Stories about Arts & Culture from May, 2006
Bangladesh: Podcast of Tagore's works
Bongo Vongo has a podcast of an english translation of Rabindranath Tagore's works.
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...
Belarus: A Band to Help Chernobyl Children
TOL's Belarus Blog reports that a band called Thievery Corporation has released a new single on iTunes: the proceeds of the downloads of the song will go to the Chernobyl Children’s Project International.
Caribbean: A West Indian anthem?
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
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
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
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?
Iran: Graffiti on the Wall!
In Bombing the walls blog, we can discover new graffiti works on the wall. The Blogger, Bombing the walls, invites us to discover his first work, Skate, a graffiti on the wall in Tehran.
The First Internet Party ever Held in Cambodia
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...
The Kannada Context: Exclusive Identity and Other Stories
A round up of the Kannada blog world.
Thailand: No censorship for “Da Vinci Code”
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.”
Europe: Eurovision Song Contest
Rachel of Pustolovina: Adventure in Serbian shares her impressions on this year's Eurovision Song Contest, the first one she's watched.
Hungary: Prime Minister Decides Not to Watch The Da Vinci Code
Paul of Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar writes about the prime minister's failed attempt to watch The Da Vinci Code.
Poland: The Da Vinci Code
The beatroot writes about the apparent sin of going to see The Da Vinci Code in Poland.
Estonia: Tallinn's Architecture
Simon of Tallinn Daily Photo highlights one aspect of the city's architecture: “the marrying of modern around the old.”
Grenada's Chinese Village
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
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
[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
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
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...