Stories about Arts & Culture from April, 2006
Barbados: Say no to Passa Passa
“Passa passa” events, which are also causing a stir in Grenada, have arrived in Barbados as well, according to Barbados Free Press, who notes that the story has also been picked up by Russian news service Pravda. “We must congratulate the Royal Barbados Police Force for moving against this bit...
Hungary, Poland, Slovenia: Easter Traditions
As the Warsaw Crow Flies, Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar and The Glory of Carniola describe Easter traditions in Poland, Hungary and Slovenia.
Village cricket match, Caribbean-style
Easter Sunday cricket match — Howsen Village, Trinidad. From caribbeanfreephoto At this time of year, thoughts in the English-speaking Caribbean turn to the game of cricket. Travel around any of the region's former British colonies and you're likely to come across greens like this one, located in Howsen Village, Trinidad....
Don't go near the sea on Good Friday, and other Caribbean Easter traditions
The Easter Weekend in the Caribbean arrives at the height of the dry season, with gorgeous weather and Christian traditions conspiring to make it a time both solemn and fun-filled. A popular Easter weekend activity is kite-flying, and a number of bloggers did just that on Good Friday. Barbados Free...
Cambodian film festival
The theme for this year's Cambodian Film Festival is “Independent Visions”. The organisers are seeking Cambodian and non-Cambodian entries. Diacritic.org has the details.
Happy water festival – mind the elephant gun
This week four countries in South East Asia celebrated their traditional new year. In Thailand the festival is known as Songkran. Usanee tells us why the people in Thailand look forward to this festival. I am so happy to have 5 days off. It is the longest holiday I would...
Nicaragua: Semana Santa
It's Friday and someone is being dragged in chains through the streets of Masatepe, about to be hung. Jason of Nicaragua Travels explains why.
Trinidad & Tobago: Geniuses and landscapes
Over at the Caribbean Beat weblog JT waxes poetic, defining genius and describing the view from his office window.
Belize: Iguana season
It's iguana season in Belize, writes Simone Engeln: “If you were to drive though Belize these days, you would notice people standing by the side of the road holding up Iguanas. These are not their pets. They are offering them to you to buy. Again, not to keep as a...
Bahamas: Cultivating tolerance
Sir Arthur Foulkes assesses tolerance levels in the Bahamas in light of reactions to the docking of a gay cruise ship and the banning of the film “Brokeback Mountain”.
Popular Myanmar hip hop musician dies
Mady June in Yangoon is saddened by the death of her favourite Myanmar rapper.
Happy year 2549
Today is the first day of the year 2549 in some South East Asian countries. Lao ocean girl describes the calendar system used in these countries.
Coinciding festivals
Toe, a Filipino blogger now living in Cambodia tries to figure out why the holy week, the Cambodian new year and several other events from different cultures coincide around the same time of the year.
Playboy protests in Indonesia
A. Fatih Syuhud looks at the protests aimed at the recently launched Indonesian edition of Playboy.
Japan: Celebrity fanfare
Have you heard of the leather-clad hip-thrusting Japanese celebrity Razor Ramon Hard Gay? A post on the Gen Kanai blog gives a thorough introduction: “A group of fansubbers have started to do fansubs of Razor Ramon's Hard Gay comedy sketches. They have a wiki, and a forum and put their...
Pulse of the Saudi Blogosphere
It had been a relatively quiet week in the Saudi blogosphere this week. However, several good posts can be found by bloggers from inside the country, and also by those who live abroad. So, let's get it started… A new community website for Saudi bloggers has been causing much controversy,...
Nigeria: Star Factor
Adefunke on Adefunke posts on a new Nigerian talent show called Star Factor – auditions are now being held in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, Enugu, Jos, Makurdi and for some reason London.
Ukraine: Taras Shevchenko
Aussiegirl of Ultima Thule writes about her maternal great-grandfather's extraordinary reverence for Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian national poet, the man who “was born a serf” and whose “freedom was purchased by the sale of an auctioned portrait by some noblemen and artists who recognized his talent.”
Polish Blogosphere Update
On the literary front, As the Warsaw Crow Flies notes the death of Polish author Stanislaw Lem. On Lem, Warsaw Crow writes: Having only read his novel Solaris, I can't say I'm at all familiar with his work. But from that one book it was clear just what an exceptionally...
Russia: VDNKh
Snowsquare.com posts pictures and text from the All-Russian Exhibition Center in Moscow, formerly known as VDNKh.
Slovenia: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Michael of The Glory of Carniola posts a video clip of the Slovenian version of Who wants to be a millionaire?, in which a contestant fails to answer the first question. Also, a past highlight of the Serbian version of the show.
