Recent Blog Posts

A film crew in The Netherlands wanted to film chimpanzees from the air using a drone. The female chimpanzee Tushi, proceeded to the top of their climbing area at the Royal Burger Zoo in Arnheim, attacked the drone with an almost 6 feet long branch and brought it down. The group then kicked the drone around until they lost interest in it.

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International Alert, a leading peacebuilding organization, recently released several tracks that were a collaboration of popular recording artists and musicians from around the world. The album, Peace Tracks, was released on September 21, 2015 in celebration of the UN International Day of Peace.

Famous artists from many different musical genres, from rock to classical, teamed up with musicians from around the world to create original, unique songs. Some of those involved included: Abba, Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath, Roger Taylor drummer of Duran Duran, as well as, composers AR Rahman and Phillip Glass, to name a few. Musicians from Afghanistan, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, DRC Congo, Ghana, India, Ivory Coast, Nepal, the Philippines, Syria and Venezuela were all represented.

The project allowed artists to put aside cultural divides and come together to express their views on peace and conflict. Musicians who probably would have never met, let alone play together, were able to overcome geographical and cultural boundaries and make music together.

Peace Tacks can be downloaded at: www.intalert.org/peacetracks

Just about 12 miles south of Page, in Coppermine, Arizona, you can ‘glamp’ at the unique bed and breakfast place ‘Shash Diné Eco Retreat.’

Glamp stands for glamorous camping, camping with all the bells and whistles. In this new B&B, you will find all the amenities you would find anywhere else including around the clock security. For breakfast they serve traditional Navajo foods.

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The Recycled Orchestra that performs with instruments made out of trash is coming to Phoenix, Arizona, to the Museum of Musical Instruments on November 7 and 8. This gives you enough time to prepare to escape the onset of the cold winter weather and enjoy a few days in a pleasant spring like desert climate.

The ‘Recycled Orchestra’ will perform on both days. This orchestra consists of a group of young musicians from Cateura in Paraguay. One of the biggest landfills in South America is located in that city. This site is the primary source of income for many residents. In 2011, it was estimated that there were about 40,000 families living in the Cateura landfill. It is from the trash of this landfill that the instruments used by the orchestra were built.

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By Amanda Scott

Some high school students in Singapore, China are among the first to take the new translation course offered. Along with Dunham High School, three junior colleges, Nanyang Junior College, Hwa Chong Institution, and Jurong Junior College, are now offering translation as a course option. There are currently 62 students total enrolled in the subject across the four schools.

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The International Accordion Festival recently took place in San Antonio, TX. One of the headlining groups was the Ukrainian quartet DakhaBrakha. The folk quartet performed twice on two different stages this past weekend, as did all the opening acts at the International Accordion Festival.

The foursome derived its name from the Ukrainian words for “give” and “take”. The band includes two drums, an accordion, and a viola. All four members are also singers. Their music is inspired by not only their home town of Kiev, but also the beats of West Africa.

DakhaBrakha won the Sergey Kuryokhin Prize back in 2009. Its U.S. fame came in 2014 when the group played at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival and was recognized by Rolling Stones magazine as the “Best Breakout” of the festival.

Check them out in the video above or at one of their upcoming shows in Reno, NV, Portland, OR, or Oakland, CA.

People of all ages and apparently many countries recognize the iconic line “Luke I am your father.” Star Wars is a movie that has passed the test of time. Originally released in 1977, Star Wars has remained popular for nearly four decades. The newest sequel, Star Wars The Force Awakens will be release December 18, 2015. Star Wars has been translated into over 50 languages, giving it worldwide appeal. Here is a clip of the memorable line “I am your father.” heard in 20 different languages.

Cortana, the Siri of Windows phones, is now bilingual. This is thanks to the integration of the Microsoft Translator app’s technology into the Cortana interface.

Users are able to ask Cortana to translate phrases in 38 languages currently. For example someone could ask, “Hey Cortana, how do you ask where is the bathroom in Spanish?”  Users are also able to type in translation requests, but this feature was already available in the Microsoft Translator app. If Cortana is not able to understand a question, a Bing search will open to try to provide the appropriate information.

The native language translation for Cortana is available in the U.S. and China markets. More regions are hopefully on the horizon. Whether you need to ask a question in French, Japanese, or Klingon, Cortana is there to help.