily, melon and starfruit head, middle notes of gardenia and jasmine and base notes of sandalwood and musk.

Another interesting men’s fragrance I recently came across would be DKNY’s New York. Inspired by that cityscape’s Flatiron Building, here is a light masculine scent that utilizes bergamot, mandarin juniper and clary sage for its top notes, a heart of white pepper and cardamom, with a bottom of lavender, sandalwood, cedar wood, patchouli, orris and vetiver. While it’s said that men are supreme creatures of habit when it comes to fragrances and scents, I found these new products strongly appealing.

Me, I’m just happy there wasn’t a strong UFC card last Sunday, June 16, as that would have meant my regular lunch date with the boys would be “off,” and I’d have been relegated to “maybe next Sunday!”

Laugh, cry, discover

The three novels today come at us like a mantra. The Simon Rich is a collection of humorous shorts, while Selden Edwards continues to bring high romance and historical drama into his stories. As for Ron Currie Jr., his particular brand of literary social commentary finds new direction via this latest work.

Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles by Ron Currie Jr. (available at National Book Store) Thought bubbles about literature, love and love lost, the art of fiction and writing, family and death, and what our future with technology can mean in terms of relationships and emotions don’t get more entertaining than this “novel” by Ron Currie Jr. The protagonist for this novel is the writer himself, and he takes great pain to assure us that this will be an unflinching portrait of himself, warts and all. In fact, we’re encouraged to feel both sympathy and disdain for the writer. After the publication of one novel (that gets a lukewarm reception), the writer takes up again with the love of his life, as she rebounds from a botched marriage. Sent to a tropical island to find himself, the writer goes through the agonies of knowing his affair is doomed and when an accident provides the opportunity to fake a suicide, he proceeds and tires to eke out a life elsewhere. His “suicide note” goes viral and the manuscript of his proposed second book is published and sales goes through the roof — all this while he lives in relative anonymity. What transpires when he decides to “resurface” becomes grist for Currie’s commentary about fiction, media darlings and hype, and how truth can be as elusive as religion and love.

The Last Girlfriend on Earth by Simon Rich (available at National Book Store) A writer for the TV show Saturday Night Live, Rich shifts from novels with this treasure trove of short stories that illuminate the male psyche, while providing us laughter in waves. Just imagine this shortlist of the concepts of a number of the stories found in this book — ruminations on the life of an unused condom, what it would have been like for God during the creation if he had a demanding girlfriend, a repair shop where they “fix” girlfriends like they take care of cars in regular shops, the text messages of a male dog as he’s turned around by the bevy of bitches in heat, and having an ex-girlfriend who now ends up with a resurrected Adolf Hitler, and you’re Jewish! These are just some of the premises we find in these stories that take off and soar with helium and mirth guaranteed. The nice thing about this slim work is that the stories are consistently bite-size, so it’s the perfect book to take to the beach, or on your visit to the doctor or dentist. Simon Rich’s pedigree as an SNL comedy writer comes through much stronger on this volume. If you recall SNL, its skits and short forays into absurd situations, much like what this book is all about — so Rich is much more at home here than his novels, where sustaining the humor was the issue.

The Lost Prince by Selden Edwards (available at National Book Store) While this novel is ostensibly a time-travel concept, the premise is turned on its head. Central character Eleanor meets a time-traveller in fin de siècle Vienna and is given a journal, which lists down the major events of the 20th century as it affects her family. Upon her return to the US, she sets about ensuring that destiny is not averted. Major characters from the era pop up, including Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and the brothers James. The “prince” of the title is one Austrian named Arnauld, who will play a pivotal role in the fate of Eleanor’s family and loved ones. When Arnauld is presumed dead in a World War I skirmish in Italy, it is only Eleanor who insists he is still alive. Psychotherapy to cure shell shock and wartime trauma becomes important themes of this eminently readable novel.