Asia Television Ltd. (universally called ATV) hasn’t been able to pay its employees for December, and only this week gave them half of their November salaries; its broadcast license could be cancelled in the new year. “Yet there are no sympathetic calls among the city’s public to help save the local institution, which in recent years has lost most of its programming power and cultural cache, as it instead targets mainland Chinese viewers.”
Archives for December 2014
The Original “It Girl”
“What is an It Girl? According to the dictionary installed on a MacBook Pro, she is ‘a young woman who achieves celebrity because of her socialite lifestyle’. … But the original It Girl, as the dictionary acknowledges, was one of the most successful and revolutionary film stars of the silent era, Clara Bow. When she earned the title, it meant something completely different.”
The Apartment Building That’s Been Home To Broadway Types Since The Days Nobody Else Would Rent To Them
“For all the changes that have come to Broadway, where the only thing more drastic than the astronomical ticket prices are the astronomical rents for apartments in the area, the Whitby has largely remained a bastion for performers and their patrons. But rather than being a haven for struggling artists, the building is now much more a home for successful ones.”
As Shaker Design Gets Ever More Famous, The Largest Shaker Museum Struggles
Attendance at Hancock Shaker Village in the Massachusetts Berkshires “is down by nearly a third compared with a decade ago, to about 50,000 visitors a year. Donations and government support have also dwindled. The annual budget, never particularly robust, has been cut by a quarter, to $1.6 million.”
“Literally” And “Awesome” Aren’t Destroying English, Steven Pinker Reassures Us
In a Q&A, the cognitive scientist and linguist talks about rules of usage (and lack of them), the usefulness of emojis and italics, and his grammar feud with The New Yorker‘s Nathan Heller. He even explains the psychology that keeps grad students churning out academic jargon instead of decent writing. (And then there’s the hair …)
Top Posts From AJBlogs 12.30.14
On The Art Movie Docket: Matisse and …
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2014-12-30
Brooklyn’s Warehouse Clubs Crumble
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2014-12-30
“Strict Separation,” “Transparency”: My Q&A with John Elderfield on Princeton/Gagosian Loyalties
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2014-12-30
Best Dance of 2014
AJBlog: Fresh Pencil Published 2014-12-30
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Study: Internet Tops Friends, Family As Sources Of Information
“In a report we issued this afternoon, we found that for a cluster of problems with government connections more people turn to the internet than to experts or family members. This preference for the internet isn’t the case for every person’s every problem. But it was interesting to see how much the internet has moved from the periphery of people’s lives a decade ago to the center of their information environment now.”
Broadway Box Office Surges Over Holidays
“The Broadway League said Monday that shows on the Great White Way pulled in $40,993,950 for the week ending Sunday, better than the same week last year when 30 shows attracted $38,783,854. Attendance also went from 290,386 in 2013 to 318,721 this year, with crowds taking advantage of mild New York weather and Christmas falling on a Thursday.”
The Two-Time Oscar-Winning Best Actress You Probably Never Heard Of (She Just Died At 104)
Luise Rainer’s meteoric rise and rapid descent has mystified movie fans for decades. It was almost impossible to believe that — after winning an Academy Award for her wrenching performance in “The Great Ziegfeld” in 1936, and then following it up with a triumphal turn as O-Lan in “The Good Earth” a year later — Rainer was not on her way to being one of Hollywood’s most enduring film stars.”
How Much Can You Trust Published Scientific Research?
“Has published research become less reproducible than it was in the past? We’ll likely never know, but the history of science is filled with examples of researchers arguing over the reproducibility of a published result—and then stumbling onto a completely new discovery.”
TV News – A Growth Industry?
“Although the landscape has become more challenging, TV news can still be a lucrative endeavor. The morning shows each generate hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising revenue for their networks. The evening newscasts remain vital to each network’s image, and after years of fighting off irrelevancy, are now seeing a ratings renaissance.”
Struggles Of The Middle-Aged Musicians
“According to the Recording Industry Association of America, only three recording artists achieved platinum sales certification on an album released in 2014. Music lovers are slowly turning away from the ownership of music, as the shift to streaming services continues. But the streaming model isn’t yet a lucrative one for musicians. So they fight, especially the older acts not tied to a major label deal.”
