Blog posts regarding Asia

JULY 9, 2009, 2:42 PM

Link TV's Catherine Day was recently invited to post on the Mother Nature Network's blog to highlight our environmental programming:

'You might have heard about China’s plans to build more than 20 dams along the Yangtze to harness their hydropower, but what has gone seemingly unreported in the news is the fact that the Himalayan lakes that feed all of the major rivers in Asia are drying up. Over time it is predicted that all of the these lifeline rivers are going to become seasonal with the melting of the glaciers, resulting in mass famine trickling all the way down through Pakistan and even Vietnam. So what is going to be the point of all these dams? Shouldn’t China be thinking differently?

One thing is for sure -- Link TV viewers are. This small independent (and nonprofit) channel has been around for 10 years, and if you’ve managed to find it in your satellite channel surfing, you’ve most likely caught a glimpse of the world that has been marginalized in mainstream media.'

Read the full post at MNN.

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Globalization,

Environment,

Current Affairs / News,

MNN,

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World Music Premiere

By Hannah Eaves

MAY 1, 2009, 4:47 PM

This week's World Music premiere is online! Here's what Michal Shapiro, Link TV's Director of Music Programming had to say about it over at World Music.

"Reason #85 why I love my job: So you may love the video premiere this week, or it may really be just too much for you. But I can tell you that this video has quite a history. I heard Aygun in Samarkand, singing at a banquet with any number of amazing singers, all of whom had extraordinary voices. But she stood out for the soulfulness of her interpretation. It took me a year to get my hands on the tape of her performance, and another two to get a signed license. So you’d think that would be the end of it; I'd be in the clear and ready to put the thing on the web. But NO! After all, what was the name of the song, what was she singing about, etc. etc. etc. another two years went by and lo and behold, in a DVD of another festival in Samarkand I heard another group sing a song that bore a tremendous resemblance to part of her performance. I was able to make out that it was "Semai Shams" (my Cyrillic is very rusty). So I contacted Ted Levin, the Dartmouth ethnomusicologist who helped put together the wonderful Central Asian music documentaries we've been showing, and asked him if he could help me. And he said "ask Jeffrey Werbock." Eight emails later, I had my answer (and some cautionary advice), and was ready to present the song to you. Thanks, Ted! Thanks, Jeffrey!"

Watch "Semai Shams" here

Topics:

Music / Art / Culture,

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