“I am astounded at the lack of understanding of public libraries that your Monday evening story, Are Libraries Necessary, or a Waste of Tax Money? revealed. … Your ‘undercover cameras” shots were taken in a series of stacks devoted to bound periodicals used for reference. Next time, try looking at the circulating collections throughout the building.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Claim: Pot Smoke Seeping Into Vancouver Art Gallery Vault
“The VAG is a notorious gathering point for pro-marijuana events … and it’s not unusual to see – and smell – people smoking pot on the steps outside the gallery. While [a gallery volunteer] said ‘it just seems like common sense’ that marijuana smoke would have an impact on the art collection in storage, the gallery’s director Kathleen Bartels [said] the works are protected.”
Met Opera’s Head Of Costumes Explains Her Work
“We don’t hear people having tantrums about their costumes, or not wanting to wear puce, or complaining that a neckline is too high. I’ve seen more divalike behavior in Starbucks over soy milk than I’ve seen backstage at the Metropolitan Opera.”
Mikhail Pletnev Charged With Rape Of 14-Year-Old
“Lt. Col. Omsin Sukkanka, an investigator with the Children and Women’s Protection Center in Pattaya, [Thailand,] said the police opened an investigation in April after they were approached by the boy, his mother and members of a nongovernmental organization. … If convicted, Mr. Pletnev would face 4 to 20 years in prison.”
Trying To Save A Portrait Because Of Who The Sitter Was
“The painting according to the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is the first known portrait that honours a named African subject as an individual and an equal, and thereby gives a useful insight into Britain in the 18th Century.”
Brooklyn Benefit Show Bars An American Flag Artwork
“On July 2, [artist Clark Clark] said, he installed the piece with the help of fellow artist Jonathan Levy, who serves as the director of Gallery House. Said Mr. Clark: ‘He saw it when I brought it. He complimented it.’ But on July 4, Mr. Levy called Mr. Clark to inform him that ‘Evolve America’ had to be removed and replaced.”
Egypt Unveils Vividly Painted Ancient Double Tomb
“The tomb includes two false doors with colorful paintings depicting the two people buried there…. Egypt’s antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass, said the new finds were ‘the most distinguished tombs ever found from the Old Kingdom,’ because of their ‘amazing colors.'”
When Organists Get Together
At the American Guild of Organists’ Washington convention, “they can peruse the latest offerings from music publishers” and “examine brochures from organ builders from Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, Canada and the United States.” They can play local organs, too — though the Kennedy Center organ’s problems are “evidently so pronounced that the city’s organists have simply given up on it.”
No Longer National Public Radio, NPR Is Simply NPR
“Much like the corporate names KFC or AT&T, the initials now stand for the initials. NPR says it’s abbreviating the name it has used since its debut in 1971 because it’s more than radio these days. Its news, music and informational programming is heard over a variety of digital devices that aren’t radios; it also operates news and music Web sites.”
Seeing Merchant Of Venice In Stifling, Breezeless Heat
“During a scene added for this production, Shylock submits to a forced baptism in a small onstage pool. Pacino’s silent anguish as his face was dunked repeatedly in the water seemed only deepened by the thirst for it in the audience. People watched in horror at the forced christening of the Jew — but with a tinge of envy….”