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Monday, August 28




Ideas

A Law That Allows Second-Guessing Science "The five-year-old Data Quality Act is a below-the-radar legislative device that defenders of industry have increasingly relied upon to attack all range of scientific studies whose results or implications they disagree with, from government global warming reports to cancer research using animal subjects. On its face, the act merely seeks to ensure the 'quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity' of government information. In practice, as interpreted by the Bush administration, it creates an unprecedented and cumbersome process that saddles agencies with a new workload while empowering businesses to challenge not just government regulations--something they could do anyway--but scientific information that could potentially lead to regulation somewhere down the road." Boston Globe 08/28/05
Posted: 08/29/2005 6:57 am

IQ And The Sexes "A major new study reports that, up to the age of 14, there was no difference between the IQs of boys and girls. But beyond that age and into adulthood there is a difference of five points, which is small but it can have important implications. As intelligence scores among the study group rose, the academics say they found a widening gap between the sexes. There were twice as many men with IQ scores of 125, for example, a level said to correspond with people getting first-class degrees. At scores of 155, associated with genius, there were 5.5 men for every woman." BBC 08/26/05
Posted: 08/28/2005 7:53 pm

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Visual Arts

Of Self-Image and Self-Portraits Why do so many artists make self portraits? And "what do historical self-portraits do? They concentrate into a single powerful icon not just the appearance of humanity but its feeling, what it is to possess "a self". A sustained self-scrutiny: partly what the artist feels they really are and partly what society pressurises them to be." The Telegraph (UK) 08/28/05
Posted: 08/29/2005 5:57 am

Teachout: MoMA Is Like A Mall (Not In A Good Way) Terry Teachout has tried to like the new Museum of Modern Art. But he's decided it won't happen. "The exaggerated scale of the building swamps the art it contains, and the austere décor is so rigidly uniform in its self-conscious simplicity as to make the museum seem even bigger than it is. As if to compensate—which it doesn't—most of the galleries are as overstuffed with paintings as they are overcrowded with people, making it impossible to concentrate on any one work with anything remotely approaching ease. And while I'm hardly the first person to remark on the mall-like character of the new MoMA, I found it even more oppressive this time around." About Last Night (AJBlogs) 08/28/05
Posted: 08/28/2005 6:28 pm

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Music

Chicago Jazz Cranks Up A Notch "Chicago long has been a magnet for and a generator of great jazz talent. But in the past year or so, the promotion and support of Chicago jazz performers have intensified dramatically, with major developments energizing an already robust scene. On the eve of the Chicago Jazz Festival, which unofficially kicks off with performances Monday, jazz observers young and not-so-young agree that they've never seen anything like this dramatic change in the local scene's infrastructure." Chicago Tribune 08/28/05
Posted: 08/29/2005 12:40 am

The Super-CD SACD's offer superior sound. "Though the discs engulf the listener with sound from five different channels, delivering depth, dimension and ambience that were barely imagined 20 years ago, they have traveled the world for the last five years like cruise missiles, slightly below the radar but successfully seeking their small, specific targets (or consumers). Some quarters of the often-impatient recording industry appear to be giving up on the technology. Others, less committed to immediate profits, see vast potential and won't let it go." Philadelphia Inquirer 08/28/05
Posted: 08/28/2005 7:25 pm

The Soccer Mom Versus Big Recording Companies "Record companies have filed about 13,300 similar federal lawsuits against Internet users across the country since September 2003. Nearly 3,000 of those lawsuits have been settled. The offending music traders have agreed to pay an average of $4,000 to $5,000 and promised not to illegally download copyrighted songs anymore. None of the cases has gone to trial. That may change. And it may change with a soccer mom who said she would rather pay a lawyer's fees than give in to what she calls intimidation tactics by the record companies to get her to settle." The Journal News (NY) 08/28/05
Posted: 08/28/2005 7:23 pm

Chicago - Then And Now Chicago has always been a great music town. But the last 40 years have expanded the depth and breadth of classical Chicago. "Seed money from the National Endowment for the Arts (founded in 1965) and other granting institutions created fertile ground for new performing arts groups in the late '60s and throughout the '70s and '80s. And many of those groups sustained their growth through the new practice of subscription ticket sales, which in turn fanned individual giving. As a result, the city now pulses with dozens of music ensembles made up of local professionals, almost all of them founded since 1967." Chicago Sun-Times 08/28/05
Posted: 08/28/2005 12:29 pm

