via: http://www.riccimac.org/ccc/eng/ccc63/artsandletters/article2.htm

by aniie + remora

Vietnamese New Year is the most important Festival of the Vietnamese people. When Spring arrives, all Vietnamese are thrilled by the advent of Tet. Wherever they may be, they feel an immense nostalgia, wishing to come back to their homeland for a family reunion and a taste of the particular flavors of the Vietnamese festivities.

This sacred Festival occurs sometime between late January or early February, depending on Lunar Calendar. Although officially a three-day affair, festivities may continue for a week or more with every effort made to indulge in eating, drinking, and enjoyable social activities. It is also a time for family reunions, and for paying respect to ancestors and the elders. Gifts of food are made to friends, neighbors and relatives in the days before Tet.

Above all, the Tet of the New Year is a time for meeting. It is an opportunity for the household genies to meet, those who have helped during the year, namely the Craft Creator, the Land Genie and the Kitchen God. Tet is also an opportunity to invite and welcome deceased ancestors back for a family reunion with their descendants to join the family’s Tet celebrations. Finally, Tet is a good opportunity for family members to meet. This custom has become sacred and secular and, therefore, no matter where they are or whatever the circumstances, family members find ways to come back to meet their loved ones, gather for a dinner of traditional foods like bánh chung (a square cake made of sticky rice stuffed with beans and pork), mang (a soup of boiled bamboo shoots and flied pork) and xôi g?c (orange sticky rice). This is followed by a visit to the local pagodas.

via: http://www.adoptvietnam.org/vietnamese/tetvietnamesenewyear.htm

by The Punjapit Alliance

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Six new breeds of dogs, including Mexico’s hairless Xoloitzcuintli, the Finnish Lapphund and the Norwegian Lundehund, will be competing in the 2012 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show next month.

They will join other newcomers, the Cesky Terrier, the American English Coonhound and the Entlebucher Mountain Dog, along with 179 other breeds and varieties vying to be named Best in Show on Feb 14 at the annual New York event that started in 1877 with 1,201 dogs.

This year’s entries for the 136th show will be limited to 2,000 dogs.

“We will have at least two dogs in every breed, including the new ones,” said David Frei, the Westminster Kennel Club’s director of communications and USA Network host.

“New breed is a little bit of a misnomer because a lot of these breeds have been around for hundreds, or even thousands of years in some of the cases,” he told Reuters.

Before being included in the show, the breed must meet American Kennel Club (AKC) rules including having sufficient numbers in the United States, a certain geographical distribution and a parent club that makes sure they are following responsible breeding practices and meet certain characteristics.

full article: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/six-breeds-debut-westminster-dog-show-205910540.html

by Arf the Dog

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Claude Debussy’s birth, the City of Music presents a festival centred on his work. Beyond his music, the spirit of this artist will be retransmitted not only by performing a part of his work, but also pieces by Boulez, Bartok, Alain Louvier and Tôn-Thât Tiêt.

An avant-gardist, this French composer revolutionized the history of contemporary music by modernizing the already existing forms of the classic one. The Sea, The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, or The Centuries will be thus played by great performers like the Intercontemporary Ensemble, the orchestra of the CNSMD (National Superior Conservatory of Paris for Music and Dance) of Paris, the Brussels Philharmonic and the symphonic chorus Octopus, among others. In addition to the concerts, a round table will be also proposed, centred on the theme “Debussy, poet of modernity“.

via: http://www.new-paris-ile-de-france.co.uk/events-paris/shows/festivals/the-debussy-spirit-285759.html

by Elizabeth

Efforts are underway by some private firms to develop the moon. Among the corporations that have launched studies are two large Japanese companies, Shimizu Construction and Nishimatsu Construction. Shimizu has been studying plans for lunar tennis courts and golf courses, while Nishimatsu has proposed building a 10-story-high resort.

Two other non-profit entities are also advocating lunar development. The Moon Society, an organization of astronomers, computer programmers and scientists, is pushing for “larger-scale industrialization and private enterprise” on the moon, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Universal Lunarian Society wants to build the city of Lunaria on the moon. The society has been recording claim deeds on the lunar surface since 1989. Five years ago, it began offering sites in the lunar crater of Copernicus for $50 an acre.

