· May, 2006

Stories about Arts & Culture from May, 2006

Belarus: Soviet Pioneer Oranization's Anniversary

Ivan Lenin of Rush-Mush marks the 84th anniversary of Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization by retelling one Belarusian bloggers’ story (in Russian) on how he got expelled from this Soviet youth organization “right before his 10th birthday.” TOL's Belarus Blog writes about the Belarusian blogosphere's reaction to the decision to withdraw...

Caribbean: A West Indian anthem?

  22 May 2006

Kyk-Over-Al links to a column in Guyana's Stabroek News criticising the new West Indian anthem adopted recently by CARICOM (the Caribbean Community), and the Caribbean Beat blog asks its readers how Caribbean leaders should have gone about choosing an anthem. “Via a competition, soliciting entries from the region's best composers...

Indonesia: Bali Weddings

  22 May 2006

Many foreign couples go to Bali to get married attracted by the traditional Hindu wedding ceremony. Indcoup warns that such a marriage may not be legal in the west. “You may think you’ve been married, but if you’ve only done the religious part, and the extremely complex bureaucratic procedures –...

China: Pinyin's persecuted past

  22 May 2006

Pinyin, the alphabetized version of simplified Chinese which today makes learning of the language so much easier was not, as noted by Pinyin.info blogger Mark Swofford, embraced during the Cultural Revolution as a communication tool, but rather attacked as ideologically incorrect with all traces burnt in the street.

China: World takeover screenplay

  22 May 2006

Is the identity of China Confidential‘s ‘mysteriously’ anonymous Confidential Reporter soon to be revealed? And is a Da Vinci Code-style thriller about China's world domination plans and the bloggers who discover them soon to be made?

The First Internet Party ever Held in Cambodia

  22 May 2006

A decade ago Cambodia connected to the world. During those years, not many people could spell and capture the term and the meaning of ‘the Internet’ well, except expatriates working in Phnom Penh offices and a few Cambodian staff in aid organizations. It was until recent years that more competitions...

Thailand: No censorship for “Da Vinci Code”

  20 May 2006

Andrew is happy that Thailand will not censor the movie “Da Vinci Code” after all. “Yesterday it was announced that the final ten minutes of the Da Vinci Code would not be cut. Hooray! This is a victory for common sense.”

Grenada's Chinese Village

  19 May 2006

From the Caribbean Free Photo photoblog: This rather quaint archway marks the entrance to the construction site for Grenada's new National Stadium in Queen's Park, which is being built with funding, expertise and manpower provided by the People's Republic of China. With 500-plus construction workers from China living and working...

Arabisk – The Arabic Bloggers Ken

The following is an abbreviated translation from some of the Arabic-language blogsphere. Music… Amal, in her latest cartoon: “See my Wawa, kiss my Wawa.” The Wawa is the little tiny hurt “ouch”.. In this cartoon; a poor bleeding Palestinian child is begging from a wealthy Arabian man who seems not...

China: Catholics demand film ban

  19 May 2006

Journalist-blogger uleewang at Non-violent Resistance posts on the joining by mainland Chinese Catholics of the protest against the newly-released Hollywood film The Da Vinci Code and their demand it be banned: “[W]ho knows, common resistance against the movie may help bring up the flirtation already going on between the Chinese...

Mauritius: A Lesson on Sirandanes

  18 May 2006

[Mes] Idees Noires explains that Sirandanes are (Fr) “riddles about everyday life in Mauritius … a relatively traditional aspect of Mauritius that harkens back to the time when Malagasy slaves arrived who brought their riddles with them … and adapted them to the Creole language later on … and as...

China: Beijing's new facelift

  18 May 2006

From Will at Imagethief: The original painting of the retouched version currently hanging from the gate to the Forbidden City is going up for auction, and while old Beijing's bird whistles are increasingly being replaced with the sound of jackhammers, a recording of hutong sounds has been put online for...

Global Voices Podcast: An interview with Eduardo Avila

  18 May 2006

Eduardo Avila is an Bolivian American who lives in Washington DC and covers Bolivia for Global Voices. Kamla Bhatt spoke with Eduardo at the recently concluded WeMedia conference in London about his work, blogging and Bolivia. You can download or listen to the interview by clicking here or on the...