Dark Entertainment, Light Entertainment

Holy C....oh well you get it!
(having problems getting Blogger to upload images so no pictures of pretty cows like I planned, but wouldn't the above joke have been funny if I had? Not really.)
As always you can leave comments, dark or light, below...

Segment 1 - The Italian Terroist & the French Intelligensia
In France, a real life terrorist-turned-crime-writer has just published a new book -On the Run- which he acutally is. John Laurenson looks into Cesare Battisti’s appeal from Paris…
There are numerous articles about Mr. Battisti's doings. Most is in Italian or French. The best in English, however, is at Wikipedia.

Segment 2 - The dark side of Turkish reality TV
A Turkish reality TV star was found dead in a hotel room of a suspected drug overdose. Serious questions are being raised as to whether such programs really are just harmless entertainment. Dorian Jones has more from Istanbul.
BBC Radio 4 has made an excellent documentary looking at the Sociology of Reality TV. It's worth a listen.

Segment 3 - London Symphony Orchestra Teaches Tots
The London Symphony Orchestra runs many educational outreach programs for children and adults. The class called ‘Early Years’ aims to bring music into the lives of children before they go to school. Kathy Clugston was there…
Coming up this week at the LSO you can learn to play the Balinese Gamelan!

Segment 4 - Cow Show Moooooves to Paris
The cow parade is the world’s largest art event. And it’s a moveable feast that has been exhibiting life-sized cows in cities all over the world for the last few years. Allison Hird viewed the herd, this time in Paris…
The Cow Parade has its own comprehensive site.

Click here to download the program as a high quality mp3

Just for the Look of It!!!!!!!!

At left, Rembrandt's "The Two Moors". This painting features in the most comprehensive study of black faces in Dutch art. See segment 3. By the by, this is also Rembrandt van Rijn's 400 th birthday. Radio Netherlands is celebrating with a contest. A big one actually. We're looking for the Rembrandt of our time. Click here for more details at the official Website.


Segment 1 - Fashion with a Mission
Many of the women at the Fashion with a Mission workshop in the Dutch city of Nijmegen were homeless until recently. Today they’re making serious designer stuff prêt a portez. Liesbeth de Bakker reports.
The site of Fashion with a Mission (In Dutch)

Segment 2 - Ozwald Boateng
For two decades, Ozwald Boateng has been changing the face of classic British tailoring. Here he tells our Sylvia Smith about where things stand with the Boateng Empire as they tour his bespoke.
Ozwald Boateng's Official Site (requires Flash)

Segment 3 - Rembrandt’s Blacks
Helene Michaud asks art historian Esther Schreuder about how Rembrandt portrayed black people in the 17th century by looking at his two most famous paintings featuring black characters: The Baptism of the Eunuch and The Two Moors.
Helene made a web article on Esther Schreuder's work for Radio Netherlands Afrique (who knew we had that?).

Segment 4 - Cézanne in Provence
To mark the centenary of the artist Paul Cézanne’s death, a large exhibition is open this summer in Aix en Provence, featuring his best-known paintings of the local landscape. Alasdair Sandford reports from Aix.
The Aix en Provence Tourism website has loads of info in English. They know how their bread is buttered.

Segment 5 - German Shoeshine Boy
Henning Gruebl, or as he’s better known, Germany’s Shoe Shine Boy, became inspired by shoeshining after a visit to Columbia. Dressed like a 1920s New York street urchin, Gruebl showed Sabina Casagrande the true meaning of clean.
Henning (here at right) is a modern kind of shoe shine boy. He has his own site and can even be booked via an online form. Oh the humanity!


Click here for a high quality mp3 of the program!

The Changing Face of the European Family

I initially called the program the "troubled" European family. But that sounded to negative and judgemental. I think changing is more equitable, don't you? Leave a comment below.

Segment 1 - Dutch Mothers Don’t Work
They prefer to work part-time in order to be home with the kids, concludes a report by the Dutch Social and Cultural Planning Office. The Dutch situation is so out of step with the rest of Europe that Dutch mom Liesbeth de Bakker decided to investigate.
Liesbeth has written a report on the subject. You can find it here...

Segment 2 - Norway May Lead the Way in Childcare
Scandinavian parents view childcare outside the home as something healthy.
And this is something more Europeans had better start taking more seriously soon as Europeans are not having enough children. Lars Bevanger in Oslo investigates.
Click here for a website the Norwegian Government has created meant to explain their policy to Americans. Interesting they felt it necessary to do that.

Segment 3 - Domestic Violence on the Rise in N. Ireland
Domestic violence is on the rise in Ulster. This is why, every year, a group of women get together to draw attention to violence in the home. Louise Williams has more from Derry.
Probably the most important anti-domestic violence organization in Ulster is the Women's Aid Federation Northern Ireland.

Segment 4 - Gay Marriage Forces Spanish Rethink of the Family
A combination of modern life and progressive social legislation, in particular the legalization of gay marriage, has transformed the Spanish family in every conceivable way. Danny Wood has more from Madrid.
This has been written about widely, so the Wiki on the issue is, I think, a good starting point for further study.

Click here for a high quality mp3 of this week's show!!!!

Europe's Unwanted

At left, a poster from 'La Blessure' a French film detailing the violations described in Segment 1. A haunting film, I'm told. I have yet to see it.

Our continent's tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to be....

Segment 1 - Welcome to France
A recent report by the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner criticized the way the French authorities treat people seeking refugee status.
Download the Council of Europe report here...

Segment 2 - Dukhobor Exodus from Georgia
Civil war in Georgia sparked a dramatic exodus of the traditional Dukhobors back to Russia. Those who chose to remain say they now feel like a minority in their own villages. As Guy Degen reports, many Dukhobors are wondering whether to stay or go.
Did you know that many Dukhobors live in Canada? Click here for a link their community.
Segment 3 - Poverty Grows in the Netherlands
When the Internet bubble burst at the end of the 90s, so did the technogically driven Dutch economy. Kok Vroman, researcher at the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analyis, told his findings to our Michel Walraven.

Segment 4 - Cardboard Citizens
Nicola Fell reports on the Cardboard Citizens, the only professional homeless theatre in the UK and leaders in this field throughout the world.
The official site.

Click here for a high quality mp3 of this week's show....

Network Europe

...gets a web site finally (although not a proper logo yet, but then again neither does EuroQuest). Regular listeners will have heard me mention them time and again as this informal consortium of European broadcasters have often provided me with material for the show. In return, they get to cherry pick from EuroQuest for own half hour long European Affairs program. It's an interesting construction with Deutshe Welle, RFI, Radio Sweden and now Radio Polonia rotating production duties. Results may vary...

Having said that, it has led to discussions of deepening the relationship. Even the comission has gotten interested. Saying more would be premature but it could be the start of something big....

Stay tuned...............