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Arts Issues

Plea: Make Scottish Culture Great The chairman of the Scottish Arts Council has made an impassioned plea to the Scottish Executive to boost support for the arts. “The Cultural Commission is full of good things and full of rags and bones as well. Culture isn’t just what they do in Edinburgh: it could make Scotland great again in a new way. If we can get this through to our Scottish politicians, they will unfold the treasury.” Glasgow Herald 08/28/05
Posted: 08/29/2005 6:16 am

Pennsylvania - Land Of The Non-Profit In the past decade, non-profits have created one in every four jobs in Pennsylvania. "Nonprofits now employ about one in 10 working Pennsylvanians, among the highest rates in the nation. Philadelphia itself is almost off the charts, with one in five workers in the city employed by nonprofits at the end of 2003. The comparable rate for the United States: one in 14." Philadelphia Inquirer 08/28/05
Posted: 08/28/2005 7:28 pm

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People

A Brand New Getty Michael Brand has a big promotion in his appointment as the Getty Museum's new director. "No one, as yet, has a bad word to say about 47-year-old Brand, the likeable and well-regarded Australian who is credited with transforming the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, where he has raised $150 million for capital improvements. But his expertise is in Asian art, an area for which the Getty is not known, and there are suspicions that his appointment has more to do with his talents in generating money." Sunday Times (UK) 08/28/05
Posted: 08/29/2005 6:44 am

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Theatre

What's Happening To Minority Theatre In Southern California? Orange County has a huge Hispanic population. For 25 years, South Coast Repertort Theatre's Hispanic Playwrights Project nurtured writers such as Jose Rivera, Octavio Solis and Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz. "Then last year, after nearly two decades, the program was cut. A second blow came last spring when the Center Theater Group of Los Angeles dropped several development programs, including the Latino Theatre Initiative. Since HPP's demise, South Coast Rep has programmed nothing by Latino authors other than its long-running Christmas show, La Posada Magíca." Orange County Register 08/28/05
Posted: 08/28/2005 9:37 pm

America's Greatest Living Playwright? Lindsay Posner nominates David Mamet. "His plays are challenging and uncompromising, all the more moving for their lack of sentiment. He has an uncanny knack of catching the zeitgeist." The Observer (UK) 08/28/05
Posted: 08/28/2005 11:25 am

Shakespeare Wrote In Political Code? Clare Asquith claims in a new book that Shakespeare embedded "dangerous political messages" in his work. "She argues that the plays and poems are a network of crossword puzzle-like clues to his strong Catholic beliefs and his fears for England's future. Aside from being the first to spot this daring Shakespearean code, Asquith also claims to be the first to have cracked it." The Observer (UK) 08/28/05
Posted: 08/28/2005 11:07 am

A Rarity - Woman Wins Prestigious Comedy Prize For the first time in 25 years, a woman has won the Perrier Prize for Comedy. "Laura Solon, 26, won the £7,500 prize for her show Kopfrapers Syndrome, in which she plays eight different characters. She was one of five acts shortlisted." BBC 08/28/05
Posted: 08/28/2005 8:24 am

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Publishing

Publishing's Lost Summer Ho hum. This summer was a snooze in the publishing world. "Maybe it was the heat, the lack of a juicy controversy or an exciting book, for that matter, that made the past few months unmemorable for most readers." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 08/28/05
Posted: 08/29/2005 5:42 am

What Becomes (A Complete) Classic? There are 1082 books in Peguin's Classics collection. "The Penguin Collection raises a number of issues, not least being what exactly is a classic? A book few have read, but which remains in print centuries after it was issued? Does a classic have to have had a social impact, say, Sun Tzu's The Art of War or Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass? Must it sell a zillion copies - Judith Krantz's Scruples and Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code would qualify, though neither are in this package - or is a classic defined by the amount of joy it brings to any reader, like the Hi-Lights constituency? Or should a classic be a book that changes the way we read?" Rocky Mountain News 08/28/05
Posted: 08/28/2005 9:43 pm

