The Mission Statement
The Dashing Fellows provides a platform of self-aggrandizement for a collective of young thinkers, all of whom write, some of whom write well, and would otherwise have nothing better to do.
The Masthead
Max Arambulo, Founder / Writer
Hopefully, working with his friends, their empty laughter and cheap digs, will keep Max writing regularly.
One thing he believes above all else is that styles make fights. Apollo gets a points win over Clubber, Clubber likely drops Drago in the mid-to-late rounds, and everyone knows what the Russian did to Apollo.
Anthony Van Pham, Managing Editor / Writer
Anthony is a filmmaker, photographer, lawyer, human rights activist, and journalist, each of which he does to wildly varying degrees of success and competence.
His heroes include Dave Eggers, Barack Obama, Stephen Lewis, and Batman, though the order differs from day to day.
Anthony also believes very adamantly that Yazujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story, Woody Allen’s Crimes & Misdemeanors, and Richard Linklator’s Before Sunrise & Sunset, possess all of the lessons needed to know in life.
Colin Ellis, Managing Editor / Writer
Colin Ellis is not rich, or famous, or even remotely successful. But he does write, and he does it well, but more importantly, he does it often. He seeks immortality through the written word, and adheres to one very simple maxim - do or do not, there is no try.
His role models include Bill Withers, Garth Ennis, and the one and only, Patrick Swayze. And while he may never be as important as they are, he hopes to give them a run for their money.
Kai James, Creative Director / Writer
As a 20-something aerospace engineering grad student, Kai is the undisputed Peter Pan of The Dashing Fellows collective. Until very recently, he clung to his boyhood dream of becoming a rap superstar but fortunately for our readers, he’s traded in his mic for a blogger’s keyboard and has not looked back since.
As is the case with most of his endeavours, Kai doesn’t bring many credentials to the table besides a child-like idealism and an enduring belief that we all got to start somewhere. His hobbies include sleeping in, miscellaneous philosophizing and waxing poetic either alone or in group settings.
His involvement in The Dashing Fellows project is the most recent in a long line of attempts to postpone indefinitely his impending confrontation with life in the real world. Let’s see how this one turns out!
Christian Arambulo, Marketing Director / Writer
D.O.B: 09/09/1984
Height: 183cm
Weight: 74 kg
Known Aliases: The Kid, Young Chris, Louis Solferino, Chris-sensei, Ironman, Maverick
Occupation: Elementary and Junior High School ESL Teacher
Briefing: Known by those around him as “one real dude” the subject is cunning, capable, and possesses clear pronunciation. He is prone to outbursts of hilarity and charm as evidenced by the testimony of his 3rd grade students. However, the subject remains flustered by a sense of intellectual unappreciation; his ironic posturings that he takes to be of singular importance fall on deaf ears. The distanciation of the actual does not play well with individuals who still eat their own boogers.
The subject shows apprehension and excitement writing for The Dashing Fellows and an audience of his peers. He is at an impasse; afraid that he will be discovered as a hack but also morbidly curious at the possibility that he won’t be. The subject writes to fulfill narcissistic urges, but more importantly writes for the people.
John Lai is an archetype Chinese fellow: he is a kung fu fighting kind of guy and is good with computers. As the former, he brought Canada a gold (sword routine) and silver (staff routine) in the 1997 Pan-American Wushu Championships. As the latter, he installed The Dashing Fellows website, and is owner of http://evermight.com and several other start-up businesses.
Every so often, John will contribute his thoughts to The Dashing Fellows. But of all the Dashing Fellows assembled here, he is the most disadvantaged in the subjects of art, politics, society, culture, sports, and especially life. So don’t expect much more from John than a few spiteful comments on the degenerative ways of the West.
Kenny is a Biology and Zoology graduate from the University of Toronto. He currently works in a lab pretending to save people’s lives one test tube at a time.
Expectations should always be lowered when it comes to Kenny and therefore every additional week on The Dashing Fellows will be one more than originally anticipated. Because he’s the writer this blog deserves, but not the one it needs right now…
Michelle is an Economics Graduate from McMaster University who was caught by surprise by the current economic downturn.
She now spends her time writing for AMOI Magazine, travelling, and like Will Smith cried when Barack Obama was elected President.
Date of Birth: 05/05/1981
Sex: Male
Profession: Geotechnical Engineer
Rui views the world atop a pedestal and despises stupidity. Possessing a bit of a “Samuel Beckett complex”, he is liable to persistently wound you with his ascerbic wit while pointing out the
absurdity of your situation. Some may call him an elitist, while others may simply say he’s arrogant. He doesn’t care. Viewing society holistically and rationally are his fortes and the ultimate
perfection of humanity is his goal (you know…that thing about transcending onto a higher plane of existence).
Ryan is probably old enough to know better, but he’s been chasing his literary dreams too long to give up now. Poems and stories of his have popped in different places. Many more have been rejected, but he’d still rather fail artistically than succeed in the grown up world.
At the moment he can be found loitering around Prague train stations on Friday afternoons.
Hannah is a former concert pianist who abandoned music to study nutrition and health sciences. She lived in Africa for a year where she did HIV/AIDS work and witnessed many births, many many deaths, and everything in between. She should have been taken out of the gene pool long ago but managed to survive cancer, malaria and other tropical diseases. In all of life’s beauty and misery she has developed a love-hate relationship with life, and joined The Dashing Fellows to channel her angry, jaded cynicism.
She now works as a Community Organizer in forgotten, impoverished pockets of Toronto.
Evangeline likes things that are shiny and/or red, bluegrass music, Toronto, making beer, and shooting her mouth off. She dislikes putting pillows into pillow cases, talking on the phone, and being a grown-up. She is proud of the fact that she finished her undergrad degree, even if it took seven years. She is not proud of the fact that she does not know how to drive.
Although he is only biracial, he possesses a plethora of identities, none of which seem to completely fit. Not being the greatest writer, the greatest athlete, the greatest guitarist, or the greatest music/art critic, he nonetheless has the passion to engage in all these disciplines, determined and confident that his abilities will continue to grow. He routinely breaks party lines. He hesitates to be part of any club, genre, sect or ideology, and cherishes his independence.
And that’s why he’ll probably die alone.
This writer struggles to find a balance between his two identities: Juan, a Communications and Cultural Theory Masters student burdened by the pressure to be relevant in his academic field; and Miko, who is generally a good guy according to himself and his mother, though her opinion of him tends to fluctuate.
Since watching the movie High Fidelity at an impressionable age, he has been firm in his belief that the movies, books, and music you like is important and he will not hesitate to use this axiom to judge you.
He also writes decently and is excited to contribute to The Dashing Fellows between inevitable bouts of existential self-loathing.