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by Gary Singh
With the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games less than nine months away, Vancouver is awash in new infrastructure. The Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Center has tripled its size and new hotels and luxury accommodations are appearing everywhere.
In the suburb of Richmond, the brand new Olympic Oval venue will host the long track speed skating events, with the new Canada Line linking Richmond to downtown Vancouver in just 20 minutes. Two hours up the Sea to Sky Highway in Whistler, the Peak 2 Peak gondola, an unprecedented project, opened last December and now links Whistler and Blackcomb mountains together for a thoroughly staggering 2.75 mile gondola ride.
But what really makes the 2010 Games unique is the cooperation between the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) and the aboriginal peoples of British Columbia (BC), which boasts 198 First Nations (indigenous tribes), more than any other province in Canada. Because the Games overall are being held within the traditional and shared territories of four nations—the Lil’Wat, the Musqueam, the Squamish and the Tsleil-Waututh—those nations collectively incorporated a nonprofit organization and were a major part of Vancouver’s proposal to host the Games.
Read the whole article in our July 2009 issue.
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Designer Milo Naval studied Architecture at the University of Sto. Tomas and took up Interior Design at the Philippine School of Interior Design. After more than 15 years of experience, he set up Evolve Designs, a company engaged in designing contemporary and modern furniture and accessories. His line of furniture has been exported to Europe, the US, Australia, South America, Asia, and the Middle East. His works have also been showcased in various international shows abroad: in Valencia, Spain; Maison & Objet in Paris; ICFF in New York; I Salone in Milan; and at the IMM in Cologne, Germany. He recently won the Bagong Sibol (Most Promising) Award for All Bottled Up (Recycled Product) – Manila Now 2009. His novel furniture collections are displayed in his first retail store and showroom O.M.O. (On My Own).
O.M.O. is located at the ground floor of the LRI Design Plaza, 210 Nicanor Garcia Street (formerly Reposo), Bel-Air II, Makati City; tel. +632 403 1208.
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By Marguerite A. de Leon
Photos by Eddie Boy Escudero
Whether listening to lyrics tinged with tender rage on the radio, head-banging with the throng in concerts, or cradling their own guitars on Saturday nights-in with friends, Filipinos connect with the distinct sound of Pinoy rock’n’roll music through and through.
Pioneer acts like the Juan dela Cruz Band and The Dawn, the alternative edge of ’90s groups such as the Eraserheads and Teeth, and the broad range of recent aural ambassadors like Urbandub and Sandwich make up the current soundscape of Pinoy rock. It helps that the industry is a small and closely-knit one, too; the familial atmosphere among bands makes for a prolific rock scene, with new groups and collaborations sprouting up frequently.
Not surprisingly, Pinoy entertainment is laced with rock influences. Some of the most popular nigh spots in Metro Manila are rock bars: Mag:Net, Saguijo, and Club Dredd, while rock FM stations NU107.5 and RJ100 enjoy solid fan bases. Rock concerts are also common and oft-buzzed about events; the Eraserheads’ reunion concert in August, for instance, can easily be considered one of this year’s pop culture milestones. Rock frontmen such as the Eraserheads’ Ely Buendia, the Juan dela Cruz Band’s Pepe Smith, and The Dawn’s Jett Pangan are personal heroes of many young Pinoys as well.
Its image may get raucous, but rock music remains a mainstream phenomenon in the Philippines. It bodes well with Pinoy sensibilities, an apt soundtrack for a people who embrace friendship and freedom–two pillars this genre is quite vocal about, and stridently so.
See our list of Manila’s best rock bands and rock haunts in our January 2009 issue.
