Author Archives: Camille Paterno

Denver Broncos agrees to trade Von Miller to LA Rams

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(Von Miller/ LA Times)

Eight-time Pro Bowl linebacker for the Denver Broncos, Von Miller, was traded to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday. In exchange for Miller, the Rams will send a second-round pick and third-round selection in the 2022 NFL draft to the Broncos.

There was an ESPN interview with Miller where you can see that he was getting quite emotional about the trade. The linebacker told reporters that he was surprised by the trade. He said that it was hard to put into words and that his emotions are still raw. But he thanks everyone as he goes off to LA.

He even hosted a Halloween party for teammates and friends that Sunday night, and the next morning, he was at the team’s suburban Denver complex to say his goodbyes to coaches and teammates.

I’m sure that there will be several explanations for this trade in the coming days.

Miller who is 32, and kicker Brandon McManus were the only remaining players on the roster who played in Super Bowl 50 for the Broncos.

I think the key here too is Miller’s health since he missed all of last season with an ankle injury. He’s also been battling an ankle sprain for the past couple of weeks.

Kyle Beach and Chicago Blackhaws meet today regarding sexual assault allegations

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So, if you haven’t heard about it yet, the hockey athlete, Kyle Beach sued the Chicago Blackhawks team earlier this year. In case you don’t know, he joined the Chicago Blackhawks team at the NHL entry draft in 2008.

(Kyle Beach/NHL)

Here are the facts:

Beach sued the team on May 7 of this year, stating that in 2010, then-video coach Brad Aldrich sexually assaulted him and a teammate during Chicago’s Stanley Cup run. The team ignored it but, last week, they released the findings of an investigation pursued by Reid Schar, a former fed prosecutor.

Schar released his findings which showed that on May 8 or 9 from 11 years ago (which makes it year 2010), Aldrich and 20-year-old Beach at the time, and just out of junior hockey, might I add—had a sexual encounter.

Aldrich said that it was consensual, and Beach said that it was not. In fact, Beach told investigators that Aldrich did more than just threaten physical violence against him unless he engaged in the act.

This next part is also going to be cringing because according to the report, he said that Aldrich told him he “needed to act like he enjoyed the sexual encounter or [he] would never play in the NHL ‘or walk’ again.”

Basically, Schar’s reports also showed that the big guys of the team talked, and instead of focusing on what Beach’s situation was at the time, they focused on getting into the Stanley Cup finals.

His lawyer, Susan Loggans, said last Saturday that she and Beach are having a meeting scheduled today with the team to discuss the case on the agenda.

Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz said that he has instructed team attorneys to “see if we can reach a fair resolution consistent with the totality of the circumstances”.

General manager Stan Bowman and senior vice president of hockey operations Al MacIsaac were fired for their handling of Beach’s allegations when they learned about them in 2010.

Honestly, my heart goes out to Kyle Beach. He is incredibly brave for coming out and facing all of this. I want to say that I hope he gets the justice he deserves but I also know that it will never be truly justified because what’s done is done.

I hope that all teams learn from this and really do what’s best for their members going forward.

Former coaches of Whitecaps involved in sexual misconduct allegations

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(Whitecaps Logo/Wikipedia)

After Bob Birarda, who is a former coach, was previously accused of inappropriate conduct and is currently facing nine sex-related charges in BC provincial court, the Vancouver team is dealing with the same thing by another former coach of the club’s now-defunct women’s team.

If you haven’t heard yet, a report by The Guardian last Thursday, featured former player Malloree Enoch accusing the former head coach of the Whitecaps women’s team in 2010 and 2011, Hubert Busby Jr. She said that during a recruiting process, he attempted to solicit sex from her.

Whitecaps CEO Axel Schuster released a statement last week revealing that Major League Soccer (MLS) will be launching an investigation into the handling of the Busby situation that will be led by independent counsel.

Schuster said that he has reached out to Malloree Enoch. He mentioned,

“I have not spoken with her to look better or to share something. But I can confirm that I have reached out to her. I don’t want to [have it] look like I have only done [so] that I now can tell all the media that I’ve spoken with her. I’ve done it with a real intention, and for that reason, I don’t even like to speak too much about it.”

He adds that he has sent out an email to every player connected with the Whitecaps to feel free to connect with him confidentially. They have a whistleblower email and whistleblower phone number where people can reach out to a third party to bring up things anonymously.

I think that is a really great step to direct people to a third party to do this as it makes it feel fairer.

You know, it’s quite bittersweet to me that all these sexual misconducts are coming to light when it comes to teams and in sports. It’s like I’m happy that more and more of these issues are being dealt with but at the same time, it’s sad that there are just too many of them.

