Stories about Arts & Culture from October, 2006
Lebanon: Beirut and Blogging
This week some of the bloggers of the Lebanese blogosphere flirt with Beirut and with blogging. But you will always find politics, religion and war. Remember that Lebanon is in the Middle East. Why do you blog? Why do I blog? Why does Maya[at]NYC blog: Why do people blog, anyway!...
Singapore: Singapore's role in the history of Lonely Planet travel guidebooks
The blogger at beyond.sg meets the founder of popular travel guidebook company Lonely Planet and talks about the start got in Singapore for their guidebook business.
New Caledonia: Fete du Boeuf
Says Sebastien Merion from 5 Minutes en Nouvelle Caledonie: J'ai l'impression de revenir direct des States, mais non, ce n'était que le village de Païta et sa fameuse fête du bœuf !! On s'y serait cru, ambiance chapeaux de cow-boy et musique country, il y avait un paquet de monde....
Taiwan: mobile coffee
Funck Chen at CCB.2.0 blogs about the cultural history of mobile coffee house. The first coffee car appeared in 1999, and now becomes a national landscape and the drivers of moible coffee house are usually the best tourists’ guides (zh).
Poland: Marek Nowakowski
Our Man In Gdansk writes on the writings of Marek Nowakowski: “dirty realism.”
China: Where my Nobels at?
When one of the best writers in the country flees, is asked not to come back and then wins a Nobel prize in literature while in exile, would it be a bit disingenuous to accuse the Swedish Academy of bias against awarding Nobel prizes to mainland Chinese? Perhaps not, judging...
Bahamas: Represent
A blog post by a fellow Bahamian causes Nicolette Bethel to consider questions of representation: “How do we collectively decide who represents our nation? When we choose people to send abroad to represent us, what criteria are foremost? And do we use different criteria for different arenas?“
Caribbean: Photo quiz
The Caribbean Beat Weblog launches a “Where in the Caribbean?” photo quiz.
Albania: Poetry
Our Man in Tirana posts a poem by a contemporary Albanian poet.
China: incestuous ad?
Joel Martinsen in DANWEI puts together some discussions about a recent skin-care adverstisment with the actress’ son saying that he wants to marry his mother when he gets old. It results in a debate whether the ad has crossed the line of social standard. Joel also translated a post from...
Russia: Empress Dagmar Reburied
Vilhelm Konnander writes about the re-burial of the Russian empress Dagmar (aka Maria Fyodorovna), mother of the last Russian emperor.
Czech Republic: Dalai Lama in Prague
My Czech Republic Blog writes about the Dalai Lama's sixth visit to Prague.
Kenya: spotlight on Kenyan music
Kikuyumoja's Realm attends a special musical event, the Spotlight on Kenyan Music Vol.2: “Spotlight on Kenyan Music Vol. 1 has already been a success – my friend Mbuzimoja had sent me a compilation last year, so this time I didn’t want to miss it and catch the spirit for myself....
Poland's Pulse in the Blogosphere
Local Dancers in Poland's Lake District (Mazury) prepare for Sieja (kind of fish) Fish Festival – by Embe, WarsawDaily Perhaps a Christmas footballing miracle has come early, as Kinuk reports on Poland's victory over the 4th-ranked Portugal last week: Their victory surprised myself, N and my brother, P, who was...
Nigeria: Tribute Fela Kuti
Felabration, similar to Felaversation, is a series of posts about Nigeria's Afrobeat legend, Fela Kuti: Felabration, Fela's pictures that speak thousands words, Afrobeat Academy, Spirits of Fire Dance, Gen X Afrobeaters, and Felabration is About Aids Awareness.
Barbados: Party Monarch photos
Pictureinfocus has a Flickr photoset devoted to the Barbados Party Monarch concert, held at a breathtaking location on Barbados’ east coast.
Arabisc: Unemployment, personal attacks and the birth of a new author
Like many parts of the modern world, unemployment is a plague attacking Arab countries. Anonymous blogger Alloush writes about a discovery he made while surfing the world wide web. The Arab blogger found an online forum bringing together unemployed people from across Saudi Arabia – which he is quick to...
Trinidad and Tobago: Burning Rawan
Ramleela, a folk theatre version of the Ramayan performed by Trinidadian Hindus each year in the weeks before Divali, traditionally ends with the burning of the effigy of the villainous Rawan. Mani of The Manicou Report visits the final night of Ramleela in a nearby village, and is worried by...
South Korea: nuclear cartoons
Kotaji blogs about nuclear cartoons from local newspapers in South Korea.
Reunion: Diagonale des Fous
LSZ Blog describes (Fr) La Diagonale des Fous, [Diagonal of the Crazies] an annual hike across the local volcano. He explains that every year “they assemble in a small town in the southeast of the island, with the obsessive idea of reaching the other side of the island as fast...
Mauritius: Local Filmmakers
Christina announces (Fr) La Seance des Jeunes Realisateurs, a show on Mauritian television channel MBC3 that showcases local filmmakers. She writes: “Shorts by Mauritian filmmakers are finally being broadcast nationally. An occasion to see what local films are made of, to consume purely Mauritian fiction and documentary. Of course all...
