Can Friendships Survive Ideas? Principled disagreement can be a powerful force that tears apart a friendship. "These days, such principled disagreements tend often to involve ideas, and to be endemic among supposedly educated people and especially among intellectuals. The ideas themselves are as likely as not to involve politics. Even more than differences over religion, political disputes seem to ignite ugly emotions and get things to the yelling stage quickly." Commentary 08/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 5:20 pm
Click here for more Ideas stories...
Probable Hitler Works Go On The Block To look at them, the pictures wouldn't seem to be worth much. "But next month the salesroom at Jefferys, a modest auction house in Lostwithiel in Cornwall, is expected to be buzzing with collectors from all over the world bidding for the sketches. They will be interested not in the aesthetic value of the pictures but in the signature, sometimes AH, sometimes A Hitler. The watercolours are - probably - the work of the young Adolf Hitler, painted while he served on the border of France and Belgium as a corporal during the first world war." The Guardian (UK) 08/10/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 7:53 am
When Grand Dreams Don't Make Great Buildings From New York's Freedom Tower to Philadelphia's Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Witold Rybczynski ponders why important buildings so often fail to live up to their promise. Noting that "for every successful icon there are scores of failures," he asks, "What do you do when your starchitect doesn't deliver the goods?" Slate 08/09/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 7:17 am
Will Skills Of Barnes' New Leader Attract The Needed Millions? With Derek Gillman plucked from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts to become executive director and president of the Barnes Foundation, Edward J. Sozanski wonders how the new leader will handle a project that "promises to be several orders of magnitude more demanding than anything Gillman has tackled so far." His primary task? Raising "the several hundred million dollars the foundation needs to underwrite a radical transformation from school and domestically scaled gallery to international tourist attraction" as the collection is relocated to Philadelphia. Philadelphia Inquirer 08/10/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 6:24 am
Tattoos A Hidden Mark Of Hipness In Iran "It's an undercover movement--literally: Tattoos have become a fad among many young Iranian women who proudly display them in private but must keep them under wraps from authorities." Chicago Tribune (AP) 08/10/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 6:03 am
If Huck Finn Had Had A Few Dozen Artist Friends ... "If all goes as planned, and that is no sure bet, an unlikely crew on an improbable craft will amble the Mississippi for the next month, spreading culture and chaos downriver. For more than a week, the 'Miss Rockaway Armada' — a few dozen self-selected artists from Manhattan, Brooklyn, Seattle, San Francisco and beyond — has toiled ... on the banks of the Mississippi River, assembling salvage wood and cadged Styrofoam into three interconnected rafts, each 20 feet long. ... Theoretically, the crew plans to stop in various river towns to give workshops on everything from silkscreening to power tools and put on a performance — a kind of punk-rock musical variety show — followed by a dance party." The New York Times 08/09/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 5:15 am
Freed's Air Force Memorial Takes Shape "From a promontory high above the Pentagon, three arching spires reach skyward, their elongated tips pointing to the infinity of space. They appear as abstract art forms but only until their symbolism is made clear by their setting: They are the starring elements of a memorial to the United States Air Force, the only branch of the American military that has not had a prominent monument in the Washington area. More than 14 years in planning, the memorial is in the final stages of construction and will be dedicated Oct. 14." The New York Times 08/10/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 5:09 am
Museum Guidelines Safeguard "Sacred" Cultural Objects "As American Indian and other groups have become increasingly assertive about guarding their cultural heritage, museums have struggled to strike a balance between the traditional practice of collecting indigenous objects as art and the often competing interests of the people whose ancestors produced them. ... In guidelines be released today, the Association of Art Museum Directors calls on museums to consult with indigenous groups to determine what works might fall into this category and to accommodate the wishes of these groups as far as possible in displaying, conserving and even discussing these works on museum labels and in catalogs." The New York Times 08/10/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 4:57 am
Click here for more Visual Arts stories...
