President Obama to Nominate William E. Todd as Next U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia
On December 1, 2011, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Ambassador William E. Todd as the next U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia. The announcement also included nominations for several other key Administration posts.
President Obama said, “I am grateful that these impressive individuals have chosen to dedicate their talents to serving the American people at this important time for our country. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”
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Panto Time: Cinderella’s Hard Day's Night
Cinderella slaves away in the factories all day only to come home and play housekeeper to her wicked step-mother and ugly step sisters. Her home in the Lakeside district is about to be bulldozed, and just when things appear most grim, she is invited to the Prince's birthday party ...The Phnom Penh Players are bringing a Phnom Penh flavour to the classic fairy tale this yuletide, with a host of classic Bealtes hits interwoven into the story to get you singing along in true panto style.
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Podcast: totallyrandomman talks to Frank Van Zoggel of Villa Vedici about Kitesurfing in Kampot
As you surf languidly through the tranquil sea waters, the surf lapping gently at your feet, you watch a majestic kite of many colours rise into the air and billow out like a giant sky jellyfish. Bang! All of a sudden you are propelled through the air like a human shuttlecock, the power of the wind shooting you through the sky in a great rush of adrenaline as you soar upwards at speeds of 70kph. This is kitesurfing, the bastard child of wakeboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, and gymnastics and now you can try it within a few hours drive of Phnom Penh.
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Academy Approval Could Pave The Way For A Cambodian Oscar Winner
A landmark decision by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), has paved the way for Khmer filmmakers to have their films considered for an Oscar. At their October 2011 semi-annual meeting the Academy granted approval of the new Cambodia Oscar Selection Committee (COSC). This sanction of the COSC leads the way for a possible entry from Cambodia in the Academy Awards Foreign Language Film category.
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Windfall for SEA Games Medalists
The Medalist of the 26th SEA Games held in Indonesia were presented with Cash Awards from the Prime Minister and NAGAWORLD last Tuesday in a Ceremony Presided over by Tourism Minister and President of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia Thong Khon.
Cash rewards donated by Prime Minister Hun Sen were given to the Kingdom’s four gold, 11 silver and 24 bronze medalists along with NagaWorld’s own Go For Gold incentives for gold medal winners.
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Phnom Penh Traffic 101
For the Western mind, it's fair to say that things work strangely in Cambodia, some would say in reverse. As the cliché goes, Cambodia is a country of stark contradictions and there is no better symbol of this than the traffic of Cambodia's chaotic capital, Phnom Penh.
The stuff of legends, traffic in Phnom Penh can best be described as liberal, at worst, all out anarchy - where vehicular laissez-faire mixes with rigid SUV authoritarianism depending on what side of might you find yourself on in the event of an accident.
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Who else but the victims are concerned with the disappearing lake?
Some years ago, departing on a flight to Bangkok, I took this picture – a historic reminder of something that is no more.
The struggle of the residents around the lake has been regularly reported, their claim that – according to Cambodian land laws – people who have been in uncontested residence for a certain number of years can apply for land registration: the procedure for land registrations had been financially supported formerly by the World Bank – until the Cambodian government canceled the relevant contract with the World Bank after senior management of the bank had questioned the way in which this program was implemented – excluding the residents around the lake.
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Sophy's - Northern Khmer Cooking with a Long Beach Sensibility
Sophy's granny taught her to cook rice at the age of nine, because, if she couldn’t cook, how on earth would she ever get a good husband. Her granny’s efforts both succeeded and failed. Thiry odd years later, she is still contentedly unmarried, having not yet snared that elusive husband her granny so coveted, but she has been the chef and proprietor of a highly successful Cambodian restaurant in Long Beach, Califronia for over ten years.
Now she has decided to chance her arm, after 15 years or so of her brother’s persistent prodding, at opening a restaurant in the motherland .
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PODCAST: Grass Snake Union Talk String Plucking, EP Recording and Gigging in Vietnam
totallyrandomman talks to energised bluegrass combo Grass Snake Union about the Phnom Penh music scene, recording an EP and their upcoming show at Sharky’s Bar.
Grass Snake Union grew organically from a jam session after a Kheltica gig in early 2011 and have been honing their high energy acoustic mix of bluegrass, americana and lo-fi ever since. They have slowly accrued members as TJ (the bands ringleader and only US member) ‘lured them into the fold’. They now comprise:
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“…ordinary people who risked their lives…” – part of the forgotten history of Phnom Penh
The Meta House in Phnom Penh has at present an exhibition of photographs and corresponding testimonials of stories about moral courage of ordinary people who risked their lives to save others. These are related to actions during the Holocaust to the periods of violent conflict in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Cambodia.
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