Ideas The Disaster That Is The Digital Millennium Copyright Act "Five years after it was enacted, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is living up to critics' worst fears. The antipiracy law has become a broad legal cudgel that's wielded against legitimate reapplications of intellectual property, from mix CDs to off-brand toner cartridges. Representative Rick Boucher (D-Virginia) has written the Digital Media Consumer Rights Act (HR 107), which would make it legal to, among other things, create an archival copy of a CD or DVD. Good fix for a bad law - but why not just blow up the DMCA instead?" Wired 04/28/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 8:10 pm Why Has Music Dropped Off The Intellectuals' Map? Why are people who pride themselves on being educated and up on the latest books, movies, and even art, so uninterested and uneducated in serious music? "There is a startling ignorance about music among contemporary intellectuals who value the latest literary and philosophical thinking. It was not always like this. Gradually music has become more and more marginal to intellectual endeavour, and this separation may be traced to the first half of the 20th century. Until this time, writers and thinkers saw reflection on music as a culturally central consideration, a view that can be traced right back through the works of Pythagoras, Plato, Socrates, St Augustine, Galileo, Newton, Goethe and Nietzsche..." The Guardian (UK) 04/26/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 5:55 pm Visual Arts Smithsonian's Change Of Gallery - A Political Move? Did the Smithsonian move an exhibition of Arctic photographs to a less prominant gallery under political pressure? That's the contention of the photographer and a US Senator. "Last month, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) displayed the photographs and book as part of her argument against approving oil and gas leasing in the refuge. 'After Boxer spoke, I got a call [saying] that it was perceived by the Smithsonian that my work had a political side,' says the artist. A spokesman for the Natural History Museum, said there had been no political pressure to move the photographs. 'Our decision was not based on Senator Boxer, but it didn't help. We do not want to become involved in a debate over standing legislation'." Washington Post 04/29/03 Posted: 04/29/2003 8:05 am A 9/11 Memorial - All Ideas Considered Guidelines are released for a memorial for 9/11. "The guidelines say that competitors may create a memorial 'of any type, shape, height or concept,' that includes five physical elements: a recognition of each victim of the attacks; an area for quiet contemplation; a separate area for visitation by the families of the victims; a 2,500-square-foot area for the unidentified human remains collected at the trade center site; and a way to make visible the footprints of the original twin towers." The New York Times 04/29/03 Posted: 04/29/2003 7:10 am The Cultural Plunder Racket "Although it is difficult to track the extent of the black-market culture trade, several have tried to do so. According to Argos, a French insurance group, about US$10-billion worth of art treasures is stolen and traded around the world every year. It's become the fourth-largest illicit activity - behind drugs, guns and fraud. The history of modern conflict is the history of mass looting - and not just the garden-variety filching of electronic goods; an educated few leap on wars as opportunities to take a nation's cultural collections into private hands." National Post 04/26/03 Posted: 04/29/2003 6:49 am Getting Iraq's Stolen Art Online "Working to locate those treasures - which reach back 7,000 years to the advent of civilization - archaeologists are building a comprehensive, searchable image database of the tens of thousands of objects that are missing and presumed to be in the hands of professional art thieves. The Lost Iraqi Heritage project is a joint effort of over 80 universities, museums and individuals working to create a tool that law enforcement, customs officials and art dealers can use to prevent the sale and export of stolen objects. The group, which is coordinated by professors at the University of Chicago, includes the Archaeological Institute of America, University of California at Berkeley and the University of Michigan. Archaeologists say they are motivated by what they see as an unprecedented, incalculable loss." Wired 04/28/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 9:08 pm Cleaning David - It Takes A Gentle Touch So the caretakers of Michelangelo's "David" and the woman hired to clean the statue are fighting over how to clean the sculpture. It's no small matter, writes James Beck. Too many great artworks have been damaged or altered during