“The Santa Fe Opera and the estate of an employee have reached a settlement with relatives of a family killed in a drunken, wrong-way interstate crash triggered by the worker, who was returning from a business trip.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
The Candidates on the Arts – What Have They Actually Said?
“Democrat Obama has spoken about the importance of the arts often on the campaign trail, and his official party platform includes a two-page arts policy statement that calls for increased government funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. Republican McCain has been practically mum on the issue, although two weeks ago his campaign released a four-sentence statement that calls for funding for arts education to be left to local entities, where ‘local priorities allow.'”
Brighton Dome Names First Resident Company
“Dance group the Hofesh Shechter Company has become the first organisation to gain a three-year residency at the Brighton Dome. […] During its time at the Dome, the group will research and develop new works, present several pieces including a new commission and a major education project as part of Brighton Festival 2009, and premiere a new full-length work in May 2010.”
L.A. Art History (Yes, Really)
“L.A. seems to be a place where the only way to look at the arts is forward. But… more and more writers, curators, filmmakers and historians are digging into the origins and evolution of the cultural landscape. Whether focusing on small slices of Southern California or looking at L.A. in a statewide context, they are turning local art history into a hot topic.”
Jakarta Film Festival Cancelled After Delegates Cancel
“The Asia Pacific Film Festival, which was due to run Nov. 18-21 in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, has been canceled due to poor attendance… This year the fest was expected to host 350 delegates from the 21 member countries and screen 61 films. However, interest has been lackluster with almost 60% of delegates canceling at the last minute.”
John Adams Says He’s Been ‘Blacklisted’
“Interviewed on BBC Radio 3’s Music Matters yesterday, [the composer] said he was now ‘blacklisted’. ‘I can’t check in at the airport now without my ID being taken and being grilled. You know, I’m on a homeland security list, probably because of having written The Death of Klinghoffer, so I’m perfectly aware that I, like many artists and many thoughtful people in the country, am being followed.'”
Why Is Everybody So Quick to Take Offense?
“A paradox of human life is that the evolutionary forces that have made us cooperative and empathetic are the same ones that have made us prickly and explosive… the paired emotions of gratitude and vengeance helped us become the ultrasocial, ultrasuccessful species that we are. Gratitude allows us to expand our social network and recruit new allies; vengeance makes sure our new friends don’t take advantage of us.”
Katharina Wagner Does It Again, This Time To Rienzi
“As with her 2007 Meistersinger at Bayreuth, [director] Katharina Wagner proves to be too clever for her own good, rarely passing up an opportunity for something cute. During the opera’s ballet, Rienzi appears in a trash bin, with an outdoor vacuum cleaner strapped to his back, which he wields as a weapon.”
Does This Mean They Work After All?
“Nicolas Sarkozy is threatening legal action against a publishing company for a voodoo doll it has produced bearing the French president’s likeness. The voodoo dolls, which are typically used for witchcraft, were produced by the publishing company K&B. The dolls are sold with a voodoo manual and pins to stick in the dolls’ body.”
Television Enriches the English Language (No, Really)
Mark Peters, creator of the blog Wordlustitude, points out that words and expressions such as truthiness, spongeworthy, D’oh!, regifting, Spock-like, Jetson-esque, and yada-yada have entered the language because they’re useful. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.