“Armstrong, just off the pace after five of 21 [Tour de France] stages, wrote on his Twitter social-networking feed he was ‘speechless’ after seeing Hirst’s design on the bike’s frame. He didn’t give details. The artwork features butterflies” and “will be used for the final stage of the race, which ends July 26 in Paris.”
Tag: 07.08.09
Debt Restructuring Ends Michigan Opera Theatre Crisis
“Michigan Opera Theatre has reached a critical deal with its banks to cut its loan payments in half for the next 18 months, resolving a year-long cash flow crisis that threatened to force the company into foreclosure or bankruptcy.”
Ravinia Festival Brings On The Jumbotrons
“In a grievously misguided attempt to broaden the classical concert experience, Ravinia has installed two 15 x 20-foot screens on either side of the stage, where simultaneous video transmissions are projected à la pop events and Andrea Bocelli stadium concerts. The video projections … will be standard for all of this summer’s pavilion performances, including all classical and CSO concerts, a Ravinia spokeswoman said.”
Even Porn Succumbs To The Shrinking Attention Spans Of The Internet Age
“Vivid, one of the most prominent pornography studios, makes 60 films a year. Three years ago, almost all of them were feature-length films with story lines. Today, more than half are a series of sex scenes, loosely connected by some thread – ‘vignettes’ in the industry vernacular – that can be presented separately online.”
Cats Coming Back To West End (No, It’s Not What You Think)
“Equity is to launch a campaign to reintroduce theatre cats into London’s historic theatres, as part of the union’s ongoing bid to improve actors’ working conditions in the West End.” The union’s proposal “notes that cats not only represent ‘an environmentally sound alternative to poison and traps, but [are] also good for morale’.”
Fear Faded, U.S. Rediscovers Passion For Iconic Structures
“I don’t want to get too serious about what is essentially a tourist attraction. But perhaps there’s a shred of significance in these wow-inducing glass boxes near the top of the nation’s tallest building, especially when you pair them with the news that the crown atop the Statue of Liberty … reopened to the public Saturday for the first time since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Could it be that America is rediscovering the sky?”
A Panoramic View Of The Foreclosure Crisis In NYC
Artist Damon Rich has used the Panorama of the City of New York, created for the 1964 World’s Fair, to map foreclosures’ impact on the city in 2008. “Each plastic triangle represents a block where there have been three or more home foreclosures. Visitors on the balcony walkway that surrounds the Panorama, at the Queens Museum of Art in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, can see in a single glance precisely where subprime lenders wreaked the most havoc.”
Putting Italy’s ‘Hot Pot,’ And Illicit Market, Under Microscope
“Italy’s biggest prize in the war against looting antiquities went on view recently at the Villa Giulia in Rome. … Maybe overexposure explains why this didn’t strike Italians as particularly big news. The media mostly gave the event a pass. The gallery was empty the other afternoon. A new book may help revive interest.”
Will Obama Administration Walk The Walk On Arts Policy?
“During the campaign, Obama billed himself as a ‘champion for arts and culture,’ and now, a White House spokesman says that he is committed ‘to ensuring that the arts community has an open line to the White House.’ … [A]rts watchers are following Obama’s personnel and budgeting moves for clues as to how seriously he plans to showcase and support the arts on the policy front — and some say the early moves suggest that he won’t be taking any big, bold steps.”
Serial Break: Day By Day, Publishing Short Fiction Online
The website Five Chapters, started in 2006, each week “publishes a five-part story, serial-style, Monday through Friday. It’s Charles Dickens for the 21st century. And what’s more, [founder Dave Daley] has managed to attract some of the country’s hottest writers, including Stewart O’Nan, Arthur Phillips, Curtis Sittenfeld, John Wray, Wells Tower, Julia Glass, Darin Strauss, Jay McInerney and Kate Christensen. All for free.”