Tag: 03.29.06

Theatre Fined For Stage Collapse

A British theatre has been fined after its stage collapsed while people were on it. “Thirty people were hurt during Sing-Along-A-Sound-of-Music at Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre. Audience members, many dressed as nuns, had climbed onto the stage to join in a song before they fell 20ft into the orchestra pit in September 2003.”

What We’ve Learned About The World From Video Games

“Economics is loosely defined as choice under scarcity. After all, in the real world, there’s only so much to go around. You can’t always get what you want, and unfulfilled desires give rise to markets. But in a game world, there’s no inherent reason for scarcity. Game designers have given us plenty of utopias where we can have all the mithril we want, to buy whatever we want whenever we want it. Problem is, those worlds turn out to be dull.”

A Matter Of Timing – FCC Cancels Some Of Record Fines

The FCC has canceled a quarter of the fines it recently leveled. A change in heart? Policy? Nope. “The Indiana stations that had aired CBS’s Without a Trace that included the objectionable scene of teen-sex party, aired the broadcast at 10 p.m. in the Central and Mountain zones when indecency broadcasts are protected, rather than at 9 p.m. when the broadcast could be fined (the indecency “safe harbor” is 6 a.m. – 10 p.m.).”

How The Internet Is Rejuvenating College Radio

“Some skeptics have predicted that today’s increasingly diverse media landscape will render campus radio stations — long known for eclectic fare — obsolete. After all, many students have traded their stereos for computer speakers, forsaking FM radio for iTunes and song swapping. But, college stations with a tradition of strong listenership, are finding a bigger audience online, broadening their reach and their influence.”

UK Orchestra Cancels American Tour Over Visa Costs

Britain’s Halle Orchestra has canceled an impending tour to the US because of the cost of visas. “Managers said yesterday they had cancelled the tour when they realised that the cost of arranging the visas, estimated at £45,000, would render the trip uneconomic. Other agents said rock musicians, also fed up with the process and expense, were refusing to visit the US to work.”

Saratoga PAC Forgives Dance Museum Debt

The Saratoga Perfoaming Arts Center, which has been recovering from financial challeneges of the past few years, has decided to forgive $1.2 million in debt owed to the organization by the National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame. “The $1.2 million figure represents approximately 15 years of accumulated losses incurred by the museum and absorbed by SPAC. White said that writing off the museum’s debt will not affect SPAC’s current operating budget or its projected surplus for 2006.”

Canada’s Artists – A Snapshot

A new study measures Canada’s arts workforce. “Toronto artists on average earned $34,100 a year. That’s almost $11,000 more than the national average for artists and almost $15,000 more that what artists in St. John’s get — but 11 per cent less than the average earnings for Toronto’s total labour force. Moreover, dancers in Toronto were found to earn on average less than $20,000 a year. In 2001 — the last year a full, nationwide census was completed — artists represented 0.8 per cent of Canada’s working population. But Vancouver had 7,250 artists in its total labour force of just over 307,000; at 2.4 per cent, that was the highest concentration of arts workers in the country.”