Every so often, a Google blog search of "Burma" will turn up something both interesting and not bad. I rarely post about non-political cultural issues here - but there's no reason I shouldn't on occasion, right? Every once in a while I'll come across a blog of someone who's traveled to Burma, with their knowledge of the country limited to the military dictatorship and Orewellian metaphors that are so often bandied about. When they get there and find that people appear to be going about their daily lives just like anywhere else, all smiling and whatnot, they seem to get the impression that Burma (which they happily start calling Myanmar) is not really so bad. Of course, the good things they see do not preclude the reality of the bad news we so often read, but perhaps a more balanced picture of daily life and society in Burma would help people to consider things on a deeper level.

So with that in mind, I give you Mystic Ball. Mystic Ball is a documentary about a Canadian man who falls in love with the Burmese sport of Chinlone, a traditional game whereby players in a circle pass a cane ball around using elaborate kicks. It's similar to the Thai sport of Takraw, which is now played with net, resembling a mix of volleybal and soccer, but which in centuries past was probably closer the non-competitive Burmese version.

If you've never come across either of these sports before, they're akin to a hackey-sack/kung fu hybrid. Here's the trailer from the film for your viewing pleasure.



You can also watch a clip of takraw over at youtube.

Quite some time ago, I came across a review for a CD from Sublime Frequencies called Guitars of the Golden Triangle: Folk and Pop Music of Myanmar. The music is actually from Shan State, and features Shan and Pa'o musicians from the early 70's. Most notably, Saing Saing Maw. The songs were recorded from fairly well-worn cassette tapes, so the quality is not the greatest, but reportedly, it's nearly impossible to find any existing tracks of this music. I did a little googling and found an mp3 of Saing Saing Maw's Than Shin Ley Ye Khan. Of course, a smart person could find a way to download the entire album, but off the top of my head I don't know where.

Just to round things out a little bit, here is a link to a video of Burmese hip hop star Sai Sai Kham Hlaing. If any of my loyal readers know of some interesting music, videos or other tidbits online from around Burma, please share them!