Obama’s Change, India’s Coming Of Age @ The NRI
Another new piece up @ The NRI – an overview of President Obama and his support for India’s bid for a permanent spot on the UN Security Council. Writing about politics, outside of my usual umbrella, is a fun change, particularly since I’m a BBC and WSJ junkie. It’s nice to work outside my comfort zone every now and then; books are still my first love, though!
Do you try and write outside your comfort zone often? Why? Why not?
Here’s the Obama blurb; read more, as usual, @ The NRI. (Also, props to Barnaby Hazard Morris, a fellow NRI writer, for the excellent title.)
Read More2010 is a year of change–according to the Obama camp, anyway. Still riding on his “Yes We Can!” platform, US president Barack Obama is on the move, touring India, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea in a can-do effort to build better relationships with Asia’s emerging powers.
Although the trip in general is important, Obama’s address to Indian parliament–following a 2006 speech by President George W. Bush–was not groundbreaking. According to the Wall Street Journal, the two presidents’ speeches were quite similar, from the “oldest democracy in the world” spiel to the not-so-subtle references to Indian icon Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi. Obama’s address, however, stands out for its clear acknowledgement of India as an emerging power the US needs to form better ties with, as he backed India’s bid to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
“The just and sustainable international order that America seeks includes a United Nations that is efficient, effective, credible and legitimate,” Obama told the Indian parliament. “That is why I can say today, in the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member…[read more]
India, Meet Galli Galli Sim Sim – Part 2
In part 1 of my interview with Shari Rosenfeld, International Vice President of Sesame Workshop, we chatted at the beginning of Galli Galli Sim Sim, India’s local version of Sesame Street. Here’s what Shari has to say about how parents feel about GGSS:
I think overall the reception has been very very strong. It’s a complicated question because it’s a mixed demographic and – for example, the initial Pogo cartoon audience was largely the upper socioeconomic class, really the upper upper socioeconomic class. Over time as cable penetration started to expand we’ve gotten a very different audience base. And I should say we also have the audience base for Doordarshan as well.
I think the whole idea of television to teach is a fairly new concept. There hasn’t been a rich legacy around that. Public television like Doordarshan, that’s not where its roots are. And certainly commercial television, with the exception of a few shows here and there, have not really used television as a way to engage as well as educate…so it’s been a while to bring the Sesame brand ethos to India, but I think that the reception has been really really strong. Galli Galli Sim Sim, it’s really become very much of a household word…and in fact on many occasions when I’ve been in India, I’d see a bunch of kids and I’d tell them somehow, I’d say Galli Galli Sim Sim, they would break into the theme song, so it’s clear that kids are watching it.
Read more about Galli Galli Sim Sim & its appeal over at The NRI…
Read MoreIs NBC Outsourcing Their Comedians?
Indian stereotypes are a strange, awkward sort of bird. Stereotypes exist for a reason, and they usually have some truth to them. But what happens when a stereotype becomes outdated? Do new ones appear, or do old ones linger like a poorly written joke?
If Outsourced, NBC’s latest offering is anything to go by, old stereotypes stick around, regardless of how racist they are, and how far we have supposedly come.
Outsourced has been a long time coming–the series is based on a 2006 movie of the same name, and the pilot has been under development for at least 2 years. It’s also in a format that’s worked well for NBC, the slightly dark office comedy rife with misunderstandings and office-conflict, a la The Office and 30 Rock. But where the latter question stereotypes, even in their pilots, Outsourced appears to encourage them.
Read more about Outsourced & stereotypes @ The NRI…
Read More@ PopMatters: Will Ads in Books Destroy the Industry or Save It? < PopMatters
With publishing numbers taking a nosedive, the industry is scrambling to find a way back to profitability. Could ads in books be the answer?Last week, MediaBistro’s GalleyCat and The Wall Street Journal reported on what may soon be a disturbing new reality for readers everywhere: ads. But advertising directly in books, print or otherwise, offers its own particular set of problems which may keep publishers from calling up their buddies in the biz anytime soon…
read more on Re:Print, the PopMatters books blog
At Guide to Literary Agents: How to BackUp Your Blog and Save Content
I missed posting this back when it was first up, because I was hiding out in Australia with zero internet access. If you’ve been wondering how to back up your blog, head on over for the details for Blogger, LiveJournal, & both WordPress options.
Blogging is hard work. Once you’re set up, there’s idea generation, writing, proofing, posting, and interacting with your readers, usually two or three times a week. And if you spend at least an hour a post (I spend an average of two), that’s, say three hours of work per week, twelve hours of work per month, and 156 hours per year—or thirteen twelve-hour days. If something happens to your blog, that’s an awful lot of work to lose.
Read more @ Guide to Literary Agents.
Read MoreNew Post @ GeekaChicas–Geek Up Your Kids with this Superhero A-Z
Geekdom isn’t congenital–geek plus geek does not automatically equal geek. There are, however, many ways to encourage the kids to follow in your pencil-chignon Dalek loving shoes, starting with this ready-to-go superhero alphabet. Just don’t be surprised if, in a year or two, you’re met with an angry glare and some freaky adamantium action as your kidlet realizes you’ve created an unholy, unsanctioned alliance between the DC & Marvel universes…
Read more on how to Geek Up Your Kids with this Superhero A-Z @ GeekaChicas!
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