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DECEMB ER 2015 - JA NUARY 2016

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FREE M A GAZINE!

I S S U E NO . 1 6

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4 profile

kiana valenciano

contents

6 profile dae lee

8 music

jensen and the flips

12 books

sasha martinez

15 tech

2k16 or bust

40 fashion charming

18 fashion blue crush

22 movies

naughty or nice?

24 games

new games plus

26 special feature best of 2015

30 on the cover jasmine curtis-smith

36 fashion

all dressed up with nowhere to go

46 humor

fashion victim

w w w. sco utmag . ph

10 art + design isobel francisco

Group Publisher

BEA J. LEDESMA Editor in Chief

JED GREGORIO C r e a t ive D i r e c t o r Ni単a Muallam Managing Editor Cai Maroket Art Director Martin Diegor Editorial Assistants Romeo Moran Nico Pascual

Cont ribut ing Writer Nonito Cabrera Contributing Photographers Raen Badua, Paolo Crodua, Tammy David, Ralph Hilera, Cenon Norial III, Hub Pacheco Interns Chealsy Dale, Dani Chuatico, Eunice Sanchez Editorial Consultant Ria Francisco-Prieto Board Chairperson Alexandra Prieto-Romualdez Finance Advisor and Treasurer J. Ferdinand De Luzuriaga Legal Advisor Atty. Rudyard Arbolado V P/ G r o u p H R H e a d Raymund Soberano

VP and Chief Strategy Officer Imelda Alcantara SVP and Group Sales Head, Inquirer Group of Companies Felipe R. Olarte AV P f o r S a l e s Ma. Katrina Garcia-Dalusong Sales Supervisor Polo Dagdag Key A c c o u n t s S p e c i a l i s t Angelita Tan-Iba単ez Senior Accou nt Execut ives Thea Ordiales, Abby Ginaga Accou nt Execut ives Charm Banzuelo, Andie Zu単iga, Sarah Cabalatungan

Sales Support Assistants Rechelle Endozo, Mara Karen Aliasas Marketing Associates Erle Mamawal, Jann Turija Marketing Graphic Artist Lee Caces, JR Larosa Business and Distribution Manager Rina Lareza Circulation Supervisor Vince Oliquiano Production Manager Jan Cariquitan Production Assistant Maricel Gavino Final Art Supervisor Dennis Cruz FA A r t i st Kristine Paz

Le tte r fr o m th e E d i to r I love Christmas. I find it significant to ceremoniously promulgate this now, after years of meeting people who claim that they don’t. These people don’t necessarily hate Christmas; they just don’t love it. On the record, I’ve had small triumphs in converting the cynics of my generation into gratuitously wallowing in the warmth and sparkle of the holiday season.

I reckon my evangelical fervor has been too inspiring (or annoying, in some circles) for them not to find the need to believe. Some of them would readily attest to how I reek of snowflakes or pineapple-glazed Christmas ham. For the majority of you who are wondering, here’s how I do it.

First, I give an unsolicited review of related literature. Nothing too Dickensian, of course, but the more easily digestible, such as Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris. It’s a slender volume of hilarious Christmas-themed stories, including “SantaLand Diaries,” an account of the author’s job experience as an elf. Another favorite of mine in this collection is “Front Row Center with Thaddeus Bristol,” theater reviews from a critic who condemns the “shoddy production values and dry, leaden pacing” and “inattentive shepherds” of some middle school Christmas productions. If “Christmas Means Giving” or “Dinah, the Christmas Whore” doesn’t put skeptics in the holiday mood, I move on to my second plan.

I recommend watching old episodes of Nigella’s Christmas Kitchen on the BBC. Arguably, no better gospel has been invented since the original nativity story. Nigella, her voice deep and her speech stirringly eloquent, can convince anyone that pomegranate seeds are “glorious” and that Christmas minced meat pies have to be star-shaped. Her “spruced up” vanilla cake is molded from a baking tin shaped like a cluster of pine trees, and Let it Snow begins to play as soon as she lets an unabashed dusting of powdered sugar fall on its peaks. To quote the unfailing Mrs. Lawson, you can never be too kitsch for Christmas.

When I’m feeling particularly industrious and have time on my hands, I make Christmas mixtapes (or recently, mix-flashdrives) for friends and the occasional stranger. The base of my holiday mix are “Christmas with the Rat Pack” songs, with some instrumental tracks from A Charlie Brown Christmas and a Kanye West song or two thrown in there. While my friends play my Christmas mix-tape in their cars or rooms, I also suggest a change of cold weather clothes, just to make the whole experience more legit. Jasmine Curtis-Smith wearing a fur coat on our cover this month is a good example. I never got to talk to Jasmine much about her opinions of Christmas, but after suggesting she put on some heavy pink fuzziness on a humid night, moments after we’ve had Korean ramen served in a stone pot, I figured bringing up snow might dampen her morale. As I would later learn, she’s a lot tougher and more gung-ho than most give her credit for.

There is a line from the Roberto Bolaño poem, La Francesca, in which the heroine describes a love “as brief as the sigh of a guillotined head.” (It sounds more handsome in Spanish. Un amor breve como el suspiro de una cabeza guillotinada.) I guess that pretty much sums up how I feel about Christmas. Every year, I ache for it to last longer, long after it’s over. How can I not? It’s the most beautiful time of the year. And props to you who detected that Justin Bieber lyric.

@scou tmagph s coutmag@h i p.ph

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profile

wild child Kiana Valenciano on seeking independence abroad and figuring her music career out all on her own Interview by CAI MAROKET Photography by CENON NORIAL III

TALL AND PRETTY with a voice like a Disney princess, Kiana Valenciano has the basic attributes that can easily propel her towards stardom. It doesn’t hurt that she’s got a famous last name either, synonymous with talent and respect in the entertainment industry.

Kiana is not the type to ride on the coattails of other people’s hard work, though.

It’s only been about a month since she stepped foot in the motherland, back from a two-and-a-half-month stint in London studying fashion-related courses at the esteemed Central Saint Martins. The affinity for fashion isn’t much of a surprise. Just one look at her beautifully curated blog will easily show her natural eye for style. She also hasn’t forgotten her roots in music, hitting the recording studio as soon as she got home, with her mind fully focused on kicking off the music career she’s been meticulously working on the past few years. For someone who has fame and success waiting to be served to her on a silver platter, she’s pretty hard pressed on figuring things out on her own, choosing to ignore the easy path that comes with her privilege.

She knows what she wants, and she’s got a carefully laid out battle plan at the ready. This girl knows what she’s doing.

Have you always wanted to study abroad? I can’t imagine it was an easy decision.

It’s been a long time coming. When I was 17, it was really my dream to study abroad after graduating from high school. But my parents were uncomfortable because, you know, I’m their baby girl. But they always knew that it was going to happen so this year I really pushed for it. It was actually two years in the works because I really wanted to go last year, but my brother got married so I couldn’t. And before that, my other brother also got married. So it was just a lot of stuff that was preventing me from going. Finally, we decided that this year, during the summer, I’d go and take my time there.

Were you alone the entire time?

The first month and a half I was alone. My best friend followed later on but it was just us.

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“I’m really picky. I’ve worked with people before and I was just like ‘Sorry, it’s really not me. I can’t do it.’ Which is why I guess [my music is] taking so long, so this time I’m really just... It’s kind of like my baby. I won’t release it unless I feel it.”

What was it like? Was it vastly different from your life here?

It was pretty cool. I really enjoyed it because everything revolved around my own time, my own body clock. So I worked at my own pace, did my chores at my own pace. There was nobody really telling me what I could and couldn’t do.

It was nice being independent and getting to explore the city on my own. I was doing my own laundry. Ironing. (laughs) I was doing all that and it was so funny because everyone from here was making fun of me. Nobody’s used to that side of me. Here, I could just easily ask people to do my chores for me.

You took up a few fashion courses at Central Saint Martins. Are you in the process of planning a clothing line?

Yeah, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen soon.

Maybe end of next year or something like that.

Fashion is really broad. You have to keep going and your inspiration has to keep coming, and I think right now it wouldn’t suit my lifestyle in the sense that I’d just have to block people out.

Right now, I’m mostly just gonna focus on my music because I think that it’s just something I do every day. I sing every day so I might as well work on that and, on the side, have my fashion thing going. I’ve been planning to have a little side-business of having made-to-order clothes for my friends but in terms of launching a line, that requires so much time and in terms of what I’ve learned throughout my stay in London and my studies here, fashion is really time-consuming.

WAREHOUSE dress

Yeah. And fashion designing isn’t just sketching.

You also have to create patterns and know your textiles.

Yeah, and I really want to be the type of designer that’s hands on. I’m looking into studying some more. I also want to study accessories, shoes, bags, stuff like that.

So would you say that music will always come first and fashion is something like a passing interest?

Music is still my thing but I’ve always been into fashion. When I was in high school, my friends used to make fun of me because I’ll always be sketching in the side. And then I wanted to go study in Parsons after high school but, like what I said, it was a little hard for my parents to let me go at that time because they thought of me as a baby. And I’m glad I didn’t because I got to make a lot of friends here and build the relationships

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I have here. And I wouldn’t have survived then. I was in London for two months and I had a hard time, so at 17 it would’ve been much harder.

But what you’re really focusing on at the moment is music, right?

My thing right now with music is I don’t want to be too mainstream. Because, really, my sound isn’t. The type of music I listen to and the performers I like aren’t really huge right now.

Not that I’m hipster or anything. (laughs) Right now, I’m working on a few things, collaborating with different artists and hopefully by December we’ll have a track out. It doesn’t necessarily have to be on the radio, you know? Maybe it’ll be on Soundcloud but, yeah. That’s the kind of approach I’m going for.

I bet you’ve been performing since forever.