Poetry In Motion: Writing A Libretto For Opera Poet and lyricist Simon Armitage discusses the surprisingly rewarding experience of writing an opera libretto. "It was Craig Raine who said that librettists are to opera what toilets are to theatres. So when someone from the Edinburgh festival asked if I'd be interested in writing the words for a newly commissioned opera, I hesitated. I've never thought of what I do as a mere functional necessity and, despite having the surname Armitage, I don't take kindly to being pissed on. But in the end I couldn't say no." The Guardian (UK) 08/10/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 7:40 am
Steve Reich Turns 70 (The Man Who Made Music Cool) There was a time when composer Steve Reich was derided for the "simplicity" of his music. But "more than any living composer, Steve Reich transformed the image of contemporary classical music from painfully abstruse to potentially cool. Vinyl remixes of his early works can be heard at many dance clubs (there's a new set out next month from Warner)." La Scena Musicale 08/09/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 5:08 pm
Critical Theory So how much value is the average critic's take on music? "The more I think about the process of listening to music, the more I realize that any listener's reactions to a piece are his or her own and have little to do with the music they are listening to, at least in so far as how that music will relate to any other listener. They also vary over time. Each time you listen to something, what you are listening to is clouded both by what you've heard before and what you haven't heard before. A repeated listen to a specific piece of music will never be the same as a first listen, but neither will multiple experiences to similar musical ideas in any piece be the same as that initial encounter with such an idea." NewMusicBox 08/09/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 5:04 pm
Click here for more Music stories...
Fleeing Mid-Performance: Indefensible Or Not? "Is it OK to walk out of a show? Finally I did it: at an interval, mind - not while stuff was actually happening on stage. I felt very, very bad. Very bad indeed. I think it's incredibly bad form not to stay the course. But, I admit, I also felt lightheaded, joyful, and ready to reclaim the evening that had been in such serious danger of being becoming incredibly depressing." The Guardian (UK) 08/09/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 7:59 am
Young People! (The Copy Generation) "Among teens ages 12 to 17 who were polled, 69% said they believed it was legal to copy a CD from a friend who purchased the original. By comparison, only 21% said it was legal to copy a CD if a friend got the music free. Similarly, 58% thought it was legal to copy a friend's purchased DVD or videotape, but only 19% thought copying was legal if the movie wasn't purchased. Those figures are a big problem for the Recording Industry Assn. of America and the Motion Picture Assn. of America, both of which have spent millions of dollars to deter copying of any kind. The music industry now considers "schoolyard" piracy — copies of physical discs given to friends and classmates — a greater threat than illegal peer-to-peer downloading, according to the RIAA." Los Angeles Times 08/09/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 5:45 pm
Click here for more Arts Issues stories...
Melissa Hayden, 83 The former New York City Ballet dancer was one of the company's first international stars. "Direct in both her dancing and her views about dance, Ms. Hayden was known for her unmatched blend of individuality and versatility." The New York Times 08/10/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 10:05 pm
Click here for more People stories...
Edinburgh's Purple Cow: Just Make It Go Away! Udderbelly, a new Underbelly venue shaped like an upside-down cow, is not a hit with Lyn Gardner. "People often assume that because I'm a theatre critic I must be in favour of new theatres. Wrong. Contemporary drama really doesn't need - and on the whole is ill-suited - to the playhouse, and it certainly isn't going to be shown off to best advantage inside a giant purple plastic cow. It just makes everyone involved look ridiculous." The Guardian (UK) 08/08/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 8:12 am
National Theater Of The Deaf Faces New Financial Crisis The National Theater of the Deaf was in grave financial danger earlier this year. Then, when it looked like the situation had been solved, the NEA came calling, wanting payment of a long-overdue debt. “The N.E.A. has great respect for the National Theater of the Deaf, and we have worked very closely with them for many years to try to arrive at mutually agreeable and beneficial repayment plans. Each plan has been agreed upon by the National Theater of the Deaf, and each time they’ve been unable to meet the requirements. It’s unfortunate, but we’ve come to a point where this has to be resolved.” The New York Times 08/10/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 11:29 pm
The 90-Minute Star Wars George Lucas has given the Reduced Shakespeare Company permission to do a condensed version of the Star Wars movies. "The films total more than 13 hours but this should not pose a problem for the company that did the Complete Works of Shakespeare in 97 minutes. 'In the space of 20 minutes I'm going to be Jabba the Hutt, Jar Jar Binks, Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker'." The Guardian (UK) 08/09/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 5:29 pm
Click here for more Theatre stories...
