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Monday, February 27




Ideas

A Complex World, Reduced To A Buzzword In much the same way that conventional wisdom in the Arab world tends to view "America" as a monolithic place speaking with a single, domineering voice, Westerners have begun to discuss "the Islamic world" as if such a thing could really be reduced to a simple set of ideas and actions. By extension, "Islamic art" is often seen as monolithic and single-minded, when the truth is far more complex. "It's a political story, an ancient and universal one, about how an image, and almost any image will do, once it is fused to cultural identity ? Islam, in this case ? can end up being used as a weapon." The New York Times 02/26/06
Posted: 02/26/2006 11:51 am

The Devil, The Teacher, & The Very Small Town The residents of the tiny town of Bennett, Colorado, have no desire to be held up as a national example of religious extremism and ignorance. But ever since an elementary school teacher in the town was suspended for showing a video version of the opera Faust to her class, the backlash against the town has been swift and severe. "Tensions can be found in many of Colorado's smaller communities as development pressures and population growth cause friction between longtime residents and newcomers, who often have differing backgrounds and values. These differences sometimes explode in cultural clashes." Denver Post 02/25/06
Posted: 02/26/2006 9:46 am

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Visual Arts

Selling Off Donald Judd "In an effort to create a $20 million endowment for the support of its permanent installations in New York and Texas, the Donald Judd Foundation has decided to sell about 35 Judd sculptures at Christie's in New York on May 9." But not everyone is happy about the idea... The New York Times 02/24/06
Posted: 02/27/2006 6:16 am

History vs. Innovation in SoCal Pasadena, California, is on the verge of a building boom, and fans of daring architecture will likely be pleased by what is to come. "But what's avant-garde to some could be an assault to others... It's either a step into the future, or the early stages of an aesthetic identity crisis." Los Angeles Times 02/26/06
Posted: 02/26/2006 10:17 pm

Gallery Owners Win Dispute Against Thomas Kinkade An arbitration panel ruled against the so-called "Painter of Light." "The dealers and other ex-dealers allege that Kinkade used his religious beliefs ? and manipulated theirs ? to induce them to invest in Thomas Kinkade Signature Galleries, independently owned stores licensed to deal exclusively in his work. They also allege that they were stuck with unsalable inventory, forced to open additional stores in markets that could not sustain them and undercut by discounters that sold Kinkade prints at prices they were forbidden to match. And they accuse the artist of scheming to devalue Media Arts Group before he took the company private for $32.7 million in early 2004, renaming it Thomas Kinkade Co." Los Angeles Times 02/24/06
Posted: 02/26/2006 8:01 pm

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Music

How The Music Is Changing In New Orleans Music changes when circumstances change. That's certainly proving true in New Orleans. "They're still playing New Orleans standards as the drinks flow. But there's a changed spirit: the tenacity of holding together bands whose members have been scattered and the determination to maintain the New Orleans style. And in new songs, an open anger coexists with the old good-time New Orleans tone." The New York Times 02/26/06
Posted: 02/27/2006 5:29 am

How An Orchestra Is Changing Its Concert Model "Traditionally, orchestras organize seasons horizontally because attendance is built on season subscriptions. Seasons often have themes that develop across the entire year, not quite as cohesively as an episodic TV show like "Lost" but designed to have some connection between concerts or to build up to key soloists or symphony works. But the recent explosion in entertainment has challenged that approach. Today's world is driven by the event; live music must compete with a host of options from Netflix to sports to touring shows." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 02/26/06
Posted: 02/27/2006 5:22 am

Want More Audience? Ask The Kids Every arts organization wants to find better ways to get young people in to see their work. The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center has formed a committee of young people to come up with strategies. "Most of the committee members come from prestigious high schools, both public and private. But even if one allows for a certain urban precociousness, the sophistication of their weekly discussions is impressive, and not dissimilar to debates going on at arts organizations around the country." The New York Times 02/26/06
Posted: 02/26/2006 8:04 pm

iTunes: One Billion Sold Apple's iTunes store has sold one billion songs online. "Despite those gaudy numbers, analysts say at 99 cents a song, Apple's iTunes business roughly breaks even. That's because after paying its partners, such as the music labels, Apple receives only about 25 cents to 30 cents per song. Add in operating costs and the business hovers around the break-even point." San Francisco Chronicle 02/24/06
Posted: 02/26/2006 7:52 pm