I think I was six when I had my first recording but I think I was seven or eight when I first sang in Araneta. That was nerve-wracking but it was pretty fun. But it’s been a while [since the last time I was on stage] because I haven’t been here.

But before I left for London, I did a gig. I usually perform with my dad. The only time when I really let loose is when I’m with my friends. Like, when we’re in La Union and they have that hostel there, Flotsam & Jetsam? Sometimes my friends from there, they’re all musicians, will just bring out their guitars and jam. That’s my scene. (laughs) You have an awesome, well-curated blog. It’s pretty heavy on the fashion at the moment.

Do you have plans of turning it into a full-on lifestyle blog?

The music side [for my blog] is currently in the works. We’re planning to have...actually, no. I wanna keep that a surprise. (laughs) I mean, I already posted a bit of a sneak peek on my Instagram of me singing, so that’s coming soon on the blog. And then I also have my travel videos. I’m currently working on my video from London. I make them myself, so that’s why they’re always late, and people make fun of me because when we’re out of town, I’m all like, “Video, guys! Guys!” (laughs) What’s next really is the single. I’m really picky. I’ve worked with people before and I was just like, “Sorry, it’s really not me. I can’t do it.”

Which is why I guess it’s taking so long, so this time I’m really just... It’s kind of like my baby. I won’t release it unless I feel it. So that’s what’s next. The single. And we’re building up the blog.

It’s really like an online journal. It’s not just the fashion and the music. It’s me sharing personal stories and stuff. n

Makeup by HANNAH PECHON for SHU UEMURA Hair by OGIE RAYEL f0r KIEHL’S Shot at PSID STUDIO 24 www.psidstudio24.com

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go big or go home Dae Lee has plans and he’s not in the habit of half-assing things Interview by CAI MAROKET Photography by PAOLO CRODUA

You’re kind of all over the place. Not your mind; the things you do, I mean. What do you say when people ask what you do for a living?

My job description now is I’m the Chief Marketing Officer of Overmind, a creative consulting company. I also teach. I’m an instructor at the University of Asia & the Pacific, but that’s not really a job. That’s a side thing. I teach Business Communications and Digital Marketing and some other subjects that are related to whatever’s happening about branding or marketing. What I teach is just me reminding myself again what I’ve learned the past few years that I was in the industry. It’s also sharing my knowledge, because marketing and the world always changes. I feel like I really have to share that because what’s in the textbooks aren’t really applicable most of the time.

Also on the side, I design. I started as an industrial designer because that’s what I really wanted to do before, if I couldn’t pursue acting.

So you’ve always had your sights set on show business?

I really wanted to be an actor when I was a kid.

But, of course, things didn’t happen. I tried auditioning in Korea. They told me it’s gonna take six years to train and everything. I kind of got scared. What if I don’t really get in? And also the fact that I’ve accepted that Korean actors

F&F jacket, PENSHOPPE shirt

IF YOU’VE DRIVEN DOWN EDSA within the past three months, chances are you’ve seen Dae Lee in a billboard for a TV5 Wattpad adaptation.

If K-Pop happens to be your thing, you’ve also probably seen him host a few gigs. His fans call him “oppa” (“older brother,” used by females), much to his chagrin, but he says it’s all cool and he can’t express his gratitude enough to those who support him.

What most people don’t know, though, is that acting is just part of his multi-hyphen career. Dae Lee is an actor/professor/designer/ chief marketing officer, among other things. He dreams big and his dreams go beyond himself.

He’s something like a poster boy for the slash generation, juggling different professions with ease, some of which he does not for the sake of personal gain. When asked what he wants people to perceive him as, he says he wants to be seen as a philanthropist, but not in a Deepak Chopra or Bill Gates way. “I think the misconception of people [about philanthropy] is about giving money and all. I say philanthropist is [showing] love for mankind in general,” he says. “So it’s more about sharing knowledge and things that are beneficial to all.”

Citing Joseph Gordon-Levitt, another multihyphenate fellow, as someone he looks up to, the way he maneuvers his career isn’t really so much a surprise.

are super tall and way, way, way better looking.

186cm is average, and I don’t look as pretty as them. (laughs) So when they told me that it’s gonna take six years and you never know if you’ll really get to debut then...what if I waste six years of my life and nothing happens, right? So I just decided to pursue studies.

You starred in a TV show that put a lot of emphasis on your physical features. Do you think there’s the danger of you being typecast because you’re Korean?

I’m really thankful they gave me that role, of course, but yes, I fear [typecasting]. But I don’t look super Korean and I have played different roles in plays before. Given the chance, I’d like to show that I can play other roles on TV. Any role would be a dream, because the process of getting into character and being someone else is what’s exciting.

Business, teaching, and acting. You’re like the prime example of the slash generation.

You know what, that goes against what I teach, which is branding. And in branding, you’re supposed to have focus. But if you think about it, what I do isn’t really unrelated to each other because you know how when you’re in college, you have your orgs and you have your studies, which is your job to do? Same with me. My job is to be chief marketing officer. Give branding advice and consultation. That’s my main thing.

Then I have design work because that’s what I started with. And branding is not far from design.

Like, design as strategy, even if it’s not visual there’s still design elements.

As for the org part, you have your hobbies, in my case it’s acting because I’ve joined theater companies before, just to have an outlet. I guess you can look at it that way. I’ve been in a few theater organizations. And when I was in Korea working with an industrial design firm, I also used to act in theater companies there.

Why come back to Manila?

At first I decided to take a vacation and come here to Manila then go to London afterwards to take a master’s degree for industrial design so that I could do it professionally and also teach at the same time. But that didn’t happen. I was on vacation and I was trying to do random things. I pursued making short films, I pursued whatever interests me.

Woah. Have you always been this ambitious?

Yes, I guess? But I was never an honor’s student. I never made it to the Dean’s List, or any kind of list. I’ve failed a class in high school and a class in college. Why did I fail? Probably because I wanted to do other things. Things that interested me. I failed Theology... (laughs) Speaking of ambition, you teach university students, right? Kids these days are being unfairly labeled as lazy. Would you be able to say that your students are ambitious, too?

I think they are. They’re passionate. They tell me about their ideas and plans. The only thing that I think bothers them or hinders them from doing things is noise, like social media and the Internet. And I think that...I don’t know, a lot of people may go against me but I believe it’s because of multitasking. I personally believe it’s not possible.

Really? But you have a lot of things going on with your life.

That’s why I do a lot of scheduling. I don’t do two things at the same time wherein I act while I consult. That’s impossible. It’s just the same thing as having orgs when you were in college.

Acting for me is a break from whatever work that I do. Same with other people, they go biking or exercise or draw. We have hobbies. If surfing the net is your hobby, then that’s still part of it. It’s just really knowing how to handle your time. n

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music

from boys

Jensen and The Flips ups the game on girls, gigs, and falling in love Interview by MARTIN DIEGOR Photography by HUB PACHECO Shot on location at FELIPE & SONS

Middle photo, from left to right: Miggy Concepcion, Mel Ro単o, Justin Mendoza, Jensen Gomez, Sam Valenia, Carlo Maraingan, and Mike Gemina.

to men

music

MY TAXI SLOWED DOWN to what seemed liked a scene from Mad Men: at a barbershop, a group of guys in white button-downs, neckties, and black trousers was standing outside, some smoking, some just leaning against their car as they chatted about. It was almost embarrassing to appear in torn jeans. Introductions were made, hands were shaken, and finally, I met one guy who was in a plain shirt. “Jensen,” he says. Soon enough, he changed into his own button-down (a black one), and they were complete—Jensen and The Flips, who, while very much a boy band, are far from being boys.

Onstage, Jensen Gomez (guitar/vocals), Mike Gemina (drums), Carlo Maraingan (percussions), Choi Padilla (vocals/bass), Justin Mendoza (bass), Mel Roño (guitar), Miggy Concepcion (keyboard), and Sam Valenia (guitar/vocals) trade their hoodies for the dapper uniform and soul and R&B. Their sound is perfect for a Friday night at a jazz bar with cold beers, dimmed lights, and loosened neckties. But look closely, the same guy might have also been wearing Vans. It is in the curious play of lyrics and music that The Flips have struck a balance between the classy and the youthful, a style evident in their first album, “Honeymoon,” which they launched last July.

Now that the local soundscape is dominated by alternative music, EDM, and social media-driven pop charts, it’s refreshing to find people who found the guts to slow it down and take the time to savor music for what it is. “We’re not really after money by doing this,” Jensen explains. “Even if Jensen and The Flips is over, as long as any of us is still up for it, we’ll be out there still making songs.” As their third single, Slow, goes, “No rush, no rush, no rush.”

How did you guys form the band?

Jensen Gomez: They were my bandmates when I was a solo artist.

Carlo Maraingan: Well, we were friends first.

J: That, too. Mike was my professor and the others were my classmates back in Benilde.

Carlo, well, I used to hang out with him in the nearby Ministop.

C: We’re both from Cavite, too.

J: I asked them to be my bandmates for my solo thing back in 2010. I was just lucky they agreed.

But now that I’m out of my previous label, we decided to form the band with a concept—we wear button-downs and we play soul music.

What made you decide on that direction?

J: I’m a big fan of concept acts like Earth, Wind, and Fire or Justin Timberlake, who have a solid image when they perform.

C: Or Slipknot. (laughs) J: Yeah, Carlo’s actually a metal drummer. This is just his alter ego.

C: The Sexy Demonist.

Most people actually describe your music as “sexy.”

C: Our main target audience are women aged 16 to 20. (laughs) Mike Gemina: For [Carlo]? Hell no, it’s 16 to 40.

J: He’s the one with the moustache; all the titas love him.

M: He’s gonna make us rich.

