VANCOUVEREYE ZINE

VANCOUVER’S PREMIER CULTURAL CONNOISSEUR By Tom Choy Vancouver, British Columbia “It’s not the years in your life but the life in your years that counts.”   ADLAI STEVENSON Mel Tobias, the consummate culture and arts connoisseur and patron, breathes, lives and personifies the Vancouver’s Filipino-Canadian  arts and cultural life. He was a perennial participant in the Cannes Film Festival in the South of France. He wrote for international publications like Variety and the Philippine Star in Manila. Mel is no longer with us and is now on” the other side.” Mel may no longer be around, but his influence and impact on the promotion of Pinoy content in Fil-Canadian arts and culture in Vancouver are still quite felt by a lot of people he came across. " I owe Mel the success of the Dahong Pilipino Directory (which featured a lot of Tobias articles and writings about the success stories of Pinoys in Lotusland) to Mr. Tobias," proclaims Leo "Jun" C...

"CARDINAL TAGLE DOES A LOT OF THINGS FOR THE HOLY SEE" Archbishop Michael Miller by Tom Choy Vancouver, British Columbia His Eminence Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila recently visited the Catholic faithful of Vancouver. Praising the young performers in a musical before his keynote speech at a Catholic rally held at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Downtown Vancouver, he said  " Isn't it wonderful when it is sung, when it is danced...?," referring to the mini-musical show the young people of Vancouver just performed.  The Cardinal prefers to be called simply Cardinal Chito. For tonight's rally, don't expect Cardinal Chito to be quoting  chapter and verse numbers   of the Holy Bible. . He would rather tell stories and weave the gift of faith and God's love through stories of people he encounters everyday from anywhere in the world. The whole night, Cardinal Chito told stories upon stories of the people he come across in the ...

XFACTOR ISRAEL WINNER ROSE CROONS LOTUSLAND by Tom Choy Vancouver, British Columbia " Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but playing a poor hand well."   Robert Louis Stevenson When  Rose Fostanes won the XFactor Israel a couple of years ago, she was still a caregiver for an adult client. The country was strict when it comes to having a licence to earn money for foreigners. When she won the singing contest(on TV), she was initially not allowed to earn any money except being a caregiver. In the end, things worked out well for her when the country issued her singing licence. Rose or Osang, just like a lot of Pinoys or people with Pinoy blood simply blessed with the gift of music like Bruno Mars and Apl D Ap, is herself a magical singer. Osang, now 51, ever since she was 3 years old has been singing. She has competed in various amateur singing contests in the Philippines. When she won some amateur singing contests in the Philippines, she brought home th...