The music video is making a comeback – this time online. “There are three distinct strands of hot new videos: catchy choreography with a punk-rock ‘I could do that’ charm; weird animation from the imagination’s outer limits; and a handmade aesthetic that replaces the slick gloss of commercial cliche with a patchwork, frayed-at-the-edges naivete.”
Tag: 07.23.07
Seattle Symphony: We’re In The Black! (And The Musicians’ Pensions?)
The good news is that the Seattle Symphony overcame a $2.5 million deficit to balance its books this season. “The downside to the news is that the symphony has not made any payments this season to the musicians’ pension plan, said Timothy Hale, chairman of the Seattle Symphony and Opera Players’ Organization. Under terms of the symphony’s contract with its musicians, it owes the pension fund $1.154 million annually to be made in four quarterly payments. The first three have not been made, Hale said.”
Solzhenitsyn’s Long Journey
Alexander Solzhenitsyn is 88 and still writing. “I am not afraid of death any more. When I was young the early death of my father cast a shadow over me — he died at the age of 27 — and I was afraid to die before all my literary plans came true. But between 30 and 40 years of age my attitude to death became quite calm and balanced. I feel it is a natural, but no means the final, milestone of one’s existence.”
Russian Wins William Kapell Piano Competition
Sofya Gulyak is 27, and won the $15,000 first prize playing Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 3.
At The Office, Authors Are The Latest Sales Reps
“Since the fall of 2005, Google has joined several large West Coast companies such as Microsoft, Starbucks and Yahoo in hosting authors for weekly, sometimes daily, book-selling events that were once the sacred realm of bookstores. Although writers have long given lectures at universities and community centers, growing demand for them at the office is forcing publishers to rethink the traditional author tour and inducing booksellers to create ties with the corporate campus next door.”
Dancer Disputes Streb Firing
A dancer in Streb Extreme Action — “a company that mixes kinetic daredevilry, stunts and modern dance” — breaks her back, and another company member puts out a call for a fundraiser to help. That company member is later fired, and now he’s contesting the firing.
The New Economics
Not so long ago, economists not named Milton Friedman mostly kept to themselves, impressing each other with their inscrutable theories. Now they’re the pop stars of academia. Spurred on by Freakonomics, the 2005 best seller by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, economists realized that, if only they can learn to communicate normally, they have the tools to explain people’s lives to them.
Broadway Vets Waiting For “Grease” Nebies To Fail?
“Max Crumm and Laura Osnes, a couple of unknown 21-year-olds, were chosen as the stars of this $10 million production not through a massive casting call but by amassing toll-free calls. They were the winners of a particularly bad reality-TV show called Grease: You’re the One That I Want. And because of that, not everyone on the Great White Way would be devastated if they fell on their bright young faces.”
Rauch’s Puts His Stamp On Ashland
Bill Rauch is in his first season running the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Rauch says he’s a passionate believer in the resident-company concept. “It’s no coincidence that most of the great works come out of companies,” he says. “They’re essential. We move [away from that] at the risk of the art form.” But, he notes, resident companies are an endangered species in America today. OSF is an exception, with many actors rehired year after year, most on a 10-month contract for the 11-play, eight-month repertory season; 91 actors compose this season’s company, most playing several roles.
Woman Kisses, Damages Painting
A woman kissed a white painting by Cy Twombly in a French museum and damaged it. “The immaculate white canvas so attracted Sam Rindy she smudged it with her lipstick, saying later she had wanted to make it even more beautiful. The 3x2m (9×6-foot) painting by US artist Cy Twombly is valued at more than $2m (£970,000).”