English
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
Español
The 2012 Loveland Festival
The 2012 Loveland Festival takes flight with its electronic sounds with a new mascot, the butterfly. Built from the equipment needed for the festival, the butterfly flies with a passion for music, addicted to the rhythm swinging, flying from one setting to another. If you want to attend the Dutch festival, it takes place on the second Saturday in August, from 10:00 am to 11:00 pm, with 6 different stages led by international artists such as Sven Vath, Sasha, Fedde Le Grand and Umek. Now in its seventh year, the Loveland Festival wanted to open all its stages and they will present a surprising line-up with everything you expected and more. The first stage is lit up with the name “Fire!”, featuring Sven Väth, Extrawelt (live), Dubfire, Sébastien Léger, Egbert (live), Secret Cinema and DMZS. Sven Väth, who is the most successful German producer in his country, is the DJ. He’s been the godfather of minimal, trance and techno scene since its inception in the 90´s. He’s also a founder of the label Cocoon. A living legend. The tent “Rise” features the sounds of Sasha, Maya Jane Coles, Gui Boratto (live), Cassy B2B Danny Howells, John Sanchez, Aril Brikha (live) and Dimitri Kneppers. Sasha, the famous DJ and music producer from the UK, is a true veteran of the Loveland Festival. Since 1989 he’s been known for combining different musical styles. He’s also considered one of the world´s most innovative icons of the progressive house scene. In the “Underground” you’ll find Solomun, Martin Buttrich (live), Maceo Plex, Arjuna Schiks (live), Butch, Olivier Weiter and the winner of competition for...
Coffee and Fortunes in Modern Istanbul
An essential part of any visit to Istanbul is experiencing the thick aromatic charm of Turkish coffee, or kahve, as it is known in Turkey. As you sit in the exotic city streets, sipping the strong liquid from brightly decorated little cups, you will be tasting the source of a long cultural tradition that has grown since coffee was introduced to the Ottoman Empire in the 1500s. Turkish coffee differs from European and Antipodean brews in the way it is served. Boiled slowly in a little pot called a cezve, and often spiced with cinnamon or cardamom, the result is a fragrant cup of half-liquid and half silty-grind (that you don’t drink). Traditionally, young girls would be taught the art of coffee preparation for the eventual day that potential husbands would come to ask for their hand. Folklore tells that if the coffee was served salty, a girl was not impressed by her intended, and if the coffee was served extra sweet, she agreed with the proposal. It is also told that the judgement would be passed in the opposite direction, with a girl’s suitability as a wife depending heavily on the taste and presentation on the brew. Coffee has also long served an important role in the everyday life of Turks, being a pillar of hospitality, a sign of well-wishes and an ice-breaking beverage before that start a serious discussion. It is also served when people meet with friends, when men play the nationally-loved game of backgammon and when women gather to eat sweets. Evolved from these social gatherings, is the game of telling fortunes in the remaining...
August in Barcelona: the world is yours
August in Barcelona: Things to do
The Poble Espanyol for Kids, in Barcelona
During the Roaring Twenties, Barcelona displayed even greater splendor each morning. It made the city sparkle. It filled the suburbs with stately homes. Modernism decorated all the public places. Goods left the city’s ports en route to remote destinations. The suburbs were plagued with textile factories. Picasso and his friends discussed ideas at the tables of “Els quatre gats”, and the whole town was an ebb and flow of ideas and diverse artistic currents. Barcelona always wanted to be at the forefront. And the result of this strength and openness, magnified by the many other major international events that have come later, is the Poble Espanyol. It opened in the highlands of Montjuic in 1929 for the world exposition, and it may well be the world’s oldest theme park that is also used recreation and leisure. Today the Poble Espanyol is a place open to everyone, especially families with children, with activities of all kinds and for all tastes. But, let´s take a closer look. The Poble Espanyol features wonderful reproductions of the various architectural styles of the country. You can visit a recreation of a Castilian plaza and then see a Galician granary. In addition, you can organize and rent spaces for any event (end of the year holidays, weddings, family celebrations or business parties). In addition, the Poble Espanyol has a space reserved for concerts and their own programs, especially in the summer months when they offer a variety of events, as we make note of occasionally. What´s more, there offer workshops, craft and art exhibitions, and other entertainment. This creative agenda is what makes the Poble...
Strawberry One-Act Festival
The theatre festival Strawberry One-Act has arrived in New York, a festival that´s been active since 1996. Now it´s presenting its 15th edition by the hand of its creator and artistic director, Dirk Van Fisher, who will stage the festival at The Theater at St. Clement´s, in NYC. This ´American Idol´ of theatre, a comparison made in its day by the New York Daily, constitutes one of the most important theatre events, because among the public and the theatre jury, they emit live votes to choose the best play of the season. This way, in this theatre festival that takes place twice a year, they show hundreds of theatre plays from all over the United States, which are submitted to a strict competition to challenge each other for a spot in the festival; only 40 of these plays will have the chance to compete. The format that the festival follows is a competition in itself, where the aim of all the plays is to go through from the 1st round to the semifinals and the final. Once they´ve found out who is the playwright of the winning play, he or she will receive the tasty prize of a $1500 grant and the chance to have and participate in a long-duration play to be staged at the Riant Theater. Other additional prizes that one can win at the Strawberry Festival One-Act are Best Play, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress. To submit your application and participate in the festival, there´s a time limit that expires on May 30th 2012, with the competition beginning on August 3rd and the winners being announced...
