BALANCE of CULTURE

BoC's Online Dérive: 30 July 2010

American Ballet Theater announced that it will travel to Cuba to dance in the International Ballet Festival of Havana this November. ABT last visited Cuba in 1960 for the company's 20th anniversary. (Yes yes yes!)

White House aides are seeking to downsize President Obama's exposure and give other Cabinet officials a higher profile and more publicity.

A dance school in Scotland now offers pole dancing lessons for elementary school kids.

What do you think about Essence magazine's decision to hire a white fashion director?

North Korea's football team was subject to a ridiculing 6-hour public inquisition in front of hundreds at the People's Palace of Culture for their World Cup performance. The team's coach was apparently expelled from the Workers' Party of Korea and forced to become a builder.

Japan has hanged 2 death row inmates, the first executions for the country's new government. Apparently prisoners are not told when they will be executed and their relatives are informed only after the execution has taken place.

The porn industry continues its technological strategizing for making big bucks. Next stop: your iPhone.

On Thursday, August 5 at 5pm EST, watch the Wynton Marsalis Septet live from Marciac on Facebook and Ustream.

From "Pornistan" to Pakistan

After the widely read Fox News report on Pakistan's alleged position as the world's leader in online searches for pornographic material, the Muslim country has refuted the reported findings of Google Trends. And guess what? Google's public affairs head of South-East Asia conceded that the statistics were based on limited data, which means the findings cannot be regarded as final opinion. So much for the nickname "Pornistan."

Photo by AP

"Limited data" - this problem seems to be everywhere in research these days! Well conducted research is increasingly becoming a rare commodity in mainstream culture. Our current levels of technology allow the aggregation and analysis of much more information than ever before, yet this very condition often encourages swift and inappropriate conclusions (and these conclusions are usually instantly dispersed throughout our worldwide information channels at lightning speed). Though we can all learn from such mistakes - and this erroneous conclusion by Google Trends certainly isn't the biggest issue of the day by any means - I imagine it will take Pakistan quite some time before it completely sheds its inaccurate "Pornistan" label.

Expecting the expected on "The View"?

President Obama is scheduled to be a guest on ABC's "The View" tomorrow as part of the show's continuing "Red, White & View" campaign, which features political guests and discussions (Vice President Joe Biden appeared on the program this past April).

Senator Obama on "The View" in 2008

Does the President's appearance on the rambunctious women's program signal a new low for the administration's status? Obama's approval ratings have taken the deepest plunge yet in recent months and his return on the show reveals, in many opinions, the administration's urgency in winning back the support of female voters through the President promoting himself and his agenda. It just might work - Obama is obviously an eloquent public speaker and shines in casual yet intelligent discourse. Conveniently, women also love to circulate images of the President such as this one below (something I'm sure the White House is well aware of):

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs gave his reasoning for the appearance: "People have busy lives and it's best to go where they are." (Ok, fine.)

While I think it would be best to focus on the myriad grave issues that our country faces this very moment, the President's appearance on the quirky talk show will likely generate plenty of debates as to why he should have or shouldn't have gone through with it. I can't help but think that those opposed to Obama going on the show will offend (mostly female) fans of "The View," who will in turn viciously defend the President and his agenda. That's an easy PR equation.

With all of this "political" noise in our backdrop, let's not forget the real issues at stake. Dennis Kucinich gives a succinct and reasoned talk in the video below - he confronts the Wikileaks fiasco and even explains all of the wasted American money that is currently being channeled through Pakistan's corrupt government which ends up ultimately assisting the Taliban. We do need to focus more on Pakistan; it's been the hotbed of our Middle East problems for a long time now, whether mainstream America realizes it or not:

Copious Management's private exhibit at Teddy's

This past weekend I had a chance to stop by Copious Management's private launch party and photography exhibit at Teddy's inside the Roosevelt Hotel. Being a longtime fan of photographer Warwick Saint, and having not visited the venue in over a year, I was really curious to see how this exclusive Hollywood spot would work with a visual exhibit. I wasn't let down in the least - the photos were installed with skill and high attention to detail, and despite the moody lighting in Teddy's, each work was individually displayed with perfection!

Above is the outdoor pool where Tropicana Bar is located. Always nice to see friends there! It's the perfect outdoor summer spot.

Now, back inside Teddy's: the photographers that Copious Management exhibited for the exclusive one-night show besides Warwick Saint were Sheryl Nields and Brian Bowen Smith. Celebrity subjects included Cate Blanchett, Daniel Craig, Dita and Benicio del Toro.

Teddy's is still a great space...even without Ms. Scheer-Demme vetting the door! The cavernous booth area, ceiling and archways are true classic Hollywood. It really is hard to find this kind of carefully crafted design in most LA hotspots.

The crowded bar area: many attendees actually walked around the exhibit viewing the works just as if they were inside your typical art gallery; there were also plenty of people dancing by the DJ booth..no uptightness here!

