Thursday, December 22
In Rats, At Least, Brain Goes Nuts For Sugar Scientists have pinpointed a spot in the brain that associates pleasure with sweet tatses. "Sweetness by itself is merely a sensation, they note. Its pleasure arises within the brain, where neural systems actively paint pleasure onto the sensation to generate a 'liking' reaction. The study pinpointed a pleasure spot within a larger part of the brain responsible for appetite in the nucleus accumbens, the lower front of the brain. There's a 'liking' cube tucked within a larger 'wanting' cube."
New Scientist 12/21/05
Posted: 12/21/2005 9:01 pm
Thinking Pain-Free "Researchers asked people in pain to try to control a pain-regulating region of the brain by watching activity in that area from inside a real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, machine. Initial results showed subjects could reduce their pain, some quite dramatically. It's the first evidence that humans can take control of a specific region of the brain, and thereby decrease pain." Wired 12/21/05
Posted: 12/21/2005 7:46 am
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NY Gallery Declares Bankruptcy From the outside, New York's Berry-Hill Gallery looks prosperous. "But two weeks ago, Berry-Hill filed for bankruptcy in federal court, listing more than 100 creditors, debts ranging as high as $50 million and assets of $50 million to $100 million. And its directors, James and Frederick D. Hill, are at the center of a scandal that has been the focus of whispers in the art world since an ill-fated auction at Christie's in May." The New York Times 12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 8:27 am
Largest Russian Gallery Opens The Yakut Gallery - 100-square metres large - is "located in an early 20th-century factory behind the Kursky train station in the centre of Moscow. To reach it, visitors must first pass by scowling Soviet-style guards and then walk down a decrepit path, past dilapidated buildings, to get to the cylindrical red-brick gallery, which was built as a natural-gas cistern 100 years ago. This stands in sharp contrast to most Moscow galleries, which are located in upmarket neighbourhoods. None of this seems to bother art collectors in Moscow. In fact, they seem to positively enjoy the poverty of the area." The Art Newspaper 12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 7:34 am
A New $550 Million Museum At The Pyramids Plans have been announced for a massive new "$550 million Great Egyptian Museum, to be established near the Pyramids near Cairo. It will be among the world’s largest museums, and is by far the biggest to be built from scratch. The venture is expected to attract up to five million visitors a year, slightly more than the British Museum in London, which is the world leader. There will be some 100,000 Egyptian artefacts on show (compared with the British Museum’s 80,000 displayed objects, covering all major cultures)." The Art Newspaper 12/19/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 7:30 am
Tate Paid For Return Of Stolen Turners The Tate paid a lawyer for return of two stolen Turner paintings two years ago after previously denying it had paid the money. "Now the museum is admitting that it paid a German lawyer who claimed to be in contact with holders of the paintings, but it says the 3.1 million pounds was given in return for 'information.' However, it admits the possibility the money was passed on to thieves as 'an unavoidable and inevitable consequence of recovery operations of this nature'."
CBC 12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 7:20 am
Children's Museum Joins Boston's Museum Boom Boston's Children's Museum is about to begin construction of a $45 million expansion. "With the announcement, the Children's Museum joins an unprecedented cultural building boom in Boston. Other projects include the Museum of Fine Arts, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Museum of Science, and a pair of museums slated for the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The closest in proximity to the Children's Museum is the Institute of Contemporary Art, set to open on nearby Fan Pier in September." Boston Globe 12/21/05
Posted: 12/21/2005 11:09 pm
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Soprano Cancels Carnegie Debut Russian soprano Anna Netrebko has canceled her Carnegie Hall debut. "After much thought, I have asked Carnegie Hall for permission to postpone my recital on March 2, 2006, to a future season. I have sung very few recitals in my career, and I do not feel artistically ready yet to present a recital program on the great stage of Carnegie Hall." Yahoo! (AP) 12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 7:38 am
Lebrecht's Holiday List Of Orchestra Woes "Put starkly: since the millennium, the orchestral economy has been under siege on five fronts. Public funding has been frozen or yoked to energy-sapping political impositions – social inclusion, multiculturalism, primary school education. Faith in corporate and private support turned fragile in the aftermath of the Enron and Alberto Vilar scandals when donors failed to deliver cast-iron pledges. Boxoffice has been volatile since 9/11. Any terror or bird flu threat and music lovers stay at home. The over-60s, mainstays of the subscription list, avoid going into poorly lit parts of town on dark winter nights. The young are deterred by formality and predictability." La Scena Musicale 12/21/05
Posted: 12/21/2005 9:06 pm
When A Violinist Has To Surrender An Instrument "As things stand now the cellist Clyde Shaw and his wife, the violist Doris Lederer, members of the Audubon String Quartet, will have to surrender their instruments to a court-appointed trustee in Roanoke, Va., at 4 p.m. tomorrow." It's not just that the instruments are valuable, there's a special bond between the musicians and their instruments... The New York Times 12/21/05
Posted: 12/21/2005 8:52 pm
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What The Kimmel Needs Philadelphia's Kimmel Center has a debt of $30 million that is plaguing its finances. Peter Dobrin suggests looking at the things that could be right with Kimmel. "I'm not so much advocating a government or philanthropic bailout as I am making the case that the Kimmel today is unfinished - as surely incomplete as it would be if the glass dome were never fully glazed. Without proper endowment and a financial structure that allows the contents of the building - the art itself - to flourish, we will never know whether our huge civic effort was worth the work. Let's finish the Kimmel. The building is done. Now it's time to finish building the institution." Philadelphia Inquirer 12/21/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 12:06 am
