“Amazon.com Inc. and TiVo Inc. have jumped into the digital download wars — with a twist. The new partners will send movies and TV shows directly to their customers’ living rooms… Unbox on TiVo joins a rash of new digital download services from retailers and entertainment companies, and builds on the Unbox service that Amazon.com launched last year.”
Author: sbergman
OCPAC Chairman Defends His Prez
The chairman of the Orange County Performing Arts Center’s board is standing behind the center’s president, one day after published reports quoted former OCPAC staffers criticizing his leadership and blaming him for a series of high-level departures. “Many of those who have left were fundraisers; besides needing more than $10 million in yearly donations to balance its operating budget, the center is in a difficult campaign, still $75 million short of its goal, to fund the $237.5-million expansion.”
Change Afoot At Penguin Canada
“Canadian publishing veteran Ed Carson, 58, is leaving the presidency of Penguin Canada in May, to be succeeded by his ‘great friend,’ David Davidar, 47, who came to the Toronto-based company in early 2004 as publisher after serving as Penguin India president for several years. Under the new regime, Davidar will function as both president and publisher.”
So, There Are Cockfighting Fans Who Can Read?
Amazon.com isn’t backing down from a fight with the Humane Society, which wants the online retailer to stop selling magazines devoted to the brutal sport of cockfighting. Amazon claims that, since the magazines aren’t illegal, refusing to sell them would amount to censorship.
Canada May Toughen Copyright Laws
Copyright laws have been tightened considerably in the US and UK in recent years, in response to a growing market for illegally copied music and movies. But Canada has left its laws fairly lax, and now, a growing chorus of industry insiders and law enforcement groups is calling on the Canadian Parliament to, among other things, criminalize camcording in movie theaters without requiring proof of the offender’s intent to distribute.
Send In The Clowns
“The installation – and vandalism – of a series of sculptures in Sarasota has raised questions of taste, art, and local identity.” The sculptures are of 6-foot-tall clowns decorated by local artists, and they were controversial before they even went up. “The reasons for the exhibit’s woes remain a subject of fierce debate here. But most people blame some combination of poor planning, clown phobia, and a growing population of affluent retirees with less of a soft spot for the city’s circus past.”
Debut Novel Takes Home Major Prize
London author Stef Penney has won the Costa Book of the Year award (formerly the Whitbread Prize) for her debut novel, The Tenderness of Wolves. The book is set in Canada, which is notable since the agoraphobic Penney has never been there.
Critical Dust-Up
“Award nominations are generally occasions for exaggerated compliments and air kisses, so it was something of a surprise when Eliot Weinberger, a previous finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award, announced the newest nominees for the criticism category two weeks ago and said one of the authors, Bruce Bawer, had engaged in ‘racism as criticism.’ The resulting stir within the usually well-mannered book world spiked this week…”
Silent Communication
Theatre for the deaf isn’t a new concept, but it’s never been considered much of a growth industry, either. Still, Paris’s International Visual Theatre, catering to hearing-impaired audiences, has been around for three decades now, and this year, it found a permanent home for the first time. The theatre’s aim is “to build a bridge between deaf and hearing people by demonstrating that they can communicate perfectly with one another onstage as well as with an audience also made up of the deaf and hearing.”
Oundjian Earns An Extension In Toronto
The Toronto Symphony took a chance when it hired the relatively inexperienced (though unquestionably gifted) conductor Peter Oundjian to be its music director in 2004. But Oundjian’s skill on the podium and profile as a homegrown success story have boosted ticket sales, and this week, the TSO announced that he will be staying at least through 2012.