Michael Kaiser, the American who has been called “the turnaround specialist of the classical world” may be leaving his job running the Royal Opera House in London. He’s being prominently mentioned as a candidate to take over Washington DC’s Kennedy Center. He is largely credited with saving American Ballet Theatre, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the State Ballet of Missouri from financial collapse. – Washington Post
Tag: 06.21.00
CAN YOU PATENT A LINK?
British Telecom has asserted a claim that it holds a patent on hyperlinks, the very backbone of the Web, and is now soliciting U.S. ISPs for licensing fees. “Anyone successfully claiming a patent on such fundamental technology, both the primitive hypertext facilities available today on the Web, and the much more sophisticated and useful ones being designed into xpointer and xlink by W3C, could hold the world to ransom,” says computer science professor (and coiner of the term “hyperlink”) Andries van Dam. – Salon
LAWYERS – TOO DULL TO LAUGH
David Letterman’s “The Late Show” apparently has an informal ban on lawyers in the audience. “Apparently, the lawyers didn’t yuk it up enough. Sources at a handful of New York law firms told NYTV that the “Late Show” has unofficially ceased its practice of handing out blocks of tickets to law firms. Their suspicion? Them lawyers are just too damn dull.” – New York Observer
STEALING HISTORY
A major new study details a brief history of looting of cultural artifacts and treasures. “Maya ceramics from the Petén that bring the looter $200 to $500, may ultimately fetch $100,000. In the case of five big-ticket items (a Song Dynasty head, Morgantina acroliths, Euphronius krater, Achyris phiale, and Marsyas statue), where we know the initial payout and the final price, middlemen received 98% of the money.” – Archaeology Magazine
DESIGN BY EXAMPLE
Roman architect and writer Pino Scaglione has been urging discussion in Rome about encouraging more contemporary architecture in the tradition-bound city. To that end, he’s organized an exhibit in Rome of Berlin’s 20th-century design highlights. “Scaglione eyes Berlin enviously – unlike Rome, which looks back, it looks forward.” – Die Welt (Germany)
WHAT KIND OF PRIORITY?
While museum’s on America’s East Coast struggle to track down provenance of their artwork for the time around World War II, California museums lag far behind. “It’s a high priority, but we don’t have the resources in place,” says a spokesperson for the Armand Hammer Museum. Meanwhile, the Getty Museum, just completing a first phase of inquiry, “has found that more than half of its paintings collection has wartime gaps – 248 of its 425 works.” – Washington Post
FEAR OF THE NEW?
“The Wallace Collection is a hugely loved, gilded time-warp set in a magnificent house in the center of London. Its superb works of art – including the best collection of French 18th-century artifacts outside France – were collected by one family and left to the nation. Small wonder that it inspires a rare passion and woe betide anyone who attempts to alter so much as a strand of horsehair stuffing.” That’s exactly why so many are nervous about Wallace’s reopening this week after a thoroughly modernizing remodel. – London Evening Standard