Weekend, April 1-2
All Directions At Once "Electronic multitasking isn't entirely new: we've been driving while listening to car radios since they became popular in the 1930s. But there is no doubt that the phenomenon has reached a kind of warp speed in the era of Web-enabled computers, when it has become routine to conduct six IM conversations, watch American Idol on TV and Google the names of last season's finalists all at once. That level of multiprocessing and interpersonal connectivity is now so commonplace that it's easy to forget how quickly it came about." Time 04/01/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 8:31 am
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Archi-Terrorism? A shadowy group has threatened demolition and building contractors over projects they're trying to build. "The group says it is dedicated to stopping modern housing developments and the destruction of historic buildings. It claims that 'as a result of developers' greed and planners' indifference, the erosion of regional identity is at crisis point'." The Guardian (UK) 04/02/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 9:58 am
Canada's Small Museums Are Dying In Slow Motion Canada is in the midst of a museum-building boom. "But too often, say some in the museum community, this country's approach to its museums is like that of fathers who sire kids all over town but neglect to properly support them. Canada's heritage collections and sites are in chronic crisis. No one is actively trying to obliterate them in the way that the Taliban blew up the Bamiyan Buddhas; rather, neglect and underfunding threaten to accomplish the same result, in slow motion." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 04/01/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 9:54 am
In Baghdad, A Museum Waits For Peace Though it has been repaired, baghdad's national Museum has not reopened. "Even with thousands of pieces still missing, the museum houses an extraordinary collection by any standard. What is lacking is the peace it needs to admit the public. 'When a museum is reopened, it means that peace has come.' For now, it is a hollow place, devoid of life, empty of discourse. This echoing museum at the heart of Baghdad - that is to say, at the heart of the American project in Iraq - is an image of hope frustrated." The New York Times 04/02/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 9:03 am
Museums - Like It? Buy It By nature, many of us are pack rats and want to collect souvenirs wherever we go. Museums are picking up on this in a big way; most have gift shops that swell the bottom line. But a number of museums are also commissioning artists and selling the artwork... The new York Times 03/29/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 8:58 am
Peru Wants Machu Picchu Artifacts Returned Peru is seeking to get artifacts from Machu Picchu housed at Yale, returned. "When Yale launched a major touring exhibition featuring the artifacts three years ago, the Peruvian government started negotiations to get them back. Yale offered to divide the items up and help Peru install its share in a museum near the site. Peruvian officials would not agree to any joint projects until Yale acknowledged that all of the objects belong to the Peruvian people. Yale refused." NPR 03/31/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 8:48 am
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Slatkin To Lead Chicago Symphony? Speculation is increasing that Leonard Slatkin may be in line as the next director of the Chicago Symphony. "Asked whether he is, as rumored, actively campaigning to be the next CSO music director, Slatkin proved as skilled in equivocation as any media-wise senator or congressman with whom he lunches." Chicago Tribune 04/02/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 9:45 am
Utah Symphony and Opera Turns A Corner? A year ago, the fortunes of the Utah Symphony and Opera were on the rocks, and the organization looked in peril. "The outlook for the USO is now 'cautiously optimistic,' words recited like a mantra by management, musicians and patrons alike. Indeed, there is reason for hope: Ticket sales are up and donations are rising. But the institution isn't in the clear yet. Administrators need to keep the numbers moving upward and grapple with ongoing challenges." Salt Lake Tribune 03/26/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 8:54 am
The Software That Lets Anyone Compose Today's music software is getting sophisticated enough that even someone with no music training can "compose" music. Of course, the sounds are all chosen and mashed together by a computer, but does it make you any less of a composer? The New York Times 04/01/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 8:05 am
Apple - Out To Own The Music Business? "The music industry fled into Steve Jobs' arms in desperation as it watched piracy erode its sales, so Apple signed great distribution deals with all the major labels. The people who manage the iTunes inventory are developing a stranglehold over digital music distribution that is giving iTunes enormous power. The record labels have to deal with iTunes or face oblivion as the iPod population grows." The Age (Melbourne) 04/01/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 7:58 am
