Stories about Arts & Culture from July, 2006
Armenia: Hye Superstar
Zarchka reports on the outcome of “Hye Super Star,” Armenia's version of “Pop Idol.”
Nigeria: Missing Lagos
“Lagos,” writes Jangbalajugbu, “is a city that habours the hardworking as well as the lazy. The sane and insane. It is a city with different kinds of people from the rich, educated, wealthy, brilliant & intelligent to the dejected, the accursed, the incorrigible, the hopeless, the dead but breathing-walking corpses,...
Old dating practice
Cigay of Bhutan Weblog writes about an age old tradition of Bhutan. Young men used to visit a girl's house discreetly at night, to let her know of his feelings and his intention to marry her and have children with her. With the passage of time, this rural practice has been misunderstood and grossly abused by those who are richer or more powerful.
Indonesia: Chinese Valentine's Day
Indonesian blogger Christine Susanna Tjhin, currently a student in China, talks about the traditional Chinese Valentine's Day. This year, the day falls on 31 July.
Latvia: Baltica Festival
Dykun posts footage from the Baltica Festival in Latvia: “More specifically, this is footage of two groups from Latgale. Latgale is a region of Latvia that has long fascinated me; it is considered by many to be the most rural part of Latvia, and it shares a long border to...
Czech Republic: Moravian Folklore
Bored in Brno posts a report from the 49th “annual celebration of local music and folklore in the town of Velka nad Velickou in South Moravia”: “Being a Czech festival, the beer flows liberally. Despite the higher elevation, the region can still sustain some grape cultivation and there is a...
Serbia: Yugoslav Film Archive
Belgrade Blog writes about the new storage space for the Yugoslav film archive.
South Korea: green tea
Sanshinseon in Marmot's Hole blogs about the recent Tea World Festival in Seoul and gives the readers some background about Korea green tea culture.
South Korea: fan death
Robert Koehler in Marmot's Hole blogs about the urban legend of “fan death” in South Korea: Can you really die from falling asleep with your fan on and your windows closed?
Tahiti: Miss Bora-Bora Contest
From Tahiti, Jean-Marc posts (Fr) pictures of the Miss Bora-Bora contest.
Reunion, USA: From Maryland to Florida
US-based Reunion-born blogger Reunion-USA2 discovers (Fr) cultural differences between Maryland and Florida:”My husband is happy in Florida: no more politically correct here! When he goes out with colleagues, they all drink beer –in Maryland, nobody drank during work hours so as not to be labeled a drunk. Yesterday they had...
Russia, Ukraine: Stories About Words
Below is the translation of three stories about words: in the first one, they are being banned; in the second, they offend; in the third, there aren't enough of them. LJ user plushev, a Russian radio journalist, writes (RUS) about the government's attack on the name of the controversial National...
Bahamas: Goodbye, British Honours list?
Nassau Bahamas Vacation reports briefly on the plans afoot in the Bahamas to abolish the British Honours list: “Her Majesty will no doubt let her views be channeled through her own discreet diplomats at some stage.“
China: spoofing culture
Lyn Jeffery in Virtual China blogs about spoofing culture in Chinese internet sphere and translates an article from QQ discussing whether spoofing can prevent social tragedies. Spoofing is a popular subculture that deconstructs serious themes to entertain people with comedy effects.
Hong Kong: Book exhibition
Many bloggers in Hong Kong blog about book exhibition. Henry porter criticizes book exhibition this year become even more “vulgar”. Because of the crowd, the host has to urge people to leave the exhibition center as soon as possible; so how can people choose their books? (zh). Thomas describes the...
Indoensia: Expat Life and Indonesian Thoughts
The blogger at Sarapan Ekonomi talks about expats discussing life in Indonesia. The blogger does not agree with some of the views the expats have but at the end of the post, the blogger asks everyone “Meanwhile, lighten up. It's Friday after all.”
Myanmar: Love and Relationship in Myanmar
Dawn in Myanmar takes a look at love and relationship in Myanmar and how people are holding on some traditions while some things are changing.
Brunei: Spotting a Bruneian
The Daily Brunei Resources blog talks about what makes a person a Bruneian.
Voices from the Caucasus
Russian tourists rest in the shade in the Novy Afon (New Athos) monastery near the capital of the Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia – by eurutuf What follows is a roundup of notable blog conversations from the Caucasus that took place over the last week. For a change, how about...
USA: Ukrainian Sunflower Festival of Detroit
Greg of Reflections on Ukraine writes about the Ukrainian Sunflower Festival of Detroit, scheduled to take place Aug. 25-27, 2006.
Russia: Amber Room
Copydude writes about Kaliningrad and the mystery of the Amber Room.
