“Simply thinking about words associated with money seems to makes us more self-reliant and less inclined to help others. And it gets weirder: just handling cash can take the sting out of social rejection and even diminish physical pain.”
Tag: 03.18.09
Why e-Books Aren’t Up To The Job Yet
“For the Kindle, the Sony, the Plastic Logic, or any of the other iterations we’ll be seeing in the near future to supplant 600 years of habit, the challenge is to do what Apple has done: design a device for readers that is beautiful and functional enough to become a cultural totem, and ensure that it not only connects seamlessly to a brilliantly organized, bottomless market of written material but that it also allows access to every other market on the planet.”
Could The Philadelphia Orchestra Go Out Of Business?
“The orchestra – best known for the soundtrack to Disney’s Fantasia – has lost $2m (£1.4m) in public funding. Though it has an interim music director in Charles Dutoit, it has no permanent holder of that post, nor a chair of trustees, nor an executive director. It has just announced staff and pay cuts, and cancelled a tour to Europe this summer. Music lovers in the US could start to think the unthinkable: that one of their “big five” orchestras may not survive the economic crisis.”
Discovery Sues Amazon Over Kindle
“Discovery Communications sued Amazon.com yesterday, accusing the e-commerce giant of infringing its patent for electronic book technology with the Kindle reader.”
Rev. Fernand Lindsay, 80, Founder of Lanaudière Festival
A priest “who was like a grandfather to generations of Quebec’s classical music performers,” Lindsay created what became the province’s flagship summer outdoor music festival in 1978.
Cannes Film Fest To Open With (Mon Dieu!) Animation
“The Cannes film festival will enter an uncharted new dimension in May when it pulls back the curtain on Up, an animated 3-D feature from the Disney Pixar studios. Produced by John Lasseter, the film will be the first animation to open the event in its 62-year history.”
Brick-&-Mortar Bookshop Changes Focus To Remainders
“London indie Crockatt & Powell is switching the majority of books in its Fulham Road branch to remaindered stock.” An owner attributed the move to the credit crunch and increased competition.
Could The Iconic New York Music Store Be Closing?
“It’s clear that Patelson’s — across 56th Street from Carnegie Hall’s backstage entrance and for decades the source of music for the likes of Isaac Stern and Beverly Sills, as well as Paul McCartney and Frank Sinatra — is struggling.”
Shakespeare & Co. Founders Give Up Eight Weeks’ Pay
“Shakespeare & Company is laying off seven employees, reducing two others to part-time, and instituting a 10 percent pay cut for the remaining 41 year-round staff as part of a restructuring plan to save $900,000. … In addition to layoffs and payroll reductions, the three founders of the 32-year old theater group will each lose eight weeks of pay in order to prevent further layoffs and reductions, according to artistic director Tina Packer.”
Kelman, Llosa, Naipaul, Oates Make Man Booker Shortlist
“Glaswegian author James Kelman is the UK’s contender in this year’s race for the Man Booker international prize, a clash of the world’s literary titans that pits such giants as the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa against Australia’s Booker prize-winning Peter Carey and the Nobel laureate VS Naipaul. … Well-known names on the shortlist include Canadian short story writer Alice Munro and American authors EL Doctorow and Joyce Carol Oates.”