Don't let this Hollywood party fool you - these photographers aren't confined to celebrities as subject matter (though they sure have a ton of experience with them!). Have a look at some of Warwick Saint's personal work from South Africa (where he was born) and India below (images courtesy of www.warwicksaint.com):

I'm inspired by all things global, whether we're talking Hollywood or Mumbai. It's such a treat to see a photographer who is interested in these vastly different subjects and who has a command of the camera in sometimes extreme circumstances. Congratulations to Rick and Megan at Copious Management for a fashionable and smart evening of art and music in the heart of Hollywood. For any inquiries, please visit www.copiousmanagement.com.

"Jamming for Uncle Sam: Getting the Best From Cultural Diplomacy" by Nick Cull

Nick Cull, professor of Public Diplomacy at USC (who taught the best course I took in my graduate school experience), has an excellent new Huffington Post piece titled, "Jamming for Uncle Sam: Getting the Best From Cultural Diplomacy." Not only does he explain the four major types of cultural diplomacy (the prestige gift; cultural information; dialogue and collaboration; capacity building) and how they relate to the importance of Rhythm Road, he also addresses a widely circulated post by Kennedy Center president Michael Kaiser:

There is a lot wrong with Michael Kaiser's approach, beyond the self-serving nature of the president of the Kennedy Center calling for U.S. cultural diplomacy to focus on work which his institution is uniquely well qualified to deliver. He caricatures cultural diplomacy as "sending a symphony orchestra to play for a thousand of the most powerful people in the capital of another nation" and ignores the true breadth and reach of contemporary cultural diplomacy. More than this, teaching arts administration techniques cannot touch the souls of participants in the same way the experience of hearing musicians born worlds apart coming together to create new cultural forms or seeing the 'transmitting' culture re-shaped by contact with foreign partners. Giving something of one's best remains a powerful dimension in cultural diplomacy. Does the United States really consider "top tips for getting corporate cash" to bankroll culture the best that the U.S. has to offer? It may actually be inadvertently revealing the unhelpful 'cultural information' that the arts have a really hard time in the United States. In fiscally tough times the traditional cultural diplomacy seen in The Rhythm Road and similar programs continues to offer a unique return on a modest investment from the State Department. Long may it continue.

This piece is an important reminder of why I became interested in the arts in the first place. The concept of 'art for art's sake' was enough for me while growing up, but I would never view art or culture exclusively as products of society's creative class today. I've always believed that art has a purpose of broad scale connectivity that not only allows people to enjoy and ponder the works in and of themselves, but more importantly to balance communications between disparate and distinct cultures and communities. The true risks and challenges - as well as opportunities - are on the global scale and scope.

While I can certainly enjoy the emphasis on locality that so much of art focuses upon, cultural diplomacy takes art to a level beyond most of our comfort zones. Too much of art simply 'preaches to the converted,' and the real waste of resources - corporate or private - thrives in this fact. Bluntly speaking, too many of our 'community' art endeavors are projects that contribute more to the organizer's social capital rather than to the community they claim to be addressing.

 

Pass the suds, please!

Have you ever flown on All Nippon Airways (ANA)? Though certainly not as good as, say, Singapore Airlines, ANA is still head and shoulders above the typically horrific American carriers (hello, United!). Now beer lovers flying on ANA can indulge their love for brewskis as the Japanese airline now offers draft beer keg dispenser service on board (ANA claims they are the world’s first carrier to offer draft beer keg dispenser service on board, but perhaps this should be clarified as a couple of other carriers may have actually offered this before, though in their business class sections only).

The service began on July 20 and is available on domestic routes:

Tokyo Haneda – Fukuoka (after 1700LT)
Tokyo Haneda – Sapporo Chitose (after 1700LT)
Tokyo Haneda – Okinawa
Osaka Itami – Okinawa
Osaka Kansai – Okinawa
Nagoya – Okinawa
Fukuoka – Okinawa

But don't expect to able to celebrate your inner frat boy - only 20 cups will be available per flight, except for the Tokyo–Okinawa flight (operated by 777/747 service), which will offer 40 cups total. I'm not much of a beer drinker myself but this new service should definitely please most of the customers on board (you know, since being Asian usually indicates pretty passionate feelings towards the beverage). The approximate $10 price tag per cup isn't too bad either, considering how pricey things are on flights anyway.

View commercial below:


At any rate, a much cooler option than charging passengers for lavatory use, right?

BoC's Online Dérive: 23 July 2010

London's @Gatwick_Airport has installed screens to encourage users to tweet feedback on their experiences.

The controversy behind Banksy's recent work on Detroit's decrepit Packard plant.

We all know the stir that Samuel Huntington created with Clash of Civilizations. FP's Marc Lynch blogs about why the concept "won't go away".

After a BBC World Debate at the OECD on global job creation, panelists and participants give their views on what needs to be done to create jobs around the world.

Reared on reality TV and celebrity makeovers, 43 percent of American 6- to 9-year-olds are already using lipstick or lip gloss; 38 percent use hairstyling products; and 12 percent use other cosmetics. See how global beauty ideals have evolved from decades past.

