“Having cottoned on to the fact that chick lit books sell like cupcakes, publishers are now adding chick lit-style covers to any book written by a woman whether it fits the genre definition or not.”
Tag: 07.30.08
When Museums Break Art
“Incidents of damage involving gallery visitors are few and far between; works of art stand a far greater chance of being destroyed at the hands of curators, picture handlers or cleaners. Most of the major galleries have had to issue shame-faced apologies for breakages at one time or another.”
Olympic Committee Admits It Made Censorship Deal With China
Some International Olympic Committee officials cut a deal to let China block sensitive websites despite promises of unrestricted access, a senior IOC official admitted on Wednesday.
Hollywood’s Five Worst PR Disasters
An industry so slickly marketed and promoted has had its share of public relations disasters…
Australia’s Indigenous Art Kingpin
Aboriginal art is big business in Australia these days, and there may not be a more imposing figure on the indigenous art market than John Ioannou. “Ioannou says he has a deep and ongoing concern for the welfare of his artists, buying them blankets and food as well as painting materials.” But others call him a vicious and manipulative bully.
Keeping Hollywood Shiny And Clean (As Far As You Know)
Who really runs Hollywood? No, it’s not the big-name stars or the ultrarich directors or even the big studios. It’s the PR mavens who spend their time making all the others look good. “That mysterious and dark breed of fixers, stuntsters and arch media manipulators have, for more than a century now, been as fundamental to the Tinseltown fantasy as the Hollywood sign itself.”
A Fair, Magic, Satirical, True Portrait Of W
Brace yourself. The first big time Hollywood biopic of America’s deeply unpopular current president will come from… Oliver Stone. “Stone has called the film ‘satire’, ‘magic realism biography’, but also ‘a fair, true portrait of the man’.” You’ll forgive the Republicans if they’re not exactly looking forward to this premiere.
Is Booker’s Longlist A Triumph Or A Joke?
The longlist of authors for the Man Booker prize is packed with first-time novelists this year, and very few household names. Claire Armitstead says that’s probably as it should be, while John Sutherland says that the list shows the judges are too focused on diversity and not enough on quality.
Melbourne Art Fair At 20
“The Melbourne Art Fair turns 20 this year, and it’s come a long way. In 1988… 23 galleries were involved and they exhibited at the Royal Exhibition Building, upstairs from a tractor show. This year, MAF involves more than 80 galleries from the Asia-Pacific region as well as Switzerland, Germany and Ireland, and will use the entire building as well as the Melbourne Museum forecourt.”
Dayton Phil Corrects Columbus Report
Contrary to a published statement from its director of marketing, Ohio’s Dayton Philharmonic says that it has no intention of performing in Columbus during the 2008-09 season, even if the Columbus Symphony’s entire season is canceled. “”We feel that any performances by the DPO in Columbus would completely send the wrong message.”