“Q’ahwa Sada,” which has been running since November at a Cairo theatre, “is a series of 12 vignettes that satirize the ills of Egypt. The cast of 30 punctuates each episode by sipping on small cups of unsweetened coffee, the kind served at funerals throughout the Middle East. The corpse in question is Egypt: its politics, civility, economy, family cohesion, architecture and even Arabic language all in decay.”
Tag: 03.30.09
Green Day: The Musical! (Okay, It’s Called American Idiot)
“Green Day, the chart-topping pop-punk band born in Berkeley, is morphing into a collective playwright, and it will unveil its first effort at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in September, the group announced Monday. The musical titled ‘American Idiot,’ based on Green Day’s 2004 Grammy-winning, multi-platinum album of the same name, is being developed in collaboration with Michael Mayer, the Tony-winning director of Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik’s ‘Spring Awakening.'”
Piracy Uncovered On Scribd, Where Rowling Et Al Are Free
“The publishers of bestselling authors JK Rowling, Aravind Adiga and Ken Follett have been shocked by the news that their authors’ latest books are available to read for free on a US website. Internet users can not only read free copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, The White Tiger and World Without End at Scribd.com, but also download the text onto their computers to edit as they see fit.”
Baltimore Radio Station Donates Airtime To Arts Groups
“Baltimore’s highest-rated public radio station announced Monday that it would be offering free airtime to local arts and cultural institutions over the next six months. Beginning with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on April 6, WYPR-FM (88.1) will broadcast spots that highlight the work of 12 Baltimore-area museums, performance groups and cultural institutions.” The station will produce the spots for free.
Helen Levitt, Photographer Of New York, Dies At 95
“Helen Levitt, a major photographer of the 20th century who caught fleeting moments of surpassing lyricism, mystery and quiet drama on the streets of her native New York, died in her sleep at her home in Manhattan on Sunday. … In his 1999 biography of Walker Evans, James R. Mellow wrote that the only photographers Evans ‘felt had something original to say were Cartier-Bresson, Helen Levitt and himself.'”
1.8 Million Authors Get New Web Pages — Like It Or Not
“Why is it that Stephenie Meyer, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Stephen King are joining forces with the new website FiledByAuthor, now in beta? They aren’t. At least, not intentionally. Without permission or advance notice, FiledByAuthor has cataloged the information of about 1.8 million authors into individual pages.” The authors can pay to have some control over the content, but “they can’t be removed from the site.” Meanwhile, the author photos appear sans credits.
Recasting The College Major: It’s Not Just A Stepping Stone
At Harvard, a mere 42 students — “less than 1 percent of Harvard’s 6,640 undergraduates” — major in classics. “Then there’s Sanskrit and Indian studies, which has three students, and astronomy and astrophysics, with five starry-eyed souls. Although most students may deem the undersubscribed subjects impractical, the bastion of liberal arts education has in recent years begun promoting learning for learning’s sake as a worthy and enriching pursuit.”
In Louisiana Gov’s Budget, Arts Suffer The Harshest Cuts
Under Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposed budget, the “Louisiana Decentralized Arts Fund, a competitive program that makes small grants ranging from $500 to $10,000 to arts and cultural projects in every parish of the state … would be whacked a whopping 83% — effectively putting the program out of business. The arts, not health and education, are taking the largest cuts by a factor of 10.”
Publishers Speed Up The Process
“As the metabolism of the culture has sped up in the digital age, pockets of the publishing industry are prodding themselves out of their Paleolithic ways and joining the rush, with more books on current events coming out faster than ever before.”
The World’s Top Ten Most-Visited Museums (2008 Edition)
“The Louvre in Paris and the British Museum in London were the world’s most visited museums last year, drawing 8.5 million and 5.93 million people respectively, the Art Newspaper said in an annual ranking.”