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Indonesians’ appreciation on internationally-recognized traditional art and culture remains low although their solidarity is very high in responding claim on their traditional customs by other country, the Kompas daily quoted a minister as saying on Friday.

The Minister For Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik took example of Indonesians’ high solidarity when Pendet dance from Bali province, Reog Ponorogo dance of East Java province and Rasa Sayange song from the Mollucas Island claimed by Malaysia for its tourism campaign.

“However, their appreciation on traditional art and culture that are recognized by international body of the United Nations for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO), like traditional puppet show of wayang and traditional weapon of keris, is not in line with our expectation,” Wacik said here on Thursday.

The UNESCO determined wayang and keris as “non material culture heritages” in 2003 and 2005, respectively.

However, he said that the wayang show is rarely performed and if it is shown, it gains few young spectators.

“It is responsibility of government, people, and artists to embrace all people to love and appreciate our nation’s art and culture,” he said.

According to Wacik, UNESCO is expected to set traditional clothes of batik and traditional music instrument of angklung as non material culture heritages in September 2009 and 2010, respectively.

He also said that the government’s attention to traditional art and culture is also small. He took example of only three local governments that had registered their traditional art and culture to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, namely Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and Yogyakarta provinces since the ministry asked them to register their art and culture two years ago.

Malaysia’s tourism campaign in the Discovery Channel that used Pendet dance had draw critics from Indonesians, forcing Minister Wacik to summon Malaysian ambassador to explain the move. Malaysia promised to recall the advertisement.

Sweden’s popular file-sharing website, The Pirate Bay, closed on Tuesday after a local court ordered its Internet provider to stop serving the site.

The Stockholm District Court on Monday threatened to fine the provider, Black Internet, 500,000 kronor (about 70,000 U.S. dollars) if it did not end its service.

The court has ordered the ban to remain till a court case between the website and the U.S. film and music industry is decided.

In April, four men behind The Pirate Bay were found guilty of promoting copyright infringement by running the website and sentenced them to imprisonment of one year. The four have appealed the verdicts.

The Pirate Bay, founded in 2003, is one of the world’s most popular file-sharing websites. It makes it possible to skirt copyright fees and share music, film and computer game files using bit torrent technology, or peer-to-peer links offered on the site.

Shoppers who spend over RMB199-999 can get game coupons, movie tickets or restaurant coupons for free. Until Aug 22-Aug 26

Intime Lotte Department Store

Wangfujing’s Korean fashion center is holding lots of promotions for China’s Valentine’s Day. Shoppers who spend over RMB1,200 can get a shopping coupon valued at RMB300, and you’ll get RMB400 off when you buy RMB100 of jewelry. Couples married on Aug 26 can take their marriage certificate to receive a shopping coupon valued at RMB1,000 at the Card Service Center on the 7th floor. Until 26

Beijing Department Store

On Aug 26, people who spend over RMB770-2,770 will receive a free gift of a pair of lover’s cups, a music box or a creative clock. All shoppers who buy cosmetics will have the chance to win a brand-name perfume. Some jewelry and accessory counters are giving 5-30 percent discounts. Until 26

Ginza Mall

Japanese lifestyle brand FELISSIMO with cooperating with the Ginza Mall to hold a public welfare event. FELISSIMO will have 500 colored pencils on display, which shoppers will have a chance to use to create artwork with their significant others that will be sent to children living in poor village. You can also order the your own set of 500 colored pencils at the special cost of RMB1,800. Until 26-Aug 27

Shin Kong Place

Shin Kong is holding a Hawaiian themed month, and shoppers who spend over RMB1,573-8,113 can join in a lucky draw to win a gold pendant, one year of driving a Smart car or round-trip tickets to Hawaii and three nights accommodation at a five star hotel. Moreover, those who spend over RMB5,000 on jewelry and other accessories can get a fine gift for free. At the same time, on Aug 26, chocolate brand Cocobay will hold a tasting event with a variety of free chocolate, fruit and cookies. Until Aug 31

The World Library and Information Congress 2009 opened in Milan, the second largest city of Italy, on Sunday.