I hope that came out right. I guess what I mean is that I’m happy that justice will be served but also, I’m sad that they had to go through that and will now have to kind of go through it again. It’s brave.

Canucks are in a slump

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The Vancouver Canucks as a team went 0-3 and now go into the first week of November on a three-game losing streak while remaining winless on home ice.

The Canucks’ home opener at the Rogers Arena was not too long ago. The place was buzzing during the national anthem, the chants of “Go, Canucks, go” were heard throughout the arena. It was an amazing and epic atmosphere.

Sadly, the beloved team could not harness the energy in the building and make a big W for their loyal followers! The struggle was real to maintain any sort of momentum throughout the game and at one point, ended up dropping a 3-2 decision to Cam Talbot and the Minnesota Wild.

Do you remember the last time the Canucks won a game at Rogers Arena? No?

The answer: over 600 days. Ago.

(Canucks and NY Islanders/Canucks Army)

The last time Canucks fans walked away happy from the arena was back in March of 2020. Remember when we beat the New York Islanders 5-4 in a shootout? It was awesome!

But yeah, that was over 600 days ago. Basically, ancient history!

After that, it’s just been, sad to say, downhill as of late.

I wonder what it is.

Is it us? Is it Rogers Arena? These are rhetorical questions, by the way.

The fans have only been able to cheer 4 goals and none of them have been scored by J.T. Miller, Conor Garland, or Elias Petterson. So far, the only stars with goals on the homestand are Hughes and Bo Horvat. The Canucks have also never led in any of the games.

If the Canucks hope to save this homestand and finish with a winning record by their final game against the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 9, their first periods must be their BEST PERIODS.

All that said, still…

GO, CANUCKS, GO!

Beyond the Sidelines – Ernestine Tiamzon and her volleyball career in the Philippines

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Ernestine Tiamzon who was born in South Cotabato, Philippines, moved to Canada when she was young. Here, she discovered her love for volleyball and at 18, got an opportunity to become a scholar and play as an athlete in one of the universities in the Philippines.

Listen to this episode and learn about Tin’s experiences in her volleyball career, coming out, and more.

Follow Tin on Instagram: @ernietiamzon

A budding duo: Lush Fleece

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(Lush Fleece Live Performance/Lush Fleece)

Chilli and Barry have been musicians since they were in their teens and twenties, practically their whole lives. But it wasn’t until a few months into the pandemic that they decided to release music through a project they believed in. It was a manifestation of both their experiences and creativity.

And I’m glad they did.

Lush Fleece considers itself a creative entity that communicates feelings through sound with a goal to make music that is sonically pleasing and uplifting.

Inspired by a variety of music like contemporary rap, 70’s and 80’s funk and jazz, Japanese City Pop, 90’s R&B, and of course artists like Frank Ocean and Amy Winehouse – the duo describes their music as indie-soul, R&B, and sometimes alternative pop.

Barry mentioned that their music has very dark undertones on almost every song and that there are a lot of hidden meanings in it:

“Chilli’s songwriting process is often an outlet for a lot of his mental and emotional struggles. If you read between the lines and find the alternative meanings for some of our lyrics, you’ll find there is a lot of pain and sadness being reflected in our songs.”

My favourite thing about Lush Fleece apart from their music is the wholesomeness in their creative process:

“We make all of our music in the back of a furniture warehouse, where Barry works. Just about every sound you hear on a Lush Fleece track was made in that warehouse. We often session in the evenings, our set-up varies with every session. Sometimes we have song ideas that we build through making demos and then re-recording parts. Other times we just start from scratch and write everything in the warehouse over the course of several sessions. Our creative process is sometimes chaotic, we both get “in the zone” and just release our feelings through different sounds and try to put them together into something that makes sense.”

Lush Fleece is working on finishing a great follow-up to “blue” and I’m pretty stoked about that.

Check out their Instagram to see more of them.

Take it EZ with Raincity

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If you’re into Amy Winehouse, Moon Hooch, Queen, and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, you’re probably going to be into this Vancouver-based Funk-Rock group.

Raincity is a group fronted by female leads on sax and vocals rich with disarming interplay and fiery verve. They first came together as a jazz trio in 2016 before becoming a 5-piece band.

Now, the band and its five members: Clare Twiddy (vocals), Kaylar Chan (saxophone), Ryley Kirkpatrick (guitar), Sheldon D’eith (drums), and Ginger Chen (bass), have their latest 2021 single, EZ.

