Most European countries back seal products embargo

At a meeting of ambassadors of the 27 European Union states, most countries came out in favour of a total ban on importing seal-related products because of Canada's controversial slaughtering methods. Click below for the article on France24.

And to read the rest for the story, get more here now.

Swine Flu Humor

One of these women returned from vacation in Mexico. Which one?

from Cyberpresse.ca

Danish police hug cyclists and hand out helmets

found on boingboing.net

Video of police in Denmark stopping bicyclists, hugging them, and giving them helmets. Happiness all around.

Östblocket: "yes, we are a Swedish Balkan band!"

Check them out on their Myspace page 

Holland: Queen's Day invitations spark controversy

Amsterdam is inviting people from all over the world to come to the Queen's Day festivities on April 30, celebrated by hundreds of thousands of orange clad partygoers. But not everybody is amused by the poster campaign that comes with the invitation.

Read the rest of the story on the Radio Netherlands website

Happy Easter

A friend of mine sent this:


"My butt hurts !!!" "WHAT?"

Opera singer wins Swedish Eurovision entry

Swedish opera singer Malena Ernman won the Melodifestivalen contest and will represent Sweden in Moscow for the Eurovision Song Contest.

European Broadcasting Union rejects Georgia Eurovision entry

The Eurovision Song Contest reference group has reviewed the Georgian submission for the 2009 competition and, earlier than expected, has issued a decision. The song selected in Georgia's national final, We don't wanna put in by Stephane and 3G will not be allowed to participate at the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow.
The song appears to have clear political meaning and is has been widely seen in international and local media as an attack on the Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin. The song is in breach of the Eurovision Song Contest rules and will not be allowed to take part in the competition.
The article on esctoday.com includes a Youtube video of the song.

Got a middle name?

Karl-Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg is the new German Federal Minister of Economics and Technology

Wikipedia link

Nonsensical Inventions

From Magazine on Radio Prague: 

The Brno Technical Museum is offering a look at the lighter side of life with an exhibition of nonsensical inventions. The exhibition features a tandem bike for married couples - with the man and wife sitting back to back and pedaling in opposite directions, glasses for Peeping Toms with an opening designed to fit a keyhole, a candleholder for a light bulb, a screwdriver inside a sealed bottle, a hammer made of porcelain and a gun that shoots backwards for people who want to commit suicide. The exhibition of crazy inventions that “failed to change the course of history” is on display until May 18.

More odd news on the Magazine Homepage.

Thank God I'm an Atheist!

"There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." That message, on British buses for just over a month, is coming to Switzerland.
The Swiss freethinkers' association launched a campaign on Monday to collect donations to "give a voice to those people who feel plagued by the missionary slogans" plastered around the country.

"We did it because so many people asked us to do it," Reta Caspar, spokeswoman for the association, told swissinfo.

"We hadn't planned it – we had our own campaign last October in which we invited people to 'out' themselves on our website, saying they were non-religious and why."

Caspar said one of the aims of that campaign was to give faces to the 11 per cent of Swiss who are non-religious.

"When we saw what happened in London and how people were so happy to have a campaign like this and how much support they got, we said we had to do it."

Read more here in an article on swissinfo.org, where you'll find quite a few links.

WEF in Davos

World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week.

How to pronounce Davos? Wikipedia has this: English-speaking broadcast journalists covering the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting, along with many speakers at the meeting itself, commonly mispronounce the town's name by emphasizing the first syllable and shortening the o to make the word rhyme with "moss", i.e., DAH-voss ([ˈdaː·vɔs]). The correct pronunciation is dah-VOHS ([daː·'vos]).

As I was growing up, every winter and spring day I would hear the avalanche report on the radio, right after the weather forecast. It came from the Swiss Institute For Snow And Avalanche Research, then located at Weissfluhjoch, Davos. That's how I know how it's pronounced...

Where's Davos? This from mySwitzerland.com: Davos in Grisons is a place of superlatives: this holiday destination with international ambience is the largest resort in the Alps for mountain holidays, sport and conferences, at 1,560 m (5,118 ft) the highest town in the Alps and a high-altitude health resort with a long tradition. 

continued here

A handful of links for today's show

Jane Birkin's official website
Carla Bruni's official website

Charles Aznavour's official website
Radio Sweden, Christmas feast page

Polish Chart Show

This feature is from Polish Radio, External Servic, presented by Peter Gentle.

 

The songs played in this week's show are listed below. Here's the link to the original webpage.

MALOWANY CHLOPAK - Janusz Radek (Universal)
PARZYDELKO - Pustki (Pustki)
MIASTO BRZYDNIE - Pudelsi (Agora)
ALARM CYKLICZNY - Hurt (Luna Music)
BUDZIC SIE I ZASYPIAC (Z TOBA) - Dorota Miskiewicz (Sony BM
PO PROSTU PASTELOWE - Strachy Na Lachy (SP Records)
UCIECZKA Z WESOLEGO MIASTECZKA - Czeslaw Spiewa (Mystic
LESZEK MI MOWIL - Voo Voo (EMI)
KAZDEGO DNIA - Mesajah (Pink Crow)
ROSOL - Maria Peszek (Kayax)
W SPODNIACH CZY W SUKIENCE - Ania (Sony BMG)

Where's NASA's missing toolbag right now?

Find out where the toolbag is at this moment.

During STS-126 mission astronauts ventured outside the International Space Station to do repair work, but lost a bag of tools they had taken along. Capt. Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper of the Navy, an astronaut on a mission to the station, was on the first spacewalk of the mission, which involves cleaning and greasing a balky rotary joint, when she discovered that a grease gun had erupted inside its tote bag. While she cleaned up that mess, the bag — containing two grease guns, scrapers and other equipment — floated irretrievably into space. NASA trains spacewalkers to tether and trap all objects they use, but it is not uncommon for the occasional bolt or single tool to be lost.

Figurines of World Leaders defecating

Check out this story and photos from The Telegraph...
The Santa Llucia Christmas market in Barcelona sells everything you could need for your nativity scene. Little statues of Joseph and Mary? Check. A little baby Jesus? Check. Donkeys, sheep and cows? Check. Defecating world leaders? You what?

Pledge Drive show

Our radio station is in the Fall Pledge Drive, so there will be a bit more talk on the show today. 

But also I'll finally air the interview I did with DJ Dunkelbunt at the Earthdance festival in mid-September. And a play some of his music, and some other Balkan inspired tracks, in particular from the Putumayo compilation Gypsy Groove, which is actually a pledge premium, yours with a $50 donation.

I'll have a couple of cute news items from the Czech Republic and some news from Sweden and Switzerland, plus a bulletin of world news from Radio Deutsche Welle.

Here's a link to one of the stories from Swissinfo, an indepth study of the campaign rhetoric in the U.S.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Today: Peter Fox of SEEED has a new album, we'll hear a couple of tracks. Check peterfox.de
Also, a new album from Thievery Corporation, more from Phenomden and Patent Ochsner from Switzerland, and some news and stories, and a chance to learn another Czech phrase.
Tune in at www.kmud.org
Thanks!

Looking for nice fall colors? Swissinfo has a slide show with some beautiful pictures.

Spanish chanteuse strips for anti-bullfighting campaign

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/02/bullfighting_campaign/

Anti terrorism campaign in UK

"Thousands of people take photos every day," reads the advertisement being run in London's major newspapers. "What if one of them seems odd?"




http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/04/london-cops-declare.html
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/05/remixing-the-london.html