At a major fan gathering last week, executives teased a soon-to-come Monsters, Inc. attraction. Sharp-eyed observers spotted that the location shown in the promotional video is exactly where Muppet*Vision 3D is now, something that Disney execs obviously hoped nobody would notice. Muppet fans are furious. - TheWrap
Thousands of fans left at loose ends after Swift's Vienna show was called off (due to terrorist threats) flocked to the Austrian capital's museums. At the Albertina, the lines were 20 minutes long in 91°F heat, yet people waited patiently. And the visitors were a demographic rarely seen in such numbers there. - ARTnews
By now he can do anything he likes, and he got the first of many job offers five minutes after announcing his departure from the San Francisco Symphony. Salonen says he doesn't want to run another orchestra — but he said that when he left the Los Angeles Philharmonic, too. - The New York Times
"(The newspaper) hired three people this spring to launch a new weekly podcast, but the news organization scrapped that plan in July and is now scrambling to find new jobs for the employees." CEO Linda Henry told Globe staffers that however good audio reporting is, it doesn't attract paying subscribers. - CommonWealth Beacon (Boston)
"Paramount Television Studios will cease operations at the end of the week, president Nicole Clemens and Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks told staff Tuesday morning. Clemens will exit the company, and all current series and projects in development at Paramount TV Studios … will move under the CBS Studios umbrella." - The Hollywood Reporter
"Spanish police have arrested a man whose alleged plan to sell a fake Leonardo da Vinci painting" — purportedly a portrait of Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, an aristocrat and military commander — "in Italy for €1.3m was thwarted when the work caught the eye of French customs officers." - The Guardian
“What mattered most to him, Royal III said, was the idea of unity. ‘I kept coming back to that word,’ he said, ‘and asking myself, How can I show this concept of unity through dance?’” - The New York Times
For one thing, they’re carbon sinks. “Preserving them would really be saving carbon … little nuggets of carbon that you would be saving and reusing. It’s the most environmentally friendly thing.” - NPR
After some anger and grief, and years of frustration, this is what happens now when news sites die: “Former DCist reporter Colleen Grablick remembers fellow DCist coworker Maddie Poore asking: ‘Local news co-op, when?’” - Nieman Lab
The surprise hit film is going to be a stage musical! But you knew that. The true news is that the Hugh Jackman passion project is finally in serious development for the stage, with Disney. Do we hear the sound of a million theatre kid dreams soaring? - Variety
Today’s layoffs were the beginning of “a move aimed at eliminating nearly 2,000 jobs by year’s end as the company prepares for a new ownership regime.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
"Theirs was an unlikely Victorian love story: He was a university-educated writer from a prominent family in Scotland; she was a high school graduate from the rustic Midwest. … She was ten years his senior and married, with children, when they met. How could a union between them work — or even happen?" - Literary Hub
There are people - mostly “men who think far too much about the Roman Empire” - freaking out about Denzel Washington’s accent in the Gladiator II trailer. “The films are historical fictions, which should render all critiques about accents moot. But let’s indulge the ignorance for a moment. What did Romans sound like?” - Hyperallergic
"A string of ministers have been tainted by claims of favouritism, corruption and elitist practices when it comes to funds. … We asked some arts policy researchers to tell us who (new minister Gayton) McKenzie is and what he should do to fix the department and grow the cultural industries." - The Conversation