The Mass With The Problematic Origin "From 1460 to 1700, "L'Homme armé" served as the basis of nearly 50 Mass settings, more than any other tune." But it has, well.. problematic words, at least for a mass. So how did this piece get such heavy use? The New York Times 02/25/06
Posted: 02/26/2006 7:18 pm

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Arts Issues

A New Internet Where Class Matters? Some big media companies want to start prioritizing the way information is handled on the internet, charging more for some kinds of data. Consumer advocates are howling. "Whether they tier their service, telecommunications companies need to expand capacity. To do so costs money, and the telecoms argue that internet users will have to pay, one way or another. They say it's preferable that the money come from those who need and are willing to pay for better service, rather than spreading the cost out over all users." Wired (AP) 02/26/06
Posted: 02/27/2006 5:41 am

How To Reform The Getty? As embattled Getty president Barry Munitz leaves the Trust, the Getty needs to reinvent. "In weighing what to do, the trustees must acknowledge that although the Getty Trust is a multiheaded beast ? museum, grant-making foundation, research institute and conservation institute ? art is what holds its programs together. Equally important, they must work to restore public confidence in the Getty, not just because it's the United States' largest art foundation, but because it's the nation's third-largest private foundation overall." Los Angeles Times 02/26/06
Posted: 02/26/2006 8:16 pm

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People

UK Culture Minister Implicated In Bribe "An investigation by The Sunday Times has established that UK Culture Minister Tessa Jowell signed a mortgage document that enabled her husband to bring an alleged bribe of £350,000 into Britain. Italian prosecutors claim the money was paid by Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, for help from Jowell?s husband in two corruption hearings against the politician." Sunday Times (UK) 02/26/06
Posted: 02/27/2006 5:24 am

Don't Hate Me Because I'm Enjoying Myself David Mamet can be a hard playwright to love, especially for those who have met him. But despite the difficulty of some of his plays, and his notoriously prickly persona, Mamet has become a bona fide icon. Still, he can't resist playing the victim: "I think basically people hate artists," he says. "They observe or they intuit that the artist is having a great time, that the artist doesn't have to work, that the artist gets the girls, the boys, the adulation, the money. And it's true. Once a studio executive or a journalist does that math, they are, of course, enraged." Chicago Tribune 02/26/06
Posted: 02/26/2006 12:02 pm

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Theatre

Billy Elliot Comes Up Big At Olivier Awards "The stage version of Billy Elliot has won four prizes at the Laurence Olivier Awards, including one shared between three of its young stars." BBC 02/27/06
Posted: 02/27/2006 6:04 am

Who's Who Behind Broadway It takes a lot of people to mount a Broadway show - not just actors. So who makes the industry work? The New York Times 02/26/06
Posted: 02/27/2006 5:20 am

So Will You Produce My Suicide Note? Can't get your play produced? Allan Katz tried a suicide note. "The few theaters willing to read my suicide note had all too familiar reasons for passing: it wasn't dramatic enough; it was too dramatic; it was similar to something they had just produced; it was dissimilar from something they had just produced; they liked everything but the ending; they liked the ending, but nothing before it; they liked the middle, but wished it had come first ? or at the end ? or both." The New York Times 02/25/06
Posted: 02/26/2006 7:24 pm

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Publishing

What Shakespeare Looked Like? Who Cares? "Why all the fuss about Professor Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel's "discovery" that the Davenant bust in the Garrick club matches the Darmstadt death mask in Germany and must, therefore, be a true representation of Shakespeare's physiognomy? Since the provenance of both artefacts depends on the size of a growth on Sheakespeare's forehead, some people will argue that the revelation ought to be of interest only to a pathologist. And they would be right. What Shakespeare looked like is of no consequence. All that matters is the text and how the author intended it to be interpreted." The Guardian (UK) 02/27/06
Posted: 02/27/2006 6:11 am

