Supreme top 10: Jose Rizal, fail whales, and GMA-st*rbation
MANILA, Philippines - What you need to know about now!
Francis M tribute rocks noontime
“Dalawang dekada (two decades), one great Pinoy artist. That’s my father Francis M. Now it’s about time to continue his legacy.” No truer words were spoken — and on a Sunday noontime show, no less. In the span of five or so minutes, 16-year-old Elmo Magalona paid tribute to his father, the late great Francis M and single-handedly reignited the noontime show genre. Singing, rapping, and dancing simultaneously with a video of his father, he gave us something conspicuously lacking from so many of these show biz proceedings: heart.
Happy birthday, Jose Rizal!
Today, the nation observes the 149th birthday of our national hero by singing the Jose Rizal Hymn. (Yes, Virginia, there is one.) To commemorate the occasion, the Order of the Knights of Rizal has embarked on a “modern translation” of the writer’s classic work. Watch out for “nOLLi atT FpiHLLi pHooUwhz, LoLZzZ jEje.”
Obama declares LGBT month
Much to Danton Remoto and Ang Ladlad’s delight, US President Barack Obama has declared June 2010 to be Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride month. It’s that time of the year when they hold pageants like Miss Gay Pennsylvania and everybody flocks to San Francisco. And back here in the country, if the president-elect was gay, he would have been called Nay.
Crotchtastic!
You know the world is ending when you see Jonah Hill and our very own Jake Cuenca in the pages of top hipster bible Nylon Guys. After Pacman, a Pussycat Doll, and Miguel Syjuco, it seems Jake Cuenca’s crotch is next in line for Pinoy global takeover. It became the ad heard round the (Twitter) world when the magazine’s trendy readership was subjected to the usually-hipsterly-dressed-but-basically-naked actor in Bench hipster briefs. Signed, sealed, delivered, this package is going places.
Twitter’s epic fail
Not long after Justin Bieber and his alter-ego Bustin Jieber dominated the trending topics on Twitter, much of the micro-blogging community was affected by a reported “enhancement fail” that resulted in flooded feeds and over-capacity messages. As one user put it, it seems Twitter, which uses a whale as it’s mascot, has managed to get itself stuck in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Fail. And awww.
Comebacking pretty boy bands
It was 2001 all over again when The Strokes returned to appease the Pitchfork contingent at the Isle of Wright festival. Blazing through songs like The Modern Age, it was like Drew Barrymore never left; The Strokes nonchalantly shimmying in their slim jeans and playing like the garage rock explosion actually exploded. Meanwhile, on the other side of the musical coin, Hanson (or the Jonas Brothers with Talent for those too young to remember) makes another bid for musical credibility with new album “Shout It Out.” Though the album has already received generally positive reviews from the music press, one question remains: Where’s the love? It’s not enough. It makes the world go round and round and round.
Noynoy and friends
P-Noy’s transition team vows to have the new admin’s cabinet completed within the week. Rumors say Dingdong Dantes, Ogie Alcasid, and Jim Paredes have been offered posts. This week, another interesting name has come up: Marian Rivera as DOH secretary. After all, as she says, “Isa po akong psychology.”
GMA-sturbation
Circle jerks? We’ve seen so much in last week’s Independence Day parade via the P10 million floats that boasted the GMA “legacy” the Philippines will be forever indebted to. Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao — “sa totoo lang, PGMA has built more infrastructure than the three previous admins combined,” her ads say. And she has allegedly killed more people and stolen more money than the previous presidents, too. Thank you, honey G!
20/20
What do you get when you take forty 20-somethings, put them in an empty space, and let them do whatever they want? Before you say “giant orgy,” they give you “20/20,” a collabo-happy exhibit featuring twenty of Manila’s brightest young artists and twenty of their photographer counterparts. “20/20” promises to inject new life into the local art scene with twenty medium-merging meetings of minds and, well, maybe more if you get lucky after. (“20/20” at Outerspace, The Collective; 8 p.m.)
Republiq
We don’t know about the Mile High Club but if you’re looking to continue the high life even after you get off the plane, brand spankin’ new super club Republiq offers you the good life with your feet flat on the ground (or on a table, if the beat inclines you so). “No curfews, no limitations, no impediments to joy,” Republiq promises a nightlife revolution of epic proportions. This is one nation under a groove.