(EZ Official Music Video/Raincity)

This song is just another of the great songs they launched this year namely “Sweat!” and “Diamonds”. In a Facebook post, the band mentions that “EZ is a comment on the societal expectation of women to always be polite and quiet. The song was inspired by the experience of holding back emotions then exploding with rage from pushing everything down. The video takes this idea further by looking at how we deal with our inner demons and find peace.”

When I think about the saxophone, I immediately think of jazz or sexy scenes. More specifically, the intro to Careless Whisper. I have never really associated this woodwind instrument with rock, so, when I heard sax break in Raincity’s EZ, I was amazed. Forgive me, but I initially thought it was an electric guitar making that sound. But after listening to it more and watching the music video for this single, I was in awe of how badass it was.

Definitely, a treat to watch and listen to!

Raincity is having a Halloween Show on October 29, 2021, called Raincity Returns: Halloween @ The Wise Hall & Lounge and is currently SOLD OUT! Their guests are Old Soul Rebel, Chase the Bear, and a special drag performance by Gray Magik.

Click here to learn more about the event: https://www.facebook.com/events/274819441162229/?ref=newsfeed

Mother Mother’s daddy has got a gun, you better run

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You better run to the ticket booths… Mother Mother is coming to Vancouver this December.

One can say that IT’S STARTED WITH A HAY…LOFT…

Thanks to TikTok, the Canadian indie rock band from the Y2Ks has soared to new heights, practically overnight, with their viral song Hayloft, Wrecking Ball, and Arms Tonite, all from the band’s 2008 album O My Heart.

[Tiktok Compilation/Oscar Kip YouTube]

Their latest album is called Inside where they have reunited with the same producer for O My Heart, Howard Redekopp. But unlike their 2008 album, Inside is a pandemic record that is dense and dark. It includes 14 songs including my personal favourite, “Forgotten Souls”.

Of course, it is directly related to what’s happening during the lockdowns from the pandemic and its effects. It’s about facing adversity and as the “garden grows in frozen rain”, forgotten souls can prosper despite their pain. I find that very hopeful, especially during these unprecedented times. Although we are slowly getting back to normal, we are still far from it, so we shouldn’t lose faith.

Many of Mother Mother’s song lyrics also challenge conformity and participation in cisnormative societal roles which I find awesome. In a Rolling Stone article last year, the band was interviewed about their huge success among Gen Zs and in the trans community. When asked, Ryan Guldemond said he doesn’t know why their older music has taken off with young fans in 2020. But his theory was that today’s society is more accepting of self-expression than before.

“I love that young people don’t know what radio is,” Guldemond says. “The parallels of music’s evolution and the evolution of human identity are very loud. I think that’s encouraging. People have more options to be themselves and music doesn’t have to be boxed in. The two can kind of bloom together.”

The band will be back to perform at the Commodore Ballroom in downtown Vancouver, BC from December 2 to 5 this year. Get your tickets here: https://www.mothermothersite.com/.

 

 

Dey Rose all dey, everydey

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Where my Filipinos at?

Dey Rose is a Vancouver-based Filipino musician, audio engineer, and singer-songwriter. She is originally from Pampanga and Baguio City in the Philippines.

Musician Dey Rose and her guitar

(Dey Rose/Dey Rose website)

Rose’s vocals are an integral part of her sound, which is a blend of alternative rock, soul, jazz, and acoustic styles.

She was discovered in a talent-search show “Wishcovery”, where she became a finalist and soon after debuted “Panting Heart” under Lilystar Records in 2020. Panting Heart features 6 songs that include 2 Filipino songs namely “Paulit-Ulit” and “Di Mo Lang Alam”, which are my personal favourites.

 

The former Tagalog songs are great for all you Filipino Evolution fans. Especially at this time of year where it’s mostly cold, gloomy, and wet, and you want to feel “senti” (sentimental). Dey Rose will quench that thirst for you.

I don’t know about you but there is something about lyrics that are written and sung in your mother tongue that just, as what we say these days, “HIT DIFFERENT”. All of a sudden, they just feel and mean much more because of the depth of each word while entwined together with the music.

It somehow takes you back to a familiar place. A place where you have once felt happiness, hurt, joy, sadness, and longing, all at the same time.

The sincerity in Dey Rose’s songs with the accompaniment of her guitar feels like you are in your own music video and she is in the background singing for you.

On September 17th, Rose released her latest single, “Hurricane”. This 3 minute and 27-second single somehow gave me a subtle Blondie plus Serena Ryder vibe, with a dash of Tegan from Tegan and Sara and a splash of The Lumineers.

It’s a great song while you’re sitting in front of a campfire or while driving on Coquihalla Road.

How does that saying about roses go again?

Stop and listen to Dey Rose, wasn’t it?