When we talk of sports in 2008 and this part of the world, it’s pretty much been the Olympics on everyone’s mind. But to stick to that frame of thought would be doing our own country a major disservice. While there may not have been much fanfare given how wakeboarding is still not the most mainstream of sports, this year’s World Wakeboarding Championships was held right here, in the formerly sleepy town of Pili, Camarines Sur. A stone’s throw from Naga, Pili is home to CWC, a cable-operated (as opposed to speedboat-pulled) wakeboarding “mecca” that has really been generating avid interest from wake boarders all over the world since it opened — there are even European wake boarders who spend up to three months in Pili to continue at the sport during the European winter months. To have the World Championships held here in the Philippines says tons about the indefatigable efforts of Gov. LRay Villafuerte to make CWC stand on its merits as a host venue, not only in terms of facilities, but also in terms of all sorts of logistical realities such as travel to Pili, accommodations and food for the contestants and visitors, transportation while in Pili, and providing world media the technology to effectively transmit coverage of the week-long event.
While wakeboarding would still have to be considered a sport in ascendance here in the Philippines, thanks to people like LRay and ABS Publishing’s Ernie Lopez (who I suspect may have had a say in wakeboarding competitions now being carried on the Balls cable channel), there’s a persistent drizzle of awareness and excitement about the sport. In fact, it was a surprise to see the various show business personalities who descended upon CWC during the competition. Boy2 Quizon, Paolo Paraiso, TJ Manotoc and Ketchup Eusebio were all agog with the stunts and skills of the competitors, and excitedly took their own rounds, whenever it was possible. Yasmien Kurdi had tried surfing and couldn’t stop herself from approaching the governor and requesting Reuben (who manages the Center) to give her her first lesson in knee boarding. Others like Isabel Oli, Maureen Larrazabal and Francine Prieto were content to watch the world-class display, and see this subculture of wake boarders at play during the nights of entertainment that LRay had devised. In much the same manner that figures like Tony Hawk has come to represent a subculture of skateboarders and other extreme sports enthusiasts, snowboarding and wakeboarding have come to represent a lifestyle and attitude that “takes no prisoners,” sports that exist outside the envelope and bestow ‘”radical cool” on its enthusiasts. Watching the free-form aspects of the rounds of the champions would help us understand why this is so. There is something unique and liberating about the sport, it’s like one is rebelling against the constraints of the cable, time and space.
As for CamSur, it’s fast become a byword as a premier tourist destination for those with an active lifestyle. Besides the Villas, and the more economically priced casitas and “containers” at the CWC, I have to pass comment on the Avenue Hotel in Naga, as all are excellent choices for those thinking of the trip down. The buzz around CamSur is the Gota Village Resort that’s just opened in Caramoan. Facing limestone islands that jut out from the ocean, it’s similar in setting to the Andaman Sea, and was first used as the location for the French TV version of Survivor. The Gota Resort is a truly idyllic option for those still seeking a pristine corner of the world without sacrificing comfort and amenities. Check out the CamSur or Caramoan website to see just how beautiful this spot is. It truly seems that I just turn my back for a moment, and Gov. LRay has hatched something new, diversifying the attractions that would bring visitors to the province.
When worlds collide
A common dynamic running through today’s three novels is the notion of worlds colliding — with disastrous, at times humorous, results. In Richard Price’s latest, Lush Life, it’s Manhattan’s Upper East side running up against the Projects; while Salman Rushdie’s The Enchantress of Florence has a dubious European royal descending upon a Mughal court. The insulated world of the California super-rich, and the dysfunctional manner in which it reacts with the rest of the world, is the hilarious subject of Katie Arnoldi’s The Wentworths. Lush Life by Richard Price (available at National Bookstore): If you like your fiction with really strong plotlines, peppered by natural, cracking dialogue, then Richard Price is right up your alley. With novels like Blood Brothers, Clockers and Freedomland, Price has set a high bar in making us feel we’re physically present when his characters speak, giving them idiomatic resonance. In Lush Life, Eric and Ira are bartenders in a trendy East Side establishment owned by Harry Steele. On an after-hours jaunt with Ira’s friend, Steven Boulware, Ira is shot dead, and Eric says two Hispanic/Negro boys (Tristran and Little Dap) are responsible. What follows is an unflinching look into the lives of the characters. Parts of the book are police procedural drama, thanks to the entry of Matt, a frustrated homicide detective; and parts are psychological portraits of kids who come from the Projects. Steven, who passed out during the whole incident, turns the tragedy to a media circus, with a memorial service that attempts to rival that of Lady Di, and we see Price firing off choice darts at the New York tabloids and their blood frenzy for sensationalism. Lives of desperation and quiet fury dominate the pages of this excellent novel.
The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie (available at Fully Booked): Give Salman Rushdie a big canvas, let it cross barriers of time and place and you can bet your last dollar that he’ll go to town with the whole exercise. Such is the case with his latest novel, The Enchantress of Florence. The elements are as follows: one Mughal Emperor named Akbar who is susceptible to enchantment and sorcery, a fractured family history of lost princesses who were kidnapped and whisked away to Europe, one Mogor dell’Amore (the Mughal of Love), a dubious European who claims to be the long lost son of the Princess Qara Koz. There’s even a cameo from Niccolo Machiavelli, learning about the ungratefulness of power. Against this vast canvas, Rushdie weaves a compelling tale of the bewitching power of story-telling and how two worlds so far apart can also be so similar. This novel is like a Fellini film crossed with A Thousand and One Arabian Nights, there are stories and inner stories aplenty, and we have to keep pace with all the synchronicity and coincidences. His last novel, Shalimar the Clown, centered on contemporary events; here we have Rushdie rifling through history in order to entertain and provoke thought.
The Wentworths by Katie Arnoldi (available at Powerbooks): Seven years ago, Katie Arnoldi wrote Chemical Pink, a riotous look at women and the body building culture. Don’t look now, but Katie is back, with a vicious satire that skewers the lives of the very rich and famous in California. This is as dysfunctional as you can find them, and reads like a soap opera. Patriarch Gus is a notorious womanizer, wife Judith is vanity personified, and son Conrad has his own sexual issues, reveling in the kinky and sadistic. Daughter Becky has frigidity problems, while her husband Paul is a “punching bag” and their children are nightmares, Monica is overweight with issues, and Little Joey is klepto. Gus and Judith’s second son Norman is anything but normal, he’s our narrator, a flaming gay who can’t leave the guest room by the swimming pool, and thinks he’s Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible, playing surveillance games with the family. This is an American family novel with a wicked twist, and what’s great about the novel is how Arnoldi doesn’t just pile up one crazy situation after another, but offers us a redemption of sorts for the characters that populate her laugh-out-loud novel.
