Family friendly gigs “a big part of cultural education”, says host
Finding something to keep the kids entertained in a concrete jungle such as Phnom Penh can prove challenging. It’s precisely this that prompted Philippe, of Le Jardin, to organise an unprecedented series of ‘family friendly gigs’.
The Tommy gun roars into life in my grip, spitting bullets at a paper gangster pinned to a wall of sandbags 50 metres in front of where I sit, hunched over a desk, cold metal cradled against my cheek. It will be 24 hours before my hearing fully returns.
Billed as the ultimate anti-bandit gun in Prohibition-era America, ‘the gun that made the ‘20s roar’ was also the weapon of choice for Chicago mob boss Al Capone, whose first use of the Thompson in 1926 killed a bootlegger, a politician and an assistant state attorney. Today, however, it is mine.
Some readers may remember that on 20 October 2011, I documented three quite different press statements – all issued on the same day, all related the Khmer Rouge Trial, from the following sources:
Now we have a similar, though different case. The Press and Quick Reaction Unit of the Office of the Council of Ministers distributed a press release on 24 January 2012, publishing the same text also on their website:
Traditional animation, far from dying a death with the advance of its high-tech counterpart, is experiencing something of a renaissance. In 1995, when Pixar launched the first ever feature film made entirely with computer-generated imagery (CGI), sceptics were quick to sound the death knell for its predecessor. But in recent years, often with the support of CGI animators, hand-drawn works by the likes of Japanese manga artist Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away; Howl’s Moving Castle) and French director Sylvain Chomet (The Triplets of Belleville; The Illusionist) have gained critical acclaim and, even more notably, been given nods at the Oscars.
Once described by Rolling Stone writer Jerry Hopkins as “A band that recalls the exuberance and insistent rhythms of the summer of love”, Flow – a Thailand-based homage to the spirit of ‘70s rock and roll – is about to release the third in a trilogy of albums ahead of a US tour.
If you are tired of the impersonal feel of living in a hotel; if your family has finally decided on the date of their first visit to Phnom Penh, or if you have friends who have set their sights on a quick break in the Cambodian capital, now’s the time to take a look at these incredible short-stay properties, which are available for a minimum of one week each.
Part diner, part dive bar, joints like Alley Cat simply don’t exist elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The fact that they celebrated their sixth anniversary last year is significant in a town where bars close quicker than a speeding motodop. It’s a cafe with character – and characters. Step forward owner Mark Eastty and lugubrious front man Dallas, responsible for the trademark Top Cat mural and Tex-Mex desert landscape. They give the venue a sense of drama and permanence. The diner booths are wonderfully flexible – the largest can accommodate 10, or two sprawled flat-out at quiet times.