Of New York And Intellectuals Will the tradition of the New York intellectual survive? "The failure of the New York Intellectuals, finally - after a life in the American public as critics and theorists, pundits and intellectuals-was the failure to pass on a tradition. They became but a historical quirk when they failed to bequeath the tradition onto another generation and another age." Work Research Foundation 02/04
Posted: 02/10/2004 6:57 pm
From Where Do We Get Technology? Since World War II, the notion that "science is the engine that drives technology" has been dominant. "Before technology could advance, "scientific capital" had to be built up through research. Such a view implied that technology ultimately depended on knowledge of the natural world: Technology was nothing more than applied science. Yet increasingly, the scientists who do the sort of pure research explain natural phenomena by invoking such man-made artifacts as the computer." Wired 02/10/04
Posted: 02/10/2004 4:46 pm
LAX Public Art Roils Protests A large tapestry with a theme of the 9/11 attack hung at Los Angeles International Airport in late January has sparked waves of protest. "The exhibit, titled 'Eye-Speak,' includes images inspired by the attacks, such as a bare-breasted woman holding a bleeding heart with the World Trade Center's twin towers on fire behind her." Los Angeles Times 02/11/04
Posted: 02/11/2004 7:31 am
A First Look At (What Would Be) London's Tallest Building... Plans have been unveiled for a new 700-foot high skyscraper in London. "The skyscraper, the creation of the architects responsible for the Lloyds building and the Millennium Dome, would be at least 100ft (30 metres) taller than any other structure in the City." The Guardian (UK) 02/10/04
Posted: 02/10/2004 7:14 pm
Shutting Off Art From Cuba Until recently, licensed collectors were able to travel to Cuba and bring some art back to the United States. But "the Bush administration has canceled most licenses for culture-related Cuban travel, and the Treasury Department recently stepped up prosecution. Americans who are caught taking unlicensed trips to Cuba from, say, Canada or the Caribbean now face hefty fines, reportedly up to $10,000. The Cuban government allows some artists to leave the country to sell their work, and Cuban artists may mail works to the United States. But some Cuban artists at the Havana Biennial were worried they might have trouble obtaining U.S. visas to attend gallery shows here." Art & Antiques 02/04
Posted: 02/10/2004 7:07 pm
National Gallery of Australia - Life After Kennedy? Was Brian Kennedy forced out as director of the National Gallery of Australia? At the least, he was politically isolated. So now who will succeed Kennedy? "John McDonald, the gallery's former head of Australian art, will not apply. He resigned after a falling out with Kennedy, and says the new director needs to reverse the steady decline in visitor numbers and morale that happened under Kennedy. 'Kennedy should have gone in disgrace several years ago. It will take a while to repair the damage'." Sydney Morning Herald 01/11/04
Posted: 02/10/2004 6:35 pm
In RoadTrip: The Carnegie Reviews Are Out The reviews are in for the Minnesota Orchestra's Monday night Carnegie Hall performance. Violist Sam Bergman writes of concerts and place-kickers (yes, there's a connection) in his blog RoadTrip before getting on a plane Tuesday afternoon for the orchestra's European tour. RoadTrip (AJBlogs) 02/10/04
Posted: 02/10/2004 10:20 pm
What Your iPod Says About You "The iPod records what songs have been played both most recently and most often, so it quickly becomes a record of the owner's internal aural landscape. Listening to someone else's iPod is thus an intimate, almost invasive activity. On the scale of personal exposure, it's not exactly trading diaries, but it's much more revealing than a mix tape." Village Voice 02/10/04
Posted: 02/10/2004 5:24 pm
The Marketing Of Miss Jones After Norah Jones sold 18 million copies of her debut album and won eight Grammys, the conventional take on her success was that "she's a homegrown success who prevailed in an era of pre-manufactured and overmarketed pop stars. The truth is a little more complicated." Slate 02/10/04
Posted: 02/10/2004 4:54 pm
Legal Download Sales Rising To The Top Sales of downloaded music in the UK are rivaling sales of singles-format CD's. "More than 150,000 downloads were sold last month, exceeding sales of 12-inch, seven-inch and DVD singles, the Official Charts Company reported. This included a record 50,000 downloads in the week after the 19 January launch of online music service MyCokeMusic. CD singles remain the most popular singles format, however, with 341,461 sold during that week." BBC 02/10/04
Posted: 02/10/2004 9:03 am
Sacramento Arts Groups Ask City To Forgive Loans The Sacramento Opera and Sacramento Ballet are asking their city to forvive loans to the companies. "The Sacramento Ballet will appear before the City Council and the county Board of Supervisors with a proposal to be forgiven a dollar for each dollar it pays on a $362,000 loan, without interest. The Sacramento Opera seeks to repay a $76,781 loan from the city in the same manner over five years." Sacramento Bee 02/10/04