Fashionable Gay Discos and Clubs in Rome
The gay community in Rome had a late start due to the influence of the Catholic Church, meaning that specialized entertainment spaces have only recently appeared. But there are now a number of entertaining gay discos and clubs with a trend-setting style. According to historical research, homosexuality in the Roman Empire was considered natural. It was part of the power relations among members of wealthy families and also accepted by the lower classes. Despite its history, this city is the most backward in Europe in regard to recognizing the rights of the gay community. One example of this is that the city’s first Gay Pride march was held only in 2000. In 2007, the city opened its first gay street, which is called San Giovanni in Laterano but commonly known as Gay Street. This street is located steps from the Coliseum and there are several specialized and gay friendly establishments. One of the clubs with a longer history is L´Alibi, which has spent 40 years dedicated to the gay nightlife in Rome and offers the best sensory experience for those who are open to experimentation. It has an interesting ambience with an African style and a romantic terrace in the summer that offers great views of the Monte dei Cocci. There are two good bars where you can get incredible cocktails at great prices. The ballroom is ideal for summer partying to the beat of house and techno. Prices vary. It is located at Via di Monte Testaccio 40. The Club Apeiron is a good club with daily entertainment, strippers and videos. Every Friday they...
Girlie Circuit in Barcelona
The Girlie Circuit is a great festival dedicated to the lesbian community in Barcelona and around the world. With a variety of dj´s and events, this festival has proved a success, increasingly and internationally attracting the interest of the lez public . This great LGBT feast begins on August 7 with the exciting Water Park Day and Water Park Night starting at10 am. The rhythm and dancing in the water will be in the famous Illa Fantasia located in Vilassar de Mar. On Wednesday 8 of August, the Lezzgo! party awaits at Razzmatazz, a night of indie and exciting electro music. In addition, the band La Quiero Viva will perfom. On Thursday 9 you will have the night of Cabaret Party at the famous Berlin Cabaret in Barcelona. The famous singer Linda Sedio will be performing live and music will be provided by D´Light and Nuria Cuki Scarp. On Friday 10 of August, one of the most intense celebrations is back in Barcelona , nothing more and nothing less than legendary Milk party ! The shock and emotion point will be the famous Dboy room in the Plaza de Sant Pere. The party will not stop until six o´clock, with dj´s Cuki D´Light, Angela Elle, Lady Chus. The goddess Vanessa Klein will also be present. The main party will be on the 11 August at the The One disco , located near the Poble Espanyol and Mont Juic. This epic night of dancing and debauchery will feature reknown DJs such as Pher Agatha, Lady Croft and Sandra D starting at eleven at night. Besides all the futuristic dancers that will...
Gandules. Open Air Cinema at the CCCB in Barcelona.
It´s been 10 years since the first edition of Gandules, the free independent film circuit of the Catalan capital. Like every year, it will be the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, better known as the CCCB, that will be responsible for organizing and holding the 10th edition of this interesting summer cinematographic alternative. From the 7th of August, Gandules will take us an interesting cinematographic voyage, proposing those films that, despite their great success among the public and the critics, have never reached the commercial film circuit, at least not yet. The latter have remained, unfortunately, as films destined for a niche market, and that´s exactly where the importance and the mission of Gandules lies: bringing ´cult´ films, if we want to call it as such, to all types of public, make it visible and show it to all those outside the limits designated for independent film. That´s why it would be a crying shame that films such as ´The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jane, ´Bullhead´ or ´Verano´, to name a few, would stay in the shadows. During the whole month of August, with some days break in between screenings, 9 films will be presented in original version, plus a tenth one that will be chosen by the public through a vote on the CCCB webpage. Because this year is the 10th anniversary of Gandules, they´ve decided to celebrate it giving internet users the chance to decide which film will close the 2012 festival. Users can vote for the film they like the most among a list that includes some of the most significative films of the past editions. For the time...
Microconcerts at the Palau: Palau 30 minutes
For some time to this part there seems to be increasingly unstoppable progress in the worlds of small, of tiny. Both in the world of cutting-edge science, dominated by quantum investigations around the invisible subatomic particles and the increasingly decisive advances in the fields of nanotechnology, as in the communications, note the unstoppable rise of messages text and its strong trend towards ever smaller forms, as in the artistic creation on the footsteps of writers such as Lichtenberg, Nietzsche, Monterroso or Robert Walser, author between 1924 and 1932 of several hundred of typed pages known as micrograms in which not necessarily the sentences are shortened but the font size, shrinks to a point where it becomes unreadable, it took the students of his work and Werner Morlang Bernhard Echte over 15 years to decipher him convincingly. Walser himself seems to have suggested in a letter that his decision to move to write ridiculously tiny had somewhat to do with a desire or willingness to surrender to the dissolution of the writing itself, through which is possible to see the opening of accessing anything that justifies it. The truth is that micrograms dealing with common issues by the Swiss writer reflects a taste for walking and rambling thst are clearly defined,a passion for detail and the ephemeral seems to jump and grab you by surprise. This is an aesthetic method that has characterized much of the artistic vanguard of the last hundred or a hundred and fifty years, a way of being in a world that resonates powerful as in the book of Vila-Matas Brief History of portable literature, a volume...
Grand Gala of Flamenco
On August 4, the Palacio de la Música de Cataluña will host the Gran Gala del Flamenco special event.
