Best of the Week: Sexy nerds, gay musketeers & hiphop egos

New National Animal of the Week: The Philippine Dragon

MANILA, Philippines - After the Azkals and the Volcanoes, the spotlight is on the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation. They won four gold medals last week and just a few days ago, won their fifth gold in the International Dragon Boat Federation’s tenth World Championships in Tampa Bay, Florida. This totaled their haul to five golds and two silvers and they even set a new world record as they paddled on. According to Robert McNamara of the United States Dragon Boat team, “They’re able to sustain a stroke rate that we don’t even attempt in the US.” Ahem. That joke’s just too easy to make, so we’ll pass, but we would like to point out that not only are the “Pinoy Dragon Warriors” winners, they also look good in their briefs. — Cai Subijano

Collab of the Week: Kanye and Jay-Z for “Watch the Throne”

Finally, the most awaited album of the year, after “Nora Aunor’s Greatest Hits 2011,” has arrived! Kanye West and Jay-Z’s collaboration, entitled “Watch the Throne,” was available on iTunes this week, successfully avoiding any major, major leak that would have spoiled the fun and excitement surrounding the album. The album art, for those people who actually still buy CDs, is pretty amazing, made from gold mylar and embossed with images designed by Gucci’s Ricardo Tisci. Okay, we’re going to say this before Kanye does: Yo, all collaborations by artists in the future! I’m really happy for ya’ll and imma let you guys finish, but Kanye and Jigga Man’s “Watch the Throne” is one of the best collaborations of all time! One of the best collaborations OF ALL TIME! Oo, na. Kayo na! KAYO NA!!

Art Critic of the Week: The CBCP

Just last Wednesday, a group exhibit entitled “Kulo” was shut down at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. “Kulo” featured “Poleteismo” (meaning “many deities”), the exhibit of Mideo Cruz containing various objects of religious importance displayed alongside other objects unrelated to Christianity, including a phallic symbol attached to a crucifix. After receiving condemnation from the CBCP and several threats, along with a couple that vandalized the works of Cruz and attempted to set fire to them, the CCP decided to shut the exhibit down. Ironically, “Poleteismo” has been exhibited since 2002, including at the Loyola School of Theology in Ateneo de Manila Universit. Does that make the Jesuits the most badass Catholics around? — Cai Subijano

Closet Case of the Week: Luke Evans

Superstars are not made, they’re born, but in the rare event that they are made, perhaps they might have been born gay. Such is the case with Luke Evans, 32, a Welsh actor who is set to conquer the movie industry as Aramis, one of The Three Musketeers. Pre-release reviews of the movie already herald Evans as Hollywood’s next big thing, but is Hollywood ready for an openly gay man playing macho leading roles? Back in 2002, Evans made mention of having a boyfriend during an interview with the publication The Advocate and now, his PR team is trying to back track on those statements, starting with a thorough editing of his Wikipedia entry. In case he ever comes out again in the future, just remember: you heard it from us first! 

Fad of the Week: Geek chic

Perhaps this explains why the words “sexy” and “nerd” just recently trended on Twitter. This week, Tumblr founder David Karp and Josh Rubin of Coolhunting.com joined the bandwagon of social networking founding fathers modelling for products ranging from vodka to clothing. Uniqlo, a Japanese brand, will be opening a flagship store in New York and has chosen the Tumblr founder to endorse their brand in a video blog posted on its website. Earlier, Foursquare’s founding duo modeled for Gap while Twitter founder Biz Stone did an ad for Stoli vodka. However, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and the movie about him remain unbeatable, though he didn’t really endorse it.