Category: today’s top story

Perhaps it takes attaining a certain level of accomplishment to be able to admit the famous books one hasn’t read…

Federal judges tossed out the $550,000 fine levied against CBS Corp. after Janet Jackson’s breast was briefly bared during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, ruling that the Federal Communications Commission “acted arbitrarily and capriciously” in penalizing the network for a “fleeting image of nudity.”

There are “a growing number of art courses offered to medical students nationwide and aimed at improving their observation and diagnostic skills at a time when doctors are increasingly relying on CT scans, Maris, biopsies, and other technology to do their work, even though it is far more expensive – and sometimes unnecessary to pinpoint illnesses.”

“More than 50 years after the musical “West Side Story” had its original Broadway premiere, it is set to return in February in a darker, grittier, bilingual revival… Much of the dialogue — both spoken and sung — will be in Spanish.”

“Auctioning ‘fine art’ on cruises, often to first-time bidders who have never met a reserve or inspected a provenance, has become big business.” But the practice has led to complaints from buyers over the quality of the art offered, and the inflating of its value by auctioneers and dealers.

“Unfortunately, as debate about the image grew, the New Yorker missed a golden opportunity to question the rather odd American relationship to satire. Why must it be broadly effective rather than just funny? Why must humor, like grief, somehow be good for us on a deeper level? Instead, the magazine fell into the deadly trap of overanalyzing the funny in public.”

“Although every critic of The New Yorker understood the simple satire of the cover, the most fretful of them worried that the illustration would be misread by the ignorant masses who don’t subscribe to the magazine.” Says one blogger, “That’s the problem with satire. A lot of people won’t get the joke…there’s no caption on the cover to ensure that everyone” will understand the punch line.

“In short, meanings are arbitrary, but compulsory. And this double bind holds almost universal sway. Whenever you learn that a work explores or investigates or raises questions about something, that it’s concerned with issues around this or notions of that or debates about the other, you know you’re in its grip. It’s weird how people can’t resist. If you want to make art sound serious, this is simply the way you do it.”

“Music website Last.fm launched a revolutionary new programme yesterday to ensure unsigned bands will receive the same royalty privileges as those signed to major labels. The site, which currently streams over 3.5m songs, is encouraging unsigned bands to join their Artist Royalty Program (ARP), allowing them to accrue royalties every time one of their tracks is played.”

“The roots of Kahane’s decision can be traced to March 2007, when the conductor was forced to cancel a series of appearances with the orchestra because of severe hypertension. Though he is back in good health now, the illness encouraged him to ponder the priorities in his career as both a conductor and international piano soloist.”