Through A Bookstore, Preserving Armenian Cultural Identity "Thirty years ago, with his native Lebanon going up in the flames of civil war, Harout Yeretzian, a Lebanese Armenian, came to Hollywood and joined his brother in founding a magazine devoted to the Armenian language and culture. One thing led to another. The magazine spawned a print shop, which spawned a bookstore, which spawned a small publishing house. Three decades later, the brother is gone. So are the magazine and the print shop." But Yeretzian still has a bookstore, and through it he continues to pursue his mission: "to help his fellow Armenians maintain their ancient identity." Los Angeles Times 08/10/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 5:40 am
What To Read? (A Furious Schoolyard Debate) Britain's Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has been asked to review and update student reading lists. The "review of English teaching, English 21, launched by the poet laureate, Andrew Motion, has provoked an occasionally furious debate about the merits or otherwise of prescribing texts. Much to the QCA's surprise, some teachers consulted are against the plan to give them more flexibility over choice of books." The Guardian (UK) 08/09/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 5:37 pm
UCalifornia Joins Google Digital Library Project The University of California has joined Google's massive library digitization project. "UC is the fourth major U.S. university — along with Stanford, Michigan and Harvard — to contribute at least some of their library collections to the project. The New York Public Library and Oxford University are also allowing portions of their libraries to be scanned. The mammoth project, begun in 2004, is expected to take years to complete and could cost Google tens of millions of dollars." CBC 08/09/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 4:41 pm
Click here for more Publishing stories...
Girl Muppet Shatters Glass Ceiling, Alights On "Sesame Street" "After almost 40 years with Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster and the androgynous Big Bird, 'Sesame Street' is getting a fresh injection of estrogen. When the PBS Kids series kicks off its 37th season on Monday ... it will introduce the program's first new lead character in 13 years. And it's a girl." New York Daily News 08/10/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 6:10 am
Poll: Young People Not So Interested In Mobile Video Video producers say the next big thing is video for phones and handheld devices. But "about half of young adults and 4 in 10 teenagers said they were uninterested in watching television shows or movies on computers, cellphones or hand-held devices such as video iPods, the poll found. While more than 2 out of 5 teens and young adults indicated they were open to viewing this kind of content online, only 14% of teenagers said they wanted to watch television on a cellphone, and 17% said they would view programs on an iPod." Los Angeles Times 08/10/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 5:47 pm
Censor This (Or Not) America's Ratings System Explained "The American ratings system is hugely inconsistent. It focuses too much on sexuality and not enough on violence. Their stock response to criticism of the way they operate is that the current system is 'best for parents'. But the system which is best for parents would be one that gave them real information, not just a letter rating and a description of five or six words." New Statesman 08/14/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 5:26 pm
Chicago Public Radio Is Out To Reinvent Public Radio "Hosts will be in charge of two-hour blocks of radio time, and they’ll be free to play whatever strikes their fancy that day. Maybe a host is still thinking about last night’s episode of America’s Next Top Model, so he cues up a field report from a recent casting call for the show. Next might come a slam poet’s musings on commercial beauty, then three of the fiercest songs off of a local band’s new LP, followed by a spoof remix of James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful,” then an interview with a fashion photographer. Or maybe a bunch of music, or a lot of commentary. The point is, pretty much anything goes. But—and here’s the major innovation—there’s a communal element, too." Time Out Chicago 08/09/06
Posted: 08/09/2006 5:17 pm
Click here for more Media stories...
