Saturday, March 31, 2012

EARTH HOUR 2012

We only have one planet. You can help protect it. Participate in the world’s largest single campaign for the planet: Earth Hour. It starts by turning off your lights for an hour at 8:30 pm on March 31, 2012 in a collective display of commitment to a better future for the planet. Think what can be achieved when we all come together for a common cause.
http://www.worldwildlife.org/sites/earthhour/index.html

"Earth Hour 2012 is a celebration of people power; the world's largest mass event in support of the planet," WWF official Dermot O'Gorman told reporters in Sydney on Saturday.
http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120331/annual-earth-hour-lights-out-climate-change-campaign-120331/20120331/?hub=EdmontonHome

Thursday, March 29, 2012

SPAIN GENERAL STRIKE

Flights and other services in Spain face disruption Thursday in a general strike against labour reforms and spending cuts that the conservative government says are needed to save the economy.
http://gulfnews.com/news/world/other-world/spain-faces-general-strike-amid-budget-pressure-1.1001340

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/mar/29/eurozone-crisis-spanish-general-strike

While Rajoy’s measures have angered unions and undermined support for the party in a regional election on March 25, the government is still struggling to convince investors its policies are enough to restore the public finances and reduce a 23 percent jobless rate. Spanish 10-year borrowing costs have surged almost 50 basis points since the start of March.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-28/spanish-general-strike-looms-as-rajoy-cornered-by-deficit-crisis.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17545174

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/03/201232944838517412.html

https://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/27-3

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

World Theatre Day

World Theatre Day was initiated in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute (ITI). It is celebrated annually on the 27th March by ITI Centres and the international theatre community. Various national and international theatre events are organized to mark this occasion. One of the most important of these is the circulation of the World Theatre Day International Message through which at the invitation of ITI, a figure of world stature shares his or her reflections on the theme of Theatre and a Culture of Peace. The first World Theatre Day International Message was written by Jean Cocteau (France) in 1962.

Message of the 50th anniversary of World Theatre Day
"I'm honored to have been asked by the International Theatre Institute ITI at UNESCO to give this greeting commemorating the 50th anniversary of World Theatre Day. I will address my brief remarks to my fellow theatre workers, peers and comrades.
May your work be compelling and original. May it be profound, touching, contemplative, and unique. May it help us to reflect on the question of what it means to be human, and may that reflection be blessed with heart, sincerity, candor, and grace. May you overcome adversity, censorship, poverty and nihilism, as many of you will most certainly be obliged to do. May you be blessed with the talent and rigor to teach us about the beating of the human heart in all its complexity, and the humility and curiosity to make it your life's work. And may the best of you - for it will only be the best of you, and even then only in the rarest and briefest moments - succeed in framing that most basic of questions, "how do we live?" Godspeed."
- John Malkovich

http://www.world-theatre-day.org/en/index.html
http://w3.bcn.cat/V01/Serveis/Noticies/V01NoticiesLlistatNoticiesCtl/0,2138,1653_1802_3_1732999145,00.html?bcnAccessible=true&accio=detall&home=HomeBCN
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=33393&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Monday, March 19, 2012

JOAN MIRÓ at the YORKSHIRE Sculpture Park

Horned beasts haunt the curvaceous landscape of Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Protruding eyes gaze out on trimmed hedges. This elegant and civilised art preserve has a wicked old visitor. (...)
That's just right for Yorkshire Sculpture Park, where orotund figures by Henry Moore recline on soft, green hillsides descending to a reflecting lake. This is a very lovely part of the British countryside and, with its dignified country park atmosphere and a programme in which Martin Creed and Barbara Hepworth are equally at home, is becoming known as the best open-air art gallery we have.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/mar/14/joan-miro-yorkshire-sculpture-park-review

Joan Miró at Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Bird-Flash at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Photograph: Nigel Roddis/Reuters
 
 

Thursday, March 15, 2012

THE IDES OF MARCH

Julius Caesar's bloody assassination on March 15, 44 B.C., forever marked March 15, or the Ides of March, as a day of infamy. It has fascinated scholars and writers ever since.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/03/0311_040311_idesmarch.html
March 15 is a day to be wary of, as we're taught by high school English teachers and the Bard himself.
In William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," a soothsayer warns our ambitious protagonist of the Ides of March. Caesar dismisses this, as well as a dream his wife has about his statue flowing with a fountain of blood, providing a macabre bath for Roman citizens.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/15/ides-of-march-julius-caesar_n_1347990.html?ref=books&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/ides1.html

Sunday, March 11, 2012

MICHELLE PFEIFFER, AN ALL-TIME SOFT SPOT

With a rare beauty that has inspired countless platitudes and an almost-permanent place on People's Fifty Most Beautiful list, Michelle Pfeiffer had to work long and hard before getting respect for her talent, rather than mere adulation for her looks.
Filmography: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000201/

Thursday, March 08, 2012

International Women’s Day 2012

Today is International Women's Day, an event the world has been celebrating for more than 100 years. Personally, I hope it's the last one.
Do we celebrate International Men's Day? No, we don't. Because, when it comes down to it, every day is International Men's Day. In pretty much every country across the globe, men still rule. Sure, there are some female leaders. But most of the powerhouses -- the ones making the laws -- are still men.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lois-alter-mark/lets-make-today-the-last-_b_1328476.html

While tremendous progress has been made, no country can claim to be entirely free from gender-based discrimination. This inequality can be seen in persistent gender wage gaps and unequal opportunities, in low representation of women in leadership in public office and the private sector, in child marriage and missing girls due to son preference, and in continuing violence against women in all its forms.
http://www.unwomen.org/2012/03/message-of-michelle-bachelet-executive-director-of-un-women-on-international-womens-day-2012/

Sunday, March 04, 2012

EMELI SANDÉ

The brand new Brit Awards 2012 Winner. One part Nina Simone, two parts vintage Neneh Cherry. Shake and serve on ice.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/oct/02/emeli-sande-music-singer-songwriter?INTCMP=SRCH
http://www.emelisande.com/lyrics/