Posted: 02/11/2004 7:28 am
Manhattan Theatre Club's Terrible Season This was supposed to be a great year for the Manhattan Theatre Club. "The respected off-Broadway company was planning to have a year of celebration as it opened a second front, on Broadway. It had purchased and was restoring the long-abandoned Biltmore Theater. That project turned out brilliantly - the reopened theater is a small gem: intimate, comfortable, and a pleasure to behold. But everywhere else, the season has seemed to fall apart, as one actor after another left MTC productions." NorthJersey.com 02/08/04
Posted: 02/10/2004 7:31 pm
Law - Helping Out The Young Vic Actor Jude Law lends his support for a £12.5 million makeover of London's Young Vic Theatre. "I remember being thrilled by the proximity of the actors and the versatility of the space. It was an important part of the dream I had to become an actor." The Guardian (UK) 02/10/04
Posted: 02/10/2004 7:18 pm
Newly Restored Baltimore Theatre Makes A Bid For The Big Time The 1914 Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore is reopening after a $62 million makeover. Organizers of the project are "declaring their intention of making Baltimore once again a force in the world of live theater. The center's operators envision the new venue becoming an arts stadium of sorts, a live entertainment hub." Baltimore Sun 02/10/04
Posted: 02/10/2004 7:28 am
Doyle: Ulysses Could Have Used A Good Edit Roddy Doyle, Ireland's best-known modern writer has "put literary Dublin in a tizz by confessing that he too can't be bothered with James Joyce's masterpiece Ulysses." The Guardian (UK) 02/10/04
Posted: 02/10/2004 7:22 pm
Writing Improves Your Health "Experiments have shown that writing boosts health in myriad ways, including strengthened immune function, a decreased reliance upon pain medication, improved lung function in asthma patients, and reduced symptoms in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Some studies have further demonstrated reduced blood pressure and improved performance at work and school." The Age (Melbourne) 02/10/04
Posted: 02/10/2004 5:08 pm
Comcast Makes Bid For Disney Comcast is making a hostile bid to take over Disney. "The takeover attempt, if successful, would create one of the world's largest media conglomerates, along with Viacom, Time Warner and News Corp. Disney owns its film studio, ABC television, the ESPN sports network and the Disney theme parks. Comcast has 21 million cable customers and 7 million Internet broadband customers, half of them acquired when it took over AT&T Broadband 15 months ago." Washington Post 02/11/04
Posted: 02/11/2004 8:11 am
Boston Film Org Calls It Quits After 28 years of helping local filmmakers, the Boston Film and Video Foundation announced yesterday that it is closing its doors and dissolving the nonprofit organization. The organization had been struggling with funding for some time. Boston Globe 02/11/04
Posted: 02/11/2004 7:37 am
Beyond Ratings (Or Something Else) A senior BBC official says that traditional ratings measures are inadequate, and different means should be found to determine the success of shows. "This new measure should have the ambition to get closer to our audiences, understanding what really has impact for them - what they think, feel and care about. I know it's a huge task, but Ofcom should design something to meaningfully challenge the tyranny of overnights." The Guardian (UK) 02/11/04
Posted: 02/10/2004 7:25 pm
Leaving LA (Entertainment Jobs) A new report details a five year decline in jobs in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. The report predicts 2,500 more jobs will disappear in 2004. "A loss of 2,500 jobs would leave the region's motion picture and sound employment at 111,100. While that could further fall to 109,600 in 2005, employment for independent artists, writer and performers continues to increase. It should rise 11% to 12,200 in 2004 and to 13,600 the following year, the report said." Backstage 02/10/04
Posted: 02/10/2004 7:02 pm
Why Blockbuster Is An Orphan So Viacom is trying to unload Blockbuster Video after failing to find a buyer. "It's an ignominious unilateral divorce for a company that served Viacom so well—and has become one of America's most-recognized brand names. But things have quickly soured for Blockbuster. With remarkable speed, renting videotapes has become passé." Slate 02/10/04
Posted: 02/10/2004 5:02 pm
Pacific Northwest Ballet Directors To Retire After 25 years at the helm, Francia Russell and Kent Stowell are retiring as directors of Pacific Northwest Ballet. "Arriving from Germany in the fall of 1977, Stowell and Russell found an unhappy, disorganized company, barely more than a school, plagued by internecine warfare." They turned PNB into one of America's top ballet companies. Seattle Post-Intelligencer 02/11/04
Posted: 02/11/2004 7:48 am
