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Friday, August 11




Ideas

Back Away From The Child, Now! Pushy parents are an unpleasant and unavoidable fact of modern life, but some experts say that the phenomenon is spiralling out of control, and kids are caught in the crossfire of adult one-upsmanship. "Where your three-and-a-half-year-old attends nursery school determines the rest of his life… from this school, he gets into the top primary, the top prep, the top public school and then, of course, Oxford and a brilliant career." The Telegraph (UK) 08/11/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 8:10 pm

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Visual Arts

Canadian Gallery Still Waiting For Government To Notice It The Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, has some big expansion plans, and is chomping at the bit to get started. "Two years ago, the city-owned gallery marked 40 years as the anchor in Saskatoon's cultural life by unveiling plans to renovate its building on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River... Alas, the bulldozers are on hold until next year at least, possibly later — the result of a lack of financial assistance from [provincial and federal government sources.]" The Globe & Mail (Canada) 08/11/06
Posted: 08/11/2006 6:14 am

Calatrava Tower Reportedly Still On Track When an Irish developer stepped in to buy a large plot of land in Chicago recently, it started a whirlwind of rumors as to whether the developer intended to use the land to build something other than the 2000-foot Santiago Calatrava-designed skyscraper that had long been intended for the spot. The developer is reassuring the city that he plans to begin negotiations with Calatrava shortly on what would be the world's tallest tower. Some skeptics "contend that the $1.2 billion project is economically unfeasible." Chicago Tribune 08/11/06
Posted: 08/11/2006 6:04 am

Thinking Big, But Winding Up At The Same Boring Place When the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League set out to build their new stadium, they went outside the usual parameters, hiring former "bad boy" architect Peter Eisenmann to take charge of the design and create a modern structure unlike anything else in the NFL. But somewhere between concept and execution, much of Eisenmann's personality got lost amid the budget constraints. "The typical stadium designer today is a corporate servant who churns out formulaic structures, either crudely serviceable or slathered in nostalgic references to the Roman Colosseum. By contrast, Eisenman is an architect who sometimes gets trapped in his own head: he is known for conceptual references that, while playful, can border on the impenetrable." The New York Times 08/10/06
Posted: 08/11/2006 4:47 am

If You Can't Beat 'Em, Become Their Boss "One of Britain's most outspoken architects has emerged as a frontrunner to become London's 'design tsar' promising more landmark buildings and attacking the current lack of 'coherent vision'. Will Alsop, whose series of controversial buildings and city plans earned him the nickname of Mr Blobby because of his passion for curved forms, buildings on stilts and bright colours, has applied to become director of design for London. The move is widely viewed as a challenge to an establishment of which he has become increasingly critical." The Guardian (UK) 08/11/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 7:46 pm

Russia To Undertake Long Overdue Art Audit "Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a nationwide inventory of cultural treasures after valuable works were stolen from the Hermitage Museum... Art experts say Russian museums, galleries and archives have been suffering from lax security, poor record-keeping and lack of funding for years." BBC 08/10/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 7:29 pm

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Music

No Shortage Of Classics In Pittsburgh At a time when many American radio stations are dropping classical music, Pittsburgh's WQED is reaffirming its commitment to the genre, shuffling its schedule to play more music, eliminate talk and other non-classical programming, and increase arts and culture reporting on its popular morning show. "During peak weekday listening hours, the station will play more music by the [Pittsburgh Symphony] and add opera arias, giving the music exposure to a wider audience than would tune in a program devoted entirely to the music." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 08/11/06
Posted: 08/11/2006 5:37 am

Should Nashville Sym Really Be Getting $20 Million In Civic Money? Several members of Nashville's Metro Council have announced that they will ask the governing body to reconsider a $5 million contribution to the city's new Schermerhorn Performing Arts Center, which opens this fall. "Metro provided the Symphony the property the center sits on, $5 million for construction last year and then... would provide $5 million this year and $5 million the next two years for $20 million total. The Symphony also receives an annual contribution from the Metro Arts Commission for operating purposes, which in recent years has totaled about $400,000." Nashville City Paper 08/11/06
Posted: 08/11/2006 5:29 am

Not Everyone Loves The New Recording Agreement At least three of America's top orchestras have decided to keep a new nationwide agreement governing self-produced recordings at arm's length, in the belief that it doesn't go far enough towards addressing problems with the current American system of orchestral recording. The new agreement, which allows some orchestras to reduce upfront payments to musicians, is optional (any project undertaken must be approved by the orchestra's musicians) and restricted to recordings made from live concert tapes. Some in the industry believe that a wholesale overhaul of recording agreements is needed. Boston Globe 08/11/06
Posted: 08/11/2006 5:11 am

  • Previously: America's Orchestras Have A New Recording Deal "The deal, to be announced Friday, drastically reduces upfront payments to musicians but gives them a share of future revenue, making it more cost-effective to produce recordings. It also gives the orchestras ownership of the recordings, which they can license to distributors for limited periods. In addition, the agreement strengthens the musicians’ role by giving them veto power over recording projects." The New York Times 08/04/06

Musical Gluttony As the phenomenon of downloadable media continues to entrance the classical music world, marathons have become the hottest promotions going. "Blockbusters, bonkbusters, eat as much as you can for £5, sit through the whole of the Ring with a nasal feeding tube and a catheter... Hogarthian feasting is in vogue, with total immersion in composers, artists, playwrights and film directors sold to us as ultimate experiences. But is this an aesthetically rewarding endeavour or a marketing ploy?" The Guardian (UK) 08/11/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 7:07 pm

