Stories about Arts & Culture from October, 2007
Turkey: An Armenian in Istanbul
Despite warnings from fellow Armenians, Lara Aha at Life in Armenia visited Istanbul in Turkey last week to attend a seminar on women in conflict zones. The Diasporan blogger now resident in Armenia says not only did she feel more at home in Istanbul than Yerevan, but that she also...
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: How Do I Love Thee?
Abeni lists 28 reasons to love St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Japan: Halloween Train vs. Netizen Rage
James from Japan Probe reports on a clash between foreigners and Japanese netizens over a Halloween Train party .
China and Japan: Japanese AV in Rural China
Japan AV girl, Nonami Takizawa, came to rural China for shooting adult video. The promotion clip is up at Todu, and netizens from China reacted strongly to the “pollution” bought by Japanese to China. Hegelchong comments that the criticisms are nationalistic and have very strange imagination of rural China (zh)....
China: Culture and Salary Standard
Xueyong argues that the extremely low salary standard in China is a result of the degrading morality (zh). The planned economy has cultivated a de-personalized morality that lacks basic sympathy on other individuals.
The Balkans: The Language Issue
Balkan Baby writes about the “language issue” in the Balkans: “What language do we speak when we are in the countries that once made up Yugoslavia? In Slovenia and Macedonia the answer is quite simple since these two countries both had their own languages which were recognised by the Yugoslav...
Croatia, U.K.: Film Festival
Balkan Baby writes about the Closer Croatia Croatian Film Festival that took place in London earlier this month.
Macedonia: A Bit More On Toše Proeski
Bosnia Blog talks to a Macedonian about singer Toše Proeski, who died in a car crash earlier this month: “He did a lot of charity concert. He was very nice. He is the only thing we have.”
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Srebrenica Memorial Quilt
Srebrenica Genocide Blog and Bosnia Vault write about the Srebrenica Memorial Quilt project, an initiative to commemorate “over 8,000 men, children (boys), and elderly who died during Srebrenica genocide.”
Japan: Family Crests
There are around 20,000 Kamon, family symbol, in Japan. Ryoko from Pingmag introduces some of the kamon design with animal motif.
Iran:International Book Exposition
Ghomar Asheganheh informs[Fa] us that this week for the fifth time an “International Book Exposition” will be organised in Tabriz,in north western Iran, where 1000 publishers from all over the world will be present.
Iran:Bookstores in trouble
Iranian government clamps down on bookstores’ coffee shops.Kaghz Pareh says[Fa] that he does not understand the reasons of government's decision in a country where not many people read books.
Iran: A cartoon about oil and Ahmadinejad
Nikahang, a leading cartoonist and blogger, has published a cartoon about high oil prices and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Japan: Taiwanese chorus music to the ears
A video of an auditorium in Taiwan featuring 258 Taiwanese people watching and singing along to the lyrics of Japanese anime songs became a hit in Japan earlier this week after it was uploaded to a popular video sharing website, attracting over 120,000 views and nearly as many comments. A Japanese blogger considers how this kind of connection can bring Japan and Taiwan closer together.
Russia: Election Miscellanea
TOL's Elections in Russia writes about the voting plans of Russia's homeless; campaigning for Putin through vodka; a group of young people opposing Putin; and a group of artists supporting him.
Ukraine: “Flit” Punk Rock Band
Ukrainian Musical Matters writes about “a relatively young new Ukrainian punk rock band, Flit (pronounced ‘fleet’).”
Ukraine: Two Paintings
Olechko posts her painting of an apartment block in Lutsk, which, like most apartment blocks in this part of the world, initially looked gray, but then she began painting it, and it turned out that it's not gray, but pink!
Kuwait: Lost Between Cinemas and Restaurants
Between banned and censored movies in cinemas to restaurants which have a lot to make up for in terms of service, Kuwaiti bloggers were at wits' end last week. Abdullatif AlOmar brings us the latest from the Kuwaiti blogosphere in this post.
Trinidad & Tobago: Soca for Womex
de cooler : soca news reports that the Trinidad-based rapso group 3 Canal will be performing at the World Music Exhibition in Spain.
Slovenia: Lipizzaner; MojVideo
The Glory of Carniola writes about Slovenian horses in American movies – and about a Slovenian video-sharing website, MojVideo.
Europe: Roma Links
Lots of new content on TOL's Romantic, including a post on the official patron saint of Catholic Gypsies.
