| Promoting polycultural identities across the world
Hoda Mohajerani, 34, describes herself as an idealist working quietly to resist the status quo. Refusing to participate in the current "accelerated downfall" of humanity, this graduate of the London University School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) founded Hoopoe Productions in 2005 to promote the work of emerging artists with polycultural identities to collaborate with each other to counter mainstream popular culture. Hoda was born in Iran and came to England when she was six. When she visited Iran at age 20, Hoda was introduced to the philosophy of Suhrawardi, the 12th century founder of the Iranian School of Illumination who was executed at the age of 34 for his intellectually provocative ideas. Hoda lives in Vienna with her Austrian husband now. She was the Sufi consultant to the 1999 film, 'Hideous Kinky', starring Kate Winslet.
Why we must address both economics and values
From the 1970s through the mid-1990s, poverty policy was among the nastiest battlefields in the national culture war. Left and right slugged it out over why people were poor and how (or whether) to help them. Conservatives generally enjoyed the upper hand in these debates by focusing on individual-level causes of poverty, like family breakdown, drug addiction, and poor work habits -- pathologies said to be enabled by government largesse. This story line struck a chord with the American public, helping ensure the demise of the federal welfare entitlement and the introduction of strict work requirements in 1996. But since then, a structural understanding of poverty has come back in vogue, fueled by more awareness of globalization and dead-end jobs. Popular books like Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed and Beth Shulman's The Betrayal of Work have drawn a fresh picture of the poor -- as mostly hardworking Americans who can't make ends meet through no fault of their own.
US Army's computer game recruiting
Anti-recruitment groups are slamming a US Army deal to sponsor a computer war game channel, charging that real war is no game. In June, the Army is set to sponsor a channel at the Global Gaming League website, a popular spot for Internet computer game lovers. "It is part of this campaign for the last 20 years to invade youth culture with militarism," Project on Youth and Non-military Opportunities co-founder Rick Jahnkow told AFP. "It affects the way young people think. It affects their world view. That is a very dangerous thing." A first-person shooter game based on the army training manual will be a centerpiece of the channel, which will feature other games in the same genre. The "America's Army" game was released about five years ago and ranks in the top 10 most popular computer games of its kind, according to McCann World Group vice president Anders Ekman, who is handling the project for the Army.
Popular culture conference
Dr. Marty Knepper, professor and chair of English at Morningside College; Stacy Baldus, a senior from Grand Meadow, Minn.; and Rachel N. Castillo, a senior from Sioux City, all presented papers at the national conference of the Popular Culture Association (PCA)/American Culture Association, April 4-7, in Boston." target="_blank"> | Small | Large
Dr. Marty Knepper, professor and chair of English at Morningside College; Stacy Baldus, a senior from Grand Meadow, Minn.; and Rachel N. Castillo, a senior from Sioux City, all presented papers at the national conference of the Popular Culture Association (PCA)/American Culture Association, April 4-7, in Boston.Knepper was chair of the session ''Mystery/Detective Fiction III: Debating the Ending of the Harry Potter Series.'' During the session, Knepper presented ''Reading Harry Potter: Making Predictions for Book 7,'' which included results of surveys conducted with readers, monitored internet chat rooms, and fan fiction as a means to discover predictions for the final book of J.
Hot 97 is the Laughingstock of New York City, New Ish from DMX out ...
The radio station with the most grueling, controversial, disrespectful morning show—possibly in the entire United States—is making like 105.1 and putting a stop to songs with derogatory rap lyrics. Kiss most of today's hip-hop goodbye. .
GSN Orders New Game Show from Buena Vista Productions
SANTA MONICA, March 29: GSN, the network for games, has ordered 40 half-hour episodes of Camouflage, a new hidden word puzzle and trivia game show, from Disney's Buena Vista Productions. Camouflage marks the first collaboration between Buena Vista Productions and GSN. The series is set to begin production the last week of May, and will be executive produced by Terrence McDonnell and Jonathan Barry. Producers are currently casting the role of the host. Taping in Hollywood, Camouflage is a fast-paced game show of hidden word puzzles with crossword type clues ranging from general knowledge to pop culture. Contestants are shown letter puzzles and they must find the correct words hidden among the puzzle's decoy letters. Jamie Roberts, GSN's SVP of programming, commented: "I couldn't be more thrilled than to be in business with Buena Vista Productions on this smart, playful, first-class game show.
Microsoft and NAMCO BANDAI create video game history
18 Apr 2007 : Microsoft Corp. and NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc. today made video game history by announcing the first-ever Xbox 360™ “Pac-Man" World Championship, presented by Quiznos. From April 25 to May 9, fans of one of the world's most beloved video games of all time will compete on the classic arcade game via Xbox LIVE® Arcade on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, evolving “Pac-Man" gameplay from the local pizza parlors and arcades of the '80s to the Xbox 360 and its online gaming community with more than 6 million members. The top finalists from participating countries around the world will be flown to New York City for the finals on June 5, with the winner being crowned the Xbox 360 “Pac-Man" World Champion by Toru Iwatani, the creator of “Pac-Man." Since launching in 1980 in Japan and in 1981 around the world, “Pac-Man," its host of ghosts and the famous “wakka wakka wakka" sound have become global pop culture icons.
GSN Orders New Series 'CAMOUFLAGE' From Disney's Buena Vista ...
GSN, the network for games, announced today that it has ordered 40 half-hour episodes of the new series, CAMOUFLAGE, an addictive hidden word puzzle and trivia game show from Disney's Buena Vista Productions. CAMOUFLAGE is the first collaboration between Buena Vista Productions and GSN. In making the announcement, Jamie Roberts, GSN's Senior Vice President of Programming, commented: "I couldn't be more thrilled than to be in business with Buena Vista Productions on this smart, playful, first-class game show. For viewers, CAMOUFLAGE is easy to follow and the type of show that pulls you in so that you can't help but play-along." Taping in Hollywood, CAMOUFLAGE is a fast-paced game show of hidden word puzzles with cross-word type clues ranging from general knowledge to pop culture.
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