Wednesday, June 29, 2005

What a Palava....

Deceptively Intelligent. That is what a good friend suggested I call this blog. He was, of course being totally sarcastic (I hope). I laughed at his suggestion (after my initial feelings of hurt..). Then - just for a split second - I thought that I just might use it– for comic value, of course. But I soon came to my senses…

And today, (finally) I settled on a name. It was the first name I thought of when I decided to start a blog earlier this year (can you imagine how annoyed I was at myself??!).

So welcome to my blog, The Global Blend! Now, let me tell you what you can expect...

We’ve all heard the rhetoric before; 'The world is a global village’, ‘Technology has made the world smaller', yet we know very little about 'how the other side lives'! People all over the world are being influenced by cultures other than their own. Here are two examples straight off the bat; women in Japan are going crazy over Nicky Hilton's designer bags and Africa finally got it's own MTV channel this year. For many of us, the following fact is true; it doesn't matter if you live in the city or the countryside, thanks to the media, our cultural influences come from every corner of the world, from the food we eat, the music we listen to, our perceptions of what is cool or acceptable and what is not. And there are plenty of us who think that the world would be a better place if we got to know each other a little better. No, I don’t want to open a bottle of that popular carbonated drink and ‘teach the world to sing’, but you know I have a point!!

That is where The Global Blend comes in. If you want to find out why your English neighbour is obsessed with football (it’s not soccer, mate!) - or why your English neighbour goes nuts every time you call his favourite game 'soccer', then this site is for you. If you want find out what it's like to be part of a Latino-Jewish Hip Hop group in the US (check out the Hip Hop Hoodio's if you don't believe me...), how you could force global businesses giants to protect the human rights of their employees in the global South, how people really feel about Bollywood, or what Afro Funk is really about, then check in with The Global Blend each and every week!

The Global Blend, which will be updated once a week, will profile and highlight the work of card-carrying members of this 'global village'. You’ll get to read some work by some great new writers too.

And from time to time, The Global Blend will give you a different take on some international stories. For example, right now, African Debt and the Live 8 concerts are big on the media radar. But we haven’t heard what African’s feel about these efforts. How do Africans on the continent and in the Diaspora feel about all of this politicking?

Take care - and speak soon!

AC
The Global Blend