“Though classical composers aren’t supposed to get any love until they’re old (or dead), the 27-year-old is already collecting commissions at a graybeard’s pace. … In the last year, Muhly composed the soundtrack to The Reader, issued the dizzyingly fine disc Mothertongue, had an evening of works presented by Lincoln Center” and worked on an opera commissioned by the Met. His biggest potential problem might be overexposure.
Tag: 05.16.09
Julian Patrick, Broadway And Opera Baritone, Dead At 81
“[He] created the role of George in Carlisle Floyd’s opera Of Mice and Men, and was in the original casts of the Broadway shows Once Upon A Mattress, Bells Are Ringing and Fiorello.
Is The Longtail Real? Study On File-sharing Networks Raises Questions
“Indeed, anyone who uses P2P realizes that long tail content is harder to find there, and when you do find it, it takes longer to download. Hit songs near the top of the charts, however, often download in mere seconds, which could go a long way towards explaining why the Long Tail theory doesn’t apply to P2P the way it does to services where each song is as easy to download as the next.”
New Jersey, Land Of The Poets
“Look at what else we’ve produced, we argue, and point to a roster of cultural heavyweights that extends from Sinatra to Springsteen. But why this particular and dominating skill in poetry? Why not fiction or drama or history?”
University Breaks World Record For Thriller Dance
“William and Mary officials received word Friday that the university — known for its history and academics — had broken the Guinness World Record for the most people simultaneously doing Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance in one location.”
Why Are We Cruel? (Maybe It Makes For A Fairer Society?)
“Why do we inflict pain for no gain? On the face of it, it is rather a perverse way of going about things. Does spitefulness stem from an affronted sense of fairness? Or something altogether darker: envy, lust for revenge – or perhaps even pure sadism? It might be all those things. Economists, anthropologists and evolutionary biologists have been teasing out how, used judiciously, spiteful behaviour can be one of our best weapons in maintaining a fair and ordered society.”
Color E-Readers Coming
A full-colour version of electronic paper, which forms the display of these devices, is to be demonstrated later this month.
MGM Scrambles To Refinance $3.7 Billion Debt
“Debt-burdened Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is scrambling to refinance a $3.7-billion loan that could help put it back on a footing with the major Hollywood studios. MGM is paying almost $300 million a year in interest and faces a payment of nearly $1 billion in June 2011. The remainder of the loan comes due the following year.”
Is The Era Of The Book Over?
“The fat years of the printed word are over. Even if books get dirt cheap, readers simply don’t have the time or motive to invest in them. The old cultivated readership is not as solid as it was. The safe library sale doesn’t exist any more. There’s been a loss of authority in the serious book.”
Gardner Museum Wants To Demolish Building. Furor Ensues
“The museum’s board of trustees votes tomorrow on a major expansion plan that would pave the way for the Carriage House’s demolition. And, at the 11th hour, the fate of the once-handsome building has erupted into a furor, perhaps the most serious crisis at the museum since the nighttime theft of several masterpieces in 1990.”