The News Review:

- FILM REVIEW: Persepolis
- Farmer Frank tackles some big questions
- Cumbia: why the world is catching on

FILM REVIEW: Persepolis
Staten Island Advance – Jan 12, 2008
“Persepolis” may on the surface be a story about a nation imploding in on itself but beneath that it’s a tale about exile about a woman who’s forced to turn her back on not only her country and culture but her family and a grandmother she knows she will never see again as soon as she turns around to get on the plane. Stories about exile may not seem inherently American unless we were to take the time to hear the stories of some of our neighbors. But Marjane’s struggles to dress the way she wants to to listen to the heavy metal music of Iron Maiden if she wants without being called to the carpet for it somehow seem intimately familiar. nly while we’re made to fear our parents or teachers Marjane must fear for her life and that of her family. Written and directed by Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud “Persepolis” may have a quaint look about it but the animation is deceptively simple. Its images leave impressions that were this a live-action flick could’ve come across as heavy-handed. And the movie is far from humorless far from it.

Farmer Frank tackles some big questions
Farmers Weekly – FarmersWeekly – Jan 12, 2008
Q I get all these acronyms for farming organisations muddled up. What’s the difference between EFRA and DEFRA for example?A The letter D. D for Dunce some might say! Q What do you think of the ACCS?A I’ve never been a fan of heavy metal music myself. Q None of my staff on the farm get on. What can I do about these personality clashes?A You should nip this in the bud as it can be very destructive. I’ve been in a similar situation myself. The first farm I worked on they all hated me.

Cumbia: why the world is catching on
Telegraph.co.uk – Jan 12, 2008
He is keen to talk about the roots in traditional music that still inform his work today: “When I was a child I learned to play guitar and I learned traditional styles like cumbia. It wasn’t particularly normal – a lot of the other children in school couldn’t understand the music I was into. Juanes abandoned these “folkloric” styles to form a metal band pursuing the genre of music beloved of Latino youth the world over. But the freedom of a solo career has allowed him to return to his roots. “Working as a solo artist I can include more elements of traditional styles in the music. The song Tres on my new album has a vallenato sound and I think that is my favourite style from Colombia. We have a lot of fantastic rhythms in Colombia and cumbia is a groove a rhythm that people can enjoy.