Among those opposing development on the moon is Rick Steiner, a fisheries professor at the University of Alaska. Steiner has proposed that the United Nations designate the moon as one of its World Heritage Sites, thus preserving Earth’s only satellite for peaceful and scientific purposes. Steiner presented his proposal at the International Space Development Conference, in Denver, in late-May 2002. Before the conference, Steiner told the Wall Street Journal, “The bottom line here is: Let’s go and explore our universe, but let’s not go as Genghis Khan. Let’s go as Mother Teresa.”

Not so surprisingly, given the diminishing land availability on Earth, many conference attendees favor developing the moon. The pro-development “moonies” also question how Steiner can invoke United Nations’ protection measures of the moon, when the 1973 World Heritage Convention signed by the U.S. and other countries specifically calls for protecting sites on Earth. Others are less disdainful of Steiner’s purist approach, saying that such worthy projects as a solar-power plant could help fuel earthly activities while helping the environment on the home planet.

Full Article: http://www.cybergolf.com/golf_news/golf_on_the_moon

by The Punjapit Alliance

Despite the more than 3.9 million pairs of Crocs sold in Japan in the last few years, the Trade Ministry had no choice but to respond to the more than 65 complaints made to their office, many concerning the shoes getting stuck in escalators, and some involving children who were injured.

Of course, this decision initially had its economic repercussions. More than 700 employees lost their jobs as one factory closed down.

It is an odd phenomenon, indeed, as most agree that Crocs are unattractive, somewhat expensive, and dangerous to boot.

So can anyone explain why people still clamor for them?

http://www.weirdasianews.com/2012/01/24/japan-battles-footwear-company/

by A + E

Two porn stars are going head to head in a public pole dancing contest – in their battle to become mayor of an Italian town.

Amandha Fox and Luana Borgia are both vying to win town hall elections to become the civic leader in Tranto.

The stars’ backers are organising a pole dancing night next month where local voters see just what both girls have to offer.

“We want to be fair so we would like to invite any other candidate to come along and dance too,” agent Mimmo Pavese told local media

Miss Fox, who has her own erotic calendar, added: “I want voters to see the real me.”

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Poles_apart_in_mayoral_race

by The Punjapit Alliance

902 days. Two-and-half-years. No matter how you cut it, that’s a really long time to sit on the toilet.

But that’s just what Chinese housewife Mee Yan Leong has done, finally leaving the lavatory in her Singapore home after remaining ‘stuck’ there, naked, since 25 March 2009, reports The Daily Mail.

Claiming that she “felt a force holding me down”, Leong only spoke to her husband, Kian Ann Ong, throughout the experience, according to Asia One.

She also told hospital staff she was scared of leaving the loo in case neighbours sprayed water at her or threw stones.

Only leaving her seat 18 times to shower, after almost 1000 days her husband finally gave in, calling up the emergency services before she was forcibly removed from the bathroom.

“They had to come into my flat, hold her down, then wrap her in a towel before using a wheelchair to take her to the hospital,” said Kian.

Mee Yan Leong is now receiving treatment in a nearby mental institute.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/01/24/chinese-woman-stuck-on-toilet-seat_n_1226562.html?ref=uk-weird-news

by The Punjapit Alliance

Nearly 1,000 stressed young office workers and students joined a mass pillow fight in China.

They were handed pillows at the door and wrote on them the names of their bosses, teachers, exam subjects or whatever was stressing them out.

It was the fifth time the annual event has been held in Shanghai and it now so popular that there are plans to stage it in other cities.

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Mass_pillow_fight_combats_stress

by The Punjapit Alliance

The issue usually concerns “Loli Manga,” the adorable childlike characters that are depicted in potentially erotic situations.

That’s one thing, perhaps, but it’s quite another to claim that sexually aggressive women turn children who read about them into homosexuals and lesbians.

Part of the problem with the censorship law that went into effect in 2010 is the fact that it is very vaguely worded. It permits censorship of any media that “promotes illegal or immoral sexual activity.”

Censors can interpret those parameters any way they see fit, imposing their own standards onto a medium considered by many to be art.

Of course, the definition of “art” is subject to interpretation as well, and not every Japanese parent may consider beautiful gay boys engaging in erotic situations suitable reading material for their children.

For years, Japanese censors have tolerated manga comic books and animated movies.

Japanese comics are read by adults as well as children and have seeped into pop culture. Fetishes, violent sex, incest and so-called Lolita-porn, or erotic drawings of female childlike characters are common themes, but these comics are also more sophisticated than others of their ilk.

http://www.weirdasianews.com/2012/01/22/extreme-japanese-censorship-manga-comics-homosexuality/

by The Punjapit Alliance