The Neuroscience Of Talent (There Isn't Any) "I think we've debunked the myth of talent. It doesn't appear that there's anything like a music gene or center in the brain that Stevie Wonder has that nobody else has. There's no evidence that (talented people) have a different brain structure or different wiring than the rest of us initially, although we do know that becoming an expert in anything -- like chess or race-car driving or journalism -- does change the brain and creates circuitry that's more efficient at doing what you're an expert at." Wired 08/23/06
Posted: 08/23/2006 7:03 am
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American History In Space "The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History closes next month for almost two years of renovations, but some of the museum's most beloved artifacts -- Dorothy's ruby slippers, Kermit the Frog, 'Star Wars' droids -- will reappear in the fall. Beginning Nov. 17, 150 objects from the shuttered museum will be part of the "Treasures of American History" exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum." Washington Post 08/23/06
Posted: 08/23/2006 8:14 am
Oregon Art Museum Gets Director The Portland (Oregon) Art Museum has hired Brian Ferriso to be its new director. Ferriso is currently executive director and chief executive officer of the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa. The Oregonian 08/23/06
Posted: 08/23/2006 7:13 am
Getty Sends Two Artifacts To Greece The Getty Museum agrees to return two disputed artifacts to Greece. "Under the deal signed Sunday, the Getty is returning a Boetian stele that dates to the 4th century BC and a Thasian relief that is about 100 years older. The Getty bought the stele through a New York dealer in 1993, museum director Michael Brand said, and the relief was bought by J. Paul Getty himself in 1955." Los Angeles Times 08/23/06
Posted: 08/23/2006 6:30 am
Libeskind - Conquering Denver? Since his World Trade Center tower project fell apart, architect Daniel Libeskind has move on. To Denver. "In giving Libeskind the freedom denied him in New York, Denver is taking a risk: Does Libeskind have the ability to design a building that will exert the magnetic pull of an icon and still work well as a museum? And can he set out a plan for an entire neighborhood, as he tried to do in New York?" The New Yorker 08/21/06
Posted: 08/23/2006 12:05 am
Art Thief Caught After Pub Boast A thief who had stolen art from a museum was caught when he was heard boadting about it in a pub. "He took the canvas, called Brighton, when it was in storage in 1999 during redevelopment of the Castle Museum and Art Gallery in Norwich. But he was heard in a Norwich pub discussing how he could get rid of the piece and the eavesdropper reported him to police." The Guardian (UK) 08/23/06
Posted: 08/22/2006 11:48 pm
Wanted: A Different Kind Of Museum "Whether it's people of color, young children, people of faith, or other affinity groups, they usually come once for the exhibition that speaks directly to them and then they leave. This experience suggests that the concept of the encyclopedic mega-museum as the best repository for all masterpieces of all cultures is, at best, debatable. The lesson of the Musée Quai Branly in Paris is that we also need smaller "niche" museums that appeal to particular cultural constituencies---those who often feel marginalized in, or intimidated by, the grand art palaces where the great masterpieces of Western European and/or American art usually have pride of place." CultureGrrl (AJBlogs) 08/22/06
Posted: 08/22/2006 9:22 pm
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Slatkin To Nashville Outgoing National Symphony music director Leonard Slatkin has been appointed music adviser to the Nashville Symphony. "Slatkin, 61, is also principal guest conductor for both the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London and the Los Angeles Philharmonic for its Hollywood Bowl summer series. It is unclear whether he will take another full-time music directorship when he leaves the NSO, although he was widely considered to be in pursuit of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra before the team of Bernard Haitink and Pierre Boulez were given interim directorship." Washington Post 08/23/06
Posted: 08/23/2006 8:09 am
A New Way To Test Drive Opera: College "New operas are usually commissioned by one or two companies, often on different continents, and are more or less shot out of a cannon - with an opening production assembled without the benefit of a workshop or tryout. There are successes, but even among those, some parts are good, others not." But new consortiums of educational institutions are banding together to commission opera. And from A-list composers... Philadelphia Inquirer 08/23/06
Posted: 08/23/2006 7:23 am