J: But to describe our music, it’s soul, pop, and R&B. M: And flirty.

J: Soul is generally sexy.

Justin Mendoza: It’s like a gentleman with a sexy side. (laughs) Why “the Flips”?

M: “Flip” is the derogatory term for Filipinos in America, like, “freaky little island people.” We decided to use it because it was catchy. Also, we didn’t have a name when we were invited for our first gig two years ago. We just used it and it caught on.

How long did it take to create your debut album, “Honeymoon”?

M: A year and a half?

J: In terms of songwriting, probably two years.

Before we became The Flips, I already wrote Love Child and Stay With Me, and the rest just came together as we went along. The last song was actually written when we were already recording the album.

“Screw all the people that say there’s no money in music. They’re either just plain lazy or they don’t want it as much as they think they do.”

What’s the story behind it?

C: I was with my girlfriend and I told her, “It kinds of feel like a honeymoon tonight, doesn’t it?” And then I just had to call everyone. “Guys, we have a title for our album.”

J: When I was arranging the tracks with our producer, Ling Lava of Lions and Acrobats, we created a narrative out of the songs: Used To Be, the first track, talks about coming from a break up and then, Not This Time, talks about the anger that stems from that. You’ll want to take it slow thus the next song, Slow, then you make a mistake, which is Dangerous. Finally, the last track, Borrowed, goes back to the person you broke up with and you’re thankful for the relationship.

M: Ooooooh so that’s what it is! (laughs) J: But actually we just made it seem it had a story.

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C: Maybe if we can add a few more instruments, why not? And if we already have enough money, perhaps our own light show, a pole, and thongs. (laughs) How are you guys like onstage?

J: There are a lot of times when we’re all tired from our day jobs; some of us are still in school, actually. But when it’s time to perform, there’s a switch we turn on and then suddenly, we’re ready.

M: It’s an unspoken discipline we all have. We’re like an NBA team during game time.

J: But we have our slow days. Sometimes it takes us until the midset to get it going. We adjust with the crowd.

What keeps you going in pursuing music?

M: I think I speak on behalf of everyone that when you really want to get things going, you need to try first. If really want to, you can make music your career. Screw all the people that say there’s no money in music. They’re either just plain lazy or they don’t want it as much as they think they do. There are lots of opportunities for people to pursue it: get the proper network, practice, and be good at what you do.

J: But in general, The Flips is our happy band.

There’s no pressure to make money out of it.

C: We’re actually just quite lucky that people are paying attention to us. We’re just surprised at how people receive us. Though, even if we didn’t get the same attention, we’ll still be happy enough just to play music.

Do you think there’s a shift in how people see OPM now?

J: The way I see it, people are looking for new things. I feel like they’re over and done with what’s only on the TV and radio and are looking for new options for entertainment.

M: And even the bands we idolized as kids, they’re also saying that they’re done—Kamikazee is doing a farewell concert, Urbandub announced that they’re disbanding. Only a few of the old guard is still going strong. In a way, they’re already passing the torch to the kids.

J: New generation OPM is already so different and diverse.

M: No matter what genre you fancy, there will be something for you. I feel like the local music industry is gonna turn around real soon.

Mel Roño: I think everyone is showing their individuality. Before, young musicians had solid artists to look up to and imitate. Now, young musicians want to do something new.

C: We all have our different influences thanks to the Internet. There was a time when OPM had a distinct sound, but now, everyone has their own unique style.

You have pretty good feedback for it.

J: Yeah, we have pretty good friends.

C: Paid friends.

What’s next for The Flips?

J: We’re releasing a new single from the album, Dangerous.

C: It’s about funny businesses in the car. (laughs) M: And bipolar tendencies of people.

J: We’re also creating a new set with more songs, and changing into an all-black uniform.

C: Hopefully, a new album. Long term, maybe a Grammy. (laughs)

But are there things you want to improve on?

J: Definitely, performance-wise, better musical arrangements and more elements.

M: We want to make our shows more interesting as an experience.

Speaking of the long term, until when do you see yourselves doing this?

M: As long as we can stay together! (laughs) J: Probably until 2070.

C: Or until my drinking problem hits me. n

10 art

Flatlands Oil on canvas 18 x 24 in.

2014

undisclosed Isobel Francisco exposes the secret conflicts and fantasies of her painted characters Interview by DANIELLE CHUATICO

STARING INTO AN OIL PAINTING by Isobel Francisco is like entering someone’s fever dream, naked bodies of men and women lying and contorting themselves amongst wrinkled sheets surrounded by frenzied colors. You’ve stepped into a private world of people’s pains, feelings, and frustrations, their most intimate and heated moments either when they’re alone or in the company of others, peering through their bedroom doors and finding them in the throes of passion, moments of meditation, or complete satisfaction. In Bottom, a relaxed man sleeps in a sensuous pose on a background of white and blue, fully submitting himself to the luxury of rest. In direct contrast, Matador is a furor of sexuality as the figure presents himself, pulling on his shirt with bared teeth, his zipper undone, and his hands framing his crotch. A burst of red cloth floats in the background as he forcefully seduces you into his mania. Isobel’s work immerses you into a flurry of emotions, sublime figures with worldly desires.

Despite the surreal scenes of Isobel’s world, you feel that these people exist. They are not suspended in fantasy or just in people’s imaginations. They are experiencing reality but plunging deep into their senses, allowing us to indulge vicariously on our own desires and grievances.

Why do you choose oil painting as your main medium? I’ve seen that you’re skilled also in digital, graphite, and mixed media but most of your works are oil.

I started exhibiting with digital paintings. At my first show, a few artists dropped by and comically fought over what traditional medium I should try out (acrylic, oil, watercolor). Several months later, my computer broke down and prompted me to try out oils, which I found easier to wield than acrylics. I have plenty more works in graphite (also combined with ink, charcoal, or oil) than I present online but either I don’t sell them or I forget to take proper photographs of them.

What was is it like coming from a background of studying Humanities to becoming an oil painter? Did you have any difficulty entering the art world as someone who did not study Fine Arts formally?

I never considered exhibiting at all until a friend invited me to join their group show, because I assumed that sort of thing was for classically trained artists from art schools. So I knew nothing about the fundamentals. But I was fortunate to run into professional artists like Jayson Cortez, Katrina Pallon, and Marius Black who helped me understand what gesso was, where to get art supplies, and how to stay awake to beat deadlines. Many art galleries in Metro Manila like Vinyl on Vinyl are also willing to showcase complete newbies, and these galleries

desires

gave me helpful advice. I just needed to ask plenty of questions, and I still do.

As a child, how were you encouraged to take up painting?

On the contrary, I was told over and over that there’s no financial stability in painting. They suggested that I take up Animation after college as their way of compromise, though.

How do you balance working your day job as a copywriter/graphic artist and honing your craft in fine arts?

Doing grunt work in other fields helps break the monotony. The extra cash helps pay the bills, too. Sometimes I even offer to write for other artists as a form of leisure. I once took a leave off my day job for two weeks, and I couldn’t paint a single thing.

I noticed that your oil paintings such as Matador, Bottom, and Plucked have a very sensual, emotional, feverish atmosphere. Do you deliberately strive to achieve a certain feel to your artwork or do you go with the flow and find that it naturally occurs?

Many of my works come out of exhibit themes, which the artists usually come up with themselves but sometimes the gallery provides on their own. But these themes always touch upon human struggling, and I always paint with a sort of struggle in mind—I suppose it’s a form of catharsis for me. I think it’s both deliberate in the sense that I prepare thumbnails for it while I’m preparing the surface material, and spontaneous in that I have no idea how it will turn out because I slap around paints using a palette knife.

art 11 Caged Oil on canvas 40 x 30 in.

2015

“My themes always touch upon human struggling, and I always paint with a sort of struggle in mind—I suppose it’s a form of catharsis for me.”

Are there any mythologies, religions, cultures, or media that you’re influenced by?

My first works were digital paintings of the decaying Virgin Mary, because she was—if I remember correctly—the first one I ever drew as a kid. I was raised Catholic so I’m pretty sure there are traces of it here and there in my work.

I usually deal with existentialist themes and how insignificant human beings really are in the grand scheme of the universe.

Flight Formation Oil on canvas 4 x 3 ft.

2014

Your works have realistic bodies, painted in psychedelic, bright colors, with a background of abstract paint strokes and sheets. What is your thought process in achieving this balance of, I’d say, realism, expressionism, and abstract?

I don’t think about striking any sort of “balance,” but since I often portray internal conflicts with characters, I try to illustrate their emotional turmoil with bold chunks of color surrounding them. At the moment I’m trying to make my characters less structured and more “destroyed.”

Sometimes I think this is because there are already many, many “pretty” portraits, especially in the Philippines where we are blessed with so many masters of realism, and I often get bored with “pretty.”

In your most recent group show, “The Fe(male) Gaze,” you present men as victims of patriarchy. Would you define yourself as a feminist? Has feminism influenced your artworks as well as yourself as an artist?

If by feminist you mean I believe both sexes deserve equal rights and opportunities to raise their voices, then yes. I know what it’s like to constantly look over my shoulder and to fight public or professional opinion, but I also see men

who are expected to provide, to be forbidden from showing weakness, or to be forbidden from becoming victims themselves. If there are unfair standards for women, there are unfair standards for men as well. I think our culture is hurting everyone in it, and it’s high time we listen to all voices.

As a female artist in a dominantly Catholic and religious country, do you find yourself encountering any difficulties painting sexually-charged artwork?

I have yet to encounter any strong negative reactions towards my works, thankfully. Only a few paintings with very naked people get passed on from time to time (with some prospects stating they couldn’t display it in their house where they might upset guests). The only experience I can recall is when I painted a baby bleeding in various colors and some parents said it made them uncomfortable.

