Category: today’s top story

“Netflix said it streamed more than 4 billion hours of video globally in the first quarter of 2013, compared with 1 billion per month last June. The company has packed on customers, adding about 2 million U.S. streaming subs to stand at 29.17 million domestically — making it bigger than HBO in that regard.”

“The Chinese authorities have begun demolishing the ancient capital of Lhasa, including one of the most important Buddhist sites of the city, Tibet’s holiest Jokhang Temple.”

“The stories obit writers love best are those of history’s backstage players, the unsung men and women who, though no one knows their names, have managed to put a wrinkle in the social fabric.”

“After raising the ire of critics online, The Walt Disney Company quickly backed away today from its move to quietly trademark ‘Día de los Muertos’ for an upcoming Pixar animated feature.”

“For the first time in the Minnesota Orchestra’s 110-year history, an entire season will pass with no music. The orchestra’s management on Wednesday canceled the remaining two weeks of the 2012-13 season because of the ongoing labor dispute with musicians.”

“The arts get less than 0.1% of public spending but deliver four times that in gross domestic product, an Arts Council England-commissioned report says.”

“The Field had predicted big increases in attendance. That didn’t happen, and it fell short of its fundraising goals. There have been layoffs and other cost-cutting, but the museum’s budget is still $5 million in the red, and a good chunk of the budget is slated to pay off its bond debt.”

“Lee says Samuel Pinkus, the son-in-law of Lee’s long-time agent, Eugene Winick, took advantage of her failing hearing and eyesight to transfer the rights on the book, which has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and became an Oscar-winning film.”

“I must make it clear, that in the case Carnegie Hall chooses to cancel the Minnesota Orchestra’s concerts this November, i.e. if they lose confidence in our ability to perform … then I will be forced to resign,” the Minnesota Orchestra music director wrote in a letter to the board chairman and the CEO.

With Frank Gehry having withdrawn and other architects concerned about curator Christopher Mount’s approach, and with installation unlikely to be complete by the scheduled June 2 opening, MoCA Art is reportedly on the verge of abandoning the exhibition, “A New Sculpturalism: Contemporary Architecture from Southern California”, altogether.