The Taixi Times is a daily print and web publication from Taixi, Anle, offering breaking news and analysis on politics, business and entertainment from Indrala and around the world. The publication is non-partisan.Lotus Party Leader disappointed by "chirping politicians"24 September 4422Li distributes used books at an event alongside "Literacy Indrala" volunteersDONGJING, Anle: On a campaign trek through rural Anle, Lotus Party Leader Li "the Poet" Jinyu made an appearance volunteering with "Literacy Indrala" in suburban Dongjing, Anle. After personally greeting and talking with pedestrians and constituents, Li Jinyu addressed a small crowd, consistently coming back to the importance of unity and civility.
"It is disappointing to see how many politicians as of late have been resorting to chirping and levelling petty attacks," Li Jinyu said. "My job, as an Assemblyman and as leader of this party, is to move past that and deliver real change for the people of this country."
Li Jinyu briefly discussed the emergent Sunrise Party in his comments, raising disappointment with the "hyper-partisanship" that Li Jinyu says the party seeks to create.
"As politics in this country evolves past the vitriolic era of the republican/monarchist divide, it is disappointing that Mr. Li Peng is eager to expand on divisions rather than what unifies us," Li Jinyu said. The Lotus Party leader also criticized comments from the Sunrise Party's leadership regarding the lineage of the Chief Counselor.
"Do we not live in a meritocratic society?" Li asked. "Rather than criticize our Chief Counselor on his birth relations, why not focus on policy? The people of Indrala selected Duke Lü as Chief Counselor in a free and democratic election. If Mr. Li Peng wants to be promoted to that job, he should put in the work, not attack people and their families."
Despite his disagreements with recent rhetoric from the Sunrise Party, Li Jinyu said that he hopes to work with the Party in areas of mutual agreement. At present, the parties have a 78% similar voting rate.
VOICES: "Beatmania not infectious in Indrala"30 July 4422 (OOC: Postdated)Beat Brothers' concert in Tian'anThe following is an opinion piece submitted by Ms. Zhu Xudan, Director of Overseas Operations for YM Entertainment: Kalistan, which had
long been considered the "Most Musical Nation" on the planet, faced a period of decline through which Indralan pop music and culture was able to spread across Seleya. Now with a resurgent Kalistani music industry, and an emerging Valruzian industry as well, many Seleyan commentators have suggested that Indrala's distinct hegemony on entertainment as under threat.
Much can be said of the rise of pop-rock sensations the Beat Brothers. Perhaps what is quite notable is that many of the articles published on the band in their native Valruzia references YingPop and it's pervasive nature across Seleya and around the world.
"Could the time finally be right for the Beat Brothers to knock YingPop off it's perch?" asks one article.
"...can the rock n' roll band rival the success of YingPop?" asks another. With all this speculation, it appears that the band felt it was time to find out.
Last week, to great fanfare,
the Beat Brothers arrived in Tian'an. The four-man group toured around our capital, exhibiting respect for our cultural sites and traditions. They were also followed by notable numbers of fanatic fans, such that their first three shows were sold out in Tian'an. However, despite the bluster of their lead singer Hanuszek Leminski published in
Wewnątrz Nowogard, the turnout was nowhere near the size of the crowds seen in Mordusia, Kanjor, Kalistan or any other spot on the Seleyan tour. About 26,000 people saw the band perform in Indrala overall. The concerts were not broadcast domestically.
Indrala-chapter President of the Beat Brothers Fan Club, Yumana Takagi, understood that the band might not strike the right cord for "mainstream type" Indralans.
"While we will certainly go down and support our boys, many mainstreamers won't," Takagi wrote in a blog post. "We have to be twice as enthusiastic at the concert so [the band] don't end [the tour] on a low note!"
Takagi continued to explain that though the Beat Brothers "produce profoundly creative, fresh and unique music," their "unpolished nature, musical style, immodest personalities and subtle stage performance," doesn't suit what most people in Indrala expect to see from performers. Indeed, while the remarkably successful lead single from the Beat Brothers second album,
Introducing... The Beat Brothers, reached the top of the charts in Valruzia, Kalistan and many other Seleyan nations, the song peaked at 14 on the
WEILAI Music Chart Top 40 before summarily sliding off.
"What kind of boy group cannot dance?" wrote one Indralan netizen. "I can see why foreigners might like this... but [they] don't interest me," said another. While the Beat Brothers are certainly gifted musicians, they simply don't align with Indrala entertainment industry standards. In Indrala, for many years, people have grown to expect performers to be gifted singers, dancers, musicians and actors in addition to having bright, clean and fun personalities. The Beat Brothers, who routinely speak about their own celebrity in less-than-modest terms, don't exactly match these guidelines. Though the Beat Brothers, in many respects, have been able to subvert and reinvent cultural norms across the continent, perhaps a nation which deeply values propriety can't be so changed.