Judy Moir, editorial director of the small but innovative Edinburgh publisher Canongate, has decided to leave. She says “that she was ‘exhausted’ after a decade and a half of working miracles on a shoestring. She also admitted having difficulties with Canongate’s Byronic owner, Jamie Byng, who brought his unique style and taste to the company after bailing it out with a £100,000 loan.”
Tag: 08.14.03
The Inflatable Actors
The thousands of extras required for the movie “Seabiscuit” aren’t people. Nor are they computer generated. They’re blow-up dolls – not that you could tell… “At a time when filmmakers are increasingly relying on digital imaging and special effects, the blowup extras represent something of a low-tech throwback. It recalls an earlier Hollywood era when production problems were solved through old-fashioned ingenuity, not high-tech trickery. Like so many interesting innovations in movie history, the inflatable dolls were born out of filmmaking necessity.”
Can Internet Help Students Write?
“Today’s students are struggling with writing. The rise of the Internet is often blamed for this deficiency. Parents worry that children are cutting and pasting paragraphs from Web sites rather than writing their own. But in patches around the country, teachers say that online technology is now becoming a powerful tool for improving, rather than undermining, students’ writing skills.”
Do Music Lessons Reduce Your Chances Of Getting Fat?
A new Canadian study reports that “children involved in even low levels of physical activity – including such things as Boy Scouts, music classes or art lessons – have a reduced chance of becoming overweight or obese” – as much as a 43 percent reduction.
Cultural Imperative In Rural Australia
Rural Australia needs an influx of investment in culture. “Cultural policy can easily smack of Big Brother (the political concept, not the TV show), but there are valid reasons why we need to keep culture high on the national agenda. It has nothing to do with opening nights, and everything to do with what Australia needs for a sustainable future. In 2000, the economic value of arts and related industries was about $8 billion. For indigenous Australians, the arts are their single biggest source of non-government income. The arts can provide jobs through flow-on effects such as tourism, but like any other investment, the money tends to gather where the people are.”
Where Are London’s Playwrights?
Playwrights are all but invisible in London’s West End. Now it takes celebrities to sell anything. “The author is dead in the West End. Particularly, as it were, the living author. In a talk at the Edinburgh book festival on Monday, Alan Ayckbourn railed against the dominance of celebrities – picking out Madonna and Ewan McGregor for particular bile – in theatreland, and the now near-impossibility of staging good plays with decent actors, without a Matthew Perry or a Jason Priestley to jolly the whole thing along.”
Hooligans Hack Up Public Art In Belgium
Vandals have been destroying public arts this summer in Belgium. “Vandals have wrought destruction upon some of Belgium’s biggest summer open air art exhibitions, and replacing the damaged exhibits is beyond the funds of many of the organisers of the displays.”
Minnesota Fringe Busts Records
While many arts organizations are struggling to keep audiences and cash flowing, this year’s Minnesota Fringe Festival – America’s biggest fringe – turned out record numbers. “Marking its 10th anniversary this year, the Fringe sold a total of 40,500 tickets to the 162 shows staged during the festival, which concluded Sunday. The box office figure is 27 percent higher than last year’s festival.”
Mickey And Donald Are Back
For two years Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and his pals have been off the comic book shelves. Now a comics enthusiast is bringing them back. “It’s always been a bit of a mystery why the Disney Comics are huge in Europe and Latin America but have languished in the North American market. Mickey Mouse, after all, is the ultimate American icon. Disney comics have had such a huge influence outside North America that they have been the subject of political rants arguing that they were thinly veiled American propaganda designed to spread capitalism and counter the spread of communism.”
Cleveland Orchestra Principal To Retire
Cellist Stephen Geber has been principal cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra for 30 years, “the longest tenure for a principal cellist in the orchestra’s history. It’s a seat he will relinquish next week, when he retires at the end of the ensemble’s season at Blossom Music Center.”