Showing posts with the label
Entertainment
Like (I hope) the IPE Zone blog itself, there's an amusingly droll American Mall video game developed by, of all people, Bloomberg . With consumer spending constituting the lion's share of e…
The Hallmark Channel is everything Trump's America is not: civil, polite, and uplifting. Despite his improbable appeal to certain segments of the American electorate--you'll have to point the…
Yes, Kung Fu Panda 3 qualifies as a PRC production. The current Chinese leadership's plans to make a transition from a manufacturing- and export-oriented economy to a services- and domestic-ori…
"Yay, the Americans declared me winner of an 'international' event!" Given my nationality, I suppose I shouldn't complain too much about the outcome of the 2015 Miss Universe p…
TPP preserves your rights to dress like a cartoon character...to an extent. I have always enjoyed featuring fringe stories from the world of international economic relations, and this one should fill…
Call of Duty: Singapore is a really dumb idea. I look forward to Call of Duty: Kirby's Apartment . If you were going to set a fictional video game franchise concerning a terrorist attack somewhe…
China funding Hollywood...what's the deal? Two new articles in the WSJ illustrate China's ambitions in terms of acquiring Western technology--we've always known about this, but they'v…
Cherishing those rare time mum is home in Romania. It's that time of the year again when that quintessential display of European unity (really) and sheer weirdness comes around. Yes, it is time f…
New box office formula: fewer gringo actors = more moviegoers. I am not much of a follower of the US film industry, but this story caught my interest for a number of reasons. To be honest, I haven…
The US nanny state and a casino mogul combine to frustrate online gambling Stateside. For a long time, I have covered attempts to regulate Internet gaming Stateside and its effects on offshore servic…
A game console bonanza in China? Not yet so far. The irony for video game console makers in China is that while some components are made there, the likes of Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony have not been…
Some Buena Vista Music Club musicians are gone but not forgotten. I actually watched Obama's announcement that the United States has entered a process of normalizing relations with Cuba. As some…
Wasn't the real Hugo Chavez a homely, pudgy bloke? For those with a taste for entertainment with a political bent, there is no shortage: Evita , Les Miserables , Imelda ...the list goes on and on…
Dig USC President Max Nikias trying to get down with Dre. This is an interesting idea for innovation in higher education: is gangsta rap impresario Dr. Dre your idea of a college benefactor? He doesn…
Sometimes 2000 shoes just ain't enough. David Byrne should be familiar to 80s music fans as the Talking Heads frontman of " Burning Down the House " fame. Together with Fatboy Slim, the…
Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters , sons of bankers, sons of lawyers. I visited Euro Disney in 1994, two years after it opened. After informing our Parisian cab driver that we wanted to go to the new theme …
To understand America, explain why "Orange Balloon Dog" is worth $58.4 million . At best, Americanism is a good-natured kind of hucksterism that does not take itself too seriously and invit…
Ah, independent Singapore: a Lee-controlled city-state with a brief Goh Chok Tong intermission. I call it the "Medvedevian Interlude." Harry Lee Kuan Yew is famous for his "Asian Value…
Shakira killed Gerard Pique and Spain's double fantasy for a World Cup repeat. [ Apologies for this post not concerning IPE all that much, but it is definitely international and affects the repu…
I did not fully appreciate how well and truly Las Vegas has been eclipsed by Macau. 2006 was the year Macau overtook Las Vegas in gambling revenues. Perhaps reflecting the dour, sour mood of a has-be…