Court Ruling Might Undermine Google Book Project A court ruling last week might undermine Google's case to be able to digitize books. The judge said "Google's use of thumbnail-sized reproductions in its image search program violated the copyright of Perfect 10, a publisher of X-rated magazines and Web sites, because it undermined that company's ability to license those images for sale to mobile phone users." The New York Times 02/25/06
Posted: 02/26/2006 8:07 pm

Did Brown Steal Da Vinci Code Plot? Dan Brown, whose "Da Vinci Code" has become the bestselling hardback adult novel of all time, has been accused of stealing his plot for the book from a non-fiction work called The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. If they win, the plaintiffs "will seek an injunction preventing further infringement of their copyright. In theory, this could bar Random House from publishing Brown's book, which has sold more than 40 million copies, and even threaten the British release of the £53m film adaptation, starring Tom Hanks." The Observer (UK) 02/25/06
Posted: 02/26/2006 7:50 pm

UK Plagiarism Case Heads To The High Court "On Monday, the High Court in London will hear a lawsuit which will either make publishing history or be dismissed as a storm in a teacup. The reason for the fuss is that it relates to one of the most successful novels of modern times and the lifting of "the whole architecture" of a body of research, a largely intangible entity which, not without reason, has caused paranoia throughout the literary world. Plagiarism is not a grounds for litigation in the UK, so instead the plaintiffs are alleging copyright infringement, which, of course, amounts to much the same thing. What makes the situation all the more titillating, and bizarre, however, is that they are suing their own publisher." The Scotsman (UK) 02/26/06
Posted: 02/26/2006 12:27 pm

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Media

Digitally Inserted Commercials? "Blending brand names and products into television shows, as opposed to traditional ads that run during commercial breaks, has gained greater currency in recent years as the industry faces the rising popularity of TiVo and other devices that let viewers skip commercials.
But some industry experts suggest that product placement -- digital or otherwise -- has limited value in delivering a commercial message. Hollywood producers and writers also have raised concerns about their work being turned into virtual infomercials, and consumer activists have fretted about blurring the line between entertainment content and advertising."
Yahoo! (Reuters) 02/27/06
Posted: 02/27/2006 5:49 am

Europe's Islam On Screen Islam is changing Europe. And filmmakers are starting to explore how. "With dramas, comedies and documentaries, directors are seeking to go beyond head scarves and aperitifs to prick a European conscience increasingly insecure about multiculturalism. And it is no small irony that these filmmakers are exploring the effect of Islam at a time when Christian Europe is happily adrift in secularism." Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times 02/27/06
Posted: 02/27/2006 5:33 am

ABC To Take "Housewives" International Trying to capitalize on the US success of "Desperate Housewives," Disney "plans to produce four local Latin American editions, each with its own cast and cultural flavor. Spanish versions of the show will in Argentina, Colombia and Ecuador, and a Portuguese version will air in Brazil." Los Angeles Times 02/24/06
Posted: 02/26/2006 8:03 pm

Will HD Save Broadcast Radio? Tired of seeing its audience lured away by satellite radio, traditional radio stations are beginning to broadcast in high definition. "The hitch is that a special - and expensive - radio is needed to hear the new offerings, and a consumer would be hard-pressed to find such a radio in a store. The radios are available online, through hdradio.com. Undaunted, 12 of the nation's top radio companies last week started a $200 million advertising campaign to tout HD radio in the first 28 markets where it has been launched." Philadelphia Inquirer 02/25/06
Posted: 02/26/2006 7:19 pm

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Dance

Some Thoughts On Growing Dance In A City That Needs It "What would raise the vitality quotient of ballet in San Diego? The knee-jerk response: Have one ballet company instead of three. Certainly there'd be some benefits if a single company had a budget the size of all three combined. The deeper question, however, involves not money but vision." San Diego Union-Tribune 03/26/06
Posted: 02/26/2006 8:05 pm

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