Iranian Symphony Orchestra Plays On Despite Ban On Western Classical Music The Tehran Symphony Orchestra is performing in Germany. "Western music of all types has an uncertain status under the Islamic government. It was officially banned in October by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but state-run radio and television still broadcast it. Classical music can be heard accompanying Iranian TV and radio programs, and Iranian television recorded Sunday's concert in Osnabrueck." Still, the orchestra has to make some adjustments... The Globe & Mail (AP) 08/22/06
Posted: 08/23/2006 6:43 am
Musicians Losing Out With Airline Restrictions The Musicians Union says musicians are suffering because of airline travel restrictions restricting instruments from being carried on. "It says its members 'are reporting significant lost earnings' because they are unable to take their instruments on board aircraft as hand luggage. Many instruments are too fragile to be placed in the hold of an airliner, the union told the BBC News website." BBC 08/22/06
Posted: 08/22/2006 5:28 pm
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Hitchens: Calling Grass On His Cynical Confession Gunther Grass is a fake, writes Christopher Hitchens. "Grass' many defenders have not asked themselves the question that needs to be posed, which is: Has he at last decided to appeal to the new German readership that is, so to say, a bit fed up with hearing about how dreadful the Nazis were? If this admittedly rather cynical suggestion has any merit, then at least his recent boring writings and operatic confessions would, in combination, make perfect sense. But they would also make absolute nonsense of his previous career as a literary policeman and a patroller of the line of taboo." Slate 08/22/06
Posted: 08/22/2006 6:26 pm
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Broad Donates Money To Save Yiddish Theatre Collection Eli Broad is donating $186,000 to pay for cleaning, restoration, archiving and a permanent display of a collection of Yiddish theatre artifacts. "The cache includes programs, photographs, plays, costumes, mus of a trove of ic manuscripts, props and other material. The items were moldering in a dilapidated building at 31 East Seventh Street that housed the Hebrew Actors Union, now defunct. Champions of Yiddish theater had been trying to save the collection, and eventually placed it with the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in Manhattan." The New York Times 08/23/06
Posted: 08/22/2006 11:39 pm
Quinn To Be New Actors Union Director Patrick Quinn, president of Actors' Equity Association, has been named executive director of the union. "Quinn is a longtime working actor with 10 Broadway credits. He has also been a union insider for almost 30 years -- he was elected to the Equity Council in 1977." Backstage 08/22/06
Posted: 08/22/2006 5:36 pm
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Miami Schools Continue Fight To Ban Children's Book The Miami School Board has decided to continue to try to ban a children's book on Cuba from school library shelves. "The board voted 5-2 to appeal a federal judge's temporary order barring the district from removing the children's book, along with 23 others in the series. The district wants to remove "Vamos a Cuba" ("A Visit to Cuba") following a parent's complaint that it failed to accurately depict the reality of life under Cuba's communist government." Yahoo! (AP) 08/23/06
Posted: 08/23/2006 9:11 am
Quill Awards Nominees "Stephen King, Doris Kearns Goodwin and former Vice President Al Gore were among the nominees announced Tuesday for the second annual Quills Awards — people's choice prizes trying to catch on with the public. Publishers have complained that readers showed little interest in last year's awards and that the Quills had no discernible affect on sales." Yahoo! (AP) 08/22/06
Posted: 08/22/2006 6:01 pm
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Was Pac-Man The High Water Mark Of Video Gaming? Twenty-five years ago Pac-Man was a pop culture phenomenon. "There have been other pixilated paragons: the Mario Bros., Donkey Kong, Lara Croft, Sonic the Hedgehog. But none have had the cultural tunami effect of the Pac-meister. Pac-Man provided an entirely new way of interfacing with technology: an emotional one." So why hasn't the video game industry been able to replicate Pac-Man's success? CBC 08/23/06
Posted: 08/23/2006 7:32 am
Hollywood - A Better Summer Than Last Movie box office revenues are expected to be up 7 percent over last summer, generating $3.9 billion. "Ticket revenues for 2005's summer were $3.6 billion, which was down 8.5 percent from summer 2004's record $3.95 billion, making it the worst box-office showing in four years. Attendance, the number of people buying tickets, for summer 2006 is estimated at just over 582 million, up nearly four percent from last year's 564 million, which was off a whopping 11 percent from the previous year." Yahoo! (Reuters) 08/22/06
Posted: 08/22/2006 5:51 pm
UK Takes Up Digital TV The UK is on pace to lead the world in adopting digital TV. "Around 95% of UK households will have digital TV, compared to 66% in the US and 50% in Germany, according to market analyst Datamonitor." BBC 08/22/06
Posted: 08/22/2006 5:32 pm
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