Everyone’s Trying To Figure Out How Our Brains Work (It’s Really Really Difficult)
One “danger that the big brain projects will have to navigate is the temptation to consider the brain in isolation. This has been a prevalent tendency ever since the brain became established as the “seat of the mind:” as the popular view has it, all that we are and all that we experience takes place within this wobbly mass of grey tissue. But of course, it doesn’t.”
The “Culture” Problem (What Is It?)
It goes without saying that “culture” is a confusing word, this year or any year. Merriam-Webster offers six definitions for it (including the biological one, as in “bacterial culture”). The problem is that “culture” is more than the sum of its definitions. If anything, its value as a word depends on the tension between them.
Here’s Why It’s So Difficult To Run A Media Company Today
“Clutter is up — more ads, more channels, more content — advertising rates continue to drop, and audiences are programming their own universe in text, video and audio. Consumers don’t want to watch commercials, are fleeing networks, hate reruns, are increasingly bored by reality programming, shun print products and, oh, by the way, don’t want to pay much for content either. Yikes.”
Does Hollywood Have A Race Problem?
“Despite America’s changing demographics, Hollywood’s most powerful industry leaders have been slow to respond to a demand for movies that reflect cultural and racial shifts that have long been underway.”
Should Museums Be Forced To Disclose Everything About Where Their Money Comes From?
“No clear distinction can really be made between money that comes from ‘good’ sources and money which comes from areas that some people consider ‘bad’. Public funding itself is far from pure. It often comes with strings attached.”
The Death of the Artist – And the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur
“Hard-working artisan, solitary genius, credentialed professional – the image of the artist has changed radically over the centuries. What if the latest model to emerge means the end of art as we have known it?” William Deresiewicz, who caused a stir this past summer with an essay arguing that Ivy League colleges were overrated and their undergrads were timid “sheep”, lays out the problem as he sees it.
What The Met Opera’s Downgraded Bond Rating Really Means (And Doesn’t Mean)
“How bad is this rating? Bloomberg noted it was ‘three steps above junk’. … [But] this does not mean, as some have interpreted, that the Met is three steps away from being placed in the worst possible category of borrower.”
Pianist Claude Frank Dead At 89
“A pianist much admired for interpretations elegantly perched between penetrating expressivity and rigorous intellectual inquest, … Frank was an influential performer and pedagogue, teaching at Yale University for nearly four decades, and a member of the Curtis Institute of Music faculty since 1988.”
Seoul Philharmonic CEO Finally Ends Her No-Good-Very-Bad Month (And Tenure) By Resigning
“Park Hyun-jung, president of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, announced on Monday afternoon that she will step down after being accused of sexual harassment and verbal abuse by her employees in early December. The announcement came a day before the orchestra’s board of directors was to officially dismiss her from her post during a board meeting.”
How “The Nutcracker” Conquered American Ballet
“When the San Francisco Ballet company performed the first complete version of The Nutcracker in the U.S. on Christmas Eve, 1944, they had no way of knowing that in time it would become as American as leaving the milk and cookies out for Santa.” (includes video)
Free The Calder In The Senate Office Building!
“The four, black aluminum clouds comprising the once-mobile component of Mountains and Clouds – one of the final works of sculptor Alexander Calder, which dominates the Hart Senate office building’s 90-foot-high atrium – haven’t drifted for more than a decade. They once rotated at a gentle speed, but have been frozen in place for years after a bearing failed.” Now one senator is trying to get the sculpture moving once more.
Cuba’s Art Scene Awaits The Coming Rush Of Travelers
“As collectors, art connoisseurs and institutions eagerly gear up to travel to Cuba after President Obama’s decision to loosen the economic embargo, the art scene that awaits them is sui generis: a world whose artists are cut off from supplies and the Internet and, at the same time, celebrated by a coterie of international buyers whose curiosity and determination brought them to Cuba long before talk of a thaw.”
Why Andrea Martin Keeps Getting Parts (And Winning Awards) In Her 60s
“I’m not the girl who gets to make out with Ryan Gosling in a scene. I’m the housekeeper who comes in on Ryan Gosling and then I do a spit take and then trip over his underwear and knock my head as I walk out on all fours. That’s my part. So I think there’s longevity … I really think, if you are funny, I don’t think age has anything to do with it, honestly.” (audio)