Sexual kinks aren’t exactly encouraged to be talked about or portrayed in Philippine society or media and yet, I’ve seen paintings of yours putting the spotlight on certain kinks. What made you decide to put a focus on societal taboos?

I don’t think, Oh this looks outrageous and controversial so I must do it. For the most part I don’t see them as “taboos” or “kinks.”

They just happen to be activities people other than myself enjoy or find solace in, and it fascinates me, especially if it involves bodyto-contact and elevating the physical senses that enhance how they regard themselves or their relationships. n

12 books

poetic justice Writer Sasha Martinez discusses the difference between her writer and reader selves and why it is important to embrace both Interview by NICO PASCUAL Photography by TAMMY DAVID

THERE IS A LINE at the beginning of a famous Mark Strand poem which goes: “There is no happiness like mine / I have been eating poetry.” The same can be said of Palanca awardee Sasha Martinez, who has been taking her time devouring multitudes of books, which have been conveniently stacked around her tiny apartment. “That stack on the floor alone has around 200 books,” she confesses. This relentless consumption of literature is warranted when she tells me that reading is a necessity when it comes to her life’s work: writing for her day job and as an occasional book reviewer for magazines. When you look at Sasha, you can tell that there is more to her than meets the eye, it can be seen in the way she looks for herself in literature—with a wandering yet curious gaze, inviting you to do the same.

You won the Palanca award for your short story last year, and now you also write reviews of books. Describe to us who Sasha the writer is as opposed to Sasha the reviewer.

I try to make sure that when I fill either of the two roles, it all comes from the same place: a love of literature, an appreciation of good writing. They both play on each other: There’s an exhilaration and a contentment in reading a book that ticks off all the right boxes, from questions of craft and to how it successfully squeezes the softer parts of your soul, just as there’s an exhilaration and a contentment when you write something that you’re thrilled to see approximates what you feel about good writing.

The finer points of the criteria differ, and the process of actually producing the work naturally varies—but that’s what I hope remains at the core of what I write, whether I’m writing original material or I’m writing about what a revelation a certain book is: a sense of wonder about the subject, and setting literature to high standards in all the categories.

Do the books out in the market right now represent the kind of books that people should read?

My problem, personally, is availability. The institutions that sell the books in our country are attuned to the most popular trends—which is good if you’re hankering certain kinds of books. I’ve found many books that I’ve loved standing at attention on featured shelves—have been thankful, too, that there are authors or genres that I like that are popular enough to merit the attention of our country’s book buyers. But the entire situation can feel dismal when you just want to hop in a bookstore after a really long week, weaving in and out of shelves hoping you’d find a book or maybe no book in particular—maybe a book an Internet friend had recommended to you, maybe a book you wouldn’t have known existed otherwise— but instead you’re bombarded by the latest assembly-line dystopian novels or the latest clumsy erotic romances or the bundles upon bundles of coloring books.

I believe in the democracy of reading but I’m wary of too much uniformity in what’s available for consumption. I understand that bookstores

must be savvy enough and make money, but I think we also need bookstores that just really like selling books to people because they have a genuine fondness for books. Sometimes I tend to wish I were in a different place, with smaller shops, or shops with a greater reach of the literary world; more books, a lot more stillness.

What, in your opinion, should people be reading?

I think people should always begin with reading what they want. And then once they’ve figured out what they want and have made a home in it, they set out and find a book that they wouldn’t have ever thought they’d read—and just keep

books 13

“I had to take out books because the shelves were bending in the middle.”

How do you feel about published authors who emulate bestsellers in order to sell theirs?

There’s a line between emulating work you genuinely admire—or attempting to follow the path set by a writer whose work has become, for you, a vision of what you want your own work to be—and between just churning out material because you think it’s what people want to read, because it’s all that people have been reading for the past year. And it’s not really a fine line; you don’t just tip over in the writing and find yourself in one side or another.

What gets your attention when you go about choosing the books that you read?

More and more lately, I’ve become more mercenary in my reading—and learning to be more shameless about announcing it. That is: I look for myself in books. Reading has become such a selfish act for me. Especially when my inner life gets into periods of hysteria, and the books provide a focus necessary to my quiet.

Channeled thus, my reading insists on following one direction for days on end—someone else’s exploration of a desire, someone’s attempt to give reason to a hunger—and then something recalibrates within me and I look for other books for the new preoccupation: this boy about his longing, that girl about her anger, this clerk about a house he passes on his way to work, this psychiatrist about her starvation.

There can be feverishness to the reading—it’s frantic, panicked.

pushing at the boundaries of their bibliophilic comfort zones.

I have trouble recommending books to friends because I find it too big a responsibility.

And I don’t know if it’s just the usual dilemma between quality and emotional manipulation— because why can’t the books that stab out our hearts the needed way be all good books?

Lang Leav, for example, has spawned so much devotion among millennials. I read someone describe her work as “pandering, and not poetry.” It’s so succinct and I agree with it—but I also realize how complicated the entire situation is: she’s touched so many lives with work that’s anywhere from middling to just plain terribly written. What do you value more then, the home people find in literature or the critical merits of a piece?

Maybe I’m one of those bleeding hearts that just want both—and who actually believe that there are works that succeed on both levels. I guess a telling detail is that I can more confidently recommend romance novels other than Norwegian Wood. Because I’ve read enough romance to establish what I like, and because I can now recognize writing that’s just so damned good, that they’re technically good, that they’re prime examples of craft—but at the same time they stoke your emotions into a frenzy: Books by Tessa Dare or Courtney Milan or Sarah MacLean.

Norwegian Wood will always have my disclaimer that it destroyed me, but I wish that it had been a better book overall.

People say that writing is the output of reading; do you feel the same way? Does it follow that all writers should be readers?

Not all readers need to be writers, but I think it is absolute that all writers be readers foremost.

Otherwise, how do you judge the merits of your own work? How can you hope that it strikes an eventual reader a certain way, when your own reading life needs a lot to be desired? I believe that a writer be a better reader first, before they can commit their own selves to the page.

Do the trends and opinions of other people influence your writing?

It manifests itself in different ways. Looking back, I know that it’s been one form of creature or another in my writing: In my emo days, I wrote stories based on Evanescence lyrics; at the heels of reading Miranda July, the airy but heartrending voice was something I tried so hard to mimic and make my own; there was a time that I wanted to be as succinct as Raymond Carver, and there was a time where the lyricism of the magical realists drew me, and there was a time where the emotional generosity of Lorrie Moore appealed greatly, and there was a time that the honesty and cleverness of Renata Adler and Maggie Nelson called.

It’s an organic thing most especially when you use these influences as a gateway to finding your own voice as a writer. I’ve personally found it so satisfying to see a certain piece diverge from a point of influence. Because if you want to be good at what you do, you have to be good at it in your way. You stand on the shoulders of giants,

GROWING LIBRARY Sasha Martinez picks notable books from a year in reading

H is for Hawk (2014) by Helen Macdonald “Helen Macdonald’s H is for Hawk is a beautiful melding-and-reinvention of the memoir, nature writing, and the literary biography. Macdonald weaves together examinations of her grief, a recounting of her training of an untamable goshawk, and scrutiny of a parallel life by the author T.H. White. It’s a strange mix, one that almost resists curiosity. But once you read, it all falls into place. Within the nearly arcane subject matter lie essential truths. You root for Macdonald and the goshawk Mabel; not least when bluntly stated: ‘The hawk was everything I wanted to be: solitary, selfpossessed, free from grief, and numb to the hurts of human life.’“

Bluets (2009) by Maggie Nelson “‘Mostly I have felt myself becoming a servant of sadness,’ writes the narrator in Maggie Nelson’s slim but devastating Bluets. “I am still looking for the beauty in that.” I read this book as 2014 slid into 2015, hunched against the fireworks painting the night skies too brightly. A meditation on the pervasiveness of the color blue, a graceful course through the erosion of a love affair—all presented in a simple yet clever experimentation on melding the novel and the essay.”

Thrown (2014) by Kerr y Howley “There’s a dearth of beautifully wrought writing on mixed martial arts. Kerry Howley’s Thrown, which follows two athletes on two very disparate paths toward a career in the octagon, is an incisive analysis of what could drive able-bodied men to submit themselves to the rigors of extreme physical prowess, to a regular exhibit of controlled violence. It’s a book that captures the romance of the hard-knocks campaign for athletic greatness, the exhilaration of the spectacle of professional sports. And if the name sounds familiar: A Howley piece, with its grace and temperance and lucidity, on the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight brought her greater attention.”

14 books Sasha’s cat, Keanu Reeves, a British Shorthair mix

but you always have to be trying your damnedest to become one of them yourself eventually.

How do you go about choosing the things you write about? What compels you to write?

Several weeks ago, a good friend of mine gave me two volumes of Anaïs Nin’s unexpurgated diaries. This was the latest in my recent reading list of personal essays, of memoirs, of journals.

Perhaps it’s the din of my own life, perhaps it’s because I actually have something more true to write about—but lately the idea of radical honesty appeals so much to me. And so, lately, I’ve gone back to writing in my journal with more discipline, I’ve been trying my hand at essays—when I write about books, I admit just exactly how it shook me up. The challenge, of course, is not to descend into whiny brattiness. And I suppose that’s where craft comes in.

Do you ever feel pressure to write more?

The pressure to write more has always existed, though it has assumed different iterations over the years. Starting out—that is, being in college and coming into this awareness of the writing community and of these obscure but nearly ironclad rules about what milestones or guideposts one must accomplish to be considered a “serious writer”—it was important to write more because you needed your name out there. It was a more calculating kind of pressure, but it does ingrain in you the value of readership and publication.

And it was a drive that was at least useful as a metric to gauge your growth as a writer: You were only as good as the last story you wrote, put out in the last publication, and you need this awareness always.

