It’s the Rhinoceros effect: “New research finds suppressing thoughts of smoking just increases the likelihood you’ll light up later on.”
Tag: 07.28.10
Mammoth Ring Cycle Set Arrives at Met; Stage Fails to Collapse
“The 45-ton set for the Metropolitan Opera’s new Wagner Ring cycle created by Robert Lepage has arrived at the house. On Wednesday, it passed a key test when it was rolled from a wing onto center stage.” The stage did not collapse under all that weight, although “the [new] metal [support] structure underneath the stage needed some touch-up welding.”
‘I Kill People, Dear’ – In Praise of Helen Mirren’s Tough Broads
“She’s often mixed up her hard-edged detectives with portraits of British queens or wicked schoolteachers, but I think she’s at her best when she’s playing someone with a genuine unpleasant or strange edge. In these roles, Mirren is who Angelina Jolie ought to actually want to grow up to be.”
It’s The Summer of Lethal Breasts on VH1
“I realize the economy is still in distress and Afghanistan looks grimmer by the day, but I can’t help wondering what it portends for the republic that the latest hits by two of today’s hottest video phenoms, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, both feature their stars sporting what may best be described as gun bras.”
Cable Network Out To Raise $1 Billion For Programming Investment
“Starz Entertainment CEO Chris Albrecht and his associates have been meeting with potential partners throughout the world to raise $1 billion of off-balance-sheet financing for original programming, sources said.”
Simon Schama On The Attention Disorder Of Simon Schama
“There is nothing and no one, from Barack Obama to ice cream, that this man does not have, or cannot be persuaded to have, an opinion on, in voices ranging from “extreme vernacular, to slightly Victorian ornamental, to street life”. Could he be suffering from multiple personality disorder? he wonders.”
Twenty New Feature Films Being Shot In Paris. Why?
“The frenzy of film-making comes after a lacklustre 2009 and is in large part due, say industry officials, to a new 20 percent tax rebate offered for foreign features and television productions.”
The Politics Of Cutting UK Arts Funding
“Arts leaders warn that threatened cuts – 25% or more – mean one in four of the 200 Arts Council-funded bodies will close, theatres will go dark, museums will shut for part of the week, with few blockbuster exhibitions or new commissions.”
Video Game Concerts. Rich For New Audiences?
“These days, a lot of people in the classical music world are worried that kids aren’t connecting with orchestral music. But the music of video games is emerging as one way orchestras may actually be reaching new audiences. It’s certainly proliferating.”
New Exemptions On Copyright Fair Use Excites Professors
“The exemption permits professors to use ripped content in non-classroom settings that are similarly protected under “fair use” — such as presentations at academic conferences.”