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Protests Over Bodies Exhibition " 'Bodies ... The Exhibition' features 20 whole cadavers, preserved using a technique known as 'plastination,' made famous by the anatomist Gunther von Hagens. It will open at Earls Court later this month. Human rights organisations have attacked the booming industry in travelling exhibitions featuring human corpses. They warned that the bodies, which are from China, could include those of executed political prisoners." The Observer (UK) 04/02/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 10:01 am
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John McGahern, 71 McGahern was "arguably the most important Irish novelist since Samuel Beckett." The Guardian (UK) 03/31/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 10:16 am
Soprano To The Met In 18 Months (Years) For 16 years, Erika Sunnegardh studied singing, but didn't get very far. Then in 2004 the Swedish-American soprano made her professional debut. Eighteen months later, she's on stage at the Metropolitan Opera... Backstage (AP) 04/01/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 9:27 am
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How London Learned Modern Theatre "The cliché runs that England was a theatrical desert in the early 1950s. It was certainly true that London was far from the theatre capital of the world. Serious drama was served up with lashings of heavy sauce from Paris, where the long-winded works of Anouilh debuted, and where a little-known Irish modernist was premiering En attendant Godot. Entertainment breezed in from New York, where the American musical was responding to the brash energies of the booming 1950s with all the relish of Oh! What a Beautiful Morning. There were stirrings in London drama, however." Sunday Times (UK) 04/02/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 10:22 am
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Waterstone to Take Over Ottakar's The giant UK book chain Waterstone's has been granted approval to acquire Ottakar's, the specialist books company. "Small retailers warned that the deal would be another step towards 'clone- town Britain', further eroding the diversity of the high street, restricting consumer choice and, ultimately, leading to higher prices." The Guardian (UK) 03/31/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 10:17 am
The Online Novel - Just A Gimmick? Walter Kirn is writing a novel online, in real time. But is there any advantage to this, wonders Sven Birkets. "The traditional aim of art, in response to deeply planted human needs, has from the first been fundamentally contemplative. The work offers a deliberate distancing from the chaos and turbulence of the immediate and allows the reader or viewer to process its tensions through the recognition of underlying patterns." Boston Globe 04/02/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 9:37 am
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Report: Majority Of Those Who Use Subtitles Aren't Deaf A new study of British TV viewing habits reports that of the 7.5 million people who use TV subtitles, six million have no hearing impairment at all. "The problem with subtitles is once discovered they can be incredibly hard to let go of. Their value extends to a rich variety of TV-watching scenarios." BBC 04/02/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 9:19 am
Radio Companies Negotiate Over Payola Fines Four major American radio companies - Clear Channel Communications Inc., CBS Radio Inc., Entercom Communications Corp. and Citadel Broadcasting Corp - are negotiating with the FCC over fines for illegal pay-for-play practices. "Some of the radio companies have proposed fines of as much as $1 million. However, at least one FCC commissioner, Democrat Jonathan Adelstein, is pushing for penalties that could exceed $10 million per company." Los Angeles Times 04/01/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 8:28 am
Bahamas: No "Brokeback" Here The Bahamas has banned showings of "Brokeback Mountain." "The board chose to ban it because it shows extreme homosexuality, nudity and profanity, and we feel that it has no value for the Bahamian public." Newsday (AP) 03/30/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 8:00 am
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NY City Ballet Returns To Chicago After a 26 year absence, New York City Ballet is returning to Chicago, and will appear at the harris Theatre. "The announcement is historic on a number of levels. In addition to a long-overdue return by a great troupe, the plans signal a new era for the 2 1/2-year-old Harris, venturing into new territory as a presenter of its own attractions. Opened in fall 2003 as a rental house, mostly for local companies, the theater, part of Millennium Park, did not sponsor presentations itself. Now, that's changing in a blockbuster way." Chicago Tribune 04/02/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 9:41 am
Dance Umbrella - Creating A Dance Scene In South Africa "In the 18 years since its inception, the festival has produced a number of choreographers who have established themselves on the international circuit, including Robin Orlin, Boyzie Cekwana and Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe. It has also created an artistic community of contemporary dancers and dance-makers, serving as a means for South African artists to express hopes and fears about their society in ways that were often not condoned elsewhere." The New York Times 04/02/06
Posted: 04/02/2006 8:26 am
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