“Tame Iti, a Maori activist with blue tattoos all over his face, sticks out his tongue and begins a ritual dance. Four other dancers stamp and clap in aggressive unison – while another man creeps around, monkey-like, on all fours.”
Tag: 08.12.10
Fighting the Good Fight for Covent Garden
“Tony Hall has quite a challenge on his hands. The chief executive of the Royal Opera House (ROH) is on a mission to bring the most notoriously elitist art form to the masses. And he is doing it in the face of public spending cuts that would have made Mrs Thatcher blush.”
Where Evil Empires Meet: Andrew Lloyd Webber on the Xbox
“The Really Useful Group and Microsoft have signed a licensing agreement that will see Andrew Lloyd Webber’s extensive musical back catalogue expand in the digital entertainment sphere, through a karaoke-style game for the Xbox 360 computer games console.”
Par-tay at the Graveyard! The Modern Marketing of Burial Plots
“In a marketing move that has drawn some criticism, graveyards across the nation are opening their grounds to concerts and clowns, barbecues and dance performances – anything that might bring happy families through the wrought-iron gates.”
The Great Writers and History’s Oldest Voice Recognition Software
“More and more writers are using voice recognition software, which is constantly improving and even has an app for the iPhone. … But earlier writers, such as Milton, Dostoevsky and Henry James used the first form of voice recognition software – women.”
Women Do Feel More Pain Than Men
“Women experience more chronic pain and they’re less tolerant of the pain than men, according to a new review of research.”
Female Comics Break Through at Edinburgh Fringe
“Last week, giving a speech at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards lunch, director Nica Burns celebrated the fact that the 30th anniversary of the awards is the strongest ever for women performers: 20% of acts eligible for the award this year are by female performers.”
The Carbuncle Cup: What’s Britain’s Ugliest New Building?
“It was hailed a breakthrough in urban wind power: a 42-storey tower with built-in turbines to deliver 8% of its electricity needs.” It’s the Strata tower in London – the one that looks like a giant electric razor.
The Jonathan Franzen Story
“Franzen isn’t the richest or most famous living American novelist, but you could argue — I would argue — that he is the most ambitious and also one of the best. His third book, The Corrections, published in 2001, was the literary phenomenon of the decade. His fourth novel, Freedom, will arrive at the end of August.”
Protests Over UK Plans To Close Film Office (And Its Funding)
“The timing of the announcement was jarring to many because it came shortly after the council’s chief executive, John Woodward, had publicly touted the health and growth of the British film industry.”