Friday, December 23
Where's Our Sense Of Utopia?
"There is no doubt that we're living in anti-utopian times. The political imagination is, if not dead exactly, certainly in a coma. Politics today is about fiddling, making a tweak here or there but not changing anything much. We can't conceive of a future much better than the present. Perhaps we imagine that computers will be quicker and mobile phones cleverer, but there is little notion that human beings could live vastly more fulfilled and improved lives than our own. There is no sense that history holds possibilities that we haven't yet imagined. Utopian impulses persist, of course, but these impulses are for the most part expressed in banal ways."
spiked-online
12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 6:42 pm
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Picasso, Chagall Stolen
A Picasso and a Chagall have been stolen from a Palm Desert gallery. The Picasso, "Femme Regardant par la Fenetre," is a 1959 linoleum cut in shades of brown and black of a nude woman reclining and looking out a window, printed by the artist and worth about $53,000. The Chagall, a 1964 lithograph titled "The Tribe of Dan," is a multicolored religious work in blues, yellows and reds, also printed by the artist. It illustrates one of a series of 12 stained glass windows Chagall made for an Israeli university, and is worth about $35,000.
Los Angeles Times
12/23/05
Posted: 12/23/2005 7:10 am
Hitler Paintings Auctioned On eBay
"A painting titled Muenchen, (Munich) bearing the signature of the Nazi dictator and described by the seller as a "rarity", was put up for auction on Monday at an asking price of ?2,100 (roughly $2,900) on eBay.at."
The Globe & Mail (Canada)
12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 5:47 pm
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Hyperion Pays Out On Settlement
The beloved classical recording label Hyperion has settled its dispute with a musicologist who sued over copyright. "Hyperion last week settled costs with Carter Ruck, the firm which represented Lalande, Lionel Sawkins, after receiving an invoice for £758,000. The final settlement left Hyperion with a total bill of £950,000, which included their own costs and damages to Dr Sawkins - close to what Hyperion would spend on music-making over an entire year."
The Guardian (UK)
12/23/05
Posted: 12/23/2005 9:14 am
Seatle's Northwest Chamber Orchestra Faces Rinvention
Seattle's Northwest Chamber Orchestra has always survived on the financial edge. But, like most orchestras, in recent years it has seen its expenses rise and its income shrink. So maybe the orchestra needs to rethink its model?
Seattle Times
12/19/05
Posted: 12/23/2005 9:11 am
Those Songs You've Hear A Million Times (You Really Have)
"BMI regularly compiles its list of what it calls 'million-airs,' those songs that have received a million or more airings or plays on radio or television in the United States; multiple versions, whether by the performer with the biggest hit or remakes, are included. BMI says the Top 10 as of March 2005, not listed in any particular order, includes..."
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 6:39 pm
Has US/UK Musical Give-And-Take Ebbed?
"Ever since America gave us rock and roll and we gave them back beat music, the ebb and flow of ideas and talent between these two great musical powers has been the creative engine of pop culture. But my recent encounter with Floetry, a British group apparently unwanted in the UK but lauded in the US, has led me to wonder if the special relationship is still special. In recent years it has all been a bit one-sided."
The Telegraph (UK)
12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 5:58 pm
A New Tulsa Orchestra
The Tulsa Philharmonic folded in 2002. Now there are plans for a Tulsa Symphony. "The plans include hiring 60 to 70 musicians. Former members of the defunct Tulsa Philharmonic are being contacted first. If positions cannot be filled that way, auditions will be held. Unusually, the musicians will be responsible for all aspects of governance, including marketing and fundraising. The orchestra will have a staff, but musicians will be expected to chip in and help with day-to-day operations."
PlaybillArts
12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 5:16 pm
Where Pop And Classical Meet?
"Musically speaking, the point where pop and classical meet is a no-man's-land of melodramatic orchestration and trite melody: Il Divo, in other words. Their music is neither classical nor pop but a sort of easy-listening hybrid, and listening to it I'm painfully reminded of the gushy power ballads my Brazilian neighbours are fond of playing. Perhaps this is the true significance of popera, in the UK."
Financial Times (UK)
12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 4:59 pm
French Lawmakers Legalize Online Filesharing
"A French government crackdown on digital piracy backfired Thursday as lawmakers rebelled by endorsing amendments to legalize the online sharing of music and movies instead of punishing it."
