Code: Spinning Music For Computer "A new brand of music maestro is turning programming into performance, eschewing turntables for a compiler and a mind for syntax structure. 'Livecoding' practitioners improvise using Perl or homemade programming architectures to build compositions from the ground up, replacing instruments and samples with raw code authoring before a live audience." Wired 07/03/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 5:39 pm
Smelly Playback Scientists in Japan are building an odor recorder. "Simply point the gadget at a freshly baked cookie, for example, and it will analyse its odour and reproduce it for you using a host of non-toxic chemicals. The device could be used to improve online shopping by allowing you to sniff foods or fragrances before you buy, to add an extra dimension to virtual reality environments and even to assist military doctors treating soldiers remotely by recreating bile, blood or urine odours that might help a diagnosis." New Scientist 07/03/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 8:27 am
Studies: Money Can't Buy You Happiness "A wealth of data in recent decades has shown that once personal wealth exceeds about $12,000 a year, more money produces virtually no increase in life satisfaction. From 1958 to 1987, for example, income in Japan grew fivefold, but researchers could find no corresponding increase in happiness." Washington Post 07/03/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 6:55 am
Click here for more Ideas stories...
Koolhaas Re-imagines The Serpentine Each summer London's Serpentine Gallery has commissioned an architect to imagine a new space. "The architects commissioned so far have taken the idea and run with it, invariably assisted by the structural know-how of Cecil Balmond, co-chairman of Arup. But even by the Serpentine's standards, this year's design should be something else. It is the brainchild of Dutch visionary and long-time Londoner Rem Koolhaas." The Guardian (UK) 07/04/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 7:16 pm
Top Collectors ArtNews is out with its annual list of the world's top art collectors. "This year’s list contains 20 collectors who did not make it last year. The study showed that 61 percent, or 122 collectors, who made the list in 1996 were not on the 2006 list." ARtNews 07/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 8:34 am
Click here for more Visual Arts stories...
NY City Opera's House-Hunting New York City Opera has had a rough few years. High among those problems is the company's stymied search for a new home. "Over just the last few years, the company has publicly debated renovating the State Theater (a plan abandoned after differences with the ballet); building a new home in Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center (vetoed by the Metropolitan Opera and Beverly Sills, then Lincoln Center chairwoman); moving downtown near the World Trade Center site (where it lost out to other arts groups); and moving into a reconfigured City Center building (deemed too small for the necessary scenery fly space)." The New York Times 07/04/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 6:45 pm
Government Ranks Israel's Orchestras The Israeli government ranks the country's orchestras based on examintaion by a committee of 13 auditors. "The vote rates only two groups - the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra and the 21st Century Ensemble (which specializes in modern music) - as 'excellent.' Three other orchestras were classified as "good" - those of Rishon Letzion, Jerusalem and Haifa - as were the Israel Camerata, the Tel Aviv Soloists and the Israel Baroque Orchestra." The orchestras that ranked only "satisfactory" or below were told they have to improve. Ha'aretz 07/03/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 5:10 pm
Orchestra Takes Itself Off eBay Auction The Belgian chamber orchestra that put itself up for sale on eBay has taken down the ofer after bidding topped 100,000 Euros. "eBay representatives had contacted orchestra management over the weekend and reminded them of two important facts. First, listing, bidding and sale on eBay constitute a binding contract: the seller must sell the object listed to the highest bidder, and the highest bidder must pay the price he or she bid. Second, buying and selling people is against the law." PlaybillArts 7/03/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 10:32 am
Click here for more Music stories...
Longtail - No More Hits? We're moving from a mass culture to one that's dominated by niches. So does this mean the end of the blockbuster? The New Yorker 07/03/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 6:30 pm
Salt Lake City Ponders Arts District Some in Salt Lake City want to built and new arts and cultural district, with new theatres. But the city's non-profit theatres have had declining attendance, and critics worry whether the city can support the new activity. Salt Lake City Tribune 07/03/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 5:05 pm
Click here for more Arts Issues stories...
Hubertus Czernin, 50 The Austrian investigative reporter committed his later life to the recovery of priceless paintings looted by the Nazis. The Guardian (UK) 07/03/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 7:21 pm
Director Lloyd Richards Dies Lloyd Richards, the Tony Award-winning director and educator who brought August Wilson's works to the stage and directed the famed 1959 Broadway production of "A Raisin in the Sun," has died in New York. Yahoo! (Reuters) 06/30/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 8:12 am
Roger Ebert In Serious Condition After Emergency Operation "On June 16, Ebert underwent surgery to remove a cancerous growth on his salivary gland. Around 8 p.m. Saturday, a blood vessel burst near the site of the operation. Ebert, 64, has had four cancer surgeries, including two on his salivary gland in 2003." Chicago Sun-Times 07/03/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 7:52 am
Click here for more People stories...
