Reversals of fortune are nothing unusual in the news business. But in the last few weeks it’s been gobsmacking to see Vice facing bankruptcy and BuzzFeed shuttering its news division. The Times, meanwhile, hit its goal of 10 million paying subscribers and aims to have 15 million by the end of 2027. - Vanity Fair
Aa a joint project of the La Jolla Playhouse and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, designer David Israel Reynoso and theater company Optika Moderna have created a walk-through piece about lucha libre, the flamboyant freestyle wrestling circuit. - KPBS (San Diego)
There's a very small population in Iceland, and people tend to do everything. You might be playing in the symphony orchestra in the morning, in rehearsal, and then play a rock concert in the evening. There's a lot of mixture between the genres and people haven't even thought there's anything strange about that. - NPR
"Decent we have, sometimes even good: well-made, professional. But wild, indelible, commanding us without appeal to change our lives? I don't think we even remember what that feels like. … Art is bland and unimaginative because we have landed ourselves in the lamentable position of getting exactly what we want." - Tablet
How lopsided has the program been? Of the 11 shows on view at the museum last year, just two centered on historical art. The other nine — 82% of the program — presented art of the modern era. - Los Angeles Times
Directors Guild members are bound by the customary no-strike clause while their contract term lasts, and they're supposed to make necessary minor script changes during production, But the Writers Guild considers such changes writing, and thus verboten while they're striking. What are dual members supposed to do? - The Hollywood Reporter
Making joyful art while the world burns is a necessity, especially when that joy comes through deep questioning. My neighbors don’t care that my yard is in disarray while I work on it; they are intrigued by the story of its transformation. - NewMusicBox
While he got that nickname for making his fortune by buying distressed real estate cheap, he earned his greatest notoriety for his leveraged buyout of the Tribune Group (Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, others), where his bankruptcy declaration, savage cuts and layoffs caused havoc. - Fortune
The case, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts v. Goldsmith, No. 21-869, concerned the limits of the fair-use defense, which allows copying that would otherwise be unlawful if it involves activities like criticism and news reporting. - The New York Times
Konstantin Shvedov composed his setting of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in 1913. It was kept secret through the Soviet years until Irina Shachneva's conducting professor gave it to her in 1985. She's now conducting the work's American premiere in San Francisco. - MSN (San Francisco Chronicle)
"Dancers at a North Hollywood topless bar," Star Garden, "will become the only strippers in the United States to gain union recognition after the club's management withdrew challenges to their guild election, the union announced Tuesday. … The strippers join the ranks of the Actors' Equity Association." - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
"Pandora VII, which resulted in crackdowns across 14 European countries and was led by Spanish authorities, involved checks across airports, ports, border crossings, auction houses, museums, and private residences. The operational phase took between September 13 and 24, 2022." - Artnet
"PEN America, Penguin Random House, a group of authors, and a group of parents have filed a federal lawsuit against a Florida school district over the 'unconstitutional' removal of books from school libraries." - Publishers Weekly
"The law will prohibit downloads of TikTok in the state and fine any 'entity' — an app store or TikTok — $10,000 per day for each time someone accesses TikTok, 'is offered the ability' to access it, or downloads it. … Penalties would not apply to users." - AP
The Asante people's traditional monarch, "the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, who attended the Coronation of King Charles, later met the museum director (to discuss) works taken from the Asante palace in Kumasi during the war with the British of 1874." - BBC
