“Hollywood studios are bidding to turn a radical reworking of Austen’s most popular book, now called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a parody to be published in April, into a blockbuster movie. […] It has been made possible only because Austen is out of copyright.”
Tag: 02.08.09
Surviving Picasso: It Was Different For Everyone
“His biographer John Richardson, who lived near him in Provence during the 1950s, told me about the warmth and rollicking conviviality of the man: the genius was also genial. Others described a predator who gobbled up visual stimuli and wolfed down friends, employees and lovers.”
A Glass Forest In The New York Subway
“When commuters push through the turnstiles at the new South Ferry Terminal in a few weeks, they’ll find themselves surrounded by an arabesque of glass panels depicting intertwined silhouettes of trees – a lyrical, $1 million installation by the identical-twin artists Mike and Doug Starn.”
Responding To Amazon Review, Author Makes A House Call
“When Wittenberg University professor Dan Fleisch read on Amazon.com that Michel Cuhaci of Ottawa had received a flawed copy of Fleisch’s book ‘A Student’s Guide to Maxwell’s Equation,’ he posted a comment, identifying himself as the author and promising Cuhaci he would try to send the book via overnight courier. The only problem was, it was Christmas Eve.” So Fleisch headed for the airport.
In South Pacific Audience, Not In The Hudson
“[T]he pilot who safely ditched his jetliner in the Hudson River received a standing ovation Saturday from the audience at a Broadway performance of ‘South Pacific.’
At the end of the classic revival, the show’s stars introduced Capt. Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger as the pilot who set down the disabled plane within reach of rescue boats last month, saving the lives of all 155 people on US Airways Flight 1549.”
At Oscar Wilde Bookshop, Decades Ago, Plotting The Future
“One of the subtler pleasures of the movie Milk is its vivid portrayal of those small rooms where the conspirators of the gay liberation movement first came together. Sadly, one of those sanctums, the Oscar Wilde Bookshop, announced it was closing last week, after 42 years. As it happens, the place has a direct link to the film: Its founder, Craig Rodwell, was an early boyfriend of Harvey Milk, at the time a closeted actuary in Brooks Brothers drag.”
Questions About Sony’s Unconventional Music Exec
“Less than two years after Sony Music Entertainment made a daring move by hiring the legendary music producer Rick Rubin to run its Columbia Records label, the company is learning a lesson from baseball: sometimes the best players don’t make the best managers.”
Reopened Theatre Fires Oakland Nightlife Back To Life
“Even with a down economy, there are signs that the theater could pump life back into the neighborhood. Months before it opened, the theater had sold out nearly all of its performances through April. Acts include B.B. King, Cake and the Moody Blues.”
US Senate Votes 73-24 To Prohibit Arts Funding In Stimulus Bill
Americans for the Arts “labeled the amendment to the Senate’s $827-billion stimulus proposal “egregious” in its exclusion of “any … museum, theater [or] art center” from sharing in the bailout. At least the arts are in popular company: Also excluded are any “gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, community park … and highway beautification project.”
Robert Plant, Alison Krauss Win Four Grammys
“The Grammy telecast was filled with eye-popping and eyebrow-raising performances, from Radiohead’s collaboration with a college marching band to a televised black-and-white throwback performance from Jay-Z, T.I., Lil Wayne, Kanye West and a very pregnant M.I.A.”