During the five-day meeting, which was under the theme of “library creates future: building on the culture heritage,” some 4,000 experts and scholars from various countries and regions are expected to discuss broadening influence of libraries, equally obtaining information and building digital libraries, among other topics.

The meeting is also the 75th General Conference and Assembly of The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), which represents the interests of library and information services for its 1,600 members from some 150 countries.

IFLA was founded in Edinburgh, Britain, in 1927. It is now headquartered in Hague, Netherlands.

Current IFLA President Claudia Lux Sunday urged his members to put libraries on the Agenda.

“By influencing the agendas of our communities, regions, institutions, companies, governments, and the international bodies that deal with the world we live in, we librarians and information workers are creating not only our future, but a better world,” Lux said in her welcome address.

“Whatever the economic, social or political conditions, our profession must take an active role in defining and delivering equitable access to the resources that provide information for all,” the president said.

On behalf of the host country, President of the Italian Library Association Mauro Guerrini said that thanks to libraries, people have been gathering and storing their scientific, artistic, literary, musical as well as religious activity over time.

“Libraries preserve the bases of all human knowledge. Knowledge transmission today has radically changed: the scope of bibliography has widened immensely,” said Guerrini, the professor at the University of Florence.

“In this way libraries keep pace with the change brought about by history and technology, helping to shape the future through the resources inherited from the past,” he added.

Be afraid, be very afraid: David Cronenberg’s 1986 horror flick, “The Fly,” has undergone a bizarre metamorphosis. It’s now an opera.

The new incarnation, with tenor Placido Domingo conducting a score by Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore (”The Lord of the Rings”), isn’t as gory as the movie. Audiences will be spared close-ups of the title character’s fingernails falling off as he makes the transition from mild-mannered scientist to giant insect.

Still, for an opera, it’s pretty scary — even if there are touches of dark humor. Giggles broke out among those invited to Monday’s dress rehearsal when a mezzo-soprano belted out the film’s catchphrase: “Be afraid. Be very afraid.”

Cronenberg, who is directing the opera, wasn’t sure what effect it would have.

“Someone’s 6-year-old said, after seeing one of our rehearsals, that she thought she would have to sleep with her parents for a while,” he told reporters. “So I guess it’s working.”

The opera will have its world premiere Wednesday at Paris’ Theatre du Chatelet and its U.S. premiere Sept. 7 at the Los Angeles Opera.

Shore, a childhood friend of Cronenberg’s who also wrote the film’s original music, said he started picturing “The Fly” as an opera as soon as the movie was released.

He said he sampled only two themes from his 1986 work.

“I love the characters,” Shore said. “I wanted to write for a drama that I was familiar with, and that I had a certain inside view of.”

Reporters pressed Domingo on what attracted him to the story of star-crossed lovers, one of whom learns to regurgitate digestive fluids onto his food like houseflies do.

“Why not?” he said. “I couldn’t resist.”

The libretto by David Henry Hwang (”M. Butterfly”) has all the elements needed for good opera: a love story, a transformation, tragedy and death, not to mention a large dose of melodrama.

The plot sticks to the same basic lines as the film, which starred Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum. Reporter Veronica Quaife falls for eccentric scientist Seth Brundle at a reception. He takes her home to see his creation, a machine that can teleport objects from one place to another.

One drunken night, Brundle climbs into the machine. It works perfectly, with a catch: a housefly buzzed into the machine with him.

Overall, the opera has a very different feel. The setting has been changed to 1950s America, which somehow seems more operatic than the 1980s.

As Brundle, bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch has the unenviable task of performing arias in his birthday suit as he climbs in and out of the teleport machine. (Mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose is Quaife.)

The retro set design is evocative of 1950s horror flicks. And there’s something thrilling about the old-school special effects — terrifically gruesome costumes, a singing teleport machine and a giant fly scaling an opera set.

“It is in some ways a translation of the movie to the stage,” Cronenberg said. “But it’s its own creature.”

