Will Monet's London Paintings Teach Us About Smog?
"Although we know that smog was a problem at that time, we don't know much about it. Now we can potentially get real air quality information from a time when scientific instruments weren't around."
New Scientist
08/08/06
Posted: 08/08/2006 11:10 pm
The Difference Between Men And Women? It Starts In the Brain
"Male and female brains are different in architecture and chemical composition. The sooner women -- and those who love them -- accept and appreciate how those neurological differences shape female behavior, the better we can all get along. Start with why women prefer to talk about their feelings, while men prefer to meditate on sex..."
San Francisco Chronicle
08/06/06
Posted: 08/08/2006 11:07 pm
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A Place For Islamic Art
"Since 9/11, many museums in Europe and the United States have begun highlighting collections and exhibitions of Islamic art as a way of promoting greater understanding and bridging the cultural gap between the Judeo-Christian and Muslim worlds. In Western Europe this strategy also implies recognition that, because of heavy immigration from North Africa, Turkey, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Islam is now also a European religion, and it is therefore important both for Europeans to show respect for Islamic culture and for Muslim immigrants and their children to take pride in their past. But are we asking too much of art, giving it too much political weight?"
The New York Times
08/09/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 7:19 am
Another Russian Art Theft
There's been another museum theft in Russia. This time it's an archive of a famous architect's work worth millions of dollars and stolen from a state archive. "The crime, blamed by the archive's director on unscrupulous staff, came just more than a week after Russia's most famous museum ? the Hermitage ? announced the theft over a period of years of more than 220 artworks valued at $5 million."
Los Angeles Times (AP)
08/09/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 6:30 am
Is The Web The Future Of Art?
"This awesome information technology that we are rapidly taking for granted is an arena that is apparently attracting artists who want to push the boundaries of what art can be. I thought the boundaries in art had all been crossed in the Sixties, or was it a century ago? Maybe I was wrong."
The Times (UK)
08/08/06
Posted: 08/08/2006 10:56 pm
Wondering About Pollock In The Hamptons
The art event of the summer in the Hamptons was to be a show of Jackson Pollocks. But a distpute over their authenticity led to cancellation of the show. So... who really created the made these drip paintings?
OpinionJournal.com
08/09/06
Posted: 08/08/2006 9:32 pm
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Will New Recording Contract Boost Classical Music Activity?
A new contract between the American musicians union and 48 orchestras redefines recording rules. "The new agreement will provide a greater opportunity for symphony orchestras to record. It ultimately will enable a symphony to get its product into the marketplace and maintain a presence that may otherwise be lacking."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
08/09/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 7:03 am
Has Bayreuth's Time Passed?
"There are signs that the festival organisers, and its audiences, are becoming entirely cut off from the concerns of ordinary concert-goers and Wagner-lovers. Amazingly, the festival is still run by Wolfgang Wagner, Richard's grandson, who is 86, and a stubbornly efficient administrator rather than a great artist (unlike his brother, Wieland, who died in 1966). Wolfgang's productions have been, on the whole, unremarkable."
The Guardian (UK)
08/08/06
Posted: 08/08/2006 10:50 pm
Can Opera Be Viable In Today's Society?
"Can an art form that is averse to controversy survive in this kind of society? Doesn?t it risk seeming to be in the care of dull people, equivocators and cowards? There is an argument, a powerful argument, that opera should stand apart from the baser trends of society. If the larger culture thrives on simple oppositions, on sound bites, not serious discussion ? on voices talking over each other at a fevered pitch ? then opera, and art, should go elsewhere."
OperaNews
08/06
Posted: 08/08/2006 9:16 pm
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Earmark Research
The US Congress has been increasingly funding research projects in colleges through earmarks - special funding inserted by legislators. But some scientistsare "concerned that, in a time of flat funding for research, earmarks drain the pool even more, forcing institutions to spend big in order to gain big. Earmarking can ?set up these incentives in which universities feel they have to lobby for earmarks to get a shot at having research funds."
InsideHigherEd.com
08/09/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 6:49 am
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Scialabba: A Culture Of Contradictions
"George Scialabba is an essayist and critic working at Harvard Universit. He writes in what William Hazlitt ? the patron saint of generalist essayists ? called the 'the familiar style,' and he is sometimes disarmingly explicit about the difficulties, even the pain, he experiences in trying to resolve cultural contradictions. That is no way to create the aura of mystery and mastery so crucial for awesome intellectual authority."
InsideHigherEd
08/09/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 7:30 am
Scoop: Chihuly Protects His Work
The Seattle Times reports in the third part of its investigation of glass artist Dale Chihuly that the artist protects his work by trying to prevent other artists from copying it.
Seattle Times
08/08/06
Posted: 08/08/2006 10:28 pm
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Gimme That Old Time Fringe
We think of fringe theatre as being a young person's pursuit. This year's Edinburgh Fringe has attracted many older performers. "But why? Most acts will tell you that the Fringe is an outrageously difficult place to make a profit. So are these performers trying to revive flagging careers with shows that, profitable or not, will give them a higher profile than a sold-out seaside show in the West Country? Or should we be less cynical and accept that the anything-goes spirit of the Fringe is just as appealing to the winner of Opportunity Knocks 1975 as it is to young stand-ups playing their first solo shows?"
The Times (UK)
08/08/06
Posted: 08/08/2006 10:59 pm
The Actors? We Got 'Em On TV
Producers of a new production of "Grease" on Broadway will cast leads through a TV reality show. "NBC said on Tuesday it will broadcast a talent show titled 'You're the One That We Want' -- a play on a hit song from the show -- in which viewers can vote for singers to play the roles of the naive new girl in town, Sandy Dumbrowski, and Danny"
Yahoo! (AP)
08/08/06
Posted: 08/08/2006 10:36 pm
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Hitting Back At Chick Lit
Otto Penzler is fed up with Chick Lit. "Some years ago, there was a small movement to call private eye stories Dick-lit. It didn't stick. But chick lit has, and what I don't like is that it's cynical. I don't like cynicism, never have, partly because, like its cousin, pessimism, it's too easy.There's always reason to doubt, there's always reason to fear the worst, but to what end? Negativism of all kinds is plentiful and, frankly, it's getting really irritating."
New York Sun
08/09/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 6:41 am
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Emmy Nomination Under Fire
The Emmys are facing questions about nomination procedures "after Ellen Burstyn was nominated for a best supporting actress Emmy for a 14-second performance. Burstyn appeared briefly in the HBO movie Mrs. Harris, playing a former lover in a flashback scene reminiscing about Scarsdale diet doctor Herman Tarnower. She spoke two lines, totalling 38 words, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which measured her on-screen time." The Globe & Mail (Canada)
08/08/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 6:34 am
That Movie... Over And Over Again
There are so many versions of movies floating around on DVD these days, it's getting difficult for the real fan. "Anyone who really loves a particular film is going to want to own every nook and cranny of it, which means that, in some cases, you'll have to buy the same title three or four times. At $10 to $50 each, that represents some serious bucks." Los Angeles Times
08/09/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 6:27 am
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