Vancouver is sewer shopping. The city put out a call to artists to design manhole covers and got 643 proposals. “We thought we’d receive maybe 300 submissions. We didn’t know what to expect. At first you might think ‘Who wants art on sewer covers? How mundane.’ But man, it’s going to be great,”
Tag: 07.21.04
Ahhh…A New Canadian Arts Minister Who Likes Arts
Canada’s arts community is cheering the appointment of Liza Frulla as the country’s new Heritage Minister. Sho has – unlike the previous arts minister – a demonstrated interest in the arts. “The professional clout is there; the personal interest is there — a reference to Frulla’s own description of herself as a ‘culture vulture’ and her eclectic background as, for example, the first female reporter ever to be allowed into the Montreal Canadiens’ dressing room, the first woman of Italian heritage to be elected to the Quebec National Assembly, and later, the host of a popular Radio-Canada TV show called Liza.”
Dummies And Idiots And Boneheads, Oh My
Who knew you could make millions by insulting your customers? “Today, the “For Dummies” series has 125 million books in print, with an estimated 68 million buyers in the United States proudly proclaiming themselves to be dummies. Now a global phenomenon, the books have been translated into 39 languages and are easily recognized by their black-and-yellow covers and the “dummy” character in geeky oversized glasses guiding readers along.”
V&A Fails To Get Lottery Money For Spiral
London’s Victoria & Albert Museum has failed to win Lottery funding for its proposed Daniel Libeskind-designed addition, dubbed the Spiral extension. “Plans to build the “crumpled” construction in the museum’s outside courtyard had faced strong criticism,” and museum officials say the Lottery failure puts the project in jeopardy.
EU Gives Consent For Sony/BMG Merger
The European Union has given its assent to a merger of music giants BMG and Sony. “The tie-up of the Japanese firm with the music arm of German media group Bertelsmann reduces the number of music majors from five to four.” The deal renews speculation that other mergers might be in the works. “EMI has twice failed to merge with Warner Music over the past four years.”
Moscow Conservatory Great Hall Is Falling Down
The famed Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory is crumbling. “With increased usage, a fundamental problem has been aggravated: underground rivers have weakened the foundations of the building, and they have cracked. A few months ago, the conservatory had to close some of the Great Hall’s balconies, as there was a danger of sections collapsing into the orchestra. Then there are the water pipes and electrical wiring…”
The Robot Librarian
“A group of robotics researchers at University Jaume I in Spain is working on a robot librarian which could deliver the promise of a helpful bot. The prototype has cameras, sensors and grippers so it can locate and collect a book. The hope is that one day teams of service robots could work in libraries.”
WTC Dispute Heats Up
“Architect Daniel Libeskind held out ‘approval’ on the Freedom Tower design in an attempted $800,000 shakedown, twin towers leaseholder Larry Silverstein charged in court papers yesterday.” The two are at odds over the designs and Libeskind’s participation.
Maybe A Fix For Piracy?
Maybe one way to cut down on CD piracy would be charging less for CDs with heavy copy-protection. CDs that can be copied or that play on more devices would cost more…
Sondheim On Sweeney 25 Years Later
When Sweeney Todd first opened in London 25 years ago it was not well-received. Sondheim has always been hurt by this reception. “It was my love letter to London.” But now, he thinks he understands. “A friend of mine, the playwright John Guare, said that it was as if the British had come to the States and done a serious musical of I Love Lucy. “And we would think, Don’t they know that’s a silly comedy? Well, I think maybe, with Sweeney Todd, people thought that the Americans were taking a melodrama just too seriously. How pretentious! “