Why is it that characters in modern literature always seem to have an extensive knowledge of plants, shrubs, and trees? A girl can’t turn around in a book these days without gazing upon some collection of milkweed, sopwort, and bladder campion, but honestly, who knows the names of these greenish things in the real world? Russell Smith is a bit jealous of the breadth of such characters’ knowledge, but he’s also more than a bit suspicious of the literary license being taken. “It just doesn’t make sense, unless she is a botanist or a farmer. I still think it’s just showing off.”
Tag: 07.29.04
Bob Edwards vs. Morning Edition
When NPR unceremoniously dumped Morning Edition host Bob Edwards a few months back, the network’s execs said that they wanted to take the program in a new direction, and were confident that listener animosity towards the decision would blow over. Now they’ll have a chance to test that theory: Edwards has signed on as the new morning host for XM Satellite Radio, with a time slot that will have him going up directly against his old show in most markets.
Nissinen Gets An Extension
It’s been some time since Boston Ballet had a successful artistic director, but Mikko Nissinen is apparently fitting in nicely in the Hub. There have been some definite crises in his two years at the helm, but by and large, Nissinen has earned rave reviews from critics and the Boston arts community. This month, the company rewarded him with a new 5-year contract.
FCC Prepares To Weigh In On Viewer Choice
The FCC takes a break from slapping down broadcast obscenity this week to weigh in on an increasingly important issue within the TV industry: whether consumers should have the right to select the cable channels they wish to pay for a la carte, or whether cable companies have the right to offer packages (as they do now) with dozens of channels grouped together. “The report won’t include any specific recommendations, but its tone — especially on whether a la carte could result in huge price hikes — could influence whether forces in Congress continue to pursue the issue.”
Woody Would Probably Have Approved, But That’s Just Tough
If you haven’t seen the Kerry/Bush “This Land is Your Land” parody yet, go ask a co-worker to show it to you. The online animated creation features the two presidential candidates in S&M gear and dunce caps, singing alternate lyrics to Woody Guthrie’s famous tune. The trouble is, someone owns that tune, and apparently, that someone doesn’t have Guthrie’s devotion to free expression. “About a week ago, the [creators of the parody] were served with a cease-and-desist order on behalf of Ludlow Music, demanding they remove This Land from their website.”
Russian Choreographer Missing For Over A Month
“Concern is growing in the Russian ballet world over the fate of leading choreographer Dmitry Bryantsev, a month after his mysterious disappearance. Police in the Czech Republic have begun a search for Mr Bryantsev, last seen on 28 June on a private visit to Prague. [They] discovered his luggage and mobile phone, switched off, in his hotel room in Prague. So far they have only established that he never left the country.”
Saving Scotland’s Oldest Theatre
Theatre Royal in Dumfries, Scotland is 212 years old, but badly in need of repair.
“The theatre was built in 1792, and is considered the oldest extant theatre in the country. But the cost of repairs and modernisation, and the demands of safety and disability laws, were threatening to close it down.” Now the government is stepping in with money to save the day.
Edinburgh Fringe Takes On Politics
“On the subject of conflict between the West and the Arab world – in all its forms, from the war in Iraq, through the growing nightmare in the Middle East, to its impact on this autumn’s American presidential election – passions are running so high that the theme seems to pervade the Fringe programme like a leitmotif.”
A (Spike) Lee Grows In Brooklyn
Spike Lee is calle by some the black Woody Allen. He doesn’t like the comparison. And, he still has difficulty getting funding for projects. “Why is it so hard? For me, I’ll give you three reasons. One is I’ve never had a blockbuster. No. 2, I don’t necessarily do standard Hollywood films. And No. 3, when studios do decide to do films that are geared toward an African-American audience, their vision of who African-Americans are is different from mine — a lot of times it’s in direct conflict with how I see African-Americans.”
The Bolshoi’s Bellyflop
The Bolshoi fell off its shoes in London this week. “One began to regard the dancers with the sort of pity onlookers must have felt at the Charge of the Light Brigade, though this affair was certainly not magnificent. Now, we all cherish the concept of an artistic right to fail. But it sometimes seems astonishing how, in the development of a piece which costs a vast amount of money to stage, nobody at any point takes a look from the empty stalls and cries out: ‘Hang on, this is a disaster’!”