Dennis Hopper's "Double Standard"

If you have yet to see the current exhibition at the MOCA Geffen in Los Angeles, don't let a certain fallacious LAT review turn you off from viewing it! Check out this in-depth (and spot-on) review of "Dennis Hopper Double Standard" at Bright-Lines: Rebellion's Double Standard: Dennis Hopper at MOCA's Geffen Contemporary, Los Angeles. You'll probably have a wonderful experience at the show if you can leave any biases, shoulder chips and preconceived notions at the front entrance (wink-wink). The exhibition is very kid-friendly as well, and there is free admission on Thursdays after 5pm.


Excerpt via Bright-Lines:

Time and time again, the "Art World", much like "Hollywood", focuses on the fashionable baubles that overshadow the ideas, missing the conversation completely. While it's unfortunate that it takes a room full of stuff or images on a screen to get people talking, what's more of a waste is for the audience to focus on the quality of stuff (the what/how), rather than the usefulness of the stuff (the why). The current standards of objectification lead to an insular greed that is all over Hopper's work. The mix of pieces in Double Standard tells a story of an artist whose art is about the universal influence of that greed that leads to a society defined by its double standards.

The real Korean drama

The obligatory romance and tears may be missing, but recent developments on the Korean peninsula are nothing short of the action that has made South Korean television dramas an international phenomenon. The Obama administration has made a deliberate decision in showing solidarity with the South Korean government via Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's "unusual" (as well as first time) visit to the DMZ.

Cherie Cullen/DOD, via Reuters

I truly appreciate Secretary Clinton's firm and serious tone regarding North Korea - a sentiment too often overlooked by the mainstream media's preference for amusing articles on the outrageous caricature that is Kim Jong il. At a news conference, Clinton states that U.S. sanctions are "not directed at the people of North Korea, who have suffered for too long due to the misguided and maligned priorities of their government. They are directed at the destabilizing, illicit, and provocative policies pursued by that government.”

Clinton's statement is a somewhat bold move - especially considering that the administration's clear expression of alliance with South Korea may strain relations with China, who declined to specifically name North Korea as the culprit behind this year's Cheonan attack at a UN Security Council meeting on the matter. Her official statement:

This is my first visit to the DMZ, to Freedom House, to the UN Armistice Headquarters.

And as we were at the Observation Post looking out at what is a thin, 3-mile separation between the North and the South, it struck me that although it may be a thin line, these two places are worlds apart.

The Republic of Korea has made extraordinary progress. It has leaders who care about the well-being of the people. It has an economy that is growing and creating jobs and opportunities. It has a commitment to common values of democracy and freedom.

By contrast, the North has not only stagnated in isolation, but the people of the North have suffered for so many years.

I am grateful to the men and women from the Republic of Korea, the United States of America and the multinational force, who today are standing watch for freedom and who are in a long line of those who came before over the last 6 decades, who have helped to protect South Korea.

At the same time we continue to send a message to the North. There is another way. There is a way that can benefit the people of the North.

But until they change direction, the United States stands firmly on behalf of the people and government of the Republic of Korea, where we provide a stalwart defense along with our allies and partners.

Amidst the recent rumors swirling around regarding Kim Jong il's declining health, North Korea has just unveiled a bronze statue of leader Kim Jong-il. In a country where the image of his father, Kim Il Sung, is treasured everywhere from public squares to each individual home (those who fail to hang a portrait of the former leader are heavily punished), this new statue may be the first to commemorate his own legacy. Don't even get me started on how nauseating this is...

The May 11 edition of Choson People's Army, the North Korean armed forces newsletter, shows statues of former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung (left), Kim's son and current leader Jong-il (center), and Kim junior's mother Kim Jong-sook at an Army exhibition hall. Courtesy of Open Radio for North Korea.

The Smoking Jacket: Playboy goes SFW

Hugh Hefner's Playboy empire has had its share of rumors lately: it's being bought by Penthouse (untrue, according to Hefner's Twitter); Russian spy Anna Chapman is going to pose for the cover (maybe); and Hefner is taking the business private (he has offered to buy the shares he doesn't own). But the news of Playboy launching a safe-for-work site, The Smoking Jacket, is not hearsay - the site debuted today.


The Smoking Jacket will not contain any of the nudity that Playboy's main website features. Besides its original content (think Maxim-style pieces that show the reader how to get "lucky" at the workplace), the site will also have humorous segments from mainstream television such as "The Daily Show" as well as internet-hit videos like a Korean Parliament brawl.

Lindsay Lohan, LOLcats-style on The Smoking Jacket

On the divisive topic of Playboy's sensibility, I have to admit that the last thing I want to see is this empire crumbling down after decades of liberating female sexuality. Knowing that so many internet users are logged on during the day (hence the SFW-ness of it all!), this should conceivably catch the attention of the Playboy fan, shouldn't it? Or is it too vanilla/been-there-done-that (regarding the above Lohan pic, they kind of make a fuss about whether the reader knows what LOLcats is - obviously a slightly dated sentiment to dwell upon!)? Only time will tell, but regardless, I hope that this is only one idea of many that Playboy has up its smoking jacket sleeve!

Playmate Sarah Jean Underwood featured on The Smoking Jacket