Michiko Kakutani: “But his appreciation of the magic of language and his ardent love of reading have not only endowed him with a rare ability to communicate his ideas to millions of Americans while contextualizing complex ideas about race and religion, they have also shaped his sense of who he is and his apprehension of the world.”
Tag: 01.19.08
A Ringing Lack Of Confidence In Arts Council England
“We need the Arts Council. We believe in a funding body independent of government, and we recognise its need to make tough decisions. But we have no confidence in the way these decisions have been made. We need officers and advisers we can respect; who want to serve the arts, not just manage them.”
Music Fans File Class Action Lawsuit Against Concert Ticket Brokers
The suit “contends brokers buy up to 80 percent of tickets available online to some Ticketmaster events, unfairly driving up the price to individual consumers who are all but forced to buy them from brokers.”
Book Says Toronto Museum Artifacts Were Smuggled Out Of China
“A new book suggests that many of the Royal Ontario Museum’s most precious treasures were smuggled illegally out of China in the 1930s in violation of a national ban on cultural exports. The antiquities were secretly spirited out of China by a Canadian missionary, an Anglican bishop named William Charles White, who sometimes packed them in the luggage of other missionaries to avoid detection.”
Greek Culture Ministry Embroiled In Scandals
The attempted suicide of Greece’s former secretary general of the Greek Culture Ministry and chairman of the Central Archaeological Council has touched off investigations and a scandal over the country’s oversight of its archaeological past.
MPAA Head: Directors’ Deal Is Template For Industry
“The head of the Motion Picture Association of America said on Saturday a recent labor contract between major studios and film and TV directors offers a template for deals with striking writers and other guilds.”
Assessing Blame For Why Our Kids Don’t Read
“I’m thinking that education itself is in part to blame. Ironically, it may be responsible both for the great blossoming of our literature, and at the same time for leaving so many with the impression that literature is not for them, but the preserve of a certain educated elite. As a consequence, much of our society has become separated from its own stories.”
Met Opera A Hit At The Movie Box Office
“On a recent weekend, ticket sales for the Met broadcasts reached $1.65 million, pushing Charles Gounod’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to No. 11 in North American movie box-office receipts, according to Variety.”
Writers’ Strike Won’t Stop Grammy Awards Show
“The stakes are higher this year for the Recording Academy, with a major branding effort well underway that includes new licensing deals and, eventually, the opening of a Grammy museum in downtown Los Angeles. There are a week’s worth of splashy events across the city tying into the show, which will be attended by about 15,000 people from all corners of the music industry.”
The Man Who’s Changing The Way We Drink Wine
Tim Hanni’s “maverick approach is transforming the way that many Americans drink wine. Instead, he has developed new systems that help customers choose wines based on factors like how they take their coffee and cocktails — and how many taste buds they have.”