But that kind of thirst—which felt almost robotic in some periods—for seeing one’s name in print has faded away. The pressure is more internal these days. Perhaps it’s because I haven’t been churning out fiction with the same regularity as I did a couple of years ago, I want to write more because I miss it. I want to write more because I have stories in me, or stories that I want to pursue—and also I’m curious as to

“I look for myself in books. Reading has become such a selfish act for me especially when my inner life gets into periods of hysteria, and the books provide a focus necessary to my quiet.”

A Little Life (2015)

by Hanya Yanagihara “This year was abuzz with A Little Life

by Hanya Yanagihara, an emotionally generous and occasionally overwhelmingly sorrowful novel following four men and their devastations, large and small. It’s become a popular book since it first flew off the shelves, and readers have been divided in the reception, a reception focused on trying to pin down the answer to: When is fictional suffering too much? I loved A Little Life because one needs kindred spirits, though they live only in books.

A Little Life was a comforting, heavy tome to carry around—it gave voice to secret aches, and it could make one believe that one can, somehow, trudge valiantly and painfully through devastations.”

what I read like now, I’m curious if the craft will be easier just because I’m older and have read more, or if it’s just going to throw me another set of challenges because after all a new set story is always a new frontier in itself.

If our generation’s story would become a book, what would be its synopsis?

As with most books, our generation’s would be about human connection and human foibles.

About how we need to come together, and about all the ways we contrive to be apart. About the appearances we painstakingly assemble for the world, and about how more raw and more naked we can be when we’re away from unwelcome eyes. It will also be about posture, and about disarming. But our generation’s would be more adept at owning up to its loneliness; it would be more aware that in that space between wanting to be the most whole person that you can be and wanting to be a whole person for the rest of humanity, there’s the simplest need to be just whole enough with just enough humans. We’ll point to that space, and we’d own it, and we’d call it what it is. n

I’ll Give You The Sun (2014) and The Sky Is Ever ywhere (2010)

by Jandy Nelson “I don’t read a lot of young adult novels; there’s always the sense that the most of them pull their punches or they simply pander to what they think a younger reader would like to read.

But Jandy Nelson’s oeuvre, small yet though it is, contains some of the most lucid narratives on emotions, most especially of loneliness and belonging and grief. Read I’ll Give You the Sun and The Sky is Everywhere—no other books have touched me the way these two have in the past year. They’re honest and they’re raw, and they’re beautiful written and rich with truths and heartaches and hidden joys.”

tech 15

2 k16 o r b u s t Rounding up 10 things we may (or may not) have this time next year

By ROMEO MORAN Illustrations by MARTIN DIEGOR SCIENCE FICTION writer Arthur C. Clarke summed up the wonder of science, invention, and innovation best: any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Pipe dreams such as Marty McFly’s self-lacing Nike Mags and water-drinking concrete mixes have suddenly become actual things in the last stretch of 2015, so at the rate our leading thinkers are going, we’re gonna have some more magic in our hands by next December.

to infinity and beyond Space tourism was a thing that was, until now, a privilege of the few. By next year, however, it should now be a privilege extended to… slightly more people. Dabbling astronauts may be able to drop ten grand for a quick jaunt to the stratosphere or a stay at a million-dollar space hotel. If this is your dream, better start saving up now.

the real vitamin sea Pretty soon all the beach bums and skincare zealots won’t have to splurge on all kinds of sunscreen. If they stick to the timetable, we could be getting a magical pill that harnesses the way corals protect themselves from UV rays. All you’ll have to do is pop it to prevent sunburn, although people who love the beach can’t be taking it too much for fear of vitamin D deficiency. We wouldn’t want to be a Wall-E-like society of great skin and brittle bones.

raising the dead The Google keywords I used to find out more about this development sound like a presidential campaign (“Woolly Mammoth 2016”) but the science is real—the efforts of the Riken Center for Developmental Biology to resurrect the woolly mammoth in a lengthy process are already underway, and we could be seeing the first part-mammoth elephant born next year, the target date for this whole project. There’s still a lot of things to do and a lot of hurdles to overcome, but succeeding means finally being able to undo some of mankind’s utter stupidity.

16 tech

brands will advertise on Snapchat

more 3D printing There are now 3D printing services in malls that allow you to make little trinkets and tchotchkes, but this technology is gonna be even more mainstream and, more importantly, more important.

We should be able to print more things we need: accessories, food, important medical paraphernalia, car parts… everything except money. But who needs money when you can literally download things into reality?

Buzzfeed and US presidential candidates have been using Snapchat—which boasts 100 million active users daily and stands to earn $50 million this year—to promote their brand and campaigns, and it won’t be long until companies follow suit and mess with the “purity” of the temporary photo-sharing app. Why wouldn’t they take advantage of it, seeing as no one really wants to be involuntarily barraged by advertisements on TV, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

At least they’re a one-and-done deal on Snapchat. (Yay?)

automated traffic management There are no jokes to be made about the sorry state of Philippine traffic because that shit is no joking matter, but we’d like to be optimistic and hope whoever becomes president next year is smart enough to finally do something about it. And when he/she does, he/she will be using intelligent software, like IBM’s Intelligent Transportation which has been in use for a while now in the US, to untangle the urban knots. Consider this both a prediction and a very strong suggestion.

telepathic technology According to IBM, EKG and sensor technology should be advanced enough by next year that gadgets will be able to tell what you’re thinking, and react accordingly.

This actually exists for people with disabilities, but it could finally be ready for the mainstream in 2016. Imagine being able to dial up a friend just by thinking about it, or using the power of your mind to move the cursor on your computer! You probably won’t, however, be able to send someone a booty call invitation at three in the morning just by thinking about it.

tech 17

drone delivery This might be a little iffy, considering couriers are still around because people need jobs and the most advanced drone technology locally available is camera drones, but we may be seeing drones deliver stuff starting next year.

We probably won’t be trusting them with anything bigger than a pizza, though.

iFlix and chill TV and movie streaming is nothing new in the States (it is, after all, where the concept of “Netflix and chill” was born) but it will be growing its foothold here even more by the end of next year.

Local online video on-demand services such as iFlix from Smart, HOOQ from Globe, iWanTV from ABS-CBN, among others are gaining momentum even though millions more still stand by their TV sets—especially when cable channel schedules are either too unreliable or too inconvenient, and torrenting takes too long. I wouldn’t be surprised if “iFlix and chill” does actually become a thing. I’ll be disgusted, but I won’t be surprised.

pimp my ride Slowly but surely, auto manufacturers have been working on little awesome innovations for your cars—they’ve just been able to build wifi hotspots in them, and now they’re teaching them how to drive by themselves. On top of that, the war between the iPhone and the Android will also be making its way to cars, as your car could be powered either by Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, OSes that will take over the stock software that’s on your dashboard. n

18 fashion

the piece :

Ripped and splattered the vibe : Resurrect ugly jeans with DIY abandon. The more destroyed the better! The paint will stand out more on dark denim if mixed with white acrylic.

WAREHOUSE trench coat, FOREVER 21 top, LEE jeans, CONVERSE sneakers

fashion 19

blue crush Rehab your closet with all-new denim Photography by PAOLO CRODUA Styling by JED GREGORIO

the piece :

Zip-up dress The ‘90s saw the decline of zip-up denim after turning it into a glorified tube dress. Now, the sleeveless, collared version is the way to go. Best worn layered. the vibe :

TOPSHOP top, WAREHOUSE dress

20 fashion

the piece :

Drama flares Good ol’ pair of bell-bottoms in all its retro glory, turned up a style notch with a high waist and a true blue wash. An extra touch of braided waistband won’t hurt. the vibe :

FMLR by Danica Familara hat, TOPSHOP top, MISS SELFRIDGE jeans, CONVERSE sneakers

Makeup by SARI CAMPOS feat. MOLLY

fashion 21

the piece :

Culottes overalls If the pinafore dress were pants, equal parts girly and tomboy, depending on how you style it. Also infinitely more sophisticated than workwear dungarees, without a doubt. the vibe :

WAREHOUSE top, TOPSHOP overalls

22 movies

naughty or nice?

From the classics to subversive takes on the season, here are our picks to get you in a festive mood

By NICO PASCUAL Black Christmas (1974) A murderer gives the residents of a sorority house a very scary Christmas by decking the halls with their blood in this early slasher film. Despite its narrative flaws, it is the perfect antidote for all the tinsel and twinkle that Christmas brings.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) A moving tribute to the power of the individual.

This family classic is a true delight, as James Stewart puts on an iconic performance as a good hearted yet suicidal man who is given a chance to look at life again with fresh eyes.

The Silent Partner (1978) This film starts with a Toronto bank teller doublecrossing a department store Santa Claus who is trying to rob his store. This is just the starting premise of a well put together film; something bound to interest the amateur detective in you.

You’ve Got Mail (1998) Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks star as competing bookstore owners who hate each other in real life but unknowingly fall in love through an AOL email chat room. If you are in the mood for a lighthearted romance, watch this.

The Shining (1980) This wintry horror classic starts off innocent enough until Jack Nicholson comes at you in a frenzied attempt to chop your head off with an axe. A must watch if you want something thought provoking for the holidays.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) “Is there anyone that knows what Christmas is all about?” questions Charlie Brown in this uplifting cartoon that sees the Peanuts characters nursing an ailing little Christmas tree and learning the value of cooperation.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999) Opening with a Christmas party, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman become pawns in this sexually charged film filled with lies, adultery, and masked fanatics. Essential for those that want an unnerving yet contemporary Christmas tale.

Gremlins (1984) Do you want a film that is naughty but festive and satirical but cute?

