Month: December 2013

YouTube as Ambassador: How a blond from Boston wowed the Arab World

If there were any question about whether or not YouTube and social media were helping bridge divisions between cultures, I’d say the verdict is in. Jennifer Grout, a rather white woman from one of the whitest and most WASPish corners of America, came within the width of a blond hair to winning Arabs Got Talent, losing out only at the last minute to a Syrian dance troop.

The other performers in the finalists all performed songs and dances with Western influences, but Jennifer happens to love traditional Arabic songs, so that’s what she sang. Many Arabs criticized the contest for allowing Jennifer to perform at all. But a far larger audience, people from throughout the Arab world, praised her for crossing cultural lines and celebrating Arab traditions, demonstrating again the universality of music and the power of today’s media.

It was only a few years ago in the span of human civilization when the only gesture one country could make towards another was through some stiff diplomat (no offense, John Kerry). Now the gestures can be made with the lilting melody of an Arabic love song, sung by a Bostonian, and experienced by everyone, everywhere.

Live Stream of Adorable Cats in Ugly Christmas Sweaters? Zooey Deschanel, You’ve Been Out-Cuted

In an effort that could only be described as the cat-loving Interwebs topping itself, Christmas Cats TV is entering its final live streaming day, scheduled to wrap up at 2 p.m. PST. Get your wondering eyes over to ChristmasCatsTv.com for a glimpse into what your nutty Aunt Edna’s festive living room would look like full o’ felines, with your dopey cousin Rudy on the camera. Once you get there, you’ll see why it becomes almost redundant to mention that most of these kitties are wearing miniature ugly Christmas sweaters that would do any Williamsburg hipster proud (no surprise, this visual treat comes to you from some arty warehouse in the big BK).

Courtesy of Sony’s Legacy Recordings in partnership with the North Shore Animal League America out of Port Washington, New York, Christmas Cats TV is part promotion for Legacy’s classic Christmas albums, part seasonal adoption drive for the States’ largest no-kill rescue and adoption shelter. And you’re hearing it first here: the cats, the cat lady, the gross elf, and Phil Collins will all be available for adoption starting tomorrow. Sweaters included. Get your adoption bids in early, because there is likely to be a full-on bidding war. J/k about the sweaters. And the bidding war. But quite frankly—North Shore chose very attractive, friendly (cat) actors. People should pay good money for those little guys.

All cattiness aside, there’s something that makes us all feel a bit warmer and fuzzier when we see a content campaign in the name of good. I don’t know if Sony and North Shore have thought this far, but why not crowdfund the continued streaming of Christmas Cats TV, and extend the adoption drive over the month of December?  It would feel good to give back for a content gift like this. And it would feel even better to give more very deserving animals a home this holiday season.