The second Cross-Strait Cultural Industries Fair will be held from October 28 to November 1, at Xiamen city of southeast Fujian Province, according to a press conference held here on Monday.

The fair will be joined by entertainment, TV and movie companies from Taiwan as well as local opera, stone carving and paper cutting related companies from Fujian, said Luo Jian, deputy secretary general of Fujian provincial government at the conference.

The fair is the only comprehensive cultural fair held jointly by the mainland and Taiwan. The first one was organized in November last year.

“Such fairs can be a great help for the improvement of the cultural industries exchanges for the two sides,” Luo said.

During the five days’ period, the two sides will also launch book fairs, folk arts festivals, singing competitions and rock music festivals, he said.

Zhan Cangzhou, vice mayor of Xiamen city said at the conference that so far 272 Taiwan companies claimed to join the fair, occupying up to 30 percent of all exhibition booths.

The fair will be held by the government of Xiamen city, as well as some cultural organizations from both the mainland, such as China Friendship Association of Cultural Circles, and Taiwan.

The European Commission said on Tuesday it had launched an investigation after a series of alleged cases of exploding iPhones and iPod music players.

Commission spokeswoman Helen Kearns told reporters that the commission, which is responsible for safety of consumer products across the European Union (EU), had asked the U.S. manufacturer Apple for more information last week.

“Apple has come back to us this morning. They consider that these are isolated incidents,” she told reporters in Brussels.

The investigation was launched after at least three cases of exploding iPhones and iPods were reported in a handful of EU member states. In one case, a French teenage was hurt by pieces of iPhones’ screen glass after the phone suddenly began to “crackle and pop like a deep-fryer”.

The commission also asked EU member states where the incidents occurred to provide information.

There had been similar accidents reported in the United States and several other countries, with the cause said to be over heating batteries.

The Brazilian health authorities have confirmed another 62 deaths of A/H1N1 flu on Friday, raising the country’s death toll to 339.

According to the Health Ministry’s latest report, there were 3,642 confirmed cases of A/H1N1 flu in Brazil, about half of those being serious.

Most cases occurred in the southern and southeastern regions, Sao Paulo state having the highest death toll in the country with 134 confirmed victims. Winter in such regions is more severe, which promotes the spread of the flu.

This sharp increase in the death toll caused Brazil’s National Sanitation Supervision Agency to announce the suspension of all ads for analgesics, antipyretics and flu medicines in order to discourage self-medication, which can cause errors in flu diagnosis.

Several Brazilian towns have already declared a state of emergency; others have suspended classes in schools and universities and restricted events such as music concerts and large fairs to discourage crowds.

Brazil will start producing a vaccine against the A/H1N1 flu in October, and 18 million vaccines will be imported.

As a marvel of all marvels under the sun and above the soil, the Great Wall of China has generated excitement and intrigue for centuries.

“He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man.” For those “true men” it is hard not to take back home something that help recall their lifetime experience — photos, video clips and souvenirs — after climbing onto the Great Wall in China.

Don Alder, one of the best acoustic guitarists in the world, got his own way for the celebration: the first cut on his new tune album “Not A Planet” is a song dedicated to the world wonder — “The Wall.”

The 4-minute-odd song is so breezily brimming with perfection that it takes merely the first few bars to completely arrest listeners. One of Alder’s fan reviewed: “This song really is delightful! …There is nothing that can compare to the skill and determination you exemplify in your writing and performing - Like that of the builders of the wall!”

“The inspiration came from actually being on the Great Wall of China with a guitar,” Alder told Xinhua at the Canadian Guitar Festival held on August 1-3 in Kingston, Ontario.

“I can’t imagine the profound thinking that went into the creation of the Great Wall. When I got on the Great Wall I was inspired, went into song writing mode and came up with a new song idea. Of course I called it ‘The Wall,’” he said.

While Alder composed the song in 2006, his connection with the Great Wall dates back 20 years earlier to 1986, when he accompanied his best friend Rick Hansen on his famous “The Man In Motion World Tour.”