This 1980’s Christmas classic is just for you. The main character Gizmo the mogwai looks like the kind of harmless pet you’d give your loved one—if you were mischievous and want to ruin their Christmas spirit.

Arthur Christmas (2011) Every day feels like Christmas for Authur, son of Santa, as he helps his dad deliver all of the world’s presents in one evening. Let this humorous animation take you on a journey as this clumsy kid leaves the North Pole on a mission, complete with his reindeer and elves in tow.

Joyeux Noel (2005) The WWI Christmas season of 1914 is the setting for this snowy heart-warmer in which British, French, and German soldiers agree on a ceasefire to celebrate Christmas. This is a disarming and moving picture which is sure to bring cheer to those who believe in the goodness of people.

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24 games

new games plus The board games taking over now aren’t what your family used to play on a Saturday night

By ROMEO MORAN Photography by PATRICK SEGOVIA IF YOU HEAR the term “board games” and still think of Scrabble and Snakes and Ladders, you have no idea what you’re missing out on. The board game scene is far more complex and, well, more fun than the childish pastimes you were used to. Catch up with the rest of us with these six board and tabletop games that’ll easily replace Monopoly as the most complicated game you’ve ever played.

Don’t be daunted by the sprawling setup of Game of Thrones. Pretty soon you’ll get the hang of invading your opponents’ territories.

A Game of Thrones: The Board Game

It is: Pretty much the board game version of what each major GoT house wants to accomplish in the series—control of Westeros. You play as one of the seven major Houses as you try to be the one to park your ass on the Iron Throne by way of tactical maneuvering of your armies, proper management of your resources, and deft wielding of your influence. Oh, and surviving whatever the Wildlings have in store for you.

Number of players: 3-6 For: Game of Thrones fans (duh), real-time strategy/turn-based strategy gamers, and people who want a great way to kill at least six hours Not for: Dothraki and Targaryen fans (you can’t play as either), haters of micromanagement You win: When you control seven castles, or if you control the most castles at the end of the game. (This is harder than it seems.)

Complexity: 4/5. The learning curve is forgiving, but doesn’t compromise depth at all. It’s just really long (the original game, that is).

games 25

Dead of Winter

It is: A board game set in the middle of a post-zombie apocalyptic town/city in the middle of an icy winter. (Get it? Dead of Winter?) Players choose a character from the host of survivors in the city to play as, with their own unique traits and skills, as they try to make it through the winter and kill zombies while doing so.

Number of players: 2-5 For: Anyone who’s ever wanted to survive a zombie apocalypse and do so in a realistic way, people who want to play a board game with a story Not for: People who don’t want to process too much information You win: When the players complete all the objectives expected of them, such as killing enough zombies to come up with a cure and having enough supplies at the end of the game.

Complexity: 4/5. All the pieces seem daunting and there’s a lot of explaining to be done, but the logic is easy to grasp.

You’re killing zombies.

Each character in Dead of Winter, represented by these tokens, has a unique ability that changes the way you play the game.

Coup: Reformation

Currency in Coup is marked by chips, which along with the bluffing mechanics present make the game a lot like poker.

Betrayal at House on the Hill

It is: The essential board game equivalent of the old haunted house trope. You and a group of your friends are a group of fictional… friends (the assortment is rather wild, but typical of horror movies) who are exploring a haunted mansion (which is so not a good idea, but that’s also typical of horror movies). You’re going to try to survive omens and special events called Haunts, where the real fun begins, because one of you will start playing against the rest of the group. (Because that person is possessed. Horror movies.)

Number of players: 3-6 For: Classic horror fans, people who are looking for the right game to play on Halloween, players who like being the antagonist, devoted Scooby-Doo fanatics Not for: Scaredy-cats who are easily kept up at night by terrifying mental images You win: When you survive the Haunt and fulfill its particular win conditions (there are so many of them) if you’re part of the good guy team, or when you manage to kill all the good guys if you’re the possessed traitor Complexity: 3/5. The mechanics are straightforward and intuitive (you’re moving through a house), but a lack of tight teamwork is going to lose the game for the good guys.

It is: A tabletop card game of straight-up shrewd maneuvering. You and a group of friends are playing as politicians in some sort of futuristic Renaissance Italy, and you’re all frigging corrupt as hell, trying to stab each other in the back as you play and steal and lie and embezzle your way to be the most influential politician among all of you. A more strategically-complex version of the game involves allegiances.

Number of players: 2-10 For: Poker players, people aspiring to be local politicians someday (we’re kidding… or are we?)

Not for: People who cannot influence other people to save their lives You win: When you’re the last one standing after cutting off everyone else’s influence, either by killing them or staging a coup Complexity: 3/5. The strategic options available to you at the beginning of the game can be a little overwhelming, and newbies will have a tougher time beating veterans of the game. Once you figure out what it is exactly you need to do, however, the game will become very intuitive.

Betrayal is kind of like a tabletop RPG, hinging on stats each player has and crucial dice rolls.

The Resistance: Avalon

These are some of the cards that mark players on the good guy side in Avalon.

(Of course blue means good.)

It is: A tabletop card game of trust, deception, and intuition based on the legend of Camelot. Players are secretly split into two sides, King Arthur’s subjects and the evil forces of Mordred as they race to either complete quests or stop them from succeeding. Various specific characters have special abilities tied to knowing—and faking—who’s who. Best played with some alcohol, trust us.

Number of players: 5-10 For: Poker players, people with trust issues, people who want to divide a group of friends, pathological liars, aspiring actors Not for: People with trust issues You win: When the good guys complete three quests, or when the bad guys stop the good guys from completing three quests or the assassin successfully guesses who Merlin is and kills him Complexity: 2/5. All you need is three minutes of gameplay to figure out how the entire game works—the rest of it is how fast you learn to decipher your friends’ bluffing. n

26 best of 2015

the best of times and We’re not letting 2015 get away without reminding you of it one last time, all (okay, most) of its flaws and perfections, in four pages

best 2015 prediction that came true

Back to the Future self-tying Nike Mag power laces

making grandpa dancing a thing

Drake

To be honest, Drake is better than all of us by simply having the balls to pull that off without a shred of irony. Thanks for all the memes, Aubrey. (We still can’t get your song unstuck from our heads.)

Nike made good by the movie and managed to pull it off with only a couple of months left in the year. While some of us can tie our shoelaces just fine, we’re really happier about the prospect of Mags being more commonplace by next year.

road trip movie of the year

Mad Max

Mad Max ignites the hardcore road warrior in each of us with mobile heavy metal concert from hell. It’s like the Burning Man concert on wheels, with enough gasoline to last you a good year wasted in one chase. Things we need in real life: Flamethrower guitars and cars we would love to drive through EDSA traffic.

best coffee order

“Trenta, no foam, five shot, half-caff, no foam, pumpkin spice latte, with no foam at 210-degrees.”

—Chanel, Scream Queens

sports bae of the year

Steph Curry bandwagon team of the year

The Golden State Warriors

most heartbreaking food news

Bacon is a carcinogen Experts claim that eating bacon may just be as bad for your health as cigarettes. Not that science and the WHO will ever be able to stop people from eating bacon. Even if all the pigs in the world disappeared, humans will find a way to recreate the taste of bacon with vegetables.

Plant-based eggs have been invented, anyway. Why not complete the whole package?

scariest thing we never expected from 2015

Escalators Google: “Elevator eats woman”

saddest cinematic reminder that things have been the same for a hundred years

Heneral Luna You know what we’re talking about if you were gritting your teeth, too, by the time the credits were rolling.

instagram of the year

@socalitybarbie What’s better than having a well-curated, feed-envy inducing, self-aware Instagram grid? Barbie having a well-curated, feed-envy inducing, self-aware Instagram grid. Flatlays on hardwood floors, the photogenic landscape offerings of Portland for a backdrop, single origin-coffee foam art with a Barbie-sized copy of Kinfolk, a ruggedly handsome boyfriend who probably waxes his beard—admit it: she has more instagame than you. Life in plastic, it’s fantastic!

“eureka!” momemnt of the year

NASA finds water on Mars There were many leaps for humankind and science this year but this one takes the cake. After the discovery of the exoplanet Kepler-452b, we freaking find flowing water on Mars. That is mindblowing. There is a Google Doodle celebrating this event and it got everyone thinking the same thing. Is there anyone out there? Aliens, where y’all be hiding?

best excuse to stay out late

The INC rally at EDSA

best of 2015 27

the worst of times best hugs

Floyd Mayweather Jr.

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best shot at heaven

Burger King’s invitation to McDonald’s to create the McWhopper Earlier this year, Burger King extended an invitation to Mickey Dee’s to create the McWhopper—all in the name of world peace. It could have been the perfect fairytale happy ever after…

worst mcletdown

Most amateur boxing commentators (read: people on the Internet with opinions) thought Mayweather hugs too much when he fights. Yes, we acknowledge that clinching is a totally valid defensive tactic in boxing, but on the other hand, a lot of people paid to see a slugfest.

Hello by Adele You said “25” was going to be a make-up album, Adele! You said you were in a better place now! WHY IS THIS JUST AS SAD AS SOMEONE LIKE YOU?!

...but we all know fairy tales ain’t real.

movie that made us sob profusely

best damsel in distress

Matt Damon There’s something about that fella, Matt Damon, that makes the United States think nothing of shelling out billions for rescue missions over and over again (some people have done the math. It checks out to about $900B). Heck, he’s got the world so wrapped around his finger that even China would consider forming an alliance with the US to retrieve his charming ass. China!

unexpected #feels of the year

McDonald’s declining the McWhopper

Inside Out Who’s your friend that likes to… *bawls eyes out*.

Pixar, this was supposed to be a happy film!

rookies of the year

Maine & Alden Mendoza Richards From zero to millions in the space of a few months?