cleaning, and overzealousness in getting all the dirt off isn't a good thing. OpnionJournal.com 04/29/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 9:04 pm Previously: Restorer Of Michelangelo's 'David' Walks Off Job In Protest The art restorer hired to clean Michelangelo's "David" for its 500th birthday, has walked off the job, protesting the "modern" cleaning technique chosen by the director of the statue's gallery. "The gallery director who led an 11-year health check of the statue before it was decided to go ahead with the restoration, wants it to be cleaned using a modern 'wet' technique involving small amounts of water. Agnese Parronchi, the restorer, believes that any method other than careful dry brushing to remove the engrained dirt could further erode the protective coating." The Guardian (UK) 04/21/03 Is London The World's Art Capital? Michael Kimmelman goes to London to look at art and is impressed with the level of buzz. "It's just possible that for now even New York doesn't rival London's appetite for new art, and I don't mean simply the local fixation on Charles Saatchi's heavily promoted gallery of aging Young British Artists..." The New York Times 04/29/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 8:04 pm Stolen Paintings Recovered, Damaged Paintings stolen from a Manchester gallery were recovered damaged, but can be repaired. "The paintings - Van Gogh's The Fortification of Paris with Houses, Picasso's Poverty and Gauguin's Tahitian Landscape - were found the next day crammed into a tube behind a public toilet. A spokeswoman for Manchester University, of which the gallery is a part, said the paintings had suffered weather damage, and the Van Gogh had suffered a tear in the fabric, but added that all could be repaired. A note was attached to the paintings claiming the motive of the thieves was to highlight poor security at the gallery." BBC 04/28/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 7:33 pm Making A Point About Security? Is security lax at the Manchester gallery where three paintings were stolen this weekend? That's the contention of the thieves who stole the paintings and left a note to that effect. “The person who is trying to make this point has shown total irresponsibility if they have left them outside a public toilet not properly wrapped, and not protected from the elements. I would tar them with the same brush as a common thief.” The Times (UK) 04/29/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 7:10 pm Stolen Van Gogh, Others Recovered...Maybe Damaged Detectives investigating the theft of £1 million of artwork from the Manchester art gallery recovered three paintings after an anonymous phone call. "The Whitworth Gallery's three paintings, works by Picasso, Gauguin and Van Gogh, are thought to have been damaged by heavy overnight rain. The extent of the damage, and the authenticity of the works, is still being assessed by experts." The Guardian (UK) 04/28/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 3:55 pm Theft Was Meticulously Executed The theft of three paintings from the Manchester gallery was meticulously planned and executed. "With no noise, no fuss and no suspicion, thieves had entered overnight and coolly strolled out with £1m worth of work. The only sign of the drawings by Gauguin, Picasso and Van Gogh were the blank spaces left on the white wall of a ground-floor gallery, where the frames had hung side by side." The Guardian (UK) 04/28/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 3:29 pm Music No White Knight For Florida Philharmonic (So Far) So far no one has stepped forward to help bail out the Florida Philharmonic, which needs to raise $20 million by Friday so it can stay in business. "The Philharmonic, which has run deficits ranging from $900,000 to $3.6 million each year since 1999, needs about $4 million right away, Lewis said. The orchestra can make its May 9 payroll but will run out of money before it can pay employees on May 23. 'What is difficult for me as a potential donor . . . is to hear that the orchestra has been so badly managed before and now we should trust you to make a better orchestra." Miami Herald 04/29/03 Posted: 04/29/2003 6:40 am English National Opera Dismisses Exec Director The Times reports that Caroline Felton, a financial expert brought in nine months ago to help turn the English National Opera's fortunes around, has been sacked. Her term as acting head was "marked by strikes and walkouts backstage and controversy on it." The Times (UK) 04/28/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 7:36 pm ENO Chief Not Fired Says Company "A spokeswoman for ENO denied reports in Monday's Times newspaper that Ms Felton had been sacked, saying she had been given a new advisory role. 