Getty Trust Put On Probation "The Council on Foundations, the main industry group for the nation's nonprofits, said Tuesday that it has placed the J. Paul Getty Trust on probation for 60 days after the trust failed to turn over all the information requested for an investigation into its financial practices." Los Angeles Times 12/21/05
Posted: 12/21/2005 9:08 pm
A Guide For Everything, Anytime "In the digital age, everyone's a tour guide. Professionals and amateurs alike want to show you around neighborhoods, museums and historic sites around the world. Whether you download them to your Nano, connect via cell phone or load a CD into your Discman, the experience is the same: Hit Play or the Call button at a designated spot, go where you're told and allow a local expert to turn your walk into a narrated tour." Washington Post 12/21/05
Posted: 12/21/2005 9:12 am
Swed: A Theory About Performance In Performances Music critic Mark Swed knows all the caveats about which performances to avoid: "Opening night is a glorified dress rehearsal, so avoid it. Everything comes together about the middle of the run. By the end, the performers are starting to get a bit bored, and it's best, once more, to stay away. Oh, and matinees are never as inspired as evening events." But he's got a new theory: "A performance that begins with proper commitment will likely just keep getting better. One that starts out cynically or inherently weak will tend, like a small crack in a windshield, to get only worse." Los Angeles Times 12/21/05
Posted: 12/21/2005 7:53 am
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Irish Playwright In Hiding Northern Ireland playwright Gary Mitchell has left Belfast and gone in to hiding, claiming harrassment. He was attacked and his car petrol-bombed by masked men on November 23rd. "There is a very small minority who are jealous and angry at someone else being successful, who are using every opportunity to lash out at me and my family. Images of myself winning awards in Dublin is enough to give these people the impression I've sold out or done something against them." BBC 12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 7:14 am
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Latino Theatre Gets LA Theatre Center Lease The Los Angeles City Council has voted to award the Latino Theater Company a 20-year lease to manage the Los Angeles Theatre Center, the municipally owned complex on Spring Street in downtown L.A. Los Angeles Times 12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 8:16 am
Scottish Theatre's Busy Year Scottish theatre has had a busy year. "There's a curious sense, this year, of a theatre culture moving towards the extremes: either towards small, intimate and often site-specific micro-events like The Devil's Larder, or back towards the luxurious Rolls Royce of a theatre experience, towards mainstream productions." The Scotsman 12/21/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 12:31 am
Broadway Moves Despite Transit Strike Broadway went on despite New York's transit strike. In fact, there were more tickets available than usual for those who could make it to the theatre district... New York Daily News 12/21/05
Posted: 12/21/2005 11:50 pm
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Investigating Fairness In The NYT Book Review Were New York Times staffers unfairly favored in the Times' best books list of the year? (six NYT writers' books made the list). Times public editor Byron Calame investigates: "What's fair is particularly challenging in the world of the book section. There, reviewers are expected to express their opinions, but readers also have the right to expect that books are assessed based on their merits, not just on a critic's ideology or personal grudges and preferences. The complications only grow when some of the authors are on the staff of The Times." The New York Times 12/19/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 8:49 am
The "Angriest Black Man In America"? Aaron MacGruder's Boondocks comic strip runs in 300 American newspapers. "Taking on the prevailing American mainstream, as well as the establishments of both the liberal left and black America, has made his strip popular, but it must make him lonely. With so few black and leftwing voices out there, how does he balance the demands of the under-represented constituencies of which he considers himself a part, and the demands of his cartoon?" The Guardian (UK) 12/22/05
Posted: 12/21/2005 11:32 pm
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Nielsen To Measure DVR Usage The TV ratings company Nielsen will begin measuring viewing habits of those who use digital recordered like Tivo. "Responding to the requests of clients who wanted to know how DVR use affected viewing, Nielsen will now offer three ratings per program and network: Live, Live/Same Day (which includes same-day playback via DVR) and Live+7 Day Ratings (live along with time-shifted viewing up to 168 hours after airing). The first overnight ratings with live and same-day sets of data will be Wednesday; the first Live+7 streams will be available two weeks after the Monday-Sunday cycle." Yahoo! (Reuters) 12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 7:43 am
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Washington Ballet's Confusing Labor Woes "The dispute over whether the dancers had declared a strike last week (management's view) or were locked out by management (as the dancers claim) has been given a new twist. For the past two days, when the dancers have shown up for their previously scheduled rehearsals, they have been turned away by Artistic Director Septime Webre. Money is not the primary issue. The thorny questions involve how much control Webre should have. Can he hire and fire without restrictions? Can he change the size of the company? Should there be limits on how he conducts rehearsals to prevent injuries?" Washington Post 12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 8:54 am
Star Turn: Alicia Graf Alicia Graf has "been discovered not once but twice, is a dynamic young star capable of driving normally sober New York dance critics into paroxysms of delight. The first discovery came when she performed as a teenager with Dance Theater of Harlem in the late 1990's. Now she is at it again in her first year with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater..." The New York Times 12/22/05
Posted: 12/21/2005 8:57 pm
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