What if the Emmys were handed out based on the quality of the nominated shows, rather than (apparently) based on what was really popular two years ago? Well, then, they’d be the Television Critics Association Awards, which were dispensed this past weekend. The big winners were NBC’s Boomtown, which didn’t rate a nomination from the Emmy folks, and Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart, host of the satirical Daily Show, which has been frequently cited by critics as virtually the only “news” outlet willing to be openly critical of American foreign policy since the 9/11 attacks.
Tag: 07.21.03
Gambling With A National Treasure
“The National Gallery has taken a giant gamble in its battle to keep Raphael’s Madonna of the Pinks in Britain, slashing by a third the amount it will offer to stop the picture going to the Getty Museum in California. Heritage lottery fund trustees must decide on the issue tomorrow… The gallery had become convinced that the heritage lottery fund would never meet its original bid for £20m. However, the gulf between the National Gallery’s potential £21m [with other funding sources included] and the Getty’s £29m still seems ludicrously wide.”
Urban Architecture, Sydney Style
“Australia’s biggest city might finally be mastering the art of medium and high-density living with a ‘characteristically Sydney’ style of housing. This is the verdict of the jury for this year’s Royal Australian Institute of Architects’ awards. But sometimes you have to look in unlikely places for this brave new face of Sydney.”
Minnesota’s Biggest Arts Benefactor Dies
It is not an overstatement to say that without Ken Dayton, Minneapolis would never have gained a national reputation as a city of the arts. “He and his wife, Judy, were key players in a small group of wealthy, socially prominent Minneapolis families who remade the city’s artistic life in the last half of the 20th century. They helped it evolve from a Midwest city with a few robust old civic institutions into a national model of thriving contemporary and traditional culture, renowned for its philanthropic support… [They] contributed more than $100 million to the Minnesota Orchestra, the Walker Art Center and other civic, social and cultural causes.” Ken Dayton died this weekend, one day shy of his 81st birthday.
The Only Opera That Requires Rocket Scientists
Next year, Australia will stage its first ever performance of the complete operatic cycle of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen in the southern city of Adelaide. The Ring Cycle is not just a lot of music to perform in a short time period, it is arguably the most massive physical production any opera company could ever attempt to stage. “The size of the backdrops… is so vast and their technical demands so complex that they are being worked on in Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Technical expertise has been brought in from… the University of Adelaide and United Utilities Australia, a major water company. They are being designed by the team that constructed the cauldron that launched the 2000 Sydney Olympics.”