THE PARTIAL OBSERVER ] Lessons from a week's worth of occasional glances at the telly

1 Simple doesn't work for simple people. They need a little bit of styling, a little upping the glamour ante. If you make a peasant wear a peasant blouse, it ceases to be a peasant blouse--it's a uniform.

2 She's looked better.

3 Some people are so used to thinking cheap headline: Pinoy makes good abroad! Makes nation proud! Saves Philippine Cinema! Whatever. Brillante Mendoza won Best Director at Cannes. Congratulations to him. He should be proud. And maybe we should be happy for him. But his trophy doesn't begin to solve the problems of local films. It doesn't have anything to do with my pride as a Filipino. I'm already proud to be a Filipino, I don't know about you. I don't need constant reminding. If I don't like Charice, I don't like her. If I don't like Arnel, I don't like him. Pure and simple. Being a Filipino has nothing to do with it. We haven't seen Kinatay and people want us to rejoice for it. And these people rejoicing for the entire Pinoy citizenry, will they still feel the same way when they finally get to see it? Will they even pay to see it?

4 It's a good thing Kim Chiu knows how to do body contortions.

5 People still believe the cliches: if you're the accused, you should wear a white shirt. And if you, and your mom, give an exclusive interview from your home, you have to make sure your backdrop includes a saint. Because nga you're already living a prayerful life.

6 While my heart broke a little when she said, "Ang kapal ng mukha mo, nakakatingin ka pa sa'kin ng ganyan," it doesn't change the fact that she was the K word. And I don't mean kikay.

7 We must stop dragging Victoria Beckham's name to refer to the new dos of local stars. Layo 'no!

8 Phillip Salvador should have stopped at skinhead. He already won points for ditching the Fanny Serrano bangs.

8 After catching a rerun of the original Kim Sam Soon, I know now why Koreanovela works, and why it doesn't quite work when we produce the entire thing. Their actors are Koreans.

9 The stylist Liz Uy has a sense of humor. She had Kris Aquino wear a feathered headpiece on SNN.

10 But you have to love Kris. We here at TheSwankStyle have an idea who John Lloyd is seeing. And this afternoon while watching The Buzz on mute, Kris seems to have the same idea, too. And she wasn't afraid to show it.