CALL IT CREATIVE NEW YORK

The Creative Capital fund was created last spring to try to help make up for the ending of federal arts grants to artists doing controversial work. Now the first round of grants has been made, and after reviewing applications from more than 1,800 artists from 46 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, the fund is awarding $563,700 to 75 artists, 40 of whom live in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx or Staten Island. – New York Times

INTERNET BAN

Thirty ultra-orthodox rabbis in Jerusalem have issued a ban on using the internet. In fact, they rule, “the computer should not be used for entertainment at all.” However, those “whose livelihood depends on it” are allowed access to the Internet in the workplace, with “the responsibility not to let others use it.” – Wired

TECH PROBLEMS PLAGUE NEW COVENT GARDEN

Tuesday’s much-anticipated opening night staging of Birtwistle’s “Gawain,” was interrupted 20 minutes into the performance when a stage manager came out to announce that a number of pieces of equipment were not working properly, and request a 30-minute recess to try and wrestle it back to order. “What was striking was the brazenness with which the young stage manager interrupted the singers and orchestra and the matter-of-factness with which he announced that Covent Garden’s much-vaunted new technology had failed yet again.” – BBC Music Magazine

THE SCIENCE OF ART

Until recently picture conservation has been a somewhat sensual, hands-on and almost medieval craft. No longer. New scientific methods unlock secrets. “When Rembrandt painted white preparatory ground on his canvases, little did he realise that some 350 years later a scientist would be interested in the tiny fossils it contained.” – Financial Times

WILL SHE REMEMBER US WHEN?

Teenage singing sensation Charlotte Church was one of Britain’s most talked-about, highest-paid stars (earning about £6 million) in 1999. Now she’s abruptly fired her manager, the one who discovered her and helped make her a star. Legal action commences. – BBC