Yahoo! (AP)
12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 4:41 pm
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Christmas In All Its Forms
"Whatever non-Christian aspect of Christmas you treasure (maybe it?s your mom?s shortbread), you needn?t feel guilty. Even though this is the time of year when many people say our society has lost sight of the true meaning of the season, there?s no reason you shouldn?t enjoy all of the magnificent secular infrastructure that now surrounds Christmas. It?s too good to pass up."
London Free Press
12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 6:44 pm
Africa Ponders Cultural Policy
African ministers of culture met in Kenya this week to talk about the need for cultural policy. "The meeting with the theme Culture, Integration and African Renaissance' was quite relevant at a time when the impact of the globalisation on the African continent and its culture can no longer be ignored. This was therefore a watershed conference that gave direction to the member states of the African Union on the need to curve out common approaches to cultural matters within the international cultural forum."
Kenya Times
12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 5:28 pm
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Fletcher Named To Run Aspen Music Festival
"Alan Fletcher, head of Carnegie Mellon University's School of Music, has been named the new president and chief executive officer of the Aspen Music Festival and School."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
12/23/05
Posted: 12/23/2005 9:32 am
Jacques Brel Voted Greatest Belgian
The vote was taken by the country's French television broadcaster. "The broadcaster said Brel edged out the popular late King Baudouin, who came in second. Father Damien, a 19th-century priest who cared for lepers in Hawaii, was third. Others in the running included painter René Magritte and former bicycling champion Eddy Merckx."
The Globe & Mail (Canada)
12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 5:50 pm
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NY Transit Strike Hit Off-Broadway Hard
"In three chaotic days, the Transit Workers Union inflicted a lot of pain in Gotham. The realm of off-Broadway theater -- which operates on razor-thin margins -- felt more than its share."
Washington Post
12/23/05
Posted: 12/23/2005 9:24 am
Theatre Of High Ambitions And Low Cost
Several off-Broadway theatres are keeping ticket prices low and the theatre experimental. It's working. "These spaces measure success less by commercial cachet than by how well they keep up with exciting new work. All of them keep an eye on not only submissions and recommendations but also on offerings at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and one another's work. While each has a different economic model and aesthetic emphasis, all have infrastructure in place to market and offer technical support for everything on their stages, which means they have the prerogative, and the incentive, to choose only work they want to see there, whether or not their name is above the title as producer."
The New York Times
12/23/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 6:04 pm
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2005 - The Death Of Fiction?
"The big book story this year was the death of fiction. Literary media, like the make-or-break-an-author?s-reputation New York Times Book Review, have cut back on reviews of novels in favour of non-fiction coverage. Globally, fiction sales are down. Publishers and agents returning from the Frankfurt Book Fair reported that Canadian fiction, despite its stellar international reputation, wasn?t generating the heat it used to. Even J.K. Rowling was in a slump, with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth book in her wizard series, not flying off the shelves as quickly as in the past."
CBC
12/20/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 5:07 pm
Turkish Writer Fined For "Insulting Turkish Identity"
Turkish writer Zulkuf Kisanak "has been fined 3,000 lira (£1,300) under a much-criticised law against insulting Turkish identity. He was first given five months in jail, but an Istanbul court then reduced the sentence to a fine. He is among more than 60 writers and publishers, including novelist Orhan Pamuk, to face charges under the law."
BBC
12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 4:27 pm
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Hollywood Limps Out Of A Down Year
"This is the third straight year of decline in Hollywood ticket sales - the first such stretch of bad news in 40 years. Because of the continued falloff - sales are down 12.6 percent from 2002 - a growing number of analysts wonder if America's movie habits are changing permanently." Christian Science Monitor
12/23/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 5:34 pm
Judge Strikes Down California Restrictions On Sales Of Violent Video Games
"A federal judge has blocked a California law that would have made it illegal to sell or rent violent video games to minors, saying he doubted whether such sales could be banned even if the games were proved to cause violent behavior among children." Yahoo! (AP)
12/22/05
Posted: 12/22/2005 4:47 pm
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Better Dancing Makes Better Lovers?
Rutgers University anthropologists, for the first time collaborating with University of Washington computer scientists have linked dancing ability to desirability. The best dancers, they found, have the greatest body symmetry.
Newark Star-Ledger
12/23/05
Posted: 12/23/2005 9:39 am
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