When Biology and Technology Converge We've tended to distinguish sharply between things and biology. Biology has always occupied a special status, but "advances in fields as disparate as computer science and genetics are dealing our status another blow. Researchers are learning that markets and power grids have much in common with plants and animals. Their findings lead to a startling conclusion: Life isn't the exception, but the rule." Wired 02/04
Posted: 02/02/2004 10:08 pm
Bush Proposes Smithsonian Budget Increase Along with proposing to increase the budget for the National Endowment for the Arts, George Bush proposes increasing the Smithsonian's budget by five percent. "The administration proposed giving the museum complex $628 million for fiscal year 2005, an increase of $32 million from the current year." Washington Post 02/03/04
Posted: 02/03/2004 7:28 am
Malevich Heirs Sue Amsterdam "Heirs of Kasimir Malevich, the Russian avant-garde artist, are suing the city of Amsterdam in an attempt to recover 14 artworks that they say are rightfully theirs." The New York Times 02/03/04
Posted: 02/03/2004 7:19 am
Saving Angkor Wat A huge campaign to save Cambodia's Angkor Wat is being hailed as a model for other preservation. "Involving some 40 major monuments and hundreds of smaller sites spread over 160 square miles, the restoration work in the region may take another 25 years or more. Yet an initiative — led by France and Japan and coordinated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — has demonstrated a rare commitment to preserving a miracle of human ingenuity in a country too poor to do so itself." The New York Times 02/03/04
Posted: 02/03/2004 12:46 am
Chinese Buy Back Treasures Looted In 1800s In 1860, Western powers pillaged the Summer Palace outside Beijing and carted off some of its treasures. A hundred-and-forty-something years later, wealthy Chinese are buying back the bronzes looted from the palace. "Among the Chinese people, it's a crowd-pleasing campaign. They still feel bitter resentment at the thuggery of the invading Western powers that exploited China's weakness in the 19th century." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 02/02/04
Posted: 02/02/2004 9:56 pm
Iran Offers To Help Restore Iraq Culture Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization has told the United Nations it is ready to help restore Iraq's cultural heritage. "Iraqi historical heritage is considered part of the cultural and civilization sphere of Iran. That's why their restoration and preservation is important for Iranian culture and religion." Teheran Times 02/01/04
Posted: 02/02/2004 6:35 pm
Greek Museum Denies Loan Of El Greco A Greek museum has refused a request from London's National Gallery for the loan of an el Greco painting, because Greek officials are worried the work might be confiscated. A Swiss man has claimed ownership of he painting, which he says was stolen by the Nazis. BBC 02/02/04
Posted: 02/02/2004 6:28 pm
Judge Sentences Man To Opera A judge in Miami Beach sentenced a man to listen to opera for 2 1/2 hours after convicting him of breaking the city's strict anti-noise ordinance by playing rap music loudly in his car. Said the judge: "You impose your music on me and I'm going to impose my music on you." Ananova 02/03/04
Posted: 02/03/2004 7:37 am
Saving The English National Opera "It is easy, when meeting Seán Doran, to grasp why English National Opera sees him as its potential saviour. He only has to open his mouth and you feel he has the gift of the blarney. When you listen to him expounding, in a lilting Irish accent, his visions for the future of opera, the least you can do is nod and agree..." Financial Times 02/03/04
Posted: 02/02/2004 9:53 pm
Now In Church - Monty Python At The Organ Apparently some British church organists are having fun with their church service performances, spicing them up with tunes from decidedly secular fare - from Monty Python to pop tunes. "The tunes - reported to range from the EastEnders theme to Dambusters at a Remembrance Day service - are usually disguised and intended to amuse only those in the know." BBC 02/02/04
Posted: 02/02/2004 6:24 pm
Adagio For Sick People Simon Rattle and the Philadelphia Orchestra dedicated Saturday night's performance of Barber's Adagio for Strings to Robert Harth, Carnegie Hall's director who died Friday. The orchestra was in the middle of the performance when a man in the audience stood up, having a heart attack. After the man was taken out, the music started again, and another audience member came up sick... Philadelphia Inquirer 02/02/04