That’s changing the game, love.

best cheerleader

Shia Labeouf

It’s like a minimalist Nike commercial jacked up on steroids with the volume maxed out. Watch this motivational speech and perhaps you’ll stop being a couch potato and “Just Do It” like Shia. And then watch the several remixes it inspired.

most intense breakdown

Tinder

Following a Vanity Fair article that provided social commentary on the dismal state of the young Manhattan dating scene, Tinder went into a social media freak out. They cried foul in 30 tweets, claiming that it was “one-sided journalism” with an “incredibly biased view,” and that it won’t “dissuade” them from “building something that is changing the world.” It may or may not be a PR stunt, but Tinder needs to find some inner peace and chill.

best reinvention we didn’t know we wanted until we saw it

Chuck Taylor II worst food idea

Ketchup that isn’t red

28 best of 2015

sports achievement of the year (that more people need to know about)

artist who you really need to take seriously after 2015

Carly Rae Jepsen

Philippine national triathlon team wins gold at this year’s SEA Games

With the release of “E•MO•TION” (2015), our favorite tiny Canadian finally got the praise she has always deserved. I Really Like You, not even the strongest song in the album, managed to catch our fancy (it helps that Tom Hanks starred in the music video) before Run Away With Me came out of nowhere and punched us in the gut with the feels. “Kiss” (2012) was pretty awesome, too, but it’s never too late to worship at the Church of Jepsen.

franchise reboot we hope isn’t as disappointing as the last time it was rebooted

Because we’re a nation obsessed with basketball (and football second) we never really know that we do excel in other fields.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

medal of courage

Caitlyn Jenner Because bravery is not just about facing others (and that’s a huge part of it after all the mud that’s been slung Caitlyn’s way), but also about facing yourself. As cliched as it may sound, it really is being true to who you are.

best at self sabotage

Taylor Swift Perish the thought someone has anything less than glowing to say about you. For our award winner, a scarier thought: having people not talk about you AT ALL. We can also dub this the “self-insertion” award (case in point: making something out of nothing from Nicki Minaj’s Twitter rant on women of color in media).

Not everything is about you, T-Swizzle. You. You. You.

We’ll avoid the easy Jar Jar Binks joke and just say that The Phantom Menace was also heavily hyped back in its day.

We’re approaching this one with caution. We’re excited, but we’ve been burned too much by the prequel trilogy.

hunger games fashion moment

Balmain X H&M Blood, sweat and tears. Not from the factory (not that we know the working conditions the factory workers were subjected to…) but from the collection’s worldwide release. We hear people lined up outside their local H&Ms a week prior and that there was chaos and hair pulling involved. Um. Scared.

identity crisis

Grace Poe Grace Poe was faced with issues on her bid for presidency over the legitimacy of her citizenship, which prompted people to dig deeper into her personal affairs. The fact that the world knows squat about her parentage never helped.

People have gone so far to even call her “stateless”, meaning she doesn’t belong anywhere. It’s a tough life.

best time to get drunk

Scout House Party

We’re not pulling this out of our asses. You totally drank all the beer. ALL OF IT.

song (that we really didn’t want and wish would go away now) of the year

Watch Me by Silento

best at getting offended by everything

Tumblr

There’s nothing wrong with being politically correct (heck, that’s the point, right?) and the citizens of Tumblr were good at calling out those who thought otherwise, but then some users started to aggressively push their ideals on other people, sometimes to a certain degree bordering on offensive. It’s kind of ironic, really.

worst thing to happen to sagada

That Thing Called Tadhana Right after the movie screened in big theaters, people went up there for some showbiz-inspired catharsis. Although shouting over a scenic chasm may work to serve you some closure, you do realize that Mt. Kiltepan isn’t the only mountain where you can scream your feels out?

best game announcement

Pokémon GO We don’t care if we’ll look like idiots playing it—the magic of augmented reality technology allows Pokémon to be caught IN THE REAL WORLD! Out of the way!

horrifying trend news Man buns cause receding hairlines (traction alopecia) Besides, real talk: The only man buns most people really care about are...

THOSE BUNS, HUN.

best of 2015 29

artist (whose work is secretly cool to listen to now) of the year

best closeup

Pluto’s first clear photo from NASA Pluto be like: “Yo NASA, you dumped me years ago. Now you’re driving by my house real slow?”

surprise, bitch

Missy Elliot comes out with new song, WTF (Where They From)

Justin Bieber

Rody Duterte & Donald Trump

What do you mean you like the Biebs? Once upon a time, it was considered worthy of being a social pariah if songs like One Time and Baby were your jams.

Now your Spotify search history knows too much, but we think we can hear it approve this time.

(It’s a tie)

best “faith in humanity restored” moment

“Is this dress white and gold or blue and black?”

Miley Cyrus had 10 outfit changes and only about two of them did not make us want to gouge our eyes out with a spork.

This can go two ways.

You can either look like a Tatooine native, or you may have just found your taong grasa costume. It’ll probably only set you back $1,200, no big deal.

best biopic

Straight Outta Compton In a year filled with sequels and highly original movies, there is one genre of film which always hits home: The Biopic. This year, no one expected this film about Hip-Hop’s original bad boys which resulted in Dr. Dre releasing a new album. A must watch.

master of inappropriate outfit choices

Miley Cyrus at the VMAs

best at taking advantage of mindless consumerism

It’s only a tie, really, because the real winner depends on where you live. In the case of either man, it’s hard to be in the gray area of opinions; you either really want them to win next year’s elections or are planning to pack your bags and move to another country if they do.

Yeezy Spring 2016

USA’s legalization of same sex marriage f.o. moment of the year

most polarizing political personality of 2015

2015 meme that needs to go away

Unexpected Cena This decade’s Rickroll, in which John Cena suddenly emerges from whatever person was just trying to introduce himself, is not funny, never was, and never will be.

one-sided rap beef of the year

Drake vs.

Meek Mill

Whether you believe it was an actual slaughter or a paid dive on Meek’s part to make Drake look even more legit (it was, after all, an excuse to release two poppin’ songs), we can all agree that Meek Mill, for those who are already aware of him, is never the same again after taking that L.

most unnecessary sequel award

A Second Chance The original One More Chance was an institution in quality local storytelling. Why mess with a perfectly ambiguous ending by shedding light on the dangerous doldrums of married life? Nobody wants to see Popoy and Basha file for annulment over a Meralco bill, damn!

best burn

Nicki Minaj

This year’s VMAs was definitely not the best time to be Miley Cyrus. The pop star was called out due to her remarks against Minaj, and as Nicki went up to the stage to accept her reward, she totally lost her chill and dissed Miley so hard, even water can’t put out that BURNNNN.

30 on the cover

FMLR by DANICA FAMILARA coat

on the cover 31

to Interview by ROMEO MORAN

pimp Photography by CENON NORIAL III

a Styling by JED GREGORIO

butterfly Whether she realizes it or not (and she probably does) Jasmine Curtis-Smith is the wayward millennial’s true spirit animal

I HAVE TO ASK, in the middle of an articulate and well-thought out rant, Jasmine Curtis-Smith if she’ll allow me to print anything and everything she’s just said, and has yet to say.

“Yeah, I guess?” she says, a bit hesitant.

But in the space of a nanosecond, literally blink-and-you’llmiss-it, that hesitance immediately turns into unabashed swagger. “Yeah! I’m just being honest, right?” she follows up quickly, each word in this sentence slightly slurred, dripping with the confidence of knowing just what it is you’re talking about. It is the swagger of a thousand falling pipebombs.

I feel like it’s the thousandth time I’ve had to ask her this in the course of this interview, when it’s really only the first—I guess I must’ve been silently asking her in my head over the many times she’s made a brutally honest opinion about, well, the industry she’s in. She does not hold back and by God, I appreciate her for it, especially after going through a glut of personalities proffering safe answers to protect themselves.

Or managers chiding me for publishing things they’d rather not share with the world. Truth is in short supply around these parts.

What’s better, though, is that she’s also wise enough to not overplay her cards and be too aggressive. I appreciate her all the more for that. You should, too.

I would have never revisited the most recent Kendrick Lamar album to seek a little inspiration if Jasmine didn’t blast King Kunta and Alright while she was being made up for her shoot. I would have never taken another listen, until probably much later, to the album’s epic closing track, Mortal Man, which

is split in two halves. The first is a normal rap song with a normal composition, and the second an ethereal moment in which Kendrick converses, through the magic of editing technology, with the long-dead Tupac Shakur.

Their conversation is capped with a poem.

The caterpillar is a prisoner to the streets that conceived it Its only job is to eat or consume everything around it, in order to protect itself from this mad city While consuming its environment the caterpillar begins to notice ways to survive One thing it noticed is how much the world shuns him, but praises the butterfly The butterfly represents the talent, the thoughtfulness, and the beauty within the caterpillar But having a harsh outlook on life the caterpillar sees the butterfly as weak and figures out a way to pimp it to his own benefits Already surrounded by this mad city the caterpillar goes to work on the cocoon which institutionalizes him He can no longer see past his own thoughts He’s trapped Jasmine Curtis-Smith is a caterpillar. She is a millennial who isn’t entirely happy in the jungle she lives in, an unforgiving landscape she never wanted to be part of in the first place, one of fakery and prancing and absurdity and conformity and relentless, sometimes degrading work. Like the best of us tend to do as much as the worst of us, she falls into an existential trap every now and then, usually in solitude and exhaustion,

32 on the cover

SM ACCESSORIES barrette and necklace (worn throughout), FMLR by DANICA FAMILARA coat, TOPSHOP top and skirt. Opposite: SM ACCESSORIES glasses, WAREHOUSE top

on the cover 33

34 on the cover

MISS SELFRIDGE top, FMLR by DANICA FAMILARA pants

on the cover 35

“Sometimes, I forget that maybe there are some things I do have to do, as part of my job that I may not enjoy. I have to do it, so I get to the point where I can do whatever the hell I want.” questioning her place in the world. (I just had one this morning, myself.)