'Caroline Felton has been on a monthly contract and remains on a monthly contract. She will be still be working in a part-time capacity, probably until the end of the season'." BBC 04/28/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 7:30 pm Frank Gehry's "Bionic Bunny" Justin Davidson thinks Frank Gehry's new performing arts center at Bard College looks "vaguely mammalian, a mound of muscled curves - slick and powerful like a sea lion, but also armored, robotic. Gehry has built a bionic bunny crouching at the edge of a field." So how does it sound? "Fill the grape-colored stage with musicians, and they will make more sound than an audience can absorb. And yet, perhaps, that's just the sort of surplus a small, arts-oriented school like Bard should have. There's something terribly attractive about the notion of a house so full of music that notes try to bust through concrete walls." Newsday 04/28/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 6:55 pm Jazz Newcomer Signs £1 Million Record Deal - Can He Possibly Be Worth It? Last week 23-year-old British jazz singer Jamie Cullum signed a £1 million recording deal. A jazz singer. £1 million. Why was Universal prepared to pay so much? “It was desperation. We’d have done anything to sign him. We’d have bungee-jumped off a cliff, if necessary. He’s the most talented musician we’ve ever come across.” The Times (UK) 04/29/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 6:37 pm What's Wrong With Today's Young Singers? Rupert Christiansen goes to this year's Kathleen Ferrier competition and wonders: "What is it about young singers today? It's not that their techniques are uniformly bad or that the sounds they make are unattractive. It's just that they so seldom seem rigorous or engaged: there's a crucial lack of depth, feeling, imagination. They leave you with the old-fart thought that they've had it too easy." The Telegraph (UK) 04/29/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 6:28 pm Fans Sue Band For Inadequate Performance Four fans of the band Creed are suing the band for $2 million in damages after a concert in Chicago, claiming that the band "failed to perform substantially" at the show. "Lead singer Scott Stapp is alleged to have been either so drunk or so stoned that he was unable to sing a single Creed song. Instead, he frequently left the stage, rolled around on the floor and appeared to pass out. On one hand, it's difficult to hear this story without smirking. On the other hand, however, it sets a frankly terrifying precedent. If the lawsuit is successful, where will it lead? Every band has their off nights - will any dissatisfied fan then go rushing to court? Who will decide what constitutes a substandard show? How?" The Guardian (UK) 04/28/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 4:09 pm Who's Got The Top Top 40 List? A new British Top 40 chart has the BBC fighting two commercial companies. "Before the arrival of the internet, BBC Radio 1's Top 40 countdown on Sunday afternoons - based solely on single sales - was the pre-eminent chart. But now commercial companies believe it is vital to take airplay and internet listening into account because online music piracy is widespread and teenagers are often long bored of a single by the time it is released in the record shops." The Guardian (UK) 04/28/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 4:02 pm Wanted: More Accuracy In Bestseller Charts Why is a new Top 40 music chart needed to determine which music is most popular? Many think the current system measuring only CD sales, is inaccurate and open to manipulation. "The use of radio airplay as a criterion is contentious: the playlist is compiled by radio-station programmers. And one area not yet factored in by any of the charts is arguably the most important for the music industry's future: internet sales." The Guardian (UK) 04/28/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 3:44 pm Arts Issues Florida's New Dark Age? "Florida's age of enlightenment comes to an end this week. The Legislature is still working out the final figures of a $53 billion state budget, but for arts groups the message is all too clear: This is the beginning of a new dark age. The Legislature seems to think that a fair level of sacrifice for the state's cultural groups is something near 100 percent. The Florida House of Representatives has proposed an arts budget of $6 million, or 78 percent below last year's level. The Senate's budget eliminates arts funding altogether." The Sun-Sentinel (South Florida) 04/27/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 3:08 pm Florida Arts Cuts Rolling In Florida arts supporters can see the cuts in arts funding by the state legislature rolling towards them. It's not a question of will there be cuts anymore but whether there will be any