Posted: 02/02/2004 5:52 pm
Star Struck A few weeks ago playwright David Hare blasted The Guardian for topping its critics' reviews with stars. Now readers weigh in about the shorthand practice... The Guardian (UK) 02/03/04
Posted: 02/02/2004 10:22 pm
Barenboim: Of Politics And Music "The question of when an artist must engage in politics remains a painful, personal dilemma. It is an issue that preoccupies conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim, Israel’s most-celebrated musician, and one of its most vociferous critics." The Scotsman 02/02/04
Posted: 02/03/2004 7:26 am
Havel Comes To America Playwright Vaclav Havel plans to move to the United States for several months this year, giving lectures and maybe resuming his writing career. "Havel, who was invited by the Library of Congress, plans to stay from April to July, mostly in Washington." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 02/02/04
Posted: 02/02/2004 10:13 pm
Broadway Gypsy To Close Running only since last May on Broadway, the musical Gypsy is closing, losing much of its investment. "The production, starring Bernadette Peters as the legendary stage mother Momma Rose, will have lost a little less than half of its $8 million capitalization." The New York Times 02/03/04
Posted: 02/03/2004 7:17 am
UK Circus Performers Protest Licenses Circus owners in the UK are protesting a new law that will require them to get licenses for every place that they perform. "Licences, which could cost up to £500 each, will be needed when the Licensing Act 2003 comes into force in April. The act is designed to ensure public safety and has already prompted outrage from other performers, including folk singers and Punch and Judy operators." The Guardian (UK) 02/03/04
Posted: 02/02/2004 10:17 pm
West End Musicians Protest Virtual Orchestra The British musicians' union is protesting plans by producer Cameron Mackintosh to replace some musicians with a virtual orchestra. "Any fan of West End musicals will recognize that the orchestra is the beating heart of the production. Take the musicians away and you remove at a stroke one of the vital elements of the live theatre experience." Backstage 02/02/04
Posted: 02/02/2004 10:01 pm
Times Flap - What's Up For Book Review? There's been a big uproar about what might be instore for the New York Times Book Review, after an online column last week quoted top editors contemplating fundamental changes in the way the section reviews books. "If people in publishing see the New York Times doing something that is changing the way they handle books, the industry will respond -- because they need to get the coverage." San Francisco Chronicle 02/02/04
Posted: 02/03/2004 7:25 am
- Previously: Big Changes Afoot At Times Book Review When The New York Times starts to talk about monkeying around with its books section, a large sector of the publishing industry sits up and takes notice. So the rumors currently circulating have to be causing some near-aneurysms, particularly among writers, editors, and readers of fiction. The Times is planning to cut way back on the number of novels it reviews, with arts editor Steven Erlanger saying that, "To be honest, there's so much s---" in the current fiction market. Non-fiction will get the lion's share of the focus in the future, and there will be fewer straight reviews, and more coverage of the publishing industry in general, as well as a new focus on reviewing the type of "popular" books once shunned by high-minded books sections. Poynter Online 01/21/04
When Pixar Left Disney So the wildly successful animation studio Pixar is leaving its distribution deal with Disney. But why announce it now, when there's still two years left to go in the deal? Perhaps it has something to do with the power struggles going on around Disney chairman Michael Eisner? San Francisco Chronicle 02/02/04
Posted: 02/03/2004 7:24 am
FCC Chair Calls For Investigation Of Janet Jackson Superbowl Stunt The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission called for an investigation of how Janet Jackson's naked breast got on the Superbowl halftime broadcast Sunday. Jason Timberlake "blamed a 'wardrobe malfunction,' but Federal Communications Commission chief Michael Powell called it 'a classless, crass and deplorable stunt'." Chicago Sun-Times (AP) 02/02/04
Posted: 02/02/2004 6:00 pm
