The internet changes everything. “Just as with continental drift, we know it’s happening, but we’re not sure where everything is going to end up. The case of the Deathly Hallows, though, demonstrates that there is one section of the media which is still resistant to the attentions of file-sharing. And it is books. If you really thought you saved yourself the cost of buying the book by downloading and printing it, you’ll find all you’ve done is shift the cost to yourself – and, probably in a few months, to the optician who’ll sell you new spectacles for your weary eyes.
Tag: 07.26.06
A Little Music With Those Humanities?
“A University of Pittsburgh music professor is disseminating a new approach to teaching history, English, social studies and other humanities by including music to be studied like any primary text. The results have been stunning for those teachers who have implemented his program in their curriculums. ‘If music is one of the primary ways teenagers identify with each other, why not use it in the classes’?”
Should CBC Stop Trying To Compete?
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation provoked a storm of protest this summer when it attempted to boost ratings by bumping its flagship national newscast two nights a week in favor of an American reality program. The reality show flopped, CBC’s ratings remain in the tank, and now a chorus of critics, politicians, and members of the public are calling for the broadcaster to reinvent itself as a true public service entity. “This CBC would stop trying to draw mass audiences to single events such as big-budget dramas, American movies or Saturday-night hockey games, but instead would offer a lineup of specialized Canadian programming that reached millions over the course of a week.”
TiVo Tattle
The makers of TiVo, the original digital video recorder, is starting a research division which will analyze how its users watch TV, and sell the information to advertisers. Unlike many DVRs, TiVo keeps track of everything a user watches and reports back to the company. Advertisers are interested because the research “could help them understand how to get more people to watch recorded commercials, like changing the content of ads or running them during certain kinds of programming.”
Heinrich Hollreiser, 93
“German conductor Heinrich Hollreiser died on July 24, according to a statement on the Vienna State Opera’s website. He was 93. Hollreiser was principal conductor (first Kapellmeister) of the Vienna State Opera from 1952-1961… He also led operas at Covent Garden, Bayreuth, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and the Metropolitan Opera during his career and guest-conducted the Vienna Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra.”
Ugly Estate Battle Settled in Edmonton
The Edmonton Symphony has resolved a long-running dispute with the Winspear Centre for Music over the estate of a deceased philanthropist. “[Stuart] Davis, who died in July 2005, was a great supporter of both the Winspear Centre and the ESO, which plays at the venue. Symphony officials had been under the impression that Davis, a retired professor who found success on the stock market, had left a substantial bequest to the company in his will.” When the truth turned out to be far more complicated, lawyers got involved and the dispute spilled into the press. Under the settlement, the ESO will get several hundred thousand dollars, and the Centre will get nearly CAN$2 million.
NYT Classics: Pithy In 20 Words Or Less
The best writing in the New York Times? Jack Shafer maintains it’s the capsule movie reviews in the TV listings. “The capsules spend 20 words—and usually fewer—to pass informed judgment on movies. Even if you never intend to watch any of the films, the capsules make for good morning reading.”
Why Are Novelists Bad Play Writers?
“It’s a curious fact that very few writers have ever been able to write both good novels and good plays. Almost invariably, even the most acclaimed and technically skilled novelist turns into a rank amateur when writing for the theatre.”
How YouTube Is Changing Culture
“The thing about television used to be that once you saw it, it was gone. It was disposable, and it was mostly dispensed with—the old signals, from what we used to watch, streaming out past the Oort Cloud, carrying Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp away into infinity. Suddenly, via YouTube links, those lost moments click back into view, as if a telegram from your great-grandfather were showing up in your e-mail.”
Film Production Down In LA
“FilmL.A. on Tuesday reported a 6.8% drop in second-quarter film, TV and commercial on-location production days compared with the same period a year ago. The decline follows modest but steady gains of 4.1% during first-quarter 2006 and an annual growth rate of 4.3% in 2005, according to the nonprofit group, which facilitates permits for on-location production in the region.”