“As a Marine, Sgt. Roman Baca spent eight months in Fallujah between 2005 and 2006.” A few months after he came home, his girlfriend (now wife) said, “You are not OK. You are not the same person I knew before the war. What can I do to help you?” A bit nervously, “Mr. Baca admitted that he always wanted to start a dance company. Her response: ‘Let’s do it’.”
Tag: 03.08.12
A Revolutionary New Chair For Arts Venues? (Sort Of)
“A theatre chair designed for multi-use venues was unveiled this week which its creator claims will ‘revolutionise retractable seating’. The Recital Chair has been launched by theatre seating specialist Audience Systems and aims to combine the comfort levels of a large, padded auditorium seat, with the ability to be stacked away on a telescopic platform.”
Philadelphia OKs Ellsworth Kelly Sculpture For New Barnes Foundation
“After a few brief words of praise, the city Art Commission gave its unanimous blessing Wednesday to a soaring Ellsworth Kelly sculpture proposed by the Barnes Foundation for its new site on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.”
Off-Broadway Is Thriving (But)
“Between full-scale renovations and major building projects, most of the city’s major Off Broadway companies have been in the process of regeneration – and major fundraising – over the past half-dozen years or more, resulting in some major changes in the landscape.”
Is “Open” Journalism The Future?
Can you crowdsource the news? “If open journalism is a religion, we’re going to need to have a bit of faith.”
Paypal Tells Booksellers To Pull “Obscene” Books
“PayPal, the online payments arm of eBay Inc. has sparked a furor in the publishing world by asking some e-book distributors to ban books that contain “obscene” themes including rape, bestiality or incest.”
JK Rowling Drops Off Billionaire List (She’s Given Away A Lot Of Her Wealth)
“Forbes, which has produced an annual list of billionaires for the past 25 years, said that Miss Rowling’s declining fortune was the result of her charitable giving, which had left a significant dent in her bank balance, along with the heavy taxation burden levied on high earners in Britain.”
The Intuitive Bookmark That Follows Where You Read
“What makes the Albatros bookmark so ingenious? It saves your place automatically, thanks to a light piece of polyester that follows you through each page. Once you affix it to the first and last pages of your book, you can shut your book without having to remember to insert a bookmark at the right page.”
US Justice Department Threatens Publishers With Legal Action On E-Book Pricing
“Over the past few months the DoJ has been quizzing publishers and Apple to find out why prices have risen. The legal threat comes as publishers try to convince the government body that agency pricing will promote rather than hinder competition.”
Osvaldo Golijov Defends His Borrowing Of Music
On the charges that he lifted material a colleague wrote for a film score: “There was this beautiful material. It didn’t work for the movie, but it worked for music. We decided both: ‘Let’s grab it. Each one can do what he wants.’ Joint ideas, joint material, same room.”