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Arts Issues

Madison PAC Close To Choosing New Head Madison, Wisconsin's acclaimed new Overture Center for the Performing Arts has announced the roster of finalists for the job of executive director. The finalists include the center's acting director, an operations manager with the Chicago Symphony, and an arts center manager from Ohio. The center's previous director was forced to retire last year following allegations of sexual harassment. Wisconsin State Journal (Madison) 08/10/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 7:17 pm

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Theatre

Commercially Viable Shows Need Not Apply New York's Fringe Festival is ten years old, long enough to have settled into a comfortable place in the national theatre scene. But like everything in New York, it's tough to keep the Fringe small-time. "The professionalizing, or Sundance-izing, of the Fringe has been a concern for the entire life of the festival, particularly after a 1999 entry, 'Urinetown,' made it to Broadway and won three Tony Awards. Partly in reaction, the Fringe has been actively looking for little-known and first-time artists in the selection process." The New York Times 08/11/06
Posted: 08/11/2006 5:50 am

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Publishing

Google Library Project Gets A Big Partner "The University of California is joining Google Inc.'s book-scanning project, throwing the weight of another 100 academic libraries behind an ambitious venture that's under legal attack for alleged copyright infringement. The deal to be announced Wednesday covers all the libraries in UC's 10-campus system, marking the biggest expansion of Google's effort to convert millions of library books into digital form since a group of authors and publishers sued last fall to derail a project launched 20 months ago." The Globe & Mail (AP) 08/11/06
Posted: 08/11/2006 6:12 am

Sex Sells. Great Gobs Of Sex Written Up By Hot Chicks Sell More. Blogs are a great way to get noticed in the publishing world, and if the blog is anonymous, and has plenty of sex, well, you just might get offered a book deal by the end of the year. Don't believe it? Meet Zoe Margolis. "Under her pseudonym, Abby Lee, she started a sex blog at the beginning of 2004, which is witty, moreish and incredibly explicit... The blog tootled along for about six months, and then suddenly went crazy, and was published as a book last week (for which she got 'six figures'). The book is already in the bestseller lists." The Guardian (UK) 08/11/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 7:57 pm

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Media

9/11 Film Scores With Moviegoers Oliver Stone's World Trade Center opened strong in the U.S. on Thursday, taking in $4.4 million in box office receipts despite renewed terror fears. "Meanwhile the movie's marketing plans will not be changed, despite the alleged plot to blow up US airliners. Studio executives had considered scaling back advertising for the film in light of the news, but decided against it." BBC 08/11/06
Posted: 08/11/2006 6:20 am

TV Could Use A Good Palate Cleanser Is TV so bad that it's headed for total cultural irrelevance? Kira Cochrane thinks it might be. "Not only has crap TV become much, much worse, it is no longer interspersed with the necessary quality TV, a vaguely classy amuse-bouche to savour before heading back to the sea of rubbish... While I have never agreed with the argument that TV is inherently depressing, I have started to suspect that it leads you to depression through a slightly circuitous route." The Guardian (UK) 08/11/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 8:02 pm

You're Either Online, Or You're Out The internet has changed the media landscape, and a new UK study shows that, for a generation that has never known a world without connectivity, the web is fast outstripping all other forms of entertainment and intellectual pursuit. That's good news for media companies with a significant online presence, but it presents an interesting challenge for TV, newspapers, and other traditional media. The Guardian (UK) 08/11/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 7:50 pm

Subversive Cartoons Animation for adults is old hat in some countries, but in Hollywood, it's still considered a daring and risky step. "In the right hands, animation is the perfect vehicle for subversion, but in the economic landscape of movie-making, the only way to make animation profitable is to pitch it broad... But costs have started coming down and it's becoming possible to target niche audiences again. " The Guardian (UK) 08/11/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 7:39 pm

It's 2006. Do You Know Who Your Children Are? Teen movies used to focus on prom night, nerd abuse, and the trials and tribulations of puberty. But these days, movies about teenagers are dark as night, with suicide, drug use, and endless violence where the innocent growing pains used to be. Is Hollywood just reflecting the increasingly dangerous reality of youth culture, or are the movies projecting adult fears on a new generation? The Age (Melbourne) 08/11/06
Posted: 08/10/2006 7:33 pm

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Dance

Officially Or Not, Ohio Ballet Is Dead And Gone No one is saying anything officially, but all indications are that Ohio Ballet has folded up its tent and disappeared into the Akron night. The group's artistic director has accepted a job with Arizona's Ballet Tucson, and "just after the ballet board put together a recovery plan, its president, George Petrenko, died in January and the group began to fall apart." The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 08/11/06
Posted: 08/11/2006 6:27 am

Mark Morris At Home In His Success The Mark Morris Dance Group turns 25 this year, and the company is humming along on all cylinders, its schedule crammed full and its continued artistic relevance continually extolled. "There is also a settled-in sense of comfort — dare one say domesticity? — for this once shaggy-maned provocateur who seemed to cultivate a personal image of outrageousness, even as his early dances resonated with an earthy honesty that suggested a kinship with an earlier, more forthright era of modern dance." Los Angeles Times 08/13/06
Posted: 08/11/2006 5:34 am

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