Stories about Arts & Culture from December, 2008
Oversleeping in the Philippines
Going against the current traces the cultural roots of oversleeping as a taboo in the Philippines.
Philippines: Watching Pinoy Big Brother
Overwrite views the popular reality TV show Pinoy Big Brother from a Baudrillardian lense: ‘When one watches the show, where is the center-point? Who is watching who? And which side stands on reality? Does it mean that the actors are showcasing reality because they are in the “reality show”? Or...
Philippines: Music Teacher's Memoirs
A young music teacher from the southern Philippines shares her experience on teaching musical expression to children.
Myanmar: Shoes, politics and colonialism
Shoes had been a symbol of politics in Myanmar. Aung Zaw of The Irrawaddy writes about a “shoe incident” involving British colonizers who didn't remove their shoes when they met the Burmese king a century ago. This became a national issue.
Japan: The year in Japanese blogs
What were bloggers writing about this year in the Japanese blogosphere? The year in Japanese blogs at Global Voices included posts on everything from an American Enka singer making waves in Japan, to debates on the regulation of “harmful” Internet content, to the Olympic torch relay in Nagano.
Memories of Christmas in Cameroon
Expats in Cameroon blog about how they are spending the Christmas holidays in their host country, while Cameroonian bloggers abroad write about their memories of spending those special days back home.
Trinidad & Tobago: Booming
Caribbean Free Radio posts an interesting podcast with Trinidad rapso artistes 3 Canal.
Central and Eastern Europe: A Christmas Roundup
A holiday season roundup: Tanja of Czechmatediary recalls family Christmas celebrations of her childhood, writes about the Czech Christmas Mass, and shares a recipe of Vanocka (“Christmas bread”); CzechFolks.com writes about a calorie-free yet mouth-watering way of decorating a holiday table with crocheted Czech Christmas cookies; The Foreigner's Guide to...
Guatemala: Nativity Scenes Around the Holidays
Alfa of Guate 360 [es] writes about the evolution of the Nativity Scene in Guatemala, and how it has become much more colorful and full of scents due to the use of pine leaves as its base.
Czech Republic: A Politics-Free Roundup
Politics-free posts from the Czech Republic: a charity project to help orphans organized by Czech model Tereza Maxova, bankruptcy of one of the largest Czech glass companies, and Karel Gott's lasting popularity – at CzechFolks.com; the winner of the Bravest Czech of the Year award, and tips on how to...
Ukraine: Hutsuls and Crimean Tatars
My Simferopol Home writes about her dissertation plans to compare histories of exoticism in the Ukrainian Hutsul and Crimean Tatars cultures: “So, why these two groups? While distinct in ethnogenesis, history and territory, Hutsuls, the superstitious, hard-drinking subsistence farmers to Poland and Austro-Hungary’s urban intellectuals, and Crimean Tatars, the perceived...
Ukraine: Holiday Season Update
Ukrainian holiday season update: music – at Natalia Antonova's blog; sights – at Greetings from Kyiv; politics – at Ukrainiana.
A Caribbean Christmas
'Tis the season - and nowhere celebrates Christmas quite like the Caribbean! Here's a glimpse into what bloggers are doing to get into the spirit of the festivities...
Pakistan: Love Of Arabian Language
The view from behind my specs… comments: “everyone in Pakistan seems to have some strange affiliation with the Arabic language.” Read the post to learn why.
Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyane: Celebrating Christmas with “Chanté Nwel”
With Christmas approaching, the French Overseas Departments of Guadeloupe, Martinique and Guyane are vibrating to the tune of their folk musical instruments like ka (a big drum)[Fr], ti-bwa (two bamboo sticks)[Fr] and of Christmas Carols. Welcome to the world of “Chanté Nwel” (Singing for Christmas). In the blog Sous le...
Hong Kong: Not too boring Christmas
Karden, with her black and white cats, wish you a not too boring Christmas. (via inmediahk.net)
Japan: Christmas illuminations within a click
Blogger Happy Kernel suggests a website that collects videos of Christmas illumination along the streets of every Japanese city. The idea of this website's creator, Shinya, was to make it possible for parents with small children to enjoy the Christmas atmosphere from home.
Turkey: An Online Apology to Armenia Campaign
According to Istanbul Calling, a new online campaign allowing Turks “to sign onto an apology for the “great catastrophe” that the Armenians suffered during World War I” has been launched by Turkish academics and intellectuals. “The apology, now signed by more than 15,000, studiously avoids the “G” word, but it...
Turkey: A New Take on the Gingerbread House
Carpetblogger proposes a new Christmas tradition, the making of “Ginger Kondu”- gingerbread houses modeled after the architecture of Turkish squatter villages called Gecekondu.
Kurdistance: Celebrating the Night of Winter
Kurdish blogger Rasti wishes a Happy Şeva Zistanê to all. Şeva Zistanê translates into “The Night of Winter” and is celebrated on the Winter Solstice.
Saudi Arabia: The return of public cinemas?
Public cinemas have been banned in Saudi Arabia for the last 30 years, and if residents of the kingdom want to watch films on the big screen, they travel to nearby Bahrain or the UAE. However, last week in Jeddah a film was screened publicly for a mixed-sex audience. In this post we hear what Saudi blogs have to say on the subject.