Twin Cities' New Guthrie A Gem "Rising at the edge of the Mississippi, its confident forms are rooted in a vision of a muscular industrial America, and its structural bravura will certainly please the techno-fetishists. As a thoughtful response to the American city's evolving role as a haven for cultural tourism, it also coaxes new meaning out of a haggard landscape." The New York Times 07/04/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 6:41 pm
Click here for more Theatre stories...
DC Bookstore Ends Era, Starts Another "Nominally a bookstore, for nearly 30 years Editorial El Mundo has purveyed so much more. There was a time when this corner was the gateway to an American life for generations of immigrants, the place in Washington where they metaphorically landed first. Editorial El Mundo was where they found help decoding the new land. It set an example for striving. Now the corner isn't so important." Washington Post 07/03/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 6:57 pm
Blurb This, Mean That Nobody really believes those hyperbolic blurbs on the fronts of books, do they? And yet, perhaps there's a way to decipher the blurb code that can give some indication of what's in the pages? The Guardian (UK) 07/02/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 6:13 pm
Click here for more Publishing stories...
Just Wondering - Where are The Video Game Critics? Video games have become a big cultural force. So where are the great video game critics? "Many people write video-game reviews and that there are entire magazines and myriad Web sites devoted to this subject. But what these people are writing is not really criticism. Almost without exception, it's consumer advice; it tells you what old game a new game resembles, and what the playing experience entails, and whether the game will be commercially successful. It's expository information. As far as I can tell, there is no major critic who specializes in explaining what playing a given game feels like, nor is anyone analyzing what specific games mean in any context outside the game itself." Esquire 07/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 5:45 pm
Hollywood In China? "The Chinese film industry and Chinese politicians want their own version of Hollywood, to create blockbusters of Titanic proportions. It's a strategy that's half-succeeding; the Chinese industry is managing to make a few films that sell in the United States. But the other side of Hollywood—domestic box-office success—is proving elusive. As a result, the Chinese industry is increasingly making films designed to fit American tastes, like the Wal-Mart factories in China that make baseball mitts for American Little-Leaguers." Slate 07/03/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 8:19 am
Studio Fears Of Film Fest Piracy Film studios are cracking down on film festivals, in some cases removing their films because of fears of piracy. "The leading film festivals offer potential pirates tempting fruit. Those festivals (Sundance, Cannes, Toronto, Telluride, Berlin, Venice) tend to show acclaimed films months before their theatrical premieres. Cellphones are rarely confiscated at festival doors; in fact, scores of Sundance Film Festival attendees talk and send e-mails on their mobile devices during screenings. Finally, festival venues are usually run by volunteers, people with little expertise in security issues." Los Angeles Times 07/03/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 7:56 am
Bypassing Broadcast - Is Viral Video Viable? "A comedy called — with intended irony, but not in the way that it has worked out — 'Nobody's Watching' has been available on YouTube for about two weeks. As of yesterday it had been downloaded more than 300,000 times by a growing legion of fans. Most remarkable of all, the talk that the show has generated has already caught the ears of executives at several networks, some of whom are wondering if maybe this is a virus they might enjoy getting infected with." The New York Times 07/03/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 7:06 am
All Is Forgiven - Americans Return To The Movie Theatres "After abandoning theaters in worrying numbers last summer, American moviegoers are returning to the multiplex, steadily if slowly. Through the first 25 weeks of the year, domestic box-office revenue — helped by a boost in ticket prices — was up nearly 5 percent, to $4.6 billion, though it still trailed 2004, according to the tracking company Exhibitor Relations. Movie attendance was up about 1.65 percent to 699 million for the first 25 weeks, after a sharp decline the year before." The New York Times 07/03/06
Posted: 07/03/2006 7:01 am
Click here for more Media stories...
What To Do After Dance? "Twenty years ago, it was practically heresy for a ballet dancer to even talk about life beyond the footlights. But times have changed. Now it's common for dancers to receive career counseling, education advice, and even financial aid for college while they're still performing." Philadelphia Inquirer 07/02/06
Posted: 07/02/2006 6:12 pm
(Everybody) Gotta Dance What accounts for the huge popularity of programs such as the summer dancing on the plaza at Lincoln Center? "Dance is something you already know even if you think you don't. Look in the street or in a schoolyard, and you will know right away if a person is sad or happy by the way they hold themselves, by the way they walk." The New York Times 07/02/06
Posted: 07/02/2006 1:19 pm
Click here for more Dance stories...