Alder and Hansen were good friends as teenagers and after a dayof fishing, the two were returning home when they had an accident and Hansen suffered a spinal injury, but Alder came away without injury. Hansen went on to become a world-class wheel chair athlete and he wheeled almost 40,000 kilometers in a wheelchair through 34countries raising awareness about spinal cord research.

As a member of Hansen’s world tour, Alder and his colleagues took great efforts to help him wheel onto the Great Wall and viewed this as one of the great achievements of the tour. During the 20 years after the tour the memory of that trip kept coming back to Alder’s mind until he finally composed “The Wall” in 2006.

Alder was touched both by the symbolic meaning of the Great Wall and of his friend’s determination of achievement. For him, “The Wall” is a eulogy of the strength of human unity.

“If you take a team of people and put them together you could accomplish great things. The inspiration of the song is people coming together and create great things,” he said.

“The Wall” became a hit as soon as it came out. In 2007 Alder became the first Canadian to win the 2007 International Fingerstyle Championships held in the United States. One of his two winning pieces was “The Wall.”

Having been to China for three times, Alder has become a fan of Chinese culture, especially the profuse Chinese cuisine. He described the changes there as “amazing,” but what impressed him most is the common people, who are always so friendly and ready to help. He said he “absolutely” would like to go back to China for a tour.

“Not a Planet” has also been a great success. It received a 2009 nomination for “Instrumental CD of the Year” from the Western Canadian Music Alliance and Alder continues to garner national and international attention for his live performances and youtube videos.

“Not a Planet” demonstrates Alder’s innovative techniques and fret board fluidity for which he is known, and continues to push beyond the accepted parameters of his instrument. It’s lilting, melancholic, edgy, rhythmic sounds illustrate Alders mastery of the wide array of tonal possibilities available from his instrument, an expert writes in a review.

In 2006, Alder was approached by film producer Michael French to participate in the making of a movie about Rick Hansen and “The Man In Motion World Tour.” The movie was released in theaters in 2008. Alder’s character was in the movie and some of his original music was used in the film.

At 49, Alder has been playing guitar for the past 33 years. He began to play guitar at the age of 13 when he was given an electric guitar during a six-month sick leave from school. Ever since, guitar has become an inalienable part of his life.

Playing guitar makes Alder young. As one of the best acoustic guitarists in the world, and one of Canada’s premiere harp guitarists, Alder sees himself as “very very young and getting younger each year.”

The creators of Chinese animated film “McDull Wudang” plan to develop a series of products based on the movie.

“The movie is just part of our plan to build Mcdull into an original and competitive domestic cartoon brand,” said Wang Lei, producer of the film. “We will develop books and DVDs based on the film.”

Wang revealed that a McDull-themed concert, a popular event in Hong Kong for years, will be staged in Shanghai around Christmas. The movie will also be adapted into a children’s drama and a musical will be presented in two years.

A McDull flagship store is expected to open in Shanghai later this year. The shop’s location hasn’t been decided yet, but it will sell cute McDull items and serve as a wide platform for Mcdull fans to gather.

Since the movie opened on July 24, it has made more than 20 million yuan (US$3 million) at the box office of Shanghai United Cinema Lines, the city’s largest cinema chain. And nationally the film has grossed over 63 million yuan.

“The movie has the potential to exceed what ‘Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf’ earned during the Spring Festival (90 million yuan nationally),” said Wu Hehu, deputy director of the chain. “It is expected to become the highest grossing film of domestic cartoons.”

It is the fourth installment of the Mcdull series and the first-time collaboration between mainland and Hong Kong filmmakers. The movie centers on the adventures of a piglet named Mcdull who studies kung fu.

Industry insiders attributed the movie’s success to its humor and heartwarming elements that cater to the whole family as well as its summer release.

A total of 14 movies have been squeezed into this month’s schedule of new releases. They include Hollywood sci-fi film “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”, Zhang Ziyi’s comedy romance “Sophie’s Revenge” and “Metallic Attraction: Kungfu Cyborg”, a Chinese counterpart to “Transformers”.

“Movies with ingenious storytelling and impressive characters can finally win the competition,” Wu added.