Tag: 08.15.05

Making Room For Something New (And Good!)

So a hot new symphony comes out, wins a big prize, and… nothing. It doesn’t get performed. And why? “The issue is whether orchestras can find the will and the flexibility to tap into hot works when they turn up, or whether their idea of exciting programming is simply to group repertory favorites under facile thematic banners, with the occasional premiere thrown in dutifully and the word “exciting” splashed across the brochure.”

Does BS Matter? (That’s The Truth)

“Philosophers have a vocational bent for trying to divine the essences of things that most people never suspected had an essence, and bullshit is a case in point. Could there really be some property that all instances of bullshit possess and all non-instances lack? The question might sound ludicrous, but it is, at least in form, no different from one that philosophers ask about truth. Among the most divisive issues in philosophy today is whether there is anything important to be said about the essential nature of truth. Bullshit, by contrast, might seem to be a mere bagatelle. Yet there are parallels between the two which lead to the same perplexities.”

Reinventing The Bolshoi

“When the Soviet Union fell, much of what the Bolshoi had in the way of evening-length ballets was pre-revolutionary classics revised according to Soviet dictates and post-revolutionary ballets created according to those dictates, tales of brave underdogs besting—or piteously defeated by—corrupt, powerful folk. How was the company to replace, or even augment, this material? How, after seventy-five years, do you unlearn the artistic lessons of Communism: the bombast, the corniness, the texturelessness? Not easily…”

When Did Sex Become A Liability At The Movies?

“Nowadays, nudity is a decided liability when it comes to the commercial success of the movie. In 2004, none of the six major studios’ top 25 grossing films, led by Spider-Man 2, Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and The Incredibles, contained any sexually oriented nudity; only one had a restrictive R rating—Warner Bros.’ Troy—and that was mainly due to the film’s gory violence, not its sexual content. The absence of sex—at least graphic sex—is key to the success of Hollywood’s moneymaking movies.”

Searching For Better Search

Universities are focusing on improving search technologies. “The search problems of today are different from those of five years ago. With books, scholarly papers and television programs being digitized and put online, the technology necessary to search through the material needs to be that much better. People need a way to trust the information they find and to ask more-complex questions with search tools so they can extract knowledge or ideas.”

Where Canadians Spend Their Media Time (Internet Up, TV Down)

A new study “suggests internet use among Canadians is up about 46 per cent to 12.7 hours a week from 8.7 hours in 2002. That increase comes while radio listening has dropped an average of five hours to 11 hours per week. Television still remained at the top of the list of most-used media sources, according to the poll, with Canadians watching an average of 14.3 hours of TV per week. But younger internet users spent 14.7 hours online a week, about three hours more than they did on radio and television. Teens spent only 2.5 hours a week reading newspapers.”

Getty Hires Brand To Run Museum

The J. Paul Getty Trust has hired Michael Brand as director of its museum. “The new director has headed the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts since 2000 and previously served as a museum executive in his native Australia. At the J. Paul Getty Museum, Brand will oversee the acquisition, education, exhibition, service and outreach operations.”

How One Of The “Worst-Ever” Shows Got To London’s West End

“Behind the Iron Mask” had some of the worst reviews ever seen in London’s West End. “One theme running through many of the reviews was summed up by Sheridan Morley in the Daily Express: “How did Behind the Iron Mask get as far as a first rehearsal, let alone a first night?” How did a production that the nation’s critics could see in an instant wasn’t fit for public consumption end up doing battle on one of the theatre world’s most fiercely commercial markets? How did a script littered with potholes end up being accepted at one of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s theatres and how was anyone persuaded to work on it? The answer, according to one person close to the company, is with a great deal of money and naivety.”

A Revival For Aussie Film Industry?

Australian movies have had a tough time at the box office in recent years. “After last year’s record low box-office share of 1.3 per cent, the struggles of even huge budget Hollywood movies this year make finding an audience seem even tougher. A release that triumphs in the multiplexes and revitalises the film industry has proved desperately elusive since the Hollywood-backed Moulin Rouge took $27.4 million and Lantana made $9.8 million four years ago.” But some big-budget movies about to be released give Australian movie-makers hope.