arts funding left after the House, Senate and Governor get done. Last year the arts got $28 million. This year? Orlando Sentinel 04/26/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 3:04 pm The Tally So Far Across America states are cutting or eliminating arts funding. Here's a list of the damage so far Orlando Sentinel 04/26/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 3:02 pm People Sawallisch Cancels Concert Philadelphia Orchestra music director Wolfgang Sawallisch cancelled an appearance with the orchestra last night. He's in his final season with the orchestra, and has been fatigued for some time. "He's just had a continuation of feeling dizzy and tired, particularly after he conducts. It's the reason he canceled concerts in Europe in December, and when he got here he was feeling those symptoms." Philadelphia Inquirer 04/29/03 Posted: 04/29/2003 7:49 am What Sawallisch Means To Philadelphia "As Wolfgang Sawallisch ends his decade with three weeks of concerts that started last week and a forthcoming tour, he is as firm a personification of the Philadelphia Orchestra as Leopold Stokowski or Eugene Ormandy. He restored the Philadelphia Orchestra's famously velvety sound, erasing the more generic, international svelteness Muti imposed. He could be a fiery podium presence - sometimes. He didn't shrink from tough decisions, and several controversial moves only helped to concretize his leadership." Philadelphia Inquirer 04/26/03 Posted: 04/29/2003 7:44 am Theatre Talk Amongst Yourselves (Not The Audience) What's going on with playwrights who feel they have to have a character talk directly to an audience to explain some plot point? It's just plain lazy. "Many playwrights have forgotten the art of exposition, of revealing the story through dialogue, of letting us find our own way. It feels like spoon-feeding to me when an actor enters, steps into a follow-spot and tells me, 'Hi. I'm Mary. This is my house. I'm a flight attendant. I just found out my boyfriend's cheating on me.' I always think, Is this a play or an AA meeting?" Dallas Morning News 04/27/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 3:50 pm Publishing Dick Lit - Oh, The Tales I Could Tell... "A new brand of literature has arisen to feed the 20-something guys' need to read. An antithesis to Chick Lit, this hot new typology has been dubbed Dick Lit by pundits and the British press. The term implies if the penis could talk it'd tell a travelogue's worth of tawdry tales of the places it has been. The common thread, however, is not the search for sex, but success." Toronto Star 04/29/03 Posted: 04/29/2003 7:59 am Harry By-The-Numbers "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix goes on sale June 21 with a record printing of 8.5 million copies. Priced at $29.99, it is 896 pages long, has 36 chapters and 255,000 words. The not-so-simple questions: Is 'Phoenix,' the most expensive children's novel, priced too high? Will there be sticker shock? Will children read a book 896 pages long? Will libraries be able to afford enough copies in an era of budget cuts?" New York Daily News 04/29/03 Posted: 04/29/2003 6:59 am Give Me Some Of That Publishing Mojo Everyone, it seems wants to publish a book. "The lines for 'How to Get an Agent,' a panel over the weekend at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, had been rock-concert long. And it was pretty clear from the wildly waving hands that marked the beginning of the question-answer period that these folks wanted answers." Los Angeles Times 04/28/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 6:44 pm George Orwell - A Prophet For Our Times George Orwell "was so ahead of his time that we are only now catching up with him. The concepts of Big Brother, the Thought Police, Doublethink and Newspeak are all his inventions, and they resonate in our time with even greater force than they did in his. So how did a crusty Englishman who was born 100 years ago, and who died in 1950, see all these horrors coming our way? Was he simply gifted with incredible foresight?" The Telegraph (UK) 04/29/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 6:33 pm Where's The Diversity? Children's Books Get An "F" The Cooperative Children's Book Center has been tracking diversity in children's books in America. "Of the 5,000 children's books published in 2002, the center looked at 3,150. Of those, 235 were by and/or about African-Americans, 94 by and/or about Latinos, 91 by and/or about Asian/Pacific Americans and 64 by and/or about American Indians. While those numbers are really shockingly low, they are still higher than they were 15 years ago. In 1985, the center found that 18 books of the 2,500 published that year were created by African-Americans." Houston Chronicle 04/28/03 Posted: 04/28/2003 6:15 pm