Stories about Arts & Culture from February, 2007
Russia: Moscow Night Clubs
Two-Zero reviews Moscow's club scene – here and here: “There we were, 3 Westerners with Berlin style club wear against a huge club full of young and mostly beautiful rich Russians with any designerwear you could think off.”
India: On Paan Waalahs
Swajana has a video post of a paan waalah. (Paan seller). “Theoretically a Paan can be compared to an after dinner mint, but culturally it plays a far more significant role. Thereby the maker of the Paan takes on a key sociological role. His role can be considered akin to...
Oman: Nintendo DS Treat
Omani blogger Nabhan Abdullatif has just bought the Nintendo DS and can't get his hands off it. I finally got my hands on this baby and I'm seriously enjoying it. I've been looking for it ever since it was released and I was able to get a friend to buy...
Uganda: Special Report on Best of Blogs
Last week, Uganda bloggers descended on Mateo's bar in Kampala for the second Uganda Bloggers Happy Hour. In addition to catching up with friends and discussing the main challenges facing the nation, the group made nominations for the first Uganda Best of Blog Awards. In a way, 2006 was the...
China and Japan: Chinglish and Japlish
Zhaihua discusses about the differences between Chinglish and Japlish (zh). He argues that Chinglish is speaking to foreigners hoping that they can understand, but Japlish is speaking to Japanese but taking English term for their own use.
Japan: cute icon for defence force
International Herald has an article criticizing the use of cute icon for Japan's military aspiration. Lee from Tokyo Times blogs several pictures to show that Japan has been using cute icons for their police force as well.
Saudi Arabia: Book Fair
Saudi Jeans reports about a bookfair in his country's capital Riyadh next month. “There will not be any days for families only. The book fair will be open to everybody, men and women, except for the evening period of three days which will be only open to men. I have...
Saudi: Spring of Culture Festival in Bahrain
A Swedish blogger, who lives in Saudi Arabia, sings laurels to the Spring of Culture festival being held in neighbouring Bahrain, which is linked to Saudi Arabia by a 25km causeway. From what I gathered by reading the information booklet about these events it is basically a combo of poetry,...
Touring Libyan Blogs: Between history, hair, leadership, cleaning the floor and many more stories
Most of us have studied some history, many of us think we know history, but the majority of us are really ignorant about large parts of our own history. That is why the personal accounts of travellers a la Ibn Battuta style are so important to record the making of...
China: face project in Shanghai
Peijin Chen from Shanghaiist reports about the expensive Oriental Arts Center in Shanghai as an example of face project in China.
Kuwait: From Novel Ads to the History of Bloggers
Q from Kuwaitism takes us on a flash back in time to when advertisements in Kuwait were creative and attractive. This time I’ll post an ad for Kuwait Airways that I liked a lot, when they first started their route to Paris back in 1965. Yet we are pulled back...
Bolivia: Floods and Carnival
While rising flood waters threaten the northeast province of Beni, Carlos Gustavo Machicado Salas describes the Carnival celebration in Oruro as one of the best in the world.
Pakistan: On Basant and Kite Flying
Light Within on the colourful festival of Basant that involves a lot of kiteflying and the prevalent controversy. “First it was the Punjab government announcing that they would set up a body to ensure safe kite-flying. Then there was the proclamation that Basant WILL be celebrated in Lahore with traditional...
Taiwan: Flying Saucer Houses
Photographed by CantikFoto In Green Bay, Taipei County, there are some abandoned houses. Due to their appearance, they have been named ‘flying saucer houses’ by many people in that area. According to Echo-Maan, who lived in that area decades ago, the houses were built around 30 years ago by Tian...
Poland: Anti-Euthanasia, Anti-Missile, Anti-Semitism
The beatroot writes on one Polish man's right to die, on the U.S. anti-missile systems, and on the anti-Semitic writings of the Polish education minister's father. As always, the discussion area is bursting with comments.
Jamaica: “Satan is Real”
Unreconstructed racists the Louvin Brothers, composers of the country classic “Satan is Real”, “would have been horrified to know that just near the equator hundreds of negroes were loving their music,” writes Marlon James, in a post touching upon reggae's roots in country-and-western music.
Europe: Pre-Lent Celebrations
Wu Wei writes on Pancakes racing in Britain on Shrove Tuesday, Uzgavenes in Lithuania, Maslenitsa in Russia, and Kurentovanje in Slovenia. Nami-Nami shares a recipe of Estonian lenten buns.
Albania: Film Industry
Our Man in Tirana writes on the Albanian film industry.
The Jordanian Blogosphere: February Clippings
The Jordanian blogosphere is abuzz with two controversies this month. The first revolves around the proposal to build a tourist complex near the Dibbin Forest that will result in the cutting down of many trees. While a small online campaign has started up in recent days, other bloggers see the...
Haiti: Goodbye, Tiga
Alice Backer remembers the late Haitian painter, sculptor and educator Jean-Claude Garoute, also known as Tiga.
Peek at Poland: Time to Make the Pączki
“Polish Doughnuts” by Polska＊ポーランド＊Poland For at least one moment in the dark days of winter, life is sweet in Poland. Marking the last Thursday before Lent, Tłusty czwartek (or, Fat Thursday) is a day of over-indulgence in sweets. This past Thursday, in scenes disturbingly reminiscent of Communist days, the local...