She brays, sometimes, at the thought of doing what very few would ever want to do, even if she recognizes that everyone has things in their life that they must do if they want to get anywhere.

Sometimes, or maybe more than sometimes, she gets tired of it. (“Heavily-dramatized teleseryes, I’m so tired of that bullshit. Like, really?

Okay, it’s 2015, everyone’s watching everything else. If you wanna dramatize anything, do something like Scandal, or I don’t know, some freaky shit!”) After all, she’s trapped in the same mad city as the rest of us, and you’re a fucking god, an immortal if you’re able to not let it get to you at least once. I prod her gently, and she’s open and willing enough to admit to breaking down earlier this year, letting the worst of her get the better. The environment consuming her, instead of the other way around. You know how that feels, right? When you’re stuck in the middle of the grind, doing everything you have to just to get by, while a personal crisis creeps up on you?

“Before starting No Filter, definitely. I had a major breakdown.

Even throughout the first run of No Filter, I was just having this, I guess, anxiety about myself and my career and who I was going to be,” she shares. “I just was questioning myself and everything that I was doing. I think it just took a toll on me and one night, I was like, ‘[I quit].’ [I don’t want to be friends with my friends anymore], I don’t want [it] anymore.

It took a toll on me.”

Unlike most other hamsters on this wheel, however, she takes to expressing herself through poetry, through the verses you’ll see on her Tumblr account. (That, by the way, is a very millennial concept to wrap your head around.) The words, her own way of parsing reality into beautiful metaphors, all betray—and not by any mere coincidence—an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the system she finds herself in.

“I don’t wanna beat around the bush anymore,” Jasmine says. “Like I said, I’ve tried to keep all this inside, but it just builds up and you bring yourself down when you do that, and you’re just like, why can’t I just be real and let people know? I guess I’ve had enough pretentious crap from all these other celebrities and all these other people in this industry. So I wanna be one of those people who’s just open. I’ll tell you how it is; if I don’t like it, I’ll let you know, but I’m not gonna be a bitch about it. All this faking is tiring.”

If she sounds too persnickety and ungrateful for every blessing she’s received at this point, consider that nobody ever finds themselves in this position—one that is unenviable, to begin with—by voluntary conformity.

Nobody ever wants to be tossing and turning in bed, desperately wishing they knew all the answers so they can finally sleep easy. (If you think you’d like that while sitting on a fortune, you’re either lying or lacking a soul.) If Jasmine is stuck at the crossroads, it’s only because she had the audacity to question whether she was going the right way.

The poem doesn’t end there.

When trapped inside these walls certain ideas take roots, such as going home, and bringing back new concepts to this mad city The result?

Wings begin to emerge, breaking the cycle of feeling stagnant Finally free, the butterfly sheds light on situations that the caterpillar never considered, ending the internal struggle Although the butterfly and caterpillar are completely different, they are one and the same.

Truth is, Jasmine Curtis-Smith is also a butterfly. For as much as she is surrounded by the things she doesn’t want to do, for as much as she

is frustrated with the jungle and its merciless rules and the façade she must sometimes wear in order to survive, she has managed to learn a lesson most people angry at the world they live in take longer to grasp.

That breakdown she had? She was able to bounce back. That’s an achievement, because there are some who can’t say the same. “A few weeks later, after talking to a few people, I was able to just bounce back from it and head back to work,” she reveals. “Also, what helped was when—the show’s over, but when I did No Filter, having all these monologues to read and to relate to what these writers were going through, it was such a great way to feel that things get better and you’re not alone and you can get through this. After that, I was okay. You’re 21.

You’re still a kid. You got a long way to go.” She lets go of those last few words surely and comfortably.

It’s been over a month since she’s posted on her Tumblr, and almost two months since she’s burst out in sadness and anger on the same space. She’s been okay, she says when I ask her; I was a little bit concerned, and I think anyone would be when they read the words.

(She fully understands, unlike an angsty teenager bleeding all over the page in his or her young life, the expectations her writings create.) She’s been hanging out with a group of friends who seem to be infusing her with a new kind of energy. An energy to fight back, and keep fighting that good fight.

“There’s this book that I just finished, and it’s called I Just Graduated... Now What? and it’s by Katherine Schwarzenegger. It’s interviews that she did with all these different people,” Jasmine tells me. “Like the creator of SPANX, John Legend, her mom, her dad, all these people who have made it big. And they all started the same way, like, oh, I just finished college. What now? Or I’m doing this now, this is my work now. Sometimes, I forget that maybe there are some things I do have to do, as part of my job that I may not enjoy. But it’s part of it.

It’s tiring and everything, and it might make me look like a hypocrite because of what I always wanna talk about and wanna share, but I think for any job, there are things [where] you just don’t have a choice. That I have to do it, so I get to the point where I can do whatever the hell I want.”

It is in this realization—a moment of Zen, if you will—where she takes the things that bog her down and turn them into the driving forces that’ll make her better. It’s a mark of maturity to accept this sad, uncomfortable truth about life, a truth a great many of us in this generation are trying to fight against (just try counting how many “do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life” posts you run into on the internet) but it’s an even bigger deal to realize what to do with this information. The young, immature rebel will reject and question the mundane motions every adult must go through—it takes wisdom to realize and process the value of the bullshit.

It’s easily her butterfly moment; she’s breaking out of that cocoon if she burst forth from it already. While she can’t claim to be happier after reaching that truth—it’s still a sad part of life, after all—she claims she’s been able to handle her stress better since then. This, I guess, is how she’s got that swagger now. The rest of us would be lucky just to even have a way of dealing, but the lesson is here for us to learn.

I tell her she’s lucky that she learned this lesson at 21. Some people can live their whole lives without discovering this; I’m jealous she’s figured it out sooner.

“I just hope, though, that it stays there, that I keep remembering it,” she replies. There is a tone of giddy optimism in her voice, as though this time, nothing can drag her too far down. Not even after already having had a breakdown.

I, too, am hopeful for her—because if Jasmine Curtis-Smith can pull off becoming a butterfly, well damn, so can the rest of us. n

Makeup by JOHN PAGADUAN Hair by APRIEL SEGUIN Shot on location at CUBAO EXPO Special thanks to MY BREATHING SPACE

36 fashion

all dressed up

H&M jacket, top, and shorts. Opposite: H&M top, RIVER ISLAND knit sweater, LEVI’S pants

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Photography by PAOLO CRODUA Styling by JED GREGORIO

38 fashion

H&M dress. Opposite: H&M earrings, RIVER ISLAND tunic, SUITE BLANCO cardigan and pants

with nowhere to go

fashion 39

Makeup by JELLY EUGENIO feat. SAM

40 fashion

RENAN PACSON jacket. All Opposite: from RENAN RENAN PACSON PACSON jacket, shirt, and trousers

charming

fashion 41

featured art Apog

by Leslie de Chavez Lime powder and soil 800 x 500 cm 2015

Styling by MARTIN DIEGOR Photography by RAEN BADUA

42 fashion

NIﾃ前 ANGELES jumpsuit, DR. MARTENS shoes. Opposite: NIﾃ前 ANGELES shirt and trousers

fashion 43

44 fashion

ODELON SIMPAO jacket and trousers, DR. MARTENS shoes. Opposite: ODELON SIMPAO jacket

Grooming by SYLVINA LOPEZ Stylist’s assistant YSABEL VICTORIANO Shot on locationa at the MUSUEM OF CONTEMPORARY ART AND DESIGN www.mcadmanila.org.ph feat. VICTOR

featured art 105 Degrees and Rising

by Pio Abad Inkjet print on matte vinyl Dimension variable 2015

fashion 45

46 humor

By DANIELLE CHUATICO

humor 47

48 scene

night of the living dead Whoever said Halloween is for kids couldn’t be more wrong Photography by EUNICE SANCHEZ

Brigada

WITH THE SPIRIT of Dia de los Muertos—the Mexican Day of the Dead—the Axon at Green Sun was eerily decorated wall to wall, from floor to ceiling, with cobwebs, candles, flowers for the dead and the recurring theme of the night, skulls, for Allhallowtide, Scout’s arts and music Halloween party thrown last Oct. 29.

A giant disco skull loomed overhead as partygoers, who all brought their costume A-game, danced the night away to music courtesy of Wilderness, Brigada, The Zombettes, Motherbasss and YourDirtyOne. Everybody got the chance to let loose and get into the mood thanks to the Bacardi Black open bar.

By the ofrenda was the Allhallowtide exhibit, featuring personal interpretations of the calavera, or sugar skulls, by 40 local artists, namely Adrian Alfonso, Aquila, Bru Sim, Blic, Chico Zapotilla, Cos Zicarelli, Dante Dizon, Drone, Dirty One, Doctor Karayom, Dyani Lao, Egg Fiasco, Ekis Da Menace, Fabo, Eva Yu, Ferdz Valencia, Geloy Concepcion, Ivana Tyler, James Esguerra, Jerik Robleza, J Pacena, Jj Zamoranos, Kiko Escora, Luis Cruz, Marcushiro, Miles Fabonan, Mimi Tecson, Neil Arvin Javier, Noli Coronado, Quatro, Quiccs, Rai Cruz, Raizel Go, Ralph Espiritu, Rurik Tabafunda, Sidney Valdez, Tyang, Vermont Coronel, Wham, and Wesley Valenzuela.

Special thanks to Bacardi, Tapa from Heaven, Empanada Mas, Lucky’s Burger Bar, Bonsai and students from Asia Pacific College.

—CAI MAROKET

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