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Media

Media Companies Try To Influence Morality Debate Why do self-proclaimed TV "watchdog" groups get to dictate about morality and what parents want? Now "three major media companies — NBC Universal, Viacom and News Corp. — have launched TV Watch to advocate parental controls and oppose government intervention. This newly minted group, which has brought together an unusual mix of corporations, creative types and conservative, free market proponents, is emerging as the council's adversary in an escalating battle over what's appropriate for the airwaves. 'The discussion had turned into a very one-sided debate. Our group was formed to balance out the debate and provide some reason'." St. Paul Pioneer-Press (DMN) 08/28/05
Posted: 08/29/2005 5:59 am

Arts Channel Evolves Beyond Specialty Three years ago the subscription channel ArtsWorld was launched with viewers paying £6 a month to access it. It has a small but dedicated audience, but now the channel evolves to a new level, becoming free and available in 7.8 million homes. How will this affect programming? The Telegraph (UK) 08/28/05
Posted: 08/29/2005 5:46 am

Warning: Subscription Model Would Kill BBC A former BBC director fears the broadcaster might some day become a subscriber-based service. "The second we move to a subscriber [TV] model you exclude the people who can't afford it. All the homes that didn't subscribe would be deprived of programmes that are important. Children's programmes would be massively affected. You cut people off - especially the poor people of society. It is possible we will lose public funding and that the BBC will move in a subscriber direction, but that is a sad day I will not cheer." Scotland On Sunday 08/28/05
Posted: 08/29/2005 5:34 am

BBC To Upload Programming BBC Director Mark Thompson says the public broadcaster will soon make it possible for users to download TV and radio programs. "The device, with a working title of MyBBCPlayer, would let web users download original radio and TV programming from its website for as long as seven days after it was broadcast. He disclosed that the BBC intended to introduce the measure because it had to extend the means by which the public could reach its programmes if it was to retain the licence fee. Scotland On Sunday 08/28/05
Posted: 08/29/2005 5:31 am

TV Rediscovers Long Stories America's TV networks have rediscovered the serial drama with stories played out over weeks. "The change is as surprising as it is welcome. After all, viewers have been conditioned for years to expect less and less from TVWith these half-dozen additions to the fall’s prime-time lineup, the networks are acknowledging that, just maybe, audiences are hungering for more drawn-out, more intriguing and, ultimately, more humane storylines." Kansas City Star 08/28/05
Posted: 08/29/2005 12:49 am

Why Is Local Public TV So Bad? "Local stations can't afford to create the 'wow' factor. The cost of creating local programming that meets the expectations of mass viewers is prohibitive. The existence of so many public-TV outlets offers great potential for public affairs programming and community involvement, and a counterbalance to the news on commercial stations that often focuses on crime and fluff. But too often precious airtime and local resources are burned up in broadcasting carbon-copy national programs, critics say." Denver Post 08/28/05
Posted: 08/28/2005 11:09 pm

TV Fails At The Movies Movie remakes of old TV shows haven't worked well this summer. "A lot of these shows are badly dated, and though they may have worked in the 1960s or '70s, when they're updated they just seem irrelevant. The thing that seems charming today isn't the plot or the jokes, but the time-capsule quality. Plus, people are used to seeing these shows on the small screen. You have to have something really special to justify transplanting them to the movies." New York Daily News 08/28/05
Posted: 08/28/2005 11:01 pm

Korean Soaps Find American Audiences "As Americans flee network television in droves, Korean dramas are grabbing audience share. In the Bay Area, "Dae Jang Geum," or "Jewel in the Palace," aired this spring, dubbed in Mandarin on the Chinese-language KTSF. For the finale, more than 100,000 fans tuned in, handing the show higher ratings than ABC's "Extreme Makeover," the WB's "Starlet" or PBS' "Live From Lincoln Center" in that time slot. The 'Korean wave' of pop culture -- known in South Korea as hallyu -- is a point of national pride, helping introduce the country to the world and breaking down historical grudges with its neighbors. The soaps have also boosted the popularity of South Korean movies and singing acts." San Francisco Chronicle 08/28/05
Posted: 08/28/2005 12:18 pm

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Dance

Ailey-As-Institution "Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre isn't just another arts organisation, it’s a phenomenon. Modern dance com- panies don’t come any more popular — or populist — than this indefatigable African-American troupe." Sunday Times (UK) 08/28/05
Posted: 08/28/2005 7:58 pm

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